JPH09265509A - Matching read address recognition system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the recognition rate when a address read by character recognition is discriminated. SOLUTION: An area determination part 2 cuts the upper right side of a postal card as a zip code area 21 and the right side area as an address area 22 out of read image data respectively, and those image data have characters recognized by a zip code recognition part 3 and an address recognition part 5. Then a matching read processing part 7 approves an address by compositing the number of a zip code and the characters of the address recognized from those number string and character string.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a matching read address recognition system for identifying an address read by character recognition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A postal code and an address written on a postal matter are optically captured as an image, and characters are recognized from the image so that the postal address of the postal matter can be distinguished and journaled. In this character recognition address reading, if the character recognition cannot be performed from the listed zip code or address, the mail items to be read cannot be sorted.

Not only is character recognition impossible, but
If you make a mistake, you will end up with incorrect journal entries. For this reason, it is necessary to reduce erroneous recognition, but conventionally, in the address reading of this type of character recognition device, the zip code and the reading result of the address are collated, and if they are inconsistent, Misrecognition was prevented by discarding the result of reading the postal code.

[0004]

Since the conventional configuration is as described above, it is possible to prevent erroneous recognition, but there is a problem that the recognition rate is not improved. If the reading result of the postal code and the address is inconsistent, this mail item will not be wrongly journalized in the past, but it will not be journalized.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to further improve the recognition rate.

[0006]

The matching reading address recognition method of the present invention includes an address recognition unit for recognizing a character string indicating an address, and a zip code for recognizing a numeric string indicating a zip code corresponding to the address. A recognition unit is provided, and a postal code table including a numeric string showing a postal code and a character string showing an address corresponding to the postal code is provided. Then, the matching reading processing unit corrects the character string recognized by the address recognition unit based on the result of searching the character string corresponding to the number string recognized by the zip code recognition unit from the zip code table. Therefore, the address character string can be obtained even if the address reading is incomplete. In addition, an address table including a character string indicating an address and a number string indicating a corresponding postal code is provided, and the matching reading processing unit searches the address table for a number string corresponding to the character string recognized by the address recognition unit. As a result, the number string recognized by the postal code recognition unit is corrected. Therefore, even if the reading of the postal code is incomplete, it is possible to obtain the postal code number sequence.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a combined reading address recognition system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an input unit for optically reading characters written on a postcard (FIG. 2) as an image, and 2 is a region determining unit for cutting out a zip code region and an address region from the read image.

Further, 3 is a postal code recognizing unit for recognizing the postal code "numerals" by using a recognition dictionary prepared in advance from image data in the postal code area, and 4 is a postal code recognized by the postal code recognizing unit 3. The number recognition result output unit for outputting the number string of 5 as the recognition result, 5 is the address recognition unit for recognizing the address characters by using the recognition dictionary prepared in advance from the image data of the address area, and 6 is the address recognition unit 5
The address recognition result output unit that outputs the character string of the address recognized as the recognition result, and the numeral 7 indicates the address recognition result by the number string output by the number recognition result output unit 4 and the character string output by the address recognition result output unit 6. A matching reading processing unit to be determined, 8 is an output unit for outputting the result determined by the matching reading processing unit 7.

The operation of the address recognition system in this embodiment will be described below. First, the postal code area and the address area are cut out by the area determination unit 2 from the image data read by the input unit 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state of a postcard to be read, in which the area determining unit 2
The area on the upper right side of this postcard is used as the postal code area 21, and the area on the right side is used as the address area 22, and these are cut out from the read image data.

The cut-out image data is subjected to character recognition in the postal code recognition section 3 and the address recognition section 5, respectively. Then, the numeric string recognized by the postal code recognition unit 3 is output from the postal code recognition result output unit 4, and the character string recognized by the address recognition unit 5 is output from the address recognition result output unit 6. The matching reading processing unit 7 that has received these number strings and character strings combines the recognized numbers of the postal code and the recognized characters of the address to certify the address.

The operation of the matching reading processing unit 7 will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of. First, it is determined whether all postal codes can be recognized (step S3
1) If all are recognized, the corresponding address is searched from the postal code table shown in Table 1 below (step S32). Then, the retrieved address and the recognition result of the address recognition unit 5 are read together (step S3).
3).

[0012]

[Table 1]

For example, when the postal code can be recognized as "185010", from Table 1, "Higashikoigakubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo"
Is searched. By the way, if the result of reading the address is "Tsukagoigakubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo", the address can be recognized up to "Kokubunji-shi, Kokubunji-shi" in the past. Partial address recognition is not possible. Similarly, the address recognizing unit 5 determines that this part is unreadable because the part corresponding to the reading result “Tsukaikogaku” is not in the prepared recognition dictionary.

Here, in this embodiment, step S
The address search result of 32 and the address reading result are combined and determined. In this, the part of "Higashi Koigakubo" is different from the part of "Tsuga Koigakubo", and the other parts are the same.
For this reason, it is impossible to read the address in this part because the searched address is more correct than the zip code.
Is replaced with "Higashi Koigakubo" (step S3)
3). Then, the replaced "Higashi-Koigakubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo" and the postal code "185010" are output as a result of being read (step S34).

If all the postal codes cannot be read (step S31), if all the addresses have been read (step S35), then the corresponding addresses can be read from the address table shown in Table 2 below from the read addresses. The number is searched (step S36). Then, the retrieved postal code and the recognition result of the postal code recognition unit 3 are read together (step S37).

[0016]

[Table 2]

For example, the address recognition unit 5 recognizes the address as "Higashikoigakubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo", and the postal code recognition unit 3
Now, consider a case where the postal code can only be recognized as "185XX10". "X" is the part that could not be read. In this case, "185001" from the address table.
"0" was searched, and the zip code "185X" that read it was read.
X10 "is compared. Among these, "185" and "1
Since the part of "0" is in agreement, it is determined that the searched "18550010" is correct for the postal code (step S37). Then, this replaced zip code "1850
The address read as "010""Higashi Koigakubo, Kokubunji City, Tokyo"
And are output as the recognition result (step S34).

On the other hand, if all addresses are not recognized (step S35), the corresponding address is searched from the read zip code from the zip code table shown in Table 3 below (step S38). Then, the retrieved address and the recognition result of the address recognition unit 5 are read together (step S39).

[0019]

[Table 3]

For example, when the zip code is only recognized as "185XX10", "Kokubunji City, Tokyo" and "Higoshikoigakubo, Kokubunji City, Tokyo" are searched from Table 3. Then, the combination of these is compared with the incomplete address reading result “Tsukagoigakubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo”. In this, the part of "Higashi Koigakubo" is different from the part of "Tsuga Koigakubo", and the other parts are the same. Therefore, regarding this portion, the retrieved address is more correct than the postal code, and the portion of "Tsugaikokubo" in the address reading result is replaced with "Higashikoigakubo" (step S39). Then, this replaced "Higashi Koigakubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo" and postal code "185001
It is output as a result of reading "0" (step S3
4).

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the address recognition unit for recognizing the character string indicating the address and the zip code recognition unit for recognizing the numeral string indicating the zip code corresponding to the address are provided. The zip code table is composed of a numeric string indicating a postal code and a character string indicating an address corresponding to the postal code. Then, in the matching reading processing unit, the character string recognized by the address recognition unit is corrected by the result of searching the character string corresponding to the number string recognized by the postal code recognition unit from the postal code table.

Further, an address table comprising a character string indicating an address and a corresponding numerical string indicating a postal code is provided,
In the combined reading processing unit, the number string recognized by the postal code recognition unit is corrected by the result of searching the address table for the number string corresponding to the character string recognized by the address recognition unit. Therefore, the address character string can be obtained even if the address reading is incomplete. Similarly, a postal code number sequence can be obtained even if the postal code reading is incomplete. As a result, it becomes possible to further improve the recognition rate in address recognition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a combined reading address recognition system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state of writing on a postcard.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a combined reading processing unit 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Input unit, 2 ... Area determination unit, 3 ... Postal code recognition unit, 4
... number recognition result output section, 5 ... address recognition section, 6 ... address recognition result output section, 7 ... matching reading processing section, 8 ... output section.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A matching reading address recognition method for recognizing a character string and a numerical string from a form in which a character string indicating an address and a numerical string indicating a postal code corresponding to the address are described. An address recognition unit for recognizing a column, a zip code recognition unit for recognizing the numeral string, a zip code table including a numeral string indicating a zip code and a character string indicating an address corresponding to the zip code, and the zip code recognition The matching reading address, which is provided with a matching reading processing unit that corrects the character string recognized by the address recognition unit as a result of searching a character string corresponding to the number string recognized by the department from the postal code table. Recognition method. 2. The combined reading address recognition method according to claim 1, further comprising an address table including a character string indicating an address and a corresponding numerical string indicating a postal code, wherein the combined reading processing unit includes the address. A combined reading address recognition method, wherein the numeral string corresponding to the character string recognized by the recognition unit is corrected from the address table, and the numeral string recognized by the postal code recognition unit is corrected. 3. The address recognition system according to claim 1, wherein the matching reading processing unit searches the postal code table for a plurality of character strings corresponding to a part of the numeric string recognized by the postal code recognition unit, A combined reading address recognition method characterized in that a character string recognized by the address recognition unit is corrected by combining and collating the search results.