JPH04321376A - Picture processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To activate plural input systems for one job altogether. CONSTITUTION:A job control sheet on which sheet recognition information by a specific mark and pattern and job attribute information defining a machine operation command are described is used and a picture reader 40 reads the sheet job attribute information. A CPU 1 revises part of job through a user interface 20 such as a control panel from the read machine operation command information and executes the job and communicates picture information between plural picture processing units connected by a LAN and a telephone line via IFs 4, 5 to execute the picture processing based on the machine operation command information entered from each picture processing unit.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that is capable of validating and processing instructions from a plurality of input systems.

0002

[Prior Art] Copying machines, fax machines, etc. use separator sheets or the like to clarify the boundaries of a document, and control the boundaries using an input device such as a control panel, or they are printed on the separator sheets. Operation instruction information for the job corresponding to the mark has already been input into the machine, and there are machines that perform standard jobs depending on the type of separator sheet. An image processing device using this type of paper user interface is disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,757,348.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when performing a regular job, only a part of the machine operation instruction information defined in the created job sheet is changed, such as only the paper size and number of sheets. There was a problem in that if you wanted to add a new job sheet, you had to create a new job sheet. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that can use a plurality of input systems in combination for one job.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus that processes input image information to obtain output image information, and provides sheet recognition information based on specific marks and patterns, and machine recognition information. Equipped with a job control sheet containing job attribute information that defines operation instructions,
The apparatus is equipped with means for changing machine operation instruction information input from the sheet. Still another invention provides an image processing apparatus that is connected to a plurality of image processing apparatuses, communicates image information between the apparatuses, performs image processing on input image information, and obtains output image information. The apparatus includes means for inputting machine operation instruction information from an image processing apparatus, and means for executing image processing based on the machine operation instruction information.

[0005]

[Operation] In one or more batch processes, execute the job by changing some of the machine operation instruction information input using the job control sheet, that is, the job attribute information, using a user interface such as a control panel. . This eliminates the need to create a new job sheet for a job in which a part of a standard job is changed.

[0006]

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a control block diagram of an image processing apparatus using a paper user interface. CPU1 is R
After executing the control program stored in the OM2 and performing image processing based on input image information from various input devices to create output image information, the recording unit (IOT) 50 of this machine
Alternatively, the image may be output to a FAX via another image processing device or a telephone line via a network line LAN. Here, the input image information includes at least machine operation instruction information and document image information defined in the job control sheet, and also includes user ID information. Further, the output image information includes not only the output image information of the original document but also the output image information of the changed job control sheet. Furthermore, input devices include the control panel, keyboard, mouse, and other user interfaces (UI) of this machine.
) 20, an image reading unit (IIT) 40 that reads a job control sheet and a batch of originals (hereinafter referred to as a batch) set in the automatic document feeder (ADF) 30;
and other image processing devices (not shown) connected to this device via network lines or telephone lines.

Input image information on the job control sheet is taken into the drawing memory 9 and the job sheet recognition section 16 via the multiplexer 14 and the interfaces 4 and 5, and the job sheet recognition section 16 detects the detection mark on the job control sheet. Then, an interrupt is applied to CPU1. The CPU 1 starts the graphic controller 8 and recognizes the job control sheet in the drawing memory 9. As a result, information from the sheet detection mark such as the document loading direction and job attributes such as paper size, number of sheets, and destination are recognized, and the confirmed job attribute information is stored in the backup RAM along with the ID information of the job.
6 and memory card 7.

[0008] When the output of a job control sheet is previously instructed by the operator, the CPU 1 instructs the graphic controller 8 to draw according to the attributes of the job. The graphic controller 8 draws a new job control sheet on the drawing memory 9 using the font ROM 10 as necessary. The generated image pattern is stored in the hard disk 12 as image data as required. Disk controller 11
The image data generated by this machine or the image data sent from another image processing device is compressed by the compression/decompression unit 13 and stored on the hard disk 12.
The image data stored in 2 is decompressed by a compression/decompression unit 13 and sent to the data bus. Note that 3 is a serial I/O which performs input/output for each bit through a single signal line, and 15 is a gate.

The user interface 20, such as a control panel or keyboard, has the function of inputting correction or additional information when changing the attributes of a recognized job, and inputting ID information and editing the job displayed on the CRT. Some attributes can be changed. Partial changes to job attributes are permitted at any time by the above operation before the job is executed. Job control sheet 100
As shown in FIG. 2, sheet detection marks 101 (a to d) with different sheet attributes are arranged at the four corners, and inside these marks is an entry field 10 for checking job attributes.
3 (a, b,
) and an ID entry section 104 for entering a programmable ID.

Each mark has an attribute indicating the scan direction,
For example, information such as vertical forward direction, vertical reverse direction, horizontal forward direction, and horizontal reverse direction is provided. For example, vertical is "0", horizontal is "1"
”, the forward direction is “0” and the reverse direction is “1”, then the attribute of the sheet detection mark can be expressed with 2 bits. In other words, the sheet direction is "00" for vertical direction, "01" for vertical reverse direction,
"10" indicates the horizontal forward direction, and "11" indicates the horizontal reverse direction. FIG. 4 shows an example of the attributes as barcode information. Barcode attributes are detection synchronization CLK (1), S
After the TX bit, the sheet detection mark attribute (2) indicates the vertical and horizontal direction of the sheet in the first 1 bit, and the forward and reverse direction of the sheet in the next 1 bit, followed by the paper size information (3) of the job control sheet, and the sheet Number information (
4) and parity (5) are assigned. By providing such an attribute, the attributes of the sheet detection mark and the paper size of the job control sheet can be identified in the first 10 bits, so it is possible to know what size job control sheet was scanned and from which direction. can. Further, in the job control sheet designation section 102, image coordinate origins 104a and 104b necessary for recognizing this sheet are arranged.

Next, the function of the job control sheet will be explained. Mark the job that the user wants to specify in the check box on the job control sheet, for example by filling in or
Check with the mark and place this job control sheet over the document as shown in Figure 3. When this batch of originals is set in the document feeder (ADF), it is sent from the job control sheet to the image reading unit (IIT). The image reading section converts an image of a document or a job control sheet into an electrical signal, that is, input image information. This input image information is recorded in a drawing memory through a multiplexer, and mark detection/recognition processing is executed from the input image information.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flow for recognizing a job control sheet. Scanning starts (
Step 100), the detection of the sampling guideline of the sheet detection mark 101 is checked (Step 101). Barcode information including the parity check shown in FIG. 4, ie, sheet detection mark information, is detected along this guideline (step 102), and mark information detected for each guideline is accumulated (step 103). Then, it is determined whether the detected mark information is within the sub-scanning direction area of the sheet detection mark (step 104). If YES in step 104, the accumulated code information is averaged (step 10
5), and threshold processing (step 106) of the averaged mark is performed to complete the encoding.

Next, it is determined whether the detected attribute is meaningful (step 107), and meaningless attributes,
That is, if a fatal error has occurred, error processing is performed (step 108). If the attribute is significant, the origin is detected using the attribute (vertical/horizontal, forward/reverse, paper size) (step 109). When the origin detection routine described below finishes detecting the origin, the LUT is searched from the sheet number of the job control sheet (
Step 110). Next, job contents are retrieved from the LUT based on the origin using a job contents recognition processing routine to be described later (step 111). After the confirmed job contents are registered (step 112), they are transferred to the system controller that controls the operation of the machine (step 113).

In the sheet recognition flow described above, by providing the processes of steps 105 and 106, it is possible to suppress a decrease in recognition accuracy due to dirt on the sheet detection mark. FIG. 6 shows a processing flow for detecting the origin (diagonal point) based on the attributes of the detected sheet detection mark. Here, as a detection method, as shown in FIG. 8, an origin region 105a and a diagonal point region 105b are set as relatively narrow ranges that include the origin 104a or the diagonal point 104b, and only within this region The origin or diagonal point is detected by searching for the origin or diagonal point. Sheet detection mark 1
When attributes such as the reading direction and size of the job control sheet 100 are known from 01, the origin and diagonal point areas 105a and 105b to be searched are set based on these attributes, and the search within these areas is started (step 200). Ru. Search for the origin from data obtained within the set area (step 201)
) is carried out. In this step 201, if the origin is found, a search for the diagonal point area is started (step 203). From the data obtained by this search, a diagonal point search (step 204) is performed in the same way as the origin search. In this step 204, if a diagonal point is found, the origin coordinates are registered (step 206). Step 201 above,
In step 204, if the origin and diagonal point are not found within the search area, error processing steps 202 and 205 are performed. Note that these coordinates refer to absolute coordinates on the memory.

In the origin detection method of this embodiment, the search range is specified narrower than that in which the entire job control sheet is detected, so the search time can be shortened. FIG. 7 shows a processing flow for recognizing job contents. The area of the user check field 103 is stored in the LUT in relative coordinates from the origin 104a. Search for the user area 106 shown in FIG. 8 based on these relative coordinates and origin coordinates (
Step 300) begins. Next, it is determined whether there is an area to be searched (step 301), and if there is no user area to be searched, the process ends. On the other hand, if there is a searched user area, it is determined whether any mark 107 checked by the user is detected in the area (step 302).

As shown in the figure, FAX is used as a machine operation instruction.
If the user area that specifies a job is checked, the job content corresponding to the user area, that is, FA
The X job is searched from the LUT (step 303), and the job contents are registered (step 304). Further, in the case of the user area searched in step 302, for example, a copy job, it is determined that there is no check, or after the job contents are registered in step 304, an instruction is given to start searching the next user area (step 305). Next, changes such as corrections and additions to job contents will be explained. Note that a control panel (not shown) will be used as an input device for instructing change information. therefore,
In order to realize this function, the control panel has been modified and
Four function switches are arranged: add, ID, and registration.

FIG. 9 shows a processing flow for changing job contents on the paper user interface. The document is set in the ADF 30 with the job control sheet overlaid (step 400), and the information on the job control sheet is read by the image reading unit 40. After inputting ID information from the control panel (step 401), a correction or addition key is selected (step 402). Next, information for modifying or adding job content (hereinafter referred to as change information) is input (step 403). When it is determined that the input of this information is complete (step 404), the registration key is input (step 405) and the change information is registered (step 406). On the other hand, if the input has not been completed, the process returns to step 402 and the same operation as above is performed. And I
Changes to the job contents recognized based on the D information are executed according to the processing flow shown in FIG. That is, when the CPU 1 obtains the ID information from the recognition unit, it determines whether or not the job content has been changed on the control panel (step 500). If a change operation has been performed, the machine operation instruction information defined in the job control sheet is stored in the system RAM 6 (step 501).
)do. Next, when the information is additional information, it is added to the information in the system RAM 6 (step 502). Also, when the information is modified, it is overwritten with the information in the system RAM 6 (step 503).

By the way, in multiple batch processing, by attaching an ID to each job control sheet, it is possible to input this ID and instruct changes to the job contents for each sheet. The job changed in this way is matched with the input information from the input device after reading the job control sheet sent by the automatic document feeder and recognizing the job contents. At this time, for correction information, priority is given to input through a control panel, etc., and for additional information, the logical sum (OR) of both is performed.

In this embodiment, input information for the paper user interface is added using a control panel, etc.
Although we have adopted a method of making corrections, it is also possible to conversely change input information from a control panel or the like using a paper user interface. Furthermore, in a system composed of two or more image processing apparatuses, mutual input information can be changed through a line. Further, regarding the job control sheet, it is also possible to output the job control sheet after checking the job contents instructed by the control panel or the like.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, since changes such as corrections and additions to job contents can be instructed through a plurality of input systems, the operator can give instructions more conveniently and easily. Furthermore, since multiple jobs can be instructed with one job control sheet, it is ideal for standard jobs where job contents are partially variable. Furthermore, since information that needs to be changed can be entered on the job control sheet and other information can be specified on the control panel, it is also effective when pre-reading jobs in multiple batch processes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of an image processing apparatus using a paper user interface according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a job control sheet.

FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining batch processing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating barcode information as an example of a sheet detection mark.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing flow for recognizing a job control sheet.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an origin detection routine.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a job content recognition routine.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a search area.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a processing flow for registering change information such as corrections and additions.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing flow based on change information.

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A job control sheet in which sheet recognition information based on specific marks or patterns and job attribute information defining machine operation instructions are described in an image processing device that processes input image information to obtain output image information. An image processing apparatus comprising: a means for changing machine operation instruction information input from the sheet. 2. An image processing device that is connected to a plurality of image processing devices, communicates image information between the devices, performs image processing on input image information, and obtains output image information, wherein the plurality of image processing devices An image processing apparatus comprising means for inputting machine operation instruction information from a machine, and means for executing image processing based on the machine operation instruction information.