JPH08147379A - Image processing system and method for displaying and controlling image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically classify the kind of the document just after it is inputted, to successively display the document on each terminal, to automatically check entry items and to shorten processing time by using a display means, an analysis means, a storage means, a collation means and a display control means. CONSTITUTION: The contents written on a paper document is converted into electronic image data by an image input means 101. As for the format information on the image of an inputted document, the format of the document is extracted by an analysis means 102. The contents of a means 104 storing plural of preliminarily stored reference format information 105 and plural of the display orders within an image display means 106 by relating them with each other and the display order of the documents inputted by the comparison by a means 103 collating the format information analyzed by the means 102 and information 105 are determined. Displays are successively performed by a display control means 107 performing a control so as to perform the displays in accordance with the display order related to the compatible information 105 by the means 103. Thus, large quantity of documents can be processed at high speed because the display order can be determined by the inputted format of the document without using a human judgment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system in which a large number of images such as documents are input and a series of office work is processed by a plurality of terminals with respect to the input image documents. The present invention relates to an image processing system and a display control method for automatically classifying documents and automatically selecting a series of office work procedures according to the classified documents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to the improvement and spread of processing power of personal computers, companies that aim to improve work efficiency by digitizing office work that was conventionally processed with paper documents using a personal computer. It is increasing. A system that performs such processing includes a scanner device that converts a paper document into electronic image data, and a scanner device that displays or corrects one document and performs each task. It is composed of a personal computer that serves as a terminal for each worker and a network that connects these personal computers. Taking an insurance application as an example, a large amount of application forms first filled in by a customer or a salesman are input from the scanner device. next,
Determine the processing procedure according to the type of application form. In other words, if the contents of the application form differ between life insurance and fire insurance, the specialists who can examine the contents also differ.
Appropriate processing procedures are necessary. Furthermore, check whether the required items are filled in on the application form. If you don't fill in all the required fields, contact your customer or sales person or send the application back. If all required fields are filled in, does the customer have other insurance coverage in the past, or have he / she treated using insurance?
Each expert will check whether he / she is in a health condition that is a problem for insurance coverage, or whether he is suffering from a disease that is a problem. Experts to check also have levels,
If it is difficult to judge the insurance amount or health condition, a specialist with a high level of responsibility will check it. For these checks, the image of the application form is sequentially displayed on each expert's terminal, and the expert judges by looking at the contents. In a normal process, the order of checking is fixed, so that the terminal to be displayed next is determined for the item checked by an expert. However, as to the application form that requires a check to a high-level expert as described above, the terminal to be displayed next is changed and displayed on the terminal of a high-level expert. The processed application form is processed to create an insurance policy and stored in the database.

The processing described above has just begun, and since the processing contents greatly differ depending on the type of business such as insurance business and financial business, there is no standardized processing procedure and almost no manuals. , Sometimes called image workflow processing.

On the other hand, in terms of elemental technology, there are various technologies. For example, there are the following techniques for inputting documents such as an application form from a scanner device. In an electronic file device that inputs a document from a scanner device and accumulates it in a large amount in an optical disk storage device, a keyword is usually input in order to retrieve and display the input document later. However, there is a technique for automatically adding keywords because it requires a lot of trouble to input the keywords. For example, there is a method in which a mark indicating the type of the document is added to the input document, the mark in the image of the document input by the scanner device is recognized by the optical mark reading device, and the recognition content is used as the keyword. . Such a device is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-36667. In addition, in order to save the trouble of adding a special mark to a document, instead of adding the mark, the contents or format of the document is recognized, and some documents are classified using the recognition content as a keyword. In this case, a large number of documents are input in advance from the scanner device as a reference format, and the format of the newly input document is compared with the format of the previously input document and classified into the most similar reference document. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-75477 discloses such a device. As means for analyzing the format of a document, there is Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-12371.
There is a gazette.

[0005]

Among the above-mentioned conventional techniques,
The image workflow processing can save space and shorten processing time because it is possible to omit the physical movement of paper documents. Further, by checking the usage status of the network, the processing load status at each terminal can be easily grasped and the load can be optimally distributed, so that the processing time can be shortened. However, classification of the types of documents and checking of the entry items immediately after entering the documents are simple tasks, but all documents are subject to this processing, which is a cause of concentrated load and reduced efficiency. Become.

On the other hand, the technique of automatically loading the keywords on the document and the technique of automatically classifying the document in the input of the electronic file device greatly reduce the trouble of inputting the document by the scanner device. However, these electronic file device technologies have been developed for the purpose of the electronic file device of accumulating a large amount of documents. Since only information is added, it is not possible to display sequentially on each terminal.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the processing time by automatically classifying the types of documents immediately after input in the image workflow processing and sequentially displaying them on each terminal and automatically checking the entry items. It is to provide an image processing system capable of performing.

Another object of the present invention is to realize the above image processing system at a low cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system capable of speeding up the classification processing of these documents by processing a document composed of a plurality of sheets as one unit.

Another object of the present invention is to input an image of a document to be input by a simple operation, without converting an image of a document at a remote place or a document prepared as code data of a word processor into image data. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system capable of inputting and displaying on a plurality of display means in a desired order.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system which speeds up the document input process by classifying the document after the document is actually processed by the operator. To do.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system capable of investigating whether or not a person in charge has properly processed an actually input document.

[0013]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, input means for inputting an image, a plurality of display means for displaying an image corresponding to input data, and the input means are provided. Among the plurality of image display means and a plurality of reference format information representing a feature amount of a plurality of types of images, an analyzing means for extracting a feature amount from the input image and analyzing the format information of the input image Storage means for storing the display order of the display means used for display in association with each other, collation means for collating the format information analyzed by the analysis means with a plurality of reference format information in the storage means, and the collation As a result of collation by the means, for display in the plurality of display means according to the display order related to the reference format information that matches the input image. Using the display control means controls to sequentially display the input image on the display means to be.

Further, the layout information of the ruled lines in the image is used as the format information, and the analysis means extracts the ruled line information by deleting the character information from the image input by the input means, and the extracted information is extracted. The ruled line information is divided into a plurality of blocks, the amount of ruled lines included in each of the divided blocks is counted and used as the format information of the input image, and the storage means stores each of the plurality of reference format information. The input image stores the amount of ruled lines for each of a plurality of blocks corresponding to the blocks divided by the analysis unit, and the collation unit stores the ruled lines of each block of the format information analyzed by the analysis unit. The amount input from the input unit by comparing the amount with the amount of the ruled line of each block stored by the storage unit corresponding to the block of the format information. The same format and format images and selecting from the plurality of reference format information stored in the storage means.

Further, the arrangement information of the character string of the image is used as the format information instead of the ruled line information.

Further, as a means for storing a plurality of reference format information and a display order in a plurality of image display means in association with each other, for one reference format information, an image conforming to the reference format information is stored. The size, the number of images managed as one file, the number of image display units to be displayed, and the information of the identifiers of the image display units corresponding to the number are associated, and a plurality of the standard format information are collectively managed. Use a table to Further, means for associating a plurality of pre-stored standard format information with the number of images to be collectively stored in one file of the standard format information, and continuing the image in the one file when displaying. To display.

A scanner device is used as the image input means.

A facsimile machine is used as the image input means.

As the image input means, a means for inputting code data and a means for converting the input code data into an image are used.

Further, a means for associating a plurality of reference format information stored in the storage means with required entry column information of the reference format information, and an image input by the previous input means as a result of the collation by the collating means. Determination means for determining whether or not the entry field is blank according to the entry required column information associated with the reference format information that matches the format information of the above, and the plurality of display means when the determination result is blank. A means for selecting and displaying a specific display means is provided.

Further, there is used means for selecting and displaying a specific image display means from the plurality of image display means when there is no standard format information matched by the collating means.

Also, a code input means, a display means for displaying a plurality of images, an analysis means for analyzing the format information of the code input by the code input means, a plurality of reference format information stored in advance, and the plurality of the reference format information. Storage means for associating and storing the display order in the image display means, collating means for collating the format information analyzed by the analyzing means with the plurality of reference format information, and the input image as a result of matching by the collating means Display control means is used to control to sequentially display the input images on the display means used for display among the plurality of display means in accordance with the display order associated with the matched reference format information.

Image data storage means for storing input image data is provided, and the format information of the image stored in the means for storing the image data is used as an analysis target of the stored image data. A means for analyzing and storing a plurality of reference format information stored in advance and a display order in the plurality of image display means in association with each other; format information analyzed by the analyzing means and the plurality of reference format information Is used, and display control means for controlling to display according to the display order related to the standard format information matched by the matching means.

Further, means for storing the image data, a plurality of image display processing means for displaying and processing the image data in the storage means, means for analyzing the format information of the image stored in the means for storing the image data. A means for storing a plurality of reference format information stored in advance, a display order in the plurality of image display processing means and an identifier of the displayed image display processing means in association with each other, a format analyzed by the analyzing means Means for collating the information with the plurality of reference format information, the reference format information matched by the collating means and the identifier of the displayed image display processing means that matches the identifier of the image display processing means displayed immediately before analysis Display control means for controlling display according to the associated display order is used.

Further, a means for changing the display order during the display is used.

Further, an image is input, a feature amount is extracted from the input image, the format information of the input image is analyzed, and the analyzed format information and a plurality of predetermined types of images are input. A plurality of reference format information representing a feature amount is compared with one another, and reference format information that matches the format information of the input image is selected from the plurality of reference format information. The input image is controlled to be sequentially displayed on the display means to be displayed from the plurality of display means according to the related display procedure in the display order according to the display procedure.

[0027]

[Operation] In order to automatically classify the type of the document immediately after input in the image workflow processing and sequentially display it on each terminal, the contents written on the paper document are converted into electronic image data by the image input means. Means for extracting the format of the document by means of analyzing the format information of the input image of the document, and storing a plurality of reference format information stored in advance and the display order in the plurality of image display means in association with each other And the format information analyzed by the analyzing means and the plurality of reference format information are compared by means for collating to determine the display order of the input documents,
The display control means controls to display in accordance with the display order related to the reference format information matched by the collating means. Since the display order can be determined without human judgment depending on the format of the input document, a large number of documents can be processed at high speed.

