JP2002123795A - Slip picture acquiring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that plural slips have to be set by a manual operation for obtaining the pictures of the plural slips in a scanner obtaining the slip pictures. SOLUTION: The slip is arranged in a prescribed area. The scanner having a function obtaining the picture of the whole area and a memory storing the obtained picture are disposed. Respective slip parts are cut from the picture and the plural slip pictures are obtained. Thus, the plural slips can be processed at a time and work can be made efficient.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form image acquisition system mainly used in an OCR system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an OCR system that acquires an image of a form to be recognized and performs a recognition process, an image used for recognition uses an image cut out for each form. Generally, a scanner is used as a means for acquiring an image of a form. There are several types of scanners, but in order to efficiently obtain images of multiple forms,
A scanner with a sheet feeder is suitable. In particular, O
There are also scanners for numbering and dropout color functions for CR. In these scanners, a plurality of forms can be mechanically conveyed, and an image for each form can be continuously obtained.

In recent years, desk scanners using digital cameras have come to be used.
The desktop scanner here means that the scanner body is installed on a desk, and there is a place on the scanner body where a form is set,
The image of the set form is acquired by a digital camera installed above.

[0004]

However, in the case of a scanner, such as a flatbed scanner, in which a form is set for each sheet and a form image is acquired, the form is manually replaced, so that a plurality of forms must be replaced. In order to obtain an image, it is necessary to manually set the number of forms. In addition, desktop scanners, flatbed scanners, etc.
In the case of a scanner that sets a form for each sheet and obtains a form image, the forms are exchanged manually, so in order to obtain images of multiple forms, the forms must be set manually for the number of sheets. Must. An object of the present invention is to enable a desk-top scanner to continuously obtain images of a plurality of forms, and to reduce the burden on an operator when obtaining a form image.

[0005]

An image acquisition system according to the present invention has a scanner having a function of arranging a form in a certain area and acquiring an image of the entire area, and storing an image obtained by the scanner. A scanner image memory, a form image detecting unit having a function of detecting a form part from an image stored in the scanner image memory, and a form part cut out from the form part detected by the form image detecting part. A form image cutout unit having a function of converting the form image into a form image, and a form image output memory that is a memory for storing the form image obtained by the form image cutout unit; When a scanner image is obtained by arranging a plurality of forms in a document, each form part can be cut out to obtain a plurality of form images. You.

According to another aspect of the image acquisition system of the present invention, there is provided a scanner having a function of arranging a form in a certain area and acquiring an image of the entire area, and storing an image obtained by the scanner. A scanner image memory, which has a function of detecting a part of a form included in the image from an image stored in the scanner image memory, and detecting a form is based on the previous form detection. A form image detection unit, which is a difference part from the used image, a form image cutout unit having a function of cutting out a form part detected by the form image detection unit and forming one form image, and the form A form image acquisition device comprising a form image output memory, which is a memory for storing a form image obtained by an image cutout unit, wherein a plurality of forms are arranged in the scanner, and When a canna image is obtained, a plurality of form images can be obtained by cutting out a form part only for an area having a difference as compared with the previous scanner image.

Further, an image acquisition system according to the present invention has a scanner having a function of arranging a form in a fixed area and continuously acquiring an image of the entire area every unit time;
Monitors a scanner image memory, which is a memory for storing an image obtained by the scanner, and an image stored in the scanner image memory for each unit time, and detects a peak equal to or more than a certain amount in a variation amount per unit time In this case, it has a scanner image difference detection unit that determines that the form has been replaced, and has a function of detecting the form part included in the image, and the form is detected in the previous form detection. A form image detection unit, a form image detection unit having a function of cutting out a form part detected by the form image detection unit and forming one form image, and a form image cutout Is a memory for storing the form image obtained by the section, a form image acquisition device configured with a form image output memory, when a plurality of forms are arranged in the scanner, It is characterized in that a plurality of form images can be automatically obtained by detecting a change in a scanner image and cutting out a form portion only for an area having a difference as compared with a previous scanner image. .

[0008]

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of the present invention. The scanner 101 is a part for obtaining an image of a form, and has a function of arranging the form in a certain area and obtaining an image of the entire area. The scanner image memory 102 is a memory for storing an image obtained by the scanner 101. The form image detection unit 103 has a function of detecting a form part from an image stored in the scanner image memory 102. The form image cutout unit 104 has a function of cutting out the form part detected in 103 to form one form image. The form image output memory 105 is a memory for storing the form image obtained in 104.

A form image acquisition method according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the screen example of FIG. In the example of FIG. 2, two forms, Form 1 and Form 2, are placed in the image acquisition area of the scanner, and a scanner image is acquired. Therefore, two forms, form 1 and form 2, exist on the scanner image 2a.
On the other hand, the result of form detection is 2b. White wavy lines indicate that each of the forms 1 and 2 has been detected. Here, a white line is drawn outside the form edge for easy understanding, but the form edge is actually detected.

Further, the form is cut out to form 2c. These images are stored in a form image output memory. Here, the background part is cut out for simplicity, but only the form part may be cut out. Although two sheets are placed here, three or more sheets may be used. Further, if there is a means for appropriately detecting a form, the background color does not need to be black.

(Effects of the First Embodiment) As described above, a plurality of forms are placed on the scanner, images are obtained at one time, images of the respective form portions are cut out, and a plurality of form images are output. Thereby, work efficiency can be improved.

(Second Embodiment) The configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the form detection unit detects the form only in the area having a difference from the image at the time of the previous form detection. Subject to.

FIG. 3 shows a form image acquisition method according to the second embodiment. First, in the example of FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 2, two forms, Form 1 and Form 2, are placed in the image acquisition area of the scanner, a scanner image is acquired, and the form is cut out.
It is assumed that a cutout image of each of the form 1 and the form 2 has been obtained. This state is 3a. Here, the operator replaces the form 2 with the form 3, and acquires an image. This operation replaces the scanner image with 3b.

The form detector first compares the image 3a used for the previous form detection with the current scanner image 3b. As a result, a portion having a difference from the previous image, such as 3c, is detected. 3d is a result obtained by cutting out the form with respect to the difference obtained in 3c. Also, here, only one form is replaced, but the same applies when two or more forms are replaced.

(Effect of the Second Embodiment) As described above, when a plurality of forms are placed on the scanner, an image is acquired at a time, and an image of each form is cut out and output.
By calculating the difference from the image used for the previous form detection and performing the form detection only on the part having the difference, it is possible to prevent the form image from being output redundantly.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a third embodiment. The scanner 401 is a part for obtaining an image of a form, has a function of arranging the form in a certain area, and acquiring an image of the entire area. The acquisition of an image is automatically performed every certain unit time. The scanner image memory 402 is a memory for storing an image obtained by the scanner 401.

The scanner image difference detection unit 403 has a function of monitoring the scanner image memory 402 and detecting a difference when it occurs. The form image detection unit 404 has a function of detecting a form part from an image stored in the scanner image memory 402. The form image cutout unit 405 has a function of cutting out the form part detected in 404 and forming one form image. The form image output memory 406 is a memory for storing the form image obtained in 405.

FIG. 5 shows a form image acquiring method according to the third embodiment. First, in the example of FIG. 5, two forms, a form 1 and a form 2, are placed in the image acquisition area of the scanner, a scanner image is acquired, the form is cut out, and the form 1 and the form 2 are obtained.
It is assumed that each clipped image has been obtained. This state is 5a.

Here, the operator converts the form 2 to the form 3
Replace with At this time, the scanner 401 has acquired an image every fixed unit time, and the scanner image memory 402 has been updated one after another. As a result, the scanner image memory
At 402, there is no change in the image of 5a for a while, an image like 5b is acquired at one time, an image like 5c is acquired thereafter, and the image of 5c remains unchanged for a while. Will continue.

The scanner image difference detection unit 403 monitors the amount of change per unit time by, for example, taking the derivative of the brightness of the pixel in the scanner image memory per unit time, and detects the peak of the amount of change over a certain value. In this case, it is determined that the form has been replaced, and the form image detection unit is notified.

The form detector first compares the image 5a used for the previous form detection with the current scanner image 5b. As a result, a portion having a difference from the previous image, such as 5c, is detected. 5d is a result obtained by performing form clipping on the difference obtained in 5c. Also, here, only one form is replaced, but the same applies when two or more forms are replaced.

(Effect of Third Embodiment) As described above, when a plurality of forms are placed on the scanner, an image is obtained at a time, and an image of each form is cut out and output.
By performing continuous image acquisition every unit time, monitoring the fluctuation of the image and detecting the replacement of the form, the image can be automatically acquired,
By calculating the difference from the image used for the previous form detection and performing the form detection only on the part having the difference, it is possible to prevent the form image from being output redundantly.

(Fourth Embodiment) The configuration is the same as that of the third embodiment (FIG. 4).
Has means for notifying that processing is in progress.

The operation is the same as in the third embodiment. When the scanner image difference detection unit 403 detects a change in the image,
Notify outside that processing is in progress. When the change of the image is completed, the change is notified to the form image detection unit 404, and the completion of the detection of the change of the image is notified to the outside.

(Effect of the Fourth Embodiment) As described above, by notifying the outside that the fluctuation of the image is being detected, it is possible to prevent the operator from replacing the form again before the detection is completed. A warning display or the like can be performed.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first to fourth embodiments, a plurality of forms are placed on the scanner, an image is acquired at a time, and an image of each form portion is cut out. By outputting the form image, work efficiency can be improved. Also, put multiple forms on the scanner,
By acquiring images at a time and extracting and outputting the image of each form part, the difference from the image used for the previous form detection is obtained, and form detection is performed only for the part with the difference. Thus, it is possible to prevent the form image from being output redundantly.

Further, a plurality of forms are placed on the scanner,
When acquiring images at a time and cutting out and outputting the image of each form part, image acquisition is performed continuously for each unit time, and image fluctuation is monitored by detecting image replacement to detect image replacement. Can be automatically obtained, and the difference from the image used for the previous form detection is obtained, and the form image is duplicated by performing the form detection only for the part with the difference. Output can be prevented. Further, by notifying the outside that the change of the image is being detected, it is possible to perform a warning display or the like so that the operator does not replace the form again before the detection is completed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a basic configuration according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a screen according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a screen example of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a screen example of a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Scanner 102 Scanner image 103 Form image detection unit 104 Form image cutout unit 105 Form image output memory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A scanner having a function of arranging a form in a certain area and acquiring an image of the entire area, a scanner image memory serving as a memory for storing an image obtained by the scanner, and the scanner A form image detection unit having a function of detecting a form part from an image stored in an image memory; and a form part cut out from the form part detected by the form image detection unit.
A form image cutout unit having a function of forming a single form image, and a form image output memory that is a form image output memory that is a memory for storing a form image obtained by the form image cutout unit; A form image acquisition system that, when a plurality of forms are arranged on a scanner and a scanner image is acquired, each form part is cut out to obtain a plurality of form images. 2. A scanner having a function of arranging a form in a certain area and acquiring an image of the entire area; a scanner image memory serving as a memory for storing an image obtained by the scanner; A form image that has a function of detecting a form part included in the image from the image stored in the scanner image memory, and that detects the form is a difference part from the image used in the previous form detection. Detecting unit, and cut out the form part detected by the form image detecting unit.
A form image acquisition device including a form image cutout unit having a function of forming one form image, and a form image output memory that is a memory for storing the form image obtained by the form image cutout unit. When arranging a plurality of forms in the scanner and acquiring a scanner image, comparing with the previous scanner image, only for an area having a difference, a form part is cut out,
A form image acquisition system that can obtain a plurality of form images. 3. A scanner having a function of arranging a form in a certain area and continuously acquiring an image of the entire area every unit time, and a memory for storing an image obtained by the scanner. A scanner image memory, monitors images stored in the scanner image memory for each unit time, and when a peak equal to or greater than a certain amount of variation per unit time is detected, determines that the form has been replaced. A scanner image difference detection unit, which has a function of detecting a form part included in the image, and detects a form, which is a difference part from the image used in the previous form detection; a form image detection unit; The form part detected by the form image detection unit is cut out.
A form image acquisition device including a form image cutout unit having a function of performing one form image, and a form image output memory that is a memory for storing the form image obtained by the form image cutout unit. In the case where a plurality of forms are arranged in the scanner, a change in the scanner image is detected and compared with the previous scanner image, and only the area having a difference is targeted, and the form portion is automatically cut out. A form image acquisition system that can obtain a plurality of form images.