JPH04268872A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the picture tones of a character and a line graphic, which hardly have a half tone, and to improve clarity by permitting a thickening processing means and a thinning processing means to thicken and thin the character and the linear character. CONSTITUTION:A mechanism part is divided into a picture read part and a picture recording part. Since the thickening processing means 201A takes the OR of delay data which is obtained by permitting a delay means to delay and output picture data outputted by the picture read means in a main scanning direction and a sub scanning direction, and the means 201A alters picture data, the character and the linear graphic are thickened. Since the thinning processing means 201B takes the AND of delay data obtained by permitting the delay means to delay and output picture data outputted by the picture read means in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction, and original picture data which the picture read means outputs, and the means 201B alters picture data, the original character and the linear graphic are thinned. Thus, a satisfactory reproduced picture can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention uses an image sensor such as a CCD to read original image information at a predetermined pixel density, as in a digital copying machine, facsimile, etc., converts it into an electrical signal, and finally outputs it to a printer, etc. The present invention relates to an image processing device that reproduces and records document image information using a recording device.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in image processing devices such as digital copying machines, when adjusting the clarity of characters and line drawings in order to reproduce high-resolution images, the image processing unit uses a threshold value for binarization. The image density was controlled by changing the γ conversion characteristics.

0003

However, unlike photographs and the like, for characters and line drawings that do not have halftones, it is not possible to change the tone by making the image density variable, which is not effective.

[0004] On the other hand, in reality, there are some pale manuscripts with many blurred characters, and some manuscripts with characters that are so thick that they are hard to see, and there is a demand for adjusting the image tone in image processing of characters, line drawings, etc. .

An object of the present invention is to improve the clarity of characters, etc. in images such as characters and line drawings.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides image reading means (30) that scans a document in the main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction and outputs image data for each read pixel; image processing means (50) for receiving image data and performing image processing;
) records an image represented by the image data outputted by the image processing device (40) on a recording medium; Delaying means (200) for delaying and outputting delayed data; thick line processing for changing image data by calculating the logical sum of the image data outputted by the image reading means (30) and the delayed data outputted by the delaying means (200); means (201A); and thinning processing means (201B) for performing a logical product of the image data outputted by the image reading means (30) and the delayed data outputted by the delaying means (200) and changing the image data. .

A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides input means (71) for an operator to instruct thickening processing and thinning processing.
);

Furthermore, the input means (71) may be used in combination with an existing density setting key.

Note that symbols in parentheses indicate corresponding elements or matters in the embodiments shown in the drawings and described later.

0010

[Operation] According to this, the thick line processing means (201A) causes the delay means (200) to delay the image data outputted by the image reading means (30) in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, and outputs delayed data. Since the image data is changed by performing a logical OR with the original image data outputted by the image reading means (30), the original characters, diagrams, etc. become thick lines. Further, the thinning processing means (201B) causes the delay means (200) to delay the image data outputted by the image reading means (30) in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, and outputs the delayed data and the image reading means (30). 30) performs a logical product with the original image data output and changes the image data, so the original characters, line drawings, etc. become thinner lines. Therefore, it is possible to change the image tone of characters, line drawings, etc., which have almost no halftones, and obtain a good reproduced image.

[0011] Also, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention:
Since the operator instructs the implementation of thick line processing and thin line processing using the input means (71), for example, by combining the thick line processing means (201A) and the thin line processing means (201B), desired characters, line drawings, etc. You can obtain the image tone of

Furthermore, by using the input means (71) together with the existing density setting key, it is possible to selectively use the input means (71) in text mode, for example, and use the density setting key in photo mode. .

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0014]

FIRST EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows an outline of the structure of the main body mechanical section of a digital copying machine according to a first embodiment of the invention of the present application, and FIG. 2 shows an outline of the structure of the electric operation section. The mechanism section mainly includes an image reading section 30 that reads the image of the document 1.
and an image recording section 40 that records images on recording paper. The image reading section 30 and the image recording section 40 are often of an integral structure, but are sometimes separated and connected only electrically.

[0015] Original 1 is placed on a platen (contact glass)
2 and illuminated by an exposure lamp 3. The reflected light from the original 1 passes through the first mirror 4a, the second mirror 4b, the third mirror 4c, and the lens array LEN, and then enters the CCD 5, which is a line image sensor. Exposure lamp 3 and 1st
The mirror 4a, the second mirror 4b, and the third mirror 4c are mounted on carriages Car1 and Car2, respectively (the moving speed of Car2 is 1/2 of the moving speed of Car1), and when reading the document 1, the carriage drive motor is The scanner 23 is driven from right to left (sub-scanning direction) in FIG. 1 to scan the entire surface of the document 1 placed on the platen 2. Note that reading in the main scanning direction is performed by solid-state scanning of the CCD 5. The CCD 5 has many CCD elements lined up in a row, and charges are serially output from each element in accordance with an externally applied clock.

In this embodiment, the reading density is set to 16 pixels/mm for both main and sub-scanning, and the reading density is set to 16 pixels/mm for both main and sub-scanning.
It is possible to read originals up to 420 mm.

Referring to FIG. 2, the reflected light from the original 1 is converted into an electrical signal by the CCD 5,
The image processing unit 50 performs necessary processing, and the LD (laser diode) drive circuit 130 of the image recording unit 40
is input.

The LD drive circuit 130 energizes an LD (laser diode) 131, and a modulated laser beam is emitted from the LD 131.

Referring again to FIG. The laser beam emitted from the LD 131 is reflected by a polygon mirror (rotating polygon mirror) 6 that is rotated at a constant high speed by an electric motor, passes through an fθ lens 7 and a mirror 8, and is focused on a rotating photoreceptor drum 9. The image is irradiated.

The polygon mirror 6 is connected to a polygon motor 10.
The polygon motor 10 rotates at a constant speed to rotationally drive the polygon mirror 6. As the polygon mirror 6 rotates, the laser beam is raster-scanned in a direction perpendicular to the rotational direction (clockwise) of the photoreceptor drum 9, that is, in a direction along the drum axis. Note that the photosensitive drum 9
A beam sensor (not shown) that generates a main scanning synchronization signal (MSYNC) is arranged at a position near one end of which is irradiated with laser light.

The photoreceptor drum 9 has a photoconductive layer provided on an electrically grounded conductive base, and the surface of the photoreceptor drum 9 is connected to a negative voltage high voltage generator (not shown). After being uniformly charged by the charging charger 11, a potential distribution corresponding to the on/off pattern is formed according to the on/off of the laser beam irradiated from the image recording section 40. (The potential of the irradiated area decreases). In addition, the laser light is controlled on/off in accordance with the black/white of the pixel at the scanning position of the image to be written, and the lighting pulse width of the laser diode is changed depending on the gradation level using PWM.
Control the irradiation area. A potential distribution corresponding to the gradation level of the original 1, that is, an electrostatic latent image, is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 9 by laser light irradiation or the irradiated area, and when this electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit 12, a photosensitive A toner image is formed on the surface of the body drum 9.

On the other hand, the recording paper 1 stored in the cassette 16
7 is fed by the paper feeding operation of the paper feeding roller 18, and is sent toward the photosensitive drum 9 by the registration roller 20 at a predetermined timing. The cassette 16 is equipped with a sensor (not shown) that detects the size of the recording paper 17. While the recording paper 17 passes under the photoreceptor drum 9, the toner image is transferred to the recording paper 17 by the action of the transfer charger 13, and the recording paper 17 is exposed to light by the action of the separation charger 14 and the separation claw. It is peeled off from the body drum 9. The peeled recording paper 17 is sent to a fixing unit 21, where the transferred toner is fixed on the recording paper 17, and the recording paper 17 with the toner fixed thereon is discharged onto a tray 22.

Further, toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor even after transfer is removed by a brush 15 provided in the cleaning unit 15.
a and blade 15b, and the entire surface of the photoreceptor is exposed to light by a static elimination lamp QL, in preparation for the next copying process.

Referring again to FIG. The electrical equipment section mainly includes an image reading section 3 that reads the original 1 and outputs an image data signal.
0, an image processing unit 50 for processing image data signals, an image recording unit 40 for recording based on image data signals, an operation display unit 10 for inputting and displaying various processing modes, etc.
5 and a control section 104 that controls these units.

In the image reading unit 30, the CCD 5 driven by the sensor driver 108 reads 16 pixels/mm.
The image signal read at a sampling density of It is converted and input to the shading correction circuit 111. The shading correction circuit 111 is a circuit that performs corrections for uneven illuminance of the exposure lamp 3, uneven sensitivity of the light-receiving element inside the CCD 5, and dark current. The image reading unit 30 also includes a carriage drive motor 23 and a motor control circuit 112 that controls rotation of the motor.

The image data signal output from the shading correction circuit 111 is input to the spatial filter circuit 120 of the image processing section 50. The spatial filter circuit 120 performs MTF correction to increase the resolution of characters and line characters, smoothing processing to remove noise from photographs, etc.

The image data signal output from the spatial filter circuit 120 is input to the output modulation circuit 121, where it undergoes γ correction taking into account the γ characteristics of the printer, halftone expression processing taking into account the gradation reproducibility of the printer, and Image recording section 40
The write signal (in the embodiment, PWM) generated by the converter is converted into code data (in the embodiment, a code representing the pulse width and phase of PWM) corresponding to the code data, and this is output from the output circuit 123 to the image recording section 40 . Note that the processing/editing circuit 122 is a circuit that performs various processing and editing processing on code data and outputs the resultant code data, and the processing/editing circuit 122 performs thickening processing and thinning processing, which will be described later.

In the image recording section 40, the LD drive circuit 130 energizes the LD 131 according to the image data signal while correcting fluctuations in laser light output due to temperature and the like.
The modulated laser beam is emitted to the LD 131.

The control unit 104 includes a CPU 140, a ROM 1
41, a microcomputer equipped with a RAM 142, an I/O port 143, etc., and controls the entire copying machine.

FIG. 3 shows an operation display section 1 provided in this copying machine.
This shows the appearance of 05. Ten (1) for setting the number of copies
0) Key 61, also clear key 62, start key 63 for copy start, mode clear key 64 to initialize various modes, enter key 65 to press to recognize numerical input in special mode, interrupt mode setting, It has an interrupt key 66 for canceling and a mode selection key group 67 for selecting various modes (paper selection, scaling, image density, etc.). The display section 68 is a liquid crystal (LCD)
), and has a fixed pattern (display) section 69 that displays the mode status such as the number of copies, and a character (dot) display section 70 that can display characters. In addition, as a unique function, it has a function of thickening and thinning lines of an image, which will be described later, when in character mode, so a line width selection key 71 and a line width selection key 71 are used to set the thickness to the operator's desired thickness (variable in 5 steps in the embodiment). A line width display section 72 made of an LED is provided. Note that a line width display section 72 in the figure indicates that SELECT 2 has been selected by the line width selection key 71.

When making the image density variable, the lamp 3 that irradiates the original 1 is adjusted according to the key operation for setting the image density.
This is done by controlling the amount of light and controlling the photoreceptor potential and developer potential to change the amount of toner adhesion. In particular, since digital copying machines have image density data as numerical signals, image density control can be performed by changing the threshold level when binarizing in the image processing section 50 or by changing the modulation function during γ conversion. and do it. In addition, digital copying machines have two modes for image reproduction: a character mode that reproduces characters and lines at high resolution, and a photo mode that reproduces photographs with many intermediate tones with an emphasis on gradation. Changing the density is effective in photo mode, but in text mode, changing the threshold level or gamma conversion does not change the appearance of the image much, so the digital copier of this embodiment is effective in text mode. It has a unique function to make lines thicker and thinner in images. Furthermore, for image reproduction, multi-value writing using PWM is performed in the photo mode, but binary writing is performed in the character mode.

FIG. 4 shows the thick line processing circuit 122A, and FIG. 5 shows the thin line processing circuit 122B, and methods for thickening and thinning the lines will be explained.

First, the thick line processing will be described. Consider a 3×3 matrix as shown in FIG. Here, X0
As the pixel of interest, if X0 is a white pixel (no pixel), look at the neighboring pixels from X1 to X8, and if there is even one black pixel (with a pixel), change X0 from a white pixel to a black pixel. If X0 is originally a black pixel, it is treated as a black pixel as is.

That is, based on the input binary data (black pixels are "1" and white pixels are "0") in FIG.
The black and white discrimination circuit (T flip-flop) T0 to T8 discriminates whether the black pixel is "1" or the white pixel is "0" and OR1 the result.
Input to gate (OR circuit). Here, the line delays LD1 and LD2 and the black and white discrimination circuits T0 to T8 constitute a two-dimensional matrix corresponding to the matrix shown in FIG. The black and white discrimination circuit T2 configures a delay of one clock corresponding to one pixel with respect to T1, and T3 configures a delay of one clock corresponding to one pixel with respect to T2 (T3
constitutes a delay of 2 clocks corresponding to 2 pixels with respect to T1). Similarly, the black and white discrimination circuit T0 configures a one-clock delay with respect to T4, and T5 configures a one-clock delay with respect to T0 (T5 configures a two-clock delay corresponding to two pixels with respect to T4. ), the black and white discrimination circuit T7 configures a one clock delay for T6, and T8 configures a one clock delay for T7 (T8 configures a two clock delay corresponding to two pixels for T6). )are doing. Also, line delay LD
1 constitutes a delay of 1 clock corresponding to 1 pixel for input binary data, and line delay LD2
configures a delay of one clock corresponding to one pixel for LD1 (LD2 configures a delay of two clocks corresponding to two pixels for binarized data). As a result, the black-and-white discrimination circuit T0 can perform black-and-white discrimination for the pixel of interest X0 shown in FIG.
8, black and white discrimination can be performed for each of the neighboring pixels from X1 to X8.

The results discriminated by the black and white discrimination circuits T0 to T8 are input to the OR1 gate, and the output from the OR1 gate is the image data after the pixel of interest X0 in FIG. 6 has been changed, so the original X0 If is a black pixel "1", the image data after changing X0 is a black pixel "1" regardless of the surrounding pixels X1 to X8, and if the original X0 is a white pixel "0", the surrounding pixels Even one pixel among X1 to X8 is black pixel “1”
exists, the image data after changing X0 will be black pixel “1”.
”, the original X0 is the white pixel “0” and the surrounding pixels
If X8 is also a white pixel "0", the image data after changing X0 becomes a white pixel "0".

For example, if the original pixel is shown in FIG. 7(a), (X0=X1=X2=X3=X4=X5=white pixel "0", ”), X0
The image data after the change becomes a black pixel “1”, so the image data shown in Figure 7 (
b) (X1=X2=X3=X4=X5
= White pixel "0", X0 = X6 = X7 = X8 = Black pixel "1"
”). Furthermore, when X4 is considered as the pixel of interest and similar processing is performed, FIG. 7(a) becomes as shown in FIG. 7(c) (X0=X
1=X2=X3=X5=white pixel “0”, X4=X6=X
7=X8=black pixel "1"), and if X5 is considered as the pixel of interest and similar processing is performed, FIG. 7(a) becomes as shown in FIG. 7(d) (X0=X1=X2=X3=X4 = white pixel “0”,
X5=X6=X7=X8=black pixel “1”). As a result, FIG. 7(a) can be made thicker by one pixel around it, as shown in FIG. 7(e). Note that if this result is processed in the same manner once again using another matrix, it is possible to make the line thicker by two surrounding pixels compared to FIG. 7(a), as shown in FIG. 7(f). In this way, a desired thick line can be obtained by connecting circuits as shown in FIG. 4 by the number of pixels to be thickened.

Next, the line thinning process will be described. In the case of line thinning, there is a problem of how to process end points and isolated points, that is, whether to remove both end points and isolated points, or whether to remove both end points and isolated points and leave the characteristics of the image.

[0038] When removing both end points and isolated points, boundary pixels are detected and deleted. Detection of boundary pixels is performed using the 3×3 matrix shown in FIG.
, X4, X5, and X7 is a white pixel, X0 is a boundary pixel, and in this case, X0 is changed from a black pixel to a white pixel.

This is the thinning processing circuit 122 shown in FIG.
It can be realized in B. Note that the same parts as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. As a result, the pixel of interest X0 shown in FIG. 6 and the adjacent pixels X2,
, X5, X7 is performed by black and white discrimination circuit T0,
T2, T4, T5, and T7 perform this, and the determined results are AN
The output from the AND1 gate is the image data after the pixel of interest X0 in FIG. 6 has been changed, so X0 is a black pixel and the adjacent pixels X2, If at least one pixel among X4, X5, and X7 is a white pixel, X0 is set as a white pixel.

For example, if the original pixel is shown in FIG. 8(a), (X1=X2=X3=white pixel "0", X0=
X4=X5=X6=X7=X8=black pixel "1"), X0
Since the image data after the change becomes a white pixel, it becomes as shown in FIG. 8(b) (X0=X1=X2=X3=white pixel “0
”, X4 = X5 = X6 = X7 =
a) becomes as shown in FIG. 8(c) (X4=X1=X
2=X3=white pixel “0”, X0=X5=X6=X7=X
8 = black pixel "1"), and when X5 is considered as the pixel of interest and similar processing is performed, FIG. 8(a) becomes as shown in FIG. 8(d) (
X5=X1=X2=X3=white pixel “0”, X0=X4=
X6=X7=X8=black pixel “1”). As a result, the line in FIG. 7(a) can be thinned by one pixel around it, as shown in FIG. 7(e). Note that if this result is processed in the same manner once again using another matrix, thinning of the line by two surrounding pixels can be achieved. In this way, a desired thin line can be obtained by connecting circuits as shown in FIG. 5 by the number of pixels to be thinned.

When leaving end points and isolated points, use the 3×3 matrix shown in FIG. 6, with X0 as the pixel of interest, and
When 0 is a black pixel and all of the neighboring pixels X1 to X8 are white pixels, X0 is detected as an isolated point, and when X0 is a black pixel and only one of the neighboring pixels X1 to X8 is a black pixel, X0 is an end point. Therefore, if an end point or an isolated point is to be left, such a detection process is performed to exclude it from being deleted as a black pixel.

FIG. 9 shows a thinning processing circuit for leaving isolated points. This includes the thinning processing circuit 122B shown in FIG. 5, the isolated point detection circuit 122C for detecting isolated points, and the OR2.
It consists of a gate. The isolated point detection circuit 122C inputs the inverted outputs from the black and white discrimination circuits T1 to T8 and the output from the black and white discrimination circuit T0 to an AND2 gate, and
The output from the gate is assumed to be image data after the pixel of interest X0 in FIG. 6 has been changed. The output of this AND2 gate and the output of the thinning processing circuit 122B (FIG. 5) are input to the OR2 gate (logical sum circuit), so if X0 is an isolated point,
The pixels are left as black pixels, and the other pixels are thinned.

FIG. 10 shows a thinning processing circuit for leaving end points. This is composed of a thinning processing circuit 122B shown in FIG. 5, an end point detection circuit 122D for detecting end points, and an OR3 gate. The end point detection circuit 122D converts the outputs from the black and white discrimination circuits T1 to T8 into first stage E for every two sets.
input to the X-OR gate (exclusive OR circuit), input these outputs to the second stage EX-OR gate, input these outputs to the third stage EX-OR gate, and input these outputs to the third stage EX-OR gate. The output from the EX-OR gate and the output from the black and white discrimination circuit T0 are input to the AND3 gate, and the output from the AND3 gate is used as the image data after the target pixel X0 in FIG. 6 has been changed. The output of this AND3 gate and the output of the thinning processing circuit 122B (FIG. 5) are input to the OR3 gate (logical sum circuit), so if X0 is an end point, it is left as a black pixel, and the other pixels are thinned. .

If isolated points and end points are left, the end point detection circuit 122D and OR3 gate shown in FIG. 10 are connected to the thinning processing circuit shown in FIG. 9, and the logic of the output of the OR2 gate and the output of the OR3 gate is By configuring an OR circuit to calculate the sum, if X0 is an isolated point or an end point, it is left as a black pixel, and other pixels are thinned.

[0045] In this embodiment, using binarized image data,
The data binarized by the output modulation circuit 121 shown in FIG. 2 is input to the processing/editing processing circuit 122.

FIG. 11 shows an outline of the configuration of the processing/editing processing circuit 122. This is composed of two thick line processing circuits 122A (FIG. 4), two thin line processing circuits 122B (FIG. 5), selector SEL, etc., and is used to thicken and thin lines of 1 pixel and 2 pixels and unprocessed data. It is possible to set the thickness in five stages. To select from 5 levels, press the line width selection key 71 (Fig. 3
) is selected by the operator, and the line width display section 72 (
Figure 3) displays the selection response.

In addition, in the circuit example shown in FIG. 11, the isolated points and end points mentioned above are not taken into account and erased.
There are no countermeasures against lines disappearing entirely, and no line thinning taking connectivity into account. These are the ideas behind this line thinning mode, and it is important to avoid processing that leaves the last line or prohibits processing that would cause loss of connectivity.
This is easy to imagine.

Furthermore, since the binarized image was used in the thick line processing circuit 122A and the thin line processing circuit 122B, thick line and thin line processing was performed in units of 1 pixel, but 1 dot by PWM
By combining this with multilevel writing, it is also possible to perform thickening and thinning processing in units of less than one pixel.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the line width selection key 71
and a line width display section 72, but in character mode using the conventional density key, set by replacing "Dark" with "Thick" and "Light" with "Thin" as shown in Figure 3. , replacement may not be performed in photo mode.

Second Embodiment The second embodiment shows a digital copying machine that performs thick line processing and thin line processing by image shifting. The general configuration of the mechanism section and the electric control section is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

This is the original data D0 as shown in FIG.
0 is delayed by multiple pixels in the main scanning direction or sub-scanning direction using flip-flops, memory, etc. pixel delay, 6 pixel delay in sub-scanning direction)
and combine those data (by logical operation)
The original data D00 is subjected to thick line processing or thin line processing. Note that these processes are performed by the processing/editing circuit 122 (FIG. 2) as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows the configuration of delay circuit 200. This circuit consists of multiple T flip-flops and multiple line delays, etc. The T flip-flop delays the binarized original data by multiple pixels in the main scanning direction, and the line delay delays multiple pixels in the sub-scanning direction. Delayed by line (pixel). Then, the original data D00 and each delayed data (
Thick line processing or thin line processing is executed based on D01 to Dmn).

FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the thick line processing circuit 201A. In the delay circuit 200 shown in FIG. 13, if Dmn is a pixel delayed by m pixels in the main scanning direction and n pixels in the sub-scanning direction, a thick line can be obtained.

Note that by changing the values of m and n, the level of thickening and thinning of the line changes, so similarly to the first embodiment, the selector (FIG. 11) is used to adjust the line width by the operator (shown in FIG. 3). The line width can be set in five stages using the line width selection key 71). Further, as in the first embodiment, the line width selection key 71 and the line width display section 72 may be used together with the existing density setting key and display section.

[0055]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the thick line processing means (201A) and the thin line processing means (201A)
1B) makes characters and lines thicker and thinner, so it is possible to improve the clarity of characters, etc. by changing the tone of characters, line drawings, etc. that have almost no intermediate tones.

Also, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention:
Since the operator instructs the implementation of thick line processing and thin line processing using the input means (71), for example, by combining the thick line processing means (201A) and the thin line processing means (201B), desired characters, line drawings, etc. You can obtain the image tone of

Furthermore, by using the input means (71) together with the existing density setting key, it is possible, for example, to selectively use the input means (71) in text mode and use the density setting key in photo mode. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a mechanical section of a digital copying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the electric control section of the embodiment.

3 is an external view of the operation display section 105 shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a thick line processing circuit 122A.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a thinning processing circuit 122B.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of a 3×3 pixel matrix.

7 is a plan view showing an example of processing contents of the thick line processing circuit 122A shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

8 is a plan view showing an example of processing contents of the thinning processing circuit 122B shown in FIG. 5. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a thinning processing circuit that leaves isolated points.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a thinning processing circuit that leaves end points.

11 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of the processing/editing circuit 122 shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 12 Original data D00 of the second embodiment of the present invention
FIG.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the delay circuit 200.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a thick line processing circuit 201A according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a thinning processing circuit 201B according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

16 is a plan view showing an example of a processing process of the thick line processing circuit 201A shown in FIG. 14. FIG.

17 is a plan view showing an example of a processing result of the thick line processing circuit 201A shown in FIG. 14. FIG.

18 is a plan view showing an example of processing contents of the thinning processing circuit 201B shown in FIG. 15. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Original 2: Contact glass 3: Illumination light Car 1: Carriage 4a to 4c: Mirror
5: CCD 6: Polygon mirror 7: fθ lens
8: Mirror 9: Photoreceptor 10: Motor
11: Main charger 12: Developing device 13: Transfer charger 14: Separation charger 15: Cleaning unit
16: Recording paper cassette 17: Recording paper 18: Paper feed roller
19: Paper feed roller 20: Registration roller 21: Fixing unit
22: Paper ejection tray 23: Carriage drive motor
24: Original presser 30: Image reading unit (image reading means) 31:
LD unit 40: Image recording section (image recording means) 50:
Image processing section (image processing means) 71: Line width selection key (switching means) 72: Line width display section 105: Operation display section 120: Spatial filter circuit
121: Output modulation circuit 122: Processing/editing circuit 122A: Thick line processing circuit 122B: Thinning processing circuit 122C: Isolated point detection circuit 122D: End point detection circuit 123: Output circuit 130: LD drive
131: LD200: Delay circuit (delay means) 201A: Thick line processing circuit (thick line processing means) 201B
: Thinning processing circuit (thinning processing means) LD1, LD2:
Line delay T0-T8, T: T flip-flop SEL: Selector

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Image reading means that scans a document in the main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction and outputs image data for each read pixel; Image processing means that receives image data output from the image reading means and performs image processing; and an image recording means for recording, on a recording medium, an image represented by the image data output by the image processing means; a delay means for delaying and outputting delayed data;
thick line processing means for changing the image data by calculating the logical sum of the image data outputted by the image reading means and the delayed data outputted by the delaying means; An image processing device comprising: thinning processing means for performing a logical product with delay data to be output and changing image data. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: input means for an operator to instruct the thickening process and the thinning process. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the input means is used in combination with an existing density setting key.