JPH0584548B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an optical character reader that optically reads the postal code written on the mailpiece being conveyed, for example in an automatic postal code reading and sorting machine. Regarding equipment.

[Technical Background of the Invention and Problems Therewith] Conventionally, automatic postal code reading and sorting machines detect and read only blocks of postal codes from among the read information (address information) within a predetermined reading field of view. For this reason, there was a drawback that the reading accuracy was greatly affected by the written state of the postal code part.
In other words, if the letters were thin, blurred, or crushed, there was a high possibility that they would be misread.

[Object of the invention] This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
The purpose is to provide an optical character reading device that can reliably read postal codes that are poorly recorded, such as blurred, crushed, etc., and that are easily misread.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides an optical character reading device that optically reads character information on a postal item, in which a first reading means reads the postal code on the postal item, and the addressee on the postal item is read by a first reading means. The address read by the second reading means and the postal code are stored in a storage means in association with each other, and from the information stored in the storage means, the address read by the second reading means and the postal code are read by the first reading means. The first determination means determines whether or not the read postal code indicates the same information, and if the determination result does not indicate the same information, the postal code read by the first reading means and the similarity of the address read by the second reading means, and as a result of this comparison, the candidate with a higher degree of similarity and the other candidate with a lower degree of similarity indicate the same information. A second determining means determines whether or not the postal code is determined to indicate the same information by the first determining means, or a postal code determined by the first determining means to indicate the same information. The postal code used at the time of registration is output as the correct postal code.

In other words, when the read address and the read postal code do not indicate the same information, the postal code or address with higher similarity is used as a reference, and information obtained by other candidates with lower similarity is compared. By comparison, it is determined again whether or not the same information is indicated.

[Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an object to be read, such as a mail P, according to the present invention, on the surface of which a plurality of lines (three lines in this case) of destination information 1 are written horizontally. In such mail, the postal code (248) 3 that should be read in the top line 2 of address information 1
and the address (Kamakurashi) 4, such as the ``ward name'' and ``city name'' indicating the large area. and,
This mail P is conveyed in the direction of arrow a in the figure.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an optical character reading device of the present invention used in an automatic postal code reading and sorting machine. That is, 11 is a first scanning section, which is provided along the conveyance path of the mail P conveyed in the direction of arrow a. This first scanning unit 11 obtains a pattern signal by optically scanning a predetermined viewing range 5 (see FIG. 2) on the mail P in the direction of the dashed arrow and photoelectrically converting it. For example, it is composed of a light source that irradiates light onto the mail P, and a self-scanning CCD image sensor that receives the reflected light and converts it into an electrical signal. 12 is a character line detection device, which is a first scanning unit 1;
1 detects the position of the top line where the postal code 3 to be read and the address 5 indicating a large area are present, and the second scanning unit 13 described later
For example, an X mask creation circuit that creates an X mask for projection in the X direction and a Y mask for projection in the Y direction based on the supplied pattern signal.
The Y mask creation circuit that creates the mask, and each row information and each condition information extracted by these mask signals, determine whether each row in the X mask is suitable as a destination information block, and the left side of the determined block is It is composed of a determination circuit that selectively outputs the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of the upper left end.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a second scanning section, which is provided in front of the first scanning section 11 along the conveyance path of the mail P. This second scanning unit 13 scans a set field of view range 6 on the mail P.
(See Fig. 2) is optically scanned in the direction of the dashed arrow and photoelectrically converted to obtain a pattern signal. a self-scanning mirror that receives reflected light from the mail P via the movable mirror and converts it into an electrical signal.
It consists of a CCD image sensor, etc.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a character detection/cutting device which detects the postal code in the top row 2 of the destination information and the first block of the address read out following the postal code, that is, the address indicating a large area, based on the pattern signal from the second scanning unit 13. For example, as shown in Figure 3 a, b, and c, a mask is created, each mask is divided into blocks, and from this block pattern, blocks of postal codes and blocks indicating large areas are created. The system then detects and cuts out the determined postal code block, a block indicating a large area, and each character pattern one by one. Reference numeral 15 normalizes and samples the character information supplied from the character detection and extraction device 14, that is, the character information detected and extracted. 16 is a recognition unit which converts the character information supplied from the character detection and extraction device 14 through the normalization unit 15 into, for example, numbers in the dictionary 17;
It recognizes characters such as numbers, kanji, and katakana by matching them with standard patterns for kanji and katakana.

Reference numeral 18 denotes an answer editing section which uses the postal code supplied from the recognition section 16 and the postal code book memory 1 for the addressee 4.
It is determined whether the postal code is correct or not based on whether or not the postal code read from No. 9 matches the postal code. The postal code book memory 19 is composed of a ROM, and as shown in FIG. 4, is a table in which postal codes corresponding to various addresses representing large areas are stored, and are stored in alphabetical order of the addresses. There is.

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be explained. For example, now the mail P shown in Fig. 2 is indicated by the arrow a
direction, and reaches the first scanning section 11. Then, the first scanning section 11 optically scans the field of view 5 on the mail P and performs photoelectric conversion, and the pattern signal is supplied to the character line detection device 12, thereby detecting the character line detection device. 12 detects the position of the top row 2 where the postal code 3 and address 4 to be read are present, converts it into a reading field position setting signal for the second scanning section 13, and outputs it. As a result, in the second scanning section 13, the field of view range 6 on the mail P is set by controlling the movable mirror for the reading field of view position by the field of view position setting signal. When the mail P reaches the second scanning section 13, the second scanning section 13 optically scans the field of view 6 on the mail P, performs photoelectric conversion, and outputs the pattern signal. By supplying the signal to the character detection and extraction device 14, this character detection and extraction device 14 is connected to the second scanning section 1.
The top line 2 of the destination information by the pattern signal from 3.
This is to detect and cut out the postal code of Created, each mask is made into a block, and based on this block pattern, a zip code block and a block indicating a large area are determined.The determined zip code block, a block indicating a large area, and each character pattern are divided into blocks, one character at a time. Extract the detection. In this way, the character pattern detected and cut out one by one is normalized by the normalization section 15, sampled, and supplied to the recognition section 16. Then, the recognition unit 16 uses the character information supplied from the normalization unit 15, that is, the postal code 3 and the address 4 indicating a large area, by matching it with reference patterns for numbers, kanji, and katakana in the dictionary 17, for example. Recognizes characters,
The recognition result is output to the answer editing section 18. As a result, the answer editing section 18 uses the postal code supplied from the recognition section 6 and the postal code book memory 19 for the addressee 5.
It is determined whether or not the postal code is correct based on whether or not the postal code read from the postal code matches the postal code read from the postal code. For example, if "248" is obtained as the postal code and "Kamakulashi" is obtained as the address 4, the postal code corresponding to this "Kamakulashi" is read from the postal code book memory 19. Then, it is determined whether the postal codes "247" and "248" corresponding to "Kamakurashi" read from the postal code book memory 19 match the postal code "248" supplied from the recognition section 16. In this case, since the postal code "248" matches, this postal code is determined to be correct and is output to the subsequent sorting unit (not shown).

By the way, "243" is obtained as postal code 3,
When "Kamakurashi" is obtained as the addressee 4, the postal code corresponding to this "Kamakurashi" is read from the postal code book memory 19. Then, it is determined whether the postal codes "247" and "248" corresponding to "Kamakurashi" read from the postal code book memory 19 match the postal code "243" supplied from the recognition section 16. In this case, since the postal codes do not match, the similarity between the postal code "243" supplied from the recognition unit 16 and the address "Kamakurashi" is compared, and the one with higher certainty, that is, the one with higher similarity, is used to select the other. Re-examine the parts that do not match. for example,
If the addressee "Kamakrushi" has a higher degree of similarity, the third digit of the non-matching postal code is checked again.
As a result, if the second candidate character is "8", this number is determined to be correct, and the postal code "248" is output as the correct postal code to a subsequent classification section (not shown). Also, zip code "243"
If the similarity is higher, the postal code "243"
The address obtained from the address book is read out using the postal code book memory 19, and a match between this address and the address supplied from the recognition section 16 is checked. Then check again for unmatched characters. As a result, if it is determined that the other candidate characters are correct, the postal code "243" is output as the correct postal code to a subsequent classification section (not shown).

As mentioned above, when reading a postal code, we simultaneously read the "ward name", "city name", etc. that specify a large area, and match the postal code determined from the "ward name", "city name", etc. Since it is determined whether the postal code is correct or not based on whether the postal code is correct or not, it is possible to read a postal code that is blurred, crushed, etc. without misreading it.

In the above embodiment, if the postal code read from the postal code book memory and the postal code supplied from the recognition unit do not match, the one with higher certainty, that is, the one with higher similarity, is used to replace the other non-matching part. However, the method is not limited to this, and the one with a higher degree of similarity may be output as the reading result. Further, although the case has been described in which the postal code book memory is stored in alphabetical order of addressees, the invention is not limited to this, and may be stored in postal code order or a combination of both.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical character reading device that can reliably read postal codes that are in a poorly recorded state that is easily misread, such as blurred or crushed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention.
The figure is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a mail item, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the character detection and cutting device, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of storage in the postal code book memory. P... Mail, 1... Destination information, 2... Top line, 3... Postal code, 4... Addressee, 5... Viewing range, 6... Setting viewing range, 11... First scanning section,
12...Character line detection unit, 13...Second scanning unit, 1
4...Character detection cutting device, 15...Normalization unit, 1
6... Recognition section, 17... Dictionary, 18... Answer editing section, 19... Postal code book memory.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An optical character reading device that optically reads character information on a postal item, comprising a first reading means for reading a postal code on the postal item, and a first reading means for reading an addressee on the postal item. a storage means that stores the address and the postal code in association with each other; and the address read by the second reading means and the first reading means from the information stored in the storage means. a first determining means for determining whether or not the postal codes read by the postal code indicate the same information; and when it is determined by the first determining means that the postal codes do not indicate the same information, the first reading means; A comparison means for comparing the degree of similarity of the postal code read by the second reading means with the degree of similarity of the address read by the second reading means; a second determination means for determining whether or not the other candidate indicates the same information; and a postal code determined by the first determination means to indicate the same information, or the first candidate. An optical character reading device comprising: an output means for outputting a postal code determined by the determining means to indicate the same information as a correct postal code.