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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus with a filing
function, such as a copying machine, which can store image data, e.g.,
document data, and can efficiently perform document filing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when a large amount of documents (images) are processed in an
office and the like. The space for storing such documents is increasingly
lacking. For this reason, a filing system such as a document filing
apparatus using optical disks or the like has been developed. In such a
filing system, sophisticated retrieved or registration processing, based
on a sophisticated document editing or permanent filing system, can be
performed by a high-performance display unit. However, the cost of such a
filing system is very high. In addition, since such a system has various
functions and requires complicated operations, document registration and
retrieval take much time.
The drawbacks of the above-mentioned apparatus, therefore, are that
registration or retrieval of images cannot be simply and easily performed,
and the apparatus for doing so is expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive image
forming apparatus with a filing function, which allows the simple, easy
registration and retrieval of images.
The present invention, is an image forming apparatus with a filing
function, comprising:
means for reading first image data;
means for storing the first image data read by the reading means;
means for generating retrieval data for retrieving the first image data
stored in the storing means;
means for causing the storing means to store the retrieval data generated
by the generating means;
means for outputting second image data obtained by adding the retrieval
data, generated by the generating means, to the first image data read by
the reading means;
means for extracting the retrieval data from the second image data by
causing the reading means to read the second image data output from the
outputting means; and
means for retrieving the first image data stored in the storing means by
collating the retrieval data extracted by the extracting means with the
retrieval data stored in the storing means.
According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus with a
filing function:
means for reading a plurality of image data; by said reading means in a
memory medium;
means for forming abstract image by editing the plurality of image data
read by said reading means; and
means for printing the abstract image formed by the forming means onto a
recording medium.
According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus with a
filing function comprises:
means for reading image data;
means for storing the image data read by said reading means in an optical
storage medium;
means for generating retrieval data for retrieving the image data stored in
the optical storage medium by said storing means;
means for forming an abstract image by editing a plurality of image data
read by said reading means and the retrieval data generated by said
generating means;
means for printing the abstract image formed by the forming means on a
recording medium;
means for extracting the retrieval data from the abstract image by reading
the abstract image on the recording medium by said reading means; and
means for retrieving the image data corresponding to the retrieval data
from the optical storage medium.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the
description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the
description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects
and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of
the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the
appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part
of the specification, illustrate a presently preferred embodiment of the
invention, and together with the general description given above and the
detailed description of the preferred embodiment given below, serve to
explain the principles of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of a copying
machine of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the internal structures of a scanner,
printer, and optical disk unit of the copying machine in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of the scanner in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of an image
processing circuit in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5A is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of an editing
processing section in FIG. 4;
FIG. 5B is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of an image
processing module in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a view showing a structure of a page memory in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 7 and 8 are views for explaining an address generating operation of
an address controller in FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of a control
system of the printer in FIG. 1;
FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an arrangement of a display section in FIG.
1;
FIGS. 11 to 13 are views showing condition settings displayed on a
condition display panel in FIG. 10;
FIG. 14 is a view for explaining the storage contents of a main memory in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 15 is a view showing an arrangement of a data table ROM in FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 is a view showing an arrangement of a working RAM in FIG. 14.
FIG. 17 is a view showing a detailed arrangement of a counter in FIG. 16.
FIG. 18 is a view showing an arrangement of a disk data memory in FIG. 16;
FIG. 19A is a view showing an arrangement of a page memory control data
memory in FIG. 15;
FIG. 19B is a view showing an arrangement of a file mode control data
memory in FIG. 19A;
FIGS. 20A to 20E are views respectively showing formats management data and
of document data in the optical disk of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 21A and 21B are views showing an arrangement of a file data area in
FIG. 20;
FIG. 22A is a view for explaining the contents printed on the upper surface
of an abstract image output from a printer in FIG. 1;
FIG. 22B is a view for explaining the contents printed on the lower surface
of the abstract image output from the printer in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 23A, 23B, 23C, 24A, 24B, and 24C are views respectively showing
examples of page division of the lower surface of the abstract image in
FIG. 22B;
FIG. 25A and 25B are views for explaining an operation of writing image
data in memories in the page memory in FIG. 6;
FIGS. 26A to 26E, FIGS. 27A to 27F, FIGS. 28A to 28C, FIGS. 29A and 29B,
FIGS. 30A to 30D, FIGS. 31A to 31D, FIGS. 32A and 32B, and FIGS. 33A and
33B are views showing output examples of the abstract image shown in FIGS.
