JPH10271252A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost of a digital copying device and to arbitrarily select required functions to perform the processing. SOLUTION: An image forming system 1 has a digital copying device 2, a second picture processor 3, and a communication control part 4. When picture data read by a scanner 22 of the digital copying device 2 is processed and is printed by a plotter 24, a first picture processing part 23 of the digital copying device 2 performs the picture processing and a print is outputted by the plotter 24 if the copy mode is a character mode. If the copy mode is a character/ photograph mode or a photograph mode, picture data processed by the first picture processing part 23 is sent to the second picture processor 3 and is subjected to MTF correction, gamma correction, and gradation processing and is sent back to the digital copying device 2 and is printed out by the plotter 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for performing image processing on image data sent from, for example, a scanner or a host apparatus, and forming an image with a plotter or the like in accordance with the image processed image data, and in particular, the cost of the image forming apparatus. It's about down.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a digital copying apparatus performs shading correction, scaling processing, and M processing in order to properly perform image processing on image data of a document read by a scanner.
The image processing unit has various functions such as TF correction, gamma correction, and gradation processing. In order to increase the efficiency of processing of such an image forming apparatus, for example, distributed processing disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-249452 or the like is employed. In the distributed processing disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-249452, a plurality of digital copying apparatuses connected via a network are grouped in a certain unit, and when a multi-page original is read by a certain digital copying apparatus,
The read image data is divided into a plurality of pages and the same group
The image data is sent to another digital copying apparatus, and the image is output for each page divided by the plurality of digital copying apparatuses so that the entire system can be operated efficiently.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, image data
Even if the data is distributed to each digital copying apparatus and distributed processing is performed, the image data sent to each digital copying apparatus is not limited to character document data, but also to character / photo document and photographic document image data. Therefore, each digital copying machine required various image processing functions for processing these image data. However, for example, in an environment where only text documents are copied, the character / photo mode, the photo mode, and the like are modes that are hardly used, and the digital copying apparatus becomes expensive due to image processing functions that are not actually used. Met.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages, and aims to reduce the cost of a basic image forming apparatus by dispersing various image processing functions and arbitrarily select necessary functions for processing. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an image forming apparatus capable of performing the following.

[0005]

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention has an image input section, a first image processing section, an image output section, a communication control section, and a second image processing section, and the image input section is an image processing apparatus. Data is input, the first image processing unit performs predetermined image processing on the input image data, the image output unit outputs image-processed image data, and the communication control unit outputs the first image processing. An image forming apparatus for transferring image data between a unit and a second image processing unit, wherein the second image processing unit performs image processing other than the image processing performed by the first image processing unit.

It is preferable that the image forming apparatus has a selector, and the selector selects the second image processing section according to the selected image forming mode.

It is desirable that when the second image processing section is selected by the selector, if image processing cannot be performed by the second image processing section, the fact is notified.

Further, the second image processing unit is provided with a plurality of first image processing units.
It is good to share in the image processing unit.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image forming system according to the present invention has a digital copying apparatus, a second image processing apparatus, and a communication control unit. The digital copying machine has a scanner, a first image processing unit, and a plotter. The first image processing unit includes a shading correction unit, a scaling unit, a selector, and a buffer.
The second image processing apparatus performs image processing different from that of the first image processing unit of the digital copying apparatus, and includes an MTF correction unit, a gamma correction unit, and a gradation processing unit.

When the image data read by the scanner of the digital copying machine is image-processed and printed by the plotter, if the copy mode is the character mode, the image processing is performed by the first image processing section and the plotter performs the image processing. Print out. When the copy mode is the character / photo mode or the photo mode, the image data processed by the first image processing section is sent to the second image processing apparatus.
After performing TF correction, gamma correction, and gradation processing, the image data is sent to a digital copying apparatus again and printed out by a plotter.

As described above, in the character mode, the image data is subjected to image processing by the digital copying apparatus and printed out, and in the character / photo mode or the photo mode, the image data is further processed in the second mode. Since the image processing apparatus performs image processing, only the digital copying apparatus may be used in an environment where only a character document is copied, and a low-cost digital copying apparatus can be used. In addition, text / photo mode and photo mode
In an environment in which the digital copying machine is used, the second image processing apparatus and the communication control section may be added to the digital copying apparatus as options, so that the degree of freedom of selection by the user can be increased.

In addition, the image processing using the second image processing apparatus is switched by a selector according to the copy mode, so that the optimal image processing for each copy mode is automatically selected. Can be.

Further, by connecting a plurality of digital copying machines for the character mode which are usually most frequently used via a network, and sharing the second image processing apparatus with the plurality of digital copying machines, the image forming apparatus is provided. The cost of the forming system can be greatly reduced.

Further, when image processing cannot be performed by the second image processing apparatus, by notifying the fact, the operator can select whether or not to perform processing only with the digital copying apparatus.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the image forming system 1 has a digital copying device 2, a second image processing device 3, and a communication control unit 4. The digital copying apparatus 2 includes an operation unit 20 and a CPU 21
, A scanner 22, a first image processing unit 23, a plotter 24, an ADF 25, and an interface unit 26. The operation unit 20 designates, for example, scaling of an image to be copied, which is a copy condition. The CPU 21 checks the copy conditions input from the operation unit 20 and manages the operation of the entire apparatus. The scanner 22 includes a CCD sensor 220 and an A / D converter 221.
The CCD sensor 220 reads an image of a document fed from the ADF 25 and outputs an analog signal. A
The / D converter 221 converts an analog signal sent from the CCD sensor 220 into image data which is a digital signal, and sends the image data.

The first image processing section 23 has a shading correction section 230, a scaling section 231 and a selector 232 and a buffer 233. The shading correction unit 230 corrects the image data sent from the scanner 22 while including the density variation generated at the element level of the CCD sensor 220 when reading the image. The scaling unit 231 performs scaling processing on the image data corrected and transmitted by the shading correction unit 230 in accordance with the magnification specified by the operation unit 20. Selector 2
Numeral 32 indicates that the copying condition is character mode or other character / photo mode.
The transfer destination of the image data subjected to the scaling process is switched in the mode of the photograph and the photograph. The buffer 233 temporarily stores the image data, and sends the image data to the plotter 24 according to the instruction of the CPU 21.

The second image processing device 3 is a digital copying device 2
The first image processing unit 23 performs image processing different from that of the first image processing unit 23, and includes an MTF correction unit 31, a gamma correction unit 32, and a gradation processing unit 33. The MTF correction unit 31 emphasizes edges of the image data by performing an emphasis filter process using a filter stored in advance. The gamma correction unit 32 converts the density level of the image data by using a look-up table stored in advance, thereby obtaining a difference between the density level when the image is read by the scanner 22 and the density level when the image is printed by the plotter 24. Is output in consideration of. The gradation processing section 33 performs gradation processing on the image data. The communication control section 4 controls the transfer of image data between the digital copying apparatus 2 and the second image processing apparatus 3.

The image forming system 1 configured as described above
The operation performed when the image data read by the scanner 22 is processed and printed by the plotter 24 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The operation unit 20 selects the image processing mode corresponding to the image scaling specification, which is the copy condition of the original placed on the ADF 25, and the image type such as characters or photographs or characters and photographs, and starts processing. Perform the operation (Step S
1). The CPU 21 performs AD control according to an operation from the operation unit 20.
The feeding of the document by F25 and the reading of the document by the scanner 22 are started, and the read image data is sent to the first image processing unit 23 (step S2). The first image processing unit 23 performs shading correction on the sent image data with the shading correction unit 230, and performs a scaling process with the scaling unit 231 according to the magnification specified by the operation unit 20 (step S).
3). If the image processing mode selected by the operation unit 20 is a character (step S4), the CPU 231 connects the selector 232 directly to the buffer 233 and
The image data output from 31 is temporarily stored in the buffer 233. The image data stored in the buffer 232 is sent to the plotter 24 and printed out (step S6).
If the image processing mode selected by the operation unit 20 is the character / photo mode or the photo mode (step S4), the selector 232 is switched to the communication control unit 4 and the scaling processing unit 23 is switched.
The image data output from 1 is sent to the second image processing device 3 via the communication control unit 4. The second image processing device 3 performs image processing suitable for the photographic image on the sent image data by the MTF correction unit 31 and the gamma correction unit 32, and performs gradation processing by the gradation processing unit 33 (step S5). The image data processed by the second image processing device 3 is temporarily stored in the buffer 233 via the communication control unit 4 and then sent to the plotter 24 to be printed out (step S6).

As described above, in the character mode, the image data is subjected to image processing by the digital copying apparatus 2 and printed out. In the character / photo mode or the photo mode, the image data is further processed. Since the image processing is performed by the second image processing apparatus 3, only the digital copying apparatus 2 may be used in an environment where only a character document is copied, and the low-cost digital copying apparatus 2 can be used. . In an environment using the character / photo mode or the photo mode, the user can select the second image processing device 3 and the communication control unit 4 as options to the digital copying device 2. Degree of freedom can be increased.

In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the image data read by the scanner 22 is subjected to image processing and printed out, but the image data transmitted from the host device via the interface unit 26 is processed. It is also possible to perform image processing and print out. Also,
The scaling unit 231 provided in the first image processing unit 23 may be provided in the second image processing device 3.

In the above embodiment, the case where the digital copying apparatus 2 and the second image processing apparatus 3 are directly connected by the communication control unit 4 has been described. As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 3, the second image processing apparatus 3 may be shared by a plurality of digital copying apparatuses 2a to 2n connected via the network 5.
In this case, an identification number may be assigned to each of the digital copying apparatuses 2a to 2n, and image data transmitted and received with the second image processing apparatus 3 may be managed by the identification number. As described above, the second image processing apparatus 3 is connected to the plurality of digital copying apparatuses 2a to 2a.
By sharing n, the cost of the image forming system can be greatly reduced.

Further, in the above embodiment, the digital copier 2
Has been described in which only the minimum functions necessary for copying a character document are provided.
Digital copying machine 2
And the second image processing apparatus 3 may perform the image processing in a distributed manner.

For example, as shown in the block diagram of FIG.
The first image processing unit 23 of the digital copying apparatus 2 includes, in addition to the shading correction unit 230 and the scaling unit 231, an MTF correction for performing an enhancement filter process on image data using a filter corresponding to, for example, a character image processing mode. Part 234
A gamma correction unit 235 that performs density level conversion of image data using a look-up table corresponding to a character image processing mode, and performs n-gradation processing or error diffusion processing on image data according to each image processing mode. Alternatively, a gradation processing unit 236 for selectively performing dither processing and transmitting the image data to the buffer 233 and selectors 232 and 237 of, for example, a switch circuit for switching image data transmission lines under control of the CPU 21 are provided. Further, the second image processing device 3 includes, for example, an MTF correction unit 31 that performs an emphasis filter process using a filter corresponding to a photo image processing mode.
And a gamma correction unit 32 that performs density level conversion of image data using a look-up table corresponding to a photo image processing mode.

For example, when the image processing mode selected from the operation unit 20 is a photograph, the CPU 21 selects the selector 232.
Is switched to the position indicated by the broken line, the image data subjected to the image processing of the shading correction and the scaling process is sent to the second image processing device 3 via the communication control unit 4, and the MTF correction unit of the second image processing device 3 The image processing corresponding to the photographic image is performed by the gamma correction unit 31 and the gamma correction unit 32. Also,
When the image processing mode selected from the operation unit 20 is a character, the MTF correction unit 234 of the first image processing unit 23 is switched by switching the selectors 232 and 237 to positions indicated by solid lines.
And the gamma correction unit 235 performs image processing corresponding to the character image. If the image processing mode selected from the operation unit 20 is text and photo, the selector 23
2 is switched to the position indicated by the solid line, and the selector 237 is switched to the position indicated by the dashed line.
After the image processing corresponding to the character image is performed by the F correction unit 234 and the gamma correction unit 235, the image processing is sent to the second image processing device 3 via the communication control unit 4, and the second image processing device 3
The image processing corresponding to the photographic image is performed by the MTF correction unit 31 and the gamma correction unit 32. Then, the image data subjected to the image processing according to each image processing mode is sent to the first image processing unit 23, subjected to gradation processing by the gradation processing unit 236, and then printed on a recording medium by the plotter 24 via the buffer 233. I do.

As described above, the digital copying apparatus 2 and the second image processing apparatus 3 disperse the image processing according to the image processing mode selected according to the character or photograph or the character and the photograph, which are the image types of the original to be copied. I decided to do
It is possible to form an optimal image according to each image processing mode and to reduce the image processing time.

When the digital copying apparatus 2 and the second image processing apparatus 3 perform image processing in a distributed manner as described above, for example, a photograph or a character and a photograph using the second image processing apparatus 3 are operated from the operation unit 20. If image processing using the second image processing apparatus 3 cannot be performed when an image processing mode such as is selected, the operator may be notified of the fact and the image processing mode may be selected again. . The operation at this time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the image processing mode selected by the operation unit 20 is a character (steps S21 and S22),
By switching the selectors 232 and 237 for the image data on which the image processing of the shading correction and the scaling processing has been performed, the MTF correction unit 234 and the gamma correction unit 235 of the first image processing unit 23 perform image processing suitable for a character image. The printing process (step S2).
3, S28). When the image processing mode selected by the operation unit 20 is a photograph or a text and a photograph (step S2).
2) It is confirmed whether image processing using the second image processing device 3 is possible (step S24). If image processing is possible with the second image processing device 3, the selectors 232 and 23 are selected.
7 to perform image processing using the first image processing unit 23 and the second image processing device 3 (step S2).
5). If the image processing using the second image processing apparatus 3 cannot be performed (step S24), for example, it is not possible to execute the photograph or character and photograph image processing mode on the LCD or the like of the operation unit 20. Is displayed to notify the user and select the image processing mode again (step S26). When the character image processing mode is selected from the operation unit 20 (step S27),
The image processing is performed by the first image processing unit 23 and the plotter 26 performs the printing process (steps S23 and S2).
8). If the image processing mode selected again from the operation unit 20 is a photograph or a text and a photograph, the copying process is stopped and the process ends (step S27).

As described above, when the image processing cannot be performed in the selected image processing mode, the user is notified and the image processing mode is selected again, and the image processing is performed in the selected image processing mode. Stagnation can be prevented.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, when image data read by a scanner of a digital copying apparatus is processed and printed by a plotter, the copy mode is a character mode.
When the copy mode is the character / photo mode or the photo mode, the first image processing unit of the digital copying apparatus processes the image and prints out the image. The image data processed by the image processing unit is sent to the second image processing device, subjected to MTF correction, gamma correction, and gradation processing, and sent again to the digital copying device for printing out by the plotter. In an environment in which a digital copying machine is copied, only a digital copying machine need be used, and a low-cost digital copying machine can be used. In an environment using a character / photo mode or a photo mode,
Since the second image processing apparatus and the communication control unit may be added to the digital copying apparatus as options, the degree of freedom of selection by the user can be increased.

Further, by switching the image processing using the second image processing apparatus with a selector according to the copy mode, the optimum image processing for each copy mode is automatically selected. Thus, a high-quality image corresponding to each copy mode can be obtained.

Further, a plurality of digital copying machines for the character mode which are usually used most are connected via a network, and the plurality of digital copying machines share the second image processing apparatus, so that an image can be obtained. The cost of the forming system can be greatly reduced.

Further, when image processing cannot be performed by the second image processing apparatus, by notifying the fact, the operator can select whether or not to perform processing only with the digital copying apparatus. Even when the processing device cannot be used, a copy of the document can be quickly obtained, and the stagnation of the image forming system can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system 2 Digital copying apparatus 21 CPU 22 Scanner 23 1st image processing part 24 Plotter 3 2nd image processing apparatus 4 Communication control part

Claims (4)

[Claims] An image input unit, a first image processing unit, an image output unit, a communication control unit, and a second image processing unit. The image input unit inputs image data, and the first image processing unit receives the image data. The image output unit outputs image data subjected to the image processing, and the communication control unit outputs an image data between the first image processing unit and the second image processing unit. The second image processing unit performs image processing other than the image processing performed by the first image processing unit. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus has a selector, and the selector selects the second image processing unit according to the selected image forming mode. 3. When the second image processing unit cannot perform image processing when the second image processing unit is selected by the selector,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, which notifies that effect. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second image processing unit is shared by a plurality of first image processing units.