Document imager, document stillness detection method, and computer program product

• US 20070188830A1
• Filed: 02/01/2007
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Watanuki, Masatoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,839,543 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/487
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00681 Detecting the presence, position or size of a sheet or correcting its position before scanning H04N1/047 takes precedence; mode signalling H04N1/333; skew detection or correction in image signals H04N1/3878
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00726 Other properties of the sheet, e.g. curvature or reflectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00737 using the scanning elements as detectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00748 Detecting edges, e.g. of a stationary sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00753 of a sheet relative to a particular backgroud
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00761 using reference marks, e.g. on sheet, sheet holder or guide
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00782 Initiating operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/195 the array comprising a two-dimensional array or a combination of two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/19594 using a television camera or a still video camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0436 Scanning a picture-bearing surface lying face up on a support H04N2201/0434 takes precedence; using cylindrical picture bearing surfaces H04N1/06; with manual scanning H04N1/107

Abstract

A computer program product executed by a computer connected with a document imager that uses an imaging section to image an original document mounted on a document bed plate on which the original document is mounted and which has a specific pattern formed on a surface thereof and outputs an image of the original document allows a CPU to execute a judging step of judging stillness of the original document mounted on the document bed plate from at least one of a discontinuity of the pattern at an outer peripheral portion in a document bed plate image obtained by the imaging section and a change in the document bed plate image.

Claims

1. A document imager comprising:

a document bed plate on which an original document is mounted and which has a specific pattern formed on a surface thereof;

an imaging section that images the original document mounted on the document bed plate;

a first stillness judging section which judges stillness of the original document mounted on the document bed plate from at least one of a discontinuity of the pattern of an outer peripheral portion in an document bed plate image and a change in an image of the outer peripheral portion obtained by the imaging section; and

an output section which outputs the image of the document bed plate judged to be the stillness by the first stillness judging section.

2. The document imager according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second stillness judging section which judge the stillness of the original document mounted on the document bed plate by regarding movement of apex coordinates of the original document as a change in the image of the document bed plate,

wherein the output section outputs the image of the document bed plate when both the first and second stillness judging sections judge the stillness.

3. The document imager according to claim 2,

wherein the second stillness judging section judges the stillness after the first stillness judging section judges the stillness, and

the output section outputs the image of the document bed plate after the second stillness judging section judges the stillness.

4. The document imager according to claim 2,

wherein the first stillness judging section judges the stillness after the second stillness judging section judges the stillness, and

the output section outputs the image of the document bed plate after the first stillness judging section judges the stillness.

5. The document imager according to claim 1, further comprising:

a storage section which stores an image obtained by imaging the document bed plate having no original document mounted thereon in the imaging section,

wherein the first stillness judging section judges the stillness of the original document based on comparison with the outer peripheral portion in an image of the document bed plate having no original document mounted thereon stored in the storage section as the discontinuity of the outer peripheral portion in the document bed plate image.

6. The document imager according to claim 1,

wherein the first stillness judging section judges the stillness of the original document based on a difference amount of the outer peripheral portion in the document bed plate image involved by aging as the discontinuity of the outer peripheral portion in the document bed plate image.

7. The document imager according to claim 1,

wherein the first stillness judging section judges the stillness of the original document based on a discontinuity of a contour of the pattern as the discontinuity of the outer peripheral portion in the document bed plate image.

8. The document imager according to claim 2,

wherein the second stillness judging section judges the stillness of the original document based on a detected position of a contour of a document image on the pattern as a change in the document bed plate image.

9. The document imager according to claim 2,

wherein the second stillness judging section judges the stillness of the original document, as a change in the document bed plate image, by recovering the discontinuous position on the contour of the pattern to acquire the contour of the original document, and comparing an absolute value of a sum total of movement amounts of respective apex coordinates on the contour with a preset value.

10. The document imager according to claim 2, further comprising a storage section that stores a result of detecting a contour of a captured image obtained by imaging the document bed plate having no original document mounted thereon in the imaging section,

wherein the second stillness judging section judges the stillness of the original document, as a change in the document bed plate image, by comparing the result of detecting the contour stored in the storage section with a result of detecting the contour of the document bed plate image obtained from the imaging section at the point in time.

11. A document stillness detection method for a document imager that images an original document mounted on a document bed plate having a specific pattern formed on a surface thereof by an imaging section and outputs an image of the original document, the method comprising:

a judging step of judging stillness of the original document mounted on the document bed plate from at least one of a discontinuity of the pattern of an outer peripheral portion in a document bed plate image obtained by the imaging section and a change in the document bed plate image.

12. A computer program product executed by a computer included in or connected with a document imager which uses an imaging section to image an original document mounted on a document bed plate having the original document mounted thereon and a specific pattern formed on a surface thereof and outputs an image of the original document,

wherein the computer is allowed to execute a judging step of judging stillness of the original document mounted on the document bed plate from at least one of a discontinuity of the pattern of an outer peripheral portion in a document bed plate image obtained by the imaging section and a change in the document bed plate image.