JPH0662158A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently and easily transmit a picture to be transmitted of a synthesized image by providing the mode where both of picture data expressing the synthesized image and code data are transmitted and the mode where only one of them is transmitted. CONSTITUTION:The picture signal read out from an optical disk of a picture file 4 is selectively transmitted to a high speed printer 3, a soft display device 6, or a small-sized printer 7 through an input/output interface 37 by a switching device 9 after being temporarily written in a RAM 34 as the page memory. A CPU 32 executes the control related to transmission of this picture signal in accordance with the operation command inputted from a keyboard 31 or a point device 30 by an operator. In the first transmission mode, both of picture data expressing the synthesized image of a document picture and a character picture and code data are transmitted; and in the second transmission mode, picture data expressing the document picture in the synthesized image or code data expressing the character picture is selectively transmitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing device for processing image information converted into electric signals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known to record an image based on an image signal obtained by photoelectrically reading image information or to transmit the image signal to a remote place. By the way, as a feature that image information can be handled as an electric signal, a so-called network can be configured in which a plurality of devices that handle image signals are connected through a transmission line and an output from any device can be transmitted to any device. Is.

[0003]

However, in such a network system, the read image is CR
It is displayed on the display unit of a workstation having a display unit such as T and a keyboard, and this is edited interactively and transmitted to a plurality of other workstations connected to the network for display / printing. It was difficult. Further, as the image to be transmitted from the workstation, only a part of the image displayed on the CRT of the workstation cannot be transmitted. Furthermore, it is difficult to select the output destination depending on whether the information formed by a certain workstation is output to the output device of the own workstation or transmitted to another station.

[0004]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and first input means for inputting image data representing a document image and second input for inputting code data representing a character image. Means for processing the image data input from the first input means and the code data input from the second input means in order to combine the original image and the character image in one screen, Display means for displaying a composite image of the original image and the character image according to the image data and code data processed by the processing means,
A transmission means for transmitting the image data and the code data processed by the processing means according to a first transmission mode or a second transmission mode, wherein the transmission means performs the combining in the first transmission mode. Image processing for transmitting both image data representing an image and code data, and selectively transmitting one of image data representing a document image and code data representing a character image in the composite image in the second transmission mode. A device is provided.

[0005]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external connection diagram of an image processing system to which the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit (referred to as a workstation) including a microcomputer for system control, an internal memory composed of a RAM, a ROM, etc., and an external memory composed of a floppy disk or a cartridge disk. Reference numeral 2 denotes an input section of the digital copying machine, a document reader for converting document information of a document placed on a platen into an electric signal by an image pickup device such as CCD, and 3 denotes an output section of the digital copying machine such as a laser beam printer. It is a high-speed printer that records an image on a recording material based on information converted into electric signals. An image file 4 has a storage medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk and can write and read a large amount of image information. A microfilm file 5 is provided with a microfilm retrieval section and a microfilm reader section for converting image information on the retrieved microfilm into an electric signal by an image pickup device. Reference numeral 6 has a photosensitive belt in which a photoconductive layer is provided on a transparent and conductive belt-shaped substrate, and the photoconductive layer is irradiated with laser light modulated in accordance with an input image signal, whereby the brightness of the image light is changed. To form a latent image on the photoconductive layer, and develop the latent image with the toner (developer) held on the toner carrier and having conductivity and magnetism to form a display image. It is a high-resolution soft display. Reference numeral 7 is a printer device such as a laser beam printer similar to the printer 3, but is smaller and slower than the printer 3, and is installed as needed. A CRT device 8 displays image information photoelectrically read by a digital copying machine and a microfilm file input scanner (reader), or system control information. Reference numeral 9 denotes a switching device for switching the connection between the respective input / output devices by a signal from the control unit 1. 1
0 to 18 are cables for electrically connecting the input / output devices. Reference numeral 20 denotes a keyboard provided in the control unit 1, and operating the keyboard 20 gives an operation command of the system. Further, 30 is a point device for instructing processing of image information on the CRT 8,
The cursor on the RT8 is arbitrarily moved in the X and Y directions to select a command image on the command menu and give the instruction. Reference numeral 21 denotes an operation panel for issuing an operation command of the digital copying machine, which has setting keys for the number of copies, copying magnification, etc., a copy key 25 for instructing the start of copying, a numerical display and the like. Reference numeral 22 is a mode changeover switch which will be described later.
Is a light emitting diode (LED) indicating the mode selection state of the mode changeover switch 22.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the image processing system shown in FIG. Each block corresponding to FIG. 1 is assigned the same number as in FIG. First, each block in the control unit 1 will be described. Reference numeral 31 denotes a keyboard, which corresponds to the keyboard 20 shown in FIG. 1, and the operator inputs an operation command of the system using the keyboard 31 or the point device 30. Reference numeral 32 denotes a central processing unit (CP) including a microcomputer (for example, Motorola 68000).
U). Reference numeral 33 is a read-only memory ROM, in which a system control program is written in advance, and the CPU 32 controls and operates according to the program written in the ROM 33. A random access memory RAM 34 is mainly used as a working memory of the CPU 32 and a page memory for storing image signals exchanged between the input units. Reference numeral 35 denotes an external memory composed of a floppy disk, which stores a system control program and a database for image retrieval from image files described later. Reference numeral 36 denotes a communication interface, which enables the exchange of information with other similar systems or terminals using a communication line such as a local area network. Reference numeral 37 is an input / output interface that achieves information exchange between the control unit 1 and the switching device 9. Reference numeral 38 is a bit extraction circuit for thinning out the image signal at a predetermined rate. 39 is image file 4
Optical disc interface for exchanging information with 4
Reference numeral 0 is a CRT interface for exchanging information with the CRT 8. Reference numeral 41 denotes a 16-bit bus, which transfers signals of each block in the control unit 1. Reference numerals 11 to 18 are cables for electrically connecting the input / output devices as described above, and control signals and image signals are transmitted. The arrow on the cable indicates the flow of the image signal. Also, the flow of control signals is bidirectional in the cable. As is apparent from the figure, the document reader 2 and the high-speed printer 3, the microfilm file 5, the soft display 6, and the small printer 7 of the digital copying machine 42 have cables 11, 12 and
15, 16, 10 are connected to the switching device 9, and further, the input / output interface 37 of the control unit 1 and the cables 13, 1
Connected by 4. Also, image file 4 and CRT
8 is connected to the interfaces 39 and 40 of the control unit 1 by cables 17 and 18, respectively. The CRT 8 is provided with a display RAM 43 that stores image information to be displayed. Further, since the image signal input / output by the switching device 9 is a serial signal and the information on the bus 41 of the control unit 1 is a parallel signal, the input / output interface 37 has a serial → parallel register for capturing an image signal. And a parallel → serial register for outputting an image signal.

