JP2849781B2 - Method of determining the last printed line in the media processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium processing apparatus such as a passbook processing apparatus for printing on a passbook mainly used by financial institutions, and more particularly to a final printed line determination method for analyzing the last printed line of a medium. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a medium processing device such as a passbook entry device used in a financial institution recognizes a printed line of a passbook and continues printing from the line following the printed line.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a passbook entry device as such a medium processing device. The apparatus shown in the figure comprises an inserter unit 2, an optical page / line reading unit 3, a printer unit 4, a turn page unit 5, a passbook issuing unit 6, a control unit, 7 The inserter unit 2 is provided at an entrance of the traveling path 1 and has a slot 8 for a customer to insert a passbook and a magnetic stripe read / write having a magnetic head 9 for writing and reading data on a magnetic stripe provided on the passbook. And a unit 10.

FIG. 3 shows a passbook 100. That is, passbook 100
The cover has a magnetic stripe 101 on which data such as an account number is recorded. Also, the inner paper 102 of the passbook 100
Has a page mark 103 and a print character 104 printed thereon.

The optical page / line reading unit 3 includes a page mark 103 printed on an inner sheet 102 of the passbook 100 as described later.
And an optical reading unit for optically reading the print characters 104.
The printer unit 4 includes a print head 11 and a platen 1
2 and a printing device for printing on the passbook 100. The turn page unit 5 is a device having a mechanism for automatically turning pages of the passbook 100. When the customer forgets to take the passbook 100 discharged to the insertion slot 8 after the transaction is completed, the passbook issuing unit 6 reads the passbook 100, retrieves the passbook 100, stores the passbook in a storage box for storing the passbook 100, Until the new passbook 100 is issued, the passbook 100 includes a passbook storage section for temporarily storing the old passbook, a passbook stacker for storing a plurality of newly issued passbooks 100, and the like.

The control unit 7 controls the travel of the passbook 100, edits and analyzes data read and written by the magnetic stripe read / write unit 10, and analyzes and reads data read by the optical page / line reading unit 3. And a control device for editing data to be printed by the printer unit 4. The inserter unit 2 and the printer unit 4
In addition, a plurality of traveling rollers 13 are provided above and below the traveling path 1 of the turn page unit 5 for rotating a passbook on the traveling path 1 by being rotated by a motor (not shown).

FIG. 4 shows a page / line reading system including the optical page / line reading unit 3 and the control unit 7. In FIG. 4, the optical page / row reading unit 3 includes a CCD sensor 1
4 and an amplifier 15. The output of the amplifier 15 is input to the control unit 7. The traveling roller 13 is configured to be driven by a pulse motor 16 so as to convey the passbook 100 on the traveling path 1.

The control unit 7 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 17
, A white / black determination circuit 18, a CCD sensor clock circuit 19, a synchronization circuit 20, and a pulse motor driver 21. The central processing unit 17 is a processor that performs various processes based on the output from the optical page / line reading unit 3 and controls the pulse motor 16 to control the transport of the passbook 100. The white / black determination circuit 18 is a determination circuit that determines white / black based on the output from the optical page / row reading unit 3 based on the output level. The CCD sensor clock circuit 19 is a clock generation circuit that sends a predetermined clock signal to the CCD sensor 14. The synchronization circuit 20 is a circuit for synchronizing the travel of the passbook 100 under the control of the pulse motor driver 21 with the scanning of the CCD sensor 14. Also, the pulse motor driver 21
Is a control circuit for sending a predetermined pulse to the pulse motor 16 in accordance with the pulse output from the central processing unit 17.

Next, a method of reading pages / rows with such a configuration will be described. First, the passbook 100 includes the traveling roller 13.
Is driven in the direction of the arrow by the pulse motor 16 to be transported in the direction of the arrow (medium running direction). Here, the pulse motor 16 is a pulse motor driver 21
The motor rotates by a specific angle depending on the type of the pulse motor in synchronization with the pulse given to the motor. Therefore, the distance the passbook 100 moves for each pulse given to the pulse motor 16 is determined. In addition, the rotation and stop of the pulse motor 16 are performed according to an instruction from the central processing unit 17. Further, the pulse supplied from the central processing unit 17 to the pulse motor driver 21 is also supplied to the CCD sensor clock circuit 19 via the synchronization circuit 20. This allows CC
The D sensor clock circuit 19 outputs a clock synchronized with the rotation of the pulse motor 16 to the CCD sensor 14,
Therefore, the scanning start clock of the CCD sensor 14 and the passbook 10
0 running can be synchronized.

After the scanning start clock is supplied, the CCD sensor 14 outputs an output for each pixel in accordance with the order of the pixels in synchronization with the shift clock. This is called scanning, and the scanning direction of one line is called a main scanning direction.
Then, the CCD sensor 14 outputs electric charges charged to each of a plurality of pixels provided in the CCD sensor 14 in synchronization with the shift clock. At this time, if there is a print on the passbook surface immediately below each pixel (in the case of black data), the output level is low because there is little charge, and conversely, if there is no print (in the case of white data), , And the output level increases. The output from the CCD sensor 14 is amplified by an amplifier 15,
It is input to the control unit 7.

In the control section 7, the white / black determination circuit 18
It is first determined from the output level of the optical page / row reading unit 3 whether the output of each pixel is higher or lower than a certain level, and white / black is determined for each pixel by this determination. Next, based on the white / black determination result of each pixel, a predetermined protocol (for example, in advance, based on the arrangement of the pixels determined to be black and the number of pixels based on the result of one scan in the main scanning direction by the CCD sensor 14). Based on a protocol such as a case where there are more pixels than the determined number of pixels, white / black determination is performed for one line when one scan is performed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the white / black determination. That is,
5A shows a scanning start clock, FIG. 5B shows a shift clock, and FIGS. 5C and 5C show output levels of the CCD sensor 14. The one-line direction of the CCD sensor 14 is defined as a main scanning direction, and the transport direction of the passbook 100 is defined as a sub-scanning direction. The output level is a level change when the print portion of the inner paper 102 of the passbook 100 is scanned by the CCD sensor 14 in the main scanning direction. (Data with characters).
In such a configuration, for example, if there is black data of three or more pixels, the line is determined to be black. Therefore, FIG.
When the output signal shown in (c) is obtained, the line is determined to be black. Also, as described above, the CCD sensor 1
4 and the rotation angle per pulse of the pulse motor 16 are synchronized, so that the white / black data for each line of one scan of the CCD sensor 14, that is, for each pulse of the pulse motor 16, is The central processing unit 17 performs analysis based on a predetermined protocol in correspondence with the page mark 103 portion and the print line 104 portion of the passbook 100, and determines the number of printed lines and the number of pages.

Next, the row analysis protocol will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the row analysis protocol. In the figure, a black circle indicates a portion (data portion with print) determined to be black from the above-described white / black determination result of one line, and a white circle indicates a portion (data portion without print) also determined to be white. I have. By the way, when line analysis is performed in the date column of the passbook 100, the print pattern of the date column shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6A, there are many patterns for printing date numbers, but only a hyphen mark is printed as shown in FIG. May not. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the printing of only the hyphen mark, but since the thickness of the hyphen mark varies depending on the type of the printing font (in the figure, the thickness of the four hyphen marks is shown), the thinnest is shown. The print font must be used to determine the presence or absence of line printing. Here, it is assumed that the number of black data determined to be the thinnest print font is n. Further, for the sake of explanation, the data analysis is performed sequentially from the bottom in the case of the example shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the row analysis. First, the black-and-white determination result of one line is sequentially extracted while checking whether it is white or black (step S1). If there is black data (step S2), the black data count (KC in the figure) is obtained.
T) (step S).
3). If the data is white data, the black data count is set to 0 (step S4), and the process returns to step S1.
Then, when n or more pieces of black data continue (step S
5) Continue extracting black and white data (step S)
6) If further black data is detected (step S)
7) The black data count is incremented one by one (step S8), and the process returns to step S6 to continue extracting black and white data. In step S5, the black data is n
If not, the process returns to step S1 and
Continue extracting black and white data. If white data is detected in step S7, that is, if continuous black data is interrupted, half of the number of black data so far is determined as the center value (CNT) (step S9). Then, the line having the center value is determined as a printed line (step S10).

That is, according to the conventional line analysis, when n = 4, as shown in FIG. 6C, there is a continuation of four black data, so that it is determined that there is printing. Further, black data is extracted, and the end of the sequence is detected. The center of the continuation is obtained, and the line with the center is set as a printed line. It is done as follows.
Also, at this time, since the analysis is performed from the downward direction in FIG. 6, if this is replaced with the middle paper 102 of the passbook 100, the analysis is performed from the lower end (the one with the larger number of lines) of the middle paper 102, The line that has the center of n or more consecutive lines detected first is analyzed as the last printed line (the last printed line).

[0016]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional method of determining a final printed line, when characters printed on the inner paper 102 of the passbook 100 are misaligned, printed faintly, stained or written, etc. There is a possibility that a printed line cannot be detected accurately.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a black-and-white determination result when a print position shift and a print blur occur. Here, it is assumed that the numeral "2" in the drawing has a blurred portion, and that the print character is shifted downward beyond the line boundary. At this time, if white data due to fading printing is detected after n consecutive black data are detected, as described above,
The center of the first detected n blacks is detected. as a result,
If the center of the n blacks between the blank portion of the passbook 100 and the print fading crosses the line boundary and enters the next line, the entered line is determined as a printed line, and the resulting line is determined. 1 in
Lines are skipped and printed at new positions.

Further, even if a line is drawn on the inner paper 102 with a pencil or the like or there is dirt, when one line is read, the dirt or the like has a length equal to or more than the specified number of black data count values. In such a case, the line was determined to be black, and the analysis of the printed line was sometimes erroneous. For example, in the case of FIG. 5, if the count value of black data such as dirt is 3 pixels or more, the line is determined to be black. Makes an error,
There is a risk that printing is skipped by one line.

Such a phenomenon is unpleasant in the appearance of passbook printing, and in a severe case, the passbook 100 may be terminated earlier, and the passbook user may be troubled and troublesome. Had a point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a final printed line determination method for a medium processing apparatus which can accurately analyze a final printed line. .

[0021]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for determining a finally printed line of a medium processing apparatus, comprising: an optical reading unit for scanning a medium and optically reading a printed line of the medium; Determining the last printed line from the output of the optical reading unit,
In the method for determining the last printed line of the medium processing device, comprising a control unit that performs printing from the next line after the last printed line, the character arrangement direction of the medium is a main scanning direction, and the line arrangement direction is a sub-scanning direction. When the data obtained by scanning the character-containing portion of the medium in the main scanning direction is character-containing data, the character-containing data continuously exceeds a preset value within a predetermined range in the sub-scanning direction. A center value is calculated from the lower limit value and the upper limit value of the data with characters of the group, and the line where the center value is located is determined as the last printed line. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, when a group that is continuous with a predetermined value or more of the data with characters is detected, in the group,
When the interruption of the character-containing data is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that the character-containing data is continuous. According to a third aspect of the present invention, an optical reading unit that scans a medium and optically reads a printed line of the medium, determines a last printed line from an output of the optical reading unit, and determines a last printed line next to the last printed line. A final printed line determination method for a medium processing apparatus having a control unit that performs printing from a line, wherein a character arrangement direction of the medium is a main scanning direction, a line arrangement direction is a sub-scanning direction, and a character-containing portion of the medium is provided. In the case where the data of the pixels with characters obtained by scanning in the main scanning direction is the data with characters, the predetermined number of the groups of the pixels with character are within a predetermined range in the main scanning direction. Preferably, the line in the main scanning direction is determined to be the character-present data, and the last printed line is determined based on the character-present data.

[0022]

According to the first invention, for example, in the first invention, the character arrangement direction of the medium is the main scanning direction, the line arrangement direction is the sub-scanning direction, and the main scanning of the portion with characters is performed. When data obtained by scanning in the direction is data with characters, first, a continuous group of data with characters within a predetermined range in the sub-scanning direction is detected. Next, a center value is calculated from the detected lower limit value and upper limit value of the group, and the line where the center value is located is determined as the last printed line. Therefore, the last printed line of the medium can be accurately determined even if the printing position is shifted or the printing is blurred, and as a result, line skipping or the like in the next line printing can be prevented.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a final printed line determination method of a medium processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
Black and white circles are similar to the conventional case shown in FIGS.
These are a portion determined as black (data portion with print) and a portion determined as white (data portion without print) from the white / black determination result of one line (main scanning direction). Also,
The method for detecting data in the optical page / line reading unit 3 and the procedure for determining whether data is black and white in the control unit 7 are the same as those in the related art, and a detailed description thereof is omitted. Further, in the figure, n is the minimum number of consecutive black data required to perform a predetermined line detection, and the consecutive n or more black data is referred to as one group in the sub-scanning direction. .