Further, by using the means for analyzing the arrangement information of the ruled lines in the image and the means for collating as the format information, the kinds of documents to be processed are classified without error by the arrangement of the ruled lines. It can be displayed on each terminal in the correct order.

Further, by using the means for analyzing the arrangement information of the character string of the image and the collating means as the format information, the kinds of documents to be processed are classified without error by the arrangement of the character strings. Can be displayed on each terminal in the correct order.

Further, as a means for storing a plurality of reference format information and a display order in a plurality of image display means in association with each other, an image conforming to the reference format information for one reference format information is stored. The size, the number of images managed as one file, the number of image display units to be displayed, and the information of the identifiers of the image display units corresponding to the number are associated, and a plurality of the standard format information are collectively managed. By using the table, you can check the size of the document before parsing the format and eliminate the documents with different formats at high speed. Furthermore, just analyze and collate the first document managed as one file. Then, you can quickly eliminate the documents with different formats by omitting the analysis of the remaining documents. This can speed up the document classification process.

Further, by using the scanner device as the image input means, the document written on the paper at hand can be input by a simple operation.

Further, by using the facsimile device as the image input means, the document written on the paper at the remote place can be input by a simple operation. Further, the cost of the paper can be reduced by using the facsimile device as the direct image input means, rather than once outputting the paper on the paper by the ordinary facsimile device.

By using code data inputting means and image data converting means for inputting code data as image inputting means, it is possible to use a word processor, a personal computer or the like instead of a document written on paper. You can directly process the documents you have made. As a result, the cost of the paper can be reduced and printing on the paper can be omitted so that the processing can be performed at high speed.

Further, the image of the document already input is stored by the means for storing the image data, and the format of the document is extracted by the means for analyzing the format information of the image stored in the means for storing the image data and stored in advance. The contents of the means for storing the plurality of reference format information and the display order in the plurality of image display means in association with each other, the format information analyzed by the analyzing means and the plurality of reference format information The display control means for deciding the display order of the input documents by comparing by means for controlling the display is sequentially displayed by the display control means for controlling the display in accordance with the display order related to the reference format information matched by the collating means. As a result, even if the type of the document is not classified when the document is input from the scanner device, the document can be displayed on the next appropriate terminal in a timely manner even during the process.

Further, there is provided a means for associating a plurality of prestored standard format information with the entry required column information of the standard format information, and the entry required related to the standard format information matched by the collating means. The content of the entry field of the document input by the means for detecting the image in the entry field according to the column information is detected, and it is determined whether or not the document is missing by the means for determining whether the detected image is blank,
When the judgment is blank, the means for selecting and displaying a specific image display means from the plurality of image display means provides the information to the operator who processes the uncompleted document. As a result, it is possible to check first without any waste that a document in which all necessary entries are not written is subjected to several processes and is returned due to a document defect on the way.

[0036]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system for realizing the image workflow processing. The operation of each configuration in FIG. 1 is as follows. The scanner device 101 is a device that optically reads the content written on a paper document and converts it into an electric signal to create image data. Document 1
In addition to a device for setting and reading sheets one by one, there is also a device for setting a plurality of documents at one time and reading them one after another like a facsimile machine. The image data of the read document is sent to the format analysis unit 102. The format analysis unit 102 receives image data from the scanner device 101 and analyzes the content of the image. The analysis means will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, but basically, the layout of the entry fields in the document is analyzed rather than the contents such as the name and address written in the document. For example, automobile insurance has a field for entering a registration number of a vehicle, but life insurance does not have a field for entering a registration number. Therefore, the field for entering differs depending on the document, and the difference is analyzed. The format analysis unit 102 analyzes the format of the image data received from the scanner device 101 and sends the image data as it is to the display procedure control unit 107. The analyzed format information is sent to the format matching unit 103. The format collation unit 103 collates the analysis result of the format of the image data received from the format analysis unit 102 with the reference format 105 stored in the storage unit 104, and detects a similar reference format 105. Since the document that is the source of the image data is input from the scanner device, the document may be misaligned or tilted. Therefore, the results of the collation do not completely match, and the degree of similarity is calculated. The specific similarity calculation means depends on the format analysis means, and will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The format matching unit 103 sends the display procedure 106 corresponding to the detected reference format 105 to the display procedure control unit 107. The storage unit 104 has a standard format 105.
The display procedure 106 is stored. As the standard format 105, the samples of all the documents input from the scanner device 101 are input from the scanner device 101 in advance one by one, and the format analysis unit 1
This is the result of analysis in 02. The display procedure 106 is information in which the display order of the display means used for the display of the plurality of display means 108, 109, 110 for each format is stored in advance. The storage unit 104 links and stores the reference format 105 and the display procedure 106 for each sample.
The display procedure control unit 107 receives the image data from the format analysis unit 102, the display procedure 106 from the storage unit 104, and the image data received from the format analysis unit 102 according to the display procedure 106.
The display means used for the display of 8, 109, and 110 sequentially displays.

From the viewpoint of the data flow, the scanner device 10
The image data input from 1 is the format analysis unit 102.
From the display procedure control unit 107 via the display means 108,
It is sent to 109, 110 and displayed. However, the format analysis unit 1 determines which of the three display means is displayed in which order.
Controlled by the result of the format parsed in 02.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the format analyzing means of the format analyzing section 102. A document input from the scanner device 101 has entry fields defined by the arrangement of ruled lines, and can be used when different types of documents have different arrangements of ruled lines. First, the characters in the input image 201, which is image data, are deleted. Generally, the length of the line segment of the character is shorter than the length of the line segment of the ruled line, so that the image 202 can be obtained by deleting the short line segment from the input image 201. The criteria for determining the length of the character and the line segment of the ruled line are the size of the character and the scanner device 1.
Depending on the input line density when reading from 01, for example, if the character size is about 12 points, 200 dpi (do
In the case of (t per inch) input, the size of one character does not exceed 36 dots, so consecutive line segments of 36 dots or less are deleted. The image 202 is divided into blocks of a certain size to obtain an image 203. The size of this block is such that one vertical ruled line and one horizontal ruled line fit inside the block. Actually, the block size is the character size,
Although it is determined indirectly by the size and longitudinal direction of the document or directly by the arrangement of ruled lines, in this embodiment, a block divided into four vertically and three horizontally will be described below. . In the next process, the arrangement of ruled lines is detected for this block. Therefore, if the block is large, many ruled lines will be included in one block, and it will not be possible to identify documents with slightly different ruled line arrangement. Further, if the block is small, when inputting from the scanner device 101, even if the same document is slightly shifted, it will be recognized as a different ruled line arrangement. For example, if the character size is about 12 points, 20
Input 0 dpi, and if the frame of the ruled line is a little larger than the character, if the block size is set to 36 dots both vertically and horizontally, two ruled lines in the same direction will not fit in one block Can recognize the same document with the same ruled line arrangement. The number of dots of the ruled line is counted for each block of the image 203, and the feature amount of the image 203 is used as the format information of the input image. The feature amount image 204 is a feature amount calculated for each block, and the value of the block including many ruled lines is large. Here, the feature amount of a block that does not include any ruled line is set to 0. Feature image 2
In 04, ruled lines are concentrated in blocks with large values, and there are almost no ruled lines in blocks with small values. The analysis result of the format sent by the format analysis unit 102 to the format matching unit 103 is the feature amount image 204, and the reference format 105 is also the feature amount image 204. To collate formats in the format collating unit 103, values are compared for each block and the comparison status of all blocks is integrated. Specifically, a value difference is calculated for each block, and if the square root of the sum of the squares of the difference is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the same format is determined. The predetermined value is the feature amount image 20 for all documents input from the scanner device 101.
4 is calculated and set to the maximum value within the range where no error occurs in the judgment. Therefore, when there are documents having different contents but similar ruled line arrangement, a small value is set as a predetermined value to identify them. As means for integrating the comparison status of all blocks, various means such as simply summing the differences for each block are conceivable as well as the means for calculating the distance in the multidimensional space as described above.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the format analyzing means of the format analyzing section 102. A document input from the scanner device 101 has an entry field defined by the arrangement of character strings, and can be used when different kinds of documents have different arrangements of character strings. First, the character string frame in the input image 301, which is image data, is detected. This is because when the arrangement is determined by the dots of the character itself, even if the arrangement is the same, it looks shifted depending on the content of the character. That is, since the dot number of a character greatly changes between a portion with many characters with a small number of strokes and a portion with many characters with a large number of strokes, the influence of the number of strokes of the character is eliminated by filling up to the character frame which is the smallest quadrangle including the characters. An image 302 is obtained by filling each character of the input image 301 up to the smallest quadrangle including the character and further filling the portion adjacent to the quadrangle. The processing of the image 303 and the feature amount image 304 is the same as the format analysis by the ruled line in FIG. The format matching is also the same as in the case of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the control of the display procedure. The display procedure control unit 107 includes a temporary storage unit 40 that stores the image data received from the format analysis unit 102.
7 is provided, and management is performed for each input document unit. For example, the invoice 408, which is determined by the format matching unit 103 to match the reference format a 401, is temporarily stored, and the display procedure a
It is held until all the display of 404 is completed. Invoice 4
For 08, the display procedure control unit 107 displays the display procedure a40.
The contents of No. 4 are first displayed on the display means A108. The specialist who looks at the display of the display means A108 and processes the information presses the next document button 411 to check the displayed content and circulate the image data of the document to the next expert. The display procedure control unit receives the signal that the button has been pressed and displays it on the display means B stored in the display procedure a 404. Then, the same is displayed on the display means C. In the case of a receipt 409, display means A108 is displayed according to the contents of the display procedure b405.
To the display means C, and further to the display means B.
Display to. The display procedure C406 is performed by the display means A108, B109, C110 provided as a system.
6 shows a display procedure in which the display means B is not used for display.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the type of the document is manually classified by the image data of the document input from the scanner device 101, and the display means 108, 1 are used.
Since it is not necessary to add the display order to 09 and 110,
It can be processed at high speed. Further, since the processing can be performed at high speed, a sufficient amount of documents can be processed without installing the scanner device 101 and a plurality of terminals for classifying the types of documents, so that the system cost can be reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image processing system. The function of the image processing system of FIG. 5 is the same as that of FIG. The function of the scanner device 501 is the scanner device 1.
Same as 01, but sends image data to semiconductor memory 504 via bus 502. The processor 503 performs the functions of the format analysis unit 102, the format verification unit 103, and the display procedure control unit 107 of FIG. 1 according to the programs of the format analysis 506, the format verification 507, and the display procedure control 508 stored in the semiconductor memory 504. Also, the overall control 50
It also controls the entire system according to the program of 5. The semiconductor memory 504 has a capacity on the order of 10 megabytes, but has a high access speed. Processor 50
4 types of programs of 3 are stored, and the processor 5
In addition to being used as a work memory for No. 03, it is also used for temporary storage of image data. Although the disk device 509 has a low access speed, it is a large capacity memory having a capacity of 100 to 1000 megabytes. Disk device 509
Corresponds to the storage unit 104 in FIG. 1, and stores the reference format 510 and the display procedure 511. The communication device 512 and the network 513 are communication paths for transferring image data to the terminals 514, 515, 516. Terminals 514, 51
Reference numerals 5, 516 correspond to the display means 108, 109, 110 of FIG. 1, and display the image data sent via the communication device 512 and the network 513. Bus 502
Is a communication path for transferring data between each device in the system.

First, the image data input from the scanner device 501 is stored in the semiconductor memory 504, and the processor 503 analyzes the image data according to the program of the format analysis 506. The analysis result is stored in the semiconductor memory 504. Next, the processor 503 executes the program of the format collation 507, reads the analysis result stored in the semiconductor memory 504, and the standard format 510 stored in the disk device 509, and collates the format. As a result of collation, the display procedure 51 corresponding to the similar reference format 510 is displayed.
1 is read out and stored in the semiconductor memory 504. Next, the processor 503 executes the program of the display procedure control 508, and in accordance with the display procedure in the semiconductor memory 504, the image data in the semiconductor memory 504 is transferred to the terminals 514, 515, 516 via the communication device 512 and the network 513.
Send to.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the processor 503, the overall control 505, the format analysis 506, the format collation 507, and the display procedure control 508 can realize the same function as the image processing system of FIG. Therefore, it can be processed at high speed at low cost.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of the standard format 105 and the display procedure 106 of the storage unit 104 of FIG. 1, and the standard format 510 and the display procedure 511 of the disk device 509 of FIG. Reference format 105 with multiple directories 601
Is data for managing the number of reference formats 105, and there are as many pointers as there are reference formats 105. The reference format pointer 602 and the display procedure pointer 60 are pointed to by the pointer of the directory 601.
3, the number of documents 604, and the document size 605. There is one set of these four data for one type of standard format. The standard format pointer 602 points to the standard format data 606. The standard format data 606 is composed of a plurality of feature quantities. Therefore, assuming that FIG. 2 is a sample of a reference document, the number of feature amounts of the reference format data is the number of blocks in FIG. 2, and the feature amount value from the upper left end of the feature amount image 204 is 30, Since they are 35, 30, and 20, the values of the standard format data 606 are the same from the top. The display procedure pointer 603 is the display procedure data 6
It points to 07. The display procedure data 607 is composed of the number of times of display and the names of the display means of the number of times of display.
Therefore, in the bill 408 of FIG. 4, the display procedure 404 is A,
Since the display order is B, C, the number of times of the display procedure data 607 is 3, and the names of the display means are A, B, and C from the top. The number of documents 604 is the number of documents to be handled as a group, and the classification of these can be determined by the first document, and they are always displayed on the same display means when displayed. Further, this set of documents is continuously input from the scanner device 101. The format analysis unit 102 analyzes the format of the image data received from the scanner device 101 and sends the image data as it is to the display procedure control unit. At this time, only the first image data is analyzed and the second and subsequent sheets are analyzed. The image data of is sent to the display procedure control unit 107 without analyzing the format. Also,
Even in the display procedure control unit, continuous image data for the number of documents 604 is continuously sent to the same display means.

