JPH06205162A - Picture reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To read a visible light and other light than the visible light with simple configuration by obtaining picture information of a visible light region with one picture element array in two lines of arrays. CONSTITUTION:A color sensor 210 consists of picture element arrays 100, 101. An R filter 102, a G filter 103 and a B filter 104 are sequentially vapor-deposited for each picture element of the picture element array 100 which forms a read system in which one picture element 105 using RGB three picture elements for one set is used for a minimum reading region. Then A signal read by the picture element array 100 or 101 is controlled to be sent to a signal processing section respectively. Then picture information of other than the visible light region is obtained by read information of part or all picture elements of the picture element array 100 and picture information of the visible light region is obtained from the picture element array 101.

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 for reading visible and non-visible optical information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as image quality and color of copying machines have increased, there has been a fear of forgery of banknotes, stamps and securities. On the other hand, with respect to the recognition of banknotes, various methods have been devised, such as detecting the pattern of a stamp of a banknote.

Further, the present applicant has proposed a method of recognizing a banknote or the like from the color tone of the original document by utilizing the fact that the pattern of the original document is formed in a specific color tone.

There is also a bill in which a genuine mark and a counterfeit bill can be discriminated by printing a specific mark with fluorescent ink that reflects visible light by irradiating ultraviolet rays on the bill itself.

It has also been proposed by the applicant of the present invention to use an ink having a property of absorbing infrared rays as a method of forming a specific mark.

In such an apparatus for detecting infrared light, a reading sensor for forming a normal color image and a reading sensor for detecting infrared light are monolithically constructed and a common optical system is used. It has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-286350 to realize miniaturization and easy optical adjustment.

[0007]

When the sensors for reading infrared information and visible information are monolithically formed on the same chip, for example, the size of the sensor may be increased depending on the arrangement of the sensors. Alternatively, there is a problem that a configuration for correcting the deviation of the reading position between the sensors becomes large.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading device capable of reading visible light and non-visible light with a simple structure.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the image reading apparatus of the present invention has a read pixel row of at least two lines, and a part or one of the pixel rows of the first line. By reading information of all pixels,
The image information other than the visible light region is obtained, and the image information of the visible light region is obtained by the pixel line of the second line.

[0010]

The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments.

In the following embodiments, a copying apparatus is shown as an application example of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that it can be applied to various other apparatuses such as an image scanner.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 5 shows an external view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. (Structure of Image Scanner Section) In FIG. 5, 201 is an image scanner section, which is a section for reading an original and performing digital signal processing. Also, 202
A printer unit is a unit that prints out an image corresponding to the original image read by the image scanner 201 on paper in full color.

In the image scanner unit 201, 20
Reference numeral 0 is a mirror-thick plate, and a platen glass (hereinafter, platen)
The original 204 on 03 is illuminated by the light of the halogen lamp 205, and the reflected light from the original forms an image on a color sensor (in this embodiment, a CCD line sensor) 210, and full-color information red (R). , Green (G),
The blue (B) component and the infrared component (IR) are sent to the signal processing unit 211. The reading unit 207 determines that the speed v
Then, the entire surface of the original is scanned by mechanically moving in the direction (hereinafter, sub-scanning direction) perpendicular to the electrical scanning direction (hereinafter, main scanning direction) of the color sensor.

The signal processing unit 211 electrically processes the read signal, decomposes it into magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (BK) components, and prints them in a frame sequential manner. To 202.

(Structure of Printer Unit 202) The image signals of M, C, Y and BK sent from the image scanner unit 201 are sent to the laser driver 212. The laser driver 212 modulates and drives the semiconductor laser 213 according to the signal. The laser light scans the photosensitive drum 217 via the polygon mirror 214, the f-θ lens 215, and the mirror 216.

Reference numeral 218 denotes a rotary developing device, which includes a magenta developing device 219, a cyan developing device 220, and a yellow developing device 22.
1, four black developing devices 222 alternately contact the photosensitive drums, and develop the electrostatic latent images of M, C, Y, and BK formed on the photosensitive drums 217 with corresponding toners. .

Reference numeral 223 denotes a transfer drum, which is a paper cassette 22.
4 or 225, the paper fed from this transfer drum 2
The toner image developed on the photosensitive drum 217 is transferred to a sheet by winding the sheet around the sheet 23.

After the four colors M, C, Y, and BK have been sequentially transferred in this manner, the sheet passes through the fixing unit 226 and is discharged.

This is the end of the description of the scanner section and the printer section, which are the general components of the apparatus.

Next, the detailed description of the image scanner unit 201 will be described.

As one of the methods for detecting bills and the like, a method for recognizing a pattern printed on a bill or the like with fluorescent paint has been proposed. The fluorescence spectrum distribution emitted by such paint is infrared. Or it is in the invisible ultraviolet region. Therefore, in order to read information in this invisible light region, a reading device having a reading system in which a filter that transmits only infrared light or ultraviolet light is inserted in the optical path is conceivable.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when reading the image of the original 22 placed on the original table 21 illuminated by the illumination light source 20, the image information transmitted through the half mirror 23 is read by the color sensor 24, and Meanwhile, half mirror 2
The color information of the original 22 is read by the color sensor 24 by a reading system in which the image information reflected by the image sensor 3 is read by the black-and-white sensor 26 through the filter 25 that transmits only a desired spectral region corresponding to infrared light or ultraviolet light. The invisible light information printed on the original 22 can be obtained by the black and white sensor 26. By adopting such a configuration, while reading a color image of a general document, when a bill or the like printed with invisible light information is about to be read, the discrimination is also performed at the same time, so that a counterfeit bill is not generated. Can be suppressed.

However, the reading system having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 has two sets of sensors and requires two reading systems, which increases the cost and complicates the configuration.
There is a drawback that. In order to eliminate this defect, R (red) G (green) B (blue) inside the color sensor
In addition to the pixels for color separation of
The above-mentioned drawbacks are eliminated by having pixels to which a filter having the above characteristic is attached together. The structure of such a color sensor will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 3 (a)
Represents the structure of a general color sensor, and (b) represents the structure of a color sensor provided with pixels for reading invisible information. In a general color sensor, RGB filters are sequentially deposited such as R, G, B, G, B ... For each pixel as shown in FIG. Then, by using this as a minimum unit of one picture element, color information is separated from the image information formed on the color sensor, thereby making it possible to read a color image.

On the other hand, in the color sensor of FIG. 3B provided with pixels for reading invisible information, when the invisible information is infrared light, R, G, B, IR, R, G, B, IR ... A filter is vapor-deposited on (IR is an infrared light transmitting filter). This RGBIR is used as the minimum unit of one picture element to perform color separation, and it is possible to read the infrared region. However, the color sensor having the configuration of FIG. 3B has a disadvantage that the dynamic range of the output signal of each pixel is significantly lower than that of the color sensor of the configuration of FIG. 3A.

This drawback will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 4
(A) is a figure showing one picture element of a general color sensor. Assuming that the resolution of the reading unit is 400 dpi (400 dots per inch), the reading area of one picture element is 25.4 mm / 400 = 63.5 μm.
It becomes 21.1 μm × 63.5 μm per B1 pixel. On the other hand, FIG. 4B is a diagram showing one picture element of the color sensor having the structure shown in FIG.
In order to realize the resolution of i, the pixel size is 15.8 μm × 63.5 μm, as shown in the figure.
The amount of light received by the pixel is reduced to 75% of the conventional level. Therefore, the dynamic range of the signal output by each pixel is significantly reduced. In particular, the pixel I for reading the infrared region
Since R cuts off all visible light components, it can be considered that almost no signal can be obtained depending on the spectral distribution of the illumination light source. In order to solve this problem, in the present embodiment, when detecting a specific pattern printed on a banknote or the like by a substantially colorless and transparent infrared fluorescent paint, a pixel array for reading invisible information in the color sensor is It is provided separately from the color separation pixel column. Then, the presence or absence of the infrared fluorescent paint pattern is detected while sequentially comparing the information of the respective pixel columns.

However, even if the position correction is performed by the line buffer that corrects the gap between the pixel columns, the minimum correction unit is one pixel, and therefore the correction of less than one pixel cannot be performed, so that the accurate position correction cannot be performed. .

