JPH08287223A - Image processing area specification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate position specification by making a user visually confirm light emitted by a light emitting means as a pointer. CONSTITUTION: The laser beam outputted by a laser output device 208 passes through a half-mirror 206 and is inputted from a suboperation part to indicate one point on a document 210 on a platen glass 28. An area of the document including the indicated point and its periphery is reflected by a mirror 204 and reflected by the half-mirror 206 to reach the eye 212 of the user through a peeping window 211. The user operates four directional buttons at the suboperation part so as to specify a desired rectangular area where the image is processed while looking the image. Consequently, a main scanning carriage 226 and a subscanning carriage 228 which is freely movable at right angles to the direction connecting the half-mirror 206 and mirror 204 are moved to adjust the specified point indicated with the laser beam so that it overlaps with one of two diagonal points of the rectangular area, and then the user presses a determination button. The other point is determined through similar operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing area designating apparatus used in an image recording apparatus and used by a user to designate an area to be subjected to image processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 8, an image processing area designating apparatus illuminates an original 210 with an illumination lamp 202 to determine its position through a viewing window 211 by a user through two mirrors 220 and 222. However, the area was specified by inputting several points. The arrow-shaped metal plate 2 is provided between the platen glass 28 and the mirror 220 as a pointer for designating one position from the visible range.
24 is arranged, a thin cross line is marked on the mirror 220, and the image processing area designating device is configured to design the area by designating the document 210 while the cross point of the arrow-shaped metal plate 224 and the crossing point of the cross shape overlap. It was The illumination lamp 202, the mirror 220, and the arrow-shaped metal plate 224 are all mounted on the main scanning carriage 226. Further main scanning carriage 2
26 and the mirror 222 are mounted on the sub-scanning carriage 228.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned conventional example has the following problems.

Due to the arrow-shaped metal plate 224 serving as a pointer, a shadow is formed in the observation field of view, which hinders the designation of the area. Also, in order to overlap the tip of the arrow-shaped metal plate 224 and the intersection of the cross-shaped fine line and to specify the designated point, the user had to move the carriage so as to match the eye position to the optimum one each time the carriage was moved. .

In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing area designating apparatus with improved operability of area designating.

[0006]

In order to achieve such an object, the invention according to claim 1 is to specify an area to be image-processed in an original image read by an image reading apparatus. In an image processing area designating device capable of visually confirming a document placed on the image reading device through a mirror and a viewing window, light emission for irradiating the document with light used as a pointer for designating the region Means, an optical system for guiding the irradiated light to the viewing window through the mirror, an instruction means for instructing to move / stop the light emitting means, and a drive means for moving / stopping the light emitting means in the instruction. And a designating means for designating a stop position of the light emitting means as the area of the image processing target.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image reading apparatus has a carriage for reading and scanning the original, and the light emitting means is mounted on the carriage.

The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that a half mirror capable of transmitting light is used as the mirror, and the light of the light emitting means is applied to the original through the mirror.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the user visually confirms the light emitted by the light emitting means as a pointer, so that the shadow of the pointer is not generated and the position can be easily designated as compared with the conventional case.

According to the second aspect of the invention, further, the reading and scanning carriage is also used for the movement of the light emitting means, thereby preventing an increase in manufacturing cost.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the light transmission type is used for the mirror, so that the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the light emitting means is increased.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) Prior to the description of the present invention, the system configuration of a digital color copying machine to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, a digital color copying machine 1 is shown.
0 is roughly composed of two elements. That is, as the first major element, the collar located above
Image scanner unit (hereinafter abbreviated as "reader unit") 1
There are two. The reader unit 12 reads a document image in color and outputs digital color image data. In the reader unit 12, a control unit 14 that performs various kinds of image processing of digital color image data and has a processing function such as an interface with an external device.
Is built in. Further, there is a printer section 20 as a second major element, which is located below the reader section 12 and outputs a color digital image signal output from the controller section 14 of the reader section 12 to a recording medium. I am recording.

The reader unit 12 is placed on a document table (not shown) below the document holding plate 16 so as to face downward, and images from documents of various shapes and sizes such as three-dimensional or sheet-shaped or large-sized sheet-shaped documents. It also has a built-in mechanism for reading information. In addition, on the front side of the upper surface of the reader unit 12,
An operation unit 18 connected to the controller unit 14 is provided. The operation unit 18 is for inputting various information and operation instructions for the copying machine, and for displaying a message to the user. Further, a sub operation unit 19 connected to the controller unit 14 is provided at one end of the cable extending from the side surface of the reader unit. The sub-operation unit 19 is for operating a main scanning carriage 226 and a sub-scanning carriage 228, which will be described later, in order to specify arbitrary coordinates on a document when performing various image processes. Further, the controller unit 14 is configured to give an operation instruction to the reader unit 12 and the printer unit 20 in accordance with information input via the operation unit 18 and the sub operation unit 19.

On the other hand, in the printer section 20 of the present embodiment, a full-color ink jet using a recording head of an ink jet recording system using thermal energy as described in JP-A-54-59936 is used. -A printer is used. Note that the above-mentioned two major elements can be separated from each other, and can also be set at locations separated from each other by extending the connection cable.

The reader unit 12 has an I / F (interface) cut such as GPIB or SCSI, and is connected to a computer (not shown) via an I / F cable. The partial configuration will be described below.

(Reader Section) FIG. 2 schematically shows the internal structure of the digital color copying machine 10 shown in FIG.

First, the structure of the reader unit 12 of the copying machine 10 will be described.

In the reader section 12, the exposure lamp 2
2, a lens 24, and an image sensor 26 (a CCD sensor is used in this embodiment) capable of reading a line image in full color, an image of an original document placed on a platen glass 28, a projected image by a projector, or The image of the sheet-shaped document is read by the sheet feeding mechanism 30. Next, the reader unit 12 performs various types of image processing on the image information read by the reader unit 12 in this manner.
Then, the information is read by the controller unit 14, and the information read and image-processed is sent to the printer unit 20 and recorded on the recording medium.

(Printer Unit) Next, the printer unit 2 shown in FIG.
0, the recording medium is a paper feed cassette 32 that stores cut sheets of small standard size (A4 size to A3 size in this embodiment) and a large size (A2 size to A in this embodiment).
It is selectively supplied from the roll paper 34 for recording up to 1 size. Further, the paper feeding is performed by the controller unit 14
It is started by a print start instruction from the above and is first conveyed to the position of the first paper feed roller 44 through the following path. In addition,
In the present embodiment, it is also possible to perform manual paper feeding (paper feeding from outside the apparatus) by manually inserting the recording media one by one from the manual feeding port 36 along the paper feeding unit cover 38. .

When the recording medium is fed from the paper feed cassette 32 mounted in the printer unit 20, the paper feed cassette 32
A pick-up roller 40 for picking out cut sheets one by one from the sheet feeding cassette 32 is arranged on the upper surface of the sheet feeding end of the recording medium cassette. Therefore, by rotating the pick-up roller 40, the uppermost recording medium set in the paper feeding cassette 32 is taken out, sent to the cut paper feeding roller 42, and further fed by the roller 42. It is conveyed to the roller 44.

On the other hand, in the case of the roll paper 34, it is continuously sent out by the roll paper feed roller 46, this roll paper is cut into a standard length by the cutter 48, and is conveyed to the above-mentioned first paper feed roller 44 position. To be done.

Similarly, when the paper is fed manually from the manual feed port 36, the manually fed recording medium 50 is conveyed to the paper feed first roller 44.

Here, the pick-up roller 40, the cut paper feed roller 42, the roll paper feed roller 46, the first paper feed roller 44, and the manual feed roller 50 are a paper feed motor (not shown) (DC in this embodiment). It is driven by a servo motor), and an electromagnetic clutch attached to each roller allows ON / OFF control of the rotation drive at any time.

The recording medium selectively fed from any of the above-described paper feeding paths is conveyed to the position of the first paper feeding roller 44. In order to remove the skew (skew) of the recording medium, at the time of this paper feeding, after forming a predetermined amount of paper loop on the recording medium, the first paper feeding roller 44 is turned on to be rotationally driven, and then the paper is fed. The recording medium is conveyed to the paper second roller 52.

Paper feed first roller 44 and paper feed second roller 52
In order to perform accurate paper feeding operation between the paper feeding roller 64 disposed above the recording head 56 and the paper feeding second roller 52 disposed below the recording head 56, The medium is slackened by a predetermined amount to form a buffer. The buffer amount detection sensor 54 for detecting the buffer amount as the slack amount of the recording medium is provided in this buffer.
Is provided. By always forming a buffer in the recording medium conveyance path in this way, it is possible to reduce the load on the paper feed roller 64 and the second paper feed roller 52, especially when a large-sized recording medium is conveyed. Accurate paper feed operation is possible.

In the printer section 20 having the recording medium conveying system as described above, when printing by the recording head 56, the scanning carriage 58 on which the recording head 56 is mounted scans the carriage rail 60. The motor 62 is configured to reciprocate in the front and back directions in the drawing to scan the recording medium in the main scanning direction. Then, in the forward scan, the image is printed on the recording medium by the recording head 56, and in the backward scan, the paper feeding roller 64 performs a feeding operation in the sub-scanning direction for feeding the recording medium by a predetermined amount.

