JP6922421B2 - Reading method guidance device, reading method guidance program and image processing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a reading method guidance device, a reading method guidance program, and an image processing system.

Patent Document 1 has an object of reducing a matching error and shortening a matching processing time, and a pair of target image signals stored in an image memory are individually binarized by a binarizing circuit to form a line. The image signal is generated, the feature point extraction circuit extracts a plurality of feature point pixels for each reference area from the line image signal on the reference side, and the conversion circuit converts the line image signal on the search side into binary multi-value conversion. Then, the width of the line of the line image is expanded, and the correlation calculation circuit performs each pixel and the feature point pixel in the search area of the converted image represented by the converted image signal output from the conversion circuit for each reference area. The correlation with is obtained, the corresponding area is determined in the search area based on the correlation, and the synthesis processing unit uses the position of the corresponding area determined by the correlation calculation circuit as a reference, and the center point of each corresponding area is the reference area. It is disclosed that a pair of target image signals are combined to generate a composite image signal so that the images are superimposed while partially deforming the pair of target images so as to overlap the center point of the above.

Patent Document 2 has an object of making it possible for an operator to read a document larger than the platen of an image reading device in two steps without hesitation in the setting direction of the document. The direction of the image data is determined from the character information of each image data, and the orientation of the document and the arrangement information of the image data in the document are automatically determined from the direction of the image and the reference position information of the document on the platen. It is disclosed that two image data are combined.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-015951 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-100099

Conventionally, a method of reading a document image using a reading device has been known. However, in a general reading device, the size of the area that can be read at one time is limited, and depending on the size of the document to be read, the size of the document is the size of the area that can be read by the reading device (hereinafter, "" Some are larger than the "readable size"). When an attempt is made to read the entire original image in such a case, it is necessary to read the original by a scanning device in a plurality of times.
Therefore, as a method of scanning the document in a plurality of times, a scanning procedure is determined according to the document size and the readable size so that the scanning result of the entire document image can be obtained by scanning the document multiple times. There is known a method of displaying a guide corresponding to (for example, the setting position and the number of times of a document).
However, even if the original size is taken into consideration as described above, when the scanning method is determined without considering the feature amount of the original image, the image obtained by synthesizing the scanned images (hereinafter, "composite image"). There is a limit to the accuracy of), that is, the degree of matching of the finished composite image with the original original image.
According to the present invention, in a configuration in which a document having a size larger than the area that can be read by the scanning device is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times, the document is divided into a plurality of times regardless of the feature amount of the document image. Compared with the case of determining the reading procedure when reading with the reading device, in generating a composite image obtained by synthesizing the read image , any of the following can be performed: a reading method guidance device, a reading method guidance program, and image processing. The purpose is to provide a system.
(1) An image of at least a part of a document is obtained by scanning the entire area of the document using a second reader which is a second reader different from the reader and has a lower reading accuracy than the reader. Can be obtained as.
(2) The guidance for the number of readings can be changed according to the position of the first feature area.
(3) When there are a plurality of first feature regions in a document, the scanning procedure can be guided so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
(4) It is possible to guide which area in the document is to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document.
(5) With the second feature area in the document as a boundary, it is possible to guide which area in the document is to be read in each reading so that the reading areas in the multiple readings do not overlap with each other.
(6) When the original size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, it is possible to guide which area of the original is to be read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in multiple readings becomes small.

The gist of the present invention for achieving such an object lies in the inventions of the following items.
The invention of claim 1 comprises a receiving means for receiving a manuscript size, which is the size of a manuscript to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the original, and a feature amount obtained from the acquired image. Using the received document size and the readable size, which is the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is instructed to read the document when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. possess a guide means, wherein the acquisition unit, the entire region in the document by using the second reading device low reading accuracy than a different second reading device at a said reader and said reading device This is a scanning method guidance device that acquires an image of at least a part of the original by receiving the result of scanning.
The invention of claim 2 comprises a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and a feature amount obtained from the acquired image. Using the received document size and the readable size, which is the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is instructed to read the document when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. It has a guiding means, and the guiding means causes the reading area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in the reading at least twice or more includes the first feature area in the document. The guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region, and the first feature region is the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or. It is a reading method guidance device that makes a judgment based on these combinations.
The invention of claim 3 comprises a receiving means for receiving a manuscript size which is the size of a manuscript to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a partial region of the manuscript, and a feature amount obtained from the acquired image. Using the received document size and the readable size, which is the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is instructed to read the document when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. It has a guiding means, and the guiding means causes the reading area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in the reading at least twice or more includes the first feature area in the document. When there are a plurality of first feature regions in the document, the guide means guides the reading procedure so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions, and the first feature regions are combined. It is a reading method guide device that makes a judgment based on an edge amount in a direction, a histogram, a character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The invention of claim 4 comprises a receiving means for receiving a manuscript size which is the size of a manuscript to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a partial region of the manuscript, and a feature amount obtained from the acquired image. Using the received document size and the readable size, which is the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is instructed to read the document when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. It has a guiding means, and the guiding means reads which area in the document in each reading so that the reading area in reading at least twice or more does not include the second feature area in the document. The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, and the number of pixels is larger or more than a predetermined threshold value in the histogram of pixel values. It is a reading method guide device which is an area, an area in which the number of objects whose characters cannot be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, or a combination thereof.
The invention of claim 5 comprises a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and a feature amount obtained from the acquired image. Using the received document size and the readable size, which is the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is instructed to read the document when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. The guide means has a guide means, and the guide means determines which area in the document is used in each reading so that the reading areas in the multiple readings do not overlap with each other with the second feature area in the document as a boundary. The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, and the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the histogram of the pixel values. A reading method guide device, which is a certain area, an area in which the number of objects that cannot be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, or a combination thereof.
The invention of claim 6 comprises a receiving means for receiving a manuscript size which is the size of a manuscript to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a partial region of the manuscript, and a feature amount obtained from the acquired image. Using the received document size and the readable size, which is the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is instructed to read the document when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. The guide means has a guide means, and when the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guide means in the document in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in a plurality of readings becomes small. It is a reading method guidance device that guides which area is to be read.

The invention of claim 7 is described in any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the scanning procedure includes an instruction as to which region of the document should be read by the scanning device at each scanning. It is a reading method guidance device.

The invention of claim 8 includes the instruction of the position and the direction in which the document is set in the scanning device at the time of each scanning, respectively, in the scanning procedure of claims 1 to 6. The reading method guide device according to any one of the following items.

The invention of claim 9 is the reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the reading procedure includes an instruction of the number of times the original is read.

The invention of claim 10, wherein the reading procedure, after finishing the reading of at least once, further reads containing the required instruction whether the reading of any one of claims 1 to 6 It is a method guidance device.

The invention of claim 11 further includes an instruction means for instructing the operator to read the document by the reading device before the guidance by the guidance means, and the acquisition means is an instruction by the instruction means. The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein an image of at least a part of the original is acquired from the result of reading based on the above.

The invention of claim 12, wherein the instructing means, with respect to the operator, the characteristic region in the original is instructed to read by the reading device the document to enter the reading area, to claim 11 The reading method guide device according to the description.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition means uses the second reading device, which is a second reading device different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device, to cover the entire area of the document. The scanning method guide device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, which acquires an image of at least a part of the original by receiving the scanned result.

According to the invention of claim 14, the guiding means causes the guide means to read which area in the document in each reading so that the reading area in reading at least twice or more includes the first feature area in the document. The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof, according to any one of claims 1, 4, 5, and 6 . It is a reading method guidance device.

Invention, the guide means according to claim 15, each original size, from among a plurality of read patterns read regions overlap each other, select the reading pattern as the first feature area overlap, according to claim 14 It is a reading method guide device.

The invention of claim 16, wherein the read pattern, for each read pattern, a reading area which area is in multiple document, which region or in the non-reading region of the single several have been identified, claim 15 The reading method guide device according to the above.

The invention of claim 17 is the reading method guidance device according to claim 3 , wherein the guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region.

The invention of claim 18 is that the guiding means guides a reading procedure so that when there are a plurality of local first feature regions in the manuscript, the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping region. The reading method guide device according to 2.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, the guiding means causes the guiding means to read which area of the original document in each reading so that the reading area of the original document is not included in the reading area of the original document. The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, and a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the histogram of pixel values. , An area in which the number of objects that could not be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, or a combination thereof, according to any one of claims 1 , 2, 3, 5, and 6. The reading method guide device according to the description.

According to the invention of claim 20, the guiding means reads which area in the manuscript in each reading so that the reading areas in the plurality of readings do not overlap each other with the second feature area in the manuscript as a boundary. The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, and the number of pixels is larger or more than a predetermined threshold value in the histogram of pixel values. Any one of claims 1 , 2, 3, 4, and 6 , which is an area, an area in which the number of objects that cannot be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, or a combination thereof. The reading method guide device according to the above.

