JPH0875552A - Writing instrument discriminator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a highly efficient writing instrument discriminator in which a frame for putting a mark on a medium to be discriminated can be eliminated along with a work for filling the frame by means of a writing instrument. CONSTITUTION: The color image of a medium to be discriminated is taken in at a scanning section 10 and stored in a color image memory section 20. Only the pixels corresponding to a part written by means of the writing instrument are then extracted at a pixel extracting section 30 from the color image stored in the memory section 20. A writing instrument being used is discriminated at a writing instrument deciding section 40 based on the difference of color information distribution of the pixels corresponding to the part written by means of the writing instrument extracted at the pixel extracting section 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a writing instrument discrimination for optically discriminating the type of writing instrument used in an optical character reading device for optically reading a character written on a medium to be read such as a document or a form. It relates to the device.

[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 Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-112124 Generally, when writing characters or figures on a medium to be read such as a document or a form, a black pencil or a ballpoint pen is often used as a writing instrument used for the writing. However, even if it is the same black color, the pencil and the ballpoint pen have different densities in the filled area, so when the images are optically captured under the same conditions, problems such as blurring and crushing may occur. There is. Therefore, for example, in a conventional optical character reading device, an operator of the optical character reading device may instruct whether the writing writing tool is a pencil or a ball-point pen, and an image may be captured according to the conditions for each writing tool. It was done. However, in such a method, since the operator has to input the type of writing instrument into the optical character reading device, not only an excessive burden is imposed on the operator, but also high-speed processing becomes difficult and an instruction error by the operator may occur. There was a problem that an operation mistake occurred. Then, in order to solve such a problem, the technique of the said literature proposes the writing tool discrimination | determination means in an optical character reader as follows. In the technology of this document, when reading a character or the like written on a medium to be read using a writing instrument, a mark is written at a predetermined position on the medium to be read using the same writing instrument as the writing instrument used. Let Then, the image of the mark written in the predetermined portion of the medium to be read is read by the optical sensor, and the photoelectric conversion output of this sensor is compared with the reference value prepared for each type of writing instrument by the comparison means. After that, the writing tool used for writing on the medium to be read is discriminated from the comparison result of the comparing means, and an appropriate optical filter corresponding to this is set to read the characters on the medium to be read.

[0003]

However, in the writing instrument discrimination apparatus in the conventional optical character reading apparatus, the inside of the mark writing frame at the predetermined position on the medium to be read must be filled with the writing instrument used when writing the medium to be read. Therefore, there is a problem that it is very disadvantageous in terms of work efficiency when writing a medium to be read, and it is difficult to solve it. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, and provides a writing implement discriminating apparatus with high work efficiency, which eliminates the need for a marking operation on a medium to be discriminated and a writing operation using a writing implement. .

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first invention is a writing instrument discriminating apparatus for discriminating a writing instrument used for writing characters or the like on a medium to be discriminated. A storage means for storing a color image image; a writing tool pixel extraction means for extracting only pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing tool from the color image image stored in the storage means; and a writing tool pixel extraction means. A writing instrument discrimination means for discriminating the writing instrument according to the difference in the distribution state of the extracted pixel color information,
I have it. In the second invention, a writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing tool from a color image image of a medium to be discriminated, and color information of pixels extracted by the writing tool pixel extracting means. A writing tool determination unit that determines the writing tool depending on the distribution state is provided. According to a third aspect of the present invention, a storage unit that stores a color image image of a medium to be discriminated, and a color image image stored in the storage unit are provided to a portion written by the writing instrument for each sheet of the medium to be discriminated. Writing instrument pixel extracting means for extracting only the corresponding pixels, and writing instrument determining means for determining the writing instrument based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels for each of the determination target media extracted by the writing instrument pixel extracting means. Is equipped with.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, storage means for storing a color image image of the medium to be discriminated, and character / graphic cutting means for cutting out one character or one figure from the color image image stored in the storage means. , A writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing tool from the color image image cut out by the character / graphic cutting means, and a color of the pixel extracted by the writing tool pixel extracting means Depending on the distribution of information,
And a writing tool discriminating means for discriminating the writing instrument. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, storage means for storing the color image image of the medium to be discriminated, line cutting means for cutting out characters or figures in line units from the color image image stored in the storage means, and the line cutting means. Difference between the distribution state of the color information of the writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool from the color image image cut out by the outputting means, and the color information of the pixels extracted by the writing tool pixel extracting means According to the above, there is provided a writing tool determination means for determining the writing tool. In the sixth invention,
The writing instrument determination means according to the first, second, third, fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention determines the writing instrument based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument. A means for outputting the determination result to the outside is provided.

In the seventh invention, the color information in the writing instrument discrimination means of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth invention is red (R), green (G), blue ( It is the image image signal of B). In an eighth invention, the color information in the writing instrument discrimination means of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth invention is hue (H), saturation (S), or lightness (V). ) Any one or a combination of multiple. In the ninth invention, the writing tool discrimination means of the seventh invention is such that the writing instrument to be discriminated is a black pencil and a ballpoint pen, and the red (R) density value green (G) of the pixel corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument used. ) Or the blue (B) density value is used to determine the writing instrument.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the writing instrument discriminating apparatus is constructed as described above, so that when the color image of the medium to be discriminated is inputted, it is stored in the storage means. Among the color image images stored in the storage means, only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool are extracted by the writing tool pixel extraction means and sent to the writing tool determination means. The writing instrument determination means determines the writing instrument to be used based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction means. According to the second invention, when the color image image of the medium to be discriminated is input, only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument are extracted from the color image image by the writing instrument pixel extraction means. Sent to the means. The writing instrument determination means determines the writing instrument to be used based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction means. According to the third aspect, when the color image of the medium to be discriminated is input, it is stored in the storage means. From the color image image stored in the storage means, the writing tool pixel extraction means extracts only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool for each discriminating medium and sends them to the writing tool discrimination means. The writing instrument determination means determines the writing instrument to be used based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument for each of the determination target media extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction means.

According to the fourth invention, when the color image of the medium to be discriminated is input, it is stored in the storage means. From the color image image stored in the storage means,
One character or one figure is cut out by the character / graphic cutting means. From the cut out color image image, only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool are extracted by the writing tool pixel extraction means and sent to the writing tool determination means. The writing tool determination means determines the writing tool to be used based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool, which is extracted by the writing tool pixel extraction means. According to the fifth aspect, when the color image of the medium to be discriminated is input, it is stored in the storage means. Characters or figures are cut out line by line from the color image image stored in the storage means by the line cutout means. From the cut out color image image, only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool are extracted by the writing tool pixel extraction means and sent to the writing tool determination means. The writing tool determination means determines the writing tool to be used based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool, which is extracted by the writing tool pixel extraction means. According to the sixth aspect, the writing instrument determination means determines the writing instrument used based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument, and outputs the determination result to the outside.

According to the seventh invention, the writing instrument discrimination means is
R, G, B of the pixel corresponding to the part written by the writing instrument
The writing instrument to be used is discriminated based on the difference in the image signal. According to the eighth aspect, the writing instrument determination means determines the writing instrument based on the difference in one or a plurality of combinations of H, S, and V of the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument. According to the ninth aspect of the invention, the writing instrument determination means uses the magnitude relationship of the R density value of the pixel corresponding to the portion written with the black pencil and the ballpoint pen with respect to the G density value or the B density value. Identify writing instruments. Therefore, the above problem can be solved.

[0010]

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 comprises an individual circuit using an integrated circuit or the like, or a program-controlled processor or the like.
Scanning unit 1 for capturing color image images of three colors G and B
Has 0. The scanning unit 10 is composed of a photoelectric conversion element or the like, has a function of scanning on the medium to be discriminated and capturing the color image of the medium to be discriminated in the form of an electric signal, and the color image storage unit 20 is provided on the output side thereof. Are connected. The color image storage unit 20 has a function as a storage unit for storing the color image image captured by the scanning unit 10, and the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30 is connected to the output side thereof. The writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30 has a function as a writing instrument pixel extraction unit that extracts only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument used from the color image image stored in the color image storage unit 20, and outputs it. The writing instrument determination unit 40 is connected to the side. The writing implement discriminating unit 40 discriminates the writing implement based on the difference in the distribution status of the R, G, and B values of the pixels extracted by the writing implement pixel extracting unit 30 (pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing implement used). It has a function as a writing instrument discrimination means for outputting the discrimination result to the outside. The writing instrument determination unit 40 includes an evaluation value calculation unit 41 that calculates 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 30, and the evaluation value. A reference value storage unit 42 that stores, for example, a reference value of a pencil and a ballpoint pen with respect to an evaluation value obtained by the calculation unit 41, an evaluation value obtained by the evaluation value calculation unit 41, and a reference value storage unit 42 that stores the evaluation value. It is configured with a comparison unit 43 that compares the reference value with the reference value and determines the writing tool. The operation of the writing instrument discriminating apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
A description will be given with reference to (a) and (b).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a discriminating medium 50 used in the writing instrument discriminating apparatus of FIG. This discriminating medium 50
For example, the background color is white, and the character 51 of "ABC" is written using a black pencil or a ballpoint pen as the writing instrument to be discriminated. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing scanning directions (main scanning direction 61 and sub-scanning direction 62) when the color image of the medium to be discriminated 50 is captured by the scanning unit 10. When discriminating a writing instrument with the writing instrument discriminating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the scanning unit 10 optically scans the medium to be discriminated 50 shown in FIG. 2 in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG.
The color image images of three colors of R, G and B are sequentially taken in and stored in the color image storage unit 20. The color image image is, for example, 8 bits (0
Up to 255) Multi-valued data is captured and stored in the color image storage unit 20. By the scanning unit 10, the medium 50 to be discriminated
When the color image image of is stored in the color image storage unit 20, the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30 extracts the image of the portion inside the predetermined area from the color image image stored in the color image storage unit 20, and the pixel unit is used. ,
Generally, black has all R, G, and B values small, and white has all R, G, and B values all large. On the contrary, when the following condition (1) is satisfied, it is a pixel forming a character 51. judge.

R <THr and G <THg and B <THb (1) However, THr, THg and THb; the predetermined area of the predetermined threshold value condition (1) for the R, G and B values, respectively, is the written character 51. It is assumed that the area includes the pixels constituting the. When the pixels forming the character 51 are extracted by the writing implement pixel extraction unit 30, the evaluation value calculation unit 41 in the writing implement determination unit 40 uses the following expression (2) to evaluate the evaluation value Ar for the writing implement determination.
Calculate gb.

[Equation 1] The calculation of the evaluation value Argb is performed at the same time when the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30 extracts the pixels forming the character 51. That is, each time the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30 extracts the pixels Rn, Gn, Bn forming the character 51, the evaluation value calculation unit 41 calculates (Rn−Gn) + (Rn−Bn) (3). ) Is calculated sequentially and the calculation results are accumulated at the same time,
The number N of pixels forming the character 51 is counted up, and the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30 is executed for all the pixels inside the predetermined area.
When the operation of extracting the pixels forming the character 51 by means of is completed, the accumulated calculation result of the equation (3) is divided by the number N of pixels forming the character 51. When the evaluation value calculation unit 41 calculates the evaluation value Argb, the comparison unit 43 calculates the evaluation value Argb.
gb is compared with a reference threshold value for writing instrument determination stored in advance in the reference value storage unit 42 to determine whether it is a pencil, a ballpoint pen, or neither, and the determination result is output to the outside. Output to.

Next, an evaluation value Argb for discriminating writing instruments
The reason for using equation (2) will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are diagrams showing a density histogram of the writing instrument determined by the writing instrument determination device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 (a) is a concentration histogram of R, G, and B values of a black pencil. FIG. 3B shows an example of a density histogram of R, G, B values of a black ballpoint pen.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the R value of the black pencil is often smaller than the G value or the B value. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4B, with a black ballpoint pen, R
In many cases, the value is larger than or equal to the G value or the B value. That is, the magnitude relationship between the R value and the G value or the B value is different between the black pencil and the ballpoint pen. Therefore, the expression (2) is an average value of the sum of (RG) and (RB) of each pixel forming the character 51. If this value is small, it is a pencil writing, and if it is large, it is a ballpoint pen writing. It is likely.

As described above, the first embodiment has the following advantages. (1) Since the color image image is used for the determination of the writing instrument, the color information can be used for the determination as compared with the conventional method using the monochrome image image. Therefore, it is possible to highly accurately determine not only writing instruments having different colors but also subtle differences in colors of writing instruments that seem to be almost the same color. (2) Since the writing tool determination is performed by directly using the color information of the pixels that form the writing tool determination character 51, it is not necessary to provide a mark entry frame at a predetermined position on the determination target medium 50, unlike the conventional case. At the same time, there is no need for the scribe to fill the mark entry frame, which is very advantageous in terms of work efficiency. (3) Since the evaluation value for discriminating the writing instrument is calculated by a simple equation using the R, G, and B values as it is as shown in the equation (2), the discrimination can be performed at high speed.

Second Embodiment FIG. 5 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 showing the first embodiment are shown in FIG. Common reference numerals are attached. In this writing instrument determination device, the color image storage section 20 of the first embodiment is omitted, and the output side of the scanning section 10 is connected to the input side of the writing instrument pixel extraction section 30A. That is,
A writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30A is connected to the output side of the scanning unit 10 that captures three color image images of R, G, and B from the medium to be discriminated. The writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30A
It has a function as a writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool from the color image image captured by the scanning section 10, and the writing tool determining section 40A is connected to the output side thereof. There is. The writing instrument determination unit 40A includes pixels extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30A (pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument used).
According to the difference in the distribution of the R, G, and B values, the writing value determination unit 41A has a function as a writing instrument determination unit that determines the writing instrument and outputs the determination result, which is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. , A reference value storage unit 42A and a comparison unit 43A.

The operation of the writing instrument discriminating apparatus constructed as above will be described. Similar to the first embodiment, the character 51 of "ABC" is written on the medium to be discriminated 50 shown in FIG. 2 with a black pencil or a ballpoint pen. When discriminating the writing instrument used to write the character 51, the scanning unit 10 in FIG. 5 optically scans the discriminating medium 50 in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG. R, G,
The three color image images of B are sequentially captured. In addition,
Here, as in the first embodiment, it is assumed that the color image is captured in multi-values of 8 bits (0 to 255) for each of R, G, and B, and the writing instrument to be discriminated is a black pencil and a ballpoint pen. It is assumed that the ground color of the medium to be discriminated 50 is white. When the scanning unit 10 starts capturing the color image image of the medium to be discriminated 50, the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30A outputs R, G, and B values for the pixels received from the scanning unit 10 in pixel units, generally black. When all of the values are small and white is conversely the R, G, and B values are all large, when the above condition (1) is satisfied, it is sequentially determined that the pixel is a pixel forming the character 51. Writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30
When the pixels forming the character 51 are extracted by A, the evaluation value calculation unit 41A in the writing tool determination unit 40A starts calculation of the evaluation value Argb for the writing tool determination according to the equation (2). The calculation of the evaluation value Argb is performed simultaneously with the extraction of the pixels forming the character 51 by the writing implement pixel extraction unit 30A.

That is, every time the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30A extracts the pixels R, G, and B which form the character 51,
Similar to the first embodiment, the evaluation value calculation unit 41A sequentially calculates the formula (3), accumulates the calculation results, and at the same time counts up the number N of pixels forming the character 51, When the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30A completes the extraction operation of the pixels forming the character 51 with respect to all the pixels of the medium to be discriminated 50, the accumulated calculation result of the expression (3) is represented by the number N of pixels forming the character 51. Break. Therefore, the scanning unit 10
Immediately after the scanning of the medium 50 to be discriminated by is finished, the calculation of the evaluation value Argb is finished. When the evaluation value calculation unit 41A calculates the evaluation value Argb, the comparison unit 43A determines the evaluation value Argb and the writing instrument stored in the reference value storage unit 42A in advance as in the first embodiment. Is compared with the reference threshold value of 1 to determine whether it is a pencil, a ballpoint pen, or neither, and the determination result is output to the outside. The second embodiment has the following advantages. (A) There are advantages similar to the advantages (1), (2), and (3) of the first embodiment. (B) In this embodiment, the medium 5 to be discriminated by the scanning unit 10
At the same time as the scanning of 0, the evaluation value calculation unit 41A calculates the evaluation value for the writing tool determination, so that the writing tool determination can be performed at high speed also in this aspect.

Third Embodiment FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument discriminating apparatus showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Elements common to the elements in FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment are shown in FIG. Common reference numerals are attached. In this writing instrument determination device, a writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30B having a different configuration from the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30 and the writing instrument determination unit 40 of FIG.
Also, a writing instrument discriminating section 40B is provided. That is, in this writing instrument determination device, as in the first embodiment, the scanning unit 10 that captures the color image images of the three colors R, G, and B from the medium to be discriminated, and the color image captured by the scanning unit 10. A color image storage unit 20 for storing an image is provided. A writing implement pixel extraction unit 30B is connected to the output side of the color image storage unit 20. The writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30B extracts, from the color image image stored in the color image storage unit 20, only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument used for each medium to be discriminated. And the writing tool determination unit 40B is connected to the output side thereof. The writing instrument discriminating unit 40B determines whether the pixels extracted by the writing instrument pixel extracting unit 30B (pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument used for each discriminating medium) have different R, G, and B values. It has a function as a writing instrument determination means for determining the writing instrument and outputting the determination result to the outside. The evaluation value calculation section 41B, the reference value storage section 42B, and the comparison section 43B are similar to those in the first embodiment. It is composed of.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a medium 50 to be discriminated which is used in the writing instrument discriminating apparatus of FIG. 6, in which the letters 51 and “X” of “ABC” and “X” are drawn with a black pencil or a ballpoint pen.
The character 52 of "YZ" is written. FIG. 8 shows the scanning unit 1.
The scanning direction (main scanning direction 61 and sub-scanning direction 6) when the color image of the medium to be discriminated 50 is captured by 0
It is a figure which shows 2). The operation of the writing instrument determination device shown in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The scanning unit 10 optically scans the medium 50 to be discriminated in FIG. 7 in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG. The color image images of the colors are sequentially captured and stored in the color image storage unit 20. Note that, here, as in the first embodiment, the color image has 8 bits (0 to 25) for each of R, G, and B.
5) It is assumed that multi-valued reading is performed, the writing instrument to be discriminated is a black pencil and a ballpoint pen, and the ground color of the discrimination medium 50 is white. The color image storage unit 2 converts the color image of the medium 50 to be discriminated by the scanning unit 10.
When it is stored in 0, the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30B has R, G, and B values for each pixel in general in black from the color image image of one sheet of the determination target medium stored in the color image storage unit 20. It is determined that the pixels are the pixels forming the characters 51 and 52 when the condition (1) is satisfied by utilizing the fact that all of the values are small and the values of R, G, and B are all large in white.

Character 51 by the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30B,
When the extraction of the pixels forming 52 is started, the evaluation value calculation unit 41B in the writing tool determination unit 40B starts calculation of the evaluation value Argb for the writing tool determination according to the equation (2). The calculation of the evaluation value Argb is performed simultaneously with the extraction of the pixels forming the characters 51 and 52 by the writing implement pixel extraction unit 30B. That is, each time the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30B extracts the pixels Rn, Gn, Bn that form the characters 51, 52, the evaluation value calculation unit 41B sequentially calculates the formula (3), and the calculated result is obtained. Simultaneously with the accumulation, the number N of pixels forming the characters 51, 52 is counted up, and the extraction operation of the pixels forming the characters 51, 52 by the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30B is completed for all the pixels of the medium 50 to be discriminated. Then, the accumulated calculation result of the equation (3) is divided by the number N of pixels forming the characters 51 and 52. When the evaluation value calculation unit 41B calculates the evaluation value Argb, the comparison unit 43B calculates the evaluation value Arg in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
b is compared with a reference threshold value for writing instrument determination stored in advance in the reference value storage unit 42B to determine whether it is a pencil, a ballpoint pen, or neither, and the determination result is recorded. The discrimination media are output to the outside one by one. The third embodiment has the same advantages as the advantages (1), (2) and (3) of the first embodiment, and further has the following advantage (c). (C) In the present embodiment, the writing implement discriminating unit 40B collectively discriminates the writing implements for one entire medium to be discriminated extracted by the writing implement pixel extracting unit 30B, so that the discrimination can be performed quickly and accurately.
Therefore, it is effective when the writer is different for each medium to be discriminated and the writing tool is constant for each writer.

Fourth Embodiment FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument discriminating apparatus showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Elements common to those in FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment are shown in FIG. Common reference numerals are attached. In this writing instrument discriminating apparatus, a character cutting section 21 is newly provided between the color image storage section 20 and the writing instrument pixel extraction section 30 of FIG.
Is provided. That is, in this writing instrument determination device, as in the first embodiment, the scanning unit 10 that captures the color image images of three colors R, G, and B from the medium to be discriminated, and the color image captured by the scanning unit 10. A color image storage unit 20 for storing an image. A character cutout unit 21 is connected to the output side of the color image storage unit 20. The character cut-out unit 21 selects 1 from the color image image stored in the color image storage unit 20.
It has a function as a character / graphic cutting means for cutting out a character (or a figure) in character units (or one figure unit), and the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30C is connected to the output side thereof. The writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30C, from the color image image for one character cut out by the character cutting unit 21,
It has a function as a writing tool pixel extraction means for extracting only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool used, and the writing tool determination unit 40C is connected to the output side thereof. The writing implement discriminating unit 40C discriminates the writing implement based on the difference in the distribution status of the R, G, and B values of the pixels extracted by the writing implement pixel extracting unit 30C (pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing implement used). It has a function as a writing instrument discrimination means for outputting the discrimination result to the outside, and is similar to the first embodiment,
The evaluation value calculation unit 41C, the reference value storage unit 42C, and the comparison unit 43C are included.

The operation of the writing instrument discriminating apparatus constructed as above will be described. The scanning unit 10 is a medium 50 to be discriminated in FIG.
The upper part is optically scanned in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG. 3, and the color image images of three colors of R, G, and B are sequentially captured and stored in the color image storage unit 20. Here, as in the case of the first embodiment, the color image is assumed to be captured in multi-values of 8 bits (0 to 255) for each of R, G, and B. The color image storage unit 2 converts the color image of the medium 50 to be discriminated by the scanning unit 10.
When it is stored in 0, the character cutout unit 21 cuts out the color image images corresponding to the character images from the color image images stored in the color image storage unit 20 one by one. When the character cutout unit 21 cuts out the character image for each character, the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30
In C, the above-mentioned condition (1) is used by utilizing that R, G, B values are generally small for black and R, G, B values are all large for white in a pixel unit from the cut out color image image. ), It is determined that the pixel is a pixel. When the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30C starts extraction of pixels that form a character for each character, the evaluation value calculation unit 41C in the writing tool determination unit 40C determines the writing tool determination for each character according to the equation (2). The calculation of the evaluation value Argb for is started. The calculation of the evaluation value Argb is performed at the same time when the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30C extracts the pixels forming the character.

That is, each time the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30C extracts pixels Rn, Gn, Bn that form a character, the evaluation value calculation unit 41C sequentially calculates the equation (3), and the calculated result is obtained. At the same time as it is accumulated, the number N of pixels forming a character is counted up, and when the operation of extracting the pixels forming a character by the writing implement pixel extraction unit 30C is completed for all the pixels of each character, the accumulation is performed (3 )
The calculation result of the equation is divided by the number of pixels N that form a character. When the evaluation value calculation unit 41C calculates the evaluation value Argb, the comparison unit 43C determines the evaluation value Argb and the writing instrument stored in advance in the reference value storage unit 42C, as in the first embodiment. It is determined whether it is a pencil, a ballpoint pen, or neither, by comparing the result with the reference threshold value of No., and the determination result is output externally for each character. The above-described series of writing instrument determination processing is performed for all the characters 51 on the determination target medium 50. In addition to the advantages (1), (2) and (3) of the first embodiment, the fourth embodiment has the following advantage (d). (D) In the present embodiment, 1 cut out by the character cutting portion 21
Since the writing tool discriminating unit 40C discriminates the type of the writing instrument used for each character and outputs it to the outside, the type of the writing instrument can be changed for each character.

Fifth Embodiment FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument discriminating apparatus showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Elements common to the elements in FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment are shown in FIG. Common reference numerals are attached. In this writing instrument discriminating apparatus, a line cutting section 22 is newly provided between the color image storage section 20 and the writing instrument pixel extraction section 30 of the first embodiment. That is, in this writing instrument discriminating apparatus, R, G, and
Scanning unit 10 for capturing the three color image images of B
And a color image storage unit 20 for storing the color image image captured by the scanning unit 10. A line cutout unit 22 is connected to the output side of the color image storage unit 20. The line cutout unit 22 has a function as a line cutout unit that cuts out a character string from the color image image stored in the color image storage unit 20 line by line, and the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30D is provided on the output side thereof. Are connected. The writing instrument pixel extraction unit 30D includes a line cutout unit 22.
It has a function as a writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool used from the color image image for one line cut out by the writing tool discriminating section 40D connected to the output side. Has been done. The writing implement discriminating unit 40D discriminates the writing implement based on the difference in the distribution state of the R, G, and B values of the pixels extracted by the writing implement pixel extracting unit 30D (pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing implement used). It has a function as a writing instrument discrimination means for outputting the discrimination result to the outside, and is composed of an evaluation value calculation unit 41D, a reference value storage unit 42D, and a comparison unit 43D, as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a discriminating medium 50 used in the writing instrument discriminating apparatus shown in FIG. In the medium 50 to be discriminated, character entry frames 53, 5 indicating a character entry area are provided.
4 is printed in advance, and the characters 51 of “ABC” and the characters 52 of “XYZ” are written in the character entry frames 53 and 54 with a black pencil or a ballpoint pen. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the scanning directions (main scanning direction 61 and sub-scanning direction 62) of the scanning unit 10 when capturing the color image image of the medium to be discriminated 50. The operation of the writing instrument determination device shown in FIG. 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. The scanning unit 10 optically scans the medium to be discriminated 50 shown in FIG. 11 in the main scanning direction 61 and the sub-scanning direction 62 shown in FIG. 12 to sequentially capture color image images of three colors of R, G, and B, It is stored in the color image storage unit 20. Here, as in the first embodiment, it is assumed that the color image is captured in multi-values of 8 bits (0 to 255) for each of R, G, and B, and the writing instrument to be discriminated is a black pencil and a ballpoint pen. The ground color of the medium 50 to be discriminated is white. When the scanning unit 10 stores the color image image of the medium to be discriminated 50 in the color image storage unit 20, the line cutout unit 22 reads the color image image stored in the color image storage unit 20 line by line. Cut out the color image image of the part corresponding to the character image. Here, the cutout area of each line is the character entry frame 5
It is assumed to be the inside of each of 3 and 54 and given in advance.

When the line cutout unit 22 completes the cutout of the color image for each line, the writing instrument pixel extraction unit 3
In 0D, the R, G, B values of black are generally small and the R, G, B values of white are all large in the pixel unit from the cut-out color image image. ) Is satisfied, it is determined that the pixel is a pixel forming the characters 51 and 52. When the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30D starts the extraction of the pixels forming the characters 51 and 52 in line units, the evaluation value calculation unit 41D in the writing tool determination unit 40D uses the expression (2) to determine the writing tool in line units. The calculation of the evaluation value Argb for is started. This evaluation value Argb
Is calculated by the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30D
This is carried out at the same time as the extraction of the pixels that make up 2. That is, the pixels Rn, G that form a character by the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30D.
Each time n and Bn are extracted, the evaluation value calculation unit 41D sequentially calculates the formula (3), accumulates the calculation results, and at the same time, counts up the number N of pixels forming a character. When the writing tool pixel extraction unit 30D completes the extraction operation of the pixels forming the character for all the pixels in the row unit, the accumulated calculation result of the expression (3) is divided by the number N of the pixels forming the character. When the evaluation value calculation unit 41D calculates the evaluation value Argb, the comparison unit 43D determines the evaluation value Argb and the writing instrument stored in the reference value storage unit 42D in advance, in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment. It is determined whether it is a pencil, a ballpoint pen, or neither, and the result of the determination is output line by line to the outside.

The above series of writing instrument discrimination processing is performed for all the character lines on the medium 50 to be discriminated. In addition to the advantages (1), (2) and (3) of the first embodiment, the fifth embodiment has the following advantage (e). (E) In the present embodiment, the type of writing instrument used is discriminated by the writing instrument discriminating section 40D for each line cut out by the line cutting section 22, and the discrimination result is output to the outside. In writing, the characters 52 can be mixed line by line in a written character string by a plurality of writing instruments on one discriminating medium 50, such as writing with a ballpoint pen. In addition,
The present invention is not limited to the first to fifth embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible. The following are examples of such modifications. (I) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the discrimination target is a character written with a pencil and a ballpoint pen has been described, but the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained even when a figure or the like by each writing instrument is used as the discrimination target. (Ii) In the above-described embodiment, as the method of extracting the pixels forming the characters 51 and 52, the case of extracting the pixels whose R, G, and B values are all smaller than the predetermined threshold value has been described.
Regardless of this, any other suitable method may be used. (iii) In the above embodiment, the case where the evaluation value for discriminating the writing instrument is obtained by the equation (2) has been described.
Considering the distribution of R, G, and B values, for example, the following equation (4)
Alternatively, equation (5) may be used.

[0028]

[Equation 2] (Iv) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the difference in the distribution status of R, G, and B values is used for the writing instrument determination has been described, but other than this, for example, H (hue), S (saturation), V (lightness) )
You may use the difference of the value of. (V) In the above-described embodiment, the color image is captured by the scanning unit 10, but the scanning unit 10 may be omitted and the color image may be input from an image file or the like.

[0029]

According to the first, sixth, seventh and ninth aspects of the invention, the storage means, the writing tool pixel extracting means, and the writing tool discriminating means are provided, and the following effects are obtained. (1) Since the color image image is used for the determination of the writing instrument, the color information can be used for the determination as compared with the conventional method using the monochrome image image. Therefore, it is possible to highly accurately determine not only writing instruments of different colors but also subtle differences in colors of writing instruments that seem to be almost the same color. (2) Since the writing tool determination is performed by directly using the color information of the pixels forming the character for which the writing tool determination is performed, it is not necessary to provide a mark entry frame at a predetermined position on the medium to be discriminated as in the conventional case, and at the same time Since it is not necessary to fill the mark entry frame by the writer, it is very advantageous in terms of work efficiency. (3) The evaluation value for discriminating the writing instrument is, for example, R,
Since it can be calculated by a simple formula using G and B values as they are,
High-speed discrimination is possible. According to the second invention, the writing tool pixel extracting means and the writing tool determining means are provided, and the following effects are obtained. (A) Effects similar to the effects (1), (2), and (3) of the first invention are obtained. (B) By simultaneously calculating the image of the medium to be discriminated and calculating the evaluation value for discriminating the writing implement, the writing implement discrimination can be performed at high speed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the storage means, the writing instrument pixel extraction means, and the writing instrument determination means are provided, and the same effects as the effects (1), (2), and (3) of the first invention are achieved. In addition to having the following effects. Since the writing instruments are discriminated collectively for the entire one medium to be discriminated, high-speed and accurate discrimination can be performed. Therefore, the writer is different for each medium to be discriminated, and the writing tool is effective for each writer. According to the fourth invention,
Storage means, character / graphic cutting means, writing instrument pixel extraction means,
Also, the writing tool discriminating means is provided, and in addition to the effects (1), (2), and (3) of the first invention, the following effects are further provided. Since the type of writing instrument used is discriminated for each character or figure and the discrimination result is output to the outside, it is possible to change the type of writing instrument for each character or each figure. According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the storage means, the line cutting-out means, the writing tool pixel extracting means, and the writing tool determining means are provided, and the same effects (1), (2), and (3) of the first invention are provided. In addition to the effects, there are the following effects. The type of writing utensil used for each line cut out by the line cutting means is discriminated, and the discrimination result is output to the outside. For example, the characters in one line are written in pencil, and the characters in other lines are written in ballpoint pen. As described above, it becomes possible to mix the written character string or the written figure string in a line unit by a plurality of writing instruments on one discriminating medium. According to the eighth invention, any one or a combination of H, S, and V is used as the color information.
In some cases, the discrimination accuracy can be further improved as compared with R, G, and B having strong correlation.

[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 diagram showing a discriminating medium used in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a scanning direction of a scanning unit in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a density histogram of the writing instrument determined in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument determination device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a discriminating medium used in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a scanning direction of a scanning unit in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument determination device showing a fourth example of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a writing instrument determination device showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a diagram showing a medium to be discriminated used in FIG.

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

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Scanning Part 20 Color Image Storage Part 21 Character Cutout Part 22 Line Cutout Part 30, 30A, 30B, 30C, 30D Writing Tool Pixel Extracting Section 40, 40A, 40B, 40C, 40D Writing Tool Discriminating Section 41, 41A, 41B, 41C , 41D evaluation value calculation unit 42, 42A, 42B, 42C, 42D reference value storage unit 43, 43A, 43B, 43C, 43D comparison unit 50 discriminating medium 51, 52 characters 53, 54 character entry frame 61 main scanning direction 62 sub Scanning direction

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical indication location G06T 7/00 H04N 1/46 H04N 1/46 Z (72) Inventor Yoshimasa Yamashita Minato-ku, Tokyo Toranomon 1-7-12 Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing a color image image of a medium to be discriminated, and a writing instrument pixel extraction for extracting only pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing instrument from the color image image stored in the storage unit. A writing instrument distinguishing device comprising: a writing instrument and a writing instrument discriminating unit that discriminates the writing instrument based on a difference in distribution of color information of pixels extracted by the writing instrument pixel extracting unit. 2. From the color image of the medium to be discriminated,
Writing instrument pixel extraction means for extracting only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing instrument, and writing instrument determination means for determining the writing instrument based on the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels extracted by the writing instrument pixel extraction means. A writing instrument discriminating apparatus characterized by comprising: 3. A storage unit for storing a color image image of a medium to be discriminated, and a color image image stored in the storage unit corresponds to a portion written by the writing instrument for each sheet of the medium to be discriminated. Writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only the pixels to be identified, and the discrimination target medium 1 extracted by the writing tool pixel extracting means
A writing implement discriminating apparatus comprising: a writing implement discriminating means for discriminating the writing implement according to a difference in color information distribution state of pixels for each sheet. 4. A storage means for storing a color image image of a medium to be discriminated, a character / graphic cutout means for cutting out one character or one figure from the color image image stored in the storage means, and the character / graphic A writing tool pixel extracting means for extracting only pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing tool from a color image image cut out by the figure cutting means, and a distribution state of color information of pixels extracted by the writing tool pixel extracting means And a writing implement discriminating means for discriminating the writing implement according to the difference. 5. A storage means for storing a color image image of a medium to be discriminated, a line cutout means for cutting out a character or a figure in line units from the color image image stored in the storage means, and the line cutout. From the color image image cut out by the means, the writing tool pixel extraction means for extracting only the pixels corresponding to the portion written by the writing tool, and the difference in the distribution status of the color information of the pixels extracted by the writing tool pixel extraction means A writing implement discriminating apparatus comprising: a writing implement discriminating means for discriminating the writing implement. 6. The writing instrument discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the writing instrument discriminating means changes the distribution state of color information of pixels corresponding to a portion written by the writing instrument. A writing instrument discriminating apparatus comprising means for discriminating the writing instrument and outputting the discrimination result to the outside. 7. The writing instrument discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color information in the writing instrument discriminating means is an image image signal of red, green, and blue. Writing instrument discrimination device. 8. The writing instrument discrimination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color information in the writing instrument discrimination means is one or more of hue, saturation, and lightness. A writing instrument determination device characterized by being a combination. 9. The writing instrument discriminating device according to claim 7, wherein the writing instrument discriminating means uses a black pencil and a ballpoint pen as a discrimination object writing instrument, and a red density value green of a pixel corresponding to a portion written by the writing instrument used. Writing instrument discriminating apparatus characterized in that the writing instrument discriminating apparatus is configured to discriminate a writing instrument by using the magnitude relationship with the density value of the above or the density value of blue.