JPH04172856A - Picture reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form pictures in excellent states by storing complicated internal information in a storage device as simple identification information and reading the corresponding identification code by means of a referring device. CONSTITUTION:This picture reader is provided with an identification code reading mode in addition to an ordinary copying mode. In the latter mode, various kinds of operations, such as setting of a copying condition, setting of an initial condition after adjustment of a copying machine, counting of consumed copy papers by departments or sections, etc., can be performed easily when a sheet with a prescribed identification code is read by the copying machine. How to set a copying condition by using the identification code reading function is explained below. After the identification code reading mode is set by pressing a key on a panel, the sheet with the identification code is set on the contact glass 34 of the copying machine. Then only a mobile optical system 36 scans along the glass 34 and reads the image of the sheet. The identification code is simply composed of '1' and '0' and the reading of the code is controlled by a controller 44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image reading device used in image readers, copying machines, optical disk recording devices, and the like.

As the capacity and speed of CPUs and semiconductor memories have increased, it has become easier to handle image information, so image reading devices that convert images into data are being used in various devices. It's starting to happen. For example, an image reader as a peripheral device for a computer is an image reading device itself, and a digital copying machine and an optical disk recording device are devices that use such an image reading device. The image reader converts the read image into digital data, and the digital copying machine performs simple processing such as enlarging and reducing the read image data, as well as complex processing such as compositing, to form an image on paper. Furthermore, the optical disc recording device adds various additional information for searching to the read image data and records the data on a large-capacity optical disc.

In conventional analog copying machines, the image of the original is read by a moving optical system, etc., and it can be used as is or by enlarging it.
An image is formed on plain paper or the like after simple processing such as reduction, and this can also be considered to include an image reading device that converts the original image into an optical image.

In devices using such image reading devices, it is necessary to set various conditions during image reading, post-processing, etc., depending on the purpose. For example, in the case of an image reader, it is necessary to set the reading range and resolution, and in the case of a copying machine, it is necessary to set the number of copies, enlargement/reduction ratio, etc.

For copying machines, a memory copying machine has already been devised in order to eliminate the trouble of having to make such settings each time the machine is operated. This is possible by storing conditions such as the number of copies, magnification, paper size, etc. in advance in the copy machine's internal memory, and allowing the operator to set them in advance by simply pressing a few buttons on the copy machine's operation panel. It is possible to recall a large number of conditions that have been set and make copies using those conditions. However, in the case of this memory copying machine, the operation of setting and storing a series of copying conditions in advance is also performed on the operation panel of the copying machine, so when many people use one memory copying machine, it is already necessary to There is a possibility that another person may change the contents of the set memory without permission. In such a case, if the person who first set the conditions believes that the conditions he or she set will remain the same and calls up the condition settings and executes copying, the result of copying will be contrary to expectations.

In order to eliminate such inconveniences, it is conceivable to use magnetic cards. That is, the conditions cannot be set unless a magnetic card is inserted into a magnetic card reader provided in the copying machine, and the set conditions are stored in the magnetic card. This prevents anyone other than the magnetic card holder from changing the settings, so the settings of each person are reliably protected. Furthermore, in order to eliminate the need for an expensive magnetic card reader, a sheet on which the settings are printed with a predetermined code such as a bar code may be used instead of the magnetic card. In this case, the barcode or the like on the sheet can be read by a normal document reading mechanism, which is the original mechanism of the copying machine. For example, JP-A-59-121353 discloses a technique that allows a copier to read various copying condition settings by filling in boxes provided on a sheet in a predetermined format, although they are not barcodes. .

In this conventional sheet reading method, the barcode and other information printed on the sheet includes all information such as the number of copies, magnification, paper size, etc., so the amount of data contained therein is limited. The problem is that there are many. For this reason,
The format of the sheet is inevitably complicated, and it is necessary to prepare the sheet in a predetermined format in advance, and to separately provide a barcode printing machine for weaving a complicated code. Furthermore, as the sheet format becomes more complex, a more complex decoding mechanism (decoder) is required on the side that reads it.

One object of the present invention is to solve such problems and provide a copying machine in which various conditions can be easily set without adding complicated and expensive accessory devices.

Furthermore, as will be described later, the present invention can be applied not only to such copying machine condition settings, but also to a variety of fields by being used in general image reading devices.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image reading device that uses a document reading mechanism to read an image written on the surface of a document placed on a document platform and converts it into an optical image or an electrical signal. , a storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of complex internal information and simple identification information associated with each piece of internal information; The present invention is characterized by comprising a reading means for reading the identification information using a reading mechanism, and a reference means for retrieving internal information corresponding to the identification information from the storage means based on the identification information read by the reading means.