According to the invention of claim 21, when the document size is an integral multiple of the readable size, the guiding means identifies a region that can be a joint, and a local change in the feature amount near the region. 20 is the reading method guide device according to claim 20.

22. The invention of claim 22 is the reading method guiding device according to claim 21 , wherein the guiding means performs the check on the joint region after reading the integer number of times.

The method invention of claim 23, wherein the guide means, after scanning the performs the check for the joint region, if the change is small, the guidance for ending the reading, the reading of claim 22 It is a guidance device.

The invention of claim 24, wherein the guide means, after scanning the performs the check for the joint region, if the change is large, the guidance of prompting the next reading, the reading of claim 22 It is a method guidance device.

The invention of claim 25 is such that the next reading includes at least a part of the already read area, and the part including a part having a large local change becomes the reading area. The reading method guidance device according to claim 24, which provides guidance.

The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 21 to 25 , wherein the invention of claim 26 determines as the check based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof. Is.

According to the invention of claim 27, when the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guide means in the document in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in a plurality of readings becomes small. The reading method guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , which guides whether to read an area.

In the invention of claim 28, the guiding means checks whether or not a second feature region is included in the overlapping reading region, and the edge amount in the coupling direction is predetermined in the second feature region. Areas below or below the threshold value, areas where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value in the histogram of pixel values, and the number of objects that could not be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value. The reading method guide device according to claim 27 , which is a region, or a combination thereof.

The invention of claim 29 is the reading method guidance device according to claim 28 , wherein the guidance means performs the check and guides that reading is completed if the second feature region is included. be.

The invention of claim 30, wherein the guiding unit performs the check, if does not contain the second characteristic region provides guidance prompting the next reading, reading method guide apparatus according to claim 28 Is.

The invention of claim 31 is such that the next reading includes at least a part of the already read area, and the part including a part having a large local change becomes the reading area. The reading method guidance device according to claim 30, which guides the user.

The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 28 to 31 , wherein the invention of claim 32 determines as the check based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof. Is.

The invention of claim 33 is obtained from a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and the acquired image. Using the feature amount and the readable size, which is the size of the received document and the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is informed of the scanning procedure when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. The acquisition means functions as a guiding means for guiding the manuscript, and the acquisition means is a second reading device different from the reading device and has a lower reading accuracy than the reading device. This is a scanning method guidance program that acquires an image of at least a part of the original by accepting the result of scanning the region.
The invention of claim 34 is obtained from a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and the acquired image. Using the feature amount and the readable size, which is the size of the received document and the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is informed of the scanning procedure when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. It functions as a guiding means for guiding the document, and the guiding means reads which area in the document in each reading so that the reading area in reading at least twice or more includes the first feature area in the document. The guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region, and the first feature region is the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or the guide. , It is a reading method guidance program that makes a judgment based on these combinations.
The invention of claim 35 is obtained from a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and the acquired image. Using the feature amount and the readable size, which is the size of the received document and the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is informed of the scanning procedure when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. It functions as a guiding means for guiding the document, and the guiding means reads which area in the document in each reading so that the reading area in reading at least twice or more includes the first feature area in the document. The guiding means guides the reading procedure so that when there are a plurality of first feature regions in the document, the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions, and the first feature regions are used. It is a reading method guidance program that makes a judgment based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The invention of claim 36 is obtained from a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and the acquired image. Using the feature amount and the readable size, which is the size of the received document and the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is informed of the scanning procedure when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. The guide means functions as a guiding means for guiding the document, and the guiding means determines which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading area when the document is read at least twice or more does not include the second feature area in the document. The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold, and the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold in the histogram of the pixel value. It is a reading method guidance program that is a certain area, an area in which the number of objects that cannot be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or less than a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The invention of claim 37 is obtained from a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and the acquired image. Using the feature amount and the readable size, which is the size of the received document and the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is informed of the scanning procedure when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. The guide means functions as a guide means for guiding the document, and the guide means determines which area in the document in each reading so that the reading areas in a plurality of readings do not overlap with each other with the second feature area in the document as a boundary. The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold, and the number of pixels is greater than or greater than a predetermined threshold in the histogram of the pixel values. This is a reading method guidance program, which is an area in which the number of objects that cannot be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The invention of claim 38 is obtained from a receiving means for receiving a document size, which is the size of a document to be read, an acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the document, and the acquired image. Using the feature amount and the readable size, which is the size of the received document and the size of the area that can be read by the scanning device, the operator is informed of the scanning procedure when the document is read by the scanning device in a plurality of times. When the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guiding means functions as a guiding means for guiding the document, so that the overlapping reading area at the time of a plurality of readings becomes small. It is a reading method guidance program that guides which area to read in.

The invention of claim 39 includes a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device, and the reading method guidance device includes a receiving means for receiving a document size which is the size of a document to be read, and at least the document. The original document is obtained by using an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a partial area, a feature amount obtained from the acquired image, a document size received, and a readable size which is a size of an area readable by a scanning device. have a, and guide means for guiding the reading procedure to the operator when read by the reading device a plurality of times, said acquisition means, said a different second reader and the reader By accepting the result of scanning the entire area of the document using the second scanning device having a lower reading accuracy than the scanning device, an image of at least a part of the area of the document is acquired, and the scanning device obtains an image of at least a part of the document. The image synthesizer is an image processing system having a reading means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device.
The invention of claim 40 includes a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device, and the reading method guidance device includes a receiving means for receiving a document size which is the size of a document to be read, and at least the document. The original document is obtained by using an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a partial area, a feature amount obtained from the acquired image, a document size received, and a readable size which is a size of an area readable by a scanning device. The document has a guiding means for guiding the operator in the reading procedure when the reading device reads the original in a plurality of times, and the guiding means has a reading area for at least two or more readings of the original. In order to include the first feature area in the above, it is guided which area in the document is to be read in each reading, and the guidance means changes the guidance of the number of times of scanning according to the position of the first feature area. The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof, the reading device has a reading means for reading the original, and the image compositing device has a reading means. It is an image processing system having a synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device.
The invention of claim 41 includes a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device, and the reading method guidance device includes a receiving means for receiving a document size which is the size of a document to be read, and at least the document. The original document is obtained by using an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a partial area, a feature amount obtained from the acquired image, a document size received, and a readable size which is a size of an area readable by a scanning device. The document has a guiding means for guiding the operator in the reading procedure when the reading device reads the original in a plurality of times, and the guiding means has a reading area for at least two or more readings of the original. In order to include the first feature region in the document, the guidance means guides which region in the manuscript to be read in each reading, and the guidance means, when there are a plurality of first feature regions in the manuscript, the plurality of regions. Is included in the overlapping region, the first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof, and the scanning device reads the original. The image compositing device has a reading means for reading, and the image compositing device is an image processing system having a compositing means for compositing a plurality of images read by the reading device.
The invention of claim 42 includes a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device, and the reading method guidance device includes a receiving means for receiving a document size which is the size of a document to be read, and at least the document. The original document is obtained by using an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a partial area, a feature amount obtained from the acquired image, a document size received, and a readable size which is the size of an area readable by a scanning device. The document has a guiding means for guiding the operator in the reading procedure when the reading device reads the original in a plurality of times, and the guiding means has a reading area for reading the original at least twice or more. In order to prevent the second feature region in A certain area, an area in which the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold in a histogram of pixel values, an area in which the number of objects that cannot be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or A combination of these, the reading device is an image processing system having a reading means for reading a document, and the image compositing device is an image processing system having a compositing means for compositing a plurality of images read by the reading device.
The invention of claim 43 includes a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device, and the reading method guidance device includes a receiving means for receiving a document size which is the size of a document to be read, and at least the document. The original document is obtained by using an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a partial area, a feature amount obtained from the acquired image, a document size received, and a readable size which is the size of an area readable by a scanning device. The guide means is provided to guide the operator in the reading procedure when the reading device is used to read the image in a plurality of times. In order to prevent the scanning regions from overlapping each other during scanning, it is guided which region in the document is to be scanned in each scanning, and in the second feature region, the edge amount in the bonding direction is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. Area, the area where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold in the pixel value histogram, the area where the number of objects that could not be recognized as a character recognition result is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold, or A combination of these, the reading device is an image processing system having a reading means for reading a document, and the image compositing device is an image processing system having a compositing means for compositing a plurality of images read by the reading device.
The invention of claim 44 includes a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device, and the reading method guidance device includes a receiving means for receiving a document size which is the size of a document to be read, and at least the document. The original document is obtained by using an acquisition means for acquiring an image of a partial area, a feature amount obtained from the acquired image, a document size received, and a readable size which is a size of an area readable by a scanning device. The guide means is provided to guide the operator in the reading procedure when the reading device is used to read the image in a plurality of times, and the guide means is a plurality of guide means when the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size. The reading device has a reading means for reading the document, and the image compositing device has a reading means for guiding which area of the document is to be read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area at the time of reading is reduced. Is an image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device.

The invention of claim 45 is that (1) the reading device has the reading method guide device, (2) the reading device has the image compositing device, and (3) the reading device has the image compositing device and the reading. The image processing system according to any one of claims 39 to 44 , which has a method guidance device.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 1, the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device is obtained. , It can be acquired as an image of at least a part of the manuscript.
According to the reading method guidance device of claim 2, the guidance of the number of readings can be changed according to the position of the first feature region.
According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 3, when there are a plurality of first feature regions in a document, the scanning procedure can be guided so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
According to the reading method guidance device of claim 4, which area in the document is to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document. I can guide you.
According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 5, which region of the document is read in each scanning so that the scanning regions of the document are not overlapped with each other with the second feature region of the document as a boundary. Can be guided.
According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 6, when the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, which area of the document is scanned in each scanning so that the overlapping scanning area in multiple scanning becomes small. I can show you what to do.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 7 , as a scanning procedure, it is possible to include an instruction as to which area in the document should be read by the scanning device at each scanning.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 8 , as a scanning procedure, an instruction as to what position or orientation the document should be set in the scanning device at each scanning can be included.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 9 , as the scanning procedure, an instruction of the number of times to scan the document can be included.

According to the reading method guide device of claim 10 , as a reading procedure, it is possible to include an instruction as to whether or not further reading is necessary after finishing at least one reading.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 11 , the document can be read by the reading device before the guidance is performed, and an image of at least a part of the area of the document can be acquired.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 12 , it is possible to acquire an image including a characteristic region in the document.

According to the reading method guide device of claim 13 , the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device is obtained. , It can be acquired as an image of at least a part of the manuscript.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 14 , it guides which area in the document is to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document. can do.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 15 , it is possible to select a scanning pattern in which the first feature region overlaps from a plurality of scanning patterns in which the scanning regions overlap each other for each document size.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 16 , it is possible to specify which area of the document is the reading area for a plurality of times and which area is the reading area for a single number of times by the reading pattern.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 17 , the guidance of the number of readings can be changed according to the position of the first feature region.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 18 , when there are a plurality of first feature regions in a document, the scanning procedure can be guided so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 19 , which area in the document is to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document. I can guide you.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 20 , which region of the document is read in each scanning so that the scanning regions of the document are not overlapped with each other with the second feature region of the document as a boundary. Can be guided.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 21 , when the document size is an integral multiple of the readable size, a region that can be a joint is specified, and a local change in the feature amount is checked near the region. be able to.

According to the reading method guide device of claim 22 , after reading is performed an integer number of times, the joint area can be checked.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 23 , it is possible to check the joint area and, when the change is small, provide guidance to end the reading.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 24, the check can be performed on the joint region, and if the change is large, guidance for prompting the next reading can be performed.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 25 , the next reading is guided so that the area including at least a part of the already read area and a part of the area including the part having a large local change becomes the reading area. can do.

According to the reading method guide device of claim 26 , the check can be performed based on the edge amount in the coupling direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.

According to the scanning method guidance device of claim 27 , when the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, which area of the document is scanned in each scanning so that the overlapping scanning area in multiple scanning is reduced. I can show you what to do.

According to the reading method guide device of claim 28 , it is possible to check whether or not the second feature area is included in the overlapping reading areas.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 29 , if the second feature region is included, guidance to end the reading can be performed.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 30 , if the second feature region is not included, guidance for prompting the next reading can be performed.

According to the reading method guidance device of claim 31 , the next reading is guided so that the area including at least a part of the already read area and a part of the area including the part having a large local change becomes the reading area. can do.

According to the reading method guide device of claim 32 , the check can be performed based on the edge amount in the coupling direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.

According to the reading method guidance program of claim 33 , the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device is obtained. , Can be acquired as an image of at least a part of the manuscript.
According to the reading method guidance program of claim 34, the guidance of the number of readings can be changed according to the position of the first feature region.
According to the scanning method guidance program of claim 35, when there are a plurality of first feature regions in a document, the scanning procedure can be guided so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
According to the reading method guidance program of claim 36, which area of the original is to be read in each reading so that the reading area of at least two or more readings does not include the second characteristic area of the original. I can guide you.
According to the reading method guidance program of claim 37, which area of the document is read in each reading so that the reading areas of the document do not overlap each other with the second feature area of the document as a boundary. Can be guided.
According to the scanning method guidance program of claim 38, when the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, which area of the document is scanned in each scanning so that the overlapping scanning area in multiple scanning is reduced. I can show you what to do.

According to the image processing system of claim 39 , the result of reading the entire area of the document by using a second reading device different from the reading device and having a reading accuracy lower than that of the reading device is obtained. It can be acquired as an image of at least a part of the manuscript.
According to the image processing system of claim 40, the guidance of the number of readings can be changed according to the position of the first feature region.
According to the image processing system of claim 41, when there are a plurality of first feature regions in a document, the scanning procedure can be guided so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
According to the image processing system of claim 42, it is guided which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document. can do.
According to the image processing system of claim 43, which area of the original is to be read in each reading so that the reading areas of the original are not overlapped with each other with the second feature area of the original as a boundary. I can guide you.
According to the image processing system of claim 44, when the original size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, which area of the original is read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in multiple readings becomes small. Can guide you.

According to the image processing system of claim 45 , (1) the reading device has a reading method guidance device, (2) the reading device has an image compositing device, and (3) the reading device is an image compositing device and a reading method guidance device. It can be configured as either.

It is a conceptual module configuration diagram about the configuration example of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the system configuration example using this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the system configuration example using this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the scanning procedure of the document larger than a readable size. It is a flowchart which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the data structure of the reading device / readable size correspondence table. It is a flowchart which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure example of the area | placement correspondence table. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure example of a scan procedure DB. It is a flowchart which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing example by this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware configuration example of the computer which realizes this embodiment.

Hereinafter, an example of a preferred embodiment for realizing the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a conceptual module configuration diagram for a configuration example of the present embodiment.
The module generally refers to parts such as software (computer program) and hardware that can be logically separated. Therefore, the module in this embodiment refers not only to the module in the computer program but also to the module in the hardware configuration. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a computer program for functioning as those modules (a program for causing the computer to execute each procedure, a program for causing the computer to function as each means, and each function for the computer). It also serves as an explanation of the program), system and method for realizing the above. However, for convenience of explanation, words equivalent to "remember" and "remember" are used, but these words are stored in a storage device or stored when the embodiment is a computer program. It means that it is controlled so that it is stored in the device. Further, the modules may have a one-to-one correspondence with the functions, but in the implementation, one module may be configured by one program, a plurality of modules may be configured by one program, and conversely, one module may be configured. May be composed of a plurality of programs. Further, the plurality of modules may be executed by one computer, or one module may be executed by a plurality of computers by a computer in a distributed or parallel environment. In addition, one module may include another module. In addition, hereinafter, "connection" is used not only for physical connection but also for logical connection (data transfer, instruction, reference relationship between data, etc.). "Predetermined" means that it is determined before the target process, not only before the process according to the present embodiment starts, but also after the process according to the present embodiment starts. However, if it is before the target process, it is used with the intention that it is determined according to the situation / state at that time or according to the situation / state up to that point. When there are a plurality of "predetermined values", they may be different values, or two or more values (including all values, of course) may be the same. Further, the description "if A, do B" is used to mean "determine whether or not it is A, and if it is determined to be A, do B". However, this excludes cases where it is not necessary to determine whether or not it is A. Further, when a thing is listed such as "A, B, C", it is an example list unless otherwise specified, and includes a case where only one of them is selected (for example, only A).
In addition, a system or device is configured by connecting a plurality of computers, hardware, devices, etc. by communication means such as a network (including a one-to-one correspondence communication connection), and one computer, hardware, device, etc. It also includes cases where it is realized by such means. "Device" and "system" are used as synonymous terms. Of course, the "system" does not include anything that is nothing more than a social "mechanism" (social system) that is an artificial arrangement.
In addition, for each process by each module or when multiple processes are performed in the module, the target information is read from the storage device, and after the processes are performed, the process results are written to the storage device. be. Therefore, the description of reading from the storage device before processing and writing to the storage device after processing may be omitted. The storage device here may include a hard disk, a RAM (Random Access Memory), an external storage medium, a storage device via a communication line, a register in a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and the like.

The reading method guidance device 100 according to the present embodiment presents guidance for causing the reading device to read a document having a size larger than the area that can be read by the reading device in a plurality of times. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, it has an image acquisition module 105, a guide module 110, and an instruction module 140. Here, the "document having a size larger than the area that can be read by the scanning device" corresponds to, for example, an A3 size document when the scanning size of the scanner is A4 size. In such a case, it is not possible to acquire the image of the entire document by one scanning (also called scanning), so that it is necessary to scan a plurality of times. Then, the read images are combined to generate an image of the original size (A3 size in the above example). Due to this compositing process, the scanning procedure may differ depending on the feature amount in the original image. The reading method guide device 100 presents this reading procedure.

Hereinafter, terms will be defined in order to explain the present embodiment.
"Size" is the length of the long side when the original or readable area is rectangularized (if the area itself before the rectangularization process is rectangular, the rectangularization process may not be necessary). It represents a combination of the length of the short side and the length of the short side, and is not determined only by the length of either one of the long side and the short side or the area of the rectangle. In addition, "size A is larger than size B" means that both the length of the long side and the length of the short side of size A are larger than those of size B. For example, there are A3 size, A4 size, B4 size, B5 size and the like defined by international standards, Japanese Industrial Standards and the like.
"Readable size" means the size of the readable area.
The "scanned image" refers to an image obtained by one reading.
The "composite image" means an image obtained by synthesizing a scanned image.
The "feature quantity (of an image)" is a quantity indicating a feature in an image, and refers to, for example, the physical quantity of each color parameter such as lightness, saturation, and hue, the degree of change of each physical quantity, and the like. More specifically, the amount of edges (the amount of parts where the brightness of the image is discontinuously converted), the histogram (distribution of density values), and the character recognition result (character code, information indicating whether or not the character can be recognized). (Including values indicating the certainty of the character recognition result, etc.), or a combination of these. In general, the characteristics of various images such as characters, photographs, edges, and blank pages can be grasped from the results of these analyzes.

The reading device A: 190 is connected to the image acquisition module 105 of the reading method guidance device 100. The reading device A: 190 reads at least a part of the document. The reading device A: 190 is different from the reading device B: 195 and has a lower reading accuracy than the reading device B: 195. The reading device A: 190 corresponds to, for example, a portable digital camera, a portable information device having a digital camera (including a mobile phone, a smartphone, a mobile device, a wearable computer, etc.) and the like. Therefore, when the original is read by the reading device A: 190, distortion or the like often occurs as compared with the reading device B: 195. The image read by the reading device A: 190 is an image as a pre-scan, not an image for final compositing. The "at least a partial area in the manuscript" here may include the entire manuscript. Further, even if it is not the entire manuscript, a characteristic area in the manuscript may be included in a part of the area. Here, the "characteristic region" is a region that can be used for alignment of image composition, and is a region in which a local feature amount changes significantly.

The reading device B: 195 is connected to the image acquisition module 105 and the guidance module 110 of the reading method guidance device 100. The reading device B: 195 reads at least a part of the document. The reading device B: 195 corresponds to, for example, a scanner, a multifunction device having a scanner function (an image processing device having a printer, a copying machine, a fax, etc. function in addition to the scanner function) and the like. .. The readable size, which is the size of the area readable by the reader B: 195, is fixed. This is because the reading surface on which the original is set (generally referred to as the platen, the original glass, etc.) is fixed. The image read by the reading device B: 195 is an image for final compositing. It may also be an image as a prescan. The "image as a prescan" here may include a characteristic area in the document in the readable area. When used as an image as a prescan, the function of the reading device A: 190 is replaced by the reading device B: 195, and the reading device A: 190 becomes unnecessary.

The image acquisition module 105 is connected to the feature amount extraction module 115 of the guide module 110, the reading device A: 190, and the reading device B: 195. The image acquisition module 105 acquires an image of at least a partial region of the document from the reader A: 190 or the reader B: 195. The image acquisition module 105 may be connected to either one or both of the reading device A: 190 and the reading device B: 195. Then, the entire document may be included in the "at least a part area in the document" when the image of at least a part area in the document is acquired from the scanning device A: 190. This is the case when the image is a pre-scan. However, as long as a characteristic area in the manuscript is included in the image, it may be a part of the manuscript instead of the entire manuscript. The image acquired from the reading device B: 195 is an image of a readable size in the reading device B: 195.

The guide module 110 includes a feature quantity extraction module 115, a document size reception module 120, a readable size extraction module 125, a procedure generation module 130, and a procedure presentation module 135, and includes a reader B: 195 and an image acquisition module 105. It is connected.
The feature amount extraction module 115 is connected to the image acquisition module 105 and the procedure generation module 130. The feature extraction module 115 synthesizes an image from an image as a prescan (an image read by a reader A: 190 or a reader B: 195, particularly an entire image read by a reader A: 190 is preferable). At the time of, the feature for extracting the part that can be used for the alignment is extracted.

The document size reception module 120 is connected to the procedure generation module 130. The document size reception module 120 receives the document size, which is the size of the document to be read. For example, the document size reception module 120 may control a liquid crystal display that also serves as a touch panel to accept an operation of specifying a size by an operator. In addition, the document size may be accepted by an operator's operation (including line of sight, gesture, voice, etc.) using a mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone, or the like. Further, when the document size to be read is fixed, a predetermined document size may be accepted.

The readable size extraction module 125 is connected to the procedure generation module 130. The readable size extraction module 125 extracts the readable size, which is the size of the area readable by the reader B: 195. For example, the reader B: 195 may be communicated with and the readable size of the reader B: 195 may be obtained by inquiry. Further, the readable size of the reading device B: 195 may be extracted by using the reading device / readable size correspondence table 700 shown in the example of FIG. 7.

The procedure generation module 130 is connected to a feature quantity extraction module 115, a document size reception module 120, a readable size extraction module 125, and a procedure presentation module 135. The procedure generation module 130 is a feature amount obtained from an image acquired by the image acquisition module 105 (feature amount extracted by the feature amount extraction module 115), a document size received by the document size reception module 120, and a reading device B: 195. Using the readable size (the readable size extracted by the readable size extraction module 125), which is the size of the readable area, the target document is read when it is read by the reading device B: 195 in a plurality of times. Generate a procedure.
The reading procedure may include any one or more of the following.
(1) Instructing which area of the document to be read by the scanning device B: 195 at each scanning (2) At each scanning, the scanning device B: in what position or orientation the document is read. Instructions on whether to set the document to 195 (3) Instructions on the number of times the document should be scanned (4) Instructions on whether or not further scanning is required after scanning at least once.

Further, the procedure generation module 130 determines which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading area in the case of reading at least twice or more includes an area in which the local feature amount changes greatly in the document. You may want to generate a reading procedure that guides you.
In that case, the procedure generation module 130 may select a scanning pattern in which regions with large changes in local features overlap from a plurality of scanning patterns in which scanning regions overlap with each other for each document size. good.
The scanning pattern may be such that which area of the document is a plurality of scanning areas and which area is a single scanning area is specified for each scanning pattern.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may change the number of readings according to the position of the region where the change in the local feature amount is large.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may generate a reading procedure so that when there are a plurality of regions in which the local feature amount changes significantly in the document, the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping region.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 causes the reading area of the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area of the document at least twice or more is not included in the area where the change in the local feature amount in the document is small. You may want to generate a reading procedure that guides you.

The procedure generation module 130 determines which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading areas in the multiple readings do not overlap with each other, with the area where the change in the local feature amount in the document is small as a boundary. You may want to generate a reading procedure that guides you. Here, "do not overlap with each other" is synonymous with reducing the number of overlapping parts.
Then, the procedure generation module 130 identifies a region that can be a joint when the document size is an integral multiple of the readable size, and checks whether or not there is a small change in the local feature amount near that region. You may try to do it. Here, "the original size is an integral multiple of the readable size" means a case where the area is an integral multiple, and corresponds to, for example, a case where the original size is A3 size and the readable size is A4 size.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may check the joint area after reading an integer number of times.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may generate a reading procedure for checking the joint area after reading and guiding the user to end the reading when the change is small.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may generate a reading procedure for checking the joint area after reading and guiding the user to prompt the next reading when the change is large.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 guides the next reading so that the area including at least a part of the already read area and the part including the part having a large local change becomes the reading area. It may be generated.

As a check in these, the judgment may be made based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof. For example, when the edge amount is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the area has a large change in the feature amount. Further, for example, when the number of targets that could not be recognized as a character recognition result (for example, the number of targets that could not be recognized because a part of the character was targeted for character recognition) is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value. May be determined as a region in which the change in the feature amount is large. Further, when the character recognition result is a blank (recognition result that there is no character), it may be determined that the area has a small change in the feature amount. The determination using the histogram will be described later with reference to the examples of FIGS. 18 and 19.

When the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the procedure generation module 130 guides which area of the document to be read in each scanning so that the overlapping scanning area in multiple scanning becomes small. You may want to generate a procedure. Here, "when the original size is not an integral multiple of the readable size" means that the area is not an integral multiple, and corresponds to, for example, the case where the original size is B4 size and the readable size is A4 size.
Then, the procedure generation module 130 may check whether or not a region having a small change in the local feature amount is included in the overlapping reading region.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may generate a reading procedure that performs a check and guides the user to end the reading if a region having a small change in the local feature amount is included.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 may generate a reading procedure that performs a check and guides the user to prompt the next reading if the region where the change in the local feature amount is small is not included.
Further, the procedure generation module 130 guides the next reading so that the area including at least a part of the already read area and the part including the part having a large local change becomes the reading area. It may be generated.
As a check in these, the judgment may be made based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.

The procedure presentation module 135 is connected to the procedure generation module 130. The procedure presentation module 135 presents the reading procedure generated by the procedure generation module 130. In addition to the display on a display device such as a liquid crystal display, the presentation here may include an output as a 3D (Dimensions) image, and further, an audio output by an audio output device such as a speaker, vibration, and a printer. You may combine printing with a printing device such as.

The instruction module 140 instructs the operator to read the document by the reading device A: 190 or the reading device B: 195 before the guidance by the procedure presenting module 135. This is a so-called pre-scan instruction.
Then, when the image acquisition module 105 is read by the reading device B: 195, the image acquisition module 105 acquires an image of at least a part of the original from the result of reading based on the instruction by the instruction module 140.
Further, when reading with the reading device B: 195, the instruction module 140 instructs the operator to read the document with the reading device B: 195 so that the characteristic area of the document falls into the readable area. You may do it.
Further, when scanning with the scanning device A: 190, the image acquisition module 105 acquires an image of at least a part of the document by receiving the result of scanning the entire area of the document using the scanning device A: 190. You may do so. As described above, the "image of at least a partial region in the manuscript" in this case is an image of the entire region in the manuscript.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a system configuration using the present embodiment.
The example shown in FIG. 2A is composed of a portable information processing device 200A and an image processing device 205A.
The portable information processing device 200A includes a reading method guidance device 100 and a reading device A: 190. The reading method guide device 100 and the reading device A: 190 are connected. The image processing device 205A has a reading device B: 195.
The document 280 is read (prescan) by the reading device A: 190 of the portable information processing device 200A, the reading procedure is presented on the display of the portable information processing device 200A, and the operator looks at the image processing device 205A. Operate to read the original 280.

The example shown in FIG. 2B is composed of a portable information processing device 200B and an image processing device 205B.
The portable information processing device 200B has a reading device A: 190. The image processing device 205B includes a reading method guide device 100 and a reading device B: 195. The reading method guide device 100 and the reading device B: 195 are connected. The reading device A: 190 in the portable information processing device 200B and the reading method guidance device 100 in the image processing device 205B are connected via a communication line.
The document 280 is read (prescanned) by the reading device A: 190 of the portable information processing device 200B, and the image is transmitted to the reading method guide device 100 of the image processing device 205B via the communication line. Then, the reading method guide device 100 presents the reading procedure on the display of the image processing device 205B, and the operator operates the image processing device 205B while looking at the reading procedure to read the document 280.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a system configuration using the present embodiment.
The reading method guidance device 100, the portable information processing device 200A, the portable information processing device 200B, the image processing device 205A, the image processing device 205B, the image processing device 205C, the image processing device 205D, and the compositing device 210 are respectively connected via the communication line 290. It is connected. The communication line 290 may be wireless, wired, or a combination thereof, and may be, for example, the Internet as a communication infrastructure, an intranet, or the like. Further, the functions of the reading method guidance device 100 and the synthesis device 210 may be realized as a cloud service. The portable information processing device 200A includes a reading method guidance device 100 and a reading device A: 190. The portable information processing device 200B has a reading device A: 190. The image processing device 205A has a reading device B: 195. The image processing device 205B includes a reading method guide device 100 and a reading device B: 195. The image processing device 205C has a reading device B: 195 and a compositing device 210. The image processing device 205D includes a reading method guide device 100, a reading device B: 195, and a compositing device 210. The compositing device 210 synthesizes a plurality of images read by the image processing device 205. Then, the combined image may be output. To output an image means, for example, printing with a printing device such as a printer, displaying on a display device such as a display, transmitting an image with an image transmitting device such as a fax, or outputting an image to an image storage device such as an image database. Includes writing, storing in a storage medium such as a memory card, passing to another information processing device, and the like.

As a synthesis process performed by the synthesis apparatus 210, for example, there is a technique shown in the following documents.
http://matthewalunbrown.com/autostitch/autostitch.html
http://news.mynavi.jp/series/computer_vision/029/
In these compositing processes, for example, if the overlapping region in a plurality of images is a portion having a small amount of features (a flat portion having few patterns or the like), it cannot be used for compositing alignment. Therefore, it is necessary that the region to be read in duplicate includes a region in which the feature amount changes so much that it can be used for compositing alignment. The reading method guide device 100 presents a reading procedure so as to include a region in which the feature amount changes significantly in the overlapping region.

For example, by combining the portable information processing device 200A, the image processing device 205A, and the compositing device 210, it is possible to synthesize the images read in a plurality of times.
Further, for example, by combining the portable information processing device 200B, the image processing device 205B, and the compositing device 210, it is possible to synthesize the images read in a plurality of times.
Further, for example, by combining the portable information processing device 200B and the image processing device 205D, it is possible to synthesize the images read in a plurality of times.
In the examples shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the reading method guidance device 100 was included in the portable information processing device 200A or the image processing device 205B, but the reading method guidance device 100 is configured independently. May be good. For example, if the function of the reading method guidance device 100 is provided as a cloud service, and the procedure presentation module 135 causes the portable information processing device 200 or the image processing device 205 used by the operator to read the document to present the reading procedure. good.
For example, by combining the portable information processing device 200B, the reading method guidance device 100, and the image processing device 205C, it is possible to synthesize an image read in a plurality of times.
Further, as described above, when the image processing device 205 also performs the prescan, the portable information processing device 200 becomes unnecessary.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a reading procedure for a document larger than the readable size.
The alignment points (matching points in each other's images) for image composition must be within the area scanned multiple times. Therefore, the area is limited. The example shown in FIG. 4 shows a case where the A3 size document 400 is scanned by an A4 size readable size scanner.
As shown in the example of FIG. 4A, the document 400 has a feature area 402 and a feature area 404 on the upper left, and a feature area 406 and a feature area 408 on the lower right as locations that can be used for alignment. do. The feature region 402 and the like are, for example, locations where edges are densely packed, and should be used for compositing alignment.
Here, it is assumed that scanning is performed as shown in FIGS. 4 (b) to 4 (e), which is a general scanning procedure. That is, in the first time, as in the example of FIG. 4B, the upper right of the reading surface and the upper right of the document 400 are matched to acquire the image of the reading area 410, and in the second time, as in the example of FIG. 4C. The upper left of the scanning surface and the upper left of the document 400 are matched to acquire the image of the scanning area 420, and in the third time, the lower right of the scanning surface and the lower right of the document 400 are matched as in the example of FIG. 4 (d). The image of the reading area 430 is acquired, and in the fourth time, the lower left of the reading surface and the lower left of the document 400 are matched with each other as in the example of FIG. 4 (e) to acquire the image of the reading area 440.
Then, the result of synthesizing the reading area 410, the reading area 420, the reading area 430, and the reading area 440 is shown in the example of FIG. 4 (f). However, the feature area 402, the feature area 404, the feature area 406, and the feature area 408 are scans only once. That is, since the duplicate reading area 450 (cross portion in FIG. 4F) does not include the feature area 402, the feature area 404, the feature area 406, and the feature area 408, it is used for the alignment of the synthesis process. I can't. Therefore, in this scanning procedure, the image quality of the composite image 460 (particularly, the portion of the duplicate reading area 450) is deteriorated.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing example according to the present embodiment.
In step S502, the instruction module 140 instructs the operator to read the entire document.
In step S504, the reading device A: 190 reads the entire image of the document according to the operation of the operator.
In step S506, the image acquisition module 105 receives the entire image of the document from the reader A: 190.

In step S508, the feature amount extraction module 115 extracts features from the entire image. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a portion having a large change in the feature amount (a portion that can be used for alignment in the compositing process) is detected in the image 600, and the portion is a region (a region in which the image 600 is divided into nine). It is detected where the region 610A to 610I) belongs. Of course, it may be divided into numbers other than nine, and the areas of the divided areas may be the same or different.

In step S510, the document size reception module 120 accepts the document size according to the operation of the operator. For example, the operator specifies the original size such as "A3 size".
In step S512, the readable size extraction module 125 extracts the readable size of the reader B: 195. For example, a reader / readable size table 700 is used. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of the reader / readable size correspondence table 700. The reading device / readable size table 700 has a reading device column 710 and a readable size column 720. The reading device column 710 stores model information of the reading device (information that can uniquely identify the reading device). The readable size column 720 stores the readable size in the reading device. In the example of FIG. 7, the first row of the reader / readable size correspondence table 700 indicates that the readable size of the reader B: 195 is A4. For example, the model information of the reading device B: 195 connected to the reading method guide device 100 may be searched from the reading device column 710, and the information in the readable size column 720 may be extracted.
The processes from step S508 to step S512 do not have to be in the order shown in the example of FIG. 5, and may be performed in parallel.

In step S514, the procedure generation module 130 performs the reading procedure generation process. The detailed processing of step S514 will be described later using the flowchart shown in the example of FIG. 8 or FIG.
In step S516, the procedure presentation module 135 presents the reading procedure to the operator. After that, the operator performs a scanning operation with the scanning device B: 195 according to the presented scanning procedure, and the scanning is performed a plurality of times to generate a composite image.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing example according to the present embodiment (mainly, the procedure generation module 130).
In step S802, it is determined whether or not the relationship between the document size and the scanning size satisfies the predetermined condition, and if the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S804, and if not, the process proceeds to step S808.
Predetermined conditions will be described with reference to the example shown in FIG.
As shown in the example of FIG. 9A, the width of the document 900 is Wo, and the height is Ho. Then, the width of the reading surface 950 of the scanner is Ws, and the height is Hs. At this time, the following conditions will be satisfied.
(1) Wo> Ho
(2) Ws> Hs
That is, the size of the document 900 has a relationship larger than the size of the reading surface 950. The upper left corner of the document 900 is "Lu", the upper right corner is "Ru", the lower left corner is "Ld", the lower right corner is "Rd", the upper left corner of the reading surface 950 is "Ls", and the upper right corner is "Rs". ".
The conditions related to the size of the original 900 and the reading surface 950 are shown below.
(3) 1.5Ws ≧ Wo> Ws
(4) 1.5Hs ≧ Ho> Hs
(5) Ws ≧ Ho
(6) 2Hs ≧ Wo
For example, in the case of a scanner having an A3 size document 900 and an A4 size reading surface 950, Ws = 297, Hs = 210, Wo = 420, Ho = 297, so 1.41Ws = Wo, 1.41Hs = Ho. , Ws = Ho, 2Hs = Wo, and the above conditions are satisfied.

When these conditions are satisfied, as shown in the example of FIG. 10, there are six ways of placing the document (positional relationship of the document 900 with respect to the reading surface 950).
Placement 1 (FIG. 10 (a)): Align Lu of the original 900 with Ls of the reading surface 950.
Placement 2 (FIG. 10 (b)): Align Ru of the original 900 with Rs of the reading surface 950.
Placement 3 (FIG. 10 (c)): Align the Ld of the original 900 with the Rs of the reading surface 950. (Rotate original 900 180 degrees)
Placement 4 (FIG. 10 (d)): Align Rd of the original 900 with Ls of the reading surface 950. (Rotate original 900 180 degrees)
Placement 5 (FIG. 10 (e)): Align the Ld of the original 900 with the Ls of the reading surface 950. (Rotate manuscript 900 clockwise 90 degrees)
Placement 6 (FIG. 10 (f)): Align Ru of the original 900 with Ls of the reading surface 950. (Rotate manuscript 900 clockwise 270 degrees)

In step S804, two or more regions having a large feature amount (regions with a large change in the feature amount) are extracted. Specifically, feature extraction is performed, and extraction is performed from the nine regions shown in the example of FIG. For example, the two regions may be sorted in descending order of the feature amount and the upper two regions may be selected, or the region where the feature amount is greater than or equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value may be selected.

In step S806, the position and orientation of the document with respect to the reading surface are extracted using the area / placement correspondence table 1100. FIG. 11A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of the area / arrangement correspondence table 1100. Each row of the area / placement correspondence table 1100 shows each placement shown in the example of FIG. 10, and each column of the area / placement correspondence table 1100 is shown in FIG. 11B (image 600 shown in the example of FIG. 6). Each region in the image 1150 shown in the example of (equivalent to) is shown. Then, "◯" in each cell indicates that the entire area is read, and "Δ" indicates that a part of the area is read.
As the reading procedure, a placement method is selected so that the area extracted in step S804 can be read twice or more.
For example, when the regions having a large amount of features are the region A and the region F, the placement method 1, the placement method 5, the placement method 2, the placement method 4, and the placement method 6 may be selected. This is because the A region can be read multiple times by the placement method 1 and 5, and the F region can be read multiple times by the placement method 2, the placement method 4, and the placement method 6.
Further, for example, when the regions having a large amount of features are the region B and the region C, the placement method 1, the placement method 2, the placement method 5, and the placement method 6 may be selected. This is because the B area can be read a plurality of times by the placing method 1, the placing method 2, the placing method 5, and the placing method 6, and the C area can be read by the placing method 2 and the placing method 6.

Further, in step S806, the scanning procedure DB1200 may be used to extract the reading procedure. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of the scanning procedure DB 1200. The scanning procedure DB 1200 stores, for example, procedure 1210, procedure 1220, procedure 1230, and the like.
Step 1210 is a combination of an A3 size document and a scanner having an A4 size scanning surface, and the areas having a large amount of features are the B area (the area including the feature area 1212 and the feature area 1214) and the H area (the feature area 1216). And the area including the feature area 1218), the reading procedure is stored. This reading procedure consists of four readings.
Step 1220 is a combination of an A3 size document and a scanner having an A4 size scanning surface, and the areas having a large amount of features are the A area (the area including the feature area 1222 and the feature area 1224) and the I area (the feature area 1226). And the area including the feature area 1228), the reading procedure is stored. This reading procedure consists of four readings.
Step 1230 stores a scanning procedure when there is no area with a large amount of features in combination with an A3 size document and a scanner having an A4 size scanning surface. This reading procedure consists of 6 readings.

According to the processing result of step S806, in step S516 of the flowchart shown in the example of FIG. 5, any one or more of the following is presented as a reading procedure.
(1) Instructing which area of the document to be scanned by the scanning surface of the scanner at each scanning. Specifically, the area of the scanning surface 950 of the document 900 shown in the example of FIG. 10 is indicated. Display.
(2) Instructions for setting the document on the scanning surface of the scanner in what position or orientation during each scanning. Specifically, the scanning surface 950 shown in the example of FIG. A display indicating the positional relationship of the document 900 with respect to the document 900 is displayed.
(3) Instruction of the number of times the document is read Specifically, the number of placements extracted in step S804 corresponds to the number of times the document is read.
(4) After completing at least one reading, an instruction as to whether or not further reading is required Specifically, the number of readings is counted, it is determined whether or not the number of readings has been reached, and further reading is performed. Show whether or not to do.

In step S808, error processing is performed. For example, the reading method guide device 100 displays that the reading procedure cannot be presented. In addition, the default reading procedure shown in the examples of FIGS. 4 (b) to 4 (e) may be presented.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing example according to the present embodiment. The processing from step S1302 to step S1312 and the processing from step S1318 to step S1320 are equivalent to the processing from step S502 to step S512 and the processing from step S514 to S516 of the flowchart shown in the example of FIG.
In step S1302, the instruction module 140 instructs the operator to read the entire document.
In step S1304, the reading device A: 190 reads the entire image of the document according to the operation of the operator.
In step S1306, the image acquisition module 105 receives the entire image of the document from the reader A: 190.

In step S1308, the feature amount extraction module 115 extracts features from the entire image.
In step S1310, the document size reception module 120 receives the document size according to the operation of the operator.
In step S1312, the readable size extraction module 125 extracts the readable size of the reader B: 195.
The processes from step S1308 to step S1312 do not have to be in the order shown in the example of FIG. 13, and may be performed in parallel.

In step S1314, when the original is read by the default scanning procedure, it is determined whether or not the area having a large amount of features is read a plurality of times. If the document is read a plurality of times, the process proceeds to step S1316. move on. As a default reading procedure, for example, there is a reading procedure shown in FIG. Specifically, in the first reading, the upper right corner of the reading surface 1450 and the upper right corner of the original 1400 are read in the same manner as in the example of FIG. 14 (a), and in the second reading, as in the example of FIG. 14 (b). The upper left of the reading surface 1450 and the upper left of the original 1400 are aligned with each other, and the lower right of the reading surface 1450 and the lower right of the original 1400 are aligned with each other as shown in the example of FIG. 14C in the reading surface 1450 and the third reading. In the fourth reading, the reading procedure is such that the lower left of the reading surface 1450 and the lower left of the document 1400 are matched and read as in the example of FIG. 14 (d).
In step S1316, the procedure generation module 130 adopts the default reading procedure.

