JPH11306105A - Electronic mail transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the quantity of information to be transmitted by converting the characters of document parts into character codes when a handwritten original including the documents and images is transmitted in an electronic mail. SOLUTION: The transmitter of an electronic mail writes each character, that is to be covered into a code and transmitted, within a frame enclosed by a dashed line on an original form. A scanner 2 reads an original to be transmitted and generates image data corresponding to the original and temporarily stores them in a part of a RAM 4. The character image data parts are converted into character codes via a format conversion part 5 and stored. A monitor 3 reads out the converted character codes and converts them into character image data via a font memory. Then the character codes and the image data are converted into the formats of electronic mails via the part 5, stored in the RAM 4, read out to a modem 7 together with the addresses sent from a panel part 6 as signals suitable for transmission.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail transmitting apparatus, and more particularly to an electronic mail transmitting apparatus for transmitting an original including a handwritten document by electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art of the present invention, there is, for example, a "facsimile type electronic mail apparatus" (hereinafter referred to as prior art document 1) disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8-242326. The apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 reads a document and converts the read image data into image data, compresses the read image data, and converts the compressed image data into an e-mail format. And means for entering the destination of the e-mail.

Conventionally, facsimile has been widely used as a method of transmitting image data. However, in facsimile, it is difficult to know whether a transmitted image has reached a target person, that a received original can be read by anyone, When the line condition is poor, there is a problem that the quality of the received facsimile deteriorates. On the other hand, the Internet, which is a global network, is growing rapidly, and an increasing number of people use e-mail using the Internet. In such an environment, the prior art document 1 proposes to transmit a handwritten document by e-mail, which has been conventionally transmitted by facsimile.

[0004]

However, prior art document 1
Although the device described above compresses image data obtained by reading handwritten characters and converts the compressed image data into an e-mail format, character information is transmitted as a character image. Compared to the same email,
A much larger amount of transmitted information is required, and the amount of transmitted information may be unsuitable for transmission over an e-mail network.

A "message input device" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-221911 (hereinafter referred to as Prior Document 2)
Since the handwritten character is once converted into character image data, the character code of the character is determined from the character image data using pattern recognition means, and the character code is transmitted by e-mail. Thus, it is not necessary to transmit a large amount of information as in the prior art document 1. However, originals to be transmitted by e-mail may include an image that cannot be converted into a code, and the device of the prior art 2 cannot handle such originals. There is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a transmitting apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problems in the conventional apparatus and transmits an original in which an image and a handwritten character are mixed by e-mail with a transmission information amount as small as possible. It is in.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a document in which handwritten characters and images are mixed is divided into a document block and an image block, and the image block is transmitted as it is as image data. By converting to character codes and transmitting, the amount of transmitted information can be reduced, and originals in which handwritten documents and images are mixed can be transmitted by e-mail.

[0008] That is, the electronic mail transmitting device of the present invention comprises:
Characters to be converted into character codes and transmitted on a manuscript sheet in which a plurality of squares are formed by equally-spaced dashed lines in the x-direction and equally-spaced dashed lines in the y-direction are written by hand in one square for each character. The information to be transmitted on the manuscript paper is divided into blocks by enclosing the information with the solid line drawn on the broken line, and the information in the block is transmitted as image data, or the image data of the characters in the block is converted into characters. A scanner unit which converts an image of a transmission original in which a code indicating a type of a block to be converted or transmitted to a predetermined position corresponding to the block into an electric signal image and writes it into a RAM, Means for separating the image written in the RAM into blocks and storing the image in the RAM together with the attributes of the block; Means for converting the image data into a character code by converting the image into a character code by pattern recognition for the image data of the block to be transmitted, and monitoring the contents of the RAM after the character code conversion is performed. Means for displaying on the unit, inserting the mail address of the transmission destination into the transmission data after the necessary editing including means for converting to the character code, converting the transmission data into a format that can be transmitted by e-mail, and There is provided a means for transmitting in a signal format suitable for transmission over a public telephone network.

The monitor unit has an interactive input unit, displays the contents of the RAM after character code conversion on a display unit of the monitor unit, and displays a recognition result by pattern recognition (including an erroneous recognition or an unrecognizable state). Means is provided for notifying an operator and determining a character code to be recognized based on the input by the operator.

[0010] The present invention is characterized in that a light pen is used for an operator's input with respect to the recognition result by the pattern recognition.

[0011] Further, the necessary editing includes editing for converting a plurality of blocks of a type of block in which image data of characters in the block is converted into a character code and transmitted.

In order to execute the necessary editing,
It is characterized in that the interactive input means of the monitor unit is used.

The format that can be transmitted by the electronic mail is MIME (Multipurpose Mail Extensions).
).

