JP2019161594A - Image reading apparatus, control method thereof, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading device capable of generating output image data in which a document image area smaller than a reading area is arranged at an appropriate position when a reading operation is started without designating the mixed size mode. SOLUTION: A reading area is determined according to the size of a bundle of originals S placed on an original tray 30 (step S102), and the original image area is extracted from the read image obtained by reading the original s (step S117). The position and size in the main scanning direction are compared with the reading area (step S118), and the positional relationship between the reading area and the original image area in the read image is referred to determine whether the output image data has the same size as the reading area. The document image data is arranged at the position to be output image data (step S119). [Selection diagram]

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus having an original bundle reading function for reading an image of an original bundle in which originals of different original sizes are mixed, a control method thereof, and a storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the control method.

  In an image reading apparatus applied to a copying machine or the like, a so-called automatic document feeder (ADF) feeds documents placed on a document tray one by one and optically reads a document image at a reading position. Thus, a scanning operation for converting into output image data is performed.

  The size of the document stack placed on the document tray is detected from the detection result of the sensor for detecting the length of the document placed on the tray in the conveyance direction and the distance between the guide members that regulate the width direction of the document. It is judged based on the detection result of the sensor for doing. In the case of a copy operation, the size of the reading area and the size of the copy destination recording paper are usually determined according to the original bundle size determined at the start of reading.

  By the way, documents of different sizes may be mixedly loaded in a document bundle placed on the document tray. In such a case, the size mixed loading mode is selected as a setting in which the user reads in advance a document bundle in which different document sizes are combined via the operation unit. As a document reading method in the size mixed loading mode, as described in Patent Document 1, a technique for reading a document size by edge detection from each document image read by a line sensor has been proposed. Then, in the copy operation after reading the document size, image formation is performed by sequentially selecting recording sheets having different sizes corresponding to the respective document sizes and forming each document image on the corresponding recording sheet.

  However, if the copy operation is started without specifying the mixed size mode for a document bundle in which documents of different sizes are mixedly loaded, the reading area is determined based on the document size determined at the time of the first sheet of the document bundle. The recording paper size is determined. For the second and subsequent sheets, regardless of the document size, all the images read in the same size reading area are formed on the same size recording paper. At this time, the width and length of the original bundle are the same width and length as the original having the largest width and length among the originals constituting the original bundle. For this reason, when the size of the original is smaller than the size of the original bundle, the original image read in the reading area having a size larger than the original size is arranged in the output image data larger than the original size.

JP 2006-197773 A

  As described above, when continuously reading an image of a bundle of originals in which originals of different sizes are mixedly loaded, if the user starts a copy operation without specifying the mixed size mode, the reading area larger than the original size is read. An original image may be read. In such a case, for example, when an A4 horizontal size (210 mm long × 297 mm wide) original image is read in an A3 horizontal size (vertical 297 mm × width 420 mm) reading area, the original is located at any position on the output image data of A3 size. The problem is whether to place images. As described above, the image reading apparatus generally forms output image data having the same size as the reading area.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement example when a read image (original image area) having a size smaller than the read area is arranged in the output image data having the same size as the read area. The size of the output image data is A3 horizontal size, and the size of the document image area is A4 horizontal size.

  In FIG. 19, (A) is an upper left butting arrangement, (B) is a lower left butting arrangement, (C) is a left butting center arrangement, and (D) is a center arrangement.

  By the way, if the arrangement position of the document image area is fixed uniformly on the apparatus side with respect to the output image data, as shown in FIG. 19D, it becomes a memo writing area in the finally output recording paper. In some cases, the margin is reduced, and the result is not intended by the user. Further, when the position of the document image area is determined in accordance with the position of the document placed on the document tray, the actual placement position of the documents in the document bundle may be shifted or the position of the document during conveyance within a range not intended by the user. When there is a shift, there is a problem that the output image data is also shifted.

  As described above, when a document having a size smaller than the reading area is mixedly loaded on the document bundle, it is difficult for the user to place the document having a small size at an appropriate position on the document tray. In particular, even if a small-size document is placed on the document tray so as to be in the center of the reading area, it cannot be guided by the guide member, so that the result intended by the user cannot be obtained because it is displaced during conveyance. Sometimes.

  The present invention provides an image reading apparatus capable of generating output image data in which an original image area smaller than the reading area is arranged at an appropriate position even when the reading operation is started without designating the mixed size mode, its control method, and storage The purpose is to provide a medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image reading apparatus according to claim 1 reads a document tray on which a document is placed, a paper sensor disposed on the document tray, and a document placed on the document tray. The position is determined based on a detection result of the sheet sensor, a conveying unit that conveys the image to a position, a reading unit that reads the original at the reading position and generates image data output from the read image in the size of the reading area, and A determination unit that determines an arrangement position of a document image region in the reading region based on a size of the reading region and a read image read by the reading unit, and the reading unit is controlled to generate the image data. A control unit that arranges the document image data read by the reading unit at the arrangement position determined by the determining unit in the image data; Characterized in that it comprises.

  According to the present invention, the document image data is arranged at a predetermined position in the output image data according to the position of the document image area in the read image obtained by reading the document image smaller than the reading area without specifying the size mixed mode. Accordingly, output image data in which the document image area is arranged at an appropriate position in accordance with the user's intention can be generated, so that the convenience of the image reading apparatus is improved.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the image reading apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the read image for demonstrating the skew detection by a reader. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a posture of a document at the time of starting document reading. It is a figure for demonstrating the skew correction of a document. It is a figure which shows the edge part position of the read image, and the edge part position of the image after rotation correction | amendment. It is a figure which shows the output image data which consists of a document image area | region and white image data. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining an arrangement position of an original image area in output image data when an original area is smaller than a reading area. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining an arrangement position of an original image area in output image data when an original area is smaller than a reading area. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining an arrangement position of an original image area in output image data when an original area is smaller than a reading area. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of first image reading processing executed by the image reading apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining a size of a document bundle (a size of a reading area). FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining a position of an original image area in a reading area. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining a position of an original image area in a reading area. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining a position of an original image area in a reading area. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a document image area arrangement position setting screen displayed on a display screen of an operation unit. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a 2nd image reading process. 18 is a flowchart showing an arrangement position determination process for a document image area in place of steps S518 and S519 in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement example when an original image area having a size smaller than a reading area is arranged in output image data.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, an image reading apparatus 500 includes an image reading unit (hereinafter referred to as “reader”) 200, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 100 disposed on the reader 200, and a controller 400 (not shown). It is mainly composed.

  The ADF 100 includes a document tray 30, a tray guide 31 provided on the document tray 30, a paper feed roller 1 for picking up a document s in a document bundle S placed on the document tray 30, a curved transport path 20 as a transport path, and A paper discharge tray 10 is provided. The document tray 30 places a document bundle S made up of documents s, and the tray guide 31 abuts against two sides of the document s to suppress skewing.

  The tray guide 31 is provided with a tray guide width sensor (not shown) that continuously detects the position of the tray guide 31 when the tray guide 31 moves in the width direction of the document tray 30. Therefore, the width of the document bundle S can be detected based on the output value of the tray guide width sensor by moving the tray guide 31 so that there is no gap between the document bundle S and the tray guide 31.

  Further, document size sensors 17 and 18 as sheet sensors are arranged at different positions in the document transport direction (hereinafter referred to as “sub-scanning direction”). Based on the detection results of the document size sensors 17 and 18, the length of the document bundle S is detected. This document length detection is a discrete detection only for determining whether or not the document length is equal to or longer than a predetermined length by the document size sensors 17 and 18 detecting the presence or absence of the document. By combining the tray guide width sensor and the document size sensors 17 and 18, a standard document size such as A4 paper or LTR paper is detected.

  A paper feed roller 1 is disposed above the leading end of the document tray 30 in the sub-scanning direction. The paper feed roller 1 starts to convey the uppermost document s of the document bundle S by dropping and rotating on the document surface of the document bundle S stacked on the document tray 30. A document presence / absence sensor 11 is disposed below the document tray 30 facing the sheet feed roller 1. The document presence / absence sensor 11 detects the presence / absence of a document on the document tray 30.

  A separation portion including a separation pad 21 and a separation roller 2 is provided at the entrance of the conveyance path 20. The separation unit separates the documents s one by one from the top of the document bundle S delivered to the separation unit by the paper feed roller 1. Document size sensors 12 and 13 are provided on the downstream side of the separation unit. Using the detection result that the document size sensors 12 and 13 detect the presence or absence of a document, the document size is detected for each document separated by the separation unit.

  On the downstream side of the document size sensors 12 and 13 in the conveyance path 20, a drawing roller 3, a conveyance roller 4, a front surface reading and conveying roller 5, a front surface reading upstream roller 51, and a front surface reading downstream roller 52 are sequentially arranged. The drawing roller 3 and the conveyance roller 4 correct the oblique conveyance of the document. A surface glass facing member 6 is disposed between the surface reading upstream roller 51 and the surface reading downstream roller 52. On the further downstream side of the front surface reading downstream roller 52, a back surface reading conveyance roller 7, a back surface reading upstream roller 53, a back surface reading downstream roller 54, and a paper discharge roller 9 are provided.

  A back side reading unit having the same configuration as the front side reading unit is formed so as to face the back side reading upstream roller 53 and the back side reading downstream roller 54 via the conveyance path 20. The configuration of the surface reading unit will be described later. The configuration of the back side reading unit is the same as the configuration of the front side reading unit described later. Therefore, the specific description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The reader 200 disposed below the ADF 100 includes a reading glass 209 and a surface reading CCD sensor unit 210. A surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 is arranged at a position facing the surface glass facing member 6 of the ADF 100 with the reading glass 209 interposed therebetween. The front glass facing member 6 and the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 form a front surface reading portion for reading the surface of the original. The front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 includes light sources 203a and 203b, and a CCD sensor 211 that receives the reflected light emitted from the light sources and reflected by the document surface via mirrors 204a, 204b, and 204c.

  A surface shading white plate 202 is incorporated in the reading glass 209. Further, a back-shaded white plate 102 is disposed so as to be adjacent to the back-side flow reading glass 101 of the back-side reading CCD sensor unit 110.

  The front shading white plate 202 and the back shading white plate 102 are white plates for creating white level reference data by shading. Before reading the original, the front shading white plate 202 and the back shading white plate 102 are read by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 and the back surface reading CCD sensor unit 110, respectively, and image processing is performed to create reference data for each of the front and back surfaces. Shading processing is performed using the created reference data.

  The backside shading white plate 102 is affixed to a backside reading glass 101 configured to be movable by a glass motor not shown in FIG. Therefore, the backside shading white plate 102 can be read by moving the backside flow reading glass 101 so that the backside shading white plate 102 is positioned on the opposite surface of the back side reading CCD sensor unit 110.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the image reading apparatus 500 of FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows a control block diagram of the ADF 100, a control block diagram of the reader 200, and a control block diagram of the controller 400.

  In the control block diagram of the ADF 100, the ADF 100 includes a CCD sensor unit 110 for back side reading that includes a CCD sensor 111 and a CCD control unit 112. The ADF 100 includes a document presence / absence sensor 11, a transport system sensor 120, a transport system motor 121, a glass motor 122, and a size sensor 130.

  The back surface reading CCD sensor unit 110, the document presence / absence sensor 11, the transport system sensor 120, the transport system motor 121, the glass motor 122, and the size sensor 130 are connected to the CPU 321 of the reader 200 via a bus line. Since the ADF 100 does not include a CPU, the CPU 321 of the reader 200 controls the ADF 100 and the reader 200 as a unit.

  The conveyance system motor 121 drives the paper feed roller 1, the separation roller 2, the drawing roller 3, the conveyance roller 4, the surface reading conveyance roller 5, the surface reading upstream roller 51, and the surface reading downstream roller 52. Further, the conveyance system motor 121 drives the back surface reading and conveying roller 7, the back surface reading upstream roller 53, the back surface reading downstream roller 54, and the paper discharge roller 9.

  The output port of the ADF 100 is connected to a conveyance system motor 121 that drives a conveyance roller, and a glass motor 122 that moves the backside flow reading glass 101. On the other hand, an input port of the ADF 100 is connected to a document presence / absence sensor 11, a transport system sensor 120 used to generate timing for transporting a document, and a size sensor 130 for acquiring a document size in the document tray 30. Examples of the transport system sensor 120 include sensors 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. Examples of the size sensor 130 include sensors 17 and 18 and a tray guide width sensor (not shown).

  Document feeding, separation, conveyance, front side reading, back side reading, and paper discharge processing are performed by detecting the presence or absence of a document or the position on the conveyance path by sensors 12 to 16 provided at various points in the conveyance path. Depending on the outcome. In particular, the leading edge of the document s being conveyed is detected using the lead sensor 15, and reading at the leading edge reading position is performed based on the leading edge detection timing of the leading sensor 15 and the distance from the leading sensor 15 to the leading edge reading position. The start timing is controlled. Similarly, the reading start timing at the backside scanning reading position is controlled based on the document leading edge detection timing of the lead sensor 15 and the distance from the lead sensor 15 to the backside scanning reading position.

  In the document feeding and transporting operation from the ADF, even if the document size sensors 12 and 13, the registration sensor 14, the lead sensor 15, and the paper discharge sensor 16 wait for a predetermined time or longer, the document remains present or no document exists. If it remains, it is determined that the original jam has occurred.

  The reader 200 includes a CPU 321. The CPU 321 is connected to the ROM 322, the RAM 323, the paper gap correction unit 324, the optical system motor unit 326, the LAMP 303, the reader sensor 327, the backup unit 330, and the image processing unit 325 via bus lines. The image processing unit 325 is connected to the image memory 329 and the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210. The surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 includes a CCD sensor 211 and a CCD control unit 212.

  As described above, the CPU 321 controls not only the reader 200 but also the ADF 100. That is, the CPU 321 controls document conveyance in the ADF 100 via the output port and input port of the ADF 100 according to the control program stored in the ROM 322. Specifically, the CPU 321 monitors the sensors 11 to 16 installed on the transport path 20 and drives the transport system motor 121 and the glass motor 122 which are loads to transport the paper s. The CPU 321 reads the surface image of the document s by controlling the optical system motor unit 326 of the reader 200 and controlling the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 via the image processing unit 325.

  In this manner, the CPU 321 realizes reading of a desired document image by synchronizing the document conveyance control in the ADF 100 and the image reading processing in the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 and the back surface reading CCD sensor unit 110. is doing.

  The backup unit 330 backs up part of work data used for control, setting values set for each machine, and the like. The optical system motor unit 326 is a driver circuit for driving the optical system drive motor. The reader sensor 327 includes sensors such as a pressure plate opening / closing sensor that detects opening / closing of the ADF 100 with respect to the reader 200 and a pressure plate size sensor for detecting the length of a document placed on the reading glass 209. The paper gap correction unit 324 performs paper gap correction.

  The front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 can read not only the surface image of the original document stacked on the original document tray 30 of the ADF 100 but also the original image placed on the reading glass 209. The image signal imaged on the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 is converted into digital image data. The converted image data is transferred to the image processing unit 325 through the read image data communication line 354. The image processing unit 325 uses the image data to perform various image processing such as shading processing, detection and correction of dust images such as streak images on the image data, and detection and correction of document tilt amount. The image processing unit 325 sequentially transmits the output image data after the image processing to the controller 400 through the controller interface image communication line 353 including the image transfer clock signal line.

  Further, the image processing unit 325 adjusts the timing of the image destination signal serving as the reference of the leading edge of the document image data by the CPU 321 and notifies the controller 400 through the controller interface control communication line 352. The image memory 329 functions as a work area when the image processing unit 325 performs image processing.

  The controller 400 is a control device that controls the entire image reading apparatus 500 including the ADF 100 and the reader 200, and includes a control unit 401, a rotation scaling process control circuit 402, a correction circuit 403, an image memory 404, and an operation unit 405. ing. The control unit 401, the rotation scaling processing control circuit 402, the correction circuit 403, the image memory 404, and the operation unit 405 are each connected to the image processing unit 325 of the reader 200, and the control unit 401 is the CPU 321 of the reader 200. Are also connected.

  The output image data sent to the controller 400 via the image processing unit 325 of the reader 200 is subjected to image control by the rotation scaling processing control circuit 402 and then sent to the correction circuit 403. The correction circuit 403 performs a color correction process on the image signal and writes the image signal in the image memory 404. Such processing is performed on the output image data in the document image area to generate a read image of the document. The operation unit 405 is for displaying an image reading operation instruction for the entire system from the user and displaying the read image, and communicates with the control unit 401 to realize a desired display and input.

  Next, regarding the operation of the image reading apparatus 500 having such a configuration, first, a single-sided document reading operation (single-sided scanning) using the ADF 100 will be described.

  The documents s of the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30 are fed by the feed roller 1 and separated one by one by the action of the separation roller 2 and the separation pad 21. The separated document s is conveyed to the conveying roller 4 by the drawing roller 3.

  The document s transported to the transport roller 4 is transported to the surface flow reading position by the front surface reading transport roller 5, the front surface reading upstream roller 51, and the front surface reading downstream roller 52. Light radiated from the light sources 203a and 203b to the document s passing through the surface flow reading position between the surface flow reading glass 201 and the surface glass facing member 6, and the reflected light reflected from the document surface passes through the reflection mirrors 204a to 204c. Then, it is guided to the CCD sensor 211 to form an image. The optical signal imaged on the CCD sensor 211 is converted into an electrical signal by the CCD sensor 211 and then subjected to image processing. In this way, the surface image of the document s is read line by line.

  The document s whose surface image is read and conveyed by the front surface reading downstream roller 52 is further conveyed by the back surface reading and conveying roller 7, the back surface reading upstream roller 53 and the back surface reading downstream roller 54, and then discharged by the paper discharge roller 9. The paper is discharged to the tray 10. When there are a plurality of documents s on the document tray 30, the above-described processing is repeatedly obtained until the surface reading of the final document and the discharge to the discharge tray 10 are completed.

  Next, a double-sided document reading operation (double-sided scanning reading) using the ADF 100 will be described.

  In the double-sided scanning, the back side of the original is read after reading the front side of the original in single-sided scanning reading. Since the feeding, separation, conveyance, and front side reading of the document s are the same as in the above-described single-sided reading, the description thereof is omitted.

  After the surface image is read, the document s conveyed by the front surface reading downstream roller 52 is conveyed to the back surface reading position by the back surface reading and conveying roller 7, the back surface reading upstream roller 53, and the back surface reading downstream roller 54. Before the original s reaches the backside scanning reading position, the backside scanning glass 101 configured to be movable moves to the position shown in FIG. The back surface of the original s passing through the back surface scanning reading position between the back surface scanning glass 101 and the back glass facing member 8 is irradiated with back surface light source lamps 103a and 103b. The reflected light irradiated and reflected on the back surface of the document s is imaged on the back surface reading CCD sensor 111 while being bent by the plurality of back surface folding mirrors 104a, 104b, and 104c, thereby reading the back image of the document. . The document s whose image on the back side is read and conveyed by the back side reading downstream roller 54 is discharged onto the discharge tray 10 by the discharge roller 9.

  When there are a plurality of documents s on the document tray 30, the above-described processing is repeated until the front side reading, the back side reading of the final document, and the paper discharge to the paper discharge tray 10 are completed.

  Next, skew detection and skew correction control executed by the image reading apparatus 500 will be described.

  The document s conveyed through the conveyance path 20 starts to read the document image based on the detection of the leading edge of the document s by the lead sensor 15. Accordingly, image reading is started by moving forward from a timing a predetermined distance before the original reaches the surface flow reading position on the surface flow reading glass 201. As a result, image missing due to the skew of the document is prevented so that the read image is not chipped even when the document s skews up to the upper limit of the allowable skew of the ADF 100.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a read image for explaining skew detection by the reader 200. In FIG. 3, the read image includes not only the original but also an image obtained by reading the front glass facing member 6 as the background of the original. For this image, the image processing unit 325 extracts the boundary between the document and the front glass facing member 6. Specifically, when the leading edge of the document reaches the front glass facing member 6, there is a gap between the front glass facing member 6 as shown in FIG. Accordingly, when the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 reads the image, a thin shadow appears at the boundary between the document and the background. The image processing unit 325 pays attention to this shadow, extracts four consecutive positions so that the shadow is rectangular, determines the four corners of the document, and detects the position, width, and skew angle of the document in the read image. is doing.

  The image read by the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 is stored in the reading image memory 329 as a skewed image as it is, and when it is transmitted to the controller 400, only the document portion is extracted by the image processing unit 325. Thus, the skew is corrected on the output image data.

  This skew correction method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining skew correction of a document.

  Since the document width and skew angle can be detected by the skew detection described above, when transmitting the output image data of the document to the controller 400, as shown in FIG. The skew correction is performed by.

  FIG. 5A shows the read image as it is, and one square area corresponds to one pixel. As a result of detecting the shadow of the edge of the document (thick broken line) in this image, the edge of the document in pixel units is inside the shaded area. A rectangular area surrounded by the four corners of the document, the intersection of the document leading edge and the document left edge, the intersection of the document leading edge and the document right edge, the intersection of the document trailing edge and the document left edge, and the intersection of the document trailing edge and the document right edge. Is treated as an image in an effective area of the document.

  A line connecting the intersection between the document leading edge and the document left edge and the intersection between the document leading edge and the document right edge corresponds to the document leading edge. Therefore, when output image data is sent to the controller 400, a Vsync signal that is a sub-scanning reference signal indicating the head of one page is transmitted, and an Hsync signal that is a signal indicating the head in the main scanning direction is further transmitted. Thereafter, the pixel data for one line is sequentially transmitted pixel by pixel from the left end side of the document. When the transfer of the image for the first line is completed, the Hsync signal is transmitted again, and then the image for the next line is transferred.

  In FIG. 5A, each of the areas 1-1, 1-2, 1-3,... Corresponds to one pixel transferred to the controller 400, and mn (m and n are integers). Indicates the nth pixel from the left end of the mth line from the top. In FIG. 5A, after sending the pixel 1-1, the right side of the pixel 1-1 is a shadow or has already been transferred. The pixel immediately below is transferred to the controller 400 as a pixel 1-2. Next to the pixel 1-2, since the pixel on the right is neither a shadow nor already transferred, the pixel 1-3 is sent as it is.

  The controller 400 can reproduce the document image before skew as shown in FIG. 5B by sequentially arranging the sent pixels for each line. In this manner, by controlling the order in which a plurality of pixels of image data stored in the reading image memory 329 are transmitted to the controller 400, image data after skew correction can be obtained.

  In the read image, the position of the document leading edge after correcting the rotation of the document image, the intersection of the leading edge and the left edge of the document in the main scanning direction before correcting the rotation, and the position of the intersection of the leading edge and the right edge of the document Thus, the position of the original when reading the original can be obtained.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the edge position of the read image and the edge position of the image after rotation correction. As shown in FIG. 6, when the document conveyance direction is the vertical direction in the drawing, the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (hereinafter referred to as “main scanning direction”) is the horizontal direction in the drawing. In FIG. 6, a region surrounded by a solid line is a document image region after rotation correction. In addition, the upper side in the drawing is the leading end side in the document transport direction, and the distance from the end of the area where the reading is actually performed can be obtained.

  Note that the original position at the time of reading is obtained using the distance between the edge of the original image after rotation correction and the end of the original image area in the read image. Further, the reading by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 is performed with the full width in the main scanning direction, so that even if the document is skewed, the reading is performed so that the read image in the main scanning direction is not lost.

  Next, a method for arranging the document image area in the output image data in the image reading process executed by the image reading apparatus 500 of FIG. 1 will be described.

  Usually, in the reading job, the reading size of the document can be directly designated from the operation unit. However, even if the reading size is not specified, the reading size of the document may be fixed to one depending on the contents of the reading job.

  For example, in the image reading apparatus 500, when a reading job is started without performing special settings from the operation unit 405, the size of the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30 becomes the reading size and the recording paper size. The size of the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30 is determined by a combination of document size sensors 17 and 18 and a tray guide width sensor (not shown).

  The image reading apparatus 500 generates output image data having the same size as the reading area from the read image obtained by reading the document image, and transmits the output image data to the controller 400. For example, the controller 400 transmits the received output image data to an image forming unit of a multifunction machine including the image reading device 500 to form an image on a recording sheet.

  By the way, the sizes of the originals s constituting the original bundle S are not all the same, and different-size originals may be mixed regardless of whether the user intends or not. In such a case, the document s of the largest size in the document bundle S may be the same as the read size as a result of skew detection and skew correction control based on the read image. However, in the case of a document s of a small size in the document bundle S, the document size that becomes the document image area is smaller than the read size. For this reason, for example, when an A4-size original is read in an A3-size reading area, a white area other than the original image area (A4-size) as shown in FIG. 7 is the same as the reading area. Output image data having a size (A3 size) is formed.

  FIG. 7 shows output image data in which a document image area having the same size as the A4 landscape size document is arranged in the reading area having the same size as the reading size of A3, and the other area is white image data. It is shown. In FIG. 7, the arrangement position of the document image area in the output image data is determined based on the size of the document bundle S serving as the reading area, the position of the document image to be read, and the width of the tray guide.

  8 to 10 are diagrams for explaining a method for determining the arrangement position of the document image area (document image data) in the output image data when the document area is smaller than the reading area.

  FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating the first document and the second document in the document bundle. The size of the first document is small, and the size of the second document is large. When a document bundle S composed of two documents s is placed on the document tray 30 in this combination, a small first document s is placed on a large second document s. When the document stack S is not mixedly loaded and the reading size of the document is determined according to the size of the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30, the reading size of the first document is the second sheet. For example, it is A3 size. In this case, the document reading size is the same as the document size obtained by combining the detection results of the document size sensors 17 and 18 provided on the document tray 30 and the tray guide width sensor. Accordingly, the read size of the first original is equal to the read size of the second original.

  The image reading apparatus 500 determines in which position in the output image data the original image area read from the original is arranged according to the size and position of the original when the original having a smaller original size than the reading area is read. It has the function of.

  Hereinafter, a method for determining the arrangement position of the document image area in the output image data will be described.

(1) Upper left alignment FIG. 8B shows a plan view of a document tray placed so that the back side end of the first document abuts the back side tray guide, and corresponding output image data. FIG. In this state, when the document on the document tray 30 is conveyed without a large skew to the reading position where it is read by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210, the back side of the document image area is positioned at the position of the back side tray guide of the document tray 30. A certain read image (FIG. 8C) is obtained. Although the position of the back side tray guide cannot be read directly, the back side and near side tray guides are configured to be spaced apart from or close to the image reading center position. Therefore, the position of the back side tray guide can be determined by obtaining the distance between the back side tray guide and the near side tray guide with a tray guide width sensor (not shown).

  FIG. 8C is a diagram illustrating a read image obtained by reading the document image in FIG. From the image data in FIG. 8C, the size of the document and the position in the main scanning direction of the document can be obtained from the image including the document, as described in the skew correction control using the image (FIG. 6). In FIG. 8B, the conveyance direction of the document is shifted by 90 °). That is, it can be seen from the image of FIG. 8C that the back side of the document matches the back side tray guide position of the document tray 30 at the position of the document in the main scanning direction. Therefore, the document image area of the first document s is the leading edge in the transport direction as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 8B in the output image data having the same size as the reading area determined from the size of the second document. Are arranged in a left-justified upper position where the positions on the back side are matched.

  In FIG. 8C, the leading edge of the document is on the left side of the drawing, and the image reading operation starts before the leading edge of the document and continues after the trailing edge for skew correction. The vertical direction in the figure is the main scanning direction of reading, but this width is the maximum width that can be read by the CCD sensor unit 210 for surface reading.

(2) Left-aligned central arrangement FIG. 9A shows the leading end of the first document in the conveying direction against the document feeding portion of the document tray 30, and the center in the width direction of the document is the main in the document tray 30. It is a figure which shows the top view of ADF100 at the time of arrange | positioning so that it may match | combine with the center of a scanning direction, and corresponding output image data.

  In this state, when the document s placed on the document tray 30 is conveyed without a large skew to the reading position read by the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210, output image data as shown in the right diagram of FIG. Is obtained. At this time, the read image is an image in which the left end of the document image area coincides with the left end of the read area, and the center in the width direction of the document image area coincides with the center in the width direction of the read area. Note that when extracting the document image area from the read image, the positions of the far side end and the near side end of the leading end in the document transport direction are known, and the intermediate position is the center position of the document image area.

(3) Lower left alignment FIG. 9B shows the leading end of the first document in the conveying direction against the document feeding portion of the document tray 30, and the front end of the document on the near side of the document tray 30. It is a figure which shows the top view of ADF100 at the time of arrange | positioning so that it may contact | abut on a tray guide, and corresponding output image data.

  In this state, when the document placed on the document tray 30 is conveyed without a large skew to the reading position read by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210, output image data as shown in the right diagram of FIG. can get. At this time, for the read image, the image data corresponding to the read area is aligned with the front end of the original image area aligned with the front end of the read area, and the front end in the main scanning direction of the original image area after skew correction is set to the front side. The image hits the tray guide.

  The case where the document is accurately placed between the back and front tray guides on the document tray 30 has been described above.

  However, in reality, since the document bundle S includes the document s of different sizes, the document s of a small size often deviates from the center position or the abutting position of the tray guide. Hereinafter, a method for determining the arrangement position of the document image area in the output image data when the small-size document s is displaced from the center position of the tray guide or the abutting position on the tray guide will be described.

(4) Semi-Left Justified Upper Arrangement FIG. 9C shows the leading end of the first document in the conveying direction against the document feeding section of the document tray 30 and the back end of the document on the back side of the document tray 30. It is a figure which shows the top view and output image data of ADF100 at the time of arrange | positioning in the vicinity of a tray guide so that it may not contact a tray guide.

  In FIG. 9C, the first document is not abutted against the back tray guide, but in a document bundle composed of a large number of documents, a small document s sandwiched between large documents s at the top and bottom. Often, it is not abutted against the back tray guide.

  In FIG. 9C, there is a gap between the position of the document image area extracted from the read image and the back tray guide. If the gap is smaller than the predetermined threshold, the image reading apparatus 500 determines that the user has an intention to abut the back end of the document against the back tray guide. Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 9C, the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 aligns the leading edge of the document image area with the leading edge of the reading area, and the far side edge of the document image area is the far side of the reading area. The output image data matched with is generated and transmitted to the controller 400.

  Here, the predetermined threshold value in the gap between the document image area and the back side tray guide is set to, for example, 10 mm as an initial setting value, but is configured so that the user can arbitrarily set the threshold value as necessary. Has been.

(5) Semi-Left Justified Center Arrangement FIG. 10A shows the leading edge of the first document in the conveying direction against the document feeding section of the document tray 30, and the center in the width direction of the document is the main in the document tray 30. It is a figure which shows the top view of ADF100 at the time of arrange | positioning near the center of a scanning direction, and output image data.

  In FIG. 10A, the center of the first document does not coincide with the center of the document tray 30 in the main scanning direction. However, in the document bundle S composed of a large number of documents s, the center of the small document s sandwiched between the large documents s on the upper and lower sides often does not coincide with the center of the document tray 30 in the main scanning direction.

  In FIG. 10A, when the distance between the center position in the main scanning direction of the document image area extracted from the read image and the intermediate position of the back side and near side tray guides is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, It is determined that there was an intention to place the document at an intermediate position of the tray guide. Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 10A, the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 aligns the leading edge of the document image area with the leading edge of the reading area, and the main scanning direction center of the document image area is the main scanning area. Output image data matching the center in the scanning direction is generated.

  Here, the predetermined threshold value for the deviation between the center of the document image area in the main scanning direction and the center of the reading area in the main scanning direction is set to, for example, 10 mm as an initial setting value. The threshold value can be arbitrarily set.

(6) Near-Left Justified Lower Arrangement FIG. 10B shows the leading edge of the first document in the conveying direction of the document tray 30 and the front edge of the document on the near side tray guide of the document tray 30. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the ADF 100 and output image data when the ADF 100 is arranged so as not to contact the tray guide in the vicinity of FIG.

  In FIG. 10B, the first document is not abutted against the tray guide on the front side, but in the document bundle S made up of a large number of documents s, the top and bottom are sandwiched between large documents s. In many cases, the small document s is not abutted against the near-side tray guide.

  In FIG. 10B, there is a gap between the near-side edge of the document image area extracted from the read image and the position of the near-side tray guide. When the gap is smaller than the predetermined threshold, the image reading apparatus 500 determines that the user has an intention to abut the near side of the document on the near side tray guide. Then, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 10B, the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 aligns the leading edge of the document image area with the leading edge of the reading area, and the front side edge of the document image area is the front side of the reading area. The output image data matched with is generated and transmitted to the controller 400.

  Here, the predetermined threshold value in the gap between the document image area and the near-side tray guide is set to, for example, 10 mm as an initial setting value, but the user can arbitrarily set the threshold value from the operation unit as necessary. It is configured as follows.

(7) Arrangement with Emphasis on Document Position FIG. 10C shows that the leading edge of the first document in the conveying direction is abutted against the document feeding portion of the document tray 30, and the document is not centered in the width direction of the document tray. It is a figure which shows the top view and output image data of ADF100 at the time of arrange | positioning in the place which does not contact | abut a back side tray guide.

  In FIG. 10C, it is assumed that the user tries to abut the document on the back or near side tray guide as described in FIG. 10B or FIG. 9C. It is farther than the threshold value to be judged, and is farther than the threshold value that is judged to be adjusted to the center position. In this case, the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 generates output image data in which the original image area extracted from the read image is arranged on the read area as it is as shown in the right figure of FIG. To the controller 400.

  As described above, the image reading apparatus 500 adjusts the position of the document image area in the reading area based on the position of the tray guide and the position of the document image area in the read image. This makes it possible to obtain output image data corresponding to the document position that the user has attempted to place on the document tray while appropriately correcting the image misalignment, so that the image reading process desired by the user can be executed. Can do.

  Next, a specific image reading process using the image reading apparatus 500 of FIG. 1 will be described. This image reading process is a case where a reading job is started without specifying mixed-size originals even though different-size originals s are mixedly loaded on the original tray 30, and is smaller than the reading area. This is a reading process for reading an image of a document. Accordingly, the document size obtained from the detection results of the document size sensors 17 and 18 and the tray guide width detection sensor at the start of the reading process becomes the size of the reading area.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the first image reading process executed by the image reading apparatus 500 of FIG. This image reading process is executed by the CPU 321 of the reader 200 in accordance with a first image reading process program stored in the ROM 322.

  In FIG. 11, the image reading process starts when the CPU 321 receives a paper feed start request from the controller 400. Accordingly, the CPU 321 first determines whether or not a paper feed start request for the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30 has been received from the controller 400, and waits until a paper feed start request is received (step S101). After receiving the paper feed start request (“YES” in step S101), the CPU 321 determines the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30 based on the detection results of the document size sensors 17 and 18 and the tray guide width sensor. The size is determined (step S102).

  Hereinafter, a method for determining the size of the original bundle will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining the size (reading area) of the original bundle.

  In FIG. 12, the size of the document bundle S includes the destination setting of the image reading apparatus 500, document size sensors 17 and 18 that detect the length of the document in the conveyance direction, and the tray guide width detected by the tray guide width sensor. It is determined based on the combination of the detection results.

  In FIG. 12, the notations 1-ON and 2-OFF in the document size sensor column indicate the detection results of the presence / absence of documents by the document size sensors 17 and 18, respectively. In FIG. 12, a document size sensor 1 indicates a document size sensor 17, and 2 indicates a document size sensor 18. 1-ON indicates that the document size sensor 17 has a document, and the document trailing edge is up to the position of the document size sensor 17 with the leading edge of the document s placed on the document tray at the document presence / absence sensor 11. From this, it will be a material for judging the length of the original. Similarly, 2-OFF indicates that the document size sensor 18 indicates that there is no document, and as an example, when 1-ON and 2-OFF, the length of the document is longer than the distance from the document presence sensor 11 to the document size sensor 17. It is determined that it is long and shorter than the distance to the document size sensor 18.

  Further, the area where the image reading apparatus 500 is used is divided into an area where AB paper is used and an area where INCH paper is used. Accordingly, the destination setting in FIG. 12 is divided into an AB type destination and an INCH type destination. For example, in Japan, where AB-type paper is mainly used, even if the tray guide width sensor detects 216 mm, the LTR size in the lateral feed direction having a width of 216 mm or the STMT size in the vertical feed direction is determined. It becomes out of object.

  According to the table of FIG. 12, when the tray guide width is 210 mm, it can be determined as either the A4 size in the lateral feed direction or the A5 size in the vertical feed direction. In addition, the length of the document in the conveyance direction can be determined based on the detection results of the document size sensors 17 and 18. That is, when the document size sensor 17 detects the presence of a document, the document size on the document tray can be determined as A4 size in the lateral feed direction, and when the document size sensor 17 detects that there is no document, it can be determined as A5 size in the vertical feed direction. In the following description, it is assumed that the destination of the image reading apparatus 500 is the AB system.

  Returning to FIG. 11, after determining the size of the document bundle S on the document tray 30 (step S102), the CPU 321 determines whether or not a read end request has been received (step S103). When an instruction to cancel the reading of the document is given from the operation unit 405 or the like, a request to finish reading the document is transmitted from the controller 400. For this reason, it is confirmed whether or not a reading end request has been received before starting the document feeding start operation.

  If the result of determination in step S103 is that a document reading end request has not been received (“NO” in step S103), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S104. That is, since the CPU 321 reads an image corresponding to the size of the document bundle S determined in step S102, a memory capacity for storing image data corresponding to the document bundle size plus a skew correction region. Is secured in the image memory 329 (step S104). At this time, the required image data size is calculated from parameters such as the reading area size, resolution, color / monochrome, single-sided / double-sided, etc.

  After securing the necessary image data capacity in the image memory 329 (step S104), the CPU 321 starts the paper feeding operation by controlling the transport system motor 121 (step S105). After starting the paper feeding operation (step S105), the CPU 321 detects the position of the document s on the transport path using the detection results of the sensors 12 to 16, and determines whether the document size sensor 12 detects the presence of the document. Determination is made (step S106). As a result of the determination in step S106, when the document size sensor 12 detects the presence of a document ("YES" in step S106), the CPU 321 determines whether the document s is detected by the pull-out sensor 13 as the next sensor on the conveyance path. Determination is made (step S108).

  As a result of the determination in step S108, when the pull-out sensor 13 detects the presence of a document ("YES" in step S108), the CPU 321 determines whether the registration sensor 14 has detected the document s as the next sensor on the conveyance path. (Step S110). As a result of the determination in step S110, when the registration sensor 14 detects the presence of a document (“YES” in step S110), the CPU 321 determines whether the read sensor 15 has detected the document s as the next sensor on the transport path. (Step S112).

  As a result of the determination in step S112, when the lead sensor 15 detects the presence of a document (“YES” in step S112), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S114. That is, the CPU 321 starts reading the surface of the document by controlling the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 from the timing when the leading edge of the document reaches the surface flow reading position (step S114).

  At this time, as described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6, since the reading is performed including the periphery of the document in order to detect the skew using the read image data, the leading edge of the document reaches the surface flow reading position. Document reading is started ahead of the timing. In reading the original, in addition to the original reading area determined in step S102, an area required for skew detection is read.

  After the reading of the document is completed (step S114) and the leading edge of the document has passed the surface flow reading position, the CPU 321 determines whether or not the paper discharge sensor 16 has detected the leading edge of the document (step S115). As a result of the determination in step S115, when the paper discharge sensor 16 detects the leading edge of the document s (“YES” in step S115), the CPU 321 directly discharges the document to the paper discharge tray 10 and advances the process to step S117. That is, the CPU 321 determines that the document has been correctly conveyed, and extracts a document image area from the read image read by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 (step S117).

After extracting the document area (step S117), the CPU 321 compares the position and size of the document image area in the main scanning direction with the size of the reading area determined in step S102 (step S118). Next, the CPU 321 arranges the original image area at a predetermined position in the reading area on the image memory 329 secured in step S104 according to the width and position of the original image area in the read image in the main scanning direction (step S119). At this time, the fact that the document image area is arranged at a predetermined position in the reading area may be displayed on the display unit of the operation unit 405. For details of the document image area placement process, after placing a document image area, which will be described later, at a predetermined position (step S119), the CPU 321 outputs the output image data generated by placing the document image area at a predetermined position to the controller. 400 (step S120).

  After transferring the output image data to the controller 400 (step S120), the CPU 321 determines whether or not a document remains on the document tray 30 by the document presence / absence sensor 11 (step S121). As a result of the determination in step S121, if the document remains (“YES” in step S121), the CPU 321 returns the process to step S103, and repeats the processes after step S103. On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S121 is that there are no remaining documents (“NO” in step S121), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S122. That is, the CPU 321 stops the conveyance of the document and the reading by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 in order to end a series of image reading operations (step S122), and then ends the main image reading process.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S106, if the document size sensor 12 cannot detect the presence of a document ("NO" in step S106), the CPU 321 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed (step S107). As a result of the determination in step S107, if the predetermined time has not elapsed ("NO" in step S107), the CPU 321 returns the process to step S106, and steps S106 and S107 until the document size sensor 12 detects the document s. Repeat the process.

  If the predetermined time has passed as a result of the determination in step S107 (“YES” in step S107), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S130. That is, the CPU 321 stops the conveyance of the original and the reading of the CCD sensor unit 210 for surface reading on the assumption that the original has not been correctly conveyed (step S130). After stopping the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210, the CPU 321 stores the occurrence of the jam in the RAM 323 and notifies the controller 400 to display the fact on the operation unit 405 (step S131). Thereafter, the CPU 321 ends the main image reading process.

  Further, if “NO” is determined in step S108, “NO” is determined in step S110, “NO” is determined in step S112, and “NO” is determined in step S115, the CPU 321 determines in step S106. And processing according to the case of “NO”.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S103, if a reading end request has been received (“YES” in step S103), the CPU 321 stops the conveyance of the original and the reading of the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 (step S140). ). Thereafter, the CPU 321 ends this process.

  Next, the document image area arrangement process executed in step S119 of FIG. 11 will be described in detail.

  13 to 15 are diagrams for explaining a method for determining the arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area.

  FIG. 13A is a plan view of the ADF 100 showing a state in which a document bundle S composed of two documents s having different sizes is placed on the document tray 30. In FIG. 13A, an A3 landscape document and an A4 landscape document are placed on the document tray 30. The length of the A3 horizontal size in the main scanning direction is 297 mm, and the distance between the back side and near side tray guides detected by the tray guide width detection sensor is 299 mm, including the gap generated during document setting. At this time, the arrangement position of the document image area in the output image data will be considered by changing the position of the A4 landscape size document.

  As shown in FIG. 13A, when a document bundle S composed of two documents is set on the document tray 30, the document size sensors 17 and 18 detect the presence of a document, and the tray guide width sensor detects 299 mm. . At this time, since the destination of the image reading apparatus 500 is an AB system, the size of the document bundle S placed on the document tray 30 is determined to be A3 landscape size. For this reason, the controller 400 instructs the CPU 321 of the reader 200 to read the document with the reading area set to the A3 horizontal size, and the CPU 321 receives the instruction.

  The CPU 321 controls the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 to read the document image. At this time, when the document s is conveyed from the document tray 30 to the front surface reading position without large skew, a read image as shown in FIG. 13B is obtained. Actually, there is a possibility that the document s is skewed in some ways, but when skew is present, skew correction processing is executed as described above.

  In FIG. 13B, a part of the read document image area (A4) protrudes outside the range of the reading area (A3). However, as described above, the surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 performs reading with the maximum readable width (320 mm). For this reason, since the readable width has a sufficient margin with respect to the width of the tray guide, the image data stored in the image memory 329 is not lost.

  That is, as a result of the skew detection, the document image area is present at a width of 210 mm from a position 10.5 mm from the rear end in the main scanning direction of the image read by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 and 99 from the front end. It can be seen that it is 5 mm away. From this result, the relationship between the document image area in the read image and the read area is as shown in FIG. 13C from the equations (1) and (2).

Center position displacement =
1 mm (front side displacement) +297 mm (reading size width) / 2−210 mm (original size width) / 2
= 44.5 mm (1)
Deviation amount of front side position =
1 mm (front side displacement) +297 mm (reading size width) -210 mm
(Original size width)
= 88mm ... Formula (2)

  That is, in step S118 of FIG. 11, comparison is made between three positions of the original image area and the reading area: (1) the central portion, (2) the back end portion, and (3) the front end portion. Made. The order of comparison is (1) the comparison between the central portions is first, then (2) the back end, and finally (3) the front end. The content of the comparison is whether or not the two positions to be compared are close. In this embodiment, the position is determined when the distance (predetermined width) between the two positions to be compared is 10 mm or less. Judge that it is close.

  In FIG. 13C, the far side edge of the document image area and the far side edge of the reading area are 1 mm apart, and are within a threshold value (10 mm), and therefore are determined to be close. For this reason, when placing the document s on the document tray 30, the CPU 321 determines that the user has an intention to abut the back end of the document against the back tray guide. Then, as shown in FIG. 14A, the CPU 321 is arranged so that the far side edge of the document image area is aligned with the far side edge of the reading area, and the output image data in which the other area is entirely filled with white data. Is sent to the controller 400.

  In this way, the position of the document image area in the reading area is reasonably determined in accordance with the position of the document s placed on the document tray 30.

  FIG. 14B shows a pattern in which the center position of the read document image area in the main scanning direction is close to the center position of the reading area in the main scanning direction. In FIG. 14B, the back end of the document image area and the reading area is 43 mm, the center is 0.5 mm, and the front end is 44 mm away, and the center of the document is arranged at the center of the reading area. The intention of the user who tried is asked. Therefore, the CPU 321 generates output image data (right diagram in FIG. 14B) in which the document image area is arranged at the center in the main scanning direction of the reading area in accordance with the determination result that the center positions are close to each other, and Send.

  FIG. 15A shows a pattern in which the position of the near side edge in the main scanning direction of the read document image area is close to the position of the near side edge in the main scanning direction of the reading area. In FIG. 15A, the far side edge of the document image area and the reading area is 84 mm, the center is 40.5 mm, the near side edge is 3 mm away, and the width of the near side edge is within the threshold. Therefore, the user's intention to match the near side edge of the document to the near side edge of the reading area is heard. Therefore, in this case, according to the determination result that the near side edges of the document image area and the reading area are close to each other, the CPU 321 arranges the document image area so as to be close to the near side edge in the main scanning direction of the reading area. Read image data (the right diagram in FIG. 15A) is generated.

  FIG. 15B shows a pattern in which the position of the read document image area in the main scanning direction is separated from the reading area at any of the center, back end, and front end. In FIG. 15B, the far side edge of the document image area and the reading area is 20 mm, the center is 23.5 mm, and the near side edge is 67 mm away, both of which are larger than a predetermined threshold value. ing. Therefore, it is impossible to guess the user's intention as to where the document is to be placed. For this reason, the CPU 321 arranges the document image area in the reading area in the detected position as output image data, and transmits this output image data (the right figure in FIG. 15B) to the controller (400).

  When the size of the document image area is close to the size of the reading area, for example, the interval between the center position and the back end position is within the threshold in the main scanning direction of the document image area and the reading area. Sometimes, it is judged that both are close. In this case, as described above, the determination is made in the order of the center position → the rear end position → the front end position, and the arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area is determined according to the position determined to be close to the beginning. It is determined.

  According to the processing of FIG. 11, the read image read by the front surface reading CCD sensor unit 210 is stored in the image memory 329 of the reader 200, and output image data having the same size as the reading area is generated and transmitted to the controller. At this time, if the document image area is smaller than the reading area, the document image area is not arranged in the reading area at the position where the document is read, but the arrangement position is appropriately adjusted in consideration of the user's intention. Therefore, the convenience of the image reading apparatus 500 is improved. In other words, according to the present embodiment, the image reading apparatus 500 allows the user to select a document image desired by the user even when the document stack S placed on the document tray 30 is not designated to be loaded with different sizes of documents s. The output image data can be generated assuming the arrangement position of the region.

  In the present embodiment, it is also possible to create image data by arranging a document image area at a predetermined position by using an image processing apparatus arranged separately from the image reading apparatus for a read image read by the reader 200.

  In this embodiment, when the document image area is arranged in the reading area, the leading edge of the document image area in the sub-scanning direction is arranged to coincide with the leading edge position of the reading area in the sub-scanning direction. This is because, even if the size of the document changes, the image reading is started from the front end position of the document in the sub-scanning direction.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  The hardware configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment described above. In this embodiment, when the image reading process is performed on the document bundle S on which the originals s of different sizes are mixedly loaded, an output area image is arranged by arranging the document area area at a predetermined position within the reading area set in advance by the user. Create data.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a document image area arrangement position setting screen displayed on the display screen of the operation unit 405 of the image reading apparatus 500. In FIG. 16, when the width of the original image in the main scanning direction is narrower than the width of the reading area in the main scanning direction, an arrangement position of the original image area in the reading area is designated on the original image area arrangement position setting screen. Icons 1401 to S1404 for displaying are displayed. Icons 1401 to S1404 function as condition setting means.

  The “do not move” icon 1401 is used to generate the output image data by arranging the document image area in the reading area while maintaining the position in the main scanning direction at the time of reading. The “depth alignment” icon 1402 is used to generate read image data by arranging the document image area in a left justified alignment with respect to the reading area regardless of the position in the main scanning direction when reading. . Similarly, a “center alignment” icon 1403 and a “front alignment” icon 1404 generate the read image data by arranging the document image areas in the left-aligned center alignment and the left-aligned front alignment with respect to the reading area, respectively. Is for.

  Next to the right side of the “Backward” icon 1402 and the “Frontward” icon 1404, do not place the original image area at the target position, for example, “slightly shift” to bring it to the target position with a 10 mm gap. Icons 1407 and 1408 are provided. Icons 1407 and 1408 function as deviation setting means. When the “Slightly shift” icon 1407 on the right side of the “Back alignment” icon 1402 is selected together with the “Back alignment” icon 1402, the back edge of the document area is left-aligned from the back edge of the reading area, for example, Output image data is formed so as to be opened by 10 mm.

   In addition, when the “front” icon 1404 and the “slightly shift” icon 1408 on the right side of the “front” icon 1404 are selected, the front side edge of the document image area is 10 mm from the front side edge of the reading area, left justified. Output image data arranged open is formed. “Slightly shift” icons 1407 and 1408 are used to avoid such inconveniences when the output image is chipped or the output paper is folded, for example, when a punching process is performed. . Note that the movement amount of the document image area when the setting to use the “slightly shift” icons 1407 and 1408 is selected can be changed, for example, in units of 1 mm using a setting screen (not shown).

  An “OK” icon 1405 is an icon for confirming setting contents in which the position of the document image area in the reading area is set using the icons 1401 to 1404, 1407, and 1408. A “return” icon 1406 is an icon that is selected when the user exits the setting screen without setting on the setting screen of FIG. 16.

  Next, a second image reading process for setting the arrangement position of the original image area in the reading area in accordance with the original arrangement position setting screen of FIG. 16 will be described.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the second image reading process. The second image reading process is executed by the CPU 321 of the reader 200 in accordance with the second image reading process program stored in the ROM 322.

  In FIG. 17, the flow from the start of the reading job to the determination of the reading area using the detection results of the tray guide width sensor and the original size sensors 17 and 18 and the extraction of the original image area from the read image is as follows. Basically, it is the same as the flow of FIG. Therefore, the description is omitted. In FIG. 17, the processes of steps S518 and S519 surrounded by a broken line are processes corresponding to steps S118 and S119 of FIG. 11, but are different processes from steps S118 and S119. Hereinafter, differences from the above-described first image reading process of FIG. 11 will be described.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the document image area arrangement position determination process executed in steps S518 and S519 of FIG. This document image area arrangement position determination process is executed by the CPU 321 of the reader 200 in accordance with the document image area arrangement position determination process program stored in the ROM 322.

  In FIG. 18, when the document image area arrangement position determination process is started, the CPU 321 first aligns the leading end position of the document image area in the sub scanning direction with the leading end position of the reading area in the sub scanning direction (step S601). After aligning the leading edge position, the CPU 321 determines whether or not the main scanning direction width of the document image area extracted in step S517 of FIG. 17 is smaller than the main scanning direction width of the reading area (step S602).

  As a result of the determination in step S602, if the width of the document image area is smaller than the width of the reading area (“YES” in step S602), the CPU 321 sets the arrangement position of the document image area set on the setting screen of FIG. Contents are acquired (step S604). Next, the CPU 321 first determines whether or not the setting of the arrangement position of the document image area is centered (step S605). As a result of the determination in step S605, if the setting is centered (“YES” in step S605), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S610. That is, the CPU 321 arranges the document image area so that the center position of the reading area coincides with the center position of the document image area with respect to the main scanning direction (step S610), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S605 is that the setting is not centered (“NO” in step S605), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S606. That is, the CPU 321 determines whether the setting is close-up (step S606). If the result of determination in step S606 is that the object is close to the center (“YES” in step S606), the CPU 321 determines whether or not the “little shift” icon 1407 is selected (step S607). As a result of the determination in step S607, when the “slightly shift” icon 1407 is selected (“YES” in step S607), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S614. That is, the CPU 321 places the document image area at a position that is a predetermined distance away from the depth position of the reading area in the main scanning direction (step S614), and then ends this process. The distance designated in advance is, for example, 10 mm.

  On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S607 is that the “slightly shift” icon 1407 has not been selected (“NO” in step S607), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S611. That is, the CPU 321 arranges the document image area so that the back side end of the reading area and the back side end of the document image area coincide with each other in the main scanning direction (step S611), and then ends this process.

  Also, as a result of the determination in step S606, if the setting is not close (“NO” in step S606), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S608. That is, the CPU 321 determines whether or not the setting is close to the front (step S608). If the result of determination in step S608 is that the object is close (“YES” in step S608), the CPU 321 determines whether the “slightly shift” icon 1408 is selected (step S609). As a result of the determination in step S609, when the “slightly shift” icon 1408 is selected (“YES” in step S609), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S615. That is, the CPU 321 arranges the front side edge of the document image area at a position separated by a predetermined distance from the front position of the reading area in the main scanning direction (step S615), and then ends the present process. The distance designated in advance is, for example, 10 mm.

  On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S609 is that the “little shift” icon 1408 has not been selected (“NO” in step S609), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S612. That is, the CPU 321 arranges the document image area so that the front side edge of the reading area and the front side edge of the document image area coincide with each other in the main scanning direction (step S612), and then ends the present process.

  If the result of determination in step S608 is that the setting is not close (“NO” in step S608), the CPU 321 determines that the “do not move” icon 1401 has been set, and the process proceeds to step S613. That is, the CPU 321 generates output image data by directly applying the position of the original image area in the main scanning direction when the original image area is extracted as the position of the original image area in the main scanning direction (step S613). This process is terminated.

  If the result of determination in step S602 is that the document image area is larger than the reading area (“NO” in step S602), the CPU 321 advances the process to step S603. That is, the CPU 321 arranges the document image area so as to match the far side end of the document image area with the deep position of the reading area regardless of the setting of FIG. 16, and sets it as output image data (step S603). Thereafter, the CPU 321 ends this process.

  According to the processing in FIG. 18, the position in the main scanning direction of the document image area in the reading area is determined in accordance with the setting content set by the user via the operation unit 405. Thereby, even if the position of each document s in the document bundle S varies, the position of the document image area in the reading area can be aligned with the position desired by the user. Therefore, even if the position of each document s in the document bundle S is shifted, the user can obtain output image data in which the document image area is arranged at the position to be set in advance.

  According to the second embodiment, even when the mixed placement is not designated for the document placed on the document tray 30, the arrangement position of the document image region in the reading region is determined according to the setting contents of the user. Thereby, even when the document image area is smaller than the reading area, output image data in which the document area is arranged at an appropriate position in the reading area can be obtained.

  The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper feed roller 2 Separation roller 3 Pull-out roller 4 Transport roller 5 Front surface reading transport roller 7 Back surface scanning transport roller 9 Paper discharge roller 11 Original presence sensor 17, 18 Original size sensor 30 Original tray 51 Front surface reading upstream roller 52 Front surface reading downstream roller 53 Back scanning upstream roller 54 Back scanning downstream roller 100 Automatic document feeder (ADF)
110 Rear surface reading CCD sensor unit 200 Image reading device main body (reader)
210 CCD sensor unit for surface reading 500 Image reading device

Claims (11)

A document tray for placing documents;
A paper sensor disposed on the document tray;
Transport means for transporting a document placed on the document tray to a reading position;
Reading means for reading the original at the reading position and generating image data output from the read image in the size of the reading area;
Determining means for determining an arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area based on the size of the reading area determined based on the detection result of the paper sensor and the read image read by the reading means;
A control unit that controls the reading unit to generate the image data, and arranges document image data read by the reading unit at an arrangement position determined by the determining unit in the image data;
An image reading apparatus comprising:   2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reading area has the same size as a maximum document size in a document bundle including the documents.   3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the original and the original image area are smaller than the reading area.   The original bundle is an original bundle in which originals of different sizes are mixed, and the image reading apparatus is not set to indicate that the original bundle is an original bundle of mixed originals of different sizes. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image reading apparatus is an image reading apparatus.   The determining unit is configured such that a deviation width between a center position of the read image in a direction orthogonal to the document transport direction and a center position of the read area in a direction orthogonal to the document transport direction is within a threshold value. The arrangement position of the original image area in the reading area is such that the center position of the original image area in the direction orthogonal to the original conveying direction matches the central position of the reading area in the direction orthogonal to the original conveying direction. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading apparatus is determined.   The determining unit determines whether the deviation of the original image area in the original document image area in the original document conveyance direction and the inner edge of the read area in the original document conveyance direction is within a threshold value. 5. The arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area is determined so that a back side edge and a back side edge of the reading area coincide with each other. 6. Image reading device.   The determination unit determines whether the document image area of the original image area is within a threshold when a deviation width between the front end of the original image area in the original conveyance direction and the front end of the reading area in the original conveyance direction is within a threshold value. 5. The arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area is determined so that a front side edge and a front side edge of the reading area coincide with each other. 6. Image reading device.   The determination unit determines whether a deviation width between a center position of the document image area in a direction orthogonal to the document conveyance direction and a center position of the reading area in a direction orthogonal to the document conveyance direction is within a threshold value. Next, it is determined whether or not a deviation width between the back side end of the document image area in the document transport direction and the back side edge of the reading area in the document transport direction is within a threshold value, and further, the document image area It is determined whether or not the deviation width between the near side edge in the document conveyance direction and the near edge in the document conveyance direction of the reading area is within a threshold value. First, the condition when the deviation width is within the threshold value The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area is determined according to the above.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a threshold setting unit configured to set the threshold. A document tray on which a document is placed, a paper sensor disposed on the document tray, a transport unit that transports a document placed on the document tray to a reading position, and reads and reads the document at the reading position A method for controlling an image reading apparatus comprising reading means for generating image data output from an image in the size of a reading area,
A determination step of determining an arrangement position of the document image area in the reading area based on the size of the reading area determined based on the detection result of the paper sensor and the read image read by the reading unit;
A control step of arranging the document image data read by the reading unit at the arrangement position determined by the determination step in the reading region when the reading unit is controlled to generate the image data;
An image reading apparatus control method comprising:   A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the control method of the image reading apparatus according to claim 10.

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