Image signals output from the document reader 2 or the microfilm file 5 are input line by line to the input / output interface 37 of the control unit 1 via the switching device 9. The input / output interface 37 converts an image signal input serially into a parallel signal of 16 bits and outputs the parallel signal on the bus 41. The image signal output on the bus 41 is sequentially input to the image area of the RAM 34 for one page. The image signal thus stored in the RAM 34 is again output to the bus 41 and externally output via the communication interface 36, or sent to the image file 4 via the optical disk interface 39 to be written on the optical disk. An image is formed by being output to the switching device 9 via the input / output interface 37 and selectively transmitted to the high speed printer 3, the soft display 6 or the small printer 7.

The image signal read out from the optical disk of the image file 4 is once written in the RAM 34 and then selected by the switching device 9 via the input / output interface 37 to the high speed printer 3, the soft display 6 or the small printer 7. Transmitted.

The image signal from the document reader 2 or the microfilm file 5 is selectively transmitted from the switching device 9 directly to the high speed printer 3, the soft display 6 or the small printer 7 without passing through the control unit 1. You can also That is, since the image file 4 and the CRT 8 are not needed when a simple copy operation is desired, for example, the image signal from the document reader 2 is directly supplied to the high-speed printer 3 without passing through the control unit 4, and real-time copy is performed. It is the one that performs the operation. This mode is called the pass mode.

The above-mentioned control relating to the transmission of the image signal is executed by the CPU 32 in accordance with the operation command input by the operator through the keyboard 31 or the point device 30.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed circuit configuration of the switching device 9. The same cables as in FIG. 2 are given the same numbers.

Reference numerals 51 to 54, 61 to 63, and 71 to 74 are switches whose switching operations are controlled by switching signals a to k transmitted from the control unit 1 via the cable 13. The switches 51 to 54 select the transmission destination of the image signal output from the microfilm 5 via the cable 15. The switches 61 to 63 are connected from the control unit 1 to the cable 14
The destination of the image signal output via b is selected.
Further, the switches 71 to 74 select the transmission destination of the image signal output from the document reader 2 via the cable 11. FIG. 4 shows a document reader 2 for outputting an image signal to the switching device 9, a microfilm file 5 and a control unit 1, and a high speed printer 3 for inputting an image signal from the switching device 9, a soft display 6, a small printer 7 and a control unit 1. Shows the relationship between the connection state of the switch and the operating states of the switches 51 to 54, 61 to 63, and 71 to 74. The numbers in parentheses indicate the transmission cables for image signals. Also, each switch number indicates that the switch is closed. The switching device 9 can also be configured by a logic circuit.

The operation of the switching device 9 will be described. For example, when the switches 72, 53, and 63 are closed, the image signal from the document reader 2 is transmitted to the high-speed printer 3 via the switch 72 and operates as a digital copying machine. On the other hand, the image signal from the microfilm file 5 is transmitted to the soft display 6 via the switch 53. Further, the image signal from the control unit 1 is transmitted to the small printer 7 via the switch 63.

As described above, by selectively operating the switches of the switching device 9, each input / output device can be arbitrarily connected and the system can effectively function as a display device, a copying device and a file device. It is something to offer.
Also, because it enables the transmission of multiple image information at the same time,
This eliminates the inconvenience that the system is occupied by the transmission of certain image information and other input / output devices become inoperable. Furthermore,
As described above, when a simple copying operation or display operation is performed, the image signal from the document reader 2 or the microfilm file 5 is directly passed through the high-speed printer 3 without passing through the control unit 1.
It can be transmitted to the soft display 6 or the small printer 7 (pass mode) to achieve high-speed processing.

Next, the operation of the CRT 8 for displaying an image based on the image signals output from the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5 will be described. A high resolution CRT is used in this system, and the amount of information that can be displayed is about 6 × 10 ⁴ bits. However, for example, the document reader 2 can read a document of maximum A3 size, and for example, one document of A4 size (210 mm × 297 mm) can be read.
When read at a resolution of 6 pel / mm, the total amount of information is 16 × 210 × 297≈10 ⁶ bits. Further, the image information from the microfilm file 5 has the same order. Therefore, it is necessary to store the image information from the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5 in the RAM 34 and compress the information amount for CRT display to, for example, 1/16 when displaying the image on the CRT 8. The bit extraction circuit 38 shown in FIG. 2 performs the information amount compression operation in parallel with the storage of the image signal in the RAM 34.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the bit extraction circuit 38.
Reference numeral 41 is a bus in the control unit 1. An extraction timing selection circuit 44 outputs a clock pulse CK according to a compression command from the CPU 32. Reference numeral 45 denotes a shift register, which samples the image signal input from the input / output interface 37 in accordance with the clock pulse CK from the extraction timing selection circuit 44 and sequentially stores the signals obtained by thinning the image signal. Reference numeral 46 denotes a RAM, which takes in the data when the shift register 45 is filled with the data, and further outputs the compressed image signal to the bus 41 at a predetermined timing. The input / output interface 37 outputs the image signal input from the switching device 9 to the bus 41 for storing it in the RAM 34 and at the same time supplies it to the bit extraction circuit 38. That is, the image signal output from the document reader 2 or the microfilm file 5 is directly stored in the RAM 34.
At the same time as the operation of storing in, the image signal compression operation for CRT display is executed. Therefore, C of the input image signal
RT display will be done immediately.

FIG. 6 shows the operating state of the bit extraction circuit 38. The image signal is repeatedly output from the switching device 9 line by line via the input / output interface 37 to the bus 41 and taken into the RAM 34. In FIG. 6A, the image signal is RA from the input / output interface 37 through the bus 41.
The timing of writing to M34 is shown, and the numbers 1 to 9 in the figure are the line numbers of the image signal. As shown in the figure, a blank time T occurs from the output of the image signal of a certain line to the output of the image signal of the next line. The input / output interface 37 also outputs the image signal input from the switching device 9 to the bit extraction circuit 38. The bit extraction circuit 38 thins out the image signal in accordance with the clock pulse CK from the extraction timing selection circuit 44 as described above. Figure 6
Shows an operation in the case of compressing an image signal to 1/16, that is, the input image signal is extracted every 4 lines, that is, 4N-1 line image signals are extracted. , The extracted 4N-1 line image signal is set to 4 dots
It is extracted by the ratio of dots.

FIG. 6 (2) shows an image signal extracted at a ratio of 1 line to 4 lines. 6 (3) shows the extracted image signal of one line, and FIG. 6 (4) shows 1
The image signal of the line is extracted at a ratio of 1 bit to 4 bits. 6 (3) and 6 (4), the numbers 1 to n in the data indicate the bit numbers.

In this way, by further extracting the image signal extracted at the rate of 1 line out of 4 lines at the rate of 1 bit per 4 bits, the image signal input to the input / output interface 37 from the switching device 9 is reduced to 1 / It can be compressed to 16.

The bit extraction circuit 38 temporarily stores the compressed image signal in the RAM 46. Then, during the blank time T in the transmission of the image signal from the input / output interface 37 to the RAM 34, the data is written from the RAM 46 to the RAM 43 of the CRT via the bus 41. Since the image signals 1'and 5'after the compression processing are smaller than the image signals written in the RAM 34, they can be effectively transmitted using the bus 41 during this blank time T. The image signal after compression may be transmitted to the CRT RAM 43 in several times, instead of being output for one line in one blank time T.

The above operation of the bit extraction circuit 38 is performed by the CPU.
Controlled by 32. The compression rate of the image signal is determined according to the image size of the image signal output from the input / output interface 37. That is, when the entire image is displayed in the size of the display screen of the CRT 8, if the compression rate is determined according to the image signal amount corresponding to the image to be displayed, C
The display screen of the RT can be displayed effectively without causing inconvenience such as image deletion. Therefore, when the image signal is output from the document reader 2 or the microfilm file 5, the data indicating the size of the image is output, and the CP
Calculate the optimum compression rate according to this data in U32,
The extraction timing selection circuit 44 is operated at this compression rate.

FIG. 7 shows the format of image signals output from the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5. A 4-bit size bit MD indicating the size of the image is provided before the image signal ID of one screen. This size bit MD is used in the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5,
The size of the original or microfilm frame is recognized automatically or manually, and the bit corresponding to the recognized size is set. When the image signal is input, the CPU 32 reads the size bit MD and controls the clock generation timing of the extraction timing selection circuit 44 so as to perform the compression operation according to the size bit MD. still,
FIG. 8 shows the image size indicated by the size bit MD in the present system and the compression ratios R1 to R8 corresponding thereto. This compression rate is determined according to the resolution of the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5 and the resolution of the CRT 8, and is written in the ROM 33.

As described above, since the compression processing for CRT display is executed in parallel with the operation of storing the image signal input from the switching device 9 in the RAM 34 as it is, the input image signal is quickly monitored. be able to. The bit extraction circuit 38 described above can also be used for compression processing of the image signal read from the image file 4.

When the image signal read and output by the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5 is displayed on the CRT 8, the thinning process is performed on the high resolution image signal and the image signal is compressed as described above. , The whole image was put on the CRT. By the way, the soft display 6 connected to this system can display an image with a higher resolution than the resolution of the CRT. That is, the soft display 6 of this system has an A3 size display surface and can display an image at a resolution of 16 pel / mm. Further, as described above, the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5 read and output an image at a resolution of 16 pel / mm. Therefore, to monitor the read signal,
The soft display 6 that reproduces more detailed images than the CRT 8 is used, and the output image signals from the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5 are sent to the soft display 6 to enable image reproduction with the same density as reading.

By the way, the image size of the image signals from the document reader 2 and the microfilm file may be smaller than the A3 size. In such a case, a blank area is created on the display screen of the soft display 6. Therefore, image information smaller than the displayable size of the soft display 6 is enlarged and displayed on the soft display 6, and the display image surface is effectively used.

FIG. 9 shows a circuit configuration for achieving the enlargement processing of the image signal. This circuit is provided in the document reader 2 and the microfilm file 5. In FIG. 9, 80
Is an image sensor consisting of a CCD that reads an image line by line 1
It is a dimensional line sensor. Reference numeral 81 is a drive circuit for driving the line sensor 80, and the signal read by the line sensor 80 is output on the line 82 in synchronization with the clock CL1. The clock CL2 corresponds to a line count, specifically, is a read signal of the line sensor 80, and drives the drive circuit 8 with the charge accumulated in the photodiode of the line sensor.
1 is a signal for transferring to the shift register.

CT1 and CT2 are bit counters. The counter CT1 counts the clock CL1 and the counter CT2 counts the clock CL2. C1, C
Reference numeral 2 is a detector for detecting the carry of the counters CT1 and CT2, respectively. SW is a switching signal for instructing whether to operate the enlargement processing circuit according to the image size of the image signal. A1 to A4 are AND gates, I1 and I2 are inverters, O1 and O2 are OR gates, G3 and G4 are gates, BF is a 1-bit buffer, and LB is a line buffer.

The operation will be described. When the switching signal SW is at the low level, that is, when the enlargement processing is not required, the AND gates A3 and A4 output the low level, and therefore the AND gate A1 has the inverter I1 and the inverter I2.
And a high level signal is applied to the AND gate A2 via the inverter I2. As a result, the clocks CL1 and CL2 are input to the drive circuit 81 via the AND gates A1 and A2, respectively. Also, the gates G3 and G
Since 4 is also inoperative, a serial image signal for each line is output to the output terminal OU in synchronization with the clocks CL1 and CL2.
It is output to T.

On the other hand, when the switching signal SW is at a high level, that is, when the image signal is enlarged,
The AND gates A3 and A4 become high level outputs when the detectors C1 and C2 respectively output carry detection signals. At this time, since the outputs of the inverters I1 and I2 are at low level, the AND gates A1 and A2 have the clocks CL1 and C2.
L2 is no longer transmitted to the drive circuit 81.

Therefore, when the detector C1 outputs the carry detection signal, the clock CL1 is not input to the drive circuit 81, and the image is not output from the drive circuit 81 onto the line 82. However, the data (image signal) immediately before the gate G3 is opened and stored in the 1-bit buffer BF
Is output through the OR gate O1. That is, the same image signal is output in duplicate every four clocks, and the image signal in the line direction is expanded 1.25 times.

Further, when the detector C2 outputs a carry detection signal, the drive circuit 81 receives clocks CL1 and CL2.
Will not be input together. At this time, although the image signal is not output from the drive circuit 81, the gate G4 is opened, and the image signal of one line before stored in the line buffer LB is output via the OR gate O2. That is,
Overlapping image output is performed at a ratio of 1 line to 4 lines, whereby a direction perpendicular to the line direction (sub-scanning direction)
, The image will be magnified 1.25 times.

The above-mentioned switching signal SW is output from the document reader 2, the microfilm file 5 or the control unit 1. For example, the size of the document placed on the document reader 2 is automatically detected, and the document size is soft-displayed. When the size is smaller than the display surface of No. 6 (for example, A4 size), or when an enlargement command is input by the operator, the switching signal SW is set to the high level and the enlargement process is executed.

As described above, since the image signal is enlarged and displayed on the soft display 6 in an enlarged manner, the display surface of the soft display 6 can be effectively used, and the enlarged display facilitates image recognition to the operator. It is what Further, in the present system, only the enlargement of 1.25 times is taken into consideration, but it is also possible to provide a large number of enlargement ratios and perform the optimal enlarged display according to the document size and the like. Further, the enlargement in the sub-scanning direction may be executed by physically changing the sub-scanning speed of the line sensor.

By the way, when the image signal read by the document reader 2 is sent to the control unit 1 and further stored in the image file 4 having an optical disk, the operator inputs an operation command of the scanner from the keyboard 31 of the control unit 1. To do. However, when the keyboard of the control unit 1 is operated after the document is set on the document reader 2, there are the following drawbacks. That is, when the document reader 2 does not have an automatic document feeder,
When handling an image of a book document such as a bound book, the operator must operate the document reader 2 and the control unit 1 each time.

When the image signal read by the microfilm file 5 is stored in the image file 4, the microfilm file 5 of this system has a microfilm frame search function, and the search command is the control unit 1. As described above, it is not necessary to operate the two devices together, since it can be performed with the keyboard of the.

Therefore, when the image signal read by the document reader 2 is stored in the image file 4, the operation command can be input from the document reader 2. In FIG. 1, the document reader 2 has an operation panel 21 for inputting operation commands for fulfilling the functions of the digital copying machine.
Is provided with a copy key 25. Therefore, in addition to the control unit 1, it is possible to instruct the scanner start in order to store the image signal read by the document reader 2 in the image file 4 not only by the copy key 25, but by switching the command, the mode change switch 22 shown in FIG. Will be done at.

FIG. 10 shows a circuit configuration for achieving this switching operation. 22a and 22b are mode changeover switches 2
It is a double switch that operates integrally by 2. When the switch 22a is on the contact point a side, the scanner start signal SS from the controller 1 is applied to the AND gate 83 from the contact point a. At this time, if the document reader 2 is in an operable state, and if the scanner ready signal SR is input to the AND gate 83, the scanner start command SC is output to the control unit (not shown) of the document reader 2. On the other hand, when the switch 22b is on the contact B side, the scanner start signal SS from the control unit 1 is not input to the AND gate 83. If the copy key 25 of the document reader 2 is pressed at this time, a high level signal is input to the AND gate 83 in synchronization with the pressing. In this case, when the scanner ready signal SR is input to the AND gate 83, the scanner start command SC is output. Therefore,
When the switch 22a is on the contact B side, the scanner start command SC can be output in the same manner as the scanner start signal SS from the control unit 1 by pressing the copy key 25, thereby reading the original (scanning). It can be started.

The contacts of the switch 22b are switched together with the switch 22a, and the LEDs 2 respectively connected to the contacts.
3 or 24 lights up. As a result, the current mode is displayed to the operator. Therefore, the operator is
By checking the lighting state of 24, it is possible to perform a switching operation according to the method of the procedure for inputting the start command of the document reader and if necessary.

FIG. 11 shows a configuration of the circuit of FIG. 10 using a logic circuit. This circuit is for performing mode switching from the control unit 1. When the document reader 2 is activated from the control unit 1, the keyboard 31 is instructed to that effect, whereby the remote signal RS is input to the set terminal of the flip-flop 87, and the flip-flop 8 is activated.
Set 7. Thus, when the flip-flop 87 is set, a high level signal is output from the Q terminal to the AND gate 84. At this time, when the scanner start signal SS is input from the control unit 1, if the scanner ready signal SR is input to the AND gate 84, the scanner start command SC is sent to the control unit of the document reader 2 via the OR gate 86. The document is input, and document scanning starts.

On the other hand, when the scan start command of the document reader 2 is issued by the copy key 21 of the document reader 2, when the keyboard 31 gives an instruction to that effect, the remote signal RS.
Becomes low level and the local signal LS becomes high level. As a result, the flip-flop 87 is reset, the Q output to the AND gate 84 is at low level,
The Q output to the AND gate 85 becomes high level. At this time, when the copy key 25 is pressed down, a high level input is performed to the AND gate 85. In this case, if the scanner ready signal SR is input, the AND gate 85 outputs the scanner start command SC via the OR gate 86. To be done. At this time, the scanner start signal SS from the controller 1 is not transmitted because the AND gate 84 is closed.

