JP2004110529A - Handwritten character recognition system, handwritten character recognition program, and business form for electronic pen - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a handwritten character recognition system for designing a business form without restriction by specification of character recognition software by using an electronic pen and a special business form. <P>SOLUTION: In this handwritten character recognition system, a user writes required matters in a character input area on the special business form with the electronic pen. The electronic pen generates entry data such as stroke data corresponding to the entered matters and supplies the same to a character recognizing device. In the character recognizing device, first the entered data is subjected to variable magnification processing, thereby adjusting the size of the entered data, and the adjusted entered data are supplied to a character recognition means. Thus, by the variable magnification processing, the size of the entered data is changed into the size to be accurately recognized by the character recognizing means, the character can be accurately recognized by the character recognizing means. Concurrently the size of the character input area provided on the business form should not be the size required by the character recognizing means, whereby the degree of freedom in designing the character input area on the business form can be heightened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to character recognition processing of entry data corresponding to items entered in a dedicated form using an electronic pen.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a user has to fill in various required documents, such as application forms and application forms, to be submitted to government agencies, financial institutions, and the like using a ball-point pen or the like, and submit the completed documents. In order to manage the submitted documents as electronic data, it is necessary for an operator to input the contents using a keyboard or the like and to make the data electronic.
[0003]
On the other hand, a character recognition system (OCR system) is known as a technique for converting handwritten characters into electronic data. In the OCR system, a handwritten character written on a form by a user with a pen is read by an optical device such as a scanner, converted into electronic data, and further converted into text data by character recognition software. Users can obtain necessary electronic data in post-processing of forms, such as names and addresses, simply by entering information with a familiar paper and pen, instead of entering data from a keyboard connected to the terminal. it can.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional OCR system, it is necessary to use a special paper (OCR form) which defines "where on the paper the stroke written should be recognized as a handwritten character". Further, with current character recognition technology, it is difficult to collectively recognize a series of character groups having a non-uniform size such as a memo. In other words, since character recognition software can only recognize handwritten character data of a certain size, the dedicated paper is often provided with an entry frame for each character. With regard to this entry frame, conditions such as color, thickness, size, spacing between frames, margins, etc., which character recognition software can correctly recognize as characters, are predetermined in advance, which is a major constraint on form design. It was. That is, it is necessary to arrange the entry frames on the form so as to satisfy the conditions such as the size required by the character recognition software, and the degree of freedom in designing the form is limited. In addition, due to the capability of the character recognition software, recognition accuracy cannot be ensured unless handwritten characters of a certain size are used. As described above, the special paper must be designed in consideration of the specifications of the character recognition software, and the design load is large.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and when creating an electronic form using an electronic pen as an input means, designing the form without being restricted by the specifications of character recognition software and the like. The task is to make it possible.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In one aspect of the present invention, a handwritten character recognition system includes an electronic pen, a dot pattern printed so as to be recognizable by the electronic pen, a form having a character input area, and a user using the electronic pen on the form. A character recognizing device that generates text data corresponding to the entry content based on the entry data corresponding to the entry content entered in the character recognition device, wherein the character recognition device performs a scaling process on the entry data. And a character recognizing means for performing character recognition processing based on the predetermined-size entry data to generate the text data.
[0007]
In the above-described handwritten character recognition system, a user enters necessary items in a character input area on a dedicated form using an electronic pen. The electronic pen generates entry data such as stroke data corresponding to the entry and supplies the entry data to the character recognition device. In the character recognition device, first, a scaling process is performed on the entry data to adjust the size of the entry data, and the adjusted entry data is supplied to the character recognition unit. By changing the size of the entry data to a size that can be correctly recognized by the character recognizing means by the scaling process, the character recognizing means performs the correct recognition. This eliminates the need to match the size of the character input area provided on the form with the size required by the character recognition means, and increases the degree of freedom in designing and designing the form.
[0008]
In one aspect of the above handwritten character recognition system, the entry data is stroke data, and the character recognition device further includes data conversion means for converting the entry data into vector data. By performing the size adjustment after converting the entry data into the vector data, it is possible to prevent the entry data from being inappropriately deformed due to the size adjustment and to reduce the character recognition accuracy.
[0009]
In another aspect of the above handwritten character recognition system, the entry data includes position information of the entry on the form, the character recognition device, based on the position information of the entry, the entry data Is further provided with a character delimiter for dividing the data into entry data for each character. Thus, the entry data entered on the form can be divided into entry data in units of one character and supplied to the character recognition means.
[0010]
According to another aspect of the present invention, a handwritten character recognition program is executed on a computer so that the computer has an electronic pen, a dot pattern printed recognizable by the electronic pen, and a form having a character input area. Entry data receiving means for receiving entry data corresponding to the entry contents entered on the form by the user with the electronic pen using the electronic pen, performing magnification processing on the entry data to enable character recognition A size adjusting unit that generates entry data of a predetermined size, and a character recognition unit that performs character recognition processing based on the entry data of the predetermined size and generates text data corresponding to the entry content.
[0011]
By executing the above-described handwritten character recognition program on a computer, the above-described handwritten character recognition system can be realized.
[0012]
In still another aspect of the present invention, a form for an electronic pen written by an electronic pen including an ink pen unit and a reading unit that optically reads a dot pattern is printed so as to be recognizable by the electronic pen, and is positioned on the form. It has a dot pattern indicating information, and a character input area on the dot pattern, is defined by position information on the form, and recognizes one character based on entry data entered by the electronic pen. The unit recognition character area is the same as or larger than the character input area. As a result, the entry data of the items entered by the user in the character input area can be separated for each character, and the subsequent character recognition processing can be performed for each character.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
[Electronic pen]
First, the electronic pen will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a usage form of the electronic pen, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a structure of the electronic pen. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic pen 10 is used in combination with a special paper 20 on which a dot pattern is printed. The electronic pen 10 has a pen tip 17 similar to a normal ink pen, and a user writes characters and the like on the special paper 20 in the same manner as a normal ink pen.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic pen 10 includes a processor 11, a memory 12, a Bluetooth transceiver 13, a battery 14, an infrared LED 15, a camera 16, and a pressure sensor 18 therein. The electronic pen 10 has an ink cartridge (not shown) as a component similar to a normal ink pen.
[0016]
The electronic pen 10 does not convert the locus of the ink drawn on the special paper 20 by the pen tip portion 17 into data, but converts the locus coordinates of the movement of the electronic pen 10 on the special paper 20 into data. While the infrared LED 15 illuminates the vicinity of the pen tip 17 on the dedicated paper 20, the camera 16 reads the dot pattern printed on the dedicated paper 20 and converts it into data. That is, the electronic pen 10 can acquire, as image data or vector data, a stroke generated when the user moves the electronic pen 10 on the special paper 20.
[0017]
The pressure sensor 18 detects the pressure applied to the pen tip portion 17 when the user writes a character or the like on the special paper with the electronic pen 10, that is, the pen pressure, and supplies the detected pressure to the processor 11. The processor 11 switches on / off the infrared LED 15 and the camera 16 based on the pen pressure data provided from the pressure sensor 18. That is, when a user writes a character or the like on the dedicated paper 20 with the electronic pen 10, pen pressure is applied to the pen tip portion 17. Therefore, when the writing pressure equal to or more than the predetermined value is detected, it is determined that the user has started the description, and the infrared LED 15 and the camera 16 are operated.
[0018]
The camera 16 reads the dot pattern on the special paper 20 and supplies the pattern data to the processor 11. The processor 11 calculates X / Y coordinates on the dedicated paper 20 from the supplied dot pattern.
[0019]
The processor 11 acquires the pen pressure array data and the X / Y coordinate data while the user is being described, and stores them in the memory 12 in association with the time stamp (time information). Therefore, data corresponding to the description content of the user is stored in the memory 12 in chronological order. The capacity of the memory 12 can be, for example, about 1 Mbyte.
[0020]
All acquired data is held in the memory 12 until a transmission instruction is issued by the user. When the user gives a transmission instruction, the data in the memory 12 is transmitted by the Bluetooth transceiver 13 to the terminal device 25 located within a predetermined distance from the electronic pen 10. Basically, once a transmission instruction is given, the electronic pen 10 transmits all data stored in the memory 12 to the terminal device 25, so that the memory 12 is cleared. Therefore, when the user wants to transmit the same information to the terminal device 25 again after the transmission, the user needs to write the information on the special paper 20 again. In this case, the user only has to trace characters written with the ink pen on the dedicated paper 20.
[0021]
The electronic pen 10 itself does not have a function button such as a transmission button, and a transmission instruction and other instructions are provided by a user checking a special box provided at a predetermined position on the special paper 20 with the electronic pen 10. Be executed. A transmission instruction is previously associated with the position coordinates of the dedicated box. When the processor 11 receives the position coordinates of the dedicated box, the processor 11 supplies the data in the memory 12 to the Bluetooth transceiver 13 and transmits the data to the terminal device 25. Let it do. Note that the electronic pen 10 does not have a display, buttons, or the like, but the completion of data transmission can be indicated by vibration of the electronic pen.
[0022]
The battery 14 is for supplying power to each element in the electronic pen 10, and for example, the power of the electronic pen 10 itself can be turned on / off by a cap (not shown) of the electronic pen.
[0023]
As described above, the electronic pen 10 has a function of acquiring coordinate data and writing pressure data corresponding to characters written on the dedicated paper 20 by the user and transmitting the data to the nearby terminal device 25. Since the pen tip portion 17 is a normal ink pen, the contents described on the special paper 20 remain as original originals. That is, at the same time as describing the original paper, the contents can be digitized in real time in the form of coordinate data or the like.
[0024]
According to the standard functions of the electronic pen 10, the data obtained by the electronic pen 10 is in principle in the form of coordinate data or vector data, not text data. However, the electronic pen 10 has a function of converting only alphanumeric characters into text by describing it in a dedicated area provided on the dedicated paper 20 as a standard function. In the terminal device 25 and the like, it is of course possible to obtain text data from the coordinate data and vector data transmitted from the electronic pen 10 using a character recognition application.
[0025]
The electronic pen 10 can hold property information (pen information and pen owner information) on the pen itself and its owner, and can be referred to from an application. As the pen information, a battery level, a pen ID, a pen manufacturer number, a pen software version, a subscription provider ID, and the like can be held. The pen owner information can include a nationality, a language, a time zone, an email address, a free memory capacity, a name, an address, a fax / telephone number, a mobile phone number, and the like.
[0026]
Next, a method of acquiring X / Y data of the content described by the user using the electronic pen will be described. As described above, a predetermined dot pattern is printed on the dedicated paper 20. The camera 16 of the electronic pen 10 reads a dot pattern on the special paper 20 instead of reading a locus of ink written on the special paper 20 by the user. Actually, as shown in FIG. 1, the illumination area by the infrared LED 15 and the imaging area of the camera 16 (located in the illumination area) are shifted from the position where the pen tip 17 contacts the special paper 20.
[0027]
The dot pattern is printed with a special ink containing carbon or the like, and the camera 16 can recognize only the pattern using the special ink. Even when the ruled lines and frames are printed on the special paper with an ink (not including carbon) other than the special ink, the electronic pen does not recognize them. Therefore, when creating forms such as various application forms using the special paper, input frames, ruled lines, notes, and the like are printed with ink other than the special ink.
