JP4306758B2 - Copying apparatus and density adjustment program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a copying apparatus and a density adjustment program, and more particularly to a copying apparatus and a density adjustment program capable of performing appropriate density adjustment and outputting even when a document to be copied is a special document. is there.

  Conventionally, in a copying apparatus, various inventions relating to density adjustment according to the form of a document to be copied have been made. Here, a special manuscript such as a copy form is cited as a type of manuscript to be copied. This copying form allows characters to be entered on a plurality of sheets at once via carbon. In the case of the copy form, characters written on a sheet located below the copy form generally tend to be thinly copied.

  When a copy form with such a tendency is used as an original, an ordinary copy apparatus recognizes characters written using a general slice level, and therefore recognizes thin characters transferred to the copy form. It was impossible to adjust the density properly.

As an invention for the above problem, an optical character reading device described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the optical character reading device described in Patent Document 1, when a copy form is targeted, the slice level is appropriately changed according to the identification mark added to each page of the copy form. As a result, the optical character reading device described in Patent Document 1 can recognize a thin character transferred to a copy form, and can perform appropriate density adjustment.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-044818

  However, in the optical character reading device described in Patent Document 1, it is assumed that an “identification mark” is added to each page constituting the copy form. Therefore, the method described in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied to a general copy-type form to which no “identification mark” is added, and appropriate density adjustment is performed in copying a general copy-type form. There is a problem that can not be done. In addition, when copying a color-printed copy-form form in monochrome, depending on the color type of the color printing portion, it is difficult to perform appropriate density adjustment, and a good copy result cannot be obtained. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and relates to a copying apparatus and a density adjustment program. In particular, the present invention relates to a case where a document to be copied is a special document (for example, a copy form). It is an object of the present invention to provide a copying apparatus and a density adjustment program that can perform appropriate density adjustment and output.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image of the original can be read in a color scan mode in which the original is scanned in color and a monochrome scan mode in which the original is scanned in monochrome. A reading unit; a storage unit that stores color image data acquired by the image reading unit based on a pre-scan of the document in a color scan mode; and each of the color image data stored in the storage unit Based on the pixel color data, the image data of the document is transferred via the carbon paper, the first component constituting the background portion of the document as the component attribute, the second component constituting the printing portion of the document, and the like. A third component constituting the transferred portion, component detection means for detecting whether or not the image is mainly divided, and the component detection means A document that is determined to be a special document having a transfer portion transferred via carbon paper when it is detected that the data is mainly divided into the first component, the second component, and the third component. When the image of the document is scanned in the monochrome scan mode by the determination unit and the image reading unit, if the document is determined to be a special document by the document determination unit, the image is read by the image reading unit. The monochrome image data further includes density adjusting means for adjusting the density value of each pixel of the monochrome image data so that the density becomes high.

  The copying apparatus according to claim 2 is the copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color data includes a red component value indicating a red component constituting a pixel and a blue component value indicating a blue component constituting the pixel. And a green component value indicating a green component constituting the pixel, and first discrimination reference data in which threshold values of a red component value, a blue component value, and a green component value corresponding to the background portion are defined. Second discrimination reference data in which threshold values of the red component value, the blue component value, and the green component value corresponding to the print portion are defined, and the red component value, the blue component value, and the green component value corresponding to the transfer portion. A discriminant reference storage means for storing discriminant reference data comprising a third discriminant reference data in which a threshold value is defined, and the component detector means color data of a target pixel that is a discrimination target by the component detector; in front First determination reference data, a second determination reference data and the third judgment reference data, by respectively comparing, and detecting the component attribute of the target pixel.

  The copying apparatus according to claim 3 is the copying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination criterion storage means is different in a combination mode of the first determination reference data, the second determination reference data, and the third determination reference data. It stores a plurality of types of discrimination reference data.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the copying apparatus according to the second or third aspect, the pixels constituting the color image data are counted for each component attribute of each pixel detected by the component detecting means. And a document discriminating unit for discriminating whether or not the document is a special document based on a counting result of the counting unit.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the copying apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein special document discrimination reference data in which the composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component of the special document is defined is stored. A document discrimination data storage unit, and the document discrimination unit calculates a composition ratio for each component attribute in the image data based on a count result for each component attribute counted by the count unit, and the image Whether or not the document is a special document is determined based on the composition ratio in the data and the special document determination reference data.

  The copying apparatus according to claim 6 is the copying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component in the special document discrimination reference data is the composition ratio of the second component. Is smaller than the component ratio of the first component, and the component ratio of the third component is smaller than the component ratio of the second component.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a copying apparatus according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein the component detecting means does not belong to any of the first component, the second component, and the third component. The original is not a special original when the composition ratio of the fourth component in the image data is greater than the composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component. It is characterized by judging.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a copying apparatus according to any one of the second to seventh aspects, wherein each of the pixels constituting the color image data of the original read by the image reading means and stored in the storage means. Based on the color data, the image data of the document is divided into the first component, the second component, and the third component, and the first component, the second component, the second component divided by the dividing unit Based on the three component red component values, blue component values, and green component values, discrimination reference data including first discrimination reference data, second discrimination reference data, and third discrimination reference data is generated, and the generated discrimination reference data Discriminant reference registering means for storing the information in the discriminant reference storage means.

  The density adjustment program according to claim 9 includes an image reading unit capable of reading an image of the document in a color scan mode for scanning the document in color and a monochrome scan mode for scanning the document in monochrome, and the image reading And a storage unit for storing color image data acquired by the printing unit. A density adjustment program executed by a copying apparatus comprising: a color scanner based on pre-scanning of a document by the image reading unit in the color scan mode; Based on the data acquisition step of storing image data in the storage means and the color data of each pixel constituting the color image data stored in the storage means, the image data of the document is the background of the document as a component attribute A first component that constitutes a portion, a second component that constitutes a printed portion of the document, and carbon paper. And a component detection step for detecting whether or not the image data is divided into the third component constituting the transferred portion, and the component detection step, the image data becomes the first component and the second component. A document determining step for determining a special document having a transfer portion transferred via carbon paper when it is detected that the component is mainly divided into the component and the third component; When the original image is scanned in the monochrome scan mode and the original determination step determines that the original is a special original, the monochrome image data read by the image reading unit is And a density adjustment step for adjusting the density value of each pixel so that the density becomes high.

  That is, the copying apparatus according to claim 1 prescans the document in the color scan mode by the image reading unit, and stores the color image data of the document in the storage unit. In the copying apparatus, when the component detection unit detects that the image data is mainly classified into the first component, the second component, and the third component as component attributes, the document determination unit detects the document. It is determined that the document is a special document including a portion transferred via carbon paper. When it is determined as “special document” by the document determination unit, the copying apparatus determines the density value of each pixel of the monochrome image data relating to the document acquired by the monochrome scanning by the image reading unit by the density adjustment unit. Adjust so that becomes darker.

