JPH0816716A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accelerate table preparation processing by improving the workability of data input for executing table calculation on the image forming device. CONSTITUTION:This device is provided with an original reading part 101 for reading an original described on a prescribed format form as binary image data, data segmenting part 103 for calculating the position information of the ruled lines of a table in the image data and segmenting figures and characters handwritten in the table as a character string for each frame corresponding to this calculated position information of the table, data recognition part 104 for recognizing the figures and characters segmented by the data segmenting part 103, table calculation processing part 112 for executing table calculation processing based on the information recognized by the data recognition part 104, plotting processing part 113 for plotting the table based on the result of converting the recognized figures and characters to character codes and the calculated result of the table calculation processing part 112, and output part 116 for outputting the plotted image data.

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 such as a digital copying machine, and more specifically, it recognizes numbers, characters, formulas, etc. in a table written on a predetermined format sheet to perform a table calculation. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that executes image output.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when performing a spreadsheet in an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, a large number of data are input by a keyboard because a spreadsheet function is not provided.
The calculation process was performed on a personal computer etc. by application software.

[0003]

However, in the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, since the personal computer or the like is used to input data one by one from the keyboard, the work is troublesome, and further, There are problems that it takes time and effort to start application software and that work efficiency in table creation processing is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to improve the workability of data input for performing a spreadsheet on an image forming apparatus and to speed up the table creation process. To do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the document reading in which a document written on a predetermined format sheet is read as binary image data. Means for calculating the position information of the ruled line of the table in the image data, and the data cutting-out means for cutting out the numbers and characters handwritten in the table as a character string in each frame based on the calculated position information of the table; Recognition means for recognizing the numbers and characters cut out by the data cutting means, spreadsheet means for executing spreadsheet processing based on the information recognized by the recognition means, and conversion of the recognized numbers and characters into character codes. And a drawing processing means for drawing a table based on the calculated result and the calculation result of the table calculation means, and an image output means for outputting the image data subjected to the drawing processing. It is.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, a calculation formula input means for inputting a calculation formula for executing a predetermined calculation process, a display means for displaying an image of the calculation formula, Calculation formula recognition means for recognizing characters and symbols forming the calculation formula, data correction means for executing addition and correction input of the calculation formula, and spreadsheet calculation processing based on output data of the data correction means Spreadsheet means,
It is provided with an image processing unit for drawing a table based on the calculation result of the table calculation unit and an image output unit for outputting the image data subjected to the image processing.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention, the original reading means for picking up the original of the spreadsheet and the table of the shape to be combined with the result of the spreadsheet, and the original reading means read the original. Data cutting means for calculating the position information of the ruled lines of the table in the image data, and cutting out the numbers and characters handwritten in the table as a character string for each frame based on the calculated position information of the table, and the data cutting means. A recognition means for recognizing the numbers and characters cut out by the table, a table calculation means for executing a table calculation process based on the information recognized by the recognition means, and a table obtained by synthesizing the table calculation result and the recognized table. And an image output means for outputting the image data subjected to the drawing processing.

[0008]

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 1) reads a document written on a predetermined format sheet as binary image data, calculates position information of ruled lines of a table in the image data, Furthermore, the handwritten numbers and characters in the table are cut out as character strings for each frame. further,
A spreadsheet process is executed based on the information obtained by recognizing the cut out numbers and characters, and a result of converting the recognized numbers and characters into a character code and a calculation result of the spreadsheet means are drawn on a table. , Output image data.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention (claim 2) inputs a calculation formula for executing a predetermined calculation process, displays an image of the calculation formula, and displays characters constituting the calculation formula. And recognize symbols. Further, the calculation formula is added and the correction input is executed, the spreadsheet calculation is executed on the basis of the output data of the data correcting means to draw a table, and the image data subjected to the drawing processing is output.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention (claim 3) reads a table having a shape to be combined with the document to be spreadsheet and the result of the spreadsheet, and detects the ruled line of the table in the read image data. The position information is calculated, and the numbers and characters handwritten in the table are cut out as a character string for each frame based on the calculated position information of the table. Further, the cut-out numbers and characters are recognized to execute a spreadsheet calculation, the spreadsheet calculation result and the recognized chart are combined to form a screen, and the image data subjected to the screen processing is output.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Note that a digital copying machine is specifically used as the image forming apparatus. In the figure, 101 is an original reading unit that optically exposes and scans an original to be read and reads it as digital image data.
Reference numeral 102 is a first memory for storing image data read by the document reading unit 101, 103 is a data cutout unit for cutting out an image of a handwritten portion from the image data read by the document reading unit 101, and 104 is a data cutout unit 10
A data recognizing unit that recognizes a numerical value from the image of the numerical data cut out by 3, 105 is a calculation formula recognizing unit that recognizes the calculation formula of the calculation formula data portion of the data cut out by the data cutting unit 103, and 106 is data Recognition unit 104
It is a numerical data memory for storing the data recognized by.

Reference numeral 107 denotes a processing procedure recognizing unit for deciding a processing procedure based on symbol / numerical data of items of "data continuation" and "calculation formula continuation" (hereinafter referred to as processing procedure).
Reference numeral 08 denotes a display unit for displaying the numerical data recognized by the processing procedure recognition unit 107 and the spreadsheet formula, 109 a correction unit for executing correction input when the recognition result of the input data is incorrect or unrecognizable, 110 is a calculation formula input unit for inputting a calculation formula, and 111 is a correction unit 109 or calculation formula input unit 1
Input data recognition unit for recognizing data input in 10, 1
Reference numeral 12 is a spreadsheet calculation unit that executes a spreadsheet calculation process using numerical data and a calculation formula, 113 is a drawing processing unit that executes a table drawing of the spreadsheet calculation result and the numerical data, and 114 is an image created by the drawing processing unit 113. Second memory for storing data, 1
An output unit 15 reads out the image data drawn by the drawing processing unit 113 from the second memory 114 and outputs the output image on a recording sheet.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a manuscript format for performing table calculation, and FIG. 3 shows an example of its entry. This manuscript format is based on the numerical data section 201, data continuation 2
02, calculation formula 203, and calculation formula 204.

The numerical data section 201 includes a data section 201a for entering numerical data, a column item 201b for entering the contents of each column and row, and a line item 201c.
A data continuation 202 indicates a check when the data continues to the next original. Further, the calculation formula 203 is to enter a calculation formula for executing the processing. In addition,
This calculation formula is expressed using symbols 201d and 201e that represent regions of calculation processing symbols and numerical data, as in the example shown in FIG. Further, the calculation formula continuation 204 is for checking when the manuscript on which the calculation formula 203 is written continues.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus and the format configured as described above will be described. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing operation according to Embodiment 1. In the figure, when this process is started, first, a document reading process is executed (S401). That is, a handwritten document (see FIG. 3) is set on a document setting table of a digital copying machine (not shown), and a copy start button is pressed to optically read the document by the document reading unit 101. After being converted into binary digital data, it is stored and held in the first memory 102 as image data. The flags are initialized at the time of the document reading process, and flg1 = 0 and flg2 = 0. Next, the numerical data recognition process, the calculation formula recognition process, and the processing procedure item recognition process are executed with reference to the mathematical dictionary, the English dictionary, and the symbol dictionary (S40).
2). After the above processing, it is judged whether or not the numerical data has ended based on the symbol recognized from the item of data continuation 202 (S403). If it is determined that the numerical data has not ended, then flg1 = 1 is set (S40).
4).

When it is determined in step 403 that the numerical data has ended, or in step 40
In step 4, after setting flg1 = 1, it is determined whether or not the calculation formula data has ended from the recognition result from the data entered in the item of the calculation formula continuation 204 (S40).
5). If it is determined that the calculation formula data has not ended, then flg2 = 1 is set (S406). Then,
When it is determined in step 405 that the calculation formula data has ended, or after flg2 = 1 is set in step 406, flg1 = 1, f
It is determined whether or not lg2 = 1 (S407). When it is determined here that flg1 = 1 and flg2 = 1, the process returns to step 401 and the subsequent processes are similarly performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that flg1 = 1 and flg2 = 1 are not satisfied (the document to be read is finished), spreadsheet processing is executed (S408), and this processing is finished. FIG. 14 shows the output result of the spreadsheet calculation process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the cutout process executed for recognition. When this process is started, first, the table area is recognized (S501), and the ruled lines (frames) that form the table by the table area are further recognized (S502).

In the recognition of the ruled lines forming the table in step 502, attention is paid to the linearity of the ruled lines by using the method of obtaining the information (coordinate value) of the position of the ruled lines. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of recognizing a ruled line in the horizontal direction. Of the image data of the table area recognized in step 501, an image data area in which pixel data continuously exists in the horizontal direction (i to i + n) within a range (0 <data ≧ h) of a certain width (h) Regarded as a ruled line, its y
The coordinate value is the ruled line position in the table. The width h takes into consideration the document inclination when reading the document and the line width of the format paper. Also, in the vertical direction, the same process is performed to obtain the x coordinate value.

From all the ruled line positions in the table thus obtained, the xy coordinate values are combined in the order of the coordinate values with the two data of each coordinate, and as shown in FIG. 7, ((x1, y
1), (x2, y1), (x1, y2), (x2, y
2)) is recognized as one column in the table (S503). Next, the image within the recognized column area is cut out (S50
4) It is determined whether or not the area cut out for each column is an area for character recognition (S505). If it is determined that the cut-out area is not the area for character recognition, character recognition of the row item 201b and the column item 201c is not performed, and composite drawing is performed with the data in the state as it is (S50).
6). On the other hand, when it is determined in step 505 that the cut-out area is the area for character recognition,
The image data for each column is further divided into image data for each character (S507), and character recognition is executed (S5).
08).

In the above method of dividing each character, as shown in FIG. 8, a projection operation in the vertical direction is first executed from the image data cut out for each column, and a portion where the image data exists from the operation result 800. The image data area for each character is obtained by dividing each divided area 801 and then performing a projection operation 802 in the horizontal direction (horizontal projection of one divided area) on the divided area to similarly cut out a portion where data exists. Cut out 803.

The cut-out image data for each character is recognized by the dictionary as described above. The recognized character is position information (101e in FIG. 2, 101e, in FIG. 2) representing the columns of the table as shown in FIG. 11 as one data for each column of the table.
Numerical data memory 1 as data for 101d)
It is stored in 06. As shown in FIG. 9, the calculation formula includes symbols (101e and 101d in FIG. 2) and processing symbols (100 in FIG. 10) representing columns and rows for each column of the entry.
Fill in 1), cut out the area where the image data exists for each frame, and mark the data in the frame as one symbol. For example, if "av" is entered in the processing symbol 1001 shown in FIG. 10, when "a" and "v" are cut out and recognized, the code 1002 having the meaning of "av" is "cc".
6 ".

Further, in the recognition result of the calculation formula, the symbol representing the position of the column of the table is the character code as it is, and the calculation process symbol is the code 1002 as shown in FIG.
Memorize as. In this way, step 401
Recognizes numerical data, calculation formulas, and symbols for item processing.

Next, FIGS. 12 and 13 show examples in the case of two originals. FIG. 12 shows the first original and FIG. 13 shows the second original. Here, as described above, the numerical data obtained by reading and recognizing the first original is subjected to character recognition of the items of the calculation formula and the processing procedure stored in the numerical data memory 106. In this embodiment, since the data continuation item is checked, the process moves to the reading of the second document. This check is a number,
By providing a processing function that determines whether the tables are connected horizontally or vertically depending on the type of symbol, it is possible to perform processing when there are many columns or, conversely, when there are many rows.

[Embodiment 2] This Embodiment 2 is the same as Embodiment 1 above.
Is equipped with a display-integrated tablet device,
A configuration for recognizing an input character from the tablet device (see FIG. 1).
No. 108 to 111) are added. 15 and 16 are explanatory views showing a method of inputting a calculation formula from the tablet device. Further, FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the correction method.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing the processing operation of inputting the calculation formula from the tablet and correcting the data according to the second embodiment. In this process, as described with reference to FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, the read document recognizes the data and the numbers / symbols of the calculation formula (see steps 401 to 407). Next, in the figure, when this processing is started, first, as a result of recognition, it is determined whether or not data exists in all items (data, calculation formula items) (S1801). If it is determined that all items (data, calculation formula items) have data, the process advances to step 1806. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 1801 that there is no data in all items (data, calculation formula items), it is further determined whether or not there is correction data (unrecognizable) (S1802).

If it is determined in step 1802 that there is no correction data (unrecognizable), the process waits for input of a calculation formula, correction, etc. (S1804). On the other hand, if it is determined in the above step 1802 that there is correction data (unrecognizable), the portion requiring correction is displayed (S1803). At this time, the part where the data cannot be recognized is displayed as “??” as shown in FIG.
Is displayed. In order to correct the data that cannot be recognized on the display-integrated tablet as described above, the data is written as it is, and the portion to be corrected has a correction line as shown in FIG. 16 (b). Fill out. Then, the data is written and corrected. At this time, the number of necessary correction points is counted. In addition, the count of the corrected portion counts the number of unrecognizable data.

If there is no corrected portion, the input of the formula is awaited in step 1804. Then, when it is input, the input calculation formula or the correction data is recognized and the position of the table column is calculated (S180).
5). When inputting the calculation formula here, by designating the position of the table column where the calculation processing is to be performed as shown in FIG. 17, the symbol indicating the designated position of the table column is indicated in the item for which the calculation formula is entered. It is calculated. For example, area 1 in FIG.
By designating the position of 701, symbols (“B1 to B4”) 1901 indicating the designated region 1701 are calculated and displayed in the entry of the calculation formula as shown in FIG. Further, by directly inputting the calculation formula in the calculation formula item, the recognition processing of the data of the input calculation formula is performed.
In the case of corrected data, count-1 is performed.

Next, it is judged whether or not count == 0 (S1806), and when it is judged that count == 0, it is judged whether or not there is a calculation formula (S180).
7). If it is determined that there is a calculation formula, it is further determined whether or not the start key is pressed to start (S1806). If it is determined to be start, the spreadsheet calculation process is executed (S180).
9). On the other hand, in step 1806,
When it is determined that t == 0, or when it is determined in step 1807 that there is no calculation formula, or when it is determined in step 1808 that it is not start, the process returns to step 1801.
In this way, the input from the tablet device is always accepted and its correction is possible. Therefore, by the above operation, correction and addition can be executed from the read original.

Next, an example of synthesizing and outputting a table calculation result in a table of an arbitrary shape will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 20, when this process is started, a document for which spreadsheet calculation is performed is read in the same manner as above, and spreadsheet calculation is executed according to the data recognition result (S200).
1). Then, the formatted document in which the table result and the table of the shape desired to be combined and output are entered is read (S20).
02). Recognition of the ruled line of the table is executed from the image data of the read document (S2003). The ruled lines in this table are recognized based on the same method as described above. Next, the blank area of the table read in step 2002 is checked for an area in which data can be entered, and the number of rows and columns of the blank area is counted (S2004).

The method of combining the blanks in the table above is as follows.
When a data manuscript as shown in FIG. 21 is calculated,
In the case of synthesizing in the format as shown in FIG. 22, in the shape table of FIG. 22, a portion in which data such as 2401 and 2402 of FIG. Then, after the ruled line is recognized, the coordinate value representing each column of the table as in 2403 is obtained by the above-described method. After the coordinate values of each column of the table are obtained, it is possible to easily judge whether or not the image data exists in the column, as in the case of data cutting.

After the step 2004 is executed, the number of columns and the number of rows of the table having the arbitrary shape counted in the step 2004 are compared with the number of columns and the number of rows of the data subjected to the table calculation processing (S2005). If it is determined in step 2005 that the number of columns and rows of the table of the arbitrary shape is small, the process returns to step 2002 again to instruct to read the table original of the arbitrary shape. On the other hand, the above step 2005
When it is determined that the number of columns and the number of rows of the table of arbitrary shape are large, the size of each column and the minimum size are calculated (S2006). Here, the above step 200
Based on the coordinate information of the ruled line recognized in 3, the vertical and horizontal sizes are obtained as shown in FIG. 24, and the minimum size of the obtained sizes is obtained. In addition, the above step 2006
After that, the data size is determined so that the data fits within the minimum size (S2007). Then, the image data of the table, the data calculated by the table, and the result are combined (S200
8), output of the combined image (see FIG. 23) is executed (S2009). As a result, it is possible to combine and output in an arbitrary table.

[0032]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus (Claim 1) of the present invention, a document written on a predetermined format sheet is read as binary image data, and the image data in the image data is read. The position information of the ruled lines of the table is calculated, and the numbers and characters handwritten in the table are cut out as character strings for each frame, and the table calculation processing is performed based on the information obtained by recognizing the cut out numbers and characters. By executing the above, and drawing the result of converting the recognized numbers and characters into a character code and the calculation result of the spreadsheet means in a table,
Since the image data is output, the workability of data input for performing spreadsheet on the image forming apparatus is improved,
It is possible to speed up the table creation process.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus (Claim 2) of the present invention, a calculation formula for executing a predetermined calculation process is inputted, the image of the calculation formula is displayed, and the calculation formula is constructed. Recognize the characters and symbols to be added, execute addition and correction input of the calculation formula, execute spreadsheet processing based on the output data of the data correction means, draw a table, and output the image data that has been drawn. By doing so, for example, it becomes possible to input data such as spreadsheet and addition / correction from a tablet with a built-in display, and it is possible to speed up the table creation process.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus (Claim 3) of the present invention, a table having a shape to be combined with the document to be spreadsheet and the result of the spreadsheet is read, and the table in the read image data is displayed. The position information of the ruled lines is calculated, the numbers and characters handwritten in the table are cut out as a character string for each frame based on the calculated position information of the table, and the cut out numbers and characters are recognized to execute the spreadsheet calculation. , Since the above-mentioned spreadsheet calculation result and the above-recognized table are combined and drawn into a table, and the image data subjected to the drawing process is output, the table calculation result is combined and output into a table of an arbitrary shape. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a document format for performing spreadsheet according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of entry of a document format according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of cutout processing executed for recognition of a table and characters according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for recognizing a horizontal ruled line according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing recognition of a column area of a table according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of extracting one character according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of entering a calculation formula according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a chart showing symbols in the calculation processing formula according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a chart showing a storage example of a recognition result according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where there are two formatted documents according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where there are two formatted originals according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an output example according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of inputting a calculation formula from the tablet device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an unrecognizable display and correction method according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing addition of calculation formulas from the tablet device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating processing operations of inputting a calculation formula from a tablet and correcting data according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing addition of calculation formulas from the tablet device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process of combining a table calculation result with a table having an arbitrary shape and outputting the result according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of input data in the processing operation of FIG. 20.

22 is an explanatory diagram showing an arbitrary table in the processing operation of FIG. 20. FIG.

23 is an explanatory diagram showing an output result in the processing operation of FIG. 20. FIG.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of extracting a blank area and calculating a size in the processing operation of FIG. 20;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 101 document reading unit 103 data cutout unit 104 data recognition unit 105 calculation formula recognition unit 107 processing procedure recognition unit 108 display unit 109 correction unit 110 calculation formula input unit 111 calculation formula recognition unit 112 spreadsheet calculation processing unit 113 drawing processing unit 115 output unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An original reading unit for reading an original written on a predetermined format sheet as binary image data,
Data cutting means for calculating the position information of the ruled line of the table in the image data, and cutting out the numbers and characters handwritten in the table as a character string for each frame based on the calculated position information of the table; Recognizing means for recognizing the numbers and characters cut out by the means, and spreadsheet means for executing spreadsheet processing based on the information recognized by the recognizing means,
The image forming apparatus further comprises: drawing processing means for drawing a table based on the result of converting the recognized numbers and characters into a character code and the calculation result of the table calculating means; and an image output means for outputting the image data subjected to the drawing processing. An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. A calculation formula input means for inputting a calculation formula for executing a predetermined calculation process, a display means for displaying an image of the calculation formula, and a calculation for recognizing characters and symbols forming the calculation formula. Expression recognition means, data correction means for executing addition and correction input of the calculation formula, table calculation means for executing spreadsheet processing based on output data of the data correction means, and calculation results of the table calculation means. An image forming apparatus comprising: a drawing processing means for drawing a table based on the table; and an image output means for outputting the image data subjected to the drawing processing. 3. A document reading unit for reading a document to be spreadsheet and a table having a shape to be combined with the result of the spreadsheet, and position information of ruled lines of the table in the image data read by the document reading unit, Data cutting means for cutting out numbers and characters handwritten in the table as a character string for each frame based on the calculated position information of the table, and recognition means for recognizing the numbers and characters cut out by the data cutting means, Spreadsheet processing means for executing spreadsheet processing based on the information recognized by the recognition means, drawing processing means for synthesizing the spreadsheet result and the recognized table to draw a table, and the drawn image An image forming apparatus comprising: an image output unit that outputs data.