The document size 605 is the standard format data 606.
Is the size of the entire image data represented by. For example,
If the size is A4 and 200 dpi, it is 1664 dots horizontally and 2352 dots vertically. By comparing with the document size 605 of each standard format 105 before the format is collated by the format collating unit 103, those having different sizes can be excluded from the format collation targets.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the format may be analyzed and collated only for the image of the first page of a document in which a plurality of sheets are grouped together, and the processing can be speeded up. Further, since the target of format matching can be narrowed down depending on the size of the document, the processing can be speeded up.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an image processing system having a plurality of input means. Format analysis unit 102, format matching unit 1
03, display procedure control unit 107, display means 108, 109
Is the same as in FIG. Also, the storage unit 104, the standard format 1
05, the display procedure 106, and the display means 110 are omitted for convenience of drawing, but the same configuration is provided in FIG. 7. Facsimile device 7 instead of scanner device 101
01, code input 702, code input 703, code →
An image conversion 704 and a selection unit 705 are provided.

The facsimile device 701 is a device for receiving a document input by a facsimile device at a remote place via a telephone line. A remote facsimile machine inputs a document, converts it into image data, and compresses the image data in order to shorten the telephone line usage time. The facsimile device 701 receives the compressed image data and restores the original image data, but unlike the ordinary facsimile device, the image data is sent to the selection unit 705 without being printed on paper. The selection unit 705 selects image data from three types of input devices and sends it to the format analysis unit 102. The subsequent processing from the format analysis unit 102 is the same as in FIG. A code input 703 receives code data such as a document from a word processor, a personal computer, a workstation, and a code → image conversion 70
Send to 4. The medium used when receiving the code data includes a floppy disk, an optical disk, an IC card, and a network. In the code data, there are ASCII codes and JIS codes as character codes and IGES codes as graphic codes.
The code → image conversion 704 converts the code data received from the code input 703 into image data. As a means for this conversion, there is a character generator used when displaying characters on a display. It has a table that uses the character code as an address and the dot shape of the character as data, and generates a character image from the character code. For the code of the graphic, for example, a straight line is generated by the Bresenham algorithm, and the image is generated by drawing.

The image data from the facsimile apparatus 701 or the code → image conversion 704 selected by the selection unit 705 is sent to the format analysis unit 102, and the same processing as that in FIG. 1 is performed.

Like the code input 703, the code input 702 receives code data from a word processor or the like, but unlike the code input 703, the code input 702 is not converted into an image later. Therefore, the layout information of ruled lines and characters in the code data is sent to the format analysis unit 102. As the character layout information, the position of the line feed character, the character spacing, the line spacing, or the like is used, or the coordinate information in which the character can be placed in desktop publishing is used. When data is sent from the code input 702 to the format analysis unit 102 via the selection unit 705, the format analysis unit 102 and the format matching unit 103 use the code data format instead of the image data format. The procedure for processing ruled lines and character layout information in the code data is the same as in FIG. 2 and FIG.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since it is possible to directly input from a plurality of input devices, it is not necessary to print on paper once, and high-speed input is possible. In particular, by using a facsimile machine, it is possible to input from a remote place in real time or directly from a word processor or the like.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows an image processing system without the scanner device 101 of FIG. Of course, since it is necessary to first input the image data, an image data input device similar to the scanner device 101 is provided, but it is not shown in the description of the operation of the present embodiment and is therefore omitted. Format analysis unit 102, format collation unit 103, display procedure control unit 10
7 is the same as in FIG. The storage unit 104 stores a standard format and a display procedure, but unlike FIG. 1, there are a plurality of display procedures 802 and a display procedure 804 for the same format of an invoice such as the standard formats 801 and 803. . Further, each of the display units 108, 109 and 110 has a next document button.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the format is determined at the time of inputting the image data, and all the display procedures are determined. However, in this embodiment, only the next display means is determined every time it is displayed. The bill is first displayed on the display unit 108. The operator of the display means 108 presses the next document button to obtain the necessary information and view the next image data. If the image data is corrected while being displayed on the display unit 108, it is reflected in the image data of the bill in the storage unit 807. The format analysis unit 102 analyzes the format of the image data of the bill displayed on the display unit 108, and the format matching unit 103.
Is compared with the reference formats 801, 803, and 805. Here, since it is an invoice, standard form 801 and standard form 803
Matches The display procedure 802 and the display procedure 804 include the name of the current display means and the name of the next display means. Since it was currently displayed on the display means 108, the display procedure 80
2 is selected and displayed on the display means 109. Display means 10
Also in 9, when the next document button is pressed, the format analysis unit 102 analyzes the format of the image data displayed on the display unit 109 again, the format verification unit 103 performs verification, and this time the display procedure 804 is selected. Then, according to the display procedure 804, it is displayed on the display means 110. When the image data is a receipt, the standard format 805 and the display procedure 806 are used, and after displaying on the display means 108, display on the display means 110.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the format is determined for each display and the next display destination is determined. Therefore, even when the image data is modified during the display and the format is changed, the time is appropriate. , The display procedure can be changed so that the correct display procedure can always be displayed.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the configuration of the image processing system of FIG. 9, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 1, a blank column determination unit 401 is provided between the format analysis unit 102 and the display procedure control unit 107. In addition, the storage unit 10
The description position 902 in FIG. Image data is input from the scanner device 101, and the format analysis unit 102
The format matching unit 103 determines the format and determines the display procedure as in the embodiment of FIG. The blank space determination unit 901 receives the image data whose format has been analyzed from the format analysis unit 102, and uses the information of the description position 902 of the reference format 105 that matches the format of the input image data to write characters at the description position in the image data. Or check if the mark is written. If characters or marks are not written in all the positions of the description position 902, display procedure 1
It is displayed on a specific display means without complying with 06.

If a character or a mark is not written at the position of the written position 902, a special mark for omission of the written mark is attached to the unwritten portion and the mark is displayed according to the display procedure 106.

As described above, according to this embodiment, not only the display procedure can be selected according to the format of the input image data, but also it can be automatically checked whether all the originally described items are described. Moreover, human operation can be omitted and high-speed processing can be performed.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the configuration of the image processing system of FIG. 10, in addition to the configurations of FIGS. 1 and 8, there is a corresponding item 1001 in the storage unit 807 connected to the display control unit 107, and the operator 1002 sets the display control unit 107. Connected to. The image data input from the scanner device 101 is analyzed by the format analysis unit 102, and the format collation unit 103 stores it in the storage unit 104.
The standard form 105 of If there is a reference format 105 that matches the format of the image data input at this time, it is displayed according to the display procedure 106, but if there is no matching reference format, the image data is stored in the corresponding area 1001 of the storage unit 807. Further, the display procedure control unit 107 notifies the operator 1002 that image data in a format that is not in the standard format has been input. In addition, the image data of no match 1001 is displayed on the operator 1002 to allow the operator to confirm the content.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if image data of a format that is not registered in advance is input, it can be notified to a specific operator, so that many types of formats can be processed quickly.

[0062]

According to the present invention, in an image processing system for inputting image data from a scanner device and displaying the image data on a plurality of display means in a predetermined procedure, the format of the image data is automatically determined and the display data is displayed. Since the procedure can be determined, the work of manually looking at the format and classifying can be omitted, and the processing speed can be increased.

According to the present invention, the types of documents immediately after being input in the image workflow processing of the image processing system are automatically classified and sequentially displayed on each terminal, and the entry items are automatically checked to reduce the processing time. It can be shortened.

According to the present invention, the image processing system can be realized at low cost. According to the present invention, by processing a document composed of a plurality of sheets as one unit, it is possible to speed up the classification process of these documents.

According to the present invention, an image of a document to be input can be input by a simple operation, and an image of a document at a remote place or a document created as code data of a word processor or the like can be input without converting it into image data. , Can be displayed on a plurality of display means in a desired order.

Further, according to the present invention, the document input processing can be speeded up by classifying the documents after they are actually processed by the operator.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to investigate whether the person in charge has properly processed the document actually input.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system.

[Fig. 2] Processing procedure diagram of ruled line format analysis method

FIG. 3 is a processing procedure diagram of a character string format analysis method.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a display procedure control unit.

FIG. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image processing system.

[Figure 6] Data format of standard format and display procedure

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a multi-input image processing system.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an image processing system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of an image processing system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an image processing system according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 ... Scanner device 102 ... Format analysis unit 103 ... Format collation unit 104 ... Storage unit 105 ... Standard format 106 ... Display procedure 107 ... Display procedure control unit 108 ... Display means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical display location 9194-5L G06F 15/403 350 Z (72) Inventor Atsushi Nishiyama 2880 Kunifuzu, Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture Co., Ltd. Hitachi Storage Systems Division

