JPS6336655A - Read controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately read mark information on an optical mark read sheet and information required for the read registration of a document sheet by identifying a document sheet and an optical mark read sheet and controlling the read speed based on the result of identification. CONSTITUTION:A reader interface section 21 is provided with an identification means 11 and a control means 12. Then a reader section 1 identifies whether a data is a document sheet or an optical mark read mark. The control means 12 applies variable control to the read speed of the optical scanning section comprising a read sensor 1b and a light source 1a based on the result of identification. Thus, the information required for the read registration of the document sheet and the mark information on the optical mark read sheet are read accurately.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a reading control device for a mark sheet printed to add reading information of 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 or block).

(2) is a type in which the information is optically read from an ImageLeague (optical scanner) and binarized, and then an operator manually enters a keyword using a keyboard, etc. for each piece of information to be registered. A keyword file for the document file to be registered is created in advance, the document file is read from the image reader, and when the reading is completed, the operator links the relationship between the keyword file mentioned above and the Sentence 1 given file. There was a type that did this.

[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, resulting in a significant drop in document registration efficiency. was there. Regarding the latter, although it is possible to input multiple documents at once, the operator must link the keywords for each document after inputting, and the time required to register Sentence 3 in electronic filing is longer than the time required to retrieve the document. The problem was that it took much more time than it would take to do so.

In order to improve these problems, a system has been proposed in which keywords are input using a reading device such as an optical mark reader or an optical card reader, and a document file is input at the same time. This creates new problems, such as the need for a reading device and special paper, which significantly increases the total cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an image reading means identifies a document sheet and an optical mark reading sheet, and variably controls the reading speed based on the identification result. An object of the present invention is to obtain a reading control device that can accurately read mark information on an optical mark reading sheet in which information necessary for reading and registering the sheet is outputted as an image.

[Means for solving problems]

The reading control device according to the present invention includes a sheet identifying means for identifying an optical mark reading sheet and a document sheet outputted from an image outputting means to an image reading means, and an image reading means based on the sheet type identified by the sheet identifying means. A control means for variably controlling the reading speed of the means is provided.

[Effect]

In this invention, the sheet identification means identifies the type of sheet read by the document reading means, and based on the identification result, the control means variably controls the reading speed of the document sheet or optical mark reading sheet read by the image reading means.

〔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 reader section 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. Further, the control means 12 also functions as a control means, a mode setting means, a reading mode setting means, an address correction means, a comparison means 9 judgment means, a mark information comparison means, etc. of the present invention. 3
is 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; an image registration section 5a in which an optical recording medium constituted by an optical disk is accommodated; a keyboard 5b for inputting operation commands; a pointing device 5c; and an image read from the reader section 1. It is comprised of a bitmap display 5d that displays document images as raster images, etc., and is connected to the printer section 3 and reader section 1 through a communication line 6.7. Note that the workstation section 5 includes each section 5a to 5d and a printer section 3. The control unit that comprehensively controls the League Division 1 (
CPU).

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of the league portion 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

In this figure, reference numeral 1a denotes a light source that irradiates light onto a document sheet or an optical mark reading sheet (hereinafter referred to as a TOMR sheet) that is automatically conveyed by the ADF 2 to an original platen in the reader section 17. 1b is a reading sensor,
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 form an image of optical information on an image pickup device (line sensor) 1f constituted by, for example, a CCD. 1g is an image processing unit that also serves as an image processing means of the present invention, and performs predetermined processing on an image signal based on image information output from the line sensor 1f.

For example, halftone processing (dither processing) and binarization processing (slice level described later) are performed, and the reader interface 21
The information is transferred to the workstation section 5 via. 2a is the document tray, which contains the document sheet (indicated by a broken line)
and OMR sheets (indicated by solid lines) are stacked and are automatically conveyed sequentially starting from the bottom sheet. In addition, ADF
2, the sheet is automatically conveyed to the original table, and the optically scanned sheet is automatically ejected. Further, the reading sensor 1b 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 F.

FIG. 3(a) is a sectional view of a laser beam printer showing an example of the printer section 3 shown in FIG. 1, and parts that perform the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are given 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. 3 is a conveyor belt that conveys the recording paper that has been transferred in the direction of the dotted arrow. 3g is a fixing roller that 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 skew conveyance detector serving as a detector of the present invention, which irradiates light onto the recording paper fed from the paper feed section 4, receives the reflected light, and determines the skewed state of the recording paper; The 44-line state yE is transferred to the printer interface unit 22 (print control means). This normalizes the addresses of the image information so that the image information transferred to the printer interface section 22 is printed vertically and horizontally parallel to the recording paper that is conveyed obliquely. Reference numeral 31 denotes a line sensor that 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 section 22 compares (verifies) whether the input image information and print information match, and if the two are significantly different, issues a command to output the image information again. Note that it is not necessary to provide both the edict conveyance detector 3h and the line sensor 31, and by providing either one,
The reading sensor 1h provided in the reader unit 1 can accurately output the editing information created by the workstation unit 5 or the image information read by the reader unit 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.

This color laser beam printer can form multicolor images by transferring cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) toners onto the recording paper being transported. It is configured.

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

In this figure, 23 is, for example, a Motorola V 680
00 (32-bit) CPU controls each section based on a control program stored in the ROM 24. In addition,
The CPU 23 is a UN resident in a specific area of the ROM 24.
Each part is controlled by an operating system (O5) manufactured by IX Corporation, for example, 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. 27 is a mark information memory, which will be described later.
Address information of various timing marks printed on the R sheet is stored. 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 f
f1 (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 unit that reads information written on the optical disk stored in the image registration unit 5a or writes compressed data of binary image information stored in the image memory 26 from the CPU 23 via the pass line 25. Control is performed based on the transferred control command.

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, 4] 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 which sends a control signal to the CPU 41 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. do. It also determines whether the read image output from the line sensor 31 matches the image information stored in the image memory 42, and if the two signals are significantly different, the image information stored in the image memory 42 is replayed. It instructs the CPU 41 to output an image, and also sends a drive command to the paper feed conveyance system 45 and 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 an OMR sheet, 52 is an OMR sheet;・mark, and is this OMR sheet mark 52 a leader? When read by the iB1, the document sheet and the OMR sheet 51 are distinguished, and when the OMR sheet mark 51 is automatically conveyed by the ADF 2, it also functions as a mark for detecting the oblique conveyance state. Reference numeral 53 denotes an identification pattern that serves as address information for the timing mark string 54 and the character code string 55. This address information is determined by the conveyance speed of the sheet automatically conveyed from the ADF 2 or by the speed at which the sheet is placed on the platen of the reader section 1. This is address information for varying the scanning speed of the scanning system that optically scans the OMR sheet 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
For example, the OMR sheet 51 (7) created using the keyboard 5b, pointing device 50, etc.
The image information (vector information) of file name: Library is converted to rask image information via the printer interface section 22 and stored in the image memory 4 of the printer section 3.
2, the CPU 41 sends a drive command to the paper feed conveyance system 45 to feed the cut sheet stored in the paper feed section 4. In response to this, the paper feed roller 4a is driven and the paper is fed in the direction of the dotted arrow shown in FIG. Each mark information, for example, OMR sheet mark 52. is transferred to the I10 controller 44 shown in FIG. Identification pattern 53. Timing mark string 542 character code string 5
5. Mark area 56. In order to print the password area 57 and the character code mark area 58, 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. When this normalization is completed and the latent image position and image writing timing on the cut sheet are determined, the conveyance of the cut sheet, which had been temporarily stopped, is started, and
The I10 controller 44 performs on/off modulation on the semiconductor laser housed in the laser unit 3a based on the dot data read from the image memory 42, and as shown in FIG.
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 3c shown in a). This latent image is developed by a known electrophotographic process and is transferred onto the sheet 7 by a transfer charger 3e. Next, the toner image transferred onto the cut sheet (each OM
R sheet mark 52. Identification pattern 53° timing mark row 54. Mark area 56° Password area 57
The one-character code mark area 58) is the line sensor 31
The image information is converted into an electrical signal and 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, the I10 controller 44 sends the image information to the CPU 41. The image transfer from the image memory 42 is re-commanded. As a result, the reading sensor 1b of the reader unit 1 (shown in FIG. 2) reads the document sheet and the ○MR sheet 5.
1 and the OMR sheet mark 52 and O
The timing mark row 54 on the MR sheet 51 can be read accurately, and its address information is stored in the mark information memory 27.

When the reading sensor 1b of the reader section 1 reads the OMR sheet 51, the keyboard 5 of the workstation section 5
b. When a conformity check command is input using the pointing device 50 or the like, the timing mark string 5 is read by the reader interface section 2 by the reading sensor 1b.
4 is affected by other noise conditions, making it difficult to read.
The fatigue and conformity of the R sheet 51 are 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 a problem in reading the password area 572 and the character code mark area 58, a warning will be displayed on the bitmap display 5d of the workstation section 5.

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, a one-to-one match with the keyword in the registered format is possible. By checking the correspondence between keywords, you can accurately determine the registration 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 5 is configured to be read in two different ways.

The first method is to turn on the light source 1a until the OMR sheet 51 conveyed from the ADF 2 shown in FIG. Then, the conveying speed of the OMR sheet 51 is varied based on the detection output, and the marked image information is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor ]f and output to the image processing section 1g. Thereby, it is possible to improve the processing efficiency of reading the OMR sheet 1 and reading the document sheet.

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 the document sheet are identified, and the detected address of each mark is:
The process of registering in the mark information memory 27 shown in FIG. The mark information on the sheet 51 is detected by the reading sensor 1b, and the detection output, that is, the marked image information, is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor 1f and output 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 document tray 2a, an image reading command is sent from the workstation section 5 to the ADF shown in FIG.
When input to the controller 31, a drive signal for conveying the lowermost sheet placed is output to the ADF 2. At this time, from the ADF controller 31, the league section 1
A command is output to move the optical scanning system to a predetermined position and stop it, and to turn on the light source 1a. Therefore, when sheets conveyed in sequence pass over the reading sensor 1b, the image information thereof is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor 1f, and output to the league interface section 21, and the sheets conveyed by the identification means 11 are recognized as document sheets. It is determined whether the sheet is the OMR sheet 51 or not, and if it is determined that the sheet is the OMR sheet 51, the control means 1
2 sends a signal to the ADF controller 31 of the league unit 1 to transport the OMR 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 league interface unit 21 sends the image sensor 1f to the image processing unit 1g shown in FIG.
The slice level for binarizing the electrical signal output from the controller is set to character mode, that is, "32" corresponding to 1/2 gradation of 64 gradations. In this state, the O
Although the MR sheet 51 is binarized, the OMR
When the timing mark row 54 on the sheet 51 is detected,
The image processing unit 1g issues a command to change the slice level for binarization to 120 from the league interface unit 21.
Output to. 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 league interface unit 21. This allows it to be determined whether the next document sheet conveyed from the ADF 2 is an image or single character data, and if it is single image data, the dithered image information is stored in the image memory 2 shown in FIG.
6 will be stored. Note that by specifying the number of image files to be registered in the mark area 55, it can also function as a log file to interrupt the registration operation of document sheets when multiple document sheets are fed from the ADF 2. You can also do it.

Note that while the document sheets are being conveyed from the ADF 2, it is assumed that the document sheets are fed in duplicate and the OMR sheet 51 is processed in the photo mode, that is, the dither processing mode. sheet 5
Since the density is such that the OMR sheet mark 52 outputted in 1 can be distinguished as black, the OMR sheet mark 52
Immediately after detecting this, the control means 12 of the reader interface section 21 issues a command to switch to the character mode.
Command g.

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, in the second method of detecting each mark by issuing a pre-scan command to the OMR sheet 51 placed on the platen of the league section 1 from the ADF 2, first, the first control stage 12 of the league interface section 21 is used. A pre-scan command is sent from the printer, and it is determined from the output of the reading sensor 1b whether the sheet placed a on the north side of 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, the optical scanning system waits for it to return to the reading home position, and when it returns, the scanning speed of the optical scanning system is increased to 2/3 times the normal magnification speed based on the mark address registered in the mark information memory 27. Slow down. From this point on,
Each mark is identified and read in accordance with the first method. The data stored in the mark information memory 27 is password-processed 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, and is then processed according to the password from the G-board 5b. One piece of desired image data is read out from the image file registered in the image registration section 5a and displayed on the bitmap display 5d.

Furthermore, when the reading sensor 1b determines that the sheet is a document sheet, the image on the document sheet is 16 trees/l! 11
1 and is stored as 1/4 by a command from the CPU 23.
The data is thinned out, stored in the VRAM 28, and displayed on the dotman display 5d.

Next, the OMR sheet 1 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 sheet reading control order according to the present invention.

Note that (1) to (18) indicate each step. Note that each procedure is stored in the ROM 24 shown in FIG.

In the workstation section 5, the operator sets the reading mode (1). Next, the CPU 23 determines whether the set mode is the character mode plus prescan mode 2), and if YES, the sheet read by the reading sensor 1b is the OMR sheet 51.
3), if NO, step (7) step 7z, Y E S tt Rubber image processing F141 g
The slice level of is set to the AE level (4). Next, the process waits for the optical scanning system to finish scanning (5), and when the scanning is finished, the process returns to step (1).

- If the judgment in step (2) is NO, check whether the set mode is character mode plus slice level (Ei); if YES, the sheet read by the reading sensor 1b is an OMR sheet. 51 (7), if No, proceed to step (17); if YES, set the slice level of the image processing unit 1g to r3.
2J and r20J (8). Next, the reader interface unit 21 determines whether the scanning is completed (9), and if YES, returns to step (1), and if NO, identifies the timing mark row 54 of the OMR sheet 51 and waits for the stage 11 to detect it. 10) Upon detection, the control p stage 12 of the image processing unit 21 sets the slice level of the image processing unit 1g to "20" 11) and waits for the completion of a predetermined scan 12) The predetermined scanning is completed. After that, return to Stembu (lO).

- If the judgment in step (6) is NO, CP
Determine whether the mode in which U23 is set is character mode 13), and if YES, further read sensor]
It is determined whether the sheet read by b is the OMR sheet 51 (14), and if NO, the process proceeds to step (17) or later; if YES, the control stage 12 of the leak interface unit 21 sets the slice level of the image processing unit 1g to "30'' (15), then wait for the end of scanning (1B), and when the predetermined scanning is completed, return to step (1).

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

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention relates to a sheet identification means for identifying an optical mark reading sheet and a document sheet outputted from an image output means to an image reading means, and a sheet type identified by this sheet identification stage. (Then, the control stage that variably controls the reading speed of the image reading L stage was removed, so the information necessary for sheet reading and registration can be performed using the existing optical league, and the complicated documents can be saved. It has the excellent advantage of greatly reducing operator operations such as password input processing required for registration, and realizing speedy document processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external view illustrating the configuration of an electronic file device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of the reader section shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 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 device shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a control block diagram explaining the control configuration of the printer section shown in FIG. 1,
Figure 6 shows the OM output from the printer section shown in Figure 1.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the R 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. 1 is the reader section, 2 is the ADF, 3 is the printer section, 4
2 is a paper feeding unit, 5 is a workstation unit, 11 is an identification unit, ]2 is a control unit, 21 is a reader interface unit, 2
2 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 7 Figure 2 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] Image output means having an image reading means for reading a document sheet, and editing document management information for registering image information of the document sheet read by the image reading means on an optical recording medium and outputting the edited document as an optical mark reading sheet. In an electronic file system, the electronic file system includes: a sheet identifying means for identifying the optical mark reading sheet and the document sheet outputted from the image output means to the image reading means; and a sheet type identified by the sheet identifying means based on the sheet type. and control means for variably controlling the reading speed of the image reading means.