JP5033827B2 - Image operation display apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image operation display device and an image forming apparatus.

  For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses an image forming apparatus having an image editing function. In this image forming apparatus, in the test print mode, as shown in FIG. 10 or the like of Patent Document 1, when an operator designates a margin for each side of the printing paper numerically and sets a margin area frame on the printing paper, As shown in FIG. 11 and the like, a line image of the margin area frame, a margin width for each side, and a copy image of the document are printed.

JP 2000-224400 A

  By the way, since the margin area frame setting method in the image forming apparatus involves numerically specifying the margin for each side of the rectangular printing paper having four sides, the setting of the area frame is complicated. That is, in the image forming apparatus, in order to set the area frame, the margin must be set numerically for each of the four sides of the printing paper, that is, the user must perform four designation operations. Is bad. In addition, in order to reset the area frame once set, it is necessary to input a numerical value again. Therefore, resetting the area frame is also inefficient. In the image forming apparatus used by users of various skill levels, a simple man-machine interface that is easy to understand even for inexperienced users and a simple man-machine interface is particularly desired. There is room for improvement.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to make it easier to specify an area for a displayed image than before. A second object of the present invention is to facilitate the change of area designation once made.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a display means for displaying a predetermined image based on an image signal, and a main axis relating to an image displayed on the display means, as a first solution means for an image manipulation display device. And an operation means for receiving a designation operation of three points including the first point on the main axis, the second point, and a third point other than on the main axis, and outputting an operation signal indicating the designation operation of the main axis and the three points; An image for generating an image signal indicating a rectangular area obtained by translating a line segment having both ends of the first point and the second point based on the signal to a third point in a direction orthogonal to the line segment as a designated image area The signal generation means is used.

  Further, as a second solving means related to the image operation display device, in the first solving means, the operating means accepts a three-point correction designation and outputs an operation signal indicating the correction instruction to the image signal generating means. The image signal generation means employs means for generating an image signal in which the designated image area is corrected based on an operation signal indicating a correction instruction.

  As a third solving means relating to the image manipulation display device, in the first or second solving means, the image signal generating means generates an image signal indicating a trimmed image in which a portion other than the designated image area is deleted. Adopt means.

  As a fourth solving means relating to the image operation display device, in any of the first to third solving means, the display means and the operating means are formed by a touch panel having a display function and an operating function. Adopt means.

  Further, in the present invention, as a first solving means relating to the image forming apparatus, a means is provided which comprises any one of the first to fourth image operation display devices.

  As a second solving means related to the image forming apparatus, in the first solving means related to the image forming apparatus, the image operation display device displays a preview screen indicating a printing state of the document image and designates the preview screen. A means of displaying a preview screen showing a rectangular area having two diagonal points as a trimming area is adopted.

According to the present invention, only by designating three points, a rectangular area defined based on the three points is automatically set as the designated image area, and thus the designated image area requires four designation operations. It can be set more easily than in the prior art.
In addition, the designated image area once set can be easily changed by simply redesigning the three points.
Therefore, according to the present invention, since it is easy to set and change the designated image area, usability can be improved as compared with the conventional case.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the multifunctional machine A concerning one Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of a main part of the MFP A according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a first schematic diagram illustrating a preview screen G in the multifunction peripheral A according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a 2nd schematic diagram which shows the preview screen G in the multifunctional machine A concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a 3rd schematic diagram which shows the preview screen G in the multifunctional machine A concerning one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the multifunction peripheral A according to the present embodiment. The multi-function device A is an image forming apparatus having various functions (main functions) relating to image formation, such as a copier, a printer, a scanner, and a FAX, and includes an operation display unit 1, an image reading unit 2, The image storage unit 3, the communication unit 4, the image processing unit 5, and the printing unit 6 are configured.

  As shown in the figure, the operation display unit 1 includes a touch panel 1a and operation keys 1b, and functions as a man-machine interface that associates the user with the MFP A. As is well known, the touch panel 1a is obtained by bonding a transparent surface-shaped pressure sensor such as a resistive film type to the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel, and the liquid crystal display panel based on an image signal input from the control unit 7. When various operation screens are displayed and an operation button (software key) included in the operation screen is pressed by the user, an operation signal indicating the pressed position detected by the press sensor is output to the control unit 7.

  Here, the operation screen is an image having different contents depending on the function of the multifunction peripheral A used by the user. For example, when using the copy function of the multi-function peripheral A, the user presses an operation button on the initial screen displayed on the touch panel 1a to select an operation button for setting items necessary for document copy processing. The copy operation screen including this is displayed on the touch panel 1a. This copy operation screen includes operation buttons for the user to specify, for example, the number of copies, copy paper size, preview screen display, and the like. The touch panel 1a displays various copy operation screens including operation buttons to which various functions are assigned based on an image signal input from the control unit 7 when the user presses the operation button.

  Some of the copy operation screens include an operation button to which a display function of a preview screen is assigned, for example. The touch panel 1a displays, as one copy operation screen, a preview screen indicating the state (copy state) of the original image on the copy paper based on the image signal input from the control unit 7 by the operation of the operation button. . Although details will be described later, when the user presses the three points on the preview screen, the touch panel 1a accepts an operation signal indicating the pressing point (coordinates) of the three points and accepts the specifying operation of the three points. Output to the control unit 7.

  The operation keys 1b are hardware keys such as a power key, various function keys (function keys), a numeric keypad (numeric keys), etc., and are assigned functions different from the operation buttons (software keys) displayed on the touch panel 1a. ing. That is, the operation buttons displayed on the touch panel 1a are displayed by the control unit 7 as images based on a predetermined control program, but the operation keys 1b are provided as mechanical parts on the operation surface of the multi-function device A. It is a thing. When such an operation key 1b is operated by the user, an operation signal indicating the operation is output to the control unit 7.

  The image reading unit 2 includes a document table, a scanner, and the like. Under the control of the control unit 7, the image (document image) of the document placed on the document table is read by the scanner as image data (document image data). Output to the image storage unit 3. The document image data is bitmap type image data, that is, RGB type image data corresponding to the three primary colors of light, R (red), G (green), and B (blue). The image storage unit 3 includes an external storage device such as a hard disk and / or a semiconductor memory, and stores the original image data and reads out the original image data based on a control command input from the control unit 7. The image is output to the image processing unit 5.

  The communication unit 4 communicates with an external multifunction device, a facsimile machine, or a PC (Personal Computer) via a LAN (Local Area Network) or a telephone line under the control of the control unit 7. That is, the communication unit 4 has a communication function compliant with a LAN standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and a communication function compliant with a facsimile standard such as G3. For example, when receiving a print job from an external PC, the communication unit 4 notifies the reception of the print job to the control unit 7 and outputs the print job to the image storage unit 3 for storage.

  The image processing unit 5 performs various types of image processing (for example, enlargement / reduction processing, trimming processing, etc.) on the document image data stored in the image storage unit 3 under the control of the control unit 7, and is generated by the image processing. YCMK corresponding to Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black), which are the primary colors of the printing ink, that is, the original image data (RGB type image data) that has been printed. The image data is converted into model image data and output to the printing unit 6.

  The printing unit 6 prints a document image on printing paper based on the document image data in the print format input from the image processing unit 5. The printing unit 6 employs, for example, a tandem system, and a plurality of photosensitive drums corresponding to colors of Y (yellow), C (cyan), M (magenta), and K (black) are arranged along the intermediate transfer belt. Are arranged in parallel, and a single color toner image is individually formed on each photosensitive drum using a laser beam, and the toner image on each photosensitive drum is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt (primary transfer), and further on the intermediate transfer belt. The original image based on the original image data is printed on the printing paper by secondarily transferring the toner images of all colors onto the printing paper.

