JP3312540B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

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 capable of additionally synthesizing and outputting an additional image such as an advertisement image in a blank area generated when a read document image is output, and more particularly to an output mode of an advertisement image. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of performing appropriate charge distribution to an advertiser and a user based on the information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of copiers, an advertisement image is additionally combined with a document image as an additional image and copied and output.
Attention has been paid to a copying machine which can make the copying fee when an advertisement image is added different from the copying fee when an advertisement image is not added, and which can provide convenience for both the copying machine user and the advertisement image provider. I have.

Conventionally, as a copying machine capable of synthesizing and outputting such an advertisement image with a document image, conventionally, a read document image is combined with an advertisement image arranged at a physical position and output. There is something that can be done.

For example, there is a copying apparatus in which a rotatable advertisement document is arranged below the platen glass according to a customer's selection, and a document image on the platen and an advertisement document under the platen are simultaneously read during document scanning to generate a composite image ( JP 6
2-118362).

There is also an image forming system that reads an advertisement image from an advertisement management server via a network and combines and outputs the advertisement image in a detected blank area (see Japanese Patent Application No. 7-57769).

This image forming system previously holds various types of advertisement images and advertisement images of various sizes, selects an advertisement image conforming to the detected margin area, and converts the selected advertisement image into a document image. These are synthesized and output.

Here, when an output image in which an advertisement image is added and synthesized to a document image is obtained, charging for an output image not including an advertisement image and an output image including an advertisement image are made different. That is, for an output image including an advertisement image, the advertiser bears a part of the charge for the image output, and reduces the charge for the user who performed the image output. In this case, a simple process of allocating the ratio of the fee paid by the advertiser based on the ratio of the number of output images only including the advertisement image to the total number of output images including the advertisement image is performed. .

[0008] In addition, there is an image information retrieval system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-299453, for example, for charging an advertisement image provider. Although this relates to the output of information to the display screen, information provider billing information including an information provider identifier indicating the provider of the advertisement image is stored, and the information is used by the user (when the information is used on the display screen). The amount of information relating to (display output) is charged to the provider of the advertised advertisement screen.

[0009]

As described above, in the accounting control by the conventional image forming system (Japanese Patent Application No. 7-57769), the number of all output images and the number of output images including an advertisement image are respectively determined. Counting, calculating the ratio of the number of combined output images including the advertisement image to the total number of output images based on the counting result, and using the calculated ratio alone with the advertisement provider and the use of the output image. Was to determine the distribution of fees to the public. That is, the charge distribution is determined only by the number of output images including the actually output advertisement image.

For example, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between an advertisement copy index Y corresponding to a percentage value of the number AC of combined output images including an advertisement image with respect to the number NC of all output images.
An advertisement copy index Y corresponding to this percentage division is obtained, and if the unit price of one output image is X, the charge amount to the user is NC × X × (1−Y), and the charge amount to the advertisement provider is NC × X × (1-Y). Charge distribution was performed with the amount being NC × X × Y.

However, the advertising effect obtained by the output image including the advertisement image is not necessarily determined by the simple number of the composite output images including the advertisement image.
It changes depending on the output mode of the composite output image including the advertisement image. For example, a composite output image with a large number of copies should be considered to be more likely to be seen by many people, and the advertising effect in this case can be said to be greater than that with a small number of copies. Here, the output mode refers to a case where a plurality of copies of the same document image are output, a ratio of an advertisement image included in the output image to the output image, or a location of the advertisement image.

Therefore, in the conventional image forming apparatus capable of obtaining a composite output image including an advertisement image, there is a problem that appropriate charging control in consideration of an output mode may not be performed.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates such a problem,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of finely charging a combined output image obtained by adding and combining an additional image such as an advertisement image.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of outputting a combined output image obtained by additionally combining an additional image with a read document image. Counting means for counting the number of combined output images and the number of all output images, and when a plurality of output copies are designated, the designated output copy number and the combined output image counted by the counting means are counted. Correction means for correcting the count value of the number of composite output images in accordance with the number of copies, and charging corresponding to the count value of the total number of output images and the count value of the number of composite output images corrected by the correction means Charging index storage means for storing an index; a charging algorithm for storing a charging algorithm for a provider of the additional image and a charging algorithm for an output user of the original image; A beam storing means, based on the count value of the number of corrected said composite output image by the number and the correction means all output images counted by the counting means,
A corresponding charging index is obtained from the charging index storage means, the charging algorithm stored in the charging algorithm storage means is corrected by the obtained charging index, and the provider of the additional image and Control means for controlling calculation of a billing value for an output user of the document image.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of outputting a combined output image obtained by additionally combining an additional image with a read document image, wherein the number of combined output images obtained by additionally combining the additional image is provided. Counting means for counting the number of sheets and the total number of output images, and area ratio calculation means for calculating the ratio of the area of the additional image to the area of the entire output image,
A charging index storage unit for storing a charging index corresponding to a ratio of the area of the additional image calculated by the area ratio calculating unit to the area of the entire output image; a charging algorithm for a provider of the additional image; Algorithm storage means for storing a charging algorithm for an image output user; and a corresponding charging index from the charging index storage means based on the calculated value of the area ratio calculating means, and the charging algorithm based on the obtained charging index. Control means for correcting the charging algorithm stored in the storage means, and controlling to calculate a charging value for the provider of the additional image and the output user of the original image using the corrected charging algorithm. It is characterized by.

[0016]

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a copying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a copying machine C
Is an image input unit 1, a page memory 2, an advertisement function selection unit 3
, A selection instruction unit CP, an advertisement image holding unit 4, a billing table 5, a billing memory 6, a margin area detecting unit 7, an image synthesizing unit 8, an image output unit 9, a normal copy counter 10, an advertisement copy counter 11, and copying. Control unit CT for controlling the entire machine C
Having.

The image input unit 1 reads image information of a copy original placed on a platen as electronic data.

The page memory 2 holds image information read from the image input unit 1 in page units.

The selection instructing unit CP is for instructing selection of various processes such as enlargement / reduction processing and the number of copies, and is constituted by a liquid crystal display or the like.
An advertisement function selection unit 3 is provided. The advertisement function selection unit 3 selects whether to combine and output an advertisement image as an additional image together with the image information read by the image input unit (selects an advertisement function). is there.

The advertisement image holding unit 5 holds the advertisement image and also holds the size information of the advertisement image.

The billing table 6 is a table for storing an advertisement copy index Y corresponding to a percentage of the number of composite output images including the advertisement image with respect to the total number of output images. Here, the number of combined output images is changed by the control unit CT based on the output mode selected and instructed by the selection instructing unit CP. The advertisement copy index Y is an index indicating the distribution charged to the advertisement provider providing the advertisement image, and the distribution charged to the user using the copying machine C is (1-Y).

The billing memory 6 stores billing information to the advertisement provider and billing information to the user of the copying machine C calculated by using the advertisement copy index Y. It is displayed on the display of the CP, and is held as a charge to the advertiser. When the copying machine C is connected and used via a network (not shown), the billing information may be sent to a predetermined terminal via the network.

The blank area detecting section 7 detects the position and size of the blank area in the image information read by the image input section 1.

The image synthesizing section 8 synthesizes the image information read by the image input section 1 and the advertisement image held by the advertisement image holding section 5 based on the blank area detected by the blank area detecting section 7.

The image output unit 9 reads the image information of each page stored in the page memory 2 or the image information synthesized by the image synthesizing unit 8, and prints out the image information on a selected output sheet.

The normal copy counter 10 counts the number of all output images.

The advertisement copy counter 11 counts the number of combined output images in the image output unit 9 when the advertisement function is selected and the advertisement image is additionally combined.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
A charging control procedure when a plurality of copies are designated to be output by the copying machine C will be described.

First, the control unit CT sets the normal copy counter 1
A variable NC indicating the number of all output images counted by 0 and a variable AC indicating the number of combined output images counted by the advertisement copy counter 11 are initialized to "0" (step 101). Thereafter, when a designation input of a predetermined number of copies is notified from the selection instruction unit CP, the control unit CT sets the value of the variable N to the value of the number of copies (step 102). After that, the control unit CT performs a copying process based on the content instructed by the selection instructing unit CP (Step 103). Here, when the advertisement function is selected by the advertisement function selection unit 3,
The control unit CT reads a blank area in the image information read by the image input unit 1 and stored in the page memory 2.
The blank area detection unit 7 detects the margin area. The margin area detection unit 7
A blank area is detected by a predetermined algorithm, and the position and size of the detected blank area are obtained. And
The control unit CT instructs the image synthesizing unit 8 to acquire an advertisement image matching the size of the detected blank area from the advertisement image holding unit 4 and synthesize the acquired advertisement image at the detected position. The image synthesizing unit 8 performs a process of synthesizing the acquired advertisement image with the image information stored in the page memory 2. Then, the combined output image is output from the image output unit 9.

The control unit CT determines whether the output image obtained by the copying process is a composite output image including an advertisement image (step 104). If the output image is a composite output image including an advertisement image, the value of the variable AC is increased by one (step 1).
05), and further increases the value of the variable NC indicating the number of all output images by one (step 106). On the other hand, if the output image does not include the advertisement image, the value of the variable NC indicating the number of all output images is increased by one (step 106). afterwards,
It is determined whether the copying process is completed (step 107). If the copying process is not completed, the process proceeds to step 103 to continue the designated copying process.

On the other hand, when the designated copying process is completed in step 107, the control unit CT sets the number of copies N
Is divided by “2”, an integer is formed by rounding down a decimal part of the calculation result, and an integer α converted into the integer is obtained (step 108). Thereafter, the control unit CT adds the value indicated by the integer α to the number AC of the combined output images, and updates the number AC of the combined output images (Step 109). Then, a percentage of the number AC of the combined output images with respect to the number NC of all the output images is calculated, and an advertisement copy index Y corresponding to the calculated percentage is obtained by referring to the charging table 5 (step 110), and the advertisement provider is provided. And the accounting information for the user of the copying machine C is calculated, and these accounting information are stored in the accounting memory 6 (step 111).

In this way, the user of the copying machine C and the advertisement provider are charged based on the charging information stored in the charging memory 6. In the case where the user of the copying machine C uses the service at one time, the allocated charge is displayed on the display in the selection instructing unit CP on the spot, and the charge is collected. In the charging memory 6, charging information for the advertisement provider is stored for each advertisement provider, and thereafter, the advertisement provider is charged based on the charging information. Of course, when connected to a network (not shown), each charging information may be sent to a server that is connected to the network and manages charging.

Here, an example in which the number of combined output images is increased and changed will be described. For example, when outputting 30 output images, the output image is the same 30 sheets, but a 30-page original is
In the case of copying, the integer α is “0” because (the number of copies N) / 2 is １ ／, and the integer α is “1” when copying two copies of a 15-page document. When six copies of a five-page document are copied, the integer α is “3” because it is 6/2. Therefore, in the case of normal copying of one copy, the number of combined output images is not changed and the number of combined output images is increased and changed according to the increase in the number of copies. In this way, by performing the increase change processing of the number of sheets in consideration of the advertising effect accompanying the increase in the number of copies,
Appropriate charge distribution is performed.

Of course, the above-mentioned integer α indicating the increased number of sheets
The value of “2” in the calculation process of is not limited to the fixed value, but may be a function value that changes according to the value of the number of copies.

Furthermore, a concept of the number of combined output images BC when the number of copies is not taken into consideration may be introduced, and the value of the above-mentioned integer α may be used as the integer part of BC / N. For example, in the case of outputting the above-mentioned 30 output documents, the output image is the same 30 sheets, but the 30-page document is
In the case of copy copying, (the number of copies N) / (the number of composite output images BC when the number of copies is not taken into account) is 1/30, so the integer α is “0”, and two copies of the original of 15 pages are copied. In this case, since it is 2/15, the integer α becomes “0” and 3
When copying 10 copies of a page document, the integer α is “3” because it is 10/3, and when copying 6 copies of a 5-page document,
Since it is 6/5, the integer α is “1”. in this way,
The number BC of the number of combined output images when the number of copies is not considered is counted, and an appropriate integer α taking this value BC into account.
, An appropriate charge distribution may be performed.

Next, information stored in the charging table 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The charging table 3 stores the relationship between the advertisement copy index Y corresponding to the percentage of the number AC of the combined output images with respect to the number NC of all the output images.
Here, the number AC of the composite output image is obtained by adding the increased number to the physical output number, and thus the percentage may exceed 100%. Therefore, when the percentage is 100% or more, the advertisement copy index Y is calculated. The value is also stored. This point is different from the conventional one shown in FIG.

The advertisement copy index Y thus obtained
The following charge distribution is made based on the value of That is, the advertisement provider is charged for the number of all output images (NC) × the unit price per output image (X) × the advertisement copy index (Y). (N
C) × the unit price per output image (X) × (1−advertising copy index (Y)) is charged.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the first embodiment, the number of combined output images is changed in consideration of the number of copies, and an appropriate charge distribution is thereby performed. In the second embodiment, The number of combined output images in the combined output image is changed in consideration of the ratio indicated by the advertisement image, and an appropriate charge distribution is intended to be performed.

Although the configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of FIG. 1, the billing table 5 further includes an advertisement copy examination β corresponding to the percentage of the area of the advertisement image with respect to the area of the output paper.
Is stored.

Here, a charging control procedure according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 4, first, the control unit CT includes a variable NC indicating the number of all output images counted by the normal copy counter 10, a variable AC indicating the number of composite output images counted by the advertisement copy counter 11, and a variable E1. , E2 to "0"
(Step 201). Here, the variable E1
Indicates the cumulative value of the area of the advertisement image, and the variable E2 indicates the cumulative value of the area of the output sheet on which the composite advertisement image is output.

Thereafter, when receiving a copy instruction from the selection instruction unit CP, the control unit CT performs a copy process of generating an output image that does not include a composite output image or an advertisement image and outputting the image from the image output unit 9 (step). 202).

Thereafter, the control unit CT determines whether or not the output image obtained by the copying process is a composite output image including an advertisement image (step 203). If the output image is a composite output image including an advertisement image, the value of the variable AC is incremented by one (step 204), the value of the area of the output advertisement image is added to the value of the variable E1, and the area of the output paper is Is added to the value of the variable E2 (step 205), and a process of incrementing the value of the number NC of all output images by one (step 206) is performed. On the other hand, if the output image does not include the advertising image,
A process (step 206) of incrementing the value of the variable NC indicating the number of all output images by one is performed. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the copying process has been completed (step 207). If not, the process proceeds to step 202 to continue the instructed copying process.

On the other hand, when the instructed copying process is completed in step 207, the control unit CT calculates the total value of the area of the advertisement image with respect to the variable E2 which is the total value of the sheet area on which the composite output image is output. The percentage of the variable E1 is obtained, and the advertisement copy examination β corresponding to the percentage is acquired from the charging table 5 (step 208, FIG. 5). here,
The value of the advertisement copy examination β is a value to which the number of combined output images is added when the area occupied by the advertisement image with respect to the sheet area is large and the advertisement effect is large. Thereafter, the control unit CT changes the value of the variable AC by adding the obtained value of the advertisement copy examination β to the value of the variable AC (Step 209). Then, the percentage of the number AC of the combined output images with respect to the number NC of all the output images is calculated, and an advertisement copy index Y corresponding to the calculated percentage is obtained by referring to the charging table 5, and the charging information for the advertisement provider and The accounting information for the user of the copying machine C is calculated (step 21).
0). Then, the accounting information is stored in the accounting memory 6 (step 211).

