JPH10208031A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use a primary storing means that has small capacity, also not to be influenced by a protocol overhead time of a secondary storing means and to perform rotational processing of image data without performing complicated connection processing. SOLUTION: An original image is sent to a hard disk 17 via page memory 15, and split images that are split from the original image are stored on the disk 17. Each split image is successively transferred to the memory 15 from the disk 17, the split image transferred to the memory 15 is rotated by a rotating machine 11, a rotated split image is stored in the memory 15, and the rotated split image is stored on the disk 17. Rotated split images that correspond to all the split images are stored on the disk 17, and therefore, an image that rotates an entire original image is acquired in the disk 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus used for a digital copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and the like, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus having a function of rotating an image using a storage unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various image processing apparatuses having a function of rotating image data have been proposed. As a method of this image data rotation processing, image data to be processed is temporarily stored in a storage device such as a RAM that can be accessed at high speed, and the image data obtained by rotating the image data by a desired angle is stored in the storage device. Is generally known to be stored in another area. In order to adopt this method, at least two data amounts of the image data to be processed are required.
A storage means having twice the storage capacity is required. However, since a large-capacity RAM is generally expensive, it is often not possible to increase the capacity of the storage means due to restrictions such as the cost of the image processing apparatus. In such cases,
This imposes a limit on the amount of image data that can be subject to rotation processing.

[0003] Therefore, using storage means of small capacity,
A device capable of rotating image data having a relatively large data amount has been studied. Against this background, specific measures have been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-320052. The image processing apparatus disclosed in this publication divides image data to be processed into blocks, rotates the image data in units of blocks, and stores the rotated image data in a primary storage device such as a RAM. Is performed by the method described above. In this image processing apparatus, when the data amount of the image data to be processed is equal to or more than a certain amount, in addition to the primary storage device, a secondary storage device such as a hard disk device is used.
The rotation processing is performed using the secondary storage device together. That is, when storing the image data of the block after the rotation processing in the primary storage device, if the free space of the primary storage device is exhausted, the rotated block data already stored in the primary storage device is deleted. The image data is evacuated to the secondary storage device, and the rotated image data after that is written into the vacant area in the primary storage device secured as a result.

[0004]

By the way, in the prior art disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-320052,
When the rotation processing of the image data is performed using both the secondary storage device and the secondary storage device, the image data of each rotated block is stored separately in the primary storage device and the secondary storage device. Become. Therefore, when the entire rotated image data is output by a printer or the like, the image data of each rotated block is read from the primary storage device and the secondary storage device, and each of the blocks is connected line by line and connected to a printer or the like. It will take the method of supplying.

However, in this line connection processing, when one line portion of a certain block is read, a line to be connected to the next block is read. Seek occurs. In this case, the secondary storage device
Even if the seek operation can be reduced by the cache, the overhead time required for the protocol becomes relatively large because the data size of the line to which the block is connected is small. Therefore, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-32
The prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0052 is not suitable for a high-speed image processing apparatus. Usually, the access unit of the hard disk device as the secondary storage device is 512 bytes, and there is a problem that the connection processing becomes complicated when the size of the line to be connected to the block is not a multiple of 512 bytes.

According to the present invention, there is no need to increase the capacity of the primary storage device, and the protocol of the secondary storage device is not required.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus capable of performing a rotation process of image data without significantly reducing a processing speed due to an overhead time and without performing a complicated connection process.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: an image input means; a primary storage means and a secondary storage means for respectively storing images; an image output means; Means for storing an original image or a divided image obtained by dividing the original image in the secondary storage means, and sequentially transferring each divided image obtained by dividing the original image from the secondary storage means to the primary storage means; Means for rotating the divided image transferred to the storage means by the image rotation means, storing the rotated divided image in the primary storage means, and storing the rotated divided image in the secondary storage means. An image processing apparatus is characterized in that an image obtained by rotating an entire original image is stored in the secondary storage means by storing a rotated divided image corresponding to the divided image.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment performs a function as a copying machine.

In FIG. 1, an image reading device 5 is a means for reading an image of a document to be copied and outputting image data. The automatic document feeder 8 is a unit that supplies a document to the image reading device 5. The image reading device 5 and the automatic document feeder 8 constitute a means for supplying an input image to the image processing device.

The image recording device 6 transfers image data, which is output information of the image processing device, to a recording sheet as an image,
Output means.

The external I / F 22 is provided for inputting and outputting image data to and from an external device such as a data processing device such as a personal computer or a workstation or a facsimile device.

The above is the input means and output means of the image data in this image processing apparatus. Next, an image processing system of the image processing apparatus will be described.

First, reference numerals 18, 19, and 20 denote multiplexers, each of which includes selection information SEL1, SEL2, and SEL for designating a transfer direction of each input image information from the register 21.
3 are supplied. The setting of the selection information SEL1 and the like for the register 21 is performed by the CPU 1 described later.

These multiplexers 18, 19, 20
Converts the image data supplied from the image reading device 5 or the image data supplied from the page memory 15 via the data bus into selection information SEL1, SEL2, SEL3.
, And serves to supply one or both of the compressor 10 and the rotator 11.

The compressor 10 compresses image data supplied from the image reading device 5 through the multiplexer or image data supplied from the page memory 15 and transfers the compressed image data to the page memory 15. It is. The compressor 10 has a purpose of reducing the amount of image data per document, increasing the number of documents that can be stored in the page memory 15 and the hard disk 17, and reducing the data transfer speed to the page memory 15 and the hard disk 17. For example, a means provided for performing a compression process by an adaptive predictive coding method is used. In the compression processing by the adaptive prediction encoding method, for example, image data is simultaneously predicted by a plurality of predictors every eight pixels, and the predictor having the highest hit rate is used as the next predictor. In this case, the pixel signal for which the prediction was successful is replaced with “0”, and the pixel signal that is out of the prediction is replaced with “1”, and the replaced prediction result data is run-length encoded and compressed. Also, the main scanning line whose compression ratio exceeds 1 is
It replaces the original image data, and the compression ratio of the entire page does not exceed 1.

The decompressor 13 decompresses the run-length code, which is compressed image data, to decompress it to predictive data, de-predicts the decompressed predictive data and restores the original image data, and performs the above-described image recording. Supply to the device 6.

The rotator 11 stores in the page memory 15 image data obtained by rotating the image data from the image reading device 5 or the image data from the page memory 15 by a rotation angle of 90 °.

The page memory 15 is composed of, for example, a DRAM. The page memory 15 is configured such that the data output of the compressor 10 is not constant speed,
Since it takes time to start the data transfer and the transfer speed is not constant, it is used as a buffer when data is transferred between the compressor 10 and the hard disk 17. When the image processing apparatus performs a rotation process of the image data, the page memory 15 is used for expanding the image data rotated by the rotator 11.
Normally, a memory having a capacity for storing two A4 size pages is used as the page memory 15.

The hard disk 17 is a secondary storage device provided for storing a large amount of image information.
Transfer of image information is performed by SCSI (Small Computer System Interface). In the present embodiment, when performing rotation processing of image data having a large data amount, the page memory 15 and the hard disk 17 are used.

Next, a control system and an operation system of the image processing apparatus will be described. First, the SCSI controller 12
Is means for controlling reading and writing of image information from and to the hard disk 17.

Next, the DMA controller 14 is a means for controlling DMA transfer performed between the page memory 15 and a device which requests data transfer to the page memory 15. In the present embodiment, the following eight channels of DMA transfer are possible under the control of the DMA controller 14. First channel: DMA transfer performed from the compressor 10 to the page memory 15 in response to a transfer request from the compressor 10 Second channel: DMA transfer performed from the page memory 15 to the compressor 10 in response to a transfer request from the compressor 10 Third channel: DMA transfer performed from the rotator 11 to the page memory 15 in response to a transfer request from the rotator 11 Fourth channel: DMA transfer performed from the page memory 15 to the rotator 11 in response to a transfer request from the rotator 11 Fifth channel: DMA transfer performed from the expander 13 to the page memory 15 in response to a transfer request from the expander 13 sixth channel: DMA transfer performed from the page memory 15 to the expander 13 in response to a transfer request from the expander 13 Seventh channel: The external I / F 22 and the page memory 15 are connected by a transfer request from the external I / F 22 8th channel: SCSI controller 12 and page memory 1 in response to transfer request from SCSI controller 12
Bidirectional DMA transfer to and from

In the DMA transfer of the third channel, a rotation process of the image data is performed in the process of transferring the image data from the rotator 11 to the page memory 15.
The rotator 11 generates an address of the page memory 15, which is a transfer destination address of the image data, according to the rotation angle of the rotation processing.

The bus arbiter 16 arbitrates the above-described eight-channel DMA transfer request, refresh of the page memory 15 (DRAM), access of the CPU 1 and the like in a predetermined priority order and a predetermined data unit.

The CPU 1 is control means for controlling the overall operation according to a program. Also, the ROM 2 stores the CP
This is storage means for storing the above-mentioned program executed by U1 and predetermined data in advance. RAM3 is a CPU
1 is a storage means used for storing data or as a work area.

The operating device 7 includes numeric keys, various operation keys,
It is composed of a display and the like, and serves as a means for the user to supply a command to the CPU 1 and a means for notifying the user of the state of the image processing apparatus.

The interrupt controller 9 includes a compressor 10,
This is a means for receiving interrupts from the rotator 11, the SCSI controller 12, the decompressor 13, the three-channel communication controller 4 and the like with a predetermined priority, and requesting the CPU to perform an interrupt process.

The three communication controllers 4, 4, and 4
This is a means for controlling communication when the PU 1 exchanges information with the image reading device 5, the image recording device 6, and the operating device 7.

The above components are separated and connected to the image data bus and the CPU bus in order to operate the image processing at higher speed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the rotation process performed in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, after the user designates a copy mode and the number of copies using the operation device 7, the user presses the start button.
In this image processing apparatus, a job is received and the RAM 3
The parameters are set in the job management area in (step S1).

The CPU 1 determines whether or not to rotate the image based on the parameters set in the job management area (step S2). Here, the image is rotated in the following cases, for example. a. When the size and direction of the image to be output to the image recording device 6 do not match the size and direction of the paper set on the tray of the image recording device 6 b. The above a. In the case where there is no paper even if there is a matching tray c. In the case where an image whose sub-scanning direction is the longitudinal direction is rotated by 90 ° to perform high-speed continuous copying d. When changing the top and bottom with double-sided copying e. When the same document is output with the same size but in different vertical and horizontal directions.When the image is rotated,
It may be determined arbitrarily in consideration of the use of the image processing apparatus.

When the CPU 1 determines that the received job is to rotate the image, it compares the size of the image data to be rotated with the available capacity of the page memory 15 (step S3). Here, if the page memory 15 has enough capacity to perform the rotation processing, the normal rotation processing of rotating the entire image data supplied from the image reading device 5 and storing the image data in the page memory 15 is performed.

On the other hand, if the page memory 15 does not have enough capacity to perform the rotation processing, the image division size is determined from the rotation angle and the memory capacity (step S4). Next, the image input from the image reading device 5 is started, and the image is temporarily stored in the hard disk 17 via the page memory 15 in units of division size (step S6). This is repeated until the accumulation of the entire page is completed (step S7). Although not shown, if there are images of a plurality of pages, steps S2 to S2 are performed for each page.
Step 7 is repeated.

When the storage of the entire page is completed, the image is read from the hard disk 17 to the page memory 15 for each divided image (step S8), and the rotated image is rotated (step S9). It accumulates (step S10). This is repeated until the accumulation of the entire page is completed (step S11). Although not shown, the above process is repeated by the number of pages when there are a plurality of pages.

When the entire image rotated in units of divided images is stored in the hard disk 17 as described above, the rotated divided images are read out from the disk (step S12), and one or a plurality of rotated divided images are read out to the page memory 15. At the time of the connection in the main scanning direction, the output of the rotated image to the image recording device 6 is started, and the next one or a plurality of rotated divided images are continuously read out to the page memory 15 (step S13). As a result, rotation image recording is performed in the image recording device 6. Although not shown, the above process is repeated for the number of pages when there are a plurality of pages.

Next, a specific operation example of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 shows the flow of the 180 ° rotation processing performed in the present embodiment. The 180 ° rotation processing shown in FIG. 3 can be executed when the page memory 15 can use the memory capacity for two divided images. In this rotation process, an image obtained by dividing the original image into four in the sub-scanning direction is stored on the hard disk 17 at the time when the above-described step S7 is completed. In this state,
The first divided image among the divided images arranged in the sub-scanning direction is read from the hard disk 17 to the page memory 15,
A rotated divided image subjected to the 180 ° rotation processing is formed in the page memory 15. When this rotation processing is completed, the rotation division image is transferred from the page memory 15 to the hard disk 17 and stored. The same processing is repeated for the second to fourth divided images. As a result, an image obtained by rotating the original image by 180 ° is obtained in the hard disk 17.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the operation performed in the present embodiment.
It shows another example of the 0 ° rotation processing. The rotation processing shown in FIG.
When it is possible to use one memory capacity and one small divided image divided into four in the main scanning direction (hereinafter, an image divided in the main scanning direction is referred to as a small divided image) Can be performed. First, the first divided image among the divided images stored in the hard disk 17 is read out to the page memory 15. Then, a rotation process of 180 ° is performed in units of small divided images obtained by further dividing the divided image stored in the page memory 15 to form a rotated small divided image in the page memory 15. When the rotation process for one small divided image is completed, the resulting rotated small divided image is stored in the hard disk 17. The above processing is performed on the second to fourth subdivided images, and the rotated subdivided images of all the subdivided images constituting the divided image are stored in the hard disk 17. When the rotation processing on the first divided image is completed in this way, the same rotation processing as described above is performed on the second to fourth divided images in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, an image obtained by rotating the original image by 180 ° on the hard disk 17 is obtained.

FIG. 5 shows that when images stored in the hard disk 17 are performed in units of small divided images, the rotation process can be performed with a smaller memory. The rotation processing shown in FIG. 5 performs the processing in units of divided images shown in FIG. 3 in units of small divided images, and can be executed if the memory capacity for two small divided images can be used. .

Next, an example of the 90 ° rotation processing performed in this embodiment will be described. The 90 ° rotation process shown in FIG.
This can be executed when the memory capacity of each of the divided image and the small divided image can be used in the page memory 15. First, when the above-described step S7 is completed, a divided image obtained by dividing the original image into four in the sub-scanning direction is formed on the hard disk 17. In this state,
The first divided image among the divided images arranged in the sub-scanning direction is read out to the page memory 15. Then, a rotation process of 90 ° is performed in units of small divided images obtained by further dividing the divided images, and a rotated small divided image is formed in the page memory 15. When the rotation process for one small divided image is completed, the obtained rotated small divided image is stored in the hard disk 17. The same processing is performed on the second to fourth sub-divided images, and the rotated sub-divided images corresponding to all the sub-divided images constituting the divided image are stored on the hard disk 17. The rotation processing for the divided images described above is similarly repeated for the second to fourth divided images in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, an image obtained by rotating the original image by 90 ° on the hard disk 17 is obtained.

The 90 ° rotation process shown in FIG. 7 can be executed when the memory capacity of one small divided image and the number of divided images in the sub-scanning direction can be used in the page memory 15. First, when the above-described step S7 is completed, 4 × 4 small divided images obtained by dividing the original image in the sub-scanning direction and the main scanning direction are stored in the hard disk 17.
Formed. In this state, the first small divided image is read out to the page memory 15 and a 90 ° rotation process is performed.
Next, the same process is repeated for the second to fourth subdivided images that are continuous in the sub-scanning direction. As a result, a rotated image divided only in the main scanning direction is formed in the page memory 15. Copy this rotated image to hard disk 1
7 is accumulated. By repeating the same process on the image divided from the second image in the fourth main scanning direction,
An image obtained by rotating the original image by 90 ° on the hard disk 17 is obtained.

FIG. 8 shows that when images stored in the hard disk 17 are performed in units of small divided images, rotation processing can be performed with a smaller memory. In the rotation processing shown in FIG. 8, the reading to the page memory 15, the 90 ° rotation processing, and the storage in the hard disk 17 are all performed in units of small divided images. This can be done if the memory capacity is available. The 270 ° rotation process can be performed in the same manner as the 90 ° rotation process.

The rotation processing performed in a state where the image is divided and stored in the hard disk 17 has been described above. However, the original image is stored in the hard disk 17 without being divided, and the original image is read from the hard disk 17. You may make it divide at a point in time.

The rotation processing shown in FIG. 9 is for directly rotating the image input from the image reading device 5 by 90 °. In order to perform this rotation processing, a memory capacity for two divided images is required in the page memory 15. More specifically, in this rotation processing, the usable memory is divided into two, and the two divided memories are used alternately to handle the rotation processing of the image input from the image reading device 5. First, the image input from the image reading device 5 is rotated by 90 ° in units of pixels or the number of bits of the memory bus width, and written into one of the divided image memory areas of the page memory 15. When the rotation of the divided image is completed, the image is stored in the hard disk 17 in units of small divided images further divided in the main scanning direction of the original image. On the other hand, the rotation processing is continuously performed on the image continuously input immediately after the end of the rotation of the divided image by using another divided image memory area. In this way, the processing is continued up to the last divided image while alternately switching the two divided image memory areas in the rotation processing of the input image and the accumulation processing of the rotated image. 270
{Rotation processing can be performed in the same manner as 90 ° rotation processing.

The rotation processing shown in FIG. 10 is for directly rotating the image input from the image reading device 5 by 180 °. This rotation process requires a memory capacity for two divided images. That is, also in this rotation processing, the usable memory is divided into two parts, and each of them is used alternately to perform the rotation processing of the image input from the image reading device 5. As in the method of FIG. 9 described above, the image input from the image reading device 5 is rotated by 180 ° in units of pixels or the number of bits of the memory bus width, and written into one of the divided image memory areas of the page memory 15. When the rotation of the divided image is completed, the rotated divided image is stored in the hard disk 17. On the other hand, the rotation processing is continuously performed on the image that is continuously input immediately after the end of the rotation of the divided image by using another divided image memory area. As described above, by alternately using the two divided image memory areas, the rotation processing of the input image and the accumulation processing of the rotated image are performed, so that the rotation processing of all the divided images is performed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of application of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications are possible. For example, in order to speed up the processing even when the access speed of the hard disk 17 is low, the rotated divided image or the rotated
The data may be compressed by 0 and then stored in the hard disk 17. In this case, when the rotated divided image or the rotated small divided image is read from the hard disk 17, it may be expanded by the expander 13 and output by the image recording device 6.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image having image input means, primary storage means and secondary storage means for storing respective images, image output means, and image rotation means is provided. A processing device for storing an original image or a divided image obtained by dividing the original image in the secondary storage unit, and sequentially transferring each divided image obtained by dividing the original image from the secondary storage unit to the primary storage unit; Means for rotating the divided image transferred to the primary storage means by the image rotation means, storing the rotated divided image in the primary storage means, and storing the rotated divided image in the secondary storage means. Since the rotation of the whole original image is formed in the secondary storage means by storing the rotated divided images corresponding to all the divided images, the primary storage means having a small capacity is used, and Secondary憶 without being affected by the protocol overhead time means, there is an effect that complicated connection process can also be carried out a rotation process of the image data without performing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one method of 180 ° rotation processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one method of 180 ° rotation processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view showing one method of 180 ° rotation processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing one method of 90 ° rotation processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating one method of 90 ° rotation processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a view showing one method of 90 ° rotation processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a method of directly rotating an input image by 90 ° in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of directly inputting an input image in the embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one method of rotating.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... Communication controller, 5 ... Image reading device, 6 ... Image recording device, 7 ... Operating device, 8 ... Automatic document feeder,
9 ... Interrupt controller, 10 ... Compressor, 11 ...
... rotator (image rotating means), 12 SCSI controller, 13 expander, 14 DMA controller,
15 page memory (primary storage means), 16 bus arbiter, 17 hard disk (secondary storage means),
18-20: Multiplexer, 21: Register, 2
2. External I / F.

Claims (6)

[Claims] An image input means and an image storage means for storing each image.
In an image processing apparatus having a secondary storage unit and a secondary storage unit, an image output unit, and an image rotation unit, an original image or a divided image obtained by dividing the original image is stored in the secondary storage unit, and the original image is divided. Each divided image obtained above is
Means for sequentially transferring from the next storage means to the primary storage means; rotating the divided images transferred to the primary storage means by the image rotating means; storing the rotated divided images in the primary storage means; Means for storing a rotated divided image in the secondary storage means, and forming an image obtained by rotating the entire original image in the secondary storage means by storing the rotated divided images corresponding to all the divided images. An image processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of storing the original image in the secondary storage means via the primary storage means, the original image is divided into the divided images. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 3. Image input means and 1 for storing each image
In an image processing apparatus having a secondary storage unit and a secondary storage unit, an image output unit, and an image rotation unit, the image rotation unit rotates each divided image obtained by dividing an original image to be processed in the sub-scanning direction. Processing is performed sequentially,
By sequentially storing each rotated divided image corresponding to each divided image in the primary storage means and sequentially storing each rotated divided image stored in the primary storage means in the secondary storage means, An image processing apparatus, wherein an image obtained by rotating an entire image is formed in the secondary storage means. 4. Image input means and 1 for storing respective images
In an image processing apparatus having a secondary storage unit and a secondary storage unit, an image output unit, and an image rotation unit, an original image or a divided image obtained by dividing the original image in the sub-scanning direction is stored in the secondary storage unit, Means for sequentially transferring each divided image from the secondary storage means to the primary storage means; and the image rotating means for each of the small divided images obtained by dividing the divided image transferred to the primary storage means in the main scanning direction. And stores the rotated divided image in the primary storage means.
Means for storing the rotated sub-divided image in the secondary storage means, and storing the rotated sub-divided images corresponding to the sub-divided images constituting all the divided images, thereby forming an image obtained by rotating the entire original image. An image processing apparatus formed in the secondary storage means. 5. An image input means, and 1 for storing each image.
In an image processing apparatus having a secondary storage unit and a secondary storage unit, an image output unit, and an image rotation unit, the secondary storage unit stores an original image or a small divided image obtained by dividing the original image in the sub-scanning direction and the main scanning direction. Means for sequentially transferring the small divided images from the secondary storage means to the primary storage means; and rotating the small divided images transferred to the primary storage means by the image rotating means to rotate the small divided images. Means for storing the divided images in the primary storage means, and storing an image obtained by rotating the entire original image by storing the rotated small divided images corresponding to the small divided images constituting all the divided images. An image processing apparatus formed in storage means. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation division image or the rotation subdivision image obtained by the image rotation unit is compressed and stored in the secondary storage unit. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1.