JPH08202816A - Writing tool discrimination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a writing tool discrimination device which efficiently discriminate the types of writing tools used for entry. CONSTITUTION: A scanning part 10 takes in the color picture image of a medium to be discriminated. A writing tool discrimination part 20 discriminates the type of the writing tool used at the time of entering information into the medium to be discriminated from the color picture image which the scanning part 10 takes in. A usage impossible writing tool storage part 30 previously stores information showing the writing tools which cannot be used. A comparison part 40 compares discriminated result obtained by the writing tool discrimination part 20 with data stored in the usage impossible writing tool storage part 30, discriminates the writing tool and outputs a warning signal S40 based on the discriminated result.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character or a graphic written on a discriminating medium from an image image obtained by optically scanning the discriminating medium such as a document or a form. The present invention relates to a writing instrument discriminating apparatus for discriminating the type of writing instrument used for writing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, techniques in such a field include:
For example, some documents were described in the following documents. Reference: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-112124 In general, when writing characters or figures on a medium to be discriminated such as a document or a form, a black pencil or a ballpoint pen is often used as a writing instrument to be used. By the way, contracts and official documents often allow only writing tools that cannot be easily rewritten, such as ballpoint pens other than pencils and fountain pens. To confirm this,
A means for discriminating the type of writing instrument used when writing characters and the like on the medium to be discriminated is required, but conventionally, this was visually performed by an operator who processes the medium to be discriminated. However, in such a method, since the operator has to visually check the mediums to be discriminated one by one, not only an excessive burden is imposed on the operator, but also high-speed processing cannot be performed. Further, there is a problem that a processing error occurs due to an operator's misjudgment. On the other hand, the above document discloses an optical character reading device. In this optical character reading device, a writing instrument used is used to optically read a mark written on a predetermined portion of a medium to be discriminated by a sensor, and a photoelectric conversion output of the sensor is compared by a comparing means to a reference prepared for each type of the writing instrument. Compare with the value. Then, the writing tool used at the time of writing is discriminated from the comparison result of the comparing means, an appropriate optical filter corresponding to the writing instrument is set, and the character or the like on the medium to be discriminated is read.

[0003]

However, in the conventional optical character reader, although the image image can be captured by using a suitable optical filter corresponding to the type of writing instrument, the subsequent processing should be mentioned. No
The contents are not described. Therefore, even if the conventional optical character reading device is used, the best work efficiency is not always obtained, an excessive burden is imposed on the operator, and it is difficult to solve it. The present invention solves the problem that the prior art has, as a result, that the best work efficiency is not always obtained depending on the processing method after capturing the image, and determines the type of writing instrument, (EN) A writing instrument discriminating apparatus with high work efficiency capable of notifying an operator of this discrimination result.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a writing instrument determination for determining the type of the writing instrument from an image image of information written on a medium to be identified using the writing instrument. In the writing instrument determination device including means,
The following means are provided. That is, when the determination result of the writing tool determination means is a predetermined writing tool, a warning signal output means for outputting a warning signal is provided. In the second invention, a storage means for storing an image image of information written on a medium to be discriminated using a writing instrument, and a writing instrument determination means for discriminating the type of the writing instrument from the image image stored in the storage means. In the writing instrument discriminating apparatus including the above, the warning signal output means of the first invention is provided. Third
In the invention, the warning signal output means of the first or second invention is an unusable writing tool storage section that stores in advance information indicating an unusable writing tool, a determination result of the writing tool determination means, and information indicating the unusable writing tool. And a comparator that outputs a warning signal based on the comparison result. In the fourth invention, the image image of the first, second or third invention is a color image image.

