JP3521606B2 - Character reader - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, when recognizing characters on a form and acquiring code data that can be processed by a computer, displays the recognition result on a display screen for comparison.
The present invention relates to a character reading device that verifies and corrects the read content, a display unit that generates a display screen with an arrangement similar to the character arrangement on a form, and a character reading device that has the unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Character reading devices are widely used for inputting characters written on various slips and forms as code data that can be processed by a computer. However, due to the character shape and various noises written on the form,
No confirmation, no correction, and no clean data can be obtained. Therefore, in order to verify whether or not the content of the read character is correct, the read character may be displayed on a display device composed of a display or the like to be compared with the form and confirmed.

As an example of a conventional character reading device used for the above purpose, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-49925. In this technique, the character reading unit includes an image line sensor or the like for optically reading the characters on the form. The output of the character reading unit is sent to the character recognition unit, which recognizes the code of the recognized character,
Also, the recognized content is displayed on the display screen using the character size information as well as the character position information. Conventionally, the content verification of character reading has been performed with the above configuration.

[0004]

However, the above-described conventional character reading device has the following problems to be solved. Usually, the characters written in several character frames on the form are recognized individually and the result is displayed on the display screen. In this case, the display method is performed using the recognized characters and the information indicating the entry position, and the read characters are displayed on the display screen in a layout similar to a form. Therefore, for a form that can be displayed on one display screen, characters can be displayed on the display screen in a layout that resembles the form.

However, for a form that cannot fit on one display screen, the size of characters to be displayed must be reduced, the display screen must be scrolled, and the contents must be confirmed.
The larger the number of fields, the more difficult it is to see, the more the fields are spread across the display screens, and the fields may be displayed intermittently. You need to carefully look for each one. Also, due to changes in the display range of the display screen and the size of the window to be displayed, related fields may not be displayed on the same display screen, and the text size may be reduced, making it difficult to see. Therefore, you have to go back and forth between display screens many times. Therefore, the operator needs a lot of effort to verify the contents displayed on the display screen while comparing the contents displayed on the display screen, resulting in a problem that the work efficiency is extremely low.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. The form 1 is obtained by determining the display position of the character so that the image displayed on the display screen approximates the image on the form actually read. By creating a display screen with a layout similar to a form, even for various forms that are displayed across multiple screens and the display screen for one sheet does not fit on one screen, you can read the form and the display screen. An object of the present invention is to provide a character reading device having means for facilitating the work of verifying the contents of data.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, a character reading apparatus of the present invention comprises a character recognition unit for obtaining a character code, a display position of a character and a character size, and a form for each character to be recognized. Character display position calculation unit for displaying on the display screen in a layout similar to the form using the above character position and size, and scroll operation for forms that cannot be displayed within one display screen. Even if you do, the fields do not break between the display screens, and even if the display range of the display screens or the size of the window that displays is changed, the display size of characters etc. does not change, and it resembles the form as much as possible. It is characterized in that it is provided with a form analysis means for displaying the layout.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A character reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention. An image data reading unit 10 for optically reading characters written or printed on the form 1 is provided, and its output is processed by the character recognition unit 20, the character display position calculating unit 26, and the form analyzing unit 28, and the processed. Each character on the form is displayed on the display screen 3 by the display control unit 31 using the information generated as a result.

It comprises a character recognition unit 20, a character position information storage unit 24 for storing character and character frame position information on the form 1, and a character size storage unit 25. The configuration of these parts is similar to that of the conventional device.

However, in the apparatus of the present invention, the character display position calculating means 26 and the character display position calculating unit 27 for obtaining the display position information for displaying the characters on the display screen in a layout similar to the form 1, and one For a form that cannot be displayed on the display screen and is displayed on multiple screens, even if you perform a scroll operation, the fields will not be interrupted and the fields will be interrupted, and the related fields will be displayed on the same screen. Form analysis means 28 for obtaining a boundary line that divides the form to generate a display screen that is easy to see and that allows easy field confirmation, and form analysis means 28 from the display position obtained by the character display position calculation unit 27. Border line position determination unit 29 that determines the optimality of the boundary line that divides the form obtained by grouping the fields with, and displays characters on the display screen. Display position information storage unit 30 for storing the order information is provided.

From the information output from the character position information storage unit 24 and the character size storage unit 25, the character display position calculation unit 26 is used by the character display position calculation unit 27 to display the display position of each character on the form on the display screen. The boundary line position determination unit 29 uses the form analysis unit 28 to determine whether the display position is stored in one display screen, related fields are displayed in the same display screen, or the like. If the determination is true, the display position is stored in the display position information storage unit 30, and if the determination is false, the form analysis unit 28 and the character display position calculation unit 26 are used, and the character display position calculation unit 27 again uses the form. After obtaining the display position of each of the above characters on the display screen, the above operation is repeated until the judgment of the boundary line position judgment unit 29 becomes true.

Next, the form analysis means 28 will be described. The form analysis unit 28 makes use of the characteristics of the layout,
It has a field grouping processing means 21 for grouping fields to obtain a boundary line for dividing a form.
FIG. 2 is an example of how to obtain the position of the field. Next, the seven conditions of the field grouping processing means 21 used for grouping fields and the rule of boundary line movement will be described.

The first condition is that "when there are many fields having the same x coordinate at the trailing end of the field, all fields on the left side of the x coordinate at the trailing end of the field are considered to be in the same group."

The second condition is that "when there are many fields having the same x-coordinate of the field leading edge, all fields to the right of the x-coordinate of the field leading edge are considered to be in the same group".

The third condition is that "fields having the same x coordinate at the front end and the same x coordinate at the rear end of the field are considered to be in the same group."

The fourth condition is that "of the fields belonging to the same group obtained under the third condition, all the fields having the same y coordinate difference between the fields are considered as the same group".

The fifth condition is that "focusing on the y-coordinates of all fields, the fields having a large difference in y-coordinate between the fields are considered as different groups, and the fields having a small difference are considered as the same group. It is.

The sixth condition is that "fields having the same value obtained by subtracting the x coordinate of the leading end of the field from the x coordinate of the trailing end of the field are the same, or the fields having the same difference between the x direction are the same group. Think. "

The seventh condition is that "the union of groups in the x direction and the y direction is obtained, and the fields belonging to the union are considered to be the same group".

Next, the rule for moving the boundary line will be described. The rule of movement of the boundary line located at the x-coordinate of the trailing edge of any field consists of two rules. The first rule is
"If the boundary is within the group, move the boundary to the x coordinate of the boundary of the group." The second rule is "if the boundary line is located at or outside the boundary line of the group, the boundary line is not moved".

With respect to a form in which one form is displayed over a plurality of display screens, the form analysis means 28 is used to divide and display a layout similar to the form. The form analysis unit 28 has a form division processing unit 22. The form dividing processing means 22 divides the form into left and right parts (S1),
It has four means: a means for dividing the form vertically (S2), a means for dividing the form vertically and horizontally (S3), and a means (S4) for determining the optimality of division. Next, an example of each means is shown.

The means of S1 performs field grouping under the first condition to obtain a provisional boundary line. Further, first, the fields in the y direction are grouped by using the third and fourth conditions, and then the fields in the x direction are grouped by using the sixth condition. Finally, using the seventh condition, the union of the groups of the respective fields obtained under the third, fourth, and sixth conditions is obtained, and the fields are grouped.
Here, the boundary line position determination unit 29 determines the positional relationship between the boundary line obtained under the first condition and the boundary line indicating the group range of the field, using the boundary line movement rule. By determining the position of the boundary line, a candidate for the boundary line that divides the form into left and right is obtained.

The means of S2 first groups the fields in the y direction using the third and fourth conditions, and differs from the other fields in the group of the obtained fields.
By using the fifth condition, the position of the y-coordinate of the field where the difference between the y-coordinates of the fields is greatly separated is obtained and the fields are grouped. The position of the y coordinate obtained here becomes a candidate for the position of the boundary line that divides the form into upper and lower parts.

The means of S3 uses the means of S1 to obtain a candidate for a boundary line that divides the form into left and right. Next, the boundary line that divides the form into upper and lower parts is obtained using the means of S2.
Furthermore, if all fields classified into the lower part of the form by dividing the form into one display screen do not fit on one display screen, regarding the fields classified into the lower part of the form,
Fields are grouped by repeatedly using the means of S1 and S2. Each boundary line obtained here is a candidate for a boundary line that divides the form vertically and horizontally.

The means of S4 does not perform any processing if the boundary line obtained by each means does not divide the field into upper and lower sides or left and right, or even if any one of the obtained boundary lines is obtained. If the field is divided vertically or horizontally, or if the obtained boundary line is larger than the coordinates of each boundary line that represents the display range of the display screen, the candidate with the next highest priority of each means is selected. Find a new boundary that does not split the field vertically or horizontally.

A display screen for a form in which one form is displayed over a plurality of display screens is created using the boundary lines obtained by using the four means of the form analysis means 28.

FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of the display position calculation processing for obtaining the display position of each character on the display screen of the character reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Next, the display position calculation processing of FIG. 3 will be described. First, it is determined whether the form fits within one display screen (T1). If true, the form layout is used as the display layout and the display position calculation process ends. If it is false, it is determined whether the form fits in the y direction of the display screen (T2). If it is true, the form will not fit in the x direction of the display screen, so S1 and S4 of the form analysis means 28 are applied and the display position calculation processing is ended (T3). If it is false, it is determined whether the form fits in the x direction of the display screen (T4). If it is true, S2 and S4 of the form analysis means 28 are applied and the display position calculation process is ended (T5). If false, S of the form analysis unit 28
3 and S4 are applied, and the display position calculation process ends (T
6).

Next, a process of calculating a boundary line representing a break dividing a form for outputting each character on the form shown in FIG. 4 on a display screen will be described with reference to a flow chart of a display position calculating process. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the display position calculation process of the character reading device and the display screen output after the process according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, R1 is the x-coordinate of the rear end of the field, P1 is the x-coordinate of the front end of the right adjacent field having the same y-coordinate as the field, and line segment K and line segment G are for outputting characters on the form to the display screen. Represents a boundary line for dividing the screen. It is assumed that the diagram of FIG. 4 is the position of the boundary line that can be displayed on one conventional display screen.

When each boundary line representing a break on a form for generating a display screen is in the state shown in FIG. 4, T1, T2, T of the display position calculation processing is performed for each field.
The determination processing of 4 is sequentially performed, and S of the form analysis unit 28 of T6 is performed.
Do 3.

In S3, the second grouping of fields is performed.
All the first to seventh conditions other than are used. First, the first condition is used to obtain the provisional boundary K shown in FIG. 4, and then the third and fourth conditions are used to obtain the group of fields in the y direction shown in FIG. . Then, the sixth condition is used to obtain the group of fields in the x direction shown in FIG. 4, and then the seventh condition is used to obtain each of the third, fourth, and sixth conditions shown in FIG. Find the union of a group of fields. In the group of fields representing this union, the boundary line position determination unit 29 determines whether the position of the temporary boundary line K obtained using the first condition is optimal using the boundary line movement rule. Judge and find the correct boundary line position. For the group of fields obtained here, a boundary line G that divides the group of fields into upper and lower parts is obtained using the fifth condition. Here, since the group of fields classified into the lower part of the form fits within one display screen, the process of S3 ends. It is determined whether or not each boundary line obtained above satisfies S4 of the form analysis means, and S
A boundary line that satisfies 4 is obtained. From each boundary line obtained,
Each display screen of is automatically generated.

This is different from the conventional display on the display screen using the scroll operation shown in FIG. 5, and it is easy to confirm the contents of the form and the display screen.

Next, one means of the character display position calculation means 26 will be described. The character display position calculation means 26 has a means for displaying related fields on the same screen or the same window as much as possible when the display range is changed, in addition to the means for obtaining the display position of the field. . A detailed flowchart of this means is shown in FIG. This means that in order to display the related fields within the modified display range, we will look for blank spaces that can display the fields,
It is a means for obtaining the display position of the field.

FIG. 6 shows the display position of each field when the size of the window on the display screen is changed in FIG. In FIG. 6, the vertical line on the right side of the window corresponds to the vertical boundary line of the display range, and the horizontal line on the lower side of the window corresponds to the horizontal boundary line of the display range.

