JPS6321196A - Mechanically readable business card and business-card information inputting method using said business card - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides machine-readable codes that are easy to read by machines written on the back of business cards, and the machine-readable codes that are easy to read are written on the back side of business cards. The present invention relates to a method for automatically reading a business card having an identification mark attached thereto or a machine readable code marked at a specific position for this purpose, and a business card with the identification mark used in the method.

[Prior art]

Business cards are used in Japan as a ``replacement for greetings,'' and are used extensively in both public and private settings. - Business cards are indispensable for enriching and smoothing human relationships, as it is often possible to conclude a big business deal or make a close friend just by using a business card.

However, because we use business cards so much, we are unable to keep up with them and end up leaving them in the corner of a drawer or in a box. To this end, album-style business card organizers and organizer boxes with partitions with headings have been commercially available, and the current situation is that business cards are manually organized using these in alphabetical order.

However, this method of organizing business cards requires a lot of manpower to organize them, and organizing them by name is useless when you forget a name. It was completely useless when looking for business cards, such as a list of sales manager names.

Therefore, in recent years, ideas have been developed to manually distinguish business card information such as the company name and name, enter them into a computer, store them as business card information, and retrieve them from a terminal when necessary.

However, this method is time-consuming and error-prone because each business card entry item is entered manually, with the company name entered as the company name and the full name entered as the full name. , company names, etc. are often difficult to read, or the same character can be read in different ways, leading to many problems such as omissions during searches and unrelated business cards being output.

[Problems to be solved]

In the present invention, a machine automatically reads business card information such as the company name and name written on the business card in the correct reading method, and at the same time, it is possible to distinguish whether what is read is the company name or the name. The problem to be solved is to develop such business cards and to devise an automatic business card reading/input method using such business cards.

[Means to solve]

In order to solve the above problems, as a business card, 1) the company name and full name are printed on the surface using kanji, kana, numbers, etc. using commonly used printing ink, just like conventional business cards;
On the back side, all or part of the business card details printed on the front side, such as the company name and name, are printed in machine-readable codes or characters.
In place of numerical symbols, etc., there will be a notice in advance indicating what the machine-readable codes are about, on the periphery of the business card mount near the machine-readable codes, or directly above, directly below, directly to the left, or directly to the right of the machine-readable codes. A business card with a designated identification mark.

2) Supply the back side of the business card in 1) above to the light irradiation surface of the optical reading device, read the light reception mark and machine readable code with the reflected light, and convert this information into electrical signals and optical signals. A business card information input method in which each business card information is stored separately, such as the company name as the company name and the full name as the full name, by inputting the information into a computer.

was developed.

In the present invention, the following terms are defined and used as follows.

"Machine-readable code" refers to any one of letters, numbers, codes, symbols, patterns, or any combination of these that can be easily read by an optical device, and includes business card information (name, company name, etc.) , alphabetical characters, katakana and hiragana characters, numbers, computer codes (ASCII code and JIS computer code), codes such as /(- codes, arrows, punctuation marks, 〒,
Includes symbols and patterns such as ■, ○, △, mouth, ◇, etc.

"Identification mark" means one of the basic constituent letters, numbers, codes, symbols, figures, marks, and patterns of any language, or a combination of any of these.
Predetermined marks to indicate what each business card entry is about.

"Optical devices" are devices that can recognize characters, numbers, codes, figures, symbols, marks, and patterns using light beams and convert them into signals, such as optical character reading devices called OCR, image scanners, Includes facsimiles, electronic copying machines, etc.

"Camouflage printing" is printing on a pattern or the entire surface of a business card mount with a machine-readable code or identification mark using drop-out color ink that can be recognized by the human eye but not by optical devices. This adds to the beauty of the business card.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of a machine-readable business card, which is the first invention of the present application, will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows a machine-readable business card (1) according to the first invention of the present application.
), and Figure 2 shows the back side.

As is clear from FIG. 1, the machine-readable code-equipped business card (1) of the first invention of the present application includes the company name (2), the affiliation (
3), position (4), name (5), postal code (6), and company location are changed on the back of the card, as shown in Figure 2, all or part of the business card details such as company name and name are changed. The part is displayed in a code that is easy to read by machine, and an identification mark is attached near the code to indicate what the code is about. Namely, the company name code (9), which shows the company name in Roman letters, the affiliation code (00), which shows the affiliation in Roman letters, the position code αD, which shows the position in Roman letters, and the name code (121, postal code), which shows the name in Roman letters. The postal code α■ represents the company address in numeric characters, the company address code α 滲 represents the company location in Roman letters, and the telephone number code αQ represents the telephone number in numeric characters. Affiliation identification mark (1
1. Position identification mark 08. Name identification mark (19), postal code identification mark (20), company location identification mark Cυ, telephone number identification mark (2z) are attached.

Next, another embodiment of the first invention of the present application will be described with reference to FIG. The surface of the business card in this example is the same as the previous example (there is no difference from a conventional business card, so illustrations and explanations will be omitted).

Figure 6 shows the back of the business card, and the company name, name, etc. written on the front of the business card is written in a predetermined position on the back of the card using a machine-readable code of a predetermined size, such as a computer code, such as ASCII code. All or part of the information on the business card is written. In other words, the first line on the back of the business card has the company name code C)3), and the second line has the affiliation code 1.
2 (1), the third line is the position code (c), the fourth line is the name code ■, the fifth line is the postal code code, the sixth line is the company address code (c), and the seventh line is the phone number. A machine-readable code written on each business card is written in a predetermined position (number of lines) such as code 09). Of course, each code includes, in addition to the above, home address code, home phone number code,
You can decide in advance where to write the necessary codes such as the head office address code, head office telephone number code, affiliated organization code, occupation code, etc., and write the code in the relevant position. It is also possible to provide a blank line between codes (to), etc., so that multiple job types can be entered.

The embodiments of the first invention of the present application have been described above, but the machine-readable codes used in the invention include not only computer codes but also barcodes, alphabets, katakana, flat names,
Numbers, symbols, figures, etc. may be used, and identification marks may also be used.
Alphabetic characters, katakana, flat names, numbers, symbols, figures, bar codes, computer codes, etc. are used.

However, in order to avoid confusion between the machine-readable code and the identification mark, it is necessary to use different types of code, or if they are the same, to change the font and size of the font, and to separate the marking positions in advance.

In addition, the identification marks used are common to all business cards, such as ``A'' for the company name and ``2'' for the name. It is necessary to decide in advance where to write the machine-readable code, and write it in a common position on each business card.

It goes without saying that the machine-readable code and the identification mark do not need to be written in a large size over the entire back surface of the business card mount, and may be written on any part of the business card mount.

Next, the second invention of the present application will be explained using FIG. 4.
In Fig. 4, business cards (1) with machine-readable codes are stacked and stored in the feed box (51) with the back side (the same goes for the side on which the machine-readable code is written) facing upward and in the same direction. There is. And the business card (1)
are sequentially transferred one by one by the feeder (52) to the transfer device (5).
3), and is transported to the irradiation position, that is, the reading position, of the light ray irradiated from the light source (61) of the optical device (6o) via the condenser lens (62) and the reflecting mirror (63). At this time, the direction of transport of the business card (1) is the machine readable code (9) ~ ■
Or, it is easier to read if it is transported perpendicular to the written direction of (23) to (2). The business card (1) that has come to the reading position may be moved intermittently so that the card (1) is stopped at - time and when one line is read, the next line comes to the reading position, or the card (1) may be moved at a speed that matches the reading speed of the optical device. It may also be transferred by

In this way, identification marks (16) to (22) and machine readable codes (9) to (
151 or (23) to I29) is absorbed by the ink at that part and is not reflected, but these identification marks (10 to 122 and machine readable codes (9) to
(15) Since the area where the ``or'' is not marked is blank, it is reflected, and the reflected light reaches the light receiving element (64). The light-receiving element (64) in the part that receives the reflected light is excited, but
The parts that do not receive the reflected light are not excited, so this becomes an on-off signal, the code is recognized, and if it is a computer code, it is immediately input into the computer (65), and it is converted into alphabetic characters, kana characters,
If it is a number, a bar code, etc., it is compared with characters stored in advance in the computer to recognize what kind of character it is. Then, the identification mark distinguishes whether it is a company name or a full name, etc., and the information is input and stored.

In addition, for items without identification marks, the company name is automatically determined based on the position where it is written, and what the read characters and codes are about.
The name is entered and stored as a full name.

In this way, the business card information inputted into the computer by distinguishing each business card entry can be searched for necessary information at any time from a terminal connected to the computer, and a list can be created for each viewpoint.

Although the embodiment of the second invention has been described above, for reading identification marks and machine-readable codes, an image scanner, facsimile, electronic copying machine, etc. can be used in addition to the optical reading device.
This can also be done by reading it as image information using a machine or the like, converting it into a signal, transmitting this signal, and then recognizing and storing it in a computer.

In this way, according to the method of the present invention, business cards are optically and automatically read one after another, and the company name is entered as the company name, the name is entered as the name, etc., and the correct pronunciation is also entered and stored. Both input and search can be done quickly and accurately.

Although the embodiments have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention can be modified in various ways. For example, identification marks or machine-readable codes may be marked with ink that is absorbed by visible light; Inks and paints that reflect but absorb infrared and ultraviolet rays, such as rutile and zinc white, as well as benzophenone compounds and products such as Nippon Kayaku's IR-750, IRQ-002, and IRQ.
It may also be marked with a substance such as -003. Although such cards are not visually noticeable, they can be recognized optically, so they look no different from ordinary business cards, but when read with an optical reader, information on each business card is automatically recognized. Machine-readable codes and identification marks can be distinguished and read.

Furthermore, camouflage printing may be done on the entire surface, but it is also possible to print your favorite characters such as ships, animals, flowers, landscapes, illustrations, and popular characters on stations and stations to cover identification marks and machine-readable codes. .

〔effect〕

According to the first invention of the present application, the information to be written such as the company name and name is stamped on the back of the business card using a machine-readable code, so it is easy to machine-read, and there are no reading errors or input errors. Since each machine-readable code has a predetermined identification mark attached to it or is written in a predetermined position, the machine can automatically determine what the machine-readable code is about. Each business card entry can be read and entered into a computer separately, such as a name as a name and a company name as a company name.

On the other hand, according to the second invention of the present application, there is no need for any human intervention; simply place the back side of the business card of the first invention in the same direction as the machine-readable code and place it in a feeder box, or send it to a fax or electronic copying machine. It is possible to automatically read business card information by distinguishing each business card information such as company name as company name and name as full name, and input and store it in a computer. Therefore, if you connect a terminal to this computer, you can obtain the necessary business card information from any location at any time, and you can also obtain a list of business card information from various perspectives, such as a list of people working at Company A, and a list of each company's sales staff. A list of section manager names, a list of company names in prefecture B, etc. can be created instantly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows the front side of a business card with a machine-readable code according to the first invention of the present application, and FIG. 2 shows the back side thereof. FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the business card with a machine-readable code according to the first invention of the present application, and shows the side on which the machine-readable code is marked (the back side of the business card). FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the second invention of the present application. 1.1'...Business card with machine-readable code 2-8-...Business card information 9-15, 23-29...Machine-readable code 16-
22...Identification mark 51...Feed box 52...Feeder 53...Transfer device 60...Optical device 61...Light source 64...Light receiving element 65...Computer 66...Terminal

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) On one side of the business card mount, business card information such as the company name and name is marked in visible ink using kanji, kana characters, numbers, etc., similar to conventional business cards. On the other side of the mount, mark the business card information written on one side with a machine-readable code, and place them near the machine-readable code, or around the business card mount directly above, directly below, to the left, or to the right of the machine-readable code. 1. A business card with a machine-readable code, characterized in that an identification mark indicating what the machine-readable code is about is attached, or the machine-readable code is marked at a predetermined position on the back of the business card. 2) A business card with a machine-readable code according to claim 1, wherein both or one of the machine-readable code and the identification mark is expressed by a means that is difficult to see but can be recognized by an optical device. 3) A business card with a machine-readable code according to claim 1 or 2, wherein camouflage printing is applied to the surface on which the machine-readable code or identification mark is printed. 4) A business card with a machine-readable code according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which camouflage printing is performed in a pattern. 5) On one side of the business card mount, business card details such as the company name and full name are printed in visible ink in the same way as ordinary business cards, such as the company name and full name displayed in kanji, kana, numbers, Roman letters, etc., and on the other side. A machine-readable code representing all or part of the business card details is marked at a predetermined position, or in the case of a machine-readable code, or in the vicinity of, or directly above, directly below, directly to the left of, or at any position. A business card with a machine-readable code with an identification mark on the right side is supplied with light from a light source of an optical device so as to be irradiated on the side with the code, and the reflected light is received by a light-receiving element or an image sensor. Depending on the presence or absence of reflected light, the machine-readable code and the identification mark or its written position are read and converted into signals, and the information on each business card is inputted into the computer, distinguishing between the company name as the company name and the name as the name. A method for entering and storing business card information.