JPH01290376A - Picture processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate the switching from the existing read mode into a binary read mode or an intermediate tone read mode by inserting identification paper between a series of originals and switching the mode into the read mode in response to the detection of identification paper. CONSTITUTION:A color detection means SE5 detects a series of original color supplied to a picture information read means by an automatic carrier supply means. With prescribed color identification paper inserted between a series of originals, a color discrimination section 42 discriminates the color and gives an input to a CPU via an ADF controller 41. In the input of a color discrimination signal, the CPU switches the read mode of the picture read means from the existing read mode into the binary read mode or the intermediate tone read mode automatically with respect to a series of originals in succession to the identification paper. Thus, when a series of originals consist of a character original and a photographic original, the switching of the read mode is applied automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image processing device, in which a series of documents are transferred by an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF).
When sequentially supplying image information to the image information reading means and reading the image information, an identification sheet is inserted between a series of documents, and if the identification sheet is conveyed and supplied by the ADF, from then on The reading mode of the image information reading means for a document is automatically switched from the current reading mode to the binary reading mode or the halftone reading mode.

"Prior Art" In an image processing apparatus, when a series of originals are read by an image information reading means, it is very convenient to use an ADF without having to replace the originals one by one. It is not possible to directly visually check the document being conveyed and supplied to the reading means.

Documents can be roughly divided into text documents and photo documents.0 When an image reader is used as an image information reading means, in the binarization process within the image reader when reading image information, text documents are converted into simple binary data. It is necessary to increase the resolution and read even the smallest characters through image processing, and for photographic manuscripts, pseudo-halftone processing using dithering or the like is required to express gradation to create gradation. For this reason, switching between binary/halftone processing depending on the document is done by first displaying the image information read by the Image League on the screen of a CRT display device (hereinafter abbreviated as CRT), and then the operator looking at the display. Depending on the situation, a switch between binary/halftone processing was specified and the image league was read again.

"Problem to be Solved by the Invention" However, the above-mentioned work is extremely troublesome and inefficient, and since text manuscripts and photographic manuscripts are mixed randomly in a series of manuscripts, - one by one. It is necessary to display the original on a CRT for confirmation, which essentially eliminates the advantage of using an ADF. In addition, the image league reads the original transported by the ADF and the image information is transferred to the CR.
If the information is input directly into the storage means without T display, there are problems that need to be solved, such as it becomes impossible to switch between binary values and halftones for each original sheet.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

"Means for solving the problem" Specific means for achieving the above purpose include at least the following:
image information reading means for reading image information of a document by switching to either a binary reading mode or a halftone reading mode;
In an image processing apparatus comprising an image information storage means for inputting and storing read image information, and a search means for searching the stored image information in response to a search command from a control section, the image information reading means sequentially reads a series of documents. an automatic document conveying means for conveying the document to a specified color; a detection means for detecting the color of the document to be conveyed; and a detection means for detecting the color of the document to be conveyed; In contrast, the present invention is characterized in that an automatic reading mode switching means is provided for switching the reading mode of the image information reading means from the current reading mode to the binary reading mode or the halftone reading mode.

"Function" As clarified in the description of the above-mentioned specific means, in the present invention, identification paper is inserted between a series of documents, and the automatic M document conveyance means sequentially supplies the identification paper to the image information reading means. When the color of the identification sheet is determined to be a predetermined color by the color detection means, the reading mode automatic switching means changes the current reading mode to binary reading mode or halftone reading mode for the series of originals following that identification sheet. Automatically switches and reads image information.

(The following is the margin of page 5) "Example" Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention.

CPUI is ROM2. RAM3. Display block 4, image memory 5. Compression/Nakaryo block 6, hard disk interface (hereinafter referred to as I/F)
7. Optical disc I/F8° Keyboard FI/F9. It is connected to the X scanner I/FIO, ADFil, and printer I/F 12 through system buses. In addition, the display block 4° image memory 5. The compression/expansion block 6, optical disk I/F 8, and scanner I/FIO are connected via the Wi image bus to exchange image information. Also, a printer! /[2 receives transmission of image information via the image bus. Further, the display block 4 has a CRT display device (hereinafter referred to as CRT) 13, the hard disk I/F 7 has a hard disk 14, and the optical disk I/F 8 has NO, 1, etc.
~N0.4 (7) 4 optical disk drives 15-18
A keyboard 19 is connected to the keyboard 1/F9, a scanner (hereinafter referred to as image league) 20 is connected to the scanner I/F10, and a printer 21 is connected to the printer I/F12.

The CPUI manages and controls the entire system according to a program stored in the ROM2.

