JPH09247380A - Digital copying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the same copy from being taken repeatedly even when a page of a document is not turned over forgetfully on the digital copying machine which has a divisional read mode (book mode) wherein a 1st read and a 2nd read are made successively. SOLUTION: To read a document as image data by the 1st read, data showing features of the document are extracted and stored and when a document having features matching the stored data is read by a next 1st read, an alarm message is displayed and no copy is taken. For the features of the document, the number N of black pixels is counted from the head AB of the document along a line L rotated around a point A by θ0 and when N is not 0, the number N of black pixels is counted similarly along a new line which is further rotated by Δθ; and this process is repeated until N which is not 0 is obtained and the tilt of a line and the number N of black pixels when N which is not 0 is obtained are stored as the features of the document.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention continuously comprises a first reading for reading from one end of a document to the center of the document and a second reading for reading from the center of the document to the other end of the document. The present invention relates to a digital copying machine provided with a reading unit capable of specifying a divided reading mode to be performed and an automatic document feeder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a digital copying machine, which stores a read original as digital image data in a memory or the like, and reads the image data from the memory or the like at the time of copying, is widely used for business and personal use. . In a recent digital copying machine, a manuscript having a two-page spread like a book (hereinafter referred to as “book manuscript”) is scanned from one end of the manuscript to the center of the manuscript by the first scan. , Copy on one side of transfer paper of the specified size, scan from the center of the document to the other edge of the document in the second scan, and copy on one side of the next transfer paper. Many models can use the split reading mode (hereinafter referred to as "book mode"). In the book mode, since it is necessary to copy the right half and the left half of the original on the original platen glass onto different transfer papers, it is necessary to perform control different from that in the normal copying operation.

The operation of the original reading system of the copying machine when the book mode is used will be described below.
FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the configuration of a document reading system of a digital copying machine. The image reading system shown in FIG.
8, an exposure lamp 11 assembled to a scanner 19 that moves below 8, a mirror 12, a second mirror 13a, a third mirror 13b, a condenser lens 14, a photoelectric conversion element 16 using a CCD array, and a scan motor M2. Etc.

The book document 900 is placed on the platen glass 18 with the page to be copied facing downward and the page is opened, and a start key (not shown) is pressed to start copying. In scanning (hereinafter referred to as "A scan"), the scanner 19 scans the R part to the C part of the book document to read the document on the right side, and copies it to a transfer sheet by a copying device (not shown). I do.
In the second scan (hereinafter called "B scan"),
The original on the left side of the page is scanned by scanning from the C section to the L section, and copying is performed on a transfer sheet different from the transfer sheet copied at the A scan. That is,
The operation of the scanner 19 is as shown by the arrow (X).

[0005]

In the book mode as described above, it is necessary to turn the pages of the original one by one after each B-scan, but when manually turning the pages, Particularly when copying a book or the like having a large number of pages, it is easy to forget to turn the pages by inertially turning the pages. In this case, in order to copy two double-page spreads of a book document, two transfer sheets are required for the right half and the left half. In comparison, there is a problem that the amount of wasted transfer paper is large, that is, unnecessary cost is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital copying machine capable of copying a book original in a book mode, which is capable of suppressing wasteful cost due to forgetting to turn pages. To do.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a first reading from one end of a document to the center of the document and a first reading from the center of the document to the other end of the document. In the digital copying machine in which the divided reading mode for continuously performing the second reading for reading up to and the ADF mode for automatically feeding the original can be selected, it is determined whether or not the ADF mode is selected. When the division reading mode is selected, the determination means, the second determination means for determining whether or not the division reading mode is selected, the document reading means, and the ADF mode are not selected. An extracting means for extracting the characteristics of the original from the image data read by the original reading means; a storage means for storing the extracted characteristics of the original; In this case, comparing means for comparing the characteristic of the original document extracted at that time with the characteristic of the original document extracted at the time of reading the original document before that time and stored in the storage means, and the result of the comparison by the comparing means. When the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same, there is a copy control means for preventing copying of the originals read by the original reading means at that time.

In the digital copying machine of the present invention, the first
The determining means determines whether the ADF mode is selected, and the second determining means determines whether the divided reading mode is selected. As a result of the judgments by the first judgment means and the second judgment means, when the ADF mode is not selected and the divided reading mode is selected, the extraction means is read by the document reading means. Features of the original are extracted from the image data. The storage means stores the extracted features.

The comparing means, at the time of reading the original, the characteristics of the original extracted at the time of reading the original, and the characteristics of the original extracted at the time of reading the original earlier than that time and stored in the storage means. To compare. Here, as a result of the comparison, if the two are substantially the same, it means that the same original document is being copied again, that is, the pages of the original document have been forgotten, so the copy control is performed. The means does not copy the document read at the time of reading the document.

By performing the above-described processing, when a manuscript such as a book is copied without selecting the ADF mode and selecting the split reading mode, duplicate copying due to forgetting to turn pages is prevented. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of unnecessary costs. In the digital copying machine of the present invention, the ADF mode is not selected, and
Only when the divided reading mode is selected, the feature extraction process and the feature comparison process of the read document are performed, so the conditions as described above are not set,
The productivity of copying by the copying machine can be improved as compared with the case where feature extraction and comparison processing are performed every time.

In the digital copying machine, the AD
Only the determination means for determining whether or not the F mode is selected is used for extracting the characteristics of the original document and determining the condition for performing the comparison process, and extracting the characteristics of the original document when the ADF mode is not selected, It is also possible to perform the comparison process and not determine whether or not the divided reading mode is selected.

