JPH02145060A - Picture storage retrieval digital copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply input a retrieval title at filing by providing a means reading an storing an optional part of a document or drawing or the like with a band scanner and a means taking a part stored in the storage means as a retrieval keyword. CONSTITUTION:When the operator slides paper while gripping a hand scanner 5, a roller 22 is turned and a disk is in contact with next conductor pattern, then an output of a rotary detection section 52 is once at '0' and then '1' again. When a processor 54 detects the information of '1', the same operation in the 1st scanning is implemented and an image data in the 2nd scanning is stored in a buffer memory 59 and the processor is interrupted to be transferred to a page memory and the data transfer is requested. The processor 54 is a processing unit by the program control and each program is stored in advance in a memory 502.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to an image storage and retrieval digital reproduction apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

In an image storage and retrieval device that can store image information such as documents on an information storage medium such as an optical disk or a magnetic disk, and can search for image information on the information storage medium,
When newly storing image information such as a document, it is necessary to register a search keyword for the document. Conventionally, there is a method in which the registration date, time, page size, page number, etc. can be automatically added as such keywords by a built-in watch or a document reading device. There is also a known method in which an operator inputs search keywords one after another using a keyboard, etc.
No. 6 discloses a method for automatically recognizing keywords.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above conventional technology, the keywords that are automatically added are insufficient for searching, and inputting from the keyboard by the operator places a heavy burden on the operator and there is a risk that the operator may input incorrectly. A search keyword system must also be established. Furthermore, what equipment is used in the method of automatically recognizing keywords? There were problems in that it was 1 m long and expensive, and as mentioned above, a keyword system had to be created.

An object of the present invention is to use a hand scanner to search for information that has already been copied or stored in an image file on a magnetic disk, optical disk, etc., using a hand scanner as a keyword for each image information, such as the title, author, date of creation, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide an image storage and retrieval digital copying device that can add image storage and retrieval.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to store image information such as documents, drawings, etc. in an information storage medium, and to search and copy the image information on this information storage medium. This is achieved by reading the location and using the read location as a search keyword.

[Effect]

The hand scanner operates to read arbitrary parts of documents, drawings, etc., and the information thus read is used as a search keyword.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are a system block diagram and a perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, where ■ is an image reading device (scanner), 2 is an image data recording/reproducing device, and 3 is a printer ( (image forming apparatus), 4 is a display/operation unit, and 5 is a hand scanner.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, an image reading device 1 is an input section of a digital copying machine, and is placed on a document table! ! The image data recording/reproducing device 2, which converts the image information of the placed original into an electrical signal (image signal) using an image sensor such as a COD (charge-coupled device), includes an image storage medium (for example, a magnetic medium, a source medium, etc.). ) is installed, and records image signals from the scanner 1 and reproduces the recorded signals. It also includes a page memory, a search data adding section, a timer, and a control section. The hand scanner 5 is used to input the title, author name, date of creation, etc. of the manuscript to be filed as image data of a search keyword.

In order for anyone to easily create an image file by automatically adding search information, the following configuration is required: a first means (image A scanner), a means for writing image data onto a magnetic medium, a source medium, etc., a second means (image data recording/reproducing device) for reading image data from the medium, and one page of image data obtained from the first image converting means. a third means (page memory) for storing one page of data read from the second image medium; and a fourth means (page memory) for forming an image from the data in the third image data storage means.
(laser printer), means for automatically adding search information to the data when writing data to a different medium through the second means (search data adding section), year, month, and date of the search information to the fifth automatic adding means. , the sixth means of timing hours, minutes, and seconds (
a timer), a seventh means (operation/display section) equipped with an input section, a display section, and a hand scanner for operation by the operator; and a digital control system for each of the first to seventh means for overall control. An eighth means (control unit) is required.

FIG. 3 is a view seen from the scanning surface of the input section (hand scanner) 5. The surface 21 is applied to a sheet of paper on which characters, pictures, etc. are written, and input is performed by rotating rollers 22 and 23 described below. Rollers 22 and 23 extend slightly beyond the input surface 21, and while roller 23 is simply a free roller to facilitate scanning, roller 22 may engage other elements as shown in FIG. It matches.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the roller 22 of the input device.

A disk 31 is attached to a shaft 26 fixed to the roller 22, and when the roller 22 rotates, the disk 31 also rotates at the same speed. A contactor 32 is brought into contact with the disc 31. 35 is a bearing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the disc.

A conductive pattern 31a is formed radially on one surface of the disk 31, and when the contactor 32 contacts the conductive pattern 31a, it becomes conductive, and when it comes into contact with the non-conductive pattern portion 31b, it becomes non-conductive. Therefore, the conductive wire 34 electrically connected to the bearing 35 and the conductive wire 33 connected to the contactor 32 are repeatedly turned on and off as the roller 22 rotates.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of an example of the electric circuit of this input section.

Information converted into a 0N10FF signal according to the rotation of the disk 31 is detected by the rotation detection section 52, and the electrical "
1”, “O” information is output to the data bus 53.

Every time "1" information is generated, the processor 54 supplies data to the driver array 55, causes the driver array 55 to cause the light emitting element array 25 to emit light, and reads the data.

As shown in FIG. 3, a row 24 of light receiving elements and a row 25 of light emitting elements are embedded in parallel in the bottom of the input device.

The light emitting element 25 emits light sequentially from one end to the other end, and the emitted light travels toward the paper facing the input section, and if the irradiated area is white, the light is reflected, and the light receiving element faces the element. It is detected by element 24. Furthermore, when the irradiation point is black, no light is reflected, and therefore no output is obtained from the light receiving element 24. 0N10FF of the light detected by the light receiving element 24
The information is amplified by the amplifier 58 and output onto the bus 53.

The processor 54 lights up the first light emitting element 25,
Detects “1” and “0” data output from the amplification unit 58 and sends it to the buffer memory 59 via the memory control unit 501.
Store in.

Similarly, when the second and third light emitting elements 25 are turned on and all the light emitting elements are turned on, image data corresponding to one scanning line is stored in the buffer memory 59.

The processor 54 reconnects the buffer memory 59 from the bus 53 to the I10 port 232 (FIG. 8) or connection line 233 of the image storage/reproduction device 2, generates an interrupt to the processor 221 (FIG. 8), and transfers the data. request that This causes processor 221 to instruct the start of DMA transfer and transfer the contents of buffer memory 59 to page memory 228 (FIG. 8). When the processor 54 detects the end of this transfer, it instructs the memory control unit 501 to connect the buffer memory 59 to the bus 53 side.

When the operator grasps the hand scanner 5 and slides it on the paper, the roller 22 rotates and the disk comes into contact with the next conductor pattern, so the output of the rotation detection unit 52 is once "0".
Then, it becomes "1" again.

When the processor 54 detects this “1” information, the first
The same operation as in the first scan is performed, the image data of the second scan is stored in the buffer memory 59, and an interrupt is generated to the processor 221 to request data transfer so as to further transfer it to the page memory 228. The above operations are repeated until data is needed in the page memory 228.

As a result of the above operation, even if the speed at which the operator grasps the hand scanner 5 and scans the image becomes faster or slower, the image data is stored in the page memory 228 without any expansion or contraction, which is the same as if the image was scanned at the same speed. will be stored.

Each of the processors 54 is a processing device under program control, and each of its programs is stored in a memory 502.
is stored in advance.

The scanning width of the input section 5 in the embodiment described above matches the horizontal direction of the display 465 (FIG. 15) of the display section 4.

In addition to the conventional digital copying function of "paper-to-paper copying function of outputting the image signal read from the scanner to the printer", the feature that characterizes the present invention is that "the image signal read from the scanner is output to the image storage medium". Record"
[Reproduce desired image information from the image storage medium and store it on paper. In order to efficiently perform the third function (reproduction - recording on paper) in a copying machine equipped with three functions, the hand scanner 5 is used to search for the document title, author, The purpose is to provide a function for assigning the date of creation (the following explanation will be given in the case where an optical disk and a floppy disk are used as image storage media).

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an image data recording and reproducing device (in this example, a floppy disk and an optical disk are used as the image medium) that performs the function of providing search information, and FIG. 8 is an internal block diagram.

First, FIG. 7 will be explained. Reference numeral 211 denotes an optical disk drive device that performs recording and reproduction on and from an optical disk as a storage medium. 212 is a floppy disk drive device which, like the optical disk drive device 211, performs recording and reproduction on a floppy disk. 213 is a control circuit shown within the broken line in FIG. 214 to 217 are scanners 1 and 217, respectively. Printer 3. Operation/display section 4. and a cable for electrically interfacing with the hand scanner 5.

Next, the block diagram of FIG. 8 will be explained.

A microcomputer (processor) 221 has the role of controlling the entire system through the bus 229, each 1/F, I10 boat, etc. 223 is a ROM that stores the control program, and 222 is a so-called working memory (RA) that is temporarily used by the control program.
M). 210 is a drive device for recording and reproducing image data on a medium, and 220 is an I/F for this purpose.

