JPH0583526A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain copy having the free scale of reduction/enlargement. CONSTITUTION:Image data, for which a variable power processing in a main scan direction is executed by a variable power processing part (A) 155, are temporarily stored in a compression/extension part 156, and a masking processing is executed by a masking/UCR part 160. Afterwards, the variable power processing is executed again by a variable power processing part (B) 181. In this compression/extension part 156, data are compressed by an encoder part 157, these data are stored in a memory part 158 as image data A, the data in four colors are simultaneously processed, transmitted to respective decoder parts 159 of YMCK as image data B and extended to 24 bits respectively at the YMCK. The memory part 158 is composed of an up/down counter in an X direction, up/down counter in a Y direction, selector to switch the outputs of both counters and coordinate address converter to further convert the outputs of the counters to the addresses of the memory.

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 for digitally processing an input image and performing various kinds of image processing on the digital image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the image processing apparatus of this type, when performing a scaling process, an image signal for one line is stored in the main scanning direction, and the enable signal is controlled to enlarge or reduce the image, and the sub-scanning is performed. The scanning direction is changed by changing the scanning speed of the optical system.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image processing apparatus, although the problem of scaling in the main scanning direction does not occur, the scaling processing control is performed in the sub scanning direction by the scanning speed. Therefore, if the enlargement ratio exceeds a certain limit, the scanning speed is too slow to stably control the motor. Also,
If the reduction ratio is smaller than a certain limit, there is a problem that the scanning speed is too fast, the motor can be stably controlled, and an image image cannot be supplied at the same copy speed as that at the same magnification.

[0004]

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and has the following constitution as one means for solving the above-mentioned problems. That is,
In an image processing apparatus for enlarging or reducing a document image and outputting it as a scaled image, first scaling means for scaling the read document image in the main scanning direction and the scaled image image. A rotation control means for rotating the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction so that the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction are interchanged; and a second scaling means for scaling the rotated image in the main scanning direction.

[0005]

In the above structure, it functions to obtain a copy of a free reduction ratio or enlargement ratio.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Structure of Reader Unit] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of the reader unit of a color image recording apparatus which is an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the image on the original is read by the CCD 151 provided with a filter of three colors of RGB, the image data is converted into digital data by the A / D / S / H unit 152, and the shading correction unit 153 and the input masking unit 154. The image data is corrected by. Then, during the scaling operation, the scaling processing unit (A) 155 performs scaling processing.

The image data that has undergone the scaling processing is processed by the companding unit 15.
Once stored in 6, the masking / UCR unit 160 performs masking processing. After that, the scaling processing unit (B) 1 again
A scaling process is performed at 81, and output image data of cyan (C), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and black (K) are created by the γ correction unit 161 and the edge enhancement unit 162, and the video processing unit is created. An image is recorded on a recording sheet by a printer (not shown) through 163.

[Structure of Printer Section] FIG. 3 shows a sectional structure of the printer section in the color image recording apparatus. In the printer unit 103 shown in the figure, the polygon scanner 30
1, a laser beam generated by the video processing unit 163 shown in FIG. 1 is scanned on the photosensitive drum to form a magenta (M) image forming unit 302 at the first stage, and a cyan (C), which has the same configuration, Image formation is performed by the image forming units 303, 304, and 305 for each color of yellow (Y) and black (K).

In the image forming section 302, the photosensitive drum 3
18 forms a latent image by exposure to laser light, and a developing device 31
3 develops toner on the photosensitive drum 318. Also,
A sleeve 314 in the developing device 313 applies a developing bias to perform toner development, and a primary charger 315 charges the photosensitive drum 318 to a desired potential. Cleaner 317
Is a cleaner for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum 318 after transfer, and the auxiliary charger 316 removes the charge on the surface of the photosensitive drum 318 cleaned by the cleaner 317, and the primary charger 315
So that good charging can be obtained. Then, the pre-exposure lamp 330 erases the residual charge on the photosensitive drum 318, and the transfer charger 319 discharges from the back surface of the transfer belt 306 to transfer the toner image on the photosensitive drum 318 to the transfer member.