22A and 22B;
FIGS. 34A, 34B, 35A, and 35B are views showing detailed arrangements of
document list outputs obtained when a document list output mode shown in
FIG. 13 is selected;
FIGS. 36A to 36E, FIGS. 37A to 37E, and FIGS. 38A to 38C are views showing
detailed arrangements of retrieval document outputs obtained when a
retrieval output mode shown in FIG. 12 is selected;
FIG. 39A is a flow chart for explaining an operation of a basic function of
the copying machine in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 39B and 39C are flow charts for explaining a filing operation shown
in FIG. 39A;
FIGS. 39D and 39E are flow charts for explaining a processing condition
setting operation in FIGS. 39B and 39C;
FIG. 39F is a flow chart for explaining a filing operation in FIG. 39C;
FIGS. 39G to 39L are flow charts for explaining a formation of an abstract
image in FIGS. 39B and 39C;
FIG. 39M is a flow chart for explaining retrieval processing in FIG. 39A;
FIGS. 39N and 390 are flow charts for explaining a processing condition
setting operation in FIG. 39M;
FIGS. 39P and 39Q are flow charts for explaining document retrieval
processing in FIG. 39M;
FIG. 39R is a flow chart for explaining document list processing in FIG.
39A;
FIG. 39S is a flow chart for explaining a processing condition setting
operation in FIG. 39R; and
FIGS. 39T and 39U are flow charts for explaining document retrieval
processing and document output processing in FIG. 39R.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic arrangement of a copying machine as an image
forming apparatus with a filing function according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the copying machine comprises a basic system section 1,
an image processing section 2, a memory section 3, an I/O section 4, an
image storage section 5, a system bus 6, and an image bus 7. In this
copying machine, the basic system section 1, the image processing section
2, the memory section 3, the I/O section 4, the image storage section 5,
the system bus 6, and the image bus 7 are integrally arranged in a main
body 60 of the copying machine, as shown in FIG. 2.
The basic system section 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a CPU (central
processing unit) 10 for performing various control operations, a keyboard
11 for outputting data, a display section 12 for displaying various
states, a main memory 13 as a program storage area, a magnetic disk unit
15 as a storage unit for various data, a basic system interface 14 for
interfacing a floppy disk unit 16, and an external I/O interface 17 for
allowing connection with external units.
The image processing section 2 comprises an image processing module (to be
described later) 20 for performing various image processing operations,
and a compression/expansion circuit (CODEC) 21 for performing
compression/expansion of image data.
The memory section 3 is constituted by a page memory 30 having a recording
capacity corresponding to several A3 pages, and a buffer memory 31 as a
temporary storage area for image data.
The I/O section 4 comprises a scanner 41 as a document reader for optically
reading document data and converting it into a time-serial electrical
signal, a printer 43 as an image output section for printing out image
data, a scanner interface 40 for connecting the above-mentioned components
to the system, and a printer interface 42.
The image storage section 5 is constituted by an optical disk unit 51 for
storing various data in an optical disk (not shown), and an optical disk
interface 50 for connecting the unit 51 to the system.
The system bus 6 serves as a control bus for the overall system and
controls the basic system section 1, the image processing section 2, the
memory section 3, the I/O section 4, and the image storage section 5. The
image bus 7 serves as a bus exclusively used for image data and allows
high-speed transfer of image data of the image processing section 2, the
memory section 3, the I/O section 4, and the image storage section 5.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing internal structures of the scanner 41,
the printer 43, and the optical disk unit 51 of the copying machine shown
in FIG. 1.
The scanner 41 comprises a return auto document feeder (RADF) 206 and an
exposure section 229 constituted by a first carriage 224, a second
carriage 222, a focusing lens 227, and a CCD (charge coupled device)
sensor 228.