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An input means for inputting an image, a plurality of display means for displaying an image corresponding to the input data, and a feature quantity extracted from the image input by the input means. The analysis means for analyzing the format information of the image, the plurality of reference format information representing the characteristic amounts of the plurality of types of images, and the display order of the display means used for display among the plurality of image display means are associated with each other. Storing means for storing the collating means, collating means for collating the format information analyzed by the analyzing means with a plurality of standard format information of the storing means, and the reference format matching the input image as a result of collating by the collating means. The input images are sequentially displayed on the display means used for display among the plurality of display means according to the display order related to the information. Image processing system characterized by comprising a display control means for so that control. 2. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit deletes character information from the image input by the input unit to extract ruled line information, and extracts the extracted ruled line information into a plurality of pieces. The image data is divided into blocks, the amount of ruled lines included in each of the divided blocks is counted and used as format information of the input image, and the storage means stores the input image for each of the plurality of reference format information. Stores the amount of ruled lines for each of a plurality of blocks corresponding to the blocks divided by the analyzing unit, and the collating unit determines the amount of ruled lines of each block of the format information analyzed by the analyzing unit and the format. The format of the image input from the input means by comparing the amount of ruled lines of each block stored by the storage means corresponding to the block of information Image processing system and selects the same format from a plurality of reference format information stored in the storage means. 3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis means extracts a character array from the image input by the input means, and includes a minimum of each of the characters forming the extracted character array. Fill the square of
Fill the adjacent portion of the filled rectangle,
The filled image is divided into a plurality of blocks, the amount of the filled area included in each of the divided blocks is counted, and the format information of the image input by the input means is calculated, and the storage means Stores, for each of the plurality of reference format information, the amount of a region in which the input image is filled in for each of a plurality of blocks corresponding to a block divided by the analysis unit, the collating unit, By comparing the amount of the filled area of each block of the format information analyzed by the analysis unit with the amount of the filled area of each block stored by the storage unit corresponding to the block of the format information, the input unit Selecting the same format as the format of the image input from the plurality of standard format information stored in the storage means. Image processing system for the butterflies. 4. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein said storage means manages as one file the size of the entire image represented by the reference format information for one reference format information. And an image display means corresponding to the number of the image display means to be displayed, and a table for managing a plurality of the standard format information collectively. Processing system. 5. The image processing system according to claim 1 or 4, further comprising a means for associating a plurality of prestored reference format information with the number of images to be collectively stored in one file of the reference format information. The image processing system, wherein the display control means controls the image managed as the one file so as to be continuously displayed on each of the display means. 6. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the input means is a scanner device. 7. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the input means is a facsimile machine. 8. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the input means is a device for inputting code data and converting the input code data into an image. 9. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of reference format information stored in said storage means are associated with a required entry column information of said reference format information, and the collation means performs collation. Result Judgment means for judging whether or not the filled-in field is blank according to the required-filled-field information associated with the reference format information that matches the format information of the image input by the previous input means, and the determination result is blank In this case, the image processing system further comprises means for selecting and displaying a specific display means from the plurality of display means. 10. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the display control means selects a specific display means from the plurality of display means when there is no standard format information matched by the collating means. An image processing system characterized by displaying as an image. 11. Code input means for inputting code information, a plurality of display means for converting the input code into an image and displaying the image, and analyzing format information of the code input by the code input means. Analysis means, storage means for storing a plurality of reference format information stored in advance and the display order in the plurality of image display means in association with each other, format information analyzed by the analyzing means, and the plurality of format information Collating means for collating the reference format information, and a display used for display among the plurality of display means in accordance with the display order related to the reference format information that matches the input image as a result of the collation by the collating means. An image processing system, comprising: display control means for controlling the means to sequentially display the input images. 12. An image data storage means for storing image data, a plurality of display means for displaying an input image, and an analysis means for reading an image stored in the image data storage means and analyzing format information. Storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of reference format information representing feature quantities respectively corresponding to a plurality of types of images and a display order of display means used for display among the plurality of image display means in association with each other, Collating means for collating the format information analyzed by the analyzing means with the plurality of reference format information,
As a result of the collation by the collating unit, the input images are sequentially displayed on the display unit used for displaying among the plurality of display units according to the display order associated with the reference format information that matches the input image. An image processing system comprising a display control means for controlling the image processing. 13. Image data storage means for storing image data, a plurality of image processing means for processing image data in the image data storage means, and format information of the image stored in the image data storage means. Analysis means, means for storing the display order in the plurality of image display processing means in association with the identifiers of the displayed image display processing means, format information analyzed by the analyzing means, and the plurality of references Collating means for collating the format information, and the display associated with the identifier of the displayed image display processing means that matches the reference format information matched by the collating means and the identifier of the image display processing means displayed immediately before analysis. Image processing system including display control means for controlling display in order 14. An image is input, feature quantities are extracted from the input image, format information of the input image is analyzed, and the analyzed format information and a plurality of predetermined types of images are input. A plurality of reference format information representing a feature amount is compared with one another, and reference format information that matches the format information of the input image is selected from the plurality of reference format information. An image processing system characterized by controlling to sequentially display the input images in a display order according to the display procedure on a display means to be displayed from a plurality of display means according to a related display procedure. Display control method. 15. The display control method for an image processing system according to claim 14, wherein character information is deleted from the input image to extract ruled line information, and the extracted ruled line information is divided into a plurality of blocks. , Analyzing the format information of the input image by counting the amount of ruled lines included in each of the divided blocks, and corresponding to the divided blocks of the input image for each of the plurality of reference format information The amount of ruled lines is stored in advance for each of a plurality of blocks, and the amount of ruled lines of each block of the analyzed format information and the amount of ruled lines of each of the previously stored blocks corresponding to the block of the format information are stored. By comparing the two, the same format as the format of the image input from the input means is selected from the plurality of prestored reference format information. Display control method of the image processing system. 16. A display control method for an image processing system according to claim 14, wherein a character array is extracted from the image input by said input means, and the minimum character string including each of the characters forming said extracted character array is extracted. Filling a quadrangle, filling a portion adjacent to the filled quadrangle, dividing the filled image into a plurality of blocks, and counting the amount of the filled area included in each of the divided blocks. The input image is analyzed as format information, and the amount of the area where the input image is filled for each of a plurality of blocks corresponding to the divided blocks is stored in advance for each of the plurality of reference format information. It corresponds to the amount of the filled area of each block of the analyzed format information and the block of the format information. The same format as the image format input from the input means is selected from the plurality of reference format information stored in advance by comparing the amount of the filled area of each block stored by the storage means. A display control method for an image processing system, comprising: