JPH0241071B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

This invention provides image information that reads image information such as a document with a reading device and stores it in a storage device, and searches and reads out required image information from among each image information stored in the storage device as needed. The present invention relates to a memory retrieval device. Recently, image information such as documents that are generated in large quantities is read by optical two-dimensional scanning in a reading device, and this read image information is sequentially stored in a storage device. Image information storage and retrieval that searches and reads out required image information from among various types of image information as needed, and outputs it in a state that can be viewed on an output device such as a CRT display device or a hard copy device that is a recording device. A device has been developed and put into practical use. In such an image information storage device, the image information to be read and stored in the storage device is stored in a buffer memory, for example, a page buffer, and then one unit of image information in this page buffer is stored in the storage device. That's what I do. Also,
Image information read from the storage device and to be output by a CRT display device or hard copy device is stored in the page buffer, and then one unit of image information in this page buffer is transferred to the CRT.
The information is provided to a display device or hard copy device. By the way, in such an apparatus, when the size of the original to be read is large, a large-capacity page buffer is required accordingly. However, if you set up a large page buffer,
There are problems of high cost and large space. Furthermore, in order to display image information for one page of a document, a large CRT display device is required, resulting in a problem of high cost. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, compression/expansion processing, size conversion processing, mask processing, etc. are performed on image information when storing and reading image information, but these image information processing It is necessary to do this appropriately depending on the situation. This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to accurately process image information in accordance with the condition of the document during image information storage and image information readout. ,
An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent image information storage and retrieval device that enables improved reliability. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a main control device, which includes a CPU 2 that performs various controls, various file sets (a collection of magnetic tapes 14 to be described later), and management information for managing various files (magnetic tapes 14). A management information storage device storing, for example, a floppy disk device 3, an LVR 1 to be described later.
A title memory 4 for temporarily storing title information read from 3, a buffer memory 4 having a storage capacity corresponding to at least one unit of image information (one page of the original), a page buffer 5, and a page buffer 5 for compressing image information (reducing redundancy). A compression/expansion circuit 6 that performs compression/expansion (returning the reduced redundancy), a size conversion circuit 7 that expands or reduces image information, a mask circuit 8 that electrically masks image information, and characters. It consists of a pattern generator 9 in which pattern information such as and symbols is stored, a display interface device 10, and the like. Reference numeral 11 denotes a reading device, such as a two-dimensional scanning device, which scans the original (document) 12 with laser beam light.
By performing dimensional scanning, an electrical signal corresponding to the image information on the original document 12 is obtained. Here, FIG. 3 shows the state in which the original 12 is set (injected) into the two-dimensional scanning device 11. As shown in FIG. That is, B ₄ size (vertical direction), A ₄ size (vertical direction), B ₅ size (vertical direction), A ₅ size (vertical direction), B ₅ -R (horizontal direction), A ₅ -R (horizontal direction) ) can now be set. On the other hand, 13 is a large capacity storage device, a magnetic tape device (hereinafter referred to as “magnetic tape device”).
The image information read by the two-dimensional scanning device 11 and the index information created by the main controller 1 are sequentially stored (recorded) in a dedicated storage area of a storage medium, that is, a magnetic tape. . A plurality of endless magnetic tapes (cassette tapes) 14 are prepared depending on the type of image information to be stored, and are set in the LVR 13 as appropriate. A keyboard 15 is used to input a unique title and various operation commands corresponding to the image information. Reference numeral 16 denotes an output device, such as a cathode ray tube display device (hereinafter referred to as a CRT display device), which is a display section, and receives image information read by the two-dimensional scanning device 11 and supplied via the main controller 1, or from the LVR 13. The index information read out and supplied via the main control device 1 displays image information, etc., and together with the display interface 10 in the main control device 1 constitutes a significant image information display device. . 17 is an output device such as a hard copy device, and a two-dimensional scanning device 11
The image information read by the LVR 13 and supplied via the main controller 1, or the index information read from the LVR 13 and supplied via the main controller 1, is output as a hard copy 18. Then, a page buffer 5, a compression/expansion circuit 6, a size conversion circuit 7, a mask circuit 8, a pattern generator 9, and a display interface device 1.
