JPS6336659A - Read controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatize the mode setting of a picture read means by setting the read mode to a document sheet mode based on mark information on an optical mark read sheet read by a picture read means. CONSTITUTION:A reader section 1 reads a carried document sheet and optical mark read sheet optically. A control means 12 provided to a reader interface section 21 sets the read mode of the reader section 1 to the document sheet mode based on the mark information on the optical mark read sheet read by the reader section 1. Thus, the mode setting of the picture read means is automatized.

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 a multiplex filing system.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of electronic filing system,
By registering Inukei's information on a recording medium such as an optical disk and inputting the readout information (keyword) added at the time of registration, the registered information, such as documents or images, can be read out at any time. There is.

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. Information to register
n fir type and a keyword file for the document file to be registered in advance, read the document file from Image League, and when the reading is completed, the operator There was a type that did the work of linking relationships.

[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 multiple documents can be input at once, the operator must link the keywords for each document after input, and the time required to register documents in electronic filing is longer than the time required to retrieve documents. There was a problem in that it took a considerable amount of time compared to the time required.

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, but a special format for this purpose is printed. New problems arise, such as the need for paper, and the total cost increases significantly due to the reading device and dedicated paper.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and by setting the reading mode of a document sheet registered based on the mark information on the optical mark reading sheet read by the image reading means, the image reading means can read the image. An object of the present invention is to obtain a reading control device that can automate mode setting of a reading means.

[Means for solving problems]

The reading control device according to the present invention is provided with a reading mode setting means for automatically setting the reading mode of the image reading means to the document sheet mode based on the mark information on the optical mark reading sheet read by the image reading means. .

[Effect]

In this invention, the reading mode setting means sets the reading mode of the image reading means to the document sheet mode based on the mark information on the 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, where ] is a league portion that 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 that accommodates an optical recording medium constituted by an optical disk; a keyboard 5b for inputting operation commands; a pointing device 5c; The printer section 3 and the league section 1 are connected by 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 reader unit 1 and the like.

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

In this figure, ]a is a light source that irradiates light onto a document sheet or an optical mark reading sheet (hereinafter referred to as an OMR sheet) that is automatically conveyed by the ADF 2 to a document placing table (platen) on the reader section 1. A reading sensor 1b receives reflected light from the light source 1a. Reference numerals lc and 1d are scanning mirrors, and the reflected light is passed through an optical lens 1e to form an image of optical information on an imaging device (line sensor) 1f constituted by, for example, a CCD. 1g is an image processing unit that also serves as the image processing means of the present invention, and performs predetermined processing on the image signal based on the image information output from the line sensor 1r, such as halftone processing (dither processing), binarization processing (slice processing to be described later). level) and transfers that information to the workstation unit 5 via the league interface 21. 2d 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.
They are automatically transported one by one. Please note that the ADF2 allows you to
The sheet automatically transported to the IlEδ table and optically scanned is 1
” The configuration is such that the paper is ejected automatically. Further, the reading sensor 1b and the light source 1d 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 cross-sectional view of a laser beam printer showing an example of the printer section 3 shown in FIG. be.

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 (laser beam) provided on 3a.
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. Is 3e transcription A1? The toner image is transferred onto the recording paper fed from the paper feeding section 4 using an electric device. 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 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 skew state is transferred to the printer interface unit 22 (print control means). As a result, the address of the image information is normalized so that the image information transferred to the printer interface unit 22 is printed in vertical and horizontal lines on the recording paper that is conveyed obliquely. 3
A line sensor 1 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 7Q, 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. A turning sign is attached.

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 680 manufactured by Motorola.
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 (OS) manufactured by IX, for example, SYSTEMV. 25
is the pass line, and the workstation section 5. Printer section 3. Communicate information with league club]. An image memory 26 stores binary image information of the document sheet read from the league section 1. A mark information memory 27 stores address information of various timing marks printed on an OMR sheet, which will be described later. 28 is video ram (VRAM)
Then, the binary image information stored in the image memory 26 is
Compressed data thinned out at a predetermined rate is stored and transferred to the bitmap display 5d. 29 is the input/output interface m (■10 interface), and the keyboard 5b
, the operating input from the pointing device 5c is transferred to the CPU 23 via the pass line 25. 30 is an optical disk interface section, and an image registration section 5
Reading of information written on the optical disk accommodated in a or writing of compressed data of binary image information stored in the image memory 26 is performed from the CPU 23 to the pass line 2.
Control is performed based on control commands transferred via 5.

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, a CPU 41 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. Furthermore, 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 two signals are significantly different, the image information stored in the image memory 42 is re-imaged. It commands the CPU 41 to output, and also sends drive commands to the paper feed conveyance system 45 and 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 league 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 51 is automatically conveyed from the ADF 2. do. Reference numeral 53 denotes an identification pattern, which serves as address information for the timing mark string 54 and the character code string 55. This address information is determined by the conveying 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 league section 1. This address information is used to vary the scanning speed of the scanning system that optically scans the OMR sheet 51. 56
is a mark area, which 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.

Reference numeral 58 denotes a character code mark area, and by marking each area with a writing instrument, the league section 1 can read alphanumeric characters as shown in FIG. 7 as vector information.

Bitmap display 5 of workstation section 5
For example, while looking at the OMR sheet 51 (7) created using the keyboard 5b, pointing device 5c, 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 car/ ) sheet accommodated 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, an OMR sheet mark 52. is transferred to the I10 controller 44 shown in FIG. Identification pattern 53. Timing mark string 549 character code string 55. 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, conveyance of the cut sheet, which has been temporarily stopped, is started, and the I10 controller 44 reads out the image from the image memory 42. Based on the dot data, the semiconductor laser housed in the laser unit 3a 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 the cut sheet by a transfer charger 3e.

Next, the toner image transferred to the cut sheet h (each O
MR sheet mark 52. Identification pattern 53° timing mark row 54. Mark area 56° Password area 5
The 72 character code mark area 58) is the line sensor 3
1 into an electrical signal and sent to the I10 controller 44.
Verification check to see if it matches the image information transferred to the image memory 42 and stored in the image memory 42
If the two signals are significantly different, the I10 controller 44 instructs the CPU 41 to transfer the image from the image memory 42 again. As a result, the reading sensor 1b of the reader section 1 (shown in FIG. 2) can accurately read the OMR sheet mark 52 for distinguishing between the document sheet and the OMR sheet 51 and the timing mark row 54 of the OMR sheet 51. , the address information is stored in the mark information memory 27.

When the reading sensor 1b of the data 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, etc., the reader interface section 21
It is possible to check whether the timing mark row 54 read by the reading sensor lb is affected by other noise conditions and becomes unreadable.
The fatigue and conformity of the MR sheet 51 are checked, and each OMR sheet mark 52. of the OMR sheet 51h is checked by this check. Identification pattern 53. At the right time - row 5
4. 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 unit 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, one-to-one correspondence with the keyword in the registration format can be performed. Check the correspondence and register the keyword 7
ffi can be determined accurately.

Next, the ○MR 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 1a until the OMR sheet 51 conveyed from the ADF 2 shown in FIG. Then, based on the detection output (followed by OMR)
The conveyance speed of the sheet 51 is varied, and the image sensor 1f converts the marked image information into an electrical signal, and the image processing unit 1 converts the marked image information into an electrical signal.
Output to g. As a result, the processing efficiency of MR sheet reading and document sheet reading can be improved.

The second method is to transport the OMR sheet 51 from the ADF 2 shown in FIG.
By pre-scanning, 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 the figure is performed, and the scanning speed of the optical scanning system is varied according to the mark address stored in the L mark information memory 27 during the second scan, and the OM R sheet 51L is The mark information is detected by the reading sensor 1b, and the detection output, that is, the marked image information, is converted into an electric signal f by the image sensor r1f and output to the image processing section 7g.

