JPH11331504A - Image reading device and method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the unevenness of a band caused by the variance in a space between an original and a scanner by controlling the overlapping read range in response to the read range that is set by a setting means. SOLUTION: When an A4-size original is read, the original paper is fed by the length equivalent to (128-48) pixel width, i.e., 80-pixel width after the read of current one band (128-pixel width) is finished by a scanner unit. Then, the 48-pixel width of the lower part of the current one band is overlapped and read when the next one band is read. The band data included in the lower part are stored in a memory until the read of the next one band and the averaged processing of the band data which are overlapped and read, are finished. In the case of a color original, the band data which are overlapped and read and as much as three colors are temporarily stored. For instance, the averaged band data R0 can be driven out of R0=(R1+R2)/2. Thus, the driven band data become the original read image data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading device, an image reading method, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional image processing apparatus, there is a printer that receives data from a computer and records the data on a recording sheet by a recording head based on the received data. Recently, some printers have not only a function of recording but also a function of reading image data on a document by a scanner unit. In such an image processing apparatus, either one of a recording head and a scanner unit can be mounted on a carriage, and both a recording function and a document reading function are provided while sharing a recording paper transport system. That is, in the image processing apparatus, a recording head having a recording method such as dot impact, thermal transfer, and ink jet is detachably mounted on a carriage and moved along a recording sheet by a moving unit to perform recording.
When reading an original with the image processing apparatus, the recording head is removed from the carriage, a scanner unit is mounted, and the scanner unit is moved along the original to perform reading.

[0003] In the conventional document reading method of such a scanner unit, one-pass reading is performed with a green light source to read one band when the scanner unit is a monochrome type, and red, green and blue light sources are used when the scanner unit is a full color type. Are read sequentially. When the reading of one band is completed, the document paper is fed by one band width, and this operation is repeatedly performed up to the document reading request range of the user.

[0004]

However, in this conventional reading method, what is called band unevenness occurs due to the inconsistency between the original data and the reference data caused by the variation in the interval between the scanner and the image. Had become. This means that an optical system constituting an inexpensive reading means such as this type of reading means must be realized only with an inexpensive lens without using an expensive optical system lens,
Furthermore, an illumination system with high positional accuracy cannot be required. Naturally, it is difficult to include an adjustment process. In addition, since it is related to the mechanical positional accuracy of the main body of the recording apparatus, it is difficult to eliminate band unevenness caused by a change in the interval between the document and the scanner only by mechanical adjustment.

Furthermore, band unevenness exists regardless of the required reading mode and size, and fatal ugly band unevenness exists in OCR (character recognition) and photograph size.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an image reading apparatus according to claim 1 comprises: reading means for reading an image on a document; Moving means for relatively moving the reading means and the document so that the means superimposes an image on the document, setting means for setting a reading range of the reading means, and the setting means And control means for controlling a range in which the reading means performs over-reading in accordance with the reading range set by (1).

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus, comprising: reading means for reading an image on a document; and relative to the reading means and the document such that the reading means overlaps the image on the document. Moving means for sequentially moving, setting means for setting a color to be read by the reading means, and controlling a range in which overlapping reading is performed by the reading means in accordance with the color set by the setting means. And control means.

[0008] An image reading apparatus according to claim 12 is
Reading means for reading an image on a document at a predetermined reading width in the main scanning direction; setting means for setting a reading mode by the reading means; and relatively moving the reading means and the document in the main scanning direction. Moving means for moving in the sub-scanning direction; and moving the reading means and the document relative to each other in the sub-scanning direction by the moving means to read the image on the original document in the predetermined direction. Width, and the moving means relatively moves the reading means and the document relatively smaller than the predetermined reading width in the main scanning direction. Further, the moving means moves the reading means and the document. The image on the document is read by the reading means at the predetermined reading width while relatively moving in the sub-scanning direction. Control means for controlling the relative movement amount in the main scanning direction according to the reading mode set by the setting means. .

The image reading method according to claim 20 is
Reading an image on the document by a reading unit; relatively moving the reading unit and the document so that the reading unit overwrites the image on the document; and Setting, and controlling the range in which the reading unit performs the over-reading according to the reading range.

The image reading method according to claim 21 is
Reading an image on the document by a reading unit; relatively moving the reading unit and the document so that the reading unit overwrites the image on the document; and reading a color read by the reading unit. Setting, and a step of controlling a range in which the reading unit performs the overlap reading according to the color to be read.

[0011] In the image reading method according to the present invention,
Reading an image on the document with a predetermined reading width in a main scanning direction by a reading unit; setting a reading mode by the reading unit; and relatively moving the reading unit and the document in the sub-scanning direction. Causing the reading means to read the image on the original at the predetermined reading width while causing the reading means to move the reading means and the original relative to each other in the main scanning direction so as to be smaller than the predetermined reading width. Moving the reading means and the document relative to each other in the sub-scanning direction while causing the reading means to read an image on the document at the predetermined reading width; and Changing the relative movement amount in the main scanning direction in response to the request. To.

A storage medium according to claim 23, wherein the module for reading the image on the document by the reading means, and the reading means and the document are relatively positioned so that the reading means overwrites the image on the document. , A module for setting a reading range of the reading means, and a module for controlling a range in which the reading means performs over-reading in accordance with the reading range.

A storage medium according to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention provides a module for reading an image on a document by a reading means, and a relative position between the reading means and the document such that the reading means overwrites the image on the document. And a module for setting a color to be read by the reading means, and a module for controlling a range in which the reading means performs over-reading according to the color to be read.

A storage medium according to claim 25, wherein a module for reading an image on a document with a predetermined reading width in a main scanning direction by a reading unit, a module for setting a reading mode by the reading unit, and the reading unit. A module for causing the reading means to read an image on the original at the predetermined reading width while relatively moving the original in the sub-scanning direction; and a means for moving the reading means and the original by the moving means. A module for relatively moving in the scanning direction smaller than the predetermined reading width, and an image on the document being read by the reading means while moving the reading means and the document relatively in the sub-scanning direction. A module for reading with a reading width of, and relative to the main scanning direction according to the reading mode. And characterized by storing a program including a module for changing the Do movement amount.

A recording apparatus according to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus capable of replacing a recording means with a reading means and reading an original, and comprising a moving means for moving the recording means and the reading means; A document feeding means for feeding a document by a width, and data of an overlapping reading range of the current band read by the reading means using data of an overlapping reading range among data of the immediately preceding band read by the reading means. And a data correction means for correcting

A reading method according to claim 30 is a reading method in a recording apparatus capable of reading an image by replacing a recording means with a reading means, wherein a document is scanned with a feed width capable of overlapping reading, and the reading is performed. Correcting the data of the over-read range of the current band read by the reading means by using the data of the over-read range of the data of the immediately preceding band read by the means. .

[0017]

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an external view of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is an ink jet recording apparatus 50 in particular. The ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes a coat roller 5 (FIG. 3) and an arithmetic control unit 8 (FIG. 3) for controlling the whole of the ink jet recording apparatus 50, which will be described later.
And a memory 25 (FIG. 3) in which a control program executed by the arithmetic and control unit 8 is stored. Note that the memory 25 may be configured by, for example, a hard disk, a nonvolatile ROM, or the like.

In FIG. 1, a scanner unit 111 (document reading means, reading means) for reading an image is mounted on a carriage 102. The scanner unit 111 is replaceable on the carriage 102 with a recording head 101 (recording means) (not shown) for recording on recording paper with ink. The carriage 102 includes a driving belt 1 driven by a carriage motor 103.
04 moves along the axial direction of a platen 106 (document paper feeding means) for holding recording paper or a document for reading. The carriage 102 is guided on two parallel guide shafts 105A and 105B.

Then, the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage 102.
01 is mounted, images or characters are recorded on recording paper on the platen 106, and when the scanner unit 111 is mounted on the carriage 102, the scanner unit 111 is moved along the read original on the platen 106. Scanning is performed while moving in the axial direction, and reading is performed.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the scanner unit 111 of FIG. The scanner unit 111 is covered by a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 115, and an electric circuit component board 112 is mounted inside the casing 115.
LED 2 illuminates the original 110 on the platen 106
113, an optical sensor 114 for photoelectrically converting reflected light of characters or images on the original 110, a mirror 116, a field lens 117, an imaging lens 118, a rod lens 119, and circuit control, A / D conversion, and image processing Main components such as image processing correction IC 120, resistors, capacitors,
Electric components (not shown) such as a coil and an oscillator are mounted.

The image data processed by the image processing correction IC 120 is transferred to the ink jet recording apparatus 50 and further sent to a host computer 11 (FIG. 3) described later.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus 50.

The ink jet recording apparatus 50 shown in FIG.
The scanner unit 111 is mounted on the carriage 102 of FIG.
And is connected to the host computer 11.

The ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes a carriage 102 (FIG. 1) for mounting a scanner unit 111 or a recording head (not shown), and a carriage 102.
A head connection unit 2 connected to the scanner unit 111 or the recording head, a carriage motor 103 for driving the carriage 102 in the horizontal direction, a motor driver 7 for controlling the operation of the carriage motor 103,
A line feed motor 14 for rotating and driving a cylindrical platen 106 (FIG. 1);
A motor driver 6 for controlling the operation of step 4 and a sensor 9 for detecting whether or not a recording sheet for image recording or a document for image reading is set, and whether or not the carriage is set at a home position. It has.

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes:
I / F 10 for connecting to host computer 11
And a memory 2 for storing a control program, a print font, image data received from the scanner unit 111, and image data received from the host computer 11.
And a controller 5. The motor drivers 6 and 7, the sensor 9, the I / F 10, and the memory 25 are connected to the controller 5. Further, the head connection section 2 is also connected to the controller 5 via the head connection line 3. The controller 5 cooperates with the arithmetic and control unit 8 to control the motor drivers 6 and 6 according to the control program stored in the memory 25.
7, the control of the carriage motor 103 and the line feed motor 14, and whether or not a recording sheet or a document for image reading is set on a paper holder (not shown), and whether or not the carriage 102 is at a start position. Control of the sensor 9 for detecting whether or not is performed.

The scanner unit 111 includes an LED 113
An optical sensor 114, an amplifier 121 for amplifying a signal detected by the optical sensor 114, and an A / D converter 122 for performing analog / digital conversion (hereinafter, referred to as A / D conversion) on the signal amplified by the amplifier 121. , Image processing correction IC 12
0.

Next, the operation of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 as a recording apparatus will be described.

First, the controller 5 receives recording data such as characters or images from the host computer 11 via the I / F 10. The reception of the recording data is performed under the control of the host computer 11 and the arithmetic control unit 8. The controller 5 processes the received recording data so that the recording data is recorded on recording paper by the recording head.

Further, the controller 5 includes an arithmetic control unit 8
The recording data is transmitted to the recording head via the head connection line 3 and the head connection part 2 while receiving the control described above, and the recording data transmitted by the recording head is recorded on recording paper.

Next, the operation of the driving mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 will be described.

The platen 106 (FIG. 1) is
The platen 1 is rotated by the drive of the line feed motor 14 controlled by the controller 5 and the motor driver 6.
The recording sheet which is attached to the recording sheet 06 is conveyed along the rotation direction, and serves as a recording table for supporting the recording sheet when the recording head sprays ink onto the recording sheet.

The carriage 102 (FIG. 1) mounts a recording head for recording and conveys the recording head along recording paper, and mounts a scanner unit 111 for reading an image and scans the scanner unit 1 along a document for image reading.
11 is conveyed. The carriage 102 moves along the axial direction of the platen 106 by the rotation of the carriage motor 103 controlled by the arithmetic control unit 8, the controller 5, and the motor driver 7.

Next, the operation of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 as an image reading apparatus will be described.

First, when the ink jet recording apparatus 50 operates as an image reading apparatus, the scanner unit 111 is mounted on the carriage 102 and scans an original for image reading along the axial direction of the platen 106.

The LED 113 irradiates the original with a light beam, and the light sensor 114 having photoelectric conversion characteristics detects reflected light such as characters or images contained in the original and converts it into a signal. The signal detected by the optical sensor 114 is amplified by the amplifier 121, and A
/ D converter 122. The A / D converter 122 performs A / D conversion of the signal amplified by the amplifier 121 and transmits the signal to the image processing correction IC 120 as digital data. The image processing correction IC 120 performs image processing such as shading correction and binarization on the digital data, and transmits the digital data to the controller 5 as image data.

This image data is transmitted to the host computer 11 through a path reverse to the flow of the recording data at the time of recording. That is, from the image processing correction IC 120 to the head connection unit 2, the head connection line 3, the controller 5, and the I / F
The image data is transmitted to the host computer 11 via.

At this time, the controller 5 processes the image data received from the image processing correction IC 120 into a format that can be easily transmitted by the I / F 10 or a format that the host computer 11 can easily handle. It is transmitted to the host computer 11.

Next, the operation of the drive mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 when reading an image will be described. This operation is almost the same as the operation of the drive mechanism during recording.

In other words, the platen 106 is
It rotates by the drive of the line feed motor 14 controlled by the controller 5 and the motor driver 6, and conveys the attached document for image reading along with the rotation, and scans the document for image reading by the scanner unit 111. In this case, it becomes a recording table that supports the original for image reading.

Further, the carriage 102 mounts the scanner unit 111 and conveys it along the surface of the document for image reading, and the scanner unit 111 reads the image. The carriage 102 moves along the axial direction of the platen 106 by the rotation of the carriage motor 103 controlled by the arithmetic control unit 8, the controller 5, and the motor driver 7.

The sensor 9 detects whether a document to be read is set on a paper table (not shown), and whether the carriage 102 is at a start position.

Hereinafter, a method in which the scanner unit 111 reads an original and performs image processing on the read band of the original will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Note that a series of image processing described below is executed under the control of the controller 5 and the arithmetic control unit 8 according to a control program stored in the memory 25.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a band read by the scanner unit 111 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 shows an example of a portion of the band read by the scanner unit 111 of FIG. Although the left ends of the bands in FIGS. 4 and 5 are at the same position, the bands are shifted to the right so that the left ends of the bands are not overlapped for simplicity.

First, when actually reading an original using the scanner unit 111, the original is read by mounting the scanner unit 111 on the carriage 102 and moving it along the moving direction of the carriage 102 by the drive belt 104 and the drive motor 103. I do. And
After the reading of the current one band is completed, in the conventional method, the document is fed in the same width as the reading width, that is, the current one band width, and the same operation is repeated to read one document. In monochrome reading, the document is read by turning on green, and in full color reading, the document is read by turning on red (R), green (G), and blue (B) sequentially.

In this embodiment, for example, when reading an A4 size document, the current
After reading the band (128 pixel width), (1
28-48) When the original paper is fed by the length corresponding to the pixel width, that is, by the width of 80 pixels, and the next one band is read, the lower part 48 pixel width of the current one band is overlaid. The band data included in the lower 48-pixel width of the current one band is read in the next one band, and stored in the memory 25 until the averaging process described later of the overread band data is completed. This memory 25 is provided in the RA provided in the ink jet recording apparatus 50 of the present embodiment.
M, a hard disk, etc., and in the case of monochrome reading, temporarily stores band data for one color overlaid,
In the case of color reading, band data for three colors that are overlaid are temporarily stored.

For example, in the case of full-color reading of a band having one pixel width of 128 pixels, first, as shown in FIG. Coordinates for width (n, m)
(N = natural number, m = 80, 81,..., 126, 127) band data R1 is stored in the memory 25, and similarly, green (G) data of the k-th band is read with a 128 pixel width, and Coordinates (n, m) for 48 pixels in width
(N = natural number, m = 80, 81,..., 126, 127) band data G1 is stored in the memory 25 so as not to overlap with the band data R1, and finally the k-th band blue (B)
The data is read with a width of 128 pixels, and the lower part 4
Coordinates (n, m) for 8 pixel width (n = natural number, m = 80,
81,.. 126, 127) are stored in the memory 25 so as not to overlap with the band data G1 and the band data R1.

Then, the red (R) data, green (G) data and blue (B) data of the next (k + 1) band are read with a width of 128 pixels, and the red (R) data and green of the (k + 1) band are read. Coordinates (n, m) (n = m) for the upper 48 pixel widths of (G) data and blue (B) data, respectively.
Natural number, band data R of m = 0, 1,... 46, 47)
2, G2, and B2 are stored in the memory 25, and then the band data R1, G1, and B1 and the band data R2, G2, and B2 are stored.
2 is subjected to an averaging process, and the data subjected to the averaging process is defined as band data R0, G0, and B0. In order to use the memory 25 efficiently, the memory area used for the band data of the lower 48 pixels width of the k-th band after the averaging process is released, and at the same time, the lower 48 pixels width of the (k + 1) th band is used. The memory area is occupied by minute band data. As described above, by using the portion of the memory 25 for storing the band data like a ring buffer, the entire process can be performed smoothly.

The band data R0 subjected to the averaging process
Can be derived from R0 = (R1 + R2) / 2, similarly, band data G0 can be derived from G0 = (G1 + G2) / 2, and band data B0 can be derived from B0 = (B1 + B2) / 2.
Can be derived from

The data subjected to the averaging process in this series of operations, that is, the band data R0, G0, B0, becomes the original reading data, and this averaging process is repeated a plurality of times over the original reading request range, thereby obtaining one original. It becomes read image data.

By performing the above-described averaging process on the band data, the noise level of the image is reduced by about 3 dB as compared with the case where the averaging process is not performed. That is, assuming that the number of repeated readings is n, (dB) = 10 × Log
The noise level of the image can be reduced only by (n). Therefore, a high-quality image with a reduced noise level can be obtained by performing the necessary number of overloads.

FIG. 6 shows the coat roller 5 and the arithmetic control unit 8.
2 shows details of the control program stored in the memory 25 executed by the control program.

First, it is determined whether or not to perform color reading by the scanner unit 111 (step S61). If color reading is not to be performed, the process skips to step S63 to be described later. It is determined whether the band data for three colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) has been read (step S62).

If the band data for three colors has been read, the process skips to step S71 described later. If the band data for three colors has not been read, the original image for one band is read ( In step S63, the band data for one band is stored in the memory 25 (step S64).

Next, it is determined whether or not to perform fine reading (step S65). The fine reading means that band data is overlaid, and the user can set in advance whether or not to perform the fine reading via the main body of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 or the host computer 11.

If fine reading is not performed in step S65, the process skips to step S70 described later. If fine reading is performed, averaging processing and function processing are performed as band data processing methods after fine reading. One of the processes is selected (step S66).

If the averaging process is selected in step S66, the above-described averaging process is performed on the band data after the fine reading has been performed (step S67). On the other hand, when the function processing is selected, the band data after the fine reading is subjected to the function processing described later (step S68). The function processing may be set so that fine reading can be graded according to the type of function.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example of band unevenness and a function for the band unevenness. FIG. 7A shows band unevenness when fine reading is not performed, and FIG. 7B shows band unevenness and fine band reading when fine reading is performed. An example of a function for band unevenness is shown.

The function processing performed in FIG. 7B is performed, for example, by adding f (m = 80, 81,... 126, 127) to the coordinates m (m = 80, 81,.
A function of 1 (coordinate m) is applied, and the coordinates m (m = m = 48 pixels width) of the upper 48 pixel width of the red data (R2) of the (k + 1) th band.
(0, 1,... 62, 63) is assigned a function called f2 (coordinate m). Then, the sum of the two is obtained, and R0 = R1 × f1 (coordinate m) + R2 × f2 (coordinate m) (1) The band data R0 subjected to the function processing according to the above equation (1)
Is derived. In the expression (1), f1 (coordinate m) and f2 (coordinate m) are f1 (coordinate m) + f2 (coordinate m).
= 1. Such functions include a linear function and (1-linear function) or cos
Square and sin-square.

In addition, weighting may be performed on the equation (1) according to the habit of band unevenness. In this case, f1 (coordinate m) and f2 (coordinate m) are f1 (coordinate m) + f2 ( A function such as coordinate m) ≠ 1 may be used.

In the case of the function processing as described above,
By reducing the noise level according to the function and by preparing a large number of functions, the user can set the fine reading grade in advance via the main body of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 or the host computer 11.

Returning to FIG. 6, the band data subjected to the averaging process in step S67 or the band data subjected to the function process in step S68 is stored in the memory 25 for processing the next band data (step S69). .

Thereafter, the band data stored in the memory 25 is transferred to the host computer 11 (step S7).
0), it is determined whether or not the reading of the specified range of the document has been completed (step S71). If the reading of the specified range has been completed, the process is terminated. It is determined whether or not reading is being performed (step S72).

When fine reading is performed in step S72, it is detected whether or not the document size is A4 or larger (step S73). Here, the original size is detected for the following reason.

When reading an original smaller than A4 size, for example, a photograph or a postcard size original, the reading range is narrower than when reading A4 size. Therefore, the read image data is stored during the above-described series of reading operations. The required capacity of the memory 25 is small.
Thus, by detecting the size of the original to be read, control is performed so as to perform the reading process by making full use of the memory capacity generated by the original size.

Specifically, when an original of A4 size or larger is read, the width of the overlap reading in one band is set to 48.
When the document width is set to the pixel width and an original smaller than A4 is read, control is performed so that the width of the overlap reading in one band is expanded to a width of 64 pixels. Although a predetermined document size is assumed here, the present invention is not limited to this, and operates in conjunction with a document reading range (that is, a moving range of the carriage) so that the width of the overlapped reading becomes wider. May be controlled.

Further, in the present embodiment, control is performed so as to change not only the size of the original but also the width of the overlap reading depending on whether or not to perform color reading. Even in the case of the same A4 size document, a higher image quality is required when reading a monochrome document containing a photograph or when performing OCR (character recognition) than when performing color reading. When performing monochrome reading, the amount of data is smaller than when performing color reading, so that it is necessary to store the read image data during the above-described series of reading operations, as when reading a small-sized document. The capacity of the memory 25 is small. Therefore, whether or not to perform color reading is detected, and control is performed so as to perform the reading process by making full use of the memory capacity margin generated when performing monochrome reading.

That is, in the case of the color reading mode, the width for performing the overlap reading in one band is set to a width of 48 pixels, and in the case of the monochrome reading mode, 1 is set.
Control is performed so as to expand the width of the band to be overlaid to 64 pixels.

Returning to the flowchart of FIG.
If it is detected in 73 that the document size is smaller than A4, paper is fed by 64 pixels in step S76 and the process returns to step S61. Step S
If it is detected in 73 that the document size is A4 or larger, it is determined in step S74 whether or not to perform further color reading.

When performing color reading, step S
At step 75, paper is fed by 80 pixels, and step S6
Return to 1. If color reading is not performed in step S74, paper is fed by 64 pixels in step S76, and the process returns to step S61.

If fine reading is not performed in step S72, overwriting is not performed.
In step S77, the paper is fed by one band width, and the process returns to step S61.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
Overlapping of band data is performed, averaging or function processing is performed on the band data of the overlapped portion, and the width (range) of the overlapping is appropriately changed to eliminate band unevenness and to achieve high image quality of the image. Can be realized.

In this embodiment, the averaging process of band data having a width of 48 pixels has been described in detail as an example of color reading. For example, the lower 1 / n (n is a real number larger than 1) of the current band. The present invention can also be applied to a case where band data included in the bandwidth is overlaid and band data of the 1 / n bandwidth is averaged.

In this embodiment, the band data R0 subjected to the averaging process is R0 = (R1 + R2) / 2
The averaging process may be performed by taking the average value of the overlapping band data. For example, when the overlapping band data is R1, R2, and R3, the band data R0
Can be derived from R0 = (R1 + R2 + R3) / 3.

Although the embodiment has been described in detail with respect to the ink jet recording apparatus, the present invention can be applied to a recording apparatus using a recording head for dot impact, thermal transfer, or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the scanner unit 111 is moved in the main scanning direction to read a fixed document, but the original is moved in the main scanning direction to fix the scanner unit 111. Is also good.

Although the original is moved in the sub-scanning direction so that the band data is overlaid, the scanner unit 111 may be moved in the sub-scanning direction so that the original is fixed and the band data is overlaid.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart for explaining a second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the control is performed so that the width of the overlap reading is changed according to the document size or whether or not to perform the color reading. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which control is performed so as to change the width of the overlap reading in accordance with the reading resolution. In the flowchart of FIG. 8, step S
The operations from 61 to S72 are the same as those described in FIG. 6 described in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

When fine reading is performed in step S72, the set reading resolution is detected (step S100). Here, the reading resolution is detected for the following reason.

When reading an original at a relatively low resolution,
The capacity of the memory 25 required to store the read image data during a series of reading operations is smaller than when reading a document at a high resolution. Therefore, by detecting the resolution to be read, control is performed so as to perform the reading process while making full use of the memory capacity margin generated by the resolution.

Here, a description will be given assuming that two types of reading resolutions of 180 dpi and 360 dpi can be set. When scanning a document at a resolution of 360 dpi,
When setting the width for performing the overlap reading in one band to a width of 48 pixels and reading the original at a resolution of 180 dpi, 1
Control is performed so as to expand the width of the band to be overlaid to 64 pixels. Here, a predetermined resolution is assumed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and control may be performed so as to operate in conjunction with each other so as to increase the width of the overlapped reading as the reading resolution decreases.

Returning to the flowchart of FIG.
If it is detected in step 100 that the resolution is 360 dpi, paper is further fed by 80 pixels in step S101, and the process returns to step S61. If it is detected in step S100 that the resolution is set to 180 dpi, the process proceeds to step S102.
In step, paper is fed by 64 pixels, and the process returns to step S61. If fine reading is not performed in step S72, superposition reading is not performed, so that paper is fed by one band width in step S77, and the process returns to step S61.

By performing the above-described control, a high-quality image reading process can be performed by making full use of the margin of the memory capacity caused by the resolution to be read.

As described in detail above, the document paper is fed at a feed width smaller than the predetermined reading width, and at least the image data included in each of the overlapping portions of the previous reading width portion and the current reading width portion is obtained. Since the image processing is performed on the image, high image quality of the image can be realized.

Further, since the image processing is one of the color averaging processing and the function processing of each image data, it is possible to surely eliminate band unevenness and achieve high image quality of the image. Note that, in the averaging process, the number of times of repeated reading is n
In this case, the noise level of the image can be reduced by (dB) = 10 × Log (n). Therefore, a high-quality image with a reduced noise level can be obtained by performing the necessary number of overloads. Also in the case of function processing, reduction of the noise level according to the function can be expected, and by preparing a large number of functions, the user can set the grade of the overload in advance.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, the quality of a read image can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a scanner unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a scanner unit performs overlap reading.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a scanner unit performs over-reading.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control program of an image reading process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of band unevenness and a function for the band unevenness.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a control program of an image reading process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording head 2 Carriage 4 Drive belt 11 Scanner unit

Claims (31)

[Claims] A reading means for reading an image on a document; a moving means for relatively moving the reading means and the document so that the reading means superimposes an image on the document; Setting means for setting a reading range by the reading means; and control means for controlling a range in which overwriting is performed by the reading means according to the reading range set by the setting means. An image reading device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit for storing image data of the document read by the reading unit. 3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image processing means for performing predetermined image processing on image data included in a portion to be overwritten by said reading means. 4. The image reading device according to claim 3, wherein the image processing is an averaging process or a function process of the image data. 5. An image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reading means is selectively mountable with a recording means for recording image information on recording paper. 6. A reading device for reading an image on a document, and a moving device for relatively moving the reading device and the document so that the reading device superimposes an image on the document. A setting unit for setting a color to be read by the reading unit; and a control unit for controlling a range in which the reading unit performs over-reading according to the color set by the setting unit. Characteristic image reading device. 7. An image reading apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control means makes the overlap reading range wider when monochrome reading is set by said setting means than when color reading is set. . 8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a storage unit for storing image data of the document read by the reading unit. 9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising image processing means for performing predetermined image processing on image data included in a portion to be overwritten by said reading means. 10. The image reading device according to claim 9, wherein the image processing is an averaging process or a function process of the image data. 11. An image reading apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said reading means is selectively mountable with a recording means for recording image information on recording paper. 12. A reading means for reading an image on a document in a main scanning direction at a predetermined reading width; a setting means for setting a reading mode by the reading means; Moving means for moving in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction; and moving the reading means and the document relative to each other in the sub-scanning direction by the moving means. Is read at the predetermined reading width, and thereafter, the reading means and the document are relatively moved by the moving means in the main scanning direction to be smaller than the predetermined reading width, and further, the moving means While relatively moving the reading means and the document in the sub-scanning direction, the reading means reads the image on the document by the predetermined reading. And control means for controlling the scanning so as to read the image at the scanning width, wherein the control means changes a relative movement amount in the main scanning direction according to a reading mode set by the setting means. An image reading device characterized by the above-mentioned. 13. The image reading apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a storage unit for storing image data of the document read by the reading unit. 14. The image reading apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising image processing means for performing predetermined image processing on image data included in a portion over-read by said reading means. 15. The image reading apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the predetermined image processing is averaging processing or function processing of the image data. 16. An image reading apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said reading means is selectively mountable with a recording means for recording image information on recording paper. 17. The image reading apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the reading mode is set according to a document size. 18. The image reading apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the reading mode is set according to a color to be read. 19. The image reading apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the reading mode is set according to a reading resolution. 20. A step of reading an image on a document by a reading unit; a step of relatively moving the reading unit and the document so that the reading unit superimposes an image on the document; An image reading method comprising the steps of: setting a reading range by means; and controlling a range in which the reading means performs overlap reading according to the reading range. 21. A step of reading an image on a document by a reading unit; a step of relatively moving the reading unit and the document so that the reading unit superimposes an image on the document; An image reading method, comprising: setting a color to be read by a unit; and controlling a range in which the reading unit performs overlap reading according to the color to be read. 22. A step of reading an image on a document with a predetermined reading width in a main scanning direction by a reading unit; a step of setting a reading mode by the reading unit; Causing the reading means to read an image on the original document at the predetermined reading width while relatively moving the reading means, and moving the reading means and the original document in the main scanning direction by the predetermined reading width. Moving the reading unit and the document relatively in the sub-scanning direction while causing the reading unit to read an image on the document with the predetermined reading width. Changing the relative movement amount in the main scanning direction according to the reading mode; Image reading method characterized by comprising. 23. A module for reading an image on a document by a reading means, a module for relatively moving the reading means and the document so that the reading means superimposes an image on the document, and A storage medium storing a program including a module for setting a reading range by means, and a module for controlling a range in which the reading means performs overlap reading according to the reading range. 24. A module for reading an image on a document by a reading unit, a module for relatively moving the reading unit and the document so that the reading unit superimposes an image on the document, and A storage medium storing a program including a module for setting a color to be read by a means, and a module for controlling a range in which the reading means performs over-reading according to the color to be read. 25. A module for reading an image on a document by a reading means at a predetermined reading width in a main scanning direction,
A module for setting a reading mode by the reading unit, and a module for causing the reading unit to read an image on the original at the predetermined reading width while relatively moving the reading unit and the original in the sub-scanning direction. A module for relatively moving the reading means and the document by the moving means in the main scanning direction smaller than the predetermined reading width; and moving the reading means and the document relatively in the sub-scanning direction. A program for causing the reading means to read the image on the document at the predetermined reading width while moving the reading means, and a module for changing a relative moving amount in the main scanning direction according to the reading mode. A storage medium characterized by being stored. 26. A recording apparatus capable of reading a document by replacing the recording means with a reading means, comprising: a moving means for moving the recording means and the reading means; Means, data storage means for storing data of the over-read range of the data of the immediately preceding band read by the reading means, using the data of the over-read range stored in the data storage means, A recording apparatus comprising: a data correction unit configured to correct data in an overlapping reading range of a current band read by the reading unit. 27. The recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein
A recording apparatus, wherein, when reading a document, when the moving range of the moving means is narrow, the feeding width of the document feeding means is reduced, and the overlapping reading range in each band is widened. 28. The recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein:
A recording apparatus characterized in that when performing monochrome reading, the overlapping reading range in each band is wider than when reading color. 29. The recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the data correction means calculates a simple average of the output level of each pixel in the immediately preceding band and the output level of each corresponding pixel in the current band. A recording device characterized in that the recording device is to be converted. 30. A reading method in a recording apparatus capable of reading an image by replacing a recording unit with a reading unit, comprising: feeding a document with a feed width capable of overlapping reading; Correcting the data of the over-read range of the current band read by the reading means using the data of the over-read range among the data of the bands. 31. A storage medium storing a program for realizing the reading method according to claim 30.