In step S1318, the procedure generation module 130 performs the reading procedure generation process, and proceeds to step S1320. The detailed processing of step S1318 has been described with reference to the flowchart shown in the example of FIG.
In step S1320, the procedure presentation module 135 presents the reading procedure to the operator. After that, the operator performs a scanning operation with the scanning device B: 195 according to the presented scanning procedure, and the scanning is performed a plurality of times to generate a composite image.

In the processing example described with reference to FIG. 8, a reading procedure for reading a plurality of times is generated using an alignment portion (a portion having a large amount of features) for performing the synthesis processing, but FIG. 15 is used. In the processing example described above, a reading procedure for reading a plurality of times is generated using a boundary (a joint and a portion having a small feature amount) to be cut and pasted in the synthesis process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a processing example according to the present embodiment (mainly, the procedure generation module 130).
In step S1502, it is determined whether or not the original size is an integral multiple of the readable size, and if it is an integral multiple, the process proceeds to step S1504, and if not, the process proceeds to step S1518. The case where the original size is an integral multiple of the readable size means the case where the area is an integral multiple, for example, the case where the original size is A3 size and the readable size is A4 size. As other cases, for example, the case where the original size is B4 size and the readable size is A4 size is applicable.

In step S1504, the user is instructed to read the document as many times as an integral multiple.
In step S1506, the original is read.
In step S1508, a region that can be a joint is specified. Specifically, the lower part of the image read the first time (the area where the image continues) and the upper part of the image read the second time (the area following the image read the first time) are areas that can be joints. From the second time onward, the area that can be a joint may be specified in the same manner.
In step S1510, a region having a small change in the feature amount is extracted in the vicinity of the region.

In step S1512, it is determined whether or not a region having a small change in the feature amount can be extracted, and if it can be extracted, the process ends (step S1599), and if not, the process proceeds to step S1514.
For example, the document 1600 shown in FIG. 16 is read twice in the reading area 1610 and the reading area 1620. Here, since the joint 1650 (a region in the vicinity including the joint 1650 may be included) is blank, it is determined that the region has a small change in the feature amount. Therefore, in step S1512, "Yes" is set and the process ends. .. After that, in the synthesis process, the reading area 1610 and the reading area 1620 may be combined at the joint 1650.
As a process of determining whether or not the region has a small change in the feature amount, for example, a histogram may be generated and a region having a small change in the feature quantity may be extracted. The histogram shown in the example of FIG. 18 is at the joint 1650 of the document 1600 shown in the example of FIG. 16, and is a graph in which the horizontal axis is the pixel value and the vertical axis is the number of pixels. Since it is blank, the pixel values of the pixels in the area are concentrated on one pixel value (one mountain). Since the threshold value exceeds 1850, it can be determined that the region where the change in the feature amount is small can be extracted.

Further, for example, the document 1700 shown in FIG. 17A is read twice in the reading area 1710 and the reading area 1720. Here, since the character string is described in the joint 1750 (a region in the vicinity including the joint 1750 may be included), the region in which the change in the feature amount is small cannot be extracted. For example, in the target area 1760 including the joint 1750, there is a joint 1750 above the character string as shown in the example of FIG. 17 (b). If the processing according to the present embodiment is not performed, that is, if the joint 1750 is used as the joint in the synthesis processing, as shown in the example of FIG. 17C, the composite partial image 1780 and the composite partial image 1790 Will be combined at the combined position 1770, and a shift will occur at the combined position 1770 in the image of the character string, resulting in deterioration of the image quality in the vicinity of the combined position 1770.
The histogram shown in the example of FIG. 19 is at the joint 1750 of the document 1700 shown in the example of FIG. 17, and is a graph in which the horizontal axis is the pixel value and the vertical axis is the number of pixels. Since the character string is included, the pixel values of the pixels in the area are gathered in two or more pixel values (two peaks). Since the threshold value of 1950 is not exceeded, it can be determined that the region where the change in the feature amount is small could not be extracted.

In step S1514, the next reading is guided so as to include the region where the feature amount changes greatly.
In the manuscript 1700 shown in the example of FIG. 20, since the region where the change in the feature amount is small could not be extracted at the bonding position 1770, the process of step S1514 is performed. Here, the reading region is determined including the coupling position 1770, which is a region with a large change in the feature amount, and further including a region with a small change in the feature amount, which can be a joint. As shown in the example of FIG. 20, the document 1700 has a blank area 2010, a blank area 2020, and a blank area 2030 in the joint direction (main scanning direction) as regions where the change in the feature amount is small. Therefore, the blank area 2030 closest to the connection position 1770 is selected, and the next reading area is determined so as to include the connection position 1770 and the blank area 2030.
Then, the presentation as shown in the example of FIG. 21 is performed. FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to the present embodiment. The thumbnail image 2110 and the message area 2150 are displayed on the screen 2100. Then, the reading area 2120 including the combination position 1770 and the blank area 2030 is displayed on the thumbnail image 2110. In the message area 2150, for example, "Please scan including the red part (reading area 2120)" is displayed.
In step S1516, the original is read. For example, the operator performs a scanning operation so as to read the reading area 2120 according to the display of FIG.

In step S1518, the entire document is guided to be read. Here, "reading the entire original" means the number of times that the entire original can be read in order to read a large-sized original with a small-sized scanning surface (after the decimal point of the quotient obtained by dividing the original size by the readable size). It means to read only the number obtained by rounding up).
In step S1520, the original is read.
In step S1522, overlapping regions are identified. Since the area is not an integral multiple, there will be duplicate read areas.
In step S1524, a region having a small change in the feature amount is extracted from the specified region, and the process proceeds to step S1512.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to the present embodiment. An example is shown in the case where the original size is not an integral multiple of the readable size. For example, when the document 2200 is B4 size and the readable size is A4 size, the first reading area 2250 and the second reading area 2260 are obtained in step S1520.
Then, in step S1522, the overlapping region 2270 is specified. The overlapping area 2270 is an area that is read in both the first read and the second read.
In step S1524, the blank area 2230 is extracted from the overlapping area 2270 as an area where the change in the feature amount is small.
Therefore, in step S1512, since there is a blank area 2230 in the overlapping area 2270, the process ends with two readings.
After that, a composite image is generated by connecting the blank area 2230 in the first reading area 2250 and the blank area 2230 in the second reading area 2260.

A hardware configuration example of the reading method guidance device 100 (portable information processing device 200, image processing device 205, etc.) of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 23. The configuration shown in FIG. 23 is configured by, for example, a personal computer (PC) or the like, and shows an example of a hardware configuration including a data reading unit 2317 such as a scanner and a data output unit 2318 such as a printer.

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2301 includes various modules described in the above-described embodiment, that is, an image acquisition module 105, a guide module 110, a feature amount extraction module 115, a document size reception module 120, and a readable size extraction module 125. , A control unit that executes processing according to a computer program that describes an execution sequence of each module such as a procedure generation module 130, a procedure presentation module 135, and an instruction module 140.

The ROM (Read Only Memory) 2302 stores programs, calculation parameters, and the like used by the CPU 2301. The RAM (Random Access Memory) 2303 stores a program used in the execution of the CPU 2301, parameters that are appropriately changed in the execution, and the like. These are connected to each other by a host bus 2304 composed of a CPU bus or the like.

The host bus 2304 is connected to an external bus 2306 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect / Interface) bus via a bridge 2305.

A pointing device 2309 such as a keyboard 2308 and a mouse is a device operated by an operator. The display 2310 has a liquid crystal display device, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like, and displays various types of information as text or image information. Further, a touch screen or the like having the functions of both the pointing device 2309 and the display 2310 may be used. In that case, regarding the realization of the keyboard function, a keyboard (also called a so-called software keyboard, screen keyboard, etc.) is drawn on the screen (touch screen) by software without physically connecting like the keyboard 2308. The function of the keyboard may be realized.

The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 2311 has a built-in hard disk (which may be a flash memory or the like), drives the hard disk, and records or reproduces programs and information executed by the CPU 2301. The hard disk stores an image read by the reading device A: 190 or the reading device B: 195, a reading device / readable size correspondence table 700, an area / placement correspondence table 1100, and the like. In addition, various other data, various computer programs, etc. are stored.

The drive 2312 reads out the data or program recorded on the removable recording medium 2313 such as the mounted magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory, and transfers the data or program to the interface 2307 and the external bus 2306. , Bridge 2305, and RAM 2303 connected via the host bus 2304. The removable recording medium 2313 can also be used as a data recording area.

The connection port 2314 is a port for connecting the external connection device 2315, and has a connection portion such as USB or IEEE 1394. The connection port 2314 is connected to the CPU 2301 and the like via the interface 2307, the external bus 2306, the bridge 2305, the host bus 2304, and the like. The communication unit 2316 is connected to the communication line and executes data communication processing with the outside. The data reading unit 2317 is, for example, a scanner, and executes a document reading process. The data output unit 2318 is, for example, a printer, and executes a document data output process.

The hardware configuration of the reading method guide device 100 shown in FIG. 23 shows one configuration example, and the present embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 23, and the module described in the present embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 23. Any configuration can be used. For example, some modules may be configured with dedicated hardware (for example, Applied Special Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.), and some modules are in an external system and connected by a communication line. Further, a plurality of systems shown in FIG. 23 may be connected to each other by a communication line so as to cooperate with each other. In particular, in addition to personal computers, it may be incorporated in mobile information devices, home information appliances, robots, copiers, fax machines, scanners, printers, multifunction devices, and the like.

In addition, in the comparison process in the description of the above-described embodiment, "greater than or equal to", "less than or equal to", "greater than", and "less than (less than)" are used as long as there is no contradiction in the combination. They may be "greater than", "less than (less than)", "greater than or equal to", and "less than or equal to", respectively.

The described program may be stored in a recording medium and provided, or the program may be provided by a communication means. In that case, for example, the program described above may be regarded as an invention of "a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded".
The "computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded" means a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded, which is used for program installation, execution, program distribution, and the like.
The recording medium is, for example, a digital versatile disc (DVD), which is a standard established by the DVD Forum "DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, etc." and DVD + RW. Standards such as "DVD + R, DVD + RW, etc.", compact discs (CD), read-only memory (CD-ROM), CD recordable (CD-R), CD rewritable (CD-RW), etc., Blu-ray discs (CD-RW) Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), optical magnetic disk (MO), flexible disk (FD), magnetic tape, hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable and rewritable read-only memory (EEPROM (registered trademark)) )), Flash memory, random access memory (RAM), SD (Secure Digital) memory card and the like.
Then, the whole or a part of the program may be recorded on the recording medium and stored, distributed, or the like. Further, by communication, for example, a wired network used for a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, or wireless communication. It may be transmitted using a transmission medium such as a network or a combination thereof, or may be carried on a carrier.
Further, the program may be a part or all of other programs, or may be recorded on a recording medium together with a separate program. Further, the recording may be divided into a plurality of recording media. Further, it may be recorded in any mode as long as it can be restored, such as compression and encryption.

100 ... Reading method guidance device 105 ... Image acquisition module 110 ... Guide module 115 ... Feature quantity extraction module 120 ... Original size reception module 125 ... Readable size extraction module 130 ... Procedure generation module 135 ... Procedure presentation module 140 ... Instruction module 190 ... Reader A
195 ... Reader B
200 ... Portable information processing device 205 ... Image processing device 210 ... Synthesis device 280 ... Manuscript 290 ... Communication line

Claims (45)

A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The acquisition means receives the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is a second reading device different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device. , Acquire an image of at least a part of the manuscript,
Reading method guidance device. A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
The guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance device. A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
When there are a plurality of first feature regions in the document, the guiding means guides the reading procedure so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance device. A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance device. A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading areas in the plurality of readings do not overlap each other with the second feature area in the document as a boundary.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance device. A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
When the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guiding means guides which area of the document to be read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in a plurality of readings becomes small. do,
Reading method guidance device. The scanning procedure includes an instruction as to which region of the document should be scanned by the scanning device at each scanning.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The scanning procedure includes an instruction for setting the document in the scanning device in what position and orientation at each scanning.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The scanning procedure includes an instruction on the number of times the document is to be scanned.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The reading procedure includes instructing whether or not further reading is necessary after completing at least one reading.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Further, it has an instruction means for instructing the operator to read the document by the reading device before the guidance by the guidance means.
The acquisition means acquires an image of at least a part of the manuscript from the result of reading based on the instruction by the instruction means.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The instruction means instructs the operator to read the document with the reading device so that a characteristic area of the document falls into the readable area.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 11. The acquisition means receives the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is a second reading device different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device. , Acquire an image of at least a part of the manuscript,
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 2 to 6. The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1, 4, 5, and 6. The guiding means selects a scanning pattern in which the first feature region overlaps from a plurality of scanning patterns in which the scanning regions overlap each other for each document size.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 14. In the scanning pattern, which area of the document is a plurality of scanning areas and which area is a single scanning area is specified for each scanning pattern.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 15. The guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 3. When there are a plurality of local first feature regions in the document, the guiding means guides the reading procedure so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 2. The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. The guiding means guides which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading areas in the plurality of readings do not overlap each other with the second feature area in the document as a boundary.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. The guiding means identifies a region that can be a joint when the document size is an integral multiple of the readable size, and checks for a local change in the feature amount near the region.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 20. The guiding means performs the check on the joint region after reading the integer number of times.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 21. After the reading, the guiding means performs the check on the joint region, and if the change is small, guides the reading to end.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 22. After the reading, the guiding means performs the check on the joint region, and if the change is large, guides to prompt the next reading.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 22. The guiding means guides the next reading so that the area including at least a part of the already read area and a part of which includes a large local change becomes the reading area.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 24. As the check, the judgment is made based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 21 to 25. When the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guiding means guides which area of the document to be read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in a plurality of readings becomes small. do,
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The guiding means checks whether or not the second feature area is included in the overlapping reading area, and checks whether or not the second feature area is included.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 27. The guiding means performs the check and guides that the reading is finished if the second feature region is included.
28. The reading method guidance device according to claim 28. The guiding means performs the check, and if the second feature region is not included, guides to prompt the next reading.
28. The reading method guidance device according to claim 28. The guiding means guides the next reading so that the area including at least a part of the already read area and a part of which includes a large local change becomes the reading area.
The reading method guidance device according to claim 30. As the check, the judgment is made based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The reading method guide device according to any one of claims 28 to 31. Computer,
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. To function as a guide means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
The acquisition means receives the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is a second reading device different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device. , Acquire an image of at least a part of the manuscript,
Reading method guidance program. Computer,
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. To function as a guide means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
The guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance program. Computer,
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. To function as a guide means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
When there are a plurality of first feature regions in the document, the guiding means guides the reading procedure so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance program. Computer,
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. To function as a guide means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance program. Computer,
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. To function as a guide means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
The guiding means guides which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading areas in the plurality of readings do not overlap each other with the second feature area in the document as a boundary.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
Reading method guidance program. Computer,
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. To function as a guide means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
When the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guiding means guides which area of the document to be read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in a plurality of readings becomes small. do,
Reading method guidance program. It has a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device.
The reading method guidance device is
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The acquisition means receives the result of reading the entire area of the document by using the second reading device which is a second reading device different from the reading device and has lower reading accuracy than the reading device. , Acquire an image of at least a part of the manuscript,
The reading device is
Has a reading means to read the document,
The image synthesizer is
An image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device. It has a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device.
The reading method guidance device is
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
The guidance means changes the guidance of the number of readings according to the position of the first feature region.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The reading device is
Has a reading means to read the document,
The image synthesizer is
An image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device. It has a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device.
The reading method guidance device is
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings includes the first feature area in the document.
When there are a plurality of first feature regions in the document, the guiding means guides the reading procedure so that the plurality of regions are included in the overlapping regions.
The first feature region is determined based on the edge amount in the joining direction, the histogram, the character recognition result, or a combination thereof.
The reading device is
Has a reading means to read the document,
The image synthesizer is
An image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device. It has a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device.
The reading method guidance device is
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document to be read in each reading so that the reading area in at least two or more readings does not include the second feature area in the document.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The reading device is
Has a reading means to read the document,
The image synthesizer is
An image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device. It has a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device.
The reading method guidance device is
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
The guiding means guides which area in the document is read in each reading so that the reading areas in the plurality of readings do not overlap each other with the second feature area in the document as a boundary.
The second feature region is a region where the edge amount in the coupling direction is less than or less than a predetermined threshold value, a region where the number of pixels is greater than or equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value in the pixel value histogram, and as a character recognition result. An area where the number of objects that could not be recognized is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof.
The reading device is
Has a reading means to read the document,
The image synthesizer is
An image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device. It has a reading method guidance device, a reading device, and an image compositing device.
The reading method guidance device is
A reception means that accepts the original size, which is the size of the original to be read,
An acquisition means for acquiring an image of at least a part of the manuscript, and
When the document is read by the reader in a plurality of times using the feature amount obtained from the acquired image and the readable size which is the size of the received document and the area that can be read by the reader. Guidance means to guide the operator to the reading procedure of
Have,
When the document size is not an integral multiple of the readable size, the guiding means guides which area of the document to be read in each reading so that the overlapping reading area in a plurality of readings becomes small. death,
The reading device is
Has a reading means to read the document,
The image synthesizer is
An image processing system having a compositing means for synthesizing a plurality of images read by the reading device. (1) The reading device has the reading method guide device.
(2) The reading device has the image compositing device.
(3) The reading device includes the image compositing device and the reading method guidance device.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 39 to 44.

Images