JP3450608B2 - Address recognition device, address recognition method, sorting device, sorting method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an address recognizing device, an address recognizing method, a sorting device, for recognizing an address of a mail, for example.
Regarding classification method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in an address recognition device used as a sorting device for sorting mail, a plurality of recognizing units are operated in parallel with the increase in processing speed to continuously send mail. Those that perform recognition processing are being developed.

Each recognition section detects a line in which an address is described from the image data of the mail, cuts out each character of the detected line one by one, recognizes the cut out character, and recognizes this. The address is recognized by recognizing the town name from the letters and then recognizing the block. Therefore, the recognition processing time in each recognition unit differs depending on the number of lines and the number of characters in which the address is described.

For example, when the address is described in 4 lines and the number of characters is 50, it takes about 0.5 seconds to recognize the town name and about 1.0 seconds to recognize the town block thereafter. The recognition processing time is about 1.5 seconds. In addition, when the line where the address is described is 8 lines and the number of characters is 100, the time to recognize the town name is about 1.0 seconds, and the time to recognize the block thereafter is about 1.0 seconds. Time is about 2.
It is 0 seconds. Also, the line where the address is written is 1
When the number of characters in two lines is 150, the time to recognize the town name is about 1.5 seconds, and the time to recognize the town block thereafter is about 1.
The recognition processing time is about 2.5 seconds at 0 seconds.

The recognition processing time in the recognition unit is about 2 seconds as the transportation time of the mail from the position where the address recognition device is read to the position where the sorting processing is performed, and the recognition processing time is 2 seconds. If it exceeds the second,
Corresponding mail is rejected as unreadable.

Therefore, when the recognition processing time in the predetermined recognition unit takes a predetermined time or longer, a part of the processing is distributed processing, that is, another recognition in which the recognition processing ends early and is waiting. It is desired that the recognition processing can be completed within a predetermined time by using the unit, the rejected mail can be reduced, and the processing efficiency can be improved.

[0007]

As described above, when the recognition processing time in the predetermined recognition unit takes a predetermined time or longer, some of the processing is terminated as soon as the distributed processing, that is, the recognition processing. By using another recognition unit that is on standby, it is possible to finish the recognition process within a predetermined time, and it is desired to improve the processing efficiency. When the recognition processing time in the recognition unit takes more than a predetermined time, some processing is performed by using another recognition unit that is in distributed processing, that is, the recognition processing ends early and is on standby. It is an object of the present invention to provide an address recognition device, an address recognition method, a classification device, and a classification method that can end the recognition process within a predetermined time and improve the processing efficiency.

[0008]

The address recognition device of the present invention is based on a reading unit for reading an image of a mail in which character information corresponding to the address information is written, and an image from the reading unit. It manages a plurality of recognition units that output the recognition result corresponding to the address information of the mail and the distributed processing of the image from the reading unit to each recognition unit, and also manages whether each recognition unit is in the standby state. A recognition control unit, wherein the recognition unit detects a candidate line in which the address information is described from the image from the reading unit and detects the number of lines, and a line detection unit. The first judgment means for judging whether or not the number of lines detected by the line detector is equal to or more than a predetermined number, and the recognition control is performed when the number of lines detected by the line detector is equal to or more than the predetermined number by the first judgment means. Inquires about the recognition unit on standby 1 inquiring means, a first receiving means for receiving an instruction of the recognition section for performing distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry of the first inquiring means, and an instruction received by the first receiving means. A first output means for outputting the image after the predetermined number of lines to the recognition unit that performs distributed processing, and an image when the number of lines detected by the line detection unit by the first determination unit is within the predetermined number of lines. Or the above first
Second output means for outputting the image up to a predetermined number of lines when the number of lines detected by the line detection unit is equal to or larger than the predetermined number by the determination means, and 1 for each line by the image by the second output means. A character inspection unit that detects and cuts out character patterns for each character and detects the number of characters, and whether or not the number of characters detected and cut out by this character inspection unit is greater than or equal to a predetermined number of characters, or detected and cut out by the above character inspection unit. Second judging means for judging whether or not the total number of characters, which is the number of characters and the number of characters detected and cut out by the character inspection unit of the other recognition unit in response to the output by the first output unit, is equal to or larger than a predetermined number of characters. A second inquiry unit for making an inquiry for recognition on standby to the recognition control unit when the number of characters detected by the character inspection unit is equal to or larger than a predetermined number by the second determination unit; and the second inquiry. Of means The second receiving means for receiving the instruction of the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing, which is obtained in response to the matching, and the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing according to the instruction received by the second receiving unit, A third output means for outputting a character pattern for each character and a character pattern for each character when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection section is within a predetermined number by the second determination means, the second determination Means for outputting a character pattern for each character up to a predetermined number of characters when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection unit is equal to or more than a predetermined number of characters; and a character for each character by the fourth output means A character recognizing means for recognizing the pattern, and a character recognizing means for recognizing the address by the character recognizing means or a recognition character supplied from another recognizing section in response to the output of the second output means. A first pattern in which a character pattern for each character in each line is detected and cut out by the character inspection unit by the recognition unit and an image supplied from another recognition unit, and the number of characters is detected and output to the other recognition unit. And the character pattern for each character supplied from the other recognition unit are recognized by the character recognition unit,
It is composed of a second processing means for outputting to the other recognition section.

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

[0019]

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a mail sorting device 1 incorporating a character recognition device and an address recognition device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a control circuit of the mail sorting device 1 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mail sorting device 1 includes
Address information (sorting information) as address information such as a postal code or address is written on the first side, or a plurality of mail items as printed sheets are printed so that the first side faces in the same direction. A supply unit 2 is provided which stores the mails in a standing position with their rear ends aligned and sequentially supplies these mails to a predetermined take-out position. At the take-out position of the postal matter, the take-out section 4 for taking out the postal matter supplied by the supply section 2 one by one along the main conveyance path 3
Is provided. The postal items stored in the supply unit 2 are arranged so that the postal code is located above and the first surface faces the extraction unit 4 when being supplied to the extraction position.

The postal matter input through the supply unit 2 includes:
As shown in FIG. 3, character information (postal code, address, address, etc.) corresponding to the destination information (address information) is described on the first surface.

The postal matter taken out by the take-out section 4 is conveyed through a main conveying path 3 having a conveying belt which runs at a constant speed. A foreign matter / hardness detection unit 5 is provided on the main transport path 3 to detect the foreign matter when the mail matter contains the foreign matter and to detect the hardness of the mail matter itself. On the conveyance path branched from the main conveyance path 3 on the downstream side of the foreign matter / hardness detection unit 5, the reject collection for eliminating the postal matter determined to be impossible to perform the mechanical processing by the detection of the foreign matter / hardness detection unit 5 Part 5
a is provided.

Main transport path 3 downstream of foreign matter / hardness detector 5
A reading unit 6 having an image input unit 6a as a scanning unit that optically scans the first surface to read the destination information based on the address image of the mail is provided above.

At the end of the main conveying path 3 on the downstream side of the reading section 6, a sorting stacking section 14 (sorting stacking means) for sorting and stacking postal matters into predetermined sorting pockets (sorting destinations) is connected. . The sorting destination refers to the position of the sorting pocket where the mail items are sorted and collected.

The division stacking section 14 has a plurality of division pockets 15 divided into a plurality of steps and a plurality of rows.
For example, 200 compartment pockets 15 in 8 rows and 25 rows,
It consists of ... A partition gate (not shown) is provided above each partition pocket 15,
By selectively switching these sorting gates, the mail piece is sorted into predetermined sorting pockets 15. It should be noted that this division is instructed by the division designation control unit 32 described later.

In FIG. 1, pocket numbers are serially assigned to the respective compartment pockets 15 in order from the top of the leftmost column. For example, each section pocket 15 in the first row, ...
In contrast to the classification pocket No. Nos. 1 to 8 are assigned to the respective division pockets 15 in the second row ,.
9 to 16 are assigned, and similarly, pocket numbers are assigned to the third and subsequent columns.

In FIG. 1, in the vicinity of the end of the main conveyance path 3 toward the sorting / collecting unit 14, each stage pass unit 1 of the sorting / collecting unit 14 is located.
6, a plurality of switching gates 18 corresponding to 6 are provided, and by selectively switching each switching gate 18, the main conveyance path 3
Is selectively connected to any one of a plurality of stages through each stage pass unit 16.

Further, an operation panel 25 on which various input operations are performed by an attendant is provided on the front surface on the left side of the mail sorting apparatus 1 in the figure, and on the right side of the mail sorting apparatus 1 in the figure is the mail sorting apparatus 1. A main controller 30 is provided to control the sorting operation.

The main control unit 30 controls the entire mail sorting apparatus 1, and as shown in FIG. 2, the address of the mail is obtained by using the image data of the address image from the image input unit 6a. The address recognition device 31 for recognizing the address, and the classification designation control as the sorting destination designating means for designating the sorting destination of the mail in the sorting / collecting unit 14, that is, the sorting pocket 15 according to the recognition result from the address recognition device 31. The unit 32, the extraction unit 4, and the image input unit 6a are connected.

The classification designation control unit 32 includes an address recognition device 31.
The sorting destination of the postal matter based on the destination information supplied from, that is, the sorting pocket 15 in which the postal matter should be sorted and collected is designated.

As shown in FIG. 4, the address recognition device 31 includes a recognition control unit 40 for controlling the entire address recognition device 31, and a plurality of recognition control units 40 connected to the recognition control unit 40 via a control bus 43. (For example, 20) recognition units 41a,
41b, ... The recognition unit 41a,
The image data of the address image from the image input unit 6a is supplied to the input units 41b, ... via the image bus 44, and the recognition units 41a, 41b ,. It is connected.

