Information processing device, image reading system, control method for information processing device, and program

Abstract

In distributed scanning, where multiple scanners are connected to a PC and operated simultaneously to scan large quantities of documents at high speed, waiting for the next stack of documents to be loaded until the previous scan is complete reduces the scanning throughput. However, when performing incremental scans during distributed scanning, it is not possible to sort the image data in the order of the original stack of documents. [Solution] PC40 identifies image data corresponding to a delimiter from a plurality of image data acquired from scanners 1a and 1b, and determines a continuous image order for the plurality of image data acquired from the plurality of image reading devices (image order sorting) based on the image order of the plurality of acquired image data for each scanner and the delimiter information which is the image order of the identified image data corresponding to the delimiter.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for performing distributed scanning using a plurality of image reading apparatuses that read images of manuscripts.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there has been a technique related to distributed scanning in which a bundle of manuscripts consisting of a large number of manuscripts is divided and scanning is performed in parallel using a plurality of image reading apparatuses.

[0003] In Patent Document 1, a technique is disclosed for connecting image data read by a plurality of image reading apparatuses in chronological order of scan start instructions in each image reading apparatus. Further, Patent Document 1 also discloses that an image reading apparatus that has finished scanning a divided bundle of manuscripts performs scanning of the next bundle of manuscripts.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] When the number of divisions of a bundle of manuscripts is larger than the number of image reading apparatuses, it is necessary to perform repeated scanning because all manuscripts cannot be read in a single distributed scan. In the distributed scanning described in Patent Document 1, as a procedure for scanning the next bundle of manuscripts, the next bundle of manuscripts is set on the image reading apparatus that has finished scanning, and a scan start instruction is given. In this method, the next bundle of manuscripts to be scanned is set after the previous scan has finished. Therefore, while the next bundle of manuscripts is being set, the reading operation of the image reading apparatus stops, which has been a cause of throughput reduction.

[0006] Furthermore, some image readers allow for the addition of documents for the next scan during the current scan (hereinafter referred to as "additional scanning"). Image readers capable of additional scanning can reduce the time previously required to set up the next stack of documents after the previous scan is complete, thus preventing a decrease in throughput.

[0007] However, when additional documents are scanned in the distributed scanning method described above, the boundary between the already set stack of documents and the additional stack becomes unclear, making it difficult to arrange the distributed scanned images in the order of the original stack. Furthermore, distributed scanning requires the collection of scanned documents from multiple image readers, but when performing the aforementioned splice scanning, there was a challenge in restoring the order of the collected documents to their original stack.

[0008] This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The purpose of this invention is to provide a mechanism that can suppress the decrease in throughput in distributed scanning and facilitate the retrieval of documents. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention relates to an information processing device for acquiring multiple image data output by reading a document with each of multiple image reading devices, and is characterized by comprising: identification means for identifying image data corresponding to a delimiter from the acquired multiple image data; and control means for performing a process to determine a continuous image order for the multiple image data acquired from the multiple image reading devices based on the image order of the acquired multiple image data for each of the image reading devices and delimiter information which is the image order of the identified image data corresponding to the delimiter. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the decrease in throughput during distributed scanning and to facilitate the retrieval of documents. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] A diagram illustrating the configuration of an image reading system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A diagram illustrating the configuration of the image reading device according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] A diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the electrical circuit of the image reading device according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] A diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the electrical circuit of the information processing device of this embodiment. [Figure 5] A diagram illustrating the conceptual configuration of applications and scanner drivers when a single scanner is connected to a PC. [Figure 6] A diagram illustrating the conceptual configuration of applications and scanner drivers when multiple scanners are connected to a PC. [Figure 7] This diagram illustrates how to add documents during the document-splicing scan of this embodiment. [Figure 8] A diagram illustrating an example of user additions during a distributed scan. [Figure 9] A diagram illustrating an example of user additions during a distributed scan. [Figure 10] A diagram illustrating an example of user additions during a distributed scan. [Figure 11] A diagram illustrating an example of user additions during a distributed scan. [Figure 12] A diagram showing an example of the divider paper used in this embodiment. [Figure 13] A flowchart showing an example of a distributed scan process performed on the PC of this embodiment. [Figure 14] A diagram showing an example of an image management table in the first embodiment. [Figure 15] A diagram showing an example of an image management table in the first embodiment. [Figure 16] A diagram showing an example of an image management table in the first embodiment. [Figure 17]A diagram showing an example of an image management table in the first embodiment. [Figure 18] A diagram showing an example of an image management table in the first embodiment. [Figure 19] A diagram illustrating the state of a start button press timing table in the second embodiment. [Figure 20] A diagram showing an example of an image management table in the second embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. The embodiments described below will be useful for understanding various concepts such as the upper concept, middle concept, and lower concept of the present invention. Also, the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the claims and is not limited by the following embodiments.

[0013] Hereinafter, an image reading system including a plurality of image reading devices and an information processing device to which these image reading devices can be connected in parallel or in series will be described. Note that the image reading system according to the present invention includes at least two image reading devices. Also, the connection form of the image reading devices to the information processing device may be such that each image reading device is independently and connected to the information processing device in parallel, or all the image reading devices may be connected in series. Alternatively, a parallel connection form and a serial connection form may be mixed. Any form may be used as long as the plurality of image reading devices and the information processing device can communicate with each other.

[0014] 〔First Embodiment〕 [System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example image reading system shown in Figure 1, multiple image reading devices (scanner 1a, scanner 1b) are simultaneously connected to an information processing device (personal computer (PC) 40). Although two scanners, scanner 1a and scanner 1b, are shown here, the number of scanners is not limited to two; there may be three or more.

[0015] The PC40 and the multiple scanners (scanner 1a, scanner 1b) may be connected via a USB interface or the like, or they may be able to communicate via a network. Furthermore, the PC40 and the multiple scanners (scanner 1a, scanner 1b) may be connected via a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0016] When describing multiple scanners collectively, they will be referred to as Scanner 1. When describing multiple scanners separately, they will be referred to as Scanner 1a, Scanner 1b, etc. For convenience, Scanner 1a and Scanner 1b may also be referred to as the first image reading device and the second image reading device, respectively.

[0017] [Configuration of the image reading device] Figure 2 illustrates the configuration of scanner 1, which is an image reading device according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, a sheet-feed type scanner that sequentially scans stacked documents is used for explanation, but other types of scanners may also be used. A sheet-feed type scanner is also called a sheet-through type scanner. Hereafter, it will simply be referred to as "scanner". In this embodiment, the configuration of the two scanners is assumed to be the same for explanation, but this is not limited to this, and a system configuration in which multiple scanners with different configurations are mixed may also be used.

[0018] In Figure 2, scanner 1 is the image reading device of this embodiment. When scanning begins, scanner 1 uses document detection sensor 9 to determine whether or not a document D is present on the document feed tray. In the example in Figure 2, a stack of 100 documents is shown on the document feed tray, but the number of documents that can be placed on the document feed tray is not limited to 100. If a document D is present on the document feed tray, line image sensor 5 reads the white opposing member 7, and scanner 1 generates correction data for shading correction. The generated correction data is stored in memory for each pixel. Furthermore, the pickup roller 2 and feed roller 3 take the stack of documents D from the document feed tray into scanner 1. In this embodiment, a configuration in which the documents are transported from the top of the stack is described as an example, but a configuration in which the documents are transported from the bottom of the stack is also possible. The separation roller 4 separates the stack of scanned documents into individual documents.

[0019] The first pair of rollers 8a transports the separated document D in the sub-scanning direction (document transport direction) as described above. The line image sensor 5 reads the image formed on the upper surface of the document D along the main scanning direction (direction perpendicular to the document transport direction). The scanner 1 performs shading correction on the scanned image using correction data read from memory. After the image is read, the document D is ejected to the outside of the device by the second pair of rollers 8b. Although not shown in Figure 2, an output tray is provided for stacking the ejected document D.

[0020] In this embodiment, a scanner 1 with a substantially horizontal sheet transport path is illustrated, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, a U-turn path type scanner may be used, in which the paper feeding section and paper output section are arranged vertically, and the paper is discharged from the paper feeding section to the paper output section via a transport path that is curved in a U-shape or the like. Furthermore, while Figure 1 illustrates an image reading device that reads one side of a document being transported by the image sensor 5, an image reading device that can read both sides of a document in a single transport is also possible, provided that an image sensor is also installed on the underside of the transport path.

[0021] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the electrical circuit of scanner 1. In Figure 3, the A / D converter (ADC) 21 converts the output signal from the line image sensor 5 into digital data (image data) after performing analog processing such as amplification and black level clamping. The image processing unit 22 controls the line image sensor 5 and the A / D converter 21, and performs various image processing (such as shading correction) on the image data output from the A / D converter 21. The memory 23 stores the image data and other data.

[0022] I / F24 is an interface for communicating with an external host device (PC or other scanner device). I / F24 is connected to the external host device such as a PC via a signal cable 25. I / F24 may be, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, a wired LAN interface, or other wired interface. I / F24 may also be a wireless interface such as wireless LAN, wireless USB, or Bluetooth®. In this embodiment, the explanation will be given assuming that I / F24 is a USB interface.

[0023] The CPU 26 is a control unit that executes programs stored in the ROM 31 to control the scanner 1. The image processing unit 22 and the CPU 26 are connected via the bus 27. The CPU 26 accesses the memory 23 via the image processing unit 22.

[0024] The drive unit 29 is a motor for driving the pickup roller 2, feeding roller 3, separation roller 4, and roller pairs 8a, 8b, etc., as shown in Figure 2. The motor driver 28 is a control circuit that controls the drive unit 29 based on instructions from the CPU 26. The control unit 30 includes various buttons, including a start button and a stop button (not shown), as well as a display (which may be a touch panel display). The CPU 26 can detect when any of the buttons on the control unit 30 are pressed.

[0025] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the electrical circuit of PC40. The CPU 46 is a control unit that comprehensively controls each unit of the computer based on a computer program. The CPU 46 also controls the scanner 1 according to the application program (hereinafter referred to as "application") 48 (Figures 5 and 6) and the scanner driver 49 (Figures 5 and 6).

