JPH06131092A - Input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to process recognition information on the characters which is printed by an OCR or is handwritten in the same way as the key operation input from a keyboard device and to recognize also pieces of input information whose shape are the same or similar each other by discrimi nating them. CONSTITUTION:When the information on printed or handwritten characters, etc., is optically read, is inputted and recognized, the recognition code is converted into a keyboard operation code, further, it is converted into the keyboard signal corresponding to a system device and it is outputted to a system device 3. The kind of character is switched according to the kind of the character in inputted information, the evaluation value corresponding to the switched kind of character is discriminated out of the evaluation values for each kind of character to be used for the recognition of inputted information by a character kind judgment part 17 and the recognition code to be outputted ins decided out of the candidates of the recognition result of the inputted information by a candidate determination part 18 based on the evaluation value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical character reader (OCR) used by connecting to various data processing devices (computer main body) including a document preparation device, an automatic translation device, etc., and a system device such as a filing device. ) Is used for the input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a keyboard device having input keys for inputting various information is widely used as an input device of a system device such as a data processing device or a filing device. There was a problem that it took time to get used to the operation.

Therefore, as an input means for assisting the key input operation by the keyboard device, an OC for optically reading and inputting information such as handwritten or printed characters and symbols
R, a tablet input device that detects a handwriting of information such as characters handwritten directly on the board by a pressure-sensitive sensor group, and recognizes and inputs the character corresponding to the handwriting; Various input devices have been proposed, which include a voice input device for inputting, for example.

For example, there are the following devices. (1) Recognizing the characters handwritten from the tablet, distinguishing the recognized characters, converting them into an output code of a system distinguishable from the output code from the keyboard device, and outputting the output code and keyboard via an adapter. A character input device that integrates the output code from the device and outputs it to the control processing body (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-223974).

(2) When a handwritten OCR is connected to an information input device capable of inputting information from a voice or keyboard device and a kanji or the like that cannot be read is input, the handwritten OCR
An information input device capable of handwriting input (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-62368).

(3) Instead of the key input of the keyboard device or the push button input on the panel, a handwritten input character or a voice input instruction is recognized, and a registration table is created in advance in correspondence with the recognition result. An information processing device that selects a registered process (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-187340).

(4) A keyboard device for outputting character and numerical codes by pressing a key, a hand scanner and an OCR character read by the hand scanner are identified to generate character and numerical codes, and output from the keyboard device. A personal computer input device having an alphanumeric character recognition unit for outputting the logical sum of and, and handling both the input from the keyboard device and the hand scanner as the same input (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-50114).

[0008]

However, each of the above-mentioned devices has the following problems. (1) The system of the output code is different for the character input of the tablet and the keyboard device, and the control processing device body that receives the output code must perform the process of determining the output code of both. Not only does this reduce efficiency, but it cannot be used as is in conventional general data processing devices.

Further, since only the characters can be handwritten on the tablet and various control information other than the characters cannot be input like the keyboard device, the tablet device cannot be completely used in place of the keyboard device.

(2) Since the voice input, the input by the keyboard device, and the handwritten OCR input must be input to the main body through separate input interfaces and different recognition processing must be performed respectively, the structure and program of the data processing device main body are It is complicated and not versatile.

(3) The pre-registered process can only be selected by handwriting character input or voice input, and various information cannot be freely input as in the case of key input by the keyboard device. , Limited to special purposes.

(4) Inputs from the keyboard device and the hand scanner are only character and numeric codes, and other control codes cannot be input. Further, in general data processing devices such as personal computers and word processors, character and numerical codes are not input from the keyboard interface.

Therefore, the pressed position of the key (key code)
Since the ON / OFF information is input and the process of converting the ON / OFF information into a character or numeric code or a control code is performed in the main body, inputting the character and numeric codes is not versatile. Further, since the logical sum of the codes output from the keyboard device and the hand scanner is output, there is a possibility that simultaneous input by the both may occur with respect to the main body of the data processing device.

As described above, in any of the conventional input devices described above, the key input by the keyboard device is mainly used, and
A CR, a tablet input device, a voice input device, etc. can be used as an auxiliary input device.

Therefore, it has not been possible to input all kinds of information using an input device other than the keyboard device as in the keyboard device. Further, there is a problem that the configuration of the main body of the data processing device is complicated due to the increase in the input means, the processing load is increased, or the versatility is lacking.

Furthermore, the English characters "c", "o", "p", "s"
For letters that have the same shape in both upper and lower case, such as "x", "v", "z", etc., the lowercase letters are recognized as uppercase letters, and vice versa. For example, when an English character such as an English paper is read by OCR, there is a problem that it is difficult to surely recognize the upper case and the lower case of the input information.

In some cases, letters and numbers are similar in shape, such as the number "0" and the uppercase letter "O" and the number "1" and the lowercase letter "l". , The number "0" may be recognized as an uppercase "O" or lowercase "o", or the number "1" may be recognized as a lowercase "l". However, there was a problem that it was difficult to surely recognize.

Therefore, for example, if the number "1" is recognized as a lowercase letter "l" when reading the numbers in the numerical table and performing the spreadsheet, the calculation when the spreadsheet is performed based on the recognition result. The results may be wrong.

