JP3799140B2 - Scanner system and scanner system control method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a scanner system in which a scanner is connected to an external information processing apparatus and a scanner control method thereof, and in particular, a scanner system having a scanner of a type in which light from a light source is applied to a document and the reflected light is read by a sensor, those related to the scanner system control how.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, there has been proposed a system in which a scanner of a type that reads light reflected from a light source on an original is connected to a host computer. In such a system, the scanner performs an initialization process when the power is turned on or when an initialization command is received from the host computer so that the light source is lit for a certain period of time and stabilized. As a result, the scanner can stably read a document.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional scanner system as described above has a problem that, for example, when an LED is used as the light source, it takes time to start the reading operation due to the initialization process.
[0004]
In other words, a flatbed type scanner that is widely used at present uses a white light source, and since the time until stabilization is as short as 1 or 2 seconds, the initialization process does not take much time. For example, red (R), For scanners that use green (G) and blue (B) LEDs as the light source, it takes several tens of seconds or more for the LEDs to stabilize. When the command is issued, there is a problem that it takes a considerable time from the reading instruction to the actual start of the reading operation.
[0005]
The present invention has been made paying attention to the above problems, and even when an LED is used as the light source of the scanner, the time from the reading instruction to the start of the actual reading operation is set according to the set reading mode. scanner system which can be greatly shortened, and its object is to provide a scanner system control how.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, the present invention scanner system constructed as described in the following (1) to (6), that make up a scanner system control method as shown in the following (7).
(1) In a scanner system in which a scanner is connected to an information processing apparatus via a bidirectional interface,
The scanner has a control unit that controls an initialization operation of a reading light source provided in the scanner by a command from the information processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus transmits reading mode setting means for setting a reading mode by a user and a command for controlling an initialization operation of the light source according to the reading mode set by the user from the information processing apparatus to the scanner. And a command communication means for receiving status information from the scanner.
(2) The scanner system according to (1), wherein the initialization operation of the light source is controlled by causing each of red, green, and blue LEDs serving as the light source to emit light.
(3) The scanner system according to (1), wherein the reading mode setting unit sets pre-scan for preview display or final scan for image storage.
(4) The information processing apparatus further includes an image class setting unit for setting an image class by a user, and a command for controlling an initialization operation of the light source according to the image class set by the user and the reading mode. The scanner system according to (1), wherein the command communication unit transmits the message.
(5) The scanner system according to (4), wherein the image class setting unit sets one of monochrome binary, gray scale, and full color.
(6) The information processing apparatus further includes a reading image quality setting unit for setting a reading image quality by a user, and a command for controlling an initialization operation of the light source in accordance with the reading mode and the reading image quality set by the user. The scanner system according to (1), wherein the command communication unit transmits the message.
(7) In a control method of a scanner system comprising an information processing apparatus and a scanner connected via a bidirectional interface,
A reading mode setting step in which a user sets a reading mode in the information processing apparatus;
Transmitting a command for controlling an initialization operation of a light source for reading provided in the scanner according to the reading mode set by a user from the information processing apparatus to the scanner;
And a step of controlling an initialization operation of the light source by the scanner according to a command from the information processing apparatus.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the present invention is applied to a system that performs processing of an image from a scanner as an imaging apparatus on a host computer.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a scanner system according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer (information processing device) having a read image processing unit of a scanner device, which will be described later, and is connected to the scanner device by a bidirectional Centronics interface. This connection itself can be applied to all interfaces capable of bidirectional data communication such as SCSI interface and infrared communication.
[0018]
Reference numeral 2 denotes a scanner reading processing unit for performing image input processing provided in the computer main body, a user interface unit 3 for a user to input various settings, and R and G for stabilizing the quality of a read image. , B, a preheating switching table unit 4 for determining which reading setting is necessary for preheating to warm each LED for a certain period of time, an image class and a reading mode set by the user in the user interface unit 3, a reading resolution, a reading range, A mode setting unit 5 that stores reading settings such as reading quality or pre-heat treatment stop processing designation, etc., and a control command to the scanner is generated according to the settings of the mode setting unit 5 when reading is performed, and a code sent from the scanner is also received. A scanner command control unit 6 for analysis is provided.
