JP5012778B2 - Image reading apparatus, image file storing method by image reading apparatus, and control program for image reading apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, an image file storage method using the image reading apparatus, and a control program for the image reading apparatus. The present invention particularly relates to a low-end type image reading apparatus in which a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD is omitted, an image file storage method using the image reading apparatus, and a control program for the image reading apparatus.

  In recent years, many networks used in offices and the like are equipped with a scanner having a function of scanning an original image such as a document or a photo to generate an image file and storing it in a file server or the like on the network. ing. Among such scanners, a relatively large apparatus such as a scanner-integrated multifunction peripheral stores a large-capacity memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like for temporarily storing scanned and read image data. After the image data for all pages has been read, an image file of a predetermined format such as TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) or PDF (Portable Document Format) is created in the storage device. Is transmitted to an external device such as a file server.

  On the other hand, low-priced (low-end) scanners that omit expensive large-capacity memories and HDDs have become widespread in recent years. Such scanners have built-in RAM (Random Access) as a temporary storage area for scanned original images. Memory). For example, Patent Document 1 below describes a low-end monochrome machine that stores image data read by a scanner in a primary storage device (RAM) and then transfers the image data to an external output device. However, since the RAM built in the main body generally has a small storage capacity, the low-end scanner has a problem that the file format that can be created, the maximum number of originals to be read, and the like are greatly limited, and the usability is poor for the user.

It is possible to use a network storage connected via a network such as NAS (Network Attached Storage) or a file server as a temporary storage area for image data read by a low-end scanner. Since the storage requires random access performance equivalent to that of a memory or HDD built in the main body, it is necessary to connect the scanner main body and the network storage by a dedicated protocol. However, in general, communication using a dedicated protocol is expensive to introduce, and the significance of using a low-end scanner is diminished.
JP 2006-1195 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-end image that can generate a large-capacity image file without using a dedicated protocol that is expensive to introduce. It is to provide a reader.

  The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.

(1) reads an original image contained in the document of a plurality of pages, an image reading apparatus to be stored in the external file storage area as an image file of a predetermined format, sequentially reads a document image contained in the document of the plurality of pages, A document reading unit that generates digital data of the document image, and a data transmission unit that sequentially transmits the digital data generated by the document reading unit to an external data temporary storage area connected to the image reading device using a standard protocol An attribute information generation unit that generates a file header and a page header, which is attribute information that forms the image file of the predetermined format together with the digital data by being added to the digital data, and a file storage area. the image of the predetermined format corresponding to the document of the plurality of pages As Airu is stored, after transmitting the file header, wherein the data temporary storage area sequentially acquires the digital data, when the digital data obtained is digital data located at the top of the page is the page The acquired digital data is transferred to the file storage area after transmitting a header, and the acquired digital data is transmitted without transmitting the page header when the acquired digital data is not digital data located at the head of a page. An image reading apparatus comprising: a data transfer unit that transfers data to the file storage area.

( 2 ) The image reading apparatus according to ( 1 ), wherein the standard protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

( 3 ) The image reading apparatus described in (1) or (2) above, wherein the predetermined format is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format).

( 4 ) When the data transfer unit fails to acquire the digital data, the data transfer unit further includes a complementary data generation unit that generates complementary data for complementing the digital data, and the data transfer unit includes the complementary data when said complementary data is generated by the generating unit, above, wherein the transfer to the file storage area by adding the attribute information to the complementary data instead of the digital data of (1) to (3) The image reading apparatus according to any one of the above.

( 5 ) The image reading apparatus according to ( 4 ), wherein the complementary data is equal to the digital data previously acquired from the data temporary storage area by the data transfer unit.

( 6 ) The image reading apparatus according to ( 4 ), wherein the complementary data is digital data representing a blank original.

( 7 ) A file storage method executed in an image reading apparatus for reading a document image included in a plurality of pages of a document and storing it in an external file storage area as an image file of a predetermined format, which is included in the plurality of pages of the document. sequentially reading the document image, wherein the step (a) for generating digital data of the document image, wherein step (a) an external data temporary connected to the image reading apparatus by the generated said digital data standard protocols A step (B) of sequentially transmitting to a storage area, and a step of generating a file header and a page header, which are attribute information that is added to the digital data to form the image file of the predetermined format together with the digital data (C), and the original of the plurality of pages in the file storage area As the image file of the predetermined format corresponding is stored in the after transmitting the file header, the data sequentially acquires the digital data from the temporary storage area, located at the beginning of the acquired digital data page If the acquired digital data is not digital data located at the head of the page, the acquired digital data is transferred to the file storage area after transmitting the page header. method characterized by comprising the step (D) for transferring said digital data to which the acquired without sending the file storage area, a.

