JP3052618B2 - Digital copier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital copying machine, and more particularly to a digital copying machine capable of copying two originals on one sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been provided a digital copying machine having a so-called 2-in-1 function of reading two originals and copying them on one sheet.

FIG. 16A shows a state in which two originals are copied on one sheet using the 2-in-1 function. FIG.
Referring to FIG. 1A, in a conventional copier having a two-in-one function, a first page and a second page are placed on a document table of an original tray of an ADF (automatic document feeder) as shown in FIG. When the original is placed, it is copied onto a single sheet of paper as shown below. Hereinafter, similarly, the original of two pages is copied on one sheet. In the figure, Y indicates horizontal and T indicates vertical.

[0004]

In a conventional copier having a two-in-one function, the direction in which a document is placed on a document tray of an ADF is determined in one direction by a machine. When the user places the original upside down, there is a problem that the page order is switched left and right. FIG. 16B shows this state. As shown in FIG. 16B, when the user places the document on the document table in the upside down direction, the document is copied on the sheet as shown below, and as a result, the page order is changed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. In a copying machine having a 2-in-1 function, a user can copy a page on a copied sheet without worrying about the orientation of the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital copying machine whose order is not changed.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a digital copying machine having a function of reading a plurality of originals and copying the originals on a single sheet of paper. Means for forming a read image on a sheet; and responding to the detection result of the detecting means, when the top and bottom directions of the document are different from the predetermined direction, the images of the plurality of documents are And a means for controlling the image forming means so that the image is formed on the sheet in the following order.

[0007]

The orientation of a plurality of originals to be copied on the same sheet is detected in the vertical direction, and when the direction is different from the predetermined direction, images of the plurality of originals are formed on the sheet in a predetermined order. The image forming means is controlled as described above.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing the entire structure of a copying machine 1 according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a digital copying machine 1 includes a scanning system 10 for reading a document and converting it into an image signal, an image signal processing unit 20 for processing an image signal sent from the scanning system 10, and an image signal processing unit 20. A memory unit 30 for switching whether image data input from the memory device is directly output to a printer device or stored in a memory, and drives the semiconductor laser 62 based on the image data input from the memory unit 30 A print processing unit 40, an optical system 60 for guiding a laser beam from a semiconductor laser 62 to an exposure position on a photosensitive drum 71, and a latent image formed by exposure is developed, transferred and fixed on a sheet of paper to form an image. An image forming system 70, an operation panel OP (not shown) provided on the upper surface of the main body, and a document feeder 500 for feeding a document and reversing the front and back if necessary Including.

The scanning system 10 and the image signal processing unit 2
0, etc., the reading device IR, the print processing unit 40,
The optical device 60, the imaging system 70, and the like constitute a printer device PRT.

The scanning system 10 includes an exposure lamp 11 and a first mirror 12 mounted on a scanner 19 which moves below a platen glass 18, and second and third mirrors 13a and 13a.
3b, a condenser lens 14, a photoelectric conversion element 17 using a CCD array or the like, a scan motor M2, and the like.

The image signal processing section 20 includes a photoelectric conversion element 17
Process the image signal output from the memory unit 3
Output image data for 0. Memory unit 3
0 will be described in detail later.

The print processing section 40 sends the sent image data to the semiconductor laser 62. The optical system 60 includes a polygon mirror 65 that deflects a laser beam, a main lens 69, and reflection mirrors 67a, 67b, and 68.

The image forming system 70 includes a development transfer system 70A, a transport system 70B, and a fixing system 70C.

The development transfer system 70A includes a photosensitive drum 71 which is driven to rotate in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1, and a charger 72a which is arranged around the photosensitive drum 71 in order from the upstream side in the rotation direction.
Developing device 73, transfer charger 74, separation charger 7
5, a cleaning unit 76 and the like.

The first developing unit 73 contains a two-component developer consisting of a black toner and a carrier.

The transport meter 70B comprises cassettes 80a and 80b for storing paper, size detection sensors SE11 and SE12 for detecting the paper size, a paper guide 81, a timing roller 82, a transport belt 83, and the like. The fixing system 70C is
Fixing roller 84 and discharge roller 85 for transporting the paper while thermocompression bonding, and discharge sensor SE6 for detecting discharge of the paper
2 etc.

