JP2619915B2 - Information processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus, and more particularly to a method of reading and decoding encoded information and a processing apparatus directly used for implementing the method. .

[Conventional technology]

There are two methods of automatically processing the information to be transmitted automatically: reading the original data such as character codes as it is, and processing it as it is, and encoding the displayed transmission information, displaying it, and then reading and processing the code There is.

OCR is an example of reading the former source data as it is.
(Optical character reader) and OMR (optical code reader) are typical.

A typical example of reading the latter code is to use a bar code. In addition, recently, an example using a code in the shape of a "rice field" is known.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

When information processing is performed by the above-described OCR or the like, there is no need to temporarily convert the data into a code, and it is excellent in that the original data can be used as is. However, the display format of the source data is various, and even in the case of machine printing, there are differences in typeface, shading, etc.Moreover, in the case of handwritten characters, a large number of deformed characters appear, and in order to suppress the occurrence of reading errors. There is a limit. Therefore, the font needs to be standardized, and a dedicated writer is required.

On the other hand, when a barcode is used, the barcode itself prints an array of bars mechanically, so the rate of occurrence of reading errors based on the diversity of the source data is extremely low. However, since the barcodes are displayed with different thicknesses and arrangement intervals of the bars, a high-precision printing technique is required, which is troublesome and expensive. Furthermore, barcodes are difficult for humans to read and always require a dedicated reader, and conversely, handwritten display is almost impossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing method and apparatus which can display and read accurately even by handwriting and can process information with relatively simple handling.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the object of the present invention even if the above conventional problems are solved, the first invention of the present application converts the information to be transmitted to a display form different from the display form of the transmitted information in a certain correspondence relationship, and An information processing method of reading a display code displayed on a display medium by a reading device and performing decoding processing,
The display code is composed of unit code components (2 to 6) displayed in a rectangular display area (1) or a combination array of the unit code components, and the unit code component is displayed in the display area. Reference mark element (2) arranged at any one of the corners, line element (3,4) parallel to the side of the display area, or diagonal line element (5,6) in the display area Or a combination of these, based on a read signal of the display code, performing a decoding process by comparing and comparing a configuration pattern of the display code with a dictionary pattern defined in advance corresponding to the transmission information. Is what you do.

Further, according to the second invention of the present application, information to be transmitted is converted into a display form different from the display form of the transmitted information in a certain correspondence relation, and a display code displayed on a predetermined display medium is read and decoded. In the processing device, the code is configured by a unit code component displayed in a rectangular display area or a combination array of the unit code component, and the unit code component is any one corner in the display area. A reference mark element arranged at a corner, a line element parallel to a side of the display area, or a diagonal line element in the display area or a combination thereof, and the information processing apparatus reads the display code and reads the display code. A reading means (101) for converting into an electric signal; and a dictionary pattern memory (106) in which a dictionary pattern corresponding to the component pattern of the unit code component is stored in advance. When, is characterized in that it comprises a and a decoding means (105) for decrypting by comparing and collating with said read signal and the dictionary pattern.

[Action]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, information to be transmitted is displayed via a display code having a specific form according to the present invention, and when reading and processing the display code, an advanced printing technique is used. Processing can be performed without any problem, and information can be transmitted in a state where errors are extremely low by a simple form. This is because the display code is represented by a combination of the reference mark in the display area and the presence or absence of a line segment element in the display area, and has a relatively simple configuration.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the display code is read by the reading means, and the code content is decoded by comparison and collation with a dictionary pattern prepared in advance. In this case, since the display code has a simple configuration, there is no need to take a complicated device configuration, and since the signal to be processed is not complicated, the processing speed is improved and high-speed information transmission is possible.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the first and second aspects of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Display Code First, a display code to be processed by the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of the display code. This display code is constituted by unit code components displayed in the rectangular display area 1 or a combination arrangement of the unit code components.

As a unit code component, a reference mark element (hereinafter, referred to as a neutral mark) 2 disposed at any one corner of the display area 1 and a line segment parallel to each side constituting the display area 1 There are elements (hereinafter, referred to as vertical line 3 and horizontal line 4) and diagonal segment elements in the display area 1 (hereinafter, upper right diagonal is referred to as right diagonal 5, and left ascending diagonal is referred to as left diagonal 6). These are represented by a combination of the neutral mark 2 and any one of the vertical line 3, the horizontal line 4, the right diagonal line 5, the left diagonal line 6, or a combination thereof.