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, il! 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 league 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 image information passes over b, the image information is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor 1f and output to the league 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 sends the OMR sheet to the ADF controller 31 of the league section 1.
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, League Interface Department 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 league 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 slice level is dynamically varied, the mark information on the OMR sheet 51 is read, and the information necessary for reading one document sheet is notified to the league interface unit 2]. This makes it possible to determine whether the next document sheet conveyed from the 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.

Note that, assuming that one document sheet is multi-fed while the document sheets are being conveyed from the ADF 2 and the OMR sheet 51 is processed in the photo mode, that is, the dither processing mode, in this embodiment, the OMR sheet 51 is also processed in 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 ff
Command B1 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 case of the second method in which each mark is detected 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 control means 12 of the league interface section 21 A prescan 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. If it is determined that it is an OMR sheet, marks to be read sequentially, For example, addresses such as the timing mark string 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 slowed down to 2/3 times the normal magnification speed based on the mark address registered in the mark information memory 27. become 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 registered in the registration section 5a and displayed on the bitmap display 5d.

Further, when the reading sensor 1b determines that the sheet is a document sheet, the image of the document sheet hh is stored at 16 lines/mm, thinned out to 1/4 by a command from the CPU 23, stored in the VRAM 28, and bit mapped. displayed on the 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 sheet reading control procedure according to the present invention.

Note that (1) to (I8) 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.
If it is NO, then step (7)
], and if YES, the slice level of the image processing section 1g is set to the AE level (4). Next, wait for the optical scanning system to finish scanning (5), and when the scanning is finished, return to step (1).

On the other hand, if the determination in step (2) is NO, it is determined whether the set mode is character mode plus slice level e), and if YES, the sheet read by the reading sensor 1b is the OMR sheet 51. 7), if no, proceed to step (17) and Y.
For ES, set the slice level of image processing unit 1g to r32.
, r20'' (8). Next, the league interface unit 21 determines whether the scan is finished9)
, if YES, return to step (1); if NO, OM
The timing mark row 54 of the R sheet 51 is identified by the identification means 11.
When it is detected, the control means 12 of the image processing section 1g sets the slice level of the image processing section 1g to "20" (11), and waits for the completion of a predetermined scan (12). , when the predetermined scanning is completed, return to step (10).

On the other hand, if the judgment in step (6) is NO, the CPU
13), and if YES, the reading sensor 1b
Determine whether the sheet read is OMR sheet 51 (14), and if NO, proceed to step (17) onwards.
If YES, the control means 1 of the league interface section 21
2 sets the slice level of the image processing unit 1g to only "30" 15), then waits for the end of the scan 16), and returns to step (1) when the predetermined scan is completed.

On the other hand, if the judgment in step (]3) is No, the CPU
If YES, the reading mode is switched to the specified mode (18) and the process returns to step (15).

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention is provided with a reading mode setting means that automatically sets the reading mode of the image reading means to the document sheet mode based on the mark information of the optical mark reading sheet h read by the image reading means.
This has the advantage that the reading mode setting of the image reading means can be automated, and the document sheet registration operation can be greatly reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view illustrating the configuration of an electric T-file device showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of the league portion shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 (a). 3(b) is a sectional view of a laser beam printer showing an example of the printer section shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3(b) is a sectional view showing a case where the printer section shown in FIG. 1 is configured with a four-drum color laser beam printer. , 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 figure, 1 is the reader section, 2 is the ADF, 3 is the printer section, 4
5 is the paper feed section, and 5 is the workstation section. 11 is an identification means, 12 is a control means, 2] 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 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8

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. An electronic file system comprising: a reading mode setting means for automatically setting a reading mode of the image reading means to a document sheet mode based on mark information on the optical mark reading sheet read by the image reading means. A reading control device characterized by: