JPH04130978A - Color compatible optical character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve efficiency for a read processing operation by enabling identification based on color-coding by a color sensor. CONSTITUTION:For a color sensor 3, photodetectors having high photodetection sensitivity are arranged corresponding to the wavelengths of respective beams in respective colors, and while receiving the beam reflected from a figure 2 on a card 1, a code by colors is outputted corresponding to the printing color. The code by colors outputted from the color sensor 3 is decoded to be stored by a signal by colors transmission control part 4 and transmitted to a scanner output selection part 16, reference information selection part 12 and color identification result decision part 15. The output of the signal by colors transmission control part 4 controls the open / close of AND gates 121-123 and selects any one dictionary having a character type corresponding to the color of the figure 2 on the card 1 among a Ming-style type dictionary 8, Gothic type dictionary 9 and Chinese type figure dictionary 10 in a dictionary part 10. The dictionary selected in this way is connected through an OR gate 24 to a recognition part 13 and turned to another input to the recognition part 13. The recognition part 13 recognizes the exact figure 2 by comparing the image information of the figure 2 inputted from any one of scanners 5-7 through the scanner output selection part 16 with the candidate character to be inputted from any one of the Ming-style type dictionary 8, Gothic type dictionary 9 and Chinese type figure dictionary 10 through the reference information selection part 12 and referring to the information.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field J] The present invention is directed to the processing of handwritten characters and printed characters as image information.
The present invention relates to an optical character reading device for reading corresponding character codes, and particularly to a color-compatible optical character reading device suitable for efficiently reading colored characters.

[Conventional technology]

Currently, computer-based devices and systems are used in a wide range of fields.

One of them is an optical character reader (OCR:○pti).
cal Character Reader), which is used for reading postal codes on postcards and automatic lottery ticket discriminating devices.

An optical character reader is an input device that shines light on characters written or printed on paper, observes the reflected light, identifies the characters, and encodes them. .

Applications of such optical character reading devices include
For example, there is one described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-23715. This method compares the lottery numbers read by an optical character reader with pre-stored winning numbers to determine whether the read lottery is a win or a failure.

Similarly, to determine whether the lottery is successful or not,
There is one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-33774. This is to update the stored winning numbers by invalidating the expired winning number table based on data of the date of operation of the device received via the communication line.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional optical character reading devices read monochrome characters.

Even if a character is written in blue, it is read in the same way as a character written in black, based on the difference in shading from the background color.

However, in recent years, various colors have been used for reading target media handled by optical character reading devices, such as lottery postcards.

The reason why many different colors are used for the medium to be read is to enable the user to quickly identify the medium to be read.

In this way, identification based on color coding is very effective.

However, conventional optical character reading devices do not take into consideration the wide variety of colors of the target media, which narrows the character recognition method and its range of applications. , unnecessary processing was occurring for character recognition.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-1989 using an optical character reading device
The lottery ticket discriminating device described in Publication No. 33774 needs to read the lottery number and issue number of the lottery ticket. As a result, the physical reading range has become wider, and the load on the device has increased because the data search process also involves determining the lottery number after determining the issue number.

In addition, the lottery ticket itself required a descriptive section for the same issue, which took up space.

As described above, conventional optical character reading devices do not make effective use of the color of the medium to be read.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a color-compatible optical character reading device that solves the problems of the prior art, enables identification based on color classification, and improves the efficiency of reading processing operations.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the color-compatible optical character reading device of the present invention includes (1) a scanner that reads characters on a reading target medium as image information, and characters read by this scanner based on reference information stored in advance. In an optical character reading device having a character recognition section that recognizes characters corresponding to image information, a color sensor reads a color at a predetermined position on a medium to be read, and an output from this color sensor. Based on this, a color-specific signal transmission control section that controls the transmission of control signals for each color type, and a reference information selection section that narrows down reference information based on the control signal from the color-specific signal transmission control section are provided. Features.

(2) In the color-compatible optical character reading device described in (1) above, the number of scanners equal to the number of color types to be used for colors at predetermined positions on the reading target medium, and The present invention is characterized in that it includes a scanner output selection section that selects one of the outputs from the same number of scanners as the number of color types, based on a control signal from the signal transmission control section.

(3) In the color-compatible optical character reading device described in (1) above, the user manually inputs a control signal corresponding to a color at a predetermined position on the medium to be read. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a selection input section and a color identification result determination section that determines whether the control signal from the manual selection input section matches or does not match the control signal from the color-specific signal transmission control section.

[Effect]

In the present invention, each type of reading target is classified by color. Then, for example, the color at a specific position on the paper is detected using a color sensor in which light-receiving elements with high light-receiving sensitivity are arranged corresponding to the wavelength of each color of light.

Based on the detection results of this color sensor, reference information used during recognition processing is narrowed down. Then, using the narrowed down reference information, recognition processing is performed on the image information of the characters read by the scanner.

This eliminates manual narrowing down operations and shortens the processing time of recognition processing.

In addition, the type of each reading target classified by color is manually specified. Then, it is determined whether the manually specified type matches the detection result of the color sensor.

As a result, the operation of the color sensor and the operator's operation are checked to prevent malfunction of the color sensor or defective character recognition processing caused by the operator's operational error.

In this way, by determining the type of the object to be read based on the color, it is possible to improve the reading processing performance of the optical character reading device.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of an optical character reading device according to the present invention.

Number 2 on card 1 to be read has a color that corresponds to the type of the number, for example, Mincho font, Gothic font, or Chinese numerals.Mincho font is red, Gothic font is blue, and Chinese numeral is It is defined as yellow.

In other words, "0.1.2..." is red, and "0.1.2..." is red.
"..." are printed in blue, and "-1, two, three,..." are printed in yellow.

The optical character reading device of this embodiment includes a color sensor 3 that is provided on the conveyance path of the card 1 and outputs an output corresponding to the color of the number 2, and based on the output from the color sensor 3,
A color-specific signal transmission control unit 4 outputs control signals corresponding to each color (red, blue, yellow), and scanners 5 to 7 (scanners 5
is for red, scanner 6 is for blue, scanner 7 is for yellow)
, scanners 4 to 6 based on the output of the color-specific signal transmission control section 4.
a scanner output selection section 7 that selects a valid output among the numerals 2; a dictionary section 11 that stores a Mincho font dictionary 8, a Gothic font dictionary 9, and a Chinese numeral dictionary 10 prepared for each type of numeral 2; , the reference information selection section 12 selects a dictionary corresponding to the output of the color-specific signal transmission control section 4, and the reading information of the number 2 of any one of the scanners 5 to 7 selected and output by the scanner output selection section 16. , a Mincho typeface dictionary 8, a Gothic typeface dictionary 9, and a Chinese numeral dictionary 1 selected by the reference information selection unit 12.
a recognition unit 13 that correctly recognizes the number 2 by comparing it with one of the dictionaries o, a manual selection input unit 14 through which the user of the device manually selects and inputs the type (color) of the number 2; , a color identification result for determining whether the type (color) of number 2 specified in this manual selection input section 14 matches the output from the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 (the type of number 2 identified by color). It is composed of a determining section 15.

With such a configuration, the optical character reading device of this embodiment efficiently reads the number 2 printed on the card 1 based on the color used for the number 2. The operation will be explained below.

First, when a card 1 is sent by a transport system (not shown), the color sensor 3 reads the color of the number 2 printed at a predetermined position on the card 1.

Here, the color sensor 3 is configured by combining a light receiving element that selectively reacts to the light reflected from the number 2 of the card L according to the wavelength of the light, and a filter corresponding to the wavelength of the light, with a normal light receiving element. .

In this way, the color sensor 3 has light-receiving elements with high light-receiving sensitivity arranged corresponding to the wavelengths of multiple lights of each color, and receives the light reflected from the number 2 on the card 1 to correspond to the printed color. output the color-coded code.

The color-specific signal transmission control section 4 decodes and stores the color-specific code output by the color sensor 3, and sends it to the scanner output selection section 16, the reference information selection section 12, and the color identification result determination section 15.

The scanners 5 to 7 read the number 2 on the card 1 that has passed through the color sensor 3 as an image, and output image information.

In this embodiment, scanners are provided for each color. This is to improve reading accuracy by setting the color sensitivity characteristics of each scanner according to each color.

Now, the image information from the scanners 5 to 7 is sent to the scanner output selection section 16.

The scanner output selection section 16 includes AND gates (AND circuits) 81 to 83 and an OR gate (OR circuit) 84.

The output of the color-specific signal transmission control unit 4 controls the opening and closing of AND gates 81 to 83, and outputs the number 2 from the scanner corresponding to the color of the number 2 of the card 1 among the outputs of the scanners 4 to 6. Select. Number 2 selected in this way
The image information is output to the recognition unit 13 via the ○R gate 84.

Further, the output of the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 is similarly controlled in the reference information selection section 12.

That is, the reference information selection unit 12 uses the AND gate 121
123 and an OR gate 124.

The output of the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 controls the opening and closing of the AND gates 121 to 123, and selects one of the Mincho type dictionary 8, the Gothic type dictionary 9, and the Chinese numeral dictionary 10 in the dictionary section ll. Select the dictionary whose font corresponds to the color of number 2 on card l. The dictionary selected in this way is connected to the recognition section 13 via the OR gate 124, and becomes another input to the recognition section 13.

The recognition unit 13 receives the image information of the number 2 from any of the scanners 5 to 7 inputted via the scanner output selection unit 16 and the Mincho font dictionary 8 inputted via the reference information selection unit 12.
, the Gothic dictionary 9, or the Chinese numeral dictionary lo, and compares and references the candidate characters to recognize the correct number 2.

Note that the recognition processing operation of the recognition unit 13 is a conventional technology and is not directly related to the present invention, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the manual selection input section 14 includes switches 141 to 143 that the user presses to specify the type of number 2;
It has storage circuits 144 to 146 made up of F/Fs (flip-flops) that store the states of the respective switches 141 to 143, and outputs information on the type of number 2 selected by the user to the color identification result determination W515.

The color identification result determination section 15 includes AND circuits 151 to 153, a NOR gate 154, and a storage circuit 155 including an F/F (flip-flop).

The AND circuits 151 to 153 each determine whether the input from the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 matches the input from each of the switches 141 to 143 of the manual selection input section 14. If they match, the output of the NOR gate 154 becomes "0".
”, and if they do not match, the output of the NOR gate 154 becomes “1”.

The output "1" of the NOR gate 154 is sent to an alarm generating device (not shown) via the memory circuit 155 to sound an alarm and notify the user of the error.

In this way, according to the optical character reading device of this embodiment, it is possible to narrow down appropriate reference information based on color-based judgment and perform efficient character recognition processing that corresponds to color.

The color-compatible optical character reading device shown in Figure 1 is equipped with a scanner for each type of color, but it is not possible to use a scanner that has sufficient reading sensitivity for each type of color. For example, only one scanner is enough. In this case, the scanner output selection section 16 becomes unnecessary.

Further, the color detected by the color sensor 3 does not have to be the color of number 2 on the card 1. For example, if space allows, you can print a color code in a new location, or simply use the background color.

Further, this example is an example of the present invention, and further includes:
Various applications are possible.

For example, by applying it to an optical character reading device for handwritten characters, even when characters are handwritten on colored paper with a colored pen, by identifying the color of the paper,
The probability of recognizing characters using color pens can be improved.

Hereinafter, as an application example of the color-compatible optical character reading device, a lottery ticket discriminating device will be described.

FIG. fJ2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of a lottery-equipped security discriminating device according to the present invention to which the optical character reading device of FIG. 1 is applied.

The configuration of the lottery security discriminating device of this embodiment is basically as follows.
It is the same as the color compatible optical character reading device shown in FIG.
The lottery ticket 2I having the following is the object to be read.

The lottery ticket discriminating device of this embodiment has the following configuration similar to that shown in FIG.

First, the lottery-equipped securities discriminating device of this embodiment uses the lottery number 2.
2, a color-specific signal transmission control section 4 that outputs a control signal corresponding to each color based on the output from the color sensor 3, and a color-specific signal transmission control section 4 that outputs a control signal corresponding to each color. Reference information selection unit 12 selects reference information corresponding to the output of 1. A manual selection input section 14 that arbitrarily specifies and selects the type of reference information corresponding to the identification color frame 23; a color specified by the manual selection input section 14 and a color identified by the color-specific signal transmission control section 4; a scanner 7 that reads the lottery number 22 as image information; a recognition unit 1 that correctly recognizes the lottery number 22 from the image information read by the scanner 7;
Consists of 3.

In this embodiment, the lottery numbers 22 are of a single color, and a single scanner 7 is sufficient as the scanner.

Furthermore, the lottery ticket discriminating device of this embodiment has the following configurations different from that in FIG.

That is, in the lottery ticket identification device of the present embodiment, the reference information selection section 2 stores the data to be selected in the winning number storage section 28, and the winning number storage section 28 stores the winning number storage section 28 for storing the data to be selected. winning number data 25 to 27 for each seal type, dictionary section 24 that stores character information used to correctly recognize the lottery number 22 in the recognition section 13, lottery number 22 recognized by the recognition section 13, and reference information. Selection section 12
It is comprised of a comparison/judgment section 29 that compares and verifies the winning number data obtained through the lottery ticket and determines whether the lottery ticket 21 is a winning ticket or not.

With such a configuration, the lottery security discrimination device of this embodiment efficiently determines whether the lottery number 22 printed on the lottery security 21 is a hit or miss based on the color used in the identification color frame 23. . The operation will be explained below.

First, when the lottery ticket 21 is sent by a transport system (not shown), the color sensor 3 reads the color of the identification color frame 23 printed at a predetermined position on the lottery ticket 21 and corresponds to the color. output the color-coded code.

The color-coded signal sending section 4 decodes and stores the color-coded code output by the color sensor 3.

The scanner 7 detects the lottery tickets 21 that have passed through the color sensor 3.
The lottery number 22 is read as an image and the image information is output.

Image information from the scanner 7 is sent to the recognition section 13.

The recognition S unit 13 refers to the dictionary 24 and determines the correct lottery number 2 from the image information from the scanner 7 based on pattern recognition.
Recognize 2.

Note that the recognition processing operation of the recognition unit 13 is a conventional technique and is not directly related to the present invention, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Now, the output of the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 controls the reference information selection section 12.

That is, the reference information selection unit 12 uses the AND gate 121
~123 and an OR gate 124.

The output of the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 is output from the AND gates 121 to 121.
Winning number data 25 that controls the opening and closing of 123 and stores winning data of each type in the winning number storage section 28.
27, the type of winning number data corresponding to the color of the identification color frame 23 of the lottery ticket 21 is selected. The winning number data selected in this way is transmitted to the OR gate 124.
It becomes another input to the comparison/judgment circuit 29 via the.

The comparison/judgment circuit 29 compares and refers to the lottery number 22 of the recognition unit 13 and the winning number data from the reference information selection unit 12, determines whether the lottery ticket 21 is a hit or miss, and outputs the result.

Next, the manual selection input unit 14 includes switches 141 to 143 that the user presses to specify the type (issue number) of the lottery ticket 21, and a memory circuit that stores the states of each switch 141 to 143. 144 to 146, and outputs information on the type of lottery ticket 21 (issue number) specified by the user to the color identification result determination section 15.

The color identification result determination section 15 includes AND circuits 151 to 153, a NOR gate 154, and a storage circuit 155. The AND circuits 151 to 153 each receive an input from the color-specific signal transmission control section 4 and a manual selection input section 14.
It is determined whether the inputs match the inputs from the switches 141 to 143. If they match, the output of the NOR gate 154 will be “
O”, and if they do not match, the NOR gate 154
The output of is I'lJ.

The output "1" of the NOR gate 154 is sent to an alarm generating device (not shown) via the storage circuit 155 to sound an alarm and notify the user of a processing error.

As described above, according to the lottery ticket identification device of the present embodiment, appropriate winning number data is selected from a plurality of prepared winning number data by judgment based on color, and efficient reference processing and judgment are possible. can be processed.

Note that the configuration of the scanner and recognition unit in FIG.
1, by providing a plurality of scanners for each color and the scanner output selection section 16, and by providing the dictionary section shown as an example in FIG. 1 in the dictionary section of FIG. 2, for example, It is also possible to deal with lottery tickets that do not have the identification color frame 23, and moreover, it is possible to perform recognition processing, reference processing, and judgment processing with high efficiency.

CJ! Effect of Brightness] According to the present invention, identification based on color coding is possible, and the efficiency of the reading processing operation of the optical character reading device can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of an optical character reading device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the optical character reading device shown in FIG. 1. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of a lottery ticket discriminating device to which a reading device is applied, according to the present invention; FIG. 1: Card, 2: Number, 3: Color sensor, 4: Color-specific signal transmission control section, 5 to 7: Scanner, 8: Mincho type dictionary, 9: Gothic type dictionary, 10 Nyaku number dictionary. 11: Dictionary section, 12: Reference information selection section, 13: Recognition section,
14: Manual selection input section, 15: Color identification result determination section, 16
:Scanner output selection part, 21:(Security with stock, 22:<
Same number, 23: Identification color frame. 24: Dictionary section, 25-27: Winning number data. 28: Winning number storage section, 29: Comparison determination section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A scanner that reads characters on a reading target medium as one piece of information, and character recognition means that recognizes characters corresponding to image information of characters read by the scanner based on reference information stored in advance. An optical character reading device having a color sensor that reads a color at a predetermined position on the medium to be read, and controlling the transmission of control signals for each type of color based on the output from the color sensor. 1. A color-compatible optical character reading device, comprising: a color-specific signal transmission control means for controlling the color-specific signal transmission; and a reference information selection means for narrowing down the reference information based on the control signal from the color-specific signal transmission control means. 2. The color-compatible optical character reading device according to claim 1, wherein the number of scanners is the same as the number of color types used for colors at predetermined positions on the medium to be read, and the color-specific signals. A color compatible optical type, characterized in that it is provided with scanner output selection means for selecting one of the outputs from the same number of scanners as the number of color types, based on a control signal from the transmission control means. Character reader. 3. In the color-compatible optical character reading device according to claim 1, a manual selection input means by which a user manually inputs a control signal corresponding to a color at a predetermined position on the medium to be read. and color identification result determining means for determining whether the control signal from the manual selection input means matches or does not match the control signal from the color-specific signal sending control means. Character reader.