( 8 ) The method according to ( 7 ) above, wherein the standard protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

( 9 ) The method according to ( 7 ) or ( 8 ), wherein the predetermined format is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format).

( 10 ) When the acquisition of the digital data in the step (D) is unsuccessful, the method further includes a step (a) of generating complementary data for complementing the digital data, wherein the step (D) , above, characterized in the if the complementary data is generated in step (a), be forwarded the attribute information is added to the complement data instead of the digital data in the file storage area (7 ) To ( 9 ).

(11) the complementary data, the method according to (10) equal to said digital data obtained in the previous time from the data temporary storage area the in step (D).

( 12 ) The method according to ( 10 ), wherein the complementary data is digital data representing a blank original.

( 13 ) A program for controlling an image reading apparatus that reads a document image included in a plurality of pages of document and stores it in an external file storage area as an image file of a predetermined format, and is included in the document of the plurality of pages. A procedure (A) for sequentially reading a document image and generating digital data of the document image, and temporarily storing the digital data generated in the procedure (A) connected to the image reading device by a standard protocol A procedure (B) for sequentially transmitting to an area, and a procedure for generating a file header and a page header, which are attribute information that is added to the digital data to form the image file of the predetermined format together with the digital data ( and C), the predetermined marks corresponding to the document of the plurality of pages in the file storage area As the image file of Matto is stored, after transmitting the file header, the data sequentially acquires the digital data from the temporary storage area, the digital data obtained is digital data located at the top of the page When the acquired digital data is transferred to the file storage area after transmitting the page header, and the acquired digital data is not the digital data located at the head of the page, the page header is not transmitted. a program characterized by executing steps of transferring the acquired digital data in the file storage area and (D), to the image reading apparatus.

( 14 ) The program according to ( 13 ) above, wherein the standard protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

( 15 ) The program according to ( 13 ) or ( 14 ), wherein the predetermined format is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format).

( 16 ) When the acquisition of the digital data in the step (D) is unsuccessful, the image reading apparatus is further caused to execute a step (a) for generating complementary data for complementing the digital data, In the step (D), when the complementary data is generated in the step (a), the attribute information is added to the complementary data instead of the digital data and transferred to the file storage area. The program according to any one of ( 13 ) to ( 15 ) above, which is characterized.

( 17 ) The program according to ( 16 ), wherein the complementary data is equal to the digital data previously acquired from the data temporary storage area in the procedure (D).

( 18 ) The program according to ( 16 ), wherein the complementary data is digital data representing a blank original.

( 19 ) A computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to any one of ( 13 ) to ( 18 ).

  The image reading apparatus of the present invention sequentially acquires the image data temporarily stored in the temporary storage area, and transfers the image file in the format by adding the attribute information of the predetermined format to the file storage area. Can be generated. Therefore, it is possible to generate an image file in a predetermined format without randomly accessing the data in the temporary storage area, and as a communication protocol between the image reading apparatus and the temporary storage area and file storage area, a dedicated installation cost is high. It is possible to use an inexpensive standard protocol instead of a protocol. As a result, an image reading system capable of creating a large-capacity image file with a low-end image reading apparatus can be introduced at a very low cost.

-Overall system configuration (Figure 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an image reading system A to which an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming system A according to the present embodiment reads digital data of a document image such as a document or a photograph, generates an image file of a predetermined format from the digital data, and external devices on a network such as a file server. A scanner 1 as an image reading device stored in the image storage device, a temporary storage server 2 for temporarily storing digital data read by the scanner 1, and a file storage server 3 for storing an image file generated by the scanner 1. These are connected via a communication network 4. However, the types and the number of devices connected to the communication network 4 are not limited to the example shown in FIG. Note that the scanner 1, the temporary storage server 2, and the file storage server 3 communicate with each other using a standard protocol such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Here, in the present invention, the “standard protocol” mainly refers to an Internet standard protocol published as RFC (Request For Comment) by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), and has specifications such as SMB (Server Message Block). , Including the de facto standard protocol that is not publicly available but whose specifications can be obtained by entering into a contract with the rights holder.

  Subsequently, the configuration of each device will be described. However, each device may include a component other than the components described later, or may not include some of the components described later. Good. In addition, portions having similar functions in each device are described only for the first time in order to avoid duplication of description, and descriptions thereof are omitted for the second and subsequent times.

-Configuration of the scanner (Fig. 2)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the scanner 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the scanner 1 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an image reading unit 13, an operation unit 14, and a communication interface 15, which are mutually connected via a bus 16 for exchanging signals. It is connected to the. The scanner 1 is a so-called low-end scanner, and does not include a large-capacity memory or a hard disk for temporarily storing digital data of a document image read by the image reading unit 13.

  The control unit 11 is a CPU, and controls the above units and performs various calculations according to a program. The storage unit 12 includes a ROM 12a that stores various programs and parameters for controlling the basic operation of the scanner 1, and a RAM 12b that temporarily stores programs, data, and the like as work areas.

  Here, the ROM 12a, in particular, reads the digital data of the document image by the image reading unit 13, writes the data into the RAM 12b, and the digital data written in the RAM 12b to the temporary storage server 2 via the communication interface 15. A program for transmission and attribute information (for example, a TIFF file) that is added to digital data read by the image reading unit 13 to form an image file of a predetermined format (for example, TIFF) that represents a document image together with the digital data. A program for generating a file header, a page header, etc.) and digital data temporarily stored in the temporary storage server 2 so as to store an image file of a predetermined format in the file storage server 3, Add attribute information Program for transferring the Airu storage server 3 is stored. These will be further described later.

  The RAM 12b includes a setting RAM 12b1 for storing various setting parameters of the scanner 1 acquired by the operation unit 14, and an image RAM 12b2 for writing digital data of a document image read mainly by the image reading unit 13. Comprising. Here, the setting RAM 12b1 includes a setting storage table for storing transmission parameters described later, and the image RAM 12b2 is an image data management table for managing digital data transmitted to the temporary storage server 2 for temporary storage. including. These tables will be further described later. Note that the setting RAM 12b1 and the image RAM 12b2 may be the same device, or may be different types of storage devices such as an HDD and a flash memory.

  The image reading unit 13 emits light from a light source such as a fluorescent lamp with respect to a document set at a predetermined reading position on a document table or a document conveyed to a predetermined reading position by an ADF (Auto Document Feeder automatic document feeder). , And the reflected light is scanned by a light receiving element such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor to generate digital data of the original image. The above series of operations is referred to as a “scan operation”. In this embodiment, digital data (hereinafter also simply referred to as “image data”) of a document image generated by a scanning operation is written in the image RAM 12b2, but communication is performed when the free space in the image RAM 12b2 becomes a certain value or less. It is transferred to the temporary storage server 2 via the interface. This point will be further described later.

  The operation unit 14 is an operation panel including a display device such as an LCD for displaying various types of information to the user, and an input device such as a touch panel and a keyboard for acquiring setting values and the like related to the scanning operation from the user. The communication interface 15 is an interface for communicating with devices on the network 4 such as the temporary storage server 2 and the file storage server 3, and has standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, and FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface). Used.

-Server configuration (Figure 3)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the temporary storage server 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the temporary storage server 2 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, an operation unit 23, an image reading unit 24, a printing unit 25, a post-processing unit 26, a paper feeding unit 27, and a communication interface 28. These are connected to each other via a bus 29 for exchanging signals. Hereinafter, these components will be described in order. Since the configuration of the file storage server 3 is the same as that of the temporary storage server 2, the description thereof is omitted.

  The control unit 21 is a CPU, and controls the above units and performs various arithmetic processes according to a program. The storage unit 22 is a ROM that stores various programs and parameters for controlling basic operations of the temporary storage server 2, a RAM that temporarily stores programs and data as a work area, and an OS (operating system, basic software) and temporary It includes a hard disk for storing programs, parameters, and the like for controlling various operations of the storage server 2.

  The display unit 23 is a display device such as a CRT display or a liquid crystal display, and displays various types of information to the user. The input device 24 is a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, and is used by a user who performs various inputs to the temporary storage server 2. The communication interface 25 is an interface for connecting to the network 4 and communicating with other devices on the network 4, and standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, and FDDI are used.

  According to the image reading system A having the above configuration, an image file of a predetermined format is generated without random access to the temporary storage server 2 that is a temporary storage destination of the image data generated by the scanner 1 and stored in the file storage server 3. Therefore, it is possible to connect the scanner 1 to the temporary storage server 2 and the file storage server 3 by an inexpensive standard protocol rather than a dedicated protocol that is expensive to introduce. Hereinafter, an outline of the operation of the scanner 1 of the present embodiment for realizing it will be described.

-Scanner processing (FIGS. 4 to 6)
・ Image file generation / transfer processing (Fig. 4)
Next, an outline of the operation of the scanner 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 shows a procedure of processing (hereinafter also simply referred to as “image file generation / storage processing”) in which the scanner 1 according to the present embodiment reads an original image and stores it in the file storage server 3 as an image file of a predetermined format. It is an example of a flowchart. The algorithm shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is stored as a control program in the ROM 12a of the storage unit 12, and is read out and executed by the control unit 11 when the operation is started. In the following example, the format of the image file generated by the scanner 1 is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format).

  First, the scanner 1 waits until it receives an instruction to start setting of image file generation / storage processing (NO in S101). Such an instruction is received, for example, when the user performs a predetermined operation on the operation unit 13.

  When the scanner 1 receives the above instruction (YES in S101), the scanner 1 displays a UI screen for the user to input transmission parameters on the display device of the operation unit 13 (S102). Here, the transmission parameter is information necessary for accessing each server such as the server name, directory name, login ID, login password, and data communication port number of the temporary storage server 2 and the file storage server 3. In addition, various setting parameters for the scanning operation such as image size, resolution, color setting, and file format are included. Note that such transmission parameters may be set automatically based on a document placed on a document table or the like, or may be set based on an initial value stored in advance in the storage device 12.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 continues to display the above-described UI screen until an instruction for confirming transmission parameters is received (NO in S103). When an instruction for confirming transmission parameters is accepted (YES in S103), the document is placed on the document table or the ADF. A message prompting the user to set is displayed on the display device of the operation unit 13 (S104). Here, the transmission parameter confirmation instruction is accepted, for example, when the user who has input the transmission parameter on the above-described UI screen presses a confirmation button or the like provided on the screen. The transmission parameters determined in S103 are registered in the setting storage table in the setting RAM 12b1, and are read in the image data temporary storage process (S204) described later.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 continues to display the message of S104 until it detects a document set on the document table or the ADF (NO in S105), and when it detects a document (YES in S105), issues an instruction to start reading the document. A message prompting the user to be displayed is displayed on the display device of the operation unit 13 (S106). If the scanner 1 does not have a function of detecting a document set on the document table or the ADF, S105 is omitted.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 continues to display the message in S106 until receiving an instruction to start reading the document (NO in S107). Here, an instruction to start reading a document is received, for example, when the user presses a button or the like provided on the above-described UI screen. When the scanner 1 receives an instruction to start reading a document (YES in S107), the scanner 1 executes the document reading process in S108, and further executes the data transfer process in S109 and ends the series of processes. As a result, the TIFF file of the document image is stored in a predetermined folder of the file storage server 3. Details of the document reading process (S108) and the data transfer process (S109) will be described later.

-Document reading process (Fig. 5)
Next, the procedure of the document reading process (S108) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, the scanner 1 performs a scanning operation on the document set on the document table or the ADF by the image reading unit 13 (S201). Then, the scanner 1 writes the digital data (image data) of the document image generated by the scanning operation of S201 into the image RAM 12b of the storage unit 12 (S202). At this time, the image data may be compressed by a predetermined compression method and then written to the image RAM 12b.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 determines whether or not the image data in the image RAM 12b should be temporarily stored in the temporary storage server 2 (S203). More specifically, the scanner 1 determines whether or not the free space in the image RAM 12b is below a predetermined value. If it is determined that the image data in the image RAM 12b should be temporarily stored in the temporary storage server 2 (YES in S203), the image data temporary storage process in S204 is executed, and then the process proceeds to S205 described later. If not (NO in S203), the process proceeds to S205 without executing the image data temporary storage process. Details of the image data temporary storage processing in S204 will be described later.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 determines whether or not the scanning operation (S201) for all the originals has been completed (S205). If completed (YES in S205), the scanner 1 returns (return) to the flowchart of FIG. If it has not been completed (NO in S205), the processing from S201 onward is repeatedly executed for the remaining originals.

・ Image data temporary storage processing (Fig. 6)
Next, the procedure of the image data temporary storage process (S204) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, the scanner 1 registers information related to image data transmitted to the temporary storage server 2 for temporary storage in the image data management table (described above) in the image RAM 12b2.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the image data management table T. As illustrated in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the image data management table T includes “file name (File Name)”, “page number (Page)”, “capacity (Size)”, “ Information such as “transmission status (Status)” is recorded. Here, the “transmission status (Status)” indicates whether transmission of the image data to the temporary storage server 2 is complete (Complete), failure (Aborted), or processing (Processing). When the data temporary storage process (S204) is started, “Processing” is being performed.

  Subsequently, the PC 1 reads the transmission parameters (server name, directory name, login ID, login password, port number, etc.) registered in the setting storage table in the setting RAM 12b1 in S103 (S302). Then, referring to the read parameters, connection to the temporary storage server 2 is attempted (S303). Here, in this example, the scanner 1 establishes a connection with the temporary storage server 2 by TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). The procedure will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network packet when connected to the temporary storage server 2. The scanner 1 refers to the server name (IP address: 192.168.0.3), port number (21), etc. included in the transmission parameter, and performs temporary storage server in the following procedures (i) to (iii). 2 is established. The server name can be managed as a domain name instead of the following IP address, and the domain name can be converted into an IP address by a DNS inquiry function implemented in the scanner 1 at the time of a connection request.

  (I) The scanner 1 (IP address: 192.168.0.3) transmits a “SYN” packet for a connection request to the temporary storage server 2 (IP address: 192.168.0.3).

  (Ii) The temporary storage server 2 that has received the “SYN” packet transmits an “SNY ACK” packet for permitting connection to the scanner 1 and simultaneously stores an area for storing information for connection with the scanner 1. Secure within.

  (Iii) Upon receiving the “SYN ACK” packet, the scanner 1 transmits an “ACK” packet indicating the start of connection to the temporary storage server 2 and starts communication with the temporary storage server 2.

  When the scanner 1 is successfully connected to the temporary storage server 2 by the above procedure (NO in S304), the scanner 1 attempts to log in to the server (S305). On the other hand, if the connection with the temporary storage server 2 fails (YES in S304), the transmission status is changed to “Aborted” (S313), and it is registered in the image data management table (S315). Return to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (return).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a command at the time of login attempt. In FIG. 9, “user1” and “pass1” are the login ID and login password read by the scanner 1 from the setting storage table. When the scanner 1 succeeds in logging in to the temporary storage server 2 by a command as shown in FIG. 9 (NO in S306), the scanner 1 tries to move to the transmission destination directory (S307). On the other hand, if the login to the temporary storage server 2 fails (YES in S306), the transmission status is changed to “Aborted” (S314), and the connection with the temporary storage server 2 is terminated (S312). Then, after updating the image data management table T (S315), the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (return). However, it is possible to change the transmission status to “Aborted” only when the login is failed and the login is continuously failed, instead of immediately changing the transmission status if the login fails. .

  Subsequently, when the scanner 1 succeeds in moving to the transmission destination directory (NO in S308), the scanner 1 tries to transmit image data to the directory (S309). On the other hand, if the transfer to the destination directory fails (YES in S308), the transmission status is changed to “Aborted” (S314), and the connection with the temporary storage server 2 is terminated (S312). Then, after updating the image data management table T (S315), the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (return). FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a command used when the scanner 1 moves to the transmission destination directory of the temporary storage server and transmits image data. In FIG. 10, “/ DataDirectory /” is the directory name read from the setting storage table, and “00000001.dat” is the file name registered in the image data management table T1 in S301.

  Subsequently, when the scanner 1 successfully transmits the image data to the transmission destination directory (NO in S310), the scanner 1 changes the transmission status to “Complete” (S311), and then connects to the temporary storage server 2. Is finished (S312). Then, after updating the image data management table T (S315), the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (return). On the other hand, if the transmission of the image data fails (YES in S310), the transmission status is changed to “Aborted” (S314), and the connection with the temporary storage server 2 is terminated (S312). Then, after updating the image data management table T (S315), the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 5 (return). However, if the data transmission fails, the procedure does not change the transmission status immediately, but tries to transmit the data again and changes the transmission status to “Aborted” only when the data transmission fails continuously. Is possible. FIG. 11 is an example of a command when the scanner 1 logs out from the temporary storage server 2, and FIG. 12 is an example of a network packet when the scanner 1 ends the connection with the temporary storage server 2.

  4 and 5 again, the scanner 1 performs the image data temporary storage process (S204) as shown in FIG. 6 on all the image data generated by the scanning operation (S205). YES), data transfer processing (S109) for transferring to the file storage server 3 while adding attribute information (file header, page header, etc.) for generating the TIFF file to the image data in the temporary storage server 2 is executed. As a result of such data transfer processing (S109), the file storage server 3 stores the TIFF file of the document image.

Data transfer process (S109)
Next, the procedure of the data transfer process (S109) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, the scanner 1 reads information necessary for connection to the file storage server 3 such as the server name, directory name, login ID, login password, and port number of the file storage server 3 from the setting storage table (S401). ). Subsequently, the scanner 1 logs in to the file storage server 3 (S402) and moves to the file storage destination directory (S403). The specific procedure at this time is the same as S303 to S307 in FIG.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 creates a file header of the TIFF file (S404) and transfers it to the file storage server 3 (S405). Here, the file header of the TIFF file is information for identifying each TIFF file, and there is only one at the head of the file. The file header includes information such as a byte order, a version number, and an image file directory (IFD: Image File Directory) of the first page. The byte order is an ASCII code representing the byte order of multibyte data constituting the TIFF file. The IDF is a set of data that stores pointers to various parameters, image data, and the like constituting each page of the TIFF file.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 executes an image data acquisition process (S406) for acquiring image data from the temporary storage server 2. Hereinafter, a specific procedure of the image data acquisition process will be described with reference to FIG.

Image data acquisition process (Fig. 14)
First, the scanner 1 reads the file name (“File Name”) of image data to be acquired from the temporary storage server 2 with reference to the image data management table T in the image RAM 12b2 (S501). Subsequently, the scanner 1 refers to the setting storage table in the setting RAM 12b1, and refers to the server name of the temporary storage server 2, the directory name in which the image data is stored, the login ID, the login password, and the temporary storage server 2. The information necessary for accessing the temporary storage server 2 such as the data communication port number is read (S502).

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 attempts to log in to the temporary storage server 2 using the information read out in S502 (S503). When the login is successful (NO in S504), the scanner 1 moves to the directory where the image data is stored. Try (S505). If the transfer to the directory is successful (NO in S506), an attempt is made to acquire the image data from which the file name is read in S501 (S507).

  When the scanner 1 fails to log in to the temporary storage server 2, move to the image data storage destination directory, or acquire image data (YES in S504, YES in S506, and YES in S508, respectively). ), Complementary data for complementing the image data is generated (s509), and this complementary data is used in place of the image data to be acquired in the subsequent processing. However, if the above login, directory move, or data acquisition fails, a complementary file is not generated immediately. Instead, login, directory move, and data acquisition are attempted again. Procedures are also possible.

  By using the above-described complementary data, even if acquisition of image data from the temporary storage server 2 fails, it is possible to prevent a part of an image file (TIFF file) to be generated later from being lost. Note that the complementary data is, for example, image data representing a blank document, the same image data as the image data acquired by the scanner 1 in the immediately preceding image file acquisition process (S406), or the like.

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 that has successfully acquired the image file (YES in S508) terminates the connection with the temporary storage server 2 (S510), and returns to the flowchart of FIG. 13 (Return). FIG. 15 shows an example of a command used when the scanner 1 acquires image data from the temporary storage server 2.

・ Continuation of file generation / storage process (Fig. 13)
Referring to FIG. 13 again, the scanner 1 determines whether the image data acquired from the temporary storage server 2 is image data positioned at the head of each page (S407), and performs processing according to the determination result. Fork. If the acquired image data is the image data located at the head of the page (YES in S407), the scanner 1 generates a page header for the page (S408), and sends it to the file storage server 3. After the transmission (S409), the process proceeds to S410 described later. Here, the page header includes information such as IFD, image size, number of image colors, compression method, and resolution of the next page. The IDF and image size of the next page can be calculated based on data registered in the image data management table. On the other hand, if the acquired image data is not the image data positioned at the head of the page (NO in S507), the process proceeds to S410 described later without generating the page header (S408) and transmitting (S409).

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 compresses the image data (or complementary data) acquired in S406 as necessary (S410), and transmits it to the file storage server 3 (S411). Note that the compression of the image data may be executed prior to the transmission of the image data to the temporary storage server 2 in the flowchart of FIG. 6 (S309).

  Subsequently, the scanner 1 repeatedly executes the processes of S406 to S411 until all the image data in the temporary storage server 2 is transferred to the file storage server 3 (NO in S412), and all the image data is transferred to the file transfer server. 3 (YES in S412), the connection with the file storage server 3 is terminated (S413), and the series of processes is terminated. As described above, the scanner 1 transfers the image data acquired from the temporary storage server 2 to the file storage server 3 while appropriately adding attribute information (file header and page header) for generating the TIFF file. Therefore, when the transfer of all the image data temporarily stored in the temporary storage server 2 is completed, the file storage server 3 stores the TIFF file of the document image read by the scanner operation.

  As described above, the scanner 1 according to the present embodiment sequentially acquires image data stored in the temporary storage server 2 and adds attribute information (file header and page header) for generating a TIFF file to the image data. By transferring to the file storage server 3, a TIFF file of the image data can be generated. Therefore, it is possible to generate an image file of a predetermined format (TIFF or the like) without randomly accessing the image data temporary storage area (temporary storage server 2). 2) and the file storage destination (file storage server 3) can be connected by an inexpensive standard protocol rather than an expensive dedicated protocol. As a result, the image reading system A capable of generating a large-capacity image file by the low-end scanner 1 without a large-capacity memory and HDD can be introduced at a very low cost.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, the format of the image file generated by the scanner 1 of the present embodiment is TIFF. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the format of the image file generated by the image reading apparatus of the present invention is PDF (Portable Other formats such as Document Format (GIF) and Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) may be used. Further, the protocol used by the image reading apparatus of the present invention for data communication with the outside is not necessarily limited to FTP, and any protocol may be used as long as image data can be communicated via a network.

  The image reading apparatus according to the present invention can be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit for executing each procedure described above, or by executing a program describing each procedure described above by the CPU. When the present invention is realized by the latter, a program for operating the image reading apparatus may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or CD-ROM, or via a network such as the Internet. May be provided online. Here, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred and stored in a ROM, a hard disk or the like. The program may be provided as a single application software, or may be incorporated in the software of the apparatus as a function of the image reading apparatus.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the temporary storage server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of image file generation / storage processing of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of image reading processing of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of image data temporary storage processing of a scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the image data management table which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the network packet at the time of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention establishes a connection with a temporary storage server. It is a figure which shows an example of the command at the time of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention performs login to a temporary storage server. It is a figure which shows an example of the command at the time of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention moves to the transmission destination directory of a temporary storage server, and transmits image data. It is a figure which shows an example of the command at the time of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention logs out from a temporary storage server. It is a figure which shows an example of the network packet at the time of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention complete | finishes a connection with a temporary storage server. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the data transfer process of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the image data acquisition process of the scanner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a command when the scanner according to an embodiment of the present invention acquires image data from a temporary storage server.

Explanation of symbols

1 scanner,
11 Control unit,
12 storage unit,
12a ROM,
12b RAM,
12b1 setting RAM,
12b2 image RAM,
13 Image reading unit,
14 operation unit,
15 communication interface,
2 temporary storage server,
3 File storage server,
4 network,
T Image data management table.

Claims (19)

An image reading device that reads a document image included in a document of a plurality of pages and stores it in an external file storage area as an image file of a predetermined format,
A document reading unit that sequentially reads document images included in the plurality of pages of document and generates digital data of the document images;
A data transmission unit for sequentially transmitting the digital data generated by the document reading unit to an external data temporary storage area connected to the image reading apparatus by a standard protocol;
An attribute information generating unit that generates a file header and a page header, which is attribute information that forms the image file of the predetermined format together with the digital data by being added to the digital data;
After transmitting the file header so that the image file of the predetermined format corresponding to the document of the plurality of pages is stored in the file storage area, the digital data is sequentially acquired from the data temporary storage area and acquired. When the digital data is digital data located at the top of a page, the obtained digital data is transferred to the file storage area after transmitting the page header, and the obtained digital data is located at the top of the page An image reading apparatus comprising: a data transfer unit that transfers the acquired digital data to the file storage area without transmitting the page header when the digital data is not to be transmitted .   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the standard protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol).   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined format is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). When the data transfer unit fails to acquire the digital data, it further includes a complementary data generation unit that generates complementary data for complementing the digital data,
The data transfer unit, when the complementary data is generated by the complementary data generation unit, adds the attribute information to the complementary data instead of the digital data and transfers it to the file storage area. the image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the complementary data is equal to the digital data previously acquired from the data temporary storage area by the data transfer unit. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the complementary data is digital data representing a blank original. A file storage method executed in an image reading apparatus that reads a document image contained in a document of a plurality of pages and stores it in an external file storage area as an image file of a predetermined format,
A step (A) of sequentially reading document images included in the plurality of pages of documents and generating digital data of the document images;
(B) sequentially transmitting the digital data generated in step (A) to an external data temporary storage area connected to the image reading device by a standard protocol;
(C) generating a file header and a page header, which are attribute information that forms the image file of the predetermined format together with the digital data by being added to the digital data;
After transmitting the file header so that the image file of the predetermined format corresponding to the document of the plurality of pages is stored in the file storage area, the digital data is sequentially acquired from the data temporary storage area and acquired. When the digital data is digital data located at the top of a page, the obtained digital data is transferred to the file storage area after transmitting the page header, and the obtained digital data is located at the top of the page method when not digital data, characterized in that it comprises a step (D) for transferring said digital data the acquired without sending the page header to the file storage area. 8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the standard protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol). The method according to claim 7 or 8 , wherein the predetermined format is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). A step (a) of generating complementary data for complementing the digital data when the acquisition of the digital data in the step (D) fails;
In the step (D), when the complementary data is generated in the step (a), the attribute information is added to the complementary data instead of the digital data and transferred to the file storage area. 10. A method according to any one of claims 7 to 9 , characterized in that The method of claim 10 , wherein the complementary data is equal to the digital data previously obtained from the data temporary storage area in the step (D). The method according to claim 10 , wherein the complementary data is digital data representing a blank original. A program for controlling an image reading apparatus that reads a document image included in a document of a plurality of pages and stores it in an external file storage area as an image file of a predetermined format,
A procedure (A) for sequentially reading document images included in the plurality of pages of documents and generating digital data of the document images;
A step (B) for sequentially transmitting the digital data generated in the step (A) to an external data temporary storage area connected to the image reading device by a standard protocol;
A procedure (C) for generating a file header and a page header, which are attribute information that forms the image file of the predetermined format together with the digital data by being added to the digital data;
After transmitting the file header so that the image file of the predetermined format corresponding to the document of the plurality of pages is stored in the file storage area, the digital data is sequentially acquired from the data temporary storage area and acquired. When the digital data is digital data located at the top of a page, the obtained digital data is transferred to the file storage area after transmitting the page header, and the obtained digital data is located at the top of the page program when not digital data, characterized in that to execute the steps (D) for transferring said digital data the acquired without sending the page header to the file storage area, to the image reading apparatus. 14. The program according to claim 13 , wherein the standard protocol is FTP (File Transfer Protocol). The program according to claim 13 or 14 , wherein the predetermined format is TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). When the acquisition of the digital data in the step (D) is unsuccessful, the image reading apparatus is further caused to execute a step (a) for generating complementary data for complementing the digital data,
In the step (D), when the complementary data is generated in the step (a), the attribute information is added to the complementary data instead of the digital data and transferred to the file storage area. The program according to any one of claims 13 to 15 , characterized in that The program according to claim 16 , wherein the complementary data is equal to the digital data previously acquired from the data temporary storage area in the procedure (D). The program according to claim 16 , wherein the complementary data is digital data representing a blank original. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program according to any one of claims 13-18.

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