Image processing apparatus and its method

• US 7,609,914 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2006
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Hirai, Tatsuhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, KANJIBHAI B
• Application Number:
  US11/363,031
• Publication Number:
  US 20060197928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,337 Days
• Field of Search: 382/162, 382/173, 382/305, 382/312, 382115-119, 707/10, 707/104.1, 358/1.9, 713/187, 713/193, 713/200, 713/201, 717/174, 386/46, 705/51, 705/57, 705/80
• US Class Current: 382/305
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

When a history including printed information, a date, a user, and the like is stored, a search for stored information is allowed, and the history can be referred to if information has leaked, a large-capacity storage device is required to store all images in the storage device. Hence, user authorization is made. If user authorization has succeeded, image data is acquired, and is segmented into regions of respective attributes by block selection. Next, objects of respective segments are converted into vector data. It is searched if an object that matches each of the objects is stored in an image storage server. If a matching object is detected, an object ID added to that object is acquired. If no matching object is detected, an object ID of the object of interest is generated, and vector data added with the object ID is registered in the image storage server.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus for receiving an image and executing a job for the image, comprising:

a segmenting section, arranged to segment the input image into image regions having different attributes;

a first detector, arranged to detect a corresponding image from a first memory by search for an image of each of the segmented image regions, and to acquire, when the corresponding image is detected, an object ID of the detected image;

a storing section, arranged to store the image of the image region, the corresponding image of which is not detected, in the first memory by adding a unique object ID to the image;

a generator, arranged to generate schema information which includes location information of the image regions and the object IDs of the images of the image regions, and indicates a layout of the input image; and

a registering section, arranged to register history information including at least the schema information in a second memory.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second detector, arranged to detect schema information corresponding to the schema information generated by said generator from the second memory by search, and to acquire, when the corresponding schema information is detected, a schema ID of the detected schema information; and

an adding section, arranged to add a unique schema ID to the schema information, the corresponding schema information of which is not detected.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a converter, arranged to convert the image of the region into vector data.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the history information includes at least an execution date and time of the job, user information, a type of the job, a number used to identify said image processing apparatus, and a result of the job in addition to the schema information.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage to which the first memory and the second memory are assigned.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication section, arranged to communicate with an external apparatus via a computer network,

wherein the first memory and the second memory respectively correspond to different server apparatuses.

7. An image processing method of an image processing apparatus which receives an image and executes a job for the image, the method comprising steps of:

segmenting the input image into image regions having different attributes;

detecting a corresponding image from a memory by search for an image of each of the image regions, and acquiring, when the corresponding image is detected, an object ID of the detected image;

storing the image of the image region, the corresponding image of which is not detected, in the memory by adding a unique object ID to the image;

generating schema information which includes location information of the image regions and the object IDs of the images of the image regions, and indicates a layout of the input image; and

registering history information including at least the schema information in the memory.

8. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-executable program for causing a computer to execute an image processing method of an image processing apparatus which receives an image and executes a job for the image, the method comprising steps of:

segmenting the input image into image regions having different attributes;

detecting a corresponding image from a memory by search for an image of each of the image regions, and acquiring, when the corresponding image is detected, an object ID of the detected image;

storing the image of the image region, the corresponding image of which is not detected, in the memory by adding a unique object ID to the image;

generating schema information which includes location information of the image regions and the object IDs of the images of the image regions, and indicates a layout of the input image; and

registering history information including at least the schema information in the memory.

9. An image processing apparatus for receiving an image and executing a job for the image, comprising:

a segmenting section, arranged to segment the input image into image regions having different attributes;

a detector, arranged to detect an image of the segmented image region from a first memory by search;

a storing section, arranged to store no image of the image region, which is found by said detector, in the first memory, and to store the image of the image region, which is not found by said detector, in the first memory by adding a unique object ID to the image;

a generator, arranged to generate specifying information which includes location information of the image, which is stored in the first memory, in the input image, and ID information of the stored image; and

a registering section, arranged to register the specifying information in a second memory.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said storing section registers ID information of the image of the image regions, which is found by said detector, in the second memory as the specifying information.