JPH07143331A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use the recording devices of different levels of print density and to print images more clearly even though the ink scatters or spreads after the printing. CONSTITUTION:A facsimile equipment includes a recording part 7 which is provided with an ink jet printer device and a density variable power part 11 which performs a variable power operation of density of the image data based on the data on facsimile images and the difference of image resolution of the ink jet printer device. Furthermore a 1st processing part 23 is added to carry out the AND arithmetic processing to produce the double picture information based on the original pixel which is adjacent to the device part that doubles the picture information on the part 11, together with a 2nd processing part 25 which thins the double picture information produced by the part 23 according to the density variable magnification based on only the AND arithmetic result.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing device,
More specifically, the present invention can be applied to a facsimile machine having a built-in ink jet printer, and also to a facsimile machine having a printer having a print dot size different from the theoretical dot size. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which can use an apparatus and can print an image more clearly even if dispersion or bleeding of ink occurs after printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus which generally sends and receives an image has an image recording apparatus such as a thermal recording apparatus or a laser printer apparatus for recording an image such as a received image. Among the image recording apparatuses, the former thermal recording apparatus has a relatively simple structure and can be constructed at a low cost, and is suitable for downsizing. Widely used.

However, in a conventional facsimile apparatus using this thermal recording device, the image is easily deteriorated due to the effects of heat, friction, chemicals, oxidation, etc. due to the characteristics of the thermal recording paper used as recording paper. However, there is a problem that the storage stability of the product deteriorates. Therefore, as a conventional means for solving the problem that the storability of a recorded image by this thermal recording device is deteriorated, it is used in a personal computer or the like,
It is considered that a relatively inexpensive printer, which is commercially available as a hard copy device, may be incorporated into a facsimile as an image recording device. According to this method, a facsimile device having a good preservation of recorded images is relatively inexpensive. It is thought that it can be realized.

[0004]

As described above, in the facsimile machine in which the printer apparatus used in the personal computer or the like is incorporated as the image recording apparatus, the storability of the recorded image is better than that of the facsimile apparatus using the thermal recording apparatus. It is considered that the printer device is generally used for recording and outputting specified graphic characters, and the data structure of the data handled is different from that of the facsimile device which records an image in line units. However, there is a problem that the printer cannot be used as an image recording device of a facsimile simply by simply incorporating the printer. Hereinafter, a specific description will be given with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b), the size of one pixel is different between the facsimile device and the printer device, and as shown in FIG. 16 (a), the pixel of the facsimile device is in the main scanning direction. 8 pieces / mm (0.125m
m), and the size in the sub-scanning direction is 3.85 lines / mm (0.26 mm) in the standard and 7.7 lines / mm (0.13 mm) in the detail, whereas in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6 (b), in the pixels of the printer device, 360 DPI (0.07055 mm) or 30 DP is used for both main and sub scanning.
I. For this reason, the size of one pixel is different between the facsimile device and the printer device, and as a result, the data structure of the data to be handled is different as described above. Therefore, by simply incorporating the printer device, it can be used as an image record of the facsimile device. I can't.

Next, in thermal recording used in a facsimile machine, a thermal head adapted to the pixels of the facsimile machine is used, and the pixels printed by this thermal head are of the same size as standard pixels. However,
In a printer using ink, as shown in FIG. 16C, the actually printed pixel becomes larger than the standard pixel due to ink dispersion and bleeding. Therefore, when a printer device using ink is used as a recording device of a facsimile device, the printed image is darkened as a whole, and thin lines such as characters are thickened, resulting in a decrease in resolution. .

Therefore, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus which can use recording apparatuses having different printing densities and can print an image more clearly even if ink dispersion or bleeding occurs after printing. To aim.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a recording unit having an ink jet printer device, image data of a facsimile image, and a density change of the image data based on a difference in resolution of the ink jet printer device. In a facsimile apparatus having a density scaling unit that performs doubling, an AND operation is performed based on an original pixel adjacent to a device unit that doubles the image information of the density scaling unit to obtain 2
The first processing unit that forms double image information and the second processing unit that thins out only the result value obtained by ANDing the doubled image information formed by the first processing unit based on the density scaling factor. It has a processing part.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned first aspect of the present invention, when density scaling in the main scanning direction is performed, 1
A first density scaling unit that performs processing in pixel units, and a second density scaling unit that performs processing in one line units when performing density scaling in the sub-scanning direction
And a density variable portion of.
In the invention according to claim 3, in the invention according to claims 1 and 2, it is possible to select whether the value of the result of the AND operation based on the adjacent original image information is arranged on the left or right side.
It is characterized by having an ND operation result value arrangement selecting unit.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, there is provided a white data arranging section for arranging white data instead of a value of an AND operation processing result. .

