JP5293517B2 - Image processing apparatus, color image forming apparatus, image processing method, image processing program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a color image forming apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium, and more specifically, an image processing apparatus that can be commonly applied to image forming apparatuses having different maximum number of colors to be used, The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus equipped with an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium.

  In recent years, image forming apparatuses such as copying apparatuses and composite apparatuses are equipped with integrated circuits for image processing, for example, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), read image data with a scanner and stored in a memory, etc. In the ASIC, various image processing is performed to generate an output image, and output processing such as printing the output image with a printer is performed.

  On the other hand, in recent years, there has been a demand for higher quality output images in image forming apparatuses such as color composite apparatuses and large-sized image forming apparatuses, and C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black). In addition to four color toners (developer), special color toners such as transparent toner and white toner are added to form an image with five or more color toners to improve image quality ( (See Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  In such an image forming apparatus, for example, when a five-color image forming unit obtained by adding one special color to CMYK is provided, output image data is generated for each of the five-color image forming units. The image processing is performed on each of the output image data of the five colors by one engine ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and each image is supplied to the corresponding image forming unit.

  In this case, normally, an engine ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for image processing is mounted on an engine unit that controls the operation of the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus, and the processing is performed. The four-color image forming apparatus uses an engine ASIC dedicated to four colors, and the five-color image forming apparatus develops and mounts an engine ASIC dedicated to five colors. In other words, an ASIC for image processing has been developed exclusively for each color number because the number of gates increases as the number of colors to be processed increases and the cost of the ASIC increases.

  In addition, since the interval between the photosensitive drums (station pitch) and the interval between sheets (inter-sheet interval) differ depending on the printer, the engine ASIC needs to output data of each color in accordance with the timing of each printer. .

  However, since the engine ASIC corresponding to the maximum number of colors for image formation of the image forming apparatus has been developed in the above prior art, the development cost is high, and the image processing apparatus that is the engine ASIC and this image device There is a problem in that the price of an image forming apparatus equipped with is expensive.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus that can be shared by color image forming apparatuses having different processable colors while suppressing the circuit scale to be small, a color image forming apparatus equipped with the image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and image processing. The object is to provide a program and a recording medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a predetermined number of colors in a memory is provided in an image forming unit for each color that forms an image of the color on an image forming medium in a predetermined color order based on the image data of each color. The number of image output means for reading out and outputting the number of colors of the image data on the memory and the image data on the memory in accordance with the image formation timing of the image forming means Based on the image formation timing, a predetermined number of combinations of two colors are determined from the image data of each color from the memory, the image data of the two colors is read out to generate composite image data, and the result is written back to the memory. The composite image data read from the memory by the output means and the image data of other colors that have not been synthesized are received, and the received image data is the composite image data. If there is, the synthesized image data is separated into color image data before synthesis and output to the corresponding color image forming means, and if the received image data is single color image data, the corresponding color data Output to the image forming means.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the image composition, one color image data on the memory is distributed and synthesized to a plurality of other image data, and in the image separation, one color is generated. If the image data is dispersed into the plurality of composite image data, the image data of one color may be aggregated from the plurality of composite image data dispersed.

  Further, in the image composition, when the number of colors on the memory is more than a plurality of colors than the number of the image output means, the image data of the plurality of colors are respectively converted into image data of other colors. Combined image data is generated, and in the image separation, if there are a plurality of combined image data of different colors combined as the combined image data, an image of the color before combining from each combined image data The data may be separated.

  According to the present invention, an image processing apparatus that outputs image data of a plurality of colors on a memory to an image forming unit can be shared by color image forming apparatuses having different processable colors while suppressing a circuit scale to be small. it can.

