JPH1134423A - Form processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly process a manuscript containing a plurality of forms different in belonging device in a system consisting of a plurality of form processing apparatuses. SOLUTION: The images of the respective pages of an inputted manuscript are stored in a work memory 12. A form recognition part 14 takes out the image of an unprocessed head form from the work memory 12 to recognize the apparatus ID of this form. A processing judge part 16 investigates whether the apparatus ID is a self-apparatus one and delivers the form ID of this form to a form processing part 18 in the case of the self-apparatus one. The form processing part 18 searches the processing program corresponding to the form ID from a form DB 20 to execute the same. When the apparatus ID of the form is not the self-apparatus one, a transmission processing part 24 takes out all of page images on and after the form from the work memory 12 to successively transmit them to the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs. In an apparatus of a transmission destination, a received page image group is stored in the work memory 12 to perform the same processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form processing apparatus for receiving a user's instruction in a form document, starting a processing program corresponding to the input form, and executing a processing requested by the user. The present invention relates to a form processing apparatus suitable for forming a distributed system with a plurality of units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has proposed a form processing apparatus as an information processing apparatus for inputting instructions and data by using an input medium called a form (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-11 / 1990).
No. 4610, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-123396, etc.).

[0003] A form is a fixed form document used to request a service from a form processing apparatus, and forms are prepared for various services. The form is distributed to the user, for example, in a form printed on paper. The user obtains a form corresponding to a desired service, fills in data and instruction contents for the form, and inputs the form to the form processing apparatus, so that the form processing apparatus can receive the desired service.

[0004] The form processing apparatus, for each form,
It has a service corresponding to the form, that is, a processing program that describes the contents of information processing. The form processing apparatus analyzes the input image of the form, recognizes the type of the form and the contents of the user's entry, and performs processing. In this case, the form processing apparatus identifies the form by recognizing the identifier embedded in the form from the image of the input form, and executes a processing program corresponding to the form.

For example, the form processing apparatus can be configured as a so-called digital multifunction peripheral having various functions such as a scanner, a printer, and a facsimile (facsimile). In this case, the form processing apparatus can also perform a document management service such as filing or searching for a document using an image capturing function or an image transmitting / receiving function.

In some cases, a single company or the like operates a plurality of such form processing apparatuses. However, the conventional form processing apparatus is based on a so-called stand-alone type of operation, and a form is input or FA input to a correct form processing apparatus corresponding to the form.
Without X transmission, the desired service could not be obtained. Therefore, the user has to input the form in consideration of which form processing apparatus can use the desired form. In particular, when attempting to receive a service by transmitting a form from a facsimile apparatus to a form processing apparatus, the user must remember and use the facsimile number of the corresponding form processing apparatus for each form, which is inconvenient. Met. For this reason, there has been a demand for a system that can transfer a form to an appropriate form processing apparatus and process the form even if the form is input to any form processing apparatus.

[0007] A document retrieval apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-16605 by the present applicant responds to this demand with a similar type of apparatus, not the form processing apparatus itself. When a document is stored, the document search device creates a search sheet for taking out the document, and when the user inputs the search sheet, searches for a document corresponding to the search sheet and prints out the document. A code image of a device ID (such as a telephone number) of a device storing a document corresponding to the sheet is printed on the search sheet.
When a search sheet is input, the document search device recognizes the device ID from the search sheet, and if the search sheet is not its own device, transfers the image of the search sheet to the corresponding correct document search device. Then, the transferred document retrieval device retrieves and outputs the document. According to this conventional technique, a user can obtain a search result for a search sheet by inputting or facsimile-transmitting a search sheet to any one of a plurality of document search devices constituting the system.

[0008]

By the way, a form processing apparatus accepts inputs of a plurality of forms collectively,
It has a function to process these forms in order. That is, the form processing apparatus can temporarily store the input image of the form in the memory, and sequentially read and process the image one page at a time. This feature
Particularly, in the case of form input from a facsimile, it is convenient because the trouble of dialing can be reduced. This function has been realized for a form processing apparatus used in a stand-alone manner.

[0009] This function can be implemented by using a plurality of form processing devices.
If you try to expand to the case of operating as one system, one form may belong to a different form processing device.
It would be convenient if they could be entered and processed together.

As a method of realizing such an extended function, it is conceivable to apply the technology of the above-mentioned conventional document search device and embed the device ID of the belonging device in each form. However, there are various types of forms, some of which complete processing by itself, and other forms which require an attached document to be processed. In other words, the device ID indicated on the form can be seen where the form should be transferred, but the destination of the attached document that is not the form cannot be known. Therefore, in the case where the attached document of the form is mixed in the input, the attached document cannot be appropriately transferred simply by adding the device ID to the form.

For example, consider a case where data of five pages as shown in FIG. 14 is input via a facsimile or the like. A form 200 is a form for storing a document in a database, and a subsequent page 202 is a general document to be stored. In the form 200, an ID code 210 for specifying the form is displayed. In the ID code, the device ID (here, "device 1") of the form processing device to which the form 200 belongs is displayed. include. The form 204 is a form for registering a cabinet in the form processing apparatus. It is only necessary to fill in the form with necessary information such as a registered cabinet name, and it is not possible to obtain an attached document. This form 204 belongs to “apparatus 2”. Form 20
6 and page 208 are a document storage form of “device 1” and its attached document. When such five pages of data are input to “device 2”, “device 2” can transfer forms 200 and 206 to “device 1” based on their device IDs. The subsequent pages 202 and 208 are general documents that are not forms, and therefore do not indicate the device ID. Therefore, the pages 202 and 208 cannot be correctly transferred to “device 1”.

Regarding such a problem, a method is considered in which the form processing apparatus that has received the input determines how far the form is attached to the form, and collectively transfers the form and the form to the appropriate apparatus. Can be However, there is a problem peculiar to the form processing that it is difficult to know how far the form is attached to the form unless the processing program corresponding to the form is executed and actually processed. In addition, since the form to which a form corresponds can be known only by the device to which the form belongs, other devices can determine whether the form takes an attached document and how many pages can be attached. It is not possible to recognize whether it is a document. Therefore, when an input including a plurality of forms is received, a method in which the form processing apparatus appropriately separates them for each transfer destination and transfers them to a correct apparatus has not been feasible.

[0013] Furthermore, there is a form in which, when another form is attached, processing is performed with the processing result of the attached form as a processing target. For example, a document retrieval form can be attached to a document storage form and input, and a document retrieved from one cabinet by executing the attached document retrieval form can be stored in another cabinet by executing the document storage form. Such processing is also possible. Such processing is called nesting processing. When such a nesting processing function is extended to a system including a plurality of form processing devices, it is necessary to be able to cope with a case where a form and a form attached thereto have different devices. That is, it is desirable that the system can be operated with the same operational feeling as in the case of a stand-alone system even when used as a system. For example,
As shown in FIG. 15, when a document retrieval form 222 belonging to “device 2” is attached and input to a document storage form 220 belonging to “device 1”, the entire system starts from “device 2”. Processing must be performed so that the retrieved document is stored in the “device 1”.

However, simply by looking at the device ID of the input form and transferring it to the corresponding form processing device, for example, in the example of FIG.
And the document retrieval form 222 are separately transferred to “apparatus 1” and “apparatus 2” and processed independently, and the processing expected by the user is not performed. As described above, the nesting process in the system environment cannot be realized only by simply introducing the device ID.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and in the case where one system is constituted by a plurality of form processing apparatuses, a plurality of forms and / or a plurality of forms which are input together. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism capable of appropriately processing an attached document by a corresponding form processing device.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, a form processing apparatus according to the present invention manages a form and a processing program for processing the form in association with each other, and is connected through a communication line. A form processing device that forms a form processing system together with another form processing device, a storage unit that stores an input page image group, and a form determination unit that determines whether the page image is a form. When it is determined that the page image is a form, a device identifier indicating a form processing device to which the form belongs is recognized from the page image, and whether the form belongs to the own device is determined based on the device identifier. Executing a processing program corresponding to the form when it is determined that the form belongs to the apparatus; A form processing means for processing the unprocessed page images in the storage means up to the page specified by the processing program; and a form processing means for processing the input page image group when it is determined that the form does not belong to the own apparatus. Transfer means for transferring all page images subsequent to the form to the form processing device to which the form belongs based on the device identifier of the form, and each time processing of one form is completed by the form processing means. The page image of the unprocessed first page in the storage unit is extracted and supplied to the form determination unit for processing.

In this configuration, the page image is an image divided in page units, and includes both a form image and an attached document image.

In this configuration, the input page image group is temporarily stored in the storage means, and is sequentially retrieved and processed one page at a time. It is determined whether or not the extracted page image is a form that can be processed by the own device based on the device identifier. If the processing can be performed by the own apparatus, the corresponding processing program is executed by the form processing means. At this time, if the form takes an attached document, the form processing unit sequentially retrieves and processes unprocessed page images from the storage unit according to the processing program. Then, when the processing by the form processing unit is completed, the unprocessed first page is taken out from the storage unit, and the same processing as described above is performed. When a form that does not belong to the own device is detected in such a series of flows, the transfer unit converts all page images after the form into
The form is transferred to the form device corresponding to the device identifier of the form.

That is, in this configuration, the form processing device processes the input page image group in order from the first page, and when it detects a form that cannot be processed by its own device, it deletes all the page images after the form. The form is transferred to the form processing device to which the form belongs. Even the form processing device that has received the transfer processes the input (transferred) page image group to a level that can be processed by the own device, and if a form that cannot be processed is detected, the subsequent page image group is transferred to the device to which the form belongs. Forward. According to this configuration, when there is an attached document in the form, the attached document is reliably attached to the form and transferred to an appropriate transfer destination. Further, in this configuration, the form processing apparatus actually processes the form and transfers the unprocessed remainder, so that the correctness of the separation at the time of transfer is guaranteed.
Further, according to this configuration, since continuous forms are always transferred in a continuous state, continuous forms for the nesting process are not transferred separately.
Thus, according to this configuration, form transfer between a plurality of form processing apparatuses can be realized without requiring a complicated management mechanism.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, at the time of transfer processing, the transfer means notifies a destination form processing apparatus of destination information for returning a processing result of the form, and performs processing by the form processing means. The result is returned to the destination notified from the transfer source form processing apparatus. For example, a FAX device or the like to which a page image group is first input is a return destination of the processing result.
First, the page image group is detected by the form processing apparatus that has received the page image group, and thereafter, each time the page image group is transferred, it is transmitted to each transfer destination apparatus. According to this aspect, the processing result in the form processing apparatus at the transfer destination is also correctly returned to the predetermined return destination.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the page image determined to be not a form by the form determining means is transferred to a form processing apparatus which first receives the page image group in the form processing system. Form transfer means is provided, and the transfer means notifies the communication address of the form processing apparatus which first received the page image group to the transfer destination form processing apparatus at the time of transfer processing. This aspect is a useful configuration when the input page image group includes a simple FAX reception or copy input image other than the form and its attached document. In this configuration, the first page of the unprocessed page image remaining when the processing of the form processing unit is completed is supplied to the form determination unit. If this page is not a form, in this configuration, it is determined that it is a facsimile reception or copy input image, and the page image group is transferred to the form processing apparatus that first received the page image group. According to this configuration, no matter how the page image group is transferred, an image such as FAX reception can be output from the form processing apparatus that has received it.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, when the form processing device requires a page image to be processed in the execution of the processing program in the form processing means, the form processing device stores an unprocessed page image following the form from the storage means. The page image is taken out, and it is determined whether or not the page image is a form. If the taken out page image is not a form, the page image is given to a form processing means as a processing target of a processing program, and the taken out page image is a form. If it is, it is further determined whether or not the form belongs to the own device.If the form belongs to the own device, the form is processed, and the processing result is set as a processing target of the processing program. The form is given to the form processing means, and if the form does not belong to the own device, the form in the storage means is All the page images after the home page are transferred to the form processing device to which the form belongs, and the processing result returned from the form processing device is processed by the processing program. The feature is to give to.

According to this aspect, even when a form of one device is attached to a form of another device,
Nesting can be achieved.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided transfer information storage means for storing a transferred page image group and a transfer history indicating a form processing apparatus to which the page image group has been transferred. The transfer unit transfers the information of the page number of the first page of the page image group instead of transferring the unprocessed page image group when the transfer destination form processing apparatus is included in the transfer history; When a page number is transferred from another form processing device, it is preferable to process, from the page image group stored in the transfer information storage unit, a page image subsequent to the page number corresponding to the page number as the input page image group. Features.

In this embodiment, the form processing apparatus has the page image group transferred by itself in the transfer information storage means. Therefore, when transferring to a form processing device that has once received the page image group (that is, a form processing device included in the transfer history), instead of transferring the page image, a page to start processing is transferred. If the number is specified and the image of the page after the corresponding page is taken out from the transfer information storage means and processed by the transfer destination device, the same effect as the transfer of the page image group itself can be obtained.
Therefore, according to this configuration, the time-consuming image transfer processing can be reduced, and the processing time can be shortened.

Further, in the foam processing apparatus according to the present invention,
By providing means for adding image information indicating the device identifier of the own device to the form to be output, the device identifier of the device is added to the form generated and output by the form processing device. When a form is input to any one of the form processing devices, the form can be correctly transferred to the form processing device that generated the form.

Further, the form processing method according to the present invention comprises:
The input form group is processed in order from the top, and when a form that cannot be processed by the own apparatus is detected, all the forms after the input form group are transferred to the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs. It is characterized by the following. According to this method, an input form group including a plurality of forms belonging to different affiliations can be appropriately processed while being transferred between the form processing devices.

[0028]

Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of a form processing apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an input unit 10 is a unit for receiving an external data input. Input unit 10
Includes, for example, a fax modem, an image scanner, and a network input device. For example, when a document is read by an image scanner serving as the input unit 10, image data of the document is taken into the form processing apparatus. If the document is read by a remote FAX device and transmitted to the form processing device, the image data of the document is taken into the form processing device via the FAX modem as the input unit 10. The image of each page of the document thus captured is called a page image. The page image group of the document input collectively from the input unit 10 is stored in the working memory 12.
Is accumulated in In the working memory 12, a group of page images input at a time is managed as one group, and when another group of page images is input later, it is managed as another group.

The form recognition unit 14 acquires a page image from the work memory 12, performs image analysis, and determines whether or not the page is a form. Since a form always includes a mark indicating a form at a predetermined position, it is possible to determine whether the form is a form based on the presence or absence of the mark. If the page image is not a form,
The page image is processed as an image of a document input for FAX reception or copying.

When the page image is a form, the form recognition unit 14 further recognizes the form identifier from the page image. The form is an identifier indicating the form processing device to which the form belongs (referred to as “device ID”).
And a code image indicating an identifier (referred to as “form ID”) for uniquely identifying the form in the form processing apparatus, and the form recognizing unit 14 recognizes the image.

The processing determining unit 16 determines whether or not this form belongs to the own device (that is, whether the form can be processed by the own device) based on the recognized device ID. This determination can be made by a method such as comparing the device ID recognized from the form with the device ID of the own device.

If it is determined that the form belongs to the own apparatus, the form ID of the form is set to the form processing unit 1
Passed to 8. The form processing unit 18 uses the form I
Form DB (database) 20 using D as a search key
Search for. The form DB 20 stores a processing program corresponding to each form in association with the form ID. Therefore, the form processing unit 18 acquires a processing program for processing the form extracted from the work memory 12 by the search processing. By executing the processing program, the form processing unit 18 analyzes a page image of the form to recognize a user's instruction or the like, and executes a process associated with the form according to the recognition result. The form processing unit 18
In the case of a process that requires an attached document to be processed such as a document storage form, page images following the form are sequentially extracted from the working memory 12 and processed. The page image that has been processed in this way is discarded from the working memory 12 or a processed flag is set. If there is a processing result to be output in the processing in the form processing unit 18, the data of the processing result is output from the output unit 22. For example, when a document retrieval form is processed, a document selected by the user from the document list of the form is output from the output unit 22 as a processing result. The output unit 22 includes a fax modem, a printer,
A required function is selected according to the output destination of the processing result, including a network output device. Unless otherwise specified, the output of the processing result should be performed on the device into which the user has input the form.
The processing result for the form input from the X device is
The fax is returned to the fax device using the fax modem function of the output unit 22.

When it is determined by the processing determining unit 16 that the form does not belong to the own apparatus, the transfer processing unit 24 deletes all unprocessed page images in the working memory 12 including the image of the form. The form is transferred to the form processing device to which the form belongs. At this time, the transfer processing unit 24 obtains an address (a telephone number in this example) corresponding to the device ID of the form with reference to the device ID / address correspondence table as shown in FIG. Pass to. The output unit 22 is provided by a FAX modem function.
The user dials the address and accesses the transfer destination form processing apparatus. As a result, all the unprocessed page images starting with the form are fetched from the working memory 12 in page order by the transfer processing unit 24, and are transferred to the transfer destination via the output unit 22 (that is, the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs). Sent to. This transmission may be performed by facsimile transmission or in the form of binary data via a modem.

In the form processing device receiving this transfer,
The transferred data is stored in the working memory 12, and the same processing as described above is performed.

When the form processing apparatus is connected via a LAN, the network address may be registered in the apparatus ID / address correspondence table. If the telephone number or the network address itself is used as the device ID, such a correspondence table is not necessary. Note that the determination as to whether or not the own device is performed by the process determining unit 16 may be performed with reference to the device ID / address correspondence table in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of the data of each page image group stored in the working memory 12. First, page image data 120 of a document is stored in the work memory 12. The page images of each page are stored in a method that can be extracted in the order of the pages. The processed page image is deleted from the working memory 12. Or,
A flag indicating that processing has been completed is associated with each page image,
A flag may be set for a page for which processing has been completed. In any case, on the working memory 12,
The unprocessed first page can be identified.

The work memory 12 also has a receiving device ID
122 are stored. This accepting device ID 122 is
This is the device ID of the device that receives the page image group of the document first from the outside of the system (referred to as “reception device”) among all the form processing devices constituting the system. If the input page image group includes originals for FAX reception or copy input, these are addressed to the receiving device. If a non-form page image that is not a form attached document is detected at the transfer destination device, it is a page for FAX reception or copy input, so it must be transferred to a reception device and output. Accepting device ID 122
Is used for this transfer. This reception device ID1
In the form processing device 22 that has first received the page image group from the outside, the device ID of the device itself is set in 22. Whether the input is from outside the system is fax
It can be determined based on whether or not the source address is registered in the device ID / address correspondence table of FIG. Since the form processing apparatus that constitutes the system is registered in the correspondence table, if the form processing apparatus is not in the correspondence table, it is an external input. Also, when a document is read by a scanner, it is also an external input. The receiving device ID set in this way is transferred at the same time when the page image is transferred. In addition, since this information is used for specifying the receiving device,
It does not need to be the device ID, and may be, for example, the address of the receiving device.

The working memory 12 stores a reply address 124. The reply destination address 124 is an address indicating a destination to which a result of the form processing by the form processing unit 18 is returned. In the reply-to address 124,
In general, the address of a device, such as a facsimile device, into which a document is input is set. The reply address 124 is, for example,
The receiving device obtains the address of the document transmission source FAX device or the like and sets it. This reply address 124 is also
The page image is transferred at the same time as the transfer.

Incidentally, the transfer of the receiving apparatus ID and the reply destination address can also be performed by FAX communication. In this case, the transfer processing unit 24 may generate an image in which the receiving device ID and the reply destination address are displayed, attach the image as a front page of a page image group to be transferred, and transmit the image. Each form processing device analyzes the image of the front page, extracts data such as the receiving device ID, and stores the data in the working memory 1.
2 may be stored.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the form processing apparatus of this embodiment. The form recognition unit 14 extracts the first page image from the work memory 12 and performs image recognition (S1), and determines whether or not the page is a form (S2). If it is a form, the processing determination unit 16 determines whether or not the form is for the own device (S3). Here, in the case of the form of the own device, the form processing unit 18 performs a process for the form (S4). The page image processed in this form processing is deleted from the working memory 12. When the form processing is completed, the form processing unit 18 notifies the form recognition unit 14 to that effect. Then, the form recognition unit 14 checks whether an unprocessed page image remains in the work memory 12 (S5). If there is an unprocessed page image, the form recognition unit 14 extracts the first page and recognizes the image (S5).
1).

If it is determined in S3 that the recognized form is not the form of the own apparatus, the transfer processing unit 24 extracts the image of the remaining pages (unprocessed pages) after the form from the working memory 12. Is transferred to the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs, together with the information of the receiving apparatus ID 122 and the reply destination address 124 (S
6). When you transfer an unprocessed page image in this way,
In this form processing apparatus, the processing for the page image group ends.

In the determination in S2, a normal document whose page image is not a form (hereinafter referred to as a "normal document")
If it is determined, the form recognition unit 14 checks the receiving device ID in the work memory 12 and determines whether or not this is the ID of the own device (S7). If the receiving device ID matches the ID of the own device, the page image is a FAX received document or a copy input document for the own device, and the image is printed out using the printer function of the output unit 22 (S8). If the receiving device ID does not match the ID of the own device, the page image is output to the FA of the output unit 22.
Using the X function or the like, the data is transferred to the form processing device corresponding to the reception device ID (S9). As a result, the page image is printed out by the transfer destination form processing apparatus (accepting apparatus). The page image printed or transferred in this manner is deleted from the working memory 12. Thereafter, the form recognition unit 14 checks whether there is a page image remaining in the work memory 12 (S5). If there is a remaining page image, the form recognition unit 14 extracts the first page and repeats the above processing. If there are no remaining pages, the process ends.

The configuration and the processing procedure of the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment have been described above. Next, several processing examples of the input page according to the present embodiment will be described.

[Processing Example 1] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a first processing example in the present embodiment. In this example, an input page image group 50 composed of four cabinet registration forms 52 belonging to different form processing devices.
Is input to a system including four form processing apparatuses of apparatus 1 to apparatus 4. Each cabinet registration form 52 includes device ID code information 54. Input page image group 50
Is input to the apparatus 1 via the FAX 5.

In this example, page images of cabinet registration forms A, B, C, and D (hereinafter abbreviated as “form A”) are input from the FAX 5 to the apparatus 1 in this order. The device 1 sequentially processes the input page image group from the first page. In this case, since the form A on the first page belongs to the device 1, the device 1 processes this, and registers the cabinet name entered in the form A in its own device.
Then, the device 1 transmits the processing result at this time to the FAX 5. Next, the device 1 tries to take out the second page and process it. However, form B on the second page
Is not a form belonging to its own device, so device 1
All page images (B, C, D) of the second and subsequent pages are transferred to the device 2 to which the form B belongs. At this time, the device 1 simultaneously transfers the FAX 5 address as a reply destination address. The device 2 processes the first form B of the transferred page image group, and processes the remaining pages (C, D).
Is transmitted to the device 3 to which the form C belongs, together with the return address. In this way, the form C of the third page is processed by the device 3, and the form D of the remaining fourth page is processed.
Is transferred to the device 4 for processing. In addition, each device 1-4
, Upon completion of the process, refers to the reply destination address and returns the result to FAX5. In this way, the page images of the input page image group 50 are sequentially transferred to each of the devices 1 to 4 and processed.

[Processing Example 2] FIG. 6 shows a second processing example of the present embodiment. This example shows a case where an input page image group 60 of six pages including a normal document 64 between the forms 62 is input to the system. Note that, in this figure, the reply of the result is not shown.

Each page image of form A, document 1, form B, C, document 2, and form D is transmitted from FAX 5 to apparatus 1 in order. Device 1 that received this
Since form A of the first page belongs to the own apparatus, this is processed. Since Form A is a cabinet registration form that does not take attached documents, Document 1 on the second page
This is an X-received original. The device 1 includes an input page image group 60
, The document 1 is printed out as a FAX reception document. Since form B on the third page is not a form to which device 1 belongs, device 1
Transfers all pages (B, C, 2, D) from the third page to the device 2 to which the form B belongs. At this time, the reply destination address and the device ID of the device 1 as the accepting device are also transferred at the same time. In the device 2, the first form B is processed, and the rest (C, 2, D) are transferred to the device 3 together with the reception device ID and the like. The device 3 processes the form C of the first page transferred. Since the next document 2 is a normal document, the device 3 refers to the receiving device ID and transfers the document 2 to the device 1 as the receiving device. The apparatus 1 outputs the received document 2 as a fax reception document. Since the remaining form D belongs to the device 4, it is transmitted from the device 3 to the device 4 and processed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a document that is not related to the form, such as a facsimile received document, is included in the form, the document is received, not the transfer destination. It can be output from a form processing device. In this example, FAX reception is used as an example. However, even when an input page image group is read from an auto feeder or the like of a form processing apparatus, a document irrelevant to a form (in this case, a copy input) is displayed. Output from the device from which the document was read.

[Processing Example 3] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a third processing example of the present embodiment. In this example, the document storage form X
Shows a case where the input page image group 70 to which the document extraction form Y is attached after the input is input to the system. That is, this example shows an example in which a nesting process of extracting a document to be stored by a document storage form by a document extraction form is realized between a plurality of form processing apparatuses.

In this example, the document storage form X and the document retrieval form Y are input to the FAX 5 in this order,
Sent to. In the apparatus 1, the received page image group is stored in the working memory 12 (see FIG. 1), and the first page is taken out therefrom and analyzed. Based on this analysis, the apparatus 1 determines that the first page belongs to the document storage form X
Recognize that Then, the device 1 executes the storage processing program corresponding to the document storage form, retrieves the image of the document to be stored, and extracts the next page image from the working memory 12. It is determined whether or not the extracted page image is a form. If the extracted page image is a normal document that is not a form, the page image is stored in a predetermined file unit by a storage processing program as a document to be stored. In this example, since the second page is a form, the processing of this form is executed, and a document obtained as a result of the execution is set as a document to be stored. Therefore, the device 1 recognizes the identifier (device ID and form ID) of the second page of the document extraction form Y. Here, since the apparatus ID of the document extraction form Y is not the apparatus 1, the apparatus 1 cannot process this form. Therefore, the apparatus 1 interrupts the execution of the storage processing program, and sets the page images after the document retrieval form Y (in this case, only one page).
Is transferred to the device 2 to which the document retrieval form Y belongs. At the time of this transfer, the device 1 also transfers the information of the receiving device ID and the reply destination address at the same time, but in the case of the nesting process as in this example, the device 1 sets the reply destination address to the page input in the normal case. The original (FAX5) address is changed to the address of the own device or the device ID and transferred. Then, the device 1 stores that the transfer of the nesting process has been performed, and holds the original reply destination address (FAX5). The device 2 processes the transferred document retrieval form Y, and returns the retrieved document to the device 1 according to the return address. The device 1 that has received this document resumes the execution of the storage processing program and stores the document in the file means indicated in the document storage form X.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to realize a form nesting process between a plurality of devices.

The processing example in the case where a page image group including a plurality of page images is input has been described in the form processing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the above example, the page image group is input from the facsimile apparatus to the form processing apparatus via the telephone line. However, the present embodiment is not limited to such a case, and one of the form processing apparatuses in the system is used. The same processing can be performed when a page group is read from the scanner.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in a system including a plurality of form processing apparatuses, processing of an input page image group including forms belonging to different groups can be performed correctly.

[Embodiment 2] Next, an embodiment for reducing the amount of transfer data in transfer between form processing apparatuses will be described.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. 8, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, when a form processing apparatus transfers a page image group to another form processing apparatus, it holds the data of the transferred page image group. Then, when transferring to a device that has once received the page image group, instead of transferring the page image,
By transmitting information on which page to start processing, transfer of an image having a large amount of data is reduced, and time and cost required for the transfer are saved.

For such processing, the apparatus according to the present embodiment includes the transfer information storage unit 26 in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment.
have. The transfer information storage unit 26 stores information such as a page image group to be transferred to another device. That is, when the processing determination unit 16 determines that the form is not the one of the own device (that is, should be transferred),
The transfer information storage unit 26 extracts and holds data of an unprocessed page image group to be transferred from the work memory 12.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the transfer information 130 held in the transfer information storage unit 26. First, the transfer information 130 includes a page image group 132 to be transferred. In the page image group 132, image data of each page is associated with a page number. This figure shows a case where the seventh and subsequent pages of the page image group are transferred. The transfer information 130 includes a transfer history 134
Is included. The transfer history 134 is a list of the device IDs of the form processing devices to which the page image group has been transferred. The transfer history 134 is used for determining whether or not it is necessary to transfer page image data when performing the transfer process. The top of the transfer history 134 is the ID (accepting device ID 134a) of the receiving device of the page image group (the device that has first received the page image group from outside the system). The transfer information 130 includes a reply destination address 136. This reply destination address 136 is the same as the reply destination address of the first embodiment.

The format of the transfer information 130 is information to be stored in the transfer information storage unit 26 and also information to be transferred to another form processing apparatus. The transfer destination form processing apparatus that has received the transfer information 130 stores the transfer information 130 in the working memory 12 and performs processing. Therefore, the data format of the transfer information 130 is also the data format for managing the page image group in the work memory 12.

In the system, a plurality of page image groups may be processed in parallel. In order to cope with such a case, a unique processing number is assigned to each page image group in the system. The transfer information 130 is managed in association with the processing number. That is, transfer information 1
In the case where 30 is transferred, information of the processing number of the transfer information is also transmitted at the same time, and the transfer destination manages them in association with each other. Then, in the case of re-transferring to a device that has once received the page image group, the process number and the page number are designated, so that the transfer destination device processes from which page of which page image group. Identify what should start. As shown in FIG. 10, the transfer information storage unit 26 stores the transfer information in association with the processing number for each page image group.

Next, the processing procedure of the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 11 and 12.

FIG. 11 shows a processing procedure at the time of data reception. When receiving the data, the input unit 10 determines whether the received data is document data (S20). If it is a document, the received data (page image of the document) is stored in the working memory 12 (S21). If this reception is a transfer from another form processing apparatus, the transfer history and the information of the reply destination address sent at the same time are also stored in the working memory 12.

On the other hand, if the received data is not a document but data of a process number and a page number, it is specified which process of which transfer information is to be started from which transfer information stored in the transfer information storage unit 26. Then, the information is loaded into the working memory 12 (S22). That is, the transfer information is specified by the process number, the data of the page subsequent to the transmitted page number is extracted from the page image data of the transfer information, and is loaded into the working memory 12. Then, the transfer information for the process number is deleted from the transfer information storage unit 26. In this case as well, the information of the transfer history and the reply destination address sent at the same time as the processing number and the like are stored in the working memory 12.

When the information of the group of page images to be processed is stored in the working memory 12 in this way, the processing shifts to the page processing shown in FIG. 12, steps that perform the same processing as the steps of the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 are assigned the same numbers, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The processing of this embodiment is significantly different from that of the first embodiment in the case where it is determined in S3 that the extracted form is not the form of the own apparatus (that is, it needs to be transferred). . In this case, the transfer processing unit 24 checks the transfer history of the page image group on the work memory 12, and checks whether the device ID of the form is in the transfer history (S10). If it is found in the transfer history, it means that the transfer destination device already has information on the page image to be transferred, so the transfer processing unit 24 determines the process number of the page image group to be transferred and the The first page number is transmitted to the transfer destination device (S1).
1). The transfer destination device that receives this information loads the corresponding page image group data from the transfer information storage unit 26 into the work memory 12 and performs the process according to the procedure shown in FIG. 11 (S22). In S11, in addition to the information of the processing number and the page number, the information of the reply destination address and the transfer history are also transmitted. Transfer processing unit 24
Extracts the information of the transfer history from the working memory 12, adds the device ID of the own device if the device ID of the own device is included in the transfer history, and adds the device ID of the own device if the device ID is not included in the transfer history. Send.

On the other hand, if the device ID of the form is not found in the transfer history in the determination in S10, the transfer processing unit 24
Transfers the unprocessed page image group in the working memory 12 starting with the form to the device to which the form belongs, as in the first embodiment (S12). At this time, similarly to the case of S11, the information of the reply destination address and the transfer history is transferred.

If the page image to be processed is determined to be a normal document in S2, and if it is determined in S7 that the receiving apparatus of the page image group is not its own apparatus, the page image is processed in the same manner as in S11. The process number, page number, reply destination address, and transfer history information are transmitted to the receiving device that has first received the group (S14). The receiving device that has received this information loads the data of the page image group from the transfer information storage unit 26 into the working memory 12 according to the procedure shown in FIG. 11, and performs the processing (S22). The receiving device is
Since the apparatus receives the page image group first, it always has the data of the page image group. Therefore,
If the processing number and the page number are transferred, the processing can be performed from the corresponding page. This processing method for a normal document is different from that of the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, when a certain device detects a normal document, only the normal document is transferred to the accepting device, and the transfer source device continuously processes a group of page images subsequent to the normal document. This is an effective processing method in that useless transfer of page image data is prevented. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the processing right for not only the detected normal document but also all subsequent page images is transferred to the receiving device. Even if such a method is adopted, in the second embodiment, it is only necessary to transmit the processing number, the page number, and the like, and it is not necessary to transfer a page image having a large data amount. There are few problems. According to this method, when pages to be processed by the receiving device, such as ordinary documents, are continuous, processing of the pages (printing and the like) by the receiving device can be speeded up. Since it is considered that many page images input to the system are destined to the receiving device that first received the page image, the method of once giving the processing right for the page image group to the receiving device as described above is as follows. This is effective in improving the overall processing efficiency. In the second embodiment, it is of course possible to adopt a configuration in which only the detected normal document is transferred to the receiving device as in the first embodiment.

In this way, S11, S12 or S14
Is performed, the information of the unprocessed page image group in the working memory 12 is transferred to the transfer information storage unit 26 and held.

In this embodiment, the transfer information is held in any one of the form processing apparatuses until the processing of all the pages of the input page image group is completed. It becomes unnecessary after processing all pages of the group. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the processing for all pages is completed, the corresponding transfer information in the transfer information storage unit 26 is cleared. Therefore, in FIG. 12, when there are no remaining pages in S5 (that is, when processing of all pages is completed), the form processing apparatus refers to the transfer history in the work memory 12 and is placed there. The processing number of the page image group and the completion of the processing are notified to each form processing apparatus (S1).
3). Each device that has received this notification deletes the transfer information corresponding to the processing number from the transfer information storage unit 26.

In this embodiment, the determination of S7 (whether or not the receiving apparatus is the own apparatus) for a page that is not a form is performed by referring to the apparatus ID at the head of the transfer history (the ID of the receiving apparatus). .

Next, an example of processing in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 shows an example in which an input page image group 80 including four cabinet registration forms is input via the FAX 5. Input page image group 80
The two forms A and C sandwiching the form B have the same device ID.

When the forms A, B, C, and D are input from the facsimile 5, the apparatus 1 first assigns a processing number to the input page image group. Then, the apparatus 1 processes the form A of the first page that can be processed by the apparatus 1 and returns the result to the FAX 5. Since the next form B cannot be processed by the apparatus 1, the apparatus 1 transfers all of the forms B, C, and D to the apparatus 2. At this time, the apparatus 1 stores the transferred page image data of the forms B, C, and D in the transfer information storage unit 26 (FIG. 8) in association with the processing numbers. In addition,
In this transfer, the device 1 creates a transfer history including only the device ID of the own device, and transmits this to the device 2.
The device 2 that has received the transfer processes the first form B and returns the result to the FAX 5. Next, the device 2 uses the form C
Recognizing the device identifier of the form C, the form C cannot be processed by itself, and it is determined that the form C should be transferred to the device 1. here,
Since the device 1 is included in the transfer history, the device 2
The processing number of the input page image group and the page number of the form C are transmitted to the device 1. At this time, the device 2 adds the ID of the device itself to the transfer history and transmits the transfer history to the device 1. The apparatus 1 retrieves the page image group corresponding to the received processing number from the transfer information storage unit 26, loads the page image data subsequent to the received page number on the working memory 12, and starts the processing. As a result, the form C is processed by the apparatus 1, and the processing result is returned to the FAX 5. And the device 1 is the device ID of the remaining form D
Since (device 3) is not included in the transfer history, the page image of this form D is transferred to device 3 together with the transfer history. The device 3 processes the form D and returns a result.
As a result, all the processes for the input page image group 80 have been completed, so that the device 3
Is notified that the processing has been completed. The devices 1 and 2 receiving this delete the transfer information (page image group) held in the transfer information storage unit 26.

It is needless to say that, similarly to the first embodiment, a page group in which a FAX original is mixed and a nesting process can be realized in the configuration of the second embodiment.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is not necessary to transfer the page image data to the form processing apparatus that has once transferred, so that the transfer data amount can be significantly reduced. It can save time and cost for transfer.

[0077]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The form processing device sequentially processes the page images,
When a form that cannot be processed by the own device is detected, all the page images after the form are transferred to the form processing device to which the form belongs, so that a page image group including a plurality of forms is transferred between the plurality of devices. Can be processed correctly. Also, when the form processing apparatus stores the transferred page image and transfers the page image to an apparatus that has once transferred, the form processing apparatus transmits only the page number instead of transferring the page image group. Therefore, the amount of data to be transferred can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a form processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a device ID / address correspondence table.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of data held in a work memory.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a first processing example according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a second processing example according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a third processing example according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a form processing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating contents of transfer information according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a transfer information management method in a transfer information storage unit.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure at the time of data reception according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of page processing according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a processing example according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example in which a mere use of the conventional technique cannot be successfully processed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example in which a mere use of the conventional technique cannot be successfully processed.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 input section, 12 working memory, 14 form recognition section, 16 processing determination section, 18 form processing section, 20
Form DB, 22 output unit, 24 transfer processing unit, 26
Transfer information storage unit.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Koji Hashimoto 3-2-1, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiki Okiyama Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 3-2-1 Sakado KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takayuki Koyama 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A form processing apparatus which manages a form and a processing program for processing the form in association with each other, and forms a form processing system together with another form processing apparatus connected via a communication line, Storage means for storing the input page image group; form determination means for determining whether the page image is a form; and when the page image is determined to be a form, the form information of the form is determined from the page image. A process determining unit that recognizes a device identifier indicating a form processing device to which the device belongs and determines whether or not the form belongs to the device based on the device identifier; and A processing program corresponding to the form is executed, and the unprocessed page images in the storage unit are defined by the processing program. Form processing means for processing up to the page to be processed, and when it is determined that the form does not belong to the own device, all the page images after the form in the input page image group are determined based on the device identifier of the form. Transfer means for transferring the form to the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs, and each time processing of one form is completed by the form processing means, the page image of the unprocessed first page in the storage means is taken out And a form processing device for supplying the processed form to the form determining means. 2. The form processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit notifies the transfer destination form processing apparatus of destination information for returning a processing result of the form during the transfer processing. A form processing apparatus for returning a processing result of a form processing unit to the destination notified from a transfer source form processing apparatus. 3. The form processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the page determination unit determines that the page image is not a form, and the form processing system first receives the page image group in the form processing system. Non-form transfer means for transferring to the processing device, wherein the transfer means notifies the communication address of the form processing device that first received the page image group to the transfer destination form processing device during the transfer process. Form processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The form processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution of the processing program by the form processing means requires a page image to be processed, and the storage means. From the unprocessed page image following the form, and determines whether or not the page image is a form. If the extracted page image is not a form, the page processing is performed using the page image as a processing target of the processing program. If the extracted page image is a form, it is further determined whether or not the form belongs to the own device. If the form belongs to the own device, the form is processed and the processing is performed. The result is given to the form processing means as a processing target of the processing program, and the form does not belong to the own apparatus. In this case, all the page images after the form in the storage means are transferred to the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs with the own apparatus as a reply destination, and the processing result returned from this form processing apparatus is processed. A form processing apparatus, which is provided to the form processing means as a processing target of a program. 5. The form processing device according to claim 1, wherein the transferred page image group and the form processing device to which the page image group has been transferred have been transferred. And a transfer information storage unit for storing a history, and the transfer unit, when the transfer destination form processing apparatus is included in the transfer history, transmits the unprocessed page image group instead of transferring the unprocessed page image group When the information of the page number of the first page of the group is transferred, and when the page number is transferred from another form processing apparatus, the page images corresponding to the page number in the group of page images stored in the transfer information storage unit. As a group of the input page images. 6. The form processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for adding image information representing an apparatus identifier of the apparatus to an output form. Characterized form processing device. 7. A form processing apparatus for managing a form and a processing program for processing the form in association with each other, and executing a processing program corresponding to the form when the form is input, the form processing apparatus comprising: In a form processing apparatus that forms a form processing system together with another connected form processing apparatus, the input form group is processed in order from the top, and when a form that cannot be processed by the own apparatus is detected, the input form group is processed. Transferring a form to the form processing apparatus to which the form belongs.