JP2001092912A - Device and method for inputting data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily discriminate and select the class of an input document even when the list of a lot of similar documents is displayed concerning a data input device for efficiently inputting data in the predetermined format of a document or the like. SOLUTION: When the image data of a paper sheet having a predetermined format are inputted (step S1) and plural features such as ruled line frame, ruled line color and intensified character string in the format of the relevant paper sheet are extracted from these input image data (steps S2-S6), the formats of paper sheets composed of these extracted plural features are registered concerning plural kinds of paper sheets (step S7). Then, these registered formats for plural kinds of paper sheets are respectively displayed as images on which features thereof are reflected and the class of a paper sheet format to become the target of data input is determined out of these displayed formats for plural kinds of paper sheets.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data input device and a data input method for efficiently inputting data in a predetermined format such as a form.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in public institutions such as banks and post offices, various forms are prepared for various procedures by customers. Then, various data written in each item arranged according to a predetermined format of the form are first read as image data of the entire form,
By character recognition and data conversion for each item area, data is stored in a large-capacity memory in a data management format set in advance according to each item.

In this case, in order to store and manage the recognition data in a data management format corresponding to each of various forms, the type of the form to be input must be changed among a number of pre-registered forms. It is necessary to select from and specify.

Conventionally, when a form type of an input form is selected and designated, images of a large number of forms registered in advance as forms to which data can be input are reduced and displayed as a list, By reducing only the ruled line frame of each form as a binarized line drawing and displaying it in a list,
A registration form of the same type as the input form is selected and designated.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a conventional display example of a registered form image.

However, if the registered forms are similar, the form image is reduced and displayed as a list, or only the binarized ruled line drawing is reduced and displayed as a list. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp the characteristics of the registered form, and it is difficult to determine which type of form is to be input.

[0007]

That is, conventionally, the registered form image is reduced and displayed as it is, so that the image itself is blurred or the ruled line frame of the registered form is reduced by a binarized line drawing. The display makes it difficult to determine the type of each form, because color information effective for determining the type of the form is missing.

In order to select a form corresponding to an input form from a large number of registered form images, it is necessary to simultaneously display a plurality of registered forms in a list. In order to display the form images, it is required to display the form images in a reduced size as much as possible without impairing the characteristics of each form image.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and displays a large number of similar forms in a list by displaying features of various registered forms such as color information of ruled lines and preprinted characters. It is an object of the present invention to provide a data input device and a data input method that can easily determine and select the type of an input form even when the input form is input.

[0010]

That is, a data input device according to the present invention is a data input device for converting description contents written on a sheet having a predetermined format into data according to the format and inputting the data. An image input unit that reads image data of a sheet having the predetermined format; a feature extraction unit that extracts a plurality of features in the format of the sheet from image data of the sheet read by the image input unit; A format registration unit for registering a format of a plurality of types of paper extracted from the plurality of features extracted by the feature extraction unit, and a format of the plurality of types of paper registered in the format registration unit reflecting the characteristics of the respective types. Registration format display means for displaying as an image, From the format of the plurality of types displayed in the sheet by the registration format display means,
A format determining unit for determining a type of a paper format for which data is to be input.

In the data input device having such a configuration, the image data of the sheet having a predetermined format read by the image input means is extracted by the characteristic extracting means into the ruled line frame, the ruled line color, the emphasized characters in the format of the paper. When a plurality of features such as columns are extracted, the format of the paper including the plurality of extracted features is registered for a plurality of types of paper by the format registration unit. Then, the formats of the plurality of types of paper registered in the format are displayed as images in which the characteristics are reflected by the registered format display means, respectively.
Since the type of the paper format for which data is to be input is determined by the format determination means from the plurality of types of paper formats displayed in the format, the selection and determination of the paper format to be input can be easily performed. Efficient data input can be performed.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a form input device for classifying and storing form data according to an embodiment of the data input device of the present invention.

The form input device includes a control unit (CPU) 1
0, an image input unit 11, a display device 16, a pointing device 17, and various storage means (input data memory 12, format information storage unit 14, storage unit 18) are connected to a bus 19.

In FIG. 1, the form format registration unit 13 and the format determination unit 15 are shown as hardware resources. However, the image input unit 11, the display device 16, the pointing device 17, and each storage means (input data memory 1)
2. Recording and distributing on a storage medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM as a program that can be executed by the control unit 10 (computer) including a CPU connected to the format information storage unit 14 and the storage unit 18). Can also.

The form input device includes a form registration mode for pre-registering a format of a form to be handled by the apparatus in accordance with a form format registration process by the form format registration unit 13, and a format by the format determination unit 16. There are two types of operation modes, a format determination mode for selecting and determining the type of form to be input data from the various forms registered in the form registration mode in accordance with the determination processing.

The operation in the form registration mode is as follows.

That is, the image input unit 11 scans a form (registration form) to be registered with an image scanner, and provides the obtained image to the form format registration unit 13. The input data memory 12 stores an image of a form input by the image input unit 11.

The form format registration unit 13 performs a characteristic recognition process such as color separation, line segment extraction, character frame extraction, character recognition, and ruled line frame extraction on the form image input by the image input unit 11. After displaying the recognition result on the display device 16 and presenting it to the user, the user can arbitrarily add components of the various features of the registered form that has been feature-recognized by interactive processing with the user by operating the instruction device 17. The format data of the form extracted by the form format registration unit 13 is registered in the format information recording unit 4.

On the other hand, the operation in the format determination mode is as follows.

That is, the image input unit 11 scans a form to be filed (inputted) in which necessary characters are entered for each item by an image scanner, and stores the obtained image in the input data memory 12. Let it.

The format determination unit 15 reflects the characteristic data of each registered form based on the format information of a plurality of forms registered in the format information storage unit 14 by the form format registration processing by the form format registration unit 13. The created form image is created and displayed as a list on the display 16. The user discriminates and confirms the images of the plurality of registered forms displayed in a list by interactive processing based on the operation of the pointing device 17, and registers the images corresponding to the type of the form to be input by the pointing device 17 such as a mouse, for example. Determine and specify the form.

According to the format of the registration form selected and designated by the format decision processing by the format decision unit 15, the character data written in each item of the input form stored in the input data memory 12 is recognized and extracted and stored. The data is stored in a predetermined data management format in the unit 18.

Next, the processing performed in each of the above-described operation modes will be described in more detail.

First, the processing in the form registration mode will be described.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the form input device in the form registration mode.

First, when an image of a form to be registered is input by the image scanner of the image input unit 11, the input image of the form is displayed on the display screen of the display device 16, and the form format registration unit 13 (step S1).

Then, the form format registration unit 13
In step S2, a color separation process is performed on the input and displayed image data of the form to be registered, and a background image, ruled lines, and a preprint portion are extracted (step S2).

Further, the data extracted as the ruled line and the pre-printing section is binarized (step S).
3) A characteristic element (characteristic amount) used for identifying a form type such as a ruled line, a ruled line frame, a character frame, and a character code is extracted (step S4), and color analysis is performed for each characteristic element. Processing (step S5) is performed.

At this time, the input form image is converted into an image in a form in which features are extracted according to the processing in steps S2 to S5 and displayed on the display 16.

Then, according to a manual instruction from the user by operating the instruction device 17, for example, unnecessary characteristic parts are deleted or other characteristic parts are added to the image of the form from which the characteristic has been extracted. And the like (step S6) are performed as necessary, and registered in the format information storage unit 14 as final format information of the registration form (step S7).

The background image, ruled lines and pre-print extraction, color analysis, etc. (steps S2 to S5) are not automatically performed.
The user may interactively give an input instruction (step S
8).

Further, in the format information of the registration form, contents to be processed by the form such as an area for character recognition and an area for cutting out an image on the same type of form to which data is input may be added and registered. In registering the data input processing procedure for the input form, the position information of the area to be processed and the processing content may be described.

Here, the detection and removal of the background image in the color separation process (step S2) accompanying the form format registration process will be described.

The RGB values of the input form image are converted into HSV (hue, saturation, lightness) values. From this value, a histogram is taken, and the value having the largest number of pixels is set as the background color value. When the background color is determined, the background portion is removed from the entire image based on this value. Of course, other methods may be used to detect the background color.

The input image includes a background portion, a ruled line portion,
Since it can be considered that a character portion exists, the image left when the background image is removed is considered to be a ruled line and a preprinted character portion. Therefore, the image in which these ruled lines and the preprinted character portion are left is binarized (step S).
3) After extracting various elements such as graphic features and character codes from the binarized image (step S4), the extracted elements such as the ruled lines and the characters are subjected to color analysis, and the respective color features are extracted. Perform (Step S5).

In the element extraction in step S4,
As described above, a ruled line, a character frame, a character code, and the like are extracted. The ruled line is extracted by, for example, the following method.

That is, here, the ruled line is extracted assuming that it is frame information composed of four points.

First, after a tracking start point is detected by raster-scanning the input image data of a form, a closed curve having a figure boundary formed clockwise or counterclockwise from the tracking start point is traced to thereby obtain a contour line. An extraction is performed. The information on the contour extracted by such closed curve tracking is stored as a coordinate point sequence or a chain code which is a sequence of direction codes. Regarding this contour extraction processing,
Various other known contour extraction techniques may be used.

Next, feature points such as intersections and corner points of the ruled line image are detected based on the contour data. In this method, for example, a sequence of convex points is detected from a sequence of contour points, and a sequence of concave points corresponding to the sequence is extracted. The feature point is detected by, for example, comparing the curvature k obtained by the curvature calculation processing with predetermined threshold values K0 and K1, and converting a point sequence (k ≦ K0) into a concave point sequence and (k ≧ K1).
This is realized by setting a point to be a sequence of convex points.

By detecting such characteristic points, characteristic points of the ruled line image are extracted.

The feature point extracting process may be realized by a graphic thinning process or a centering process. For example, in the thinned data, a convex point exists at the end point of the line segment, and a concave point exists at the intersection of the thin line, so that feature extraction becomes possible.

Next, a frame is extracted from the combination of these point sequences.

In the extraction of the frame, the frame area can be easily extracted by judging whether or not the figure forms a rectangle or a parallelogram from, for example, a combination of the coordinates of four points near the point of interest. At this time, another method may be used to extract the frame.

The extraction of the character frame is performed by, for example, the following method.

The image is labeled for each connected area, and a circumscribed figure is obtained. Next, when adjacent circumscribed figures are within a certain threshold distance, they are merged. When the merging is performed, the circumscribed figure is calculated again. If the change in the direction of the underline (inclination) is within a certain threshold, it is determined that the character strings are the same. It should be noted that various known methods may also be used for extracting the character frame.

The extraction of characters is performed, for example, by the following method.

The image is labeled for each connected region, and a circumscribed figure is obtained. If the size of the circumscribed figure is within a certain threshold, character recognition is performed as a character candidate. It should be noted that various known methods may be used for the method of extracting characters.

Next, the color analysis processing (step S5) accompanying the form format registration processing is performed by the following method, for example.

In this case, in step S2, since the background portion has already been deleted from the input image, only the color portion is processed.

For each ruled line frame, the pixel value near the ruled line is
Vote in B space or H (hue)-S (saturation) space,
A color existing in the form image is determined by clustering.

FIG. 3 shows an H for color determination in the form analysis process of the form input device.
It is a figure showing an example of -S voting space.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a ballot box corresponding to a color component of a ruled line used in a form is previously arranged in an HS color space, and pixels extracted from an input image are A method of calculating color components and sequentially voting in the ballot box for each extracted pixel is used. For example, a voting box corresponding to red and a voting box corresponding to blue are provided, voting is performed with a color component for each extracted pixel, and finally the number of votes and the ratio of the voting pixels to the total are calculated. Decide whether you will win or lose. With this method, the representative color of the target ruled line frame is recorded. In addition, the ruled line color may be determined for each side of the ruled line frame.

It is also possible to calculate the average of the RGB values of the pixels on the ruled line and use the average as the representative color of the ruled line or ruled line frame. At this time, any point on the ruled line can be freely selected as a sample point. Of course, instead of automatically extracting the ruled line color, the user may manually register the ruled line or ruled line frame color at the time of format registration. That is, it is only necessary to extract the ruled line colors representing the features of the form and to display the ruled lines in a vector so that the features of the ruled line frame can be clearly displayed.

As described above, the color separation process (step S2), the binarization process (step S3), the ruled line and pre-character element extraction process (step S4), and the color analysis process of the ruled line frame (step S5). The extracted image data of the form to be registered is then added / corrected (step S
6).

In this case, the extracted form image is displayed on the display 16 with the extracted features superimposed thereon, and the data is manually corrected by the user. Manual correction of each feature element can be performed in the same manner as a widely known graphic creation tool or the like.

Then, the format information of the form to be registered, which has been subjected to the feature extraction and the feature setting through the processes of steps S1 to S6, is subjected to a format registration process (step S6).
In 7), a keyword or a file name corresponding to the form format is given and stored in the storage unit 18.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a color form in which format information is to be registered in accordance with the form format registration processing of the form input device.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the color form includes, as constituent elements having characteristics to be extracted, a ruled line frame, a ruled line color, and a character string (pre-printed character string) region R1 which is printed in advance. , R2 are present.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the format information of a registered form stored in the format information storage unit 14 in accordance with the form format registration processing of the form input device.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, each registration form has a component [ruled line frame, character string (pre-print character string), etc.] which is a feature amount including a difference in color information. In these forms, there are a form in which only color information is common, a form in which a part of preprinting is common, and a form in which a part of a ruled line frame is common. In general, when the type of a form that the user wants to input data is visually selected from the registered form, the color of the ruled line frame,
They often compare key strings.

Therefore, in the form input device of this embodiment,
In order to display the characteristic elements in a manner that is easy to understand when selecting a characteristic form even among these seemingly similar forms, a format is extracted by extracting the characteristic of each form according to the form format registration process in FIG. It registers information.

Next, the processing in the format determination mode will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation in the format determination mode of the form input device.

First, when a form in which necessary information is entered in each item to be input is input by the scanner of the image input unit 11, the image of the input form is stored in the input data memory 12, and the display device 16 Is displayed on the display screen and is given to the format determination unit 15 (step S9).

Then, with respect to the image of the input form stored in the input data memory 12, each feature extraction process (step S) in the form format registration process in FIG.
Features such as the position and color of the ruled line frame and the pre-printed character string are extracted in the same manner as in 2 to S6), and a registration form of format information having a feature that matches and matches the feature of the input form is stored in the format information storage. It is selected from the registration forms stored in the section 14 (step S10).

Then, the registered form selected from the format information storage unit 14 is read out from the format information storage unit 14 by collating and matching the extracted form of the input form, and is displayed in a list on the display 16 (step S11).

That is, as a feature of the input form, for example, if a color is designated for each ruled line frame, the designated color is assigned to each frame if a color is designated for each line segment. A registration form having the corresponding features is called and displayed. Of course, if the line width, line type, and the like are also specified, a registered form according to the characteristics of the input form is called and displayed.

In the selection of a registered form according to the input form and display of a list of calls (steps S10 and S11), a search is performed using features manually specified by the user, such as the position of the ruled line frame, the ruled line color, and keywords. May be displayed.

When there are a large number of registered forms called out with the selected features, a plurality of pages may be displayed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered form having a characteristic in which a representative color is different for each ruled line frame selected according to the format determination processing of the form input device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered form having different color characteristics for each ruled line frame selected according to the format determination processing of the form input device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered form in which only the characteristics of preprinted characters are manually designated and selected in accordance with the format determination processing of the form input device.

Then, a registration form corresponding to the type of the input form is selected and designated from among the plurality of registration forms selected and displayed according to the characteristics of the input form (step S11). .

Therefore, according to the form format registration function and its selection and determination function in the form input device having the above-described configuration, features such as color information for each component of the registered form are extracted and displayed. When the type of the input form is selected from a plurality of registered forms, the task of selecting the form can be greatly reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, only a form is taken as an example of a sheet handled for data input, and the process of registering the form and the process of selecting and confirming the registered form according to the input form have been described. The paper medium for data input having a predetermined format is not limited to the above-mentioned form, but is a paper on which a plurality of entry items are arranged at predetermined positions, such as various application papers and notification papers, that is, As long as the paper has a predetermined format, any type of paper is subjected to format registration by the same feature extraction as described above, and the registration format is selected and confirmed in accordance with the characteristics of the paper to be data-input, thereby enabling data input. The selectivity of the paper format to be improved can be improved, and efficient data input can be performed.

[0077]

As described above, according to the data input device of the present invention, the image data of a sheet having a predetermined format read by the image input means can be obtained.
When a plurality of features such as a ruled line frame, a ruled line color, an emphasized character string, and the like in the format of the paper are extracted by the feature extracting means, a plurality of types of paper having the extracted features are provided by the format registration means. Is registered for. Then, the format of the plurality of types of paper registered in the format is displayed as an image reflecting the characteristics thereof by the registered format display means. Determines the type of paper format for which data is to be input. For example, if the paper is a form, it is possible to select a format by displaying a registered form with high performance for a large number of types of forms. Thus, the form data can be input efficiently.

That is, even when a large number of similar forms are displayed in a list, the type of the input form can be easily determined and selected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a form input device for classifying and storing form data according to an embodiment of the data input device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing operation in a form registration mode of the form input device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an HS voting space for color determination accompanying color analysis processing in a form format registration processing of the form input device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a color form in which format information is to be registered according to a form format registration process of the form input device.

FIG. 5 is a view showing, as an image, format information of a registered form stored in a format information storage unit in accordance with a form format registration process of the form input device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation in a format determination mode of the form input device.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a display example of a registered form having a characteristic in which a representative color is different for each ruled line frame selected according to the format determination processing of the form input device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a registered form having different color characteristics for each ruled line frame selected according to the format determination processing of the form input device.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a display example of a registered form in which only features of preprinted characters are manually designated and selected in accordance with a format finalizing process of the form input device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a conventional display example of a registered form image.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Control part (CPU), 11 ... Image input part, 12 ... Form format registration part, 13 ... Input data memory, 14 ... Format information storage part, 15 ... Format determination part, 16 ... Display device, 17 ... Instruction device, 18 ... storage unit, 19 ... bus.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A data input device for inputting a description content written on a sheet having a predetermined format in the form of data according to the format, wherein the image data of the sheet having the predetermined format is inputted. Image input means to be read, feature extracting means for extracting a plurality of features in the format of the paper from the image data of the paper read by the image input means, and a paper comprising a plurality of features extracted by the feature extracting means. Format registration means for registering a format for a plurality of types of paper; registered format display means for displaying formats of the plurality of types of paper registered in the format registration means as images reflecting the characteristics thereof; Multiple types displayed by means From the format of the paper, the data input device characterized by being provided with format determining means for determining the type of paper format to be data input, a. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feature extracting unit extracts, from the image data of the sheet read by the image input unit, a plurality of features including a ruled line frame and a color of the ruled line frame in the format of the sheet. The registered format display means is a registered format display means for displaying formats of a plurality of types of paper registered in the format registration means as images reflecting at least a ruled line frame and a color characteristic of the ruled line frame. 2. The data input device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The feature extraction means for extracting a plurality of features including an emphasized character string in a format of the sheet from the image data of the sheet read by the image input means, wherein the registration format 2. The registration format display unit, wherein the display unit is a registered format display unit that displays a plurality of types of paper formats registered in the format registration unit as images reflecting at least the characteristics of the emphasized character strings. 2. A data input device according to claim 1. 4. An input paper image input means for reading image data of a paper as a data input target, and an image data of a paper as a data input target read by the input paper image input means. And input paper feature extraction means for extracting a plurality of features in the format of the input paper from the input paper feature extraction means, from among a plurality of types of paper formats displayed by the registered format display means. Format determination means for determining the type of the paper format having the same characteristics as the characteristics of the paper format to be input data.
The data input device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A data input method for converting a description content written on a sheet having a predetermined format into data according to the format and inputting the data, wherein an image of the sheet having the predetermined format is provided. An image input step of reading data; a feature extraction step of extracting a plurality of features in the format of the sheet from the image data of the sheet read by the image input step; and a plurality of features extracted by the feature extraction step. A format registration step of registering the paper format for a plurality of types of paper; a registration format display step of displaying the formats of the plurality of types of paper registered in the format registration step as images reflecting their characteristics, respectively; Registration Former From the format of the plurality of types displayed in the sheet by preparative display step, the data input method of a format determination step of determining the type of paper format to be data input, in that it consists characterized.