JPS61121564A - One-dimensional color sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To read a picture with a high resolution by discriminating color through one-dimensional sensor with less sensors per unit length and recognizing the outline of the picture through one-dimensional sensor with more sensors per said length. CONSTITUTION:Signals of the color discriminated by the sensor 1 are sequentially read by a switch train 3 and transmitted from a buffer 4 to a circuit 5 for operating a printer. Signals of the shape or various density discriminated by the sensor 2 are sequentially read in by a switch train 6, and transmitted to the circuit 5 from a buffer 7. Signals discriminating the color and shape or various density in the circuit 5 are synthesized, and outputted from the printer 8. Since a color discriminating function and a shape discriminating function are given to the 1st sensor train with less sensors per unit length and to the 2nd sensor train with more sensors, respectively, the resolution can be raised.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for efficiently reading color images on a document surface.

Conventional configuration and its problems Conventional devices for converting a single-color image into an electrical signal and reading it separated the reflected light from the document surface using a color filter and guided it to a row of photoelectric conversion elements. Things are common. In this method, when the density per unit length of the sensor is increased in an attempt to increase the resolution, the area of the single sensor becomes smaller and the color filter causes greater light loss, resulting in lower image reading sensitivity.

The S/Ni of the read output was lowered. Color filters require high positional accuracy for υ placement, making them expensive sensors.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In view of the above drawbacks, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a color sensor with high resolution at low cost and reading it at high speed and high resolution.

Structure of the Invention The present invention first identifies the color of the document using a one-dimensional sensor that has a small number of sensors per unit length, and then recognizes the outline of the image using a one-dimensional sensor that has a large number of sensors per unit length. High-resolution color images can be read at high speed.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the figure, 1 is a color discrimination-dimensional sensor with a small number of sensors per unit length, and 2 is a shape discrimination-dimensional sensor with a large number of sensors per unit length. The original moves from the top of the drawing to the bottom.

The one-dimensional sensor 1 has two colors in one word width, that is, the color resolution f
! : 11J & 2 per. If one sensor is applied to each of the three primary colors, the number of sensors becomes 6/m. The length of sensor 1 in the document moving direction was 0.6 words. - The dimensional sensor 2 detects the shape of the color image with a density of 16 pieces/m to 32 pieces/side. The length of the sensor 2 in the document moving direction was approximately 0.1 mm. The resolution of color and shape discrimination was changed to reflect the human eye's ability to distinguish shapes well. With the sensor configuration in this embodiment, four colors can be identified in the 1a corner.

By calculating the distance between sensor 1 and sensor 2 and the document moving speed, color and shape synchronization can be easily performed.

The size of a single element of sensor 1 is 160 μm in width.

If the length is SOOμm and the size of a single element of sensor 2 is 16/'lIk, the width is 60μm and the length is 1
00 μm. The sensor size ratio is 115:1.

A color filter is attached to each element of sensor 1 for color identification, but even if the amount of light goes up to the filter and decreases, since the element is large, the response speed of the photoelectric conversion element will decrease and the S/H will decrease. The signal is sent to the circuit 5 which operates the computer. The shape or shading identified by the sensor 2 is sequentially read by the switch array 6 and sent to the buffer 7! is sent to the circuit. The signals whose colors and shapes or shadings are identified by the circuit 6 are combined and output from the printer 8.

As described above, according to this embodiment, two sensor examples are arranged,
The first sensor row, which has a small number of sensors per unit length, has a color identification function, and the second row, which has a large number of sensors per unit length, has a color identification function.
Since the sensor array has a shape recognition function,
As the resolution has increased, the color discrimination sensor per unit length has become larger, making it easier to attach more than 9 color filters.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention has two sensor rows, the first sensor row has a small number of sensors per unit length, has a color discrimination function, and the second sensor row has a large number of sensors per unit length. High resolution was obtained because the sensor array had a shape recognition function. Furthermore, due to the loss of light quantity due to color filters, the light source of a one-color sensor needed to be more powerful than that of a single-color sensor, but this is no longer necessary because the color discrimination sensor can be made larger.

Furthermore, since the color identification sensor is large, the manufacturing process can be simplified, such as by lowering the positional accuracy for attaching the color filter.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a diagram showing a simple configuration and arrangement of sensor arrays of a one-dimensional color sensor according to the present invention. 1...Sensor row, 2...Sensor row.

Claims (1)

[Claims] At least two sensor rows are arranged, the first sensor row having a small number of sensors per unit length has a color discrimination function, and the second sensor row having a large number of sensors per unit length has a shape discrimination function. A one-dimensional color sensor that is characterized by the ability to