JP2011242987A - Document image delivering device, document image delivering method and document browsing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress increase in users' time and effort and communication costs while maintaining browsability in a document browsing system for delivering document images.SOLUTION: When browsing of a document file is requested from a mobile phone by a user, a control part of a delivery processing server reads past browsing information for the user from a user database. After reading the past browsing information, the control part reads a display scaling factor that was used the last time the document file was browsed from the past browsing information, and sets the display scaling factor as the display scaling factor for browsing. Thus, setting the display scaling factor for the current browsing based on past browsing information can suppress increase in the user's time and troubles and communication costs due to no need to request change of the display scaling factor on each browsing.

Description

  The present invention relates to a document image distribution apparatus that distributes a predetermined document image to a requesting portable terminal in response to a browsing request from a portable terminal, a distribution method thereof, and a document browsing system using the document image distribution apparatus.

  Document files created in-house (electronic files created by application software such as document creation software, spreadsheet software, and presentation software) are converted into images and delivered to mobile devices as document images. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a document browsing system that makes it possible to browse a document outside the company.

  In the above document browsing system, the contents of a document file can be browsed via a document image, but information such as text (characters or character strings) and charts cannot be edited. Thereby, in the said document browsing system, it can be set as a thin client system which prevents the leakage of confidential information in the company by copying such information and remaining in a portable terminal.

  By the way, the mobile terminal has a smaller display screen size than an in-house PC that creates a document file. For this reason, if it is attempted to display characters and the like so that they can be read, only a part of the document image can be displayed on the portable terminal in many cases. Therefore, when browsing a document image on a portable terminal, the screen must be moved by repeatedly performing vertical scrolling and horizontal scrolling, and the browsing property is not necessarily good. In particular, when horizontal scrolling is required, it is necessary to move in the opposite direction to move to the beginning of the next line, which is very troublesome.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 1, by dividing the document image into characters, character region images corresponding to the characters included in the document image are generated, and the character region images are distributed to the portable terminal. Each character area image is reconstructed and displayed in accordance with the screen size and display magnification of the terminal. In this way, it is not necessary to perform horizontal scrolling, and the contents of the document file can be browsed only by vertical scrolling. Therefore, it is possible to improve the viewability when browsing with a mobile terminal.

JP 2006-260304 A

  The display magnification at the time of browsing the contents of the document file via each character area image varies depending on the user's preference. For this reason, if the display magnification of each distributed character area image does not match the user's preference, a change in display magnification must be requested by designating a desired display magnification. However, it is very troublesome for the user to perform such an operation every time a document file is browsed. In addition, each time the display magnification is changed, each character area image corresponding to the size must be received, which increases the burden on the user's communication fee. In particular, users who are unfamiliar with operations that do not know the correspondence between the display magnification and the size of characters, etc., must repeatedly change the display magnification until characters and the like become the desired size. The problem of burden of fees will become prominent.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to suppress an increase in the burden on the user and the communication fee without impairing the browsing property in a document browsing system that distributes document images. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides information for identifying a user in a document image distribution device that distributes a predetermined document image to the requesting mobile terminal in response to a browsing request from the mobile terminal; User information storage means for storing user information associated with information on the screen size of the display unit of the mobile terminal used by the user, information on the document image viewed by the user in the past, and display magnification at that time Past browsing information storage means for storing past browsing information associated with the information, and when browsing of the document image is requested by the user, based on the information of the display magnification included in the past browsing information, Display magnification setting means for setting the display magnification of the current browsing, extraction of characters included in the document image, and the document of the extracted characters Based on the document analysis means for specifying the position on the print image, the screen size information stored in the user information storage means, and the display magnification information set by the display magnification setting means. Displayable area determining means for determining a displayable area that can be displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal, and corresponding to a character string for one line included in the document image based on the analysis result of the document analysis means A character string image generating means for generating a character string image for each line from the document image by cutting out the area, and when the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area, By dividing each character string image according to the width of the displayable area, the character string image can be divided according to the width of the displayable area. Partial image generating means for generating a number of partial images, and when the width of each character string image does not exceed the width of the displayable area, each character string image is distributed to the requesting mobile terminal. And a delivery control means for delivering each partial image to the requesting mobile terminal when the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area. And

  It is preferable that the display magnification setting unit reads information on the display magnification of the document image that is the same as the document image requested to be browsed from the past browsing information, and sets the display magnification as the display magnification of the current browsing.

  Further, the display magnification setting means specifies a display magnification frequently browsed by the user from the information of the display magnification stored in the past browsing information of the user who has requested browsing, and displays the display magnification of the current browsing. It may be set as a magnification.

  Further, the display magnification setting means determines whether or not the user is browsing the document image based on the past browsing information of the user who has requested browsing. The user determines whether the user has browsed the same document image in the past, and determines that the user has browsed the same document image, the display magnification at the time of browsing is set as the display magnification of the current browsing. Set and browsed in the past, but when it is determined that the same document image has not been browsed, the user often browses from the display magnification information stored in the user's past browse information The display magnification to be used is specified, the display magnification is set as the display magnification for the current browsing, and a predetermined reference is displayed when it is determined that nothing has been browsed in the past. When configured to set the rate as the display magnification of this view, it is more preferable.

  Image storage means for storing each character string image and each partial image, wherein the distribution control means is configured such that each character string image or partial image corresponding to the document image requested to be viewed is the image. When stored in the storage means, it is preferable to read them from the image storage means and deliver them to the requesting mobile terminal.

  The distribution control means extracts the amount that fits in the displayable area from each character string image or each partial image, and distributes each extracted character string image or each partial image to the requesting mobile terminal It is preferable.

  When the partial image generation unit generates the partial image, a portion of the cut according to the width of the displayable region is determined based on the position information of each character on the document image by the analysis of the document analysis unit. It is determined whether or not the character is applied to the character, and when the cut portion is applied to the character, the character string image is divided at a part where the character is separated from the previous character, thereby obtaining the part. Preferably, an image is generated.

  Further, the partial image generation means interprets a clause of each character included in the character string image, and divides the character string image at a predetermined character string delimiter corresponding to the clause, thereby the partial image May be generated.

  Further, when generating the partial image, the partial image generation means, based on the information on the position of each character on the document image by the analysis of the document analysis means, the cut according to the width of the displayable area It is determined whether or not the portion is applied to the character. When the cut portion is applied to the character, the character string image is divided at a portion where the character is separated from the next character, and the display is performed. The partial image may be generated by reducing in accordance with the width of the possible area.

  When the size of each character included in the document image changes from the middle, the character string image of the portion where the character size has changed is enlarged or reduced, and the size of each character included in the character string image is changed so far. It is preferable to provide character size changing means for adjusting the size of each character included in the document image by matching the character size.

  The present invention also provides information for identifying a user in a document image distribution method for distributing a predetermined document image to the requesting portable terminal in response to a browsing request from the portable terminal, and the user uses the document image distribution method. User information associated with the screen size information of the display unit of the portable terminal is stored in the user information storage means, and the document image information browsed in the past by the user is associated with the display magnification information at that time. Past browsing information stored in the past browsing information storage means, and when browsing of the document image is requested by the user, based on the information of the display magnification included in the past browsing information, display of the current browsing By setting a magnification and analyzing the document image, extraction of characters included in the document image and extraction of the extracted characters are performed. The position on the document image is specified and displayed on the display unit of the portable terminal in the document image based on the screen size information stored in the user information storage means and the set display magnification information. A possible displayable area is determined, and a character string image for each line is extracted from the document image by cutting out an area corresponding to a character string for one line included in the document image based on the analysis result of the document image. Generating and dividing each character string image according to the width of the displayable area when the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area; When generating a plurality of partial images according to the width of the displayable area from the column image, and the width of each character string image does not exceed the width of the displayable area, When each character string image is distributed to the requesting mobile terminal and the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area, the partial images are It is distributed to a portable terminal.

  Further, the present invention provides a portable terminal for requesting browsing of a document image and the portable terminal connected to the portable terminal via a network, and the portable terminal that requested the document image in response to a browsing request from the portable terminal. In a document browsing system including a document image distribution device distributed to a terminal, user information in which information for identifying a user is associated with information on the screen size of the display unit of the portable terminal used by the user is stored User information storage means, past browse information storage means for storing past browse information in which information of the document image browsed by the user in the past and display magnification information at that time are associated, and the document image from the user When browsing is requested, based on the display magnification information included in the past browsing information, Display magnification setting means for setting a display magnification of a list; document analysis means for extracting characters included in the document image; and specifying positions of the extracted characters on the document image; and storing in the user information storage means A displayable area for determining a displayable area that can be displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal in the document image based on the information on the screen size that has been set and the information on the display magnification set by the display magnification setting unit A character string that generates a character string image for each line from the document image by cutting out an area corresponding to the character string for one line included in the document image based on the analysis result of the determination means and the document analysis means When the width of the image generation means and at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area, Partial image generating means for generating a plurality of partial images according to the width of the displayable area from the character string images by dividing each character string image according to the width of the displayable area; When the width of the character string image does not exceed the width of the displayable area, the character string image is distributed to the requesting mobile terminal, and the width of at least one of the character string images can be displayed. When the width of the area is exceeded, the document image distribution device is provided with distribution control means for distributing the partial images to the requesting mobile terminal.

  In the present invention, a character string image for each line is generated from the document image, and a plurality of partial images corresponding to the width of the displayable area of the display unit of the mobile terminal are generated from each character string image. Since the image or each partial image is distributed to the requesting mobile terminal, the mobile terminal can view the document image only by vertical scrolling, and the viewability is not impaired. Furthermore, in the present invention, the past browsing information in which the information of the document image browsed by the user in the past and the display magnification at that time are associated is stored, and based on this past browsing information, Since the display magnification is set, it is not necessary to request a change of the display magnification every time browsing is performed, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the burden on the user and the communication fee.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a document browsing system. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of user DB. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of a delivery processing server. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the production | generation of a character string image. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example displayed by horizontal scroll. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the production | generation of a partial image. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which divides | segments a character string image in the part of a character delimiter. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of a partial image. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of the operation | movement procedure of a document browsing system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the flow of a process of a document browsing system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which divides | segments a character string image in the part of a character string delimiter. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which produces | generates a partial image by reducing according to the width | variety of a displayable area | region. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of the delivery processing server provided with the character size change circuit. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which changes a character size. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display in the mobile telephone after character size change.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the document browsing system 2 includes a document image distribution unit 3 and a mobile phone 4. The mobile phone 4 is connected to the document image distribution unit 3 via the Internet 6 by wirelessly communicating with the base station 5 and accessing the Internet 6 via the base station 5. Thereby, the document image delivery part 3 and the mobile phone 4 can communicate with each other via the Internet 6 which is a public network.

  The document image distribution unit 3 is a system module installed in a corporate network, and includes a plurality of units including a distribution processing server 10, a file server 11, and a user management server (user information storage unit, past browsing information storage unit) 12. Consists of servers. These servers 10 to 12 are connected to each other via an in-house LAN or the like.

  The file server 11 stores various document files 14 created in the company. The distribution processing server 10 reads the document file 14 from the file server 11 when browsing of the predetermined document file 14 is requested from the mobile phone 4. Then, by performing an image conversion process on the read document file 14, an image corresponding to the document file 14 is generated, and the image is distributed to the requesting mobile phone 4. At this time, the distribution processing server 10 extracts only the portion that can be displayed on the mobile phone 4 from the image corresponding to the document file 14 based on the screen size and the display magnification of the requesting mobile phone 4 and extracts the extracted portion. Distribute the image to the mobile phone 4.

  The mobile phone 4 is provided with a liquid crystal display 16 for displaying various information and an operation unit 17 for inputting various operation instructions. The operation unit 17 includes a plurality of operation input members that are exposed on the outer surface of the mobile phone 4. For each of these operation input members, for example, a well-known input device such as a push button switch, a slide switch, a cross key, or a jog dial is used.

  A viewer which is a client application corresponding to the document browsing system 2 is installed in the mobile phone 4. When browsing the document file 14 via the mobile phone 4, the user first operates the operation unit 17 to activate the viewer. The document file 14 is browsed by inputting operation instructions according to various screens displayed on the liquid crystal display 16 in response to the activation of the viewer. After starting the viewer, the mobile phone 4 accesses the document image distribution unit 3 in accordance with an instruction from the user input via the operation unit 17, and displays the image distributed from the document image distribution unit 3 on the liquid crystal display. 16 is output.

  As a result, an image corresponding to the document file 14 requested by the user is displayed on the liquid crystal display 16, and the user can view the contents of the document file 14 via this image. Further, the mobile phone 4 deletes the acquired image from the internal memory after the user finishes browsing the image.

  As described above, the document browsing system 2 distributes an image in response to a request from the mobile phone 4 and prevents data from remaining in the mobile phone 4 after browsing, thereby suppressing the risk of information leakage in-house. The contents of the created document file 14 can be viewed even outside the company.

  Further, the image can be displayed on the liquid crystal display 16 at an arbitrary display magnification by inputting a predetermined operation instruction via the operation unit 17. For example, the user inputs an enlargement instruction to increase the display magnification when, for example, characters and diagrams are small and difficult to see. On the other hand, when the characters and diagrams are too large and it is difficult to grasp the overall contents. Enter an instruction to reduce the display magnification.

  When the user inputs an instruction to change the display magnification, the mobile phone 4 requests the document image distribution unit 3 to change the display magnification. When a change in display magnification is requested from the mobile phone 4, the document image delivery unit 3 regenerates an image according to the requested display magnification, and delivers the changed image to the requesting mobile phone 4 again. To do.

  As described above, in the document browsing system 2, an image with a display magnification according to an instruction from the user is generated and distributed by the document image distribution unit 3, thereby displaying an image with an arbitrary display magnification desired by the user. By doing so, it is not necessary to perform processing such as image enlargement or reduction on the mobile phone 4, so that the processing load on the mobile phone 4 can be reduced. Further, if an image corresponding to the document file 14 is distributed as it is, there is a concern that the communication amount becomes enormous and the waiting time from the request for browsing to the display becomes long. If only the displayable part is extracted and distributed, it is possible to prevent such a long waiting time.

  The user management server 12 is provided with a user DB 18 that collectively stores information related to each user who uses the document browsing system 2. As shown in FIG. 2, in the user DB 18, user information for identifying each user and past browsing information indicating the document file 14 that each user has browsed in the past via an image are stored in association with each other. Yes. Each of these pieces of information is used when authenticating a user who has accessed the document image distribution unit 3.

  The user information includes, for example, a unique user ID given to each user to identify the user, a user name that is the name of the user, and a screen size (resolution) of the liquid crystal display 16 of the mobile phone 4 used by the user. ) Etc. are included. The past browsing information includes, for example, the file name of the browsed document file 14, the date and time when the document file 14 was browsed, and the final display magnification when the document file 14 was browsed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the distribution processing server 10 includes a control unit (display magnification setting unit, distribution control unit) 30, a network interface (I / F) 31, an image conversion unit 32, a document analysis unit 33, A displayable area determination unit 34, an image processing unit 35, and a data storage unit (image storage unit) 36 are provided. These units are connected to each other via a bus 37. The control unit 30 is configured by a CPU, various memories, and the like, and comprehensively controls each unit of the distribution processing server 10 by reading a program stored in advance and sequentially processing the program. The network I / F 31 is a known modem, router, or the like, and connects the distribution processing server 10 to the Internet 6 or an in-house LAN.

  The image conversion unit 32 generates a document image 50 corresponding to each page of the document file 14 by performing virtual printing of the document file 14 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 30. At this time, the image conversion unit 32 generates a document image 50 of an arbitrary size by performing virtual printing at a resolution corresponding to the display magnification set by the control unit 30.

  The document analysis unit 33 analyzes the document image 50 using a known OCR technique or the like, thereby extracting characters included in the document image 50 and specifying the positions of the extracted characters on the document image 50. The displayable area determination unit 34 can display on the liquid crystal display 16 of the mobile phone 4 in the document image 50 based on the screen size information included in the user DB 18 and the display magnification information set by the control unit 30. Processing for determining the displayable area 51 (see FIG. 5) is performed.

  The image processing unit 35 performs various image processes on the document image 50. The image processing unit 35 is provided with a character string image generation circuit 40 and a partial image generation circuit 41. Based on the analysis result of the document analysis unit 33, the character string image generation circuit 40 cuts out an area corresponding to the character string for one line included in the document image 50, and as shown in FIG. A character string image 52 for each line is generated.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the width of the character string for one line included in the document image 50 exceeds the width of the displayable area 51, a part corresponding to the displayable area 51 is extracted from the document image 50 and carried. When distributed to the telephone 4, in order to read a character string for one line, a horizontal scroll for moving the screen display in the horizontal direction is required. If horizontal scrolling occurs in this way, it becomes difficult to grasp the entire document and it is very difficult to read. In addition, it takes time to read a document due to the waiting time of image communication associated with scrolling. In addition, since horizontal scrolling must be performed for each line, the number of images necessary for reading a document increases, and the burden on the user's communication fee increases accordingly.

  The partial image generation circuit 41 can display the width of the character string image 52 included in the document image 50 when the width of the character string for one line included in the document image 50 exceeds the width of the displayable area 51. When the width of the area 51 is exceeded, as shown in FIG. 6A, each character string image 52 is divided according to the width of the displayable area 51, as shown in FIG. A plurality of partial images 54 corresponding to the width of the displayable area 51 are generated from each character string image 52.

  In addition, when generating the partial image 54, the partial image generation circuit 41 generates a break corresponding to the width of the displayable area 51 based on the position information of each character on the document image 50 analyzed by the document analysis unit 33. It is determined whether the part is on a character. Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the cut portion is over the character, as shown in FIG. 7B, the character is separated at the portion where the character is separated from the previous character. A partial image 54 is generated by dividing the column image 52. In this way, it is possible to prevent one character from being cut and difficult to see.

  When the partial image generation circuit 41 generates the partial image 54, the distribution processing server 10 distributes each partial image 54 in the partial image 54 that fits in the displayable area 51 to the requesting mobile phone 4. To do. When the cellular phone 4 receives the partial images 54, the partial images 54 are arranged and displayed on the liquid crystal display 16 as shown in FIG. 8. Then, after displaying each partial image 54, the mobile phone 4 receives an instruction for moving the screen in the vertical direction, that is, a vertical scroll instruction from the user via the operation unit 17. Transmit to the distribution unit 3.

  When the distribution processing server 10 receives the vertical scroll instruction, the next line following the upward or downward direction of each partial image 54 currently displayed on the liquid crystal display 16 by the requesting mobile phone 4 in response to the instruction. The partial image 54 is distributed to the mobile phone 4. When the cellular phone 4 receives the partial image 54, the cellular phone 4 erases the partial image 54 displayed at the top or the partial image 54 displayed at the bottom according to the moving direction, and the remaining image is displayed in that direction. After moving each partial image 54, the screen is vertically scrolled by displaying the newly acquired partial image 54 of the next line in an empty space.

  In this way, in the document browsing system 2, the contents of the document file 14 can be browsed only by vertical scrolling, so that it is possible to prevent the document from becoming difficult to read. Further, since the vertical scroll can be performed only by distributing the partial image 54 of the next line, the number of images required for reading the document and the number of images compared to the case of performing the horizontal scroll for each line, and The accompanying increase in communication charges can be greatly suppressed. Further, since each partial image 54 is generated from the document image 50 obtained by imaging the document file 14, the font type and the character color are not changed, and the intention of the creator of the document file 14 is impaired. It will never happen.

  The number of partial images 54 to be distributed when performing vertical scrolling is not limited to one, but a plurality of partial images 54 may be distributed together and scrolled a plurality of lines at a time. Further, the user may arbitrarily set the number of partial images 54 to be distributed (the number of lines to scroll).

  Returning to FIG. 3, in the data storage unit 36, the document image temporary storage unit 44 that temporarily stores the document image 50 generated by the image conversion unit 32, and the character string image 52 generated by the character string image generation circuit 40. Are temporarily stored, and a partial image temporary storage unit 46 for temporarily storing the partial image 54 generated by the partial image generation circuit 41 is provided.

  The document image temporary storage unit 44 is a so-called cache, and after the document image 50 is stored, the document image 50 is erased in order from a predetermined time (for example, 24 hours) after the storage. The character string image temporary storage unit 45 and the partial image temporary storage unit 46 are also caches similar to the document image temporary storage unit 44, and after storing the character string image 52 and the partial image 54, a predetermined time has elapsed since the storage. Erase in order from the last. Note that the predetermined times during which the storage units 44 to 46 store the images 50, 52, and 54 may be the same or different. For example, when the capacity of each stored image 50, 52, 54 reaches a predetermined value, it may be deleted in order from the oldest one.

  In addition to the above-described images 50, 52, and 54, the data storage unit 36 also stores the analysis result of the document image 50 by the document analysis unit 33 and information on the displayable region 51 determined by the displayable region determination unit 34. Is done. The analysis result of the document analysis unit 33 and the information of the displayable area 51 are stored in association with the corresponding document image 50, and are deleted after a predetermined time has passed, like the images 50, 52, and 54.

  Next, the operation of the document browsing system 2 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 and the explanatory diagram shown in FIG. When browsing the document file 14 via the mobile phone 4, the user first requests the distribution processing server 10 to browse the desired document file 14 by starting the viewer and accessing the document image distribution unit 3. (* 1 in Fig. 10).

  When the cellular phone 4 requests the distribution processing server 10 to browse the document file 14, the cellular phone 4 requests browsing of various information such as the file name of the document file 14, the user ID of the user, and the IP address of the cellular phone 4. And transmitted to the distribution processing server 10. The information included in the browsing request is not limited to the above, but information for specifying the document file 14 for which browsing is requested, information for specifying the user, and the requesting mobile phone 4 are specified. Any information may be used.

  When the browsing of the document file 14 is requested from the mobile phone 4, the control unit 30 of the distribution processing server 10 transmits the user ID received together with the browsing request to the user management server 12 to authenticate the user who has requested browsing. Is obtained from the user management server 12 (* 2 in FIG. 10). When user authentication is requested from the distribution processing server 10, the user management server 12 refers to the user DB 18 based on the user ID, and checks whether or not the user ID is stored in the user DB 18. Then, user authentication is performed to determine whether the user who has requested browsing is a legitimate user.

  The user management server 12 determines that the user is a regular user when the user ID is stored in the user DB 18. When the user management server 12 determines that the user is a legitimate user, the user management server 12 reads out the user information including the user ID from the user DB 18 and, if there is past browsing information associated with the user information, the past browsing information. Are also read from the user DB 18. Thereafter, the user management server 12 transmits each piece of information read from the user DB 18 and information indicating that the user who requested browsing is a regular user (* 3 in FIG. 10).

  On the other hand, the user management server 12 determines that the user is not a regular user when the user ID is not stored in the user DB 18. When the user management server 12 determines that the user is not an authorized user, the user management server 12 transmits information indicating that fact to the distribution processing server 10.

  When the control unit 30 of the distribution processing server 10 receives information indicating that the user is not an authorized user from the user management server 12, for example, the control unit 30 distributes screen information for notifying the authorized user to the requesting mobile phone 4. Or by distributing screen information for prompting user registration to the requesting mobile phone 4, the request for browsing the document file 14 is rejected.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 30 receives information indicating that the user is a legitimate user from the user management server 12, the control unit 30 first determines whether or not the past browsing information is included in each received information, that is, the user stores some document file 14 as a result. It is determined whether the user has browsed in the past. If the control unit 30 determines that past browsing information is included, the control unit 30 refers to the past browsing information based on the file name of the document file 14 requested to be browsed, and whether the same file name is stored in the past browsing information. By confirming whether or not, it is determined whether or not the user has browsed the same document file 14 in the past.

  When the control unit 30 determines that the same document file 14 is being browsed, the control unit 30 refers to the browse date and time stored in association with the file name, and determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous browse. By checking, it is determined whether or not the already converted character string image 52 or partial image 54 remains in the data storage unit 36.

  When the control unit 30 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the previous browsing and the character string image 52 or the partial image 54 remains, the control unit 30 stores the images 52 and 54 in the character string image temporary storage unit 45. Alternatively, the information of the displayable area 51 related to each of the images 52 and 54 is read from the data storage unit 36 while being read from the partial image temporary storage unit 46. When the control unit 30 reads each piece of information, the control unit 30 extracts the amount that fits in the displayable area 51 from each character string image 52 or each partial image 54. Thereafter, the control unit 30 distributes each extracted character string image 52 or each partial image 54 to the requesting mobile phone 4 based on the IP address included in the browsing request.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 30 determines that the predetermined time has already passed since the previous browsing and the images 52 and 54 do not remain, the display magnification at the previous browsing stored in association with the file name and the browsing date and time is stored. Is read from the past browsing information, and the display magnification is set as the display magnification of the current browsing. When the same document file 14 has been browsed a plurality of times in the past, the average value of the display magnification of each time may be calculated and the average value may be set as the current display magnification, The display magnification may be set as the current display magnification.

  When the control unit 30 determines that each of the above determinations includes past browsing information but has not browsed the same document file 14 in the past, each display stored in the past browsing information is displayed. The average value of magnification is calculated. And the control part 30 specifies that the average value is a display magnification which a user browses well, and sets the average value as a display magnification of this browsing. In this way, if the display magnification of the current browsing is set based on the past browsing information, there is no need to request a change in the display magnification every time browsing is performed, so the burden on the user and the communication charge are reduced. The increase can be suppressed.

  Further, when it is determined that each piece of information from the user management server 12 does not include past browsing information, the control unit 30 sets a predetermined reference display magnification as a display magnification for the current browsing. The reference display magnification may be changed according to the type of the document file 14 requested to be browsed, the size when converted to the document image 50, or the like, or may be constant regardless of these.

  When the display magnification of the current browsing is set according to the above procedure, the control unit 30 transmits the file name information of the document file 14 requested to be browsed to the file server 11, thereby distributing the document file 14. A request is made to the server 11 (* 4 in FIG. 10). When the delivery processing server 10 requests delivery of the document file 14, the file server 11 searches for the document file 14 that matches the file name included in the request, and delivers the document file 14 to the delivery processing server 10 ( (* 5) in FIG.

  When acquiring the document file 14 from the file server 11, the control unit 30 of the distribution processing server 10 inputs the document file 14 and the set display magnification information to the image conversion unit 32, and converts the image of the document file 14 to image conversion. The unit 32 is instructed. When the image conversion unit 32 is instructed to image by the control unit 30, in response to this, the image conversion unit 32 performs virtual printing of the input document file 14, thereby obtaining a size corresponding to the display magnification set by the control unit 30. Document image 50 is generated (* 6 in FIG. 10).

  When the control unit 30 causes the image conversion unit 32 to generate the document image 50, the control unit 30 inputs the document image 50 to the document analysis unit 33, and causes the document analysis unit 33 to perform analysis of the document image 50. 50, and information on the position of each character on the document image 50 is acquired as an analysis result (* 7 in FIG. 10).

  Thereafter, the control unit 30 inputs the screen size information included in the user information received from the user management server 12 and the set display magnification information to the displayable region determination unit 34, thereby determining the displayable region. The displayable area 51 is determined by the unit 34.

  When the displayable area determination unit 34 determines the displayable area 51, the control unit 30 inputs the document image 50 and the analysis result of the document analysis unit 33 to the image processing unit 35, and inputs the character string image to the image processing unit 35. 52 is generated. When the generation of the character string image 52 is instructed from the control unit 30, the image processing unit 35 activates the character string image generation circuit 40 in response to this, thereby starting the character string image 52 for each line from the document image 50. Is generated.

  When each character string image 52 is generated, the control unit 30 displays the width of the character string image 52 based on each character string image 52 and the displayable region 51 determined by the displayable region determination unit 34. It is determined whether or not the width of the possible area 51 is exceeded. When determining that the width of the character string image 52 does not exceed the width of the displayable area 51, the control unit 30 extracts the amount that fits in the displayable area 51 from each character string image 52, and extracts each extracted character string image 52. Is delivered to the requesting mobile phone 4.

  On the other hand, if the control unit 30 determines that the width of the character string image 52 exceeds the width of the displayable region 51, the control unit 30 inputs each character string image 52 and information of the displayable region 51 to the image processing unit 35, The image processing unit 35 is instructed to generate the partial image 54. When the generation of the partial image 54 is instructed from the control unit 30, the image processing unit 35 activates the partial image generation circuit 41 in response to this, and each character string image 52 is displayed according to the width of the displayable area 51. By dividing, a plurality of partial images 54 corresponding to the width of the displayable area 51 are generated from each character string image 52. In this way, the control unit 30 instructs the image processing unit 35 to execute image processing, thereby generating each character string image 52 and each partial image 54 from the document image 50 (* 8 in FIG. 10). .

  When each partial image 54 is generated, the control unit 30 extracts the portion that fits in the displayable area 51 from each partial image 54 and distributes the extracted partial images 54 to the requesting mobile phone 4 ( (* 9) in FIG. The control unit 30 distributes each character string image 52 or each partial image 54 to the requesting mobile phone 4, and then the images 50, 52, 54 generated in the process, and the document analysis unit 33. The analysis result and information on the displayable area 51 determined by the displayable area determination unit 34 are stored in the data storage unit 36.

  When the mobile phone 4 receives the character string images 52, the mobile phone 4 displays the character string images 52 side by side on the liquid crystal display 16. Similarly, when each partial image 54 is received, the partial images 54 are displayed side by side on the liquid crystal display 16. As a result, the contents of the document file 14 can be browsed via each character string image 52 or each partial image 54.

  After each character string image 52 or each partial image 54 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 16, the user operates the operation unit 17 as necessary and inputs an operation instruction for enlargement or reduction to the mobile phone 4. Instructs to change the display magnification. When an instruction to change the display magnification is input from the user, the mobile phone 4 accesses the document image distribution unit 3 and transmits a request to change the display magnification according to the user instruction to the distribution processing server 10 (FIG. 10 * 10)

  When the change of the display magnification is requested from the mobile phone 4, the control unit 30 of the distribution processing server 10 resets the display magnification corresponding to the request as the display magnification of the current browsing. After resetting the display magnification, the control unit 30 generates the document image 50 having a size corresponding to the display magnification, analyzes the document image 50, determines the displayable area 51 according to the changed display magnification, and Each character string image 52 is generated based on these pieces of information.

  Thereafter, the control unit 30 determines whether or not the width of the character string image 52 exceeds the width of the displayable area 51, and when the width of the character string image 52 does not exceed the width of the displayable area 51. If each character string image 52 that fits in the displayable area 51 is extracted and distributed to the requesting mobile phone 4, the width of the character string image 52 exceeds the width of the displayable area 51. Then, a plurality of partial images 54 corresponding to the width of the displayable area 51 are generated from each character string image 52, and the partial images 54 corresponding to the displayable area 51 are extracted and distributed to the requesting mobile phone 4. .

  When the cellular phone 4 receives each character string image 52 or each partial image 54, it displays them on the liquid crystal display 16. As a result, the images 52 and 54 can be viewed at a display magnification according to the user's instruction.

  Further, after each character string image 52 or each partial image 54 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 16, the user operates the operation unit 17 as necessary to input a vertical scroll instruction to the mobile phone 4. When an instruction for vertical scrolling is input from the user, the mobile phone 4 accesses the document image distribution unit 3 and transmits an instruction for requesting vertical scrolling to the distribution processing server 10.

  When the distribution processing server 10 receives the vertical scroll instruction, the character string image 52 or each partial image 54 currently displayed on the liquid crystal display 16 by the requesting mobile phone 4 in accordance with the instruction is displayed upward or downward. The character string image 52 or the partial image 54 in the next line following the direction is distributed to the mobile phone 4.

  When the mobile phone 4 receives the character string image 52 or the partial image 54, the images 52 and 54 displayed at the top according to the moving direction, or the images 52 and 54 displayed at the bottom, 54 is erased, the remaining images 52 and 54 are moved in that direction, and then the newly acquired images 52 and 54 of the next line are displayed in the vacant space, whereby the screen is scrolled vertically.

  In the above-described embodiment, the partial image 54 is generated by dividing the character string image 52 at each character delimiter. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, each character included in the character string image 52 is generated. As shown in FIG. 11, the partial image 54 may be generated by dividing the character string image 52 at a predetermined character string delimiter corresponding to the phrase.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, when the part of the cut | interruption according to the width | variety of the displayable area 51 is applied to the character, the character string image 52 is divided | segmented by the part of the division | segmentation of the character and the 1st previous character. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12B, the character string image 52 is displayed at the portion where the character is separated from the next character. As shown in FIG. 12C, the partial image 54 may be generated by being divided and slightly reduced in accordance with the width of the displayable area 51.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The same functions and configurations as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 13, the distribution processing server 70 of this embodiment is provided with a character size changing circuit 72 in the image processing unit 35.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the size of each character included in the document image 50 changes from the middle, the character size changing circuit 72 enlarges or reduces the character string image 52 at the location where the character size has changed. By matching the size of each character included in the character string image 52 with the size of the character up to that time, processing for aligning the size of each character included in the document image 50 is performed.

  For example, the control unit 30 determines whether or not the width of the character string image 52 exceeds the width of the displayable area 51 based on the contents of the document file 14 or the analysis result of the document analysis unit 33. Then, it is determined whether or not there is a portion where the character size changes in the document image 50.

  If the controller 30 determines that there is no portion where the character size changes, the controller 30 subsequently determines whether or not the width of the character string image 52 exceeds the width of the displayable area 51, and the first embodiment described above. Similarly to the above, if not exceeding, each character string image 52 is distributed, and if exceeding, an instruction to generate the partial image 54 is given.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 30 determines that there is a portion where the character size changes, the control unit 30 inputs the analysis result of the document analysis unit 33 and each character string image 52 generated by the character string image generation circuit 40 to the image processing unit 35. This instructs the image processing unit 35 to change the character size. In response to an instruction from the control unit 30 to change the character size, the image processing unit 35 activates the character size changing circuit 72 in response thereto.

  When activated in response to an instruction from the control unit 30, the character size changing circuit 72 first obtains the ratio between the character size before the change and the character size after the change based on the analysis result of the document analysis unit 33. The magnification of the character string image 52 at the portion where the character size has changed is determined from the ratio. When the character size changing circuit 72 determines the magnification, the character size changing circuit 72 changes the size of the character string image 52 based on the magnification, thereby aligning the sizes of the characters included in the document image 50.

  After the processing for changing the character size is performed by the character size changing circuit 72, the control unit 30 determines the width of the character string image 52 based on each character string image 52 after the character size is changed. In the same manner, distribution of each character string image 52 and generation of a partial image 54 are instructed according to the determination result.

  As described above, in the distribution processing server 70 of the present embodiment, when the size of each character included in the document image 50 changes from the middle, the processing for aligning the size of each character is performed, and the character string image 52 after the character size change is performed. Alternatively, the partial image 54 is distributed to the requesting mobile phone 4. If it carries out like this, as shown in FIG. 15, when browsing with the mobile telephone 4, each character can be browsed by the same size.

  When the content of the document file 14 is viewed on the mobile phone 4 via the character string image 52 or the partial image 54, if the character size changes in the middle, the display magnification must be changed again at that location. With this, there is a concern that the burden on the user and the burden of communication charges will increase. On the other hand, as shown in the present embodiment, if the size of each character included in the document image 50 is made uniform, it is possible to suppress an increase in the burden on the user and the communication fee. The viewability can be further improved.

  In each of the above embodiments, the images 50, 52, and 54 are stored and then deleted in order starting from the time when the images have been stored. However, the images 50, 52, and 54 are sequentially stored without being deleted. Also good.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, an example is shown in which a document image 50 generated by requesting browsing of the document file 14 and imaging the document file 14 is distributed, but the present invention is not limited to this, Alternatively, the document image 50 may be stored, and the document image 50 itself may be requested to be browsed. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the past browsing information has been described as indicating the document file 14 that each user has browsed in the past through an image. However, as described above, when browsing of the document image 50 itself is requested. The past browsing information may be configured as indicating the document image 50 browsed in the past by the user.

  In each of the above embodiments, the example in which the present invention is applied to the document browsing system 2 that enables the contents of the document file 14 created in the company to be browsed outside the company has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention may be applied to a content provider system that distributes information such as an electronic book as the document image 50.

  In each of the above embodiments, the mobile phone 4 is shown as a mobile terminal. However, the mobile terminal is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a PHS, a PDA, a smartphone, or a portable personal computer such as a netbook. A computer may be used.

  In each of the above embodiments, the document image distribution unit 3 including the three servers 10 to 12 is shown as the document image distribution device. However, the configuration of the document image distribution device is not limited to this, and includes more servers. It may be a thing, and may consist of one server (computer).

2 Document browsing system 3 Document image distribution unit (document image distribution device)
4 Mobile phones (mobile terminals)
10, 70 Distribution processing server 12 User management server (user information storage means, past browsing information storage means)
18 User DB
30 control unit (display magnification setting means, distribution control means)
33 Document analysis section (document analysis means)
34 Displayable area determining unit (displayable area determining means)
35 Image processing section 36 Data storage section (image storage means)
40 Character string image generation circuit (character string image generation means)
41 Partial image generation circuit (partial image generation means)
50 Document image 51 Displayable area 52 Character string image 54 Partial image 72 Character size changing circuit (character size changing means)

Claims (12)

In a document image distribution device that distributes a predetermined document image to the requesting mobile terminal in response to a browsing request from the mobile terminal,
User information storage means for storing user information in which information for identifying a user and information on the screen size of the display unit of the mobile terminal used by the user are associated;
Past browsing information storage means for storing past browsing information in which information of the document image that the user has browsed in the past and information of display magnification at that time are associated;
A display magnification setting means for setting a display magnification of the current browsing based on the information of the display magnification included in the past browsing information when browsing of the document image is requested by the user;
Document analysis means for extracting characters included in the document image and specifying the position of the extracted characters on the document image;
Based on the screen size information stored in the user information storage means and the display magnification information set by the display magnification setting means, display is possible on the display unit of the portable terminal among the document images. Displayable area determining means for determining the area;
A character string image generating means for generating a character string image for each line from the document image by cutting out an area corresponding to the character string for one line included in the document image based on the analysis result of the document analyzing means; ,
When the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area, the character string image is divided according to the width of the displayable area, thereby Partial image generating means for generating a plurality of partial images according to the width of the displayable area;
When the width of each character string image does not exceed the width of the displayable area, each character string image is delivered to the requesting mobile terminal, and the width of at least one of the character string images is A document image distribution apparatus comprising: distribution control means for distributing each partial image to the requesting mobile terminal when the width of the displayable area is exceeded.   The display magnification setting means reads information on the display magnification of the same document image as the document image requested to be browsed from the past browsing information, and sets the display magnification as the display magnification of the current browsing. The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1.   The display magnification setting means specifies the display magnification that the user often browses from the information of the display magnification stored in the past browsing information of the user who has requested browsing, and uses the display magnification as the display magnification of the current browsing. 3. The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document image distribution apparatus is set.   The display magnification setting means determines whether or not the user is browsing the document image on the basis of the past browsing information of the user who has requested browsing. If it is determined whether the user has browsed the same document image in the past, and it is determined that the user is browsing the same document image, the display magnification at the time of browsing is set as the display magnification of the current browsing. When the user browses in the past but determines that the same document image is not browsed, the user often browses from the display magnification information stored in the past browse information of the user. When the magnification is specified, the display magnification is set as the display magnification for the current browsing, and it is determined that nothing has been browsed in the past, the predetermined standard display magnification is Document image delivery apparatus be set as the display magnification of the view according to claim 3, wherein. Image storage means for storing each character string image and each partial image;
When the character string image or the partial image corresponding to the document image requested to be browsed is stored in the image storage unit, the distribution control unit reads the image from the image storage unit and reads the request source 5. The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document image distribution apparatus distributes the information to the portable terminal.   The distribution control means extracts the amount that fits in the displayable area from each character string image or each partial image, and distributes each extracted character string image or each partial image to the requesting mobile terminal The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document image distribution apparatus is a document image distribution apparatus.   When the partial image generation unit generates the partial image, a portion of the cut according to the width of the displayable region is determined based on the position information of each character on the document image by the analysis of the document analysis unit. It is determined whether or not the character is applied to the character, and when the cut portion is applied to the character, the character string image is divided at a part where the character is separated from the previous character, thereby obtaining the part. The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image is generated.   The partial image generation means generates the partial image by interpreting a phrase of each character included in the character string image and dividing the character string image at a predetermined character string delimiter corresponding to the phrase. The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document image distribution apparatus is a document image distribution apparatus.   When the partial image generation unit generates the partial image, a portion of the cut according to the width of the displayable region is determined based on the position information of each character on the document image by the analysis of the document analysis unit. It is determined whether or not the character is applied to the character, and if the cut portion is applied to the character, the character string image is divided at a part where the character is separated from the next character, and the displayable area The document image distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partial image is generated by being reduced in accordance with a width of the document image.   When the size of each character included in the document image changes from the middle, the character string image of the portion where the character size has changed is enlarged or reduced, and the size of each character included in the character string image is changed so far. 10. The document image distribution device according to claim 1, further comprising a character size changing unit configured to adjust a size of each character included in the document image by adjusting to a character size of the document image. In a document image delivery method for delivering a predetermined document image to the requesting mobile terminal in response to a browsing request from the mobile terminal,
Storing user information associated with information for identifying the user and information on the screen size of the display unit of the mobile terminal used by the user in the user information storage unit;
The past browsing information associated with the information of the document image that the user browsed in the past and the information of the display magnification at that time is stored in the past browsing information storage means,
When browsing of the document image is requested by the user, based on the display magnification information included in the past browsing information, the display magnification of the current browsing is set,
By analyzing the document image, the character included in the document image is extracted, and the position of the extracted character on the document image is specified,
Based on the information on the screen size stored in the user information storage means and information on the set display magnification, a displayable area that can be displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal is determined from the document image,
Based on the analysis result of the document image, by cutting out a region corresponding to the character string for one line included in the document image, a character string image for each line is generated from the document image,
When the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area, the character string image is divided according to the width of the displayable area, thereby Generating a plurality of partial images according to the width of the displayable area;
When the width of each character string image does not exceed the width of the displayable area, each character string image is delivered to the requesting mobile terminal, and the width of at least one of the character string images is When the width of the displayable area is exceeded, the partial image is distributed to the requesting mobile terminal. A portable terminal for requesting browsing of a document image and a document image that is connected to the portable terminal via a network and distributes the document image to the requesting portable terminal in response to a browsing request from the portable terminal In a document browsing system consisting of a distribution device,
User information storage means for storing user information in which information for identifying a user and information on the screen size of the display unit of the mobile terminal used by the user are associated;
Past browsing information storage means for storing past browsing information in which information of the document image that the user has browsed in the past and information of display magnification at that time are associated;
A display magnification setting means for setting a display magnification of the current browsing based on the information of the display magnification included in the past browsing information when browsing of the document image is requested by the user;
Document analysis means for extracting characters included in the document image and specifying the position of the extracted characters on the document image;
Based on the screen size information stored in the user information storage means and the display magnification information set by the display magnification setting means, display is possible on the display unit of the portable terminal among the document images. Displayable area determining means for determining the area;
A character string image generating means for generating a character string image for each line from the document image by cutting out an area corresponding to the character string for one line included in the document image based on the analysis result of the document analyzing means; ,
When the width of at least one of the character string images exceeds the width of the displayable area, the character string image is divided according to the width of the displayable area, thereby Partial image generating means for generating a plurality of partial images according to the width of the displayable area;
When the width of each character string image does not exceed the width of the displayable area, each character string image is delivered to the requesting mobile terminal, and the width of at least one of the character string images is A document browsing system, wherein the document image distribution apparatus includes distribution control means for distributing each partial image to the requesting mobile terminal when the width of the displayable area is exceeded.

Images