JPH09289581A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely read a read surface of a document, transmit the image Information of the read surface of this document to a transmission destination accurately in an even direction, and print it out on a receiving document in the even direction. SOLUTION: This equipment is provided with a document read part consisting of a light emission part and a read element, a storage part which stores image data, and a character recognition part which recognizes the shapes of characters of the Image data. Then the document is read, line by line, by transmission and the shapes of characters of image data of one, page. Then whether the image Is a normal image or mirror image and whether the image faces up or down are decided to read the image data of the mirror image, line by line, reversely from the tall and correct the mirror image into the normal image, and also read image data not in a reference direction reversely from the tall and correct its direction. When image data of plural pages are received, image data not in the reference direction are read reversely from the tail and corrected into image data of a 1st page.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which transmits image data through a line and prints out an image based on the image data received through the line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a facsimile machine, a contact image sensor or a CCD (charge coupled device) is used as a device for reading an image formed on the surface of a document from a document.

A facsimile machine irradiates a document with light,
Using the above-mentioned image sensor, the reflected light is detected to read the image, and the read image data is transmitted as it is,
The received image data was printed out as it was. The illumination element for irradiating the original with light and the above-described image pickup element are arranged on one side of the original conveying path so that only one side of the original can be read. Therefore, the user needs to confirm whether the reading surface of the original matches the predetermined reading surface of the facsimile when setting the original in the facsimile.

Further, when the transmitting side transmits a plurality of originals without aligning the originals in either the upward direction or the downward direction, the receiving side also determines that the originals are oriented in the upward direction. A plurality of received originals that are scattered in the downward direction are printed out.

[0005]

However, if the reading surface of the original does not match the reading surface of the facsimile, that is, the surface on the back side of the reading surface of the original is set to match the reading surface of the facsimile. Then, the back side of the document is scanned, and the image on the back side is transmitted to the destination, so that the sender cannot send necessary information to the destination and wastes communication cost. There was a problem of spending communication time. Also, the recipient cannot receive the necessary information, and unnecessary image information on the back side of the original is printed out, resulting in a waste of FAX paper. .

If the originals are not set in the same orientation, the receiving side prints out a plurality of received originals in which the orientations of the originals are different from each other in the upper and lower directions. There was a problem that they had to be realigned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of reliably reading the reading surface of a document and accurately transmitting image information on the reading surface of the document to a destination.

Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of aligning the orientations of originals and transmitting them to a destination even if the orientations of a plurality of originals are set upside down and upside down. .

It is another object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which can print out the received originals in the same direction even if the image data of the originals for a plurality of pages are different in the upper and lower directions. .

[0010]

The invention corresponding to claim 1 is:
In a facsimile device that transmits image data through a line and prints out an image based on the image data received through the line, a document image reading unit that transparently reads an image formed on a document and the document. An image data storage unit that stores the image data read by the image reading unit for each page, and a character determination unit that determines whether the characters included in the image data stored in the image data storage unit are normal characters or mirror image characters. A page discriminating unit that discriminates a normal image or a mirror image image for each image data of one page stored in the image data storage unit based on the character shape of the character discriminated by the character discriminating unit, and a mirror image image by the page discriminating unit. 1 so that the image data determined to be the same as the image data of the normal image
Transmission control means for controlling transmission of image data for each page is provided.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the image data storage section stores the image data read by the original image reading section on a page-by-page basis, and the transmission control means With respect to the image data discriminated as a mirror image by the page discriminating unit, each line of the image data is read out from the tail end to the head end and the image data is transmitted page by page.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus which transmits image data through a line and prints out an image based on the image data received through the line.
A document image reading unit that transparently reads an image formed on a document and image data read by the document image reading unit
An image data storage unit that stores each page, a character recognition unit that recognizes a character shape included in the image data stored in the image data storage unit, and an image based on the character shape recognized by the character recognition unit A page discriminating unit that discriminates whether each image data of one page stored in the data storage unit is a normal image or a mirror image, and discriminates the direction of the image data, and a plurality of documents read by the document image reading unit as one continuous transmission. Regarding the image data for pages, the page discrimination unit discriminates so that the image data discriminated as a mirror image by the page discrimination unit becomes the same as the image data of the normal image and all the page orientations match the reference orientation. Transmission control means for controlling the transmission of image data for each page based on the result is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus which transmits image data through a line and prints out an image based on the image data received through the line.
A document image reading unit that transparently reads an image formed on a document, a modem unit that receives image data transmitted via a line, and image data read by the document image reading unit or a modem unit An image data storage unit that stores image data for each page, a character recognition unit that recognizes a character shape included in the image data stored in the image data storage unit, and a character shape that is recognized by the character recognition unit. On the basis of this, a page discriminating unit that discriminates a normal image or a mirror image for each image data of each page stored in the image data storage unit and discriminates the orientation of the image data,
A transmission control means for controlling the transmission of the image data for each page so that the image data discriminated as a mirror image by the page discrimination unit becomes the same as the image data of the normal image, and the modem unit receives it as one continuous transmission. Printout control means for controlling the printout of the image data for each page based on the discrimination result by the page discriminating section so that the orientations of all the pages of the image data for a plurality of pages coincide with the reference orientation. Is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus which transmits image data through a line and prints out an image based on the image data received through the line.
A document image reading unit that transparently reads an image formed on a document, a modem unit that receives image data transmitted via a line, and image data read by the document image reading unit or a modem unit An image data storage unit that stores image data for each page, a character recognition unit that recognizes a character shape included in the image data stored in the image data storage unit, and a character shape that is recognized by the character recognition unit. On the basis of this, a page discriminating unit that discriminates a normal image or a mirror image for each image data of each page stored in the image data storage unit and discriminates the orientation of the image data,
Regarding the image data of a plurality of pages read as one continuous transmission by the original image reading unit, the image data discriminated as a mirror image by the page discrimination unit becomes the same as the image data of the normal image, and the orientations of all the pages are used as a reference. With respect to the image data for a plurality of pages received as one continuous transmission by the modem unit, the transmission control means for controlling the transmission of the image data for each page so that the orientations of all the pages are the same. A print output control unit that controls the print output of the image data for each page based on the determination result by the page determination unit is provided so as to match the different orientations.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied. This facsimile apparatus includes a control unit 1, a modem unit 2, a storage unit 3, a document reading unit 4, and a printing unit 5.
And a character recognition unit 6, and the control unit 1 is connected to the modem unit 2, the storage unit 3, the document reading unit 4, the printing unit 5, and the character recognition unit 6 for control. It is like this.

The control unit 1 is a C constituting a control unit main body.
PU (central processing unit), ROM (read only m
emory), RAM (random access memory), and various interface circuits. The modem unit 2 is
Controls communication with devices (including other facsimile machines) connected to this telephone line via the telephone line. The modem unit 2 compresses the transmission data output from the control unit 1 and transmits the data to a designated destination via a telephone line, and also receives the data via the telephone line. Has been compressed, it is decompressed and input to the control unit 1. The storage unit 3 serves as an image data storage unit and stores image data transmitted or received under the control of the control unit 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the document reading section 4 is
A light emitting unit 11 that emits light and a reading element 12 that receives the light
It is a transmission type optical sensor composed of and. Although not shown in detail, the light emitting unit 11 is arranged in the document transport direction (
1 in the direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction).
The reading element 12 is composed of a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged in a line, and the reading element 12 is composed of a plurality of light receiving elements (for example, CCD elements) arranged in one line in the main scanning direction. The light emitting unit 11 and the reading element 12 are
The light emitting unit 1 is arranged so as to be opposed to each other through a document conveyance path.
Before and after the position where 1 and the reading element 12 are arranged,
Conveying rollers 13 and 14 for controlling the conveying state of the document
And the auxiliary rollers 15 and 16 are opposed to each other via the transport path. Further, in the vicinity of the light emitting section 11, an original detection sensor (composed of a micro switch or the like) 17 for detecting an original being conveyed is arranged. The document detection sensor 17 is turned on while the document passes through the position of the document detection sensor 17.
When there is no document, the state is OFF. Therefore, with respect to the transported original, the image printed on the original is transparently read, and the image data obtained by this reading is input to the control unit 1.

The printing unit 5 prints the received image data on a set sheet. The character recognition unit 6 is
As a character discriminating unit, a character code generally called “recognition dictionary” and a dictionary of its character shape (referred to as “character shape”) are provided.
Further, it has four types of dictionaries: an upside-down dictionary, a mirror-image dictionary, and a mirror-image upside-down dictionary. Under the control of the control unit 1, the character recognition unit 6 determines a line by searching blank data in the image data stored in the storage unit 3, and further determines a character delimiter (between characters). Then, one character is extracted. With respect to the extracted one character, the recognition dictionary is used to collate the character shape most similar to the one character to recognize the character. In this recognition process, when a glyph is collated from a normal dictionary (this collation glyph is a normal glyph), the image data is read from the reading surface side, and its direction is determined to be upward. When a glyph is collated from an upside down glyph dictionary (this collated glyph is a normal upside down glyph), the image data is read from the reading surface side, and the direction is determined to be downward. When the glyphs are collated from the mirror image glyph dictionary (this collation glyph is a mirror image glyph), the image data is read from the surface opposite to the reading surface, and the direction is determined to be upward. In addition, when the glyphs are collated from the dictionary of the mirror image upside down (this collation glyph is the mirror image upside down), the image data is read from the side opposite to the reading side, and its direction is downward. Is determined.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a transmission process performed by the control unit 1 when a document is set on the document reading unit 4. First, as the processing of step 1 (ST1),
It is determined whether the page alignment mode is set. If it is determined that the page alignment mode is not set, the document reading process described later is performed. When the document reading process is completed, one document (1 that is read by the document reading process and transferred to the modem unit 2 (1 Image data of (for each page) (all non-mirror images) is compressed, and this compressed image data is transmitted to the destination device connected to this telephone line via the telephone line.

When the transmission of the image data for one page is completed, it is determined whether the transmission is completed or not depending on whether or not the next document is set in the document reading unit 4. If it is determined that there is a document set next and the transmission is not completed, the process returns to the above-described step 1 again. Also, if there is no document set next,
When it is determined that the transmission is completed, this transmission process is completed.

If it is determined in the above-mentioned step 1 that the page alignment mode is set, step 2 (ST2)
As the process of step 1, the page alignment mode document reading process, which will be described later, is performed, and when the page alignment mode document reading process is completed, as the process of step 3 (ST3), one document obtained by the page alignment mode document reading process is read. The minute (one page) image data (non-mirror image) is determined whether it is the first page. Here, if the image data is determined to be the first page, the direction determined as the direction of the image data in the page alignment document reading process of step 2 is set in a predetermined area (not shown) of the RAM in the control unit 1. The image data of this page is read from the storage unit 3 from the beginning and transferred to the modem unit 2 as a process of step 4 (ST4), and the compressed image is compressed. The data is transmitted via the telephone line to the destination device connected to this telephone line.

When the transmission of the image data for one page is completed, it is judged whether the transmission is completed or not depending on whether or not the next document is set in the document reading section 4. Here, if it is determined that the transmission has not ended, the above step 1 is performed again.
Is returned to the process. Further, when it is determined that the transmission is completed, this transmission process is completed.

If it is determined in the processing of the above step 3 that this image data is not the first page, the image data of the image data determined as the orientation of the image data in the page alignment mode document reading processing of the above step 2 is detected. It is determined whether the orientation is the same as (or coincides with) the orientation of the image data of the first page set in a predetermined area of the RAM in the control unit 1. If it is determined that the orientation of the image data is the same as the orientation of the first page, the process proceeds to step 4 described above.

The direction of this image data is the first 1
If it is determined that the page data is not in the same direction as the page orientation, the image data of this page is read out from the storage unit 3 in the reverse direction and transferred to the modem unit 2 for compression processing. Through the telephone line to the destination device connected to this telephone line. When the transmission of the image data for one page is completed, it is determined whether the transmission is completed or not depending on whether the next document is set in the document reading unit 4. Here, if it is determined that the transmission has not ended, the process returns to the above-described step 1 again. Further, when it is determined that the transmission is completed, this transmission process is completed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of the above-mentioned document reading process performed by the control section 1. First, step 5 (ST
As the processing of 5), one line of the front row (one pixel width line arranged in one row in the main scanning direction) where one document is not read is read, and the read one line of image data is stored in the storage unit. 3 is once stored, and whether or not the reading of the image data for one sheet (for one page) is completed is determined, for example, from the timing when the sheet detection sensor 17 changes from the ON state to the OFF state. Here, if it is determined that the reading of the image data for one page has not been completed, the process returns to the above-mentioned step 5 again. Further, when it is determined that the reading of the image data for one page is completed, the character recognition unit 6 uses the image data for one page stored for each line in the storage unit 3 and the above-described four types of dictionaries are used. Use to recognize characters (determine image data with).

However, in the recognition of this character, the purpose is not to analyze the contents of the image data, but this image data is simply read from the reading side of the document (normal image).
It is determined whether the image is read from the opposite side (mirror image) or not, and whether the image is oriented upward or downward. There are several possible methods for discriminating the above-mentioned items. For example, a dictionary in which the number of collated glyphs is the largest when a plurality of characters are arbitrarily extracted and the glyphs of those characters are collated. There is a method of determining by determining. That is, if the dictionary with the most collation characters is a normal dictionary (the collation character is a normal character), the image data is a normal image and its direction is determined to be upward. If the dictionary has an upside down character shape (the collation character shape is an upside down normal character shape), the image data is a normal image and its direction is determined to be downward. If the dictionary is a mirror-image character shape (the collation character shape is a mirror-image character shape), the image data is a mirror-image image, and the direction is determined to be upward. In addition, a dictionary of upside down mirror images (the collation form is upside down mirror image characters)
If so, the image data is a mirror image image, and its direction is determined to be downward.

In this document reading process, the character recognition process is not in the page alignment mode. Therefore, it suffices to determine whether the image data is a normal image or a mirror image, and not the orientation of the image data. It is a thing.

When the discrimination of the image data by the character recognition is completed, it is discriminated whether or not the image data for one page is a mirror image by this discrimination. When it is determined that the image is a mirror image, the image data for one page is read from the storage unit 3 for each line from the end of the line and transferred to the modem unit 2 to complete the original image reading process. hand,
The above-mentioned transmission processing is again returned to. If it is determined that the image is not a mirror image but a normal image, the image data for one page is read from the beginning of the line for each line from the storage unit 3 and transferred to the modem unit 2 (in a normal method). The document image reading process is terminated and the above-described transmission process is returned to.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the flow of the above-mentioned page alignment mode document reading process performed by the control section 1. First,
As the processing of step 6 (ST6), one line of the front row of one original that has not been read (one pixel width line aligned in the main scanning direction) is read, and the read image data of one line is read. Is temporarily stored in the storage unit 3, and it is determined whether the reading of the image data for one sheet (for one page) is completed. Here, if it is determined that the reading of the image data for one page has not been completed, the process returns to the above-mentioned step 5 again. If it is determined that the image data for one page has been read, the storage unit 3 stores 1
Based on the image data for one page stored for each line, the character recognition unit 6 uses the above-mentioned four types of dictionaries to recognize the character (determine the image data by the character recognition). It should be noted that the result of this determination (whether the image is a mirror image or a normal image, whether the orientation is upward or downward) is stored and saved in a predetermined area (not shown) of the RAM in the control unit 1.

When the discrimination of the image data by the character recognition is completed, it is discriminated whether or not the image data for one page is a mirror image by this discrimination. If it is determined that the image is a mirror image, the image data for one page is read from the storage unit 3 for each line from the end of the line and stored again in the storage unit 3, and the page alignment mode original reading process is performed. Then, the process returns to the above-mentioned transmission process again. When it is determined that the image is not a mirror image but a normal image, the page alignment mode document reading process is terminated and the process is returned to the above-described transmission process.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a receiving process performed by the control unit 1 when data is received by the modem unit 2 via a telephone line. First, as the processing of step 7 (ST7), data is received, and the compressed data is expanded and input to the control unit 1. Next, as the process of step 8 (ST8), it is determined whether or not the page alignment mode is set. If it is determined that the page alignment mode is not set, the input decompressed data is transferred to the printing unit 5 as it is, and an image of the data (image data) is printed on a predetermined FAX sheet.

When this printing is completed, it is judged whether or not this reception is completed depending on whether or not there is data to be received next. Here, if there is data to be received next and it is judged that the reception has not ended, the process returns to the above-mentioned step 7 again. Further, when there is no data to be received next and it is determined that the reception is completed, this reception process is completed. When it is determined that the page alignment mode is set in the process of step 8 described above, the input decompressed data (image data) for one page is temporarily stored in the storage unit 3, and the process of step 9 (ST9) is performed. As a process
Based on the image data stored in the storage unit 3, the character recognition unit 6 determines whether the direction of the image data is upward or downward. At this time, the dictionary of the mirror image character shape and the dictionary of the mirror image character upside down are not used. When the determination of the orientation of the image data is completed, step 10 (ST1
0), it is determined whether or not this image data is the first page.

If it is determined that this image data is the first page, the direction determined in the process of step 9 is set as a reference direction in a predetermined area of the RAM in the control unit 1, and step 11 ( As the process of ST11), the image data of this page is read from the storage unit 3 from the beginning and transferred to the printing unit 5, and the image of this image data is printed on a predetermined FAX sheet. When this printing is completed, it is determined whether or not this reception is completed depending on whether or not there is data to be received next. If there is data to be received next and it is determined that the reception has not ended, the above step 7 is performed again.
Is returned to the process. Further, when there is no data to be received next and it is determined that the reception is completed, this reception process is completed.

When it is determined in the processing in step 10 that the image data is not the first page, the orientation of the image data determined in the processing in step 9 is stored in the RAM in the control unit 1. The same direction as the image data of the first page set in the specified area (matches
) Is determined. If it is determined that the orientation of the image data is the same as the orientation of the first page, the process proceeds to step 11 described above. If it is determined that the orientation of this image data is not the same as the orientation of the first page, the storage unit 3
The image data of this page is read in reverse from the end and transferred to the printing unit 5, and the image of this image data is printed on a predetermined FAX sheet. When this printing is completed, it is determined whether or not this reception is completed depending on whether or not there is data to be received next. If there is data to be received next and it is determined that the reception has not ended, the above step 7 is performed again.
Is returned to the process. Further, when there is no data to be received next and it is determined that the reception is completed, this reception process is completed.

In the first embodiment having such a configuration, when a plurality of originals to be transmitted are set on the original reading section 4, the originals are detected by the light emitting section 11 and the reading element 12 of the original reading section 4. Each line is transparently read in the main scanning direction. Therefore, the original can be read even if it is set upside down. The read image data of one line is once stored in the storage unit 3, and when the reading of the image data for one page (one sheet) is completed, the character recognition unit 6 converts the character data in the image data into the character form. Recognize by collation.

At this time, when the number of character data whose glyphs are collated from the normal dictionary is the largest, the image data of the page is a normal image, and its direction is determined to be upward. When the number of character data in which the glyphs are collated from the dictionary of upside down glyphs is the largest, the image data of the page is determined to be a normal image, and the direction thereof is determined to be the downward direction.
Further, when the number of character data whose glyphs are collated from the mirror image glyph dictionary is the largest, the image data of the page is a mirror image image, and its direction is determined to be the upward direction. Also,
When the number of character data in which the glyphs are collated from the dictionary of the glyphs that are upside down of the mirror image is the largest, the image data of the page is a mirror image image, and the direction is determined to be the downward direction.

When the page alignment mode is not selected, the image data determined to be a normal image is read from the storage unit 3 for each line as it is from the beginning of the line and is sent to the destination via the telephone line. Send. On the other hand, the image data discriminated as a mirror image is read out from the storage unit 3 for each line in reverse from the end of the line, converted into a normal image, and transmitted to the destination via the telephone line. Further, when the page alignment mode is selected, only the image data discriminated as a mirror image is read out from the storage unit 3 for each line in reverse order from the end of the line to restore a normal image, It is stored in the storage unit 3 again.

Next, the orientation of the image data of the first first page (first sheet) of a plurality of originals set as one transmission is set in the RAM in the control unit 1 as a reference orientation. Then, the image data of the first page is read from the storage unit 3 from the beginning as it is, and transmitted to the destination via the telephone line. Also, the second page (second page
) After that, when the determined orientation of the image data of the page is the same as the orientation set in the RAM, that is, when the orientation of the image data of the first page matches, the image of the page from the storage unit 3 is displayed. The data is read from the beginning as it is and transmitted to the destination via the telephone line. The determined orientation of the image data of the page is RAM
When it is different from the direction set in step 1, that is, when it does not match the direction of the image data of the first page, the image data of the page is read from the storage unit 3 in reverse from the end and the image of the first page is read. Correct the direction of the data,
Send to the destination via the telephone line.

Therefore, even if a plurality of originals are set in the original reading unit 4 in the front / back and up / down directions separately, the image data (mirror image) read from the originals set inside out is converted into a normal image, and the page is read. When the alignment mode is selected, the image data of the original is transmitted to the destination with the orientation of the image data of the first and second pages aligned with the orientation of the image data of the first page. As a result, at the destination,
There is no blank received document, and the page alignment mode aligns the orientations of the first and second pages with the orientations of the second and subsequent pages, and the received document is printed out with the page orientation aligned.

When the page alignment mode is selected when data is received via the telephone line, the received data (image data) is once stored in the storage unit 3 page by page, and the character recognition unit 6, the character data in the image data is recognized by collating the character shape. In this case, the mirror image dictionary and the mirror image upside down dictionary are not used. At this time, when the number of character data whose glyphs are collated from the normal dictionary is large, the direction of the image data of the page is determined to be upward, and the number of character data whose glyphs are collated from the dictionary of upside down glyphs is determined. When there are many pages, the direction of the image data of the page is determined to be downward.

The discriminated orientation of the first image data of the first page of the data for a plurality of pages received as one reception is set in the RAM in the control unit 1 as a reference orientation, and the first page thereof is set. The image data of is read out from the storage unit 3 as it is and printed out.
For the second and subsequent pages, when the determined orientation of the image data of the page is the same as the orientation set in the RAM, that is, when the orientation of the image data of the first first page matches, the storage unit 3 The image data of the page is read as it is from the beginning and printed out. When the determined orientation of the image data of the page is different from the orientation set in the RAM, that is, when it does not match the orientation of the image data of the first page, the image data of the page is stored in the storage unit 3 at the end. Is read in reverse and the print data is output in the direction of the image data of the first page. Therefore, even if image data for a plurality of pages are received in different vertical directions, if the page alignment mode is selected, the received image data will be in the direction of the image data of the first page and the second and subsequent pages. The image data is printed in the same direction. That is, a plurality of received originals are printed out by aligning the vertical direction of the pages.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the document reading section 4 including the light emitting section 11 and the reading element 12 is provided.
A storage unit 3 for storing the image data and a character recognition unit 6 for recognizing the character shape of the characters included in the image data, and the document is transparently arranged in the main scanning direction 1 orthogonal to the document conveying direction. Reads line by line and recognizes the character shape of the character data of the image data of one page of the original, and the character shape is either a normal dictionary, a dictionary with upside down characters, a dictionary with mirror image shapes, or a dictionary with upside down mirror images. Part 1
It is determined whether the image data for a page is a normal image or a mirror image and whether the direction is upward or downward. For image data of the mirror image, reverse each line of the image data from the end of the line. If the image data is read out and corrected to a normal image, and the image data is different from the orientation of the image data of the first page, the data is read in reverse from the end of the image data and the orientation of the image data of the first page is corrected. When receiving image data for multiple pages, 1
For image data that is different from the orientation of the image data of the first page, the data is read backward from the end of the image data and the orientation of the image data of the first page is corrected so that the original is set inside out. However, if the back side of the original is blank, the reading side of the original can be reliably read, and the mirror image read from the original set inside can be restored to a normal image. The image data of can be accurately transmitted to the destination. Further, even when the orientations of a plurality of originals are set differently in the upper direction and the lower direction, the orientations of the originals can be aligned with the orientation of the image data of the first page and transmitted to the destination. Further, when the image data for a plurality of pages is received, even if the orientation of the image data is different between the upper direction and the lower direction, the orientation of the received document is aligned with the orientation of the image data of the first page and printed out. can do.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The second embodiment and the above-described first embodiment are different only in the flow of the transmission process and the reception process, and have the same basic configuration (see FIG. 1). Are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a transmission process performed by the control unit 1 when a document is set on the document reading unit 4. First, as the processing of step 21 (ST21), it is determined whether or not the page alignment mode is set.
If it is determined that the page alignment mode is not set, the document reading process (see FIG. 4) described in the first embodiment is performed as the process of step 22 (ST22) and the document is set upside down. Image data of a mirror image read from a document is converted into image data of a normal image and transferred to the modem unit 2. When this document reading process is completed, image data for one document (all non-mirror images) read by this document reading process and transferred to the modem unit 2 is compressed,
This compressed image data is transmitted via the telephone line to the destination device connected to this telephone line.

When the transmission of the image data for one page is completed, it is determined whether or not the transmission is completed depending on whether or not the next document is set in the document reading unit 4. Here, if it is determined that there is a document set next and the transmission is not completed, the process returns to the document reading process of step 22 described above. Further, if there is no original set next and it is determined that the transmission is completed, the transmission process is completed. If it is determined in the process of step 21 that the page alignment mode is set, as the process of step 23 (ST23), the page alignment mode document reading process (FIG. 5) described in the first embodiment is performed.
The image data of the mirror image image read from the document set upside down is converted into the image data of the normal image and stored again in the storage unit 3. When this page alignment mode document reading process is completed, it is determined whether or not there is a document set next. If it is determined that there is a document set next, the process returns to the above-mentioned step 23. Further, when it is determined that there is no document set next, the number in the upward direction is compared with the number in the downward direction based on the determination result of the orientation of the image data stored and stored in the RAM in the control unit 1. And the direction of the most is RAM
Set as the reference orientation. Next, the access pointer for reading the data is returned to the beginning of the image data of the first page stored in the storage unit 3, and step 24
As the processing of (ST24), it is determined whether or not the orientation of the image data for one page from the access pointer is the same orientation (matching) as the orientation set as the reference orientation in the RAM.

If it is determined that the direction of the image data is the same as the set direction, the image data of this page is read from the storage unit 3 as it is from the beginning and transferred to the modem unit 2. Then, compression processing is performed, and the compressed image data is transmitted to the destination device connected to the telephone line via the telephone line. If it is determined that the direction of the image data is not the same as the set direction, the image data of this page is read from the storage unit 3 in the reverse direction and transferred to the modem unit 2. A compression process is performed, and the compressed image data is transmitted via a telephone line to a destination device connected to this telephone line.

When the transmission of the image data for one page is completed, it is determined whether the transmission is completed or not depending on whether the storage unit 3 stores the image data next to the transmitted image data. If it is determined that the transmission has not ended, the process returns to step 24 described above. Further, when it is determined that the transmission is completed, this transmission process is completed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of a receiving process performed by the control unit 1 when data is received by the modem unit 2 via a telephone line. First, step 25 (ST25
), The data is received, and the compressed data is expanded and input to the control unit 1. next,
In step 26 (ST26), it is determined whether the page alignment mode is set. If it is determined that the page alignment mode is not set, the input decompressed data is transferred to the printing unit 5 as it is, and the image of the image data (image data) is printed on a predetermined FAX sheet.

When this printing is completed, it is judged whether or not this reception is completed depending on whether or not there is data to be received next. If there is data to be received next and it is determined that the reception has not ended, the process returns to step 25 described above. Further, when there is no data to be received next and it is determined that the reception is completed, this reception process is completed. If the page alignment mode is determined in the process of step 26, the input 1
The data (image data) decompressed for a page is temporarily stored in the storage unit 3, and as a process of step 27 (ST27), the character recognition unit 6 stores the data based on the image data stored in the storage unit 3. It is determined whether the orientation of the image data is upward or downward. The determined result is stored and saved in a predetermined area (not shown) of the RAM in the control unit 1.

When the determination of the orientation of the image data is completed, it is determined whether or not the data is completed depending on whether or not there is data to be received next. If it is determined that there is data to be received next, the process returns to step 25 described above. When it is determined that there is no data to be received next, the number in the upward direction and the number in the downward direction are compared based on the determination result of the orientation of the image data stored and stored in the RAM in the control unit 1, The larger direction is set in the RAM as the reference direction. Next, the access pointer for reading the data is returned to the beginning of the image data of the first page stored in the storage unit 3, and step 28 (ST2
As a process of 8), it is determined whether or not the orientation of the image data for one page from the access pointer is the same orientation (coincident) as the orientation set as the reference orientation in the RAM.

If it is determined that the direction of the image data is the same as the set direction, the image data of this page is read from the storage section 3 as it is from the beginning and transferred to the printing section 5. Then, the image of this image data is printed on a predetermined FAX sheet. When it is determined that the orientation of the image data is not the same as the orientation of the set image data, the image data of this page is read from the storage unit 3 in the reverse direction and transferred to the printing unit 5. Predetermined F
The image of this image data is printed on AX paper. When the printing output of the image data for one page is completed, the storage unit 3
Then, it is determined whether or not the print output is completed depending on whether or not the image data is stored next to the transmitted image data. If it is determined that the print output has not ended, the process returns to step 19 described above.
Further, when it is judged that the print output is completed, this transmission process is completed.

In the second embodiment having such a structure, when a plurality of originals to be transmitted are set on the original reading section 4, the originals are detected by the light emitting section 11 and the reading element 12 of the original reading section 4. Each line is transparently read in the main scanning direction.

The read image data of one line is temporarily stored in the storage unit 3, and when the reading of the image data for one page (for one sheet) is completed, the character recognition unit 6 causes the character data in the image data to be read. Is recognized by matching the glyphs.

When the page alignment mode is not selected, the image data discriminated as a normal image is read out line by line from the beginning of the line and transmitted to the destination via the telephone line. On the other hand, the image data discriminated as a mirror image is read out from the storage unit 3 for each line in reverse from the end of the line, converted into a normal image, and transmitted to the destination via the telephone line.

Further, when the page alignment mode is selected, only the image data discriminated as a mirror image is read out from the storage unit 3 for each line in reverse order from the end of the line and becomes a normal image. It is corrected and stored again in the storage unit 3. Reading a plurality of originals and storing them in the storage unit 3, further recognizing character data by the character recognition unit 6 (determining whether image data is a normal image or a mirror image and its orientation), from a mirror image of the image data to a normal image When the repair of the image data is completed, the direction of the determined image data, whichever is larger in the upward direction or the downward direction, is set in the RAM as the reference direction.

Next, the image data of the first page stored in the storage unit 3 is sequentially compared with the direction of the larger one set in the RAM, and the image data having the same direction is stored. The data is read from the head of the unit 3 as it is and transmitted to the destination via the telephone line. Further, the image data whose directions do not match is read out from the storage unit 3 from the end of the image data in reverse, the data is corrected in the direction of the larger direction, and the image data is transmitted to the destination via the telephone line.

Therefore, even when a plurality of originals are set in the original reading unit 4 in different vertical directions, if the page alignment mode is selected, the image data of the originals is unified in the direction in which the image data has many orientations. Then, they are aligned and sent to the destination. As a result, at the destination, the received document is printed out with the page orientation aligned.

When the page alignment mode is selected when the data is received via the telephone line, the received image data for a plurality of pages are respectively stored in the storage unit 3 and the character recognition unit. The direction is determined by 6. When the image data for a plurality of pages is received and stored in the storage unit 3 and the character recognition unit 6 determines the direction of the image data, the direction of the image data, whichever is larger, is the upper direction or the lower direction. , Is set in the RAM as a reference direction.

Next, the image data of the first page stored in the storage unit 3 is sequentially compared with the direction of the larger one set in the RAM, and the image data having the same direction is stored in the storage unit. The data is read from 3 as it is and printed out. For the image data whose orientations do not match, the data is read out from the storage unit from the rear end, and the data is corrected in the direction of the larger number and printed out.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the first embodiment described above, and the first effect is obtained when the originals of the second and subsequent pages are collected. Rather than aligning in the direction of the page, aligning in the most orientation reduces the amount of processing for reading the image data backward from the end thereof, thus shortening the processing time. For example, the first first page is usually an invoice, and the second page is a complete body of a transmission document. Therefore, the possibility that the orientation of the invoice and the body of the transmitted document are different is greater than the possibility that the orientation of the body of the transmitted document is different.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the process of aligning the directions of the image data is performed in both the transmission process and the reception process.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to one in which the process of aligning the orientation of image data is performed in either one of the transmission process and the reception process.

For example, when the device (facsimile device or the like) on the other side connected to the telephone line is not provided with any processing for aligning the direction of the image data,
Although the facsimile machine according to the second embodiment can sufficiently exhibit its function, if the device on the other end is equipped with a process for aligning the direction of the image data in the transmission process, the image data is received. The device on the side does not need the process of aligning the image data in the reception process. That is, if only one of the transmission process and the reception process is provided between the devices that transmit and receive the data via the telephone line, both devices can sufficiently set the transmission originals at the transmission side separately. On the receiving side, the received originals with the same orientation are printed out.

[0063]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a facsimile device that can reliably read the reading surface of a document and can accurately transmit the image information on the reading surface of the document to the destination.

Further, it is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of transmitting the originals in the same direction even if the plural originals are set upside down and upside down.

Further, it is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of printing out the received originals in the same direction even if the image data of the originals for a plurality of pages are different in the upper and lower directions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a document reading unit of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a transmission process performed by the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of a document reading process in a transmission process performed by the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of page alignment mode document reading processing in transmission processing performed by the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing a flow of a reception process performed by the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of transmission processing performed by the facsimile apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of a reception process performed by the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control part, 4 ... Original reading part, 3 ... Storage part, 6 ... Character recognition part, 11 ... Light emitting part, 12 ... Reading element.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus for transmitting image data through a line and printing out an image based on the image data received through the line, a document image reading for transparently reading an image formed on a document. Section, an image data storage section that stores the image data read by the document image reading section for each page, and whether the characters included in the image data stored in the image data storage section are normal characters or mirror image characters Based on the character discriminator and the glyph of the character discriminated by this character discriminator,
A page discrimination unit that discriminates a normal image or a mirror image image for each image data of one page stored in the image data storage unit, and the image data discriminated as a mirror image image by the page discrimination unit is the same as the image data of the normal image. And a transmission control means for controlling the transmission of image data for each page. 2. The image data storage unit stores the image data read by the original image reading unit on a page-by-line basis, and the transmission control unit discriminates a mirror image by the page discriminating unit. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each line of the image data is read backward from the tail end to the head end of the image data, and the image data is transmitted page by page. 3. A facsimile apparatus which transmits image data through a line and prints out an image based on the image data received through the line, a document image reading for transparently reading an image formed on a document. Section, an image data storage section for storing the image data read by the document image reading section for each page, and a character recognition section for recognizing the character shape of the characters included in the image data stored in the image data storage section, Based on the glyph of the character recognized by this character recognition unit,
A page discriminating unit that discriminates a normal image or a mirror image for each image data of one page stored in the image data storage unit, and discriminates the direction of the image data; Regarding the image data of a plurality of pages read, the image data determined to be a mirror image by the page determination unit is the same as the image data of the normal image, and the orientations of all pages match the reference orientation. A facsimile apparatus, comprising: a transmission control unit that controls transmission of image data for each page based on a determination result by a page determination unit. 4. A facsimile apparatus for transmitting image data through a line and printing out an image based on the image data received through the line, a document image reading for transparently reading an image formed on a document. Section, a modem section for receiving the image data transmitted through the line, and an image data storage section for storing the image data read by the original image reading section or the image data received by the modem section for each page. And a character recognition unit that recognizes the glyphs of the characters contained in the image data stored in this image data storage unit, and based on the glyphs of the characters recognized by this character recognition unit,
A page discriminating unit that discriminates whether each image data of one page stored in the image data storage unit is a normal image or a mirror image image, and discriminates the direction of the image data; and an image discriminated as a mirror image image by the page discriminating unit. All of the transmission control means for controlling the transmission of image data page by page so that the data becomes the same as the image data of the normal image, and the image data for a plurality of pages received as one continuous transmission by the modem unit. Print output control means for controlling the print output of the image data for each page based on the discrimination result by the page discriminating section so that the orientation of the page coincides with the reference orientation. Facsimile machine. 5. A facsimile apparatus for transmitting image data through a line and printing out an image based on the image data received through the line, a document image reading for transparently reading an image formed on a document. Section, a modem section for receiving the image data transmitted through the line, and an image data storage section for storing the image data read by the original image reading section or the image data received by the modem section for each page. And a character recognition unit that recognizes the glyphs of the characters contained in the image data stored in this image data storage unit, and based on the glyphs of the characters recognized by this character recognition unit,
A page discriminating unit that discriminates a normal image or a mirror image for each image data of one page stored in the image data storage unit, and discriminates the direction of the image data; Regarding the read image data of a plurality of pages, the image data discriminated as a mirror image by the page discriminating unit becomes the same as the image data of the normal image, and the orientations of all pages match the reference orientation. Transmission control means for controlling transmission of image data for each page, and image data for a plurality of pages received as one continuous transmission by the modem unit, so that all page orientations match a reference orientation, A print output control means for controlling the print output of the image data for each page based on the determination result by the page determination unit is provided. Facsimile apparatus according to.