[0005]

According to the first and third aspects of the invention, since the writing implement discriminating apparatus is constructed as described above, the writing implement discriminating means can
The type of writing instrument used when writing information on the medium to be discriminated is discriminated. The determination result by the writing instrument determination means is compared with information indicating the unusable writing instrument stored in advance in the unusable writing instrument storage section by the comparison section, and when the comparison result is the predetermined unusable writing instrument, the warning signal output section issues a warning. The signal is output. As a result, the determination result of the writing instrument is transmitted to the operator or the like. According to the second invention,
The image of the information written on the medium to be discriminated is stored in the storage means. The writing tool determination means determines the type of writing tool used when writing information on the medium to be determined from the image stored in the storage means. The determination result in the writing instrument determination means is compared with the information representing the unusable writing instrument stored in the unusable writing instrument storage section by the comparison section, and when the comparison result is the predetermined unusable writing instrument, the warning signal output section outputs the warning signal. Is output. As a result, the determination result of the writing instrument is transmitted to the operator or the like. Further, by storing the original image of the medium to be discriminated in the storage means, the operator can specify a predetermined region to be discriminated on the medium to be discriminated at any time. Third
According to the invention, the information indicating the unusable writing implement is stored in advance in the unusable writing implement storage unit. The determination result in the writing instrument determination means is compared with the information indicating the unusable writing instrument stored in the unusable writing instrument storage section by the comparison section, and when the comparison result is a predetermined writing instrument, a warning signal is output from the warning signal output section. To be done. According to the fourth aspect, when the color image image of the medium to be discriminated is input, the writing instrument discriminating unit discriminates with high accuracy the type of the writing instrument used when writing characters, figures and the like. Therefore, the above problem can be solved.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument discriminating apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention. This writing instrument discriminating apparatus is composed of an integrated circuit, a program-controlled processor, and the like, and has a scanning unit 10 for capturing an image of a medium to be discriminated. The scanning unit 10 is composed of a photoelectric conversion element or the like and has a function of capturing three color image images of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) from the medium to be discriminated.
The writing instrument determination unit 20 is connected to the output side of the. The writing instrument discriminating unit 20 has a function as a writing instrument discriminating unit that discriminates the type of the writing instrument used when writing information on the medium to be discriminated from the color image image captured by the scanning unit 10. In addition, this writing implement discriminating apparatus is provided with an unusable writing implement storage unit 30 that stores in advance information indicating the unusable writing implements.
The comparison unit 40 is connected to the output side of the 0 and the writing instrument determination unit 20. The comparison unit 40 compares the determination result obtained by the writing instrument determination unit 20 with the information indicating the unusable writing instrument stored in the unusable writing instrument storage unit 30. When the writing instrument is the unusable writing instrument, a warning signal is output. It has a function to output. The unusable writing implement storage unit 30 and the comparison unit 40 constitute a warning signal output means. Figure 2
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of a writing instrument determination unit in FIG. 1. The writing instrument determination unit 20 includes a writing instrument pixel extraction unit 21 that extracts only pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing instrument used from the color image image captured by the scanning unit 10, and the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 21. The evaluation value calculation unit 22 is connected to the output side of the. The evaluation value calculation unit 22 has a function of calculating an evaluation value for writing instrument determination using the R, G, and B values of the pixels of the writing instrument used extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 21. Further, the writing instrument discriminating unit 20 is provided with a reference value storage unit 23 that stores a reference value of, for example, a pencil or a ballpoint pen with respect to the evaluation value obtained by the evaluation value calculation unit 22, and the reference value storage unit 23 and the evaluation value. The comparison unit 24 is connected to the output side of the calculation unit 22. The comparison unit 24 compares the evaluation value obtained by the evaluation value calculation unit 22 with the reference value stored in the reference value storage unit 23, determines the writing instrument, and gives the determination result to the comparison unit 40. have.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the comparison unit 40 in FIG. The comparison unit 40 compares the type of writing instrument obtained as a result of the writing instrument determination in the writing instrument determination unit 20 with the type of writing instrument stored in advance in the unusable writing instrument storage unit 30 and determining whether or not they are the same. Has a writing tool comparison unit 41 for determining that the warning output unit 42 is connected to the output side thereof. The warning output unit 42 has a function of outputting a warning (that is, a warning signal) S40 to the outside when the writing tool comparison unit 41 determines that the writing tools are the same. In this case, as an output method of the warning S40, for example, a buzzer is sounded, a light emitting diode is turned on, or the like depending on the usage mode of the device,
Use suitable means that can be easily confirmed by the operator.
FIG. 4 is a discriminating medium 50 used in the writing instrument discriminating apparatus of FIG.
FIG. A character entry frame 51 indicating a character entry area is printed on the discriminating medium 50, and a character 52 of “ABC” is written therein with, for example, a black pencil or a ballpoint pen.
Is written. In this embodiment, the dropout color is, for example, an orange color. The ground color of the medium 50 to be discriminated is white. FIG. 5 is a view showing the scanning direction of the scanning unit 10 in FIG. 1, and shows the scanning directions (main scanning direction 61 and sub-scanning direction 62) when the color image of the medium to be discriminated 50 is captured. The operation of the writing instrument discriminating apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The scanning section 10 optically scans the medium to be discriminated 50 in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG. 5 to sequentially capture color image images of three colors of R, G and B. When the scanning unit 10 starts capturing the color image of the medium to be discriminated 50, the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 21 in the writing instrument discrimination unit 20 determines the discrimination target of the medium to be discriminated 50 from the pixels received from the scanning unit 10. Only the pixels forming the character line in the predetermined area are sequentially extracted, and the R, G, and B values of the extracted pixels are accumulated, and at the same time, the number of pixels forming the character line is counted. When the scanning unit 10 finishes capturing all the color image images of the medium 50 to be discriminated, the cumulative values of the R, G, and B values of all the extracted pixels are divided by the number of pixels forming the character line. Thus, the average value of the R, G, B values is calculated, and the type of writing instrument is discriminated from the difference between the average values of the R, G, B values. In this case, in the present embodiment, the predetermined area to be discriminated is an area surrounded by the character entry frame 51 whose position is predetermined. Further, as a method of extracting the pixels forming the character line, a character 52 and a character entry frame 51 are used.
And the fact that the color of the medium to be discriminated 50 is different colors such as black, orange and white is used. Specifically, only pixels forming a character that is generally black are R,
Since the G and B values are all small values, pixels in which the R, G and B values are all smaller than a predetermined threshold value are extracted as pixels that form a character. Based on this extraction result, the evaluation value calculation unit 2
2. Even if the same black pencil and ballpoint pen are used, R, G, and
The writing instrument is discriminated by focusing on the fact that the density of B is different. That is, in general, a black pencil has a lower density than a black ball-point pen, that is, it is close to white, so that R, G, B
It is determined by utilizing the fact that the average value is large.

In the evaluation value calculation unit 22, the R, G, and P of the pixels according to the writing instrument used, extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 21,
An evaluation value for writing instrument determination is calculated using the average value of the B values. The evaluation value is a value obtained by multiplying any two of the average values of R, G, and B values. After that, in the comparison unit 24, the evaluation value obtained by the evaluation value calculation unit 22 is compared with the reference value for each type of writing instrument stored in the reference value storage unit 23 in advance, and it is a pencil or a ballpoint pen. It is determined whether or not it is neither, and the determination result is output to the comparison unit 40 in FIG. When the writing tool discriminating unit 20 finishes discriminating the writing instrument in the predetermined area of the medium 50 to be discriminated, the comparing unit 40 determines the type of the writing instrument obtained as a result of the writing instrument discrimination and the unusable writing instrument storage unit 3
It collates with the type of writing instrument stored in 0, and if there is a match, a warning S40 is output.
Here, assuming that “pencil” is registered in the unusable writing implement storage unit 30 in advance, the warning S40 is output only when the determination result by the writing implement determination unit 20 is a pencil. As a method of showing the warning S40 to the operator, there are a method of sounding a buzzer, a method of lighting a lamp, and the like. As described above, in the first embodiment, the writing instrument discriminating unit 20 discriminates the type of the writing instrument used when writing characters on the medium to be discriminated 50, and the discrimination result is the predetermined writing instrument. In this case, since the comparison unit 40 outputs the warning S40 to the outside, it is not necessary to manually sort the writing instruments according to the type, and the working efficiency is significantly improved, and at the same time, the discrimination error can be reduced. it can. Further, since the writing implement discriminating unit 20 discriminates the writing implement at the same time as capturing the color image of the medium to be discriminated 50, high-speed discrimination processing and warning output processing are possible. In addition, since the writing instrument discriminating unit 20 discriminates the type of the writing instrument from the color image image, the color information can be used for the discrimination as compared with the method using the monochrome image image. Therefore, it is possible to discriminate the writing instruments with high precision not only for the writing instruments having different colors but also for the writing instruments which seem to be almost the same color due to the delicate difference in color.

Second Embodiment FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument discriminating apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Elements common to those in FIG. 1 are designated by common reference numerals. There is. In this writing instrument discrimination device,
An image storage unit 70 is newly provided between the scanning unit 10 and the writing instrument determination unit 20 in FIG. The image storage unit 70 is, for example, a random access memory (RAM).
And a storage unit such as a hard disk, and the scanning unit 10
It has a function as a storage means for storing the color image image taken in by. Otherwise, the configuration is the same as in FIG. Next, the operation of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 as in the first embodiment. Scanning unit 10
5 optically scans the medium to be discriminated 50 in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG. 5 to sequentially capture color image images of three colors of R, G, and B, and the image storage unit 7
Store in 0. When the color image of the medium 50 to be discriminated is stored in the image storage unit 70 by the scanning unit 10,
The writing tool pixel extraction unit 21 in the writing tool determination unit 20 determines the medium 50 to be determined from the pixels received from the image storage unit 70.
The pixels forming the character line in the predetermined area to be determined are extracted. After that, the type of writing instrument is discriminated from the difference in the densities of the R, G, and B values of the extracted pixels. After that, the first
The same operation as that in the above embodiment is performed.

As described above, in the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the writing instrument discriminating section 20 discriminates the type of the writing instrument used when writing characters on the medium 50 to be discriminated. However, since the comparison unit 40 outputs the warning S40 to the outside when the result of this determination is a predetermined writing instrument, there is no need to manually sort the writing instruments by type according to the related art, and work efficiency is improved. It is possible to greatly improve and at the same time reduce discrimination errors. Further, since the writing tool discriminating unit 20 discriminates the type of the writing instrument from the color image, the color information can be used for the discrimination as compared with the method using the monochrome image. Therefore, it is possible to discriminate the writing instruments with high precision not only for the writing instruments having different colors but also for the writing instruments which seem to be almost the same color due to the delicate difference in color. In addition, since the image storage unit 70 is provided between the scanning unit 10 and the writing instrument determination unit 20 and the original image of the determination target medium 50 is stored in the image storage unit 70, the determination target medium 50 on the determination target medium 50 is stored. It is also possible for the operator to designate a predetermined area to be discriminated at any time for discrimination. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. Examples of the modifications include the following (a) to (h).

(A) In the above embodiment, the case where the writing instrument used is a black pencil and a ball-point pen has been described, but the writing instrument is not limited to these and may be another writing instrument such as a felt-tip pen or a fountain pen. . (B) In the above embodiment, attention is paid to the fact that the colors of the character 52 and other portions are different as a method of extracting the pixels forming the character line, and from the difference of the R, G, B values of the color image image. Although the case of extracting pixels forming a character has been described, the present invention is not limited to this.
Differences in values such as H (hue), S (saturation), and V (lightness) may be used. Further, a suitable method using a monochrome image image instead of the color image image may be adopted. (C) In the above-described embodiment, the case where there are two types of black pencils and ballpoint pens as the determination target writing tools, and “pencil” is designated as the unusable writing tool has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is assumed that there are three types of writing tools that are the determination target writing tools, that is, a black pencil, a ballpoint pen, and a felt-tip pen. . In this case, the warning is output only when the character written on the medium to be discriminated is a ballpoint pen or a felt-tip pen.

(D) In the above embodiment, the case has been described in which the pixels forming the character lines of the predetermined region of the medium to be discriminated are extracted and used as the means for discriminating the writing instrument.
For example, the medium to be discriminated 1 is not limited to this.
A method of using pixels forming the character lines of the entire sheet may be used. (E) In the above embodiment, the case where the determination target is a character has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be, for example, a figure. (F) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the color components of the extracted pixels are used after the pixels forming the character line are extracted has been described as a method for discriminating the writing instrument, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, a suitable method other than this, for example, a method of using all the pixels stored in the image storage unit 70 without extracting the pixels forming the character line may be used. (G) In the above embodiment, the case where the predetermined area of the medium to be discriminated is the area surrounded by the character entry frame 51 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the operator specifies the predetermined area. It may be a method. (H) In the above-described embodiment, as a method of designating an unusable writing instrument, a case has been described in which the unusable writing instrument storage unit 30 is registered in advance, but the method is not limited to this. It may be specified at any time.

[0014]

As described in detail above, according to the first and third aspects of the invention, the writing instrument discrimination means discriminates the type of writing instrument used when writing information on the medium to be discriminated. When the determination result is a predetermined writing instrument, the comparison unit outputs a warning signal to the outside, so that it is not necessary to manually sort the writing instruments by type, and work efficiency is significantly improved. At the same time, discrimination errors can be reduced. Further, since the writing instrument discrimination means discriminates the writing instrument at the same time as capturing the image of the medium to be discriminated, high speed discrimination processing and warning signal output processing are possible. According to the second and third inventions, as in the first invention, the writing instrument determination means determines the type of the writing instrument used when writing characters on the medium to be discriminated, and the determination result is a predetermined value. If it is a writing instrument, the comparison unit outputs a warning signal to the outside, so there is no need for manual sorting work for each type of writing instrument, which greatly improves work efficiency and reduces discrimination errors. Can be made.
Further, since the storage means for storing the image image of the information written on the medium to be discriminated is provided, the original image of the medium to be discriminated is stored in the storage means and is used as the discrimination target on the medium to be discriminated. It is also possible for the operator to specify a predetermined area at any time to make a distinction. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the type of writing instrument is discriminated from the color image image by the writing instrument discrimination means, so that color information can be used for discrimination as compared with the method using a monochrome image image. Therefore, it is possible to discriminate the writing instruments with high precision not only for the writing instruments having different colors but also for the writing instruments which seem to be almost the same color due to the delicate difference in color.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument determination device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of a writing instrument determination section in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of a comparison unit in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a discriminating medium used in the writing instrument discriminating apparatus of FIG. 1.

5 is a diagram showing a scanning direction of a scanning unit in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument determination device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Scanning Part 20 Writing Tool Discrimination Section 21 Writing Tool Pixel Extraction Section 22 Evaluation Value Calculation Section 23 Reference Value Storage Section 24, 40 Comparison Section 30 Unusable Writing Tool Storage Section 41 Writing Tool Comparison Section 42 Warning Output Section 50 Discrimination Medium 70 Image Storage Section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A writing instrument discrimination device comprising a writing instrument discriminating means for discriminating the type of the writing instrument from an image image of information written on a medium to be discriminated using the writing instrument, wherein the discrimination result in the writing instrument discriminating means is In the case of a predetermined writing instrument, a writing instrument discriminating device characterized in that warning signal outputting means for outputting a warning signal is provided. 2. A storage unit for storing an image image of information written on a medium to be discriminated using a writing instrument, and a writing instrument determination unit for discriminating the type of the writing instrument from the image image stored in the storage unit. A writing instrument discriminating apparatus comprising: a writing instrument discriminating apparatus comprising the warning signal output means according to claim 1. 3. The warning signal output means compares an unusable writing tool storage section for storing in advance information representing unusable writing tools with a determination result of the writing tool determination means and information representing the unusable writing tools, The writing instrument discriminating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the writing instrument discriminating apparatus is configured by a comparing section that outputs the warning signal based on a comparison result. 4. The writing instrument discrimination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image image is a color image image.