JPH0567161A - Picture information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a picture information processor by which any person can easily retrieve desired picture information in a short time. CONSTITUTION:A picture information processor 1 having a storage means where many picture information are stored in relation to discrimination information and an output means which visually outputs picture information is provided with a picture input means which reads a retrieval medium where discrimination information of respective picture information stored in the storage means are enumerated and discrimination information of specific picture information is distinguished by color, a retrieval processing means 11 which recognizes discrimination information distinguished by color out of discrimination information of the retrieval medium read by the picture input means and sends this discrimination information as a retrieval condition of specific picture information, and a control means 10 which reads out corresponding specific picture information from the storage means based on the retrieval condition from the retrieval processing means and outputs it by an output means. By this constitution, desired picture information is easily retrieved in a short time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information processing apparatus having a search function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of image information processing apparatus,
Conventionally, when a specific image information is searched from a large number of image information stored and held in a storage unit in advance, a search condition (keyword) for the specific image information while looking at a display unit such as a CRT.
A search instruction is performed by inputting from the keyboard.

[0003]

However, in the conventional search work as described above, it is necessary to input the search conditions from the keyboard, and many people who are unfamiliar with the operation need to search for specific image information. Labor-intensive,
There is a problem that it takes time.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image information processing apparatus which allows any person to obtain desired image information easily and in a short time without requiring skill in image information retrieval processing. Is.

[0005]

The present invention provides an image information processing apparatus having storage means for storing a large number of pieces of image information in association with identification information, and output means for visually outputting the image information. The image input means for reading the identification information of each image information stored in the storage means and reading the search medium in which the identification information of the specific image information is color-coded, and the search medium read by the image input means Retrieval processing means for recognizing the color-coded identification information among the identification information and transmitting this identification information as a retrieval condition for specific image information; and a corresponding specific identification from the storage means based on the retrieval condition from this retrieval processing means. And a control means for reading out the image information and providing the output by the output means.

[0006]

The operation of the image information processing apparatus having the above-described structure will be described below.

The image information input means of this image information processing apparatus reads and reads a search medium in which the identification information of each image information stored in the storage means is listed and the identification information of the specific image information is color-coded. Each piece of identification information is sent to the search processing means. The search processing means recognizes the color-coded identification information among the pieces of identification information, and sends this identification information to the control means as a search condition for specific image information. The control means reads out the corresponding specific image information from the storage means based on the search condition from the search processing means, and sends this image information to the output means. As a result, the image information corresponding to the color-coded identification information on the search medium is visibly output from the output means.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

The image information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a list of originals with images and identification information of image information, and
A scanner 3 as an image information input means for reading identification information of specific image information on a color-coded search medium 2 and converting it into an electric signal, a keyboard 4 as an input means having a ten-key pad, character keys, and the like, and image information. CRT display 5 as display means which is one of the output means for displaying, a printer 6 which is one of the output means for printing image information and search information on a sheet, and a large number of image information as identification information. It has an optical disk device 7 as a storage means for storing the data in association with each other.

Next, the control system of the image information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The image information processing apparatus 1 comprises a control means 10 comprising a CPU for controlling the whole and a program memory storing a control program, and the scanner is connected to a data bus and a control bus of the control means 10. 3, C
RT display 5, printer 6 and optical disk device 7
Are connected. A keyboard 4 is connected to the control means 10 via an input bus.

Further, a search process in which the control means 10 recognizes the color-coded identification information among the identification information of the search medium 2 read by the scanner 3 and sends this identification information as a search condition for specific image information. The means 11 are connected.

As shown in FIG. 3, the search processing means 11 discriminates between the color-coded identification information and the non-color-coded identification information among the identification information of the search medium 2 read by the scanner 3, and recognizes the color-coded identification information. Color determining means 12
And a thinning-out processing unit 13 for thinning out pixel information of the color-coded identification information recognized by the color discrimination means 12, and a frame area of the color-coded identification information that takes in the thinned-out identification information from the thinning-out processing unit 13. And a search condition creation unit 15 that creates a search condition for specific image information based on the extraction result by the frame area processing unit 14 and sends the search condition to the control means. ing.

Details of the identification information that is attached to the search medium 2 as a list will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. still,
As identification information of a large number of image information, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the English letters A to G and the individual keywords (characters not shown) attached to the sides of the English letters are used, and these will be referred to as area A to area G in the following description. .. Further, the positions of the areas A to G on the search medium 2 are specified by the x, y coordinate system as shown in FIG.

Further, the search condition setting using the identification information for the specific image information is performed as follows.

As shown in FIG. 5, the areas A, B, and D are surrounded by yellow (represented by solid lines) color marker pens, and C and G.
When each area is surrounded by a red (represented by dotted line: means negative) color marker pen, the search condition is "A and
BandDandCnandG ".

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when only the C area is surrounded by a yellow (represented by a solid line) color marker pen, the retrieval condition at this time is "andC".

The search condition "AandB as described above is used.
andDandCandG "," andC ", etc.
When the image information is stored in the optical disk device 7 as the storage means, the keyboard 4 is used to store the image information in association with the image information. In addition to the above-described case, the search condition may be set by enclosing the entire line of each of the areas A to G with a color marker pen as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the keyword may be surrounded by two lines in the area A to area G.

Next, the image information processing apparatus 1 having the above-mentioned configuration
The general operation of will be described with reference to FIG.

When the key is received after the power is turned on (ST1) (ST
2) Press a search condition list output key (not shown) provided on the keyboard 4 (ST3 affirmative), the control means 10
Reads identification information such as a keyword from the optical disk device 7 (ST4).

Next, the control means 10 deletes the duplicated read identification information (ST5) and creates identification information in the form shown in FIG. Further, the control means 10
As shown in FIG. 7, after each identification information is associated with the output position (ST6), this association information is stored (ST7).

Then, under the control of the control means 10, the printer 6 prints out the retrieval medium 2 to which the identification information consisting of the areas A to G shown in FIG. 4 is added (ST).
8).

In step 3 described above, when the search condition list output key is not pressed and the search instruction input key is pressed (ST9), the scanner 3 as the image input means loads the search medium 2 Read (ST10). The identification information of the search medium 2 read by the scanner 3 is sent to the control means 10, and the control means 10 selects an image corresponding to the identification information from a large number of image information stored in the optical disk device 7 based on the identification information. Search for information (ST1
1). The retrieved image information is displayed on the CRT display 5 or printed out on paper by the printer 6 (ST11).

If the search instruction input key is pressed in step 9 (ST13), the corresponding process is executed if another process key is pressed (ST14), or the search instruction input key is pressed. If not, the process directly returns to step 2.

Next, the image information processing apparatus 1 having the above-mentioned configuration
The search operation of the image information by the search medium 2 shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the key is received (ST2) after the search medium 2 shown in FIG. 5 is set in the scanner 3 and the start key is pressed (ST21), the scanner 3 reads the search medium 2 and reads each read The identification information is sent to the color discrimination means 12 of the search processing means 11.

The color discriminating means 12 discriminates between the color-coded identification information and the non-color-coded identification information among the identification information, and recognizes the color-coded identification information, that is, the A, B, C, D and G identification information. These are sent to the thinning processing unit 13. The thinning-out processing unit 13 thins out the pixel information of the identification information of each of A, B, C, D, and G, and then sends these to the in-frame region processing unit 14. The in-frame region processing unit 14 takes in the thinned-out A, B, C, D, and G identification information from the thinning-out processing unit 13 and extracts the in-frame region of the color-coded identification information. By the above operation, the position and color of the A, B, C, D, and G identification information are specified (ST23).

The search condition creating section 15 uses the specified A, B,
A search condition "AandBandDandCnandG" is created based on the position and color of the C, D, and G identification information (ST24). The control means 10 searches for image information corresponding to the search condition from a large number of image information stored in the optical disk device 7 based on the created search condition (ST25). The retrieved image information is displayed on the CRT display 5 or printed out on paper by the printer 6 (ST26).

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible for any person to easily retrieve desired image information simply by color-coding the identification medium to which the identification information is attached, without requiring any skill. It is possible to provide a different image information processing device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of search processing means in the device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a search medium in the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a color-coded state of the search medium in the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a color-coded state of a search medium in the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the position of identification information of a search medium in the device of the embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another example of the color-coded state of the search medium in the apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Information Processing Device 2 Search Medium 4 Keyboard 5 CRT Display 6 Printer 7 Optical Disk Device 10 Control Means 11 Search Processing Means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image information processing apparatus, comprising: storage means for storing a large number of pieces of image information in association with respective pieces of identification information; and output means for visually outputting the image information. Image input means for reading the identification information of each image information and reading the search medium in which the identification information of the specific image information is color-coded, and color-coded identification information of each identification information of the search medium read by the image input means Of the specified image information from the storage means based on the search condition from the search processing means, and the output means. An image information processing apparatus, comprising: