JP2752018B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image obtained by combining a background image with a document image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A background image synthesizing process executed in a conventional image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, that is, a process for forming a background image such as a character and a pattern on a background of a document image as a copy image will be described. .

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a background image synthesizing process in a conventional copying machine. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a background image synthesizing process in a conventional copying machine.

In order to provide a specific pattern on the background of a document image in a conventional copying machine, as shown in FIG. 7, a copy image is formed on a sheet 91 on which a specific pattern serving as a background pattern or the like is formed in advance. Use as output paper to be used.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, first, in step ST31, for example, an image of a document 92 shown in FIG. 7 is read by an optical system. Next, in step ST32, image data of the read document is developed, for example, the sheet 91 of FIG.
The process operation such as transfer to the image and fixing is performed by the process system, and the sheet on which the copy image is formed is unloaded, thereby completing the copy operation.

At the time of this copying, since a specific pattern serving as a background image is formed on the paper 91 on which the copy image is to be formed, the specific pattern of the paper 91 is placed on the background of the image of the copied original 92. As a result, a copy sheet 93 on which a background image appears as a copy image as shown in FIG. 7 is obtained.

In addition, a specific pattern serving as a background image is painted by filling a predetermined area with a single color, and this pattern is superimposed on a document and copied to form a background image on the copied image. Can also.

[0008]

However, in such a conventional copying machine, in order to form a specific pattern or the like as a copy image on the background of a document image, a specific pattern to be a background pattern or the like is formed in advance. It is necessary to create a sheet as an output sheet on which a copy image is to be formed.

However, the image density of the specific pattern formed on the output sheet is constant irrespective of the density of the original to be copied. Therefore, depending on the density of the original image, a pattern or the like is added to the background of the copied image. At times, there is a problem that the copied original image itself becomes difficult to see.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of easily forming an easy-to-view image obtained by combining a background image with a document image.

[0011]

Document reading means for reading an image of a document, storage means for storing image data of the document read by the document reading means, and a sheet on paper based on the image data stored in the storage means. image forming means for forming an image on the first document and one binary image data of the second document read by the document reading means
Inversion processing after binarizing the converted image data and the other
The image data is AND-combined with the image data.
After setting the image data to the desired density,
And an image synthesizing means for OR- combining the data.

[0012]

The image data of the first document and the image data of the second document read by the document reading means are temporarily stored in the storage means and combined by the image combining means. The image forming means forms a combined image on a sheet based on the combined image data. At the time of combining the image data of the first document and the image data of the second document, the image data obtained by binarizing one image through the image combining means and the other
Is binarized with the image data that has been inverted, and
And the AND-composited image data is
And then OR-combined with the other image data, so that, for example, the first original image as the background
The part corresponding to the original image is outlined and set to the desired density.
Since the second original image is combined with the determined image,
The original document image and the second original image must be directly superimposed.
What is the first document image?
Also, it is possible to easily obtain a composite image in which the image of the first document appears on the background and the image of the second document is easy to see.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, an example in which the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a digital copying machine will be described.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the overall configuration of a digital copying machine as an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a digital copying machine 10 according to this embodiment includes a scanner unit 11, a laser printer unit 12, a multi-stage paper feed unit 13, and a sorter 14.

A double-sided automatic document feeder (ADF) 15 is installed above the scanner unit 11.
Is composed of a document table 16 made of transparent glass, a movable scanner unit 17, and a position control device for controlling the position of the scanner unit 17.

This position control device is a scanner unit.
The position control device includes a scanner motor 18, a pulley 19 that drives the scanner 17, and a wire 20 stretched between the scanner motor 18 and the pulley 19, and the position control device moves the scanner unit 17 along the longitudinal direction of the document table 16. It is configured to be able to move and stop at a predetermined position.

The scanner unit 17 includes a lamp reflector assembly 21 for exposing a document, a CCD (photoelectric conversion element) linear image sensor 22, and a plurality of reflection mirrors 2 for guiding a reflected light image from the document to the CCD linear image sensor 22.
3, and a lens 24 for imaging the reflected light image from the original on the CCD linear image sensor 22.

When scanning a document placed on the document table 16, the scanner unit 11 reads a document image while the scanner unit 17 moves along the lower surface of the document table 16 and uses the ADF 15. When the scanner unit 17 is stopped at a predetermined position below the ADF 15,
It is configured to read an image of a document conveyed by the DF 15.

The image data obtained by reading the original image by the scanner unit 17 is subjected to various processes by an image processing control unit included in the digital copying machine 10 and described later. The image data is temporarily stored in a memory provided therein, and the image data in the memory is supplied to the laser printer unit 12 in response to an output instruction to form a copy image on paper.

