Image processing apparatus for combining image and character data

Claim 2

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for half-tone processing the image signal to produce a digital half-tone image signal, said half-tone processing means including means for storing the image signal entered by said image signal input means; converting means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal, said converting means including means for storing the character code signal entered by said character code input means; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital half-tone image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said half-tone processing means includes means for storing the digital half-tone image signal.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for designating output regions and output positions at which an image represented by the digital half-tone image signal is to be formed by said common image forming means.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising color designating means for reproducing a character represented by the character code signal in a predetermined color.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said half-tone processing means includes dither conversion means for dither converting the image signal entered by said image signal input means into a binary image signal.

Claim 7

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for color processing the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, to produce a digital color image signal, said color processing means including means for storing the image signal; converting means for converting the character code signal, entered by said character code input means, into a digital character image signal, said converting means including means for storing the character code signal; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital color image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 8

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for color processing the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, to produce a digital color image signal, said color processing means including means for storing the image signal; converting means for converting the character code signal, entered by said character code input means, into a digital character image signal, said converting means including means for storing the character code signal; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital color image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 9

An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means for combining the digital color image signal with the digital character image signal and sending the combined image signal to said common image forming means.

Claim 10

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said color processing means includes means for storing the digital color image signal.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising means for designating output regions and output positions at which an image represented by the digital color image signal is to be formed by said common image forming means.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said color processing means includes dither conversion means for dither converting the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, into a binary image signal.

Claim 13

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for processing the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, to produce a digital image signal, said processing means including means for storing the image signal; means for reproducing a character represented by the character code signal, entered by said character code signal input means, in a predetermined color; converting means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal, said converting means including means for storing the character code signal; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 14

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for processing the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, to produce a digital image signal, said processing means including means for storing the image signal; means for reproducing a character represented by the character code signal, entered by said character code signal input means, in a predetermined color; converting means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal, said converting means including means for storing the character code signal; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 15

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for color processing the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, to produce a digital color image signal; converting means for converting the character code signal, entered by said character code signal input means, into a digital character image signal; means for reproducing a character represented by the character code signal in a predetermined color; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital color image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 16

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering an image signal; character code signal input means for entering a character code signal; means for color processing the image signal, entered by said image signal input means, to produce a digital color image signal; converting means for converting the character code signal, entered by said character code signal input means, into a digital character image signal; means for reproducing a character represented by the character code signal in a predetermined color; digital character image signal storing means for storing the digital character image signal converted by said converting means; and common image forming means for receiving the digital color image signal and the digital character image signal; wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation, and the digital character image signal stored in said digital character image signal storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 17

An image processing apparatus comprising: first image signal input means for entering a first image signal representing a background image; second image signal input means for entering a second image signal representing a second image; means for combining the first image signal, entered by said first image signal input means, with the second image signal, entered by said second image signal input means, in overlayed relation; and means for modifying the second image signal in accordance with the background image overlayed on the second image represented by the second image signal.

Claim 18

An image processing apparatus comprising: first image signal input means for entering a first image signal representing a background image; second image signal input means for entering a second image signal representing a second image; means for combining the first image signal, entered by said first image signal input means, with the second image signal, entered by said second image signal input means, in overlayed relation; and means for modifying the second image signal in accordance with the background image overlayed on the second image represented by the second image signal.

Claim 19

An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said modifying means modifies the second image signal in accordance with a level of the first image signal when the second image represented by the second image signal is overlayed on a background image represented by the first image signal.

Claim 20

An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said modifying means has discriminating means for discriminating whether the level of the first image signal exceeds a predetermined value, said discriminating means including means for arbitrarily setting the predetermined value.

Claim 21

An apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising first memory means for storing the first image signal and second memory means for storing a character signal, wherein the second image signal is the character signal.

Claim 22

An apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising means for designating output regions and output positions of the first image signal.

Claim 23

An apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising color designating means for reproducing a character represented by the character signal in a predetermined color.

Claim 24

An apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising character code signal input means for entering a character code signal and converting means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal, wherein the second image signal is the digital character image signal.

Claim 25

An apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising density image signal input means for entering a density image signal and dither conversion means for dither converting the density image signal into the first image signal.

Claim 26

An image processing apparatus comprising: first image signal input means for entering a first image signal representing a first image; second image signal input means for entering a second image signal representing a second image; means for combining the first image signal with the second image signal, said combining means including means for modifying the first image signal to convert a region of the second image represented by the second image signal into a predetermined condition appropriate for combination with the first image represented by the first image signal.

Claim 27

An image processing apparatus comprising: first image signal input means for entering a first image signal representing a first image; second image signal input means for entering a second image signal representing a second image; means for combining the first image signal with the second image signal, said combining means including means for modifying the first image signal to convert a region of the second image represented by the second image signal into a predetermined condition appropriate for combination with the first image represented by the first image signal.

Claim 28

An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said modifying means modifies the first image signal when the image represented by the second image signal is overlayed on an image represented by the first image signal.

Claim 29

An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising first memory means for storing the first image signal and second memory means for storing a character signal, and wherein the second image signal is a character signal.

Claim 30

An apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising means for designating output regions and output positions of the first image signal.

Claim 31

An apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising color designating means for reproducing a character represented by the character signal in a predetermined color.

Claim 32

An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising character code signal input means for entering a character code signal and converting means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal, and wherein the second image signal is the digital character image signal.

Claim 33

An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising density image signal input means for entering a density image signal and dither conversion means for dither converting the density image signal into the first image signal.

Claim 34

An image processing apparatus comprising: input means for entering first and second types of image data to be combined and identification data identifying the first and second types of data respectively; separating means for separating the first and second types of the image data entered from said input means, said separating means separating the image data in accordance with the identification data identifying the respective types of the image data; first processing means for processing the first type of the image data separated by said separating means; second processing means for processing the second type of the image data separated by said separating means; said second processing means including half-tone processing means for half-tone processing the second type of the image data; and means for combining the image data processed by said first processing means with the image data processed by said second processing means.

Claim 35

An image processing apparatus comprising: input means for entering first and second types of image data to be combined and identification data identifying the first and second types of data respectively; separating means for separating the first and second types of the image data entered from said input means, said separating means separating the image data in accordance with the identification data identifying the respective types of the image data; first processing means for processing the first type of the image data separated by said separating means; second processing means for processing the second type of the image data separated by said separating means; said second processing means including half-tone processing means for half-tone processing the second type of the image data; and means for combining the image data processed by said first processing means with the image data processed by said second processing means.

Claim 36

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said first processing means produces a character dot signal and wherein said second processing means produces a dot image signal, and said combining means combines the character dot signal with the dot image signal.

Claim 37

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the first type of the image data is a character code signal, and said first processing means includes means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal.

Claim 38

An image processing apparatus comprising: input means for entering first and second types of image data to be combined, respectively representing first and second images, and identification data identifying the first and second types of data respectively; means for separating the first and second types of image data entered from said input means, said separating means separating the image data in accordance with the identification data representing the respective types of the image data; first processing means for processing the first type of image data separated by said separating means; second processing means for processing the second type of the image data separated by said separating means; and

Claim 39

An image processing apparatus comprising: input means for entering first and second types of image data to be combined, respectively representing first and second images, and identification data identifying the first and second types of data respectively; means for separating the first and second types of image data entered from said input means, said separating means separating the image data in accordance with the identification data representing the respective types of the image data; first processing means for processing the first type of image data separated by said separating means; second processing means for processing the second type of the image data separated by said separating means; and

Claim 40

combination means for combining the first type of image data processed by said first processing means with the second type of image data processed by said second processing means, said combining means including means for selecting a position for combination of an image represented by the first type of the image data with an image represented by the second type of the image data.

Claim 41

combination means for combining the first type of image data processed by said first processing means with the second type of image data processed by said second processing means, said combining means including means for selecting a position for combination of an image represented by the first type of the image data with an image represented by the second type of the image data.

Claim 42

An apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the first type of image data is a character code signal, and said first processing means includes means for converting the character code signal into a digital character image signal.

Claim 43

An image processing apparatus comprising: input means for entering first and second types of image data to be combined and identification data for identifying the first and second types respectively; separating means for separating the first and second types of image data entered from said input means, said separating means separating the image data in accordance with the identification data representing the respective types of the image data; first processing means for processing the first type of the image data separated by said separating means; second processing means for processing the second type of the image data separated by said separating means, said second processing means including color processing means for color processing the second type of the image data; and means for combining the image data processed by said first processing means with the image data processed by said second processing means.

Claim 44

An image processing apparatus comprising: input means for entering first and second types of image data to be combined and identification data for identifying the first and second types respectively; separating means for separating the first and second types of image data entered from said input means, said separating means separating the image data in accordance with the identification data representing the respective types of the image data; first processing means for processing the first type of the image data separated by said separating means; second processing means for processing the second type of the image data separated by said separating means, said second processing means including color processing means for color processing the second type of the image data; and means for combining the image data processed by said first processing means with the image data processed by said second processing means.

Claim 45

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering a dot image signal; character signal input means for entering a dot character signal; first storing means for storing the dot image signal entered by said image signal input means; second storing means for storing the dot character signal entered by said character signal input means; common image forming means for receiving the dot image signal from said first storing means and the dot character signal from said second storing means; means for allowing said common image forming means to receive the dot image signal and the dot character signal wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation and the dot character signal stored in said second storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 46

An image processing apparatus comprising: image signal input means for entering a dot image signal; character signal input means for entering a dot character signal; first storing means for storing the dot image signal entered by said image signal input means; second storing means for storing the dot character signal entered by said character signal input means; common image forming means for receiving the dot image signal from said first storing means and the dot character signal from said second storing means; means for allowing said common image forming means to receive the dot image signal and the dot character signal wherein said common image forming means provides a sync signal that is synchronized with an image forming operation and the dot character signal stored in said second storing means is read out in response to the sync signal and transmitted to said common image forming means.

Claim 47

An image processing apparatus comprising: first image signal input means for entering a noncompressed image signal; second image signal input means for entering a compressed image signal; first processing the noncompressed image signal entered by said first image signal input means; second processing means for processing the compressed image signal entered by said second image signal input means, said second processing means including means for decoding the compressed image signal; common image forming means for receiving and combining the respective image signals from said first and second processing means; and means for allowing said common image forming means to receive and combine the respective image signals from said first and second processing means.

Claim 48

An image processing apparatus comprising: first image signal input means for entering a noncompressed image signal; second image signal input means for entering a compressed image signal; first processing the noncompressed image signal entered by said first image signal input means; second processing means for processing the compressed image signal entered by said second image signal input means, said second processing means including means for decoding the compressed image signal; common image forming means for receiving and combining the respective image signals from said first and second processing means; and means for allowing said common image forming means to receive and combine the respective image signals from said first and second processing means.