Facsimile and static presentation processing – Facsimile – Picture signal generator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-19
2004-06-15
Coles, Edward (Department: 2622)
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Facsimile
Picture signal generator
C358S444000, C358S497000, C382S289000, C382S296000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06750989
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus which reads an image of a document and to an image forming apparatus equipped with the image reading apparatus.
In the case of an image reading apparatus which reads an image of a document, there sometimes are occasions where images are read under the condition that a document is skewed. When images are formed based on image data obtained from the skewed document through reading, it sometimes occurs that a recording material such as a recording sheet can not always cover all images on the document and a formed image proves to be a broken image.
Therefore, as seen in TOKKAISHO No. 60-120669 and TOKKAIHEI No10-285379, there has been suggested an image reading apparatus wherein an inclination of a document is detected by an inclination detection means, and an inclination is corrected by performing rotation processing such as affine transformation or shift processing for the obtained image information in accordance with the detected inclination of a document.
In the image reading apparatus stated above, however, it was impossible for a user to incline a document intentionally, because an inclination is corrected automatically when the inclination of the document is detected by an inclination detection means. For making such intention of a user to be reflected, there is available a method wherein an external inputting means is provided on an operation section and an arbitrary rotation angle is indicated and inputted. In this case, however, if original correction of an inclination in an image reading apparatus has priority to user's indication and inputting, an intention of the user to incline intentionally is ignored.
In an image reading apparatus which is structured to read a document conveyed by an automatic conveyance means (ADF), an arrangement is made so that not only a document conveyed by the automatic conveyance means but also a document placed directly on a platen may be read. In the image reading apparatus of this kind, it is effective to correct inclination in accordance with an inclination of a document. However, when a user places a document directly on a platen, the user sometimes places a document to be inclined intentionally, and if the inclination is corrected even in this case, an intention of the user to incline intentionally is ignored.
In the case of an image reading apparatus to read a document placed directly on a platen, there are known some types wherein a document on the platen is held down by a platen cover that is provided flexibly. When reading images of a document placed directly on the platen in the image reading apparatus of this kind, the platen cover is sometimes kept closed or opened depending on operations of a user. When a twice-folded document is placed on the platen after its crease is opened, and the platen cover is closed for reading, for example, the crease of the document is hit by the platen cover when a user closes the platen cover. Therefore, the document is shifted on the platen to be inclined against the user's intention in many cases, which makes it impossible to read images accurately. On the other hand, when the platen cover is kept opened for reading, a user often holds down the document with its hand, touching the back side of the document, and in this case, it sometimes happens that the user places the document to be inclined intentionally. Even in this case, an intention of the user is capable of being ignored unless inclination correction is properly operated.
Incidentally, the image reading apparatus having the aforesaid function of inclination correction is equipped on an image forming apparatus such as copying machine together with an image forming means which forms images on a recording sheet based on image data obtained through image reading. In recent years, the image forming apparatus of this kind is equipped with various operation modes in the trend of high grade functions. As one of them, there is owned a trial mode which is called a single step mode or a sample mode. This trial mode is a mode wherein when making plural sets of the number of sheets of image forming (number of copies) based on image data obtained through reading, the image data obtained through reading are temporarily stored in a storage means, then, only one set of image forming based on the stored image data is printed as a sample, and image forming for the remaining sets is conducted if the sample agrees with an intention of a user.
On the occasion of this trial mode, when the aforesaid inclination correction is wrong, the inclination correction needs to be amended further, and rotation processing is conducted for the corrected image data, namely, inclination correction is made plural times for the image data obtained through reading, further, because the image data stored in the storage means are image data which have been subjected to inclination correction, which results in deterioration of image quality.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to read an image on a document if the document is intentionally inclined and set on the inclined condition by a user in an image reading apparatus capable of correcting inclination for the image of the document read by a reading device.
Further, another object of the invention is to provide an image reading apparatus wherein an original function of inclination correction of a document reading apparatus and a function to conduct rotation processing based on input of rotation angle conducted by a user from an external inputting means are selected on an optimum basis according to circumstances.
Furthermore, another object of the invention is to provide an image reading apparatus wherein, when conveying a document to a reading position by an automatic conveyance means, an original function of the image reading apparatus to correct inclination is permitted, while, when a document is placed directly on a platen by a user, the function to correct inclination is prohibited to operate so that an intention of the user may be reflected.
Still furthermore, another object of the invention is to provide an image forming apparatus wherein, even when inclination of image data is corrected again and even when rotation processing by rotation angle inputted by a user is conducted plural times in execution of plural operations of image processing like a trial mode, image quality is not deteriorated.
The object of the invention can be solved by the image reading apparatus described in Structure (
1
). Namely, the image reading apparatus is represented by an image reading apparatus having therein an image reading means which reads images of a document, a rotation processing means which conducts rotation processing for image data obtained through reading by the image reading means, and a storage means in which image data subjected to rotation processing by the rotation processing means are stored, wherein an external inputting means for inputting arbitrary rotation angle is provided, and image data obtained through reading by the image reading means are subjected to rotation processing and are stored in the storage means in accordance with the inputted rotation angle when the rotation angle is inputted from the external inputting means.
Since the rotation processing according to inclination of a document and the rotation processing based on the rotation angle made by a user from an external inputting means are selected on an optimum basis in accordance with circumstances, in the image reading apparatus, it was possible to obtain the image reading apparatus which makes it possible to obtain image data satisfying a user's intention.
The object of the invention can be solved also by the image reading apparatus described in Structure (
2
). Namely, the image reading apparatus of structure (
2
) is represented by an image reading apparatus having therein an image reading means which reads images of a document on a platen, an automatic conveyance means that conveys a document onto the plate
Ichihara Yoshiyuki
Kamada Takashi
Kayano Shizuo
Washio Koji
Coles Edward
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Konica Corporation
Sherrill Jason
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