JPH0199367A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the memory capacity required for storage by dividing a picture data sent from a called terminal equipment into plural blocks, comparing each split block with a character pattern stored in advance to apply character recognition and using the identified character code so as to store the result. CONSTITUTION:Data expressed in several bytes to several tens of bytes in a picture data sent from the called terminal equipment is divided into plural blocks as one character block, the each split block and the character pattern stored in advance are compared to apply character recognition, thereby identifying the character area and the picture area. Then the picture area is stored respectively as a graphic data. Thus, the memory capacity required for the storage is decreased to one over several numbers in comparison with a conventional capacity.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a facsimile device.

(Prior Art) In conventional facsimile machines, received data is temporarily converted into image data or compressed image data (
MH, MR, l''R format, etc.) were stored in memory as they were.

Incidentally, the MH (Modified Huffman) method is a one-dimensional encoding method, and is a method for Huffman encoding the run length of a general character document. Further, the MR (Modified Read) method is a two-dimensional encoding method, in which the difference between black and white states of pixels is encoded with respect to the scanning line to be encoded, using the previous scanning line as a reference.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, since the amount of data in a facsimile machine is extremely large, there is a problem in that a method of storing image data as it is in memory requires a large amount of memory.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The facsimile device of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and divides image data sent from the other party's terminal into appropriate blocks, and each of the divided blocks an identification means for identifying a half-sentence area and an image area by performing character recognition by comparing the character pattern with a pre-stored character pattern; It is equipped with a storage means for storing pattern character codes and graphics data.

(Function) Among the image data sent from the other party's terminal, the data expressed in several bytes to several tens of bytes is divided into multiple blocks as one character block, and each divided block and pre-stored characters are divided into multiple blocks. Character recognition is performed by comparing with the pattern, and character areas and image areas are identified. Then, the identified character area is stored as a character code of the recognized character pattern, and the image area is stored as graphics data. As a result, the memory capacity required for storage can be reduced to a fraction of that of the conventional technology.

(Example) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a telephone line, which is connected to another facsimile machine through a telephone office (not shown).

2 is a network control unit (Netsvo
rk Control Unit), which includes an incoming call detection circuit 3 for detecting an incoming call from the other party's terminal (facsimile machine), a relay control circuit 4 for connecting the telephone line l and the facsimile transmission/reception circuit 8, a DC current consumption circuit 5, It consists of a line sending circuit 6 and a line receiving circuit 7. 9 is a control circuit that controls the entire device and also controls the CG (Character Generate).
er) - A device that performs character recognition by comparing the character pattern stored in the ROM 10 with the image data sent from the facsimile transmitting/receiving circuit 8 and once called into the memory 11, and stores the recognition result in the memory 12. It is.

Next, the operation of the facsimile machine having the above configuration will be explained.

When an incoming call signal comes in from the other party's terminal via the telephone line 1, the incoming call detection circuit 3 detects this and notifies the control circuit 9 of the incoming call. In response to this, the control circuit 9 controls the relay control circuit 4 to connect the telephone line 1 and the facsimile transmission/reception circuit 8.

On the other hand, in the DC current consuming circuit 5, a DC loop is formed and only the signal component is taken out and sent to the facsimile transmitting/receiving circuit 8 through the line receiving circuit 7'.

The image data (hereinafter referred to as received data) converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the facsimile transmitting/receiving circuit 8 is given to the control circuit 9, and the CG-ROMI
After character recognition is performed by comparison with the character pattern stored in O, the recognition result is stored in memory 12. In this case, character recognition is performed on the data received from the other party's terminal in the form of several lines, so the received data is temporarily stored in the memory.
1, and the control circuit 9 performs character recognition while checking the contents of the memory 11 in parallel with the processing.

This character recognition method will be explained with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3. Note that character recognition is performed character by character by dividing the recognition area into small areas. Fourth
The figure shows an example of the order in which these recognition areas are recognized.

First, in step (2), the size of the reference recognition area and the limit on expansion of the area (described later) are determined. Next, step ■
Then, character recognition is performed for each of the recognition areas (areas 1 to 7 in FIG. 4) arranged in a row in the horizontal direction.

That is, in FIG. 3, after character recognition is performed on the recognition area in step (2), the recognition rate is checked in step @. If the recognition rate is poor in step @, the recognition area is gradually widened through the path of step [phase] and 0, and character recognition is attempted again. Then, in step [phase], if the recognition rate is poor even if recognition is attempted until the recognition area is checked as the maximum value that can be expanded horizontally, step [phase]
The recognized area is assumed to be graphics data and is temporarily stored. Also, if a good recognition rate is obtained in step @, that area is temporarily stored as the character code of the recognized character pattern in step ◎. When the recognition is completed, the process moves to step O, and it is checked whether there is any unrecognized part of the received data in the horizontal direction.

In step ■, check the recognition rate as characters performed in step ■, and if the recognition rate is good, move to step ■.
The recognition result of the column is stored in the memory 12 as received information. On the other hand, if the recognition rate is poor in step ■, step ■, ■
The recognition area is gradually widened in the vertical direction along the route shown in (2), and the recognition in step (2) is attempted again. Then, confirm in step ■,
If the recognition rate is poor even if recognition is attempted until it is checked as the maximum value that can extend the a area vertically, the process moves to step ■, and the received information for all areas in that column is stored in the memory, assuming that it is graphics data. Save to 12. On the other hand, if the recognition rate is good in step (2), the process moves to step (2), and the recognition result of that string is stored in the memory 12 as a character code of the recognized character pattern. After the received information of the area in one horizontal row is stored in the memory 12 in this way, the process moves to step (2) to check whether there is any more received data. If there is received data, return to step ■ and step ■
Repeat the processes from ~■ and end if there is no received data.

Note that since there is a blank part in the received data, in order to perform the above recognition method, it is necessary to align the character part with the recognition area. An example of this positioning is shown in
As shown in the figure.

In other words, when performing character recognition in step 0 above,
To align the origin of the recognition area, pixels may be scanned in the horizontal and vertical directions (indicated by white arrows in the figure), and the intersection of the lines where the drawing point is found may be set as the origin O of the recognition area.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the facsimile device of the present invention, image data sent from the other party's terminal is divided into a plurality of blocks, and each divided block is combined with a pre-stored character pattern. Character recognition is performed by comparing the characters, and the code of the identified character is used for storage, so the memory capacity required for storage can be reduced compared to conventional systems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a facsimile device of the present invention;
Figures 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the character recognition method of this device, Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining the order of character recognition, and Figure 5 is a flowchart for explaining the character recognition order of this device. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example. 1... Telephone line 2... Network control unit 3... Incoming call detection circuit 4... Relay control circuit 5... DC current consumption circuit 6... Line sending circuit 7
...Line receiving circuit 8...Facsimile transmitting and receiving circuit 9...Control circuit 10...CG-ROM1
1.12...Memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) The image data sent from the other party's terminal is divided into appropriate blocks, and each divided block is compared with a pre-stored character pattern to perform character recognition, thereby separating the character area and image area. 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising: an identification means for identifying a character area and an image area identified by the identification means; and a storage means for storing a character area and an image area identified by the identification means as a character code and graphics data of a recognized character pattern, respectively.