JP5693130B2 - Image processing apparatus and image processing apparatus control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to job history management executed in an image processing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an image processing apparatus that stores image data read at the time of copying or image transmission, or image data that has been printed or received and execution history of the job in a recording device (for example, Patent Documents). 1). By accumulating such information in the recording apparatus, it is possible to confirm when and who performed what kind of job execution instruction.

  On the other hand, when the image processing apparatus performs scaling copying, the scaling of the read image data is performed by digital signal processing with respect to scaling in the main scanning direction, and original scanning is performed for scaling in the sub scanning direction. A method has been adopted in which the magnification in the main scanning direction and the magnification in the sub-scanning direction are realized by increasing the reading speed or the document conveying speed. As a result, the scaling process required after scanning is performed only in the main scanning direction, so that the processing speed can be improved and the consumed image data development memory can be kept small.

JP 2006-330939 A

However, since the image data recorded for history management is the image data itself read by the scanner, the image data recorded at the time of scaling copying is only subjected to scaling processing in the sub-scanning direction. The correct image data cannot be recorded.
An object of the present invention is to correctly record image data for history management even when executing variable magnification copy.

In order to solve the above object, an image processing apparatus of the present invention is capable of scaling in the sub-scanning direction, and includes an original reading unit that generates image data based on a read original image, and the image data On the other hand, a scaling unit that performs scaling in the main scanning direction, an output unit that outputs image data scaled by the scaling unit, and the document reading unit performs scaling in the sub-scanning direction according to a specified scaling ratio. The image data generated by performing the scaling process in the main scanning direction according to the specified scaling ratio and the output history of the output data output by the output unit, and the image data generated by the document reading unit and data recording means for recording a job history including the attribute information having information indicating a main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction resolution of the image data, on the basis of the designated magnification, Serial recording means is characterized by having a a resolution setting unit for setting at different main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction resolution included in the attribute information of the image data included in the job history to be recorded.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to correctly record image data that is recorded for history management when performing variable-size copy.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a log | history management system. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine 101. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the job archive log in a copy job. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating processing of the multifunction machine 101 when performing reduced copy. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an image log recording process at the time of performing a reduced copy. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a job archive log in a reduced copy job. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the image log recording process when performing reduced copy. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a job archive log in a reduced copy job. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the image conversion of the job archive log in a service provider. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a scanner 205. FIG.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<System overview>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a history management system in the present embodiment.

  The multifunction machine 101, which is an example of an image processing apparatus, reads and copies a document (copy function), receives and prints print data from an external PC (print function), reads a document, and transmits the document to an external apparatus. And a plurality of functions (image transmission / reception function). Processing in which the multi-function peripheral 101 inputs or outputs an image using these functions is called a job. The multifunction machine 101 executes a program called an agent. The agent has a function of transferring image data processed by a job executed by the multifunction machine 101 and job history information to the service provider 102. The history information includes information for identifying the user who has instructed execution of the job, the date and time when the job was executed, the type of the executed job, the setting contents of the job, and the like. Hereinafter, image data transmitted by the agent to the service provider 102 is referred to as an image log, and history information is referred to as a job log. Data consisting of an image log and a job log is called a job archive log.

  The service provider 102 receives the job archive log from the agent. Then, the service provider 102 performs conversion processing, OCR processing, and the like on the image log. Then, the service provider 102 transmits the job archive log after processing the image log to the data server 103.

The data server 103 stores the job archive log transmitted from the service provider 102. The data server 103 also provides a search function for stored job archive logs. The Web server 104 operates a Web application for searching and browsing the job archive log stored in the data server 103. A user or an administrator can access the Web server 104 with a Web browser of a PC (not shown), and can refer to or search a job archive log stored in the data server 103. Each of the devices 101 to 104 is connected to the network 105.
The system shown in FIG. 1 makes it possible for an administrator or the like to audit when and who executed what job for what image.

<Hardware configuration of MFP>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 101 according to the present embodiment. The CPU 201 controls the overall operation of the multifunction machine 101 by executing a program loaded from the ROM 209 to the RAM 208. The CPU 201 also executes a program called the aforementioned agent. The CPU 201 communicates with each component in the multifunction machine 101 via the bus 202. The operation unit 206 includes a plurality of keys for the user to give instructions and a display unit for displaying various information to be notified to the user. A scanner 205 serving as a reading device reads an image on a document set on a document table by a user. The image data thus obtained is stored in the hard disk (HDD) 203, RAM 208, or the like. The HDD 203 is a hard disk drive including a hard disk, and stores various input information and programs. The aforementioned program called agent is also stored in the HDD 203. The job archive log is also temporarily stored in the HDD 0203, read by the agent, and transmitted to the service provider 102. The scanner 205 includes a document feeder, and can sequentially feed and read a plurality of documents set on the document feeder on the document table. Further, the scanner 205 can perform reduction scaling in the sub-scanning direction by reading at a higher scanning speed or document conveyance speed. The image processing unit 210 performs image processing such as scaling and color conversion on the image data stored in the RAM 208. The printer 204, which is a printing apparatus, prints an image based on the input image data on paper. A network I / F 207 connects the multi-function peripheral 101 to the network 105, and controls reception of data from external devices on the network and transmission of data to external devices on the network.

<Configuration of Scanner 205>
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the scanner 205 in the present embodiment. The scanner 205 includes the document feeding device 1 and the document reading device 19, and reads information on the document by reading while moving the exposure unit 13 and the document in the document reading device relatively.

  The document 3 is set on the document tray 2. The document feed roller 4 is paired with a separation pad 5 and feeds the document 3 one by one. The fed document 3 is further fed into the apparatus by the pair of intermediate rollers 6, passed to the conveyance by the large roller 8 and the first driven roller 9, and conveyed by the second driven roller 10 in the form of turning around the large roller 8. . The document conveyed by the large roller 8 and the second driven roller 10 passes between the flow reading document glass 12 and the document guide plate 17, and is conveyed again by the large roller 8 and the third driven roller 11 through the jump table 18. . The original 3 is conveyed between the flow-read original glass 12 and the original guide plate 17 in contact with the flow-read original glass 12 by a member of the original guide plate 17. The document conveyed by the large roller 8 and the third driven roller 11 is discharged out of the apparatus by the document discharge roller pair 7.

  When the document 3 passes over the flow-reading original glass 12, the surface of the original 3 in contact with the flow-reading original glass 12 is exposed by the exposure unit 13. The exposure unit 13 transmits document image information reflected from the document 3 to the mirror unit 14 by exposure. The transmitted document image information passes through the lens 15 and is condensed and converted as an electrical signal by the CCD sensor unit 16.

By changing the transport speed of the document passing over the document glass 12, it is possible to change the magnification in the document transport direction (sub-scanning direction). For example, an image in the document conveyance direction can be reduced by increasing the document conveyance speed, and an image in the document conveyance direction can be enlarged by decreasing the document conveyance speed. The scanner 205 reads an image at the same magnification in the main scanning direction.
As another method for relatively moving the document and the exposure unit 13, the exposure unit 13 may be moved while the document is set on the document glass 12. In this case, it is possible to change the magnification in the sub-scanning direction by changing the moving speed of the exposure unit 13.

  Image data that has been scaled only in the sub-scanning direction by the scanner 205 is subjected to scaling processing in the main scanning direction by the image processing unit 210. As a result, image data scaled at the same magnification is generated for both main scanning and sub-scanning.

<Recording of job archive logs in copy jobs>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a job archive log recorded when the multi-function peripheral 101 executes a copy job with three A4 size originals set to 2 copies. 3A is an image log, and FIG. 3B is a job log. The image log is recorded for each page, and the job log is recorded for each job.

  An image attribute 302 corresponding to the image data 301 corresponding to the first document includes items of ImageType (image format) 303, Resolution (resolution) 305, and ImageSize (image size) 307. The image format of the image data corresponding to the first document is JPEG, the resolution [dpi] is 600 for both XY, and the image size [pixel] is X = 4960 / Y = 7040. Similarly, image data 309 corresponding to the second document and its image attribute 310, and image data 311 corresponding to the third document and its image attribute 312 are shown.

  The job log 313 includes a job kind (job type) 314, a user ID (user ID) 316, a start time (job start date and time) 318, an end time (job end date and time) 320, a result (job execution result) 322, a paper count (number of originals) 324, It consists of “Copy” (number of copies) 326, “Document ID” (image log ID) 328, and “Document Log” (presence / absence of image log) 330. In the example of FIG. 3, the job type is COPY (copy), the user ID is 0123456789, the job start date and time is 10:05:40 on June 22, 2010, and the job end date and time is 10:05 on June 22, 2010. 50 seconds. The job execution result is “OK” (normal end), the number of documents is 3, the number of output copies is 2, the image log ID 1 is 00000001, and the presence or absence of the image log 1 is YES (present).

  When the multifunction machine 101 executes copying, a job archive log as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is stored in the HDD 203. Each time the MFP executes a job, a job archive log is accumulated in the HDD 203, and the accumulated plurality of job archive logs are transmitted to the service provider 102 at a predetermined timing. Processing such as job archive log recording and job archive log transmission to a service provider is realized by the CPU 201 executing an agent.

<Recording of job archive log in reduced copy>
Recording of a job archive log at the time of reduced copy in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 4, a scanner processing unit 401 is a functional unit that controls the process up to storing image data generated by the scanner 205 reading a document in the MFP 101 in the HDD 203. The print processing unit 402 is a functional unit that controls the image data stored in the HDD 203 until it is printed by the printer 204. The image log recording processing unit 403 is a functional unit for recording the image data stored in the HDD 203 as an image log.
For example, each of the scanner processing unit 401, the print processing unit 402, and the image log recording processing unit 403 is implemented as a program stored in the HDD 203. Further, the image log recording processing unit 403 may be implemented as a part of the aforementioned agent.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the processing of the multi-function peripheral 101 when copying one A4 size original with the setting of 1 copy and 50% reduction. The scanner 205 reads the document 404 (405), and the scanner processing unit 401 generates image data and develops the image data in the RAM 208. When the scanner reads the original 404 at the same magnification, the image data is 7040 pixels in the main scan and 4960 pixels in the sub scan. Here, since the copy is performed with 50% reduction, the image data 408 of the scanner 205 is read by changing the relative speed between the document 404 and the exposure unit 13 so that the sub-scanning direction is reduced to 50%. As a result, the image data 408 developed in the RAM 208 is 7040 pixels for main scanning and 2480 pixels for sub-scanning. Note that the reading resolution of the scanner 205 of this embodiment is 600 dpi, and the resolution of the image data 408 is 600 dpi for both main scanning and sub-scanning. The scanner processing unit 401 stores this image data 408 in the HDD 203. The scanner 205 may generate the image data 408 by reading the original 404 at the same magnification in both the main scanning and the sub scanning, and then changing the sub scanning direction by 50% by image processing.

  Next, the print processing unit 402 reads out the image data 408 stored in the HDD 203 by the previous scan processing unit 401 and develops it in the RAM 208. Then, the image data 409 expanded in the RAM 208 is subjected to 50% reduction / magnification in the main scanning direction by using the image processing unit 210 (410), and the image data 411 after the magnification is expanded in the RAM 208 again. The image size in the main scanning direction of the image data 411 is 3507 pixels, which is half of the image data 409. Thereby, both main scanning and sub-scanning are reduced by 50%, and image data reduced to an area ratio of 25% with respect to the same magnification is obtained. Then, the image data 411 is printed on a sheet by the printer 204 (0412). This completes the copy process.

The image log recording processing unit 403 records an image log corresponding to (a) of FIG. 3 based on the image data 408 stored in the HDD 203 (413). An image log recording method will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an image log recording process at the time of executing a reduced copy. This flowchart is executed by the CPU 201 of the multifunction machine 101.

  First, in step (hereinafter, step is expressed as S) 502, the scan processing unit 401 acquires resolution information of the image data 408 stored in the HDD 203. In the example of FIG. 4, the resolution of the image data 408 in the main scanning direction (ScnResoY) and the sub-scanning direction (ScnResoX) is both 600 dpi. In step S <b> 503, the scaling ratio in the scaling process 410 performed by the print processing unit 402 is acquired. In the example of FIG. 4, since 50% reduction / magnification is performed only in the main scanning direction, the main scanning magnification (PrnY) is 50% and the sub-scanning magnification (PrnX) is 100%.

In step S504, it is determined from the values (PrnY, PrnX) obtained in step S503 whether the scaling processing is performed in the print processing unit 402. When it is determined that the scaling process is performed, the process proceeds to S505, and when it is determined that the scaling process is not performed, the process proceeds to S506. In the example of FIG. 4, since the print processing unit 402 performs 50% reduction / magnification in the main scanning direction, the process proceeds to S505. In S505, the resolution set in the image attribute, that is, 305 in FIG. 3A is calculated. For example, in the example of FIG.
Main scanning resolution [dpi]: Y = 600 [dpi] / 50 [%] × 100 = 1200
Sub-scanning resolution [dpi]: X = 600 [dpi] / 100 [%] × 100 = 600
It becomes.

  On the other hand, since the scaling process is not performed in the print processing unit 402 in S506, the resolution information (ScnResoY and ScnResoX) acquired in S502 is set to Y and X as they are without being changed. In step S507, the calculated Y and X are reflected in the image attribute of the image log, and are stored in the HDD 203 as an image log together with the image data. If the image data of the image log stored in the HDD 203 is in a format that can hold resolution information as attribute information (for example, when the image data is JPEG), the resolution information recorded in the header information is changed. The calculated Y and X may be overwritten.

In the present embodiment, the processing by the print processing unit 402 shown in FIG. 4 is executed after the processing shown in FIG. 5 is completed. That is, if the image log is not properly stored in the HDD 203, the print processing unit 402 does not execute printing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the copy process from being executed even though the image log is not stored correctly.
For the reasons described above, the image data 411 generated by the print processing unit 402 and subjected to 50% reduction / magnification for both main scanning and sub-scanning cannot be stored in the HDD 203 as an image log. Therefore, it is necessary to generate an image log based on the image data 408 generated by the scan processing unit 401. Therefore, the processing as shown in FIG. 5 is useful.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a job archive log recorded when executing 50% reduced copy. The difference from the job archive log of FIG. 3 described above is that the Resolution (resolution) [dpi] 603 in the image attribute 602 is X = 600 and Y = 1200. This is because the resolution is set in consideration of 50% reduction / magnification with respect to the main scanning direction performed by the print processing unit 402. In addition, ImageSize (image size) [pixel] 605 is X = 2480 and Y = 7040, and the scan processing unit 401 may have a size in which 50% reduction scaling is performed in the sub-scanning direction. It is a difference.

<Another Embodiment of Recording Job Archive Log in Reduced Copy>
In the above-described recording method of the job archive log in the reduced copy, as shown in FIG. As another method, the same effect can be obtained by setting the resolution of the image attribute in consideration of the scaling factor performed by the scan processing unit 401. The method will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the image log recording process when the reduced copy is executed. This flowchart is executed by the CPU 201 of the multifunction machine 101.
First, in step S <b> 702, the scan processing unit 401 acquires resolution information of the image data 408 stored in the HDD 203. In the example of FIG. 4, the main scanning direction (ScnResoY) and the sub-scanning direction (ScnResoX) are both 600 dpi. In step S703, the scaling factor of the scaling process performed by the scan processing unit 401 is acquired. In the example of FIG. 4, since 50% reduction / magnification is performed only in the sub-scanning direction, the sub-scanning magnification (ScnX) is 50% and the main scanning magnification (ScnY) is 100%.

In step S704, it is determined from the values (ScnY, ScnX) obtained in step S703 whether the scan processing unit 401 has performed the scaling process. If it is determined that the scaling process has been performed, the process proceeds to step S705. If it is determined that the scaling process has not been performed, the process proceeds to step S706. In the example of FIG. 4, since the scan processing unit 401 has performed 50% reduction / magnification in the sub-scanning direction, the process proceeds to S705. In S705, the resolution set in the image attribute, that is, 305 in FIG. 3A is calculated. In the example of FIG.
Main scanning resolution [dpi]: Y = 600 [dpi] × 100 [%] / 100 = 600
Sub-scanning resolution [dpi]: X = 600 [dpi] × 50 [%] / 100 = 300
It becomes.

  On the other hand, since the scaling process in the scan processing unit 401 is not performed in S706, the resolution information (ScnResoY and ScnResoX) acquired in S702 is set to Y and X as they are without being changed. In step S <b> 707, the calculated Y and X are reflected in the image attribute and stored in the HDD 203 as an image log together with the image data. If the image data of the image log stored in the HDD 203 is in a format that can hold resolution information as attribute information (for example, when the image data is JPEG), the resolution information recorded in the header information is changed. The calculated Y and X may be overwritten.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a job archive log recorded when the 50% reduced copy is executed when the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed. The difference from the job archive log of FIG. 6 described above is that the resolution (resolution) [dpi] 803 in the image attribute 802 is X = 300 and Y = 600. This is because the resolution is set in consideration of 50% reduction / magnification with respect to the sub-scanning direction performed by the scan processing unit 401.

<Job archive log conversion processing at the service provider>
Next, processing in the service provider 102 will be described. The agent executed by the CPU 201 of the multifunction machine 101 transmits the job archive log (FIGS. 3, 6, and 8) recorded in the HDD 203 to the service provider 102. The service provider 102 converts image data in the job archive log and performs OCR processing as necessary.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image data conversion processing executed by the service provider 102. This flowchart is executed by a CPU (not shown) of the service provider 102. In FIG. 9, the job archive log in FIG. 6 will be described as an example.
In step S <b> 902, the service provider 102 refers to the image log in the job archive log, and determines whether or not the main scanning / sub scanning resolution is a predetermined resolution (for example, 600 dpi). For example, when the predetermined resolution is 600 dpi, in the job archive log shown in FIG. 6, the main scanning is 1200 dpi and the sub-scanning is 600 dpi, so the process proceeds to S903. In step S903, resolution conversion is performed so that the main scanning / sub-scanning resolution of the image data becomes a predetermined resolution. For example, if the predetermined resolution is 600 dpi, the main scan is converted to 600 dpi. In step S904, processing other than resolution conversion, for example, processing such as OCR is executed. In step S905, the converted image data is recorded in the data server 103, and this flowchart ends. Note that the predetermined resolution in S902 is appropriately set according to the capacity of the data server 103, the capability of OCR processing, and the like.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the resolution set in the attribute information of the image log is appropriately set according to the contents of the scaling process in the scanner 205. By transmitting the image log with the resolution set appropriately in this way to the service provider, the service provider can appropriately convert the resolution. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the distorted image data having different magnifications in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction from being stored in the data server 103.
In this embodiment, a copy job with 50% reduction has been described as an example. However, if the scanner 205 changes the magnification and reads an original, the magnification is not limited to 50%, and the job type is also limited. Not limited to copy jobs.
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed. In this case, the program and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention.

101 MFP 102 Service Provider 103 Data Server 104 Web Server

Claims (6)

An original reading means capable of performing scaling in the sub-scanning direction and generating image data based on the read original image;
A scaling unit that performs scaling in the main scanning direction on the image data;
Output means for outputting the image data scaled by the scaling means;
In accordance with the designated magnification, the document reading means scales the image data generated in the sub-scanning direction, and the scaling means scales in the main scanning direction according to the designated magnification, and the output means outputs the image data. Is a record for recording a job history including image data generated by the document reading unit and attribute information having information indicating resolution in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction of the image data. Means,
Resolution setting means for setting different resolutions in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction included in the attribute information of the image data included in the job history recorded by the recording means based on the designated scaling factor ; An image processing apparatus comprising:   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits the job history recorded by the recording unit to an external device.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document reading unit performs scaling in the sub-scanning direction by changing a speed at which the document is conveyed.   4. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs the image data scaled by the scaling unit after the recording unit records the job history. 5. Image processing apparatus. A method for controlling an image processing apparatus that can perform scaling in the sub-scanning direction and includes document reading means for generating image data based on a read document image,
A scaling process for performing scaling in the main scanning direction on the image data;
An output step of outputting the image data scaled in the scaling step;
The document reading means output in said output step performs the scaling in the main scanning direction in the zooming process according to the magnification ratio of the image data generated by performing sub-scanning direction scaling is the specified according to the specified magnification Is a record for recording a job history including image data generated by the document reading unit and attribute information having information indicating resolution in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction of the image data. Process,
A resolution setting step for setting different resolutions in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction included in the attribute information of the image data included in the job history recorded in the recording step based on the designated scaling factor ; An image processing apparatus control method comprising:   A program for causing the image processing apparatus to execute the control method according to claim 5.

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