Image reading device and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide an image reading device that can easily perform editing of character strings included in a document, and an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: An image reading device 100 comprises an image reading unit 10, a storage unit 40, and a control unit 30. The image reading unit 10 reads an image formed on a document M to acquire a read image IMGA. The storage unit 40 stores an editing command in association with the details of processing. The control unit 30 identifies a handwritten character string image G3A and a non-handwritten character string image G1A included in the read image IMGA. The control unit 30 performs editing processing on the non-handwritten character string image G1A on the basis of the details of processing associated with the editing command indicated by an editing command image G4A. The non-handwritten character string image G1A is an image including character strings other than handwritten character strings. The editing command image G4A is an image indicating the editing command included in the handwritten character string image G3A. The handwritten character string image G3A is an image including handwritten character strings.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] US Pat. No. 5,699,499 describes a digitizer for editing original or hard copies of documents previously stored in electronic form. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent No. 5,897,648 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is common to write annotations by hand on a manuscript and correct character strings contained in the manuscript. In Patent Document 1, an input device such as a digitizer is required to edit the original or hard copy of the document. Therefore, it is not easy to edit character strings contained in the manuscript.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading device and an image forming device that can easily edit character strings included in a document. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An image reading device according to the present invention includes an image reading unit, a storage unit, and a control unit. The image reading unit reads an image formed on a document and acquires a read image. The storage unit stores an edit command in association with a processing content. The control unit controls the image reading unit and the storage unit. The control unit distinguishes between a handwritten character string image and a non-handwritten character string image included in the read image. The control unit performs an edit process on the non-handwritten character string image based on the processing content associated with the edit command indicated by an edit command image. The non-handwritten character string image is an image including a character string other than handwritten. The edit command image is an image indicating the edit command included in a handwritten character string image. The handwritten character string image is an image including a handwritten character string.

[0007] An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the image reading apparatus described above and an image forming section, which forms an image based on the result of the editing process. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, character strings contained in a document can be easily edited. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus including an image reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a table stored in a storage unit. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the document in FIG. 3 on which a handwritten character string has been written. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an edited image. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing an editing processing method of the image reading device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8]1A is a diagram showing a document on which a handwritten character string is written, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a scanned image. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an edited image. [Figure 10] 4 is a flowchart showing an editing processing method of the image reading device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 1A is a diagram showing a document on which a handwritten character string is written, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a scanned image. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an edited image. [Figure 13] 4 is a flowchart showing an editing processing method of the image reading device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 1A is a diagram showing a document on which a handwritten character string has been written, FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a scanned image, and FIG. 1C is a diagram showing an edited image. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

[0011] An embodiment of an image forming apparatus 300 including an image reading device 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus 300 including an image reading device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a diagram showing a table TB stored in a storage unit 40.

[0012] 1, the image forming apparatus 300 includes an image reading device 100, an image forming unit 20, a paper feed cassette 130, a conveying unit 140, and a discharge unit 170. The image forming apparatus 300 is, for example, an electrophotographic color multifunction peripheral.

[0013] The image reading device 100 includes an image reading unit 10, a control unit 30, a storage unit 40, a document table 12, a document transport device 110, and an operation panel 120.

[0014] The image reading unit 10 reads an image formed on the document M and acquires a read image. Specifically, the image reading unit 10 reads an image formed on the document M transported by the document transport device 110 or an image formed on the document M placed on the document table 12 and acquires a read image.

[0015] Based on the result of the editing process, the image forming unit 20 forms an image on the recording medium P. The editing process will be described later with reference to FIGS.

[0016] The control unit 30 is a hardware circuit configured with a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), etc. The control unit 30 controls the operation of each unit of the image forming apparatus 300 by having the processor read and execute a control program stored in the storage unit 40. The control unit 30 controls, for example, the image reading unit 10 and the storage unit 40. The control unit 30 has an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) function. The OCR function optically recognizes characters (e.g., hiragana, katakana, alphabet, kanji, numbers, and symbols) included in an image formed on a scanned document and converts the characters into character codes.

[0017] The storage unit 40 is configured with an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), RAM (Random Access Memory), and ROM (Read Only Memory). The storage unit 40 may also include an external memory. The external memory is removable media. Examples of the external memory that the storage unit 40 includes include a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and an SD (Secure Digital) card. The storage unit 40 stores various data and control programs for controlling the operation of each unit of the image forming apparatus 300. The control programs are executed by the control unit 30. The storage unit 40 stores digital fonts.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 40 stores edit commands in association with processing contents. Specifically, the storage unit 40 stores the processing content "Replace all AAA with BBB" in association with the edit command "RPL:ALL,'AAA','BBB'". Here, AAA represents an arbitrary character string. BBB represents an arbitrary character string different from AAA. The storage unit 40 also stores the processing content "Replace character strings in the edit range with random character strings" in association with the edit command "RPL:'Random word'". The storage unit 40 also stores the processing content "Delete character strings in the edit range" in association with the edit command "RMV". The storage unit 40 also stores the processing content "Insert CCC" in association with the edit command "INS:'CCC'". Here, CCC represents an arbitrary character string.

[0019] Referring again to FIG. 1, the operation panel 120 is used to allow the user to operate the image forming apparatus 300. The operation panel 120 has, for example, a touch panel function and various hardware buttons. The operation panel 120 displays, for example, a document editing button that enables an editing processing function, which will be described later. The user can enable the editing processing function by touching the document editing button on the operation panel 120.

[0020] The paper feed cassette 130 contains recording media P for printing. When printing, the recording media P in the paper feed cassette 130 is transported by the transport unit 140 so as to pass through the image forming unit 20 and be discharged from the discharge unit 170.

[0021] Next, an editing process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an original M1. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an original M2 in which a handwritten character string has been written on the original M1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a scanned image IMGA2. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an edited image IMGB2.

[0022] 3, a non-handwritten character string image G1 and a picture image G2 are formed on the document M1. That is, the non-handwritten character string image G1 and the picture image G2 are printed on the document M1.

[0023] The non-handwritten character string image G1 is an image including a character string that is not handwritten, such as a character string created using a specific digital font on an electronic device such as a personal computer.

[0024] The picture image G2 is, for example, an image including a photograph, a painting, and / or a drawing.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the non-handwritten character string image G1 and the picture image G2, a handwritten character string image G3 is also formed on the document M2. The handwritten character string image G3 is an image including a handwritten character string. The handwritten character string is a character string written by the user. When editing the document M1, the user writes an edit command G4 by hand on the document M1, as shown in the document M2. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the user writes "RPL:ALL, "Quick", "Slow"" by hand on the document M1 as the edit command G4.

[0026] Next, the user scans the document M2 on which the edit command G4 is written using the image reading device 100. As a result, as shown in Fig. 5, the image reading unit 10 reads the image formed on the document M2 and obtains a read image IMGA2.

[0027] The control unit 30 distinguishes between the non-handwritten character string image G1A, the picture image G2A, and the handwritten character string image G3A included in the scanned image IMGA2. For example, the control unit 30 distinguishes a character string image including a character string written in a digital font stored in the storage unit 40 as the non-handwritten character string image G1A. For example, the control unit 30 distinguishes a character string image including a character string other than the non-handwritten character string image G1A as the handwritten character string image G3A. The control unit 30 may distinguish the handwritten character string image G3A by deep learning or AI (artificial intelligence).

[0028] The control unit 30 determines whether or not the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A. The edit command image G4A is an image that indicates an edit command included in the handwritten character string image G3A. Here, the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes the edit command image G4A. More specifically, the control unit 30 determines that the text image G41A "RPL:ALL, "Quick", "Slow"" is included as the edit command image G4A.

[0029] When the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A, the control unit 30 performs an edit process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the process content associated with the edit command indicated by the edit command image G4A. The edit process includes a replacement process. The replacement process replaces a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A with a different character string. In this replacement process, the control unit 30 replaces the character string specified in the handwritten character string image G3A. Specifically, the control unit 30 replaces all occurrences of the character string "Quick" included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A with the character string "Slow." As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 30 can generate an edited image IMG2A in which all occurrences of the character string "Quick" included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A have been replaced with the character string "Slow." In FIG. 6, a non-handwritten character string image G1B represents the non-handwritten character string image after the edit process. The edited image IMGB2 is stored in the storage unit 40.

[0030] When the control unit 30 performs an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the editing command image G4A, it is preferable that the control unit 30 deletes the editing command image G4A that has been edited. However, the control unit 30 does not have to delete the editing command image G4A that has been edited.

[0031] The image forming unit 20 forms an image on a recording medium P based on the result of the editing process.

[0032] An editing processing method of the image reading device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the editing processing method of the image reading device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Editing processing is performed by executing the processes of steps S102 to S116 shown in Fig. 7.

[0033] Step S102: The image reading unit 10 reads the image formed on the document M. As a result, the image reading unit 10 obtains a read image IMGA. The process proceeds to step S104.

[0034] Step S104: The control unit 30 identifies the non-handwritten character string image G1A in the scanned image IMGA. The process proceeds to step S106.

[0035] Step S106: The control unit 30 identifies the picture image G2A in the scanned image IMGA. The process proceeds to step S108.

[0036] Step S108: The control unit 30 identifies the handwritten character string image G3A in the scanned image IMGA. The process proceeds to step S110.

[0037] Step S110: The control unit 30 performs character string recognition on the handwritten character string image G3A. Specifically, the control unit 30 uses the OCR function to optically recognize characters included in the image formed in the handwritten character string image G3A and converts the characters into character codes. The process proceeds to step S112.

[0038] Step S112: The control unit 30 determines whether the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A. Specifically, the control unit 30 determines whether the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A based on whether the edit command indicated by the edit command image G4A is stored in the storage unit 40. If the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A does not include the edit command image G4A (step S112: No), the process proceeds to step S116. If the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes the edit command image G4A (step S112: Yes), the process proceeds to step S114.

[0039] Step S114: The control unit 30 performs an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the processing content associated with the editing command. Note that, as shown in Fig. 6, after the editing process, the edit command image G4A that has been edited may be deleted. The process then ends.

[0040] Step S116: The control unit 30 deletes the handwritten character string image G3A, and the process ends.

[0041] As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, the image reading unit 10 reads the image formed on the document M and obtains the read image IMAGA. The control unit 30 performs an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the processing content associated with the editing command indicated by the editing command image G4A. Therefore, the user can write handwritten editing commands on the document M and obtain the edited image by scanning the document M. As a result, editing can be easily performed on the character string included in the document M.

[0042] Furthermore, if the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A does not include the edit command image G4A, it deletes the handwritten character string image G3A. Therefore, it is possible to generate an image from which invalid edit commands have been deleted. As a result, it is possible to save the user the trouble of erasing invalid edit commands.

[0043] The editing process also includes a replacement process, which replaces a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A with a different character string. Therefore, the user can easily replace a character string included in the document M with a different character string by writing a handwritten editing command on the document M.

[0044] Furthermore, in the replacement process, the control unit 30 replaces the character string with the character string specified in the handwritten character string image G3 A. Therefore, the user can easily replace the character string included in the document M with a desired character string.

[0045] The image forming device 300 also includes an image reading device 100 and an image forming unit 20. The image forming unit 20 forms an image based on the results of the editing process. Therefore, the user can easily create the document M after the editing process.

[0046] Next, an editing process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 8(a), 8(b), and 9. In particular, a deletion process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Figure 8(a) is a diagram showing an original M3 on which a handwritten character string has been written. Figure 8(b) is a diagram showing a scanned image IMGA3. Figure 9 is a diagram showing an edited image IMGB3.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 8(a), a document M3 has a non-handwritten character string image G1 and a handwritten character string image G3 formed thereon. When editing the document M, a user writes an edit command G4 by handwriting on the document M. In the example shown in FIG. 8(a), the edit command G4 includes text G41 and a mark G42. The mark G42 includes an edit range mark G421 and a contact mark G422. The text G41 indicates the content of the edit command. Here, the text G41 is "RMV." The edit range mark G421 indicates the edit range. Here, the edit range mark G421 is a substantially oval mark. The contact mark G422 is a mark that connects the text G41 and the edit range mark G421. Here, the contact mark G422 is a line segment. More specifically, one end of the contact mark G422 is located at the edit range mark G421, and the other end is located near the text G41. The user can designate the content and range of editing for the document M by handwriting the text G41, the editing range mark G421, and the contact mark G422 on the document M.

[0048] Next, the user scans the document M3 on which the editing commands are written using the image reading device 100. As a result, as shown in Fig. 8(b), the image reading unit 10 reads the image formed on the document M3 and obtains a read image IMGA3.

[0049] The control unit 30 distinguishes between the text image G41A and the mark image G42A included in the edit command image G4A. The mark image G42A includes an edit range mark image G421A and a contact mark image G422A. The text image G41A is an image including text indicating the edit command. The mark image G42A is an image indicating the edit range in which the edit command is executed.

[0050] Based on the mark image G42A, the control unit 30 identifies an editing range for which editing processing is to be performed on the non-handwritten character string image G1A. Here, the control unit 30 identifies the character string "and the Quick Styles" surrounded by the editing range mark image G421A as the editing range for which editing processing is to be performed.

[0051] The control unit 30 determines whether the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A. Here, the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A. Specifically, the control unit 30 determines that the edit command image G4A includes a text image G41A "RMV" and a mark image G42A.

[0052] When the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A, the control unit 30 performs an edit process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the process content associated with the edit command indicated by the edit command image G4A. The edit process includes a deletion process, which is a process of deleting a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A.

[0053] The control unit 30 performs an editing process based on the text image G41A on the non-handwritten character string image G1A included in the editing range of the non-handwritten character string image G1A. Here, the control unit 30 performs a deletion process based on the text image G41A on the non-handwritten character string image G1A included in the editing range of the non-handwritten character string image G1A. Specifically, the control unit 30 deletes the character string "and the Quick Styles" identified as the editing range. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9 , the control unit 30 can generate an edited image IMGB3 in which the character string "and the Quick Styles" specified by the editing range mark G421 drawn by the user has been deleted. The edited image IMGB3 is stored in the storage unit 40.

[0054] 6, when the control unit 30 performs an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the editing command image G4A, it is preferable that the control unit 30 deletes the editing command image G4A that has been edited. However, the control unit 30 does not have to delete the editing command image G4A that has been edited.

[0055] The image forming unit 20 forms an image on a recording medium P based on the result of the editing process.

[0056] An editing processing method of the image reading device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the editing processing method of the image reading device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Editing processing is performed by executing the processing of steps S202 to S222 shown in Fig. 10. The flowchart shown in Fig. 10 is similar to the flowchart shown in Fig. 7 except that editing processing is performed based on the editing range, and therefore, duplicated explanations will be omitted to avoid redundancy.

[0057] Steps S202 to S212: The same processes as steps S102 to S112 shown in FIG. 7 are performed.

[0058] Step S214: If the control unit 30 determines in step S212 that the handwritten character string image G3A includes the edit command image G4A (step S212: Yes), the control unit 30 identifies the text image G41A and the mark image G42A included in the edit command image G4A. The process proceeds to step S216.

[0059] Step S216: The control unit 30 determines whether the mark image G42A is valid. For example, if the mark image G42A surrounding the character string is interrupted halfway, the control unit 30 determines that the mark image G42A is invalid. If the control unit 30 determines that the mark image G42A is invalid (Step S216: No), the process proceeds to Step S222. If the control unit 30 determines that the mark image G42A is valid (Step S216: Yes), the process proceeds to Step S218.

