Image processing apparatus

Abstract

To provide an image processing apparatus that can prevent repetition of setting of a condition for image processing.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus comprises an output unit, a first reading unit, an acquisition unit, a second reading unit, and an image processing unit. The output unit outputs an image obtained by encoding a condition for image processing. The first reading unit reads the image output from the output unit. The acquisition unit acquires the condition from the image read by the first reading unit. The second reading unit reads a document image. The image processing unit processes the document image read by the second reading unit according to the condition acquired by the acquisition unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an image processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] An image processing apparatus according to the related art is capable of printing job data stored in a storage unit that can store a plurality of job data that are independent of each other (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] US Patent Application Publication No. 2006 / 0050307 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In an image processing apparatus, a user must repeatedly set image processing conditions (number of copies to be printed, print density, paper selection, sorter, binding margin, double-sided copying, etc.) for each job.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide an image processing device that can reduce the need to repeatedly set image processing conditions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An image processing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes an output unit, a first reading unit, an acquisition unit, a second reading unit, and an image processing unit. The output unit outputs an image in which image processing conditions are encoded. The first reading unit reads the image output from the output unit. The acquisition unit acquires the conditions from the image read by the first reading unit. The second reading unit reads an original image. The image processing unit processes the original image read by the second reading unit in accordance with the conditions acquired by the acquisition unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an image processing device that can suppress repeated setting of image processing conditions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image processing device 100. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of an image processing device 100. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a two-dimensional code printing process. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first printed matter P1. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a printing process for an original image. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of step S204 in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of step S206 in FIG. 5. [Figure 8] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the content of step S208 in FIG. 5. [Figure 9] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of step S209 in FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an image processing device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that in the drawings, the same or equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated description will be avoided.

[0010] [Image processing device 100 (hardware configuration)] 1, image processing device 100 is a printer, a facsimile, a copier, or a multifunction peripheral having the functions of these. In detail, image processing device 100 includes operation display unit 1, ADF 2, reading unit 3, supply unit 4, printing unit 5, discharge unit 6, and control unit 7.

[0011] The operation display unit 1 displays various images under the control of the control unit 7. The operation display unit 1 is, for example, a touch panel or a touch screen. The touch panel or touch screen has, for example, a display 11 and a touch sensor 12. Note that the operation display unit 1 may include physical keys or buttons instead of the touch sensor 12.

[0012] The ADF 2 is an automatic document feeder that transports documents to be read by the reading unit 3 toward the reading unit 3. The ADF 2 has a supply tray 21, a discharge tray 22, a transport path 23, and transport rollers 24. Documents to be read are set in the supply tray 21. Documents that have been read are discharged to the discharge tray 22. The transport path 23 runs from the supply tray 21 to the discharge tray 22. The transport rollers 24 nip the documents being transported in the transport path 23 and send them downstream along the transport path 23.

[0013] The reading unit 3 optically reads an image (hereinafter also referred to as an original image) shown on an original document conveyed on the conveying path 23. The reading unit 3 includes, for example, a line sensor 31. The line sensor 31 emits light toward the original document and receives light reflected from the original document. The line sensor 31 performs photoelectric conversion and outputs image data representing the original document image to the control unit 7. The line sensor 31 is, for example, a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) or a reduction optical system.

[0014] The supply unit 4 supplies sheets to the printing unit 5. The sheets are, for example, paper or transparencies. The supply unit 4 has a supply cassette 41, a conveying path 42, and conveying rollers 43. The supply cassette 41 can hold multiple sheets. The conveying path 42 leads from the supply cassette 41 to the printing unit 5. The conveying rollers 43 nip the original document being conveyed in the conveying path 42 and send it downstream along the conveying path 42.

[0015] The printing unit 5 forms an image based on image data on a sheet conveyed by the supply unit 4 using an electrophotographic method to produce a printed product. In the case of an electrophotographic method, the printing unit 5 has photosensitive drums 51 for each of the colors YMCK. Y stands for yellow, M for magenta, C for cyan, and K for key plates. The printing unit 5 has a charging device 52, a developing device 53, and a primary transfer roller 54 on the circumferential surface of each photosensitive drum 51 and arranged along the circumferential direction of the photosensitive drum 51. The printing unit 5 further has an exposure device 55, an intermediate transfer belt 56, a secondary transfer roller 57, and a fixing device 58.

