JPH0467668B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a seal imprint input device, and more particularly to a seal imprint input device that can cut out only a seal imprint portion from a read pattern.

(Prior art) Conventionally, this type of device was disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-109976.
There is something disclosed in the publication No. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the seal imprint input device disclosed in this document. This seal imprint input device includes a reading section 11, a reading memory 12, a cutting section 13, and an imprint memory 14.
It consists of

The reading unit 11 sequentially scans the stamp imprinted on the paper in a predetermined direction, and creates a black and white binary reading pattern through photoelectric conversion. The reading memory 12 stores the created reading pattern. Cutout part 1
Step 3 detects the presence or absence of a seal imprint on a scanning line, and cuts out a seal imprint pattern by using a portion where scanning lines with a seal imprint are continuous for a certain value or more in a direction perpendicular to the scanning line as a cutting area. The seal impression memory 14 stores the extracted seal impression pattern. In the manner described above, dirt and the like on the seal impression are removed and the necessary parts of the seal impression are input.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the apparatus having the above configuration has a problem in that data other than the seal imprint within the seal imprint circumscribing frame cannot be removed.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a seal imprint input device that can extract only the imprint portion from a read pattern.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The seal imprint input device of the invention of this application includes: a reading section that optically reads a seal imprint and obtains a black and white binary reading pattern; and a reading pattern obtained by the reading section. and a cutting section for cutting out the read pattern, and when a point that changes from a white point to a black point is detected by scanning the read pattern in a predetermined direction, the entire area including the read pattern is set with that point as a tracking start point. a contour tracing unit that performs contour tracing to obtain contour point information; a contour tracing unit that calculates the contour frame width of the read pattern from the contour point information from the contour tracing unit; and compares the contour frame width with a predetermined value; When the outline frame width is smaller than the predetermined value, the outline tracking unit is instructed to perform new outline tracking, and when the outline frame width is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the cutting unit is instructed to perform the outline tracking. a determination unit that instructs cutting out of the read pattern based on the contour point information from the contour tracking unit; A contour pattern is created with black points as black points and white points other than the contour points, and the contour pattern is sequentially scanned in the X direction, and the distance between the first black point discovered and the last black point discovered for each X direction scan is created. Fill in the area with
At the same time, the contour pattern is sequentially scanned in the Y direction, and the area between the first black point discovered and the last black point discovered is filled in for each Y direction scan, and the Y direction is filled in.
The present invention is characterized in that directional fill points are obtained, and a seal impression pattern is extracted from the read pattern corresponding to the fill area defined by the X direction and Y direction fill points.

(Function) With the above configuration, the seal imprint input device of the present application extracts, as a filled area, a reading pattern whose outline frame width is equal to or larger than a predetermined value from among the reading patterns extracted from the filled area, and By saving all existing seal impression patterns, the accuracy of seal impression information is increased.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a seal imprint input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure,
This seal imprint input device includes a reading section 1, a contour tracing section 2, a determining section 3, and a cutting section 4. Regarding the connection relationship, the reading section 1 is connected to the contour tracking section 2 and the cutting section 4. The contour tracking section 2 is interconnected with the determination section 3 and the cutting section 4.
is also connected to. Further, the determining section 3 is also connected to the cutting section 4. The reading section 1 optically reads the seal imprinted on the paper and outputs it as a binary black and white reading pattern 5. The contour tracing section 2 traces the contour of the read pattern 5 and outputs contour point information. The determination unit 3 determines whether the tracked portion is a seal impression based on the contour point information from the contour tracking unit 2. When the determination unit 3 determines that the traced portion is a seal impression, it instructs the cutting unit 4 to cut out the seal impression from the read pattern 5 based on the contour point information obtained by the contour tracking unit 2 and create a seal impression pattern 6. instruct what to do. On the other hand, when it is determined that it is not a seal imprint, the contour tracking unit 2 is instructed to perform new tracking,
The judgment and tracking instructions are repeated until the seal impression is detected.

Next, we will discuss the operation. First, a seal imprinted on a paper such as a form is optically read by the reading section 1 and output as a binary reading pattern 5 of white and black. This read pattern 5 is sent to the contour tracking section 2 and the cutting section 4.

Here, the contour tracking section 2 performs the following operations. The contour tracing section 2 first performs raster scanning in the X direction from the upper left corner of the read pattern 5, and starts contour tracing with the point where the white point first changes to a black point as the tracing start point. Then, tracking is performed while storing the coordinates of the tracked point (hereinafter referred to as outline point coordinates), and the tracking ends when the tracking start point is tracked again. or,
When a new tracking instruction is received from the determining section 3, raster scan is started again from the point next to the previous tracking start point, a new tracking start point is searched, and new tracking is performed from that point. Note that a method for contour tracing is the 8-connection-boundary tracing algorithm [Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers Vol. 56-D, No. 11, pp. 667-668 (1973).
(November)] or other known methods may be used.

The determination unit 3 performs the following operations. That is, the determination unit 3 determines XW and YW in the X and Y directions of the contour frame from the contour point coordinates obtained by the contour tracking unit 2,
When the frame width is greater than a certain value W _T , that is, XW≧W _T
And when YW≧W _T , the tracked part is determined to be a seal impression, and the seal impression is cut out by the cutting unit 4.
instruct. Furthermore, when the frame width is smaller than a certain value W _T , that is, when XW<W _T or YW<W _T , it is determined that the traced portion is not a seal impression, and the contour tracking section 2 is instructed to perform new contour tracing.

The contour point coordinates are (X ₁ , Y ₁ ), (X ₂ , Y ₂ ), ...,
When (Xn, Yn), X, Y that defines the outline frame
_The coordinate values XS, XE, YS, YE are: XS = minimum value of (X ₁ , X ₂ , ..., Xn) XE = maximum value of (X ₁ , X ₂ , ..., ₂ ,..., Yn), and the maximum value of YE = (Y ₁ , Y ₂ ,..., Yn). The outline frame widths XW and YW are obtained from XW=XE−XS+1 YW=YE−YS+1.

Note that the value of the constant value W _T should be determined depending on the size of the seal. Generally, the minimum size of a seal is about 8 mm, so for example, W _T may be equivalent to 7 mm. . That is, the reading resolution of the reading section 1 is 8
When expressed as pixels/mm, W _T = 7 x 8 = 56 (pixels)
It's fine if you do this.

Next, the cutting section 4 performs the following operation. When the cutting unit 4 is instructed to cut out the seal imprint by the determining unit 3, it first creates a contour pattern in which contour points are black points and other points are white points from the contour point coordinates obtained by the contour tracing unit 2. . Next, the contour pattern is filled in in the X and Y directions by a method such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-191083, to create a filled pattern. That is, the contour pattern surface is first scanned sequentially in the X direction, and for each scan in the X direction, the space between the first black point found and the last black point found is filled in as a fill point in the X direction, and then sequentially in the Y direction. The area is scanned and filled in as described above for each scan in the Y direction to form a point to be filled in in the Y direction. Next, only the area on the read pattern 5 corresponding to this filled area is extracted to create a seal pattern 6.

Next, a specific example will be given to describe the operation of creating a seal pattern by the apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of the read pattern 5, and FIGS. 2B, C, and D are diagrams each showing an outline pattern, a fill pattern, and a seal pattern created by the apparatus of this embodiment based on the pattern. be.

The reading unit 1 reads seal impression data as shown in Figure 2A.
Along with P ₂ , data other than the seal impression (hereinafter referred to as dirt)
Suppose we read P ₁ . The contour tracking unit 2 performs raster scanning in the X direction from the upper left corner of the pattern surface, and first finds a point (TX ₁ , TY ₁ ) as the tracking start point. Contour tracing is started from this tracing start point (TX ₁ , TY ₁ ) to obtain contour point coordinates. Judgment section 3
From these contour point coordinates, find the X and Y coordinate values XS ₁ , XE ₁ , YS ₁ , and YE ₁ that define the contour frame. Furthermore, using these values, the outline frame width XW ₁ (=XE ₁ −XS ₁
+1), YW ₁ (=YE ₁ −YS ₁ +1). However, since XW ₁ < W _T and YW ₁ < W _T , the dirt is
Do not judge P ₁ as a seal impression.

Next, the contour tracking unit 2 selects the tracking start point (TX ₁ ,
TY ₁ ) next point or point (TX ₁ +1, TY ₁ )
A new tracking starting point is searched from , and a new tracking starting point (TX ₂ , TY ₁ ) is found. Contour tracing is then started from this tracing start point (TX ₂ , TY ₁ ) in the same manner as above to obtain contour point coordinates. The determination unit 3 determines the X and Y coordinate values XS ₂ , XE ₂ , YS ₂ , and YE ₂ that define the contour frame from the contour point coordinates. Furthermore, the outline frame width XW ₂ (=XE ₂ −XS ₂ +1), YW ₂ (=YE ₂
−YS ₂ +1). Here, since XW ₂ ≧W _T and YW ₂ ≧W _T , P ₂ is determined to be a seal impression, and the cutting unit 4 is instructed to cut out the seal impression and create a seal impression pattern 6 . In response to this instruction, the cutting section 4 creates the contour pattern shown in FIG. 2B based on the contour point coordinates. Then, use the method described above to fill in this outline pattern in the X and Y directions, and
Create the fill pattern shown in Figure C. The shaded area in FIG. 2C is filled in in the X and Y directions. Next, an area on the stamp pattern surface of FIG. 2A corresponding to the filled area of the fill pattern of FIG. 2C is taken out, and a stamp pattern 6 shown in FIG.
get.

Therefore, according to the apparatus of this embodiment, it becomes possible to remove dirt that has entered the seal imprint circumscribing frame as shown in FIG. 2A, which could not be removed using conventional methods.

In the above embodiment, a point where a white point changes from a black point to a black point by raster scanning on the read pattern surface is set as the tracking start point. However, according to the above embodiment, in the case of a reading pattern as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the outline of the P ₃ portion is traced using the point (TX ₃ , TY ₃ ) as the tracing start point. Since the contour frame of this P ₃ part is smaller than W _T , a new tracking starting point is searched and the point (TX ₃ ,
TY ₃ +1) is set as the next tracking start point, and the contour of the P ₃ portion is tracked again. In this way TY ₃
In the range of ≦Y≦TY ₄ , unnecessary contour tracking will be repeated. Therefore, in such cases, if you set the new tracking start point to a point that changes from a white point to a black point and has not been contour traced to date, unnecessary contour tracing will be avoided and processing time will be shortened. be able to. In other words, in the example of the reading pattern shown in Fig. 3, each point of X = TX ₃ within the range of TY ₃ + 1 ≦ Y ≦ TY ₄ has already been contour traced with the point (TX ₃ , TY ₃ ) as the tracing start point. Since it is a point, it is not set as the next tracking start point, but a point after it is searched as the next tracking start point. and the point (TX ₅ ,
Find the next tracking start point when you raster scan up to TY ₅ ). In this way, the point (TX ₃ ,
No unnecessary contour tracing is performed during raster scanning from point (TX ₅ , TY ₅ ) to point (TX ₅ , TY 5 ). Note that when using this method, it is sufficient to remember whether or not the point has already been contour traced.

Further, in the above embodiment, whether or not it is a seal impression is determined based on the size of the outline frame when the read pattern is traced. However, in the case of a read pattern in which the seal impression frame is significantly chipped as shown in Figure 4, the outline frame of the _P8 portion is large enough to be determined as a seal impression, so only the _P8 portion is extracted as the seal impression pattern. ,
The missing parts P ₅ , P ₆ , P ₇ , and P ₉ of the seal impression frame will be left behind. Therefore, in such a case, if the area to be cut out from the read pattern is determined based on the ratio of the total number of black dots BA on the read pattern to the number BP of black dots on the read pattern in the area where the outline points are filled in, the area to be cut out from the read pattern may be significantly missing. This eliminates the possibility of leaving a part of the seal impression behind. That is, the sunspot number ratio α is α=
Determined from BP/BA, when α≧α _T , only the area within the filled area is taken out as a seal impression pattern, and when α<α _T , the entire area of the read pattern is taken as a seal impression pattern. Here, the constant value α _T is a value determined based on the size of dirt to be removed, and may be set to α _T =0.9, for example.

In the read pattern example shown in Figure 4, the number of black dots in any part of _P5 to _P9 is never greater than α _T (0.9) times the total number of black dots, so the entire area of the read pattern is extracted as a stamp pattern. This eliminates the possibility of leaving behind a part of the seal that is noticeably chipped.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained in detail above, according to the present invention,
We tracked the contour, found the contour frame width from the obtained contour point information, and compared the contour frame width with a predetermined constant value to decide whether to cut out or not. Information can be removed, especially noise outside the seal imprint frame, and all seal imprint information within the seal imprint frame can be stored, allowing precise seal imprint verification.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a seal imprint input device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing examples of reading patterns, respectively, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional seal imprint input device. 1... Reading section, 2... Contour tracking section, 3... Judgment section, 4
...Cutout part, 5...Reading pattern, 6...Seal impression pattern.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A seal imprint input device comprising: a reading section that optically reads a seal impression and obtains a black and white binary reading pattern; and a cutting section that cuts out the reading pattern obtained by the reading section, comprising: When scanning a reading pattern in a predetermined direction and detecting a point that changes from a white point to a black point, contour tracking is performed for the entire area including the reading pattern using that point as a tracking start point, and contour tracking is performed to obtain contour point information. and determining the outline frame width of the read pattern from the outline point information from the outline tracking unit, and comparing the outline frame width with a predetermined value, and when the outline frame width is smaller than the predetermined value. instructs the contour tracing unit to perform new contour tracing, and when the contour frame width is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, instructs the cutting unit to create a reading pattern based on the contour point information from the contour tracing unit. and a determination unit that instructs cutting out, and the cutting unit sets the contour points of the read pattern as black points from the contour point coordinates of the contour point information obtained by the contour tracing unit, and sets other contour points as white points to form the contour. Create a pattern, scan the contour pattern sequentially in the X direction, and fill in the area between the first black point discovered and the last black point discovered for each X direction scan, and
At the same time, the contour pattern is sequentially scanned in the Y direction, and the area between the first black point discovered and the last black point discovered is filled in for each Y direction scan, and the Y direction is filled in.
A seal imprint input device characterized in that a directional fill point is obtained, and a seal imprint pattern is extracted from the read pattern corresponding to a fill area defined by the X direction and Y direction fill points.