Next, the analysis method of the above embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts. 9 and 10 show flowcharts of the row analysis. First, the case of FIG. 1A in which there are a plurality of continuous groups of black data will be described as an example.
First, a range A in FIG. 1A, steps S1 to S in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, a first group of continuous black data is detected. That is, when performing row analysis, first, the start value register and the end value register are cleared (step S
1,2). The start value register and the end value register are provided in the control unit 7 (not shown), and the start value register stores the value α of the first black data of the first group A.
And the end value register is a register for storing the value β of the black data of the last group B (in the case of FIG. 1A). In this embodiment, the analysis is performed from the bottom of FIG. Next, one line of white / black data is extracted (step S3).
The white / black data determination for the line is performed (step S4).
If the data is white data in this determination, the process returns to step S1, and the above-described processing is repeated. If the data is black data, it is determined whether or not the start value register is 0, that is, whether or not the black data has been stored yet after starting the row analysis (step S5). In this case, α is stored in the start value register (step S6). Then, the black data counter (KCT) is counted up by one (step S7), and it is determined whether the value of the black data counter is n (step S8).
Here, when the value of the black data counter is less than n, the steps from the one-line white / black data extraction processing in step S3 described above are repeated. With the above, the first
Is detected (corresponding to the processing in FIG. 1A).

Thereafter, when the value of the black data counter is n, the value of the pointer is set to n (step S).
9). Note that this pointer is a pointer that counts the amount returned from the first group A. Further, the black data counter is cleared (step S10), and one line of white / black data is extracted similarly to step S3 described above (step S11). Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the pointer is 18 (step S12). If not, the value of the pointer is incremented by one (step S13), and the next white / black determination is performed. Perform (Step S1
4). Here, the determination as to whether or not the value of the pointer is 18 is to perform a process of returning a predetermined value of 18 from the value α of the first black data (a process of moving upward in FIG. 1). Means

If black data is detected in the white / black determination in step S14, the black data counter is incremented by one (step S15). Until the value of the black data counter becomes n, the process proceeds to step S11. The processing from one line white / black data extraction is repeated (step S1).
6). If the number of black data becomes n in step S16, the n-th value β is set in the end value register (step S17), and the process returns to step S10. Also, when white data is detected in the white / black determination in step S14, the process returns to step S10. Step S14
The processing of detecting the second group B is performed by the processing of to 17 (corresponding to the processing in FIG. 1A).

If the value of the pointer becomes 18 in step S12, that is, if it returns 18 from α, the last value β of the black data at that time is stored in the end value register (step S18). ), The center (α +) from the value α of the start value register and the value β of the end value register
β / 2) is obtained (step S19). Then, the line at which the center value α + β / 2 is located is determined as a printed line (step S20). This corresponds to the processing in FIG.

FIG. 1A shows a case where the number of groups is two. However, if there are three or more N groups within the specified range in which 18 groups are returned, the first group is first. The center value (α + β / 2) of a plurality of groups is calculated from the value α of the first black data of the group and the value β of the last black data of the N-th group, and the printed line is determined from the center value. judge.

Next, the case of FIG. 1B in which there is only one continuous group within the specified range will be described. In this case, according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10 described above, the value α ′ is stored in the start value register. However, since the number of continuous black data is less than n, this portion is ignored. . Then, the value α of the first black data of the next group is stored, and this portion becomes the first group because n or more black data are continuous (in the figure). Thereafter, the group is detected in the same manner as in the above-described processing. However, since the continuous portion of the black data is not detected during the return of 18 from α (in the figure), the lower limit value α of one group is A central value (α + β / 2) is calculated from the upper limit value β (in the figure). Then, the line in which the center value is located is determined as a printed line.

In the above analysis processing, the value returned from the first continuous black data α is 18 meaning that the length of one normal printing character in the vertical direction is equivalent to 28 data. Considering that the analysis is performed from the bottom to about a half position, the value of 28/2 + a (a is a predetermined constant) is set to 18 values. Therefore, the value of 18 is not fixed, and by changing the value of 18 or a numerical value such as n, the print pattern,
It is possible to increase the margin of the printed line analysis for the printing position deviation, the printing blur, and the like.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the second embodiment. In this embodiment, if white data after black data detection is less than a preset value, it is determined that black data is continuous. In the drawing, black circles and white circles are determined to be black (data portion with print) and white from the white / black determination result of one line (main scanning direction), respectively, as in the above embodiment. A portion (data portion without printing) is shown, and a method for detecting data in the optical page / line reading unit 3 and a procedure for determining whether data is black and white in the control section 7 are the same as those in the related art. Omitted. Here, n is the minimum number of black data continuations necessary for performing a predetermined line detection, similarly to the above-described embodiment, and n or more continuations of black data are set to 1 in the sub-scanning direction. Call a group. In addition, m is a value of white data that is not regarded as a continuation of black data even if white data exists between the black data. That is, the continuation of white data of less than m is ignored, and is counted as a continuation of black data in the group. In this embodiment, n = 4 and m = 3 for explanation.

Next, an analysis method according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart. 12 and 13 show flowcharts of the row analysis. Here, as in the above embodiment, the case of FIG. 11A will be described first. First, as shown in steps S1 to S6 in FIG. 12, first black data is detected. That is, when performing row analysis, first, the pointer, the black data counter (KCT), and the white data counter (SCT) are cleared (steps S1, S2, and S3).
3). Next, white / black data of one line is extracted (step S4), and white / black data of this one line is determined (step S5). If the data is white data in this determination, the process returns to step S1, and the above-described processing is repeated. If the data is black data, the value α is stored in the start value register (step S6).

Next, as shown in steps S7 to S15, n consecutive black data (first group) are detected. First, the value of the pointer and the value of the black data counter are set to 1 (steps S7 and S8), and the above steps S4 and S5
In the same manner as described above, one line white / black data extraction and white / black data determination are performed (steps S9 and S10). Here, when white data is detected, the white data counter is incremented by one (step S11), and it is determined whether or not the value of the white data counter is m (step S1).
2). If the result of the determination is not m, the black data counter and pointer are incremented by one (step S1).
3, 14). Then, such processing is performed until the value of the black data counter becomes n (step S15). For example, in the case of FIG. 11A, the number of white data after the first detection of the black data α is one, so that the white data is ignored and is regarded as continuous black data.

Next, when the value of the black data counter has reached n (step S15), the second group is detected as in the above embodiment. First, as in the case of the first group detection, the black data counter and the white data counter are cleared (steps S16 and S17), and one line of white / black data is extracted (step S18).
It is determined whether or not the value of the pointer is 18 (step S19). If the value of the pointer is not 18, white / black determination of the data is performed (step S20). If the data is black data, the black data counter is counted up by one (step S21), and one line white / black is further determined. Data is extracted (step S22). Thereafter, similarly to the above-described first group detection, white / black determination of the detected data is performed (step S23). If the data is white, the white data counter is counted up by one (step S23). S24) If this count value does not reach m (step S25), the black data counter is counted up (step S26). Next, when the value of the pointer is 18
Is determined (step S27), and if it is not 18, the value is counted up (step S28), and it is determined whether the value of the black data counter is n (step S29). If the value of the black data counter is not n, the process returns to step S22, and the group of black data is detected until the value of the pointer becomes 18. When the value of the black data counter becomes n, the value β of the last black data of the second group is stored in the end value register (step S30), and the process returns to step S16.
When the value of the pointer becomes 18 in the above processing (steps S19 and S27), the value β of the last black data of the group up to that point is stored in the end value register (step S31).

Thereafter, as in the case of the first embodiment, a center value α + β / 2 is obtained from the start value α and the end value β (step S32), and the line where the center value is located is determined as a printed line. (Step S33). That is, FIG.
Also in the second group B of (a), since the number of white data after the black data is less than three, the white data is ignored and regarded as a continuation of the black data.

Next, the case of FIG. 11B in which there is only one continuous group within the specified range will be described. In this case as well, the detection of the first group is performed in the same manner as in FIG. 11A (in the figure). The center value is obtained from the start value α and the end value β of one group (in the figure). That is, since there are two black data after the first group detection and one white data between these black data, the value of the black data counter becomes two (step S29). However, since the subsequent data is continuous white data, the value of the white data counter is three (step S25), and the pointer value is 18 because white data is continuous (step S19). Therefore, the center value is obtained from the value β of the last black data of the first group.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the interruption of the black data below a predetermined value is regarded as the continuation of the black data. Therefore, even if there is a slight blurring of the print, the printed line is accurately determined. be able to.

Next, as a third embodiment, an embodiment for determining white / black data in the main scanning direction will be described. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the embodiment. Here, the case of the normal printing example (a) will be described first. In the figure, the CCD sensor 14 has a plurality of pixels 14a, 14b, 14c. Reference numeral 201 denotes printing printed on the inner paper 102 of the passbook 100, and reference numeral 202 denotes a reading position. The output waveform when the reading position 202 is read by the CCD sensor 14 is
Reference numeral 203 denotes a slice level for separating the output waveform into white and black for performing white / black determination. Further, reference numeral 205 denotes a waveform indicating white and black separated at the slice level 204, with the high level indicating black and the low level indicating white. 206 is each pixel 14a of the CCD sensor 14,
Are shift clocks for extracting the outputs of 14b, 14c,..., And one clock is output for one pixel. Reference numeral 207 denotes black pixel data corresponding to the pixel. In addition, 208
The count value of the black pixel data 207 is shown.

(B) shows the case of stains other than the normal printing. Similar to the above (a), 301 is a stain and 302 is a stain.
Is the reading position, 303 is the output waveform of the CCD sensor 14, 304
Is a slice level, 305 is a white / black determination waveform, 306 is a shift clock, 307 is black pixel data, 308 is black pixel data
307 is shown.

Next, a description will be given of a white / black determination method according to the third embodiment. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the white / black determination method. Here, n is a value that defines the number of continuations of black pixels (black data corresponding to the pixels), and nCT is a counter that counts this number of continuations. N is a value defining the number of groups of black pixel data, and when there are N or more black pixel groups, one read line is determined to be black. NCT is a counter for counting the number of the black pixel groups.

When performing the white / black determination of one line, first, the black pixel counter nCT and the black pixel group counter NCT are cleared (steps S1 and S2). Next, since the specified range is not completed (step S3), one pixel is extracted (step S4), and the white / black determination is performed (step S5). If the result of the white / black determination is black, the black pixel counter nCT is counted up (step S).
6) If it is white, the process returns to step S2 to clear the black pixel counter nCT. And a black pixel counter n
It is determined whether the value of CT is n (step S7). If the value is not less than n or not more than n, the process returns to step S3 to continue the process of taking out one pixel. That is, the black pixel counter nC
If there is white pixel data before T = n, the black pixel counter nCT is cleared, and n or less black pixel data is ignored.

In step S7, the black pixel counter n
When CT = n, the black pixel group counter NCT is counted up (step S8), and thereafter, it is determined whether or not the number becomes N (step S9). If the value of the black pixel group counter NCT does not reach N,
Returning to step S3, the above-described pixel-by-pixel extraction is performed. Therefore, in this case, the black pixel data is ignored until there is the next white pixel data. That is, the value of the black pixel counter nCT is counted up by the black pixel data (step S6), but since nCT> n, as long as the black pixel data continues, the processes of steps S3 to S7 are simply repeated. . In addition, when the specified range ends by such processing (step S3), the one line is determined to be white. That is, for example, when the black pixel data is entirely within the specified range, the reading result of one line is white. As described above, the pixel data is sequentially extracted and white / black determination is performed. Only when the black pixel counter nCT satisfies the value n and the black pixel group counter NCT satisfies the value N, the read result of one line is determined as black. I do.

For example, the case of FIG. 14A will be described. Here, assuming that n and N are n = 2 and N = 3, the count value 208 of the black pixel data 207 is 2, 3, 2
Since there are three black pixel groups that are continuous with two or more pixels, it is determined that one line is black. However, in the case of (b), the count value 308 of the black pixel data 307 is 7, which satisfies the above value n, but the number of black pixel groups is 1, so that the prescribed number N is not satisfied. It is not determined that one line is black. That is, in normal printing, a plurality of groups of continuous black pixel data always exist within a specified range on one line, but in the case of writing with a dirt or a simple pencil or the like, a plurality of black pixel groups are formed on one line. Because it is rarely present.

The values n and N can be individually set by a printed line reading pattern, for example, a numeral print in the date column, an asterisk print in the balance column, a hyphen print in the date column, and the like. An appropriate value can be set according to the thickness and the number of characters for detecting a printed line. The white / black determination processing in the third embodiment is performed by the control unit 7. To realize this, the white / black determination processing is performed.
There are means configured as a circuit in the black determination circuit 18 and means implemented as a program in the central processing unit 17, and any of the means has the same effect.

In each of the above embodiments, a passbook entry device is taken as an example of a medium processing device, and a medium passbook for determining printed lines is used. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. Any type of media processing device may be used as long as the same effect can be obtained for a single form or a form, and the media processing device has a configuration for optically reading a printed line of a medium. In the first and second embodiments, the calculation of the center value is set to 1/2 of the lower limit to the upper limit. However, the present invention is not limited to this value. The value can be selected as appropriate, for example, a value biased toward.

[0046]

As described above, according to the method for determining the last printed line of the medium processing apparatus of the present invention, in the first invention, the character arrangement direction of the medium is the main scanning direction, and the line arrangement direction is the sub-scanning direction. In the case where the direction is set to the direction, if there is a group of data with characters set in a predetermined range in the sub-scanning direction, a center value is calculated from the lower limit value and the upper limit value, and the line in which the center value is located is finally set. Since it is determined that the line is a printed line, the final printed line can be accurately detected even if the medium is misaligned or printed. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable medium processing apparatus without causing line skipping or the like in the next line printing. Further, in the second invention, in the group of character-containing data, breaks of a predetermined value or less are ignored, so that even when there is slight printing fading, accurate printed line determination can be performed. Accurate printed line determination can be performed even with printed line determination using data with a small number of printed portions such as marks. Further, in the third invention, in the reading in the main scanning direction, when a predetermined number of consecutive groups of pixels with characters are present in a predetermined number, the line in the main scanning direction is determined to be data with characters. In addition, it is possible to prevent erroneous analysis of a printed line due to dirt or the like, and thus to prevent line skipping in the next line printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a first embodiment in a method of determining a finally printed line in a medium processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a medium processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a passbook.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a page / line reading method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of black / white determination in the medium processing device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional row analysis.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a conventional row analysis.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of black-and-white determination when a print position shift and a print blur occur.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the line analysis of the first embodiment in the method of determining the last printed line in the medium processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the line analysis of the first embodiment in the method of determining the last printed line in the medium processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a second embodiment of the method for determining the last printed line of the medium processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a line analysis of a second embodiment in the method of determining a finally printed line in the medium processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a line analysis of a second embodiment in the method of determining a finally printed line in the medium processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a third embodiment of the final printed line determination method of the medium processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an analysis flowchart of a third embodiment of the method for determining the last printed line in the medium processing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Optical page / line reading unit 4 Printer unit 7 Control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 29/46 B41J 13/26 B41J 29/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An optical reading unit that scans a medium and optically reads a printed line of the medium; a final printed line is determined from an output of the optical reading unit; and a line next to the final printed line is determined. And a control unit that performs printing from the final printed line determination method of the medium processing device, wherein the character arrangement direction of the medium is a main scanning direction, the line arrangement direction is a sub-scanning direction, and When the data obtained by scanning in the main scanning direction is data with characters, within a predetermined range in the sub-scanning direction, a group that is continuous with a predetermined value or more of the data with characters is detected, and the group of the group is detected. A final printed line determination method for a medium processing apparatus, wherein a center value is calculated from a lower limit value and an upper limit value of data with characters, and a line where the center value is located is determined as a last printed line. 2. When detecting a group in which data with characters continue at a predetermined value or more, if the interruption of the data with characters in the group is less than a predetermined value, it is determined that the data with characters is continuous. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the line is already printed. 3. An optical reading unit that scans a medium and optically reads a printed line of the medium, a final printed line is determined from an output of the optical reading unit, and a line next to the final printed line is determined. And a control unit that performs printing from the final printed line determination method of the medium processing device, wherein the character arrangement direction of the medium is a main scanning direction, the line arrangement direction is a sub-scanning direction, and When the data of the character-existing pixels obtained by the scanning in the main scanning direction is the character-existing data, when a predetermined number of the groups of the character-existing pixels are in a predetermined number within the specified range in the main scanning direction, A line in the main scanning direction is determined to be the character-present data, and a final printed line is determined based on the character-present data.