[0026] ROM 41 is a non-volatile memory unit that stores control programs such as firmware. RAM 42 is a volatile memory unit that functions as a work area. The hard disk drive (HDD) 43 is a large-capacity memory unit capable of storing various data and programs. Alternatively, the system may be configured to include other memory units such as SSDs (Solid State Drives) or eMMCs (embedded MultiMediaCards) instead of or in combination with the HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

[0027] The display device 45 is a display unit for displaying various information to the user. The operation unit 47 is an input unit such as a keyboard or pointing device. Alternatively, the display device 45 and the operation unit 47 may be combined into a touch panel display or the like.

[0028] The communication interface 44 is an interface for communicating with external devices (such as a scanner device). The CPU 46 communicates with scanner 1 and scanner 1b via the communication interface 44. The communication interface 44 may be, for example, a USB interface, a wired LAN interface, or other wired interface. Alternatively, the communication interface 44 may be a wireless interface such as wireless LAN, wireless USB, or Bluetooth. In this embodiment, the explanation will be based on the assumption that the communication interface 44 is a USB interface.

[0029] The following describes the configuration of the application and scanner driver on PC40 using Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 illustrates the conceptual configuration of an application and scanner driver when one scanner is connected to PC 40. In this example, scanner 1 is connected to PC 40 alone, and scanner driver 49 functions as a means of controlling a single image reading device.

[0030] Application 48 and scanner driver 49 are installed on PC 40. That is, application 48 and scanner driver 49 are stored on HDD 43 and function by being read into RAM 42 by CPU 46 and executed.

[0031] Application 48 is a program capable of inputting and outputting information with the scanner driver 49. Specifically, examples include image editing programs, photo album programs, and document editing programs. However, it is not limited to these; any application that can receive image data from the scanner driver 49 is acceptable.

[0032] Application 48 controls the scanner 1 via the scanner driver 49 and performs image processing on image data received from the scanner driver 49. Therefore, application 48 and CPU 46 function as means of receiving image data from the scanner driver 49 and performing image processing. Application 48 also has the functionality of an image management table, which will be described later.

[0033] Communication between application 48 and scanner driver 49, and between scanner driver 49 and scanner 1, is performed using predetermined protocols. In this embodiment, application 48 and scanner driver 49 communicate using a protocol defined by the TWAIN standard. This protocol defined by the TWAIN standard is an example of a driver interface for application to communicate with scanner driver, and is also an example of an application interface for scanner driver to communicate with application program.

[0034] This explanation assumes that the scanner driver 49 and scanner 1 communicate using the protocol defined by the USB standard. Thus, the protocol defined by the USB standard is the interface for communication between the scanner driver and the image reading device. It should be noted that the system is not limited to these communication standards and protocols; other protocols may also be used. Control commands and image data will be transmitted and received between the scanner and the driver via these protocols.

[0035] Figure 6 illustrates the conceptual configuration of an application and scanner driver when multiple scanners are connected to PC 40. In this example, scanners 1a and 1b are connected to PC 40, and the scanner driver 49 functions as a means of controlling multiple image reading devices. In this case, application 48 can acquire image data from multiple image reading devices using the same procedure as when acquiring image data from a single image reading device as described in Figure 5.

[0036] Note that the scanner driver controlling scanner 1a and the scanner driver controlling scanner 1b may be different. In this case, application 48 shall communicate with the scanner driver controlling scanner 1a (referred to as 49a) and the scanner driver controlling scanner 1b (referred to as 49b) respectively in accordance with the TWAIN standard or the like.

[0037] [Continuing the scan] Figure 7 illustrates how to add documents in the document-splicing scan of this embodiment. For example, at the start of scanning, there is a stack of 100 documents D on the document feed tray as shown in Figure 2. As the scanning progresses and additional documents are added, at the point shown in Figure 7, there are 25 documents remaining, as shown in D1. Note that at the point shown in Figure 7, scanner 1 is in operation, and there are documents being read (transported) from the line image sensor 5 to the paper output section. Additional documents are added in this state.

[0038] In this embodiment, the scanner 1 uses a separate paper feed process that transports the documents from the top of the stack. Therefore, when performing a continuous scan, the additional 75 documents D2 are added from below the remaining 25 documents D1. On the other hand, although not shown, in an image reading device that transports documents from the bottom of the stack, when performing a continuous scan, the additional documents are added from above the remaining documents.

[0039] [User actions] Figures 8 to 11 illustrate an example of user splicing during a distributed scan. Figure 12 shows an example of the divider paper used in this embodiment.

[0040] First, as shown in Figure 8, the user places the divided document bundles Da onto the document feed tray of scanner 1a in order to begin distributed scanning of the large document bundle Dall. At this time, the document bundle Da needs to be divided into amounts that can be loaded onto scanner 1a.

[0041] A separator sheet, "SEP01," as shown in Figure 12, is added to the beginning of the split document stack. In this example, the split document stack Da contains 100 documents, including the separator sheets. Each separator sheet contains unique information (in this example, information that allows recognition of the sequential relationship between multiple separator sheets, such as numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). In this example, documents with barcodes printed on them are used as separator sheets. In addition to barcodes, other information such as two-dimensional codes like QR codes (registered trademarks) or strings of characters may also be used. In this example, the separator sheets are specific documents that only contain unique information indicating the separators and are not included in the image data output as a scan result, but this is not limited to this. That is, among the documents included in the image data output as a scan result, documents that contain unique information as separators can be treated as separator sheets and processed, and in this case, documents containing unique information are also included in the image data output as a scan result.

[0042] Subsequently, the user presses the start button on the control panel 30 of scanner 1a. Upon pressing the start button, scanner 1a begins the scanning process. At the time the start button is pressed, application 48 is already running on PC 40, and as shown in Figure 6, application 48 is in a state where it can communicate with scanner 1a and scanner 1b via scanner driver 49. For example, application 48 continues to run as resident software on PC 40.

[0043] Next, as shown in Figure 9, the user places the divided document bundle Db onto the document feed tray of scanner 1b, just as they did with scanner 1a. At this time, a separator sheet "SEP02" is added to the beginning of the document bundle Db. After placing the document bundle Db, the user presses the start button on scanner 1b to begin scanning.

[0044] Next, as shown in Figure 10, the user adds documents to scanner 1a. When adding documents, it is necessary to consider the amount of documents currently remaining on the document feed tray. In this example, since there were 25 documents remaining in document bundle Da, a document bundle Dc of 75 documents is added. As before, when adding documents, a separator sheet "SEP03" is added to the beginning of the document bundle Dc to be added, and a total of 75 documents are added, including the separator sheet. Therefore, immediately after adding documents to scanner 1a, a total of 100 documents will be placed on the document feed tray.

[0045] From this point onward, the same process of adding to the document stack Dd is repeated for scanner 1b (Figure 11), and then the same process of adding to scanners Dall in the order of scanner 1a, scanner 1b, ... until all of the document stacks Dall have been scanned. Then, once all the document stacks Dall have been scanned, the user presses the stop button on either scanner 1a or scanner 1b's control panel 30 to end the distributed scan. Alternatively, when it is determined that there are no documents loaded on any of the scanner 1's document feed trays, a dialog box may be displayed on the application 48 screen asking whether to end the scan, and the distributed scan may end when the user selects to end it. Thus, given the nature of scanning with multiple scanners 1, it is preferable to end the distributed scan based on user operation, but it is not limited to this, and the distributed scan may be configured to end when it is determined that there are no documents loaded on any of the scanner 1's document feed trays, or when a certain period of time has elapsed thereafter.

[0046] [Processing flow] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a distributed scan process performed on the PC 40 in this embodiment. This process is performed by the CPU 46 of the PC 40 reading and executing the application 48 from the HDD 43.

[0047] In S1001, application 48 starts a distributed scan. As described above, the distributed scan is started when the user places a stack of documents on the document feed tray of scanner 1 and presses the start button. For example, when the start button is pressed with a stack of documents on the document feed tray of scanner 1, it notifies PC 40 of this. When application 48 receives notification of the start button being pressed from any scanner connected to PC 40, it starts a distributed scan. Here, we will explain using the same situation as shown in Figure 8. That is, we will explain assuming that the user has placed a stack of 100 documents Da, including divider paper, on the document feed tray of scanner 1a and pressed the start button.

[0048] As described above, once distributed scanning is initiated, application 48 creates an image management table for each connected scanner in memory 23, as shown in Figures 14 to 18, and proceeds to process S1002. Figures 14 to 18 show an example of an image management table in the first embodiment.

[0049] In S1002, application 48 determines whether the distributed scan reading process started in S1001 has finished. The conditions for the reading process to finish are that all connected scanners (scanner 1a and scanner 1b in this example) are stopped, and the stop button on any scanner is pressed. However, this is not limited to pressing the stop button; other user operations may also be used. Alternatively, the reading process may be determined to have finished if all scanners remain stopped for a certain period of time or if the stop button on any connected scanner is pressed. If the reading process is not yet complete (if the result in S1002 is No), application 48 proceeds to S1003.

[0050] In S1003, application 48 performs image acquisition. At this time, application 48 acquires images from all scanners (both scanner 1a and scanner 1b in the example above) and records the information of the images acquired from scanner 1a and scanner 1b in the scanner 1a image management table and scanner 1b image management table, as shown in Figures 14 to 18. If the situation immediately after the start of distributed scanning is as shown in Figure 8, when scanning has just started with scanner 1a, image acquisition is not yet possible, but as time passes and the document is read by scanner 1a, images can be acquired.

[0051] After processing in S1003, application 48 returns to processing in S1002. Then, it repeats the loop from S1002 to S1003 until the reading process is complete. Now, let's assume the situation is as shown in Figure 9. In the situation shown in Figure 9, scanner 1a has completed scanning 25 pages. As shown in Figure 14, application 48 sequentially records the image information acquired from scanner 1a in the scanner 1a image management table. The information recorded in the image management table includes the in-device image order, which indicates the order in which images were acquired within the image reading device, and delimiter determination information, which indicates whether the acquired image was a delimiter. Note that the image management tables in Figures 14 to 18 include columns for "order of document bundle including delimiters" and "order of consecutive images excluding delimiters," which are not currently known, to aid in understanding.

