JPS6336654A - Read controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately read mark information on an optical mark read sheet by discriminating the kind of sheet carried from an automatic carrier mechanism and controlling the carrying speed in response to the kind of sheet. CONSTITUTION:A reader interface section 21 is provided with an identification means 11 and a control means 12. Then a document sheet and an optical mark read sheet are carried automatically from an automatic carrier mechanism 2 to a reader section 1. The reader section 1 reads the carried document sheet and the optical mark read sheet optically. The identification means 11 identifies whether the carried sheet is a document sheet or an optical mark read sheet. As a result, when it is identified to be an optical mark read sheet, the control means 12 controls the carrying speed of the optical mark read sheet carried from the mechanism 2 variably. Thus, the mark information on the optical mark read sheet is read accurately.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a reading control device for optical marks printed to add read information on a document sheet registered in an electronic filing system.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of electronic filing system,
It is configured such that a large amount of information is registered on a recording medium such as an optical disk, and the registered information, such as a document or image, can be read out at any time by inputting the readout information (keyword) added at the time of registration. .

In this case, the information to be registered (sheet-like or book-like) is optically read by an image league (optical scanner) and binarized, and then the operator inputs keywords from an input means such as a keyboard. Create a type for each information to be registered and a keyword file for the document file to be registered in advance, read the document file from the image reader, and when the reading is completed, the operator can read the keyword file and document file described above. There was a type that worked to link the relationship with.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Therefore, in the former case, when registering multiple documents, the operator must perform a key operation to add a keyword to each document.
There was a problem in that the recording efficiency was significantly reduced. Also,
Regarding the latter, you can input multiple documents at once, but
After the input, the operator must link the keywords for each document, and there is a problem in that the time required to register the document in electronic filing is considerably longer than the time required to retrieve the document. In order to improve these problems, a system has been proposed in which a document file is input at the same time as a keyword is input using a reading means such as an optical mark league or an optical card league. This creates new problems, such as the need for a reading device and special paper, which significantly increases the total cost.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by determining the sheet type of the sheet automatically conveyed from an automatic conveyance mechanism and varying the conveyance speed according to the sheet type, optical markings can be made. An object of the present invention is to obtain a reading control device that can accurately read mark information on a reading sheet.

[Means for solving problems]

The reading control device according to the present invention includes a sheet identifying means for identifying the type of sheet conveyed at the time of conveying the sheet from an automatic conveying mechanism, and a sheet identifying means that identifies the sheet type as an optical mark reading sheet. , a control means for variably controlling the conveyance speed of the optical mark reading sheet conveyed from the automatic conveyance mechanism.

[Made by m]

In this invention, when the sheet identification means determines that the sheet type conveyed from the automatic conveyance mechanism is an optical mark reading sheet, the control means varies the conveyance speed of the optical mark reading sheet conveyed from the automatic conveyance mechanism. Control.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating the configuration of an electronic file device showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which numeral 1 denotes a league portion which also serves as a reading means of the present invention, and an automatic document feeder (ADF) 2.
Based on identification means 11 (described later) and identification information outputted from the identification means 11 (sheet identification means), the document sheet or the optical mark reading sheet to be described later is optically read and the document sheet conveyed by It has a control means 12 (described later) that controls the scanning speed of an optical scanning section (described later) or the document conveyance speed of the automatic document feeder 2. Note that the identification means 11 and the control means 12 are provided in a reader interface section 21, which will be described later. The control means 12 is a control means, mode setting means, reading mode setting means, address correction means, comparison means 2 judgment means of the present invention.

It also serves as a means of comparing mark information. Reference numeral 3 denotes a printer section, which is composed of, for example, a laser beam printer. Reference numeral 4 denotes a paper feed section that outputs a sheet-shaped recording medium to an image forming section inside the printer. Reference numeral 5 denotes a workstation section which also serves as an editing means of the present invention, and includes an image registration section 5a that accommodates an optical recording medium constituted by an optical disk, a keyboard 5b for inputting operation commands, and a pointing device 5.
c, a bitmap display 5d for displaying a document image read from the league section 1 as a rask image, and the like, and is connected to the printer section 3 and the reader section 1 through a communication line 6.7. Note that the workstation section 5 includes each section 58 to 5d and a printer section 3. It has a control unit (CPU) that comprehensively controls the league club 1 and the like.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the structure of the reader section 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

In this figure, 7a is a light source, and the document sheet or optical mark reading sheet (hereinafter referred to as OMR
(referred to as a sheet) is irradiated with light. A reading sensor 1b receives reflected light from the light source 1a. 1c and ld are scanning mirrors, and the reflected light is passed through an optical lens 1e to a CC, for example.
Optical information is imaged on an image sensor (line sensor) 1f constituted by D. Reference numeral 1g denotes an image processing unit that also serves as the image processing means of the present invention, which performs predetermined processing, such as halftone processing (
dither processing), binarization processing (slice level described later)
e2a, which transfers the information to the workstation section 5 via the league interface 21, is a document tray on which document sheets (indicated by broken lines) and OMR sheets (indicated by solid lines) are loaded, starting from the bottom sheet. , are automatically transported one after another. Note that the ADF 2 is configured to automatically transport the sheet to the document table, and the optically scanned sheet is automatically ejected. Further, the reading sensor 7b and the light source 1a constitute an optical scanning section, and this optical scanning section moves in the direction of the arrow to read the sheet placed on the platen.

FIG. 3(a) is a sectional view of a laser beam printer showing an example of the printer unit 3 shown in FIG. 1, and parts that perform the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this figure, 3a is a laser unit that modulates the semiconductor laser on/off based on image information sent from the printer interface unit 22. 3b is a scanning mirror, which is a polygon mirror (
The photosensitive drum 3C is irradiated with a laser beam LB deflected by a laser beam (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image. 3d is a developing device that converts the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 3C into a developer (
toner) to visualize it. Reference numeral 3e denotes a transfer charger that transfers a toner image onto the recording paper fed from the paper feed section 4. 3f is a conveyor belt that conveys the recording paper on which transfer has been completed in the direction of the dotted arrow. A fixing roller 3g fixes the toner image transferred to the recording paper onto the recording paper and discharges the paper to a paper discharge tray.

3h is a diagonal conveyance detector which is a detector of this invention; 1. The recording paper fed from the paper feeding unit 4 is irradiated with light, the reflected light is received, the skewed state of the recording paper is determined, and the skewed state 7j3 is transferred to the printer interface unit 22 (print control means). . As a result, the image information transferred to the printer interface unit 22 is conveyed vertically and
The address of the image information is normalized so that it is printed in the row for a. A line sensor 31 transfers light reflected from the toner image transferred to the recording paper, that is, print information, to the printer interface unit 22. As a result, the printer interface unit 22 compares (verifies) whether the manually inputted image information and printed information match, and if the two are significantly different, issues an instruction to output the image information again. Note that it is not necessary to provide both the skew conveyance detector 3h and the line sensor 31, but only one of them can be provided.

The reading sensor 1b provided in the league section 1 can accurately output the editing information created by the workstation section 5 or the image information read by the league section 1 onto the conveyed recording paper.
can correctly determine the management information of document sheets.

FIG. 3(b) is a cross-sectional view showing a case where the printer section 3 shown in FIG. 1 is configured with a four-drum color laser beam printer. The same reference numerals are given.

Note that this color laser beam printer is configured to be able to form a multicolor image by transferring each color toner of cyan (CC), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) onto the conveyed recording paper. has been done.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram illustrating the control configuration of the electronic file system shown in FIG. 1, and the same numbers as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are given a reference numeral.

In this figure, 23 is, for example, 68 manufactured by Moi Rolla.
000 (32 bits) CPU controls each part based on a control program stored in the ROM 24. Note that the CPU 23 is configured to reside in a specific area of the ROM 24.
Each part is controlled by an operating system 77L (O3) manufactured by NIX Corporation, such as SYSTEMV. 25 is a pass line, which connects the workstation section 5. Printer section 3
．． It communicates information with the reader section 1. An image memory 26 stores binary image information of a document sheet read from the reader section 1. A mark information memory 27 stores address information of various timing marks printed on an OMR sheet, which will be described later. A video RAM (VRAM) 28 stores compressed data obtained by thinning out the binary image information stored in the image memory 26 at a predetermined ratio, and transfers it to the bitmap display 5d. 29 is input/output interface 1 (I10 interface), keyboard 5b,
Operating input from the pointing device 5c is transferred to the CPU 23 via the pass line 25. 3
o is an optical disk interface section that reads out information written on the optical disk stored in the image registration section 5a or reads old compressed data of binary image information stored in the image memory 26 from the CPU 23 via the pass line 25. control based on control commands transferred by

An ADF controller 31 controls the conveyance and conveyance speed of the document sheet or OMR sheet conveyed from the ADF 2.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram for controlling the printer section 3 shown in FIG. 1, and the same components as in FIG. 3(a) are given the same reference numerals.

In this figure, 41 is a CPU that controls each part of the printer based on a control program stored in a ROM (not shown). An image memory 42 temporarily stores image information transferred via the printer interface section 22. 43 is a bus, 44 is an I10 controller, and a control signal for correcting the storage address of the image information stored in the image memory 42 based on the recording paper skew state signal output from the skew conveyance detector 3h. is sent to the CPU 41. In addition, it is determined whether the read image output from the line sensor 31 matches the image information written in the image memory 42, and if the 1-term borrowing code is significantly different, the image VT information stored in the image memory 42 is reproduced. Instructs the CPU 41 to output the image, and also sends the paper feed conveyance system 45
and sends a drive command to the laser unit 3a.

Next, the OMR sheet creation operation will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 shows the O output from the printer section 3 shown in FIG.
FIG. 51 is a schematic diagram explaining the MR sheet format.
is the OMR sheet, 52 is the OMR sheet mark, and this
The reader unit 1 reads the MR sheet mark 52 to identify the document sheet and the OMR sheet 51, and also functions as a mark to detect the oblique conveyance state when the OMR sheet mark 52 is automatically conveyed from the ADF 2. do. Reference numeral 53 denotes an identification pattern that serves as address information for the timing mark row 54 and the character code tag 55, and this address information is used for the OMR sheet placed on the platen of the reader section 1 or for the sheet automatically conveyed from the ADF 2. This is address information for varying the scanning speed of the scanning system that optically scans 51. A mark area 56 is an area where the operator marks information necessary for reading the document sheet. 57 is a password area, which serves as information linking to the mark area 56. 58 is a character code mark area, and by marking each area with a writing instrument, the reader unit 1 can read alphanumeric characters as shown in FIG. 7 as vector information.

Bitmap display 5 of workstation section 5
d while looking at the keyboard 5b and the pointing device 5c'J, for example, the OMR sheet 51 (
(7) When the image information (vector information) is converted to rask image information via the printer interface section 22 and taken into the image memory 42 of the printer section 3, the CPU 41
At step 5, a drive command for feeding the force sheet stored in the sheet feeding section 4 is sent. Accordingly, the paper feed roller 4a
is driven and the sheet is fed in the direction of the dotted arrow shown in FIG. 3(a), and the skew conveyance detector 3h detects the skew conveyance state information of the cut sheet to the I10 controller 44 shown in FIG.
Each mark information, for example, OMR sheet mark 52, is transferred parallel to the upper side of the cut sheet to be conveyed.
．． Identification pattern 53. Timing mark string 542 Character code string 55. Mark area 56. Password area 57
, the storage addresses of the image memory 42 (shown in FIG. 5) where the dot data of these marks and patterns are stored are normalized so that the character code mark area 58 is printed. When this normalization is completed and each latent image position is
When the timing for writing an image on the cut sheet is determined, the conveyance of the cut sheet, which had been temporarily stopped, is started, and the semiconductor stored in the laser unit 3a is transferred based on the dot data read from the image memory 42 by the I10 controller 44. The laser is on/off modulated to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 3c shown in FIG. 3(a). This latent image is developed by a known electrophotographic process and transferred onto a cut sheet by a transfer/112 electric device 3e. Next, the toner image transferred to the cut sheet 7 (each OMR sheet mark 52, identification pattern 5
3. Timing mark row 54. Mark area 56. Password area 572 Character code mark area 58)
It is converted into an electrical signal by the line sensor 31, transferred to the I10 controller 44, and checked (verify check) to see if it matches the image information stored in the image memory 42. If the two signals are significantly different,
10 controller 44 provides image memory 4 to CPU 41
Re-instruct the image transfer from 2. This allows the reading sensor 1b of the reader unit 1 (shown in FIG. , the address information is stored in the mark information memory 27.

The reading sensor 1b of the reader section 1 reads the OMR sheet 51 as 1
When reading, when a conformity check command is input using the keyboard 5b of the workstation section 5, the pointing device 50, etc., the reader interface section 21
It is possible to check whether the timing mark row 54 read by the reading sensor 1b is affected by other noise conditions and becomes unreadable.
The fatigue and conformity state of the MR sheet 51 is checked, and each OMR sheet mark 52. on the OMR sheet 51 is checked by this check. Identification pattern 53. Timing mark row 54.
Mark area 56. If it is determined that there will be an inconvenience in reading the password area 572 and the character code mark area 58, the bit map display 5d of the workstation unit 5 will display a blue 〒.

In addition, if the OMR sheet 51 is registered with the file name Library mentioned above, by inputting the file name from the keyboard 5b of the workstation section 5, the 'D-N format By checking the one-to-one correspondence with keywords, it is possible to accurately judge the recording status of keywords.

Next, the OMR sheet 51 by the reader section 1 shown in FIG.
The read control operation will be explained.

In this embodiment, the OMR sheet 51 is configured to be read in two different ways.

The first method is to turn on the light source 1d and read the reflected light and detect it with the sensor 1b before the OMR sheet 51 conveyed from the ADF 2 shown in FIG. 2 is placed on the platen of the reader section 1. Then, based on the detection output, the transport speed of the OMR sheet 5 is changed by Ttf, and the marked image information is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor f-1f, and the electrical signal is output to the image processing section 1g. As a result, the OMR sheet I-reading and document sheet reading processing section Efl can be upgraded.

The second method is to transport the OMR sheet 51 from the ADF 2 shown in FIG.
By pre-scanning b, the OMR sheet 51 and document sheet are identified, and the detected address of each mark is registered in the mark information memory 27 shown in FIG. The scanning speed of the optical scanning system is changed (If) using the mark address stored in the mark information memory 27, the mark information on the OMR sheet 51 is detected by the reading sensor 1b, and the detection output, that is, the marked image information is The image sensor 1f converts it into an electrical signal and outputs it to the image processing section 1g.

First, mark reading control on the OMR sheet 51 by the first method will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, with the document sheet and OMR sheet 51 placed on the original tray 2a, an image reading command is sent from the workstation section 5 to A shown in FIG.
When input to the DF controller 31, a drive signal for conveying the lowermost sheet placed is output to the ADF 2. At this time, the ADF controller 31 outputs a command to the reader unit 1 to move the optical scanning system to a predetermined position and stop it, and to turn on the light source 1a. Therefore, the sheets being conveyed sequentially are read by the sensor 1.
When the sheet passes over b, the image information is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor 1f, and output to the reader interface section 21, and the identification means 11 determines whether the sheet being conveyed is a document sheet or an OMR sheet 51. is identified and determined to be the OMR sheet 51, the control means 12 causes the ADF controller 31 of the reader section 1 to issue an OMR sheet.
A signal is sent to transport the sheet 51 at a speed lower than that of the document sheet (2/3 times the transport speed of the document sheet). In parallel with this, the reader interface section 2
1 to the image processing unit 1g shown in FIG. 2, the slice level for binarizing the electrical signal output from the image sensor 1f corresponds to character mode, that is, 1/2 gradation of 64 gradations. Set it to "32". In this state, the OMR sheet 51 being conveyed is binarized;
When the timing mark row 54 on the MR sheet 51 is detected, the reader interface section 21 outputs a command to change the slice level for binarization to "20" to the image processing section 1g. This is because the density marked in the mark area 55 of the OMR sheet 51 is often marked with a writing instrument such as a pencil. In this way, the mark information on the OMR sheet 51 is read by dynamically varying the slice level, and information necessary for reading the document sheet is notified to the reader interface unit 21. This makes it possible to determine whether the document sheet conveyed from the primary ADF 2 is an image or character data, and if it is image data, the dithered image information is stored in the image memory 26 shown in FIG. go. Note that if you specify the number of image files to be registered in the mark area 55, the ADF
If document sheets are fed multiple times from 2 onwards, it can also function as a log file for interrupting the document sheet registration operation.

In this embodiment, even in the dither processing mode, assuming that the OMR sheet 51 is processed in the photo mode, that is, the dither processing mode, because document sheets are fed multiple times while the document sheet is being transported from the ADF 2, Since the density is such that the OMR sheet mark 52 outputted on the OMR sheet 51 can be distinguished as black, the OMR sheet mark 5
2 is detected, the control means 12 of the reader interface section 21 instructs the image processing section 1g to switch to the character mode.

Further, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the densities marked on the OMR sheet 51 are marked, for example, with a writing instrument such as a marker pen, and the configuration is such that each mark can be detected even in the AE mode. The workstation unit 5 is configured to issue these instructions to perform AE mode reading, that is, an instruction to detect the black of each mark as a standard default value.

On the other hand, when using the second method of detecting each mark by pre-scanning the OMR sheet 51 placed on the platen of the reader section 1 from the ADF 2, first, the pre-scanning is performed by the control means 12 of the reader interface section 21. A scan command is sent, and it is determined from the output of the reading sensor 1b whether the sheet placed on the platen is a document sheet or an OMR sheet 51, and if it is determined that it is an OMR sheet, it is read sequentially. The addresses of marks, such as the timing mark row 54, are registered in the mark information memory 27.

Next, wait for the optical scanning system to return to the reading home position, and when it returns, '7' is stored in the mark information memory 27.
=The scanning speed of the optical scanning system is reduced to 2/3 times the speed at the same magnification based on the Q marked address. From this point on, each mark is identified and read in accordance with the first method. Note that the data stored in the mark information memory 27 undergoes password processing under the control of the CPU 23, and is registered in the image registration section 5a together with the image information stored in the VRAM 28. Desired image data is read out from the image file recorded in the registration section 5a and displayed on the bitmap display 5d.

Also, the reading sensor 1b reads the sheet as sentence 1! ) If it is judged as a sheet, Bungetsu Sea!・The image of -V- is stored at 16 wood/mm, and the image of -V- is stored at 16 mm/mm, and
/4, stored in the VRAM 28, and displayed on the bitmap display 5d.

Next, the OMR sheet reading control operation according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the OMR sort read control procedure according to the present invention.

Note that (1) to (18) indicate valley steps. In addition, 6
The L order is stored in the ROM 24 shown in FIG.

In the workstation unit 5, the operator sets the reading remote (1). Next, the CPU 23 determines whether the set mode is the character mode plus prescan mode (2), and if YES, further determines whether the sheet read by the first reading sensor 1b is the OMR sheet 51. 3) If NO, proceed to step (7); if YES, image processing? The slice level of lA 1 g is set to the AE level (4). Next, the optical scanning system scans! 5) When scanning is completed, return to step (1).

On the other hand, if the judgment in step (2) is NO, I'll definitely check whether the set mode is character mode plus slice level6), and if YES, the sheet read by the reading sensor 1b will be OMR. It is determined whether it is the sheet 51 or not (7), and if No, proceed to step (17), and if YES, the slice chair level of the image processing section 1g is set to "32" and "20" (8). Next, the leak interface unit 21 determines whether the scan is completed (9), and if YES, returns to step (1), and if no
Then, wait for the identification means 11 to detect the timing mark row 54 on the OMR sheet 57 (10), and when it is detected, the control-f stage 12 of the league interface section 21 sets the slice level of the image processing section 1g to "20". Set book),
1.2) When the predetermined scanning is completed, tJ is returned to step (10).
Ru.

If the judgment in step (6) is No, then the CPU
[23] Determine whether the set mode is character mode] 3) If YES, further read sensor 1b
Determine whether the sheet read is OMR sheet 51 (14), and if No, proceed to step (17) onwards.
If YES, the control stage 1 of the reader interface section 21
2 sets the slice level of the image processing unit 1g to only "30" (15), then waits L(lG) for the end of scanning, and returns to step (1) when the predetermined scanning is completed.

On the other hand, if the judgment in step (13) is No, the CPU
It is determined whether the set mote 23 is a dither mote 17), and if YES, the reading mode is set to the designated mode (18), and the process returns to step (15).

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention includes a sheet identifying means for identifying the type of sheet conveyed at the time of conveying the sheet from the automatic 1!25 mechanism, and a sheet identifying means for identifying the sheet type as an optical mark reading sheet. In this case, we have provided a control means that variably controls the conveyance speed of the optical mark reading sheet conveyed from the automatic conveyance mechanism, so that the sheet type of the sheet automatically conveyed from the automatic conveyance mechanism is determined, and in parallel with this determination, Since the mark information on the optical mark reading sheet can be detected by using the optical mark reading method, there is an advantage that reading and registering operations of the document sheet can be speeded up.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external view illustrating the configuration of an electronic filing device showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of the league section shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 (a) is 3(b) is a sectional view of a laser beam printer showing an example of the printer section shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3(b) is a sectional view showing a case where the printer section shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a control block diagram explaining the control configuration of the electronic file system shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a control block diagram explaining the control configuration of the printer section shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. O output from the printer section shown in Figure 1
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the MR sheet format, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the character code format according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the OMR sheet reading control operation according to the present invention. In the diagram, 1 is the league department, 2 is the ADF, 3 is the printer department, 4
5 is a paper feed section, 5 is a work station section, 11 is an identification means, 12 is a control u4L stage, 21 is a reader interface section,
22 is a printer interface section, 23 is a CPU, 24
is a ROM, 26 is an image memory, and 27 is a mark information memory. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) It has an automatic transport mechanism that automatically transports a document sheet to a document table, and an image reading means that reads the document sheet, and registers the image information of the document sheet read by the image reading means on an optical recording medium. In the electronic file system, the electronic file system includes an image output means for editing the document management information for the document and outputting the edited document as an optical mark reading sheet, a sheet identification means for identifying the type of sheet conveyed at the time of sheet conveyance from the automatic conveyance mechanism; and a control means for variably controlling the conveying speed of the optical mark reading sheet conveyed from the automatic conveyance mechanism when the sheet type of the sheet identifying means is identified as the optical mark reading sheet. Read control device. (2) The reading control device according to claim (1), wherein the optical mark reading sheet is output from an image output means. (3) The reading control according to claim (1), wherein the sheet identifying means detects mark information on the optical mark reading sheet before it is placed on the document mounting table. Device.