JP6717698B2 - Image reading system, image reading device, information processing device, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image reading device that transmits scan image data read from a scanner unit to an information processing device in response to a request from the information processing device as a host computer via a network, the information processing device, and an image reading device including these. Regarding systems and programs.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some image reading apparatuses such as multifunction peripherals have a function of transmitting scan image data read by a scanner unit to an information processing apparatus in response to a request from the information processing apparatus via a network.

Patent Document 1 proposes an image input/output communication device that eliminates the need to operate the image reading device a plurality of times even when reading data of different resolutions for the same image by scanning and saving the prescan at the maximum resolution. Has been done.

JP 7-23177 A

However, since the scanning process is executed by the operation from the information processing device, the user needs to set the document on the image reading device, return to the information processing device, and collect the document after the operation from the information processing device. ..

Further, an operation of simultaneously scanning from a plurality of information processing devices by a plurality of users has not been realized.

Therefore, an image reading system, an image reading apparatus, an information processing apparatus, and a program that eliminate the need for a user to set an original on the image reading apparatus and then return to the information processing apparatus to recover the original after the operation from the information processing apparatus is provided. The purpose is to

According to the invention,
An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The scanner driver is provided with a reception unit for receiving an image data acquisition request from the user in the user interface of the information processing apparatus,
The image reading device further includes a conversion unit for converting the image data into other image data having other parameters,
The accepting means accepts a request for acquisition of image data and also specifies parameters of image data from the user,
If the scanner driver receives a request for acquisition of the image data and designation of a parameter of the image data from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, the image data is transmitted in accordance with the image data transmission request. Request the transmission means to transmit the image data having the parameter,
When the designated parameter of the image data requested to be transmitted is different from the parameter of the image data stored in the storage unit, the conversion unit converts the image data stored in the storage unit, Convert to other image data with specified parameters,
The image transmitting means transmits other image data having parameters after conversion to the scanner driver,
An image reading system is provided in which the image reading unit reads a document by a plurality of mutually different parameters and writes a plurality of image data corresponding to the plurality of parameters obtained thereby in a storage unit. ..
Further, according to the present invention,
An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The scanner driver is provided with a reception unit for receiving an image data acquisition request from the user in the user interface of the information processing apparatus,
The image reading device further includes a conversion unit for converting the image data into other image data having other parameters,
The accepting means accepts a request for acquisition of image data and also specifies parameters of image data from the user,
If the scanner driver receives a request for acquisition of the image data and designation of a parameter of the image data from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, the image data is transmitted in accordance with the image data transmission request. Request the transmission means to transmit the image data having the parameter,
When the designated parameter of the image data requested to be transmitted is different from the parameter of the image data stored in the storage unit, the conversion unit converts the image data stored in the storage unit, Convert to other image data with specified parameters,
The image transmitting means transmits other image data having parameters after conversion to the scanner driver,
Image data having specified parameters of the image data requested to be transmitted can be generated based on the image data stored in the storage means by using the conversion means, but in order to avoid it When the setting is made, the image transmitting means or other communication means notifies the scanner driver of that fact instead of the image data,
The scanner driver that has received the notification displays a message prompting the user to set a document on the image reading device,
If the document to the image reading apparatus is set, the image reading means reads the image data from the set the document, before Symbol image transmission means, characterized by transmitting said image data to said scanner driver An image reading system is provided.
Furthermore, according to the present invention,
An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The scanner driver is
When the document is not set in the image reading device and the image data is stored in the storage unit when a request for acquiring the image data is received from the user, the scanner An image reading system is provided, wherein the driver transmits the image data transmission request to the image transmission means.
Furthermore, according to the present invention,
An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The image reading device associates the first user identification information input by the user with the image data read by the image reading means,
The information processing device manages the second user identification information input by the user,
An image reading system characterized in that the image data is transmitted from the image transmitting means to the scanner driver only when the first user identification information and the second user identification information correspond to each other. Provided.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an information processing device included in the above image reading system.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an image reading device included in the above image reading system.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as the image reading device.
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as the above information processing device.

After the user sets the document on the image reading device, the user does not need to return to the information processing device and collect the document after the operation from the information processing device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image reading device shown in FIG. 1. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a host computer shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 1 to scan a document in advance in the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart (1/2) for explaining the overall operation of the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart (2/2) for explaining the overall operation of the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart showing details of step S213 shown in FIG. 5B in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the image reading device shown in FIG. 1 in the first and second embodiments of the present invention. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 1 for scanning a document in advance in the second embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart (1/2) for explaining the overall operation of the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the second embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart (2/2) for explaining the overall operation of the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the second embodiment of the present invention. 12 is a flowchart showing details of step S213 shown in FIG. 11 in the second embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 1 for scanning a document in advance according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a flowchart (1/2) for explaining the overall operation of the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the third embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a flowchart (2/2) for explaining the overall operation of the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the third embodiment of the present invention. 16 is a flowchart (1/2) showing details of step S213 shown in FIG. 15 in the third embodiment of the present invention. 16 is a flowchart (2/2) showing details of step S213 shown in FIG. 15 in the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the host computer shown in FIG. 1 in the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the image reading device shown in FIG. 1 in the third embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multi-function peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a connection form of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention. The image reading apparatus 10 and host computers 20 and 30 represented by a personal computer, for example. The image reading device 10 and the host computers 20 and 30 are connected to each other via a LAN 40. It should be noted that the connection of each device is described here via a LAN, but it may be configured in a connection form other than the LAN. In the following description, the host computer 20 may be replaced with the host computer 30.

The image reading device 10 may be a single unit or may be a part of a multifunction peripheral 800 described later.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the image reading device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The image reading apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2 receives a user ID and a scan command from the host computer 20 connected via the LAN 40, and a communication control unit 11 for transmitting scan image data to the host computer 20. A main control unit 12 including a CPU and a main memory, an operation panel 13 for operating scan execution, and a scanner unit 14 for reading an image of a document.