Therefore, the distance between the pixel rows of the two pixel rows is set to an integral multiple of the pixel pitch of the sensor to solve the above-mentioned problem.

Further, in the case of the two-column structure as described above, the line buffer is expensive to correct the gap between the pixel columns, which causes a cost increase.

Therefore, the order of reading is to read first by the color separation pixel row and then by the invisible information reading pixel row. Then, the correction of the distance between the pixel rows of the two pixel rows is controlled so as to be corrected by the line delay that occurs when the image information of the color separation pixel row is processed, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem. ing.

An embodiment based on the above concept will be specifically described.

The structure of the color sensor 210 in this embodiment is shown in FIG. The color sensor 210 includes a first pixel row 100 and a second pixel row 101. The first pixel row has an R filter 102 and a G filter 1 for each pixel.
No. 03, B filter 104, R, G, B, R, G, B, and so on are sequentially deposited, and one picture element 105 having one set of three RGB pixels as a minimum reading area constitutes a reading system. ing. FIG. 6 shows the spectral characteristics of the filter deposited for each pixel, and FIG. 7 shows the emission distribution characteristics of the halogen lamp 205. Although the relative sensitivity characteristic of 700 nm or more is not shown in FIG. 6, the relative sensitivity of 700 nm or more is included because each filter includes the characteristic of the infrared cut filter that cuts the component of about 700 nm or more shown in FIG. Can be considered to be almost zero. On the other hand, in the second pixel row 101, pixels are arranged at a pixel pitch that is three times the pixel pitch of the first pixel row 100. That is, the second pixel pitch is such that pixels are arranged at the same pitch as the picture element pitch of the first pixel row 100. Since a visible light cut filter having the characteristics shown in FIG. 8 is vapor-deposited on the second pixel row 101, components of 700 nm or less are cut off in the pixel row 101,
The infrared component is read. FIG. 10 shows the dimensions and positional relationship of the pixels of the first pixel row 100 and the second pixel row 101.
Shown in. Here, the reading unit is 400 dpi (dot
per inch) resolution,
For the sake of simplicity, the optical system will be described as using a unit-magnification optical system.

In order to realize a resolution of 400 dpi, the minimum reading area is 63.5 μm × 63.5 μm. Therefore, in FIG. 10, the R pixel 102, the G pixel 103, and the B pixel 104 are 21.1 μm × 63. It becomes 5 μm, and the IR pixel becomes 63.5 μm × 63.5 μm. The distance between the pixel row 100 and the pixel row 101 is set to 127 μm. That is, the pixel rows 100 or 101 are separated by exactly two lines. Pixel row 1
00 and the read signals of the pixel column 101 are controlled to be sent to the signal processing unit 211, respectively.

Next, the pattern recognition sequence will be described step by step. In the present embodiment, as an example of a manuscript for which anti-counterfeiting is targeted, a copy-protected manuscript will be described. Of course also applies.

(Original) FIG. 11A shows a copy-inhibited original (hereinafter referred to as an original) 630 on which a pattern 631 registered in advance with infrared paint is printed. Manuscript 630
In addition to the pattern 631, characters and an image 632 are printed on the upper part with general ink. The infrared fluorescent paint to be printed is infrared light with a fluorescence emitted from the paint of about 700 nm or more, and it looks almost colorless and transparent to the human eye having sensitivity in the band of 400 to 700 nm, and it is extremely difficult to recognize it. . Further, this infrared fluorescent paint is characterized in that it emits fluorescence of a certain specific wavelength when irradiated with excitation light having a certain band. The emission characteristics of fluorescence are shown in FIG. Reference numeral 601 is a diagram showing the absorbance of the infrared fluorescent paint with respect to the wavelength. When this fluorescent agent receives light containing infrared light (spectral distribution 602 in the figure, vertical axis represents emission intensity), it absorbs light in the band according to the characteristic curve 601, and the spectral distribution is 603 in the figure. The emitted fluorescence is emitted (the vertical axis represents emission intensity). As a general feature of the fluorescent agent, when the excitation light is absorbed, the energy of the emitted light becomes small due to the energy transition of the molecules inside the fluorescent agent. This emitted light has a characteristic that it emits as fluorescence at a wavelength larger than the wavelength of the excitation light due to the reduced energy. In the example of FIG. 12, the peak wavelength of excitation light and the peak wavelength of fluorescence are deviated by about 100 nm. In the above-described fluorescence spectrum 603, the visible light component is cut by the pixel array 101 in the CCD 210, and only the fluorescence spectrum component can be extracted.

