JPH07121059B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for processing image information.

[Prior art]

A digital copying machine has been proposed which photoelectrically reads an original image and records the image on a recording material based on the image information obtained by the reading.

In such a digital copying machine, since an image is handled electrically, various image processing can be performed. For example, processing is performed such that a necessary image portion in the original image is extracted or an unnecessary image portion is deleted.

There is also proposed a method in which pattern information such as shading is combined with a document image and printed out.

However, if the document image is moved or scaled, the image position on the document differs from the image position on the output paper.
When the pattern information is partially combined, there is a disadvantage that the position of the pattern information deviates from the position of the image on the output paper.

〔Purpose〕

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of forming an image by synthesizing pattern information in a desired area of a document image regardless of the processing of scaling and movement. It is a thing.

That is, according to the present invention, an exposure unit that exposes a document image, a designation unit that designates a desired area of the document, a processing unit that magnifies or moves the document image exposed by the exposure unit, and a predetermined area. Generating means for repeatedly generating pattern information, image forming means for forming an image by synthesizing a document image processed by the processing means and pattern information generated by the generating means, and the image forming means is the designating means. In order to combine the pattern information with the entire image in the desired area of the original specified by, the pattern information generated by the generating means according to the desired area specified by the specifying means and the scaling factor or movement amount by the processing means. And a control means for controlling repetitive generation of pattern information.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a copying apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
Is a touch pen for point input on the editor 31, 33 is an operation unit for setting various modes, 34 is a reader for reading a document, and 35 is a reader for reading 34. It is a printer that outputs the captured image.

FIG. 2 shows a structural diagram of the reader and the printer. The document is placed on the platen glass 3 facing downward, and is pressed onto the glass by the document cover 4. The original is illuminated by the fluorescent lamp 2, and the reflected light is condensed on the surface of the CCD 1 via the mirrors 5 and 7 and the lens 6.

The mirror 7 and the mirror 5 move at a relative speed of 2: 1. These optical systems move forward (from left to right) at a speed according to the reading magnification while applying a PLL by the DC servo motor 26.

The backward movement (from right to left) is performed at a constant speed regardless of the magnification. The maximum document size that can be processed is A3, and the resolution is 400d.
Since it is ots / inch, use a CCD1 with about 5000 bits.

In this way, while moving the mirrors 5 and 7 to move the original reading position, the CCD 1 sequentially scans the original image line by line to obtain an image signal indicating image density.

The image signal bit-serially processed by the reader is input to the laser scanning optical system unit 25 of the printer. This unit 25 comprises a semiconductor laser collimator lens, a rotating polyhedral mirror, an Fθ lens, and a tilt correction optical system.

The image signal from the reader is applied to a semiconductor laser to be converted into an electric light, which is irradiated through a collimator lens onto a high-speed rotating polyhedral mirror, and the reflected light is made incident on a photoconductor 8 and scanned. As a process component that enables image formation on the photoconductor 8, a front static eliminator 9, a front static erasing lamp 10,
Primary charger 11, secondary charger 12, front exposure lamp 13, developing device 14, paper feed cassette 15, paper feed roller 16, paper feed guide 17,
A registration roller 18, a transfer charger 19, a separation roller 20, a conveyance guide 21, a fixing device 22, and a tray 23 are arranged. The speed of the photoconductor 8 and the transport system is 180 mm / sec. Printer B
Is a so-called laser printer. A photosensor is provided in the vicinity of the photoconductor 8 and the laser beam scanned by the photosensor is detected to detect the tip reference signal of each scan.
Get BD

The copying machine of this example has intelligence such as image editing, and its function is variable magnification of 0.35 → 4.0 times in 1% increments, trimming or image trimming to extract only the specified area from the paper. There is a moving function to move it to any position above.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the reader.

The document reading device includes an operation unit 143 and a document table pressure plate 142 having an editor.

Hereinafter, this will be described in order. The operation unit 143 is connected to the document reading device and also displays information of a printer unit (not shown) that forms an image based on the image information.

A start key 101 gives an instruction to start reading a document.

The asterisk key 102 is used for setting the service mode and the like.

The recall key 103 is used to specify a recall mode in which the previous copy mode can be recalled. The reset key 104 is used to reset various settings to the standard mode. The ten-key pad 105 is used to set the number of copies.

The clear stop key 106 is used to stop the number of clear and copy operations designated by the ten keys. The density keys 107, 108, and 109 specify manual density adjustment and automatic density adjustment (AE) of copying, and the instruction is displayed on the indicator 110.

The photo key 111 is designated when a copy of a photo original is desired. The high contrast key 112 is designated when it is desired to make the contrast (black and white) of the image clear. The negative / positive inversion key 113 inverts the white level and the black level of the image.

The number display section 114 displays the set number and the number of remaining sheets during the copying operation. The indicator 115 displays the placement direction of the document based on the copy magnification and the paper size. The indicator 116 displays the paper size. Cassette selection key 1
Reference numeral 17 designates the paper feed stage of the printer. The equal magnification key 118, the standard variable magnification key 119, and the automatic variable magnification key 121 indicate the magnification of variable magnification copy, and the indicator 122 displays the magnification at the time of regular magnification.

The auto paper selection key 120 is used to automatically select the paper size according to the document size and the like. LCD display
The 123 is composed of a liquid crystal of 240 dots × 64 dots and is displayed by the control of a microcomputer described later.

The surface of the liquid crystal display 123 is covered with a transparent touch panel. This touch panel has a built-in 4 × 10 matrix transparent electrode switch, and is configured so that the coordinate value when designated by a finger or the like can be incorporated into the microcomputer and the designated position can be known. The double-sided / multiplexing key 124 is used for designating the double-sided / multiplexing operation of the printer. The sort / collate key 125 is used to specify the operation of the sorter connected to the printer. Center move key
126 is used when moving the image information to the center of the paper. The original recognition key 127 is used when selecting whether or not to recognize the original size.

The memory key 128 is a key capable of storing various operation modes and collectively calling them.

The original platen pressure plate 142 holds an original on the original platen (not shown) and has an operation unit for setting various copy modes and characters,
You can enter numbers and symbols.

The digitizer 139 can take in coordinate data on the board surface, which is indicated by the touch pen 138, into the microcomputer. The coordinate data is recognized as position information and magnification information on the document from the coordinate magnification input surface 141 and character information from the character input surface 143 in combination with the operation mode. Incidentally, since the coordinate information of the magnification information is converted into magnification information by the program of the microcomputer, it is possible to take a large display of the necessary magnification range as shown in the figure (35% in this embodiment). From 100% is displayed larger).

The zoom key 129 is a key for designating the magnification. After pressing this key, the touch pen 138 is used to input the coordinate magnification input surface 141.
Specify the magnification by instructing.

The area designation key 130 is a key for designating an area for image processing. After pressing this key, the coordinate magnification input surface 14
An arbitrary area can be designated by designating the position on the document placed at 1 on the document to be processed with the touch pen 138.

The move key 131 is a key for moving the image, and after pressing this key, the touch pen 138 is used to indicate the position to move on the coordinate magnification input surface 141, or the touch panel 123.
Specify with.

The page continuous copy key 132 is used when it is desired to output a document by dividing it into a plurality of sheets.

The magnified continuous shooting key 133 is used when the magnified image of the original is to be divided into a plurality of sheets and output.

The mirror image key 136 is used when it is desired to copy the original image by reversing it in the main scanning direction.

The image create key 137 is used when various image processing (such as italic characters) is desired.

The character input key 134 is used when synthesizing characters such as characters, numbers and symbols on an original image and recording the same. After pressing this key, the character input surface 143 is pressed by the touch pen 138.
Characters such as letters, numbers, and symbols are specified by instructing.

The image repeat key 135 is used when the entire original document or the trimmed image is repeatedly recorded on the same recording material a plurality of times.

The character input surface 143 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, "A, B, C ...
Alphabet capital letters like "Z", "a, b, c ...
… Alphabet lowercase keys like “z”, “1,2,3
Numeric keys such as "0", uppercase katakana keys such as "a, i, u ... wo", lowercase katakana keys such as "a, i, u ... tsu", "day, month, year" Kanji key like
It has various symbol keys such as "(,),%,?, / ..." and external character keys corresponding to any of the three registered external characters.
A desired character can be selected by pressing a desired key with the touch pen 138.

Also, each character corresponding to these keys is given a unique code, that is, "A, B, C ... in the first line.
Codes 0, 1, 2 ... 9 are assigned to "J", and codes 10, 11, 12, ... 19 are assigned to "K, L, M ... T" on the second line. , Sequentially from 0 to 147 are assigned to each character. In FIG. 9, the numbers in parentheses () indicate codes, and (0), (1), (2) ...
(9) corresponds to the last digit of the code, (00), (01),
(02) ... (14) corresponds to the first two digits of the code.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the control unit of the copying machine shown in FIG. Reference numeral 201 corresponds to the CCD shown in FIG. 2 and converts the original image set on the original table 3 into an electric signal and outputs it as an image signal. An image processing circuit 202 performs image processing on the image signal from the CCD 201, such as a shading correction for correcting output nonuniformity and a γ correction for correcting density characteristics. 207 is an add-on display RAM that stores the code of the character to be added-on, 208 is an add-on font ROM that outputs dot data representing the character corresponding to the code data, 205 is an add-on RAM that stores the dot data from the add-on font ROM 208, and 206 is Add-on RAM
Controls the output of dot data stored in the sub-scan section AD
An add-on image generation circuit that generates add-on image data to be inserted into a document image in response to ST and an add-on start signal ADST, 203 denotes document image data from the image processing circuit 202 and add-on image data from the add-on image generation circuit 206. A synthesizing circuit for synthesizing, 204 is a printer which performs a printing operation based on the image data from the synthesizing circuit 203.

Further, 210 is a control unit CPU that controls the operation of each block of the reader, and controls and operates using the RAM 215, I / O 216, etc. according to the program stored in the ROM 214.

Reference numeral 213 denotes an editor provided on the original table pressure plate 142, 212 corresponds to the operation unit shown in FIG. 3, 211 is a buzzer for emitting a buzzer sound to the operator, and 209 is a sub-scanning counter for counting the number of recording lines of the printer.

FIG. 5 shows the liquid crystal display unit 123 in setting various processing modes.
Indicates the display state.

When the zoom key 129 is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 5 (A) is displayed, and when the magnification is set from the liquid crystal display unit 123, the screen is changed by pressing the touch panel input key 700 displayed, and the screen shown in FIG. (B) is displayed and the displayed X down key 702, X auto key 703, X up key 704, Y
Use the down key 705, Y auto key 706, Y up key 707, XY down key 708, XY auto key 709, XY up key 710 to set the magnification. Further, when the coordinate input surface 141 on the editor is designated by the touch pen 138 in the display state of FIG. 5 (A), the CPU 210 converts the coordinate data into a magnification corresponding to the zoom scale, and the screen is shown in FIG. 5 (B). It is controlled to change and display the input magnification.

Next, the area designation mode will be described. Up to 3 rectangular areas can be input on the same document, and when the area designation key 130 is pressed, the area number (1, 2,
If an area corresponding to any one of (3, 3) is set, FIG. 5 (C) is displayed, and if it is not set, FIG. 5 (D) is displayed. In FIG. 5 (C), 712 is a clear key for clearing the currently displayed area, 713 is an area up key for updating the area number, 714 is also an area down key, and 715 is for displaying the current area number. It is an area number display.

If the area is registered when the area up key 713 is pressed in the figure, the area number 715 in FIG.
Will be “2” and will be displayed on the left side of the area corresponding to either the trimming or masking mode and the set value. If the area is not registered, the fifth
The area number 715 in the figure (D) is displayed as "2".

In addition, when the touch panel input key 716 is pressed in FIG. 5 (C) or (D), FIG. 5 (F) is displayed, and the point position of the input area can be corrected in mm unit and a new area can be registered. Is controlled.

In FIG. 5 (D), when one point of diagonal input of the area is input, the screen changes to that shown in FIG. 5 (E),
When the OK key 717 is pressed after inputting the remaining one point, a new area is registered and the screen display shown in FIG. 5 (C) is displayed.

Next, the movement mode will be described. When the move key 131 is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 5 (G) is displayed on the liquid crystal display section 123. The operator selects any one of the center move key 718, the corner move key 719, the designated move key 720, and the binding margin key 721, and presses the key. If the selected key corresponds to the corner movement, the designated movement, and the binding margin, the fifth key is selected.
Figure (H), Figure 5 (I), and Figure 5 (K) are displayed.

In FIG. 5 (H), the type of corner movement can be specified.
In Fig. (I), by designating the destination of the designated movement on the editor or by pressing the touch panel input key 716, the fifth
The display of Fig. (J) is shifted, and it is possible to correct a point already specified on the editor or to input a new one.

Further, in FIG. 5 (K), the binding margin amount in the binding margin mode, that is, the moving amount of the image can be set.

Next, the page continuous shooting mode will be described. When the page continuous shooting key 132 is pressed, the display of FIG. 5 (L) is displayed. In the figure, for example, the left and right page continuous shooting mode and the upper and lower page continuous shooting mode are modes for outputting the left half and right half or the upper half and lower half of the read document to separate sheets. The continuous shooting mode, the upper page continuous shooting mode, and the lower continuous shooting mode are modes for outputting only the left half, right half, upper half, and lower half of the read document, respectively. Such a mode can be set by pressing the continuous shooting mode keys 722 to 727.

Next, the enlarged continuous shooting mode will be described. The enlarged continuous shooting mode is a mode in which when a copy is made at a set magnification and the output sheets do not fit, the sheets are separately output, and one output result is obtained by combining the output sheets. Enlarged continuous shooting key to set this mode
Press 133 to display the screen shown in Fig. 5 (M).
This sets the mode.

Next, the character input mode will be described. There are two main character input modes, and Fig. 16 shows the output of each mode. In FIG. 10, (1) is a manuscript, (2),
(3) indicates print output. The first mode is a character mode in which the input character string "X, Y, Z" is output at an arbitrary position on the output paper and is overlaid with the read original image information (1) to obtain a print output (2). The second mode is a shaded mode in which a designated pattern (hatched portion) is repeatedly output to an arbitrary designated area of the document (1) and is overlaid with the read document image information (1) to obtain a print output (3). .

When the character input key 134 on the editor is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 5 (N) for selecting one of these two modes is displayed. Since these two modes are realized by using the same circuit, it is not possible to set the character mode and the halftone mode at the same time, and it is controlled to select and use one of them. In the figure, 728 is a character key for setting a character mode, 729 is a halftone key for setting a halftone mode, and 730 is an all clear key for canceling the character mode and the halftone mode.

The details of the character mode will be described below.

When the character key 728 is pressed on the screen of FIG. 5 (N) displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 123 after the character input key 134 is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 6 (A) is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 123. Is displayed. In the figure, 800 is a character edit key for changing the screen for inputting an overlaid large character string, 801 is an output position key for displaying a screen for deciding where on the output paper the input character string is to be output, and 802 is External character key that displays a screen where the operator can freely register character patterns,
Reference numeral 803 is a character size key for displaying a screen for selecting an output character size.

When the character edit key 800 is pressed, the screen changes to that shown in FIG. 6 (B). On this screen, 6 vertical characters and 16 vertical characters can be displayed in the character area 804 indicated by the dotted line in the figure.

The operator moves the cursor 805 to the position to be input by using the cursor movement key 806, and touches the character or pattern to be input on the character input surface 143 on the editor with the touch pen 1
It is possible to input a character at the cursor position by pointing at 38.

In addition, the operator moves the cursor to the character
You can correct the error by moving 5 to the character you entered incorrectly and entering the character again. Further, when the clear key 807 is pressed, all the characters are cleared and the cursor 805 is controlled so as to be returned to the head position.

Now, the procedure of the CPU 210 when inputting characters using the character input surface 143 of the editor will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The editor 213 and the CPU 210 are in serial communication,
It is possible to tell the CPU 210 which position on the editor 213 the touch pen 138 points to.

When the character input mode is set by the above-mentioned operation (S11), the display of FIG. 6 (B) is displayed (S13). When the operator points a certain position on the editor 213 with the touch pen 138, the CPU 210 determines whether the point coordinate information from the editor 213 is inside the character input surface 143 (S14). When the point position is inside the character input surface, the beeper 39 is beeped to notify the operator that the character has been input (S15), and the code corresponding to each pointed character, specifically, Is “A” → 0,
"B" → 1, Gaiji 1 → 144, Gaiji 2 → 145, Gaiji 3 → 146, blank →
147 is determined and stored in the add-on display RAM 207 (S16).
This data is reflected on the screen display, and the cursor is normally moved to the right by one. If the current cursor position is the rightmost, the cursor is moved to the leftmost one line down.

In addition, the font of the character string displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 123 in FIG. 6 (B) and the font of the character string actually overlaid are the same 8 × 8 dot, and if the font is an external character to be described later, it is registered. The displayed font can be displayed as it is.

Next, the case where the output position key 801 is pressed in FIG. 6A will be described. When the output position 801 is pushed, FIG. 6 (C)
Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 123, and the touch pen 138 displays the upper left corner of the first character (that is, “1”) displayed in FIG. Input side
When the user points to 141, the screen changes to that shown in FIG. 6 (D), and the approximate output position is displayed by the bar 809. Press OK key 810 here, and now touch pen 1
When the position pointed at 38 is the KP point in FIG. 8, the output reference positions Xout, Yout are stored in the RAM 215, and the screen is controlled so as to change to that shown in FIG. 6 (A).

Next, the operation when the external character key 802 is pressed will be described with reference to FIG. When the external character key 802 is pressed, the screen shows the sixth
What is shown in Fig. (E) is displayed, and the character input surface 14
8 fonts corresponding to external character 1, external character 2, external character 3 at the bottom of 3
The operator can freely set it with × 8dot. External character 1 key 811, external character 2 key 812, external character 3 key 813 3
Select one of the three external characters. In the figure, for example, the external character key
When 812 is pressed, font information registered in the external character 2 is displayed in 8 × 8 dots in the external character registration area 819 indicated by the dotted line.

The operator presses the external character key (external character 1 key, external character 2 key, external character 3 key) to be registered in the display of FIG. 6 (E), and moves the cursor 816 to the required position with the cursor movement key 814,
By pressing the black dot key 815 and the white dot key 820, the desired pattern / character is expressed in the external character registration area 819.
When the clear key 144 is pressed, all dots in the external character registration area 819 are controlled to be white dots. The current cursor position is displayed on the cursor position display portion 821 so that the cursor position can be recognized when the black dot and the cursor overlap each other.

In this way, the pattern displayed in the external character registration area 819 uses 8 bytes of characters and is written in the backed up external character font area (24 bytes for 3 characters in total) of the RAM 215, and the add-on RAM 205 is displayed in the same manner as the display and add-on font RAM 208. It is used as the expansion data for. Next, when the character size key 803 is pressed in FIG. 6 (A), FIG. 6 (F) is displayed and 2 mm
When either the key 822 or the 4mm key 823 is selected and the OK key 824 is pressed, either character size is set, and then the control returns to the screen of FIG. 6 (A).

Next, details of the shaded mode will be described.

When the shaded key 729 of FIG. 5 (N) is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 6 (G) when the shaded mode has not been set previously, and the screen shown in FIG. 6 (K) when the shaded mode has been set. Is the LCD display 123
Is displayed in. Here, a method of newly setting the halftone mode will be described.

In FIG. 6 (G), the operator attaches the document to the document reference position in the coordinate input area 141 in the lower left corner on the editor 213, and selects one of the two diagonally opposite corners of the rectangular rear desired to be shaded on the document. Point with the touch pen 138 or press 825 with the touch panel input key. When the touch panel input key 825 is pressed, FIG. 6 (I)
The screen shown in is displayed, and the shaded area can be set by the X, Y coordinates (mm unit) from the desired reference point of the document. On the other hand, if one diagonal point of the area in FIG. 6 (G) is input with the touch pen 138, the screen shown in FIG. 6 (H) is displayed, and after inputting the other diagonal point with the touch pen 138, the OK key Press 826 to determine the shaded area.
In the figure, the approximate position of the input point is displayed on the left side of the liquid crystal display 123, and the clear key 8
Pressing 27 cancels the input point and controls the area so that it can be reset.

In this shaded mode, it is possible to register the external character of the shaded pattern as in the character input mode, and if the OK key 826 or 828 is pressed after determining the shaded area in FIG. 6 (H) or (I), J) is displayed, and it is possible to select either the shaded pattern according to the registered pattern or the shaded pattern according to the operator setting pattern.

When the external character pattern key 829 is pressed in FIG. 6 (J), the screen shown in FIG. 6 (K) is displayed, so that the operator can freely set the 8 × 8 dot halftone pattern. Since this setting is almost the same as the external character registration in the character mode, the description is omitted.

When the OK pattern 831 or the registered pattern key 830 in FIG. 6 (J) is pressed in the same figure, the screen shown in FIG. 6 (L) is displayed and the set area is set in the area display section 832 on the left side. The pattern is displayed on the pattern display portion 833 in the central portion.

Reference numeral 834 denotes a pattern select key, which is used to register several types of patterns for shading, and by pressing this key 834, registered pattern 1 → registered pattern 2 → ... registered pattern N → external character pattern → registered pattern 1 → Display each pattern in 32 × 32 dots in the center shaded pattern display area like registered pattern 2. When the touch panel input key 835 is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 6 (I) is displayed, and the shaded area can be reset. When the OK key 836 is pressed in FIG. 6 (L), the screen shown in FIG. 6 (M) is displayed. It is possible to specify the size of the pattern to be shaded or use the size keys 838 and 839, and press the OK key 837. The screen shown in FIG. 6 (N) is displayed, and the density of the pattern to be shaded can be selected using the density keys 840 and 841.

Next, the image processing operation in the character mode and the halftone mode set in this way will be described. Fig. 10 shows CPU 210
The processing procedure of is shown. 12 and 13 show the configuration of the add-on image generation circuit 206.

First, consider the case where the character string shown in FIG. 6B is output in the character mode.

After inputting the copy start key (S101), the CPU 210 displays the add-on RA, which is a bit map memory, for the font data corresponding to the character code information stored in the add-on display RAM 207.
Deploy to M205. At this time, since there is no external character in the example shown in FIG. 6 (B), all font data are read from the add-on font ROM 208 (S106). On the other hand, when the character registered in the external character is used, the external character font data is read from a part of the backed up RAM 215 (S105) and expanded in the add-on RAM 205 (S107). In this embodiment, an add-on RA for reading 8 × 8 dot fonts is used.
M205 is 8 x maximum number of main scanning characters in bytes, and is shown in Fig. 6 (B).
It is assumed that the character area 804 has a sufficient capacity for the maximum number of characters that can be displayed. FIG. 11 (1) shows a state where the character string in FIG. 6 (B) is expanded in the add-on RAM 205. Also, in the figure, since the space for 12 characters following "1234" does not have to be output, it is expanded as character input information of vertical 2 characters x horizontal 4 characters.

For this add-on RAM 205, add-on image generation circuit 20
6 is the address a, a + 8, a + 16, a + 24 in FIG. 11 (1)
When the font data stored in this order is read, it becomes one line of main scanning, and then 1 is added to each address, a + 1.a +
When read out as 9, a + 17, a + 25, font data of the next main scanning line is output, and binarized image data corresponding to FIG. 8 can be obtained by aperture reduction of this operation.

In addition, the character size can be changed by controlling the clock when reading the add-on RAM 205, and since the copying apparatus of this embodiment can output at a resolution of 50, 100, 200, 400 dpi, a font of 8 × 8 dots is output at a resolution of 50 dpi. Approximately 4 mm, similarly 8 x 8 dot font 100dp
If you output at i resolution, you can output characters in a size of about 2 mm,
This character size is selected in FIG. 6 (F). Further, by adding a means for outputting with a specified density to the image information corresponding to the information "0" corresponding to the binary data "1" read from the add-on RAM 205, the character density can be realized. However, in the character input mode, the operator is not allowed to make this setting and forcibly outputs black.

The CPU 210 calculates the main scanning character number "4" from the input string of FIG. 6 (B) as described above, and sets it in the main scanning character number latch 428 (S114). This determines the reading order of the add-on RAM 205. Next, the resolution corresponding to the character size described above is set in the resolution latch 429 (S115), and the density of the image information corresponding to "1" read from the add-on RAM 205 is added to the add-on density latch 422 (specifically, Hit black
256) and add-on for mode latch 436
0 is set so that the document image information is output corresponding to "0" read from the RAM 205 (S116). Incidentally, it is possible to set the density of the image information corresponding to “0” read from the specified density latch add-on RAM 205, and it is possible to selectively output the document image information described above with the selector 436.
In this embodiment, the selector 436 selects the A input and always selects the document image information.

Next, the main scanning start position of the image information to be added on, specifically, the data corresponding to Yout in FIG. 8 is set in the main scanning start latch 437 (S117). Specifically, the CPU 210 calculates the ripple carry output timing of the main scanning counter 435 and sets it in the main scanning start latch 437 as the card value of the counter 435. Main scanning counter 435
43, the initial value is latched by the BD signal (main scanning reference signal).
Load from 7 and start counting. And counter 4
The RC signal output from 35 becomes the add-on main scanning start signal corresponding to Yout in FIG. Sub-scanning start position
Xout, the start position Xout, the number of sub-scanning characters, that is, the value of XEND calculated from the resolution "2" in the example of FIG. 6 (B) is calculated and set to the sub-scanning counter 209 (FIG. 4). The add-on sub-scanning section signal ADST is generated (S118).

Then, if another edit mode such as variable-magnification shift or trimming is selected (S119), parameters corresponding to those edit modes are set in the image processing circuit 202 (S12).
0) After that, the scanning of the document is performed as many times as necessary for the copying operation (S121, S123).

As described above, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to obtain a print output in which characters of desired size and desired density are combined at desired positions on the output paper.

The operation of the add-on image generation circuit 206 during this copying operation will be described.

Signal PS that indicates the beginning of one main scan line made from BD signals
One pulse of NC is input from the input unit 401. Then, the flip-flop 402 is set to initialize the main scanning character number counter 403, and the flip-flop 408 is reset, so that the enable signals of the main scanning character number counter 403 and the resolution counter 414 become L. The main scanning counter 435 counts 1 in the main scanning character number counter 403 by setting the flip-flop 405 when one signal LST is input to the input section 404 when the image information comes to the position where the font data to be added on in one line starts to be output. Also, the resolution counter 414 is initialized and the shift register 419 stores 1-byte Ao-don information (11th
In the example of FIG. 1A, the information at address a) is the add-on RAM 205.
Loaded more.

The resolution counter 414 sequentially counts down from the initial value, and the decoder 416 also determines that the lower 36A is all 0s, and every time all 0s are output, binary add-on information is output from the shift register 419QH bit by bit.

Here, the data QH read from the add-on RAM 205 is "1".
Then, A is selected from the selector 426, and the add-on concentration set from the add-on concentration latch 422 is changed to the signal line 427.
Output to the printer 204. On the other hand, if the data QH read from the add-on RAM 205 is "0", the selector 426 sets 0 in the mode latch 436 in which B is selected, and the document density input from the input line 435 is selected in the selector 436. It is output from the 425.

When one byte of add-on information is output from the shift register 419 in this way, the resolution counter 414 outputs R and C, the main scanning character number counter 403 counts up by 1, and the resolution counter 414 is initialized again. It The shift register 419 stores the next 1-byte add-on information (11th
In the example of FIG. 1A, information of address a + 8) is loaded.

In this way, the number of characters in one main scanning line is counted by the main scanning character number counter 403, and the main scanning character number latch 4
When the set value of 28 (4 in FIG. 8) is reached, H is output from the comparator 409 and the resolution counter 414 is stopped.
At this time, even if the specified concentration information is selected by the mode latch 436, the gate 433 is closed and the input line 435 is closed.
The document density from is selected. The same thing is repeated for the next main scanning line.

For switching the resolution, the counter 414 to 0
It is executed by controlling the output value to the data 416.
For example, the output value from the resolution counter 414 is gated, and in order to lower the resolution, it is shifted by 1 bit higher. Further, in this case, it is necessary to add similar control to the RC of the resolution counter 414.

A circuit for accessing the add-on information expanded on the RAM 205 shown in the thirteenth illustration will be described. First, the add-on start address (a in FIG. 11) is set in the latch 520 by the signal line 509, and the address jump value (4 × 8 = 32 in the example in FIG. 8) is set in the latch 521 from the signal line 510. Is set. Further, the same signal PSNC for the first main scanning line as the input unit 401 described above is input to the input unit 502, and the main scanning character number from the main scanning character number counter 403 is input from the signal line 512. However, for add-on address 515, signal line 514 has lower 3 bits, signal line 512 has lower 4 bits
The above is output. Further, the sub-scanning direction address section signal ADST set by the CPU 210 is input to the input unit 501.

To describe the flow of addresses, first, L is input to the input unit 501, the start address a is loaded from the latch 520 to the counter 511, and output as the add-on address 515. Next, each time the number of main scanning characters is sequentially counted, the number of characters increases from the lower 4 bits of the input line 512. Therefore, the add-on address 515 contains a + 8, a + 16, a.
+24 ... is output. In this way, when one main scan line of the data stored in the add-on RAM 205 is accessed, the input unit 50
One block is input from 2 and the address counter 505 counts up by one. Then, one is added to the output of the add-on address 515, and the addresses are accessed as a + 1, a + 9, a + 17. When this is repeated in sequence to access a + 7, a + 15, ..., The address counter 505 outputs R and C,
The additional value 32 is added to the counter 511 from the latch 521 and a + 3
It is accessed as 2, a + 40, a + 48 ....

Next, the copying operation in the shaded mode will be described. The difference from the character mode will be mainly described.

The output position in the character mode is the position with respect to the paper to be output, whereas in the shaded mode, the area set by the procedure of FIGS. This area is different from the area on the output paper due to the scaling and movement processing. The add-on image information output as described above is combined with the original image information which has been subjected to the scaling and movement processing by the image processing circuit 202 and the combining circuit 203. Therefore, this causes the add-on image information to specify the output position on the recording material without being affected by the data of scaling and movement with respect to the original.

However, this is convenient in the character mode, but in the shaded mode, the specified area is different from the output area,
Adding this conversion is very different from the character mode. Also, having the add-on image data corresponding to the entire shaded area in the add-on RAM 205 is the same as holding the add-on image data with a bit map, so the pattern information composed of 8 × 8 dots (maximum number of main scanning characters × 8)
All the bytes are written to the add-on RAM 205, and this is read by the same procedure as the read operation of the add-on RAM 205 in the character mode described above. In the shaded mode, in order to output the pattern information to the entire designated output area, reading from the add-on RAM 205 is repeated a plurality of times and gating by the read output sub-scanning section signal ADST is different from the character mode.

X direction magnification according to FIG. 5 (B) using FIG. 14 below Zoom
X, Y direction magnification ZoomY, designated movement Xs, Ys according to FIG. 5 (J) and shaded areas (X ₀ , Y ₀ ) according to FIG. 6 (I), (X ₁ ,
The case of Y ₁ ) will be described. FIG. 14 (1) shows the output paper on which the document (2) is printed out.

As described above, the image processing circuit 202 outputs the right downward slash image 900 in FIG. 14 (2) which has been subjected to the scaling processing by ZoomX and ZoomY and the movement processing by Xs and Ys. Therefore, it is necessary for the add-on image generation unit 206 to generate a pattern for shading in the area 901 of (X ₂ , Y ₂ ) to (X ₃ , Y ₃ ) in FIG. X ₂ =
Xs ＋ X ₀ × ZoomX, Y ₂ ＝ Ys ＋ Y ₀ × ZoomY, X ₃ ＝ Xs ＋ X ₁ × ZoomX,
Calculate with Y ₃ = Xs + Y ₁ × Zoom Y (S108). In addition, (X ₀ ,
Y ₀ ), (X ₁ , Y ₁ ) are the coordinates of the shaded area set by FIGS. 6 (G), (H), and (I).

Next, the number of patterns in the main scanning direction (the number of characters in the main scanning direction) is (X ₃
It is calculated from −X ₂ ) and the shaded pattern size (resolution) (S109). It should be noted that the main scanning start position is Y ₂ , the sub scanning section signal is generated at X ₂ and X ₃ (S117, S118), and all of the add-on RAM 205 has the 8 × 8 dot selected on the screen of FIG. 6 (L). The same pattern is written as shown in FIG. 11 (2). And thirteenth
In the circuit shown in the figure, by controlling the read-out of the add-on RAM 205 so as to return to the initial value when the final value of the address is reached, all 8 × 8 dot patterns are written in the add-on RAM 205, so the same pattern is sub-scanned. It will be repeatedly output in the direction. However, since it is finally gated by the sub-scanning direction section signal ADST, the output paper can overlay the halftone pattern at the position desired by the operator.

In this way, even if the original image is processed by automatically correcting the output area on the output paper of the shaded pattern whose area is designated on the original according to the processing such as scaling and movement of the original image. It is possible to perform a halftone process on a desired document image area.

Further, the size of the halftone pattern can be specified independently of the enlargement and reduction of the original, and desired halftone processing can be performed.

In this embodiment, the pattern size is realized by controlling the read clock from the font storage means, but the resolution increases as the pattern size is increased due to the circuit configuration (specifically, the pattern size area is 1/2 the resolution. Four
Times). Further, instead of controlling the clock in this embodiment, a method in which the CPU 210 calculates an address according to the output of the printer and expands it in the add-on RAM 205 is also conceivable.
However, in this case, the CPU 210 is burdened, and the CPU2
It takes time to create software to move 10.

In this embodiment, a pattern is formed by repeatedly outputting 8 × 8 dot fonts to the main and sub-scans. In this case, at least one line of fonts for the main scan is an add-on RAM 205.
The pattern is output on the entire sheet by expanding the pattern on the paper and repeating this in the sub-scanning direction. However, in reality, only one type of 8 × 8 dot font is used, and if one type of font can be repeatedly read and output, the add-on RAM 205 can be saved.

Therefore, as another embodiment, a circuit configuration of the add-on image generation circuit 206 that can output a large pattern size without reducing the resolution by repeatedly outputting the read-out from the add-on RAM for the designated number of characters in the main scanning direction is provided. It is shown in FIG.

Here, since a part of the circuit of FIG. 12 is changed in FIG. 15, only the changed part is rewritten, and detailed description of the similar parts is omitted.

The operator selects whether to use the normal add-on or the repeating pattern for the operation of the changed portion, and the flip-flop 602 is set according to the selection. That is, the Q output is set to 1 when it is an add-on, and to 0 when it is a repeating pattern. In the case of an add-on, the added gates 601, 603, 604 are in the same state as before the change, and the same operation as in FIG. 12 described above is performed. on the other hand,
In the case of a repeating pattern, the gate 603 is closed and the output of the AND circuit 410 is directly input to the OR gate 601. Therefore, each time the comparator 409 outputs a coincidence signal, the main scanning character counter 403 is in the initial state, and the same value is repeatedly output as the RCP.

At this time, if the number of repeating characters (for example, four characters or four patterns) is set in the scanning character number latch 428, four characters are repeatedly output in the main scanning direction. Therefore, a pattern is usually formed with 8 × 8 dots, but 16
In the case of forming a pattern with x16 dots, it can be realized by repeating the pattern 2 patterns of 8 x 8 dots, and if this pattern is repeatedly output in the main scanning direction, the next two patterns are repeatedly output.

[Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, the generation timing of the pattern information and the repeated generation of the pattern information by the generation means are controlled according to the desired area of the designated original and the magnification or the movement amount. Regardless of processing such as scaling, movement, etc., it is possible to combine and record pattern information such as shading over the entire image of the desired area of the document.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a copying apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a view showing the configuration of the copying apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an external view of a reader, and FIG. 4 is a configuration of a control circuit of the copying apparatus. 5 is a block diagram showing the display state of the liquid crystal display unit, FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the procedure of character input,
FIGS. 8, 14, and 16 show examples of output, FIG. 9 shows a character input surface, FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the copying operation procedure, and FIG. 11 is an add-on RAM. FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG. 13 and FIG. 15 showing the contents are diagrams showing the configuration of the add-on image generation circuit. 123 is a liquid crystal display unit, 134 is a character input key, 138 is a touch pen, 141 is a coordinate input surface. , 143 is a character input surface, 205 is an add-on RAM, 206 is an add-on image generation circuit, and 210 is a CPU.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An exposure unit for exposing a document image, a designating unit for designating a desired region of the document, a processing unit for scaling or moving the document image exposed by the exposing unit, and a pattern having a predetermined area. Generating means for repeatedly generating information, image forming means for forming an image by synthesizing a document image processed by the processing means and pattern information generated by the generating means, and the image forming means by the designating means. In order to synthesize the pattern information with the entire image in the desired area of the designated original, the pattern information of the generating means is generated according to the desired area designated by the designating means and the magnification or movement amount by the processing means. An image processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls generation timing and repetitive generation of pattern information.