Image reading device, and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide an image reading device that can improve the security of confidential information.SOLUTION: An image reading device comprises a reading unit, a notification unit, and a control unit. The reading unit reads a first image and a second image from a front face and a rear face, respectively, of a document. The notification unit notifies a user that the rear face of the document is to be edited. The control unit executes first determination processing, second determination processing, and notification processing. In the first determination processing, the control unit determines whether an edited area indicating an edited character area is included in the first image. When determining that the edited area is included in the first image, in the second determination processing, the control unit determines whether a recognizable readable area is included in the second image. When determining that the readable area is included in the second image through the second determination processing, in the notification processing, the control unit causes the notification unit to notify the user that the rear face of the document is to be edited.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image reading device and an image forming device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Image reading devices that read an original document as an image are generally known. For example, in the image reading device described in Patent Document 1, a reading unit performs a reading process of the original document under the control of a control unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-93675 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, for example, if a portion of text in a document containing confidential information is blacked out, the text may be visible through the blacked-out portion on the back side of the document, depending on the paper material, etc. For this reason, a new method for improving the security of confidential information has been sought.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide an image reading device that can improve the security of confidential information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, an image reading device includes a reading unit, a notification unit, and a control unit. The reading unit reads a first image and a second image from each of the front and back sides of a document. The notification unit notifies the user that the back side of the document is to be edited. The control unit controls the notification unit based on the first image and the second image read by the reading unit. The control unit further executes a first determination process, a second determination process, and a notification process. In the first determination process, the control unit determines whether the first image includes an edited area indicating an edited text area. In the second determination process, if the control unit determines that the first image includes the edited area, the control unit determines whether the second image includes a recognizable readable area. In the notification process, if the control unit determines that the second image includes the readable area, the control unit causes the notification unit to notify the user that the back side of the document is to be edited.

[0007] An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes the image reading device described above and an image forming unit. The image forming unit performs a predetermined edit on at least one of the front and back sides of a document in accordance with control by the control unit. The control unit further executes a reception process, a detection process, and an editing process. In the reception process, the control unit receives an instruction from a user to edit the back side. In the detection process, the control unit detects an edited portion on the back side that requires editing. In the editing process, the control unit performs a predetermined edit on the detected edited portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the image reading device of the present invention, the security of confidential information can be improved. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the image reading device shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a check process performed by the image reading device. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an editing process performed by the image forming apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0011] (1) Overall Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 200 First, the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the image forming apparatus 200 according to one embodiment.

[0012] 1, the image forming apparatus 200 is, for example, a multifunction peripheral having a printer function, a scanner function, and a copy function. The image forming apparatus 200 may also have a facsimile function. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 forms images by an electrophotographic method.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, an image forming apparatus 200 includes an image reading device 100 and an image forming section 60.

[0014] The image reading device 100 is disposed above the image forming unit 60. The image reading device 100 includes a document table 10, a cover 30, a stock cover 33, and a document transport unit 90. For ease of understanding, the document transport unit 90 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

[0015] The document table 10 is disposed above the image forming unit 60. The document table 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. An original is placed on the document table 10.

[0016] The cover 30 has a thin, approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape. The cover 30 is placed above the platen 10. The cover 30 can be opened and closed relative to the platen 10. In this embodiment, the cover 30 is attached to the platen 10 on the rear side thereof, and can rotate freely around a rotation shaft located at the rear end of the platen 10. Alternatively, the cover 30 may be attached to the platen 10 at the left end thereof, and can rotate freely around a rotation shaft located at the left end of the platen 10.

[0017] The document transport unit 90 is disposed on the upper surface 35 of the cover 30. In this embodiment, the document transport unit 90 is configured integrally with the cover 30. The document transport unit 90 is also called an automatic document feeder or ADF (Auto Document Feeder).

[0018] The stock cover 33 is disposed on the upper surface 35 of the cover 30. The stock cover 33 faces a storage area 35a that is a part of the upper surface 35 of the cover 30. A part of the stock cover 33 is located inside the document transport unit 90.

[0019] The stock cover 33 and the storage area 35a constitute a storage tray 50. That is, the image reading device 100 is equipped with the storage tray 50. The storage tray 50 has an opening 50h. The opening 50h is located on the front side of the storage tray 50. A user can put in and take out an object to be stored through the opening 50h. That is, a user can store an object to be stored inside the storage tray 50, for example. The object to be stored is, for example, a document before or after being read, or an object other than a document (for example, the user's personal belongings).

[0020] The rear side of stock cover 33 is closed. Therefore, when cover 30 is opened relative to platen 10, the objects contained in stock cover 33 can be prevented from falling to the rear side of image forming apparatus 200.

[0021] The image reading device 100 reads an original document using, for example, an original document transport unit 90. The original document transport unit 90 transports the read original document to the upper surface 33u of the stock cover 33. In other words, the original document transported by the original document transport unit 90 is placed on the upper surface 33u of the stock cover 33.

[0022] Next, the image forming apparatus 200 will be described in more detail with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the main components of the image forming apparatus 200 shown in Fig. 1. The image forming apparatus 200 further includes a control unit 70, a storage unit 80, a reading unit 20, an input / output unit 40, an open / close sensor 52, and a human presence sensor 54.

[0023] Typically, the control unit 70 is disposed inside the image forming apparatus 200. The control unit 70 includes an arithmetic element. The arithmetic element includes a processor. For example, the processor includes a central processing unit (CPU). The processor may include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0024] The storage unit 80 stores various data, control programs, and various application programs. The storage unit 80 is configured, for example, with a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and / or a Solid State Drive (SSD). The storage unit 80 may include an external memory. The external memory is removable media. The storage unit 80 may include, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and / or an SD (Secure Digital) card as the external memory.

[0025] The control unit 70 executes a control program stored in the memory unit 80 to control the operation of each component of the image forming apparatus 200. Specifically, the control unit 70 controls the reading unit 20, the input / output unit 40, the open / close sensor 52, the human sensor 54, the memory unit 80, the document transport unit 90, and the image forming unit 60.

[0026] The control unit 70 executes a control program, which causes the control program to function as a generation module. The generation module generates image data based on the reading result of the reading unit 20. That is, the generation unit 71 generates image data based on the image read by the reading unit 20.

[0027] (2) Configuration of the image reading device 100 Next, the image reading device 100 will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the image reading device 100 shown in Fig. 1. Note that in order to avoid complicating the drawing, the document transport unit 90 and the image forming section 60 are omitted from Fig. 3.

[0028] 3, document table 10 includes contact glass 11, light-transmitting portion 12, and reading slit 13. On document table 10, contact glass 11, light-transmitting portion 12, and reading slit 13 are located apart from one another. For example, contact glass 11 is located in front of light-transmitting portion 12. Furthermore, reading slit 13 is located to the left of contact glass 11 and light-transmitting portion 12.

[0029] The contact glass 11 is disposed on the upper surface of the document table 10. The contact glass 11 is translucent. A document to be read is placed on the contact glass 11.

[0030] The light-transmitting portion 12 is disposed on the upper surface of the document table 10. The light-transmitting portion 12 has light-transmitting properties. The light-transmitting portion 12 is preferably transparent. The light-transmitting portion 12 is disposed, for example, behind the contact glass 11.

[0031] The reading slit 13 is disposed on the upper surface of the document table 10. The reading slit 13 is translucent. The reading slit 13 is used to read the document transported by the document transport unit 90. The reading slit 13 has a first scan sensor (not shown) therein that forms part of the reading section 20. The first scan sensor is an image sensor that reads the back side of the document transported by the document transport unit 90.

[0032] The reading unit 20 is disposed inside the document table 10. The reading unit 20 reads an image of a document placed on the contact glass 11 by a user. The reading unit 20 has a second scan sensor (not shown) disposed therein. The second scan sensor is disposed below the contact glass 11. The second scan sensor is an image sensor used to read the document placed on the contact glass 11.

[0033] The image sensor may be, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD) or a contact image sensor.

[0034] The cover 30 can be opened and closed freely relative to the document table 10. That is, the cover 30 opens and closes relative to the contact glass 11 included in the document table 10. For example, the cover 30 may be provided with a support member that allows the cover 30 to be opened and closed. When the cover 30 is in the "open state," the top surface of the document table 10 is exposed. On the other hand, when the cover 30 is in the "closed state," the top surface of the document table 10 is covered by the cover 30.

[0035] The cover 30 has a light-shielding portion 31 and a light-transmitting portion 32. The light-shielding portion 31 blocks light. The light-shielding portion 31 is formed from, for example, a colored resin.

[0036] The light-transmitting portion 32 has light-transmitting properties. The light-transmitting portion 32 is formed of a light-transmitting resin material such as an acrylic resin. Therefore, light that enters from one side of the light-transmitting portion 32 exits from the other side. Note that the light-transmitting portion 32 may be glass or hollow as long as it has light-transmitting properties.

[0037] The input / output unit 40 is disposed on the front side of the side of the document table 10. A user inputs instructions via the input / output unit 40. The input / output unit 40 accepts the user's instructions. In this embodiment, the user's instructions include the type of job and the number of documents indicating the number of documents.

[0038] For example, when a user inputs an instruction to start a scan job via the input / output unit 40, the reading unit 20 reads an original document and captures an image of the original document.

[0039] The input / output unit 40 also outputs information to the user. For example, the input / output unit 40 notifies the user of necessary information regarding the control of the image reading device 100 and the image forming unit 60.

[0040] The input / output unit 40 includes a display unit 41 and an input unit 42. The display unit 41 displays an operation screen or the results of various processes. The display unit 41 has a display. For example, the display includes a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The display unit 41 is an example of the "notification unit" of the present invention.

[0041] The input unit 42 includes, for example, various keys for specifying the type and content of a job. The input unit 42 includes a keyboard and a mouse. Alternatively, the input unit 42 may include a touch sensor. The display unit 41 and the input unit 42 may be integrated into a touch panel. Operation instructions for the image reading device 100 and the image forming unit 60 are input to the input unit 42.

[0042] The open / close sensor 52 is attached to the document table 10. In this embodiment, the open / close sensor 52 is attached to an area of ​​the top surface of the document table 10 that overlaps with the cover 30 when the cover 30 is closed. More specifically, the open / close sensor 52 is disposed on the same surface as the contact glass 11. The open / close sensor 52 detects whether the cover 30 is open or closed.

[0043] The human presence sensor 54 detects whether or not a person is present within the detection range of the human presence sensor 54. The human presence sensor 54 is attached to the platen 10. The human presence sensor 54 transmits a detection signal to the control unit 70. For example, the human presence sensor 54 is a pyroelectric infrared sensor, and detects far infrared rays (radiant heat) emitted from the human body.

[0044] (3) Configuration of the image forming unit 60 Next, the configuration of the image forming unit 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The image forming unit 60 performs predetermined editing by forming an image on a recording medium. The recording medium is, for example, paper such as a manuscript. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 60 includes a transfer unit 61, an image carrier 62, a charging unit 63, an exposure unit 64, a developing unit 65, a fixing unit 66, a discharge unit 67, a storage unit 68, and a conveying unit 69.

[0045] The transfer unit 61 transfers the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier 62 to the original. At this time, the transfer is performed in two stages via an intermediate transfer body of the transfer unit 61. The image carrier 62 is drum-shaped and has a rotation axis. The image carrier 62 rotates clockwise around the rotation axis. The image carrier 62 has a photosensitive layer on its outer peripheral surface.

[0046] The charging unit 63 charges the photosensitive layer of the image carrier 62 to a predetermined potential. The exposure unit 64 irradiates and exposes the photosensitive layer of the image carrier 62 with laser light. The exposure unit 64 exposes the image carrier 62 based on the image. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the image carrier 62.

[0047] The developing unit 65 develops the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier 62. The developing unit 65 has a developing roller. The developing roller supplies toner to the image carrier 62 and develops the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier 62 to form a toner image. In this way, a toner image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 62. The toner image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 62 is transferred to an intermediate transfer body in the transfer unit 61. The toner image is then transferred from the intermediate transfer body in the transfer unit 61 to a document transported thereto.

[0048] The fixing unit 66 is provided above the transfer unit 61. The fixing unit 66 has a heating roller and a heating roller. The fixing unit 66 fixes the toner image by applying the heating roller and the heating roller to the document that has been transported and onto which the toner image has been transferred by the transfer unit 61. In this way, the toner image is formed on the document in the image forming unit 60.

[0049] The discharge unit 67 discharges the document with the fixed toner image to the outside of the image forming apparatus 200. The discharge unit 67 has a pair of discharge rollers. One of the pair of discharge rollers is driven to rotate, and the other is driven to rotate, thereby discharging the document.

[0050] The storage unit 68 stores originals before an image is formed on them. The originals may be, for example, plain paper, recycled paper, thin paper, thick paper, coated paper, or overhead projector (OHP) sheets. The storage unit 68 includes a cassette that can store the originals.

[0051] The transport unit 69 has a pair of transport rollers. One of the pair of transport rollers is driven to rotate, and the other is driven to rotate, thereby transporting the original. The transport unit 69 transports the original stored in the storage unit 68 from the transfer unit 61 to the discharge unit 67 via the fixing unit 66. In this way, the image forming unit 60 outputs the original on which the image has been formed.

[0052] The control unit 70 controls the image forming unit 60 to form a specified toner image on the document. That is, the control unit 70 controls the transport unit 69 so that the transport unit 69 transports the document stored in the storage unit 68. The control unit 70 also controls the image carrier 62, the charging unit 63, and the exposure unit 64 so that the charging unit 63 charges the rotating image carrier 62 and the exposure unit 64 exposes the rotating image carrier 62 to light to form an electrostatic latent image based on the image.

[0053] The control unit 70 also controls the developing unit 65 so that the developing unit 65 forms a toner image by developing the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier 62. Furthermore, the control unit 70 controls the conveying unit 69 and the transfer unit 61 so that the toner image formed on the image carrier 62 is transferred to the document via the intermediate transfer body of the transfer unit 61.

[0054] Furthermore, the control unit 70 controls the conveying unit 69 and the fixing unit 66 so as to fix the toner image transferred onto the document onto the document. The control unit 70 controls the heating roller and pressure roller of the fixing unit 66 to rotate, and also controls the heating roller to heat to a predetermined temperature.

[0055] (4) Checking process by the image reading device 100 Next, a check process by the image reading device 100 will be described. The image reading device 100 has a function of checking whether characters at the corrected portion are visible from the back side of a document whose front side has been corrected. For example, if part of the text (character string) on ​​the front side of the document has been corrected by blacking out, when the document is held up to a light, the uncorrected text that has been blacked out may be visible from the back side.

[0056] This can occur, for example, when the original paper is thin and therefore transmits light easily, or when the ink used to black out the front text of the original is lighter than the ink used for the front text.

[0057] If the original is a confidential document containing confidential information, it is undesirable from the viewpoint of information security if the corrected text can be seen from the back side. For this reason, the image reading device 100 of the present invention performs a check process based on images of the front and back sides of the original. The details of this process are described below.

[0058] Fig. 4 is a flow diagram showing the check processing by the image reading device 100. As shown in Fig. 4, in the check processing, first, the control unit 70 of the image reading device 100 scans both sides of the document (step S101).

[0059] Specifically, in response to receiving a check instruction from the user, the control unit 70 causes the reading unit 20 to read both sides of the document set on the document table 10. At this time, the document set on the document table 10 is transported to the upper surface 33u of the stock cover 33 by the document transport unit 90. During this process, the front side of the document is read by the first scan sensor of the reading unit 20 as a first image. Furthermore, the back side of the document is read by the second scan sensor of the reading unit 20 as a second image.

[0060] Thereafter, the generation unit 71 of the control unit 70 performs optical character recognition processing on the first image read by the reading unit 20 to generate first image data. The control unit 70 also performs optical character recognition processing on the second image read by the reading unit 20 to generate second image data. Here, the relationship between the first image data and the second image data will be described.

[0061] If the text written on the front side of the document can be recognized from the second image showing the back side, the second image data (second image) will be a mirror image of the first image data (first image). In other words, the second image data will be image data obtained by flipping the first image data horizontally.

[0062] On the other hand, if the text written on the surface cannot be recognized from the second image, the second image data (second image) will not be a mirror image of the first image data (first image), but will be image data containing unique text.

[0063] After scanning both sides of the document, the control unit 70 performs a first determination process (step S102). The first determination process is a process for determining whether or not an edited area is included in the first image read from the front side of the document. An edited area refers to a character area where edits have been made to the text written on the front side.

[0064] For example, if there are no blacked-out areas in the first image data, the control unit 70 determines that the first image does not include an edited area. If the control unit 70 determines in the first determination process that the first image does not include an edited area (No in step S102), the control unit 70 ends the check process.

[0065] On the other hand, if there is a blacked-out portion in the first image data, the control unit 70 determines that the first image includes an edited area. If the control unit 70 determines in the first determination process that the first image includes an edited area (Yes in step S102), it performs a second determination process (step S103).

[0066] The second determination process is a process that, when the first determination process determines that the first image contains an edited area, determines whether the second image contains a readable area in which the text contained in the first image can be recognized.

[0067] In the second determination process, the control unit 70 determines whether the second image includes a readable region based on whether one of the first image data and the second image data is a mirror image of the other. Specifically, the control unit 70 generates a mirror image of the first image data, compares it with the second image data, and determines whether the similarity between them exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[0068] Then, when the mirror image of the first image data has a certain degree of similarity with the second image data, the control unit 70 determines that the second image contains a readable area. Note that the threshold value of the similarity between the mirror image of the first image data and the second image used in the second determination process can be set arbitrarily. In this way, the control unit 70 determines whether the second image contains a readable area based on whether one of the first image data and the second image data corresponds to a mirror image of the other, thereby enabling accurate determination in the second determination process.

[0069] If the control unit 70 determines in the second determination process that the second image includes a readable area (Yes in step S103), it performs a notification process (step S104). The notification process is a process in which the control unit 70 causes the display unit 41 to notify that editing is required on the back side of the document.

[0070] Specifically, the control unit 70 outputs to the display unit 41 alert information that the document to be checked has text in an edited area on the front side that is visible from the back side.

[0071] Based on the notification from the control unit 70, the display unit 41 issues an alert to the effect that edits on the front side of the document to be checked are visible from the back side. In other words, the display unit 41 notifies the user that editing is required on the back side of the document. Upon seeing this alert, the user recognizes that there are concerns about the document to be checked from the perspective of information security. This completes the check process by the image reading device 100.

[0072] In this way, in the image reading device 100, the control unit 70 executes the first determination process and the second determination process based on the first image and the second image read by the reading unit 20 from both sides of the document, and controls the display unit 41 based on the results. Therefore, it is possible to check whether a document whose front side has been corrected is visible from the back side, thereby improving the security of confidential information.

[0073] (5) Editing Process by Image Forming Apparatus 200 Next, the editing function of image forming apparatus 200 will be described. After notifying the user that a document including an edited area is visible from the back side, image forming apparatus 200 accepts an editing instruction from the user and performs predetermined editing on the portion of the back side of the document that requires editing (edit portion). Here, the edited portion on the back side refers to a portion of the back side that corresponds to the edited area on the front side. The predetermined editing is, for example, a blackout process. Details of this process will be described below.

[0074] Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing the check process by the image reading device 100. As shown in Fig. 4, in the editing process, first, the control unit 70 of the image forming device 200 performs a reception process (step S201). The reception process is a process for receiving an instruction for editing the back side from the user.

[0075] Specifically, the user sets the document face down in the storage section 68 of the image forming section 60. By setting the document face down in the storage section 68, the back side of the document is set as the side on which an image is formed in the image forming section 60. The user then operates the input section 42 to input an instruction to edit the document. The control section 70 accepts the editing instruction input by the user.

[0076] Thereafter, the control unit 70 performs a detection process (step S202). The detection process is a process for detecting an edited portion on the back side of the document that corresponds to a portion that needs to be edited. The control unit 70 detects, on the back side, a corresponding item that corresponds to an edited area on the front side as an edited portion. The control unit 70 identifies and detects the position of the edited portion on the back side and the size of the edited portion on the back side.

[0077] Furthermore, when unique text is written on the back side, the control unit 70 can detect the written portion as an edited portion. Specifically, the control unit 70 generates a mirror image of the second image data as edited manuscript data. The control unit 70 compares the edited manuscript data with the first image data, and detects, as an edited portion, a mismatched portion of the edited manuscript data where the text does not match the first image data.

[0078] In this case, the mismatched portion is a portion where unique text is written on the back side, and because the text on the front side has been blacked out, the character recognition is not possible from the first image data, but the character recognition is possible from the back side. This allows the control unit 70 to accurately detect the edited portion.

[0079] Thereafter, the control unit 70 performs an editing process (step S203). The editing process is a process of performing predetermined editing on the detected edited portion. Specifically, the control unit 70 blacks out the detected edited portion. The control unit 70 blacks out the portion on the back side of the document at the position and size detected in step S202.

[0080] At this time, the control unit 70 controls the transport unit 69 to transport the document stored in the storage unit 68. The control unit 70 also controls the image carrier 62, the charging unit 63, and the exposure unit 64 so that the charging unit 63 charges the rotating image carrier 62 and the exposure unit 64 exposes the rotating image carrier 62 to light to form an electrostatic latent image related to black painting.

[0081] The control unit 70 also controls the developing unit 65 so that the developing unit 65 forms a toner image by developing the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier 62. Furthermore, the control unit 70 controls the conveying unit 69 and the transfer unit 61 so that the toner image formed on the image carrier 62 is transferred to the document via the intermediate transfer body of the transfer unit 61.

[0082] Furthermore, the control unit 70 controls the conveying unit 69 and the fixing unit 66 so that the toner image of the blackened areas transferred to the document is fixed to the document. The control unit 70 controls the heating roller and pressure roller of the fixing unit 66 to rotate, and also controls the heating roller to heat to a predetermined temperature. This causes the blackened areas to be edited on the back side. This completes the editing process by the image forming apparatus 200.

[0083] In this way, in image forming device 200, control unit 70 performs reception processing, detection processing, and editing processing, and image forming unit 60 performs predetermined editing on the back side of the document in accordance with the control of control unit 70. As a result, in a document in which the front side has been edited and the edited area is visible from the back side, by blacking out the area on the back side corresponding to the edited area, it is possible to make the edited text invisible from the back side. This makes it possible to further effectively improve the security of confidential information.

[0084] (6) Variations Next, a modified example of the present invention will be described. The first determination process performed by the control unit 70 of the image reading device 100 is not limited to the process described above. For example, the control unit 70 may compare the first image data and the second image data with each other and perform the first determination process and the second determination process simultaneously.

[0085] Specifically, if the mirror image of the first image data exactly matches the second image data, the control unit 70 can determine that the first image does not contain an edited area. In this case, the text on the front side of the document is recognizable from the back side, but all of the text recognizable from the back side is also recognizable from the front side, and it can be determined that there is a high probability that no part of the text has been blacked out. In this way, the control unit 70 can accurately determine whether the first image contains an edited area by comparing the first image data and the second image data with each other.

[0086] The control unit 70 may also determine that the first image contains an edited area if text contained in the second image data does not exist in the first image data. In this case, the control unit 70 compares a mirror image of the second image data with the first image data, and determines that an edited area exists where the text in the first image data does not match the text in the mirror image of the second image data. In other words, the control unit 70 determines that there is a high probability that the text on the surface has been blacked out, and the location of the edited area can be identified in conjunction with the determination of the edited area.

[0087] Furthermore, the control unit 70 may determine that the first image contains an edited area when the mirror image of the first image data does not completely match the second image data but has a similarity equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. In this case, the text on the front side of the document is recognizable from the back side, and part of the text recognizable from the back side is not recognizable from the front side, which is likely because part of the front side has been blacked out.

[0088] (7) Other variations The image forming apparatus 200 may be a copier, a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, or a multifunction device that combines the functions of these.

[0089] 1, the image reading device 100 includes the document transport unit 90. However, the image reading device 100 does not necessarily have to include the document transport unit 90.

[0090] The image forming apparatus 200 may include an inkjet image forming unit. The inkjet image forming unit divides an image to be printed into pixels, charges ink particles with a voltage proportional to the position information of each pixel, and deflects them in an electrostatic field to make them reach the document, thereby forming an image.

[0091] The edited area does not have to be a blacked-out area, and the editing work on the back side may be a work other than blacking out.

[0092] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 5). However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined. The drawings mainly show each component in a schematic manner for ease of understanding. The thickness, length, number, spacing, etc. of each illustrated component may differ from the actual components due to the convenience of drawing. Furthermore, the materials, shapes, dimensions, etc. of each component shown in the above embodiments are merely examples and are not particularly limited. Various modifications are possible within a scope that does not substantially deviate from the effects of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0093] The present invention provides an image reading device and an image forming device, and has industrial applicability. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 10 manuscript table 20 Reading unit 60 Image forming unit 70 Control Unit 80 Storage section 41 Display section 100 Image reader 200 Image forming device

Claims

1. a reading unit that reads a first image and a second image from the front and back sides of the document, respectively; a notification unit that notifies the user that editing is required on the back side of the document; a control unit that controls the notification unit based on the first image and the second image read by the reading unit; Equipped with The control unit a first determination process for determining whether the first image includes an edited area indicating an edited character area; a second determination process for determining whether the second image includes a readable region in which text included in the first image can be recognized; and a notification process that causes the notification unit to notify that editing is required on the back side of the document when it is determined by the second determination process that the second image includes the readable area.

2. the control unit executes optical character recognition processing on each of the first image and the second image read by the reading unit, and generates first image data and second image data that have been subjected to character recognition processing, respectively; In the first determination process, The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit compares the first image data and the second image data with each other to determine whether the first image includes the edited area.

3. In the first determination process, The image reading device according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit determines that the first image includes the edited area when text included in the second image data does not exist in the first image data.

4. In the second determination process, The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines whether the second image includes the readable area based on whether one of the first image and the second image is a mirror image of the other.

5. An image reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 3; an image forming unit that performs predetermined editing on the document in accordance with control of the control unit, The control unit further includes: a receiving process for receiving an instruction to edit the back surface from a user; a detection process for detecting an editing portion that needs to be edited on the back surface; and an editing process for performing a predetermined edit on the detected edited portion.

6. In the detection process, The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein, when a unique text is written on the back side, the control unit detects the written portion as the edited portion.

7. In the editing process, The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit blacks out the detected edited portion.

Images