US5126838A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Color image processing with undercolor removal suitable for use in digital processing
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1991-02-19
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Granted: 1992-06-30
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Expires: 2011-02-19
Abstract
Abstract An image processing apparatus extracts an edge or line portion of an image, judges grayness of the image, and processes the image according to outputs of the means used for the edge- or line-extraction and grayness-determination. The further processing may, for example, comprise undercolor removal and/or black-addition. Edge extraction can be performed by use of a Laplacian. The grayness can be judged by, for example, providing a colorlessness signal formed from two color component signals. Extraction of a line region, instead of Laplacian edge extraction, can be performed, for example, by use of an Hadamard transformation. Also, the invention more generally includes detecting grayness of an image, detecting other characteristics of the image, and judging additional characteristics of the image according to the first two determinations.
Inventors
- 👤 Hidefumi Ohsawa
- 👤 Kenichi Ohta
- 👤 Akihiro Usami
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 02:55
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/46; H04N1/56; H04N1/58
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 66
Claim 1
Independent Claim
53 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting an edge portion of an object image; b) second means for judging grayness of the object image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and c) means for processing the object image according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
53 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting an edge portion of an object image; b) second means for judging grayness of the object image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and c) means for processing the object image according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means for processing the image includes means for performing undercolor processing of the image.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said means for performing undercolor processing modifies its undercolor processing characteristics according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first means is means for applying a Laplacian operator to data representing the image.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
84 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting an edge portion of an object image; b) second means for judging grayness of the object image; and c) means for processing the object image according to outputs of said first means and second means, wherein said second means includes: i) means for detecting I and Q components of the object image; and ii) means for obtaining an amount representative of I 2 +Q 2 from the I and Q components for detecting grayness.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
84 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting an edge portion of an object image; b) second means for judging grayness of the object image; and c) means for processing the object image according to outputs of said first means and second means, wherein said second means includes: i) means for detecting I and Q components of the object image; and ii) means for obtaining an amount representative of I 2 +Q 2 from the I and Q components for detecting grayness.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
36 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said means for performing undercolor processing includes: a) means for undercolor removal from the object image; and b) means for performing black-addition processing on the object image.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
39 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said undercolor removal means and black-addition processing means increase an amount of undercolor removal and an amount of black-addition, respectively, in a colorless and edge portion of the object image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
50 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting a line region of an image; b) second means for judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and c) means for processing the image according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
50 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting a line region of an image; b) second means for judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and c) means for processing the image according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said first means extracts a line region of the image by a Hadamard transformation.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said means for processing the image includes means for performing undercolor processing of the image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
30 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said means for performing undercolor processing modifies its undercolor processing characteristics according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said first means is means for applying a Laplacian operator to data representing the image.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
81 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting a line region of an image; b) second means for judging grayness of the image; and c) means for processing the image according to outputs of said first means and second means, wherein said second means further comprises: i) means for detecting I and Q components of the image; and ii) means for obtaining an amount representative of I 2 +Q 2 from the I and Q components for detecting grayness.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
81 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for extracting a line region of an image; b) second means for judging grayness of the image; and c) means for processing the image according to outputs of said first means and second means, wherein said second means further comprises: i) means for detecting I and Q components of the image; and ii) means for obtaining an amount representative of I 2 +Q 2 from the I and Q components for detecting grayness.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
34 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said means for performing undercolor processing includes: a) means for undercolor removal from the image; and b) means for performing black-addition processing on the image.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
38 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 14 wherein said undercolor removal means and black-addition processing means increase an amount of undercolor removal and an amount of black-addition, respectively, in a colorless and line region of the image.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
52 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for detecting grayness of an image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; b) second means for detecting another characteristic of the image; and c) means for judging a characteristic of the image according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
52 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for detecting grayness of an image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; b) second means for detecting another characteristic of the image; and c) means for judging a characteristic of the image according to outputs of said first means and second means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
83 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for detecting grayness of an image; b) second means for detecting another characteristic of the image; and c) means for judging a characteristic of the image according to outputs of said first means and second means, wherein said first means further comprises: i) means for detecting I and Q components of the image; and ii) means for obtaining an amount representative of I 2 +Q 2 from the I and Q components for detecting grayness.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
83 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: a) first means for detecting grayness of an image; b) second means for detecting another characteristic of the image; and c) means for judging a characteristic of the image according to outputs of said first means and second means, wherein said first means further comprises: i) means for detecting I and Q components of the image; and ii) means for obtaining an amount representative of I 2 +Q 2 from the I and Q components for detecting grayness.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said second means is means for detecting an edge component of the image.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
51 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 18 wherein said means for judging is means which judges a region in the image as a black region by detection of its grayness by said first means to judge it as colorless and by detection of the edge component by said second means.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
25 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second means judge said grayness based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
25 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second means judge said grayness based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
25 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said first means judge said grayness based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
45 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: extracting an edge portion of an object image; judging grayness of the object image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and processing the object image according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
45 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: extracting an edge portion of an object image; judging grayness of the object image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and processing the object image according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
20 words
An image processing method according to claim 23, wherein said processing step further comprises performing undercolor processing of the image.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
28 words
An image processing method according to claim 24, wherein, in said undercolor processing, undercolor processing characteristics are modified according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
23 words
An image processing method according to claim 23, wherein, in said extracting step, a Laplacian operator is applied to data representing the image.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
32 words
An image processing method according to claim 24, wherein said undercolor processing further comprises the steps of: performing undercolor removal from the object image; and performing black-addition processing on the object image.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
40 words
An image processing method according to claim 27, wherein, in said undercolor removal and black-addition processing steps, an amount of undercolor removal and an amount of black-addition, respectively, are increased in a colorless and edge portion of the object image.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
27 words
An image processing method according to claim 23, wherein, in said judging step, the grayness is judged based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
42 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: extracting a line region of an image; judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and processing the image according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
42 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: extracting a line region of an image; judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; and processing the image according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
25 words
An image processing method according to claim 30, wherein, in said extracting step, a line region of the image is extracted by a Hadamard transformation.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
20 words
An image processing method according to claim 30, wherein said processing step further comprises performing undercolor processing of the image.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
28 words
An image processing method according to claim 32, wherein, in said undercolor processing, undercolor processing characteristics are modified according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
22 words
An image processing method according to claim 30, wherein said extracting step comprises applying a Laplacian operator to data representing the image.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
31 words
An image processing method according to claim 30, wherein said undercolor removal processing further comprises the steps of: performing undercolor removal from the image; and performing black-addition processing on the image.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
39 words
An image processing method according to claim 35, wherein, in said undercolor removal and black-addition processing steps, an amount of undercolor removal and an amount of black-addition, respectively, are increased in a colorless and edge portion of the image.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
27 words
An image processing method according to claim 30, wherein, in said judging step, the grayness is judged based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
45 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: detecting grayness of an image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; detecting another characteristic of the image; and judging a characteristic of the image according to outputs obtained in said first and second detecting steps.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
45 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: detecting grayness of an image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; detecting another characteristic of the image; and judging a characteristic of the image according to outputs obtained in said first and second detecting steps.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
22 words
An image processing method according to claim 38, wherein said second detecting step further comprises detecting an edge component of the image.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
50 words
An image processing method according to claim 39, wherein, in said judging step, a region in the image is judged as a black region by detection of its grayness in said first detecting step judging it as colorless and by detection of the edge component in said second detecting step.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
28 words
An image processing method according to claim 38, wherein, in said first detecting step, the grayness is judged based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
73 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: means for converting an object image into a color image signal; first means for extracting a line or edge region of the image; second means for judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; means for processing the color image signal according to outputs of said first means and second means; and means for outputting color image signal processed by said processing means.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
73 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: means for converting an object image into a color image signal; first means for extracting a line or edge region of the image; second means for judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; means for processing the color image signal according to outputs of said first means and second means; and means for outputting color image signal processed by said processing means.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
16 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 42, wherein said outputting means comprises a color printer.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
25 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 42, wherein said first means comprises means for applying a Laplacian operator to image data representing the image.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
26 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 42, wherein said means for processing the color image signal comprises means for performing undercolor processing of the image.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
29 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said means for performing undercolor processing modifies its undercolor processing characteristics according to outputs of said first and second means.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
41 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said processing means process the color image signal as substantially unicolored black in a colorless and line or edge region of the image according to outputs of said first and second means.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
25 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 42, wherein said second means judge said grayness based on a plurality of color components of the image.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
63 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: converting an object image into color image signal; extracting a line or edge region of an image; judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; processing the color image signal according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps; and outputting color image signal processed in said processing step.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
63 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: converting an object image into color image signal; extracting a line or edge region of an image; judging grayness of the image, said grayness being a parameter indicative of chromaticity; processing the color image signal according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps; and outputting color image signal processed in said processing step.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
18 words
An image processing method according to claim 49, wherein said outputting step is performed using a color printer.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
24 words
An image processing method according to claim 49, wherein said extracting step further comprises applying a Laplacian operator to image data representing the image.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
20 words
An image processing method according to claim 49, wherein said processing step further comprises performing undercolor processing of the image.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
28 words
An image processing apparatus according to claim 52, wherein, in said undercolor processing, undercolor processing characteristics are modified according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
44 words
An image processing method according to claim 52, wherein, in said processing step, the color image signal is processed as substantially unicolored black in a colorless and line or edge region of the image, according to outputs obtained in said extracting and judging steps.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
27 words
An image processing method according to claim 49, wherein, in said judging step, the grayness is judged based on a plurality of color components of the image.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1995-06-30 | 1995-12-30 | 1996-06-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1999-06-30 | 1999-12-30 | 2000-06-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2003-06-30 | 2003-12-30 | 2004-06-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |