JPH041771A - Copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output detection results as a hard copy by arithmetically calculating region data in accordance with the value read with a sensor and executing image processing according to image positions when there is the input of a test mode command. CONSTITUTION:A control means 700 which arithmetically calculates the region data of interpretable forms, such as characters, figures, graphs and graphics, in accordance with the detection results of the sensor and energized a means 200 for energizing the region processing when there is the input for the test mode instruction in an input means 750 is provided. Since an image processor 200 allows the processing of the region assignment, the effect of special image processing is obtd. by subjecting, for example, the region of a certain form to the processing different from the others. The need for adding a special information recording means, such as character generator is eliminated in this way and the obtaining of the detection results of the detector in various recording forms as the hard copy is possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a copying machine, and more particularly to a copying machine that outputs the detection results of internal sensors as a hard copy image in the form of numbers, graphs, etc.

[Conventional technology]

Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-200250 discloses that an entry code is automatically examined, and when the entry code is detected, an automatic inspection job sequence is entered and operating parameters selected during normal operation of the electrophotographic apparatus are automatically selected. , an automatic inspection method for an electrophotographic device is disclosed that operates the electrophotographic device based on its operating parameters to form an image on a passive sheet representing the result of the operation.

Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-223462, a copying machine is provided with a current measuring means and a measurement result display means, and when a measurement mode is input, a control program drives the copying machine, measures the power supply, and displays the result. A recording medium current measurement system is disclosed that displays on a display device.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-200250 discloses a method of automatically generating various test images in order to examine the degree of deterioration of each subsystem of a copying machine. However, maintenance personnel must look at the images to determine the problem and pinpoint the location of the problem based on experiential knowledge. Generally, various malfunctions can be discovered by monitoring the outputs of various sensors provided within the copying machine. For example, by checking the output of a photoreceptor potential sensor, the degree of deterioration of the photoreceptor can be determined. But in many cases,
Various measuring instruments such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers are required, and there is a problem in that it is difficult to bring them to the site where the equipment is operated. In this regard, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-2234
The device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 62 is improved by accurately displaying the output current value of the sensor. On the other hand, the sensor itself may fail, and if you continue to monitor the sensor output in the same way as above, you can often discover the malfunction from experience. However, the difficulty of having to prepare a measuring device is also the same. Furthermore, in many copying machines, when a sensor malfunctions, a defective sensor is displayed on the console so that the malfunction can be easily discovered.

However, this method has the problem of not being able to grasp the progress of the process.

In any case, with the screen display method, the console screen operations are cumbersome in order to check a lot of related detection data, and when multiple screens are used, it may be necessary to transcribe the contents of one screen, or transcription errors are likely to occur. be. Furthermore, it is difficult to detect the output value as a function of time, such as in the case of a photoreceptor potential sensor.

Therefore, if the output of the detector is printed out as a hard copy, for example, when an operator discovers a problem with a copying machine, it would be convenient because he or she can simply send the related detector output recording paper to the maintenance company by facsimile, etc. .

Furthermore, if the output format is expressed as a time function like an oscilloscope waveform, or if mutually related information is organically printed out in an easy-to-understand manner, maintenance personnel will be able to quickly discover the cause of problems and understand the quality status. .

More preferably, the original information (raw information) of the detection target or something similar thereto, such as a copy image close to the original information of the document that is the detection target for document size detection, is recorded in association with the output value of the detector. This will make the analysis work easier.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to output the detection results of various detectors provided inside the copying machine as a hard copy in a copying machine including an area specifying image processing means.

In addition, the present invention improves visibility and makes it easier to judge the quality level of the detector by recording and outputting the detection results of detectors involved in detecting the original image, such as size detectors and color detectors, together with the original image information. The second purpose is to

[Means to achieve the purpose]

The first purpose is to provide an image reading means that reads the original image by decomposing it into pixels, a sensor means, and image processing that can selectively perform multiple types of image processing on the image data read by the image reading means. A copying machine comprising: a region processing biasing device that selectively biases the processing of the image processing device according to the image position; and an image forming device that forms image data as a visible image on a recording medium. and a test mode energizing command input means, and when a test mode command is input to the input means, energizes the detection operation of the sensor means, reads a value of the detection result, and based on the read value. This is achieved by a first means having a control means for calculating area data of readable shapes such as letters, numbers, graphs, figures, etc. and energizing the area processing energizing means based on the area data.

In addition, the second purpose is to provide control for recording the copy image of the original image and the test result data image in association with each other on the same recording paper when the sensor to be tested in the first means is a document information @ detection means. This is achieved by a second means further comprising a program to be executed.

[Effect]

According to the first means, when the test mode command is input to the test mode activation command input means, the control means is activated to activate the detection operation of the sensor means. Similarly, the detection results of the sensor means are read by the control means, and characters are printed based on the read values.

Area data of decipherable shapes such as numbers, bluffs, and figures are calculated.

Then, based on this area data, the control means energizes the area processing energizing means.

According to the second means, when the sensor to be tested is the document information detection means, the control means records the copy image of the document and the test result data image in association with each other on the same recording paper.

〔Example〕

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

1 and 2 are an explanatory diagram and a block diagram, respectively, showing the configuration of a digital color copying machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In these figures, 100 is a scanner, 200 is an image processor (IP), and 400 is a memory unit (MU).
, 600 is a printer unit (PU), 700 is a system controller (SCON), 750 is a console unit (CU), and 900 is a digitizer unit (DG).
), 950 is sorter unit (ST), 980 is ADF
Unit (AD) 990 is an external device connection terminal.

First, the general functions of each unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

A system controller (SCON) 700 controls the entire copying machine system, and is a stored program type 32-bit microcomputer system.

In addition to the CPU, program memory, and work memory, there are also a scanner 100, an image processor 200, a printer unit 600. It has an interface means for communicating with an external unit such as the console unit 750, an interrupt controller for performing hardware interrupt processing, and the like. This unit monitors the status of other units, determines the operating specifications of each unit according to the various copy modes input from the console unit 750, and sets operating parameters for each unit before the copy process starts. The work memory has the role of transmitting processing start signals and various real-time signals necessary during processing to other units, as well as storing important information such as billing management information, so it is always powered on. is backed up by a battery.

A scanner (SC) 100 separates the original into RGB colors, and
The digital image signal is sampled at a sampling density of 00 dpi, quantized at a quantization level of 8 bits, and sent to an image processor (IP) 200 or an external device connection terminal 990.
supply to.

The image processor (IP) 200 has an image processing function that performs various processes such as color correction and dither processing on the RGB original image signal supplied from the scanner 100 or the external device connection terminal 990, and finally converts it into CMYK, which is a print signal. There is an image detection function that detects the size of a document and the color of a specific part and provides this information to the system controller 700, and an image generation function that generates various patterns and number patterns. It is possible to operate these three functions at the same time. For example, an image obtained by combining a number button into an image taken by the scanner 100 can be sent to the next stage memory unit 400, and finally a combined image can be obtained by the printer unit 600. . In addition, RGB are each Red.

Abbreviations for Green and B 1ue+, and CMYK and Cyan respectively.

Abbreviation for Magenta, Yellow, B 1ack.

A memory unit (MU) 400 operates in a first operation mode in which CMYK four-color image data is supplied to the printer unit 600 by delaying C, M, and Y data by a predetermined time, respectively, and in a first operation mode in which CMYK image data is stored. 2 mode, the image data stored in the second mode is C, M for the data.

The image memory means is capable of selectively energizing either one of them into a third operation mode in which the Y data is delayed by a predetermined time and then supplied to the reading printer unit 600. By operating the second mode a plurality of times, it is possible to insert characters generated by the image processor 206 into the copied image by combining the images or by partially rewriting the images.

