JPH09116735A - Image converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce output amount of paper, eliminate the need for revision of a program of an opposite party terminal equipment and to reduce the transmission information quantity even when a document format is changed. SOLUTION: Format conversion information includes an image type and a compression system corresponding to an opposite party terminal equipment. An image conversion section 12 converts document data into image data with an image type designated by the format conversion information, and an image data companding section 13 compresses image data according to the compression system designated by the format conversion information. The compressed data is used for the terminal equipment of the opposite party. Since the compressed data are recorded on a recording medium as magnetic information or optical information, output amount of paper is reduced. Since the converter 1 designates the image type and the compression system or the like, revision of a program of the terminal equipment of the opposite party is not required even when the format of a document is changed. The transmission information quantity is reduced by compressing the image data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image conversion device for converting an image of a form such as a bill into image data compatible with the format of a partner terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printer system including a host computer and a printer is known as a system for creating a large amount of forms.

In this printer system, data is created by a host computer, form data is edited by the printer based on this data, and the data is printed on paper and output.

[0004]

However, since the form data is printed and output on paper, the amount of printed paper becomes large as the amount of information increases, and it is not easy to secure a storage location, and it is difficult to search. It was very troublesome.

In order to deal with this problem, a method has been adopted in which data is transmitted online to a partner terminal and printed at the partner terminal.

However, in this method, it is necessary to replace the program on the partner terminal side each time the form format is changed.

On the other hand, in the advanced information society of recent years,
Since the amount of communication information tends to increase, it is increasingly required to compress the transmission information and send it to the partner terminal.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and reduces the output amount of paper to reduce the waste of resources,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image conversion device that does not require a program change on the other terminal side even if the form of a document is changed and further reduces the amount of transmitted information.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conversion means for converting input form data including character data, ruled line data and background information into image data of a designated image type. A compression means for compressing the image data converted by the conversion means according to a designated compression method; and a recording means for recording the data compressed by the compression means on a recording medium of magnetic information or optical information, or the compression means. And transmitting means for transmitting the data compressed by the means to the partner terminal.

The image type includes a binary image, a multi-valued image, a color image and the like, and the compression method is a predictive coding method such as MH and MR and a transform coding method such as DST and KL conversion. And various compression methods such as LZW compression method.

By designating the image type and compression method corresponding to the partner terminal, the form data is converted into image data of the image type compatible with the partner terminal, compressed by the compression method compatible with the partner terminal, and recorded on the recording medium. By or by transmission,
It is used for the other terminal.

The data compressed by the compression means is recorded on the recording medium of magnetic information or optical information or transmitted to the partner terminal, so that the output amount of paper is reduced.

Further, since the image type and the compression method are designated on the side of the apparatus, even if the format of the form is changed, it is not necessary to change the program on the partner terminal side.

Further, by compressing the image data, the amount of transmitted information is reduced, and the recording density of the recording medium and the transmission efficiency are improved.

Further, by printing the identification information for identifying the recorded contents on the recording medium, the recorded contents can be understood at a glance and the classification and the like can be facilitated.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image conversion recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The image conversion recording apparatus 1 has an apparatus main body 1A having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a display section such as a CRT display or a liquid crystal display for displaying various information is provided at the upper center and the upper left of the apparatus main body 1A. 2a and 2b and operation units 3a and 3b such as a keyboard for inputting various information are arranged. Further, a cassette insertion port 4 for inserting a cassette type magnetic tape (MT) is provided in the center of the left side of the apparatus main body 1A, and a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, etc. are provided in the front right section of the apparatus main body 1A. The hopper unit 5 for supplying a large number of magnetic information or optical information recording media is provided.

A host computer (hereinafter simply referred to as “host”) 100 is connected to the apparatus 1 online 101.

The host 100 communicates with a CPU 10 of the apparatus 1 which will be described later, and transmits character data among form data composed of character data (character code), ruled line data and background information via the online 101. This device 1
To be forwarded to.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of the apparatus 1.

This device 1 controls the entire device 1 C
A memory 11 having a PU 10 and storing various information including a control program as shown in a flowchart of FIG. 10 described later on a bus 10a of the CPU 10, an image conversion unit 12 for converting form data into an image image, image data Image data compression / decompression unit 13 for compressing and decompressing
Transmission / reception of information to / from the host 100 via the display unit 2a, 2b, the operation unit 3a, 3b, the hard disk device (HD) 14, a hard disk controller (HDC) 15 that controls reading and writing of information, and the online 101. Online controller (OLC) 1
6, the magnetic tape (M
T) magnetic tape controller (MTC) 17 for reading and writing information, automatic recording controller (ALC)
18, small computer system interface (SC
SI) 19 and the hopper unit 5 are connected to each other.

On the SCSI bus 19a of the SCSI 19,
The recording / reading unit 20, the printing unit 21, and the attaching unit 22 are connected to each other.

On the HD 14, ruled line data created by using the display unit 2a and the operation unit 3a or input from an image scanner (not shown), background information such as form overlay image information, seal imprint information, photograph information and the like, drawings The format conversion table 140 and the like as shown in FIG. 3 are stored. The background information is usually stored as a multivalued image.

In the format conversion table 140, as shown in FIG. 3, edit information indicating a combination of ruled line data and background information and the like, image types such as binary image, multi-valued image and color image, predictive coding method, A compression method such as a conversion coding method and an LZW compression method, and print information (identification information) for identifying the recorded content of the recording medium M are registered together with a registration ID.

The recording / reading unit 20 records the compressed data sent via the SCSI 19 on the recording medium M supplied from the hopper unit 5 and extracts the print information from the format conversion information sent via the SCSI 19. It is sent to the printing unit 21.

The printing unit 21 prints on the label 21a based on the print information sent from the recording / reading unit 20. When the recording medium M is a CD-ROM, printing is directly performed on the front surface or the back surface thereof.

The affixing section 22 has a label 21a on the recording medium M.
Is to be pasted.

The image conversion unit 12 converts the form data into image data of the image type designated by the format conversion information.

The image data compressing / expanding section 13 is provided with MH, M
Specified by format conversion information among various compression methods such as predictive coding methods such as R and MMR, DCT (discrete cosine transform), DST, KL conversion, Hadamard transform, and LZW compression method. The image data from the image conversion unit 12 is compressed according to the compression method, and the compressed image data is expanded.

The CPU 10 controls each part of the apparatus 1 according to the control program stored in the memory 11, and edits the form data based on the editing information specified by the format conversion information.

Next, the operation of the apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9 according to the flowchart of FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a form, FIGS. 5 to 9 are diagrams showing information constituting the form of FIG. 4, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing numerical data (character data), and FIG. 6 is a ruled line. A diagram showing the data,
7 is a diagram showing form overlay image information, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing seal imprint information, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing photographic information.

The M inserted from the cassette insertion port 4
Although the character data can be read from T, the case where the character data is transferred from the host 100 will be described in this operation.

The CPU 10 displays the contents of the format conversion table 140 of the HD 14 on the display section 2a. The operator operates the operation unit 3a to input the registration ID corresponding to the format of the partner terminal which is the reading side of the recording medium M in the format conversion table 140 displayed on the display unit 2a (S1).

When character data as shown in FIG. 5 is transferred from the host 100 via the online 101 (S
2), the CPU 10 performs format conversion corresponding to the registration ID from the ruled line data as shown in FIG. 6 and the background information as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 stored in the HD 14 and the character data from the host 100. Based on the editing information designated by the information, one form data consisting of character data, ruled line data and background information as shown in FIG. 4 is created,
The HDC 15 is controlled and stored in the HD 14 (S3).

The CPU 10 sends the form data and format conversion information accumulated in the HD 14 to the image conversion unit 12.

The image conversion unit 12 converts the form data into image data of the image type designated by the format conversion information and sends it to the image data compression / decompression unit 13 (S4).

Subsequently, the CPU 10 sends the format conversion information stored in the HD 14 to the image data compression / decompression unit 13.

The image data compression / decompression unit 13 compresses the image data from the image conversion unit 12 according to the compression method designated by the format conversion information. The CPU 10 stores the image data (compressed data) compressed by the image data compression / decompression unit 13 in the HD 14 (S5).

In parallel with this, the CPU 10 reads the compressed data stored in the HD 14 and sends it to the recording / reading unit 20 via the SCSI 19. The recording / reading unit 20 includes the hopper unit 5.
The compressed data is recorded on the recording medium M supplied from
6).

The recording / reading unit 20 extracts print information from the format conversion information and sends it to the printing unit 21. Printing unit 2
1 prints on the label 21a based on the print information (S
7). In the case of a CD-ROM, it is printed directly.

The attaching section 22 attaches the label 21a printed by the printing section 21 to the recording medium M (S8).
In this recording medium M, compressed data is decompressed at the other terminal,
Used for display, etc.

According to the apparatus 1 as described above, the form data is converted into the image data of the image type corresponding to the partner terminal, compressed according to the compression method corresponding to the extension method of the partner terminal, and then the recording medium M. Since the data is recorded in and used for the other terminal, the output amount of paper is reduced, and it is possible to save the waste of resources.

Further, since the editing information, the image type and the compression method are designated on the apparatus 1 side, even if the format of the form is changed, it is not necessary to change the program on the partner terminal side.

By compressing the image data, the amount of transmitted information is reduced and the recording density of the recording medium M is improved. Specifically, the information amount of 720 KB when compressed is 6 in MR.
It can be reduced to 2 KB by combining KB, DCT and MR. Therefore, a general form requires a capacity of 720 KB, and if a 720 KB floppy disk is not compressed, only one can be stored.
With the combination of DCT and MR, 360 sheets of form data can be stored.

Further, by attaching the label 21a for identifying the recorded contents to the recording medium M, the recorded contents can be understood at a glance and the classification etc. can be facilitated.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the host 1
The form data was edited from the character data from 00 and the ruled line data and background information in the HD 14, and the form data was converted into image data and compressed. However, the configuration shown in FIG. The image input unit 23 may optically scan the form to input a form image, convert the form image into image data of the image type designated by the format conversion information, and compress the image data. With such a configuration, it is possible to save the trouble of creating the form data. Also, the image data can be printed on a sheet by the image printing unit 24 and output.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, a transmission means for transmitting the compressed data to the partner terminal may be added. In this case, the recording means for recording the compressed data on the recording medium may be omitted. According to this, the recording medium M can be dispensed with, and by transmitting the compressed data, the amount of transmitted information is reduced and the transmission efficiency can be improved.

[0049]

According to the present invention described in detail above, the form data is converted into the image data of the image type corresponding to the partner terminal, compressed according to the compression method corresponding to the extension method of the partner terminal, and then recorded. Since the data is recorded on the medium and is used by the partner terminal, the output amount of paper is reduced, and it is possible to save the waste of resources.

Further, since the image type and the compression method are specified on the side of this apparatus, even if the format of the form is changed, it is not necessary to change the program on the other terminal side.

By compressing the image data, the amount of transmitted information can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image conversion recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of this device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a format conversion table of this device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a form.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing numerical data (character data)

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing ruled line data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing form overlay image information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing seal imprint information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing photographic information.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of this device.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a main part of an image conversion recording device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 image conversion recording device 10 CPU 11 memory 12 image conversion unit 13 image data compression / decompression unit 14 HD 20 recording / reading unit 21 printing unit 21a label 22 pasting unit 23 image input unit 100 host computer M recording medium

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A conversion unit for converting input form data including character data, ruled line data and background information into image data of a specified image type, and image data converted by the conversion unit is specified. An image conversion apparatus comprising: a compression unit that compresses according to the above compression method; and a recording unit that records the data compressed by the compression unit on a recording medium of magnetic information or optical information. 2. An image conversion device that edits form data based on character data transferred from a host computer and converts the form data into image data compatible with the format of the partner terminal, which includes ruled line data and background information, and the partner terminal. Specified by the format conversion information from the storage means for storing the editing information corresponding to the format, the format conversion information including the image type and the compression method, and the character data transferred from the host computer, the ruled line data and the background information. Editing means for editing the form data based on the edited editing information; conversion means for converting the form data edited by the editing means into image data of the image type designated by the format conversion information; Compress the converted image data according to the compression method specified by the format conversion information. Condensation unit, an image converter that wherein a recording means for recording the compressed data on the recording medium of the magnetic information or optical information by the compression means. 3. An image conversion device for converting a form image into image data compatible with the format of the partner terminal, and storage means for storing format conversion information including an image type and compression system compatible with the format of the partner terminal. Input means for inputting a form image, conversion means for converting the form image input by the input means into image data of the image type designated by the format conversion information, and image data converted by the conversion means. An image conversion apparatus comprising: a compression unit that compresses in accordance with a compression method designated by the format conversion information; and a recording unit that records the data compressed by the compression unit on a recording medium of magnetic information or optical information. . 4. The image conversion apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a printing unit that prints identification information for identifying the recorded content on the recording medium recorded by the recording unit. 5. A conversion unit for converting input form data including character data, ruled line data and background information into image data of a specified image type, and image data converted by this conversion unit is specified. An image conversion apparatus comprising: a compression unit that compresses according to the compression method described above; and a transmission unit that transmits the data compressed by the compression unit to a partner terminal.