JPH04213179A - Character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the data processing afterward by converting into an irreducible minimum resolution according to the character style at the time of generating the image data for the character recognition after reading slits, etc., which characters varying with the character style (handwritten characters, type, etc.) coexist. CONSTITUTION:The reading is performed by the resolution necessary for reading the finest characters in slits, etc., by a picture input part 1 and is stored in an image memory 2. A resolution conversion part 5 segments the picture within each field from the image memory 2 based on the format information such as the position or size of the prescribed field on the reading surface of slits, etc., and the style of the described characters, etc., and converts it into the irreducible minimum resolution according to character style.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to handwritten characters, printed characters (
The present invention relates to a character reading device that reads characters such as a form in which a mixture of different types of characters such as printed characters are written.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In order to streamline office processing, there are various systems that use devices that optically read characters written on forms (optical character reading devices; OCR).

[0003] By the way, in order to read ordinary handwritten characters, the resolution of a scanner (image input device) should be about 8 lines/mm because the size of one character is relatively large. Although it depends on the character type, the size of one character is generally small, so 16 lines/mm.
A high resolution is required.

[0004] Therefore, in order to process a form containing a mixture of handwritten characters and printed characters with one device, in order to be able to accurately recognize both characters, the resolution required to read the finest characters in the form must be (16 lines/mm in the above example) scanner will be used. On the other hand, the image obtained from the scanner is cut out according to preset fields, and character recognition is performed character by character.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, in conventional character reading devices, when handwritten characters and printed characters are mixed, the resolution required to read the finest characters among them is insufficient. Because it is read and processed based on that image, even when recognizing characters that do not require high resolution, such as handwritten characters, high resolution images must be processed, increasing the amount of data to be processed. Therefore, there is a drawback that processing takes time and the overall throughput decreases.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to eliminate unnecessary processing and improve overall throughput by providing appropriate resolution according to character type. The object of the present invention is to provide a character reading device that can read characters.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a character reading device for reading characters written on a form, etc., which has a resolution necessary for reading the finest characters in a form, etc. an image memory that stores an image of a form, etc. taken in from an image input unit; a format information storage unit that stores in advance the position, size, type of characters to be written, etc. for a predetermined field on a reading surface of a form, etc.;
Cutting out an image in each field from the image memory according to the information in the format information storage unit, and
The image forming apparatus includes a resolution conversion section that converts the resolution to the minimum required resolution according to the character type.

[0008]

[Operation] In the character reading device of the present invention, the resolution conversion unit cuts out the image in each field from the image memory according to the information in the format information storage unit, and converts the image to the minimum necessary resolution according to the character type. Convert.

[0009]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a character reading device of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, in this embodiment, an image input section 1
, an image memory 2 , a format information storage section 3 , an address generation section 4 , a resolution conversion section 5 and a pattern memory 6 . Note that the functions of each part will be explained through the following operations to avoid duplication.

First, a form or the like to be read is converted into image data by an image input section 1 such as a scanner, and is stored in an image memory 2. Note that the reading resolution is the resolution necessary to read the finest characters in a form or the like. For example, as shown in Figure 2, printed characters (field F
1) and handwritten characters (field F2), the 16 lines/mm required to recognize the printed characters.
The reading is performed at the resolution of

Next, in FIG. 1, the format information storage section 3 stores in advance the position, size, type of characters to be written, etc. for a predetermined field on the form, and the address generation section 4 stores the information of the field. A corresponding address on the image memory 2 is generated from the position and size information. For example, in the case of FIG. 2, information on the positions and sizes of fields F1 and F2 is stored in advance, and addresses corresponding to the inside of fields F1 and F2 are generated from all input images.

In FIG. 1, the resolution conversion section 5 extracts image data in a field from the image memory 2 according to the address given from the address generation section 4, and also extracts character type information for each field from the format information storage section 3. Accordingly, the resolution of the image in the cut out field is converted to the minimum resolution necessary for the character type, and the result is stored in the pattern memory 6. For example, in the case of Figure 2, the image of printed characters in field F1 is 16
The image has a resolution of 8 lines/mm, and the data of the handwritten character image in field F2 is thinned out to create an image with a resolution of 8 lines/mm.

[0014] Thereafter, the image data stored in the pattern memory 6 is recognized one character at a time by a well-known character recognition means (not shown). Since the resolution is the minimum required, the amount of data to be processed is an appropriate value, and the processing will not be delayed due to unnecessary data.

[0015]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the character reading device of the present invention, even if a form etc. is written with a mixture of characters of different types such as handwritten characters and printed characters, it is possible to distinguish between the character types. Since an image with an appropriate resolution can be obtained accordingly, there is no need to process unnecessary data, and the overall throughput can be improved by shortening processing time without deteriorating character reading performance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a character reading device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a form to be read.

[Explanation of symbols]

1......Image input section 2... Image memory 3...Format information storage section ４………………Address generation section 5...Resolution conversion section 6......Pattern memory F1, F2...field

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a character reading device that reads characters written on a form, etc., an image memory stores an image of the form, etc. taken in from an image input unit that has the resolution necessary to read the smallest characters in the form, etc. and a format information storage unit that stores in advance the position, size, type of characters to be written, etc. for a predetermined field on the reading surface of a form, etc.; and a format information storage unit that stores in advance the position, size, character type, etc. 1. A character reading device comprising: a resolution conversion section that cuts out an image of the image and converts it to the minimum necessary resolution according to the type of character. 2. The character reading device according to claim 1, further comprising an address generation section that generates a corresponding address in the image memory from information on the position and size of the field in the format information storage section. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a pattern memory for storing an output image of the resolution conversion section.
The character reading device described.