JP7425288B2 - Information processing device, information processing method, program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

OCR (optical character recognition) exists as a tool that assists in the task of reading information from printed forms and inputting it into a system. When performing OCR processing on a form, it can be treated as a standard form in cases where the form issued by the company is collected and the contents are read, and it is also easy to read the desired information by extracting a rectangle with predetermined coordinates. It is. However, when it comes to invoices and other forms sent from a large number of unspecified issuers, it is not possible to determine in advance what information is entered where, and the layout of the form must be analyzed each time the form is received. It is necessary to perform information extraction. Such forms are generally called non-standard forms.

In actual business, there are still many cases in which non-routine forms are handled, and improving the accuracy of analyzing non-routine forms has a major impact on the productivity of data entry operations.

Particularly in Japanese forms, tables with ruled lines are often used, and it is desirable to extract the table area from the form image and the cells that are the contents thereof with high accuracy.

Methods for extracting tables from forms by focusing on ruled lines have been around for a long time, but there are problems with tilts and line distortions that occur during scanning, as well as blurred lines and breaks that occur due to conversion to low-resolution binary images such as when faxing. The challenge is how to make it robust.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 11-53466

Patent Document 1 describes a method for extracting a table even when a break occurs in the ruled lines.

However, since ruled lines are detected based on runs (pixels that are continuous over a certain length), this method is vulnerable to situations where lines become finely fragmented due to scratches.

In addition, especially in tables such as Japanese invoices that display the total amount and details of quantities and amounts, the layout is such that the detail table with individual items and the subtotal table with the total amount are in contact with each other. In many cases, it is desirable to be able to separate and recognize such detailed tables and subtotals for data recognition processing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that can accurately extract tables and cells even from a form image that is blurred or distorted during scanning. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that allows each table to be recognized as a separate table even when multiple tables share a border and are adjacent to each other.

The information processing device of the present invention includes a straight line detection unit that detects a vertical or horizontal straight line that is a candidate for a ruled line of a table from an image, and an intersection point that evaluates the shape of a ruled line near the coordinates of each intersection point between straight line candidates. The present invention is characterized by having an evaluation section, a table extraction section that estimates the area of the table from the evaluation results of the intersection points, and a cell extraction section that breaks down the area inside the table into cells.

According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately extract tables and cells even from a form image that is blurred or distorted during scanning. Furthermore, even when multiple tables share a ruled line and are adjacent to each other, they can be recognized as separate tables.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a table extraction system in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a PC in an embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of extracting tables and cells from a form image in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing details of tablespace extraction processing in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing details of tablespace extraction processing in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a process of removing characters from a form image in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a form to be subjected to table extraction processing in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which straight lines are detected from a form image by Hough transformation in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the process by which an intersection evaluation part evaluates the state of an intersection in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of tablespace extraction processing in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of detecting a subtotal table adjacent to a detailed table according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing an example of cell area extraction processing in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart showing details of cell area extraction processing in an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing apparatus 101 that performs processing such as table extraction and a scanner 102 that scans a form and converts it into an image file are connected via a communication path.

The communication path can take the form of a wired LAN, wireless LAN, USB, etc., depending on the physical interface that the scanner 102 has.

Further, a file server 103 may be placed on the communication path. As a method for importing an image scanned by the scanner 102 into the information processing apparatus 101, there is a method in which the image is directly transmitted from the scanner 102 to the information processing apparatus 101, and a method in which the image file retrieved by the scanner 102 is temporarily stored in the file server 103, and then the image file is stored in the information processing apparatus 101. There is a method in which the image file 101 is retrieved from the file server 103, and any method may be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 101, scanner 102, and file server 103 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing device 101 and the like are connected via a system bus 204 to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, an input controller 205, and a video controller. 206, memory controller 207, and communication I/F controller 208 are connected.

The CPU 201 centrally controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

The ROM 202 or external memory 211 stores a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) and an OS (Operating System), which are control programs executed by the CPU 201, as well as computer-readable and executable programs and various necessary programs for realizing this information processing method. Holds data (including data tables).

The RAM 203 functions as the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 201. The CPU 201 loads necessary programs and the like from the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 into the RAM 203 when executing processing, and executes the loaded programs to realize various operations.

The input controller 205 controls input from input devices such as a keyboard 209 and a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown). If the input device is a touch panel, the user can issue various instructions by pressing (touching with a finger or the like) an icon, cursor, or button displayed on the touch panel.

Further, the touch panel may be a touch panel capable of detecting positions touched by multiple fingers, such as a multi-touch screen.

Video controller 206 controls display on an external output device such as display 210. The display shall also include the display of a notebook computer that is integrated with the main body. Note that the external output device is not limited to a display, but may be a projector, for example. Furthermore, an input device is also provided for the device capable of accepting the above-mentioned touch operation.

Note that the video controller 206 can control a video memory (VRAM) for display control, and can use part of the RAM 203 as a video memory area, or can provide a separate dedicated video memory. It is possible.

Memory controller 207 controls access to external memory 211. External memory can be an external storage device (hard disk) that stores boot programs, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, etc., a flexible disk (FD), or a PCMCIA card slot connected via an adapter. Compact flash (registered trademark) memory and the like can be used.

The communication I/F controller 209 connects and communicates with external devices via a network, and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, communication using TCP/IP, a telephone line such as ISDN, and a 3G line of a mobile phone is possible.

Note that the CPU 201 enables display on the display 210 by, for example, executing an outline font development (rasterization) process in a display information area in the RAM 203. Further, the CPU 201 allows the user to give instructions using a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 210.

Next, table extraction processing executed by the information processing apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described using the flowchart in FIG. 3.

The flowchart in FIG. 3 is a process in which the CPU 201 of the information processing apparatus 101 reads and executes a predetermined control program, and is a flowchart showing a process to extract tables and cells from a form image.

In step S301, input of a form image is accepted, and an instruction to extract a table area from the form image is accepted. The form image is an image scanned by the scanner 102, and may be acquired once stored in the file server 103, or may be acquired directly from the scanner 102.

In step S302, as pre-processing for table area extraction processing, processing for correcting the skew that occurs during scanning (skew correction) is executed. The skew correction is performed using a known technique, and one known example is correction using Hough transformation. Specifically, straight lines are detected by Hough transformation, and horizontal straight lines are selected from the detected straight lines. Then, correction is performed by obtaining the average angle of the straight line in the horizontal direction and rotating the entire image based on the obtained average angle.
In step S303, characters included in the form image are removed. The process of removing characters will be explained using FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 shows the process of removing characters from a form image.

601 in FIG. 6 is an example of a form image acquired in step S301 and subjected to skew correction in step S302.

602 in FIG. 6 shows the form image 601 that has been binarized and inverted, and then subjected to Morphology calculations in the horizontal direction. By performing Morphology calculation, line segments that do not reach a certain length can be removed. In other words, only line segments that are longer than a certain length, such as ruled lines, remain, and line segments that are less than a certain length, such as line segments that make up characters, are removed. As a result, the characters are removed and only the ruled lines remain. It will remain. Note that if the threshold for the length of the line segment to be removed is set too large, there is a risk that the original ruled line will also be removed, so the threshold for the length of the line segment to be removed is set to be slightly larger than the character size. It is desirable to keep it.

603 in FIG. 6 shows the form image 601 that has been binarized and inverted, and then subjected to Morphology calculation in the vertical direction.

604 in FIG. 6 is the sum of the processed image 602 and the processed image 603. The processes after step S304 are processes executed on the processed image 604 in FIG.

In step S304, straight lines having horizontal and vertical directions that are candidates for ruled lines are detected from the processed image 604 in FIG. Note that what is detected here is not a line segment with fixed starting and ending points, but a straight line.

Hough transformation is used to detect straight lines. According to straight line detection using Hough transformation, if a certain number or more of pixels exist on the same straight line, they are detected as a straight line even if they are not continuous. This makes it possible to robustly detect straight lines even if scratches occur during scanning or if part of the ruled line is missing in step S303.

For example, when the processes of steps S302 to S304 are executed on the form image 701 in FIG. 7, results as shown in FIG. 8 are obtained.

FIG. 8 is a diagram in which straight lines are detected by Hough transformation in the processed image from which characters have been removed by the process of step S303. In the example of FIG. 8, vertical straight lines v8001 to v8007 and horizontal straight lines h8001 to h8007 are detected.

In this embodiment, a grid made up of these vertical straight lines and horizontal straight lines will be described as a ruled line candidate grid 802.

Note that in this embodiment, as described above, the ruled lines are white on a black background, but for convenience, the drawing will be explained using black ruled lines on a white background.

In step S305, the state of the intersection is evaluated for each intersection on the ruled line candidate grid 802 (that is, the intersection of a vertical straight line and a horizontal straight line). Details of the evaluation of the intersection state will be explained using FIG. 9.

Note that although straight line detection processing using Hough transformation is performed in step S304, the straight line detected by Hough transformation is information expressed by two parameters: angle and distance from the origin, and the straight line detected by Hough transformation is information expressed by two parameters: angle and distance from the origin. It becomes a straight line with no information. Therefore, although the ruled line candidate grid 802 forms a rectangular grid, each line formed by the ruled line candidate grid must be It is necessary to evaluate the intersection points.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining details of intersection evaluation.

What is indicated by 801 on the left side of FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of FIG. What is shown by 901 on the right side of FIG. 9 is a processed image corresponding to the area shown by the broken line of C901 in 801.

Note that the size of the area C901 is determined dynamically so that it can be cut as large as possible without interfering with the vertical, horizontal, and horizontal intersections of the ruled line candidate grid 802. This is because even after skew correction is performed, distortion may remain in the image itself, and a positional shift may occur between the straight line detected by Hough transformation and the actual pixel. Even in such a case, the image should be cut out as large as possible so that the pixels at the intersections of the ruled lines can be captured within the image edge.

Next, ruled line fragments are detected from the processed image 901. For concrete purposes, it is assumed that among the continuous regions of pixels in the processed image 901, the one with the largest area is a ruled line fragment. In the example 901 in FIG. 9, a "┏"-shaped area 902 is detected as a ruled line fragment.

Next, the direction in which the area 902 is in contact with the outer periphery of the processed image 901 is evaluated. In the example of FIG. 9, it is in contact with "bottom" and "right". In other examples, if the intersection is T-shaped, it will be "left", "right", and "bottom", and if it is cross-shaped, it will be "left", "right", "top", and "bottom". Note that if the number of directions touching the outer periphery is one or less, it is regarded as noise that is not a ruled line, and is excluded from evaluation targets for table area and cell extraction, which will be described later.

As a result of the intersection point evaluation, information such as the center coordinates of the cut rectangular area, the size, and the direction in which the ruled line extends (the direction in which the area is in contact with the outer periphery) is stored for each intersection point.

The details of the intersection evaluation process in step S305 have been described above.

Next, in step S306, a table area is identified and extracted from the ruled line candidate grid 802.

Details of the table area extraction process in step S306 will be explained using the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is a process in which the processes of S402 to S409 are sequentially executed on horizontal ruled line candidates (S401). In this embodiment, it is assumed that horizontal ruled line candidates located at the top of the processed image are sequentially processed.

In step S402, the flag indicating the detection status of the left end point is set to No. In other words, it is recorded that the left end point is not detected. The left end point means "the intersection point at the upper left corner of the table" and "the intersection point at the lower left corner of the table."

In step S403, the processes of steps S404 to S408 are sequentially executed for the intersection points on the horizontal ruled line candidates to be processed. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the intersection points on the horizontal ruled line candidates are sequentially processed from left to right.

In step S404, it is determined whether the left end point has been detected.

If detected (S404: YES), the process moves to step S408.

If it has not been detected yet (S404: NO), the process moves to step S405.

In step S405, it is determined whether the intersection to be processed is the left end point. The determination as to whether it is the left end point is made using information related to "the direction in which the ruled line extends" among the contents evaluated in step S305. Specifically, if the ``directions in which ruled lines extend'' are only two directions, ``right'' and ``bottom,'' the left end point is determined to be the upper left corner of the table. Further, if the "directions in which the ruled lines extend" are only two directions, "right" and "top", the left end point is determined to be the lower left corner of the table.

If it is the left end point (S405: YES), the process moves to step S406.

If it is not the left end point (S405: NO), the process moves to step 410, and moves to the process for the next intersection point.

In step S406, the flag indicating the detection status of the left end point is set to YES. In other words, it is recorded that the left end point has been detected.

In step S407, the scan direction of the table is acquired. The scan direction of the table is a parameter that determines which direction above or below the table is assumed to be in for evaluation. For example, c1001 in FIG. 10 has ruled lines extending to the right and downward, so the scanning direction is downward. Furthermore, in c1101 of FIG. 11, the ruled line extends to the right and upward, so the scanning direction is upward.

In step S408, it is determined whether the intersection to be processed is the right end point. The determination as to whether it is the right end point is made using information related to "the direction in which the ruled line extends" among the contents evaluated in step S305. Specifically, if the ``directions in which the ruled lines extend'' are only two directions, ``left'' and ``bottom,'' the right end point is determined to be the upper right corner of the table. Furthermore, if the "directions in which the ruled lines extend" are only two directions, "left" and "top", the right end point is determined to be the lower right corner of the table.

If it is the right end point (S408: YES), the process moves to step S409.

If it is not the right end point (S408: NO), the process moves to step S410 and moves to the process for the next intersection. In step S409, the table area is scanned. Details of the process in step S409 will be explained using the flowchart of FIG.

The flowchart in FIG. 5 is a process for determining the horizontal ruled line that will be paired with the horizontal ruled line obtained in the flowchart in FIG. 4 (horizontal ruled line on the opposite side of the table). Then, the processes of steps S502 to S504 are sequentially executed in the direction of the table scan acquired in step S407 (step S501).

In step S502, it is determined whether the horizontal ruled line candidate to be processed is in contact with another table that has already been determined (whether it has been determined as a side forming another table).

If it interferes with another table (step S502: YES), the process moves to step S505, and the area scanned so far (horizontal ruled lines obtained in the process of FIG. 4) is determined to be YES in step S502. The area formed by the horizontal ruled lines) is determined and stored as a table area.

If there is no interference with other tables (step S502: NO), the process moves to step S503.

In step S503, it is determined whether the horizontal ruled line to be processed includes an intersection point that is a corner point. The corner points are the intersections forming the four corners of the table, and among the contents evaluated in step S305, the information related to the "direction in which the ruled lines extend" is "only 'right' and 'bottom'" (upper left corner). corner points), "'Left' and 'Bottom' only" (upper right corner points), "'Right' and 'top' only" (lower left corner points), "'Left' and 'top' only" (right (lower corner point) means one of the following.

If a corner point is included (step S503: YES), the process moves to step S505, and the area scanned so far (horizontal ruled lines obtained in the process of FIG. 4 and the area determined as YES in S503) is scanned. (area formed by horizontal ruled lines) is determined and stored as a table area.

If no corner points are included (step S503: NO), the process moves to step S504.

In the example of FIG. 10, when the corner point c1004 is found, the area 1001 (the area indicated by the dotted line) is determined as the table area. Note that the intersection c1003 is not evaluated as a corner point because the ruled line extends not only to the "left" and "top" but also to the "bottom". In order to recognize such a table, when a corner point is found from either the left or right side, the table is determined at that point. If no corner point is found, the process advances to step S504.

In step S504, it is determined whether "an end point where the ruled line extends outward" exists for at least one of the left and right end points included in the horizontal ruled line to be processed.

"Left and right end points included in the horizontal ruled line to be processed" are the intersection points on the same vertical ruled line as the left end point obtained in the flowchart of FIG. 4, or the intersection points on the same vertical ruled line as the right end point, , means the intersection included in the horizontal ruled line to be processed. Further, whether or not the ruled line extends outward is determined based on the "direction in which the ruled line extends" at the end point. Specifically, for the left end point, if the ruled line extends to the left, it is determined that the ruled line extends outward. Similarly, for the right end point, if the ruled line extends to the right, it is determined that the ruled line extends outward.

If it is determined that there is an "end point where the ruled line extends outward" (step S504: YES), the process moves to step S505, and the area that has been scanned so far (horizontal direction The area formed by the ruled line and the horizontal ruled line determined as YES in S504 is determined and stored as a table area.

For example, in the example of FIG. 11, since the ruled line extends outward (to the left) from the intersection c1103, the scan of the table is terminated here and the area 11101 (the area indicated by the dotted line) is determined as the table area.

If it is determined that there is no "end point where the ruled line extends outward" (step S504: NO), it is determined that the ruled line to be processed is not a horizontal ruled line that is the opposite side of the table, so the following Shift the processing target to horizontal ruled lines.

Note that if a horizontal ruled line that is the opposite side of the table is not found even after performing the processes of S502 to S504 for all horizontal ruled lines, it is determined that the table area does not exist, and the processing of this flowchart is terminated ( S507). For example, when the right end point and left end point acquired in the flowchart of FIG. 4 are erroneously detected due to noise, such processing is performed.

In step S506, the flag indicating the detection status of the left end point is set to No, and the process moves to step S401 in FIG. 4. Note that, in the process from S402 onwards after the process in step S506 is executed, only the horizontal ruled line candidates for which the processes in S502 to S504 have not been executed may be processed.

Through the above processing, it becomes possible to extract the table area from the form image for which the table extraction request was accepted in S301.

In particular, as shown in Figure 7, for a table that combines two rectangles (a table in which a detailed table with individual items and a subtotal table with total amounts, etc. are in contact), the detailed table and the subtotal table can also be combined. It becomes possible to recognize them as separate tables. As a result, it becomes possible to recognize data included in a table with high accuracy in the recognition process.

Next, the process of step S307 will be explained.

In step S307, a cell area included in the table area extracted in step S306 is extracted. Details of the cell area extraction process will be explained below using the flowchart of FIG. 13.

In the flowchart of FIG. 13, the processes from steps S1302 to S1314 are executed sequentially for horizontal ruled line candidates (in this embodiment, they are executed sequentially from top to bottom) (S1301), and from S1304 to S1306. This process is executed sequentially for the intersection points on the horizontal ruled lines (in this embodiment, it is executed sequentially from left to right).

In step S1302, a flag indicating the detection status of the upper left intersection (left end point) of the cell is set to NO. In other words, the state is set to indicate that the upper left intersection has not yet been detected.

In step S1034, it is determined whether the flag indicating the detection status of the upper left intersection is YES, that is, whether the upper left intersection has been detected.

If detected (step S1304: YES), the process moves to step S1308.

If the detection has not been completed (step S1304: NO), the process moves to step S1305.

In step S1305, it is determined whether the intersection to be processed is the left end point (the upper left intersection of the cell). Specifically, if the direction of the ruled line extending from the intersection includes "right" and "bottom" (if the direction of the ruled line extending from the intersection includes "right" and "bottom", then it will not extend to the left or top). Even if there is a ruled line, the intersection point is determined to be the left end point), and the intersection point is determined to be the upper left intersection point of the cell. For example, in the example of FIG. 12, the intersection c1201 is determined to be the left end point.

If it is determined that the intersection to be processed is the left end point (step S1305: YES), the process moves to step S1306.

If it is determined that the intersection to be processed is not the left end point (step S1305: NO), the process moves to step S1307, and the process moves to the next intersection (one point to the right).

In step S1306, a flag indicating the detection status of the left end point is set to YES. Then, the process moves to the next intersection (the one to the right) (S1307). In the example of FIG. 12, the processing target is shifted to the intersection c1202.