Further, with respect to such information that may cause misrecognition, it is possible to store miscellaneous shapes in a dictionary and prevent misrecognition by referring to the dictionary. Therefore, a large-capacity memory is required, and the scale of the device also becomes large. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost of the device increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and all input information such as printed or handwritten characters optically read by the OCR can be handled in exactly the same way as the key operation input from the keyboard device. In this way, input information having the same or similar shape can be distinguished and recognized, the increase in the cost of the device for that is suppressed as much as possible, and the versatility of input operation, flexibility, and operability are greatly improved.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a versatile input device that can be used without changing the data processing device body side.

[0021]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an input device according to the present invention has an information input means for optically reading and inputting information such as printed or handwritten characters, and an input by the means. The input information recognition means for recognizing the generated information and outputting the recognition code, the keyboard operation code creating means for converting the recognition code from the means to the keyboard operation code, and the keyboard operation code from the means for the system device. It is provided with keyboard signal generating means for converting into a corresponding keyboard signal and keyboard signal output means for outputting the keyboard signal to a system device such as a data processing device via a keyboard interface.

Further, the character type switching means for switching the character type according to the type of character in the information input by the information input means, and the character type switching among the evaluation values for each character type used for recognition by the input information recognition means. Character type determining means for determining an evaluation value corresponding to the character type switched by the means, and a candidate for determining a recognition code to be output from among the candidates of the recognition result by the input information recognition means based on the evaluation value determined by the means. It is provided with a determination means.

Further, the information input means, the input information recognition means, the keyboard operation code generation means, the keyboard signal generation means and the keyboard signal output means are provided, and the kind of the character in the information of the recognition code recognized by the input information recognition means is provided. Character type determining means for determining the input information, statistical information storage means for storing deviation information corresponding to the character type determined by the means, and input information recognition based on the evaluation value corresponding to the deviation information stored in the means. There is also provided an input device provided with candidate determining means for determining a recognition code to be output from among the candidates of the recognition result by the means.

Further, the information input means, the input information recognition means, the keyboard operation code generation means, the keyboard signal generation means and the keyboard signal output means are provided, and the special character for recognizing the special character in the information input by the information input means is provided. A character recognition unit, a character type determination unit that determines the type of character based on the special character recognized by the unit, and a candidate of the recognition result by the input information recognition unit based on the evaluation value according to the character type determined by the unit. Also provided is an input device provided with a candidate determining means for determining a recognition code to be output.

[0025]

The input device according to the present invention optically reads and inputs information such as printed or handwritten characters, recognizes the input information, converts the recognition code into a keyboard operation code, and further operates the keyboard operation. The code is converted into a keyboard signal (key code and its on / off signal) corresponding to the system device and output to a system device such as a data processing device via a keyboard interface.

Therefore, the system device side can process information such as printed or handwritten characters exactly as the information input by the key operation from the keyboard device, so that various data using the conventional keyboard device can be processed. The processing device main body (system device) can be connected to the keyboard interface and used without any modification.

Further, the character type is switched according to the type of character in the input information, the evaluation value corresponding to the switched character type is judged from the evaluation values for each character type used for recognition of the input information, and the evaluation value is determined. Since the recognition code to be output is determined from the candidates of the recognition result of the input information based on the judged evaluation value, the recognition result corresponding to the character type of the input information can be output.

Further, the type of character in the information of the recognition code which has recognized the input information is judged, deviation information corresponding to the judged character type is stored, and based on the evaluation value corresponding to the stored deviation information. By determining the recognition code to be output from the recognition result candidates of the input information, the recognition result corresponding to the character type according to the deviation information of the character type of the input information can be output.

Further, the special character in the input information is recognized, the character type is judged by the recognized special character, and the recognition result candidate of the input information is based on the evaluation value according to the judged character type. If the recognition code to be output is determined from among these, the recognition result corresponding to the character type of the input information specified by the special character can be output.

[0030]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a data processing device using the input device according to the present invention. In this data processing device, the input device 1 has a keyboard interface (I / I).
F) It is connected via a cable 2 to a system device 3 having a document creation function, a data processing function and the like.

The input device 1 has a function of optically reading various information such as characters and numbers printed or handwritten on a document inserted through the insertion opening 1a and converting the information into a keyboard signal. In addition to the normal recognition of input information, the input device 1 also has a function of determining a recognition result based on an evaluation value for each character type. Therefore, a character type selection switch 16 such as a touch key system for switching the character type mode is provided.

When the image of information such as characters written on the manuscript is read, and there are several pieces of information that are candidates for the recognition result, which of the respective pieces of information is most suitable. It is a numerical representation of the probability of whether or not there is.

Further, the keyboard device 12 is connected to the input device 1 via a keyboard interface (I / F) cable 13, and a keyboard signal generated by a key input from the keyboard device 12 is a keyboard interface (I) of the input device 1. / F) It is sent to the system unit 3 via the cable 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the first embodiment of the input device 1 shown in FIG. 2 together with a system device 3. The input device 1 includes an information input section 4, an input information recognition section 5, and a keyboard. Each function of the operation code creation unit 6, the keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7, the keyboard signal creation unit 8, the keyboard signal creation information storage unit 9, and the keyboard signal output unit 10 is provided.

Further, the keyboard control information storage unit 14,
The keyboard signal switching unit 15, the character type switching switch 16, the character type determining unit 17, and the candidate determining unit 18 are also provided. Also, the voice input unit 11a and the voice recognition unit 11b may be provided.

The information input unit 4 optically reads information such as characters printed or handwritten on an original with a scanner,
The information is binarized and sent to the input information recognition unit 5. Further, information indicating the information input is set in the keyboard control information storage unit 14 at the start and end of the information input.

The input information recognizing unit 5 performs information recognition processing of characters and the like on the binarized information received from the information input unit 4 by OCR, and sends the recognition code of the candidate of the recognition result to the candidate determining unit 18. Character type selection switch 16
Switches the character type mode according to the character type in the information input by the information input unit 4.

The character type determination unit 17 refers to the mode switched by the character type selection switch 16,
The evaluation value corresponding to the mode of the switched character type is determined from the evaluation values for each character type used for recognition by the input information recognition unit 5, and the evaluation value is sent to the candidate determination unit 18. In the normal mode, the normal evaluation value is output. Therefore, it has a table that stores normal evaluation values and evaluation values for each character type.

The candidate determining section 18 determines a recognition code from the candidates received from the input information recognition section 5 on the basis of a normal evaluation value in a normal case, and outputs it to the keyboard operation code creating section 6. .

When the mode is switched by the character type selection switch 16, the character type determination unit 1
Based on the evaluation value received from 7, the recognition code to be output is determined from the recognition result candidates received from the input information recognition unit 5, and the determined recognition code is output to the keyboard operation code creation unit 6.

Based on the information stored in the keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7, the keyboard operation code creation unit 6 uses the recognition code sent from the candidate determination unit 18 as a keyboard operation code (corresponding to the key operation. Code) and sends it to the keyboard signal creation unit 8.

The keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7 stores the information referred to by the keyboard operation code creation unit 6 in a table format. For all information such as characters that can be recognized by the input information recognition unit 5, these are stored. A keyboard operation code corresponding to the recognition code of is registered as an index.

The keyboard signal creation unit 8 is based on the information stored in the keyboard signal creation information storage unit 9
The keyboard operation code sent from the keyboard operation code creation unit 6 is converted into a keyboard signal (corresponding to a key code when a key on the keyboard device is pressed and its ON / OFF signal) and sent to the keyboard signal output unit 10. .

The keyboard signal creation information storage unit 9 is a memory for storing the information referred to by the keyboard signal creation unit 8, and here, each keyboard signal corresponding to each keyboard operation code (one key input) on the keyboard device. The data is registered in table format.

The keyboard signal data is notification information regarding key press and key release determined for each key on the keyboard device. For example, when the character "A" is input from the keyboard device to the system device, the keyboard device inputs to the system device the physical position (key code) of the character "A" in the key arrangement on the keyboard device. Keyboard signal data is notified as data indicating that the key is pressed (on) and released (off).

The keyboard signal output unit 10 outputs the keyboard signal data received from the keyboard signal generation unit 8 to the system unit 3 via the keyboard I / F cable 2 for exchanging data between the system unit 3 and the keyboard unit. . The keyboard control information storage unit 14 is a memory that stores information referred to by the keyboard signal switching unit 15. Here, the keyboard control that indicates the start and end of information input set by the information input unit 4 at the start and end of information input is performed. Store information.

The keyboard signal switching unit 15 switches between the keyboard signal from the keyboard device 12 and the keyboard signal data from the keyboard signal generating unit 8 according to the keyboard control information stored in the keyboard control information storage unit 14 to switch the keyboard signal. The signal is output to the signal output unit 10.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of the keyboard operation code creation information in the keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7 shown in FIG. The keyboard operation code creation information consists of recognition data and keyboard operation data, and the recognition data is information such as characters and symbols corresponding to each key on the keyboard device (for example,
"0", "A", "A", etc.), and the keyboard operation data is information on keyboard operation for inputting the respective information.

For example, the keyboard operation data for inputting “0” corresponding to the recognition data “0” has the number of key operations = 2 (indicating that two key operations are required) as operation data control information. , A pointer to the'alphanumeric 'key in the keyboard signal creation information indicating the operation of the'alphanumeric' key,
Keyboard signal creation information indicating the operation of the "0" key, and is composed of a pointer pointing to the "0" key.

Further, the keyboard operation data for inputting "A" corresponding to the recognition data "A" is the key operation number = 2 as the operation data control information and the keyboard signal creation information indicating the operation of the "Katakana" key. From the pointer that points to the "Katakana" key and the pointer that points to the "3" key in the keyboard signal creation information that indicates the operation of the "3" key (since the "A" key also serves as the "3" key) Become.

