JP3420605B2 - Document image circulation 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 document image circulating apparatus for circulating document image data among a plurality of apparatuses connected by a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a document is transmitted using a fax machine or the like, the information of the other party is written on a cover sheet to be transmitted by a bar code or a mark sheet, and the receiving side recognizes this information and the fax in the department There was a device and an e-mail that were sorted and transferred.

For example, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 233970/1987, the internal address information of the other party is written in the designated area on the cover of the FAX transmission, and the receiving side recognizes the designated area of the received cover and Address information is extracted, and the received document is sorted and managed by this.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 18844/1992, a fixed identification pattern (bar code or the like) indicating a destination of a destination e-mail is printed on a cover used for transmission by a fax machine. Every time, the FAX receiving side recognizes the identification pattern in the received cover image, searches the internal database for the electronic mail destination using the recognition result as a key, and transfers the electronic mail destination (the electronic mail server). .

[0005]

As described above, conventionally, the document image information is transmitted to one person, and like ordinary paper circulation, that is, the document image information is transmitted to a plurality of persons. A device having a function of being circulated in order has not been realized.

[0006] For example, when a meeting organizer circulates a notice of attendance to prospective attendees, the prospective attendee fills in attendance information, the prospective attendee at the end of the circulation returns it to the organizer, or the product purchaser makes a purchase request. After writing a letter and sending it to the superior, and receiving approval from the superior,
The document image information needs to be circulated to a plurality of persons in order, such as when it is sent to the accounting staff.

Therefore, the present invention is connected by a communication line,
A document that can circulate an attached document by recognizing the circulation destination written on this circulation sheet by using a circulation sheet for circulation to multiple people, and thus, the circulation of the document can be digitized. An object is to provide an image circulating device.

[0008]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A document image input unit that is connected to another document image circulating device by a communication line and reads image information from a document, an image transmitting / receiving unit that transmits and receives image information to / from another device connected by a communication line, and this image transmitting / receiving unit In a document image circulating device including an image printing unit that prints the image information received by a document, a circulation sheet in which the circulation information is described and other document information are identified from the image information read by the document image input unit. The circulation sheet identification unit, the circulation sheet recognition unit that recognizes the circulation information described in the image information that is identified as the circulation sheet by the circulation sheet identification unit, and the circulation sheet for the next reader based on the recognized circulation information. And a circulation sheet for generating a circulation sheet for the next circulation person generated by the circulation sheet generation section and an attached sentence read together by the document image input section. And transmitted together with the information on the document image circulation device corresponding to the next circulation's circulation by the communication line
When image information consisting of a sheet and attached document is received
Only the circulation sheet is printed .

[0009] Claim 2 corresponding invention claimed in that claim 1 correspondence invention, provided the accompanying document storage unit for storing the attachment information received with times list sheets, received image information
When the circulation sheet recognition unit recognizes that the image information read by the original image input unit contains information for instructing the attached document printing, the attachment stored in the attached document storage unit is received. The document information is printed.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the circulation sheet and attached document information for the next reader obtained by reading with the document image input section are provided to the next reader. When sending to the corresponding document image circulation device,
When the attached document information is stored in the attached document storage unit, the attached sheet information stored in the attached document storage unit is transmitted together with the circulation sheet for the next reader and the attached document information. is there.

[0011]

In the invention according to claim 1, for example, when the document sheet is read by the manuscript image input section together with the circulation sheet circulated by the operator, the circulation sheet identification section identifies the circulation sheet and the attached document information. .

The circulation information described in the identified circulation sheet is recognized by the circulation sheet recognition unit, and from this recognized circulation information, the circulation sheet generation unit generates a circulation sheet for the next circulation person. It

The generated circulation sheet for the next reader and the attached document information read together by the original image input section are transmitted to the document image circulation apparatus corresponding to the next circulation person by the image transmitting / receiving section. To be done. And receiving the image information
When this happens, only the circulation sheet is printed.

