JPH08331362A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent deterioration in image quality even when generation copy is repeated by reading additional information required for forming an image of an original added thereon in a state hardly recognized visually and generating image data based thereon so as to form an image. CONSTITUTION: Image data in a form of including buried information are fed from a scanner 1 to a buried information read section 3. The buried information read section 3 separates image edit information being the buried information and substantial image data from the received image data and provides an output of them to an image processing section 4. The image processing section 4 applies edit processing of the image data by the image edit information, converts the data into output image data and provides an output of the converted data to a buried information addition section 7. The buried information addition section 7 adds the image edit information fed from the buried information read section 3 to the output image data fed from the image processing section 4 and provides an output of them to a printer 2. Since the information required for the image edit is buried in an original in this way, deterioration in the image quality at 2nd copying is prevented by reading the information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a digital copying machine (PPC),
Image area separation processing for separating the character portion from the gradation portion is performed, and the optimum image processing is performed for each image according to the result. When the generational copy is repeated, the determination of the image area separation is made every time.

As described above, when the generation copy of the character / gradation mixed document is actually performed, the image quality is significantly deteriorated.
This is because the accuracy of the image area separation processing that is performed each time is not sufficient, and image quality is cumulatively deteriorated by repeatedly performing inappropriate processing on a portion where a determination error has occurred. That is, when re-copying is performed by a conventional copying machine, the information necessary for image editing is obtained by analyzing the image data obtained by reading the document every time. For this reason, when re-copying is repeated, an optical error at the time of reading an image is also repeated, so that the image quality deterioration of the copy output is accelerated. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that image quality is cumulatively deteriorated by repeating generational copying.

[0004]

As described above, it is possible to eliminate the drawback that image quality is cumulatively deteriorated by repeating generational copying. Even if the generational copying is repeated, image quality deterioration is prevented. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

[0005]

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is a reading means for reading the image data on the original document to which the image editing information is added in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and the reading means reads the image data. Extracting means for extracting image editing information from the image data, editing means for editing the image data of the image data read by the reading means using the image editing information extracted by the extracting means, and the editing means It is composed of an image forming means for forming an image of image data on an image forming medium.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is a reading means for reading the image data on the original document to which the original document identification number is assigned in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and the original document identification number from the image data read by the reading means. Extraction means for extracting
Storage means for storing image data for each document identification number, reading means for reading out image data corresponding to the document identification number extracted by the extraction means from the storage means, and image data read by the reading means And an image forming means for forming an image on the image forming medium.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is a reading means for reading the image data on the original document to which the original document identification number is assigned in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and the original document identification number from the image data read by the reading means. Extraction means for extracting
Storage means for storing image data for each document identification number, reading means for reading out image data corresponding to the document identification number extracted by the extraction means from the storage means, document identification number extracted by the extraction means Output means for outputting the original document identification number to an external device via a network when image data corresponding to the original document identification number is not stored in the storage means, and via the network for the original document identification number output by the output means. And an image forming unit for forming an image on the image forming medium by the image data read by the reading unit or the image data received by the receiving unit. ing.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is a reading means for reading the additional information necessary for generating the image data of the original added to the original in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and the reading means reads the additional information. It is composed of a generating means for generating image data using the additional information and an image forming means for forming an image of the image data generated by the generating means on an image forming medium.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the image data on the document to which the image edit information is added is read by the reading means in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and the image edit information is extracted from the read image data by the extracting means. The image data read by the reading means is edited using the extracted image editing information, and the edited image data is image-formed on the image forming medium.

According to the present invention, the image data on the original document to which the original document identification number is attached is read in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and the original document identification number is extracted from the read image data by the extracting means, and this extraction is performed. The image data corresponding to the read document identification number is read from the storage means in which the image data for each document identification number is stored, and the read image data is image-formed on the image forming medium. .

According to the present invention, the image data on the original document to which the original document identification number is assigned is read by the reading means in a state where the original document identification number is difficult to visually identify, and the original document identification number is extracted from the read image data by the extracting means. Image data corresponding to the original document identification number extracted by the extracting unit is read by the reading unit from the storage unit in which the image data for each original document identification number is stored, and corresponds to the original document identification number extracted by the extracting unit. When the image data is not stored in the storage means, the original document identification number is output to the external device via the network, and the image supplied from the external device via the network corresponding to the output original document identification number. The data is received by the receiving means, and the image data read by the reading means or the image data received by the receiving means is subjected to image formation. It is obtained as an image formed on the body.

According to the present invention, the additional information necessary for generating the image data of the original added to the original in a state where it is difficult to visually identify the original is read by the reading means, and the read additional information is used. The image data is generated, and the generated image data is image-formed on the image forming medium.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a schematic block configuration of a digital copying machine as an image forming apparatus.

That is, a scanner 1 for optically reading a document and a printer 2 for outputting image data on paper are connected by a bus 8. On the bus 8, an embedded information reading unit 3 that reads embedded information embedded in the input image from the scanner 1 that is difficult for human eyes to identify, and an input image from the scanner 1 as an output image. An image processing unit 4 for converting, an image storage unit 5 for storing image data of an original, a LAN interface 6 connected to the network 10 for receiving and transmitting image data, and an embedding read by an embedding information reading unit 3. An embedded information adding section 7 for adding information to image data to be output, and a CPU 9 for controlling the entire digital copying machine are connected.

In the case of the first embodiment, the image storage unit 5 and the LAN interface 6 are not necessarily required. The embedding information is composed of, for example, image editing information (image area separation information). As the image editing information, it is necessary to use a format capable of efficiently dividing an image with a small amount of information.

The format is as follows: ground: type of image of ground portion rectangular area 1 (x11, y11)-(x12, y12): type of image of rectangular area 1 rectangular area 2 (x21, y21)-(x22, y22): Type of image of rectangular area 2 .. Rectangular area n (xn1, yn1)-(xn2, yn2): Type of image of rectangular area n .. Rectangular area N (xN1, yN1)-(xN2, yN2) : It is the type of image of the rectangular area N.

Here, the ground indicates the remaining area except the rectangular area 1, the rectangular area 2, ..., The rectangular area N from the entire image.
Coordinates (xn1, yn1) and (xn2, yn2) indicate two diagonal points of the rectangular area n (n = 1, 2, ... N).

The embedding information is embedded in the area of the lower part of the document, which does not affect the image, as yellow color information. The image storage unit 5 is composed of a magnetic disk device (HDD), an optical disk device (ODD), or the like.

The LAN interface 6 is a portion in charge of exchanging data with other devices on the network 10 to which the digital copying machine is connected, and image data stored in another digital copying machine on the network 10. Can be searched and read on the network 10 according to the image identification information. This may be that used in a personal computer PC / word processor WS.

Specific contents of the operation will be described based on the flow of each information and data shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, image editing information is treated as embedding information, and the image processing unit 4 performs image processing according to this image editing information to improve the image quality during recopying.

First, the scanner 1 supplies image data containing embedded information to the embedded information reading section 3. The embedding information reading unit 3 separates the image editing information, which is the embedding information, and the original image data from the supplied image data, and outputs the separated image editing information to the image processing unit 4. As a result, the image processing unit 4
The image data is edited by the supplied image editing information, converted into output image data, and output to the embedded information adding unit 7. The embedding information adding unit 7 adds the embedding information reading unit 3 to the output image data supplied from the image processing unit 4.
The image editing information, which is the embedded information supplied from, is added and output to the printer 2. As a result, the printer 2 prints the output image data to which the image editing information is added, which is supplied from the embedded information adding unit 7, on the paper.

The internal processing of the image processing unit 4 at this time will be described with reference to the configuration example of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the image processing unit 4 includes a switching unit 41, a black character processing unit 42, a color character processing unit 43, a full color processing unit 44, and a combining unit 45.

In such a configuration, the embedding information reading unit 3 divides the image data into partial images of each image type by the switching unit 41 according to the image editing information. The partial image from the switching unit 41 is input to the black character processing unit 42, the color character processing unit 43, and the full color processing unit 44 according to the type of the image, subjected to the conversion suitable for each image, and the combining unit 45. It is recombined into one image.

At this time, the reason why the processing unit is prepared corresponding to the type of image is that the nature of the filter to be applied and the enlarging / reducing method differ depending on the content of the image. For example, the black character processing unit 42 and the color character processing unit 43 require binarization filter processing for clearly reproducing edges.
It is necessary for the full-color processing unit 44 to reproduce the gradation of the original image.

FIG. 4 shows how to hold the image editing information by taking an enlarged copy as an example. The entire manuscript has black characters, and color characters and full-color rectangular areas are included in the original. In this manuscript, as the image editing information, the ground area has black characters and the coordinates (5
It is embedded that the rectangular area indicated by (0,150)-(350,200) is a color character and the rectangular area indicated by (50,250)-(350,500) is a full color. Since the embedded information reading unit 3 reads this image area separation information, the black character, color character, and full color partial images are input to the corresponding black character processing unit 42, color character processing unit 43, and full color processing unit 44, respectively. , Enlargement processing suitable for each image is performed and a copy result is obtained.

Since several types of methods for recording text information on a color image in an overlapping manner have already been reported, the embedded information reading unit 4 and the embedded information adding unit 7 can be realized by any of these methods.

"Composition and Coding Method of Text Data to Image by Color Image Pattern", Nakamura, Matsui et al., Journal of Image Electronics Engineers, Vol. 17, No. 4 (1988), pp. 194-19.
8 ... A method of superimposing text information by utilizing redundancy in the color density pattern method.

"Embedding of Character Information into Systematic Dither Image by 2k Element Vector", Tanaka, Nakamura, Matsui, Journal of Image Electronics Engineers, Vol. 19, No. 5 (1990), pp. 337-34.
3 ... Example applied to a dither image capable of higher density recording.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-294682: A method for adding information to yellow ink. As described above, since the information necessary for image editing is embedded in the document, by reading the information at the time of recopying, the image quality deterioration at the time of recopying can be kept to a minimum.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an image processing unit (here, a black character processing unit, a color character processing unit, a full color processing unit) corresponding to the type of image is prepared and embedded in an original. Image area separation information of the document (image area position information,
Information about the type of image in that area)
According to the image area separation information, each image area is input to each image processing unit corresponding to the type of image, and the outputs are combined to form an output image, so processing suitable for the type of image of each part is performed. The applied output image can be obtained.

In addition, in the prior art, since the original document was analyzed every time to determine the kind of the image, the judgment error is accumulated every time the recopying is performed. By doing so, the processing can be performed with the same image area separation information every time.

The image area separation information is composed of a combination of rectangular areas that are easy to handle when performing partial image switching and composition, and an image of the "ground" area corresponding to the remaining part specified by the rectangular areas. Since the type of is specified, the actual document structure can be well expressed with a small amount of data.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The configuration of FIGS. 5 to 7 is the same as the configuration of FIG. 5 shows the flow of each information and data at the time of the first copy, FIG. 6 shows the flow of each information and data when the image data is read from the image storage unit 5 at the time of re-copy, and FIG. Shows the flow of each information and data when the image data is transmitted from the LAN 10 at the time of re-copying, and FIG.
It is a flow chart for explaining the whole operation.

That is, the embedded information reading unit 3 is the scanner 1
Image data including embedded information as document identification information is input from the document placed on the document, and document identification information obtained by color demodulation or the like is extracted and read.

The embedded information reading unit 3 is an original document to be copied when the original document placed on the scanner 1 is not written with the original document identification information (when the original document identification information could not be read). At a certain time (hereinafter referred to as the first copy), the information indicating the first copy is output to the CPU 9 and the image data is output to the image processing unit 4. When the document identification information is read, the document identification information is output to the CPU 9.

Further, the image processing unit 4 to which the image data is supplied performs processing such as image area determination, and outputs the processed image data to the image storage unit and the embedded information adding unit 7. When the information indicating the first copy is supplied from the embedded information reading unit 3, the CPU 9 determines that it is the first copy, generates document identification information (newly assigned to the document image),
The generated document identification information is output to the image storage unit 5 and the embedded information adding unit 7.

As a result, the image storage unit 5 stores the image-processed image data obtained by the image processing unit 4 corresponding to the document identification information from the CPU 9. Also,
The embedded information adding unit 7 adds the color-modulated information of the original identification information from the CPU 9 to the image data obtained by the image processing unit 4 after the image processing and outputs it to the printer 2. The printer 2 prints the image data to which the document identification information obtained from the embedded information adding unit 7 is added.

The flow of each information and data at the time of the first copy is shown in FIG. When the document identification information is obtained from the embedding information reading unit 3, the CPU 9 determines that the copy is a recopy, and outputs the document identification information to the image storage unit 5 and the embedding information adding unit 7.

As a result, the image storage section 5 reads out the image data corresponding to the document identification information from the CPU 9 and outputs it to the embedded information adding section 7. Next, the embedded information adding unit 7
Is the CP in the image data obtained from the image storage unit 5.
Color-modulated information is added to the document identification information from U9 and output to the printer 2. The printer 2 prints the image data to which the document identification information obtained from the embedded information adding unit 7 is added.

That is, the previously stored document data can be read out according to the document identification information and printed out. The flow of each information and data when the image data is read from the image storage unit 5 at the time of the above-mentioned re-copying is shown in FIG.

When there is no image data corresponding to the document identification information in the image storage unit 5, the CPU 9 transmits the document identification information via the LAN interface 6 and the network 10 and searches on the network 10. . By this search, when the corresponding image data is transferred from the network 10 and received by the LAN interface 6, the CPU 9 outputs the image data to the embedded information adding unit 7. Then, the embedding information adding unit 7 adds to the image data obtained from the LAN interface 6 the information obtained by color-modulating the document identification information from the CPU 9 and outputs the image data to the printer 2. The printer 2 prints the image data to which the document identification information obtained from the embedded information adding unit 7 is added.

That is, the previously stored document data can be read out according to the document identification information and printed out. The flow of each information and data when the image data is obtained from the network 10 at the time of re-copying is as follows.
It is shown in FIG.

As described above, at the time of the first copy, as shown in FIG. 5, the original data newly assigned to the original data by the embedded information adding section 7 is added to the image data in which the embedded information from the scanner 1 is not written. Printer 2 with identification information added
To the output image.

At the time of recopying, first, the embedding information in the image data from the scanner 1 is read to obtain the document identification information.
The image storage unit 5 searches for whether or not the image data of the original specified by the original identification information is stored, and if the image data is stored inside, the original identification information is added again to the image data to obtain an output image. (Shown in Figure 6). As a result of searching the internal image storage unit 5, if it is not stored inside, the search is performed on the next connected network 10. If the image data is on the network 10, the image data is transferred and obtained on the network 10, and the original document identification information is added again to form an output image (shown in FIG. 7). If it is not stored on the network 10, the same handling as at the first copy is performed.

As an example of the manuscript identification information, a company name, a product name, a product serial number, and a copy serial number may be used as the manuscript identification information. If the document identification information is in this format, compare the company name / product name / product serial number part read from the document with the company name / product name / product serial number added to this digital copier. This makes it possible to quickly determine whether or not the data is stored inside the digital copying machine. That is, it is possible to judge whether the search is performed inside the digital copying machine or whether the search should be spread over the network 10 only by the value of this portion. The copy serial number portion can be simply realized by diverting the value of the copy counter implemented in this digital copying machine.

As described above, the original identification information is embedded as the information for uniquely identifying the original in the original to be copied, and the image data of the original is stored inside the digital copying machine or on the network to which the digital copying machine is connected. Try to keep it. Then, at the time of re-copying, since the original can be uniquely identified by reading the embedded original identification information, by searching the image data of the original identified by the original identification information and reading it and using it as an output image, The same image as the original at the time of the first copy can be output any number of times.

It is also possible to prevent accumulation of optical errors when reading the image itself other than the embedded image. Further, at the time of re-copying, the embedded original identification information is read to identify the original, and the image storage unit inside the digital copying machine is searched to determine whether the image data of the original is stored. If so, the image data is output, if it is not inside, a search is performed on the network to which the digital copying machine is connected, and if it is on the network, it is output so that extra search information is sent to the network. Can be eliminated and a faster search can be performed.

Further, since the company identification, product name, product serial number, and copy serial number are included in the document identification information, the document is a digital copying machine in the part of company name, product name, product serial number. You can quickly determine whether it is stored internally. The copy serial number portion can be simply realized by diverting the value of the copy counter of the digital copying machine.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The configuration of FIG. 9 is the same as that of FIG. 1 except for the image processing unit 4. The image processing unit 4 has a memory 4a having a size capable of generating an image of one page or more and a memory control unit 4b for controlling the memory 4a, and is accessible as the memory 4a of the CPU 9 not shown in the figure. , CPU 9 can generate a bitmap image on the memory 4a. Specifically, a part of the main memory of this digital copying machine may be allocated and used as a memory for image generation, or may be independent as a dedicated memory.

In the case of the third embodiment, the image storage unit 5 and the LAN interface 6 are not necessarily required. FIG. 9 shows the flow of each information and data, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the overall operation.

First, information necessary to generate image data of an original in an original (text information composed of a character code with a format or page description language data indicating a position of a character or a figure in one page) Must be embedded, but it is assumed that this is realized by the printer 2 that outputs the document, by embedding the formatted text information or page description language data in addition to the image data when outputting the document.

That is, the embedded information reading unit 3 is the scanner 1
Image data containing formatted text information or page description language data is input from the original placed on the document, and the formatted text information or page description language data obtained by color demodulation or the like is extracted and read.

The embedded information reading unit 3 detects that embedded information such as formatted text information or page description language data is not written in the document placed on the scanner 1 (formatted text information or page description language data is If the information cannot be read), the CPU 9 outputs information indicating that there is no embedded information, outputs image data to the printer 2, and reads the formatted text information or page description language data, the CPU 9 outputs the formatted text. Output information or page description language data.

When the formatted text information or page description language data is supplied from the embedded information reading unit 3, the CPU 9 interprets the formatted text information or page description language data to generate drawing data in units of pixels. Then, the generated drawing data is output to the display control unit 4b in the image processing unit 4.

As a result, the display control section 4b expands the image data drawn from the embedded information reading section 3 in accordance with the drawing data from the CPU 9 into the memory 4a, thereby obtaining the same image data as the original. Obtainable.
The image data for one page developed in the memory 4a is output to the embedded information adding unit 7. In addition, the embedded information adding unit 7
Is supplied with the formatted text information or page description language data from the CPU 9. The embedded information adding unit 7 adds the formatted text information from the CPU 9 or the information in which the page description language data is color-modulated to the image data in the memory 4a of the image processing unit 4 and outputs the image data to the printer 2. The printer 2 prints the image data to which the formatted text information or page description language data obtained from the embedded information adding unit 7 is added.

The flow of each information and data at the time of printing by the above-mentioned formatted text information or page description language data is shown in FIG. Further, the CPU 9
When the information indicating that there is no embedded information is supplied, the scanner 1
The image data read by is supplied from the embedded information reading unit 3 to the printer 2 and printed by the printer 2.

As a result, at the time of copying a document in which the information necessary for generating the image data is not embedded, the image data read by the scanner 1 is directly used as the output image.
As described above, the information necessary for generating the image data of the original is embedded, and at the time of recopying, this information is read and the image data of the original is generated and output, so that the same output image as the first copy is always output. Obtainable.

Since the text information with format or the page description language data is embedded as the information required to generate the image data of the original, the required information can be embedded with a small amount of data.

Further, it has a memory having a size capable of generating an image of one page or more, and reads embedded text information with formatting or page description language data,
Since the output image is generated by expanding on this memory, the read-formatted text information or page description language data can be expanded and output at high speed.

[0060]

As described above, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing deterioration of image quality even if generational copying is repeated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block configuration diagram of a digital copying machine for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of each information and data in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example for explaining processing inside an image processing unit in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing, as an example, an enlarged copy of a method of holding image editing information according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of each information and data at the time of the first copy in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of each information and data when image data is read from the image storage unit at the time of recopying in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of each information and data when image data is transmitted from the LAN 10 at the time of recopying in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of each information and data in the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Scanner 2 ... Printer 3 ... Embedded Information Reading Unit 4 ... Image Processing Unit 5 ... Image Storage Unit 6 ... LAN Interface 7 ... Embedded Information Adding Unit 8 ... Bus 9 ... CPU 10 ... Network

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading image data on a document to which image editing information is added in a state that is difficult to visually identify, and an extracting means for extracting image editing information from the image data read by the reading means. And editing means for performing image editing of the image data read by the reading means using the image editing information extracted by the extracting means, and the image data edited by the editing means as an image on the image forming medium. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image. 2. The image editing information read by the reading means comprises a plurality of different image processing contents and image area separation information for each image processing content, and the editing means includes the image area separation information and this image. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image is edited with the image processing content corresponding to each area. 3. A reading unit for reading image data on a document to which a document identification number is assigned in a state where it is difficult to visually identify it, and an extracting unit for extracting the document identification number from the image data read by the reading unit. Storage means for storing image data for each document identification number; reading means for reading out the image data corresponding to the document identification number extracted by the extraction means from the storage means; and reading means for reading the image data. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image of the image data on an image forming medium. 4. A reading unit for reading image data on a document to which a document identification number is assigned in a state where it is difficult to visually identify the document, and an extracting unit for extracting the document identification number from the image data read by the reading unit. Storage means for storing image data for each document identification number; reading means for reading out image data corresponding to the document identification number extracted by the extraction means from the storage means; and extraction means for extracting the image data. When the image data corresponding to the document identification number is not stored in the storage unit, the output unit outputs the document identification number to an external device via a network, and the document identification number output by the output unit. Receiving means for receiving image data supplied from an external device via the network, and image data read by the reading means. Or an image forming means for forming an image on the image forming medium by the image data received by the receiving means. 5. A reading means for reading additional information necessary for generating image data of the original added to the original in such a manner that it is difficult to visually identify it, and the additional information read by this reading means is used. An image forming apparatus comprising: a generating unit that generates image data by using the image forming unit; and an image forming unit that forms an image of the image data generated by the generating unit on an image forming medium. 6. The additional information required to generate the image data of the original document is text information composed of a character code with a format or page description language data indicating a position of a character or a figure in one page. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: