JPH11187182A - Copy control device and copy condition adjusting method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] To enable a user to easily and accurately correct mechanical accuracy of a scanner and a printer in a copy control device. A scanner / printer station prints a test image based on reference data stored in a copy control device in test printing. The test image obtained by the test printing is read by the scanner 2, and scanner data based on the test image is obtained. The difference between the scanner data and the reference data is determined, and the reading conditions of the scanner 2 are adjusted based on the difference. Thereby, the user can easily and accurately correct the mechanical accuracy of the scanner 2 and the printer 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention reads an image,
The present invention relates to a copy control device for controlling a copy process capable of printing out the image and a copy condition adjusting method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a color digital copying machine installed in an office or the like is known as a copying apparatus. In a color digital copier, an image printed on paper is optically read by a scanner unit, the image is converted into digital data, and then the image is printed on paper based on the digital data by a printer unit. Has become.

[0003]

However, the color digital copier is expensive in its system itself, and its running cost such as copy charge is high.
It cannot be installed easily.

In recent years, personal computer peripheral devices such as a color scanner capable of reading a color image and a color printer capable of color printing have been developed, and these peripheral devices have been provided at an affordable price. For this reason,
If you connect a color scanner and a color printer, which can be purchased more easily than a color digital copier, and send the image read by the color scanner to a color printer and output it, you will achieve the same functions as a color digital copier Can be done. Also, a flexible copy system can be constructed at lower cost than a color digital copier by combining functions desired by the user.

Although control devices for constructing such a copy system are being developed, even if the scanners and printers have the same resolution in their specifications, they may not be able to communicate with each other due to mechanical tolerances of the scanner or printer. May not be compatible. When such a scanner is connected to a print, the image printed on the base paper cannot be faithfully copied. For example, even if the resolutions in the specifications of the scanner and the printer are equal, if the scanning pitch of the scanner is narrow, and if the scanning pitch of the printer is also narrow, the image is printed out in a reduced state.

In the color digital copier, since the scanner section and the printer section are integrated, these adjustments can be made so that the total tolerance of the scanner section and the printer section falls within a predetermined range. In addition, a regular maintenance service is also available, and a skilled service person
By copying a specific pattern and comparing the original pattern with the copied pattern, the mechanical accuracy of the scanner unit or the printer unit is corrected.

On the other hand, in a copy system constructed by connecting a scanner and a printer,
The model of the scanner or printer to be connected can be determined according to the performance and budget required by the user. In recent years, a copy control device that connects a scanner and a printer via a network has been developed, and in such a copy control device, combinations of the scanner and the printer are various. For this reason, the mechanical accuracy of the scanner unit and the printer unit cannot be corrected at the time of shipment from the factory like a digital copier, and adjustment must be made by requesting a service person every time the combination of the scanner and printer is changed. It is impossible. However, if the user performs the same skilled correction work as in the digital copier as it is, the user will need to get used to it and it will take time and effort, so it is impossible.

Therefore, in the present invention, digital copying can be performed by connecting a scanner and a printer, and the magnification and resolution can be corrected simply and accurately by a combination of the scanner and the printer connected by the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a copying condition adjusting method. Then, the conditions of the combined scanner and printer can be easily and accurately corrected so that high-precision copying can be performed, and further automatically corrected. It is an object of the present invention to provide a copy control device and a copy condition adjusting method that can obtain the following.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a copying condition adjusting method according to the present invention includes a test printing step of printing a test image based on reference data, and printing in the test printing step. A scanner image reading step of reading a test image by a scanner to obtain scanner data; and a scanner adjusting step of judging a difference between the reference data and the scanner data and adjusting the reading conditions of the scanner based on the difference. .

Further, the copy control device of the present invention is connected to a scanner connection unit capable of connecting a scanner capable of converting an image printed on paper to digital data and a printer capable of printing an image on paper based on digital data. Having a control unit capable of controlling the scanner and the printer, the control unit performing printing of a test image based on the reference data, and reading the printed test image by the scanner, It is characterized by comprising a scanner data acquisition unit capable of acquiring scanner data and a scanner adjustment unit capable of judging a difference between the reference data and the scanner data and adjusting the reading conditions of the scanner based on the difference.

According to the copy control device and the copy condition adjusting method of the present invention, a test print is performed in accordance with reference data stored in the device in advance, and an image obtained by the test print is read and converted into digital data (scanner data). After the conversion, the reading conditions of the scanner are adjusted based on the reference data and the scanner data. That is, in a conventional digital copier, a human compares a test image set in a scanner unit with a print result of a test image output from a printer, and adjusts the mechanical accuracy of the scanner unit or the printer unit.

On the other hand, in the copying control apparatus and the copying condition adjusting method of the present invention, the reference data of the test image output by the printer and the digital data of the scanner data of the test image read by the scanner are compared. The reading conditions of the scanner can be automatically adjusted by the copy control device. Therefore, even a user who does not have knowledge of maintenance, such as performing fine adjustment of the magnification, can adjust the reading conditions of the scanner.

Further, by comparing digital data with each other, the combination of the printer that has printed the test image and the scanner that has read the test image can be automatically determined. Therefore, the printer and the scanner can be connected via a computer network. Even in a copy control device having a wide variety of combinations of printers and scanners, adjustments can be made easily for each combination of scanner and printer, and the results can be saved. Therefore, the combination of the scanner and the printer connected by the user can easily and accurately perform the magnification and the resolution, thereby achieving high-accuracy and high-quality digital copying.

Further, when the model of the scanner or the printer is changed to a high-grade one or the like, the user himself / herself can accurately and quickly associate the scanner with the printer without requesting a service person. It is also effective in constructing a copy system with the performance required by the user.

The adjustment of the reading conditions of the scanner includes:
What is necessary is just to change the setting of the resolution or magnification of the reading of the scanner in the scanner adjusting section or the scanner adjusting step.

Further, such a copying condition adjusting method includes a reference data for printing a test image, a process for printing a test image in accordance with the reference data, a process for reading the test image with a scanner, and a process for reading the read image data. And a process for obtaining scanner data corresponding to the reference data, and an adjustment process for comparing the reference data with the scanner data and adjusting a reading condition of the scanner. The program can be recorded on a recording medium and provided.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a scanner / printer station 1 which is a copy control device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the copy control device.

The scanner / printer station 1 of the present embodiment
Is a scanner 2 that can convert an image printed on a set page into digital data, a printer 3 that can print an image on a page based on digital data, and a copy control device 4 that can control the scanner 2 and the printer 3 The scanner 2 and the printer 3 are connected to each other via a copy control device 4.

The copy control device 4 is installed inside the box 11 and can be operated via an operation panel 13 provided on the front side of a rack 12 installed so as to surround the box 11. I have. The copy control device 4 can be connected to a computer network 5 such as a LAN, and can exchange data with a user's personal computer 6, network printer 7, and server 8 via the computer network 5. Further, the copy control device 4 is capable of exchanging data with a printer 9b and a scanner 9c connected to a separate copy control device 9a connected to the computer network 5 and having the same configuration as this example.

The copy control device 4 of this embodiment sets the scanner 2 to S
A scanner connector 14 for connecting with a CSI cable or the like, a printer connector 15 for connecting the printer 3 with a Centro cable or the like, and an LA connector.
N5 and a network connector 16 for connection using a cable such as 10BASE-T. These connectors 14, 15 and 16 are connected to a bus 20 via a scanner control unit 17, a printer control unit 18 and a network control unit 19, respectively. A scanner connector 21 having a scanner connector 14 and a scanner controller 17, a printer connector 22 having a printer connector 15 and a printer controller 18, and a network connector 23 having a network connector 16 and a network controller 19. In the meantime, data can be exchanged via the control unit 25 connected to the bus 20.

The control unit 25 includes a CPU 26 serving as a central processing unit of the copy control device 4 and a ROM storing software and data for operating the CPU 26 and the like.
27 and a RAM 28 used as a temporary storage area
And

An LCD 29 and an LCD control unit 30 provided on the operation panel 13 for displaying the state of the copy control device 4 and the set values of each mode, etc., and a touch panel 31 for inputting data and selecting a process. And a touch panel control unit 32.

Further, a character generator 33 for generating a character for display, a compression / expansion unit 34 for compressing and expanding data to be transmitted and received, and image data (scanner data) input from the scanner 2 to a printer 3
And an image processing unit 35 that performs a process of converting the data into print data to be printed by a computer or converting the data into image data that can be processed by the personal computer 6 via a computer network.

The copy control device 4 of the present embodiment is a hard disk that temporarily stores print data input via the network 5 and serves as a storage area for setting parameters of the scanner 2 set for each user. (HDD) 36 and an HDD control unit 37.

FIG. 3 shows each function of the copy control device 4 of the present embodiment using a functional block diagram. Control unit 25
Is stored in the ROM 27 or the CPU 26
A print control unit 41 for causing the printer 3 to print a test image based on the reference data generated by the calculation, and a scanner for reading the test image obtained by the test printing by the scanner 2 and acquiring the scanner data as digital data. It has a data acquisition unit 42 and a scanner adjustment unit 43 that determines the difference between the reference data and the scanner data and adjusts the reading conditions of the scanner 2 based on the difference. The scanner adjustment unit 43 includes a resolution correction unit and a magnification correction unit 46 that can change the settings of the reading resolution and the magnification of the scanner 2.

Further, a skew correction unit 47 for correcting skew of the acquired scanner data is provided.

The print control section 41 can output data to the printers 3 and 7 connected thereto via the printer connection section 22 and the network connection section 23.

The scanner data acquisition section 42 can acquire data from the scanner 2 connected thereto via the scanner connection section 21 and connect to the copy control device 9a via the network connection section 23. Data can be obtained from the scanned scanner 9c.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for adjusting the reading conditions of the scanner 2 in the copying control device 4 of the present embodiment. In the copy control device 4 of this example, the maintenance mode is set by inputting a predetermined command, and various settings such as the settings of the scanner 2 and the printer 3 can be performed. When a predetermined command is input from the touch panel 31 provided on the operation panel 13 in the maintenance mode, first, in step ST1, the command is stored in the ROM 27 of the copy control device 4 or generated by calculation by the CPU 26. The test printing of the test image is performed based on the reference data. The printing of the test image is performed by selecting one of the printers 3 or 7 connected to the copy control device 4.

In this example, the test printing is performed as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, an image 50 having a black frame of about 5 mm width on an A3 sheet 51 is printed out from the printer 3 or 7. The reference data stored in the ROM 27 or generated by calculation by the CPU 26 includes an original image width OW, an original image height OH, a resolution OMR in the main scanning direction M, a resolution OSR in the sub scanning direction S, and a main scanning direction. Data of the magnification OMZ in the direction M and the magnification OSZ in the sub-scanning direction S are stored in units of pixels. Alternatively, the reference data is
It can also be generated by calculation according to 26. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the main scanning direction M is the width direction of the paper, and the sub-scanning direction S is the vertical direction of the paper. Note that the image 50 is not limited to the above example.

Next, one of the scanners 2 or 9c connected to the copy control device 4 is selected from the test paper printed in step ST2, and set on the scanner 2, for example, and printed on the paper. The scanned test image is read by the scanner 2. Then, the image is converted into digital data to obtain scanner data. The scanner data is input from the scanner 2 to the scanner data acquisition unit 42 of the copy control device 4 via the scanner connection unit 21 in step ST3, and is further transmitted to the scanner adjustment unit 43 and analyzed by a method described later. You.

Next, in the scanner adjustment section 43, it is determined whether or not skew correction is required in step ST4. If skew correction is required, the process proceeds to step ST4.
In step 5, the scanner data is corrected. And step ST
In step 6, the difference between the scanner data and the corrected reference data is determined, and based on this, the reading conditions of the scanner 2, that is, the resolution and magnification in the main scanning direction M and the resolution and magnification in the sub-scanning direction S are corrected. Is done. If it is determined in step ST4 that skew correction is unnecessary, the process skips step 5 and proceeds to step ST6.

Next, the processing of the scanner data will be described in more detail. Scanner / Printer Station 1 of this example
Then, while the test image is being read by the scanner 2, as shown in FIG. 6, the scanner data is input to the copy control device 4 line by line in step ST11. Then, in the copy control device 4, step ST12
, A process of detecting a black pixel appearing first and a black pixel appearing last in one line is performed on all lines.

In this example, one bit (pixel) is handled as 1-bit data.
1 is white. To detect a black pixel, one-byte data is extracted from the scanner data per line while being sent one pixel at a time, and the one-byte data and one-byte data of "10000000" (hex display (0x80)) are output.
This is done by taking the logical product with the byte data. By taking such a logical product, the most significant bit of 1-byte data can be easily determined. For example, for the data (A) obtained by scanning 11000000011111 (A), the first 1
Byte data "11000000" and hex 80
When the logical sum with (“10000000”) is calculated, the result is hexadecimal 80, which indicates that the pixel is a white pixel.

Next, the result of the logical sum of the one-byte data shifted one bit to the left is also hexadecimal 80, indicating that the data is a white pixel. Furthermore, when shifting to the left by one bit, the data of one byte becomes “00000011”,
When the logical product of the hexadecimal 80 and the hexadecimal 80 is taken, 0, that is, “000
00000 ". Therefore, it can be very easily determined that a black pixel appears at the head of the one-byte data. Therefore, 1-byte data is extracted from the most significant bit of the scanner data per line, and the AND operation with the hexadecimal 80 is performed, and then the 1-byte data extracted in step ST13 is shifted by 1 bit. By repeating the above logical product process, it is possible to easily detect whether the pixel value of one pixel (1 bit) of the scan line is 0 (black) or 1 (white).

Further, the position where the result of the logical product obtained by such a method becomes 0 first can be detected as the position where the black pixel first appears, and the result obtained by the logical product becomes 0 at the end. Can be detected as the position where the black pixel appears last.

Thus, the distance between the first appearing black pixel and the last appearing black pixel can be calculated in pixel units. If the calculated number of pixels is less than or equal to 80% of the width OW of the original image, the line may not have been correctly scanned for some reason, and the first and last lines of the line may be incorrectly scanned. The detection result of the black pixel is not adopted as the scanner data.

After the black pixels are detected for every scanning line in this way, the test image width NW and height NH are determined in pixels in step ST14 as data corresponding to the basic data of the test image. The test image width NW is given as an average value of the number of pixels between the first and last black pixels by extracting only the lines for which the first and last black pixels are determined to be normally detected. More specifically, first, the number of pixels in the horizontal direction (scanning direction) from the position where the black pixel first appears to the position where the black pixel finally appears is defined as an addition value TW obtained by adding the number of normal lines. Next, the normal line number NL is calculated. Then, by dividing the added value TW by the number of lines NL, an average value of the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is obtained, and the average value is set as the test image width NW. On the other hand, the test image height NH determines the distance between the line where the black pixel first appears and the last line where it appears, in pixel units, and sets this distance.

If the printing paper on which the test image is printed is not set in the scanner 2 in an appropriate state, a large error occurs in the test image width NW and the test image height NH obtained in the above procedure, The correct value cannot be calculated. For this reason, in the scanner / printer station 1 of this example, skew correction is performed so as to minimize such errors. In this example, the skew correction is performed according to the inclination of the line segment connecting the start points of both the line where the black pixel first appeared and the line which finally appeared.

After the skew correction is performed, first, the correction ratio CW (%) of the image width is obtained from the test image width NW and the original image width OW by the following equation (1). In addition, the correction rate CH (%) of the image height from the test image height NH and the original image height OH.
Is determined by the following equation (2).

CW = {(NW-OW) / OW} × 100 (1) CH = {(NH-OH) / OH} × 100 (2) Next, the above-mentioned correction rate CW Using CH, the main scanning direction M
The corrected values of the resolution OMR and the magnification OMZ of the sub-scanning direction and the resolution OSR and the magnification OSZ in the sub-scanning direction S are expressed by the following equations (4) to
It is calculated by (6).

CMR = [{OW- (CW × OW) / 100} × OMR] / OW (4) CSR = [{OH- (CH × OH) / 100} × OSR] / OW ... (5) CMZ = (OMZ-CW) [%] (6) CSZ = (OSZ-CW) [%] (7) As described above, the scanner / printer station 1 of the present example is as described above.
Performs a test print in accordance with reference data provided in advance in the copy control device 4, reads an image obtained by the test print, and converts it into scanner data which is digital data. Therefore, by comparing these scanner data with the reference data, the reading conditions of the scanner 2 can be adjusted so that an image with high reproducibility is output from the printer without changing the magnification or the like of the image read by the scanner 2. .

In a conventional digital copying machine, the test result set in the scanner unit and the print result of the test image output from the printer unit are compared by a human to fine-tune the mechanical accuracy of the scanner unit or the printer unit. Therefore, the work is skilled and takes time. In contrast,
In the copy control device 4 of the present embodiment, the scanner 2 reads a test image output from the printer 3 based on the reference data, and compares the scanner data read by the scanner 2 with the reference data. Is automatically adjusted.

In the system of this embodiment, since the digital data can be compared with each other, the operation of adjusting the reading conditions can be automated using a program. Further, since the difference between the reference data and the scanner data can be grasped with high accuracy, the setting of the magnification and the resolution of the combination of the scanner 2 and the printer 3 can be easily and accurately associated.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described example.
Is a printer 7 connected via a computer network 5 and a scanner 9 connected to a copy control device 9a.
The magnification and resolution can be automatically set for the combination of c by the same method. Therefore, even when the combination of the scanner and the printer is diversified via the network 5, it is possible to easily and accurately correct each combination by the above-described procedure.

As described above, in the copy control device 4 of the present embodiment, the magnification and the resolution can be easily and accurately corrected for the combination of the scanner and the printer selected and connected by the user. A copy system capable of high-quality copying without shrinkage and high accuracy can be constructed. Furthermore, even in the case of changing the model of a scanner or a printer, for example, the user himself / herself can accurately and quickly set a condition for a new combination of a scanner and a printer by using the above method without requesting a service person. it can. For this reason, it is possible to easily construct a copy system that meets the user's requirements using the scanner and printer desired by the user.

The copy condition adjusting method of this embodiment can be provided by reference data for printing a test image and software capable of executing each processing shown in FIG. The above processing can be executed by recording the program on a medium and loading it into the CPU 26 at an appropriate time. Such a program can be provided to a user via a mobile recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a floppy disk.

[0048]

As described above, in the copy control device and the copy condition adjusting method of the present invention, the digital data of the test image reference data output by the printer and the scanner data of the test image read by the scanner are compared with each other. By making the comparison, the copying control device can automatically adjust the reading conditions of the scanner. Therefore, even a user who does not have knowledge of maintenance can easily adjust the reading conditions of the scanner. In addition, since the combination of the printer that printed the test image and the scanner that reads it can be automatically determined, even if the combination of the scanner and the printer connected via a computer network varies widely, The reading conditions of the scanner can be easily and accurately adjusted. For this reason, high-precision, high-quality copying is possible, and a copy system that meets the requirements of the user can be easily constructed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a scanner / printer station which is a copy control device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a copy control device.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating each function of the copy control device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a reading condition adjusting process of the scanner in the scanner / printer station shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image to be printed according to reference data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for processing scanner data.

[Description of Signs] 1. Scanner printer station 2, 9c Scanner 3, 9b Printer 4, 9a Copy control device 5, Computer network 7, Network printer 21, Scanner connection unit 22, Printer connection unit 23 network connection unit 25 control unit 41 print control unit 42 scanner data acquisition unit 43 scanner adjustment unit 45 resolution correction unit 46 magnification correction unit 47 skew Correction unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] A test printing step of printing a test image based on the reference data; a scanner data obtaining step of reading a test image printed in the test printing step with a scanner to obtain scanner data; Determining a difference in the scanner data and adjusting a reading condition of the scanner based on the difference. 2. The copying condition adjusting method according to claim 1, wherein in the scanner adjusting step, a setting of a resolution or a magnification for reading by the scanner can be changed. 3. A scanner connection unit that can connect a scanner that can convert an image printed on paper to digital data, a printer connection unit that can be connected to a printer that can print an image on paper based on digital data, A control device capable of controlling the scanner and the printer; the control device capable of printing a test image based on reference data; and a scanner reading the printed test image and acquiring scanner data And a scanner adjustment unit capable of judging a difference between the reference data and the scanner data and adjusting a reading condition of the scanner based on the difference. 4. The scanner according to claim 3, further comprising a network connection unit connectable to the scanner or printer via a computer network, wherein the control device can control the scanner or printer connected via the network connection unit. A copy control device, characterized in that: 5. The copying control device according to claim 3, wherein the scanner adjustment unit is capable of changing a setting of a resolution or a magnification for reading by the scanner. 6. A reference data for printing a test image, a process of printing a test image in accordance with the reference data, a process of reading a test image by a scanner, and scanner data corresponding to the reference data from the read image data. And a program for adjusting a reading condition of the scanner by comparing the reference data with scanner data and adjusting the reading condition of the scanner. recoding media.