(Prescan) Image Scanner Section 20
In No. 1, a prescan is performed as a preprocessing for copying the original 630. The prescan will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 13, the lamp 205 irradiates a white shading plate 640 attached to a part of the platen 203. White shading board 64
The reflected image of 0 is formed on the CCD 210 via the lens 209. Pixel row 100 and pixel row 1 of CCD 210
The image of the white shading plate 640 read in 01 is subjected to signal processing in the signal processing unit 211, uneven illumination of the lamp 205, and the pixel array 100 on the CCD 210.
And sensitivity unevenness correction data of the pixel row 101 are created and stored for each pixel row. Thereafter, the reading unit 207 mechanically moves in the direction of arrow m in the drawing at a speed of speed v by a drive system (not shown) to scan the entire surface of the document. At this time, the pixel array 100 in the CCD 210
The image of the document 630 read by the
The maximum and minimum values of original density are sampled in
The print density set value for copying is calculated. after this,
The reading unit 207 mechanically moves by a drive system (not shown) in the direction of arrow n in FIG. 13 at a speed of v, and shifts to the reading start position, that is, the home position.

(Original Copying and Pattern Detection) After the shading correction data creation process described above is completed, the reading unit 207 returns to the home position and the original 630 is read.
Simultaneously with the start of reading, the presence or absence of the pattern 631 on the document 630 is detected. CCD21 with or without pattern
This is performed by comparing the read information of the pixel row 100 within 0 and the read information of the pixel row 101. The image reading for reproducing the image is performed by the pixel row 100, and the image reading for detecting the pattern 631 is performed by the pixel row 101. The signal processing unit 211 that processes the read signal will be described. The signal processing unit 211 is shown in FIG.
The block diagram of is shown.

First, the signal processing system of the pixel array 100 will be described. The analog signal output from the pixel column 100 is input as an image signal in the order of RGB in synchronization with the drive signal of the CCD 210. The image signal is simultaneously input to the three sample hold circuits 121a to 121c. The sample hold circuit 121a has a function of generating a sample signal at the timing when the R signal is input and holding the analog level of the sampled signal until the next R signal is input. Similarly, in the sample hold circuit 121b,
A sample signal is generated at the timing when the G signal is input,
In the sample hold circuit 121c, a sample signal is generated at the timing when the B signal is input. As a result, R signals, G signals, and B signals are output from the sample hold circuits 121a to 121c, respectively. As shown in the figure, the respective signals are input to A / D converters 122a to 122c, and the analog image signals are converted into 8-bit digital image signals. These digital signals are input to the shading correction circuits 124a to 124c and are subjected to shading correction. The shading correction is the correction processing described in the above (pre-scan) section, and the created correction data is the data of each of RGB in the RAM 1.
Held at 23. When the image is being read, the correction data for each pixel is sequentially input from the RAM 123 to the shading correction circuits 124a to 124c,
The data is corrected. Shading correction circuit 12
The image signals output from 4a to 124c are input to the 5 × 5 edge enhancement circuit 125. The 5 × 5 edge enhancement circuit (hereinafter, edge enhancement circuit) 125 is a circuit for enhancing the contour of the read image, and is realized by the following image processing. FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of the edge enhancement circuit 125. The edge emphasizing circuit is performed for each color of RGB, but here, the circuit for one color is shown. Of course, it goes without saying that the other two circuits have the same configuration.

In FIG. 15, 131 to 134 are CCD 210.
This is a FIFO having a capacity capable of holding data for one line of the inner pixel column 100. The connection of the four FIFOs is as shown in the figure. Therefore, when the pixel line data of the nth line is input to the FIFO 131, the (n-1) th line from the FIFO 131 and the (n-th) line from the FIFO 132.
Data of the 2nd line, the (n-3) th line from the FIFO 133, and the data of the (n-4) th line from the FIFO 134 are output. Input signal and FIFO 131-F
The output signal of the IFO 134 is input to the delay circuit 135. The delay circuit 135 has several stages of pixel delay circuits for the input m-th pixel signal, and together with the m-th pixel data, the (m-1) th and (m-2) th pixel data.
The th, (m−3) th, and (m−4) th pixel data are input to the arithmetic circuit 136. Therefore, the arithmetic circuit 13
Data for 25 pixels is input to 6 for convenience. A map of the input data is shown in FIG. For the pixel of interest hatched, the data of the surrounding 24 pixels is calculated by the arithmetic circuit 1.
I am typing in 36. The arithmetic circuit 136 calculates data obtained by multiplying the data of the pixel of interest by 25, and outputs the data obtained by subtracting the data of other peripheral pixels from the value. That is, when the data of the target pixel is larger than the data of the peripheral pixels, the data of the target pixel becomes larger, and when the data of the target pixel is smaller than the data of the peripheral pixels, the data of the target pixel becomes smaller. By performing such processing, the contrast of the contour portion of the image is increased, and the sharpness of the reproduced image is emphasized. The image data on which the edge enhancement has been performed is a log conversion unit 12 that performs brightness-density conversion.
7. The data is sent to the printer unit through the masking conversion unit 128 that performs the optimum correlated color correction. With the above, the pixel row 10
The description of the signal processing unit of 0 is finished. Next, the pixel column 101
The signal processing system will be described. The signal processing system is basically the same as the signal processing system of the pixel column 100, but the edge enhancement circuit is omitted because it is not a signal processing system for the purpose of image reproduction. The data output from the shading correction circuit 124d is input to the signal comparison circuit 126. The data that is the other input is the output of the edge enhancement circuit, but the pixel of interest in the edge enhancement circuit is the data of the (n-2) th line, as is apparent from FIG. Originally, in order to compare the data of the pixel row 100 and the data of the pixel row 101, there is a gap of two lines as shown in FIG. 10, and thus a line buffer is required to eliminate this. , Because the pixel row 100 is edge-enhanced,
The read data, which is obtained by reading the same part on the manuscript, is input. In the signal comparison circuit 126,
The pixel data of the pixel row 100 and the pixel data of the pixel row 101 are sequentially compared, and the comparison result is output to a CPU (not shown).

That is, if the pattern 631 is not present on the read original 630, the pixel array 101 of the color sensor 210.
The image signal read by is almost equal to the black level. However, if the pattern 631 exists on the original 630, only that portion emits fluorescence, and the pixel row 101 produces white data. Document 63 including pattern 631
0 is read by the pixel array 101 in FIG.
FIG. 11C shows a state of being read by the pixel array 100 in FIG. It can be seen that while the output of the pixel column 101 is at the white level at the location of the pattern 631 in the figure, the other area 633 is at the black level. Therefore,
Since the signal comparison circuit 126 can determine that the pattern 631 exists when the read data of the pixel row 100 is not black and the read data of the pixel row 101 is white, the number of such pixels becomes a certain level or more. When it reaches, the CPU (not shown) immediately controls the printer 202 to stop copying the original.

(Embodiment 2) In the above embodiment, the pixel row 1
The wavelength range that can be read by 01 is 700 nm or more, but the emission spectrum distribution of the infrared fluorescent paint is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the characteristics have an extremely narrow band width with a peak at 800 nm. Therefore, depending on the illumination light source used, it is possible to have energy even in the region exceeding 1000 nm. When such a light source is used, it is difficult to distinguish fluorescence due to unnecessary energy of 800 nm or more. Therefore, a far infrared cut filter having the characteristics shown in FIG. 17 can be inserted in the pixel array 101. desirable. The far-infrared light of the pixel array 100 is already cut by the filter deposited on the surface of the pixel, so that the far-infrared cut filter may be located at any position in the optical path. For example, if the lenses are arranged before and after the lens 209, it is very convenient because the filter can be easily replaced even if the fluorescent characteristic of the fluorescent paint to be printed on the original changes later.