[0014] Claim 2 corresponds invention stores package insert information received with circulation sheet of this in the attached document storage unit. After that, when it is recognized by the circulation sheet recognition unit that the image information read by the document image input unit includes the information for instructing the attached document printing,
The attached document information stored in the attached document storage unit is printed.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the circulation sheet for the next reader and the attached document information obtained by reading by the original image input unit are transmitted to the document image circulating apparatus corresponding to the next reader. When the attached document information is stored in the attached document storage section, the attached sheet information stored in the attached document storage section is transmitted in addition to the circulation sheet and attached document information for the next reader to be transmitted. To be done.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a document image circulating system using a document image circulating device to which the present invention is applied.

This system uses a communication line (LAN = local
Area document) is composed of a plurality of document image circulation devices (hereinafter referred to as circulation devices) 2a, 2b and 2c connected to each other, and a FAX connection device 4 connected to a communication line and a public network 3. .

It is assumed that persons A, B and C correspond to the circulation devices 2a, 2b and 2c, respectively. The FAX connection device 4 is connected to the FAX device 5 by the public network 3, and the person in charge D corresponds to the FAX device 5.

FIG. 2 shows the circulation devices 2a, 2b, 2c.
3 is a block diagram of a main circuit configuration of FIG. Reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) that constitutes the main body of the control unit.

A ROM (read only mem-ory) 12 in which a program for the processing executed by the CPU 11 is stored, the C
A RAM (random access memory) 13 in which areas of various memories used when the PU 11 performs processing are formed, a clock 14 for counting time, and a scanner I for controlling a scanner device 15 as a document image input unit for reading a document.
A / F (interface) control unit 16 and a printer I / F control unit 18 that controls a printer device 17 as an image printing unit that prints the received image information are connected to the CPU 11 via a first system bus 19, respectively. Has been done.

Further, a hard disk I / F control unit 21 for controlling a hard disk device 20 as an attached document storage unit for storing user management information and a document image, an image read from the scanner device 15, etc. are temporarily stored. An image memory 22, an image recognition unit 23 for recognizing image information in the image memory 22, an image compression / expansion unit 24 for compressing and coding image information and expanding compressed coded data, the communication line 1. A communication line controller 25 as an image transmitter / receiver for connection is connected to the CPU 11 via the first system bus 19, respectively.

Further, the CPU 11 is connected via a second system bus 26 to an operation panel 27 including a keyboard section and a display section. This operation panel 27
3, the numeric keys 27a of 0 to 9 for inputting a password and the like, and the reception processing for changing the setting of 0 to 1 or 1 to 0 in the reception processing mode table of the circulation device are displayed. A mode switching key 27b, a user confirmation key 27c for confirming the user registration information registered in the current user management table 13b, a user registration key 27d for confirming the user registration information or a new registration, and an operator A message display area 27e for displaying an operation guidance message, a cancel key 27f for canceling the input of each key, and an execution key 27g for executing the input of each key are provided.

The RAM 13 further includes a reception processing mode table 13a shown in FIG. 4, a user management table 13b shown in FIG. 5, and a stored image management table 13c shown in FIG.
Also, a recognition result storage table 13d shown in FIG. 7 is provided.

The reception processing mode table 13a is an area for storing the reception processing mode of the circulation device, and when 0 is set, it indicates the attached document simultaneous printing mode in which the attached document information is printed simultaneously with the circulation sheet at the time of reception. When 1 is set, it indicates the circulation sheet only print mode in which only the circulation sheet is printed upon reception.

The user management table 13b is an area for storing information about all users in the document image circulation system, and one user information is stored for each line. The user information is composed of an identification code, a name, a circulation device address, and a password.

The identification code is assigned to each user, and the code is handwritten in the user identification code areas of the sender, the circulation 1, the circulation 2 and the circulation 3 provided on the circulation sheet. It has become. The name is a character string of the user's name, and the character string set to this name from the identification code is printed in the name area provided on the circulation sheet. The circulation device address is the address of the circulation device used by the user, and when sending to the user identification code of the destination specified by the black circle mark on the circulation sheet, the document is written to the circulation device specified by this address. It is designed to send image information. The password is for authenticating the user, and a 4-digit numerical value is stored for each user. That is, the circulation device starts processing after confirming that the password corresponding to the user with the black triangle mark matches the input password. Each of these set values is set by pressing the user registration key of the operation panel 27 and reading a user registration sheet as shown in FIG. 8 by the scanner device 15 or receiving it via a communication line. It is like this.

The user management table 13b has the same contents in each of the circulation devices 2a, 2b, 2c in the document image system.

The stored image management table 13c is an area for storing management information of the document image information stored in the hard disk device 20, and indicates a number issued when the circulation device receives the document image information. A reception number, the number of images indicating the number of document image information stored corresponding to this reception number, and the name of the image file stored in the hard disk device 20. The image file is provided in information in which a plurality of pieces of image information are stored in a compressed format.

The stored image management table 13c
Is used when only the circulation sheet for which 1 is set in the reception processing mode table 13a is in the print mode.

The recognition result storage table 13d is an area for temporarily storing the result of recognition of the circulation sheet by the image recognition unit 23. Each row in the table is used corresponding to each area of the circulation sheet.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of the overall processing performed by the CPU 11.

First, it is determined whether or not a document is set in the automatic document feeder of the scanner device 15, and only when the document is set (present), the document processing described later is performed. There is.

Next, it is determined whether or not there is received image information from the communication line (LAN) 1, and only when there is received image information, the receiving process described later is performed.

Next, it is determined whether or not there is a keyboard input from the operation panel 15, and only when there is a keyboard input, the keyboard processing described later is performed.

When there is no keyboard input from the operation panel 15 or when the keyboard processing is completed, the initial processing of the whole processing is returned to.

FIG. 10 shows a flow of the above-mentioned document processing.

First, the scanner device 15 is controlled to read an original, and the image information read from the original is stored in the image memory 2.
Then, the original is fed, and if the next original is set, the reading is prepared.

Next, an image identification process for identifying whether or not there is a circulation sheet identification mark at the upper right of the image information in the image memory 22 (circulation sheet identification section), and if there is no circulation sheet identification mark, this document processing Is supposed to end.

If there is a circulation sheet identification mark, a circulation sheet recognition process described later is performed on the image information in the image memory 22 (circulation sheet recognition unit). By this process, the recognition result is stored in the recognition result storage table 13d shown in FIG.

When this circulation sheet recognition processing is completed, a user identification code whose circulation mark in the recognition result storage table 13d is a black triangle (transmitter / receiver) is obtained, and authentication processing for the circulation person of this user identification code is performed. .

In this authentication processing, if the password corresponding to the user identification code of the black triangle mark and the password entered by the operator on the keyboard of the operation panel 27 are compared and they match, the authentication is normally performed (OK). ), It is determined that authentication is not possible (NG) unless the password corresponding to the user identification code and the password input from the operation panel 27 match. If it is determined that the authentication is impossible, the document processing is ended.

If it is determined that the authentication is normally performed in this authentication processing, it is determined in step 1 (ST1) whether the usage information in the recognition result storage table 13d is transmission or attached document printing. To do.

When the purpose is transmission, the transmission area in the hard disk device 20 in which the image information to be transmitted is temporarily stored is cleared. Next, as the processing of step 2 (ST2), it is determined whether or not the original is set in the automatic original feeding section of the scanner device 15. If the original is set (present), the original is read, The image information read from the original is stored in the image memory 22, and it is discriminated whether this image information is a circulation sheet or not.

If the image information is not a circulation sheet, the image compression / expansion unit 24 compresses and stores it in the transmission area of the hard disk device 20 as attached document image information. Then, the document is fed, and if there is a document, the process returns to step 2 described above. In this way, until the next circular sheet is read,
The document reading is repeated to accumulate the attached document image information.

When the image information is a circulation sheet, a recipient circulation sheet generation process described later is performed (circulation sheet generation unit), and when this recipient circulation sheet generation process ends,
A circulation sheet / attached document transmission process described later is performed, and when the circulation sheet / attached document transmission process ends, the manuscript process ends.

Further, in the processing of step 1, when the application is to print the attached document, the reception number of the identification code with the black triangle mark in the recognition result storage table 13d is obtained and the reception in the storage image management table 13c is performed. Extract the file name corresponding to No and compress the image from the hard disk drive 20.
The decompression unit 24 decompresses the image and expands it on the image memory 22, transfers the image to the printer device 17, and prints the attached document information.

Next, the line corresponding to the reception number used for printing is deleted from the stored image management table 13c, and the file data having the file name corresponding to the reception number used for printing is deleted from the hard disk device 20. Manuscript processing is completed.

By the way, if the acceptance number of the identification code with the black triangle mark in the recognition result storage table 13d is a blank space, or if the acceptance number of the identification code is stored in the storage management table 13c. If there is no line corresponding to, the message display area as the display unit of the operation panel 27 displays "There is no attached document." And the manuscript processing is completed.

FIG. 11 shows a flow of the circulation sheet recognition processing described above.

First, after clearing the recognition result storage table 13d, it is determined which of the star marks provided in the transmission or attached document printing area on the right side of the application in the circulation sheet image is filled, Either transmission or printing of the attached document is set in the usage field of the recognition result storage table 13d.

Next, the image information of the title area is cut out,
The cut-out image data is used as the recognition result storage table 13
Set in the title cut-out image column of d.

Next, regarding the sender, each column of the recognition result storage table 13d is set. That is, the circulation mark on the left side is discriminated as one of black triangle, black diamond, black square, white circle, and black circle, and the discriminated circulation mark is set in the mark column. Further, the identification code is recognized, and the recognized identification code is set in the user identification code field. Further, the numbers of the transmission date and the number of attachments to be transmitted are recognized, and the recognized numbers are set in the transmission date and time column and the number of attachments to be transmitted. Further, the image information in the comment area on the right side of the comment is cut out, and the cut out image data is set in the comment cutout field.

Next, regarding Circular 1, Circular 2, and Circular 3,
Each field of the recognition result storage table 13d is set. That is, the circulation mark on the left side is discriminated as one of black triangle, black diamond, black square, white circle, and black circle, and the discriminated circulation mark is set in the mark column. Also, by recognizing the number of the reception number,
The recognized numerical value is set in the reception number column. Further, the identification code is recognized, and the recognized identification code is set in the user identification code field. Also, the numbers of the transmission date and time and the number of attachments to be sent are recognized, and the recognized numerical values are set in the transmission date and time column and the number of attachments to be sent column. Further, the image information in the comment area on the right side of the comment is cut out, and the cut out image data is set in the comment cutout column of the recognition result storage table 13d.

With respect to this Circular 1, Circular 2, and Circular 3, when setting of each column of the recognition result storage table 13d is completed,
The circulation sheet recognition processing is ended.

A black triangle mark is transmitted / transmitted as the circulation mark provided on the left side of the sender, the circulation 1, the circulation 2 and the circulation 3.
Recipients are indicated, a black diamond mark indicates a previous reader, a black square mark indicates an existing reader, a white circle mark indicates an unreader, and a black circle mark indicates a designated destination (next reader).

FIG. 12 shows the flow of the above-mentioned recipient circulation sheet generation processing.

First, the mount (format) of the circulation sheet is developed on the image memory 22.

Next, the title cut-out image in the recognition result storage table 13d is written in the corresponding area on the image memory 22.

Next, a reader with a black triangle mark is obtained from the circulation marks on the left side of the sender, circulation 1, circulation 2, and circulation 3 in the recognition result storage table 13d, and the circulation person is dealt with. Set the date and time data obtained from the clock 14 in the transmission date and time column of the recognition result storage table 13d,
As the number of attachments to be sent in the recognition result storage table 13d, the number of attached document images input from the scanner device 15 stored in the transmission area of the hard disk device 20 and the number of attached document images that the reader has not yet printed as a file in the hard disk device 20. Set a value that is the sum of the number of attached documents stored.
The number of attached documents stored as files in the hard disk device 20 is set in the line corresponding to the receipt number of the reader who has a black triangle mark in the stored image management table 13c. It is calculated from the file name column.

Next, the circulation mark columns of the sender, the circulation 1, the circulation 2 and the circulation 3 in the recognition result storage table 13d are changed as follows.

Black triangular mark, black rhombus mark, black rhombus mark, black square mark, black square mark, black square mark, white circle mark, white circle mark, black circle mark, black triangle mark, and next, regarding the sender in the recognition result storage table 13d, The mark, the user identification code, the sending date and time, the number of sent attachments, and the comment cut-out image are respectively stored in the image memory 22.
Write in the corresponding area above.

Next, regarding the circulation 1, the circulation 2, and the circulation 3 in the recognition result storage table 13d, the circulation mark, the user identification code, the transmission date and time, the number of attachments attached, and the comment cut-out image are respectively stored in corresponding areas on the image memory 22. Write to.

Next, using the user identification codes of the sender, the circulation 1, the circulation 2 and the circulation 3 in the recognition result storage table 13d, from the corresponding line in the user management table 13b,
Each name is obtained, a character string of the name is written in the corresponding area on the image memory 22, and the recipient circulation sheet generation process is ended.

FIG. 13 shows a flow of the circulation sheet / attached document transmission processing described above.

First, the user management table is used by using the reader identification code in which the black triangular mark (the black circle mark is changed in the above-mentioned recipient circular sheet generation processing) in the recognition result storage table 13d is set. The circulation device address is obtained from the corresponding line of 13b.

Next, the circulation sheet image information for the recipient generated in the image memory 22 is compressed by the image compression / expansion unit, and the circulation device obtained from the user management table 13b by the communication circuit control unit 25. Send to the circulation device corresponding to the address.

Then, it is read by the scanner device 15,
The attached document image information stored in the transmission area in the hard disk device 20 is transmitted to the circulation device in the same manner as the circulation sheet image information. If the attached document image information is not stored in the transmission area, the process proceeds to the next process without transmitting.

Next, the black diamond-shaped mark in the recognition result storage table 13d (the black triangle mark changed in the above-mentioned recipient circular sheet generation processing) is stored using the receipt number of the circular person. The number of images and the file name are obtained from the management table 13c.

Here, if there is a file name corresponding to the acceptance number of the black diamond mark, the hard disk device 20
The file data of the file name in the inside is read, and the read file data is transmitted to the circulation device. After this transmission, the transmitted file data is deleted from the hard disk device 20, all the rows corresponding to the reception number are deleted from the stored image management table 13c, and the circulation sheet / attached document transmission processing is ended. ing.

FIG. 14 shows a flow of the above-mentioned receiving process.

First, the communication line control unit 25 receives the compressed document image information transmitted from another circulation device,
The received document image information is expanded by the image compression / expansion unit 24 and stored in the image memory 22.

Next, in the image data in the image memory 22, an image identification process is performed to determine whether or not there is a circulation sheet identification mark at the upper right of the image data. When the circulation sheet identification mark does not exist, the image data in the image memory 22 is transferred to the printer device 17, the circulation sheet is printed, and this reception processing is ended.

If the circulation sheet identification mark is present, the circulation sheet recognition processing described above is performed, and the result of this circulation sheet recognition processing is stored in the recognition result storage table 13d.

Next, when the reception processing mode table 13a of the circulation device is the attached document simultaneous printing mode of 0, the circulation sheet image data in the image memory 22 is transferred to the printer device 17 to print the circulation sheet. .

After this printing, the recognition result storage table 13d
The attached document image information of the number of attached attachments corresponding to the reader having the black rhombus mark inside is received from the communication line control unit 25, expanded by the image compression / expansion unit 24, and the expanded attached document image information Is transmitted to the printer device 17, several attached documents for attachment are printed, and this receiving process is ended.

Further, the reception processing mode table 13a is
When only one circulation sheet is in the print mode, a reception number that is not used in the stored image management table 1313c is issued, and the issued number is recognized on the circulation sheet image data in the image memory 22. The black triangle mark in the result storage table 13d is written in the area corresponding to the receipt number of the reader, and the image data is written to the printer device 17.
Transfer to and print the circular sheet.

After this printing, the recognition result storage table 13d
The communication line control unit 25 receives the attached document image information of the number of attached attachments corresponding to the reader having the black rhombus mark set therein, and the compressed image data is stored as a file in the hard disk device 20. Register your name.
The registered file name is set in the line additionally formed in the stored image management table 13d with the numerical value issued as the reception number, and the reception process is ended.

FIG. 15 shows the flow of the above-mentioned keyboard processing.

First, it is determined whether the keyboard input from the operation panel 27 is the input of the reception processing mode switching key 27b, the user confirmation key 27c, or the user registration key 27d. If there is no key input, the keyboard processing is finished as it is.

When the keyboard input is the input of the reception processing mode switching key 27b, at this time, if the attached document simultaneous printing mode of 0 is set in the reception processing mode table 13a, only one circulation sheet is set to the printing mode. If the print mode of only the circulation sheet of 1 is set in the reception processing mode table 13a at this time, the print mode of the attached document is changed to 0. Then, the mode of the change result is displayed in the message display area of the operation panel 27, and the keyboard processing is ended.

If the keyboard input is the user confirmation key 27c, the information of the user management table 13b is expanded as characters on the image memory 22, the image data is transferred to the printer device 17, and the user management table is displayed. 1
The information of 3b is printed and this keyboard processing is ended.

When the keyboard input is the input of the user registration key 27d, the scanner device 15 reads a user registration sheet as shown in FIG. 8, and the read image data is stored in the image memory 22. Then, each character string from the stored image data is recognized, the recognition result is stored in the user management table 13b, and the keyboard processing is ended.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, in this case, the person A in charge of the circulation device 2a circulates the document from the person B in charge of the circulation device 2b to the person C in charge of the circulation device 2c, Finally, the procedure in the case of being collected by the person in charge A will be described. As user registration, the user registration sheet shown in FIG. 8 is read by each scanner device 15, and the user information as shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the user management table 13b of each circulation device 2a, 2b, 2c. It is registered.

FIG. 16 is a circulation sheet used.
A circular sheet identification mark is printed on the upper right of the circular sheet, and further, an application, a title, a sender, a circular 1, a circular 2, and a circular 3 are provided in order from the top.
In this circular sheet, the part surrounded by the frame is
The sender and the reader are handwritten areas in which necessary items are first filled in by handwriting, and all other areas are print areas where the circulation device automatically prints from the beginning.

First, the person in charge A handwritten on this circular sheet, as shown in FIG. 17, in the usage area, the white star-shaped mark for transmission is filled with black to form a black star-shaped mark, and in the title area, it is hatched. In the title column shown, enter "Technical conference notification (with materials)" and the requirement. In the sender area, enter the identification code "000A" of the person in charge A who is the sender in the identification code column indicated by diagonal lines. Also, in the comment field indicated by the diagonal line, enter "Attendance" in the comment field. At the end of the circulation, please send this sheet to us. "Enter the requirement. Further, in the circular 1 area, the identification code “000B” of the person B in charge who is the first reader is entered in the identification code column indicated by diagonal lines, and the white circle mark of the circular 1 is painted black to make it a black circle mark. In the 2nd area, enter the identification code “000C” of the person in charge C who is the second reader in the identification code section indicated by the diagonal lines, and finally in the 3rd area of the circulation, enter the identification code field indicated by the diagonal lines in the identification area. Enter the identification code "000A" of the person in charge A himself.

After that, the person in charge A only needs to input the password from the operation panel and read the attached sheet together with the created circulation sheet by the scanner device 15 of the circulation device 2a.

The circulation device 2a first recognizes the image data of the circulation sheet by the circulation sheet identification mark from the image data of the circulation sheet and the attached document read by the scanner device 15, and the sender of the image data of the circulation sheet,
The user identification code and circulation mark of each of circulation 1, circulation 2, and circulation 3 are recognized, and image data in the title column and comment column is cut out and stored.

Next, the circulation device 2a authenticates the caller by comparing the password input from the operation panel 27 with the password registered by the identification code with the black triangle mark. If this authentication is not normally performed, the circulation sheet and the attached document are not transmitted, and the process ends. If this certification is successful, the black star mark used for the image data on the circulation sheet is changed to a white star mark, the black triangle mark is changed to a black diamond mark, and the black circle mark is changed to a black triangle mark. Change to mark
A name character string (person A, person B, person C) is created from the transmission date and time, the number of attachments, and each identification code, and a new circulation sheet for the next circulation person is generated.

Here, the circulation device 2a obtains the circulation device (circulation device 2b) corresponding to the circulation person (person B in charge) for whom the black circle mark has been set (changed to the black triangle mark),
The image data of the newly generated circulation sheet and attached document is transmitted to the circulation device 2b.

When the circulation device 2b corresponding to the person in charge B receives the image data transmitted from the circulation device 2a corresponding to the person in charge A, the attached document simultaneous printing mode of 0 is set in the reception processing mode table 13a. If so, the printer 17 prints the circulation sheet and the attached document on paper based on the received image data. When the print mode for only one circulation sheet is set in the reception processing mode table 13a, only the circulation sheet is printed on the paper by the printer device 17. At this time, the printed circulation sheet is shown in FIG.

In the following, a description will be given of a case where the simultaneous attachment printing mode of 0 attached document is set in the reception processing mode table 13a in each of the circulation devices 2a, 2b and 2c.

The person in charge B handwritten on the printed circulation sheet and, as shown in FIG. 19, in the circulation 1 area, writes the message "I will attend."
In the circulation 2 area, the white circle mark of the circulation mark is blacked out to form a black circle mark.

After that, the person in charge B only has to input the password from the operation panel 27 and read the handwritten circulation sheet by the scanner device 15 of the circulation device 2b.

The circulation device 2b corresponding to the person in charge B also recognizes the read image data and creates a new circulation mark, a transmission date and time, and the number of transmission attachments in the same manner as the circulation device 2a described above. Generate a circulation sheet. At this time, the recognition result storage table 13 of the circulation device 2b
The data shown in FIG. 7 is stored in d.

Here, the circulation device 2b obtains the circulation device (circulation device 2c) corresponding to the circulation person (person in charge C) having the black circle mark (changed to the black triangle mark),
The image data of the newly generated circulation sheet and attached document is transmitted to the circulation device 2c.

When the circulation device 2c corresponding to the person in charge C receives the image data transmitted from the circulation device 2b corresponding to the person in charge B, the circulation sheet and the attached document are printed on paper similarly to the circulation device 2b. . At this time, the printed circulation sheet is shown in FIG.

The person in charge C handwritten on the printed circulation sheet and, as shown in FIG. 21, in the circulation 2 area, in the comment field indicated by diagonal lines, "I will be absent due to a business meeting." The white circle mark of the circulation mark is filled with black in the circular 3 region to make a black circle mark.

After that, the person in charge C only has to input the password from the operation panel 27 and read the handwritten circulation sheet by the scanner device 15 of the circulation device 2b.

The circulation device 2c corresponding to the person C in charge is processed in the same manner as the circulation devices 2a and 2b described above to generate a new circulation sheet for the next circulation person, and the next circulation person (person in charge) is generated. To the circulation device (circulation device 2a) corresponding to A),
The image data of the newly generated circulation sheet and attached document is transmitted.

The circulation device 2a corresponding to the person A receives the image data transmitted from the circulation device 2c corresponding to the person C, and prints the circulation sheet and attached document shown in FIG. 22 on paper.

When the print mode for only one circulation sheet is set in the reception processing mode table and the attached document is to be printed, a white star mark for printing the attached document is displayed in the usage area of the circulation sheet. If it is painted in black and read by the scanner device 15, the printer device 17 prints as many attachment documents as the number of attachments to be attached on paper based on the stored image data of the attachment documents.

Further, the FAX connection device 4 is the FAX device 5
When receiving the circulation sheet and attached document transmitted from the public network 3 through the public network 3, the circulation sheet is recognized and transmitted to the other circulation device via the communication line 1 similarly to the circulation devices 2a, 2b and 2c. The processing is performed. Further, when a circulation sheet and an attached document are received from another circulation device via a communication line, the circulation sheet and the attached document are transmitted via the public network 3 to the FAX device set for each person in charge of reception.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the circulation sheet identification mark and the circulation sheet provided with the circulation mark are used, and the circulation sheet and other documents are discriminated by the circulation sheet identification mark. Recognize the contents described in the circulation sheet, generate a circulation sheet for the next circulation person, seek the next circulation person by the circulation mark, and attach the circulation sheet to the circulation device corresponding to that circulation person. By sending the document, the circulation sheet for the next circulation person is automatically generated from the input circulation sheet, and the circulation sheet for the next circulation person and the attached document which are generated by recognizing the next circulation person are also recognized. Can be automatically sent together to the circulation device corresponding to the next circulation person. Therefore, the circulation of documents can be digitized.

Further, the document receiver can always confirm the circulation status of the document from the circulation sheet, and can use the circulation sheet at the time of the next circulation transmission.

Further, by recognizing only the necessary part of the circulation sheet and generating the circulation sheet for the next circulation person, the deterioration of the image quality of the circulation sheet is caused as compared with the case where the circulation information is simply additionally written on the circulation sheet. Can be prevented.

When the document is received, the attached document is stored in the image storage unit in the circulation device without being printed, and the attached data is transmitted to the next reader so that the attached document is actually transmitted. As compared with the case of printing on paper and inputting an image again, it is possible to prevent deterioration of image quality and further reduce the number of printed sheets of paper.

Further, since only the image information is transmitted and received between the circulation devices, a device such as a FAX device can be used as a terminal device of the circulation device, and the system is excellent in expandability.

[0109]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention,
It is possible to circulate the attached document by recognizing the circulation destination written on this circulation sheet by using the circulation sheet which is connected by the communication line and is circulated to multiple people. It is possible to provide a document image circulating device that can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document image circulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of the circulation device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation panel of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a reception processing mode table of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a user management table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a stored image management table of the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the arrangement of a recognition result storage table according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a user registration sheet of the same embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of overall processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of document processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of circulation sheet recognition processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of recipient circulation sheet generation processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the flow of a circulation sheet / attached document transmission process of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the flow of a reception process of the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a flow of keyboard processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a format of a circulation sheet of the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of entry by the sender of the circulation sheet of the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a circulation sheet printed at the time of reception in circulation 1 of the embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of entries made by a reader in circulation 1 of the circulation sheet of the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a circulation sheet printed at the time of reception in circulation 2 of the embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of entries made by a reader in circulation 2 of the circulation sheet of the embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a circulation sheet printed at the time of reception in circulation 3 of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Communication line, 2a, 2b, 2c ... Circulation device, 11 ... C
PU, 15 ... Scanner device, 17 ... Printer device, 20
... hard disk device, 22 ... image memory, 23 ... image recognition unit, 25 ... communication line control unit.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Takeshi Ogaki Inventor Takeshi Ogaki 70 Yanagi-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Stock company Toshiba Yanagimachi plant (72) Inventor Miko Takeda 70 Yanagi-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Stock company Toshiba Yanagimachi Factory (56) Reference JP 63-211863 (JP, A) JP 61-87461 (JP, A) JP 4-172858 (JP, A) JP 2-50651 (JP, A) JP-A-1-284167 (JP, A) JP-A-6-46244 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/18 H04N 1/00 104

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A document image input unit, which is connected to another document image circulating device through a communication line and reads image information from a document,
A document image circulating apparatus including an image transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving image information to / from another device connected by a communication line, and an image printing unit for printing the image information received by the image transmitting / receiving unit The circulation sheet identification unit that identifies the circulation sheet in which the circulation information is described from the image information read by the image input unit and other document information, and the image information that is identified as the circulation sheet by the circulation sheet identification unit A circulation sheet recognition unit that recognizes circulation information and a circulation sheet generation unit that generates a circulation sheet for the next circulation person from the recognized circulation information are provided, and the next circulation generated by this circulation sheet generation unit is provided. A circulation sheet for the user and the attached document information read together by the document image input unit together with the document image circulation device corresponding to the next circulation person ,
An image consisting of a circulation sheet and attached documents via the communication line
A document image circulating apparatus , wherein only the circulation sheet is printed when image information is received . 2. A single list sheet and provided to the accompanying document storage unit for storing the attachment information received together, receiving the image information
When the circulation sheet recognition unit recognizes that the image information read by the document image input unit contains information for instructing the attached document printing, it is stored in the attached document storage unit. The document image circulating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attached document information is printed. 3. The attached document storage unit stores the circular sheet and attached document information for the next reader read by the original image input unit to the document image circulating device corresponding to the next reader. If the attached document information is stored,
3. The document image circulating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the attached document information stored in the attached document storage unit is transmitted together with the circulation sheet for the next reader and the attached document information.