The magnetic disk unit (DD) 500 is a large-capacity magnetic disk drive that can store application programs for the 5CON system controller 700 and multiple pages of image data. The drives consist of two sets, a and b, where a is a floppy disk drive and b is a hard disk drive.

The printer unit (PU) 600 is a laser printer having recording stations for four CMYK colors, and forms a full-color print image on transfer paper based on data supplied from the image processor 200 and CMY data supplied from the memory unit 400.

The console (CU) 750 includes a 512 x 512 dot matrix liquid crystal display means and a display unit mounted on the display means.
It is composed of 28×128 matrix-shaped transparent touch switch means. The display means can display any figure or character, allowing the operator to obtain output information from the copying machine, and by touching a switch on a predetermined icon display, the operator can set the desired operating specifications to the copying machine. can give.

The digitizer (DC) 900 is a means for obtaining pen input coordinate position information at 0.2 mm intervals, and allows the operator to specify a specific part of the document or input the insertion position when inserting a character string into a copied image. be prepared for.

A sorter (ST) 950 is a means for sorting copy paper.

ADF (AD) 980 is means for automatically feeding a document onto the SC platen.

The external device connection terminal (IF) 990 is a multi-bin connection terminal for supplying image data to an external device such as a general-purpose computer, receiving image data from the external device, and converting various information.

The structure, function, and operation of the scanner 100, memory unit 400, printer unit 600, and console 750 are based on the prior art disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-25673, and therefore will not be described. Also ADF
980, sorter unit 950, digitizer 900, magnetic disk unit 500, system controller 70
0 is also a unit configured using a conventionally well-known technology, and a description of the unit will be omitted. A more detailed explanation of the units related to the present invention will be given below.

(Description of Image Processor 200) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processor of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a partial block diagram common to the main parts of FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3, 102 is an input RGB image signal line from the scanner 100 or the external device connection terminal 990. 201 is a CMYK output signal line to the next memory unit 400. A plurality of processing circuits, which will be described later, are provided in series between the signal line 102 and the signal line 201, and image data is subjected to pipeline processing. Each of these circuits has the ability to execute multiple types of processing in parallel. In addition, since area specification processing, which will be described later, is possible, for example, special image processing effects can be obtained partially by applying different processing to only areas of a certain shape, and if the area shape is like a letter, It is also possible to form an image on a copy that has a visual effect similar to that of characters even if such characters do not exist in the original.

Reference numeral 205 is a movement and scaling circuit that performs image movement and enlargement/reduction processing.

206 is an image editing circuit that performs image mirroring, tilting,
Performs various editing such as mosaicization.

A spatial filter circuit 207 performs operations such as smoothing, quadratic differentiation, and averaging on the RGB original image signal. Since arbitrary values are loaded as filter coefficients from the system controller 700, the image is smoothed.

Averaging, sharpening, and density conversion can be achieved.

208 is an RGB gamma correction/correction circuit that performs gradation correction and negative/positive inversion processing according to the original image signal. Further, this circuit uses a table lookup system, and all table data can be arbitrarily rewritten by the system controller 00. Therefore, density conversion, contrast conversion, gradation omission such as posterization, partial inversion of gradation called solarization scene, blanking by setting all table values to 0, and setting all table values to constant values other than 0 You can perform operations such as painting.

A color correction circuit 209 converts the RGB signals into CMYK signals. The parameters of the conversion calculation are the system controller 7
Since it has a structure that can be arbitrarily set by 00, color conversion, monochrome processing, blanking, brightness conversion, and color painting can be performed.

Reference numeral 210 is a CMYK gamma correction circuit which corrects gamma to suit the density gradation characteristics of PR.It is functionally similar to 208.

211 is a CMYK spatial filter circuit that performs filtering processing for each CMYK color. □Functionally the same as 20'7.

A dither processing circuit 212 performs dither processing.

The dither pattern can be set arbitrarily, and various halftone densities,
Halftone processing of halftone dot shape and screen angle can be performed.

Each of the circuits described above has the ability to process multiple contents in parallel, and only the signal resulting from one of the multiple processes is sent to the next stage processing circuit. Further, the processing contents of each of the plurality of processes are variable, and processing parameters are downloaded from the system controller 700 to the processing circuit 205 and further to the dither processing circuit 212 through the path line 202 connected to the system controller 700. For example, the 206 image editing circuit can perform four types of shadow processing, two types of mosaic processing, one type of mirroring processing, and no processing in parallel. The width and color are downloaded as operating parameters from the system controller 700 to the editing circuit 206 prior to document scanning, and only one of the eight types of processing results is sent to the spatial filter circuit 207 during document scanning.

This mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. 1nda in the same figure
ta is the image data sent to the circuit from the preceding circuit. Therefore, the circuit before the color correction circuit 209 is RGB data, and the circuit after 210 is CMYK data.

po to pm are m+1 parallel processing circuits, to which the same image data is input. The outputs of these parallel processing circuits are represented by poutQ to poutm. For each parallel process, there are two cases: a case in which the processing parameters are predetermined, and a case in which they are variable. In the case of variable processing, operating parameters are loaded into internal registers through an internal bus directly connected to the system controller 700 before starting the image processing operation.

Generally, there are multiple internal registers, so b is necessary for selecting these registers.
us (This is achieved by decoding part of the address signal in No. 8 with an address decoder dec and connecting each of the decoded signal lines to each of the internal registers.

The above parallel processing result is input from INO to INm of multiplexer mupx. 5upx selectively outputs only one set of these plural sets of input data to OUT. Which input data to select depends on the input code of the SF and L terminals; if 0, select INO; if 1, select INI, etc.
...If m, output INm to the OUT terminal.

adec is a lookup table. Physically R
Using AM, the input signal is connected to the address line of the RAM, and the read output data of the RAM is used as Dout. That is, a predetermined value is output from the Dout terminal to the -upx SEL terminal for the 8-bit input values from aO(ssb) to C(lsb).

The output value ranges from 0 to m. The contents of the lookup table can be arbitrarily rewritten by the system controller 700 through an internal bus bus directly connected to the bus 202.

Four bits aO to a3 are processing selection signals from the image area designation circuit 224. C, CC, H.

P is a recognition signal from the automatic image area recognition circuit 223. C is 1 when it is recognized as a black character part, and 0 otherwise.
sends the value of Similarly, CC is used when colored characters outside of a blackboard are recognized, P is used when a series II gradation image is recognized like a silver halide photograph, and H is used when a halftone image is recognized like in a printing or copying machine. , the value is nl, and otherwise it is O
becomes. Therefore, by setting the contents of the lookup table adec in an appropriate manner, the processing results from pO to pm can be selectively sent to the next image processing circuit depending on the type of original image and the specified area.

Since the input is 8 bits, there are 256 remaining combinations. Further, when the number m + l of parallel processing circuits is less than 256, the table data is set to a value smaller than m. In such a case, the output may be the same for 22 inputs, or the same data may be set even if m+1=256.

For example, the input payinary value of adec is 100OxXXχ(
If the table data is set to O (X is 1 or 0), processing of the black character part will be done by pout regardless of the specified area.
(l force selected j,, XXXX0001 T: (7)
If the data is set to 5, the p5 processing result will be selected when the processing selection signal is 1, regardless of the type of original image.

Parallel processing result Oi! ! Selection can be made in units of one pixel.

In other words, it is possible to perform any processing on any part of a single document.

5 is a block diagram of the automatic image area recognition circuit in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image area designation circuit in FIG. 3,
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the area register in FIG. 6, and FIGS. 10 to 14 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the embodiment.

The automatic image area recognition circuit 223 shown in FIG.
For each pixel of the signal, it is recognized which of the four types of original picture, black text, color text, photograph, and halftone image it belongs to, and outputted to the output line 223a. The recognition algorithm is not within the scope of the present invention and will not be discussed in detail, but it includes the differential value of the image density, the degree of continuity of the uniform density part, the periodicity of the negative variation distribution, the continuity of the lowest density part, and the spatial frequency characteristics. , the connection state of pixels of the same density, etc. are analyzed for each RGB color, and a comprehensive judgment is made.

The image area specifying circuit 224 shown in FIG. 6 outputs a 32-bit processing selection signal 224a from the processing circuit 205 to the dither processing circuit 212. However, one bit (the least significant bit bO) is also supplied to the memory unit 400 as a memory override signal. This circuit has a function of emitting an output signal to selectively switch image processing for a desired portion of the original image. Switching can still be done pixel by pixel.

Image area designation circuit 224 is used for two purposes. 1
The first case is when the operator uses the digitizer unit 900 to apply special image processing to a desired area, which is conventionally well known as area designation processing for copying machines. The other is that the system controller 700 automatically generates area data based on the memory data inside the system controller, the detection output value of the detection circuit, and the character code information input by the operator without the operator specifying the area. This is a case where the area data is downloaded to the image area designation circuit 224 and special image processing such as painting the area shape or blanking is performed on the copy paper to form a stamp image such as anagamo characters, figures, or graphs. .

Therefore, if the area shape is made into an alphabet string, a numeric string, or a pictogram, meaningful information for the operator can be provided from the copying machine to the operator in the form of a hard copy. The image area designation circuit 224 will be described in detail later.

221 is a document size detection circuit, and 222 is a document color detection circuit. The detection results obtained by scanning the original are stored in internal L registers (status registers) attached to each circuit, and the system controller 700
2, these registers can be referenced at any time.

230 is a data compression circuit that compresses RGB image data;
The result is sent to the magnetic disk unit 500 through the output line 501a. 231 is a compressed data decompression circuit that restores the compressed image data sent from the magnetic disk unit 500 to the original RGB image data;
Send to 5.

Each of the processing circuits mentioned above has a group of registers (command registers for convenience) that determine the operation of each circuit on the circuit side.
A group of registers (referred to as status registers for convenience) for storing information on the operation results of each circuit are provided.

The configuration of bus 202 is similar to that of a typical 32-bit microprocessor. That is, the data bus width and the address bus width are each 32 bits, and there are basically 66 signal lines in total, including the read signal and write signal, which are two control signals. Address bus signals are decoded and used to select processing circuits and internal registers. The upper 23 bits of the address bus are decoded by a decoder (not shown) in the image processor 200 and processed by the processing circuits 205-212°2.
21-2□24, 230, 231 is used for selection.

The lower 9 bits of the address bus are decoded by respective decoders inside each of the circuits and used to select one register from the command register group and status register group within each circuit. That is, each circuit has a maximum of 5
It can have 12 registers. This is no different from the method of chip selection of peripheral elements and in-chip register selection. Of course, the circuit selection decoder may also be provided on the system controller side.

Therefore, through bus 202, system controller 70
0 can selectively freely access one of the registers inside the processing circuit.

In other words, from the perspective of the system controller 700, each processing circuit and internal register can be regarded as the same as a memory connected to the C/PU bus. Therefore, the system controller 700 can perform extremely high-speed processing such as downloading operating parameters to each circuit command register and obtaining the success or failure of processing results (error information), size, and color detection results from the status register.

(Description of image area designation circuit 2nd section 4) FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image area designation circuit 224.

This circuit is provided with an internal pass line 224-21,
The zero circuit directly connected to the pass line 202 of the image processor 200 has a plurality of internal registers, and an address decoder is provided to select these registers.
It is omitted from the figure.

224-33 is a group of area registers a, b, c.

It consists of four registers, d. One of these is shown in FIG. 4
All area registers have the same structure.

Data in each register is loaded by system controller 700. This register has a word length of 32 bits and has the role of holding area processing selection data when one copy image is divided into a plurality of areas and different image processing is applied to each area. More precisely, as described above, this is selection data when one of the parallel processing results in each circuit in the dither processing circuit 212 is selectively sent from the moving magnification circuit 205 to the next stage circuit. Functionally, this register is divided into four bits each, and stores a selection number for selecting the processing of each image processing circuit from the moving magnification circuit 205 to the spatial filter circuit 211 in units of division.

For example, bits 12 to 15 are connected to color processing circuit 209. Note that bit 0 is special, and this signal is connected to the dither processing circuit 212 and is also output to the memory unit 400 at the same time.

When the memory unit 400 is in the second operation mode (storage mode), if this signal is 0, it will not be overridden, and if it is 1, it will be overridden. In other words, a process of partially rewriting the image data in the memory is performed.

There are four area registers, one of which is selected for each pixel, and the register data is output to the image processing circuit, thereby making it possible to perform image processing for each area.

224-34 is a 32-bit input, 2-bit output multiplexer, and these 2 bits are used as a selection signal for one of the four area registers.

Ml at 224-23 and M2 at 224-24 are toggle memories having a function of storing the area register selection data for all pixels of one scanning line. Each memory is 297 words x 32
It has a bit structure, and one word holds register selection information for 16 pixels. That is, the total memory amount corresponds to the memory size for 297 mm of one scanning line (297 x 16 x 2) when each pixel has 2 bits of information at a pixel density of 400 dpi (approximately 15 dots/mm).

M1 and M2 operate in a toggle manner, and when one is performing a write operation, the other is performing a read operation.

This switching is done in units of one scanning line.

224-25 is a write/read controller which writes 297 words worth of write data from the bus 224-21 to Ml or M2 from the A port in synchronization with the bus cycle, and reads data from the memory that is not being written. It has the function of outputting to Dashi B.

224-22 is a flip-flop which repeats the inversion of the line synchronization pulse LSYNC"i" which is output once for each scanning line.This output is sent to the write/read controller 224.
25 X, Y write/read switching, that is, used as a toggle signal.

VCLK is a video synchronization signal that is output one for each pixel.

224-31 is a settable counter with a period of 1716 minutes, and 224-30 is a settable counter, and these two generate a memory address to be given to the B boat of the controller every 16 pixels. In other words, counters 224-30 are cleared by the LSYNC pulse issued prior to scanning one scan line, and VCLK is 16
The count is incremented each time it is manually applied, and the count ranges from 0 to 296. In other words, memory read access is performed from 0 to 296th word, and the memory data is data 1J of B port.
It is applied to multiplexer 224-34 via Bdata.

224-32 is a hexadecimal counter, which is incremented every pulse of VCLK from an initial count of 0, and when it counts up to 15, returns to 0 with the next pulse. This count output value is the selection information SE for selecting two consecutive bits in one word of memory output 32-bit data.
Used as L signal. Simply put, 32 bits is 2
Each bit is divided into 16 sections, and the divided 2 bits are sequentially sent to the register group 224-1 in synchronization with the pixel clock VCLK.
33.

On the other hand, on the side of the register group 224-33, when the supplied signal is 0, it is asl, and when it is 2, it is C%.
3, selects d, and transmits the data in the selected register from the image processing circuit 205 to 212 as 224a.

FIG. 1O is an explanatory diagram for describing the operation of the image area specifying circuit, and the operation will be explained with reference to this. Figure 9
82 is copy paper, 11.12...1m,...
...11 is a scanning line. The number of scan lines is actually A
There are 6,720 pieces in 3 sizes, but to make the explanation easier to understand, the figure shows a smaller number. The "4" shaped part on the paper is one specified area, and the area other than this area (the part excluding the figure 4 shape) is another specified area. The former is named region l, and the latter is named region O. Scan line 11.1
In scanning line 13, only area O exists, but in scanning line 13, pixels from XO to Xl are in area 0. Pixels from XI to X2 are area 1,
The pixels from X2 to X3 belong to area 3, the pixels from X3 to X4 belong to area 1, and the pixels from X4 to Xn belong to area 0. After this, in the sub-scanning section for a while, the same area switching continues in the main scanning, and when the 14th scan line is reached, pixels from XO to Xl are area 0, pixels from Xl to X2 are area 1, and pixels from XO to Xl are area 0. That's what I come to say. Here, a number such as area 0.1 will be referred to as an area number.

Next, it will be described how the area selection signal 224a is generated for each area number and the image processing operation is performed on the area selection signal side.

These area number string data are supplied to the area designation circuit 224 from the system controller 700 for each scanning line in the form of 32 bits x 297 word data. As previously described in the section on the area designation circuit, the given data string is developed into a serial area number according to the scanning pixel position in the next timing scan line, and is stored in the area register group 224-3.
given to 3. a of the area register 224-33 corresponding to the area number by the function of the internal control means of the register group.
, b, c, and d, and continues outputting the data in the register as the processing selection signal 224a. In other words, when data provided by the system controller 700 is divided into 2-bit units and made to correspond to scanning pixel positions, data in the area register corresponding to the divided 2-bit data is output in accordance with the scanning position.

The data in the area register group is loaded in advance from the system controller 700 before the copy operation is started, and by making the data held in the register group different from each other, different processing selection signals can be obtained for each area number. Furthermore, if the four register data are the same, the same processing selection signal will be obtained as a result.

The image processing circuit 205 to the dither processing circuit 212 output one of the plurality of parallel image processing results in each circuit to the next stage in response to the processing selection signal 224a, and image processing for each designated area is performed. It turns out. Ultimately, different images will be obtained in areas 0 and 1 on the copy 982.

To explain the details again, before the copy operation, first, data for four areas is transferred from the system controller 700 to the area registers 224733a to 224733d through the bus 202. In this example, there are two areas, so at least a.

bWrite data according to the image processing contents of the two registers. When the copy operation is started, the system controller 700 continues to send 297 words of 32-bit data to the image area designation circuit 224 for each scanning line. The sent data is sent to memory M1 or memory M2 through bus 202.
One word is read out for every 16 pixels from the memory opposite to the memory to which it is written, and the read word 32-bit data is divided into 2-bit units starting from the lower bit, and the unit is the pixel clock. 224 in sync with
-33. These 2 bits select one of a to d forming 224-33, so for example, scanning line 1
3, the values of this 2-bit data string are all 0 between XO and X10, all 1 between Xl and X2, all 0 between X2 and X3, all "Ql" between x3 and x4, and all "Ql" between X4 and Xn.
You can set it to 0 between. The data unit that the system controller 700 sends to the image end area specifying circuit 224 is 32-bit data in which 16 sets of these 2-bit data are arranged.

Also written memory M1. Since the M2 data is held until it is rewritten, when the same scanning line of area number data continues, writing of 297 word data for each scanning line may be omitted. In other words, for a simple area like a rectangle, the system controller 700 only needs to send data a few times out of 6720 scanning lines, and to obtain an area consisting of a smooth curve like a circle, It is necessary to send new area data almost every scan line.

However, I would like to emphasize that the same simple circuit configuration can process curved areas such as circles with pixel-level smoothness.

(Description of Color Correction Circuit 209) FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the color correction circuit in FIG. 3, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the arithmetic circuit in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 8, reference numerals 209-10a to 209-10d represent four sets of color correction calculation circuits, each having a function of performing color correction calculation on 8-bit RGB inputs and outputting 8-bit CMYK values.

209-11 is a multiplexer circuit for selectively sending output data from four sets of arithmetic circuits to the next stage circuit;
L is its selection signal input line.

Reference numeral 209-11 denotes a processing selection signal line, which is connected to the four lines b15-b12 related to color correction processing selection among the multiple outputs &11224a of the image area specifying circuit 224 mentioned above.

An internal bus 209-20 has the same function as the bus of the image processor 200, and an address decoder 209-21 has an internal register selection function.

All four sets of arithmetic circuits 209-1ea to 209-d have the same configuration, which is shown in FIG. This arithmetic circuit consists of a coefficient register section and a product-sum arithmetic section. The coefficient register is anxν
The subscript n represents one of the four types of parallel multiple processing a, b, , c, and d, and X and y are the row number and column number of the color correction matrix calculation.

The color correction calculation circuit executes the following product-sum calculation formula.

This equation is generally well known as a masking equation, and by appropriately setting coefficient values, it is possible to cancel out the illegal components contained in the CMYK toner and obtain a beautiful full-color image.

It is also easy to see from the formula that it is possible to convert a full-color original to monochrome, perform color conversion, and paint to fill in a specific color regardless of the original.

For example, if the coefficients of anx 1 to anx 4 are made the same, the CMYK output will depend uniformly on RGB, and a monochrome output will be obtained. Here, by appropriately selecting the values of an 1 y to an 4 y, the blending ratio of CMYK can be changed arbitrarily. For example, if an 1 y is set to a certain value, then from an2y to a
If n4y is all set to 0, a monochrome copy of only C can be obtained.

Also, as the + side, anl 4. an24. an34.
If an44 is set to a value other than 0 and all other coefficients are set to O, it does not depend on the original RGB data and always remains constant.
MYK data is calculated and output. That is, it is painted.

The color of the paint depends on the ratio of the four anx 1s. For example, if anl4 and an24 are 1 and the others are O, then C and M are in equal amounts, so they are painted blue.

There are 16 coefficient registers attached to one set of arithmetic circuits, 64 in total in 4 sets, but these data are stored in the system controller 70.
It can be arbitrarily rewritten with 0.

-As an example, paint the “4” shaped part in Figure 10,
The remaining part will be described for the case where normal full color processing is applied. First, before starting the copy operation, the system controller 7
00 sets full color processing coefficients in 16 coefficient registers 209-10a and paint coefficients in 16 registers 209-10b. In addition, the 4 bits of bl5-b12 related to color processing selection of the area register 224-33a of the area designation circuit are set to 01 and 224-33b.
Set b to 1. After the copying operation is started, 297 words of area switching data corresponding to a 4° shape are continued to be sent for each scanning line as described in the previous section.

In this way, from the area specifying circuit 224 to the color correction circuit 2.
09, xO in Figure 10 is 0, xl is 1, x2 is 0. A signal is sent such as 1 at X3 and 0 at X4, and 4
The inside of the letter will be painted, and the rest will receive the usual full color treatment.

(Description of color detection circuit 222) FIG. 26 is a block diagram of the color detection circuit in FIG. 3.

In the figure, 22-10 is an internal bus that is directly connected to the bus 202, 222-21a, b, c, and d are position registers that hold sub-scanning position data for color detection, and 222-2
0a, b, c, and d are color registers that store detected color information. This circuit stores the RGB data of four scanning lines at the sub-scanning position specified by 222-21 in 222-20, and the stored data is stored in the system controller 7.
00 has a function that allows arbitrary reading. Furthermore, any value can be set in the position register 222-21 by the system controller 700.

RGB signals sent from the scanner 100 are connected to a group of color registers. Inside each position register is the LS
A counter that counts YNC and a comparator that compares and matches the output value of the counter and the position data set in the register are built in. When the two match, the data acquisition starts for the color register of the corresponding suffix. Emit a trigger signal. The triggered color register stores RGB data for 4752 pixels of one scan line. Since the system controller 700 can read any register at any time, it is possible to obtain original RGB data of four scanning lines.

(Explanation regarding area specification, automatic image area recognition, and selection of multiple image processing) Regarding the image processing circuit 205 to the dither processing circuit 212, each processing circuit executes multiple types of processing in parallel,
It was mentioned earlier that only one of the results is sent to the next processing circuit. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, which one is selected depends on the 8-bit signal input to the adec.

I would like to explain the relationship between this 8-bit signal and selection in detail again. The key point is that conventionally, the operator could specify the image processing content uniformly for all pixels in the middle of the specified area, or the image processing content could be automatically switched based on the automatic image area recognition results. there were. In contrast, in this method, the content of image processing can be determined based on a combination of both signals.

1) When an operator performs specific processing on the entire surface of an original image For example, in the past, when color conversion processing was performed on the entire surface, all halftone gradation images and characters within the area were color-converted. On the other hand, in this method, color conversion processing is similarly performed on the gradation image portion, but it is also possible to make a copy of the text that preserves the original color even within the designated area. Specifically, it may be done as follows.

First, before starting copying, set the normal full color processing value of 20 to the coefficient register group 209-10a in FIG.
The system controller 700 sets values for color conversion processing in the coefficient register group 9-10b. Further 209-
30 lookup table data is input 1000
Set O corresponding to XXXXX, O corresponding to 0100XXXX, and 1 corresponding to ooxxxxxxx.

Next, after the copy operation is started, the color correction processing circuit 20
Automatic image area recognition circuit 2 is used for the C, CC, H, and P signals of 9.
From 23, C, CC, H depending on the type of original picture recognized.
, P is 1 and the remaining 3 bits are 0. At this time, 209-10a and 2
09-10b is in the process of performing normal processing and color conversion processing in parallel, and the result of either processing is 209-3.
It is dynamically switched according to an 8-bit signal input to 0 and sent to the CMYK gamma correction circuit 210 at the next stage. The data to be sent has a value of 1 in the lookup table when it is o oxxxxxxx, that is, it is a part that is neither a black character nor a colored character.

In this way, a copy in which only the picture portion is color-converted is obtained.

2) When an operator performs specific processing on a specified area of the original image For example, in the past, if an operator specified an area using a tablet and performed color conversion processing within the specified area, all halftone images and characters within the area would be processed. The color was converted. On the other hand, in the present method, color conversion processing is similarly applied to the floor-image portion, but it is also possible to create a copy of text that maintains the original color even within the specified area. Specifically, it may be done as follows.

First, before starting copying, set the normal full color processing value of 20 to the coefficient register group 209-10a in FIG.
Values for color conversion processing are set in the coefficient register group 9-10b by the system controller 7oo. Further 209-
30 lookup table data is input 1000
0 corresponds to XXXXX, o corresponds to 0100XXXX, 0 corresponds to ooxxooooo, ooxxo.

Set 1 corresponding to 01. Also, the values of 4 bits b15-b12 output to the color correction circuit of the area register 224-33a in FIG.
Set it.

Next, after the copy operation is started, the system controller 700 continues to send nodding switching data to the area specifying circuit 224, which is 0 for areas that do not undergo color conversion and 1 for areas that undergo color conversion, for each scanning line. . Then, color correction processing circuit 2
Naturally, data of 0 is sent to the area designation signal a3:aQ of 09 for areas without color conversion, and data of 1 is sent for areas subject to color conversion. In addition, independently from this, the automatic image area recognition circuit 223 outputs C, CC, and H corresponding to the type of the recognized original image.

Data is sent in which one bit of P is 1 and the remaining 3 bits are O. At this time, 209-10a and 20
9-10b are performing normal processing and color conversion processing in parallel, and the processing result is dynamically switched according to the 8-bit signal input to 209-30, and the next stage CMYK The signal is sent to the gamma correction circuit 210. The data to be sent has a value of 1 in the lookup table.
to 0OXXOOOI, that is, the part is within the designated area and is neither black nor colored characters.

In this way, a copy in which only the picture portion within the specified area is color-converted is obtained.

These are only on the + side, and various processing can be performed, such as specifying monochrome conversion of only black characters, and converting them to white (converting them to white). The same applies to circuits other than the color correction circuit 209; the moving magnification circuit 205 performs different magnifications for text and picture areas, and the image editing circuit 206 performs slanting processing only on characters, while mosaic processing is applied to picture parts. alms, R
The GB gamma correction correction circuit 208 uses a Laplacian filter for the text area, a smoothing filter for the halftone image area, and a smoothing filter for the halftone image area.
It is clear that the color correction circuit 209 can perform inversion processing on only color characters, high contrast processing on black characters, solarization processing on photographic areas, and softening processing on halftone image areas.

(Description of console 750) The console panel 750 includes a start button 7 (not shown).
50-1. It is composed of pushbuttons such as 10 key buttons and a clear button, a dot matrix display 750-10, and a transparent touch switch 750-11 placed above it. FIG. 27 shows the display state of the copying machine in a specific mode.

750-10 is a dot matrix display, 750-11
is a transparent matrix type touch switch placed above it. The 7 character strings and button-like patterns in this diagram are 75
This is the button displayed at 0-10. The button pattern indicates that touch input is possible for the operator. If you touch it and the copying machine accepts the input operation, press the top left j! The color changes like the og button.

The panel display system is hierarchical, and if you touch the bak button, the screen in the next higher level will appear.The screen part that cannot be displayed due to screen size constraints within the same hierarchy is mor
Obtained by touching the e button. If you touch any button other than these two buttons, the lower hierarchical screen will appear if there is a lower hierarchical screen. If there is no hierarchy below the button and the button is the final instruction button, the color changes like a log button and the copying machine starts the predetermined operation.

This screen is mainly used by people involved in the maintenance of the apparatus, and is called the service mode screen, and the operating state of the copying machine related to this screen is called the service mode. Here f
The log button is a command button for tallying the number of copies and printing out the number of failures on copy paper.
The buttons are the original color detection circuit 222 and the original size detection circuit 2.
Command button adj for printing out the detection results etc. of 21.

The buttons are located at various adjustment points inside the device, such as the charger 19b.
The command button is used to print out adjustment values for the output voltages of k, c, m, and y. The data button is a command button to automatically create a changed copy on a single sheet of copy paper regardless of the setting screen, and the data button is a command button to print out image processing parameters overlappingly during normal copying. The c-data button is a button for normally inserting title characters etc. during copying.

(Explanation of various operations in service mode) Figures 15 to 22 are explanatory diagrams of printing out specific data in aggregate data, and Figure 23 is data showing various aggregate data, their flows, and programs that handle those data. 24 is a flowchart of the operation of printing out the total data, FIG. 25 is a flowchart of the operation of printing out the total data, and FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the display screen of the console unit.

First, the operator selects the second button in the console hierarchical display screen.
Select the service mode west side shown in Figure 7. Next, touch the desired data designation button for Noriharu and press the start button to print out various data.

<Operation with log button> In Figure 23, 732p is the operating system program (hereinafter referred to as O3) for controlling the entire device, and 731p
is an output program (this program name is called log) for printing out aggregated data and adjusted setting prices,
730p is a control program that performs sequence vsim and various timing controls of the device.

742d is aggregated data, which the OS program 732p updates and manages every time there is a copy or a failure. 741d is an argument that 732p passes to 731p, and a value for specifying the scope of processing of the ffiog program 731 is entered. 745d is a return value that 731p returns to 732p, and contains the identification code and error code that the output program 731p requests from 05T32p. 744d is 7
This is control data for operation control that 31p passes to 730p. These data reside in battery-backed RAM within system controller 700.

743d is the button data for character generation used by the output program 731p, and basic data for generating various graphs such as bar graphs, pie charts, and line graphs, which are stored in the ROM.For example, character data is in vector format, bitmap format, etc. The amount of data required is extremely small compared to other methods, and the character shape and size can be changed as desired.

Reference numeral 982 in FIGS. 15 and 17 is a manuscript for printing out only specific data from the total data, and examples of printing out the total data are shown in FIGS.
If you compare the document 982 in FIG. 15 shown in printout 699 in FIG. 8 with the printout 699 in FIG. and copied onto the printout 699, the original picture number does not exist 6
A thick rectangular number string indicated by 99a has been newly inserted. The number string is a visualization of the aggregated data in the form of numbers that can be read by humans.

That is, the printout 699 is a composite copy of the original image, an enlarged image, and an automatically generated number string.

The operation will be described below.

28 to 30 and 34 are diagrams showing printout examples, and FIGS. 31 to 33 and 35 are diagrams showing display screens of the console unit.

j in Figure 27! When the og button is pressed, the inside color of the button changes to let the operator know that the log output mode has been entered. By performing the processing shown in FIG. 24, the printout shown in FIG. 16 or 18 can be obtained. Referring to this figure, after pressing the log button, the operator selects one page 9 of the document as shown in Figure 15.17.
82, place it on the platen 2 of the scanner, and then press the start button to obtain a print as shown in FIG. 15 or 17.

Note that these manuscripts 982 will be referred to as log cards. FIG. 15 is a log card for outputting the number of copies made by this copying machine by size. An 8-bit black and white button code 982a is attached to the leading edge of the document, and other parts are When printing out the size-based summary data, pre-printing is required to combine and print S. The direction in which the card is placed is such that the direction in which the 8-bit patterns are arranged is in the direction in which the scanning lines are scanned. 17th
The figure also shows a log card for outputting failure totals for each part, and the code of the button code 982a is different from that of FIG. 15.

When you press the start button, the system controller 700
At this time, the OS program 732p in the log program 732p knows that it is a service mode jlog operation, so first, the argument 741d is set to the request code for outputting the total data, and the log program 731p is called and executed. Note that in order to print out one page of total data, the 1og program 731p needs to be called and executed multiple times. The fog program 731p performs different processes depending on a plurality of calls, and the details of the process related to the number of calls are shown in FIG. 25.

The log program 731p called for the first time supplies control variables 744 necessary for color detection operation to the control program 730p.
Calculate d and pass it on. Further, the distance data from the leading edge of the document to the button 982a is given to the color detection circuit 222, that is, the sub-scanning position data is sent to 222-21a, b, c, and d.
Set to .

Finally, a request for original image scanning operation is returned to the OS program 732p as a return value 745d.

OS program 732p that received a return value of 745d
gives a scan operation command to the scanner 100, and after completing the reading operation of one original image, the log program 73 is executed again.
Call 1p.

Referring to Figure 25, it was called for the second time! ! og
The program 731p is the color detection circuit 2 that has finished scanning the original.
22 color registers 222-20a,b.

Since the RGB data of all pixels of one read scanning line at the sub-scanning position is stored in one of C and D, read the data in the color register, check the mark button code, and check whether the code is correct or incorrect. Discern. For example, if the black of the original is 1 and the white is 0, the code in Figure 15 is 10100101.
, the code in FIG. 17 should be able to be determined as 10110101.

If the code is invalid, an error code is returned as the return value. An invalid case is when the code to be outputted for the aggregated data cannot be detected, but you want to use more than 4 different colors for the number paint on the aggregated data printout. Occur. In other words, for example, when painting five different colors, first paint three colors and blank, then paint and blank the remaining two, and store each number string button painted in a different color in the memory unit. 400 is sufficient.

03732p repeats the same process as before if the return value is an image processing request as in the case of the previous call.

If the return value is a composite copy request for the CMY image data in the memory unit 400 and the original image data, the scanner 1
00 and an operation command signal to the printer unit 600, and the memory unit 400 is energized to the data read mode which is the third operation mode. Furthermore, after the start of the operation, the control program 730p is called to form a visible image on the paper 699 by combining the CMY data in the memory unit 400 and the K (black) data of the original. Note that the data is enlarged to the original image because the moving magnification circuit 205 is set with a parameter for 2x enlargement, and the data is stored in the memory unit 40.
CMY images within 0 are combined as they are.

In the above embodiment, the step of reading the original, the step of pattern code recognition, generation of character strings in CMY colors, and storing in memory, the re-reading of the original, the image and the CM in the memory.
A minimum of three steps were required: reading out the Y image, composing the K image and CMY image, and printing them out. This is possible even if the program execution speed of the system controller 700 is relatively slow, and another important point is that, as mentioned earlier, the number of parallel multiple processes of the image processing circuit 200 exceeds the number of paint colors, for example. This is to satisfy the demand for forming an image on one sheet of paper.

If there are no such restrictions or requirements, it may be possible to do it more simply and quickly. That is, the memory unit 400 is activated to the first mode (delayed operation for each CMY data), and the scanner 100 and printer unit 600 are operated.

The scanner 100 scans the slam code portion 892a at the leading edge of the document, and as soon as one scanning line of original image data is stored in the color detection circuit 222, it is decoded and the total data to be output is determined. Color processing parameters for generating a number string bang just before sub-scanning advances to the position where the total value is to be recorded,
After completing the area processing parameter setting and area switching data generation processing and reaching the number string generation position, the area switching signal may continue to be applied until the end of original image scanning.

Additionally, if the department code is included in the log card's button code, it is easy to output billing management information for each department. The button code in the figure is assumed to be a black and white 8-bit code to simplify the explanation, but since the color detection capability of the color detection circuit 222 is for 4 scanning lines, the card is placed on the platen 1. Even if you take into account slight deviations when placing a card, it is easy to have several hundred bits of information, and it would be virtually impossible to forge a card through trial and error. It would be even more perfect if the RGB color detection function could be utilized to provide color information to the card's button part.

When the code section of the log card is made complicated in this way, the information 742d in the copying machine can be displayed on the console 750 or printed out using a different operation method. This uses the property that, as mentioned above, there is almost no probability that a complicated slam code image exists in a typical original to be copied. Then, switch the console screen to the service screen as described above (but in -a copy mode, first scan the document to read the document information, perform pattern code recognition, and check if it is a log card. A copy image is formed with the second operation, and when it is determined to be a log card, information corresponding to the ID number contained therein can be output.Scanning to read the document information is generally done by pre-scanning. This method is still widely used today to detect document size.

Up to this point, we have described the printout slam pattern as the generation of numerical patterns, but as shown in Figure 18, it is important that the shape, color, and pattern be accurate and easily readable by the operator, such as a graph. . Further, these various processes can be performed by setting appropriate parameters in the circuits 205 to 212.

<Operation with the test button> When the operator touches the test button in Fig. 27, multiple sensors to be tested are displayed, and the screen changes to a sensor specification screen where one of them can be specified, and the text
You can see that the mode has changed. This mode is a mode in which the operation results of the various detection means of the copying machine are printed out so that the operator (serviceman) can easily judge the accuracy of the detection operations of the various detection means of the copying machine.

Taking the color detection circuit 222, the size detection circuit 221, and the photoreceptor potential sensors 44C1m, y, and k as the detection means, the printout results in this mode are shown in Figs. 29 and 30! Shown in Figure 34.

If you touch the test button to display the sensor specification screen, touch sensor specification button 1, and then press the start button, the system controller 700 activates the detection operation of the specified sensor to be tested, and the sensor Read and print out the detection results.

For example, when the touch input on the sensor specification screen is for the photoreceptor potential sensors 44c, m, and y, the system controller 700 sends the printer unit 600 one
Commands for image forming process operations and potential reading commands are issued through the signal line 602, and after this is completed, time-series data of potential detection is received from the printer unit 600.

Next, a program to develop this data into graphs, characters, and numbers is executed, and the image processing parameters corresponding to the white background and the image processing parameters for the parts that will become graphs and characters are loaded into the image processor 200, and the image processing parameters for the graph shape, characters, and numbers are loaded into the image processor 200. Fill switching data corresponding to the number shape is calculated in advance. Next, the image processor 200 and the printer unit 600 are operated, and the previously prepared area switching data is sequentially output to the area specifying circuit of the image processor 200, thereby forming a printout 699 in FIG. 34.

For example, if the touch-designated sensor on the sensor designation screen is a document sensor, the scanner 100 repeats scanning three times in total when the start button is pressed. Second
During the second and third scans of the document, the printer unit 600 also operates in synchronization with this, and when the second scan is completed, the color detection circuit 22 shown in the printout 699 in FIG.
2 operation results are obtained, and when the 3rd scan is completed, the 3rd operation result is obtained.
Size detection circuit 22 shown in printout 699 of Figure 0
1 operation result is obtained. Note that the document to be detected is set on the platen 1 before pressing the start button.

Referring to FIG. 29, the color detection result information is 699-10.
Paint strings 699-20b and 699-21b of the test code C1extl shown in .

699- a paint string consisting of RGB headings and values indicated by 699-22b and 699-23b, respectively;
20a, 699-21a, 699-22a, 699-2
It is output as a rectangular paint frame centered on the detection position indicated by 3a.

Note that the same image as the original on the platen 1 is copied except for these parts to be painted. In other words, an image is obtained in which the original image and the detection information are combined. The center of 699-203 coincides with the first detection position, and its color is painted with the detected color. 699-20b is the RGB component value of the detection result data. 699-20a center (
The inside of the rectangular frame) is a copy of the original, so visually compare the inside and the paint frame 699-20a. If they match, you know that the detection circuit is working correctly, and if they are different, the color detection is complete. Failures in the circuit 222 and the color processing circuit 209 that paints the frame can be discovered. In such a case, it is possible to further examine the painted number string data for each RGB of 699-20b to determine whether the detection circuit 222 has malfunctioned or the color processing circuit 209 has failed. There are three other detection locations, and information is output in the same way as the previous part.

Referring to Figure 30, the information on the size detection results is 699.
- Heading with painted test items indicated by 10, 6
A paint frame 699-22b showing the planar shape of the platen 1 indicated by 99-21.

The area where the sizes (number of pixels) of the detection results in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction are painted in the number pattern rows, indicated by C, and the detection data indicated by 699-21a are painted in the same platen 1 paint frame 699-21. This is the part painted on a proportional scale.

Therefore, the operator can judge whether the detection accuracy is good or bad by comparing these painted patterns or number strings with the actual document on the platen.

699-22d also prints the original on the platen paint frame 699.
This is the portion of the image copied on the same proportional scale as -21.

Image movement processing is also performed using the movement/magnification circuit 205 in order to match one corner of the platen paint frame with one corner of the copy image.

Therefore, in the figure, 699-22d is shaded, but in reality, the same image as the original can be seen.

In this way, there is no need to compare the actual original on the platen with the printout, and it is convenient for later investigation when testing different originals multiple times.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the test button is touched, the system controller 700 provides the sub-scanning position parameters of the predetermined color detection position to the color detection circuit 222, and the size detection circuit 22
1. Clear the internal size register (not shown).

When the start button is pressed, the system controller 70
0 outputs a scan start command to the scanner 100, and the scanner 100 scans the original. When scanning is completed, the color registers 222-2Qa, b, c, and d of the color detection circuit 222 each have one scanning line corresponding to the sub-scanning positions set in advance in the position registers 222-21a, b, c, and d. RG
The B data is stored, and the original size value (number of pixels) in the main scanning direction and the size value in the sub-scanning direction are set in the size register of the size detection circuit as detection results.

Since the values of these color registers 222-21 and size registers (not shown) can be arbitrarily read by the system controller 700, they are read and temporarily stored in the RAM, which is a work memory within the system controller 700. After that, processing for printing the color detection result information on copy paper is performed.

The information can be printed out by the area specifying circuit 224 outputting a shape area signal such as a number string, character string, or frame, and the color processing circuit 205 receiving this signal painting the area in a predetermined color. This process is the same as the operation of the 1og button described previously, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. Simply put, the system controller 700 calculates character strings, numeric buttons, and frame shapes from the color detection data in the work memory, and stores them in the work memory as area switching data. In addition, parameters for normal processing and paint processing are set in the color processing circuit 205, and the area specification circuit 224
The normal color processing selection and paint processing selection numbers are set in the area register.

After the above processing is completed, a first operation start command is issued again to the scanner 100 and to the printer unit 600 to perform a series of copy cycles. image processor 200
However, during image processing, the system controller 700 continues to supply the area switching data in the work memory prepared in advance to the area specifying circuit 224 while updating it for each scanning line. When nine cycles are completed, the system controller 700 updates the area switching data in the work memory and updates it for each scanning line. The printout 699 shown is obtained.

Thereafter, the number string, character string, and shape of the frame to be formed are calculated from the size detection data in the work memory, and the parameters are loaded into the color processing circuit 209 and the area designation processing circuit 224 as in the previous cycle. Furthermore, parameters for a predetermined magnification and movement amount are set in the magnification/movement circuit 205.

When these preparation processes are completed, the system controller 7
00 issues the third scanning command to the scanner 100,
A second print scan command is issued to the printer unit 600 to execute a copy cycle and obtain a printout 699 shown in FIG.

<Operation with adj button> When the operator touches the adj button shown in FIG. 27, places the document 982 shown in FIG. 19 on the platen L, and presses the start button, a printout 699 as shown in FIG. is obtained. A printout 699 records the adjustment values of the adjustment points of the copying machine as a visible image. For example, the rectangular pattern shown in FIG.
, C is a scale representing a displacement from a reference delay amount of image data, that is, a delay amount adjustment setting value, and a scale of a register timing adjustment value.

The original 982 is called an adj card, and has a black and white button at its tip, a code corresponding to 8 bits with black as 1 and white as O. There are multiple types of adj cards, each with a different code. In addition to this code portion 982a, characters and memory are printed on each adj card. These printed portions are enlarged and copied onto printout 699. In short, ad
A composite copy of the enlarged image of the J card and the internally generated paintbangs associated with the adjustment values is obtained as a printout 699.

The operating procedure and processing procedure are almost the same as in the case of the operation with the 10g button. That is, jog program 73 in FIG.
1p also has a function of outputting adjustment values, and data 742d has a data structure in which these data to be output are added. The OS program 732p uses these data 7
42d and when calling the log program 731p, the argument 741d must be a value that indicates that it is within the range of adjustment value output, unlike when outputting aggregated data. Other than this, basically < j! Since this is the same as in the og button operation>, further explanation will be omitted.

<Operation with data button> When you touch the data button in Figure 27, the color inside the button changes, and if you touch it again, it returns to the original color. 0 When the color has changed, the data mode is activated. Indicates that the In the other service modes described so far, although the original may be copied, that is not the main purpose, but the main purpose is to print out internal information using the paint function. In contrast, this mode aims to add these adjustment values to the copied image while making copies while adjusting magnification, density, color tone, etc. in the same way as in normal copying work. Therefore, the 27th
Even if you touch the back button when the color of the data button changes on the console screen shown in the figure and move to a screen in a higher hierarchy, the data mode attribute is maintained. When a normal copy operation is performed with the data mode attribute attached, a color tone adjustment value 699a is printed in the upper right corner as shown in printout 699 in FIG. 28. 699a uses the paint function of the color processing circuit 209 like other malls, and the portions other than 699a are completely normal original copy images. In this example, only the color tone adjustment value is output, and other adjustment values such as density and magnification are not output because they are still set to standard bond. There is a drawback that it is complicated to output everything.

<Operations using the and -data buttons> The C-data button in Figure 27 has two parts, the left and the right. A similar screen will appear, allowing you to enter the string to be added. When the right side is touched, a screen as shown in FIG. 35 appears, and it becomes possible to enter a character string modification that determines the state of the input character string. The additional character string input using these screens becomes the button TITLE shown in FIG. 28 699b.