The multi-stage paper feeding unit 13 includes a first cassette 28,
It has a second cassette 29, a third cassette 30, and a fourth cassette 31 which can be added by selection. In the multi-stage paper feed unit 13, the sheets are sent out one by one from the sheets stored in these cassettes, and are conveyed to the laser printer unit 12.

The laser printer unit 12 includes a manual document tray 2
5. It has a laser writing unit 26 and an electrophotographic processing unit 27 for forming an image.

The laser writing unit 26 includes a semiconductor laser that emits a laser beam corresponding to the image data from the memory, a polygon mirror that deflects the laser beam at a constant angular velocity,
And the laser beam deflected at the uniform angular velocity
An f-.theta. Lens or the like for correcting the light so as to be deflected at a constant speed on the photoreceptor drum 27a.

The electrophotographic process section 27 has a charging device, a developing device, a transfer device, a peeling device, a cleaning device, a static eliminator, and a fixing device 32 arranged around a photosensitive drum 27a in a known manner. .

A transport path 33 is provided downstream of the fixing unit 32 in the transport direction of the sheet on which an image is to be formed.
Reference numeral 33 denotes a transport path 34 leading to the sorter 14 and a multi-stage paper feed unit.
It branches to a transport path 35 leading to 13.

The transport path 35 branches off in the multi-stage paper feed unit 13, and a reverse transport path 36 and a double-sided / composite transport path 37 are provided as transport paths after branching.

The reversing conveyance path 36 is a conveyance path for reversing the front and back of the sheet with respect to the image forming position of the photosensitive drum 27a in the duplex copying mode for copying both sides of the original. The double-sided / combined conveyance path 37 conveys a sheet from the reverse conveyance path 36 to the image forming position of the photosensitive drum 27a in the double-sided copy mode, or forms an image of a different document or an image of a different color on one side of the sheet. Photoreceptor drum 27a without reversing paper in single-sided composite copy mode for performing composite copy
Is a transport path for transporting the image to the image forming position.

The multi-stage paper feeding unit 13 includes a common transport path 38, and the common transport path 38 transfers sheets from the first cassette 28, the second cassette 29, and the third cassette 30 to the electrophotographic processing unit 27. It is configured to be carried out.

The common transport path 38 joins the transport path 39 from the fourth cassette 31 on the way to the electrophotographic processing section 27 and leads to the transport path 40.

The transport path 40 joins the duplex path / composite transport path 37 and the transport path 41 from the manual document tray 25 at a junction 42 to form an image between the photosensitive drum 27a of the electrostatic photographic process unit 27 and the transfer unit. These are configured to communicate with the forming position.
The junction 42 of the two transport paths is provided at a position close to the image forming position.

Therefore, in the laser writing unit 26 and the electrophotographic processing unit 27, the image data read from the above-mentioned memory is scanned by the laser beam by the laser writing unit 26, so that the photosensitive drum 27a
The toner image formed as an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the sheet and visualized by the toner is electrostatically transferred and fixed onto the surface of the sheet conveyed from the multi-stage sheet feeding unit 13.

The sheet on which the image has been formed in this manner is sent from the fixing device 32 to the sorter 14 via the transport paths 33 and 34, or is transported to the reverse transport path 36 via the transport paths 33 and 35.

The scanner section 11 is an embodiment of the document reading means of the present invention. The laser printer section 12 is an embodiment of the image forming means of the present invention.

Next, an operation panel provided on the upper part of the digital copying machine 10 shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

FIG. 3 is an external view of an operation panel of the digital copying machine 10 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a basic screen of a display unit of the operation panel of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 50 is provided with a display unit 50a also serving as an input unit at substantially the center thereof, and a print switch 50b and a clear key 50c at the right end. The display unit 50a may be configured by, for example, a transparent touch panel on the display surface of a dot matrix liquid crystal display unit.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the basic screen when the power is turned on is enlarged and displayed on the display unit 50a of FIG.

At the upper part of the display section 50a, a magnification selection area 51 where a copy magnification can be selected, a paper size selection area 52 where a paper size can be selected, a copy density selection area 53 where a copy density can be selected, and the number of copies to be selected. A possible copy number selection area 54 is provided. At the lower left of the display unit 50a, a sorter selection area 55 is provided in which a sorter type can be selected. In the lower right part of the display unit 50a, for example, a plus function selection area 56 is provided in which a selection mode or an input mode of a specific pattern, such as a background pattern of a copy image, can be selected.

The operation panel 50 has a plus function selection area 56
When touching, a specific pattern selection area 57a for selecting a specific pattern, such as a background pattern of a copy image, and a specific pattern input area for inputting a specific pattern
57b and a background image synthesizing mode selection area 58 for executing a background image synthesizing process described later are configured to appear on the display unit 50a.

Next, the CCD linear image sensor shown in FIG.
Processing from input to output of the image data read from 22 will be described.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image processing control unit included in the digital copying machine 10 of FIG. 2 and performing processing from input to output of image data.

As shown in the figure, the image processing control unit includes an image data input unit 61, an image data processing unit 62, an image data output unit 63, a memory 64 including a RAM (random access memory), and a CPU (central processing unit). (Processing device) 65.

The image data input section 61 includes a CCD section 61a, a histogram processing section 61b, and an error diffusion processing section 61c.

The image data input unit 61 binarizes the image data of the original read from the CCD linear image sensor 22 shown in FIG. Processing 4
It is configured to be converted into a value and temporarily stored in the memory 64.

That is, in the CCD section 61a, after an analog electric signal corresponding to each pixel density of the image data is subjected to A / D (analog / digital) conversion, MTF correction, black-and-white correction or gamma correction is performed, and the 256th floor is processed. It is output to the histogram processing unit 61b as a digital signal of a key (8 bits).

The histogram processor 61b includes a CCD 61
The digital signal output from a is added for each pixel density of 256 gradations to obtain density information (histogram data), and if necessary, the obtained histogram data is sent to the CPU 65 or as pixel data. This is sent to the error diffusion processing unit 61c.

The error diffusion processing section 61c performs an error diffusion process, which is a kind of pseudo halftone process. That is, the error diffusion processing unit 61c converts the 8-bit / pixel digital signal output from the CCD unit 61a into two bits (quaternary) by reflecting the quaternary error in the quaternization determination of the adjacent pixel. The conversion is performed, and a redistribution operation is performed to faithfully reproduce the local area density in the document.

The image data processing section 62 includes multi-value processing sections 62a and 62b, a density conversion processing section 62c, a 1/8 scaling processing section 62d,
Image processing section 62e, scaling processing section 62f, density conversion processing section
62g, an error diffusion processing section 62h and a compression processing section 62i.

The image data processing section 62 is a processing section for finally converting the input image data into image data desired by the operator, and stores the image data in the memory 64 as finally converted output image data. Until the processing is performed, the processing is performed in this processing unit.

The processing units included in the image data processing unit 62 function as needed, and the functions may not be executed in some cases.

In the multi-value processing sections 62a and 62b, the data quaternized by the error diffusion processing section 61c is converted again into 256 gradations.

The density conversion processing sections 62c and 62g can arbitrarily set the relationship between the input density and the output density for the 256-level digital signal based on a predetermined tone conversion table.

1/8 scaling unit 62d and scaling unit 62f
Then, according to the designated scaling factor, interpolation processing is performed with the input known data to obtain pixel data (density value) for the target pixel after scaling, and the main scanning is performed after the sub-scanning is scaled. The scan is scaled.

The image processing section 62e performs various image processing on the input pixel data.

The error diffusion processing section 62h performs the same processing as the error diffusion processing section 61c of the image data input section 61.

The compression processing section 62i compresses the binary data by encoding called run length. As for the compression of the image data, the compression functions in the final processing loop when the final output image data is completed.

The image data output section 63 includes a restoration section 63a and a laser output section 63b.

The image data output unit 63 is a memory in a compressed state.
The image data stored in the memory 64 is restored, converted again to the original 256 gradations, and the image data is transferred to the laser output unit 63b.

That is, in the restoration section 63a, the image data compressed by the compression processing section 62i is restored.

In the laser output section 63b, digital pixel data is used to drive the laser based on a control signal from a sequence controller (not shown).
/ OFF (OFF) signal and the laser is turned ON / OF
The state becomes the F state.

The memory 64 is an embodiment of the storage means of the present invention. The image data processing section 62 and the CPU 65 are an embodiment of the image synthesizing means of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the background image synthesizing process in the digital copying machine 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and the following figures.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of a background image synthesizing process in a digital copying machine as an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the background image synthesizing process in the digital copying machine 10 of FIG.

After touching the specific pattern input area 57b appearing on the display unit 50a by touching the plus function selection area 56 of the operation panel 50 shown in FIG. 4, first, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. A sheet 71 and a document sheet 72 on which a specific pattern such as a background pattern of the copy image shown in FIG. 6 is formed are respectively placed on the document table 16 of FIG. Read.

Here, the paper 71 on which the specific pattern is formed
The document sheet 72 is an example of the first document and the second document of the present application.

Next, in step ST12, as described above, each processing unit of the image data input unit 61 in FIG.
The image data of the specific pattern read by the D linear image sensor 22 and the image data of the original are binarized and converted into quaternary data by an error diffusion method while taking a histogram as a binary digital amount. ,
They are temporarily stored in the memory 64, respectively.

In this embodiment, the example in which the paper 71 on which the specific pattern is formed is input by selecting the specific pattern input area 57b is shown. It is also possible to call up by selecting the area 57a, or to create image data of a specific pattern in the image data processing unit 62.

Next, in step ST13, the image data of the specific pattern which has been quaternized by the error diffusion processing unit 61c of the image data input unit 61 and stored in the memory 64 is read out.
Binarize.

On the other hand, in step ST14, the image data of the document stored in the memory 64, which is also quaternized, is read and binarized.

Next, in step ST15, the image data of the binarized document is subjected to inversion processing.

Following the operations in steps ST13 and ST15, in step ST16, the image data of the binarized specific pattern and the image data of the binarized and inverted document are AND-combined.

Next, in step ST17, the density of the AND-combined image data is converted. In step ST18, the density-converted image data and the image data of the document stored in the memory 64 in step ST12 are ORed. Or) synthesize.

At the time of the density conversion in step ST17, the user can freely set the image density of the specific pattern serving as the background. For example, the image density of the specific pattern is set to be lower than the image density of the original. be able to.

As the default value of the image density of the specific pattern, the average density of each pixel other than the background of the original image may be obtained, and may be set to half the average density. or,
The image density of the specific pattern may be changed according to the density setting (halftone emphasis) set by the user.

The operations from step ST13 to step ST18 are executed by the image data processing section 62.

Next, in step ST19, the data is restored to 256-gradation data again by the restoration process, and is converted into a laser ON / OFF signal by the control signal of the sequence controller, thereby driving and outputting the laser.

Next, in step ST20, a copied image, for example, FIG.
A copy image 73 obtained by copying a specific pattern of the paper 71 as a background on the original 72 is output.

In this manner, an image in which the background image is combined with the original image is completed. The background image density is determined by the above-described density setting by the user and the histogram processing of the input image data.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, when combining the image data of the original read through the scanner unit 17 and the image data of the specific pattern serving as the background,
Since the image density of the specific pattern can be adjusted by the setting of the user, for example, by setting the background image to a density lower than that of the original image, an easily viewable composite image can be easily obtained.

Further, since the image of the specific pattern as the background can be created in the image data processing section 62, the paper on which the specific pattern is formed in advance should be created as the output paper on which the copy image is to be formed. The complicated operation that must be performed can be avoided.

The operation of the background image synthesizing process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1 is programmed in advance, and the program is stored in, for example, a ROM (read only memory) (not shown) included in the image processing controller. Have been. The CPU 65 can read and execute a program stored in the ROM.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention, there are provided document reading means for reading a document image, storage means for storing image data of the document read by the document reading means, and image data stored in the storage means. An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet based on data and an image combining unit are provided. Therefore, the background image corresponds to the original image.
The image is partially blanked and the original density is set to the desired density.
Since the original image is synthesized, the background image and the original image
What is the background image without being superimposed
Even those, an image easy to see that by combining a background image to the original image can be easily formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an operation of a background image synthesizing process in a digital copying machine which is an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an entire configuration of a digital copying machine which is an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view of an operation panel of the digital copying machine shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a basic screen of a display unit of the operation panel in FIG. 3;

5 is a block diagram of an image processing control unit included in the digital copying machine shown in FIG. 2 and performing processing from input to output of image data.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a background image synthesizing process in the digital copying machine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a background image synthesizing process in a conventional copying machine.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a background image synthesizing process in a conventional copying machine.

[Description of Signs] 10 Digital copier 11 Scanner unit 12 Laser printer unit 62 Image data processing unit 64 Memory 65 CPU

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An original reading means for reading an image of an original, a storage means for storing image data of the original read by the original reading means, and an image on paper based on the image data stored in the storage means. Image forming means for forming a first image, and a first image read by the document reading means.
One of the image data of the original and the second original is binarized.
Image data and image data that has been inverted after binarizing the other
Data and an AND-combined image
After setting the data to the desired density, the other image data
An image forming apparatus comprising the image synthesizing means for data and OR synthesis.