JPH01199285A - Optical character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To read plural business forms of different formats in the same batch process with no use of an ID number by deciding the format control information based on a form identification mark. CONSTITUTION:A business form identifying part 16 detects a form identification mark out of the picture pattern data obtained by scanning on a business form by a scanning part 11. Then the part 16 outputs the business form identification data corresponding to the mark to a data processing part 15 from the part 16. The part 15 decides the format control information required when the characters recorded on the business form and outputs the control information to a recognizing part 14 based on the business form identification data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an optical character reading device capable of reading a plurality of forms having different formats.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when an optical character reading device recognizes characters recorded on a form, it performs the character recognition process based on format control information corresponding to the object to be read in advance. The format control information is control information necessary for character recognition processing, such as the type of character to be read, the recording position, and the number of characters per line.

By the way, in the same batch processing (intensive-batch processing),
When reading a plurality of forms having different formats, an ID number (form identification number) recorded at a predetermined position of each form is required. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the optical character reading device identifies the ID number 11 recorded in advance at a predetermined position on the form 10a before recognition processing, and reads the format determined based on this ID number 11. Set control information. Specifically, the host computer transfers format control information corresponding to the ID number to the optical character reading device. Thereby, the optical character reading device can perform reading processing for each form having a different format.

However, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, for example, the form 10b or lOc to be read does not require a reading process based on an ID number, or an ID
Some items do not have enough space to write numbers. Each such form iob.

toe, it becomes impossible to perform reading processing in the same batch process using ID numbers. Furthermore, the space for recording ID numbers is one of the major constraints when designing forms.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In conventional optical character reading devices, with the reading processing method using ID numbers, it may be impossible to read multiple forms with different formats in the same batch process. . Furthermore, the space for recording the ID number on a form is a major constraint when designing a form.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical character reading device that can reliably read and process a plurality of forms of different formats in the same batch without requiring ID numbers.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) The present invention uses a form on which a form identification mark is recorded in advance, and an optical system that determines format control information based on the form identification mark. It is a character reading device.

For this reason, this device includes a form identification means that detects a form identification mark from image pattern data obtained by scanning a form and outputs form identification data corresponding to the form identification mark. The apparatus further includes a control means for determining and outputting format control information necessary for recognition processing of characters recorded on a form based on the form identification data.

With such a configuration, without using ID numbers,
It becomes possible to read multiple forms with different formats in the same batch process.

(Example) The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a scanning unit 11 is a circuit that optically scans a form to be read and outputs image pattern data (digital signal) obtained through photoelectric conversion processing. The preprocessing section 12 is a circuit that performs noise processing and the like on the image pattern data output from the scanning section 11. Sheet buffer 13
is a buffer memory that stores an image pattern booter for one form (one sheet) to be read. The recognition unit 14 is a circuit that extracts character pattern data for one character from the sheet buffer 13 and performs character recognition processing for each character. The data processing section 15 is a host computer, and outputs necessary format control information to the recognition section 14, inputs character recognition results from the recognition section 14, and performs various processing such as editing.

Here, in the present invention, a form identification section 16 is provided.

The form identification unit 16 detects a form identification mark recorded in advance on the form, and outputs an FC information number predetermined according to this form identification mark to the recognition unit 14. The document identification mark is a color index or the like recorded at a predetermined position on the document (usually around the document). The FC information number is data for specifying format control information necessary for reading processing of the corresponding form. The form identification unit 1B includes a memory that stores a form identification table (20 in FIG. 2) consisting of FC information numbers, and searches the FC information number from the form identification table based on the detected form identification mark. It has a function.

The recognition unit 14 outputs the FC information number output from the form identification unit 1B to the data processing unit 15. The data processing unit 15 is equipped with an FC table (30 in FIG. 3), and the recognition unit 1
The format control information corresponding to the FC information number output from 4 is read out and transferred to the recognition unit 14.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a document identification mark 40 such as a color index is written on a plurality of documents to be read at a position determined according to the format of each document. The form identification mark 40 is, for example, a color mark such as black, and is a mark that can be optically read by the scanning unit 11.

The scanning unit 11 scans the form on which the form identification marker 40 is written and outputs image pattern data obtained by photoelectric conversion. The preprocessing unit 12 performs preprocessing such as noise processing on the image pattern data from the scanning unit 11, and then outputs the data to the sheet buffer 13. Sheet buffer 13
Image pattern data for one sheet is stored in . That is, the sheet buffer 13 stores image pattern data corresponding to each character recorded on the form to be read and the form identification mark 40.

The form identification section 16 scans the inside of the sheet buffer 13 and detects image pattern data corresponding to the form identification mark 40. That is, the form identification unit 1B scans an area corresponding to the periphery of the form, for example, and determines the recording position of the form identification mark 40 (address of the sheet buffer 13). The form identification section 1B stores a form identification table 20 as shown in FIG. 2, for example, and records position A of the detected form identification mark 40 (FIG. 4).

The FC information numbers corresponding to each of recording position B (FIG. 5) and recording position C (FIG. 6) are searched from the form identification table 20. Here, recording positions A to C correspond to, for example, FC information numbers 1 to 3, respectively. The form identification section 1B outputs the FC information number obtained through the search to the recognition section 14. The recognition unit 14 outputs the FC information number to the data processing unit 15.

The data processing unit 15 stores, for example, an FC table 30 as shown in FIG. 3, and format control information (FC information) Di to D corresponding to FC information numbers 1 to 3.
Search for 3. That is, in the FC table 30, in relation to the recording position (FC information number) of the form identification mark 40 and the format of the form, FC information necessary for reading a form of the corresponding format is registered. As a result, the data processing unit 15 selects the FC information D1 to D3 necessary for the reading process of the form according to the FC information numbers 1 to 3.
is read from the FC table 30 and transferred to the recognition unit 14.

The recognition unit 14 extracts character pattern data for each character from the sheet buffer 13 based on appropriate FC information from the data processing unit 15, and performs character recognition processing for each character. That is, in the case of a form as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the recognition unit 14 performs character recognition processing based on the FC information D1. Similarly, character recognition processing is performed based on the FC information D2 in the case of the form shown in FIG. 5, and the FC information D3 in the case of the form shown in FIG. The recognition unit 14 outputs the recognition result after character recognition processing to the data processing unit 15.

Here, in contrast to the method of determining the FC information number based on the recording position of the form identification mark 40 as described above, the form identification section 1B performs the following, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9.
A method may also be used in which the FC information number is determined based on the number of form identification marks 41. In this case, the information corresponding to recording positions A-C of the form identification table 2o shown in FIG.
This information corresponds to the number of identification marks 41. That is,
For example, a form with one identification mark 41 as shown in FIG. 7 corresponds to FC information number 1. Similarly, the FC information number 2 corresponds to the form with two identification marks 41 in FIG. 8, and the FC information number 2 corresponds to the form with two identification marks 41 in FIG.
FC information number 3 corresponds to the form in the case of .

Furthermore, various marks 42 to 44 may be used as the mark for document identification, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12. In this case, in the method using the mark 42 shown in FIG. 10, the FC information is selected and specified according to the recording position on the form, as in the case of FIGS. 4 to 6. Also, the 11th
In the method using the mark 43 shown in the figure, FC information is selected and specified according to the contents of the barcode. Furthermore, in the method using marks 44 shown in FIG. 12, as in the case of FIGS. 7 to 9, the number of marks on the form
C information is selected and designated.

In this way, the predetermined form identification mark and F
Select and specify appropriate FC information in the form reading process according to the form identification mark based on the relationship with the C information,
Based on this FC information, it becomes possible to reliably recognize and process the characters recorded on the form to be read. Therefore, it is possible to read a plurality of forms of different formats by the same batch process without using conventional ID numbers. Since the form identification mark may be recorded, for example, around the form, it does not occupy as much space as compared to the method of recording ID numbers. Therefore, when compared with the method of recording ID numbers, restrictions on form design can be significantly reduced.

In addition, in the present invention, even when a form with a form identification mark and a form with a conventional ID number are mixed,
Reading processing using the same batch processing is possible. However, in this case, for example, the recognition unit 14 first executes a process to identify the ID number, and the ID number is sent to the indoor bath stand by the form identification unit 16.
executes processing to detect form identification marks. Furthermore, in addition to the form identification table 20 shown in FIG. 2, a table for selecting and specifying FC information by ID number is naturally required.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, appropriate format control information can be selected and specified for each form by simply writing form identification marks on a plurality of forms with different formats. It is possible to perform the reading process reliably based on this information. Therefore, without using conventional ID numbers, it is possible to reliably perform reading processing in the same batch processing on a plurality of forms having different formats. Furthermore, since the ID number is not required, the space required for it can be omitted, so that restrictions on designing the layout of the form can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an optical character reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a form identification table of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a form identification table of the embodiment. F.C.
FIGS. 4 to 12 are conceptual diagrams showing an example of a table, respectively, and FIGS. 13 to 15 are conceptual diagrams showing an example of a conventional form. 11... Scanning section, 13... Sheet buffer, 14.
... Recognition section, 15... Data processing section, 16... Form identification section. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 1g2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Factor 7 Figure 5 fJG Figure 8! Figure 89

Claims (1)

[Claims] Scanning means for outputting image pattern data obtained by scanning a form on which form identification marks are recorded in advance, and a buffer memory for storing image pattern data for one sheet output from the scanning means. a form identification means for detecting the form identification mark from one sheet of image pattern data stored in the buffer memory means and outputting form identification data corresponding to the form identification mark; a control means for outputting format control information necessary for recognizing characters recorded on the form based on the form identification data outputted from the means; and based on the format control information outputted from the control means. and character recognition means for cutting out one character's worth of character pattern data from the image pattern data stored in the buffer memory means and performing character recognition processing.