JPH08315072A - Optical character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an optical character reader capable of eliminating the necessity of previously registering format data and preventing the generation of abnormal reading. CONSTITUTION: The optical character reader is provided with a light source 14, a CCD sensor 15 for receiving reflected light from a document 11 and generating a picture signal, an image entering part 21 for entering the picture signal as a picture image, an image separating part 16 for separating the picture image into a character frame image and a character image in accordance with differences among the spectral characteristics of RGB, a character position detecting part 17 for detecting a character position based upon a character frame image, a character segmenting part 18 for segmenting a character from a character image on the detected character position, and a recognition part 19 for recognizing the segmented character. The detecting part 17 detects the character position based upon the character frame image and the segmenting part 18 segements the character from the character image on the detected character position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical character reader.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an optical character reader,
The characters written on the form are imaged on an image sensor by an optical system, the image signal generated by the image sensor is converted into an image image, and the image image is written in a memory. Then, the character is recognized by extracting the characteristics of the character cut out from the image image.

Therefore, a character frame is printed on a form by a red or blue dropout color, and a character is written in the character frame by a black writing instrument. Then, the optical character reader passes through the light source that irradiates the form, a filter that blocks light of a frequency corresponding to the dropout color in the reflected light from the form, and the filter. A CCD sensor that receives light to generate an image signal, an image capturing unit that captures the image signal as an image image, a character cutting unit that cuts out a character according to a format preset for each form, and recognition that recognizes the cut out character. Parts.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional optical character reader, characters are cut out in accordance with the format set for each form, so that the character position, the number of characters, etc. of all the forms can be determined. Format data must be registered in advance.

Further, if the form is skewed or meandering, the characters cannot be cut out properly, so it is unreadable.
Reading error such as erroneous reading occurs. Furthermore, if the form is thin paper and characters are written on both the front and back sides, the characters on the front side and the characters on the back side are read at the same time, and reading errors such as unread and misread occur. I will end up.

The present invention provides an optical character reading device which solves the problems of the conventional optical character reading device described above and does not need to register format data in advance and does not cause a reading error. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

Therefore, in the optical character reading device of the present invention, a light source for irradiating the form with light, a CCD sensor for receiving the reflected light from the form and generating an image signal, An image capturing section for capturing the image signal as an image image, and
An image separation unit that separates a character frame image and a character image according to the difference in spectral characteristics of the character position, a character position detection unit that detects the character position based on the character frame image, and a character from the character image at the detected character position. It has a character cutout unit for cutting out and a recognition unit for recognizing the cut out characters.

In another optical character reading apparatus of the present invention, a light source for irradiating a form with light, a CCD sensor for receiving an reflected light from the form and generating an image signal, and the image signal as an image image. An image capturing unit that captures the image, an image separation unit that separates the image image into a character frame image and a character image based on a difference in RGB spectral characteristics, and an inclination detection unit that detects the inclination of the form based on the character frame image. , The character position of the format data registered in advance is corrected based on the detected inclination of the form, and the character cutout part for cutting out the character from the character image at the corrected character position and the recognition part for recognizing the cut out character Have and.

In still another optical character reading device of the present invention, a light source for irradiating a form with light, a CCD sensor for receiving an reflected light from the form and generating an image signal, and an image image of the image signal. An image capturing unit that captures the image image as an image, an image separation unit that separates the image image into a character image on the front side and a character image on the back side due to a difference in RGB spectral characteristics, and an image inverting unit that reverses the character image on the back side. A character cutout unit that cuts out a character from each character image and a recognition unit that recognizes the cutout character are provided.

[0010]

According to the present invention, as described above, in the optical character reading apparatus, the light source for irradiating the form, the CCD sensor for receiving the reflected light from the form and generating the image signal, and the image An image capturing unit that captures a signal as an image image, an image separating unit that separates the image image into a character frame image and a character image according to a difference in RGB spectral characteristic, and a character position is detected based on the character frame image. A character position detection unit, a character cutout unit that cuts out a character from a character image at the detected character position, and a recognition unit that recognizes the cut out character.

In this case, when the form sucked into the optical character reading device is irradiated with light, the CCD sensor receives the reflected light to generate an image signal, and the image capturing section displays the image signal as an image. Take in as. When the image separation unit separates the image image into the character frame image and the character image, the character position detection unit detects the character position based on the character frame image, and the character cutout unit detects the character image at the detected character position. Cut out characters from.

In another optical character reading device of the present invention, a light source for irradiating a form with light, a CCD sensor for receiving an reflected light from the form and generating an image signal, and the image signal as an image image. An image capturing unit that captures the image, an image separating unit that separates the image image into a character frame image and a character image based on a difference in RGB spectral characteristics, and an inclination detection unit that detects the inclination of the form based on the character frame image. And the character position of the pre-registered format data is corrected based on the detected inclination of the form, and the character cutout part that cuts out the character from the character image at the corrected character position and the recognition that recognizes the cut out character And a department.

In this case, when the form sucked into the optical character reading device is irradiated with light, the CCD sensor receives the reflected light to generate an image signal, and the image capturing section displays the image signal as an image. Capture as an image. Then, when the image separation unit separates the image image into the character frame image and the character image, the inclination detection unit detects the inclination of the form based on the character frame image, and the character cutout unit detects the character position of the format data. The correction is performed based on the tilt of the formed form, and the character is cut out from the character image at the corrected character position.

In still another optical character reading device of the present invention, a light source for irradiating a form with light, a CCD sensor for receiving an reflected light from the form and generating an image signal, and an image image of the image signal. An image capturing unit that captures the image image as an image, an image separation unit that separates the image image into a character image on the front side and a character image on the back side due to a difference in RGB spectral characteristics, and an image inverting unit that reverses the character image on the back side. A character cutout unit that cuts out a character from each character image and a recognition unit that recognizes the cutout character are provided.

In this case, when the form sucked into the optical character reading device is irradiated with light, the CCD sensor receives the reflected light to generate an image signal, and the image capturing section forms an image of the image signal. Take in as. Then, when the image separation unit separates the image image into the front side character image and the back side character image, the image reversing unit inverts the back side character image, and the character cutting section separates the front side character image and the back side character image. Cut out characters.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram of an optical character reader according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the optical character reading device includes a feed roller 12 that sucks the form 11 and sends it to a reading position, a mechanism unit 13 that rotates the feed roller 12, a light source 14 that irradiates the form 11 with light, A CCD sensor 15 which receives reflected light from the form 11 and generates an image signal, an image capturing section 21 which converts the image signal into color image data and captures it as an image image, and the image image into RGB (red, red,
An image separation unit 16 that separates a character frame image into a character image and a character position detection unit 1 that detects a character position from the character frame image according to the difference in spectral characteristics of green and blue).
7, a character cutout unit 18 for cutting out a character from the character image at the detected character position, a recognition unit 19 for recognizing the cut out character, and a control unit 20 for controlling the entire optical character reading device.

Next, the operation of the optical character reader having the above construction will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the optical character reader according to the first embodiment of the present invention. First, when the mechanism unit 13 (FIG. 1) rotates the feed roller 12 according to the form suction command of the control unit 20, the feed roller 12 sucks the form 11 and sends it to the reading position. At the reading position, the light source 14 irradiates the form 11 with light,
The CCD sensor 15 receives the reflected light from the form 11 and generates an image signal. Then, the image capturing section 21 converts the image signal into color image data and captures it as an image.

By the way, when the color of the character written on the form 11 is different from the color of the character frame printed in advance, a difference in the spectral characteristics of RGB occurs. Therefore, the image separation unit 16 separates the image image into a character image and a character frame image according to the difference in the spectral characteristic. Next, the character position detection unit 17 detects the character position based on the character frame image. And the character cutout unit 1
8 cuts out a character from the character image at the detected character position, and the recognition unit 19 recognizes the character. Step S1 Inhale the form 11. In step S2, the image capturing section 21 captures color image data as an image. In step S3, the image separation unit 16 separates the image image into a character image and a character frame image. In step S4, the character position detector 17 detects the character position. In step S5, the character cutout unit 18 cuts out a character from the character image. In step S6, the recognition unit 19 recognizes the character.

As described above, since the character position can be detected based on the character frame image, it is not necessary to register the format data in advance. Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows the second aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an optical character reader in the embodiment of FIG. It should be noted that the same reference numerals are given to those having the same structure as the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this case, instead of the character position detector 17 (FIG. 1) of the first embodiment, an inclination detector 23 for detecting the inclination of the form 11 is provided. Therefore, the format data for each form 11 is registered in advance in the optical character reading device. Then, the character cutout unit 18
The character position of the format data is corrected based on the inclination of the form 11 detected by the inclination detection unit 23, a character is cut out from the character image at the corrected character position, and the recognition unit 19 recognizes the character.

Next, the operation of the optical character reader having the above construction will be described. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the optical character reader according to the second embodiment of the present invention. First, when the mechanism unit 13 (FIG. 3) rotates the feed roller 12 according to the form suction command of the control unit 20, the feed roller 12 sucks the form 11 and sends it to the reading position. At the reading position, the light source 14 irradiates the form 11 with light,
The CCD sensor 15 receives the reflected light and generates an image signal. Then, the image capturing section 21 converts the image signal into color image data and captures it as an image.

By the way, when the color of the character written on the form 11 and the color of the character frame printed in advance are different, a difference in the spectral characteristics of RGB occurs. Therefore, the image separation unit 16 separates the image data into a character image and a character frame image according to the difference in the spectral characteristic. Next, the inclination detection unit 23 detects the inclination of the form 11 for each line based on the character frame image. Then, the character position of the format data is corrected by the inclination of the form 11, a character is cut out from the character image at the corrected character position, and the recognition unit 19 recognizes the character. Step S11 Inhale the form 11. In step S12, the image capturing unit 21 captures color image data as an image. In step S13, the image separation unit 16 separates the image image into a character image and a character frame image. Step S14 The tilt detection unit 23 detects the tilt of the form 11 based on the character frame image. In step S15, the character cutting unit 18 corrects the character position by an amount corresponding to the inclination of the form 11, and the character is cut out from the character image at the corrected character position. Step S16 The recognition unit 19 recognizes the character.

As described above, even if the form 11 is skewed or meandered, the characters can be appropriately cut out.
No reading error such as unread or erroneous reading occurs. next,
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an optical character reader according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the optical character reader is
A feed roller 12 that sucks the form 11 and sends it to the reading position, a mechanism unit 13 that rotates the feed roller 12, and the form 11 described above.
A light source 14 for irradiating light, a CCD sensor 15 for generating an image signal by receiving reflected light from the form 11, an image capturing section 21 for converting the image signal into color image data and capturing as an image image, An image separation unit 24 that separates the image image into a character image on the front side and a character image on the back side of the form 11 according to the difference in the RGB spectral characteristics, an image inverting unit 27 that inverts the character image on the back side of the form 11, and is registered in advance. The format data includes a character cutout unit 28 that cuts out a character from a character image at a character position, a recognition unit 19 that recognizes the cut out character, and a control unit 20 that controls the entire optical character reading device.

Next, the operation of the optical character reader having the above construction will be described. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the optical character reader according to the third embodiment of the present invention. First, when the mechanism unit 13 (FIG. 5) rotates the feed roller 12 according to the form suction command of the control unit 20, the feed roller 12 sucks the form 11 and sends it to the reading position. At the reading position, the light source 14 irradiates the form 11 with light,
The CCD sensor 15 receives the reflected light from the form 11 and generates an image signal. Then, the image capturing section 21 converts the image signal into color image data and captures it as an image.

By the way, when the form 11 is thin paper, when it is irradiated with light, the characters written on the surface of the form 11,
An image signal may be generated for any of the characters written on the back surface of the form 11. Therefore,
In the present embodiment, the characters written on the front surface and the characters written on the back surface of the form 11 can be read separately. Therefore, the color of characters written on the front side of the form 11 and the color of characters written on the back side are changed, or the form 11 is made of a material having a color other than colorless and transparent.

By the way, when the color of the character written on the front surface of the form 11 and the color of the character written on the rear surface are different,
Differences in RGB spectral characteristics occur. On the other hand, when the form 11 is made of a material having a color other than colorless and transparent, the difference in the spectral characteristics of RGB occurs between the characters on the front surface and the characters on the back surface. Therefore, the image separation unit 24 separates the image image into a character image on the front surface and a character image on the back surface of the form 11 according to the difference in the spectral characteristic.

In this case, the left and right character images of the separated back surface are reversed. Therefore, the image reversing unit 27 reverses only the character image on the back surface of the form 11 left and right. Next, the character cutout unit 28 cuts out a character from the character image on the front surface and the character image on the back surface at the character position of the pre-registered format data,
The recognition unit 19 recognizes the character. In step S21, the form 11 is inhaled. In step S22, the image capturing unit 21 captures color image data as an image. In step S23, the image separation unit 24 separates the image image into a character image on the front side and a character image on the back side of the form 11. In step S24, the image inversion unit 27 causes the form 11
Only the character image on the back of is flipped left and right. In step S25, the character cutout unit 28 cuts out characters from the character image on the front surface and the character image on the back surface. In step S26, the recognition unit 19 recognizes the character.

As described above, the characters written on the front surface and the characters written on the back surface of the form 11 can be distinguished and read without complicating the structure of the optical character reading device, and No reading error such as erroneous reading occurs. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0030]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, in the optical character reader, the light source for irradiating the form and the reflected light from the form generate the image signal. A CCD sensor, an image capturing unit that captures the image signal as an image image, an image separation unit that separates the image image into a character frame image and a character image according to the difference in RGB spectral characteristics, and based on the character frame image A character position detecting unit that detects a character position by using a character image, a character cutting unit that cuts a character from a character image at the detected character position, and a recognition unit that recognizes the cut character.

In this case, the character position detection unit detects the character position based on the character frame image, and the character cutout unit cuts out the character from the character image at the detected character position. Therefore, it is not necessary to register the format data in advance. In another optical character reader of the present invention, a light source that irradiates a form with light, a CCD sensor that receives reflected light from the form and generates an image signal, and an image capturing device that captures the image signal as an image image. An input unit, an image separation unit that separates the image image into a character frame image and a character image based on the difference in RGB spectral characteristics, an inclination detection unit that detects the inclination of the form based on the character frame image, and pre-registered. The character position of the formatted data is corrected based on the detected inclination of the form, and a character cutting unit that cuts a character from the character image at the corrected character position and a recognition unit that recognizes the cut character .

In this case, the character cutout unit corrects the character position of the format data based on the detected inclination of the form, and cuts out the character from the character image at the corrected character position. Therefore, even if the form is skewed or meandering, the characters can be appropriately cut out, so that no reading error such as unread or misread occurs. In still another optical character reading device of the present invention, a light source that irradiates a form with light, a CCD sensor that receives reflected light from the form and generates an image signal, and an image that captures the image signal as an image image A capture unit, an image separation unit that separates the image image into a front side character image and a back side character image according to the difference in RGB spectral characteristics, an image reversing unit that reverses the back side character image, and each character image It has a character cutout part for cutting out a character from and a recognition part for recognizing the cut out character.

In this case, the image separation unit separates the image image into a front-side character image and a back-side character image, and the character cutting unit cuts out a character from the front-side character image and the back-side character image. Therefore, the characters written on the front surface and the characters written on the back surface of the form can be distinguished and read without providing a complicated mechanism such as a form reversing mechanism and a double-sided image capturing mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical character reader according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the optical character reading device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an optical character reader according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the optical character reading device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an optical character reading device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the optical character reading device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Form 14 Light Source 15 CCD Sensor 16, 24 Image Separation Unit 17 Character Position Detection Unit 18, 28 Character Cutout Unit 19 Recognition Unit 21 Image Capture Unit 23 Tilt Detection Unit 27 Image Inversion Unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A light source for irradiating a form with light,
(B) a CCD sensor that receives the reflected light from the form and generates an image signal; (c) an image capturing section that captures the image signal as an image image; and (d) the image image of RGB spectral characteristics. An image separation unit that separates the character frame image and the character image according to the difference,
(E) a character position detection unit that detects a character position based on the character frame image, and (f) a character cutout unit that cuts out a character from the character image at the detected character position,
(G) An optical character reader having a recognition unit for recognizing cut-out characters. 2. A light source for irradiating a form with light,
(B) a CCD sensor that receives the reflected light from the form and generates an image signal; (c) an image capturing section that captures the image signal as an image image; and (d) the image image of RGB spectral characteristics. An image separation unit that separates the character frame image and the character image according to the difference,
(E) An inclination detection unit that detects the inclination of the form based on the character frame image, and (f) the character position of the pre-registered format data is corrected based on the detected inclination of the form and corrected. An optical character reading device comprising: a character cutout unit that cuts out a character from a character image at a character position; and (g) a recognition unit that recognizes the cut out character. 3. A light source for irradiating a form with light,
(B) a CCD sensor that receives the reflected light from the form and generates an image signal; (c) an image capturing section that captures the image signal as an image image; and (d) the image image of RGB spectral characteristics. An image separation unit that separates a front-side character image and a back-side character image according to a difference, (e) an image reversing unit that reverses the back-side character image, and (f) a character cutting unit that cuts out a character from each character image. , (G) a recognition unit for recognizing the cut-out character, and an optical character reading device.