In this case, even if the division reading mode is not selected, the feature of the original is extracted and compared. Therefore, the division reading mode is not selected and the ADF mode is not selected. In this case, that is, when the originals are manually replaced, duplicate copying due to forgetting to replace the originals can be prevented, and it is possible to suppress the generation of extra costs.

Further, in the above digital copying machine, only the judging means for judging whether the divided reading mode is selected or not is used for the extraction of the characteristics of the original document and the judgment of the condition for the comparison processing, and the divided reading mode is used. If is set, the feature extraction of the original and the comparison process are performed.
It is also possible not to judge whether or not the ADF mode is selected.

In this case, not only when the ADF mode is not selected, but also when the ADF mode is selected and the divided reading mode is selected, the characteristics of the original document are extracted and compared. Processing will be performed. By performing such processing, for example, when a copy of a document such as a book that has been double-spread is used as a document and the ADF mode is selected and copying is performed in the split reading mode, the document becomes a document. It is possible to avoid duplicate copying even if the same original document is continuously present in a copy.

Further, in the above digital copying machine, when the feature of the original is extracted and compared only when the division reading mode is selected, the extracting means is
It is possible to extract the characteristics of the document from the image data of the portion read in the first reading by the reading unit. In this case, since the features of the document are extracted only from the first reading in the divided reading mode, the efficiency of the process of extracting the features of the document can be improved.

Further, the digital copying machine may further include warning output means for outputting a warning when the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same as a result of the comparison by the comparison means. is there. By providing the warning output means, if the contents of consecutive originals are similar and a judgment error occurs by the judgment means, or if for some reason the copying just before interruption is not performed well, etc. ,
It is possible to give the operator an opportunity to execute the copy again.

Further, in the above digital copying machine, the extracting means may make a virtual line passing through one apex of one of the originals divided into two with a predetermined incremental angle from a predetermined position with the one apex as the center. When the virtual line and a pixel having a predetermined pixel value on the document first overlap with each other when rotated while being changed, the virtual line and one of the sides passing through the vertex are The crossing angle and the number of pixels having the predetermined pixel value, which are present on the virtual line at that time, can be a feature of the document.

Although it is possible to define various characteristics of the manuscript, according to the above method, a pixel having a predetermined pixel value within the range of pixels existing on one virtual line. Since it is sufficient to measure the number of pixels, and only the angle and the number of pixels need to be compared, feature extraction and comparison processing can be performed with relatively little overhead, and a virtual line parallel to one side of the document is assumed. Compared with the case, it has the advantage that the characteristics of the document are easily clarified.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of a digital copying machine as an application example of the present invention. The digital copying machine shown in FIG. 1 has a document or ADF that is conveyed one by one onto the platen glass 18 by an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as “ADF”) 500.
A document placed directly on the platen glass 18 is read as image data without using 500, and a laser beam scanning optical system (hereinafter referred to as “optical system”) 60 is driven based on the read image data, An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor drum 71, the latent image is developed, and then transferred and fixed on a transfer sheet conveyed by a sheet conveying system (hereinafter referred to as “conveying system”) 80 to make a copy. It is a device to perform.
Here, as a document reading mode, a book mode is provided in addition to the normal reading mode.

A specific construction of the digital copying machine is a document reading system 10 for reading a document and converting it into image data.
An image data processing unit 20 for processing image data transmitted from the document reading system 10, and a memory unit 30.
A print processing unit 40 for driving the optical system 60 based on print data transmitted from the memory unit 30,
The optical system 60 for scanning the laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser 62 onto the photosensitive drum 71, and the photosensitive drum 7
An image forming system 70 for developing, transferring, and fixing the latent image formed on the image forming apparatus 1, a conveying system 80, and an ADF 500 having a function of conveying a document and reversing the front and back sides of a two-sided document. Including. The ADF 500 can be opened and closed on the platen glass 18 centering on the rear side of the machine body.
An ADF open / closed detection sensor for detecting whether the F500 is in contact (closed) or not in contact (open) with the platen glass 18, and whether or not the document is placed on the ADF 500. A document detecting sensor for detecting the document is provided so that the document can be reliably fed when the ADF mode is selected.

The document reading system 10, the image data processing unit 20, and the memory unit 30 are used as a reading device I.
R is configured, and the copying apparatus PR is configured by the print processing unit 40, the optical system 60, the image forming system 70, and the transport system 80. The control of each unit is performed by the control unit 100 shown in FIG.
Done by The configuration and operation of the document reading system 10 have already been described in the background art, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted here. The document reading system 10 is controlled by the CPU 103.

The image data processing unit 20 includes a CPU 1
Controlled by 02, it comprises a part for performing image quality correction such as an A / D converter, a shading correction part, an MTF correction part, a gamma correction part, and a part for performing image correction such as a variable power part and an image editing part. The memory unit 30 is controlled by the CPU 106, and the binarization processing unit 3 that creates binary data.
02, an image memory 304, and a code processing unit 3 having a compressor 311 and an expander 312 that can operate independently of each other.
05, a code memory 306 having a multiport, a rotation processing unit 307 for rotating an image as necessary, and a multivalued processing unit 308. The management table MT1 and the like are created in the RAM 126 to which the CPU 106 is connected.

The print processing unit 40 drives the optical system 60 line by line in the main scanning direction based on the print data transmitted from the memory unit 30. The optical system 60 includes a semiconductor laser 62 whose modulation (ON / OFF) is controlled by the print processing unit 40, and a polygon mirror 65 which deflects and scans a laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser 62.
And f for correcting the distortion aberration of the deflected laser beam
The θ lens 69 and mirrors 67a and 67b for guiding the laser beam to the photosensitive drum 71 are included.

The image forming system 70 is such that a charging charger 72, a developing device 73, a transfer charger 75, and a residual toner cleaner 76 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 71 which is rotated in the direction of the arrow along the rotation direction. . The transport system 80 includes automatic paper feed cassettes 81a and 81a that stack and store transfer papers.
b, rollers 82a for feeding the transfer sheets one by one,
82b, the sheet conveying path 83, the timing roller 84,
Transport belt 85, toner fixing device 86, discharge roller 87,
It is composed of a paper discharge tray 88. The transport system 80 and the photoconductor drum 71 are driven by the main motor M1. Further, sheet size detection sensors SE11 and SE12 are installed at important points of the sheet conveying passage 83.

The ADF 500 includes a document tray 501, a pickup roller 502, a separating roller 503, a separating pad 504, a register roller 505, and a conveyor belt 50.
6, a reversing roller 507, and a paper discharge tray 508. A document size detection sensor SE5 is provided in the vicinity of the register roller 505, whereby the size of the document is detected immediately before being conveyed onto the platen glass 18.

Further, as described above, the ADF opening / closing detection sensor (not shown) is arranged so that it can detect whether the ADF is open or closed, and in the vicinity of the document tray 501, the document tray 501 is provided. A document detection sensor for detecting whether or not a document is placed is provided, and the results of detection by the ADF opening / closing detection sensor and the document detection sensor are input to the CPU 107 that controls the ADF 500, and to the CPU of other parts of the copying machine. Is sent.

In the case of a double-sided original, after the reading of the first side of the original is completed, the original is rotated once around the reversing roller 507 and returned to the original glass 18. Therefore, the conveyor belt 506 is configured to be rotatable in the forward and reverse directions. In addition,
The digital copying machine of the present embodiment is equipped with an operation panel 90 as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, on the operation panel 90, a liquid crystal display panel 91,
A numeric keypad 92, a clear key 93, an interrupt key 94, a stop key 95, a start key 96, a book mode selection key 97, and a book mode selection display LED 98 are provided. Of these, the book mode selection key 97, when operated, causes the document reading system 10 to perform the A scan and B scan reading operations as shown in FIG. 26 when the start key 96 is pressed.

In a digital copying machine, generally, 1
A sheet of original is read as image data, necessary correction is added to the image data to generate print data, and the print data is output by the optical system 60 to form an image on one transfer sheet. The processing of image data will be described with a focus on the processing contents of the memory unit 30. The image of the original placed on the original table glass 18 is read by the original reading system 10. At the time of reading a document, the image data D2 for one page transferred from the image data processing unit 20 is first written in the image memory 304 via the binarization processing unit 302. After that, the image data is compressed by the compressor 311 and stored in the code memory 306 as code data. The code memory 306 is divided into 32 kilobyte units of memory area, and in consideration of controlling writing and reading at the same time, code data is stored for each page in each area.

At the time of copying, the code data stored in the code memory 306 is read out by the instruction of the CPU 106, expanded by the expander 312, and then written in the image memory 304 as image data. The image data written in the image memory 304 is transferred to the print processing unit 40 as print data via the rotation processing unit 307 and the multi-value quantization processing unit 308, and the optical system 60 is driven by the control of the CPU 104. And is printed on the photosensitive drum 71.

The code memory 306 is managed by a management table MT1 created on the RAM 126.
4 and 5 show the code memory 306 and the management table M.
It is a figure which shows the relationship with T1. FIG. 4 shows the code memory 30.
6 and FIG. 5 shows the contents of the management table MT1. As shown in FIG. 4, the code memory 306 has 32 bits.
It is divided into memory areas in units of kilobytes, and code data for each page is stored in each area in consideration of enabling simultaneous control of writing (when reading an original) and reading (when copying). It

Further, in the management table MT1, as shown in FIG. 5, various numbers required for compression / expansion such as a code memory area number, a page number, a connected area number, a compression method, and a data length. Is stored, and the code memory 306 is dynamically managed based on these pieces of information. The front connection shown in FIG.
It shows the forward connection of areas every 32 kilobytes in the page and whether or not it is the first area. If the code held as the previous concatenation is FF, it indicates that it is the first area, and otherwise, it indicates the previous area number.
Similarly, the post-concatenation indicates the connection in the backward direction for every 32 kilobytes area in the page and whether or not it is the last area. If it is FF, it indicates the last area. In the case, the subsequent area number is indicated.

When the CPU 106 reads out the image data from the image memory 304 and compresses it, the management table MT
While creating the information of 1, the compressor 311 is controlled to write the image data stored in the image memory 304 into the code memory 306 as code data. Also, the code memory 3
When reading the coded data from 06, the CPU 106
Performs control opposite to the write processing to the code memory 306. That is, the information in the management table MT1 is erased when the code data is read from the code memory 306 the number of times corresponding to the number of copies.

Next, the specific processing contents of the control unit 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 100 is mainly composed of seven CPUs 101 to 107, and the CPUs 101 to 107 serve as ROMs 111 to 117 storing necessary programs and work areas for executing the programs. RAMs 121 to 127 are provided.

The CPU 101 performs control related to detection of inputs from various operation keys of the operation panel 90 and display on the liquid crystal display panel 91. The CPU 102 controls each part of the image data processing unit 20. CPU103
Controls the drive of the document reading system 10. CPU10
Reference numeral 4 controls the copying machine PRT. Specifically, the print processing unit 40, the optical system 60, the image forming system 70, and the transport system 8
In addition to controlling 0, the sheet size detection sensor SE11,
The detection signal from SE12 is input to the CPU 104.

The CPU 105 controls the overall timing adjustment of the control unit and the operation mode setting. Specifically, the start / stop commands and the operation mode are set to the other CPUs to control the operation of the entire copying machine.
By controlling the memory unit 30, the CPU 106 performs necessary processing on the image data D2 transferred from the image data processing unit 20 to generate it as print data D3, and transfers it to the print processing unit 40. Specifically, write control processing and read control processing to the image memory 304 and the code memory 306, compression / expansion control, and the like are performed. Further, in the book mode, the characteristic of the original is extracted from the data written in the image memory 304 at the time of the A scan and is stored in the RAM 126. And the next A
By comparing the characteristics of the document read at the time of scanning and its characteristics, it is determined whether or not the pages of the book document are forgotten to turn, and the determination result is determined by the CPU 105.
Etc. to other CPUs.

The CPU 107 controls the ADF 500 and controls the CPU 10 via the serial I / O 200.
1, 102, 105 and 106 are connected, and instructions for feeding, conveying, discharging, etc. of a document are given by the CPU 105. Further, the detection results of the ADF opening / closing detection sensor and the document detection sensor are input to the CPU 107 and transmitted to another CPU.

Each CPU is a serial I / O 200
Information is transmitted and received by interrupt processing via the CPU, and each CPU operates individually based on a program stored in a ROM provided therein. Hereinafter, the processing content of each CPU will be described first. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 101. The CPU 101 starts its operation, for example, when the power is turned on, and the initial setting process (S1
After performing 1), an internal timer for monitoring so that the routine time becomes constant is started (S12).
Thereafter, steps S13 to S1 are performed until the internal timer expires.
6. Repeated loop processing of 6 is performed. It should be noted that the CPU 102 sets the internal timer after performing the initial setting process and waits for the end of the internal timer to perform the repeated loop process.
To 105 and the CPU 107 are the same, the description thereof will be omitted.

The CPU 101 causes the operation panel 90 to perform an input control process (S13) and a display control process (S1).
Perform 4). FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the input control processing. In the input control process, CP
The U 101 detects the switching between the book mode and the normal mode, and makes settings according to each mode. That is, C
The PU 101 first determines whether or not the on-edge of the book mode selection key 97 is detected (S131). Here, the on-edge of the book mode selection key 97 means that the setting of the book mode selection key 97 is changed from the off state to the on state. When the on-edge of the book mode selection key 97 is detected, the mode is switched to the book mode (S132). Next, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the off edge of the book mode selection key 97 is detected (S133). Here, book mode selection key 9
The off edge of 7 means that the book mode selection key 97 is changed from the on state to the off state. When the off-edge of the book mode selection key 97 is detected, the mode is switched to the normal mode (S134). After that, CP
U101 determines whether or not it is the normal mode (S13).
5) If it is the normal mode, the normal mode is set (S136), and if not, the book mode is set (S137). Further, although other input control processing is performed (S138), detailed description of the other input control processing will be omitted here.

In the display control process (S14), as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, it is first determined whether or not the copy stop flag is 1 (S141). Here, the copy stop flag is a flag set by the CPU 105, and when this flag is 1, it means that the forgetting to turn the pages of the book document is detected in the book mode.

If the copy stop flag is 1, a warning message of page turning request as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the operation panel 90 (S142). After that, other display control processing is performed (S143), but detailed description of the other display control processing is omitted. Note that information necessary for the input control processing and the display control processing, such as the setting status of the book mode selection key and the status of the copy stop flag, is processed by another CPU.
It is obtained by communicating with 102 to 107.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the CPU 102. After performing the image data input process (S23), the CPU 102 performs the alignment process (S2) for adjusting the time difference due to the position shift of the photoelectric conversion element 16.
4) is performed, and further image processing (S25), image data output processing (S26), and other control processing (S27) are performed. The description of the details of each process is omitted.

As with the CPU 101, communication with the CPU 101 and the CPUs 103 to 107 is performed by interrupt processing. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the CPU 103. The CPU 103 performs a scan control process (S33) for controlling the scan of the reading system 10, and communicates with the CPU 102 by an interrupt process.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the detailed processing contents of the scanning control processing. The CPU 103 starts with C
Based on the information about the copy mode transmitted from the CPU 101 via the PU 102, it is determined whether the book mode is set (S331). If it is not the book mode, normal scan control is performed (S332). If it is the book mode, the CPU 103 further determines whether or not it is an A scan (S333), and if it is the timing of the A scan, performs the A scan control (S33).
4) If it is not the A scan timing, the B scan control is performed (S335).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 104. The CPU 104 controls the image forming system 70 such as the developing unit and the transfer unit (S43), the transport system 80 (S44), the print processing unit 40 (S45),
Other control processing (S46) is performed. A detailed description of each process will be omitted. In addition,
Communication with the CPU 105 is performed using interrupt processing.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 105. The CPU 105 receives the input data transmitted from the other CPU by the interrupt processing (S53), and analyzes the content thereof (S54). FIG.
Reference numeral 5 is a flow chart showing the detailed processing contents of the input data analysis processing. The CPU 105 first determines whether or not a page-turning-forgetting warning has been set (S54).
1). The page-forgetting warning is set when the CPU 106 detects that the same document has been read by two consecutive A scans. Therefore, CPU10
5 determines based on the data transmitted from the CPU 106 whether or not the page turning forgetting warning is set.

If the page-turning-forgetting warning is set, 1 is set in the copy-stop flag (S542), and if the page-turning-forgetting warning is not set, 0 is set in the copy-stop flag (S543). Regarding the analysis of other input data (S544) performed thereafter,
Detailed description is omitted. Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 14, the CPU 105 sets the mode when the operation mode is changed in the content of the analyzed input data (S).
55) is performed, and a command is set (S56) according to the content of the input data. The detailed description of the mode setting process is omitted here.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the detailed contents of the command setting process. The CPU 105 determines whether or not the copy stop flag is 1 (S561).
If the copy stop flag is 1, copying is interrupted.
A cancel command for the write / read operation is set (S562). If the copy stop flag is not 1, the write operation command is set (S563) and the read operation command is set (S564) as usual.

After the command setting process is completed, the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 14, and the CPU 105 transmits the output data to be output to another CPU based on the command set in step S56 (S57). ),
Other control processing (S58) is performed. Detailed description of the contents of other control processes will be omitted. FIG. 17 shows C
6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the PU 106.

No internal timer is set for the CPU 106. Therefore, after the initialization process (S61),
A write control process (S62) to the image memory 304 is performed. A detailed description of the content of the write control processing to the image memory 304 will be omitted. After that, the CPU 106
A page turning error determination process is performed (S63). FIG.
Reference numeral 8 is a flow chart showing the detailed processing contents of the page turning error determination processing. In the page turning error determination processing, the CPU 106 first determines whether or not the book mode is set (S631). As described above, since the book mode setting is detected by the CPU 101, the CPU 106 determines whether or not the book mode is set based on the transmitted data. If it is not the book mode, nothing is done and the process ends. If it is the book mode, then the CPU 106 determines whether or not the ADF open / close detection sensor is off (S632).

As described above, the ADF open / close detection sensor is
Detects whether ADF500 is open or closed, and C
Input to PU107. Therefore, the CPU 106
The state of the ADF open / close detection sensor is determined according to the data transmitted from U107. In addition, when the ADF opening / closing detection sensor is on, it indicates that the ADF 500 is closed, and when it is off, it indicates that the ADF 500 is open.

When the ADF opening / closing detection sensor is off, the CPU 106 performs the feature extraction process of the document (S).
633). Here, a method of extracting the characteristics of the original on the original table glass 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20. First, the inclination of the document with respect to the platen glass 18 is detected. In FIG. 19, OX is the main scanning direction of the scanner 19 using a CCD, and OY is the scanner 19
Is the sub-scanning direction for moving and scanning. The original data read by the scanner 19 is temporarily stored in the image memory 304. And the coordinates A (xa, ya) shown in the figure
Then, the coordinates B (xb, yb) are detected, and the inclination θ of the document is obtained according to the following {Numerical formula 1} that is generally known.

[0052]

[Equation 1]

Since the method of obtaining the coordinates A and B is a well-known technique, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Next, the characteristics of the document are extracted. In FIG.
Assuming that the document inclination θ has already been detected, the number of black pixels along the line L that is rotated by θ0 from the leading edge AB of the document about the point A, that is, inclined by the angle θL from the main scanning direction. Count, and let N be the number of black pixels.

If N is 0, black pixels are similarly counted along the new line L further rotated by Δθ and set as N again. The above process is repeated until N other than 0 is obtained, and the inclination of the line and the number N of black pixels when N is obtained are the characteristics of the original. In addition,
The above-mentioned θ0 and Δθ may be set in advance at the time of initial setting and can be set arbitrarily, but in the present embodiment, θ0 is 15 ° and Δθ is 5 °.

As a method for extracting the characteristics of the original, various methods other than the method used in this embodiment can be considered. For example, a method of counting all the black pixels existing on the document, a method of setting a line L parallel to one side of the document, or the like can be considered. However, comparing with data on one line is easier and faster. In consideration of the fact that extraction can be performed and that the feature of the original is not so clear in many cases when the line L is set parallel to the side of the original, the method described above is adopted.

When comparing the originals, the characteristics of the originals are extracted in the same manner for other originals, and the number N of black pixels is determined.
And the inclination of the line when they are obtained coincide with each other, it is determined that they are the same document. FIG. 21 shows the CPU 106.
5 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the feature extraction processing performed by.

First, the CPU 106 determines whether or not the scan of the document reading operation is the A scan (S).
601). In the digital copying machine of the present invention, the characteristic of the original is extracted only in the case of the A scan to improve the processing efficiency. The CPU 106 detects the inclination θ of the document (S602), and determines whether the value of the comparison area NN secured on the RAM 126 is 0 (S602).
603). Here, the NN holds data representing the characteristics of the document read in the previous A scan. N
If the value of N is not 0, data for comparison already exists. Therefore, in order to count the number of pixels in accordance with the angle when the value of NN is read, the value obtained by adding the value of θL and θ is set to θL ( S604), the number N of black pixels is counted along the line L of the angle θL (S605).

Next, the CPU 106 determines whether N is 0 (S606). If N is not 0, the feature extraction process is ended to perform the feature comparison process, but before the end, the document inclination θ added to θL is subtracted from θL in step S604 (S607). ).
On the other hand, in step S606, when N is 0, it is clear that the document read this time and the document read last time are not the same document. Therefore, the feature data of the document read this time is extracted and NN To store. That is,
A predetermined Δθ value is added to θL, the addition result is set to θL (S608), the number of black pixels is counted along the line L of the angle θL, and the result is stored in NN (S609). As a result, NN
Is 0 (S610: Yes), the angle is changed by a predetermined Δθ (S611), and the number of black pixels is counted again (S609). The operation of steps S609 to S611 is set to 0.
Repeat until a non-NN is obtained. If an NN that is not 0 is obtained (S610: No), the value of N is set to 0 (S6).
12), the inclination θ of the original is subtracted from the angle θL when the NN which is not 0 is obtained to obtain θL (S607), and the characteristic extraction processing of the original is completed. This value of θL is stored in the memory 126 for comparison with the next original.

If NN is 0 in step S603, it means that there is no data for comparison yet. Therefore, a predetermined θ0 is added to the document inclination θ to obtain θL (S613), In order to obtain the value of NN which is not 0 as the data for comparison, the process proceeds to step S609. When the feature extraction process is completed, the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 18 and the CPU 106 compares the document features (S63).
Perform 4).

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the characteristic comparison processing. First, the CPU 106 is A
It is determined whether it is a scan (S621). If it is not the A scan, the page turning forgetting warning is reset (S622), and the comparison process ends. If it is an A scan, it is determined whether the value of N is 0 (S623).
The fact that N is 0 means that 0 is stored in N in step S612 of the flowchart in FIG. That is, since it is not necessary to compare the features, the page forgetting warning is reset (S622), and the comparison process ends. If N is not 0, the value of N is compared with the value of NN (S624). If the value of N and the value of NN are equal, a page turning forgetting warning is set (S625), and the comparison process is ended. If the value of N is not equal to the value of NN, the page turning forgetting warning is reset (S626),
The value of N is stored in NN for the next comparison process (S6
27) and ends the comparison process.

After the feature comparison processing is completed, the flow of FIG.
Returning to the chart, and further returning to the flow chart of FIG. 17, in the flow chart of FIG. 18, step S6
If the ADF opening / closing detection sensor is not OFF at 32, it is determined whether the document detection sensor is ON (S635). Here, the document detection sensor being ON means that a document is placed on the document tray 501 of the ADF 500, and the document detection sensor being OFF is.
This indicates that no document is placed on the document tray 501. When no document is placed on the document tray 501 (S635: No), the above-described feature extraction process (S) is performed.
633) and a feature comparison process (S634),
When a document is placed on the document tray 501 (S63
5: Yes), feature extraction and comparison processing are not performed. This is because when a document is placed on the document tray 501,
In other words, when the ADF 500 is automatically conveying the original document, the possibility that the same original document is set is extremely small even if copying is performed in the book mode. It is omitted to improve the productivity of copying.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing the detailed processing contents of the CPU 107. CPU107 is ADF5
The document transport control in S00 (S73) is performed, but the description of the detailed processing contents is omitted. The operation of the digital copying machine configured as above will be described below.

24 and 25 are diagrams showing a basic image data write operation sequence and a basic image data read operation sequence. In the figure, CPUs 102 to 1
The flow of the request command (Q), report (A), or data exchanged between 06 will be mainly described. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sequence of a writing operation for reading a document as image data and writing it as code data in the code memory 306.

First, C which manages the entire sequence
The PU 105 outputs a memory preparation request to the CPU 106. In response to this, the CPU 106 sets the mode for the binarization processing (for example, the error distribution method, the threshold value for erasing the background, etc.) to the internal hardware, and sets the writing area in the image memory 304. Start address and X
Set Y length information and so on.

When these settings are completed and the preparation is completed, the CPU 106 outputs a memory preparation completion report to the CPU 105. In response to this, the CPU 106 issues a read request to the CPU 105 and the CPU 102, the CPU 102 issues a scan request to the CPU 103, and the scan is started by the scan request.

When the image area of the original is reached by scanning, read data (image data D2) is output to the memory unit 30 according to the image processing mode set by the CPU 102. When the reading of the original by scanning is completed, the CPU 106 and the CPU 102 send CP
A read completion report is output to each U105. After that, a compression request is issued from the CPU 105 to the CPU 106, and in response to this, the CPU 106 reads the read address from the image memory 304, the XY length information, the write address to the code memory 306, and the mode of the compressor 11 (for example, MH system). Etc. are set and start is applied. As a result, the compression process is performed, and the code data is stored in the code memory 306.

When the compression process is completed, the CPU 106 sends a C
A compression completion report is issued to the PU 105. FIG.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a sequence of a read operation for reading code data from the code memory 306 and performing copying. First, CPU1
A decompression request is issued from 05 to the CPU 106. In response to this, the CPU 106 sets the read address from the code memory 306, the amount of data, the write address to the image memory 304, the XY length information, the mode setting (for example, MH system) of the decompressor 312, etc., and activates it. . As a result, decompression processing is performed, and the image data is written in the image memory 304.

When the expansion processing is completed, the expansion completion report is issued from the CPU 106 to the CPU 105. Next, CP
U 105 issues a memory preparation request to the CPU 106 for reading image data from the image memory 304.
In response to this, the CPU 106 makes settings for the circuit processing for outputting the image data D3 from the image memory 304 to the print processing unit 40, the start address of the read area of the image memory 304, and the X for the internal hardware.
Set Y length information and so on.

When these settings are completed and the preparation is completed, the CPU 106 issues a memory preparation completion report to the CPU 105. In response to this, the CPU 105 outputs a copy request to the CPU 106 and the CPU 104, the CPU 104 issues a paper feed report notifying the CPU 105 of the paper conveyance state, and then the image data D3 read from the image memory 304 is output. Copying device P
Output to RT and copy is performed.

When copying is completed, the CPU 106 and C
A copy completion report and an eject completion report are issued from the PU 104 to the CPU 105. In response to this, the CPU 105 determines that the CPU 1
A memory clear request or the like for 06 is output. Next, a specific example of the operation in the case of forgetting to turn the pages of the document in the book mode will be described.

In the book mode, if the characteristics of the original document extracted during the A scan and the characteristics of the original document extracted during the next A scan match, the CPU
At 106, a warning of forgetting to turn the page is set. C
When the CPU 105 detects that the page-turning-forgotten warning has been set by transmitting data from the PU 106, the CPU 105 sets a cancel command for the write operation and the read operation to interrupt the copy operation.

When it is detected that the user has forgotten to turn the page, the CPU 105 sets the copy stop flag to 1, and the state of the copy stop flag is also transmitted to the CPU 101. A warning message like the one shown is displayed. When the operator re-pages and presses the start key 96 again,
The interrupted copy operation is resumed.

By performing the above-mentioned processing, it is possible to prevent unnecessary costs from being duplicated even if the pages of the original are forgotten and the copying is started in the book mode. . Also,
In the digital copying machine according to the present embodiment, the original feature extraction process and the original feature comparison process are performed only in the book mode and when the original document is not conveyed using the ADF. Compared to the case where the processing such as comparison is always performed, wasteful processing is not performed and the productivity of copying can be improved.

In the present embodiment, as described above, only when the book mode is set and the document is not conveyed using the ADF, the feature extraction process and the comparison process of the document are performed. However, depending on the situation in which it is used,
It is also possible to extract and compare the characteristics of the document when the book mode is set, without determining whether the document is conveyed by the ADF.

It is also possible not to judge whether or not the book mode is set, but to extract and compare the characteristics of the original document when the original document is not conveyed by the ADF. Further, in the present embodiment, the characteristic of the original is extracted only from the portion read in the A scan, but it may be extracted from the portion read in the B scan, or may be extracted in both scans. .

[0076]

As is apparent from the above description, in the digital copying machine of the present invention, the first judging means for judging whether or not the ADF mode is selected and the divided reading mode are selected. Image data read by the original reading unit when the ADF mode is not selected and the split reading mode is selected. From the above, an extracting unit for extracting the characteristics of the original document, a storage unit for storing the characteristics of the extracted original document, a characteristic of the original document extracted at the time of reading the original document, and a characteristic of the original document read at a time earlier than that time ,
When the comparison means for comparing the characteristics of the original document stored in the storage means and the characteristics of the two originals as a result of the comparison by the comparison means, the original reading means then If the result of the comparison by the comparison means is that the two are substantially the same, the copy control means reads the original at that time. Occurrence of duplicated copy due to forgetting to turn pages when copying a manuscript such as a book without selecting the ADF mode and copying in the divided reading mode by not copying the manuscript read at time There is an effect that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of unnecessary costs. Further, in the digital copying machine of the present invention, only when the ADF mode is not selected and the division reading mode is selected, the feature extraction process and the feature comparison process of the read document are performed. Therefore, there is an effect that the productivity of copying by the copying machine can be improved as compared with the case where the feature extraction and comparison processing is performed every time without setting the conditions as described above.

In the digital copying machine, the AD
Only the determining means for determining whether or not the F mode is selected is used to determine the conditions for performing the feature extraction and comparison processing of the document, and not for determining whether or not the divided reading mode is selected. It is also possible to In this case, even when the divided reading mode is not selected, the feature of the document is extracted and compared. Therefore, when the ADF mode is not selected, that is, when the document is manually replaced, It is possible to prevent duplicate copying due to forgetting to replace the originals.

Further, in the above digital copying machine, only the judging means for judging whether the divided reading mode is selected or not is used for the extraction of the characteristics of the original document and the judgment of the conditions for the comparison processing, and the ADF mode is selected. It is also possible not to determine whether or not it has been done. In this case, not only when the ADF mode is not selected, but also when the ADF mode is selected and the divided reading mode is selected, the feature extraction and comparison processing of the document are performed. Will be seen. By performing such processing, for example, when a copy of a document such as a book that has been double-spread is used as a document and the ADF mode is selected and copying is performed in the split reading mode, the document becomes a document. Even if the same original document is continuously present in the copy, it is possible to avoid duplicate copying.

Further, in the digital copying machine, if the condition for performing the characteristic extraction and comparison processing of the original is determined by whether or not the divided reading mode is selected, the extracting means is the first reading means by the reading means. It is possible to extract the characteristics of the original document from the image data of the read portion in the first reading. In this case, since the features of the document are extracted only from the first reading in the divided reading mode, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the process of extracting the features of the document.

Further, the digital copying machine may further include warning output means for outputting a warning when the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same as a result of the comparison by the comparison means. is there. By providing a warning output means, if the contents of consecutive originals are similar and a judgment error occurs by the judgment means, or if the previous copying was not performed well for some reason, the operation is performed. Therefore, it is possible to give the person the opportunity to execute the copying after the copying is once interrupted.

Further, in the digital copying machine according to the present invention, a virtual line passing through any one vertex of a predetermined document is centered at the one vertex and incremented by a predetermined increment angle from a predetermined position. When the virtual line and a pixel having a predetermined pixel value on the document first overlap with each other when rotated while being changed, the virtual line and one of the sides passing through the vertex are The crossing angle and the number of pixels having the predetermined pixel value, which are present on the virtual line at that time, can be a feature of the document.

By adopting this method, there is an effect that feature extraction and comparison processing can be performed with relatively little overhead. Further, as compared with the case where a virtual line parallel to one side of the document is assumed, the features of the document are more easily clarified, and the identity of the document can be determined more reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of a digital copying machine as an application example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation panel in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data structure of a code memory in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of a management table MT1 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 101 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of input control processing performed by the CPU 101.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of display control processing performed by the CPU 101.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a message displayed on the operation panel when forgetting to turn a page is detected in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 102 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 103 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of scan control processing performed by the CPU 103.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 104 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 105 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of input data analysis processing performed by the CPU 105.

16 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of command setting processing performed by the CPU 105. FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of page turning error determination processing performed by the CPU.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining a method for detecting the inclination of a document in the digital copying machine of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a method of extracting a feature of a document in the digital copying machine of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing detailed processing contents of the feature extraction processing performed by the CPU.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing contents of the characteristic comparison processing performed by the CPU 106.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the CPU 107 in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram of a write operation in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram of a read operation in the digital copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the document reading system of the digital copying machine in the book mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Original Reading System 11 Exposure Lamp 12 Mirror 13a Second Mirror 13b Third Mirror 14 Condensing Lens 16 Photoelectric Conversion Element 18 Original Plate Glass 19 Scanner 20 Image Data Processing Unit 30 Memory Unit 302 Binarization Processing Unit 304 Image Memory 305 Code processing unit 306 Code memory 307 Rotation processing unit 308 Multi-value processing unit 311 Compressor 312 Expander 40 Print processing unit 60 Optical system 62 Semiconductor laser 65 Polygon mirror 67a, 67b Mirror 69 fθ lens 70 Image system 71 Photosensitive drum 72 Charging Charger 73 Developing Device 75 Transfer Charger 76 Residual Toner Cleaner 80 Conveying System 81a, 81b Automatic Paper Feed Cassette 82a, 82b Roller 83 Sheet Conveying Passage 84 Timing Roller 85 Conveying Belt 86 Toner Fixing device 87 Ejection roller 88 Ejection tray 90 Operation panel 91 Liquid crystal display panel 92 Numeric keypad 93 Clear key 94 Interruption key 95 Stop key 96 Start key 97 Book mode selection key 98 Book mode selection display LED 100 Control section 101 to 107 CPU 111 to 111 117 ROM 121 to 127 RAM 200 Serial I / O 500 ADF 501 Document tray 502 Pickup roller 503 Separation roller 504 Separation pad 505 Register roller 506 Conveyor belt 507 Inversion roller 508 Ejection tray

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koji Tanaka 2-3-3 Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hidenobu Nakamura Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 2-chome 3-13 Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A divided reading mode in which a first reading for reading from one end of a document to the center of the document and a second reading for reading from the center of the document to the other end of the document are performed continuously. In a digital copying machine capable of selecting an ADF mode for automatically conveying an original, a first judging means for judging whether or not the ADF mode is selected, and for judging whether or not the divided reading mode is selected. Second determination means, document reading means, and when the ADF mode is not selected and the split reading mode is selected, the characteristics of the document are determined from the image data read by the document reading means. Extraction means for extracting, storage means for storing the characteristics of the extracted original, characteristics of the original extracted at the time of reading the original, and In the case where the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same as a result of the comparison by the comparing means for comparing the characteristics of the originals extracted at the time of reading the originals in the past and stored in the storage means. And a copy control means for preventing the copy of the original read by the original reading means at that time. 2. A divided reading mode in which a first reading for reading from one end of the original to the center of the original and a second reading for reading from the center of the original to the other end of the original are successively performed, In a digital copying machine capable of selecting the ADF mode for automatically conveying a document, a determination unit that determines whether the ADF mode is selected, a document reading unit, and the ADF mode are selected when the ADF mode is not selected. Extraction means for extracting the characteristics of the original from the image data read by the original reading means, storage means for storing the extracted characteristics of the original, and characteristics of the original extracted at the time of reading the original, and then Comparing means for comparing the characteristics of the original document extracted at the time of reading the original document in the past and stored in the storage means; When the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same as a result of the comparison, the copy control means prevents the originals read by the original reading means from being copied at that time. A digital copying machine. 3. A divided reading mode in which first reading for reading from one end of the original to the center of the original and second reading for reading from the center of the original to the other end of the original are successively performed, In a digital copying machine capable of selecting the ADF mode for automatic document conveyance, a determination means for determining whether or not the division reading mode is selected, an original reading means, and a case where the division reading mode is selected An extracting means for extracting characteristics of the original from the image data read by the original reading means, a storage means for storing the characteristics of the extracted original, and characteristics of the original extracted at the time of reading the original, Comparing means for comparing the characteristics of the original document stored in the storage means and extracted at the time of reading the original document before that time; When the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same as a result of the comparison by the comparison means, the copy control means prevents the original read by the original reading means from being copied at that time. A digital copying machine characterized by. 4. The digital copying machine according to claim 1, wherein the extracting unit extracts the characteristic of the original from the image data of the portion read in the first reading by the reading unit. . 5. The digital copying machine further comprises warning output means for outputting a warning when the characteristics of the two originals are substantially the same as a result of the comparison by the comparison means. The digital copying machine according to claim 1. 6. The extracting means rotates an imaginary line passing through one apex of one of the originals divided into two, while changing the virtual line around the one apex from a predetermined position by a predetermined increment angle. In this case, when the virtual line and a pixel having a predetermined pixel value on the document first overlap, the intersection angle between the virtual line and one of the sides passing through the apex, and at that time 6. The digital copying machine according to claim 1, wherein the number of pixels having the predetermined pixel value existing on the virtual line is a feature of the document.