JPH0962757A - Business form sorting/processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the working efficiency when an operator inputs the data on a prescribed item while looking at a large number of business forms. SOLUTION: When the description items of a large number of business forms 1 are inputted to an information processor 20, the forms 1 are previously sorted for the common items that have the same contents of the described characters. Then the common items are inputted at first and input of these items are omitted for the subsequent forms 1. Some of these forms cannot be used in common. In this respect, the forms that can be used in common are shown on a batch header 22 when the forms 1 are sorted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form classification processing method for accepting a form such as a slip, recognizing and reading the characters written therein, and classifying the form or totaling according to the recognition result. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in slip processing at supermarkets and convenience stores with stores nationwide, invoice processing for mail order, merchandise delivery and mail delivery processing, a large number of slips are classified, distributed and aggregated. Some work is required. Specifically, a form in which certain items are described is issued, the forms are collected, sorted by destination, and sent to the destination of the form. In the case of a slip or the like, in this case, the work of totaling the amount of money and the like described therein is involved. Such operations typically require large numbers of personnel and are extremely time consuming for processing. For this reason, generally, a large number of specialized personnel have been assigned to the classification and totalization of slips. Further, in order to automate this kind of processing, a system in which a slip itself is eliminated and data is directly input and exchanged using a computer terminal is also widely used.

[0003]

The conventional form classification processing method as described above has the following problems to be solved. The present inventors have developed a device that recognizes characters on a form and sorts the form into a large number of pockets according to the contents thereof in order to automatically sort a large amount of forms. For example, when processing a form such as a slip related to accounting, this device automatically recognizes and sums up the amount of money described in the form. However, in such accounting work, the problem is that it is not allowed to cause a simple calculation error due to misreading of the device. Therefore, while the arithmetic processing is performed by the device, the form itself or an edited version of the form is prepared and the amount of money and the like are manually input and tabulated. Then, when the results of both are in agreement, the subsequent processing is performed as a correct result. In such processing, manual data input work from a form becomes a very important problem. In this case, a method of inputting data described in a large amount of forms into the information processing device as efficiently as possible is required.

[0004]

The present invention adopts the following constitution in order to solve the above problems. <Structure 1> The entered characters are recognized for each preset item on the form to be classified, and the number of forms in which the entered characters of any item are common is counted. If the number of common forms is more than a certain number, those forms are sorted so as to belong to the same form group and the fact is displayed.

<Description> The forms are sorted according to the recognition result of any item. The forms sorted so as to belong to the same form group are collectively subject to data input by the operator. If there are items having the same content, if the items are common and data is input once, the input work becomes efficient. For this reason, items having the same content are sorted so as to belong to the same form group. Therefore, the entry characters of the items are common when the entry characters are completely the same.
This common item is not limited to one. When it is 2 or more, the efficiency of data input work is significantly improved. The reason why it is set to a certain value or more is that the effect of sorting the same form group is small with a few sheets. The display is made to cause the operator to have the same item, and a display, a printer or the like may be used.

<Structure 2> It is advisable to attach a display to the form group in which the written characters are common, to the effect that the written characters of the corresponding items are common. <Description> A display object is attached to the sorted form group to show how it is sorted. The display object is something which is printed separately from the form such as a label. In the specific example, the form group is called a batch,
The label is called the batch header. <Structure 3> It is preferable that a partial image of a portion of the form to be input with data is edited and printed on the display object. <Explanation> If a partial image of a form is edited on the batch header, data can be entered by viewing only the batch header.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples. <Specific Example 1> FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a process according to the method of the present invention. In the method of the present invention, the classification processing device, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 2, sorts the forms by paying attention to predetermined items in advance. As a result, a large number of forms 1 are sorted into form groups called batches, each of which has an item having the same written character. Then, each form group is attached with a batch header 22 showing the details thereof. The contents of the data of the items described above the form 1 in the figure are the same for the entire batch. Other items have arbitrary contents. The operator uses the information processing device 20 while referring to such a form group to input data regarding the items entered in the form. The result is stored in the storage unit 21.
In order to enter the items entered in the form 1, refer to the case of directly looking at each form 1 and referring to the separately prepared input sheet prepared by cutting out only the image of the items to be entered in each form 1. There is a method of inputting data.

In the present invention, when inputting data relating to such a form group, it is only necessary to input items having the same content only once, and other items are input for each form. That is, in step S1 of FIG.
Then, in step S2, an identification number for identifying each form is input, and in step S3, other items are input. Then, step S4
At, it is determined whether all the form groups have been input. If not, the process returns to step S2 and the identification number of the next form is input. That is, for the first and subsequent forms,
Inputting items of the same content is omitted, and the operator's burden is reduced. In order to perform such processing, the form 1
It is a feature of the present invention that each is sorted into several form groups according to a certain standard. Before describing this specific process, a specific description will be given of the sorting device.

FIG. 2 shows a form processing explanatory diagram suitable for the system of the present invention. In this system, the form is processed as a whole in such a procedure. First, the sender A1 fills in a large number of forms 1 with a destination, a billing amount, and other items. This form 1 is created for various destinations, and this form A is collectively sent from the source A1 to the sorting center. The sorting center is equipped with a form classification processing system. Then, first, in step S1, the form 1 is read one by one, and the data is recognized.
Then, in step S2, the forms are classified by destination. In this example, the forms created by the sender A1 are sorted in the order of destinations B1, B2, and B3. These forms are finally sent to the destination as they are, but at this time, the billing amount is calculated for each destination. The billing amount is also written on the form and is recognized by the character recognition unit. Therefore, the following procedure is adopted to collect the recognition results and confirm the results.

First, in step S3, the destination B1
Divide the addressed form into 50 sheets. Then, 50 sheets are taken out and the reading results are totaled (step S3).
Step S4). These are automatically executed by the computer, and the subtotal of the charged amount is printed every 50 sheets (step S).
5).

On the other hand, separately from the 50 sheets, the read character portions are converted into image data. Then, the necessary portion is printed on the paper as it is (step S
6). That is, the billing amount and the like required for tabulating the form are printed side by side on paper as image data. This is totaled by the operator in step S7. The totaling by the operator may be actually performed using the 50 sheets themselves. However, for example, 50 sheets may include data related to privacy such as personal data. In such a case, a portion unnecessary for such totaling is excluded, and only a necessary portion is once printed on a sheet and used for totaling. This enables privacy protection.

Further, the work of collecting a large number of forms at hand and compiling them is relatively complicated and error-prone. Therefore, if only necessary portions of the respective forms are edited and printed so as to be easily aggregated as image data, the processing becomes efficient. Due to these various advantages, in this example, the main part of the read image is once printed on paper, and the totalization is performed by the operator. Then, the totalization result and step S5
In step S8, the result of totaling is compared. If the two match, the result of recognizing and processing the characters of the form and the data conversion is the same as the result calculated by the operator by actually seeing the form, and it can be seen that there is no error in the calculation or recognition result. In this case, move to step S9,
The billing amount for 50 sheets is fixed. On the other hand, if the matching results do not match, the operator compares the read and recognized data with the image, checks the recognition error, etc., and corrects the data.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the form classification processing system. As shown in the figure, this system
Is received by the hopper 2, the image of the form is read by the main body 3, the characters written on the form are recognized, and the sorting is performed based on the result. For this sorting, a large number of pockets 4 for storing the forms according to classification are provided.
Further, a console 5 is provided for controlling this device, and a printer 6 is provided for printing out necessary data.
Is provided.

Some functional blocks provided on the main body 3 are shown on the lower side of this figure. As shown in the figure, the main body section 3 is provided with a reading section 11 for recognizing characters by reading the image of the form 1, and a character recognizing section 12.
Further, in this system, a bar code conversion unit 13 and a bar code printing unit 14 are provided in order to convert the result of such character recognition into a bar code and print the bar code in the margin of the form 1. With this device, the characters written on the form 1 can be recognized and the form can be sorted into the corresponding pockets 4 according to the recognition result. However, the number of pockets 4 is specifically 36, for example, and when the form 1 is classified into about 300, the form 1 may be repeated several times.
It is necessary to set to this system and repeat classification and sorting.

In such a case, if character recognition or the like is performed each time, the recognition process may take a long time, and a recognition error is likely to occur. Therefore, in the present invention, a bar code that can be surely read and is less likely to cause a reading error is used. Therefore, for the second and subsequent classification / sorting processing, the barcode is read by the barcode reading unit 15 shown in the figure and the result is used. It should be noted that since the result of character recognition is used for the first time sorting and the output of the bar code reading unit is used for the second and subsequent times, both output signals are input to the sorting storage control unit 16. .

FIG. 4 shows an external view of the form. As shown in this figure, the form 1 is, for example, handwritten or typed on the front side of the form 1, together with the address, the amount charged, and other items. This is recognized by the character recognition unit 12. This back surface is, for example, blank. In this case, the information necessary for repeatedly classifying the form is once bar-coded and printed on the back side. Two barcodes 1 shown
In 8, the prefecture code representing the sender and the address thereof, the recipient, etc. are coded and entered.

Further, the additional information printing unit 17 prints a reference number and a batch serial number in addition to the bar code so that the operator who handles the form can easily confirm it. The batch serial number is a number that is assigned to each group when the forms are collected into groups of 50 sheets as described above and are to be aggregated. Note that the reason for setting such a unit of aggregation (which is referred to as a batch) to 50 sheets is that the appropriate amount that can be manually checked is approximately 50 sheets if any mistake is discovered.
Therefore, according to the type, shape or contents of the form,
The number of batches may be arbitrarily selected.

FIG. 5 is a structural explanatory view of a batch and a batch header according to the present invention. As described in the schematic description of FIG. 1, the present invention is characterized in that forms are sorted using the above-described device so that the operator can easily input data. (A) illustrates the criteria for such sorting, and (b) and (c) illustrate the configuration of the batch header itself.

In (a), the result of sorting the forms whose senders are A, B, and C, for example, by paying attention to the recipients, using the above-mentioned device is shown. In this example, with respect to the destination A, there are relatively many sources a, b, and c. The destinations B and C show almost the same tendency. Therefore, for a form whose destination is A and whose source is a, when inputting data one by one when inputting data,
The input work of the destination A and the source a is repeated every time. Therefore, in such a case, in this specific example, the case where there is a common item is treated as a simple batch process.
That is, as described with reference to FIG. 1, the destination and the source are set as items having the same content, both of them are input only once at the beginning, and thereafter, only the other items are input in any form. Let's do good. In this case, in order to prevent the operator from inputting without recognizing that the common item part has been switched to a form with a different content, it is possible to distinguish a form that has items with the same content in advance from other forms. Sorted into a group of forms. Then, the batch header 22 is attached to the form group.

FIG. 3B shows a batch header structure in the case of simple batch processing. In this batch header 22, a "simple" display indicating that the processing is simple is displayed. This is to call the operator's attention. Then, a batch serial number is added as a serial number of the batch header 22,
Below this, the destination A and the source a are displayed. Since this is a common item, the display is "Enter only the first time". The identification number of the form and the partial image 23 of the part displaying the amount of the form are printed in the lower column. That is, looking at the batch header 22, the data portion to be input this time of each form is cut out as it is and displayed as the partial image 23, so that the data can be input without referring to the form itself. Has become.

As a result, the processing load on the operator is further reduced. It should be noted that such processing is rather inefficient when a certain amount of senders are not collected for the same recipient. Therefore, a certain threshold is set. For example, 10
If more than one sheet has the same destination, simple batch processing is executed, and if less than that, normal batch processing is executed. In this way, batch processing is divided. The batch header 22 shown in (c) has a configuration of a batch header at the time of normal batch processing, and has a batch serial number as in the case of the simple batch processing. Then, in the columns below it, a partial image 24 of the destination, a partial image 25 of the sending portion, and an image 23 of the amount of money are cut out, edited, and printed. Therefore, also in this case, the operator can input data by referring to only the batch header 22.

Of course, the batch header does not necessarily have to have such a structure, and may be configured to distinguish between simple batch processing and normal batch processing. Further, in this case, for example, only that the destination and the source are common is entered in the batch header, and the operator inputs data while looking at the form itself.
Further, in the above example, when the same destination has about 10 or more same senders, the batch processing is advanced by sorting the form as one form group. When such a process is performed, the cases in which such items having the same content occur in advance may be constant. In this case, if there is a certain destination and a certain source, a simple batch process may be automatically used for sorting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a process according to the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of form processing by the system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external view explanatory diagram of a form.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of configurations of a batch and a batch header.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Form 20 Information Processing Device 21 Storage 22 Batch Header

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A character to be entered is recognized for each preset item on a form to be classified, and the number of forms in which the entered character of any item is common is counted. When there are a certain number or more of common forms, those forms are sorted so as to belong to the same form group and the fact is displayed. 2. The form classification processing method according to claim 1, wherein the form group in which the input characters are common is provided with an indication that the input characters in the corresponding items are common. 3. The form classification processing method according to claim 2, wherein a partial image of a portion of the form to be input with data is edited and printed on the display object.