JP2000148763A - Method and device for image storage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically input a retrieval key through single-time operation for inputting an image of a document whose format is determined and to discriminate the kind of the key. SOLUTION: The image storage device comprises a data processor 1, a storage device, and a scanner 2, and information stored in the storage device is composed of document image information read out of an entered document 3 by the scanner 2, document format information made into stored data with entry kinds and entry coordinates so as to correspond to item entries of the document format, extracted image information extracted from the document image with the entry coordinates, and entry kind information extracted from the extracted image together with the added kind of the entry kind. The respectively pieces of information have coordinates, so difference information obtained by subtracting the source document on the same coordinate system is usable as the retrieval key as it is, so the need to input the key word is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image storage method and an image storage device, and more particularly, to search for necessary information from a huge amount of data in which various information such as inspection data are written and stored on a fixed form. The present invention relates to an image storage method and a storage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Periodic inspections are performed on various items such as breakage, cracks, peeling, and abrasion of nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, chemical plants, transportation equipment, structures and pipes forming structures of various factories. . The original data is written by hand by an inspector on a prescribed (formatted) form sheet at the site. The entry information is registered and recorded in the computer by the operator. This information is retrieved later. A keyword is entered for the search. The number of forms for recording such inspection results is enormous.

At present, a form is read into a computer as an image by an optical scanner, and at the same time, a character string to be a key at the time of retrieval is input from a keyboard while looking at the form independently of the reading. In other words, conventionally, the form data and the keyword are input by being divided into two operations with their independent information being artificially associated with each other. For this reason, an enormous amount of work of image input and key input is required twice and an enormous amount of work time is required. In the input operation, it is necessary for a person to read a form and interpret a keyword, and an interpretation error and an input error occur. There is an enormous amount of intellectual work for associating individual image data with keys one-to-one.

It is preferable that a search key is automatically input in one operation of inputting an image of a form, and as a result, data input time is greatly reduced and no human error occurs.

[0005]

The present invention has been made based on such a technical background, and solves the following problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image storage method and a storage device in which a search key is automatically input in a single operation of inputting an image of a form having a predetermined format. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image storage method and a storage device in which a search key is automatically input in a single operation of inputting a formatted image of a form and data input time is greatly reduced. To provide. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image in which a search key is automatically input in a single operation of inputting an image of a formatted form, and data input time is greatly reduced, thereby preventing human input errors. A storage method and a storage device thereof are provided. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image storage method and a storage device that allow a search key to be automatically input in a single operation of inputting an image of a form in which a format is determined so that the type of key can be discriminated. To provide.

[0006]

An image storage method according to the present invention comprises the following steps: having a basic form information of a formalized form itself; inputting the filled form as image information; Subtracting the basic image information from the image information, and using all or a part of the image information after the subtraction as a key. All or a part of the information after the subtraction becomes a key as it is. The basic information is used as configuration information that can distinguish information for each information type. The configuration information includes class information of an area to be subjected to a large classification and species information to be subjected to a small classification for each area.

In other words, in the image storage method according to the present invention, the basic image of the target form is divided into a plurality of regions in advance, the type of basic information represented by each region is determined, and the basic information is used. Then, by performing a process of extracting information corresponding to the type of each area of the actually read image information by subtraction based on coordinates, key information to be a key is automatically extracted, and the key information is extracted in association with the image data. It is a searchable image storage device that stores information. By first creating the configuration information data for a form of the same form, form input can be automated. 1
A search key is automatically created in association with image data simply by reading a form of a predetermined form by the scanner at each time. The information in the configuration file, which is a text file, can be created directly with an editor. Can be created.

An image storage device according to the present invention is an image storage device comprising a data processing device, a storage device, and a scanner, wherein information stored in the storage device is form image information read from a completed form by the scanner. And the form format information stored and stored by the description type and the description coordinates so as to respectively correspond to the plurality of descriptions of the form format, the extracted image information extracted from the form image by the description coordinates, and the extraction It is composed of description type information extracted by adding the type of the description type from the image information.

The information stored in the storage device further includes:
It is preferable that the form includes the original image information that the form originally has.
Since this original image information is common information for each form,
By subtracting the common information from the image information obtained by the scanner, it is possible to easily extract the information unique to the form, and the information thus extracted (cut out) is used as a search key. (Words / graphics). In other words, the extracted image information is difference information obtained by subtracting the original image information from the form image information.

The extracted image information includes character string information extracted as the first area of the form image, coordinate information of the figure extracted as the second area of the form image, shape information of the figure, and the More preferably, it is constituted by the selection item information extracted as three regions and the coordinate information of the selection item. In this way, figures, characters, and selection items are respectively extracted as small classifications from the extracted image, and the information extracted in this manner has coordinates specified on individual forms, so that each area is used as a search key. Can be used.

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows components in the form of an image storage device according to the present invention. A personal computer having a display or the EWS 1 includes an auxiliary storage device capable of storing a large amount of image information. A scanner 2, which is an optical reading device, is connected to the EWS 1. The image information of the form read by the scanner 2 is E
Stored in WS1. As shown in FIG. 2, each form 3 is
The information is converted into digital information by the scanner 2, read by the form reading unit 4 of the personal computer or the EWS 1, and stored in the form data unit 5 of the EWS 1.

The data extraction unit 6 of the EWS 1 is described by form template data 7 and configuration information data 8 described later. Based on the range of each area set in the form and the type of the area, key information serving as a key to be used for a future search is extracted from the form data 5 by the data extracting unit 6. The extracted information is stored in the database as a search key 9. At the same time, the form data is associated with the search key 9 and stored as image data 10 in the database.

The configuration information data 8 is text data comprising an area in each range defined by the coordinate values in a coordinate system set on the form, and an area code indicating each area. The configuration information data 8 can be created directly using an editor or the like. To simplify its creation, E
WS1 includes an area configuration data generation unit 12. The area configuration data generation unit 12 can read the area configuration diagram 11 in which a rectangular diagram indicating each area and an area number indicating a type corresponding to each area are entered on a form based on the form. The area configuration data generation unit 12 further processes the read image, recognizes the range and type of each area, and generates the configuration information data 8.

The form template 7 is information in which an unfilled form is read by the form reading unit 4, and the information printed in advance (information of the original form itself) is subtracted from the form in which the information is written. This is the original information used for

[Embodiment] FIGS. 3 and 4 show an embodiment of the above-described embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a form for writing an inspection result for a certain product, in which nothing has been entered yet. FIG. 4 is a reference diagram for explaining the area of the form, in which an inspection target part is entered in an area 2 to be described later as an axial projection view. As shown in FIG. 4, the form has three areas. Area 1 is an entry field for a character string input area in which information such as the product name, inspection type, and serial code is entered by hand as a character string. For the information described in the area 1, a character string is taken out by the form reading unit 4 by the OCR technique and
It can be read into WS1.

The area 2 is a graphic input area in which a graphic is additionally written by hand. After being read by the OCR, the handwritten input graphic can be subjected to image processing and further digitized. For the area 2, a subtraction process is particularly performed in order to extract only graphic information from the form data after filling in the image data in the form template 7. The method of extracting graphic information by such a subtraction process differs depending on the circumstances of what kind of search is to be performed using the information thereafter. If only the area of a figure drawn by hand is required, the maximum and minimum values of the coordinate values may be obtained. If shape recognition is required, pattern recognition processing is performed.

Area 3 is a selection area for selecting the type of inspection result in which inspection items, cracks, wear, etc. are found. The way of entry is to check and select one of several items printed in advance. What is a check?
This is to add dots and make circles. By determining which item position the check position is near, a key can be generated without subtraction processing.

FIG. 5 is an area configuration diagram showing an area configuration corresponding to the forms shown in FIGS. In this area configuration diagram, rectangles indicating the above-described three areas and numbers and numbers indicating the types of the respective areas are written in the same coordinate system as the target form. Numeral 1, numeral 2, and numeral 3 correspond to the three areas which are the major classification. The correspondence is described by a mechanical coordinate system in which a mechanical origin is set on a form and a program coordinate system in which a program origin is set on a form in a computer.

The minor category items are followed by a hyphen "-" after the number in the major category display (right side), followed by a minor category number, and are entered as "3-12". In the selection area, a check position for each selection item and a symbol (alphanumeric) for distinguishing and identifying the selection item are further written.

[Supplementary Note] Handwritten graphic information is quantified as lines, circles, and closed curves by a conventional graphic recognition technique. Graphic information originally has coordinates on a form. Character strings and selection items are also given their coordinate values as geometric positions on the form. The coordinates on the form are determined after the origin is specified by calculation means such as a personal computer, based on the rectangular information of the form and the like, even if the form is read after being enlarged or reduced.

Small reading errors in coordinates can be easily corrected by conventional image correction functions. The coordinates of the selection item need not be strict, but are given in a certain range, and are searched as information in a range from the coordinates 100 to the coordinates 110, for example. For example, a figure written on a tracing paper (template) positioned and placed on a grid-like underlay has its two-dimensional coordinate information as long as its origin is specified. . This 2
The dimensional coordinate information is extracted information in which go board information is discarded. Conversely, the remaining go-board information obtained by discarding the two-dimensional coordinate information is also extracted information.

[0022]

According to the image storage method and the storage device of the present invention, when a large number of forms are registered in the image database, it is not necessary to attach a keyword (search key) to each form, and therefore, the work is not required. Therefore, a vast amount of input work can be wiped out, and input errors do not occur. Since it is not necessary to have knowledge on the format of form configuration data, it is easy to create data and to easily cope with other types of forms.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an oblique axis projection view showing a device configuration of an embodiment of an image storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a device configuration or a function for extracting key information.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a form.

FIG. 4 is a reference plan view for explaining an area of the form shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is a virtual configuration diagram showing a configuration of form configuration information data;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Personal computer or EWS 2 ... Scanner 3 ... Form 5 ... Form data part 6 ... Data extraction part 7 ... Form template 8 ... Configuration information data 9 ... Search key 10 ... Image data 11 ... Area configuration diagram 12 ... Area configuration data generation part

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Nadai 2-1-1, Shinhama, Araimachi, Takasago-shi, Hyogo F-term in Takasago Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Reference) 5B075 ND06 NK13 NK24 NK31 PP10 PP12

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. a step of having basic information of a formalized form itself; a step of inputting a filled-in form as image information; a step of subtracting the basic information from the image information; Using all or part of the information as a key. 2. An image storage device comprising a data processing device, a storage device, and a scanner, wherein information stored in the storage device is: form image information read from a completed form by the scanner; Form format information stored and converted into data according to the description type and description coordinates so as to correspond to the respective item descriptions, extracted image information extracted from the form image by the description coordinates, and the description type from the extracted image An image storage device comprising description type information extracted by adding a type. 3. The information according to claim 2, wherein the information stored in the storage device further comprises original image information originally included in the form, and the extracted image information is obtained from the form image information based on the original image. An image storage device that is difference information from which information has been subtracted. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the extracted image information includes: character string information extracted as a first area of the form image; written coordinate information of a graphic extracted as a second area of the form image; An image storage device comprising: shape information of a figure; selection item information extracted as a third area of the form image; and coordinate information of the selection item.