JP3580374B2 - Digital copier - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a digital copying machine that outputs image data read by a scanner to a printer, and more particularly, to a digital copying machine that performs electronic sort copying using a memory.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional digital copying machine having an electronic sorting function, for example, there is a digital copying machine having a plurality of page memories therein. In such a digital copying machine, a plurality of originals are sequentially read by a scanner, and image data is temporarily stored in one or a plurality of page memories, and then the image data is read from the page memory and sent to a printer. The configuration is such that image formation is performed by transfer, and a single reading of one set of documents can repeatedly execute image formation a plurality of times, thereby increasing the speed of copying operation. In such a digital copying machine, a plurality of sets of image data which have been read in advance are read out in the order of reading, and each image is formed. This type of image formation is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-56-64354, JP-A-52-108822, and JP-A-63-171630.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this type of conventional electronic sort copy, only one sort copy operation can be performed for one document bundle, and when a plurality of sorts are required for one document bundle, a plurality of sorts are performed. In addition, it is necessary to perform the sort copy including the image reading, and there is a problem that the image reading is duplicated and the efficiency of the copying operation is extremely low. Also, when there is a common document among a plurality of document bundles, it is necessary to perform a sort copy including image reading for each of the document bundles. There is also a problem.
[0004]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a first object of the present invention to improve the efficiency of a sort copy operation, and to omit redundant image reading when a plurality of sorts are required for one document bundle. A third object is to omit redundant image reading when there is a common document among a plurality of document bundles.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a reading unit for digitally reading image information on a document, a memory unit for storing image data obtained by the reading unit, and an image on paper based on the image data stored in the memory unit. A digital copying machine including image forming means for forming information, and control means for sequentially reading image data of a plurality of originals stored in the memory means and forming an image of each read image data in the image forming means; At
When the sort is designated, the data of the read count register is cleared, and when the document is read by the reading means and stored in the memory means, if the sort is designated, the data of the read count register is cleared. When the data is read, the memory means is cleared, the image data obtained by reading the document by the reading means is written into the memory means, and the data of the number register is updated to data indicating the presence of reading, and the data of the reading number register is read. Control means for adding image data obtained by reading the document by the reading means to the memory means without clearing the memory means when the data indicates presence, thereby forming one document bundle;
According to the division designation for one document bundle read by the reading device and stored in the memory device, the image data of the one document bundle in the memory device is divided into groups between document pages, and the image data is sequentially arranged for each group. Division recording control means (first mode) for reading data and forming a set number of images, or
The image data of the first bundle of documents read by the reading unit and stored in the memory unit is read out, and the image forming unit forms a set number of images, and in accordance with an additional designation of adding a document to the first bundle of documents. The image data of the additional document is obtained by the reading means, added to the image data of the first document bundle in the memory means, and combined into one document bundle, and the one document bundle of the memory means is obtained. Control means (second mode) for reading out the image data and forming a set number of images by the image forming means;
It is characterized by having.
[0006]
[Action]
According to the first aspect, after reading an image of a document bundle consisting of a plurality of documents at a time, the divided recording control means divides the document bundle into a plurality of groups arbitrarily to form image data divisions. Thus, the image formation of the image data of each group can be performed sequentially. Since it is not necessary to divide the original bundle and read the image again, the copy work efficiency is improved.
[0007]
According to the second aspect, when there is a common document in the first document bundle and the second document bundle, after reading the image of the first document bundle, reading the image of the second document bundle excluding the common document Accordingly, the copy of the first document bundle and the copy of the second document bundle including the common document can be performed, and the image reading of the common document can be performed only once, thereby improving the copy work efficiency.
[0008]
【Example】
FIG. 1 shows an overall outline of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. This digital copying machine is roughly divided into a scanner 100 for reading image data from a document, a printer 200 for recording the read image data on recording paper, an image memory 300 for recording the image data read by the scanner 100, An operation unit 450 for performing input for setting various copy modes and electronic sorts and displaying to an operator, and a system control unit 500 for controlling the entire copying machine and instructing reading and writing of image data of a document. It is configured.
[0009]
As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, the scanner 100 transports a document on a contact glass 108 with the center as a reference, irradiates the surface of the document with a light source 110, and reflects light reflected by a lens 111 with a CCD (charge transfer device) 101. The image is focused on the image and read by the CCD 101. The analog image signal output from the CCD 101 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 102 in FIG. 1 and input to the A / D converter 103. The analog signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 103 (hereinafter, this digital signal is referred to as image data). After the conversion, the shading correction circuit 104 corrects the sensitivity unevenness of the CCD 101 and the light amount distribution of the lens 111 and the like, and then inputs it to the image processing circuit 105 to perform MTF correction, scaling processing, binarization. After performing various processes such as the above, the image data is transferred to the image memory 300. The clock generator 106 in the scanner 100 generates a control signal used when reading an image.
[0010]
FIG. 3 shows the relationship between each control signal and the document. The control signal includes a signal LSYNC for synchronizing in the main scanning direction, a signal LGATE indicating the maximum effective reading area in the main scanning direction, a signal * LGATEST indicating the start of LGATE, and an effective area in the sub scanning direction of the document. There are a signal FGATE to be represented and a clock signal CLK which is not shown in FIG.
[0011]
Image data sent from the scanner 100 via the coaxial cable 700 is input to the image memory 300. The image memory 300 includes a memory control unit 301 and a memory unit 302, which will be described later. The memory capacity is 64 DRAMs of 4 Mbit, and the image storage capacity is 400 DPI (dot / inch). When read by the value, it corresponds to about one AO size sheet.
[0012]
The printer 200 basically has the same process (around the drum, transport, separation, and fixing) as the analog copying machine, but irradiates the photosensitive drum 213 with a laser beam to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 213. Is formed and developed to form a copy image on recording paper.
[0013]
Next, the image memory 300 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As described above, the image memory 300 is divided into a memory unit 302 that actually records image data and a memory control unit 301 that controls a write address and a read address for the memory unit 302. Further, a write control unit 303 that controls where the image data is written in the memory unit 302, a read control unit 304 that controls where the image data is read from the memory unit 302, and a write / read address calculation. And a memory control 305 for controlling the memory unit 302 such as management, and an image data switching unit 306 for switching between writing the image data in the memory unit 302 or transmitting the image data to the printer 200 as it is.
[0014]
Further, the writing control unit 303 includes a document width detecting unit 310 for detecting the width of the document, that is, an effective area of the image data in the main scanning direction, and a document length, that is, a document length for detecting the effective area of the image data in the sub-scanning direction. The detection unit 320, a write address generation unit 330 that generates a write address to the memory unit 302, a write address setting unit 340 that sets an initial value of the address to the write address generation unit 330, and the document length detection unit 320 detects the write address. While the image data valid area signal in the sub-scanning direction is valid, it is divided into a reading line of a document, that is, a writing line counting unit 350 for counting a writing line to the memory unit 302.
[0015]
The read control unit 304 includes a read line count unit 370 that counts read lines from the memory unit 302 while the read valid signal is valid in response to the image data request signal from the printer 200; It is divided into a read address generating section 390 for generating an address, and a read address setting section 380 for initial setting an address for the read address generating section 390. The system control device 500 includes a so-called CPU and peripheral devices such as a ROM, a RAM, and an interrupt controller, and operates according to a program stored in the ROM.
[0016]
FIG. 5 shows the contents of the image forming control after the start instruction is issued. This is executed by the system control device 500 and the memory control 305. In response to the start instruction, control device 500 reads the image of the document bundle (first document bundle) (step 1). Note that, in the following, the step numbers are shown in parentheses. , The word “step” is omitted, and No. Write only numbers. At the beginning of this image reading, if there is no sort designation, the image memory 302 is cleared, and the image data generated in the subsequent image reading is sequentially written into the image memory 302. When the sort is designated, the data N of the read count register is referred to, and if it is 0, the image memory 302 is cleared and N is set to 1. If N is 1 or more, The image data is added to the image memory 302 without clearing the image memory 302. The count register is cleared when the sort designation key is pressed, and N = 0. When the image reading of the document bundle is completed, the control device 500 displays the number of pages of the document read in the image memory 302 on the operation unit 450 (2).
[0017]
(A) Then, it is checked whether or not a sort is designated (3). If there is no sort designation, the control device 500 forms an image of the image data read into the memory 302, The operations are performed in the order in which they are read into the memory 302 (4).
[0018]
(B) When a sort is specified, the control device 500 displays a prompt on the operation unit 450 to prompt the user to input the contents of the sort, and reads the input (6). In the case of division, division designation, division group No. , The first page No. of the group. And tail page No. Is entered. In the case of a change, the change instruction, the extracted page No. (Document page whose order is to be changed), insertion destination page No. (The document page immediately before the insertion position) is input. In the case of deletion, a deletion designation and a deletion page are input. In the case of addition, an additional designation is input.
[0019]
If there is a start instruction after the contents of the sort are input, control device 500 checks the contents of the sort (8, 12, 14, 16).
[0020]
(C) If division is specified, image formation of image data of each divided group is performed (9-11). In this image formation, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, when seven originals are read and divided into two groups between the fourth and fifth pages, the first group (the first group) is read. After forming the set number of copies (the number of copies) of the second group (pages 5 to 7), the set number of images are formed.
[0021]
(D) If the change is designated, the image data is read out from the image memory 302 in the order after the change according to the contents of the change, and the image is formed (13).
[0022]
(E) When deletion is specified, the deleted page is skipped and the image data is read from the image memory 302 to form an image (15).
[0023]
(F) When the addition is designated, the control device 500 waits for a start instruction (instruction to read the second bundle of originals) (7). When this arrives, the controller 500 proceeds to steps 7-8-12-14-16, and The original reading (1) is executed. At this time, since the data N of the number register is 1 or more, the image data of the read original is additionally written in the image memory 302. That is, the image data read this time is written next to the image data already written. The subsequent processing is the above (A) to (E) or this (F). That is, if none of division, change, deletion, or addition is specified in the second sort input reading (6), the control device 500 causes the image data read into the memory 302 as in (A) above. Image formation is performed in the order in which they were read into the memory 302 (5). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, after specifying the sort and writing the image data of the original of the first original bundle (first to fourth pages) to the memory 302, the second image reading is performed. When the image of the second document bundle (5th to 6th pages) is read, as shown in FIG. 7, the image data of the second document bundle is stored in the memory 302 in addition to the image data of the first document bundle. However, when the start instruction is inputted without specifying any of division, change, deletion and addition in the second sort input reading (6) after the completion, the memory 302 The image formation of the image data (pages 1 to 7) read into the memory 302 is performed in the order of reading the data into the memory 302 (5). When division, change, or deletion is designated in the second sort of input reading (6), the image data (pages 1 to 7 in FIG. 7) in the memory 302 is subjected to the above-mentioned (C). , (D) or (E). If the addition is designated again in the second sort input reading (6), the third image reading is performed.
[0024]
According to the above-described control operation, for example, after reading an image of a document bundle consisting of a plurality of documents at once, the divided recording control means divides the document bundle into a plurality of image groups in an arbitrary manner. Image formation of the image data of each group can be sequentially performed in the section (FIG. 6). This processing can be performed on the entire first document bundle (pages 1 to 4) and the second document bundle (pages 5 to 7) after the addition (FIG. 7) is performed. Since it is not necessary to divide the original bundle and read the image again, the copy work efficiency is improved. For example, if the first original bundle (first to fourth pages) and the second original bundle (pages 5, 6, 3, and 7) have a common original (third page), the sort is designated and the After reading the image of one original bundle (first to fourth pages), a start instruction is input to execute image formation (5) of the image data of the first original bundle, and the second sort is performed. Input data is specified by input reading (6), image data of the second document bundle (pages 5 to 7) is read (FIG. 7), and deletion is specified by third input reading (6). Then, the first, second, and fourth pages are deleted, and the third page is moved between the sixth and seventh pages by designating the change, and the start instruction is input, whereby the fifth and sixth pages are input. , 3 and 7 are formed as one group. Since the duplicate image reading of the common page is eliminated, the copying work efficiency is improved.