The communication control unit 11 receives/transmits a user ID, a scan command, and scan image data with the host computer 20 via a communication means such as a LAN. Here, a means such as a USB connection may be used as the communication means.

The main control unit 12 included in the image reading apparatus 10 includes a scan command analysis unit 122 that analyzes a scan command received from the host computer 20 by the communication control unit 11, a user ID input from the operation panel 13, and the host computer 20. A user authentication unit 121 that authenticates the transmitted user ID, an operation panel control unit 124 that controls input/output processing using an operation panel related to operations such as user ID input and scan execution, and a scanner that reads an image of a document. A scanner control unit 127 for controlling the unit 14 and scan image data read by the scanner unit 14 are stored in the scan image data storage unit 126, and corresponding scan image data is stored in the scan image data storage unit in response to a scan request from the host computer 20. A scan image data storage processing unit 125 extracted from 126 and an image data conversion processing unit 123 converting the scan image data extracted from the scan image data storage unit 126 into scan conditions requested by the host computer 20.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the host computer 20. The TWAIN compatible application 201 and the TWAIN driver 202 are software operating on the operating system 203. The TWAIN compatible application 201 activates the TWAIN driver 202 via the TWAIN interface, and the TWAIN driver 202 transmits the image reading device 10 connected to the LAN 40, the user ID, and the scan command via the network interface 204. , And scan image data is received.
The TWAIN driver 202 and the TWAI compatible application 201 are shown as an example of the scanner driver and the scanner driver compatible application, and may be replaced with another type of scanner driver and another type of scanner driver compatible application. ..

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the TWAIN-compliant application 201 operating on the host computer 20. When a scan is executed by the TWAIN compatible application 201, the A) scan execution screen of FIG. 7 is displayed. When the scan condition is selected and the scan button is pressed, the scan image data is received from the image reading device 10 by the above-described processing. If the image reading device 10 does not have the corresponding stored data, the screen B) of the document setting request in FIG. 7 is displayed, and the user is prompted to set the document in the image reading device 10. As a result, the user performs the image reading operation of the document according to the conventional procedure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the image reading device 10. When the user operates the operation panel 13 of the image reading apparatus 10, first, the A) user authentication screen of FIG. 8 is displayed, so the user ID is input. When the user ID is input, the B) mode selection screen is displayed, and when the PC scan execution button is pressed, the C) PC scan execution screen is displayed. When any item regarding the both-side setting of the document and any setting direction are selected and the start button is pressed, a prescan of the document to be scanned by the PC which is the host computer 20 is executed.

Next, the operation of the image reading device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described using a flowchart.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of scanning the document to be scanned in advance in the image reading device 10.

In step S101 shown in FIG. 4, a document is set on the document table. Then, since the (A) user authentication screen of FIG. 8 is displayed on the operation panel 13 controlled by the operation panel control unit 124, when the user ID is input, the user authentication unit 121 authenticates the user ID with the user ID ( In step S102), the PC scan button is pressed on the B) mode selection screen of FIG. 8 to display the C) PC scan execution screen of FIG. Next, the scan image data multiple storage mode and the image quality priority mode are set to ON or OFF (step S103). If the original is double-sided (step S104), the binding position of both sides of vertical binding or horizontal binding is specified in step S105, and the scan execution button is pressed (step S106). If the original is not double-sided in step S104, the process proceeds to step S106, and the scan execution button is pressed. When the scan execution button is pressed, the scanner control unit 127 controls the scanner unit 14 to scan the document under the maximum scan conditions (maximum readable resolution, full color, full document size, etc.), and the scanned image data storage processing unit 125 The scan image data is stored in the scan image data storage unit 126 (step S107). Next, it is checked whether or not the scan image data multiple storage mode is ON (step S108). When the scan image data multiple storage mode is ON, the process proceeds to step S109, and a plurality of scan images are stored under different scan conditions to store a plurality of scan images. Then, it is checked whether there is a next original (step S110). In the multiple save mode, the number of image data having the same parameters as the parameters of the image data requested to be transmitted increases, and YES often occurs in step S305 described later. In step S108, if the scan image data multiple storage mode is OFF, the process proceeds to step S110 to check whether there is a next original. If there is a next original in step S110, the process returns to step S107 and the scanning of the original is repeated. If there is no next original in step S110, the pre-scan processing ends.

At this point, the scanning operation of the original document ends, so that the user can remove the set original document from the image reading apparatus 10.

5 and 5B are flowcharts showing the flow of acquiring scan image data from the image reading apparatus 10 in the host computer 20 or the host computer 30.

In step S200 of FIG. 5, when the scan menu is selected by the TWAIN compatible application 201 of the host computer 20, the A) scan execution screen of FIG. 7 is displayed, and the parameters displayed on the scan condition (A of FIG. 7) screen are displayed. It is specified. When the scan is executed by designating the parameters and pressing the scan button, the TWAIN driver 202 is activated via the TWAIN interface (step S201).

Next, the TWAIN driver 202 acquires the user ID on the host computer side (step S202). For example, in this step, the TWAIN driver 202 may use the user interface of the host computer 20 to acquire the user ID on the host computer side, or the user ID on the host computer side stored in the host computer 20 may be acquired. You may get it.

Next, if the original has been set (YES in step S204), the scan execution screen of FIG. 7A) is displayed (step S205). If the scan button is pressed (YES in step S206), the TWAIN driver 202 transmits the user ID and the scan command to the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204 (step S207). Upon receiving these, the image reading apparatus 10 scans the document and sends the scanned image data to the host computer 20 (step S208).

If the original is not set (NO in step S204) and the image reading apparatus 10 has stored data (YES in step S209), the scan execution screen of A) in FIG. 7 is displayed (step S210). If the scan button is pressed (YES in step S211), the TWAIN driver 202 transmits the user ID and the scan command to the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204 (step S212). Upon receiving these, the image reading device 10 reads the image data stored in the scanned image data storage unit 126 and transmits it to the host computer 20 (step S213).

If no document is set (NO in step S204) and there is no stored data in the image reading apparatus 10 (NO in step S209), the TWAIN driver 202 displays the document setting request screen shown in FIG. A message prompting the user to set the original is displayed on the image reading device 10 (step S214), and the process returns to step S204. If the original is set (YES in step S204), the process proceeds to step S205.

In step S215 following step S208 or step S213, the TWAIN driver 202 receives the scan image data transmitted from the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204. Next, proceeding to step S216, the TWAIN interface passes the received image data to the TWAIN compatible application 201. Through such processing, the TWAIN-compatible application can obtain scan image data of a desired document.

In step S215, the authentication failure message may be received without receiving the scan image data. In this case, the process ends. An error message may be displayed upon termination.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of acquiring scan image data by the image reading device 10 in step S213 of FIG. 5B.

In step S301 of FIG. 6, when the image reading device 10 receives the user ID and the scan command from the host computer 20 or the host computer 30, the process proceeds to step S302, and the user authentication unit 121 authenticates the received user ID. To do.

If the authentication fails (NO in step S313), the process advances to step S314 to send the authentication failure to the host computer 30.

If the authentication is successful (YES in step S313), the received scan command is analyzed and the scan condition is acquired (step S303).

Then, the process proceeds to step S316S. If the process proceeds to step S316S, the processes up to step S316E are repeated for each group of scan image data. Here, each group of scan image data is scan image data for the same document, and specifically includes at least the data stored in step S107, and when step S109 is executed, step S109 is performed. Including data saved in.

In the repetition, first, it is confirmed whether or not any saved scan image data included in the current group matches the scan condition acquired in step S303 (step S305). If there is saved scan image data that matches the scan conditions in step S305, the process proceeds to step S307, in which the scan image data saving processing unit 125 reads the corresponding scan image data from the scan image data saving unit 126, The scan image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312).

In step S305, when there is no saved scan image data that matches the scan condition, the process proceeds to step S306, and it is checked whether the image quality priority mode is ON.

When the image quality priority mode is OFF in step S306, the process proceeds to step S308, and the scan image data storage processing unit 125 reads the corresponding scan image data from the scan image data storage unit 126. Then, in step S310, the image data conversion processing unit 123 converts the scan image data under the specified scan condition and transmits the converted scan image data to the host computer 20 (step S312). Up to this point, steps S316S to S316E are repeated.

If the image quality priority mode is ON in step S306, the process proceeds to step S309 in order to execute the image scan with the specified parameter, and the host computer 20 that has received the user ID and the scan command receives the scan command via the communication control unit 11. , Notify that the original is not set. In response to this notification, the host computer 20 displays a screen (B) requesting document setting in FIG. 7, and the user goes to set the document on the image reading apparatus 10 and returns to the host computer 20. A document is set on the image reading apparatus 10, and in step S214 of FIG. 5, a screen for requesting document setting (B) of FIG. 7 indicating that the document is not set is displayed.

When the original is set, normal scanning is performed (step S311), and the scanned image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312). The image quality priority mode is a mode for avoiding image quality deterioration due to the conversion processing in S310.

By such a process, the document to be scanned by the image reading apparatus 10 can be removed at the time when the previous scanning operation is completed, and therefore it is not necessary to collect the document after the operation from the host computer 20.

In addition, since the scan image data corresponding to the user ID received from the host computer 20 is read from the scan image data storage unit 126 and the scan image data is transmitted to the host computer 20, a plurality of host computers 20 from a plurality of host computers 20 can send the scan image data. Image data acquisition processing can be enabled at the same time.

In the above embodiment, the user authentication unit 121 is provided in the image reading apparatus 10 and the image reading apparatus 10 performs the authentication. However, the user authentication unit 121 is provided on the host computer side (for example, inside the TWAIN driver 202 or It may be provided externally and the authentication may be performed on the host computer side. In this case, if the authentication fails, the TWAIN driver 202 does not send the scan request to the image forming apparatus 10. Further, the authentication server may receive the IDs from both the image reading device 10 and the host computer 20, and perform authentication using these IDs. If the authentication fails, the host computer 20 may not send the scan request to the image forming apparatus 10, or the image forming apparatus 10 may not send the scan image data to the host computer.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, by using the user ID, it is possible to simultaneously perform the scan image data acquisition processing from a plurality of host computers 20 by a plurality of users.
On the other hand, the user ID is omitted in the second embodiment. This makes it impossible to simultaneously enable the scan image data acquisition processing from a plurality of host computers 20 by a plurality of users. However, when only one host computer is connected to the image reading apparatus, there is a problem. Does not occur.

Next, the operation of the image reading device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described using a flowchart.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of scanning the document to be scanned in advance in the image reading device 10.

In step S101B shown in FIG. 9, the document is set on the document table. Then, when the PC scan button is pressed on the B) mode selection screen of FIG. 8, the C) PC scan execution screen of FIG. 8 is displayed. Next, the scan image data multiple storage mode and the image quality priority mode are set to ON or OFF (step S103B). If the original is double-sided (step S104B), the binding position of both sides of vertical binding or horizontal binding is specified in step S105B, and the scan execution button is pressed (step S106B). If the original is not double-sided in step S104B, the process proceeds to step S106B and the scan execution button is pressed. When the scan execution button is pressed, the scanner control unit 127 controls the scanner unit 14 to scan the document under the maximum scan conditions (maximum readable resolution, full color, full document size, etc.), and the scanned image data storage processing unit 125 The scan image data is stored in the scan image data storage unit 126 (step S107B). Next, it is checked whether or not the scan image data multiple storage mode is ON (step S108B). If the scan image data multiple storage mode is ON, the process proceeds to step S109B, and multiple scans are stored under different scan conditions to store multiple scan images. Then, it is checked whether there is a next original (step S110B). In the multiple save mode, the number of image data having the same parameters as the parameters of the image data requested to be transmitted increases, and YES often occurs in step S305B described later. If the scan image data multiple storage mode is OFF in step S108B, the flow advances to step S110B to check whether there is a next original. If there is a next original in step S110B, the process returns to step S107B and the scanning of the original is repeated. If there is no next original in step S110B, the pre-scan processing ends.

At this point, the scanning operation of the original document ends, so that the user can remove the set original document from the image reading apparatus 10.

10 and 11 are flowcharts showing a flow of acquiring scan image data from the image reading apparatus 10 in the host computer 20 or the host computer 30.

In step S200B of FIG. 10, when the scan menu is selected by the TWAIN compatible application 201 of the host computer 20, the A) scan execution screen of FIG. 7 is displayed, and the parameters displayed on the scan condition (A of FIG. 7) screen are displayed. It is specified. When parameters are specified and the scan button is pressed to execute scanning, the TWAIN driver 202 is activated via the TWAIN interface (step S201B).

Next, if the original is set (YES in step S204B), the scan execution screen of A in FIG. 7 is displayed (step S205B). If the scan button has been pressed (YES in step S206B), the TWAIN driver 202 transmits a scan command to the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204 (step S207B). Upon receiving these, the image reading apparatus 10 scans the document and transmits the scanned image data to the host computer 20 (step S208B).

If the original is not set (NO in step S204B) and if the image reading apparatus 10 has stored data (YES in step S209B), the scan execution screen of A) in FIG. 7 is displayed (step S210B). If the scan button has been pressed (YES in step S211B), the TWAIN driver 202 transmits a scan command to the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204 (step S212B). Upon receiving these, the image reading device 10 reads the image data stored in the scanned image data storage unit 126 and transmits it to the host computer 20 (step S213B).

If the original is not set (NO in step S204B) and there is no stored data in the image reading apparatus 10 (NO in step S209B), the TWAIN driver 202 displays the original set request screen in FIG. After displaying a message prompting the user to set a document on the image reading device 10 (step S214B), the process returns to step S204B. If the original is set (YES in step S204B), the process proceeds to step S205B.

In step S215B following step S208B or step S213B, the TWAIN driver 202 receives the scan image data transmitted from the image reading apparatus 10 via the network interface 204. Next, the process proceeds to step S216B, and the TWAIN interface passes the received image data to the TWAIN compatible application 201. Through such processing, the TWAIN-compatible application can obtain scan image data of a desired document.

In step S215B, the authentication failure message may be received without receiving the scan image data. In this case, the process ends. An error message may be displayed upon termination.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of acquiring scan image data by the image reading device 10 in step S213B of FIG.

In step S301B of FIG. 12, when the image reading device 10 receives a scan command from the host computer 20 or the host computer 30, the process proceeds to step S303B, the received scan command is analyzed, and the scan condition is acquired.

Then, the process proceeds to step S316SB. If the process proceeds to step S316SB, the processes up to step S316EB are repeated for each group of scan image data. Here, each group of scan image data is scan image data for the same document, and specifically includes at least the data stored in step S107, and when step S109 is executed, step S109 is performed. Including data saved in.

In the repetition, first, it is confirmed whether or not any saved scan image data included in the current group matches the scan condition acquired in step S303 (step S305B). If there is saved scan image data that matches the scan conditions in step S305B, the process advances to step S307B, the scan image data saving processing unit 125 reads the corresponding scan image data from the scan image data saving unit 126, The scan image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312B).

In step S305B, when there is no saved scan image data that matches the scan conditions, the process proceeds to step S306B, and it is checked whether the image quality priority mode is ON.

When the image quality priority mode is OFF in step S306B, the process proceeds to step S308B, and the scan image data storage processing unit 125 reads the corresponding scan image data from the scan image data storage unit 126. Then, the process proceeds to step S310B, the image data conversion processing unit 123 converts the scan image data under the specified scan condition, and the converted scan image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312B).

If the image quality priority mode is ON in step S306B, the process proceeds to step S309B in order to execute the image scan with the designated parameter, and to the host computer 20 that has received the user ID and the scan command, via the communication control unit 11. , Notify that the original is not set. In response to this notification, the host computer 20 displays a screen (B) requesting document setting in FIG. 7, and the user goes to set the document on the image reading apparatus 10 and returns to the host computer 20. A document is set on the image reading apparatus 10, and in step S214B of FIG. 10, a screen requesting document setting (B) of FIG. 7 indicating that the document is not set is displayed.

When the original is set, normal scanning is performed (step S311B), and the scanned image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312B). The image quality priority mode is a mode for avoiding image quality deterioration due to the conversion processing in S310B.

[Third Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the processing is performed for each one original.
On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the image reading apparatus 10 scans a plurality of originals in advance and stores a plurality of image data corresponding to them, and then the host computer 20 Of these, necessary image data can be acquired from the image reading device 10. In order to enable that, the image data is managed by its identification information.

Next, the operation of the image reading device 10 according to the third embodiment will be described using a flowchart.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of scanning the document to be scanned in advance in the image reading device 10.

In step S101C shown in FIG. 13, a document is set on the document table. When the user ID is input because the A) user authentication screen of FIG. 18 is displayed on the operation panel 13 controlled by the operation panel control unit 124, the user authentication unit 121 authenticates the user with the user ID ( Step S102C), and by pressing the PC scan button on the B) mode selection screen of FIG. 18, the C) PC scan execution screen of FIG. 18 is displayed. Next, the scan image data multiple storage mode and the image quality priority mode are set to ON or OFF (step S103C). If the original is double-sided (step S104C), the binding position of both sides of vertical binding or horizontal binding is specified in step S105C, and the scan execution button is pressed (step S106C). If the original is not double-sided in step S104C, the process proceeds to step S106C and the scan execution button is pressed. When the scan execution button is pressed, the scanner control unit 127 controls the scanner unit 14 to scan the document under the maximum scan conditions (maximum readable resolution, full color, full document size, etc.), and the scanned image data storage processing unit 125 The scan image data is stored in the scan image data storage unit 126 together with the identification information (step S107C). As the identification information, for example, a file name of image data is used. As the file name, for example, the file name input by the user in the file name input box on the screen of FIG. 18 is used. Alternatively, a file name including a serial number and date and time may be automatically generated and used. Even when the file name is automatically generated, the file name is displayed in the file name input box so that the user can recognize it. Next, it is checked whether the scan image data multiple storage mode is ON (step S108C). If the scan image data multiple storage mode is ON, the process proceeds to step S109C and multiple scans are performed under different scan conditions to store multiple scan images. Then, it is checked whether there is a next original (step S110C). It should be noted that the identification information of the image data obtained by scanning under another scanning condition does not have to be determined in particular, but this image data is associated with the image data stored in step S107C. In the multiple save mode, the number of image data having the same parameters as the parameters of the image data requested to be transmitted increases, and YES in step S305C described later often occurs. If the scan image data multiple storage mode is OFF in step S108C, the flow advances to step S110C to check whether there is a next original. If there is a next original in step S110C, the process returns to step S107C and the scanning of the original is repeated. If there is no next original in step S110C, the pre-scan processing ends.

At this point, the scanning operation of the original document ends, so that the user can remove the set original document from the image reading apparatus 10.

There are a plurality of originals, and by repeating steps S107C to S110C, a plurality of image data are accumulated in the image reading device 10 together with their identification information.

14 and 15 are flowcharts showing a flow of acquiring scan image data from the image reading apparatus 10 in the host computer 20 or the host computer 30.

In step S200C of FIG. 14, when the scan menu is selected with the TWAIN compatible application 201 of the host computer 20, the A) scan execution screen of FIG. 17 is displayed, and the parameters displayed on the screen of the scan condition (A of FIG. 17) are displayed. It is specified. When parameters are specified and the scan button is pressed to execute scanning, the TWAIN driver 202 is activated via the TWAIN interface (step S201C).

Next, the TWAIN driver 202 acquires the user ID on the host computer side (step S202C). For example, in this step, the TWAIN driver 202 may use the user interface of the host computer 20 to acquire the user ID on the host computer side, or the user ID on the host computer side stored in the host computer 20 may be acquired. You may get it.

Next, if the document is set (YES in step S204C), the scan execution screen of FIG. 17A) is displayed (step S205C). If the scan button is pressed (YES in step S206C), the TWAIN driver 202 transmits the user ID and the scan command to the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204 (step S207C). Upon receiving these, the image reading apparatus 10 executes document scanning and transmits the scanned image data to the host computer 20 (step S208C).

If the document is not set (NO in step S204C) and the image reading apparatus 10 has stored data (YES in step S209C), the scan execution screen of A) in FIG. 17 is displayed (step S210C). The user inputs the file name of the required image data in the file name text box of this scan execution screen. If the scan button is pressed (YES in step S211C), the TWAIN driver 202 transmits the file name of the image data, the user ID, and the scan command to the image reading device 10 via the network interface 204 (step S212C). .. Upon receiving these, the image reading device 10 reads out the image data stored in the scanned image data storage unit 126 and transmits it to the host computer 20 (step S213C).

If the original is not set (NO in step S204C) and there is no stored data in the image reading device 10 (NO in step S209C), the TWAIN driver 202 displays the original setting screen in FIG. After displaying a message prompting the user to set a document on the image reading apparatus 10 (step S214C), the process returns to step S204C. If the original has been set (YES in step S204C), the flow advances to step S205C.

In step S215C following step S208C or step S213C, the TWAIN driver 202 receives the scan image data transmitted from the image reading apparatus 10 via the network interface 204. Next, proceeding to step S216C, the TWAIN interface passes the received image data to the TWAIN compatible application 201. Through such processing, the TWAIN-compatible application can obtain scan image data of a desired document.

In step S215C, the authentication failure message may be received without receiving the scan image data. In this case, the process ends. An error message may be displayed upon termination.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of acquiring scan image data by the image reading device 10 in step S213C of FIG.

In step S301C of FIG. 16, when the image reading device 10 receives the user ID and the scan command from the host computer 20 or the host computer 30, the process proceeds to step S302C, and the user authentication unit 121 authenticates the received user ID. To do.

If the authentication has failed (NO in step S313C), the flow advances to step S314C to send an authentication failure to the host computer 30.

If the authentication is successful (YES in step S313C), the flow advances to step S317. In step S317, it is determined whether the received file name is blank. If it is blank (YES in step S317), the process proceeds to step S303D (FIG. 16B). If it is not blank (NO in step S317), the process proceeds to step S303C.

In step S303D, the received scan command is analyzed and the scan condition is acquired. Next, steps S316SD to S316ED are repeated for each group of scan image data. Since this repetition is the same as the repetition from step S316S to step S316E (FIG. 16), the duplicate description will be omitted and only shown in FIG. 16B.

In step S303C, the received scan command is analyzed and the scan condition is acquired.

Next, it is confirmed whether the image data having the received file name is stored in the image reading device 10 (step S304C).

If it is not stored (NO in step S304C), a message indicating that the image file is not stored is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S315C).

If it is stored (YES in step S304C), the flow advances to step S305C to confirm whether the stored data matches the scan conditions acquired in step S303C. If the scan conditions are matched in step S305C, the process proceeds to step S307C, in which the scan image data storage processing unit 125 reads the corresponding scan image data from the scan image data storage unit 126, and the scan image data is stored in the host computer 20. To (step S312C).

If the scanning conditions do not match in step S305C, the flow advances to step S306C to check whether the image quality priority mode is ON.

When the image quality priority mode is OFF in step S306C, the process proceeds to step S308C, and the scan image data storage processing unit 125 reads the corresponding scan image data from the scan image data storage unit 126. Then, the process proceeds to step S310C, the image data conversion processing unit 123 converts the scan image data under the specified scan condition, and the converted scan image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312C).

If the image quality priority mode is ON in step S306C, the process proceeds to step S309C in order to execute the image scan with the designated parameter, and the host computer 20 that has received the user ID and the scan command transmits the image through the communication control unit 11. , Notify that the original is not set. By this notification, the host computer 20 displays the screen (B) of FIG. 17 requesting document setting, and the user goes to set the document on the image reading apparatus 10 and returns to the host computer 20. A document is set on the image reading apparatus 10, and in step S214C of FIG. 14, a screen for requesting document setting (B) of FIG. 17 indicating that the document is not set is displayed.

When the original is set, normal scanning is performed (step S311C), and the scanned image data is transmitted to the host computer 20 (step S312C). The image quality priority mode is a mode for avoiding image quality deterioration due to the conversion processing in S310.

FIG. 19 shows an outline of a multifunction machine 800 in which the present invention is implemented.
The multi-function peripheral 800 forms multi-color and single-color images on a predetermined sheet (recording paper) according to image data transmitted from the outside, and is composed of an apparatus main body 810 and an automatic document processor 820. It is configured. The apparatus main body 810 includes an exposure unit 1, a developing device 2, a photosensitive drum 3, a cleaner unit 4, a charger 5, an intermediate transfer belt unit 6, a fixing unit 7, a paper feed cassette 81, a paper discharge tray 91 and the like. It is configured.

A document placing table 92 made of transparent glass on which a document is placed is provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 810, and an automatic document processing device 820 is attached to the upper side of the document placing table 92. The automatic document processor 820 automatically conveys a document onto the document table 92. Further, the document processing device 820 is configured to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow M, and the document can be manually placed by opening the top of the document table 92.

The original document conveyed by the automatic original document processing device 820 or the original document placed on the original document table 92 is read by the image reading device 10.

The image data handled in this image forming apparatus corresponds to a color image using each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Therefore, the developing device 2, the photoconductor drum 3, the charging device 5, and the cleaner unit 4 are provided four by four so as to form four kinds of latent images corresponding to each color, and are respectively black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. It is set, and these constitute four image stations.

The charger 5 is a charging means for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to a predetermined potential, and in addition to a charger type as shown in FIG. 9, a contact type roller type or brush type charger is also available. Sometimes used.

The exposure unit 1 corresponds to the image writing apparatus according to the present invention, and is configured as a laser scanning unit (LSU) including a laser emitting unit, a reflection mirror, and the like. The exposure unit 1 is provided with a polygon mirror that scans a laser beam, and optical elements such as a lens and a mirror that guide the laser light reflected by the polygon mirror to the photosensitive drum 3. The configuration of the optical scanning device that constitutes the exposure unit 1 will be specifically described later. Further, as the exposure unit 1, it is also possible to adopt a method using an EL or LED writing head in which light emitting elements are arranged in an array.

The exposure unit 1 has a function of exposing the charged photosensitive drum 3 according to the input image data to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface thereof according to the image data. The developing device 2 visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on each photoconductor drum 3 with toner of four colors (YMCK). Further, the cleaner unit 4 removes and collects the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 after development and image transfer.

The intermediate transfer belt unit 6 arranged above the photoconductor drum 3 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61, an intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, an intermediate transfer roller 64, and an intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65. I have it. Four intermediate transfer rollers 64 are provided corresponding to each color for YMCK.

The intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, the intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, and the intermediate transfer roller 64 stretch the intermediate transfer belt 61 to rotate it. Further, each intermediate transfer roller 64 provides a transfer bias for transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61.

The intermediate transfer belt 61 is provided so as to be in contact with each of the photoconductor drums 3, and the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photoconductor drums 3 are sequentially superposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61. It has a function of forming a color toner image (multicolor toner image) on the intermediate transfer belt 61. The intermediate transfer belt 61 is formed in an endless shape using, for example, a film having a thickness of about 100 μm to 150 μm.

The transfer of the toner image from the photosensitive drum 3 to the intermediate transfer belt 61 is performed by the intermediate transfer roller 64 which is in contact with the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 61. A high-voltage transfer bias (a high voltage having a polarity (+) opposite to the toner charging polarity (−)) is applied to the intermediate transfer roller 64 in order to transfer the toner image. The intermediate transfer roller 64 is a roller whose base is a metal (for example, stainless steel) shaft having a diameter of 8 to 10 mm and whose surface is covered with a conductive elastic material (for example, EPDM or urethane foam). With this conductive elastic material, a high voltage can be uniformly applied to the intermediate transfer belt 61. In this embodiment, a roller shape is used as the transfer electrode, but a brush or the like can be used instead.

As described above, the electrostatic images visualized in accordance with the respective hues on the respective photosensitive drums 3 are laminated on the intermediate transfer belt 61. In this way, the laminated image information is transferred onto the paper by the transfer roller 10 arranged at the contact position between the paper and the intermediate transfer belt 61, which will be described later, by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 61.

At this time, the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the transfer roller 10 are pressed against each other at a predetermined nip, and a voltage for transferring the toner onto the sheet is applied to the transfer roller 10 (a polarity opposite to the charging polarity (-) of the toner). (+) high voltage). Further, in order to constantly obtain the nip, the transfer roller 10 uses one of the transfer roller 10 and the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 62 as a hard material (metal or the like) and the other as a soft material such as an elastic roller (elasticity). A rubber roller, a foaming resin roller or the like) is used.

Further, as described above, the toner attached to the intermediate transfer belt 61 by contacting the photosensitive drum 3 or the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 without being transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 10 is used in the next step. In this case, the toner is mixed and the toner is mixed with the toner. Therefore, the toner is removed and collected by the intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65. The intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65 is provided with, for example, a cleaning blade that contacts the intermediate transfer belt 61, and the intermediate transfer belt 61 that contacts the cleaning blade is supported by the intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63 from the back side. ing.

The paper feed cassette 81 is a tray for accumulating sheets (recording paper) used for image formation, and is provided below the exposure unit 1 of the apparatus main body 810. A sheet used for image formation can also be placed in the manual paper feed cassette 82. The paper discharge tray 91 provided above the apparatus main body 810 is a tray for collecting printed sheets face down.

Further, the apparatus main body 810 is provided with a substantially vertical paper transport path S for sending the sheets of the paper feed cassette 81 and the manual paper feed cassette 82 to the paper discharge tray 91 via the transfer roller 10 and the fixing unit 7. Has been. Near the paper transport path S from the paper feed cassette 81 or the manual paper feed cassette 82 to the paper discharge tray 91, pickup rollers 11a and 11b, a plurality of transport rollers 12a to 12d, a registration roller 13, a transfer roller 10, and a fixing unit. Seven etc. are arranged.

The transport rollers 12a to 12d are small rollers for promoting and assisting the transport of the sheet, and a plurality of them are provided along the sheet transport path S. The pickup roller 11 a is provided near the end of the paper feed cassette 81, and picks up the sheets one by one from the paper feed cassette 81 and supplies them to the paper transport path S. Similarly, the pickup roller 11b is also provided near the end of the manual paper feed cassette 82, and picks up the sheets one by one from the manual paper feed cassette 82 and supplies them to the paper transport path S.

Further, the registration rollers 13 temporarily hold the sheet being conveyed on the sheet conveying path S. Then, it has a function of conveying the sheet to the transfer roller 10 at the timing when the front edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 and the front edge of the sheet are aligned.

The fixing unit 7 includes a heat roller 71 and a pressure roller 72, and the heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 rotate so as to sandwich the sheet. Further, the heat roller 71 is set to a predetermined fixing temperature by a control unit based on a signal from a temperature detector (not shown), and the toner is thermocompression-bonded to the sheet together with the pressure roller 72. It has the function of melting, mixing, and pressing the transferred multicolor toner image to heat-fix it to the sheet. Further, an external heating belt 73 for heating the heat roller 71 from the outside is provided.

Next, the sheet conveying path will be described in detail. As described above, the image forming apparatus is provided with the paper feed cassette 81 for storing the sheets in advance and the manual paper feed cassette 82. Pickup rollers 11a and 11b are arranged to feed the sheets from the sheet feeding cassettes 81 and 82, and the sheets are guided to the conveying path S one by one.

The sheet conveyed from each of the sheet feeding cassettes 81 and 82 is conveyed to the registration roller 13 by the conveying roller 12a of the sheet conveying path S, and the transfer roller is transferred at the timing of aligning the leading edge of the sheet with the leading edge of the image information on the intermediate transfer belt 61. The sheet is conveyed to 10, and image information is written on the sheet. After that, the sheet passes through the fixing unit 7 so that the unfixed toner on the sheet is melted and fixed by heat, and then the sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 91 via the transport rollers 12b arranged.

The above-mentioned conveyance path is used for the one-sided printing request for the sheet. On the other hand, when the two-sided printing is requested, the trailing edge of the sheet that has passed the fixing unit 7 after the one-sided printing is finished as described above. When the sheet is finally gripped by the transport roller 12b, the transport roller 12b reversely rotates to guide the sheet to the transport rollers 12c and 12d. Then, after the printing is performed on the back surface of the sheet through the registration rollers 13, the sheet is discharged to the discharge tray 91.

According to the present embodiment, the document to be scanned by the image reading device can be removed when the pre-scan operation is completed, so that it is not necessary to collect the document after the operation from the host computer 20.

Further, if the application is compatible with TWAIN, a scan image can be acquired.

Further, since the scan images of a plurality of scan conditions are stored, the image quality degradation due to the image conversion can be suppressed as much as possible. In addition, since the conversion process becomes more likely to be unnecessary, the processing time can be shortened.

Further, when the image quality is lowered due to the conversion process, the rescanning operation is performed under the scanning condition, so that although the operation requires a manual edition, the image quality reduction can be avoided.

Further, the scanned image data is stored in association with the user ID authenticated at the time of the original document scanning operation, and the scanned image data corresponding to the user ID from the host computer 20 is read out, so that a plurality of host computers by a plurality of users can be read. The scan image data acquisition process from 20 can be simultaneously enabled.

The authentication by the user ID may be performed by the host computer 20 instead of the image reading device 10. The user ID on the host computer side and the user ID on the image reading apparatus side may be the same, but they may be associated with each other.

Both the image reading device and the information processing device described above can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The image reading method performed by the image reading apparatus and the information processing apparatus described above can also be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Here, when realized by software, it means realized by the computer reading and executing the program.

The program can be stored using various types of non-transitory computer readable media and can be supplied to the computer. Non-transitory computer readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of the non-transitory computer readable medium include a magnetic recording medium (eg, flexible disk, magnetic tape, hard disk drive), magneto-optical recording medium (eg, magneto-optical disk), CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), CD- R, CD-R/W, and semiconductor memory (for example, mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory)) are included. In addition, the program may be supplied to the computer by various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The transitory computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

The present invention can be used in an image reading device.

10 image reading device 20, 30 host computer 40 LAN
11 Communication Control Section 12 Main Control Section 13 Operation Panel 14 Scanner Unit 121 User Authentication Section 122 Scan Command Analysis Section 123 Image Data Conversion Processing Section 124 Operation Panel Control Section 125 Scanned Image Data Saving Processing Section 126 Scanned Image Data Saving Section 127 Scanner Control Department

Claims (14)

An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The scanner driver is provided with a reception unit for receiving an image data acquisition request from the user in the user interface of the information processing apparatus,
The image reading device further includes a conversion unit for converting the image data into other image data having other parameters,
The accepting means accepts a request for acquisition of image data and also specifies parameters of image data from the user,
If the scanner driver receives a request for acquisition of the image data and designation of a parameter of the image data from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, the image data is transmitted in accordance with the image data transmission request. Request transmission means to transmit image data having the parameter,
When the designated parameter of the image data requested to be transmitted is different from the parameter of the image data stored in the storage unit, the conversion unit converts the image data stored in the storage unit, Convert to other image data of specified parameters,
The image transmitting means transmits other image data having parameters after conversion to the scanner driver,
The image reading system is characterized in that the image reading unit reads a document using a plurality of mutually different parameters, and writes a plurality of image data corresponding to the plurality of parameters thus obtained in a storage unit. An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The scanner driver is provided with a reception unit for receiving an image data acquisition request from the user in the user interface of the information processing apparatus,
The image reading device further includes a conversion unit for converting the image data into other image data having other parameters,
The accepting means accepts a request for acquisition of image data and also specifies parameters of image data from the user,
If the scanner driver receives a request for acquisition of the image data and designation of a parameter of the image data from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, the image data is transmitted in accordance with the image data transmission request. Request transmission means to transmit image data having the parameter,
When the designated parameter of the image data requested to be transmitted is different from the parameter of the image data stored in the storage unit, the conversion unit converts the image data stored in the storage unit, Convert to other image data of specified parameters,
The image transmitting means transmits other image data having parameters after conversion to the scanner driver,
Image data having specified parameters of the image data requested to be transmitted can be generated based on the image data stored in the storage means by using the conversion means, but in order to avoid it When the setting is made, the image transmitting means or other communication means notifies the scanner driver of that fact instead of the image data,
The scanner driver that has received the notification displays a message prompting the user to set a document on the image reading device,
If the document to the image reading apparatus is set, the image reading means reads the image data from the set the document, before Symbol image transmission means, characterized by transmitting said image data to said scanner driver Image reading system. An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The scanner driver is
When the document is not set in the image reading device and the image data is stored in the storage unit when a request for acquiring the image data is received from the user, the scanner The image reading system, wherein the driver transmits the image data transmission request to the image transmission means. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
When the user accepts the request for acquisition of the image data, if the original is set in the image reading apparatus, the image reading means reads the image data from the set original, pre-Symbol image transmission An image reading system , wherein the means transmits the image data to the scanner driver. The image reading system according to claim 3 or 4 , wherein
If the original document is not set in the image reading device and the image data is not stored in the storage unit, the scanner driver then determines the original document in the image reading device. if There wait is set, the document is set in the image reading apparatus, the image reading means reads the image data from the set original, pre-Symbol image transmission means, the image data the scanner driver An image reading system characterized by transmitting to the. An image reading unit that reads a document and writes image data obtained by reading the document in a storage unit before a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver arrives;
An image transmission unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and transmits the image data to the scanner driver in response to a request from the scanner driver to transmit the image data,
An image reading device comprising:
If a request for image data acquisition is received from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, a request for transmitting the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting means according to the request, and the request is transmitted. An information processing device including a scanner driver that acquires the image data transmitted from the image transmission means in response to the information processing device;
Equipped with
The image reading device associates the first user identification information input by the user with the image data read by the image reading means,
The information processing device manages the second user identification information input by the user,
An image reading system characterized in that the image data is transmitted from the image transmitting means to the scanner driver only when the first user identification information and the second user identification information correspond to each other. The image reading system according to any one of claims 4 to 7 ,
The image reading system, wherein the scanner driver is provided with a reception unit for receiving an image data acquisition request from the user in a user interface of the information processing apparatus. The image reading system according to claim 7 , wherein
The image reading device further includes a conversion unit for converting the image data into other image data having other parameters,
The accepting means accepts a request for acquisition of image data and also specifies parameters of image data from the user,
If the scanner driver receives a request for acquisition of the image data and designation of a parameter of the image data from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, the image data is transmitted in accordance with the image data transmission request. Request the transmission means to transmit the image data having the parameter,
When the designated parameter of the image data requested to be transmitted is different from the parameter of the image data stored in the storage unit, the conversion unit converts the image data stored in the storage unit, Convert to other image data with specified parameters,
The image reading system, wherein the image sending unit sends other image data having the converted parameters to the scanner driver. The image reading system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein:
The image reading means reads a plurality of originals before writing a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver, and writes the image data obtained by this reading into the storage means together with its identification information.
The image transmitting unit reads the plurality of image data corresponding to the plurality of originals from the storage unit in response to a request from the scanner driver for transmitting the image data, and sends the image data to the scanner driver. Send,
When the scanner driver receives a request for image data acquisition from the user after the image data is stored in the storage unit, the scanner driver transmits a request for transmitting the image data to the image transmitting unit according to the request. Then, in response to the request, the image reading system obtains the plurality of image data corresponding to the plurality of originals transmitted from the image transmitting means. The image reading system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein:
The image reading unit reads one or more originals before writing a request for image data transmission from the scanner driver, and writes the image data obtained by the reading to the storage unit together with identification information thereof.
The image transmission means is responsive to the image data transmission request from the scanner driver, wherein the image data designated by the identification information is stored in the storage means in response to the image data designated by the identification information. Read out and send the image data to the scanner driver,
If the scanner driver accepts a request for image data acquisition from the user after the image data is stored in the storage means, and the image data designated by the identification information is accepted, the image is displayed in accordance with the request. A request for transmitting the image data to the transmitting means, which is specified by the identification information of the image data is transmitted, and is specified by the identification information transmitted from the image transmitting means in response to the request. An image reading system characterized by acquiring the image data. An information processing apparatus included in the image reading system according to claim 1. An image reading device included in the image reading system according to claim 1. A program for causing a computer to function as the image reading device according to claim 11 . A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to claim 12 .

Images