JP4546225B2 - Control method and control program for image reading system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus including a display unit and an operation input unit, and an image reading method in the image processing apparatus.

  Conventionally, in this type of image reading apparatus, image reading can be set for each button provided, and an image can be read with a desired setting by pressing the button.

  FIG. 12A shows the appearance of the image reading apparatus. In FIG. 12A, reference numeral 1201 denotes a document table cover for pressing a set document, 1202 denotes a protective sheet for protecting the film reading light source unit, 1203 denotes a film reading light source unit for illuminating the film, and 1204 reads the document. An original reading unit, 1205 indicates an original platen glass on which an original to be read is placed, and 1207 indicates an original alignment mark. In the case of a reflective document, the document is placed on the document table 1205 and the document is read by the document reading unit 1204. The image reading apparatus is connected to a computer 150 (not shown) through an interface such as a USB.

  FIG. 12B is an enlarged view of 1206. The settings of the image reading operation when the scanner buttons 1211 to 1214 are pressed can be registered in advance in the software on the computer 1210 side. With respect to the COPY button 1211, a reading condition and a printer are set. When the COPY button is pressed, a document is scanned with the set condition and output to the designated printer. For the 1212 SCAN button, a document type, a scan mode, a document size, and a resolution are set, and a file format and file name to be saved, a file saving destination, and an application for opening the saved file are set. The 1213 PDF button can be set in the same way as the 1212 SCAN button, and the file format to be stored is PDF. For the E-MAIL button of 1214, if the mail software is selected as the application to be activated with the same setting as the SCAN button of 1212, the scanned image is attached to the newly sent mail by pressing the E-MAIL button. can do.

  When the scanner buttons 1211 to 1214 are pressed, communication with the computer 150 of the external device is performed, an image is read under the set conditions, a registered application is started, and the read image can be passed.

In addition, there is a patent application (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2) relating to an apparatus that directly sends a read image to a computer connected to the image reading apparatus via a network, and an image reading apparatus that can select which computer to send the image to. It is about.
US Patent Publication 2003/0043423 US Patent Publication 2003/0048303

  In the operation unit of the image reading apparatus, the folder in which the image file is stored cannot be confirmed only by pressing the SCAN button or the PDF button. Further, although there is an image reading apparatus that can confirm a computer to which an image file is sent, only one folder can be addressed to one computer, and registration of the destination computer is performed by the image reading apparatus. Therefore, the operation unit and the control unit of the image reading apparatus are complicated. In particular, in order to display in multiple languages, it is necessary to hold character fonts in each language in the image reading apparatus.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a control method of an image reading system in which an image processing apparatus is connected to an image reading apparatus having a display unit and an operation unit, and the image data read by the image reading device A creation step of creating display data of a bitmap to be displayed on the display unit as a storage destination candidate by the image processing device, a display data transmission step of sending the display data from the image processing device to the image reading device, a display step of displaying the display data transmitted by the display data transmitting step at said display unit, a selection step of selecting the destination from the operation unit is input, the start of image reading from the operation unit is input instruction, and an instruction step of notifying the image processing apparatus the instruction input from the image reading apparatus, a selection input at said selection step, said image processing from said image reading apparatus A notifying step of notifying the device, in response to the instruction step read a reading step for reading the image the image processing apparatus controls the image reading apparatus, from the image reading apparatus, in said reading step image A read data transmission step for sending data to the image processing device, and the image data sent in the read data transmission step in the image processing device as a file of image data in the storage location notified in the notification step And a storage step for storing the image reading system.

