JP6365894B2 - Image reading device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus.

  A certain image reading device specifies the direction of characters in a document image by character recognition processing, and specifies the direction of the document image from the specified character direction (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-61635 A

  However, if character recognition processing is performed on all document images as described above to detect a document image that is upside down, the processing time for a plurality of pages of document images will increase.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image reading apparatus that determines whether a document image is upside down in a relatively short time.

An image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes an image acquisition unit that acquires image data of a one-page document image line by line, and the sum of pixel values in the first half and the second half of each line acquired by the image acquisition unit. calculates a sum of pixel values in, among all lines in the original image of the first page, based on the sum of pixel values in the summation and the second half of the pixel value in the first half to the line without the photo region And a primary determination unit for determining whether or not the document image is upside down.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an image reading apparatus that determines whether a document image is upside down in a relatively short time.

  These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image reading apparatus 1 in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document image. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the primary determination unit 42 in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an image reading apparatus 1 is a multifunction machine having an image reading function, and is a kind of image reading apparatus. The terminal device 2 is a terminal device carried by the user, such as a smartphone or a tablet personal computer, and can communicate with the image reading device 1.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image reading apparatus 1 in FIG. An image reading apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an image reading unit 11, a printing apparatus 12, a facsimile apparatus 13, a communication apparatus 14, an operation panel 15, an arithmetic processing apparatus 16, and the like.

  The image reading unit 11 optically reads a document image from a document placed on a platen glass or a document fed by an automatic document feeder, and generates image data of the document image. When a page with a document is placed upside down on a platen glass or a paper feed tray of an automatic document feeder, the document image on that page is also upside down.

  The printing device 12 is an internal device that prints an image based on image data obtained by scanning.

  The facsimile machine 13 is an internal device that transmits image data obtained by scanning as a facsimile signal and receives the facsimile signal to generate image data.

  The communication device 14 is a device that performs data communication with the terminal device 2 such as a network interface or a short-range communication interface.

  The operation panel 15 is disposed on the upper surface side of the housing of the image reading apparatus 1 and includes a display device 21 that displays a screen for the user and an input device 22 that receives an operation by the user. The display device 21 is a liquid crystal display or the like. The input device 22 is a hard key, a touch panel that implements a soft key together with the display device 21, or the like.

  The arithmetic processing unit 16 includes a computer having a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the like, and operates as various processing units. That is, the arithmetic processing unit 16 loads a program stored in a ROM or a storage device (not shown) into the RAM and executes it by the CPU, and operates as various processing units by software, or by hardware such as an ASIC. It operates as various processing units.

  The arithmetic processing device 16 operates as an image acquisition unit 41, a primary determination unit 42, a secondary determination unit 43, and a rotation processing unit 44.

  The image acquisition unit 41 controls the image reading unit 11 to read the original image, and acquires the original image data of each page from the image reading unit 11 line by line.

  For example, the image acquisition unit 41 acquires a document image when executing a copy job or a scan-to-send job.

  In each line acquired by the image acquisition unit 41, the primary determination unit 42 counts the pixel value in the first half and the pixel value in the second half, and among the lines in the document image that does not include the photographic area. Whether the document image is upside down is determined based on the sum of the pixel values in the first half and the sum of the pixel values in the second half.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document image.

  As shown in FIG. 3, if the number of pixels in one line is Np, the number of pixels in the first half is Np / 2, and the number of pixels in the second half is Np / 2. As shown in FIG. 3, in the case of horizontal writing, the text in the original image is often written with left justification. Therefore, when the orientation of the original image is correct, the pixel value of the character in the first half is larger than the pixel value of the character in the second half in the last line of the text. Therefore, when the sum N2 of the pixel values in the second half is larger than the sum N1 of the pixel values in the first half, it is highly likely that the orientation of the document image is incorrect, that is, the document image is upside down. Therefore, for example, when the ratio N2 / N1 exceeds a predetermined threshold (> 1), the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image is upside down.

  In the first embodiment, the primary determination unit 42 performs region determination for each pixel of each line, specifies a line including a photo region (halftone line in FIG. 3), excludes the specified line, and The total sum of the pixel values in the first half part and the total sum of the pixel values in the second half part described above are specified.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the primary determination unit 42 in FIG.

  The primary determination unit 42 includes a line buffer unit 61, a region determination unit 62, a counter unit 63, and an image orientation determination unit 64.

  The line buffer unit 61 temporarily stores image data of a line of interest, as well as image data of a line necessary for determining whether or not the line of interest includes a photo area. The attention line is selected in order from the top of the document image.

  The area determination unit 62 determines, for each pixel of the target line, whether or not the pixel belongs to the photographic area based on the line image data stored in the line buffer unit 61. When at least one pixel belongs to the photographic area in the attention line, the area determination unit 62 determines that the attention line includes the photographic area, for example, as shown in FIG. Here, the line including the photographic area is referred to as a halftone line.

  The counter unit 63 counts pixel values in the first half of the target line and counts pixel values in the second half of the target line. Further, the counter unit 63 sets the initial value of the sum N1 of pixel values in the first half of all lines to zero, and adds the pixel value in the first half of the target line to N1. Similarly, the counter unit 63 sets the initial value of the sum N2 of pixel values in the latter half of all lines to zero and adds the pixel value in the latter half of the target line to N2.

  The area determination unit 62 determines whether or not the central pixel of the pixel block belongs to the photographic area based on the density pattern of the pixel block having a predetermined size (for example, 7 × 7 pixels) by a known method. Therefore, the counter unit 63 obtains the pixel values of the first half part and the second half part counted for the target line, whether all the lines included in the pixel block of the area determination unit 62 are acquired, and whether the target line includes a photo area. If it is determined that the target line does not belong to the photographic area, it is added to the sum N1 of the pixel values in the first half and the sum N2 of the pixel values in the second half, respectively. On the other hand, when it is determined that the target line belongs to the photo area (that is, when it is determined that at least one pixel in the target line belongs to the photo area), the pixel values of the first half and the first half counted for the target line Are not added to the sum N1 of the pixel values of the first half part and the sum N2 of the pixel values of the second half part, respectively.

  The image orientation determination unit 64 counts the pixel values in the first half and the pixel values in the second half of all lines, and sums the pixel values N1 and N2 of the first half and the pixels in the second half of one page of the document image. Is immediately determined based on the sum of the pixel values in the first half and the sum of the pixel values in the second half to determine whether the document image is upside down.

  That is, the primary determination unit 42 (a) every time image data of one line of a document image is acquired by the image acquisition unit 41, the pixel value in the first half part and the pixel value in the second half part are obtained for the one line. When one line is not excluded as a line including a photographic area, it is added to the sum of the pixel values in the first half and the sum of the pixel values in the second half, respectively. (B) The image acquisition unit 41 As soon as the line is acquired and the sum of the pixel values in the first half and the sum of the pixel values in the second half are specified, the original image is based on the sum of the pixel values in the first half and the sum of the pixel values in the second half. It is determined whether or not is upside down.

  When the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image is upside down, the secondary determination unit 43 performs character recognition processing on the one-page document image acquired by the image acquisition unit 41 and performs document recognition. A character in the image is detected, and it is determined whether or not the document image is upside down based on the direction of the character in the document image specified by the character recognition process for the document image.

  As described above, the secondary determination unit 43 determines whether the document image is upside down in the character recognition process after the entire document image is acquired. The primary determination unit 42 determines whether the document image is upside down. In parallel with the acquisition, the sum N1 and N2 of the pixel values are specified as described above, and after the entire original image is acquired, it is immediately determined in real time whether the original image is upside down. . Therefore, the primary determination unit 42 can determine whether the document image is upside down at an earlier timing than the secondary determination unit 43. On the other hand, since the secondary determination unit 43 determines whether or not the document image is upside down based on the character orientation based on the character recognition process, it can accurately determine whether or not the document image is upside down. .

  In the first embodiment, the rotation processing unit 44 determines that the document image is upside down by the primary determination unit 42 and the document image is determined to be upside down by the secondary determination unit 43. The original image is reversed by 180 degrees.

  Next, the operation of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  First, in a copy job or a scan-to-send job, the image acquisition unit 41 causes the image reading unit 11 to read a document image page by page from a plurality of pages of documents and starts acquiring image data of the document image (step S1). ).

