JPH1055413A - Name card recognizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a name card recognizing device with excellent operability by improving the precision of character recognition. SOLUTION: A name card is fetched as picture data by an optical reading device and directory data is generated based on fetched picture data in the name card recognizing device. The device is provided with a recognizing picture range deciding means 11 for deciding a range for recognizing a character by a user through the use of a pen and a data preservation destination deciding means 12 for designating to which attribute(a name, a company name, an address and a telephone number, etc.) in a directory the decided area is registered and recognizes the character by a character recognizing dictionary corresponding to the designated attribute.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a business card recognition device that converts a business card into text data and uses the converted text data for address book data and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a business card recognition device automatically recognizes a layout such as a name, a company name, and an address for image data of a business card captured by an optical reader or the like, and based on the recognized layout result. The text data of the name, company name, and address of the business card to be recognized is stored as address book data. Then, the character recognition unit performs matching with the recognition dictionary corresponding to the attribute of the layout recognition result (for example, when the layout recognition determines that the area is a telephone number area, the recognition dictionary including numbers, hyphens, and parentheses) And matching), and improved the accuracy of character recognition.

[0003]

However, when an error occurs in layout recognition, the accuracy of character recognition is reduced, and the work of correcting the result of character recognition takes time. Was.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a business card recognizing apparatus in which the accuracy of character recognition is improved and operability is good.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides input means for inputting data, display means for displaying data, image capturing means for capturing a business card as image data, and image capturing means. First output means for displaying on the display means the image data fetched by the loading means, second output means for displaying on the display means a screen for creating the address book data, and display means by the first output means A recognition range accepting unit accepting designation of a character recognition range in the image data displayed in the input unit from the input unit, and a designation of an attribute of the address book data in which the character recognition range accepted by the recognition range accepting unit is stored. Selecting the attribute receiving means received from the means and the dictionary for character recognition according to the address book attribute received by the attribute receiving means, and performing character recognition to obtain address book data And the configuration and control means for creating.

As a result, the accuracy of character recognition is improved, and a business card recognition device with good operability can be obtained.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides an input means for inputting data, a display means for displaying data, an image capturing means for capturing a business card as image data, and an image capturing apparatus. First output means for displaying the image data captured by the means on the display means, second output means for displaying a screen for creating address book data on the display means, and display means on the display means by the first output means. Recognition range accepting means for accepting designation of a character recognition range in the displayed image data from the input means, and designation means for designating which attribute of the address book data the character recognition range accepted by the recognition range receiving means should be stored. To select an attribute receiving unit for receiving from the user and a dictionary for character recognition in accordance with the address book attributes received by the attribute receiving unit and perform character recognition to create address book data The construction further comprises a control means performs character recognition by the character recognition dictionary corresponding to the specified attribute has the effect of improving the recognition accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the business card recognizing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the image data is taken in by the image taking means, there is provided a means for performing line cutting of the business card. Thereby, the operability of character recognition is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a business card recognition device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the business card recognition device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a central processing unit).
A program stored in a read-only memory (hereinafter abbreviated as “ROM”) 2 is executed using a random access memory (hereinafter abbreviated as “RAM”) 3.

The operation program stored in the ROM 2 according to the present embodiment, as shown in the functional block diagram of the business card recognition device shown in FIG.
Business card image data acquisition means 7 for taking in as value image data, business card image data display means 8 for displaying the acquired image data on LCD 5, and address book data storage screen display for displaying a screen for creating address book data on LCD 5 Means 9, pen input data acquisition means 10 for acquiring pen input information by the user with the transparent tablet 4 superimposed on the LCD 5, and when the user draws a locus on the business card image data displayed on the LCD 5 with the pen A recognition image range determining means for determining a character recognition range based on the pen input information obtained by the pen input data obtaining means;
1, a data storage destination determining unit 12 for specifying which attribute of the address book to store the information of the business card image data (or a part thereof) specified by the user with the pen, and the specified address book attribute. And a character recognition processing unit 14 for performing character recognition based on the selected character recognition dictionary.

A plurality of character recognition dictionaries corresponding to the address book attributes are stored in the RAM 3 (see FIG. 1) in advance.

The operation of the business card recognition device according to the embodiment of the business card recognition device configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the business card recognition device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, in step S <b> 1, the business card to be recognized is captured as binary image data by the scanner 6, stored in the RAM 3, and the captured data is displayed on the LCD 5. FIG. 4 shows a display screen example of the captured image data.

In step S2, a screen for storing the result of character recognition as shown in the example of the screen when the address book data is stored in FIG. 5 is displayed, and the process proceeds to step S3.

Step S3 is a state of waiting for an event such as a pen input event from the tablet 4 or a power off event to the CPU 1. Here, when any event enters the CPU 1, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not a range is designated in the display area of the business card image data in FIG. 4 by an input from the tablet 4, and a storage destination of the character recognition result in the designated range is designated. If the range is specified, the process proceeds to step S6, and if it is any other event, the process proceeds to step S5.

Here, as shown in the example of specifying the recognition range in FIG. 6, when the range to be recognized is surrounded by the pen on the business card image data in FIG. Will be displayed. This is realized by moving the pen to the field of the attribute to be saved on the screen of FIG. 5 while the range is specified (the pen is not released from the tablet 4).

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the input event is a power-off event. If it is a power-off event (end event), the business card recognition device ends the processing. If the event is not a power-off event, a process corresponding to each event is performed, and then step S
Return to 3.

In step S6, it is determined whether or not the storage destination field is a name field. If it is a name field, the process proceeds to step S12; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, it is determined whether or not the storage destination field is an address field. If it is an address field, the process proceeds to step S13; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, it is determined whether or not the field of the storage destination is the post name field. If it is a post name field, the process proceeds to step S14;
If it is not a post name field, the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the storage destination field is a company name field. If it is a company name field, the process proceeds to step S15;
If it is not a company name field, the process proceeds to step S10.

In step S10, it is determined whether the field of the storage destination is a telephone number or a fax number field. If it is a telephone number or fax number field, the process proceeds to step S16.
If it is not a telephone number or fax number field, the process proceeds to step S11.

Step S11 is executed when the designated field is not any of the name, address, post name, company name, telephone number and fax number. Here, recognition processing is performed using a general character recognition dictionary,
Move to step S3.

Step S12 is executed when a name field is designated as a storage destination. Here, character recognition is performed using a name recognition dictionary. Then, step S
Go to 3 and wait for the event.

Step S13 is executed when an address field is designated as a storage destination. Here, character recognition is performed using a recognition dictionary for addresses. Then, step S
Go to 3 and wait for the event.

Step S14 is executed when a post title field is designated as the storage destination. Here, character recognition is performed using a recognition dictionary for post titles. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3 and waits for an event.

Step S15 is executed when a company name field is designated as a storage destination. Here, character recognition is performed using a company name recognition dictionary. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3 and waits for an event.

In step S16, the telephone number is stored in the storage destination,
Alternatively, the process is executed when a fax number field is designated. Here, character recognition is performed using a telephone number or a fax number recognition dictionary. Thereafter, the process shifts to step S3 to wait for an event.

By performing the above processing, a business card recognition device with high character recognition accuracy can be realized.

When the captured business card image data is stored as address book data, the mode can be set by performing character recognition and storing the data as text or storing the captured business card image data as text data. It is possible to provide an easy user interface.

Next, the operation when the save mode is designated in the business card recognition device of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S17, the business card to be recognized is fetched by the scanner 6 as binary image data, and
And displays the data taken into the LCD 5.

In step S18, a screen for storing the result of character recognition is displayed, and the flow advances to step S19.

In step S19, the CPU 1 executes a pen input event from the tablet 4 and a power-off event.
Waiting for an event. If any event enters the CPU 1, the process proceeds to step S20.

In step S20, it is determined whether or not a mode for saving as address book data has been designated by an input from the tablet 4. If the mode has been designated, the process proceeds to step S23, and if it is any other event, the process proceeds to step S21.

In step S21, a range is designated in the display area of the business card image data by the input from the tablet 4, and it is determined whether or not the storage destination of the character recognition result in the designated range is designated. If the range is specified, the process proceeds to step S26, and if it is any other event, the process proceeds to step S22.

In step S22, it is determined whether the input event is a power-off event. If the event is a power-off event, the business card recognition device ends the process. If it is not a power-off event, the process returns to step S19 after performing a process corresponding to each event.

In step S23, it is determined whether or not the designated mode is the text saving mode. If the mode is not the text saving mode, the process proceeds to step S25,
If the mode is the text saving mode, the process proceeds to step S24.

In step S24, a text save flag is set. Then, the process returns to step S19.

In step S25, an image storage flag is set. Then, the process returns to step S19.

Step S26 is processing when a range is specified. Here, first, the storage flag is checked. If the image save flag is set in the save flag, the process proceeds to step S28, and if the text save flag is set in the save flag, step S2 is performed.
Proceed to 7.

In step S27, character recognition is performed according to the attribute of the field of the storage destination. Then, step S1
Return to 9 and wait for the event.

In step S28, the image data in the designated range is stored without performing the character recognition. afterwards,
It returns to step S19 and waits for an event. When storing image data, it is also possible to reduce the data amount by performing reduction processing on the captured image data.

(Embodiment 2) The operation program of the business card recognition device according to the second embodiment is based on a functional block diagram of the business card recognition device shown in FIG. Business card image data capturing means 15 for capturing, business card image data row area extracting means 16 for automatically extracting a row for the captured image data,
Business card image data display means 17 for displaying on the LCD 5 the fetched image data and the result of the line extracted by the business card image data line area extracting means 16; and an address book for displaying a screen for creating address book data on the LCD 5. A data storage screen display unit 18, a pen input data acquisition unit 19 for acquiring pen input information by the user using the transparent tablet 4 superimposed on the LCD 5, and a user extracting the line extraction result of the business card image data displayed on the LCD 5. When the user taps with a pen, a recognition image range determining unit 20 that determines a character recognition range based on the pen input information acquired by the pen input data acquiring unit 19, and business card image data (or Data storage destination determining means 2 for designating which attribute of the address book stores the information of When, having a recognition dictionary selecting means 22 for selecting a dictionary of the character recognition according to the specified address book attributes, the character recognition processing unit 23 for performing character recognition by the selected character recognition dictionary.

Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given with reference to the flowchart of the automatic character extracting operation shown in FIG.

In step S29, the business card to be recognized is fetched by the scanner 6 as binary image data, and
To be stored.

In step S30, characters are cut out based on the image data stored in the RAM 3.

In step S31, the image data fetched in step S29 and the character cutout result extracted in step S30 are superimposed and displayed on the LCD 5.

In step S32, a screen for storing the result of character recognition is displayed, and the flow advances to step S33.

In step S33, the CPU 1 executes a pen input event from the tablet 4 and a power-off event.
Waiting for an event. When any event enters the CPU 1, the process proceeds to step S34.

In step S34, it is determined whether or not a part of the character cutout result has been designated by the input from the tablet 4. If specified, step S3
The process proceeds to 6, and if it is any other event, the process proceeds to step S35.

In step S35, it is determined whether or not the input event is a power-off event. If the event is a power-off event, the business card recognition device ends the process. If the event is not a power-off event, the process returns to step S33 after performing a process corresponding to each event.

In step S36, character recognition is performed according to the attribute of the field of the storage destination. Then, step S3
Return to 3 and wait for the event.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a means for allowing a user to select a range to be recognized and an attribute of the range to be recognized with respect to the captured image data of a business card, the accuracy of character recognition is improved. Can be improved. In addition, the operability is improved, and the effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a business card recognition device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the business card recognition device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the business card recognition device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of business card image data according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when address book data is stored in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for specifying a recognition range according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for specifying a storage mode according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a business card recognition device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an automatic character segmentation operation according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 Tablet 5 LCD 6 Scanner

Claims (2)

[Claims] An input unit for inputting data; a display unit for displaying data; an image capturing unit for capturing a business card as image data; and the image data captured by the image capturing unit are displayed on the display unit. First output means, second output means for displaying a screen for creating address book data on the display means, and character recognition in the image data displayed on the display means by the first output means. A recognition range receiving unit that receives a specification of a range from the input unit; and an attribute receiving unit that receives from the input unit a specification of which attribute of the address book data the character recognition range received by the recognition range receiving unit is to be stored. ,
A business card recognizing device comprising: a control unit for selecting a dictionary for character recognition according to the address book attribute received by the attribute receiving unit, performing character recognition, and creating address book data. 2. The business card recognizing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for performing line extraction of a business card when image data is taken in by said image taking means.