JP2007166516A - Operation display for multi-function system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain linkage of a language between a multi-function system and equipment connected thereto and to attain improvement in operability of the multi-function system by expanding versatility of the multi-function system. <P>SOLUTION: A means for storing a plurality of language information to be displayed on an operation panel is included, language information of external equipment is acquired by an interface means for connecting the external equipment, and a means for switching the language displayed on the operation panel is included. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an extended function of a multi-function system for copying, transferring, and printing documents and images, and display of operation contents thereof.

  In systems such as multi-function printers, copiers are connected to the network, and in addition to copying, printing, scanning, mail / fax transmission, and box storage have been expanded as main functions. In the future, it is considered to connect various digital devices to the multifunction system.

For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be cited as conventional examples.
JP 2002-278717 A JP 2001-36751 A

  In the current configuration, the connected device displays on the display unit of the multi-function system, etc., but the language of the display unit is constant regardless of the base language of the connected device. The user is operating in front of the operation panel.

The first purpose of this application is to broaden the versatility of the multifunction system,
The second object of the present application is to improve the operability of the multi-function system by coordinating languages with devices connected to the multi-function system.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to the present application is
Means for storing a plurality of language information to be displayed on the operation panel, and means for acquiring language information of the external device by an interface means for connecting to the external device and switching the language displayed on the operation panel It is characterized by that.

  In the above configuration, the display language of the display unit can be changed depending on the language used in the connected device, which has the effect of increasing convenience for the user.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the user connects a device to the multi-function system, the display language of the operation unit of the multi-function system is automatically converted. .

  First, a multi-function system will be described.

<Overall configuration of image input / output system>
An image input / output system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  A reader unit (image input device) 200 optically reads a document image and converts it into image data. The reader unit 200 includes a scanner unit 210 having a function for reading a document and a document feeding unit 250 having a function for transporting a document sheet.

  A printer unit (image output device) 300 conveys a recording sheet, prints image data as a visible image thereon, and discharges the recording paper out of the apparatus. The printer unit 300 includes a paper feed unit 310 having a plurality of types of recording paper cassettes, a marking unit 320 having a function of transferring and fixing image data onto the recording paper, and sorting and stapling the printed recording papers. And a paper discharge unit 330 having a function of outputting to

  The control device 110 is electrically connected to the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300, and is further connected to host computers 401 and 402 via the network 400.

  The control device 110 controls the reader unit 200 to read image data of a document, and controls the printer unit 300 to output the image data to a recording sheet to provide a copy function. In addition, the image data read from the reader unit 200 is converted into code data and transmitted to the host computer via the network 400, the code data received from the host computer via the network 400 is converted into image data, A printer function for outputting to the printer unit 300 is provided.

  The operation unit 180 is connected to the control device 110, is configured with a liquid crystal touch panel, and provides a user I / F for operating the image input / output system.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300. The document feeding unit 250 of the reader unit feeds documents one by one on the platen glass 211 in order from the top, and discharges the documents on the platen glass 211 after the document reading operation is completed. When the document is conveyed onto the platen glass 211, the lamp 212 is turned on, and the movement of the optical unit 213 is started to expose and scan the document. The reflected light from the original at this time is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD) 218 by mirrors 214, 215, 216 and a lens 217. In this way, the scanned image of the document is read by the CCD 218.

  A reader image processing circuit unit 222 performs predetermined processing on the image data output from the CCD 218 and outputs the processed image data to the control device 110 via the scanner I / F 140.

  A printer image processing circuit unit 352 outputs an image signal sent from the control device 110 via the printer I / F 145 to the laser driver.

  The laser driver 317 of the printer unit 300 drives the laser light emitting units 313, 314, 315, and 316, and laser light corresponding to the image data output from the printer image processing unit 352 is emitted from the laser light emitting units 313, 314, and 315. 316 is emitted. This laser beam is irradiated to the photosensitive drums 325, 326, 327, 328 by mirrors 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, and the photosensitive drums 325, 326, 327, In 328, a latent image corresponding to the laser beam is formed. 321, 322, 323, and 324 are developing devices for developing a latent image with black (Bk), yellow (Y), cyan (C), and magenta (M) toners, respectively. The toner is transferred to a sheet and printed out in full color.

  A sheet fed from one of the sheet cassettes 360 and 361 and the manual feed tray 362 at a timing synchronized with the start of laser light irradiation is attracted onto the transfer belt 334 via the registration roller 333 and conveyed. Then, the developer attached to the photosensitive drums 325, 326, 327, and 328 is transferred to the recording paper. The recording paper on which the developer is placed is conveyed to the fixing unit 335, and the developer is fixed to the image recording paper by the heat and pressure of the fixing unit 335. The recording paper that has passed through the fixing unit 335 is discharged by the discharge roller 336, and the paper discharge unit 370 bundles the discharged recording paper and sorts the recording paper or staples the sorted recording paper.

  If double-sided recording is set, the recording paper is conveyed to the discharge roller 336, and then the rotation direction of the discharge roller 336 is reversed and guided to the refeed conveyance path 338 by the flapper 337. The recording sheet guided to the refeed conveyance path 338 is fed to the transfer belt 334 at the timing described above.

<Explanation of Reader Image Processing Unit>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the leader image processing unit 222.

  In the reader image processing unit 222, the original on the platen glass 211 is read by the CCD 218 and converted into an electrical signal (in the case of the color sensor, the color filter of RGB is mounted inline in RGB order on the one-line CCD. It may be a three-line CCD, in which an R filter, a G filter, and a B filter are arranged for each CCD, or the filter may be on-chip or the filter may be configured separately from the CCD. ). Then, the electrical signal (analog image signal) is input to the image processing unit 222, and clamp & Amp. & S / H & A / D unit 401 samples and holds (S / H), clamps the dark level of the analog image signal to the reference potential, and amplifies it to a predetermined amount (the above processing order is not limited to the notation order), and A / D-converted and converted into, for example, an RGB 8-bit digital signal. The RGB signal is output to the control device 110 after being subjected to shading correction and black correction by the shading unit 402.

<Description of control device>
The function of the control device 110 will be described based on the block diagram shown in FIG.

  The main controller 111 mainly includes a CPU 112, a bus controller 113, and various I / F controller circuits.

  The CPU 112 and the bus controller 113 control the entire operation of the control device 110, and the CPU 112 operates based on a program read from the ROM 120 via the ROM I / F 121. The operation of interpreting PDL (page description language) code data received from the host computer and developing it into raster image data is also described in this program and processed by software. The bus controller 113 controls data transfer input / output from each I / F, and performs arbitration at the time of bus contention and control of DMA data transfer.

  The DRAM 122 is connected to the main controller 111 by a DRAM I / F 123, and is used as a work area for the CPU 112 to operate and an area for storing image data.

  The asynchronous serial communication controller 114 transmits and receives control commands to and from the CPUs of the reader unit 200 and printer unit 300 via the serial buses 172 and 173, and performs communication of the touch panel and key input of the operation unit 180.

  The network controller 125 is connected to the main controller 111 by an I / F 127 and is connected to an external network by a connector 126. The network is generally Ethernet (registered trademark).

  The serial connector 124 is connected to the main controller 111 and communicates with an external device. USB is generally used as a serial bus.

  The FAN 128 is connected to the main controller 111 and used to cool the controller unit 110.

  The temperature monitoring IC 142 is connected to the main controller 111 by a serial bus 143. The temperature monitoring IC 142 is used for controlling the FAN 128, correcting the temperature of the real-time clock module 137, and the like.

  An expansion connector 135 for connecting an expansion board, an I / O control unit 126, an HD controller 131, and a Codec 133 are connected to the general-purpose high-speed bus 130. A general-purpose high-speed bus is a PCI bus.

  The Codec 133 compresses the raster image data stored in the DRAM 122 by a system such as MH / MR / MMR / JBIG / JPEG, and conversely decompresses the code data compressed and stored into raster image data. The SRAM 134 is used as a temporary work area of the Codec 133. Data transfer to and from the DRAM 122 is controlled by the bus controller 113 and transferred by DMA.

  The HD controller 131 is for connecting an external storage device. In this embodiment, the hard disk drive 132 is connected via this I / F. The hard disk 132 is used for storing programs and storing image data.

  The I / O control unit 126 controls the data bus 144 and controls the port 145 and the interrupt 146.

  The panel I / F 141 is connected to the LCD controller 140 and includes an I / F for displaying on the liquid crystal screen on the operation unit 180 and a key input I / F 171 for inputting hard keys and touch panel keys. Is done.

  The operation unit 180 includes a liquid crystal display unit, a touch panel input device attached on the liquid crystal display unit, and a plurality of hard keys. A signal input by the touch panel or the hard key is transmitted to the CPU 112 via the panel I / F 171 described above, and the liquid crystal display unit displays the image data sent from the panel I / F 141. The liquid crystal display unit displays function display, image data, and the like in the operation of the image forming apparatus.

  The real-time clock module 137 is for updating / saving the date and time managed in the device, and is backed up by a backup battery 138.

  The SRAM 139 is backed up by a backup battery 138, and stores user mode, various setting information, file management information of the hard disk drive 132, and the like.

  The Graphic Processor 151 performs image rotation, image scaling, color space conversion, binarization, scanner image input, and printer image output processing on the image data stored in the DRAM 122. The DRAM 152 is used as a temporary work area for the graphic processor 151. The Graphic Processor 151 is connected to the main controller 111 via the I / F 150, and data transfer to and from the DRAM 122 is controlled by the bus controller 113 and DMA-transferred.

  The connectors 160 and 155 are connected to the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300, respectively, and are composed of a synchronized step serial I / F (173, 172) and a video I / F (163, 162).

  The scanner image processing 157 is connected to the reader unit 200 via the connector 160, and is connected to the graphic processor 151 via the scanner bus 161, and has a function of performing predetermined processing on the image received from the reader unit 200. Furthermore, it has a function of outputting a control signal generated based on the video control signal sent from the reader unit 200 to the scanner bus 161.

  The FIFO 158 is connected to the scanner image processing 157, and is used to perform line correction of the video signal sent from the reader unit 200.

  The printer image processing 153 is connected to the printer unit 300 via the connector 155, and is connected to the graphic processor 151 via the printer bus 156. The printer unit 153 performs predetermined processing on the image data output from the graphic processor 151, and And a function of outputting a control signal generated based on a video control signal sent from the printer unit 300 to the printer bus 162.

  The DRAM 154 is connected to the printer image processing 153, and is used to delay the video signal for a predetermined time.

  Transfer of raster image data developed on the DRAM 122 to the printer unit is controlled by the bus controller 113 and DMA-transferred to the printer unit 300 via the graphic processor 151, the printer image processing 153, and the connector 155.

<Description of scanner image processing unit>
The scanner image processing 157 will be described in detail. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a portion responsible for the scanner image processing 157.

  For the image signal sent from the reader unit 200 via the connector 160, the connection & MTF correction unit 601 adjusts the delay amount for each line according to the reading speed, and corrects the MTF that has changed according to the reading speed. When the CCD 218 is a three-line CCD, the connecting process corrects the signal timing so that the reading positions of the three lines are the same. The FIFO 158 is used as a line delay buffer. The digital signal whose reading position timing is corrected is corrected by the input masking unit 602 for the spectral characteristics of the CCD 218 and the spectral characteristics of the lamp 212 and the mirrors 214, 215 and 216. The output of the input masking unit 602 is sent to the ACS count unit 405 and the graphic processor 151.

<Description of ACS count part>
The ACS (auto color select) counting unit will be described with reference to FIG.

  Auto color select (hereinafter, ACS) determines whether a document is color or monochrome. That is, color determination is performed based on the number of pixels that are equal to or greater than a threshold value for which the saturation for each pixel is obtained. However, even for a black and white original, due to the influence of MTF and the like, when viewed microscopically, there are a large number of color pixels around the edge, and it is difficult to simply perform ACS determination on a pixel basis. Although various methods are provided for this ACS method, in this embodiment, since it is not particular to the ACS method, a description will be given by a very general method.

  As described above, since there are a large number of color pixels when viewed microscopically even in a black-and-white image, whether or not the pixel is really a color pixel is determined based on information on the surrounding color pixels with respect to the pixel of interest. There is a need. Reference numeral 501 denotes a filter for this purpose, which has a FIFO structure in order to refer to surrounding pixels with respect to the target pixel. Reference numeral 502 denotes a circuit that creates an area signal 505 to be subjected to ACS based on values set in registers 507 to 510 set from the main controller 111 and a video control signal 512 sent from the reader unit 200. The color determination unit 503 refers to a peripheral pixel in the memory in the filter 501 with respect to the pixel of interest based on the region signal 505 to which ACS is applied, and determines whether the pixel of interest is a color pixel or a monochrome pixel. It is a judgment part. A counter 504 counts the number of color determination signals output from the color determination unit 503.

  The main controller 111 determines the area to which the ACS is applied to the reading range and sets it in the registers 507 to 510 (in this embodiment, the range is determined independently for the original). Further, the main controller 111 compares the value of the counter that counts the number of color determination signals in the area to which ACS is applied with a predetermined threshold value, and determines whether the document is color or monochrome.

  In the registers 507 to 510, the position where the color determination unit 503 starts the determination and the position where the determination ends in each of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction are based on the video control signal 512 sent from the reader unit 200. Set it. In the present embodiment, each size is set to be about 10 mm smaller than the actual document size.

<Description of printer image processing section>
A detailed description will be given with respect to the portion responsible for the printer image processing 153. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the printer image processing 153.

  An image signal sent from the Graphic Processor 151 via the printer bus 156 is first input to the LOG conversion unit 701. The LOG conversion unit 701 converts RGB signals into CMY signals by LOG conversion. Next, the moire removal unit 702 removes the moire. A UCR & masking unit 703 generates a CMYK signal from the CMY signal that has undergone moire removal processing by UCR processing, and the masking processing unit corrects the CMY signal to a signal that matches the output of the printer. The signal processed by the UCR & masking unit 703 is subjected to density adjustment by the γ correction unit 704 and then smoothed or edge processed by the filter unit 705. In order to correct the distance between the photosensitive drums 321 to 324 in the output switching 706, an image is temporarily stored in the DRAM 154 for each CMYK image, and the corrected distance between the drums is transferred to the printer unit 300 via the connector 155. Take.

<Description of Graphic Processor>
The graphic processor 151 will be described in detail. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the graphic processor 135.

  The Graphic Processor 151 includes modules that respectively perform image rotation, image scaling, color space conversion, binarization, scanner image input, and printer image output. The DRAM 152 is used as a temporary work area for each module via the DRAM controller 808. The work area is statically assigned to each module in advance so that the work area of the DRAM 152 used by each module does not compete. The Graphic Processor 151 is connected to the main controller 111 via the I / F 150, and data transfer to and from the DRAM 122 is controlled by the bus controller 113 and DMA-transferred.

  The bus controller 113 performs control for setting a mode or the like for each module of the GraphicProcessor 151 and timing control for transferring image data to each module.

  The input interface 810 inputs the image data input from the I / F 150 to the CrossBerSwitch 809. The image data format handles binary raster image data, multi-value raster image data, JPEG, and the like. In the case of a JPEG image, it is converted to raster image data by the input interface 810 and output to CrossBerSwitch809.

  The output interface 811 outputs the image data input from the CrossBerSwitch 809 to the I / F 150. The image data format input from the CrossBerSwitch 809 is raster image data, but the output interface 811 can perform JPEG compression and output the data to the I / F 150.

<Description of scanner input section>
The processing procedure in the scanner input unit 806 is shown below.

  Setting for scanner input control is performed from the CPU 112 to the bus controller 113 via the I / F 150. With this setting, the bus controller 113 performs necessary settings (various parameters corresponding to the input processing) on the scanner input unit 806. After making the necessary settings, the CPU 112 permits the bus controller 113 to transfer image data again. Thereafter, image data is input to the scanner input unit 806 in synchronization with the synchronization signal input from the scanner image processing 157. The scanner input unit 806 temporarily stores the received image data in the DRAM 152 as an input buffer. Thereafter, the scanner input unit transfers the image stored in the DRAM 152 to the bus controller 113. Receiving the scanner input image data, the bus controller 113 transfers the data to each device on the DRAM 122 or the I / F.

<Description of printer output>
The processing procedure in the printer output unit 807 is shown below.

  Setting for printer output control is performed from the CPU 112 to the bus controller 113 via the I / F 150. With this setting, the bus controller 113 performs necessary settings (various parameters corresponding to the output processing) for the printer output unit 807. After making the necessary settings, the CPU 112 permits the bus controller 113 to transfer image data again. In accordance with this permission, the bus controller 113 starts transferring image data from the DRAM 122 or a device connected via each I / F.

  The printer output unit 807 temporarily stores the received image data in the DRAM 152. Thereafter, the image stored in the DRAM 152 is output to the printer image processing unit 153 in accordance with the synchronization signal input from the printer image processing 153.

<Multifunction system as a whole>
A configuration example of the entire network system according to the present invention is shown in FIG. An apparatus 1001 according to the present invention includes a scanner and a printer, which will be described later. An image read from the scanner can be sent to a local area network 1010 (hereinafter referred to as LAN), and an image received from the LAN can be printed out by a printer. Further, an image read from the scanner can be transmitted to PSTN or ISDN (1030) by a FAX transmission means (not shown), and an image received from PSTN or ISDN can be printed out by a printer. A database server 1002 manages the binary image and the multi-valued image read by the apparatus 1001 of the present invention as a database. Reference numeral 1003 denotes a database client of the database server 1002 that can browse / search image data stored in the database 1002. An e-mail server 1004 can receive an image read by the apparatus 1001 of the present invention as an e-mail attachment. Reference numeral 1005 denotes an e-mail client that can receive and browse e-mails received by the e-mail server 1004 and send e-mails. Reference numeral 1006 denotes a WWW server that provides an HTML document to the LAN. The apparatus 1001 according to the present invention can print out the HTML document provided by the WWW server. Reference numeral 1007 denotes a router that connects the LAN 1010 to the Internet / intranet 1012. The database server (1002), WWW server (1006), e-mail server (1004), and the device similar to the device (1001) of the present invention are connected to the Internet / intranet as 1020, 1021, 1022, and 1023, respectively. ing. On the other hand, the apparatus 1001 of the present invention can transmit and receive with the FAX apparatus 1031 via PSTN or ISDN (1030). A printer 1040 is also connected on the LAN, and is configured to print out an image read by the apparatus 1001 of the present invention.

<Expansion of multi-function system>
The expansion connector (135) has an expandable system configuration represented by Universal Serial Bus (hereinafter referred to as USB), and this multifunction system itself can be a host computer device, Conversely, this system becomes a host, enabling communication with connected USB devices and expanding the system.

  Here, the USB device device is connected to the extended portion (135) via the bus (2001) to the USB host controller (2002). In addition, the USB host controller is in the main controller, and the expansion connector may not be used. Furthermore, an external device may be connected to the system according to a standard other than USB.

<Language display switching example 1 by connection with an external device>
A hard disk drive (132) is connected to the general-purpose high-speed bus (130) via a hard disk controller (131). Here, in addition to the activation program of this system, a stored image file, font information, and the like are stored. As for the data related to the display unit, language data of each country is stored in the hard disk drive.

  For example, consider connecting a digital camera to the system.

  First, when a digital camera (4003) is connected to this system, it communicates with the USB host controller (4002) via the bus (4001). As a result, the communication data is transferred to the main controller side (111) (4150).

  Next, the font information in the digital camera is acquired from the basic information in the digital camera (4200). Here, the language information may be decoded by accessing an image file in the digital camera, and the language can be recognized by accessing unique information such as a destination without being limited to font information.

  Next, assume that the language is recognized. In this case, the main CPU (112) accesses the data in the language in the hard disk drive (132) by the hard disk controller (131) via the general-purpose high-speed bus (130) and reads it out. The data is sent from the I / O control unit (136) to the panel I / F (141) via the LCD controller (140), and the converted language is displayed on the operation unit. Here, the recognized language information can be acquired by accessing a server that stores the language information, or by storing the language information for display in a memory and acquiring it from the server at high speed.

  Also, frequently used language information is stored in the memory, read / converted at high speed, and infrequently used language information is stored in a slower storage device such as a hard disk or a server on the network. Can be stored and the language information data can be read therefrom.

  If the language cannot be recognized (4450), the language can be manually switched (4600). In addition, when the language or country can be determined, but there are a plurality of options (4510), it is possible to select from these. Furthermore, if the language can be determined but there is no data in the hard disk drive, it is possible to search for data on the network or to make settings suitable for various places such as displaying English.

  In addition, when the language display is changed again while the digital camera is connected, the display language on the system side can be switched in conjunction with the digital camera.

<Language display switching example 2>
It is assumed that the control unit accepts access from a web browser or the like via the network controller (125) and can access or control the system via the web browser.

  In this case, the base language information of the device equipped with the Web browser is determined, the display candidate language is displayed on the Web browser, the user is made to select, and the language data transmitted to the browser is changed. In this case, by default, a method of switching the language based on the English display may be adopted, or the base language may be determined at the time of access, and the display may be performed in that language to prompt the change.

  Information for browser display is stored in each storage device, and the data can be appropriately changed according to the language data accessed to the system and transmitted to the device.

<Language display switching example 3>
Assume a case where a device such as an IC card reader is connected to the USB host controller as shown in FIG. 10 and the right to use this system is given to each user.

  In this case, it is possible to write language information to be used in the IC card and display the language based on the data when the card is inserted into the card reader.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of this apparatus. It is an external view of the reader part and printer part of this apparatus. It is a block diagram of the control-apparatus part of this apparatus. It is a block diagram of a leader image processing unit. It is a block diagram of an ACS count unit. It is a block diagram of a portion related to image processing of a scanner I / F. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a portion related to image processing of a printer I / F. It is a block diagram of GraphicProcessor. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a multifunction system. This is an expanded control unit.

Claims (10)

  An apparatus capable of inputting and outputting image data, comprising: a data storage means; an operation instruction means for the apparatus; and language information for display can be stored in the storage means. apparatus.   2. The image input / output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data storage means is not only a device in the apparatus but also data storage means existing in a network.   An image input / output device having an interface for connecting and communicating with an external device, and means for acquiring language information from a result of communication with the external device in an apparatus capable of inputting and outputting image data .   An apparatus capable of inputting and outputting image data, comprising: means for switching a language for display on the operation instruction means in accordance with a language of an external device.   5. The image input / output apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the language switching means can be manually operated.   5. The image input / output apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the language switching means can be selected from a plurality of language candidates.   5. The image input / output apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the language switching means includes means for prompting switching of language display when language information cannot be obtained.   5. The image according to claim 4, wherein the language switching means has means for detecting that the external device has changed the display language, and has means for switching the display language of the operation instruction means in conjunction therewith. I / O device.   An apparatus capable of inputting and outputting image data, comprising: means for holding a type of language to be displayed on a screen as operation instruction means and usage frequency information.   The image input / output apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a unit that distributes language information to the storage unit based on usage frequency information of the language.

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