Image forming device and method for the same

• US 20070024921A1
• Filed: 07/21/2006
• Published: 02/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Ohta, Yasutoshi
• Application Number:
  US11/490,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20070024921A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/448
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00249 with a photographic apparatus, e.g. a photographic printer or a projector photographic apparatus per se G03B, G03D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00251 with an apparatus for taking photographic images, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32128 attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image for information embedded in the image H04N1/32144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0091 Digital copier; digital 'photocopier' H04N2201/0093 and H04N2201/0094 take precedence

Abstract

An image forming device for reading a document as first image data and forming an image of the first image data on a recording medium is disclosed. The image forming device includes a reading unit optically reading the document so as to obtain the first image data; an imaging unit taking an image of a user so as to form second image data together with a reading operation of the reading unit; and a storage unit associating and storing the first image data read by the reading unit with the second image data of the user formed by the imaging unit.

Claims

1. An image forming device for reading a document as first image data and forming an image of said first image data on a recording medium, comprising:

a reading unit optically reading said document so as to obtain said first image data;

an imaging unit taking an image of a user so as to form second image data together with a reading operation of the reading unit; and

a storage unit associating and storing the first image data read by the reading unit with the second image data of the user formed by the imaging unit.

2. The image forming device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second image data taken by said imaging unit include facial image data of the user.

3. The image forming device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a searching unit searching for cover image data of said document from the first image data read by said reading unit, wherein the storage unit associates and stores the first image data read by the reading unit and the facial image data of the user with the cover image data.

4. The image forming device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising:

an operations unit including a display unit; and

a detection unit detecting the facial image data of the user from said second image data taken by said imaging unit, wherein in a case where the detection unit fails to detect the facial image data, the detection unit displays an alert on said display unit.

5. A method of forming an image by reading a document as first image data and recording the first image data on a predetermined recording medium, comprising the steps of:

reading the document optically so as to obtain the first image data;

taking an image of a user so as to form second image data together with a reading operation of the document reading step; and

associating and storing the first image data of the document read by the reading unit with the second image data of the user taken by the imaging unit.

6. The method of forming an image as claimed in claim 5, wherein said second image data formed by the imaging unit include facial image data of the user.

7. The method of forming an image as claimed in claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

searching for the cover image data of the document from the first image data read out in the reading step; and

associating and storing the first image data read out in the reading step and the facial image data of the user with the cover image data.