Next, the control section will be described. FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing the configuration of the control unit 100 of the copying machine 1.

The control unit 100 is composed mainly of six CPUs 1 to 6. Each of the CPUs 1 to 6 is provided with a ROM 111 to 116 storing a program and a RAM 121 to 126 serving as a work area for executing the program. .

The CPU 1 controls the input and display of signals from various operation keys on the operation panel OP.
The CPU 2 controls each unit of the image signal processing unit 20 and the scanning system 1.
0 drive control is performed. The CPU 4 includes a print processing unit 4.
0, the optical system 60 and the image forming system 70 are controlled. FIG.
Size detection sensor SE that detects the paper size described in
The signals from 11 and 12 are input to the CPU 4 via the I / O as signals from the image forming system sensor, whereby the paper size is determined.

The CPU 5 performs a process for adjusting the overall timing of the control unit 100 and setting an operation mode.
The CPU 3 controls the memory unit 30 to store the read image data in a memory (image memory 304).
Is temporarily stored, read out, and output to the print processing unit 40.

The CPU 6 shown in FIG. 3 controls the automatic document feeder (ADF), thereby
The plurality of originals placed on the original 0 are transported one by one to a predetermined original placing table (platen glass) according to a timing instruction from the CPU 5 and set. The document on the document table is discharged to a document discharge tray 511 according to an instruction from the CPU 5.

Further, when the ADF 500 conveys and sets the original on the original placing table, the ADF 500 detects the size of the original based on the ON / OFF time of a sensor installed in the ADF, and sends the detection result to the CPU 5. After receiving this information, the CPU 5 receives the document management table DT as shown in FIG.
1. Create DT2.

Next, the reading device IR and the image signal processing section 2
0 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the reading device IR. CPU 2, ROM 112, RAM 122 and CCD 16 correspond to FIG.

An image reading synchronization signal is supplied from the timing control section 21 to each block. The CCD 16 scans a document in the main scanning direction and generates a document reading signal. The generated signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 22 and sent to the image processor 23. The image processing unit 23 performs image quality correction such as shading correction, MTF correction, and gamma correction, and processes such as scaling and image editing. Image data is supplied to a printer engine unit and an image memory unit.

The image monitor memory 24 stores one line of image data according to an instruction from the CPU 2. Also, CP
U2 performs overall control of the reading device IR such as setting of parameters to the image processing unit 23, scan control by driving a scanner motor, and communication with the host CPU 5.

Next, the memory unit 30 will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the memory unit 30.
A memory unit 30 includes a switching unit 301, a binarization processing unit 302 for creating binary data based on parameter settings from the CPU 3, a multi-port image memory 304 having a capacity of two A4 size pages at 400 dpi, Multi-value data is created based on parameter settings from a code processing unit 305 having a compressor 311 and a decompressor 312 which can operate independently, a code memory 306 having a multi-port, a scaling unit 309, and a CPU 3. Multi-value processing section 3
08 and a CPU 3 for controlling these components.

When the image data D2 is written into the image memory 304, the CPU 3 reads the image data from the image memory 304 and cuts out a character area in the image. In the cut-out character area, character recognition is performed in the character directions 0 °, 90 °, and 180 °.
By performing the operation in each direction of {, 270}, the direction of the character in the image, that is, whether the image is upside down, landscape, or portrait is detected. The details will be described later. Then, the document management tables DT1 and DT2 shown in FIG. 7 are created based on the character direction of the document.

When the image data D2 is written into the image memory 304 as described above, the code processing unit 305 reads and compresses the data to create code data, and writes the code data into the code memory 306. Also, according to a command from the CPU 3,
The code data written in the code memory 306 is read out and decompressed to create image data, which is stored in the image memory 30.
4 writes to the position designated by the CPU 3. Further, when performing page synthesis, the image of the next page is written in the position specified by the CPU 3 in the image memory 304, and data for one page to be output is generated.

When one page of image data is generated in the image memory 304 by decompression, the multi-value processing unit 308 generates multi-valued image data, which is referred to as image data D3.
Is output as Note that the compressor 311 and the decompressor 3
12 can operate independently and in parallel with each other, and data is DMA-transferred between them and the code memory 306.

The code memory 306 is a RAM
1 is managed by the management table MT1 stored in the management table MT1.

FIG. 6 shows the management table MT1 and the code memory 3.
It is a figure which shows the relationship with 06. Code memory 306 is 32
Code data is stored in each area in consideration of enabling simultaneous control of writing (at the time of reading) and reading (at the time of printing). The management table MT1 for each page stores various information necessary for the compression / expansion processing such as the number indicating the area of the code memory 306, the page number, the number of the linked area, the compression method and the data length. The code memory 306 is dynamically managed based on these pieces of information. The data DT1 and DT2 shown in FIG. 7 are stored in the various types of additional information.

Next, the contents of FIG. 6 will be described. (A)
Indicates the connection in the forward direction of the area in units of 32 Kbytes in the page and whether or not the area is the first area.
“00” indicates the first area number, and the others indicate the previous area number. Similarly, in the post-connection, “FF” indicates the last area, and the other area indicates the subsequent area number.

When reading and compressing image data from the image memory 304, the CPU 6 controls the compressor 311 while creating information in the management table MT1 and controls the code memory 311.
06. When outputting image data, code data is read from the code memory 306 by the reverse operation. The information in the management table MT1 is
The information is erased when all the necessary copies of the information of the corresponding page are normally ejected.

Next, detection of the character direction of an image will be described. FIG. 8 shows an algorithm for determining the original placement direction for each step (STEP). Here, STEP 1 and 2
Is the content already described in the image processing unit.

FIG. 9 shows an example of data according to the state of a document placed when an image having a document size of A4 length is read. P in the figure
-1 indicates a portrait with the document oriented upward, and P-2 indicates a portrait with the document oriented downward. L-1 is a landscape-oriented original, and L-2 is a landscape-oriented original.

FIG. 10 shows that the CPU 5 operates the image memory 3 in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction for each original shown in FIG.
04, the image data is called, and it is determined whether each pixel is a black pixel (“0” or “1”), and black (“1”)
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating counting of pixels of FIG. This corresponds to STEP 3 in FIG. Based on the count result, the distribution of the number of black pixels for each line is checked in STEP4.
Determine the landscape / portrait of the document.

The discrimination data in that case is shown in FIGS. FIG. 11 shows STEP5 and STEP in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the line is cut out and the number of black pixels in the character direction is counted, and the character is cut out. The number of black pixels for one row is shown beside the figure.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a method of character recognition by pattern matching shown in STEP 8 of FIG.

A template is prepared for each character to be read in advance. The input unknown character patterns are superimposed on each other and compared for each pixel, and it is determined that the character of the template when all of the characters match exactly is the input character. If none of them fits perfectly, the character with the highest matching ratio is selected. If there is no one that reaches a predetermined matching ratio, it cannot be determined.

FIG. 13 is based on STEP9-12 in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of determining the direction of a document based on a character recognition result.

The direction of the original image is recognized from the pattern recognition and the rotation angle of each cut character.

The CPU 5 creates the document management tables DT1 and DT2 shown in FIG. 7 according to the determination algorithm shown in FIG.

In the determination of the document placement state, a distinction is made between landscape and portrait. However, the document management table shows only the case of landscape.

Based on the original image data obtained as described above, the memory unit 30 shown in FIG.
After the image data D2 is binarized by the binarization processing unit 302, the image data D2 is taken into the image memory 304 and subjected to predetermined processing.
The image data is read out from the image memory 304 as needed and output to the print processing unit 40 as image data D3. When reading from the image memory 304, the multi-value processing and the scaling processing are performed by the respective processing units 308 and 308 in accordance with the designation from the CPU 5.
309.

Next, from when the CPU 3 reads out the image data from the code memory 306 until it prints and obtains a 2-in-1 copy result, a case where the original is set as shown in FIG. explain.

In the present embodiment, the selected paper feed port sent from the CPU 4 is set in the A4 vertical direction (sheet length 297 mm, sheet width 2
10 mm) is set. Further, the document size detection result stored in DT1 indicates that the same size A4 landscape (paper length 210 m
m, 297 mm in width of the paper).
It is also assumed that two originals are arranged in a portrait direction with the original setting direction being the reference setting direction.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing contents in this case. First, the CPU 6 allocates an empty space for two A4 horizontal pages, that is, a memory capacity for A3 vertical, to the image
(Step S11, steps are abbreviated below).
Next, the top / bottom information of the document is read from the document management table DT1 or DT2 (S13). Referring to FIG. 7, in the case of (A), the image is a normal image, and in the case of (B), the image is a reverse image. If it is determined in S15 that the image is a normal image, the image reading position of the first page is set to the reference address (0, 0) of the image memory 304, and the reference address of the second page is set to (X
X, 0). Here, the reference address XX is a value determined by the image size (for example, A4), and does not overlap with other pages of the same size. Specifically, FIG.
The positional relationship is as shown in FIG. Then, the code data of the first page on the A4 side stored in the code memory 306 is expanded in the image memory 304 via the decompressor 312 (S21).

As a second step, the image reading position of the second page is set to (210, 0), which is a non-overlapping position on the right side of the already developed first page (S23). After that, the second page is developed in the memory 304, and as a result, a 2-in-1 image of the first page and the second page of A3 length is obtained on the image memory 304.

As a third step, the main image is transferred to the printing unit to obtain a 2-in-1 copy. At this time, the multi-value processing section 3
After the multi-level processing of the binary image in step 08, the CPU 3 sends information indicating that the output paper size is A4T (T indicates the vertical direction). After setting the scaling factor of A4T to X0.707 (S25), and scaling the output of the multi-value processing unit 308,
The image is output to the printing unit (S27).

With the above operation, a 2-in-1 copy is obtained in which the first page is copied to the left on the A4T paper and the second page is copied to the right at × 0.707. Further, in the same manner on the third and subsequent pages, a series of 2
In 1 copying is performed.

Next, a case where the original setting direction is opposite to the reference setting direction will be described. This state is shown in FIG. In this case, the originals are arranged as shown in FIG.

As a first step, as in the previous example, after securing memory for A3 columns, the top and bottom information of the document is read from DT2. In this case, since the image is an upside down image (S1
5) The image reading position of the first page is set to (XX, 0) corresponding to the position of the second page in the above example, specifically, (210, 0) (S19). Then, the image of the first page is developed in the memory 304.

As a second step, the image reading position of the second page is set to (0, 0) corresponding to the position of the first page in the above example because the top and bottom are reverse images, and the second page is stored in the memory 304. expand. At this time, the page 1 and the page 2 do not overlap and the second page is located on the left side of the page as in the previous case.

The third and subsequent steps are the same as in the previous example.
With the above operation, a 2-in-1 copy obtained by copying the first page to the right and the second page to the left on the A4T paper at a magnification of × 0.707 is obtained. Further, a series of 2-in-1 copying is similarly performed on the third and subsequent pages. As a result, as shown in FIG. 15, even if the document setting direction is reversed, copy results arranged in page order are obtained regardless of the direction.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, the orientation of a plurality of originals to be copied on the same sheet is detected, and when the orientation is different from the predetermined direction, a plurality of originals are detected. The image forming means is controlled so that the images of the document are formed on the sheet in a predetermined order. As a result, in a copying machine having the 2-in-1 function, the page order of the copied image is not changed even if the user does not care about the upside-down direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of a copying machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of the copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a reading device IR.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a memory unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a management table MT1 and a code memory.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of a document management table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an algorithm for determining a document placement direction for each step.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of data based on document placement when an image having a document size of A4 length is read.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the result of counting the number of black pixels for each main / sub-scan.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a result of cutting out a line and counting the number of black pixels in a character direction.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a pattern matching method which is an example of character recognition.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of determining the direction of a document from a character recognition result.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a specific operation of the copying machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining effects in the copying machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a problem in a conventional copying machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 image signal processing unit 23 image processing unit 30 memory unit unit 304 image memory 305 code processing unit 306 code memory 307 rotation processing unit 308 multi-value processing unit 309 scaling processing unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A digital copying machine having a function of reading a plurality of originals and copying the originals on a single sheet of paper, comprising: means for reading the original image; means for detecting the orientation of the original in a vertical direction; An image forming unit that forms an image read by the reading unit on the paper; and, in response to a detection result of the detection unit, when the orientation of the original in a vertical direction is different from a predetermined direction, Means for controlling the image forming means so that images of the original document are formed on the sheet in a predetermined order.