JP2016178564A - Scan data processing system, scan data processing apparatus, and scan data processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow for separation of the processing where a scanner reads a document and the processing where an application retrieves the scan data.SOLUTION: A first processing section 12 controls a scanner 11 by using a first scanner driver 21 in accordance with a first scan instruction, and generates primary scan data 22 including the document data 26 and the model information 25, and scan data identification information 23 for identifying the primary scan data 22. A second processing section 13 notifies the first processing section 12 of the first scan instruction, and acquires the scan data identification information 23 from the first processing section 12. A third processing section 14 acquires the scan data identification information 23 from the second processing section 13, acquires the primary scan data 22 corresponding to the scan data identification information 23 from the first processing section 12, and processes the document data 26 included in the primary scan data 22 by using a second scanner driver 28 corresponding to the model information 25 included in the primary scan data 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a scan data processing system, a scan data processing device, and a scan data processing method.

  As a method of taking data read by a scanner into an application, there is a method of using a scanner driver as an interface when a user operates the application. In such a method, the scanner is controlled by operating the scanner driver based on a setting predetermined on the application side. Thereby, it is possible to perform processing without making the user aware of the setting.

  As a system for processing data read by a scanner with an application, a client PC and an application folder associated with an application provided in the client PC are created in a storage unit of a station PC (Personal Computer) and stored in the application folder. There is a system for moving scanned data to an application folder of a client PC corresponding to an application of the station PC (Patent Document 1).

  In the system as described above, when a scan instruction is issued from an application, the “process for reading a document by the scanner” and the “process for reading scan data by the application” are performed as an integral and inseparable process. That is, when the user operates the application to request image capture, the scanner scans the document to obtain primary data (document data), and the document data is processed based on the application settings. The process of obtaining secondary data cannot be separated. In the conventional technology, in order to obtain an image file with a setting intended by the user, the user first sets an application on the PC, and the scanner driver performs “a process for reading an original” according to the setting. is there. That is, the process in which the scanner scans the document and acquires primary data is performed based on a scan start instruction by the scanner driver after setting by the user, and thus the above two processes cannot be separated. Therefore, the completion of scanning by the scanner and the fetching of data into the application are performed substantially simultaneously.

  If the “process for reading a document by the scanner” and the “process for reading scan data by the application” cannot be separated, there arises a disadvantage that the document cannot be collected from the scanner until the scan data is loaded into the application. When the installation location of the PC and the scanner is far from each other, the user moves the document to the PC after setting the document on the scanner, moves to the scanner after setting and starting the scan on the PC, and collects the document from the scanner It is necessary to perform such operations. Therefore, for example, when taking a patient's chart into a medical application, the chart cannot be collected from the scanner until the user's operation as described above is completed, and it takes a long time to return the chart to the patient. Inconvenience occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to separately perform a process in which a scanner reads a document and a process in which an application captures scan data.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a scan data processing system of the present invention controls a scanner using a first scanner driver in accordance with a first scan instruction, and an original read by the scanner A first processing unit for generating primary scan data including data and model information for specifying the scanner, scan data identification information for identifying the primary scan data, and a first scan instruction for the first scan instruction. The processing unit is notified, the second processing unit that acquires the scan data identification information corresponding to the notified first scan instruction is acquired from the first processing unit, and the scan data identification information is acquired from the second processing unit. The primary scan data corresponding to the acquired scan data identification information is acquired from the first processing unit, and the document data included in the acquired primary scan data is acquired. Characterized in that it comprises a third processor for processing using the second scanner driver corresponding to the model information included in the obtained primary scan data.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to separately perform processing for reading a document by a scanner and processing for reading scan data by an application.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a scan data processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the scan data processing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the management PC and the client PC. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the management PC and the mobile device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating storage data stored by the primary scan data storage control unit of the management PC. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of primary scan data. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of model information. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating storage data stored by the scan data ID storage control unit of the mobile device. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing in which a scanner reads a document. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the management PC, the mobile device, and the client PC. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing in which the business application captures document data. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an operation screen of the mobile device used when performing the designation process.

  Embodiments of a scan data processing system, a scan data processing apparatus, and a scan data processing method will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a scan data processing system 1 in the present embodiment. The scan data processing system 1 includes a scanner 11, a first processing unit 12, a second processing unit 13, and a third processing unit 14.

  The scanner 11 is a device that acquires image data (original data) by scanning an original such as a document or an image.

  The first processing unit 12 controls the scanner 11 using the first scanner driver 21 in response to the first scan instruction signal. The first processing unit 12 generates and stores primary scan data 22 and scan data ID (scan data identification information) 23. The primary scan data 22 includes model information 25 for specifying the scanner 11 and document data 26 read by the scanner 11. The model information 25 and the document data 26 are associated with each other. The scan data ID 23 is information for identifying the primary scan data 22. The primary scan data 22 and the scan data ID 23 are associated with each other.

  The second processing unit 13 notifies the first processing unit 12 of the first scan instruction signal. The first scan instruction signal may be generated by the second processing unit 13 or may be generated by another functional unit. The second processing unit 13 acquires and stores the scan data ID 23 corresponding to the notified first scan instruction signal from the first processing unit 12. For example, the second processing unit 13 transmits a first scan instruction signal to the first processing unit 12 and receives the scan data ID 23 from the first processing unit 12 as a response to the transmission.

  The third processing unit 14 acquires the scan data ID 23 from the second processing unit 13, and acquires the primary scan data 22 corresponding to the acquired scan data ID 23 from the first processing unit 12. The third processing unit 14 uses the second scanner driver 28 corresponding to the model information 25 included in the acquired primary scan data 22 for the document data 26 included in the acquired primary scan data 22. To process.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the scan data processing system 1 according to the present embodiment. In this example, the management PC 31 is used as the first processing unit 12, the mobile device 32 is used as the second processing unit 13, and the client PC 33 is used as the third processing unit 14. As the management PC 31 and the client PC 33, for example, a stationary PC or a notebook PC is assumed. As the mobile device 32, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a mobile phone, a notebook PC, or the like is assumed. The scanner 11 and the management PC 31 are connected via an appropriate network. The management PC 31, mobile device 32, and client PC 33 are connected via an appropriate network. The client PC 33 and the external server 35 are connected via an appropriate network. Examples of the network include PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), USB (Universal Serial Bus), Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), and the Internet. The external server 35 is a server that is connected to a client PC via the Internet, for example, and performs various processes for updating the second scanner driver 28 and the like installed in the client PC 33.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the management PC 31 and the client PC 33. The management PC 31 and the client PC 33 in this example are a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 42, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 43, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), as in a general information processing terminal. 45 and an I / F (Interface) 46 are connected via a bus 49. In addition, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 47 and an operation unit 48 are connected to the I / F 46. The CPU 41 is a calculation means and controls the overall operation. The RAM 42 is a volatile storage medium that can read and write information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 41 processes information. The ROM 43 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD is a non-volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like. The I / F connects a bus, hardware, a network, and the like and controls them. The LCD is a visual user interface for the user to check the processing status. The operation unit is a user interface for a user to input information, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the management PC 31 and the mobile device 32. In other words, FIG. 4 exemplifies a configuration of a portion related to a process in which the scanner 11 reads a document (a process to acquire the document data 26).

  The management PC 31 includes a first scanner driver 21 and a scan data management application 51. The first scanner driver 21 operates the scanner 11 in response to an instruction from the scan data management application 51. The first scanner driver 21 transmits the document data 26 obtained by scanning the document to the scan data management application 51 without being processed. At this time, thumbnail image data of the document data 26 may be generated and transmitted to the scan data management application 51.

  The scan data management application 51 includes a primary scan processing unit 52 and a primary scan data storage control unit 53. The primary scan processing unit 52 gives an instruction to operate the scanner 11 to the first scanner driver 21 in response to a first scan instruction signal output from the mobile device 32 (a primary scan instruction unit 62 described later). The reception of the first scan instruction signal can be realized by, for example, a Web API (Web Application Programming Interface). The primary scan processing unit 52 receives the document data 26 (and its thumbnail image data if present) as a response to the first scan instruction signal from the first scanner driver 21.

  The primary scan data storage control unit 53 includes primary scan data 22 (the original scan data 22 received by the primary scan processing unit 52 and the model information 25 for identifying the scanner 11 that has read the original data 26 are associated with each other. 1) is generated and stored in a predetermined storage device. The primary scan data storage control unit 53 generates a scan data ID 23 that identifies the primary scan data 22 and stores it in a predetermined storage device. The primary scan data 22 and the scan data ID 23 are associated with each other.

  The mobile device 32 includes a scan data ID holding application 61. The scan data ID holding application 61 includes a primary scan instruction unit 62 and a scan data ID storage control unit 63.

  The primary scan instruction unit 62 generates a first scan instruction signal and transmits it to the management PC 31 (primary scan processing unit 52). The scan data ID storage control unit 63 acquires the scan data ID 23 stored in the management PC 31 and stores it in a predetermined storage device.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating storage data 20 stored by the primary scan data storage control unit 53 of the management PC 31. The stored data 20 in this example includes a scan data ID 23 and primary scan data 22. The primary scan data 22 includes document data 26 and model information 25. The document data 26 and the model information 25 are associated with each other. For example, document data 26A indicated by an image in which a square and an ellipse are drawn is associated with model information 25A indicated by “Scanner A012”. The scan data ID 23 and the primary scan data 22 are associated with each other. For example, a scan data ID 23A indicated by “ScanData_00001” is associated with a scan data ID 22 including document data 26A and model information 25A.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the primary scan data 22. The primary scan data 22 in this example is ZIP format data having a scan data ID 23 (ScanData_00001) as a file name, model information 25 in JSON (JavaScript (registered trademark) Object Notation) format, and TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). ) Format manuscript data 26.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the model information 25. The model information 25 of this example is data in the JSON format, and indicates that “scanner_id” that is an ID for identifying the model of the scan 11 is “Scanner A012”.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the stored data 30 stored by the scan data ID storage control unit 63 of the mobile device 32. The storage data 30 in this example includes a scan data ID 23 and a scan date 29. The scan data ID 23 and the scan date 29 are associated with each other. The scan date 29 indicates the date when the image data 26 included in the primary scan data 22 corresponding to the scan data ID 23 is acquired by the scanner 11.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing in which the scanner 11 reads a document. After the document is set on the scanner 11 (S101), when the user inputs an operation to start scanning to the mobile device 32 (second processing unit 13) (S102), the mobile device 32 manages the first scan instruction signal. The data is transmitted to the PC 31 (first processing unit 12) (S103).

  When the management PC 31 receives the first scan instruction signal, the management PC 31 transmits an instruction signal for causing the scanner 11 to perform an operation of reading a document by the first scanner driver 21 (S104). The scanner 11 scans a document in accordance with an instruction signal from the management PC 31, acquires document data 26 (S105), and transmits the document data 26 to the management PC 31 (S106).

  When receiving the document data 26 (S107), the management PC 31 generates primary scan data 22 and scan data ID 23 (S108). At this time, the model information 25 included in the primary scan data 22 may be received from the scanner 11 or may be stored in advance in a storage device of the management PC 31. The date and time when the scanner 11 acquires the document data 26 may be acquired and associated with the scan data ID 23. The management PC 31 stores the generated primary scan data 22 and scan data ID 23 in its own storage device (S109).

  The management PC 31 transmits the scan data ID 23 to the mobile device 32 (S110). The mobile device 32 stores the received scan data ID 23 in its own storage device (S111).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the management PC 31, the mobile device 32, and the client PC 33. In other words, FIG. 10 exemplifies a configuration of a part related to a process in which the business application 71 provided in the client PC 33 fetches the document data 26.

  The client PC 33 includes a business application 71, a virtual scanner driver 72, a scan data acquisition application 73, and a second scanner driver 28.

  The business application 71 is an application that realizes predetermined information processing by a user operation. The scan data processing system 1 is not limited to the type of the business application 71. As the business application 71, for example, an application for creating and editing a document / image, an application used for medical use, and the like are assumed. Is done.

  The virtual scanner driver 72 generates a second scan instruction signal for the virtual scanner in response to an instruction from the business application 71. The second scan instruction signal is generated based on the scan setting of the business application 71.

  The scan data acquisition application 73 acquires the scan data ID 23 from the mobile device 32, acquires the primary scan data 22 from the management PC 32, and uses the document data 26 included in the primary scan data 22 based on the scan settings of the business application 71. To process. The scan data acquisition application 73 includes a secondary scan processing unit 81, a data acquisition unit 82, and a driver acquisition unit 83.

  The secondary scan processing unit 81 transmits a request signal for the scan data ID 23 to the data acquisition unit 82 in response to the second scan instruction signal from the virtual scanner driver 72. First, the data acquisition unit 82 transmits a request signal for the scan data ID 23 to the mobile device 32 in response to the request signal from the secondary scan processing unit 81, and receives the scan data ID 23 as a response thereto. Next, the data acquisition unit 82 transmits the request signal from the secondary scan processing unit 81 and the received scan data ID 23 to the management PC 31, and receives the primary scan data 22 corresponding to the scan data ID 23 as a response.

  In response to the second scan instruction signal from the virtual scanner driver 72, the secondary scan processing unit 81 converts the document data 26 included in the received primary scan data 22 into the model information 25 included in the primary scan data 22. The second scanner driver 28 corresponding to As a result, secondary data in which the unprocessed document data 26 is processed based on the scan setting of the business application 71 is generated. The secondary scan processing unit 81 transmits the secondary data to the business application 71 via the virtual scanner driver 72.

  When the second scanner driver 28 corresponding to the model information 25 does not exist in the client PC 33, the driver acquisition unit 83 acquires the corresponding second scanner driver 28 from the external server 35 (see FIG. 2).

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing in which the business application 71 captures document data. When the user inputs an operation to start scanning by the business application 71 of the client PC 33 (third processing unit 14) (S201), a second scan instruction signal is generated by the virtual scanner driver 72 (S202), and the data acquisition unit A request signal for the scan data ID 23 is transmitted from 82 to the mobile device 32 (second processing unit 13) (S203).

  Upon receiving the request signal from the client PC 33 (data acquisition unit 82), the mobile device 32 performs a specifying process for specifying the scan data ID 23 to be transmitted (S204).

  The designation process may be performed, for example, by selecting a scan data ID 23 desired by the user from one or more scan data IDs 23. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an operation screen 91 of the mobile device 32 used when performing the designation process. On the operation screen 91, a scan data ID 23, a scan date 29, and a thumbnail image 96 are displayed. The thumbnail image 96 visually shows the contents of the document data 26 included in the primary scan data 22 corresponding to the scan data ID 23. The user designates a desired scan data ID 23 while looking at such an operation screen 91.

  The mobile device 32 extracts the scan data ID 23 thus designated by the scan data ID storage control unit 63 and transmits it to the client PC 33 (S205).

  When the client PC 33 (data acquisition unit 82) receives the scan data ID 33 (S206), the client PC 33 (data acquisition unit 82) sends a request signal for requesting the primary scan data 22 to the management PC 31 (first processing unit 12). And transmitted together (S207).

  Based on the request signal from the client PC 33 and the scan data ID 23, the management PC 31 extracts the primary scan data 22 corresponding to the scan data ID 23 from the primary scan data storage control unit 53 (S208). The primary scan data 22 is transmitted to the client PC 33 (S209).

  Upon receiving the primary scan data 22 from the management PC 31 (S210), the client PC 33 sets the second scanner driver 28 corresponding to the model information 25 included in the primary scan data 22 (S211). At this time, if the second scanner driver 28 corresponding to the model information 25 does not exist in the client PC 33, the compatible second scanner driver 28 is acquired from the external server 35 by the driver acquisition unit 83.

  Thereafter, the client PC 33 processes the document data 26 included in the primary scan data 22 by the second scanner driver 28 to generate secondary data (S212), and the secondary data is sent to the virtual scanner driver 72 via the virtual scanner driver 72. To the business application 71 (S213).

  A program for controlling the CPU to perform the processing described above is a file in an installable or executable format, such as a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), etc. The program is provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Further, the program may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The program may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the program may be provided by being preinstalled in a ROM or the like.

  According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to separate the process in which the scanner 11 reads a document (the process of acquiring the document data 26) and the process in which the business application 71 takes in the document data 26. As a result, the inconvenience that the document cannot be collected from the scanner 11 until the data loading into the business application 71 is completed can be avoided, and convenience is improved.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Scan data processing system 11 Scanner 12 1st process part 13 2nd process part 14 3rd process part 20 Storage data 21 1st scanner driver 22 Primary scan data 23 Scan data ID
25 Model Information 26 Document Data 28 Second Scanner Driver 29 Scan Date / Time 30 Storage Data 31 Management PC (First Processing Unit)
32 Mobile device (second processing unit)
33 Client PC (third processing unit)
35 External server 51 Scan data management application 52 Primary scan processing unit 53 Primary scan data storage control unit 61 Scan data ID holding application 62 Primary scan instruction unit 63 Scan data ID storage control unit 91 Operation screen 96 Thumbnail image

JP 2008-72517 A

Claims (8)

Primary scan data including document data read by the scanner and model information for specifying the scanner; and the primary scan data, which controls the scanner using a first scanner driver in response to a first scan instruction. A first processing unit for generating scan data identification information for identifying scan data;
A second processing unit that notifies the first processing instruction to the first processing unit, and obtains the scan data identification information corresponding to the notified first scanning instruction from the first processing unit; ,
The scan data identification information is acquired from the second processing unit, the primary scan data corresponding to the acquired scan data identification information is acquired from the first processing unit, and the acquired primary A third processing unit that processes the document data included in the scan data using a second scanner driver corresponding to the model information included in the acquired primary scan data;
A scan data processing system comprising: The third processing unit includes:
An application that performs predetermined processing in response to a user operation;
A virtual scanner driver that generates a second scan instruction in response to an instruction from the application;
A secondary scan processing unit that processes the document data using the second scanner driver in response to the second scan instruction;
The scan data processing system according to claim 1. The second processing unit includes a selection unit for selecting desired scan data identification information from one or more of the scan data identification information,
The third processing unit acquires the scan data identification information selected by the selection unit;
The scan data processing system according to claim 1 or 2. The selection unit displays a thumbnail image of the document data corresponding to the scan data identification information;
The scan data processing system according to claim 3. The second processing unit is configured by a mobile device separate from the first processing unit and the third processing unit.
The scan data processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The third processing unit includes:
A driver acquisition unit configured to acquire the second scanner driver corresponding to the model information from a predetermined information processing apparatus when the second scanner driver corresponding to the model information does not exist;
The scan data processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Primary scan data including document data read by the scanner and model information for specifying the scanner; and the primary scan data, which controls the scanner using a first scanner driver in response to a first scan instruction. A first processing unit for generating scan data identification information for identifying scan data;
A second processing unit that notifies the first processing instruction to the first processing unit, and obtains the scan data identification information corresponding to the notified first scanning instruction from the first processing unit; ,
In a system that includes
A scan data processing apparatus for processing the document data,
The scan data identification information is acquired from the second processing unit, the primary scan data corresponding to the acquired scan data identification information is acquired from the first processing unit, and the acquired primary Processing the document data included in the scan data using a second scanner driver corresponding to the model information included in the acquired primary scan data;
Scan data processing device. A first processing device controlling the scanner using a first scanner driver in response to a first scan instruction;
The first processing device generates primary scan data including document data read by the scanner and model information for specifying the scanner, and scan data identification information for identifying the primary scan data. When,
A second processing device notifying the first processing device of the first scan instruction;
The second processing device obtaining the scan data identification information corresponding to the notified first scan instruction from the first processing device;
A third processing device obtaining the scan data ID from the second processing device;
The third processing device acquiring the primary scan data corresponding to the acquired scan data identification information from the first processing device;
The third processing device processes the document data included in the acquired primary scan data using a second scanner driver corresponding to the model information included in the acquired primary scan data. And steps to
A scan data processing method comprising:

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