JPH0399579A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record an effective picture area in a received picture to a prescribed position of routine paper by deciding the length of a space at the tip side and the tail end side in the subscanning direction, converting a received picture into a picture having the space, and outputting the picture. CONSTITUTION:An effective picture area length detection means 3a of a control section 3 detects a length of an effective picture area in the subscanning direction based on a count of the number of in-page lines counter 8, a tip space counter 9 and a tail end space counter 10. Moreover, a space line calculation means 3b decides the length of the space in the subscanning direction based on the length of the effective picture area in the subscanning direction detected by the means 3a and the length of the recording paper in the subscanning direction. Then the received picture stored in a picture memory 6 is converted into a picture having a space of the tip side and a space of the tail end side and recorded and outputted. Thus, the effective picture area in the received picture is recorded to a prescribed position of routine paper.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention has a recording scanning unit such as a laser beam printer, and records and outputs an image on plain paper (standard paper). Relating to facsimile equipment.

(Prior art) In recent years, laser beam printers have been equipped as recording and scanning units,
The number of facsimile machines that are capable of printing and outputting images on plain paper is increasing.

Here, the plain paper is usually a standard size paper such as 84 size or A4 size, and has a fixed length in the sub-scanning direction (the direction in which the recording paper is fed during recording). Therefore, if the length of the received image in the sub-scanning direction is longer than the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction, the received image is divided and recorded over two pages.

However, with such a facsimile device, if the received image is as shown by 51 in FIG. The part up to the length of A is the first image 52a, and the part from the end to the length of A is the second image 52b.
Record and output as . However, the length in the sub-scanning direction of the area where an image is actually formed in the received image 51 (hereinafter referred to as the effective image area) is indicated by B, which is shorter than the length A in the sub-scanning direction of the recording paper, and is therefore effective. Even though the image area is within the first image 52a, the second image 52b is used to record and output the blank area on the rear end side of the effective image area (hereinafter referred to as the trailing margin area). is output. Here, the image recorded in the second image 52b is a part of what was recorded in the first image 52a and a trailing edge margin.

In addition, one page of received images is recorded on one sheet of recording paper.
Since it is desirable not to perform the above-mentioned division, as many images as possible are fit onto one sheet of recording paper by aligning the leading edge of the recording paper with the leading edge of the received image. Therefore, the received image is, for example, 61 in FIG.
As shown, the length in the sub-scanning direction is the length A in the sub-scanning direction of the recording paper.
If the image is smaller than the recording paper and the image is clogged at the leading edge, the received image that is printed out will have a lot of blank space on the trailing edge, as shown at 62, but the image will not fit on the recording paper. It becomes stuck at the tip. Here, in facsimile machines, it is common to record the communication time and other information (hereinafter referred to as additional information) on the leading edge of the recording paper as shown in the figure, so that the received image does not change as described above. If the leading end is clogged with images, the part of the received image where additional information is to be recorded will not be recorded.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in conventional facsimile machines, when the length of the received image in the sub-scanning direction is longer than the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction, the received image is divided and recorded. Therefore, even if the length of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction is shorter than the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction, divided recording may be performed depending on the margins of the received image, reducing consumption of the recording paper and other recording materials. This results in waste of materials (for example, toner), recording time, etc., and the recorded and output images are difficult to view.

In addition, since the leading edge of the received image is recorded with the leading edge of the recording paper aligned, if the received image is jammed on the leading edge side, additional information can be recorded in the area where this additional information is recorded. There was a problem that the image was missing, making it difficult to view the image.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to be able to record the effective image area in the received image at the optimal position on the recording paper, and to eliminate unnecessary divided recording. To provide a facsimile device which can reduce various kinds of waste related to recording, without causing images to be lost due to information such as communication time, and which can make recorded and output images easy to view. be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a storage means for storing at least one page of received images, and a length of an effective image area in one page of the received images in the sub-scanning direction. effective image area length detection means, and records the received image based on the length of the standard paper (recording paper) in the sub-scanning direction, the detection result of the effective image area length detection means, and a predetermined condition set in advance. The length in the sub-scanning direction of the blank area on the leading edge side and the length in the secondary scanning direction of the blank area on the trailing edge side when outputting are determined, and the received image stored in the storage means is transferred to the determined blank area on the leading edge side. Then, the image is converted into an image having a blank space on the trailing edge side and then outputted for recording.

(Function) By taking such a measure, the length of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction in the received image is detected, and the length of the detected effective image area in the sub-scanning direction and the predetermined length are set in advance. Based on the conditions and the length of the standard paper (recording paper) in the sub-scanning direction, determine the length of the leading edge margin in the sub-scanning direction and the length of the trailing edge margin in the sub-scanning direction when recording and outputting the received image. is determined. Then, the received image stored in the storage means is converted into an image having the determined leading edge side margin portion and trailing edge side margin portion, and is provided for recording output. Therefore, the effective image area in the received image is recorded at a predetermined position on the standard paper (recording paper).

(Embodiment) A facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the facsimile machine. In the figure, 1 is a reading scanning section as a reading means,
The image information of the set transmission document (not shown) is read by an image sensor or the like, and the image signal obtained by this reading is provided to the encoding section 2. The encoding unit 2 encodes the input image signal and converts it into image data. The image data obtained here is introduced into the transmitting/receiving section 4 via the control section 3 and is sent to the modulation/demodulation circuit 4a.
The signal is modulated by the network control circuit 4b and sent to the telephone line 5 as a communication line.

On the other hand, image data arriving via the telephone line 5 is received and demodulated by the transmitting/receiving section 4, and then stored in an image memory 6 as a storage means via the main control section 3. At this time, the image data received and demodulated by the transmitter/receiver 4 is transferred to the all-white line detector 7.
It is also input to the in-page count counter 8.

The all-white line detection unit 7 detects lines that are all "white" (hereinafter referred to as all-white lines), and sends the detection results to a leading margin counter 9 and a trailing margin counter 10. Notify.

The leading edge margin counter 9 and the trailing edge margin counter 10 count the number of times the all-white line detection section 7 detects all-white lines, and the leading edge margin counter 9 counts all-white lines that are continuous on the leading edge side of the received image. , and trailing margin counter 10
counts each continuous white line on the rear edge side of the received image.

That is, the leading margin counter 9 and the trailing margin counter 10 detect the length in the sub-scanning direction of the leading edge margin portion and the trailing edge margin portion of the received image in terms of the number of lines. On the other hand, the in-page in-page counter 8 counts the total number of lines existing in one page of the received image, and thereby detects the length of the received image in the sub-scanning direction. and,
In-page count counter8. Tip margin counter9. Each count value of the trailing margin counter 10 is determined by the control unit 3.
will be notified.

By the way, the control section 3 has, for example, a microcomputer as a main control circuit, and in addition to the well-known general control means in facsimile machines, it also includes an effective image area length detection means 3a and a margin line number determination means as a margin area determination means. It has calculation and output means 3b. Here, the effective image area length detection means 3a detects an in-page error counter 8. Tip margin counter9. The length (number of lines) of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction is detected based on each count value of the trailing margin counter 10. Further, the margin line number calculation means 3b is
From the length of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction detected by the effective image area length detection means 3a and the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction,
When recording and outputting the received image, determine the length in the sub-scanning direction of the margins (leading margin and trailing margin) provided before and after the effective pixel area, and notify this to the image data rewriting unit 11. Ru.

When the received image, that is, the image data stored in the image memory 6 is to be recorded and output, the image data stored in the image memory 6 is inputted to the image data rewriting unit 11 via the control unit 3. The image data rewriting unit 11 is the control unit 3
All white lines are thinned out or added so that the lengths in the sub-scanning direction of the leading edge margin and the trailing edge margin of the image data inputted from the image data are equal to the respective lengths in the sub-scanning direction determined by the margin line number calculation means 3b. I do. That is, the image data rewriting section 11 changes the length of the margin portion (leading edge side and trailing edge side) of the received image in the sub-scanning direction, and functions as an image converting means. The image data rewritten by the image data rewriting unit 11 in this way is input to the decoding unit 12, and after being reproduced into an image signal by the decoding unit 12, it is input to the recording scanning unit 13 and is sent as an image to the recording paper ( Printed on standard paper).

In the figure, 14 is an operation panel consisting of an input section 14a and a display section 14b.

Next, the operation of the facsimile machine configured as described above will be explained according to the processing procedure of the control section 3.

First, in a standby state, the control section 3 monitors the occurrence of outgoing and incoming calls in steps a and b, respectively, as shown in FIG.

In this standby state, when detecting the occurrence of a call in step a, the control section 3 moves the process to step C and performs, for example, a well-known general call process.

On the other hand, in the standby state, when the occurrence of an incoming call is detected in step b, the control section 3 moves the process to step d, and performs reception processing in step d. Then, in step e, the control unit 3 stores the image data received in step d in the image memory 6, and in step f, outputs the image data to the all-white line detection unit 7 and the in-page blank counter 8. do. Next, in step g, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the reception of one page's worth of image data has been completed, and if the reception of one page's worth of image data has not yet been completed, the control unit 3 performs the process from step d onward. The process is repeated to receive the remaining image data. As a result, one page's worth of received image data is stored in the image memory 6, and is also input to the all-white line detection section 7 and the in-page blank counter 8. Therefore, the all-white line detection section 7. Tip margin counter9. The trailing margin counter 10 detects the sub-scanning direction length (number of lines) C1 of the front end margin of the received image and the sub-scanning length (number of lines) Cg of the trailing end margin of the received image. Further, the total number of lines CP of the page is detected by the in-page count counter 8.

When the reception of the image data for one page is completed, the control unit 3 moves the process from step g to step h, and in step h, the total number of lines C1 output by the in-page blank counter and the leading margin counter are calculated. 9 outputs the leading margin line number CF, trailing margin counter 1
The number of lines CR of the trailing end margin portion outputted by 0 is taken in, and the effective image area length detecting means 3a calculates the length (number of lines) of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction Lp using each of these values in step i. This means that the total number of lines on one page is Cp s, the number of lines in the leading margin is CF, and the number of lines in the trailing margin is CE, so the number of lines LP in the effective image area is Lp - Cp (Cp 10CE
).

Next, in step j, the control unit 3 calculates the number of lines in the effective image area calculated as described above in step l, and the number of lines corresponding to the length of the recording paper used in the recording scanning unit 13 in the sub-scanning direction. The margin line number calculation means 3b calculates the leading margin line number PCF and the trailing edge side margin line number PCT1 when recording and outputting the received image data from the printer. In this embodiment, the effective image is recorded in the center of the recording paper, and the number of lines PCp in the leading edge margin is
And the number of lines PCE in the trailing edge margin is P Cp −P
CE-(LL?)/2.

Note that if the number of lines LP in the effective image area is larger than the number of lines corresponding to the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction, the number of lines in the leading edge margin PcF and the number of lines in the trailing edge margin PC
B is left as the received image data and split recording is decided.

The control unit 3 transmits the number of leading margin lines PCP and trailing edge margin lines PCE calculated in step j and the presence or absence of divided recording to the image data rewriting unit 11 in step k.
After notifying , the image data is read from the image memory 6 in step g, and the read image data is transferred to step m.
Then, the image data is output to the image data rewriting section 11. As a result, the image data rewriting section 11 rewrites the image data as follows.

■When C,>pc.

...Thin out [CF PCP co-lines] from all white lines between CP lines on the leading edge side of the input image data.

■When cP<pcP.

...at the leading edge of the input image data [PCp　Cp] Add a completely white line to the line.

■When Cp = P Cp.

...The leading margin portion of the input image data is not rewritten.

■When Cp, > PCg.

. . . Thin out fCE P C & ] lines from all white lines between CE lines on the rear end side of the input image data.

■Cw<　P　CI! If it is.

...at the rear end of the input image data. [PCa CE] Add an all-white line to the line.

■When c, -pcg.

...The trailing margin portion of the input image data is not rewritten.

■When split recording is instructed.

...The image data is divided into a plurality of images using the same procedure as before.

By doing this, the effective image area of the image data is located at the center of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction. After decoding this rewritten image data, the recording scanning unit 1
3 and is recorded and outputted as an image by the recording scanning unit 13, so that the received original obtained by the recording output has an effective image area recorded in the center of the recording paper.

Then, in step n, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the reception of the image data of all pages has been completed, and if the image data of all pages has not yet been received, the process moves to step d, and the next step is to proceed to step n. Receive and record output after the page. Further, if reception of image data for all pages has been completed in step n, the control unit 3 ends the process.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an image recorded and output by this facsimile apparatus. 51 in the figure is a received image similar to that shown in FIG. However, with this facsimile machine,
Since the leading and trailing margins of the received image are ignored and only the effective image area is laid out on the recording paper and output, the received image that is recorded and output is as shown in 31, and the divided recording is Not done.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of an image recorded and output by the present facsimile apparatus. 61 in the figure is a received image similar to that shown in FIG. However, with this facsimile device, the effective image area of the received image is recorded in the center of the recording paper, so the received image that is recorded and output is as shown in 41, with sufficient margins at the leading edge and additional information. Does not overlap with the received image.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the leading edge margin and the trailing edge margin in the received image are ignored, and only the effective image area is recorded in the center of the recording paper. When the length of the received image in the sub-scanning direction exceeds the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction due to the blank area and the trailing edge side margin, wasteful divisional printing is not performed, resulting in unnecessary printing. , the image does not become difficult to view due to outputting unnecessary images. In addition, if the length of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction is significantly shorter than the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction, but if the received image is such that the effective image area is packed at the leading edge, there should be enough margin on the leading edge. is formed, the additional information does not overlap with the received image, and the image does not become difficult to see.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the effective image is recorded in the center of the recording paper, and therefore, the length of the leading edge margin in the sub-scanning direction and the length of the trailing edge margin in the sub-scanning direction are The predetermined condition is that the value obtained by subtracting the number of lines in the effective image area from the number of lines corresponding to the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction is divided into two equal parts, but this can be changed and set as desired. . In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the present invention includes a storage means for storing at least one page of received images, and an effective image area length detection means for detecting the length of an effective image area in one page of the received image in the sub-scanning direction, Based on the length of the standard paper (recording paper) in the sub-scanning direction, the detection result of the effective image area length detection means, and a predetermined condition set in advance, the margin portion on the leading edge side when the received image is recorded and output is determined. The length in the sub-scanning direction and the length in the sub-scanning direction of the blank area on the trailing edge side are determined, and the received image stored in the storage means is converted into an image having the determined blank area on the leading edge side and the blank area on the trailing edge side. Since the effective image area in the received image can be recorded at the optimal position on the recording paper, unnecessary divisional recording can be avoided, and information such as communication time can be saved in the image. The facsimile apparatus is capable of reducing various kinds of waste related to recording without overlapping images, and can make the recorded and output images easy to view.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 are diagrams for explaining a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration, and FIG. 2 is a processing procedure of the control unit 3 in FIG. 1. FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing examples of recorded and output images, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams explaining the prior art. 3...control unit, 3a...effective image area length detection means,
3b...Margin line number calculation means, 6...Image memory, 7...All white line detection section, 8...In-page blank number counter, 9...Top margin counter, 10... Trailing edge margin counter, 11... Image data rewriting unit, 13.
...Record scanning section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A facsimile device that records and outputs a received image on a standard paper having a predetermined length in the sub-scanning direction, comprising: a storage means for storing at least one page of the received image; effective image area length detection means for detecting the length of the effective image area in the sub-scanning direction; and the length of the standard paper in the sub-scanning direction, the detection result of the effective image area length detection means, and a predetermined condition set in advance. a margin area determining means for determining a length in the sub-scanning direction of a margin portion on the leading edge side and a length in the sub-scanning direction of a margin portion on the trailing edge side when recording and outputting the received image; The apparatus is characterized by comprising an image converting means for converting the stored received image into an image having a leading edge side margin part and a trailing edge side margin area determined by the blank area determining means and providing it for recording output. facsimile machine.