The recognition control section 40 recognizes the image data of the address image from the image input section 6a of the reading section 6 as the recognition section 41.
are for managing the distributed processing by a, 41b, ... And for managing the processing status of the recognition units 41a, 41b ,. Recognition unit 41a, 41
Whether b, ... Is the recognition processing end (standby state) is managed by a table or the like.

The recognition section 41a (41b, ...) Outputs the recognition result corresponding to the address information of the mail, and as shown in FIG. 5, the control section 51, the image storage section 53,
The line detection unit 54, the character inspection unit 55, the character recognition unit 56, the town name recognition unit 57, the block recognition unit 58, the address recognition unit 59, and the network bridge 60.

The control unit 51, the image storage unit 53, the line detection unit 54, the character inspection unit 55, the character recognition unit 56, the town name recognition unit 57, the town block recognition unit 58, the address recognition unit 59, and the network bridge 60. Each unit is connected via a bus 61.

The control unit 51 is connected to the control bus 43,
Data is exchanged with the recognition control unit 40, and the entire recognition unit 41a is controlled. The control unit 51 determines whether or not the number of lines detected by the line detection unit 54 is 8 lines or more. If the number of lines is 8 lines or more, the recognition unit 41b waiting for the recognition control unit 40, In response to an instruction from the recognition unit 41b, which performs distributed processing as an answer from the recognition control unit 40 in response to the inquiry.
It controls the network bridge 60 and outputs the image data of the ninth and subsequent lines from the line detection unit 54 to the recognition units 41b, ... Which perform distributed processing.

Further, the control unit 51 determines that the number of characters to be checked by the character checking unit 55, or the number of characters to be checked by the character checking unit 55 and the recognition unit 41b, which has performed the distributed processing, is 100 or more. Whether the number of characters is 10
When the number of characters is 0 or more, the recognition control unit 40 is inquired of the recognition units 41b, ... Standing by, and the recognition unit 41b, ... Which performs distributed processing as an answer from the recognition control unit 40 is instructed. According to the network bridge 60
, And outputs the result of character inspection after 101 characters to the recognition units 41b, ... Which perform distributed processing.

The image storage unit 53 stores the image data of the address image read by the image input unit 6a supplied via the image bus 44. The line detection unit 54 detects a candidate line in which the address information is described from the image data supplied from the image storage unit 53, and also detects the number of lines.

That is, when the number of lines is 8 or less, the line detection unit 54 detects the image data corresponding to each line by the character inspection unit 55.
If the number of lines is 9 or more, the image data up to the 8th line is output to the character inspection unit 55, the image data from the 9th line onward is output to the network bridge 60, and the number of lines is changed. It is output to the control unit 51.

The character inspection section 55 detects and cuts out one character for each line from the image data corresponding to each line from the line detection unit 54 and detects the number of the characters. That is, when the number of characters is 100 or less, the character inspection unit 55 normalizes the character pattern of each character that has been inspected and supplies the normalized character pattern to the character recognition unit 56.
When the number of characters is equal to or larger than 100 characters, the cut-out character pattern of each one character up to 100 characters is normalized and supplied to the character recognition unit 56, and the character pattern of each character after 101 characters is normalized and is network bridge 60. And the number of characters is output to the control unit 51.

The character recognition unit 56 supplies the character pattern for each character supplied from the character inspection unit 55, or 1 supplied from another recognition unit (41b, ...) Through the network bus 45 and the network bridge 60. Characters are recognized by a method of matching a character pattern for each character with a reference pattern for English characters, numbers, and Chinese characters in the dictionary 56a, and the recognition result is supplied to the town name recognition unit 57 and the block recognition unit 58. .

The town name recognition section 57 is a recognition character supplied from the character recognition section 56, or another recognition section (41b, ...).
The zip code is recognized with respect to the recognition character supplied from the network bus 45 and the network bridge 60 from the address dictionary 57 corresponding to the recognized zip code.
The town name is recognized based on the address read from a, and the recognized town name is supplied to the address recognition unit 59.

The block recognition unit 58 recognizes the characters supplied from the character recognition unit 56 as a character string following the recognition of the town name by the town name recognition unit 57 or the recognition characters supplied from other recognition units (41b, ...) And the block. The block is recognized by the block read from the dictionary 58a, and the recognized block is supplied to the address recognition unit 59.

The address recognition unit 59 recognizes the address (address information) from the town name supplied from the town name recognition unit 57 and the block supplied from the block recognition unit 58, and outputs the recognition result to the classification designation control unit 32. To do.

The network bridge 60 includes a control unit 51.
The address is given in accordance with the instruction of the recognition unit 41b, which performs the distributed processing controlled by, and the image data of the excess line from the line detection unit 54 or one of 100 characters or more from the character inspection unit 55 is added. The character pattern for each character is supplied to the network bus 45, the data to which the address indicating the recognition unit 41a on the network bus 45 is given is received, and the character recognition unit 56 or the town name recognition unit 57 is received.
Is output to.

That is, the character pattern for each character as a result of character cutoff supplied through the network bus 45 is output to the character recognition unit 56, and the network bus 45 is output.
The recognition character as a character recognition result supplied via the is output to the town name recognition unit 57.

The recognition processing time in the recognition section 41a (41b, ...) Will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. For example, in the case of an easy-to-process mail item with 4 character lines to be processed and 50 recognized characters,
Detection and cutout processing for four lines by the character inspection unit 55 (ST
1), the recognition process for 50 characters by the character recognition unit 56 (ST2), and the recognition process for 50 characters by the town name recognition unit 57 (ST3), takes about 0.5 seconds to perform the block recognition. The block recognition processing (ST4) by the unit 58 takes about 1 second, and the processing is completed in about 1.5 seconds.

In the case of an ordinary mail piece having eight character lines to be processed and the number of recognized characters is 100, the character inspection section 55 is used.
8 lines for detection and cutout processing (ST5), 100 character recognition processing by the character recognition unit 56 (ST6), and 100 character recognition processing by the town name recognition unit 57 (ST7).
Therefore, the processing time of about 1.0 seconds is required, and the block recognition processing (ST8) by the block recognition unit 58 takes about 1 second.
It takes about 2.0 seconds to complete the process.

When the number of character lines to be processed is 12 and the number of recognized characters is 150, which is difficult to process, the character inspection unit 55 detects and cuts out 12 lines (ST9).
Recognition processing for 150 characters by the character recognition unit 56 (ST1
0) and the recognition processing for 150 characters by the town name recognition unit 57 (ST11) takes about 1.5 seconds, and the block recognition processing by the block recognition unit 58 (ST12) takes about 1 second. It takes about 2.5 seconds to complete.

In the mail sorting device 1 described above, it takes about 2 seconds for the mails to be sorted from the reading unit 6 (starting the recognition process) to the sorting pockets 15, ... If the recognition process is not completed within a certain time (within a certain period of time), it is processed as unreadable.

Next, the mail sorting operation of the above-described mail sorting apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. That is, when the supply is started, the postal matter supplied to the take-out position by the supply unit 2 is taken out by the take-out unit 4 on the main transport path 3 one by one (ST2).
1). The foreign matter / hardness detection unit 5 determines whether or not the postal matter can be mechanically processed (ST22). Here, the postal matter determined to be mechanically unprocessable is It is rejected to the reject stacking unit 5a via the reject transport path 3b (ST23), and then transferred to the reject mail handling area (not shown) (ST24).

On the other hand, the postal matter which is determined by the foreign matter / hardness detection section 5 to be capable of being mechanically processed is directly conveyed through the main conveyance path 3 and supplied to the reading section 6 (ST2).
5).

In the mail piece supplied to the reading unit 6, the address image is read by optically scanning the first surface of the image input unit 6a (ST26). Then, the image input unit 6a
The image data of the address image read in is the address recognition device 3
1 is supplied.

The recognition control unit 40 of the address recognition device 31 judges the processing status of each recognition unit 41a, 41b, ... And distributes the image data of the address image from the image input unit 6a to the recognition unit in the standby state. For example, the image storage unit 5 of the recognition unit 41a
The image data of the address image from the image input unit 6a is distributed to 3.

The control unit 51 of the recognition unit 41a starts the recognition process when detecting the completion of storing the image data in the image storage unit 53 (ST27). First, the control unit 51 outputs the image data stored in the image storage unit 53 to the row detection unit 54. Then, the line detection unit 54 detects a candidate line in which the address information is described from the image data supplied from the image storage unit 53, detects the number of lines, and sends the detected number of lines to the control unit 51. Output (ST31).

As a result, the control unit 51 determines whether the number of processed lines is 8 or more (ST32). If the number of processed lines is 8 or less, the image data corresponding to each line detected by the line detection unit 54 is detected. Is output to the character inspection unit 55. As a result, the character inspection unit 55 detects and extracts one character for each line from the image data corresponding to each line from the line detection unit 54, detects the number of characters, and outputs the detected number of characters to the control unit 51. Output (ST33).

When it is determined in step 32 that the number of processed lines is 8 or more, the control unit 51 causes the line detection unit 54 to
The image data corresponding to each detected line up to the 8th line detected by is output to the character inspection unit 55, and the image data corresponding to each detected line from the 9th line onward is output to the network bridge 60 (ST34). As a result, the character inspection unit 55 detects and extracts one character for each line from the image data corresponding to each line from the line detection unit 54, detects the number of characters, and detects the detected number of characters.
To (ST33).

When the number of processed lines is 8 or more, the control unit 51 makes an inquiry to the recognition control unit 40 by the waiting recognition units 41b, ... And the recognition control unit 40 responds to this inquiry. Recognition unit 4 that performs distributed processing as an answer
1b, ... To the recognition unit 41b, which performs the distributed processing by controlling the network bridge 60, the line detection unit 5
The image data of the 9th and subsequent lines from 4 are output. For example, the recognition unit 41b is on standby, and the recognition control unit 40 instructs the distributed processing in the recognition unit 41b.

That is, the network bridge 60 is
Recognition unit 41 that performs distributed processing controlled by control unit 51
The line detection unit 5 is provided with an address according to the instruction of b.
Image data from the 9th line onwards from 4 to network bus 4
Supply to 5.

Further, the network bridge 60 of the recognition unit 41b is connected to the recognition unit 41b on the network bus 45.
Accept image data with an address
Output to the character inspection unit 55.

As a result, the character inspection section 5 of the recognition section 41b.
5 detects and cuts out the characters for each line one by one based on the supplied image data, detects the number of the characters, and outputs them to the network bridge 60 together with the detected number of the characters (ST35).

The network bridge 60 supplies an address indicating the recognition unit 41a instructed to perform the distributed processing to the network bus 45 with the character pattern and the number of characters detected and cut out character by character from the character inspection unit 55. To do.

Further, the network bridge 60 of the recognition unit 41a is connected to the recognition unit 41a on the network bus 45.
The detected and cut out character pattern to which the address indicating is attached and the number of characters thereof are received, and the number of characters is output to the control unit 51.

Then, the control unit 51 determines whether or not the number of characters to be inspected from the character inspection unit 55 is 100 or more, or the number of inspection characters from the character inspection unit 55 and the network bridge 6.
It is determined whether the total number of characters from 0 to the number of inspection characters processed by the other recognition unit 41b is 100 or more (ST3).
6).

If the result of this determination is that the number of characters to be inspected is within 100, whether the character pattern of each character from the character inspection unit 55 is normalized and supplied to the character recognition unit 56,
Alternatively, the character pattern for each character from the character inspection unit 55 and the character pattern for each character from the network bridge 60 are normalized and supplied to the character recognition unit 63 (ST37). Accordingly, the character recognition unit 56 recognizes the character pattern of each character supplied from the character inspection unit 55 by a matching method with the reference pattern for the alphabetic characters, numbers and Chinese characters in the dictionary 56a, and the recognition is performed. The result is supplied to the town name recognition unit 57 and the block recognition unit 58.

If it is determined in step 36 that the number of characters to be cut off is 100 or more, the control unit 51 determines 10
The character pattern of each character up to the 0th character is output to the character recognition unit 63, and the character pattern of each character after the 101st character is output to the network bridge 60 (ST3.
8). As a result, the character recognition unit 56 causes the character inspection unit 55.
The character pattern for each character supplied from the dictionary 56a
Characters are recognized by a matching method with a reference pattern for English letters, numbers, and Chinese characters in the above, and the recognition result is supplied to the town name recognition unit 57 and the block recognition unit 58.

When the number of characters to be cut off is determined to be 100 or more in step 36, the control unit 51 makes an inquiry to the recognition control unit 40 about the waiting recognition units 41b, ... In response to the instruction from the recognition unit 41b, which performs distributed processing, as an answer from the recognition control unit 40, the network bridge 60 is controlled to the recognition units 41b, which performs distributed processing. Output a character pattern. For example, the recognition unit 41b is on standby, and the recognition control unit 40 instructs the distributed processing in the recognition unit 41b.

That is, the network bridge 60 is
Recognition unit 41 that performs distributed processing controlled by control unit 51
The address corresponding to the instruction of b is given, and the character pattern of each character after the 101st character is added to the network bus 45.
Supply to.

Further, the network bridge 60 of the recognition unit 41b is connected to the recognition unit 41b on the network bus 45.
The character pattern to which the address indicating is given is accepted and output to the character recognition unit 56.

As a result, the character recognition unit 5 of the recognition unit 41b
6 indicates the supplied character pattern as an alphabetic character in the dictionary 56a,
Characters are recognized by a matching method with reference patterns for numbers and Chinese characters, and the recognition result is output to the network bridge 60 (ST39).

The network bridge 60 gives an address indicating the recognition unit 41a instructed to perform the distributed processing, and supplies the recognition result of each character from the character recognition unit 56 to the network bus 45.

The network bridge 60 of the recognizing unit 41a is connected to the recognizing unit 41a on the network bus 45.
The character recognition result to which the address indicating is given is accepted, and this character recognition result is output to the character recognition unit 63.

As a result, the character recognition unit 56 receives the character pattern for each character supplied from the character inspection unit 55 and the character pattern for each character from the network bridge 60 for the alphabetic characters, numbers and Chinese characters in the dictionary 56a. Characters are recognized by a matching method with the reference pattern, and the recognition result is supplied to the town name recognition unit 57 and the block recognition unit 58.

The town name recognition unit 57 uses the recognition characters supplied from the character recognition unit 56 or the network bridge 60.
The zip code is recognized by the recognition character processed by the other recognizing unit 41b, the town name is recognized by the address read from the address dictionary 57a corresponding to the recognized zip code, and the recognized town name is recognized by the address. Output to section 59 (ST4
0).

The block recognition unit 58 recognizes the recognition character supplied from the character recognition unit 56 as a character string following the recognition of the town name by the town name recognition unit 57 or the recognition character supplied from another recognition unit (41b, ...) And the block. The block is recognized by the block read from the dictionary 58a, and the recognized block is supplied to the address recognition unit 59.

The address recognition unit 59 recognizes the address (address information) from the town name supplied from the town name recognition unit 57 and the block supplied from the block recognition unit 58, and outputs the recognition result to the classification designation control unit 32. To do.

The classification designation control unit 32 includes the address recognition device 31.
Of the mail pieces based on the destination information supplied from the recognition units 41a, ...
28).

As a result, the sorting and accumulating unit 14 determines the conveying path 3 based on the sorting designation data from the sorting designation control unit 32.
The mail items conveyed are sorted into predetermined sorting pockets 15 (ST29).

As described above, in the case of recognizing the address of the mail by using the plurality of recognition units, when it is determined that the recognition process of the address image in a certain recognition unit cannot complete the recognition process within a certain period of time. In addition, some processing such as character cutoff processing and character recognition processing is distributed to other standby recognition units, and the recognition processing is performed using the processing results from the other recognition units. It is a thing.

As a result, the recognition processing can be completed within a certain period of time, and the processing efficiency can be improved. That is, when the processing amount of address recognition of a particular mail piece is large, by allocating a part of the recognition processing to the recognition units in the standby state other than the allocated recognition unit, a single recognition unit can wait a certain time until then. The process that could not be completed and was unrecognizable (rejected without being classified)
Since the plurality of recognition units perform distributed processing, there is a possibility that the recognition processing can be completed within the time.

As a result, a part of the recognition processing of the recognition unit is
By allocating to another recognition unit in a standby state, the allocated recognition unit performs recognition processing, and by transferring the processing result to the original recognition unit, the recognition unit is distributed in comparison with the case where processing is performed by the recognition unit alone. By burying in this way, processing can be performed at high speed and efficiently. Further, since the recognition process can be assigned to the vacant recognition unit, it is possible to improve the recognition performance by improving the efficiency of the process.

[0082]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the recognition processing time in a predetermined recognition unit takes a predetermined time or longer, a part of the processing is executed in a distributed processing, that is, the recognition processing is accelerated. The address recognition device and the address recognition method capable of ending the recognition processing within a predetermined time by improving the efficiency of processing by using another recognition unit that is in standby after completion. , A sorting device and a sorting method can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mail sorting device for explaining an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the mail sorting device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mail piece in which character information corresponding to destination information is described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an address recognition device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a recognition unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the recognition processing time of the recognition unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a sorting operation of mail pieces.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a sorting operation of mail pieces.

[Explanation of symbols]

6a ... Image input section 31 ... Address recognition device 40 ... Recognition control unit 41a, 41b, ... Recognition unit 43 ... Control bus 44 ... Image bus 45 ... Network bus 51 ... Control unit 53 ... Image storage unit 60 ... Network bridge

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06K 9/00-9/82 B07C 3/14

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A reading unit for reading an image of a mail item in which character information corresponding to the address information is written, and a recognition result corresponding to the address information of the mail item is output based on the image from the reading unit. An address recognition device having a plurality of recognition units, and a recognition control unit that manages distributed processing of images from the reading unit to each recognition unit, and that manages whether each recognition unit is in a standby state, The recognition unit detects a candidate line in which the address information is described from the image from the reading unit and also detects the number of lines, and the number of lines detected by the line detection unit is a predetermined number of lines. First determining means for determining whether or not the above is true, and when the number of rows detected by the row detecting section by the first determining means is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the recognition section waiting for the recognition control section A first inquiry means for making an inquiry about The first receiving means for receiving the instruction of the recognizing section for performing the distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry of the inquiring means, and the recognizing section for performing the distributed processing according to the instruction received by the first receiving means. First output means for outputting an image after a predetermined number of lines, and an image when the number of lines detected by the line detection unit by the first determination means is within a predetermined number of lines, or by the first determination means. Second output means for outputting an image up to a predetermined number of lines when the number of lines detected by the line detection unit is equal to or larger than the predetermined number of lines, and a character for each line by the image by the second output means. A character inspection unit that detects and cuts out a pattern and detects the number of characters, and whether or not the number of characters detected and cut out by this character inspection unit is a predetermined number of characters or more, or the number of characters detected and cut out by the character inspection unit and the above First Second determining means for determining whether or not the total number of characters including the number of characters detected and cut out by the character inspection section of the other recognizing section in response to the output by the output means is equal to or more than a predetermined number of characters; and the second determining means. When the number of characters detected by the character inspection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the second inquiry unit for making an inquiry for recognition on standby to the recognition control unit, and in response to the inquiry of the second inquiry unit A second receiving means for receiving the instruction of the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing, and a character for each character after the predetermined number of characters to the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing according to the instruction received by the second receiving means. A third output means for outputting a pattern, and a character pattern for each character when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection part is within a predetermined number by the second determination means, and the character detection is performed by the second determination means. Cut Fourth output means for outputting a character pattern for each character up to a predetermined number of characters when the number of cut-off characters is greater than or equal to a predetermined number, and character recognition means for recognizing the character pattern for each character by the fourth output means. And an address recognition means for recognizing the address by the recognition character supplied by the character recognition means or the recognition character supplied by another recognition section in response to the output of the second output means, and an address recognition means supplied by the other recognition section. The first processing means for detecting and cutting out the character pattern of each character for each line by the image detected by the character inspection section and detecting the number of the characters, and outputting to the other recognition section, and the other recognition section. An address recognition device comprising: second processing means for recognizing the supplied character pattern for each character by the character recognition means and outputting the character pattern to the other recognition unit. 2. A reading process for reading an image of a mail item in which character information corresponding to the address information is written, and a recognition result corresponding to the address information of the mail item is output based on the image from the reading process. An address recognition method having a plurality of recognition steps, and a recognition control step for managing the distributed processing of the image from the reading step to each recognition step and managing whether each recognition step is in a standby state or not. The recognition step detects a candidate row in which the address information is described from the image from the reading unit and detects the number of rows, and the row detection step detects a predetermined number of rows. A first determination step of determining whether or not the number is equal to or more than a certain number, and when the number of rows detected by the row detection step by the first determination step is equal to or more than a predetermined number, the recognition control section waits for recognition. First to inquire about a department A matching step, a first receiving step for receiving an instruction of the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry of the first inquiring step, and a distribution according to the instruction received by the first receiving step. A first output step of outputting the image after the predetermined number of lines to a recognition unit that performs processing, an image when the number of detected lines by the line detection step by the first determination process is within a predetermined number of lines, or A second output step of outputting an image up to a predetermined number of rows when the number of rows detected by the row detection step is equal to or more than the predetermined number of rows by the first determination step, and a line is output by the image of the second output step. A character inspection step of detecting and cutting out a character pattern for each character and detecting the number of characters, and whether or not the number of characters detected and cut out in this character inspection step is a predetermined number of characters or more, or Inspection Second judgment for judging whether the total number of characters cut out and the number of characters cut out detected by the character inspection process of another recognition unit in response to the output in the first output process is equal to or more than a predetermined number of characters And a second inquiry step of making an inquiry for recognition on standby to the recognition control unit when the number of characters detected by the character inspection step is equal to or larger than a predetermined number of characters by the second determination step, To the recognition unit that performs distributed processing in response to the instruction received by the second receiving step, which receives the instruction of the recognition unit that performs the distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry of A third output step of outputting a character pattern for each character after the predetermined number of characters, and a character pattern for each character when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection step is within the predetermined number by the second determination step. A fourth output step of outputting a character pattern of each character up to a predetermined number of characters when the number of characters to be checked out by the character check step is equal to or larger than a predetermined number of characters in the second judgment step; A character recognition step of recognizing a character pattern for each character, and a recognition character by this character recognition step, or a recognition character supplied from another recognition section in response to the output of the second output step, to recognize an address. The address recognition step and the character pattern for each character of each line are detected and cut out by the character inspection step and the number of characters is detected by the image supplied from another recognition section, and the number of the characters is detected and output to the other recognition section. And a second processing step of recognizing a character pattern for each character supplied from another recognition section by the character recognition step and outputting the character pattern to the other recognition section. An address recognition method characterized in that 3. A supply means for sequentially supplying the postal matter to a predetermined take-out position, a take-out means for taking out the postal matter supplied by the supply means, and a conveying means for conveying the postal matter taken out by the take-out means. A sorting device having an address recognizing device for recognizing an address by reading an image of a postal matter conveyed by the conveying means, and a sorting and accumulating means for conveying and accumulating the postal matter to a predetermined sorting destination. Is a reading unit that reads an image of a mail item in which character information corresponding to address information is written, and a plurality of output units that output recognition results corresponding to the address information of the mail item based on the image from the reading unit. The recognition unit includes a recognition unit and a recognition control unit that manages distributed processing of the image from the reading unit to the recognition units and also manages whether each recognition unit is in a standby state. Picture from the department A line detection unit that detects a candidate line in which address information is described and detects the number of lines, and a first determination that determines whether the number of lines detected by this line detection unit is a predetermined number of lines or more. Means and a first inquiry means for making an inquiry to the recognition control unit for the waiting recognition unit when the number of lines detected by the line detection unit by the first determination unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. First receiving means for receiving an instruction of the recognition unit for performing distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry of the first inquiring means, and recognition for performing the distributed processing according to the instruction received by the first receiving means. First output means for outputting the image after the predetermined number of lines to the section, an image when the number of lines detected by the line detection unit by the first determination means is within the predetermined number of lines, or the first image. The number of lines detected by the line detector by the judgment means is the predetermined number of lines. Second output means for outputting an image up to a predetermined number of lines in the above case, and a character for detecting and cutting out a character pattern of one character for each line by the image by the second output means and detecting the number of characters The inspection unit and whether or not the number of characters detected and cut out by the character inspection unit is equal to or larger than a predetermined number of characters, or the number of characters detected and cut out by the character inspection unit and the output by the first output unit Second judging means for judging whether or not the total number of characters, which is the number of characters detected and cut out by the character inspection part of the recognition part, is equal to or more than a predetermined number of characters, and the number of characters detected by the character inspection part is determined by the second judgment means. When the number of characters is equal to or more than a predetermined number, a second inquiry unit for making an inquiry to the recognition control unit for recognition on standby, and a recognition unit for performing distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry from the second inquiry unit are provided. finger Second receiving means for receiving the indication, and third output means for outputting a character pattern for each character after the predetermined number of characters to the recognizing unit for performing the distributed processing in response to the instruction received by the second receiving means. And a character pattern for each character when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection unit is within a predetermined number of characters by the second determination unit, and the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection unit is determined to be a predetermined number of characters by the second determination unit. Fourth output means for outputting the character pattern of each character up to the predetermined number of characters in the above case, character recognition means for recognizing the character pattern of each character by the fourth output means, and this character recognition means In response to the recognition character or the output of the second output unit, the address recognition unit that recognizes the address by the recognition character supplied from the other recognition unit and the image supplied from the other recognition unit are displayed. A character pattern for each character for each line is detected and cut out by the character inspection unit, the number of characters is detected, and is output to the other recognition unit and is supplied from the other recognition unit. A second processing means for recognizing a character pattern for each character by the character recognition means and outputting the character pattern to the other recognition unit. 4. A supply step of sequentially supplying postal matter to a predetermined take-out position, a take-out step of taking out the postal matter supplied by this supply step, and a conveying step of conveying the postal matter taken out in this take-out step. Addressing information in a sorting method having an address recognition step of recognizing an address by reading an image of mail carried by the carrying step and a sorting and collecting step of transporting and collecting the mail to a predetermined sorting destination A reading step of reading an image of a mail piece in which the written character information is described, a plurality of recognition steps of outputting a recognition result corresponding to the address information of the mail piece based on the image from the reading step; In the address recognition method having a recognition control step of managing the distributed processing of the images from the steps to the respective recognition steps, and a management control step of managing whether each recognition step is in a standby state or not, A line detection process of detecting a candidate line in which the address information is described from the image from the reading unit and detecting the number of lines, and whether the number of lines detected by the line detection process is equal to or more than a predetermined number of lines is determined. A first determination step of determining, and an inquiry of the waiting recognition section to the recognition control section when the number of rows detected by the row detection step by the first determination step is equal to or larger than a predetermined number of rows. 1 inquiring step, a first receiving step for receiving an instruction of the recognition unit for performing distributed processing obtained in response to the inquiry of the first inquiring step, and an instruction received by the first receiving step A first output step of outputting the image after the predetermined number of lines to a recognition unit that performs distributed processing, and an image when the number of lines detected by the line detection step by the first determination step is within the predetermined number of lines Alternatively, the line detection process may be performed by the first determination process described above. The second output step of outputting an image up to a predetermined number of lines when the number of detected lines is equal to or larger than the predetermined number of lines, and a character pattern for each character of each line by the image of the second output process. A character inspection step of detecting and cutting out the number of characters, and whether or not the number of characters detected and cut out in the character inspection step is a predetermined number or more, or the number of characters detected and cut out in the character inspection step and the first And a second determination step of determining whether or not the total number of characters including the number of characters detected and cut out in the character inspection step of the other recognition unit in response to the output in the output step of When the number of characters detected by the character inspection step is equal to or larger than a predetermined number of characters, a second inquiry step for making an inquiry for recognition on standby to the recognition control unit and an inquiry for the second inquiry step are performed. A second receiving step for receiving the instruction of the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing obtained as a response, and one character after the predetermined number of characters to the recognition unit for performing the distributed processing according to the instruction received by the second receiving step. A third output step of outputting each character pattern, and a character pattern of each character when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection step is within a predetermined number by the second determination step, the second determination step A fourth output step of outputting a character pattern of each character up to a predetermined number of characters when the number of characters to be inspected by the character inspection step is a predetermined number of characters or more, and a character pattern of each character by the fourth output step. A character recognition step for recognizing, and an address recognition for recognizing an address by a recognition character by the character recognition step or a recognition character supplied from another recognition section in response to the output of the second output step. A character pattern for each character in each line is detected and cut out in the character inspection step by the recognition step and an image supplied from another recognition section, and the number of the characters is detected and output to the other recognition section. And a second processing step of recognizing a character pattern for each character supplied from another recognition unit by the character recognition process and outputting the character pattern to the other recognition unit. How to classify.