JP5754147B2 - Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

  One of the functions of an image reading apparatus that reads an image of a document is a blank page determination function. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151561 discloses a technique in which an edge portion of a document or a place where a punch hole is formed is designated as an excluded area, and blank page determination is performed in an area excluding the excluded area. By setting the exclusion area, the shadow of the original or the shadow of the punch hole is not mistaken for the image, and the accuracy of blank page determination is increased. In Patent Document 1, it is determined whether the document is blank by counting the number of occurrences of pixel density in the blank determination target area and comparing it with a threshold value.

JP 2003-198777 A

By the way, there are cases where it is desired to determine not only a blank white document (a document in which neither a standard image nor a text image is printed) but also a quasi-white paper document in which only a so-called standard image such as a file name and a page is printed but no text image is printed. is there. However, in the above-described conventional image reading apparatus, there is a possibility that it is erroneously determined that the quasi-blank document is not blank unless the formation position of the standard image is set in the exclusion area . Also, if the exclusion area is set as a user setting, it will be time-consuming for the user.

The present invention has been completed based on the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to determine a semi-blank document as a blank sheet while reducing the user's trouble.

  An image reading apparatus disclosed in this specification compares a reading unit that reads an image of a document with a plurality of pages of document images that are read by the reading unit, thereby generating a common pattern formed at the same coordinates on a plurality of pages. A detection unit for detecting, and a determination unit for determining whether the document is white or non-blank by excluding the common pattern. In this configuration, since the blank page is determined by excluding the common pattern, for example, a document on which only the common pattern is printed is determined to be blank. Since no exclusion range is provided as in the prior art, blank page determination can be performed on the entire original surface, and the determination accuracy of blank page determination can be increased. Moreover, since no exclusion range is provided, the user's trouble can be reduced.

  Further, in the image reading device, a reading unit that reads characters from each page image read by the reading unit and outputs the characters in association with the coordinates, and printed on each page from the read characters and the character coordinates. A character string recognizing unit for recognizing a character string; and a character string table generating unit for generating a character string table in which the character string is associated with coordinates for each document from which an image has been read. By comparing column tables, a common character string whose coordinates and characters match may be detected as the common pattern.

  In the image reading apparatus, the character may include a number, and the common character string may include a continuous number of coordinates that coincide with each other.

  In the image reading apparatus, the detection unit may detect the common character string by excluding a part of the original including a center.

  In the image reading apparatus, the detection unit detects the common character string by using only a part of the character string tables among all the character string tables generated by the character string table generation unit. It may be.

  In the image reading apparatus, the pre-detection unit may detect the common character string with respect to all the character string tables generated by the character string table generation unit.

  In the image reading apparatus, the detection unit deletes a common character string that is not included in the newly generated character string table every time the character string table is generated by the character string table generation unit. Thus, the common character string may be updated.

  In the image reading apparatus, the determination unit may determine that the document is non-blank when the character string table includes a character string other than the common character.

  In the image reading apparatus, the determination unit may determine that the character string table is non-blank when the character string table includes a character string that overlaps the common character string and has different characters. Also good.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to more accurately perform blank page determination of a document while reducing user effort.

1 is a perspective view of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment. Cross section of image reading unit Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the MFP Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the image reading unit Flow chart of blank paper removal sequence Illustration showing the manuscript Flow chart of subroutine 1 Illustration explaining the coordinates of characters Illustration explaining the coordinates of the string The figure which shows the character table 1 The figure which shows the character table 2 The figure which shows the character string table 1 The figure which shows the character string table 2 The figure which shows the character string table 3 The figure which shows the character string table 4 The figure which shows the character string table 5 Flow chart of subroutine 2 Diagram showing common character string table Flow chart of subroutine 3 Flowchart diagram of subroutine 4 In the second embodiment, a flowchart of the blank paper removal sequence Flowchart of subroutine 5 The figure which shows the update of the common character string table

<Embodiment 1>
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a multifunction machine 1 as an example of an image forming apparatus and an image reading apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading unit 5. Throughout this specification, the main scanning direction, which is the document reading direction, is the X direction, and the sub-scanning direction, which is the document feeding direction, is the Y direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction machine 1 includes a box-type main body 2 and an image reading unit 5 disposed above the main body 2. The main body 2 accommodates a printing unit 3 (an example of the “printing unit” in the present invention) 3. The printing unit 3 is an apparatus that forms (prints) an image on a recording medium such as paper based on the image data read by the image reading unit 5 by using an electrophotographic method using toner, ink, or the like. .

  The image reading unit 5 reads a document and includes a CIS 30, an ADF 40, and a document placement unit 50. The document placing unit 50 includes a frame 51, a first platen glass 52 made of a transparent glass plate, a second platen glass 53, and an intermediate frame 54 disposed between these glasses 52 and 53. The document cover 48 can be rotated between a closed posture that covers the document placement portion 50 and an open posture that opens the document placement portion 50, and the rear side of the main body 2 of the multifunction machine 1 (the operation portion 11, the display portion). The side on which 12 etc. are provided is connected to the front side). An ADF 40 is provided on the document cover 48.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the ADF 40 includes an ADF cover 41, a document tray 42, a conveyance path 43, various rollers such as a paper feed roller 44A, a pair of conveyance rollers 44B, a pair of paper discharge rollers 44C, and an ADF that drives these various rollers. A motor 86, a paper discharge tray 46, and a pressing member 47 are included. The ADF 40 conveys the originals placed on the original tray 42 one by one by the paper feed roller 44 </ b> A, passes the second platen glass 53, and discharges the originals to the paper output tray 46. The pressing member 47 presses the document against the second platen glass 53 so that the document passing over the second platen glass 53 does not float from the second platen glass 53. Further, the ADF 40 is provided with a document sensor 49 such as a photo sensor for detecting a document set on the document tray 42.

  The CIS 30 is provided below the document placement unit 50. The CIS 30 includes a linear image sensor 33 in which a plurality of light receiving elements are linearly arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2, a light source 31 composed of RGB three-color light emitting diodes, etc., and a reflection from the light source 31 reflected from the document. It includes a rod lens array 32 that focuses light on each light receiving element of the linear image sensor 33, a carriage 34 on which these are mounted, and a transport mechanism (not shown) that transports the carriage 34. The linear image sensor 33 detects the brightness and chromaticity of the reflected light imaged on the light receiving element, and generates data based on the image of the document.

