Image processing apparatus and image processing method

Abstract

To provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, capable of automatically detecting a non-standard size original and adjusting image sizes of front and back surfaces thereof.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes a size acquisition unit and a determination unit. The size acquisition unit acquires first size information indicating a size of a first sheet surface of a sheet read by an image reading unit. The determination unit determines whether a same size setting is set, and when the same size setting is set, determines second image information indicating a size of a stored image of a second sheet surface different from the first sheet surface of the sheet on the basis of first image information indicating a size of an image to be stored on the basis of the first size information, and when the same size setting is not set, determines the second image information without being based on the first image information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method.

Background Art

[0002] An MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) has a function of being able to scan a non-standard sized document (hereinafter referred to as a "non-standard size document"). There are two methods for scanning a non-standard size document: manual scanning and automatic scanning. Manual scanning is a scanning method in which the user manually determines the size of the non-standard size document. Automatic scanning is a scanning method in which the MFP automatically determines the size of the non-standard size document. In manual scanning, the user obtains the width and height of the non-standard size document in advance and inputs them into the MFP. In automatic scanning, a sufficiently large reading range is used to scan the non-standard size document, and an image of the document portion is extracted from the image obtained by the scanning.

[0003] However, in automatic scanning, there were cases where images were generated with different image sizes on the front and back surfaces even though they were the same document. In such cases, there was a possibility of inconvenience to the user.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method capable of generating an image that is more convenient for a user when reading images of the front and back surfaces by automatic scanning.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] The image processing apparatus according to the embodiment includes a size acquisition unit and a determination unit. The size acquisition unit acquires first size information indicating the size of the first sheet surface of the sheet read by the image reading unit. The determination unit determines second image information indicating the size of the image to be stored on the second sheet surface different from the first sheet surface of the sheet based on first image information indicating the size of the image to be stored based on the first size information.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus and an image processing method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] FIG. 1 is an external view showing an overall configuration example of an image processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. The image processing apparatus 100 is an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction device, for example. The image processing apparatus 100 includes a display 110, a control panel 120, a printer 130, a sheet storage unit 140, and an image reading unit 200. Note that the printer 130 of the image processing apparatus 100 may be a device that fixes a toner image or an inkjet type device.

[0010] The image processing apparatus 100 reads an image appearing on a sheet to generate digital data and generates an image file. The sheet is, for example, an original or paper on which characters, images, etc. are described. The sheet may be any object as long as the image processing apparatus 100 can read it.

[0011] The display 110 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The display 110 displays various information regarding the image processing apparatus 100.

[0012] The control panel 120 has a plurality of buttons. The control panel 120 receives user operations. The control panel 120 outputs a signal corresponding to an operation performed by the user to the control unit of the image processing apparatus 100. Note that the display 110 and the control panel 120 may be configured as an integrated touch panel.

[0013] Printer 130 forms an image on a sheet based on the image information generated by image reading unit 200 or the image information received via a communication path. Printer 130 forms an image by, for example, the following processes. The image forming unit of printer 130 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum based on the image information. The image forming unit of printer 130 forms a visible image by attaching a developer to the electrostatic latent image. A specific example of the developer is toner. The transfer unit of printer 130 transfers the visible image onto the sheet. The fixing unit of printer 130 fixes the visible image onto the sheet by heating and pressing the sheet. Note that the sheet on which the image is formed may be a sheet stored in sheet storage unit 140 or a sheet held by hand.

[0014] Sheet storage unit 140 stores the sheets used for image formation in printer 130.

[0015] Image reading unit 200 reads the image information of the object to be read as the light brightness and darkness. Image reading unit 200 records the read image information. The recorded image information may be transmitted to other information processing devices via a network. The recorded image information may be used by printer 130 to form an image on a sheet. Image reading unit 200 may include ADF 210. In this case, reading processing may be performed on a plurality of documents set at once in ADF 210 as one document set.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the functional blocks of image processing apparatus 100 in the embodiment. Image processing apparatus 100 includes control panel 120, storage unit 150, communication unit 160, image reading unit 200, and control unit 300. Note that since control panel 120 and image reading unit 200 have been described in FIG. 1, the description thereof is omitted in FIG. 2.

[0017] Storage unit 150 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. Storage unit 150 stores a size information table.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a data configuration diagram showing a specific example of the size information table. The size information table is a table in which the vertical and horizontal sizes of an irregular-sized document read by the image processing apparatus 100 are registered. The storage unit 150 stores the size of the front surface of the irregular-sized document read by the image reading unit 200 (hereinafter referred to as "first size information") in association with the size of the back surface of the irregular-sized document (hereinafter referred to as "second size information"). In the present embodiment, the size of the document is represented by a combination of the vertical length (height) and the horizontal length (width).

[0019] Returning to the description of FIG. 2. The communication unit 160 is a communication interface. The communication unit 160 performs data communication with information processing apparatuses such as a server and other image forming apparatuses via a network.

[0020] The control unit 300 is configured by using a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). When the processor executes a program, the control unit 300 functions as a size acquisition unit 310, a calculation unit 320, a determination unit 330, and an image storage unit 340. By operating as each of the above functions, the control unit 300 can store the front surface image and the back surface image of the irregular-sized document in the same size from the scan file generated by the image reading unit 200. In the following description, the stored front surface image is defined as the first image, and the back surface image is defined as the second image. Note that the front surface of the sheet is one aspect of the first sheet surface. The back surface of the sheet is one aspect of the second sheet surface.

[0021] The size acquisition unit 310 acquires the first size information of the first sheet surface indicating the front surface of the irregular-sized document read by the image reading unit 200. The size acquisition unit 310 also acquires the second size information of the second sheet surface indicating the back surface of the irregular-sized document read by the image reading unit 200.

[0022] Specifically, the size acquisition unit 310 trims the image when scanning the non-standard size original manuscript to obtain the size of the non-standard size original manuscript. For example, the size acquisition unit 310 trims the area of the black background from the image when scanning the non-standard size original manuscript in order to extract the image of the non-standard size original manuscript part. Also for example, the size acquisition unit 310 trims the non-standard size original manuscript based on the first size information and the second size information, and obtains the image of the first sheet surface and the image of the second sheet surface.

[0023] The size acquisition unit 310 obtains the first size information and the second size information based on the vertical and horizontal sizes of the acquired image of the first sheet surface and the image of the second sheet surface. The size acquisition unit 310 registers the acquired first size information and second size information in the size information table of the storage unit 150.

[0024] The calculation unit 320 calculates the sizes (for example, the vertical and horizontal lengths) of the first image and the second image and the manuscript difference based on the first size information, the second size information, the first image information and the second image information determined by the determination unit 330. The first image information is information indicating the size of the image of the first sheet surface to be saved. The second image information is information indicating the size of the image of the second sheet surface to be saved. The manuscript difference is information indicating the difference in the vertical and horizontal sizes between the first image information and the second size information.

[0025] The calculation unit 320 calculates the above sizes by, for example, the following processing. First, the calculation unit 320 refers to the size information table. Next, the calculation unit 320 calculates the manuscript difference based on the first image information and the second size information. The calculation unit 320 sends the calculated manuscript difference to the determination unit 330.

[0026] The determination unit 330 determines the first image information and the second image information. The determination unit 330 determines the first image information and the second image information according to whether there is a setting (hereinafter referred to as "same size setting") for adjusting the first image and the second image to the same size. For example, when the same size setting is set, the determination unit 330 determines the first image information and the second image information as the same information. When the same size setting is not set, the determination unit 330 determines the first image information based on the first size information and determines the second image information based on the second size information. Then, the determination unit 330 sends the determined first image information and second image information to the image storage unit 340.

[0027] Note that the same size setting may be set by an input from the user, or may be set in advance at the time of shipment of the image processing apparatus 100. Specific examples of the method for correcting the image using the calculation unit 320 and the determination unit 330 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.

[0028] The image storage unit 340 corrects at least one of the image of the first sheet surface and the image of the second sheet surface by trimming, enlarging and reducing, etc., based on the first image information, the second image information, and the manuscript difference. The image storage unit 340 stores the corrected image in the storage unit 150 as the first image and the second image.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of an image obtained by scanning two non-standard size manuscripts with the same side length. In FIG. 4, as an example, the case where the height of the first sheet surface and the height of the second sheet surface are the same value will be described. The image of the surface of the non-standard size manuscript scanned by the image reading unit 200 is generated as a first scan image 10 showing an image including the first sheet surface 11. Also, the image of the back surface of the non-standard size manuscript scanned by the image reading unit 200 is generated as a second scan image 20 showing an image including the second sheet surface 21.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of correcting an irregular-sized manuscript with equal side lengths. In FIG. 5, as an example, the case where the first size information is determined as the first image information by the determination unit 330 will be described. First, the image storage unit 340 trims the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 21 from the first scan image 10 and the second scan image 20. In FIG. 5, the size acquisition unit 310 acquires the width of the trimmed first sheet surface 11 as W1 and the height of the first sheet surface 11 as H1. Also, the size acquisition unit 310 acquires the size of the second sheet surface 21 as the second size information. The size acquisition unit 310 registers the acquired size in the size information table as the first size information.

[0031] Next, the determination unit 330 determines the first size information as the first image information and the second image information. The determination unit 330 determines the first image information with a height of H1 and a width of W1. The calculation unit 320 refers to the size information table and calculates the manuscript difference based on the first image information and the second size information. The calculation unit 320 calculates the horizontal length difference between the first image information and the second size information as the manuscript difference Ex1. As a result, the width of the second sheet surface 21 is determined as W1 + Ex1. Also, the height of the second sheet surface 21 is H1.

[0032] From the above, in FIG. 5, the calculation unit 320 calculates the horizontal manuscript difference as Ex1 and the vertical manuscript difference as 0. The calculation unit 320 calculates the information of the manuscript difference with a width difference of Ex1 as the first manuscript difference 22. The calculation unit 320 sends the calculated first manuscript difference 22 to the determination unit 330. For example, in FIG. 5, by deleting the first manuscript difference 22, it becomes possible to store the first image 12 and the second image 23 of the same size in the storage unit 150.

[0033] First, the image storage unit 340 deletes the first manuscript difference 22, which is the manuscript difference between the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 21, by trimming. In FIG. 5, as an example, the image storage unit 340 deletes the first manuscript difference 22 from the right side.

[0034] Next, the image storage unit 340 stores the image of the first sheet surface 11 as the first image 12 based on the first image information. Also, the image storage unit 340 stores the image of the second sheet surface 21 as the second image 23 based on the second image information. In this embodiment, the correction by trimming has been described. However, for example, the second image may be corrected by performing horizontal enlargement / reduction with the vertical direction as a reference. Also, for example, the second image may be corrected by performing vertical enlargement / reduction with the horizontal direction as a reference. In FIG. 5, the second sheet surface is corrected with the first sheet surface as a reference. However, the first image may be corrected with the second sheet surface as a reference.

[0035] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of an image obtained by scanning two non-standard size originals having different sizes. In FIG. 6, as an example, a case where the size of the first sheet surface and the size of the second sheet surface are different will be described. The surface of the non-standard size original scanned by the image reading unit 200 is generated as a first scan image 10 including the first sheet surface 11. Also, the back surface of the non-standard size original scanned by the image reading unit 200 is generated as a second scan image 30 including the second sheet surface 31.

[0036] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of the correction of two non-standard size originals having different sizes. In FIG. 7, as an example, a case where the first size information is determined as the first image information by the determination unit 330 will be described. First, the image storage unit 340 trims the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 31 from the first scan image 10 and the second scan image 30. In FIG. 7, the size acquisition unit 310 acquires the width of the trimmed first sheet surface 11 as W2 and the height of the first sheet surface 11 as H2. Also, the size acquisition unit 310 acquires the size of the second sheet surface 31 as the second size information. The size acquisition unit 310 registers the acquired size as the first size information in the size information table.

[0037] Next, the determination unit 330 determines the first size information as the first image information and the second image information. In FIG. 7, the determination unit 330 determines the first image information with a height of H2 and a width of W2. The calculation unit 320 refers to the size information table and calculates the manuscript difference based on the first image information and the second size information. The calculation unit 320 calculates the horizontal length difference between the first image information and the second size information as the manuscript difference Ex2. The calculation unit 320 calculates the vertical length difference between the first image information and the second size information as the manuscript difference Ex3. Thereby, the width of the second sheet surface 21 is determined as W2 + Ex2. Also, the height of the second sheet surface 31 is determined as H2 + Ex3.

[0038] From the above, in FIG. 7, the calculation unit 320 calculates the horizontal manuscript difference as Ex2 and the vertical manuscript difference as Ex3. The calculation unit 320 calculates the information of the manuscript difference with a width difference of Ex2 and a height difference of Ex3 as the second manuscript difference 32 and the third manuscript difference 33. The calculation unit 320 sends the calculated second manuscript difference 32 and third manuscript difference 33 to the determination unit 330. For example, in FIG. 7, by deleting the second manuscript difference 32 and the third manuscript difference 33, the first image 12 and the second image 34 of the same size can be stored in the storage unit 150.

[0039] First, the image storage unit 340 deletes the second manuscript difference 32 and the third manuscript difference 33, which are the manuscript differences between the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 31, by trimming. In FIG. 7, as an example, the image storage unit 340 deletes the second manuscript difference 32 and the third manuscript difference 33 from the right side and the lower side.

[0040] Next, the image storage unit 340 stores the image of the first sheet surface 11 as the first image 12 based on the first image information. Further, the image storage unit 340 stores the image of the second sheet surface 31 as the second image 34 based on the second image information. In this embodiment, the correction by trimming has been described. However, for example, the second image may be corrected by performing horizontal enlargement / reduction with the vertical direction as a reference. Also, for example, the second image may be corrected by performing vertical enlargement / reduction with the horizontal direction as a reference. In FIG. 7, the second sheet surface is corrected with the first sheet surface as a reference. However, the first image may be corrected with the second sheet surface as a reference.

[0041] Note that FIGS. 4 to 7 are merely one specific example of correcting an irregular-sized document. For example, the calculation unit 320 may calculate information such as similarity and average size based on the first size information and the second size information. For example, the image storage unit 340 may perform corrections such as trimming and enlargement / reduction on either the image of the first sheet surface or the image of the second sheet surface. For example, either the first size information or the second size information may be used as the reference size of the image to be stored.

[0042] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the processing flow of the image processing apparatus 100. The image reading unit 200 reads the first sheet surface (ACT101). The size acquisition unit 310 acquires the first size information (ACT102). The image reading unit 200 reads the second sheet surface (ACT103). The size acquisition unit 310 acquires the second size information (ACT104). The size acquisition unit 310 registers the acquired first size information and second size information in the size information table of the storage unit 150 (ACT105).

[0043] The image storage unit 340 trims and extracts the images of the first sheet surface and the second sheet surface from the image obtained by scanning the non-standard size document based on the first size information and the second size information (ACT106). The determination unit 330 determines whether the same size setting is set (ACT107). When the same size setting is not set (ACT107: NO), the determination unit 330 determines the first size information as the first image information (ACT108). The determination unit 330 determines the second size information as the second image information (ACT109). The image storage unit 340 stores the first image and the second image in the storage unit 150 based on the first image information and the second image information (ACT110).

[0044] When the same size setting is set (ACT107: YES), the calculation unit 320 calculates the document difference. The determination unit 330 determines the first image information based on the difference information of the document difference received from the calculation unit 320 and the first size information (ACT111). The determination unit 330 determines the second image information based on the first image information (ACT112).

[0045] The image storage unit 340 determines the process set in the same size setting (ACT113). When the process set in the same size setting is trimming (ACT113: trimming), the image storage unit 340 performs trimming on the first sheet surface or the second sheet surface. Specifically, the image storage unit 340 performs trimming on at least one of the images of the first sheet surface or the second sheet surface based on the difference information, and generates the first image and the second image (ACT114).

[0046] When the process set in the same size setting is affine transformation (ACT113: affine transformation), the image storage unit 340 performs affine transformation on the first sheet surface or the second sheet surface. Specifically, the image storage unit 340 enlarges or reduces at least one of the images of the first sheet surface or the second sheet surface by affine transformation based on the difference information, and generates the first image and the second image (ACT115). After performing ACT114 and ACT115, the image processing apparatus 100 performs ACT110 and ends the process. Note that trimming and affine transformation are examples of this embodiment, and the algorithms used when correcting the first image and the second image are not limited.

[0047] According to the image processing apparatus 100 configured as described above, first image information is determined based on the first size information and the second size information. Then, second image information is determined based on the first image information. Therefore, the front and back surfaces of the same document can be saved as images of the same size.

[0048] [Modification Example] The size acquisition unit 310 may not only register the acquired first size information and second size information in the size information table, but also directly send them to the calculation unit 320 and the determination unit 330. The calculation unit 320 may determine the size relationship between the manuscript sizes of the first sheet and the second sheet based on the first size information and the second size information. The determination unit 330 may determine the first image information based on the manuscript difference and the second size information.

[0049] Note that the images to be deleted by the image storage unit 340 by trimming or resizing are not limited. For this reason, in FIG. 5, as an example, the right side is deleted starting from the left side of the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 21, but the reference may be anywhere. For example, the image storage unit 340 may delete the left side of the first manuscript difference 22 with reference to the right side of the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 21, or may delete the first manuscript difference 22 from both the left and right sides. Also, for example, when one side of the same value is the width W1, the image storage unit 340 may delete the manuscript difference from either the upper side or the lower side, or from both the upper and lower sides.

[0050] Note that the image storage unit 340 does not limit the images to be deleted by trimming, enlargement, or reduction. Therefore, in FIG. 7, for example, the explanation is given based on the upper left of the first sheet surface 11 and the second sheet surface 31, but the reference may be anywhere. For example, with reference to the upper right side of the sheet surface, the image storage unit 340 may delete the second original difference 32 and the third original difference 33. Also, for example, the image storage unit 340 may delete the second original difference 32 and the third original difference 33 from the periphery of the second sheet surface 31.

[0051] In this embodiment, the first size information and the second size information are described as the front and back surfaces of the same sheet, but they do not have to be the same sheet. That is, even with two sheets, the first size information and the second size information may be obtained using two sheet surfaces. Specifically, the size acquisition unit 310 may obtain the first size information and the second size information based on combinations of reading surfaces such as a combination of the front surface of the first sheet and the front surface of the second sheet, or a combination of the front surface of the first sheet and the back surface of the second sheet.

[0052] When performing correction of enlargement and reduction by similarity on the first image and the second image, if either one becomes smaller when the sizes are made the same, the first image or the second image may include the background area. Also, the first image information and the second image information may be corrected based on the shorter side in the horizontal and vertical directions, or the first image information and the second image information may be corrected based on the longer side.

[0053] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, by having the size acquisition unit 310 and the determination unit 330, it is possible to automatically detect an irregular-sized document without the user inputting the size of the document and the reading areas on the front and back surfaces of the document, and save the front and back surfaces as images of the same size.

[0054] Note that at least a part of the functions of the image processing apparatus 100 in the above-described embodiment may be realized by a computer. In that case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Further, the program recorded on this recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed to be realized. Here, the "computer system" shall include hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. Further, the "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a storage device such as a hard disk built into a computer system. The storage device also includes portable media such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and USB memories. Furthermore, the "computer-readable recording medium" may be one that dynamically holds a program for a short period of time. Specifically, it is a communication line or the like when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Also, the "computer-readable recording medium" may include one that holds a program for a certain period of time. Specifically, it is a volatile memory or the like inside a computer system serving as a server or a client. Also, the above program may be for realizing a part of the aforementioned functions. Furthermore, the above program may be one that can be realized in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system for the aforementioned functions.

[0055] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0056] 100…Image processing device, 110…Display, 120…Control panel, 130…Printer, 140…Sheet storage unit, 150…Memory unit, 160…Communication unit, 200…Image reading unit, 210…ADF, 300…Control unit, 310…Size acquisition unit, 320…Calculation unit, 330…Determination unit, 340…Image storage unit

Claims

1. a size acquisition unit that acquires first size information indicating a size of a first sheet surface of the sheet read by the image reading unit; a determination unit that determines whether or not a same size setting is set, and if the same size setting is set, determines second image information indicating a size of an image to be stored on a second sheet surface of the sheet, which is different from the first sheet surface, based on first image information indicating a size of an image to be stored based on the first size information, and if the same size setting is not set, determines the second image information without being based on the first image information; An image processing device comprising:

2. The size acquisition unit further acquires second size information indicating a size of the second sheet surface, The determination unit determines the first image information and the second image information based on the first size information and the second size information. The image processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The determination unit determines the first image information and the second image information based on a size relationship between the first size information and the second size information. The image processing device according to claim 2 .

4. The determination unit determines the first image information and the second image information based on an average of the first size information and the second size information. The image processing device according to claim 2 .

5. One or more computers a size acquisition step of acquiring first size information indicating a size of a first sheet surface of the sheet read by the image reading unit; a determining step of determining whether or not a same size setting is set, and if the same size setting is set, determining second image information indicating a size of an image to be stored on a second sheet surface different from the first sheet surface of the sheet based on first image information indicating a size of an image to be stored based on the first size information, and if the same size setting is not set, determining the second image information without based on the first image information; An image processing method comprising the steps of:

Images