1 is a block diagram of a main part of a color image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The principal part block block diagram of a controller unit. FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of an engine unit and a plotter of a five-color color image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of an engine unit and a plotter of a color image forming apparatus corresponding to four colors. The block block diagram of engine ASIC. The detailed block block diagram of an image output control part. The block block diagram of the image composition part of engine ASIC. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a writing control ASIC for five colors. The block diagram of an input image control part. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram between papers in a plotter of a color image forming apparatus corresponding to five colors. The figure which shows an example of the interface control signal between engine ASIC and write-control ASIC. Explanatory drawing of the image composition of K color and T color. Explanatory drawing of the image composition of C color and T color. Explanatory drawing of the synthesis process of image data. Explanatory drawing of the output of a synthesized image and the separation process of a synthesized image. Explanatory drawing of the image output timing of each color to a paper when the space between paper is comparatively narrow. FIG. 17 is an operation explanatory diagram of an image output control unit and an input image control unit at the image output timing of FIG. 16. Explanatory drawing of the image output timing of each color to a sheet | seat in case a paper gap is comparatively wide. FIG. 19 is an operation explanatory diagram of an image output control unit and an input image control unit at the image output timing of FIG. 18.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The range of this invention is unduly limited by the following description. However, not all the configurations described in the present embodiment are essential constituent elements of the present invention.

  1 to 19 are diagrams showing an embodiment of an image processing apparatus, a color image forming apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an image processing apparatus according to the present invention, 1 is a block diagram of a main part of a color image forming apparatus 1 to which an embodiment of a color image forming apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium are applied.

  In FIG. 1, a color image forming apparatus 1 includes a scanner 2, a controller unit 3, an engine unit 4, a plotter 5, and the like. Although not shown, an operation display unit that performs various operations and displays necessary information. A facsimile communication unit that performs facsimile communication using an external public line, a network communication unit that transfers image data via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and the like. Good.

  As the scanner 2, for example, an image scanner using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like is used, and generally includes an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder). A plurality of documents are set in the ADF, and the ADF feeds the set documents one by one to the document reading position of the scanner 2. The scanner 2 scans the document conveyed from the ADF, reads an image of the document with a predetermined resolution, binarizes it, and outputs it to the controller unit 3.

  As the plotter 5, for example, an electrophotographic recording device or the like is used. The plotter 5 is an image of a document read by the scanner 2 or a received image received by a facsimile communication unit or a network communication unit (not shown). Are recorded on paper (image forming medium), and necessary reports are recorded on paper. As will be described later, the plotter 5 includes an image forming unit (image forming unit) that forms four or more colors such as four colors and five colors depending on the model of the color image forming apparatus 1 to form a color image. To do.

  The controller unit 3 controls the entire color image forming apparatus 1, performs image processing on an input image from the scanner 2 and the like, and executes various applications. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller unit 3 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit). 11, a controller ASIC 12, a memory 13, a hard disk (HDD) 14, and the like.

  The memory 13 performs image processing in which a basic program as the color image forming apparatus 1 and an engine ASIC 25 (see FIGS. 3 and 4), which will be described later, are shared by the four-color and five-color color image forming apparatuses 1. A program and necessary system data are stored, and image data, primary data of the CPU 11 and a DMAC descriptor are also stored. The basic program, the image processing program, and the like may be stored in the hard disk 14.

  The CPU 11 includes an interface for the memory 13, and controls the entire color image forming apparatus 1 using the memory 13 as a work memory based on a program in the memory 13, and performs basic processing and processing as the color image forming apparatus 1. Image processing using an engine ASIC 25, which will be described later, in particular, print image generation and the like are performed.

  The controller ASIC 11 includes an interface to the hard disk 14, and image data input from the scanner 2, the program communication unit, and the network communication unit (in the following description, for the sake of clarity, the image data is the scanner 2). Only the image data read in the above will be described, but the same applies to image data received by a program and image data received from a network).

  In the hard disk 14, image data, a program, and the like are written by the controller ASIC 11 and read out.