The neutral mark 2 indicates a reference position in the scanning direction when the display code is read, and also indicates a boundary between a plurality of unit code components. For example, the second
As shown in the figure, the scan is performed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2A for a rightward scan with the neutral mark 2 as a base point, and in the reverse scan for the leftward direction, the position of the arrow in FIG. In the same manner, the direction can be specified even when scanning in any direction, such as downward scanning in FIG. 2C and upward scanning in FIG. 2D. Therefore, when a plurality of unit code components are arranged, the arrangement can be arranged in order. And also, when multiple arrangements are made in this way,
Since the neutral mark 2 indicates the boundary between the adjacent unit code components, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the neutral mark 2 is currently being read until the neutral mark next to the neutral mark that appears first in the scanning direction appears. It is possible to detect that the unit code component is read. That is, the intervals between the elements can be clarified. This can prevent a reading error from occurring between adjacent unit code components.

There are four basic combinations of unit code components as shown in FIG. One is the case where only the neutral mark 2 is used as shown in FIG. 3A, and the next is the case where the neutral mark 2 is combined with the vertical line 3 or the horizontal line 4 as shown in FIG. In the case of the combination of the neutral mark 2 and the right diagonal line 5 or the left diagonal line 6 as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the neutral mark 2 and the vertical line 3 or the horizontal line 4 and the right diagonal line 5 or 5 as shown in FIG. This is the case of the combination with the left diagonal line 6.

The above-mentioned unit code components can have their own meaning independently by giving each of the neutral mark 2, the vertical line 3, the horizontal line 4, the right diagonal line 5, and the left diagonal line 6 a meaning. However, the amount of information that can be transmitted with only one unit code component is limited.
By combining a plurality of unit code components and arranging them in a certain direction, the amount of transmission can be increased.

Here, FIG. 4 shows the definition of each unit code component. In this example, each unit code component is defined using a hexadecimal code. The respective correspondences can be understood from FIG. 4 and the description is omitted. Note that the maximum value “F” that can be represented by the above unit code component is “15” in decimal notation, and since the configuration pattern at this time is similar to “umbrella”, the display code used in the present invention is Is referred to as an “umbrella mark code”.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a combination example of the above unit code components. The example in FIG. 5 indicates "258F" in hexadecimal code.

The above display codes are displayed on various display media such as forms and articles. As a display method or a display mode, in addition to a so-called direct notation method such as handwriting or handwritten machine printing using a mark sheet, a method using a magnetic coating that magnetizes only the unit component part, or a method of engraving or embossing on a display medium. There is a way to do it. Which one to use is appropriately selected according to the place of use, purpose of use, display medium, and the like. In addition, the size is set to such an extent that it can be distinguished, and it is possible to selectively use the size when checking it with the naked eye or according to the disassembly state of the reading device side. Is preferred.

Processing Apparatus Next, an understanding apparatus for reading and processing the display code will be described. FIG. 6 shows an example of the processing apparatus. This example shows an example in which a display code printed on a form 100 is optically read, and is a non-contact reading type.

In FIG. 6, a photoelectric conversion unit 101 optically reads a display code written on a form 100. Specifically, one-dimensional or two-dimensional image sensors (for example, CC
A scanner (including a hand scanner) using a D image sensor or the like can be used. The photoelectric conversion unit 101 is read, converts an optical signal (video signal) corresponding to the display code into an electric signal, and outputs the electric signal. This video signal is
The value is sent to the value conversion unit 102.

Since the video signal is an analog signal, the binarization unit 102 converts the video signal into a binary signal of logic "1" and "0" for computer processing. The binarized display code pattern signal is sent to the extracting unit 103.

The extracting unit 103 converts the display code pattern signal for each pattern, that is, for each unit code component (1, 2,.
This is a circuit for cutting out each F) to facilitate the recognition process. The extracted pattern signal is sent to normalization section 104.

The normalization unit 104 removes dirt, that is, noise, included in the extracted pattern signal, and performs positioning necessary for comparing and comparing the pattern signal with a dictionary pattern described later. The normalized pattern signal is output to the recognition unit 105.
Sent to

The recognition unit 105 compares and compares the normalized pattern signal with the dictionary pattern signal from the dictionary pattern memory 106,
By discriminating the similarity, the input normalized pattern signal is recognized, that is, decoded.

The dictionary pattern (1, 2, 3,... F) defined in FIG. 4 in advance is stored in the dictionary pattern memory 106, and a corresponding dictionary pattern is output according to a read control command from the recognition unit 105.

The result recognized by the recognition unit 105 is output to the outside by the output unit 107. The external output is sent to the post-processing unit 108, and is converted into a state before the conversion of the display code as the original data. For example, the display code in FIG. 5 is "258F" in hexadecimal code, "61.570" in decimal code, and is output at a necessary level if it represents a product number. In other words, it is possible to use the hexadecimal code as it is, such as transferring it to another totaling device or displaying it in the form of a part number on a CRT display.

The above processing apparatus is not limited to the display code used in the present invention, and can be configured using an existing OCR or OMR. In that case, it can be realized by registering the storage pattern of the OCR or OMR dictionary pattern memory instead of the display code pattern according to the present invention. And
By appropriately replacing the dictionary pattern memory as an IC memory, it can be used together with general-purpose OCR and OMR.

Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the display code was formed by mechanical printing, and this was read optically in a non-contact manner. However, other modes are as follows.

As a first example, each element of the unit code component of the display code, that is, the neutral mark 2, the vertical line 3, the horizontal line 4, the right diagonal line 5, and the left diagonal line 6 are magnetized by the magnetic coating and read by the read magnetic head. It may be. In this case, the configuration after the binarization unit 102 may be the same as that shown in FIG. According to the first example, when a display code is displayed (magnetically written) on a display medium, the write head basically has the same configuration as the read head.
It has the advantage that both recording and playback are possible with one machine.

As a second example, the display code may be engraved or raised instead of printing, and may be optically read.

As a third example, the definition shown in FIG.
Although it corresponds to a hexadecimal code, it can be defined as a hexadecimal code in order to cope with more complicated and a large amount of information. An example is shown in FIG.

The basic structure of the display code is a combination of a neutral mark and each line segment element, as in FIG. However, the number of line segment elements is six in total, including line segments not used in the case of hexadecimal code, and various expressions are possible. This can be easily understood from FIG.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the transmission information is processed using the display code of the so-called umbrella-shaped mark, the information is accurately obtained without requiring a high-precision printing technique such as a barcode. Can be transmitted. Further, since the display code of the umbrella mark has a simple structure, it can be read artificially.

Also, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be relatively easily configured with a simple form of the display code of the umbrella-shaped mark, and can maintain a high level of reading accuracy. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic configuration of a display code used in the present invention, FIG. 2 is a functional explanatory diagram of a neutral mark, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic combination example of unit code components of a display code. FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a definition example of a display code in the present embodiment, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example by a display code in the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing another display code example. 1 ... display area, 2 ... neutral mark, 3 ... connection line, 4
... horizontal line, 5 ... right diagonal line, 6 ... left diagonal line, 100 ... book line, 101
... photoelectric conversion unit, 102 ... binarization unit, 103 ... cutout unit, 104 ...
Normalization unit, 105: recognition unit, 106: dictionary pattern memory, 10
7: output unit, 108: post-processing unit.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An information processing system in which information to be transmitted is converted into a display form different from a display form of the transmitted information in a certain correspondence relationship, and a display device reads a display code displayed on a predetermined display medium by a reading device and decodes the display code. In the method, the display code is configured by a unit code component displayed in a rectangular display area or a combination array of the unit code component, and the unit code component is any one of the unit codes in the display area. A reference mark element arranged at one corner, a line segment element parallel to a side of the display area or a diagonal line element in the display area or a combination thereof, and based on a read signal of the display code, An information processing unit for comparing and comparing a constituent pattern of a display code with a dictionary pattern defined in advance corresponding to the transmission information and performing decoding processing; Method. 2. An information processing apparatus for converting information to be transmitted to a display form different from a display form of said transmission information in a predetermined correspondence relation, reading a display code displayed on a predetermined display medium, and performing decoding processing. The code is constituted by a unit code component displayed in a rectangular display area or a combination array of the unit code component, and the unit code component is arranged at any one corner of the display area. The reference mark element, a line segment element parallel to the side of the display area, or a diagonal line element in the display area, or a combination thereof. The information processing apparatus reads the display code and converts it into an electric signal. Reading means, a dictionary pattern memory in which dictionary patterns corresponding to the component patterns of the unit code components are stored in advance, The information processing apparatus characterized by comprising: a decoding means for decoding by comparing collating the putter, the.