In step S1308, it is determined whether the intersection to be processed is the right end point (the upper right intersection of the cell). Specifically, if the direction of the ruled line extending from the intersection includes "left" and "bottom" (if the direction of the ruled line extending from the intersection includes "left" and "bottom", it will not extend to the right or top). Even if there is a ruled line, the intersection point is determined to be the right end point), and the intersection point is determined to be the upper right intersection point of the cell. In the example of FIG. 12, the intersection c1202 is determined to be the right end point.

If it is determined that the intersection to be processed is the right end point (step S1308: YES), the process moves to step S1309, and the processes of S1310 to S1311 are sequentially performed on the horizontal ruled line candidates.

If it is determined that the intersection to be processed is not the rightmost point (step S1308: NO), the process moves to step S1307, and the process moves to the next intersection (one point to the right).Step S1308: YES If it is determined, the processes of steps S1310 to S1311 are executed for the horizontal ruled line candidate located one level below the horizontal ruled line candidate to be processed. Note that the horizontal ruled line candidates here are the intersection point on the vertical ruled line that is the same as the left end point detected in S1305, and the same vertical ruled line as the right end point detected in S1308, among the straight lines that are the horizontal ruled lines. indicates a line segment specified by the intersection point of

In step S1310, it is determined whether the horizontal ruled line candidate to be processed is shared with another confirmed cell.

If it is determined that the information is shared (step S1310: YES), the process moves to step S1313.

If it is determined that the information is not shared (step S1310: NO), the process moves to step S1311.

In step S1311, it is determined whether inward ruled lines extend from the left and right end points of the horizontal ruled line candidate to be processed. An inward ruled line is a ruled line that extends to the right if it is the left end point, and a ruled line that extends to the left if it is the right end point. Note that it is sufficient that ruled lines extending inward are included, and even if ruled lines extending in other directions are also included, this process is determined to be YES. For example, in the example of FIG. 12, there is a ruled line that extends to the right about intersection c1204, which is the left end point, and there is a ruled line, which extends to the left about intersection 1203, which is the right end point, so YES is determined in step S1311.

If it is determined that an inward ruled line extends from the left and right end points (step S1311: YES), the process moves to step S1313.

If it is determined that the inward ruled line does not extend from the left and right end points (step S1311: NO), the process moves to step S1312, and the process moves to the next (one level lower) horizontal ruled line candidate. .

In step S1313, a line segment is formed by the left end point detected in S1305 and the right end point detected in S1308, and the line segment determined as YES in S1310 or the line segment determined as YES in S1311. The cell is determined as the cell area.

Then, in step S1314, the left end point detection flag is set to NO, and the process returns to S1303.
The above is the process of detecting a cell area.
Note that when detecting and specifying table areas and cell areas in this embodiment, the horizontal direction (horizontal direction) ruled lines are used as a reference, but the processing is performed using the vertical direction (vertical direction) ruled lines as a reference. Also good.

The present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, a recording medium, or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system consisting of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to a device consisting of a single device.

Further, the program according to the present invention is a program that allows a computer to execute the processing methods shown in the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Programs executable by the computer are stored. Note that the program in the present invention may be a program for each processing method of each device shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and 13.

As described above, a recording medium recording a program that implements the functions of the embodiments described above is supplied to a system or device, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or device reads the program stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing.

In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium will realize the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium on which the program is recorded constitutes the present invention.

Examples of recording media for supplying programs include flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, DVD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, EEPROMs, and silicon A disk or the like can be used.

In addition, by executing a program read by a computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS (operating system) etc. running on the computer are realized based on the instructions of the program. It goes without saying that this also includes a case where part or all of the processing is performed and the functions of the embodiments described above are realized by the processing.

Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written into the memory of the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board It goes without saying that this also includes a case where a CPU or the like provided in a function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Moreover, the present invention may be applied to a system made up of a plurality of devices, or to a device made up of one device. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or device. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or device, the system or device can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

Further, by downloading and reading a program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or device can enjoy the effects of the present invention. Note that all configurations that are combinations of the above-described embodiments and their modifications are also included in the present invention.

101 Information processing device 102 Scanner 103 File server

Claims (8)

an acquisition means for acquiring an image including a table;
Detection means for detecting straight lines that are candidates for ruled lines of the table from the acquired image;
ruled line direction identifying means for identifying, for each intersection between the detected straight lines, a direction in which the ruled line extends from the intersection;
Corner point specifying means for specifying, among the intersection points, the intersections forming the upper left and upper right corners of the table based on the direction in which the ruled lines specified by the ruled line direction specifying means extend;
Opposite side specifying means for specifying, as an opposite side, a side that is parallel to the side specified based on the corner point specified by the corner point specifying means and that includes an intersection with a ruled line extending outward;
table area specifying means for specifying an area specified as a table area based on a side formed from the corner point specified by the corner point specifying means and an opposite side specified by the opposite side specifying means;
An information processing device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring an image including a table;
Detection means for detecting straight lines that are candidates for ruled lines of the table from the acquired image;
ruled line direction identifying means for identifying, for each intersection between the detected straight lines, a direction in which the ruled line extends from the intersection;
Corner point specifying means for specifying, among the intersection points, the intersections forming the lower left and lower right corners of the table based on the direction in which the ruled lines specified by the ruled line direction specifying means extend;
Opposite side specifying means for specifying, as an opposite side, a side that is parallel to the side specified based on the corner point specified by the corner point specifying means and that includes an intersection with a ruled line extending outward;
table area specifying means for specifying an area specified as a table area based on a side formed from the corner point specified by the corner point specifying means and an opposite side specified by the opposite side specifying means;
An information processing device comprising: If a side parallel to the side specified based on the corner points specified by the corner point specifying means is a side that constitutes an area already specified as a table area, the opposite side specifying means determines that the side is the opposite side. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus specifies the information processing apparatus. The opposite side specifying means specifies, as the opposite side, a side that is parallel to the side specified based on the corner point specified by the corner point specifying means, and that is specified based on the intersection points forming the four corners of the table. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . 5. Any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising specifying means for specifying a cell of the table area based on a direction in which ruled lines at intersections included in the table area specified by the table area specifying unit extend. The information processing device described in section. an acquisition step in which an acquisition means of the information processing device acquires an image including a table;
a detection step in which the detection means of the information processing device detects straight lines that are candidates for ruled lines of the table from the acquired image;
a ruled line direction specifying step in which the ruled line direction specifying means of the information processing device specifies, for each intersection point between the detected straight lines, a direction in which the ruled line extends from the intersection point;
Corner point specifying step, in which the corner point specifying means of the information processing device specifies, among the intersection points, an intersection point forming an upper left corner and an upper right corner of the table based on the direction in which the ruled line specified in the ruled line direction specifying step extends; and,
The opposite side specifying means of the information processing device identifies, as the opposite side, a side that is parallel to the side specified based on the corner points specified in the corner point specifying step and that includes an intersection with a ruled line extending outward. an opposite side identifying step of identifying as;
The table area specifying means of the information processing device defines the area specified based on the side formed from the corner points specified in the corner point specifying step and the opposite side specified in the opposite side specifying step as a table area. a tablespace identification step;
An information processing method comprising: an acquisition step in which an acquisition means of the information processing device acquires an image including a table;
a detection step in which the detection means of the information processing device detects straight lines that are candidates for ruled lines of the table from the acquired image;
a ruled line direction specifying step in which the ruled line direction specifying means of the information processing device specifies, for each intersection point between the detected straight lines, a direction in which the ruled line extends from the intersection point;
Corner point identification, wherein the corner point identification means of the information processing device identifies, among the intersection points, intersections forming the lower left and lower right corners of the table based on the direction in which the ruled lines specified in the ruled line direction identification step extend. process and
The opposite side specifying means of the information processing device identifies, as the opposite side, a side that is parallel to the side specified based on the corner points specified in the corner point specifying step and that includes an intersection with a ruled line extending outward. an opposite side identifying step of identifying as;
The table area specifying means of the information processing device defines the area specified based on the side formed from the corner points specified in the corner point specifying step and the opposite side specified in the opposite side specifying step as a table area. a tablespace identification step;
An information processing method comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 .

Images