JP6541936B2 - Information processing apparatus, form reading method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a form reading method, and a program.

  In recent years, a technology that generates digital data in which input information is converted to character code by reading a form in which characters are written by handwriting for an item represented by a character with a scanner and performing OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing Is widespread. For example, in a debt collection company (servicer) or the like who receives a form from a plurality of companies, it is necessary to read different types of forms and generate digital data of each type in order to process the received form.

  According to Patent Document 1, “the form processing system includes a form processing system for extracting a character line included in a form image and existing in a frame which is an area surrounded by a line segment and recognizing the extracted character line; Stores frame structure dictionary data in which character strings corresponding to a plurality of extraction target frames for which the character lines are to be extracted are associated with an arrangement relation of the plurality of extraction target frames, from the form image A frame extraction unit that extracts a frame as an extraction frame, and a frame matching unit that refers to the frame structure dictionary data and calculates a matching result in which the extraction frame extracted by the frame extraction unit is associated with the extraction target frame A character line extraction unit for extracting a character line existing in an extraction frame associated with the extraction target frame with respect to the collation result calculated by the frame collation unit; and each collation calculated by the frame collation unit As for the result, A frame score indicating the degree of similarity of the character line to the character string of the extraction target frame corresponding to the extraction frame extracted by the character line extraction unit is calculated, and the extraction target included in each matching result The frame matching based on the score calculation unit that calculates a matching result score that is the score of each matching result based on the frame score of the frame associated with the frame, and the matching result score calculated by the score calculating unit Among the collation results calculated by the section, one collation result is set as an extraction collation result, and the form processing system is disclosed.

JP, 2013-105344, A

  In the prior art, when generating digital data from a form, it is necessary to register the form of the form in advance. Therefore, in a servicer that handles forms of a plurality of different formats, the forms must be registered in advance for each form, which is cumbersome. In addition, it is necessary to sort the forms for each format and then execute the reading process with the scanner, which is not convenient.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, frame structure dictionary data in which the position of the reading frame is associated with the character string of the item must be stored in advance as a format.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and an object thereof is to provide a technique capable of efficiently extracting the described information from a form including an item and an entry for the item.

  Although this application contains multiple means to solve the said subject, if the example is given, it is as follows.

In order to solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention stores item information in which an item candidate that is a candidate for an item included in a form is associated with an attribute indicating an entry form of an entry for the item. The item corresponding to the item candidate is extracted from the description information, a description information extraction unit that extracts description information from the form, a reading unit that reads a form, and a description information extraction unit that extracts description information from the form read by the reading unit An item extraction unit that specifies and associates an attribute indicating an entry form of the description information with respect to the description information that is not extracted as the information, and specifies the description information for the item based on the reading order of the description information by the reading unit and, said entry format associated to said information written by the item extracting unit, the entry of the entry items for said item in said item information If the expression matches the entry matters specific portion specific for the described information as entry items for the item, and the item, the customer information generation unit that generates a customer information associated with said entry items for said item , And is characterized in that.

  Further, in order to solve the above problems, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is a candidate form identification unit that determines whether or not a form candidate corresponding to a form read by the reading unit is stored in the storage unit. In the storage unit, form information in which an order of describing the items and an order of description of the items in the items are associated with the items is stored for each of the forms as the form candidate. The description information extraction unit refers to the form information using the item extracted by the item extraction unit and the reading order of the item by the candidate form identification unit, and the reading order and the description order of the item , When it is determined that the corresponding form information is stored in the storage unit, the entry information read in the reading order corresponding to the entry order of the entry in the form information is entered Was identified as the customer information generation unit may be characterized by associating with said items and the entry item by using the form information.

  Further, in order to solve the above problems, in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the candidate form identification unit does not determine that the form having the corresponding reading order and the description order is not included in the form information. And a temporary form generation unit configured to generate a temporary form using the items extracted by the item extraction unit and the description order of the items, and the storage unit stores the provisional form as the form candidate in the storage unit. The candidate form identification unit determines whether the temporary form corresponding to the reading order of the form and the description order is stored in the storage unit, and the entry identification unit determines the candidate form identification unit When it is determined by the form identification unit that the temporary form is stored, the entry items may be identified using the order of description included in the temporary form.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above problems, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention identifies, when the entry for the item is not identified by the entry identification unit among the described information, or identifies both the item and the entry. The form correction screen includes an error determination unit that performs an error determination when there is the described description information that is not stored, and a display unit that displays a form correction screen when the error determination is made by the error determination unit. It may be characterized in that specification of the item or the entry to the described information is received.
In the attribute indicating the entry form of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, whether the character relating to the entry is a full-width character or a half-width character, and the entry is by selection from options The item information may be characterized in that the item candidate is associated with an attribute of any one of the items for the item.
Further, in the case where the item extraction unit of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes the plurality of characters and dots in which the description information is continuous or the plurality of check boxes, the attribute of the description information is an option It may be characterized by specifying it as the selection of.

