JP2003233773A - Image registeration device and software provided with image registeration function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device simplifying processes of recognizing and registering a bill and an attached document attached to the bill. <P>SOLUTION: The device has a reader reading a document, a cover judging function of judging the read document as a cover when it is a bill, an attached document judging function of judging the read document as an attached document when it is an attached document, and a function of coupling respective images of the cover and the attached document and coordinating it with a recognized number included in an image of the bill. A computer-readable recording medium is recorded with its program. <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 a terminal device for registering an image or an image, and more particularly to a terminal device for registering a plurality of documents as data and software and a medium having the function thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order for a user who has an insurance contract to apply for the insurance, he / she applies to an insurance office, etc. and prepares a bill with the necessary items printed on it. And send it to the user. The user should fill out the necessary information on the bill by handwriting, etc., and attach the documents necessary for insurance (such as medical certificate from the doctor) to the insurance office. The insurance office checks the documents sent, pays the user the desired amount, and stores the documents as they are in a warehouse.

On the other hand, in order to improve the efficiency of business processing of financial institutions, there has been proposed a form processing apparatus as typified by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-251012 which automatically recognizes a form.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The amount of processing by a staff member in insurance office work is enormous, such as a bill from a user and attached documents, and the processing for managing them is a manual work, There is a problem that the burden is heavy and the space for storing the documents must be secured, so that the profit corresponding to the investment cannot be obtained. Further, as disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the recognition of the form is performed once for each sheet, and ideally, it is designed so as to recognize all the various forms, and therefore the document that needs to be recognized. It did not consider the handling process when documents that were not mixed with those that were not.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, when a document to be recognized and a document that does not need to be recognized are read, those data are treated as one image data. It is intended to provide a terminal device or software to be integrated, and also to provide a device or software having a function to integrate the recognized number or the reception date in order to easily retrieve the collected image data later. To do.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an image or image registration device (also simply referred to as a terminal device) according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The image registration device 1 is composed of a control unit 2 which controls the entire device and has a CPU and a memory therein, and a scanner (either a close contact type or a non-close contact type is possible). It has an image reading unit 3 which reads as a binarized or multi-valued monochrome or color and converts it into image information (image data). Although the image reading unit 3 is illustrated as one unit of the image registration device 1, it may have a configuration provided outside the device and will be described as one configuration of the terminal device including them.

The terminal device further includes a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and an input section 4 for the staff to make desired inputs, and a display section 5 for displaying image information and recognition information of documents, selection items to be input, and the like. The communication between the storage unit 6 that stores various programs (software) described below and the server 8 that stores the image information registered in the terminal device is performed by a public network, a LAN,
The communication unit 7 is provided via a wireless line.

The storage unit 6 stores a program having each function as shown in the figure, software, and various kinds of information, and the control unit 2 stores the program of each function in relation to the flow of a series of processing. 6 is read out, and the processing of that function is executed and controlled. Therefore, in a broad sense, it may be considered that the control unit 2 has these functions. Further, each function and information of the storage unit 6 is stored in a storage medium represented by a flexible disk or the like, and when the content of this medium is read by another terminal (computer), a CPU or OS provided in the other terminal. Allows for a range of implementations that can be described herein. Of course, the same applies when the program is downloaded to another computer through a network or the like and executed.

The storage unit 6 has a definition dictionary 601 having layout information of documents read by the image reading unit 3 and dictionary information for recognizing characters such as characters and numbers.
And an image reading function 602 for executing reading by the image reading unit 3 and the definition dictionary 601 to recognize what kind of document the image information is in, or character recognition in a specific area of the image information. And a recognition function 603 for performing. Further, a cover sheet determination function (also referred to as a bill or first sheet determination function) for determining that the document is the first sheet (corresponding to a bill created by an insurance office (also simply referred to as a cover sheet)) 6
04 and the second and subsequent documents (this document is an attached document)
The attached document determination function (also referred to as the determination function for the second and subsequent sheets) 605 that determines whether the image is combined, the image combination function 606 that combines each image information of the document including a plurality of sheets, and the recognition function 603 recognizes the combined image information The integrated function 607 is provided for combining or integrating the numbers and reception dates. In addition, it has a search function 608 for searching an image described later.

Subsequently, the processing by the control unit 2 or the storage unit 6
The processes stored in the computer and capable of functioning by the computer will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

The person in charge of the insurance business starts up a general terminal such as a personal computer, in the present invention, the image registration apparatus 1 and activates a program and software for performing the image registration business.
The initial screen shown in (a) is displayed on the display unit 5.
In order to carry out the insurance business, the clerk selects the “image registration” key 301 in FIG. 3 (a) with the input unit 4 such as a mouse and presses it, and the screen shown in FIG. 3 (b) is displayed on the display unit. It is displayed in 5. At this time, the status (not shown) of the image registration function is set to "input image (cover)" (step 201). Subsequently, documents such as a bill sent and presented by a user who applies for insurance and a medical certificate attached to the bill are set in the image reading unit 3. At this time, since it is impossible for the image reading unit 3 to read the bundled documents as they are, a bill as a document to be recognized is set in the image reading unit 3 as the first sheet. In addition, the amount of insurance, the amount of surgery insurance, etc. are printed on this invoice (also called a receipt for insurance money, pension, etc.) Items such as hospitalization insurance money and the address column of the person are printed. Further, the insurance policy symbol number necessary for recognition is printed.

After that, when the attendant selects the "input" key 305 of FIG. 3 (b) by the input unit 4 and presses it down, the image reading unit 602 is operated by the image reading function 602 and the request is set there. The calligraphy is read and converted into image information (image data) (step 202).

The image information is automatically recognized by the recognition function 603. In the process, it is determined which of the plurality of layout information the read image information corresponds to in the definition dictionary 601. As a result, the type of bill set in the bill can be known, and a specific area determined according to the type of bill can be recognized. The definition dictionary 601 can recognize characters, numbers, etc. in the specific area only. (Step 20)
3).

When the type of invoice is specified in this way, the image information of the entire invoice read by the image reading unit 3 is displayed in the image display area 307 on the left side as shown in FIG. 3B. On the right side is a part 30 that displays an image of a specific area
3, the recognition result 304 of the specific area is displayed.
In the figure, the image of the insurance policy symbol number in 303 is 30
The recognition result of the insurance policy symbol number is displayed in 4 (step 205).

What is included in the specific area recognized here is the insurance policy code number described in the invoice, and when this insurance policy code number is "123458", the last digit "8" is correct. It is a number that plays the role of a check digit indicating whether or not it is one, and the recognition function 603 determines the validity.

On the other hand, in step 203, if the image information cannot be recognized, 1) there is no layout information of the document in the definition dictionary 601, and 2) there is layout information but the character recognition of the specific area cannot be performed. is there. Furthermore,
In 1) above, the bill itself is legitimate, but it is simply not registered in the dictionary, or it cannot be recognized because the clerk mistakenly set the attached document instead of the bill in the image reading unit 3. . Therefore, in such a case, for example, on the display screen of Fig. 3 (b), the words "Cover has not been read. Do you handle the input image as a cover?" Alert the staff by displaying the selected items in a pop-up dialog box. When "discard" is selected with the mouse of the input unit 4, the initial screen of FIG. 3B is displayed and the process returns to step 201.

When the clerk selects the "cover" or when it is determined in 2) that the bill displayed in the image information 302 is legitimate, the insurance certificate symbol number described in the bill is input. Then, a number is input to the item 304 in FIG. 3B using the keyboard or the like of the input unit 4 (note that normally, the item 303 has no display at this time). Then, the recognition function 603 determines the validity of the number.

As described above, it is determined that the bill is a bill (including the first sheet of the front cover and the document) by the automatic recognition by the recognition function 603 or the validity of the manual input of the staff number. This is a feature of the cover sheet judgment function 604 stored in the storage unit 6.

After it is judged as the cover, the status of the image registration function is set to "input image (attachment)" (step 20).
6). Next, the clerk will check the documents related to the claim type listed on the invoice, such as the hospitalization certificate required for insurance application,
If there is an attached document such as a medical certificate, the clerk removes the invoice set in the image reading unit 3 and sets the attached document. When the "input" key 305 of FIG. 3B is pressed (step 207), the image reading function 602 causes the image reading unit 3 to read the attached document and display it in the display area 307 as new image information. . At this time, at least item 30 should be displayed to the attendant to indicate that the attached document is a document related to the already-read invoice.
In step 4, the insurance certificate symbol number of the recognized or input bill is continuously displayed (step 208). After that, when there are more attached documents, that is, when there is a third and fourth sheet, the input process of the "input" key 305 and the reading process of the image reading unit 3 are repeated (step 209). These processes and judgments are characteristic of the attached document judgment function 605 stored in the storage unit 6.
Further, as is apparent from the above description, this attached document determination function has at least a function of stopping the operation of the recognition function 603. Whether the stop function is enabled or disabled depends on the image registration status. Judgment is made based on the front cover input or the attached input. With this restraint function, the registration process of image information is simple and fast.

The processing operation when this stopping function does not work will be described. In the above example, the ideal reading and registration of attached documents have been described, but it is conceivable that the next bill may be set at a place where the attached documents must be set due to an erroneous operation of a staff member. In that case, the read image information corresponds to any one of the plurality of layout information dictionaryized in the definition dictionary 601, and when the cover determination function 604 determines that it is the cover, that is, the cover overlaps. In this case, for example, on the display screen of Fig. 3 (b), "The cover page has already been entered. To discard the entered image and register it, click" Register ". To use the entered image as an attachment, A dialog box is displayed with a guidance indicating "Please press" Continue "" and a selection key for "Registration" and "Continue". It can be said that these functions are also included in the cover sheet judgment function 604 or the attached document judgment function 605.

When the operation of the document to be recognized and registered is completed by the above operation, the staff member performs the registration process. When the press of the “Register” key 306 is detected, the recognized document,
That is, the image information of the bill as the cover and the image information of the second and subsequent documents, that is, the image information as the attached document are combined by the image combining function 606 (step 210). At this time, instead of simply combining the image information and the image information, when the desired document is searched and displayed by the number search described later, one cover sheet is provided so that the attendant can easily confirm the existence of the attached document. The second and third sheets of the attached document are attached after adding information indicating the delimiters of each image information.

Subsequently, the integrated function 607 of the storage unit 6 displays the combined image information combined by the image combination function 606 of step 210 or the display image of the bill when the "register" key 306 is pressed in step 207. The information is managed and integrated based on the recognition information recognized above, specifically, the insurance policy code number. At the same time, information indicating the date of receipt of each document is also added.

As described above, the customized information including the combined image information and the like is temporarily stored in the memory or the storage unit 6 in the control unit 2 and then the server 8 via the communication unit 7 at an appropriate timing. Be registered with.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the data registered in the server 8. The data 401 stores the recognized insurance policy symbol number, the data 402 stores the date of receipt of the document, and the image information registered in the terminal device 1. Is stored in the data 403. The data 403 is composed of data 404 that stores image information of a bill (cover) and data 404 that stores image information of attached documents.

The process of searching the contents registered in the server 8 will be described. "Image search" in Figure 3 (a)
When the key 302 is selected by the input unit 4, the storage unit 6
The search function 608 stored in the server operates (step 20).
0,201). What the staff member inputs from the input unit 4 as the search condition is the insurance policy symbol number or the date of receipt. For example, enter "123
458 ”, the input value is transmitted to the server 8 via the communication unit 7 and the communication network. Since the server 8 is stored in the data structure shown in FIG. 4, the number 401 corresponding to the input value is searched and selected, and the image data 403 corresponding thereto is extracted. Here, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, the invoice (cover) has one image information (404).
The attached document is one piece of image information (405). Then, the server 8 transmits this image information to the terminal 1, the communication unit 7 receives the image information on the terminal side, and displays the received image information on the display unit 5 as image data.

Although the displayed image data is the combined image information associated with the invoice symbol number, the cover (invoice) is displayed on the first page and the image of the attached document is displayed on the next page. Separation information is added to the combined image information so as to be displayed. The terminal to search is
The image registration device 1 does not have to be used, and a general personal computer may be used.

As described above in detail with respect to the present invention, a device or software capable of simplifying and automating the process of image-forming and registering a bill to be recognized and a medical certificate (not required to be recognized) attached to the bill. Is.

[0029]

According to the present invention, there is a peculiar effect that the work of a staff member who registers a document can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram of an image registration device (terminal device).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of image registration processing.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display screen displayed on a display unit 5.

FIG. 4 is a data configuration diagram stored in a server 8.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Image registration device, 2 ... Control unit, 3 ... Image reading unit, 4 ...
Input unit, 5 ... Display unit, 6 ... Storage unit, 7 ... Communication unit, 8 ... Server

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit that reads a bill and its attached documents, a storage unit that stores a definition dictionary of various bills, and a insurance policy symbol number described in the bill that is read based on the definition dictionary. A recognition unit, an invoice determination unit that determines that the image information read by the reading unit is a bill, and an attached document determination unit that determines that the image information includes an attached document, A combining unit that combines the attached document image determined by the attached document determination unit with the invoice image determined by the invoice determination unit, and the combined image information combined by the combining unit is recognized by the recognition unit. An image registration device, comprising: an integration unit integrated under the management of insurance policy symbol numbers. 2. The image registration device according to claim 1, wherein the integration unit is a reception date information when a payment invoice is accepted for the combined image information managed corresponding to the recognized insurance policy symbol number. An image registration device having a function of adding a. 3. The image registration device according to claim 1, wherein when the bill judgment unit judges another bill after judging that the bill is already a bill, the image information of the bill that has already been input is discarded. An image registration device, comprising: a display unit for displaying a selection guidance as to whether or not to register the image information of another newly input bill. 4. The image registration device according to claim 1, wherein the attached document determination unit has a function of stopping the operation of the recognition unit. 5. The image registration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combining unit has a function of adding information indicating a delimiter between a bill image and an attached document image. 6. The image registration apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit, wherein the attached document determination unit recognizes the insurance policy symbol number recognized by the recognition unit while the attached document is being read by the reading unit. An image registration device having a function of continuously displaying on the display unit. 7. An image registration apparatus for collectively registering a plurality of documents as an image, comprising a scanner for reading the documents, a memory for storing a plurality of document layouts as dictionary data, and image data read by the scanner. A recognition unit that extracts corresponding dictionary data and recognizes a specific area of the image data, a judgment unit that judges that the image data is composed of a plurality of image data, and a plurality of judgment units judged by the judgment unit. An image registration apparatus comprising: a combining unit for combining image data, and an integrating unit for integrating the combined image data combined by the combining unit under the recognition data recognized by the recognition unit. 8. A recognition function for recognizing the read image information, and the fact that the image information is a cover sheet based on successful recognition of an insurance policy symbol number included in the image information by the recognition function. Cover page judgment function to judge, attached document judgment function to judge that other image information to be read is an attached document, and integrated function to integrate the image information read based on the recognized insurance policy code number A computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon.