JP3206932B2 - Image processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for a digital copying machine, image scanner, printer, facsimile, display and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a digital copying machine, a document is irradiated with a light source such as a halogen lamp, and reflected light from the document is photoelectrically converted using a solid-state image pickup device such as a CCD (charge coupled device). After converting to a digital signal and performing predetermined correction processing and the like, the signal is used to form a recorded image using a recording device such as a laser beam printer, a liquid crystal printer, a thermal printer, or an ink jet printer.

In such a digital copying machine, an output having a large amount of information has been demanded in accordance with the colorization of a document to be copied. In recent years, a plurality of color developing devices have been provided to partially change colors. A copying apparatus using a multi-color laser beam printer for performing copying is developed.

[0004]

However, in the above-described copying apparatus having a plurality of color developing devices and forming an image by partially changing colors, the above-described copying device has many developing devices. However, there is a problem that the mechanism is complicated and the position accuracy of the image is required to be high.

[0005] In a copying apparatus using a multi-color ink jet printer or the like, there is a similar problem as described above.

For this reason, conventionally, the color of a color image is detected based on the color information of the color image of the document read by the document reading means, and a predetermined inclined line, vertical line,
By combining a graphic pattern consisting of horizontal lines, waveform lines, small circles, dots, etc. into a single-color image, it is possible to express only the color difference of each pixel of the color image of the original using an inexpensive printer. Copying device (for example, JP-B-63-5)
However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to express color information indicating the color of each pixel of a color image of a document.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to determine what color the color portion in a color image has when converting a color image into a monochromatic image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing method and apparatus capable of easily recognizing information.

[0008]

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method, comprising: a color detecting step of detecting an area having a color in a color image; A conversion step of converting into a single color image, a character pattern generation step of generating a character pattern representing a color name of the area detected by the color detection step, and a conversion of the character pattern generated by the character pattern generation step into the single color image. And a synthesizing step of synthesizing on an image to generate a synthesized image. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing method according to claim 2 is the image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the synthesizing step includes adding the area to the area detected by the color detecting step. The character pattern generated in the character pattern generating step is inserted. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing method according to claim 3 is the image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the synthesizing step includes: A large number of the character patterns generated in the character pattern generating step are inserted. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method, comprising: a color detecting step of detecting an area having a color in a color image; and a color detecting section detecting a color of the area detected by the color detecting step. And a conversion for converting the color image into a single-color image by replacing an area detected by the color detection step with a graphic pattern generated by the graphic pattern generation step. Associating a character pattern generating step of generating a character pattern representing a color name of an area detected by the color detecting step with a character pattern representing a color name corresponding to the graphic pattern; And a corresponding image generating step of generating a corresponding image. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing method according to claim 5 is the image processing method according to claim 4, wherein the corresponding image generated in the corresponding image generating step is defined as the monochrome image. It is characterized by having a synthesizing step of synthesizing. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing method according to claim 6 is the image processing method according to claim 4, wherein the corresponding image generated in the corresponding image generating step is defined as the monochrome image. Is output as another image. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: a color detection unit configured to detect an area having a color in a color image; and a conversion unit configured to convert the color image into a monochrome image. And a character pattern generating means for generating a character pattern representing a color name of the area detected by the color detecting means; and combining the character pattern generated by the character pattern generating means on the monochrome image. And synthesizing means for generating an image. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing apparatus according to claim 8 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the synthesizing unit includes: The character pattern generated by the character pattern generating means is inserted. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing device according to claim 9 is the image processing device according to claim 7, wherein the combining unit includes:
A number of the character patterns generated by the character pattern generating means are inserted. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: a color detection unit configured to detect an area having a color in a color image; and a color detection unit configured to detect a color of the area detected by the color detection unit. A graphic pattern generating means for generating a graphic pattern corresponding to the color pattern, and a color for converting the color image into a monochromatic image by replacing an area detected by the color detecting means with a graphic pattern generated by the graphic pattern generating means. Conversion means, character pattern generating means for generating a character pattern representing a color name of the area detected by the color detection means, and correspondence between the graphic pattern and a character pattern representing a color name corresponding to the graphic pattern And a corresponding image generating means for generating the attached corresponding image. In order to achieve the first object, the image processing apparatus according to claim 11 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the corresponding image generated by the corresponding image generation unit is defined as the monochrome image. It has a combining means for combining. In order to achieve the first object, an image processing apparatus according to claim 12 is provided.
0, wherein the corresponding image generated by the corresponding image generating means is output as an image different from the monochrome image.

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the internal structure of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG.
Documents stacked thereon are conveyed one by one sequentially onto a glass document table 2. When the document is conveyed, the lamp of the scanner unit 4 of the scanner unit 3 is turned on,
The scanner unit 3 moves to irradiate the original.

The reflected light from the original passes through a lens 8 via mirrors 5, 6, and 7, and then a reader (original reading means) 9
Is input to the color CCD image sensor 9a. The image signal input to the color CCD image sensor 9a, that is, the input signal from the reader 9 shown in FIG.
The image data is processed by an image signal control circuit 11 controlled by the PU 10 and input to a printer (image forming unit) 12.

The signal input to the printer 12 is converted into an optical signal by the exposure control unit 13 shown in FIG. 1, and irradiates the photosensitive member 14 in accordance with an image signal. The photoreceptor 1
The latent image formed on 4 is developed by first developing device 15 or second developing device 16.

A transfer sheet (recording medium) is conveyed from the first transfer sheet stacking section 17 or the second transfer sheet stack section 18 in synchronism with the latent image and the timing. The transferred image is transferred to the receiving paper.

After the transferred image is fixed on the transfer sheet by the fixing unit 20, the image is discharged from the sheet discharging unit 21 to the outside of the apparatus. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 22 denotes an operation unit, and 23 denotes a ROM and RA.
M and other storage elements. [Normal Copy Mode] Next, the normal copy mode operation of the image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The R of image information from a document photoelectrically converted by the color CCD image sensor 9a in the reader 9
The (red), G (green), and B (blue) signals are input to amplifiers 24, 25, and 26 corresponding to the following colors. These amplifiers 24, 25, 26 amplify the R, G, B signals to match the input levels of the A / D converters 27, 28, 29 in the image signal control circuit 11, and the amplified R, G, B signals The G and B signals 1010, 1020 and 1030 are A /
The signals are input to D converters 27, 28 and 29. These A /
The D converters 27, 28, 29 convert the R, G, B signals 1010, 1020, 1030 of analog image information into digital signals 1040, 1050, 1060. A
Output signals (digital signals) 1040, 1050, and 1060 from the / D converters 27, 28, and 29 are input to the next Y signal generation circuit 30, and the luminance signal Y based on the following equation is obtained.
Generate

Y = 0.30R + 0.59G + 0.11B where R = signal 1040 G = signal 1050 B = signal 1060 This multi-valued luminance signal Y is converted to a next-stage binarization circuit (conversion means).
31 and is converted into a binary luminance signal 1085. The binary luminance signal 1085 is supplied to the selector (deletion means) 3
2 and becomes a binary signal 1090, which is input to the next-stage synthesis circuit (synthesis means) 33. The selector 32 is set so that the CPU 10 selects the binary luminance signal 1085. The function of the synthesizing circuit 33 changes depending on the setting from the CPU 10, and selects and outputs only the signal 1090 during normal copying.

The output signal 1130 from the synthesizing circuit 33 is input to the density conversion circuit 34 at the next stage. Density conversion circuit 34
Is the synthesized signal 11 input from the synthesis circuit 33
It has a function of outputting a signal 1140 obtained by inverting the signal 30 to the printer 12. Output signal 1 from density conversion circuit 34
140 is input to the printer 12 at the next stage to form an image in a single color, that is, a monotone. [Color detection / synthesis mode] Next, the operation of the color detection / synthesis mode of the image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the color detection / synthesis mode, a character representing the name of the color is output on a monochromatic output image in correspondence with the color information of the original in order to make the color region of the image easier to see.

First, before the copy operation is performed, the color detection / synthesis mode is set by the operation unit 22 in FIG. 2 and the "start key" in the operation unit 22 is pressed to start the copy operation. R, G, and B signals 1010, 1020, and 103 of image information including color information of the original read by the color CCD image sensor 9a in the reader 9.
0, as described in the normal copy mode described above,
The digital signals 104 are output by the A / D converters 27 to 29.
After being converted to 0, 1050, and 1060, the Y signal is generated by the Y signal generation circuit 30 and becomes a binary luminance signal 1085 by the next-stage binarization circuit 31, and is further binarized via the next selector 32. The signal becomes 1090.

On the other hand, the R, G, B signals 1040, 1050, 106 output from the A / D converters 27, 28, 29
0 is input to the Y signal generation circuit 30 and also to the color detection circuit (color detection means) 35 at the same time.
The color of the input signal is detected by comparing the combination of the level ratios of the G and B signals 1040, 1050, and 1060 with a preset color detection table. At the same time, the color detection circuit 35 determines an area of the same color, and sends a determination signal (color detection signal) 1080 to the character pattern generator (character pattern generation means) 36. The character pattern generator 36 outputs the judgment signal 10 from the color detection circuit 35.
Based on 80, a character pattern representing the name of the color is generated corresponding to the color. The character pattern signal (information) generated by the character pattern generator 36 is input to the synthesis circuit 33.

The synthesizing circuit 33 is the binarizing circuit 31 described above.
Is combined with the character pattern signal 1110 from the character pattern generator 36 and input to the density conversion circuit 34 at the next stage. The color detection circuit 35
Then, the selector 32 outputs a binary signal 1090 obtained by converting the binary luminance signal 1085 from the binarization circuit 31 into white information by the selector 32 in accordance with the determination signal 1080. The density conversion circuit 34 outputs the binarized signal 109
A signal 1140 obtained by inverting a synthesized signal 1130 obtained by synthesizing 0 and the character pattern signal 1110 is output. The output signal 1140 from the density conversion circuit 34 is output to the printer 12 at the next stage, and an image is formed in a single color in which a character pattern representing a color name is added, that is, in a monotone.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show image forming states according to the present invention.
Shown in

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 37 denotes a color original, and FIG.
Reference numeral 38 denotes an image formed by the present invention based on the original 37.

The manuscript 37 shown in FIG. 4 is a bar graph which compares and displays the number of patent applications in each of the laboratories A, B and C.
The lab bar A ₁ is colored red, the B lab bar B ₁ is blue, and the C lab bar C ₁ is green. The formed image 38 formed by the present invention based on the original 37 is 5, corresponding to each bar A _1, B _1, respective colors of C ₁ document 37 in FIG. 4, represents the name of the color The character patterns, that is, the characters “red”, “blue”, and “midori” are represented by the bar graphs A ₁ ′,
It is possible to obtain a black-and-white (monotone) formed image 38 displayed on B ₁ ′ and C ₁ ′ and recognizing what color the pixel of the color image of the original 37 is.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
3 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. A full-color original is exposed by an exposure lamp (not shown), and a reflected color image is converted to a color CC.
An image is picked up by a D image sensor, the obtained analog image signal is digitized by an A / D converter, etc., the digitized full-color image signal is processed and processed, and a thermal transfer printer (not shown), an ink jet printer, a laser beam printer, etc. To output the image.

The original is first illuminated by an exposure lamp (not shown), and the reflected light is read out after being color-separated for each image by a color CCD image sensor 40a in the reader 40, and amplifiers 41-1, 41-2, 41-3. , 41-
At 4, 41-5, it is amplified to a predetermined level. Here, the color CCD image sensor 40a is driven by the CCD driver 42.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the color CCD image sensor 40a shown in FIG.

The color CCD image sensor 40a used in the present embodiment has a resolution of 400 dpi (dot / inch) with 63.5 μm as one pixel in order to divide the main scanning direction into five.
Since 024 pixels, that is, one pixel is divided into three in the main scanning direction corresponding to each of the colors G, B, and R as shown in FIG. 7, there are a total of 3072 (= 1024 × 3) effective pixels.

On the other hand, the color CCD image sensor 40a
Chips 43a, 44a, 45a, 46a, 47a are formed on the same ceramic substrate, and the first, third and fifth chips 43a, 45a, 47a are formed on the same line LA.
The second and fourth chips 44a and 46a are arranged on the line LB separated from the line LA by four lines, that is, on the line LB separated by 254 μm (= 63.5 μm × 4).
Scan in the direction.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing an example of the timing of the driving pulse shown in FIG.

Five color CCD image sensors 40a
Of the first, third, and fifth chips 43a, 45a, and 47a among the chips 43a to 47a of FIG.
V118a, the second and fourth chips 44a, 46a
Are independently and independently by EDRV 119a,
Driven synchronously. O 0 included in ODRV 118a
1A, O 02A, ORS and E01A, E02A, ERS included in the EDRV 119a are a charge transfer clock and a charge reset pulse in each chip, respectively.
The first, third and fifth chips 43a, 45a and 47a;
Due to mutual interference with the second and fourth chips 44a and 46a and noise limitation, they are generated completely synchronously so as not to cause jitter. Therefore, these pulses are generated by one reference oscillation source OSC48 (see FIG. 9).

FIG. 9 shows the CCD driver 42 shown in FIG.
FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing an example of the timing of each unit shown in FIG.

In FIG. 9, a single reference oscillation source OSC4
The clock KO 135a obtained by dividing the original clock CLKO 138 generated by the first frequency divider 8 by the first frequency divider 51 is the ODRV
Reference signals SYNC2 (136a) and SYNC3 (137 ) that determine the timing of generation of the EDRV 119a and the EDRV 119a.
a) for generating the reference signal SYNC2
(136a) , SYNC3 (137a) , the output timing is determined according to the set value of the presettable counters 50, 50a set by the signal line 49 connected to the CPU bus, and the reference signals SYNC2, SYNC3 are the second,
Third frequency dividers 51a and 51b and drive pulse generator 5
2, 52a are initialized.