  Then, the primary determination unit 42 counts the pixel values of the first half and the second half of each line as described above, and determines whether each line includes a photographic region (step) S2).

  Then, the acquisition of the image data of the document image by the image acquisition unit 41 is completed, and for the entire document image (that is, all lines), the sum N1 of the pixel values of the first half portion excluding the pixel values of the line including the photographic region and When the counting of the sum N2 of the pixel values in the second half is completed (step S3), the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image is based on the sum N1 of the pixel values in the first half and the sum N2 of the pixel values in the second half. It is determined whether it is upside down (step S4).

  When the document image is upside down (step S5), the secondary determination unit 43 executes character recognition processing on the acquired document image (step S6), and the inside of the document image specified by the character recognition processing. Whether or not the original image is upside down is determined based on the direction of the character (step S7). If the document image is upside down (step S8), the image rotation unit 44 inverts the document image.

  On the other hand, if the document image is not upside down in step S5 or step S8, the image rotation unit 44 does not invert the document image.

  Thereafter, in the case of a copy job, the read original image is printed, and in the case of scan to send, the read original image is transmitted to a predetermined destination using a predetermined communication protocol.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the image acquisition unit 41 acquires image data of one page of document image line by line. In each line acquired by the image acquisition unit 41, the primary determination unit 42 counts the pixel value in the first half and the pixel value in the second half, and among the lines in the document image that does not include the photographic area. Whether the document image is upside down is determined based on the sum of the pixel values in the first half and the sum of the pixel values in the second half.

  Accordingly, only the document image of the page determined to be upside down by the primary determination unit 42 is determined by the secondary determination unit 43 as to whether it is upside down. Character recognition processing is not executed for the document image of the page determined to be not. Thereby, it is determined in a relatively short time whether the document image is upside down.

Embodiment 2. FIG.

  In the second embodiment, whether or not to rotate the document image is determined based on the determination result of the primary determination unit 42 and the user operation. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the secondary determination unit 43 is not necessary.

  In the second embodiment, when the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image is upside down, a message indicating that the document image is upside down is displayed on a predetermined display device. In the second embodiment, the image rotation unit 44 inverts the document image when a predetermined user operation on a predetermined input device is detected.

  As the display device and the input device, an operation panel 15 (display device 21 and input device 22) of the image reading device 1 or a display device and an input device (not shown) of the terminal device 2 communicating with the image reading device 1 are used. Is done.

  Since the other configuration of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image reading apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment.

  Since the processing in steps S11 to S15 in FIG. 6 is the same as that in the first embodiment (FIG. 5), description thereof is omitted.

  When it is determined that the document image is upside down (step S15), the primary determination unit 42 causes the display device 21 or the terminal device 2 to display a message indicating that the document image is upside down (step S16). . This notifies the user that the document image has been determined to be upside down.

  When the message is displayed on the terminal device 2, the message is transmitted to the terminal device 2 associated with the user ID presented when logging into the image reading device 1 and displayed. Further, a thumbnail image of the document image may be displayed together with the message.

  When the user performs a predetermined operation (operation for image rotation) on the terminal device 2 or the input device 22 after the message display starts, the image rotation unit 44 is notified that the operation has been detected, and the image rotation is performed. The unit 44 determines that the user has instructed image rotation (step S17), and rotates the document image by 180 degrees (step S18).

  For example, as described above, when a thumbnail image of a document image that is determined to be upside down is displayed, when the thumbnail image is pressed by the user, the pressing is regarded as an operation for image rotation. Alternatively, it may be detected by a touch panel of the input device 22.

  On the other hand, if the document image is not upside down in step S15, the image rotation unit 44 does not invert the document image. When the user performs a predetermined operation (operation not to rotate the image) on the terminal device 2 or the input device 22 after the message display starts, the image rotation unit indicates that the operation has been detected. 44, the image rotation unit 44 determines that the user has not instructed image rotation (step S17), and does not rotate the document image.

  Thereafter, in the case of a copy job, the read original image is printed, and in the case of scan to send, the read original image is transmitted to a predetermined destination using a predetermined communication protocol.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, since it is determined whether or not the document image is upside down without performing the character recognition process, the document image is upside down in a relatively short time. It is determined whether or not.

  Various changes and modifications to the above-described embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. That is, such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

  For example, in the first embodiment, when the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image is upside down, a message indicating that the document image is upside down is displayed in a predetermined manner as in the second embodiment. You may make it display on a display apparatus (the display apparatus 22 or the terminal device 2).

  In the first and second embodiments, when the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image is upside down, a sound such as a buzzer may notify that the document image is upside down. .

  In the second embodiment, when the primary determination unit 42 determines that the document image of a certain page is upside down, when there is a subsequent page, the detection of the user operation after the start of the message display is not waited. In addition, the image acquisition unit 41 causes the image reading unit 11 to start reading the document image for the subsequent page, and also starts to acquire the image data of the document image. The pixel value may be counted and the sum of the pixel values may be calculated.

  Further, in the second embodiment, when the primary determination unit 42 determines that the original image of a page is upside down, for a job including the original image determined by the primary determination unit 42 to be upside down. When the image reading is completed, the image acquisition unit 41 may store the image data of the document image read by the job and start the subsequent job. In that case, the image data of the original image read from the job is stored until the above-described user operation is detected, and after the above-described user operation is detected, the original job is resumed.

  In the first and second embodiments, when an automatic document feeder is used in a copy job, whether or not to detect a document image that is upside down may be set by setting data as described above. When specifying the detection of a document image that is upside down in the setting data as described above, (a) the document that has been read in parallel with the determination as to whether or not the document image is upside down as described above Print the image in its original orientation and display a message indicating the page where the original image is determined to be upside down after printing is completed (that is, in this case, the original image is not rotated), (B) It is determined whether or not the original image is upside down for the original images of all pages, and whether or not the original image is printed after the original image is rotated as necessary. The setting data may be selected.

  The present invention is applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reader 41 Image acquisition part 42 Primary determination part 43 Secondary determination part 44 Image rotation part

Claims (8)

An image acquisition unit for acquiring image data of one page of document image line by line;
In each line acquired by the image acquisition section, and a sum of pixel values in the summation and the second half portion of the pixel values in the first half is calculated, among all lines in the original image of the first page, not including photographic area A primary determination unit that determines whether or not the document image is upside down based on a sum of pixel values in the first half portion and a sum of pixel values in the second half portion with respect to a line;
An image reading apparatus comprising:   The primary determination unit performs region determination for each pixel of each line, specifies a line including the photographic region, excludes the specified line, and adds a sum of pixel values in the first half part and the second half part. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a total sum of pixel values is specified. The primary determination unit (a) every time image data of one line of the original image is acquired by the image acquisition unit, the sum of the pixel values in the first half part and the pixels in the second half part in that line. When the sum of the values is calculated and one line is not excluded as a line including the photograph area, the sum of the pixel values in the first half part and the sum of the pixel values in the second half part are respectively added,
(B) When the last line of the original image is acquired by the image acquisition unit and the sum of the pixel values in the first half part and the sum of the pixel values in the second half part are specified, the pixel value in the first half part is immediately Determining whether or not the original image is upside down based on the sum of the pixel values and the sum of the pixel values in the latter half part,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 2. When the primary determination unit determines that the document image is upside down, the document image is turned upside down based on the direction of the characters in the document image specified by the character recognition process for the document image. A secondary determination unit for determining whether or not
An image rotation unit that inverts the document image when the primary determination unit determines that the document image is upside down and the secondary determination unit determines that the document image is upside down; ,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: An image rotation unit;
When the primary determination unit determines that the document image is upside down, a message indicating that the document image is upside down is displayed on a predetermined display device;
The image rotation unit reverses the document image when a predetermined user operation on a predetermined input device is detected,
The display device and the input device are installed in the image reading device or a terminal device communicating with the image reading device;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading apparatus is an image reading apparatus. The message includes a thumbnail image of the document image determined to be upside down,
The user operation is pressing the thumbnail image;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 5. When there is a subsequent page for the document image determined to be upside down by the primary determination unit, the image acquisition unit does not wait for the detection of the user operation and does not wait for the detection of the user image of the subsequent page. Start getting,
The primary determination unit counts the pixel value in the first half part and the pixel value in the second half part in each line of the subsequent page from which image data has been acquired by the image acquisition unit;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 5.   8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the original image is an original image read in a copy job or a scan-to-send job.

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