[0052] In this example, the first image in the scanner 1a image management table is the separator sheet "SEP01". Application 48 analyzes the barcode and other information written on the separator sheet "SEP01" from the acquired image, determines that it is a separator sheet, and then records this fact in the separator sheet determination column of the scanner 1a image management table. The second image in the device is the first image of the document bundle Dall, which does not include the separator sheet, and in Figure 14, images are recorded up to the second image in the device image sequence "25".

[0053] Furthermore, Figure 9 shows the situation when the user places the document bundle Db, with the separator sheet "SEP02" added to the beginning, on the document feed tray of scanner 1b and presses the start button. After some time has passed, the situation becomes as shown in Figure 10.

[0054] In the situation shown in Figure 10, scanner 1a has completed scanning 75 pages (25 pages remaining in document stack Da). Scanner 1b is also scanning in parallel, and has completed scanning 50 pages (50 pages remaining in document stack Db). At this point, a document stack Dc containing 75 pages, including the separator paper, is added to scanner 1a. The image management table at this time is shown in Figure 15.

[0055] Furthermore, let's assume that the situation as shown in Figure 11 occurred as time progressed. In the situation shown in Figure 11, scanner 1a has a stack of 75 documents Dc, and scanner 1b has a stack of 25 documents Db. Similarly, a stack of 75 documents Dd is added to scanner 1b. The image management table at this time will be as shown in Figure 16.

[0056] Based on the situation in Figure 11, when scanner 1a and scanner 1b each scan one more page, the document scanned by scanner 1a is the delimiter sheet "SEP03," so this is recorded in the delimiter sheet determination column. The image management table at this time will look like Figure 17. Subsequently, the image management table after distributing and scanning all 350 pages of the document bundle, including the separator sheets, will look like Figure 18.

[0057] In this embodiment, once the scanning of the document stack Dall is complete, the user presses the stop button on one of the connected scanners (scanner 1a or scanner 1b). Scanner 1, upon receiving the stop button, then notifies application 48 that the stop button has been pressed. This notification may be obtained by application 48, for example, by polling scanners 1a and 1b, or it may be sent from scanner 1 to application 48. If, at the time the stop button is pressed, there is still scanned image data that has not yet been sent to PC 40, the application 48 will be notified that the stop button has been pressed after all image data has been sent. When application 48 receives notification of the stop button being pressed from one of the scanners connected to PC 40, it determines that the distributed scanning process has ended. If there are other scanners that are still transmitting image data at the time the stop button is pressed, application 48 determines that the distributed scanning process has ended when it receives the scan completion notification issued by all scanners at the end of the scan. Furthermore, even without pressing the stop button, the system may determine that the distributed scanning process has finished based on conditions such as the elapsed time since receiving completion notifications from all scanners.

[0058] If it is determined in S1002 that the reading process has finished (if the answer in S1002 is YES), application 48 proceeds to S1004.

[0059] In S1004, application 48 performs image sorting. Image sorting uses the information recorded in the image management table. The sorting method involves repeatedly assigning sequential numbers to the images from the image after the delimiter (SEP01, SEP02, SEP03, ...) up to the image before the next delimiter or the image at the end of the reading process.

[0060] In the example above, the image sequence "1" in the scanner 1a image management table corresponds to the separator paper "SEP01," and the separator paper "SEP03" corresponds to the image sequence "101." Therefore, sequential numbering from "1" to "99" is performed on the 99 image data files from "2" to "100" in the scanner 1a image management table.

[0061] Next, in the scanner 1b image management table, there is a separator sheet "SEP02" at internal image order "1" and a separator sheet "SEP04" at internal image order "101". Therefore, sequential numbering from "100" to "198" is performed on the 99 image data from internal image order "2" to "100".

[0062] Similarly, in the scanner 1a image management table, there is a delimiter paper detection "SEP03" at the internal image order "101," and the reading process ends at the internal image order "175." Therefore, sequential numbering from "199" to "272" is performed on the 74 image data from the internal image order "102" to "175." Furthermore, in the scanner 1b image management table, there is a delimiter paper detection "SEP04" at the internal image order "101," and the reading process ends at the internal image order "175." Therefore, sequential numbering from "273" to "346" is performed on the 74 image data from the internal image order "102" to "175." In this way, application 48 manages multiple image data acquired from multiple image readers for each image reader (image management table), sorts the image data from each image reader into multiple image data groups using image data identified as delimiters as markers, and orders these image data groups based on the information of the delimiters used as sorting markers. This process determines the sequential order of multiple image data acquired from multiple image readers. Furthermore, in the image sorting in S1004, application 48 may save each image data that has been sequentially numbered (determining the sequential order of images) as an image data file corresponding to the sequential number, or it may concatenate them according to the sequential number to form a single image file, or it may perform other processing.

[0063] In this example, when the initial document is placed on scanner 1a and scanner 1b for distributed scanning, separator sheets "SEP01" and "SEP02" are added to scanner 1a and scanner 1b, respectively. However, since the order in which the scanners started operating is clear from the time the user pressed the start button, it is possible to use the start button press information as a substitute for delimiter paper determination and perform sequential numbering, but only at the time of the first document placement. In other words, in the example above, it is possible to perform sequential numbering by omitting the first delimiter paper "SEP01" of the first stack of documents placed in scanner 1a and the first delimiter paper "SEP02" of the first stack of documents placed in scanner 1b. In this way, the first delimiter paper determination is performed using the start button press information, and the order of the document stacks at the time of the first document placement in distributed scanning is determined based on the determination result. This eliminates the need for the user to add delimiter paper at the time of the first document placement, thereby reducing the user's effort and further improving the performance of distributed scanning. In this case, it is possible to continue the sequential numbering process using only the delimiter papers from "SEP03" onwards.

[0064] Furthermore, while this example describes a case where sequential numbering or other information that identifies the order is attached to the separator sheets, it is also possible to use separator sheets that simply have unique information written on each sheet. In this case, as preparation before distributed scanning, the stack of documents containing only the separator sheets (a stack of separator sheets) is scanned once, and application 48 grasps the current order of the stack of separator sheets that have unique information written on them. That is, the order of the separator sheets is registered by reading the separator sheets sequentially. Then, by adding the stack of documents with the separator sheets attached to the order of this stack of separator sheets, it is possible to sort the images according to the current order of the stack of separator sheets. This further improves convenience as distributed scanning can be performed without worrying about the order of the stack of separator sheets. Alternatively, instead of scanning the separator sheets once as preparation, a predetermined order may be set for each separator sheet in advance.

[0065] Application 48 may also include a function for printing separator sheets. For example, Application 48 may generate print data for the separator sheets and send the print data to a printer that PC 40 can communicate with via a printer driver (not shown), thereby enabling the printing of the separator sheets. Alternatively, the printing of the separator sheets may be performed by an application other than Application 48.

[0066] As described above, this embodiment makes it possible to suppress the decrease in throughput during distributed scanning and to facilitate the retrieval of documents.

[0067] [Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, each delimiter sheet contained unique information (SEP01, SEP02, SEP03, SEP04, ...). However, this section describes an embodiment of distributed splicing scanning where all delimiters contain the same information, i.e., where delimiters with no distinction in the information contained are used. Note that the device configuration and other details are the same as in the first embodiment, so their description will be omitted.

[0068] For example, this explanation assumes that there are multiple copies of only SEP01 as shown in Figure 12, but any type of divider will do as long as the information on it is indistinguishable. Using such dividers improves convenience because the user only needs to prepare one type of divider.

[0069] Next, when performing a distributed scan, the "user actions" in Figures 8 and 9 are the same, but after adding the document stacks Dc and Dd in Figures 10 and 11, the process of pressing the start buttons on scanners 1a and 1b is added. The timing of when the start buttons are pressed is acquired by application 48 through polling of scanners 1a and 1b, etc., and recorded in the start button press timing table provided by application 48. The start button press timing is recorded as a relative time based on when the start button was pressed at the beginning of the distributed scan, and it is recorded, for example, in Figure 19, that the start buttons were pressed in the following order: scanner 1a at the initial reference (0 seconds) (timing in Figure 8), scanner 1b 25 seconds later (timing in Figure 9), scanner 1a 75 seconds later (timing in Figure 10), and scanner 1b 100 seconds later (timing in Figure 11). Alternatively, the timing of when the start buttons are pressed may be sent from scanner 1 to application 48.

[0070] Figure 19 illustrates the state of the start button press timing table in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, when application 48 starts a distributed scan, it creates an image management table for each connected scanner in memory 23, as shown in Figures 14 to 18, and also creates a start button press timing table in memory 23, as shown in Figure 19. At this time, application 48 records the scanner name of the scanner whose start button, which marks the start of the distributed scan, was pressed at relative time "0". Thereafter, each time application 48 receives notification of a start button press, it sequentially adds the relative time and scanner name to the start button press timing table.

[0071] In the distributed scan process, the same processing as in the first embodiment is performed up to just before S1004. The image management table at this time is shown in Figure 20. Figure 20 shows an example of an image management table in the second embodiment. The difference between the contents of the image management table shown in Figure 20 and the contents explained in Figure 18 is that all the delimiter paper determination information is "SEP01". In the second embodiment, since all the delimiter paper information is the same, the image sorting process explained in the first embodiment cannot be performed. Therefore, in the second embodiment, sequential numbering is performed on the delimiter paper using the information from the start button press timing table explained in Figure 19 (i.e., the order of the delimiter paper is determined).

[0072] Specifically, in the example in Figure 19, the initial start button press occurs at scanner 1a, so application 48 determines that the first delimiter paper determination in the scanner 1a management table in Figure 20 (image order "1" in the device) corresponds to "SEP01" in Figure 18. Furthermore, in the example in Figure 19, the second start button press occurs with scanner 1b, so application 48 determines that the first delimiter paper determination in the scanner 1b management table in Figure 20 (image order "1" in the device) corresponds to "SEP02" in Figure 18. Similarly, in the example in Figure 19, the third start button press timing is scanner 1a, so application 48 determines that the second delimiter paper determination image in the scanner 1a management table in Figure 20 (image order "101" in the device) corresponds to "SEP03" in Figure 18. Furthermore, in the example in Figure 19, the fourth start button press timing is for scanner 1b, so application 48 determines that the second delimiter paper determination image in the scanner 1b management table in Figure 20 (image order "101" in the device) corresponds to "SEP04" in Figure 18. As described above, the order of the separator sheets is determined.

[0073] By determining the order of the separator sheets as described above, application 48 can treat the information in the image management table in Figure 20 as equivalent to the information in the image management table shown in Figure 18, and use this to perform the image sorting process shown in the first embodiment. The same applies below, so further explanation is omitted.

[0074] As described above, in the second embodiment as well, it is possible to obtain information from an image management table equivalent to that in the first embodiment, and to perform sequential numbering of image data in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In this way, distributed scanning using the same delimiter becomes possible.

[0075] In this embodiment, we have described an example where information such as a barcode is printed on the separator sheet. However, if the documents are of a different size from the document bundle Dall, for example, if Dall consists of documents of A4 size or smaller, a larger sheet of paper than the document size (here, we will describe it as legal size, but any predetermined size of paper will suffice) may be used as the separator sheet, and application 48 may be configured to identify legal-sized documents as separator sheets. This eliminates the need to print separator sheets and is convenient because it makes it easier to identify the separator sheets when collecting the document bundle after distributed scanning is complete. Similarly, if Dall consists entirely of white documents, a colored sheet of paper (paper with a predetermined background color) may be used as the separator sheet. In other words, the separator sheet can be anything as long as it is distinguishable from the documents.

[0076] In this example, the system is configured to require pressing the start button after adding more pages to the manuscript stack, but a dedicated button could also be provided. Furthermore, instead of pressing a start button or other button when adding a stack of documents, the system may use the following as a trigger to detect the addition of documents: For example, if the document stack on the document feed tray is lifted during scanning and the top surface of the document stack rises, scanner 1 detects this using a sensor (not shown), raises the pickup roller 2 to stop scanning, and lowers the document feed tray. Subsequently, if the height of the top surface of the document stack on the document feed tray does not change for a predetermined time or if a predetermined time has simply elapsed, scanner 1 determines that the document stack has been added, raises the document feed tray, lowers the pickup roller 2, and resumes scanning. Scanner 1 may recognize this series of actions as a trigger instead of pressing the start button when adding to the document stack, and notify PC 40 that the document stack has been added. This eliminates the need for the user to press the start button when adding to the document stack, and also eliminates the worry of forgetting to press the start button, making distributed scanning easier.

[0077] Furthermore, if PC40 and scanners 1a and 1b are connected via a network, the application 48 on PC40 may be configured to search the network and recognize scanners 1a and 1b.

[0078] Furthermore, application 48 may have two operating modes: a distributed scan mode, which performs the distributed scan described above, and an individual scan mode. When application 48 is operating in distributed scan mode, it controls the scanning of documents read by multiple scanners as described above, and sorts them in image order as if they were a single document stack. On the other hand, when application 48 is operating in individual scan mode, it performs individual scans, controlling the scanning of documents read by each scanner, and further, each delimiter sheet, to be treated as a separate scan job.

[0079] Alternatively, multiple scanners 1 connected to the PC 40 can be divided into multiple groups (registered in advance), and each group can be treated as a separate scan job and sorted by image order. This allows for distributed scanning of multiple types of document stacks using multiple scanners. For example, suppose multiple scanners 1 (described here as scanners 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e) are connected to the PC 40. Then, in application 48, scanners 1a and 1b are set as the first group, and scanners 1c, 1d, and 1e are set as the second group. For example, when distributing scan of two types of document stacks (first and second stacks), the first document stack is distributed and scanned by scanners 1a and 1b of the first group, while the second document stack is distributed and scanned by scanners 1c, 1d, and 1e of the second group. Then, application 48 controls each group of scanned scanners to treat the individual scans as separate scan jobs and sort by image order for each scan job. This makes it easy to distribute and scan multiple types of document stacks.

[0080] Furthermore, the documents may be grouped according to the type of divider paper used. For example, when distributing scans of three types of document stacks (1st to 3rd document stacks), one or more "SEP01" divider papers are used for the 1st document stack, one or more "SEP02" divider papers are used for the 2nd document stack, and one or more "SEP03" divider papers are used for the 3rd document stack to perform the distributed scanning according to the second embodiment. The application 48 then treats each type of divider paper attached to the document stack as a separate scan job and controls the system to sort the images in order for each scan job. This makes it possible to easily distribute scans of multiple types of document stacks.

[0081] Alternatively, each scanner 1 may detect the separator paper and notify the PC 40. In this configuration, each scanner 1 shall notify the PC 40 of which image data corresponds to the separator paper (including any information such as SEP01, SEP02, etc., read from the separator paper). If the scanner 1 detects the separator paper, it may also send the image data to the PC 40 in units of separators.

[0082] Alternatively, the system may be configured to send image data from multiple scanners to a predetermined folder on the PC 40 (which may be a different folder for each scanner) (a configuration that performs push scanning). In this case, the application 48 monitors the above folder and, when image data is saved in the folder, retrieves the image data and performs the same processing as described above. The application 48 can, for example, identify the source scanner of the image data and the image order for each scanner from the image data file name or folder. In this configuration, if a separator sheet is used as in the second embodiment, notification of the addition of a document stack from the scanner may be sent to the above folder in a predetermined file (described here as a text file) which is notification data. In this case, the time when the document stack was added may be notified as the file name of the text file, or it may be written in the text file.

[0083] Alternatively, the system may be configured to transmit image data from multiple scanners to a predetermined cloud service. In this case, the user may register multiple scanners with the cloud service as scanners that perform distributed scanning. The cloud service may also recognize multiple scanners using the same user ID as scanners that perform the same distributed scanning. Alternatively, the scanner may specify the distributed scanning mode and distributed scanning identification information before starting the distributed scan, and the cloud service may recognize scanners scanning in association with the same identification information as scanners that perform the same distributed scanning. The application 48 operates on the cloud service and performs the same processing on the image data received from multiple scanners as in the case of push scanning described above.

[0084] As described above, each embodiment makes it possible to suppress the decrease in throughput during distributed scanning and to facilitate the retrieval of documents.

[0085] It should be noted that the structure and content of the various data described above are not limited to those mentioned, and it goes without saying that they can be composed of various structures and contents depending on the use and purpose. Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take the form of, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or storage medium. Specifically, it may be applied to a system consisting of multiple devices, or to an apparatus consisting of a single device. Furthermore, any configurations combining the above embodiments are also included in the present invention.

[0086] [Other Embodiments] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions. Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a system consisting of multiple devices or to a device consisting of a single device. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications (including organic combinations of each embodiment) are possible based on the spirit of the invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the invention. That is, all configurations that combine the above-described embodiments and their modified forms are included in the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0087] 1 (1a, 1b) Scanner 30 Control section 40 PCs (Personal Computers) 48 applications 49 Scanner Driver

Claims

1. An information processing device that acquires multiple image data outputs by scanning a document with multiple image reading devices, An identification means for identifying image data corresponding to a delimiter from the multiple image data acquired, A control means that performs a process to determine a continuous image order for the multiple image data acquired from the multiple image reading devices, based on the image order of the multiple acquired image data for each image reading device and delimiter information which is the image order of the image data corresponding to the identified delimiter paper. An information processing device characterized by having the following features.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the control means manages a plurality of image data obtained from the plurality of image reading devices in a manner that identifies the image order for each image reading device, sorts the image data for each image reading device into a plurality of image data groups using the image data identified as the delimiter as a marker, and determines the continuous image order by ordering these image data groups based on the delimiter information.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the delimiter information is the order of delimiters determined from the information contained in the image data identified as the delimiter.

4. The system includes a registration means for pre-registering the order of multiple separator sheets to be attached to a document to be read by the multiple image reading devices, and the information contained in the multiple separator sheets. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the delimiter information is the order of delimiters determined from the information contained in the image data identified as the delimiter and the information registered in the registration means.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the registration means registers the order of the partition papers by sequentially reading the plurality of partition papers and associating them with the time.

6. The image reading device has an acquisition means that acquires a predetermined notification at a timing corresponding to the addition of the document to which the aforementioned separator paper has been added. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the identification means determines the order of the identified delimiter papers as delimiter information based on an image reading device corresponding to the notification and a timing corresponding to the notification.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the notification is made in response to a user operation performed at the timing of the splicing in the image reading device in which the splicing has been performed.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the notification is made in response to the detection of the splice in the image reading device in which the splice was performed.

9. The system has storage means for storing data transmitted from the plurality of image reading devices in a way that allows the source of transmission to be identified. The plurality of image data are acquired as image data stored in the storage means, The acquisition means acquires the notification as notification data stored in the storage means, The information processing device according to claim 6, characterized in that the timing corresponding to the notification is determined from information indicating the timing corresponding to the appending included in the notification data.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the identification means identifies the acquired image data as image data corresponding to the delimiter paper when it contains a predetermined image.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the identification means identifies the acquired image data as image data corresponding to the delimiter paper when the acquired image data is of a predetermined size.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the identification means identifies the acquired image data as image data corresponding to the delimiter paper when the acquired image data is image data of a predetermined background color.

13. An image reading system comprising multiple image reading devices and an information processing device that acquires multiple image data outputs generated by each of the multiple image reading devices reading a document, The aforementioned information processing device is An identification means for identifying image data corresponding to a delimiter from the multiple image data acquired, The system includes a control means that performs a process to determine a continuous image order for the multiple image data acquired from the multiple image reading devices, based on the image order of the multiple acquired image data for each image reading device and delimiter information which is the image order of the image data corresponding to the identified delimiter paper. An image reading system characterized by the following.

14. A control method for an information processing device that acquires multiple image data outputs by scanning a document with multiple image reading devices, An identification step of identifying image data corresponding to a delimiter from the multiple image data acquired, A control step that determines a continuous image order for the multiple image data acquired from the multiple image reading devices based on the image order of the multiple acquired image data for each image reading device and delimiter information which is the image order of the image data corresponding to the identified delimiter paper, A control method for an information processing device, characterized by having the following features.

15. A program for causing a computer to function as each of the means described in claim 1 or 2.

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