JPH0818840A - Image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form composite image data with high resolution and a simple configuration by utilizing a hand-shake. CONSTITUTION:While an image pickup range of an object image is confirmed with an electronic viewing frame or the like, a desired magnification is selected to pick up an image as the area sensor system adopted for the image reader and the image of an object is picked up by gripping the image reader. In this case, a microcomputer 12 applies read control to a CCD image sensor 1 to read image data for plural number of times with one image pickup operation. Furthermore, a vertical direction angular velocity sensor 8 and a horizontal direction angular velocity sensor 9 sense a hand shake in each direction for each read of image data and the sensed output is fed to the microcomputer 12. The microcomputer 12 synthesizes plural image data depending on the hand- shake quantity to form composite image data with high resolution and to provide an output.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus which sets an image pickup range in advance in a gripped state and reads an image in the set image pickup range. The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that achieves high resolution of image information to be output by synthesizing image information formed by reading a plurality of times based on the amount of camera shake that occurs during reading.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image scanner device used in, for example, a document filing system is known.

This image scanner apparatus generally employs a linear sensor system. For example, an original reading stand formed of a glass plate and an original placed on the original reading stand through the glass plate are read. CC provided
It has a D line sensor.

When a document is read by such an image scanner device, the user places the document on the document reading table so that the reading surface of the document faces the CCD line sensor. Then, the size of the original is designated and the reading start switch is turned on. The designated document size is recognized as a reading range of the document by the image scanner device, and the image scanner device irradiates the document with light and scans a range corresponding to the designated document size. Thus, the CCD line sensor is driven.

The CCD line sensor reads the reflected light applied to the original document line by line and outputs it as image information. This image information is supplied to a data processing circuit or the like, subjected to predetermined process processing, and supplied to, for example, a printer device, a monitor device, or the like.

As a result, the characters, graphics, etc. written on the original can be printed by the printer, and the reproduced image of the characters, graphics etc. written on the original can be displayed on the monitor. can do.

[0007]

However, in the conventional image scanner device, when the original is read, the original is turned over so that the reading surface faces the CCD line sensor, and the original is read. It was very troublesome to install on the table.

Further, since the above-mentioned original is placed on the original reading table inside out and the reading operation is performed, it is impossible to recognize whether or not the image in the range actually intended is read.

In addition, since the size of the original setting table is the limit of the range in which the original can be read, a large original exceeding the size of the original setting table cannot be read. There was a problem that the reading range was limited. Therefore, the original reading table needs to be designed to be large to some extent, which is an obstacle to downsizing of the apparatus.

Further, since it is necessary to cover the original reading table with a reading lid when reading the original so that light other than the light applied to the original is not applied to the original, the original to be read is a thick book. If so, there is a problem in that the reading lid is not closed and the original cannot be read accurately.

Further, since the CCD line sensor reads an image for each predetermined line, the time for reading one image is the time for scanning the CCD line sensor, which requires a long time for reading. was there.

Although an image scanner device adopting an area sensor method capable of setting a desired reading range is also known, this image scanner device has a problem that the resolution is low because the number of pixels is not sufficient. To solve this resolution problem, a so-called HDCCD for high-definition television may be used as a CCD image sensor, but the provision of the HDCCD increases the cost of the device itself.

In order to increase the resolution, a CCD image sensor having a normal number of pixels is provided, and an image is picked up while shifting the optical path of the image pickup light by 1/2 pixel pitch in the vertical or horizontal direction. A method of optical path shifting is known in which the number of spatial samples is increased to increase the resolution, but the number of spatial samples can be increased only in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, and the resolution cannot be improved. In addition to doubling the number, a plurality of CCDs are required, and a special mechanism such as a piezoelectric element for shifting the optical path is required, resulting in a high cost and an increase in the size of the apparatus itself. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the image reading range can be freely set without being limited, and the reading time can be shortened. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image reading apparatus capable of achieving high resolution of output image information, downsizing of the apparatus, and cost reduction without providing such a mechanism.

[0015]

An image reading apparatus according to the present invention is an image reading apparatus which sets an image pickup range in advance in a gripped state and reads an image in the set image pickup range. In addition, the image pickup unit includes an image reading unit that forms a plurality of pieces of image information by picking up the image pickup range a plurality of times at a predetermined timing, and a camera shake detection unit that detects the amount of camera shake that occurs when the image is picked up. Also, based on the amount of camera shake detected by the camera shake detection means, composite image information for forming and outputting image information for one sheet by combining a plurality of image information formed by the one reading operation. It has a forming means.

The image reading apparatus according to the present invention is
From the plurality of image information stored in the storage unit, based on the storage unit that stores the plurality of image information formed by the one-time reading operation and the amount of camera shake detected by the camera shake detection unit, The above-mentioned combined image information forming means is constituted by a combining means for forming and outputting the above-mentioned image information for one sheet by selecting and combining image information suitable for high resolution.

[0017]

In the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, the image reading unit is set to 1 when the image pickup range is set in advance in the gripped state (holding by hand) and the shutter button is turned on.
The above-mentioned imaging range is imaged a plurality of times at a predetermined timing in a single reading operation to form a plurality of image information, and the image information is supplied to the composite image information forming means.

The composite image information forming means comprises a storage means and a combining means, and the plurality of image information formed by the image reading means are respectively supplied to the storage means and temporarily stored therein.

Here, if an image is picked up in a gripped state, camera shake always occurs. The camera shake detection means detects the camera shake amount for each of a plurality of times of imaging performed at the predetermined timing,
This camera shake detection output is supplied to the combining means of the combined image information forming means.

The synthesizing means selects image information suitable for high resolution from a plurality of image information stored in the storage means, and synthesizes the image information based on the amount of camera shake detected by the camera shake detecting means. By doing so, image information for one sheet is formed and output.

As described above, a plurality of image information corresponding to camera shake which is always generated by gripping the image reading device and taking an image are formed, and the image information is combined to form a CCD for a high-definition television. And the like, and without providing a special mechanism such as a piezoelectric element or the like for optical path shifting, without increasing the costly image reading means such as the above, and increasing the resolution of the output image information in order to increase the resolution. be able to. Moreover, since the camera shake occurs in various directions such as the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the image information similar to the optical path shift in the vertical direction, the image information similar to the optical path shift in the horizontal direction, and the oblique direction can be obtained in one imaging operation. Various image information such as image information similar to the optical path shift of the above can be formed, and each image information is combined to form the image information for one sheet. It is possible to obtain high-resolution output image information similar to that when the number of samples is doubled or more.

Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide the above-mentioned expensive image reading means and it is not necessary to provide a special mechanism for shifting the optical path, the cost and size of the image reading apparatus can be reduced.

Further, since the area sensor method for setting the image pickup range in advance and reading the intended image is adopted, the troublesome work such as setting the image to be read inside out on the reading table is carried out. Can be omitted,
The reading range of the image can be freely set while recognizing the reading range without being limited by the size of the image to be read.

Further, for example, in accordance with the NTSC system which is the standard television system of Japan, if six images are captured by one image pickup operation, the NTSC system produces 1 image.
Since 30 images (30 frames) are formed per second, the time required for one image capturing operation to capture the above 6 images is 0.2 seconds, which is significantly larger than that of the conventional image scanner. The imaging time can be shortened.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

First, an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is composed of a CCD image sensor 1 and a zoom encoder 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and is an optical device for picking up a target image a plurality of times in a single image pickup operation. The system 3, the vertical angular velocity sensor 8 for detecting the vertical and horizontal camera shake amounts that occur during imaging, the horizontal angular velocity sensor 9, and the memory 13 for storing the image data captured by the optical system 3. And a microcomputer that synthesizes a plurality of image data stored in the memory 13 based on the amount of camera shake detected by each of the angular velocity sensors 8 and 9 to form and output one image data ( Microcomputer 12).

The optical system 3, the angular velocity sensors 8 and 9, the microcomputer 12 and the like are housed in a scanner body 25 of a size that can be held, as shown in FIG. An image having a desired size obtained by enlarging and reducing the image P by variably controlling the magnification of 26 is taken in (area sensor system).

Next, the operation of the image reading apparatus according to this embodiment having the above structure will be described. One image pickup of the image reading apparatus is performed by executing the routines shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, the flow chart shown in FIG.
When the main power source of the image reading apparatus is turned on, the operation starts and the process proceeds to step S1.

In the image reading apparatus, when the main power source is turned on, the CCD image sensor 1
Image data corresponding to the image pickup light taken in through the image pickup lens 26 is formed and displayed on a monitor device such as an electronic viewfinder. Before taking an image, the user holds the scanner main body 25 so that a desired image can be taken, and while recognizing the image displayed on the monitor device, the imaging lens 2
The magnification of 6 is variably controlled to set the image capturing range. Then, when the setting of the imaging range is completed, a shutter switch (not shown) is turned on.

In step S1, the microcomputer 12 is used.
Detects whether or not the shutter switch is turned on, and when not turned on, repeats step S1 until the shutter switch is turned on, and when the shutter switch is turned on, step Proceed to S2.

In step S2, since the shutter switch is turned on, the microcomputer 12 resets a timer (not shown) that counts the number of captured image data, and proceeds to step S3. In the case of the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image data of four images is set to be captured in one image pickup operation.

In step S3, the microcomputer 12
, One reference image is taken in, and the process proceeds to step S4 shown in FIG.

That is, the image reading apparatus, as will be described below, successively captures image data one after another at a predetermined timing in one imaging operation, and
The camera shake information corresponding to each image data is loaded.

Therefore, when the shutter switch is turned on, the microcomputer 12 reads the CCD image sensor 1 through the driver 4 in step S3 and controls the reading of the CCD image sensor 1 to fetch the reference image information. In addition to performing the above-mentioned CC so that the image data is continuously captured at a predetermined timing.
The D image sensor 1 is drive-controlled.

The image information read from the CCD image sensor 1 is supplied to the signal processing circuit 5. The signal processing circuit 5 is supplied with a timing signal from a signal generating circuit 6 which operates in synchronization with the operation of the driver 4. When the timing signal is supplied, the signal processing circuit 5 performs predetermined process processing on the image information supplied from the CCD image sensor 1 and supplies it to the A / D converter 7. The A / D converter 7 forms image data by digitizing the image information and supplies the image data to the image data processing unit 14 of the microcomputer 12.

The image synthesizing circuit 15 controls the image data processing unit 14 so that the image data supplied first after the shutter switch is turned on is temporarily stored in the memory 13 as the reference image data.

When the reference image data is stored in the memory 13, the microcomputer 12 increments the count value of the timer to "1".

Next, in step S4, the microcomputer 12 determines whether or not the count value of the timer is counted up to "1", and if it is counted up, the reference image data is not fetched. If it is not counted up, it means that there is a problem in the capture of the reference image data, so that it proceeds to step S11 and sounds an alarm for warning. And finish. The user can recognize that a reading failure or the like has occurred due to the alarm, and can take measures such as re-taking the image.

Here, when the scanner main body 25 is gripped and an image is picked up as described above, camera shake always occurs. Therefore, the vertical direction angular velocity sensor 8 and the horizontal direction angular velocity sensor 9 respectively detect the vertical shake amount and the horizontal shake amount at the time of image pickup, and the vertical angular velocity information and the horizontal angular velocity information are A / It is supplied to the D converters 10 and 11. Each of the A / D converters 10 and 11 digitizes the vertical angular velocity information and the horizontal angular velocity information to form vertical angular velocity data and horizontal angular velocity data, and supplies these to the integrating circuits 16 and 17 in the microcomputer 12. To do.

The integration circuits 16 and 17 form vertical angle data and horizontal angle data by integrating the vertical angular velocity data and the horizontal angular velocity data, and supply them to the angular displacement circuits 18 and 19. The angle displacement circuits 18 and 19 compare the vertical angle data and the horizontal angle data supplied at the time of capturing the previous image data with the vertical angle data and the horizontal angle data supplied at the time of capturing the new image data. Due to
Vertical angular displacement data indicating the amount of angular displacement in the vertical direction and horizontal angular displacement data indicating the amount of angular displacement in the horizontal direction are formed, and these are supplied to the pixel shift amount detection circuit 20.

The pixel shift amount detection circuit 20 is supplied with magnification data from the zoom encoder 2, which is set by the user and indicates the magnification of the image pickup lens. The pixel shift amount detection circuit 20 detects the shift amount of the captured image data based on the magnification data, the vertical angular displacement data, and the horizontal angular displacement data, and determines the reference image data as well as the reference image data. On the other hand, image data horizontally displaced by 1/2 pixel pitch, image data vertically displaced by 1/2 pixel pitch with respect to the reference image data, and 1 diagonally with respect to the reference image data. It is detected whether or not a total of four pieces of image data of the image data shifted by a / 2 pixel pitch have been fetched.

That is, in the step S5, the pixel shift amount detection circuit 20 shifts the image data fetched after the reference image data is shifted by a half pixel pitch in the horizontal direction with respect to the reference image data. If it is YES, the process proceeds to step S6, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, it is determined whether or not the image data is image data vertically displaced from the reference image data by 1/2 pixel pitch. If YES, the process proceeds to step S13. In the case of NO, image data that cannot be used for image composition for high resolution described later (the fact that there is no shift in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction indicates the same image data as the above-mentioned reference data. .), The process returns to step S4 and the above routine is repeated.

In the step S13, the step S
Since it is determined to be YES in 12 (because it is determined that the captured image data is vertically shifted from the reference image data by 1/2 pixel pitch),
The image synthesizing circuit 15 determines whether or not the image data shifted by 1/2 pixel pitch in the vertical direction is already stored in the memory 13, and if YES, the process returns to step S4 and the above routine is repeated. , NO, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, the image synthesizing circuit 15 halves the reference image data in the vertical direction.
The image data processing circuit 15 is controlled so that the image data deviated by the pixel pitch is temporarily stored in the memory 13, and the process proceeds to step S9.

On the other hand, in the step S5, the fetched image data is set to 1 in the horizontal direction with respect to the reference image data.
When it is determined that the image data is shifted by 1/2 pixel pitch, the process proceeds to step S6. At step S6, the image composition circuit 15 shifts the image data by 1/2 pixel pitch in the vertical direction. It is determined whether or not the image data is the image data that is present, and if YES, the process proceeds to step S7 and N
In the case of O, the process proceeds to step S15.

If NO is determined in the above step S6, it means that the newly fetched image data is the image data which is deviated from the reference image data by 1/2 pixel pitch only in the lateral direction. Therefore, the image synthesizing circuit 15 determines in step S15 whether or not the image data deviated by 1/2 pixel pitch only in the horizontal direction is already stored in the memory 13, and if YES, the above Returning to step S4, the above routine is repeated,
If NO, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, the image synthesizing circuit 15 sets the width to 1 in the lateral direction with respect to the reference image data.
The image data processing circuit 14 is controlled so that the image data deviated by the pitch of / 2 pixel is temporarily stored in the memory 13, and the process proceeds to step S9.

If YES is determined in the above step S6, the newly fetched image data is shifted from the reference image data in the vertical and horizontal directions, that is, in the diagonal direction by 1/2 pixel pitch. Therefore, the image synthesizing circuit 15 determines in step S7 whether the image data deviated by 1/2 pixel pitch in the diagonal direction is already stored in the memory 13. , YES, the process returns to step S4 and the above routine is repeated. If NO, the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, the image synthesizing circuit 15 diagonally halves the reference image data.
The image data processing circuit 14 is controlled so that the image data deviated by the pixel pitch is temporarily stored in the memory 13, and the process proceeds to step S9.

As described above, the reference image data, the image data which is shifted from the reference image data by 1/2 pixel pitch only in the vertical direction, and the image data which is horizontally shifted from the reference image data by 1
The count value of the counter is incremented by 1 each time the image data deviated by 1/2 pixel pitch and the image data deviated by 1/2 pixel pitch only in the oblique direction with respect to the reference image data are stored in the memory 13. It is counted up.

Next, in step S9, the image synthesizing circuit 15 determines whether or not all the four pieces of image data are stored in the memory 13, and if NO, the process returns to step S4, The above routine is repeated until all four pieces of image data are stored in the memory 13 and Y
In the case of ES, the process proceeds to step S10.

In step S10, since all the four image data are fetched, the image synthesizing circuit 15
However, the memory 13 is read out and controlled so as to read out the image data for the four sheets through the image data processing circuit 14, and the image data for the four sheets is combined to form the image data for one sheet. Then, this is output to the outside through the output terminal 21 as composite image data. Then, when this series of operations is completed, an end buzzer (not shown) is controlled to sound the buzzer. This completes one imaging operation.

As described above, each of the image data is shifted by 1/2 pixel pitch in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions with reference to the reference image data. Therefore, by synthesizing the image data of the four sheets, it is possible to form and output high-resolution synthesized image data interpolated between pixels and lines.

As is apparent from the above description, the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment takes in a plurality of image data corresponding to the hand shake which is always caused by gripping the scanner body 25 and taking an image, and the respective image data are captured. By synthesizing the data, the space can be saved without providing an expensive image reading means such as CCD for high definition television, and without providing a special mechanism such as a piezoelectric element for optical path shifting. The number of samples can be increased and the resolution of output image information can be increased.

Further, the above-mentioned reference image data and 1/2 in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions with respect to the reference image data, respectively.
Since the image data shifted by the pixel pitch is combined to form the image data for one sheet, a high resolution combination similar to the one in which the number of spatial samples is doubled while using the CCD image sensor with the standard number of pixels. Image data can be obtained.

Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the above-mentioned expensive CCD image sensor, and it is not necessary to provide a special mechanism for shifting the optical path, so that the cost and size of the image reading apparatus can be reduced.

Further, since the area sensor method for setting the imaging range in advance and reading the desired image is adopted, it is troublesome work such as setting the image to be read inside out on the reading table. Can be omitted,
The reading range of the image can be freely set while recognizing the reading range without being limited by the size of the image to be read, and the imaging time can be shortened.

In the above description of the embodiment, the image reading apparatus continues to take one image until the above-mentioned four pieces of image data are fetched. Minute, a predetermined number of image data is imported,
A plurality of image data suitable for high resolution may be selected from the plurality of image data and combined.

Further, as an example, the above-mentioned four image data are taken in, but this can be freely changed according to the design, such as five or six, and the number of taken in images is The configuration may be such that it can be variably set by the user according to the desired resolution.

In this case, for example, in accordance with the NTSC system, which is the standard television system of Japan, if six images are taken in by one image pickup operation, the NTSC system provides 30 images per second (30 frames). Image is formed, the time required for one image capturing operation for capturing the above six images is 0.2 seconds, and the image capturing time can be significantly shortened as compared with a conventional image scanner or the like. it can.

[0063]

Since the image reading apparatus according to the present invention employs the area sensor method in which the imaging range is set in advance and the desired image is read, the image to be read is turned upside down on the reading table. It is possible to omit a troublesome work such as installation in, and the image reading range can be freely set while recognizing the reading range without being limited by the size of the image to be read.

If, for example, six images are taken in by one reading operation, 30 (30 frames) images are formed in one second in the NTSC system.
The time required for one image pickup operation for taking in the above six images is 0.2 seconds, and the image pickup time can be greatly shortened as compared with the conventional image scanner or the like.

Further, since a plurality of image information corresponding to camera shake is fetched by one reading operation and the plurality of image information are combined to form one image information,
The number of spatial samples is increased and the output image is increased without providing expensive image reading means such as CCD for high definition television and without providing a special mechanism such as a piezoelectric element for optical path shifting. It is possible to increase the resolution of information.

Further, since one image information is formed from a plurality of image information corresponding to the above-mentioned camera shake, image information similar to vertical optical path shift, image information similar to horizontal optical path shift, diagonal image direction. Various image information such as image information similar to the optical path shift can be formed, and one image reading unit can increase the resolution of output image information in the same manner as when the number of spatial samples is doubled or more. Can be planned.

Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide the above-mentioned expensive image reading means and it is not necessary to provide a special mechanism for shifting the optical path, the cost and size of the image reading apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the image reading apparatus according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a first half reading operation of the image reading apparatus according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a latter half of the reading operation of the image reading apparatus according to the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CCD image sensor 2 Zoom encoder 3 Optical system 4 Driver 5 Signal processing circuit 6 Signal generation circuit 7 A / D converter 8 Vertical angular velocity sensor 9 Horizontal angular velocity sensor 10, 11 A / D converter 12 Microcomputer ( Microcomputer) 13 memory 14 image data processing circuit 15 image synthesizing circuit 16, 17 integrating circuit 18, 19 angular displacement circuit 20 pixel shift amount detecting circuit 21 synthetic image data output terminal 25 scanner body 26 imaging lens

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An imaging range is set in advance in a gripped state,
An image reading device for reading an image in the set imaging range, including: an image reading unit that forms a plurality of image information by imaging the imaging range multiple times at a predetermined timing in one reading operation; By synthesizing a plurality of image information formed by the one-time reading operation based on the camera shake detection means for detecting the camera shake amount caused by the image pickup by the camera and the camera shake amount detected by the camera shake detection means. An image reading apparatus having a composite image information forming means for forming and outputting image information for one sheet. 2. The composite image information forming means stores the plurality of image information formed by the one-time reading operation, and the memory based on the amount of camera shake detected by the camera shake detecting means. A plurality of pieces of image information stored in the means, selecting and combining the image information suitable for high resolution, and forming and outputting the image information for one sheet described above. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: