JPH09266523A - Image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reader of simple constitution which can make an image read speedily with high precision. SOLUTION: This image reader is equipped with a document mount table 11 on which a transmission document 4 is mounted, a linear light source 24 which projects the transmission document 4 mounted on the document mount table 11, an image read means 34 which reads out the image data of the projection image of the transmission document 4 formed by the light source 24, and a driving means 14 which moves the light source 24 and image read means 34 along the mounted transmission document 4. Then the light source 24 and image read means 34 are composed unitedly facing each other across the transmission document 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading device for reading image data of an original such as photographic film or microfilm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an image reading apparatus of this type, a surface light source for projecting a photographic film composed of a plurality of fluorescent tubes and composed of a plurality of frames, and a film for moving the photographic film parallel to a light emitting surface of the surface light source. C for reading image data of projection image of photographic film by moving motor and surface light source C
It is known to have a CD and a CCD moving motor that moves the CCD parallel to the photographic film. In this conventional image reading apparatus, when a user specifies a frame number for which an image is desired to be read, a film drive signal is output, whereby a film moving motor moves the photographic film to move the specified frame. It is located in front of the light emitting surface of the surface light source. Then, the surface light source irradiates the photographic film with light, and the CCD moving motor moves the CCD along the photographic film, whereby the CCD reads the image data of the designated frame of the photographic film. In this case, a diffusion filter is attached to the light emitting surface of the surface light source so that light unevenness does not appear in the projected image of the photographic film. Then, when the image reading of the designated frame is completed, the image reading device drives the film driving motor to wind up the photographic film and waits until the next frame number is designated.

[0003]

However, the conventional image reading apparatus has the following problems. That is, the occurrence of light unevenness is prevented by attaching the diffusion filter to the light emitting surface of the surface light source, but it is very difficult to completely prevent light unevenness on the entire light emitting surface of the surface light source.
Therefore, the conventional image reading device has a problem that the image data cannot be read accurately.

Further, in the conventional image reading apparatus, since the diffusion filter is attached, the C
The maximum amount of light that can be incident on the CD is small. As a result, the accumulation time of the CCD has to be lengthened, so that the conventional image reading apparatus has a problem that it takes a long time to read an image. In this case, it is possible to increase the incident light amount of the CCD by increasing the number of fluorescent tubes or increasing the light amount of each fluorescent tube. However, in such a case, another problem occurs that the temperature inside the device is increased due to the heat of the fluorescent tube, the device is upsized, and the running cost is increased.

Further, the conventional image reading apparatus uses two motors, a film moving motor for moving the photographic film and a CCD moving motor for moving the CCD. As a result, the structure is complicated and the cost of the apparatus is increased. There is a problem that is invited.

Further, since the conventional image reading apparatus is configured to read the image data of only the frame for which the frame number is designated, the user needs to specify the frame for which the image reading is desired prior to the designation of the frame number. There is. In this case, the user can identify the frames by checking the photographic film with light and checking each one. However, when the photographic film has a series of similar images such as continuous images, the user can watermark It is not easy to surely select a desired transparent original by the method of confirming. Therefore, the conventional image reading apparatus also has a problem that it does not have a function for quickly and easily specifying an image reading target.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and a main object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus capable of quickly and highly accurately reading an image with a simple structure. And Another object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus having a function of easily identifying a frame desired to be image-read from a film-shaped original composed of a plurality of frames.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the image reading apparatus according to claim 1 is a document mounting table on which a transparent document is mounted, and a linear document projecting the transparent document mounted on the document mounting table. An image reading apparatus comprising: a light source; an image reading means for reading image data of a projected image of a transparent original by the light source; and a driving means for moving the light source and the image reading means along the transparent original mounted. The light source and the image reading unit are integrally configured so as to face each other with the transparent original interposed therebetween.

In this image reading apparatus, since the light emitted from the light source is linear and linearly incident on the image reading means, there is little wasted light. Therefore, even if the light source has a small amount of light, the amount of light incident on the image reading unit can be relatively increased as compared with the case of the surface light source. Therefore, for example, when a CCD is used as the image reading means, the CCD can read the image data in a short storage time. Further, since the linear light source is used, the light unevenness is extremely small, and as a result, the image reading unit can read the image data with high accuracy. Further, even if the linear light source has light unevenness, the light unevenness can be easily corrected by one-dimensionally correcting the brightness on the side of the image reading unit such as a CCD. On the other hand, when the image data of the transparent original is read, if the driving unit is driven, the light source and the image reading unit move simultaneously while facing each other with the transparent original interposed therebetween. Therefore, the image data can be read by driving one driving unit.

An image reading apparatus according to a second aspect is the image reading apparatus according to the first aspect.
In the image reading apparatus described above, the document mounting table is configured to be capable of mounting a film-shaped transparent document composed of a plurality of frames so that the frames are arranged in the moving direction of the light source and the image reading unit, and the driving unit includes the light source and It is characterized in that the image reading means can be moved at least by the length of the transparent original.

In this image device, the driving means moves the light source and the image reading means by the length of the film-shaped transparent original mounted on the original mounting table, so that the image reading means can detect the transparent original of a plurality of frames. It becomes possible to continuously read the image data.

An image reading device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the image reading device according to the first aspect.
Alternatively, in the image reading device described in 2,
The present invention is characterized in that a cartridge-shaped document mounting device on which a transparent document is mounted can be placed.

In this image reading apparatus, the transparent original is once mounted on the original mounting apparatus in the form of a cartridge, and then the original mounting apparatus is placed on the original mounting table, whereby the image reading means can read the image data. . As described above, in this image reading apparatus, it becomes easy to mount a flexible original document such as a photographic film or a slide film.

An image reading apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the image reading apparatus according to the second aspect.
Alternatively, the image reading apparatus according to the third aspect further includes a reading control unit that drives the driving unit according to the image batch reading command to control the image reading unit to continuously read the image data of each frame of the transparent original. It is characterized by

In this image reading device, when an image batch reading command is output from an external device or an operation switch, the reading control means drives the driving means to obtain the image data of each frame of the transparent original. Control to read continuously. Then, for example, by using an image display device connected to the image reading device and confirming the displayed image based on the image data read by the image reading means, a frame desired to be image-read from the transparent original can be easily displayed. Can be specified.

An image reading apparatus according to a fifth aspect is the image reading apparatus according to the second aspect.
Alternatively, the image reading apparatus according to the third aspect further includes a reading control unit that drives the driving unit according to the image reading command to control the image reading unit to read the image data of the designated frame of the transparent original. Characterize.

In this image reading device, when an image reading command is output from an external device or from an operation switch or the like,
The reading control means drives the driving means so that the image reading means continuously and automatically reads the image data of a plurality of frames or a specific one frame of the transparent original document designated by the image reading command. Control. Then, for example,
By using an image display device or the like connected to the image reading device and confirming the displayed image based on the image data read by the image reading means, it is possible to easily specify the frame for which the image reading is desired from the transparent original. You can

An image reading apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the image reading apparatus according to the fourth aspect.
Alternatively, in the image reading apparatus described in 5, the reading control unit drives the driving unit to cause the image reading unit to read the image data of the frame for which a frame is designated, in accordance with a frame designation command that designates any one of a plurality of frames. It is characterized by doing.

In this image reading device, when the user specifies a desired image to be read from the image read by the image reading device and then outputs a frame designation command by operating an operation switch, for example, The reading control means drives the driving means. As a result, the image reading means reads the image data of the designated frame. In this way, the user can read the image data by designating a transparent original of any frame from a plurality of transparent originals.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the internal structure of an image reading apparatus 1 according to the present invention. The image reading apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2 and carrier members 3 a, 3 that hold a transparent original 4.
b (corresponding to the document mounting device in the present invention, hereinafter collectively referred to as "carrier member 3"). The image reading device 1 is connected to an image display device (not shown) such as a computer device via an interface line for data transfer (for example, a Skazzy (SCSI) line), and reads image data with high precision (hereinafter, Prior to "main image reading"), so-called preview is possible. At the time of preview, the image reading apparatus 1 displays images of all the frames of the film-shaped transparent original 4 composed of a plurality of frames held on the carrier member 3 or a plurality of designated frames or a designated one frame. Although it is less accurate than the actual image reading, the data can be automatically read in a short time and displayed on an image display device or the like based on the image data. In this preview, the image display device can store the image data in association with each frame of the carrier member 3 and simultaneously display one image of each frame or a plurality of images on the display, As a result, the user can specify the image to be read on the display of the image display device and read the main image of the image by designating the frame with the operation switch.

Hereinafter, each component will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 2 includes a carrier table (document mounting table) 11 on which the carrier member 3 is placed,
A movable body 13 having a U-shaped cross section that is guided by a shaft 12 fixed to the apparatus body 2 and movable along a carrier base 11, a drive unit 14 that moves the movable body 13, and a digital unit that performs various digital processes. And a printed circuit board 15 on which the processing circuit is mounted.

The carrier table 11 is constructed so that the transparent original 4 can be mounted so that the frames are arranged in the moving direction of the moving body 13, and the insertion port 21 for inserting the carrier member 3 is provided.
A window portion 22 that allows light to pass through the transparent original 4 when the carrier member 3 is inserted is provided.

The moving body 13 is constructed so as to be movable by the length of the transparent original 4, and an irradiating section (light source) 24 and an image reading section (image reading means) 25 which are opposed to each other with the carrier stand 11 interposed therebetween. Is equipped with. The irradiation unit 24 includes an inverter circuit 31 and a xenon lamp unit 32 that is a light source that linearly emits light when reading an image (FIG. 2).
reference). The xenon lamp unit 32 has three tubular xenon lamps that respectively emit light of blue, green and red wavelengths linearly, and these xenon lamps are arranged in a certain order by the lamp control unit 71 (see FIG. 2). It is controlled to turn on. The light source is not limited to the xenon lamp, and, for example, three LEDs or cold cathode tubes capable of emitting the above-described three colors may be used. On the other hand, the image reading unit 25 includes a condenser lens 33 that condenses the light from the irradiation unit 24, and a CCD 34 that photoelectrically converts the light condensed by the condenser lens 33.

In the moving body 13, since the irradiation unit 24 and the image reading unit 25 are integrally moved by the drive unit 14, the movement synchronization control for simultaneously moving the irradiation unit 24 and the image reading unit 25 is performed. It is no longer needed. Further, since the xenon light from the irradiation unit 24 only needs to be incident on the CCD 34 arranged one-dimensionally, the CCD with a xenon lamp having a smaller light quantity is used as compared with the case where the light is emitted in a plane.
The image data can be sufficiently read by 34. Furthermore, since the linear xenon light is irradiated, the occurrence of light unevenness is extremely small. Further, even if there is light unevenness, the main CPU 62, which will be described later, can easily correct the light unevenness by one-dimensionally performing white reference correction, so that the image data can be read accurately.

The drive unit 14 includes a motor 41 which is a stepping motor, a second gear 43 which meshes with a first gear 42 axially mounted on the motor shaft of the motor 41, and a second gear 43.
A third gear 45 that meshes with a small-diameter gear 44 that is coaxially provided with the third gear 45, and a belt 47 that is driven by a small-diameter gear 46 that is coaxially provided with the third gear 45.
The belt 47 is fixed to the moving body 13, and when the motor 41 is driven by this, the first gear 42, the second gear 43, the small diameter gear 44, the third gear 45, and the small diameter gear 4 are driven.
As a result of the power being transmitted to the belt 47 via 6, the moving body 13 is guided by the shaft 12 and moves in parallel with the transparent original 4 mounted on the carrier table 11. In addition,
The motor 41 is drive-controlled by a motor driver 66 mounted on the printed circuit board 15, and moves the moving body 13 at a high speed during a preview and at a slower speed than during a preview during the main image reading. As a result, the image reading unit 25 can read the image data quickly during the preview and with high accuracy during the main image reading. As a result, the user can quickly specify the frame to be read of the image data by the preview.

As shown in the figure, the above-mentioned carrier member 3 is thin and long, and has an upper plate 51 and a lower plate 52.
By sandwiching the transparent original 4 with and, the transparent original 4 having flexibility such as a photographic film is held so as not to bend. Although the carrier member 3 is not particularly limited, it is roughly classified into two types. The carrier member 3a is configured so that a film-shaped 6-frame photographic film can be mounted thereon, and the carrier member 3b mounts a slide film for 4 frames. It is configured to be possible. In addition, both types of carrier members 3a, 3
Both b have document windows 53, 53, ... For transmitting xenon light through the transparent document 4. in this case,
The carrier member 3a is arranged such that when a photographic film which is divided into 6 frames at the time of print service is mounted, the images of the respective frames are located in the document windows 53, 53 ,.

Next, the control system of the image reading apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The circuit block diagram shown in the figure shows a main circuit including the control circuit 61 of the image reading apparatus 1, and each electric circuit component is mounted on the printed circuit board 15 described above. The control circuit 61 is the main C that is the core of various processes.
A PU (reading control unit) 62, an image processing gate array 63 that executes image processing under the control of the main CPU 62,
A for A / D converting the image signal output from the CCD 34
/ D converter 64, image data and various signals are converted into data of a predetermined communication format, and the converted data is an image display device which is a host computer and a main CP.
The interface unit 65 to be delivered to and from the U62 and the motor driver 66 for driving the motor 41 based on the drive signal of the main CPU 62 are provided. Further, the image processing gate array 63 outputs a lighting control signal via the inverter circuit 31 to control lighting of the three xenon lamps of the irradiation section 24.
And a buffer RAM 72 for storing image data, and A /
An image control unit 73 that takes in the image data output from the D conversion unit 64, stores it in the buffer RAM 72, and performs shading correction, black-and-white color reference adjustment, and the like.
A CCD for controlling photoelectric conversion of the CCD 34 by outputting a CCD control signal in accordance with a storage interval signal, a shift signal and a clock signal output from the main CPU 62.
And a control unit 74.

Next, the image reading process in the image reading apparatus 1 will be described.

First, the carrier member 3 is mounted on the carrier base 11, and a preview signal (collective read command, image read command) is sent from the image display device via the interface section 65.
Is output, the main CPU 62 drives the motor 41 by outputting a drive signal to the motor driver 66. Next, the main CPU 62 causes the image controller 73 to read the image data from the CCD 34 by outputting a CCD control signal without turning on the xenon lamp. Next, the main CPU 62 causes the image controller 7
For 3, the black level is adjusted by setting the image data at this time to the luminance level of 0 gradation. In this case, the brightness level of the image data is set to 256 gradations for each color, and 0 gradation corresponds to the black level and 256 gradations corresponds to the white level.

Next, the main CPU 62 turns on the xenon lamp and causes the image control unit 73 to perform the CCD.
The image data from 34 is read. Main CPU6
2, the maximum value of the image data read at this time is 23
The white level is adjusted by adjusting the drive speed of the motor 41 or adjusting the lighting time of the xenon lamp according to the γ table stored in the built-in ROM so that the gradation becomes about 0 to 250. . At the same time, the main CPU 62 causes the image control unit 73 to execute shading correction. That is, the correction data is generated so that the image data of one row of the CCD 34 has a uniform 256 gradations depending on the light amount of the xenon lamp, the aberration of the condenser lens 33, and the like. By these processing, automatically,
It is possible to eliminate light unevenness and maximize the dynamic range of the brightness level of image data.

Next, the main CPU 62 outputs a drive signal to move the moving body 13 so that it is positioned at the end of the original (first) document window 53 of the carrier member 3, and then the image is displayed. Start reading. When reading an image, the main CPU 62 controls the lamp control unit 71.
When various parameters are output to the lamp controller 71, the lamp control unit 71 outputs a lighting control signal to the inverter circuit 31, and the xenon lamp is lit. Main C
The PU 62 causes the image control unit 73 to read the image data of the image while outputting the drive signal and the CCD control signal.

The read image data is sent to the image controller 7
After the shading correction, the color correction, and the enlargement / reduction processing are performed by 3, the data is temporarily stored in the buffer RAM 72. Then, the main CPU 62 uses the buffer RAM 72.
The image data stored in is read and output to the interface unit 65. At the same time, the interface unit 65
Converts the image data into data of a predetermined communication format and outputs the converted data to the image display device.

After reading the image of the transparent original 4 corresponding to the first original window, the main CPU 62 continuously outputs the drive signal and rotates the motor 41 a predetermined number of steps to rotate the second original window 53. The moving body 13 is moved so as to be located at the end of the. Next, the main CPU 62 outputs various parameters to the lamp control unit 71 and the image control unit 73, respectively, and thereby the image control unit 73.
To read the image data of the transparent original 4. Main CP
The U62 repeats these processes to sequentially read the image data of the transparent document 4 located in the third to sixth document windows 53, 53, ... And at each time, the image data is read by the interface unit 65. Output to. In this preview process, in the CCD 34, the outputs of a plurality of adjacent CCD elements are combined into one pixel data, so that the image can be read at a resolution of about 50 to 300 dpi lower than the resolution at the time of reading the main image. Done. Thereby, the reading time of the preview can be shortened.

The image display device stores the input image data in an image data RAM (not shown), and when a predetermined key operation is performed, the image of the transparent original 4 in the designated original window 53 is displayed on the display device. To do.

On the other hand, when the user confirms the image on the display device and then designates the frame by the key operation,
A frame designation signal (frame designation command) is output from the image display device to the main CPU 62 via the interface unit 65. The main CPU 62 outputs a drive signal to the motor driver 66 to drive the motor 41 by a predetermined number of steps to move the moving body 13 so as to be positioned at the head of the document window 53 of the designated frame. Then
The main CPU 62 starts the main image reading and outputs a drive signal to the motor driver 66 to drive the motor 41 so that the moving body 13 moves by one designated frame. At the same time, the main CPU 62 outputs the lighting control signal and the CCD control signal to perform the above-described shading processing and black-and-white color reference adjustment, and reads the image data. The read image data is output to the image display device via the interface section 65 by the main CPU 62 in the same manner as described above. After that, in the image display device, an image display process based on the image data, an image processing / correction process such as brightness adjustment of the image data, an embedding process for fitting an image of an arbitrary frame into an image of another frame, and an MO (optical Magnetic disk), DAT, M
D, a writing process to a storage medium such as a floppy disk, and the like are performed.

In the present embodiment, the structure in which the moving body 13 is moved by the belt 47 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the moving body 13 can be combined with a pinion and a rack.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration for moving the.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which an image based on the transparent original 4 is displayed on an external image display device has been described, but the image reading device 1 is provided with a display unit such as a liquid crystal panel or a cathode ray tube, and this image is displayed. An image may be displayed on a display unit as a display device. Regarding the batch reading command, the image reading command, and the frame designating command, an operation switch may be provided in the apparatus main body 2 and these commands may be output by operating the operation switch.

[0041]

As described above, according to the image reading apparatus of the first aspect, since the transmissive original is projected by the linear light source, even if the light source has a small light amount, the light amount to be incident on the image reading means. Can be made relatively large as compared with the case of a surface light source. As a result, for example, when a CCD is used as the image reading means, the CCD accumulation time can be shortened, and the image data can be read in a short time. Further, since the linear light source is used, the size of the apparatus can be reduced, and the occurrence of light unevenness can be almost eliminated, whereby the image reading unit can read the image data with high accuracy. Further, since the light source and the image reading means can be moved at the same time by one driving device, the structure can be simplified and the cost of the device can be reduced.

According to the image reading device of the second aspect, the light source and the image reading means are moved by the driving means by the length of the film-shaped transparent original mounted on the original mounting table, whereby the image reading means. However, it is possible to continuously read the image data of transparent originals of a plurality of frames.

According to the image reading apparatus of the third aspect, since the document mounting device is formed in a cartridge shape, even a flexible document such as a photographic film or a slide film can be easily mounted on the document mounting table. Can be attached to.

According to the image reading apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the reading control unit causes the image reading unit to continuously read the image data of each frame of the transparent original, the user can read the image data, for example. By displaying the image of the transparent original on the image display device and confirming the displayed image, it is possible to easily specify the frame from which the image is desired to be read from the transparent original. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of checking the image of the transparent original one by one by seeing through the light.

According to the image reading device of the fifth aspect, the reading control means causes the image reading means to continuously and automatically read the image data of a plurality of designated frames or a specific one frame of the transparent original. This allows the user to, for example,
By displaying the read image of the transparent original on the image display device and confirming the displayed image, it is possible to easily specify the frame from which the image is desired to be read from the transparent original. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of checking the image of the transparent original one by one by seeing through the light.

According to the image reading apparatus of the sixth aspect, for example, by designating the frame by the operation switch,
The user can read the image data by designating a transparent original of any frame from a plurality of transparent originals.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an internal structure of an image reading apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main circuit in the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading device 3 Carrier member 4 Transparent original document 11 Carrier table 13 Moving body 14 Driving unit 24 Irradiation unit 25 Image reading unit 62 Main CPU 63 Image processing gate array 73 Image control unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An original mounting table for mounting a transparent original, a linear light source for projecting the transparent original mounted on the original mounting table, and an image for reading image data of a projected image of the transparent original by the light source. An image reading apparatus comprising: a reading unit; and a driving unit that moves the light source and the image reading unit along the mounted transparent original, wherein the light source and the image reading unit are the transparent original. An image reading apparatus, wherein the image reading apparatus and the image reading apparatus are integrally configured so as to face each other with the sheet sandwiched therebetween. 2. The original mounting table is configured to be capable of mounting a film-shaped transparent original composed of a plurality of frames so that the frames are arranged in the moving direction of the light source and the image reading means, and the drive means is The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source and the image reading unit are configured to be movable by at least the length of the transparent original. 3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the original document mounting table is configured to mount a cartridge-shaped original document mounting device on which the transparent original document is mounted. 4. A reading control means for driving the driving means in accordance with an image batch reading command to control the image reading means to continuously read the image data of each frame of the transparent original. 3. The method according to claim 2,
Or the image reading device described in 3. 5. A reading control means for driving the driving means in accordance with an image reading command to control the image reading means to read image data of a designated frame of the transparent original. The image reading device according to claim 2 or 3. 6. The reading control means, in accordance with a frame designation command designating any one of the plurality of frames, drives the driving means to cause the image reading means to read the image data of the designated frame. The image reading device according to claim 4, wherein the image reading device is driven.