JP2009205647A - Address code output apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To output an address code even when information on an address character string is not divided based on each part of the address code. <P>SOLUTION: An address code output apparatus acquires a zip code and an address character string to be processed. The acquired address character string is divided into parts including a high-order address character string and a low-order address character string by using the acquired zip code. The apparatus then outputs an address code by using the low-order address character string acquired by the division. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an address code output device that outputs an address code used for mail delivery, for example.

  In the field of logistics such as mail, address information is encoded and used as an address code to facilitate sorting and delivery. In recent years, a barcode including an address code is generated, printed on a destination label, and mechanically sorted using the barcode.

  These address codes are generally coded at each address stage, such as prefectures, municipalities, etc .. For example, in the 11-digit code defined by the Geographical Association of Japan, the upper 2 digits are defined by JIS. It is information representing a prefecture, and the third to fifth digits are information representing a city, town, town, and village defined by JIS.

  Furthermore, the 6th to 11th digits are codes unique to the Geographical Survey Association of Japan, and include parts that represent large letters, commonly known parts, letters, and parts that represent chomes.

  In order to generate this address code, the part corresponding to the upper 5 digits (higher address character string) representing the prefecture / city / town / town, and the part corresponding to the lower 6th to 11th digits (lower address character string) And other parts (accompanying information) are input separately.

On the other hand, in order to simplify such address information input work, an address character string is taken in from an official document such as a driver's license by optical character recognition (OCR) and used.
JP 2003-248791 A

  However, optical character recognition cannot always read a character string accurately. Also, the optically recognized address character string is not delimited corresponding to each part of the address code. For this reason, there is a problem that even if it can be registered in the database as it is, the processing for generating the address code is hindered. An example of a technique for generating an address code is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an address code output device capable of outputting an address code even when the address character string information is not divided corresponding to each part of the address code, and One of its purposes is to provide a program.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the above-mentioned conventional example is an address code output device, using an acquisition means for acquiring a postal code and an address character string to be processed, and the acquired postal code, A dividing unit that divides the acquired address character string into a portion including a higher address character string and a lower address character string; and an output unit that outputs an address code using the lower address character string obtained by the division. It is meant to be included.

  Here, the dividing unit acquires a part of the address code related to the acquired zip code, and determines a part of the address character string specified by the part of the acquired address code as an upper address character string. In addition, the remaining address character string portion excluding the upper address character string is extracted from the acquired address character string, and the output means associates a part of the address code, the lower address character string, and the entire address code. The address code table may be referred to, and the entire address code may be searched from a part of the extracted address string portion and the acquired address code, and the search result may be output. Good.

  The address code table holds a postal code, a part of the address code, a lower address character string, and the entire address code in association with each other, and the dividing means refers to the address code table. A part of the address code may be acquired using the acquired zip code as a key.

  Further, the dividing means further refers to the address code table, extracts a lower address character string from the extracted address character string portion, and removes the extracted lower address character string from the extracted address character string portion The additional information may be extracted, and the output unit may output the upper address character string, the lower address character string, and the additional information together with the address code.

  Further, the dividing unit may further include an error notifying unit for notifying an error when the address character string cannot be divided into a part including the upper address character string and the lower address character string. The dividing unit may further include an error notifying unit for notifying an error when a lower address character string cannot be extracted from the extracted address character string portion.

  An address code output device according to an aspect of the present invention is a relay device that receives and holds an address character string obtained by reading from an official document, and performs processing for registering the held information in a registration destination database. The acquired address character string is acquired using the acquisition means for acquiring the postal code generated based on the address character string, and the acquired postal code, and connected to the relay device. Using the dividing means for dividing the upper address character string and the portion including the lower address character string, and the lower address character string obtained by the division, the address code is determined, and the determined address code is stored in the registration destination Output means for outputting to the database and updating the contents of the registration destination database.

  Further, the program according to another aspect of the present invention uses a computer to acquire the postal code and address character string to be processed, and the acquired address character string using the acquired postal code. A division means for dividing an address character string and a portion including a lower address character string, and an output means for outputting an address code using the lower address character string obtained by the division, is there.

  According to the present invention, the address code can be output even when the address character string information is not divided corresponding to each part of the address code.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The address code output device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an operation unit 13, a display unit 14, and a communication unit 15, as illustrated in FIG. The address code output device 1 is connected to the registration relay device 2 and the central database system 4 via a communication line such as a network. Further, the registration relay device 2 is connected to the registration terminal 3 via a communication line such as a network. Here, the communication line connecting the registration relay device 2 and the registration terminal 3 may be different from or the same as the communication line to which the address code output device 1 is connected.

  Here, the control unit 11 is a program control device such as a CPU, and operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 12. The control unit 11 acquires postal code and address character string information from the registered relay apparatus 2 that records postal code and address character string information, and uses the acquired postal code information to generate address characters. A process of dividing the column into an upper address character string and a portion including the lower address character string is performed. Further, the control unit 11 outputs an address code using the lower address character string. Details of the processing of the control unit 11 will be described later.

  The storage unit 12 includes a storage element such as a memory and a storage device such as a hard disk. The storage unit 12 holds a program executed by the control unit 11. The program may be provided by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a DVD-ROM. The storage unit 12 also operates as a work memory for the control unit 11. Further, the storage unit 12 stores a table (address code table) associating address information and address code information as an address master.

  Here, the address master may associate the partial address character string including the upper address character string and the lower address character string necessary for specifying the address code with the entire 11-digit address code, for example. However, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the address master is recorded in the following two tables in order to suppress the scale of the address master and to create a realistic database. That is, the address master of the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2 as the first table,

(1) Part of the address code (for example, the upper 5 digits): P1
(2) Upper address character string for identifying the part: P2
Are related. In addition,
(3) Reading address of upper address string: P3
May be further associated with each other.

As the second table, as illustrated in FIG.
(1) Whole address code (for example, 11 digits): Q1
(2) 7-digit postal code corresponding to the address code: Q2
(3) Subordinate address character string corresponding to the address code: Q3
Are related.
In addition,
(4) Old postal code 5 digits corresponding to the address code: Q4
(5) Kana reading of lower address string: Q5
May be further associated with each other.

  The operation unit 13 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, accepts a user operation, and outputs information representing the content of the accepted operation to the control unit 11. The display unit 14 is a display or the like, and displays and outputs information according to an instruction input from the control unit 11.

  The communication unit 15 is a network interface or the like, and transmits information to an instructed destination via communication means such as a network in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 11. The communication unit 15 receives incoming information via communication means such as a network and outputs the information to the control unit 11.

  In the present embodiment, the registration terminal 3 reads the address character string by an optical character recognition process from an official document in which the address to be registered such as a driver's license is recorded. 2 to send. In this address character string, no division corresponding to each part of the address code is made. Here, although it is assumed that it is read from a public document, the registration terminal 3 may receive and transmit address information that is not separated corresponding to the address code. .

  When the registration relay device 2 acquires the address character string information from the registration terminal 3, it issues identification information unique to each information. In addition, the registration relay device 2 acquires a zip code corresponding to the address represented by the acquired address character string. The postal code may be acquired by the registration relay device 2 referring to the postal code database and acquiring the postal code corresponding to the key that has the longest forward match with the acquired address character string. The postal code information may be obtained on the third side, and the postal code information may be transmitted to the registration relay device 2 together with the address character string.

  The registration relay device 2 records the acquired address character string and zip code in association with the issued identification information. In addition, the registration relay device 2 transmits the recorded identification information, address character string, and postal code to the central database system 4 at a predetermined timing so as to be registered as address information. The registration terminal 3 also acquires information such as name along with the address information, and the registration relay device 2 accepts the information of the related name along with the address character string, stores it in association with the identification information, and stores it in the central database system. The address character string will be described here.

  The central database system 4 includes a registration server 41 and an address database 42 which is a registration destination database. The address database 42 includes identification information (P) and a zip code (as shown in FIG. 4). T), upper address character string (A), lower address character string (B), supplementary information (C), and address code (D) are recorded in association with each other. In the address database 42, name information and the like may be further associated with the address information.

  The registration server 41 accumulates identification information and address information received from the registration relay device 2 in the address database 42. If the address information is not distinguished from the upper address character string, the lower address character string, and the incidental information, the entire address character string is stored in a predetermined item (for example, the upper address character string).

  Furthermore, when the registration server 41 of the present embodiment receives the identification information and the address information from the address code output device 1, the received identification information and the address information associated therewith are already stored in the address database 42. If the address information is stored in the address database 42, the address information stored in the address database 42 is overwritten with the newly received address information.

  The central database system 4 also distinguishes between the address information stored in the address database 42 as a high-order address character string, a low-order address character string, and incidental information, and for the address information in which the address code is recorded, a customer barcode You may perform the process which produces | generates.

  Next, processing of the control unit 11 of the address code output device 1 will be described. In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 acquires information on the zip code and address character string to be processed from the registered relay device 2. Then, using the acquired zip code and address character string information, the address code stored in the storage unit 12 is referenced to acquire and output the corresponding address code.

  That is, when the control unit 11 obtains the postal code (7 digits) and address character string information to be processed from the registration relay device 2, the control unit 11 starts the process shown in FIG. The address code associated with the postal code to be processed is referred to and acquired (S1). Here, there are a plurality of address codes that are generally acquired, and they are not determined as one. However, the address codes corresponding to the same zip code always have the same upper 5 digits. Therefore, the control unit 11 extracts a part of the acquired address code and the upper five-digit part (common part) (S2).

  The control unit 11 refers to the first table using the extracted common part as a key, and acquires a higher-order address character string associated with the common part (S3). Here, the control unit 11 checks whether or not there are a plurality of higher-order address character strings associated with the common part (S4). If there are a plurality of higher-order address character strings (if Yes), among the found higher-order address character strings, A higher-order address character string that has the longest match with the head of the address character string acquired from the registered relay device 2 as a processing target is selected (S5). On the other hand, when there is one upper address character string acquired in process S3 (in the case of No in process S4), the acquired upper address character string is selected (S6).

  The process S5 is, for example, as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the variable i is initialized to “1” (S11), and the address character string acquired from the registered relay device 2 as a processing target is extracted from the head to the i-th character (S12).

  Next, for each of the plurality of higher-order address character strings acquired in step S3, the first i-th character is extracted, and the upper-address character string that matches the portion extracted in step S12 is selected as a candidate. (S13). Then, it is checked whether or not there are a plurality of candidate higher-order address character strings (S14). If there are a plurality of candidate upper-order character strings (if Yes), i is incremented by “1” (S15), and the process proceeds to step S12. Return and repeat the process. If the number of candidate upper address character strings is “1” (if No) in process S14, the candidate upper address character string is selected (S16).

  For example, an address character string “Shinagawa-ku Higashi-Shinagawa XY ...” is acquired from the registered relay device 2, and “Shinagawa-ku Kita-Shinagawa”, “Shinagawa-ku Higashi-Shinagawa” in the process S3. Suppose that multiple high-order address strings are found. In this case, when i = 7, only the first seven characters of “Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo” match. Therefore, the control unit 11 selects the matching higher-order address character string “Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo”.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the control unit 11 selects one of the upper address character strings in this way, the remaining address character string is removed from the top address character string portion from the top of the address character string acquired from the registration relay device 2. A part is taken out (S7). The address character string part (target character string part) extracted here includes a lower address character string.

  The control unit 11 refers to the second table and searches for a lower address character string that is the longest match with the extracted target character string portion (S8). And the control part 11 acquires the information (11 digits) of the whole address code linked | related with the low-order address character string found as a result of the said search (S9).

  Further, the control unit 11 obtains additional information by excluding the lower address character string found by the search from the target character string portion (S10).

  Here, the process in the process S8 will be described. The process of this process S8 is as follows, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the variable i is initialized to “1” (S21), and the first i characters are extracted from the target character string portion including the lower address character string (S22).

  Next, by using up to the first i characters of the target character string portion extracted in step S22 as a key, a lower address character string that matches forward with this key is searched from the second table (S23). Then, as a result of the search, it is checked whether or not the number of lower address character strings found is plural (S24). If there are plural (if Yes), i is incremented by “1” (S25), It returns to process S22 and repeats a process. If the number of subordinate address character strings found from the second table by the search is one in the process S24 (if No), one subordinate address character string found by the search is output (S26). ). In process S9, the entire information of the address code associated with the lower address character string output in process S26 is extracted from the second table and output.

  Thus, the control unit 11 divides the address character string into the upper address character string, the lower address character string, and the incidental information, and acquires the entire information of the address code. And the control part 11 outputs such information.

  The address code output device 1 of the present embodiment has the above-described configuration and operates as follows. In the following example, an 11-digit address code determined by the Geographical Association of Japan is output, “1050021” as the zip code and “Higashishinbashi 1-XY ZZ Building N, Minato-ku, Tokyo” It is assumed that the “floor” is acquired from the registration relay device 2 together with the identification information.

  The address code output device 1 searches the address code corresponding to the postal code “1050021” with reference to the second table. Here, even if a plurality of address codes are searched, the upper five digits of these address codes are common in setting the address code. Here, the five digits are “13003”.

  The address code output device 1 searches the first address text from the first table using the upper five digits of the address code as a key. Here, the character string of the high-order address associated with the high-order address “13003” is “Minato-ku, Tokyo”. Therefore, the address code output device 1 uses the character string obtained by the search as a high-order address character string, removes the high-order address character string from the input address character string, and the remaining address character string portion (target character string). Part) "Higashi Shimbashi 1-XY ZZ Building N Floor" is extracted.

  The address code output device 1 searches the second table for a lower-order address character string that matches the longest in front of the target character string portion. For example, in the first character “East”, “Higashi-Shinbashi…” and “Higashi-Azabu…” will be matched forward. To come. Further, assuming that up to the fourth character “Higashishinbashi1”, only “Higashishinbashi1” is matched forward, the address code output device 1 is associated with this “Higashishinbashi1”. The entire address code (11 digits) is acquired from the second table. Here, “13003052901” is assumed.

  The address code output device 1 removes the subordinate address character string “Higashishinbashi 1” found here from the target character string portion and uses the remaining “−XY ZZ building N floor” as supplementary information. In this incidental information, when the first character is a character that concatenates the address number of the address, such as a hyphen or “no”, the address code output device 1 removes this and adds “XY ZZ”. The “building N floor” may be used as incidental information.

Thereby, the address code output device 1
Upper address string: “Minato-ku, Tokyo”
Lower address string: “Higashi Shimbashi 1”
Attached information: "XY ZZ Building N Floor"
Address code: “13003052901”
Is obtained and output to the central database system 4. At this time, the address code output device 1 also transmits the identification information acquired from the registration relay device 2 together with the postal code and address character string that are the sources of the information.

  In the central database system 4, the address information associated with the identification information is overwritten with these information output by the address code output device 1. As a result, the central database system 4 can issue a customer barcode, for example.

  In the description so far, the control unit 11 of the address code output device 1 may perform the above-described processing after performing the normalization processing on the address character string acquired from the initially registered relay device 2. Here, the normalization processing is, for example, “2-chome 2-address 20”, “2-2-2-20”, etc., such as “chome”, “address”, “no”, “no”, etc. Is converted to characters used in the first and second tables, such as a hyphen. Also, “F” representing the floor of the building is converted into a character (for example, “floor”) used in the first and second tables.

  Further, the control unit 11 converts the address character string into the upper address character string and the lower address character when the address code is not obtained in the process S1 or when no match is found as a result of the search in the process S14. Cannot be divided into parts containing columns. Therefore, in this case, the control unit 11 may determine that there is an error in the acquired address character string and notify the error.

  Furthermore, if no matching item is found as a result of the search in step S24, the control unit 11 cannot extract the lower address character string from the address character string portion (target character string portion). Therefore, in this case, the control unit 11 may determine that there is an error in the acquired address character string and notify the error.

  Further, in the description so far, when the address code output device 1 acquires the upper address character string, the lower address character string, the incidental information, and the address code information, these are output to the central database system 4 as they are. However, after displaying the acquired information on the display unit 14 (FIG. 8), the operator may operate the operation unit 13 to instruct registration, and then output the information to the central database system 4.

  Further, when an error is notified, a display screen similar to that shown in FIG. 8 is displayed (FIG. 9). From this display screen, an operation button (A) for inquiring an address corresponding to the acquired zip code is displayed. An operation button (B) for inquiring merger information included in the address may be included. When these operation buttons are pressed (clicked or the like), the address code output device 1 acquires and displays a list of addresses corresponding to the acquired zip codes from the zip code database, or displays one address string. The merger information of the municipalities searched using the department as a key is acquired from the database storing the merger information and displayed.

  Here, as the second table, the entire address code, the postal code, and the lower address character string are associated with each other. However, in the second table, the upper address character string and not the lower address character string are used. A character string including a lower address character string may be recorded. In this case, the control part 11 should just make the low-order address character string part except the high-order address character string acquired beforehand the object of a search by process S8 (process S24).

  Further, the table that associates the zip code and the address code may be another table as the third table. In this case, the postal code information is not necessarily required in the second table.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, an address code can be generated and output using a realistic database even when the address character string information is not separated corresponding to each part of the address code.

It is a block diagram showing a system including an address code output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the content of the 1st table of the database which the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention hold | maintains. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the content of the 2nd table of the database which the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention hold | maintains. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the address database which the central database system connected to the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention hold | maintains. It is a flowchart figure showing the process example of the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure showing the example of the process which selects the high-order address character string in the address code output device concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a flowchart figure showing the example of the process which selects the low-order address character string in the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the display screen which the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention outputs. It is explanatory drawing showing another example of the display screen which the address code output device which concerns on embodiment of this invention outputs.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Address code output device, 2 Registration relay apparatus, 3 Registration terminal, 4 Central database system, 11 Control part, 12 Storage part, 13 Operation part, 14 Display part, 15 Communication part, 41 Registration server, 42 Address database.

Claims (8)

An acquisition means for acquiring a postal code and address character string to be processed;
Using the acquired zip code, a dividing unit that divides the acquired address character string into a portion including an upper address character string and a lower address character string;
Using the lower address character string obtained by the division, output means for outputting an address code;
An address code output device comprising: The address code output device according to claim 1,
The dividing unit obtains a part of an address code related to the obtained zip code, determines a part of an address character string specified by a part of the obtained address code as an upper address character string, From the acquired address string, take out the remaining address string portion excluding the upper address string,
The output means refers to an address code table in which a part of an address code, a subordinate address character string, and an entire address code are associated, and a part of the extracted address character string part and the acquired address An address code output device that searches the entire address code from a part of the code and outputs a result of the search. The address code output device according to claim 2,
The address code table holds a postal code, a part of the address code, a subordinate address character string, and the entire address code in association with each other,
The address code output device according to claim 1, wherein the dividing means acquires a part of the address code with reference to the address code table using the acquired zip code as a key. The address code output device according to claim 2 or 3,
The dividing means further refers to the address code table, extracts a lower address character string from the extracted address character string portion, and removes the extracted lower address character string from the extracted address character string portion. Take out the incidental information,
The output means outputs an upper address character string, a lower address character string, and accompanying information together with an address code. The address code output device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An address code output device characterized by further comprising an error notifying means for notifying an error when the dividing means cannot divide the address character string into a portion including the upper address character string and the lower address character string. The address code output device according to claim 4,
An address code output device characterized by further comprising an error notifying means for notifying an error when the dividing means cannot extract a lower address character string from the taken out address character string portion. Received and held the address string obtained by reading from the official document, connected to a relay device that executes processing for registering the held information in the registration destination database,
An acquisition means for acquiring an address character string from the relay device and acquiring a postal code generated based on the address character string;
Using the acquired zip code, a dividing unit that divides the acquired address character string into a portion including an upper address character string and a lower address character string;
An output means for determining an address code using the lower address character string obtained by the division, outputting the determined address code to the registration destination database, and updating the contents of the registration destination database;
An address code output device comprising: Computer
An acquisition means for acquiring a postal code and address character string to be processed;
Using the acquired zip code, a dividing unit that divides the acquired address character string into a portion including an upper address character string and a lower address character string;
Using the lower address character string obtained by the division, output means for outputting an address code;
A program characterized by functioning as

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