JPH045780A - Picture inputting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To read the character information and the seal print information of a document by reading the information of the document with irradiating with a red lamp first, reading the document with irradiating with a green lamp next, synthesizing the both of the read information and making them as the picture data of the whole. CONSTITUTION:The information of a document 1 is read by being irradiated with a red lamp 2 first, the information of the document 1 is read by being irradiated with a green lamp 21 next, the information read with the read lamp 2 and the information read with the green lamp 21 are synthesized at a picture processing control part 20 and they made as the picture data of the whole. That is, when the example of the case of the document of a figure 7 is cited, the character information written in normal black is read as the information when it is irradiated with the red lamp 2, seal prints 12 are read as the information when they are irradiated with the green lamp 21 to by the complementary color relation of red and when the read information is synthesized, the black character information and the red seal print information can be read. The same interface as that of a conventional recognizing part can by taken by this system.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The purpose of this invention is to provide an image input device for reading image information on a form, which is designed to be able to read character information and seal imprint information written on a form. A red lamp, a green lamp for irradiating the form, a mirror that receives the reflected light when the form is irradiated with these lamps, an optical system that receives the reflected light from the mirror, and an electrical signal for the reflected light that has passed through the optical system. It is composed of an image sensor that converts the image into a 3D image, and an image processing control unit that receives the output of the image sensor, processes the image, and controls the switching of the lamp. The information on the form is read by illuminating the green lamp, and the information read by the red lamp and the information read by the green lamp are combined by the image processing control section to form the entire image data.

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image input device for reading image information of a form.

For example, a savings request slip, which is a type of ledger, usually includes a bank of text information and the seal of the holder of the savings passbook. In this case, it is necessary to read not only character information but also seal imprint information.

[Prior Art] FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a conventional image input device. 1
is a form, and the form 1 is irradiated with the red lamp 2. The reflected light from the form 1 enters the mirror 3 and is reflected. This reflected light enters the optical system 4 and is focused. The optical information focused by the optical system 4 enters the image sensor 5 and is converted into an electrical signal.

The output of the image sensor 5 enters an image processing section 6 where it is converted into digital data and subjected to predetermined image processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the entry in the form 1. In the figure,
11- is a character frame, 12 is a seal impression, and 13 is map information.

Predetermined characters are written in the character frame 11. The character frame 11 is placed in a predetermined position for a scribe to write characters on, and is inconvenient for character recognition, so the character frame 11 is printed in red, which is a dropout color (a color that the device cannot recognize). Black characters are written inside this red frame. The seal impression 12 is red because vermilion is used. The map information 13 is black. Information is captured by scanning such a form line by line (the n-th line is shown in the figure).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In conventional image input devices, the color of the light source is red or infrared, which has many dropout colors.

For this reason, black image data can be read as is, but
If you want to read a stamp image on a form with a stamp image attached, such as a recent application form, the red stamp image will be dropped. So, should I give up on reading the seal impression?
Or the color of the light source was changed to green which can be read from red.

However, if the light source color was green, there was a problem that the dropout color would be very small.

The present invention has been made in view of the second problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image-powered device that can read character information and seal impression information written on a form. It is said that A further object of the present invention is to provide an image input device that can utilize conventional character recognition processing as is.

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention. Components that are the same as those in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals. In the figure, 1 is a form, 2 is a red lamp for irradiating the form, 21 is a green lamp for irradiating the form, 3 is a mirror that receives reflected light when the form is irradiated with these lamps, and 4 is the reflection of the mirror 3. An optical system for receiving light; 5 is an image sensor that converts the reflected light that has passed through the optical system 4 into an electrical signal; 20 receives the output of the image sensor 5 and performs image processing and switching control of the lamps 2 and 21; This is an image processing control section. Image processing control section 2
0 can only control the on/off of the red lamp 2 and green lamp 21.

As the image sensor 5, a line sensor capable of reading all pixels of one line is used.

[Operation: First, irradiate the red lamp 2, read the information on the form 1,
Next, illuminate the green lamp 21 to read the information on the form 1,
The information read by the red lamp 2 and the information read by the green lamp 21 are combined by the image processing control section 20 to form the entire image data.

In other words, taking the case of the form shown in Figure 7 as an example, character information written in normal black can be read as information when the red lamp 2 is irradiated, and the seal impression 12 is irradiated with the green lamp 21, which is the complementary color of red. If the information is read as information and the read information is combined, it is possible to read the black character information and the red seal imprint information. This method allows the same interface as the conventional recognition unit.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

Components that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the figure, 30 is a roller that feeds out the form 1, 4 is a lens as an optical system, and 5 is a CCD as an image sensor.
, 31 is an amplifier that amplifies the output of the CCD 5. The image processing control unit 20 includes a control circuit 20b that controls the entire A/D converter 20a1 that receives the output of the amplifier 21 and converts it into digital data, and a switching signal output from the control circuit 20b when the red lamp is irradiated. A switching unit 20C1 synthesizes the data of 20C and the data at the time of green lamp irradiation to form one image signal, an image memory 20d that stores the output of the switching unit 20c, and a character portion recognized from the data in the image memory 2Od. recognition unit 20 that converts into character code
It is composed of e.

The control circuit 20b controls on/off of the red lamp 2 and the green lamp 21. The operation of the device configured as described above will be explained as follows.

First, the control circuit 20b turns on the red lamp 2. As a result, the reflected image of the form 1 illuminated by the red lamp 2 enters the mirror 3. The light incident on the mirror 3 is reflected and enters the lens 4, and the lens 4 focuses the light.

The focused light enters the CCD 5 and is converted into an electrical signal corresponding to the image. Here, if a line sensor is used as the CCD 5, data for one line of the form 1 will be read at the same time.

The output of the CCD 5 at this time is amplified by the amplifier 31 and then converted into digital data by the A/D converter 20a. The output of the A/D converter 20a enters the switching section 20c. Next, the control circuit 20b turns on the green lamp 21. At this time, the reflected image of form 1 is obtained by A/D in the same way.
The data is converted into digital data by the converter 20a. The switching unit 20c combines the data when the red lamp is irradiated and the data when the green lamp is irradiated into one image based on the control signal from the control circuit 20b, and writes it into the image memory 20d.

When one line of image data is read in this way, the control circuit 20b then drives the conveyance roller 3o to rotate the form 1 for one line. The above operation is repeated for the document whose position has been moved by feeding out, and one line of image data is written into the image memory 20d.

After all the data of the form is stored in the image memory 20d in this manner, the recognition unit 20e scans the contents of the image memory 20d, recognizes character images, and converts them into corresponding character codes. The reason for converting character parts into character codes in this way is for data processing needs.

For example, assuming that the form is as shown in FIG.
The map information 13 is read as data when the red lamp 2 is irradiated. Then, the character part is processed as character code data by the recognition unit 20e, and the seal impression 12. Map information 13 is processed as image data.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing the operation when reading a form according to the present invention. It is assumed that the form is as shown in Figure 7. (a) shows the order of line scans, which are updated sequentially as n scans and n+1 scans. During these n scans, red lighting and green lighting are performed in a time-division manner as shown in (b), and image information for each color is read as shown in (d). The read data is read out to the switching unit 20c as red data and green data, as shown in (e). When n scans are completed, the form is 1 as shown in (C).
The image information of the next (n+1) line is read by moving the image by one line.

Next, the details of distinguishing between reading by the red lamp and reading by the green lamp will be explained. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of area specification according to the present invention. Assuming that the coordinates of the left end of form 1 are (1, 1), the green data area (hatched area in the figure) is specified by (XY+), (X2, Y2). It is assumed that the line count corresponds one-to-one to the number of pulses of the feed motor of form l. Further, it is assumed that the X coordinate values X1° and X2 correspond to a pair of pixel bits of the CCD.

Therefore, using a line counter (not shown) and a CCD bit counter, green data areas (X+Y,), (X2 .
By recognizing Y2) and switching between red data and green data, it is possible to accurately switch between red and green data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a time series of read data according to the area specification shown in FIG. 4. (a) is read data, and (b) is composite data. Among the data strings on the n-th line, ]~X
1-. Red data is selected for bits up to bits, green data is selected for bits X to X2-1, and red data is selected again for bits X2 to m. These data are stored in the switching section 20c (
(see Figure 2) is combined into one data in the image memory 2.
Stored in 0d.

In the embodiment, the same effect can be obtained even if the green lamp is read first or the red lamp is read before the green lamp.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, image information written in black can be read by irradiation with a red lamp, and a red stamp can be read by irradiation with a green lamp, which is the complementary color of red. By combining two pieces of image information, it is possible to read the character information and seal imprint information written on the form, which has a great practical effect. As a result, characters can be processed as codes, and seal impressions can be processed as image data.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a principle block diagram of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a time chart showing the operation when reading a form according to the present invention, and Fig. 4 is according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of coverage area designation, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a time series of read data, FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a conventional device, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a form entry. In FIG. 1, 1 is a form, 2 is a red lamp, 3 is a mirror 4 is an optical system, 5 is an image sensor, 20 is an image processing control unit, and 21 is a green lamp.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A red lamp (2) for irradiating a form, a green lamp (21) for irradiating a form, a mirror (3) that receives reflected light when the form (1) is irradiated with these lamps, and the mirror (3).
an optical system (4) that receives the reflected light, and an image sensor (5) that converts the reflected light that has passed through the optical system (4) into an electrical signal.
), and an image processing control unit (20) that receives the output of the image sensor (5) and performs image processing and switching control of the lamps (2) and (21).
) to read the information on the form (1), then emit the green lamp (21) to read the information on the form (1), and combine the information read with the red lamp (2) with the green lamp (2).
An image input device characterized in that the information read in step 1) is combined in an image processing control section (20) to generate entire image data.