JP2009027648A - Image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing device which can automatically generate a file name by which a user can comprehend the content of an image data easily. <P>SOLUTION: Based on the image data read by a CCD 14, a plurality of character strings is extracted from the image of the image data by character recognition, a concatenated character string composed by concatenating the plurality of the character strings is used as the file name of the image data. In the concatenated character string used as the file name, a delimiter (for example, en-quad) for identifying the boundary between the character strings before being concatenated is inserted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for creating a file of given image data.

  An apparatus that automatically generates a file name when generating an image file by scanning a document is known. Some of these apparatuses generate a file name using serial number or date information at the time of file generation. However, this is inconvenient even if the user looks at the file name and the contents of the file cannot be determined.

Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which the read image is subjected to OCR (Optical Character Reader) processing, a characteristic character string is extracted from the document, and used as a file name (Patent Document 1). Since some characteristic character strings are extracted from the document, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228688, character recognition is performed only in the preset area and character strings are extracted. Also, a technique has been proposed in which a plurality of characteristic character strings are extracted and displayed in order of appearance frequency, and the user selects one of them (Patent Document 2). Even in this case, the contents of the file cannot always be grasped by one of the extracted character strings, and a user operation is also required. A technique for combining a plurality of character strings to form a file name has also been proposed (Patent Document 3), but it is necessary to sequentially input a plurality of character strings by key operation, which places a heavy burden on the user.
JP 2005-56315 A JP 2006-211261 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-289137

  Therefore, a problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that can automatically generate a file name that allows a user to easily grasp the contents of image data.

  In order to solve the above problem, the image processing apparatus combines a character recognition unit that extracts a plurality of character strings by character recognition from an image of given image data, and combines the plurality of character strings. A character string processing unit that generates a sequence; and a file generation unit that generates the image data file using the combined character string as a file name.

  In the image processing apparatus, the character string processing unit inserts a delimiter for identifying a boundary between the character strings before being combined into the combined character string.

  In the image processing apparatus, the character recognition unit extracts the character string from the image by a predetermined number via a predetermined operation unit.

  Further, in the image processing device, the character string processing unit, when the number of characters of the combined character string exceeds a predetermined upper limit, the character string at the end of the combined character string or the character string at the end Truncate the characters inside.

  In the image processing apparatus, the character recognition unit extracts a character string having a predetermined characteristic from the image.

  The image processing apparatus further includes a reading unit that reads an image of a document and outputs the image data.

  According to the present invention, a plurality of character strings are extracted from the image data image by character recognition, and a combined character string formed by combining the plurality of character strings is used as a file name of the image data. As a result, a file name that allows the user to easily grasp the contents of the image data can be automatically generated. The file name generated in this way can be used for keyword search using a character string included in the file name and is convenient.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the delimiter for identifying the boundary between the character strings before being combined is inserted into the combined character string used as the file name, the user is included in the combined character string. You can easily grasp each character string.

  Further, according to the present invention, the user can set in advance the number of character strings to be automatically extracted from the image of the image data, so that the user's request can be flexibly handled.

  Further, according to the present invention, when the number of characters in the combined character string exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, the character string at the end of the combined character string or the character in the character string at the end is truncated. The length is automatically kept within an appropriate range.

  According to the present invention, a character string having a predetermined characteristic is extracted from an image of the image data, and a file name of the image data is created using the character string. Based on this, the contents of the image data can be accurately grasped.

  Further, according to the present invention, when saving the image data read by the reading unit, a file name that allows the user to easily grasp the contents of the image data can be automatically generated.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile composite apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as “composite apparatus”) as an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the composite apparatus includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 11, an NCU (Network Control Unit) 12, a modem (MODEM) 13, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 14 as a reading unit, and an image processing circuit 15. , CODEC (encoder / decoder) 16 for facsimile, CODEC 17 for JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), operation unit 18, ROM (Read Only Memory) 19, SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) 20, image memory 21, hard disk interface 22 A hard disk drive (HDD) 23, a printer 24, and a LAN (Local Area Network) interface 25. The functions provided in the composite apparatus 1 include a printer function, a facsimile function, an Internet facsimile function, a copy function, a scanner function, and the like. The scanner function includes a function (scan-to-folder, scan-to-FTP (File Transfer Protocol), or the like) that stores scanned image data in a predetermined storage destination.

  The MPU 11 supervises the control of the multifunction apparatus 1 and operates by software. As functional elements of the MPU 11, a reading control unit 11a, a character recognition unit 11b, a character string processing unit 11c, and a file generation unit 11d are provided. The role of these functional elements will be described in detail later.

  The NCU 12 is hardware for connecting a line to an analog public switched telephone network (PSTN), and connects the modem 13 to the public telephone line network as necessary. The modem 13 is a facsimile modem capable of facsimile communication.

  The CCD 14 is an element that reads an image of a document, and is controlled by a reading control unit 11a of the MPU 11 described later. The image processing circuit 15 performs image processing such as various corrections on the image data given from the CCD 14.

  The facsimile CODEC 16 is used for encoding and decoding of image data transmitted and received by facsimile. The JPEG CODEC 17 is used for JPEG compression of image data and the like acquired by the CCD 14.

  The operation unit 18 is used for operation of the multifunction apparatus 1 and includes a keyboard, a liquid crystal display unit, and the like.

  The ROM 19 stores various software read by the MPU 11, setting data, and the like. For example, the ROM 19 stores an OCR program used when the character recognition unit 11b of the MPU 11 performs character recognition. The SRAM 20 stores phone book data and the like.

  The image memory 21 is used as a work area or the like when the MPU 11 performs image processing, and includes a memory controller 211 and an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 212.

  The printer 24 prints the image data read from the document by the CCD 14, the image data received by the facsimile, and the like on a recording sheet. The LAN interface 25 is responsible for data communication via a network (such as the LAN 31 and the Internet 32). Therefore, the composite apparatus 1 can perform data communication with a plurality of terminal devices 33 such as personal computers via the LAN 31 and can also connect to the Internet 32 via the gateway 34 connected to the LAN 31.

  Next, functions of the MPU 11 will be described. The reading control unit 11a of the MPU 11 controls the CCD 14 and the like to read an image from a document.

  The character recognition unit 11b extracts a plurality of character strings having characteristics predetermined by character recognition from the image data image acquired from the document by the CCD. As a method for extracting a character string, for example, a method for preferentially extracting an emphasized character string or a character string serving as a headline, or a method for extracting a character string randomly from an image of a document is adopted. Is done. Here, examples of the emphasized character string include a character string having a large character size, a character string written in bold, and a character string with an underline. Examples of the character string serving as the headline include a character string located at the beginning of the document or each paragraph, a character string centered at the center of each line, and the like. In addition, the number of character strings extracted by the character recognition unit 11b and the upper limit value of the number of characters of each extracted character string can be set in advance by a user operation via the operation unit 18. For example, the number of characters in the character string extracted by the character recognition unit 11b can be set to an arbitrary value with an upper limit of 10 characters.

  The character string processing unit 11c creates a combined character string by combining a plurality of character strings extracted by the character recognition unit 11b. At this time, a delimiter for identifying the boundary between the character strings before being combined is inserted into the combined character string. As the delimiter, various full-width or half-width symbols that can be used as file names can be adopted. For example, a space, hyphen, underbar, or various parenthesis symbols can be adopted. When using a parenthesis symbol as a delimiter, the parenthesis symbol is inserted so as to sandwich each character string to be combined. In this embodiment, a half-width space is adopted as a delimiter.

  In addition, when the number of characters of the combined character string exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, the character string processing unit 11c truncates the character string at the end of the combined character string or the character string at the end of the combined character string, Adjust the number of characters so that it does not exceed the upper limit. This will be described, for example, when the upper limit value of the number of characters in the combined character string is 52 full-width characters. For example, it is assumed that six character strings of 10 characters are extracted by the character recognition unit 11b. In this case, if the six character strings are all combined by inserting a delimiter (half-width space), the number of characters in the combined character string is 10 + 0.5 + 10 + 0.5 + 10 + 0.5 + 10 + 0.5 + 10 + 0.5 + 10 = 62.5 characters. Become. Therefore, since the upper limit of 52 characters is exceeded, the sixth character string is truncated, and the fifth character string is combined to create a combined character string.

  The file generation unit 11d generates a file of image data read by the CCD 14 using the combined character string created by the character string processing unit 11c as a file name, and stores the file in a predetermined storage location. As the storage destination, for example, the HDD 23 in the multifunction device 1 or the external terminal device 33 is used. At this time, the file generation unit 11d generates a file of image data using the temporary file name, and when the combined character string is given from the character string processing unit 11c, the file name of the file is changed to the temporary file name. The name may be rewritten into a combined character string.

  Here, the image data stored as the file name of the combined character string obtained by such image recognition includes image data read by the above-described scanner function, image data transmitted by facsimile, and the like. As a modification, not only image data read by the CCD 14 but also image data received by facsimile and Internet facsimile, and image data given from the terminal device 33 via the LAN 31 are obtained by image recognition. The combined character string may be used as the file name.

  Next, the operation of the MUP 11 when storing the read image data will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, in step S <b> 1, the reading unit 11 a controls the CCD 14 and the like to read an image from a document in accordance with a start instruction input via the operation unit 18. At this time, the file generation unit 11d may generate the read image data file using a temporary file name. The file given the temporary file name is held in the SDRAM 212, for example.

  In the subsequent step S2, the character recognition unit 11b extracts a plurality of character strings having features predetermined by character recognition from the image data image read by the CCD 14 as described above. In the subsequent step S3, a combined character string is created by combining a plurality of character strings extracted by the character recognition unit 11b as described above. At this time, a predetermined delimiter (for example, a half-width space) is inserted into the combined character string.

  In the subsequent step S4, a file of image data read by the CCD 14 is generated using the combined character string created by the character string processing unit 11c as a file name, and the file is stored in a predetermined storage destination. At this time, if the image data file has already been generated using the temporary file name, the file generation unit 11d rewrites the file name of the file from the temporary file name to the combined character string, Save the file to a specified destination.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of character strings are extracted from an image of image data by character recognition, and a combined character string formed by combining the plurality of character strings is an image read by the CCD 14. Used as data file name. As a result, a file name that allows the user to easily grasp the contents of the image data can be automatically generated. The file name generated in this way can be used for keyword search using a character string included in the file name and is convenient.

  In addition, a delimiter (for example, a single-byte space) for identifying a boundary between character strings before being combined is inserted in the combined character string used as a file name, so that the user is included in the combined character string. You can easily grasp each character string.

  Further, since the number of character strings to be automatically extracted from the image data image can be set in advance by the user, it is possible to respond flexibly to the user's request.

  If the number of characters in the combined character string exceeds a predetermined upper limit, the character string at the end of the combined character string or the character in the end character string is truncated, so the length of the file name is automatically It is kept within the proper range.

  In addition, since a character string having a predetermined characteristic is extracted from the image data image, and the file name of the image data is created using the character string, the content of the image data can be determined by the user based on the file name. Can be accurately grasped.

  In the above-described embodiment, reading of an image from a document, extraction of a character string from an image, creation of a combined character string, and generation of a file are performed by the composite apparatus 1, but the processing load is large. Extraction of a character string from an image and creation of a combined character string may be performed by an external information processing apparatus via the LAN 31.

1 is a block diagram of a facsimile complex apparatus as an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of MUP at the time of preserve | saving the read image data.

Explanation of symbols

1 Facsimile MFP 11 MPU
11a Reading control unit 11b Character recognition unit 11c Character string processing unit 11d File generation unit 14 CCD
18 Operation unit

Claims (6)

A character recognition unit that extracts a plurality of character strings by character recognition from an image of given image data;
A character string processing unit that creates a combined character string by combining the plurality of character strings;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a file generation unit configured to generate a file of the image data using the combined character string as a file name. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.
The image processing apparatus, wherein the character string processing unit inserts a delimiter symbol for identifying a boundary between the character strings before being combined into the combined character string. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The image processing apparatus, wherein the character recognizing unit extracts the character string from the image by a predetermined number through a predetermined operation unit. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The character string processing unit truncates the character string at the end of the combined character string or the character string at the end when the number of characters of the combined character string exceeds a predetermined upper limit value. An image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The image processing apparatus, wherein the character recognition unit extracts a character string having a predetermined characteristic from the image. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An image processing apparatus, further comprising a reading unit that reads an image of a document and outputs the image data.

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