  The engine unit 4 reads out image data on a memory such as the memory 13 and the hard disk 14 of the controller 3 and outputs the image data to the plotter 5 in accordance with a synchronization signal from the plotter 5, as shown in FIGS. Block configuration. 3 shows a five-color engine unit 4a and a five-color plotter 5a when the color image forming apparatus 1 is a five-color compatible color image forming apparatus. FIG. A four-color engine unit 4b and a four-color plotter 5b in the case of a four-color image forming apparatus are shown.

  3 and 4, the 5-color engine unit 4a and the 4-color engine unit 4b are engine CPUs 21a and 21b, ROMs (Read Only Memory) 22a and 22b, RAMs (Random Access Memory) 23a and 23b, and write control, respectively. The ASICs 24a and 24b, the engine ASIC 25, and the like are provided, and the engine ASIC 25 is commonly applied to the five-color engine unit 4a and the four-color engine unit 4b.

  The ROMs 22a and 22b store the basic program as the 5-color engine unit 4a and the 4-color engine unit 4b, the image processing program of the present invention, and the like, and the RAMs 23a and 23b serve as work memories for the engine CPUs 21a and 21b. Used. The engine CPUs 21a and 21b use the RAMs 23a and 23b as work memories based on the programs in the ROMs 22a and 22b, and control the write control units ASICs 24a and 24b and the engine ASIC 25 to control the 5-color engine units 4a and 4 colors. The processing as the corresponding engine unit 4b is executed, and the image processing as an engine unit using the five-color engine ASIC 25 of the present invention is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the five-color-compatible color image forming apparatus 1 has a plotter 5a having image forming portions (not shown) for five colors for CMYK colors and special colors T. The image forming unit includes CMYK color writing units 5ac, 5am, 5ay, 5ak and a special color T writing unit 5at. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the four-color corresponding color image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming unit (not shown) as an image forming unit for four colors of CMYK. The unit includes writing units 5bc, 5bm, 5by, and 5bk for each color.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the engine ASIC 25 includes an image input I / F (interface) 31, an arbiter 32, an image composition unit 33, four color (four channels) image output control units 34a to 34d, and the like. The image input I / F (data reading means) 31 reads the image data from the memory (hard disk 14 or the like) of the controller unit 3 and passes it to the arbiter 32. The arbiter 32 performs arbitration when passing the image data from the image input I / F 31 to the image composition unit 33 and the 4-channel image output control units 34a to 34d. The image composition unit (image composition unit) 33 will be described later. As described above, the image synthesis of the document image data on the memory 13 is performed and written back on the memory 13. The image output control units (image output units) 34a to 34d perform output control of the image data received from the arbiter 32 to the write control ASIC 24a or the write control ASIC 24b.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the image output control units (image output units) 34 a to 34 d each include an original image DMAC (Direct Memory Access Controller: DMA controller) 41 a, a stamp image DMAC 41 b, and a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image. It includes a DMAC 41c, an image composition unit 42, an output control unit 43, line memories (temporary storage memories) 44a and 44b, a control signal generation unit 45, and the like.

  The document image DMAC 41a reads the image data of the document read by the scanner 2 from the memory 13 of the controller unit 3 via the arbiter 32 and outputs it to the image composition unit 42. The stamp image DMAC 41b is preliminarily connected to the controller via the arbiter 32. The stamp image stored in the hard disk 14 or the like of the unit 3 is read and output to the image composition unit 42. The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image DMAC 41 c reads out a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image stored in advance in the hard disk 14 or the like of the controller unit 3 via the arbiter 32 and outputs it to the image composition unit 42.

  The image composition unit 42 synthesizes images input from the document image DMAC 41a, the stamp image DMAC 41b, and the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image DMAC 41c, and outputs them to the output control unit 43. The output control unit 43 uses the control signal from the control signal generation unit 45 as a control signal. Based on this, the line memory 44a and the line memory 44b are toggled, and the image data sent from the image composition unit 42 is temporarily stored in the line memory 44a or the line memory 44b, and is stored in the write control ASIC 24a or the write control ASIC 24b. Output.