A control program for an image reading system in which an image processing apparatus is connected to an image reading apparatus having a display unit and an operation unit, and is displayed on the display unit as a storage destination candidate for image data read by the image reading device. A bitmap display data to be generated by the image processing apparatus, a display data transmission process for transmitting the display data from the image processing apparatus to the image reading apparatus, and a display data transmission process. wherein the display step display data for displaying on the display unit, a selection step of selecting the destination from the operation unit is input, the start of the read image is instruction input from the operation unit, the instruction input the image notifying step of notifying the instruction step of notifying the reader to the image processing apparatus, a selection input at said selection step, from the image reading apparatus to the image processing apparatus In response to the instruction step, the reading step for reading the image the image processing apparatus controls the image reading apparatus, from the image reading apparatus, the image data read by the reading process in the image processing apparatus A read data transmission step for sending, and a storage step for storing the image data sent in the read data transmission step in the image processing apparatus as a file of image data in the save destination notified in the notification step. This is a control program for an image reading system.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, image reading can be started after the storage location of the image data registered in the image processing apparatus is selected and confirmed by the operation unit of the image reading apparatus. According to the sixth and eleventh aspects of the present invention, since display data on the display unit of the image reading apparatus can be created and registered by the image processing apparatus, an image reading apparatus having a simple configuration can be obtained.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image reading apparatus and a computer as an image processing apparatus. In FIG. 1, 100 is an image reading device, 101 is a document, and light from the document irradiated from an internal light source 111 is formed on a CCD, which is a solid-state image sensor 103, through a joint lens 102. . Reference numeral 110 denotes an internal light source ON / OFF control circuit for controlling ON / OFF of the internal light source 111. In addition to the CCD, the imaging element can also use a COMS or the like. Next, an analog gain adjuster 104 variably amplifies the analog image signal output from the CCD line sensor 103. The light source 111, the imaging lens 102, and the CCD 103 constitute an image reading unit, and are moved in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the document by a pulse motor 113. Reference numeral 112 denotes a motor driver circuit that drives the pulse motor 113, and outputs an excitation switching signal for the pulse motor 113 in response to a signal from a scanner controller 109 that is a system control unit of the image reading apparatus 100. An A / D converter 105 converts the analog image signal output from the analog gain adjuster 104 into a digital image signal. An image processing circuit 106 performs image processing such as offset correction, shading correction, digital gain adjustment, color balance adjustment, masking, and resolution conversion in the main and sub scanning directions on the digital image signal. Reference numeral 107 denotes a line buffer that temporarily stores image data and is realized by a general-purpose RAM. Reference numeral 108 denotes an interface circuit for communicating with an external device 150 such as a computer. Interfaces such as SCSI, parallel, USB, and IEEE1394 are used. An offset RAM 114 is used as a working area when performing image processing. The offset RAM 114 is used for correcting the offset between the RGB lines because the line sensor 103 has the RGB line sensors arranged in parallel with a predetermined offset. The offset RAM 114 also temporarily stores various data such as shading correction. Here, it is realized by a general-purpose RAM. Reference numeral 115 denotes a gamma RAM for storing a gamma curve and performing gamma correction. A scanner controller 109 controls the scanner in accordance with a command from the external device 150, and controls the motor driver circuit 112, the internal light source ON / OFF control circuit 110, the image processing circuit 106, and the like. Reference numeral 118 denotes an LCD displayed on the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100. A VRAM 119 writes data to be displayed on the LCD. Information displayed on the LCD 118 and the VRAM 119 are controlled by the scanner controller 109. An operation input unit 120 includes a plurality of push buttons. An external device 150 is a host computer and is connected to a monitor 151.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view of the image reading apparatus 100 in the present embodiment. 201 is a frame of the image reading apparatus 100, 202 is a sensor unit, 203 is a reference axis that serves as a reference for moving the sensor unit in the sub-scanning direction, and 204 is an operation belt that is connected to the sensor unit 202 and operates along the reference axis. 113 is a stepping motor, and 206 is a gear group for transmitting drive from the motor to the belt.

  The scanner controller of the image reading apparatus that has received the scan command from the external device drives the motor 113 and drives the belt via the gear group 206. As a result, the sensor unit 202 moves in the sub-operation direction along the reference axis 203 and reads an image.

  Reference numeral 207 denotes a board, 208 denotes a USB connection connector, 210 denotes a flat cable for connecting the sensor unit 202 and the board 207, and 211 denotes a connector for connecting an AC adapter as an external power source.

  FIG. 3A is a diagram of the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100. Reference numerals 301 to 304 denote scanner buttons of the operation input unit 120. When these buttons are pressed, the document is scanned under the conditions set for each button. (Details will be described later.) 305 is a liquid crystal display (hereinafter, LCD) for displaying a storage folder of the read image. Reference numeral 306 denotes a plurality of PDF buttons. By pressing these buttons, the character string of “save destination folder” displayed on the LCD 305 is switched. When the START button 304 is pressed, scanning is started, and the read image is saved in the save destination folder displayed on the LCD.