  When reading the original set on the first platen glass 52, the image reading unit 5 conveys the CIS 30 by the FB motor 84 in the sub-scanning direction (A direction in FIG. 2) parallel to the first platen glass 52. Is read line by line. On the other hand, when reading a document conveyed by the ADF 40, the image reading unit 5 moves the CIS 30 directly below the second platen glass 53 by the FB motor 84, and reads the document that passes the reading position P on the second platen glass. The image sensor 33 reads each line.

  Further, on the front side of the multifunction device 1, an operation unit 11 that includes various buttons and receives an operation command from a user, and a display unit 12 that includes a liquid crystal display that displays the state of the multifunction device 1 are provided.

2. Electrical Configuration FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the multifunction machine 1, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the image reading unit. The multifunction machine 1 includes a control unit 70, a printing unit 3, an image reading unit 5, and a communication unit 7. The control unit 70 includes a CPU 71a, a ROM 71b, and a RAM 71c. The CPU 71a controls each part of the multifunction device 1 by executing various programs stored in the ROM 71b. The ROM 71b stores various programs executed by the CPU 71a (for example, a program for executing a blank sheet removal sequence described later), data used for execution of the program (for example, an OCR dictionary described later), and the like. The RAM 71c is used as a main storage device for the CPU 71a to execute various processes. The RAM 71c stores image data of a document read by the image reading unit 5.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image reading unit 5. The image reading unit 5 includes an ASIC 80, an FB motor 84, an FB motor drive circuit 85, an ADF motor 86, an ADF motor drive circuit 87, a CIS 30, a light source control circuit 88, an AFE 89, an original sensor 49, an operation unit 11, a display unit 12, and the like. It is prepared for.

  Connected to the ASIC 80 are an FB motor drive circuit 85, an ADF motor drive circuit 87, a light source control circuit 88, an AFE 89, an operation unit 11, and a display unit 12. The ASIC 80 controls these under the control of the CPU 71a, and applies gamma correction, shading correction, and other various image processing to the output value (pixel value) output from the AFE 89, and image data having three RGB pixel values for each pixel. Is generated. The generated image data is stored in the RAM 71c.

  The AFE 89 (Analog Front End) is a circuit that converts an analog output value (voltage) output from the image sensor 33 into a digital output value (pixel value).

3. Blank Paper Removal Sequence The multifunction machine 1 of the present embodiment has a function of removing “blank paper” originals from the originals read by the image reading unit 5. Note that the white paper referred to here includes both semi-blank originals that are printed only with so-called standard images, such as file names and pages, and that are not printed with full-text images, and full-scale blank originals (originals with neither fixed-form images nor text images printed). Shall be.

  Hereinafter, the blank sheet removal sequence for performing the blank sheet removal will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The blank sheet removal sequence is executed as the multifunction device 1 is started, and immediately after the start, the standby state is waited for an input operation by the operator (S1). When a document is set on the document tray 42 and the start key of the operation unit 11 is pressed, the process proceeds to S2. Here, the following description will be made assuming that all the five originals shown in FIG. 6 are set on the original tray 42.

  In S2, the CPU 71a of the control unit 70 starts processing for driving the ADF 40. As a result, the first document set on the document tray 42 is sent to the transport path 43 with the front side facing up. In S3, a process for determining whether or not the leading edge of the document sent out in S2 (here, the first document) has reached the reading position P is performed. Until the leading edge of the document reaches the reading position P, NO is determined in S3, and the process in S3 is repeated.

  When the leading edge of the fed document reaches the reading position P, a YES determination is made in S3, and the process proceeds to S4. In S4, the document is read by the CIS 30. Specifically, the image sensor 33 reads the original passing through the reading position P on the second platen glass 53 line by line. When all the lines have been read, the document is discharged onto the discharge tray 46.

  In S5 following S4, the CPU 71a determines whether the document read in S4 is the first document. Since the document read in S4 is the first document, YES is determined in S5. If YES is determined in S5, the process proceeds to S6. In S6, the CPU 71a executes processing for saving the image data of the original read in S4 in the RAM 71c. Thus, the image data of the first original is saved (stored) in the RAM 71c.

  In S7, processing for creating a character table and a character string table from the stored image data is executed by the CPU 71a. The character table stores characters (including numbers) and designs printed on a document in association with coordinates (coordinates on the document), and the character table is a character string in the X direction. A character string continuous in the (original scanning direction of the document) is stored in association with coordinates (coordinates on the document). These character table, character string table, and common character string table described later are all created in the working area of the RAM 71c. The process for creating the character table and the character string table is made into a subroutine, and in S7, the subroutine 1 shown in FIG. 7 is read.

  Subroutine 1 is composed of nine steps S41 to S49 as shown in FIG. In step S41, a black pixel is searched for the read original. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8a, the document coordinate reference is the left edge of the upper edge of the document, the main scanning direction (left-right direction in FIG. 8a) is the X direction, and the sub-scanning direction (up-down direction in FIG. 8a). Is the Y direction. The black pixel is searched in the X direction starting from the left edge of the upper edge of the document, which is the coordinate reference.

  If a black pixel is detected, YES is determined in S42, and the process proceeds to S43. In S43, a continuous region in which black pixels are continuous is searched, and image data is cut out. As a specific example, in the first document shown in FIG. 6, the characters “title” are printed on the upper left side of the document. Therefore, in the process of S43 performed for the first time, the continuous area U surrounding the first character “t” in “title” is detected, and the image data of the continuous area U is cut out.

  In S44, the CPU 71a performs a character reading process on the image data cut out in S43. Specifically, character interpretation is performed by analyzing the shape from the extracted image data, comparing the shape of the character (character) registered in the OCR dictionary, and detecting the closest character from the OCR dictionary. To do. Here, the CPU 71a interprets that the image data cut out in S43 is the character “t”. The character determination processing in S44 is a technique known as so-called optical character recognition (OCR). In addition, the “letter” here includes numbers in addition to hiragana, katakana, and romaji. Further, the processing function of the “reading unit” of the present invention is realized by the processing of S44 executed by the CPU 71a.

  In S45, the CPU 71a determines whether the image data cut out in S43 has been read as characters in S44. Here, since the image data cut out in S43 can be read as characters, YES is determined in S45, and the process proceeds to S46.

  In S46, a process of writing (storing) information related to the character read in S44 to the character table is performed. As shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b, the character table is a table in which characters and their coordinates are collected. In this embodiment, the coordinates of the characters are expressed using the coordinates (X1, X2, Y1, Y2) of the continuous area U (that is, the rectangular area surrounding the characters) U used to cut out the image data. (See FIG. 8a).

  Therefore, “t” is written in the character column of the character table shown in FIG. 9a, and X1 = 10, X2 = 14, Y1 = 10, and Y2 = 20 are written in the character coordinate column. (See also FIG. 8a).

  Note that if the image data cut out in S44 cannot be read, NO is determined in the determination process in S45. If NO is determined in S45, the process proceeds to S47. In S47, the image data that could not be read is recognized as a symbol, and the symbol is written in the character table together with the coordinates. As the symbol coordinates, the coordinates of the continuous area U surrounding the symbols are written as in the case of characters.

  When the processes of S46 and S47 are completed, the process of S48 is performed next. In S48, the CPU 71a executes processing for determining whether or not black pixels have been searched for all the pixels of the document. At this stage, since only the upper part of the left end of the document has been performed, NO is determined in S48. If NO is determined in S48, the process returns to S41, and the CPU 71a resumes the process of searching for black pixels by excluding the already searched area.

  When a new black pixel is detected, a continuous area U is detected in S43, and image data of the continuous area U is further cut out. In S44, a process of reading the extracted image data is performed. Thereafter, in S45, a process is performed to determine whether or not the extracted image data has been read. If the character has been read, the character and the coordinates of the character are written in the character table in S46. In this example, the second character “i” and the continuous region U surrounding “i” in the character string “title” printed in the upper part of the left end of the document in the process of S46 performed for the second time. Are written in the character table shown in FIG. 9a.

  By repeatedly performing such processing, the image data is cut out and the extracted image data is interpreted, and the result is sequentially written in the character table. The first document includes “t”, “i”, “t”, “l”, “e”, “a”, “b”, “c”, “i”, “i”, “ E ”,“ 1 ”,“ A ”,“. ”,“ D ”,“ o ”,“ c ”, a total of 17 characters are printed. The 17 characters described above and the coordinates of the characters are written.

  When the search for the black pixel is completed for all the pixels of the document, the determination in S48 is YES, and the process proceeds to S49. In S49, a character string table is created by reconfiguring the table using the consecutive characters as a character string (created by the CPU 71a).

More specifically, whether or not a character constitutes a character string is determined based on whether or not two conditions are satisfied.
(1) The Y coordinates are almost the same.
(2) The X coordinate is continuous.

  For example, among the 17 characters that make up the character table of the first original, 5 characters “t”, “i”, “t”, “l”, and “e” all have a Y1 coordinate of “10”. , Y2 is “20”, and the Y coordinates are the same. Therefore, the condition (1) is cleared.

  In addition, the X coordinates of five characters “t”, “i”, “t”, “l”, and “e” are continuous. Specifically, the first character “t” has the X2 coordinate “14”, whereas the second character “i” has the X1 coordinate “15” and the first character “t”. The X coordinates of “t” and the second “i” are continuous. Also, the second character “i” is the X2 coordinate “19”, whereas the third character “t” is the X1 coordinate “20”, and the second character “i” is the third character “t”. The X coordinate of the character “t” is continuous. The third character “t”, the fourth character “i”, the fourth character “i”, and the fifth character “e” have consecutive X coordinates.

  As described above, the five characters “t”, “i”, “t”, “l”, and “e” satisfy both the conditions (1) and (2), and thus are recognized as character strings. Is done.

  Of the first document, five characters (“t”, “i”, “t”, “l”, “e”) of number 1 to number 5 and three characters of number 6 to number 8 ( “A”, “b”, “c”), three characters from number 9 to number 11 (“i”, “i”, “e”), and five characters from number 13 to number 17 (“A”, ".", "D", "o", "c") all satisfy the conditions (1) and (2) and are recognized as character strings.

  As shown in FIGS. 10a to 10e, the character string table is a table in which character strings and the coordinates of the character strings are collected. In this embodiment, the coordinates of the character string are expressed using the coordinates (X3, X4, Y3, Y4) of the rectangular area V surrounding the character string (see FIG. 8b).

  From the above, the character string table 1 shown in FIG. 10a includes five character strings “title”, “abc”, “No”, “1”, “A.doc”, and coordinates of each character string. Will be written. In this embodiment, a single character is included in the character string, and the character “1” is also written in the character string table as a character string. A subscript attached to the end of the table such as the character table 1 or the character string table 1 indicates the number of documents. That is, the character table 1 means the character table of the first original, and the character string table 1 means the character string table of the first original. Further, the processing function performed by the “character string recognition unit” and the “character string table generation unit” of the present invention is realized by the processing of S49 executed by the CPU 71a.

  When the character string table is created in S49, the subroutine 1 ends, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 5, and the process of S23 is performed. In S 23, it is determined whether there is a next document on the document tray 42 based on the output of the document sensor 49. At this stage, only the first document has been read, and the remaining document remains on the document tray 42, so a YES determination is made in S23.

  For this reason, the blank paper removal sequence returns to S2, and the second document set on the document tray 42 is sent to the transport path 43 by the ADF 40 with the front side facing up (S3). When the leading edge of the document reaches the reading position P, the document is read by the CIS 30 (S4).

  In S5 following S4, the CPU 71a determines whether the document read in S4 is the first document. Since the document read in S4 is the second document, NO is determined in S5. If NO is determined in S5, the process proceeds to S8. In S8, it is determined whether the document read in S4 is the second document.

  Here, since the second original is read in S4, YES is determined in S8. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S9, and the CPU 71a executes a process for storing the image data of the document read in S4 in the RAM 71c. Thus, the image data of the second document is saved (stored) in the RAM 71c.

  When the read image data is stored in the RAM 71c in S9, the process of S10 is executed next. The process of S10 is the same process as S7. Subroutine 1 shown in FIG. 7 is read, and a process of creating a character table and a character string table from the read image data is performed for the second original. As a result, the character table 2 shown in FIG. 9b and the character string table 2 shown in FIG. 10b are created.

  Then, after the subroutine 1 is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 5 and the process of S10 is performed. In S10, the CPU 71a executes a process of creating a common character string table from the character string table 1 of the first original and the character string table of the second original. The process of creating the common character string table is made into a subroutine, and subroutine S2 shown in FIG. 11 is read in S11.

  Subroutine 2 includes 14 steps S61 to S74 as shown in FIG. This subroutine 2 searches for whether or not a character string matching the “character string of line number i” in the character string table 1 of the first original is included in the character string table 2 of the second original ( S61 to S69) are repeated while updating the line number i in the character string table 1, so that the common character string common to the character string table 1 of the first original and the character string table 2 of the second original is common. And a common character string table is created.

  In this embodiment, the character strings are determined to be common when the following conditions (3A) and (4) are satisfied or when the conditions (3B) and (4) are satisfied.

(3A) The characters constituting the character string match (S62).
(3B) The character string is a number, and the value of the number +1 in the “i” row of the character string table 1 is in the row of the character string table 2 (S63).
(4) The coordinates of the character strings are almost the same (S64).

  In S61, the line number “i” is set to “1” for the character string table 1 of the first original, and the line number “j” is set to “1” for the second character string table.

  Next, in S62, it is determined whether or not the characters in the character string in the “i” line of the character string table 1 match the character string in the “j” line in the character string table 2. Here, since both “i” and “j” are 1, character matching is determined for the first character strings in the character string table 1 and the character table 2.

  Since the character strings in the first row of the character string table 1 and the character string table 2 are both “title”, YES is determined in S62. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S64. If NO is determined in S62, the process proceeds to S63. In S63, it is determined whether the character string is a numeral and the value of the number “i” in the character string table 1 plus the value +1 is in the line of the character string table 2 (determined by the CPU 71a).

  In S64, it is determined whether the two character strings have the same coordinates (determined by the CPU 71a). Therefore, here, it is determined whether the character string “title” written in the first line of the character string table 1 and the character string “title” written in the first line of the character string table 2 have substantially the same coordinates. The

  The coordinates of the character string “title” written in the first line of the character string table 1 and the character string “title” written in the first line of the character string table 2 are X1 = 10, X = 14, Y1 = 10, Y2 = 20, and all four coordinates coincide (see FIGS. 10a and 10b). Therefore, YES is determined in S64, and then the process proceeds to S65 (however, if NO is determined, the process proceeds to S68).

  In S64, if the two character strings are at the same coordinates, the determination is YES, and in addition to the case where the coordinates of the two character strings are completely the same, YES (specifically, when there is a difference of about several millimeters between the coordinates of two character strings), YES is also determined. By providing a margin for the coordinate determination in this way, even if a shift of about several millimeters occurs in the coordinates of the character string due to the printing shift, NO is not determined in S64.

  In S65, it is determined whether the character string is “numeric”. Since the character string “title” is not “number”, a NO determination is made in S65, and then the process proceeds to S66. In S66, a process of saving the common character string and coordinates in the common character string table is performed (performed by the CPU 71a).

  The common character string table is a table in which the common character strings and the coordinates of the common character strings are summarized as a table (in other words, the common character strings and the coordinates are stored in association with each other) (see FIG. 12). Therefore, the character string “title” and its coordinates are stored (written) in the first line of the common character string table. If YES is determined in S65, the process proceeds to S67, and “numerals” and coordinates are stored (written) as a common character string in the common character string table.

  When the process of S66 or S67 is completed, the process of S68 is performed next. In S68, a process of incrementing (adding +1) “j” which is the line number of the character string table 2 is performed. Therefore, here, the line number of the character string table 2 is incremented from “1” to “2”.

  Next, in S69, the CPU 71a determines whether the maximum number of lines in the character string table 2 has been searched. At this stage, since only the first line of the character string table 2 has been searched, NO is determined. If a NO determination is made in S69, the process returns to S62.

  Thereafter, the processes of S62 to S67 are performed on the character string on the “1” line in the character string table 1 and the character string on the “2” line in the character string table 2. Since the character string in the “1” line of the character string table 1 and the character string in the “2” line of the character string table 2 do not match and are not numbers, both NO in S62 and S63. As a result, the process proceeds to S68.

  In S68, the line number of the character string table 2 is incremented from “2” to “3”, and it is determined in S69 whether or not the maximum number of lines in the character string table 2 has been searched. At this stage, since only the second line of the character string table 2 has been searched, NO is determined. If a NO determination is made in S69, the process returns to S62.

  Thereafter, the processes of S62 to S67 are performed on the character string on the “1” line in the character string table 1 and the character string on the “3” line in the character string table 2. When such processing is repeated and the search is completed up to the maximum number of lines in the character table 2 (here, the third line), YES is determined in S69.

  If YES is determined in S <b> 69, a process of setting “j” that is the line number of the character string table 2 to 1 is performed in S <b> 70. Also, in S71, a process of incrementing (i.e. adding +1) "i" that is the line number of the character string table 1 is performed. Therefore, here, the line number of the character string table 1 is incremented from “1” to “2”.

  Thereafter, in S72, a process is performed to determine whether the character string in the “i” line of the character string table 1 is included in the central area CT of the document (performed by the CPU 71a). In this embodiment, the central area CT of the document is indicated by a dashed line shown in FIG. 6 (specifically, a predetermined range (header) from the upper end of the document on which the standard image is printed, and the document on which the standard image is printed. If the character string of the “i” line is included in the central region CT, a YES determination is made. On the other hand, if it is not included in the central region, NO is determined. Note that the center area CT of the document corresponds to “a part of the document including the center” of the present invention. The central region CT may be set by coordinates. By doing so, by comparing the Y coordinate of the “i” line in the character string table 1 (the Y coordinate of the character string) with the Y coordinate of the central area CT, the character in the “i” line of the character string table 1 It can be easily determined whether the column is included in the central area CT of the document.

  The character string “abc” in the second line of the character string table 1 is out of the central area CK as shown in FIG. Therefore, NO determination is made in S72. If NO is determined in S72, the process proceeds to S74.

  Then, in S74, a process for determining whether or not the maximum number of lines in the character string table 1 has been searched is performed. At this stage, since only the first line of the character string table 1 has been searched, NO is determined. If a NO determination is made in S74, the process returns to S62.

  Thereafter, the processes of S62 to S69 are performed on the character string on the “2” line of the character string table 1 and the character strings on the “1” line to the “3” line of the character string table 2. As a result, the character string common to the character string on the “2” line of the character string table 1 (that is, the conditions of (3A) and (4) or the conditions of (3B) and (4) are set. It is searched whether the character string to be satisfied is included in the “1” line to the “3” line of the character string table 2. However, the case where the character string of the “i” line of the character string table 1 is included in the central area of the document is excluded.

  If the conditions (3A) and (4) are satisfied, the character string is stored in the common character string table together with the coordinates (S66). When the conditions (3B) and (4) are satisfied, “number” and coordinates are stored as a common character string in the common character table (S66, S67).

  Such processing is repeatedly performed while “updating line number i” in the character string table 1. Then, when the fifth row of the character string table 1 is searched for whether the common character string is included in the “1” to “3” rows of the character string table 2, a YES determination is made in S74. Then, subroutine 2 ends.

  In this embodiment, the first document and the second document include three common character strings “title”, “number (1, 2, 3,...)”, And “A.doc”. Therefore, these three character strings and their coordinates are stored in the common character string table (see FIG. 12).

  Of the above three common character strings, “number (1, 2, 3,...)” Is the number “1” in the fourth line of the character string table 1 and the second line in the character string table 2. The number “2” is determined as a common character string. That is, the two numbers in both the character string tables have the same coordinates and the numbers are continuous. Therefore, when the number “1” on the fourth line of the character string table 1 is applied to the subroutine 2, a NO determination is made in S62, and a YES determination is made in S63. This is because these numbers are continuous, so that the condition that the value of the number +1 in the “i” row of the character string table 1 is in the row of the character string table 2 is satisfied.

  After that, since YES is determined in S64 and S65, respectively, it is stored as a common character string in the common character string table in S67. As described above, if the common character string includes consecutive numbers with the same coordinates, the number of pages touched on the document can be included in the common character string.

  Further, in this subroutine 2, when the character string of the “i” line in the character string table 1 is included in the central area CK of the document, the “i” line is set to a value outside the central area (S72). , S73). Therefore, for example, the character string “No” on the third line included in the central area CK of the document is excluded from the search target, and the character string common to the character string “abc” on the second line is the character string table 2 side. Next, if the character string “No” on the third line is skipped and a character string common to the character string “1” on the fourth line is included in the character string table 2 side Search for.

  If the common character string is detected by excluding the central area CK of the document in this way, the process for detecting the common character string can be shortened compared to the case where the common character string is detected for the entire area of the document. The common character string is, for example, a page number, a date, a file name, etc., and these are usually printed at the end of the document. Therefore, if the central area CK of the document is excluded in advance, the common character string is not erroneously detected. Accordingly, it is possible to accurately determine the blank page.

  The function performed by the detection unit of the present invention is realized by the process of S11 (subroutine 2) executed by the CPU 71a. Further, by executing the subroutine 2, a common character string table is created from the character string table of the first original and the character string table of the second original, whereby the “detection unit detects the character string” according to the present invention. The common character string is detected using only a part of the character string tables among all the character string tables generated by the table generation unit ”.

  Then, after the subroutine 2 is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 5, and the CPU 71a executes a process of determining whether or not the first original is blank in S12. This blank page determination process is a subroutine, and subroutine S3 shown in FIG. 13 is read out in S12.

  Subroutine 3 performs blank page determination by comparing the “common character string table” created in S11 with the “character string table” of the original to be blanked, and includes nine steps S81 to S89 shown in FIG. It is composed of In the following description, the “common range” is a range (a range represented by four coordinates X1, X2, Y1, and Y2) in which a common character string is printed in the document. Further, the non-common range means the entire range other than the common range in the original.

  In S <b> 81, it is determined whether or not the common range is a blank page for the blank page determination target document. To determine whether the common range is blank, it is only necessary to search the character string table of the document to be determined for a character string whose coordinates overlap with the common range. If there is no overlapping character string, the common range is determined. Is determined to be blank (YES).

  If YES is determined in S81, the process proceeds to S82. In S82, it is determined whether or not the non-common range is blank for the blank page determination target document. To determine whether the non-common range is blank, it is only necessary to search the character string table of the document to be determined for a character string included in the non-common range. If there is no character string included in the non-common range, The non-common range is determined to be blank (YES).

  If YES is determined in S82, the process proceeds to S83 and a blank sheet flag is set (the blank sheet flag is stored in the RAM 71c). On the other hand, if NO is determined in S82, the process proceeds to S84, and a non-blank sheet flag is set (the blank sheet flag is stored in the RAM 71c).

  If NO is determined in S81, the process proceeds to S85. In S85, it is determined whether or not the character string printed in the common range for the document that is the target of blank page determination matches the character string in the common character string table side. This is determined by comparing the character string in the character string table on the document side with the common character string on the common character string table side.

  If YES is determined in S85 (if they match), the process proceeds to S86. In S86, it is determined whether the non-common range is blank. In order to determine whether the non-common range is blank, it is only necessary to search the character string table of the document to be determined for a character string included in the non-common range. If YES is determined in S86, the process proceeds to S87 and a blank flag is set. On the other hand, if NO is determined in S86, the process proceeds to S88, and a non-blank flag is set. Also, if NO is determined in S85 (when it is determined that there is a mismatch), the process proceeds to S89 and the non-blank flag is set. It should be noted that, according to the processing of S81, S85, and S89 in the subroutine 3, “the determination unit includes a character string in which the character string table includes a character string that is different in character from the common character string. Is determined to be non-blank ”.

