JP2005210670A - Charge calculating apparatus and image reading system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decide what attributes of image is affecting the fact that the charge amount is high. <P>SOLUTION: With regard to image data of an image of a document read by a scanner and stored in a frame memory, a digital copy machine determines the attribute (image size, monochromatic/color and resolution) of an image that affects the capacity of the image data (steps S5-S7). The digital copy machine then refers to a table, based on a result of the determination and calculates the charge amount of a price, corresponding to the processing reading the document by the scanner, and then storing the document on an HDD (step S8). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a fee calculation apparatus and an image reading system for charging for reading an image of a document.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a copying apparatus capable of calculating a price by integrating the unit price of copying according to whether the image data input by the image input means is color or monochrome, or according to a difference in size. With this technology, color data can be printed in black and white according to user specifications, thereby eliminating the shortage of charges.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an image forming apparatus that prompts the user to select whether to output in color or monochrome when there is color data in the read image data. In this technique, the total amount charged in the selected output mode is displayed.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an image forming apparatus that reads an original image and permits image formation when charging according to a determined color mode is possible.

JP 2003-244365 A JP 2002-204360 A JP 2001-125445 A

  In recent years, various documents such as various documents and photographic film negatives are read with a scanner and digitized, and the image data is stored on a medium, or the digitized image data is transferred via a wired network or a wireless public network. Etc. are becoming more common.

  Therefore, it is desired to provide a service in which an original is read by a scanner, digitized, the image data is recorded on a medium, and the price is obtained via a charging device or the like. However, the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are techniques for charging for print output of an image, and techniques for charging for reading an image with a scanner and recording it on a medium have not been known. .

  When charging for reading an image with a scanner and recording it on a medium, it is desirable to change the charge according to the data capacity of the digitized image data. In this case, by detecting how much data capacity the image data after digitization occupies in the storage device, it is possible to easily know the data capacity, so calculate the fee based on it, The amount can be informed to the user in advance before charging.

  However, with such means, if the user feels that the billing amount is high, the user cannot know what is the cause of the increase in the fee, so in order to digitize the image at a lower fee There is a problem that it is not possible to determine what to do.

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to obtain a charge amount corresponding to the data capacity of image data for an image read by a scanner and stored in a storage device.

  Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to determine in this case what image attributes are affecting the high billing amount.

  The present invention relates to a determination unit that determines, for the image data of an image of a document read by a scanner and stored in a predetermined storage device, an attribute of one or a plurality of images that affects the data capacity of the image data, and the determination And a calculation unit that calculates a charge amount for the reading and storage based on a determination result of the unit.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to a scanner that reads an image of a document, a storage device that stores image data of an image read by the scanner, and image data stored in the storage device. An image reading system comprising: a determination unit that determines an attribute of one or a plurality of images that affects the capacity; and a calculation unit that calculates a charge amount for the reading and storage based on a determination result of the determination unit. is there.

  According to the present invention, for an image read by a scanner and stored in a storage device, a charge amount corresponding to the data capacity of image data can be obtained. In this case, since the data capacity of the image data is obtained by determining the attribute of one or more images that affect the data capacity of the image data, the image data that has an influence on the high charge amount is determined. You can determine what the attribute is.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a schematic configuration of an image reading system 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an external view. The image reading system 100 includes a digital copying machine 300 and a charging device 200. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection of the digital copying machine 300. Hereinafter, the apparatus configuration of the image reading system 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

  The digital copying machine 300 is a device that realizes each function of a copying machine, a printer, a scanner, and a facsimile machine. The billing apparatus 200 is, for example, a coin rack having a well-known configuration (thus, detailed description is omitted), and can be billed from cash.

  The digital copier 300 centrally controls the entire digital copier 300, and the system controller 330 includes a system controller 330 having functions of a plurality of applications such as a scanner application, a copy application, a FAX application, and a printer application, and a user's An operation panel control device 331 that accepts various operations and displays various messages, and performs image input / output, that is, reading of an original image, formation of an image on a medium such as transfer paper by a known electrophotographic technique, etc. An image input / output control device 632. These are connected to each other by an image data bus / control command bus 320, which is a bus through which image data and control commands are transferred in a time division manner.

  The CPU 305 controls the system controller 330. The ROM 304 stores a control program for the system controller 330 and the like. A RAM 303 is a working memory used by the CPU 305. The NVRAM 302 is a nonvolatile memory, and stores information of the entire system such as a sub-scanning magnification adjustment value and a main-scanning magnification adjustment value of an image reading unit 324 described later. An external device communication control unit 306 performs communication control with an external device used in a FAX or printer.

  A system I / F 307 controls transfer of FAX data and printer data processed in the system according to a command from the CPU 305. The work memory 341 is a work memory for image development used in the image input / output device 332. The frame memory 301 is a working memory that stores image data of a read image and a write image, and the image data is, for example, an encoded dot image.

  The FIFO buffer 309 performs data transfer rate conversion when an input image of an image reading unit 324 described later is written to the frame memory 301. Similarly, the FIFO buffer 308 performs speed conversion when transferring image data in the frame memory 301 as an output image.

  The memory controller 310 controls image input / output between the frame memory 301 and the HDDC 350 and the bus 320 without the control of the CPU 305. The HDDC 350 includes a hard disk (HDD) serving as a storage device, and performs data input / output control to the HDD.

  The CPU 617 controls the operation panel control device 611. The ROM 616 stores a control program for the operation panel control device 611. A RAM 618 is a working memory used by the CPU 617. The input device 614 is a device by which a user inputs system settings.

  The display device 315 is a device that displays various messages so that the user can confirm the setting contents and state of the system.

  The image writing unit 323 is a known optical writing device that turns on laser light at a pixel frequency and scans it with a polygon scanner.

  The electrophotographic process unit 326 forms a latent image written on the photosensitive member with the laser beam output from the image writing unit 323 with a toner, forms an image by a known electrophotographic technique that transfers and fixes the latent image on a sheet. Is a unit.

  The transfer paper conveyance control unit 327 conveys the paper on which the image is transferred by the electrophotographic process unit 326.

  In this digital copying machine 300, the printer engine shows an example of an electrophotographic system, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the printing system of the digital copying machine 300 is an electrophotographic system, an inkjet system, Various systems such as a sublimation type thermal transfer system, a silver salt photography system, a direct thermal recording system, and a melt type thermal transfer system can be used.

  The image reading unit 324 includes an optical scanner having a known configuration that reflects lamp light from a document and reads a document image by a CCD.

  The document conveyance control unit 334 conveys documents read by the image reading unit 324 one by one from the stacked documents.

  A charging device I / F (interface) 333 converts an instruction of the CPU 325 into a dedicated I / F 201 of the charging device 200 in order to connect the image input / output control device 332 and the charging device 200, and performs various kinds of communication with the charging device 200. Send and receive signals.

  The image reading unit 324 and the document conveyance control unit 334 are provided with a plurality of optical sensors (not shown) for detecting the document size (A4, B5, etc.). Alternatively, the document size can be detected, for example, by detecting the number of lines of the read image and the number of pixels of one line in the image reading unit 324 with a predetermined image processing circuit (not shown). Further, for example, the image processing circuit of the image reading unit 324 determines whether the read original image is a monochrome image or a color image from the pixel value of each pixel. Since the detection of the size of the original and the separate detection of the monochrome image / color image is a well-known technique, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the digital copying machine 300, the resolution for reading an image by the image reading unit 324 can be set in advance. This setting is stored in, for example, a non-volatile memory constituting the ROM 316.

  Reference numeral 307 is a system (interface) I / F, reference numerals 311 to 313, 319, 321, and 322 are bus control devices, reference numeral 317 is a CPU of the operation panel control unit 317, reference numerals 316 and 318 are ROM and RAM, reference numerals Reference numerals 329 and 328 denote a ROM and a RAM of the image input / output device 332, respectively.

  In the digital copying machine 300, it is possible to determine an image attribute that affects the data capacity of image data when a document is read by the image reading unit 324 (determination means). The “attribute” here refers to, for example, the size of an image, the distinction between a monochrome image / color image, and the resolution. In this example, the size of the image and the monochrome / color image are detected as described above (detection means), and the resolution of the read image that has been set (setting means) is determined. Such a judgment can be made.

  The coin rack serving as the billing apparatus 200 includes an insertion slot 202 into which a coin is inserted, and the inserted amount is displayed on the display unit 203. When the digital copying machine 300 is instructed to perform billing via the dedicated I / F 201, the necessary amount is charged from the amount of money that has been input, and the change is discharged to the discharge port 204. In addition, when the input amount is insufficient for the amount instructed to be charged by the digital copying machine 300, the fact is notified to the digital copying machine 300 via the dedicated I / F 201.

  The coin rack is an example of the billing apparatus 200, and the billing apparatus in the present invention is not limited to the coin rack. That is, as the billing device 200, not only a device that makes an immediate payment with cash, such as a coin rack, but also a device that makes a payment using various prepaid cards, electronic money, credit cards, debit cards, or the like may be used. That is, various kinds of card readers / writers for making payments by these means, terminal devices such as CAT, electronic cash registers, and the like can be used as the charging device 200. A billing execution instruction is transmitted from the digital copying machine 300 to a predetermined transmission destination via a network such as the Internet, a dedicated line, a telephone line, etc., and is received at the transmission destination. You may make it settle by such as. In this case, a communication interface that transmits a billing execution instruction from the digital copying machine 300 functions as the billing apparatus 200.

  Next, an example of network connection and image data transfer of the image reading system 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The digital copying machine 300 equipped with the image reading unit 324 and the scanner device 401 can directly transmit the read image as FAX data via the public line network 402 as a telephone line.

  By connecting the digital copying machine 300 and the scanner device 401 to the LAN 403, the read image data can be printed by the printer 404 and the digital copying machine 300 connected to the LAN 403.

  By connecting to the LAN 403, the digital copying machine 300 and the scanner device 401 can transfer the read image data to a PC (personal computer) 405 connected to the LAN 403, and store and save it in the PC 405. Further, the image data can be stored and stored in the storage devices of the digital copying machine 300 and the scanner device 401 that read the original.

  The digital copying machine 300 and the scanner device 401 can perform a document reading operation from the PC 405 by connecting to the LAN 403 in addition to performing a document reading operation on its own operation panel.

  Next, processing executed by the image reading system 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Such processing is executed by the CPU 305 based on the control program stored in the ROM 304.

  First, when the user operates the input device 314 to select the scanner mode (Y in step S1), the digital copier 300 can read and store the original image. When the user sets a desired document and operates a predetermined execution button (Y in Step S2), the image reading unit 324 reads the document image (Step S3), and the read image data is stored in the frame memory. Once stored in 301 (step S4). Further, when this image data is stored in the frame memory 301, the attribute of one or a plurality of images that affect the data capacity is determined (determination means) (steps S5 to S7). In this example, as the attribute of this image, the size of the image and the distinction between the monochrome image / color image are detected by the means as described above (detection means) (steps S5 and S6), and the resolution at the time of document reading Is determined (step S7).

  When the attribute of the image is determined in this way, the charge amount for reading the image of the original and finally storing it in the HDD of the HDDC 350 is calculated from the combination of the attributes (step S8). The fee calculation apparatus of the present invention is implemented by the processing of steps S5 to S8. This calculation is performed with reference to a table 501 as shown in FIG. That is, in the example of FIG. 6, charges are registered according to the paper size, resolution, and monochrome / color image of the original (specifically, the difference in the number of colors of one to four colors). In this example, the resolution can be set in three stages of high, medium, and low. For example, when the paper size is B4 (187640 square millimeters) and the resolution is one color (monochrome image), the charge amount is 24 yen. If this becomes three colors (color image) under the same conditions, the charge amount is 32 yen. One color, two colors, three colors, four colors or more are the number of color components detected by the R (red), G (green), and B (blue) sensors of the color CCD of the image reading unit 324. . The reason for having four or more colors is prepared assuming that the color CCD includes a sensor for detecting color components other than R, G, and B (becomes four or more colors). When an existing general color CCD is used, three color components of R, G, and B are detected, and one of one color, two colors, and three colors is detected depending on which color component is detected. Judgment.

  When the charge amount is obtained in this way, the amount is displayed on the display device 315 (step S9). In addition, the paper size, resolution, and monochrome / color image classification (specifically, the difference in the number of colors of one to four colors) is also displayed. Then, the user is inquired by displaying a message as to whether or not to charge for this amount (notification means) (step S10).

  If the user is not satisfied with the amount of money, the input device 314 is operated to cancel (N in step S11), and the image data of the document temporarily stored in the frame memory 301 is deleted (step S12). The process ends.

  When the user is satisfied with the amount of money, the user accepts that he / she has accepted the charge by operating the input device 314 (second accepting means) (Y in step S11). The execution of charging for the amount obtained in step S13 is instructed (step S13). Thereby, in the charging apparatus 200, when the input amount is sufficient for the instructed amount, the amount is deducted and the charging process is completed. If the input amount is insufficient, the shortage of the amount is reported to the digital copying machine 300.

  When this report is received (Y in step S14), the user is notified of a shortage of money by displaying a message on the display device 315 (step S15). Thereafter, after a predetermined time has elapsed (Y in step S16), the billing apparatus 200 is again instructed to perform billing for the amount obtained in step S8 (step S17), and the user pays an additional fee by that time. If so, the amount is deducted and the accounting process is completed. If no surcharge is charged, a shortage of money is reported to the digital copying machine 300. When this report is received (Y in step S18), the process proceeds to step S12, and the series of processes is terminated.

