JP2005040786A - Classification device and method for address information identification - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently identify address information of a delivery such as mail. <P>SOLUTION: An international delivery identification section 60A judges whether the mail is for abroad or not, based on each collation result by every collation section comprising a sticker-carried information collation section 51, an address format collation section 52, an address word collation section 53, a delivery zone code form collation section 54, and a country name identification word collation section 55 (or, by part of the collation sections). When the mail is judged to be for abroad by the international delivery identification section 60A, a country name identification section 60B identifies the name of the country to which the mail is addressed, based on each collation result by every collation section comprising the sticker-carried information collation section 51, the address format collation section 52, the address word collation section 53, the delivery zone code form collation section 54, and the country name identification word collation section 55 (or, by part of the collation sections). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus that performs sorting processing of deliverables in which a destination is described, and a destination information determination method applied to the sorting apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known a mail address automatic reading / sorting machine that optically reads address information on a paper sheet attached to a mail and sorts the mail. This sorter is generally designed for domestic mail. That is, the address (or whereabouts) in the address information is recognized using a dictionary in which individual address data in the country where the sorting machine is used is registered, and the sorting is performed based on this.

  On the other hand, since the above sorting machine cannot deal with international mail where the postal address is a foreign country, a sticker or the like indicating international mail is attached so that the mail is sorted manually.

It is also conceivable to deal with international mail by installing not only a dictionary in which domestic address data is registered but also a dictionary in which foreign address data is registered in a sorting machine. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for specifying the language of a document written in a foreign language by performing collation using a character pattern stored in a character pattern data storage unit. When recognizing addresses written in words, it is conceivable to use the technique of this document.
JP 2002-245470 A

  However, as described above, the task of determining and classifying the destination country by looking at the sticker attached to the international mail is very time-consuming and time-consuming, and is not efficient.

  In addition, when installing a dictionary with foreign address data registered in the sorting machine, a storage medium that has a capacity sufficient to store a huge amount of address data in any country, and an advanced search that can be performed in a short time There is a problem that it is necessary to provide an apparatus, and enormous costs are required.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting apparatus and a method for determining address information that can efficiently determine address information of a delivery such as mail.

  The sorting device according to the present invention is a sorting device that performs sorting processing of deliveries with destinations described therein, and i) description information on a seal indicating that the flight is for a foreign country in a predetermined country is registered. Seal description information database, ii) Address format database in which multiple types of address formats related to the arrangement of individual elements constituting address descriptions are registered for each country group, iii) Identification used for description of addresses in each country A word database for addresses in which the words are registered in the native language, iv) a delivery area code format information database in which information indicating the delivery format of each country's delivery area code is registered, and v) a country identification Storage means storing at least one of country name identification word databases in which country name identification words for registration are registered by country Reading means for reading information on the paper sheet attached to the delivery, recognition means for recognizing the address area on the paper sheet from the information read by the reading means, and recognition by the recognition means I) detecting the description information of the sticker from the information of the addressed area, ii) detecting the address format relating to the arrangement of the individual elements constituting the description of the address, iii) included in the address Detection means for performing at least one of detecting a specific word, iv) detecting a description format of a delivery area code, and v) detecting a country name identification word; i) the storage means Referring to the sticker description information database in the above, the collation of sticker description information detected by the detection means is performed, ii) the address format database in the storage means Referencing the address format detected by the detecting means, iii) referring to the address word database in the storage means, and verifying the word detected by the detecting means, iv ) Refer to the delivery area code format information database in the storage means, and collate the description format of the delivery area code detected by the detection means, and v) Refer to the country name identification word database in the storage means Then, based on the result of the collation performed by the collation means that performs at least one of collation of the country name identification words detected by the detection means, and the collation result of the collation means, And first determination means for determining whether or not.

  Also, the address information determination method according to the present invention is an address information determination method applied to a sorting apparatus that performs sorting processing of deliverables in which a destination is described, and i) is a flight for a foreign country in a predetermined country. Ii) an address format database in which multiple types of address formats related to the arrangement of individual elements constituting the address description are registered for each country group, iii) Address word database in which specific words used to describe addresses in each country are registered in each country in their native language, iv) Delivery in which information indicating the description format of each country's delivery area code is registered in each country Area code format information database, and v) a country name identification word database in which country name identification words for identifying each country are registered for each country. At least one of them is stored in a storage medium, the information on the paper sheet attached to the delivery is read, the address area on the paper sheet is recognized from the read information, From the recognized address area information, i) detecting the description information of the above-mentioned sticker, ii) detecting the address format regarding the arrangement of the individual elements constituting the description of the address, iii) identification included in the address Iv) detecting the description format of the delivery area code, and v) detecting the country identification word, and i) the seal description in the storage means Referring to the information database, collating the seal description information detected by the detection means, ii) referring to the address format database in the storage means, Iii) collating the detected word with reference to the address word database in the storage medium, and iv) the delivery area code format information in the storage medium. Referring to the database, collating the description format of the detected delivery area code, and v) referring to the country name identification word database in the storage medium to collate the detected country name identification word. At least one of them is performed, and a first determination is made as to whether or not the delivery is a foreign flight based on each collation result of the collation.

  It is possible to efficiently determine the address information of delivery items such as mail.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external view showing a sorting machine 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the sorting machine 1. This sorter 1 has a large box-shaped sorter body 1a. This sorter 1 reads the information on the postal matter P, recognizes the address area, the sticker sticker region, etc. from the read contents, and sorts the postal matter P to the corresponding sorting destination based on the recognition result. is there.
The sorting machine main body 1 a is provided with a supply unit 2, a scanner unit (reading unit) 3, a transport unit 4, a sorting unit 5, and a storage unit 6. When the postal matter P from the supply unit 2 is conveyed by the conveyance path, it is guided to the storage unit 6 through the conveyance unit 4 and the sorting unit 5 in order.

  The supply unit 2 includes a mounting table 7 on which the postal matter P is placed, and a taking-out unit 8 that takes out the postal matter P one by one from the mounting table 7 and sends it to the conveyance path. The scanner unit 3 optically reads the entire image on each postal matter P conveyed by the conveyance path and generates image information. The transport unit 4 transports the postal matter P that has passed through the scanner unit 3 to the sorting unit 5. The storage unit 6 has a large number of storage pockets 6a for sorting and storing the postal matter P. The sorting unit 5 sorts the postal matter P sent from the transport unit 4 into one of the storage pockets 6a,... Based on a recognition result described later with respect to image information from the scanner unit 3.

  The scanner unit 3 is a reading unit that reads information on a paper sheet as a pattern signal by optically scanning and photoelectrically converting the postal matter P. For example, a light source that irradiates light on the postal matter P, And a self-scanning CCD image sensor that receives the reflected light and converts it into an electrical signal. The output of the scanner unit 3 is supplied to a recognition unit in the information processing unit 10.

In the sorting machine 1, the supply unit 2, the scanner unit 3, the transport unit 4, the sorting unit 5, and the information processing unit 10 are connected to a control unit 11. The control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the sorting machine 1. For example, the control unit 11 reads out the category designation data corresponding to the recognition result (or determination result) in the information processing unit 10 using the category designation table stored in the memory (not shown), and the read category designation data. The postal matter P is transported to the storage pockets 6a,... Corresponding to (addresses of the storage pockets 6a,...).
Further, the control unit 11 controls the entire transport system by driving a transport mechanism unit (not shown) such as the transport path by a driver (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 3, on the surface of the paper sheet attached to the postal matter P, there are an address area 71 in which an address is described and a document area 72 in which a text is described. It is attached. Further, in the case of mail for overseas, a seal 74 indicating that the mail is for overseas is attached. In the address area 71, as shown in FIG. 4, a destination address (or residence) 81 is described, and a delivery area code (ZIP code, zip code) 82 indicating a delivery area is in a predetermined format. Or a country name identification word (such as a country name abbreviation) 83 for identifying each country. The delivery area code 82 and the country name identification word 83 may not be written.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the information processing unit 10 includes a recognition unit (recognition unit) 101, an address information determination unit 102, a storage unit (storage unit or storage medium) 103, and an address determination unit 104. Has been.

  The recognition unit 101 recognizes the address area 71 on the postal matter P, the area of the seal 74, and the like from the image supplied from the scanner unit 3. Specifically, it recognizes the address format, the character string, the delivery area code, the format information such as the delivery area code frame, and the description information on the sticker 74 regarding the address in the address area 71. The recognizing unit 101 has various dictionaries in which domestic address data, delivery area codes, and the like are registered. By using these dictionaries, addresses of domestic mail and delivery area codes can be obtained. It can also recognize character strings.

  The address information determination unit 102 detects, from the information in the address area 71 recognized by the recognition unit 101, i) a specific word included in the address, ii) a description format of the delivery area code, and iii) a country name identification word. , Collation of the detected word or the like is performed by referring to the corresponding various databases (hereinafter referred to as DB) in the storage unit 103, and the name of the destination country of the postal matter P is determined based on the collation result. Judgment. The determination result obtained here is supplied to the control unit 11.

The storage unit 103 stores various DBs (described later) used by the address information determination unit 102.
The address determination unit 104 obtains an address character string from the recognition unit 101 when the recognition unit 101 succeeds in recognizing the address character string. On the other hand, if the recognition unit 101 has not successfully recognized the address character string, the address determination unit 104 decides to perform the rejection process or is closest to the name character string recognized by the recognition unit 101. A character string to be searched is searched from a predetermined database in the storage unit 103 to determine an address. The character string of the address obtained here is supplied to the control unit 11 as an address determination result.

Next, the details of the address information determination unit 102 and the storage unit 103 will be described with reference to FIG.
The storage unit 103 includes various databases such as a sticker description information DB 31, an address format DB 32, an address word DB 33, a delivery area code format information DB 34, and a country name identification word DB 35.

  In the sticker description information DB 31, sticker description information indicating that it is a flight for a foreign country in the home country (for example, Sweden) to which the sorting machine 1 is applied is registered. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, image information of designs described in various seals (type A, type B, type C,...) Distributed in the home country is registered. The various seals are arranged, for example, in order of frequency of use, and are subjected to collation processing in order of frequency of use. If the target seal corresponds to any one of the type A, type B, type C,..., The postal matter P is a foreign flight.

  In the address format DB 32, a plurality of types of address formats related to the arrangement of individual elements constituting address descriptions are registered for each country group (or each country). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, various address formats such as European type (I), European type (II), US type,... Are registered.

  In the European type (I) address format in FIG. 8, “salutation” (writing phrase) may be arranged in the first row (optional). In the second row, “contact name” (personal name, corporate name, etc.) is arranged. In the third row, “thoroughfare” (street, road, avenue, etc.) is arranged, and “number” (thoroughfare number) is arranged on the right side. In the fourth row, “postal code” is arranged, and “settlement” (city name, district name, etc.) is arranged on the right side.

  In the European type (II) address format in FIG. 8, “contact name” (personal name, corporate name, etc.) is arranged in the first row. In the second row, “number” (thoroughfare number) is arranged, “thoroughfare type” is arranged on the right side, and “thoroughfare name” is on the right side. ) ”Is arranged. In the third row, “postal code” is arranged, and “settlement” (city name, district name, etc.) is arranged on the right side.

  In the US address format in FIG. 8, “contact name” (personal name, corporate name, etc.) is arranged in the first row. In the second row, “number” (thoroughfare number) is arranged, “thoroughfare name” is arranged on the right side, and “thoroughfare type” is on the right side. ) ”Is arranged. In the third row, “settlement” is arranged, “state code” is arranged on the right side thereof, and “postal code” is arranged on the right side thereof.

  In the address word DB 33, specific words used for describing addresses in each country are registered in their native languages for each country. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the words representing “areas” (city, town, ward, etc.) or “thoroughfare” (street, road, avenue, etc.) in each country are native languages and are classified by country. Multiple types are registered. In this case, the words are arranged in descending order of use frequency. For example, the words corresponding to item (i) in FIG. 9 are arranged so that the frequency of use is the highest, and the frequency of use of words is reduced in the order of item (ii), item (iii), and item (iv). . Note that a score may be added to each word, and the score may be used for country name determination by the country name determination unit 60B (described later). In this case, a higher score is assigned to a frequently used word. As a result, the country name determination unit 60B calculates a total score for each country after assigning a higher score to a frequently used word when determining the country name.

  In the delivery area code format information DB 34, information indicating the description format of the delivery area code (ZIP code, zip code) of each country is registered for each country. For example, as shown in item A and item B in FIG. 10, a plurality of types of information indicating the description format are registered for each country. In the figure, “N” corresponds to a single digit number, and “[]” corresponds to a space (or hyphen). The delivery area code shown in item B has a form in which the initial letter of the country is added to the head of the delivery area code shown in item A.

  In the country name identification word DB 35, country name identification words for identifying each country are registered for each country. For example, as shown in item C and item D in FIG. 10, a plurality of types of information indicating a plurality of types of description formats are registered for each country. In the example of FIG. 10, the word shown in the item C is a country name in the language (native language) of the country. Moreover, the word shown in the item D is an abbreviation for the country name.

  On the other hand, the address information determination unit 102 includes a sticker information detection unit (detection unit) 41, an address format detection unit (detection unit) 42, an address word detection unit (detection unit) 43, and a delivery area code format detection unit (detection). Means) 44, country name identification word detection section (detection means) 45, seal description information collation section (collation means) 51, address format collation section (collation means) 52, address word collation section (collation means) 53, delivery area code A format collation unit (collation unit) 54, a country identification word collation unit (collation unit) 55, and a determination unit (determination unit) 60 are provided.

  The seal description information detection unit 41 detects the description information of the seal 74 from the information recognized by the identification unit 101 (including detection of the presence or absence of the seal 74). The address format detection unit 42 detects the address format from the information of the address area 71 recognized by the identification unit 101. The address word detection unit 43 detects a specific word included in the address from the information of the address area 71 recognized by the identification unit 101. The delivery area code format detection unit 44 detects the description format of the delivery area code from the information of the address area 71 recognized by the identification unit 101. The country name identification word detection unit 45 detects a country name identification word from the information in the address area 71 recognized by the identification unit 101. If no delivery area code or country name identification word is described in the address area 71, the delivery area code or country name identification word is not detected as a matter of course.

  The seal description information collation unit 51 refers to the seal description information DB 31 and collates the seal description information detected by the seal description information detection unit 41 (for example, the detected seal description information is the seal description If any one of type A, type B, type C,... Prepared in the information DB 31 is applicable, a result indicating that the postal matter P is a flight destined for a foreign country is output. If not, output a result indicating that it is another flight). The address format verification unit 52 refers to the address format DB 32 and performs verification of the address format detected by the address format detection unit 42 (for example, information indicating a country group to which the detected address format belongs). Is output). The address word collation unit 53 refers to the address word DB 33 and collates the words detected by the address word detection unit 43. At this time, the words may be collated by using connection information (association information) such as bi-gram information and tri-gram information related to the alphabet string. The delivery area code format collation unit 54 refers to the delivery area code format information DB 34 and collates the description format of the delivery area code detected by the delivery area code format detection unit 44. The country name identification word collation unit 55 refers to the country name identification word DB 35 and collates the country name identification word detected by the country name identification word detection unit 45. In addition, each collation result by the collation parts 52-55 is expressed in the form of points, for example, for each country.

Determination unit 60 includes an international flight determination unit 60A and a country name determination unit 60B.
The international flight determination unit 60A includes a sticker description information verification unit 51, an address format verification unit 52, an address word verification unit 53, a delivery area code format verification unit 54, and a country name identification word verification unit 55 (or a part thereof). It is determined whether the postal matter P is a flight for overseas. For example, the international flight determination unit 60A may acquire the collation results by the collation units 51 to 55 in the form of points, and may perform the determination according to whether or not the aggregation result exceeds a threshold value. At this time, the totals may be calculated after multiplying the points of the collation results obtained by the collation units 52 to 55 by different weighting factors. The international flight determination unit 60 </ b> A can also make a determination based only on the collation results of the sticker description information collation unit 51 and the address format collation unit 52, for example.

  When the international mail determination unit 60A determines that the postal matter P is a flight destined for a foreign country, the country name determination unit 60B has a seal description information verification unit 51, an address format verification unit 52, an address word verification unit 53, The country name which is the destination of the postal matter P is determined based on the respective matching results by the delivery area code format matching unit 54 and the country name identification word matching unit 55 (or part of them). For example, the country name determination unit 60B obtains the collation results obtained by the collation units 53 to 55 by country in the form of points, and determines that the country having the highest total score is the destination of the mail. At this time, the total of the scores for each country may be calculated after multiplying the scores of the matching results by the matching units 53 to 55 by different weighting factors (for example, delivery area code format matching) The matching result by the unit 54 is multiplied by a coefficient = 0.8, the matching result by the country name identification word matching unit 55 is multiplied by a coefficient = 0.5, and the matching result by the address word matching unit 53 is multiplied. May be multiplied by a coefficient = 0.4 and the obtained numerical values may be summed up for each country). As a result, the accuracy of country name determination can be further increased.

  In the configuration example of FIG. 6, i) a combination of the sticker description information DB 31, the sticker description information detection unit 41, and the sticker description information verification unit 51 ii) the address format DB 32, the address format detection unit 42, and the address format verification unit 52. Iii) Combination of address word DB 33, address word detecting unit 43 and address word collating unit 53, iv) Delivery area code format information DB 34, delivery area code format detecting unit 44, and delivery area code format collation The combination with the unit 54, and v) the case where all the combinations of the country name identification word DB 35, the country name identification word matching unit 45, and the country name identification word matching unit 55 are shown are shown, but all combinations need to be provided. There is at least any one combination.

Next, with reference to FIG. 11, the address information determination operation in the present embodiment will be described.
Various DBs such as a sticker description information DB 31, an address format DB 32, an address word DB 33, a delivery area code format information DB 34, and a country name identification word DB 35 are created in advance and stored in the storage unit 103 (step S1).

  When the postal matter P is supplied to the sorting machine 1, the information of the postal matter P is read by the scanner unit 3 (step S2), and the recognition unit 101 recognizes the address area 71 on the postal matter P (step S2). S3).

  The seal description information detection unit 41 detects seal description information from the seal 74 recognized by the recognition unit 101. Then, the seal description information collating unit 51 collates the detected seal description information with reference to the seal description DB 31 (step S4).

  The address format detection unit 42 detects the address format from the information of the address area 71 recognized by the recognition unit 101. Then, the address format collation unit 52 collates the detected address format with reference to the address format DB 32 (step S5).

  The address word detection unit 43 detects a specific word included in the address from the information of the address area 71 recognized by the recognition unit 101. The address word matching unit 53 matches the detected word by referring to the address word DB 33 (step S6).

  The delivery area code format detection unit 44 detects the delivery area code description format from the information of the address area 71 recognized by the recognition unit 101. The delivery area code format collation unit 54 collates the description format of the detected delivery area code by referring to the delivery area code format information DB 34 (step S7).

  The country name identification word detection unit 45 detects the country name identification word from the information in the address area 71 recognized by the recognition unit 101. Then, the country name identification word collating unit 55 collates the detected country name identification word with reference to the country name identification word DB 35 (step S8).

  Finally, the international flight determination unit 60A determines whether or not the postal matter P is an international flight based on at least one of the above five verifications. If the postal item P is a domestic flight, control is passed to the address determination unit 104 that performs domestic address determination. On the other hand, when the postal matter P is a flight destined for a foreign country, the country name determination unit 60B determines the name of the country that is the destination of the postal matter P based on at least one of the above five verifications (step S9). ).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to perform manual work such as judging and categorizing the destination country name by looking at a sticker attached to an international mail, and it is possible to reduce unnecessary labor and time. Become. In addition, since there is no need to provide a storage medium having a capacity sufficient to store a large amount of address data in any country, no extra cost is incurred.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The external view which shows the sorter concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows schematic structure of the sorting machine. The figure for demonstrating the surface of the paper sheets attached | subjected to the mail. The figure for demonstrating the information contained in the address area | region on paper sheets. The block diagram which shows the detail of an information processing part. The block diagram which shows the detail of an address information determination part and a memory | storage part. The figure which shows the example of the information registered into sticker description information DB. The figure which shows the example of the information registered into address format DB. The figure which shows the example of the information registered into word DB for addresses. The figure which shows the example of the information registered into delivery area code format information DB and country name identification word DB. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of a country name determination.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sorting machine, 2 ... Supply part, 3 ... Scanner part, 4 ... Conveyance part, 5 ... Sorting part, 10 ... Information processing part, 11 ... Control part, 31 ... Sticker description information DB, 32 ... Address format DB, 33 ... Address word DB, 34 ... Delivery area code format information DB, 35 ... Country identification word DB, 41 ... Sticker description information detection section, 42 ... Address format detection section, 43 ... Address word detection section, 44 ... Delivery area code Format detector 45 ... Country name identification word detector 51 ... Sticker description information verification unit 52 ... Address format verification unit 53 ... Address word verification unit 54 ... Delivery area code format verification unit 55 ... Country name identification word verification Part 60 ... determination part 60A ... international flight judgment part 60B ... country name determination part 71 ... address area 72 ... document area 73 ... stamp 74 ... seal 81 ... address (or residence) 82 ... delivery area Co , 83 ... country name identifying words, 101 ... recognition unit, 102 ... address information determining unit, 103 ... storage unit, 104 ... address determination unit.

Claims (12)

A sorting device that performs sorting processing of deliveries with destinations,
i) seal description information database in which seal description information indicating that the flight is for a foreign country in a given country is registered; ii) a plurality of types of address formats related to the arrangement of individual elements constituting the address description Iii) Address word database in which specific words used to describe addresses in each country are registered in their native languages and iv) Delivery area codes in each country At least one of a delivery area code format information database in which information indicating the format is registered by country, and v) a country name identification word database in which country name identification words for identifying each country are registered by country Storing storage means; and
Reading means for reading information on a paper sheet attached to the delivery item;
Recognition means for recognizing the address area on the paper sheet from the information read by the reading means;
I) detecting the description information of the seal from the information of the address area recognized by the recognition means, ii) detecting the address format relating to the arrangement of the individual elements constituting the description of the address, iii Detecting means for performing at least one of:) detecting a specific word included in an address; iv) detecting a description format of a delivery area code; and v) detecting a country name identification word;
i) collating the seal description information detected by the detection means with reference to the seal description information database in the storage means; ii) referring to the address format database in the storage means; Iii) collating the words detected by the detecting means with reference to the address word database in the storage means, iv) delivering the delivery in the storage means Referring to the area code format information database, and verifying the description format of the delivery area code detected by the detection means, and v) referring to the country identification word database in the storage means, by the detection means At least one of collation of detected country name identification words And matching means for performing,
First determination means for determining whether or not the delivery is a foreign flight based on each verification result by the verification means;
A sorting apparatus comprising:   Second determination means for determining a country name which is a destination of the delivery based on each collation result by the collating means when the first judging means determines that the delivery is a flight destined for overseas. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   3. The sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a word representing an area or street in each country is registered in each address word database. The verification means performs two or more verifications,
The second determination unit obtains each collation result obtained by the collation unit as a score for each country, and determines that the country having the highest total score is the destination of the delivery item. The sorting apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3.   5. The sorting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second determination means calculates the total of the scores for each country after multiplying the score of each collation result by the collation means by a different weighting factor. . In the above address word database, various words used to describe addresses in each country are registered in order of frequency of use.
5. The sorting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second determining means calculates a total score for each country after assigning a higher score to a frequently used word. A method for determining address information applied to a sorting device that performs sorting processing of deliveries with destinations,
i) seal description information database in which seal description information indicating that the flight is for a foreign country in a given country is registered; ii) a plurality of types of address formats related to the arrangement of individual elements constituting the address description Iii) Address word database in which specific words used to describe addresses in each country are registered in their native languages and iv) Delivery area codes in each country At least one of a delivery area code format information database in which information indicating the format is registered by country, and v) a country name identification word database in which country name identification words for identifying each country are registered by country Keep it in a storage medium,
Read the information on the paper attached to the delivery,
From the read information, recognize the address area on the paper sheet,
I) detecting the description information of the seal from the recognized address area information, ii) detecting the address format relating to the arrangement of the individual elements constituting the address description, and iii) included in the address Detecting at least one of a specific word, iv) detecting a description format of a delivery area code, and v) detecting a country identification word,
i) collating the seal description information detected by the detection means with reference to the seal description information database in the storage means; ii) referring to the address format database in the storage means; Iii) collating the detected word with reference to the address word database in the storage medium, and iv) the delivery area code format information in the storage medium. Referring to the database, collating the description format of the detected delivery area code, and v) referring to the country name identification word database in the storage medium to collate the detected country name identification word. Do at least one of them,
A first determination is made as to whether or not the deliverable is a flight destined for a foreign country based on each collation result by the collation.
The address information determination method characterized by the above.   When it is determined by the first determination that the delivery item is a flight destined for a foreign country, a second determination is made for the country name that is the destination of the delivery item based on the result of each verification by the verification. The address information determination method according to claim 7.   9. The address information determination method according to claim 8, wherein a word representing an area or street in each country is registered in the address word database for each country. In the above verification, two or more verifications are performed,
In the second determination, each collation result obtained by the collation is obtained for each country in the form of a score, and it is determined that the country having the highest total score is the destination of the delivery item. The address information determination method according to claim 8 or 9.   11. The address information determination method according to claim 10, wherein the sum of the scores for each country is calculated after multiplying the score of each result of matching by a different weighting factor. In the address word database, various words used for address descriptions in each country are registered in order of frequency of use,
11. The address information determination method according to claim 10, wherein, in the second determination, a higher score is assigned to a word that is used more frequently, and a total score for each country is calculated.

Images