JPH06233114A - Copy machine with staple function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent characters or images from being overlapped at a stapled part when staple is designated. CONSTITUTION:Original image data read by a CCD sensor 22 are converted to digital signals by an A/D converter 31, binarized by a binarizing part 33 and stored in an image memory 34 after receiving shading correction at a shading correction part 32. Concerning the image data stored in this image memory 34, the presence/absence of images peripheral to the stapled part of an original is recognized by a stapled part peripheral image recognition part 36 and when the image is temporarily recognized, the shift of the image and/or the reduction processing of the image is performed by a control part 37. An image memory 35 for work is provided for recognizing the stapled part peripheral image of the original and for selecting the shift of the image and/or the reduction processing of the image, and the control part 37 controls an image shift processing part 38 and a reduction processing part 39.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copying machine with a stapling function, and more specifically, in a printer or facsimile having a finisher, when stapling is designated, images and characters are not printed on the stapling portion and its periphery. The present invention relates to a copier with a stapling function that prevents entry.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) are block diagrams of an image reading section in a conventional copying machine. In the figure, 101 is a scanner, 102 is a copy lamp, 103 optical character sensor (photodiode), Reference numeral 104 is a copy lamp control circuit. In a conventional copying machine, an optical sensor (AE sensor, photodiode) 103 is used for correcting the density of a document and the brightness of a copy lamp 102. This is because the AE sensor 103 detects the reflected light which is attached to the scanner 101 and which is returned by the copy lamp 102 hitting the document, and the illuminance of the reflected light is determined by the current value to keep the brightness of the copy lamp 102 constant. As described above, the copy lamp control circuit 104 increases or decreases the copy lamp voltage. Further, in a conventional copying machine having a stapling function, stapling (stapling (registered trademark) stop) is to stap at a designated position regardless of the size or state of an image.

[0003]

As described above, the conventional copying machine does not detect whether or not an image exists in the designated area on the document. At present, an AE sensor (photodiode) for detecting the brightness of a document is adopted in many analog copying machines.
It is intended to capture a wide range of brightness as much as possible, and it cannot be determined whether or not there is an image in a specific area. Therefore, it is preferable to use a CCD sensor like a digital copying machine to determine whether or not there is an image in the designated area. Even if an analog copier is used, a dedicated sensor will be attached for that purpose. Also, with the stapling technology with the finisher in the conventional copying machine, the stapler is only attached to the specified location regardless of the size and state of the image, so it is hidden when the stapled portion or the bound copy is turned over. Even if there are characters and images in the peripheral area that are likely to end up, they will be bound as they are, making the copy difficult to see.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when stapling at the finisher is designated, a warning is displayed and a stapling is performed when a document image is present at a position to be a binding portion. To prevent the image from being applied to the binding part or the peripheral part by reducing or shifting the image applied to the stapling part and its periphery, and to prevent the image from appearing when the bound copy is turned over. Providing a copying machine with a staple function that eliminates problems such as chipping and difficulty in viewing, and eliminates the need for the user to individually correct copies that have been bound with images on the binding area and peripheral areas The purpose is to do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a storage means for scanning an original and storing image data captured by a solid-state image pickup device, and image data stored by the storage means. An image recognition means for recognizing the presence or absence of an image around the binding portion, a control means for selecting an image shift processing mode and / or a reduction processing mode by the output of the image recognition means, and a mode selected by the control means. The image shift processing means and / or the reduction processing means for performing the image shift processing and / or the reduction processing based on the above, and when a character or an image is recognized in the binding portion and its periphery when stapling is designated, the binding portion is changed to the binding portion. It is characterized by shifting and / or reducing the characters and images so that the characters and images do not overlap.

[0006]

[Function] When stapling by the finisher is specified, the binding portion and its surroundings are checked, and when a character or an image is detected in the binding portion, a warning is displayed to the user that the stapling portion and the image area overlap. Then, the image is reduced or shifted so that the image and characters do not enter the stapling binding portion and its periphery, and the image is output.

[0007]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of a digital copying machine with a stapling function according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a copying machine main body, 2 is a document feeder, 3 is a document table,
4 is a document, 5 is an exposure position, 6 is an exposure lamp, 7 is a document,
Reference numeral 8 is a mirror, 9 is a lens, 10 is a charger, 11 is a photoconductor, 12 is a toner image forming position, 13 is a developing tank, 14 is toner, 15 is a paper cassette, 16 is paper, 17 is a transfer portion, and 18 is Conveyance path, 19 is a fixing device, 20 is a cleaner, 2
1 is a laser driver unit, 22 is a CCD (Charge
Coupled Device: Charge coupled device sensor, 23 is a mirror, 24 is an intermediate tray, 25 is a finisher section, 26
Is a paper ejection tray.

