JPH0787527B2 - Data editing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data editing device that edits data such as an image read by an image scanner or the like, and more particularly to a data editing device that performs real-time processing.

[Prior Art] A conventional digital copying machine is composed of a combination of an image scanner (image reading device) for reading an original image in pixel units and a digital printer using a laser.

In the case of this type of digital copier, the image information that is read is converted into a digital signal, so if you store it,
Editing processing such as changing the arrangement of image information can be performed. Therefore, a conventional digital copying machine having an editing function is equipped with an image memory having a very large storage capacity (for example, 1.6 megabytes), and all image data read by an image scanner is stored in the image memory, and then edited. It is processing.

However, in this case, a large-capacity image memory is indispensable, and the apparatus becomes expensive. Moreover, in the case of a digital copying machine, when the editing is not required, the document is read and the printing operation is performed at the same time. However, when the editing process is performed, the editing operation is started after the document reading operation is finished.
Since the print operation starts after the editing operation is completed,
It is unavoidable that the processing takes time.

[Object of the Invention] It is an object of the present invention to perform image data editing processing with a simple configuration.

[Configuration of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a first generation means (430) for generating a first synchronization signal (S42a) synchronized with one pixel; a second generation means synchronized with one line. Sync signal (S42
b) second generation means (430) for generating image data of each pixel of one line of the original image for each pixel in synchronization with the first synchronization signal, and outputting the second synchronization signal as the second synchronization signal. A reading means (400) that repeats the output operation in response to the image data storage area for at least two lines, input image data is written to a designated arbitrary address, and image data at a designated arbitrary address A first storage means (710, 720) for reading out a first counter (70) for sequentially generating write addresses to be given to the first storage means from a predetermined value by counting the first synchronization signal.
5); A second counter (706) for sequentially generating a read address to be given to the second storage means from a set value by counting the first synchronization signal; a first counter according to an edit mode. Setting means (740) for setting a set of an address and a second address; at least one set of a first address and a second address set by the setting means
Second storage means (730) for storing and outputting lines; comparison means (708) for comparing the address output by the first counter with the first address; and when the comparison means detects a match , The second address of the pair with the compared first address is set in the second counter, and 1
When the reading of all the first addresses and the second addresses on the line is completed, the control means (LD, 740) for controlling the second storage means to output the first address and the second address of the next line. );

Note that the symbols shown in the above parentheses are reference numerals of corresponding elements in the examples to be described later, but each component of the present invention is limited to only specific elements in the examples. It is not something that will be done.

With the above configuration, the write address and the read address of the first storage means are set independently, so that the image data input to the first storage means for each line of main scanning. And the arrangement of the image data that it outputs can be changed, that is, edited.

For example, after setting N1 to the first address, N2 to the second address, and storing one line of image data input to this apparatus at addresses 0 to Nmax of the first storage means, If the image data is read, when the main scanning pixel position becomes N1, the read address of the first storage means is set to N2, so the scanning pixel position N1 and the pixel position N2 of the image data to be output. There is a gap between
This causes a shift in image position. Further, when the reading of all the first addresses and the second addresses in one line is completed, the control means controls the second storage means to output the first address and the second address of the next line. Therefore, the editing mode can be switched for each scanning line.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the storage means comprises:
A first set of memories having a data storage area for at least one line; a second memory having a data storage area for at least one line; and a memory of the first set and a second set of memories in a first state One is set to the write mode and the other is set to the read mode, and in the second state, one of the first set of memories and the second set of memories is set to the read mode and the other is set to the write mode. State and second
Memory switching means for alternately repeating the above states.

According to this, for example, while writing the image data output from the image scanner to one of the memories, the data of the other memory written in the previous scanning line can be read, so that the writing operation and the reading operation can be performed at the same time. There is no need to wait for movement.

Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second address generating means is an up / down counter, and the up / down of the counter is controlled according to the information output by the editing instructing means. According to this, it is possible to switch the update direction of the write address and the read address of the storage means to the same direction and the opposite direction, and it is possible to perform mirroring (horizontal inversion) editing of image data.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a mechanical portion of a digital copying machine of one type for carrying out the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 100 is a laser printer, 200 is an ADF (automatic document feeder), 300 is a sorter, and 400 is an image scanner.

The scanner 400 has a contact glass 401 on which an original is placed.
And an optical scanning system. The optical scanning system includes an exposure lamp 402, a first mirror 403, a second mirror 404, a third mirror 405,
A lens 406, a CCD image sensor 407, etc. are provided.
The exposure lamp 402 and the first mirror 403 are fixed on a first carriage (not shown), and the second mirror 404 and the third mirror 405.
Is fixed on a second carriage (not shown). When scanning the original image, make sure that the optical path length does not change.
The carriage and the second carriage are mechanically scanned at a relative speed of 2: 1. The scanning direction is the left-right direction in FIG. This mechanical scan is the sub-scan. Main scanning is performed by solid-state scanning of the CCD image sensor 407. The original image is read by the CCD image sensor 407, converted into an electric signal and processed.

The laser printer 100 includes a laser writing system, an image reproducing system,
Equipped with paper feeding system and so on. The laser writing system includes a laser output unit 101, an image forming lens 102, and a mirror 128. Inside the laser output unit 101, a laser light source,
It has a polygon mirror that rotates at high speed by a modulator and an electric motor.

The laser light output from the laser writing system is applied to the photosensitive drum 103 included in the image reproducing system. Around the photosensitive drum, a charging charger 104, an eraser 105, a developing unit 106, a transfer charger 112, a separation charger 113, a separation claw.
114, cleaning unit 120 and so on.

The image reproduction process will be briefly described. Photoconductor drum 103
The surface is uniformly charged to a high potential by the charging charger 104. When the surface is irradiated with laser light, the potential is lowered only in the irradiated portion. Since the laser light is modulated according to the recorded image, the potential distribution corresponding to the recorded image, that is, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor by the irradiation of the laser light. The developing unit 106 is where the electrostatic latent image is formed.
When passing through, the toner adheres according to the level of the potential,
A toner image is formed by visualizing the electrostatic latent image. The recording sheet is fed to the portion where the toner image is formed at a predetermined timing and overlaps the toner image. This toner image is transferred to a recording sheet by a transfer charger 112 and separated from the photoconductor drum 103 by a separation charger 113.

The separated recording sheet is conveyed by the conveyor belt 115, thermally fixed by the fixing roller 116 having a built-in heater, and then discharged to the sorter 300. Reference numeral 118 is a paper discharge sensor for detecting the discharge of the recording sheet, and 119 is a guide plate for guiding the recording sheet to the sorter 300.

There are two paper feed systems. One paper feed system is equipped with a paper feed cassette 107, and the other paper feed system is equipped with a paper feed cassette 108. The recording sheet in the paper feed cassette 107 is fed by a paper feed roller 109. The recording sheet in the paper feed cassette 108 is fed by the paper feed roller 110. The fed recording sheet stops for a while while being in contact with the registration roller 111, and is fed to the photosensitive drum 103 at a timing synchronized with the progress of the recording process. Although not shown, each sheet feeding system is equipped with a size sensor for detecting the sheet size of the cassette.

The sorter 300 is provided with a large number of paper discharge bins (reception shelves) 305, one of these is selected, and the recording sheet is discharged to the selected portion. That is, the recording sheet supplied from the laser printer 100 by the guide plate 119 is
The sheet is conveyed upward through the sponge roller 301, the conveying roller 302, and the switching guide 304, the traveling direction is changed before the selected sheet discharge bin, and the sheet is discharged to the selected sheet discharge bin. Reference numeral 303 is an entrance sensor, and 306 is an interrupt tray.

In order to discharge the recording sheet to a predetermined bin, a discharge roller 307 and a deflecting claw 308 are provided on the paper transport path on the inlet side of each bin. Each of the deflection claws engages with a solenoid (not shown) via a spring, and is deflected by driving the solenoid. By the deflection of the deflection claw 308, the bin for ejecting the recording sheet is determined. Reference numeral 311 is a drive unit for driving rollers 301, 302, 307 that convey the recording sheet, and is connected to one electric motor 312 via a timing belt 313, an intermediate shaft 314, a clutch shaft 315, a timing belt 316, and the like. .

The automatic document feeder 200 will be described. Reference numeral 201 is a document table on which a document is placed, 202 is a paper feed roller for feeding the document on the document table, 203
Is a separation roller that separates the stacked originals one by one, 204 is a carry-in roller that carries in the separated originals, 205 is a conveyor belt that conveys the originals on the contact glass 101, and 206 is a discharge tray. Further, 208 is a sensor that detects the separated original, and 209 is a sensor that detects the original size.

The recording system of the digital copying machine shown in FIG. 1 can be used as a recording device for a host device such as a computer. When connecting a host device,
The host device and the digital copying machine are connected via the reception buffer unit 500 shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the front panel of the reception buffer unit 500 is provided with three connectors CN1, CN2 and CN3 for connecting a host device. Each connector CN1,
Above the CN2 and CN3, switches SW1, SW2 and SW3 are provided, respectively. These are three-contact type rotary switches and are used to specify the size of the recording sheet. In this example, A4, B4, and A3 sizes can be specified. The rear panel of the reception buffer unit 500 is provided with a connector CN0 for connecting this unit 500 to a digital copying machine.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the operation board of the digital copying machine shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, the operation board includes a number of keys K1, K2, K3, K4a, K4b, K5, K6a, K6b, K7, K8, K9a, K9b,
K9c, K10, K11, K12a, K12b, K13, KA, KB, KC, KS, K # and KI
And a large number of indicators D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, ...

K1 is a key to specify the operation mode of the sorter 300,
By this operation, any one of the normal mode, the sort mode and the stack mode can be selected. K2 and K3 are keys that specify the operation mode of the automatic document feeder, and K3
You can specify either ADF (fully automatic) mode or SADF (anti-automatic) mode by operating. Also, by operating K2, it is possible to specify either normal mode, unified size mode, or automatic paper selection mode.

In the size unifying mode, the copy magnification is automatically set according to the sizes of the original and paper (copy sheet) (for example, A4, B5, etc.). In the automatic paper selection mode, the paper feed system is automatically selected according to the document size and copy magnification.

K4a and K4b are keys for adjusting the binding margin. That is, in this copying machine, the correspondence between the position of the original image and the position on the copy sheet can be shifted in the sub-scanning direction. In this example, the position shift amount is −10, −5, 0, +
Either 5 or +10 (mm) can be specified. The keys K4a and K4b are used to set the binding margins on the front and back sides of the copy sheet, respectively.

K5 is a key for designating the dimension-specified scaling mode. In the size change mode, after pressing key K5, specify the document size (by operating the numeric keypad described later), then press key K #.
Press, press key K5 again, specify the copy size (by operating the numeric keypad), and press key K #. With this operation, the copy magnification is automatically set by calculating the dimensions of the original and copy.

K6a and K6b are zoom magnification / reduction keys. By pressing K6a, the copy magnification is adjusted in increments of 1%,
By pressing K6b, the copy magnification is adjusted in 1% increments. However, in this example, the adjustment range of the copy magnification is limited to 50% to 200%.

K7 is a double-sided mode designation key, and each time the key is pressed, the double-sided mode and the single-sided mode are designated alternately. K8 is a document size designation key, and by pressing this key, any of the standard sizes of A3, A4, A5, B4, B5, and B6 can be designated sequentially. The designated document size is displayed on the display D5.

K9a, K9b, and K9c are keys for designating any one of 10 types of copy magnifications defined in advance. In this example, the copy magnification is 50, 61, 71, 82, 87, 93, 100, 115, 122 and 141.
(%) Is specified. By pressing the same size key K9a, it is possible to return the magnification to 100% with one key operation, whatever the magnification is set. When the enlargement key K9b is pressed, a larger magnification is selected sequentially from the ten kinds of magnifications, and when the reduction key K9c is pressed, a smaller magnification is selected sequentially from the ten kinds of magnifications.

Note that the specified copy magnification is displayed as a maximum three-digit numerical value on the display device D5 regardless of which mode is specified.

K10 is a numeric keypad for inputting a numerical value, and is used for setting the number of copies and setting the size in the size scaling mode. The set value is displayed as a maximum of 2 digits on the display D1.

K11 is a paper key for selecting a paper feed system, and by operating this key, one of the upper cassette 107 and the lower cassette 108 is alternately selected. The display D3 displays the selected sheet feeding system and the size of the copy sheet loaded in the cassette of each sheet feeding system.

K12a and K12b are keys for adjusting the copy density. In this example, the copy density can be adjusted in seven steps. By pressing the key K12a, the density is adjusted step by step in the dark direction, and by pressing the key K12b, the density is adjusted step by step in the light direction. The set copy density is displayed on the D2
Is displayed in.

K13 is a preheat key, KC is a numeric keypad K10 is used to clear the value entered and to clear the operation after the copy operation is started.
A stop key, KS is a print start key for instructing the start of copy operation, and KI is an interrupt key.

The key KA on the left side of the operation board is used to specify the edit mode, and the key KB is used to specify the overlay print. That is, there are four key KBs, each of which has time, date,
It is assigned to specify whether to record pages and key lines. When overlay printing is designated when the document image is read by the image scanner 400 and a normal copy operation is performed, the designated information is added to the document image for recording. That is, the time, date, etc. are automatically recorded on the copy.

FIG. 4 shows an electric circuit configuration of the entire system including the digital copying machine shown in FIG. 1 and the reception buffer unit 500 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 4, this system includes a laser printer 100, an automatic document feeder 200, a sorter 300, an image scanner 400, a reception buffer unit 500, a system control unit 600, an image editing unit 700, a printer control unit.
800, a signal synthesis circuit 900, an operation board 1000, etc. are provided. Each connector CN1, CN2 of the receive buffer unit 500 and
Personal computers PC1, PC2, and PC3 are connected to CN3, respectively.

FIG. 5a shows the configuration of the system control unit 600. number 5
Referring to FIG. a, the unit 600 includes a microprocessor 610, a read only memory (ROM) 620, a read / write memory (RAM) 630, a clock circuit 640, an input / output port (I / O) 650,
It is equipped with 660 and 670. A battery 641 is connected to the power supply line of the clock circuit 640 for backup in case of power failure. The clock circuit 640 counts time and date. The time and date are
It is preset. The clock circuit 640 is connected to the system bus of the system control unit 600, and the microprocessor 610 can refer to the time and date information at any time by reading the contents of a predetermined memory address. The operation program of the microprocessor 610 and various fixed information are stored in the read-only memory 620 in advance.

FIG. 5b shows the configuration of the laser writing unit of the laser printer 100. Referring to Figure 5b, this unit includes:
Write control unit 191, laser driver 192, laser oscillator
193, an acousto-optic (AO) modulator 194, a modulator 195, a motor control unit 196, an electric motor 197, a polygon mirror 198, a beam sensor 199, etc. are provided.

The writing control unit modulates the modulation element 194 according to a recording signal applied from the outside at a timing synchronized with the rotation of the polygon mirror 198. The synchronization signal in the main scanning direction is
It is obtained from a beam sensor 199 which detects the laser beam emitted from the polygon mirror 198.

FIG. 5c shows the structure of the image scanner 400. Referring to FIG. 5c, this device 400 includes a photoelectric conversion unit 41
0, signal processing unit 420, timing control circuit 430, oscillator
440, lamp control circuit 450, scanner control unit 460, scan motor control unit 470, position sensor 480, etc. are provided.

The photoelectric conversion unit 410 includes two CCD image sensors 41
1, 412 (same as 407) and amplifiers 413 and 414 for amplifying electric signals obtained from each image sensor.
The signal processing unit 420 includes a background removal circuit 421, a density setting circuit 422, an A / D (analog / digital) converter 423, and a memory 424.

The general operation of the image scanner 400 will be described. The oscillator 440 outputs a clock pulse that serves as a reference for scanning timing. When scanning starts, the timing control circuit 430
A main scanning synchronizing pulse is given to the CD image sensors 411 and 412 to instruct signal reading for one line, and a clock pulse is given. The CCD image sensor sequentially outputs the data of each pixel of each scanning line as serial data for each pixel in synchronization with a clock pulse. When the data reading for one line is completed, the main scanning synchronizing pulse is output again and the above operation is repeated.

The result obtained by processing the output signal of the CCD image sensor and converting it into a binary signal, that is, image data is output to the signal line S41. The main scanning synchronization pulse and the clock pulse are output to the signal line S42. When scanning the original image, turn on the exposure lamp 451 (same as 402) and turn on the electric motor.
471 is driven to mechanically scan the optical scanning system. A rotary encoder 472 is coupled to the drive shaft of the electric motor 471 to detect the scanning position and speed. 480 is used to detect the home position in the sub-scanning direction.

Two types of start signals are applied to the signal line S61. When one start signal is applied, the exposure lamp 451 is turned on to perform mechanical sub-scanning, and the image signal and the scanning signal are output. When another start signal is applied, the exposure lamp 451 is turned off to perform no mechanical scanning, and only the scanning signal is output to the signal line S42.

FIG. 5d shows the configuration of the image reproduction system of the laser printer 100. Referring to FIG. 5d, the apparatus is equipped with an image reproduction system control unit 110, which includes a high voltage power supply unit 120, a paper feed control unit 130, and a heater control unit.
140, motor driver 150, solenoid driver 160, relay driver 170, signal processing circuit 180, etc. are connected.

The high voltage power supply unit 120 is connected to a charging charger, a transfer charger, a separation charger and a developing bias electrode. An electric motor of the paper feeding system is connected to the paper feeding control unit. The heater control unit 140 is connected to a fixing heater and a thermistor that detects the temperature of the fixing heater.

The image editing unit 700 shown in FIG.
It consists of two circuits. The first is the buffer circuit, which is the 5e
It has the configuration shown in the figure. The other is a masking / negative-positive inverting circuit, which has the configuration shown in FIG. 5f.

First, the circuit of FIG. 5e will be described. This circuit is functionally capable of shift, mirroring and copy editing operations. For example, when a −a shift operation in the X direction (main scanning direction) is performed on a document as shown in FIG. 8a, a recorded image shown in FIG. 8b is obtained, and a + b shift operation in the X direction is performed. The recorded image shown in FIG. 8c is obtained. When the mirroring operation is performed, a recorded image whose direction is reversed with respect to the X direction is obtained as shown in FIG. 8d. Furthermore, the
By shifting a part of the original image from the original image of FIG. 8e by Ds in the X direction and copying the image onto the original image, the recorded image shown in FIG. 8f is obtained.

The output signal (S41) of the image scanner 400 is applied to the signal input terminal of the circuit shown in FIG. 5e. In this circuit,
Two read / write memories 710 and 720 for storing image data for one line of main scanning are provided. These two memories 710 and 720 form one set, and when one writes the input data, the other reads the stored data.

These two memories are controlled so that the writing operation and the reading operation are alternately switched for each main scanning line. Address lines are switched by multiplexers 702 and 7
03, and switching of the data line is performed by multiplexer 704. The switching signal is generated by the flip-flop 701 whose state is inverted each time the main scanning synchronization pulse (S42b) from the image scanner appears.

The write address of the memories 710 and 720 is generated by the counter 705. This counter 705 has a main scanning synchronization pulse (S42
It is cleared to 0 in b) and the clock pulse (S42a) is counted. Therefore, a value corresponding to the pixel position of the data (S41) at that time in the main scanning direction appears at the output terminal of the counter 705.

An operation table 730 determines the content of the editing operation, and is composed of a read / write memory. This operation table 730 can store a plurality of sets of three types of information DT1, DT2 and DT3. One piece of information DT1 is a switching address. This corresponds to the switching position of the editing area in the main scanning direction. For example, when it is desired to perform an editing operation on an area in which the X direction position on the original image is in the range of X1 to X2, the value of X1 and the value of X2 are sequentially set (at different memory addresses) as the switching address DT1. To do.

The X-direction address output from the counter 705 is applied to the input terminal A of the digital comparator 708, and the switching address DT1 of the operation table 730 is applied to the input terminal B of the comparator 708.
Therefore, when the scan address matches the switching address DT1 stored in advance in the operation table 730, the match signal indicates the comparator 708.
Is output from. This coincidence signal is used as a counting pulse of the counter 707, a load (preset) pulse of the counter 706, and a clock pulse of the flip-flop 709.

Therefore, the count value of the counter 707 is incremented (+1) every time a coincidence signal appears. This count value is applied to the address terminal of the operation table 730 via the multiplexer 711. That is, the counter 707 operates as an address pointer of the operation table 730, and each time the scan address reaches the switching address set so far,
Switch all the referenced data sets (DT1, ST2, ST3). For example, when X1, X2, X3, ... Are set as different addresses as the switching address DT1 in sequence, when the scanning address reaches X1, the data X2 of the next address is set as the switching address DT1 from the operation table 730. Is output.
Then, at the same time as the switching address DT1 is updated, other editing information DT2 and DT3 are also updated to other ones.

The read addresses of the memories 720 and 710 are generated by the counter 706. Like the write address counter 705, this counter 706 counts main scanning clock pulses (S42a), but count data can be preset and upcount / downcount can be switched. The information DT2 output from the operation table 730 is applied to the preset data input terminal. That is, the information DT2 is the counting start address of the counter 706. The count value of the counter 706 is stored in the memory 72.
Since the read address is 0,710, the information DT2 can also be referred to as the image data read start address.

When the scan address reaches the switching address DT1, the comparator 708
Outputs a match signal, and the read start address DT2 is preset in the counter 706 by this match signal.

The information DT3 is the data terminal D of the flip-flop 709.
And the data is latched in the flip-flop 709 by the match signal. The data output from the flip-flop 709 is applied to the up / down control terminal U / D of the counter 706. Therefore, if the information DT3 is "0", the counter 706 operates as an up counter, and if the information DT3 is "1", the counter 706 operates as a down counter.

As described above, the memories 710 and 720 switch between the writing operation and the reading operation for each line of the main scanning. Therefore, if the memory 720 is in the reading mode at a certain timing, the memory 720 at that time will have The image data of one line before the scanning position of 1 are stored in the forward direction and are stored for one line.

Therefore, if the same value as the main scanning address of the image scanner 400 is given as the address of the memory 720 on the reading side, the image data output by the image scanner 400 will be delayed by one line of the main scanning and will have the same shape as the original. Is output to the signal line S71.

By giving a value different from the scanning address of the image scanner 400 as the address of the memory 720 on the reading side, the above-described editing operation is executed. That is, switching address
If D-a of FIG. 8b is set as DT1 and D of FIG. 8a is given as the read start address DT2, the image is shifted as shown in FIG. 8b, and the switching address DT1 is D + b of FIG. 8c. Set the read start address DT
If D of FIG. 8a is given as 2, the image shift is performed as shown in FIG. 8c.

Further, 0 is set as the switching address DT1, the maximum value of the document width is set in the read start address DT2, and the information DT3 is set.
If "1" is set to, the read address changes in the opposite direction, so that the data is read in the direction opposite to the image reading direction (main scanning) of the image scanner 400, and the 8th d
The mirroring operation as shown in the figure is realized.

Also, a copy operation as shown in FIG. 8f can be performed. In that case, the two positions indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 8f may be set to the switching address DT1, and the read start address DT2 may be set so that the shift operation having the width Ds shown in FIG. 8f is performed. .

The control device 740 can arbitrarily rewrite the data in the operation table. While the operation table 730 is reading data, the multiplexer 711 is set so as to select the output of the counter 707, but when rewriting the contents of the operation table 730, the multiplexer 711 is switched to set the output address of the control device 740 to the operation table 730. It is applied to the address terminal of. If the contents of the operation table 730 are not rewritten, the images of all the main scanning lines are repeatedly used, and the same editing process is performed on the data of all the scanning lines. If the contents are rewritten, the editing operation in the sub-scanning direction can also be performed.

Next, the circuit shown in FIG. 5f will be described. Functionally, this circuit performs masking and negative / positive inversion operations. That is, with respect to the original shown in FIG. 8e, the X shown in FIG.
If the other areas are masked while leaving the range of the directional positions P1 to P2, the recorded image shown in FIG. 8g can be obtained, and the area of the X direction positions P3 to P4 shown in FIG. By masking, the recorded image shown in FIG. 8h is obtained. If negative / positive inversion is performed, black pixels and white pixels of the image are exchanged.

The output signal (S71) of the circuit of FIG. 5e is applied to the input terminal of the circuit of FIG. 5f. This circuit is equipped with an operation table 750 for editing, similar to the circuit of FIG. 5e. The counter 751 counts the scanning address of the image scanner 400 and generates scanning position information. Counter 754
Counts the coincidence signal obtained from the comparator 755 and operates as an address pointer of the operation table 750.

This operation table 750 has three types of information DT4, DT5 and DT.
Can store multiple sets of 6. Information DT4 is the switching address DT
This is the switching address of this editing circuit similar to 1. Information DT5
Is a flag for determining the presence / absence of masking designation, and the information DT6 is a flag for determining the presence / absence of negative / positive inversion designation.

When the scan address reaches the switching address and the comparator 755 outputs a match signal, this causes the flags DT5 and DT6.
Are latched in flip-flops 756 and 757, respectively. If the flag DT5 is "1", the input image data is output as it is, but if the flag DT5 is "0", the output of the AND gate 752 is always "0" regardless of the input image data, The image in that area is masked and does not appear in the output.

For example, to obtain the recorded image in Figure 8g, the switching address
DT4 is set to 0, P1 and 2 and "0", "1" and "0" are set as masking flags DT5 corresponding to these respectively.
Should be set.

If the flag DT6 is "0", the output data of the AND gate 752 passes through the exclusive OR gate 753 as it is,
When the flag DT6 is "1", data obtained by inverting 1/0 of the output data of the AND gate 752 is output from the gate 753. Therefore, by setting the flag DT6 to "1", a negative image obtained by reversing the original image can be recorded.

As an example, the timing chart shown in FIG. 5g sets DT4, DT5 and DT6 of the first group of the operation table 750 to 3, 1 and 0 and sets DT4, DT5 and DT6 of the second group to 8, 0 and 1 respectively. Set, set DT4, DT5 and DT6 of the third group to 20,1
And the operation when 0 is set. The signal STB is a coincidence signal output from the comparator 755.

The configuration of the reception data buffer unit 500 shown in FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 5h. Referring to Fig. 5h, each connector CN
Buffer memories 530, 540 and 550 are connected to 1, CN2 and CN3, respectively. These memories are first-in first-out (FIFO) memories, and store a predetermined amount of 8-bit parallel data in this example.

The memories 530, 540 and 550 and the switches SW1, SW2 and SW3 arranged near the respective connectors are connected to the page analyzer 520. The connector CN0 is connected to the page analyzer 520 via the interface circuit 510. A host device having a Centronics printer standard interface can be connected to the connectors CN1, CN2, and CN3. The interface circuit 510 controls RS232C standard signal transmission.

The general operation of the page analyzer 520 is shown in Figure 7b. 7th
b Refer to the figure. This page analyzer 520 has a connector
Channel 1 (CH1) corresponding to CN1, channel 2 (CH2) corresponding to connector CN2, and channel 3 (CH3) corresponding to connector CN3 are sequentially monitored, and data processing is performed by time division control.

The data processing of channel 1 will be described. First, memory 53
Check 0 to determine whether there is received data. If it is empty, the process of channel 1 is terminated and the process of channel 2 is proceeded to. If there is received data, first enter the information of switch SW1 and set 1 based on the result.
Determine the number of rows and columns (maximum value) for arranging characters per page. That is, since the switches SW1, SW2, and SW3 correspond to the recording sheet size of each channel, the number of characters in the horizontal and vertical directions that can be stored in the switches is determined from the size.

Next, output the code previously assigned to channel 1,
Then, the paper size code corresponding to the setting of the switch SW1 is output (to 510).

Next, 1-byte data is read from the memory 530 of channel 1 and it is checked whether the data is a special code other than the character code. Paper size code, step
The number of rows and the number of columns determined in S103 are updated. If it is a line feed code, line feed processing is performed, that is, the value of the column counter that counts the number of characters in each column is cleared to 0, and the value of the line counter is incremented. If it is a page break code, page break processing is performed. That is, the column counter and the row counter are cleared to 0.

In the case of a normal character code, the column counter is incremented (+1). However, when the column counter becomes larger than the maximum number of columns determined in step S103, it is cleared to 0 and the row counter is incremented. When the row counter becomes larger than the maximum number of rows, the row counter is cleared to 0.

Then, the received data is transferred to the interface unit 51
The data is sent to 0 and this process is repeated until the reception of data for one page is completed or there is no more data in the memory 530.

The contents of the CH2 data process of step S115 and the CH3 data process of step S116 are the same as the contents of the CH1 data process described above, except that the controlled channel is changed to CH2 and CH3.

Therefore, the reception data buffer 500 receives data from the host devices of three systems, adds the channel code of each channel and the paper size code of the channel to the character information, and transmits the character information to the printer control unit 800. Note that 7b
As can be seen from the figure, when the host device sends the paper size code, the signal is the switch SW1, SW2 and SW3.
Has priority over the paper size information.

FIG. 5i shows a schematic configuration of the printer control unit 800 shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 5i, this unit includes interface circuits 810 and 820, a command emulator 830, a page memory 840, a character generator 850, a rasterizer 860, a multiplexer 880 and the like.

The interface circuit 810 is connected to the signal line Sh of the system control unit 600, and the interface circuit 820 is connected to the signal line Si of the reception data buffer unit 500. The command emulator 830 receives information sent from the system control unit 600 via the interface circuit 810, and performs processing according to the received data. Further, it receives the information sent from the reception data buffer unit 500 via the interface circuit 820, and performs the processing according to the reception data.

The page memory 840 is a read / write memory and stores code data indicating each character such as a character. In this example, a storage area for four pages is provided. Page memory 840
Character code sent from the system control unit 600 is stored in the 0th page of the first page, the 2nd page and the 3rd page.
The pages store the data received on channels 1, 2, and 3 of the receive data buffer, respectively.

The character generator 850 is a read-only memory that stores in advance pattern data of character patterns associated with each code data. The data output terminal DO of the page memory 840 is connected to the character code designation address terminal of the character generator 850.

The rasterizer 860 is a circuit that outputs the image data corresponding to the character code group stored in the page memory 840 in the form of a raster signal of the same format as the signal output by the image scanner 400. This output signal is sent to the image scanner 400
The rasterizer 860 uses the synchronization signal (S42) output from the image scanner 400 to synchronize with the.

FIG. 5j shows the circuit configuration of the rasterizer 860. Referring to Figure 5j, this circuit includes counters 861,862,865,866,
It is equipped with digital comparators 863, 864, shift register 869 and so on. The counters 861 and 862 respectively count the number of pixels in the vertical direction and the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the pixel matrix forming each character pattern.

To the input terminal A of the comparator 863 and the input terminal B of the comparator 864, the vertical direction pixel number Nv and the horizontal direction pixel number Nh of the matrix forming one character pattern are set respectively from the command emulator 830. Therefore, one for each main scan
In the line, the coincidence signal is output from the comparator 864 for every Nh pixels. This coincidence signal is counted by the counter 866.

Therefore, the value output by the counter 866 corresponds to the horizontal character position on the memory forming one page. The main scanning
A match signal is output from the comparator 863 for each of the Nv lines. This coincidence signal is counted by the counter 865. Therefore, the value output by the counter 865 corresponds to the vertical character position on the memory forming one page.

The count values of the counters 865 and 866 are applied to the address terminals of the page memory 840 via the multiplexer 880. Therefore, a matrix position for each character corresponding to the scanning position of the image scanner 400 is designated, and the character code existing at that position is read from the page memory 840.

The character code data read from the page memory 840 is converted into each pixel data of the character pattern by the character generator 850. Character generator
Output data of the counter 861 and output data of the counter 862 are applied to the scan address terminal of 850. The character generator 850 outputs pixel data of one line forming each character in parallel. This pixel data is applied to the parallel input terminal of the shift register 869. The shift register 869 sequentially outputs the set parallel data to the signal line S81 pixel by pixel in synchronization with the clock pulse (S42a). Therefore, a raster signal in the same format as the image data output by the image scanner 400 and synchronized with the image data is output to the signal line S81.

FIG. 7c shows a schematic operation of the command emulator 830. This will be described with reference to FIG. 7c. First, it is checked whether printing is in progress. That is, in print mode,
Page memory 84 synchronized with the scan signal of the image scanner
Since the data is read from 0, the command emulator 830 cannot access the page memory 840 at that time. If printing is in progress, wait until the operation is complete. If printing is not in progress, set the data input mode. That is, the multiplexer 880 is switched and set so that the command emulator 830 can access the page memory 840.

Next, it is checked whether there is a reception request from the interface circuit 810. If there is a reception request, a busy signal (BUSY) is output to the interface circuit 820 to prohibit the reception data buffer unit 500 from transmitting data. Then, the data transmitted by the system control unit 600 is received via the interface circuit 820. The received data is checked, and if it is a command code indicating print start, the print mode is set. If it is not the print start code,
The received data is stored in a predetermined address of the page memory 840. In this case, the 0th page of the page memory 840 is selected. When the data storage is completed, the busy signal of the interface circuit 820 is released.

If there is no reception request from the interface circuit 810, the presence / absence of a reception request from the interface circuit 820 is checked. If there is a reception request, the interface circuit 810
A busy signal is output to and the system control unit 600 is prohibited from transmitting data. And the interface circuit 82
Receive data from 0. The received data is determined, and the process according to the result is performed.

That is, if the received data is a channel code, the page of the page memory 840 is selected according to the code. For example, if the code indicating channel 2 appears, the memory 84
Set page selection 0 to page 2. When the channel code, the paper size code, and the print start code appear, those code data are transmitted to the system control unit 600 via the interface circuit 810.

For other code data, the received data is stored in a preselected page of the page memory 840. Then, the busy signal of the interface circuit 810 is released.

That is, the data sent from the system control unit 600 is stored in page 0 of the page memory 840, the data sent from the receive data buffer unit 500 is sent to the system control unit 600 if it is a control code, If it is a character code or the like, it is stored in a predetermined page of the page memory 840.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic operation of the system control unit 600. The operation of the entire system will be described with reference to FIG.

When the power is turned on, the initial setting is performed first, and then the standby process is performed. In the standby process, various processes such as laser printer control, sorter control, key input process, display process, and unit 800 control are sequentially executed, and the above processes are repeatedly waited until the laser printer becomes operable. Once operational,
Check for the start instruction. If there is a start instruction, the printing operation is started.

First, it is determined whether the image print mode is set.
When the document is read by the image scanner 400, the image print mode is set. In that case, a normal scanner start signal is given to the image scanner 400. When the image printing is not performed, the scanning signal start signal is given to the image scanner 400. When this signal is output, the image scanner 400 simply outputs only a scanning signal without performing mechanical scanning and image reading.

Next, processing such as laser printer control, sorter control, and editing unit control is sequentially performed, and the above processing is repeated until the recording process for one page is completed. When the printing operation is completed, the page counter is incremented (+1) and the process returns to the standby process.

FIG. 7a shows the processing of the unit 800 control shown in step S6 of FIG. In this process, it is first determined whether the overlay mode is set. Key switch KB shown in Fig. 3
If various overlay prints are specified in advance by, the corresponding processing is performed. That is, first, the time data and the date data output by the clock circuit 640 are read, the value of the page counter is read, and then the key line and other additional recording data included in the memories 620 and 630 are read.

Since the time data, the date data, and the page counter data are numerical values, a character code corresponding to the character string representing the numerical values is generated. It is checked whether the interface circuit 810 is receivable, and if possible, steps S302, S303,
The character code read in S304 and S305, that is, the overlay data, is sequentially transmitted to the printer control unit 800 byte by byte. After transmitting all the overlay data, the data set flag is set to "1".

Next, the presence or absence of a start instruction is checked. When there is a start instruction, the interface circuit 810 is ready (READ
It waits until it becomes Y) and sends a start command to the interface circuit 810.

The overlay data transmitted by the system control unit 600 is stored in the page memory 840 of the printer control unit 800.
Stored in the page.

When data is sent from the printer control unit 800, processing according to the data is performed. This type of data is a channel code, paper size code and print start code, as can be seen in FIG. 7c.

In the case of the print start code, it is regarded as a start instruction and the print operation is started. In the case of a channel code, the designation of the sorter discharge bin is set to the number indicated by the code. In the case of a paper size code, the paper size is set so as to select the paper feeding system in which the paper size matching the paper size indicated by the code is set.
For example, if the content of the paper size code corresponds to A4 size, the upper paper feed cassette 107 and the lower paper feed cassette 1
When B5 and A4 size papers are set in 08 respectively, the lower paper feed system is automatically selected.

In the sorter control in steps S3 and S13 shown in FIG. 6, the sorter 300 is controlled so as to select the discharge bin selected according to the channel code. In this example, the channels 1, 2 and 3 are respectively placed from the top of the output bin 305 from the top 1.
2nd and 3rd bins are assigned.

Therefore, when recording is performed based on the output of the personal computer PC1 connected to channel 1, the paper feed system that matches the paper size set in channel 1 is automatically selected, and the sorter is the uppermost tray. Automatically select a paper bin. When recording is performed based on the output of the personal computer PC2 connected to channel 2, the paper feed system that matches the paper size set in channel 2 is automatically selected, and the sorter is the second from the top. Automatically select the output bin. When recording is performed based on the output of the personal computer PC3 connected to the channel 3, the paper feed system that matches the paper size set in the channel 3 is automatically selected, and the sorter is arranged from the top three stages. Automatically select the eye feeding system.

The system control unit 600 switches the mode of the recording operation according to the edit mode set in the key input process of step S4. When the overlay print mode is designated, the overlay data stored in the 0th page of the page memory 840 is output at the same time as the image scanner reads the document as described above.

When no overlay print mode is specified,
Character information (page 1, 2 or 3) on the page memory 840 input from the host device via the reception data buffer 500 and image data from the image scanner 400 can be combined and recorded. In this operation mode, after the character data to be recorded is stored in the page memory 840, an image is generated by a start instruction from the operation board 1000 or a start instruction from the host device connected to a predetermined channel of the reception data buffer unit 500. Original reading scan of scanner 400 and printer control unit synchronized with it
Output raster data from 800 at the same time.

That is, image data of a document such as a photograph and data such as characters can be combined and printed. In this example, there are two types of composite print modes. The mode switching is performed by controlling the signal synthesizing circuit 900 shown in FIG. The signal synthesizing circuit 900 outputs to the laser printer 100 the result of logical operation of the image data output by the image editing unit 700 and the character data output by the printer control unit 800. The signal synthesis circuit 900 includes an OR gate 9 as an arithmetic means.
01 and exclusive or gate 902 are equipped,
The output of one of the gates is selectively connected to the laser printer 100 by the changeover switch 903. Gate 9
When 01 is selected, the logical OR of the image data and the character data is output, and when the gate 902 is selected, the exclusive OR of the image data and the character data is output. When the former is selected, the image information and the character information are simply overlapped and recorded. When the latter is selected, the pixel is inverted to the white pixel in the portion where two black pixels are overlapped, so that both the original image information and the character information can be identified even in the overlapping portion. This mode can be used when determining the position of the image to be edited.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a recording sheet PAP edited and recorded by the system shown in FIG. In this example, the image information PT2 and the overlay information PT1 and PT3 (key lines) are recorded on the same recording sheet. This is performed by one recording operation.

A part of the key input process (the part relating to the edit setting) corresponding to step S4 of FIG. 6 is shown in detail in FIGS. 7d and 7e. The contents of the symbols shown in FIGS. 7d and 7e are as follows.

KA1, KA2, KA3, KA4: Each of the editing keys KA is shown.

PCN1: Register that indicates the classification of input mode according to the operation of key KA1.

PCN2: A register indicating the classification of the input mode according to the operation of the key KA2.

AY: A register indicating the position in the sub-scanning direction.

RD: A register that holds the numerical value input with the numeric keypad K10 on the operation board.

PS1, PS2: Registers that hold the start and end positions of the original image in the main scanning direction when the image is moved or copied.

PD: A register that holds the start position of the storage destination of the image when moving or copying the image.

P1, P2: Registers that hold the start and end points of the editing position when masking the image or performing negative / positive control.

FC: Flag that indicates the edit mode. "1" is shift, "0"
Indicates a copy.

FMR: Flag indicating the edit mode. “1” indicates that mirroring is present, and “0” indicates that no mirroring is performed.

FRV: Flag indicating the edit mode. “1” indicates that the image has black / white inversion (negative), and “0” indicates that there is no inversion.

FMK: A flag that indicates the edit mode. “1” indicates that there is no masking, and “0” indicates that there is masking.

The key input process will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7d and 7e.

First check the key KA1. If KA1 is turned on,
Register PCN1 is incremented (+1), register PC
Set 0 to N2. Also, when PCN1 is 4 or more,
Set 0 to PCN1. The initial values of PCN1 and PCN2 are 0.

Then check key KA2. If KA2 is turned on,
Check the register PCN1 and perform the processing according to its contents. That is, if PCN1 is 1, the editing memory inside the system control unit 600 is initialized, and the contents of the register RD, that is, the value input from the ten-key pad is set in the register AY. If KA2 is turned on when there is no numeric key input, 0 is set in AY.
Is set. The editing operation starts from the main scan line whose number is set to AY.

When PCN1 is 2, input for shift or copy and mirroring is performed. That is, if PCN1 is 2, then check the contents of register PCN2, if PCN2 is 0, set the contents of RD to register PS1, if PCN2 is 1, set the contents of RD to register PS2, and if PCN2 is 2, then RD Is set in the register PD, and in any case, the register PCN2 is incremented (+1). If PCN2 is 3, the "edit data registration A" subroutine is executed.

When PCN1 is 3, input is made for masking and negative / positive editing. That is, if PCN1 is 3, then check the contents of register PCN2, if PCN2 is 0, set the contents of RD in register P1, and if PCN2 is 1, set the contents of RD in register P2. Increment PCN2. If PCN2 is 2, the "edit data registration B" subroutine is executed.

If PCN1 is 4, the content of the pointer indicating the storage address of the edit memory is updated, and the content of RD is set in the register AY.

Then check the key KA3 and if it is on register P
Perform processing according to the contents of CN1. That is, if PCN1 is 2, the state of the flag FC is reversed (if it is "1", it is "0", "0"
If it is 3, the flag FRV is inverted. If PCN1 is any other value, do nothing.

Then check the key KA4 and if it is on register P
Perform processing according to the contents of CN1. That is, if PCN1 is 2, the state of flag FMR is inverted, and if PCN1 is 3, flag FMR is reversed.
Invert MK. If the register PCN1 is any other value, do nothing.

Next, the numeric keypad K10 is checked, and if there is an input, the corresponding value is set in the register RD.

The "Edit data registration A" subroutine in step S409 is executed.
This is shown in FIG. 7f, and the “Edit data registration B” subroutine of step S413 is shown in FIG. 7g. First, refer to FIG. 7f.

In the "edit data registration A" subroutine, first, the following calculation is performed and the result is set in PD2.

PD + | PS1-PS2 | That is, PD2 is set to the end position of the image storage destination when the image is moved or copied.

Next, PS1 and PS2 are compared, and if PS1 <PS2, the contents of both are exchanged. Therefore, PS1 has a smaller value than PS2.

Further, the content of the flag FMR is checked, and if it is "1", that is, with mirroring, the content of PS1 and the content of PS2 are exchanged.

Next, in step S504, each register PD, PS1 and FMR is
The contents of are stored in the edit memory indicated by the memory pointers as respective data DT1, DT2 and DT3. Also,
If PD2 is smaller than the maximum value Pmax, after updating the memory address, the contents of PD2 are stored in the edit memory as DT1 and DT2, and 0 is stored as DT3.

Next, the memory address is updated, 0 is set in the register PCN2, and the flag FC is checked. If the flag FC is "1", that is, the shift operation, the process advances to step S507 to set the masking operation. That is, when a part of the image of the document is copied to another position, the image at the original position appears in the output as it is, and the shift operation is not performed. Therefore, masking is applied to the image at the original position.

Reference is now made to Figure 7g. In the "Edit data registration B" subroutine, first, the contents of P1 and P2 are compared, and P1 <P2
If not, exchange the contents of P1 and P2. Then register
The contents of P1, flags FMK and FRV are stored in the edit memory indicated by the memory pointer as DT4, DT5 and DT6, respectively. Then, update the memory pointer, and edit memory,
The contents of P2, "1" and "0", are assigned to DT4, DT5 and D, respectively.
Store as T6, transfer the contents of P2 to P1, register PCN2
Set 1 to.

Therefore, the operator can set the editing operation by operating the keys as follows.

That is, first, the key KA1 is pressed. This sets PCN1 to 1. Next, enter the position in the sub-scanning direction at which the editing operation is to be started using the ten-key K10 and press the key KA2. As a result, the editing memory is initialized and the position in the sub-scanning direction is set in AY. Then press the key KA1 again. This sets PCN1 to 2.

Then, enter the position (start point or end point) of the designated area in the original image to be edited in the main scanning direction with the numeric keypad K10, and then press the K key.
Press A2 and do this for the start and end points. The value entered first with the numeric keypad is set to PS1, the value entered later is set to PS2, and PCN2 becomes 2. Next, enter the position of the moving or copying destination in the main scanning direction with the numeric keypad K10,
Press the key KA2. This sets the input value to PD and sets PCN2 to 3.

Further, when the copy / shift is designated, the key KA3 is pressed when the PCN1 is 2, and when the mirroring is designated, the key KA4 is pressed when the PCN1 is 2. This sets the flag FC or FMR.

If PCN1 is 2 and PCN2 is 3 and you press the key KA2 again,
The "edit data registration A" subroutine is executed and data is registered in the edit memory.

When the data registration is completed, the memory address is updated and PCN2 becomes 0. Therefore, by repeatedly operating the keys K10 and KA2 in the same manner as described above, a plurality of edited data can be registered.

To perform masking and / or negative / positive designation, press the key KA1 again. This makes PCN1 3
Is set to.

Then, the start point or the end point of the position in the main scanning direction to be edited is input with the ten keys K10, and the key KA2 is pressed. Do this for the start and end points. As a result, P1 and P2 are set, the editing position is determined, and PCN2 becomes 2. To specify negative / positive, press the key KA3 and set the flag FRV.
Set. When the masking is designated, the key KA4 is pressed and the flag FMK is set.

When the key KA2 is pressed when PCN1 is 3 and PCN2 is 2, the "edit data registration B" subroutine is executed and the input data is registered in the edit memory. When the registration is completed, the memory address is updated, the P2 entered previously moves to P1, and PCN2
Since 1 becomes 1, the edit data of a plurality of areas can be set one after another simply by inputting a new P2 and pressing the key KA2.

The above setting is the edit mode setting at each position in the main scanning direction. To switch the editing mode for each position in the sub-scanning direction, press the key KA1 again and register PCN1.
Set to 4. Then, enter the position in the sub-scanning direction at which the edit mode is to be switched using the ten-key pad, and press the key KA2. In step S414, the edit memory pointer is updated.
A new value is set in AY.

For example, the 0th line to the 50th line and the 51st line of the image
If you want to perform a different editing operation with the 99th line,
When 0 is first set in AY and the value of register PCN1 is 4, enter the value on the 51st line, which is the switching point, using the numeric keypad K10, and press the key KA2. As a result, a different edit memory area from the previous one is selected, and the new edit mode data is set in that area together with the value of AY.

The following Table 1 shows the contents of the editing memory storing the data for copy / shift and mirroring, and the second table below.
The table shows the contents of the editing memory in which data for masking and negative / positive designation is stored. The edit memory is assigned to each edit data.

The contents of the editing unit control in step S14 of FIG.
Details are shown in Figure h. See FIG. 7h. In this process,
First, it is checked whether or not the initial settings for the operation tables 730 and 750 have been completed. If not already set, the initial data is set in the operation tables 730 and 750, respectively, and the set flag is set. For example, if AY (1) in Tables 1 and 2 is 0, the data DT1, DT2 and DT3 existing at the addresses A11 to A1n of the edit memory are set in the operation table 730 by the initialization and B11 Data DT4, DT5 and DT6 existing in B1n to B1n are set in the operation table 750.

Next, the main scan sync pulse from the image scanner (S42
If b) is checked and the pulse is detected, register CNL
Is incremented and 0 is set in the registers CNA and CNB. Then, the data in the editing memory (Tables 1 and 2) is checked, and the sub-scanning position where the editing operation is started
If there is an AY corresponding to the line next to the scanning line at that time, the process further proceeds to the next process.

That is, the coincidence signal output from the comparator 708 (hereinafter referred to as the A coincidence pulse) and the coincidence signal output from the comparator 755 (hereinafter referred to as the coincidence signal)
B match pulse). When the A coincidence pulse is detected, the register CNA is incremented and the result is compared with the reference value Amax. The reference value Amax corresponds to n in Table 1, that is, the number of registered edit data in the scan line. When CNA = Amax, that is, when the reading of all the edited data in the one line is completed, the process proceeds to step S704, and all the data stored in the operation table 730 is rewritten.

The data to be rewritten is new edit mode data starting from the next line. For example, when CNA = Amax in the scan line of AY (2) -1, the data in the operation table 730 is rewritten with the data DT1, DT2 and DT3 existing at the addresses A21 to A2n in Table 1.

When the B coincidence pulse is detected, the register CNB is incremented and the result is compared with the reference value Bmax. Reference value Bmax
Corresponds to n in Table 2, that is, the number of registered edit data in the scanning line. When CNB = Bmax, that is, when the reading of all the edited data in the one line is completed, the process proceeds to step S706, and the operation table
Rewrite all data stored in 750.

The data to be rewritten is new edit mode data starting from the next line. For example, when CNB = Bmax in the scan line of AY (2) -1, the data in the operation table 750 is rewritten with the data DT4, DT5 and DT6 existing at the addresses B21 to B2n in Table 1.

That is, the editing circuit shown in FIGS. 5e and 5f is a line editing circuit that performs an editing operation for each line based on the data preset in the operation table, but at any sub-scanning position in the middle of scanning. By rewriting the contents of the operation table 730 or 750, depending on the position of the image in the sub-scanning direction,
You can switch the contents of the editing operation.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the edited result. Referring to FIG. 12, in this example, the shift operation and the masking operation are set on the operation table at the start of the sub-scanning, and the character "R" is moved to the central portion of the copy paper. Also, the contents of the operation table are rewritten near the center of the sub-scan to mask near the center of the character string "B5".

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the image editing unit 700,
An example in which the operation tables 730 and 750 for one line are prepared and the contents thereof are rewritten according to the sub-scanning position has been shown. The selection of the operation table may be switched according to the above.

In the above embodiment, one of the overlay information output by the system control unit and the character information output by the host device is configured to be combined with the image data. However, both the overlay information and the character information are combined with the image data. A configuration is also possible. For example, the overlay information and the character information may be stored in the same page of the page memory. Even if the circuit configuration is changed, two sets of a page memory, a character generator, and a rasterizer are provided, one for overlay information and the other for character information, and the outputs of these two sets are combined by a logical operation circuit. Good.

In addition, the following usage can be considered as an application of the above-described embodiment. That is, when the recording paper of the laser printer is a wide roll paper, the original of a smaller size than that is used.
When recording a large number of copies from the ORG, use the copy function of the edit mode to simultaneously record a large number of images (4 in this example) at different horizontal positions on the recording paper as shown in FIG. By cutting it with a slitter, a large number of copies can be obtained at one time, and the copy speed is substantially improved.

FIG. 11 shows a modification of the reception data buffer unit 500. Referring to FIG. 11, in this example, a printer emulator and a page analyzer are connected to each channel, and the output of the page analyzer is connected to the buffer memory 567. The buffer memory 567 is connected to the interface circuit 569 via the device selector 568.
Connected with.

Each printer emulator analyzes the received code according to the code or protocol of the printer specified in advance,
Convert it to the code that the printer controller of the main body has. This printer emulator extracts the page format, font and size code from the received code information and reports it to the page analyzer. The page analyzer adds the paper size code and channel code, and stores the received code data in the page buffer memory.
Send to 567. The device selector 568 checks the inside of the page buffer memory, and if there is a data group of a channel in which data for one page is complete, outputs the data of the page in which the data group exists via the interface unit 569. .

[Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, the storage means (7) is provided with the first counter (705) for generating a write address and the second counter (706) for generating a read address.
Since the write address and the read address of (10,720) can be shifted, image processing such as movement can be realized with a device having a very simple structure. Further, the editing mode can be switched for each scanning line.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an internal mechanism of a copying machine portion of a recording system embodying the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the reception data buffer unit 500. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an operation board of the apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system including the device of FIG. 1 and the device of FIG. 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5h and 5i show a system control unit, a laser writing unit, an image scanner, an image reproducing unit, a reception data buffer unit and a printer control, respectively. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a unit. 5e and 5f are block diagrams showing the configuration of the image editing unit 700. FIG. 5g is a timing chart showing an operation example of the circuit of FIG. 5f. FIG. 5j is a block diagram showing the structure of the rasterizer 860. FIG. 6, FIG. 7a, FIG. 7d, FIG. 7e, FIG. 7f, FIG. 7g, and FIG. 7h are flowcharts showing the schematic operation of the system control unit. FIG. 7b is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the page analyzer. FIG. 7c is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the command emulator. Figures 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e, 8f, and
8g, 8h, and 12 are plan views showing images on a document and a recording sheet when an editing operation is performed. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a document and a recording sheet according to one modification. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of an image on a sheet recorded by the apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a modification of the reception data buffer unit. 100: Laser printer 200: Automatic document feeder, 300: Sorter 400: Image scanner (scan signal generation means) 500: Received data buffer unit 520: Page analyzer 530,540,550: Memory 600: System control unit 640: Clock circuit 700: Image editing Unit 705: Counter (first address generation means) 706: Counter (second address generation means, read control means) 708,755: Comparator (comparison means) 710,720: Memory (storage means) 730,750: Operation table (edit instruction means) ) 800: Printer control unit 810, 820: Interface circuit 830: Command emulator 840: Page memory 850: Character generator 860: Rasterizer, 900: Signal synthesis circuit 1000: Operation board SW1, SW2, SW3: Switch CN0, CN1, CN2, CN3: Connector PC1, PC2, PC3: Personal computer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first generating means for generating a first synchronizing signal synchronized with one pixel; a second generating means for generating a second synchronizing signal synchronized with one line; and a first synchronizing signal with respect to the first synchronizing signal. A reading unit that synchronously outputs the image data of each pixel of one line of the original image for each pixel and repeats the output operation in response to the second synchronization signal; at least an image data storage area for two lines is provided. First storage means for writing the input image data to a specified arbitrary address and reading image data at the specified arbitrary address; the first storage by counting the first synchronization signal. A first counter for sequentially generating a write address to be given to the means from a predetermined value; a value set with a read address to be given to the first storage means by counting the first synchronization signal A second counter for sequentially generating the first address and the second address according to the edit mode; a setting unit for setting a first address and a second address set; and a first address and a second address set by the setting unit. Second storage means for storing and outputting at least one line; comparing means for comparing an address output by the first counter with a first address output by the second storage means; and the comparing means Is detected, the second address paired with the first address is set in the second counter, and when the reading of all the first and second addresses in one line is completed, A data editing device, comprising: control means for controlling the second storage means so as to output the first address and the second address of the line.