JPH09247434A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which generates a magnified division images with a high efficiency. SOLUTION: An original image is read by an image read unit and the read image is displayed by an image display unit with magnification. In the image display unit, image data are stored in an image data video memory (DRAM) 22 and the image data stored in a valid area are transferred to a video (V) RAM by a CPU 23 through direct memory access (DMA). In this case, the CPU 23 transfers optional part of the image data in the DRAM 22 and conducts processing such as magnification, reduction and interleave. In the image display unit, section lines used to divide a displayed original into plural paper sheets are displayed in response to the selection of the paper size through the synthesis. Each image sectioned by the section lines is magnified and displayed on the paper of the selected sizes side by side. In this image forming, the entire image layout, and the effect of the balance and the duplicate part of longitudinal and lateral division numbers is confirmed.

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 such as a digital color copying machine and a digital copying machine.
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a digital method of reading a document and enlarging and continuously capturing the read image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image forming apparatuses generally do not have a monitor display device. Even in that case, it often has an enlarged continuous shooting function. For example, as a conventional example related to the present invention, there is an "image forming apparatus" in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-38733. In this conventional example, a technique is disclosed in which, when a document image is divided into predetermined areas, and each area is scaled and output on different transfer papers, the division cutting line is moved to divide the area in a desired area of the user. ing.

[0003]

However, in the copying machine which does not have the image display means as in the above-mentioned conventional example, it is difficult to grasp the image of the copy image for the division during the enlargement continuous shooting. Therefore, in order to obtain a copy as desired by the user, a copy image obtained by enlarged continuous shooting is output several times, and the resulting copy is checked to determine whether the copy is good or bad. Therefore, this procedure wastes supplies and time.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of efficiently forming enlarged divided images.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises a reading means for reading an original image, a display means for enlarging and displaying the read image, and a plurality of read images. It is characterized in that it has an enlarged continuous shooting means for forming an image by dividing it into sheets, and synthesizes and displays the divisions for dividing the document displayed by the display means into a plurality of sheets according to the selection of the sheet size. .

Further, a dividing line for division is displayed, and the width of this dividing line is displayed to indicate an overlapping portion between a plurality of sheets at the time of continuous enlargement, and the width of the dividing line is adjusted on the display. It is advisable to set the width of the line corresponding to to the overlapped portion during the enlarged continuous shooting.

Further, the above-mentioned image forming apparatus has a selection means for selecting a plurality of or one of the divisions to be divided, and performs image formation only in the selected selection area.
The selection may be made based on the numbers or symbols displayed on the display means for each section, and the touch panel attached to the display means may be used for the selection.

It is preferable that the document image is displayed on the display means by the pre-scan before the image formation and the division is changed corresponding to the magnification designation of the enlarged continuous shooting.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG.
1 shows an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an overall layout diagram of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. The image forming apparatus includes a system control unit 1, an image reading unit (scanner) 2, an image processing unit 3, an image writing unit 4, an operation unit unit 5, a copying machine mechanism unit 6, an image display unit 7, a drum unit 8, and an intermediate transfer. Unit 9, developing unit 10, paper feeding unit 1
1 and the fixing unit 12.

In the image forming apparatus constructed as above, the image reading unit 2 scans the original while irradiating the original with the light source, and the reflected light from the original is read as image data by the 3-line CCD sensor. The read image data is sent to the image processing unit 3. The image processing unit 3 performs image processing such as scanner γ correction, color conversion, main scanning scaling, image separation, processing, area processing, and gradation correction processing, and sends the processed image data to the image writing unit 4.

The image writing unit 4 modulates the driving of the LD (laser diode) according to the image data.
In the drum unit 8, a latent image is written on a rotating photosensitive drum that is uniformly charged by the laser beam from the LD, and the developing unit 10 attaches toner to visualize the latent image.

The image formed on the photosensitive drum is retransferred onto the transfer belt of the intermediate transfer unit of the intermediate transfer section 9. 4 for full-color copy on the intermediate transfer belt
Color (Bk, C, M, Y) toners are sequentially stacked.

In the case of full color copy, Bk, C,
When the image forming / transferring process for the four colors M and Y is completed, the transfer paper is fed from the paper feeding unit 11 at the same timing as the intermediate transfer belt, and the four colors are simultaneously transferred from the intermediate transfer belt at the paper transfer unit. Toner is transferred to the paper.

The transfer sheet on which the toner has been transferred is sent to the fixing section 12 via the conveying section, is thermally fixed by the fixing roller and the pressure roller, and is discharged. In addition, what is set by the user, such as the copy mode, is input by the operation unit unit 5. The operation mode such as the set copy mode is sent to the system control unit 1, and the system control unit 1 performs a control process for executing the set copy mode. At this time, the system control unit gives a control instruction to each unit such as the image reading unit, the image processing unit, the image writing unit, and the image display unit.

In order to display the image read from the image reading unit 2 on the image display unit 7, the image reading unit 2 starts reading the original image according to the control instruction from the system control unit 1, and the image reading unit 2 starts reading. The image processing unit 3 performs image processing suitable for displaying on the image display device, and then outputs the image data of the document to the image display device.

The image data output from the image processing unit 3 is stored in the image data storage DRAM 22 by the DMA controller built in the CPU 23 via the FIFO 21 of the functional block diagram of the image display unit 7 shown in FIG. . Since the image data control signal is sent to the image display unit 7 together with the image data, it is possible to capture only the effective image area.

The valid image data stored in the DRAM 22 is DMA-transferred to the VRAM 24 by the CPU 23. At this time, the CPU 23 can transfer an arbitrary portion of the image data in the DRAM 22 and can perform processing such as enlargement / reduction / thinning. The image data transferred to the VRAM 24 is displayed on the LCD panel under the control of the LCDC (LCD controller).

In FIG. 2, the functional blocks of the image display unit are FIFO (line buffer) 21, D.
RAM (image data memory) 22, CPU 23, VRA
M (video memory) 24, LCDC (LCD controller) 25, LCD (liquid crystal panel) 26, ROM 27, S
RAM 28, serial communication driver 29, image data signal buffer (driver / receiver) 30, keyboard 3
1.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the image display unit.
The image display unit may also serve as a display editor for displaying an image on the LCD and for designating an area for editing / processing / mode setting within the screen.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the operation unit unit. FIG.
In, numeric keypad 41, mode clear / preheat key 4
2, interrupt key 43, image quality adjustment key 44, program key 45, print start key 46, clear / stop key 47, area processing key 48, brightness adjustment knob 4
9, a touch panel key 50 and an option key 51 arranged on the LCD (liquid crystal panel).

The numeric keys 41 of the above-mentioned components are used for inputting numerical values such as the number of copies. The mode clear / preheat key 42 is used for canceling the set mode and returning to the initial setting, or for setting the preheat state by continuously pressing for a predetermined time or longer. The interrupt key 43 is used when interrupting during copying and copying another document. The image quality adjustment key 44 is used when adjusting the image quality. The program key 45 is used when registering or calling a frequently used mode. The print start key 46 is a key for starting copying. Clear / Stop key 47
Is used to clear the entered numerical value or to suspend copying during copying. Area processing key 48
On the image display unit (display editor),
It is used when using the mode such as area processing / editing.

The brightness adjusting knob 49 adjusts the brightness of the screen of the LCD panel. Also, touch panel key 50
Sets a key area in the same range as the range of various keys displayed on the LCD panel, and when the touch panel detects a press within the set range, processes the set key. The option key 51 is pressed when setting options for a film projector or the like.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an LCD (liquid crystal display screen). As shown in FIG. 5, on the LCD screen, there are mode selection displays such as color mode, automatic density, manual density, image quality mode, automatic paper selection, paper tray, automatic paper scaling, normal magnification, sorting, and stacking. There are also sub-screen selection displays such as create, color processing, move / book processing, and scaling. A key having the same size as the size of each display is set on the touch panel.

FIG. 6 shows an example of screen development by pressing the scaling key in FIG. When the scaling key is pressed, the scaling setting screen is scrolled up from the bottom of the screen. On the scaling setting screen, keys for standard scaling (scaling mode in which scaling is set in advance) are set. For example, when the touch panel key of the 71% portion is pressed, the scaling factor of 71% is selected. Further, on this screen, a zoom key, a size scaling key, and a magnifying continuous shooting key are set on the left side of the screen to select a scaling mode other than the standard scaling mode.

FIG. 7 shows screen development by pressing the enlarged continuous shooting key. There are four methods for specifying the magnification in the magnified continuous shooting:% input for vertical, horizontal independent rate,% input for vertical, horizontal independent, number input for vertical, horizontal same number, number of input vertical, horizontal independent However, here, the case where the vertical / horizontal ratio is specified by inputting% will be described.

For example, FIG. 7 shows a case in which the magnification continuous shooting is set to the same rate of 200%. For other conditions, pressing the condition input key in FIG. 7 opens the condition input screen for enlarged continuous shooting shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, it is possible to set the document size, select the paper size to be used, and specify the length of the overlapping portion in order to determine the area in which the enlarged continuous shooting is performed. Here, the original size is A4 length, the paper size is A4 length,
The case where the overlapping width is set to 15 mm is shown.

Although a sample diagram is displayed on the operation unit of FIG. 7, the final image cannot be captured because the magnification and the paper size are different from the actual original. Also, I don't know how much paper to use for enlarged continuous shooting.

In this embodiment, when the layout display start key shown in FIG. 7 is pressed, the document is read by the scanner and displayed on the image display unit. In this case, the division of the sheet corresponding to the original is also displayed.

FIG. 9 shows a display screen when the layout display key at the time of enlarged continuous shooting is selected. When the layout display key in FIG. 7 is pressed, a layout display command for enlarged continuous shooting is transmitted from the operation display unit in FIG. 1 to the system control unit. The system control unit calculates based on the conditions for enlarged continuous shooting. The conditions here include the document size, the paper (transfer paper) size, the magnification, and the overlapping width (line width of the dividing line).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the layout display mode at the time of enlarged continuous shooting. In this flowchart, when the layout display key of FIG. 7 is pressed, the layout display mode at the time of enlarged continuous shooting is entered (S10). Next, the document size areas (x1, y1), (x2, y2), the transfer paper size (xp, yp) and the magnification A are input (S1).
1).

The total output image length during enlarged continuous shooting is xo = A *
(X2-x1) and yo = A * (y2-y1) are calculated (S12). Then, the number of output sheets xnum, ynum is calculated (S13). If the overlapping part is xn, yn
It can be calculated by the following formula.

Xnum = quotient ((xo-xp) / (xp-xn)) + 1 ynum = quotient ((yo-yp) / (yp-yn)) + 1

Then, the output coordinate areas (xp1, yp1) and (xp2, yp2) of the original image are set for each sheet of transfer paper (S14, S15). In this way, coordinate data for the number of output sheets is calculated (S16). After that, the frequency division corresponding to the display capability of the image display unit is performed on the previous coordinate data and the data is transmitted to the image display unit (S1).
7). Then, to the image reading unit (scanner), see FIG.
A command is transmitted to activate the image reading operation of the original size or more set in (S18, S19). When setting the conditions for enlarged continuous shooting (S20, S21), the process shown in FIG.
According to the procedure shown in.

FIG. 12 shows a processing flowchart of the image display unit of FIG. When the image reading unit (scanner) is activated, the original image data is transferred to the image control signal (F
GATE, LSYNC, CLOCK) and input to the image processing unit.

The image processing unit divides the image data by the display capacity of the image display unit and then inputs it to the image display unit (S31 to S34). The image display unit is already in the image display mode at the time of enlarged continuous shooting from the system control unit.

As shown in FIG. 11, after receiving the image division coordinates (S32), the image data is input (S33, S3).
4) The divided coordinate data and the image data are combined (S35) and transferred to the VRAM to display the image on the LCD panel (S36). The user can confirm the entire image layout at the time of enlarged continuous shooting shown in FIG. It is possible to confirm the balance between the number of divided images in the vertical and horizontal directions and the image, and the influence on the image of the overlapping portion. If this is not what the user desires, change the settings on the operation unit screens in FIGS. 7 and 8 (S37, S3).
8) Then, the layout display key can be pressed again to display the image on the image display unit for confirmation.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the touch panel detection circuit, and FIG. 13 shows the setting states of X1, X2, Y1 and Y2. The controller sets the detection terminals to the High state, and sets X1, X2, Y1, and Y2 to the state shown in FIG.
Set as shown in. Since the Y1 and Y2 circuits are pulled up by resistors, Y1 is + 5v when the touch panel is off and 0v when it is on. Therefore,
Check the ON / OFF status from the output of the A / D converter. When the controller detects the touch panel ON state, it switches to the measurement mode.

In the X direction, X1 becomes + 5v and X2 becomes 0v, and the potential at the input position is connected to the A / D converter through Y1 to calculate the coordinates. Coordinates in the Y direction are also calculated by switching the circuit. The detection position of the touch panel is detected by such a detection circuit.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the operation unit. In FIG. 14, the address signal from the CPU 23 is fetched by the address latch 61, and the CPU
It is controlled here by a signal from 23. A part of the address signal output from the address latch 61 enters the address decoder 62, where a chip select signal for each IC is created and used for creating a memory map. The address is a memory such as ROM and RAM, or LCDC2.
5 is used for addressing.

On the other hand, the data bus from the CPU 23 is connected to the memory or the LCDC 25, and bidirectional data communication is performed. The LCDC 25 is connected to the LED driver 64, the keyboard 31, the analog touch panel 26, the LCD module 67, and the display data ROM and RAM in addition to the address bus and data bus from the CPU 23.

The LCDC 25 creates display data from the data in the ROM and RAM according to the signal from the keyboard 31 and the signal from the touch panel 26, and controls the display on the LCD. An optical fiber connector is connected to the CPU 23 to communicate with the outside.

An example of image layout display at the time of enlarged continuous shooting on the image display unit will be shown. In FIG. 15, by displaying the numbers in the divided areas of the paper, it is possible to easily select an arbitrary divided area. This is the ROM in the block diagram of FIG.
This can be realized by synthesizing the numeric data stored in the VRAM 24 with the image data and the divided coordinate data and transferring them to the VRAM 24.

FIG. 16 shows the case where the touch panel 26 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is mounted on the image display unit, and the hatched portion shows the touch-selected area. 16 shows an example of copy output in enlarged continuous shooting. When the lower left part is selected by the touch panel in the four divisions of FIG. 16, the image display unit transmits the selected coordinate data to the system control unit. Based on the coordinate data, the system control unit determines each parameter of the main scanning and sub-scanning scaling data and the image shift data to be transmitted to the image reading unit and the image processing unit.

In this way, it is possible to copy only the portion that the user wants when it is lost or soiled during enlarged continuous shooting. Needless to say, a plurality of divided areas can be set and copied on the touch panel. Further, when the print start key is pressed in the enlarged continuous shooting mode without selection on the touch panel, all copy images can be output based on the coordinate data calculated in FIG.

With respect to the number display of FIG. 15, a desired area can be copied by selecting the number with the ten keys on the operation unit. In this case, the system control unit can set a number for each divided area to take a correspondence.
For example, there is a method of deciding to set the numbers in the order of image copying.

According to the above-described embodiment, by displaying the original image and division divisions (squares) on the image display unit, the contents can be confirmed before outputting the copy image. This avoids unnecessary waste due to miscopying.

Further, when the original image is not divided as desired by the user (for example, when the divided area is applied to the human face portion and becomes a pasted portion), the paper size can be selected again. In this way, since the image display unit can be checked in advance, a desired image can be efficiently output without changing the enlargement ratio.

Furthermore, since the overlapping portion can be displayed together with the original, it is possible to confirm the overlapping between a plurality of sheets before the copy output, and it is possible to prevent the image from being divided due to the division of the boundary portion.

The dividing line displaying the original is adjusted while observing the screen, and it is the overlapping part (stitching part) of the enlarged continuous shooting.
The effect is that it can be divided as desired by the user.

Enlargement continuous shooting is executed, and for example, 3 × 4 = 12.
When the output of one sheet is obtained, only one of the required sheets is output when it is lost, soiled or scratched. The image display unit makes it possible to specify the output, which has an effect of preventing waste of resources and time.

By superimposing the delimiter line and the number or symbol of the region surrounded by the delimiter line in the document display procedure, it is possible to easily select the necessary image region. Also,
If it is a number, it also has the effect of easily grasping the number of divided sheets. Further, by assigning a number in the order of image creation, it becomes easy to grasp the remaining number of copies.

The user can easily select a desired area by providing a function of a touch panel for reversing display or changing the color by touching the display demarcation line of the document and the area surrounded by the demarcation line by hand. Further, by changing the magnification designation in the enlarged continuous shooting mode, there is an effect that the delimiter area desired by the user can be determined.

[0054]

As is apparent from the above description, the image forming apparatus of the present invention reads a document image, enlarges and displays the read image, and forms the read image on a plurality of sheets. In this enlarged continuous shooting, the division for dividing the displayed document into a plurality of sheets is combined and displayed according to the selection of the sheet size. Therefore, by displaying the document image and the divisions (squares) on the image display unit,
The contents can be confirmed before outputting the copy image, and unnecessary waste due to miscopy can be avoided. If the original image is not divided as desired by the user, the paper size can be selected again. Without changing the magnification
It is possible to efficiently set a desired image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall layout diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration block diagram of an image display unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an image display unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of an operation unit unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a liquid crystal display screen.

6 is a diagram showing an example of screen development by pressing a scaling key on FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing screen development by pressing an enlarged continuous shooting key.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing screen development by pressing an enlarged continuous shooting key.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a layout display key at the time of enlarged continuous shooting is selected.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a layout display mode during enlarged continuous shooting.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing operation at the time of enlarged continuous shooting of the image display unit.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a touch panel detection circuit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a setting operation state of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a block configuration diagram of an operation unit.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an image layout display example at the time of enlarged continuous shooting on an image display unit.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an image layout display example at the time of enlarged continuous shooting on an image display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 system control unit 2 image reading unit 3 image processing unit 4 image writing unit 5 operation unit unit 6 copier mechanism unit 7 image display unit 8 drum unit 9 intermediate transfer unit 10 developing unit 11 paper feeding unit 12 fixing unit 21 FIFO 22 DRAM 23 CPU 24 VRAM 25 LCD controller 26 Liquid crystal panel 27 ROM 28 SRAM 29 Serial communication driver 30 Image data signal buffer 31 Keyboard 41 Numeric keypad 42 Mode clear / preheat key 43 Interrupt key 44 Image quality adjustment key 45 Program key 46 Print start key 47 Clear / stop Key 48 Area processing key 49 Brightness adjustment knob 50 Touch panel key 51 Option key

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Manabu Izumigawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit for reading an original image, a display unit for enlarging and displaying the read image, and an enlarging continuous copying unit for forming the read image on a plurality of sheets to form an image. An image forming apparatus, characterized in that divisions for dividing the document displayed by the means into a plurality of sheets are combined and displayed according to the selection of the sheet size. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dividing line for dividing is displayed, and the width of the dividing line displays an overlapping portion between a plurality of sheets at the time of enlarged continuous shooting. 3. The width of the dividing line to be divided is adjusted on the display, and the width of the line corresponding to the adjustment is formed as an overlapping portion at the time of enlarged continuous shooting to form an image. The image forming apparatus described. 4. The image forming apparatus further comprises selection means for selecting a plurality of or one of the divisions to be divided, and forms an image only in the selected selected area. 1. The image forming apparatus according to 1. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the selection unit makes the selection based on a number or a symbol displayed on the display unit for each section. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit includes a touch panel attached to the display unit. 7. The document image is displayed on the display means by pre-scanning before image formation, and the break is changed according to the magnification designation of enlarged continuous shooting. The image forming apparatus according to item 1.