Here, the feed amount in the sub-scanning direction is defined as a constant movement amount, which will be described later. Here, the length corresponding to the width of the recording head 56 in the sub-scanning direction, that is, the figure is shown. No, but the recording head 56 of the platen 74
Is formed over the surface portion facing to, and is set to a length corresponding to the arrangement width of the suction port. The suction port is for bringing the recording medium into close contact with the platen 74. In addition, the scanning motor 62 at the time of scanning in this return path
In the conveyance drive control of the recording medium by (1), while the buffer amount of the recording medium is detected by the buffer amount detection sensor 54, the recording medium is always controlled to have a predetermined buffer amount. Then, the recording medium thus printed is discharged to the paper discharge tray 66, and the series of printing operations described above is completed.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the scanning carriage 58
The peripheral configuration will be described in detail. In FIG. 3, 6
Reference numeral 8 is a paper feed motor as a drive source for intermittently feeding the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction. The paper feed motor 68 is capable of setting / changing its rotation amount arbitrarily, and is configured to drive the paper feed second roller 52 via the paper feed roller 64 and the paper feed second roller clutch 70. There is. The above-described scanning motor 62 is a drive source for reciprocally scanning the scanning carriage 58 along the main scanning direction indicated by arrows A and B via the scanning belt 72.

In this embodiment, pulse motors are used as the paper feed motor 68 and the scan motor 62 because accurate paper feed control with an arbitrary feed amount is required. Further, in the present embodiment, a paper pressing member (not shown) is disposed at a position facing the lower end of the platen 74, and the paper pressing member is fixed to the platen during scanning of the scanning carriage 56, so that the recording medium The movement is controlled so that it does not occur.

When the recording medium reaches the second sheet feeding roller 52, the second sheet feeding roller clutch 70 and the sheet feeding motor 68 are turned on, and the leading end of the recording medium is held by the pair of sheet feeding rollers 64. Until platen 74
Is transported over. Then, the conveyed recording medium is detected by the paper detection sensor 76 provided on the platen 74 as having passed through the platen 74. This sensor information is used for position control, jam control, and the like. When the leading edge of the recording medium reaches the paper feed roller 64 in this way, the second paper feed roller clutch 70 and the paper feed roller 68
Are turned off, and then the inner space of the platen 74 is
A negative pressure is created by starting a suction motor (not shown), and the suction operation is started. By such suction operation, the recording medium is brought into close contact with the platen 74. At this time, at the same time, the above-mentioned paper pressing member also fixes the recording medium to the platen.

Here, prior to the image printing operation on the recording medium, the scanning carriage 58 is moved to the home position.
It is moved to the position where the sensor 78 is installed, and then the arrow A
The forward scan is performed along the direction. In this forward scan, cyan "C", magenta "M",
Yellow (Y) and black (K) inks are appropriately ejected from the recording head 56 to record (print) an image. Then, when the image recording operation for a predetermined length in the main scanning direction is completed, the rotation direction of the scanning motor 62 is reversed to move the scanning carriage 58 in the opposite direction, that is, the direction indicated by the arrow B, and then the return path. Start scanning. At this time, the scanning motor 62 is reversely driven until the scanning carriage 58 returns to the position where the home position sensor 78 is provided.

During this backward scanning, the paper feed motor 6
By driving 8 to rotate the paper feed roller 64, the paper feed operation is performed by the length in the sub-scanning direction (the width of the print head 56) recorded by the print head 56 indicated by the arrow C. . In the present embodiment, the paper feed amount, that is, the movement amount in the sub-scanning direction is not limited to the constant movement amount corresponding to the width of the recording head 56 described above, and is defined by the final line width. It may be set to the one-sided movement amount.

In this embodiment, the recording head 56 is made of ink.
It is a jet nozzle, and a total of 256 nozzles are Y,
It is assembled for each color of M, C and K. The color printed in one scan can be arbitrarily selected.

On the other hand, when the scanning carriage 58 stops at the home position defined by the home position sensor, the recovery operation of the recording head 56 is performed. This recovery operation is a process for performing a stable recording operation,
This is a process for preventing unevenness at the start of ejection, which is caused by a change in viscosity of ink remaining in the nozzles of the recording head 56. In this process, a pressurizing operation is performed on each nozzle of the recording head 56 according to pre-programmed conditions such as a sheet feeding time, a temperature inside the apparatus, and an ejection time, and an idle ejection operation of ink is performed from each nozzle.

