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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image synthesizing device and, more
particularly, to an image synthesizing device which is capable of
selecting desired areas of one or more manuscripts, and providing a
synthesized image thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices of the format overlaying type which record data in a
predetermined form have been proposed as image devices. Although this type
of device is quite effective for certain purposes such as recording
outputs from a computer, it has been unsuitable for synthesis of desired
areas of manuscripts.
A method has also been proposed for producing a synthesized image from
manuscripts by reading out all the data on the manuscripts to be
synthesized, storing the data in a memory and editing the data on a CRT
display or the like. However, this method requires a large capacity memory
and large amounts of time to complete editing, resulting in a complex and
bulky processing device and in a complex operating procedure.
The present invention has been made to provide a solution to this problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel image
synthesizing device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image
synthesizing device which is capable of easily selecting desired areas of
one or more manuscripts to produce a synthesized image.
In order to achieve these objects, the present invention provides an image
synthesizing device comprising a manuscript table, means for reading a
manuscript on the manuscript table, means for selecting an unnecessary
area of the manuscript, means for selecting a necessary area of the
manuscript to be synthesized in the unnecessary area, means for comparing
the selected unnecessary area and necessary area, and means for
controlling the magnification of readout signals of the necessary area if
the sizes of the unnecessary area and the necessary area do not match.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent to
those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the principle of image synthesis
according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an image synthesizing device according
to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a view showing the control system for designation of areas of
manuscripts according to the device shown in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the device shown in FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 is a view showing the principle of image synthesis according to the
present invention. For example, an area A1 and an area B1 are selected
from a first manuscript (original) A and a second manuscript B,
respectively, which are combined with each other to produce an image C. In
this image synthesis, if the sizes of areas A2 and B1 do not match, when
deleting the area A2 of the first manuscript A (leaving the area A1) and
inserting the area B1 of the second manuscript B where the unnecessary
area A2 was, the magnification is changed so that they may match in the
synthesized image C. In this manner, according to the device of the
present invention, the selected areas of the manuscripts are not simply
combined; the photocopied image C is obtained by inserting the necessary
area B1 of the second manuscript B in the unnecessary area A2 of the first
manuscript A.
In this manner, even if the size of the necessary area B1 of the second
manuscript B is different from that of the unnecessary area A2 of the
first manuscript A, the necessary area B1 is corrected in size so that it
may be inserted where the unnecessary area A2 was to provide a synthesized
photocopy.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an image synthesizing device
according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a laser beam LB
radiated from a laser 1 is reflected by reflectors 2 and 3 and becomes
incident on a modulation element 4. The laser beam which passes through
the modulation element 4 becomes incident on a rotary polyhedral mirror 5
to be reflected thereby. The reflected laser beam is then transmitted
through an f.theta. lens system 6 which focuses the laser beam to a spot.
During the synthesis, the rotary polyhedral mirror 5 is rotated by a drive
motor (not shown) at a predetermined high angular speed in the direction
shown by the arrow. The laser beam which is reflected by this rotary
mirror is periodically deflected within a plane. Thus, the light spot of
the laser beam focused by the f.theta. lens system 6 moves along a fixed
line. This fixed line is referred to as a reading main scanning line l.
A photosensitive drum 7 is so arranged as to be rotatable in the direction
shown by the arrow. Part of the circumferential surface of the
photosensitive drum 7 coincides with the main scanning line l which is
parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum in the horizontal plane. The
direction of movement of the circumferential surface of the photosensitive
drum 7 due to the rotation thereof is referred to as a reading subscanning
line.
A manuscript table 11 of the image synthesizing device of the present
invention has manuscript receiving surfaces 12 and 13. Manuscript
receiving references 14, 15, 16 and 17 are arranged on the manuscript
receiving surfaces 12 and 13. The manuscript receiving references 14 and
16 on the manuscript receiving surfaces 12 and 13 are in the main scanning
direction for reading out of the manuscript. On the other hand, the
manuscript receiving references 15 and 17 are the manuscript receiving
references in the subscanning direction. The first and second manuscripts
A and B to be photocopied are placed on the manuscript receiving surfaces
12 and 13 so that the surfaces of the manuscripts to be photocopied face
upwardly. The edges of the manuscripts A and B are aligned with the
references 14, 15, 16 and 17 of the manuscript receiving surfaces. Setting
of the manuscripts is completed by covering their surfaces with
transparent members 18 and 19. Selection of the data of manuscripts A and
B set in this manner may be easily performed by designating coordinates in
the main scanning direction and the subscanning direction of reading with
designation controls 41 to 48 of a coordinate designating device, to be
described later, which is assembled with the manuscript receiving
references 14, 15, 16 and 17.
A manuscript scanning unit 21 for reading out the data of the manuscripts
is arranged in opposition to the manuscript table 11. The manuscript
scanning unit 21 has scanning units 22 and 23 corresponding to the
manuscript receiving surfaces 12 and 13 of the manuscript table 11. Each
of the scanning units 22 and 23 has a high-density light-emitting array
24, an optical fiber 25, a short focal point lens array 26, and elongate
solid sensors 27A and 27B. During the photocopying operation, the scanning
units 22 and 23 are moved as a unit by a drive motor (not shown) in the
direction shown by arrow Y. The direction shown by the arrow Y will be
denoted as the subscanning direction. Main scanning lines LA and LB are
set in the manuscript scanning planes of the scanning units 22 and 23. The
main scanning lines LA and LB are fixed lines where the main scanning of
the manuscript parts along these lines is performed.
The elongate solid sensors 27A and 27B of the respective scanning units 22
and 23 are each formed by arranging a number of small photosensitive
elements in a row in one direction to provide a self-scanning function.
The photosensitive regions of the solid sensors 27A and 27B correspond to
the main scanning lines LA and LB and are arranged to be parallel to the
main scanning lines LA and LB. The manuscript parts on the main scanning
lines LA and LB are illuminated by an illuminating part consisting of the
high-density light-emitting array 24 and the optical fiber 25 and are
imaged on the photosensitive regions through the short focal length lens
array 26. The light-emitting elements constituting the light-emitting
array 26 may be separately controlled for flashing independently of each
another. The control for individual flashing is performed through a
coordinate designating device assembled in the manuscript receiving
references 14, 15, 16 and 17 described above. This control will be
described in more detail hereinafter.
When the images of the manuscript parts along the main scanning lines LA
and LB are formed on the photosensitive regions of the elongate solid
sensors 27A and 27B, a photovoltage corresponding to the intensity of the
incident light is generated in the individual photosensitive elements of
the sensors. These photovoltages are sequentially converted into
time-serial signals according to the order of arrangement of the
photosensitive elements by the self-scanning functions of the elongate
solid sensors 27A and 27B, when drive pulses are applied to the elongate
solid sensors 27A and 27B.
A drive pulse is applied to each of the elongate solid sensors 27A and 27B
in the manner to be described below. A photodetector 8 is arranged in the
vicinity of the starting point for movement of the light spot of the laser
beam formed by the f.theta. lens system 6 to receive the focused laser
beam. The photodetector 8 is effective to sense the initiation of the main
reading scanning. The output of the photodetector 8 is amplified and is
then applied to a clock gate 31 to which are supplied clock pulses from a
clock pulse generator 32. When the signal from the photodetector 8 is
applied to the clock gate 31, the clock gate 31 is opened to output the
clock pulses. These clock pulses are applied as the drive pulses described
above to the elongate solid sensors 27A and 27B. The photodetector 8, the
clock gate 31, and the clock pulse generator 32 constitute a scanning
synchronizing means. Immediately upon application of the drive pulses, the
elongate solid sensors 27A and 27B start self-scanning.
The outputs of the elongate solid sensors 27A and 27B are amplified and are
then applied to a frequency synthesizer 33. A high frequency carrier
generated by a high frequency generator 34 is applied to the frequency
synthesizer 33. The high frequency carrier is modulated by the output
signals of the elongate solid sensors 27A and 27B to become a high
frequency signal corresponding to these output signals. This high
frequency signal is then output from the frequency synthesizer 33,
amplified, and applied to the modulation element 4.
Another photodetector 9 is arranged to receive the focused laser beam in
the vicinity of the point for terminating the movement of the light spot
of the laser beam along the reading main scanning line l This
photodetector 9 serves to detect the completion of one reading main
scanning operation. The output of the photodetector 9 is applied to a
displacement synchronization controller 35. Based upon the signals from
the photodetector 9, the movement synchronization controller 35
synchronizes the rotation of the photosensitive drum 7 with the rotation
of the drive motor (not shown) for the manuscript scanning units 22 and
23.
The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 is a
negative image of the manuscripts. Therefore, a positive image of the
manuscripts may be formed on the photosensitive drum 7 by reversal
development by a reversal development device (not shown). This positive
image is transferred to a recording sheet (not shown) by a conventional
visible image transfer device. The recording sheet is processed in a
similar manner as in the conventional electrophotographic process and is
output from the device as a photocopy. After the visible image transfer,
the photosensitive drum 7 is desensitized and cleaned according to the
conventional electrophotographic process.
The overall construction of the device has been described above. Synthesis
of the image will now be described with reference to FIG. 3.
As in the case of FIG. 1, for the purpose of illustration the area A1 of
the first manuscript A is the necessary part and the area A2 is the
unnecessary part. The area B1 of the second manuscript B is the necessary
part and the area B2 is the unnecessary part. The new image C is to be
formed by combining these manuscripts A and B.
The first manuscript A is placed on the manuscript receiving surface 12 of
the manuscript table 11 with its surface to be photocopied facing upwardly
and with its edges aligned with the manuscript receiving standards 14 and
15. The second manuscript B is placed on the manuscript receiving surface
3 with its surface to be photocopied facing upwardly and with its edges
aligned with the manuscript receiving references 16 and 17. The
transparent members 18 and 19 are placed over the manuscripts thus set to
cover and securely hold them.
While the two manuscripts A and B thus set are visually observed, the
designation controls 41 to 48 arranged at the respective manuscript
receiving references 14, 15, 16 and 17 are slid along these respective
references. In this manner, the coordinates of the areas A1 and B1 of the
manuscripts A and B are designated in the main scanning direction (X
direction in the drawing) and in the subscanning direction (Y direction in
the drawing). More specifically, YA1 is designated with the designation
control 41; YA2, by the designation control 42; XA1, by the designation
control 43; XA2, by the designation control 44; YB1, by the designation
control 45; YB2, by the designation control 46; XB1, by the designation
control 47; and XB2, by the designation control 48. The designation
controls 41 to 48 respectively have racks 49. Shaft encoders 51 to 58 are
arranged through pinions 50 meshing with these racks 49. Therefore, the
shaft encoders 51 to 54 and 55 to 58 are arranged in correspondence with
the designation controls 41 to 44 and 45 to 48. The output signals from
the shaft encoders 51 to 54 at the side of the manuscript receiving
surface 12 are input to a controller 61. The output signals from the shaft
encoders 55 to 58 at the side of the manuscript receiving surface 13 are
input to a controller 62. The flashing of high-density light-emitting
arrays 24A and 24B is controlled by these controllers 61 and 62. At the
scanning unit 22 corresponding to the manuscript A, the light-emitting
array at the region surrounded by the designation controls 41, 42, 43 and
44 is kept off. At the scanning unit 23 corresponding to the manuscript B,
the light-emitting array surrounded by the designation controls 45, 46, 47
and 48 is kept on, but the array is kept off at the other regions. That
is, while the main scanning line LA subscans between YA1 and YA2 of the
manuscript A, the controller 61 controls the light-emitting elements of
the high-density light-emitting array 24A which are located between XA1
and XA2 to be deenergized. Therefore, the manuscript A is exposed, except
for the area A2.
Only while the main scanning line LB of the scanning unit 23 subscans
between YB1 and YB2, the controller 62 controls the light-emitting
elements of the high-density light-emitting array 24B which are located
between XB1 and XB2 to be energized. Therefore, the manuscript B is not
exposed, except for the area B1.
The output signals of the shaft encoders 51 to 54 and 55 to 58 are input to
an arithmetic unit 63 through the controllers 61 and 62, respectively. The
arithmetic unit 63, upon reception of both these inputs, performs
operations of .DELTA.XA=XA2-XA1, .DELTA.YA=YA2-YA1, .DELTA.XB=XB2-XB1,
.DELTA.YB=YB2-YB1, m=.DELTA.XB/.DELTA.XA, and n=.DELTA.YB/.DELTA.YA. The
operation results for m and n are input to a discriminator 64 to
discriminate if m and n are equal to 1, greater than 1, or less than 1.
The processing step to follow is selected according to the discrimination
results obtained.
For example, FIG. 4 shows an example of the controller which selects the
processing step according to cases of m,n<1 (step 1), m,n=1 (step 2), and
m,n<1 (step 3).
If the discriminator 64 discriminates that m,n>1 (step 1), that is, if the
necessary area B1 is larger than the unnecessary area A1, the output
signals of the area B1 from the solid sensor 27B are bit-reduced to 1/m
according to the magnification factor m in the direction of main scanning,
and are also line-reduced to 1/n according to the magnification factor n
in the direction of subscanning. The obtained data is stored in a memory
66.
If m,n=1 or m,n<1 (step 2 or 3), that is, if the size of the area A2 is the
same or greater than the size of the necessary area B1, the output signals
of the area B1 from the solid sensor 27B are not subjected to the
processing as in the case of (step 1) and are directly stored in the
memory 66.
The signals stored in the memory 66 are input to the frequency synthesizer
33 during reading. No processing is performed in the cases of step 1 and
step 2. On the other hand, in the case of step 3, input is performed such
that the same magnification factor of 1 bit is repeated after every
predetermined number of bits, and the same one scanning operation is
repeated after every group of several scanning operations.
For example, if m=4/5 and n=3/4, the same signals are repeated for one bit
after every 4 bits, and the same scanning operation is repeated at the
rate of one scanning operation for every 3 scanning operations.
The timing control for starting reading out from the memory 66 is performed
by the output signal from the controller 61. For example, while the main
scanning line LA of the scanning unit 22 subscans between YA1 and YA2, the
controller 61 generates a signal for initiating the reading out of the
data which is read out by the elongate solid sensor 27B and is stored in
the memory 66, every time the elongate solid sensor 27A completes one
self-scanning operation up to (XA-1) times.
In this manner, the necessary data of the manuscripts A and B are input to
the frequency synthesizer 33 under the condition that they may be readily
synthesized.
The output of the frequency synthesizer 33 is input to the modulation
element 4.
The laser beam is modulated by the modulation element 4 and the synthesized
image C obtained from the combination of the selected areas A1 and B1 of
the manuscripts A and B is recorded on the photosensitive drum 7. The
recorded image is fixed on the recording sheet by a suitable recording
method, for example, the electrophotographic process. Meanwhile, the
scanning units 22 and 23 which have completed the predetermined scanning
operations are restored to the initial positions for subsequent image
synthesis processing. Although two scanning units were used in the
embodiment described above, only one scanning unit may alternatively be
used. Furthermore, it is to be understood that more than two scanning
units may be used for the manuscript table. In the embodiment described
above, only a pair of designation controls were used for each of the X and
Y directions of each of the manuscript receiving surfaces. However,
another pair may be added to each of the X and Y directions in order to
designate two areas of each manuscript as necessary and unnecessary areas.
In this case, not only the synthesis of a plurality of manuscripts may be
performed, but replacement of areas of the same manuscript may also be
performed. This will allow easy recomposition of photographs or the like
during editing of a single surface of newspapers, magazines,
advertisements and so on.
In the embodiment described above, the magnification factors, for the
second manuscript were independently corrected in the direction of main
scanning and in the direction of subscanning. However, as a modification,
it is also possible to assign priority to either the direction of main
scanning or the direction of subscanning so that the magnification factor
for the direction with priority may be similarly applied to the other
direction.
In the embodiment described above, the synthesizing image signals were
directly guided to the laser modulation element. However, it is to be
understood that these synthesizing image signals may be converted into
currents or voltages and transferred to a remote place for recording at
the remote place. As the recording method other than the
electrophotographic process, any process such as electrostatic recording,
ink-jet recording, or the like may be adopted as long as recording may be
accomplished according to the modulation signal.
In summary, according to the present invention, an image synthesizing
device for selecting predetermined areas of a plurality of manuscripts for
synthesis of these areas is characterized in that the size of an
unnecessary area of a first manuscript is compared with the size of a
necessary area of a second manuscript which is to be inserted into the
blank area where the unnecessary area of the first manuscript was, and, if
necessary, the magnification factor of the necessary area of the second
manuscript is corrected to accommodate it in the blank area of the first
manuscript.
According to this construction, desired areas of different manuscripts may
be combined, and synthesized images of excellent quality may be obtained
even if the sizes of the selected areas are different.
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