JPS6210772A - Image information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly retrieve the required bit of information by providing a signal processing part for reading a specific page in which the image information stored in the first memory part or the second memory part is designated and a display device for displaying the specific page read by this signal processing part. CONSTITUTION:A menu specifying a document is displayed on a display device 18 and when inputting the number of pages, the page of this document is displayed on the display device. When inputting the number of the pages in a paragraph of a whole sequence display 43, the contents of the document is sequentially displayed from the designated page one page by one page. For instance, when one to ten pages are inputted into a paragraph of an index display 44 every other page, an index page in which the index pages from the first page to the tenth page of the document of the index pages are written is displayed on the display device. Thereafter, a similar processing is repeated. Thereby, the information capable of being used for the retrieval can be inputted in parallel and the required bit of information in the document can be efficiently searched.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image information processing device that stores image information, retrieves it as needed, and displays it.

[Prior Art] In order to reduce the storage space for a large amount of documents such as scientific and technical documents and patent publications, and to make it easier to search and copy specific documents, so-called electronic filing is becoming popular in various fields. is being advanced.

When creating this electronic file, the first step is to convert the document into an electronic file.

is read page by page using an image reading device such as an image line sensor, the image information is converted into an image signal in units of pixels, and this is stored in a large-capacity storage device such as an optical disk. Then, attribute codes such as document number, technical classification, author, etc. are set for each document, a search table corresponding to these is created, and it is stored in the storage device or another storage device in a fixed format. put.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a method for searching a document converted into an electronic file. In the figure, a large number of documents from document A to document X are stored on an optical disc 1 as image information. When the operator presses the search key rBBJ for a specific document, for example document B, from the keyboard 2, Table 3
is referenced and document B is selected. Then, the contents are read from the optical disc 1 and the first page is displayed on the display device 4 or the like.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, if the table of contents is written on the first page 6 of document B, the operator searches the table of contents to find the page containing the necessary information, and uses the keyboard to, for example, Specify the page to be displayed as shown in 7. Then, based on the displayed content of that page, the pages before and after it are searched as shown by arrow 8, and finally the image information of the necessary part is displayed and copied.

``Problem to be solved by the invention'' However, the search task of visually following the pages in a document involves transferring one page's worth of image information from the optical disk to the display device at each page break. Because it is accompanied by
You are required to wait for a certain amount of time each time the page breaks. This is undesirable because it reduces the operator's work efficiency.

For example, when trying to obtain necessary information while flipping through an encyclopedia by hand, the user searches for a specific page by following the headings written on the shoulders of each page. If such work is attempted to be performed on this document converted into an electronic file, there will be a large number of page breaks, and a long time will be spent to obtain the necessary information. Therefore, it is conceivable to set several types of search keys for each page of this document and store and use them in a table as explained in FIG. 10.

However, in this type of device, the capacity of a table for search keys is often limited, and it is often difficult to increase the number of search keys for searching for content in addition to searching for documents.

Furthermore, manually inputting a search key for each page is extremely complicated and may hinder the speedup of inputting a large amount of information into such an image information processing device.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and allows image information to be stored in a storage device, etc., with information in an easily searchable format added thereto, relatively easily, and automatically if necessary, for reference. An object of the present invention is to provide an image information processing device that can perform image information processing.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The image information processing device of the present invention includes a first storage section that stores image information that is composed of a plurality of pages and each of which is converted into an image signal in pixel units; When a specific area contained in any page in the page and useful for searching that page is set as a heading area, a second memory extracts this heading area and creates and stores a plurality of heading pages that are a set of these areas. a signal processing section that reads out a designated specific page of image information stored in the first storage section or the second storage section; and a display device that displays the specific page read out by the signal processing section. It has the following.

For example, if the image information is a collection of two or more documents each consisting of a plurality of pages, a heading page is created for each document.

Also, when displaying the heading page on a display device,
It is preferable that the signal processing unit selectively reads out a specified heading area from the heading page, creates a new heading page, and displays the new heading page on the display device.

"Operation" As described above, in the present invention, a heading area is set for every page or for each specific page of each document in the image information. This heading area is determined by selecting a portion of the page where information useful for searching is described. These are then extracted and collected to create a new heading page. If the position of the heading area of each page of image information is fixed, when the image information for that page is stored in the first storage unit, the heading area is automatically stored in the second storage unit. When the operator searches for a specific page, the operator displays a heading page that collects the heading areas on the display device,
You can easily search for a page containing necessary information by visually following multiple heading areas.

Further, it is also possible to selectively extract a heading area from a heading page and display it on a display device, thereby improving the efficiency of search operations. In this way, a predetermined document can be designated from a storage device storing a large number of documents, etc., and necessary information in the document can be quickly retrieved. Moreover, the image information processing device of the present invention can be easily added to the conventional device without increasing the number of search keys for documents or adding special expensive external devices for searching. It also has the advantage of allowing additional functionality.

Note that in the present invention, a page refers to a unit of image information that a display device can display on one screen, and it depends on the ability of an image reading device and the area for storing image information in an image storage device. shall not be directly related to.

"Embodiment" (Description of the device of the embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image information processing device of the present invention.

In the figure, the common path line 11 includes an image storage device 12, an image reading device 13, and an image printer 14.
, signal processing unit 16, temporary memory 17 and display device 18
A keyboard 21 and a pointing device 22 are connected to the display device 18.

The image storage device 12 is a device using a large-capacity storage medium such as an optical disk or a magnetic disk, and may be a single device or a combination of two or more different types of storage media. A first storage unit 12. is used to sequentially store documents one page at a time in this storage medium. and a second storage section 122 that stores a heading page to be described later.

This first storage section 12. and the second storage unit 122 may be provided on separate, completely separate storage media, or may be provided in a mixed manner on the same storage medium.

The image storage device 13 is a known device that reads a document one page at a time using an image line sensor or the like and converts this into an image signal pixel by pixel.

The image printer 14 is, for example, a known laser printer or thermal recording type printer that creates a hard copy from image information. The signal processing unit 16 is composed of a microprocessor (not shown), a memory storing programs necessary for its operation, and its peripheral circuits, and stores image information read by the image reading device 13 in the image storage device 12, and stores the image information read by the image reading device 13 in the image storage device 12. Image storage device 12
It controls operations such as reading image information from and displaying it on the display device 18. The temporary memory 17 is a temporary memory that stores a certain amount of image information as necessary during the operation of the signal processing unit 16, and facilitates processing of the image information. It consists of a video RAM (random access memory) that can store image information. The display device 18 is a device that displays image information using, for example, a cathode ray tube display. The display device 18 also transfers instructions from the keyboard 21 or pointing device 22 to the signal processing section 16, and causes the signal processing section 16 to execute processing according to the operator's request. Here, the keyboard 21 has a well-known configuration that is commonly used, and a description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the pointing device 22 is also known, but when a control box called a mouse is moved back and forth and left and right on a desk, a bearing provided on the bottom of the device touches the surface of the desk and rotates.
The display device 18 determines the direction and amount of rotation of the bearing.
The direction and amount of movement of the cursor on the screen are determined. That is, by moving this mouse, the display device 18
When the cursor on the screen is set to a location where a predetermined command is displayed and a key provided on the mouse is pressed, the command is transferred to the signal processing section 16 and executed.

(Creation of Headline Page) FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image information input operation using the image information processing apparatus of the present invention.

Here, the document 26 has n pages 261 to 26, for example.
．． , is composed of. In the manual operation of image information, the document is set in the image reading device 13 shown in FIG. 1 in order from the first page 26°, and its contents are stored in the first storage unit 12□.

On the left side of Figure 2 is page 26, which currently requires manual work.
A document is illustrated, and on the right side, an image storage device 12 is shown.
The image information stored in (FIG. 1) is illustrated. That is, when this page 262 is set in an image reading device, the image information of that page is read as the first entry 1. as shown in FIG. ! Part 12. is stored as is. Further, image information of a portion of the heading area 27 surrounded by a frame indicated by a broken line at a predetermined fixed position is separately stored in the second storage unit 122.

This is because the signal processing unit 16 is in the temporary memory 1 in FIG.
7, define an area for one page of the document, and make that page a heading page 26o with the structure shown in FIG.
This heading page 26. This is executed by writing the contents of the heading area 27 at a predetermined location. The heading page completed in the temporary memory 17 is finally stored in the second storage section 122.

The position and shape of this heading area are fixed, and document 2
If we manually perform the heading area on all pages of 26.6 on page 1, as shown in FIG. From heading area 27. is written in the first area of the heading page 26o, and the heading area 272.27 of each page is written as follows.
3... are written on this heading page 26o1. And this heading page 26. , when the time comes, this heading page 26o1 is stored in temporary memory 1.
7 (FIG. 1), and is transferred to and stored in the second storage unit 122.

A new heading page 26.2 (FIG. 3) is then created in this temporary memory 17, and the last page 26.2 of the document 26
．． , heading area 27. , is created, and the input work for all image information is completed. That is, as a result, the heading pages 26o, 26. □ is stored in the second storage unit 122 (FIG. 1).

In FIG. 2, image information of each page 26, to 26, of a document 26 stored in a first storage unit 121 in a storage device and heading pages 26o1 to 26o stored in a second storage unit 122 are shown. , are all signal processing unit 16 (
(FIG. 1), the format is such that it can be displayed directly on the display device 18.

FIG. 4 shows, for example, the heading area 27 on page 261.
．． The shape of 29. This shows that it is also possible to expand the image from 29□ to the dashed-dotted line frame 29□. This enlargement work is carried out by the operator inputting necessary commands using the keyboard 21 and pointing device 22 shown in FIG. Signal processing unit 16 (
In FIG. 1), for example, the shape of the frame 29 is limited in advance to several types that can equally divide the heading page, and the operator selects one of them. Appropriate shapes such as portrait, landscape, etc. differ depending on the type of document, so it is preferable to prepare various shapes.

Furthermore, even within the same document, there may be cases where it is desired to change the position of the heading area for each page. At this time, as shown in FIG.
2, and when the frame 29 is set at an appropriate position, press the key 221 of the pointing device 22.

As a result, the area designated by the frame 29 becomes the heading area. At this time, since the shape of the heading area does not change, the layout of the heading page is completely the same, which is a good advantage.

FIG. 6 shows an example of changing the area and shape of the heading area for each page. In this case, while moving the cursor 33 with the pointing device 22 (FIG. 5), the frame 293
Set. Then, the signal processing unit converts the image information in the frame 293 into a predetermined shape 29. Enlarge or reduce the image and write it on the heading page.

The heading page is created as described above, but at this time, the operator does not have to spend much time on the entry work itself for the heading area, and there is an advantage that depending on the case, everything can be done manually.

(Document search work) FIGS. 7 to 9 show how the image storage device 12 (
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a procedure for searching image information stored in FIG. 1).

First, when work is started and a document is specified, a menu as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display device 18 (FIG. 1). This is document name 41 (Math.

This menu is waiting for the operator's instructions as to which page to read regarding Dictionary.

If, for example, "50" is entered manually in the page display field 42, the 50th page of this document will be displayed on the display device. If "15" is entered in the overall sequential display 43 field, the contents of the document will be displayed page by page starting from the 15th page. Then, if you manually enter every other page from page 1 to page 10 in the heading display 44 section,
Among the heading pages described above, the heading page in which the heading areas from the first page to the tenth page of the document are written is displayed on the display device.

Furthermore, in the present invention, this heading page can also be processed and displayed. For example, in the heading display 44 section,
When inputting every 10 pages from page 1 to page 120, the signal processing unit 16 in FIG. 1 first selects the heading area 48 . Heading page 46. is transferred from the second storage unit 122 (FIG. 1) to the temporary memory 17, and a new heading page 47 is provided in the temporary memory 17. And heading page 46. From the heading area 48. of the first page. is written in the first area of the heading page 47. Next, part 1
Heading area 48 after page 0.

is written on the heading page 47. Thereafter, the next headline page 462 is transferred from the second storage section 122 to the temporary memory 17 and the same process is repeated. The heading page 47 thus created is displayed on the display device 18. The content is the 9th
As shown in the figure.

That is, in this document, like an encyclopedia or the like, the initial letters of the words written on the page are displayed at the shoulder part of each page, such as A-8, D, -D. Therefore, by using these as headings, collecting the headings every 10 pages in this way, it is possible to display many headings on one screen. This makes it possible to easily search for a predetermined page in a document.

For example, as shown in Fig. 9, if you place the cursor 33 on the display part of the heading area of page 51 and press the key on the pointing device (Fig. The page is displayed. Also, using this cursor, it is possible to specify the first page and last page to be displayed and display the pages in between.

The heading area selection process as described above can also be performed relatively easily by a simple program using the temporary memory 17 by the signal processing unit 16 (FIG. 1). Another advantage of the present invention is that there is no need to add special hardware for such processing.

Furthermore, compared to the case where the items written in the heading area are encoded as search keys and input into the apparatus, the manual work is significantly simplified. Further, the amount of information can be made sufficient. This is also one of the advantages of the device of the invention.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the image information processing device of the present invention, when image information is manually processed, the search can be performed without the complicated work of creating key data for search or using key data manually. You can enter information available in parallel.

Then, by displaying the information as it is or by appropriately selecting it on the display device, it is possible to efficiently search for the necessary information in the document.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image information processing device of the present invention; FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams illustrating a manual method for image information of each page and heading area of a document;
Figures 4 to 6 are illustrations of how to change the shape and position of the heading area, Figures 7 to 9 are illustrations of how to display the heading page and select the heading area, and Figures 10 and 9 are illustrations of how to display the heading page and select the heading area. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a document search method of a general image information processing device. 12...First storage unit, 122...Second storage unit, 16...Signal processing unit, 18...Display device, 27... ... Heading area, 26o, 26o, ~26. ．．・・・・・・Heading page. Applicant: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Agent

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first storage unit that stores image information consisting of a plurality of pages, each of which is converted into an image signal in pixel units; When a specific area useful for searching is defined as a heading area, a second storage unit extracts this heading area and creates and stores a heading page in which a plurality of the heading areas are set;
a signal processing unit that reads a designated specific page of image information stored in the storage unit or the second storage unit;
An image information processing device comprising: a display device that displays the specific page read by the signal processing section. 2. The image information is a collection of two or more documents consisting of a plurality of pages, and a heading page is created for each document and stored in the second storage unit. The image information processing device according to item 1. 3. When displaying the heading page on a display device,
Claim 1 or 2, wherein the signal processing unit selectively reads out a designated heading area from the heading page to create a new heading page and display it on a display device. Image information processing device described in Section 2.