When the operator first touches the left side of the c-data button in FIG. 27, a character string input screen appears and a message is displayed in addition to the keyboard screen to specify the print position using the tablet. Here, the operator uses the tablet to select the upper left 1 of the character string to be input.
Enter a point, followed by the character string TITLE. Next, touch the back button on the same screen to return to the screen shown in FIG. 27.

Next, if you touch the right side of the c-data button, the 35th
The string modification screen shown in the figure appears. Here, the print paper range shown as 750-50 and the character string 75 input earlier
0-52 and the designated position 750-51 are displayed and can be confirmed. The font, size, etc. of the characters are determined by the modification information that the system controller 700 has as a default. If you want to leave things as they are, press the start button and you will get a print in which this character string is combined with the copy image.

If you want to change it, touch the xl, 2, 3.4 modification buttons corresponding to the modification items in FIG. 35 and perform the modification operation. In FIG. 35, 750-10b is a modification item heading when varying the character string size, 750-10c is a size scale and current value, and 750-10 and 75011 are reduction and enlargement buttons.

(Designation of Image Processing Contents Based on Automatic Image Area Recognition Results) It was mentioned above that the image processing contents can be made different for each image area based on the automatic image area recognition results.

Therefore, how to instruct the different image processing contents will be described here. FIG. 31 is an area selection screen for automatically recognized image areas of the console 750, and C1CC, P, and H are buttons representing black characters, color characters, photographs, and halftone image areas, respectively. Among these, buttons whose colors are inverted indicate that image processing other than standard image processing is to be performed. If one of the four buttons is touched on this screen, the screen shifts to a screen for specifying processing details for the image area indicated by that button.

FIG. 32 shows a black character image processing designation screen that appears when the C button is pressed on the screen shown in FIG. 31.

The fact that it is a black character image designation screen can be confirmed by the display of C in 750-10a. On this screen, buttons Xl to X8 are processing designation buttons subdivided into processing ranges such as gradation conversion, color processing, spatial filter processing, etc. When you touch one of these buttons, 750-10b has the same mark as that button, 75010c1m scale and pointer, 750-1
0.75011 is a button that moves the pointer left and right. If the memory is in the center, it is standard processing; if it is displaced to the left or right, it is non-standard processing. The color of the process specification button for which non-standard processing is specified is reversed.

Furthermore, when the back button is touched to return to the screen shown in FIG. 31, if there is even one image processing item in a non-standard state, the button color in that area will be displayed in reverse.

In this way, it has become possible to specify the image processing content for each image area and for each image processing item, and to visually confirm it.

After this, when the start button is pressed, the system controller 700 loads predetermined image processing parameters into the image processor 200, and a copy of different image processing is obtained for each area.

(Specification of Image Processing Contents Based on a Combination of Automatic Image Area Recognition Results and Specified Area) When the operator specifies an area using digitizer tablet 900, the area shape is displayed on console 750. Figure 33 shows the circular area indicated by 750-10h.
This is a case where two rectangular areas indicated by -10j are input. The system controller 750 automatically sets up these areas.

It is named a2 and displayed approximately in the middle of the area shape display. This 2v! Areas other than area A are given area names aO and similarly displayed as 750-10g.

If you touch the aQ, al, and a3 area display, the screen changes to the one shown in FIG. 31, and it becomes possible to start specifying image processing for each of the four automatically recognized image areas in a specific specified area. FIG. 31 shows the circular area 750-, which is the circular area a1 in FIG. 33.
In the case where 10h is touched, a shown as 750-1Of
It can be confirmed in one display. On this screen, C, CC, P, H
If you touch the button, the third
The screen for specifying image processing as shown in Figure 2 will appear, and you can perform the same operations as before.

In this way, it is possible to specify different image processing for each of the 9-color black characters, photographs, and 4-point W points images within the specific specified area, and obtain a copy image as a result.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

According to the invention set forth in claim 1, when the test mode energizing input means inputs a test mode command, the control means operates to energize the detection operation of the sensor means, read the value of the detection result, and read the read value. Based on this, area data of decipherable shapes such as letters, numbers, graphs, and figures are calculated. Further, the control means energizes the area processing energizing means based on the area data, and the image processing means performs image processing based on the area data to generate different recording data such as characters and numbers, and the recording means records Since the data is recorded on the recording medium, there is no need to add special information recording means such as a character generator, and the detection results of the detector can be obtained in hard copy in a variety of recording formats.

According to the invention as claimed in claim 2, a hard copy image in a format in which a copy image of the original image which is almost the raw data of the original image which is the object to be detected is also correlated together with the detection result of the detector is obtained. It is possible to easily determine the quality level, such as checking the presence or absence of detection errors and the detection level.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 35 are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a digital color copying machine to which the embodiment is applied, and FIG. 2 is an illustration of a digital color copying machine to which the embodiment is applied. A block diagram of a digital color copying machine, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image processor, FIG. 4 is a partial block diagram common to the main parts of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the automatic image area recognition in FIG.
A block diagram of the circuit, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image area designation circuit in FIG. 3, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the area register in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a color correction circuit in FIG. 3. , FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the arithmetic circuit in FIG. 8, FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment. , Fig. 16, Fig. 17, Fig. 18
Figures 19, 20, 21, and 22 are explanatory diagrams of printing out specific data in aggregate data, and Figure 23 shows various aggregate data, their flows, and programs that handle these data. 24 is a flowchart of an inactive operation for printing out aggregated data, FIG. 25 is a flowchart of an operation for printing out aggregated data, and FIG. 26 is a block diagram of the color detection circuit in Fig. 3. FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing the dot matrix display and transparent touch switch of the console panel, FIGS. 28, 29, and 30 are explanatory diagrams showing printout examples, and FIGS. 31, 32, and 33. Each figure is an explanatory diagram of the display screen of the console unit, FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of printout, and FIG. 35 is an explanatory diagram of the display screen of the console unit. 100... Scanner , 200...
...Izeji Processor, 205...
- Moving magnification circuit, 206... Image editing circuit, 207... Spatial filter circuit, 20
8......RGB gamma correction correction circuit, 20
9...Color correction circuit, 210...
...CMYK gamma correction circuit, 211...
...CMYK spatial filter circuit, 212...
. . . Dither processing circuit, 221 . . . Original size detection circuit, 222 . . . Original color detection circuit, 224 . . . Image area. designated circuit,
230... Data compression circuit, 231...
......Compressed data expansion circuit, 400...
...Memory unit, 5o. ......Magnetic disk unit, 600, old...Printer unit, 700...
・System controller, 750... Console unit, 900... Digitizer unit, 950... Sorter unit)
, 980...ADF unit), 990.
・・・・・・External device connection terminal. Agent Patent Attorney Kenji Takeshi (1 other person) Figure 16 Figure 18 Figure 22 Figure 20 Figure 23 Figure 28 Figure 29 Figure 699-23a Fig. 32 Fig. 33 r50-10j Fig. 3Q Fig. 31 Fig. 34 Fig. 35

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An image reading means that decomposes and reads an original image into pixels, a sensor means, an image processing means that can selectively perform multiple types of image processing on the image data read by the image reading means; In a copying machine equipped with an area processing energizing means for selectively energizing the processing of the image processing means according to the image position, and an image forming means for forming image data as a visible image on a recording medium, a test mode is set. energizing command input means; when a test mode command is input to the input means, the sensing operation of the sensor means is energized, the value of the detection result is read, and based on the read value, letters, numbers,
A copying machine comprising a control means for calculating area data of a readable shape including graphs, figures, etc. and energizing the area processing energizing means based on the area data. (2) In the copying machine according to claim 1, when the sensor to be tested is a document information detection means, control is executed to associate the copy image of the original image and the test result data image and record them on the same recording paper. A copying machine further comprising a program.