DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on August 31, 2026 has been entered.
Applicant's amendment of August 31, 2026 overcomes the following:
Specification objections
Rejection of claims 1, 4-7, and 9-15 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph
Applicant has amended claims 1, 5-7, 9, and 13-15. Claims 1-15 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on August 31, 2026 with respect to pending claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. The amended claims resulted in changes to the scope and contents; therefore, the grounds of rejection are modified accordingly. It is noted that previously applied prior arts remain in effect.
Applicant asserts that “Katoh fails to teach or suggest the memory structures of the present claims that enable parallel processing as claimed” (Remarks, Pg. 3).
Examiner respectfully disagrees.
KATOH in Par. [0050] indicates that “the image reading device 1000, the reading mode is set to one of two modes: serial mode and parallel mode… In the parallel mode, the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory 203 and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory 203 are executed in parallel”, for example.
KATOH teachings above describe a concept similar to the memory structures of the present claims that enable parallel processing as claimed.
Therefore, based on KATOH teachings above, Applicant’s remarks above are respectfully found unconvincing.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “processing circuit performs the first image processing on the front-side image and the rear-side image” in lines 2-3 of the claim.
However, it is not clear if the claimed “the front-side image” recited in claim 2 encompass embodiments corresponding to the claimed “first front-side image” previously recited in claim 1, or if the claimed “the front-side image” recited in claim 2 encompass embodiments corresponding to the claimed “second front-side image” previously recited in claim 1, for example. Additionally, it is not clear if the claimed “the rear-side image” recited in claim 2 encompass embodiments corresponding to the claimed “first rear-side image” previously recited in claim 1, or if the claimed “the rear-side image” recited in claim 2 encompass embodiments corresponding to the claimed “second rear-side image” previously recited in claim 1, for example.
Therefore, based on above, the metes and bounds of the claim are not clearly set forth and the examiner cannot clearly determine which elements are encompassed by the claim language, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 4-7, 9-10, and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KATOH et al. (US PG Publication No. 2022/0109768 A1), hereafter referred to as KATOH, in view of MINAMI et al. (Japanese Publication No. JP2014131125 A), hereafter referred to as MINAMI, Applicant cited prior art, and in further view of LEE et al. (US PG Publication No. US 2014/0177010 A1), hereafter referred to as LEE.
Regarding claim 1, KATOH discloses an image reading device (Par. [0002]: present invention relates to an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, an image correction method, and a non-transitory recording medium) comprising:
an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images read by the image sensor from a plurality of pages of a document (Par. [0025-28]: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. The image reading device 1000 of the embodiment includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices 107 and 108, each of which is a contact-type color image reading device. The CIS reading devices 107 and 108 enable simultaneous reading of two surfaces (i.e., a front surface and a rear surface) of a document… A document stack 1 of documents to be read is set on the document setting section A. The separating and feeding section B separates a document from the other documents of the set document stack 1, and feeds the separated document to the registration section C… align the document and a function of pulling out and transporting the aligned document. The turning section D turns over the transported document and transports the turned document with an image surface (i.e., a surface with an image to be read) thereof facing down to face a front-surface CIS reading device 107… The first reading and transporting section E reads the image of the front surface of the document… The second reading and transporting section F reads the image of the rear surface of the document after the reading in the first reading and transporting section E. After the reading of the images of the front and rear surfaces of the document, the sheet ejection section G ejects the document to the outside of the image reading device 10X). The stacking section H holds a stack of read documents; Par. [0046-68]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… The reading control unit 309 controls the reading of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108… Each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 generates and outputs 8-bit digital image data for each of the three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) based on shading information of the document obtained through scanning the front surface or the rear surface of the document; Par. [0123]: Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions; an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images read by the image sensor from a plurality of pages of a document (e.g. image reading device includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices (i.e. an image sensor), including a front-surface (i.e. a front-side) CIS reading device and a rear-surface (i.e. rear-side) CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents (i.e. receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images read by the image sensor from a plurality of pages of a document), and including an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (i.e. an image processing circuit) configured to perform aforementioned operations, for example, in which each of the front-surface CIS reading device and the rear-surface CIS reading device generates and outputs digital image data of documents (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of documents) obtained through scanning the front surfaces or the rear surfaces of the documents (i.e. image reading device comprising: an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images read by the image sensor from a plurality of pages of a document), as described above), for example) ; and
a memory for storing a first front-side image of a first page of the plurality of pages and for storing a first rear-side image of the first page and for storing a second front-side image of a second page of the plurality of pages and for storing a second rear-side image of the second page (Par. [0046-51]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; a memory for storing a first front-side image of a first page of the plurality of pages and for storing a first rear-side image of the first page and for storing a second front-side image of a second page of the plurality of pages and for storing a second rear-side image of the second page (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides), including a number (i.e. first, second, third… Nth) front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images of a first, second, third… Nth page of the plurality of pages of the documents), as indicated above, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, for example, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory (i.e. a memory for storing a first and second front-side image of a first page of the plurality of pages and for storing a first and a second rear-side image of a second page of the plurality of pages), as indicated above), for example),
the image processing circuit (Par. [0046-48]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205; Par. [0123] Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions) including:
a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on the first front-side image and on the first rear-side image and on the second front-side image and on the second rear-side image, and configured to store the first front-side image in the local memory and to store the first rear-side image in the local memory and to store the second front-side image in the local memory and to store the second rear-side image in the local memory (Par. [0046-51]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on the first front-side image and on the first rear-side image and on the second front-side image and on the second rear-side image, and configured to store the first front-side image in the local memory and to store the first rear-side image in the local memory and to store the second front-side image in the local memory and to store the second rear-side image in the local memory (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on the first front-side image and on the first rear-side image and on the second front-side image and on the second rear-side image), for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of documents), for example, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory (i.e. and configured to store the first front-side image and second front-side image in the local memory and to store the first rear-side image and the second front-side image in the local memory), as indicated above), for example); and
a second image processing circuit configured to read images stored in the local memory and configured to perform second image processing on the first front-side image stored in the local memory and on the first rear-side image stored in the local memory and on the second front-side image stored in the local memory and on the second rear-side image stored in the local memory (Par. [0046-51]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; a second image processing circuit configured to read images stored in the local memory and configured to perform second image processing on the first front-side image stored in the local memory and on the first rear-side image stored in the local memory and on the second front-side image stored in the local memory and on the second rear-side image stored in the local memory (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and on first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on the first front-side image and on the first rear-side image and on the second front-side image and on the second rear-side image), respectively, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of documents), is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory, for example, including a memory controller which further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory for further processing (i.e. second image processing circuit configured to read images stored in the local memory and configured to perform second image processing on the first front-side image and second front-side image in the local memory and to store the first rear-side image and the second front-side image in the local memory), as indicated above), for example),
the image processing circuit being configured to read the first front-side image from the local memory for the second image processing in parallel with storing [the] second front-side image in the local memory by the first image processing and configured to read the first rear-side image from the local memory for the second image processing in parallel with storing second [the] rear-side image in the local memory by the first image processing (Par. [0046-50]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… In the image reading device 1000, the reading mode is set to one of two modes: serial mode and parallel mode… In the parallel mode, the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory 203 and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory 203 are executed in parallel… In accordance with the set reading mode, the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; the image processing circuit being configured to read the first front-side image from the local memory for the second image processing in parallel with storing the second front-side image in the local memory by the first image processing and configured to read the first rear-side image from the local memory for the second image processing in parallel with storing second the rear-side image in the local memory by the first image processing (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, for example, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory, for example, including a parallel (i.e. simultaneous) mode in which the reading of the image data of a document (i.e. a first document) from the local memory for processing, including a first front surface and a first rear surface of an initial document (i.e. image processing circuit being configured to read the first front-side image and the first rear-side image from the local memory for the second image processing), for example, and the writing of the image data of the next (i.e. second, subsequent, etc.) document, including each corresponding second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of subsequent documents, respectively, to the local memory (i.e. writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory) are executed in parallel (i.e. read the first front-side image from the local memory for the second image processing in parallel with storing second front-side image in the local memory by the first image processing and configured to read the first rear-side image from the local memory for the second image processing in parallel with storing second rear-side image in the local memory by the first image processing), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH teachings above disclose an image reading device that includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices, including a front-surface CIS reading device and a rear-surface CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents read by the image sensor, as indicated above, in which front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents read by each of the image sensor could be interpreted as the claimed “plurality of read images including front-side images and rear-side images for each page of a plurality of pages of a document read by the image sensor”, as indicated above, for example. However, KATOH teachings above do not expressly disclose “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page”, as recited in claim 1.
However, MINAMI teaches “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page” (Par. [0008]: a document reading apparatus including: an image reading unit configured to read an image of a document and output image data for each page… when the image reading unit reads the document of a plurality of pages, the preview image creation unit creates the preview image in the first page, and waits until the preview image of the first page of the document reading device that reads the document is created on and after the second page… reading an image of a document to output image data for each page; Par. [0036-40]: control unit 8 performs image processing on the read image for each page by the image processing unit 10 and temporarily stores the image in the storage unit 9… control unit 8 ends all the reading of the document placed on the document reading unit 2, and determines whether or not the correction by the finished preview has ended. That is, the control unit 8 reads all pages of the document; “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page” (e.g. document reading apparatus configured to read an image of a document of a plurality of pages (i.e. “plurality of pages of a document”) and output image data for each page (i.e. “page”), including a control unit that reads all pages of the document (i.e. “plurality of pages of a document”), including a first page (i.e. “first page”) and a second page (i.e. “second page”) of the document, for example, and performs image processing on the read image for each page, as indicated above), for example).
KATOH and MINAMI are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page” (as taught by MINAMI, Abstract, Par. [0008, 36-40]) to read an image of a document and output image data for each page and to read all pages of the document, (MINAMI, Abstract, Par. [0008, 36-40]).
KATOH discloses the image reading device that includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices, including a front-surface CIS reading device and a rear-surface CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents read by the image sensor, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory, for example, including a memory controller which further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory for further processing, as indicated above, for example, but fails to teach that the local memory (i.e. a memory) has a first buffer ("B1") and having a second buffer ("B2") and having a third buffer ("B3") and having a fourth buffer, as further recited in claim 1.
