JP2001025713A - Posta sorting mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically find mail addressed to new address, to automatically take out address information of the new address from an address control DB, to attain the speeding-up and making low cost of forwarding treatment. SOLUTION: Address recognition 305 inputs a letter segmenting hypothetical network 310 to read letter information and to recognize an address. New address decision 306 judges whether there is new address in the address recognized by an address control DB 310. When that there is the new address is judged, the treatment of the poststage is advanced. Person's name/company's name recognition 307 inputs a letter segmenting network 310 to recognize person's name/company's name. New address judgement 308 inputs person's name/ company's name recognition results 317 to judge whether the recognized person's name/person's name is new address by an address control DB 310. When applicable, address information of new address registered in the address control DB 310 is outputted, and when not applicable, the recognized address information is outputted. Result integration 309 integrates the treatment results to output the recognition results having most reliability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document recognizing apparatus for reading and interpreting character information written on a page by using a character recognizing technique, a mail sorting machine using the document recognizing apparatus, and a postal sorting machine related thereto. About the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when character information on a paper surface represented by a character string is read using a character recognition technique, the character string is read one character at a time from left to right (from top to bottom). On the basis of the read result, for example, in the case of address information, interpretations such as a prefecture name, a municipal name, a street address, a building number, and a room number are sequentially given. One of the fields in which such a document recognition device is applied is in the task of assembling the directions of mail using a mail sorting machine. In this work, in addition to the street name of the address, the character information necessary to identify the address, such as the street address, building number, room number, etc. is read,
It must be sorted by the mailer's delivery order. For mail that could not be read by a mail sorting machine, the address image is displayed on the terminal, and address information is manually input to deliver mail using the sorting machine together with the mail read by the sorting machine. In the order you want. A system for manually inputting address information while viewing an address image is referred to as a video coding system (hereinafter, referred to as VCS).

[0003]

On the other hand, a problem which cannot be avoided in the sorting using the mail sorting machine is the sorting of mail addressed to the relocated person. If a move occurs at a certain address and the mover offers to the post office, the service of transferring mail to the new address can be received for a certain period of time. At this time, the following problem occurs in the machine sorting only by reading the address using the mail sorting machine.

[0004] The address is read when another resident moves into the place where the resident had previously lived, or when only a part of the resident moved, such as in a dormitory or boarding house. Alone cannot tell whether it is for a relocated person or a person resident at that address. Therefore,
In such a case, it is indispensable to read and classify the recipient's name.

[0005] In the current mail sorting machine, the mail is read and sorted, so that the mail addressed to the relocated person and the mail addressed to the person resident at the address are similarly sorted, and when the mail is delivered by the person in charge. Then, it is necessary to visually check each message to determine whether it is addressed to the relocated person. A similar problem occurs in the division using the address information input by the VCS. For this reason, there arises a problem that the transfer to the new address is delayed, or a wrong delivery such as a mail addressed to the new address is delivered to the original address by mistake.

An object of the present invention is to automatically determine whether a mail is addressed to a relocated person when the relocated person occurs,
It is an object of the present invention to automatically extract address information of a relocation destination from an address management database when it is determined that the address is for a relocated person, and to reduce the labor required to search for relocation address information.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the method of the present invention converts address information described on a paper sheet into digital image data, and uses the digital image data to convert the address information. A document recognition device for recognizing address information based on a knowledge database, which stores a person / company name and corresponding address information, and a relocation flag for distinguishing whether or not a relocated person, and further includes a relocated person. If registered as, an address management database that stores relocation address information indicating the relocation location, a result of inputting the digital image data, extracting character information from the digital image data and recognizing the same, and the limited person name・ Personal name / company name recognizing means that matches the prior knowledge about the company name to recognize the person name / company name, and the person name output from the personal name / company name recognizing means The company name is compared with the name of the person or company registered in the address recognized in the address management database, and it is determined whether the recognized name of the person or company corresponds to the relocated person. If it is determined, the address information of the relocation destination registered in the database is output, and if it is determined that the address does not correspond to the relocated person, the relocated person outputs the address of the resident registered in the database. Determination means.

Further, according to the method of the present invention, a document recognition system which converts address information described on a paper sheet into digital image data, and uses the digital image data to recognize the address information based on a knowledge database relating to the address information. A device,
Stores the name of the person / company and the corresponding address information, as well as the relocation flag for distinguishing whether or not the user is a relocated person, and, if registered as a relocated person, stores the relocation address information indicating the relocation destination With the address management database to input the digital image data, the result of extracting and recognizing character information from the digital image data, and prior knowledge about addresses including notation information of town area name information, street address, building number, and room number, By inputting address recognition means for recognizing an address by comparing the digital image data and a control signal for controlling activation of the process, and receiving a control signal for activation, characters from the digital image data are read from the digital image data. A person / company name recognizing means for recognizing a person / company name by comparing a result of extracting and recognizing information with a prior knowledge of a person / company name, By comparing the address information output from the address recognition means with the address management database, it is determined whether the address output from the address recognition means has the name of a person or company registered as a relocated person, and is determined to be present If it is, a control signal for activating the personal name / company name recognizing means is output, and if it is determined that it does not exist, the relocation address determining means for outputting the recognized address information, and a personal name / company name recognizing means The person name and company name output from are compared with the person name and company name registered in the address recognized in the address management database, and the recognized person name and company name are compared.
Determines whether the company name corresponds to the relocated person, outputs the address information of the relocation destination registered in the database if it is determined to be a relocated person, and determines that it does not correspond to the relocated person The present invention is characterized in that there is provided a mover judging means for outputting a recognized address.

The present invention also relates to the document recognition apparatus, wherein the digital image data is input, character line information is cut out from the input image, and bar code information representing address information is cut out and recognized. When,
The relocation address determination unit inputs barcode information output from the barcode recognition unit as well as the output of the address recognition unit that recognizes a character pattern, and compares the address information of the barcode with the address management database. By
Determines whether the address of the barcode output from the barcode recognition means has a person name or company name registered as a mover, and if it is determined to exist, controls to activate the person name / company name recognition means. A transit location determining means for outputting a signal and outputting the address information of the barcode as a recognized address when it is determined that the address does not exist.

Further, the present invention is an address information input device for converting address information described on a paper sheet into digital image data, displaying the digital image data on a display device, and inputting the address information. In addition, the name of the person / company and the corresponding address information, and the relocation flag for discriminating whether or not the user is a relocated person, and, if registered as a relocated person, relocation address information indicating the relocated address And an address management database storing the digital image data on a display device, an operator reads address information from the displayed image, and inputs the read address information into an address information input area using input means such as a keyboard. By comparing the address information input means and the address information input using the address information input means with the address management database,
It is determined whether or not the name of the person or company registered as a relocated person exists in the address entered using the address information input means, and if it is determined that the address information has been entered, the address information input using the address information input means is determined. Is output to the subsequent processing, and if it is determined that there is not present, while the relocation address determination unit that outputs the address information input using the address information input unit, and displaying the digital image data on a display device, The name of the person / company registered at the address entered using the address information input means is displayed, the operator reads the displayed image data, and reads the name of the person / company written as the recipient name in the image. The personal name / company name selecting means to be selected and input, the personal name / company name selected by the personal name / company name selecting means, and the person name / company name input in the address management database using the address information input means. The name of the person / company registered in the place is compared with the name of the selected person / company, and it is determined whether or not the selected person / company name corresponds to the relocated person. Relocation address information that is output, and if it is determined that the user does not correspond to a relocated person, a relocation person determination unit that outputs an address corresponding to the selected person name / company name. .

In the present invention, in the address information input device, the process is started when the address recognition means of the address recognition device fails in address recognition and no address information for uniquely determining an address is obtained. It is characterized by being done.

The present invention also relates to the address information input device, wherein the address recognition device according to claim 1 or 2 has
The company name recognition means failed to recognize the person / company name,
When the information for uniquely determining the company name is not obtained, the digital image data is displayed on the display device, and the person name and the company name registered in the address input using the address information input means are displayed. It is characterized by comprising a personal name / company name selecting means for displaying and displaying the displayed image data by an operator, selecting and inputting a personal name / company name which seems to be written as a recipient name in the image. .
An address information input device comprising: Also, the present invention recognizes the address information described on the sheet, and in a mail sorting machine that sorts the sheet by destination based on the recognition result, the document recognition device as the device for recognizing the address information. The address input device is provided as an apparatus for inputting address information.

Further, the present invention provides the postal sorting machine,
When the relocated person determination means in any of the document recognition device and the address information input device determines that the relocated person is a paper sheet, the address information information of the relocated address is converted into a barcode, and It is characterized by having printing means for printing on the top.

Further, the present invention provides the postal sorting machine,
The relocated person determination means in any of the document recognition device and the address information input device, when it is determined that the sheet is addressed to the relocated person, not only the address information of the relocated destination but also a relocation flag value representing the relocation Relocation determination means for outputting
It is characterized by comprising sorting means for sorting the paper sheet determined to be the relocated person with reference to the output relocation flag value to the sorting shelf addressed to the relocated person.

Further, the present invention provides the postal sorting machine,
Relocate the paper that has been determined to be the relocated person to the relocation shelves, and print the address information of the relocation destination directly on the paper, or paste it on the paper A device for printing the paper on which the address information is printed.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the principle of the present invention will be briefly described.

Considering FIG. 1 as an example of an address image, an address management D as shown in FIG.
Assume that B exists. In the DB, the residence town area code and the street / street code representing the address information, the personal name / company name paired with the address information, a flag indicating whether or not the person has moved, and the relocation destination if the person has moved It is assumed that an address code representing the address information is stored. Since the relocated person applies for the transfer service to the post office, it is possible to construct a DB including such a relocated person. The mail sorting machine first reads a portion corresponding to an address in the address image shown in FIG. Thereafter, the user accesses the address management DB to determine whether the address is a relocation location where the relocated person is registered. If it is determined that the address is a relocation, the recipient name portion of the address image is read to determine whether the address is for the relocated person. Next, the read result is compared with the personal name / company name registered in the DB, and it is determined whether the mail is addressed to the relocated person or the resident at the address. As a result of the determination, if it is found that the address is to the relocated person, the address information of the relocation destination registered in the DB,
A relocation flag value indicating relocation is output as information for classifying the paper sheet into the partition shelves addressed to the relocated person. If the address is not addressed to the relocated person, the recognized address information is output.

If the address cannot be read by the address recognition device, the address image is sent to the VCS, where the address information is input by the operator. In this case as well, after the address information is input, the address management DB is accessed to determine whether the address is a relocation location. If it is determined that the address is a relocation address, a list of names of persons and companies registered at the address is displayed on the screen, and then the operator determines that the address matches the name of the recipient in the address image. Select
If the selected name is a relocated person, the address information of the relocation destination registered in the DB and a relocation flag value indicating relocation as information for sorting the paper sheet into a partition shelf for the relocated person are transferred from VCS. Output. When the address information is not addressed to the relocated person, the input address information is output from the VCS.

The mail sorting machine is an address recognition device or a VC.
Based on the output result of S, the mail is divided into the addressee and the resident, and is appropriately classified.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 shows a basic functional configuration of the address recognition device. The sheet 301 to be read has, for example, a description as shown in FIG. The sheet is input with an image via a scanner by the image input processing 302, and is then converted into digital image data. This image is sent to the address recognition device and the VCS where the processing is performed when the recognition fails. Address recognition device and V
The images sent to the CS have different purposes and do not need to be in the same format.

The address recognizing device performs a character area extraction 303, a character extraction hypothesis generation 304, an address recognition 305, a relocation address determination 306, a person name / company name recognition 307 on the image data output from the image input processing 302. Then, a mover determination 308 and a result integration 309 are performed. Then, 318 is output.

The first process of address recognition is extraction of a character area.
303. The description area 102 from the image of the paper sheet 101 shown in FIG.
Is detected, and an image area is further cut out for each character line. The next process is a process 304 for generating a character segmentation hypothesis. Here, “hypothesis” has the same meaning as “candidate”. By processing the character line images cut out line by line, as shown in FIG.
Character extraction hypotheses are created by combining patterns that seem to be characters, and are represented as a network (the figure shows only a part of the character line). The character segmentation hypothesis network generated in this way is output as 311.

Character extraction is difficult and cannot be uniquely determined before character identification. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a possible cutting method is left in the form of a hypothesis, and the following recognition processing is performed on the plurality of hypotheses. In the address recognition 305, the character extraction hypothesis network 311 is input, and address recognition results 312 and 313 are output. Details of the address recognition processing will be described with reference to FIG. The address recognition process includes a town name recognition 501 and a street address recognition 502.

After inputting the above-mentioned cut-out hypothesis network 311, the town-area name recognition 501 performs character identification and knowledge processing using prior knowledge, and determines how much the town-area name candidate and the cut-out hypothesis network have performed recognition matching. The pointer information 604 is output. If the recognition fails, reject information 312 is output.

The details of the town name recognition processing will be described with reference to FIG. The character identification 601 processes the partial image attached to the arc of the above-described character segmentation hypothesis network with reference to the character identification dictionary 604, and determines a combination of arcs based on the information, as shown in FIG. Outputs the character candidate lattice.

As a character identification method, a conventional technique can be used. As a method for identifying printed kanji and handwritten kanji, a "directional pattern matching method" for extracting the directionality of a character stroke is known. Although the details are omitted here, in the pattern matching method, the similarity between the image (or feature vector) of the unknown pattern and the reference pattern (image or feature vector) separately stored in the character identification dictionary is defined as the similarity. It can be measured as a numerical value (real number) from 0 to 1 called.

The classification result shown in FIG. 8 is obtained by arranging character categories and their similarities in descending order of similarity, and is called a character candidate lattice. In the figure, the ID in the second column is the arc number selected in FIG. 5 and lists the combinations of patterns having a high degree of similarity in the character identification result. Actually, since the optimum path may be wrong, not only the path having the largest sum of similarities but also a plurality of paths such as the second and third places are selected and sent to the subsequent processing. Therefore, character candidate lattices are created by that number. Subsequent processing targets these plural character candidate lattices. Although only a part is shown in FIG. 7, these processes are performed for all the character lines shown in FIG.

Next, the town name matching process 602 is performed on a plurality of character candidate lattices formed from all character lines. The processing unit performs processing with reference to a town area name matching dictionary holding the town area name knowledge shown in FIG. 9 in the form of table data. The dictionary has knowledge of words that appear in prefecture names, municipalities, and town names ((a), (b), and (c) in the same figure). Furthermore, the word knowledge also includes syntactic knowledge, which is information on which words can follow which words.

For example, in FIG. 2B, the city ID is C0517.
“Chiyoda-ku” is stored as having a parent ID of K31, and is stored as “Tokyo” in the prefecture name list in FIG. That is, the word "Tokyo" can be followed by the word "Chiyoda-ku". Similarly, it is stored that “Chiyoda-ku” is followed by “Kanda Surugadai” and others from the town name list “Chiyoda-ku” in FIG. 9C.

The town name matching process uses these word knowledge and their syntactic knowledge to extract word strings (phrases) from character candidate lattices, for example, "Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Kanda Surugadai"
This is a process for recognizing the data, and there is a known method.
In the candidate adoption determination 603, it is determined whether or not the town area name candidate output from the town area name matching processing 602 is a valid matching result.
For example, the threshold value processing is performed by looking at the value of the certainty factor of the street name candidate.

As described above, the town name recognition processing 501 is performed.
As a result, for example, the character string "Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo"
Is recognized, and the character string and the town ID that represents it
“T2121” is sent as data 503 to the subsequent processing unit. However, this data includes not only the so-called recognition result “Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo” but also pointer information indicating which part of the character candidate lattice corresponds.
As a result, the subsequent processing, for example, the street address recognition processing 50
2 can know where is the next part to process. On the other hand, if the recognition of the town area name is rejected due to failure, the flag information indicating the rejection is sent to the result integration 309 as 312 if the recognition is partially completed and the recognition result is recognized as 312.

Next, the street address recognition 502 will be described with reference to FIG. In the street address recognition, recognition and collation processing of a character string of a processing target "1 no 2 no 3" which has not been processed yet is performed.

In the character identification processing 901, the character extraction hypothesis 311
After inputting, the town area name recognition 5 is performed by referring to the character identification dictionary 905.
Character identification is performed in the same manner as the character identification 601 in 01, and a candidate character lattice is output.

The notation pattern matching process 902 receives the character candidate lattice and performs a matching process with reference to the notation pattern dictionary 906. The dictionary holds knowledge of the notation related to the streets and addresses as tabular data. This is a table that stores, for example, a notation pattern of “N / N / N” for the notation of “1/2/3”. Where the symbol "N"
Represents Arabic numerals. In the matching process, in this example, each numeric character of the character candidate lattice (not shown) corresponding to “1 2 3” is converted into a symbol “N”. For example, if the candidates “1” and “7” are listed in the lattice for the character “1”, they are represented by the symbols “N”, respectively.
Converted to "N". In this case, since they have the same symbol, they are combined into one. Next, using the converted lattice and the notation pattern as described above, the town area matching 602 is performed.
The likelihood notation pattern is output by the matching processing similar to. And by returning "N" to the original letter,
“1 no 2 no 3” and “7 no 2 no 3” are adopted as matching result candidates. If there is "NNNDN" in the notation pattern, in this case, "112-3" or "712-3"
Is also one of the recognition result candidates.

In the destination number collation 903, it is determined whether or not the candidate obtained in the notation pattern collation processing 902 actually exists.
The collation is performed with reference to the address information registered in the address management DB 310. In order to perform the matching, the address code representing the address information is generated by combining the town area name recognition result 504 and the candidates obtained in the notation pattern matching processing 902. As shown in FIG. 2, the address management DB holds a street / street code corresponding to each individual / company, and is generated in the residential town area code and the street / street code registered in this DB. It is determined whether or not the address code candidate exists. If it is determined that it exists, the candidate is output to the subsequent stage, and if it is determined that it does not exist, the candidate is rejected. In the candidate recruitment determination 904, the candidate recruitment determination 6
Do the same as 03.

With the above processing, the address code recognized by the address recognition 305 and the information of the pointer indicating how far the recognition has been performed are output as the recognition result 313.
If the address recognition fails and is rejected, flag information indicating the rejection and, if partial recognition was possible, the recognition result is output as 312.

In the relocation determination 306, the address code recognized by the address recognition 305 is compared with the address information stored in the address management DB 310 to determine whether the recognized address is the relocation where the relocated person is registered. judge. Details of the address management DB will be described with reference to FIG. The DB includes an ID and an individual name for identifying an individual, a residential area code and an address display number indicating an address, a relocation flag for determining whether the individual is a relocated person, and an address code of a relocation destination if the relocated person. Is stored. The relocation flag is "O" if you are a relocated person
"N" is set, and "OFF" is set if the user is not a relocated person.

In the determination of the relocation location, the relocation flag corresponding to each individual name registered in the recognized address code is referred to, and if at least one relocation flag set to "ON" exists, the address is relocated. Is determined to be a registered relocation location. If all are "OFF", it is determined that the place is not a relocation place. If it is determined that the address is not the new address, the recognized address code is output as the address recognition result 314. on the other hand,
If it is determined to be a relocation, the address recognition result 315
Output to the company name recognition process 307.

The personal name / company name recognition process 307 receives the address recognition result 315 output from the relocation address determination 306 and the character cut-out hypothesis network 311 and targets the cut-out hypothesis network corresponding to the image portion that has not been processed yet. First, a recognition process of the recognition of the person name / company name and the prior knowledge is performed. Details of the personal / company name recognition processing 307 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the personal name / company name candidate extraction process 1001, after receiving the accepted address recognition result 315, the personal name / company name candidate registered in the relocated place is extracted by referring to the address management DB 310, and is extracted as data 1005. Output to the subsequent stage. When the rejected address recognition result 312 is received, the personal name / company name candidate included in the partially recognized address is extracted by referring to the address management DB 310 and output as data 1005 to the subsequent stage.

In the character identification processing 1002, the character identification dictionary 1008
, The character identification process is performed on the processing target “Hitachi Taro” which has not been processed yet in the personal name / company name recognition 307 in the character extraction hypothesis network 311. Then, the result is output as a candidate character lattice 1006 similarly to the address recognition processing 305.

In the person name / company name collation processing 1003, the data 10
05 and 1006 are input to perform word matching of the character candidate lattice. This word matching method uses the method already described. The personal name or company name, which is the result of the collation, is output to the subsequent stage as data 1007 together with the certainty factor.

In the candidate employment determination processing 1004, the data 1007 is input, and it is determined whether the obtained candidate can be output as a recognized candidate.

With the above processing, the person / company name recognition 307
Are output as data 317. If the recognition is failed and rejected, the flag information indicating the reject and, if partial recognition was possible, the recognition result is output as 316.

In the transferee determination 308, after inputting the data 316, it is determined whether or not the recognized person name / company name corresponds to the transferee with reference to the address management DB 310. In the address management DB 310, if the relocation flag corresponding to the recognized person name / company name is "ON", it is determined that the user is a relocated person, and a relocation address code associated with the relocated person is retrieved and output. If it is "OFF", it is determined that it does not correspond, and the recognized address code is output.

In the result integration 309, the address recognition result, the relocation location determination result, the person / company name recognition result, and the relocated person determination result are input, and the most probable recognition result is selected from the combination of these results and output as 318. I do.

By the processing of the address recognition device described above, it is determined whether or not the address image data is addressed to the relocated person, and if the address image data is addressed to the relocated person, the relocation address code can be automatically output. It should be noted that the relocation address determination 306 in the address recognition device
Input the recognition result output from the address recognition 305 for recognizing character string information. However, if a barcode representing address information is printed on the address surface, the operation may be performed by inputting a barcode recognition result.

The address recognition device recognizes the name of the person / company after first recognizing the address information, but omits the address information recognition and recognizes the name of the person / company first and then recognizes the result. The relocated person determination may be performed based on the information. FIG.
Then, the processes of the address recognition 305 and the relocation address determination 306 are omitted,
After the generation of the character segmentation hypothesis 305, the process is executed from the person name / company name recognition 307.

Next, a description will be given of a relocation site acquiring device using VCS when the address recognizing device fails to recognize, with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. FIG. 11 shows a flow of the VCS process, and FIG. 12 shows an example of a VCS display screen.

In the address recognition result analysis 1100, the address recognition result
After entering 318, it was determined whether the address part was rejected because the address part could not be recognized, or whether it was rejected because the person name and company name part could not be recognized, and if it was determined to be the former, it was rejected The address recognition result is output as 1105. If the latter is determined, the rejected person / company name recognition result is output as 1106.

The address information input process 1101 receives the address image 323 and the rejected address recognition result 1105, and outputs an address code 1107. In this process, the operator who operates the VCS looks at the address image 1201 as shown in FIG. 12, and inputs an address code into the address code input area 1202 using input means such as a keyboard.

In the relocation location determination 1102, the address information input 1101
Is compared with the address code input in the address management DB 310. Then, it is determined whether the input address is the relocation address where the relocated person is registered.
The determination is made in the same manner as described in 306. If it is determined that the address is not the new address, the input address code is output as the VCS processing result 1108. On the other hand, if the address is determined to be a relocation, the address code is output as data 1109.

In the personal name / company name selection processing 1103, the address management DB 310 is searched using the address code 1109, a recipient name included in the address image is selected, and the selected recipient name is output as data 1110 together with the address code. I do. In this process, the personal name / company name registered in the input address code as the first step is displayed as a selection candidate on the screen as shown by 1203 in FIG. Next, the number of the person / company name candidate determined by the operator to be the same as the recipient name in the address image 1201 is input to the name selection number input area 1204 using input means such as a keyboard or a mouse. The selected person name / company name is sent to the subsequent processing as data 1110 together with the address code.

In the mover determination process 1104, after inputting the data 1110, it is determined whether the person / company name selected with reference to the address management DB 310 corresponds to the mover determination 30.
Judge by the same method as 8. When it is determined that the address is the addressee, the address code of the addressee registered in the address management DB 310 and the flag value indicating the addressee are output as data 1111. If it is determined that the address code is not addressed to the relocated person, the input address code is output as data 1111.

If the address recognition device recognizes the address but fails to recognize the personal name / company name, input the address code.
1101, skip the process of relocation address determination 1102,
The process is executed from the company name selection 1103. In that case, the address image 323 and the accepted address recognition result 1106 are input.

By the processing of the relocation site acquisition device using the above-described VCS, it is determined whether or not the address image data is addressed to the relocated person, and if the address image data is addressed to the relocated person, the relocation address code can be automatically output. .

FIG. 13 shows a schematic configuration of a mail sorting machine equipped with an address recognition device and a VCS, and a process of transferring mail addressed to a relocated person.

Reference numeral 1300 denotes a main body (mechanical unit) of the mail sorting machine, and a supply mechanism 1301 for sequentially supplying a large number of paper sheets to the scanner.
, A scanner 1302, a transport mechanism 1303 for transporting the scanned sheet to the sorting mechanism, and an ID code for distinguishing the sheet, and address information on the sheet, and generating and sorting the sheet. A printing mechanism 1318 for printing an intra-office code representing sorting information for performing sorting, and a sorting mechanism 1304 for receiving sorting information for determining the transport destination of a sheet from the central control computer 1310 and sorting the sheets. Further, the sorting mechanism 1304 is provided with a plurality of control computers, and these computers control the entire mechanism 1304 under instructions from a central control computer 1310. Control computer 1310
Has a section information management D for storing the sheet information.
B1316 is connected, and this information is read and controlled.

Reference numeral 1311 denotes a paper sheet recognizing device.
The image data obtained by reading the address information written on the sheet from 02 is input and various recognition processes are executed. This device is an ID bar code reader (IDBCR) 1312 that reads an ID code printed on a sheet to distinguish each sheet.
IH barcode reader (IHBCR) 1317 for reading the intra-office code printed on the paper sheet, customer barcode reader (CBCR) 1313 for reading the barcode representing the address information previously printed on the paper sheet by the sender, character information of the address image Address recognition device 1314 that reads the address recognition device and VCS
It consists of an address management DB 310 referenced by.

Reference numeral 1315 denotes a VCS. When recognition by the CBCR or the address recognition device fails, address information is input by the operator while looking at the address image, and the result is sent to the control computer.

Reference numeral 1309 denotes a relocation address printing device, which prints a relocation address character string on a paper sheet classified as a relocation paper sheet so that a delivery person can recognize the relocation paper sheet as a transfer paper sheet to the relocation destination. Print. Alternatively, a sticker on which an address character string to be pasted on a sheet is printed is printed.

Referring to FIG. 13, an overall flow including a process of transferring a paper sheet to a relocated person will be described. When the sheet 301 is input to the sorter, an address image on the sheet is captured via the scanner 1302 and sent to the sheet recognition device 1311. In the device, the image is first sent to the IDBCR 1312 and IHBCR 1317. The IHBCR 1317 reads the intra-office barcode representing the classification information, if it is already printed, and sends the recognition result to the control computer 1310.

If the intra-office barcode is not printed, the image is sent to the CBCR 1313 and the address recognition device 1314. The CBCR 1313 reads the barcode printed by the sender, and sends the recognition result to the address recognition device 1314.

In the address recognition device 1314, after inputting the address image and the recognition result of the CBCR, the address management DB 310 is referred to, and in the case of the addressee, the address code of the addressee and the flag value indicating the addressee are sent. If the address is addressed to a resident, the address code of the resident is output to the control computer 1310. if,
If the CBCR or the address recognition device fails in the recognition, the recognition reject information and the partial recognition result, if any, are output to the VCS 1315.

In the VCS 1315, an address image and CBCR
And the output of the address recognition device, and refers to the address management DB 310 to classify the address information of the new address and the flag value indicating the address of the new address for the addressee, and the address information of the addressee for the addressee. The information is output to the control computer 1310 as information. In the control computer, the sorting information and the ID information for identifying the sheet are paired and stored in the sorting information management DB 1316.

Based on the sorting information generated by the paper sheet recognition device 1311, the control computer 1310 controls the printing mechanism 1318,
The sorting mechanism 1304 is controlled. If the recognition of the IHBCR 1317 is successful, the sorting unit 1304 is controlled based on the read information of the intra-office barcode.

When the intra-office barcode is not printed,
If the CBCR 1313 and the address recognizing device 1314 recognize successfully and it is determined that the address is addressed to a resident, the section information of the sheet is converted into an intra-office barcode, and then printed on the sheet through the printing mechanism 1318. Thereafter, the sheet is sorted as a sorted sheet 1305. Further, after the CBCR 1313 and the address recognition device 1314 have been successfully recognized, if it is determined that the address is the addressee who has moved by referring to the relocation flag value, the classification information indicating the address of the relocation destination is similarly converted into an in-office barcode. Print on paper. Thereafter, the paper sheet is classified as a moving paper sheet 1307. CBCR13
13.If the address recognition device 1314 fails to recognize, an ID barcode for identifying the sheet is printed on the sheet,
It is classified as a VCS sheet required 1306.

The VCS sheet required 1306 is supplied to the sorting machine again after the processing of the VCS 1315. Then, the ID bar code printed on the sheet is read by the IDBCR 1312, and the VC
It is classified by collating with the S output result. As a result, referring to the relocation flag value included in the output result, the paper sheet determined to be addressed to the resident is printed with an in-office barcode representing the resident's address, and then is classified into the classified paper sheet 1305. On the other hand, when it is determined that the address is addressed to the relocated person, the in-office barcode indicating the address of the relocation destination is printed, and the paper sheet is classified as a relocated paper sheet 1308.

The paper sheet classified as the relocation paper sheet 1308 is sent to the relocation address printing device 1309. Here, the address character string of the relocation destination is printed on the paper sheet addressed to the relocated person, or printing processing of a sticker for pasting the character string printed matter on the paper sheet is performed. This process is performed so that the address of the relocation destination can be visually confirmed when the delivery person distributes the paper sheet. The processed paper sheet is supplied again to the sorting machine, and is re-sorted based on the address of the new address.

Regarding the details of the relocation address printing device 1309,
This will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1401 denotes a mechanical unit of the apparatus, which includes a supply mechanism 1402 for sequentially supplying paper sheets to the scanner, a scanner 1403, and an address character string for printing the address character string of the relocation destination on the paper sheet or outputting a printed sticker. Column printing
Consists of 1404.

When the relocated paper sheet 1307 is set in the supply mechanism 1402, an image including an ID bar code on the paper sheet is captured via the scanner 1403 and sent to the IDBCR 1404. I
The DBCR 1404 reads the ID barcode, and sends the read result to the ID collation processing 1408. In the ID collation processing 1408, the sorting information management DB 13
Access is made to 16 to take out the relocation address code corresponding to the read ID information. The extracted address code is converted into an address character string and output to the address character string printing device 1404. The address character string printing device 1404 prints a relocation destination address character string on a relocated paper sheet, or prints a seal printed with an address character string to be attached to the paper sheet. The printed sticker is manually attached to the paper sheet. Although the supply mechanism 1402 is present in this embodiment, a scanner that does not require a supply mechanism, such as a stand-type scanner, may be used. In that case, the paper is fed directly to the printing device and printed,
The configuration is such that a sticker attached to a paper sheet is printed.

In this embodiment, the sorting information obtained by reading the address on the paper sheet is printed on the paper sheet as an intra-office barcode, and the information is read to sort the paper sheet. However, a configuration in which the intra-office barcode is not printed is also possible. That is, instead of referring to the intra-office barcode, a section information management DB in which ID information and section information are paired.
And the read ID barcode, it is possible to obtain the sorting information for the corresponding paper sheet.

Further, in this embodiment, a method has been described in which character information written on paper is read as image information by a scanner to recognize characters. Recently, however, electronic image information has already been stored in a computer system. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to the case where such image information is recognized and interpreted.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a mail addressed to a relocated person is sorted by a mail sorting machine, the address recognition device is not limited to an address character string, but may be a person name or a company name if necessary. By reading the recipient's name and checking it against the delivery management DB in which the relocation information is registered, the relocation address can be automatically extracted from the registered DB. Also, when the address recognition device fails to recognize the address, the address information is input by the VCS, but in the case of a relocation, the relocation is performed by displaying and selecting the candidate name of the person / company registered in the address. The mailing address can be automatically extracted for mail addressed to the mailing address.

In addition, postal items addressed to the relocated person can be printed in the form of an intra-office barcode on a sheet of paper, using the address information of the relocated address as classification information. This makes it possible to directly sort the mail addressed to the relocated person by machine, and eliminates the special sorting task for the mail addressed to the relocated person, thereby improving the work efficiency.

Furthermore, since the mails treated as relocation are mechanically sorted as relocation paper sheets on special sorting shelves, it is possible to save labor for searching for relocation mail from a large amount of mail.

The postal matter classified as the relocation paper sheet is pasted with a sticker on which the relocation address character string is printed so that the address of the relocation address can be visually checked, or printed directly on the paper sheet. As a result, it is possible to confirm that the mail has been sent as a relocated paper sheet, not erroneous delivery or erroneous delivery, in postal services such as mail delivery service division and delivery. Furthermore, when delivering to each home, it is possible to easily confirm the relocation address.

As described above, after the correct relocation destination division information is obtained by using the apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to perform appropriate division processing, thereby preventing erroneous distribution and mailing to the relocated person. The transfer time of goods can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of address character information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an address management DB.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a recognition processing data flow of the address recognition device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a character segmentation hypothesis network.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an address recognition data flow.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data flow of town area name recognition.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a character candidate lattice corresponding to a selected path.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a town name collation dictionary.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a street / address recognition process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a personal name / company name recognition data flow.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a processing flow of VCS.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a VCS screen.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mail sorting system that performs a transfer process of a mail addressed to a relocated person.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a relocation address printing device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Sakami 1-280 Higashi Koigakubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo Inside the Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. In the Information Equipment Division of the Manufacturing Company (72) Inventor Shunichi Enomoto 1 in Ikegami, Haruoka-cho, Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Prefecture In the Information Equipment Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeru Watanabe 1 Ikegami, Haruoka-cho, Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Prefecture F-term (Reference) 3F079 AA01 BA25 BA26 CA02 CA06 CB08 CB35 CC13 5B064 AA04 AB03 BA01 CA08 DA05 DA13 EA05 EA19 FA04 FA05 FA08 FA12

Claims (7)

[Claims] The present invention converts destination information including one of a personal name, a company name and an address written on a paper sheet into digital image data, and extracts the personal name and the company name from the digital image data by a character area extracting means. Extracting a character area including one of the addresses, and recognizing a character of the destination information included in the character area by referring to database means including one of a relocation person name, a relocation company name, and a relocation source address. Wherein the database means has a relocation address corresponding to one of the relocation person name, the relocation company name, and the relocation source address, and the destination information is the relocation person name, A character information reading method, wherein when the address matches one of the relocation company name and the relocation source address, the relocation address is output. 2. An image reading means for converting destination information including one of personal name information, company name information, and address information described in a mail into digital image data; A character area cutout unit for cutting out a character area including one of the company name information and the address information; and one of the personal name information, the company name information, and the address information for performing character recognition of the character area. And a character information reading device having a character recognition means provided with a database means including one of the relocation person name information, the relocation company name information, and the relocation source address information, wherein the database means comprises the relocation person information The relocation company name information, the relocation address information corresponding to one of the relocation source address information, and the address information is the relocation person name information, the relocation company name information, and the relocation source address information. A character information reading device, comprising: output means for outputting identification information indicating that the destination information corresponds to the relocation address information when one of the information is included. 3. A character information reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said output means is means for printing a barcode including said relocation address information. 4. The character information reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said output means is means for printing a bar code including said relocation address information on said paper sheet. 5. A character information reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said output means is means for outputting a piece of paper describing said relocation address. 6. A personal name information, a company name information, and the like described on a paper sheet.
Image reading means for converting destination information including one of the address information into digital image data; and character area extraction for extracting a character area including one of personal name information, company name information and address information from the digital image data Means for performing character recognition of the character area, database means including one of personal name information, company name information and address information, and one of relocation person name information, relocation company name information and relocation source address information. A mail recognizing device comprising: a character recognizing means provided with a character recognizing means; If the character recognition result indicates that one of the relocation person name information, the relocation company name information, and the relocation source address information is included, the relocation mail that classifies the above paper sheet Mail-sorting machine, characterized in that the segment opening is provided. 7. Personal name information, company name information, and the like described on a paper sheet.
Image reading means for converting destination information including one of the address information into digital image data; and character area extraction for extracting a character area including one of personal name information, company name information and address information from the digital image data Means for performing character recognition of the character area, the character recognition device having character recognition means provided with database means including one of personal name information, company name information, and address information, wherein the character by the character recognition means The character recognition result of the area is
A character recognition device comprising: a screen for displaying the destination information when the information is not included in the database means; and an input means for receiving a character input.