JP4160265B2 - Optical character reader, form sorting method, and character reading system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improvement in sorting (sorting) of forms in an optical character reader.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, in a conventional optical character reader (hereinafter referred to as OCR), a form sorting device (hereinafter referred to as a sorter) is connected to classify and classify the forms recognized by the character (form format). Yes. An example of an OCR to which such a sorter is connected is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2845453. The sorter has a plurality of pockets for sorting the forms, and sorts the forms by selecting the pockets for discharging the forms after the character recognition processing according to the type of classification by the OCR. To do.
[0003]
In an OCR to which such a sorter is connected, which pocket is assigned to which type of form among a plurality of pockets provided in the sorter is preset by a program for each job for character recognition. In this way, when setting in advance in the program, the number of types of forms used in the job, the maximum number of sheets processed per form within a certain period, and the number of forms that can be accommodated per sorter pocket are examined in advance. , Based on the survey results.
[0004]
However, since this setting is fixed, the character recognition in OCR to take out the form from the full pocket due to the form filling up the sorter pocket during the character recognition process. The process must be paused.
[0005]
If it is predicted that the type of form to be processed in the processing of one job temporarily or the maximum number of sheets to be processed in one type of form will fluctuate greatly, the setting in the program is changed as appropriate. .
[0006]
However, in this case, it takes time to change the program and a loss time is caused by a program setting error. The occurrence of such a loss time is fatal for an OCR that reads a large number of forms.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and the character recognition process is temporarily suspended due to the fact that the form divided into the pockets of the sorter is full during the character recognition process. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical character reading device, a form sorting method, and a character reading system that can eliminate the loss time of work due to program setting change and the loss time spent on program change. .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention includes an optical character reader and a sorter that has a plurality of pockets for discharging a form and discharges a form recognized by the optical character reader into a plurality of pockets according to the type of the form. A method for classifying a form in a character reading system, the step of discriminating a plurality of form types, the step of counting the number of form types based on the result of discrimination of the form type, and the type of form A step of assigning the type of form to be discharged to a plurality of pockets based on a different number of counting results, and a step of discriminating the type of form and discharging and classifying the form into the assigned pocket based on this discrimination result It is characterized by comprising.
[0009]
According to the present invention, there is no temporary interruption of the character recognition process due to the fact that the form classified into the sorter pocket is full during the character recognition process, and the work loss time due to the program setting change. In addition, it is possible to classify the forms without any loss time for program change.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 illustrates the system configuration of the present invention. The system of the present invention includes an OCR 10 and a sorter 14.
[0011]
The OCR 10 includes a scanner unit 12, a character recognition unit 13, and a control unit 11. The scanner unit 12 includes a hopper for loading a form for character recognition, a transport mechanism for transporting a form taken out from the hopper one by one, and a reading unit for reading a form image of the transported form And a plurality of stackers for discharging a form after character recognition. The character recognition unit 12 has a function of discriminating the type of the form from the form image read by the scanner, and a character recognition function for recognizing the character by cutting out the character image to be read from the form image one by one. The control unit 11 controls the entire OCR 10 and controls the scanner unit and the character recognition unit, and also controls the sorter 14.
[0012]
The sorter 14 has a plurality of pockets for sorting the forms, and is conveyed from the scanner unit 12 of the OCR 10 based on the result of discrimination of the form type by the character recognition unit 13 under the control of the control unit 11 of the OCR 10. The form after the character recognition processing has been received is discharged into a pocket corresponding to the type.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the scanner unit 12 and the sorter 14. The forms loaded on the hopper 121 are taken out one by one by the feed roller 122 and conveyed by the conveyance roller 124 through the conveyance path 123. In the middle of the conveyance path 123, a reading unit including a fluorescent lamp 125, a lens 126, a reflecting mirror 127, and a CCD image sensor 128 is provided. The light emitted from the fluorescent lamp 125 is reflected by the conveyed form and is input to the CCD image sensor 128 via the lens 126 and the reflecting mirror 127. The CCD image sensor 128 reads and outputs a form image in accordance with the amount of input reflected light. The form image that is the output of the CCD image sensor 128 is output to the character recognition unit 13.
[0014]
The two stackers 129 are for discharging a form after character recognition. A select finger 130 is provided in the vicinity of the stacker 129 of the conveyance path 123. By rotating the select finger 130 to the stacker side, the conveyed form is selected and discharged to the stacker 129. The sorter 14 includes a form conveyance path 141, a conveyance roller 142 provided in the conveyance path 141, and a plurality of pockets 143 for sorting the forms. When a form that has been transported through the transport path 141 is selected by a select finger (not shown), it is discharged into a pocket 143 corresponding to the select finger.
[0015]
Hereinafter, the operation of one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail by taking as an example a job for recognizing characters of a plurality of types of forms in order to aggregate business results. It is assumed that there are eight types of forms for character recognition in this job, from the first form to the eighth form.
It is assumed that a maximum of 500 forms can be loaded in the OCR hopper.
Accordingly, a single character recognition process (one batch process) can recognize a maximum of 500 forms. In each batch process, the types of forms for character recognition are not unified and are mixed.
[0016]
Hereinafter, the operation of the character recognition process in one batch process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0017]
First, in step S30, the OCR takes out one form loaded on the hopper, and reads the form image in the reading unit. Based on the read form image, the type of the form to be read is determined (step S31). There are several methods for determining the form type, but any method may be used. For example, it is assumed that an ID number for specifying the type of a form is printed in advance at a predetermined position of the form, and the type of the form is determined by character recognition of the ID number. As a determination result, it is assumed that the currently read form is determined to be the second form.
[0018]
In step S32, character recognition is performed based on the read form image. An example of this character recognition is performed as follows. Format control data is prepared in advance corresponding to the form type determined in step S31. In the format control data, information such as the position of the character to be read, the character type (kanji or katakana), the number of characters, the character pitch, the character font, and the like are defined and recorded. The character recognition unit 13 of the OCR 10 recognizes characters by cutting out character images to be read one by one from the form image based on the format control data.
[0019]
Next, in step S33, the classification information is stored. The storage of the classification information is to store the number of each form type in one batch process. That is, the number of sheets read for each type of form is counted and stored. Since the form discrimination result in the previous step S31 is “second form”, the count value of the second form is incremented by +1 (plus 1) and stored in this step S33.
[0020]
Next, in step S34, it is determined whether or not the character recognition of all the forms stacked on the hopper has been completed. When the character recognition process for all forms is completed, the process is terminated. If the character recognition processing for all the forms has not been completed, the process returns to step S30. In this way, one batch process is completed.
[0021]
Thereafter, the batch processing (character recognition processing) for the number of forms to be processed is similarly executed. At this time, the count for each type of form as the classification information is accumulated. For example, when 2000 forms for 4 batch processes (character recognition processes) are to be classified, the number of types of forms in the 4 batch processes is counted and recorded as the classification information.
[0022]
In this way, after counting and recording the number of forms by type, the sorting process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is performed. The first 500 forms among the 2000 forms for the four batch processes that are the target of the sorting process are loaded in the hopper 121 of the OCR 10 and the sorting process is started.
[0023]
First, in step S40, the stored segmentation information is read. The stored classification information is “the number of the first form is 5, the number of the second form is 740, the number of the third form is 390, and the number of the fourth form is 865”. To do. Next, in step S41, based on the read classification information, which pocket of the sorter 14 is ejected and which type of form is classified, or a pocket-specific form is assigned. Here, it is assumed that the sorter 14 is provided with ten pockets, and each pocket can accommodate a maximum of 500 sheets. Therefore, one pocket (first pocket) is assigned to the first form, two pockets (second and third pockets) are assigned to the second form, and one pocket ( (Fourth pocket) and two pockets (fifth and sixth pockets) are allocated to the fourth form.
[0024]
In step S42, the OCR 10 takes out one form from the forms stacked on the hopper 121, conveys it to the reading unit, and reads the form image. In step S43, the type of form to be classified is determined based on the read form image. Subsequently, based on the type of the form determined in step 44, the form to be classified is discharged into the pocket assigned in step 41, thereby classifying. In step 45, it is determined whether or not the sorting process for all the forms previously loaded on the hopper 121 has been completed. If the sorting process for all the forms has not been finished, the process returns to step S42 to continue the sorting process. . Thereafter, similarly, the forms to be classified are loaded on the hopper 121, and the remaining 1500 forms are classified by the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.
[0025]
Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 shows details of the scanner unit and the sorter in the second embodiment of the present invention. 5, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. 5 differs from FIG. 2 in that a stacker 131 for temporary storage and a reading unit for sorting processing are provided. The reading unit includes a fluorescent lamp 132, a lens 133, a reflecting mirror 134, and a CCD image sensor 135.
The number of forms that can be stored in the temporary storage stacker 131 is set to be several times the maximum number of forms that can be loaded on the hopper 121. For example, if the maximum number of forms loaded in the hopper 121 is 500, the maximum number of forms that can be stored in the temporary storage stacker 131 is 2000. By doing in this way, the form for 4 batch processing can be accommodated in the stacker 131 for temporary storage. Therefore, after storing the documents for 4 batch processes in the temporary storage stacker 131 (after executing the character reading process of the documents for 4 batch processes), the forms stored in the temporary storage stacker 131 are 1 Each sheet is taken out, the form image is read by the reading unit, the type of form is determined from the read form image, and the sorting process is performed. In such a second embodiment, the form character recognition process and the sorting process can be executed together.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, there is no temporary interruption of the character recognition process due to the fact that the form divided into the sorter pocket is full during the character recognition process, and the work loss time due to the program setting change. In addition, it is possible to classify documents efficiently without loss time for program change.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating details of a scanner unit and a sorter in the OCR illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of character recognition processing according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of a sorting process according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating details of a scanner unit and a sorter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 ... OCR
11. Control unit 12 Scanner unit 13 Character recognition unit 14 Sorter unit

Claims (5)

An optical character reader for reading a large number of forms having a plurality of pockets and exceeding the capacity of at least one pocket ,
Character recognition means for recognizing characters recorded in the plurality of types of forms;
A form discriminating means for discriminating the type of the form that has been recognized by the character;
Counting means for counting the number of each form type based on the discrimination result in the form discriminating means ,
Based on the counting result by the counting means, means for discharging the form into the pocket allocated for each type of form,
An optical character reader comprising: An optical character reader for reading a large number of forms having a plurality of pockets and exceeding the capacity of at least one pocket ;
A method for classifying a form in a character reading system having a plurality of pockets for discharging forms and having a sorter for discharging the forms recognized by the optical character reading device into the plurality of pockets according to their types and sorting the forms Because
Determining the type of multiple forms;
Counting the number of each form type based on the result of the form type discrimination;
Assigning the type of form to be discharged to the plurality of pockets based on the number of count results for each type of form;
And a step of discriminating the type of the form, and discharging and classifying the form into the pocket to which the form is assigned based on the discrimination result. An optical character reader for reading a large number of forms having a plurality of pockets and exceeding the capacity of at least one pocket ;
A method for classifying a form in a character reading system having a plurality of pockets for discharging forms and having a sorter for discharging the forms recognized by the optical character reading device into the plurality of pockets according to their types and sorting the forms Because
Determining the type of multiple forms;
A step of temporarily storing a form in which the type of the form is determined;
Counting the number of each type of form based on the result of discrimination of the form;
Assigning the type of form to be discharged to the plurality of pockets based on the number of count results for each type of form;
A method for classifying a form, comprising the step of discriminating a type of the temporarily stored form and discharging and classifying the form into the assigned pocket based on the discrimination result. An optical character reader for reading a large number of forms having a plurality of pockets and exceeding the capacity of at least one pocket ;
A character reading system having a plurality of pockets for discharging a form and a sorter for discharging the forms recognized by the optical character reading device into the plurality of pockets according to the type and sorting the forms.
The character reader is
Form discriminating means for discriminating types of plural forms to be read;
Counting means for counting and storing the number of types of the plurality of forms to be read based on the form discrimination result by the form discrimination means;
A form allocating means for allocating the type of form to be discharged to the plurality of pockets based on the number of stored forms by type,
The sorter is
A character reading system comprising: a unit that discharges and sorts the plurality of forms to be read into the assigned pockets according to the result of assignment by the form assigning unit based on the result of discrimination of the form. . An optical character reader for reading a large number of forms having a plurality of pockets and exceeding the capacity of at least one pocket ;
A character reading system having a plurality of pockets for discharging a form and a sorter for discharging the forms recognized by the optical character reading device into the plurality of pockets according to the type and sorting the forms.
The character reader is
First form discriminating means for discriminating types of a plurality of forms to be read;
A storage means for temporarily storing a form for which the type of the form is determined;
Counting means for counting and storing the number of types of the plurality of forms to be read based on the form discrimination result by the first form discrimination means;
A form assigning means for assigning a form type to be discharged to the plurality of pockets based on the number of stored form types;
Second form discriminating means for discriminating the type of the form stored in the storage means,
The sorter is
And a means for discharging and sorting the plurality of forms to be read into the assigned pockets according to the result of assignment by the form assignment means based on the result of discrimination by the second form discrimination means. Character reading system.

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