US Patent 7170615 Image processing device including image data management capabilities

An image processing device includes: (1) a scanner unit for inputting image data; (2) an image memory for storing the image data; (3) a machine control board for confirming the characteristics of the image data; (4) a binary image processing section for performing image processing with respect to the image data; (5) an operation key group for setting a processing mode of the binary image processing section; and (6) a main-CPU for managing (i) the characteristics of each image data confirmed by the machine control board and (ii) a processing mode set by the operation key group, as management information, with reference to the corresponding image data stored in the image memory. The binary image processing section performs image processing with respect to the image data according to the management information managed by the main-CPU. Since the image data is processed according to its management information managed in the management table, it is possible to manage the image processing so that appropriate image processing is applied to each inputted image data, and that time-wasting image processing is not applied to image data improperly inputted.