An expansion table for storing information of special marks indicating various control information may be added to the keyboard operation code creation table. That is, "Space""Upcursor""Downcursor""Linefeed""Pagebreak"
The keyboard operation data for inputting the respective information for the marks indicating the instruction functions such as "shift" and "full-width / half-width / double-width" is stored.

For example, the keyboard operation data for inputting the "up cursor" corresponding to the recognition data (upward arrow) indicating "up cursor" has the key operation number = 1 as the operation data control information and the "up cursor". It is keyboard signal creation information indicating the operation of a key, and is composed of a pointer pointing to the'up cursor 'key.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of the keyboard signal creation information in the keyboard signal creation information storage section 9 shown in FIG. The keyboard signal creation information consists of keyboard signals when each key is pressed and released.

Next, the operation of each part of the input device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, when information input such as characters is started from the information input unit 4, the keyboard control information storage unit 1
Then, the prohibition information is set in No. 4, and the input information recognition unit 5 outputs the pointer indicating the keyboard operation data corresponding to the corresponding character in the keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7 for the result candidate for the recognized character or the like. To do.

As shown in FIG. 5, the keyboard operation data has the number of key operations as the operation data control information and the operation information of the key as the operation data. The number of key operations when inputting from the device, the operation data corresponds to the input operation procedure, and the key operations (types of input keys) are arranged by the number of key operations in the input order. A pointer pointing to the corresponding key stored in the keyboard signal creation information storage unit 9 is set in the key operation information.

The character type determination unit 17 refers to the character type mode switched by the character type changeover switch 16 and sends an evaluation value corresponding to the character type mode to the candidate determination unit 18. The candidate determination unit 18 outputs the pointer of the evaluation character having the highest evaluation value among the candidates of the result recognized by the input information recognition unit 5 based on the evaluation value to the keyboard operation code creation unit 6.

When the keyboard operation code creating section 6 receives the pointer from the candidate determining section 18, it retrieves the number of key operations and the operation data corresponding to the pointer, and operates the key operation information (keyboard signal) in order from the operation data by the number of key operations. A pointer to creation information is input and output to the keyboard signal creation unit 8.

The keyboard signal generating section 8 sequentially outputs the code of the corresponding key and the keyboard signal indicating the pressing and releasing of the key to the keyboard signal switching section 15 by the pointer from the keyboard operation code generating section 6. The keyboard signal switching unit 15 determines whether to output or invalidate the keyboard signal from the keyboard device 12 according to the prohibition or permission information stored in the keyboard control information storage unit 14 controlled by the information input unit 4.

In this case, since the input from the information input section 4 is valid, the keyboard signal from the keyboard signal generation section 8 is sent to the keyboard signal output section 10. Then, the keyboard signal output unit 10 outputs the keyboard signal to the system unit 3 via the keyboard I / F cable 2.

Next, when the input operation by the information input unit 4 is completed, the keyboard input permission information is set in the keyboard control information, and the operator operates the keyboard device 12 here.
When a key is input from, the keyboard signal by the key input is sent to the keyboard signal switching unit 15.

Then, the keyboard signal switching unit 15 sends the keyboard signal sent from the keyboard device 12 to the keyboard signal output unit 10 according to the permission information of the keyboard control information storage unit 14, and the keyboard signal output unit 1
0 outputs the keyboard signal to the system unit 3 via the keyboard I / F cable 2.

Next, the processing for recognizing information by switching the evaluation value for each character type of input information in this input device will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when character recognition is performed on input information, the recognized character type is determined, that is, the character type mode switched for the recognized information is determined, and the character corresponding to that character type is determined. Select the type mode.

After that, an evaluation value corresponding to the character type mode is determined, a candidate to be output is determined from the candidates of the recognition result of the input information based on the evaluation value, the candidate is output, and this processing is finished. .

Next, regarding the determination processing of the concrete recognition result candidates in the case of providing four modes of "lowercase alphabet mode", "uppercase mode", "kanji kana mode" and "numeric mode" as character type modes explain. Table 1 is a table showing an example of evaluation characters, their normal evaluation values, and evaluation values for each character type.

This table is for each of the above four modes for the half-width numeral "1", the full-width numeral "1", the lowercase letter "L", and the uppercase letter "I" which are different in character type but have the same or similar shape. This is a list of evaluation values set in, and when there are some information that are candidates for the recognition result for the input information, the evaluation value quantifies the probability indicating which of the information is most suitable. It is a thing.

For example, when the candidates of the result recognized from the input information are the half-width numeral “1”, the full-width numeral “1”, the half-width lowercase letter “l”, and the half-width uppercase letter “I”, the character type mode is the lowercase letter mode. In the case of, it is determined that the recognition code of the lowercase letter (half-width) L, which has the highest evaluation value “70%” among the evaluation values of each character information in that mode, should be output.

In the case of the English capital letter mode, the recognition code of the capital letter (half-width) "I", in the kanji-kana mode, the recognition code of the numeral (full-width) "1", and in the numeric mode, the numeral It is determined that the (one-byte) "1" recognition code should be output. In addition, in the case of a normal evaluation value, a numeral (half-width) "1" is determined.

That is, based on the evaluation values shown in Table 1, if the character type mode is switched to the English lower case mode when the character information "┃" is recognized, each evaluation of the English lower case mode is performed. There is a high possibility that the highest evaluation value among the values will be the lowercase letter (half-width) L.

[0069]

[Table 1]

In this way, by switching the character type mode according to the character type of the input information, the recognition result of the input information can be determined by the evaluation value for each of the switched character type modes. The rate is improved.

It is convenient that the evaluation value of the character type judging section 17 can be arbitrarily registered or changed. For example, the input device is provided with a means for designating the evaluation value registration / change mode and a means for registering or changing the evaluation value with respect to the character type judging section 17.

After switching to that mode, the information input section 4 reads the information of the evaluation character to be registered or changed entered in the dedicated sheet and the evaluation value in each character type mode, and the read information is read. The evaluation value registration / change means may register or change the evaluation value table of the character type determination unit 17.

Next, the information input switching process by the input device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Input permission information is set in the keyboard control information storage unit 14 while information input by optical reading from the information input unit 4 is not started. Then, the keyboard signal switching unit 15 refers to the information stored in the keyboard control information storage unit 14 and determines whether the information is prohibition information.

At this time, since it is the input permission information, it is determined that the input is in the input permission state, the input from the keyboard device 12 is validated, and if there is a key input from the keyboard device 12, the keyboard signal is output to the keyboard signal output unit 10, and the keyboard signal is output. The process returns to the process of referring to the keyboard control information of the control information storage unit 14. After that, input characters (information) in the information input section 4
When there is data, the input is started, and the input control information is set in the keyboard control information storage unit 14.

Then, the keyboard signal switching unit 1 causes the keyboard signal generation unit 8 to generate a keyboard signal corresponding to information such as characters recognized from the information read by the information input unit 4.
5, the keyboard signal switching unit 15 refers to the information stored in the keyboard control information storage unit 14, and determines whether the information is prohibition information.

This time, since the information is prohibition information, it is judged to be in the prohibition state, the input from the keyboard device 12 is invalidated, and the keyboard signal switching unit 15 receives the keyboard signal received from the keyboard signal generation unit 8 to the keyboard signal output unit 10. send.

Next, the process of inputting information by the input device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First,
When information such as characters is input from the information input unit 4, it is sent to the input information recognizing unit 5, and the input information recognizing unit 5 performs a process of recognizing the characters and the like and sends a pointer of a candidate of the recognition result to the candidate determining unit 18.

Candidate determining unit 18 that has received the pointer
Determines which one of the candidates to be output based on the evaluation value received from the character type determination unit 17, and outputs the pointer to the keyboard operation code creation unit 6. The keyboard operation code creation unit 6 obtains the key operation number Kt from the keyboard creation code information for the corresponding data pointed by the pointer, and sets the key operation extraction number Kn to 0.

The number Kt of key operations is compared with the number Kn of key operations taken out, and if they are equal, it is judged whether or not the input is completed. If YES, the process ends. If NO, the information input unit 4 again.
The information input process by is repeated.

On the other hand, if Kt and Kn are not equal, 1 is added to Kn by the keyboard signal creating section 8 to obtain the operation of the Kn-th key from the operation data, and the pointer pointed to is pressed from the keyboard signal creation information. When the keyboard signal is obtained, the keyboard signal output unit 10 outputs the keyboard signal.

Further, when the release-time keyboard signal is obtained from the keyboard signal generation information by the pointer pointed to by the operation of the Kn-th key and output by the keyboard signal output unit 10, the process returns to the process of comparing Kt and Kn, and Kt and Kn are compared.
The process is repeated until n becomes equal.

Next, an example of actual character input processing in the input device 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. Here, a case will be described in which the katakana “A” is input to make a judgment based on a normal evaluation value.

First, when the information input section 4 starts to read information, the information input section 4 sets prohibition information in the keyboard control information storage section 14, and the keyboard signal switching section 15 causes the keyboard device 12 to switch the information. Disable the key input of.

Then, when the information input section 4 reads the katakana "A" written on the manuscript P and sends it to the input information recognition section 5, the input information recognition section 5 recognizes the katakana "A",
A pointer pointing to the recognition data “A” of the keyboard operation code creation information is sent to the candidate determination unit 18.

The candidate determining section 18 determines the pointer to be output based on the ordinary evaluation value, and the pointer pointing to the recognition data "A" is directly used as the keyboard operation code creating section 6
Send to. The keyboard operation code creation unit 6 includes the data of the number of times of key operation as the keyboard operation data corresponding to the recognition data “A” in the information stored in the keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7, The pointers for the key operation and the '3' key operation are sent to the keyboard signal generation unit 8.

In the keyboard signal creation unit 8, the keyboard signal when the "Katakana" key is pressed, the keyboard signal when the "Katakana" key is released, and "" in the information stored in the keyboard signal creation information storage unit 9 by the pointer. The keyboard signal when the 3'key is pressed and the keyboard signal when the '3' key is released are output to the keyboard signal output unit 10.

In this way, since information such as characters input by means other than key input is output to the system unit as a keyboard signal as if the key input was from the keyboard unit, the system unit inputs from other than the keyboard unit. Information can also be processed as the same data as the key operation input from the keyboard device.

