JPH03250278A - Table-formed document reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reproduce ruled lines similar to those of an input document by discriminating the types of ruled lines such as a continuous line and a dotted line, etc. CONSTITUTION:When a table-formed document 1 is inputted, at first, a ruled line recognition part 6 extracts a ruled line candidate 21. On this stage, since even something not to be the continuous ruled line but to be dirt or folding, etc., like a code 22 are included as ruled line candidate 21A, it is decided whether this is the ruled line or not, and therefore, the respective feature patterns of the ruled line candidate 21 are extracted. Namely, the ruled line is provided with a feature pattern for each type of the line and according to the feature pattern, the type of the line is classified. For example, the continuous line is equipped with the feature of being basically continuous and equipped with fixed width and the ruled line of the dotted line or an alternate long and short dash line, etc., is equipped with fixed periodical regularity. Thus, the ruled lines are reproduced similarly to those of the input document.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a reading device for a document including a table (table format document).

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, methods for recognizing ruled lines in tabular documents include methods that use projection methods and methods that use tracing methods, but the original purpose of recognizing ruled lines in tabular documents is to recognize characters written in tables. Therefore, whether a ruled line is a solid line or a dotted line, it is normally recognized as a simple ruled line.

Also, as shown in Figure 8, there are special ruled lines 26 with decorations in handwritten documents or printed matter (the inside of the ruled line is not filled in but has a hunting pattern), and as shown in Figure 9, some characters ( In the past, it was not possible to recognize cases where the ruled lines 26A and 26B were given meaning by listing NJ, r+J (here, "-" is used).

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In other words, the conventional method has a problem in that the line type (type) of the ruled line is unclear. Additionally, in handwritten documents and printed matter, special ruled lines with decorations, or cases where the meaning of the ruled line is given by a list of characters, cannot be recognized in the past, and the ruled lines may be recognized as characters. There is also the problem that the structure of a table separated by ruled lines cannot be correctly understood.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to recognize ruled lines along with their types, and also to make it possible to recognize special ruled lines with decorations, ruled lines with enumerated characters, etc.

[Means to solve the problem]

In a tabular document reading device that performs image processing on a tabular document to recognize the structure of the table and read characters in the table, the ruled lines of the table may be solid single dot lines, broken lines, or double lines.

A ruled line recognition unit is provided to recognize a ruled line by determining which line type it is made of, including a dashed-dotted line, and when outputting the recognition result, it is also possible to output line type information of the ruled line. Further, when a certain ruled line of the tabular document is specified, a ruled line registration section is provided which extracts and registers characteristic data of the ruled line, and it is possible to recognize subsequent ruled lines based on the registered characteristic data. When registering, the ruled lines are one solid line, one dotted line, and one broken line.

It is also possible to specify which line type to output, including double lines and dash-dot lines.

C Effect] When recognizing the ruled lines of a tabular document, the line type of the ruled line can be determined by registering features such as solid lines and dotted lines in advance, and the result can be output together with position information and the like. In addition, if a handwritten document or printed matter has special decorated ruled lines or a list of characters to give the meaning of the ruled line, you can register the pattern so that it can be recognized as a ruled line. do. At this time, if such ruled lines cannot be output by a device such as a CRT or a printer, it is possible to output them by replacing them with solid lines or dotted lines.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a tabular document, 2 is a host 1-CPU, 3 is an image input section, 4 is an image memory, 5 is a character recognition section, and 6 is a ruled line recognition section. , 7 is a ruled line registration section, 8 is a ruled line characteristic feature, 9 is an auxiliary storage section, 10
is a printer, and 11 is a CRT.

The operation shown in FIG. 1 will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

When the tabular document 1 is input by the image input unit 3 controlled by the host CPU 2, the image data is binarized and stored in the image memory 4. For example, if a tabular document 1 as shown in FIG. 2 is input, the ruled line recognition unit 6 first extracts ruled line candidates 21. Note that at this stage, the code 2
21A, which is not actually a ruled line due to stains, creases, etc., is also included. Therefore, in order to determine whether or not the line is a ruled line, characteristic patterns of each of the ruled line candidates 21 are extracted. That is, each ruled line has a characteristic pattern for each line type, and the line types can be classified based on the characteristic pattern. For example, a solid line is basically continuous and has a constant width. Furthermore, ruled lines such as dotted lines and dashed-dotted lines have a certain periodic regularity.

FIG. 3 shows an example of dotted lines. As is clear from the figure,
Length of line portion DI and interval portion D2, ratio of DI and D2, D
Since there is data such as the number of occurrences of I and D2 and line widths, and other line types have unique characteristic patterns as well, the line type is recognized as the closest line among these ruled line characteristic patterns. To this end, the ruled line feature table 8 stores data related to basic line types such as solid lines and single dotted lines in advance, and the ruled line data extracted by the ruled line recognition unit 6 is stored in the ruled line feature table 8.
By comparing the contents with the contents, it becomes possible to recognize the ruled line including its line type. At this stage, since 22 does not have the characteristics of a ruled line, it is removed as nonconforming, and therefore, from the document shown in Figure 2, the 4th line is removed.
Ruled line information 23 as shown in the figure is obtained and stored in the auxiliary storage section 9.

It can be seen from FIG. 4 that the data for the ruled line candidate 21A is excluded.

Next, the information as shown in FIG. 4 is sent to the character recognition section 5, where a character area as shown by reference numeral 24 in FIG. 5 is calculated.
Character recognition is performed for each area 24, and character data 25 as shown in FIG. 6 is stored in the auxiliary storage section 9. The saved data is read out as needed and sent to the printer 10 or CR.
Output to TII.

In addition, when there are special ruled lines as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the ruled line registration mode is selected on the host CPU 2, the image data of the tabular document input to the image input section 3 and stored in the image memory 4 is displayed on the CRT 11, and when a range 27 of the special ruled line portion is indicated with a cursor or the like as shown in FIG. 8, information on that range is given to the ruled line registration section 7.

The ruled line registration unit 7 extracts various characteristic patterns from the image data within the specified range 27 and stores the data in the table 8.
Register additionally. Note that the type of ruled line when outputting this additionally registered ruled line can be specified, for example, as a solid line or a dotted line.

Therefore, if the ruled lines in the range 27 in FIG. 8 are registered and the output type is specified as dotted lines, the range 270 will be recognized as the registered ruled lines and will be output as dotted lines as shown in FIG. 7.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, by making it possible to determine the type of ruled line such as a solid line and one dotted line, it is possible to reproduce the same ruled line as that of the input document. Furthermore, in the case of special ruled lines, by specifying the image data, extracting and registering the characteristics, any ruled line can be identified, and the structure of the table can be accurately grasped.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a tabular document, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a dotted line, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a tabular document. An explanatory diagram for explaining the ruled line information in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the character area in FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the character data in FIG. 2; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a recognition result based on ruled line registration, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a tabular document with special ruled lines, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of using characters as ruled lines. Code explanation 1...Tabular document, 2...Host CPU, 3...
Image input section, 4... Image memory, 5... Character recognition section, 6... Ruled line recognition section, 7... Ruled line registration section, 8...
Ruled line characteristic table, 9... Auxiliary storage unit, 10... Printer, 11... CRT, 21. 21A... Ruled line candidate, 22... Dirt, creases, etc., 23... Ruled line information data, 24 ...Character area, 25...Character data, 26.
26A, 26B... Special ruled lines, 27... Ruled line specified range.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A tabular document reading device that performs image processing on a tabular document to recognize the structure of the table and read characters in the table, wherein the ruled lines of the table are solid lines, dotted lines, broken lines, double lines, etc. A ruled line recognition unit is provided to recognize a ruled line by determining whether it is made of a line or a line type including a dashed line, and when outputting the recognition result, it is also possible to output line type information of the ruled line. Table format document reading device. 2) providing a ruled line registration unit that extracts and registers characteristic data of a ruled line when a certain ruled line of the tabular document is specified;
2. The tabular document reading device according to claim 1, wherein subsequent ruled lines can be recognized based on registered feature data. 3) When registering the characteristic data of the ruled line, the ruled line can be set as a solid line, a dotted line,
3. The tabular document reading device according to claim 2, wherein it is also possible to specify which line type to output, including broken lines, double lines, and dashed-dotted lines.