JPS61213177A - Optical-type character reader with printing mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a printing mechanism from directly striking a platen, a printing head from being broken and documents from being contaminated due to adhesion of ink to the platen, by a system wherein a surface on which the documents are moved is made to be optically black, the shape of the documents is recognized on the basis of information optically read, and a printing range is limited in accordance with the shape. CONSTITUTION:When a character-reading operation is finished, a printing region is optically read. The position at which a change from black to white occurs on a scanning line position 33 is the left end 34 of the document 26, and the width of the document 26 is detected. A character reader controlling circuit 20 copares the width of the document predetermined on a document format with the width of the document 26 actually read by a document shape recognizing part 15, and when the actual width is smaller, the circuit 20 performs such a control that printing is not conducted in a region out off the actual width even where the region is within the predetermined width and even when a printing command is supplied. Accordingly, the printing mechanism 13 is prevented from directly striking the platen, the printing head is prevented from being broken, and the document is prevented from being contaminated due to adhesion of the ink to the platen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention is an optical character reading device that optically reads characters on a form and is equipped with a printing mechanism (hereinafter referred to as an optical character reading device with a printing mechanism). (referred to as character reading device);・1. ) regarding
More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for controlling a printing mechanism based on optically read information.

(Prior Art) FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the appearance of an optical character reading device with a printing mechanism. In the figure, a form 1 placed on a form running surface (or also referred to as a running back screen) is conveyed in the direction of arrow A by a transport mechanism 2. The characters and the like on the conveyed form 1 are first optically read at a reading position 6 by a character reading mechanism 5 having a print head 3a and a photoelectric conversion sensor 3b. Thereafter, the form 1 is transported and sent to the printing mechanism 4.

The printing mechanism 4 prints characters or the like at a print instruction position 5 on the form 1. In these operations, the reading position 6 and print instruction position 5 on the form 1 are registered in advance as distances from the edge 7 of the form 1 in a format control section (not shown). Therefore, the character reading mechanism 3 and the printing mechanism 4 are controlled independently (without relation to each other) according to the information stored in the format control section.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the optical character reading device with a printing mechanism configured as described above, since the character reading mechanism 3 and the printing mechanism 4 are independently controlled, When a form 1 located at a position deviated from a predetermined position is conveyed to the printing mechanism 4 and a printing instruction is given, or when a form 1 whose size is smaller than the printing area of the printing mechanism 4 is conveyed, the printing mechanism 4 In some cases, the print head directly hits the planar plate, resulting in damage to the print head and ink adhering to the platen, staining the next document to be read and printed. This problem also occurs when the size of the form is incorrectly registered in the format control section.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical character reading device with a printing mechanism that can solve these problems, protect the print head, and prevent stains on documents.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a character reading mechanism section that optically reads information on a form placed on a form running surface and converts it into a stain signal, and a character reading mechanism section that performs a predetermined process on the electric signal. The object of the present invention is an optical character reading device with a printing mechanism, which has a storage unit that stores digital information obtained by performing the above steps, a printing mechanism unit that prints information on the form, and a control unit that controls each of the units. . According to this invention, in such an optical character reading device with a printing mechanism, firstly, the form running surface is optically black. Second,
A form shape recognition section is provided which detects a boundary between a form and a form running surface based on digital information stored in the storage section and recognizes the shape of the form.

Third, the control unit controls the printing mechanism to limit the printing range within the form based on the recognized form of the form.

(Function) The level of the electrical signal obtained from the character reading mechanism differs greatly between the part with the form and the part without it (that is, the optically black form running surface). Therefore, based on the digital information stored in the storage unit corresponding to the level of this electrical signal, the form shape recognition unit can obtain information regarding the shape of the form (for example, information regarding the width). Since the control section controls the printing range to be limited within the form based on this shape, the above problem is solved.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a photoelectric conversion cell 10 receives light from a form and converts it into an electrical signal. The binarization circuit 11 receives this electrical signal and performs a binarization process.

The form image memory 12 stores the binarized information from the binarization circuit 11. The character recognition circuit 14 reads this binary information, performs character extraction and other necessary recognition processing, and obtains individual character codes. The character recognition control circuit 18 controls the character recognition circuit 14 based on the control of the device control circuit 20. The printing mechanism 13 has a print head and the like, and prints characters and the like on the form.

The print control circuit 17 controls the print mechanism ISt based on instructions from the device control circuit 20, such as selection of print head dots.

The form conveyance mechanism 19 includes a motor that drives a roller for conveying a belt that provides a form running surface, a control circuit for the motor, and the like.

The form recognition circuit 15 recognizes the shape of the form having characters such as "'" optically read by the photoelectric conversion sensor 10 based on the binarized information in the form image memory 12, and sends information regarding this shape to the device control circuit 20. Send. The form outline memory 16 stores information regarding the recognized shape of the form.

The device control circuit 20 controls each part of the device and stores a form format to be described later. In fact, the device control circuit 20 compares the information regarding the shape of the form from the form shape recognition circuit 15 with the form format, and controls the print control circuit 17 to limit the printing range within the form. still,
In this embodiment as well, the appearance of the device is the same as that shown in FIG. 4.

In this embodiment, the form running surface is optically black (
In other words, it is formed to have a color that absorbs light.

When the form running surface is configured in this way, when the form enters the field of view of the photoelectric conversion sensor 10, the difference in light reflectance between the form and the form running surface results in a change as shown in FIG. 2. In the field of view 25 of the photoelectric conversion sensor 10, a large signal level difference occurs between the form 26 and the form running surface 22 as the output 24 of the photoelectric conversion sensor 10. Same, in the figure,
The output 24 of the photoelectric conversion sensor 10 indicates the output at the scanning line position 25.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, reading of a form image such as characters on a form will be explained. The form 26 is moved by the form transport mechanism 19, and the information at the reading position is optically read by the photoelectric conversion unit 10 and converted into an electric signal to obtain an analog image signal. As is well known, the binarization circuit 11 compares this analog image signal with a predetermined reference level and binarizes it. This binarized information is stored in the form image memory 12. Next, the form transport mechanism 19 is driven to move the form by a unit amount, and in the same manner, an analog image signal is obtained, which is binarized and written into the form image memory 12. By repeating this operation, data in which the image on the form is binarized into white and black is written into the form image memory 12.

Here, writing of the binarized information to the form image memory 12 is performed as follows. This operation will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a read form.

First, to explain the figure, 26 is a form, 27.28
indicates a character reading line, and 29 indicates a printing area to be printed. 30 is the direction in which the form 26 travels, character reading line 2
The positions of areas 29 to be printed with 7 and 28 on the form 26 are registered in advance in the device control circuit 20 as information called form format as distances from the top and left sides of the form 26. The operation of the device control circuit 20 will be explained below.
reads the character area defined on this form format, uses the character area of the first character reading line 27 as an electrical signal, operates the form transport mechanism 19, and stores it in the form image memory 12. The binarized information of the first character reading line 27 stored in this manner is supplied to the character recognition circuit 14. The character recognition circuit 14 cuts out characters,
Other necessary recognition processing is performed, and each character code is sent to the device control circuit 20 via the character recognition control circuit 18.

By performing such an operation on the character reading line 28 as well, the character reading operation is completed.

Next, the print area 29 is optically read. First, the right end 31 of the form 26 is pressed against a reference surface (not shown) of the form transport mechanism 19 so that the form 26 moves.

Therefore, a significant difference in the reflected light between the form 26 and the form running surface 32 results in a difference in the output level of the output 24 of the photoelectric conversion sensor 10, as explained in the second part above. This output is easily quantized into black and white for the form running surface and the form surface, respectively, by the binarization circuit 11, and the binarized information is stored in the form image memory 12. Furthermore, the scanning line position (reading position) 33
The position where the color changes from black to white corresponds to the left edge 64 of the form 26. Therefore, the width of the form 26 is detected.

Information about the width of the form 26 regarding the scanning line 33 obtained in this way is stored in the form outline memory 16. Similarly, the information obtained regarding each scanning line is sequentially stored in the form contour memory 16.

When a predetermined number of pieces of information are stored, the form recognition circuit 15 calculates, for example, the average of these pieces of information, and notifies the device control circuit 20 of this average value.

Next, the device control circuit 20 compares the width of the form predefined on the form format with the width of the actually read form 26 obtained by the form shape recognition section 15. As a result of the comparison, if the actual width is smaller than the predefined width, the device control circuit 20 selects an area that exceeds the actual width even within the predefined width (in other words, (area where the platen itself is exposed) is controlled so that no printing is performed even if there is a printing instruction.

This can prevent damage to the print head caused by the printing mechanism 13 directly hitting the platen and staining of the form due to ink adhering to the platen. still,
If it is instructed not to print, the print control circuit 17 and device control circuit 20 control the form 26 so that the characters to be printed fit into the form by line feed or page break processing. is printed.

The present invention has been described above based on one embodiment.

Another example is a configuration in which the form outline memory 16 used in the above embodiment is omitted by calculating the form width of each scanning line sequentially for each scan of the scanning line. Further, detection of the form shape can be carried out not only in the horizontal direction of the form described above but also in the vertical direction. Further, the present invention is applicable not only to an apparatus that conveys a form and has a printing mechanism and a character reading mechanism fixed, but also to an apparatus that keeps a form fixed and moves a printing mechanism and a character reading mechanism. Similarly applicable.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the running surface of the form is optically blackened, the shape of the form is recognized based on optically read information, and the printing area is determined based on this shape. As a result, it is possible to prevent damage to the print head, which often occurs when the printing mechanism 13 hits the platen directly, and to prevent stains on the form due to ink adhering to the platen.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an output signal when a form placed on a form running surface is read by a photoelectric conversion sensor, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an output signal of the above embodiment. A diagram showing a form on a form running surface used to explain the operation, and FIG. 4 are views showing the appearance of the optical character reading device with a printing mechanism. 10...Photoelectric conversion sensor 11...Binarization circuit. 12... Form image memory. 15... Printing mechanism. 14...Character recognition circuit. 15..., form recognition circuit. 16... Form contour memory. 17...Print control circuit- 18...Character recognition control circuit. 19... Form transport mechanism. 20...Device control circuit. 25... Field of view of photoelectric conversion sensor, 24... Output of photoelectric conversion sensor 25... Scanning line position, 26... Form, 27.28... Character reading line 29... Print area

Claims (1)

[Claims] a character reading mechanism unit that optically reads information on a form placed on a form running surface and converts it into an electrical signal; a storage unit that stores digital information obtained by subjecting the electrical signal to predetermined processing; , a printing mechanism unit that prints information on the form;
In the optical character reading device with a printing mechanism, which has a control unit that controls each of the above-mentioned parts, the form running surface is optically black, and the form and form running surface are controlled based on digital information stored in the storage unit. A form shape recognition unit is provided that detects the boundary with the surface and recognizes the shape of the form, and the control unit controls the printing mechanism unit to limit the printing range to within the form based on the recognized shape of the form. An optical character reading device with a printing mechanism.