JPS62229485A - Reservation inquiring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly perform the confirming work by arranging and displaying the character string image obtained from an image sensor, the character string image obtained by reverse conversion of a read character code string, and the character string image obtained by reverse conversion of an extracted character code string so that the position where they do not coincide with one another is cleared. CONSTITUTION:The character string entered on a reservation slip is picked up photoelectrically by the image sensor, and the picked-up character string image is converted to a character code string. A character code string which coincides with or is similarest to the converted character code string is extracted from reserved information, and the character string image obtained from the image sensor, the character string image obtained by reverse conversion of the read character code string, and the character string image by reverse conversion of the extracted character code string are arranged and displayed on a CRT screen or the like so that the position where they do not coincide with one another is cleared. Thus, reservation contents are quickly inquired without depending upon the key operation or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to a reservation inquiry device suitable for boarding pass issuance work at an airport.

(Summary of the Invention) In this invention, a character string written on a reservation slip (for example, an airline ticket) is photoelectrically imaged using an image sensor, and the image of the marked character string is converted into a character code string. A character code string that is the same as or most similar to the character code string that has been read is extracted from the reserved information, and a character string image obtained from the image sensor, a character string image that is inversely converted from the interpreted character code string, and the extracted character code string are extracted. Three character string images that are inversely converted from a character code string that has been converted are displayed side by side on a CRT screen or the like in such a way that points of disagreement with each other are clearly shown.

(Prior Art and its Problems) As is well known, airline passengers usually board their desired aircraft after exchanging the airline ticket they obtained at an airline agent for a boarding pass at the boarding counter at the airport. is.

By the way, some airline tickets have the flight number, two destinations, reservation number, phone number, two names, etc. handwritten by airline agent staff, and conventionally, at the boarding counter at the airport, these items are written by the staff at the airport boarding counter. After visually checking the boarding pass, the boarding pass was issued by manually keying it into a terminal installed at the counter, which took time to confirm, resulting in congestion at the boarding counter.

(Objective of the Invention) The object of the invention is to:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reservation inquiry device which can quickly do this without relying on visual inspection or key operation by an attendant.

(Structure and Effects of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image sensor that photoelectrically recognizes a character string written on a reservation slip, and a character string image that is converted into a character code string. Character reading means for converting, character extraction means for extracting from reserved information a character code string that is the same as or most similar to the read character code string, a character string image obtained from an image sensor, and a character code string that is read. and image display means for displaying a character string image inversely converted from the character string and a character string image inversely converted from the extracted character code string side by side in a manner that clearly indicates the mismatch between them. It is characterized by

According to this configuration, when inquiring about the contents of a reservation in advance, such as when issuing a boarding pass at a boarding counter at an airport, this can be done quickly without relying on the staff's visual inspection or key operation. A reservation inquiry device can be provided.

(Description of Embodiments) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical hardware configuration of a reservation inquiry device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The control unit of this device includes CPU1. RAM2. It consists of a microcomputer with ROM 3 as its main component, and its system bus includes an operation section 4, such as a numeric keypad. A CRT 5 and a CCD image sensor 6 are connected respectively.

This reservation introduction device is, for example, a terminal installed at a boarding counter at an airport, and is connected to a host computer via a modem 7.

In the figure, 8 is a light source for illumination, and 9 is an airline ticket.

Next, FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing the configuration of a system program for controlling this apparatus, and the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be systematically explained below according to this flowchart.

In the aircraft boarding system to which this embodiment device is applied, first, when a customer goes to an airline agent, the agent's staff contacts the airline by phone, makes a seat reservation, and uses the reserved flight number 1. After handwriting the destination, reservation number, telephone number, name, etc. on the airline ticket, it is handed to the passenger. On the passenger's side, on the day of the flight, they go to the boarding counter at the airport and hand over the above-mentioned ticket to the airline staff.

Upon receiving the ticket, the staff member inserts the ticket into the reservation inquiry device according to this embodiment, automatically inquires about the reservation details, and, on the condition that this is confirmed, responds to the passenger using known operations. It issues boarding passes.

This embodiment is used to inquire about the reservation status at the boarding counter at the airport in the above series of processes.

In FIG. 2A, when the program is star 1~,
Waiting for airline ticket insertion (step 201)
.

In this state, when the airport counter staff inserts the airline ticket received from the passenger into the device (step 201
1), the CCD image sensor 6 is driven, and the flight number is written on the ticket.

A character string image representing the destination, reservation number, telephone number, etc. is @shadowed (step 202), and the @shaded image data is displayed on the CRT screen 5a as shown in FIG. The data is stored in a predetermined area within RAM1 (step 204).

When the display and storage of the character string image is completed in this way, character interpretation is performed on the first character image of the character string image using the known pattern ml method (step 205).

If any of the characters in the character image can be read (Yes at Step 206), the character code corresponding to the read character is stored (Step 207>
If the character image is not legible (No in step 206), an unreadable code is stored for the character image (step 208).

The above steps are repeated until the reading of all character images is completed (No in step 209).

When character interpretation is completed for all character images (step 209), the obtained character code string is sent to the host computer via the modem 7 (step 210).
).

On the other hand, the host computer side extracts a character code string that is the same as or most similar to the received character code string from the reservation information (step 301), as surrounded by a broken line in the figure, and uses this at the boarding counter. (step 302).

Then, on the terminal side, after receiving the data from the host (step 211), as shown in FIG.
A character string image as read by the COD image sensor, a character string image reversely converted from the read character code string, and a character string image reversely converted from the extracted character code string are collectively displayed on a CRT. It is displayed on the screen 5a (step 212).

When the three types of character string images are displayed in this way, the interpreted character code and the extracted character code are compared in order starting from the first character composing the character string image (step 213>). If they match (Yes at Step 214), the display mode does not change, whereas if they do not match (No at Step 214), an error display 10 is displayed for the legible character image of the part related to the mismatch. In this embodiment, this error display 10 is performed by changing the color of the displayed characters (step 215).

The above is performed for all character images, and when the above processing is completed for all characters (Yes at step 216), a confirmation process is performed by the staff member (step 217).
).

In this confirmation process, the character image with the error display 10 is visually compared with the character string image as read by the COD image sensor 6 and the character string image from the host data to confirm whether it is a so-called OCR reading error. Or, when registering the reservation in the host computer, it is determined whether there was a manual key error by the staff member, and based on the result of the determination, the characters related to the error display are corrected according to the command input by the staff member from the keyboard of the operation unit 4.

Thereafter, a boarding pass is issued as described above based on the corrected character string image, but this process is well known to those skilled in the art and will therefore be omitted.

As is clear from the above, according to this embodiment, reservation details can be exchanged with the host computer by simply inserting the airline ticket handed by the passenger into this device, without any special manual key operations. Inquiries can be made, speeding up airport boarding counter procedures.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the character string image as read, the character string image deciphered, and the character string image from the host data are displayed all at once in three rows above and below on the CRT screen 5a. Furthermore, an error display 10 is displayed for any portions of the interpreted character string image that do not match the character string image from the host data.
By comparing the characters associated with this error display 10 with the character string image as read or with the character string image from the host data, highly reliable reservation inquiries can be performed.

In other words, by comparing the characters related to the error display 10 with the character image as read, it is possible to easily identify misreading due to deformation of handwritten characters, etc. By comparing the image with the character string image from , it is possible to easily determine that the registration error was made by an airline staff member.

In the embodiment, the device of the present invention is used for checking boarding reservations at a boarding counter at an airport, but it goes without saying that the device of the present invention can also be used for various other reservation inquiries.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical hardware configuration of the reservation inquiry device according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing the software configuration, and FIG. 3 is an example of display on a CRT screen. FIG. 1...CPU 2...RAM 3...ROM 4...Operation unit 5...CRT 5a...CRT screen 6... ...COD image sensor 7 ...Modem 8 ...Light source 9 ...Airline ticket 10 ...Error display

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An image sensor that photoelectrically photographs the character string written on the reservation form, a character reading means that converts the photographed character string image into a character code string, and an image sensor that is the same as or most similar to the read character code string. a character extraction means for extracting a character code string from reserved information; a character string image obtained from an image sensor; 1. A reservation inquiry device comprising: image display means for displaying three converted character string images side by side in such a way that mismatched parts are clearly shown.