JPH11142963A - Microfilm retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely detect the existence of a frame and to enhance retrieving accuracy even when the photographing system of a film and the size of the frame are changed by changing the combination of density sensors used according to the photographing system of the film. SOLUTION: Light emitted from nine optical fibers 104 respectively opposed to nine optical fibers 106 held by a block 102 is passed through a microfilm 26 and made incident on the fibers 106. The fibers 106 are respectively guided by the optical sensors 108 and density signals being the outputs of the sensors 108 are separately inputted to a binarizing part 110. By a decision part 112, the decided result of the existence of the frame is obtained based on the outputs of the respective sensors 108. When the photographing system is the duplex system, the frames of an upper and a lower channels are detected by using the outputs of the optical sensors passed within the width of the respective channels four by four except the output of the optical sensor 108 between the respective channels based on the output of a sensor selection part 114 by the decision part 112.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microfilm retrieval apparatus used for retrieving a plurality of types of microfilms photographed by different photographing methods, and for judging the presence or absence of a frame from a change in density in the running direction of the microfilm. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to search for microfilms,
A device is known in which a search mark (blip) is attached to each frame at a position that does not overlap the traveling locus width of the frame, and the blip is detected and searched.

On the other hand, it has been considered that a search is performed by detecting the presence or absence of a frame instead of the blip. That is, a density sensor is provided within the width of the traveling locus of a frame, and the presence or absence of a frame is determined from a change in film density detected by the density sensor.

[0004]

In the case of detecting the presence or absence of a frame as described above, if the position of the frame (the position in the film width direction) or the size of the frame changes depending on the film shooting method, the frame cannot be detected. When the density sensor is located near the edge of the frame in the film width direction, the detection accuracy of the frame deteriorates. For this reason, there is a problem that the search accuracy is reduced.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when performing a search by detecting the presence or absence of a frame, it is possible to accurately determine whether a film shooting method changes or a frame size changes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a microfilm search device capable of detecting the presence or absence of a frame and improving search accuracy.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a microfilm search system for retrieving a plurality of types of microfilms photographed by different photographing methods, wherein a presence or absence of a frame is determined based on a change in density in a running direction of the microfilm. In the apparatus, an encoder that outputs a sampling signal for each predetermined feed amount of the microfilm, a plurality of density sensors that detect the film density at a plurality of different positions in the width direction of the microfilm, and a density that is an output of these density sensors A combination of a binarizing section for binarizing a signal in synchronization with the sampling signal and a density sensor used in accordance with the filming method of the film, and changing the density sensor into the running locus of a frame corresponding to the filming method. A logical product of a sensor selection unit to be selected and a binary signal based on the density sensor selected by the sensor selection unit, or A determining section whether a frame using the physical sum, the determination unit microfilm retrieval apparatus characterized by comprising: a search unit for searching for frames based on the output of, it is accomplished by.

Here, when the photographing method of the microfilm changes to a simplex, a duo, a duplex, or the like, the sensor selecting unit selects a plurality of density sensors so that a plurality of density sensors can be selected for a frame corresponding to each photographing method. By setting the position, the frame detection accuracy can be further improved by always using a plurality of density sensor outputs for frames even if the shooting method changes.

If the binary signal becomes logic "1" outside the frame of the microfilm and becomes logic "0" inside the frame,
The determination unit can determine that there is a frame when the logical product of the binarized signal is logical "0", and determine that there is no frame when the logical product is "1". Conversely, when the binarized signal becomes logic “0” outside the frame and becomes logic “1” inside the frame, the determination unit determines that the portion where the logical sum of the binarized signal becomes the logic “1” indicates that there is a frame. It is possible to determine that there is no frame at the part where the logic becomes “0”. Therefore, a frame search can be performed by multiplying the number of times that the logical product or the logical sum changes from “1” to “0” or the number of times the logical product or logical sum changes from “0” to “1”.

[0009]

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows a case where the logic is “1” (H level) outside the frame 1 and the logic is “0” (L level) in the frame 2. In FIG. 7, frame 2 shown in FIG. 7A is photographed by a negative method in which a document is reversed in black and white and photographed. Therefore, the microfilm becomes white (transparent) outside the frame 2, and the white background of the document is transferred to black in the portion of the frame 2.

It is assumed that the sensor selection unit selects three optical sensors a, b, and c for frame 2. Here, the optical sensors a, b, and c for detecting the density of the film are arranged apart from each other in the width direction of the film.
It is assumed that the vehicle travels to the left in the drawing. In this case, the optical sensors a to c move relatively to the right with respect to the stationary film. Here, it is assumed that the optical sensor a is located outside the traveling locus of the top 2, and the optical sensors b and c are located within the traveling locus of the top 2.

FIG. 7B shows a binary signal obtained by binarizing the outputs of the optical sensors a to c at this time with a predetermined threshold value.
In this figure, the time change or the scanning position on the film is shown in the right direction. These binarized signals are logic 1 (H level) outside frame 2 (clear) and logic 0 (L level) inside frame 2. Therefore, the binarized signal output from the optical sensor a is constant at logic 1 (H level).

The logical product (AN) of these binary signals a to c
When D) is obtained, it becomes as shown in FIG. That is, it becomes logic 0 (L level) for frame 2 and becomes logic 1 (H level) outside frame 2. Accordingly, the number of frames can be integrated by integrating the number of times that the logical product changes from 1 to 0 or the number of times that the logical product changes from 0 to 1, and the frame can be searched. In this case, even if the frame 2 is out of the locus of a part of the optical sensors a to c forming the one group, the erroneous search can be prevented by using the logical product.

FIG. 8 shows an inverted logic of the binary signal. That is, as shown in FIG. 8B, logic 0 (L level) is set outside the frame 2 and logic 1 (H level) is set inside the frame. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8C, a portion where the logical sum (OR) becomes a logical 0 (L level) corresponds to the frame 2, and a portion where the logical sum (OR) becomes a logical 1 (H level) corresponds to the outside of the frame 2. . Therefore, by integrating the number of times that the logical sum changes from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0, a frame search can be performed.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a use state of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of a scanner used here, FIG. 3 is a side view showing an arrangement of main parts of the scanner, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a line sensor driving unit, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a main part, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of arrangement of optical sensors and a combination of optical sensors for a photographing method.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a computer main body, which incorporates a CPU and the like. Reference numeral 12 denotes a display means such as a CRT or a liquid crystal plate, and 14 denotes a keyboard, which are placed on a desk 16. Reference numeral 18 denotes a scanner housed under the desk 16, which incorporates the microfilm search device of the present invention. Reference numeral 20 denotes a printer placed beside the desk 16.

The scanner 18 has a cartridge insertion port 22 at the upper part of the front surface thereof.
4 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), the image of the micro-roll film 26 having a width of 16 mm is read at a low density. The read image is subjected to predetermined image processing by a CPU or the like in the computer main body 10 and then displayed on the display unit 12.

This image reading is performed while the line sensor 96 described below is stopped and only the film 26 is run.
In the meantime, the display means 12 of the CRT displays the read image while changing it continuously in synchronization with the running of the film 26. Therefore, the display on the display means 12 moves in synchronization with the running of the film 26, and an image substantially similar to that projected on the screen can be displayed on the display means 12.

At the time of a manual search, the operator looks at the image on the display means 12 and instructs an image to be printed out to be output. Based on this output instruction, the scanner 18 positions the frame at the correct position and reads the entire image with high-density image quality. This high-density image is printed out to the printer 20, stored in a hard disk or the like, or transferred to an external storage device.

At the time of automatic search, the address of the target frame is input from the keyboard 14. In this automatic search, a target frame is searched by detecting frames and counting the number of frames. This frame search is performed by using the determination result of the determination unit 112 described later indicating the presence or absence of the frame, and
16 is performed.

Next, the configuration of the scanner 18 will be described. The scanner 18 has a vertically long housing 28, and a supply-side reel drive unit 30 is provided above a front portion of the housing 28, and a take-up reel drive unit 32 is provided below the front portion. The supply-side reel drive unit 30 inserts the cartridge 2 into the cartridge insertion slot 22.
When the cartridge 4 is inserted, the cartridge 24 is automatically moved to engage the reel 24A with the rotating shaft. Further, the leading end of the film 26 is pulled out, sent downward, and guided to the take-up reel 32A of the take-up reel drive unit 32.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the film 26 passes behind the gap between the reel driving units 30 and 32, that is, passes through the back side when viewed from the front of the housing 28. In FIG. 3, 34, 34,
36, 36 are guide rollers for the film 26. Accordingly, a space 38 is formed between the gap and the front panel 28A of the housing 28, and a light source unit 52 described later is accommodated therein.

The take-up reel drive unit 32 has a drive belt 40 that runs in contact with the reel 32A as shown in FIG. This drive belt 40 is a guide roller 4
2, 44, a drive roller 46, an encoder 48, and a tension roller 50, and are driven by the drive roller 46 to travel in the film winding direction (the direction of the arrow). The encoder 48 controls a constant feed amount of the film 26 (for example, 0.1 m
m) to output a sampling signal.

Numeral 52 is a light source unit accommodated in the space 38 between the reel driving units 30 and 32,
It includes a reflecting mirror 56, a condenser lens 58, an appropriate filter, and the like. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 60 denotes a power supply circuit, and 62 denotes a power control circuit such as a motor.

Next, the line sensor driving section 64 will be described.
The line sensor driving section 64 is integrated with the projection lens 66. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the frame (rotating frame) 68 of the line sensor driving unit 64 is integrally formed with a cylindrical portion 70 for holding the projection lens 66.
The projection lens 66 held by the cylindrical portion 70 has a fixed focal point and a magnification of about twice. The cylindrical portion 70 is rotatably held by a frame (fixed frame) 72 fixed to the housing 28 so that the inclination of the image to be read can be corrected. Here, the cylinder 70 rotates about an optical axis 74 perpendicular to the film 26.

The cylindrical portion 70 of the rotating frame 68 and the pulley 76 of the servomotor 76 attached to the fixed frame 72
A belt 78 is wound around A. The rotation frame 68 is rotatable around the optical axis 74 by the rotation of the motor 76.

As shown in FIG. 4, a movable base 80 is attached to the rotating frame 68 on a surface opposite to the cylindrical portion 70. That is, the movable base 80 is provided with a pair of guide rods 82, 82.
Slidably held by the optical axis 74 near the opening of the cylindrical portion 70.
Can be reciprocated in a direction orthogonal to.

A belt 86 wound around pulleys 84, 84 is provided on the rotating frame 68 in parallel with the reciprocating direction of the movable table 80.
And one side of the movable table 80 is fixed to the belt 86. One pulley 84 has a servo motor 8
The rotation of 8 is transmitted via the belt 90. As a result, by rotating the servo motor 88 forward and backward, the movable table 8 is rotated.
0 can be reciprocated on a plane orthogonal to the optical axis 74.

The movable table 80 has guide rods 82, 82
A long window 92 is formed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the movable table 80, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the movable table 80. This long window 92
Is located on the optical axis 74 in the longitudinal direction. A printed wiring board 94 is fixed to the rear surface of the movable base 80, that is, the surface opposite to the cylindrical portion 70 so as to be orthogonal to the optical axis 74.

A CCD line sensor 96 facing the long window 92 is fixed to the substrate 94 (FIG. 3). The substrate 94 is also provided with a preamplifier for amplifying the output of the line sensor 96. CCD line sensor 9
Of course, the light receiving surface of No. 6 coincides with the image forming surface of the projection image of the projection lens 66.

Next, an apparatus for detecting a frame will be described with reference to FIGS. The upstream side of the image reading position of the microfilm 26, that is, the position of the optical axis 74 (the supply reel 24A
A pair of optical fiber holding blocks 100 and 102 traversing the film 26 in the width direction and facing both sides of the film 26 with a slight gap are disposed on the side). Nine optical fibers 104 and 106 arranged in the film width direction are inserted through these blocks 100 and 102.

The optical fibers 104 and 106 are held perpendicular to the film 26 by the holding blocks 100 and
These end faces are opposed to each other with the film 26 interposed therebetween. That is, the end faces of the nine optical fibers 104 face the end faces of the nine optical fibers 106, respectively. As a result, nine combinations in which the end faces face each other with the film 26 interposed therebetween can be obtained.

The nine optical fibers 104 held by the block 100 are bundled and guided to the vicinity of the lamp 54 of the light source 52. Therefore, light enters the nine optical fibers 104 from the lamp 54 and is guided to one surface (the surface on the block 100 side) of the film 26.

The light emitted from the nine optical fibers 104 opposed to each other enters the nine optical fibers 106 held by the block 102 via the film 26. 9
The optical fibers 106 are guided from the block 102 to the optical sensors 108, respectively. The density signals output from the nine optical sensors 108 are separately input to a binarization unit 110, where they are binarized in synchronization with a sampling signal output from the encoder 48.

Each of the nine binarized signals is determined by the determination unit 112.
The determination result of the presence or absence of a frame is obtained based on the output of each optical sensor 108 here. This determination unit 112
Is also supplied with a signal from the sensor selection unit 114. The sensor selection unit 114 controls the optical fiber 106 whose end face is located within the traveling locus width of the frame corresponding to the film shooting method.
And the optical sensor 108 connected thereto. The determination unit 112 selects only the determination result of the sensor 108 selected by the sensor selection unit 114 from these nine determination results, and determines the presence or absence of a frame according to a shooting method such as simplex, duplex, or duo.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the end faces of the nine optical fibers 104 and 106 are on a straight line perpendicular to the running direction of the film 26, and are located at different positions in the width direction of the film 26. is there. In this embodiment, since the optical sensor 108 detects the amount of incident light on the optical fiber 106,
This is substantially the same as the optical sensor 108 located at a position where the end face of the optical fiber 106 faces the film 26. Therefore, FIG. 6 illustrates that the optical sensor 108 is located at the end face position of the optical fiber 106 on the film 26 side.

These nine optical sensors 108 are positioned in the film width direction so that a plurality of optical sensors 108 always pass through one frame even when the film photographing method is different. FIG. 6A shows the case of the simplex system, in which case the determination unit 112 determines whether the sensor selection unit 1
The frame 26A is detected by the nine optical sensors 108 (A) based on the outputs of the fourteen. Therefore, the determination unit 112 determines the presence or absence of a frame using the binary signals output from the nine binary units 110. That is, as described above, these two
The presence or absence of the frame 26A is determined using the logical product (FIG. 7) or the logical sum (FIG. 8) of the digitized signals.

FIG. 6B shows the case of the duplex system, in which the front and back sides of the original are simultaneously photographed in the upper and lower channels, so that an optical sensor which does not detect a frame between the frames 26B and 26C of both channels. 108B is present. Therefore, in this case, the determination unit 112 removes the output of the optical sensor 108B based on the output of the sensor selection unit 114, and
Four light sensors 108C each passing through the width of the lower channel,
Using the output of 108D, frames 26B and 26 of each channel
C is detected.

FIG. 6C shows the case of the duo system.
The optical sensor 108E at the center does not detect the frames 26D and 26E. For this reason, in the determination unit 112, the sensor selection unit 114
, Four optical sensors 108F and 108G included in two groups divided into upper and lower groups based on the output of
Detects the frames 26D and 26E of each channel. The search unit 116 searches for a target frame by integrating the signal indicating the presence or absence of the frame output from the determination unit 112.

In the embodiment described above, since the light is guided to each optical fiber 104 by using the light source section 52 for photographing an image, there is an advantage that the light source can be simplified. However, the present invention may use another light source or use a plurality of light sources to guide light to each optical fiber 104.

In this embodiment, the optical fiber 1
04, 106, the narrow film 26
The end faces of these optical fibers 104 and 106 can be arranged close to each other in the width direction. However, the present invention can be used as long as a sufficiently small density sensor can be arranged in proximity. For example, a phototransistor array or a photodiode array in which phototransistors and photodiodes are arranged on a straight line L can be used. Further, it may be a CCD line sensor.

Since the density sensors (optical sensors) are arranged on a straight line perpendicular to the film running direction, the presence or absence of a frame can be detected at the same timing in terms of time.
Therefore, unlike the case where a plurality of density sensors (optical sensors) are arranged shifted in the running direction of the film, it is not necessary to correct the output timing of each density sensor (optical sensor), and the circuit configuration is simplified. .

[0042]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, a combination of a plurality of density sensors for detecting film densities at different positions in the width direction of a film is used for a plurality of types of film frames having different photographing methods. The density change is detected at a position included in the travel locus width of each frame by the change, and these are binarized in synchronization with the sampling signal, and the binarized signals included in one group are classified. Since the presence or absence of a frame is determined using a logical product or a logical sum, a frame is not erroneously detected even if the output of the density sensor that detects the density at a position where the frame does not pass is included. For this reason, even if the position of the frame is shifted or the size of the frame changes, the frame can be correctly detected, and the detection accuracy of the frame is improved and the search accuracy of the frame is improved.

In this case, if a plurality of density sensors detect frames for each frame of each photographing method,
The presence or absence of a frame can always be determined based on a plurality of binary signals, and the search accuracy is further improved (claim 2). 2
When the binarized signal is set to logic “1” outside the frame and logical “0” inside the frame, the judging unit judges the presence or absence of the frame using the logical product of the binarized signals. (Claim 3). Conversely, when the binarized signal is set to logic “0” outside the frame and logical “1” to the inside of the frame, the determination unit may use the logical sum of the binarized signal. (Claim 4).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a use state of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of a scanner used here in a see-through manner;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the arrangement of the main part.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a line sensor driving unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a main part.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of optical sensors.

FIG. 7 illustrates the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates the principle of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs 26 Microfilm 26A to 26E Frame 52 Light source 54 Lamp 104, 106 Optical fiber 108 Optical sensor constituting density sensor 110 Binarization unit 112 Judgment unit 114 Sensor selection unit 116 Search unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A microfilm search apparatus which is used for searching a plurality of types of microfilms photographed by different photographing methods and which determines the presence or absence of a frame based on a density change in a running direction of the microfilm. An encoder that outputs a sampling signal for each, a plurality of density sensors that detect film density at a plurality of different positions in the width direction of the microfilm, and a density signal that is an output of these density sensors in synchronization with the sampling signal. A binarizing unit for binarizing, a sensor selecting unit for changing a combination of a density sensor used in accordance with a film shooting method and selecting a density sensor falling within a traveling locus of a frame corresponding to the shooting method; The presence or absence of a frame is determined using the logical product or logical sum of the binary signal based on the density sensor selected by the selection unit. Microfilm searching device for a determination unit that, a search unit for searching for frame based on an output of the judging unit, comprising: a. 2. The microfilm search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of density sensors are provided within a width of a running axis trace of each frame photographed by a different photographing method. 3. The binarizing section outputs a binarized signal having a logic “1” outside the frame and a logical “0” inside the frame, and the judging section outputs a logic of a plurality of the binarized signals. 2. The microfilm search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion where the product is a logical "0" is determined as having a frame, and a portion having a logical "1" is determined as having no frame. 4. The binarizing section outputs a binarized signal which becomes a logical "0" outside the frame and becomes a logical "1" inside the frame, and the judging section outputs a logical signal of a plurality of binarized signals. 2. The microfilm search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion where the sum is a logic "1" is determined as having a frame, and a portion having a logic "0" is determined as having no frame.