[0016] Each charging device 52 uniformly charges the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 51 for the same color. The exposure device 55 forms an electrostatic latent image on the circumferential surface of each photosensitive drum 51 based on image data. Each developing device 53 supplies toner of a predetermined color to the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 51 for the same color to form a toner image. Each primary transfer roller 54 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 51 for the same color to the intermediate transfer belt 56. As a result, a composite toner image composed of the Y, N, C, and K toner images is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 56. The secondary transfer roller 57 transfers the composite toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 56 to a sheet introduced into the printing unit 5. The fixing device 58 fixes the composite toner image transferred to the sheet. This completes the print. The printing unit 5 may form an image on the sheet using another method (e.g., inkjet recording) instead of electrophotography.

[0017] The discharge unit 6 discharges the sheet to the outside of the image processing device 100. The discharge unit 6 has a discharge tray 61, a conveying path 62, and conveying rollers 63. The printed material is discharged and placed on the discharge tray 61. The conveying path 62 leads from the fixing device 58 to the discharge tray 61. The conveying rollers 63 send the printed material conveyed in the conveying path 62 downstream of the conveying path 62 to a nip.

[0018] The control unit 7 includes a storage unit and a central processing unit (hereinafter also referred to as CPU). The storage unit stores various data and computer programs. The storage unit includes a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive. The CPU controls each component of the image processing device 100 by executing the computer programs stored in the storage unit.

[0019] [Image processing device 100 (functional block configuration)] As shown in FIG. 2, the image processing device 100 includes an output unit 81, a first reading unit 82, an acquisition unit 83, a second reading unit 84, and an image processing unit 85 as functional blocks.

[0020] The output unit 71 outputs an image in which the image processing conditions are encoded. In this embodiment, the image is a two-dimensional code that represents the conditions at least by a pattern. The two-dimensional code is, for example, a QR code (registered trademark) or a barcode. In this embodiment, the output unit 71 is the printing unit 5 (see FIG. 1), which prints an image representing the two-dimensional code on a sheet to generate a printed matter of the two-dimensional code (hereinafter also referred to as a first printed matter).

[0021] The first reading unit 82 reads the image output from the output unit 71. In this embodiment, the first reading unit 82 is the line sensor 31 (see FIG. 1 ), and optically reads the two-dimensional code on the first printed material. The first reading unit 82 outputs image data representing the two-dimensional code to the control unit 7.

[0022] The acquiring unit 83 acquires the conditions from the image read by the first reading unit 82. In detail, the acquiring unit 83 decodes the image read by the first reading unit 82 (i.e., the two-dimensional code) to acquire the conditions.

[0023] The second reading unit 84 reads the document image. In the embodiment, the second reading unit 84 is a line sensor 31 (see FIG. 1) and optically reads the image on the document (hereinafter also referred to as the document image). The second reading unit 84 outputs image data representing the document image to the control unit 7. In the embodiment, the first reading unit 82 and the second reading unit 84 are realized by the same line sensor 31. However, this is not a limitation, and the first reading unit 82 and the second reading unit 84 may be realized by different image sensors.

[0024] The printing unit 5 prints the document image read by the second reading unit 84 on a sheet in accordance with the conditions acquired by the acquisition unit 83. As a result, the printing unit 5 generates a printout of the document image (hereinafter also referred to as a second printout). This makes it possible to provide an image processing device that can reduce the need to repeatedly set image processing conditions.

[0025] [Detailed Processing of Image Processing Device 100] Next, the processing of the image processing device 100 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

[0026] [2D code printing process] In the image processing device 100, the control unit 7 displays a "print settings" dialog box (hereinafter also simply referred to as a print settings image) on the display 11 as one of various images in response to a user operation via the operation display unit 1 (step S101 in FIG. 3). By displaying the print settings image, the image processing device 100 presents the types of print conditions that can be set in the image processing device 100. The print conditions are an example of "image processing conditions" in the present disclosure. The image processing device 100 also prompts the user to set the print conditions. The control unit 7 identifies the type and setting content of the print conditions specified by the user operation via the touch sensor 12 (step S102). Steps S101 and S102 are executed repeatedly as necessary.

[0027] Examples of types of printing conditions include print orientation, color mode, collated printing, double-sided printing, and page aggregation. The print orientation setting is either "portrait" (portrait orientation) or "landscape" (landscape orientation). The color mode setting is either color, monochrome, or automatic color selection. The collated printing setting is either on or off for collated printing. The double-sided printing setting is whether or not to perform double-sided printing. The page aggregation setting is the number of pages of the original to be aggregated on one side of a sheet. Note that types of printing conditions may be other than print orientation, color mode, collated printing, double-sided printing, and page aggregation.

[0028] Next, in step S103, the control unit 7 encodes the type and settings of the printing conditions identified in step S102 according to a predetermined algorithm. As a result, the control unit 7 generates a two-dimensional code representing the type and settings of the printing conditions. The two-dimensional code is image data that represents the type and settings of the printing conditions at least by a pattern.

[0029] Next, in step S104, the printing unit 5, under the control of the control unit 7, generates a printout of the two-dimensional code generated in step S102 (i.e., also referred to as a first printout). Note that in step S104, the printing unit 5 may generate the first printout by printing the type of printing conditions and setting contents identified in step S102 on the same sheet as the two-dimensional code, in addition to the two-dimensional code. FIG. 4 shows an example of the first printout generated in step S104 as a first printout P1. A two-dimensional code C1, a type of printing conditions T1, and setting contents V1 are printed on the first printout P1. The type of printing conditions T1 and setting contents V1 allow the user to visually recognize the type of printing conditions T1 and setting contents V1 using the first printout P1.

[0030] The processes in steps S101 to S104 may be combined with a printing process of the document image.

[0031] [Printing process of original image (copying process)] When a user wishes to copy an original using the first printed matter, the user places a bundle of the first printed matter and the original to be copied on the supply tray 21.

[0032] Furthermore, in the image processing device 100, the control unit 7 displays a "Use settings for first printed material" dialog box (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "use settings image") as one of various images on the display 11 in response to a user operation via the operation display unit 1 (step S201 in FIG. 5). By displaying the use settings image, the image processing device 100 presents the types of use conditions that can be set in the image processing device 100. Furthermore, the image processing device 100 prompts the user to set the use conditions. The control unit 7 identifies the type and setting content of the use conditions specified by the user operation via the touch sensor 12 (step S202).

[0033] The types of usage conditions include, for example, not using two-dimensional codes, automatically applying two-dimensional codes, using only the first two-dimensional code, and notifying two-dimensional codes each time.

[0034] If the setting is such that two-dimensional codes are not to be used (Yes in step S203), step S204 is executed. In step S204, as shown in Fig. 6, even if the first printed material P1 is included in a stack of the first printed material P1 and the original D1, the control unit 7 ignores the printing conditions specified based on the first printed material P1 and performs copying processing of the original D1 according to the printing conditions set through the print setting image.

[0035] More specifically, in step S204, the ADF 12 sequentially transports the first printed matter P1 or the original document D1 one by one from the stack on the supply tray 21 toward the reading unit 3. The reading unit 3 optically reads the image shown on the transported first printed matter P1 or original document D1, and outputs the image data to the control unit 7.

[0036] The control unit 7 executes a process of detecting the two-dimensional code C1 (see FIG. 4) from the image data. In step S204, the control unit 7 ignores the image data even if the two-dimensional code C1 is detected.

[0037] Under the control of the control unit 7, the printing unit 5 prints second printed materials based on the image data obtained by the reading unit 3 for the original D1 excluding the first printed material P1. The printing conditions may be set in the same manner as in step S101 of Fig. 3. Each second printed material is discharged onto the discharge tray 61 by the discharge unit 6.

[0038] If automatic application of the two-dimensional code is set (No in step S203 and Yes in step S205), step S206 is executed. In step S206, the control unit 7 executes a copy process for the document D1 that is located between successive first printed materials P1, according to the printing conditions specified based on the initial first printed material P1, as shown in FIG.

[0039] More specifically, in step S206, the reading unit 3 optically reads the images shown on the first printed matter P1 or the document D1 conveyed by the ADF 2 in sequence, and outputs the image data to the control unit .

[0040] The control unit 7 executes a process of detecting the two-dimensional code C1 (see FIG. 4) from the image data. In step S206, if the control unit 7 detects the two-dimensional code C1, it decodes the two-dimensional code C1 and acquires the printing conditions.

[0041] Under the control of the control unit 7, the printing unit 5 prints second printed materials for the original D1 excluding the first printed material P1 based on the image data obtained by the reading unit 3. The printing conditions acquired in step S206 are applied. Each second printed material is discharged onto the discharge tray 61 by the discharge unit 6.

[0042] If it is set to use only the first two-dimensional code (No in steps S203 and S205 and Yes in step S207), step S208 is executed. In step S208, the control unit 7 ignores the second and subsequent first printed materials P1, even if there are multiple first printed materials P1 in the bundle of first printed materials P1 and original D1, as shown in Fig. 8, and performs copying processing of original D1 in accordance with the printing conditions specified based on the first first printed material P1.