[0028]
In the dot pattern, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the position of each dot is associated with data. In the example of FIG. 3, two-bit information of 0 to 3 is displayed by shifting the position of the dot vertically and horizontally from the grid reference position (the intersection of the vertical line and the horizontal line). The position coordinates on the dedicated paper are determined by the combination of the information thus expressed. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, 36 dots are arranged in a grid within a range of 2 mm in length and width, and an array of data indicated by these dots (FIG. 4B) is printed on the dedicated paper. Are associated with the position coordinates. Therefore, when the camera 16 of the electronic pen 10 captures a dot pattern as shown in FIG. 4A, the processor 11 changes the data array shown in FIG. The acquired position coordinates on the dedicated paper (that is, the position of the dot pattern on the dedicated paper) corresponding thereto are calculated in real time. Note that the minimum unit for recognizing the dot pattern is 2 mm × 2 mm, and the camera 16 shoots about 100 times per second.
[0029]
Next, the special paper will be described. FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of the special paper. As shown in the drawing, the special paper 20 has a dot pattern 32 printed on a backing sheet 30, and a pattern 34 such as a ruled line printed thereon. The backing paper 30 is usually paper, and the dot pattern 32 is printed with a special ink containing carbon as described above. In addition, the design 34 is printed with ordinary ink or the like. The dot pattern and the design may be printed at the same time, or one of them may be printed first.
[0030]
An example of the design 34 is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows an example of a certain application form 36 in which a plurality of entry fields 38 and a transmission box 39 are printed. Although not clearly shown in FIG. 6, a dot pattern is actually printed on the entire surface of the application form 36, and an entry field 38 and a transmission box 39 are printed thereon with ordinary ink. The user may use the electronic pen 10 to fill in the required items in the entry fields 38 of the application form 36 in the same manner as a conventional application form, without being conscious of the dot pattern.
[0031]
The area on the special paper 20 can be roughly divided into two types of areas. One is an entry area, in which the contents described by the electronic pen 10 are directly handled as information. In the example of FIG. 6, a plurality of entry fields 38 correspond to this. The other is a functional element, which executes an action, an instruction, and the like defined in advance for the area when the corresponding area is checked with the electronic pen 10. The transmission box 39 in the example of FIG. 6 corresponds to this.
[0032]
The transmission box 39 is used when giving an instruction to transmit data stored in the electronic pen 10 to the nearby terminal device 25 as described above. When the user checks the transmission box 39 with the electronic pen 10, the electronic pen 10 reads the dot pattern in the transmission box. The pattern is associated with the transmission instruction, and the processor 11 in the electronic pen 10 issues a transmission command of the data stored in the memory 12 to the Bluetooth transceiver 13.
[0033]
The assignment of the dot pattern is usually performed for each application (type of paper). That is, the dot patterns in a certain application do not overlap in one sheet, but the same application is printed with the same dot pattern. Therefore, when the user inputs necessary items with the electronic pen 10, it is possible to specify which item of the application is for the input item from the coordinate data on the application.
[0034]
As described above, by printing a predetermined design on the special paper on which the dot pattern is printed, various applications using the special paper can be created. If the user uses the electronic pen 10 to fill in the necessary items in the usual manner, the electronic data is automatically obtained.
[0035]
In the above example, the dot pattern is printed on the dedicated paper with ink containing carbon, but it is also possible to print the dot pattern on ordinary paper using a printer and ink containing carbon. Further, the design on the special paper can be formed not by printing but by a printer. When dot patterns are formed on paper by a printer, different dot patterns can be formed on each sheet. Therefore, it is possible to identify and discriminate these sheets one by one based on the difference between the formed dot patterns.
[0036]
In the present specification, the term “print” is a concept that includes not only normal printing but also printing by a printer.
[0037]
Next, transmission processing of data acquired by the electronic pen will be described. As described above, the communication function of the electronic pen 10 is based on Bluetooth. The communication function of the electronic pen 10 is based on a service server that handles data input to the dedicated paper 20 (in the case of a specific application, the application server is the server of the application). Therefore, data cannot be transmitted directly from the electronic pen 10. Therefore, the data acquired by the electronic pen 10 is transmitted from the terminal device 25 to the service server.
[0038]
The process at that time will be described with reference to FIG. The data obtained by the electronic pen 10 is mainly data of items input by the user, but usually does not include information on the service server to which the data is transmitted. Instead, information for specifying an application or service related to the special paper is included in a dot pattern on the special paper, and the information is obtained from the special paper during a user input operation. Therefore, the terminal device 25 that has received the input data from the electronic pen 10 first makes an inquiry to the inquiry server 26 to which service server 27 the data input for the dedicated paper should be transmitted. The inquiry server 26 has information of a corresponding service server for each dedicated paper, and in response to an inquiry from the terminal device 25, stores information (a URL or the like) of the service server 27 that performs services related to the dedicated paper. Reply to terminal device 25. Then, the terminal device 25 transmits the input data obtained from the electronic pen to the service server 27.
[0039]
In the above example, the terminal device 25, the inquiry server 26, and the service server 27 are configured separately, but some or all of them may be configured as one device.
[0040]
[Procedure system configuration]
Next, as an embodiment of the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention, a series of steps in which a user fills in an application created using a dedicated paper with necessary information using an electronic pen and accepts the entry data in a server. A procedure system for performing the above procedure will be described.
[0041]
FIG. 7 shows a schematic configuration of a procedure system using an electronic pen. The user uses the above-described electronic pen 10 to input a form (in this example, a certain application form) 4. The form 4 is made of the special paper described with reference to FIGS. The contents entered in the form 4 are acquired as stroke data by the electronic pen 10 and transmitted to the terminal device 25 by Bluetooth communication. Hereinafter, the stroke data output by the electronic pen 10 is also referred to as “entry data”. The entry data is transmitted from the terminal device 25 to the server 3 via the network 2. The server 3 is a server that receives an application procedure based on an application form created by a user, and includes a database 8 for storing application data and the like in which application contents are recorded.
[0042]
The outline of the procedure using the above-described procedure system will be described. First, the user uses the electronic pen 10 to fill out a form 4 made of dedicated paper. Here, the form 4 has a configuration corresponding to the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention as described later. When the user fills in a form using the electronic pen 10, necessary stroke data (a set of coordinate data) is transmitted from the electronic pen 10 to the terminal device 25 as entry data. The stroke data is transmitted to the server 3. The server 3 performs a character recognition process on the received entry data, and acquires text data of the entry content entered in the form 4 by the user. Then, the server 3 performs necessary processing as an electronic form by, for example, embedding the text data of the entry content in an electronic form corresponding to the form 4.
[0043]
[Configuration of dedicated report]
Next, the configuration of the form 4 will be described. FIG. 8A schematically shows a configuration of a dedicated form of the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention. First, the form 4 shown in FIG. 8A is configured as the dedicated paper described above with reference to FIG. That is, a predetermined dot pattern 32 is printed on the mount 30 with ink that the electronic pen 10 can recognize, and a design 34 as a form is printed with ink that the electronic pen 10 cannot recognize.
[0044]
FIG. 8A shows an example of the design 34. A form 4 shown in FIG. 8A is an example of a specific application, and includes a name field as an entry. The name field is provided with a character input area 41 for the user to enter his / her name one character at a time. Here, the character input area 41 is a part of the form 34 of the form, and is printed with ink that the electronic pen 10 cannot recognize.
[0045]
In the form 4, a unit recognition character area 42 is defined. The unit recognition character area 42 is defined for dividing a series of character strings entered by the user into units of one character. That is, in the character recognition process by the server 3, it is determined that a set of stroke data composed of strokes entered in the unit recognition character area 42 is one-character stroke data.
[0046]
The unit character recognition area 42 is actually defined as coordinates on the form 4. For example, in FIG. 8A, the unit recognition character area 42a of the first character of the name is the coordinates (x1, y1) to (x2, y2) on the form 42, and the unit recognition character area 42b of the second character is the form 42. The upper coordinates (x3, y3) to (x4, y4) are defined in advance as positions on the form 4. The correspondence between each character and the corresponding position information on the form 4 is stored in the server 3 as character area position information 56 described later. Although the unit recognition character area 42 is not actually visible to the user, the unit recognition character area 42 is indicated by a wavy line at each corresponding position on the form 4 for convenience of explanation.
