JP2937158B2 - Book sorting mechanism and optical character reader equipped with the mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form sorting mechanism and an optical character reader equipped with the form sorting mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of a conventional optical character reading apparatus.

In an optical reading apparatus of this type used conventionally, paper sheets are supplied from a hopper section into the apparatus and pass through a transport section 11, as shown in FIG. Here, it is determined whether or not reading has been performed normally, and sorting is performed by the operation of the switch 20 based on the result.

That is, a reading error, a non-readable form 10
1 is discharged from the reject paper discharge unit 18 and stacked on the reject stacker unit 16. The readable form 100 is discharged from the accept discharge unit 19 and stacked on the accept stacker unit 17.

[0005] As described above, a mechanism for discharging paper in two upper and lower stages is required, making it difficult to reduce the size of the apparatus.

[0006]

Generally, in an optical character reading device, a form that can be read, as in the above-described example,
It is necessary to have two stacker sections for sorting a form having a reading error or being unreadable, and thus it is difficult to reduce the size.

Further, in the case of an apparatus having one stacker unit for downsizing, a form which has been readable is marked with a stamp or the like to identify the form.

However, in the case of this method, it is necessary to sort the readable form and the erroneous or unreadable form while confirming the mark on the form visually later. However, there is a problem that sorting takes a lot of trouble and time.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a form sorting mechanism that can sort a form that can be read and a form that has a reading error or is unreadable when sorting forms. Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact optical character reading device.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An optical character reading apparatus according to the present invention comprises a hopper section for feeding sheets, a conveying section for conveying sheets, and a means for reliably reading the written contents of the sheets. By deciding whether or not the sheet was successfully read and operating the guide plate when discharging the sheet that could not be read to the stacker unit, the sheet can be moved from another sheet in the horizontal direction of the sheet discharging direction. Means for shifting the document by a predetermined distance.

It is preferable that the predetermined distance can be set arbitrarily.

[0012]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the optical character reading apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 during processing of a readable form. b) is a line A in FIG. 1 which is processing a form in which a reading error has occurred or cannot be read.
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a form discharge when a form in which a reading error has occurred or a form in which reading is impossible is mixed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a) and 2 (b), the optical character reading apparatus 1 of the present embodiment comprises a hopper 10 for feeding paper sheets and a paper sheet. A transport unit 11 for transporting the paper sheet 101 and determining whether or not the written content of the paper sheet has been reliably read, and removing the paper sheet 101 that could not be read from the paper discharge unit 12
Means for shifting the paper sheet 101 by a predetermined distance from other paper sheets 100 in the horizontal direction of the paper discharge direction by operating the guide plate 13 when discharging the paper to the stacker unit 14. The document sorting mechanism 2 is provided.

In this embodiment, the predetermined distance has a structure which can be arbitrarily set in the range of 5 to 50 mm according to the circumstances at that time. This range can be further varied as needed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

The form is stored in the hopper 10 of the optical character reading device 1.
And the transport unit 11 transports the form. After completion of the reading operation, the readable form 100 is discharged along the form guide 15 because the guide plate 13 does not operate when the sheet is discharged to the stacker unit 14. Also, read errors,
In the case of the unreadable form 101, the guide plate 13 attached to the form guide side of the sheet discharge section 12 operates at a position slightly away from the form guide 15, so that the form discharge direction is the form guide 15. And is discharged to the stacker unit 14 in an offset state.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the operation at the time of paper ejection when one or more readable or unreadable forms 101 are mixed in the large number of forms 100 that can be read.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, although there is only one stacker unit for discharging a form, a form that has been normally read is distinguished from a form in which a reading error or an unreadable form has occurred. By providing a mechanism that can sort, it is possible to reduce extra work such as performing sorting work by hand based on a stamp or the like on a form that has been successfully read, as in the past, In addition, since the sorting operation is realized by one stacker unit, it has a form sorting mechanism and an advantage that the size of the apparatus can be reduced compared to the conventional case having two stacker units. There is an effect that an optical character reading device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of an optical character reading apparatus according to the present invention.

2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 during processing of a readable form, and FIG. 2B is a diagram of FIG. 1 processing a form in which a reading error has occurred or an unreadable form is being processed. It is a line AA plane sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a form discharge when a form in which a reading error has occurred or a form in which reading is impossible is mixed.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of one embodiment of a conventional optical character reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 optical character reading device 2 form sorting mechanism 10 hopper unit 11 transport unit 12 discharge unit 13 guide plate 14 stacker unit 15 form guide 16 reject stacker unit 17 accept stacker unit 18 reject discharge unit 19 accept discharge unit 20 switching machine 100 reading Possible form 101 Read error form or unreadable form

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hopper section for feeding paper sheets, a conveyance section for conveying paper sheets, and a paper sheet which cannot be read by judging whether contents written on the paper sheet have been reliably read. Means for moving the sheet by a predetermined distance from other sheets in the lateral direction of the sheet ejection direction by operating the guide plate when the sheets are ejected to the stacker unit. A form sorting mechanism characterized by the following. 2. A form sorting mechanism according to claim 1.
Optical character reader.