Further, as in the circuit of FIG. 10, the LEDs 23,
24 is turned on according to the mode, and the current mode is displayed to the operator.

FIG. 12 shows still another embodiment, in which the scanning start command of the document reader 2 can be switched in three ways from one or both of the document reader 2 and the control unit 1. That is, the mode changeover switch 22
Switches 22c, 22d, and 22 that operate integrally by
A three-circuit, three-contact switch is used for e. When the switches 22c and 22d are connected to the contacts, the controller starts the scanner start signal SS and the copy key 2
Both signals by pressing 5 can be input to the AND gate 90 via the OR gate 91, and when this mode is selected, the activation of the document reader is instructed by both the control unit 1 and the document reader 2. Is something that can be done.

Further, when the switches 22c and 22d are connected to the contact point a, only the control section 1 can be activated, and when connected to the contact point c, the document reader 2 can be activated only from the document reader 2.

In this way, since the activation of the document reader 2 can be switched from the control section 1 or the document reader 2 as needed, a command to activate the document reader 2 at the same position as the document setting can also be issued. The system is easy to use.

FIGS. 13, 16 and 17 are flow charts showing the control means of the system described above. The program shown in this flowchart is the ROM of the control unit 1.
It is written in advance in 33, and the CPU 32 controls the read operation of this program from the ROM 33.

When the control unit 1 of the system is turned on, first, in step S1, the screen of the CRT 8 is cleared, and subsequently, in step S2, the CRT 8 is displayed to wait for command input, and the keyboard 31 by the operator is displayed. To prepare for the operation. Typical commands input by the operator are an image input command for fetching an image signal into the RAM 34 of the control unit 1, and an image input command for the RAM 34 of the control unit 1.
Image output command and control unit 1 for reading out and outputting from
There is a pass mode command for transmitting and receiving an image signal without going through.

The control section 1 first checks in step S3 whether or not an image input command is inputted by the operator. If it has not been input, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether or not an image output command has been input.

If the image input command is input, it is checked in steps S4, S7 and S11 which one of the microfilm file 5, the document reader 2 and the image file 4 is designated as the device for image input. If the microfilm file 5 is specified, step S
4 to step S5, the microfilm file 5
To the switch 51 of the switching device 9
Is turned on to form a path through which the output image signal of the microfilm file 5 is transmitted to the input / output interface 37. Then, in step S6, the keyboard 31
A desired frame on the microfilm is searched according to the search data input from. Then, in step S9, it is determined whether or not a command to display the image read from the microfilm on the CRT 8 is input. If the display command is not issued, the process proceeds to step S14. If the display command is issued, the process proceeds to step S10. , As mentioned above, CR
After outputting an operation command to the bit extraction circuit 38 to perform the compression processing of the image signal according to the T display, step S14
Proceed to.

If the document reader 2 is designated as the image input device, the process proceeds from step S7 to step S8, a drive command is output to the document reader 2, and the switching device 9 is also used.
The switch 71 is turned on to form a path through which the output image signal of the document reader 2 is transmitted to the input / output interface 37. Then, the process proceeds to step S9 to determine the presence / absence of a CRT display command, and if there is no command, the process proceeds to step S14, and if there is, the process operation is performed through step S10 in the same manner as described above, and then the process proceeds to step S14.

On the other hand, the image file 4 is used as an image input device.
If is specified, steps S11 to S
After proceeding to 12 and outputting the drive command to the image file 4,
In step S13, the image information on the optical disk is searched according to the search data from the operator, and the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the image input command is output to the selected input device to start the image input operation. And
The input image signal is stored in the RAM 34 for one page.

After completion of the above-described image input, or when the operator does not input the image input command, it is determined in step S15 whether or not the image output command is input.

If the image output command is input, it is determined in steps S16, S18, S20, S22 and S24 what is designated as the image output device.
If the CRT 8 is designated as the image output device, the process proceeds from step S16 to S17 to output a drive command to the CRT 8, and the process proceeds to step S26. If the image file 4 is designated, a drive command is output to the image file 4 to secure the image signal storage area in the image file 4, and then the process proceeds to step S26. If the high-speed printer 3 is designated, the process proceeds from step S20 to step S21 to issue a drive command to the high-speed printer 3 to cause the high-speed printer 3 to start a preparation operation such as laser output, mirror rotation, paper feeding, and the switching device 9 is operated. Turn on the switch 61 to turn on the high speed printer 3.
After forming the signal path to, the process proceeds to step S26. If the soft display 6 is designated, the process proceeds from step S22 to step S23, the soft display 6 is activated to prepare for image display, and the switch 62 of the switching device is turned on to switch the signal path. After the formation, the process proceeds to step S26. On the other hand, small printer 7
Is designated, a drive command is output to the small printer 7, the switch 63 of the switching device is turned on, a signal path to the small printer 7 is formed, and then the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S26, the image signal stored in the RAM 34 is output to each output device designated as an image output device and prepared for image output as described above, and an image recording or image display operation is executed. Excuse me.

In step S27, it is determined whether or not the pass mode for transmitting / receiving the image signal is designated by the operator without the intervention of the control section 1. If the pass mode is designated, the combination of the input / output devices used for the pass mode is determined in steps S28, S30, S32, S34 and S3.
6 and S38. If the combination of the document reader 2 and the high-speed printer 3 is designated, steps S28 to S2
9, the drive command is issued to both devices, and the switch 72 of the switching device 9 is turned on to form a signal path from the document reader 2 to the high speed printer 3. If the combination of the microfilm file 5 and the high-speed printer 3 is designated, the process proceeds from step S30 to S31, a drive command is issued to both devices, the switch 52 of the switching device 9 is turned on, and the high-speed printer 3 is switched from the microfilm file 5. To form a signal path to. If the combination of the document reader 2 and the small printer 7 is designated, the process proceeds from step S32 to S33, a drive command is issued to both devices, and the switch 74 of the switching device is turned on to switch the document reader 2 to the small printer 7. Form a signal path. If the combination of the microfilm file 5 and the small printer 7 is designated, step S
The process proceeds from S34 to S35, both devices are driven, and the switch 54 of the switching device 9 is turned on to form a signal path connecting both devices. If the combination of the document reader 2 and the soft display 6 is designated, step S3 is performed.
From S6, the drive command is output to both devices, the switch 73 of the switching device 9 is turned on to form a signal path from the document reader 2 to the soft display 6, and an enlarged display operation is required in step S40. Determine whether or not. Then, as described above, when the enlarged display is performed, the process proceeds to step S41, and the switching signal SW is output to the enlargement processing circuit (FIG. 9). If the combination of the microfilm file 5 and the soft display 6 is designated, step S38.
To S39, both devices are driven and the switch 53 of the switching device 9 is turned on to form a signal path connecting the two devices, and the process proceeds to step S40 to determine the necessity of enlargement processing as described above. If necessary, the enlargement processing circuit is operated in step S41.

In this way, when the preparations for driving the devices of each combination designated in the pass mode are made, in step S42, the designated output device performs image output and the input device performs image input. To start.

As described above, the operation control of the system of this embodiment and the drive command are performed according to the operation command input by the operator from the keyboard 31 of the control unit 1 or the point device 30.
This is performed by the CPU 32. In addition, various image input / output devices can be connected to be effectively used, and excellent effects such as improvement of office efficiency and speeding up of image processing can be achieved. Further, it goes without saying that the necessary number of input / output devices constituting the system are connected according to the usage form.

Next, an example of transmission to another station via a network and an example of image editing will be described with reference to Part 15.

[0059] The control unit 1 of the workstation WS ₁ is,
It is as follows. This is the image read by reader 2, microfile 5, the image from file 4,
Other WS2 and WS3 transmitted and input through CNET and communication interface 36, and transmitted and input through 36 like other WS2 and WS3

[0060]

[Outer 1] The image of the block from the high-speed reader / printer, or the code image of the graphics, graphs, sentences, etc. from the word processor WP, personal computer PC transmitted via 36, or the graphics, graphs, sentences, etc. created by the keyboard of the own WS, etc. The code image can be edited and displayed on the CRT 8.
In addition, the edited image can be printed by the printers 3 and 7, stored in the file 4, monitored by the soft display 6, and can be displayed on the local area network (LA
NWS), other WS2, WS3,
It can be transmitted to a printer for display and printing. The editing work includes cutting the image on the CRT 8, enlarging / reducing the cut portion, rotating it, moving it, and the like.
Also, the code image and the read image can be combined, or the edited images can be combined.

For that purpose, the WS can designate the station of the network and exchange data. The designation is made separately from the designation of the input / output device of FIG. Also, WS
Makes it possible to select a transmission image and a destination thereof. Further, transmission formation is selected so that image transmission by pixel data such as a read image and image transmission by code data such as a graphic image can be conveniently transmitted.

Further, the main storage device (main memory 3 in WS)
4) distinguishes and stores the above-mentioned read image, transmission image, and edited image, and outputs this image data to each output device of the WS terminal,
2. Transmit to WS3. In addition, a part of the image data of the main memory 34 is expanded as pixel data in the CRT memory, and the input / transmission image and the edited image are displayed on the CRT.
To display. The other WS2 and WS3 have the same C
It has a display function by RT, a transmission function, an image editing function, a transmission destination selection and an image selection function, and a command function by a cursor on the CRT. In addition, starting from WS ₁ or starting from an image reader, multiple WS
2. The image data can be transmitted (broadcast) to WS3 and the printer, and at the same time, monitoring and printing can be performed at other stations.

The local command function is a few meters on the CRT.
An arrow image (cursor) of about m is displayed, which is arbitrarily moved in X and Y by manual operation of the point device (PD), a command image displayed in advance on the CRT is designated, and a command is selected. It is a thing. Compared to command selection by key input or the like, the selection can be performed easily and quickly.

As shown in FIG. 14, the command image is, for example, C for the reader 2 shown in the command area B, d for the image file, g for the microfilm reader 5, e for the printer 3 and soft display 6 for the local network. CNET is a postal mark of f. When the PD is moved on this image and designated by the cursor k ₂ , and the switch on the PD is turned on, the designated data is stored. k ₂ moves only in the B area, and the cursor of k ₁ moves in the A area. k ₁ designates the cropping position or moving position of the image. Selection of k ₁ and k ₂ is performed by a switch on DP.

As an example of a command with a cursor, for example, when k ₁ is placed at the position shown in the figure, k ₂ is placed on the reader mark C and the switch on DP is turned on, the WS is in a state of receiving the read image from the reader 2. When image data is input to the WS from the reader 2, the image data is stored in the main memory and the image is automatically displayed in the area A on the CRT 8 which is full. Next, when the switch of the cursor k ₁ is turned on at this position and then the cursor k ₂ is placed at the printer mark e and switched on, the printer 3 is instructed to output the image on A to the print, Pixel data is output from the main memory to the printer 3 as described above. When the cursor k ₂ is placed on the mark d and switched on, the pixel data in the main memory is registered in the pixel file 1. When placed on k ₁ and turned on, the soft display 6 is displayed.

As a second example, k _{2 is} added to the film mark g.
When the switch is turned on after placing, the film search command table is displayed in the left area of B. In the table, select the desired film file number or frame number k
_When specified by ₂ , search data is set in memory. Next, when k ₁ is placed at the position shown in FIG. 14 and the DP is switched on, film searching is started, and after the searching is completed, the film frame is automatically read and the data is sent to the main memory of WS, and the CRT 8 reads it. The image is displayed in the A area. The storage of the image in the image file 1 and the output to the printer 3 and the soft display 6 are the same as described above.

As a third example, when k ₂ is placed on the postal mark f and the switch is turned on, a table of each station No. connected to the network CNET is displayed on the left of the B area. In that table, the desired WS2, WS3,
When the station No reader printer designated by k _2, data for the station No selection is set in the memory. After the station number is set, or if "broadcast" in the table is designated by k ₂ without setting it, the images to be transmitted on the CRT8 of WS1 are sent to all the selected stations or all the stations connected to CNET. It is transmitted at the same time. The image to be transmitted is selected by the cursor after selecting the station. It determines the coordinates of the A area by k ₁ .
At the position of k ₁ in FIG. 14, the entire area A, l ₁
If -l ₂ is specified, only the image of a is transmitted.
When a plurality of station numbers are sequentially designated and the PD is turned on, data is sequentially transmitted to each station (progress notification). Each WS2, WS3 to which the image data was transmitted
Can display and print the image as in WS1. At the printer station, printout is made at the same time as transmission. If the image to be transmitted is a read image, and if it is code data for a pixel data transmission line, text, graph, or graphic, it is transmitted using a packet transmission line. The packet line is provided separately from the pixel line in order to send control data such as a protocol necessary for transmitting the pixel data. The selection of the destination station, the selection of the transmission line, etc. are performed by the transmission control LIU in the communication interface.

Next, there is image editing on the side of the fourth cursor command, and when the character "edit" (not shown) in the command area B is designated by k ₂ , the editing table is displayed on the left of the B area. During the table, designated by the "cut-out" k _2, the extraction position of the image being displayed in A area by k _1, as l ₁ -l ₂ 2
When a point is specified, that part is cut out and another point l ₃
Specifies (not shown), specifying "move" by k _2, l ₂ is moved even l ₁ so as to be l ₃ moves the image of a. The image left by cutting can be erased by a command, but it can also be left as it is. However, the part that overlaps the cutout image is not displayed. Further, after the cut in the editing table, specifying by the "expansion" k _2, with cutout images l ₁ fixed position l ₄ (not shown) until l ₂ which is designated by k ₁ is displayed in stretched It The opposite occurs when you specify "reduce."
This scaling operation is performed by increasing the bits of the image data in the main memory and thinning out the bits during the data transfer to the CRT memory RAM. When the "rotation" and the angle are designated, the image a can be rotated by 90 degrees. Cutting out, rotation, movement and the like are performed by controlling the X and Y addresses of the main memory by the coordinate data and angle data according to k ₁ .

[0069] Also, there is a "retracted" As a fifth example commands and instructs this in k _2, designated by k ₁ on the CRT image is stored in the refuge memory. The cut-out image a can be saved.

Next, when "graphic", "graph" and "text" are designated, the code data stored in the memory from another new station and sent are developed as pixel data and displayed on the CRT 8. In that case as well, the editing at the time of “cutout” can be performed similarly to the read image. In FIG. 14, b is a graph and i is an example of a sentence, which is displayed at the position of the figure by “designation of movement”. Then the image a which has been saved by the "designation of synthesis" is b, and position vacant by the movement of the i image is recalled by specifying display by a _2.
This completes the image editing of FIG. The bar graph b can be converted into a table by designating "convert table graph" and is displayed at this position. In addition, it can be converted into a pie chart by specifying "Circle bar chart conversion". These conversions are carried out by storing a predetermined graphic pattern as a code and transmitting it or by WS1 and selecting and assembling in accordance with the produced code data.

Image "composite" by the above "cutout"
The image on the CRT 8 such as the image by the above can be printed by the printer 3, and can be transmitted to each station at the same time by the designation of the above-mentioned "broadcast".

18 and 19 are control operations for executing information transmission and image editing via a local area network (LAN), in addition to the control operation of the present system described with reference to FIGS. 13, 16 and 17. It is a flowchart figure which shows the program which achieves operation.

The control operation shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 is as shown in FIG.
And FIG. 16 are inserted.

As described above, the read image of the pixel data, the code image of the code data such as the graphic, the graph, the text, etc. is input from the designated device including the external WS. At this time, an identification code indicating the content of the image is added to the image and stored in a predetermined area of the main memory 34. Now, if an edit command is input from the WS keyboard and pointing device, first step S45.
Then, the process proceeds to steps S46, S63, S66 and S69, and it is determined which data the edit command has been input. If it is an edit command for the read image output from the high-speed reader 2 connected to the own WS, the microfilm file and the optical disc, or the read image from another WS input from the LAN, step S4
From S6 to S47, the read image stored in the main memory 34 is stored again in the M area of the main memory and is displayed on the CRT 8. Further, the above-described processing corresponding to the content of the editing processing is performed in step S100. Step S
In step 100, if the display image cutout command is input in step S48, the image of the area designated by the pointing device is extracted in step S49 as described above, and the extracted image is extracted from the M ₁ area of the main memory. The read data corresponding to is stored again in the M ₁ area of the main memory 34 in step S50. On the other hand, if the enlargement command is input, the process proceeds from step S51 to S52 to enlarge the image in the M ₁ area of the main memory 34 according to the input enlargement ratio, and in step S53, the area M of the main memory 34.
Store in ₁ . If a reduction command is input, the process proceeds from step S54 to step S55 to reduce the image in the M ₁ area of the main memory 34 to the designated reduction ratio, and further reduces the reduced image in step S56 to the M ₁ area of the main memory 34. To store. If the image rotation command is input,
The process proceeds from step S57 to step S58, and the rotation operation of the M ₁ area of the main memory 34 is performed by the keyboard according to the designated rotation angle, and stored in the M ₁ area of the main memory in step S59. On the other hand, if an image move command is input, the process proceeds from step S60 to step S61, the image of the M ₁ area of the main memory is moved to the position (movement amount) designated by the pointing device, and then the main memory is moved to step S62. Store in the M ₁ area of 34. When the processing for each processing described above is completed and the read image is stored again in the M ₁ area of the main memory 34, it is determined whether or not the editing operation instructed in step S71 is completed. If it is not completed yet, the process returns to step S46, and step S is performed again.
The editing operation is performed in step 100 through steps S46 and S47.
That is, first, when the read image is cut out and the cut out image is enlarged and further moved, step S100 is executed three times for editing the read image. Also, the reverse procedure of rotating the read image, reducing the size of the read image, extracting the read image, and the like is performed in step S100.
Works. Further, this editing state can be monitored by the CRT 8.

When the editing of the read image is completed, it is determined in step S71 whether or not there is an edit processing request for another image. If there is,
Returning to step S46, further steps S63 and S66
It is determined which image has an edit command input. Then, in response to editing commands for figures, graphs and sentences input by the code image, the respective images are stored in the M ₂ area, M ₃ area and M ₄ area of the main memory in steps S64, S67 and S69, respectively. Then, the next step (S65, S68, S
In 70), the same editing operation as in step S100 in which the above-described read image editing processing is performed is executed, and each edited image is stored again in the M ₂ area, M ₃ area, and M ₄ area of the main memory 34.

As described above, if the processing of steps S46 to S71 is repeated for each image and the editing operation for the input editing command is completed, step S46 is performed.
Proceeding to 72, it is determined whether or not the synthesis of the edited image is instructed. If there is a synthesis command, in step S73,
As described above, the image instructed to be composited is read from the corresponding area of the main memory 34 at the position designated by the pointing device, and stored in the M ₅ area of the main memory 34 in step S74. That is, when the read image that has been edited and the graph are to be combined, the main memory 3
The read image is read from the M ₁ area and the code image of the graph is read from the M ₃ area, and these are stored in the M ₅ area of the main memory 34 corresponding to the designated combining position. As a result, the read image and the combined image of the graph are stored in the M ₅ area. If this combining process is executed, the process proceeds to step S75. At this time, the combined image is displayed on the CRT 8. Also, if there is no synthesis instruction, the process proceeds from step S72 to S75.

In step S75, the input of the output form command such as recording of image information and display is judged. Step S7 described above
Image combining processing is performed in 2 to S74, and when outputting all the combined images, the process proceeds to step S76,
In order to output the image of the M ₅ area in which the composite image is stored, it is transferred to the M ₆ area of the main memory 34 in step S77. If only the read image is to be output from the composite image, the process proceeds from step S78 to S79, where M
Only read image stored in _one area is transferred to M ₆ area. If only the figure is to be output, the process proceeds from step S80 to step S81 and only the figure image of the M ₂ area is stored in the M ₆ area. In the case of outputting only the graph stores the graph image of M ₃ area proceeds from step S82 to S83 to M ₆ area. Further, when outputting only the text, the text image is transferred from the M ₄ area to the M ₆ area. In this way, the image of the type designated for output is transferred to the M ₆ area of the main memory 34, and the output command is awaited. It should be noted that if there is no output form command, it means that the above-mentioned edit / combine process has not been performed, and in this case, the process proceeds to step S85.

At step S85, LA is set to another WS.
N is used to determine whether a command to output an image is input. If the output command using the LAN has not been input, the process proceeds to step S15 of FIG.
Output device connected to the CRT 8, image film 4,
Either the high speed printer 3, the soft display 6 or the small printer 7 is selected and an image is output. On the other hand, if image transmission to another WS using the LAN is selected in step S85, output to the output device in the own WS is prohibited, and the output form is selected in steps S86 and S88. If the broadcast communication to a plurality of WS is selected, the process proceeds from step S86 to step S87, the LIU of the communication interface 36 is set to enable broadcast communication, and the process proceeds to step S91. If the forward communication for sequentially outputting images to a plurality of WS is selected, the process proceeds from step S88 to S89, the LIU is set to enable the forward communication, and the process proceeds to step S91. On the other hand, if a plurality of WS are not selected and the image output to a single WS is selected, the process proceeds to step S90, the LIU is set as such, and the process proceeds to step S91. In step S91, step S
According to the state of the LIU set in 87, S89, S90, the LA outputs the image output from the main memory to the other WS.
Perform through N.

As described above, when a plurality of WS's are connected by a LAN and an edit operation is performed on an image input to the WS, the control operation shown in FIGS. Between FIG. 13 and FIG.
As a result, it becomes possible for the WS to control editing, composition of images, and image transmission with another WS.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention, the image data representing the original image and the code data representing the character image are processed and processed in order to combine the original image and the character image in one screen. The composite image of the original image and the character image is displayed according to the image data and the code data
In the second transmission mode, both the image data representing the composite image and the code data are transmitted, and in the second transmission mode, one of the image data representing the original image and the code data representing the character image in the composite image is selectively selected. Because it transmits
It is possible to easily transmit the image that needs to be transmitted among the synthesized images after the synthesizing process without waste.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external connection diagram of an image processing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image processing system.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a switching device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a combination of switching operations.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a bit extraction circuit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operating state of a bit extraction circuit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing formation of an image signal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a size bit MD.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an enlargement processing circuit.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a drive command mode switching circuit of a document reader.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of a drive command mode switching circuit of the document reader.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a drive command mode switching circuit of a document reader.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a control program of the control unit.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display surface of a workstation WS.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a control program of the control unit.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a control program of the control unit.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a control program of the control unit.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a control program of the control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Controller 2 Document Reader 3 High Speed Printer 4 Image File 5 Micro Film File 6 Soft Display 7 Small Printer 8 CRT 9 Switching Device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location // G06F 3/153 320 G 7165-5B G09G 5/00 A 8121-5G

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first input means for inputting image data representing an original image, a second input means for inputting code data representing a character image, and the original image and the character image are combined in one screen. Therefore, the image data input from the first input means and the second data
Processing means for processing the code data input from the input means; display means for displaying a composite image of the original image and the character image according to the image data and code data processed by the processing means; Transmission means for transmitting the image data and the code data processed by the means according to the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, wherein the transmission means is configured to generate the composite image in the first transmission mode. Both the image data and the code data represented are transmitted, and in the second transmission mode, one of the image data representing the original image and the code data representing the character image in the composite image is selectively transmitted. Image processing device.