  Next, how the blank sheet of the first document is determined by the subroutine 3 will be described. The character string table 1 of the first document has a character string (for example, “title”) whose coordinates overlap the common range. Therefore, NO determination is made in S81. Further, the character string (for example, “title”) matches the common character string stored in the common character string. Therefore, YES determination is made in S85. The character string table of the first document includes character strings “abc” and “No” (character strings whose coordinates are outside the common range), and the non-common range is not blank. Therefore, NO determination is made in S86.

  Thus, in the blank page determination of the first document, a NO determination is made in S81, a YES determination is made in S85, and a NO determination is made in S86. In step S88, a non-blank sheet flag is set. When the process of S88 ends, the subroutine 3 ends. The function performed by the determination unit of the present invention is realized by the processing of S12 (subroutine 3) and S21 (subroutine 3) executed by the CPU 71a.

  After the subroutine 3 is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 5 and the process of S13 is performed. In S13, the CPU 71a executes a process of removing a blank sheet from the first document according to the determination result in S12. This blank sheet removal processing is made into a subroutine, and subroutine S4 shown in FIG. 14 is read in S13.

  Subroutine 4 is composed of two steps S91 and S92. In S91, a process for determining whether or not a blank page flag is set is performed. If the blank sheet flag is set, the original is removed (specifically, the image data of the original stored in the RAM 71c is deleted). On the other hand, if the blank page flag is not set, NO is determined in S91, and the process ends without performing the blank page removal process. The first original has a non-blank flag and no blank flag. Therefore, the subroutine 4 ends without removing the blank paper.

  After the subroutine 4 is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. The process in S21 is the same as that in S12. In S21, the subroutine 3 shown in FIG. 13 is read in the same manner as in S12.

  Since the subroutine 3 has already been described, how to determine the blank page of the second document will be briefly described here. The character string table 2 of the second document has a character string (for example, “title”) whose coordinates overlap in the common range. Therefore, NO determination is made in S81. Further, the character string (for example, “title”) matches the common character string stored in the common character string. Therefore, YES determination is made in S85. The character string table 2 of the second document includes only the same character string as the common character string in the common character table, and there is no character string included in the non-common range. Therefore, YES determination is made in S86.

Thus, in the blank page determination of the second document, a NO determination is made in S81, a YES determination is made in S85, and a YES determination is made in S86. In S88, a blank paper flag is set. Then, when the process of setting the blank paper flag is finished in S88, the subroutine 3 is finished.

  After the subroutine 3 is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG. 5 and the process of S22 is performed. In S22, according to the determination result in S21, the CPU 71a executes processing for removing a blank sheet of the original (here, the second original). This blank paper removal process of S22 (the same process as S13) is made into a subroutine, and subroutine 4 shown in FIG. 14 is read out. Then, by executing subroutine 4, the second original is removed. That is, the image data stored in the RAM 71c is deleted.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to S23. In S 23, it is determined whether there is a next document on the document tray 42 based on the output of the document sensor 49. At this stage, only the second page has been read, and the document remains on the document tray 42, so a YES determination is made in S23.

  Therefore, the blank paper removal sequence returns to S2, and the third document set on the document tray 42 is sent to the transport path 43 by the ADF 40 with the front side facing up. When the leading edge of the document reaches the reading position P, the document is read by the CIS 30.

  In S5 following S4, it is determined whether the document read in S4 is the first document. Since the document read in S4 is the third, NO is determined in S5. If NO is determined in S5, the process proceeds to S8. In S8, it is determined whether the document read in S4 is the second document. Since the document read in S4 is the third, NO is determined in S8. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S14, and the CPU 71a executes a process for storing the image data of the original read in S4 in the RAM 71c. Thus, the image data of the third original is saved (stored) in the RAM 71c.

  When the read image data is stored in the RAM 71c in S14, the process of S15 is executed next. The process of S15 is the same process as S7 and S9. Subroutine 1 shown in FIG. 7 is read, and a process of creating a character table and a character string table from the read image data is performed for the third original. . As a result, the character table 3 and the character string table 3 shown in FIG. 10c are created. Note that the character table 3 is not shown.

  When the process of S15 is completed, a process of determining a blank page for the third original is executed in S21. When the blank page is determined in S21, the process proceeds to S22, and a process for removing the blank sheet according to the determination result in S21 is performed. Then, when the process of S22 ends, the process returns to S23 again.

  When such processing is repeatedly performed and the blank sheet removal processing is completed for all the originals (in this example, five sheets) set on the document tray 42, a YES determination is made in S23, and a blank sheet removal sequence is performed. Will end.

In the following, a brief description will be given of how the blank page of the original is determined for each of the third to fifth originals.
The character string table 3 of the third original shown in FIG. 6 includes a character string (for example, “title”) whose coordinates overlap in the common range, as shown in FIG. 10c. Therefore, NO determination is made in S81. Further, the character string (for example, “title”) matches the common character string stored in the common character string. Therefore, YES determination is made in S85. The character string table 3 of the third document includes the character string “Aiueo” (character string whose coordinates are outside the common range), and the non-common range is not blank. In S86, a NO determination is made. From the above, since the non-blank flag is set in S88, the third original is not removed.

  Next, the case of the fourth original shown in FIG. 6, that is, an original in which only the characters “japan” are printed on the left end of the original will be described. In the character string table 4 of the fourth original, a character string “Japan” is stored as shown in FIG. Since the character string “Japan” has coordinates in the common range, NO is determined in S81. On the other hand, the character string “japan” does not match the character string “title” described in the common range. Therefore, a NO determination is made in S85, and a non-blank flag is set in S89. Therefore, the fourth original is not removed.

  Next, the case of the fifth original shown in FIG. 6, that is, the entire blank sheet will be described. As shown in FIG. 10E, no character string is stored in the character string table 5 of the fifth original. Therefore, NO determination is made in both S81 and S82. Therefore, a non-blank flag is set in S84 and the fifth original is removed.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the entire blank original (the fifth original in FIG. 6) can be removed. In the first embodiment, since the blank page is determined by excluding the common character string, a quasi-blank document (the second document in FIG. 6, only the common character string is printed and the body image is not printed). ) Can be removed.

  In the first embodiment, even if there is a character string that overlaps the common range, if it does not match the common character string, a non-blank flag is set (S81, S85, S89). Therefore, blank pages are not removed when different character strings are printed at the coordinates of the common character string as in the fourth document in FIG. If the exclusion range is set as in the prior art, even if a different character string is printed at the coordinates of the common character string that is the exclusion range as in the fourth document in FIG. 6, it is removed as a blank sheet. In the first exemplary embodiment, blank pages are not removed even in such an original, and therefore, blank page determination accuracy is higher than that of the conventional blank page determination method. Moreover, the merit that a user's effort can be reduced by not providing an exclusion range is also acquired.

  In the first embodiment, the common character string is detected based on the read character, and the common character string can be detected more accurately than in the case where the common character string is detected based on the density. Accordingly, it is possible to accurately determine the blank page.

  In the first embodiment, the common character string includes consecutive numbers having the same coordinates. In this way, the number of pages touched on the document can be included in the common character string. For this reason, it is possible to perform blank page determination by excluding the number of pages, and the accuracy of blank page determination is increased.

  In the first embodiment, the common character string is detected by excluding the central area CK of the document. Therefore, the process for detecting the common character string can be shortened compared to the case where the common character string is detected for the entire area of the document. The common character string is, for example, a page number, a date, a file name, etc., and these are usually printed at the end of the document. Therefore, if the central area CK of the document is excluded in advance, the common character string is not erroneously detected. Accordingly, it is possible to accurately determine the blank page.

  In the first embodiment, the common character string is detected using only the character string tables of the first document and the second document. Therefore, after the common character string is detected, it is possible to perform reading of the original and blank page determination in parallel.

<Embodiment 2>
A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17. In the first embodiment, the common character string table is created by comparing the character string tables of the first document and the second document. Then, based on the common character string table created by comparing the character string tables of the first document and the second document, blank page determination is performed for the third and subsequent documents.

  The second embodiment is common to the first embodiment in that the common character string table is created by comparing the character string tables of the first document and the second document. However, the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the created common character string table is updated by comparing with the character string tables of the third and subsequent originals. Along with this change, in the blank page removal sequence of the second embodiment, the processing of S16 (common character string table update processing) is added to the blank page removal sequence of the first embodiment.

  Further, in the first embodiment, blank images are determined each time an image of a document is read. However, in the second embodiment, images are first read for all original documents, and then blank images are determined collectively. I made it. Along with this change, the blank paper removal sequence of the second embodiment has contents obtained by adding S24 to S28 to the blank paper removal sequence of the first embodiment and deleting S12, S13, S21, and S22.

Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be described.
<First difference>
The process of S16 will be described by taking as an example a case where the common character string table is updated as the third original is read. The process of S16 is made into a subroutine. In S16, the subroutine 5 shown in FIG. 16 is read. Subroutine 5 comprises eight steps S100 to S107 and is executed by CPU 71a. In the following description, “m” represents the line number of the common character string table.

  First, in S100, the line number “m” of the common character string table is set to “1”. In the subsequent S101, a process for retrieving the same coordinates as the “m” line of the common character string table from the character string table of the third original is performed. If there is no same coordinate, NO is determined in S102, and the "m" line is deleted from the common character string table in S105.

  On the other hand, if the same coordinates are included in the character string table of the third original, YES is determined in S102, and the process proceeds to S103. In S103, it is determined whether the character string having the same coordinates retrieved from the character string table of the third original is the same as the common character string.

  If they are the same character string, YES is determined in S103. On the other hand, if they are not the same character string, the process proceeds to S104. In S104, it is determined whether the character string in the “m” line on the common character string table side is a numeral and the character string on the character string table side is also a numeral. If both are numbers, YES is determined in S104.

  If YES is determined in S103 and S104, the process proceeds to S106. In S106, a process of incrementing (+1 addition) “m” that is the line number of the common character string table is performed. Therefore, here, the line number of the common character string table is incremented from “1” to “2”.

  On the other hand, if NO is determined in S104, the “m” line is deleted from the common character string table in S105, similarly to the case where NO is determined in S102. Then, the process proceeds to S106 following the process of S105, and the line number of the common character string table is incremented from “1” to “2” as described above.

  Thereafter, in S107, it is determined whether a search has been performed for all line numbers in the common character string table. Here, since only the first line has been searched, NO is determined in S107. Therefore, the process returns to S101, and the above-described processes of S101 to S106 are executed according to the above-described procedure. If all line numbers in the common character string table are searched, YES is determined in S107, and the subroutine 5 ends.

  This subroutine 5 deletes the common character string that is not included in the character string table 3 of the third and subsequent originals newly read out of the common character strings stored in the common character string table (S105).

Therefore, the common character string table is updated, for example, in the order of upper → middle → lower as shown in FIG. 17, and finally the common character string common to all originals and its coordinates are stored. Become. When creating a common character string, a character string table having no character string as shown in FIG. 10E is not used. According to the processing of S16 executed by the CPU 71a, “the detection unit is not included in the newly generated character string table every time the character string table is generated by the character string table generation unit. “The common character string is updated by deleting the common character string” is realized.

<Second difference>
Next, with reference to FIG. 15, the process of S24-S28 which is the 2nd difference is demonstrated. In the following description, “n” represents the number of pages of the read document.

  The processing from S24 to S28 is performed by collectively performing blank page determination and blank page removal processing of all n documents read by the image reading unit 5, using the common character string table updated in S16. Specifically, the process consists of five steps S24 to S28. In S24, the page number “n” of the document is set to “0”. In S25, a process of incrementing (+1 addition) “m” which is the number of pages of the document is performed. Accordingly, here, the number of pages of the document is incremented from “0” to “1”.

  In S26, a process of determining a blank sheet for the nth document is performed. The process of S26 is the same as S12 and S21 of the first embodiment, and the subroutine 3 is read in S26. In step S16, the updated common character string table is used to determine whether the nth (here, the first) document is blank.

  If a blank page is determined for the first document in S26, the process proceeds to S27. In S27, a blank sheet removal process is performed on the nth document. The process of S27 is the same as S13 and S22 of the first embodiment, and the subroutine 4 is read in S27. In S27, a process of removing a blank sheet from the original (here, the first original) is executed according to the determination result in S26.