  The control signal generation unit 45 outputs a control signal to the output control unit 43 and the write control ASIC 24a or the write control ASIC 24b to control image output.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the image composition unit 33 of the engine ASIC 25 includes two read DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) 51 and 52, a write DMAC 53, and a composition processing unit 54. The image composition unit 33 reads the document image data from the memory 13 of the controller unit 3 by the two read DMACs 51 and 52 and passes the document image data to the rigid tax processing unit 54, and the composition processing unit 54 reads the image data read by the two RDMACs 51 and 52. Are written back to the memory 13. In particular, the image composition unit 33 composes the image data for the special toner T on the memory 13 with image data of one color of C, M, Y, and K, and writes it back to the memory 13.

  The write control ASIC 24b of the engine unit 4a for five colors is configured as shown in FIG. 8, and includes a polygon motor control unit 61a, an input image control unit 62a, an image format exchange unit 63a, a laser diode control unit 64, and the like. ing.

  The write control ASIC 24b of the engine unit 4b for four colors has the same configuration as the write control ASIC 24a for five colors in FIG. 8, but the input image control unit 62a does not exist.

  The polygon motor control unit 61 controls the operation of the polygon motor of the plotter 5a used for image writing.

  The input image control unit 62a controls the extraction of the image data from the engine ASIC 25 and outputs the image data as 5-channel image data to the image format conversion unit 63a. The image format conversion unit 63a serializes the image data input in parallel. And output to the laser diode controller 64a.

  The laser diode control unit 64a controls turning on / off of the laser diodes of the writing units 5ac, 5am, 5ay, 5ak, and 5at corresponding to the plotter 5a.

  The input image control unit 62 a is configured as shown in FIG. 9 and includes a selector 71 and a switching signal generation unit 72. As schematically shown on the input side of the input image control unit 62a in FIG. 9, the image data input from the engine ASIC 25 includes C, M, Y, K image data in the upper bits, and the lower bits in the lower bits. A dummy or special toner image data T and a dummy are included. Therefore, the input image control unit 62a directly converts the upper bit C, M, Y, and K image data in the input 4-channel image data into C, M, Y, and K image data as an image format conversion unit. The lower bits are input to the selector 71. The selector 71 selects the low-order bit of one channel from the low-order bits of the input 4-channel image data in accordance with the switching signal generated by the switching signal generation unit 72, and sends it to the image format conversion unit 63a as special toner image data. Output. The switching timing by the switching signal generator 72 is determined by a station pitch and a sheet interval described later.

  In other words, when the color image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to five colors performs image formation using five colors, the transport target paper is also in the sub-scanning direction (paper transport direction) even in transport of the paper (image forming medium). ), The photosensitive member 5 of the first image forming unit (image forming unit) and the photosensitive member 5 of the last image forming unit need to be transported in a state where there is no space between them. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining sheet intervals (inter-sheet intervals) in the color image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to five colors. In FIG. 10, the image forming unit (image forming station: image forming unit) for the CMYK color and the specific color T is illustrated. The interval between the photoconductors 5sc to 5st is the first image in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the length in the sub-scanning direction (paper transport direction) of the maximum paper size that can be formed by the color image forming apparatus 1 for five colors. An interval is provided such that the photoconductor 5sc of the forming unit and the photoconductor 5st of the last image forming unit do not operate simultaneously. In FIG. 10, the photoconductor 5sc is for C (cyan) color, the photoconductor 5sm is for M (magenta) color, the photoconductor 5sy is for Y (yellow) color, and the photoconductor 5sk is K (black). ) For color, the photoconductor 5st is for T (special) color. In the color image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to five colors, the sheet conveyance control is always performed in a state where the photoconductors 5sc to 5st of one image forming unit are not used. FIG. 10 shows a case where the photoconductor 5sy is in an unused state. Therefore, when the five-color-compatible color image forming apparatus 1 forms an image with five colors, for example, when the paper size is shorter than the interval between the photoconductors 5sc to 5st of the two image forming units, the two papers are used. Since it does not operate across the photoconductors 5sc to 5st of the image forming unit at the same time, the sheet interval (sheet interval) does not overlap with each other. Thus, it is possible to narrow the range where image formation is possible. Further, as described above, when the color image forming apparatus 1 for five colors forms an image with four colors or less, the same image forming unit is not used multiple times on one sheet, and the image output control unit Since the output channels of 34a to 34d and the engine ASIC 25 are fixed, if the sheets do not overlap each other, the gap between the sheets is reduced to a range where the image forming unit can form an image on the continuously conveyed sheets. be able to.

