JPS6336663A - Optical read sheet output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently output an optical read sheet required for document sheet reading by providing a means comparing the mark information on recording paper and mark information read from an image memory. CONSTITUTION:The information required for registration and management of a document sheet is edited by a work station section 5 being an edition means and stored in an image memory. Then a printer section 3 reads the mark information stored in the image memory and transfers the mark information on the carried recording paper. Then the control means 12 provided to a reader interface section 21 compares the transferred mark information with the mark information stored in the image memory and controls the re-transfer operation of the mark of the printer section 3 based on the result of comparison. Thus, the optical read sheet required for the document sheet reading is outputted efficiently.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical reading sheet output device that outputs a mark sheet for adding readout information of a document sheet to be 'UQ'ed to a 'Semi-filing system'. It is.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of electronic filing system,
Information that is registered by registering a large amount of information on a recording medium such as an optical disk and inputting the readout information (keywords) added at the time of registration.

For example, it is configured so that documents or images can be read out at any time.

In this case, the information to be registered (sheet or block).

This type of information is optically read from Image League (an optical scanner) and converted to 2frlJ, and then the operator inputs a keyword from the first input stage of a keyboard or the like for each piece of information to be registered.

Create a keyword file for the document file to be registered in advance, read the text file from Image League, and when one reading is completed, the operator links the relationship between the keyword file and the document file described above. There was a type that did the work.

[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. 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 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 the image output means compares the mark information transferred to the transfer paper with the mark information stored in the image memory, and marks are marked based on the comparison result. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optically readable sheet output device capable of outputting a mark sheet in which information necessary for registering a document sheet can be inputted by controlling retransfer of information.

[Means for solving problems]

The optically readable sheet output device according to the present invention includes an editing means for editing mark information necessary for registering and managing a recording medium and writing it into an image memory, and an image output means for editing the mark information read from the image memory and transferring the edited mark information to the image memory. The present invention is provided with a mark information comparing means for comparing mark information on the recorded paper, and a print control means for controlling restart of image transfer of the mark information based on the comparison result of the mark information comparing means.

[Effect]

In this invention, when the editing means edits the mark information necessary for document sheet registration and management and stores it in the image memory, the one-image output means reads out the mark information stored in the image memory and conveys it. Transfer mark information to recording paper. Here, the comparison means compares the transferred mark information with the mark information stored in the image memory, and the print control means controls the mark retransfer operation based on the comparison result.

〔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 stage 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 league 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 stored; a keyboard 5b for inputting operation commands; a pointing device 5c; and an image read from the league section 1. It consists of a bitmap display 5d that displays document images as rask images, etc., and is connected to the printer section 3 and the league section 1 through a communication line 6.7. In addition,
The workstation section 5 includes each section 5a to 5d and a printer section 3. A control unit (C
PU).

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, reference numeral la denotes 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 to a document mounting table (platen) on the reader section 1 of the ADF 2. 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, for example, CC
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)
The information is transferred to the workstation section 5 via the reader interface 21. Reference numeral 2a denotes a document tray, on which ``text'' sheets (indicated by broken lines) and MR sheets (indicated by solid lines) are stacked, and are automatically conveyed sequentially starting from the sheet on the r-most side. 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 1b and the light a1a constitute an optical scanning section, and this optical scanning section moves in the direction of the arrow to read several sheets placed on the platen L.

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, and a polygon mirror provided in the laser beam h3a = (
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 sliding 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, determines the skewed state of the recording paper, and detects the skewed state of the recording paper. The line status is transferred to the printer interface section 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. 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 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 safe to provide both the skew conveyance detector 3h and the line sensor 31; by providing either one of them, editing information created by the workstation section 5 or image information read by the reader section 1 can be conveyed. can be output accurately on recording paper.
The reading sensor 1b provided in the reader section 1 can correctly determine the management information of the document sheet.

FIG. 3(b) is a cross-sectional view showing a case where the printer unit 3 shown in FIG. are given the same reference numerals.

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 parts as in FIGS. 1 and 2 are given the same symbols -).

In this figure, 23 is, for example, Motorola (7) 6
8000 (32 hira)) (7) CPU, ROM2
Each part is controlled by a UNIX operating system (OS), for example, SYSTEMV, which is resident in a specific area. 25 is a pass line, which connects the workstation section 5. Printer section 3. Communicate information with League Division 1.

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. 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 an input/output interface m (I10 interface),
Operating input from the keyboard 5b and pointing device 5C is sent to the CPU via the pass line 25.
Transfer to 23. Reference numeral 30 denotes an optical disk interface section that reads information written on the optical disk stored in the image registration section 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, 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. 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 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 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, the OMR sheet 51 (7) created using the keyboard 5b, pointing device 50, etc.
File name: Library) (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
A drive command for feeding the cut sheet stored in the paper feeding section 4 is sent out. 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 controller 44 shown in FIG. Identification pattern 53. Timing mark string 542 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 image writing timing of the latent image position and cut sheet is set, conveyance of the cut sheet, which had been temporarily stopped, is started, and the I10 controller 44 reads out the dot data from the image memory 42. Based on this, the semiconductor laser housed in the laser unit 3a is on/off modulated to form a static latent image on the photosensitive drum 3c shown in FIG. 3(a). This latent image is developed by a known electrophotographic process,
The image is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer charger 3e. Next, the toner image (each OMR sheet mark 52, identification pattern 53, timing mark row 54, mark area 56, password area 572, character code mark area 58) transferred to the cart/cart sheet h is converted into an electric signal by the line sensor 31. It is checked (verify check) whether the two signals match with the image information stored in the image memory 42, and if the two signals are significantly different, the I1
0 controller 44 sends image memory 42 to CPU 41
Re-instruct the image transfer. As a result, the reader section 1
The reading sensor 1b (shown in FIG. 2) can accurately read the OMR sheet mark 52 for identifying the sentence, j2 sheet and OMR sheet 51 and the timing mark row 54 of the OMR sheet 51, and the address information is the mark information. It is stored in the memory 27.

When the reading sensor 1b of the reader section 1 reads the OMR sheet 5], the keyboard 5 of the workstation section 5
b. When a conformance check command is input using the pointing device 50 or the like, the reader interface section 21 reads the timing mark string 5 read by the reading sensor]b.
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. of the OMR sheet 511 is checked by this check. Identification pattern 53. Timing mark row 54. Mark area 56. If it is determined that there is 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 is displayed in blue.

In addition, if the OMR sheet 51 is registered with the file name Library as described in E, by inputting the file name from the keyboard 5b of the workstation section 5, one-to-one correspondence with the keyword in the registered format can be performed. You can check the correspondence and accurately judge the registration status of keywords.

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

In this embodiment, when reading the OMR sheet 51, it is configured so that reading can be performed in two different ways.

The first method is to turn on the light source d and transmit the reflected light to the reading sensor before the OMR sheet 51 conveyed from the ADF 2 shown in FIG. 2 is placed on the platen of the league section 1. 1b and OMR based on the detection output.
The conveyance speed of the sheet 51 is varied, and the marked image information is converted into electrical signals by the image sensor 1f and output to the image processing section 1g. Thereby, it is possible to increase the processing efficiency of reading the OMR sheet and reading the sentence 513 sheet.

The second method is to transport the OMR sheet 51 from the ADF 2 shown in FIG.
b, the OMR sheet 51 and the 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 varied according to 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 sent to 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 document tray 2a, an image reading command is sent from the workstation section 5 to the ADF shown in FIG.
controller 3], a drive signal for conveying the lowermost sheet placed thereon is output to the ADF 2. At this time, from the ADF controller 31 to the reader 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. For this reason, when sheets conveyed one after another pass over the reading sensor 1b, the image information is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor 1f and output to the reader 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 reader section 1 to cause the OMR sheet 51 to be transported at a speed lower than that of the document sheet (2/3 times the transport speed of the document sheet). In parallel, the reader interface section 21 sends the image sensor 1f to the image processing section 1g shown in FIG.
The slice level for binarizing the electrical signal output from the controller is set to character mode, that is, "32", which corresponds to 1/272 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 “20” from the reader 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 reader 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. It should be noted that if the number of image files to be registered in the mark area 55 is specified, this can be done in case document sheets are fed multiple times from the ADF 2.

It can also function as a log file for interrupting the registration operation of the sentence and 17 sheets.

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
The control means 12 of the reader interface section 21 issues a command to switch to the single character mode immediately after detecting the
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.

-, OMR from ADF2 to the platen of reader section 1
In the second method of detecting each mark by pre-scanning the sheet 51 placed on it, first, a briscan command is sent from the control means 12 of the reader interface unit 21, and the sheet 51 placed on the platen is sent out a briscan command. It is determined from the output of the reading sensor 1b whether the sheet is a document sheet or an OMR sheet 51, and if it is determined that it is an OMR sheet, the addresses of marks to be read sequentially, such as the timing mark row 54, are stored in the mark information memory. I will register on the 27th.

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. 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.

In addition, when the reading sensor 1b determines that the sheet is a document sheet, the image of document sheet 7 is stored at 16 wood/country m, thinned out to L/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 OMR sheet reading control-L order according to the present invention.

Note that (1) to (]8) indicate each step. Note that each p order 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 Briscan mode 2), and if YES, the sheet read by the reading sensor 1b is the OMR sheet 51.
3), if NO, proceed to step (7); if YES, set the slice level of the image processing 11g 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 (8), 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 r32J
, set to r2.04 (8). Next, the reader interface unit 21 determines whether the scanning is completed (9). If YES, the process returns to step (1); if NO, the process waits for the identification means 11 to detect the timing mark row 54 on the OMR sheet 51 (10). ), upon detection, the control means 12 of the interface section 21 controls the image processing section 1g.
Set the slice level to "20" (II), wait for the end of the predetermined scan (I2), and return to step (10) when the predetermined scan is completed.

On the other hand, if the judgment in step (6) is No, the CPU
13), and if YES, the reading sensor 1b
It is determined whether the sheet read by the operator is the OMR sheet 51 (14), and if No, the process proceeds to step (17) or later. If YES, the control means 12 of the reader interface unit 21 sets the slice level of the image processing unit 1g to "30". 15), then wait for the end of the scan 16), and when the predetermined scan is completed, return to step (1).

- If the judgment in step (13) is No, CP
It is determined whether the mode set by U23 is the dither mode (17), and 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 includes an editing means that edits mark information necessary for registering and managing a recording medium and writes it into an image memory, and an image output=P stage that transfers the mark information read from the image memory. The present invention includes a mark information comparison means for comparing the mark information on the recorded paper, and a print control means for controlling the restart of image transfer of the mark information based on the comparison result of the mark information comparison means. This method has an excellent advantage in that it is possible to output an image only from the recording paper onto which mark information matching the mark information has been transferred, and it is possible to efficiently output the optical reading sheet necessary for reading the document sheet.

[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. 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 structure 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. 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 workstation section, 11 is an identification means, 12 is a control means, 21 is a league interface section, 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 1 Figure 2 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electronic file device comprising an image output means for reading image information of a document sheet registered on an optical recording medium into an image memory and outputting the image information to a conveyed recording paper based on the image information read from the image memory, Editing means for editing mark information necessary for registration and management on the recording medium and writing it into the image memory; Comparing the mark information read from the image memory by the image output means and the mark information on the transferred recording paper. 1. An optically readable sheet output device comprising: a mark information comparison means for comparing the mark information; and a print control means for controlling restart of image transfer of the mark information based on the comparison result of the mark information comparison means.