JPH05151385A - Optical character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a processing speed as a whole by eliminating an unnecessary time from an ID (identification number) recognition time. CONSTITUTION:A paper thickness detecting part 3 is arranged in upstream side of a running path of a business form 2 from a character reading part 6, and a paper thickness digital value VIN detected by this paper thickness detecting part 3 is compared with a slice level VNH1 which is set, based on paper thickness of the thickest business form, by which it is decided to be a multiple run or not. Also, in the character reading part 6, a slice level VTH2x corresponding to paper thickness of the business form 2 which is running at present is set, based on ID data obtained by recognizing a character by a recognizing part 10, and by comparing the paper thickness digital value VIN detected previously by the paper thickness detecting part 3 with this set slice level VTH2x, a recheck of the multiple run is executed. In the case it is decided to be the multiple run by one of them, a fact of the multiple run is informed to an operator by a message display in a CRT 12 of a host device 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical character reading device, and more particularly to an optical character reading device having a function of detecting running of two or more media such as forms (hereinafter referred to as "overrun"). The present invention relates to a character reading device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a user performs a reading operation with an optical character reading device, a stack of documents to be read is stacked and set in a hopper. On the other hand, in the optical character reader, the forms stacked in the hopper are separated one by one, and the characters are recognized while being fed.

However, when the form set in the hopper is stuck or broken and the form separation is not successful, the form runs over and the form below the reading unit is skipped. It will be. In order to notify the operator of this skipped reading, the optical character reading device is provided with a paper thickness detection unit that detects that the form is overrun in the middle of the form running path.

As shown in an example of the construction of this paper thickness detection unit, the paper thickness detection unit is a detection roller provided so as to be able to rise with respect to the traveling road surface 52 of the form 51 and biased downward by a weak biasing force. 53, a rotary sensor 54 that rotates in conjunction with the detection roller 53, an amplifier 55 that amplifies the output of the rotary sensor 54, and an A / D converter 56 that digitizes the analog output of the amplifier 55. It consists of

In the paper thickness detection unit having such a structure, when the form 51 passes the detection roller 53, the detection roller 53 rises according to the paper thickness, and the rotary sensor 54 raises the amount, that is, the paper thickness. According to the above, the rotation amount is converted into a voltage, the voltage is amplified by the amplifier 55, and then the digital value proportional to the paper thickness is output from the A / D converter 56.

By the way, in the case of the optical character reader, the thickness of the readable form is defined by, for example, the continuous amount, and the range is wide from 55 kg to 135 kg. Generally, 55kg, 70kg, 90kg, 110kg, 13 of these
A continuous amount of form such as 5 kg is used.

As described above, since there are plural kinds of paper thicknesses of the form, when various continuous amount forms are mixedly set in the hopper, the weight of the form currently being read is several kg. If you don't define whether or not it should be done, you cannot check the overrun because you cannot know the thickness of the form. Therefore, in the conventional optical character reading device, the overrun check is performed as follows.

That is, in FIG. 6 showing the outline of the configuration of the conventional optical character reading device, ID (identification number) information is printed on the leading portion of the supplied form 2 as shown in FIG. First, the ID information is read by the character reading unit 6 including the CCD sensor 7, and the recognition unit 10 performs character recognition.
When the ID recognition is completed, the ID data is sent to the higher-level device 11 via the CPU 4, and the higher-level device 11 sends the I
Receive format data for D.

The format data includes data indicating how many kilograms of the ID information form should be continuous, and the continuous amount of the form currently read is defined from this data. , Reference value corresponding to each continuous amount stored in the memory 5 in advance by the CPU 4 (five types in this example)
Select one of them.

After that, when the form 2 passes through the paper thickness detector 3, the form 2 is received based on the paper thickness digital value received from the paper thickness detector 3 and the reference value corresponding to the continuous amount defined by the format data. CPU 4 determines whether or not the vehicle is overrun. If it is a heavy run, the upper device 11
Then, an alarm is displayed on the CRT 12 of the host device 11 to notify the operator to that effect. Then, the next process is performed.

[0011]

However, in the above-described conventional optical character reading device, the paper thickness detection unit 3 for detecting the overrun of the form is on the running path of the form 2 and behind the character reading unit 6. Since it was located in the area, the time for performing the ID information recognition process was always required before the double-run check. In order to perform ID recognition, a lot of processing such as character position search, character cutout, and character recognition is required, and each processing requires a lot of bytes of image data, which takes time. Therefore, there is a problem that due to this processing time, it takes time to notify the operator of the overrun detection or to move to the next processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an optical character reading device capable of improving the overall processing speed by deleting unnecessary time from the ID recognition time. The purpose is to do.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical character reader according to the present invention detects the paper thickness of a fed medium and detects that the paper thickness is thicker than a predetermined reference value. The first paper thickness detecting means for outputting the first detection information and the medium identification information read from the medium that has passed through the first paper thickness detecting means are recognized only when the first detection information is not output. Recognition means for processing and second paper thickness for outputting second detection information when the paper thickness detected by the first paper thickness detection means is thicker than the paper thickness obtained based on the medium identification information. The detection means and the notification means for notifying the heavy running of the medium when the first and second detection information are output are provided.

[0014]

In the optical character reading device according to the present invention, the paper thickness detecting unit is arranged in front of the character reading unit on the traveling path of the medium, and the paper thickness detected by the paper thickness detecting unit is the paper thickness of the thickest medium. By comparing with the reference value set based on the above, it is possible to perform a double running check before ID recognition. As a result, the time required for ID recognition can be eliminated, and the overall processing speed can be improved. If the paper thickness detection unit cannot perform the double-run check, the double-run determination is performed again based on the paper thickness obtained based on the ID information, so that the double-run check can be completed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the outline of an embodiment of an optical character reading device according to the present invention. In the figure, the sheet 2 fed from the hopper 1 is first subjected to sheet thickness detection by a sheet thickness detection unit 3 including a detection roller 53 (see FIG. 5).
As the paper thickness detecting unit 3, for example, one having a configuration as shown in FIG. 5 can be used, but it is not limited to this. The paper thickness digital value V _IN representing the paper thickness detected by the paper thickness detection unit 3 is supplied to the CPU 4. The CPU 4 refers to this paper thickness digital value V _IN and performs an overrun check as to whether or not two or more forms 2 have overlapped and passed based on a slice level V _TH1 which will be described later, and this paper thickness digital value V Store _IN in memory 5. When it is determined that the vehicle is overrun, the CPU 4 outputs the first detection information.

Here, the forms that can be used in the optical character reader according to the present invention are, for example, 55 kg, 70 kg, 9 in a continuous amount.
If there are 5 types of 0kg, 110kg, 135kg,
In the memory 5, the slice level (reference value) V _TH1 set corresponding to the heaviest continuous form, in other words, the thickest form, is stored in advance, and each continuous form form is stored. 5 slice levels V set according to the paper thickness
_{TH21 to} V _TH25 are also stored in advance.

The slice level V _TH1 is a reference value used for determining the overrun when the form 2 passes through the paper thickness detection unit 3, and is set based on the paper thickness of the thickest form. That is, in this example, the form weighing 135 kg is the heaviest form, so that the slice level V _TH25 of the form weighing 135 kg is set as shown in FIG. Here, the slice level V _TH25 is set to a paper thickness corresponding to a weight of 157.5 kg given by 135 kg + (55 kg / 2). Other slice levels V _{TH21 to} V _TH24 are similarly set.

As shown in FIG. 7, ID (identification number) information is printed on the top of the form 2, and the form 2 that has passed through the paper thickness detection unit 3 is identified by the character reading unit 6.
Textual information including information is read. The character reading unit 6
The CCD sensor 7 which is an image sensor, the light source 8 such as a fluorescent lamp that illuminates the printing surface of the form 2, and the reflected light from the form 2 are CC
And a mirror 9 that leads to the D sensor 7,
The output of the CCD sensor 7 is supplied to the recognition unit 10 as image data.

The recognition unit 10 uses the well-known pattern matching technique or the like based on the supplied image data to identify the ID.
A recognition process of a character including information is performed. Then, when the recognition process of the ID information is completed by this character recognition,
The ID data obtained by this recognition processing is supplied to the CPU 4. The CPU 4 supplies this ID data to the higher-level device 11, and receives the format data corresponding to the ID data from the higher-level device 11. This format data includes data indicating how many kg the continuous amount of the form identified by this ID data should be.

Based on this format data, the CPU 4 defines the continuous quantity of the form whose ID has just been recognized, and among the five slice levels V _{TH21 to} V _TH25 corresponding to each continuous quantity stored in advance in the memory 5, Pick one of the. And
Using the selected slice level V _TH2x , it is determined whether or not two or more sheets 2 have passed in overlap based on the paper thickness digital value V _IN detected by the paper thickness detection unit 3 and stored in the memory 5 at that time. Check the heavy running again. When it is determined that the vehicle is overrun, the CPU 4 outputs the second detection information.

The upper-level device 11 responds to the first detection information output from the CPU 4 when the paper thickness detection unit 3 determines that the paper thickness is overrun and detects the character reading unit 6. At I
When it is determined that the vehicle is overrun when reading and recognizing the D information, a predetermined message is displayed on the CRT 12 in response to the second detection information output from the CPU 4 to notify the operator that the vehicle is overrun. To do.

In the case of overrun, the ID in the recognition unit 10
If the character recognition process is not performed after the information and the paper thickness detection unit 3 does not determine that the character is overrun, and if the character recognition unit 6 does not determine that the character reading unit 6 is overrun, , ID information is followed by a character recognition process. Then, the form 2 that has passed through the character reading unit 6 is passed to the reject stacker 14 when a double running is detected by either the paper thickness detecting unit 3 or the character reading unit 6 after passing through the running path 13. If the overrun is not detected, it is supplied to the accept stacker 15.

Next, the processing procedure of the double running check of the form 2 executed by the CPU 4 in the optical character reading apparatus according to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the fed form 2 arrives at the paper thickness detection unit 3 (step S1), the paper thickness detection unit 3
The paper thickness digital value V _IN is read from (step S
2) It is judged whether or not this paper thickness digital value V _IN is larger than the slice level V _TH1 stored in advance in the memory 5, that is, whether or not the form 2 is running over (step S).
3). When V _IN > V _TH1 , it means that the form 2 is running over, so the first detection information is output to the higher-level device 11 (step S4). Thereby, the host device 11
Then, a predetermined message is displayed on the CRT 12 to notify the operator that the vehicle is overrunning.

Here, assuming that this apparatus can handle forms of five types of paper thickness, when two forms run overrun,
Among the 25 combinations of continuous quantities shown in FIG. 4, 19 combinations surrounded by a broken line are 157.5 kg or more, and it is determined that V _IN > V _{TH1 in} step S3. It is possible to unconditionally detect the heavy running of the combination of continuous quantities of. In this case, the subsequent character reading and recognition processes will not be performed.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S3 that V _IN ≦ V _TH1 , there is a possibility of heavy running of the 6 combinations which are not enclosed by broken lines, among the 25 combinations of continuous quantities. However, it is assumed that one form 2 is running for the time being, and the process proceeds to the next process. When the form 2 arrives at the character reading unit 6 (step S5), the ID data read from the form 2 by the character reading unit 6 and obtained by the recognition processing by the recognition unit 10 is fetched (step S6),
The format data corresponding to this ID data is received from the host device 11 (step S7).

Then, one of five kinds of slice levels V _{TH21 to} V _TH25 corresponding to each continuous quantity stored in advance in the memory 5 is selected using the continuous quantity defined by this format data (step S8), whether or not the paper thickness digital value V _IN stored in the memory 5 at the time of detection by the paper thickness detection unit 3 is _larger than the selected slice level V _TH2x , that is, the overrun determination is performed again. Do (Step S
9).

When it is determined that V _IN > V _TH2x , that is, when it is determined that the _vehicle is _overrunning , the second detection information is output to the _host device 11 (step S10). As a result, the higher-level device 11 notifies the operator of the heavy running by displaying a message on the CRT 12. By the determination processing in step S9, it is possible to check the overrun of the combination of 6 continuous quantities out of the 25 that could not be checked in step S3.

With the above, a series of processing for checking the double running is completed. When it is determined in step S9 that V _IN ≦ V _TH2x , it means that the form 2 is running with one sheet, and therefore the routine _proceeds to a normal character recognition processing routine.

As described above, the paper thickness detection unit 3 is arranged in front of the character reading unit 6 on the traveling path of the form 2, and the paper thickness digital value V _IN detected by the paper thickness detection unit 3 is the thickest form. By determining whether the slice level is larger than the slice level V _TH1 set on the basis of the sheet thickness, that is, whether it is a double run, it is possible to perform a double run check before ID recognition. The time required for ID recognition can be eliminated, and the processing speed of the entire optical character reading device can be improved.

The slice level V _TH2x corresponding to the paper thickness of the form 2 currently running is read based on the ID data obtained by the character reading unit 6 and the character recognition by the recognition unit 10.
Is set and it is determined whether or not the digital value V _{IN of} the paper thickness previously detected by the paper thickness detection unit 3 is _larger than the set slice level V _TH2x , the paper thickness detection unit 3 cannot check. Since it is possible to recheck the heavy running, in this example, the double running can be checked without omission for all the combinations of 25 continuous quantities.

Even when three or more forms are overrun, if the paper thickness is greater than or equal to 157.5 kg, it is possible to determine overrun before ID recognition, as described above. In the case of the above embodiment, the thinnest paper thickness of 55 kg is 3
When running multiple sheets, 55 kg x 3 = 165 kg> 157.
When the weight is 5 kg and there are three or more sheets running over, the paper thickness detection unit 3 can check the overrunning in any combination, so ID recognition is not required, and the time for ID recognition processing during overrun is completely achieved. It can be deleted.

[0032]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the paper thickness detecting unit is arranged in front of the character reading unit on the traveling path of the medium such as the form, and the paper thickness detecting unit detects the paper thickness. By determining the overrun by comparing the thickness with a reference value set based on the paper thickness of the thickest medium, I
Since it is possible to perform a double-run check before D recognition, ID
The time required for recognition can be eliminated, and the processing speed of the entire optical character reading device can be improved.

Further, a reference value corresponding to the paper thickness of the medium currently running is set based on the ID information obtained by the character reading unit and the character recognition by the recognition unit, and the paper thickness detection unit detects the reference value first. By determining the overrun on the basis of the paper thickness, the overrun that could not be checked by the paper thickness detection unit can be rechecked, so that the overrun check can be performed without omission.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an optical character reading device according to the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Form of each continuous quantity and slice level V _IN , V _TH21 ~
It is a figure which shows the relationship of V _TH25 .

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an overrun check in the optical character reading device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a pattern diagram showing a combination of multiple runs of forms of each continuous amount.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an example of a paper thickness detection unit.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a conventional optical character reading device.

FIG. 7 is a format diagram of an example including ID information printed on a form.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hopper 2 Form 3 Paper Thickness Detection Unit 4 CPU 6 Character Reading Unit 10 Recognition Unit 11 Upper Device 12 CRT

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first paper thickness detecting means for detecting a paper thickness of a fed medium and outputting first detection information when the paper thickness is thicker than a predetermined reference value, and the first paper. Recognition means for recognizing the medium identification information read from the medium that has passed through the thickness detection means only when the first detection information is not output, and the paper thickness obtained based on the medium identification information, A second paper thickness detecting means for outputting second detection information when the paper thickness detected by the first paper thickness detecting means is thick; and a medium 2 when the first and second detection information is output.
An optical character reading device, comprising: a notifying means for notifying that two or more sheets are overlapped. 2. The optical character reading device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined reference value is set based on a paper thickness of a thickest medium among a plurality of types of mediums to be read. ..