JP2003209643A - Image-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image-processing device which can set a display language based on an information possessed by a user without an IC card or an IC card read function. <P>SOLUTION: The image-processing device includes an image read part 2 which scans a printed matter and reads the image, a display part 7 which displays the message, and a control unit 5 which controls image reading in the image read part 2 and the message display in the display part 7; and processes the image read in the image read part 2. It is possible to select and set the display language which is used for the message display in the display part 7 out of plural display languages. The control unit 5 presumes a language to be used based on the language information shown in the printed matter which is scanned in the image read part 2 by an instruction of a user, and sets a language in the display part 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as a copying machine having a function of reading and processing an image of a printed matter and a function of displaying a message in any of a plurality of languages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A copying machine reads an image of a printed matter such as an original and prints it on a recording sheet. Further, the copying machine is provided with an operation section having various operation keys and a display section, and a message required for operation is displayed on the display section.

Copiers are used in various countries, and depending on the installation location, a plurality of users who use different languages may use one copier. In such a case, it is desirable to change the display language of the copier according to the language used by the user who is actually using the copier so that the displayed message can be easily understood by the user.

As a copying machine satisfying such requirements, for example, a copying machine described in JP-A-11-177739 has been proposed.

In this copying machine, the language information is read from an IC card in which the language information possessed by the user is stored, and the display language of the message to the user is switched.

[0006]

However, in the above copying machine, the copying machine needs to have the function of reading the IC card separately, and the user prepares a special IC card in which his / her language is stored. I had to keep it.

Image processing apparatuses other than copying machines have similar problems.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to
Without needing the reading function of C card or IC card,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device capable of setting a display language based on information of printed matter owned by a user.

[0009]

The image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an image reading unit for scanning a printed material to read the image, a display unit for displaying a message, and an image reading unit for reading the image. A control unit that controls the message display on the display unit and processes the image read by the image reading unit, so that the display language used for the message display on the display unit can be selected and set from a plurality of display languages. In the image processing device, the control unit estimates the language used by the user based on the language information shown on the printed material scanned by the image reading unit by the user, and sets the display language on the display unit. It is characterized by being.

According to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, even if the user does not specify the language to be used, the user's language to be used can be automatically estimated only by causing the image reading unit to scan the printed matter owned by the user. Thus, the display language can be set, and the display language can be easily set without entering a deep hierarchical setting menu. Further, the printed matter can be scanned by the image reading section originally provided in the image processing apparatus, and the image processing apparatus has a function of reading an IC card as in the past, or the user stores the language used. There is no need to prepare a special IC card.

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, the control unit uses the preregistered format of the printed matter to determine the location where the language information is shown in the printed matter.

As a printed matter in which the format is registered, there is a business card, for example.

According to this, the location where the linguistic information is likely to be shown can be known without analyzing the image of the entire surface of the printed matter, and the processing efficiency can be improved.

In the above image processing apparatus, for example,
The printed matter in which the format is registered is the printed matter normally owned by the user.

As a printed matter which the user normally carries in which the format is registered, for example, there is a business card.

According to this, since the printed matter that the user normally possesses is used, it is not necessary for the user to prepare a special printed matter, and the guest user can also use the image processing apparatus.

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, the control unit uses the country name shown in the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used by the user.

According to this, it is possible to estimate the approximate language used and set the display language depending on the country in which the user lives.

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, the control section uses the country code of the telephone number shown on the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used by the user.

According to this, it is possible to know the country in which the user lives by using the country code of the telephone number, thereby estimating the approximate language to be used and setting the display language.

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, the control unit uses the character type shown in the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used by the user.

According to this, by using the characters peculiar to the language,
The language used can be estimated and the display language can be set.

In the above image processing apparatus, for example,
For each language, a score for a predetermined character is given, and the control unit sums up the scores given to the predetermined characters shown on the printed matter for each language, and based on the total score of each language. , Estimate the user's language.

According to this, it is possible to more accurately estimate the language used by giving a score to the character peculiar to the language and giving it a weight.

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, when there are a plurality of candidates for the selected display language, the control unit causes the display unit to display a message in a plurality of languages to allow the user to determine the display language. You can do it.

According to this, even when the number of display language candidates cannot be narrowed down to one, the display language can be determined by leaving the final judgment to the user.

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, means for resetting the display language setting after use and returning to the standby mode for displaying the message in the preset default language is provided.

According to this, after use, the user can easily restore the display language setting to the original default language by using the above means, and the next user does not feel inconvenience when using it. .

In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, for example, the control unit resets the display language setting after a lapse of a certain time after use, and enters a standby mode in which a message is displayed in a preset initial setting language. return.

According to this, the display language setting is automatically returned to the original default language after a lapse of a certain time after use, so that the next user does not feel inconvenience when using it.

[0031]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine which is an image processing apparatus will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the copying machine.

As shown in FIG. 1, the copying machine includes an operation unit.
(1), image reading unit (scanner) (2), image forming unit (3), communication I / F (interface) (4) and control unit (5).

The operation unit (1) is provided with an input unit (6) equipped with various operation keys and the like, and a display unit (7) for displaying various messages and the like.

The image reading section (2) reads an image of a document and inputs the image signal to the control section (5).

The image forming section (3) forms an image based on the image data sent from the control section (5) and prints it on a recording medium such as recording paper.

The control unit (5) includes an operation unit (1) and an image reading unit.
It controls the entire copying machine such as (2) and the image forming section (3). That is, the control unit (5) processes various input signals from the operation keys of the input unit (6), controls message display on the display unit (7), controls image reading on the image processing unit (2), and performs image processing. Image signal processing unit (2), image forming unit
The image formation control in (3) is performed. Also, the control unit (5)
Via the communication I / F (4), LAN, Internet,
Connected to a public line.

In the above copying machine, a language (display language) used for displaying a message or the like on the display section (7).
Can be selected from multiple languages and set. Therefore, the control unit (5) stores a message group for each of a plurality of available display languages. Further, an initial setting (default) language is set for the copying machine, and in the standby mode before the start of the copy operation, the display unit (7) displays a message in the initial setting language. For example, English is used as the initial setting language.

When a user uses a copying machine to perform a copy process, the copying machine is normally in a standby mode, and a message in an initial setting language is displayed on the display section (7). In that case, when it is necessary to change the display language, the user causes the image reading unit (2) to scan the printed matter that the user has, such as a business card. As a result, the image of the printed matter is read and the image signal is sent to the control unit (5). The control unit (5) processes the image signal from the image reading unit (2) and estimates the language used by the user based on the language information of the read printed matter. The user causes the image reading unit (2) to scan the printed matter such as a business card not only when the display language changing process is performed but also when the printed matter itself is normally copied. Therefore, the control unit (5)
Causes the display unit (7) to display a process selection screen for allowing the user to select either the display language changing process or the copy process. In this case, since the user selects the display language change process, the control unit (5) sets the display language based on the user's language estimated as described above, and thereafter the set display language is used. Display
Display the message at (7). Then, the user performs the necessary copy process while looking at the message displayed in the display language which is the language used by the user.

In the above copying machine, for example, a display language change canceling means is provided for the user to return the copying machine to the standby mode when the copying process is finished and the use of the copying machine is finished. As the display language change cancellation means,
For example, an appropriate operation key such as a reset key in the input unit (6), an appropriate touch switch in the display unit (7), or the like is used. In that case, when the user finishes using the copier and the operation key or touch switch for canceling the display language change is operated, the control unit (5) returns the copier to the standby mode and sets the default language. Display messages in language.

Further, in the above copying machine, even if the user does not perform the operation for canceling the change of the display language as described above, the control section (5) is operated after a lapse of a predetermined time after the use of the copying machine is finished. , It is possible to automatically return the copier to the standby mode and display the message in the default language.

Preferably, the control unit (5) has registered the format of the printed matter used for setting the display language, and using the registered format of the printed matter,
The place where the language information is shown in the printed matter is determined. As the printed matter in which the format is registered in the control unit (5), it is preferable that the user normally carries such as a business card.

The control section (5), as the language information for estimating the language used by the user, is, for example, the country name shown on the printed matter, the country code of the telephone number shown on the printed matter, and the E shown on the printed matter. Use the email address or the type of characters shown on the printed matter. Moreover, these can also be used in combination.

FIG. 2 shows some examples of formats for registering business card formats. There are several types of business cards as shown in the right column of Fig. 2.
For each type, the position of individual name, affiliation, company name, address including country name, telephone number including country code, etc. is generally determined.
Therefore, if a format is registered for each type, it is possible to easily discriminate the position where necessary linguistic information is indicated by using the format.

In order to estimate the language used by using the country name, the control unit (5) is provided with a country name table in which the country name is compared with the language used and stored as shown in FIG. Then, the control unit (5) reads the country name from the printed matter and estimates the language used by using the country name table.

Further, in the control unit (5), in order to estimate the language used by using the country code of the telephone number, as shown in FIG. 4, the country code is stored by comparing the country name with the country name. A table is provided. Then, the control unit (5) reads the country code from the printed matter, discriminates the country name using the country code table, and in the same manner as above, estimates the language used using the country name table.

When the E-mail address is shown on the printed matter, the E-mail address includes the country symbol representing the country. Therefore, it is possible to determine the country name and estimate the language to be used by using it. it can.

The control unit (5) can also use the character type shown on the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used. In that case, for example, when a character peculiar to a certain language is used, the language used is presumed to be that language. Also, for example, for each language,
A score is assigned to a predetermined character unique to the language, the scores of the predetermined characters shown on the printed matter are summed up for each language, and the used language is estimated based on the total score of each language. FIG. 5 shows an example of a character type score table in which scores for predetermined characters are added for each language. In this case, each language is given a score according to the likelihood of a character peculiar to that language, and it is estimated that the language with the largest total score is the language used.

For example, when there are a plurality of selected display language candidates, the control unit (5) causes the display unit (7) to display a message for selecting a display language in the plurality of languages,
Let the user decide the display language.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of the control unit (5) for performing the above-mentioned display language changing process.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit (5) includes an image processing unit (10), a line / character cutout unit (11), a format determination unit (12), a character recognition unit (13), and a used language determination unit. Section (14), display language selection section (15), message display section (16), timer (17), default language storage section (18), message group storage section (19), business card format data storage section (20) , A character recognition dictionary (21) and a country information / character information storage unit (22).

The above-mentioned initial setting language is set and stored in the initial setting language storage section (18).

The message group storage section (19) stores a message group for each display language that can be used.

In the business card format data storage section (20),
A plurality of business card formats as described in FIG. 2 are stored.

The character recognition dictionary (21) is a dictionary used for recognizing characters from image data.

The country information / character information storage unit (22) is shown in FIG.
The country name table, the country code table, the character type score table, and the like described in FIGS. 4 and 5 are stored.

The image processing section (10) processes the image signal from the image reading section (2) to generate image data, which is sent to the image forming section (3) and the line / character cutting section (11). Output.
Further, the image processing unit (10) uses the communication I / F (4) for LA
N, Internet, public line, etc.

The line / character cutout unit (11) is provided in the image processing unit (1
Process the image data from (0) and cut out line and character parts from the image data.

The format determination unit (12) outputs the line / character cutout unit (11) and the business card format data storage unit (2
The name card format data stored in 0) is used to determine which name card format the printed material read by the image reading unit (2) corresponds to.

The character recognition unit (13) is provided with a format determination unit (1
Using the determination result in 2) and the character recognition dictionary (21),
Recognize characters in image data.

The used language determination unit (14) estimates the language used by the user by using the output of the character recognition unit (13) and various tables stored in the country information / character information storage unit (22). .

The display language selection unit (15) is used by the language determination unit (1
Select and set the display language based on the estimation result of the language used in 4).

The message display section (16) is a language selection section (15).
Message group storage based on the display language set in
The message group of the display language is read from the message group of (19) and displayed on the display unit (6).

The flowchart of FIG. 6 is based on the control unit described above.
An example of the processing in (5) is shown.

In FIG. 6, when the start key of the input unit (6) is operated, for example, the printed matter is scanned first.
(S1), image processing is performed, the character portion is determined (S2), and the document size is determined (S3).

In S3, if the document size is not a specific size such as a business card size, a normal image forming process (copy process) is performed (S4), and the process ends.

In S3, when the document size is the specific size, the character portion determined in S2 is collated with the format data (S5), and it is determined whether or not both match (S6). If the two do not match in S6, the process proceeds to S4.
Proceed to. If the two match, a used language candidate extraction process is performed (S7). This processing will be described later.

Next, a process selection screen for selecting which of the display language change process and the copy process is to be performed is displayed on the display unit (6) (S8), and which process the user has selected is displayed. It is judged (S9). When the copy process is selected in S9, the process proceeds to S4. When the display language changing process is selected, the display language is set based on the used language candidates extracted in S7 (S10), and the process ends.

The flow chart of FIG. 7 is based on S7 of FIG.
3 shows an example of a used language candidate extraction process in.

In FIG. 7, first, the country / region candidate and the used language candidate are initialized (S71), and the personal name, address, and
The circumscribed rectangle of the characters in the affiliation area is checked (S7
2), it is determined whether the circumscribed rectangles are substantially square and are evenly spaced (S73).

In S73, when the circumscribed rectangles are substantially square and are equally spaced, it is determined that the used characters are Kanji, and the used language candidate is updated to the language using Kanji (S7
4), characters (kanji) in areas such as personal name, address, affiliation, etc. are recognized (S75). Next, the used character is determined (S76), and it is determined whether or not there is a language-specific character (S77). If there is a language-specific character in S77, the priority of the used language candidate is changed to that language (S78), and the process ends. S77
In, if there is no language-specific character, the process ends.

In S73, when the circumscribed rectangles are substantially square and not equidistant, it is determined that the used characters are alphanumeric, and the characters (alphanumeric characters) in the area such as the address and telephone number are recognized (S79). . Then, it is determined whether or not there is a country name in the address (S80), and if there is a country name, the country / region candidate is updated according to the country name (S81), and whether or not there is a country code in the telephone number. It is determined (S82). If there is no country name in the address in S80, the process proceeds directly to S82.

If the telephone number has a country code in S82, the country / region candidate is updated according to the country code (S8
3), it is determined whether there is an email address (S8
Four). If there is no country code in the telephone number in S82, the process proceeds directly to S84.

In S84, if there is an e-mail address, the country / region candidate is updated according to the e-mail address (S85), and it is determined whether or not the country / region candidate has been set in the processing up to that point. (S86). If there is no e-mail address in S84, the process proceeds directly to S86.

In S86, if a country / region candidate is set, the country / region candidate is converted into a language candidate.
(S87), the used character is determined (S88). If no country / region candidate is set in S86, the process proceeds directly to S88.

When the determination of the used character in S88 is completed, it is determined whether or not there is a language-specific character (S89), and if there is a language-specific character, the priority of the used language candidate is changed to that language (S90). ), The process ends.

In S89, if there is no language-specific character,
It is determined whether or not the candidate language is set (S9
1) If it is set, the process ends as it is. S89
In, if the candidate language used is not set, the candidate language used is set to English which is the default language (S92),
The process ends.

In the above example, after the printed matter is scanned and the language used by the user is estimated, the process selection screen is displayed on the display unit (7) to allow the user to select the process. After scanning, the process selection screen may be displayed. Further, instead of displaying the process selection screen on the display unit (7) and allowing the user to select the process, the user operates the input unit (6) with an appropriate operation key for changing the display language or the display unit (7). The display language changing process may be performed when the printed matter is scanned after operating an appropriate touch switch or the like for changing the display language.

The configuration, processing and the like of each part of the copying machine are not limited to those in the above embodiment, but can be changed as appropriate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a copying machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a business card format.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a country name table.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a country code table.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a character type score table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in a control unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a used language candidate extraction process in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

(1) Operation part (2) Image reading unit (5) Control unit (7) Display (10) Image processing unit (11) Line / character cutout part (12) Format judgment section (13) Character recognition unit (14) Language used (15) Language selection section (16) Message display (17) Timer (18) Initial setting language memory (19) Message group storage (20) Business card format data storage (21) Character recognition dictionary (22) Country / character information storage

Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C061 AP04 CQ23 CQ34 HK11 HN04                       HN08                 2H027 DB00 FA30 FB05 FB19 GA32                       GA47 GB01 GB20                 5C062 AA02 AA05 AA17 AB17 AB23                       AB42 AB46 AF00 AF18 BA04

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image reading section for scanning a printed matter and reading the image, a display section for displaying a message, an image reading section for controlling the image reading and message display on the display section. In the image processing apparatus, which is provided with a control unit for processing an image, the display language used for displaying the message on the display unit can be selected and set from a plurality of display languages. An image processing apparatus configured to estimate a language used by a user and set a display language on a display unit based on language information indicated on a printed material scanned by the unit. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit uses a pre-registered format of the printed matter to determine the location where the language information is shown in the printed matter. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printed matter in which the format is registered is a printed matter which the user normally possesses. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit uses the country name shown on the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used by the user. 5. The control unit uses the country code of the telephone number shown on the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used by the user, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Image processing device. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit uses the character type shown in the printed matter as the language information for estimating the language used by the user. 7. A score for a predetermined character is attached to each language, and the control unit sums up the scores attached to the predetermined characters shown on the printed matter for each language, The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the language used by the user is estimated based on the total points. 8. When there are a plurality of candidates for the selected display language, the control unit can display a message in the plurality of languages on the display unit and allow the user to determine the display language. The image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that. 9. A means for resetting the display language setting after use and returning to a standby mode in which a message is displayed in a preset default language is provided. The image processing apparatus according to any one of 1. 10. The control unit resets the display language setting to return to a standby mode in which a message is displayed in a preset default language after a lapse of a predetermined time after use. The image processing device according to any one of 1 to 9.