  The engine ASIC 25 and the write control ASICs 24a and 24b exchange interface control signals as shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows interface control signals between the write control ASIC 24a and the engine ASIC 25 of the color image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to five colors, and the parts other than ch1 are shown in a simplified manner. The writing control ASICs 24a and 24b output an IFGATE_N signal indicating a paper area and an ILSYNC_N signal which is a main scanning synchronization signal to the engine ASIC 25. The engine ASIC 25 matches the clock CLK and the main scanning image area in accordance with these signals. Are output to the write control ASICs 24a and 24b. The bus width of the image data signal output from the engine ASIC 25 is set by setting a register (not shown) in the image output control units 34a to 34d in accordance with the write control ASICs 24a and 24b to be connected. The color image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uses the fact that there is an unused bit when connecting the write control ASICs 24a and 24b with a small number of gradations, so that the image data for the special toner T is used. Forward.

  The color image forming apparatus 1 includes a ROM, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM, a flash memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable), An image processing program for executing the image processing method of the present invention recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Video Disk), an SD (Secure Digital) card, or an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc) is read. By introducing the controller 13 into the memory 13, the hard disk 14, the ROM 22 a of the engine unit 4 a, or the ROM 22 b of the engine unit 4 b, an engine ASIC 25, which will be described later, is used. 1 for common image processing It is constructed as an image forming apparatus for executing the image processing method. This image processing program is a computer-executable program written in a legacy programming language such as assembler, C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark) or an object-oriented programming language, and is stored in the recording medium. Can be distributed.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the color image forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the engine ASIC 25 is shared by the four-color corresponding color image forming apparatus 1 and the five-color corresponding color image forming apparatus 1.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the engine ASIC 25 includes an image composition unit 33 and four image output control units 34a to 34d, and controls writing of image data from the four image output control units 34a to 34d. The data is output to the ASICs 24a and 24b.

  When the engine ASIC 25 is mounted on the engine unit 4 a of the five-color-compatible color image forming apparatus 1 and performs image formation output with five colors, CMYK color and special color T, the color image forming apparatus 1 includes the controller unit 3. Image data for C, M, Y, K and special toner T is stored in the memory 13 in the memory 13, and the program has 5 channels depending on the station pitch of the plotter 4 and the interval between sheets as shown in FIG. The composite image position position of the eye is determined, the image data of the color to be combined with the image data of the special color T (K color image data in the case of FIG. 12) is designated, and the image composition unit 33 of the engine ASIC 25 is activated. Let When the image composition unit 33 is activated by specifying the K color and T color image data and the composite image position of the fifth channel, the image synthesis unit 33 reads the image data of the K color and the T color by the read DMAC 51 and the read DMAC 52, The image is synthesized by the synthesis processing unit 54 and the synthesized image data is written back to the designated position in the memory 13 by the write DMAC 53. Similarly, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the program designates the position determined by the station pitch of the plotter 4 and the space between the sheets, and the C color and T color image data, and the image composition unit 33 of the engine ASIC 25. , The image composition unit 33 reads the C color and T color image data by the read DMAC 51 and the read DMAC 52, composes the image by the composition processing unit 54, and writes it to the designated position in the memory 13 by the write DMAC 53. Write back the composite image data.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the image composition in the image composition unit 33 is designated by the program when n-bit C color image data and T color image data are read by the read DMAC 51 and the read DMAC 52, respectively. By shifting to a position, a white pixel is added to a portion where no overlap occurs to generate 2n-bit image data. In this case, C image data is inserted into the upper n bits and T image data is inserted into the lower n bits to generate composite image data.