[0043] More specifically, in step S208, the reading unit 3 optically reads the images shown on the first printed matter P1 or the document D1 conveyed by the ADF 2 in sequence, and outputs the image data to the control unit .

[0044] The control unit 7 executes a process of detecting the two-dimensional code C1 (see FIG. 4) from the image data. In step S208, if the control unit 7 detects the two-dimensional code C1, it decodes the two-dimensional code C1 and acquires the printing conditions.

[0045] Under the control of the control unit 7, the printing unit 5 prints second printed materials based on the image data obtained by the reading unit 3 for the original D1 excluding the first printed material P1. Regarding the printing conditions, only the printing conditions obtained first in step S208 are applied. Each second printed material is discharged onto the discharge tray 61 by the discharge unit 6.

[0046] Under the control of the control unit 7, the printing unit 5 prints second printed materials for the original D1 excluding the first printed material P1 based on the image data obtained by the reading unit 3. The printing conditions acquired in step S204 are applied. Each second printed material is discharged onto the discharge tray 61 by the discharge unit 6.

[0047] 9, in step S209, the control unit 7 inquires via the operation display unit 1 whether or not to execute a copy process for the document D1 according to the printing conditions specified based on the first printed material P1 found, each time the control unit 7 finds multiple first printed materials P1 in a stack of first printed materials P1 and document D1, as shown in Fig. 9. If the control unit 7 determines that the user's operation via the operation display unit 1 is affirmative, the control unit 7 executes a copy process for the document D1 according to the printing conditions specified based on the first printed material P1 found, until the next first printed material P1 is found.

[0048] More specifically, in step S209, the reading unit 3 optically reads the images shown on the first printed matter P1 or the document D1 conveyed by the ADF 2 in sequence, and outputs the image data to the control unit .

[0049] The control unit 7 executes a process of detecting a two-dimensional code C1 (see FIG. 4) from the image data. In step S209, if the control unit 7 detects the two-dimensional code C1, it inquires through the operation and display unit 1 whether or not to execute a copy process for the document D1 according to the printing conditions based on the detected two-dimensional code C1. If it determines that the user's operation through the operation and display unit 1 is an affirmative response, the control unit 7 decodes the two-dimensional code C1 and acquires the printing conditions.

[0050] Under the control of the control unit 7, the printing unit 5 prints second printed materials for the original D1 excluding the first printed material P1 based on the image data obtained by the reading unit 3. The printing conditions acquired in step S209 are applied. Each second printed material is discharged onto the discharge tray 61 by the discharge unit 6.

[0051] Furthermore, the drawings mainly show each component in a schematic manner to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, and the thickness, length, number, spacing, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may differ from the actual configuration due to the convenience of creating the drawings. Furthermore, the configuration of each component shown in the above embodiment is an example and is not particularly limited, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible within a scope that does not substantially deviate from the effects of the present disclosure.

[0052] (1) In the embodiment, printing conditions are exemplified as image processing conditions, and printing processing based on image data is exemplified as image processing. However, this is not limiting, and image processing may also be scanning processing by the reading unit 3. In this case, the image processing condition is, for example, resolution.

[0053] (2) In the embodiment, the output unit 71 is the printing unit 5 (see FIG. 1 ) and prints an image showing a two-dimensional code on a sheet to generate a printed matter of the two-dimensional code. However, this is not limiting, and the output unit 71 may be the display 11 and display an image showing the two-dimensional code. In this case, the user may photograph the two-dimensional code with a smartphone or the like that the user carries, and set the printing conditions specified by the two-dimensional code in the image processing device 100. [Industrial Applicability]

[0054] The image processing device according to the present disclosure has industrial applicability. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 100 Image processing device 81 Output section 82 First reading unit 83 Acquisition Department 84 Second reading unit 85 Image processing section

Claims

1. an output unit that outputs an image in which the image processing conditions are coded; a first reading unit that reads the image output from the output unit; an acquisition unit that acquires the conditions from the image read by the first reading unit; a second reading unit that reads an image of a document; an image processing unit that processes the document image read by the second reading unit in accordance with the conditions acquired by the acquisition unit; An image processing device comprising:

2. The image processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the image is a two-dimensional code that represents the condition by at least a pattern.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the output unit is a printing unit that prints the image showing the two-dimensional code on a sheet.

4. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit is a printing unit that prints the document image read by the second reading unit on a sheet in accordance with the condition acquired by the acquisition unit.

Images