JPH04256272A - Picture reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To the picture reader able to enhance a function of an electronic blackboard by utilizing an existing facsimile equipment. CONSTITUTION:While, being mounted onto a board 2, an optical fiber group 14 and a CCD 15 read a picture written on the board 2 to generate a picture data while they are moved in a direction of one side of the board by a moving roller 6, the picture data is converted into a facsimile communication use picture data by a control section 17 and the picture data is sent to the facsimile equipment through a signal line 4 and the facsimile equipment is used for copying the data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading device that can read an image written on a whiteboard or blackboard and make a copy using a handheld facsimile device.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, so-called electronic blackboards have been proposed that can read images written on the surface of the blackboard and copy them.

0003

However, conventional electronic blackboards have the disadvantage of being expensive because they are provided as a set including a blackboard, an image reading device, and a recording device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading device that can function as an electronic whiteboard using a hand-held facsimile device.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, an image reading device according to the present invention reads an image and generates image data while being attached to a board and moving in the direction of one side of the board. The present invention is characterized by comprising a scanning means for converting image data into image data for facsimile communication and a facsimile communication function section for converting the image data into image data for facsimile communication and transmitting the image data.

[0005]

[Operation] According to the above structure, the scanning means executes a scanning operation, and the facsimile communication function section establishes a communication state with a handheld facsimile device. The facsimile device drives a recording section to perform printing based on image data sent from an image reading device. This allows it to function as an electronic whiteboard.

[0006] It does not matter whether the image reading device is installed on the board in a detachable manner or in a non-removable manner. When the image reading device and the board are provided in a non-removable structure, the image reading device and the board are provided as a set. On the other hand, in the case of a removably installed structure, only the image reading device is provided, and a handheld board can be used.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 shows an image reading device 1 according to the present invention and a board 2 on which it is mounted.
2 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the facsimile device 3 and the facsimile device 3. FIG. The image reading device 1 is configured to be detachably attached to the board 2. Further, a communication line 4 is drawn out from the image reading device 1, and this communication line 4 is connected to a modular jack 5 of the facsimile machine 3.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the image reading device 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B. As shown in the figure, the image reading device 1 includes a moving roller 6 and a stepping motor 7.
, displacement regulating rollers 10, 11, 12, adjustment screw 13, optical fiber group 14, CCD 15, battery 16, control section 17, limit switches 18, 19, light sources 20, 20, and operation. A panel 21 is provided.

The moving roller 6 is provided in contact with the upper edge of the board 2 and is rotated by a stepping motor 7 to move the image reading device 1 laterally along the upper edge of the board 2. It is designed to let you do so. The displacement regulating rollers 10 and 11 are arranged opposite to each other, and come into contact with the back surface and the front surface of the board 2 near the upper edge, respectively, so as to clamp the board 2 and thereby restrict the displacement of the image reading device 1. ing. Here, the displacement regulating roller 10 is supported by a support shaft movable in the thickness direction of the board 2, and by adjusting the movement of this support shaft with an adjustment screw 13, the image reading device 1 is mounted. This allows it to accommodate differences in board thickness. In addition, the displacement regulating rollers 11 and 12 are each supported by support shafts provided in a fixed state, and by rotating while contacting the surface of the board 2, the end surfaces of the optical fiber group 14 and the surface of the board 2 are connected. The spacing is kept constant.

The limit switches 18 and 19 are placed on the left and right sides of the moving roller 6. The limit switches 18 and 19 have contact rollers 18a and 19a that come into contact with the upper edge of the board 2, respectively, and when the image reading device 1 reaches the left and right corners of the board 2, the contact rollers 18a and 19a are activated. The switching operation is performed by falling from the corner mentioned above.

In the optical fiber group 14, one end of each fiber is arranged in a line in the vertical direction of the board 2 with a predetermined distance from each other, while the other end of each fiber is grouped together to form a CC.
It is connected to the light receiving surface of D15. The CCD 15 includes a group of photodiodes and a shift register, and is configured to read an image written on the surface of the board 2 and generate image data. That is, the light source 20 irradiates light onto the surface of the board 2, and the reflected light (
information light) is incident on the photodiode group. The photodiode group accumulates optical signal charges corresponding to the reflected light, and these optical signal charges are transferred to the shift register at a predetermined timing (a clock output from a clock generator 35, which will be described later). And this shift register is
Image data (brightness information) based on the above-mentioned optical signal is sequentially outputted to the control section 17 based on a predetermined clock.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control section 17 includes a video amplifier 25, a binarization circuit 26, a blackboard/whiteboard switching section 27, an encoder 28, a modem 29,
Signal generation circuit 30, signal detection circuit 31, motor drive control circuit 32, light source drive control circuit 33, CPU 34
and a clock generator 35. The video amplifier 25 amplifies the image data output from the CCD 15 and outputs it to the binarization circuit 26.