The cassettes 309 and 310 are cassettes for accommodating the transfer member, and the sheet feeding section 308 is a cassette 309, 310.
A transfer member is supplied from 310. The adsorption charger 311 transfers the transfer member fed by the paper feeding unit 308 to the transfer belt 30.
6, the transfer belt roller 312 is used to rotate the transfer belt 306, and at the same time, the transfer charging device 311 is used.
Is a belt roller paired with the transfer belt 306 to charge the transfer member by adsorption.

The discharging charger 324 facilitates separation of the transfer member from the transfer belt 306, and the peeling charger 325 prevents image disturbance due to peeling discharge when the transfer member is separated from the transfer belt. .. Further, the pre-fixing chargers 326 and 327 are pre-fixing chargers that supplement the attracting force of the toner on the transfer member after separation and prevent image disturbance, and the transfer belt charge-eliminating chargers 322 and 323 are transfer belts. A belt cleaner 328, which is a charger for statically initializing the transfer belt 306 by removing electricity from the transfer belt 306, is a cleaner for removing dirt on the transfer belt 306.

The fixing device 307 is separated from the transfer belt 306, and the toner image on the transfer portion recharged by the pre-fixing chargers 326 and 327 is heat-fixed on the transfer member. A sensor for detecting the front end of the transfer member fed onto the transfer belt by the unit 308, and the detection signal from the paper front end sensor 329 is the printer unit 10.
3 is sent to the reader unit and used as a sub-scanning synchronizing signal when sending a video signal from the reader unit to the printer unit.

[Main Block Configuration of Printer Unit] The video processing unit 163 of FIG. 1 processes the M, C, Y, and K video signals sent via the document reading apparatus 101 of FIG. 3 and performs PWM modulation. To generate the laser light signal. Also,
The companding unit 156 compresses data by the encoder unit 157. For example, considering the schematic diagram of 4 pixels × 4 lines to be compressed shown in FIG. 2, one square corresponds to one pixel, and each one pixel has 8 bits of RGB three-color data. This is 4 pixels x 4 lines, that is, 1
L ^* , a ^* , b ^* with 6 blocks of data as one block
16 pixel x 3 colors x 8 bits
= 384 bit data is compressed to a fixed length code of 1/12 to obtain 32 bit data. For this compression, for example, vector quantization or orthogonal transform coding is used.

This is used as image data A in the memory section 158.
The image data B is stored in the YMCK processor, and the four colors are processed at the same time.
The data is expanded to 24 bits. In this way, the steps of image data compression, storage, and expansion are
This is because in the case of a printer in which the positions of the image forming units for each color are displaced from each other as shown in FIG. A storage unit is used as a delay unit for compensating for the time shift. Further, the reason why compression and expansion are performed is to reduce the amount of image data so as to keep the capacity of the storage means small.

Next, the internal structure of the memory section 158 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the memory unit 158 includes an up-down counter 182 in the X direction and an up-down counter 183 in the Y direction, a selector 184 for switching the outputs of both counters, and the counter output thereof in a memory 187 (here, a DRAM). However, a coordinate address converter 185 for converting to an address of SRAM) and RAS,
The memory controller 186 generates CAS and WE signals (both low active signals).

Here, when the selector signal of the selector 184 is ROT0 and the up / down switching signals of the X and Y counters are ROT1 and ROT2, respectively, 3
With the bit signal, eight types of images as shown in FIG. 5 can be output. Therefore, in the color image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a case where a scaling process is performed to create a reduced copy will be described.

Conventionally, even in a digital image recording apparatus, the magnification of the main scanning is changed by controlling the write enable signal and the read enable signal in the FIFO memory for one line to change the sub scanning. The doubling is performed by the scanning speed of the reading optical system. However, if only the scanning speed of the optical system is relied upon during reduction copying, there is a limit to the speed of motor control, and if a copy output is obtained at a certain speed, the reduction ratio exceeds a certain limit. Unreasonableness will occur.

Therefore, the scaling processing section (A) 155 first performs reduction in the main scanning direction, and the reduced image is stored in the memory section 158 as the ROT signal as "000". Next, if the ROT signal is read out as, for example, “011” and is reduced by the scaling processing unit (B) 181, the image is rotated by 90 degrees, so reduction in the sub-scanning direction is possible. Therefore, this produces a reduced copy output due to scanning at the same speed as at the same magnification.

The output of the enlarged copy is performed as follows. In other words, as in the case of reduction, if only the motor control of the optical system of the reading unit is used to change the magnification in the sub-scanning direction at the time of enlargement, when the enlargement ratio exceeds a certain limit value, the motor is extremely slow, Moreover, it will be impossible to control while maintaining a constant speed.

Therefore, the same sequence as at the time of reduction, that is,
Magnification processing unit (A) 155 enlarges and ROT
The signal “000” is stored in the memory unit 158. And
It is read out by the ROT signal "011" and then enlarged by the scaling processing unit (B) 181. As a result, the scanning speed of the reading system is the same as that at the same magnification, and a copy output of the enlarged image can be obtained without worrying about the instability of the motor speed.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
The scanned original image is stored in the full-page memory, the memory image is rotated, and the magnification control process is performed in the main scanning direction in the front and rear stages of the memory to keep the motor control of the reading and scanning optical system constant. As it is, there is an effect that it is possible to supply a stable enlarged or reduced image without reducing the copy speed.

[Modification] In the above-described embodiment, a vertically placed original is output in the horizontal direction, that is, as an example,
A4 size document is output as A4R (A4 size reduction). Therefore, the scaling processing unit (A) 155 performs reduction or enlargement, and the image rotated by the ROT signal “011” is stored in the memory unit 158 and read by the ROT signal “000” to perform scaling. Reduction by the processing unit (B) 181,
Alternatively, if enlargement is performed, an A4R original can be output in A4.

Specifically, in the reader unit of the color image recording apparatus according to the present modification shown in FIG. 6, the document detection unit 188 detects the document size at the time of prescan, and the image image is rotated accordingly when writing to the memory. Whether or not to rotate the image at the time of reading. Then, the ROT signal is sent to the memory unit 158 according to the detection result, and further, the cassette selecting unit 1 is sent according to the detection result.
If the output is set to A4 or A4R at 89, the enlargement / reduction ratio can be freely set with a small memory capacity. The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including a single device. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By performing the scaling processing in the main scanning direction before and after the rotation of the original image, it is possible to obtain a freely reduced or enlarged copy while keeping the motor control of the reading and scanning optical system constant. ..

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a reader unit of a color image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing 4 pixels × 4 lines to be compressed,

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional configuration of a printer unit in the color image recording apparatus according to the embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an address generation circuit as an internal configuration of a memory unit 158,

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image image by rotation processing;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a reader unit of a color image recording apparatus according to a modified example of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 155 Magnification processing unit (A) 158 Memory unit 181 Magnification processing unit (B) 182 X-direction up-down counter 183 Y-direction up-down counter 184 Selector 185 Coordinate-address converter 186 Memory control unit 187 Memory (DRAM) 188 Document Detection section 189 Cassette selection section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for enlarging or reducing a document image and outputting it as a scaled image, comprising: first scaling means for scaling the read document image in the main scanning direction; Rotation control means for rotating the subsequent image image so that the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction are interchanged; and a second scaling unit for scaling the rotated image image in the main scanning direction.
An image processing apparatus, comprising: 2. The rotation control means includes means for detecting a document size and means for selecting a recording paper size of an output image, and after the rotation timing of the image image is determined according to the document size, the selected recording is performed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus outputs the image on paper.