JPS626387A - Optical character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the form reading speed by dividing a form feed mechanism into three blocks to which independent drive sources are provided and controlling the feed speed of each block based on the information obtained by a sensor which detects the presence or absence of a form. CONSTITUTION:A form 1-1 is carried by the 1st feed part 2 and the characters written on the form 1-1 are read. When the tip of the form 1-1 is detected by a sensor 9, the 1st and 2nd feed parts 2 and 3 are synchronous with each other to carry the form 1-1. When a sensor 10 detects the tip of the form 1-1, the 1st-3rd feed parts 2, 3 and 4 are synchronous with each other for feed of the form 1-1. When the rear end of the form 1-1 passes through the sensor 9, both parts 3 and 4 are driven at a high speed to eject the read form 1-1 to a stacker 12. Then the speed of the part 3 is set at the speed of the part 2 when the rear end of the form 1-1 which is under ejection passes through the sensor 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an optical character reading device, and more particularly to a form conveyance mechanism of an optical character reading device.

(Prior art) The form conveyance mechanism in the conventional optical character reading device is
As shown in the figure. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a form on which characters to be read are written, 42 and 43 a first conveyance unit and a second conveyance unit for conveying the form 41, and 44 optically reads the characters written on the form 41. Optical sensor for, 45,4
Reference numerals 6 denote a first sensor and a second sensor which are provided at the rear stage (downstream side) of the first conveyance unit 42 and the second conveyance unit 43 to detect the presence or absence of a form 41, and 47 represents a form that has been discharged after reading has been completed. This is a stacker that receives 41. First conveyance section 42
transports the form 41 for character reading by an optical sensor 44 provided above, and the second transport section 43 transports and discharges the form 41 with the characters read.

In the form transport mechanism with such a configuration, when the form 41 whose characters are being read is on the first transport section 42, that is, before it reaches the first sensor 45, the transport speed of the second transport section 43 can be set freely. However, when the first sensor 45 detects that the form 41 is transferred to the second conveyance section 43, the first conveyance section 4
2 and the second conveyance section 43 are synchronized and driven at the same speed. When the reading of the characters on the form 41 is completed, the first conveying section 42 and the second conveying section 43 are driven at high speed to discharge the form 41 to the stacker 47. Form 41 after character reading
At the point when the document 41 leaves the second conveyance section 43, that is, the rear end of the document 41 passes the first sensor 45, the first conveyance section 42 conveys the next document at the original conveyance speed and starts reading it. do.

The fourth point is a diagram illustrating how documents are continuously fed and read by an optical character reading device having the transport mechanism configured as described above. In this figure, the same elements as in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals.

Note that 41-1 and 41-2 are forms.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional conveyance mechanism having the above configuration, as shown in FIG. . . are continuously fed and read, the second conveying section 43 is driven at high speed in order to smoothly discharge the read forms 41-1 to the stacker 47. Therefore, at this time, the driving speeds of the first conveyance section 42 and the second conveyance section 43 are different, and when the leading edge of the form 41-2 being read reaches the detection point of the first sensor 45, the reading position is temporarily stopped. It is necessary to stop and wait until the rear end of the read form 41-1 passes the detection point of the second sensor 46, which causes a problem in that the reading speed decreases.

As described above, in the present invention, when documents are continuously fed, reading of the next document must be temporarily stopped in order to eject the scanned document, and as a result, the reading speed is reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide an excellent optical character reading device that has a high reading speed and solves the problem of the prior art that reading speed is reduced.

(Means for Solving the Problems) An optical character reading device according to the present invention includes a form transporting device including first, second, and third transporting blocks, first and second sensors, and a control unit. It is configured with a mechanism.

The first, second, and third conveyance blocks each have a form conveyance section and a drive source for driving the conveyance section, and are arranged along the form conveyance direction. The first sensor is provided between the first transport block and the second transport block, the second sensor is provided between the second transport block and the third transport block, and both sensors detect the presence or absence of a form. Detection is performed.

The control unit controls the transport speed of each transport block via each drive source as follows based on the detection results of the first and second sensors.

When the leading edge of the form comes between the first transport block and the second transport block, K drives the second transport block at the same transport speed as the first transport block.
- When the leading edge of the form comes between the second transport block and the i-th transport block, the third transport block is driven at the same transport speed as the first and second transport blocks.

When the trailing edge of the form leaves the first transport block,
The second and third transport blocks are driven at a faster transport speed than the first transport block.

(Operation) The form fed to the character reading station is transported by the first transport block at a predetermined speed suitable for reading by the optical sensor. When the leading edge of the form approaches the second transport block, that is, when it comes to the detection point of the first sensor, the first sensor detects this, and based on this, the control unit controls the drive source of the second transport block. The second transport block is driven at the same transport speed as the first transport block. This drive transports the form toward the third transport block. When the leading edge of the form approaches the third transport block, that is, when it reaches the detection point of the second sensor, the second sensor detects this, and the control unit controls the drive source of the third transport block. , the first, second and third transport blocks are driven at the same transport speed. On the other hand, when the rear end of the form leaves the first transport block, that is, when it passes the detection point of the first sensor, the first sensor detects this, and the second and third transport blocks are controlled by the control unit. The transport block is transported at a transport speed faster than the first transport block. Therefore, when documents are continuously fed and read, the stop time for reading can be significantly reduced or eliminated, and the problems of the prior art described above can be solved.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the present invention. The form transport mechanism in the optical character reading device of this embodiment is form 1 (1-
1, 1-2, . . . ). Each transport section 2.3.4 has an independent drive source 5', 6, 7, respectively. The optical sensor 8 is used to also read the characters on the form 1 conveyed on the first conveyance section 2, and is composed of a photoelectric conversion element. Sensors 9, 10, 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a transmission type sensor that is provided downstream of each conveyance unit 2, 3.4 and detects the presence or absence of a form 1. The stacker 12 accommodates the ejected forms 1.

The fed form 1-1 is transported by the first transport section 2 at a predetermined speed necessary for the optical sensor 8 to read the characters. When the leading edge of the form 1-1 approaches the second conveyance section 3 and is detected by the sensor 9, the first conveyance section 2 and the second conveyance section 3 synchronize and convey the form 1-1 at the same speed. do. Next, when the leading edge of the form 1-1 is detected by the sensor IOK, the first to third transport parts 2, 3.4 synchronize at the same speed and transfer the form 1-1 to the third conveyance section 4. Transport 1. When the reading of characters in the first conveyance section 2 is completed and the rear end of the form 1-1 passes the sensor 9, the second conveyance section 3 and the third conveyance section 4 are driven at high speed, and the read form 1-1 is driven at high speed. 1 to the stacker 12. Here, when the second conveyance section 3 and the third conveyance section 4 are driven at high speed, the form 1-. The next form 1-2 after 1 is conveyed at a predetermined speed by the first conveying section 2 and read. However, when the rear end of the form 1-1 being discharged passes the detection point of the sensor 10 By matching the speed of the second conveyance section 3 with the first conveyance section 2, the speed of the second conveyance section 3 is adjusted to the speed of the first conveyance section 2.
(7) It becomes possible to read the next form 1-2 without waiting for the trailing edge to pass the detection point of the sensor 11.

Therefore, the time required to stop reading the form 1-2 can be significantly reduced or eliminated. Note that the sensor 11 detects the ejection of the completed form to the stacker 12, and
For example, when a jam occurs, an alarm (not shown)
shall be notified.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit for controlling the form conveyance mechanism shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, 21 is a character recognition control section, 22 is a main control section, 23, 24, 25 are sensors, 26, 27, 28 are drive source control sections, 4, 30
, 31 is a driving source. The main control section n controls the entire document transport mechanism. Sensors 23, 24, and 25 correspond to sensors 9, 10, and 11 in FIG. 1, respectively, and detect the presence or absence of a form, and transmit the detection results to the main control unit B. An independent drive source corresponding to the drive source drives the first to third transport sections 2 to 4 (FIG. 1). Drive source control units 23 , 24 , 25
' are the driving source Ko, 30, . 31, the control is performed based on instructions from the main control section n.

(Effect of the invention) As explained in detail above, according to the present invention.

The form transport mechanism for one form transport path is divided into three blocks, each block has an independent drive source, and the transport speed of each block is determined based on sensor information that detects the presence or absence of forms. Since this control is adopted, even when a plurality of forms are read in succession, it is possible to significantly reduce or eliminate the stop time for reading the forms following the ejected form. Therefore, there is an advantage that the reading speed of the form can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a form transport mechanism in an optical character reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit that controls the form transport mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional optical character reading device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a form conveyance mechanism in the character reading device, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the device of FIG. 3 continuously reads a form. 1 (1-1, 1-2)...Form, 2...First conveyance section, 3...Second conveyance section, 4...Third conveyance section, 5,6.
7... Drive source, 8... Optical sensor, 9, 10.11
...Sensor, 22...Main control section, O, 24.25.
...Sensor, 26, 27, 28... Drive source control section, 29, 30, 31... Drive source.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] First, second and third transport blocks each having a form transporting section and a drive source for driving the transporting section, and arranged along the form transporting direction; between the transport block and the second transport block and between the second transport block and the second transport block.
first and second sensors are provided between the transport block and the third transport block to detect the presence or absence of a form, and each transport is carried out via each drive source based on the detection results of the first and second sensors. An optical character reading device comprising a form conveyance mechanism having a control unit that controls the conveyance speed of the block, and reads characters on the form with an optical sensor while the form is being conveyed in a first conveyance block, When the leading edge of the form is between the first transport block and the second transport block, the second transport block is driven at the same transport speed as the first transport block, and the leading edge of the form is moved between the first transport block and the second transport block. When the trailing edge of the form leaves the first transport block, the third transport block is driven at the same transport speed as the first and second transport blocks, and when the trailing edge of the form leaves the first transport block,
An optical character reading device characterized in that the second and third conveyance blocks are driven at a faster conveyance speed than the first conveyance block.