By switching to the character type mode indicating the character type of the information to be input at the time of information input,
Since the probability of outputting the recognition result corresponding to the character type is increased, the recognition result corresponding to the character type of the input information can be output.

The keyboard input permission notification lamp in the illuminated switch is turned on when the key input from the keyboard device 12 is enabled based on the keyboard input control information set in the keyboard control information storage unit 14 by the information input unit 4. By providing the keyboard input permission notifying section, the operator can be notified of whether or not input from the keyboard device 12 is possible.

As shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, a voice input unit 11a and a voice recognition unit 11b are provided, voice information from the voice input unit 11 is input, and the voice information is input to the voice recognition unit 11b.
If the recognition code is recognized and sent out to the keyboard operation code creating section 6, the information can be input by voice.

Furthermore, if the voice input unit 11a sets the information indicating that at the start and end of the voice information input to the keyboard control information storage unit 14, the key from the keyboard device 12 is input during the voice information input. It is possible to invalidate the input, and it is possible to prevent the voice information from being mixed with the information by key input.

Then, based on the information set in the keyboard control information storage unit 14, the input information from the information input unit 4 and the voice information from the voice input unit 11a are simultaneously output to the keyboard operation code creation unit 6. It is possible to prevent mixing of input information and voice information.

The other effects of the input device 1 of this embodiment will be listed below. First of all, as to the improvement of the man-machine interface, (1) it is not necessary to remember the key arrangement, so that the input becomes easy. (2) The skill of key operation becomes unnecessary.

(3) Combining characters not only with characters by handwriting input but also with various control information (eg, half-width, double-width, line feed, page break, conversion, etc.) without using an unfamiliar keyboard device. You can quickly enter by using the or symbols and marks.

(4) There is no risk of erroneous input unless the character or the like is input by mistake. (5) It is possible to easily perform a fixed-form input operation such as starting a business program that is used daily, by reading a card on which a series of operation information is printed and starting the apparatus. (6) Even persons with disabilities can easily input characters and the like.

With regard to hardware, (7) Since all input information is input as keyboard signals from the keyboard I / F, there is an increase in the load of different recognition processing on the system device side depending on the input means. Absent. (8) It can be used as it is for most data processing devices using a general keyboard device and is versatile.

(9) The size can be easily reduced without lowering the operability. (10) When applied to a filing device, the amount of data can be small because a code can be input instead of an image in the filing process, and resources such as a memory in the system device can be effectively used.

(11) When the input from the keyboard device is easier and more convenient, it can be used.
The flexibility of input work increases. (12) The keyboard device and the optical reading device can be connected to the system device by one connection cord (keyboard I / F cable), and the input work by the optical reading device and the keyboard device can be performed alternately.

Next, a second embodiment of the input device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the second embodiment of the input device according to the present invention together with the system device 3. The parts common to FIG. 1 are assigned the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted.

The input device 1 of the second embodiment is newly provided with a statistical information storage section 19 except for the character type changeover switch 16 shown in FIG. The function until the determination is slightly different from that of the input device 1 of the first embodiment.

That is, the character type determination unit 17 determines the type of character in the information of the recognition code recognized by the input information recognition unit, and the deviation information corresponding to the determined character type is stored in the statistical information storage unit 19. Then, based on the evaluation value corresponding to the stored deviation information, the candidate determination unit 18 determines the recognition code to be output from the candidates of the recognition result by the input information recognition unit 5. The deviation information is statistical information for recognizing information such as characters and the like, and then determining which of the character types such as alphabetic characters, kanji, kana, and numbers is biased.

Next, the information recognition processing in the input device 1 will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing. First, when character recognition is performed, the character type is determined, and deviation information corresponding to the determined character type is registered (stored) in the statistical information storage unit 19.

After that, an evaluation value corresponding to the deviation information is determined, a candidate to be output is determined from the candidates of the recognition result based on the evaluation value, and the candidate is output, and this processing is finished. That is, the evaluation value for determining the recognition code to be output from the recognition result candidates based on the deviation information is automatically set.

Next, concrete character recognition by the input device of the second embodiment will be described. Here, a case will be described in which the sentence “Sales for the current term of 1 million yen” is input and recognized. Table 2 is a table showing the deviation information before reading the sentence. The deviation information of the character type is 10% for "English characters", 60% for "Kanji kana", and 30% for "Numerals". To do.

[0105]

[Table 2]

First, the first character “now” of the sentence “current term sales of 1 million yen” is read, and when it is recognized by the input information recognition unit 5, the recognition result is sent to the candidate determination unit 18 and the character type determination unit 17. The character type determination unit 17 determines from the recognition result that it is “Kanji kana” and sends information indicating that the “Kanji kana” is biased to the statistical information storage unit 19.

Then, the statistical information storage unit 19 updates the deviation information for “Kanji kana” based on the received information, and sends the updated deviation information for “Kanji kana” to the character type determination unit 17. Then, the character type determination unit 17 sends the evaluation value corresponding to the deviation information to the candidate determination unit 18, and the candidate determination unit 18 based on the evaluation value, the input information recognition unit 5
The recognition code to be output is determined from the recognition result candidates sent from.

Further, in the character type judging section 17, Table 1 is shown.
The normal evaluation value shown in FIG. 3 is obtained, the part of the number “1” of the sentence “Sales of 1,000,000 yen for this term” is recognized, and the character type determination unit 17 updates the deviation information of the statistical information storage unit 19. .

For example, Table 3 is a table showing an example of the updated deviation information. In this way, the deviation information for each character type is the alphabet “10%”, the kanji kana “60%”, and the number “30%”. Since the kanji was initially read, the deviation rate of the “kanji kana” is It's getting higher.

[0110]

[Table 3]

The recognition result candidates are half-width numeral "1", full-width numeral "1", English small letter "L", and English capital letter "I".
When it is, the evaluation value corresponding to the mode of “Kanji Kana” with the highest deviation information value, that is, the highest full-width numeral “1” among the evaluation values of the Kanji Kana mode of Table 1.
To decide.

Thus, the character type of the input information is determined,
Since the recognition code to be output is determined from the recognition result candidates based on the determined character type, it is possible to automatically output the recognition result according to the character type of the input information.

Next, a third embodiment of the input device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the third embodiment of the input device according to the present invention together with the system device 3. The parts common to FIG. 1 are assigned the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted.

The input device 1 of the third embodiment is newly provided with a special character recognition section 20 except for the character type changeover switch 16 shown in FIG. 1, and the recognition result is determined after inputting information. The function up to this is slightly different from that of the input device 1 of the first embodiment.

The special character recognition unit 20 recognizes the special character in the information input by the information input unit 4. Therefore, special characters for each character type are registered in advance. Further, the character type determination unit 17 determines the character type based on the special character recognized by the special character recognition unit 20, and the candidate determination unit 18 inputs based on the evaluation value according to the character type determined by the character type determination unit 17. The recognition code to be output is determined from the recognition result candidates by the information recognition unit 5.

That is, when the special character recognition unit 20 recognizes a special character, the character type determination unit 17 determines which character type the evaluation value corresponding to should be increased, and sends the evaluation value to the candidate determination unit 18. After that, it is determined by the evaluation value already set from the recognized candidates, and the evaluation value is valid until the next special character is recognized.

Next, the information recognition processing in the input device 1 will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing. First, it is judged whether or not a special character is recognized from the input information, and if it is not recognized, character recognition is performed by a normal evaluation value, and the character recognition result is judged. The candidate for which the recognition code is to be output is determined, and this processing ends.

When the special character is recognized, the character type corresponding to the special character is determined, the character is recognized, and the evaluation value corresponding to the character type is changed. Then, based on the evaluation value, the candidate for which the recognition code is to be output is determined from among the candidates of the recognition result, and this processing is ended. That is, the recognition result corresponding to the character type indicated by the special character is output for the input information.

Next, concrete character recognition by the input device of the third embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the manuscript in which the English sentence is described. The English sentence “The sales for the present term totals 1000” described in the manuscript S is shown.
When "000 Yen." Is input, it is highly likely that each letter "l" (ell) of the words "sales" and "totals" is usually recognized as the number "1". Therefore, specify the character type when inputting and recognizing this English sentence.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of special characters (special marks), and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a manuscript in which special characters indicating the character type shown in FIG. 16 are entered in the English sentence shown in FIG.
The special character M1 shown in FIG. 15 (a) indicates an English character, and the special character M2 shown in FIG. 15 (b) indicates a numeral. That is, the special character M1 is a mark for increasing the evaluation as an English character at the time of information recognition, and the special character M2 is a mark for increasing the evaluation as a number at the time of information recognition.

Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the English sentence "The
"Sales for the present term totals 1000000 Yen.", the special character M1 is entered at the beginning, and the special character M2 is entered before the number "1000000" to read this manuscript S.
"The sales for the present term totals" will be recognized by raising the evaluation value of English letters, and "1000000 Yen." Will be recognized by raising the evaluation value of numbers.

Therefore, the recognition result of "l" of the words "sales" and "total" is determined to be the lowercase letter L, and the recognition result of "1" of the number "1000000" is determined to the number 1. In this way, the special characters in the input information are recognized,
Since the recognition code to be output is determined from the candidates of the recognition result of the input information based on the evaluation value according to the character type judged by the special character, that character is changed every time the character type of information changes when inputting information. There is no need to specify the type.

The special characters described above may be arbitrarily registered / changed. For example, the input device is provided with means for designating a special character registration / change mode and means for registering or changing a special character in the special character storage table of the special character recognition unit 20. Then, after switching to that mode, the information input unit 4 reads the special character to be registered or changed entered on the dedicated sheet and the character type indicated by the special character, and the read information is special character registration / change means. May be registered or changed in the special character storage table of the special character recognition unit 20.

[0124]

As described above, according to the input device of the present invention, the input information by the information input means other than the keyboard device by the OCR is converted into the same keyboard signal as the key operation input from the keyboard device and the system device. Since it can be input to any of various data processing devices using a general keyboard device as it is, the versatility and flexibility of the input means is increased, and the man-machine interface can be improved. .

Furthermore, the recognition code to be output is determined from the recognition result candidates of the input information based on the evaluation value for each character type according to the type of character in the input information. Further, the recognition code to be output is determined from the candidates of the recognition result of the input information based on the evaluation value corresponding to the deviation information according to the character type in the information of the recognition code that has recognized the input information.

Further, the recognition is performed by recognizing the special character in the input information, determining the type of the character, and outputting from the candidates of the recognition result of the input information based on the evaluation value according to the character type. Determine the code. Therefore, it is possible to output the recognition result according to the character type of the input information, and to reliably distinguish the input information that is difficult to recognize by distinguishing between uppercase and lowercase letters of English or numbers and English letters by the character type. Can be recognized.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a first embodiment of an input device 1 shown in FIG. 2 together with a system device 3. FIG.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a data processing device using an input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of keyboard operation code creation information in a keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7 shown in FIG.

4 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of keyboard signal creation information in a keyboard signal creation information storage unit 9 shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of keyboard operation code creation information in a keyboard operation code creation information storage unit 7 shown in FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing information recognition processing in which the evaluation value is switched for each character type in the input device shown in FIG.

7 is a flowchart showing a process of switching information input by the input device 1 shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart showing a process of inputting information by the input device 1 shown in FIG.

9 is a block diagram for explaining an example of actual character input processing by the input device 1 shown in FIG.

10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a second embodiment of the input device 1 shown in FIG. 2 together with a system device 3. FIG.

11 is a flowchart showing information recognition processing in which the evaluation value is switched for each character type in the input device shown in FIG.

12 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a third embodiment of the input device 1 shown in FIG. 2 together with the system device 3. FIG.

13 is a flowchart showing information recognition processing in which the evaluation value is switched for each character type in the input device shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a manuscript in which an English sentence is described.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of special characters.

16 is a diagram showing a manuscript in which special characters indicating the character type shown in FIG. 15 are written in the English sentence shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input Device 1a Insertion Port 2,13 Keyboard Interface (I / F) Cable 3 System Device 4 Information Input Section 5 Input Information Recognition Section 6 Keyboard Operation Code Creation Section 7 Keyboard Operation Code Creation Information Storage Section 8 Keyboard Signal Creation Section 9 Keyboard Signal creation information storage unit 10 Keyboard signal output unit 11a Voice input unit 11b Voice recognition unit 12 Keyboard device 14 Keyboard control information storage unit 15 Keyboard signal switching unit 16 Character type switching switch 17 Character type determination unit 18 Candidate determination unit 19 Statistical information Storage unit 20 Special character recognition unit M1, M2 Special character (special mark)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G06F 15/38 W 7323-5L G06K 9/00 K 8623-5L 9/20 310 A

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information input means for optically reading and inputting information such as printed or handwritten characters, and an input information recognizing means for recognizing the information input by the means and outputting the recognition code. A keyboard operation code creating means for converting the recognition code from the means into a keyboard operation code, a keyboard signal creating means for converting the keyboard operation code from the means into a keyboard signal corresponding to a system device, and the keyboard interface for the keyboard signal. A keyboard signal output means for outputting to a system device such as a data processing device via a character type switching means for switching the character type according to the type of character in the information input by the information input means; From among the evaluation values for each character type used for recognition by the information recognition means A character type determination means for determining an evaluation value corresponding to the character type switched by the character type switching means, and a recognition code output from the candidates of the recognition result by the input information recognition means based on the evaluation value determined by the means. And a candidate determining means for determining. 2. Information input means for optically reading and inputting information such as printed or handwritten characters, and input information recognizing means for recognizing the information input by the means and outputting the recognition code. A keyboard operation code creating means for converting the recognition code from the means into a keyboard operation code, a keyboard signal creating means for converting the keyboard operation code from the means into a keyboard signal corresponding to a system device, and the keyboard interface for the keyboard signal. A keyboard signal output means for outputting to a system device such as a data processing device via a character type determination means for determining the type of character in the information of the recognition code recognized by the input information recognition means, and the means. Statistical information store that stores deviation information corresponding to the character type judged by And a candidate determining means for determining a recognition code to be output from the candidates of the recognition result by the input information recognizing means based on the evaluation value corresponding to the deviation information stored in the means. Input device. 3. Information input means for optically reading and inputting information such as printed or handwritten characters, and input information recognition means for recognizing the information input by the means and outputting the recognition code. A keyboard operation code creating means for converting the recognition code from the means into a keyboard operation code, a keyboard signal creating means for converting the keyboard operation code from the means into a keyboard signal corresponding to a system device, and the keyboard interface for the keyboard signal. A keyboard signal output means for outputting to a system device such as a data processing device via a special character recognition means for recognizing a special character in the information input by the information input means, and a special character recognition means for recognizing the special character. A character type determination means for determining the type of character based on the character and the means Input apparatus characterized by comprising a candidate determination means for determining a recognition code to be output from among the candidates of the recognition result by the input information recognition means based on the evaluation value corresponding to the determined character type.