JP2007221253A - Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology of reading an elimination target image in a way of not being eliminated when the reading of the elimination target image is required. <P>SOLUTION: When "non-elimination of an optional color" is selected in a reading mode selection of "elimination/non-elimination of an optional color", an optional color (blue ruled line) not eliminated is selected (S109). When the optional color (blue ruled line) not eliminated is selected, a green color LED and a red color LED that are settings not eliminating the blue ruled line stored in advance in a memory in a control circuit are simultaneously lighted (S110, S111), and reading operations of an original are started (S112, S113, S114). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that reads an image of an original without removing an arbitrary color, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a digital multi-function peripheral equipped with the image reading apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a form or the like to be input is preprinted with characters indicating character frames and entry items, and there is a manuscript on which a writer enters characters by hand according to the characters. This character frame may be printed in a color that deviates from the spectral characteristics of the photoelectric system composed of the image sensor and the illumination light source and drops from the read image (hereinafter referred to as “dropout color”). This is performed in order to drop the character frame from the read image and extract only the character as the read image because the character frame is an obstacle to character recognition. Actually, there are many cases in which a photoelectric system is constituted by an image sensor having a wide spectral sensitivity characteristic and a plurality of monochromatic illumination light sources, and the monochromatic illumination light sources are switched to cope with dropout colors. That is, in the case of a form in which a character frame is printed in a red dropout color, a red LED is used as the illumination light source of the image reading apparatus, and a blue LED is used in a blue dropout color form.

Specifically, for example, in Patent Document 1, a light source unit includes LEDs that emit R, G, and B colors, and an image sensor transmits a Y filter that transmits R and G colors, and R and B colors. When a dropout color is specified on the operation unit, a lighting order designating unit designates a light emitting color and a light emitting order, and a light source driving unit drives the LED to light according to the designation. When the image sensor is lit, the pixels corresponding to the Y filter and C filter positions receive only the R color, and when the LED is lit, the pixels corresponding to the Y filter position receive the G color and reach the C filter position. An invention is disclosed in which a corresponding pixel receives B color.
JP 2005-159734 A

  In conventional image reading devices, when character frames such as forms are printed in dropout color, they are removed from the read image, so it is possible to read character frames such as forms (user requests, etc.) It was difficult.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation of the prior art, and an object thereof is to prevent removal of an image to be removed when it is necessary to read the image.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first means includes an illuminating means for emitting and irradiating a plurality of light emitting light sources, and a photoelectric conversion for receiving and photoelectrically converting reflected light from a document illuminated by the illuminating means. An image reading apparatus including: a selecting unit that selects whether or not to remove an arbitrary color; a specifying unit that specifies an arbitrary color that is not to be removed; and a light emission color according to a color specified by the specifying unit. Control means for switching on and turning on the light source, wherein the control means turns on a plurality of light emission colors at the same time, and reads an arbitrary color by changing the light emission wavelength distribution of the light source.

  The second means is characterized in that, in the first means, the control means causes a plurality of emission colors other than the color designated by the designation means to be lighted simultaneously by the control means, and the designated color is read. And

  According to a third means, in the image reading apparatus based on the same premise as the first means, the control means turns on one emission color different from the spectral characteristic of the arbitrary color designated by the designation means, The color is read.

  The fourth means is characterized in that, in the first means, light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount of each light source is provided.

  The fifth means is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth means, the selection means is set in the operation unit.

  A sixth means is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth means, the designation means is set in the operation section.

  The seventh means is characterized in that, in the fourth means, the light amount adjusting means is set in the operation section.

  The eighth means is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth means, a light source having a green wavelength component is included in a plurality of emission colors to be lighted simultaneously.

  A ninth means is characterized in that the image forming apparatus includes the image reading apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth means.

  In the embodiment described later, the light source is denoted by reference numeral 2, the illumination means is paired with the light source 2, the photoelectric conversion means is image sensor 7, the selection means and designation means are the color designation operation unit 12a, and the control means is control. In the circuit 11, the light amount adjusting means corresponds to the light amount adjusting operation unit 12b.

  According to the present invention, since a plurality of emission colors are turned on at the same time and an arbitrary color is read, it is possible to prevent the removal target image from being removed when reading is necessary.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image reading apparatus of a sheet document conveying type according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this image reading apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of light sources 2 and a reference white roller (original transport roller) 4 are disposed with a contact glass 1 interposed therebetween, and a SELFOC lens array 3 is disposed between the pair of light sources 2. The imaging light of the Selfoc lens array 3 is guided to the image sensor 7. A document inserting / conveying roller 5 and a driven roller 8 are provided on the upstream side of the reference white roller 4 in the sheet conveying direction, and a document carrying / conveying roller and a driven roller 9 are provided on the downstream side. The sheet document 10 to be read is conveyed by rotating the document insertion / conveyance roller 5 in the direction of the arrow in the drawing by a driving means (not shown). The sheet original 10 is illuminated by the light source 2 while being conveyed, the reflected light is imaged on the image sensor 7 by the SELFOC lens array 3, and the read image signal is taken out as an electric signal.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the light source 2 is composed of an LED array in which LEDs 2R, 2G, and 2B that respectively emit red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light are sequentially arranged in a line on a substrate. ing.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of a control configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the image forming apparatus is controlled by a control circuit 11, an operation unit 12, and an AFE (analog front end) 13. The control circuit 11 controls lighting and current of the light source 2, and the operation unit 12 performs operation input to the control circuit 11. The AFE 13 amplifies the output of the image sensor 7, converts it to digital, and outputs it to the image processing apparatus side. The control circuit 11 includes a memory 11a and control units 11R, 11G, and 11B provided for the respective color LEDs, and control outputs of the control units 11R, 11G, and 11B after the respective colors are input to the respective color LEDs 2R, 2G, and 2B of the light source 2. The The control unit 12 includes an arbitrarily designated color designation operation unit 12a that is not removed, and a light amount adjustment operation unit 12b that performs light amount adjustment for adjusting the light amount of the light source. Accordingly, it is possible to select whether or not to remove an arbitrary color from the user interface such as the operation unit 12. When selecting not to remove an arbitrary color, an arbitrary color not to be removed is designated. be able to.

  When an arbitrary color that is not removed from the color designation operation unit 12a is selected, lighting control information and light amount information (current setting) of the light sources 2R, 2G, and 2B stored in advance in the memory 11a in the control circuit 11 are selected. ) Is read out, and the lighting conditions of the light sources 2R, 2G, and 2B are set. Further, each of the light sources 2R, 2G, and 2B can perform lighting control and current control independently.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the control circuit when reading without removing the blue ruled lines. This control procedure is executed by a CPU (not shown) in the control circuit 11 while using a RAM (not shown) as a work area for a program stored in a ROM (not shown).
In FIG. 4, when the main SW (power supply) of the image reading apparatus is turned on (step S101), the green LED 2G is turned on (step S102), the reference white roller 4 is read (step S103), and the output value is preset. The gain of the PGA 13a of the AFE 13 is set so as to be the target value (step S103), and the green LED 2G is turned off (step S104).

  When the color designation operation unit 12a selects to remove an arbitrary color (perform normal reading) in the reading mode selection of whether or not to remove an arbitrary color (step S105), the green LED is turned on again (step S106). ), An original reading operation is started (steps S107 and S108). When selecting not to remove an arbitrary color, an arbitrary color (blue ruled line) not to be removed is selected (step S109). When an arbitrary color (blue ruled line) that is not to be removed is selected, a setting for not removing the blue ruled line stored in advance from the memory 11a in the control circuit 11, for example, the green LED and the red LED are turned on simultaneously, Further, the current is set (steps S110 and S111), and the document reading operation is started (steps S112, S113, and S114). The setting of each light source is effective until the conditions such as turning off the main SW (power source), resetting the operation unit 12 and the like, and selecting whether or not to remove an arbitrary color are not changed. When the conditions change (during normal copying), initialization is performed again with the green LED.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure when the user adjusts the light quantity of an arbitrary light source.
The initial setting when the main SW (power supply) of the image reading apparatus is turned on is the same as that described with reference to FIG. When the user adjusts the light quantity of an arbitrary light source 2, the setting is stored in advance in the memory 11 a in the control circuit 11 when an arbitrary color that is not removed from the color designation operation unit 12 a is selected. Here, the user can adjust the light amount of the set light source by the user interface such as the light amount adjustment operation unit 12b (example: weakening 1 ← 2 ← 3 ← 4 (default) → 5 → 6 → 7 strongly To do). That is, when the green LED 2G and the red LED 2R are turned on, the light amount of the green LED 2G is adjusted (step S201), and the light amount of the red LED 2R is adjusted (step S202).

  Once the light amount is adjusted, the green LED 2G and the red LED 2R are turned on (steps S203 and S204), and the reference white roller 4 is read again in this state (step S205) so that the output value becomes a preset target value. Then, the gain of the PGA 13a of the AFE (analog front end) 13 is set (step S206), and the document reading operation is started (step S112). The setting of the light source at this time is effective until the conditions such as turning off the main SW (power supply), resetting the operation unit 12, etc., and selecting whether or not to remove an arbitrary color remain unchanged. The setting can also be stored in the memory 11a. When the condition changes (during normal copying), initial setting is performed again with the green LED 2G.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when selecting not to remove an arbitrary color, reading with a plurality of light sources, and selecting reading with a single light source.
The initial setting when the main SW (power supply) of the image reading apparatus is turned on is the same as that described with reference to FIG. When selecting not to remove any color in step S105, the user can select any single color light to be read, and when selected (steps S301 and S302), the reference white roller 4 is again turned on in that state. Reading (step S303), the gain of the AFE (analog front end) PGA is set so that the output value becomes a preset target value (step S304), and the reading operation is executed (steps S305 and S305).

  The setting of the light source 2 at this time is effective until the condition such as turning off the main SW (power supply), resetting the operation unit 12 or the like, or selecting whether or not to remove any color in step S105 is changed. Yes. The setting can also be stored in the memory 11a. When the condition changes (during normal copying), initial setting is performed again with the green LED 2G.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment. This image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus having a so-called composite function having a copying function and other functions such as a printer function and a facsimile function. The copying function, printer function, and facsimile function are controlled by an application switching key of the operation unit. It is possible to select by sequentially switching. The copy mode is selected when the copy function is selected, the print mode is selected when the printer function is selected, and the facsimile mode is selected when the facsimile mode is selected.

  First, in the copy mode, the operation is as follows. In an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 101, a document bundle in which a document is placed on a document table 102 with its image surface facing upward is placed at the bottom when a start key on the operation unit is pressed. A document is fed to a predetermined position on a document table 105 made of contact glass by a feed roller 103 and a feed belt 104. The ADF 101 has a count function that counts up the number of documents every time a document is fed. The document on the contact glass 105 is discharged onto a sheet discharge table 108 by a feeding belt 104 and a discharge roller 107 after image information is read by an image reading device 106 as an image input unit.

  When the document set detector 109 detects that there is a next document on the document table 102, the lowermost document on the document table 102 is similarly contact glass by the feed roller 103 and the feed belt 104. It is fed to a predetermined position on 105. After the image information is read by the image reading device 106, the original on the contact glass 105 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 108 by the feeding belt 104 and the discharge roller 107. Here, the feed roller 103, the feed belt 104, and the discharge roller 107 are driven by a conveyance motor (not shown).

  The image reading device 106 includes a light source 128 and a first mirror 129, and includes a first carriage that moves and scans in the sub-scanning direction, and second and third mirrors 130 and 131, which are half of the first carriage. A second carriage that moves and scans in the sub-scanning direction at a speed; a lens 132 that forms an image of reading light introduced from the third mirror 131; and a CCD that photoelectrically converts the reading light guided to the imaging surface by the lens 132 And the like.

  The first paper feeding device 110, the second paper feeding device 111, and the third paper feeding device 112 as the paper feeding means are stacked on the first tray 113, the second tray 114, and the third tray 115, respectively, when selected. Then, the sheet as the transfer material is fed, and the sheet is conveyed by the vertical conveyance unit 116 to a position where it abuts on the photoconductor 117 as the image carrier. For example, a photosensitive drum is used as the photosensitive member 117, and is rotated at a constant speed by a main motor (not shown).

  Image data read from the document by the image reading device 106 is converted into optical information by a writing unit 118 as writing means via an image processing means (not shown). The writing unit 118 includes an optical deflector 134 using the LD as a light source for the converted light information, an fθ lens 135 that converts light from the uniform angular velocity deflection to the uniform velocity deflection, and performs optical scanning in the main scanning direction, and a charger (not shown). It comprises a folding mirror 136 for scanning a light beam on the uniformly charged surface of the photosensitive drum 117, and optical writing is performed by optically scanning the surface of the photosensitive drum 117 to form an electrostatic latent image. . The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 117 is developed by the developing device 119 to become a toner image.

  The conveyance belt 120 serves as both a sheet conveyance unit and a transfer unit, and a transfer bias is applied from a power source. A toner image on the photosensitive drum 117 is conveyed while conveying the sheet from the vertical conveyance unit 116 at a constant speed with the photosensitive drum 117. Is transferred to the sheet. The toner image on the surface of the sheet is fixed by the fixing device 121 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 123 by the paper discharge unit 122. The photosensitive drum 117 is cleaned by a cleaning device (not shown) after the toner image is transferred. Here, the photosensitive drum 117, the charger, the writing unit 118, the developing device 119, and the transfer unit constitute an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet based on image data.

  In the print mode, external image data is input to the writing unit 118 instead of the image data from the image processing means, and an image is formed on the sheet by the image forming means. Further, in the facsimile mode, image data from the image reading means is transmitted to the other party by a facsimile transmission / reception unit (not shown), and image data from the other party is received by the facsimile transmission / reception unit, instead of the image data from the image processing means. By inputting to the writing unit 118, an image is formed on the sheet by the above-described image forming means.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
1) An arbitrary color can be read by simultaneously turning on a plurality of emission colors and changing the emission wavelength distribution of the light source.
2) When the user removes an arbitrary color (normal reading) by selecting whether or not to remove an arbitrary color or specifying an arbitrary color not to be removed from a user interface such as an operation unit It is possible to cope with various usage situations by using the color not to be removed and specifying the color not to be removed.
3) Since a light source having a green wavelength component is included in a plurality of emission colors that are turned on simultaneously, an output close to a normal (default) reading output can be obtained.

4) Since the light amount of each light source can be adjusted from the user interface such as the operation unit, the emission wavelength intensity of the light source can be adjusted, and the range of density that can be handled can be expanded.
5) Since one emission color different from the spectral characteristics of any color is turned on, any color can be reliably read.
There are effects such as.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image reading apparatus of a sheet document conveyance type according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the LED row | line | column as a light source which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure when making it read without removing a blue ruled line. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure when a user adjusts the light quantity of arbitrary light sources. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of selecting not to remove arbitrary colors, selecting reading with a single light source without performing reading with a plurality of light sources. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

Reference Signs List 2 Light source 4 Reference white roller 5 Document carry-in transport roller 6 Document discharge transport roller 7 Image sensor 11 Control circuit 11a Memory 11R, 11G, 11B LED lighting control and current control unit 12 Operation unit 12a Color designation operation unit 12b Light amount adjustment operation unit

Claims (9)

In an image reading apparatus comprising: an illumination unit that emits and emits light sources of a plurality of emission colors; and a photoelectric conversion unit that receives and photoelectrically converts reflected light from a document illuminated by the illumination unit.
A selection means for selecting whether or not to remove any color;
A designation means for designating any color not to be removed;
Control means for switching on the emission color according to the color designated by the designation means and lighting the light source;
The image reading apparatus is characterized in that the control means turns on a plurality of emission colors at the same time and reads an arbitrary color by changing the emission wavelength distribution of the light source.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the control unit to simultaneously turn on a plurality of emission colors other than the color designated by the designation unit, and causes the designated color to be read. In an image reading apparatus comprising: an illumination unit that emits and emits light sources of a plurality of emission colors; and a photoelectric conversion unit that receives and photoelectrically converts reflected light from a document illuminated by the illumination unit.
A selection means for selecting whether or not to remove any color;
A designation means for designating any color not to be removed;
Control means for switching on the emission color according to the color designated by the designation means and lighting the light source;
The image reading apparatus is characterized in that the control means turns on one emission color different from the spectral characteristic of the arbitrary color designated by the designation means and reads the arbitrary color.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light amount adjusting unit configured to adjust a light amount of each light source.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit is set in an operation unit.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the designation unit is set in an operation unit.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the light amount adjusting unit is set in an operation unit.   5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a light source having a green wavelength component is included in a plurality of emission colors that are simultaneously turned on.   An image forming apparatus comprising the image reading apparatus according to claim 1.

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