That is, the input scanning reference signal HSYNC
Because the reference clock 118 is generated by the original clock CLKO138 output from one reference oscillation source OSC48 and the divided clock KO135a which are all generated synchronously, the sensor drive pulse ODRV 118a and the EDR
Each of the V119a is obtained as a synchronized signal having no jitter at all, and signal disturbance due to interference between chips can be prevented.

Here, one of the sensor driving pulses ODRV 118a obtained in synchronization with each other is indicated by 1, 3 in FIG.
The fifth sensor 43a, 45a, 47a is supplied to the fifth chip 43a, and the other sensor drive pulse EDRV 119a is supplied to the second and fourth chips 44a, 46a.
Image signals V1 (120a) and V2 (121 ) are synchronized with the drive pulse from 44a, 45a, 46a, and 47a.
a) , V3 (122a) , V4 (123a) , V5 (1
24a) is output independently, amplified to a predetermined voltage value by independent amplifiers 41-1 to 41-5 for each of the channels CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4, and CH5 shown in FIG. image signals V1, V3, V5 is sent at the timing of OO S129 shown in 8, EOS1
The image signals V2 and V4 are transmitted at the timing of 34 and input to the image signal processing circuit.

A color image signal obtained by reading the image information of the original input into the image signal processing circuit by dividing it into five parts is converted into each color by a sample hold circuit (hereinafter, referred to as an S / H circuit) 54 in FIG. It is separated into corresponding G, B, and R signals. Therefore, after being sampled and held, 15
(= 3 × 5) systems of signals are processed.

The analog color image signal sampled and held for each color R, G, B by the S / H circuit 54 is
The A / D conversion circuit 55 uses channels 1 to 5 for channels 1 to 5, respectively.
Digitized for each CH5, each 1-5 channel C
H1 to CH5 are output to the shift correction circuit 56 independently and in parallel.

In the present embodiment, as described above (see FIG. 7), the color CCD image sensor 40a of the reader 40 has four lines, that is, 245 μm (= 63.5 μm ×
5) A staggered sensor having an interval of 4) in the sub-scanning direction and divided into 5 areas in the main scanning direction. The reading position is shifted between CH4 and the remaining 1, 3, and 5 channels CH1, CH3, and CH5. Therefore, in order to connect them correctly, the misalignment is corrected by a misalignment correction circuit 56 having memories for a plurality of lines.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the black correction circuit of the black correction / white correction circuit 57 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the amount of light input to the color CCD image sensor 40a is very small, the black level outputs of the first to fifth channels CH1 to CH5 show variations among the chips 43a to 47a and between pixels. large. When this is output as it is to output an image, streaks and unevenness occur in the data portion of the image.

Therefore, it is necessary to correct the output variation of the black portion, and the correction is performed by a circuit as shown in FIG.

Prior to the original reading operation, the original scanning unit is moved to a position of a black plate having a uniform density arranged in a non-image area at the leading end of the original table, and the exposure lamp is turned on to generate a black level image signal. It is input to the black correction circuit of the black correction / white correction circuit 57.

As for the B signal Bin, A is selected by the first selector 59 (control line d), and one gate 60 is closed (control line) in order to store one line of this image data in the black level RAM 58. a) Open the other gate 61 (control line b). That is, the signal lines 62, 63, and 64 are 62 → 6
3 → 64 are sequentially connected. On the other hand, an address input signal 65 of the black level RAM 58 is initialized by a scanning reference signal HSYNC, and a second output signal 67 of an address counter 66 for counting the pixel clock VCLK is input. A signal to the selector 68 is output from the control line c, and 1
The black level signals for the lines are stored in the black level RAM 58 (hereinafter referred to as a black reference value capturing mode).

When reading an image, the black level RAM 58
Is in a data read mode, and is read out and input for each pixel for each line to the B input of the subtractor 70 through the signal line 64 → 69. That is, at this time, the other gate 61 closes (control line b), and one gate 60 opens (control line a). The third selector 71 outputs A.

Therefore, the black correction circuit output signal 157 output from the subtractor 70 is controlled by the signal 72B for the black level data DK (i), for example, in the case of the blue signal Bin, to be Bin (i) -DK. (I) = BOUT (i) (referred to as black correction mode).

Similarly, in the case of the G signal Gin and the R signal Rin, the control is performed by the signals 72G and 72R. The selectors 59, 68, 71 for this control and the control lines a, b, c, d, e of the gates 60, 61 are connected to the CPU 7
3 (see FIG. 17) under CPU control by a latch 74 assigned as an I / O.

If B is selected by each of the selectors 59, 68 and 71, the CPU 73 causes the black level RAM 58 to operate.
Will be accessible.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the white correction circuit of the black / white correction circuit 57 shown in FIG.

The white level correction (shading correction)
The sensitivity variation of the illumination system, the optical system, and the sensor is corrected based on the white data when the original scanning unit is moved at the position of the uniform white plate and irradiated.

The basic circuit configuration of the white correction circuit is the same as the circuit shown in FIG. 11, except that the black correction is performed by the subtractor 70, whereas the white correction uses the multiplier 75. Only the different parts are the same, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof will be omitted.

At the time of color correction, when the color CCD image sensor 40a for reading the original is at the reading position (home position) of the uniform white plate, that is, the copying operation,
Alternatively, prior to the reading operation, an exposure lamp (not shown) is turned on, and image data of a uniform white level is stored in the correction RAM 76 for one line.

For example, if it has a width in the longitudinal direction of A4 in the main scanning direction, 4677 (= 297 mm ÷) at 400 dpi
0.0635 mm) pixels, that is, at least the capacity of the correction RAM 76 is 4677 bytes. As shown in FIG. 14, if the white plate data of the i-th pixel is Wi (i = 1 to 4677), the correction RAM 76 has the capacity shown in FIG. As shown in (1), data for a white plate is stored for each pixel.

On the other hand, with respect to the white plate data Wi, the corrected data Do with respect to the read value Di of the normal image of the i-th pixel should be Do = Di × FFH / Wi. Therefore, the control line a,
The gates 60 and 61 are opened for b, c, d and e, and output is performed so that B is selected by the first to third selectors 59, 68 and 71.
To be accessible.

Next, according to the control procedure of the flow chart shown in FIG. 16, the CPU 73 sets the FFH / W
.. are sequentially operated on o and Wi to replace data. That is, if i is 0 (step 1),
Wi is read (step 2), Wi is calculated (step 3), the Wi is written (step 4), and "1" is added to i (step 5) .
Becomes 4678 (step 6), the flow returns to step 2.

When the processing operation for the blue component B of the color component image is completed in this way, the processing for the green component G and the red component R is sequentially performed in the same manner, and thereafter, the input original image data Di is processed. On the other hand, Do
One of the gates 60 in FIG. 13 is opened (control line a) so that (= Di × FFH / Wi) is output, and the other gate 6 is opened.
1 is closed (control line b). As a result, A is selected by the second and third selectors 68 and 71, and the coefficient data FFH / Wi read from the correction RAM 76 is transmitted to the signal line 64.
→ The signal passes through 69 and is multiplied by the original image data input from the signal line 62 and output.

As described above, variations in the black level sensitivity of the image input system, variations in the dark current of the color CCD image sensor 40a, variations in the sensitivity between the chips 43a to 47a, variations in the light amount of the optical system, variations in the white level sensitivity, etc. The black level and the white level are corrected based on the various factors described above, and the image data BOUT121, GOUT122, and R are uniformly corrected for each color in white and black in the main scanning direction.
OUT123 is obtained.

The colors R, R,
The G and B 8-bit image data are input to a luminance (Y) signal generation circuit 77 and a color detection circuit (color detection means) 78 in FIG.

First, the luminance signal generation circuit 77 will be described.

In the luminance signal generation circuit 77, a color CCD
From the color-separated image read by the image sensor 40a, an image over the entire wavelength region that is not color-separated, that is, a monochrome image is created. This is because the printer, which is the image forming means of this embodiment, has only a single-color, ie, monotone, image forming function. In the luminance signal generating circuit 77, the following calculation is performed.

Dataout = (R + G + B) / 3 That is, the average value of the input data of each color R, G, B is calculated. In this embodiment, an adder and a multiplier are used. The calculated luminance signal Y is output to a selector (deletion means) 87 described later.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of the color detection circuit 78 shown in FIG.

The input data to the luminance signal generation circuit 77 is
It is also input to the color detection circuit 78. In this embodiment, a hue signal is used as a color detection method. This is so that accurate determination can be made even when the vividness and brightness of the same color are different.

First, the outline of the color detection method will be described.

[0076] Each color input R, G, B data, there respectively 8 bits each, has color information of a total of 2 ²⁴ colors.
Therefore, using such enormous information as it is becomes expensive in view of its circuit scale.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned hue is used. This is, to be precise, different from the normally expressed hue, but is referred to herein as hue. It is known that a color space is represented by saturation, lightness, and hue, as is known in a Munsell solid or the like.

First, it is necessary to convert the data of each color R, G, B into a plane, that is, two-dimensional data. Each color R,
Common part of G, B, that is, minimum value min of each color R, G, B
Since (R, G, B) is an achromatic component,
(R, G, B) is subtracted from the data of each color R, G, B,
The three-dimensional input color space was converted to a two-dimensional color space by using the remaining information as a chromatic color component.

The converted plane is, as shown in FIG.
From 0 ° to 360 ° are divided into six, and each input color R,
The order of the magnitudes of the G and B signals, that is, R>G> B, R
>B> G, G>B> R, G>R> B, B>G> R, B>
A look-up table (LUT) is obtained by using information of R> G and the maximum value and the intermediate value among the input R, G, and B signals.
The hue value is obtained using the above.

Next, the operation of the color detection circuit 78 will be described with reference to FIGS.
7 will be described.

[0081] First, data of each color R, G, B are inputted, max of detection circuit 79 in FIG. 17 for the level decision
・ Input to the mid and min terminals . Detection circuit 79 of this compares each input data using a comparator, max value according to the comparison result, mid value, and outputs a min value. The output value of the comparator is output as a rank signal.

The output max, mid, and min values are, as described above, subtracted by the subtracters 80 and 81 to reduce the achromatic component from the max and mid values.
The n value is subtracted and input to the hue detection circuit 82 together with the rank signal.

The hue detection circuit 82 is a storage element such as a RAM or a ROM that can be accessed at random. In this embodiment, a look-up table is configured using a ROM. A value corresponding to the angle of the plane as shown in FIG. 18 is stored in the ROM in advance, and the input order signal (ma
The hue value is output according to the (x-min) value and the (mid-min) value.

The output hue value is then input to window comparators 83 and 84. To these window comparators 83 and 84, a hue value of a color to be originally patterned is input by data input means (not shown), and a hue value corresponding to the color is set in the window comparators 83 and 84 by giving a desired offset by the CPU 73. Is done. In one window comparator 83, when the value set to a _1, to the hue value input hue value <
is output "1""in a _1, the other of the window comparator 84, when the set value and a _2, a hue value> a ₂
Output "1".

Therefore, by the AND gate 85 at the subsequent stage, a₁<Hue value <a_Two  , "1" is output from the color detection circuit 78 in FIG.
You.

When a plurality of sets of window comparators are used, it goes without saying that a plurality of colors are detected.

Next, the judgment signal output as a result of the judgment (detection) by the color detection circuit 78 of FIG. 6 is input to the AND gate 86 and the selector 87. The AND gate 86 performs a gate process on a character pattern signal representing a color name generated by a character pattern generation circuit (character pattern generation means) 88 described later. The selector (deletion means) 87 will be described later.

Next, the character pattern generating circuit 88 and the address control circuit 89 will be described with reference to FIG.

The character pattern generating circuit 88 stores a character pattern ROM 90 in which character pattern dot data is stored.
It is composed of As shown in FIG. 20, data "1" and "0" are written in the character pattern ROM 90 at addresses corresponding to the upper and lower addresses. FIG. 21 shows a character pattern formed by this data.

As shown in FIG. 19, the pixel clock VCL
K and the main scanning counter 91 and the sub-scanning counter 92 synchronized with the scanning reference signal HSYNC.
0 address signal is generated. This address signal is input to the character pattern ROM 90. Reference signals ITOP, HSYNC, and VCLK are timing signals as shown in FIG. The signal ITOP is a signal indicating an image tip, and is at a low level while the color CCD image sensor 40a reads an image.

The main scanning counter 91 has a scanning reference signal HSY.
The pixel clock VCLK is counted in synchronization with the NC.
The sub-scanning counter 92 generates the address of the character pattern ROM 90 by counting the scanning reference signal HSYNC in synchronization with the image destination signal ITOP.

According to the result of the determination by the color detection circuit 78 in FIG. 6, the character pattern signal gate-processed by the AND gate 86 in FIG.
G, B). min (R,
G, B) is a signal generated by the color detection circuit 78, and is a signal indicating the minimum value (darkest) among the color-separated image signals of the respective colors R, G, B that are input. is there. This is because the signal level of the luminance signal generated by the luminance signal generation circuit 77 differs depending on the color. For example, for a yellow color, the signal level approaches white, and image data of the original is lost. It is.

The signal of min (R, G, B) is also input to a contour extracting circuit 94, and an image contour is extracted. The extraction of the image contour is performed by a generally known Laplacian filter. The extracted image contour signal is output from the multiplier 93 by the adder 95 to form the image min signal.
(R, G, B) signal.