  That is, according to the copying apparatus of the first aspect, based on the color data of the image data based on the original, it is determined whether or not the original is a special original including a portion transferred via the carbon paper. In addition, a general special manuscript (for example, a copy form) can also be reliably identified. As a result, the copying apparatus can appropriately adjust the density of a general special document, and can provide a good copy result to the user.

  The copying apparatus according to claim 2 compares the color data of the target pixel with the first determination reference data, the second determination reference data, and the third determination reference data by the component detection unit, respectively. The component attribute of the target pixel is detected. Here, the color data of the target pixel, the first discrimination reference data, the second discrimination reference data, and the third discrimination reference data are configured by a red component value, a blue component value, and a green component value, respectively. Therefore, the document discrimination means can discriminate the special document based on the comparison result of the red component value, the blue component value, and the green component value. That is, the copying apparatus can recognize a special document by a relatively simple process.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of types of discrimination reference data having different combinations of the first discrimination reference data, the second discrimination reference data, and the third discrimination reference data are stored in the discrimination reference storage means. Yes. That is, the copying apparatus can detect various types of special originals (for example, copy forms that have been printed in a predetermined format and have different colors in the printed portion), and can be used for various special originals. Concentration adjustment can be performed.

  In the copying apparatus according to claim 4, the document discrimination means is a special document based on a counting result obtained by counting the pixels constituting the color image data for each component attribute by the counting means. It is determined whether or not there is. That is, the copying apparatus can determine whether the document is a special document based on the tendency of the component attributes in the color image data based on the document. Thus, the copying apparatus can improve the accuracy of the special document discrimination by the document discrimination unit.

  In the copying apparatus according to claim 5, the document discrimination unit calculates the component ratio for each component attribute in the image data based on the count result for each component attribute counted by the counting unit, and the image data Based on the composition ratio and the special document determination reference data stored in the document determination data storage means, it is determined whether or not the document is a special document. That is, the copying apparatus compares the composition ratios of the first component, the second component, and the third component indicated by the special document discrimination reference data with the composition ratios of the first component, the second component, and the third component in the image data. Thus, it is determined whether or not the document is a special document, so that the special document can be determined with higher accuracy.

In the copying apparatus according to claim 6, the composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component in the special document discrimination reference data is smaller than the composition ratio of the first component. The composition ratio of the third component is defined to be smaller than the composition ratio of the second component.
That is, it is determined whether or not the image data is a special document based on whether or not the composition ratio of the image data is configured such that the background component, the print component, and the transfer portion decrease in this order. That is, since it is determined whether or not the document is a special document corresponding to the background component, the print component, and the composition ratio of the transfer portion in a general special document, the special document can be determined with higher accuracy.

  In the copying apparatus according to claim 7, in the image data, the composition ratio of the fourth component not belonging to any of the first component, the second component, and the third component is the first component, the second component, and the third component. If the ratio is larger than that, it is determined that the document is not a special document. Thereby, it is possible to easily and reliably discriminate a document of a type different from the special document (for example, a document including a photographic image).

  In the copying apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the sorting unit converts the first component, the second component, and the third component based on the color data of each pixel related to the color image data of the document read by the image reading unit. Break down. Then, the copying apparatus uses the discrimination criterion registration unit to determine the first discrimination criterion based on the first component, the second component, the red component value of the third component, the blue component value, and the green component value divided by the sorting unit. Discrimination reference data including data, second discrimination reference data, and third discrimination reference data is generated, and the discrimination reference data is stored in the discrimination reference storage means.

  That is, according to the copying apparatus, the user can newly register discrimination criterion data that is not stored in the discrimination criterion storage unit. As a result, the copying apparatus has a special type in which the discrimination reference data is not stored in the discrimination reference storage means (that is, the discrimination reference data stored at that time in the discrimination reference storage means cannot be determined as a special document). Even a document can be determined as a special document by newly registering the discrimination reference data, and the density adjustment for the special document can be performed accurately.

  Further, the density adjustment program according to the ninth aspect is executed by the copying apparatus including the image reading unit and the storage unit, and thereby, the same effect as the copying apparatus according to the first aspect can be exhibited. That is, according to the density adjustment program, based on the color data of the image data based on the original, it is determined whether or not the original is a special original including a portion transferred via carbon paper. A special original (for example, a copy form) can also be reliably identified. As a result, the copying apparatus can appropriately adjust the density of a general special document, and can provide a good copy result to the user.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a copying apparatus and a density adjustment program according to the present invention are embodied in a multifunction peripheral device 1 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a multifunction peripheral device 1 (also referred to as “MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) or (Multi Function Printer)”) in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the multifunction peripheral device 1 with the document cover 8 opened.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction peripheral device 1 is integrally provided with a printer 2 provided in the lower part, a scanner 3 provided in the upper part, and an operation panel 4 provided on the front side of the scanner 3. A printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, and a facsimile function.

  The multifunction peripheral device 1 is connected to a computer (not shown), and can record an image or document on a recording sheet (recording medium) based on image data or document data transmitted from the computer. In addition, the multifunction peripheral device 1 can record image data output from an external device such as a digital camera on a recording sheet by connecting to the external device such as a digital camera. In the multi-function peripheral device 1, various storage media such as a memory card can be loaded and image data stored in the storage medium can be recorded on a recording sheet.

In the scanner 3, a document cover 8 is attached to a document reading table 6 functioning as an FBS (Flatbed Scanner) so as to be freely opened and closed with a hinge on the back side as a fulcrum (see FIG. 2).
The document cover 8 is provided with an automatic document feeder 7 (ADF: Auto Document Feeder). A document retainer 19 is provided on the back side of the document cover 8. The document retainer 19 is a plate-like member having at least one surface formed in white, and the white surface is fixed downward (see FIG. 2). The scanner 3 functions as an image reading unit in the present invention.

  The automatic document transport mechanism 7 is a mechanism for transporting the document from the document tray 9 to the document discharge tray 10 through the document transport path. The automatic document feeder 7 is provided with a document leading edge sensor (not shown) that detects the leading edge of the document when the document is taken in. In the multifunction peripheral device 1, document conveyance control is performed with the leading edge of the document detected by the document leading edge sensor as a reference position.

On the other hand, the upper surface of the document reading table 6 is greatly opened, and the platen glass 12 is fitted into the opening. A document guide 16 is provided at one end of the upper surface of the platen glass 12 (on the left side in FIG. 2) for bringing one side of the document into contact when placing the document on the upper surface of the platen glass 12.
An image reading unit 3A (see FIG. 3) is movably disposed inside the document reading table 6. The image reading unit 3A is provided to be reciprocally movable in the sub-scanning direction (X direction). Here, a direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction X is referred to as a main scanning direction.
Further, a support member for the image reading unit 3A, a driving mechanism for the image reading unit 3A, and the like are disposed inside the document reading table 6. The details of the image reading unit 3A will be described later.

  When the scanner 3 configured as described above is used as an FBS (Flatbed Scanner), the document cover 8 is opened, a document is placed on the platen glass 12, and the document cover 8 is closed to fix the document. The document is fixed by being sandwiched between the platen glass 12 and the document presser 19. When a reading start command is input, the image reading unit 3A is scanned in the sub-scanning direction X along the back surface of the platen glass 12, and an image of the document is read.

  In this regard, when the automatic document transport mechanism 7 is used and the document is automatically transported and read, the document passes through the reading surface 13 on the document reading table 6 in the process of transporting the document by the automatic document transport mechanism 7. At this time, the image reading unit 3 </ b> A is positioned below the reading surface 13. Accordingly, when the document passes through the reading surface 13 in the document transport process, the image data of the document is read by the image reading unit 3A. Image reading by the automatic document feeder 7 is performed in a state where the document cover 8 is closed with respect to the document reading table 6.

  The printer 2 is a so-called ink jet type image recording apparatus that records an image on recording paper by selectively ejecting ink droplets based on image data read by the scanner 3 or externally input image data. Inkjet recording apparatus). As described above, the printer 2 is disposed below the scanner 3.

  An opening 5 is formed on the front side of the multifunction peripheral device 1 (that is, the front side of the printer 2). In the opening 5, a paper feed tray 14 and a paper discharge tray 15 are provided so as to be completely contained. The paper feed tray 14 and the paper discharge tray 15 are arranged in two upper and lower stages.

As shown in FIG. 1, an operation panel 4 is provided on the front side of the multifunction peripheral device 1. The operation panel 4 is an operation means for operating the printer 2 and the scanner 3 and includes an operation key 40 and an LCD 41.
The operation key 40 is provided with a cross key or a numeric keypad. Therefore, the user can input a desired command using the operation panel 4. When a predetermined command is input, the multifunction peripheral device 1 performs various operation controls based on the input command.
The LCD 41 is a so-called color liquid crystal display, and displays a setting screen, which will be described later. Details of the setting screen will be described later.

A connection panel 70 is provided above the opening 5. A USB terminal 71 is disposed on the left end side of the connection panel 70. The USB terminal 71 is a connector terminal that connects the external device and the multi-functional peripheral device 1 so that they can communicate with each other by USB connection to the external device.
A slot portion 72 is disposed on the right end side of the connection panel 70. The slot portion 72 is provided with a plurality of card slots into which a card type memory can be loaded. Therefore, in the multi-function peripheral device 1, when a card type memory is loaded into the card slot, the stored contents of the card type memory can be read.

Next, an outline of the scanner 3 according to the multifunction peripheral device 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of the scanner 3.
The image reading unit 3A reads a document by the CIS method. The image reading unit 3A includes an LED 3B, a light guide 3C, a light guide 3D, and an image sensor 3E for one line along the main scanning direction Y. The image reading unit 3A includes the sub scanning direction X It is arrange | positioned so that a reciprocation is possible.

  The LED 3B constituting the image reading unit 3A functions as a light source that emits light. The light guide 3 </ b> C converges light on the reading portion of the original G. The image sensor 3E outputs a voltage according to the intensity of the received light. The light guide 3D collects the reflected light reflected from the document G on the image sensor 3E.

  When the original G is placed on the upper surface of the platen glass 12 and the original reading button of the operation key 40 is pressed, the image reading unit 3A is conveyed to the reading start position of the original G, and reading of the original G is started. . First, the LED 3B is turned on and irradiated with light. The path of the light is changed by the light guide 3 </ b> C, and the light is irradiated as irradiation light S toward the upper side of the image sensor 3 </ b> E. Of the light reflected on the surface of the original G (platen glass 12), the reflected light R reflected toward the image sensor 3E is collected by the light guide 3D and received by the image sensor 3E. The image sensor 3E is configured by a CMOS sensor or the like, and outputs a voltage value according to the intensity of received light. The voltage value is input to the ASIC 3F. The imaging element 3E is a plurality of elements arranged in a straight line (main scanning direction Y), and one element forms one pixel in one line of image data. When one line of the original G is read, the image reading unit 3A is conveyed by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction X to read the next one line, and the next one line is read. This one-line reading and a predetermined amount of conveyance are repeated, and the entire area of the original G is read. The predetermined amount to be conveyed is set as appropriate according to the resolution set at the time of reading.

The ASIC 3F is an integrated circuit designed to output the voltage value input from each image sensor 3E as image data. Specifically, the ASIC 3F converts the voltage value input from each image sensor 3E into 16-bit numerical data, performs various data corrections, and outputs the data as image data. Here, the color data (R value, G value, B value) corresponding to one element of the image sensor 3E is formed by a 16-bit numerical value.
The image data output from the ASIC 3F is written to the image memory 23A of the RAM 23 (see FIG. 4) via the bus line 25 and stored as image data.

Next, the control system configuration of the multifunction peripheral device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the multifunction peripheral device 1.
As shown in FIG. 4, the multifunction peripheral device 1 includes a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, and an EEPROM 24. The CPU 21, ROM 22, RAM 23, and EEPROM 24 are connected via the bus line 25 to the printer 2, scanner 3, NCU 31 (network control unit), modem 32, operation key 40, LCD 41, USB terminal 71, slot 72, The amplifier 73 and the speaker 74 are mutually connected. That is, the multifunction peripheral device 1 is controlled by the CPU 21, ROM 22, and RAM 23 to realize various functions (that is, a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, and a facsimile function).

  That is, the CPU 21 controls each unit connected by the bus line 25 according to data tables and programs stored in the ROM 22, RAM 23, and EEPROM 24 and various signals transmitted and received via the NCU 31. Therefore, the CPU 21, ROM 22, RAM 23, and EEPROM 24 execute a special manuscript copy / registration processing program, which will be described later. Functions as a means.

The ROM 22 is a non-rewritable memory that stores various control programs and data tables. Specifically, the ROM 22 stores a control program 22A, a normal gamma table 22B, and a carbon original gamma table 22C. The ROM 22 stores a special document copy / registration processing program (see FIG. 6), which will be described later, as one of the control programs 22A.
The carbon document is an example of a special document represented by a copy form.

The normal gamma table 22B is a conversion table that does not change the pixel density value when copying an original, and the carbon original gamma table 22C is a conversion table that changes the pixel density value so that the density becomes higher. . The normal gamma table 22B and the carbon original gamma table 22C are selectively used based on the determination result of whether or not the original G is a “special original” in a special original copy / registration processing program (see FIG. 6) described later. .
The details of the normal gamma table 22B and the carbon original gamma table 22C are already known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The RAM 23 is a rewritable memory for storing various data. The RAM 23 is provided with various memories such as an image memory 23A. The image memory 23 </ b> A is a memory that stores image data of a document read by the scanner 3.
In a later-described special manuscript copy / registration processing program (see FIG. 6), when it is determined whether or not the manuscript G is a “special manuscript”, the image data of the image read by the scanner 3 is stored in the image memory 23A. Is remembered. Therefore, the image memory 23A functions as a storage unit in the present invention.

The EEPROM 24 is a storage means capable of freely writing stored contents. Unlike the RAM 23, the EEPROM 24 can retain the stored contents even when the power supply to the multifunction peripheral device 1 is interrupted.
In the EEPROM 24, a discrimination reference data storage area 24A and a special document discrimination reference data storage area 24B are formed.

  In the discrimination reference data storage area 24A, discrimination reference data used when discriminating the component attribute to which each pixel constituting the image data belongs in a special manuscript copy / registration processing program (see FIG. 6) described later is stored. Yes. In the discrimination reference data storage area 24A, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of types of discrimination reference data are stored. Details of these discrimination reference data will be described later in detail.

  Further, in the multi-function peripheral device 1, by executing a special manuscript copy / registration processing program (see FIG. 6), the user can register the discrimination reference data independently (S18). Therefore, the discrimination reference data uniquely registered by the user is also stored in the discrimination criteria data storage area 24A. Accordingly, the discrimination reference data storage area 24A functions as a discrimination reference storage means in the present invention.

  In the special document determination reference data storage area 24B, it is determined whether or not the document G corresponding to the image data read by the scanner 3 is a “special document (for example, a document copied with carbon paper)”. Special document discrimination reference data used at the time (S10) is stored. Therefore, the special document discrimination reference data storage area 24B functions as the document discrimination data storage means in the present invention. Details of the special document discrimination reference data will be described later in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The NCU 31 performs operations such as sending a dial signal to a telephone network (not shown) and responding to a calling signal from the telephone network. The modem 32 modulates and demodulates the image data via the NCU 31 and transmits it to the counterpart facsimile machine (not shown) and transmits and receives various procedure signals for transmission control. The USB terminal 71 is a known circuit that transmits and receives data to and from a computer via a USB cable (not shown). The amplifier 73 is a circuit for ringing the speaker 74 connected to the amplifier 73 and outputting a ringing tone or the like.

Next, the configuration of a special document that is one of the documents G will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the special document.
As shown in FIG. 5, a special manuscript (for example, a carbon copied form in a copy form) has a background portion, a print portion, and a copy portion. The background portion is a background color portion of the document G, and is a portion where no printing or entry is performed. In the case of the special document shown in FIG. 5, the “white” portion that is the background color of the special document corresponds to the background portion.

  The printed portion is a portion where the document G has already been printed. For example, in the case of the special manuscript shown in FIG. 5, the date entry column, the name entry column, and the ruled line of the table in the special manuscript correspond to the “print portion”. In the case of the original G shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the print portion is printed in “red”.

In addition, the copy portion is a portion where the so-called carbon copy is performed by transferring the ink related to the carbon paper through the carbon paper. In the case shown in FIG. 5, the “name” entered in the name entry column and the “entry part” in the table in the special manuscript correspond to the copied part.
Many carbon papers are coated with ink such as blue or red. Therefore, ink (blue or red) corresponding to the carbon paper used for the carbon copy adheres to the copy portion. In the case shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the content of the copy is copied with “blue” ink.

Next, a special manuscript copy / registration processing program executed in the multi-function peripheral device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the special manuscript copy / registration processing program.
It is assumed that the original G is set on the original reading table 6 when the execution of the special original copy / registration processing program is started.

  When the execution of the special manuscript copy / registration processing program is started, the CPU 21 first determines whether or not registration reference data is registered (S1). Specifically, the CPU 21 displays on the LCD 41 a question as to whether or not registration of discrimination reference data is to be executed, and makes a determination of S1 based on the operation of the operation key 40.

  The registration of the discrimination reference data is performed in order to perform appropriate density adjustment regarding the copy of the original when the discrimination reference data corresponding to the original to be copied by the user does not exist in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A. Executed. This point will be described in detail later.

  If it is determined that registration of the discrimination reference data is to be executed based on the operation of the operation key 40 (S1: YES), the CPU 21 stores a registration flag indicating execution of registration of the discrimination reference data in the RAM 23 (S2). The process proceeds to the prescan process (S3). On the other hand, if it is determined not to register the discrimination reference data (S1: NO), the CPU 21 determines to perform the copying process, and proceeds to the color prescan process (S3) as it is.

  After shifting to S3, the CPU 21 executes a color prescan process. In this color prescan process (S3), the CPU 21 drives the scanner 3 in the full color mode, and acquires color image data from the original G set on the original reading table 6. After storing the acquired color image data in the image memory 23A, the CPU 21 shifts the processing to S4.

  After shifting to S4, the CPU 21 identifies one pixel as a “target pixel” from pixels (hereinafter referred to as component pixels) constituting the color image data stored in the image memory 23A. After identifying the “target pixel” from the constituent pixels, the CPU 21 shifts the processing to S5.

  In S5, the CPU 21 executes color data acquisition processing. In this color data acquisition process (S5), the CPU 21 analyzes the color of the target pixel and outputs an analysis result as a histogram for each component of the three primary colors (that is, red, green, and blue). The red component analysis result is output as a “R value” histogram, and the green component analysis result is output as a “G value” histogram. Then, the analysis result of the blue component is output as a histogram of “B value”. The color data according to the present embodiment is configured based on a histogram of “R value”, a histogram of “G value”, and a histogram of “B value”.

Here, a case where the color data acquisition process (S5) is executed on the special document shown in FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of color data analysis results for the special document.
As described above, the background portion of the special document is “white”. Accordingly, when the target pixel is the background portion of the special document, as shown in FIG. 7, a histogram of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” each having a peak near “luminance: 255”. Becomes an analysis result, and color data based on the analysis result is output.

  The printed portion of the special document shown in FIG. 5 is printed in “red”. Therefore, when the target pixel is the print portion of the special document, as shown in FIG. 7, a histogram of “R value” having a peak in the vicinity of “luminance: 255” and a peak in the vicinity of “luminance: 60”. A histogram of “G value” and “B value” having “” is an analysis result, and color data based on the analysis result is output.

  Further, carbon paper “blue” ink is transferred to the copy portion of the special document shown in FIG. Therefore, when the target pixel is a printed portion of the special document, a histogram of “B value” having a peak in the vicinity of “luminance: 255” and “R value” and “G value” having a peak in the vicinity of “luminance: 120”. ”Becomes an analysis result, and color data based on the analysis result is output.

  Thus, after acquiring the color data of the target pixel based on the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”, the CPU 21 shifts the processing to the component attribute determination processing (S6). In this component attribute determination process (S6), based on the determination reference data stored in the determination reference data storage area 24A and currently set, and the color data of the target pixel acquired in the color data acquisition process (S5), This is processing for determining the component attribute of the target pixel.

  There are four types of component attributes in the present embodiment: “background component”, “printing component”, “copying component”, and “non-target component”. “Background component”, “printing component”, and “copying component” are component attributes indicating pixel components constituting the “background portion”, “printing portion”, and “copying portion”, respectively. The “non-target component” is a component attribute indicating that the pixel component does not correspond to any of “background portion”, “print portion”, and “copy portion”.

Here, the contents of the discrimination reference data and the storage contents of the discrimination reference data storage area 24A will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As described above, a plurality of types of discrimination reference data are stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A (see FIG. 8).
First, the contents of the discrimination reference data will be described in detail by taking “discrimination reference data (A)” stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A as an example. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the detailed contents of “discrimination reference data (A)”.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the discrimination reference data includes “background component discrimination reference data”, “printing component discrimination reference data”, and “copying component discrimination reference data”. In “background component determination reference data”, “printing component determination reference data”, and “copying component determination reference data”, conditions based on threshold values for “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” are defined.

For example, in the case of “discrimination reference data (A)” corresponding to the special document in FIG. 5, in “background component discrimination reference data”, “R value: greater than luminance 200” “G value: greater than luminance 200” “B” The condition “value: greater than luminance 200” is defined.
Therefore, when the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” in the color data of the target pixel satisfy all the conditions of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” in the “background component determination reference data”, The target pixel is determined to belong to the “background component”.

In the “printing component discrimination reference data” of “discrimination reference data (A)”, the conditions “R value: less than luminance 200”, “G value: less than luminance 100”, and “B value: less than luminance 100” are satisfied. It is prescribed.
Therefore, when the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” in the color data of the target pixel satisfy all the conditions of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” in the “printing component determination reference data”, The target pixel is determined to belong to the “printing component”.

In the “copying component discrimination reference data” of “discrimination reference data (A)”, the conditions “R value: less than brightness 150”, “G value: less than brightness 150”, and “B value: greater than 200 brightness” are the conditions. It is prescribed.
Accordingly, when the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” in the color data of the target pixel satisfy all the conditions of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” in the “copying component determination reference data”, The target pixel is determined to belong to the “copy component”.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of types of discrimination reference data are stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A (see FIG. 8). The “discrimination reference data (B)” and the like stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A are discrimination reference data defined so as to correspond to different special manuscripts. ) ”.

For example, the “discrimination standard data (B)” includes discrimination standard data corresponding to a special document whose “background part” is “white”, “copying part” is “blue”, and “printing part” is also “blue”. It is. Accordingly, in the case of the “discrimination reference data (B)”, the “background component discrimination reference data” and the “copy component discrimination reference data” are the same as the “discrimination reference data (A)” described above, The contents of the “reference data” (that is, the conditions based on the threshold values of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”) are different from the above-mentioned “discrimination reference data (A)”. Specifically, the content of “printing component discrimination reference data” of “discrimination reference data (B)” is set to a condition corresponding to the color “blue” of the printing component of the special document.
Thus, by setting “discrimination reference data (B)” as discrimination reference data, the component attribute of the target pixel can be discriminated even for the special document.

In the component attribute discrimination process (S6), the CPU 21 compares the color data of the target pixel with the currently set discrimination reference data to set the component attribute of the target pixel to “background component” “printing component”. It is discriminated as either “copy component” or “non-target component”. After determining the component attribute of the target pixel, the CPU 21 shifts the processing to the constituent pixel count process (S7).
As a result of comparison with “background component determination reference data”, “printing component determination reference data”, and “copying component determination reference data” in the determination reference data, the target pixel is any of “background component”, “printing component”, and “copying component”. If it is determined that the component attribute does not belong, the component attribute of the target pixel is determined as “non-target component”.

  In the component pixel count process (S7), the CPU 21 counts the number of pixels belonging to each component attribute in each component attribute unit of “background component”, “print component”, “copy component”, and “non-target component” (FIG. 10). reference). Specifically, the CPU 21 adds “1” to the component attribute count result of the target pixel based on the determination result of the component attribute determination process (S6). When the constituent pixel number counting process (S7) ends, the CPU 21 shifts the process to S8.

  After shifting to S8, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the processes of S4 to S7 have been completed for all the constituent pixels constituting the color image data acquired in the color prescan process (S3). When the process for all the constituent pixels has been completed (S8: YES), the CPU 21 shifts the process to S9. On the other hand, when the processing for all the constituent pixels has not been completed yet (S8: NO), the CPU 21 shifts the processing to S4. Thereby, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can execute the processes of S5 to S7 in which the unprocessed pixels constituting the color image data are “target pixels”.

  After shifting to S9, the CPU 21 determines whether or not there is a registration flag. Specifically, the CPU 21 refers to the RAM 23 and determines whether or not the “registration flag” stored in S2 exists. When the registration flag exists (S9: YES), the CPU 21 shifts the process to the discrimination reference data generation process (S17) in order to generate the discrimination reference data corresponding to the document G. On the other hand, when the registration flag is not stored in the RAM 23 (S9: NO), the CPU 21 shifts the process to the document type determination process (S10).

  In S10, the CPU 21 executes document type determination processing. In the document type determination process (S10), the CPU 21 configures each of the “background component”, “printing component”, “copying component”, and “non-target component” based on the counting result of the constituent pixel number counting process (S7). The ratio (ratio of the number of pixels belonging to the component attribute to the total number of constituent pixels of the color image data) is calculated. Then, the CPU 21 compares the calculated component ratio for each component attribute with the special document determination reference data to determine whether the document is a special document.

Here, the contents of the special document discrimination reference data will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram regarding the contents of the special document discrimination reference data.
As shown in FIG. 11, the special document discrimination reference data is defined by the component ratio of the “special document”.
Specifically, the special document discrimination reference data includes a “background component” component ratio of “80% to 95%”, a “print component” component ratio of “5% to 15%”, and a “copy component” component. The ratio is defined as “3% to 10%”, and the composition ratio of “non-target component” is defined as “0% to 5%”.

  In other words, in the document type determination process (S10), the CPU 21 configures the component ratio range of each component attribute defined in the special document determination reference data (see FIG. 11) as the component ratio in the color image data based on the document. In the case of the above, it is determined that “the original is a special original”. On the other hand, if even the component ratio of one component attribute is not within the component ratio range in the special document determination reference data, the CPU 21 determines that “the document is not a special document”.

  That is, the special document discrimination reference data requires that the component attribute in the color image data of the document is mainly divided into three components, “background component”, “printing component”, and “copying component”. Specifically, the special document discrimination reference data includes “at least three components of a background component, a print component, and a copy component” and “non-target component in the component attributes of color image data relating to the document. Is demanding.

Further, as can be seen from FIG. 11, the special original discrimination reference data has the largest component ratio of the “background component” in the component attribute ratio in the color image data of the original, followed by “printing component”. It is required that the composition ratio of the “copy component” be in the order.
By defining the special document determination reference data as described above, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can easily and accurately determine whether or not the document is a “special document”.

  In the document type determination process (S10), the composition ratio of each component attribute in the color image data relating to the document is compared with the special document determination reference data, and the document type of the document (that is, the currently set determination reference). After determining whether or not the document is a special document corresponding to the data, the CPU 21 proceeds to S11.

  After shifting to S11, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the document is “special document corresponding to the currently set determination reference data” based on the determination result of the document type determination process (S10). When it is determined that the original is a “special original” (S11: YES), the CPU 21 reads the carbon original gamma table 22C from the ROM 22 and sets it as a gamma table for copying the original (S14). In other words, by setting the carbon original gamma table 22C (S14), the CPU 21 performs density adjustment suitable for the special original transferred with the carbon paper when the original is copied. Thereafter, the CPU 21 shifts the process to the monochrome scan process (S15). On the other hand, if it is determined that the document is not a “special document corresponding to the currently set determination reference data” (S11: NO), the CPU 21 proceeds to S12.

After shifting to S12, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the document type determination process (S10) based on all the determination reference data stored in the determination reference data storage area 24A has been completed. If the document type determination process (S10) based on all the determination reference data has not been completed yet (S12: NO), the CPU 21 returns the process to S6.
At this time, the CPU 21 erases the calculation results such as the component attribute of each constituent pixel related to the color image data, the count result of the component attribute, and the composition ratio for each component attribute from the RAM 23 and is stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A. The discrimination reference data that has not yet been used for the processing (S6 to S11) is set.

As a result, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can execute processing (S6 to S11) based on discrimination criterion data that is stored in the discrimination criterion data storage area 24A and is different from the discrimination criterion data that is currently set. In other words, the multi-function peripheral device 1 determines whether or not the original G is a different type of special original (for example, a copy form having a predetermined format printed in advance and a different color of the printed portion). It can be performed.
That is, according to the multi-function peripheral device 1, the user simply registers the discrimination reference data in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A, and does not select and set the discrimination reference data corresponding to the document G. An adjusted copy result can be obtained.

On the other hand, when the document type determination process (S10) based on all the determination reference data has been completed (S12: YES), the CPU 21 shifts the process to S13. Here, the case of shifting to S13 is a case where it is not determined that the original G is a “special original” in any of the determination reference data stored in the determination reference data storage area 24A.
In S13, the CPU 21 reads the normal gamma table 22B from the ROM 22 and sets it as a gamma table for copying the original (S13). In this case, the density adjustment based on the normal gamma table 22 </ b> B is performed on the document in the same manner as other document types (that is, document types excluding special documents). Thereafter, the CPU 21 shifts the process to the monochrome scan process (S15).

  In S15, the CPU 21 executes a monochrome scan process. In the monochrome scan process (S15), the CPU 21 drives the scanner 3 in the monochrome mode, performs a main scan on the document G placed on the document reading table 6, and acquires monochrome image data from the document G. At this time, the monochrome image data is monochrome image data in which density adjustment is performed based on the gamma table set in S13 or S14 (that is, the normal gamma table 22B or the carbon original gamma table 22C).

  Thereafter, in S16, the CPU 21 executes a copying process. In this copying process (S16), the CPU 21 records a monochrome image based on the original G on a recording sheet conveyed from the paper feed tray 14 in accordance with the monochrome image data acquired in the monochrome scan process (S15). The details of the copying process (S16) are already known processes, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. When the copying process (S16) ends, the CPU 21 ends the special document copying / registration processing program.

  Next, when the user desires to register his / her own discrimination reference data (S1: YES, S2) and the “registration flag” is stored in the RAM 23 (S9: YES), the discrimination reference data generation process (S9: YES) S17) will be described.

  In this case, a “special document” which the user intends to register is set as a document G on the document reading table 6. Therefore, in this case, the color image data acquired in the color pre-scan process (S3) always has a predetermined ratio of pixels belonging to “background component”, “printing component”, and “copying component” (that is, special document discrimination reference data). In the ratio specified in

When the process proceeds to the discrimination reference data generation process (S17), the CPU 21 refers to the color image data acquired in the color prescan process (S3) with reference to the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” of each pixel. Pixels having the same tendency of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” (that is, the tendency of colors exhibited by the pixels) are grouped. As described above, since it is assumed that the original G is a “special original”, the color image data is basically grouped into four groups.
Then, the CPU 21 counts the number of pixels constituting each group based on the grouping result, and calculates the composition ratio of each group.

When the composition ratio of each group is calculated, the CPU 21 reads the special document determination reference data from the special document determination reference data storage area 24B, and compares the composition ratio of each component attribute in the special document determination reference data with the composition ratio of each group. Then, the component attribute corresponding to each group is specified.
For example, when the composition ratio of a certain group is “82%”, the CPU 21 specifies the component attribute of the group as “background component”.

After specifying the component attributes of each group as “background component”, “printing component”, “copying component”, and “non-target component”, the CPU 21 determines “R value”, “G value”, “B value” of the pixels belonging to each group. , “Background component determination reference data”, “printing component determination reference data”, and “copying component determination reference data” are generated.
For example, when “printing component determination reference data” is generated, the CPU 21 calculates an average value of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” of the pixels constituting the group specified as “printing component”. Then, the CPU 21 uses the calculated “average value of R values”, “average value of G values”, and “average value of B values” as a reference for values corresponding to about 10% of each average value as print component determination reference data. Is set to a threshold value of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”. The same processing is performed for “background component determination reference data” and “copying component determination reference data”.

  As a result, “background component determination reference data”, “printing component determination reference data”, and “copying component determination reference data” for the special document that the user desires to register are generated. Reference data can be generated. After generating the discrimination reference data based on the original G, which is a special manuscript, the CPU 21 proceeds to the discrimination reference data registration process (S18).

When the process proceeds to the discrimination reference data registration process (S18), the CPU 21 displays a discrimination reference data confirmation screen on the LCD 41 (see FIG. 12).
On this discrimination reference data confirmation screen, the contents of “background component discrimination reference data”, “printing component discrimination reference data”, and “copying component discrimination reference data” constituting the generated discrimination reference data are displayed. Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 12, the “printing component discrimination reference data” constituting the generated discrimination reference data is displayed, and the “R value” and “G value” in the “printing component discrimination reference data” are displayed. "" B value "setting (that is, threshold) is displayed. Here, a thick vertical line in each band graph indicates an average value of the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”, and the thin vertical lines positioned on the left and right of the thick vertical line are the above “10%”. “Values before and after” are shown.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 12, an option “background component” and an option “copy component” are displayed on the discrimination reference data confirmation screen. By selecting these options, the contents of “background component determination reference data” or “copy component determination reference data” can be displayed on the determination reference data confirmation screen. In addition, when the display contents of the discrimination reference data confirmation screen are switched by selecting the option, these options (that is, “background component”, etc.) are options indicating other components whose contents are not currently displayed. As appropriate. For example, when the content of “background component discrimination reference data” is displayed on the discrimination reference data confirmation screen, the choice “printing component” and the choice “copying component” are displayed as these choices.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the choice “decision” and the choice “erase” are displayed on the discrimination reference data confirmation screen. When the option “delete” is selected by the selection operation of the user operation key 40, the CPU 21 deletes the discrimination reference data generated in the discrimination reference data generation process (S17) from the RAM 23. On the other hand, when the option “determine” is selected as a result of the selection operation by the user, the CPU 21 reads out the discrimination reference data generated in the discrimination reference data generation process (S17) from the RAM 23, and stores the discrimination reference data in the discrimination reference data storage. Store in area 24A.
After the generated discrimination reference data is stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A or the discrimination reference data is erased, the CPU 21 ends the special manuscript copy / registration processing program.

By registering new discrimination reference data for special manuscripts for which discrimination reference data is not stored in advance, the original G relating to the registered discrimination reference data is copied based on the registration special manuscript copy / registration processing program. When this is done, the document G is copied with appropriate density adjustment.
That is, even if the multi-function peripheral device 1 is a special document that does not exist in the determination reference data storage area 24A, it can accept registration of the determination reference data related to the special document. Then, by using the discrimination reference data related to user registration, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can provide a user with a copy of which various density adjustments have been made for various special documents.

  As described above, according to the multifunction peripheral device 1 and the special manuscript copy / registration program according to this embodiment, the color data (“R value”, “G value”, “B value”) of the color image data based on the manuscript G. ) To determine whether or not the original G is a “special original” (S3 to S10), it is possible to reliably determine the type of original even for a special special original (for example, a copy form). As a result, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can appropriately adjust the density of a general special document (S14), and can provide a good copy result to the user (S16).

  Then, the multi-function peripheral device 1 performs color data (“R value”, “G value”, “B value”) of pixels constituting color image data, background component determination reference data, print component determination reference data, copy component determination The component attributes (“background component”, “printing component”, “copying component”, “non-target component”) of the target pixel are detected by comparing the reference data (see FIG. 9) with each other (S6). The multi-function peripheral 1 discriminates the special document based on the comparison results (S6 to S10) of the “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”. Can be recognized.

  In the multi-function peripheral device 1, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of types of discrimination reference data ("discrimination reference data (A)", "discrimination reference data (B)", etc.) are stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A. Is stored. That is, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can discriminate various types of special manuscripts (for example, copy forms that have a predetermined format printed in advance and different colors in the printed portion). Appropriate concentration adjustment can be made.

  Then, the multi-function peripheral device 1 counts the pixels constituting the color image data for each component attribute of each pixel (S7), and the document is a special document based on the component attribute composition ratio based on the count result. It is determined whether or not there is (S10). As a result, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can more accurately determine “special document”.

  The special document discrimination reference data of the multi-function peripheral device 1 has the largest component ratio of “background component” in principle, followed by the component ratio of “print component”, “copy component” "In the order of the composition ratio. This magnitude relationship of the composition ratios is consistent with the general composition ratio tendency of “special manuscripts”. Therefore, the multifunction peripheral device 1 can discriminate the “special manuscript” with higher accuracy by using the special manuscript discrimination reference data.

  Further, in the document type determination process (S10), the multifunction peripheral device 1 determines that the document is “not a special document” when the document does not satisfy the “non-target component” condition in the special document determination reference data. To do. Thereby, it is possible to easily and reliably discriminate a document of a type different from the special document (for example, a document including a photographic image).

  The multifunction peripheral device 1 can perform user registration of the discrimination reference data by executing the discrimination reference data generation process (S17) and the discrimination reference data registration process (S18). As a result, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can discriminate a special document that does not have the discrimination reference data stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A as a special document. That is, the multi-function peripheral device 1 can accurately adjust the density even for a special document for which the discrimination reference data is not stored in advance, and provide a good copy result to the user.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be easily made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be done.

  For example, in the present embodiment, when registering discrimination standard data for a special document owned by the user, it is possible to select only the choice “decision” or option “erase” on the discrimination standard data confirmation screen (see FIG. 12). However, the present invention is not limited to this mode. For example, by inputting threshold values of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” with the operation keys 40, the contents of the discrimination reference data generated in the discrimination reference data generation process (S17) can be appropriately corrected. It is also possible to configure.

In this embodiment, when registering the discrimination reference data for the special document owned by the user, the “R value”, “G value”, “B” based on the color image data acquired in the color prescan process (S3). The discriminant reference data is generated based on the “value”, but is not limited to this mode.
For example, the user operates the operation key 40 to directly set threshold values of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” related to “background component determination reference data”, “printing component determination reference data”, and “copying component determination reference data”. It is also possible to configure to generate discrimination reference data by inputting.

Specifically, in the discrimination reference data generation process (S17), the display shown in FIG. 12 is performed on the LCD 41, and “background component discrimination reference data” “printing component discrimination reference data” according to the operation of the operation key 40 by the user. “R value”, “G value”, and “B value” threshold values related to “copying component determination reference data” are determined.
In this case, it is desirable for the LCD 41 to display “color” on the same screen based on the determined threshold values of “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”. With this configuration, the user can compare the color of the special manuscript he has with the “color” indicated by the content he has set. Thus, even when the discrimination reference data is manually registered, the user registers the discrimination reference data capable of discriminating the “special document” with higher accuracy in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A of the multi-function peripheral device 1. Can do.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the processing (S6 to S11) related to all the discrimination reference data stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A can be executed, but the present invention is not limited to this mode. Absent. That is, the user can set the discrimination reference data corresponding to the document G from the discrimination reference data stored in the discrimination reference data storage area 24A.
In this case, when the user selects and sets the determination reference data corresponding to the document G, it is desirable that the content of the determination reference data that the user is trying to set is displayed on the LCD 41. For example, by performing the display as shown in FIG. 12 on the LCD 41, the user can compare the document G with the contents of the discrimination standard data to be selected, and can select appropriate discrimination standard data. .

  In the present embodiment, the processing in the multi-function peripheral apparatus has been described. However, the processing may be performed in a single-function apparatus such as a copying apparatus or a facsimile apparatus that includes the scanner 3.

  In this embodiment, monochrome image data read by the scanner 3 and density-adjusted is transmitted to the printer 2. However, even if the facsimile image is transmitted to another facsimile machine or a multifunction peripheral device by facsimile transmission. good. In this regard, the monochrome image data can be configured to be transmitted to a personal computer.

1 is an external perspective view of a multifunction peripheral device according to an embodiment. 2 is an external perspective view showing a multifunction peripheral device with a document cover open. FIG. It is a front sectional view showing roughly the composition of a scanner. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the multifunction peripheral device which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows a specific example of a special manuscript. 6 is a flowchart of a special manuscript copy / registration processing program according to the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the color data (Histogram of "R value" "G value" "B value") acquired by a color data acquisition process. It is explanatory drawing regarding the structure and memory content of a discrimination | determination reference | standard data storage area. It is explanatory drawing regarding one specific example which shows the content of the discrimination | determination reference | standard data. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the structure ratio for every component attribute at the time of document type discrimination | determination processing, or a count result of the number of constituent pixels. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of the special original discrimination reference data memorize | stored in a special original discrimination reference data storage area. It is explanatory drawing which shows the discrimination reference data confirmation screen displayed on LCD.

Explanation of symbols

1 Multifunctional peripheral device 3 Scanner 21 CPU
22 ROM
23 RAM
23A Image memory 24 EEPROM
24A Discrimination reference data storage area 24B Special document discrimination reference data storage area

Claims (9)

An image reading unit capable of reading an image of the document in a color scan mode for scanning the document in color and a monochrome scan mode for scanning the document in monochrome;
Storage means for storing color image data acquired by the image reading means based on a pre-scan of the document in the color scan mode;
Based on the color data of each pixel constituting the color image data stored in the storage means, the image data of the document includes a first component constituting a background portion of the document as a component attribute and a print portion of the document. Component detection means for detecting whether or not the second component is mainly divided into a third component that constitutes a transfer portion transferred via carbon paper; and
A special portion having a transfer portion transferred via carbon paper when the component detection means detects that the image data is mainly divided into the first component, the second component, and the third component. Document discrimination means for discriminating that the document is a document;
When the image reading unit scans the image of the document in the monochrome scan mode and the document determination unit determines that the document is a special document, the monochrome image data read by the image reading unit And a density adjusting means for adjusting the density value of each pixel of the monochrome image data so as to increase the density. The copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The color data is
A histogram composed of a red component value indicating a red component constituting a pixel, a blue component value indicating a blue component constituting the pixel, and a green component value indicating a green component constituting the pixel;
First discrimination reference data in which threshold values for the red component value, blue component value, and green component value corresponding to the background portion are defined, and threshold values for the red component value, blue component value, and green component value corresponding to the print portion are set. Discrimination in which discrimination reference data including defined second discrimination reference data and third discrimination reference data in which threshold values of a red component value, a blue component value, and a green component value corresponding to the transfer portion are defined is stored Comprising reference storage means;
The component detection means includes
By comparing the color data of the target pixel that is the discrimination target by the component detection means with the first discrimination reference data, the second discrimination reference data, and the third discrimination reference data, respectively, the component attribute of the target pixel is determined. A copying apparatus characterized by detecting. The copying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The discrimination criterion storage means is
A copying apparatus, wherein a plurality of types of discrimination reference data having different combinations of the first discrimination reference data, the second discrimination reference data, and the third discrimination reference data are stored. In the copying apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
A counting unit that counts the pixels constituting the color image data for each component attribute of each pixel detected by the component detection unit;
The document discrimination means includes
A copying apparatus characterized by determining whether or not the original is a special original based on a counting result by the counting means. The copying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
Document discrimination data storage means storing special document discrimination reference data in which the composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component of the special document is defined;
The document discrimination means includes
Based on the counting result for each component attribute counted by the counting means, the composition ratio for each component attribute in the image data is calculated, and based on the composition ratio in the image data and the special document discrimination reference data, A copying apparatus for determining whether or not a document is a special document. The copying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component in the special document discrimination reference data is as follows:
2. A copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a composition ratio of the second component is smaller than a composition ratio of the first component, and a composition ratio of the third component is smaller than a composition ratio of the second component. The copying apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6,
The component detection means includes
Detecting a fourth component that does not belong to any of the first component, the second component, and the third component;
The document discrimination means includes
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the composition ratio of the fourth component in the image data is larger than the composition ratio of the first component, the second component, and the third component, the document is determined not to be a special document. The copying apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7,
Based on the color data of each pixel constituting the color image data of the original document read by the image reading means and stored in the storage means, the original image data is converted into the first component, the second component, A classifying means for classifying into a third component;
Based on the first component, the second component, the red component value of the third component, the blue component value, and the green component value divided by the sorting means, the first discrimination reference data, the second discrimination reference data, the third discrimination criterion A copying apparatus comprising: discrimination criterion data comprising data, and discrimination criterion registration means for storing the generated discrimination reference data in the discrimination criterion storage means. An image reading unit capable of reading an image of the document and color image data acquired by the image reading unit are stored in a color scan mode for scanning the document in color and a monochrome scan mode for scanning the document in monochrome. A density adjustment program executed by a copying apparatus comprising a storage means,
A data acquisition step of storing color image data in the storage unit based on a pre-scan of the document by the image reading unit in the color scan mode;
Based on the color data of each pixel constituting the color image data stored in the storage means, the image data of the document includes a first component constituting a background portion of the document as a component attribute and a print portion of the document. A component detection step for detecting whether or not the second component is mainly divided into a third component that constitutes a transfer portion transferred via carbon paper; and
A special portion having a transfer portion transferred via carbon paper when the component detection step detects that the image data is mainly divided into the first component, the second component, and the third component; A document determination step for determining that the document is a document;
When the image reading unit scans the image of the document in the monochrome scan mode and the document determination step determines that the document is a special document, the monochrome image data read by the image reading unit And a density adjustment step for adjusting the density value of each pixel of the monochrome image data so that the density becomes high.

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