JPH029415Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical reading device that can mark the reading area of a reading medium so that the reading device can recognize it, make effective use of the medium, and speed up the reading operation.

Optical character reader (hereinafter abbreviated as OCR)
Alternatively, an optical mark reading device (hereinafter abbreviated as OMR) can read a format control sheet in advance to change the processing of the read data depending on whether the reading medium is kana characters or alphanumeric characters. The external control device that decodes the data can uniquely prepare a decoding dictionary that corresponds to the data, making data processing highly efficient. However, since there are no particular restrictions on the reading area on the reading medium, it is necessary to read the entire area at a constant speed until the end, even if only 1/3 of the area is written from the beginning.
Therefore, due to the use of media, there is no big difference in processing speed between data in a narrow range and data in the entire range, and even if it becomes necessary to store data only in the center of the media, there is no difference in processing speed. It was not implemented because it was practically meaningless.

The purpose of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, to mark the reading area on the medium, and to make the use of the medium effective.
In addition, we made it possible to read as fast as possible.
Our goal is to provide OCR or OMR reading equipment.

Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which an IOC is an external control device that often controls a plurality of reading devices OMR. ITF-T is interface (transmission), ITF-R is interface (reception), EMD is end mark detection circuit, CTL
indicates a read control circuit, and RG indicates a register circuit. A reading area recognition mark as described below is attached in advance to the medium to be read by the reading device OMR,
The OMR side notifies the external control device IOC of the type of medium (specified in advance for media having the same end mark) by an appropriate means. Since the external control device IOC transmits information defining the end mark, the end detection circuit EMD receives it via the interface (receiving) ITF-R and holds it. Next, the external control device IOC sends the OMR reading start signal RSS, so this is also the interface (receiving) ITF-
The OMR receives it via R and starts the reading operation. The read data is sequentially stored in the register circuit RG, and at the same time, the end mark detection circuit EMD checks whether an end mark exists in the stored contents of the register circuit RG. When the end mark is detected, the detection circuit EMD sends a reading operation stop signal RSP to the control circuit CTL, so that the reading operation is stopped. Then, the control circuit adds a data end code to the end of the data read so far and stores it in the register circuit RG. The end mark detection circuit EMD outputs the reading end signal at the same time as the above-mentioned reading operation stop signal RSP.
Since END is sent to the interface (transmission) ITF-T, the interface (transmission) ITF-T sends the read data stored in the register circuit RG to the external control device IOC in a short time. Note that since the reading operation of the reading medium is not performed after the end mark is detected, the reading time can be shortened.

Next, the reading area recognition mark will be explained. FIG. 2 shows an example in which end timing marks ETM (for example, wider marks) are provided at successive positions of timing marks TM. The data mark DM indicates a location where desired data is written, and is provided in the lateral direction of the medium in the figure from the intermediate position of the timing mark TM. In the figure, the reading direction (white arrow) of the medium is the longitudinal direction of the medium. Therefore, no data is read after the end timing mark ETM is read in the longitudinal direction.

Figure 3 shows the end all mark as a recognition mark.
This is an example of installing EAM. That is, compared to FIG. 2, among the data marks DM, the data mark position next to the last read data is, for example, all data "1" (all four have marks in the figure) to recognize the end of the reading area.

In FIG. 4, the timing marks are not provided at a predetermined distance, so that after reading a data mark, when the next timing mark is not read for a time T, the data is considered to have ended.

Figures 2 to 4 show the external control device IOC.
By sending information that defines a predetermined reading end mark from the end of the reading process, the information is used for comparison.

In this way, according to the present invention, high-speed reading is possible with a relatively simple device, and the medium can be used effectively.For example, data can be provided not only at the top edge but also near the center, and data after the end mark can be read. It is effective because there is no

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are diagrams showing examples of reading area recognition marks on a medium read by the OMR shown in FIG. 1. OMR...Optical mark reading device, IOC...External control device, EMD...End mark detection circuit,
CTL...reading control circuit, RSS...reading start signal,
RSP...reading operation stop signal, END...reading end signal, ETM...end timing mark, EAM...
...End all marks, RG...Register circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] An optical system that is controlled by a control signal from an external control device and reads data from multiple types of reading media on which timing marks for data reading of a predetermined width are preprinted at predetermined positions and at predetermined intervals. The reading device includes a detection circuit that detects a reading end mark in a format determined according to the type of form that is placed within the reading area of the medium, and stops the reading operation based on the output of the detection circuit, and also adds a data end code to the read data. A readout control circuit to be added and a control unit that notifies the detection circuit of a reading end mark corresponding to the form type, the detection circuit is notified in advance of the format of the reading end mark of the medium, and the notified reading control circuit is provided. An optical reading device characterized in that when an end mark is detected from a medium, an output is provided to the reading control circuit. The optical reading device according to claim 1, wherein the format of the reading end mark notified to the detection circuit is a format in which the timing mark is widened. The format of the reading end mark notified to the detection circuit is a format in which a timing mark to be preprinted at the predetermined position at a predetermined interval is deleted. Optical reader as described. The format of the reading end mark notified to the detection circuit is such that the timing mark to be preprinted at the predetermined position at a predetermined interval is deleted and all data code positions are made significant. An optical reading device according to claim 1 of the utility model registration claim.