0, two-dimensional scanning device 11, LVR 13, keyboard 15, CRT display device 16, and hard copy device 17 are connected to an I/O (input/output) control bus 20 of CPU 2, respectively. Further, a title memory 4, a page buffer 5, a compression/expansion circuit 6, a size conversion circuit 7, a mask circuit 8, a pattern generator 9, a display interface device 10, a two-dimensional scanning device 11,
The LVR 13, CRT display device 16, and hard copy device 17 are each connected to an image bus 30 so that information can be transferred to each other. By the way, in such an image information storage and retrieval device, the magnetic tape 14 is called a file, and each magnetic tape 14 is called a file depending on the type of image information to be stored.
4 are each given a file name. and,
A collection of files of the same type or that are related to each other is called a fileset, and a fileset name is given to this fileset. In other words, a file set name exists as a superordinate concept of a file name. On the other hand, the magnetic tape 14
A large number of image information recording tracks and several index information recording tracks are formed in a direction perpendicular to the running direction. Management information and various index information are recorded on the index information recording track. The management information includes the file name and file set name that the magnetic tape 14 corresponds to, a secret code, a title structure and a title range to define the title conditions set corresponding to the image information, and includes the title structure and title range, etc. This is recorded by the operator in advance. The index information corresponds to each piece of image information, and consists of a title (up to six items) and address information indicating the recording position of the image information. In this case, the address information includes document size information that the operator inputs together with the title when recording image information. Here, we will briefly explain what kind of operation is performed in the above configuration. When magnetic tape 14 is set in LVR 13
The LVR 13 operates, and management information and all index information are read from the index information recording track of the magnetic tape 14 and stored in the title memory 4 all at once. At this time, the CPU
2 determines whether the management information in the title memory 4 corresponds to the various management information in the floppy disk device 5, and prohibits storage of image information if this determination is not satisfied. That is, this is to determine that the magnetic tape 14 is not compatible with the system of the image information storage and retrieval device.
On the other hand, if the above determination is satisfied, the CPU 2 determines whether the input title is inconsistent with the titles of various index information in the title memory 4, and when this determination is not satisfied, storage of image information is prohibited. That is, this is to prevent the same title from being recorded on the magnetic tape 14 set in the LVR 13. When this determination is satisfied, image information is stored for the first time. Next, the original 12 is set on the two-dimensional scanning device 11, and the title corresponding to the image information of the original 12 and original size information of the original 12 are input. In this case, the document size information consists of the size of the document 12 and the direction in which the document 12 is set with respect to the two-dimensional scanning device 11 (portrait or landscape). It can be entered by following the instruction guidance and using the keys as shown in the table below.

【table】

[Table] Then, the two-dimensional scanning device 11 operates to read the image information on the original 12, which is stored in the page buffer 5 via the mask circuit 8 and the size conversion circuit 7. When one unit of image information is stored in the page buffer 5, the image information is read out from the page buffer 5 and supplied to the compression/decompression circuit 6, where it is compressed by the well-known modifier Eit-Hoffman transformation and then stored in the page buffer 5 again. 5 is stored. The compressed image information in the page buffer 5 is then supplied to the LVR 13 via the size conversion circuit 7 and the mask circuit 8.
The image information is recorded after the already recorded image information on the image information recording track of the cassette tape 14. At this time, the CPU 2 determines the recording position of the image information to be recorded, creates index information using this address information and the title and document size information input in advance, and stores it in various index information in the title memory 4. Add. Thereafter, the management information and various index information in the title memory 4 strike through the size conversion circuit 7 and the mask circuit 8, are supplied to the LVR 13, and are recorded on the index information recording track of the cassette tape 14. In this case, various index information recorded in the index information recording track will be updated. In addition, when searching and reading out required image information from among the various stored image information, the magnetic tape 14 on which the required image information is recorded can be used as an LVR.
Set to 13. When a search/read operation command is input on the keyboard 13, the LVR 13 is activated, and management information and various index information are read out from the index information track of the magnetic tape 14, and the information strikes through the mask circuit 8 and size conversion circuit 7. and stored in the title memory 4 all at once. At this time, when a sort command is input using the keyboard 15, various index information in the title memory 4 passes through the size conversion circuit 7 and the mask circuit 8 and is displayed on the CRT display device 16. In this case, each type of index information displayed is assigned a sequence number. The operator then searches for the desired image information from among the various index information displayed and enters the sequence number attached to the index information on the keyboard 15.
Enter. Then, index information corresponding to the input sequence number is selected, and required image information is read from the magnetic tape 14 of the LVR 13 based on the index information. The read image information is then stored in the page buffer 5 via the mask circuit 8 and the size conversion circuit 7. When one unit of image information is stored in this page buffer 5, the image information is read out from the page buffer 5 and supplied to the compression/expansion circuit 6, where it is inversely converted into modifiers and then stored in the page buffer 5 again. Ru. At this time, if a recording operation command has been input using the keyboard 15, the image information in the page buffer 5 is supplied to the hard copy device 17 via the size conversion circuit 7 and the mask circuit 8, where it is recorded on recording paper.
Furthermore, if a display operation command is input using the keyboard 15, the image information in the page buffer 5 is supplied to the CRT display device 16 via the size conversion circuit 7, mask circuit 8, and display interface device 10, where it is displayed. be done. Next, the above-mentioned compression/expansion circuit 6, size conversion circuit 7, and mask circuit 8 will be explained in detail. (1) The compression/expansion circuit 6 mainly performs the compression/expansion operations described above, but also has the following functions based on the control of the CPU 2. That is, for example, if the storage capacity of the page buffer 5 is
Assume that it corresponds to the image information of an _A4 size document. Therefore, during image information storage operation,
If the original 12 is _B5 size, there will be a portion in the storage area of the page buffer 5 in which no image information is stored. Therefore, if the image information in the entire storage area of the page buffer 5 is compressed, unnecessary images will be generated. Even the information will be stored in LVR13. Therefore, CPU2
The compression operation of the compression/expansion circuit 6 is controlled according to the document size information input when storing image information, and the B ₅ stored in the page buffer 5 is controlled.
Only image information corresponding to the size is compressed. (2) The size conversion circuit 7 performs an image information editing operation consisting of an enlargement operation mode, a reduction operation mode, and a strike-through operation mode,
The following operations are performed according to the control of the CPU 2. (a) Two-dimensional scanning device 11 during image information storage operation
The image information read by the page buffer 5 and supplied to the page buffer 5 is reduced or struck through. That is, for example, if the storage capacity of the page buffer 5 corresponds to image information of an _A4 size original, it is impossible to store _B4 size image information in the page buffer 5. Also, due to the mismatch in shape direction,
It is also impossible to store image information of B ₅ -R size or A ₅ -R size in the page buffer 5. Therefore, when the document size information input from the keyboard 15 is larger than the capacity of the page buffer 5, the CPU 2 processes the document size information input from the keyboard 15, for example.
₂ , the size conversion circuit 7 is operated to reduce the size at a predetermined reduction rate.
By doing so, it is not necessary to make the page buffer 5 large-capacity, and it is possible to prevent an increase in cost and an increase in space.
Further, when the document size and document setting direction are the same as or smaller than the capacity and shape direction of the page buffer 5, the CPU 2
For example, when the size of the original 12 is _A4 , _B5 , or _A5 , the size conversion circuit 7 is caused to perform a strike-through operation (reduction ratio "0", enlargement ratio "0"). (b) At the time of image information storage operation and image information readout, the image information supplied from the page buffer 5 to the LVR 13 and the image information supplied from the LVR 13 to the page buffer 5 are struck through. (c) The read image information is transferred to hard copy device 1.