  If there is no such report (N in step S14, N in step S18), the charging apparatus 200 has been charged normally, so the document image data temporarily stored in the frame memory 301 is stored in the HDD of the HDDC 350. Store (step S19). Accordingly, the user can use the read image data registered in the HDD of the HDDC 350 from the PC 405 or the like.

  When continuously reading a plurality of originals, all the originals that can be stored in the frame memory 301 are read, and the charge calculation of step S8 is performed for each original, and the total amount is charged. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the paper size of the original document, the resolution, and the attributes of each image of the monochrome image / color image are automatically determined by the digital copying machine 300, but all or part of these attributes. May be received by a user instruction by operating the input device 314 (first receiving means), and the determination may be made according to this instruction. That is, when the user instructs the input device 314 to specify the paper size, resolution, and monochrome / color image of the read document, the table 501 is looked up based on the contents of the instruction to determine the fee.

  In the example described above, the process of S8 described in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is executed by the digital copying machine 300, and the fee calculation apparatus of the present invention is executed by the digital copying machine 300. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the processing in step S8 may be executed by the charging apparatus 200. In this case, the billing apparatus 200 digitally copies the result of steps S5 to S7 detected and determined by the digital copying machine 300, or other information on the paper size, resolution, monochrome image / color image of the document specified by the user. Based on this information, the processing of step S8 is performed and charging is performed. When charging is performed, an instruction signal may be output so that the image data once stored in the frame memory 301 in the digital copying machine 300 is registered in the HDD of the HDDC 350.

  According to the image reading system 100 described above, a charge amount corresponding to the data capacity of the image data can be obtained for an image read by the scanner of the image reading unit 324 and temporarily stored in the frame memory 301 (step S8). . In this case, since the data capacity of the image data is determined by determining the attribute of one or a plurality of images that affect the data capacity of the image data (steps S5 to S7), the charge amount is high. It is possible to determine what the attribute of the image that is given.

  Another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  This embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment in that the process of FIG. 7 is executed instead of the process of FIG. Other apparatus configurations and the like are the same as those of the above-described embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 7, steps having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5 are the same processes as described above, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. In the following, the points in FIG. 7 different from the processing in FIG. 5 will be mainly described. In the process of FIG. 7, when the execution button is operated (Y in step S2), it is determined whether or not image priority setting for reading an image is performed according to the original image (step S20). This setting is performed in advance. When image priority is set (Y in step S20), the processing in steps S3 to S19 is executed in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment. When the image priority setting is not set (N in step S20), the processes in steps S21 to S28 are executed before the processes in steps S3 to S19 are executed. Hereinafter, this process will be described.

  First, the CPU 305 displays the details of the reading setting that reduces the charge for reading the document on the display device 315 of the operation panel control device 331 (step S21). Then, an input for setting that the charging fee is low is received from the user and set (step S22).

  When the color reduction is performed and the effective color at that time is set (Y in step S23) from the contents of the user setting (step S22), the effective reading color is set in the image reading unit 324 (step S26). . That is, when a user desires to perform color subtraction from a full-color image and read the image with a desired effective color, by setting color effective color reduction and the effective color at that time, the image is not a full-color image. Since the image is read and recorded by the image reading unit 324 with a predetermined effective color that has undergone color reduction (step S3), the amount of image data can be reduced, and the charge amount can be reduced compared to a full-color image. (Step S8).

  If it is set from the user settings (step S22) that monochrome image reading is to be performed (Y in step S24), the image reading unit 324 is set to perform monochrome image reading (step S24). S27). That is, when the user desires to read an image as a monochrome image instead of a full color image, by setting that the image is read as a monochrome image, the image is read by the image reading unit 324 as a monochrome image instead of a full color image. (Step S3) and recorded, the amount of image data can be reduced and the billing amount can be reduced (step S8).

  Furthermore, when a low-resolution image or a small-size image is set (Y in step S25) from the user setting contents (step S22), it is higher than that of the full-color image set by default. The image reading unit 324 is set to have an image with a low pixel resolution and a low resolution or a small size (step S28). That is, when the user desires to read an image with a lower resolution or a smaller size than usual, the image is read with an image with a lower resolution or a smaller size. By setting the effect, the image is read and recorded by the image reading unit 324 (step S3) as an image having a lower resolution or a smaller size than the full color image set as a default (step S3). The amount of image data can be reduced, and the charge amount can be reduced (step S8).

  In this way, for example, selection of whether to read the original by the image reading unit 324 with a full color image set in advance as a default or in a predetermined mode with a smaller amount of read image data than the full color image is executed, for example. When a button is operated (step S2) or the like is received from the user (accepting means), and when the user selects to read in a predetermined mode in which the amount of read image data is smaller than a full-color image (step S20) N), the image reading unit 324 selects the image in the selected mode, ie, color reduction (Y in step S23), monochrome (Y in step S24), low image, or small image (Y in step S25). A document is read by the reading unit 324. Therefore, when such processing is performed, the amount of data of the read image is smaller than the case of a full-color image set as a default (Y in step S20) based on the determination in steps S5 to S7. The amount of money can be reduced.

  In the above description, the digital multifunction peripheral 300 and the billing apparatus 200 constitute an image reading system as a whole. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the digital multifunction peripheral having the function of a fee calculation device is provided. The image reading system may be configured by 300 alone.

  Further, the functions of the above-described detection means and setting means do not need to be included in the function of the charge calculation device. For example, the function of the charge calculation device is provided in the charging device 200, and the functions of the detection means and setting means are provided. The digital multi-function peripheral 300 may be provided.

1 is a block diagram of a schematic configuration of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external view of an image reading system. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection of a digital copying machine constituting an image reading system. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a LAN including a digital copying machine. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the image reading system. It is a conceptual diagram of the table used by the process of FIG. 12 is a flowchart of another example of processing executed by the image reading system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image reading system 200 Charging apparatus 300 Charge calculation apparatus 324 Scanner 350 Memory | storage device

Claims (22)

Determination means for determining one or a plurality of image attributes that affect the data capacity of the image data of the image of the document read by the scanner and stored in a predetermined storage device;
Calculation means for calculating a charge amount for the reading and storage based on a determination result of the determination means;
Charge calculation device equipped with.   The fee calculation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the image is monochrome or color as one of the attributes.   The fee calculation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the size of the image as one of the attributes.   The fee calculation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the resolution of the image as one of the attributes.   The fee calculation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit performs the determination based on a user designation for at least a part of the attribute.   The said determination means performs the said determination about at least one part of the said attribute based on the detection result of the detection means detected from the said image data about at least one part of the said attribute. The charge calculator described.   The fee calculation according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit performs the determination on at least a part of the attribute based on a setting of a setting unit configured to set at least a part of the attribute. apparatus. A scanner that reads the image of the document,
A storage device for storing image data of an image read by the scanner;
Determination means for determining the attribute of one or a plurality of images affecting the data capacity of the image data for the image data stored in the storage device;
Calculation means for calculating a charge amount for the reading and storage based on a determination result of the determination means;
An image reading system comprising:   The image reading system according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit determines whether the image is monochrome or color as one of the attributes.   The image reading system according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit determines the size of the image as one of the attributes.   The image reading system according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit determines the resolution of the image as one of the attributes. First receiving means for receiving designation from a user for at least a part of the attribute;
The image reading system according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit performs the determination based on the designation for at least a part of the attribute. Detecting means for detecting at least a part of the attribute from the image data;
The image reading system according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit performs the determination on at least a part of the attribute based on the detection result. Setting means for setting at least a part of the attribute;
The image reading system according to claim 8, wherein the determination unit performs the determination on at least a part of the attribute based on the setting.   The image reading system according to claim 8, further comprising a charging device that charges based on the calculation of the calculating unit.   The image reading system according to any one of claims 8 to 15, further comprising a notification unit that notifies a user that the charge amount is large when the determination unit determines the presence of a predetermined attribute. A notification means for notifying a user that the charge amount is large when the determination means determines the presence of a predetermined attribute;
Second accepting means for accepting an instruction as to whether or not to execute the billing to the user;
An instruction means for instructing execution of the charging by the charging apparatus with respect to the charging amount obtained by the calculation when the second receiving means receives the execution of the charging;
The image reading system according to claim 15. A receiving unit that receives from the user a selection of whether to read a document by the scanner with a preset color image or to read in a predetermined mode with a smaller amount of read image data than the color image;
The scanner reads an original with the scanner in the selected mode;
The image reading system according to any one of claims 8 to 17.   The image reading system according to claim 18, wherein the reception unit receives a selection of reading an image obtained by reducing the color image as one of the modes from a user.   The image reading system according to claim 18, wherein the receiving unit receives a selection of reading an image in monochrome as one of the modes.   The image reading system according to claim 18, wherein the accepting unit accepts, as one of the modes, a selection for reading an image with a resolution lower than that of the color image from a user. The image reading system according to claim 18, wherein the accepting unit accepts a selection of reading an image having an image size smaller than the color image as one of the modes.

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