JPH0273466A - Electronic file system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To acquire and register the desired pictures at the remote facsimile side although an unmanned state is kept at the electronic file side by preparing a means which recognizes the states of pictures in a specific area included in the received picture information and a means which converts the states of the pictures into the specific code information. CONSTITUTION:The picture information is transmitted via a facsimile equipment 17 of the remote side for retrieval of the pictures stored in an electronic file of an electronic file system. Thus the electronic file analyzes the retrieving information out of the received picture information. In other words, the mark position of a mark sheet of the retrieving information is recognized via an image memory 11 and converted into the corresponding code data for retrieval of pictures. Thus a desired picture is read out of an optical disk 8 and transmitted. At the side of the equipment 17, a key word is written into a specific part of the picture to be transmitted based on a fixed procedure. Thus the electronic file analyzes the received picture to recognize it as the OCR characters and registers the picture with the recognized characters defined as a key word. Thus it is possible to acquire the desired pictures despite an unmanned state kept at the electronic file side and also to register the picture data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electronic file system that electronically processes documents as image data and has a facsimile communication function.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in an electronic file system that allows facsimile communication, when the facsimile side desires image data stored in the electronic file system, it communicates with an operator on the electronic file side by some method (telephone, facsimile, etc.).
c), the operator on the electronic file side performs a search, and then performs facsimile transmission by operating the electronic file.

Furthermore, when images are stored in an electronic file from a remote location by facsimile communication, the received image data is temporarily stored, and then an operator on the electronic file side adds index information to the received image.

(The problem that the invention is trying to solve) However,
In the above-mentioned conventional example, the presence of an operator is always required on the electronic file side 2, and when the operator is absent, timely information cannot be obtained on the remote facsimile side.

Additionally, as mentioned above, when you want to register images in the electronic file system from a remote location, it is possible to use facsimile; An operation had to be performed to add keywords to the index information. Therefore, communication (telephone, facsimile, etc.) regarding keywords with the remote facsimile side was necessary.

(Means for solving the problem) The present invention transmits image information for indexing images in an electronic file system to an electronic file by facsimile, and the electronic file side analyzes search information from the received image information. It also allows you to search for images in electronic files and send the results by facsimile.

Furthermore, the present invention writes a keyword in a specific part of an image to be transmitted from the facsimile side according to a certain procedure, and on the electronic file side, the received image is decompressed, the image of the specific part is analyzed, and it is recognized as an OCR character. Even if the recognized characters are used as keywords, if the index information of the desired image is known, it can be obtained at any time at the remote facsimile side.

Furthermore, it is possible to store image data in an electronic file from a remote location without performing an operation for adding keywords or the like by the receiving electronic file system.

(Example) Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic filing system, in which 1 is a display unit which is a high resolution CRT display, 2 is a video RAM that displays images on the CRT 1, and 3 is a memory. 4 is an interface for the printing device (printer) and reading device (reader); 5 is the reader; 6 is the printer; 7 is the controller for the storage optical disk device; 8 is the optical disk device , 9 is a CPU that performs the main control of the system, 10 is a program memory, 11 is an image memory 12 is a general communication system board that communicates with the outside, and 13 is an adapter that connects data from the system board to the telephone network. 14 is a companding circuit that compresses and expands image data, and 15 is! 10 buses and the above 2, 3, 4, 7 degrees 10.11
, 12.14 is communicated to the CPU. 16 is the telephone network,
17 is a facsimile, 18 is a hard disk, 19 is a keyboard for manually inputting data such as operation commands, and 20 is a pointing device for indicating coordinates on the CRT.

FIG. 2 shows a mark sheet (OMR sheet) that serves as index information transmitted from a destination facsimile to an electronic file. 31 is a tab for determining the row of marks in the horizontal direction on the mark sheet, 32 is a frame for attaching marks, 33 is the mark actually attached, and the electronic file side is an image of the received mark sheet. Recognize this marked position from.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the processing according to the present invention from receiving data from the other party's facsimile machine to transmitting the corresponding image by facsimile machine.

If you set the OMR sheet shown in Figure 2 on the other party's facsimile and input the telephone number of the facsimile on the photoelectronic file side, a call will be made to 13 via the telephone network shown in Figure 1.
The facsimile adapter of is called, a signal is sent to the general communication machine of 12, an interrupt is sent to the CPU of 9, and the call is received (Sl). Next, in step 52, the telephone number of the other party's facsimile obtained at the time of the call is temporarily stored and used later when transmitting search data.

When a data transmission request is issued to the other party's facsimile machine in S3, the OMR sheet is transmitted as image information and data reception is started. The image data received in S4 is developed in the image memory shown in FIG. 11. When data reception is completed in S5, the connected line is disconnected. In S6, the received data is expanded. Normal G
In the case of II + facsimile, image data compressed by the MH method is transmitted and received, so the MMR/R in Fig. 14 is
It is decompressed using the L board, and the result is expanded in the image memory 11 again. In the analysis of the decompressed data in S7, it is analyzed whether a tab indicating a mark sheet of index information exists at a specific position on the data based on the bit state of the image memory, and if it exists, it is determined that it exists in the same row. The position of the mark to be detected is similarly recognized by the state of the bit. Next, when the mark position is recognized, in S9, a table previously created in the system is referred to and converted into code data corresponding to the mark position. FIG. 4 shows an example of the above conversion table. 41 corresponds to one item of index information, 42 indicates the position of a mark, and 43 is a code name corresponding to the mark, which becomes the name (keyword) of the actual index information. For example, since the mark in the first block in FIG. 2 is the second from the left, it is converted into the second newspaper information by the conversion table in FIG. In SIO, it is determined whether mark positions have been recognized for all blocks on the mark sheet. If all blocks have not been completed, the process returns to S8 to continue recognition. When all blocks are completed, the image is searched using the code data recognized in Stt. The index information database for stored images exists on the hard disk or program memory 10 shown in FIG. Get area information. S1
In step 2, the retrieved image is read from the optical disk and developed on the image memory 11.In step 6S13, the developed image is compressed and made ready for facsimile transmission. If there are multiple images searched in S14, 311 to S1
Repeat step 3 for the number of pages of images. When all the images to be searched are completed, a call is made in S15 using the facsimile telephone number of the other party stored in Sl. When the line is connected to the other party's facsimile, the compressed data is compressed and transmitted in S16. In this way, the image in the electronic file system is transmitted to the other party's facsimile.

Also, if there is no image corresponding to the search information,
All you have to do is send a message like "Gaito Nashi" to the other party's fax machine. This message may be transmitted as image information or as code information and displayed on the display of the other party's facsimile.

Although a mark sheet was used as an image as index information in the above embodiment, a bar code shown in FIG. 5 may be used instead. FIG. 5 shows a state in which a barcode 52 is attached to an ordinary blank sheet 51. A similar result can be obtained by performing barcode recognition, which analyzes the width of a line image in a specific area and converts it into a certain code, instead of the above-described means of analyzing the presence or absence of an image in a specific area in the image information.

Next, registration of images using facsimile communication will be explained.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the process from facsimile reception of image data to image registration. When a call is made from the other party's facsimile machine (FIG. 1, 17) at S21 in FIG. Ru. On the other hand, when a data transmission request is issued to the other party's facsimile, the other party's facsimile transmits image data with keyword characters in S22, and data reception begins. In memory expansion of the received data in S23, the image memory shown in FIG. 11 is used. At S24, reception ends when a signal indicating the end of data transmission is received from the other party's facsimile machine. The connected line will be disconnected at this point. In S25, the received data is decompressed. Normal facsimile transmission/reception data is G I
In the case of 11 modes, compression is performed using the MH method. Here, decompression is performed using the MMR/RL board shown in FIG. 14, and the data is expanded again in the image memory. Here, FIG. 7 shows the state of the expanded received image in the image memory. 31 indicates the entire image memory. 32 is the received image, 33, 34, 35° 36 are character recognition tabs, 3
Images existing within the rectangle surrounded by 3 to 36 are recognized as characters. For example, since 37 is an image within the rectangle, the character is recognized. In the analysis of the expanded data in S26, the inside of the image memory is analyzed, the state of the bits is determined, and the presence or absence of patterns in the tabs 33 to 36 is checked. S2
If the pattern of tabs 33 to 36 is detected in step 6,
In S27, the state of bits in the memory in the area surrounded by tabs 33 to 36 is determined and characters are recognized. In S28, S2
The characters recognized in step 7 are used as index information to index the hard disk (Fig. 1, 18) and optical disk (Fig. 1, 8) in the system.
) and associate it with the received image. In S29, the received image is written to the optical disc. At the end of the registration in S30, the received image is stored with index information attached to it.

If the characters cannot be recognized at all, a message such as ``Keyword ``Keyword'' is sent to the other party's facsimile, and the telephone number, ID, etc. sent from the other party's facsimile is stored as a keyword in the optical disk and hard disk.

Also, if there is a character that cannot be recognized, it is treated as a space and a message such as ``Nishikifunou mojiari'' is sent to the other party's fax machine.

Moreover, a similar result can be obtained by using a bar code as shown in FIG. 5 instead of characters.

Further, the image to be registered and the image of keyword characters may be transmitted on separate sheets.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, image data stored in a remote electronic file system can be retrieved by facsimile communication at a desired time without operator intervention on the electronic file side. ,Obtainable.

Furthermore, it is possible to register keywords and images from a facsimile at a remote location without using the scanner and keyboard of an electronic file system.

Also, facsimile can be used as a means of storing images and keywords.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic file system implementing the present invention. Figure 2 is a diagram showing index information sent to an electronic file from a facsimile. Figure 3 is an image search and transmission of searched images by facsimile. Flowchart showing the process, Figure 4 is a diagram showing a table for converting mark positions into code information, Figure 5 is a diagram showing another example of index information, Figure 6 is image registration and search information registration by facsimile. A flowchart showing the process, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing received data. 8 is an optical disk, 16 is a public line, 17 is a destination facsimile, and 18 is a hard disk.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an electronic file system having storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of image information, means for searching the image information stored in the storage means, and communication means for transmitting and receiving the image information by facsimile, the image information means for recognizing the state of the image in the specific area, and means for converting into specific code information according to the recognition result of the specific area, and searching for the image from the storage unit based on the conversion code information. An electronic file system characterized by sending the searched images by facsimile after searching. (2) A storage means capable of storing a plurality of images, a means for adding index information to the images stored in the storage means, a means for searching the images stored in the storage means, and transmitting and receiving images by facsimile. a communication means, the electronic file system having a recognition means for recognizing a predetermined part of the image data received by the communication means as a character, and using the recognized character as index information of the received image, An electronic file system characterized by storing data in a storage means.