The reading means reads the identification information using an image reading mechanism that the image reading device normally uses when reading an image. The reference means refers to the storage means based on this identification information and retrieves internal information associated with the identification information. This internal information can be used to set the operating conditions of the image reading device, the operating conditions of a device using the image reading device, and the like.

EXAMPLE 1 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied. The document reading optical system of the copying machine 30 is provided with an optical sensor 32 for reading a predetermined identification code. Although the basic operation of this copying machine 30 is similar to that of a conventional copying machine, a brief explanation will be given here. When you place the original on the contact glass 34 and press the print button (not shown) on the operation panel, the moving optical system 3 including the light source
6 scans the surface of the document. The light reflected from the surface of the W document passes through a moving optical system 36 and a fixed optical system 40, and is sent to an image forming section 42 including a photosensitive drum. The image forming section 42 converts this optical image into a toner image by an electrostatic process, and transfers and fixes this onto a sheet of paper to form a copy image. Note that the paper is fed to the image forming unit 42 from the paper feed unit 46 on the right side of the drawing, and after image formation, the paper is fed to the paper output port 48 on the left side.
is discharged from.

All of these operations are controlled by a control device 44 provided within the main body of the copying machine. The configuration around the control device 44 is shown in FIG. The control device 44 is mainly composed of a well-known microcomputer, and includes a ROM 50 and a RAM 51 used in identification code processing described below. The control device 44 controls the moving optical system 36, the image forming section 42 (which includes the photosensitive drum, the developing device, etc.), the paper feeding section 46, etc. in order to control the normal copying operation of the copying machine 30. connected to the mechanism. In addition, the fixed optical system 4
It is also connected to an optical sensor 32 located at 0, and receives a received light intensity signal from there.

In addition to the above-mentioned normal copying mode, the copying machine of this embodiment also has an operation mode called an identification code reading mode. In the copying machine of this embodiment, by having the copying machine read a sheet with a predetermined identification code written in this identification code reading mode, you can set copying conditions, set initial conditions after copying machine adjustment, Various operations such as counting the number of sheets for each user can be easily performed. below,
Various operations using the identification code reading function will be explained individually.

First, an example of setting copying conditions using the identification code reading function will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, enter the identification code reading mode by pressing a predetermined key on the operation panel (step #10),
A sheet with an identification code written on it (regular paper may be used) is placed on the contact glass 34 of the copying machine. In the identification code reading mode, the image forming section 42, paper feeding section 46, etc. do not operate, and only the moving optical system 36 scans along the contact glass 34 to read the image of the sheet on which the identification code is written. Here, the identification code is a figure representing a simple code written on a sheet or paper. For example, as shown in FIG. 1'' or rQJ, and the sequence represents a binary value (in the example of Figure 3(a), rl
OIJ = 5), or one in which a certain value is expressed by the length of the black part (or Q 1 /Q O) as shown in FIG. Of course, a standardized barcode or OCR characters may be used. The control device 44 receives the received light intensity signal from the optical sensor 32 while the moving optical system 36 is moving, and determines the current position of the moving optical system 36 determined from this received light intensity signal and the control signal of the moving optical system 36. The identification code information is read from the data.

After reading the information (value) of the identification code in this way, based on this value, refer to the comparison table (lookup table) of the identification code and various copying conditions stored in advance in the RAM 51, and check the various copying conditions. (Step #1
2). An example of a lookup table is shown in FIG. For example, if the value of the read identification code is "1", copy condition data such as "number of sheets = 1, magnification = 1, paper = A4" is read. And next step #
At step 14, copying conditions for the copying machine 30 are set in accordance with the data read out in this way. This completes the routine, and from now on, by operating a predetermined key on the operation panel to enter the normal copy mode, copies can be made under the set conditions.

As described above, in this embodiment, complicated copying conditions can be automatically set all at once by simply having the copying machine read a sheet on which a simple identification code is written in advance. The point to note here is that since the copying condition data is stored inside the copying machine itself (specifically, the RAM 51 of the control unit), the sheet identification code remains extremely simple, and many complex This means that copy conditions can also be set. Therefore, as mentioned above, there is no need to provide a special identification code reading mode in addition to the normal copying mode, and a simple identification code like the one shown in Figure 3 (a) or (b) is placed near the edge of a normal document. By writing with a pencil, the identification code can be read at the same time as normal copying, and copying conditions can be set immediately.

In the above embodiment, the identification code is used to set the copying conditions, but it can be used not only for setting the conditions for everyday copying, but also for copying machines (or in general, devices using image reading devices such as image scanners and optical disk recording devices). The identification code reading function of this embodiment can also be used to set initial conditions at the time of shipment, installation, or periodic inspection. The setting of initial conditions performed here is different from the setting of conditions during use as described above, and is to define more basic conditions of use of the copying machine (or image scanner, etc.). For example, copy machines for the United States display size in centimeters (
In addition, the standard paper size must be set in a special series such as letter size or single gal size rather than A series or B series. These initial settings are set one by one by the adjuster by manually operating dip switches and the like at the time of shipment, but normally the number of items to be set is extremely large. In this way, having a person set a large number of items not only takes time for adjustment, but also causes setting errors.

Therefore, in this case as well, the identification code reading function can be used in exactly the same way as the copying condition setting described above. Here, a reference table as shown in FIG. 4 is stored in advance in the ROM 50, in which various initial setting items are determined for each specification site where the equipment is installed, and code numbers are assigned to each specification site.

Then, at the time of shipment, installation, or after periodic inspection, an identification code sheet containing the code number of the specified area is read by a copying machine or the like, and initial settings are performed.

This makes it possible to set a large number of items in a very short time, and also eliminates setting errors.

As yet another example using the identification code reading function, a sheet count function will be described below. When many departments within a company share one copying machine, the number of copies is counted for each department for purposes such as expense management. Conventionally, such number management has been performed using magnetic cards.

In other words, when copying, the copying machine must be inserted into the card reader to prevent the copying machine from starting up, and
After inserting a magnetic card and making copies, the number of copies (
The cumulative number of copies (including the number of copies made up to the previous time) was recorded on a magnetic card. However, this conventional management method requires a magnetic card reader to be attached to the copying machine, which has the disadvantage of making the copying machine expensive. On the other hand, by using the identification sheet reading function of the copying machine of this embodiment, the number of sheets can be managed at low cost. The specific method will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the identification code on the sheet placed on the contact glass 34 is read as in step #10 of FIG. 5 (step #2).Next, in step #22, the RA
The lookup table stored in M51 is referred to and the cumulative copy number data corresponding to the identification code is read. Then, in step #24, it is determined based on the cumulative number of copies whether or not use of the copying machine is permitted. For example, if the number of copies in a certain department has already exceeded a preset allowable number, the operation of the copying machine is stopped. Instead of suddenly stopping the operation, it is also possible to take interim measures such as issuing a warning. If use of the copying machine is permitted for that identification code, a normal copying operation is performed in step #26. meanwhile,
The number of copies is counted (step #28), and for each copy (or after a series of copies are completed), the number of copies is added to the cumulative number of copies in the column of the corresponding identification code in the lookup table of the RAM 51. remembered (step #
3. In this way, in the copying machine 30 of this embodiment, the data on the number of copies for each department is stored in the copying machine main body, so that later management of the number of copies can be performed all at once. for example,
With the magnetic card method, it was necessary to collect the magnetic cards of each department on the last day of each month and read them with a card reader, but with the copying machine of this embodiment, the data is already stored in the machine, making management easier. become.

The mechanism for reading the identification code is the first one.
In addition to the method of placing the optical sensor 32 on the fixed optical system 40 as shown in the figure, it is also possible to place the optical sensor 32 on the moving optical system 36 itself as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the present invention, since a normal image reading mechanism is also used to read identification information, there is no need to separately provide an expensive additional device such as a magnetic card reader. Furthermore, since complex internal information is stored on the image reading device side, the identification information written on the document can be very simple. Therefore, one advantage is that an identification information image (code image) for instructing setting conditions etc. can be easily created. In addition, internal information such as setting conditions stored in the image forming apparatus can be made as complex as desired while keeping the identification code simple. can be easily controlled.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a copying machine implementing the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the vicinity of the control device of the copying machine, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing two examples of identification code images, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the implementation of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a copying condition setting routine using the identification code reading function of the copying machine according to the embodiment. The figure is a flowchart of the number management routine.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a copying machine showing another mechanism for reading an identification code.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an image reading device that uses a document reading mechanism to read an image written on the surface of a document placed on a document platform and converts it into an optical image or an electrical signal, multiple complex internal information and each A storage means for storing simple identification information associated with internal information; and a reading device for reading the identification information from a document placed on a document placement section on which an image including the identification information is written, using a document reading mechanism. An image reading device comprising: means; and reference means for retrieving internal information corresponding to the identification information from the storage means based on the identification information read by the reading means.