In this way, the user of the copying machine C and the advertisement provider are charged based on the charging information stored in the charging memory 6.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the number of sheets corresponding to the composite output image, for example, the integer part α or the advertisement copy examination β is calculated for each copy processing. The integer part α or the advertisement copy examination β may be determined periodically, for example, every day, week, or month, and an appropriate charge distribution may be performed.

The first and second embodiments described above may be appropriately combined. The point is that the number of combined output images should be appropriately changed in accordance with the change in the advertising effect based on the number of copies or the area of the advertising image generated according to the output mode.

[0051]

As described above in detail, in the present invention, the counting means counts the number of combined output images obtained by additionally combining the original image with the original image and the number of all output images, and the changing means determines the number of combined output images. The number of the combined output images is changed in accordance with the output mode condition based on the output mode of the output image, and the control unit controls the number of all output images counted by the counting unit and the number of the combined output image changed by the change unit. Based on the number of sheets, quantitative control is performed such that the usage fee of the output image is distributed to the user of the output of the original image and the provider of the additional image. This has the advantage that the distribution of the usage fee is appropriately performed according to the output mode.

In particular, by setting the output mode condition to a condition corresponding to the number of composite output images when a plurality of output copies are specified, or by setting the area ratio of the additional image to the output paper of the composite output image, There is an advantage that an appropriate charge distribution is performed in consideration of the effect of adding the additional image, for example, the advertisement effect when the additional image is an advertisement image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a copying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a charging control procedure when output of the number of copies is designated;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a percentage of the number of combined output images with respect to the total number of output images and an advertising copy index stored in a billing table 5;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a charging control procedure in consideration of the area of an advertisement image.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between an area percentage of an advertisement image on an output sheet and advertisement copy examination stored in a billing table 5;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a percentage of the number of combined output images with respect to the total number of output images and an advertisement copy index according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

C: Copy machine CT: Control unit CP: Selection instruction unit 1: Image input unit 2: Page memory 3: Advertising function selection unit 4: Advertising image storage unit 5: Billing table 6: Billing memory 7: Margin area detection unit 8: Image synthesis unit 9 Image output unit 10 Normal copy counter 11 Advertising copy counter

Continued on the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 G03G 21/00-21/04 G03G 15/36 B41J 29/00-29/70 H04N 1/00 H04N 1 / 38-1/393

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An image forming apparatus capable of outputting a combined output image obtained by additionally combining an additional image with a read document image, wherein the number of combined output images obtained by additionally combining the additional image and the number of all output images are determined. Counting means for counting; and, when a plurality of output copies are specified, a total of the number of the composite output images in accordance with the specified number of output copies and the number of the composite output images counted by the counting means. Correction means for correcting a numerical value; charging index storage means for storing a charging index corresponding to the number of the total output images and the count value of the number of the composite output images corrected by the correction means; Charging algorithm storage means for storing a charging algorithm for a provider and a charging algorithm for an output user of the document image; Based on the number of force images and the count value of the number of composite output images corrected by the correction unit, a corresponding charging index is obtained from the charging index storage unit, and the charging algorithm storage is performed using the obtained charging index. Control means for correcting the charging algorithm stored in the means, and controlling to calculate a charging value for the provider of the additional image and the output user of the original image using the corrected charging algorithm. Characteristic image forming apparatus. 2. An image forming apparatus capable of outputting a combined output image obtained by additionally combining an additional image with a read document image, wherein the number of combined output images obtained by additionally combining the additional image and the number of all output images are determined. Counting means for counting; area ratio calculating means for calculating a ratio of the area of the additional image to the area of the entire output image; and the area of the additional image calculated by the area ratio calculating means being equal to the area of the entire output image. A charging index storage unit that stores a charging index corresponding to the occupying ratio; an algorithm storage unit that stores a charging algorithm for a provider of the additional image and a charging algorithm for an output user of the document image; The corresponding charging index is obtained from the charging index storage means on the basis of the calculated value of Control means for correcting the charging algorithm stored in the means, and controlling to calculate a charging value for the provider of the additional image and the output user of the original image using the corrected charging algorithm. Characteristic image forming apparatus.