  The control unit 7 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an internal memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), the operation display unit 1, the image reading unit 2, the image storage unit 3, and a communication unit 4. The image processing unit 5 and the printing unit 6 include various input / output interface circuits that exchange data. The control unit 7 executes a predetermined control program stored in the ROM based on an operation instruction or the like input from the operation display unit 1, whereby the operation display unit 1, the image reading unit 2, which is a control target, The image storage unit 3, the communication unit 4, the image processing unit 5, and the printing unit 6 are controlled in an integrated manner.

  As one of the control processes based on the control program, the control unit 7 generates an image signal indicating a preview screen, outputs the image signal to the touch panel 1a, displays the preview screen on the touch panel 1a, and performs an operation input from the touch panel 1a. The content of the preview screen is updated by regenerating the image signal based on the signal. More specifically, when an operation signal indicating three pressed positions (coordinates) pressed by the user on the preview screen is input from the touch panel 1a, the control unit 7 is defined by 3 based on the operation signal. An image signal of a preview screen showing the specified rectangular area as a designated image area is generated and output to the touch panel 1a.

  The control unit 7 and the touch panel 1a described above constitute an image operation display device in the present embodiment. The touch panel 1a having an operation function and a display function corresponds to an operation unit and a display unit, while the control unit 7 corresponds to an image signal generation unit.

  Next, the operation of the MFP A configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In the following description of the operation, a time-series operation with respect to the preview screen in the multifunction device A will be described as the main operation of the multifunction device A.

First, an outline of the operation that is the premise of the operation of the main part will be described.
When the MFP A is turned on, the control unit 7 causes the touch panel 1a to display the initial screen by outputting an image signal indicating the initial screen to the touch panel 1a based on the control program. This initial screen includes operation buttons corresponding to various main functions of the multifunction peripheral A. When the user presses an operation button to which the copy function is assigned to such an initial screen, the touch panel 1a outputs an operation signal indicating that the copy function has been selected to the control unit 7.

  As a result, the control unit 7 displays the copy operation screen on the touch panel 1a by outputting an image signal indicating the above-described copy operation screen to the touch panel 1a. When the user presses an operation button assigned with a preview screen display function on the copy operation screen, the touch panel 1a displays an operation signal indicating that the display of the preview screen is instructed by the control unit 7. Output to. As a result, the control unit 7 outputs an image signal indicating the preview screen to the touch panel 1a to display the preview screen on the touch panel 1a (step S1).

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the preview screen G. As shown in the figure, the preview screen G includes a document title “XXX document”, an image (house image), and a text (indicated by a dotted line), and shows a finished state indicating a print state (copy state) of the document image. The display area G1 includes an operation area G2 including a trimming button B1, an area designation button B2, and an OK button B3.

  The trimming area is a printing (copying) target area set for the document image displayed in the printing state display area G1, and is a designated image area in the present embodiment. The trimming button B1 is an operation button for the user to instruct execution of trimming processing, and the area designation button B2 is an operation button for the user to designate a trimming area for the document image. The OK button B3 is an operation button for the user to instruct the multifunction device A to end the trimming process.

  When the user presses the area specifying button B2 in the display state of the preview screen G as described above, when the operation signal indicating the pressing operation of the area specifying button B2 is input from the touch panel 1a (Step S7). S2), a trimming area setting screen including a vertical button B4, a horizontal button B5, movement buttons B6 to B9 and an OK button B10 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed in the operation area G2 (step S3).

  The vertical button B4 is an operation button for selecting and specifying the orientation of the main axis in the trimming area setting in the vertical direction (up and down direction), and the horizontal button B5 is the horizontal direction (left and right direction) of the main axis in the setting of the trimming area. ) Is an operation button for selecting and specifying. Further, the movement buttons B6 to B9 are four operation buttons respectively indicating up, down, left and right movement directions, and three points (designated points) pressed by the user on the finished state display area G1 in order to designate a trimming area. It is for instructing the moving direction of. An OK button B10 is used to instruct the multifunction device A to end the setting of the trimming area.

  The user designates a trimming area for the original image in the finished state display area G1 by performing a predetermined operation on the preview screen G, but first, by pressing the vertical button B4 or the horizontal button B5. Select and specify the orientation of the main axis in the trimming area setting. For example, when the vertical button B4 is pressed by the user, that is, when the orientation of the main axis is designated in the vertical direction (up and down direction), the touch panel 1a sends an operation signal indicating the pressing operation of the vertical button B4 to the control unit 7. Output.

  When the operation signal indicating the pressing operation of the vertical button B4 is input from the touch panel 1a (step S4), the control unit 7 sets the vertical direction (vertical direction) of the document image shown in FIG. Recognize orientation. When the user designates the direction of the main axis in the vertical direction as described above, by pressing the finished state display area G1, two points on the main axis (first point P1, second point P2) as shown in FIG. Three points consisting of one point (third point P3) that is not on the main axis are designated, and then the OK button B10 is pressed. Then, the touch panel 1a outputs to the control unit 7 an operation signal indicating the pressing positions (coordinates) of these three points and the pressing operation of the OK button B10.

  When an operation signal indicating the pressing position (coordinates) of the three points and the pressing operation of the OK button B10 is input to the control unit 7 (step S5), the first point P1 that is specified first and the second point are specified. A rectangular area obtained by translating the line segment to the third point P3 in a direction orthogonal to the line segment connecting the second point P2 is calculated as the trimming area S (step S6). Then, when the control unit 7 calculates the trimming area S on the touch panel 1a in this manner, the control unit 7 generates an image signal of the preview screen G including the trimming area S instead of the preview screen G already displayed on the touch panel 1a. Then, the preview screen G is updated by outputting to the touch panel 1a (step S7).

  When the user selects and designates the horizontal button B5 when specifying the orientation of the main axis as described above, that is, when the horizontal direction (left-right direction) is designated as the orientation of the main axis, the control unit 7 controls the first point P1 and the second point. The point P2 is recognized as defining both end coordinates of the horizontal line segment, and the third point P3 is defined as a parallel movement width in a direction perpendicular to the line segment defined by the first point P1 and the second point P2. Recognize as something to do.

  Here, the trimming area S shown in FIG. 4 is a rectangular area containing the “house image” of the original image as intended by the user, but the user presses the first point P1 and the second point P2. Depending on the method of operation, the trimming area S may be slightly different from what the user intended. That is, the trimming area S does not completely contain the “house image” and a part of the “house image” is out of the trimming area S. There can be.

  In such a case, the user corrects the trimming area S by redesignating the above three points. For example, when the position of the second point P2 is corrected upward, the user instructs that the correction target is the second point P2 by pressing the second point P2 displayed in the finished state display area G1. To do. Then, the movement amount is designated by pressing the movement button B7 for instructing the upward movement once or several times. Then, the user presses the OK button B10 after pressing the second point P2 and the movement button B7.

  That is, when the user presses the second point P2 and the movement button B7, the touch panel 1a outputs an operation signal indicating such a pressing operation to the control unit 7. When such an operation signal is input (step S8), the control unit 7 recognizes the second point P2 as a correction target, and multiplies the predetermined reference movement width by the number of times the movement button B7 is pressed. The trimming area S when the second point P2 is moved upward by that amount is calculated, and an image signal of the preview screen G indicating the corrected trimming area S is generated and output to the touch panel 1a, whereby the preview screen G is displayed. Update (step S9).

  Further, for example, when correcting the position of the third point P3 to the left (spindle side), the user presses the third point P3 displayed in the finished state display area G1 to change the correction target to the third point. Instruct that it is P3. Then, the moving amount is designated by pressing the moving button B6 for instructing the upward movement once or several times, and finally the OK button B10 is pressed. As a result, the touch panel 1a outputs an operation signal indicating such a pressing operation to the control unit 7, and the control unit 7 recognizes the third point P3 as a correction target based on such an operation signal, and The preview screen G is updated by calculating the trimming area S when the third point P3 is moved upward by the amount by which the reference movement width is multiplied by the number of times the movement button B6 is pressed.

  In addition, when the OK button B6 is pressed by the user, the control unit 7 redisplays the initial operation screen in the operation area G2. When the trimming button B1 is operated by the user, the control unit 7 generates an image signal indicating a trimmed image G3 in which an image in an area other than the trimming area S is erased from the document image, and the image signal is transmitted to the touch panel 1a. By outputting, the trimmed image G3 is displayed in the finished state display area G1 as shown in FIG.

  Then, in such a display state of the trimmed image G3, when the OK button B3 is pressed by the user, the trimming process ends. If the determination result in step S2 is the pressing operation of the OK button B3, that is, when the user presses the trimming button B1 without specifying the trimming area S in the initial display state of the preview screen G. (Step S10), the trimming process ends.

  According to the present embodiment, the trimming area S is automatically set only by the user specifying the first point P1 to the third point P3, so that the conventional technique requiring four specifying operations is required. The trimming area S can be easily set. In addition, it is possible to easily change the trimming region S once set by simply redesigning the first point P1 to the third point P3.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the user designates the orientation of the main axis by the vertical button B4 or the horizontal button B5, and designates the first point P1 to the third point P3 thereon, so that the user tries to trim. According to the content of the document image, the trimming area S can be designated by appropriately designating the orientation of the main axis so that the trimming area S can be easily set.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, For example, the following modifications can be considered.
(1) In the above embodiment, the setting of the trimming area S for the document image on which the preview screen G is displayed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is conceivable to apply to setting of designated image areas for various screens in the image forming apparatus.

(2) The configuration of the operation area G2 on the preview screen G is not limited to the configuration shown in the schematic diagrams of FIGS. For example, instead of operating the move buttons B6 to B9, the first point P1 to the third point P3 are dragged and dropped by dragging and dropping the first point P1 to the third point P3 displayed on the finished state display area G1. You may make it perform selection and position correction simultaneously.

(3) In the above embodiment, the document image trimming process when the copy function of the multifunction peripheral A is used has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to the trimming process in the facsimile function of the multifunction peripheral A. .
The present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus, and can be applied to various electronic devices having both a display function and an operation function.

  A ... MFP (image forming apparatus), 1 ... operation display unit, 1a ... touch panel, 1b ... operation key, 2 ... image reading unit, 3 ... image storage unit, 4 ... communication unit, 5 ... image processing unit, 6 ... Printing section, 7: Control section, T: Telop, B1 ... Trimming button, B2 ... Area setting button, B3, B10 ... OK button, B4 ... Vertical button, B5 ... Horizontal button, B6-B9 ... Move button, G3 ... Trimming image

Claims (5)

Display means for displaying a predetermined image based on the image signal;
A designation operation for three points including the main axis related to the image displayed on the display means and the first point, the second point, and the third point other than the main axis on the main axis is received, and the main axis and the three point designation operation are indicated An operation means for outputting an operation signal;
The image signal indicating, as a designated image area, a rectangular area obtained by translating a line segment having both ends of the first point and the second point based on the operation signal in a direction perpendicular to the line segment to the third point An image operation display device comprising: an image signal generating means for generating The operation means receives a three-point correction designation and outputs an operation signal indicating the correction instruction to the image signal generation means,
The image operation display device according to claim 1, wherein the image signal generation unit generates an image signal in which a designated image area is corrected based on an operation signal indicating the correction instruction.   The image operation display device according to claim 1, wherein the image signal generation unit generates the image signal indicating a trimmed image in which a portion other than the designated image region is deleted.   The image operation display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit and the operation unit are formed by a touch panel having a display function and an operation function.   An image forming apparatus comprising the image operation display device according to claim 1.

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