A document transport device 2 for automatically transporting a document is provided above the main body 1 of the copying machine, and a document 4 placed on a document table 3 is fed to an exposure position 5. Normally, the copying machine body 1
A document is placed by the operator at the exposure position 5 provided on the upper part of the table, and copying is executed. In the case of copying a sheet original, the original conveying device is used. Exposure lamp 6
Illuminates the fed original 7, the reflected light from the original is reflected by the mirror 8, passes through the lens 9, and passes through the CCD sensor 22.
It is photoelectrically converted by and is taken in as an electric signal.

The image data taken in by the CCD sensor 22 is processed by the image processing section and sent to the laser driver unit 21, and the laser light whose on / off is controlled according to the image data is passed through the mirror 23 to the arrow A. The photoconductor 11 rotatable in the direction is exposed. A charger 10 is arranged upstream of the exposure position of the photoconductor 11 in the rotational direction, and the photoconductor 11 is uniformly charged prior to the exposure. An image is formed.

A developing tank 13 is disposed downstream of the exposure position of the laser beam in the rotation direction of the photoconductor.
The toner 14 stored in the developing tank 13 is supplied in accordance with the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 11 to form a toner image from the electrostatic latent image. The formed toner image is transferred onto the paper 16 supplied from the paper cassette 15 onto the transfer unit 1.
The image is transferred at 7, is fixed by the fixing device 19, and is stapled by the finisher unit 25 when the staple is selected, and then discharged to the discharge tray 26 or the intermediate tray 24. The toner remaining on the photoconductor 11 is removed by the cleaner 20.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image processing unit in FIG. 1, in which 31 is an A / D converter, 32 is a shading correction unit, 33 is a binarization unit, 34 is an image memory, and 35 is a work. For image memory, 36 is a binding part peripheral image recognition part, 37 is a control part, 38 is an image shift processing part, 39 is a reduction processing part, and other parts having the same operation as in FIG. is there. Original image data read by the CCD sensor 22 is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter 31, subjected to shading correction by a shading correction section 32, and then binarized by a binarization section 33 to be image memory. It is stored in 34. With respect to the image data stored in the image memory 34, the binding part peripheral image recognition part 36 recognizes the presence or absence of the image around the binding part of the document, and if the image is recognized, the control part 37 shifts the image or Performs image reduction processing. The working image memory 35 is provided for recognizing the peripheral image of the binding portion of the document and selecting the image shift or image reduction processing, and the control unit 3
7 controls the image shift processing unit 38 and the reduction processing unit 39.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the digital copying machine shown in FIG. Hereinafter, each step will be described in order. When the stapling process (step 1) and this mode are selected from the operation panel (not shown) (step 2) and the copying process is started (step 3), the document is pre-scanned (step 4), and the image of the bound portion and its periphery is checked. Carry out (step 5). If the image is not recognized in that portion, normal copy processing is performed, and if the image is recognized (step 6), the image is entirely shifted so that the image does not enter the binding portion and its periphery (step 7). . If the image fits within the paper size by this shift process, the shift process is selected, and if the image dropout occurs without fitting within the paper size (step
8) The image is reduced at an appropriate magnification so that the image does not enter the bound portion and its periphery (step 9). These processes are performed for each document (step 10), and finally staple processing (stapling) is performed (step 11), and all the processes are completed by discharging.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are diagrams showing the stapling process according to the present invention. FIGS. 4A and 4B are processes showing the shift process, and FIGS. 4C to 4E are shift processes. Processes showing the process + reduction process are shown respectively. The circular dotted line in the figure indicates the stapling area. First, the shift process will be described. In FIG. 5A, the characters "A, B, ... H" are printed on the original document. Since the stapling area overlaps the character "A", shift processing is performed, and the result is as shown in Fig. (B). "A, B, ... H" moves downward (downward and slightly rightward), and the character The overlap between "A" and the stapling area is eliminated and stapled.