(Third Embodiment) In the above embodiments, the structure of the color sensor has been described with reference to the structure shown in FIG. 1, but the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, R pixels and G pixels may be arranged on the first line 160, and B pixels and IR pixels may be arranged on the second line 161. In this case, since the pixel sizes of the four types of pixels are all the same, if the dynamic range of the four types of pixels can be made equal depending on the characteristics of the light source,
This configuration may be desirable in some cases. Generally, the dynamic range of the B pixel signal is small, and thus the B pixel may be large as shown in FIG.

(Embodiment 4) In the above embodiment, the pixel row 1
00 and the line position correction of the pixel row 101 is explained using the FIFO used in the 5 × 5 edge emphasis circuit.
This case does not use only the FIFO of the edge enhancement circuit. For example, any image processing circuit using a FIFO such as error diffusion processing may be used.

(Fifth Embodiment) In the above-described embodiment, the pattern determination is performed only by the signal comparison of the signal comparison circuit. However, the pattern matching is performed according to the shape of the image extracted as a result of the signal comparison, and the control of the original copy is performed. You may go. In this case, the pattern matching circuit becomes large-scale and complicated, but since the type of the document can be discriminated by the pattern shape,
For example, it is possible to perform control such that copying of an in-house manuscript (secret manuscript) is permitted by entering a password, while copying of securities and the like is not permitted at all.

As described above, in a reading system in which a pattern preset with infrared fluorescent paint is printed on a copy-inhibited document and the document is read by an apparatus equipped with infrared fluorescence reading means on the copying machine side, By providing a pixel row for reading invisible information in the sensor separately from the conventional color separation pixel row, the optical path of the reading system can be simplified and the output dynamic range of the pixel for reading the infrared component can be increased. You can
Further, by setting the distance between the reading pixel row of the infrared component and the reading pixel row of the visible component to be an integral multiple of the resolution of the reading system, the distance can be electrically corrected by a line buffer or the like. It is possible to easily perform signal comparison between two pixel columns that read the same region. Further, by sharing the FIFO such as the edge emphasis circuit, it is possible to reduce the above line buffer.

In the above-described embodiment, the reading is performed by advancing the pixel row for reading the visible light, but for example, IR8bit, R, G, B 8b for each pixel.
Considering that the image data of it is generated, the capacity of the delay memory may be reduced by advancing the pixel column including IR.

As the solid-state image pickup device, in addition to the charge-coupled device (CCD) type described above, a MOS type or US Pat. No. 4,791,469 assigned to the inventors Tadahiro Omi and Nobuyoshi Tanaka
An amplification type device in which a capacitive load is connected to the emitter of the phototransistor described in the specification of the publication may be used.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, visible light and light other than visible light can be read with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a color sensor embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional reading system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional color sensor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing pixel dimensions of a conventional color sensor.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a copying machine embodying the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing spectral characteristics of RGB filters.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a light emission distribution characteristic of a halogen lamp.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing characteristics of a visible cut filter.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing characteristics of an infrared cut filter.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing pixel dimensions and the like of a color sensor embodying the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a document and a reading state of the document.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the fluorescent characteristics of fluorescent paint.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation of shading correction.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a signal processing unit 211.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of an edge enhancement circuit.

FIG. 16 is a map diagram of pixel data.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing characteristics of a far infrared cut filter.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing another example.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 to 101 pixel row 102 R filter 103 G filter 104 B filter 105 1 pixel area

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location H04N 5/33 (72) Inventor ▲ Yoshi ▼ Kazuo Naga Naga 3-3 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuya Nagase 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tsutomu Utagawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Nobutatsu Sasana 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Intaker Takehiko Nakai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A read line having at least two lines, wherein image information other than a visible light region is obtained by read information of a part or all of the pixels in the line of the first line to obtain a second line. An image reading apparatus which obtains image information in a visible light region by the pixel row of. 2. The pixel-to-pixel distance between the first pixel row and the second pixel row is an integral multiple of the pixel pitch of the first or second pixel row. Image reading device. 3. The original image is read by mechanical scanning, first by the second pixel row, and then by the first pixel row. The image reading device described. 4. The original image is read by mechanical scanning, first by the first pixel row, and then by the second pixel row. The image reading device described.