JPS5915549B2 - Facsimile machine with character reading function - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a facsimile device having a character reading function.

Conventionally, facsimile and telex have been used as means of transmitting information written on paper. Facsimile is a means of transmitting images and restoring an image similar to the original image on the receiving side.
Telex is a method of transmitting encoded characters and decoding them at the receiving end to reconstruct the message. However, telex has the disadvantage that it cannot directly transmit image information and requires a specialized operator. On the other hand, when transmitting character information as a message, facsimile uses the transmission path less efficiently than telex.
The disadvantage is that the transmitted characters cannot be input into a computer as data in their original form. Conventional solutions to this problem include using telex for single characters, facsimiles for images, and a combination of both.

Two characters and an image are transmitted by facsimile, and at the receiving end, an operator punches the keys to enter the data into a computer.

etc.

However, method 1 requires the time and effort of separating and transmitting the information written on a piece of paper into two channels and a specialized telex operator, while method 2 transmits the text as part of the image. The disadvantages are that the transmission line is used inefficiently, and that an operator's intervention is required when inputting character data into a computer on the receiving side. The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and it is possible to efficiently transmit images and text information together using one device, and on the other hand, on the receiving side, the text information as data is directly transmitted to a computer without the intervention of an operator. The purpose is to provide a device that allows input.

The feature of this invention is that the characters in a specific area of the information to be transmitted are read and encoded on the transmitting side before being transmitted, and the remaining part is transmitted as an image.

This makes it possible to transmit images and characters using one device, and since the characters are encoded and transmitted, the transmission path is used more efficiently, and on the receiving side, character information can be transmitted as data. Data can be input directly into a computer without the use of an operator. Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure shows an example of paper (original image) used in the present invention.

In this figure, 1 is an image such as a product sample diagram,
2 is character data such as the quantity, price, and explanatory text of the product.
Further, a mark 3 is attached to this paper to indicate that it is a character area. The mark 3 may be written on the paper, printed, or pasted on the paper. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the transmitting side of the apparatus of the present invention.

The original image 5 is first scanned by a transmission scanning section 7 driven by the control of a scan control section 6, as in a conventional facsimile, and then converted into an electrical signal according to the shading of the original image 5 by a photoelectric conversion section 8. be done.

At this time, the mark 3 shown in FIG. 1 is also photoelectrically converted.
The output of the photoelectric conversion section 8 is then sent to the switching control section 9 and the switching section 10.
supplied to When the switching control section 9 detects an electrical signal corresponding to the mark 3 shown in FIG. Controls connection to facsimile system. The mark 3 can be easily detected, for example, by determining whether a black signal of a certain value or more is continuously obtained at the left end of each scanning line. Therefore, when the original picture shown in FIG. 1 is scanned sequentially from the top in the figure, the output of the photoelectric conversion section 8 is first sent to the facsimile system.

That is, the output signal of the photoelectric conversion section 8 is sent to the image signal processing section 11 via the switching section 10, where it undergoes signal processing such as compression similar to conventional facsimile, and is sent to the next stage modulation section 12. When the scanning progresses and the switching control section 9 detects a mark indicating a character area, the switching section 10 is activated and supplies the output signal of the photoelectric conversion section 8 to the OCR system.

That is, the output signal of the photoelectric conversion section 8 is sent to the character reading section 13 to read the characters, and the result is encoded by the character code generation section 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a label generating section, which generates label information indicating that it is a character or label information indicating that it is an image, and supplies it to the modulating section 12.

Further, the timing of label generation by the label generation section 15 and the type of label are determined using the output signal of the switching control section 9 as a synchronization signal. Accordingly, an image signal, a character code signal, and a label are supplied to the modulator 12 in accordance with scanning, and in this modulator 12 both the image and character signals are added with a label, modulated, and transmitted.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the receiving side of the apparatus of the present invention.

The signal transmitted by the transmitting means shown in FIG. 2 is first demodulated by a demodulating section 19.

Then, depending on whether the demodulated signal corresponds to an image or a character, the connection is switched between the facsimile system and the OCR system in the same way as on the transmitting side. That is, the output signal of the demodulation section 19 is supplied to the switching section 20 and also to the switching control section 21 . And the switching control section 21
detects a label from the output signal of the demodulation unit 19, and when a label indicating that it is a character is detected, the output signal of the demodulation unit 19 is sent to the OCR system, and when a label indicating that it is an image is detected, it is sent to the facsimile system. The switching unit 20 is controlled so as to send the data to Now, assuming that the output signal of the demodulation section 19 is an image signal, this image signal is sent to the image signal processing section 22 via the switching section 20, where it is subjected to signal processing, such as expansion, similar to conventional facsimile.

The processed signals are sent to the recording conversion section 23 and the scanning control section 2.
4 through a receiving scanning section 25 controlled by
It becomes 6. On the other hand, when the switching control section 21 detects a label indicating that it is a character, the output signal of the demodulation section 19 is sent to the character decoding section 27 via the switching section 20, and is decoded by the decoding section 27. Thereafter, printing is performed on the duplicate image 26 by the printing unit 28.

Further, the character code signal output from the demodulator 19 at this time is also input to the computer 30 via the interface 29. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the switching units 10 and 21 in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the figure, 41 and 42 are AND gates, and 43 is an inverter. The signal output from the switching control section 9 or 21 is A
One terminal of the ND gate 41 is directly supplied, and A
The signal is supplied to one terminal of the ND gate 42 via an inverter 43. Therefore, in FIG. 2, until the switching control section 9 detects the mark, the output of the control section 9 is "0", so the AND gate 42 shown in FIG. 4 is opened, and the output signal of the photoelectric conversion section 8 is On the other hand, when the switching control section 9 detects the mark and the output of the control section 9 becomes "1", the AND gate 41 shown in FIG. 4 opens, and the output of the photoelectric conversion section 8 is sent to the 0CR system. sent to. Similarly, in FIG. 3, when the switching control section 21 detects a label indicating that it is an image signal, the AND gate 42 in FIG. On the other hand, when the control unit 21 detects a label indicating that it is a character signal, the AND gate 41 opens and the demodulated signal becomes 0CR.
sent to the system. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the label generating section 15 in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 5, reference numerals 51 and 53 are label pattern generators, of which generator 51 generates a character label and sends it to the modulation section via an AND gate 52 which is opened and closed by a synchronizing signal. Further, the image label is generated by a label pattern generator 53 for image label generation,
The signal is supplied to the modulation section via the AND gate 54. Nao 55
indicates an inverter. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the output signal of the modulation section 12 in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 6, 61 is a synchronization signal, 62 is a label signal, and 6
3 is data (characters or images), these 61, 62, 6
3 constitutes one unit, and these units will be arranged in order from now on. As explained above, the present invention scans an original picture in which an image part and a text part coexist on the transmission side, obtains an electric signal corresponding to the shading of the original picture, and obtains an electrical signal by scanning the image part. The electric signal obtained by scanning the character part is sent to the facsimile system, and the electric signal obtained by scanning the character part is sent to the 0CR system, and after the character is read by the 0CR system, it is converted into a code and converted into this character code. The signal is labeled and combined with the facsimile signal. Further, the present invention switches the system from the facsimile system to the 0CR system by detecting a label indicating a character on the receiving side, and in the 0CR system, the character code is decoded and printed, or the character code is sent to the computer as is. This is what I did. Therefore, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. Compared to the conventional technology which uses a two-system transmission system of character transmission by one telex and image transmission by facsimile, only one transmission system is required, and there is no need for a specialized operator such as a telex operator.

Compared to the conventional method in which two characters and an image are transmitted by facsimile, and an operator punches a key to enter the data into a computer at the receiving end, the characters are read by an OCR system and then converted into a character code to provide image information. Since it is designed to combine with

Further, since the received character data can be directly input into a computer and processed, an operator is not required.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without changing the gist thereof.

For example, switching between images and characters may be performed by specifying a format in advance, rather than by using marks in the original image. That is, the location of the characters in the original image may be stored in advance in the storage means, and the scanning may be switched when the character portion is being scanned. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment for this purpose, in which a format storage section 71 is provided in addition to what is shown in FIG. The switching control section 9 compares the scanning position information from the scanning position information from the scanning position information with the scanning position information from the switching control section 9, and when the two match, a switching signal is generated. Further, the above switching can also be done manually depending on the case. Also, labels may be added to only one signal, text or image, or instead of adding a label to distinguish between image and text, the signal itself is processed so that both signals can be distinguished from image and text. An attribute may be provided in between. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, it is also possible to have two systems, such as scanning sections 7a and 7b and photoelectric conversion sections 8a and 8b, and to provide the switching section 10 before the modulation section 12.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of paper used in the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of paper used in the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the transmitting side of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the receiving side of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the switching section in the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the label generating section in the device of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the output signal of the modulation section in the device of the present invention, and FIG. 8 and 8 are diagrams showing other embodiments of the transmitting side of the apparatus of the present invention, respectively. 5...Original image, 6...Scanning control section, 7.
...Transmission scanning section, 8...Photoelectric conversion section, 9
...... Transmission side switching control section, 10... Switching section, 11... Image signal processing section, 12...
・Modulation section, 13...Character reading section, 14...
... Character code generation section, 15 ... Label generation section, 19 ... Demodulation section, 20 ... Switching section,
21... Receiving side switching control section, 22...
Image signal processing unit, 23...recording conversion unit, 24.
. . . Scanning control section, 25 . . . Reception scanning section,
26... Demodulated image, 27... Character decoding section, 28... Printing section, 29... Interface section, 30... Electronic calculator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A facsimile system in which a sending facsimile device and a receiving facsimile device connected to a computer are coupled via a transmission path, wherein the sending facsimile device is capable of transmitting images and characters. means for scanning a mixed original image and converting it into an electric signal; means for identifying an image area and a character area in the original image; and an electric signal that scans the image area and an electric signal that scans the character area by this means. means for separating and switching signals; an image processing unit that converts the electric signal scanned in the image area into a compressed image signal; and a character code signal that performs character recognition using the electric signal scanned in the character area. a character recognition unit that converts the character code signal into a character code signal, a means for generating a label signal for distinguishing between the character code signal obtained from the character recognition unit and the image signal obtained from the image processing unit, and the character code signal and the image signal. and means for synthesizing and outputting the synthesized image to the transmission path while adding the label signal, and the receiving facsimile apparatus further comprises:
means for detecting a label signal in a signal received via the transmission path; means for separating the character code signal and the image signal according to the label signal detected by the means; an image processing unit for expanding the image signal, a means for decoding the separated character code signal, and a means for duplicating the original image from the signal decoded by the means and the signal expanded by the image processing unit; A facsimile apparatus having a character reading function, further comprising means for supplying the separated character code signal to the electronic computer. 2. The means for identifying the image area and the character area comprises means for detecting the presence or absence of a mark written on the original image from an electrical signal obtained by scanning the original image. A facsimile machine with a character reading function. 3. The means for identifying the image area and the character area has a format storage section that stores the position of the character area in advance, and uses the scanning position information of the electrical signal obtained by scanning the original image and the contents of this format storage section. Claim 1 characterized by comparison
A facsimile machine having the character reading function described in Section 1.