However, LEE teaches a memory having a first buffer ("B1") and having a second buffer ("B2") and having a third buffer ("B3") and having a fourth buffer ("B4") (Par. [0014-15]: image scanning apparatus may include… a storage unit configured to store the generated scanned image, an image processor including a plurality of image processing modules, the plurality of image processing modules separately including a plurality of buffers configured to store the scanned image of block units, and configured to read the generated scanned image in preset block units and perform image processing on the scanned image read in block units sequentially using the plurality of image processing modules, and a controller configured to store the image-processed scanned image in the storage unit…The plurality of image processing module may be connected in series and each of the plurality of image processing modules may be connected to one of the plurality of buffers configured to store the scanned image of block units; Par. [0025]: method may include scanning an original document to generate a scanned image, storing the generated scanned image, reading the generated scanned image in preset block units, performing image processing on the scanned image read in block units sequentially using a plurality of image processing modules separately including a plurality of buffers configured to store the scanned image of block units, and storing the image-processed scanned image; Par. [0034-35]: image compensation method may include scanning an original document to generate a scanned image, storing the generated scanned image, reading the generated scanned image in preset block units, performing image processing on the scanned image read in block units sequentially using a plurality of image processing modules separately including a plurality of buffers configured to store the scanned image of block units, and storing the image-processed scanned image… providing an image scanning apparatus, including a scanning unit configured to scan an original document and generate a scanned image, a storage unit configured to store the generated scanned image, and an image processor including a plurality of image processing modules connected to a plurality of buffers to store data processed in the corresponding image processing modules, and configured to read the generated scanned image in the block units and sequentially perform image processing on the scanned image read in block units using the plurality of image processing modules, the image processing including a skew compensation and at least one of Gamma correction and color correction, and segmentation; Par. [0059-70]: image processor 150 reads the generated scanned image in preset block units from the first scanned image or the second scanned image and performs image processing on the scanned image read in block units using a plurality of image processing modules (or blocks). Here, the plurality of image processing modules may include a skew compensation module, a gamma correction module, a color correction module, an image segmentation module, and a filtering module, and the like. Each of the plurality of image processing module may separately include a buffer configured to store an image of block units… FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the image processor 150 of the image scanning apparatus 100 of FIG. 1… Referring to FIG. 2, the image processor 150 includes a reader 151, a first block address generation unit 152, a plurality of image processing modules 153, a plurality of buffers 154… Each of the plurality of image processing modules 153 may be separately connected to corresponding one of the plurality of buffers 154 and performs image processing using the corresponding buffer connected thereto; Par. [0104]: image scanning apparatus performs image processing on the scanned image read in block units sequentially using the plurality of image processing modules which separately include the buffers configured to the scanned images of block units; a memory having a first buffer ("B1") and having a second buffer ("B2") and having a third buffer ("B3") and having a fourth buffer ("B4") (e.g. image scanning apparatus include a storage unit (i.e. a memory) configured to store generated scanned images, an image processor including a plurality (i.e. first, second, third… Nth) of image processing modules, the plurality of image processing modules separately including a plurality (i.e. first, second, third… Nth) of buffers (i.e. a memory having a first buffer ("B1") and having a second buffer ("B2") and having a third buffer ("B3") and having a fourth buffer ("B4"), respectively) configured to store scanned images of block units, read generated scanned images in preset block units, and perform image processing on the scanned images read in block units using the plurality of image processing modules, for example, and each of the plurality of image processing modules are connected to one of the plurality of buffers configured to store the scanned image of block units, as indicated above), for example).
KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing applications. Therefore, the combined teachings of KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE, as a whole, would have rendered obvious the invention recited in claim 1 with a reasonable expectation of success in order to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with a memory having a first buffer ("B1") and having a second buffer ("B2") and having a third buffer ("B3") and having a fourth buffer ("B4") (as taught by LEE, Abstract, Par. [0014-15, 25, 34-35, 59-70, 104]) to provide an image scanning apparatus capable of reading a scanned image in block units and compensating the scanned image using a low capacity of buffer including a plurality of buffers configured to store the scanned image of block units (LEE, Abstract, Par. [005-13, 14-15, 25, 34-35, 59-70, 104]).
Regarding claim 4, claim 1 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]),
wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit extracts a feature value from entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images (KATOH, Par. [0060-69]: document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108… in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image. The document edge detection unit 302 further detects the width of the shade area, and adds the width of the shade area to the boundary between the shade area and the background area. Thereby, the edges of the document area in the read image are detected (i.e., extracted), as illustrated in the edge extraction result; wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit extracts a feature value from entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions, for example, including detecting edges of a document area in a whole (i.e. entirety of) image of each of the documents, for example, including the document area and a background area based on the information of the read image (i.e. entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images), for example, and the edges of the document area in the read image are detected (i.e. extracted), based on the edge extraction result (i.e. wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit extracts a feature value from entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images), as indicated above), for example), said each read image being stored in the memory (KATOH, Par. [0048]: image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205 mage data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205) or being input from the image sensor but yet to be written to the memory (KATOH, Par. [0067-69]: image reading operation of the image reading device 1000 will be described… Each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 generates and outputs 8-bit digital image data for each of the three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) based on shading information of the document obtained through scanning the front surface or the rear surface of the document… For example, in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image); or being input from the image sensor but yet to be written to the memory (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including digital image data input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device and the rear-surface CIS reading device obtained through scanning front surfaces and the rear surfaces of documents prior to bring temporarily stored in a local memory or stored in a memory (i.e. or being input from the image sensor but yet to be written to the memory), as indicated above), for example), and
wherein the second image processing circuit reflects the extracted feature value in the second image processing (KATOH, Par. [0060-71]: document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108… in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image. The document edge detection unit 302 further detects the width of the shade area, and adds the width of the shade area to the boundary between the shade area and the background area. Thereby, the edges of the document area in the read image are detected (i.e., extracted), as illustrated in the edge extraction result… skew angle determination unit 303 determines the skew angle of the document area with the detection information of the edges of the document area in the read image detected by the document edge detection unit 302… document origin coordinate determination unit 304 determines the position of the origin of the document area with the detection information of the edges of the document area in the read image detected; wherein the second image processing circuit reflects the extracted feature value in the second image processing (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions, for example, including detecting edges of a document area in a whole (i.e. entirety of) image of each of the documents, for example, including the document area and a background area based on the information of the read image, for example, and the edges of the document area in the read image are detected (i.e. extracted), based on the edge extraction result, for example, and performs further processing including determining a skew angle of a document area with the detection information of the edges of the document area in the read image detected by the document edge detection, and determining a position of an origin of the document area with the detection information of the edges of the document area in the read image detected (i.e. wherein the second image processing circuit reflects the extracted feature value in the second image processing), as indicated above), for example).
Regarding claim 5, claim 4 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value, the top and bottom identification result identifying a top and a bottom of said each read image (KATOH, Par. [0058-69]: controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10… For example, in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image; wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value, the top and bottom identification result identifying a top and a bottom of said each read image (e.g. controller 206 operates to function as a document edge detection unit that detects edges of a document area (i.e. top and bottom) based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10 (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value), for example, and detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image) and therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value, the top and bottom identification result identifying a top and a bottom of said each read image), as indicated above), for example), and
wherein the second image processing circuit rotates said each read image based on the extracted top and bottom identification result (KATOH, Par. [0058-72]: controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10… For example, in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image… the document origin coordinate determination unit 304 calculates the intersection of an upper edge and a left edge of the document area, and determines the coordinates of the calculated intersection as the coordinates of the origin of the document area… skew correction unit 305 performs the skew correction on the read image by rotating the read image; and wherein the second image processing circuit rotates said each read image based on the extracted top and bottom identification result (e.g. controller 206 operates to function as a document edge detection unit that detects edges of a document area (i.e. top and bottom) based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10 (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value), for example, and detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image) and therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image, for example, and performs skew correction on the read image by rotating the read image with the information of a skew angle determined (i.e. and wherein the second image processing circuit rotates said each read image based on the extracted top and bottom identification result), as indicated above), for example).
Regarding claim 6, claim 5 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), wherein based on a normalized image generated from said each read image stored in the memory with an inference model for top and bottom identification (KATOH, Par. [0058-69]: controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10… For example, in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image; wherein based on a normalized image generated from said each read image stored in the memory with an inference model for top and bottom identification (e.g. controller 206 operates to function as a document edge detection unit that detects edges of a document area (i.e. top and bottom) based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10 (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value), for example, and detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image) and therefore binarizes (i.e. normalizes) the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination (i.e. based on a normalized image generated from said each read image stored in the memory), to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value, the top and bottom identification result identifying a top and a bottom of said each read image), as indicated above), for example), the first image processing circuit performs inference with a model to derive the top and bottom identification result, the model having learned for top and bottom identification (KATOH, Par. [0058-71]: controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10… For example, in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image… the document origin coordinate determination unit 304 calculates the intersection of an upper edge and a left edge of the document area, and determines the coordinates of the calculated intersection as the coordinates of the origin of the document area; the first image processing circuit performs inference with a model to derive the top and bottom identification result, the model having learned for top and bottom identification (e.g. controller 206 operates to function as a document edge detection unit that detects edges of a document area (i.e. top and bottom) based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10 (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value), for example, and detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image) and therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image (i.e. processing circuit performs inference with a model to derive the top and bottom identification result, the model having learned for top and bottom identification), for example, and performs skew correction on the read image by rotating the read image with the information of a skew angle determined (i.e. the first image processing circuit performs inference with a model to derive the top and bottom identification result, the model having learned for top and bottom identification), as indicated above), for example).
Regarding claim 7, claim 6 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), wherein the first image processing circuit generates the normalized image from said each read image stored in the memory with the inference model for top and bottom identification (KATOH, Par. [0058-69]: controller 206 operates based on the skew correction program to function as a document edge detection unit 302… The document edge detection unit 302 detects edges of a document area based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10… For example, in the digital image data of the input image in FIG. 4A input from each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, the document edge detection unit 302 detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image). The document edge detection unit 302 therefore binarizes the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination, to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image; wherein the first image processing circuit generates the normalized image from said each read image stored in the memory with the inference model for top and bottom identification (e.g. controller 206 operates to function as a document edge detection unit that detects edges of a document area (i.e. top and bottom) based on image information obtained from the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 10 (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit extracts a top and bottom identification result as the feature value), for example, and detects the edges of the document area in a whole image including the document area and a background area (i.e., the information of the read image) and therefore binarizes (i.e. normalizes) the information of the read image with a first threshold value for determination (i.e. generates the normalized image from said each read image stored in the memory), to thereby detect a boundary between the background area and a shade area near outline edges of the document area in the read image (i.e. wherein the first image processing circuit generates the normalized image from said each read image stored in the memory with the inference model for top and bottom identification), as indicated above), for example).
Regarding claim 9, KATOH discloses an image processing method (Par. [0002]: present invention relates to an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, an image correction method, and a non-transitory recording medium). The steps further recited in claim 9 recite similar feature limitations as in apparatus claim 1 above and is rejected as applied to apparatus claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 10, claim 9 is incorporated and is a method claim which recites similar feature limitations as in apparatus claim 2 above and rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 12, claim 9 is incorporated and is a method claim which recites similar feature limitations as in apparatus claim 4 above and rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 13, claim 12 is incorporated and is a method claim which recites similar feature limitations as in apparatus claim 5 above and rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 14, claim 13 is incorporated and is a method claim which recites similar feature limitations as in apparatus claim 6 above and rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 15, claim 14 is incorporated and is a method claim which recites similar feature limitations as in apparatus claim 7 above and rejected as applied to the apparatus claim 7 above.
Claims 3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KATOH, in view of MINAMI, in further view of YAMADA et al. (US PG Publication No. 2008/0100881 A1), hereafter referred to as YAMADA, and in further view of Yamamoto et al. (US PG Publication No. 2013/0124582 A1), hereafter referred to as Yamamoto.
Regarding claim 3, KATOH discloses an image reading device (Par. [0002]: present invention relates to an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, an image correction method, and a non-transitory recording medium) comprising:
an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including a front-side image and a rear-side image for each page of a plurality of pages of a document read by the image sensor (Par. [0025-28]: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. The image reading device 1000 of the embodiment includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices 107 and 108, each of which is a contact-type color image reading device. The CIS reading devices 107 and 108 enable simultaneous reading of two surfaces (i.e., a front surface and a rear surface) of a document… A document stack 1 of documents to be read is set on the document setting section A. The separating and feeding section B separates a document from the other documents of the set document stack 1, and feeds the separated document to the registration section C… align the document and a function of pulling out and transporting the aligned document. The turning section D turns over the transported document and transports the turned document with an image surface (i.e., a surface with an image to be read) thereof facing down to face a front-surface CIS reading device 107… The first reading and transporting section E reads the image of the front surface of the document… The second reading and transporting section F reads the image of the rear surface of the document after the reading in the first reading and transporting section E. After the reading of the images of the front and rear surfaces of the document, the sheet ejection section G ejects the document to the outside of the image reading device 10X). The stacking section H holds a stack of read documents; Par. [0046-68]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… The reading control unit 309 controls the reading of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108… Each of the front-surface CIS reading device 107 and the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 generates and outputs 8-bit digital image data for each of the three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) based on shading information of the document obtained through scanning the front surface or the rear surface of the document; Par. [0123]: Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions; an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including a front-side image and a rear-side image for each page of a plurality of pages of a document read by the image sensor (e.g. image reading device includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices (i.e. an image sensor), including a front-surface (i.e. a front-side) CIS reading device and a rear-surface (i.e. rear-side) CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents (i.e. receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including front-side images and rear-side images for each page of a plurality of pages of a document read by the image sensor), and including an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (i.e. an image processing circuit) configured to perform aforementioned operations, for example, in which each of the front-surface CIS reading device and the rear-surface CIS reading device generates and outputs digital image data of documents (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of documents) obtained through scanning the front surfaces or the rear surfaces of the documents (i.e. image reading device comprising: an image processing circuit configured to receive a plurality of read images input from an image sensor, the plurality of read images including a front-side image and a rear-side image for each page of a plurality of pages of a document read by the image sensor), as described above), for example);
the image processing circuit including:
a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on one of the front-side image and the rear-side image, and store, for each of the plurality of pages of the document, the front-side image in the local memory and the rear-side image in the local memory (Par. [0046-51]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on one of the front-side image and the rear-side image, and store, for each of the plurality of pages of the document, the front-side image in the local memory and the rear-side image in the local memory (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on one of the front-side image and the rear-side image), for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of documents), for example, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory (i.e. and store, for each of the plurality of pages of the document, the front-side image in the local memory and the rear-side image in the local memory), as indicated above), for example); and
a second image processing circuit configured to perform second image processing on the one of the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed, being read from the local memory (Par. [0046-51]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; and a second image processing circuit configured to perform second image processing on the one of the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed, being read from the local memory (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and on first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. a first image processing circuit configured to perform first image processing on the first front-side image and on the first rear-side image and on the second front-side image and on the second rear-side image), respectively, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. each page of a plurality of pages of documents), is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory, for example, including a memory controller which further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory for further processing (i.e. and a second image processing circuit configured to perform second image processing on the one of the front-side image and the rear-side image on which the first image processing is performed, being read from the local memory), as indicated above), for example),
the image processing circuit being configured to perform, in parallel, writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory and reading the plurality of read images from the memory to perform the second image processing on the plurality of read images (Par. [0046-50]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of major components of the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image reading device 1000 includes the front-surface CIS reading device 107, the rear-surface CIS reading device 108, a local memory 203, an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 205, a controller 206, a memory 208… The image data of the document read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 is temporarily stored in the local memory 203. The image data read from the local memory 203 is stored in a memory 204 in the controller 206 via the image processing ASIC 205… A memory controller 207 included in the controller 206 controls writing of the image data read by the front-surface CIS reading device 107 or the rear-surface CIS reading device 108 to the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory 203. The memory controller 207 also controls writing and reading of various data to and from the memory 204… In the image reading device 1000, the reading mode is set to one of two modes: serial mode and parallel mode… In the parallel mode, the reading of the image data of a document from the local memory 203 and the writing of the image data of the next document to the local memory 203 are executed in parallel… In accordance with the set reading mode, the memory controller 207 controls the writing of the read image data to the local memory 203 and the reading of the image data stored in the local memory 203; the image processing circuit being configured to perform, in parallel, writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory and reading the plurality of read images from the memory to perform the second image processing on the plurality of read images (e.g. image reading device includes CIS reading devices that enable reading of two surfaces (i.e. sides) of documents, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents (i.e. first, second, third… Nth front-side images and first, second, third… Nth rear-side images), respectively, for example, including one or more processing circuits or circuitry (i.e. a first, second, third… Nth image processing circuit), such as an image processing application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) configured to perform a number (a first, second, third… Nth) of image processing functions on first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, for example, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory, for example, including a parallel (i.e. simultaneous) mode in which the reading of the image data of a document (i.e. a first document) from the local memory for processing, including a first front surface and a first rear surface of an initial document (i.e. image processing circuit being configured to read the first front-side image and the first rear-side image from the local memory for the second image processing), for example, and the writing of the image data of the next (i.e. second, subsequent, etc.) document, including each corresponding second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of subsequent documents, respectively, to the local memory (i.e. writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory) are executed in parallel (i.e. the image processing circuit being configured to perform, in parallel, writing the plurality of read images on which the first image processing is performed to the memory and reading the plurality of read images from the memory to perform the second image processing on the plurality of read images), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH teachings above disclose an image reading device that includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices, including a front-surface CIS reading device and a rear-surface CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents read by the image sensor, as indicated above, in which front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents read by each of the image sensor could be interpreted as the claimed “plurality of read images including front-side images and rear-side images for each page of a plurality of pages of a document read by the image sensor”, as indicated above, for example. However, KATOH teachings above do not expressly disclose “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page”, as recited in claim 1.
However, MINAMI teaches “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page” (Par. [0008]: a document reading apparatus including: an image reading unit configured to read an image of a document and output image data for each page… when the image reading unit reads the document of a plurality of pages, the preview image creation unit creates the preview image in the first page, and waits until the preview image of the first page of the document reading device that reads the document is created on and after the second page… reading an image of a document to output image data for each page; Par. [0036-40]: control unit 8 performs image processing on the read image for each page by the image processing unit 10 and temporarily stores the image in the storage unit 9… control unit 8 ends all the reading of the document placed on the document reading unit 2, and determines whether or not the correction by the finished preview has ended. That is, the control unit 8 reads all pages of the document; “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page” (e.g. document reading apparatus configured to read an image of a document of a plurality of pages (i.e. “plurality of pages of a document”) and output image data for each page (i.e. “page”), including a control unit that reads all pages of the document (i.e. “plurality of pages of a document”), including a first page (i.e. “first page”) and a second page (i.e. “second page”) of the document, for example, and performs image processing on the read image for each page, as indicated above), for example).
KATOH and MINAMI are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with “page”, “plurality of pages of a document”, “first page”, and “second page” (as taught by MINAMI, Abstract, Par. [0008, 36-40]) to read an image of a document and output image data for each page and to read all pages of the document, (MINAMI, Abstract, Par. [0008, 36-40]).
KATOH discloses the image reading device that includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices, including a front-surface CIS reading device and a rear-surface CIS reading device, for example, that enable reading of two surfaces, including front surfaces and rear surfaces of documents read by the image sensor, for example, in which image data of documents read by the CIS devices, including first, second, third… Nth front surfaces and first, second, third… Nth rear surfaces of documents, is temporarily stored (i.e. buffered) in local memory, for example, including a memory controller which further controls reading of the image data written in the local memory for further processing, as indicated above, for example, but fails to teach and a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image, as further recited in claim 3.
However, YAMADA teaches a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image; alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area Par. [0026-42]: FIG. 1 is an illustrative drawing showing an image reading apparatus… ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 1 is comprised upside of the image reading apparatus. An optical image reading device 2 is comprised lower side of the image reading apparatus… The ADF 1 comprises a tray 11 for putting on document, CIS (Contact Image Sensor) 13 for reading document… The image reading apparatus set in the third mode reads both sides of a document by CCD 26 and CIS 13 and processes the both sides of a document image… image forming apparatus comprises a front side of document reader 51, a reverse side document reader 52, an image data processor 40, a controlling image device 41… The image data processor 40 comprises a data converter 53, 54, a CPU 55, a CPU memory 56, a memory controller 57 and a image processor 59, connected via a bus 61. The memory controller 57 is connected to a memory 58, the image processor 59 is connected to an output image processor 71… Image data read by the front side of the document reader 51 and image data read by the reverse side of the document reader 52 are transmitted to the image data processor 40 ; (Par. [0057-66]: FIG. 7 shows the relationship between output and input data of the memory controller 57, the memory 58 and the image processor 59 and operation clock. The memory controller 57 writes front side image data output by the data converter 53 and reverse side image data output by the data converter 54 parallel to a predetermined front side of image data storage area 58a and a predetermined reverse side of image data storage area 58b… FIG. 8A shows that the memory controller 57 starts writing front side image data and reverse side image data to the predetermined front side image data storage area 58a and the predetermined reverse side image data storage area 58b… FIG. 8C shows that the memory controller 57 continues reading the front side image data from the predetermined front side image data storage area 58a and writing the reverse side image data to the predetermined reverse side image data storage area 58b… FIG. 10 shows one example of a sequence of writing and reading the front side image data and the reverse side image data of plural documents; a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image; alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area (e.g. an image reading apparatus including memory controller that writes (i.e. stores) front side image data and reverse side image data to a predetermined front side of image data storage area and a predetermined reverse side of image data storage area (i.e. a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image), respectively for example, including image data read by the front side of the document reader 51 and image data read by the reverse side of the document reader 52 (i.e. alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing applications. Therefore, the combined teachings of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, as a whole, would have rendered obvious the invention recited in claim 3 with a reasonable expectation of success in order to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with a memory having a first memory area for storing the front-side image and a second memory area for storing the rear-side image; alternately store, for each document, the front-side image in the first memory area and the rear-side image in the second memory area (as taught by YAMADA, Abstract, Par. [026-42, 57-66]) to control reading from and writing into the memory (YAMADA, Abstract, Par. [026-42, 57-66]).
The combination of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, as a whole, teaches the image reading device, as indicated above, but fails to teach the following as further recited in claim 3.
However, Yamamoto teaches wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit determines that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor (Par. [0062-70]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram describing the software configuration of the job archive application running on the server system 140… raster image paging processing section 206 is a module which divides raster image data into pages of data and performs processing for each page. The raster image paging processing section 206 sends each divided page image to a feature extraction section 207 and structure analysis section 208. In this case, the raster image is image data read by a scanner or received by a facsimile apparatus… feature extraction section 207 is a module which extracts a feature used as a criterion to determine similarity between images by analyzing raster image data of one page. The feature extraction section 207 sends the extracted feature to the DB management system 201, and the DB management system 201 stores the feature. There are known many feature extraction methods effective for searching for similar images… index generation section 211 is a module which generates index information for quickly searching the document DB 202 and job DB 203 for data. The index information is used to quickly search for a document record containing an image similar to an image given as a search key, or quickly perform a full text search for a document record whose document content data or page content data contains a text given as a search key. The index information is also used to quickly search for a document record or job record having metadata meeting a condition given as a search key. Index information is generated by a plurality of known methods. Index information for a full text search is generated using, for example, N-gram. Index information for searching for a similar image is generated by classifying (clustering) in advance feature vectors representing the features of images and ordering the feature vectors by a hash function… According to a search request and the type of search key supplied from the retrieval section 212, the document search section 213 searches for a document by combining search based on document content data, search based on page data contained in a document, and search based on metadata of the document, and search based on a job related to the document. The document search section 213 finds a plurality of document record candidates matching the search request. In response to a search request based on page data contained in document data, a page search section 214 searches the document DB 202 for a plurality of page record candidates (and documents containing the pages) meeting the condition of the search request. In response to a similar image search request based on an image given as a search key, a similar image search section 215 finds a plurality of page records (and documents containing the pages) having page content data containing images similar to an image serving as a search key. In the similar image search, the similar image search section 215 performs the same image feature extraction as that by the feature extraction section 207 for an image serving as a search key, and searches for a similar image based on the similarity of the image feature. The embodiment adopts a combination of known similar image search methods for searching for a similar image using an image as a search key; wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit determines that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor (e.g. software configuration of job archive application running on a server system includes dividing raster image data read by a scanner or received by a facsimile apparatus into pages of data and performing processing for each page including feature extraction methods effective for searching for similar images, for example, and according to a search request and a type of search key supplied, searches for a document (i.e. a special document, a document of interest, etc.) by combining search based on document content data, search based on page data contained in a document, and search based on metadata of the document, and search based on a job related to the document, for example, and finds a plurality of document record candidates matching the search request (i.e. wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit determines that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor), as indicated above), for example), and
wherein in the second image processing, the second image processing circuit outputs a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document (Par. [0139-158]: FIG. 15 depicts a view illustrating an example of a document search result list window in the document search application according to the first embodiment… A document search result list window 1500 is an example of a window which displays search results when the document search application receives a response to a search processing request from the job archive application. The document search application according to the embodiment displays the document search result list window in the display area 702 of the console unit 112. The document search result list window 1500 includes a search list operation area 1501… The search list display area 1502 is an area for displaying a list of documents meeting a search condition as a result of a search. Each of search hit document displays 1512, 1513, 1514, and 1515 displays information corresponding to a document meeting the search condition. At a default setting, a document having a higher hit rate is displayed higher in the list… FIG. 18 depicts a view illustrating an example of a window for the display result of a related document search result list for a document of interest by the document search application according to the first embodiment. This window presents, to the user, the correspondence between a document found under search conditions designated in the window shown in FIG. 14A or 14B and related documents found according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 17 as documents related to the found document. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 15 denote the same parts, and a description thereof will not be repeated; wherein in the second image processing, the second image processing circuit outputs a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document (e.g. software configuration of job archive application running on a server system includes dividing raster image data read by a scanner or received by a facsimile apparatus into pages of data and performing processing for each page including feature extraction methods effective for searching for similar images, for example, and according to a search request and a type of search key supplied, searches for a document (i.e. a special document, a document of interest, etc.) by combining search based on document content data, search based on page data contained in a document, and search based on metadata of the document, and search based on a job related to the document, for example, and finds and displays (i.e. outputs) a plurality of document record candidates matching the search request, for example, including depicting a view illustrating an example of a window for a display result of a related document search result list for a document of interest by the document search application (i.e. wherein in the second image processing, the second image processing circuit outputs a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, and Yamamoto are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing applications. Therefore, the combined teachings of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, and Yamamoto, as a whole, would have rendered obvious the invention recited in claim 3 with a reasonable expectation of success in order to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit determines that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor, and wherein in the second image processing, the second image processing circuit outputs a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document (as taught by Yamamoto, Abstract, Par. [0062-70, 139-158]) for efficient searching for a desired document among many accumulated and unorganized documents, to efficiently search for a desired document among a large number of accumulated documents, to provide a technique of relating input image data and document data related to the input image data among a plurality of items of document data stored in a storage unit (Yamamoto, Abstract, Par. [0002-4, 62-70, 139-158]).
Regarding claim 8, claim 3 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, and Yamamoto, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), an image forming apparatus (KATOH, Par. [0002]: an image reading device, an image forming apparatus) comprising:
the image reading device of claim 3 (KATOH, Par. [0002]: an image reading device); and
an image forming device to form an image based on each of the plurality of read images (KATOH, Par. [0006]: image forming apparatus that includes, for example, the above-described image reading device and an image forming device that forms an image output from the image reading device; Par. [0025]: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading device 1000 of the embodiment. The image reading device 1000 of the embodiment includes contact image sensor (CIS) reading devices 107 and 108, each of which is a contact-type color image reading device. The CIS reading devices 107 and 108 enable simultaneous reading of two surfaces (i.e., a front surface and a rear surface) of a document. Together with an image forming device 2000 (hereinafter also referred to as the main device), the image reading device 1000 of the embodiment may form an image forming apparatus such as an MFP. The image forming device 2000 forms an image output from the image reading device 1000).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KATOH, in view of MINAMI, in further view of LEE, as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Yamamoto et al. (US PG Publication No. 2013/0124582 A1), hereafter referred to as Yamamoto.
Regarding claim 11, claim 9 is incorporated and the combination of KATOH, MINAMI, and LEE, as a whole, teaches image reading device (KATOH, Par. [0002]), but fails to teach the following, as further recited in claim 11.
However, However, Yamamoto teaches wherein the performing the first image processing includes determining that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor (Par. [0062-70]: FIG. 2 is a block diagram describing the software configuration of the job archive application running on the server system 140… raster image paging processing section 206 is a module which divides raster image data into pages of data and performs processing for each page. The raster image paging processing section 206 sends each divided page image to a feature extraction section 207 and structure analysis section 208. In this case, the raster image is image data read by a scanner or received by a facsimile apparatus… feature extraction section 207 is a module which extracts a feature used as a criterion to determine similarity between images by analyzing raster image data of one page. The feature extraction section 207 sends the extracted feature to the DB management system 201, and the DB management system 201 stores the feature. There are known many feature extraction methods effective for searching for similar images… index generation section 211 is a module which generates index information for quickly searching the document DB 202 and job DB 203 for data. The index information is used to quickly search for a document record containing an image similar to an image given as a search key, or quickly perform a full text search for a document record whose document content data or page content data contains a text given as a search key. The index information is also used to quickly search for a document record or job record having metadata meeting a condition given as a search key. Index information is generated by a plurality of known methods. Index information for a full text search is generated using, for example, N-gram. Index information for searching for a similar image is generated by classifying (clustering) in advance feature vectors representing the features of images and ordering the feature vectors by a hash function… According to a search request and the type of search key supplied from the retrieval section 212, the document search section 213 searches for a document by combining search based on document content data, search based on page data contained in a document, and search based on metadata of the document, and search based on a job related to the document. The document search section 213 finds a plurality of document record candidates matching the search request. In response to a search request based on page data contained in document data, a page search section 214 searches the document DB 202 for a plurality of page record candidates (and documents containing the pages) meeting the condition of the search request. In response to a similar image search request based on an image given as a search key, a similar image search section 215 finds a plurality of page records (and documents containing the pages) having page content data containing images similar to an image serving as a search key. In the similar image search, the similar image search section 215 performs the same image feature extraction as that by the feature extraction section 207 for an image serving as a search key, and searches for a similar image based on the similarity of the image feature. The embodiment adopts a combination of known similar image search methods for searching for a similar image using an image as a search key; wherein the performing the first image processing includes determining that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor (e.g. software configuration of job archive application running on a server system includes dividing raster image data read by a scanner or received by a facsimile apparatus into pages of data and performing processing for each page including feature extraction methods effective for searching for similar images, for example, and according to a search request and a type of search key supplied, searches for a document (i.e. a special document, a document of interest, etc.) by combining search based on document content data, search based on page data contained in a document, and search based on metadata of the document, and search based on a job related to the document, for example, and finds a plurality of document record candidates matching the search request (i.e. wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit determines that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor), as indicated above), for example), and
wherein the performing the second image processing includes outputting a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document (Par. [0139-158]: FIG. 15 depicts a view illustrating an example of a document search result list window in the document search application according to the first embodiment… A document search result list window 1500 is an example of a window which displays search results when the document search application receives a response to a search processing request from the job archive application. The document search application according to the embodiment displays the document search result list window in the display area 702 of the console unit 112. The document search result list window 1500 includes a search list operation area 1501… The search list display area 1502 is an area for displaying a list of documents meeting a search condition as a result of a search. Each of search hit document displays 1512, 1513, 1514, and 1515 displays information corresponding to a document meeting the search condition. At a default setting, a document having a higher hit rate is displayed higher in the list… FIG. 18 depicts a view illustrating an example of a window for the display result of a related document search result list for a document of interest by the document search application according to the first embodiment. This window presents, to the user, the correspondence between a document found under search conditions designated in the window shown in FIG. 14A or 14B and related documents found according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 17 as documents related to the found document. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 15 denote the same parts, and a description thereof will not be repeated; wherein the performing the second image processing includes outputting a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document (e.g. software configuration of job archive application running on a server system includes dividing raster image data read by a scanner or received by a facsimile apparatus into pages of data and performing processing for each page including feature extraction methods effective for searching for similar images, for example, and according to a search request and a type of search key supplied, searches for a document (i.e. a special document, a document of interest, etc.) by combining search based on document content data, search based on page data contained in a document, and search based on metadata of the document, and search based on a job related to the document, for example, and finds and displays (i.e. outputs) a plurality of document record candidates matching the search request, for example, including depicting a view illustrating an example of a window for a display result of a related document search result list for a document of interest by the document search application (i.e. wherein in the second image processing, the second image processing circuit outputs a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document), as indicated above), for example).
KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, and Yamamoto are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to image processing applications. Therefore, the combined teachings of KATOH, MINAMI, YAMADA, and Yamamoto, as a whole, would have rendered obvious the invention recited in claim 11 with a reasonable expectation of success in order to modify the image reading device (as disclosed by KATOH) with wherein in the first image processing, the first image processing circuit determines that a special document has been detected when a particular search result is obtained from a search through entirety of each read image of the plurality of read images input from the image sensor, and wherein in the second image processing, the second image processing circuit outputs a special document output result in response to the detection of the special document (as taught by Yamamoto, Abstract, Par. [0062-70, 139-158]) for efficient searching for a desired document among many accumulated and unorganized documents, to efficiently search for a desired document among a large number of accumulated documents, to provide a technique of relating input image data and document data related to the input image data among a plurality of items of document data stored in a storage unit (Yamamoto, Abstract, Par. [0002-4, 62-70, 139-158]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record cited in PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to rejected claim 2. However, due to the inability to determine a reasonable interpretation of claim 2, as indicated above, no prior art rejection of claim 2 was possible during examination of instant application.
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/GUILLERMO M RIVERA-MARTINEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2677
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