Next, the shift processing + reduction processing will be described. In Figure (c), the original manuscript has "A, B,
The character "... H" is printed. Since the stapling area overlaps the character "A", the shift process is performed, and the result is as shown in FIG. 7D, and "A, B, ... H" moves downward. In this case, as can be seen from the figure (d), the letters "G,
Image loss occurs in the lower part of "H, I". Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6E, when the reduction process is performed, the image is properly placed on the paper surface and the staples can be stapled by the stoppers.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of an analog (color) copying machine with a stapling function according to the present invention, in which 31 is a lamp unit, 32, 33 and 3.
4 is a mirror, 35 is a lens unit, 36 is a mirror, 3
7 is a document placing table, 38 is a first transfer roller, 39 is a mirror, 40 is a photosensitive drum, 41 is a black developing tank, 42
Is a yellow developing tank, 43 is a magenta developing tank, 44 is a cyan developing tank, 45 is a discharge lamp, 46 is a charging charger,
Reference numeral 47 is a transfer belt, 48 is a second transfer roller, 49 is a resist roller, 50 is a paper feed cassette, 51, 54 and 57 are cleaning sections, 51a, 54a and 57a are cleaning blades, and 52, 55 and 58 are discharged toner receivers. , 53,
56 and 59 are auger shafts, 60 is a suction transfer section, 6
Reference numeral 1 is a fixing unit, 62 is a discharge roller, and 63 is a copying machine.

At the upper end of the copying machine 63, a document placing table 37 made of hard transparent glass is arranged. A document (not shown) placed on the document table 37 is illuminated by the lamp unit 31, and the reflected light from the document is reflected by the mirrors 32, 33, 34, the lens unit 35, and the mirror 3.
The photosensitive drum 40, which is rotatable in the direction of the arrow B, is exposed via 6, 39. The lamp unit 31, the mirror 32 and the like constitute a scanner.

Photoreceptor drum 40 rotatable in the direction of arrow B
A charging charger 46 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 40 prior to exposure is provided in the rotation region of, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the exposed portion. In addition, the charger 46
A developing device provided with an inter-image eraser, a black developing tank 41, a yellow developing tank 42, a magenta developing tank 43, and a cyan developing tank 44, which are not shown, on the downstream side of the transfer belt 4.
7, the cleaning unit 51 and the static elimination lamp 45 are arranged in this order. The developing tanks 41 to 44 of the developing device store the toner of the corresponding color.

In the above arrangement, color copying is performed in the following operation procedure. When the charging charger 46 uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor drum 40, a fourth scanning is performed by the scanner, and the reflected light from the document passes through a color separation filter (not shown) and an interimage eraser (not shown). ) Is subjected to slit exposure on the surface of the photosensitive drum, and a blue electrostatic latent image is formed on the exposed portion. Then, the inter-image eraser erases the portion corresponding to the non-image area of the electrostatic latent image, and the yellow toner is supplied from the yellow developing tank 42 to the electrostatic latent image of the non-erased image area to form a toner image of the same color. It

Next, the toner image is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and a high DC negative voltage is applied to the first transfer roller 38 to the transfer belt 47, a portion of which is pressed against the surface of the photosensitive drum 40. Is transferred by. At this time, a part of the toner that does not contribute to the transfer remains on the surface of the photosensitive drum 40, but the cleaning unit 51 scrapes off the residual toner. Then, the static elimination lamp 45 eliminates the residual charges on the surface of the photosensitive drum. When the above steps are completed, the charger 46 charges the surface of the photosensitive drum again uniformly, and
The reflected light from the original obtained by the second scan is slit-exposed to form a green electrostatic latent image.

Similarly, the non-image area is erased by the inter-image eraser, and the magenta developing tank 43 is formed on the electrostatic latent image.
The magenta toner is supplied to form a toner image of the same color. Then, this toner image is transferred to the transfer belt 47 and the images are superimposed. After that, when the same processing as described above is performed, the charging charger 46 charges the surface of the photosensitive drum again uniformly, and thereafter, the cyan toner is supplied from the cyan developing tank 44 to the photosensitive drum 40 in the same manner. An image is formed. Then, this toner image is transferred to the transfer belt 47, and final image superposition is performed. After that, the second transfer roller 48, which has not been in contact until now, is brought into pressure contact with the transfer belt, and the toner image on the transfer belt 47 on which the images are superimposed is transferred to the copy sheet.

A negative voltage higher than the transfer belt surface potential is applied to the second transfer roller 48. The copy paper on which the toner image has been transferred is then conveyed by the suction conveyance unit 60 to the fixing device 61, where the toner is fixed there, and then ejected by the ejection roller 62 to the outside of the machine. On the other hand, black and white copying is performed by supplying black toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor drum 40 from the black developing tank 41 and transferring the toner image onto copy paper via the transfer belt 47.

In the case of an analog copying machine, a sensor is used to read a change in the amount of light using an optical sensor provided on the scanner to detect an image on a document. At this time, since it is necessary to detect only the area to be stapled in the lateral direction (the moving direction of the scanner), the encoder signal pulse of the scanner motor is used for this. This signal turns ON / OFF at a fixed distance, so for example 0.5 m
If it is an encoder that turns ON / OFF at m intervals, in order to detect an area of 10 mm from a point 15 mm from the start point of the scanner, count ON / OFF 30 times from the start, then turn ON / OFF 20 times later. The specified area will be reached while you do.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are block diagrams of the image recognition section. In the figure, 71 is a document, 72 is a table glass, and 73.
Is a scanner motor, 74 is a scanner, 75 is a copy lamp, 76 is a lens, and 77 is an optical sensor (CCD line sensor). An optical sensor (CCD line sensor) 77 incorporated in the scanner 74 receives reflected light from the document. Here, the lens 76 is used to receive the reflected light from a certain direction so that the reflected light becomes as the original image. If the lens 76 is not used, the reflected light from here and there will enter the optical sensor 77 at the same time, and it will be impossible to determine whether or not there is an image.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the image recognition section.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing signal waveforms of respective portions in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the scanner and the document arrangement and the encoder signal in the image recognition portion. 78 in the figure
Is a main printed circuit board, 79 is a signal change detection circuit, and 80
Is a lateral range detection circuit, 81 is a designated area image detection circuit, 8
Reference numeral 2 denotes a warning display circuit, and other parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 7 are designated by the same reference numerals. With the circuit shown in FIG.
Determine if there is an image in the area. As shown in FIG. 8, if there is a change in the signal from the sensor within the A count to B count of the encoder signal, it is determined that an image exists in the designated area,
Display a warning. As shown in FIG. 9, the range between the A count and the B count corresponds to the lateral range of the bound portion. Note that C
The width of the light receiving surface of the CD line sensor is the vertical direction of the designated area.

In the case of a digital copying machine, since the original image is once taken into the image memory by the CCD sensor, no special structure is required. If there is an image in the image memory of the area corresponding to the binding portion, a warning is displayed. Figure 10
Is a block diagram of an image recognition unit in a digital copying machine. In the figure, 91 is a CCD sensor, 92 is a main printed circuit board, 93 is an image memory, 94 is a CPU (central processing unit), and 95 is a warning display device. If there is a numerical value in the binding part of the image data in the memory, a warning is displayed. FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the image recognition unit in FIG. In this case, a point in the image is represented as 1 in the memory, and the blank part is 0.
Is expressed as. First, the area of the binding portion of the image memory is read (step 1), then it is judged whether the numerical value is 0 or more (step 2), and if the numerical value is 0 or more, a warning is displayed (step 3).

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there are the effects as described above. (1) When stapling by the finisher is designated, a warning is displayed when a document image is present at a position that should be a binding portion, and stapling can be prevented in advance. (2) By reducing or shifting the image applied to the portion to be stapled and its periphery, the image is prevented from being applied to the binding portion and the peripheral portion, and there is a problem that the image is missing or hard to see when the bound copy is turned over. Can be resolved. (3) It is possible to eliminate the need for the user to correct each copy that has been bound with an image on the bound portion and the peripheral portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining one embodiment of a copying machine (digital) with stapling function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image processing unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the copying machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a staple processing step of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a copying machine (analog) having a stapling function according to the present invention.

6 is a configuration diagram of an image recognition unit in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an image recognition unit in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a signal waveform of each part in FIG.

9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the scanner of the image recognition unit in FIG. 5, the layout of the document, and the encoder signal.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an image recognition unit in the digital copying machine of the present invention.

11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image recognition unit in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of an image reading unit in a conventional copying machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copying machine main body, 2 ...
Original, 5 ... Exposure position, 6 ... Exposure lamp, 7 ... Original, 8 ...
Mirror, 9 ... Lens, 10 ... Charger, 11 ... Photoconductor, 1
2 ... toner image forming position, 13 ... developing tank, 14 ... toner,
15 ... Paper cassette, 16 ... Paper, 17 ... Transfer section, 18
... Conveyance path, 19 ... Fixer, 20 ... Cleaner, 21 ... Laser driver unit, 22 ... CCD (Charge Coupled)
Device: Charge coupled device) sensor, 23 ... Mirror, 24
... Intermediate tray, 25 ... Finisher section, 26 ... Paper ejection tray.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Internal reference number FI technical display location // B42B 4/00 7517-2C (72) Inventor Masato Toshige 22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 22 Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Ueda 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Sharp Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for scanning an original and storing image data captured by a solid-state image sensor, and an image recognition unit for recognizing the presence or absence of an image around a binding portion based on the image data stored by the storage unit. And control means for selecting an image shift processing mode and / or reduction processing mode by the output of the image recognition means, and image shift processing for performing image shift processing and / or reduction processing based on the mode selected by the control means. When a staple is designated and a character or image is recognized in the binding portion and its periphery, when the stapling is designated, the character or image is shifted and / or shifted so that the character or image does not overlap the binding portion. Or, a copying machine with a stapling function characterized by being reduced in size.