Electronic paper system, image processing apparatus for electronic paper system storage medium storing image processing program, and image writing method using image processing apparatus

• US 20070058178A1
• Filed: 02/08/2006
• Published: 03/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishii, Tsutomu, Nagatsuka, Ikutaroh, Saito, Yasunori, Koshimizu, Minoru, Kurihara, Yoko, Mita, Tsunemasa
• Granted Patent: US 7,920,112 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.200
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/4076 printing on rewritable, bistable "electronic paper" by a focused electric or magnetic field

Abstract

An electronic paper system includes: electronic paper having a display unit that can display and retain an image in a no-power state; image generation means for generating a displaying image by combining a scale-down image of at least a part of a document and an image of at least part of related information of the document; and write means for writing the generated displaying image into the display unit of the electronic paper so that the display unit displays and retains the generated displaying image.

Claims

1. An electronic paper system comprising:

electronic paper having a display unit that can display and retain an image in a no-power state;

image generation means for generating a displaying image by combining a scale-down image of at least a part of a document and an image of at least part of related information of the document; and

write means for writing the generated displaying image into the display unit of the electronic paper so that the display unit displays and retains the generated displaying image.

2. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

in accordance with a designation, the image generation means selects the part of the document or the part of the related information to be contained in the displaying image, and generates the displaying image based on the selection.

3. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 2, further comprising:

user interface means for allowing a user to select the part of the document or the part of the related information; and

wherein the image generation means generates the displaying image in compliance with an instruction of the user selection.

4. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

candidate generation means for causing the image generation means to generate plural displaying image candidates in which aspects of the document scale-down image or the document related information image to be contained in the displaying image are different; and

user interface means for presenting the displaying image candidates to a user and allowing the user to select any of the candidates;

wherein the write means writes the displaying image of the candidate selected by the user, into the display unit of the electronic paper.

5. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein the image generation means sets the document scale-down image which is to be contained in the displaying image, at a scale-down degree complying with a designation.

6. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

in accordance with a shape of the display unit of the electronic paper, the image generation means converts vertical and lateral directions of individual pages of the document to arrange the pages in the scale-down image, and generates the displaying image containing the arranged pages.

7. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the image generation means generates a summary of the document as the document scale-down image which is to be contained in the displaying image.

8. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the image generation means generates an image, in which some or all of characters of the document are replaced with a blank space or signs, as the document scale-down image which is to be contained in the displaying image.

9. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein the image generation means and the write means are included in a information processing apparatus side to which the electronic paper can be detachably set.

10. An electronic paper system as defined in claim 1, wherein the write means is included in the electronic paper.

11. An information processing apparatus for an electronic paper system having a write device which writes an image into a display unit of electronic paper so that the display unit of the electronic paper displays and retains the image in a no-power state, the apparatus comprising:

image generation means for generating a displaying image by combining a scale-down image of at least a part of a document and an image of at least part of related information image of the document; and

output means for outputting the generated displaying image to the write device so that the displaying image is written into the display unit of the electronic paper by the write device.

12. An information processing apparatus for an electronic paper system as defined in claim 11, wherein:

in accordance with a designation, the image generation means selects the part of the document or the part of the related information to be contained in the displaying image, and generates the displaying image based on the selection.

13. An information processing apparatus for an electronic paper system as defined in claim 12, further comprising:

user interface means for allowing a user to select the part of the document or the part of the related information;

wherein the image generation means generates the displaying image in compliance with an instruction of the user selection.

14. An information processing apparatus for an electronic paper system as defined in claim 11, further comprising:

candidate generation means for causing said image generation means to generate plural displaying image candidates in which aspects of the document scale-down image or the document related information image to be contained in the displaying image are different; and

user interface means for presenting the displaying image candidates to a user and allowing the user to select any of the candidates;

wherein the output device outputs the displaying image of the candidate selected by the user so that the write device writes the displaying image of the candidate selected by the user into the display unit of the electronic paper.

15. A storage medium readable by a computer, the storage medium storing an image processing program of instructions executable by the computer to perform a function for generating a displaying image that is to be written into a display unit of electronic paper by a write unit and that is to be displayed on and retained in the display unit of the electronic paper in a no-power state, the function comprising the steps of:

obtaining a document scale-down image of at least a part of a document and a related information image of at least part of related information of the document; and

combining the document scale-down image and the related information image to generate the displaying image.

16. An image writing method of causing a display unit of electronic paper to display and retain an image in a no-power state using an information processing apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a displaying image by combining a scale-down image of at least a part of a document and an image of at least part of related information of the document using image generation means of the image processing apparatus; and

writing the generated displaying image into the display unit of the electronic paper using a write device annexed to the information processing apparatus under a control of the information processing apparatus.