[0047]
In FIG. 8A, a character input area 41 visible to humans almost coincides with a unit recognition character area 42 defined by position information of the form 4 (not visible to humans). That is, when the user looks at the character input area 41 and writes a character inside the character input area 41, the electronic pen 10 acquires stroke data written in a unit recognition character area 42 substantially equal to the character input area 41, Target for character recognition processing.
[0048]
On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 8B, the unit recognition character area 42 is set to be larger than the character input area 41 that can be seen by a human. By doing so, even if the user writes a character that slightly protrudes from the character input area 41, if the character is within the unit recognition character area 42, the stroke data written by the user can be obtained without omission. It becomes. In addition, even if the user overlaps the frame of the character input area 41 with the electronic pen 10 or enters a character outside the frame, the electronic pen 10 does not recognize the character input area 41, so the frame of the character input area 41 is not recognized. The stroke data of the entered character can be correctly obtained without being in the way.
[0049]
In the example shown in FIG. 8, the character input area 41 is configured as a substantially square frame, but the character input area 41 may be printed on a form in the form of, for example, underlining or parentheses. In addition, on the form 4, the character input area 41 may be indicated by changing the color of the character input area 41 and printing the other areas.
[0050]
[Function of character recognition system]
Next, a functional configuration of the character recognition system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, a terminal device 25 that receives entry data by a user from the electronic pen 10 has an entry data transmission / reception function 25a. The entry data transmission / reception function 25a is a function of receiving entry data (stroke data) from the electronic pen 10 via Bluetooth communication, and transmitting the entry data (stroke data) to the server 3 via the network 2. Note that the stroke data transmission / reception function 25a is realized by the terminal device 25 executing a prepared program.
[0051]
On the other hand, the server 3 includes a data receiving function 51, a character separating function 52, a data converting function 53, a size adjusting function 54, and a character recognizing function 55 as functional components necessary for the character recognition system according to the present invention. Each of these functions is realized by the server 3 executing a prepared program. The server 3 stores character area position information 56.
[0052]
The data receiving function 51 receives entry data (stroke data) transmitted from the terminal device 25 via the network 2 or the like.
[0053]
The character separation function 52 divides the entry data received by the data reception function 51 into entry data units for each character. At the time when the data receiving function 51 receives, the entry data is a set of entry data (stroke data) for a plurality of characters. Therefore, the character delimiter function 52 divides the entry data for each character from the entry data for a plurality of characters so that the character can be recognized.
[0054]
As described above with reference to FIG. 8, the form 4 defines the unit recognition character area 42 based on the position information on the form 4, and the stroke of the stroke written in one unit recognition character area 42. The set is stroke data for one character. Position information (such as coordinate data) indicating the unit recognition character area 42 corresponding to each character input area 41 printed on the form 4 is stored in the server 3 as character area position information 56. The dot pattern 32 is printed on the form 4 as described above, and the dot pattern does not overlap on one form. By recognizing the dot pattern, the character delimiter 52 performs Location information can be obtained. Therefore, the character delimiter function 52 first obtains the position information of each stroke data from the entry data (stroke data) received by the data receiving function 51, and then refers to the character area position information 56 to obtain each stroke data. Is divided into a set of stroke data for one character. Thereby, stroke data in units of one character is generated.
[0055]
The data conversion function 53 is a function for converting stroke data into vector data. The stroke data obtained from the electronic pen 10 is a set of coordinate data. If the coordinate data is converted into image data and enlarged or reduced by size adjustment processing described later, the character recognition accuracy is likely to be reduced. . Therefore, the data conversion function 53 converts the stroke data divided into units of one character into vector data.
[0056]
The size adjustment function 54 scales the vector data for each character obtained by the data conversion function 53 at a predetermined magnification. Here, the scaling includes enlargement, reduction, and 1-time scaling (that is, maintaining the same size). The magnification of the scaling process is determined according to the character size required by the character recognition function 55. That is, the size of the stroke data for each character obtained from the entry data for the form 4 depends on the size of the character input area 41 on the form 4. This is because the user writes characters so as to fit in the character input area 41 on the form 4. On the other hand, the size at which characters can be recognized by the character recognition function 55 is predetermined. Therefore, the size adjustment function 54 performs a process of converting the stroke data input according to the size of the character input area 41 on the form 4 into a size that allows the character recognition function 55 to perform character recognition. For example, if the character input area 41 on the form 4 is provided with a size that is half the size that can be subjected to the character recognition processing by the character recognition function 55, the size adjustment function 54 determines the size of the stroke data for each character. A process for doubling is performed.
[0057]
As described above, by using the size adjustment function 54 in the present invention, it is possible to determine the size of the character input area 41 on the form 4 without being limited to the size in which the character recognition function 55 can recognize characters. . Generally, the size of a character required by the character recognition engine used as the character recognition function 55 is set relatively large in order to secure a certain degree of recognition accuracy. Therefore, if the character input area 41 is provided on the form 4 with the same size, the occupied area on the form 4 becomes large, and it becomes difficult to provide many entry fields and information on the form 4. In this regard, according to the present invention, even if the size of the character input area 41 provided on the form 4 is reduced, the size adjustment function 54 performs enlargement processing at a required magnification to obtain the character size required by the character recognition function 55. The character recognition processing may be performed after the conversion. Therefore, there is no restriction on the size of the character input area 41 formed on the form 4, and the degree of design freedom of the form is increased.
[0058]
In order to correctly perform the size adjustment by the size adjustment function 54, it is preferable that the stroke data is converted into the vector data by the data conversion function 53 as preprocessing. This is because if the stroke data is imaged and the size is adjusted (especially enlargement processing), each dot is enlarged as it is, and the character is deformed (for example, oblique lines or curves are jagged), and the character recognition rate is reduced. This is because there are times. In this regard, if a scaling process such as enlargement is performed after conversion into vector data, such a problem does not occur.
[0059]
Thus, the vector data for each character, the size of which has been adjusted by the size adjustment function 54, is subjected to character recognition processing by the character recognition function 55, and is output as text data.
[0060]
[Character recognition processing]
Next, a flow of a character recognition process executed by the procedure system including the server 3 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the character recognition process. In FIG. 10, first, the user uses the electronic pen 10 and the form 4 to enter items necessary for application on the form 4.
[0061]
When completing the necessary items, the user checks the transmission box of the form 4 and transmits the entry data to the server 3 via the terminal device 25 (step S2). That is, when the user checks the transmission check box of the form 4, the stroke data stored in the memory 12 of the electronic pen 10 at that time is transmitted to the terminal device 25 as entry data for one form 4. The terminal device 25 transmits the entry data to the server 3 via the network 2.
[0062]
When receiving the entry data from the terminal device 25 (step S3), the server 3 first divides the entry data for a plurality of characters into stroke data for each character by the character delimiter function 52 (step S4). Next, the data conversion function 53 converts the stroke data for each character into vector data (step S5).
[0063]
Next, the size adjustment function 54 performs scaling processing on the vector data generated in step S5, and converts the vector data into a size that allows character recognition processing by the character recognition function 55 (step S6). Then, the character recognition function 55 performs a character recognition process and outputs text data (step S7). In this way, text data corresponding to the content entered by the user in the entry column on the form 4 is obtained.
[0064]
Thereafter, the server 34 reads the text data obtained in step S7 into an electronic form corresponding to the form 4, as necessary, and executes a predetermined process as an electronic form (step S8).
[0065]
[Modification]
In the above example, as shown in FIG. 10, the entry data received from the terminal device 25 is divided into stroke data for each character by character delimitation processing, and then character recognition is performed through data conversion processing, size adjustment processing, and the like. Processing. However, some recent character recognition engines also have a function of separating each character. That is, even when character string data is input to the character recognition engine, the character recognition engine performs a process of delimiting each character in addition to the character recognition processing, and outputs text data corresponding to the character string. is there. When such a character recognition engine or the like is employed, the character delimiting process in step S10 can be omitted.
[0066]
Further, in the above embodiment, the server 3 is provided with the functions for character recognition of the entry data, that is, the character separation function 52, the data conversion function 53, the size adjustment function 54, and the character recognition function 55. However, these functions may be provided in the terminal device 25. In that case, the terminal device 25 can transmit the text data acquired by the character recognition processing to the server 3. Further, if the storage capacity of the electronic pen 10 and the capability of the processor allow, the above-described functions can be provided in the electronic pen 10.
[0067]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the character recognition system of the present invention, the entry data entered using the electronic pen is adjusted to the size required by the character recognition program and then input to the character recognition program. Therefore, the size of the character input field provided on the form is not affected by the size required by the character recognition program. In addition, by using an electronic pen, it is possible to acquire the coordinate data of the entry without being affected by the design on the form, so that the color, size, frame thickness, etc. of the character input area provided on the form There are no restrictions. This increases the degree of freedom in form design and design.
[0068]
In addition, when the user makes an entry with the electronic pen, the entry data can be obtained at the same time, so that there is no need to physically collect the OCR sheet filled in by the user as in a conventional OCR system. Therefore, the processing using the form can be speeded up and made more efficient.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a usage pattern of an electronic pen.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the structure of an electronic pen. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of expressing information by a dot pattern printed on a dedicated paper.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a dot pattern and information corresponding to the dot pattern.
FIG. 5 shows a structure of a form formed of dedicated paper.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a form.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a procedure system to which the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention is applied.
8 shows an example of a form used in the procedure system shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a procedure system to which the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a procedure using the handwritten character recognition system of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Network 3 Reception server 4 Application form 8 Database 10 Electronic pen 11 Processor 12 Memory 13 Transceiver 14 Battery 15 LED
16 Camera 17 Pen Tip 20 Special Paper 25 Terminal Device 51 Data Receiving Function 52 Character Separation Function 53 Data Conversion Function 54 Size Adjustment Function 55 Character Recognition Function

Claims (5)

An electronic pen,
A dot pattern printed recognizable by the electronic pen, and a form having a character input area,
A character recognition device that generates text data corresponding to the entry based on entry data corresponding to the entry entered by the user on the form with the electronic pen,
The character recognition device,
Size adjustment means for performing scaling processing on the entry data to generate entry data of a predetermined size that allows character recognition,
A character recognition unit that performs a character recognition process based on the entry data of the predetermined size to generate the text data. 2. The handwritten character recognition system according to claim 1, wherein the entry data is stroke data, and the character recognition device further includes a data conversion unit that converts the entry data into vector data. The entry data includes position information of the entry content on the form,
3. The handwritten character according to claim 1, wherein the character recognition device further includes a character delimiter that divides the entry data into entry data for each character based on position information of the entry content. Recognition system. By running on a computer, the computer
Using an electronic pen, a dot pattern recognizablely printed by the electronic pen, and a form having a character input area, the user can enter entry data corresponding to the contents entered on the form with the electronic pen using the electronic pen. Entry data receiving means to receive,
Size adjusting means for performing scaling processing on the entry data to generate entry data of a predetermined size capable of character recognition;
A handwritten character recognition program for performing a character recognition process based on entry data of a predetermined size, and functioning as character recognition means for generating text data corresponding to the entry content. An electronic pen form written by an electronic pen including an ink pen unit and a reading unit that optically reads a dot pattern,
A dot pattern that is printed so as to be recognizable by the electronic pen and indicates position information on the form;
A character input area on the dot pattern;
A unit recognition character area defined by position information on the form and performing recognition as one character based on entry data entered by the electronic pen, wherein the unit recognition character area is the same as the character input area; Or an electronic pen form wider than the character input area.

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