A scanner reads an original and generates a read image, specifies a first region having a pattern on a wrinkle and a second region having a wrinkle and no pattern from the read image, and performs a wrinkle reduction process in which the wrinkle is not reduced in the first region and the wrinkle is reduced in the second region, included in the read image.

In one example, a document scanner has a fixed-position scan bar and a built-in translatable calibration target. The scan bar has a linear array of imaging elements aimed in an imaging direction. The calibration target is spaced apart from and parallel to the linear array, and has a planar surface orthogonal to the imaging direction spanning the length of the linear array. The target is translatable during a calibration in a direction in a plane of the surface.

The present invention is related to a scanning device for scanning documents, comprises a flat-bed scanning glass; a contact image sensor arranged above the flat-bed scanning glass separately to form a scanning path therebetween, a bottom surface of the contact image sensor being arranged with a protecting glass, a middle area of the protecting glass being configured as a scanning area, and a chamfer being arranged at the bottom surface of the protecting glass at a downstream position relative to the scanning area. Hence the dust of documents in this invention would be stacked in the chamfer during the scanning process temporarily and then be wiped away by the document itself, so as to assure the dust would not be stacked in the scanning area. The scanning device in this invention is capable to maintain the scanning quality without clearing the dust even after scanned a massive quantity of documents.

An image reading apparatus includes a reader, a reference plate, a transportation mechanism, and a processor. The reader reads a line image in a main scanning direction. The transportation mechanism transports the reader in a sub-scanning direction. The processor reads a first number of line images across a first line width in the sub-scanning direction from the reference plate, on each block that results from division in the sub-scanning direction, which is performed by causing the reader to be transported using the transportation mechanism. Thus, the processor detects foreign matter on each block that is set to be on the reference plate, selects a reading block for reading shading data, from a block on which the foreign matter is not present, and reads the first number of line images, as the shading data, across a second line width that is narrower than the first line width.

An image reading apparatus includes a carriage, a reference plate, a transportation mechanism, and a processor. The carriage acquires an image in a main scanning direction. The transportation mechanism transports the carriage in a sub-scanning direction. The processor causes the carriage to move in a first direction using the transportation mechanism and thereby detects foreign matter that is present on the reference plate, using the carriage. When the carriage is caused to move in the first direction and thus shading data is acquired from the reference plate, the processor reads the shading data from a data acquisition area other than an area where the foreign matter is present. If the carriage is caused to move in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction and thereby shading data is acquired from the reference plate, the processor reads the shading data from the data acquisition area.

A image reading apparatus includes a first unit fixed to the image reading apparatus, a second unit movably provided between a first position facing the first unit and a second position facing the first unit, wherein the second position is at a longer distance from the first unit than the first position, a guide provided for guiding a document being conveyed between the first unit and the second unit, such that the second unit is moved by the document, an image capturing device provided on one of the first unit and the second unit for capturing an image of a document guided by the guide, a drive force generating device for generating first drive force for moving the second unit, and a control module for causing the drive force generating device to generate the first drive force when the document is not conveyed.

An image reading apparatus, a control method, and a control program accurately determining a position of a foreign object are provided. The image reading apparatus includes an image capturing device, provided in a first unit or a second unit, for capturing a first image and a second image, a reference member provided in the first unit or the second unit, a driving device for moving the second unit, a foreign object determining module for determining whether or not a foreign object appears in the first image, and a position determining module for determining whether the foreign object exists on the image capturing device side or on the reference member side, based on an absolute value of a difference between a gradation value in a region where the foreign object appears within the first image and a gradation value in a region corresponding to the region where the foreign object appears, within the second image when the foreign object appears in the first image, wherein the first image is an image of the reference member captured when the second unit is provided at one of the first position or the second position, and the second image is an image of the reference member captured when the second unit is provided at the other of the first position or the second position.

In accordance with an embodiment, in an image processing apparatus which includes an arithmetic element and executes an image processing on a first image data read by a scanner from a manuscript including a printing area, the arithmetic element acquires the first image data from the scanner, generates second image data by executing an image processing on the first image data, recognizes the printing area in the first image data based on the second image data, and cuts out an image in the printing area from the first image data as a third image data.

An image processing apparatus includes a hardware processor that acquires a read image obtained by reading an image printed on a recording medium based on a printing image by an image reader, wherein the hardware processor generates a difference image based on a difference between the read image and the printing image, and determines presence or absence of a defect in the read image based on magnitude of fluctuation of a pixel value in the difference image.

An image reading apparatus includes an imaging device for generating a white reference image of a white reference member and a document image of a document and a periphery of the document, and a processor for performing first processing for detecting a dirt substance from the white reference image, generating data for shading correction based on the white reference image, correcting the document image using the data for shading correction to generate a correction image, and performing second processing for detecting a dirt substance from the correction image. One of the first processing or the second processing is performed using a dirt substance detection result of the other one of the first processing or the second processing.