More specifically, in the adder 95, a contour signal representing the contour of a character image, for example, "A" shown in FIG. 23A, and a color information-added character, for example, "red" shown in FIG. The addition with the min (R, G, B) signal representing the pattern is performed, and the character pattern "A" representing the name of the color is applied over the entire framed character image "A" shown in FIG. Red ”(min, R, G,
B) A signal is obtained. The signal output from the adder 95 is input to the next-stage selector 87.

The selector 87 receives a min (R, G, B) signal representing an image bordered by the above-described luminance signal, and performs switching based on the detection result from the color detection circuit 78. Next, the luminance signal is input to a LOG (density) conversion circuit 96 that converts the luminance signal into a density signal, is converted into a density signal, and is output to the printer 102.
As shown in (c), a monotone image is obtained in which a number of characters "red", which is a character pattern representing a color name, are added within the outline of the character "A".

As described above, the contour signal is added to the image signal,
By combining this image signal with a character pattern signal indicating a color name as color information to form an image, a monochrome (monotone) image from which the color of each pixel of the color image of the document can be read Can be obtained.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a pre-scan is performed to recognize color information of a document, and a correspondence between a character pattern representing a color name and a graphic pattern is arbitrarily designated on a sheet (recording medium) based on the color information. Only the processing system to be added on is different from the above-described second embodiment, and the other configuration of the main body is the same as that of the second embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing operation of this embodiment.

In the figure, key processing is performed in step 1, and in the next step 2, the start key is turned on (O
N) It is determined whether or not it has been performed. If the start key is not turned on, the process returns to the step 1, and if the start key is turned on, the process proceeds to the next step 3. In step 3, it is determined whether or not the color recognition image processing is selected. If the color recognition image processing is selected, first, a prescan operation is performed to read image information of the document (step 4). Also,
At the same time, a histogram is created from this image information (step 5).

The histogram is a graph showing the frequency of occurrence of hue as shown in FIG. In other words, the graph of FIG. 25 indicates that many colors having a high frequency of hue exist on the document. In this embodiment, the first, second,
Three colors are present on the document.

Next, the color CCD image sensor 40a
The image is read (step 6), and image processing + add-on is performed in the next step 7. That is, based on the information in the creation of the histogram in the step 5, FIG.
The three bar graphs shown in FIG.
Original 9 displaying an image colored in each of “blue” and “yellow”
7, the upper right of the sheet as shown in FIG.
An additional processing of the graphic pattern and the character pattern is performed so as to display the correspondence between the graphic pattern and the color, and a single color, that is, a monotone formed image 98 in which the additional processing of the graphic pattern is performed on each bar graph is provided from the printer. Is output.

If the color recognition processing is not selected in step 3, the flow advances to step 9 to perform normal processing, and the flow advances to step 8 to output an image from the printer. The normal processing operation performed in step 9 is a normal image copying operation.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is different from the above-described second and third embodiments only in that the pre-scan is not performed.
The description is omitted because it is the same as the second and third embodiments.

In this embodiment, the pre-scan is not performed,
A collation table between a character pattern representing a preset color name and a graphic pattern is output independently of a monotone image. FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing operation of this embodiment.

In the figure, key processing is performed in step 1 and it is determined in next step 2 whether or not the start key has been turned on. If the start key is turned on, the process proceeds to the next step 3. In step 3, the color recognition image vulcanizing
Industrial process to determine whether the selected, if the color recognition image processing processing <br/> management is selected, first, in step 4, the data indicating the correspondence between the graphic pattern and the color is generated, the following Step 5
Then, the three bar graphs as shown in FIG.
Original 9 displaying an image colored in each of “blue” and “yellow”
Based on No. 9, as shown in FIG. 29, a collation table 100 including a graphic pattern indicating the correspondence between the graphic pattern and the color and a character pattern indicating the name of the color is output.

After the collation table is output in step 5,
In the next step 6, the image information of the original is read by the color CCD image sensor 40a , and in the next step 7, color recognition and image processing are performed based on the preset hue conditions. As shown, a monotone formed image 101 in which a graphic pattern is added to each bar graph is output from the printer (step 8). If the color recognition image processing is not selected in step 3, the normal processing is performed in step 9 and the processing in step 8 is performed.
Output a monotone formed image 101. In the case of the third and fourth embodiments, a graphic pattern generating means may be provided separately from the character pattern generating means, or the character pattern generating means may have a graphic pattern generating function.

The information generating means is not limited to a reader, but may be a computer output, a VTR video output, or the like. Further, the output unit is not limited to a printer, but may be a monochrome display, a facsimile output, or the like.

[0108]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the image processing method described in (1) to (6) and the image processing apparatus described in (7) to (12), when a color image is converted into a single-color image, information as to what color the color portion in the color image is can be easily recognized. There is an effect that can be.

[0109]

[0110]

[0111]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an internal configuration of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block configuration diagram of the device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a document on which an image is formed by the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a formed image formed based on the document of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a detailed block configuration diagram of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a color CCD image sensor of the device.

8 is a timing chart showing an example of the timing of the CCD drive pulse shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the CCD driver shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing an example of the timing of each unit shown in FIG. 8;

11 is a block diagram of a black correction circuit in the black / white correction circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the concept of black correction by the black correction circuit.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a white correction circuit in the black correction / white correction circuit shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the concept of white correction by the white correction circuit.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of data for a white plate.

16 is a flowchart showing a procedure of white correction by a white correction circuit in the black correction / white correction circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of the color detection circuit shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a hue plane for explaining color recognition.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a pattern generation circuit and an address control circuit shown in FIG. 6;

20 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a ROM shown in FIG.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a graphic pattern.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the timing of a reference signal.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining framing and a color information addition pattern.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing the frequency of occurrence of hue angles in the third embodiment.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of a document and a formed image in the third embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram of a document in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram of the collation table.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram of the same formed image.

[Explanation of symbols]

9a Color CCD image sensor (information generating means) 12 Printer (image forming means) 31 Binarization circuit (conversion means) 32 Selector (deletion means) 33 Synthesis circuit (synthesis means) 35 Color detection circuit (color detection means) 36 characters Pattern generator (character pattern generating means) 40a Color CCD image sensor (information generating means) 78 Color detecting circuit (color detecting means) 87 Selector (deleting means) 88 Character pattern generating circuit (character pattern generating means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Yoshihiro Funamizu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Ichikawa 3- 30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo JP-A-63-48074 (JP, A) JP-A-1-144768 (JP, A) JP-A-63-278469 (JP, A) JP-A-2-65370 (JP) , A) (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/38-1/393 H04N 1/46-1/64

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A color detecting step for detecting an area having a color in a color image, a converting step for converting the color image into a monochromatic image, and a character representing a color name of the area detected by the color detecting step An image processing method comprising: a character pattern generating step of generating a pattern; and a synthesizing step of synthesizing the character pattern generated in the character pattern generating step on the monochromatic image to generate a synthesized image. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein in the combining step, the character pattern generated by the character pattern generating step is inserted into an area detected by the color detecting step. 3. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein said synthesizing step inserts a large number of said character patterns generated by said character pattern generating step into an area detected by said color detecting step. . 4. A color detecting step for detecting an area having a color in a color image, a graphic pattern generating step for generating a graphic pattern corresponding to a color of the area detected in the color detecting step, and the color detecting step A conversion step of converting the color image into a single-color image by replacing the area detected by the graphic pattern generation step with a graphic pattern generated by the graphic pattern generation step; A character pattern generating step of generating a character pattern; and a corresponding image generating step of generating a corresponding image in which the graphic pattern is associated with a character pattern representing a color name corresponding to the graphic pattern. Image processing method. 5. The image processing method according to claim 4, further comprising a combining step of combining the corresponding image generated in the corresponding image generating step with the monochrome image. 6. The image processing method according to claim 4, wherein the corresponding image generated in the corresponding image generating step is output as an image different from the monochrome image. 7. A color detecting means for detecting an area having a color in a color image, a converting means for converting the color image into a monochrome image, and a character representing a name of a color of the area detected by the color detecting means. An image processing apparatus comprising: a character pattern generating unit that generates a pattern; and a synthesizing unit that synthesizes the character pattern generated by the character pattern generating unit on the monochromatic image to generate a synthesized image. 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said synthesizing unit inserts the character pattern generated by the character pattern generating unit into an area detected by the color detecting unit. 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said synthesizing unit inserts a large number of said character patterns generated by said character pattern generating unit into an area detected by said color detecting unit. . 10. A color detecting means for detecting an area having a color in a color image, a graphic pattern generating means for generating a graphic pattern corresponding to the color of the area detected by said color detecting means, and said color detecting means A color conversion unit that converts the color image into a single-color image by replacing the area detected by the graphic pattern generation unit with a graphic pattern generated by the graphic pattern generation unit; Character pattern generating means for generating a character pattern to be represented; and corresponding image generating means for generating a corresponding image in which the graphic pattern is associated with a character pattern representing a color name corresponding to the graphic pattern. Image processing device. 11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a synthesizing unit that synthesizes the corresponding image generated by the corresponding image generating unit with the monochrome image. 12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the corresponding image generated by the corresponding image generating unit is output as an image different from the monochrome image.