JP2012252449A - Device and method for managing business cards - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for managing business cards capable of automatically and accurately discriminating a language written on a business card.SOLUTION: The device for managing business cards extracts a symbol of the business card from an image read from the business card, compares the extracted symbol with a pre-registered symbol to determine a company appropriate to the extracted symbol, and determines a country where the company exists from a determined result. The device for managing business cards determines a language used in the determined country where the company exists, text-converts character information from the image by means of an OCR (optical character reader) corresponding to the determined language, and classifies the text-converted character information into each predetermined classification item to store it in a business card information storage device.

Description

  The present invention relates to a business card management apparatus and method for managing business card information by reading a business card image.

  In recent years, there are increasing cases of dealing with customers and business partners in many countries even when conducting business activities based on Japan due to globalization of business. For this reason, companies and the like digitize business card information and manage registration.

  At that time, it is impossible to automatically determine the language of the name of the name card when the name card is read by an OCR (optical character reader). For this reason, the user needs to check the business card to determine the language and manually set the language of the OCR, which is inefficient. That is, when text information of a business card is converted into text using OCR, it is necessary to use OCR corresponding to the language. In addition, when automatically determining the language of a business card, there is a method of determining based on a character string. However, since there is little character information written on the business card, the accuracy is poor and the target language is limited.

  On the other hand, as such a business card management method, for example, Patent Document 1 optically scans a business card, reads business card data of characters, figures, and symbols on the business card, and assigns and stores classification data on the card. In addition, it is described that desired business card data is read by designating predetermined classification data. Patent Document 2 reads image information on a business card and character information included in the image information, and manages the read character information as one business card data for each management item such as name, title, and company name. Is described.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-110955 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-031215

  As described above, when character string information such as an address, name, and telephone number is converted into text from a business card using an OCR (optical character reader), an OCR corresponding to the language (for example, OCR for Japanese, English) OCR for Chinese, OCR for Chinese, etc.) must be used.

  When using the OCR for each language, the OCR itself often does not have a function to automatically determine the language, and in the case of a language that can be automatically determined (mostly only Japanese / English) However, since the character information described on the business card is limited as described above, it is difficult to accurately determine automatically. In addition, the object of OCR is a character string, and image information (hereinafter referred to as a symbol) such as various standards marks and company logos written on business cards is remarks information if necessary by the person judging the contents. Registered as.

  Thus, before reading a business card by OCR, it is necessary for a person to specify what language the target language of the business card is. Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe that information on a business card is read and managed. However, it is not mentioned that a word is written on the business card.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a business card management apparatus and method capable of automatically and accurately discriminating a language described on a business card.

  The business card management apparatus according to the present invention includes a reading unit that reads an image of a business card, a conversion unit that converts image information of the read business card into a predetermined image image, and an extraction unit that extracts the symbol of the business card from the image image And the extracted symbol and the symbol registered in the registration means in advance, the organization including the company corresponding to the extracted symbol is identified, and the country where the organization including the company is located is determined from the identification result. A country determination means for determining; a language determination means for determining a language of the determined country; a means for converting text information from the image image using an OCR corresponding to the determined language; And storing means for classifying the text information that has been converted into text into predetermined classification items and storing the text information in a business card information storage device.

  In the business card management method according to the present invention, the reading unit reads the business card image, the conversion unit converts the read business card image information into a predetermined image, and the extraction unit A group including a step of extracting the symbol of the business card from the image and the country determination unit collating the extracted symbol with a symbol registered in advance in the registration unit, and including a company corresponding to the extracted symbol Determining the country of the organization including the company from the identification result, the step of determining the language of the determined country, the step of determining the language of the determined country, and the text forming means are the determined Text information from the image using an OCR corresponding to a language, and storage means for converting the text card information into a predetermined Characterized in that it comprises a step of storing the business card information storage device and classified by kind item, a.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for extracting a business card symbol from a computer, a reading unit that reads a business card image, a conversion unit that converts the read business card image information into a predetermined image image, and the like. The extracting means, the extracted symbol and the symbol registered in the registration means in advance are collated, an organization including a company corresponding to the extracted symbol is identified, and the organization including the company is identified from the identification result. Location country determination means for determining the location country, language determination means for determining the language of the determined country, and text information from the image image using an OCR corresponding to the determined language And functioning as storage means for classifying the text information that has been converted into text into predetermined classification items and storing them in a business card information storage device. To.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically and accurately determine how many languages are written on a business card.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the business card management apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the symbol determination process which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the location determination processing which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the classification | category process based on this invention.

  Next, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention stores in advance the symbol itself described on the business card, the symbol position, or the information that combines the language as symbol related information, and collates it with the language discrimination information when registering the business target business card (OCR) By doing so, the language written on the business card is automatically determined.

  Also, by processing the business card with an OCR (for English, for example) that can temporarily support alphanumeric characters regardless of the language on the business card, the location of the company can be determined from the domain name of the email address that is often written on the business card. The country where the company is located is determined from the country, telephone number prefix, etc. By determining the native language (language) based on the country where the country is located, the OCR for the language can be automatically applied.

  Furthermore, the symbol itself described on the business card itself and information combining the symbol information (company group name, etc.) are stored in advance as symbol related information, and the symbol related information is stored when registering the business target business card (OCR). By collating, the information accompanying the business card is automatically registered.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a business card management apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a business card reader for reading an image on a business card. The business card reading device 1 reads an image on the business card and outputs it to the image conversion unit 2. The image conversion unit 2 converts the business card into an image image (for example, BMP, GIF, TIFF, JPEG, etc.) that can be executed by OCR. “OCR can be performed” means that the character conversion unit 5 or the like converts character information of an image image of a business card into an image image that can be converted into text as described later.

  The symbol extraction unit 3 extracts symbols on the business card from the image image by image recognition. The symbol determination unit 4 determines the company name and the like by comparing the extracted symbol with a pre-registered dictionary. In addition, not only a company but also an organization corresponding to a symbol described on a business card is determined to determine a country of residence. A character conversion unit (alphanumeric characters) 5 analyzes an image image by OCR (language capable of recognizing alphanumeric characters) and extracts alphanumeric characters. The keyword extraction unit 6 extracts a mail address and a telephone number from the OCR result. The country determination unit 7 determines the country from the domain of the mail address and the country code of the telephone number.

  The language determination unit 8 determines the native language based on the score of the country information determined as described later. The character conversion unit (each language) 9 converts the character information of the image (business card) into text using an OCR corresponding to the language. The classification unit 10 performs, for example, the following various classifications and arrangements.

(1) Classification by text information (company name, department name, etc.) (2) Classification by symbol (company name, group company name, standard name, etc.) (3) Classification by determined country The information of the business cards (business card image file, classification result information, registration date, manual input reference information, etc.) is stored. The display device 12 displays stored business card information and classification results (a list for each classification, a total, a map, etc.). The output device 13 performs a form output of the classification result and the like. The manually input reference information is input by the user in accordance with the business card (business card partner), for example, information such as the contents of a work project related to the business card partner.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining symbol determination processing. In the symbol determination process, a business card image or the like is read. That is, a business card image is read by the business card reader 1 and converted into a business card image image (BMP, GIF, TIFF, JPEG, etc.) capable of OCR by the image conversion unit 2. FIG. 2 shows an example of a business card image input file read from a business card.

  The symbol extraction unit 3 reads a business card image (S1), and extracts a symbol from the business card image by image recognition. The symbol determination unit 4 collates the extracted symbol with symbol-related information prepared in advance (S2). As the symbol related information, information related to a plurality of business cards combining symbols themselves (such as a logo or a sign of a company), a symbol position, and a language, which are described in advance on a business card, is accumulated as symbol related information. The symbol related information is stored in a storage device (not shown).

  The symbol determination unit 4 sequentially collates the symbol extracted by the symbol extraction unit 3 with previously stored symbol related information, and the symbol extracted from the business card matches the symbol of the symbol related information stored in advance. Then, related information corresponding to the symbol, that is, information such as the corresponding symbol, the corresponding language, the corresponding group, and the corresponding job type as shown in FIG. 2 is acquired and output to the language determination unit 8 (S3). . Of course, a company name or the like may be registered as symbol related information.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the country determination process. In the country determination process, the character conversion unit 5 analyzes the business card image using OCR (language capable of recognizing alphanumeric characters), extracts alphanumeric characters, and inputs them to the keyword extraction unit 6 (S4). The keyword extraction unit 6 extracts a prefix regarding the telephone number from the extraction result (S5), collates with the country code list data prepared in advance, and acquires country name information (S6). FIG. 3 shows an example of country code list data. For example, if the country code is “81”, the country name is “Japan”, and if the country code is “227”, the country name is “Niger”.

  In addition, the keyword extraction unit 6 extracts a top-level domain regarding the mail address (S7), collates with the domain list data prepared in advance, and acquires country / region information (S8). FIG. 3 shows an example of domain list data. For example, if the domain is “jp”, it is understood that “Japan”. The country code list data and domain list data are stored in a storage device (not shown). The country determination unit 7 determines the country by integrating information (country name information, country / region information) about the country acquired from the telephone number and the mail address (S9). The country determination result of the country determination unit 7 is output to the language determination unit 8 (S10).

  In this way, the country determination process is performed, and the language determination unit 8 determines the language of the business card based on the country information determined by the symbol determination unit 4 and the score of the country information determined by the country determination unit 7. judge. That is, if the country information determined by the symbol matches the country information determined by the telephone number and the mail address, the language of the country is determined as the language of the business card. On the other hand, if both country information do not match, it is determined that priority is given to one of the determination results. For example, the determination result of the symbol determination unit 4 is adopted with priority given to the determination result of the symbol determination unit 4 in consideration of accuracy. If they do not match, an error may be displayed on the display device 12 and the operation may be stopped. Conversely, the country information determined based on the telephone number and the mail address may be given priority.

  The character conversion unit 9 converts the character information of the image (business card) into text using an OCR (optical character reader) corresponding to the determined language. The information converted into text by the character conversion unit 9 is output to the classification unit 10.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the classification process. In the classification process, the information output in each process as described above is input to the classification unit 10 (S11). That is, symbol-related information (symbol, corresponding language, corresponding company, corresponding group, corresponding job type, etc.) based on the result of symbol matching in S3 in FIG. 2, the country determination result by the country determination unit 7 described in FIG. The result of language determination by the unit 8, the result of character conversion by the character conversion unit 9 (name, address, department, telephone number, e-mail address, company name (organization name), job title, etc. written on the business card), etc. are input. .

  The classification unit 10 classifies the input information and stores it in the business card information storage device 11. The classification unit 10 tags the classification target items (in the example of FIG. 4, the last name (last name), name (first name), address, symbol name, group name, email address, country of residence, language,...) ( S12), the business card last name, name, company name, etc. are output in association with each tagged classification target item (S13). The classification result information is stored in the business card information storage device 11 together with the business card image file, registration date and time, manual input reference information as described above, and the like. Although not shown in FIG. 4, the business name of the business card or the like may be the classification target item.

  The “value” shown in FIG. 4 is determined, for example, corresponding to the last name, name, address,... Of the classification target item, and corresponds to, for example, the last name when reading the business card information from the business card information storage device 11. If the “value” to be searched is searched from the business card information storage device 11, it is possible to read a list of classification results for the last name. For example, when searching for a last name and a name (or last name combined with a last name), a list of the corresponding last name and name (or name) is read, and business card information corresponding to the corresponding last name and name (or name) ( The company name, address, department name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.) are read out.

  In the example of FIG. 4, “symbol A” is shown as a value corresponding to the classification target item “symbol name”, but by searching for “symbol A” as a key, a list of corresponding symbols is read out. . In addition, the business card information (company name, name, address, department name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.) of the corresponding symbol is read out from the business card list of the read symbols. Similarly, although “AAA group” is shown as a value corresponding to the classification target item “group name”, business card information corresponding to “AAA group” can be similarly read by searching for “AAA group”. it can.

  The display device 12 displays information stored in the business card information storage device 11 or displays classification results (a list for each classification, a total, a map, etc.). The output device 13 outputs a classification result form from the business card information storage device 11. For example, if you search for the last name and name (or surname combined with the last name) as described above, a list of the corresponding last name and name (or name) will be read and the corresponding last name and name (or name) will be supported Business card information (company name, address, department name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.) to be read is read out. The display device 12 and the output device 13 display and output these read information.

  In this embodiment, a business card symbol is extracted and collated with pre-stored symbol-related information to determine a company name, etc., and a language corresponding to that is automatically determined. Can be determined with high accuracy. In addition, since the country of residence is comprehensively determined by combining not only the symbol of the business card but also the mail address and telephone number, the language of the business card can be determined with higher accuracy, and the business card information can be converted to OCR.

  Further, by classifying using a symbol mark of a company or the like, it is possible to recognize a group company that uses the same symbol mark, and it is possible to classify a business card by a company group. Furthermore, since the country of residence is recognized based on a telephone number or an e-mail address, business cards can be classified for each country of residence.

  The business card management device can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The business card management method performed by the business card management apparatus can also be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Here, “realized by software” means realized by a computer reading and executing a program.

  The program may be stored using various types of non-transitory computer readable media and supplied to the computer. Non-transitory computer readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer readable media include magnetic recording media (for example, flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (for example, magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD- R, CD-R / W, semiconductor memory (for example, mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory)).

  The program may also be supplied to the computer by various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

  Moreover, although a part or all of the said embodiment can be described also as the following additional remarks, it is not restricted to the following.

(Appendix 1) Reading means for reading an image of a business card;
Conversion means for converting the image information of the read business card into a predetermined image image;
Extracting means for extracting the symbol of the business card from the image,
The extracted symbol and the symbol registered in the registration means are collated, the organization including the company corresponding to the extracted symbol is specified, and the country where the organization including the company is located is determined from the specified result. Country determination means;
Language determining means for determining the language of the determined country;
Means for converting text information from the image image into text using an OCR corresponding to the determined language;
Storage means for classifying the text information that has been converted into text into predetermined classification items and storing them in a business card information storage device;
A business card management device comprising:

(Supplementary Note 2) Means for extracting alphanumeric information from the converted image and extracting a telephone number and an email address;
Determining means for determining a country based on the extracted telephone number and e-mail address;
The language determination unit determines the country based on the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit and the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address. The business card management device described in 1.

  (Supplementary Note 3) If the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address, the language determination unit uses the symbol. The business card management device according to appendix 2, wherein priority is given to the determined country information.

  (Supplementary Note 4) If the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address, the language determination unit The business card management device according to appendix 2, wherein priority is given to the country information determined by the e-mail address.

  (Supplementary Note 5) The language determination means displays an error if the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination means does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and mail address. Then, the business card management device according to appendix 2, wherein the operation is stopped.

  (Supplementary Note 6) In the registration means, information including the symbol and an organization name or group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered as symbol related information, and the storage means stores the text information as text. Is stored in a business card information storage device classified into predetermined classification items, an organization name or a group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered based on the symbol related information. The business card management apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5.

  (Additional remark 7) The said conversion means converts the image information of the business card read by the said reading means into the image image of BMP, GIF, TIFF, or JPEG, Any one of additional marks 1 thru | or 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. Business card management device.

(Additional remark 8) The reading means reads the image of a business card,
Converting means for converting the read business card image information into a predetermined image image;
Extracting means for extracting a symbol of the business card from the image image;
The country determination means collates the extracted symbol with a symbol registered in advance in the registration means, specifies an organization including a company corresponding to the extracted symbol, and an organization including the company from the specification result Determining the country where
A language determining means determining the language of the determined country;
Texting means texturing character information from the image using an OCR corresponding to the determined language;
A storage means for classifying the textual business card information into predetermined classification items and storing the business card information in a business card information storage device;
A business card management method comprising:

(Supplementary note 9) Means for converting alphanumeric information into text from the converted image and extracting a telephone number and an email address;
Determining means for determining a country based on the extracted telephone number and e-mail address;
The language determination unit includes a step of determining a country based on the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit and the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address. The business card management method according to appendix 8.

  (Supplementary Note 10) If the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address, the language determination unit uses the symbol. The business card management method according to appendix 9, wherein priority is given to the determined country information.

  (Supplementary Note 11) If the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address, the language determination unit The business card management method according to appendix 9, wherein priority is given to the country information determined by the e-mail address.

  (Supplementary Note 12) The language determination means displays an error when the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination means does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and mail address. The business card management method according to appendix 9, wherein the operation is stopped.

  (Supplementary note 13) In the registration means, information including the symbol and an organization name or group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered as symbol related information, and the storage means stores the text information as text. Is stored in a business card information storage device classified into predetermined classification items, an organization name or a group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered based on the symbol related information. The business card management method according to any one of 8 to 12.

  (Additional remark 14) The said conversion means converts the image information of the business card read by the said reading means into the image image of BMP, GIF, TIFF, or JPEG, Any one of Additional remark 8 thru | or 13 characterized by the above-mentioned. Business card management method.

(Supplementary note 15)
Reading means for reading an image of a business card;
Conversion means for converting the image information of the read business card into a predetermined image image;
Extracting means for extracting the symbol of the business card from the image,
The extracted symbol and the symbol registered in the registration means are collated, the organization including the company corresponding to the extracted symbol is specified, and the country where the organization including the company is located is determined from the specified result. Country determination means;
Language determining means for determining the language of the determined country;
Means for converting text information from the image image into text using an OCR corresponding to the determined language;
Storage means for classifying the text information that has been converted into text into predetermined classification items and storing them in a business card information storage device;
Program to make it function.

(Supplementary Note 16) Further, the computer is
Means for extracting alphanumeric information from the converted image and extracting a telephone number and an email address;
Function as a determination means for determining the country of residence based on the extracted telephone number and email address;
The language determination unit determines a country based on the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit and the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address. The listed program.

  (Supplementary Note 17) If the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and mail address, the language determination unit uses the symbol. The program according to appendix 16, wherein priority is given to the determined country information.

  (Supplementary Note 18) If the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address, the language determination unit The program according to appendix 16, wherein priority is given to the country information determined by the mail address.

  (Supplementary Note 19) The language determination means displays an error when the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination means does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and mail address. The program according to appendix 16, wherein the operation is stopped.

  (Supplementary note 20) In the registration means, information including the symbol and the organization name or group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered as symbol related information, and the storage means stores the text information as text Is stored in a business card information storage device classified into predetermined classification items, an organization name or a group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered based on the symbol related information. The program according to any one of 15 to 19.

  (Supplementary note 21) The conversion unit converts the business card image information read by the reading unit into a BMP, GIF, TIFF, or JPEG image, according to any one of Supplementary notes 15 to 20. Program.

  The present invention can be suitably used for, for example, a multilingual business card management system. It can also be used in systems for customer information management and sales management that utilize information based on business card information in offices and the like. Furthermore, it can be used for an attendee management system in exhibitions or seminars where many visitors are accepted with business cards.

1 business card reader 2 image conversion unit 3 symbol extraction unit 4 symbol determination unit 5 character conversion unit (alphanumeric characters)
6 Keyword extraction section 7 Country determination section 8 Language determination section 9 Character conversion section (each language)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Classification part 11 Business card information storage device 12 Display device 13 Output device

Claims (9)

Reading means for reading an image of a business card;
Conversion means for converting the image information of the read business card into a predetermined image image;
Extracting means for extracting the symbol of the business card from the image,
The extracted symbol and the symbol registered in the registration means are collated, the organization including the company corresponding to the extracted symbol is specified, and the country where the organization including the company is located is determined from the specified result. Country determination means;
Language determining means for determining the language of the determined country;
Means for converting text information from the image image into text using an OCR corresponding to the determined language;
Storage means for classifying the text information that has been converted into text into predetermined classification items and storing them in a business card information storage device;
A business card management device comprising: Means for extracting alphanumeric information from the converted image and extracting a telephone number and an email address;
Determining means for determining a country based on the extracted telephone number and e-mail address;
The language determination unit determines the country based on the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination unit and the country information determined from the telephone number and the mail address. 1. The business card management device according to 1.   The language determination means determines the location determined by the symbol when the location information determined from the symbol by the location determination means does not match the location information determined from the telephone number and mail address. 3. The business card management device according to claim 2, wherein country information is prioritized.   The language determination means, when the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination means does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and mail address, by the telephone number and mail address. 3. The business card management device according to claim 2, wherein priority is given to the determined country information.   The language determination means displays an error and operates when the country information determined from the symbol by the country determination means does not match the country information determined from the telephone number and mail address. The business card management device according to claim 2, wherein the business card management device is stopped.   In the registration means, information including the symbol and an organization name or group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered as symbol-related information, and the storage means stores the textual character information in a predetermined classification. 6. The group name or group name including the company corresponding to the symbol is registered based on the symbol related information when the item is classified and stored in the business card information storage device. The business card management apparatus according to any one of the above.   7. The business card according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit converts the business card image information read by the reading unit into a BMP, GIF, TIFF, or JPEG image image. 8. Management device. A reading means for reading an image of the business card;
Converting means for converting the read business card image information into a predetermined image image;
Extracting means for extracting a symbol of the business card from the image image;
The country determination means collates the extracted symbol with a symbol registered in advance in the registration means, specifies an organization including a company corresponding to the extracted symbol, and an organization including the company from the specification result Determining the country where
A language determining means determining the language of the determined country;
Texting means texturing character information from the image using an OCR corresponding to the determined language;
A storage means for classifying the textual business card information into predetermined classification items and storing the business card information in a business card information storage device;
A business card management method comprising: Computer
Reading means for reading an image of a business card;
Conversion means for converting the image information of the read business card into a predetermined image image;
Extracting means for extracting the symbol of the business card from the image,
The extracted symbol and the symbol registered in the registration means are collated, the organization including the company corresponding to the extracted symbol is specified, and the country where the organization including the company is located is determined from the specified result. Country determination means;
Language determining means for determining the language of the determined country;
Means for converting text information from the image image into text using an OCR corresponding to the determined language;
Storage means for classifying the text information that has been converted into text into predetermined classification items and storing them in a business card information storage device;
Program to make it function.

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