JP3015448B2 - Address area detection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an optical character reader for reading address information of a postal matter, and specifies a format of the postal matter and reads out the information from the format information. The present invention relates to a destination area detection device that effectively detects a destination area as a target area.

(Prior Art) In general, the format (format) of a form to be used for character reading by an optical character reading device (OCR) is predetermined, and the character reading device is capable of reading characters written in a predetermined area of the form. Only information is to be read.

Also, in a character reading device that reads a form in various formats, identification information (ID number, ID code, etc.) for specifying the form of the form is preprinted at a predetermined position on the form, The character reading device knows the format by reading and recognizing the identification information, and reads characters from the form.

On the other hand, in an optical character reader that reads the address information of a postal matter, since the format of the postal matter is not fixed, the area to be read on the postal matter, that is, the addressing area, is identified by image processing or the like. , Need to be detected. For this purpose, non-read target areas such as correspondences, stamps, postmarks, advertising texts, postal code entry frames, etc., on mail are recognized by image processing, and the above-mentioned address areas are identified and distinguished from these areas. Need to be done. However, such image processing is very complicated, requires a great deal of processing time, and has a very high possibility of erroneous detection. In addition, if an address area as a read target area is erroneously detected, the character reading itself has no meaning at all.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in a character reading apparatus for reading the address information of a postal matter to which no format information is given at all, a complicated image processing is required as a reading target area. There is a problem that the address area needs to be detected, and the processing efficiency is very poor.

Therefore, the present invention provides a mailing area for mail in a specific format,
An object of the present invention is to provide a destination area detecting device which can easily and surely detect a destination without performing complicated image processing, and significantly improves processing efficiency.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A destination area detecting device according to the present invention comprises: image input means for inputting information on a postal matter in which character information or the like is described in various formats as an image; Extracting means for extracting the number of characters and the coordinate value of each character existing in the lower rectangular area of the image input by the image input means, and specifying the number of characters and the coordinate value of each character extracted by the extracting means in advance A comparing means for comparing with a condition, a judging means for judging that the postal matter is a postcard with a lottery number when the specific condition is matched from a comparison result of the comparing means, and a postcard with a lottery number by this judging means. When determined, a means for providing format information of the postcard with lottery number, and based on the format information provided by this means, a non-read area such as a lottery number area and a fee stamp area And it includes a region detecting means for detecting the address area and removed by.

(Operation) The information on the mail is input as an image, the number of characters present in the lower rectangular area of the input image and the coordinate value of each character are extracted, and the number of extracted characters and the coordinate value of each character are extracted. Is compared with a specific condition given in advance, the postal matter is determined to be a postcard with a lottery number when the postcard matches the specific condition, and when it is determined to be a postcard with a lottery number, the format of the postcard with the lottery number is determined. Information is provided, and a non-reading area such as a lottery number area and a charge stamp area is removed based on the provided format information to detect an address area.

Example An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to a screen.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a postal matter on which character information and the like are described in various formats.
Is input as an image. That is, the image input unit 2 includes, for example, a light source that irradiates light on the mail 1 and a CCD that receives reflected light from the mail 1 and converts the light into an electric signal.
Photoelectric converter such as shape sensor and light from light source
It comprises an optical system or the like for guiding the reflected light to the photoelectric converter, and converts it into an electric signal (analog signal) by optically scanning the mail 1.

The output of the image input unit 2 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 3 and sent to the format specifying unit 4. Format specification part 4
Performs a feature extraction process on a specific area of the input mail 1 image, compares the obtained feature information with a specific condition given in advance, and if the two match, identifies the identification information in a specific format in the area. This is given to the detection unit 5. Area detector 5
When identification information is given, the format information corresponding to the identification information is used to detect the area to be read, that is, the address area, without performing complicated image processing. The format information is stored in the area detection unit 5 in advance in association with the identification information.

Hereinafter, a specific processing example of the format specifying unit 4 and the area detecting unit 5 will be described, for example, in a case where a New Year's postcard with a lottery number is used as a specific format. The information identifying the format must be specific to the format. For example, when a New Year's postcard with a lottery number is in a specific format, it is appropriate to use the lottery number at the lower right corner as a judgment material.

First, the format specifying unit 4 determines the input image 7 of the mail 1
, A feature extraction process is performed in a rectangular area (specific area) 8 having the origin at the lower right end as shown in FIG. In this example, the number of characters existing in the rectangular area 8 and the coordinate value of each character are set as the specific conditions. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a detection and cutout process of characters is performed from the vertical and horizontal projection patterns in the rectangular area 8, and the number of characters existing in the rectangular area 8, the number of characters , Upper end U, lower end B, left end L, right end R, and the like. The number of characters in the rectangular area 8 obtained by this processing, the coordinate value of each character, and the like are collated with specific conditions given in advance, and the mail 1 that matches the specific conditions is determined to be a New Year's postcard with a lottery number. , Identification information is provided to the area detection unit 5. The area detection unit 5 uses the format information corresponding to the identification information to fix non-read target areas such as the charge stamp area 9, postal code entry area 10, and lottery number area 11 as shown in FIG. It is possible to know, and by excluding these areas 9 to 11 from the processing target, it is possible to easily detect the destination area as the reading target area.

As described above, the postal matter of a specific format given identification information (for example, a New Year's postcard with a lottery number) can easily and reliably set the address area as a read target area without performing complicated image processing as in the past. It becomes possible to detect.
Further, the image processing for classifying the format can be processed in a short time because only a part of the input image is to be processed. Therefore, processing efficiency is significantly improved. In particular, a remarkable effect is exerted when the proportion of postal matter of a specific format in all the processed postal matter is large, such as a postcard with a lottery number.

In the above-described embodiment, only the New Year's postcard with the lottery number is used as the specific format. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of formats can be specified as the specific format.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably detect an address area of a mail in a specific format without performing complicated image processing, and the processing efficiency is remarkably increased. An improved destination area detection device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an overall configuration, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an input image and a processing area provided for format specification processing. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of detection and extraction of characters in a processing region, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a non-read target region fixedly removed by format information. 1 ... mail, 2 ... image input unit, 3 ... A / D converter,
4 ... format specifying unit, 5 ... area detecting unit, 7 ... input image of mail, 8 ... rectangular area (specific area), 9 ... fee stamp area, 10 ... postcode entry frame area, 11… lottery number area.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-59-60578 (JP, A) JP-A-55-127680 (JP, A) JP-A-61-238379 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06K 9/20 B07C 3/14

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image input means for inputting information on a postal matter in which character information or the like is described in various formats as an image, the number of characters present in a rectangular area at the lower end of the image input by the image input means, and Extracting means for extracting the coordinate value of each character; comparing means for comparing the number of characters extracted by the extracting means and the coordinate value of each character with a predetermined condition given in advance; When they match,
Determining means for determining the postal matter as a lottery numbered postcard; means for providing format information of the lottery numbered postcard when the determining means determines that the postal matter is a lottery numbered postcard; Address detection means for detecting an address area by removing a non-read area such as a lottery number area and a charge stamp area based on the format information obtained.