JP2006134104A - Form reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To certainly manage correction of data obtained from a form and record contents of the form. <P>SOLUTION: This form reader 1 has: a data storage part 16 for storing a form model data 35 for identifying the kind of the form in a state that a character is not entered in a character entry column, a form management table 33 managing a plurality of pieces of form data, and an image management table 34 for managing a correction history of a handwritten character image in field units; an OCR processing part 14 for generating the character image on the basis of handwriting information inputted from a digital pen 2; and a data processing part 18 for merging data to be produced as the same form by use of the image management table 34 to perform integration to one piece of form data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a form reading system and a form reading method that use a handwritten character input device such as a digital pen that acquires character handwriting information when a character is entered in a form.

Currently, a digital pen has been developed which has a pen function for writing characters on a form having dots printed on the surface and a function for optically reading a portion traced with a pen and obtaining handwriting information from the form.
As prior arts for correcting the data obtained with the digital pen, for example, a technique for putting an eraser on the digital pen (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and a technique for recognizing a double line or a fill as a deleted part (for example, Patent Document 2) Etc.) are open to the public.
Each of these prior arts is a technique for recognizing a deletion part on the digital pen side.
JP 2004-94558 A JP 2004-152040 A

  However, in the above prior art, since characters are actually entered on the form itself with a ballpoint pen, fountain pen, ink, etc., when correcting the characters on the form, if the correction is made from above, the original characters are superimposed. It is difficult to correct the characters once written in the form, such as making the correction contents unknown, and even if handwritten character images are generated from handwriting information obtained with a digital pen, manual correction work is required for the deleted part There was a problem that it was necessary.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and when characters are written in a form that cannot be erased, characters are deleted, rewritten, added to the data obtained from the form, and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a form reading system and a form reading method capable of easily correcting the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, the form reading system of the present invention comprises a form form data storage means for storing form form data in a state in which no characters are entered in the character entry field, and a writing in the character entry field of the form. Image data of characters written in each character entry column of the form on the basis of the digital pen for obtaining the handwritten information of the written characters, the form handwriting information of the characters and the form data of the form of the form form data storage means A character image generation unit that generates and identifies image data for identifying the form in the generated character image data, and manages the image data generated by the character image generation unit in units of each character entry column of the form An image management table, character image data generated by the character image generation means, the form identification information, Means for registering the character entry times in correspondence with the image management table; input means for accepting an input operation for merging a plurality of form data; and merging a plurality of form data by the input means. Form data that merges character image data in units of each character entry column and generates data for one form based on the entry time of the image management table when the input operation for the form is received And an aggregation means.

  The form reading method of the present invention is based on character handwriting information received from a digital pen and form form data stored in a storage unit in advance, and image data of characters written in each character entry column of the form. Generating and generating the form identification information for identifying the form to the generated character image data, the generated character image data, the form identification information, and the character entry time in association with each other in the storage A step of registering with the copy unit, a step of receiving an input operation for merging the data of a plurality of forms, and a data of a plurality of forms based on the entry time stored in the storage unit when the input operation is received. Merging character image data in units of each character entry field and generating one form data.

In the present invention, when handwriting information of characters written in the character entry field of the first form is obtained using a digital pen, the form reading device uses the handwriting information to obtain the character image of the first form from the unit of the character entry field. That is, it is generated for each field and is registered in the image management table as the data of the first form.
Then, among the characters entered in the character entry field of the first form, if the character entered in a certain character entry field is wrong or additional writing is required, enter the character to be corrected or added to the corresponding character in the second form. Enter in the column.
In the form reading device, a character image of a correction part and an additional part obtained from the second form is generated, and the form identification information of the first form and the second form is the same by referring to the image management table, or the second form. If the data of the first form and the data of the first form should be obtained from the same form, the character image obtained from the first form and the character image of the corrected part obtained from the second form are merged in field units. Then, correct the character image of the field to be corrected or added to correct data. As a result, both the form and the character image can be stored with the correct information corrected or added.

  According to the present invention, when a character is written in a form that cannot be erased, it is possible to easily delete, rewrite, and add characters to the form and data obtained from the form.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a form reading system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The form reading system shown in FIG. 1 includes a digital pen 2 having a function of simultaneously writing on a form 4 and acquiring handwriting information, and a form reading apparatus 1 connected to the digital pen 2 via a USB cable 3. It has. The form reading device 1 is, for example, a computer.
On the entire surface of the form 4, a dot pattern composed of a plurality of dots (black dots) in a special arrangement form is printed in light black. The dots of the dot pattern are arranged in a grid pattern at intervals of about 0.3 mm. Each dot is arranged at a position slightly shifted in the vertical and horizontal directions from the lattice-shaped intersection (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 2, a start mark 41, an end mark 42, and a character entry column 43 are printed in light blue on the form 4. A plurality of character entry fields 43 are provided for each item such as a postal code, an address, and a telephone number, for example. Each user enters a character in the character entry field 43 of the corresponding item. In the digital pen 2, a dot pattern printed on the surface of the form 4 is an optical reading target. A light blue portion such as a start mark 41, an end mark 42, and a character entry field 43 printed on the surface of the form 4 is a guide for a person to enter characters at a predetermined position with the pen unit 25 (see FIG. 3). It is a line and is excluded from the processing target of the optical reading with the digital pen 2.

  The form reading apparatus 1 includes a control unit 10, a communication interface 11 (hereinafter referred to as “communication I / F 11”), a memory 12, a form creation unit 13, an OCR processing unit 14, a dictionary 15, a data storage unit 16, and an input unit 17. A data processing unit 18 and a display unit 19 are provided. The memory 12, the OCR processing unit 14, the OCR processing unit 14, the data processing unit 18 and the like are a CPU, memory, hardware such as a hard disk device, an operating system (hereinafter referred to as “OS”) installed in the hard disk device, and control software. Etc. are realized through collaboration. The dictionary 15 is stored in a hard disk device or the like. The data storage unit 16 is, for example, a database constructed in a hard disk device.

The communication I / F 11 receives the information transmitted from the digital pen 2 through the USB cable 3 and develops it in the memory 12. The communication I / F 11 functions as means for acquiring handwriting information, pen ID, and form ID of characters written in the character entry field 43 of the form 4 from the digital pen 2.
The memory 12 stores handwriting information received from the digital pen 2. The handwriting information is information including the stroke of the pen tip of the digital pen 2, stroke order such as writing order, speed, writing pressure, writing time, and the like. In addition, the memory 12 stores not only this, but also the storage of the character image generated by the OCR processing unit 14 from the handwriting information, the storage of the character image when the data storage unit 16 merges a plurality of character images, the character by the OCR processing unit 14 The data processing unit 18 superimposes the character image on each field (frame) cut out by the image generation and character recognition processing, the image cut-out processing from the form model data 35 by the OCR processing unit 14, and the OCR processing unit 14. It functions as a work area for performing processing for displaying a correction screen.

  The OCR processing unit 14 is controlled by the control unit 10, and stroke information included in the handwriting information stored in the memory 12 (trajectory (position data), stroke order, entry time, speed, etc.) of the pen tip, and data storage A character image is generated in character units from the coordinate information of the form model data 35 of the unit 16 and stored in the memory 12. A set of position data (X coordinate, Y coordinate) in which the digital pen 2 traces the surface of the form 4 within the writing pressure detection period is called a trajectory, and the same writing pressure detection period among the position data (X coordinate, Y coordinate). What is divided in is called the stroke order. Since the entry time is associated with the position data (X coordinate, Y coordinate), and the order in which the position (coordinate) where the form 4 is traced with the pen tip is changed and the change in time is known, these pieces of information are included. Speed and writing direction (writing order).

Based on the handwriting information (position data (X coordinate, Y coordinate) and time), the OCR processing unit 14 generates a character image by smoothly connecting dot data on the coordinates in character units. The OCR processing unit 14 associates the coordinates on the form of the generated character image with the coordinates of the form model data 35 (image data) stored in the data storage unit 16, and sets each character entry column 43 of the form 4. The character image is registered in the image management table 34 for each field.
That is, the OCR processing unit 14 receives the character image data written in each character entry column 43 of the form 4 based on the handwriting information of the character received from the digital pen 2 and stored in the memory 12 and the form model data 35. It functions as a character image generation unit that generates and adds form identification information for specifying the form 4 to the generated character image data.

  The OCR processing unit 14 generates a display image to be output to the display unit 19 by superimposing the generated character image and a field image corresponding to the character entry field of the form model data 35.

  The dictionary 15 stores a large number of character images (hereinafter referred to as “character images”) and character codes (text data) associated with the character images.