Referring to FIG. 2, a document sheet is placed facing down on a document
glass 220. The front left side of the document glass 220 in the transverse
direction serves as a center reference for positioning the document sheet.
The document sheet is urged against the document glass 200 by a conveyor
belt 212 of a convey unit section 218 of the return auto document feeder
(RADF) 206. The document sheet is illuminated by a fluorescent lamp 223,
and the reflected light is focused on a surface of the CCD 228 having a
plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in a row through mirrors
224, 225, and 226 and the focusing lens 227.
The first carriage 1 including the mirror 24, light amount sensor (not
shown) for detecting the light amount of the fluorescent lamp 223, and a
heater for keeping the temperature of the fluorescent lamp 223 constant,
and the second carriage 222 including the mirrors 225 and 226 are moved at
a relative speed of 2:1. The first and second carriages 221 and 222 are
moved from the left to the right to perform sub-scanning by means of a
pulse motor (not shown) in synchronism with a read timing signal from the
scanner interface 40. The speed of sub-scanning is switched in accordance
with a read magnification by driving a two-phase pulse motor using a
1/2-phase excitation micro step driving method. A pulse motor driver (not
shown) is designed to output a current waveform for canceling the natural
oscillation of the drive system especially in a low-speed range to the
pulse motor.
An image of the document sheet placed on the document glass 220 is
sequentially read in units of lines in the above-described manner. An
8-bit digital signal representing the density of the image is output to
the scanner interface 40.
The upper and lower surfaces of a document sheet are read by the return
auto document feeder (RADF) 206 in the following manner. When a document
detection switch 217 detects that a document sheet is placed on a document
feed table 207, an RADF mode is set. Document sheets are picked up by a
pickup roller 208 from the uppermost document sheet, and are separated and
conveyed one by one by a feed roller 209 and a separation roller 210 which
are rotated in opposite directions. The conveyed document sheet is aligned
by aligning rollers 211 and is conveyed to the convey unit section 218.
The document sheet is further conveyed by the conveyor belt 212 until it is
brought into contact with a document stopper 213, i.e., to a read
reference position. After a read operation is performed at this position
in the above-described manner, the conveyor belt 212 is rotated in the
reverse direction to return the document sheet to a reverse gate 216 of a
paper feed unit 205. At this time, the reverse gate 216 is pivoted to a
position to convey the document sheet to reverse rollers 219a. The
document sheet is then reversed and conveyed to aligning rollers 219g by
reverse rollers 219a, 219b, and 219c through reverse guides 219d, 219e,
and 219f.
After the document sheet is aligned, it is supplied to the convey unit
section 218 by the aligning rollers 219g and is conveyed to the read
reference position by the conveyor belt 212. When a read operation of the
lower surface is completed, the document sheet is conveyed by the conveyor
belt 212 until it reaches discharge rollers 214a. The document sheet is
then discharged by the discharge rollers 214a and discharge rollers 214b
and is stacked on a document discharge tray 215. The upper and lower
surfaces of document sheets can be continuously read by repeating the
above-described operation.
The optical disk unit 51 comprises an optical disk 233, an optical disk
drive motor 234, a read head (not shown) and an optical disk drive control
section 235.
Image data is stored in the following manner. Image data read by the
scanner 41 is temporarily stored in the page memory 30. The image data is
then compressed by the compression/expansion circuit 21 of the image
processing section 2 through the image bus 7 and is output to the optical
disk unit 51 through the optical disk interface 50. The compressed image
data is recorded, by a head (not shown) controlled by the optical disk
drive control section 235, as bit data on the optical disk 233
rotated/controlled by the optical disk drive motor 234.
When image data is to be read out, data recorded at a specific position on
the optical disk 233 is read out by the head in accordance with control
data (retrieval data identified from an abstract image). The image data is
then expanded by the compression/expansion circuit 21 of the image
processing section 2 through the image bus 7 and is temporarily stored in
the page memory 30. The image data recorded in the page memory 30 is
subjected to predetermined processing in the image processing module 30
and is output to the printer 43 through the image bus 7 and the printer
interface 42.
The printer 43 is constituted by an image forming section 239 employing a
combination of a laser optical system 240 and an electrophotographic
scheme capable of forming images on the upper and lower surfaces of a
transfer paper sheet (paper sheet) P.
The image data transferred from the page memory 30 through the image bus 7
and the printer interface 42 is synchronized by an image data processing
circuit (not shown) and is output from a semiconductor laser oscillator
(not shown) as a laser beam 245.
The output laser beam 245 is shaped by a beam shaping optical system (not
shown) constituted by, e.g., a cylindrical lens. The beam 245 is then
deflected by a polygonal rotating mirror 241-1 rotated by a high-speed
rotating motor 241-2 using an air bearing. The laser beam 245 is reflected
by mirrors 243 and 244 through an f.multidot..theta. lens 242 and is
focused at an exposure position 246A on a photosensitive drum 246 as a
spot having a necessary resolution and is scanned/exposed to form a latent
image on the photosensitive drum 246. The deflected laser beam 245 is
detected by a beam detector (not shown) constituted by a photodiode to be
synchronized.
The following components are arranged around the photosensitive drum 246: a
charger 247 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 246, a
developing unit 248, a transfer roller 249, a cleaner 250, and a discharge
lamp 251.
The photosensitive drum 246 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown) at a
peripheral velocity V0. The photosensitive drum surface is charged by the
charger 247 having a grid electrode and arranged to oppose the drum
surface. After the latent image is formed by spot-focusing the laser beam
245 at the exposure position 246A on the charged photosensitive drum 246,
the drum 26 is rotated to a developing position 246B at the velocity V0.
At this position, the latent image on the photosensitive drum 246 is
developed as a toner image by the developing unit 248. The photosensitive
drum 246 having the toner image formed thereon is continuously rotated at
the velocity V0. At a transfer position 246C, the toner image is
transferred onto the transfer paper sheet P, which is fed by a paper feed
system at a predetermined timing, by using the transfer roller 249. An
unnecessary toner attached to the transfer roller 249 is removed by a
transfer roller cleaner 249-1.
The paper feed system comprises a means for selectively feeding the
transfer paper sheet P as an image formation medium from two cassettes
251A and 251B and from a large-capacity feeder 252, and a reverse paper
feed section for feeding the transfer paper sheet P again so as to form an
image on the second surface (lower surface) of the transfer paper sheet P
after the transfer paper sheet P having an image formed on its first
surface (upper surface) is reversed.
Feeding of the transfer paper sheet P in the two cassettes 251A and 251B
and in the large-capacity feeder 252 is selectively started by, e.g., a
pickup roller 253A (253B or 253C), and only one transfer paper sheet P is
separated and fed by a feed roller 254A (254B or 254C) and a separation
roller 254-1A (254-1B or 254-1C). The transfer paper sheet P is then
conveyed to register rollers 255 and is supplied to the transfer section
at a predetermined timing. An elevator 252-1 of the large-capacity feeder
252 is vertically moved in accordance with the number of the transfer
paper sheets P in such a manner that the level of the transfer paper sheet
P at the position of the paper feed section is kept substantially
constant.
On the downstream side of the transfer roller 249, the following components
are arranged: a paper convey mechanism 256, a fixing unit 257, a path
switching guide 260 for switching paper paths to discharge the
image-formed transfer paper sheet P outside the apparatus or to guide it
to the reverse paper feed section, and paper discharge rollers 258. The
path switching guide 260 changes the path along which the transfer paper
sheet P is conveyed from the fixing unit 257 in directions AA and BB in
FIG. 2. For example, when the path switching guide 260 is set in a state
shown in FIG. 2, the transfer paper sheet P advances along the path AA and
is discharged onto a discharge tray 259 through the paper discharge
rollers 258.
The formation of images on the first and second surfaces (upper and lower
surfaces) of the transfer paper sheet P will be described in detail below.
After a toner image corresponding to image data, e.g., cover data of an
abstract image is transferred onto the first surface (upper surface) of
the transfer paper sheet P by the transfer roller 249 through the
above-described image formation process, the transfer paper sheet P is
conveyed to the fixing unit 257 by the paper convey mechanism 256, and the
toner image is fixed to the transfer paper sheet P. The path switching
guide 260 is pivoted counterclockwise (indicated by a dotted line). As a
result, the transfer paper sheet P which passes through the fixing unit
257 is conveyed to the path BB.
The transfer paper sheet P passes between reverse rollers 261A and 261B and
is conveyed to reverse grip rollers 262. When the trailing end of the
transfer paper sheet P passes through the reverse rollers 261A and 261B,
the grip rollers 262 stop rotating and pivot clockwise while clamping the
transfer paper sheet P (indicated by dotted lines) and are rotated in the
reverse direction. The transfer paper sheet P is conveyed to a position
between the reverse rollers 261A and 261B. The transfer paper sheet P then
passes through convey rollers 263 and reaches the register rollers 255 to
be fed to the transfer position 246C at a predetermined timing.
At this time, a toner image corresponding to image data, e.g., lower
surface data of the abstract image, is formed on the second surface (lower
surface) of the transfer paper sheet P. The transfer paper sheet P is then
conveyed to the fixing unit 257 by the paper convey mechanism 256. As a
result, the toner image is fixed onto the second surface (lower surface)
of the transfer paper sheet P. The path switching guide 260 is pivoted
clockwise (indicated by FIG. 2) so that the transfer paper sheet P
advances along the path AA and is discharged onto the discharge tray 259
by the discharge rollers 258.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of the scanner 41
in FIG. 1. More specifically, a CPU 301 controls the overall operation of
the scanner 41. An internal bus 302 is connected to the CPU 301. A motor
driver 304 is connected to the CPU 301 through the internal bus 302 and an
I/O interface 305. A pulse motor 303 for read scanning is
driven/controlled by the motor driver 304.
An inverter 308 with a dimmer is connected to the internal bus 302 through
an I/O interface 309. The brightness of a fluorescent lamp 306 is
controlled by the inverter 308 on the basis of a signal from a dimming
sensor 307. In addition, an image processing circuit 313 and the scanner
interface 40 are connected to the internal bus 302 through I/O interfaces
314 and 316, respectively.
A CCD sensor 310 as a photoelectric converter is controlled by a CCD driver
311. The CCD sensor 310 is designed such that light reflected by a
document surface upon radiation by the fluorescent lamp 306 is focused on
the CCD sensor 310 through, e.g., a focusing lens (not shown), and
corresponding image data of the document sheet is photoelectrically
converted by the CCD sensor 310. The photoelectrically converted image
data is sequentially extracted in units of lines in accordance with the
intensity of optical data.
An output from the CCD sensor 310, i.e., an image signal, is converted from
an analog amount to a digital amount by an A/D converter 312 and is output
to the scanner interface 40.
A position detecting switch 317 for detecting the position of a read/scan
portion is connected to the internal bus 302 through an I/O interface 318.
Furthermore, a display circuit 319 is connected to the internal bus 302
through an I/0 interface 320.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of the image
processing circuit 313 in FIG. 3.
The image processing circuit 313 is designed to receive image data as
digital data obtained by the A/D converter 312 and perform shading
correction processing of the image data in a shading correcting section
321 (FIG. 4). If the shading-corrected image data is an abstract image
having identification data of an image recorded in the optical disk 233,
an image identifying section 325 extracts bar code data recorded at a
predetermined position of the abstract image and outputs it to the CPU
301. The CPU 301 analyzes the bar code data and outputs an image data
identification code for identifying image data stored in the optical disk
233.
If the image data is an abstract image, image processing described later is
not performed, and image data read by the scanner 41 is not transferred to
the basic system section 1 side. If the image is not an abstract image, no
bar code data is extracted by the image identifying section 325, and the
image data is transferred to the basic system section 1 side in
synchronism with a predetermined clock after the image data is subjected
to the following processing.
The shading-corrected image data is subjected to image editing processing,
e.g., enlargement/reduction, movement, trimming/masking, black-and-white
inversion, and mirror image processing in accordance with a command from
the CPU 301. Thereafter, this image data is subjected to gradation
processing corresponding to the characteristic features of the image data
and is converted into image corresponding to the output level of an output
portion of, e.g., the printer 43. The image data is then output, through
the printer interface 42, to an output, unit such as the printer 43 or the
page memory 30, to be stored in a storage processing section such as the
optical disk unit 51.
An editing processing section 330 of the image processing circuit 313
receives the image data which is output from the shading correcting
section 321 in synchronism with a main scanning sync signal from the
scanner 41, and executes the editing processing designated by the CPU 301.
FIG. 5A is a block diagram showing a schematic arrangement of the editing
processing section 330 in FIG. 4. An editing processing control circuit
343 analyzes each editing processing command from the CPU 301 and controls
the respective components in the editing processing section 330 in
accordance with the editing processing command. A multiplexer 331
selectively switches output 8-bit image data in units of lines and outputs
them to line buffers 332 and 333. For example, even-numbered lines are
output to the line buffer 332, whereas odd-numbered lines are output to
the line buffer 333.
An input address counter 336 is an up/down counter for sequentially
counting up/down in synchronism with a main scanning sync signal from the
scanner 41. An output address counter 337 is an up/down counter for
sequentially counting up/down image data in synchronism with an output
sync signal from the basic system section 1. An address switching circuit
335 selects and switches outputs from the input and output address
counters 336 and 337 in units of lines. If, for example, output data is
data of an even-numbered line, the address switching circuit 335 outputs
an output from the input address counter 336 to the line buffer 332, and
outputs an output from the output address counter 337 to the line buffer
333. In contrast to this, if the output data is data of an odd-numbered
line, an output from the input address counter 336 is output to the line
buffer 333, and an output from the output address counter 337 is output to
the line buffer 332.
In this case, movement processing is performed in the main scanning
direction by changing the initial values of the input and output address
counters 336 and 337. Movement processing in the sub-scanning direction is
performed by shifting the output timing of image data under the control of
the CPU 301. Mirror image formation processing is performed by switching
count up/down operations of the output address counter 337 when its count
reaches a predetermined value within a line. Repetition processing is
performed by causing the output address counter 337 to repeatedly output
addresses in a predetermined range within a line.
Each of the line buffers 332 and 333 is constituted by a one-line memory
for temporarily storing image data output from the shading correcting
section 321. A selector 334 selectively switches image data in the line
buffers 332 and 333 in units of lines (e.g., even-numbered lines are
stored in the line buffer 332, and odd-numbered lines are stored in the
line buffer 333) so as to output them to an enlargement processing circuit
338 and to a reduction processing circuit 339. With this arrangement, data
delayed from each other by an amount corresponding to one line are output
from the line buffers 332 and 333. A magnification address generator 340
calculates a magnification address corresponding to a given magnification
and outputs it to the enlargement processing circuit 338 and the reduction
processing circuit 339.
The magnification address generator 340 also outputs a control signal for
stopping a counter up/down operation to the output address counter 337
when an enlargement magnification address reaches a specific value
corresponding to the given magnification. The enlargement processing
circuit 338 performs enlargement processing using linear interpolation.
The reduction processing circuit 339 performs reduction processing by
using a projection method. A selector 341 selects an enlargement
processing result output from the enlargement processing circuit 338 when
the given magnification is larger than 1. If the magnification is 1 or
less, the selector 341 selects a reduction processing result output from
the reduction processing circuit 339. Enlargement and reduction are
performed in only the main scanning direction of an image. A change in
magnification of an image in the sub-scanning direction is performed by
changing the moving speed of the carriage of the scanner 41.
A masking/trimming circuit 342 has a bit plane memory corresponding to one
page in which one pixel consists of two bits. The circuit 342 outputs
two-bit data corresponding to pixels. Bit 1 is masking/trimming data, and
bit 0 is inverse data for inversion from a negative image to a positive
image. Masking/trimming processing is performed by calculating an AND of
the data of bit "1" of the bit plane memory an | | |
