JP2714005B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus suitable for reading characters of a form obtained through a facsimile machine.

(Prior Art) This type of image processing apparatus is provided with a character reading device in a facsimile device, and reads characters of a form obtained through the facsimile device with the character reading device. In a form used in such an image processing apparatus, fiducial marks are printed on predetermined portions of three sheet corners of the four sheet corners. This reference mark is a mark that serves as a reference when setting the character detection area.

That is, when the image of the form obtained through the facsimile machine is stored in the image buffer, the reference mark is detected from the image buffer. In this case, the area where the fiducial mark can exist in the image buffer can be determined from the form size that is known in advance.
Therefore, conventionally, a reference mark has been detected from an image buffer within a preset reference mark search area. When the fiducial mark is detected in this way, a character is detected in a character detection area set in advance by FC data (format control data) according to the position of the fiducial mark, and a character recognition process is performed. .

By the way, for example, if the original size specification of the facsimile device on the transmitting side is B4 size and the original size specification of the facsimile device on the receiving side is set to A4 size, the image buffer is reduced by about 82%. The form image is stored. In this case, the reference mark does not exist in the preset reference mark search area. Conventionally, since the reference mark is detected within a preset reference mark search area, in such a case, the reference mark cannot be detected and the character recognition processing cannot be performed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventionally, when the form image size is expanded or contracted due to an erroneous operation of the original size designation of the facsimile apparatus, there is a disadvantage that the character recognition processing cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, for example, due to an erroneous operation of specifying a document size of a facsimile apparatus,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of performing character recognition processing even when a form image size is expanded or contracted.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) That is, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention performs a character recognition process on characters of a form obtained through a facsimile apparatus. When the fiducial mark is not detected in the area, the fiducial mark is searched again in the fiducial mark search area corrected according to the predetermined form image size, and when the fiducial mark is detected, The character recognition processing is performed by detecting a character in the character detection area corrected according to the image size.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, even when the form image size expands or contracts due to, for example, an erroneous operation of specifying the document size of the facsimile apparatus, the reference mark search area and the character detection area are corrected according to the predetermined form image size. For,
Can perform character recognition processing.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration. A transmitting-side facsimile apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a facsimile apparatus) 11 transfers a form image to a receiving-side facsimile adapter 12 via a communication line (telephone line). . The FAX adapter 12 outputs the form image transferred from the FAX device 11 to a character reading device (hereinafter, referred to as OCR) 14 via a FAX controller 13. The fax controller 13 is an interface for connecting the fax adapter 12 and the OCR 14.

The OCR 14 includes a CPU 15, an input unit 16, a display unit 17, an image buffer (IB) 18, and a recognition unit 19.
Character recognition processing is performed on the characters of the form received in. CPU 15
It controls the entire system. The input unit 16 is, for example, a keyboard, and inputs information necessary for character recognition processing and the like to the CPU 15. The display unit 17 is, for example, a CRT display device, and displays a character recognition result and the like. Image buffer 18
Stores a form image. The recognizing unit 19 performs a character recognition process on characters entered in the form.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a form used in the embodiment. In this form, fiducial marks 21a, 21b, and 21c are printed on predetermined portions of three sheet corners among four sheet corners. . Here, a reference mark 21a is printed on the upper left portion of the form, a reference mark 21b is printed on the upper right portion, and a reference mark 21c is printed on the lower left portion. These fiducial marks 21a, 21b, 21c are:
This mark serves as a reference when setting the character detection area.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The image of the form shown in FIG. 2 transferred from the sending fax machine 11 is received by the fax adapter 12 and sent to the fax controller.
13 to OCR14. The form image given to the OCR 14 is stored in the image buffer 18 through the CPU 15. When an image for one document is stored in the image buffer 18, the character recognition processing is executed in the recognition unit 19 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, the recognizing unit 19 first determines the reference mark 21 at the upper left in accordance with the form size, transport direction, and the like specified in advance.
The search area a is set (step S1), and the reference mark 21a is searched in this search area (step S2). Here, when the upper left reference mark 21a is detected from the image buffer 18 (step S3), the recognition unit 19 sets a search area for the upper right reference mark 21b and the lower left reference mark 21c in the same manner as described above. (Step S4) The reference marks 21b and 21c are searched in this search area (Step S5). In this manner, fiducial marks 21a, 21b,
When 21c is detected (step S6), the recognition unit 19 detects a character in a character detection area set in advance by FC data (format control data) according to the positions of these reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c. This is subjected to character recognition processing (step S7).

By the way, for example, if the original size specification of the FAX device 11 on the transmitting side is set to B4 size and the original size specification of the receiving side is set to A4 size, about 82%
The reduced form image is stored. In such a case, since the sizes and positions of the reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c change, the reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c are set in the reference mark search area set in advance by the FC data.
c cannot be detected.

Therefore, in step S3, the reference mark 21
If a is not detected, the recognizing unit 19 assumes that the form image reduced by about 82% is stored in the image buffer 18, and according to the form image size in this case, the reference mark in the upper left corner The search area 21a is corrected (step S8), and the reference mark 21a is searched again in the corrected search area (step S9).

If the reference mark 21a at the upper left is not detected from the image buffer 18 even by such a re-search for the reference mark, the recognition unit 19 determines that the received document is not a correct fax form and stops the character recognition process (step S10). Meanwhile, fiducial mark 2
If 1a is detected, the recognizing unit 19 searches the upper right reference mark 21b and the lower left reference mark 21c according to the form image size obtained based on the above assumption (assuming that the size is reduced by about 82%). The area is corrected (step S11), and the reference marks 21b and 21c are searched again in the corrected search area (step S12). By re-searching for such fiducial marks,
When the reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c are detected from the image buffer 18 (step S13), the recognition unit 19 assumes the character detection area set in advance by the FC data as described above (approximately 82
Correction is made according to the form image size obtained based on the assumption that the image has been reduced by% (step S14). Then, the recognition unit 19 detects a character in the corrected character detection area, and performs a character recognition process on the character (step S15).

In step S6 or step S13, the upper right reference mark 21b and the lower left reference mark 21c may not be detected even when the upper left reference mark 21a is detected. This occurs, for example, when the reference mark 21a at the upper left is detected, for example, when dust or the like on a form is erroneously detected.In step S6, step S8 is performed in consideration of the case where the form image is reduced. In step S13, the character recognition process is stopped.

In this way, even when the form image size is expanded or contracted due to, for example, an erroneous operation of specifying the document size of the facsimile apparatus, the reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c are re-established in the reference mark search area corrected according to the predetermined form image size. A character is detected in the character detection area searched and corrected according to the predetermined form image size, and a character recognition process is performed.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the form image reduced by about 82% is stored in the image buffer 18 due to an erroneous operation of the original size specification of the facsimile apparatus, and the fiducial mark search area and the character detection area are corrected and the character is detected. Although the recognition processing is performed, it is also possible to perform the character recognition processing for each of the expansion and contraction sizes, for example, assuming the expansion and contraction sizes of a large number of form images. In this case, the necessity of the enlarged form image is low because the reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c may not be able to be recognized because they do not fit in the image buffer 18.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is necessary to make the transport direction of the form constant, for example, assuming each transport direction such as a forward direction, a right 90 ° rotation direction, a left 90 ° rotation direction, a 180 ° rotation direction, If three reference marks 21a, 21b, and 21c are detected in each transport direction, it is not necessary to make the transport direction of the form constant.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when a reference mark is not detected in a preset reference mark search area,
The fiducial mark is searched again in the fiducial mark search area corrected according to the predetermined form image size, and when the fiducial mark is detected thereby, the character detection area corrected according to the predetermined form image size is detected. Thus, the character recognition process is performed by detecting characters, so that the character recognition process can be performed even if the form image size expands or contracts due to, for example, an erroneous operation of specifying the document size of the facsimile machine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a form used in the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment. It is a flowchart. 11 fax machine (facsimile machine), 12 fax adapter, 13 fax controller, 14 OCR (character reading device), 15 CPU, 16 input unit, 17 display unit, 18 display unit …
... Image buffer (IB), 19 ... Recognition unit, 21a-21c ...
... reference mark.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for performing character recognition processing on characters of a form obtained through a facsimile apparatus, comprising: a form in which fiducial marks are printed on predetermined portions of three sheet corners among four sheet corners; An image buffer for storing the obtained image of the form, first fiducial mark detecting means for detecting the fiducial mark from the image buffer within a preset fiducial mark search area, and first fiducial mark detecting means When the fiducial mark is detected by the first character recognition processing means for detecting a character in a predetermined character detection area and performing character recognition processing, the first fiducial mark detecting means detects the fiducial mark. If no reference mark is detected, the reference mark search area is corrected according to a predetermined form image size. Mark area correcting means, second reference mark detecting means for detecting the reference mark from the image buffer within the reference mark search area corrected by the reference mark area correcting means, and second reference mark detecting means. A character detection area correcting means for correcting the character detection area according to the predetermined form image size when the fiducial mark is detected; and detecting a character in the character detection area corrected by the character detection area correction means. And a second character recognition processing means for performing character recognition processing.