JPH10150520A - Image read system and control method for information processing terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image read system in which a read instruction of an image to transfer it to an information processing terminal by the operation of an image reader, and the information processing terminal manages the indication information in this case and to provide the control method for the information processing terminal. SOLUTION: In the image read system that has an image reader 101 to read an image of an original and an information processing terminal 102 that receives image data outputted from the image reader 101, the information processing terminal 102 confirms an operation content from an operation section 205 of the image reader 101, calls an image read module and gives an instruction, based on the operation content to the image reader 101. The information processing terminal 102 receives image data, resulting from the image reader 101 to read the original image and stores the data to a prescribed area of a hard disk. Thus, the image read system is operated efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading system having an image reading device for reading an image of a document and an information processing terminal for controlling the image reading device, and a method for controlling the information processing terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an image reading system including an information processing terminal and an image reading device. The instruction to start image reading by this type of image reading device is:
Although the operation is performed by the information processing terminal, when the image reading device is connected to the LAN and the image reading device is shared by a plurality of information processing terminals, the image reading device and the information processing terminal are usually connected. It is assumed that is installed at a physically distant position. For this reason, it is considered that means for directly issuing an instruction to start image reading from the image reading apparatus is useful.

[0003]

However, if an instruction to start image reading is accepted from both the image reading device and the information processing terminal as in the above-described conventional case, the reading start from a plurality of users can be started. There is a problem that instructions are issued multiple times.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and an instruction to read an image to be transferred to an information processing terminal can be given by operating an image reading apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image reading system capable of causing an information processing terminal to manage the information and a method of controlling the information processing terminal.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image reading apparatus for reading an image of a document and outputting image data, and an information processing apparatus for inputting image data output from the image reading apparatus. And a control method of the information processing terminal in the image reading system having the terminal.
It is determined whether or not an image reading instruction has been issued from the operation unit of the image reading device, and when it is confirmed that the image reading instruction has been issued, the image reading device is instructed to start reading the image. The image reading apparatus receives an image data output by reading an image based on an instruction.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus for reading an image of a document and outputting image data, and an information processing terminal for inputting image data output from the image reading apparatus. In the control method of the image reading system, information input from the operation unit of the image reading device is stored in a memory of the image reading device, and information stored in the memory is confirmed by an instruction from the information processing terminal, In the confirmation step, when it is confirmed that there is an image reading instruction from the operation unit of the image reading device, the image reading device is caused to start reading an image by an instruction from the information processing terminal, and based on this instruction, The image reading apparatus reads image data and outputs the image data to the information processing terminal.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
An image reading apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a scanner) 101 is an image reading apparatus having a connection interface with an information processing terminal 102, and optically reads a sheet-shaped or book-shaped original and converts it into electrical image data. Then, the information is output to the information processing terminal 102. The scanner 101 starts reading a document in response to an instruction from the connected information processing terminal 102. In addition, a user's instruction is received from an operation unit described later.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the scanner 101. In the figure, a CPU 201 is a system control unit, and controls the entire scanner 101 via a system bus 211. The ROM 202 is a CPU 2
01 control program and operating system (O
S) Store programs and the like. Also, the RAM 203
For example, it is composed of an SRAM or the like, and stores program control variables and the like. That is, the RAM 203 stores setting values registered by the operator, system management data, and the like, and also functions as various work buffers.

The image memory 204 is constituted by, for example, a DRAM or the like, and stores input image data. In the present embodiment, each control program stored in the ROM 202 is managed under the control of the OS stored in the ROM 202.
It performs software control such as scheduling and task switching.

An operation unit 205 includes various keys, LEDs, and LCs.
D and the like, and performs various input operations by the operating system and displays the operation status of the image reading system.

The reading control unit 206 includes, for example, a CS image sensor, a document conveying mechanism, and the like. The reading control unit 206 optically reads an image on a document using a CS image sensor, and converts the read image into electrical image data. The image data after the conversion is subjected to various image processing such as binarization processing and halftone processing by the image processing control unit 207, and as a result, high-definition image data is output. Then, the converted image data is encoded according to a predetermined encoding method via the decoding control unit for reading 208, and is stored in the image memory 204.

The I / F control unit 210 is provided for the scanner 101
Interface control with the information processing terminal 102 connected to the outside. In the present embodiment, a parallel interface such as a bidirectional Centronics interface is supported. Also, when transferring the image data to the external information processing terminal 102 via the interface, the I / F code decoding processing unit 209 uses the image memory 2
If necessary, depending on the type of the image stored in the storage unit 04, necessary decoding / encoding processing is performed here, and the image data is sent to the information processing terminal 102 side.

The information processing terminal 102 is a general-purpose personal computer, and includes an MPU, a hard disk, a keyboard, a display, and the like. Information processing terminal 2
The LAN 12 can be connected to a LAN in addition to the scanner 101.
A plurality of client terminals on N can receive image data input from the scanner 101.

Remote operation from the information processing terminal 102 to the scanner 101 is performed by transmitting predetermined command, parameter, data, and the like to the scanner 101 via the I / F control unit 210.

In the present embodiment, the information processing terminal 102 and the scanner 101 exchange information using a protocol conforming to IEEE1284.

Since no special channel is provided in accordance with the standard specifications of this protocol, the information processing terminal 102 takes the initiative in communication with the scanner 101 in principle. Except for the defined notification (alert), the scanner 101 does not send a response to the information processing terminal 212 by itself. When the scanner 101 returns a response to the information processing terminal 212, a reply request flag (reply required flag) needs to be set in a message from the information processing terminal 102. The information processing terminal 102 can recognize the state of the scanner 101 (for example, the operation content of the operation unit 205) based on the state of this flag.

In this embodiment, the information processing terminal 10
2, application software and driver software for controlling the remote operation and the remote operation request described above are installed on the hard disk.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the operation unit 205 of the scanner 101. Referring to FIG.
Is a key for instructing start of document reading, a key 302
Is a key to reserve the start of document reading, LED
Reference numeral 303 denotes an LED that indicates a document reading start reservation status. A key 304 is a key for designating the density when reading a document.

LEDs 305, 306, and 307 are keys 3
L indicating the density at the time of reading the original specified by 04
ED. Here, every time the key 304 is pressed, L
ED305 → LED306 → LED307 → LED30
Lights in the order of 5 → ...

A key 308 is a key for designating a resolution when reading a document.
Reference numerals 0 and 311 denote LEDs indicating the resolution at the time of reading the original specified by the key 308. That is, the key 30
Every time 8 is pressed, LED309 → LED310 → LE
D311 → LED309 →...

When the operation of the keys 301 and 302 is performed, the operation is notified to the information processing terminal 212. Turning on and off the LED 303 is performed by the information processing terminal 102.
Can be controlled from Each key is operated by a manual operation by an operator.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the information processing terminal 102 according to the present embodiment controls the scanner 101.

This flowchart is based on the information processing terminal 10
2 shows a flow of control executed by the MPU based on an application program installed on a hard disk under the management of the MPU 2.

In step S401 of FIG.
It is checked whether the scanner 101 is reading a document. If the document is being read, step S
If the operation of step 401 is repeated and the document is not being read,
Proceed to step S402. In step S402, it is checked whether the press of the key 302 (key for reserving the start of document reading) is notified. If it is determined that the key 302 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S403.
If the key 302 has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step S409.

In step S403, the fact that the image reading has been reserved is stored from the operation unit 205 of the scanner 101, and the scanner 101 is instructed to turn on the LED 303 in response to the reservation. At this time, a reading instruction from the keyboard of the information processing terminal 102 is not accepted. Step S
In step 404, it is checked whether or not there has been a notification that the key 301 (key for instructing the start of document reading) has been pressed. If the key 301 has been notified, the process proceeds to step S405. If the key 301 has not been pressed, the process of step S404 is repeated.

In step S405, it is checked whether a document to be read is set on the scanner 101. If a document is set, step S4
06, and if it is not set, the process proceeds to step S408. That is, in step S406,
An image reading module is called, and the scanner 101 is instructed to start reading an image on a document. Then, the image data obtained by reading the image of the original by the scanner 101 is read out from the image memory 204, and the information processing terminal 102 receives the image data via the I / F control unit 210 and stores it in a predetermined area of the hard disk.

In step S407, the above-described step S
Cancel the image reading reservation stored in 403,
The scanner 101 is instructed to turn off the LED 303. On the other hand, in step S408, it is determined that the original to be read is not set on the scanner 101.
The information is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal 102 to notify the user of the information processing terminal.

If it is determined in step S402 that the key 302 has not been pressed, it is checked in step S409 whether the key 301 has been pressed. Here, if the key 301 is pressed, step S
Proceeding to 405, if the key 301 has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step S410.

In step S410, the information processing terminal 10
It is checked whether an instruction to start image reading has been received from Step 2. If an image reading start instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S405 to determine whether there is a document. If the image reading start instruction has not been received, the process returns to the first process, that is, step S401.

FIG. 5 shows the scanner 101 and the information processing terminal 1
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a data flow between the data flow 02 and the data flow;

In the present embodiment, the scanner 101 and the information processing terminal 102 transmit and receive information based on IEEE1284. Therefore, transmission and reception of all information are performed in a procedure in which the scanner 101 returns a response to a command issued by the information processing terminal 102.

The information processing terminal 102 transmits a command for inquiring about the operation status of the scanner 101 at predetermined time intervals (501). The scanner 101 operates according to an instruction from the information processing terminal 102 (for example, S4
01 to the information processing terminal 102 (50).
2).

In this operation status, the scanner 101 writes information in a predetermined area of the image memory 204, and the information processing terminal 102 confirms this information.

The response from the scanner 101 (50
After confirming that there is notification data in 2), the information processing terminal 102 prepares to acquire further information from the scanner 101 by using the notification data acquisition command (503).

Operations on the keys 301 and 302 are notified to the information processing terminal 102 by a response (504). When an operation is performed on the keys 301 and 302, the scanner 101 stores predetermined data for notifying the information processing terminal 102 of the key operation in the image memory 204. The information processing terminal 102 can know that data has been stored in the image memory 204 by transmitting a command for inquiring about the operation status of the scanner 101.
In step 3), a command for receiving data is issued again, and it can be known that the key operation has been performed.
Although omitted here, it is assumed that confirmation of S405 and the like are also performed by a command and a response.

When the operator confirms the contents of the operation of the operation unit 205, the information processing terminal 102 calls up an image reading module and operates the operation unit 2 of the scanner 101.
In accordance with the contents set in step 05, the reading of the document is started by a reading start instruction command.

When the normal response (506) from the scanner 101 is confirmed, a command (507) is issued to receive the image data obtained by reading the original, and
The upload of the image data is started by the normal response (508) from the scanner 101. This image data is stored in the operation unit 20 in the hard disk of the information processing terminal 102.
5 is stored in an area designated by the operator (prepared for each user).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, both the scanner 101 and the information processing terminal 102 can instruct the image reading operation of the scanner 101, and all of these instructions can be processed by the information processing. Terminal 10
2, the plurality of users can use the scanner 101.
Can be shared, and a read start instruction from a plurality of terminals or the like can be prevented from being multiplexed.

An operation for reading an image is performed by the operation unit 20.
5 may be performed only by the operation.
In other words, since it is necessary to bring the original to the scanner 101, the operation unit 205 is operated at that time, so that complication does not occur. Therefore, the activation of the document reading can be instructed only from the operation unit 205, and the actual activation is started based on the command from the information processing terminal 102, thereby preventing the collision of the activation instruction and simplifying the processing on the information processing terminal side. Can be

In this embodiment, the scanner 101
Is stored in a predetermined area of the image memory 205, and the information processing terminal checks the content. Therefore, the scanner 101 can be provided without providing a special channel according to the standard of IEEE1284.
Can be notified to the information processing terminal.

In this embodiment, a single scanner has been described as an example. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this, and a facsimile machine, a copying machine, or the like may be used.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and does not deviate from the gist of the present invention even if modified as follows.

That is, in the above-described embodiment,
When performing the process of canceling the image reading reservation, if it is notified in step S404 shown in FIG. 4 that the key 302 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S407 to release the scanner reservation. Can be.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, FIG.
In step S404, the time is counted, and control is performed so that the process proceeds to step S407 when a predetermined time elapses, so that if the start of the image reading is not instructed while the image reading reservation is made, The user can cancel the scan reservation.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the scanner 101 monitors the elapsed time since the key 302 was pressed, and notifies the information processing terminal 102 of the elapsed time. On the other hand, in step S404 shown in FIG. 4, the time notified from the scanner 101 is monitored, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, the image reading reservation is also made by controlling to shift the processing to step S407. If no instruction to start image reading has been given forever, the scan reservation can be automatically canceled.

An object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium storing a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus. Can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, and the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An instruction to read an image to be transferred to the information processing terminal can be given by operating the image reading device, and the instruction information at that time can be managed by the information processing terminal, and the image reading system can be operated efficiently. Become.

[0051]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a scanner 101 according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operation unit 20 of the scanner 101 according to the embodiment.
5 is a diagram showing a configuration of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure when the information processing terminal 102 controls the scanner 101.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a data flow between the scanner 101 and the information processing terminal 102.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 Image reading device 102 Information processing terminal 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 204 Image memory 205 Operation unit 206 Reading control unit 207 Image processing control unit 208 Reading code decoding processing unit 209 I / F code decoding processing unit 210 I / F F control unit 211 system bus

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A method for controlling an information processing terminal in an image reading system having an image reading device that reads an image of a document and outputs image data and an information processing terminal that inputs image data output from the image reading device. Confirming whether or not an instruction to read an image has been issued from the operation unit of the image reading apparatus, and instructing the image reading apparatus to start reading an image when confirming that the instruction to read the image has been issued; A method of controlling an information processing terminal, wherein the image reading apparatus receives an image data output by reading an image based on the instruction. 2. The control method for an information processing terminal according to claim 1, wherein in the checking step, information stored in a predetermined area of a memory of the image reading device is checked. 3. The control method for an information processing terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a step of calling an image reading module when it is confirmed that an instruction to read an image has been issued in said confirmation step. 4. The control method for an information processing terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a step of confirming an image reading parameter set by an operation unit of said image reading device. 5. The control method for an information processing terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a step of confirming a state of said image reading device. 6. A control method for an image reading system, comprising: an image reading device that reads an image of a document and outputs image data; and an information processing terminal that inputs image data output from the image reading device. Storing information input from the operation unit of the image reading device in a memory of the image reading device, and confirming information stored in the memory according to an instruction from the information processing terminal; When it is confirmed that the image reading instruction has been issued, the image reading apparatus starts reading the image according to the instruction from the information processing terminal, and the image reading apparatus reads out and outputs the image data based on the instruction. A method for controlling an image reading system, wherein the method is received by the information processing terminal. 7. The control method for an image reading system according to claim 6, further comprising a step of setting a reservation for image reading processing by an operation unit of said image reading apparatus. 8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when an image reading processing reservation is set in the operation unit of the image reading apparatus, an image reading instruction by an operation of the information processing apparatus is not accepted. How to control the system. 9. A program for controlling an information processing terminal in an image reading system having an image reading device that reads an image of a document and outputs image data and an information processing terminal that inputs image data output from the image reading device. A computer-readable memory storing a code, wherein a code of a step of confirming whether or not an image reading instruction has been issued from an operation unit of the image reading apparatus; and A code for instructing the image reading apparatus to start reading an image, and a code for receiving the image data output by the image reading apparatus based on the instruction. Computer readable memory.