By repeating the operation described above, desired image recording can be performed over the entire surface of the recording medium.

Next, an image processing area designating apparatus related to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 shows the configuration. A laser output from a laser output device 208 as an example of a light source passes through the half mirror 206, and can be freely moved in a direction parallel to the direction connecting the half mirror 206 and the mirror 204 by an input from the sub operation unit 19. The document 210 is reflected by the mirror 204 mounted on the main scanning carriage 226 and indicates a point of the document 210 on the document table glass 28. This one point and the area around the document are reflected by the mirror 204, further reflected by the half mirror 206, pass through the viewing window 211, and reach the user's eyes 212.

A user wants to process an image while watching the video (for simplicity, the rectangular area is 1
The four-direction button 19-1 of the sub-operation unit 19 is pressed to specify the case of specifying one. As a result, the main scanning carriage 226, the half mirror 206 and the mirror 2
The sub-scanning carriage 228, which can move freely in the vertical direction with respect to the direction connecting 04, is adjusted so that the designated point by the laser overlaps with one of the two diagonal points of the rectangular area. Press 21. The remaining 1 point is determined by the same operation. The coordinate information of the determined two points is stored in the image memory unit 122. Lighting lamp 2 mentioned above
02 and the mirror 204 are mounted on the main scanning carriage 226, and the main scanning carriage 226, the half mirror 206, and the laser output device 208 are mounted on the sub scanning carriage.

Next, the control system of the digital color copying machine 10 will be described with reference to FIG. Main C in FIG.
The PU 100 controls the entire device. Main CPU 10
A printer control CPU 0 controls the printer control operation.
102, reader control CPU 10 that controls the reading control operation
4, the main image processing unit 106 for processing the image display operation,
An operation unit 108 as an input unit by an operator, an I / F unit 123 for exchanging images and information with an external device (here, the computer 125), and an image storing an image sent via the I / F The memory unit 122 is connected. Here, the printer control CPU 102 and the reader control CPU 104 respectively control the operation of the printer unit and the reader unit, and are set in a master-slave relationship with the main CPU 100.

The main image processing unit 106 described above performs image processing such as masking, black extraction, binarization, and γ correction.
Further, the printer control CPU 102 and the main image processing unit 1
The synchronous memory 110 is connected to 06. This synchronous memory 110 is for absorbing the time variation of the input operation and correcting the delay due to the above-mentioned arrangement of the recording heads on the mechanism. The output of the synchronous memory 110 is connected to the recording head 56. The printer control CPU 102 is connected to a printer unit drive system 114 that controls the input drive of the printer unit. Further, the reader control unit CPU 104 is connected to an input system image processing unit 116 that performs necessary correction processing in the reading system such as shading correction and color correction Y correction, and a reader unit drive system 118 that controls input driving of the reader. ing. Further, the CCD line sensor 26 is connected to the input system image processing unit 116, and the input system image processing unit 116 is the main image processing unit 1.
It is connected to 06. Here, the reader unit 12 includes a main CPU 100, a reader control CPU 104, a main image processing unit 106, an operation unit 108, an input system image processing unit 116,
It is composed of a reader drive system 118 and a CCD line sensor 26 as an image sensor.

Further, the printer section 20 has a printer control C.
The PU 102, the synchronous memory 110, the recording head 56, and the printer unit drive system 114 are included. The synchronous memory is for absorbing the time variation of the input operation and correcting the delay due to the above-mentioned arrangement of the recording heads on the mechanism. The synchronous memory can store an image for one band, and the stored image can be read out for each color at any time. The printer control CPU 102 selects the color to be read and printed.

Next, a series of processing procedures for designating an image processing area according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The user first enters an area designation mode (step f1) by pressing an area designation button (not shown) on the operation unit 18 (reference numeral 108 in FIG. 5). Then, the illumination lamp 202 for illuminating the original 210 and the laser output device a208 indicating one point on the original 210 are turned on based on the instruction of the main CPU 100 (step f2), and the variable c is cleared (step f3). Next, c is incremented (step f4). The main CPU 100 displays “c” on the operation unit 18.
Please enter a point ”(step F5),
The main scanning carriage 2 is arranged so that the laser pointer is overlapped with one of the two diagonal points of the rectangular area to be designated by the carriage operation four-direction button 20 of the sub operation section 19.
26 and the sub-scanning carriage 228 are operated (moved / stopped) (step f6). When the pointer is over the position you want to specify, the user presses the enter button 21
Press (step f7). The carriage operation is repeated unless the enter button 21 is pressed. The coordinate data of the point designated by the enter button 21 is calculated from the positions of the main scanning carriage and the sub scanning carriage, and stored in the image memory unit in the main image processing unit 106 (step F).
8). Next, the main CPU 100 compares the variable c with 2, and if c ≧ 2, the process proceeds to step f10, and if c <2, the process returns to step f4. Since only one point has been input here, and since c <2, the procedure returns to the step before step f4, and steps f4 to f8.
Perform the same operation up to and specify the remaining one point. Then, in step f9, c ≧ 2, and the main CPU 100 turns off the illumination lamp 202 and the laser output device a 208 (step f10), and ends the series of area designation operations (step f11). As a result, one rectangular area is stored, and when it is desired to perform image processing within the area, information on the area can be called up at any time, and arbitrary image processing can be performed on the area.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the laser beam was once reflected by the mirror and applied to the original, but in the second embodiment, the laser output device b21 is placed just below the original 210.
8 can be arranged so that the laser light can be applied perpendicularly to the original 210 (see FIG. 7). The laser light passes through the half mirror 204, which is installed with an inclination of 45 degrees between the laser output device b 218 and the platen glass 28, and the original 210
Is irradiated. Laser pointer and illumination lamp 20
The images of the original 210 in the vicinity thereof illuminated by 2 are successively reflected by the half mirror 214 and the mirror 216 and the viewing window 2
11 to the user's eyes 212. Subsequent operations,
And the control is similar to that of the first embodiment. With this configuration, the distance from the laser output device b218 to the original 210 is shortened, and since it is not reflected by the mirror, it is possible to specify a more accurate area.

(Other Embodiments) Although the present invention is applied to the digital color copying machine in the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a scanner having a similar structure.
Also, the image signal need not be color.

[0046]

As described above, in the invention of claim 1, since the user visually confirms the light emitted by the light emitting means as a pointer, the shadow of the pointer does not occur as compared with the conventional case, and the position designation is easy. Becomes

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the manufacturing cost is prevented from increasing by also using the reading and scanning carriage for moving the light emitting means.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the light transmission type is further used for the mirror, so that the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the light emitting means is increased.

Further, in these inventions, since one point of the original is directly pointed by the light, the error between the designated area and the actually copied area is eliminated. In addition, when the area is specified, the viewpoint can be finely moved to accurately specify the intersection of the thin lines on the mirror.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a schematic structure of a copying machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a scanning carriage 58.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an image processing area designating apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the copying machine in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Digital Color Copier 12 Color Image Scanner 14 Controller Section 20 Printer Section 16 Document Holding Plate 18 Operating Section 19 Sub-Operating Section 20 Carriage Operation 4-Direction Button 21 Enter Button 22 Exposure Lamp 24 Lens 26 Image Sensor 28 Original Plate Glass 30 Sheet Feed Mechanism 32 Paper Feed Cassette 34 Roll Paper 36 Manual Feed Port 38 Paper Feed Cover 40 Pickup Roller 44 First Paper Feed Roller 46 Roll Paper Feed Roller 48 Cutter 50 Manual Feed Roller 52 Second Feed Roller 54 Buffer Amount Detection Sensor 56 Recording Head 58 Scanning carriage 60 Carriage rail 62 Scanning motor 64 Paper feeding roller 66 Paper ejection tray 68 Paper feeding motor 70 Feeding second roller clutch 72 Scanning belt 74 Platen 76 Paper detection sensor 78 Home position Application sensor 100 Main CPU 102 Printer control CPU 104 Reader control CPU 106 Main image processing unit 110 Synchronous memory 114 Printer unit driving system 116 Input system image processing unit 118 Reader unit driving system 200 Recording medium 202 Original illumination lamp 211 Viewing window 212 User's window Eye 214 Half mirror 224 Arrow type metal plate 226 Main scanning carriage 228 Sub scanning carriage

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A document placed on the image reading device is visually checked through a mirror and a viewing window in order to specify an area to be image-processed in a document image read by the image reading device. In a possible image processing area designating device, a light emitting means for irradiating the original with light used as a pointer for designating the area, and an optical system for guiding the irradiated light to the viewing window via the mirror. The light emitting means includes an instruction means for instructing to move / stop, a driving means for moving / stopping the light emitting means in the instruction, and a specifying means for specifying a stop position of the light emitting means as the area of the image processing target. An image processing area designating device. 2. The image processing area designating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading apparatus has a carriage for reading and scanning the original, and the light emitting means is mounted on the carriage. 3. The image processing area designation according to claim 1, wherein a half mirror capable of transmitting light is used as the mirror, and the light of the light emitting means is applied to the original through the mirror. apparatus.