JP4292088B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having a plurality of image data input / output systems, a so-called multi-function apparatus.

  In this specification, “XX document” represents a software module, and “XX document” represents a physically existing document.

  Conventionally, in software control in an image processing apparatus (generally called an MFP (multifunction apparatus)) having a plurality of image data input / output systems, processing is performed for each application (hereinafter also referred to as an application). For example, when executing a copy function application, control is performed in the order of reading → processing → printing. Similarly, in the case of an application that transmits FAX, the control is performed in the order of reading → conversion → FAX transmission.

  Since each application performs different operations, the copy function application and the FAX transmission function application need to have different reading modules. In addition, a job control unit that controls these modules also requires a job control unit for each application, such as job control for copy functions and job control for FAX transmission.

  Further, the conventional image processing apparatus is configured to execute one function at each step, and it is difficult to perform the processes in parallel. For example, in the case of multiple outputs in which both FAX transmission and storage in a hard disk (HDD) are performed as processing on the output side, in practice, FAX transmission is first performed, and when it is completed, it is stored in the HDD in parallel. This is not a process but a sequence process.

  Further, when there are a plurality of processes on the input side, that is, when multi-input multi-output processes are performed, it is very difficult to process the entire operation as one flow. Even in such a case, if it is attempted to process the entire operation as a single flow, it is necessary to prepare a control sequence assuming all possible flow of operations, and the development cost of control software is high. turn into.

  Such control for each application has a similar control module and job control unit for each application, which hinders effective use of memory resources.

  For this reason, we propose an image processing device that effectively uses memory resources by dividing the modules for realizing the functions of each application on the time axis and classifying them according to the common concept of input document, intermediate document, and output document. Has been.

  The “input document” is a module that holds the specifications and configuration of the input document and is responsible for work related to input. An “output document” is a module that retains the specifications and configuration of an output document and is responsible for work related to output. The “intermediate document” is an adjustment from input to output, and performs adjustment related to the timing of the input document and the output document. It is also a module that manages the conversion and processing of images handled in the system.

  Such an image processing apparatus treats a plurality of input documents independently, and processes a plurality of output documents continuously at the time of output to make it appear as if one document is being output.

  However, in this method, an irregular process must be performed for each output process. For example, irregular processing is required for each function such as printing processing, FAX transmission processing, and mail transmission processing, which hinders effective use of memory resources.

Conventional techniques related to image input / output processing include “document processing apparatus, document apparatus control method, and computer-readable storage medium” disclosed in Patent Document 1, and “Information Processing Method” disclosed in Patent Document 2. And system ”,“ information processing method and system ”disclosed in Patent Document 3, and“ OA device control interface structure ”disclosed in Patent Document 4.
JP 2000-135840 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-194908 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-194912 JP 2000-112865 A

  However, the inventions disclosed in Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 or Patent Document 3 all process the work of input / output jobs by dividing them into hierarchies such as documents, pages, bands, and the like. It is divided according to. That is, no consideration is given to the configuration of the entire software (input, intermediate, and output documents) and handling of a plurality of inputs and outputs.

  The invention disclosed in Patent Document 4 focuses on the usefulness of intermediate documents (user documents), effective points that can be handled as an interface independent from applications, and considers the combination of multiple inputs and outputs. It has not been.

  As described above, conventionally, a plurality of input / output documents cannot be combined and handled as a single document, so that it has not been possible to effectively use memory resources or flexibly respond to user requests.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of handling a plurality of input / output documents as a single document.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a reading unit that reads a document to generate image data, a communication unit that transmits / receives image data to / from an external device, a storage unit that stores image data, and image data. A plurality of input modules corresponding to input of image data from each of the reading unit, the communication unit, and the storage unit, and an image forming unit that forms an image corresponding to the recording medium on the recording medium. A plurality of output modules corresponding to the output of image data from each of the communication means, storage means, and image forming means, an intermediate module for transferring image data from the input module to the output module, and input via a user interface Based on the conditions, one or more input modules and one or more output modules are combined into an input module, an intermediate module, and an output module. And control means for executing processing corresponding to the condition with Yuru, intermediate module, characterized in that decomposes a plurality of documents input by a plurality of input modules to the page, to reconstruct as one document An image processing apparatus is provided.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the intermediate module preferably rearranges the pages in an arbitrary order. In addition, the intermediate module more preferably alternately arranges the pages of a plurality of documents.

In any of the above-described configurations, there is means for storing processing condition information indicating a combination of an input module and an output module, and the control means obtains image data from the input module corresponding to the processing condition information, and the processing It is preferable to transfer the image data to the output module corresponding to the condition information. In addition, it is more preferable to store a plurality of processing condition information and change the input module and the output module according to the user's selection.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus capable of handling a plurality of input / output documents as a single document.

[Principle of the Invention]
In the present invention, the software that is the object of document handling is executed by a substantial computer that controls the image processing apparatus, and is roughly divided into an input module (input document), an intermediate module (intermediate document, or a user). Document) and output module (output document).

  The document handling unit is a domain that takes a request from a user as a document operation and creates a document handling plan or an image conversion plan for realizing a function requested by the user. As shown in FIG. 1, there is request management for managing requests from users at the upper level of the document handling unit. In addition, a stream domain for executing an image conversion plan for document handling (image transfer, processing, etc.) is present under document handling.

  In the present invention, processing is delegated from a plurality of input documents to one intermediate document, or processing is delegated from one intermediate document to a plurality of output documents. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, at least one of the input document and the output document is plural, and there is one intermediate document.

  By doing so, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of modules having the same processing contents, so that memory resources can be effectively used.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention based on the above principle will be described below.

[First Embodiment]
A first embodiment in which the present invention is suitably implemented will be described. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. The image processing apparatus includes a scanner 101, a plotter 102, a compressed data storage memory 103, an image data decompression unit 104, an decompressed data decompression memory 105, an operation unit 106, a display unit 107, a CPU 108, an image data compression unit 109, and a network control unit 110. And a modem NCU unit 111.

  The scanner 101 reads a document placed on the contact glass or a document supplied to the contact glass from an ADF (not shown) and outputs image information. The plotter 102 forms an image corresponding to the image information on a medium (for example, recording paper). The compressed data storage memory 103 stores image data that has been subjected to compression processing. The image data decompression unit 104 reads the compressed image data stored in the compressed data storage memory 103 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 108, performs decompression processing, and decompresses it on the decompressed data decompression memory 105. The decompressed data expansion memory 105 holds the image data decompressed by the image data decompressing unit 104. The operation unit 106 is a user I / F for a user to input information and commands to the image processing apparatus. The display unit 107 is a device for presenting information to the user, and includes not only a device that displays character information but also a speaker, a vibrator, and the like. The CPU 108 controls the operation of the entire image processing apparatus. The image data compression unit 109 performs a compression process on the image data delivered from the CPU 108 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 108, and stores the compressed image data in the compressed data storage memory 103. The network control unit 110 is a functional unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from an external device via a transmission line (for example, a LAN cable) other than a telephone line. The modem NCU unit 111 is a functional unit for transmitting and receiving information by FAX via a telephone line (not shown). The image memory 112 stores an image read by the scanner 1 and a document received from an external device.

  The control program of the image processing apparatus is read from a non-volatile storage device (not shown) to the CPU 108 when the image processing apparatus is activated, and a domain as shown in FIG. 1 is formed.

  In the present embodiment, as an example of delegating processing from a plurality of input documents to one intermediate document, a paper document placed on an ADF (not shown) and a stored document stored on a hard disk The operation of the document handling module when two are designated as input sources will be described.

  FIG. 5 shows a module configuration of image processing software that is a target of document handling. When image processing is performed under the above conditions, two input documents, an input paper document and an input accumulation document, are used.

  When a user request (printing of a document placed on an ADF (not shown) and printing of an accumulated document) is input to the input image processing apparatus via the operation unit 106, the CPU 108 handles the instruction in document handling. Tell the department.

Upon receiving the instruction, the document handling unit dynamically creates an input paper document, an input accumulation document, an intermediate document, and an output paper document.
After each document is created, the intermediate document instructs to start a reading operation from an ADF (not shown) and instructs the input accumulation document to read the document from the HDD.
For the input paper document, the control of the reading operation from the ADF (not shown) is started, and the originals placed on the ADF (not shown) are sequentially supplied to the scanner 101 to read the originals. When all the originals have been read, the input paper document reports the end of reading to the intermediate document.

For the intermediate document, a document generated by a paper document and a stored document is decomposed to a page (image) level, and if necessary, the pages are rearranged to be reconstructed as one document.
The intermediate document passes the reconstructed document to the output paper document and requests the start of print control.

  As described above, a document input from a plurality of input documents is once decomposed to the page (image) level and reconstructed as a document again, so that one image is stored in the image processing apparatus regardless of the number of input documents. Can be handled as a document. For this reason, it is not necessary to notify the number of documents to the processing on the output side, and the independence of the modules on the input side and the output side can be improved. By increasing the independence of each module, even if a module needs to be modified, it is not necessary to modify other modules accordingly.

  In addition, since the page order can be freely rearranged when the document is reconstructed, for example, the first page of the first document → the first page of the second document → the first document It is also possible to alternately output a plurality of document pages, such as the second page →. If the order of the pages is changed in the intermediate document, the output side module does not need to rearrange the pages.

[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment in which the present invention is suitably implemented will be described. The hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, as an example of delegating processing from one intermediate document to a plurality of output documents, the document handling module when two plotters 102 and network control unit 110 are designated as output destinations. The operation will be described.

FIG. 6 shows a module configuration of image processing software that is a target of document handling. When image processing is performed under the above conditions, two output documents, an output paper document and an output delivery document, are used.
The output paper document is a module for outputting an image to a recording paper using the plotter 102. The output distribution module is a module for facsimile transmission of an image to another apparatus using the modem NCU unit 111.

  When a user request (printing of a document placed on an ADF (not shown) or printing and FAX transmission of an accumulated document) is input to the input image processing apparatus via the operation unit 106, the CPU 108 To the document handling department.

Upon receiving the instruction, the document handling unit dynamically creates an input document, an intermediate document, an output paper document, and an output delivery document. In the present embodiment, the type of input document is not specified.
After each document is created, the intermediate document starts acquiring image data from the input document. When the input document finishes passing all requested image data to the intermediate document, the input document delegates processing to the intermediate document.

  When the process is delegated from the input document, the intermediate document requests printing of the output paper document and requests FAX transmission of the output delivery document.

  The output paper document that has received the request from the intermediate document starts printing control, and when the FAX transmission of all pages is completed, the completion of the FAX transmission is reported to the intermediate document.

  The intermediate document determines that the request from the user has been completed when the completion of processing is reported from both the output paper document and the output delivery document.

By delegating work (control) from one intermediate document to a plurality of output documents, it becomes possible to control a plurality of document outputs in parallel. The intermediate document does not directly control each output document, but delegates work and waits for it to complete, so even if more documents should be treated as output (for example, printing, faxing, and sending to hard disk) If the accumulation is performed in parallel), the intermediate documents need only request output to their respective output documents, and each output document need only perform the requested work. For example, for an intermediate document, it is only necessary to request printing for an output paper document and only FAX transmission for an output distribution document. For output paper documents, only printing is required. Good.
Therefore, even if the number of documents to be handled as output increases, the control in the intermediate processing module does not become complicated.

[Third Embodiment]
A third embodiment in which the present invention is preferably implemented will be described. The hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the image processing apparatus includes three types of input documents (input paper document, storage paper document, and reception paper document) and three types of output documents (output paper document, output storage document, and output distribution document). In this case, the input / output document combinations shown in FIG. 8 are conceivable.

The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can execute various functions in combination by the user selecting a plurality of combinations from the input / output document combinations shown in FIG.
For example, when printing and FAX transmission are performed after concatenating an image read from a paper document and a document stored in the HDD, as shown in FIG. 9, the input paper document and the input storage document are input documents. And an output paper document and an output distribution document are used as output documents.

  Since the delegation of processing from each input document to the intermediate document and the delegation of processing from the intermediate document to each output document are the same as those in the first and second embodiments, redundant description will be omitted.

By using the input document and the output document in combination, any input / output combination can be easily realized regardless of the user's request.
For example, a module configuration for realizing a requested function even when a user specifies reading of a paper document on the input side and reading of an accumulated document and printing of a paper document and FAX transmission on the output side is specified. This can be realized as a combination of an intermediate document, an input paper document, an input storage document, an output paper document, and an output delivery document.

  As described above, even if the input / output document combination for performing the processing requested by the user is not registered in the image processing apparatus in advance, the user requested it by using a plurality of basic input / output document combinations. Processing can be executed. That is, even if a new function combination or a new function is added, the corresponding input / output document only changes, so there is no need to change the module structure of input document + intermediate document + output document. It can be handled simply by changing the multiplicity (number of uses) of the output document.

  Each of the above embodiments is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible.

It is a figure which shows the hierarchy of a domain. It is a figure which shows the basic module structure of a document handling. It is a figure which shows the structure of a class. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the module structure of the image processing apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the module structure of the image processing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the kind of input document and an output document. It is a figure which shows the module structure of the image processing apparatus concerning 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the combination of an input-output document. It is a figure which shows the module structure of the conventional software.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Scanner 102 Plotter 103 Compressed data storage memory 104 Image data decompression part 105 Decompression data expansion memory 106 Operation part 107 Display part 108 CPU
109 Image data compression unit 110 Network control unit 111 Modem NCU unit

Claims (5)

Reading means for reading image data to generate image data, communication means for transmitting / receiving image data to / from an external device, storage means for storing image data, and an image for forming an image corresponding to the image data on a recording medium An image processing apparatus comprising: a forming unit;
A plurality of input modules corresponding to input of image data from each of the reading unit, the communication unit, and the storage unit;
A plurality of output modules corresponding to output of image data from each of the communication unit, the storage unit, and the image forming unit;
An intermediate module for passing the image data from the input module to the output module;
Based on the condition input through the user interface, one or more input modules and one or more output modules are combined, and processing according to the condition is executed using the input module, the intermediate module, and the output module. Control means,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate module decomposes a plurality of documents input by the plurality of input modules into pages and reconstructs the documents as one document. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the intermediate module rearranges the pages in an arbitrary order . The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the intermediate module alternately arranges the pages of the plurality of documents. Means for storing processing condition information indicating a combination of the input module and the output module;
The said control means acquires the said image data from the input module according to the said processing condition information, and delivers the said image data to the output module according to this processing condition information, Any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of the processing condition information is stored, and the input module and the output module are changed according to a user selection.

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