JPH10269311A - Slip processing unit designating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and also simply designate the processing content of each slip even when a slip processor continuously processes plural slips which have a different processing content. SOLUTION: Slip groups that consist of plural slips 11 to 19 and an invoice slip 30 are successively read and whether it is an invoice slip 30 or not is decided whenever it is read. When an object to be read is a invoice slip 30, slips which are objects to be read after the invoice slip 30 and also are objects to be read until the next invoice slip 30 are made one processing unit 10a to 10c. In every processing unit 10a to 10c, output destinations 20a to 20c of read results are decided according to a preliminarily performed setting or a setting that is performed each time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form processing unit for continuously processing a plurality of forms having different processing contents, and to a method for specifying a processing unit in the plurality of forms. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a form processing apparatus, for example, a general document reading apparatus such as an OCR (Optical Character Reader) or an image processing system such as a data filing system is used to describe contents described on a form to be processed. There is known a device that reads characters and performs processes such as character recognition and data management. In such a form processing apparatus, in order to enable quick processing, a plurality of forms having different processing contents, for example, a plurality of forms having different output destinations of processing results and a plurality of forms having different types (formats) are to be processed. Processing can be performed sequentially and continuously. However, in order to perform this continuous processing, the processing content for each form must be specified.

Conventionally, in a form processing apparatus, the specification of the processing content of each form is performed according to the following procedure.
For example, a classification ID (id
The form processing device sequentially processes a plurality of forms to which the (entification) is added. At this time, the form processing apparatus reads the classification ID from the form to be processed and recognizes it, and determines the processing content of the form to be processed according to the recognition result. As a result, in the form processing device,
Even a plurality of forms having different processing contents can be processed continuously.

[0004] When a classification ID is not assigned to each form, a form having the same processing content among a plurality of forms to be processed is put together as one processing unit, and before and after the processing unit. A “batch slip” unique to each processing unit is inserted in (at the beginning and end). Then, the form processing device sequentially processes such a form group. At this time,
The form processing device determines whether or not the processing target is a “batch form” each time the processing is performed, and if the processing target is a “batch form”, the processing content of each form belonging to a processing unit between the “batch forms” Is determined according to the instruction by the “batch slip”, that is, the read result from the “batch slip”. As a result, the form processing apparatus can perform different processing for each processing unit classified by the “batch form”.

[0005]

However, the above-described designation procedure, that is, the conventional form processing unit designation method, has the following problems. For example, when the form processing apparatus determines the processing content based on the classification ID on each form, all the forms to be processed must be provided with the classification ID corresponding to the processing content in advance. No. That is, a form without a classification ID cannot be processed by the form processing apparatus. Furthermore, classification ID
It is necessary to determine in advance the correspondence between the data and the processing content, and to register (store) the correspondence in the form processing device. Therefore, in this case, there is a possibility that the specification of the processing content of each form becomes troublesome.

When the form processing device determines the processing content based on the "batch slip", it is necessary to create a "batch slip" unique to each processing unit. In other words, for each processing content executed by the form processing device, an individual “batch form”
Must be created. Therefore, also in this case, similarly to the case described above, there is a possibility that the specification of the processing content becomes troublesome.

Therefore, the present invention does not require a classification ID or a "batch slip" unique to each processing unit even when a plurality of forms having different processing contents are successively processed by the form processing apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide a form processing unit designating method capable of easily and simply designating the processing contents of each form, that is, specifying the division of each processing unit in a plurality of forms.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for designating a form processing unit devised to achieve the above object, and the following technical steps are taken. That is, according to the present invention, a form processing unit used in a form processing apparatus capable of sequentially reading the contents described in a plurality of forms from each form and outputting a read result from each form to a plurality of output destinations In the designation method, reading is sequentially performed on a form group including a plurality of forms and a partition form inserted in a necessary portion between the plurality of forms, and each time the form group is read in order, the read target is Determine whether or not the partition form, if the object to be read is the partition form, it will be read after the partition form, and one form to be read until the next partition form A processing unit is used, and an output destination of a read result is determined in advance for each processing unit or according to a setting performed each time.

According to the form processing unit designating method according to the above procedure, a form group consisting of a plurality of forms and a partition form is read in order, and if the object to be read in the form group is a partition form, the form is read in advance or each time. According to the setting, the output destination of the read result after the partition form is switched. Therefore, if a partition form is inserted at a necessary position between the forms, even when a plurality of forms having different output destinations are processed continuously, for example, a classification ID or a “batch form” is not required. The output destination of each form can be switched for each processing unit separated by the partition form.

Also, the present invention provides a form processing apparatus capable of sequentially reading the contents described in a plurality of types of forms from each form and performing reading corresponding to the type of each form at the time of reading. A method for specifying a form processing unit to be used, wherein reading is sequentially performed on a form group including the plurality of types of forms and a partition form inserted at a necessary position between these forms, and reading is sequentially performed on the form group. In addition, it is determined whether or not the read object is the partition form, and if the read object is the partition form, the read object is read after the partition form, and
A form to be read before the next partition form is set as one processing unit, and for each of the one processing unit, the type of the form in the processing unit is set to a predetermined value or read from the form in the processing unit. It is characterized by making a judgment based on the result.

According to the form processing unit designating method according to the above procedure, a form group consisting of a plurality of forms and partition forms is read in order, and if the object to be read in the form group is a partition form, a predetermined setting or According to the result of reading from the form in the processing unit, the type of the form after the partition form is determined, and the description content is read from the form based on the determination result. Therefore, if you insert the partition form at the required place between each form,
Even when a plurality of types of forms are continuously processed, for example, it is possible to perform reading corresponding to the type of each form without requiring a classification ID or a “batch form”.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method for specifying a form processing unit according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] Here, a first embodiment will be described.
A method of designating a form processing unit according to the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the form processing unit designating method according to the present embodiment reads the contents described in a plurality of forms 11 to 19 from each form 11 to 19 and the reading result from each form 11 to 19 Is output to a plurality of output destinations 20a, 20b, and 20c. For this purpose, in this form processing unit designating method, a partition form 30, which will be described in detail later, is inserted into a required portion between the forms 11 to 19.

Here, prior to a detailed description of this form processing unit designating method, a form processing apparatus using this form processing unit designating method will be described. The form processing device is, for example, a general document reading device. As shown in FIG. 2, an image input unit 41, a processing unit determination unit 42, a format determination unit 43, a format database unit 44, a scanning unit 45, a character recognition unit 46, an output character string forming unit 47, and an output destination determination unit 48. The output destination determination unit 48 further includes a plurality of recognition result output destinations 20a,
20b are connected.

The image input unit 41 reads the contents of the form as image data from a plurality of forms 11 to 19 or partition forms 30 to be read. However, in the image input unit 41, reading of image data is sequentially and continuously performed for a form group including the forms 11 to 19 and the partition form 30.

When the image input unit 41 reads image data, the processing unit determination unit 42 determines whether or not the read object is the partition form 30. However, in the processing unit determination unit 42, the format database unit 44
Is determined based on the information stored in the.

The format determining section 43 includes an image input section 4
In the case where the objects to be read in 1 are the forms 11 to 19, the format of each form 11 to 19 is determined. The format database unit 44 stores in advance information necessary for the determination by the processing unit determination unit 42 and the determination by the format determination unit 43 (information related to the format of each of the forms 11 to 19).

The scanning unit 45 scans a character area on each of the forms 11 to 19 in accordance with the determination made by the format determination unit 43 when the object to be read by the image input unit 41 is the forms 11 to 19. The character shape described in the area is obtained as input data. The character recognizing unit 46 performs character recognition on a character area on each of the forms 11 to 19 based on the input data obtained by the scanning unit 45. The output character string forming unit 47 converts the character recognition result by the character recognizing unit 46 into text data or the like, and forms an output character string.

The output destination judging section 48 outputs the output character string
7 among the plurality of recognition result output destinations 20a, 20b,... Connected to the output destination determination unit 48.
The output destination is determined. However, the output destination determination unit 48 makes this determination in accordance with a processing sequence described later or designation from an operator.

Next, the form processing unit designating method used in the form processing apparatus configured as described above, that is, the procedure of the form processing unit designating method of the present embodiment will be described.
This will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG.

In this form processing unit designating method, when a plurality of forms 11 to 19 are processed by the form processing apparatus,
First, among these forms 11 to 19, those having the same output destination are put together as one processing unit 10a, 10b, 10c, and the partition form 30 is inserted between the processing units 10a, 10b, 10c. deep.

The partition form 30 has a format different from any of the formats stored in the format database section 44. That is,
A special pattern different from any of the plurality of forms 11 to 19 is drawn on the partition form 30. Here,
It is assumed that each of the forms 11 to 19 has the same format. In addition, each processing unit 10a, 10
It is assumed that all of the partition forms 30 between b and 10c are common, that is, the same pattern is drawn.

When the partition form 30 is inserted between the processing units 10a, 10b and 10c, the image input section 41
Reads image data sequentially and continuously from a group of forms 11 to 19 and a partition form 30.

At this time, in the processing unit determination section 42, every time the image input section 41 reads each of the forms 11 to 19 or the partition form 30, the image input section 41 reads out the image data obtained by the reading. It is determined whether the target is the partition form 30 or not. This determination is made by comparing the image data from the image input unit 41 with information stored in the format database unit 44. That is, if the image data from the image input unit 41 does not match the information in the format database unit 44, it is determined that the reading target is the partition form 30.

Here, the processing unit determination unit 42 determines that the partition form 3
If it is determined that it is not 0, the object to be read is the form 11
19, the format determination unit 43 and the scanning unit 4
5, and the character recognition unit 46 performs processing necessary for character recognition on the read target. Then, based on the result of the character recognition, the output character string forming unit 47 forms an output character string.

When the output character string forming section 47 forms an output character string, the output destination determining section 48 determines an output destination of the output character string in accordance with a processing sequence or designation from an operator. The processing sequence is information for specifying the relationship between the output destination for each processing unit 10a, 10b, and 10c and the processing order, and is stored in the output destination determination unit 48 or a storage device (not shown) connected thereto. Is set in advance. When the processing sequence is not set, each time the processing units 10a, 10b, and 10c are processed, an operator (e.g., a keyboard) or the like connected to the output destination determination unit 48 is used to notify the operator of the form processing apparatus. What is necessary is just to specify the output destination for each processing unit 10a, 10b, 10c.

When the output character string is output to the output destination determined by the output destination determination unit 48, that is, any one of the plurality of output destinations 20a, 20b, and 20c, the processing unit determination unit 42 Then, it is determined whether or not the next read target in the image input unit 41 is the partition form 30. If the result of this determination is that the next object to be read is not the partition form 30, the same processing is repeated again for that object to be read.

However, the processing unit determination unit 42 determines that the partition form 3
If it is determined to be 0, the same processing as described above is not performed on the partition form 30, and the output destination determining unit 48 performs the following processing. That is, the output destination determination unit 48
The forms 14, 1 to be read after the partition form 30 and to be read before the next partition form
5 and 16 as one processing unit 10b, and the partition form 3
It is determined that the processing unit 10a is different from the processing unit 10a before 0. Then, in order to make the output destination of the processing unit 10b after the partition form 30 different from the output destination of the processing unit 10a before the partition form 30, the processing order in the processing sequence is incremented. If the processing sequence is not set, the operator may specify a new output destination.

Thereafter, the processing unit determination section 42 determines whether or not the next read target is the partition form 30. Then, as a result of this determination, if the reading target is not the partition form 30, the same processing as described above is repeated for the reading target. At this time, the output destination determination unit 48 determines that the output destination of the output character string obtained from the read target is different from the output destination of the processing unit 10a before the partition form 30.

As described above, in the form processing unit designating method according to the present embodiment, a plurality of forms 11 to 19 and a partition form 30 are designated.
Are read in order for a group of forms consisting of: If the object to be read in the group of forms is a partition form 30,
The partition form 3 in advance or according to each setting
The output destination of the read result after 0 is switched. Therefore, a plurality of forms 11 to 11 having different output destinations
Even when processing 19 consecutively, each form 11-
19 is assigned a classification ID in advance, or a “batch slip” unique to each processing unit 10a, 10b, 10c.
There is no need to create

That is, a plurality of forms 11 to 11 having different output destinations
Even when processing 19 consecutively, each form 11-
If the partition form 30 is inserted in a necessary place between the 19, the processing units 10a, 10b, 1
0c, and the output destination is switched for each processing unit 10a, 10b, 10c.
To 19, that is, each processing unit 10a, 1
Designation of the breaks of 0b and 10c can be performed easily and more easily than in the past.

In the form processing unit designating method according to the present embodiment, a special pattern different from each of the forms 11 to 19 is drawn on the partition form 30, and further, each processing unit 10a, 10b, 10c A common partition form 30 is inserted between them. That is, the partition form 30 does not need to include information for designating an output destination, such as a conventional classification ID or a “batch form”, and a plurality of output forms can be performed by one type of partition form 30. Destinations 20a, 20b,
20c, that is, a plurality of processing units 10a, 10b, 10
c. Therefore, each processing unit 1
The designation of the break of 0a, 10b, 10c is more than before.
It becomes even easier and simpler.

In the present embodiment, the case where a special pattern different from any of the forms 11 to 19 is drawn on the partition form 30 has been described as an example. For example, as shown in FIG. The partition form 30a may have a different paper thickness or a different paper size as compared with each of the forms 11 to 19. That is, as in the third aspect of the invention, the partition form 30a may be formed in a shape different from each of the forms 11 to 19, and in this case, the same effect as in the above case is obtained. be able to. However, when the partition form 30a has a different shape, the processing unit determination unit 42 determines the partition based on the detection result by the photoelectric sensor or the like arranged at a predetermined position instead of the image data from the image input unit 41. It may be determined whether the document is the form 30a.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a method of designating a form processing unit according to the present invention will be described.

The form processing unit designation method of the present embodiment is as follows.
This is used in the form processing apparatus described in the first embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of types of forms 51 to 51 having different formats, such as an XX request form, an invoice, and a □ registration form. 59, the contents of each form 5
This is a method for making it possible to read from 1 to 59 and to perform reading corresponding to the format of each form 51 to 59 at the time of reading. That is, even if the position of the character area is different for each type of format, it is a method for making it possible to continuously perform character recognition corresponding to each format.

For this purpose, in the form processing unit designating method, when the forms 51 to 59 are processed by the form processing apparatus, first, each of the forms 51 to 59 having the same format is treated as one processing unit. 50a, 50
b, 50c, and each processing unit 50a, 50b,
The partition form 30 is inserted between 50c. It is assumed that information on the format of each of the forms 51 to 59 is stored in the format database unit 44 in advance. Further, the partition form 30 has a format different from any of the formats stored in the format database unit 44, as in the case of the first embodiment, and furthermore, the processing units 50a, 50b, 50c
The same shall be inserted between.

When the partition form 30 is inserted between the processing units 50a, 50b, and 50c, as in the case of the first embodiment, the form group composed of the forms 51 to 59 and the partition form 30 is processed. Then, the image input unit 41 performs reading, and the processing unit determination unit 42 determines whether or not the document is the partition form 30.

Here, the processing unit determination unit 42 determines that the partition form 3
If the format is determined to be 0, the format determining unit 43 determines the format type of the form to be read immediately after that. That is, the format determination unit 43 selects an appropriate format from the format database unit 44 for the form, and performs the subsequent character recognition processing. Then, the character recognition process is continued according to the same format until it is determined that the document is the partition form 30 next.

The format selection by the format determining section 43 is performed in a predetermined setting, that is, in advance, as in the case of the first embodiment.
The processing is performed in accordance with a processing sequence for specifying the relationship between the type of format for each of 50b and 50c and the processing order, or specified by an operator set each time.

However, if the format determination section 43 has a format identification function, the format of the form immediately after the partition form 30 may be identified, and the format type may be determined from the identification result. The format identification function recognizes the image data read by the image input unit 41, compares the recognition result with the information in the format database unit 44, and determines which form the image data is based on. It is a function to identify whether the item is a device.

When the type of the format is determined using the format identification function, the format may be identified only for the form immediately after the partition form 30. This is because, within the form group, the forms 51 to 59 are grouped for each same format, and the processing units 50a, 50
This is because 0b and 50c are separated by the partition form 30. That is, the format can be identified for the form immediately after the partition form 30 and the same format as the identification result up to the next partition form 30 can be used to shorten the processing time. .

As described above, in the form processing unit designating method of the present embodiment, the plurality of forms 51 to 59 and the partition form 30
Are read in order for a group of forms consisting of: If the object to be read in the group of forms is a partition form 30,
In accordance with a predetermined setting or the identification result of the form immediately after the partition form 30, the type of format of the form after the partition form 30 is determined, and character recognition is performed based on the determination result. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the designation of the format type of each of the forms 51 to 59, that is, the designation of the delimiter of each processing unit 50a, 50b, 50c is conventionally performed. Can be performed easily and simply.

In the form processing unit designating method according to the present embodiment, a special pattern different from any of the forms 11 to 19 is drawn on the partition form 30, and further, each processing unit 10a, 10b, 10c A common partition form 30 is inserted between them. That is, the partition form 30 does not need to include information for designating an output destination, such as a conventional classification ID or a “batch form”, and a plurality of output forms can be performed by one type of partition form 30. Destinations 20a, 20b,
20c, that is, a plurality of processing units 10a, 10b, 10
c. Therefore, each processing unit 1
The designation of the break of 0a, 10b, 10c is more than before.
It becomes even easier and simpler.

In this embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the partition form 30a is stored in each form 5
Paper thickness or paper size may be different from 1 to 59 (see FIG. 5). That is, as in the invention described in claim 6, the partition form 30a may be formed in a shape different from each of the forms 51 to 59, and in this case, the same effect as in the above case is obtained. be able to.

[0045]

As described above, in the form processing unit designating method of the present invention, a form group consisting of a plurality of forms and a partition form is read in order, and the read object in the form group is a partition form. If there is, the processing contents of the form to be processed after the partition form are switched to those before the partition form. Therefore, even when a plurality of forms with different processing contents are processed consecutively, if a partition form is inserted at a necessary place between the forms,
Since the processing unit is determined based on the partition form and the processing contents are switched for each processing unit, the designation of the output destination of each form, that is, the designation of the division of each processing unit, can be performed more easily and more easily than in the past. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a first embodiment of a form processing unit specifying method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a form processing apparatus using the form processing unit designation method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an outline of another example according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a second embodiment of a form processing unit designation method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of another example according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10a, 10b, 10c, 50a, 50b, 50c Processing unit 11-19, 51-59 Form 20a, 20
b, 20c Output destination 30, 30a Partition form

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A form processing unit designation used in a form processing apparatus capable of sequentially reading the contents described in a plurality of forms from each form and outputting a read result from each form to a plurality of output destinations. The method, in order to sequentially read a form group consisting of the plurality of forms and a partition form inserted at a required location between the forms, each time the form group is read sequentially, the read target is the It is determined whether or not it is a partition form, and if the object to be read is the partition form, the form to be read after the partition form and the form to be read before the next partition form are processed as one process. A method of designating a form processing unit, wherein the output destination of the read result is determined in advance or according to a setting performed each time, for each of the processing units. 2. The form processing unit designation method according to claim 1, wherein said partition form is different from said plurality of forms and has a common format in said form group. 3. The form processing unit designating method according to claim 1, wherein said partition form is different from said plurality of forms and is formed in a common shape in said form group. . 4. A form processing apparatus used in a form processing apparatus capable of sequentially reading the contents described in a plurality of types of forms from each form and performing reading corresponding to each form type at the time of the reading. A unit designation method, in which reading is sequentially performed on a form group including the plurality of types of forms and a partition form inserted at a necessary position between the forms, and each time the form group is read, the reading is performed. Determine whether the target is the partition form, if the read target is the partition form, it will be read after the partition form, and the form to be read until the next partition form As one processing unit, the type of the form in the processing unit is determined for each of the one processing unit based on a predetermined setting or a result of reading from the form in the processing unit. A method for designating a form processing unit. 5. The form processing unit designating method according to claim 4, wherein the partition form is different from the plurality of forms and has a common format in the form group. 6. The form processing unit designation method according to claim 4, wherein said partition form is different from said plurality of forms and is formed in a common shape in said form group. .