  In S28, it is determined whether or not the number of original pages n for which blank pages have been determined has reached the number of pages read by the image reading unit 5. If the number n of blank original pages has not reached the number of read pages, a NO determination is made in S28, and the process returns to S25.

  From the above, blank sheet determination and blank sheet removal processing are performed for each document read by the image reading unit 5. When these processes are completed for all the originals, a YES determination is made in S28, and the series of blank paper removal sequences is completed.

  In the second embodiment, since a common character string is detected for the character string table of all originals read by the image reading unit 5, it is possible to detect a character string common to all originals as a common character string. . Accordingly, since it is possible to perform blank page determination by excluding only the common character string common to all the originals, it is possible to accurately determine the blank page of the original.

  In the second embodiment, the common character string table is updated each time a character string table is generated as a new document is read. If the common character string table is updated in this way, it takes more time to search for the common character string than when the common character string is created from the character string table of all originals after all the originals are read. Less is enough. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently create a common character string table, and determine and remove blank pages from a document.

<Embodiment 3>
A third embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the subroutine 3 is used for blank page determination. In the third embodiment, the blank page of the document is determined by a method different from that in the first embodiment. Specifically, in the third embodiment, when a character string other than the common character string stored in the common character string table is included in the character string table of the document to be determined, the document is determined to be non-blank. To do.

  As in the first embodiment, a specific example of blank page determination will be described by taking as an example the case of blank page determination for five documents shown in FIG. Note that the character string table of each document is generated by using the subroutine 1 as in the first embodiment, and the character string table shown in FIGS. 10a to 10e is generated, and the common character string table is generated by using the subroutine 2. Assume that the common character string table shown in FIG.

  In the common character string table shown in FIG. 12, three common character strings “title”, “number”, and “A.doc” are stored. On the other hand, the character string table 1 shown in FIG. 10A includes character strings “abc” and “No” that are not included in the common character string. In addition, the character table 3 illustrated in FIG. 10C includes a character string “Aiueo” that is not included in the common character string. In addition, the character table 4 illustrated in FIG. 10D includes a character string “japan” that is not included in the common character string.

  Accordingly, it can be determined that the first original corresponding to the character string table 1, the third original corresponding to the character string table 3, and the fourth original corresponding to the character string table 4 are non-blank.

  On the other hand, since the other character string tables 2 and 4 have a pattern that includes only the common character string or does not include the character string itself, the second manuscript and character corresponding to the character string table 2 are used. It can be determined that the fourth original corresponding to the row table 4 is all blank. As described above, the third embodiment has an advantage that it is possible to determine whether a document is blank or non-blank by a simple process of simply comparing a character string with a common character string.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  (1) In the first and second embodiments, a multifunction peripheral is illustrated as an example of an image reading apparatus. However, a printing unit is not necessarily required, and any configuration that includes at least the control unit 70 and the image reading unit 5 may be used.

  (2) In the first and second embodiments, an example in which blank page determination of a document is performed using a character string table has been described. Specifically, a character string other than a common character string is included in the character string table. In this case, the manuscript is judged to be non-blank. The blank page determination may be performed by excluding the common character string. For example, the process of excluding the common character string from the document image is performed, and then the number of appearances of the pixel density for the document image from which the common character string is excluded. It is also possible to make the original blank by comparing the above with the threshold.

  (3) In the second embodiment, the common character string table is updated by comparing with the character string table of the newly read original, thereby creating the common character string table common to all originals. A method of creating a common character string table common to all originals (a method of detecting a common character string for all character string tables of all originals created by the CPU 71a) is limited to a method other than the method of the second embodiment. Instead, for example, a common character string may be created from a character string table of all originals after all originals have been read.

  (4) In the first and second embodiments, an example in which blank page determination of a document is performed using a character string table has been described. Specifically, a character string other than a common character string is included in the character string table. In this case, the manuscript is judged to be non-blank. The blank page determination may be performed by excluding the common character string. For example, the process of excluding the common character string from the document image is performed, and then the number of appearances of the pixel density for the document image from which the common character string is excluded. It is also possible to make the original blank by comparing the above with the threshold.

  (5) In the first embodiment, numbers are included in the character strings of the character string table, but symbols may be further included.

1. Multifunction machine (an example of “image reading apparatus” and “image forming apparatus” of the present invention)
3. Printing unit (an example of the “printing unit” of the present invention)
5... Image reading unit 30... CIS (an example of the “reading unit” of the present invention)
40 ... ADF
43 ... conveying path 70 ... control unit 71a ... CPU (an example of "detection unit", "determination unit", "reading unit", "character string recognition unit", "character string table generation unit" of the present invention)
71b ... ROM
71c ... RAM

Claims (8)

A reading unit for reading an image of a document;
A reading unit that reads the characters from the image of each page read by the reading unit and outputs the characters in association with the coordinates;
A character string recognition unit for recognizing a character string printed on each page from the read character and the character coordinates;
A character string table generating unit that generates a character string table in which the character string and the coordinates are stored in association with each other for each document from which an image has been read;
By detecting the character string table of each document, a detection unit that detects a common character string that is formed at the same coordinates on a plurality of pages and that has the same characters as the coordinates;
An image reading apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines whether a document is blank or non-blank by excluding the common character string detected by the detection unit. The letters include numbers,
2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the common character string includes consecutive numbers that coincide with each other on the plurality of pages of the document . The detector is operable to exclude some areas including the central of the original, the common character string image reading apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 for detecting a. Wherein the detection unit, the by all string table generated by the string table generating unit in the target, the common character claims 1 to detect the sequence of any one of claims 3 image reading apparatus . The detection unit updates the common character string by deleting a common character string that is not included in the newly generated character string table each time the character string table is generated by the character string table generation unit. The image reading apparatus according to claim 4 . The determination unit, the string table, the common case where a character string other than a column is contained, claims 1, characterized in that determining the original and non-blank any one of claims 5 The image reading apparatus described in 1. The determination unit, the string table, the common character string and the coordinates overlap, when the character is contain different strings claims 1, characterized in that it is determined that the non-blank claim The image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 4 . An image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 ,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a printing unit that prints an image read by the image reading apparatus on a recording medium.

Images