231 is a timer that measures the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second, and serves as an information source that is automatically provided when recording image data. 228 is a page memory, which has a capacity for one page, and when reading image data from scanner 1,
It is used to temporarily store the image data, and when outputting the image data to the printer 3, it is used to temporarily store the image data from the image medium.

Further, in order to control the scanner 1 and the printer 3, the scanner I/F 224. Butanta I/F 225 is the scanner 1. It exists between the printer 3 and the printer 3. S/P226 is
It converts serial data to parallel data, and P
/S 227 converts parallel data into serial data. These are memory 228, scanner 1, and memory 2.
28 and the printer 3.

The I10 boat 230 is for controlling the operation/display unit 4 and exchanging data.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the image reading device (scanner) 1. As shown in FIG. In the figure, 111 is a platen glass, and an original 112 is placed on this platen glass 111. The original 112 is illuminated by light sources (fluorescent lamps) 115 and 116 provided on a carriage 114 that moves on a slide rail 113. Movable mirror unit 11
8 is provided with a mirror 119 and a mirror 119',
The unit 118 moves on the slide rail 1 and 3,
In combination with a first mirror 117 provided on the carriage 114, the optical image of the document 112 on the platen glass 111 is introduced into the lens reading unit 120.

The carriage 114 and the movable mirror unit 118 are
Pulleys 122, 123, 124 driven by a stepping motor 121 via a wire 126 cause the carriage 114 to move at a speed of V and the movable mirror unit 118 to move at a speed of 1
/2V in the same direction. platen glass 1
There is a standard white plate 127 on the back side of the home position part of 11.
is provided, and is configured so that a standard white signal can be obtained before the start of document reading scanning. Lens reading unit 1
Reference numeral 20 is composed of a lens 128 as a reading lens system and a line sensor 129 attached to a reading board. The original light image transmitted by the first mirror 117 and the mirrors 119 and 119' is focused by the lens 128,
An image is formed on the light receiving surface of the line sensor CCD 129. C.C.
D129 converts the grayness of the original image into an electric signal (image signal).

Image signal processing will be described below with reference to the block diagram of FIG. This image signal is amplified by the amplifier circuit 130, and the A/D
The converter 131 converts a multivalued digital image signal (
image data).

This digital image signal is sent to the shading correction circuit 132.
■Uneven light emission of the light source, ■Uneven light intensity distribution of the optical system (mirror, lens), ■CCD
Removes shading caused by uneven sensitivity, etc.

The binarization circuit 133: (1) converts sharp black and white image signals such as characters and drawing manuscripts into a fixed binary level; In other words, there is a method (threshold) in which the value processed by the CPU 134 is binarized at the pattern level of the latch circuit (RAM) 135;
ROM) 136, select the binarization method (dither processing) with the document select switch on the operation display section 4, and switch with the selector 137 to obtain an optimal copy image.

The image data that has been binarized for each pixel is for one line, that is, for an A3 size scanner, it is A4 size (210 x 29
If the resolution of the longitudinal feed (7 m) is 400 dpi (dots/inch), then 297 x 16 = 4752 do
A serial image signal VD is outputted to the printer 3 by an output buffer 139 via a line buffer 138 configured with a RAM of t (bits).

The oscillation circuit 140 is a CCD for driving the CCD 129.
It is applied to a CD drive circuit 141 and a synchronization signal generation circuit 142 for image (elementary) signals. The output of the oscillation circuit 140 is counted by a counter 143, and the count value is sent to the decoder 1.
44 and the CCD drive circuit 14 by the decoded output.
1 to generate a pulse to drive the CCD 129.

Other outputs of the decoder 144 are generated by the synchronization generation circuit 142: (1) a clock VCK synchronized with the pixels; (2) a main scanning synchronization signal LGATE in the line (main scanning) direction;

(2) A sub-scanning synchronization signal FGATE in the sub-scanning direction is generated. The timings of the pixel signal V0, the clock VCK, the main scanning synchronization signal LGATE, and the sub-scanning synchronization signal FGATE have the relationships shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

The CPU 134 (for example, Intel 8086) is R
It operates according to a control program written in the OMI 45 and is composed of a working memory RAM 146 and l10 (input/output) ports 147, 148, and 149, and controls the entire scanner 1. The I10 boat 147 performs ON10FF control of actuators such as the drive pulse motor 121 and the fluorescent lamps 115 and 116 for illuminating the document, and also detects the home position switch of the scanner I and sensors such as document detection. The I10 port 149 is an I/F (interface) for communicating with a control circuit within the image data recording/reproducing device 2, and performs parallel data transfer using a handshake method.

Figures 11 and 12 are timing diagrams of the scanner;
The SYNC signal is output from the printer 3 and is a synchronization signal for laser beam scanning, that is, a laser beam position signal of the printer.

VD is read data (image signal), image clock VC
It is clocked at K. In Figure 11, lower vCX
Iv, is an enlarged version of VCK, V, above it. Figure 12 shows GIP and main scanning signal (LGATE)
, is a timing relationship diagram of the sub-scanning signal (FGATE), and the longitudinal direction of the paper P is the sub-scanning signal (FGAT
E), the lateral direction is covered by the main scanning signal (LGATE).

Next, the printer 3 will be explained.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the printer, and FIG. 14 is a block diagram thereof.

13 and 14, 301 is a photosensitive drum, 302 is a charger, 303 is a developing section, 3
04 is a paper feed cassette, 305 is a paper feed conveyance unit, 306 is a registration roller, 307 is a transfer separation charger, 30B is a fixing device, 309 is a paper output tray, 310 is a cleaning unit,
311 is a laser, 312 is a collimator lens, 313 is a polygon mirror, 314 is an fθ lens, 315 is a mirror, 316 is a beam detect mirror, 317 is a beam position detector, 318 is a beam position detection circuit, 319 is a laser driver circuit, 320A, 320B is a toggle line buffer, 321 is an address counter for the line buffer memory, 323 is an input buffer that receives and receives image signals from the image data recording/reproducing device 2, 324 is a CPU that controls the printer 3, and 325 is a CPU that controls the printer 3 and FGATE.
A ROM that stores a counter control program; 326 a RAM that is a working memory for the CPU 324; and 327
is connected to the printer 3 drive motor, fixing heater actuator, paper presence/absence, size detection sensors, etc.
10 (input/output) ports, 328 is a counter 321 that inputs LGATE 330 and counts the FGATE counter.
An I10 port 329 such as a reset signal 331 is an I10 port that sends and receives control signals to and from the printer I/F 225 in the image data recording/reproducing device 2.

In the printer 3, the synchronization signals L G A T E and F G A T from the image data recording and reproducing device 2
The input buffer 323 receives the image signal VD synchronized with VCK (see FIG. 11), and the line memory 32
Write to 0A or 320B. Line memory 320A
and 320B are toggled by the toggle switching signal 331 of the CPU 324, and now the line memory 32
When 0A is in write state, other line memory 320B
is in the read state. The line memory counter 321 counts with VCK opened at LGATE, is reset with the toggle switching signal 331, and always reads/writes from address O.

The read side buffer 320B is a laser driver circuit 319
controls the lighting of the laser 311, and the emitted light is shaped into parallel light by the collimator lens 312, and scanned by the polygon mirror 313 to the width of the photoreceptor drum 310, and the emitted light is
The distortion is corrected by the θ lens 314, and the light is exposed onto the photoreceptor drum 301 via the mirror 315.

On the other hand, the image forming system is transferred and fixed onto paper by the electrophotographic process shown in FIG. That is, the photosensitive drum 3
01 rotates in the direction of the arrow, and the image that is charged by the charger 302, exposed to the laser 311, and visualized by the developer 303, and the image of the paper conveyed from the paper feed cassette 304 by the paper feed conveyance unit 305. the tip and the registration roller 306
Adjust the timing. This paper then comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 301, and the image is transferred to the paper by the transfer separation charge 307, conveyed in the direction of the arrow, and fixed by the fixing device 3O8. Thereafter, the paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 309. On the other hand,
Residual toner is collected from the photosensitive drum 301 by cleaning 310. The configuration and operation described above are of a well-known electrophotographic process laser printer. The CPU 324 is operated by the ROM 325 that stores these control programs. Further, in order to notify the image data recording and reproducing device 2 of start and stop commands from the operation display unit 4 and abnormal conditions such as a paper jam in the printer 3, control is performed via ■10329.

Next, the display/operation section 4 will be explained with reference to the schematic plan view of FIG. 15.

The display/operation section 4 includes a standard operation section 460 as a copying machine,
A special operation section 461 having a dot liquid crystal display LCD 465 and soft keys 466 is provided. Standard operation section 460
is for when using the "paper-to-paper copying" function, and is comprised of a numeric keypad 462 for setting the number of copies, a number display section 463, a print start key 464, keys for setting copy conditions, a display section 470, and the like. Special operation section 461
is used in the copy mode for recording/reproducing FD, and is composed of soft keys (for data input) 466 and a liquid crystal display 465.

These are the I10 boat 2 in the image data recording and reproducing device 2.
It is connected to the microcomputer system through 30 (see FIG. 8). The meanings of the soft keys 466 and the data displayed on the liquid crystal display 465 are all determined by a program within this microcomputer system.

Next, a series of operations will be explained.

To copy a normal paper document onto paper, place the document in the scanner 1 as before, select "Paper-to-paper copy mode" on the display/operation section 4, and press the copy start button. good.

The second function is “File a paper manuscript to an image storage medium”
To execute , first set a paper original on scanner 1, then select the [File paper original] mode on the operation display section 4, select one image file classification, and then press the copy start button. Press. The operation is as follows.

The image data converted into electrical signals by the scanner 1 is expanded into the page memory 228. After one entire page has been read, it is first recorded in a first area within the area corresponding to the selected classification of the optical disc. If there are two or more originals, the above operation is repeated, but the image data is recorded in the second area inside the area corresponding to the selected classification. When all manuscripts are recorded, the year, month, day, hour, minute, second, number of pages, optical disk management information, etc. are finally recorded on the floppy disk as directory information.

It should be noted that whether or not this is the last document is input by the operator through the display/operation unit 4 (for example, by inputting the total number of sheets at the beginning of filing, or by inputting a file end key when the last page is read). Furthermore, in this embodiment, the image data was recorded on the optical disk and the directory information was recorded on the floppy disk, but the relationship between the data type and the medium is not necessarily fixed.

FIG. 16 shows the relationship between each data and data structure using a simplified design drawing. This figure shows a case where one document is made up of three originals. Recorded in the directory are timer data at the time of recording, the physical start address and end address of the optical disc, and other information attached thereto (for example, the total number of pages).

In Fig. 16, 601 is the product name column shown in this design drawing, and 60
2 is a part number column. In this second function, a mode for filing a paper document is selected using the operation unit 4 (step 1). Next, the hand scanner 5 scans the product name filI601, and the part number 4! When j1602 is scanned, "Product Name Holder: Cylindrical Lens: Upper Left" and "Part ACE011877" are displayed on the display section 465 (Step 2).

Set this drawing on scanner 1 and press start key 464.
When the button is pressed, the image data converted into electrical signals by the scanner 1 is stored in the page memory 228, and when scanning for one sheet is completed, it is recorded on the optical disk (step 3). At this time, the title from step 2 and the year, month, day, and hour index of the file are recorded on the floppy disk (step 4).

By repeating this operation, a series of drawing files will be created (step 5).

FIGS. 17 and 18 show the relationship between each data and data structure in the case of an optical disk and a floppy disk. The directory includes the title read by the hand scanner 5, the recorded year, month, day, physical address of the optical disc, end address, etc.

When executing the third function "output from image medium to paper", after selecting and setting the mode, search for the target file, and press the print start key 464 to output the file to paper. When searching, a directory area is displayed on the operation/display section, and it is also possible to specify a date at this time. This date specification also does not need to be specified at all, such as only the year and month, or only the year, month, and day.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of this display. In the case of the third function, the table of contents is first printed out, and the positive of the table of contents is input from the numeric keypad 462.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, an arbitrary part of a document, drawing, etc. is read using a hand scanner and this is used as a search keyword, so that a search title can be easily entered when filing, and the search can be performed easily. The content can be understood, the title of the manuscript, author, creation date, etc. can be added using a hand scanner as a search keyword for each image information, and an image file system can be constructed without the need for a full-fledged keyboard or display. It is possible to provide an image storage and retrieval digital copying device that is capable of image storage and retrieval.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system block diagram according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the overall configuration of the device, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the input section (hand scanner) seen from the scanning surface, and Fig. 4 is FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the roller, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the disk in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the electric circuit of the input section, and FIG. 7 is an image. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the data recording/reproducing device, FIG. 8 is its internal block diagram, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the image reading device (scanner), FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the image signal processing circuit, and FIG. Figure 11 is a timing chart showing the timing relationship of the scanner, Figure 12 is a diagram showing the relationship between main scanning signals and sub-scanning signals, Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a laser printer for electrophotographic process, and Figure 14 is its block diagram. The circuit diagram, Figure 15, is shown.
A schematic diagram illustrating the operation unit, FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a design drawing when the second function is executed, and FIGS. 17 and 18.
Figure 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between each data and data structure.
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing a display example when the third function is executed. 1... Image reading device (scanner), 2... Image data recording/reproducing device, 3... Printer (image forming device)
4... Operation display section, 5... Input section (hand scanner). Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 1I Figure 12 Figure 17 Figure 18 Floppy disk

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an image storage/retrieval digital copying device that stores image information such as documents, drawings, etc. in an information storage medium, and searches and copies the image information on this information storage medium, a hand scanner reads any part of the document, drawing, etc. a means of remembering
An image storage and retrieval digital copying apparatus comprising means for using the location stored in the storage means as a search keyword.