JP2001188914A - Image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently process an image consisting of many pages when the pages are scanned at a time. SOLUTION: When images of pages are scanned and processed at a time, a range of necessary image processing is specified and the images are processed only in the specified range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing system for inputting images of a plurality of pages at once and performing image processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some image processing systems perform image processing such as character recognition processing on a scanned image. For example, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-283000, there is a case where an area to be subjected to image processing is designated after scanning an image. In such a case, it is common to specify a processing area while viewing the scanned image while displaying the image on a display.

Further, as a system combining a document management apparatus for handling a document composed of a large number of pages for each document and an image processing apparatus for performing image processing, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 9-167203
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-238072 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-238072 discloses an example of a character recognition process for an image scanned by a copying machine.

[0004] In such a case, technical measures have been taken with respect to the image recognition processing itself, or steps have been taken to classify documents into categories when managing image data for each document. I have.

As for a method of registering a document composed of a plurality of pages by further dividing the document into a plurality of documents, there is a case in which the division of a document is designated in a page unit or the like.

However, in the above-described prior art, there is no method for designating a range of image processing for a document having a plurality of pages in a page unit. In the case of handling and performing image processing, there is a problem that a target to be subjected to image processing must be selected in advance, or image processing must be performed for all portions that do not require image processing.

Further, when an area in a page is specified, there is no method for specifying a range in which image processing is performed by combining a page with an area in each page. For this reason, there is a problem that the same area in all pages must be processed, or the procedure for specifying the area for each page must be returned in a line.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a processing range to be subjected to image processing in a document composed of a plurality of pages is designated, and image processing for an image for each document can be made more efficient. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system that can efficiently manage images for each processed document.

Further, by performing image processing only on a processing range stored in a database in advance for a document input collectively, image processing for an image for each document can be made more efficient. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing system that can efficiently manage images for each image.

[0010] In addition, when a document which has been input collectively is divided and registered, it is possible to select whether to perform image processing on a designated processing range before dividing the document or after dividing the document. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing system capable of performing processing according to the properties of a document to be processed.

[0011]

An image processing system according to the present invention comprises an image reading means for reading a document consisting of a plurality of pages of images at a time, and an image reading means for reading images collectively by the image reading means. The image processing device includes a designating unit for designating a processing range to be processed, and an image processing unit for performing image processing on the document read by the image reading unit in accordance with the processing range designated by the designating unit.

An image processing system according to the present invention comprises: an image reading means for reading a document consisting of a plurality of pages of images collectively; and a designation unit for designating a page with respect to the images read by the image reading means. Specifying means for specifying a processing range in which image processing is to be performed by the pages in the specified unit; and an image read by the image reading means in accordance with the processing range of the specified unit specified by the specifying means and the pages in the specified unit. And image processing means for performing image processing on.

An image processing system according to the present invention includes an image reading means for reading a document consisting of a plurality of pages of images at a time, and a processing range for performing image processing on the images read by the image reading means at once. According to the specifying means to be specified and the processing range specified by the specifying means,
An image processing unit that performs image processing on the document read by the image reading unit; a processing range specified by the specifying unit; and an image read by the image reading unit. And processing means for correcting the processing range.

[0014]

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

An image processing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing system. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system includes an image processing unit 1, a document management system 2, an output unit 3, an image input unit 4, and an information input / output unit 5.

The image processing unit 1 includes at least one or more document management systems 2, an output unit 3,
It is configured to be connected to the image input unit 4 or the information input / output unit 5. Further, the image processing unit 1 includes a processing unit 6, a processing range designating unit 7, a database 8, and a processing range managing unit 9.

The document management system 2 manages documents in each device on the network. Image processing unit 1
The document processed by is managed by the document management system 2. The output unit 3 outputs image data such as a document processed by the image processing unit 1 to an external device such as a display or a printer.

The image input unit 4 has a scanner unit 11 for scanning (reading and scanning) a document composed of a plurality of pages. The image input unit 4 collectively inputs a document including a plurality of pages by the scanner unit 11. The image of each page input collectively is sent to the image processing unit 1.
Further, the input operation may be repeated for each page of a document including a plurality of pages. In this case, the image input unit 4 sends a document in which images of each page are put together to the image processing unit 1.

The data input / output unit 5 displays a guidance screen for the user and inputs a processing range designated by the user. The data input / output unit 5 includes, for example,
It has a display device with a built-in touch panel. The touch panel functions as an operation unit 5a that allows a user to specify a processing range and the like. The display device functions as a display unit 5b that displays guidance such as a processing range to the user. Further, the data input / output unit 5 may include an operation unit 5a operated by hard keys such as a keyboard or a pointing device such as a mouse, and a display unit 5b.

The format in which the data input / output unit 5 is mounted is not limited. For example, the data input / output unit 5
Is mounted on a scanning device as the image input unit 4 including the image processing unit 1. Further, the data input / output unit 5
The image may be actually displayed by a remote browser and the image processing system may perform virtual display processing such as a Web server.

The processing section 6 executes processing on the image input by the image input section 4. The processing range designating unit 7 is a processing module for designating a range of image processing by the processing unit 6. The database 8 stores the processing range specified by the processing range specifying unit 7. The data structure of the database 8 will be described later.

The processing range management unit 9 performs processing on the processing unit 6 based on the processing range stored in the database 8.
Manage. The processing range management unit 8 manages the processing unit 6 so that only the processing range is image-processed.

The processing section 6 has various processing sections according to the image processing to be executed. For example, the document dividing unit 6
a, character recognition unit 6b, image recognition unit 6c, image reduction unit 6
d, an image color converter 6e, a mode converter 6f, and the like.

The document division section 6a is provided with the image input section 1
Divides a plurality of pages of images input collectively for each document. The document division unit 6a detects a separator sheet image indicating a document break from a plurality of pages of images input collectively, and divides the document for each document. Also,
Instead of the separator sheet, a mark indicating a document break may be detected from the image of each page, and the document may be divided for each document.

The character recognition section 6b performs a character recognition process in the processing range. The character recognizing unit 6b cuts out a character-like portion existing in the processing range and performs recognition processing on the cut-out character. The image recognition processing 6c includes:
A predetermined image is recognized in the processing range.

The image reducing section 6d reduces an image in a processing range. The image color conversion unit 6e converts a color image and a black-and-white image or converts a specific color into another color for an image in the processing range. The mode converter 6
f converts the image in the processing range between the photo mode and the character mode.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a control system in the image processing system.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this image processing system, first, a user inputs a document in the image input unit 1. Then, the image input unit 4 scans the scanner unit 11 using an auto document feeder (not shown) or the like.
Scans a document consisting of a plurality of pages at once. Accordingly, the image input unit 1 generates an image of a document including a plurality of pages.

The image of the document generated by the image input unit 4 is sent to the processing unit 6. In the processing unit 6,
The image processing unit 12 performs image processing on the image sent from the image input unit 4. In the image execution unit 12, various image processing can be executed by the character recognition unit 6b, the image recognition unit 6c, the image reduction unit 6d, the image color conversion unit 6e, or the mode conversion unit 6f. When executing these image processes, the image processing execution unit 12 manages the processing range by the processing range management unit 9.

The processing range management unit 9 includes a management unit 13, a page number management unit 14, a structure management unit 15, and a surface area management unit 16.

The management unit 13 includes the page number management unit 1
4. The processing range of the image processing execution unit 12 is managed based on data from the structure management unit 15 and the surface area management unit 16. The page number management unit 14 manages the total number of pages in a document image and the number of pages on which image processing by the image processing execution unit 11 has elapsed. The structure management unit 15
Analyzes a document and manages semantic breaks such as chapter breaks, and manages internal structures such as document breaks.
The surface area management unit 16 manages an image area (surface area) in each page of the document.

The criterion managed by the structure management unit 15 may be managed in units of divisions based on the result of the structure analysis executed in the image processing system or by an external device, or may be managed by the document division unit. The management may be performed by dividing the document divided by 6a.

The management unit 13 manages the processing range according to the contents of the database 8 set by the processing range specifying unit 7. The processing range specifying unit 7 includes a specifying unit 17 and an inquiry unit 18. The specifying unit 17 sets a processing range in the database 8 based on information that specifies a processing range from the data input / output unit 5 by the user. The inquiry unit 18 makes an inquiry about data input to the user by the data input / output unit 5 via the designation unit 17.

With these configurations, information on the processing range specified by the user from the data input / output unit 5 is stored in the database 8 through the specifying unit 17. Management unit 1
3 manages the processing range of the image processing execution unit 12 based on the information stored in the database 20. The image processing execution unit 12 executes a process on the image input by the image input unit 4. Image processing execution unit 1
2 is output to the document management system 2 or the output unit 3 as a processing result.

Next, the processing range stored in the database 8 will be described.

Here, it is assumed that the processing range stored in the database 8 is set corresponding to a button for instructing a scan as shown in FIG. These buttons are displayed on the touch panel when the data input / output unit 5 has a display device with a built-in touch panel. In addition, these buttons include a button I for identifying each button.
D is given.

For these buttons, the user designates a document to be scanned or a button according to the purpose of scanning. As a result, the image processing system starts scanning the document by the image input unit 4. Further, the button may be instructed when the image processing unit 4 performs image processing on a document input by the image input unit 4.

First, the case where the processing range is set for each page will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the database 8 when the processing range is set in page units. As shown in FIG. 4, when the processing range is set in units of pages, the database 8 stores the pages to be the processing range corresponding to the button IDs.

For example, the user sets the processing range from page 3 to page 5 for the button whose button ID is 1. In this case, the database 8 contains the button ID 1
, The processing range is stored as “3-5”.
Thus, when the button with the button ID of 1 is designated, pages 3 to 5 are designated as the processing range.

The user sets the processing range to all pages for the button whose button ID is 2. In this case, the processing range is stored as “all” in the database 8 corresponding to the button ID “2”. As a result, the button ID
Is designated, all pages are designated as the processing range.

The user sets the processing range for the button whose button ID is 3 to 1, 2, 8, 10 pages and 10 pages to the last page. In this case, in the database 8, the processing range corresponding to the button ID 3 is "1,
2, 8, 10- ". Thereby, when the button with the button ID of 3 is designated, 1, 2, 8, 1
Pages 0 and 10 to the last page are designated as processing ranges.

The user sets the processing range to the third page from the last page for the button with the button ID of 4. In this case, the processing range is stored as “E3” in the database 8 corresponding to the button ID “4”. Thus, when the button with the button ID of 4 is designated, the third page from the last page is designated as the processing range.

As described above, the processing range in which image processing is performed on a page-by-page document is specified. As a result, the efficiency of processing for documents input collectively is improved, and the accuracy of the processed document is improved.

The processing range in page units is specified in advance, and the processing range in page units is stored in the database. This eliminates the need to set a processing range every time image input is performed, and improves operability and processing efficiency.

Next, a case where the processing range is set in chapter units will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the database 8 when the processing range is set in units of chapters. As shown in FIG. 5, when the processing range is set in units of chapters, the database 8 stores chapters that are set as the processing range corresponding to each button.

For example, the user sets the processing range to the first and sixth chapters for the button with the button ID of 5. In this case, the processing range is stored as “1, 6” in the database 8 corresponding to the button ID “5”. Thus, when the button with the button ID of 5 is designated, the first and sixth chapters are designated as the processing range.

The user sets the processing range to the second and subsequent chapters for the button with the button ID of 6. In this case, the processing range is stored as “2-” in the database 8 corresponding to the button ID 6. As a result, the button ID
Is designated, the second and subsequent chapters are designated as the processing range.

As described above, the processing range in which image processing is performed on a document composed of a plurality of pages in chapter units is specified. As a result, the efficiency of processing for documents input collectively is improved, and the accuracy of the processed document is improved.

The processing range in chapter units is specified in advance, and the processing range in chapter units is stored in the database. This eliminates the need to set a processing range every time image input is performed, and improves operability and processing efficiency.

Next, a case where the processing range is set by combining the number of pages and the area within the page will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the database 8 when the processing range is set by combining the number of pages and the area in each page. As shown in FIG. 6, when the processing range is set by combining the number of pages and the area in each page, the database 8 stores the number of pages and the area in each page corresponding to each button. You.

For example, for the button with the button ID of 7, the user sets the processing range to a rectangle having coordinates (0, 0) and (200, 240) on pages 3 to 5 as diagonal points. Set in the area enclosed by.

In this case, the database 8 contains the button I
Corresponding to 7 of D, “3-5” is stored as a processing range for specifying a page, and “(0, 0), (200, 240)” is stored as a processing range for specifying an area in each page. Thereby, when the button with the button ID of 7 is designated, the area surrounded by the coordinates (0, 0) and (200, 240) in each of the pages 3 to 5 is designated as the processing range.

As described above, a processing range in which image processing is performed on a document composed of a plurality of pages using a combination of a page and an area in each page is specified. As a result, the efficiency of processing for documents input collectively is improved, and the accuracy of the processed document is improved.

Further, a processing range based on a combination of a page and an area on each page is designated in advance, and a processing range based on a combination of this page and an area on each page is stored in a database. This eliminates the need to set a processing range every time image input is performed, and improves operability and processing efficiency.

Next, a case where the processing range is set in combination with the number of pages and the unit (designated unit) to be paged will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the database 8 when the processing range is set by combining the number of pages and the designated unit. As shown in FIG. 7, when the processing range is set by combining the number of pages and the designated unit, the database 8 stores the number of pages and the designated unit corresponding to each button.

Here, the designated unit is a unit indicating a set of images for which the number of pages is to be determined. For example, a set of all images input collectively or a set of images for each document is set as a designated unit. All the images input collectively are the state before the document division unit 6a performs the pre-division of the document on the image input by the image input unit 4. In addition, the images constituting each document are all the images input collectively, which are the states after the document division unit 6a has divided the document with respect to the image input by the image input unit 4. In the case of a unit, the designated unit is stored in the database 8 as “each scan”. When the image forming each document is set as the designated unit, the designated unit is stored in the database 8 as “each document”.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, for a button with a button ID of 8, the user sets the processing range from page 3 to page 5 of all scanned pages. In this case, in the database 8, the page designation of the processing range is stored as "3-5" and the designated unit of the processing range is stored as "each scan" corresponding to the button ID 8. Thus, when a button with a button ID of 8 is designated, 5 to 5 out of all scanned pages
Up to the page is specified as the processing range.

For the button with the button ID of 9, the user sets 3 to 5 pages as the processing range for each document. In this case, in the database 8, the page designation of the processing range is set to “3-
5 "and the designated unit of the processing range is" per document "
Is stored as Thus, when the button with the button ID 9 is designated, the processing range from page 3 to page 5 is specified for each document.

As described above, when a document including a plurality of pages is input, a processing range is specified for a page before the document is divided, or a processing range is specified for a page after the document is divided. I do. As a result, it is possible to flexibly correspond to various documents to be input collectively, and the processing can be made more efficient.

The processing range for the page before dividing the document or the processing range for the page after dividing the document is stored in the database in advance. Thereby, it is possible to flexibly correspond to various documents to be input collectively, and operability and processing efficiency are improved.

As described above, when a plurality of pages of images are scanned at a time, and image processing such as character recognition and image reduction is performed on the collectively scanned images, the image of the scanned A processing range that requires processing is specified, and image processing is performed only for the specified processing range.

Thus, when a large number of pages are collectively scanned, image processing can be efficiently performed on an image composed of a large number of pages. Further, it is easy to obtain only necessary information from the images scanned collectively.

Next, a user interface for setting a processing range will be described.

FIG. 8 is a display example when the processing range is specified in page units. When the processing range is specified in page units, the data input / output unit 5 displays the processing range page on the screen to present the page to the user. This screen is displayed based on the contents stored in the database 8 when the user actually performs the scanning operation.

Before executing the actual scan, the user specifies a processing range by a combination of a page, a chapter, a page and a region, or a combination of a page and a specified unit. The data of the processing range designated by the user is stored in the database 8 as shown in FIGS.

As a result, when the user actually instructs a scan, the designated processing range is read from the database 8. The read processing range is displayed by the data input / output unit 5. For example, if the processing range is 1-3
Page, page 6, and page 11 or later,
As shown in FIG. 8, the data input / output unit 5 indicates that the page is designated and displays the number of pages.

The user confirms the designated processing range on the screen displayed on the data input / output unit 5. As a result of this check, if the processing range is satisfactory, the user instructs the start of the processing for the specified processing range.

As described above, by storing the processing range in the database in advance, it is possible to execute processing including image processing for the specified processing range by a simple operation.

Further, since the processing range is set in the database in advance, when the scanning operation is repeatedly performed, the processing range can be easily specified without setting the processing range every time the scanning operation is performed. Can be.

At the start of scanning, a screen as shown in FIG. 8 may be presented, and the user may designate a processing range of an image. Thus, when scanning a document in a format different from the predetermined format, the user can freely specify the processing range of the image processing.

FIG. 9 shows a display example when a processing range is designated in designated units. As shown in FIG.
When the processing range is set by a combination of the number of pages and the designated unit, the data input / output unit 5 displays a screen as shown in FIG.

For example, a case where an image of 10 pages consisting of two documents of 5 pages each is scanned will be described.

First, for the button specified by the user,
When the first page and the second page are set as the processing range in the unit of “every scan” in the database 8,
The first and second pages of all scanned pages are the processing range. As a result, only two pages are finally processed. In this case, the data input / output unit 5 performs a display indicating that the page is designated for each scan. Further, a display indicating which page of all the scanned pages is within the processing range is performed.

On the other hand, when the first page and the second page are designated in the unit of “each document”, the first page and the second page of each document are the processing range in which the image processing is performed. As a result, the pages finally to be processed are four pages. In this case, the data input / output unit 5 performs display indicating page designation for each document. Further, for the scanned page, a display indicating which page is in the processing range is performed.

Next, the case where the designated processing range and the scanned page are inconsistent will be described.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, the user may select “4 to 7 pages” in “per document” units.
Specify a scan with a processing range of. In accordance with this designation, the image input unit 4 scans a total of 10 pages of the image.
The scanned image data of 10 pages is stored in the image processing unit 1
Sent to It is assumed that the image processing unit 1 divides the image data of all 10 pages into two documents of 5 pages each.

In this case, since the designated page is larger than the number of pages of each document, inconsistency occurs. If the processing for coping with such inconsistency is not performed, FIG.
As shown in (1), the image processing unit 1 attempts to process the sixth page of one document and fails, and cannot normally end the image processing. For such inconsistency between the page specified in the processing range and the number of scanned pages, the processing range management unit 9
Automatically corrects the processing range.

For example, the processing range management unit 9 regards the page specified in the processing range as having an error, and corrects the specified page. In this case, pages that do not exist in each document are ignored in the specified processing range, and image processing is performed only on pages that exist in each document. That is,
As shown in FIG. 11, for the specified processing range of pages 4 to 7, pages 6 and 7 that do not exist in each document are ignored, and image processing is performed on pages 4 and 5 that exist in each document.

For the above-mentioned inconsistency, the processing management unit 9 determines that there is an error in the specified unit of the processing range, and
The designated unit may be modified. In this case, it is considered that there is an error in the designated unit of “per document”, and the designated unit is set as “per scan”, and processing is performed as the designation of the number of pages for all pages before the document is divided. That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the processing ranges are pages 4 and 5 of the document 1 having 4 and 5 pages in all pages, and pages 1 and 2 of the document 2 having 6 and 7 pages in all pages.

As described above, when the designated processing range is inconsistent with the collectively input document, the error content is automatically corrected. As a result, when there is a mismatch between the designated processing range and the collectively input document, it is possible to prevent the processing from being stopped, and the ability to deal with errors is improved.

[0086]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a processing range to be subjected to image processing in a document composed of a plurality of pages is specified, and the image processing for each document image is made more efficient. An image processing system can be provided which can efficiently manage images for each image-processed document.

Further, by performing image processing only on a processing range stored in the database in advance for a document that has been input collectively, image processing for an image for each document can be made more efficient. It is possible to provide an image processing system that can efficiently manage images for each image.

When a document that has been input collectively is divided and registered, the user can select whether to perform image processing on the designated processing range before dividing the document or after dividing the document. It is possible to provide an image processing system capable of performing processing according to the property of a document to be processed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for describing a control system in the image processing system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a button designated by a user.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a database when a processing range is set in page units.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a database when a processing range is set in chapter units.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a database when a processing range is set in combination with the number of pages and an area in each page.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a database when a processing range is set by combining a page number and a designated unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example when a processing range is set in page units.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a display example when a processing range is set in combination of the number of pages and a designated unit.

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining a state in which a processing range and an input page are inconsistent.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary view for explaining a handling example when a processing range and an input page are inconsistent;

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining an example of handling when a processing range and an input page are inconsistent.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 image processing unit 2 document management system 3 output unit 4 image input unit 5 information input / output unit 6 processing unit 7 processing range designating unit 8 database 9 processing range management unit 9

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B050 BA10 BA16 CA07 DA06 EA17 FA02 FA03 FA13 5C076 AA01 AA40 BA01 BA04 BA06 CA02

Claims (3)

[Claims] An image reading unit that reads a document including a plurality of pages of images collectively; a designating unit that specifies a processing range in which image processing is performed on an image read by the image reading unit; An image processing system comprising: an image processing unit that performs image processing on a document read by the image reading unit according to a processing range specified by the specifying unit. 2. An image reading means for reading a document consisting of a plurality of pages of images at a time, a designated unit for designating a page and a page in the designated unit for an image read by the image reading means at a time. Means for designating a processing range for performing image processing, and an image for performing image processing on an image read by the image reading means in accordance with a processing range of a designated unit designated by the designating means and a page in the designated unit. An image processing system comprising: processing means. 3. An image reading means for reading a document consisting of a plurality of pages of images collectively, a designating means for specifying a processing range for performing image processing on the images read by the image reading means collectively, An image processing unit that performs image processing on the document read by the image reading unit according to the processing range specified by the specifying unit; a processing range specified by the specifying unit; and an image read by the image reading unit. An image processing system comprising: a management unit that corrects a processing range according to a situation when an inconsistency occurs.