JP3018215B2 - Hand scanner system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand scanner system used as an image information reading device for a home facsimile, a personal computer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one type of a conventional hand scanner used as an image information reading device for a home facsimile, a personal computer, or the like, there is a type having only a scanning capability of only one line of image information of a predetermined length in a horizontal direction. . As shown in FIG. 8, a hand scanner 10a of this type has a line sensor 11a therein and is connected to a main body of a home facsimile, a personal computer or the like by a connection cord 12.

At the time of reading and scanning, the user places the hand scanner 10a directly on the surface of the document 30 to be scanned so that the line sensor 11a coincides with the left and right directions in the figure, and then holds the hand scanner 10a downward as it is. (In the direction of the arrow in the figure). By this reading scan, an image signal corresponding to the shaded area in the figure can be input to a home facsimile, a personal computer, or the like.

In this type of conventional hand scanner, in order to reduce the size of the hand scanner 10a in consideration of the easiness of handling by a user, the scanning length of one horizontal line must be shortened. In general, a reading area having a length of about 10 cm was selected as the width of the hatched portion in the figure. Therefore, in the case of this type, when the original 30 has a width much larger than the scanning length of one line of the hand scanner as shown in FIG. 8, only a part of the original 30 can be read.

As another type of the conventional hand scanner of this type, there is one having a capability of reading only one bit in each of N lines in the vertical direction. In this type of hand scanner 10b, as shown in FIG. 9, the line sensor 11b is placed on the original 30 so that the line sensor 11b coincides with the up-down direction in the drawing. Here, the user moves the hand scanner 10b from left to right (in the direction of the arrow in the figure) to read and scan a horizontal area (shaded area in the figure) for N lines, and then moves the hand scanner 10b to the original once. 3
After moving away from 0 and moving downward with the N line as a guide, the document is again placed on the document 30 and scanning of the horizontal area for the lower N lines is newly performed.

In this type, the reading scan for every N lines in the vertical direction as described above is repeated until the bottom of the document 30 is reached, so that the entire surface of the document having a large area is read even with a small hand scanner. be able to. However, the movement of the hand scanner for the reading scan is manually performed by the user by eye measurement, so that the reading scanning position is likely to be inaccurate, and the connection of the image signals obtained by the scanning often fails. As a typical example of such inconveniences, as shown in FIG. 10A, a state where a part of the read image signals of the N-1st line and the Nth line are overlapped,
As shown in FIG. 7B, there is a state where the image signals of both lines are skipped, and in any case, it is an obstacle to accurate reading scanning.

[0007]

As described above, in the above-described conventional hand scanner, the entire surface of a document having a surface larger than a single readable area can be read by repeating a plurality of reading scans. Because the user manually moved the scanner for repetitive scanning by eye measurement, the continuity of the scanning surface could not be maintained accurately, and overlapping and jumping parts were found between the image signals obtained by each scanning. As a result, there is a problem that the reading accuracy is reduced.

The present invention eliminates this problem. Even when reading and scanning the entire surface of a document by repeating reading and scanning in a certain area unit, continuous reading image signals resulting from inaccuracies in the movement of the scanner or overlapping. An object of the present invention is to provide a hand scanner system that can prevent jumping and can improve reading accuracy.

[0009]

A hand scanner system according to the present invention comprises a hand scanner means having an image information reading capability of N lines in one scan, and a hand scanner means which is placed on a document surface to be read and which is used for reading and scanning. A transparent plate for generating scanning position information according to the movement of the hand scanner means, an image signal storage means for storing image signals for at least two consecutive scans read by the hand scanner means, and storage in the storage means A recognizing means for recognizing, based on the scanning position information, whether there is an overlapping portion or a jumping portion in the image signals for two scans, and, if there is an overlapping portion in the read image signals for two scannings, A first method of removing a portion and outputting as an image signal of a continuous scanning area
Image signal processing means, a notifying means for notifying that a skipped portion exists in the image signals for the two scans, and an enable / disable command for instructing whether to enable or disable the image signal related to the notification. Invalidity instructing means, and a second image signal for outputting the corresponding image signal as a normal image signal when instructed to be valid and for discarding the image signal when instructed to be invalid And processing means.

[0010]

According to the present invention, scanning of a document by a hand scanner is performed with a transparent plate placed on the surface of the document. In this transparent plate, two layers of print resistors are formed, and when a pressing member of a hand scanner is pressed against the transparent plate during reading scanning, the upper and lower two print resistors contact each other at that portion, and this contact point is formed. A predetermined current flows to the end face electrode of each layer through the layer.

In the present invention, the current value is captured for each layer and detected as scanning position information. In addition, in several scans according to the above-described procedure, the occurrence of an “overlapping portion” or “jump portion” between continuously obtained image signals is determined based on the scanning position information from the transparent plate. recognize. If an overlapping portion is recognized, the overlapping portion is removed based on the scanning position information, and is output as a continuous area image signal.

By this processing, an image signal which always coincides with the original image is obtained no matter how many times the overlap scanning is repeated. By the same processing, the skipped portion of the read image signal related to the repetitive scanning can be recognized.

In this case, the user is notified of the occurrence of the interlaced scanning by a warning sound or the like, and the user is instructed whether the read image signal at that time is valid or invalid.

If there is an instruction indicating that the image is invalid, the read image signal at that time is discarded, and the same area is scanned again. By this processing, interlaced scanning of continuous image signals is completely avoided.

On the other hand, if the user instructs that the image data is valid, the read image signal at that time is output as a normal image signal. By this processing, an original or the like having a blank portion can intentionally skip over that portion. From the viewpoint of operation, the present invention does not require much attention to the continuity of the scanning surface when the hand scanner is moved, and is very easy to handle by image signal processing capable of avoiding interlaced scanning or unintended interlaced scanning. It becomes something.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an operation mode of a hand scanner system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The hand scanner system includes a hand scanner 10 and a transparent plate 20, and a main body (not shown) for connecting the hand scanner 10 and the transparent plate 20 with connection cords 12 and 21, respectively. In operation, in this system, the transparent plate 20 is placed so as to cover the original 30, and reading scanning is performed while the hand scanner 10 is repeatedly moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Here, the hand scanner 10 has a bottom configuration as shown in FIG. 2 with respect to a configuration of the upper surface as shown in FIG.
A pair of pressing members 13a and 13b are formed at the above-mentioned predetermined positions corresponding to the reading width of. At the time of the above reading scan, the pressing member 13 on the bottom of the hand scanner 10 is used.
a, 13b are in contact with the surface of the transparent plate 20;
, And moves in the scanning direction while applying a pressing force.

On the other hand, the transparent plate 20 is constructed as shown in FIG. 3, and comprises two independent resistance printing sheets 22, 23.
And a top sheet 24 sandwiching these sheets from both sides
And a back sheet 25. FIG. 4 shows how the transparent plate 20 is connected. That is, in FIG. 4, the connection cord 21 of the transparent plate 20 includes signal lines 211 a and 211 b that pass a current flowing from the print resistance sheet 22 to a main body (not shown) and another print resistance sheet 2.
Signal lines 212a, 212 that pass the current flowing from 3 to the main body.
12b.

Here, the contact points between the print resistance sheets 22 and 23 are generated by the above-described pressing force of the hand scanner 10 and are in a constant current path formed through the contact points. A current value change corresponding to the position occurs. That is, the print resistance sheets 22 and 23 detect the current value generated by the difference in the distance from the contact point of these two sheets to the electrode on the end face of each sheet and compare the values, thereby obtaining the X coordinate and Y coordinate of the scanning position. Is used to determine This technique itself is a known technique already applied to an electronic blackboard or the like. In the present invention, the contact points between the two resistance printing sheets 22 and 23 are provided at two places by pressing members 13a and 13b provided on the bottom portion of the hand scanner 10.

Next, FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an actual reading and scanning procedure by the hand scanner system of the present invention. As is clear from FIG. 1, when handling the hand scanner 10 of the present invention, the hand scanner 10 is placed on a transparent plate 20 placed so as to cover a document 30 and a conventional type (from the above) is placed thereon. As in the case of FIG. 9), the reading scanner is repeatedly and continuously performed for each area while sequentially moving the hand scanner 10 to the lowermost line while applying a predetermined pressing force to the transparent plate 20. In the meantime, the moving position of the hand scanner 10 is always recognized based on the output signal from the transparent plate 20, and at this time, the image signal of each scanning area obtained as the position of the hand scanner 10 moves is based on the position information. Are combined to create one image signal for the entire document 30.

The processing of such an image signal will be described with reference to the circuit diagram of FIG. That is, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the hand scanner system (see FIG. 1) of the present invention. In FIG. 6, a line sensor section 11 serving as image information reading means has a reading capability of a capacity of 1 bit for each of N lines in one reading scan of the document 30. Reference numeral 41 denotes a binarizing unit for binarizing a signal output from the line sensor unit 11 by the reading scan. Reference numeral 42 denotes an image signal storage unit which stores the binarized signal as a read image signal.
It has a storage capacity corresponding to the scan length of N lines.

On the other hand, in the system of the present invention, a transparent plate 30 is added as means for indicating the position of the scanning for reading by the above-mentioned image information reading means. Reference numeral 43 denotes both end surfaces of the two resistance printing sheets 22 and 23 constituting the transparent plate 30 when the two pressing mechanisms, that is, the pressing members 13a and 13b of the hand scanner 10, are brought into contact with each other. This is a current detector that detects a difference between currents flowing out of the device. An X and Y coordinate calculator 44 detects coordinates of the scanning position of the hand scanner 10 based on the detection value of the current detector 43, and an X and Y coordinate storage 45 stores the calculation result. Reference numeral 46 denotes a control unit for controlling the overall operation of the hand scanner 10. In the control unit, image information read for each area by the reading means is provided based on positional information given from the transparent plate 20. Control for recognizing "overlap" or "jumping" of the read image signal for each scanning area and obtaining an image signal from which these are removed is included.

Reference numeral 47 denotes an external interface unit for connecting to these external devices in order to supply an image signal, which has been finally subjected to "overlap" or "jump" correction, to a facsimile apparatus or a personal computer. Reference numeral 48 denotes a jump notifying unit that notifies, as an alarm, when "jump" is detected by the above control, and is constituted by, for example, a lamp or a buzzer. Furthermore,
Reference numeral 49 denotes a valid / invalid instructing unit for instructing the user to validate or invalidate the read image signal of the N line obtained by the scanning after confirming the "jump" warning, For example, it is configured by a switch or the like.

The circuit operation of the system shown in FIG. 6 will be described below. First, at the time of reading and scanning, the transparent sheet 20 is placed directly on the original 30 so as to cover the original 30 as shown in FIG. Next, when the hand scanner 10 is pressed against the transparent plate 20, the two pressing members 13a and 13b facing the reading scanning surface of the hand scanner 10 perform a switch operation by the pressing force, and thereby a signal indicating the start of operation is transmitted to the control unit. 4
It is conveyed to 6. At the same time, the current detector 43
The current flowing through the contact point between the resistance printing sheets 22 and 23 in the inside is detected, and the X and Y coordinate calculation unit 44 further calculates the X and Y coordinates as the reading scanning position corresponding to each sheet based on the detected value. Perform a calculation.

The result of the calculation is stored in the X, Y coordinate storage unit 45. At this time, two contact points are simultaneously formed between the resistance printing sheets 22 and 23 in the document 20 by the two pressing members 13 a and 13 b of the hand scanner 10. In correspondence with the lower end, the uppermost line and the lowermost line (Y coordinate) of the horizontal scanning scanning area from left to right of the N lines at that time are always detected and calculated together with the horizontal position (X coordinate). , Y coordinate storage unit 45.

At the same time as the calculation and storage of the X and Y coordinates, the original 30 is read and scanned by the line sensor unit 11 N lines at a time in accordance with the movement of the hand scanner 10 from left to right. The output signal from the section 11 is binarized by the binarization section 41 and stored in the image signal storage section 42 as a read image signal.

After the first scanning in the horizontal N lines is completed, the hand scanner 10 is then shifted downward with the N lines as a guide and is again moved from left to right to perform scanning for the next N lines. It is. Hereafter, this operation is
The process is repeatedly performed until the lowermost line is reached for the entire scanning region of 0. Meanwhile, hand scanner 1
The movement of 0 is performed by the user's own hand, and the trajectory of the movement tends to be inaccurate.

As a result, between the image signals of the continuous areas obtained by the respective scans, there is usually an "overlapping state" as shown in FIG. 10 (a) or a "jump" as shown in FIG. 10 (b). State "occurs. The control unit 46 controls the image signal stored in the image signal storage unit 42 and the X and Y coordinate storage unit 4.
The respective states are recognized based on the scanning position information of these image signals stored in 5. Then, as a subsequent process, regarding the “overlapping state”, the X, Y coordinate storage unit 45
Are compared, the coordinates of two N lines stored are compared, and only the contents of the overlapped portion, for example, the later read image signal are discarded, and only one read image signal is always read from the left. On the right, the data is output through the external interface unit 47 according to the conventional format.

When the "jump state" occurs, the transfer of the image signals read up to that time is temporarily terminated, and the output of the image signals from the external interface unit 47 to the external device is stopped. Is notified to the user by a warning sound or the like by the jump notification unit 48. The user who recognizes that the “jump state” has occurred by this notification,
Thereafter, whether the image signal for N lines obtained by the current reading scan, which is the object of the notification, is made valid or invalid is selected by operating the valid / invalid instructing section 49. Here, when the user gives an instruction to make the setting "valid", it is recognized as a mere extension of the reading operation up to that point, and the image signal is transmitted from the external interface unit 47 while the skipped portion is missing. Is performed continuously.

On the other hand, if the user instructs "invalid", processing is performed on the assumption that this N-line reading scanning has not been performed, and the scanning state returns to the previous scanning state. . According to the image signal processing, even when the “jump state” occurs, the fact is known by a warning,
By performing re-scanning, it is possible to prevent image signals from being lost on a continuous surface of the document 30. At that time,
If the validity / invalidity indication unit 49 indicates that it is valid,
The read image signal at that time can be used as it is,
For example, it is easy to cope with a case where there is a blank area in the middle and the scanning is intentionally skipped.

