JP6569634B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus typified by a multi-function peripheral, after an image of a document is read by an image reading unit, light is irradiated on the photoconductor provided in the image forming unit based on the read image, and the photoconductor is irradiated on the photoconductor. An electrostatic latent image is formed. Thereafter, charged toner is supplied onto the formed electrostatic latent image to form a visible image, and then the toner is transferred and fixed on a sheet, and is output to the outside of the apparatus.

  Here, the image forming apparatus installed in the office is connected to a network from the viewpoint of being shared by a plurality of users. A request for image formation is issued along with the transmission of image data from a computer installed in the seat of each user via the network. Then, the image forming apparatus forms an image based on the transmitted image data, and printing is performed. In such an image forming apparatus used in an office, a technique for reducing and outputting an image is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-166217 (Patent Document 1).

  In the scan / print system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the setting means sets the size of the original to be read, the size of the output paper, and how many originals are to be laid out on the output paper. When implementing a layout function for laying out on output paper, when the layout function lays out multiple originals in the memory area corresponding to the output paper selected by the setting means in the memory means, it recognizes the characters included in the original. To recognize the smallest character size. Recognition of the size of the original to be read and the size of the output paper set by the setting means and recognition of how many original images are output in one print output are performed, and the reduction ratio at that time is calculated. Calculate how much the size of the smallest character recognized by the recognition of the character size is printed by the reduction ratio calculated above, and when it is reduced smaller than the preset size, Once the copy operation is stopped, a change relating to the subsequent copy operation, such as whether to continue the copy operation or change the setting, is accepted. The scan / print system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is characterized by such a configuration.

JP 2006-166217 A

  The user transmits image data to the image forming apparatus from a computer connected to the image forming apparatus via the network and requests printing. Here, the user may make a print request by designating a predetermined area of the image data in the computer as a print area. In this case, the user designates the print area while confirming the print area on a display connected to the computer.

  Here, when the user confirms the print area on the display and specifies the print area, when viewing the printed matter that is output, the characters at the end may not be within the print area, There is a case where a phenomenon such as missing is printed. In particular, this phenomenon tends to be seen for characters in text boxes and characters in cells of Excel files.

  It is not preferable that the user visually confirms whether or not characters are missing in the printed material, which causes troublesome work for the user. In such a case, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot cope with such a case.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image desired by a user without causing a complicated operation to the user.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a layout error correcting mode for correcting a layout error, and includes a character image data input receiving unit, an image forming unit, an image reading unit, and a character data extracting unit. And a difference presence / absence determination unit, a layout correction unit, an image formation control unit, a display screen, an inquiry unit, and a display control unit . The character image data input receiving unit receives input of character image data from the outside. The image forming unit forms an image based on the image data and prints it on a sheet. The image reading unit reads image data of a printed material. Character data extraction unit, from the image data read by the image reading unit, the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to extract a character image data. The difference presence / absence determining unit determines whether there is a difference between the input received character image data received by the character image data input receiving unit and the read character image data extracted by the character data extracting unit. The layout correction unit corrects the layout so that all of the input-accepted character image data falls within the print area if the difference determination unit determines that there is a difference between the input-accepted character image data and the read character image data. To do. The image forming control unit controls the image forming unit to form an image based on the input accepted character image data with the corrected layout corrected by the layout correcting unit and print it on a sheet. The display screen displays information transmitted from the image forming apparatus side. The inquiry unit inquires whether or not the image formation control unit may be operated with the corrected layout before the operation of the image formation control unit. The display control unit controls to display the corrected layout on the display screen when inquiring by the inquiring unit. The layout correction unit generates a plurality of corrected layouts having different correction modes that are corrected so that all of the input-accepted character image data enters the print area. The display control unit controls to display a plurality of generated modified layouts on the display screen. The image forming control unit controls the image forming unit to form an image with a modified layout selected from a plurality of modified layouts and print it on a sheet. If it is determined by the difference presence / absence determination unit that there is no difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the display control unit controls to display that fact on the display screen .

  According to such an image forming apparatus, if it is determined that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the layout correcting unit causes all of the input accepted character image data to enter the print region. Modify the layout as follows. This eliminates the need for the user to visually confirm the contents of the printed matter. Therefore, an image desired by the user can be formed without causing a complicated operation for the user.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of an image forming system including a multifunction peripheral when an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to the multifunction peripheral. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming system shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a control part. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow when a user designates an image formation area and forms an image with a multifunction peripheral. It is a figure which shows the display connected to the computer at the time of a user requesting image formation. It is a figure which shows an example of the printed matter output. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the case of forming the image which a user desires. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen in the case of starting the setting of layout error correction mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the printed matter after layout correction. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen on which the some image by which the layout was corrected was displayed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an external appearance of an image forming system 24 including a multifunction peripheral when an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to the multifunction peripheral 11. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image forming system 24 shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming system 24 includes a multifunction device 11 and a computer 26 that can be connected to the multifunction device 11 via a network 23. The computer 26 can make a print request to the multifunction machine 11 via the network 23.

  First, the configuration of the computer 26 will be described. A display 27, a keyboard 28, and a mouse 29 are connected to the computer 26. Information and data from the computer 26 are displayed on the display 27. Further, using the keyboard 28 and the mouse 29, the user inputs data to the computer 26 while confirming the screen displayed on the display 27.

  Next, the configuration of the multifunction machine 11 will be described. The multifunction machine 11 has a plurality of functions such as a copying function, a printer function, and a facsimile function regarding image processing. The multifunction device 11 includes a control unit 12, an operation unit 13, an image reading unit 14, an image forming unit 15, a paper feed cassette 16, a multifunction device hard disk 17, and a network interface unit 18 for connecting to a network 23. With.

  The control unit 12 controls the entire multifunction machine 11. The controller 12 includes a main memory 19 that temporarily stores data. The operation unit 13 includes a touch panel type display screen 21 as a display unit for displaying information transmitted from the multifunction peripheral 11 side and user input contents. The operation unit 13 accepts input from the user regarding image formation such as the number of copies to be printed and image forming conditions such as gradation. The image reading unit 14 includes an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 22 as a document transport device that transports a document set at the set position to the read position. The image reading unit 14 reads an image of a document set on the ADF 22 or a mounting table (not shown). Of course, the image reading unit 14 also reads an image of a printed matter that is an output matter printed by the multifunction machine 11 if it is set in the ADF 22 or the like. A plurality of paper feed cassettes 16 are provided, each of which can store a plurality of sheets. The image forming unit 15 forms an image on a sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 16 or the like based on the image data of the original read by the image reading unit 14 or the image data transmitted via the network 23. The multi-function device hard disk 17 stores data relating to image formation such as transmitted image data and input image forming conditions.

  Next, the configuration of the control unit 12 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the control unit 12. Referring to FIG. 3, control unit 12 includes character image data input receiving unit 31, character data extracting unit 32, difference presence / absence determining unit 33, layout correcting unit 34, image formation control unit 35, and notification unit. 36. The character image data input receiving unit 31 receives input of character image data from the outside. In this case, the input of character image data from the computer 26 connected to the network 23 is accepted as the outside. The character data extraction unit 32 extracts character data from the image data read by the image reading unit 14 by OCR. The difference presence / absence determining unit 33 determines whether or not there is a difference between the input received character image data received by the character image data input receiving unit 31 and the read character image data extracted by the character data extracting unit 32. to decide. If the difference determination unit 33 determines that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the layout correcting unit 34 performs a layout so that all of the input accepted character image data falls within the print area. To correct. The image forming control unit 35 controls the image forming unit 15 to form an image based on the input accepted character image data with the corrected layout corrected by the layout correcting unit 34 and print it on a sheet. If the difference determination unit 33 determines that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the notification unit 36 notifies a different portion. Specifically, a different part is displayed on the display screen 21 and notified. Details of these configurations will be described later.

  Next, a case where the user designates an image formation area and forms an image with the multifunction machine 11 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when the user designates an image formation area and forms an image with the multifunction device 11.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the user goes to a place where the computer 26 connected to the multifunction machine 11 is installed via the network 23. Then, using the computer 26, character image data is transmitted from the computer 26 to the multifunction device 11, and an image formation request is made to the multifunction device 11. Then, the multifunction peripheral 11 receives a request for image formation (in FIG. 4, step S11, hereinafter “step” is omitted). Here, the character image data input receiving unit 31 receives input of character image data.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display 27 connected to the computer 26 when a user makes an image formation request. In FIG. 5, the keyboard 28 and the mouse 29 are not shown.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the user displays character image data 41 to be printed on display 27. The character image data 41 is composed of a text area 42 and a text box area 43. In the text box area 43, a character 44 "XYZ.12345678" is displayed.

  Such character image data 41 is transmitted to the multi-function device 11 to request image formation. When receiving the image formation request, the multifunction machine 11 forms an image based on the received character image data 41 (S12). After the image formation, a printed matter is output (S13). The received image data is stored in the multi-function device hard disk 17 for a predetermined period, for example.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the output printed matter. Referring to FIG. 6, sentence area 47 and text box area 48 are printed on printed matter 46. Here, the character image data 41 displayed on the display 27 of the computer 26 and the image data formed by the image forming unit 15 are within the text box area 48 as shown in FIG. The end of the character 49 may be cut off. Also in this case, the characters 49 printed in the text box area 48 are “XYZ.1234567”. In other words, the one that does not contain the character “8” is printed. Such a printed matter 46 cannot be said to be an image desired by the user because the character “8” that can be confirmed on the display 27 is not fully contained.

  Next, a case where an image desired by the user is formed will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when an image desired by the user is formed.

  Referring to FIG. 7, the user sets printed matter 46 in ADF 22. Then, the layout error correction mode setting is activated (S21).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen 21 when starting up the layout error correction mode setting. Referring to FIG. 8, a message 51 for inquiring “Do you want to start layout error correction mode?” And “Start” are displayed on display screen 21. A selection key 52 to be activated and “do not activate” are displayed, and a selection key 53 to return to the normal screen without activating the layout error correction mode by pressing is displayed. The user presses the selection key 52 to activate the layout error correction mode. If the layout error correction mode is not activated, the display screen 21 for performing normal settings is displayed, and the printed material 46 is simply copied.

  Thereafter, the image reading unit 14 reads the character image data of the set printed material 46 (S22). In this case, the character image data of the printed matter 46 including the text area 47 and the text box area 48 is read when the start key or the like is pressed.

  Next, the character data extraction unit 32 extracts character data from the read image data of the printed matter 46 (S23). In this case, characters are extracted by OCR.

  Thereafter, the difference presence / absence determination unit 33 determines whether there is a difference between the input received character image data received by the character image data input receiving unit 31 and the read character image data extracted by the character data extraction unit 32. Is determined (S24). In this case, the difference presence / absence determining unit 33 determines that there is a difference if the number of characters in the input accepted character image data is different from the number of characters in the read character image data. Specifically, the number of characters 49 in the text box area 48 among the characters included in the character image data of the printed matter 46 with respect to the number of characters 44 in the text box area 43 in the input accepted character image data. Is recognized to be small, and it is determined that there is a difference (YES in S24).

  If the difference determination unit 33 determines that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the notification unit 36 notifies a different portion. In this case, a different part is displayed on the display screen 21 and notified (S25). Specifically, it is notified that the number of characters 44 in the text box area 43 is decreasing.

  If the layout presence / absence determination unit 33 determines that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the layout correcting unit 34 causes all of the input accepted character image data to enter the print region. The layout is corrected (S26). Specifically, the size of the character 44 in the text box area 43 corresponding to the place where the character 44 is reduced is corrected. In this case, the character image data 41 stored in the multifunction machine hard disk 17 is corrected.

  Thereafter, the image forming control unit 35 controls the image forming unit 15 to form an image based on the input accepted character image data with the corrected layout corrected by the layout correcting unit 34 and print it on a sheet (S27). Specifically, after forming an image by reducing the size of the characters 44 in the text box area 43, the image is formed and printed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printed material after layout correction. Referring to FIG. 9, sentence area 57 and text box area 58 are printed on printed matter 56 as in the case shown in FIG. 6. Here, the character 59 printed in the text box area 58 is “XYZ. In this case, the layout has been modified to reduce the character size. That is, the layout is corrected so that all of the characters fall within the image forming area.

  According to such a multi-function device 11, if it is determined that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the layout correcting unit 34 places all of the input accepted character image data in the print area. Modify the layout to enter. This eliminates the need for the user to visually confirm the contents of the printed matter. Therefore, an image desired by the user can be formed without causing a complicated operation for the user.

  In this case, the layout correction unit 34 corrects the layout by reducing the character size of the character image data. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of the layout correction operation by the user.

  Also, in this case, the difference presence / absence determination unit 33 determines that there is a difference if the number of characters in the input-accepted character image data is different from the number of characters in the printed character image data, so that the determination process can be easily performed. .

  In this case, since the layout correction unit 34 corrects the character image data 41 stored in the multi-function device hard disk 17, the corrected layout is also obtained when printing is performed again using the character image data 41. Can be printed.

  In the above embodiment, the layout correcting unit 34 corrects the layout by reducing the character size of the character image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the line break position of the sentence including the character image data is not limited thereto. May be modified to correct the layout. By doing so, the layout can be corrected while maintaining a sense of unity in character size. Further, the layout correcting unit 34 may correct the layout by correcting the position of the area including the character image data. Specifically, for example, the size of the text box is increased. When the size of the text box is increased, the position of the text box may be changed so that the text box area does not overlap the text area. In this way, the layout can be corrected while maintaining a uniform sense of character size. Of course, the line break position of the sentence may be corrected while reducing the character size.

  In the above embodiment, the notification unit 36 is provided. However, the notification unit 36 may be omitted. Further, the notification unit 36 may notify that there is a difference without notifying a different part.

  In the above-described embodiment, if it is determined that there is no difference by the difference presence / absence determination unit 33, the fact may be controlled to be displayed on the display screen 21, for example. By doing so, the user can use the printed material with peace of mind.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the difference presence / absence determination unit 33 determines that there is a difference if it is determined that there is no connection between the meanings of the sentences before and after the line break of the sentences composed of characters in the read character image data. You may comprise. By doing so, an image desired by the user can be formed more reliably.

  In addition, before the operation of the image formation control unit 35, an inquiry unit that inquires whether or not the image formation control unit 35 may be operated with the layout corrected by the layout correction unit 34 may be provided. By doing so, it is possible to perform image formation more in line with user needs.

  In this case, the display control unit may further include a display control unit that controls to display the layout corrected by the layout correction unit 34 on the display screen 21 when an inquiry is made by the inquiry unit.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display screen 21 on which a plurality of images whose layout has been corrected are displayed. Referring to FIG. 10, the display screen 21 displays a message 61 “Please select a correction layout from the following.”, An image data display area 62 indicating correction layout candidates, and two correction layouts. Image data 63 and 64 are displayed. The two modified layout image data 63 and 64 are displayed in the image data display area 62. The corrected layout image data 63 is obtained by correcting the character size to be small as shown in the printed matter shown in FIG. The corrected layout image data 64 is corrected so that all characters are displayed by a line feed, with the character size being the same as the original character size.

  The user presses the displayed area of the desired modified layout image data 63, 64 according to his / her request. Then, an image is formed on the touch panel type display screen 21 based on the selected corrected layout image data 63 and 64 and printed. By doing so, it is possible to perform image formation more in accordance with the user's request.

  It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not restrictive in any aspect. The scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is particularly effectively used when it is required to form an image requested by the user without causing a complicated operation to the user.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Multifunction machine, 12 Control part, 13 Operation part, 14 Image reading part, 15 Image formation part, 16 Paper feed cassette, 17 Multifunction machine hard disk, 18 Network interface part, 19 Main memory, 21 Display screen, 22 ADF, 23 Network, 24 image forming system, 26 computer, 27 display, 28 keyboard, 29 mouse, 31 character image data input receiving unit, 32 character data extracting unit, 33 difference presence / absence determining unit, 34 layout correcting unit, 35 image forming control unit, 36 Notification part, 41 Character image data, 42, 47, 57 Text area, 43, 48, 58 Text box area, 44, 49, 59 characters, 46, 56 Printed matter, 51, 61 Message, 52, 53 Select key, 62 Image data display area, 6 , 64 modified layout image data.

Claims (6)

An image forming apparatus having a layout error correction mode for correcting a layout error,
A character image data input receiving unit for receiving input of character image data from the outside;
An image forming unit that forms an image based on the image data and prints the image on paper;
An image reading unit for reading the image data of the printed matter;
A character data extraction unit that extracts character image data from the image data read by the image reading unit by OCR (Optical Character Recognition);
A difference presence / absence determining unit that determines whether there is a difference between the input received character image data received by the character image data input receiving unit and the read character image data extracted by the character data extracting unit; ,
If the difference presence / absence determining unit determines that there is a difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, the layout is corrected so that all of the input accepted character image data falls within the print area. A layout correction section;
An image forming control unit configured to control the image forming unit to form an image based on the input accepted character image data with the corrected layout corrected by the layout correcting unit, and to print on the paper ;
A display screen for displaying information transmitted from the image forming apparatus side;
An inquiry unit that inquires whether or not to operate the image formation control unit with the modified layout before the operation of the image formation control unit;
A display control unit that controls to display the modified layout on the display screen at the time of the inquiry by the inquiry unit,
The layout correction unit generates a plurality of corrected layouts having different correction modes that have been corrected so that all of the input-accepted character image data falls within a print area,
The display control unit controls the display screen to display the plurality of generated modified layouts;
The image forming control unit controls the image forming unit to form an image with the corrected layout selected from the plurality of corrected layouts and print the image on a sheet;
The display control unit, when the difference presence / absence determination unit determines that there is no difference between the input accepted character image data and the read character image data, controls to display that fact on the display screen ; Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the layout correction unit corrects the layout by reducing a character size of the character image data.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the layout correcting unit corrects the layout by correcting a line feed position of a sentence including the character image data.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the layout correction unit corrects the layout by correcting a position of an area including the character image data.   The image according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the difference presence / absence determining unit determines that there is a difference if the number of characters in the input accepted character image data is different from the number of characters in the read character image data. Forming equipment. If it is determined that there is a difference between said input receiving the character image data and the read character image data by the difference state determining section further includes a notification unit for notifying the different location, claim 1-5 2. The image forming apparatus according to item 1.

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