[0060] Step S218: The control unit 30 identifies an editing range for executing editing processing on the non-handwritten character string image G1 A based on the mark image G42 A. The process proceeds to step S220.

[0061] Step S220: Based on the processing content associated with the editing command, the control unit 30 performs editing processing based on the text image G41A on the non-handwritten character string image G1A included in the editing range out of the non-handwritten character string image G1A, and then the processing ends.

[0062] Step S322: The control unit 30 deletes the handwritten character string image G3A, and the process ends.

[0063] As described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 8(a) to 10, the control unit 30 identifies the editing range in which editing processing is to be performed on the non-handwritten character string image G1A, based on the mark image G42A. The control unit 30 performs editing processing on the non-handwritten character string image G1A included in the editing range, based on the text image G41A. Therefore, the user can obtain an image that has been edited in the desired editing range by writing handwritten marks G42 on the document M and scanning the document M. As a result, editing can be easily performed on the character string included in the document M in the desired editing range.

[0064] The editing process also includes a deletion process. The deletion process is a process for deleting character strings included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A. Therefore, the user can easily delete character strings included in the document M by writing handwritten editing commands on the document M.

[0065] Next, an editing process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 11(a), 11(b), and 12. In particular, an insertion process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 11(a) is a diagram showing an original M4 on which a handwritten character string has been written. Fig. 11(b) is a diagram showing a scanned image IMGA4. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an edited image IMGB4.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 11(a), a document M4 has a non-handwritten character string image G1 and a handwritten character string image G3 formed thereon. When editing the document M, a user writes an edit command G4 on the document M by handwriting. In the example shown in FIG. 11(a), the edit command G4 includes text G41 and a mark G42. The mark G42 includes a position designation mark G423. The text G41 indicates the content of the edit command. In this example, the text G41 is "INS:"new"". The position designation mark G423 indicates the insertion position. In this example, the position designation mark G423 is a line segment that designates the insertion position. More specifically, one end of the position designation mark G423 is located between the character string included in the non-handwritten character string image G1 and the character string adjacent to that character string, and the other end is located near the text G41. The user can designate the edit content and insertion position for the document M by handwriting the text G41 and the communication mark G422 on the document M.

[0067] Next, the user scans the document M4 on which the editing commands are written using the image reading device 100. As a result, as shown in Fig. 11(b), the image reading unit 10 reads the image formed on the document M4 and obtains a read image IMGA4.

[0068] The control unit 30 distinguishes between the text image G41A and the mark image G42A included in the edit command image G4A. The mark image G42A includes a position designation mark image G423A. The text image G41A is an image including text indicating the edit command. The mark image G42A is an image indicating the position at which the edit command is executed.

[0069] In the insertion process, the control unit 30 identifies the insertion position indicating the position where the character string is to be inserted based on the mark image G42A. Here, the control unit 30 identifies the position between the character strings "your" and "document", where one end of the position designation mark image G423A is located, as the insertion position.

[0070] The control unit 30 determines whether the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A. Here, the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A. Specifically, the control unit 30 determines that the edit command image G4A includes a text image G41A "INS: "new"" and a mark image G42A.

[0071] When the control unit 30 determines that the handwritten character string image G3A includes an edit command image G4A, the control unit 30 performs an edit process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the process content associated with the edit command indicated by the edit command image G4A. The edit process includes an insertion process, which is a process of inserting a character string into a predetermined position in the character string included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A.

[0072] The control unit 30 performs an editing process based on the text image G41A on the non-handwritten character string image G1A included in the editing range. Here, the control unit 30 performs an insertion process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A at the insertion position. Specifically, the control unit 30 inserts the character string "new" of the processing content indicated in the text image G41A between the character string "your" and the character string "document" identified as the insertion position. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 30 can generate an edited image IMGB4 in which the character string "new" specified by the text G41 is inserted between the character string "your" and the character string "document" specified by the position designation mark G423 entered by the user. The edited image IMGB4 is stored in the storage unit 40.

[0073] 6 and 9, when the control unit 30 performs an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the editing command image G4A, it is preferable that the control unit 30 deletes the editing command image G4A that has been edited. However, the control unit 30 does not have to delete the editing command image G4A that has been edited.

[0074] The image forming unit 20 forms an image on a recording medium P based on the result of the editing process.

[0075] An editing processing method of the image reading device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the editing processing method of the image reading device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Editing processing is performed by executing the processing of steps S302 to S322 shown in Fig. 13. The flowchart shown in Fig. 13 is similar to the flowchart shown in Fig. 10 except that insertion processing is performed on the non-handwritten character string image G1A at the insertion position, and therefore, duplicated explanations will be omitted to avoid redundancy.

[0076] Steps S302 to S316: The same processes as steps S202 to S216 shown in FIG. 10 are performed.

[0077] Step S318: If the control unit 30 determines in step S316 that the mark image G42A is valid (step S316: Yes), the control unit 30 identifies the insertion position based on the mark image G42A. The process proceeds to step S320.

[0078] Step S320: The control unit 30 performs an insert process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A at the insert position based on the process content associated with the edit command, and then the process ends.

[0079] Step S322: The control unit 30 deletes the handwritten character string image G3A, and the process ends.

[0080] As described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 11(a) to 13, the editing process includes an insertion process. The insertion process is a process of inserting a character string into a predetermined position in a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image G1A. Therefore, the user can easily insert a character string into the document M by writing a handwritten editing command on the document M.

[0081] Furthermore, in the insertion process, the control unit 30 identifies an insertion position indicating a position where a character string is to be inserted based on the mark image G42A. The control unit 30 performs insertion processing at the insertion position for the non-handwritten character string image G1A. Therefore, by writing a handwritten mark G42 on the document M and scanning the document M, the user can obtain an image in which the desired character string has been inserted at the desired insertion position. As a result, the user can easily insert the character string at the desired insertion position for the character string included in the document M.

[0082] Next, an editing process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 14(a) to 14(c). In particular, a replacement process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 14(a) is a diagram showing a document M5 on which a handwritten character string has been written. Fig. 14(b) is a diagram showing a scanned image IMGA5. Fig. 14(c) is a diagram showing an edited image IMGB5. To avoid redundancy, descriptions that overlap with those described with reference to Figs. 1 to 13 will be omitted.

[0083] As shown in FIGS. 14(a) to 14(c), the control unit 30 replaces the character string with a random character string in the replacement process.

[0084] As shown in FIG. 14(a), when a user wants to replace a random character string in document M, the user writes "RPL: "Random word"" by handwriting on document M as text G41.

[0085] Next, the user scans the document M3 on which the editing commands are written using the image reading device 100. As a result, as shown in Fig. 14(b), the image reading unit 10 reads the image formed on the document M3 and obtains a read image IMGA5.

[0086] As shown in FIG. 14(c), the control unit 30 replaces the character string "tennis" identified as the editing range with a random character string. In this example, the control unit 30 replaces the character string "tennis" with the character string "baseball." As a result, as shown in FIG. 14(c), the control unit 30 can generate an edited image IMGB5 in which the character string "tennis" specified by the editing range mark G421 written by the user has been replaced with a random character string. For example, the control unit 30 may replace the character string with a character string related to the character string specified by the editing range mark G421. In this example, the control unit 30 replaces the character string "tennis" with the character string "baseball," which indicates a sport related to the character string "tennis." Note that the character string may also be replaced with a character string unrelated to the character string specified by the editing range mark G421. The edited image IMGB5 is stored in the storage unit 40.

[0087] 6, 9, and 12, when the control unit 30 performs an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image G1A based on the editing command image G4A, it is preferable that the control unit 30 deletes the editing command image G4A that has been edited. However, the control unit 30 does not have to delete the editing command image G4A that has been edited.