In the above embodiment, the hand scanner system and an external device such as a home facsimile and a personal computer are connected by a wire through the external interface unit 47 for operation. However, as another embodiment, FIG. As shown in (1), a type in which the connection is made by a wireless interface is also conceivable. The hand scanner 10A of the hand scanner system shown in FIG. 7 is a cordless type having a handset function, and the read image signal is transmitted to the main unit 5 by a wireless interface.
Transmit to 0. Here, the main device 50 is the main unit 5.
1, a set of functional units such as a printer unit 52, a display unit 53, and a handset 54, which are formed separately and independently. These functional units are also connected to each other by a wireless interface, similarly to the hand scanner 10A.

As described above, the image signal received from the hand scanner 10A through the wireless interface is once taken into the main body unit 51 and then displayed as a soft copy on the display unit 53 according to the instruction at that time, or the printer unit 52 Is ejected.
As described above, by allowing the hand scanner system of the present invention to cooperate with other functional units via the wireless interface, the restriction on the place of use can be relaxed, which can contribute to the construction of a more convenient facsimile system.

[0032]

As described above, according to the hand scanner system of the present invention, the read image obtained for each continuous scan is obtained based on the positional information from the transparent plate interposed between the hand scanner and the document. Overlapping areas of signals and unintended jumps are removed, so that a small hand scanner similar to the conventional one can be handled with little awareness of the accuracy of its position movement, but more than the area that can be read by one scan There is an excellent advantage that the entire surface of the document having the surface can be read with extremely high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of an operation mode of a hand scanner system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bottom portion of a hand scanner in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transparent plate according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a connection state of the transparent plate shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a scanning method of the hand scanner system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a hand scanner system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of an operation mode of a hand scanner system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a type of scanning method of a conventional hand scanner.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of another type of scanning method of the conventional hand scanner.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining inconvenience of reading and scanning by a conventional hand scanner.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10A Hand scanner 11 Line sensor unit 12, 21 Connection code 13a, 13b Pressing member 41 Binarization unit 42 Image signal storage unit 43 Current detection unit 44 X, Y coordinate calculation unit 45 X, Y coordinate storage unit 46 Control unit 47 external interface unit 48 jump notification unit 49 valid / invalid indicating unit 20 transparent plate 211a, 211b, 212a, 212b position information output signal line 22, 23 resistance printing sheet 24 top sheet 25 back sheet 30 original 50 main unit 51 main unit Unit 52 Printer unit 53 Display unit 54 Handset

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Koichiro Akima 3-1, 1-1 Asahigaoka, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside the Toshiba Hino Plant (72) Inventor Shinobu Utayo 3-1-1, Asahigaoka, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Hino Plant (72) Inventor Motoharu Sunaga 3-1-1 Asahigaoka, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Hino Plant (72) Inventor Seizo Ueno 3-1-1 Asahigaoka, Hino-shi, Tokyo 1 share Toshiba Corporation Hino Factory (56) References JP-A-55-161459 (JP, A) JP-A-58-51391 (JP, A) JP-A-58-76982 (JP, A) JP-A-60-47555 ( JP, A) JP-A-61-88658 (JP, A) JP-A-61-96865 (JP, A) JP-A-63-16759 (JP, A) JP-A-63-67862 (JP, A) Hei 1-220963 (JP , A) JP-A-2-52565 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/04-1/207

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hand scanner having an ability to read N lines of image information in one scan, and scanning position information placed on a document surface to be read and corresponding to the movement of the hand scanner at the time of reading and scanning. A transparent plate for generating image signals, image signal storage means for storing image signals for at least two consecutive scans read by the hand scanner means, and a portion overlapping the image signals for two scans stored in the storage means. A recognizing means for recognizing whether or not there is a skipped portion based on the scanning position information; and, when the read image signals for the two scans have an overlap portion, removing the overlap portion and removing the overlap portion from the image signal of a continuous scanning area. First image signal processing means for outputting the image signal, notification means for notifying that a jump portion exists in the image signals for the two scans, and image signal relating to the notification Valid / invalid instructing means for instructing whether the signal is valid or invalid, and outputting a corresponding image signal as a regular image signal when the validity is instructed, and instructing that the image signal is invalid. And a second image signal processing unit for discarding the image signal when the operation is performed. 2. The transparent plate comprises two layers of resistance printing sheets, and the scanning position information is provided between the two resistance printing sheets contacted by pressing members provided at two positions on a reading surface of the hand scanner means. 2. The hand scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the current value is given by the conduction current of the hand scanner.