JPH0788440A - Handling device for mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide such a handling device for mail that a postage seal whose feature is not clear by blur or the like is detected in a postage seal detection circuit used for an automatic assortment postmarking machine for mail. CONSTITUTION:For example, the whole image of mail P illuminated by a light source 131 is shot by a camera 132. The image of mail is converted into a red image by a color processing binary circuit 134. A charge measuring instrument Pb in the red image is recognized by a recognition circuit 13 from the red image for the detection area of two places on mail P and the result is outputted to a decision part 13c. In such a way, the whole image on both sides of mail P is read respectively by detection parts 13a, 13b. The result of recognition for area of four places on mail P is synthetically decided by the decision part 13c. Thereby the charge measuring instrument Pb on mail P is specified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail processing device used as, for example, an automatic mail sorting and stamping device, or a postage processing device such as a charge amount stamp detecting device used for a stamping device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in post offices such as central areas, automated equipment such as automatic mail sorting and sorting machines and automatic mail sorting and stamping machines have been introduced for the purpose of labor saving in postal services.

The automatic mail sorting and stamping machine is, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a single take-out section 101 for taking out the postal matter P one by one, and a postal matter P taken out by the one-take-out section 101 and conveyed through a conveying path 102. First detection units 103 and 104 for detecting a charge amount stamp such as a stamp or a charge meter from above, and reversing / adjusting for reversing and aligning the postal matter P for which the charge amount mark cannot be detected by the first detection units 103 and 104. Position 105, this inversion
Second detection units 106 and 107 for detecting a charge mark on the postal matter P that has been inverted and aligned by the alignment unit 105, and the detection units 10 described above.
Imprinting portions 108 and 109 for imprinting the postmarks on the fee stamps detected at 3, 104, 106 and 107, and this imprinting portion 108,
It is composed of stacking units 110, 111, and 112 that stack postal items P and the like stamped with 109.

In this case, the postal matter P conveyed on the conveying path 102 has different conveyance directions as shown in FIG.
The presence or absence of the amount mark Pa in each area a, b, c, d is detected by optically scanning d by each of the detection units 103, 104, 106, 107.

That is, as a charge amount mark detecting device used in a conventional automatic mail sorting and stamping machine, for example, the presence or absence of a charge amount mark Pa is determined from each of the areas a, b, c, d in which the mail item P is defined. Four detection units 103, 1 for detecting
It is composed of 04, 106 and 107.

For example, the mail P conveyed in the state shown in FIG. 7A is detected by the detection unit 103 for the presence or absence of the amount mark Pa, and is conveyed in the state shown in FIG. 7B, for example. For the postal matter P, the presence or absence of the fee mark Pa is detected by the detection unit 104.

The postal matter P for which the charge amount mark Pa has been detected by either of the detection units 103 and 104 is used as it is in the transport path 1.
No. 02 is conveyed and guided to the stamps 108 and 109. For example, the mark amount Pa detected by the detector 103 is stamped with the stamp 108 and then accumulated in the accumulator 110.

Further, for example, the postage mark P detected by the detection unit 104 is stamped with a postmark by the stamp unit 109, and then the postal matter P is accumulated in the accumulation unit 111. on the other hand,
Among the postal matter P for which the charge mark Pa is not detected by the detection units 103 and 104, the postal matter P conveyed in the state of FIG. In the state of FIG. 9A, the detection unit 106 detects the presence or absence of the amount mark Pa.

The postal matter P for which the charge amount mark Pa has been detected by the detection unit 106 is, for example, stamped with a postmark by the stamp unit 108, and then stacked in the stacking unit 110. Further, the postal matter P conveyed in the state of (d) in the figure is inverted by the reversing / aligning section 105, and becomes the state of (b) in the figure, for example. Presence / absence is detected.

The postal matter P for which the charge amount mark Pa has been detected by the detection section 107 is, for example, stamped with a postmark by the stamp section 109, and then stacked in the stacking section 111. It should be noted that any of the detection units 103, 104, 106, 107 causes the charge mark P
The postal matter P for which a cannot be detected is, for example, the stacking unit 11
It is supposed to be accumulated in 2.

In this way, by automating the postmarking process for the postage mark Pa of the collected postal items P and the assembling process of the postal items P stamped with the postmark, the postal process can be performed. It aims to speed up and reduce labor costs.

However, in the above-mentioned fee stamp detector, the characteristics of the fee stamp Pa, such as color (spatial frequency), size, shape (number of lines, arrangement of columns, etc.), presence / absence of numbers, etc. Was detected for each area, and the presence or absence of the amount mark Pa in each area was individually determined.

Therefore, there is no problem in the case where the fee mark Pa has a clear imprint or when the processing for detection (application of phosphor etc.) is performed, but the fee mark Pa
When the characteristics of No. are not clear, there is a problem in that it is difficult to accurately detect the charge amount mark Pa, which tends to have a faint impression such as a charge meter.

Further, recently, the number of printed matters such as advertisements is increasing in the postal matter P, and in consideration of the noise information on the postal matter P, the detection of the amount mark Pa becomes more and more difficult. It is expected that.

[0015]

As described above, conventionally, the detectors are arranged at four places along the flow of the mail, and the charge stamp is made by the information from the limited area of each detector. Since it was designed to detect the presence or absence of charges, it is possible to detect fee marks with distinct features, but it is not possible to detect fee marks with unclear features, and efficiency in automated processing of mail ( It was a cause of lowering the labor-saving effect).

Therefore, the present invention provides a mail processing apparatus capable of reliably detecting a charge mark whose features are not clear and preventing a decrease in efficiency in the automatic processing of mail. Has an aim.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, in the mail processing apparatus of the present invention, a reading means for reading an image of a mail and the mail image read by the reading means are provided. From this, the cutout means for cutting out the images of the areas where the charge mark is supposed to exist, the recognition means for recognizing the charge mark from the respective area images cut out by the cutout means, and the recognition means Based on the result of each recognition, it comprises a detection means for detecting the fee mark existing on the mail.

Further, in the mail processing apparatus of the present invention, the image of the area where the charge mark is considered to exist from the reading means for reading the image of the mail and the mail image read by the reading means. A cutting means for cutting each into
Recognizing means for recognizing the fee mark from each area image cut out by the cutting means, and detecting means for detecting the position of the fee mark on the postal matter based on the result of each recognition by the recognizing means. And a stamping means for stamping the fee mark detected by the detecting means.

[0019]

According to the present invention, since the above-mentioned means makes it possible to make a comprehensive judgment from the result of recognition of each area, it is possible to detect a vague charge mark with unclear characteristics. is there.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the construction of an automatic mail sorting and stamping machine according to the present invention.

That is, this stamping machine uses, for example, a single take-out section 11 for taking out the postal matter P one by one, and a charge as a fee stamp from the postal matter P taken out by the one-way take-out section 11 and conveyed through the conveying path 12. A charge amount mark detecting device 13 for detecting the meter, and a part of the mail substance P is reversed and aligned so as to align the conveying direction (direction of the charge amount meter) of the mail item P detected by the charge amount mark detecting device 13. The reversal / alignment unit 15, the stamp units 16 and 17 for stamping a postmark on the fee meter detected by the fee mark detection device 13 as necessary, and the fee meter detected by the fee mark detector 13 It is composed of stacking units 18, 19 and 20 for stacking mail items P and the like.

The single take-out section 11 takes out a large amount of the set mail items P one by one and sends them out onto the conveying path 12. The charge amount stamp detection device 13 includes a detection unit 13a,
13b is mainly configured to read the entire image of each surface of the postal matter P conveyed on the conveying path 12 and attach the postal matter P to a fixed position using the read postal matter image. Alternatively, it is to detect a printed charge meter. The details of the charge amount detecting device 13 will be described later.

The reversing / aligning unit 15 is conveyed in the case where the charge meter is detected from above the postal matter P, for example, by the charge amount detecting device 13, that is, in the state shown in FIGS. 7 (c) and 7 (d). The postal matter P is turned over so as to be in the state of FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b) and is guided to the stamp portions 16 and 17.

The stamps 16 and 17 are necessary for a charge meter detected from below the mail P, for example, a charge meter on the mail P conveyed in the state shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The postmark is stamped accordingly.

The accumulating sections 18 and 19 are for accumulating the postal matter P conveyed on the conveying path 12 with the directions of the charge meters thereof aligned, for example, in the state of FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b). Among the postal matter P conveyed, the postal matter P conveyed in the state of FIG. 7A is stored in the stacking unit 18, and the postal matter P transported in the state of FIG. 7B is stored in the stacking unit 19. Each is collected.

In the stacking unit 20, for example, the postal items P for which the charge meter cannot be detected by the charge mark detecting device 13 are collected. Then, when a large amount of postal matter P is collected, for example, only a fixed size postal matter P is sorted out of the collected large amount of postal matter P and set in the one-pass take-out section 11.

Then, as described above, the postal matter P set in the single take-out section 12 is taken out one by one, and the postal matter 1 is conveyed.
2 is sent out. Then, among the postal matter P for which the fee meter has been detected by the fee mark detection device 13, the postal matter P for which the fee meter has been detected from the lower side of one surface (the postal matter P conveyed in the state of FIG. 7A). ) Is conveyed as it is on the conveyance path 12, passes through the imprinting portions 16 and 17, and is accumulated in the accumulating portion 18.

Further, among the postal items P for which the fee meter has been detected by the fee mark detector 13, the postal item P for which the fee meter has been detected is conveyed from below the other surface (in the state of FIG. 7B). The postal matter P) is conveyed as it is on the conveying path 12, and the stamp portion 1
After being passed through 6 and 17, they are accumulated in the accumulating unit 19.

On the other hand, among the postal items P for which the fee meter has been detected by the fee mark detecting device 13, the postal item P for which the fee meter has been detected is conveyed from above the other surface (in the state of FIG. 7C). The postal matter P) is turned upside down and upside down by the reversing / aligning section 15 to obtain the state shown in FIG.
After passing through 7, they are stacked in the stacking unit 18.

Further, among the postal matter P for which the fee meter has been detected by the fee mark detecting device 13, the postal matter P for which the fee meter has been detected is conveyed from above one side (in the state of FIG. 7 (d)). The postal matter P) is turned upside down and upside down by the reversing / aligning section 15 to be in the state of FIG.
After 7 the sheets are stacked in the stacking unit 19.

The postal matter P for which the fee meter has not been detected by the fee amount mark detecting device 13 passes through the stamp portions 16 and 17,
It is accumulated in the accumulating unit 20. In this way, the mail P
By detecting the above-mentioned toll meters and classifying and accumulating them according to the direction of the toll meters, the sorting and stamping process for a large amount of collected mail items P is automatically performed.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a charge meter to be detected on the postal matter P. That is, this charge meter Pb
The feature of, for example, that it is a red pattern,
Having three bars, and so on.

It should be noted that the charge meter Pb having a relatively clear imprint is shown in FIG.
The charge meters Pb with three unclear lines are shown in FIG. 7C, and the charge meters Pb with different imprints are shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic structure of the charge amount mark detecting device 13. That is, this fee stamp detecting device 1
3 is composed of the detection units 13a and 13b, the determination unit 13c, and the like.

The detectors 13a and 13b are, for example, light sources 131 for illuminating the mail P conveyed in the direction of the arrow in the figure.
, A color scan camera 132 for reading the entire image of the postal matter P illuminated by the light source 131, and an image memory 1 for storing the postal matter image taken by the camera 132.
33, a color processing binarization circuit 134 for extracting only the red image which is the color of the charge meter Pb from the mail image stored in the image memory 133, and the red image extracted by this color processing binarization circuit 134. The memory circuit 135 for storing the charge meter Pb from the red image stored in this memory circuit 135.
And a recognition circuit 136 for detecting the.

The recognition circuit 136 is connected to the memory circuit 135.
Of the red images from, for example, four locations on the mail P,
That is, the fixed position on the postal matter P to which the fee meter Pb is attached or printed (area a, d or area b shown in FIG. 7,
Vertical and horizontal slanting shadows are obtained from the imprint of the red image corresponding to c), and the three bars of the charge meter Pb are detected by the output when binarizing the slanting shadows.

Further, in the recognition circuit 136, with respect to the areas a and d or the areas b and c, the imprint which seems to be the charge meter Pb is detected from the vertical and horizontal sizes of the red image and the signal amounts thereof. ing.

The details of the recognition circuit 136 will be described later. The determination unit 13c includes the detection units 13a and 1
The charge meter Pb on the postal matter P is specified by making a comprehensive determination based on each output from 3b.

Then, with the signal from the judging section 13c,
By controlling a control unit (not shown) that controls the operation of each unit of the automatic mail sorting and stamping machine, the sorting and stamping process based on the detection of the charge meter Pb can be performed accurately.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the circuit configuration of the recognition circuit 136. For example, this recognition circuit 136
A shade circuit 1361 for obtaining vertical and horizontal shades from the imprint of the red image, and a bar detection circuit 13 for detecting three bars of the charge meter Pb from the shade output obtained by the shade circuit 1361.
62, and an amount / area detection circuit 1363 for detecting a seal image that looks like a charge meter Pb from the vertical and horizontal sizes of the seal image of the red image and the signal amount.

FIG. 5 shows the operation of the recognition circuit 136 for detecting the fee meter Pb. For example,
When the red image is supplied from the memory circuit 135, the slanting circuit 1361 causes the imprint h of the red image corresponding to the areas a and d or the areas b and c on the mail P to be output in the vertical direction i and the horizontal direction. And the diagonal output j of

The vertical slanting output i and the horizontal slanting output j are 2 at the slice level of k.
By being digitized, in the bar detection circuit 1362,
From the output, three bars, which are one of the features of the charge meter Pb, are detected.

However, since the imprint of the charge meter Pb is not always clear as described above, three bars cannot always be detected. Therefore,
The area detection circuit 1363 detects the vertical and horizontal sizes of the red image corresponding to the areas a and d or the areas b and c on the mail P and the signal amount thereof, and the result indicates that it is a charge meter Pb. It is arranged to output whether or not the imprint has been detected.

As a result, even if the three bars of the toll meter Pb cannot be detected, the toll meter Pb-like imprint is detected from one of the areas, and the toll meter Pb-like imprint is detected from the other three areas. If not,
Based on the result, the determination unit 13c can specify the charge meter Pb.

Therefore, the toll meter Pb can be detected even from the imprint that is unclear and has unclear features due to the background color of the postal matter P and the faintness of the toll meter Pb. It is possible to improve the efficiency of the automated processing and to achieve further labor saving effect.

As described above, it is possible to make a comprehensive judgment from the recognition result for each area. That is, when a clear characteristic of the charge meter cannot be detected, the charge meter on the postal matter is specified by examining whether or not the imprint that seems to be a charge meter can be detected in all areas. As a result, even if there is no difference with the background color of the mail or if there is a blur, it can be detected by comparing with other areas, so it is possible to detect unclear bill meters with unclear features. Becomes Therefore, the toll meter can be detected more reliably,
For the postal items that could not be detected by the charge meter, which is a hindrance to labor saving in the automated processing of the postal items, it is possible to drastically reduce the manual stamping and sorting work.

In the above embodiment, only the case of detecting the charge meter as the charge mark has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to the case of detecting a stamp whose features are unclear due to dirt or the like. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0048]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect a fee mark whose features are not clear, and to prevent a decrease in efficiency in automated processing of mail. It is possible to provide a mail processing device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an automatic mail sorting and stamping machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a charge meter on a postal matter.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a charge mark detection device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration example of a recognition circuit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an operation related to detection of a charge meter by the recognition circuit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an automatic mail sorting and stamping machine showing a conventional technique and its problems.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the transportation of mail and the detection area.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Single take-out section, 12 ... Conveyance path, 13 ... Fee amount mark detection device, 13a, 13b ... Detection section, 13c ... Judgment section, 132
... Color scan camera, 134 ... Color processing binarization circuit,
Reference numeral 136 ... Recognition circuit, 1361 ... Shading circuit, 1362 ... Bar detection circuit, 1363 ... Quantity / area detection circuit, 16, 17 ... Stamping section, 18, 19, 20 ... Stacking section, P ... Mail, Pb ... Charge meter.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading an image of a postal matter, a cutting-out means for cutting out an image of an area where a fee mark is supposed to exist from the image of the postal matter read by the reading means, and the cutting-out means. A recognition means for recognizing the fee mark from each area image cut out by the means, and a detection means for detecting the fee mark existing on the mail based on the result of the recognition by the recognition means are provided. A mail processing device characterized by the above. 2. The mail processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutting-out means extracts the specific color image from at least two positions in the image of one side of the mail. . 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means identifies an area where a fee mark is considered to exist by comparing recognition results of the area images. Postal processing equipment. 4. A reading means for reading an image of a postal matter, a cutting-out means for cutting out an image of an area where a postage mark is supposed to exist from the image of the postal matter read by the reading means, and the cutting-out means. Recognizing means for recognizing the fee mark from each area image cut out by the means, and detecting means for detecting the position of the fee mark on the mail based on the result of the recognition by the recognizing means, A mail processing device comprising: a stamping means for stamping the fee mark detected by the detecting means.