JPH04335768A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the setting time of picture processing by switching the processing content during one original scanning sequentially and outputting various pictures onto transfer paper after the test mode implementing the picture processing such as void, shade, italic and white/black level inversion in a factory line is set once. CONSTITUTION:A picture signal of an original O read by a CCD 9 is converted into a digital data by an A/D converter and sent to a picture processing section 11 and the processed data is sent to a printer section 12 and the picture on transfer paper P is outputted. A scanner CPU 14 controls a stepping motor 13 to drive carriages 1,5 and gives various commands and timing signals to the processing section 11. A command from an operation section 15 is discriminated by a CPU 16 and the start of scanning and processing information of the picture are delivered to the CPU 14. An operation section 15 commands the processing function test mode at a factory and the picture subject to processing such as void, shade, italic, white/black level inversion is generated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention converts document information from an optical signal to an electrical signal using a line image sensor, performs various image processing on this electrical signal, and prints an image using a recording device such as a laser printer. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that outputs.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus that can read a document using a line image sensor and perform multiple image processing operations such as hollowing out, shading, italicization, and black and white inversion, each image processing function is performed on a factory line. In order to test, set each processing information from the operation panel etc.
Each processing function was tested by outputting one output image for each processing function.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] This requires setting each processing function from the operating section, which is a waste of time. Furthermore, since one image is output for one processing function, paper is wasted. For example, in the case of hollowing out, the thickness of the outline can be set in 1 mm increments within the range of 1 to 10 mm, so there was a problem in that 10 output images had to be produced just to check it.

[0004] The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of shortening the setting time for image processing on a factory line and saving transfer paper.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object is to convert document information from optical signals to electrical signals using a line image sensor, perform various image processing on these electrical signals, and use a recording device such as a laser printer. In an image forming apparatus that outputs an image with This is achieved by including an image processing unit that performs multiple image processing during image output. In this case, the types of image processing include hollowing out, shading, italics, black and white reversal processing, etc. In each image processing, parameters for varying the processing content are set.

[0006]

[Operation] The setting means sets a test mode in which image processing such as hollowing out, shading, italicization, black and white reversal, etc. is performed on a factory line. Then, with one setting, the processing contents are sequentially switched during scanning of one document, and an image with various processing applied to one sheet of transfer paper is output.

[0007]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. FIG. 3 shows the structure of the scanner section in the present invention. A fluorescent lamp 2 attached to the first carriage 1 moves under the contact glass 3 and scans the document. The scanned document surface is transferred to one of the first carriages 1 including the first mirror 4.
The light is reflected by the second and third mirrors 6 and 7 attached to the second carriage 5, which moves at a speed of /2, and is imaged by a lens 8 on a CCD (line image sensor) 9.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of image formation control. The image signal of the original O read by the CCD 9 is A
The digital image data is A/D converted by the A/D converter 10 and sent to the image processing section 11 as digital image data, and the processed image data is sent to the printer section 12 to obtain an output image on transfer paper P. The first and second carriages 1, 5 are
It is driven by a stepping motor 13, which is controlled by a scanner CPU 14. Also,
The scanner CPU 14 generates various commands and timing signals to the image processing section 11. Operation unit 15
The commands input from
Conveys image processing information, etc.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the image processing section 11. In the image processing section 11, first, a shading correction section 20 performs a shading correction on the A/D converted image data in order to correct unevenness in the amount of light from a fluorescent lamp. In this correction, a reference white plate 30 shown in FIG. 4 is read, correction data is created so that each pixel on the line becomes uniform white data, and this correction data is used to perform correction when reading the original. The timing of reading this reference white board 30 and the timing of reading the original are determined by the scanner C.
The PU 14 provides the image processing unit 11 as command data via the command bus. Thereafter, MTF correction and main scanning direction scaling are performed by the MTF correction unit 21 and the main scanning direction scaling unit 22. The magnification in the sub-scanning direction is controlled by the moving speed of the carriages 1 and 5, that is, by the stepping motor 13.
This is done by changing the rotation speed of the After the main scanning magnification processing, the respective processing units 23, 24, 25 perform hollow processing to extract the outline of the image, shadow processing to add a shadow to the image, oblique processing to tilt the image, and black and white reversal processing.
It will be done at 26. Machining is performed by setting machining commands for each machining through the command bus.

Normally, each processing is specified from the operation section 15, and the specified processing commands are set for a single document before the document is read. By operating a special key, the factory processing function test mode is entered, and the original shown in Fig. 4 (four letters R to be processed are lined up) is tested in Fig. 6.
As shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to obtain an R image on a single sheet of transfer paper, which has undergone various processing such as hollowing out, shading, italicization, and black and white inversion.

In this test mode, the scanner CPU 14
When the carriages 1 and 5 reach the reading position of the reference white plate 30, a shading correction command is set as shown in FIG. Next, first, a command to turn on hollowing is sent, and a reading start command is set at the document reading start position. The scanner CPU 14 can know the position of the carriages 1 and 5 based on the number of excitation switchings of the stepping motor 13. After scanning the distance in which the hollowing is ON, a hollowing OFF command and a shadow casting ON command are sent. Furthermore, after moving a certain distance, send a shadow casting OFF command and italic ON command, then send an italic OFF, black and white inversion ON command, a document reading end command, and a black and white inversion ON command.
Send FF command. As described above, by operating these commands, four types of processing functions can be checked on one output image from one original.

[0012] Also, some of the machining functions allow setting of several parameters. For example, for hollowing, the thickness of the outline can be set from 1 to 40 dots in increments of 4 dots. Conventionally, when trying to change the thickness of an outline line, for example, 10 copies were checked while specifying parameters for one original using the operating section 15.
It took a long time to set up from 5, and the number of output images was 10, which increased the consumption of transfer paper. However, in this embodiment, which will be described later, 10 different processing commands are automatically switched for one document. This saves time and resources. In addition, you can set the length of the shadow when casting shadows, and the angle of the slant when it is italicized, so you can save time and resources by automatically switching between these settings while scanning a single image. These settings are determined in advance along with the test manuscript. For example, when setting hollow in the test mode, the scanner CPU will set 10 parameters at 40 mm intervals.
All you need to do is create 14 programs.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the hollow processing section 23. The image data is stored in the FIFO memory group [FIFO (1
)~FIFO(4)] FIFO data delayed at 30 and made valid (H level) by the contour parameter are all ORed at OR gate 31. In addition, the NAND gate 32 is an FI that is enabled by the contour width parameter.
By NANDing all of the FO data, a mask signal that becomes the hollow area of the image is generated. By ANDing these two signals using an AND gate 33, a hollow image is obtained. The selector 34 selects whether to perform hollow processing or not. When the FIFO memory is increased by one stage, there is a delay of one line in the sub-scanning direction, and by providing a clock that sequentially reads data from FIFO (1) delayed one pixel at a time, there is a delay in the main scanning direction. In other words, a signal delayed by one dot in both the main and sub directions is output from the FIFO memory.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a hollow area of an image. This example shows the case where FIFO (1) and (2) are enabled, and the original (original) and FIFO
The images of IFO (1) and (2) are ORed by an OR gate 31, and the NAND gate 32 is masked. In this way, the contour line width is determined depending on how many stages of FIFO memory output flags are to be enabled. In other words, it is sufficient to enable the FIFO memory by the amount corresponding to the contour line width.

[0015]

[Effect of the invention] According to the invention described in claims 1 to 6,
The setting means sets a test mode in which image processing such as hollowing out, shading, italics, black and white inversion, etc. Since the image processed in various ways is output on a sheet of transfer paper, it is possible to shorten the setting time for image processing and reduce the number of output sheets.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an image forming control block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of an image processing section.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a scanner section of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a reference white board and a document surface.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for setting processing commands.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an output image according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a hollow processing section.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of the hollowing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

9 CCD 11 Image processing section 12 Printer section 14 Scanyana CPU 15　Operation section 16 Main CPU 23 Hollowing section 24 Shading processing section 25 Diagonal processing section 26　Black and white reversal processing section

Claims (6)

[Claims] Claim 1: An image forming device that converts document information from an optical signal to an electrical signal using a line image sensor, performs various image processing on the electrical signal, and outputs the image using a recording device such as a laser printer. , there is a setting means for setting the test mode on the factory line, and according to the setting information from this setting means, processing contents are sequentially switched during scanning of one document, and multiple image processing is performed while outputting one image. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image processing section that performs the following steps. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing includes at least hollow processing. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a parameter for varying the thickness of the outline is set during the hollowing process. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing includes at least shadow casting processing. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a parameter for varying the length of the shadow is set during the shadow casting process. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing includes at least italic processing and black and white reversal processing.