[0019]
A data transmission / reception unit 7 transmits / receives data to / from an external device through the bidirectional Centronics interface. In this embodiment, data communication is performed by connecting to a scanner device.
[0020]
The details of the preheating switching table unit 4 are as shown in FIG. 2 and include a reading mode (in this embodiment, a pre-scan mode for previewing and a final scan mode for obtaining a final image), an image class ( In this embodiment, there is a table for determining whether or not to perform pre-heat treatment based on a combination of monochrome binary, gray scale, and full color. In this embodiment, the determination is based on the combination of the reading mode and the image class, but there is also a method of determining by the reading image quality such as draft, standard, and high-quality reading. This table may be arbitrarily set by the user.
[0021]
Reference numeral 8 denotes the above-described scanner device, which reads a document or responds to a status in response to an instruction from a host computer 1 connected by an interface. The scanner device 8 includes a data transmission / reception unit 9 for transmitting / receiving data to / from the host computer 1, and analyzes data received by the data transmission / reception unit 9, and converts the read data into a command format to the data transmission / reception unit 9. There is a scanner command control unit 10 for generating data to be sent back to the host computer 1 through a preheating stop flag unit 11 for storing whether or not the preheat treatment is currently interrupted. This preheating stop flag is used for storing whether or not the preheating necessary for the scanner has been temporarily stopped.
[0022]
Reference numeral 12 denotes a preheating state management unit, which stores whether or not a preheating time necessary for each of the R, G, and B LEDs is registered in advance, as shown in FIG. It is.
[0023]
Reference numeral 13 denotes a preheating state setting unit, which stores whether or not all preheating processes have been completed. Reference numeral 14 denotes a preheating control unit (control means) which manages LED preheating time, interrupts preheating, and the like. An image reading unit 15 reads an image of a document or a three-dimensional object in a mode designated by a line sensor or an area sensor.
[0024]
4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the control procedure of the pre-heat treatment of this embodiment. The operation of this embodiment will be described according to this flowchart. The operation of this flowchart is performed by a program stored in the host computer 1.
[0025]
In FIG. 4, when the scanner reading process of the present system is started, first, display of the user interface unit 3 for user input, initialization of the preheating switching table unit 4 and initialization of the mode setting unit 5 in step S1. Initialization setting of the scanner reading processing unit 2 such as setting processing is performed. Subsequently, activation processing is performed on the scanner device 8 connected in step S2. In this embodiment, it is performed by issuing a scanner start command, and the processing of FIG. 5 described later is performed in parallel with the scanner reading processing.
[0026]
Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not there is an input from the user via the user interface unit 3, and the determination process for whether or not there is an input is repeated until there is an input. If the input from the user is the mode setting in step S3, the image class setting is stored in the mode setting unit 5 in step S4, the reading mode is stored in the mode setting unit 5 in step S5, and the reading is performed in step S6. Whether the preheating is necessary or not is stored in the mode setting unit 5 with reference to the preheating switching table of FIG. 2 from the combination of the mode and the image class, and the process returns to step S3.
[0027]
If it is determined in step S3 that the input from the user is a reading instruction, it is determined in step S7 whether the reading is a pre-scan designation for preview display or a final scan designation for saving an image. If pre-scanning is designated, it is determined in step S8 whether or not preheating is necessary according to the setting of the mode setting unit 5. If not necessary, the process proceeds to step S11 described later, and if necessary, the scanner command control unit is determined in step S9. 6 and the data transmitter / receiver 7 obtain status information for determining whether or not the scanner is pre-heat-treating from the scanner device 8, and determine whether or not the pre-heat treatment of the scanner device 8 is completed in step S10. . At this time, if not completed, the process returns to step S9, and if completed, the process proceeds to step S11.
[0028]
In step S11, a command for reading in the reading mode according to the setting of the mode setting unit 5 is issued to the scanner device 8. In step S12, a command for instructing the scanner device 8 to start reading is issued, and the scanner device 8 reads the command. The image data is sequentially received, a preview display process of the image data received in step S13 is performed, and the process returns to step S3. It is a general usage that the user determines attributes such as the image size to be finally scanned by the preview display by the prescan reading and performs the final scan.
[0029]
If it is determined in step S7 that the reading is a final scan designation for saving an image, it is determined in step S14 whether preheating is necessary by setting the mode setting unit 5. If not, it will be described later. Proceeding to step S17, if necessary, status information for determining whether or not the scanner is pre-heat-treating is acquired from the scanner device 8 via the scanner command control unit 6 and the data transmission / reception unit 7 in step S15, and step S16. Then, it is determined whether or not the pre-heat treatment of the scanner device 8 has been completed. At this time, if not completed, the process returns to step S15, and if completed, the process proceeds to step S17.
[0030]
In step S17, a command for reading in the reading mode according to the setting of the mode setting unit 5 is issued to the scanner device 8, and in step S18, a command for instructing the scanner device 8 to start reading is issued. The received image data is sequentially received, the file processing of the received image data is performed in step S19, and the process returns to step S3.
[0031]
The above is the operation of the scanner reading processing unit 2 in the host computer 1 in this embodiment. In parallel with this operation, processing of the scanner device 8 shown in FIG. 5 is performed.
[0032]
In FIG. 5, first, in step S31, the scanner device 8 is initialized. This initialization process is started by an instruction from the scanner activation process in step S2 of FIG. 4, the preheating stop flag is turned off, all the preheating states of the preheating state management unit 12 are set to the unfinished state, and the preheating state setting unit 13 The preheating state is not completed, and the control part of the scanner device 8 is initialized.
[0033]
Next, in step S32, the preheating control unit 14 causes the R, G, and B LEDs of the reading unit to emit light, and preheating is started. In this pre-heat treatment, the light emission time of the LEDs is counted, and the pre-heat state is sequentially completed for the LEDs that have reached the required pre-heat time of the pre-heat state management unit 12.
[0034]
Next, it is determined in step S33 whether or not all preheating has been completed with reference to the preheating state management table in FIG. 3, and if all have been completed, the preheating state setting unit 13 is turned on in step S34 and the process proceeds to step S35. . In step S35, it is determined whether or not there is data input from the host computer 1, and if not, the process returns to step S33. If there is input data, the input data is discriminated in step S36, and if it is a status confirmation command, preheating status information is extracted from the preheating state setting unit 13 in step S37, and a reply data format to the host computer 1 in step S38. Then, the data is transmitted and the process returns to step S33.
[0035]
If it is determined in step S36 that the command is a mode designation command, the image class, reading resolution, reading range, and the like designated from the host computer 1 are set in the image reading unit 15 in step S39, and the process returns to step S33.
[0036]
If it is a reading start command in the determination in step S36, whether or not preheating is being performed is extracted from the preheating state setting unit 13 in step S40. If not preheating, the process proceeds to step S42. The stop flag is turned on, the preheat treatment in the preheat control unit 14 is stopped, and the process proceeds to step S42.
[0037]
In step S42, the original is read by the image reading unit 15 in accordance with the set reading mode, the data read in step S43 is converted into a reply data format and sequentially transferred to the host computer 1, and in step S44, all the data are read. It is determined whether or not the reading has been completed. If all of the reading has been completed, the process proceeds to step S45. If the reading has not been completed, the process returns to step S42.
[0038]
In step S45, it is determined whether or not the preheating stop flag is on. If it is on, the preheating stop flag is turned off in step S46, and the R, G, and B LEDs of the reading unit 15 are caused to emit light by the preheating control unit 14. The pre-heat treatment is started again, and the process returns to step S33. On the other hand, if the determination in step S45 is OFF, the process returns to step S33.
[0039]
The scanner device 8 performs reading by performing the above processing. In the process of determining whether or not preheating is being performed in step S40, the process is performed based on the setting value of the preheating state setting unit 13. However, when the reading is monochrome binary or grayscale, a G (green) LED is used. It is also possible to read using only G, and in this case, the determination may be made based on the preheating state of the G LED of the preheating state management unit 12.
[0040]
As described above, in this embodiment, the scanner device 8 is provided with means for finely controlling the initialization operation of the light source according to the command from the host computer 1, and a command for finely controlling the initialization operation of the light source according to the setting of the reading mode by the user. A means for transmitting to the scanner device 8 is provided in the host computer 1.
[0041]
Thus, for example, setting means that prioritizes speed is provided in the host computer 1 during preview scanning, and an initialization command is sent to the scanner with a parameter indicating that the LED is not initialized, and the scanner performs a reading operation without initializing the LED at all. By starting, the time from the reading instruction of the user to the start of the reading operation can be greatly shortened.
[0042]
Even if the reading mode is set to give priority to image quality, such as final scan, if only G LEDs are used for reading, such as grayscale or black and white binary reading, it takes 40 seconds or more for the LED of R to stabilize. When the LED of about 30 seconds is required, the initialization time can be shortened by stabilizing only the LED of G.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, by controlling the initial operation of the light source from an information processing apparatus such as a host computer, the time from the user's reading instruction to the start of the reading operation is greatly reduced according to the reading mode. can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a scanner system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing contents of a preheating switching table section of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing contents of a preheating state management section of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the embodiment.
1 Host computer (information processing equipment)
2 Scanner read processing unit 3 User interface unit 4 Preheating switching table unit 5 Mode setting unit 6 Scanner command control unit 7 Data transmission / reception unit 8 Scanner device 9 Data transmission / reception unit 10 Scanner command control unit 11 Preheating stop flag unit 12 Preheating state management unit 13 Preheating state setting unit 14 Preheating control unit (control means)
15 Image reader

Claims (7)

In a scanner system in which a scanner is connected to an information processing device via a bidirectional interface,
The scanner includes a control means for controlling the initializing operation of the light source for reading provided in the scanner by a command from the information processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus transmits a read mode setting means for setting a user read mode, a command for controlling the initializing operation of the light source in accordance with a reading mode set by the user from the information processing apparatus to said scanner And a command communication means for receiving status information from the scanner. The control of the initialization operation of the light source, a scanner system of claim 1, wherein the performing red as the light source, green, by emitting the respective LED blue. 2. The scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the reading mode setting means sets pre-scan for preview display or final scan for image storage . The information processing apparatus further includes image class setting means for a user to set an image class, and a command for controlling an initialization operation of the light source in accordance with the image class set by the user and the reading mode. scanner system according to claim 1, characterized in that transmitting by the communication means. The scanner system according to claim 4, wherein the image class setting unit sets one of monochrome binary, gray scale, and full color . The information processing apparatus further includes reading image quality setting means for setting a reading image quality by a user, and a command for controlling an initialization operation of the light source in accordance with the reading mode and the reading image quality set by the user. 2. The scanner system according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission is performed by communication means . In a control method of a scanner system comprising an information processing apparatus and a scanner connected via a bidirectional interface,
A reading mode setting step in which a user sets a reading mode in the information processing apparatus;
Transmitting a command for controlling an initialization operation of a light source for reading provided in the scanner according to the reading mode set by a user from the information processing apparatus to the scanner;
Scanner system control method characterized by a step of controlling the initializing operation of the hand the light source to the scanner by a command from the information processing apparatus.

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