JPH04199484A - Pattern reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable reading of a thin and small-sized original accurately by mounting the original reading part on the original carrying part and reading the card original carried by the carrying means of the original carrying part. CONSTITUTION:A reading part 1 is fitted to a recessing part 3 on the upper section of a carrying part 2. In this case, a regular size original 23, such as a business card, etc., carried from an original platen is inserted between the reading part 1 and the carrying part 2 and delivered in the direction of the arrow D by a carrying belt 6. A speed detection roller 30 of the reading part 1 is rotated by the moving of the carrying belt 6 or the original 23. The rotation is transmitted to a slit disk 35 through gears 31 to 33. A phtointerruptor 36 converses the rotation speed into the speed detection pulse. By synchronizing the pulse, the picture signal on the line is outputted from CCD28. Thus, either thick original and large-sized original or small card original can be read accurately.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a pattern reading device that can read thick originals such as magazines and large originals such as newspapers, as well as thin and small originals such as business cards.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 5 is an external view of a conventional business card reading device. This reading device sends a business card placed in a stacker 51 into the device by a roller 52, reads out the pattern printed on the business card using a mechanism and optical system similar to the transmitting section of Facnomy, and transmits the read data. The data is sent to a computer (not shown). The computer performs character recognition based on this sent data and encodes the content. On the other hand, Fig. 3 is an external view of a conventional hand-held pattern reading device that reads parts of thick originals such as magazines and books, and large originals such as newspapers, and (a) is a plan view. In the figure, (b) is a side view, and (e) is a bottom view. Moreover, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of this reading device. This reading device is small enough to fit easily in the palm of your hand, and does not have a document feeding function. When reading a document, place it with the AA' side down on top of the document you want to read, and while viewing the document on the monitor window 20,
Pull it by hand in the direction of arrow B and move it at a constant speed. Then, the reading portion of the document is illuminated by the LED 21 through the reading window 22 . Manuscript 23
The reflected light from
After being reflected by the lens 27, it is converged into a line-shaped CC
The image is formed on D28. The brightness of the formed image is determined by CCD2.
8 into an electrical signal. The reading section of the CCD 28 is arranged perpendicularly to the paper surface, and reads the shading information of a line-shaped portion perpendicular to the paper surface directly below the reading window 22 on the document 23. Furthermore, the entire apparatus is moved over the document in the direction of arrow B, and the document contents included in the width area of the reading window 22 are read. The device is moved at a nearly constant speed, but since it is moved manually by the operator, considerable speed variations occur. A speed detection roller 30.30 is used to cover up the speed unevenness. This roller 30 contacts the original 23 and rotates in the direction of arrow C as the apparatus moves. This rotation is transmitted to the slit disk 35 via several stages of gears 31, 32, 33, and is transmitted to the photointerrupter 3 by the control board 37.
6, and in synchronization with the rotation speed, bright and dark electrical signals from the CCD 28 are transferred to a not-shown computer. Therefore, as long as the movement speed is within a certain range, there is little problem. It is a handy type and can easily read printed matter and documents, so it is often used as a personal device.

[Invention or problem to be solved]

However, the above-mentioned conventional business card reader only has a constant document feed speed, reduces document meandering, and can accurately read even small characters. The disadvantage is that it cannot be read. On the other hand, the above-mentioned conventional handheld pattern reading devices are easy to move and handle, and can read parts of thick originals such as magazines and books, and large originals such as newspapers. When reading thin and small originals, the disadvantage is that the original moves and cannot be read accurately. Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to be able to read thick originals such as magazines and books, and large originals such as newspapers, and also to accurately read thin and small originals such as business cards. The objective is to provide a pattern reading device that can

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the pattern reading device of the present invention includes: a document conveyance section having a conveyance means for conveying a cart-shaped document in a fixed direction; a light source that irradiates the document with light;
It has an imaging means that forms an image using reflected light from the original, and a photoelectric conversion means that converts the image formed by the imaging means into an electrical signal, and moves over the original to read the contents of the original, The apparatus is characterized by comprising a document reading section mounted on the document conveying section and reading the contents of a card-shaped document conveyed by the conveying means.

[Effect]

When reading thick originals such as magazines and books, or large originals such as newspapers, the original reading section is moved over the original to read the contents of the original. On the other hand, when scanning thin and small card-shaped documents such as business cards,
The document reading section is mounted on the document conveyance section, and reads a card-shaped document conveyed by the conveyance means of the document conveyance section. Therefore, both thick originals, large originals, and small cart-shaped originals can be read with high accuracy.

【Example】

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of the pattern reading device of the present invention. This pattern reading device is composed of a reading section 1 and a conveyance section 2. The reading section 1 has a structure similar to that of the conventional reading device shown in FIGS. It is used to read card-shaped originals such as business cards sent by the transport heald 6. In place of the conveyor belt 6, the document may be conveyed by several feed rollers arranged perpendicular to the document conveyance direction. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the reading section I mounted on the conveying section 2. As shown in FIG. In this FIG. 2, the document table 5 and document tray 7 shown in FIG. 1 are omitted. A fixed-form original 23 such as an f-co business card is fed from the original table 5.
The transport heald 6 is inserted between the reading section l and the transport section 2.
is sent in the direction of the arrow. The speed detection roller 30 of the reading unit 1 is rotated by the movement of the conveyor belt 6 or the document 23, and the rotation is transmitted to the slit disk 35 via gears 31, 32, 33, and the photointerrupter 36 detects the rotation speed. It is converted into a pulse, and an image signal on the line is output from the C0D 28 in synchronization with the pulse. Since the conveyor belt 6 is rotated by the motor 8 at a constant speed through the belt 10° and the belt feed roller 11, signals may be read out from the C0D 28 using pulses with a fixed period. In the figure, the document table 5 is simply a table on which documents are placed, but rollers or belts are further provided in this section so that each document stacked on that section is automatically sent one by one to the conveyor belt 6 side. Good too. Further, in the figure, only one sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a document is omitted, and it goes without saying that an optical or mechanical sensor is installed on the document conveyance path. The reading section 1 and the transport section 2 are coupled for power supply and signal exchange. Although this connection may be made by electric wire, such a form is not preferable from the viewpoint of usability. Figure 1 shows an example of a method that does not use cables. Reference numeral 12 denotes a connection terminal for transmitting and receiving power and for signals, and for example, a plate spring-shaped terminal made of phosphor bronze is used. When the reading section 1 is placed on the conveying section 2, the terminal provided on the reading section 1 comes into contact with the terminal I2, and the reading section 1
and the conveying section 2 are coupled. Then, the power supply 38 of the transport section 2
Electric power is supplied to the reading unit 1 from the terminal 12 through the power transmission/reception terminal 12 . Note that as a method for transmitting and receiving signals, a method using light may be used in addition to this method. The data read by the reading section 1 is sent to the recognition section provided in the pattern recognition boat 13 in the transport section 2 via the signal terminal. The pattern recognition board 13 also includes a memory for storing read data. Most of the processing, recognition, etc. of the image signals sent from the reading section I are performed in the transport section 2, and the transport section is also provided with operation keys 15 for this purpose. Further, a liquid crystal display 16 is also installed in the conveyance section 2. When reading business cards, etc. with this device, the recognition may be insufficient and correction may be necessary. In such a case, input is difficult because the device has few keys. Therefore, the display 16 can be provided with a pressure-sensitive tablet function, for example, and the recognition data can be corrected by handwritten input. When connecting this device to a host computer (not shown), the input/output cable is normally connected to the transport section, but when operating the reading section I by itself, the input/output cable (not shown) is connected to the transport section. Terminals (not shown) of the same bin connector are provided on both the reading section 1 and the conveying section 2 so that the terminals can be connected to the reselling section 1. By removing the reading unit 1 from the conveying unit 2, connecting the input/output cable, and moving it over a magazine or newspaper,
You can read the contents written on them. This read data is sent to the post computer and recognized by the host computer. In this way, by combining the reading section I and the conveyor 12, it is possible to read card-shaped originals such as business cards, while by removing the reading section 1 from the conveying section 2 and connecting it to the host computer, it is possible to read thick documents such as magazines. It is possible to read large documents such as certain manuscripts and newspapers. In the above embodiment, the pattern recognition boat 13, the operation key 1
5 and display I6 are provided in the transport section 2,
These may be provided in the reading section l. In addition, the reading section has a built-in rechargeable battery such as Ni-Cd, the transport section 2 is equipped with a large-capacity DC power source that obtains direct current from a commercial power source (AClOOV), and the reading section is placed in the transport section. It is also possible to charge the battery using the DC power source. By doing this, data can be transmitted from the reading unit to the host computer using light or low-power radio waves.
It is also possible to make it cordless.

【Effect of the invention】

As is clear from the above, the pattern reading device of the present invention includes: a document transport section having a transport means for transporting a card-shaped document in a fixed direction; a light source that irradiates the document with light;
It has an imaging means that forms an image using reflected light from the original, and a photoelectric conversion means that converts the image formed by the imaging means into an electrical signal, and moves over the original to read the contents of the original, The document reading section is mounted on the document conveying section and reads the contents of the card-shaped document conveyed by the conveying means. When scanning a large document, you can move the document reading section above the document to read the contents of the document. On the other hand, when scanning a thin, small card-shaped document such as a business card, move the document reading section above the document. A reading unit is mounted on the document transport unit, and can read cart-shaped originals transported by the transport means, with high accuracy for both thick originals, large originals, and small cart-shaped originals. I can read well.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 11 is an external view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the above-mentioned embodiment, FIG. 3 is an external view of a conventional handy type, and (a) is a plan view; 4(b) is a side view, FIG. 4(c) is a bottom view, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the conventional example, and FIG. 5 is an external view of a conventional business card reading device. l ・Reading section, 2. Conveyance section, 6. Conveyance belt,
12--Connection terminal, 13--Pattern recognition port, 15
...Operation keys, 16...Display, 21...
LED, 22... Reading window, 23... Document, 25... Optical path, 26 Mirror, 27... Lens, 28
...COD. Patent Applicant: Nyaab Co., Ltd. Agent: Patent Attorney: Mr. Aoba and 1 other person @1 Figure 2 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An original transport section having a transport means for transporting a card-shaped original in a fixed direction, a light source that irradiates the original with light, an imaging means that forms an image using reflected light from the original, and the above-mentioned imaging means. a photoelectric conversion means for converting an image formed by the image into an electric signal, and a card that moves over the document and reads the contents of the document, and is mounted on the document conveyance section and conveyed by the conveyance means. What is claimed is: 1. A pattern reading device comprising: a document reading section that reads the contents of a document in the form of a document;