JP2009258885A - Paper sheets processing apparatus and paper sheets processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely recognize characters printed on the surface of a paper sheets even when the engraved characters of the surface of securities are faint or any character is not printed at all due to the ink shortage of a check writer. <P>SOLUTION: A paper sheets processing apparatus is configured to recognize characters printed on the surface of a paper sheets such as securities. The paper sheets processing apparatus includes: a back face information reading means 22 for generating image data by reading the back face of paper sheets; an image processing means 15 for generating image processing data by processing the image data of the back face of the paper sheets read by the back face information reading means 22; and a recognition means 19 for recognizing the characters printed on the surface of the paper sheets based on the image processing data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper sheet processing apparatus and a paper sheet processing method for reliably recognizing characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet.

From OCR that reads the amount of paper, a display device that displays an image of the amount column read by OCR when the amount cannot be read by OCR, a keyboard that manually inputs the amount by looking at this display device, and OCR A device equipped with a MICR printer that MICR prints the amount of money read by the OCR or the amount input by the keyboard on the downstream side, and an optical system that captures the image of the handprint / check printed by the MICR printer on a microfilm It is known (see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-5-297469

  However, with such a conventional technique, when the character on the surface of the securities is faint or not printed at all due to the ink being cut out by the check writer, etc., it is printed on the surface of the paper sheet by OCR. When the amount of money that has been read is not read, it is necessary for the operator to input and correct the amount of money with the keyboard based on the display on the display device. For this reason, there is a possibility that the operator makes a reading mistake or makes an input mistake and the input data (recognition data) includes an error. Further, when the amount of paper sheets that cannot be read by the OCR increases, the frequency of input by the operator increases, which takes much time and reduces work efficiency.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and even when a check writer has run out of ink or the like, the surface of the securities has faint characters or no characters are printed at all. Characters printed on the surface of leaves can be recognized reliably. As a result, errors in recognition data due to operator reading errors and input errors can be prevented, and work efficiency can be improved. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet processing apparatus and a paper sheet processing method.

The paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
In a paper sheet processing apparatus that recognizes characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet,
Back side information reading means for reading the back side of the paper sheet and generating image data;
Image processing means for processing image data on the back side of the paper sheet read by the back side information reading means to generate image processing data;
Recognition means for recognizing characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet based on image processing data;
It has.

In the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention,
Surface information reading means for reading the image of the surface of the paper sheet and generating image data;
Reversing means for inverting either the image data of the back side of the paper sheet generated by the back surface information reading means or the image data of the front surface of the paper sheet generated by the front surface information reading means; Prepared,
The image processing means processes image data of the surface of the paper sheet generated by the surface information reading means to generate image processing data,
The recognizing unit recognizes a character printed on the surface of a paper sheet based on one image processing data reversed by the reversing unit and other image processing data not reversed by the reversing unit. Is preferred.

In the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable that the recognition means recognizes characters printed on a sheet based on composite image information generated by adding one image processing data and another image processing data.

In the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable that the recognition means recognizes characters printed on paper sheets based on composite image information generated only from overlapping portions of one image processing data and other image processing data.

In the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention,
The image processing means comprises binarization means for binarizing the image data of the back surface and the front surface to generate binary image data,
The binarization means binarizes the back side image data to generate binary image data, and lowers the threshold value compared to the case of binarizing the front side image data to generate binary image data. It is preferable to use it.

In the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable that the image forming apparatus further includes a reversing unit that reverses the image data on the back side of the paper sheet generated by the back surface information reading unit.

In the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention,
It is preferable that the image forming apparatus further includes a correcting unit that emphasizes a character outline of image data on the back side of the paper sheet generated by the back side information reading unit.

The paper sheet processing method according to the present invention includes:
In a paper sheet processing method for recognizing characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet,
A back side information reading step of reading image information on the back side of the paper sheet and generating image data;
An image processing step of generating image processing data by performing two processes on the image data of the back side of the paper sheet read by the back surface information reading unit;
A recognition process for recognizing characters printed on the surface of paper sheets based on image processing data;
It has.

  According to the present invention, the character printed on the front surface of the paper sheet is recognized based on the image processing data obtained by processing the image data on the back surface of the paper sheet read by the back surface information reading unit. Even when the indented characters on the surface of the securities are faint due to running out of ink or when the characters are not printed at all, the characters printed on the surface of the paper sheet can be reliably recognized. For this reason, it is possible to prevent an error from occurring in the recognition data due to an operator's reading error or input error, and work efficiency can be improved.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a paper sheet processing apparatus and a paper sheet processing method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 thru | or FIG. 6 is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the paper sheet processing apparatus has a hopper 1 (see FIG. 1) for storing and storing securities such as checks and bills, and feeding out the securities in the hopper 1 into the housing 5. The roller 2 and the conveyance path 30 which conveys the securities fed by the feeding roller 2 are provided. In the present embodiment, description is made using securities (checks, bills, etc.) as an example of paper sheets, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance path 30 is provided with a reading / recognizing unit 10 that reads and recognizes an image of securities, and temporarily holds securities on the downstream side of the reading / recognizing unit 10. A temporary holding unit 40 is provided. In addition, an endorser 50 is provided between the reading / recognition unit 10 and the temporary holding unit 40 to print a management serial number, date, and the like on the securities.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the reading / recognition unit 10 reads the image of the front side of the securities and generates image data, and reads the image of the back side of the securities. And back surface information reading means 22 to be generated. The image data of the securities read by the front surface information reading unit 21 and the back surface information reading unit 22 is stored in a storage unit 80 (see FIG. 2) described later.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the reading / recognition unit 10 reads the image data of the front side of the securities read and generated by the front surface information reading unit 21 and the security generated by reading the back side information reading unit 22. The gamma correction means (correction means) 14 for emphasizing the outline of the character by reading out the back side image data from the storage unit 80 and performing gamma correction, and the image data of the front and back sides of the securities thus gamma corrected And binarizing means (image processing means) 15 for generating binarized image data as image processing data.

  The binarizing means 15 is lower when binarizing the back side image data to generate the binary image data than when binarizing the front side image data to generate the binary image data. It is configured to use a threshold value.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the reading / recognizing unit 10 inverts the binarized image data on the back side of the securities and the binarized image data on the back side of the inverted securities. Recognizing means 19 for recognizing characters printed on the surface of the securities based on the binary image data on the surface of the securities not yet provided. The recognition means 19 recognizes characters printed on the surface of securities by a character recognition function such as OCR (Optical Character Reader).

  The recognizing unit 19 also generates composite image information (specifically, data information of printed characters) generated by adding the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front side of the securities. ) To recognize the characters printed on the securities, and the composite image information generated only from the overlapping portion of the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front side of the securities Based on the above, the characters printed on the securities can be recognized.

  As shown in FIG. 2, three stackers 60 for storing securities are provided on the downstream side of the temporary storage unit 40 and at the end of the conveyance path 30. A storage roller 61 is provided on the upstream side of each stacker 60 to apply driving force to the securities. By the way, although this Embodiment demonstrates using the aspect provided with three stackers 60, it is not restricted to this.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance path 30 is branched in a different direction from the temporary storage unit 40 on the downstream side of the reading / recognition unit 10, and a payment is made at the end of the branched conveyance path 30. Reject / discharge unit where securities that could not be processed normally are returned, or specified securities such as securities with non-standard shapes are discharged even if deposit processing is successfully performed 120 is provided (see FIG. 1). A discharge roller 121 is provided on the upstream side of the reject / discharge unit 120 to give driving force to the securities.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the paper sheet processing apparatus includes a storage unit 80 that stores various programs, and a main control unit 70 that controls processing operations of the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the programs in the storage unit 80. And have. The storage unit 80 also stores securities image data read and generated by the front surface information reading unit 21 and the back surface information reading unit 22 and recognition data generated by recognition by the recognition unit 19.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet processing apparatus includes a correction unit 90 that corrects the recognition data stored in the storage unit 80, and an approval unit that approves the corrected recognition data and generates it as deposit processing data. 100 and a storage / discharge selection unit 110 that selects whether the securities taken in the machine are stored in the stacker 60 or discharged to the reject / discharge unit 120 based on information from the outside.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet processing apparatus can display image data and recognition data of securities when checking or correcting the recognition data. And an operation unit 150 that can input information regarding correction of recognition data to the correction unit 90, and a transmission / reception unit 160 (see FIG. 2) that transmits and receives instruction information, data information, and the like with an external device. Have. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the front surface of the housing 5 is provided with a non-standard storage unit 130 for storing securities having a special shape other than the standard shape after the deposit process has been completed normally. ing.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described.

  First, securities such as checks and bills are arranged and accommodated in the hopper 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

  Next, the securities in the hopper 1 are fed into the housing 5 by the feeding roller 2 and conveyed along the conveying path 30 (see FIG. 2). Hereinafter, a processing mode for one piece of securities will be described.

  Next, when the securities conveyed along the conveyance path 30 reach the reading / recognizing unit 10, the characters printed on the surface of the securities are recognized by the reading / recognizing unit 10 (FIGS. 2 and 3). reference).

  Specifically, first, the surface information reading unit 21 reads an image of the surface of the securities to generate image data (surface information reading step 81) (see FIGS. 3 to 5), and the back surface information reading unit 22 The back side image of the securities is read to generate image data (back side information reading step 82) (see FIGS. 3 to 5). The image data of the securities generated in this way is stored in the storage unit 80.

  Next, the reading / recognition unit 10 reads the image data of the front and back surfaces of the securities stored in the storage unit 80. FIG. 6A shows the image data of the back side of the securities read from the storage unit 80.

  Next, the image data on the back side of the securities is reversed by the reversing means 13 (reversing step 83) (see FIGS. 3 to 5). FIG. 6B shows image data of the reverse side of the reversed securities.

  Next, both the front side image data and the back side image data of the securities are gamma corrected (gamma correction step 84) (see FIGS. 3 to 5). FIG. 6C shows image data of the back side of the securities that have been gamma corrected.

  Next, the binarization means 15 binarizes the image data of the front surface and the back surface of the securities subjected to gamma correction to generate binarized image data (binarization step (image processing step)). 85) (See FIGS. 3-5). FIG. 6D shows image data on the back side of the binarized securities.

  Next, the character printed on the front surface of the securities by the recognizing means 19 based on the binarized image data of the reverse side of the securities and the binary image data of the front surface of the securities not inverted. Recognized and recognized recognition data is stored in the storage unit 80 (recognition step 89) (see FIGS. 2 to 5).

  At this time, the recognition means 19 is printed on the front surface of the securities based on the composite image information generated by adding the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front surface of the securities. Characters may be recognized (OR processing step 87a) (see FIG. 4), or composite image information generated only from the overlapping portion of the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front side of the securities. Based on the above, the characters printed on the surface of the securities may be recognized (AND processing step 87b) (see FIG. 5).

  More specifically, the operator inputs the composite image information generated by adding the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front side of the securities by inputting from the operation unit 150. Based on the composite image information generated from only the overlapping part of the binary image data on the back side of the security and the binary image data on the front side of the security. Whether to recognize characters printed on the surface of the securities can be selected as appropriate.

  For this reason, when the operator wants to increase the recognizability by the recognition means 19 and increase the processing efficiency, the operator generates the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front side of the securities. The character image printed on the securities may be recognized based on the synthesized image information. On the other hand, when it is desired to improve the recognition accuracy by the recognition means 19, the binary image data on the back side of the securities is used. And the character printed on the securities may be used based on the composite image information generated only from the overlapping portion of the binary image data on the surface of the securities.

  When characters are clearly printed on the surface of the securities, the recognition means 19 recognizes the characters on the surface of the securities based on the binarized data obtained by binarizing the image data on the surface of the securities. I can.

  However, the density of the character part will be below the threshold for binarization when the surface of the securities is faint due to the check writer running out of ink or when the character is not printed at all. Therefore, even if the image data on the surface of the securities is binarized, the character portion becomes white. For this reason, the recognition means 19 cannot recognize the characters on the surface of the securities.

  Generally, when a character is printed on the front surface of the securities (the printing is about to be performed), the character portion is pressed and recessed, and a convex portion corresponding to the character is formed on the back surface. For this reason, when generating binary image data by binarizing the back side image data, the back side image data is binarized using a lower threshold than when generating binarized image data by binarizing the front side image data. By binarizing the image data, the characters printed on the surface of the securities from the shadows of the projections (to be printed) can be made black when binarizing (FIG. 6D). )reference). For this reason, the recognizing means 19 prints on the surface of the securities regardless of whether the checker's ink has run out or the characters on the surface of the securities are faint or no characters are printed. The recognized characters can be recognized with certainty.

  Note that the threshold value can be lowered when binarizing the back side image data as described above. Generally, the background color on the back side of securities is white or lighter than the front side. This is because even if the threshold value for binarization is lowered, an excess pattern or the like is not judged as black.

  The securities that have passed between the front surface information reading unit 21 and the back surface information reading unit 22 of the reading / recognizing unit 10 while the above-described steps are performed are conveyed to the temporary storage unit 40 (FIG. 2).

  The above is the processing mode for one securities. Each process described above is repeated until all the securities contained in the hopper 1 are processed and the hopper 1 is empty.

  When all the securities in the hopper 1 are processed, image data and recognition data are displayed on the display unit 140 when the operator inputs from the operation unit 150 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The operator compares the image data with the recognition data, and inputs correct data from the operation unit 150 when the recognition data is incorrect or when there is an item that is not recognized by the recognition data. Then, the correction unit 90 that has received an input from the operation unit 150 corrects the recognition data stored in the storage unit 80.

  On the other hand, when the recognition data matches the image data and is correct, or when the recognition data comes to match the image data by correcting the recognition data, the operator inputs an input for approval. 150 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). And the approval part 100 which received the input from the operation part 150 approves the recognition data used as object, and transmits it to a cash processing machine (not shown) by the transmission / reception part 160 as payment process data.

  According to the present embodiment, as described above, the recognizing means 19 is based on the binarized image data of the reverse side of the securities and the binary image data of the front side of the securities that are not inverted. The characters printed on the surface of the securities are recognized. For this reason, since the characters printed on the surface of the securities (characters to be printed) are reliably recognized, the probability that the recognition data does not match the image data can be significantly reduced. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the opportunity to perform the operation of correcting the recognition data, and it is possible to prevent the recognition data from being erroneous due to an operator's reading mistake or input mistake. Moreover, since the opportunity to perform the operation | work which corrects recognition data in this way can be reduced, work efficiency can also be improved.

  In particular, a mode is used in which characters printed on the front surface of the securities are recognized based on the composite image information generated by adding the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front surface of the securities. In the case of using the OR processing step 87a (see FIG. 4), it is possible to prevent missing characters from being recognized in the recognition data and to improve work efficiency. On the other hand, a mode is used in which characters printed on the front surface of the securities are recognized based on the composite image information generated only from the overlapping portion of the binary image data on the back side of the securities and the binary image data on the front surface of the securities. If it is present (when the AND processing step 87b is used) (see FIG. 5), it is possible to prevent the recognition data from containing extra information and to improve the accuracy of the recognition data.

  When the depositing process is normally completed in the cash processing machine, a storage instruction is transmitted from the cash handling machine to the depositing / receiving data transmission / reception unit 160. When the transmission / reception unit 160 of the paper sheet processing apparatus receives a storage instruction from the cash processor, the deposit processing data is stored in the storage unit 80 (see FIG. 2).

  Thereafter, the securities to be processed are transported through the transport path 30 and printed with a management serial number and date by the endorser 50 and then transported to a predetermined stacker 60 (see FIG. 2).

  On the other hand, when the deposit process cannot be normally performed in the cash processing machine, the securities to be processed are conveyed to the reject / discharge unit 120 (see FIG. 2). Even if the deposit process can be normally performed, predetermined securities such as securities having a non-standard special shape are conveyed to the reject / discharge unit 120. Even if the securities are conveyed to the reject / discharge unit 120 in this way, the management number, date, and the like are printed by the endorser 50 when the deposit process can be performed normally.

  Here, whether the securities are transported to the stacker 60 or the reject / discharge unit 120 is selected and instructed by the storage / discharge selection unit 110 (see FIG. 2).

  In the above description, the recognition means 19 has been described using a mode in which characters printed on the front surface of the securities are recognized based on the image data of the back and front surfaces of the securities. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the recognition means 19 may recognize characters printed on the front surface of the securities based only on the image data on the back side of the securities. In this case, the surface information reading unit 21 may not be provided, and the manufacturing cost of the paper sheet processing apparatus can be reduced.

  Even in the case of using a mode in which characters printed on the front surface of the securities are recognized based on only the image data on the back surface of the securities in this way, as described above, the image on the back surface using a low threshold value. By binarizing the data, the characters printed on the surface of the securities from the shadows caused by the projections (to be printed) can be made black at the time of binarization. 19 recognizes characters printed on the surface of securities regardless of whether the check writer is out of ink or the like. (See FIG. 6D).

  In addition, it is more recognizable to recognize the characters printed on the front side of the securities by recognizing the characters printed on the front side of the securities based on both the back and front image data of the securities. Needless to say.

  In the above description, the inversion step 83, the gamma correction step 84, and the binarization step 85 have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the gamma correction step 84, the binarization step 85, The inversion process 83 may be performed in order, or the gamma correction process 84, the inversion process 83, and the binarization process 85 may be performed in order.

  Furthermore, in the above description, the image is binarized after performing gamma correction at the time of image processing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the P tile method, the mode method, the discriminant analysis binarization method, etc. Image processing can be performed by optimizing binarization by a known method.

  By the way, in this Embodiment, although the operator compared image data and recognition data and demonstrated using the aspect approved when image data and recognition data correspond, it is restricted to this. For example, the reading / recognizing unit 10 may compare the image data with the recognition data, and may automatically approve the image data and the recognition data if they match. In this case, work efficiency can be further improved.

The perspective view which shows the paper sheet processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention. The side sectional view showing the paper sheet processing device by the embodiment of the invention. The block diagram which shows the reading / recognition part of the paper sheet processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows one of the paper sheet processing methods by embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows another one of the paper sheet processing method by embodiment of this invention. The photograph figure which shows the check read / recognized by the paper sheet processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Reading / Recognizing Unit 13 Inversion Unit 14 Gamma Correction Unit (Correction Unit)
15 Binarization means (image processing means)
19 Recognizing means 21 Front surface information reading means 22 Back surface information reading means 30 Transport path 81 Front surface information reading process 82 Back surface information reading process 83 Inversion process 84 Gamma correction process 85 Binarization process (image processing process)
87a OR processing step 87b AND processing step 89 recognition step

Claims (8)

In a paper sheet processing apparatus that recognizes characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet,
Back side information reading means for reading the back side of the paper sheet and generating image data;
Image processing means for processing image data on the back side of the paper sheet read by the back side information reading means to generate image processing data;
Recognition means for recognizing characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet based on image processing data;
A paper sheet processing apparatus comprising: Surface information reading means for reading the image of the surface of the paper sheet and generating image data;
Reversing means for inverting either the image data of the back side of the paper sheet generated by the back surface information reading means or the image data of the front surface of the paper sheet generated by the surface information reading means; Prepared,
The image processing means processes image data of the surface of the paper sheet generated by the surface information reading means to generate image processing data,
The recognizing unit recognizes a character printed on the surface of a paper sheet based on one image processing data reversed by the reversing unit and other image processing data not reversed by the reversing unit. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The recognition means recognizes characters printed on a paper sheet based on composite image information generated by adding one image processing data and another image processing data. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to 1.   The recognition means recognizes characters printed on a paper sheet based on composite image information generated only from an overlapping portion of one image processing data and another image processing data. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to 1. The image processing means comprises binarization means for binarizing the image data of the back surface and the front surface to generate binary image data,
The binarization unit binarizes the back side image data to generate binary image data, and lowers the threshold value compared to the case of binarizing the front side image data to generate binary image data. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the paper sheet processing apparatus is used.   2. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reversing unit that reverses image data on the back surface of the paper sheet generated by the back surface information reading unit.   2. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a correction unit that emphasizes a character outline of image data on the back side of the paper sheet generated by the back surface information reading unit. In a paper sheet processing method for recognizing characters printed on the surface of a paper sheet,
A back side information reading step of reading image information on the back side of the paper sheet and generating image data;
An image processing step of processing image data on the back side of the paper sheet read by the back side information reading means to generate image processing data;
A recognition process for recognizing characters printed on the surface of paper sheets based on image processing data;
A paper sheet processing method comprising: