JP2017135497A - Information processing unit, control method and program of information processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a user candidate, having high possibility to be selected by a user, preferentially even if a character string extracted from image data does not match the user information managed.SOLUTION: In an information processing unit for processing image data, character information is extracted from image data read from a script, and a list of user information for storing the image data is displayed on display means from the character information thus extracted, and the user information. When the user information to which the image data must be transferred is selected from the list of user information displayed on display means, the image data thus read is transferred to a transfer destination identified by the user information thus selected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method for the information processing apparatus, and a program.

  Conventionally, when a paper document is scanned and digitized using an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) or the like, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is performed on the digitized data, and the data is sent to the file server based on the acquired information. A method for determining a storage destination is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-230326 A

  In Patent Document 1, as a result of performing OCR on digitized data, an extracted character string is compared with a keyword list created in advance, and a matching character string is stored as a storage folder name candidate on the operation screen of the MFP. ,indicate. The user selects a displayed character string to determine a storage folder for the digitized data.

  However, when OCR is performed on data obtained by digitizing a paper document including a handwritten character string, the character string may not be extracted normally. In such a case, since there is no matching character string in the character string and the keyword list, there is a problem that the folder name candidate desired by the user is not displayed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is highly likely to be selected by the user even when the character string extracted from the image data does not match the user information managed. It is to provide a mechanism that can display user candidates with priority.

The information processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
An information processing apparatus comprising: an extraction unit that extracts character information from image data read from a document; a character information extracted by the extraction unit; and a list of user information in which the image data is to be stored from the user information Display means for displaying; selection means for selecting user information to which the image data is to be transferred from the list of user information displayed on the display means; user information selected by the selection means; and the extraction means A management unit that registers and manages the extracted character information in association with the registration unit; and a transfer unit that transfers the read image data to the transfer destination specified by the user information selected by the selection unit. It is characterized by providing.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even when the character string extracted from image data does not correspond with the user information to manage, a user candidate with high possibility of a user selecting can be displayed preferentially.

It is a figure which shows the structure of an image processing system. 2 is a block diagram illustrating configurations of an MFP and a file server. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration of the MFP. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the control method of information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows UI screen displayed with an information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the control method of information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows UI screen displayed with an information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows a user information management list. It is a figure which shows a user information management list comparison result. It is a figure which shows UI screen displayed with an information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows a user information management list. It is a figure which shows a user information management list. It is a figure which shows UI screen displayed with an information processing apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention.
<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system according to the present embodiment. This system is an example of a system in which an information processing apparatus and a server apparatus can communicate.
In FIG. 1, in this embodiment, an MFP 101 and a file server 102 are connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) 100 as an example of an information processing apparatus so as to communicate with each other. Note that the information processing apparatus also includes an image forming apparatus, a composite image forming apparatus, and a printer.
The MFP 101 is an example of an image processing apparatus. The file server 102 is an example of an external server. Here, the entire apparatus including the MFP 101 and the file server 102 is an image processing system, but only the MFP 101 may be referred to as an image processing system. In FIG. 1, each device is connected via a LAN, but may be connected via the Internet or the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the MFP 101 and the file server 102 shown in FIG. First, each component included in the MFP 101 will be described.
In FIG. 2, a control unit 210 including a CPU 211 controls the operation of the entire MFP 101. The CPU 211 reads a control program stored in the ROM 212 and performs various controls such as reading / printing / communication. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory or work area for the CPU 211. In the MFP 101, one CPU 211 uses a single memory (RAM 213 or HDD 214) to execute each process shown in the flowchart to be described later. However, a plurality of CPUs and a plurality of RAMs or HDDs are executed in cooperation with each other. You may make it do.

  The HDD 214 stores image data and various programs. The operation unit I / F 215 is an interface that connects the operation unit 220 and the control unit 210. The operation unit 220 includes a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function, a button board, and the like, and serves as a reception unit that receives an operation / input / instruction by the user.

  The printer I / F 216 is an interface that connects the printer 221 and the control unit 210. Image data printed by the printer 221 is transferred from the control unit 210 via the printer I / F 216 and printed on a recording medium by the printer 221.

  The scanner I / F 217 is an interface that connects the scanner 222 and the control unit 210. The scanner 222 reads an image of a document set on a document table (not shown), generates image data, and inputs the image data to the control unit 210 via the scanner I / F 217. The MFP 101 can send the image data generated by the scanner 222 as a file or e-mail.

  The modem I / F 218 is an interface that connects the modem 223 and the control unit 210. The modem 223 executes facsimile communication of image data with a facsimile apparatus (not shown). A network I / F 219 is an interface that connects the control unit 210 (MFP 101) to the LAN 100. The MFP 101 uses the network I / F 219 to transmit image data and information to an external device (such as the file server 102) on the LAN 100 and receive various types of information.

Next, each component included in the file server 102 will be described.
A control unit 210 including a CPU 211 controls the operation of the entire file server 102. The CPU 211 reads the control program stored in the ROM 212 and executes various control processes. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory or work area for the CPU 211. The HDD 314 stores image data and various programs.

  The network I / F 315 is an interface that connects the control unit 210 (file server 102) to the LAN 100. The file server 102 transmits and receives various types of information to and from other devices on the LAN 100 using the network I / F 315.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the MFP 101 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 3, the MFP 101 is roughly divided into a native function unit 310 and an additional application 320. Each unit included in the native function unit 310 is provided in the MFP 101 as a standard, whereas the additional application 320 is an application additionally installed in the MFP 101. The additional application 320 is an application based on Java (registered trademark), and can easily add functions to the MFP 101. Note that other additional applications (not shown) may be installed in the MFP 101.

  Application display unit 323 displays a UI for accepting user operation / input / instruction on a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function of operation unit 220 of MFP 101. Details of the screen to be displayed will be described later.

  The scan instruction unit 321 receives information from the user input via the application display unit 323 and requests the scan unit 311 to perform scan processing together with scan settings and transfer settings included in the input information. Further, the application transfer unit 324 described later temporarily stores information on the folder path to be transferred (transmitted) to the file server 102.

  Upon receiving a scan request including scan settings from the scan instruction unit 321, the scan unit 311 generates an image data by reading an image on a document with the scanner 222 via the scanner I / F 217, and transfers the image data to the scan unit 311. The setting is transferred to the transfer unit 312.

The transfer unit 312 transfers the image data received from the scan unit 311 according to the transfer settings received from the scan unit 311. As the transfer destination of the image data, the file server 102, a PC (not shown) on the LAN 100, or the like can be set. Here, the image data generated by the scan unit 311 is temporarily transferred to the additional application 320. It is assumed that The transfer unit 312 has an FTP client function, and transfers image data by FTP to the application receiving unit 322 having the FTP server function.
Address book storage unit 313 stores address information registered by the user of MFP 101. The application reception unit 322 receives the image data internally transferred from the transfer unit 312 and passes it to the application analysis unit 326.

The user information management list processing unit 325 acquires the user information management list in the folder path included in the input information from the file server 102 using the information from the user input via the application display unit 323.
Here, the user information management list includes the user ID and name as user information, and is used for comparison with a character string (character information) extracted by OCR from digitized data described later.
Further, the name or ID of the user information management list is used as the folder name of the image data storage destination of the file server 102. Details of the user information management list will be described later.
In addition, the user information management list processing unit 325 has a WebDAV (Distributed Authoring and Versioning protocol for the WWW) client function. As a result, the user information management list is acquired using WebDAV for the file server 102 having the WebDAV server function. In addition to WebDAV, the user information management list can be obtained by using FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SMB (Server Message Block), or the like. In addition, SOAP other than the purpose of file transmission, REST (Representational State Transfer), or the like can be used.

The application analysis unit 326 passes the image data to the OCR recognition unit 327 and receives the OCR recognition result. The received OCR recognition result is compared with the user information management list acquired from the user information management list processing unit 325, the character string of the user information management list is scored, and the comparison result is passed to the application display unit 323. Details of the comparison method and the comparison result will be described later.
The application display unit 323 displays a name list screen on the operation unit 220 based on the comparison result, and passes the user selection result to the application transfer unit 324.

  The application transfer unit 324 determines the storage destination folder path using the temporarily saved folder path and the user selection result (for example, the name of the user information management list), and transfers (sends) the image data to the file server 102. ) For the transfer here, WebDAV, FTP, SMB, or the like can be used as in the user information management list processing unit 425.

  When the transfer is completed, the application transfer unit 324 notifies the application display unit 323 that the transfer is completed. In response to the notification from the application transfer unit 324, the application display unit 323 updates the display content.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the information processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is a processing example from when the MFP 101 shown in FIG. 1 is activated until a scan setting screen 700 which is an application top screen is displayed. Each step is realized by the CPU 211 of the MFP 101 executing a control program stored in the HDD 214.

In S <b> 401, the CPU 211 displays the menu screen 500 illustrated in FIG. 5A on the operation unit 220 via the operation unit I / F 215. The menu screen 500 displays a list of functions and applications provided in the MFP 101.
A [copy] key 501 and a [scan and send] key 502 shown in FIG. 5A are operation keys corresponding to functions (native functions) provided as a standard in the MFP 101.
On the other hand, a “scan and send distribution” key 503 is an operation key corresponding to a Java (registered trademark) -based application additionally installed in the MFP 101. The MFP 101 may be provided with other native functions and other applications not shown.

  In step S <b> 402, the CPU 211 determines whether the “scan and send distribution” key 503 has been pressed. If the CPU 211 determines that the [scan and send distribution] key 503 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S403. If the CPU 211 determines that the key is not pressed, the CPU 211 waits until it is pressed. If the [Copy] key 501 or the [Scan and send] key 502 is pressed, the corresponding function is executed.

In step S <b> 403, the CPU 211 acquires file server settings saved in the HDD 214. The file server setting is a CSV or XML format file including information on the file server 102. Further, the file server setting includes the host name of the file server 102 and the root folder information that is the starting point of the folder path.
The file server setting includes authentication information (ID, password) for logging in to the file server 102. Each information included in the file server setting needs to be input in advance by an administrator or user of the MFP 101 via a file server setting screen displayed on a PC (not shown).

  In S404, the CPU 211 executes access to the file server 102 based on the file server setting acquired in S403. In step S405, it is determined whether the access in step S404 has succeeded (whether the login with the file server 102 has been successful). If the CPU 211 determines that the access has succeeded, the process proceeds to S409. If the CPU 211 determines that the access has failed, the process proceeds to S406.

In S <b> 406, the CPU 211 displays an authentication screen 510 shown in FIG. 5B on the operation unit 220 via the operation unit I / F 215. When access to the file server 102 fails, there is a possibility that the authentication information included in the file server setting has an error, and the user is prompted to input the authentication information via the authentication screen 510.
In step S407, the CPU 211 determines whether the [login] key 513 has been pressed. If the CPU 211 determines that the [Login] key 513 is pressed, the process proceeds to S408. If the CPU 211 determines that the [Login] key 513 is not pressed, the CPU 211 waits until it is pressed.

In S408, the CPU 211 stores the authentication information input by the user in the HDD 214, and returns to S403. By performing the processing of S408, the user does not need to input authentication information at the next and subsequent logins, but the processing of S408 and S403 may be omitted and the processing may proceed to S404.
In step S <b> 409, the CPU 211 displays the scan setting screen 700, which is the application top screen illustrated in FIG. 7, on the operation unit 220 via the operation unit I / F 215.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the information processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is a processing example from the display of the scan setting screen 700 to the transmission of image data to the file server 102. Each step is realized by the CPU 211 of the MFP 101 executing a control program stored in the HDD 214.

In step S601, the CPU 211 displays a scan setting screen 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 via the operation unit I / F 215.
In FIG. 7, an area 701 shows the storage destination root folder information acquired in S <b> 403. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the image data has a [user folder] folder as a root folder. Immediately under this folder, there is a folder for each user managed in a user information management list described later, and image data generated by the scanner 222 is stored.

  [File name] key 702 is an operation key for setting a file name of image data. When the [File Name] key 702 is pressed, a software keyboard is displayed, and an arbitrary character string used as a file name can be input. An area 703 displays a default file name. Here, the scan date and time and a name selected from a name list described later are set to be used as the file name. Using the software keyboard displayed by the [File Name] key 702, it is possible to input a fixed file name in addition to the automatically generated file name.

Operation keys 704 to 708 are operation keys for setting document reading parameters. The types of reading parameters may be added other than those shown in the drawing, or some of the reading parameters may not be included.
An operation key 704 is an operation key for setting a color mode. The user can select a desired color mode from the options of [Color], [Grayscale], and [Monochrome] shown in the pull-down menu. An operation key 705 is an operation key for setting the resolution. The user can select a desired resolution from options such as [300 * 300 dpi] and [200 * 200 dpi] shown in the pull-down menu. An operation key 706 is an operation key for setting the duplex mode.
The user can select a desired duplex mode from the [Double-sided] and [Single-sided] options shown in the pull-down menu. An operation key 707 is an operation key for setting a document mixed mode. The user can select a desired mixed document mode from the options of “with mixed document” and “without mixed document” shown in the pull-down menu. An operation key 708 is an operation key for setting a file format. The user can select a desired file format from options such as “TIFF”, “PDF”, and “PDF + high compression”.

  When the [Cancel] key 709 is pressed, the scan setting can be canceled and the storage destination can be changed to another folder. When the [Start Scan] key 710 is pressed, reading of a document, display of an OCR and name list screen, and transmission of image data to the file server 102 are executed.

Returning to the description of FIG. 6, in S <b> 602, the CPU 211 determines whether the [Start Scan] key 710 is pressed or the [Cancel] key 709 is pressed. If the CPU 211 determines that the [Start Scan] key 710 has been pressed, the process advances to step S603. If the CPU 211 determines that the [Cancel] key 709 has not been pressed, the process ends and the menu screen 500 is displayed. To do.
In step S <b> 603, the document is read by the scanner 222 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 211. In step S604, the OCR recognition unit 327 performs OCR processing on the image data received from the application analysis unit 326, and generates document data from the image data.

  In step S605, the application analysis unit 326 acquires a name from the document data obtained in step S604. As a condition for acquiring a name from document data, a character string in the same area as a specific character string such as a preset “name” or “name” is acquired. Alternatively, a character string in any of the upper, lower, left, and right areas of a specific character string area such as “name” or “name” may be acquired. In the present embodiment, an example is described in which a paper document in which the name “Ichiro Tanaka” is handwritten in the name area is scanned, and the name extracted by OCR is not extracted normally and is extracted as “Ichiro Icchu”. To do.

  In step S <b> 606, the user information management list processing unit 325 acquires the user information management list 800 stored in the file server 102. The user information management list 800 shown in FIG. 8 manages user IDs 801 and names 802. Further, an OCR extraction history 803 described later is also managed.

  In S607, the CPU 211 determines whether there is a value in the OCR extraction history 803 of the user information management list 800 acquired in S606. If the CPU 211 determines that a value exists, the CPU 211 executes S615. The processing after S615 will be described later. If there is no value, S608 is executed.

  In S608, it is determined whether there is a comparison result with the OCR extraction history executed in S615 and subsequent steps. If the CPU 211 determines that there is a comparison result, S618 is executed. The process of S618 will be described later. On the other hand, when the CPU 211 determines that there is no comparison result with the OCR extraction history, S609 is executed.

  In step S609, the application analysis unit 326 compares the name acquired in step S605 with the name 802 of the user information management list 800 acquired in step S606. The comparison processing described below is performed by the application analysis unit 326.

FIG. 9 is an example of a result of scoring using an n-gram model for comparison (2-gram is used in this embodiment). When the name extracted by OCR is “Ichiro Enaka”, the names “Ichiro Satonaka” and “Ichiro Tanaka” each have a score of 2, and score 0 is added to the other names. For comparison, 1-gram may be used instead of 2-gram.
In S610, the CPU 211 displays the name list screen 1000 on the operation unit 220 based on the result of comparison in S609.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI screen displayed on the operation unit 220 illustrated in FIG.
In FIG. 10, on the name list screen 1000, names in the user information management list are displayed in the name list 1001 in descending order of score. The user selects a name corresponding to the scanned document from the displayed name list, and presses the [Send] key 1004.

  In step S611, the CPU 211 determines whether the “Send” key 1004 has been pressed or the “Cancel” key 1003 has been pressed. If the CPU 211 determines that the [Send] key 1004 is pressed, the process advances to step S612. If the CPU 211 determines that the [Cancel] key 1003 is pressed, the process ends and the menu screen 500 is displayed.

In step S612, the application transfer unit 324 acquires the name selected by the user from the name list displayed in step S610, and transmits the image data using the name as the folder name immediately below the root folder of the destination file server 102. To do.
In this embodiment, since the test of “Ichiro Tanaka” is scanned, it is assumed that the user selects “Ichiro Tanaka”, and image data is stored in the “Ichiro Tanaka” folder directly under the root folder. As a folder name for managing image data, the ID 801 of the user information management list 800 may be used as the folder name instead of the name 802 of the user information management list 800.

In S613, the user information management list processing unit 325 determines whether the OCR extraction character string (Ichiro Enaka) acquired in S605 is included in the OCR extraction history of the name (Ichiro Tanaka) selected by the user in the user information management list. do. If the user information management list processing unit 325 determines that the information is not included, the user information management list processing unit 325 additionally stores the information in the OCR extraction history 803 of the user information management list in step S614, and ends the processing.
Specifically, as in the user information management list 1100 in FIG. 11, “Ichiro Enaka” is added to the item of the OCR extraction history 1103 of “Ichiro Tanaka”. A plurality of OCR extraction character strings may be added to the OCR extraction history 1103.

On the other hand, when the user information management list processing unit 325 determines that the OCR extraction history added in S614 is present in the user information management list, the OCR extracted name and the user information management list are compared in the next scan transmission flow. The OCR extraction history is used for comparison.
This is intended to improve convenience when the user selects a name by using the information selected by the user last time when the same OCR result is obtained. Hereinafter, only the difference from the above-described flow will be described for the flow in the case where the user information management list has an OCR extraction history.
If the user information management list processing unit 325 determines in S607 that the OCR extraction history 1103 of the user information management list 1100 has a value, S615 is executed. In S615, the user information management list processing unit 325 compares the name acquired in S605 with the OCR extraction history of the user information management list 1100. In this embodiment, if the name acquired in S605 is “Ichiro Ichuchu” and compared with the OCR extraction history 1103 of the user information management list 1100, it matches the OCR extraction history of “Ichiro Tanaka”.
In S616, when the user information management list processing unit 325 determines that there is a matching character string as a result of the comparison in S615, S617 is executed. In S617, the user information management list processing unit 325 acquires the name “Ichiro Tanaka” of the character string matched in S615.

Next, in S608, since there is a result compared with the OCR extraction history in S617, the user information management list processing unit 325 executes S618. In step S618, the user information management list processing unit 325 compares the name acquired in step S605 with the name 1102 of the user information management list 1100 acquired in step S606. At this time, the user information management list processing unit 325 performs a comparison for a name other than the name acquired as a result of the comparison with the OCR extraction history in S617. In comparison, scoring is performed using 2-gram. FIG. 12 is an example of a scored result.
The name “Ichiro Tanaka” acquired in S617 has a special mark for priority display. For other names, scoring is performed, and when the name extracted by OCR is “Ichiro Ichunaka”, the name “Ichiro Satonaka” has the score “2”, and the other names have the score “0”. . For comparison, 1-gram may be used instead of 2-gram.

In S619, the CPU 211 displays the name list screen 1200 on the operation unit 220 as shown in FIG. 13 using the result scored in S618. “Tanaka Ichiro” has a special mark, so it is displayed on the first line, and after that, it is displayed in order of score.
Thus, when the name OCR result is the same when the test is scanned, it is possible to improve the convenience when the user selects the name by using the information selected by the user last time. .
Further, not only the display order but also a highlight display or a special mark may be displayed to indicate the priority display.
Furthermore, if there is a name acquired as a result of comparison with the OCR extraction history in S617, that name is used as the storage folder name, and the image data is automatically transmitted to the file server 102 without displaying the name list screen. May be.

  The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

101 MFP
102 File server

Claims (10)

An information processing apparatus,
Extracting means for extracting character information from image data read from a document;
Display means for displaying a list of user information to store the image data from the character information extracted by the extraction means and the user information;
Selecting means for selecting user information to which the image data is to be transferred from the list of user information displayed on the display means;
Management means for registering and managing the user information selected by the selection means and the character information extracted by the extraction means in association with the registration means;
Transfer means for transferring the read image data to the transfer destination specified by the user information selected by the selection means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: Determining means for determining whether or not the extraction history of character information by the extracting means exists in the user information managed by the managing means;
2. A control unit that controls to display user information associated with extracted character information on the display unit when the determination unit determines that the extraction history exists. The information processing apparatus described in 1.   When the determination unit determines that the extraction history does not exist, the management unit registers the extraction history in which the character information extracted by the extraction unit is associated with the selected character information in the registration unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management unit adds a specific score to the user information not selected from the list of user information displayed on the display unit and manages the user information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit transfers the image data read to the server apparatus in accordance with the selected user information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an authentication unit that authenticates a user who operates the information processing apparatus according to the user information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus includes an image forming apparatus, a composite image forming apparatus, and an image processing apparatus.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the user information is associated with a folder name managed by the server apparatus. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus,
An extraction process for extracting character information from image data read from a document;
A display step of displaying on the display means a list of user information in which the image data is to be stored from the character information extracted by the extraction step and the user information;
A selection step of selecting user information to which the image data should be transferred from the list of user information displayed on the display means;
A management step of registering and managing the user information selected in the selection step and the character information extracted in the extraction step in registration means;
A transfer step of transferring the read image data to a transfer destination specified by the user information selected by the selection step;
An information processing apparatus control method comprising:   A program for causing a computer to execute the control method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 9.

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