The RAM 3 is a memory used by the CPU for work. The display block 4 includes a display memory and an image memory 5.
Image information transferred from the CRT 13, information written directly by the CPU 1, etc. are displayed on the CRT 13.

The image memory 5 is a memory that stores image information of at least one side, and stores image information transferred from the scanner I/FIO, and also stores the stored image information to the printer I/FIO.
/F12, or is transferred to the compression/expansion block 6 for encoding, and is further expanded by the compression/expansion block 6 and stored. Extracted image memory 5
The image information stored in the image memory 5 is directly read/written by instructions from the CPU 1, and is exchanged with the compression/expansion block 6, hard disk I/F 7, and optical disk r/F 8. As shown in the block diagram, it is 1 m long and can be accessed from either the image bus or the system bus. The compression/expansion block 6 is composed of a compression unit that encodes image information and an expansion unit that returns the encoded image information to the original image information, and is configured to process image information sent from the image memory 5 via the image bus. is encoded and transferred to the optical disc I/F8, and the optical disc T/F8 is encoded.
The encoded image information sent from F8 via the image bus is decoded and transferred to the image memory 5 via the image bus. Also, hard disk I/F7 is hard disk 14
The management information of the image information to be stored, the input keywords, etc. are transferred to the server.

The optical disk I/F 8 selects one of the optical disk drives 15 to 18 and drives the optical disk according to a command sent through the system bus, and when registering m-image information, the data is encoded in the compression/expansion block 6. , the image information transferred through the image bus is sent to the optical disk, and when searching for image information, the encoded image information sent from the optical disk is transferred to the compression/expansion block 6. The keyboard I/F 9 sends various commands and data input from the keyboard 19 to the CPUI, and the CP tJ 1 manages the system thereby.

Execute control. The scanner I/FIO transfers the image information read by the image reader 20 to the image memory 5 via the image bus, and further transfers the image information read by the image reader 20 to the CPU 1 via the system bus.
In response to a command sent to [scanner I/F] and O, the image reader 20 switches the reading mode to either the binary reading mode or the halftone reading mode and reads the image information. Further, the printer I/F 12 transmits commands sent from the CPUI through the system bus to the printer 21, and converts display image information stored in the image memory 5 or the display memory of the display block 4 into a hard copy. Other ADFs are installed in the image reader 20, which is image information reading means.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic structure of the ADF II.

The ADFll is installed on the top surface of the image reader 20 (hereinafter referred to as IR), and has a document conveying belt 31 along the document table glass 25, and belt drive rollers 32 arranged in front and rear.
A pair of document feed rollers 35 separate and feed the documents placed on the document feed tray 34 one by one. A pair of document supply rollers 36 are provided to supply the belt 31, and a document discharge roller 37 is provided following the belt drive roller 32, and a document discharge roller 37 is provided to receive the document discharged by a document discharge guide 38 disposed in succession to the roller 37. A document discharge tray 39 is provided. Further, on the front side of the document feed roller pair 35, there is a document empty sensor SEI that detects the presence or absence of a document on the document feed tray 34, and a separation sensor S that detects whether the document is fed separately one by one.
Further, in front of the pair of document supply rollers 36, a document width sensor SE3 for detecting the document size and a document width sensor SE3 for detecting whether the document has been reliably fed to the document conveyance belt 31 by the pair of document supply rollers 36 are arranged. In addition to disposing a paper sensor SE4, a document color sensor SE5 is disposed in front of the guide port 33 to detect the color of the document being fed. Additionally, SE6 is an ejection sensor arranged on the original ejection guide 38 to detect ejection of the original.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the ADF II, which includes an ADF controller 41 connected via a command line to the system bus of the CPU 1 of the image processing apparatus of the present invention, a document empty sensor SE1, a separation sensor SE2, and so on. Document width sensor SE3. Original paper feed sensor SE4. Detection signals from the original color sensor SE5 and the ejection sensor SE6 are input.

The detection signal of the original color sensor SE5 is input to the color discrimination section 42, the color is discriminated, and the color information is input to the ADF controller 41. The ADF controller 41 outputs control signals for the motor Ml for driving the belt drive roller 32, the motor M2 for driving the document feed roller pair 35, and the motor M3 for driving the document feed roller pair 36 to each driver. .

In addition, various commands are sent from the CPU via the command line connected to the system bus, and the ADF II is controlled by the ADF controller 41 in association with the operations of the IR 20 and other devices, and the document is placed on the document feed tray 34. The originals to be printed are conveyed and supplied one by one onto the original platen glass 25 of the lR2O, and when the image information of the originals has been read by the scanning operation of the lR2O, the originals are transferred to the original ejection tray 3.
9, and the next original is conveyed and supplied onto the original platen glass 25. This process is repeated.

Further, the color information obtained by the color discrimination section 42 is sent to the CPUI via the command line by the ADF controller 41.

The structure and basic operation of ADFII and 1R2O are already known.

Next, the original color sensor SE5 placed in ADFII
M11 will explain the color detection of the original document.

The document color sensor SE5 is a known semiconductor color sensor that is sensitive to the color spectrum of incident light and outputs an R output for red, a G output for green, and a G output for blue as shown in FIG. If so, output B output. Further, in the case of black, three outputs of R, G, and B are output simultaneously, and in the case of white, none of the three outputs is output.

Also, use two of the three colors red, green, and blue to create the fifth
As shown in the figure, when a document colored in front and rear portions A and B in the front and rear halves of the conveyance direction is conveyed by the ADFll and passed below the document color sensor SE5, the sensor S
The R, G, and B outputs of the E5 change over time depending on the color of the document. For these color components, by inputting a combination of output changes over time due to the passing of the portions to the color discrimination section 42, it is possible to detect how the document has been color-coded.

The number of cases in which two colors are extracted from three colors, overlap is allowed (in this case, the entire surface is colored), and the front and rear halves of the document are color-coded is an overlapping permutation in which two colors are extracted from three. Therefore, s IT x = 3'' = 9 pieces.

Therefore, in a series of originals conveyed and supplied to lR2O by ADFII, originals of the aforementioned colors are inserted, and this is detected by the original color sensor SE5, and the original Tf4 of the detection signal changes over time as the original is conveyed. Depending on the combination, nine different types of signals can be output to the color discrimination section 42.

Therefore, the color to be inserted between a series of documents is determined by determining the meaning of the identification paper as an identification paper, as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure. In this case, the document containing the image information to be read is generally white, and the written characters are black, so lR
The color of the document to be read by 2O is determined by the document color sensor SE.
The color detection signal No. 5 becomes white or black.

By using these different color information and information as control signals in the image processing device, it is possible to automatically prompt the setting of keywords for each section of a series of originals with different contents, and to automatically prompt the setting of keywords for each section of a series of originals with different contents. ~1
8 can be automatically switched and stored, or the image information reading mode of the lR2O can be automatically switched to the full-scale binary reading mode or the full-scale halftone reading mode by distinguishing between text and photographic originals.

The operation of the image processing apparatus, which inserts identification paper between documents automatically transported and supplied to the 1R2O by the ADF II and is controlled based on color information thereof, will be described below with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the main routine of the image processing apparatus.
, check the operation of each block such as display block 4,
Initial settings are performed to check the connection and enable work, then in S2 the operator selects and inputs a work menu by operating the keyboard 19, and in S3 the menu is determined and various works are performed.Menu No. If it is 1, a registration operation is performed to read and store the image information (S4
), if it is 2, a search operation is performed to read out the stored image information based on the keyword (S5), and if it is 3, it performs post-processing and ends (36).
The protection function for optical disks and hard disks is activated to prevent information registered on each disk from disappearing even when the power is turned off.

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are flowcharts showing the registration work routine.

First, in Sll, ADFII is the yX document feed tray.

When the first sheet of a series of originals set on the 34 is conveyed and supplied to the lR2O, the original color sensor SE5 arranged in the ADFII detects the color of the original, and the detection signal is input to the color discrimination section 42. The color information from the discrimination unit 42 is sent to the ADF.
It is output to the CPU 1 via the controller 41.

In the following S12, the CPUI uses the output color information to
It is determined whether the identification sheet is for selecting an optical disk drive, and if YES, the CPU sends a command to the optical disk I/F to select a predetermined optical disk drive according to the color-coding of the identification sheet, and to display the image information. Enter write preparation operation (
313), then proceed to S14 and insert the identification paper into the ADFII
At the same time, the second original is fed. If NO in S12, that is, if the first document is not an identification sheet for selecting a disk drive, it means that the optical disk drive in which the image information is to be written has not been selected. Displays an error message to alert the operator. Subsequently, in S16, lR2O
The first sheet of the original supplied is ejected by the ADFII, and the process ends.

In the above S14, when the second document is supplied to the lR2O, the color of the document is detected by the document color sensor SE5, and is outputted as color information to the CPUI in the same manner as above, and then the color information is detected in S17. to determine whether the document is an identification paper that is designated with full-page binary reading mode or full-surface intermediate: A reading mode for specifying the image information reading mode, and if YES. CPU
t specifies one of the reading modes for lR2O by a command (318), and in the following S19, ADFI
I ejects the identification paper and feeds the third subsequent document.

If it is determined in step S17 that the second document is not an identification sheet for designating a reading mode, it is determined that the second document is a document containing image information to be registered on the optical disk. but,
Since the identification paper for specifying the reading mode is not detected, the reading mode of lR2O is set to full-scale binary reading mode as the default (no identification paper) by the CPU command (S20>, and in the following S21, the CPUI
The UI sends a command to the scanner I/FIO to read the image information of the lR2O and to transfer the read image information to the image memory 5. In response to this command, the lR2O scans the document conveyed and supplied by the ADFII onto the document table glass 25, reads image information, and converts it into an electrical signal. Further, 318. The processing of the reading mode (full-scale binary reading or full-scale halftone reading mode) specified in S20 is performed by the image processing unit (not shown) in lR2O, and the sequentially processed image information is sent via the scanner I/FIO. The image memory 5, which is sent to the image memory 5 via the image bus, sequentially stores image information output from the lR2O in response to commands from the CPUI. S2
2, since the optical disk drive selection is detected as an identification paper with a meaning in S12, the following -
When reading a series of manuscripts, a command from CPU 1 prompts the operator to set a new keyword on the CRT 13 by displaying, for example, ``This is a new manuscript, please enter a keyword.'' A new keyword is input from the keyboard 19 according to the instructions (323).

In the following S24, the image information stored in the image memory 5 is written to the optical disk. In this case, the CPU 1 sequentially transfers the image information currently stored in the image memory 5 to the compression/expansion block 6. The image information transferred to the compression/expansion block 6 is compressed using a predetermined method, and is then transferred to the optical disc I/F 8. The CPU also instructs the optical disc I/F 8 to drive the optical disc drive selected in step 313 and sequentially write the image data input to the optical disc I/F onto the optical disc.
Image information to be registered on the optical disc is written in accordance with each of the above commands. At this time, "management information" indicating which part of the optical disc the image information was written to is stored on the optical disc I
/F8 is sent to CPU1.

In addition, in S25, the CPUI writes to the hard disk 14 the keyword entered by the operator's keyboard in step 323 and the "management information" of the image information written in step S24.

In this case, the CPU 1 sends a command to the hard disk I/F 7 so that the hard disk 14 stores the keywords and r management information sent from the CPUI, and as a result, the hard disk 14 receives input from the CPU 1 through the system bus. Keywords and "Remember management information J.

Next, in S26, the original on which the image information has been written in S24 is ejected, and in the process of feeding the next original, the original color sensor SE5 detects the color of the original, and the color information based on this detection signal is It is sent to the CPUI in the same manner as described above. In S27, based on the color information sent to the CPUI, it is determined whether or not the original is an identification sheet that means the end of the original.If YES, the process advances to S28, and the ADFII uses the cp■no1 command to check the identification paper. Eject the paper. In the following S29, since the registration of image information of a series of documents with the same keyword has been completed, the CPUI sends a command to cancel the selection of the optical disk drive to the optical disk I/F 8. Upon receiving this command, the optical disc I/F 8 stops the operation of the optical disc drive. The document empty sensor SEI detects whether another document is set on the document feed tray following the series of documents for which image writing has been completed in S30, and the detection signal is sent to the CPUI by the ADF controller 41. The CPU L determines whether or not there is a next document, and if there is a next document, the process returns to the Sll, and if there is not, this routine ends. If it is determined in S27 that the document is not finished, it is determined in S26 whether the fed document is an identification paper that indicates the designation of the reading mode (full-page binary reading mode or full-scale halftone reading mode). If the answer is NO (331), the image information of the document should be registered on the optical disk, and the document is read using the current reading mode.

If YES, change the reading mode of lR2O to the reading mode meant by the identification paper (532), and eject the identification paper (S33>, hereinafter S34 to S36).
The steps S21, S24 and S are performed on the fed document.
The image original is read by the If 120 by the same operation as in 25, and the read image information is sequentially written to the optical disk, and "management information" is written to the hard disk 14. Since this is an image writing process for a series of manuscripts, the keyword input process in S12.813 is omitted. From then on, S2 continues until it is determined that the manuscript is finished in S27.
By repeating the routine from 6 to S36,
The image information of the document that is automatically fed and discharged to R2O is read.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the search work routine.

In S51, the operator inputs a search keyword using the keyboard 6. Subsequently, in S52, it is determined whether there is an instruction to end the search, and if there is an instruction, this search work routine is ended. If not, proceed to step 353, based on the input search keyword, read out the management information stored in the hard disk and perform a search. If the corresponding document is not found as a result of the search (NO in S54), proceed to keyword input. Return and if the corresponding document is found (YES in S54)
S) displays the document list on the CRT 13 (S)
55), then in S56 a document to be read from the optical disk is selected from the document list, and then it is determined whether the search has ended and the search operation is continued (No in S57).
If the search is completed (YES in S57), the optical disk drive in which the document selected in S58 is stored is selected based on the "management information", and the corresponding optical disk is The image information is read out from the CRT 13 and displayed on the CRT 13 (S59), and the search operation is performed as described above.

Figure 10.11 illustrates how the identification paper is used to read image information by the device of the present invention.
At the beginning of the document conveyed and supplied by the ADFII, there is an identification paper a whose Δ and B portions are both blue, as shown in FIG.
, select the optical disk drive 15 with No. 1, set the second identification paper with the A section in green and the B section in blue, specify the full-surface binary reading mode, and then press the identification paper. Next, set a series of originals, and at the end set identification paper C, which means the final original with A part red and B part red. It is possible to read a series of several originals in full-page binary reading mode, and register the read image information in the No. 1 optical disk drive 15. By setting the optical disk drive selection identification paper a, a display prompting the operator to set a new keyword when reading image information is displayed on the CRT 13.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, portions A and B are colored blue in order from the beginning of the document being transported and supplied.

Identification paper a° in green, identification paper b in green and blue, a series of manuscripts (any number of sheets), identification paper b° in green and red, followed by another series of manuscripts (any number of sheets), green, By setting identification paper b colored blue, a series of originals (any number of sheets), red at the end of i, and identification paper C meaning the final original written in red, No. 3 optical disk drive 17 is selected, and The first series of originals is read in the full-page binary reading mode, then the reading mode is switched to the full-screen halftone reading mode, and the last set of originals is read by switching to the full-screen binary reading mode again. becomes possible. If you want to set keywords for each series of documents, just insert an optical disk drive selection identification sheet at the beginning of each document, and by using different color-coded identification sheets, a different optical disk drive will be automatically selected. can do.

In addition, keywords, file names, etc. for a series of manuscripts are stored in the post device in advance, and when a break in a series of manuscripts is detected, the keywords and file names of the next series of manuscripts are automatically stored on the hard disk, and further It is also possible to change the optical disk to be registered for each document by automatically switching to a predetermined optical disk drive.

Although we used two-color identification paper as identification paper, it is possible to obtain a large number of different color information by color-coding three or more colors or by arranging multiple original color sensors. Therefore, by using this as a control signal for the image information processing device, more detailed control can be performed.

"Effects of the Invention" As clarified in the description of the above-mentioned specific means and effects, the present invention has an arrangement in which identification paper is inserted between a series of originals and sequentially supplied to an image information reading means by an automatic document conveying means. When the color of the identification paper is determined to be a predetermined color by the color detection means, the reading mode automatic switching means changes from the current reading mode to binary reading mode or halftone reading mode for a series of documents following the identification paper. Since the image information is read by automatically switching to the reading mode, the image information can be displayed on the RT screen one by one as before, the binary/halftone processing can be switched, and the image information can be read again by the image information reading means. Since it is not necessary to perform the above operations, there are effects such as the fact that the working time required for reading the image information of a series of originals containing a mixture of text originals and photographic originals can be significantly shortened.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The accompanying drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an image processing device, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the schematic structure of ADFII, FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of ADFli, and FIG. , 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating color detection by the document color sensor SE5, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the color classification of identification paper and its meaning, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the main routine of the image processing device. 8(a) and 8(b) are flowcharts showing the registration work routine, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the search work routine, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are explanatory diagrams illustrating how the identification paper is used. 1, , CPU, 801. Optical disk I/F, 1
0, , Scanner I/F, 11. ,,ADF,13
,,,CRT, 15~18,,,No,l~
N014 optical disk drive, 20. ,,IRl 4
1. ADF controller, 42, color discrimination section, S E
1,,,original empty sensor, SE5,
,, original color sensor, a, a', b, b', c,
,,identification paper. [・-S Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Conveying direction Fig. 11

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] At least an image information reading means for reading image information of a document by switching to either a binary reading mode or a halftone reading mode, and an image information storage means for inputting and storing the read image information. , a search means for searching stored image information in response to a search command from a control unit, an automatic document transport means for sequentially transporting a series of originals to an image information reading means; If the color detection means detects the color and the color detection signal determines that the original color is a predetermined color, the image information reading means changes the reading mode to the current reading mode for a series of originals following that original. 1. An image processing apparatus comprising: an automatic reading mode switching means for switching from an image reading mode to a binary reading mode or a halftone reading mode.