Therefore, by using the character display position calculating means 26 shown in the flow chart of FIG. 7, the characters belonging to the related fields can be displayed in the same window as much as possible without changing the character size, so that various display screens can be displayed. Even if the window is crowded, you can easily check the contents of the read data in a small space. This is useful for efficiently using the window space of the display screen.

The present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Even if the recognition target form is a horizontal or vertical form,
Further, a form that can be displayed on one display screen or a form that must be displayed on a plurality of display screens can be processed in the same manner as this embodiment.

[0037]

As described above, the character reading device of the present invention utilizes the optically read characters, the position information of the characters on the form, and the character size information to calculate the character display position calculating means and the form. By the analysis method, the field does not break between the display screens even when scrolling is performed, and even if the size of the window to be displayed is changed, the characters belonging to the related fields are displayed in the same window without changing the character size. Since it can be displayed, the read characters can be displayed on the display screen in a layout similar to a form. Therefore, it is easy to confirm the contents on the display screen and the contents on which the form is recognized, and the contents verification work can be performed smoothly, so that the labor of the operator can be greatly reduced. Further, the character reading device of the present invention can be applied to the business of saving the layout as much as possible without changing the character size when reducing the size of the window.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a character reading device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of how to obtain the position of a field according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of a display position calculation process of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a display position calculation process of the character reading device of the present invention and a display screen output after the process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of output to a display screen by a conventional character reading device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a display position calculation process of the character reading device of the present invention and a display screen output after the process.

FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart of one means of the character display position calculation means of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Form, 2 ... Display device, 3
... display screen, 10 ... image data reading section,
20 ... Character recognition unit, 21 ... Field grouping processing unit, 22 ... Form division processing unit,
24 ... Character position information storage unit, 25 ... Character size storage unit, 26 ... Character display position calculation unit, 27 ... Character display position calculation unit, 28 ... Form analysis unit, 29 ... Boundary line position determination unit, 30 ... Display position information Storage part, 31 ...
Display control unit, 40 ... Character position input unit, 50 ... Character position automatic detection unit.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 19/00 G06F 17/21 G06K 9/03

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A character recognition unit for recognizing characters on a form, a field position for detecting the position of a field to which the characters on the form recognized by the character recognition unit belong, and the size of the field on the form. A detection unit, a field position information storage unit that stores the position of the field on the form detected by the field position detection unit, and a field that stores the size of the field on the form detected by the field position detection unit A size storage unit, a display unit for displaying a plurality of fields on the form detected by the field position detection unit, position information on the form of the field output from the field position information storage unit, and the field The size information of the field output from the size storage unit and the size information stored in the display means are provided. By using the size of the display screen, the display position in said display screen field output from the field position information storing unit calculates the tip of the plurality of fields that are output from the field position information storage or Feels with common rear end coordinates
The number of fields is the same as the coordinates of other leading or trailing edges.
The boundary more fields than, grouping a plurality of fields that are output from the field position information storage unit
Or output from the field location information storage section
The coordinates of the leading and trailing edges of the
Fields belong to the same group and belong to the same group
Based on the fields that have the same coordinate difference between
And output from the field position information storage section.
Grouping a plurality of fields, and dividing the form to be displayed on the display screen for each of the grouped groups, a plurality of marks included in the divided divided regions of the document was
If the field does not fit on the display screen is, again,
For groups that do not fit on the display screen,
Fields output from the field location information storage
The number of fields that have the same coordinates at the leading or trailing ends
The coordinates of the leading or trailing edges of the
The field location information storage section
Grouping a plurality of fields that are al output, also
Is the number output from the field position information storage unit.
Fields with the same coordinates at the front and rear ends of the field
Files in the same group and belong to the same group.
Based on fields that have the same coordinate difference between fields
A plurality of data output from the field position information storage unit.
A character reading device comprising: a determination unit that corrects the display position so that a plurality of fields are displayed on the display screen by grouping the fields. 2. The character reading device according to claim 1, further comprising: a field position input unit that receives an input from an operator, wherein the information stored in the field position information storage unit is recognized by the character recognition unit. that represents the position of the field which the characters belong on the document, the character read - and wherein the said a form design values or measured values are inputted by the field position input unit.