KR100420531B1 - Device and method for detecting plural books - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A device and a method for detecting doubled books are provided to correctly manage lending or return of a book by discriminating the doubled books when the book is lent or returned on an automatically book lending/return system. CONSTITUTION: A linear laser beam generator(50) irradiates a linear laser beam(55) in order to form a laser lines(41a,42a) to a direction across a front and a rear cover of the books(41,42) on one side of the books. A camera(60) captures the one side of the books forming the laser lines. An image processor discriminates the doubled books from the image data captured from the camera. The camera and the linear laser beam generator face the one side of the book from an angle different with each other.

Description

Book lottery detection device and method {DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETECTING PLURAL BOOKS}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for detecting a lottery ticket for detecting that two or more books are stacked, and in particular, an apparatus for detecting a lottery ticket used mainly for preventing a lottery loan or return of a book in an automatic book loan return system. It is about a method.

The automatic book loan return system attaches barcodes to books to simplify the loan and return of books in the library, and recognizes barcodes attached to books with the scanner when the books are borrowed and returned. To be done.

1 is a part of recognizing a book in a conventional automatic book loan return system, and this example is disclosed in Patent Registration No. 230589 (name of the invention: automatic book loan return system and driving method thereof). A case of borrowing a book in the automatic book loan return system is as follows. When the books 41 and 42 and the user ID (not shown) to be borrowed are placed in a designated place and the loan application is made, the scanner 20 causes the scanner 20 to read the barcode on the book and the identification card (the book indicated by reference numeral 43 in FIG. 1). Read only the barcode). The program installed in the computer 30 reads the user's information read from these barcodes and information about the book from the library database to determine whether the loan is possible, and if it is determined that the loan is normal, the book (allowing outflow of the library to the outside) A) Desensitization is made and the loan is processed However, when a user applies for a loan application by stacking a plurality of books in a single loan operation, the scanner reads only the barcode 43 of the book 41 placed on the top of the stacked books, so that only the book 41 is read. The loan is processed. In addition to the loaned books, all the rest of the books are desensitized and placed in a loanable condition, so that the remaining books can be leaked out without a loan record. Therefore, the conventional automatic book loan return system is a risk of loss when the book lottery loan. Even in the case of automatic return, if a book lender borrows several books and stacks the books in the automatic book loan return system, only the books placed at the top of the stacked books are processed and returned to the book loan return system. It is confusing.

In order to prevent this, conventionally, when a book is placed for a loan or return on a book loan / return table, it is possible to distinguish when a book is placed in a single volume and when a lottery is stacked with multiple books. Know the number of books based on weight or thickness. However, in order to detect whether a book is lottery in this way, information about the weight or thickness of the book must be pre-populated in the library database. Since there is no information on the weight or thickness of books in the library's database, this information must be additionally entered into the library's database to distinguish between single or lottery tickets.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, the automatic lottery detection system and method for detecting the lottery of the book when the loan or return of the book in the automatic book loan return system for managing the loan or return of the correct book To provide.

1 is a schematic diagram of a book recognition unit in a conventional automatic book loan return system.

2 is a block diagram of a book lottery detection device according to the present invention;

3 is a plan view of a book recognition unit in the book lottery detection device according to the present invention.

4 is a perspective view of a book recognition unit in the book lottery detection device according to the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a process of detecting one book and two books according to the book lottery detection device of the present invention.

6 and 7 are block diagrams of a book lottery ticket detecting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: book loan / return

20: scanner

30: computer

41, 42: Book

41a, 42a, 42b: laser line

43: barcode

50: linear laser beam generator

55: linear laser beam

60: camera

70: inclined plate

Book lottery detection device of the present invention for detecting that two or more books are stacked in order to achieve the above object is a linear laser beam such that a laser line is formed in a direction across the front and back cover surface of the book on one side of the book A linear laser beam generator for irradiating the light source, a camera for photographing the one side of the book on which the laser line is formed, and an image processor for determining whether the book is to be lotted from the image data photographed by the camera. The linear laser beam generators point one side of the book at different angles.

The laser line formed on one side of the book may be perpendicular to the front and back cover surfaces of the book and / or the linear laser beam may be irradiated perpendicular to the one side of the book. An inclined plate that is inclined toward the one side of the book is mounted to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the one side of the book, and the bottom surface of the book lottery detecting device on which the book is placed may be at least greater than the friction force between the books. On the opposite side of the linear laser beam generator, an inclined plate inclined toward one side of the book is provided, and the book can be inclined toward the inclined plate.

Book lottery detection method of the present invention for detecting that two or more books are stacked in order to achieve the above object is to prepare a first image by photographing one side of the book, and a laser line on one side of the book Irradiating a linear laser beam to be formed in a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book, preparing a second image by photographing the one side on which the laser line is formed, and preparing the first image data and the second image. Preparing a third image by extracting only the image of the laser line from the difference of the data; and among the laser lines shown in the third image, the number of lines spaced apart from each other corresponding to a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book. And determining the number of turns, wherein the direction of irradiating the linear laser beam and the direction of photographing one side of the book are different from each other.

The preparing of the third image may be obtained from a difference between the first image data and the second image data. The linear laser beam is a monochromatic light of any one of R, G, and B, and the preparing of the third image comprises R, G, and B for each pixel of the image obtained from the difference between the first image data and the second image data. Comparing the color of the monochromatic light used as the linear laser beam with the values of the remaining two colors at the R, G, and B values of each pixel and comparing the values of the remaining two colors to the pixel having the largest color value and the pixel which is not And dividing the pixels into two colors distinguishing the pixel having the largest value of the color of the monochromatic light and the pixel not having the color. In the third image represented by the two colors, the method may further include deleting lines other than a line corresponding to a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book. The preparing of the third image may include vectorizing a pixel corresponding to the image of the laser beam. If it is determined that the number of stacked books is 1, the opposite side of the one side of the book abuts on the inclined plate inclined toward the one side of the book, and the above-described book lottery detection method may be performed again. have.

The present invention provides a method for distinguishing whether a single or lottery of a loan or returned book is available without inputting additional book information into a library database. That is, in the present invention, when two or more books are stacked and placed on a book loan / return stand, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 (showing an example in which two books are stacked), two books are displayed. A step is formed between them. A laser beam having excellent straightness and small diffusivity compared to general light on the side (either left, right, top, bottom) of the book placed on the book loan / return table 10 across the front and back cover surfaces of the book. Can detect the number of books placed on a book loan / return table by examining them in a vertical straight line. When the side surface of the island on which the laser line is formed by irradiating the linear laser beam is viewed in a direction different from the irradiation direction of the laser beam, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, two parallel vertical lines separated from each other are laser lines 41a. 42a) and a single laser line 42b connecting these lines. In contrast, if a book is a single issue, only one vertical line is visible.

The present invention uses this principle, and the linear laser beam is irradiated to the book placed on the book loan / return stand 10 to obtain an image before and after the laser line is formed (with a digital camera) and then the laser line Only the video is taken and image data is processed to detect the number of books. The book lottery detection device is mounted on the automatic book loan return system to determine whether the book loaned or returned is a lottery ticket or a single ticket. If the books are the same size, and the books are aligned and stacked, it is difficult to determine whether or not the lottery ticket is formed because no step is formed on the sides of the books. However, in such a case, it may be possible to read a lottery ticket or a single ticket in another embodiment described later.

FIG. 2 is a book lottery detecting device having a linear laser beam generator 50 for irradiating a linear laser beam, a camera 60, and an image processor for determining whether or not a lottery ticket is processed by processing image data photographed by the camera. Computer 30. In this case, the camera is advantageously a digital camera for image data processing. The linear laser beam generator 50 irradiates the linear laser beam 55 so that a laser line is formed on one side of the book in a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book. In FIG. 2, the linear laser beam generator 50 irradiates the linear laser beam 55 on the upper side of the book in a direction perpendicular to the upper side of the book and perpendicular to the front and back cover surfaces. The camera 60 is disposed to face one side of the book at different angles from the linear laser beam generator 50 so that the laser line formed on the cover surface of the book is indicated by diagonal lines.

3 and 4 are plan and perspective views illustrating the relationship between the books 41 and 42, the linear laser beam generator 50, and the camera 60 in the book lottery detection device. The linear laser beam generator 50 for irradiating the linear laser beam 55 is positioned at a position perpendicular to the upper side of the book so that the laser lines 41a, 42a, 42b are formed on the two stacked books 41, 42. Camera 60 is positioned below it (in the figure) and spaced apart by a distance B0. The linear laser beam 55 emitted from the linear laser beam generator 50 and the center line 65 of the camera 60 form an angle θ. An image appearing on the camera 60 is projected on a plane 66 perpendicular to the centerline 65 of the camera 60. Therefore, the laser lines (shown in FIGS. 2 and 4) in a direction perpendicular to the drawing at points A and B by the linear laser beam 55 irradiated to the upper sides of the books 41 and 42. 41a and 42a are formed, and the laser line 42a connecting the point A and the point B is formed with the length H0 by the linear laser beam 55 irradiated on the cover surface of the book 42. do.

The linear laser beam 55 irradiated at this time does not need to be irradiated in a direction perpendicular to the upper side of the book, nor need to be perpendicular to the front and back cover surfaces of the book. Therefore, the position of the linear laser beam generator 50 and the camera 60 shown in the figure may be changed, and the laser line formed on one side of the book may be diagonal. However, as described above, the laser beam generator 50 and the camera 60 facing one side of the book are disposed at different angles, such that the laser line formed on the side of the book and the laser line formed on the cover surface of the book have different angles. Just show it.

The book lottery detection device is a component of an automatic book loan return system to determine whether a book is a single ticket or a lottery ticket. That is, a scanner for reading the bar code attached to each book to obtain information on the loan or returned book, an induction processor for removing / reproducing the book, an input unit for inputting the borrower's or returner's personal information, and a library database The book lottery detection device may be added to an interface unit for communicating with the control unit and a control unit for controlling them, thereby configuring a single automatic book loan return system.

Next, a method of detecting whether a book is lottery by the book lottery detection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the left figure shows a case where a book is a single issue, and the right figure shows a case where a book is a lottery. Reference numerals written for the respective configurations are denoted by the reference numerals shown in Figs. First, as shown in FIG. 5A, a first image is prepared by photographing one side of a book placed on a book loan / return table 10 to which a linear laser beam is to be irradiated. Next, while the book and the camera 60 are not moved, a linear laser beam is irradiated and photographed so that one side of the book is formed in a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book and a second image is prepared (FIG. 5). (B)). The first image and the second image photographed by the camera 60 are transmitted to the computer 30 having the image processor, and compare the first image and the second image to extract only the image of the laser line to prepare a third image (FIG. 5 (c)). The third image is obtained from the difference between the first image data and the second image data. For example, if the first and second images are represented by 24 bits, each pixel is represented by 8 bits of R, G, and B, respectively. If the value of each pixel of the second image is subtracted from the value of each pixel of the first image, the values of R, G, and B are 0 (zero) except for the image of the laser line (ideally) and are represented in black. . (For convenience, only the boundary of the laser line is shown in black, but in reality, all except the laser line are represented in black.) In fact, in the third image, the surrounding background surrounding the laser line with some fine shapes due to noise Appears. Such noise can be filtered out. Alternatively, after inverting the color of either the first image or the second image, the two images may be overlapped to prepare a third image. As described above, the computer 30 corresponds to a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book in the third image including only the laser lines, that is, in the present embodiment, the number of vertically spaced lines of the stacked books Will be judged.

On the other hand, in order to facilitate the determination of the number of vertically spaced lines, the following image data processing of laser lines is preferable. When a linear laser beam is selected and used as one of R, G and B monochromatic light, it is easy to extract an image of only the laser beam line. For example, in the present embodiment, the first and second images are prepared using a laser beam of R (red), and each pixel of the third image obtained from the difference between the first image data and the second image data is R, G. , Represented by B. Each pixel selects only the pixel with the largest R value in each column of the image represented by R, G, and B, and then the R value of each pixel is larger than the value of G and B by a predetermined value (e.g. 30). Only select pixels whose R value is greater than or equal to a certain value (eg 80). In this case, when there are several pixels with the largest R value, only the leftmost (or right) one is selected. As such, the selected pixels and the remaining pixels are expressed in two colors that are distinguished from each other. For example, if the pixels selected as described above are displayed in black and the remaining pixels are represented in white, an image as shown in FIG. 5D is obtained. That is, as the image of the laser line is binarized, it is represented by a thin line (represented by only one pixel in each column).

In FIG. 5, when the center line of the camera 60 is lower than the laser line 42b connecting the vertically spaced laser lines 41a and 42a in the third image, the laser line 42b is not caught by the camera. . Also, if the island 42 is thick or the position of the linear laser beam generator 50 is lower than that shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the laser line 42b connecting the laser lines 41a and 42a is the island 42 ) Will not appear on the cover. In these cases, this is not the case, but the thickness of the book is so thin that when the position of the linear laser beam generator 50 and the camera 50 is higher than the book 41, the laser lines 42b connecting the laser lines 41a and 42a are provided. And laser lines by a linear laser beam appear on the front cover of the book 41 (not shown) and are also caught by the camera 50, where these laser lines appearing on the front cover of the book 41, 42 (in this embodiment) It is preferable to delete the diagonal lines, not the vertical lines. If the pixel vectorizing step described below is performed without deleting these lines, a line consisting of two vertical lines and one diagonal line connecting them is finally expressed as one diagonal line, and the lottery book is judged as a single book. Will be. If the laser line is a vertical line, the pixels represented in black are distributed vertically, so deleting the pixels not vertically distributed deletes the diagonal lines.

