JP2000307855A - Image forming apparatus, control method thereof, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] (with correction) [PROBLEMS] To provide an image forming apparatus, a control method thereof, and a recording medium capable of suppressing power consumption and consumption of consumables by preventing useless blank paper output. . When a document is loaded on a document feeding unit and a copy start key is input, the documents are fed one by one onto a document table surface (S801), and it is determined whether or not to make a blank sheet determination (S801). In S802), when performing blank page determination, a preliminary scan of the document is performed (S803), and a histogram is generated (S804). Then, the main scanning of the original is performed (S80).
5), the image data obtained by the main scan is encoded (S806). If the data size of the encoded image is smaller than the predetermined determination reference value, it is determined whether or not the document is blank by referring to the histogram (S807). A message that there is an image is displayed (S808).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method therefor, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which scans an image of a document placed on a document table to form the image, and an image forming apparatus therefor. The present invention relates to a control method and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image forming apparatus, particularly a digital copying machine, determines the type of an image by preliminary scanning prior to scanning for reading an image of a document placed on a document table, and is suitable for printer characteristics. It is configured such that an optimal image output can be obtained by performing the image conversion.

Further, an image forming apparatus has been proposed which encodes an image in order to store the maximum amount of image data in a limited memory size.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus, the apparatus has an image memory for storing image data in order to determine the type of image by performing preliminary scanning. However, when copying a plurality of originals, even if the original contains blank paper, the same copying operation is performed as for a non-blank original, so that there is a problem that unnecessary output is performed. . When the number of output copies is set to a plurality of copies (for example, 999), the image of the blank document is also output by the number of copies, and consumables are wasted without waste. Also, when an image is output to an external device connected to the outside of the image forming apparatus, an unnecessary image of a blank document is transferred as data, which wastes power consumption. Further, even in an image forming apparatus having an image memory for storing image data in order to determine the type of an image by performing a preliminary scan, the type of an image can be determined, but whether or not the image can be regarded as a blank sheet is determined. It was not possible to determine whether or not it had to be forced to output.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of suppressing power consumption and consumption of consumables by preventing unnecessary blank paper output. It is an object to provide a control method and a recording medium.

[0006]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a pre-scanning unit for pre-scanning a document placed on a document table; and a pre-scanning by the pre-scanning unit. Histogram creating means for creating a histogram of the image on the document based on the result of the above, encoding means for encoding the image on the document, and calculating the data size of the image encoded by the encoding means Calculating means, and determining means for determining whether or not the document is a blank document based on the histogram created by the histogram creating means and the data size calculated by the calculating means. I do.

[0007] The image forming apparatus according to the second aspect is the first aspect.
In the above-described image forming apparatus, when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount, the determination unit determines whether the document is a blank document by referring to a histogram created by the histogram creation unit. It is characterized by the following.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect.
Or the image forming apparatus according to 2, further comprising setting means for setting whether or not to output an image of the document determined to be a blank document by the determining means, and setting the image of the blank document by the setting means. When the output is not set, the image is not output.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a decoding unit that decodes the encoded image; and a display unit that displays an image decoded by the decoding unit. When the means determines that the document is the blank document, the display means displays the image.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect.
In the above image forming apparatus, the setting unit sets whether or not to output an image displayed by the display unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the control method of the image forming apparatus, a document placed on a document table is pre-scanned, and a histogram of an image on the document is created based on a result of the pre-scan. Calculating the data size of the coded image, and determining whether or not the document is a blank document based on the created histogram and the calculated data size. It is characterized by.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the control method of the image forming apparatus according to the sixth aspect, when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount, the control unit refers to the created histogram. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the original is a blank original.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the control method of the image forming apparatus according to the sixth or seventh aspect, the image of the original determined to be a blank original by the determination is output. Whether or not the image of the blank document is set not to be output is controlled so that the image is not output.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, wherein the determination is that the original is a blank document. Preferably, the encoded image is decoded and displayed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an image forming apparatus, comprising:
The method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
In the determination as to whether or not to output an image of a document determined to be a blank document by the determination, it is characterized in that whether or not to output the displayed image is set.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, a pre-scanning step of pre-scanning an original placed on an original platen and a histogram of an image on the original are created based on a result of the pre-scan in the pre-scanning step. A histogram creation process;
An encoding step of encoding the image on the document, a calculation step of calculating a data size of the image encoded in the encoding step, a histogram created in the histogram creation step, and a histogram calculated in the calculation step. And a discrimination step of discriminating whether or not the document is a blank document based on the data size of the document.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the recording medium according to the eleventh aspect.
In the recording medium described above, in the determining step, when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount, it is determined whether the document is a blank document by referring to the histogram created in the histogram creating step. It is characterized by.

The recording medium according to claim 13 is the recording medium according to claim 11
Or the recording medium according to 12, wherein the program sets whether or not to output an image of the document determined to be a blank document in the determination step,
An output control step of performing output control so as not to output the image when the setting of the setting step sets not to output the image of the blank document.

The recording medium according to claim 14 is the recording medium according to claim 11
14. The recording medium according to any one of items 13 to 13, wherein the program includes a decoding step of decoding the encoded image, and a display step of displaying the image decoded in the decoding step. The image display is performed in the display step when it is determined in the determination step that the document is the blank document.

The recording medium according to claim 15 is the recording medium according to claim 14.
In the recording medium described above, in the setting step, it is set whether or not to output the image displayed in the display step.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine as an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes a reader unit 1 and a printer unit 2.

In the reader unit 1, a document feeder 101
The originals stacked on the platen glass surface 1
02. When a document is conveyed to a predetermined position on the platen glass surface 102, the lamp 103 of the scanner unit is turned on and the scanner unit 104 starts moving to illuminate the document. The reflected light from the original is
The image data is input to a CCD image sensor unit (hereinafter, referred to as “CCD”) 109 via 5, 106, 107 and a lens 108.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a signal processing configuration of the reader unit 1. As shown in FIG.

The reflected light of the document incident on the CCD 109 is photoelectrically converted by the CCD 109 and converted into electric signals (color information) of red, green and blue colors. The color information from the CCD 109 is supplied to the amplifier 110.
R, 110G and 110B allow the A / D converter 111
After being amplified in accordance with the input signal level of the above, the signal is input to the A / D converter 111 and converted into a digital signal.

The output signal of the A / D converter 111 is input to a shading circuit 112, where the uneven light distribution of the lamp 103 and the uneven sensitivity of the CCD 109 are corrected. The output signal of the shading circuit 112 is input to the Y signal generation / color detection circuit 113 and the external interface switching circuit 119.

The Y signal generation / color detection circuit 113 performs an operation on the output signal of the shading circuit 112 using the following equation to obtain a Y signal.

Y = 0.3R + 0.6G + 0.1B Further, the Y signal generation / color detection circuit 113 has a color detection circuit which separates each signal of R, G, B into seven colors and outputs a signal for each color. are doing.

The output signal of the Y signal generation / color detection circuit 113 is input to a scaling / repeat / histogram generation circuit 114. Zooming in the sub-scanning direction is performed according to the scanning speed of the scanner unit 104, and scaling in the main scanning direction is performed by the scaling / repeat / histogram generation circuit 114. Also, a scaling / repeat / histogram generation circuit 11
According to 4, it is possible to output a plurality of identical images.

Magnification / repeat / histogram generation circuit 1
The output signal of 14 is input to the contour / children enhancement circuit 115. The contour / edge emphasis circuit 115 performs scaling, repetition,
Edge emphasis and contour information are obtained by emphasizing the high frequency components of the signal from the histogram generation circuit 114. A signal from the contour / edge enhancement circuit 115 is input to a marker area determination / contour generation circuit 116 and a patterning / thickening / masking / trimming circuit 117.

Marker area determination / contour generation circuit 116
Reads a portion of a document designated by a marker pen of a designated color and generates contour information of the marker. The generated contour information is input to a patterning / thickening / masking / trimming circuit 117, where it is subjected to processing such as thickening, masking, and trimming, and a color detection signal from a Y signal generation / color detection circuit is output. The used patterning is performed. When the output signal of the patterning / thickening / masking / trimming circuit 117 is output to the printer unit 2, the output signal is selected by an image selector circuit 118 described later and input to the laser driver circuit 119. In the laser driver circuit 119, various processed signals are converted into signals for driving the laser. The output signal of the laser driver circuit 119 is input to the printer unit 2 and forms an image as a visible image.

The image data selected by the image selector circuit 118 is sent to the image memory 120. In the image memory 120, the transmitted image data is stored in the CPU.
In accordance with the instruction of 122, the image data is stored or read out at a designated position of the image memory 120 by a method described later, and further, a rotation process, a synthesis process, and the like of the image data are performed.

The CPU 122 controls the reader unit 1, and includes a ROM 124 for storing a control program, an error processing program, etc., a RAM 125 used as a work area for various programs, and various timer control units (not shown). It is mainly composed of CPU 122
Is the reader unit 1 including the image selector circuit 118
Operating unit 123 provided on the surface of the copying machine
Is controlled in accordance with various instructions input from the PC.

The operation unit 123 has various key groups for instructing image operations such as image editing contents and the number of copies for image processing of the reader unit 1 and a display unit for displaying contents at the time of operation. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the operation unit 123.

As shown in the figure, the operation unit 123 is provided with various keys and a liquid crystal display unit 238 composed of a dot matrix composed of a liquid crystal display device.

The liquid crystal display unit 238 displays the status of the apparatus, the number of copies, the magnification, the selected paper, and various operation screens.
35 and the like.

The start key 203 is a key for starting copying, and the return key 202 is a key for returning the setting mode to the standard state. Key group 2
Reference numeral 05 includes numeric keys 0 to 9 for inputting the number of copies, zoom magnification, and the like, and a clear key for clearing the input. The density key 207 is a key for adjusting the density, and the density adjusted by this key is displayed on the display unit 241. A key 237 is a key for turning on / off an automatic density adjustment function. A key 206 is a key for selecting a paper feed tray and an automatic paper feed selection mode. The selection state of these keys 237 and 206 is a liquid crystal display unit. 238. A key 208 and a key 210 are keys for setting an equal magnification mode and an alliance reduction / enlargement mode, respectively. A key 218 and a display unit 217 are keys for setting an automatic scaling mode.
38 is also displayed.

Returning to FIG. 1, the image signal input to the printer unit 2 is converted into an optical signal modulated by the exposure adjusting unit 201 and irradiates the photosensitive member 202. The latent image formed on the photoconductor 202 by the irradiation light is developed by the developing device 203. The transfer paper is conveyed from the transfer paper stacking unit 204 or 205 in synchronization with the leading end of the developed image, and the developed image is transferred in the transfer unit 206.
After the transferred image is fixed on the transfer paper by the fixing unit 207, the image is discharged from the paper discharge unit 208 to the outside of the apparatus. Paper output unit 2
The transfer paper output from 08 is discharged to each bin when the sort function is activated by the sorter 220, and is discharged to the uppermost bin when the sort function is not activated.

When the images of the originals stacked on the original feeder 101 are sequentially read and output on both sides of one output sheet, the output sheet fixed by the fixing unit 207 is temporarily transferred to the discharge unit 208. The sheet is conveyed, the conveyance direction of the sheet is reversed, and the sheet is conveyed to the transfer sheet stacking section 210 for re-feeding via the conveyance direction switching member 209. When the next manuscript is prepared,
The original image is read in the same manner as in the above-described process, but the transfer sheet is fed from the refeeding transfer sheet stacking section 210. Therefore, two original images can be output on the front and back surfaces of the same output sheet.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a memory map used for creating a histogram executed in the above configuration.

The histogram is stored in the scaling / repeat / histogram generation circuit 114 shown in FIG.
02. First, the RAM 701 in which the histogram is generated is initialized before the scanner unit 104 performs scanning. The CPU 122 determines in advance the main scanning and sub-scanning of the sampling interval of the sampling area when scanning the histogram, and writes the main scanning sampling interval and the sub-scanning sampling interval in a sampling area setting unit (not shown) of the histogram generation circuit. .

After that, the scanner unit 104 performs scanning, and the image data obtained thereby is scanned by the CCD 109,
The data is input to a RAM 701 provided along with a scaling / repeat / histogram generation circuit 114 via a shading circuit 112 and a Y signal generation / color signal generation circuit 113. In the scaling / repeat / histogram generation circuit 114, the RAM
In the image data input to 701, the value of the address of the RAM 702 corresponding to the image portion is increased by "1".
Next, the set sampling interval is read, and RA
The address of M701 is added, and the value of the address of the RAM 702 corresponding to the image portion in the image data corresponding to the address is increased by "1". This scanning is performed by RAM
It repeats until it reaches the end of 702.

Next, the sampling interval of the sub-scan is read, and sampling is not started until an area corresponding to the interval is reached. When image data of a line corresponding to the sampling interval is input, the image data is input. The address value of the RAM 701 corresponding to the image portion of the image data input to the RAM 701 is increased by “1”,
This scanning is performed up to the last part of the sub-scanning. By performing such a procedure, a histogram is created.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a procedure for storing and reading image data. FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram of the shared memory 509. The shared memory 509 is used by being divided into, for example, a development memory 9MB and a storage memory 29MB. 600 dpi resolution for expansion memory
The size of the binary image is expanded for one plane. In the storage memory, for example, by using the compression function,
It is configured to be able to store 00 images.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control unit for controlling the shared memory 509. In the figure, when a document image is stored in an image memory, when 2-bit image data is input from the reader unit 1, the image data is converted to 32 by a serial / parallel conversion circuit 506.
It is converted to bit data, and the speed conversion FIFO 50
After the speed is adjusted by 5, the data is developed on the shared memory 509 by the memory control unit 504. The expanded image is divided by the divider 5 controlled by the memory control unit 504.
02 from 32 bits to 6 bits.
It is encoded by the decompression circuit 501,
After being combined into 32 bits by the combining circuit 503, the data is stored in the storage memory by the memory control unit 504. The number of times of connection by the connection circuit 503 is counted, and the data size of the encoded image data can be known.

On the other hand, when the stored image data is read out and output to the printer unit 2, first, the encoded data stored in the storage memory is converted from 32 bits to 6 bits under the control of the memory control unit 504. Dividing circuit 502 into bits
, Is expanded by the expansion circuit 501, and is imaged by the 16-bit to 32-bit combining circuit 503,
It is expanded in the expansion memory. The expanded image is
The speed is converted by the speed conversion FIFO 507, and the serial
After being converted into 2 bits by the parallel conversion circuit 508, it is sent to the printer unit 2 via the transfer FIFO 510.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the image determination processing procedure.

First, a preliminary scanning of the original placed on the original platen is performed, and a scaling / repeat / histogram generating circuit 1 is executed.
At 14, a histogram is generated, after which a full scan is performed. The image read by the main scan is encoded by the encoding circuit, and when the image is stored in the storage memory 509, the encoded size is calculated by the transfer counter.

Now, in order to show the image criterion, FIG.
(A) to (d) of FIG.
In the actual operation, steps S803 to S8 in FIG.
07, which are processes performed on one image.

Assume that the images shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D have been encoded. The image of FIG. 6A is a blank sheet, the image of FIG. 6B is an image drawn with a pencil on a blank sheet, and FIG.
Is a normal image, and FIG. 6D is a black sheet. All of these images have a main scan of 7040 dots and a sub-scan of 4960
It is a dot image and the image size that is not compressed is 349
It is assumed that 1840 bits = 4,364,800 bytes. The encoded sizes of the images in FIGS. 6A to 6D are assumed to be 2,040 bytes, 38,868 bytes, 42,040 bytes, and 2,460 bytes, respectively. It is needless to say that these numerical values are numerical values as an example used for description, and are not limited to these values. 6 (a), 6 (b), and 6 (d), among these images, those smaller than the predetermined judgment reference value (50000 bytes).

Here, the histogram is referred to. This determination reference value only needs to be able to determine that the image has many uniform portions, and can be obtained by adjustment or the like. The histograms in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6D are created by sampling (main scanning 256 dots) × (sub scanning 256 dots) samples, and the total number of dots is 65,535 dots.

FIGS. 6E to 6H correspond to FIGS.
It is a histogram of (a) -FIG.6 (d). Here, if the black pixel is defined as 128 or more of 255 gradations, for example, in the case of FIG.
Although there are 0 dots, these are less than 1% of the whole, and are not recognized as black pixels. Therefore, it is determined that this image does not correspond to the white pixels, and this document is determined to be blank. FIG. 6F shows about 2000 dots, and its peak is around 140. Therefore, it is determined that this image is not a white image. Although the definition of the black pixel is defined as 128 or more, it is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that a method such as adjustment may be used. When the adjustment is used, for example, a histogram is generated by performing preliminary scanning on an image having a uniform density of a luminance density of 128, and if the peak value of the histogram is 135, a black pixel is defined as 135. Any numerical value may be used as long as it is not the peak value but white.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a copying procedure executed in the copying machine as the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (a)
When four originals shown in (d) are stacked and the copy start key is input, the originals stacked on the original feeding unit 101 are fed one by one onto the original table surface (step S80).
1). First, the document shown in FIG. 6A is fed to the document feeding unit 101. In this state, it is determined whether or not to make a blank sheet determination (step S802).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of the operation unit 123 when this flowchart is executed. In step S802 described above, it is determined whether or not to perform blank page determination by checking whether or not the operator has set to perform blank page determination on the screen shown in FIG.

If it is determined in step S802 that a blank page is to be determined, a preliminary scan of the document is performed (step S80).
3), a histogram is generated (step S80)
4). Here, as described above, the histogram of FIG. 6E is generated as a result of the preliminary scanning of FIG. Then, the main scanning of the original is performed (step S805), and the image data obtained by the main scanning is encoded (step S806).

The data size of each of the encoded images is 2,040 bytes, and a predetermined judgment reference value (for example, 5 bytes).
0000 bytes), the histogram is referred to and it is determined whether or not the document is blank (step S807). The histogram shown in FIG. 6E is determined to be blank according to the blank page determination procedure described above. Then, a message indicating that there is a blank image is displayed on the display unit (step S80).
8) It is determined whether or not to output the blank image has been set by the operator on the screen shown in FIG. 8 (step S809). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display screen of the liquid crystal display unit 238 in step S808. As shown in the figure, for example, if one of the four documents is blank, three valid images and one blank
The message that there are cards is displayed.

If it is determined in step S809 that blank paper is to be output, the blank data is stored in the image memory 120 (step S810), and it is determined whether there is any document that has not been read yet. (Step S811). At the stage where the reading of FIG. 6A is completed, there is a document that has not been read yet, so that step S8 is performed again.
01 is performed, and the document shown in FIG. 6B is fed.
If it is determined in step S809 that blank paper is not to be output, the process in step S810 is skipped and the blank data is not stored in the image memory, and the determination in step S811 is immediately performed.

If it is determined in step S802 that the blank page determination is not performed, the main scan (step S813) and the encoding (step S814) are performed, and then the processing in step S810 is performed. Will be

When the second document shown in FIG. 6B is fed in step S801, it is determined in step S802 whether or not blank sheet determination is to be performed. If it is set, the document is subjected to preliminary scanning, and the histogram shown in FIG. 6F is generated. Then, main scanning and encoding are performed. Since the size of the encoded image data is 38838 bytes, which is smaller than the above-described predetermined criterion value,
The histogram is referred to in step S807 for determining whether or not the sheet is blank. By the blank judgment using the histogram,
Since the document shown in FIG. 6B is not determined to be blank, the above-described steps S810 and S811 are performed, and the process of step S801 is performed again.

Next, the original shown in FIG. 6C is fed, and it is determined in step S802 whether or not blank page determination is to be performed as described above. This document is subjected to a preliminary scan to generate a histogram shown in FIG. Then, main scanning and encoding are performed. Here, the size of the encoded image data is 423,040 bytes, which is obviously larger than the above-described predetermined criterion value and is not blank, and is stored in the image memory in step S810.
The processing of step S801 is performed again.

Next, the original shown in FIG. 6D is fed, and as described above, it is determined in step S802 whether or not to perform blank page determination. If it is set to perform blank page determination, This document is subjected to preliminary scanning to generate the histogram shown in FIG. Then, main scanning and encoding are performed. Here, the size of the encoded image data is 2460 bytes, which is smaller than the above-mentioned predetermined criterion value, so that the histogram is referred to. 6D is determined to be not blank based on the blank page determination using the histogram, and is stored in the image memory in step S810.

After the processing of the original shown in FIG.
In step 811, it is determined that there is no next document, so the image data stored in the image memory 120 is decoded and sequentially output to the printer unit 2.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, if the encoded image data size is smaller than the predetermined discrimination reference value, whether the original is a blank document is determined by using the histogram obtained by the preliminary scanning. Since the determination is made, it is possible to accurately determine the blank document.
Therefore, it is possible to suppress the wasteful consumption of the consumables and the power consumption by outputting the image of the blank document as in the related art.

The image forming apparatus to which the present embodiment is applied may be an image forming system composed of a plurality of devices or an image forming device composed of one device.

Further, a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer of the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. It is needless to say that the object of the present invention is also achieved by doing so.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk,
Hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-
A ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

The functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented when the computer executes the readout program codes, and the OS or the like running on the computer is actually executed based on the instructions of the program codes. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above processing is performed, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, a CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0071]

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the original placed on the platen is pre-scanned, and the pre-scan is performed. Generating a histogram of the image on the original based on the result of the above, calculating the data size of the encoded image by encoding the image on the original, the generated histogram and the calculated data size It is determined whether or not the original is a blank original on the basis of the above, so that it is possible to perform an accurate determination of the blank original, and therefore, the image of the blank original is output as in the related art. An effect is obtained that wasteful consumption of consumables and power consumption can be suppressed.

According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect or the control method of the image forming apparatus of the seventh aspect, when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount, the original is formed of a blank sheet by referring to the created histogram. Since it is determined whether the document is a document, it is possible to obtain an effect that a blank document can be more accurately determined as compared with the related art.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect or the control method of the image forming apparatus of the eighth aspect, it is set whether or not to output an image of a document determined to be a blank document by the determination, When it is set not to output the image of the blank document, the control is performed so as not to output the image. Therefore, it is possible to suppress consumption of consumables and the like by outputting the image of the blank document. The effect is obtained.

According to the control method of the image forming apparatus of claim 4 or the control method of the image forming apparatus of claim 9, when the discrimination is that the document is the blank document, the encoded image is decoded. Is displayed, it is possible to obtain whether the operator can actually visually check whether or not the blank document is a necessary document.

An image forming apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 10.
According to the control method of the image forming apparatus, in the determination of whether to output the image of the document determined to be a blank document by the determination, it is set whether to output the displayed image. As a result, it is possible to obtain an effect that only an unnecessary blank document can be prevented from being output.

According to the recording medium of the eleventh aspect, a pre-scanning step of pre-scanning the original placed on the original platen, and a histogram of an image on the original based on a result of the preliminary scanning in the pre-scanning step. A histogram creation step for creating, an encoding step for encoding an image on the document, a calculation step for calculating a data size of the image encoded in the encoding step, and a histogram created in the histogram creation step And a discriminating step of discriminating whether or not the document is a blank document based on the data size calculated in the calculating step.The program is recorded in a computer-readable format. The above-described program is read and executed by a computer of a conventional image forming apparatus to execute the recorded program. Claims 1 it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus the same effect as described.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine as an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a signal processing configuration of a reader unit 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation unit 123.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a memory map used for creating a histogram.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a procedure for storing and reading image data.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image determination processing procedure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a copying procedure executed in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display state of an operation unit 123 when the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 7 is executed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of a liquid crystal display unit 238.

[Explanation of symbols]

 104 Scanner unit 114 Zooming / repeat / histogram generation unit 120 Image memory 122 CPU 123 Operation unit

Continued on front page F-term (reference) 2H027 DA41 DA44 DB01 DE07 EC10 EE08 EF08 FA27 FA37 FD01 FD08 GA15 GA43 GB05 GB19 5C076 AA02 BA09 CA10 5C077 LL17 LL20 MM20 PP21 PP60 PP65 PQ08 PQ17 PQ19 PQ20 RR14 SS06RR

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A pre-scanning means for pre-scanning a document placed on a document table; a histogram creating means for creating a histogram of an image on the document based on a result of pre-scanning by the pre-scanning means; Encoding means for encoding the image on the document; calculating means for calculating the data size of the image encoded by the encoding means; a histogram created by the histogram creating means and calculated by the calculating means An image forming apparatus comprising: a determination unit configured to determine whether the document is a blank document based on a data size. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether the document is a blank document by referring to the histogram created by the histogram creating unit when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount. Claim 1
The image forming apparatus as described in the above. 3. An image forming apparatus comprising: setting means for setting whether to output an image of a document determined to be a blank document by the determining means; and setting not to output the image of the blank document by the setting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image is not output when the image is output. 4. An image processing apparatus comprising: a decoding unit that decodes the encoded image; and a display unit that displays an image that is decoded by the decoding unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the image when the image is determined. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the setting unit sets whether or not to output an image displayed by the display unit. 6. A preliminary scanning of a document placed on a document table, creating a histogram of an image on the document based on a result of the preliminary scanning, encoding the image on the document, and Controlling the image forming apparatus based on the generated histogram and the calculated data size to determine whether the document is a blank document. . 7. The image according to claim 6, wherein when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount, it is determined whether or not the document is a blank document by referring to the created histogram. A method for controlling a forming apparatus. 8. A method for setting whether to output an image of a document determined to be a blank document by the determination, and outputting the image when setting not to output the image of the blank document. 8. The control method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control is performed such that the control is not performed. 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the encoded image is decoded and displayed when it is determined by the determination that the document is the blank document. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus. 10. A method of determining whether to output an image of a document determined to be a blank document by the determination includes setting whether to output the displayed image. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 9. 11. A pre-scanning step of pre-scanning a document placed on a platen; a histogram creating step of creating a histogram of an image on the document based on a result of the pre-scanning in the pre-scanning step; An encoding step of encoding an image on a document; a calculating step of calculating a data size of the image encoded in the encoding step; a histogram created in the histogram creating step; and a histogram calculated in the calculating step. A recording step of discriminating whether or not the document is a blank document based on a data size and recording the program in a computer-readable format. 12. In the determining step, when the data size is smaller than a predetermined amount, determining whether the document is a blank document by referring to the histogram created in the histogram creating step. The recording medium according to claim 11, characterized in that: 13. The setting program for setting whether to output an image of a document determined to be a blank document in the determining step, and outputting the image of the blank document in the setting step. 13. The recording medium according to claim 11, further comprising: an output control step of performing output control so as not to output the image when the setting is not performed. 14. The program according to claim 1, further comprising: a decoding step of decoding the encoded image; and a display step of displaying the image decoded in the decoding step. 14. The recording medium according to claim 11, wherein the image is displayed in the display step when it is determined that the document is a document. 15. The recording medium according to claim 14, wherein in the setting step, whether or not to output the image displayed in the displaying step is set.