JPH0390967A - Picture data storage - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To store a large quantity of picture data with effective use of the storage capacity by storing only a valid part excluding the bland parts of the picture data. CONSTITUTION:A read circuit 25 sends a drive signal to a line sensor 27 of a read part in response to a command of a control part 22. Thus the sensor 27 reads the subject picture data, and this read data is fetched into the part 22 via the circuit 25 and stored in a RAM 24. Then the stored picture data is read out and displayed so that a valid picture part of the obtained picture data is written and stored together with its position information. In this case, the valid picture stored in a position set based on the position information are also displayed. Thus it is possible to effectively use the storage capacity and to store a large quantity of picture data.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to image data that is read and stored, and displayed on an optical display device or printed as necessary. Regarding storage devices.

[Prior Art] Generally, in a personal computer, a word processor, etc., image data such as a document is read using an image scanner, and a plurality of read image data are stored in storage means such as a memory or a magnetic disk with index data attached. An image data storage device is known that reads out arbitrary image data and displays or prints it by specifying index data as necessary.

This type of image data storage device is capable of storing a plurality of pieces of image data depending on the capacity of the storage means.

However, the above image data is stored as is, including blank areas, regardless of the amount of data. For example, if the read data is blank, a bit with a value of "0" is stored. and the effective image, i.e.
If black characters are printed, a bit of value "1" is stored. When recalling data, the image data consisting of "0" and "1" stored in the storage means is directly recalled and displayed or printed out.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] If image data is stored as is as described above,
Since the amount of image data required for storage is large and the storage capacity of the storage means is limited, only data for a limited number of bones can be stored.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
Effectively utilizes the capacity of the storage means for storing image data,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image data storage device capable of storing more image data.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] The present invention provides an image reading means, for example, an image scanner, which reads image data, and a valid image portion of the image data obtained by the image reading means, and its position information. When the stored image data is read out and displayed, the stored valid image is displayed at a position based on the position information, and the blank space in the image data is Since only the valid parts are stored, the storage capacity can be used effectively and a large amount of image data can be stored. The meaning of the above-mentioned display is not only to be displayed on an optical display device, but also to
This also includes display by printing, etc.

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a business card filing device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show its external structure, and numeral 11 is the main body case. This main case 11 is an upper case l.
The lower case lla and the lower case llb are connected and integrated, and the size is large enough to be held in the hand when folded.
The figure shows its open state. Main body case 11
Inside the upper case lla, there is a dot matrix liquid crystal display panel 12 that displays read image data and index data (described later), and a power key 13.2 that uses a contact slide switch to turn the power on and off.
A mode changeover switch 14 for switching between "registration" mode and "search" mode, and an execution key 15 for executing various instructions are provided. Further, the inside of the lower case llb is provided with character/numeric keys 16 for manually inputting index data and the like. Further, on the side surface of the upper case lla, a reading section 17 for reading the image data of the business card is provided on one side, and a reading switch (8) for instructing reading on the other side. However, for example, 8 to 16 dots/corresponding to the width of a business card.
It is composed of a line sensor with 11 reading pixels, a light source, an encoder that generates a reading timing signal from the reading movement speed, etc. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper case Ila and lower case 11b are folded and the reading Printing on the business card 19 is performed by scanning the business card 19 in the direction shown by arrow A while holding down the reading switch 18 while holding the part 22 in contact with one end of the top surface of the business card 19 to be read. The image data will be read.

Next, the configuration of the electronic circuit provided in the main body case li will be explained with reference to FIG. In the same figure, power key 13
, a mode changeover switch 14, an execution key 15, and character/numeric keys (6).All key human signals resulting from key operations in the key human power section 21 are sent to a control section 22 composed of a CPU. It controls the operation of other circuits according to signals from the section 2I, and sends control commands to the micro-pro 25 for operation control, and the display control section 2I.
Display data is output to 6. The reading circuit 25 is connected to the control unit 2
2, the line sensor 27 of the reading section 17
A drive signal is sent to the device to read the target image data. Image data read by the line sensor 27 is taken into the control unit 22 via the reading circuit 25 and stored in the RAM 24. The display control section 26 decodes the display data sent from the control section 22 to obtain a drive signal, and uses this drive signal to drive and control the display section 28 consisting of the liquid crystal display panel i2 to display image data, etc. Output.

The RAM 24 has a display register 2 as shown in FIG.
It is composed of 4a1 image data storage area 24b1 index area 24c and work area 24d. The display register 24a has at least a number of bit memories corresponding to the entire bitmap of image data of one read business card, and is an area for storing display data to be displayed on the display unit 28, and the image data storage area 24b will be described later. This is an area for storing image data of a blocked effective image area.

Furthermore, the index area 24c is an index data storage section J that stores index data based on the character/numeric keys 16 corresponding to the image data stored in the image data storage area 24b. and a plurality of coordinate data storage units J1 for storing coordinate data, which is positional information indicating where the four corner points of each of the divided valid image blocks are located in the entire read image data.
and a plurality of address pointer sections J for storing at which address position on the image data storage area 24b the image block designated by this coordinate data storage section is stored.
2 is one set, and the area of multiple sets ■. , Il... Furthermore, the work area 24d is used for dividing image data into blocks. It consists of registers, Y0 registers, Y registers, X registers, etc.

The Y registers are the upper yffi register and the lower y,
, and has a two-stage configuration of registers. Similarly, the X register has a two-stage configuration of an x register in the upper stage and an xn register in the lower stage.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the overall operation contents by the control unit 22, and at the beginning, the step AOI
As shown in the figure, the operating position of the mode key 19 is "Register" and "
"Search" mode setting position is determined.

If it is in the "registration" mode, the process proceeds to step AO2 to actually read the image data.

As shown in FIG. 2 above, this scans the business card 19 with the reader 17 in contact with the top surface of the business card 19 to be read and the read switch 18 held down, and the image data of the business card 19 is scanned. The line sensor 27 reads each line, and the control unit 2
Sent to 2. In the control section 22, the sequentially sent line-by-line image data is once stored in the display register 24a of the RAM 24, and then sequentially sent as display data to the display control section 26 to be displayed on the display section 28. .

Display register 24a for all image data of one business card 24
After holding the index data, the control unit 22 waits for input of the index data using the character/numeric keys 1B of the key input unit 2I. When the index data is input manually, the index data is also stored at a predetermined position of the display register 24a, that is,
The image data is temporarily stored in a storage area different from the storage area of the image data, and then displayed. Next, execute key 1 in step AO3
Wait for the registration confirmation instruction from step 5. Execution key 1
5 is operated, the process proceeds to step AO4, where the coordinates of the valid image area excluding the blank area in the image data stored in the display register 24a, that is, the valid image block part are detected and the image is displayed. It is stored in the data storage area 24b.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the process of detecting and storing block coordinates. First, as shown in step BOI, a line with image data is detected from the bit map of the image data stored in the display register 24a. That is, in the image data stored in the display register 24a, the blank bit is "0" and the black pixel (printed) is "1".
is remembered in

As shown in FIG. 12, the horizontal coordinate of the bitmap of the display register 24a is set to X. +XIx2 +
" 3 + ..., vertical coordinate y. + YI + Y2 +
y3. ..., then it is determined whether each row has at least one pixel data "1", with rows in the horizontal direction having the same y-coordinate and columns in the vertical direction having the same X-coordinate. The detection means is shown in FIG.

That is, FIG. 7 shows the processing content of this data presence detection. At the beginning of the process, in step COI, the control unit 22 initializes both the X register and Y register (not shown) in the work area 24d of the RAM 24. 0".

Next, in step CO2, the X register is updated and set to "+1". In the following step CO3, it is determined whether the column position corresponding to the contents of this X register is the last column on the bitmap. Here, since the X register is "2", the judgment result is No, and then the process goes to step CO4, where it is determined whether or not the pixel data bit is "1" at the coordinate position specified by the contents of the X register and Y register. to decide.

If it is not "1", return to step CO2 above again, and
The contents of the register are r+IJ again and the above process is repeated again.

If it is determined in step CO4 that there is pixel data "1", it means that there is at least one pixel data "1°" in that row, and the process proceeds from step CO4 to step CO5 to check the contents of the Y register at that time, that is, The y-coordinate data with data is stored in the Y0 register of the work area 24d.After that, in step C06, the contents of the Y register are updated by "+1", and the X register is cleared and set to "0".
shall be. Here, it is determined in step CO7 whether the row position corresponding to the contents of the updated Y register is the last row on the bitmap, and after it is determined that it is not, it is determined whether there is data in the next row. In order to detect this, the process from step CO2 is performed again. In this way, it is determined whether or not there is at least one pixel data "1" in each row, and if so, the y-coordinate data is sequentially stored in the Y0 register of the work area 24d.

When it is determined in step CO7 that the row position corresponding to the contents of the Y register is the last row on the bitmap, it is considered that the detection of data presence on the bitmap of the display register 24a according to FIG. 7 is completed. Become.

After completing the data presence detection in step BOI in FIG. 6, the process proceeds to step BQ2, where it is detected and determined whether each column has at least one pixel data "1". The detection means is almost the same as that shown in FIG.
The X coordinate data of the column containing the pixel data "1" is sequentially transferred to the X coordinate data of the work area 24d. Store it in the register.

FIG. 9 shows the Y coordinate data of the work area 24d in which data-bearing y-coordinate data is stored in the case of a bitmap as shown in FIG.
. The same X that stores the X coordinate data of the register and data array
. This is an example of a storage state of a register. Using the coordinate data obtained by scanning the bit map of the display register 24a both vertically and horizontally in steps BOL and BO2, effective block coordinate detection processing shown in step BO3 is performed.

As shown in DOI, y of Y register in work area 24d
, , L register, y, Y of the same work area 24d shown in FIG. 9 in the l register. Store and set the first row coordinate data "y," stored in the register.

In the next step DO2, an initial value "0" is set in the G register (not shown) in the work area 24d for counting the distance between blocks, and then y is set in step DO3. The value of the register is updated by "+1" to "y4", and in the following step DO4 it is determined whether the value is the last row on the bitmap of the display register 24a. If the answer is NO, the process proceeds to step DO5, and the coordinate data that matches the register value "y4" is Y. It is determined whether or not it is stored in the register. Here, since it is stored, the determination result is YES, and in the following step DO6, the G register is cleared and the processing from step SO3 is repeated again.

Thus y. The last row address within the same block is searched for while sequentially updating the register values. y.

The coordinate data that matches the register value is Y. If it is determined that it is not stored in the register, the process proceeds from step DO5 to step DO7, and the contents of the G register are updated and set by "+1". Thereafter, in step DO8, it is determined whether the contents of the G register have become "40" or not, and if not, the processing from step DO3 is repeated again. From now on, y
, while sequentially updating and setting the register values, the G counter counts the number of consecutive coordinates of rows with no data.

The G register counts the row coordinates with no consecutive data, and when the count value reaches a certain number "40",
This is to recognize that an image block is broken and becomes a blank area. Here, the constant number "40" means that the resolution of the line sensor 27 is, for example, 8 dots/llll11.
If so, this value indicates that there are consecutive rows without images for 5II1m. For example, at the position of rAJ and the character "open" in the business card image shown in FIG. 15, the line with the y coordinate address "y5□" and r
Row with no data between row Y 59J r Y 53
If J~r Y saJ is consecutive, the consecutive number is "6"
'' and does not reach ``40'', it is not considered a blank area and is determined to be within the same block. In addition, as shown in FIG. 14, there is a row r Y 93 where there is no data between the row with the y-coordinate address rys
When J~r Y 109 J is consecutive, the consecutive number is "57" and exceeds "40", so when the count value of the G register reaches "40", it is considered a blank area, It is determined that the image block in the row up to the y-coordinate address ry s2J and the image block in the row from the y-coordinate address r)'++oJ are different blocks.

When it is determined that the count value of the G register is "40", the value of the yn register is incremented to "r-40" in step DO9, and the data is returned to the row coordinate data. After that, the coordinate data of the previous row of the next data stored in the Yo register is newly added and set to the y, register, and yll register of the Y register, and this additionally set y,
The processing from step DO2 is repeated for the contents of the register.

In this way, a set of row coordinate data indicating the area of a row with data is sequentially stored in the Yl register of the work area 24d. 15 and 16 illustrate image data of the business card 19, in which sets of row coordinate data indicating the area of rows of blocks indicated by broken lines are sequentially stored in Y registers. FIG. 10 shows the area of row coordinates of valid image blocks stored in the Y register of the work area 24d, for example, four points Z of image data as shown in FIG. Corresponding to the first block whose corner is −2, the area of its row coordinates “y,” r y 9
2J is stored.

Repeat steps D02 to DIO above, and Y
After storing all the valid row coordinate areas of the image block in the register, if it is determined in step DO4 that the value of the y register is the last row, the process proceeds to step Dll, and each row detected above is Area ry3 to y92"1"y1
10~Y2+oJ\r Y 330~Y42゜'',・
. . . Search for a certain row and location of image data in the same manner as the row coordinate detection described above, and store the minimum coordinate data and maximum coordinate data in the x7 register and the X register of the X register in the work area 24d, respectively. do.

In this way, the coordinate data of the block area can be detected by combining the coordinate data of each row area stored in the Y register of the work area 24d and the coordinate data of each column area stored in the X register. For example, the first
4 points Z in Figure 6. In the first block whose corner is ~Z, there are 4 points Z. The coordinates of -Z are the coordinate data “y3” and “y92” of each row area and the coordinate data “x2” of each column area.
” rX320J allows ZO(y3.X2) Zl(y
3 + X320) SZ2 0'921 X2
) 5Z3 (V9□+X3□0) is detected.

The coordinate data of each block obtained in this way is stored in the index area 2 of the RAM 24 in the subsequent step DI2.
4c. FIG. 11 shows the storage state. In the index area 24c, the coordinate data of a set of four points of the block is stored and set in a rough amount corresponding to the number of blocks. At the same time as the block coordinate detection process ends, the block coordinate detection storage process shown in FIG. 6 ends.

When the block coordinate detection and storage process is completed as described above, the process proceeds to step AO5 in FIG. 24b and an address pointer is set in the index area 24c.

Next, in step AO6, when index data is input using the character/numeric keys 16 of the key input section 21, the index data is also stored and set in the index data storage section Jo of the index area 24c of the RAM 24.

Through the registration process described above, the image data of one business card is stored in the image data storage area 24b, and its address pointer and coordinate data are stored in the image data storage area 2 of the index area 24c along with its index data.
4b, and its index and address pointer coordinate data are stored in areas II, I2. I3. ...is stored in... Next, processing for searching for arbitrary image data from among a large number of image data will be described.

When searching for image data, the mode changeover switch L4 is set to the "search" mode, and the index data of the desired image data is entered manually using the character/numeric keys 18. Due to this key person horn, the fifth above
The process shown in the figure is executed, and at the beginning, step AO
It is determined that the mode is "search" mode at step I, and the manually entered index data is stored in the RAM at step AO7.
It is temporarily held in the work area 24d of No. 24. After waiting for the execution key 15 to be operated in the following step AO8,
Each area I of the index area 24c. l! +
'2+... index data storage section J. Search in order for those that have matching index data stored in them.

Then, it is judged whether or not there is a match in step AO9, and if there is, the next step AIO
The coordinate data of the effective block corresponding to the index data is read from the index area 24c, and the image data is read from the image data storage area 24b according to the address pointer, and the image data read according to the coordinate data is stored in the display register 24a. This is displayed on the display unit 28 so as to return to the original position, and the process ends.

If it is determined in step AO9 that there is no image data having index data that matches the input index data, then in step A12 an error message indicating that there is no matching data is displayed on the display section 28.
to complete the process.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which a business card image is read and stored as image data, and this is displayed and output, but it is not limited to business card images, and any other image can be stored by similar processing. Needless to say.

Further, in the above embodiment, the bit contents of the display register 24a are displayed as they are on the display section 28, but for example, the number of dots displayed on the display section 28 is set to be half of the bit contents of the display register 24, and the bit contents of the display register 24a are displayed as is. The contents of the display register 24a may be displayed every other row and every other column, and if the displayed contents are difficult to read, the entire bit contents of the display register 24a may be displayed by, for example, display switching. That is, in this case, enlarged display is possible.

Although the coordinate data was detected after all read contents were temporarily stored in the display register 24H, the coordinate data may be detected by providing a temporary storage memory in the work area 24d, for example.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, x and y coordinate data is detected and stored as location information, or the location information does not need to be in the form of coordinate data; for example, the Western European address of each block may be used as is. It is sufficient to simply store it, or it can also be used as position information by storing the first address and the number of bits from this address to the other three corners.

Furthermore, although a line sensor is used for image reading in the above embodiment, it is of course possible to use a dot matrix type full sensor that reads all image data at the same time, and various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Application is possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a valid image portion of image data obtained by an image reading means such as an image scanner that reads image data is written and stored in a storage means together with position information. When stored image data is specified, the specified image data and position information are read from the storage means and the image data is displayed according to the position information, so that the image data is valid except for blank areas in the image data. An image data storage device that not only stores only a portion of the image, but can effectively utilize the storage capacity and store a large amount of image data, as well as reproduce the original image even though only the effective portion is stored. can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the external configuration, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the external configuration when reading an image, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an electronic circuit. A block diagram, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the area configuration of the RAM in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of data processing, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the contents of the block coordinate detection process in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the process of detecting the previous row of data in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the process of detecting the coordinates of the effective block in FIG. 6, and FIGS. 9 to 11 are the work area FIGS. 12 to 14 are diagrams partially showing read image data, and FIGS. 15 and 16 are diagrams illustrating the storage state in the index area.
Each figure shows valid blocks in read image data. 11...Main case, lla...Upper case, 11b
...Lower case, 12...LCD display panel, 13...
・Power key 14...Mode selector switch, 15...
・Execution key 16...Character/numeric key, 17...Reading section, 18...Reading switch, 19...Business card,
2... Key human power section, 22... Control section, 23... R
OM, 24-=RAM, 24a---display register, 24b...image data storage area, 24c
... Index area, 24d... Work area, 25... Reading circuit, 26... Display control section, 27.
...Line sensor, 28...Display section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Image reading means for reading image data; position information detection means for obtaining position information of a valid image data portion in the image data obtained by the image reading means; An image data storage device comprising an image data storage means for storing position information, and a display control means for displaying valid image data stored in the image data storage means at a position according to the position information. .