[0025]
In addition, the above-described "change" and "delete" processing eliminates the need to rearrange and read the originals again, so that the efficiency of the copying operation is greatly improved.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
Copy work efficiency when performing a sort copy of a plurality of document bundles is improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of a mechanism of the scanner 100 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a time chart showing a control signal related to image reading by the scanner 100 shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image memory related block 300 shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a part of an image reading and image forming control operation of the system control device 500 shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing, on a surface of the image memory 302, image data divisions in units of original pages after reading a bundle of originals in the embodiment shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of FIG. 1 in which after reading one bundle of originals, image data division on the image memory 302 in units of original pages and after reading another bundle of originals; FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the image data section of FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
100: Scanner 101: CCD
107: Document feed roller 108: Contact glass 109: Cover 110: Light source 111: Lens 112: Document feed roller 700: Coaxial cable

Claims (5)

Reading means for digitally reading image information on a document, memory means for storing image data obtained by the reading means, and forming image information on paper based on the image data stored in the memory means A digital copying machine having image forming means, and control means for sequentially reading image data of a plurality of documents stored in the memory means and forming an image of each read image data in the image forming means;
When the sort is designated, the data of the read count register is cleared, and when the document is read by the reading means and stored in the memory means, if the sort is designated, the data of the read count register is cleared. When the data is read, the memory means is cleared, the image data obtained by reading the document by the reading means is written into the memory means, and the data of the number register is updated to data indicating the presence of reading, and the data of the reading number register is read. Control means for notifying the memory means when the data indicates presence and adding image data obtained by reading the document by the reading means to the memory means to form one document bundle; and
According to the division designation for one document bundle read by the reading device and stored in the memory device, the image data of the one document bundle in the memory device is divided into groups between document pages, and the image data is sequentially arranged for each group. A digital copying machine, comprising: division recording control means for reading data and forming a set number of images. The digital copying machine further includes division position designation means for designating the division position by inputting a document page adjacent to the division position, and the division recording control means sets the memory in the position of the input document page. 2. The digital copying machine according to claim 1, wherein the image data of the means is divided into groups. Reading means for digitally reading image information on a document, memory means for storing image data obtained by the reading means, and forming image information on paper based on the image data stored in the memory means A digital copying machine having image forming means, and control means for sequentially reading image data of a plurality of documents stored in the memory means and forming an image of each read image data in the image forming means;
When the sort is designated, the data of the read count register is cleared, and when the document is read by the reading means and stored in the memory means, if the sort is designated, the data of the read count register is cleared. When the data is read, the memory means is cleared, the image data obtained by reading the document by the reading means is written into the memory means, and the data of the number register is updated to data indicating the presence of reading, and the data of the reading number register is read. If the data indicates presence, the image data obtained by reading the document by the reading means is not added to the memory means, but is added to the memory means to form one document bundle , read by the reading means and stored in the memory means. Reading the image data of one bundle of originals and forming the set number of images by the image forming means; In response to the additional designation of adding a document to the first document bundle, image data of the additional document is obtained by the reading means, and is added to the image data of the first document bundle in the memory means, and both are added. A digital copier comprising: a control unit for forming a set of originals, reading image data of the set of originals from the memory unit, and forming a set number of images by the image forming unit. Digital copying machine according to any of claims 1 to 3 having a readout control means for changing the order of reading the image data of one document stack stored in the memory means arbitrarily original page units. Digital copying according to any one of claims 1 to 4 having a readout control means for deleting selected part of the image data of one document stack stored in the memory means arbitrarily original page units Machine.

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