  FIG. 4 shows the structure of a program for controlling the image reading apparatus 100. Reference numeral 401 denotes an application compatible with the TWAIN standard, which is file creation software that saves files in the function settings of the scanner buttons 301 to 304 and various formats. It has a function of reading an image from the image reading apparatus 100 via the TWAIN driver 302, processing the image according to a user instruction, and saving the image. In accordance with the TWAIN standard, the TWAIN driver 402 can pass an image from the image reading apparatus 100 to a TWAIN compatible application and can display a unique GUI (graphic user interface). The GUI has functions for performing preview, specifying a crop area for a preview image, setting a resolution, setting a reading mode (binary, 8-bit multi-value, 24-bit multi-value, etc.), setting color adjustment such as gamma correction, and the like. . The device driver 403 accesses the control register of each module of the image reading apparatus 100, controls shading, sets the motor speed according to the resolution and cropping range, and sends the gamma correction data received from the TWAIN driver to the image reading apparatus 100. Flow control for transmission processing and image reading is performed. The port driver 404 performs communication control with the image reading apparatus 100 according to an interface such as a parallel interface, a SCSI interface, a USB interface, or an IEEE1394 interface. Reference numeral 405 denotes an operating system (OS) of the host computer 150 such as Windows (registered trademark). The button monitor 406 is a module that detects whether a button on the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100 has been pressed, and always detects whether the button has been pressed at a certain interval. When it is detected that the button has been pressed, the file creation software 401 is notified of information on the pressed button, and the file creation software reads the image via the TWAIN driver 302 under the conditions set for each button.

  FIG. 5A shows a user interface of the file creation software 401 displayed when the image reading apparatus performs reading. Here, a setting screen for buttons of PDF1 to PDF10 is shown.

  Reference numeral 501 denotes a pull-down list for selecting a scan mode (color / gray / monochrome), 502 a pull-down list for selecting a resolution, and 503 a pull-down list for selecting a document size. A text box 504 is used to input a file name to be saved. A pull-down list 505 is used to select a file type to be saved. Normally, a PDF file is selected, but another format such as JPEG, BMP, TIFF is designated. You can also. Reference numeral 506 denotes a text box for displaying a file storage destination folder. Reference numeral 507 denotes a reference button for displaying a dialog 512 for selecting a storage destination folder. Each storage destination folder is registered corresponding to the button 306 in FIG. is doing. Reference numeral 509 denotes a button for setting which application displays the scanned image. Here, Acrobat Reader of Adobe is selected. Reference numeral 508 denotes a button for canceling the application setting, and the image after reading is not displayed but only stored. The buttons 301 to 304 in the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100 can be individually set in the same manner according to each operation.

  When the apply button 511 is pressed, a process for changing the name of the save destination folder indicated by the text box 506 to BMP data for bitmap display on the LCD 305 of the display unit of the image reading apparatus 100 is performed. At this time, as shown in Table 1, for each of the plurality of PDF buttons 306, a table is created in which each storage destination folder name, storage folder path, and display BMP data are associated with each other. When the PDF button 306 in the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100 is pressed, the image reading apparatus 100 and the external apparatus 150 communicate with each other, refer to the table in Table 1 and store the BMP data of the folder name of the storage destination in the image reading apparatus. Send. The transmitted data is displayed on the LCD 118 of the image reading apparatus.

  The operation when the button on the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100 is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that a plurality of storage destination folders are set in advance using the apply button in FIG. 5 and the table in Table 1 and display BMP data corresponding to each PDF button are stored in the computer. . First, in step 601, the computer 150 is activated (S <b> 601), and when the image reading apparatus 100 is turned on in step 602, the computer 150 detects that the image reading apparatus is connected and performs the reading operation. First, initial settings such as illumination control are performed (S602). In step 603, the button monitor 406 starts button detection. The button monitor 406 periodically monitors the states of the buttons of the operation input unit 120 of the image reading apparatus 100 via the interface (S603). In step 604, when the PDF button 306 of the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100 is pressed, the button monitor 406 is detected, and the information of the pressed button is notified to the file creation software 401 (S604). ). In step 605, the file creation software 401 refers to the table (Table 1) and acquires BMP data of the folder name corresponding to the pressed button (S605). In step 606, the acquired BMP data is transmitted to the image reading apparatus and written in the VRAM 119 of the image reading apparatus 100 (S606). The BMP data of the save destination folder name written in the VRAM 119 is displayed on the LCD 118.

  Next, when the START button 304 is pressed in step 607 (S607), the button monitor 406 notifies the file creation software 401 of information indicating that the START button is pressed in step 608, and the file creation software is set. Reading of an image is started under the reading conditions that are present (S608). In step 609, after the image reading is completed, the read image is stored in the storage destination folder displayed in step 606 (S609). If a file with the same name exists, a number such as 0001, 0002,... Is added to the file name and saved. If there is an application setting for opening the scanned image in step 610 (S610), the scanned image is transferred to the set application in step 611, and the scanned image is displayed on the application (S611). If there is no application setting, the operator can confirm that the file name of the read image has been newly added by opening and displaying the save destination folder in step 612 (S612).

  Although not shown in the flow of FIG. 6, when the pressing of the START button is detected in step 607 in the state where the PDF button is not detected in step 604, the file name and the save destination folder are changed. A dialog for setting is displayed, image reading is started after the setting is input, and the image is saved in the set saving destination folder. It is also possible to display the corresponding saving destination folder by setting the default PDF button to be pressed in the initial setting after power-on.

  FIG. 7 illustrates an operation when the file creation software 401 registers a save destination folder with reference to a flowchart. As described with reference to FIG. 5, the reference button 507 is pressed in step 701 to display the folder selection dialog 512 (S701). In step 702, the operator selects a save destination folder. When the saving destination folder is selected, the PDF button, the folder name, and the folder path are registered in the table shown in Table 1 (S702). If registration of all the save destination folders to be set is completed in step 703 (S703), an apply button 511 is pressed in step 704 (S704). In step 705, the name of the save destination folder corresponding to each PDF button is obtained from the table of Table 1, and this is used by the OS (Windows (registered trademark)) function GetGlypyOutline () and the font managed by the OS. The text data is converted into BMP data and stored (S705). By using this BMP data, the folder name displayed on the computer 150 can be displayed as it is in correspondence with the display national language on the LCD 118 without installing the character generator of the national language font on the image reading apparatus side. . In step 706, the BMP data of each storage destination folder name is added to the plurality of PDF buttons 306 in the table of Table 1 in correspondence with each other and stored (S706).

  Table 1 is a table of save destination folder names corresponding to the buttons 306 of the PDF1 to PDF10 in the operation unit 120 of the image reading apparatus 100. The first column is the button name in the operation unit of the image reading apparatus 100, the second column is the name of the storage folder corresponding to each button, the third column is the path of the storage folder, and the fourth column is the second column. It shows identification data of BMP data obtained by converting a folder name into a bitmap.

(Example 2)
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image reading apparatus 800 according to the second embodiment and a computer as an image processing apparatus. In FIG. 8, the image reading apparatus 800 is different from the image reading apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 in that the CPU 809 is used instead of the scanner controller 109 in FIG. 1, and the CPU 809 has a ROM (809 for storing a program). -1) and a RAM (809-2) used as a work area. The others are the same, and the reference numerals are given the 800s instead of the 100s in FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the scanner button is pressed according to the second embodiment of the present invention. First, in step 901, the computer (150) is activated (S901), and in step 902, the image reading apparatus (800) is turned on and connected to the computer (150). At this time, the device driver (403) performs an initialization operation (S902). The steps so far are the same as in FIG. Next, in step 903, the table of the storage destination folder name created in advance and the BMP data for display corresponding to each PDF button are transmitted to the image reading apparatus (800). The transmitted data is stored in the RAM (809-2) by the CPU (809) (S903). In step 904, the button monitor (406) starts button detection (S904). If it is detected in step 905 that the PDF button (406) of the operation unit has been pressed (S905), the folder name BMP data corresponding to the pressed button is stored in the CPU RAM (809-2) in step 906. ) And write to VRAM (819). The BMP data of the folder name written in the VRAM (819) is displayed on the LCD (818) (S906). The operations from S907 to S912 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the file creation software (401) registers the save destination folder in the second embodiment of the present invention. Steps 1001 to 1006 are the same as steps 701 to 706 in FIG. 7. In the second embodiment, in step 1007, the table in Table 1 and the BMP data stored in step 1006 are stored in the image reading apparatus. To (100). The transmitted data is stored in the RAM (809-2) by the CPU (809) (S1007).

  As described above, in the second embodiment, since a new table and BMP data are stored in the image reading apparatus every time a new storage destination folder is registered, BMP data on the LCD 305 corresponding to pressing of the PDF button 306 is stored. Can be displayed quickly.

(Example 3)
FIG. 11 shows an example in which an operation unit of the image reading apparatus (100) is different from that shown in FIG. Reference numerals 311 to 314 denote scanner buttons, and reference numeral 315 denotes an LCD for displaying a storage folder for a scanned image, which is the same as that shown in FIG. Reference numeral 316 denotes an up / down key for switching the display of the character string of “save destination folder” displayed on the LCD (315). According to the up and down buttons, the up and down buttons of the folder name display row in Table 1 are selected. Are displayed on the LCD 315. Here, “PDF6:” indicating the sixth line of Table 1 is also added and displayed. When the START button (314) is pressed here, reading of the original image is started, and the scanned image is saved in the save destination folder displayed on the LCD (415). Compared to FIG. 3, the area of the operation unit can be reduced, the number of buttons can be reduced, and the upper limit of the number of folders that can be registered is not limited to the number of PDF buttons.

(Other examples)
In the above embodiment, the data displayed on the LCD is displayed with only the folder name or the row number of the table added. However, the folder path can also be created and displayed as BMP data. In addition to folder information, scan setting information such as resolution, color mode (color / gray / monochrome), document size (A4 / B5, etc.) and file format (PDF / JPEG, etc.) is created as BMP data. Can also be displayed. Further, when the BMP data to be displayed is longer than the display area of the LCD, it can be automatically scrolled or a scroll button can be used.

  In the example of Table 1, the folders that can be registered are those below the C drive of the computer 150, but the folder that can be registered is not limited to this. it can. For example, even if it is a folder on a file server connected via a network or a “shared folder” set on another computer connected via a network, it is registered if the operator has permission to record. be able to.

1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image reading apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a mechanical configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation unit of the image reading apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 is a software configuration diagram for controlling the image reading apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating a user interface of an application that controls the image reading apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a button of the image reading apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment is pressed. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of registering a save destination folder in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image reading apparatus according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a button of the image reading apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment is pressed. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of registering a save destination folder in the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation unit of an image reading apparatus according to a third embodiment. It is an external view of a conventional image reading apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

100 image reading device 150 computer (image processing device)
118, 305 LCD (display)
120 Operation section 304 Start button 306 PDF button

Claims (7)

A control method for an image reading system in which an image processing apparatus is connected to an image reading apparatus having a display unit and an operation unit,
A creation step of creating, in the image processing device, bitmap display data to be displayed on the display unit as a storage destination candidate for image data read by the image reading device;
A display data transmission step of sending the display data from the image processing device to the image reading device;
A display step of displaying the display data transmitted in the display data transmission step on the display unit;
A selection step in which selection of the storage destination is input from the operation unit;
An instruction step in which an instruction to start image reading is input from the operation unit , and the instruction input is notified from the image reading apparatus to the image processing apparatus ;
A notification step of notifying the image processing device of the selection input in the selection step;
In accordance with the instruction process, the image processing apparatus controls the image reading apparatus to read an image; and
A reading data transmission step of sending image data read in the reading step from the image reading device to the image processing device;
The image processing apparatus further comprises a storage step of storing the image data sent in the read data transmission step as a file of image data in the storage location notified in the notification step. System control method.   The control method according to claim 1, wherein the storage destination is in a storage device that can be stored from the image processing apparatus.   The control method according to claim 1, wherein the display data of the bitmap is created using font data managed by an operating system of the image processing apparatus.   The control method according to claim 1, wherein the display data is data for displaying a folder name of the storage destination.   The control method according to claim 4, wherein the display data further includes data for displaying the storage destination path.   The control method according to claim 1, wherein the selection step selects one display data among the plurality of display data displayed in the display step. A control program for an image reading system in which an image processing apparatus is connected to an image reading apparatus having a display unit and an operation unit,
A creation step of creating, in the image processing device, bitmap display data to be displayed on the display unit as a storage destination candidate for image data read by the image reading device;
A display data transmission step of sending the display data from the image processing device to the image reading device;
A display step of displaying the display data transmitted in the display data transmission step on the display unit;
A selection step in which selection of the storage destination is input from the operation unit;
An instruction step in which an instruction to start image reading is input from the operation unit , and the instruction input is notified from the image reading apparatus to the image processing apparatus ;
A notification step of notifying the image processing device of the selection input in the selection step;
In accordance with the instruction process, the image processing apparatus controls the image reading apparatus to read an image; and
A reading data transmission step of sending image data read in the reading step from the image reading device to the image processing device;
The image processing apparatus further comprises a storage step of storing the image data sent in the read data transmission step as a file of image data in the storage location notified in the notification step. System control program.

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