7, the image information supplied from the page buffer 5 to the hard copy device 17 is enlarged, reduced or struck through. That is, the CPU 2 causes the size conversion circuit 7 to perform an enlargement operation or a strike-through operation at a predetermined enlargement rate in accordance with document size information included in index information selected when reading image information. The enlargement operation in this case is for restoring the image information reduced in the above item (a) to its original state. Also,
The CPU 2 causes the enlargement/reduction circuit 7 to perform a reduction operation or a strike-through operation at a predetermined reduction ratio depending on the size of recording paper in the hard copy device 17. By doing so, it is possible to reliably record one unit of read image information regardless of the size and shape direction of the recording paper in the hard copy device 17. (e) When displaying the read image information on the CRT display device 16, the page buffer 5
The image information supplied from the display interface device 10 to the display interface device 10 is reduced or struck through. That is, the CPU 2 causes the size conversion circuit 7 to perform a reduction operation or a strike-through operation at a predetermined reduction rate based on the display capacity of the CRT display device 16 stored in advance. By doing this, it is not necessary to make the CRT display device large and high-performance, and an increase in cost can be prevented. However, in this case, the size conversion circuit 7 can also be enlarged by the operator's operation, and the display contents can be made easier to see. (f) In addition, when the pattern information taken out from the pattern generator 9 is supplied to the page buffer 5 and added to the image information in the page buffer 5, strike-through is performed. (3) The mask circuit 8 masks unnecessary portions of image information, and performs the following operations under the control of the CPU 2. (a) Two-dimensional scanning device 11 during image information storage operation
The image information read by and supplied to the page buffer 5 is masked according to the input document size information. That is, the two-dimensional scanning device 1
1 has a constant scanning area regardless of the size and setting direction of the original 12, so only the area corresponding to the size and setting direction of the original 12 is considered to be valid image information. Scanning device 11
Unnecessary images such as dust and scratches on the document table can be ignored. In addition, the new image information and the apparent image information (masked part) around it are stored all at once in the page buffer 5. For example, if the page buffer 5 stores old image information, Even if the old image information is added to the new image information, the old image information will not be added to the new image information. Moreover, by doing so, control for clearing the page buffer 5 in advance becomes unnecessary. (b) When reading image information, the image information read from the page buffer 5 is masked according to the document size information included in the selected index information, and is supplied to the hard copy device 17 or the display interface 10. In this case, in the hard copy device 17, unnecessary toner does not adhere to the photosensitive drum (not shown), and stains on the photosensitive drum can be reduced. Therefore, compression/expansion processing, size conversion processing, masking processing, etc. are performed on image information based on the original size and original setting direction that are set when storing image information. Can be done accurately. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be applied not only to image information storage and retrieval devices, but also to other devices that perform similar operations. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without changing the gist. As described in detail above, according to the present invention, image information processing can be performed appropriately when storing image information and when reading image information, depending on the size of the document and the direction of the cassette. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an image information storage and retrieval device that can perform image information processing with high speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention.
2 is a detailed diagram showing the configuration of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the size of the original and the direction in which the original is set with respect to the two-dimensional scanning device. 5... Buffer memory (page buffer), 6...
Compression/expansion circuit, 7... Size conversion circuit, 8... Mask circuit, 11... Reading device (two-dimensional scanning device), 1
2...Manuscript.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A reading means for reading image information of the set original, and setting original size information including the title of the image information, the original size of the image information, and the direction in which the original is set with respect to the reading means as index information. a main storage means for storing the image information read by the reading means in correspondence with the index information set by the setting means; , a search means for reading image information corresponding to the index information from the main storage means; an output means for outputting the image information read by the search means in a predetermined output size; The image information read by the reading means and temporary storage means having a predetermined storage capacity for temporarily storing the image information read by the search means; and before the image information is stored in the temporary storage means during the storage process and during the search process, size conversion means for enlarging or reducing the image information before outputting the temporarily stored image information by the output means; a compression/decompression unit that performs compression processing on image information and decompression processing on image information stored in the temporary storage unit during the search process; and the index information set by the setting unit, When the original size information is smaller than the storage capacity of the temporary storage means, controlling the compression/expansion operation of the compression/expansion means, and when the original size information is larger than the storage capacity of the temporary storage means,
An image information storage and retrieval device comprising: control means for controlling the operation of the size conversion means at a predetermined magnification.