[0088] The image forming unit 20 forms an image on a recording medium P based on the result of the editing process.

[0089] 1, 2, and 14(a) to 14(c), in the replacement process, the control unit 30 replaces the character string with a random character string. Therefore, the user can easily replace the character string included in the document M with a random character string by writing a handwritten editing command on the document M.

[0090] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 14(c)). However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention (for example, (1) to (2) shown below). The drawings mainly show each component in a schematic manner for ease of understanding, and the thickness, length, number, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may differ from the actual ones due to the convenience of creating the drawings. Furthermore, the materials, shapes, dimensions, etc. of each component shown in the above-described embodiments are merely examples and are not particularly limited, and various modifications are possible within a range that does not substantially depart from the effects of the present invention.

[0091] (1) The image forming apparatus 300 described with reference to Figures 1 to 14 is an electrophotographic multifunction device, but the present invention is not limited to this. The image forming apparatus 300 may be, for example, an inkjet recording multifunction device.

[0092] (2) The image forming apparatus 300 described with reference to Figures 1 to 14 prints the edited image IMGB on the recording medium P, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image forming apparatus 300 may simply store the edited image IMGB in the storage unit 40 without printing it on the recording medium P. [Industrial Applicability]

[0093] The present invention can be used in the field of image forming devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 10 Image reading unit 20 Image forming unit 30 Control Unit 40 Storage section 100 Image reader 300 Image forming device G1 Non-handwritten string image G1A Non-handwritten string image G3 Handwritten string image G3A Handwritten string image G4 Editing Commands G41 Text G41A Text Image G42 Mark G42A mark image G4A Edit Command Image IMGA, IMGA2, IMGA3, IMGA4, IMGA5 scanned image M, M1, M2, M3, M4, M5 manuscript

Claims

1. an image reading unit that reads an image formed on a document and acquires the read image; a storage unit that stores edit commands in association with processing contents; a control unit that controls the image reading unit and the storage unit; Equipped with The control unit distinguishing between a handwritten character string image and a non-handwritten character string image included in the scanned image; performing an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image based on the processing content associated with the editing command indicated by the editing command image; the non-handwritten character string image is an image including a character string other than handwritten, the edit command image is an image indicating the edit command included in the handwritten character string image, The image reading device, wherein the handwritten character string image is an image including a handwritten character string.

2. The control unit determining whether the handwritten character string image includes the edit command image; The image reading device according to claim 1 , wherein when it is determined that the handwritten character string image does not include the edit command image, the handwritten character string image is deleted.

3. The control unit distinguishing between a text image and a mark image included in the edit command image; identifying an editing range for executing an editing process on the non-handwritten character string image based on the mark image; performing an editing process based on the text image on the non-handwritten character string image included in the editing range among the non-handwritten character string images; the text image is an image including text indicating the editing command; 3. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the mark image is an image indicating an editing range in which the editing command is executed.

4. 3. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the editing process includes a deletion process for deleting a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image.

5. 3. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the editing process includes a replacement process for replacing a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image with a different character string.

6. The image reading device according to claim 5 , wherein in the replacement process, the control unit replaces the character string with a character string specified in the handwritten character string image.

7. The image reading device according to claim 5 , wherein in the replacement process, the control unit replaces the character string with a random character string.

8. 3. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the editing process includes an insertion process for inserting a character string into a predetermined position of a character string included in the non-handwritten character string image.

9. The control unit distinguishing between a text image and a mark image included in the edit command image; In the insertion process, an insertion position indicating a position where a character string is to be inserted is identified based on the mark image; performing an insertion process on the non-handwritten character string image at the insertion position; The image reading device according to claim 8 , wherein the mark image is an image indicating a position where the editing command is to be executed.

10. The image reading device according to claim 1 or 2; an image forming unit that forms an image based on the result of the editing process; An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images