  The OCR processing unit 14 performs character recognition processing with reference to the dictionary 15 for the character image generated by the OCR processing unit 14 and stored in the memory 12, and outputs a character code, that is, text data as a character recognition result.

The OCR processing unit 14 assigns a character code (text data) such as “?” To a character recognition result for characters that cannot be recognized during character recognition for the character image. The OCR processing unit 14 stores the text data read from the form, that is, the form text data 32 and the handwritten character image 31 of the reading source in the data storage unit 16.
That is, the OCR processing unit 14 matches the character image data generated by the OCR processing unit 14 with the character image in the dictionary 15 and outputs text data.

  The data storage unit 16 stores a handwritten character image 31 read from the form 4 and form text data 32 that is a character recognition result file obtained by character recognition from the handwritten character image 31.

  The data storage unit 16 stores at least one form form image data 35 (hereinafter referred to as “form model data 35”) corresponding to information (form ID etc.) specifying the form type. The form model data 35 is an image of a form that has been read in advance with an image scanner or the like in a state in which no characters are entered, and can be partially cut out by designating coordinates (designating a range). In this example, each character entry field 43 is cut out as a character image field. The data storage unit 16 is a form data storage unit that stores form model data 35 in which characters are not entered by the user.

The data storage unit 16 is text data storage means for storing text data obtained by character recognition of a character image generated based on handwriting information from a form 4 in which characters are entered in a character entry column.
The data storage unit 16 stores a form information table (not shown) in which form IDs are associated with form model data 35. The form information table is a table for determining which form model data 35 is used for the form ID received from the digital pen 2.
The input unit 17 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and an interface module thereof, and functions as an input unit that receives an input operation for merging data of a plurality of forms 4. The function of this input means can be substituted by a form designation operation using the digital pen 2.

Each time the form 4 is read, the data processing unit 18 displays a screen for displaying handwritten character images generated by the OCR processing unit 14 for each item in each character entry field 43 such as a postal code, an address, and a telephone number. Functions as a means to
When an input operation for merging data of a plurality of forms 4 is accepted by the input unit 17, the data processing unit 18 receives each character entry column 43 based on the start time that is the entry time of the corresponding form in the image management table 34. It functions as a form data aggregating means that merges character image data in units of and aggregates the data into one form.
That is, the data processing unit 18 uses the handwritten character image read from the first form (first form) and the handwritten character image of the read form (second form) as a field unit (unit of the character entry column 43). To merge the data into one form. The display unit 19 is a monitor or the like that displays a screen.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the digital pen 2 includes a case portion 20 having a pen-shaped outer shape, a camera 21, a central processing unit 22 (hereinafter referred to as “CPU 22”), and a memory provided in the case portion 20. 23, a communication unit 24, a pen unit 25, an ink tank 26, a writing pressure sensor 27, and the like. The digital pen 2 in this example is one of handwriting input devices that optically reads the dots on the form 4 and detects the position on the form. In addition, an ultrasonic type can also be used.

  The camera 21 includes an illumination unit such as a light emitting diode, a CCD image sensor, and an optical system such as a lens. The infrared light emitting unit functions as illumination for paper. The camera 21 has a field of view of 6 × 6 dots, and takes 50 or more snapshots per second by detecting pen pressure.

  The pen unit 25 causes ink from the ink tank 26 to ooze out from the front end portion, and when the user makes the front end portion contact the paper surface of the form 4, the ink adheres to the paper surface of the form 4, thereby Writing and drawing on the form 4 can be performed. The pen unit 25 is a pressure-sensitive type that expands and contracts in response to application of pressure to the tip. When the tip of the pen unit 25 is pressed against the form 4 (pointing), the pen pressure is detected by the pen pressure sensor 27, and the CPU 22 reads the dot pattern on the paper surface photographed by the camera 21. That is, the pen unit 25 has a ballpoint pen function and a writing pressure detection function.

The CPU 22 reads the dot pattern from the form 4 at a certain sampling rate, thereby obtaining a large amount of information (stroke information such as the trajectory of the pen unit 21, writing order speed, writing pressure, writing time, etc.) associated with the reading operation. (Including handwriting information).
The CPU 22 determines the start of reading when the position of the start mark 41 is pointed, and determines the end of reading when the position of the end mark 42 is pointed. The CPU 22 performs image processing of information acquired from the camera 21 by writing pressure detection during a period from the start to the end of reading, generates position information, and stores it as handwriting information in the memory 23 together with the entry time.