Further, to solve the above problems, a form reading method according to the present invention is a form reading method using an information processing apparatus including a control unit, and the control unit is an item which is a candidate of an item included in the form. A storage unit for storing item information in which a candidate and an attribute indicating the entry form of the entry for the item are associated, a reading step for reading a form, and written information for extracting the described information from the form read in the reading step an extraction step, with the item corresponding to the item candidate is a candidate of items to include in the form stored in the storage unit to extract from the described information, the described for the described information is not extracted as the item and item extraction associating to identify an attribute indicating entry format information, on the basis of the read order of the described information in the reading step, Identifies the information written for serial item, and the entry format associated to said information included in said item extraction step, if the the entry format compatible for entry items for the items in the item information, the The method may include an entry specifying step of identifying written information as an entry for the item, and a customer information generation step of generating customer information in which the item and the entry for the item are associated with each other.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, a program according to the present invention is a program that causes a computer to execute a step of performing a form reading process, and causes the computer to function as a control unit. A storage unit for storing item information in which item candidates which are candidates for items included in the form and an attribute indicating an entry form of the entry to the item are associated; a reading step for reading the form; Extracting from the description information an item candidate corresponding to an item candidate which is a candidate of an item included in the form stored in the storage unit, and extracting the described information from the written form; against not extracted the described information associating to identify an attribute indicating complete form of the described information items extracted A step, on the basis of the read order of the described information in the reading step to identify the described information for the item, and the entry format associated to said information included in said item extraction step, in said item information An entry identifying step of identifying the described information as an entry for the entry if the entry form of the entry for the entry conforms, customer information associated with the entry and the entry for the entry Generating a customer information generation step of generating

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique capable of efficiently extracting the described information from the form including the item and the entry for the item.

  Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the embodiments below.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a form reading device 10; It is a figure which shows an example of item DB. It is a figure showing an example of form DB. It is a figure which shows an example of customer master DB. It is a figure showing the example of hardware constitutions of an information processor. It is a flowchart (the 1) which shows the flow of a form reading process. It is a flowchart (the 2) which shows the flow of a form reading process. It is an example of a form. It is a figure which shows an example of the description information extracted by the description information extraction part. It is a figure which shows an example of the description information in which the item identifier and the attribute were linked | related. It is a figure which shows an example of the option as description information. It is a figure which shows an example of a report correction screen.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus 10.

  The information processing device 10 is a terminal device such as a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a smartphone. Further, the information processing apparatus 10 may be a multifunction peripheral having a general scanner function.

  The information processing apparatus 10 includes a control unit 110 and a storage unit 120. The control unit 110 controls the process of extracting the described information from each form read by the scanner connected to the input I / F included in the information processing apparatus 10 and generating a customer master. The storage unit 120 stores data necessary for the process performed by the control unit 110.

  The control unit 110 includes a reading unit 111, a description information extracting unit 112, an item extracting unit 113, an entry specifying unit 114, a customer information generating unit 115, a candidate form specifying unit 116, and a provisional form generating unit 117. , An error determination unit 118, and a display unit 119.

  The reading unit 111 acquires image data (mainly raster data) of a form read by the scanner. The form includes an item indicating contents for which the user is requested to be entered, or an entry entered by the user, in a frame represented by an orthogonal straight line. In the following description, it is assumed that the generic term of items and entries is the description information.

  Further, the reading unit 111 stores the read image data in an area (not shown) of the storage unit 120.

  The description information extraction unit 112 performs an OCR process on the acquired image data, and acquires character data of the description information included in the form. Description of the details of the OCR processing will be omitted because known methods are used for the OCR processing.

  In addition, the description information extraction unit 112 specifies the frame described in the form. Known methods are used to specify the frame. For example, the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-105344 is used. The written information extraction unit 112 acquires the character data of the written information described in the frame for each frame included in the form. The written information extraction unit 112 assigns a number according to the reading order by the reading unit 111 to the acquired character data.

  The item extraction unit 113 extracts an item from the description information using the item DB 121 in which the item candidate is recorded.

  The entry identification unit 114 identifies the entry entered by the user, using the number assigned to the described information. The entries to be identified may be handwritten or printed letters. The method of identifying the entry items will be described in detail later.

  The customer information generation unit 115 generates a customer master DB as customer information in which the items extracted from the form are associated with the entry items.

  Using the form DB 122 which is form information stored in advance in the storage unit 120, the candidate form identification unit 116 determines whether the form read by the reading unit 111 is a form of the format stored in the form DB 122. Do. In addition, the candidate form identification unit 116 determines whether the form read by the reading unit 111 has a format common to the temporary form stored in the temporary registration storage area.

  If the form read by the reading unit 111 is not a form of the format stored in the form DB 122, the temporary form generation unit 117 generates a temporary form in which items are associated with the reading order of the items.

  The error determination unit 118 determines whether the form read by the reading unit 111 has an error. When it is determined that there is an error, the error determination unit 118 classifies the content of the error and causes the storage unit 120 to store the content. The error is, for example, “1” when the character is difficult to read, “2” when the entry is not specified for the item, and “3” when the item is not identified for the entry, It is associated with each described information.

  The display unit 119 causes the display device to display a screen. The display unit 119 displays, for example, a form correction screen to be described later regarding a form including an entry determined to have an error.

  The storage unit 120 stores an item DB 121, a form DB 122, a customer master DB 123, and a temporary registration storage area 124.

  The item DB 121 is information on candidate items. In the item DB, an attribute of an entry to be entered corresponding to the item is associated with the item content including a character string that is the content of the item. Based on the item DB 121, the entry corresponding to the item is identified.

  The form DB 122 stores information on the form of the form. The form DB 122 includes, for each form of the form, a name of the form, an identifier of an item included in the form, and a reading identifier indicating the reading order of the entry corresponding to the item.

  The customer master DB 123 stores, for each of the read slips, an item identifier specifying an item, an input character string as an entry entered for the item, and the like.

  The provisional registration storage area 124 stores the provisional voucher generated by the provisional voucher generation unit 117.

  In the present embodiment, customer information is generated from the read form. At this time, if there is a format corresponding to the read form in the form DB 122, the customer master DB is generated based on the form DB 122. If the corresponding form does not exist in the form DB 122, it is determined whether a temporary form based on the read form and the corresponding form exists in the temporary registration storage area 124, and the temporary form corresponding to the temporary registration storage area 124 If there is, the customer information is generated according to the form of the preliminary slip. If a temporary form corresponding to the read form does not exist in the temporary registration storage area 124, a temporary form is generated based on the read form and stored in the temporary form storage area 124. As a result, even when a form whose format is not registered in the form DB 122 is read in advance, the customer information can be efficiently generated, so the process from reading the form to generating the customer information is efficient. Can be

  Next, each piece of information stored in the storage unit 120 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the item DB 121. As shown in FIG. The item DB 121 stores, for each item, an item identifier 121a, an item content 121b, the number of digits 121c, an attribute 121d, and a type 121e.

  The item identifier 121a is identification information uniquely assigned to each item content 121b. The item content 121 b is a character string indicating the content of the item. The number of digits 121c is a value indicating the upper limit of the number of single-byte digits of the entry entered for the item.

  The attribute 121 d is an attribute of an entry to be entered for the item. “C”, “N”, and “S” are displayed in the attribute 121 d shown in FIG. 2, but “C” indicates full-width characters, “N” indicates half-width characters, and “S” indicates options. There is.

  The type 121e is information for specifying the type of item. In the type 121 e shown in FIG. 2, “aa” is a type related to “customer name”, “ab” is a type related to “home address”, and “ac” is a type related to “home phone number”.

  For example, in the record at the top of the item DB 121 shown in FIG. 2, the item identifier 121a is "00001", the item content 121b is "furigana", and the upper limit of the number of digits of the entry entered for the item Is the "48" digit of the number of digits 121c, indicating that the entry attribute 121d is "C", that is, it is a full-width character. Further, the type 121e of the item is "aa", that is, "customer name".

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the form DB 122. As shown in FIG. The form DB 122 stores the form name 122b, the item identifier 122c, the input field reading identifier 122d, and the input required flag 122e in association with each of the form type identifiers 122a.

  The form type identifier 122a is identification information that specifies the form of the form. The form name 122 b is a character string indicating the name of the form. The item identifier 122c is identification information for specifying an item included in the form, and corresponds to the item identifier 121a of the item DB 121. When the form specified by the form type identifier 122a has a plurality of items, the plurality of item identifiers 122c are associated with the form type identifier 122a. Each item identifier 122c is associated with the form type identifier 122a in accordance with the order of description of the items. Each item identifier 122c shown in FIG. 3 is recorded so that the description order comes later from the top to the bottom.

  When the reading unit 111 reads a form, for example, the form is scanned from left to right in the horizontal direction, and then the reading head is moved to the lower left, and then scanned from left to right in the horizontal direction. Therefore, each item identifier 122c is defined as the description order is later as going from the upper left to the lower right in the state described in the form. Hereinafter, the description order and the reading order will be described using similar definitions. In addition, the present embodiment is not limited to the reading order and the writing order, as long as the writing order or reading order of the written information is defined by a common rule.

  The input field read identifier 122d is identification information that specifies the reading order of the entry items input for the item identified by the item identifier 122c. As described above, in the description information read by the reading unit 111, a number corresponding to the reading order is assigned. The input field read identifier 122d is a number assigned to the entry.

  The input required flag 122e is a flag indicating whether the presence of the entry for the item specified by the item identifier 122c is required. For example, in the input required flag 122 e shown in FIG. 3, “0” indicates that input is not required, and “1” indicates that input is required.

For example, the form DB 122 shown in FIG. 3 has a form name 122b of “transfer application form” and an item identifier 122c of “00001” for a form having a form type identifier 122a specified by “AA-AAA”. It indicates that the items including “00003”, “00001”, “00007”, and the like are included.
The form includes these item identifiers 122 c in the order of “00001”, “00003”, “00001”, and “00007”. According to the item DB 121 of FIG. 2, the item whose item identifier 121b is "furigana" is the item whose item identifier is "00001". An item whose item identifier is "00003" has an item content 121b of "name".

  In the record at the top of form DB 122, the entry entered for the item whose item identifier 122c is "00001", that is, the item content is "phonetic" is specified by the input column read identifier 122d by "002". It indicates that the description information is read in the reading order. Also, the entry indicates that the input required flag 122e is "1", that is, the input is required.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the customer master DB 123. As shown in FIG. The customer master DB 123 stores the form type identifier 123b, the item identifier 123c, the item type 123d, the input character string 123e, and the error information 123f in association with each of the form identifiers 123a.

  The form identifier 123a is identification information uniquely assigned to the read form. The form type identifier 123b is identification information for specifying a form when the form specified by the form identifier 123a corresponds to the form stored in the form DB 122, and corresponds to the form type identifier 122a of the form DB 122. If the corresponding format does not exist in the form DB 122, nothing is stored in the form type identifier 123b.

  The item identifier 123c is identification information for specifying an item included in the form, and corresponds to the item identifier 121a of the item DB 121. The item type 123d is information for specifying the type of the item. The item type 123 d corresponds to the type 121 e of the item DB 121. The item type 123d may be a symbol specifying the type, or may be a character string indicating the type.

  The input string 123e is a string indicating entries entered for the item identified by the item identifier 123c. The error information 123f is information for specifying the classification of an error when an error determination is made on the item specified by the item identifier 123c or the input character string 123e.

  As described above, when the error information 123 f is “1”, it is a case where a character that is difficult to read is included. Therefore, in the customer master DB 123 shown in FIG. 4, for the item whose item identifier 123c is "00007", that is, the item content 121b is "current address" according to the item DB 121, the input character string 123e However, since the error information 123f associated with the item is “1”, it indicates that the item or the description includes characters that are difficult to read.

  If the error information 123 f is “2”, it indicates that no entry is specified for the item. In the customer master DB 123 of FIG. 4, the input character string 123e is empty for the item whose item identifier 123c is "01025", and "2" is associated with the error information 123f. This indicates that although the entry is mandatory for this item, the entry can not be identified.

  If the error information 123 f is “3”, it indicates that no item is specified for the entry. In the customer master DB 123 of FIG. 4, “3” is associated with the error information 123 f when the input character string 123 e is “3/1 12:00”. This indicates that no item has been identified for this entry.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 130, a memory 131, a network I / F (interface) 132, an auxiliary storage device 133, an input I / F 134, and an output I / F 135. The components are connected by a bus.

  The CPU 130 is a central processing unit and executes processing in accordance with a program stored in the memory 131 or the auxiliary storage device 133. In the information processing apparatus 10, processing is performed by the CPU 130 operating according to the program read on the memory 131 or the auxiliary storage device 133. Each processing unit constituting the control unit 110 realizes each function when the CPU 130 executes a program.

  The memory 131 is a storage device such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory, and functions as a storage area in which a program or data is temporarily read. The network I / F 132 is an interface for connecting the information processing apparatus 10 to a network. The auxiliary storage device 133 may be a writable and readable storage medium and storage medium drive such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a compact disc-recordable (CD-R), and a digital versatile disc-random access memory (DVD-RAM). It is an apparatus etc. The function of the storage unit 120 is realized by the memory 131 or the auxiliary storage device 133. In addition, the storage unit 120 may have its function realized by a storage device connected via the network I / F 132.

  The input I / F 134 is an interface for receiving an input operation from a system administrator, and receives an input from, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, and the like. The output I / F 135 is an interface for outputting information to a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The input I / F 134 of the information processing apparatus 10 is connected to the scanner 20, and the image data read by the scanner 20 is acquired by the control unit 110 via the input I / F 134. The scanner 20 may be connected to the output I / F 135. In addition, the information processing apparatus 10 may have a scanner inside.

  The processing of each component of the information processing apparatus 10 may be executed by one hardware or may be executed by a plurality of hardware. The processing of each component of the information processing apparatus 10 may be realized by one program or may be realized by a plurality of programs.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 1) showing the flow of the form reading process. For example, when an instruction to start processing is received via the input device, the processing of this flowchart is started. One sheet of form is read by this process. In addition, regardless of the difference in format, for example, in the case of reading 100 forms, the process may be repeated by the number of sheets.

  First, the reading unit 111 reads a form (step S11). The reading unit 111 acquires image data of a form read by the scanner 20. The reading unit 111 stores the image data in an area (not shown) in the storage unit 120.

  Next, the written information extraction unit 112 performs an OCR process (step S12). The written information extraction unit 112 acquires the character data of the written information described in the frame for each frame included in the form.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a form. In the form, “Kurigana” is displayed in the top left frame, “Saichi Ichiro” is displayed on the right of the frame, and “Gender” is displayed in the right frame. The description information extraction unit 112 extracts the description information described in the frame according to the reading order from the upper left to the lower right. In addition, when the "customer information registration application" which is the title of the form is enclosed in a frame, the title is also extracted as the described information.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the description information extracted by the description information extraction unit 112. As shown in FIG. An example of the described information shown in FIG. 9 is extracted from the form shown in FIG. The written information extraction unit 112 attaches a read identifier according to the reading order of the extracted written information.

  The explanation is returned to FIG. Next, the description information extraction unit 112 specifies a title (step S13). The written information extraction unit 112 specifies the character data existing in the area designated in advance as the title of the form. For example, the written information extraction unit 112 specifies, as the title, the character described in the area at the upper center of the read form. Alternatively, the description information extraction unit 112 specifies, as the title, the description information described in characters larger than the other description information among the description information acquired in step S12. In step S12, when the read identifier is attached to the title, the read identifier is deleted, and the read identifier is newly added to the described information other than the title.

  Next, the item extraction unit 113 extracts an item from the description information (step S14). Specifically, the item extraction unit 113 refers to the item DB 121 using the description information extracted in step S12, and is associated with the item content 121b when there is an item content 121b corresponding to each description information An item is extracted by specifying the item identifier 121a. The item extraction unit 113 associates the specified item identifier with the extracted item.

  For example, in the description information shown in FIG. 9, “frigana” of the description information associated with the reading identifier “001” corresponds to the item identifier 121 a in the item DB 121 as “00001”. Therefore, the item extraction unit 113 associates “00001” as an item identifier with this description information. Similarly, the item identifier "00013" is associated with the written information "gender" whose reading identifier is "003", and the item whose reading identifier is "004" is associated with the written information "name". Associate “00002” as an identifier.

  Next, the item extraction unit 113 associates an attribute with the description information not extracted as an item in step S14 (step S15). Specifically, the item extraction unit 113 sets the attribute to “N” when the specified information not extracted as an item includes alphanumeric characters of a predetermined number or more, and determines the attribute when it is determined that the described information is an option. "S", and when the described information is otherwise, the attribute is associated with each described information as "C". For example, when the description information includes six or more alphanumeric characters, the item extraction unit 113 specifies the attribute as “N”. The options will be described later.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the described information in which the item identifier and the attribute are associated. No item identifier is associated with "Saichi Ichiro" which is the described information specified by the reading identifier "002". The item extraction unit 113 associates the attribute “C” with the described information. The item extraction unit 113 associates the attribute “N” with six numbers included in “July 1, 1962,” which is the description information specified by the reading identifier “012”.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of options as described information. In FIG. 11 (a), "Alphabet +". "" Is attached to each option. In FIG. 11 (b), check boxes are displayed for each option. A plurality of patterns indicating options are stored in advance in an area (not shown) of the storage unit 120, and the item extraction unit 113 associates the attribute "S" when the described information matches the option pattern.

  In addition to the above-mentioned "continuous alphabet +". "", "Plural check boxes", "consecutive plural numbers +". "," Continuous plural kana characters "." Etc. In FIG. 10, with respect to “1. male 2. female” (“1” is circled) of the read information specified by the read identifier “006”, the item extraction unit 113 It is determined that the number is "+", and the attribute "S" is assigned.

  If the item extraction unit 113 determines that the attribute of the described information is an option, the item extraction unit 113 may determine which option is selected, and overwrite the described information with the selected limb. Thereby, the customer data DB can be generated using the selected limb.

  The explanation is returned to FIG. Next, the candidate form identification unit 116 refers to the form DB using the title included in the read form, the item identifier, and the order of each item identifier, and the title, the item identifier, and the order of each item identifier It is determined whether or not there is data in the form DB 122 that matches (step S16). Specifically, the candidate form identification unit 116 refers to the item DB 121 using the title identified in step S13 and the item identifier of the item extracted in step S14. The candidate form identification unit 116 determines whether the item identifier 122c associated with the form name 122b corresponding to the identified title corresponds to the extracted item identifier.

  As described above, the item identifier 122c of the form DB 122 is stored according to the order of description of the form. The candidate form identification unit 116 further specifies the reading order using the reading identifier attached to the item identifier of the item extracted in step S14, and the reading order and the description order of each item identifier 122c in the form DB 122 It is determined whether the corresponding data is in the form DB 122 or not.

  When the candidate form identification unit 116 determines that there is data in the form DB 122 in which the title included in the read form, the item identifier, and the order of the item identifiers match (in the case of “YES” in step S16) The entry identification unit 114 identifies the input required flag and the entry for each item (step S17). Specifically, the entry identification unit 114 refers to data in the form DB 122 that is determined to match the title included in the form read in step S16, the item identifier, and the order of the item identifiers. The entry specification unit 114 specifies each of the item identifiers of the items extracted in step S14 and the corresponding item identifier 122c in the form DB 122. The entry identification unit 114 identifies the input field read identifier 122d associated with the identified item identifier 122c and the input required flag 122e.

  The entry identification unit 114 identifies, as the entry for each item, the described information corresponding to the identified input field read identifier 122d and the read identifier added to the described information in step S12. The entry identification unit 114 associates the extracted item identifiers, entries for this, and an entry required flag.

  Next, the error determination unit 118 determines at least one of (1) no entry associated with the item identifier, (2) no entry identifier associated with the entry, and (3) a predetermined error in the described information. Error information is associated with the described information if one of the above applies (step S18). Specifically, the error determination unit 118 relates the item identifier to the item identifier when the entry required flag identified in step S17 is not associated with the item indicating that the entry is required. Error information indicating that there is no entry to be associated with the item identifier.

  In addition, the error determination unit 118 indicates that there is no item identifier associated with the entry in the description information which is not extracted as an item in step S14 and is not associated with the item identifier in step S17. Associate error information to indicate. In other words, it can be said that the described information which is not extracted as an item and which is not associated with the item identifier is described information which is neither specified nor specified.

  Further, when there is a predetermined error in the entry, the error determination unit 118 associates error information indicating that fact with the described information. The predetermined error is, for example, a case where the written information includes characters that are difficult to read. Also, for example, the error determination unit 118 refers to the item DB 121 using the item identifier attached to the item and the entry associated with the item, and the digit associated with the corresponding item identifier 121a. If the entry exceeds the number 121c, or if the attribute 121d is different from the attribute of the entry, error information indicating that may be associated with the described information.

  Next, the customer information generation unit 115 associates each item identifier with the input information to create a customer master DB 123 (step S19). Specifically, the customer information generation unit 115 attaches the form identifier 123a to the form, and associates the form type identifier 122a of the form DB 122 determined to correspond to the form in step S16 as the form type identifier 123b. The customer information generation unit 115 associates the item identifier of the item extracted in step S14 with the form identifier 123a as the item identifier 123c according to the reading order.

  Further, the customer information generation unit 115 refers to each item identifier 123c and the corresponding item identifier 121a in the item DB 121, and identifies the type 121e associated with the item identifier 121a. The customer information generation unit 115 associates the identified type 121e with the item identifier 123c as the item type 123d. The item type 123d may be a character string indicating the type of the item, as described above.

  Further, the customer information generation unit 115 associates the entry associated in step S17 with each item identifier 123c as the input character string 123e.

  In addition, the description information which is not extracted as an item and is not associated with the item identifier is stored in the input character string 123d. If the error information is associated with the described information specified by each item identifier 123c or the input character string 123e in step S18, the associated error information is stored in the error information 123f, and the customer master DB 123 Generate Note that multiple pieces of error information may be associated with one piece of written information. Thereafter, the customer information generation unit 115 ends the processing of this flowchart.

  In step S16, if the candidate form identification unit 116 determines that there is data in the form DB 122 in which the title included in the read form, the item identifier, and the order of the item identifiers match (step S16: NO). Case), the candidate form identification unit 116 advances the process to step S20.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart (part 2) showing the flow of the form reading process.

  Next, the candidate form identification unit 116 determines whether the temporary form data in the temporary registration storage area 124 includes a title included in the read form, each item identifier, and the order of each item identifier match. It determines (step S20).

  In the temporary form storage area, there is stored a form read out before the start of the process, and data relating to a form title, an item included in the form, or a form whose entry order of items is different from that in the form DB 122 There is. The temporary form storage area stores, for each form, items described in the form including items to be included in the form and a description order including items in association with the title of the form.

  The candidate form identification unit 116 refers to the temporary form storage area using the title identified in step S13 and the item identifier of the item extracted in step S14. The candidate form identification unit 116 identifies data in the temporary form storage area in which the identified title matches the extracted item. Further, the candidate document identification unit 116 identifies the reading order using the reading identifier attached to the item identifier of the item extracted in step S14, and refers to the data identified in the temporary document storage area. Among the identified data, the candidate form identification unit 116 determines whether there is data in which the reading order of the items matches the description order.

  If the candidate form identification unit 116 determines that there is data in the temporary registration storage area 124 in which the title included in the form, each item identifier, and the order of the item identifiers match ("YES" in step S20) Case), the entry identification unit 114 identifies the entry for each item (step S21).

  The identification of the entry by the entry identification unit 114 will be described using the information described in FIG. First, the entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information with the youngest read identifier among the described information associated with the item identifier. The entry specification unit 114 refers to the item DB 121 using the item identifier associated with the described information, and specifies the attribute 121 d associated with the item identifier 121 a corresponding to the item identifier. Next, the entry identification unit 114 identifies, in the order of closeness to the identified descriptive information, descriptive information that is the descriptive information whose descriptive order is later than the identified descriptive information and in which the item identifier is not associated. The entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information as an entry for the item identifier when the identified description information matches the attribute 121 d.

  The entry identification unit 114 may further use the number of digits 121c associated with the item identifier 121a in the item DB to identify the corresponding entry. Specifically, the entry identification unit 114 determines that the description information does not correspond to the item when the description information determined to be suitable for the attribute exceeds the number of digits 121c associated with the item.

  The entry identification unit 114 repeats the above-described processing in ascending order of reading order with respect to all the described information associated with the item identifier.

  In FIG. 10, the item information is associated with the description information, and the description information with the youngest reading identifier is the description information according to the reading identifier “001”. The description information is associated with the item whose item identifier is "00001". The entry specification unit 114 refers to the item DB 121 using “00001” as the item identifier, and specifies “C” as the attribute 121 d associated with the item identifier 121 a. The attribute "C" indicates a full-width character.

  Next, the entry identification unit 114 reads the information closest to the read identifier “001” among the described information not associated with the item identifier, which is the described information after the described information related to the read identifier “001”. Identify the information described in the order. Therefore, the entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information related to the read identifier "002". The read identifier "002" is associated with the described information "Saichi Ichiro". The entry identification unit 114 determines whether the described information “Saichi Ichiro” matches the attribute “C”. Since "Saito Ichiro" is written in full-width characters, it is judged to be compatible with the attribute "C". The entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information related to the read identifier “002” as the entry for the item related to the read identifier “001”.

  Next, the entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information related to the read identifier “003” as the described information having the youngest reading order next to the read identifier “001”, which is the described information associated with the item identifier. . The described information related to the read identifier "003" is associated with the item identifier "00013", and the attribute associated with the item in the item DB 121 is "S".

  The entry identification unit 114 is description information whose reading order is later than the description information relating to the reading identifier “003”, and among the description information to which the item identifier is not associated, the description information having the youngest reading order is described. , And specifies the described information related to the read identifier "005". The read identifier "005" is associated with the described information "Satoichiro", but the attribute of the described information "Satoichiro" is the full-width character "C", and the attribute "S" associated with the item identifier is not.

  Next, the entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information associated with the read identifier “006”, which is the described information with the youngest read order. Since the described information is an option, it matches the attribute “S”. Therefore, the entry identification unit 114 identifies the described information related to the read identifier "006" as the entry for the item related to the read identifier "003".

  As a result of specifying the entry for each of the items included in the described information according to FIG. 10 according to the above-described process, the correspondence represented by the arrow shown on the right side of FIG. 10 is obtained.

  Next, the candidate form identification unit 116 determines whether each item and each entry are one to one (step S22). Specifically, when there is no entry information not associated with the item identifier among the entry information and no entry information associated with the entry identifier in step S21, the candidate form identification unit 116 indicates each entry and each entry And are determined to be one to one.

  When the candidate form identification unit 116 determines that each item and each entry are on a one-to-one basis (in the case of “YES” in step S22), the error determination unit 118 has a predetermined error in the described information The error information indicating that is associated with the described information (step S23). As described above, the predetermined error is, for example, a case where the written information includes characters that the reading unit 111 can not read.

  Next, the customer information generation unit 115 creates a customer master DB 123 by correlating each item identifier with the input information for the form read in this process (step S24). Although the forms to be processed by this step do not conform to the format predetermined in the form DB 122, the form is common to the form read before the start of the process, and each item and entry items are excessive. It is a corresponding form without a shortage. In this step, the customer master DB 123 is generated for the form read in the present process.

  Specifically, the customer information generation unit 115 attaches the form identifier 123a to the form, and associates the item identifier of the item extracted in step S14 with the form identifier 123a as the item identifier 123c according to the description order. Further, the customer information generation unit 115 refers to each item identifier 123c and the corresponding item identifier 121a in the item DB 121, identifies the type 121e associated with the item identifier 121a, and associates it with the item identifier 123c as the item type. Further, the customer information generation unit 115 associates the entry associated in step S21 with each item identifier 123c as the input character string 123e. When error information is associated with the description information in step S23, the error information 123f is associated with the description information.

  Next, the customer information generation unit 115 associates each item identifier with the input information to create a customer master DB when each item of the temporary form and the entry are in a one-to-one manner, Are deleted from the temporary registration storage area 124 (step S25). Specifically, the customer information generation unit 115 determines that the data included in the temporary registration storage area 124 is determined in step S20 that the title included in the read form, each item identifier, and the order of each item identifier match. The customer master DB is generated using (provisional slip). In the temporary registration storage area 124, for example, described information shown in FIG. 10 is stored in association with the form title. The customer information generation unit 115 adds the form identifier 123a to the temporary form in the temporary registration storage area 124, and associates the item identifier 123c, the item type 123d, and the input character string 123e. When error information is associated with the described information in step S23, the error information 123f is associated with the described information.

  Further, the customer information generation unit 115 deletes the data of the temporary form from the temporary registration storage area 124. Thereafter, the customer information generation unit 115 ends the processing of this flowchart.

  In step S22, when the candidate form identification unit 116 does not determine that each item and each entry are one to one (in the case of “NO” in step S22), the error determination unit 118 performs (1) item identifier And (2) there is no entry associated with the entry, (2) there is no item identifier associated with the entry, (3) there is a predetermined error in the described information, and the error information is associated if at least one of Step S26). Specifically, when the entry is not specified in step S21 for the item extracted in step S14, the error determination unit 118 sets error information indicating that there is no entry associated with the item identifier as the item identifier. Associate against.

  In addition, the error determination unit 118 indicates that there is no item identifier associated with the entry in the description information which is not extracted as an item in step S14 and is not associated with the item identifier in step S21. Associate error information to indicate. Further, when there is a predetermined error in the entry, the error determination unit 118 associates error information indicating that fact with the described information.

  Next, the temporary form creation unit 117 causes the temporary registration storage area 124 to store a temporary form in which each item identifier is associated with the input information, and the image data of the form (step S27). More specifically, the temporary form creation unit 117 associates the read identifier, the item identifier extracted in step S14, and the read identifier of the entry identified in step S21 with the written information acquired in step S12. The temporary form is generated in correspondence with the title specified in step S13, and is stored in the temporary registration storage area 124. The provisional form is, for example, the described information shown in FIG.

  In addition, the temporary form creation unit 117 reads the image data read by the reading unit 111 in step S11 from the storage unit 120, and associates the image data with the temporary form. After that, the provisional document generation unit 117 ends the processing of this flowchart.

  In step S20, it is determined that the candidate form identification unit 116 determines that there is data in the temporary registration storage area 124 in which the title included in the form, each item identifier, and the order of the item identifiers match. In the case of “NO”, the entry identification unit 114 identifies the entry for each item (step S28). The process performed in step S28 is the same as the process performed in step S21, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the error determination unit 118 determines (1) that there is no entry associated with the item identifier, (2) that there is no item identifier associated with the entry, (3) in the description information acquired in step S12. If at least one of the predetermined errors is present, the error information is associated (step S29). The processes performed in steps S29 to S30 are the same as the processes performed in steps S26 to S27, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  According to the present embodiment, when the read form corresponds to the form stored in advance in the form DB 122, the customer master DB 123 is generated according to the form. If it does not correspond to the form DB 122, it refers to the temporary registration storage area 124 storing information on the form of the form read before this processing, and corresponds to the form of the temporary form in the storage area. If a pair of an item and an entry for the item is identified, the customer master DB 123 is generated using these. As a result, it is not necessary to register in advance the form of the form to be handled, and the described information can be extracted efficiently.

  Further, by repeating this process for the number of forms, it is possible to preferably create a customer master DB for different types of forms. In particular, in the case of a servicer that handles different types of forms, there is no need to sort the forms for each type, and work efficiency is improved.

  Also, if it is considered that generating a customer master DB 123 as it is will cause a problem in accuracy, such as when the entry in the item is unknown, correction is made using the form correction screen 140 described later by attaching error information. The customer master DB 123 can be generated appropriately.

  In the present embodiment, in step S21, the item DB 121 is referenced using each item identifier, and the entry is specified using the attribute 121d (and the number of digits 121c) associated with the item identifier 121a. However, it is not necessary to use the attribute 121 d and the number of digits 121 c as long as the entry for the item can be identified based on the order of description. By omitting the process of referencing the attribute 121 d and the number of digits 121 c, the load on the information processing apparatus 10 can be reduced.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the form correction screen 140. As shown in FIG. The contents of the form stored in the temporary registration storage area 124 can be corrected on this screen. The display unit 119 causes this display screen to be displayed on the display device by receiving the selection of the form stored in the temporary registration storage area 124 based on, for example, an input via the input device. The display unit 119 may automatically display this screen when a form including predetermined error information is stored in the temporary registration storage area 124. This screen is displayed for each form.

  The form correction screen 140 includes a written information selection area 141, a character string change button 142, a correspondence change button 143, and a customer information generation button 144. In the form correction screen 140, the entry included in the form is either (1) there is no entry associated with the item identifier or (2) there is no entry identifier associated with the entry. May be included to indicate that the item and the entry do not correspond to each other when associated with the error information indicating.

  In the description information selection area 141, the description information included in the form is displayed in a selectable manner. The character string change button 142 is a button for receiving a change of the character string included in the described information. When the described information displayed in the described information selection area 141 is selected and the input of the character string change button 142 is received, the display screen changes to a screen for receiving an input related to the change of the character string in the described information. For example, when changing the character string related to the entry extracted by the description information extraction unit 112, this operation is performed.

  The correspondence change button 143 is a button for receiving addition or change of the described information. When the description information displayed in the description information selection area 141 is selected and the input of the correspondence change button 143 is received, the display screen changes to a screen for receiving addition regarding the description information and an input regarding the correspondence relationship between the items and the entries. For example, this operation is performed, for example, when adding description information that has not been extracted by the description information extraction unit 112 or when associating an entry with the item extracted by the item extraction unit 113.

  The customer information generation button 144 is a button for receiving a generation instruction of the customer master DB 123 based on the main form. When the customer information generation button 144 is input, a customer master DB 123 is generated based on the form.

  With the main display screen, it is possible to correct an error in the description information for which the error determination unit 118 has made the error determination. Even if the form is stored in the temporary registration storage area 124, the customer master DB 123 can be generated after an appropriate correction is received by performing an operation based on this screen. As a result, generation of an appropriate customer master DB 123 based on the read slip is secured.

  Note that when performing an operation on the main display screen, the image data stored in the storage unit 120 in association with the temporary form may be displayed together with the main display screen. Thereby, the read image and the main display screen can be collated, and the efficiency is improved.

  As mentioned above, although each embodiment concerning the present invention has been explained, the present invention is not limited to an example of an above-mentioned embodiment, and various modification is included. For example, one example of the embodiment described above is described in detail in order to make the present invention easy to understand, and the present invention is not limited to one having all the configurations described here. Further, part of the configuration of an example of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another example. In addition, it is also possible to add another example configuration to the configuration of an example of one embodiment. In addition, with respect to a part of the configuration of an example of each embodiment, another configuration can be added, deleted, or replaced. Further, each of the configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. described above may be realized by hardware, for example, by designing part or all of them with an integrated circuit. Further, control lines and information lines in the drawings indicate what is considered to be necessary for the explanation, and not all of them are shown. It may be considered that almost all configurations are connected to each other.

  Also, the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 described above is classified according to the main processing content in order to facilitate understanding. The invention is not limited by the classification method and names of components. The configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 can also be classified into more components according to the processing content. Also, one component can be classified to perform more processing.

  10: information processing apparatus, 20: scanner, 110: control unit, 111: reading unit, 112: written information extracting unit, 113: item extracting unit, 114: entry specifying unit, 115: customer information generating unit, 116: candidate Form identification unit 117, preliminary form generation unit 118: error determination unit 119: display unit 120: storage unit 121: item DB, 122: form DB, 123: customer master DB, 124: temporary registration storage area, 130: CPU, 131: memory, 132: network I / F, 133: auxiliary storage device, 134: input I / F, 135: output I / F, 140: form correction screen, 141: written information selection area, 142: Character string change button, 143: Correspondence change button, 144: Customer information generation button

Claims (8)

A storage unit that stores item information in which an item candidate that is a candidate for an item included in a form and an attribute indicating an entry form of an entry for the item are associated;
A reading unit that reads a form;
A description information extraction unit that extracts description information from the slip read by the reading unit;
An item extraction unit which extracts the item corresponding to the item candidate from the description information and identifies and associates an attribute indicating an entry form of the description information with respect to the description information not extracted as the item;
The description information for the item is specified based on the reading order of the description information by the reading unit, and the entry form associated with the description information by the item extraction unit and the item for the item information An entry identification unit that identifies the described information as an entry for the item if the entry form conforms to the entry form ;
A customer information generation unit that generates customer information in which the item and the entry for the item are associated;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
A candidate form identification unit that determines whether or not a form candidate corresponding to the form read by the reading unit is stored in the storage unit;
In the storage unit, form information in which the order of describing the items and the order of description of the entries in the items are associated with the items is stored as the form candidate for each form.
The described information extraction unit
The candidate form identification unit refers to the form information using the item extracted by the item extraction unit and the reading order of the item, and the form information corresponding to the reading order and the description order of the item When it is determined that the information is stored in the storage unit, the description information read in the reading order corresponding to the order of description of the entry in the form information is specified as the entry.
The information processing apparatus, wherein the customer information generation unit associates the item with the entry by using the form information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The item extracted by the item extraction unit and the order of description of the items for a form that is not determined to be included in the form information by the candidate form identification unit that the reading order corresponds to the description order And a temporary form generation unit for generating a temporary form using
The temporary form is stored in the storage unit as the form candidate.
The candidate form identification unit determines whether or not the temporary form that corresponds to the reading order of the form and the description order is stored in the storage unit.
The entry specification unit is configured to specify the entry using the description order included in the temporary form, when it is determined by the candidate form specification unit that the temporary form is stored. Information processing device. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
An error judgment unit that makes an error judgment if the entry for the item is not specified by the entry identification unit among the description information, or if the entry information that is neither specified for the item nor the entry is present ,
And a display unit for displaying a form correction screen when the error determination unit determines an error, and the form correction screen receives specification of the item or the entry with respect to the described information. Information processing device. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
The attribute indicating the entry form includes information specifying whether the character according to the entry is a full-width character or a half-width character, and whether the entry is a selection from options. ,
7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the item information is associated with the item candidate and an attribute of any one of the items for the item. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein
The item extraction unit is characterized in that, when the described information includes a plurality of consecutive characters and dots or a plurality of check boxes, the attribute of the described information is identified as being selected from a choice. Information processing apparatus to be. A form reading method using an information processing apparatus including a control unit,
The control unit
A storage unit that stores item information in which an item candidate that is a candidate for an item included in a form and an attribute indicating an entry form of an entry for the item are associated;
A reading step for reading a form;
A written information extraction step of extracting written information from the slip read in the reading step;
While extracting the item corresponding to the item candidate which is a candidate of the item contained in the form stored in the storage unit from the description information, the entry format of the description information with respect to the description information not extracted as the item An item extraction step of identifying and associating an attribute indicating
The description information for the item is specified based on the reading order of the description information in the reading step, and the entry form associated with the description information in the item extraction step and the item in the item information An entry identification step of identifying the described information as an entry for the item if the entry form conforms to the entry form ;
A customer information generation step of generating customer information in which the item and the entry for the item are associated;
A form reading method comprising: A program that causes a computer to execute a step of performing form reading processing,
Causing the computer to function as control means,
For the control means,
A storage unit that stores item information in which an item candidate that is a candidate for an item included in a form and an attribute indicating an entry form of an entry for the item are associated;
A reading step for reading a form;
A written information extraction step of extracting written information from the slip read in the reading step;
While extracting the item corresponding to the item candidate which is a candidate of the item contained in the form stored in the storage unit from the description information, the entry format of the description information with respect to the description information not extracted as the item An item extraction step of identifying and associating an attribute indicating
The description information for the item is specified based on the reading order of the description information in the reading step, and the entry form associated with the description information in the item extraction step and the item in the item information An entry identification step of identifying the described information as an entry for the item if the entry form conforms to the entry form ;
A customer information generation step of generating customer information in which the item and the entry for the item are associated;
A program characterized by causing

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