Image reading apparatus

Claim 2

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correcting means for performing shading correction of original image data, obtained by reading the original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; discriminating means for discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means inhibits said memory means from storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is present at the reading position.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said discriminating means performs the discrimination operation based on an amount of a specific type of data included in said read image data.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the specific type of data comprises image data representing a black image.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising feeding means for feeding the original document to the reading position.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising detecting means for detecting a position of the original document, wherein said reading means reads said reference member, when said detecting means detects that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 8

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating data representative of the read image; feeding means for feeding a plurality of original documents to the reading position, one by one; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means, after a completion of reading a preceding original document and before a start of reading a current original document; shading correcting means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading any one of the plurality of original documents with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; discriminating means for discriminating whether the current original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new data, to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that none of the plurality of original documents are present at the reading position.

Claim 9

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating data representative of the read image; feeding means for feeding a plurality of original documents to the reading position, one by one; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means, after a completion of reading a preceding original document and before a start of reading a current original document; shading correcting means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading any one of the plurality of original documents with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; discriminating means for discriminating whether the current original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new data, to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that none of the plurality of original documents are present at the reading position.

Claim 10

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said control means inhibits said memory means from storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that any one of the plurality of original documents is present at the reading position.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said discriminating means performs the discrimination operation based on an amount of a specific type of data included in said read image data.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the specific type of data comprises image data representing a black image.

Claim 13

An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising detecting means for detecting a position of the original document, wherein said reading means reads said reference member, when said detecting means detects that none of the plurality of original documents are present at the reading position.

Claim 14

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading an original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; discriminating means for discriminating that the original document is present at the reading position when an amount of a specific type of data included in the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means is greater than a predetermined amount by comparing said read image data with the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new reference data to replace the previously stored reference data, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 15

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading an original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; discriminating means for discriminating that the original document is present at the reading position when an amount of a specific type of data included in the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means is greater than a predetermined amount by comparing said read image data with the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new reference data to replace the previously stored reference data, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 16

An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the specific type of data comprises image data representing a black image.

Claim 17

An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said control means inhibits said memory means from storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the amount of the specific type of data is greater than the predetermined amount.

Claim 18

An apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising feeding means for feeding the original document to the reading position.

Claim 19

An apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising detecting means for detecting a position of the original document, wherein said reading means reads said reference member, when said detecting means detects that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 20

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and discriminating means for discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means.

Claim 21

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and discriminating means for discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means.

Claim 22

An apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 23

An apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising control means for inhibiting said memory means from storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is present at the reading position.

Claim 24

An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein said discriminating means performs the discrimination operation based on an amount of a specific type of data included in said read image data.

Claim 25

An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the specific type of data comprises image data representing a black image.

Claim 26

An apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising feeding means for feeding the original document to the reading position.

Claim 27

An apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising detecting means for detecting a position of the original document, wherein said reading means reads said reference member, when said detecting means detects that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 28

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; feeding means for feeding a plurality of original documents to the reading position, one by one; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means, after completion of reading a preceding original document and before a start of reading a current original document; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading any one of the plurality of original documents with said reading means with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and discriminating means for discriminating whether the current original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image reference data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means.

Claim 29

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; feeding means for feeding a plurality of original documents to the reading position, one by one; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means, after completion of reading a preceding original document and before a start of reading a current original document; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading any one of the plurality of original documents with said reading means with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and discriminating means for discriminating whether the current original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image reference data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, with the reference data previously stored in said memory means.

Claim 30

An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that none of the plurality of original documents are present at the reading position.

Claim 31

An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising control means for inhibiting said memory means from storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that any one of the plurality of original documents is present at the reading position.

Claim 32

An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said discriminating means performs the discrimination operation based on an amount of a specific type of data included in said read image data.

Claim 33

An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the specific type of data comprises image data representing a black image.

Claim 34

An apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising detecting means for detecting a position of the original document, wherein said reading means reads said reference member, when said detecting means detects that none of the plurality of the original documents are present at the reading position.

Claim 35

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and discriminating means for discriminating that the original document is present at the reading position when an amount of a specific type of data included in the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, is greater than a predetermined amount by comparing said read image data with the reference data previously stored in said memory means.

Claim 36

An image reading apparatus, comprising: a reference member provided at a reading position within said image reading apparatus; reading means for reading, at the reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) said reference member, and for generating image data representative of the read image; memory means for previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member with said reading means; shading correction means for performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document with said reading means, using the reference data previously stored in said memory means; and discriminating means for discriminating that the original document is present at the reading position when an amount of a specific type of data included in the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position with said reading means, is greater than a predetermined amount by comparing said read image data with the reference data previously stored in said memory means.

Claim 37

An apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising control means for controlling said memory means to store said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 38

An apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the specific type of data comprises image data representing a black image.

Claim 39

An apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising control means for inhibiting said memory means from storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said memory means, when said discriminating means discriminates that the amount of the specific type of data is greater than the predetermined amount.

Claim 40

An apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising feeding means for feeding the original document to the reading position.

Claim 41

An apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising detecting means for detecting a position of the original document, wherein said reading means reads said reference member, when said detecting means detects that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 42

An image reading method comprising the steps of: reading, at a reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) a reference member provided at the reading position, and for generating image data representative of the read image; previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member in said reading step; performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document in said reading step, using the reference data previously stored in said storing step; discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position in said reading step, with the reference data previously stored in said storing step; and newly storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said previously storing step, when it is discriminated in said discriminating step that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 43

An image reading method comprising the steps of: reading, at a reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) a reference member provided at the reading position, and for generating image data representative of the read image; previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member in said reading step; performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document in said reading step, using the reference data previously stored in said storing step; discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position in said reading step, with the reference data previously stored in said storing step; and newly storing said read image data as a new reference data to replace the reference data previously stored in said previously storing step, when it is discriminated in said discriminating step that the original document is not present at the reading position.

Claim 44

An image reading method comprising the steps of: reading, at a reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) a reference member provided at the reading position, and for generating data representative of the read image; previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member in said reading step; performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document in said reading step, using the reference data previously stored in said storing step; and discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position in said reading step, with the reference data previously stored in said storing step.

Claim 45

An image reading method comprising the steps of: reading, at a reading position, an image of at least one of (i) an original document and (ii) a reference member provided at the reading position, and for generating data representative of the read image; previously storing as reference data, data obtained by reading said reference member in said reading step; performing shading correction for original image data, obtained by reading the original document in said reading step, using the reference data previously stored in said storing step; and discriminating whether the original document is present at the reading position by comparing the read image data, which is obtained by reading the image at the reading position in said reading step, with the reference data previously stored in said storing step.