JP3997714B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that rotates and records acquired image data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Developed image forming devices such as facsimile machines and digital copying machines that not only record the acquired image data on the paper in the same direction but also record the image data on the paper rotated by 90 degrees. Has been. In these image forming apparatuses, it is necessary to temporarily store the acquired image data in the image memory in order to compensate for the difference in operation speed between the acquisition process and the recording process.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventionally, since image data is temporarily stored in the image memory in this way, the time from the start of image acquisition processing to the start of recording processing (First Copy Out Time: hereinafter referred to as FCOT) There is a problem that it takes a long time. Furthermore, when storing image data in the image memory, the image data to be stored is encoded, the encoded image data is written to the image memory, and the encoded image data read from the image memory is decoded during recording. In this case, this FCOT becomes longer.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that rotates image data and that can shorten the FCOT compared to the conventional one.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1 includes an acquisition unit that acquires image data, a recording unit that records image data on a medium, an image memory that stores image data, a rotation unit that rotates image data, and the rotation. An image memory for storing image data for rotation processing in the means, and when acquisition of an image is started by the acquisition means, image data from the acquisition means is input to the image memory and the rotation means. After the image data is rotated and a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the image memory, the image data read from the image memory is input to the rotating means, and the image data is rotated and rotated. Control means for controlling image data to be recorded by the recording means.
[0006]
In the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, when the acquisition of the image data is started, the acquired image data is directly input not only to the image memory but also to the rotation unit, and the image data is rotated and rotated by the rotation unit. The recorded image data is recorded by the recording means. Therefore, the FCOT is very short. Further, after the image data stored in the image memory reaches a predetermined amount, that is, when the image data stored in the image memory catches up with the image data recorded by the recording means without going through the image memory. The direct input of the image data from the acquisition unit to the rotation unit is stopped, the image data read from the image memory is input to the rotation unit, the image data is rotated by the rotation unit, and the rotated image data is recorded. The difference in operation speed between the acquisition process and the recording process is compensated by recording by means.
[0007]
An image forming apparatus according to a second aspect is the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the image data from the obtaining unit is encoded and the encoded image data is output to the image memory; and the image memory is stored in the image memory. And a decoding unit that decodes the encoded image data and outputs the decoded image data to the rotating means.
[0008]
In the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, the image data from the obtaining unit is encoded and stored in the image memory, and the encoded image data is decoded and output to the rotating unit. Therefore, the image data is stored efficiently. When such image data encoding / decoding is performed, the shortening of the FCOT becomes more conspicuous than the conventional example.
[0009]
An image forming apparatus according to a third aspect is the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the rotating unit inputs a first input unit that inputs image data from the acquiring unit and a second input that inputs the decoded image data from the decoding unit. And a section.
[0010]
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the rotation unit inputs the image data acquired by the acquisition unit via the first input unit at the start of image data acquisition, and the image data in the image memory becomes a predetermined amount. When it reaches, the image data is input from the image memory via the second input unit. Therefore, the transition of the input process over time can be reliably performed.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an example of a facsimile machine as an image forming apparatus of the present invention. The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a main control unit 1, a scanner 2, a scanner image processing circuit 3, and an image memory 4a. 4b, first image rotation circuit 5a, second image rotation circuit 5b, encoding unit 6a, decoding unit 6b, printer control unit 7, printer 8, operation panel 9, image memory 10, ROM 11, RAM 12, modem 13, NCU (Network Control Unit) 14 and the like.
[0012]
The main control unit 1 is specifically composed of a CPU, and is connected to the above-described hardware units of the facsimile apparatus via a bus 15 to control them and to store them in a computer stored in the ROM 11. Various software functions are executed according to the program. The main control unit 1 controls the operation processing of the first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b, which is a characteristic part of the present invention.
[0013]
The scanner 2 and the scanner image processing circuit 3 constitute a reading unit as an acquisition unit. For example, a scanner 2 using a CCD reads a document, and the scanner image processing circuit 3 corrects the read image data of the document. (Shading correction, ground color correction, gamma correction, edge enhancement, etc.) and binarization processing are performed and output as serial data to the first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b. The image data read during the image reading is input to the first image rotation circuit 5a from the scanner image processing circuit 3, but the second image rotation circuit 5b is input to the first image rotation circuit 5b at a predetermined time (image memory). 10 is input from the scanner image processing circuit 3 until the predetermined amount of image data is stored in 10. After this predetermined time, image data is input from the image memory 10 to the second image rotation circuit 5b via the decoding unit 6b.
[0014]
The image memories 4a and 4b temporarily store image data when performing various processes including the rotation processes in the first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b. The encoding unit 6 a encodes the image data output from the first image rotation circuit 5 a and outputs the encoded image data to the image memory 10. The decoding unit 6b decodes the encoded image data read from the image memory 10, and outputs the decoded image data to the second image rotation circuit 5b. The first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b constitute rotation means.
[0015]
The printer control unit 7 and the printer 8 constitute recording means. For example, the electrophotographic printer 8 has image data of the original read by the reading unit or rotated image data thereof, or an image received by facsimile communication. Data or its rotated image data is printed out as a hard copy.
[0016]
The operation panel 9 includes character keys, numeric keys, speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, various function keys, and the like necessary for operating the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The function keys include a start key for instructing start of document reading / printing, a rotation setting key for setting presence / absence of rotation processing for image data, and the like.
[0017]
The image memory 10 is composed of a DRAM or the like, and stores read image data of a document or received image data. The ROM 11 stores in advance various software programs necessary for the operation of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The RAM 12 is configured by SRAM, flash memory, or the like, and stores temporary data generated when software is executed.
[0018]
The modem 13 is connected to the bus 15 and includes a fax modem capable of facsimile communication. Similarly, the modem 13 is directly connected to the NCU 14 connected to the bus 15. The NCU 14 is hardware that performs operations of closing and opening the analog line L with the public telephone line network, and connects the modem 13 to the public telephone line network as necessary.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the first image rotation circuit 5a. The first image rotation circuit 5a includes a rotation unit 51a, an input serial interface (I / F) 52a as a first input unit, an output parallel interface (I / F) 54a, and a buffer memory 56a.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the second image rotation circuit 5b. The second image rotation circuit 5b includes a rotation unit 51b, an input serial interface (I / F) 52b as a first input unit, an input parallel interface (I / F) 53b as a second input unit, and an output serial interface. (I / F) 55b and a buffer memory 56b.
[0021]
The rotation units 51a and 51b are controlled by the main control unit 1 and rotate image data. At this time, the image data to be rotated is temporarily stored in the external image memories 4a and 4b, and is gradually read out to the buffer memories 56a and 56b to be rotated.
[0022]
The input serial interfaces 52 a and 52 b input the read image data of the document from the scanner image processing circuit 3 in a serial format. The output parallel interface 54a outputs the input image data to the encoding unit 6a in a parallel format for encoding.
[0023]
The input parallel interface 53b inputs image data obtained by decoding the encoded image data stored in the image memory 10 from the decoding unit 6b in a parallel format. The output serial interface 55b outputs image data to be printed out to the printer control unit 7 in a serial format.
[0024]
Next, the operation will be described. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing an operation procedure in the facsimile apparatus having the above-described configuration. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the flow order of image data.
[0025]
When a document to be read is set (step S1) and the main control unit 1 detects that the start key is turned on (step S2: YES), the main control unit 1 inputs the first image rotation circuit 5a. The serial interface 52a, the output parallel interface 54a, and the buffer memory 56a are activated (step S3), and the encoding unit 6a is activated (step S4). Further, the main control unit 1 activates the rotation unit 51b, the input serial interface 52b, the output serial interface 55b, and the buffer memory 56b in the second image rotation circuit 5b (step S5).
[0026]
Then, reading of the original is started by the scanner 2 of the reading unit, and the acquired image data is output from the scanner image processing circuit 3 (step S6). Here, the image data is input to the first image rotation circuit 5a ((1) in FIG. 6) and also input to the second image rotation circuit 5b ((11) in FIG. 6).
[0027]
In the first image rotation circuit 5a, the input image data is temporarily written ((2) in FIG. 6) and read out ((2) in FIG. 6) in order to match the processing speed in the encoding unit 6a. 3)), the image data is output to the encoding unit 6a ((4) in FIG. 6). The encoding unit 6a encodes the input image data, outputs the encoded image data to the image memory 10 ((5) in FIG. 6), and the image memory 10 stores it.
[0028]
In parallel with such processing in the first image rotation circuit 5a, in the second image rotation circuit 5b, in order to match the processing speed in the rotation unit 51b, the input image data is temporarily stored in the image memory 4b. While writing ((12) in FIG. 6) and reading ((13) in FIG. 6), the image data is subjected to rotation processing by the rotation unit 51b. When the main control unit 1 determines that the rotation image data for one page can be output (step S7: YES), the printing process is started (step S8). That is, the rotated image data is output from the second image rotating circuit 5b to the printer 8 via the printer control unit 7 ((14) in FIG. 6), and this rotated image data is printed out.
[0029]
Next, the main control unit 1 determines whether or not all printing has been completed (step S9). When the number of pages of the document is small and printing is completed (S9: YES), the main control unit 1 resets the encoding unit 6a (step S16), and the first and second image rotation circuits 5a, 5b is reset (step S17). On the other hand, if not completed (S9: NO), the main control unit 1 determines whether or not a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the image memory 10 (step S10). When a predetermined amount of image data has not yet been stored in the image memory 10 (S10: NO), the above-described rotation / print processing not involving the first image rotation circuit 5a is continued ((11) to (11) in FIG. 14)).
[0030]
If a predetermined amount of image data has already been stored in the image memory 10 (S10: YES), after the main control unit 1 detects the end of printing of the currently printed page (step S11: YES), the main control unit 1 activates the decoding unit 6b (step S12), and activates the rotation unit 51b, the input parallel interface 53b, the output serial interface 55b, and the buffer memory 56b in the second image rotation circuit 5b (step S13). Then, the above-described rotation / print processing ((11) to (14) in FIG. 6) is stopped, and rotation / print processing for the image data stored in the image memory 10 is started.
[0031]
Of the encoded image data stored in the image memory 10, the image data of the page next to the page that has been printed is read out to the decoding unit 6b ((6) in FIG. 6) and decoded. The decoded image data is input to the second image rotation circuit 5b ((7) in FIG. 6). In the second image rotation circuit 5b, in order to match the processing speed of the rotation unit 51b, the input non-rotation image data is temporarily written ((8) in FIG. 6) and read (in FIG. 6). While performing (9)), the image data is rotated by the rotation unit 51b. Then, the rotated image data is output from the second image rotating circuit 5b to the printer 8 via the printer control unit 7 ((10) in FIG. 6), and the rotated image data is printed out.
[0032]
When the main control unit 1 detects that all printing has been completed (step S14: YES), the main control unit 1 resets the decoding unit 6b (step S15) and resets the encoding unit 6a ( In step S16, the first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b are reset (step S17).
[0033]
FIG. 7 is a timing chart at the time of multi-copying at the start of reading in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. For comparison, FIG. 8 shows a similar timing chart in the conventional example. 7 and 8 correspond to the circle numbers shown in FIG.
[0034]
In the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, since the read image data is always temporarily stored in the image memory from the beginning of reading of the document, the FCOT becomes long. On the other hand, in the present invention shown in FIG. 7, at the start of reading a document, the read image data is directly input to the second image rotation circuit 5b (rotation unit 51b) without passing through the image memory 10 and rotated. Since the processed image data is recorded and rotated image data is recorded, the FCOT can be made extremely short, and the reading process start and the recording process start are almost in real time.
[0035]
In the above-described example, the case where two image rotation circuits are used has been described. However, the same operation can be performed using one image rotation circuit. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the facsimile apparatus in such a case, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one image rotation circuit 5 thereof.
[0036]
In FIG. 9, the same parts as those in FIG. The facsimile apparatus includes one image rotation circuit 5 and one image memory 4 and one codec unit 6 corresponding to the image rotation circuit 5. The image memory 4 is the same as the image memories 4a and 4b, and temporarily stores image data when performing various processes including the rotation process in the image rotation circuit 5. The codec unit 6 has both the function of the encoding unit 6a and the function of the decoding unit 6b, and performs image data encoding processing and encoded image data decoding processing.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 10, the image rotation circuit 5 includes a rotation unit 51 having the same function as the rotation units 51a and 51b, and an input serial interface (I / F) having the same function as the input serial interfaces 52a and 52b. ) 52, an input parallel interface (I / F) 53 having the same function as the input parallel interface 53b, an output parallel interface (I / F) 54 having the same function as the output parallel interface 54a, and the output It has an output serial interface (I / F) 55 having the same function as the serial interface 55b, and a buffer memory 56 having the same function as the buffer memories 56a and 56b.
[0038]
In this configuration example, image data input via the input serial interface 52 is immediately rotated by the rotation unit 51 and then output to the printer control unit 7 via the output serial interface 55 at the start of document reading. . In parallel with this, the input image data is output to the codec unit 6 via the output parallel interface 54, encoded, and stored in the image memory 10. After a predetermined amount of encoded image data is stored in the image memory 10, the encoded image data read from the image memory 10 is decoded by the codec unit 6 and input via the input parallel interface 53. The input image data is rotated by the rotation unit 51 and then output to the printer control unit 7 via the output serial interface 55.
[0039]
In the above example, the case where image data acquired by reading a document is rotated and recorded has been described. However, the image data acquired by reception by facsimile communication can be rotated and recorded in a similar manner. It is.
[0040]
In the above configuration example (FIG. 1) in which the two first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b are provided, the internal configuration of each of the first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b is the minimum necessary configuration ( 2 and 3), each configuration may be the configuration of the image rotation circuit 5 (FIG. 10). In this case, since the first and second image rotation circuits 5a and 5b can be shared by one type of configuration, the production cost can be reduced.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, at the start of image data acquisition, the acquired image data is directly input not only to the image memory but also to the rotation unit, and the image data is rotated and rotated by the rotation unit. Since the image data is recorded by the recording means, the FCOT can be extremely shortened.
[0042]
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image data from the acquisition unit is encoded and stored in the image memory, and the encoded image data is decoded and output to the recording unit. Data can be stored efficiently and the capacity of the image memory can be reduced.
[0043]
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the rotation unit includes a first input unit that inputs the image data acquired by the acquisition unit and a second input unit that inputs the image data from the decoding unit. Therefore, the transition of the input process over time can be reliably performed at the start of image data acquisition and after a predetermined time (when a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the image memory).
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an example of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a first image rotation circuit.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second image rotation circuit.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow order of image data in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a timing chart at the time of multi-copy in the facsimile apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a timing chart at the time of multi-copy in a conventional facsimile apparatus.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another example of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image rotation circuit.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main control part 2 Scanner 3 Scanner image processing circuit 5a 1st image rotation circuit 5b 2nd image rotation circuit 5 Image rotation circuit 6a Encoding part 6b Decoding part 6 Codec part 7 Printer control part 8 Printer 10 Image memory 51a, 51b, 51 Rotating Parts 52a, 52b, 52 Input Serial Interface (I / F)
53b, 53 input parallel interface (I / F)

Claims (3)

Acquisition means for acquiring image data, recording means for recording image data on a medium, image memory for storing image data, rotation means for rotating image data, and image data for rotation processing in the rotation means When acquisition of an image is started by the image memory to be stored and the acquisition unit, the image data from the acquisition unit is input to the image memory and the rotation unit , the image data is rotated, and the image After a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the memory, the image data read from the image memory is input to the rotating means, the image data is rotated, and the rotated image data is recorded by the recording means. And an image forming apparatus.   An encoding unit that encodes the image data from the acquisition unit and outputs the encoded image data to the image memory; and the encoded image data stored in the image memory is decoded, and the decoded image data The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a decoding unit that outputs the image to the rotating unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotation unit includes a first input unit that inputs image data from the acquisition unit and a second input unit that inputs decoded image data from the decoding unit.

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