JPH03202985A - Character read-out device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To recognize the color discrimination of a printed character using a magnetic ink ribbon by providing a color discrimination part consisting of a magnetic head, an amplifier circuit, and an A/D conversion circuit on the character read-out device using an optical means. CONSTITUTION:A character 14 printed by a printer using the magnetic color ink ribbon on a sheet 13 moves parallelly in the horizontal direction approaching a mag netic head 1 and obtains a current (i) which corresponds to the strength of the magnet ism contained in the pigment material of the character 14, converts and amplifies to the voltage by an amplifier circuit 2, and obtains a color discrimination signal 21 from an A/D conversion circuit 3. On the other hand, for character recognition, the character is read by a character read-out part 7, the segmenting and correction of the character is executed at a pre-processing part 8, it is compared with an incorpo rated dictionary at a decision part 9, and a character discrimination signal 22 is obtained. The character discrimination signal 22 and the color discrimination signal 21 are recognized at a recognition part 10, and are outputted in a fixed data from as a character data to a host device 12 through an input/output interface circuit 11. Thus, the color and various densities of the character printed using the magnetic color ink ribbon can be detected.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a character reading device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, character reading devices have recognized characters by reading the outer shape of characters printed by optical means and comparing them with a built-in dictionary.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional character reading device. The characters 14 printed by the printer using a magnetic color ink ribbon on the paper 13 conveyed by the paper feed pulse motor 5 are read by the character reading section 7, and the characters read by the preprocessing section 8 are The 0 character identification signal 22 is extracted, corrected, and compared with the built-in dictionary in the determination unit 9 to obtain a character identification signal 22.
The data is recognized by the input/output interface circuit 11 and output as character data in a predetermined data format to the host device 12.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional character reading device described above only recognizes characters, but cannot detect the color and shading of printed characters.

[Means to solve the problem]

The character reading device of the present invention optically reads characters printed with a color ink ribbon impregnated with a colored material containing a magnetic material with a magnetic strength corresponding to the color, and compares them as a dictionary to identify characters. It is configured to include an optical character reading section that outputs a signal, and a color identification section that detects the magnetism of the character and outputs a color identification signal.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The device of this embodiment has a magnetic head 1. Amplification circuit 2. A/D
A color identification section 4 consisting of a conversion circuit 3; a character reading section 7 consisting of a CCD and A/D conversion circuit; Pulse motor drive circuit for paper feeding 6. Pre-processing unit 81 determining unit 9. Recognition unit 10.
Pulse motor for paper feeding 5. It consists of an input/output interface circuit 11.

Paper 13 transported by paper feeding pulse motor 5
Characters 14 printed by a printer using a magnetic color ink ribbon (impregnated with a color material containing a magnetic material with a magnetic strength corresponding to the color) shown above are placed close to the magnetic head 1. Character 1 by horizontal translation
A current i corresponding to the magnetic strength contained in the color material No. 4 is obtained. It is converted and amplified into voltage by the amplifier circuit 3, and A/D conversion times F! ! 43, the color identification signal 21 is obtained.

On the other hand, for character recognition, a character is read by a character reading section 7, a preprocessing section 8 cuts out and corrects the character, and a determining section 9 compares it with a built-in dictionary to obtain a character identification signal 22.

The character identification signal 22 and the color identification signal 21 are recognized by the recognition unit 10 and outputted to the host device 12 as character data through the input/output interface circuit 11 in a predetermined data format.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention adds a color identification section consisting of a magnetic head, an amplifier circuit, and an A/D conversion circuit to a character reading device using optical means, thereby making it possible to read characters printed using a magnetic ink ribbon. It has the effect of recognizing color information.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional character reading device. 1...Magnetic head, 2...Amplification circuit, 3...A/
D conversion circuit, 4... Color identification section, 5... Pulse motor for paper feed 16... Pulse motor drive circuit for paper feed, 7... Character reading section, 8... Preprocessing section, 9
. . . Judgment unit, 10 . . Recognition unit, 11 .・
...Character identification signal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Optical character reading that optically reads characters printed with a color ink ribbon impregnated with a colored material containing a magnetic material with a magnetic strength corresponding to the color, compares them as a dictionary, and outputs a character identification signal. 1. A character reading device comprising: a color identification section that detects magnetism of the characters and outputs a color identification signal.