Next, it is preferable to pixelize the third image in order to determine the number of laser lines perpendicular to the third image for the laser line with the binarized and oblique lines removed. In other words, each pixel for the extracted laser line is combined with adjacent pixels to define a start point and an end point, and the laser line is converted into data with length and direction. When the combining process is complete and the pixel-vectorized laser line has a vertical direction and there is one line having a length greater than a predetermined value, the book is considered to be a single volume.

When books of the same size are stacked and stacked or books of different sizes are stacked and returned / loaned so as not to form a step on one side, the device and method described above determine whether the book is lottery. It is difficult to do it. 6 and 7 show a lottery ticket detecting device provided with inclined plates 70 and 80 inclined toward one side of a book to which a linear laser beam is irradiated, on the opposite side of the linear laser beam generator as means for preventing such a case. Another embodiment of is shown.

When the book is judged as a single issue by the apparatus and method as described above, as shown in Fig. 6, the loan / return table 10 on which the book is placed is inclined toward the inclined plate 70, as described above. The method determines again whether the book is single or lottery. If the book of the same size placed on the loan / return 10 is a lottery ticket, as shown in FIG. 6, when the loan / return 10 is tilted, a step is provided on one side of the book to which the linear laser beam is irradiated. Is formed.

7 is a slightly modified embodiment, the inclined plate 80 is mounted so as to be movable in the one side direction of the book and is inclined in the moving direction. When the inclined plate 80 pushes the stacked books, the stacked books are moved relative to each other, and a step is formed on one side of the book to which the linear laser beam is irradiated. At this time, the surface of the book loan / return table 10 should be greater than the friction force between the books. If not, the books move together so that no step is formed on one side of the book even if the book is a lottery ticket.

In the above, the apparatus and method for detecting a lottery ticket of some embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited thereto but is defined by the following claims, and the scope of the claims is defined by those skilled in the art. Modifications may be made by the user.

By such a configuration, the book lottery detection device of the present invention can automatically manage the loan or return of the book by determining whether the book is lottery when the book is loaned or returned in the automatic book loan return system.

In particular, the book lottery detection device of the present invention can prevent the loss of books that may occur during the loan in the automatic book loan return system.

Claims (10)

As a lottery ticket detection device for detecting that two or more books are stacked, A linear laser beam generator for irradiating a linear laser beam such that a laser line is formed in a direction transverse to the front and back cover surfaces of the book on one side of the book, A camera for photographing the one side of the book on which the laser line is formed, An image processing unit for determining whether or not the lottery of the book from the image data taken by the camera, And the camera and the linear laser beam generator face one side of the book at different angles. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the laser line formed on one side of the book is perpendicular to the front and back cover surfaces of the book. The book lottery detection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the linear laser beam is irradiated perpendicularly to the one side of the book. According to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the inclined plate inclined toward the one side of the book is mounted so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the one side of the book, the bottom surface of the book lottery detection device on which the book is placed is at least a book. Book lottery detection device, characterized in that greater than the friction force between them. The lottery ticket detecting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an inclined plate inclined toward the one side of the book is provided on an opposite side of the linear laser beam generator, and the book is inclined toward the inclined plate. As a book lottery detection method for detecting that two or more books are stacked, Preparing a first image by photographing one side of the book, Irradiating a linear laser beam such that a laser line is formed on one side of the book in a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book, Preparing a second image by photographing the side surface on which the laser line is formed; Preparing a third image by extracting only an image of a laser line from the difference between the first image data and the second image data; Determining the number of the number of lines spaced from each other, corresponding to the direction crossing the front and back cover surface of the book of the laser lines shown in the third image, the number of books, The direction of irradiating a linear laser beam and the direction of photographing one side of the book are different from each other. The method of claim 6, wherein the linear laser beam is a monochromatic light of any one of R, G, and B, wherein the preparing of the third image comprises: each pixel of the image obtained from the difference between the first image data and the second image data. Is represented by R, G, and B, and each pixel selects only one pixel having the largest R value in each column of the image represented by R, G, and B, and then R value of each pixel Selecting only pixels having a predetermined value greater than a value of B and having a R value greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and expressing the selected pixel and the non-pixel pixel in two distinct colors, respectively; Way. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of deleting a line other than a line corresponding to a direction crossing the front and back cover surfaces of the book from the third image represented by the two colors. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of vectorizing a pixel corresponding to an image of a laser line after the step of deleting a line other than a line corresponding to a direction traversing the front and back cover surfaces of the book. 10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein when it is determined that the number of stacked books is one, the opposite side of the one side of the book is brought into contact with the inclined plate inclined toward the one side of the book. The method of claim 6, wherein the method according to any one of claims 6 to 9 again.