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, image information of the density scaling unit for scaling the density of the image data based on the difference between the image data of the facsimile image and the resolution of the ink jet printer provided in the recording unit. Based on the original pixel adjacent to the device section for doubling the pixel number, the AND processing is performed by the first processing section, and based on the density scaling factor, the first processing section The second processing unit is configured to be able to perform thinning-out only from the result value obtained by ANDing the configured double image information. For this reason, the density conversion can be configured to include the AND operation result with the adjacent pixels, and the thinned pixel can be configured to be thinned out only from the AND operation result value. In consideration of the characteristic of being enlarged and printed by, the density-converted image information can be always made a little smaller without losing the information of the original pixel. Therefore, since the expansion of ink bleeding is taken into consideration,
An image can be printed more clearly even when recording devices having different print densities are used and the ink generated after printing is bleeding.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the density scaling in the main scanning direction is performed, the processing for each pixel is performed by the first density scaling unit, and when the density scaling in the sub scanning direction is performed. ,
The processing is performed on a line-by-line basis by the second density scaling unit. Therefore, 1 in the main scanning direction
The sub-scanning method can be operated on a line-by-line basis as well as on a pixel-by-pixel basis, so that the respective configurations can be made similar and control or the like can be easily performed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the AND operation result value arrangement selecting unit can select whether to arrange the value of the result of the AND operation based on the adjacent original image information on either the left or right side. To do. For this reason, since the AND operation processing result value can be arranged on either the left or right side of the original pixel, it is possible to correct the printing misalignment of the forward path and the backward path generated by the serial printer.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the white data arranging unit can arrange the white data instead of the value of the AND operation processing result. Therefore, since the white data of "0" can be inserted in place of the result of the AND operation processing, the ink can be saved and printed without loss of the original image information.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of a group 3 facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a control unit for performing control processing of each unit of the facsimile apparatus, printer interface control processing for exchanging data with a printer, and facsimile transmission control procedure processing, and 2 is a control unit 1.
Is a system memory that stores a control processing program executed by the control processing program and various data necessary for executing the processing program, and that constitutes a work area of the control unit 1. It is a parameter memory that stores information. Next, 4 is a scanner for reading a document image at a predetermined resolution, and 5 is a switching circuit for connecting the external connection end of the printer 6 to either the printer interface circuit 7 or the external connector 8.

Here, the above-mentioned printer 6 records and outputs an image at a predetermined resolution, for example, 360 dots / 25.4 [mm], and has a signal interface function conforming to the so-called Centronisk interface specification. The interface function is used to exchange various data with an external device, and the printer interface circuit 7 described above has a physical connection circuit function among the signal interface functions conforming to the Centronisk interface specification. This is realized, and at the time of data recording, the recording data PDT of an 8-bit parallel signal is output in synchronization with the load clock LDCK output from the printer 6. Next, 9 is an operation display unit that operates this facsimile apparatus and includes various operation keys and various display units, and 10 encodes and compresses the image signal, and the original image information that has been encoded and compressed. An encoding / decoding unit for decoding the image signal, 11 realizes a resolution conversion processing unit for converting the facsimile image signal into the recording resolution of the printer 6, and 12 displays the image information in the encoded and compressed state. It is an image storage device that records many images. Further, 13 has a low-speed modem function (V.21 modem) for exchanging transmission procedure signals and a high-speed modem function (V.29 modem, V.27ter modem, etc.) mainly for exchanging image information, And a Group 3 facsimile modem that realizes the modem function of Group 3 facsimile,
A network control device 14 has an automatic call originating / receiving function and connects the facsimile device to a public telephone line network.

The control unit 1, the system memory 2, the parameter memory 3, the scanner 4, the printer 6, the printer interface circuit 7, the operation display unit 9, the encoding / decoding unit 10, the image storage device 12, and the group 3 facsimile. The modem 13 and the network controller 14 are connected to the system bus 1
Data is exchanged between these elements mainly via the system bus 15. Data is exchanged directly between the network control device 10 and the group 3 facsimile modem 9, and the switching circuit 5 is controlled by the control unit 1 so that the switching operation is performed. Image processing unit 11
Done in.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in comparison with a conventional one. Here, the conventional image processing will be described first.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of conventional density conversion. Figure 2
FIG. 2A is image information of the facsimile device at the time of standard, and FIG. 2B is image information of the facsimile device at the time of Diet. Image information for standard is about 10
It corresponds to 0 DPI, and at the time of diet, it corresponds to about 200 DPI. Conventionally, first, image information equivalent to about 400 DPI is created. At this time, quadruple the standard time and double the diet time. As shown in FIG. 2C, 360 DPI is created by thinning out the image information of about 400 DPI created here in a distributed manner. In addition,
As shown in FIG. 2D, the result is the same even if the thinning-out is performed from the front and rear pixels by calculation.

As can be seen from the print data shown in FIG. 2D, there are two print pixels shown in FIG. 2E. The number of pixels not thinned out is two for A1A2, and the number of pixels thinned out is one. As can be seen from this, it is basically impossible to correctly print the standard pixels of the facsimile apparatus, and the pixels are configured as a whole by using the large pixels and the small pixels. Further, as a problem, as described above, the print pixels are enlarged due to ink bleeding, and the image cannot be printed clearly.

On the other hand, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to prevent the enlargement due to the density conversion and the enlargement due to the ink, all the original pixels are density-converted to the smaller one, and the enlargement due to the ink at the time of printing is performed. Is designed to be inconspicuous. Hereinafter, an embodiment according to claim 1 will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the density conversion according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a conventional 400
This is image information of DPI. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a pixel on the left side (first side) of the same information, a pixel on the left side thereof, and AN
D calculation processing is performed and the value is set. For example, (B1) AN
This is performed so that D (AA2) = (B1 '). However, since there is no pixel on the left side only at the leftmost end, an AND operation is performed with 1 to bring the value of A1 as it is. Thinning is performed from the image information of 400 DPI created in this way, but the thinning is all done on the first side to prevent the original pixel from being erased.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3C, a ruled line in which only one pixel is black does not become thick due to the density conversion and becomes a ruled line of one pixel. Also,
Although it is smaller than the original size, the ruled line approaches the original size by taking advantage of the characteristic that it expands due to ink bleeding.
It becomes smaller by one 0DPI and comes closer to the original pixel due to ink bleeding.

Next, the operation of the image processing unit 11 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. First, the pixels read from the image storage device 12 are recorded in the original pixel memory 21 and the previous pixel memory 22, and then AN
The D operation processing unit 23 performs an AND of the value of the original pixel memory 21 and the value of the previous pixel memory 22. Then, the switching unit 2
After switching between the original pixel and the AND pixel, the output / thinning processing unit 25 outputs the pixel to the print control unit of the printer interface circuit 7 at the time of output, and does not output at the time of thinning.

Next, the operation flow of an embodiment according to claim 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, as an initial setting, “1” is recorded in the previous pixel memory 22 (process S ₁ ), it is determined whether it is standard or diet (process S ₂ ), and in the standard time (process S ₂ ), image information is set. Is doubled to make it the same as at diet (process S ₃ ).
Next, the image information is read from the image storage device 12 (process S ₄ ), and it is determined by the density conversion rate whether or not the thinning is based on the ratio of thinning (process S ₅ ), and when thinning is not performed (process S ₅ ).
ANDs the values of the original pixel memory 21 and the previous pixel memory 22.
After performing the AND operation in the operation processing unit 23 (process S ₆ ),
The result is output by switching the switching unit 24 (process S ₇ ). On the other hand, when thinning exists (process S ₅ ), the output / thinning processing unit 25 does not output to the printer interface circuit 7 of the print control unit. Then, the switching unit 24 is switched to output the original pixel (process S ₈ ), and after recording the original pixel in the previous pixel memory 22 (process S ₉ ), it is judged whether or not it is the end, and if there is the next pixel, The process returns to step S ₄ and the same process as above is repeated.

Thus, in this embodiment (claim 1),
Doubling the image information of the density scaling unit to perform double AND operation on the basis of the original pixel adjacent to the device unit to form the doubled image information. On the other hand, A
The thinning-out can be performed only from the result value of the ND calculation. For this reason, the density conversion can be configured to include the AND operation result with the adjacent pixels, and the thinned pixel can be configured to be thinned out only from the AND operation result value. In consideration of the characteristic of being enlarged and printed by, the density-converted image information can be always reduced without losing the information of the original pixel. Therefore, since the expansion of ink bleeding is taken into consideration, an image can be printed more clearly even when a recording apparatus having a different printing density is used or the ink generated after printing bleeds.

Next, in the invention according to claim 2, the structure according to claim 1 is configured to operate in the unit of one pixel in the main scanning direction and in the unit of one line in the sub-scanning direction. The sub-scan is configured after the main scan. An embodiment according to claim 2 will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. First, the operation of the image processing unit 11 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. First, the original pixel memory 31 records one pixel in the main scanning direction, and then the previous pixel memory 32 stores the previous original pixel 1
After recording the pixels, the AND operation processing unit 33 performs an AND operation for each pixel. Then, the switching unit 34
After switching in pixel units, the thinning processing unit 35
Thinning is performed in units of one pixel. Next, the original image line memory 36 records the processing result of the thinning processing unit 35 from the original pixel memory 31 on a line-by-line basis, and then the previous image line memory 37 records the previous line and then the AND operation processing unit 38. Is calculated in units of one line. Then, the switching unit 39 performs switching for each line, and then the thinning processing unit 40 performs thinning for each line.

Next, the operation flow of one embodiment according to claim 1 will be described.
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The above configuration
Is the pixel unit processing according to claim 1, that is, the main scanning direction.
Processing for each pixel is performed (processing S_{twenty one}) End of one line
It is judged whether or not the process is completed (process S_{twenty two}) Pixel processing for one line
Repeat the reason. Then, processing is performed in line units in the sub-scanning direction.
(Process S_{twenty three}) Is the processing for one page completed?
It is determined whether or not (process S _{twenty four}), If the processing for one page is finished
If not completed (Process S_{twenty four}) Is the process S_{twenty one}Back on again
Repeat the same processing as described above, while processing one page
When finished (Process S_{twenty four}) Ends the process.

Thus, in this embodiment (claim 2),
When performing density scaling in the main scanning direction, processing is performed on a pixel-by-pixel basis, while when performing density scaling in the sub-scanning direction, 1 is performed.
It is configured so that line-by-line processing can be performed. Therefore, the main scanning direction can be operated in units of one pixel, and the sub-scanning method can be operated in units of one line, so that the respective configurations can be made similar and control or the like can be easily performed. it can.

Next, according to the third aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, in the serial printer device, the head structure is such that one dot is aligned in the sub-scanning direction, and the head reciprocates in the main scanning direction. To print. However, due to the structure of the serial printer, it is difficult to accurately configure the print positions for forward printing and backward printing. Therefore, when a vertical ruled line of dots as shown in FIG. 9 is printed, a print position shift occurs in the forward and backward passes, and the image is deteriorated. Here, the AND described above in the embodiment according to claim 1
Considering the arithmetic processing, as can be seen from FIG. 10, it can be seen that, when the AND operation is performed on the first side, the printed image is printed 1/2 right from the center position of the original pixel. On the contrary, as can be seen from FIG. 11, if the second side is AND-processed, it will be understood that the printing is performed to the left half of the center position of the original pixel.

Therefore, in the embodiment according to claim 3, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the first-side AND operation processing is performed during the forward printing and the second-side AND operation processing is performed during the backward printing with respect to the deviation of the bidirectional printing as shown in FIG.
In addition to the forward path, one dot is printed on the left side for the return path, and the reverse characteristic can be corrected.

Next, the operation flow of an embodiment according to claim 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In addition,
13, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5 indicate the same or corresponding parts. Here, as shown in FIG. 13, after the image information of the process S ₄ is read with respect to the flowchart of FIG.
It is determined whether the leftmost (process S _31), when the leftmost (process S _31), it is determined whether the shift then (process S _32), when not shifted (process S _32), the Go to process S ₅ . On the other hand, when shifting (process S ₃₂ ), a flag is set (process S ₃₃ ),
Jump to process S ₈ . As a result, the dot at the leftmost end is eliminated. Then, after it is determined that the end with the process S _10, it is detected whether or flags were shifting the leftmost is set (process S _34), when the flag is set (process S _34), the Since there is one dot less, the final pixel is output again (process _S35 ).

Thus, in this embodiment (claim 3),
The configuration is such that it is possible to select whether to place the value of the result of the AND operation based on the adjacent original image information on either the left or right side. For this reason, since the AND operation processing result values can be arranged on the left and right sides of the original pixel, it is possible to correct the print position deviation between the forward path and the backward path generated by the serial printer.

Next, an embodiment according to claim 4 will be concretely described with reference to the drawings. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the image information of the facsimile apparatus is doubled and thinned out. That is, without considering thinning, the original pixel 20
It is considered that an AND operation value of 160 DPI is added to 0 DPI. Based on this idea, the value of AND operation is
Even if the image is not printed, the original pixel is surely printed, so that the image information in which the image becomes light is not lost. In addition, due to the characteristic that the ink is enlarged and printed due to bleeding, the white portion is actually inconspicuous. From the above, by inserting the white data “0” in place of the AND operation processing value, the ink save mode can be easily performed. Here, FIG. 14A shows a case where 0 is entered only in the main scanning direction, and FIG. 14B shows a case where 0 is entered only in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, the ink is saved to about 1/2. FIG. 14C shows the case where 0 is entered in both the main and sub scanning directions. As a result, it is saved to 1/4. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the configuration may be configured by replacing the switching unit 41 for inserting “0” (white data) instead of the AND operation result of the configuration of FIG.

Thus, in this embodiment (claim 4),
The white data can be arranged in place of the value of the AND operation processing result. Therefore, since the white data of "0" can be inserted in place of the result of the AND operation processing, the ink can be saved and printed without loss of the original image information.

[0034]

According to the present invention, it is possible to use recording devices having different printing densities, and moreover, it is possible to print an image more clearly even if ink dispersion or bleeding occurs after printing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of conventional density conversion.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of density conversion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of an embodiment according to claim 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image processing unit of an embodiment according to claim 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of an embodiment according to claim 2;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how the head reciprocates in the main scanning direction in the case of a head configuration in which one dot is arranged in the sub scanning direction.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how a print position shift occurs in the forward and backward passes when a 1-dot vertical ruled line is printed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which a print image is printed 1/2 right from the center position of the original pixel when the AND operation is performed on the first side.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing how a print image is printed 1/2 left from the center position of an original pixel when the AND operation is performed on the second side.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a method of correcting a deviation in bidirectional printing according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of an embodiment according to claim 3;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state in which ink is saved when 0 is entered in the main scanning direction, the sub scanning direction, and the main sub scanning direction according to the fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing unit of an embodiment according to claim 4;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a problem of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Control Unit 2 System Memory 3 Parameter Memory 4 Scanner 5 Switching Circuit 6 Printer 7 Printer Interface Circuit 8 External Connector 9 Operation Display Unit 10 Encoding / Decoding Unit 11 Image Processing Unit 12 Image Storage Device 13 G3 Facsimile Modem 14 Network Control Device 15 System bus 21,31 Original pixel memory 22,32 Previous pixel memory 23,33,38 AND operation processing section 24,34,39,41 Switching section 25 Output / decimation processing section 35,40 Decimation processing section 36 Original image line memory 37 Previous stroke line memory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a recording section having an inkjet printer apparatus; and a density scaling section for scaling the density of image data of a facsimile image and the image data based on the difference in resolution of the inkjet printer apparatus. A first processing unit configured to perform AND operation processing based on an original pixel adjacent to a device unit that doubles the image information of the density scaling unit, and based on the density scaling ratio. And a second processing unit for thinning out only the result value obtained by ANDing the doubled image information configured by the first processing unit. 2. When performing density scaling in the main scanning direction, a first density scaling unit that performs processing in units of one pixel, and when performing density scaling in the sub-scanning direction, processing in units of one line is performed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second density scaling unit. 3. An AND operation result value arrangement selecting section for selecting whether to arrange the value of the result of the AND operation based on the adjacent original image information on the left side or the right side. 2. The image processing device according to 2. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a white data arranging section for arranging white data instead of the value of the AND operation processing result.