  When the composite image data and the non-composite image data are written in the memory 13 in this way, the program designates, for example, C + T, M, Y, C + T images and starts the image output control units 34a to 34d. The image output control units 34a to 34d read out the respective images from the memory 13 and output them to the input image control unit 62a of the write control ASIC 24a.

  Then, the input image control unit 62a directly converts the upper bit C, M, Y, and K image data in the input 4-channel image data as C, M, Y, and K image data, and the image format conversion unit. The lower bits are input to the selector 71. The selector 71 selects the lower bit of one channel from the lower bits of the input 4-channel image data in accordance with the switching signal generated by the switching signal generation unit 72, and the image format conversion unit 63a as the special color T image data. Output to. The switching timing by the switching signal generator 72 is determined by the station pitch and the sheet interval. The image format conversion unit 63a converts image data input in parallel into serial data and outputs the converted image data to the laser diode control unit 64a. The laser diode control unit 64a corresponds to the writing units 5ac, 5am, 5ay, 5ak corresponding to the plotter 5a. Controls on / off of the 5 at laser diode.

  As shown in FIG. 16, when image output of each color is performed at an image output timing with a relatively short interval between sheets (paper interval) so that the same color image output timing does not overlap, each image output control of the engine ASIC 25 is performed. The input switching timing of the image data flowing in the units 34a to 34d and the image data of each channel in the write control ASIC 24a is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, the sheet is conveyed between sheets shorter than the pitch of each color station (photosensitive members 5sc to 5st), and a switching signal is generated at the switching timing determined based on the station pitch and the sheet interval. By switching the switching signal generated by the unit 72, the image data of the special color T is converted from the image data of the color synthesized with the special color T (in FIG. 17, Y color image data and K color image data). Acquire and output images. When the gap between the sheets is narrow as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the special color T image data is combined with the other two color image data.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 18, when image output of each color is performed at an image output timing with a relatively wide paper interval (paper interval) such that the paper interval overlaps by one channel, each image output control unit of the engine ASIC 25 The input switching timing of the image data flowing through 34a to 34d and the image data of each channel in the write control ASIC 24a is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 19, paper is conveyed between papers wider than the pitch of each color station (photosensitive photoreceptors 5sc to 5st), and a switching signal is generated at the switching timing determined based on the station pitch and the paper spacing. Although the switching signal generated by the unit 72 is switched, the image data of the special color T may be acquired as a channel different from the image data C, M, Y, K of the color synthesized with the special color T. As shown in FIG. 19, the image data of another plate (K color image data in FIG. 19) and the image data for the special color T may be sent to one channel. Then, when the paper interval is wide as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the image data of the special color T is synthesized with the image data of one other color.

  As described above, the color image forming apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment uses the predetermined color on the memory 13 in the image forming unit for each color that forms the image of the color on the paper in the predetermined color order based on the image data of each color. In order to sequentially read out and output a plurality of image data, the image output control unit 34a to read out the number of colors of the image data on the memory 13 and the image data on the memory 13 and output them in accordance with the image formation timing of the image forming unit. Based on the number 34d and the image formation timing, a predetermined number of combinations of two colors among the image data of each color on the memory 13 are determined, the image data of the two colors is read, and the combined image data is converted into the image combining unit 33. Generated and written back to the memory 13, and the composite image data read from the memory 13 by the image output control units 34a to 34d and the image data of other colors that are not combined are written. If the input image control unit 62a receives the received image data and is the composite image data, the input image control unit 62a separates the composite image data into the image data of the color before the combination, and Output to the writing units 5ac to 5at of the color image forming unit, and if the received image data is single color image data, it is output to the writing units 5ac to 5at of the corresponding color image forming unit as it is.

  Therefore, by adding the image composition unit 33 to the engine ASIC 25 and the input image control unit 62a to the write control ASIC 24a, one type of engine ASIC 25 and the write control ASIC 24a can be connected to the maximum number of output colors without increasing the circuit scale. The color image forming apparatus 1 having different colors, specifically, the color image forming apparatus 1 for five colors and the color image forming apparatus 1 for four colors can be shared, and the number of lots increased and the number of engine ASICs and write control ASICs developed The cost of the engine ASIC and the writing control ASIC, and thus the cost of the color image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  Further, in the color image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the image composition unit 33 disperses the image data of one color on the memory 13 into image data of other plural colors (C, M, Y, K). When a plurality of synthesized image data is generated and the input image control unit 62a disperses one color of image data into a plurality of synthesized image data, the input image control unit 62a generates the one color from the plurality of dispersed synthesized image data. Image data.

  Therefore, it is possible to construct the color image forming apparatus 1 of five colors or six colors at a low cost while suppressing the restriction between papers, and to improve the processing speed.

  Further, in the color image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the image composition unit 33 has more than a plurality of colors on the memory 13 than the number of the image output control units 34a to 34d, the images of the plurality of colors. The composite image data is generated by combining the data with the image data of other colors, and the input image control unit 62a combines the composite image data from the composite image data when there are a plurality of composite image data of different colors. Separate previous color image data.

  Therefore, even when the number of colors of two or more image data is larger than the number of image output control units 34a to 34d, it is possible to appropriately output image data to form an image and form a multicolor image at low cost. An apparatus can be realized.

  In the color image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the image composition unit 33 composes two image data to be synthesized as one composite image data by shifting the position, and writes it back on the memory 13 for image output. One of the control units 34a to 34d reads the composite image data from the memory 13 and outputs it to the input image control unit 62a.

  Therefore, the engine ASIC 25 can be commonly used for a four-color image forming apparatus or a five-color or more color image forming apparatus without being affected by the sheet interval or station pit of the color image forming apparatus 1.

  Further, the color image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can realize the color image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to the special toner such as the transparent toner and the special toner by using the four-color engine ASIC 25. A corresponding color image forming apparatus can be made inexpensive.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that can be shared by color image forming apparatuses having different numbers of colors, a color image forming apparatus having the image processing apparatus mounted thereon, and an image processing in which the image processing apparatus is shared by different color image forming apparatuses. It can be used for a method, an image processing program, and a recording medium.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Color image forming apparatus 2 Scanner 3 Controller unit 4 Engine unit 4a 5 color engine unit 4b 4 color engine unit 5, 5a, 5b Plotter 5ac, 5am, 5ay, 5ak, 5at Writing part 5bc, 5bm, 5by, 5bk, Writing unit 11 CPU
12 Controller ASIC
13 Memory 14 Hard disk 21a, 21b Engine CPU
22a, 22b ROM
23a, 23b RAM
24a, 24b Write control ASIC
25 Engine ASIC
31 Image input I / F
32 Arbiter 33 Image composition unit 34a to 34d Image output control unit 34 Image output switching unit 41a Original image DMAC
41b Stamp image DMAC
41c Background pattern image DMAC
42 Image composition unit 43 Image output control unit 44a, 44b Line memory 45 Control signal generation unit 51, 52 DMAC
53 Light DMAC
54 synthesis processing unit 61a polygon motor control unit 62a input image control unit 63a image format exchange unit 64 laser diode control unit 71 selector 72 switching signal generation unit

JP 2009-58941 A JP 2009-37138 A

Claims (8)

An image processing apparatus for sequentially reading out and outputting image data of a predetermined number of colors on a memory to an image forming unit for each color that forms an image of the color on an image forming medium in a predetermined color order based on the image data of each color Because
A predetermined number of image output means for reading out the image data on the memory and outputting it in accordance with the image formation timing of the image forming means;
Based on the number of colors of the image data on the memory, the number of the image output means, and the image formation timing, a predetermined number of combinations of two colors among the image data of each color is determined from the memory, and the two colors Image composition means for reading out image data, generating composite image data, and writing back to the memory;
The composite image data read out from the memory by the image output means and the image data of other colors that have not been combined are received, and if the received image data is the composite image data, the composite image data is The image data of the color before separation is separated and output to the image forming unit for the corresponding color, and if the received image data is single-color image data, it is output to the image forming unit for the corresponding color as it is. Image separation means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The image synthesis means generates a plurality of synthesized image data obtained by dispersing the image data of one color on the memory into the image data of other colors,
The image separating means collects the image data of one color from the plurality of dispersed composite image data when the image data of one color is dispersed into the plurality of composite image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. When the number of colors on the memory is more than a plurality of colors than the number of the image output means, the image synthesizing unit synthesizes the image data of the plurality of colors with the image data of other colors, respectively, Generate data,
3. The image separation unit according to claim 1, wherein when there are a plurality of the synthesized image data having different colors to be synthesized, the image separating unit separates the image data of the color before synthesis from each synthesized image data. The image processing apparatus described. The image synthesizing unit synthesizes the two image data to be synthesized as a single synthesized image data by shifting the position, and writes it back on the memory.
4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the image output units reads the composite image data from the memory and outputs the read image data to the image separation unit. 5. A plurality of image forming units for forming images of different colors on the image forming medium to be conveyed are provided, the image processing unit reads image data of a predetermined number of colors on the memory, and the image forming unit of the corresponding color is read In a color image forming apparatus that outputs and forms a color image by sequentially forming an image of the color on an image forming medium by the image forming unit,
A color image forming apparatus comprising the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 as the image processing unit. An image processing method for sequentially reading out and outputting image data of a predetermined number of colors in a memory to an image forming unit for each color that forms an image of the color on an image forming medium in a predetermined color order based on the image data of each color Because
A predetermined number of image output processing steps for reading out the image data on the memory and outputting it in accordance with the image formation timing of the image forming means;
Based on the number of colors of the image data on the memory, the number of image output processing steps, and image formation timing, a predetermined number of combinations of two colors among the image data of each color are determined from the memory, and the two colors An image composition processing step of reading out the image data, generating composite image data, and writing back to the memory;
The composite image data read out from the memory in the image output processing step and the image data of other colors that have not been combined are received, and the received image data is the composite image data. Is output to the image forming means for the corresponding color by separating the image data before being combined and output to the image forming means for the corresponding color as it is when the received image data is single-color image data. Image separation processing steps to be performed;
An image processing method characterized by comprising: An image processing program for sequentially reading out and outputting image data of a predetermined number of colors on a memory to an image forming unit for each color which forms an image of the color on an image forming medium in a predetermined color order based on the image data of each color Because
On the computer,
A predetermined number of image output processes for reading the image data on the memory and outputting the data in accordance with the image formation timing of the image forming means;
Based on the number of colors of the image data on the memory, the number of image output processes, and the image formation timing, a predetermined number of combinations of two colors among the image data of each color is determined from the memory, and the two colors Image composition processing for reading out image data, generating composite image data, and writing back to the memory;
The composite image data read from the memory in the image output process and the image data of other colors that have not been combined are received, and the received image data is the composite image data, the composite image data is The image data of the color before separation is separated and output to the image forming unit for the corresponding color, and if the received image data is single-color image data, it is output to the image forming unit for the corresponding color as it is. Image separation processing,
An image processing program for executing   A computer-readable recording medium on which the image processing program according to claim 7 is recorded.

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