JPH08111770A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To read the contents of original information of routine form, to analyze it and to easily set it in a desired output format by loading an OCR function on a copying machine. CONSTITUTION: An original described in the routine form is read by an image scanner part 2. Character information is sampled from an image obtained by an OCR part 3. The position information and character information of format of a form part A are attached on sampled character information, and the data of output original can be generated. At this time, prescribed calculation is performed in an arithmetic program B part. An output format is generated according to the output format designation procedure of an output format designation part C based on obtained output original data. An output image including a graph, etc., is generated by an output image generating part 5 based on such output format, and it is outputted from a printer part 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with, for example, a digitally operating image scanner and printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a function added to a digital copying machine, for reading manuscript information, recognizing characters, processing and outputting the manuscript information, for example, a manuscript in a foreign language is read and appropriate clauses and words are added. To translate and output to,
There is one that creates and outputs a standard graph based on the numbers written in the table of standard form paper. These functions are processed and output by the format and algorithm defined by the manufacturer of the apparatus, and are the result of the copying machine alone.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional copying machine, the contents described in the format specified by the manufacturer of the apparatus are output through the processing by the algorithm specified by the apparatus manufacturer. Therefore, there is a problem that it cannot sufficiently meet various needs of users. Further, there is a problem that the character information extracted by the character extraction, which requires the most processing, can be used only inside the digital copying machine.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of obtaining an output having a desired content and format from read document information. Is.

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is an image forming apparatus for processing and outputting image information read from a document described in a standard form, and the type of the standard form. In accordance with the image information, means for recognizing character information and non-character information from the image information, means for identifying the content of the recognized character information and performing a predetermined operation, and means for creating an output image from the operation result. And means for printing out the output image.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the output form of the fixed form and the output image can be set arbitrarily.

The above structure functions to generate an output having a desired processing content and output format.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The digital copying machine according to the present embodiment shown in the figure uses the OCR function installed in the copying machine to allow the user to set the standard format of the manuscript, the writing position, and the meaning of the written characters. Provide an environment that can be set. The digital copying machine shown in FIG. 1 can be roughly divided into a portion designated by the user (user-settable portion in the figure), A, B, and C. That is, in the form part / character part information of the part A, the form format used as the original and the meaning of the characters in the form are given. In the calculation program of the B section, the procedure of the method of using the characters extracted by the OCR section 3 is described.
Further, in the output format designation of the C section, a procedure for designating the output format using the result by the calculation section 4 is described. Therefore, the process from reading the document to outputting the document in this embodiment will be described using a specific form.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a sales slip format. According to the format shown in the figure, the description in the above-mentioned section A is "form format", and the positional information for reading the characters described in the positions 1 to 3 shown in FIG. As "text information", is information such as date, name, amount of money, product number, and slip number. The description of part B is, for example,
Write a program that calculates the total sales amount for each date for 30 days. Further, in the C section, for example, a description is given to create a graph image showing the date on the horizontal axis and the total amount of sales on the vertical axis. The actual flow is as follows: Digital copier auto document feeder (not shown)
Set several tens of sales slips shown in FIG. 2 and press the start button to scan the image scanner unit 2 and the OCR unit 3.
Sequentially read the contents of those slips, and the arithmetic unit 4 performs the above predetermined arithmetic operation, and then the output image creating unit 5 performs 3
The total sales amount for each day of 0 days is graphed and output from the printer unit 6.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
I want to obtain the specified input information by recognizing the characters of the character part from the manuscript information by the OCR function, and by performing arbitrary processing and outputting according to the contents of the manuscript information described in the fixed form. Since the process up to the final output can be automated, there is an effect that, for example, the processing time of a slip is shortened and a complicated system construction for that is unnecessary. In the above embodiment, even if the same form slip is used, by changing the descriptions of the parts B and C, for example, the total sales amount for each customer, the transition of the sales amount for each product, etc. can be displayed in a graph or a graph. Can be created as a table. As described above, by allowing the user to arbitrarily set the document, the processing content, and the output format, it is possible to deal with special jobs other than general jobs.

A modification of the above embodiment will be described below. <Modification 1> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital copying machine according to a modification of the above embodiment. In the digital copying machine according to the present modification, the same components as those of the digital copying machine according to the above embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

The digital copying machine shown in FIG. 3 includes an interface section 7 for connecting an external device 8. Then, in the present embodiment, for example, a slip having the form shown in FIG. 2 is read by the OCR unit 3 and character information extracted from the obtained image is added with the meaning of the character set in the A part, It is transmitted to the external device 8 (for example, a personal computer) via the interface unit 7.

On the external device 8 side, the transmitted data is received by database software or the like, processed, and stored in an organized form. Regarding the transmission of this data, it is converted into a standard format code and transmitted according to a standard communication protocol so that it can be received by an external device such as a personal computer.

[0012] FIG.
An example in which a FAX adapter 9 is connected as an external device is shown. The FAX adapter 9 further includes a public telephone line 10
It is connected to the.

In this example, an address book having a fax number as a document and a document to be fax-transmitted are set in a document feeder, and a start key is pressed,
Since the FAX number is read by the digital copying machine and the dial transmission is automatically performed according to the number, a program for automatically transmitting the transmission original can be described. In this way, by controlling the external device to send and receive data, so-called multi-task processing, in which complicated processing by the read character code is shared by the external device, can be realized, and the processing capacity and processing speed of the entire device can be increased. Can be increased. <Modification 2> FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital copying machine according to Modification 2. In the digital copying machine shown in the figure, the external device 8 is controlled by transmitting a control code from the copying machine 1 side to the external device 8. In particular,
For example, if a database is connected as the external device 8 and a customer list is used as a standard form, the name or customer number in the list is read by the digital copying machine, and the database is accessed to search for address data. Then, this address data is returned to the digital copying machine. Then, by generating an output image from the address data and sending it to the printer unit 6, for example, the address can be printed on a postcard or the like.

If a document to be read by the image scanner unit 2 is prepared, it is possible to construct a system for printing the content text on the back side at the same time as the address.
The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to the present invention,
By analyzing the contents of the manuscript information of the standard form and setting the manuscript, processing contents, and output format arbitrarily, the work time is shortened by the automated processing until the desired final output, and special work other than specific work is performed. There is an effect that it is possible to easily deal with.

According to another aspect of the invention, by transmitting and receiving the identified character information and data to and from the external device, the character information on the original document can be used by the external device, and the versatility of the apparatus is enhanced. In addition, since multi-task processing can be realized by sharing complicated processing on the side of the external device, the processing capacity and processing speed of the entire apparatus can be increased.

[0016]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a fixed format according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital copying machine according to a first modification.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which a FAX adapter is connected as an external device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital copying machine according to a modified example 2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A character part form information setting part B calculation program setting part C output format setting part 1 digital copying machine 2 image scanner part 3 OCR part 4 calculation part 5 output image creation part 6 printer part 7 interface part 8 external device 9 FAX adapter 10 public telephone line

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for processing and outputting image information read from a document described in a standard form, wherein character information and non-character information are recognized from the image information according to the type of the standard form. Means for performing a predetermined calculation by identifying the content of the recognized character information, means for creating an output image from the calculation result, and means for printing out the output image. Image forming apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixed form and the output format of the output image can be arbitrarily set. 3. A means for controlling an external device according to a predetermined standard communication protocol, a transmitting means for transmitting the character information described in the fixed form to the external device, and receiving information from the external device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit. 4. The external device forms a database, and the receiving means receives information contained in the database and performs a predetermined process on the received information. The image forming apparatus according to item 1.