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting device of the present invention is constituted by a device which is program-controlled by the CPU 1, but the ROM or the like in which the program is stored is not shown, and
Only PU1 is shown, and the other parts are represented by the functions of those parts. The scanner unit 2 reads a document to be transmitted and generates image data corresponding to the document. This image data is temporarily stored in a part of the RAM 4, and of the image data, a part of character image data (hereinafter, represented by “text” or “T”) is converted into a character code by a pattern recognition unit by a format conversion unit 5. The converted character code is temporarily stored in the RAM 4.

The monitor unit 3 includes a display unit and an input unit, and converts the character code converted by the pattern conversion unit into an R code.
The character code is read from the AM 4 and converted into character image data (standard image data for printing) by a font memory and displayed. The character code is confirmed through interactive input with an operator, and corrected if necessary. In this way, the character code and the image data that cannot be converted to the character code are further converted to an e-mail format by the format converter 5 and stored in the RAM 4. The data converted into the format of the e-mail and temporarily stored in the RAM 4 is read out by the modem (modem) unit 7 and sent out together with the e-mail address inputted from the panel unit 6 as a signal suitable for the transmission path of the e-mail. Is done.

Hereinafter, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 2 shows a manuscript sheet with a simple format in which the contents of an e-mail are entered. It is assumed that the intervals between the broken lines in the format are uniform and can be detected by the scanner unit 2. The sender of the e-mail sends the manuscript paper shown in FIG.
Write the content to be sent by e-mail. At this time, an image signal such as an image signal which is transmitted in the form of image data (ie, image) may be written in any portion, but an image signal which is converted into a character code and transmitted (ie, text) is surrounded by a format broken line. Write one character at a time in the box.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a document created in this way. Next, lines are divided into writing blocks on the original shown in FIG.
At this time, the number of divisions is not limited, but do not create a block where text and image are mixed. A rectangular block surrounds the entry of the document along the dashed line in the format. Then, if the block is text, enter T in the square next to the square on the upper left of the rectangle, and enter I if the block is image. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the example shown in FIG.

The processed document shown in FIG.
And is temporarily stored in the RAM 4. FIG.
A step of recognizing a block dividing line and a character (T or I) indicating a type from the image stored in the AM 4 and recognizing the block and the attribute of the block is shown. Therefore, the original image is scanned one by one. In FIG. 5, x is a pointer to a cell in the horizontal direction of the document, and 0, 1, from the left.
2, 3, ... y is a pointer to a vertical cell of the document, and is 0, 1, 2, 3,... from the top. block is a block number, and 0, 1, 2, 3,. ...

Expressions such as "there is a line on the right" and "there is a line on the top" are drawn on the format dashed line on the upper right side of the cell in the original image read on the RAM. Say the state. In other words, it is a criterion for judging the end of the block. "Storing" means writing on the RAM 4, and this writing is performed according to a certain rule. FIG. 6 shows an example of this rule. In FIG. 4, for the second block from the top, the block number 1 (because the block number starts from 0), the type T, and the read image in the image column are stored in the RAM 4 in this order. The image is stored for each square, but finally, a shape in which the portion within the frame of the original image is copied as it is is formed.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, writing of the block of block number 0 will be described. It is assumed that x = 0, y = 0, and block = 0 in the initialization in step S1 of FIG. If there is a line to the right of step S2, the result of Yes is a cell of y = 1 and x = 0, so the flow circulates to S2-S3-S4-S2 until the cell is reached, and x = the right end. After reaching the square, step S3 becomes Y, and from S5 to S6, x = 0, y =
When the answer is 1 and the process returns to step S2, the answer is Y and S7
Then, the image of the cell is recognized (the image is T), and the process goes to step S8. Since there is a line on the right cell, the process goes to step S9 to store the block in the "number". Bl at this time
Since “ock” remains 0 in step S1, the stored block number is “0”.

The image recognized in step S10 is stored in "type", and the stored image is "T". Next is S12-S13-S14-S15-S16-S
13 and recognizing the images “「 ”,“ ○ ”,“ sama ”, and stores the recognized images in the image column. If the cell of the last stored image has a line on the right in the determination of step S16 and a line below, it is the cell at the end of the block, so the block number is incremented in step S19 and the process returns to step S2. Find the next block.
The next block shown in FIG. 6 can be obtained by performing the processing shown in FIG. 5 on FIG. 4 and storing the result.

As described above, steps S7, S9,
S10, S14 and S15 are executed for each block, and a data file as shown in FIG. 6 is created for each block and stored in the RAM 4.

For a block in which the "type" of the stored block is "T", the character code of the character is determined by pattern recognition from the character image in each cell of the image. Further, for a block whose "type" is "I", the image is converted into a general-purpose format such as bitmap data. The converted data is displayed on the monitor unit 3. FIG. 7 shows an example of a display on the monitor unit 3. Monitor part 3
Is provided with a font memory that generates image data of the character from the character code to be used, and converts the character code read from the RAM 4 into image data of the character and displays it.

In the pattern recognition in the format conversion unit 5, there are cases where erroneous recognition is performed or a character code cannot be determined. This erroneous recognition or the like is displayed on the monitor unit 3 and the operator looks at the display and inputs a correction from the input means of the monitor unit 3. For this correction input, a method conventionally known in the field of pattern recognition technology may be used. For example, a light pen input from the display surface of the monitor unit 3 can be used. When using the light pen, first, a block to be corrected is selected by the light pen, and then a character to be corrected is selected. After that, the monitor 3
When a correct character is input at the upper input position, pattern recognition is performed again by the format conversion unit 5 and candidate characters are displayed on the monitor unit 3. When a correct character is selected from the candidates, the character code of the content of the RAM 4 and the display of the monitor unit 3 are changed.

An original can be corrected in the same manner as correction of erroneous recognition. FIG. 8 is a display example showing an interactive input for correcting a recognition error or manuscript correction.
This is a display in the case where "o" of ext0 is corrected to "x". The programs executed by the CPU 1 include an editing program used in a word processor, and can perform a predetermined type of editing. For example, when the display shown in FIG. 7 is made, first select text0 using a light pen, then select “integration”, and then select t
When ext1 is selected and input, text0 and text
9 is started, the contents of the RAM 4 are changed, and the result of the change is displayed on the monitor unit 3 as shown in FIG. In this way, the text part can be integrated into a single block.

After the editing is completed, the user inputs a mail address of the transmission destination on the panel section 6 and presses a transmission button to start transmission processing. In this transmission process, the block data stored in the RAM 4 is converted into a MIME (Multi purpose Internet Mail)
In accordance with a standard format of e-mail called Extensions), the data is converted into a form that can be transmitted by e-mail, and data is sent to the line via the modem 7 as one e-mail.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a handwritten original in which a document and an image are mixed is transmitted by e-mail, the characters in the document are converted into character codes to reduce the amount of transmitted information. There is an effect that transmission can be performed with a reduction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a format diagram illustrating a format of a document sheet used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a format diagram showing an example of a format to be entered on the manuscript paper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a format diagram showing a format for dividing the entry of FIG. 3 into blocks.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 for reading a document sheet filled in as shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a format diagram showing block data when FIG. 4 is read by the operation shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of FIG.
It is a figure showing the example of a display of the monitor part after converting the character of t part into a character code.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a procedure for correcting an error in character pattern recognition by an interactive input unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a procedure for integrating blocks by an interactive input unit.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a panel surface of the panel unit of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Scanner part 3 Monitor part 4 RAM 5 Format conversion part 6 Panel part 7 Modem part

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Characters to be converted into character codes and transmitted on a document sheet in which a plurality of cells are formed by equally-spaced dashed lines in the x direction and equally-spaced dashed lines in the y direction are transmitted one by one.
The information to be transmitted on the manuscript paper is divided into blocks by writing the information to be transmitted on the manuscript paper with the solid line drawn on the broken line, and the information in the block is transmitted as image data, or The image of the transmission document in which the code indicating the type of the block in which the image data of the character is converted into the character code and transmitted is written in a predetermined position corresponding to the block, is converted into an electric signal image and written into the RAM. A scanner unit for separating the image written in the RAM by the scanner unit for each block, storing the image in the RAM together with the attribute of the block, and converting the image data of the character in the block into a character code and transmitting the character code For image data of a block of the type, the image is converted into a character code by pattern recognition. Means for displaying the contents of the RAM after the character code conversion is performed on a monitor unit, means for converting the contents into the character codes, and inserting a mail address of a transmission destination into transmission data which has been subjected to necessary editing. Means for converting the transmission data into a format that can be transmitted by e-mail, and transmitting the data in a signal format suitable for transmission over a public telephone network. 2. The electronic mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the monitor unit includes an interactive input unit, and displays the contents of the RAM after the character code conversion on a display unit of the monitor unit, and the recognition result by pattern recognition. An electronic mail transmitting device comprising means for notifying an operator (including an erroneously recognized or unrecognizable state) to determine a character code to be recognized by an input of the operator. 3. The electronic mail transmitting device according to claim 2, wherein a light pen is used for an input by an operator with respect to the recognition result by the pattern recognition. 4. The electronic mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, as the necessary editing, editing for integrating a plurality of blocks of a block of a type to be transmitted by converting image data of characters in the block into a character code and transmitting the character code. An e-mail transmitting device comprising: 5. The electronic mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the interactive input means of the monitor is used to execute the necessary editing. 6. The electronic mail transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the format that can be transmitted by the electronic mail is M
An electronic mail transmitting device, which is an IME (Multi purpose Mail Extensions).