JP2000353207A - Picture reading system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture reading system applying prescribed processing to the image of the designated region of a slip without adding any mark for indicating the kind of the slip. SOLUTION: In this picture reading system, the input image Im of a slip 1 inputted from a picture inputting part 11 is stored in a picture data memory 12. A bar code on the slip 1 in the input image Im is recognized by a bar code retrieving/-recognizing part 13, and an enterprise code K is found. A slip layout name retrieving part 17 retrieves a data base 15, and finds a layout name Ln indicating the kind of the slip corresponding to the enterprise code K, and an image segmenting part 19 retrieves a slip layout data base 16, and finds the position of the designated region of the slip 1. Then, the region corresponding to the position is segmented from the image Im.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image reading system for inputting a plurality of types of form images, cutting out an image of a designated area of each form, and recognizing characters and bar codes in the designated areas. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image reading system, when simultaneously reading a plurality of types of forms having different layouts, layout information indicating a designated area for each type of form is stored in a database in advance, and the information is added to the form. The layout information is obtained by searching the database based on the symbol representing the form type (hereinafter referred to as a sheet ID) and the characteristics of the ruled lines. Then, characters or barcodes in the area indicated by the layout information are recognized, or an image of the specified area is cut out.

[0003]

However, the conventional image reading system has the following problems. For example, in public utility bills widely distributed in general,
No sheet ID is assigned, and a new sheet ID cannot be added. Therefore, it is impossible to identify the layout of the form by the sheet ID, and the predetermined processing cannot be performed. In addition, when a ruled line is printed by dropout, the color of the ruled line may be light in some cases, and the layout cannot be normally identified from the characteristics of the ruled line. Therefore, the application range of the image reading system is narrow.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for inputting input images of a plurality of types of forms having different layouts, and selecting an image of a designated area for each type of the forms among the input images. In contrast, an image reading system that performs predetermined processing imposed on the system and presents it to the outside is configured by the following image input means, barcode search and recognition means, database, and image processing means. The image input unit is a unit for inputting an input image of the form to be processed. The barcode search recognizing means is a means for searching for and recognizing a barcode in the input image and obtaining key information for specifying a form type of the form to be processed. The database is
Layout information indicating the position of the designated area on the layout of each form type and the key information for each form type are registered in association with each other in advance. The image processing means searches the database with the key information obtained by the barcode search and recognition means to obtain the layout information of the form to be processed, and specifies the designated area indicated by the layout information in the input image. Means for performing the predetermined processing on the image.

[0005] By adopting such a configuration, an input image of a form to be processed is input from the image input means. If the form to be processed has no sheet ID or a ruled line is printed in a dropout color, but a barcode is printed, the barcode is recognized by the barcode search and recognition means, and key information is obtained. Can be
On the other hand, in the database, the layout information indicating the position of the designated area on the layout of each form type and the key information are registered in association with each other in advance, so by searching this database with the key information, Layout information is obtained. The image processing means searches the database using the key information obtained by the barcode search and recognition means to obtain layout information. Then, predetermined processing is performed by the image input processing means on the image of the designated area indicated by the layout information among the input images.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a form to be read. This image reading system uses, for example, a JAN code (Japanese Art
2, the receipt 3 of the form 1 is processed with the form 1 in which the bar code 2 of the form 1 is printed in a plurality of rows as shown in FIG.
In addition, it is required to cut out the image of the receipt 4 and each module is arranged as shown in FIG. 1 for a control unit 10 that controls the entire system. The image input unit 11, which is an image input unit for inputting the input image Im including the form 1, is constituted by an image input device such as an image scanner or a digital camera, a reader for inputting a form image from an image file, and the like. I have. The image input unit 11 has an image data memory 1 via a bus B.
2 is connected, and the input image Im is stored in the image data memory 12. The image data memory 12 is connected via a bus B to a bar code search / recognition unit 13 serving as bar code search and recognition means, and a bar code recognition result memory 14. The barcode search / recognition unit 13 has a function of recognizing the barcode 2 in the input image Im and obtaining the company code K of the key information as primary information, and the barcode recognition result memory 14 stores the company code K Is stored.

The image data memory 12 and the bar code recognition result memory 13 are connected to two databases, a company code database (company code DB) 15 and a form layout database (form layout DB) 16. Are connected to a form layout name search unit 17, a form layout name search result memory 18, an image cutout unit 19, and a recognition result memory 20. The company code database 15 is a database in which a plurality of company codes K are registered in association with a form layout name Ln indicating the type of the form 1. The form layout name search unit 17 searches the company database 15 for a form layout name Ln representing the type of the form 1 from the barcode recognition result.
n is stored in the form layout search result memory 18. The form layout database 16 is a database in which a plurality of form layout names Ln and layout information indicating a designated area of the form 1 to be cut out in the image Im are registered in advance. The image extracting unit 19 acquires the form layout name Ln from the form layout search result memory 18, and extracts an image at a position registered as layout information from the form layout name Ln from the image Im in the image data memory 11. It has a function of storing in the reading result memory 20.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG. In this image reading system, step S in FIG.
From the image input processing of TP10, the image extraction processing of step STP40 is performed, and the images of the receipt 3 and the receipt 4 of the form 1 are extracted. First, in the image input processing of step STP10, the input image Im of the form 1 is input by the image input unit 11, and the input image Im is stored in the image data memory 12. In the barcode search / recognition process in step STP20, the barcode search / recognition unit 13 recognizes the barcode 2 as shown in FIG.

FIGS. 4A to 4F show a bar code search /
It is a figure showing the concept of recognition processing. The barcode search / recognition unit 13 receives the input image Im from the image data memory 12.
And scans the input image Im in the vertical and horizontal directions to search for the barcode 2 on the form 1. At this time, as shown in FIG.
Scan at a certain interval in consideration of the width of. In this scan, a change point a from white to black and a change point b from black to white on the scanning line are extracted as shown in FIG.
From the arrangement state of the changing points a and b on the scanning line, a candidate 30 of the barcode 2 is selected as shown in FIG. When it is necessary to determine the position (width) of the barcode candidate 30,
As shown in FIG. 4D, the area where the change point exists is searched outward to determine the range 31 of the barcode 2.

Based on the distance between the changing points of the bar code candidates 30, the bar code is recognized as shown in FIG. Usually, a check digit is incorporated in the barcode 2 to confirm that the recognition result 32 is correct.
The check digit in the recognition result 32 of FIG. 4E is “3” in the second digit of the recognition result. If the check digit is present in the barcode recognition result, the barcode recognition result 32 is stored in the barcode recognition result memory 14 as a correct one as shown in FIG. Step ST
In the form layout search process in step STP30 subsequent to P20, the form layout name search unit 17 acquires the company code K in the recognition result 32 stored in the barcode recognition result memory 14 as key information indicating the layout. , The company code database 15 is searched with the company code K, and the form layout name Ln corresponding to the company code K is searched.
Ask for.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a barcode recognition result, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing registered contents of the company code database 15 in FIG. Bar code 2 is 4 as shown in FIG.
From the form 1 printed on the column, four recognition results 32 are obtained as shown in FIG. For example, from the recognition result of the top bar code 2 (main code) of the four rows, a company code (portion corresponding to MMMM in FIG. 5) K as key information for specifying the layout of the form 1 is obtained. can get. The company code database 15 stores a plurality of company codes K in advance.
A form layout name Ln of secondary information indicating the type of form issued by each company is registered in advance as shown in FIG. When the form layout name search unit 17 acquires, for example, “78123” of the company code K, the form layout name search unit 17 searches the company code database 15 for the corresponding layout name L.
n, that is, that form 1 is an electric B form is output as a search result. This search result is stored in the form layout name search result memory 18.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing registered contents of the form layout database 16 in FIG. The form layout database 16 includes a form layout name Ln and a form 1
And the layout information indicating the position of the designated area in. In the image extracting process of step STP40, the image extracting unit 19 acquires the form layout name Ln of the search result from the form layout name search result memory 18, searches the form layout database 16 with the form layout name Ln, and For example, a receipt position D and a receipt stamp position d in 1 are obtained. The receipt position D and the receipt stamp position d are indicated by relative positions from the reference end of the form 1 or from the barcode 2. The image cutout unit 19 cuts out the image R in the area corresponding to the receipt position D and the receipt stamp position d from the input image Im stored in the image data memory 12, and stores the image R in the read result memory 20. The image R stored in the read result 20 is presented to the outside.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image reading apparatus which is required to cut out the image R of the receipt position D and the receipt mark position d in the form 1 as a predetermined process is described below.
A bar code search / recognition unit 13 is provided, and by recognizing the bar code 2 in the input image Im input by the image input unit 11, the company code K that issued the form 1 is obtained. Using the layout name Ln as key information to be obtained, the form layout name searching unit 17 and the image extracting unit 19 search the company code database 15 and the form layout database 16 to obtain an image R of the receipt area D and the receipt stamp d. Is cut out. for that reason,
Even in the case where the sheet ID is not attached to the form 1 or the ruled line is printed in the dropout color, the image R of the area specified by specifying the form type can be reliably cut out. Further, since it is not necessary to change the form 1 and add a sheet ID, an image reading system having a high degree of freedom and a wide application range can be realized.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, there are the following modifications. (1) In order to specify the layout of the form 1, the company code database 15 and the form layout database 1
However, it is also possible to connect the company code K and the layout information with the form layout name Ln to form a database from which the layout information can be searched directly from the company data K. With such a configuration, the form layout search result memory 18 can be omitted, and the processing speed can be improved. (2) In the image reading system of FIG. 1, the form 1 with the JAN code for the fee payment form is to be read, but if the bar code 2 is attached, the form 1 with another bar code is attached. Can be read. (3) The image reading system shown in FIG. 1 has a processing purpose of cutting out the image R in the area of the receipt 3 and the receipt 4 in the form 1, but adds a dictionary or a module having a character recognition function. Thus, the characters described in the designated area of the form 1 may be recognized. in this case,
The processing result presented to the outside is a character code.

[0015]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, an image reading system is constituted by an image input unit, a barcode search and recognition unit, a database, and an image processing unit.
The bar code search and recognition means recognizes the bar code to obtain key information, and the image processing means searches the database with the key information to obtain layout information, and a predetermined area for the specified area indicated by the layout information. Processing is performed. Therefore, the sheet ID
It is possible to perform a predetermined process on the designated area without adding the above. Further, since a predetermined process imposed on the system can be performed on a form already distributed, an image reading system with a high degree of freedom can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a form to be read;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the concept of the barcode search / recognition processing of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a barcode recognition result.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing registered contents of a company code database 15 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing registered contents of a form layout database 16 in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Form 2 Barcode 11 Image input section 12 Image data memory 13 Barcode search / recognition section 14 Barcode recognition result memory 15 Company code database 16 Form layout database 17 Form layout name search section 18 Form layout name search result memory 19 Image cut Output unit 20 Reading result memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An input image of a plurality of types of forms having different layouts is input, and an image of a designated area for each type of form among the input images is subjected to a predetermined process imposed on the system and externally processed. An image reading system for inputting an input image of the form to be processed, searching and recognizing a barcode on the form in the input image, and determining a form type of the form to be processed. Bar code search and recognition means for obtaining key information for specifying, and layout information indicating the position of the designated area on the layout of each form type and the key information for each form type registered in advance Database and the key information obtained by the barcode search and recognition means. Obtains the layout information of the form, to the image of the designated area in which the layout information indicating one of said input image, an image reading system, characterized in that the image processing means for performing predetermined processing, comprising the.