The binarization circuit 26 compares the image data output from the video amplifier 25 and the reference signal Q, and determines whether the white or
It is designed to output black binary data. The blackboard/whiteboard switching unit 27 outputs the binarized data as is when the image reading device 1 is attached to a whiteboard, and inverts the binarized data when the image reading device 1 is attached to the blackboard. and output it. The switching is performed, for example, by a detection sensor that detects whether the board 2 is a blackboard or a whiteboard, or by the user operating the operation panel 21.

The encoder 28 converts the binary data into image data for facsimile communication by MH or MR encoding. The modem 29 converts the encoded image data into audio band analog image data and sends it to the communication line 4. The signal generating circuit 30 generates various signals to be sent by the calling side in facsimile communication, such as CNG signals and EOP signals, and also generates a 16 Hz calling signal.

The signal detection circuit 31 detects various signals received by the calling party in facsimile communication, such as CED/DIS signals and DCN signals.
It also detects off-hook signals (tones). The motor drive control circuit 32 is configured to control the rotation speed and start/stop of the stepping motor 7.

The light source drive control circuit 33 controls the light source 20 described above.
ON/OFF control is performed. The operation panel 21 is provided with a start key, a stop key, etc. (not shown), and the user can instruct the start and stop of copying by operating these keys.

The battery 16 supplies large power to components that require relatively large power, such as the light source 20 and stepping motor 7, and supplies small power to the CPU 34, video amplifier 25, and the like. ing. The CPU 34 is the central control unit in the image reading device 1, and is configured to control each of the circuits described above to execute copy processing, which will be described later.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing copy processing by the image reading device 1. First, the operation panel 21
Determine whether the upper start key is turned on (S1
). When the start key is turned on, a 16Hz ringing signal is sent (S2), and in response to this ringing signal, it is determined whether or not a call has been received at the facsimile machine 3 (S3).
. The incoming call can be determined by detecting an off-hook signal. In this judgment, if there is no incoming call from the facsimile machine 3, the sending of the calling signal is continued, while if there is an incoming call, the communication procedure is executed (S4). In executing communication procedures, in addition to sending CNG signals and detecting CED/DIS signals,
A training check will be conducted.

After executing these communication start procedures, the light source 20 is turned on (S5), image reading for one line and image data transmission processing are executed (S6), and then the stepping motor 7 is driven one step (S7). ). By transmitting the image data described above, a print operation is executed in the facsimile device 3. Next, it is determined whether the stop key has been turned on (S8), and if the stop key has been turned on, the process proceeds to step 10, whereas if it has not been turned on, it is determined whether or not the limit switches 18 and 19 have been turned on. to decide(
S9). If the limit switches 18 and 19 are ON, the process proceeds to step 10, whereas if they are not ON, the process proceeds to step 6 to continue image reading and image data transmission.

In step 10, processing is executed to send an EOP signal, which is a procedure end signal. Next, it is detected whether or not the MCF signal, which is a message confirmation signal, has been returned from the facsimile machine 3 (S11). If not detected, the process returns to step 11, while if it has been detected, the DCN signal, which is a disconnection command signal, is detected. Sending out (S12), turning off the light source 20 (S13), and ending the process.

As described above, according to the configuration of this embodiment,
By using the board 2 and the facsimile machine 3 in hand, the function as an electronic blackboard can be demonstrated. In addition,
In this embodiment, the battery 16 is built in to supply power to each part, but in order to reduce the weight of the image reading device 1, the battery 16 may be provided externally. be. Further, in this embodiment, the image reading device 1 and the facsimile device 3 are connected by wire through the communication line 4, but they may be configured to be connected wirelessly. That is, while the image reading device 1 is provided with one radio wave transmitting/receiving section, another radio wave transmitting/receiving section is installed near the facsimile device 3, and this other radio wave transmitting/receiving section and the facsimile device 3 are communicated with each other. The connection may be made using line 4. According to this, there is no need for a long communication line 4, and there is no problem such as a person getting their foot caught on the communication line 4.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to utilize a handheld facsimile machine to function as an electronic blackboard.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an image reading device, a board to which the image reading device is mounted, and a facsimile device as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the image reading device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line B-B.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control unit and the connection relationship between this and each circuit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing copy processing by the image reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image reading device 2 Board 3. Facsimile machine 4 Communication line 5 Modular jack

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Scanning means that reads an image and generates image data while being attached to a board while moving in the direction of one side thereof, and facsimile communication that converts the image data into image data for facsimile communication and sends it. An image reading device comprising: a functional section.