The memory 23 stores coordinate information corresponding to the dot pattern printed on the form 4. Further, the memory 23 stores a form ID as information for identifying the type of the form 4 when the coordinates of the position of the start mark 41 are read, and a pen ID as information for specifying the pen itself. .
The memory 23 stores handwriting information processed by the CPU 22 when the position of the end mark 42 is pointed, until it is transmitted to the form reading device 1.
The communication unit 24 transmits information in the memory 23 to the form reading apparatus 1 via the USB cable 3 connected to the form reading apparatus 1. In addition to wired communication using the USB cable 3, as a method for transferring information of the writing pressure sensor 24, for example, there is wireless communication (IrDA communication, Bluetooth communication, etc.). Bluetooth is a registered trademark. The power supply to the digital pen 2 is performed from the form reading device 1 through the USB cable 3.

  In addition, as a handwriting input device (digitizer), in addition to the combination of the digital pen 2 and the form 4, a transmitting unit that transmits ultrasonic waves toward the pen tip and a receiving unit that receives ultrasonic waves reflected on paper or a tablet are provided. It is also possible to use a digital pen that sequentially acquires the trajectory (positional coordinates) of the pen tip and the present invention is not limited to the optical digital pen 2 of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the range of the form 4 imaged by the camera 21 of the digital pen 2.
The range on the form 4 that can be read at once by the camera 21 built in the digital pen 2 is a range of 6 × 6 dots arranged in a lattice shape when the dot interval is about 0.3 mm, that is, 36. It is a dot. Covering all combinations of vertical and horizontal shifts of 36 dots, for example, paper (site) consisting of a huge coordinate plane of about 60 million square kilometers can be created. Any 6 × 6 dots (squares) in such a huge coordinate plane have different dot patterns. Therefore, by storing the paper surface data (position coordinates) corresponding to each dot pattern in the memory 23 in advance, the locus of the digital pen 2 on the surface of the form 4 (on the dot pattern) Can be recognized as different positions.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the form management table 33 is a table for managing a form model number, a form provisional number, a handwritten character image number, and a form text number in association with a securities number as a main key.

As shown in FIG. 6, the image management table 34 stores information on items such as a start time, a field, and a flag when characters are entered in the form with respect to the form identification number.
The temporary form number is a serial number automatically given by the OCR processing unit 14 when a handwritten character image is created based on handwriting information from the form 4, and the handwritten character image is used as a primary key (securities number, etc.). It becomes information when associating.
The form identification number is obtained by adding the branch number “1” to the main number “001” such as “001-1”, for example. The main number “001” indicates the type of the form 4, and the branch number The number “1” indicates a form on which characters are written. That is, it is possible to specify whether the main form and the branch number are the same form or different forms. For example, form identification numbers having the same main number to branch number indicate the same form.

  In the start time column, the start time in which characters are entered in the form 4 is registered. In the field column, the contents of handwritten character images respectively corresponding to the character input columns 43 of the form 4 are registered. Note that “NULL” is set for a field for which a handwritten character image was not obtained. In the flag column, information indicating whether the form data is “usable” or “unusable” is set. For example, when “unusable” is set as the flag, the form data cannot be used for merging with other data. In this example, after the data of the form A and the data of the form B are merged, the “unusable” flag is given (set) to the merged forms A and B by the data processing unit 18. It is.

Here, the operation of associating and correcting the form data by the form reading system will be described with reference to FIGS.
In this form reading system, when the user points the digital pen 2 at the position of the start mark 41 of the form 4, the writing pressure is detected by the writing pressure sensor 27 and notified to the CPU 22. As a result, the CPU 22 drives the camera 21 to start a dot pattern reading operation, and the dot pattern at that position is read by the camera 21. The CPU 22 specifies the corresponding form ID from the position coordinates on the paper surface pointed on the basis of the dot pattern read by the camera 21 and the form ID stored in the memory 23, and the start mark 41 of the form 4. Detect that the position of is pointed.

  Thereafter, when a character is written (filled) in the character entry field 43 of the form 4, the CPU 22 processes the image captured by the camera 21 and sequentially stores the handwriting information obtained by the image processing in the memory 23 ( Step S101 in FIG. 7 and FIG. In the image processing here, processing such as analysis of a dot pattern of an image of a predetermined area captured by the camera 21 and conversion into position information is performed. The CPU 22 repeats the image processing until it is detected that the end mark 42 is pointed.

  When detecting that the end mark 42 is pointed, the CPU 22 transmits the handwriting information, the pen ID, and the form ID stored in the memory 23 to the form reading apparatus 1 through the USB cable 3 (step S102). The form ID is a main number such as “001”, for example.

  In the form reading device 1, the communication I / F 11 receives information such as handwriting information, pen ID, and form ID transmitted from the digital pen 2 and stores them in the memory 12.

  The OCR processing unit 14 refers to a form information table (not shown) in the data storage unit 16 based on the form ID in the memory 12 and reads out the corresponding form model data 35.

  Next, the OCR processing unit 14 generates a character unit image, that is, a handwritten character image using the form model data 35 read from the data storage unit 16 and the handwriting information stored in the memory 12 (i.e., converts it into an image ( In step S103), each character entry field 43 is stored in the memory 12 together with position coordinate data (position information).

  After generating the character images for all the character entry fields 43, the OCR processing unit 14 gives a confirmation screen in which the handwritten character images in the memory 12 are arranged after assigning a temporary form number for identifying those handwritten character images. The form data (start time, form identification number, contents of each field, etc.) displayed and confirmed on the display unit 19 is registered in the image management table 34 (step S104). The form identification number is obtained by adding a branch number to the form ID. If the character image displayed on the confirmation screen is incorrect, correction or the like is performed.

  After that, the OCR processing unit 14 performs character recognition processing by image matching between the handwritten character image in the memory 12 and the character image in the dictionary 15 (step S105), and character codes corresponding to the matching or similar character images, that is, text data. Is read from the dictionary 15 and used as a character recognition result. If a matching or similar character image does not hit, “?” Is assigned as the character recognition result of the character image.

  Subsequently, the data processing unit 18 assigns a primary key that is identification information unique to the handwritten form such as a security number to the character recognition result data, and forms data using the text data of the character recognition result. Is created (step S106), and the form data is stored in the data storage unit 16, and the security number as the primary key is registered in the field of the security number of the corresponding form data in the form management table 33 (step S107). As a result, a series of form data is linked by the security number.

Thereafter, when an error or the like is found in the description content of the form 4, the user does not use the form having the form identification number “001-1” (hereinafter referred to as “form A data”) in which characters have already been written. Then, “001-1”, which is the form identification number of form A, is entered in another form (hereinafter referred to as “form B data”), and then correct characters are entered in the corrected part.
Then, through the processing from step S101 to step S107, as shown in FIG. 9, form B data is added to the image management table 34 in the item of form identification number “001-2”.
In the example of FIG. 9, “Tokyo Seigaoka 1-23” described in the column of the address item of the form A data of the form identification number “001-1” is an error, and the form identification number “001-2”. It is assumed that the correct character is described as “Tokyo Seiki 1-2-3” in the address field of the form B data.

On the other hand, in the memory 12, “001-1”, which is the form identification number of the form A data, is stored as the character recognition result of the handwritten character image by the process of step S 103.
Here, when the user performs a data editing operation for a plurality of forms from the keyboard or the like, the input unit 17 accepts the data editing operation for the plurality of forms and notifies the data processing unit 18 through the control unit 10. .

Based on this notification, the data processing unit 18 determines that there is a data editing operation for a plurality of forms (Yes in step S108), and identifies the same form as the form identification number “001-1” of the form A stored in the memory 12 It is checked whether or not form data having a number exists in the image management table 34 (step S109).
As a result of the check, if the form data having the form identification number “001-1” exists (Yes in step S109), the data processing unit 18 compares the corresponding data in the image management table 34 and each handwritten character image. Are merged in units of fields (step S110).

  As conditions for merging, the start times of the image management table 34 in FIG. 6 are compared, and the data with the earlier start time (form identification number “001-1”) is used as the base (form form). The portion of the data having the identification number “001-2”) that is not “NULL” is overwritten. In addition, it may be confirmed (validity confirmation) that two forms are described by the same person by checking the degree of coincidence of images of handwritten characters such as signatures handwritten at a certain position of the form.

Then, the data processing unit 18 registers the merged form data (merge data) in the image management table 34 as new form data and also stores the merge source (form A data, form B data) of the image management table 34. Set “Unusable” in each flag field. When registering as new form data in the image management table 34, the form data can be preserved as one data by giving the form identification number of the form A data of the merge source.
At the same time, the data processing unit 18 stores the actual data of the merge data in the data storage unit 16 (step S111).

Thus, according to the form reading system of this embodiment, a character image is generated using handwriting information obtained from a digitizer that combines a pen-type handwriting input device such as the digital pen 2 and the dot pattern of the form 4, When an error is found in the description of the first form A when saving the form data, it is read from the original form A by writing the correction contents in a form B different from the first form A. Since the handwritten character image can be corrected and managed as form A data, when the form cannot be erased, it can be deleted, rewritten, or added to the form and the data obtained from the form. In addition, it is possible to maintain and manage the form data while keeping the correction history of the form data.
The present invention can be applied to a form in which characters are entered with a ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, or the like, such as an application form to a financial institution such as a bank, a contract form to an insurance company or a telephone company, or an application form.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
In the above embodiment, the correction contents are entered in a form different from the form in which characters are initially entered, and the forms data are merged. However, in the case of additional writing, the form in which characters are initially entered should be used again. Can do.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, in the image management table 34, the form identification number is the same for the form A in which the character is first entered and the form A ′ in which the character is added later. This is the same as the processing after step S108 shown in FIG.
In other words, the data processing unit 18 compares the corresponding data in the image management table 34 and merges each handwritten character image on a field basis in such a manner that the data with the earlier start time is overwritten with the data with the earlier start time. . However, in this case, as shown in FIG. 11, only the field in which “NULL” is set among the data of the form A with early start time, the handwritten character image “in the corresponding field of the form A ′ with late start time” Merge data is created by merging "03-0000-0000".

The block diagram which shows the structure of the form reading system of one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the form used for a form reading system. The figure which shows the structure of the digital pen of the form reading system of FIG. The figure which shows an example of the dot pattern of the form imaged in the imaging area of the camera of the digital pen of FIG. The figure which shows an example of the form management table used for a form reading system. The figure which shows an example of the image management table used for a form reading system. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the form reading system of this embodiment. The figure which shows the mode of preparation of form data. The figure which shows the change of form data at the time of describing correction content in the form different from the form which initially filled in the character. The figure which shows the image management table at the time of describing correction content in the same form as the form which initially filled in the character. The figure which shows the change of form data at the time of describing correction content in the same form as the form which entered the character initially.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Form reading apparatus, 2 ... Digital pen, 3 ... USB cable, 4 ... Form, 10 ... Control part, 11 ... Communication I / F, 12 ... Memory, 14 ... OCR process part, 15 ... Dictionary, 16 ... Data storage , 17 ... Input unit, 18 ... Data processing unit, 19 ... Display unit, 20 ... Case unit, 21 ... Camera, 22 ... CPU, 23 ... Memory, 24 ... Communication unit, 25 ... Pen unit, 26 ... Ink tank, 27 ... writing pressure sensor, 41 ... start mark, 42 ... end mark, 43 ... text entry field

Claims (2)

A form data storage means for storing form data of a form in which no characters are entered in the character entry field;
A digital pen that obtains handwriting information of characters written in the character entry field of the form;
Based on the handwriting information of the character and the form data of the form of the form form data storage means, the image data of the character written in each character entry column of the form is generated, and the form is added to the generated character image data. A character image generation means for adding form identification information to be identified;
An image management table for managing the image data generated by the character image generation means in units of each character entry column of the form;
Means for registering in the image management table the character image data generated by the character image generating means, the form identification information, and the entry time of the character in association with each other;
Input means for accepting an input operation for merging data of a plurality of forms;
When an input operation for merging a plurality of form data is accepted by the input means, the character image data is merged in units of each character entry column for the plurality of form data based on the entry time of the image management table. And a form reading system comprising a form data aggregating means for generating data of one form. Based on the handwriting information of characters received from the digital pen and the form data of the form stored in advance in the storage unit, the image data of the characters written in each character entry column of the form is generated, and the generated character image Providing form identification information for identifying the form to data;
Registering the generated character image data, the form identification information, and the entry time of the character in the storage unit;
Receiving an input operation for merging data of a plurality of forms;
When the input operation is accepted, based on the entry time stored in the storage unit, the character image data is merged in units of each character entry column for a plurality of form data to generate one form data. A form reading method comprising: steps.

Images