JP2000196790A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce data quantity and to efficiently transmit data by providing a control means for transmitting text data obtained by a character recognition part and picture data obtained by reading an original to an opposite facsimile equipment as a pair. SOLUTION: A central control part 10 determines a part being a character based on data sent from a hand scanner 2 and converts the part recognized as the character into text data. A part except for the part is left as it is and two types of data are separately sent to a picture memory. Data are outputted to a line through a line communication part 9 after the recognition of all original data is terminated. An OCR conversion part 19 is installed in the hand scanner 2 and a user can read only the character except for a picture. Thus, a range being a recognition object can be limited only to the character, the time required for recognition can considerably be shortened and data can efficiently be transmitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the field of image communication, higher image quality and higher speed have been demanded, and efficient compression of image data has been required. Also recently, E
E-mail communication has become widely used, and high-quality images can be transmitted from an e-mail communication terminal (such as a personal computer) via the Internet or the like. In addition, it has become possible to transmit information from a conventional facsimile apparatus to an e-mail communication terminal (such as a personal computer) via a dedicated e-mail server.

[0003] Facsimile apparatuses equipped with a portable hand scanner which can be detached from the main body and are portable are increasing in demand. Above all, there has emerged one that has a memory for reading and storing an image, eliminates the code between the facsimile apparatus main body, and can be used completely separately from the facsimile apparatus main body.

[0004]

Recently, it has become possible to transmit information from a conventional facsimile apparatus to an e-mail communication terminal (a personal computer or a mobile PDA) via a dedicated e-mail server. Data is much larger in data amount than text data (codes consisting of only characters), communication time is longer, and costs are higher. Also, not all existing e-mail communication terminals can receive and display image information, and there is a problem to be solved in communication between the facsimile machine and the e-mail communication terminal.

In a conventional facsimile apparatus, even when it is desired to transmit only a part of a character string in a transmission document, it is necessary to capture an image including its surroundings and transmit it as image data (facsimile data). Even if only a part of the character string in the transmission document is read using the hand scanner, unnecessary parts around the character are also read and transmitted as image data.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a facsimile apparatus capable of transmitting a reduced amount of data by converting a character string in a transmission original into text data. It is intended to be.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a character recognition unit for performing character recognition based on pixel data read by a reading unit, and the reading unit reads a document by a user operation. Reading, the user dials the telephone number of the transmission destination by performing a transmission operation, and when a response is returned from the destination facsimile apparatus, the text data obtained by the character recognition unit and the image data obtained by reading the original are compared. The transmission is made to the destination facsimile machine as a pair.

A hand scanner is provided, and a character recognition unit for performing character recognition in the hand scanner and a line control unit for connecting to a telephone line are provided. It is configured to transmit to the line.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a reading section for converting an image into an electric signal, a character recognition section for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data, and information input and output. An input device used for various operations, a line control unit for connecting to a telephone line, and a display device are provided, and the reading unit reads a document by a user's operation, and the user performs a transmission operation to transmit the document. Control means for dialing the preceding telephone number and, when a response is returned from the other party facsimile apparatus, transmitting the text data obtained by the character recognition unit and the image data obtained by reading the original document to the other party facsimile apparatus in pairs This is a facsimile machine equipped with a character recognition function. Since a character recognizable part of the read pixel data can be converted into text data, this text data is An effect that can be transmitted to the other party as a message.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reading unit for converting an image into an electric signal, a character recognizing unit for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data, and use for inputting information and various operations. An input device, a line control unit for connecting to a telephone line, and a display device. The reading unit reads an original by a user's operation, and a telephone number of an e-mail server by a user's transmitting operation. Dial
When a response is returned from the e-mail server, user information such as a password is sent to the e-mail server. When a response is returned from the e-mail server, the text data obtained by the character recognition unit and the image data obtained by reading the document are paired with each other.
This is a facsimile machine equipped with a control means for transmitting to a mail server. Since a portion that can recognize characters from read pixel data can be converted into text data, this text data can be directly sent to an e-mail server. You can send e-mail to the recipient,
The image data obtained by reading the original is sent to an e-mail server by facsimile communication, and the e-mail server pairs this image data with the text data and sends it to the other party.
It has the effect of being able to send mail.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reading section for converting an image into an electric signal, an image memory for storing image data of a document generated by the reading section, and serial transmission of transmission data to a facsimile apparatus main body. A hand scanner having a transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting by communication, a transmitting / receiving unit for performing serial communication with the hand scanner, a character recognizing unit for performing character recognition based on read pixel data, inputting information and inputting for various operations Device, a line control unit for connecting to a telephone line, a facsimile apparatus main body including a display device, the user performs a transmission operation to read a document with the hand scanner, and the user performs a transmission operation. Dial the telephone number of the transmission destination, and when a response is returned from the destination facsimile machine, the text obtained by the character recognition unit A facsimile machine characterized by having control means for transmitting data and image data obtained by reading a manuscript to a destination facsimile machine. Can be converted to text data, so that the time required for conversion is shorter than that of converting the whole data, the amount of data can be significantly reduced, and the data of only the character recognizable part can be faxed in a short time. The text data can be transferred to the apparatus main body and the text data can be transmitted as a text message to the other party. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a main body of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention,
Reference numeral 2 denotes a hand scanner serially connected to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. A transmission / reception unit 3 receives data transmitted from the hand scanner 2 by serial communication. 4 is a key operation unit, 5 is an LCD display unit using an LCD, and 6 is an image memory.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an OCR conversion unit for performing character recognition based on the data sent from the hand scanner 2.
Reference numeral 8 denotes a printer that prints image data sent from a communication partner or data sent from the hand scanner 2. Reference numeral 9 denotes a line communication unit. The line communication unit 9 converts the image of the read document into an electric signal in a bitmap format, and transmits the electric signal to the destination terminal via the telephone line 12 and is transmitted from the destination terminal. The electrical signal in the bitmap data format is imaged and the
Send to

Reference numeral 10 denotes a central control unit which controls the transmission / reception unit 3, key operation unit 4, LCD display unit 5, image memory 6, OCR conversion unit 7, printer 8, and line communication unit 9.

Next, the configuration of the hand scanner 2 will be described. Reference numeral 14 denotes a line communication unit that performs line processing with the telephone line 13, and the line control unit has a built-in modem that performs demodulation of transmission / reception signals. The signal sent from the destination terminal is demodulated by the modem in the line control means 14. Conversely, the signal sent to the destination terminal is transmitted after being modulated by the modem.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a reading unit (image sensor) for converting an image into an electric signal. Reference numeral 16 denotes an image memory unit that stores image data of a document created by the reading unit 15. A transmission / reception unit 17 transmits transmission data to the facsimile main body by serial communication. Reference numeral 18 denotes a key operation unit.

Reference numeral 19 denotes an OCR conversion unit for performing character recognition based on the pixel data output from the reading unit 15.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a central control unit, which includes a transmission / reception unit 17, a key operation unit 1,
8, the image memory unit 16, the OCR conversion unit 19, and the line communication unit 14 are controlled. The central control unit 20 also includes a reading unit 15
A mode in which the image data of the original created in step 1 is sent to the facsimile main body as it is,
A switching function is provided for performing a character recognition process and then switching to a mode for transmitting to the outside via the line communication unit 14.

The operation of the facsimile apparatus configured as described above will be described below. Central control unit 10
Is based on the data sent from the hand scanner 2
The part considered to be a character is fixed, the part recognized as a character is converted into text data, and the other parts are sent to the image memory 6 once separately as two types of data as bitmap data. After the recognition of all the document data is completed, the data is output to the line via the line communication unit 9. When the line communication unit 9 receives the original data transmitted from the destination terminal via the telephone line 12, the central control unit 10 prints the original data on the set sheet.

Next, the case where an image is read by the hand scanner 2 will be described in detail. The image memory 16 is O
It is connected to the CR converter 19 and is used when performing character recognition, and has a capacity to store at least several main scanning lines. The central control unit 20 first causes the OCR conversion unit 19 to determine a portion that is considered to be a character based on the data from the image memory unit 16 and reads out a character recognition program. Character recognition of the text line is performed by comparing with the pattern data. Then, the part recognized as a character is converted into text data, and the other parts are sent to the recognition memory 21 once separately as two types of data as bitmap data. After the recognition of all the document data is completed, the transmission data of the recognition memory 21 is sent to the facsimile main body via the transmission / reception unit 17. In the mode of direct transmission to an external line, the transmission data of the recognition memory 21 is sent out to the telephone line 13 via the line communication unit 14.

When printing of the image data stored in the hand scanner is selected, the central control unit 10 issues a print command of the hand scanner image data to the hand scanner 2 via the transmission / reception unit 3. In response to this, image data of the hand scanner is transmitted from the hand scanner 2 and stored in the image memory 6. Next, the image data is read out from the image memory 6, converted into a data format printable by a printer, and then printed by the printer 8.

Next, the character recognition method will be described in more detail. Although there are various methods for character recognition, an example using optical character recognition (hereinafter referred to as OCR) as the most general method will be described.

In order to recognize the character of the dot map original data (pixel data) output from the reading unit 15, the central control unit 20 first stores the original data in the image memory unit 1.
6 is stored. Next, the OCR conversion section 19 is controlled to start character recognition. Image memory 16 in bitmap format
The main scanning lines of the original data stored in the document are read and examined one by one. If it is determined that all of the main scanning lines of the document data are data representing white, the subsequent main scanning lines are scanned in order, and the main scanning lines in which data representing black exists due to the presence of characters or figures. If a scanning line is detected, it is determined that there is a main scanning line group having only data representing continuous white existing above the main scanning line including the data representing black, that is, a first line interval.

Thereafter, the main scanning lines are further examined. If a main scanning line having only data representing white continues again, and then a main scanning line having data representing black appears again, the successive main scanning lines appear again. A main scanning line group having only data representing white is defined as a second line interval, a space between the first line and the second line is determined to be one line, and a character or a graphic forming this one line is determined. The part regarded as a block of is hereinafter referred to as a character part. When this character part appears, the central control part 20 suspends the transfer of the document data from the image memory part 16 temporarily.

Next, in the character portion, the determination in the sub-scanning direction, that is, data in a column instead of a row, is substantially the same as in the main scanning direction, that is, a block of a character or a figure is determined based on black bit data in the sub-scanning direction. Is performed, and the overlapping portion of the character portion in the main scanning direction and the character portion in the sub-scanning direction is determined to be one character. The number of characters included in the character portion is determined from the size of the overlapping portion.

The OCR conversion unit 19 activates a program for the portion determined to be one character (hereinafter referred to as a recognition character), and performs character recognition on the recognition character. that time,
The OCR program reads a character pattern prepared in advance and performs pattern matching with a recognized character. When performing pattern matching, the characteristics of the character are grasped by focusing on the length of the line of the recognized character, the point where the line is connected, and the starting point and the ending point of the line. Perform pattern matching. If the size of the character pattern is different from the size of the recognized character, the size of the character pattern is enlarged and reduced to match the size of the recognized character. After the size is adjusted in this way, pattern matching is performed by calling only a character pattern similar to the character from the information on the characteristics of the recognized character.

At this time, even if the characters are the same, there are various quirks, and in most cases, the characteristics are different from those of the character patterns. Therefore, if the pattern matching rate between the recognized character and the character pattern is 70% or more, the recognized character is regarded as a character. Further, by using a learning function such as a neural network, the characteristics of the character once recognized can be learned by the second storage means storing the character pattern. In addition, pattern matching after feature recognition can be easily performed, and the character recognition rate can be increased.

This operation is repeated for the determined number of characters. When the recognition of one character portion is completed, the central control unit 20
Is the number of the scanning line in the original data where the main scanning line at the top of the character portion is, that is, information on where the character portion exists in the original data, and the character portion Of the sub-scanning line at the beginning of the character portion, that is, information indicating where the position of the first character of the character portion is, and convert the recognized character to text data. The data of one character portion is separated into a text file and a bitmap file for the unrecognized portion as they are in the bitmap data, and transferred to the recognition memory 21 separately.

When the central control unit 20 detects that the recognition of the document data has been completed, the central control unit 20 converts the mixed document data of the recognized text format and the bitmap format stored in the recognition memory 21 into the mixed data. The transmission data of the recognition memory 21 is sent to the facsimile main body via the transmission / reception unit 17. In the mode of direct transmission to an external line,
The transmission data of the recognition memory 21 is sent out to the telephone line 13 via the line communication unit 14.

In some cases, an e-mail is transmitted via an external e-mail server. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 23 denotes an e-mail server connectable to a public telephone line and the Internet. Reference numeral 24 denotes a personal computer terminal as a transmission destination, which is connected to the Internet network. FIG. 3 shows a communication procedure between the facsimile machine 1 of the present invention and an e-mail server.

In FIG. 3, in step 600, the facsimile machine 1 of the present invention, which is the originating terminal, dials the telephone number of the e-mail server 23 and accesses the e-mail server 23. In step 700, the e-mail server 23 receives a call and returns a response. In step 601, the facsimile machine 1 uploads user information such as a password. In step 701, the e-mail server 23 authenticates the user based on the uploaded user information.

If the user has been successfully authenticated, the procedure proceeds to the subsequent steps. In step 702, the e-mail server 23 asks for the address of the destination to which the e-mail is sent. In step 602, the facsimile apparatus 1 uploads the address of the destination to which the mail is to be sent. In step 703, the e-mail server 23 asks for the content of the message to be sent. Step 60
At 3, the facsimile device uploads the text data obtained by character recognition. In step 704, the e-mail server 23 requests transmission of image data to be transmitted.

In step 604, the facsimile apparatus transmits image data in a dot map file format. Steps
At 705, the e-mail server 23 receives the image data in the dot map file format. The e-mail server 23 transmits the received text data as a mail text and the image data in the dot map file format as an attached file as a mail to the Internet network. As described above, E
E-mail can be transmitted via the mail server 23.

Further, by providing the hand scanner with a character recognition function, a portion in which character recognition is possible from pixel data read by the hand scanner can be converted into text data. The amount of data can be greatly reduced, and the data of only the character recognizable portion can be transferred to the facsimile apparatus body in a short time. The facsimile machine is connected to the e-mail server 23 via a telephone line, and transfers text data to the e-mail server.

There is also a case where the hand scanner 2 connects to the e-mail server 23 via a telephone line directly and transmits e-mail. That is, the hand scanner 2 dials the telephone number of the e-mail server 23,
Access to When the authentication with the e-mail server 23 is obtained, first, the text data is directly transferred to the e-mail server 23 as the text of the e-mail. When the e-mail server 23 permits the transfer of the image file, the data in the dot map file format is transferred to the e-mail server 23 as an attached file.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the OCR conversion unit is provided in the hand scanner, the user can read only the characters except for the image and the like with the hand scanner, so that the recognition target range can be changed to only the characters. Thus, character recognition can be performed efficiently, the time required for recognition can be greatly reduced, and data can be transmitted efficiently.

Further, by using character recognition means, characters and other characters are identified for all received image data.
When character data is converted to a text file format and the rest of the data is converted to a dot map file format, when it is sent to an email server, the text data is transferred to the email server as it is as the body of the email. Since the data in the dot map file format is transferred to the e-mail server as an attached file, the text data can be used as the heading of the transmission image, eliminating the need for the user to manually input the heading sentence and improving the usability. I do.

By providing the hand scanner, only the character recognizable portion of the original can be read and converted into text data by the hand scanner, so that the amount of data sent from the hand scanner to the main body of the facsimile apparatus is greatly reduced. Can be reduced to Data of only the character part can be transferred to the facsimile machine in a short time.

Further, by providing the hand scanner with a character recognition function, a portion in which character recognition can be performed from pixel data read by the hand scanner can be converted into text data. The amount of data can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a case where an e-mail is transmitted from a facsimile apparatus via an external e-mail server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a facsimile apparatus and an e-mail when e-mail is transmitted from the facsimile apparatus via an external e-mail server.
Sequence chart showing communication procedure with mail server

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile apparatus main body 2 Hand scanner 3 Transmission / reception unit 4 Key operation unit 5 LCD display unit 6 Image memory 7 OCR conversion unit 8 Printer 9 Line communication unit 10 Central control unit 14 Line communication unit 15 Reading unit 16 Image memory unit 17 Transmission / reception unit 18 Key operation unit 19 OCR conversion unit 20 Central control unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B064 AA08 BA02 FA18 5C062 AA02 AA17 AA29 AA30 AA37 AB02 AB23 AB27 AB42 AC25 AC39 AC43 AE08 AF03 AF12 BA00 5C075 AB06 AB90 BA06 CA14 CD06 CD18 EE02 FF90 5K101 NN01 NN03 NN PP04 RR21 UU19

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit for converting an image into an electric signal, a character recognizing unit for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data, an input device for inputting information and various operations, and a telephone line. The reading unit reads a document by a user operation, dials a telephone number of a transmission destination by a transmission operation by the user, and responds from the destination facsimile device. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a control unit for transmitting the text data obtained by the character recognition unit and the image data obtained by reading the original document to the destination facsimile apparatus in a pair. 2. A reading unit for converting an image into an electric signal, a character recognizing unit for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data, an input device for inputting information and various operations, and a telephone line. A reading unit reads a document by a user operation, dials a telephone number of an e-mail server by a transmission operation by the user, and receives a response from the e-mail server. Upon return, user information such as a password is sent, and if there is a response from the e-mail server that the user has been authenticated, the address of the destination to which the e-mail is to be sent is sent to the e-mail server. When a response is returned, there is provided control means for transmitting the text data obtained by the character recognition unit and the image data obtained by reading the document in pairs to an e-mail server. That the facsimile machine. 3. A hand scanner having a reading section for converting an image into an electric signal, an image memory for storing image data of a document generated by the reading section, and a transmitting / receiving section for transmitting transmission data to a facsimile apparatus main body by serial communication. A transmission / reception unit for performing serial communication with the hand scanner, a character recognition unit for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data, an input device used for inputting information and various operations, and a line for connecting to a telephone line The control unit comprises a facsimile apparatus main body including a display device, the user scans the original with the hand scanner by performing a transmission operation, and dials the telephone number of the transmission destination by performing the transmission operation by the user, When a response is returned from the destination facsimile machine, the text data obtained by the character recognition unit and the image obtained by reading the original are read. Facsimile apparatus according to claim the data in a pair that includes a control means for transmitting to the destination facsimile machine. 4. The hand scanner includes a line communication unit for outputting transmission data to an external line, and a character recognition unit for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the document is read, the character recognition unit performs a recognition process, and the recognized data is transferred to a facsimile apparatus main body.
A facsimile machine as described. 5. A reading section for converting an image into an electric signal, an image memory for storing image data of a document generated by the reading section, a character recognizing section for performing character recognition based on the read pixel data, and a transmitting data. A hand scanner having a line communication unit for outputting to an external line, a transmission / reception unit for performing serial communication with the hand scanner, an input device used for inputting information and various operations, and a line control unit for connecting to a telephone line A facsimile apparatus main body including a display device, a document is read by a hand scanner by a user's reading operation, the character recognition unit performs recognition processing, and a user performs a transmission operation by the hand scanner. Dial the telephone number of the e-mail server, and when the e-mail server returns a response, send user information such as a password.
If there is a response from the mail server indicating that the user has been authenticated, the address of the destination to which the mail is to be sent is sent to the e-mail server. A facsimile apparatus comprising a control unit for transmitting data and image data obtained by reading a document as a pair to an e-mail server.