JP2000228711A - Medium reader - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To satisfactorily correct skew of a medium that cannot be corrected only by a skew sensor, for example, when a skew sensor fails. SOLUTION: A skew of a medium to be read is suctioned by detecting a skew of the medium with respect to a conveyance direction, and left and right of the medium are detected based on a first skew amount detected by the skew sensor. A medium reading device that performs skew feeding correction processing for correcting skew by adjusting the feeding distance and reads the medium conveyed by the skew feeding correction processing with an image scanner in a medium reading device that reads the conveyed medium with an image scanner. The second skew amount of the medium is detected based on the read image, and the second skew amount is stored as a past history. The left and right transport distances of the medium are adjusted based on the total skew amount obtained by adding the average of the past second skew amounts for a plurality of times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a medium reading apparatus which conveys a medium such as a form and reads an image of the conveyed medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of medium reading apparatus has an image scanner 1 provided in the middle of a transport path for transporting a medium as shown in FIG. Inhalation sensor 2 composed of sensors, medium 10
A skew sensor 3 for detecting a skew of the medium 10 with respect to the direction of conveyance of the medium 10 and a position of the medium serving as a reference for reading by the image scanner 1 A reading position sensor 4 composed of an optical sensor that performs scanning, a left transport system 5 that includes a transport roller that transports a leftward portion from the center of the medium 10, and is configured to be operable independently of the left transport system 5. And a right-side transport system 6 including transport rollers for transporting a portion closer to the right side from the center. In such a medium reading apparatus, when a medium 10 such as a passbook or a slip is inserted from an inlet, the leading end 10a of the medium 10 is detected by the suction sensor 2, and the left transport system 5 and the right transport system 6 are synchronized. It is driven. Then, the medium 10 is transported so as to go straight in the transport direction.

[0003] The medium 1 is output from the skew sensor 3.
It is determined whether or not 0 is skewed. That is, when the line at the leading end 10a of the medium 10 has a deviation in the timing detected by each optical sensor of the skew sensor 3,
It is determined that the medium 10 is skewed.

In this case, if it is determined that the deviation of the detection timing of the skew sensor 3 is so large that reading by the image scanner 1 is impossible, processing is performed as a medium take-in error, or the skew sensor 3 By driving one of the left transport system 5 and the right transport system 6 with respect to the other so that the line of the leading end 10a of the medium 10 is perpendicular to the transport direction in accordance with the detection timing shift of the medium 10 The skew correction conveyance for correcting the skew of 10 is performed.

[0005]

However, in such a medium reading apparatus, since the skew of the medium 10 is corrected based only on the detection result of the skew sensor 3, the apparatus will be used during the use of the apparatus. When the skew sensor 3 is deteriorated or malfunctions, the belt for driving the conveyance rollers of the conveyance system is deteriorated, or the skew sensor 3 has a mounting error, the skew correction of the medium 10 is performed. There was a problem that it could not be performed sufficiently.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to attach a spare skew sensor separately from the skew sensor 3 on the transport path from the inlet of the medium 10 to the medium reading position in the image scanner 1. However, doing so increases production costs and makes control difficult.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a medium reading apparatus capable of sufficiently correcting skew of a medium which cannot be corrected only by a skew sensor by simple control.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a medium transporting means for variably transporting a transport distance on the left and right sides with respect to a transport direction of a medium, and a medium for transporting a medium to be read and a medium in a transport direction. Skew correction by which the skew is detected by a skew sensor and the right and left conveyance distances of the medium are adjusted by the medium conveyance means based on the first skew amount detected by the skew sensor. A medium reading device for reading the conveyed medium with an image scanner, reading the medium conveyed by the skew-correction conveyance processing means with an image scanner, and reading a second image of the medium based on the read image. Detection means for detecting the amount of skew of the skew, and history storage means for storing the second amount of skew detected by the detection means as a past history.
By adjusting the left and right transport distances of the medium based on the skew amount obtained by adding the average of a plurality of past second skew amounts stored in the history storage means to the first skew amount, the skew of the medium is adjusted. A medium reading device for correcting a line.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal structure near a medium suction port of a medium reading apparatus according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 11 denotes an image which is provided in the middle of a transport path for transporting a medium and includes a CCD (charge coupled device) and the like. A scanner 12, an inhalation sensor constituted by an optical sensor for detecting that the medium 20 has been inhaled from the suction port, and 13, a medium 2
A skew sensor configured to detect skew of the medium 20 in the conveyance direction with a photosensor provided at a predetermined interval in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the medium 0; A reading position sensor 15 constituted by an optical sensor for detecting the position of the medium 20; a left-side conveyance system 15 including a conveyance roller for conveying a portion of the medium 20 to the left from the center; and operable independently of the left-side conveyance system 15 Reference numeral 16 denotes a right-side transport system including transport rollers for transporting a portion of the medium 20 to the right of the center. Note that these left and right transport systems 15 and 16 constitute a medium transport unit.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the medium reading apparatus according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 21 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) constituting a control unit main body, and 22 denotes a CPU for controlling each unit. R storing program data, etc.
OM (read only memory) 23 is a RAM (random access memory) having a memory area used for various data processing performed by the CPU 21, 24
Is a scanner controller for controlling the image scanner 11, 25 is an I / F (interface) for connecting a host computer 26 via a communication cable, and 27 is an I / F.
/ O (input / output) port.

The CPU 21, ROM 22, RAM 2
3. The scanner controller 24, the I / F 25, and the I / O port 27 are electrically connected by bus lines such as a control bus, a system bus, and a data bus.

A motor driver 29 for driving a transport motor 28 for driving a transport roller for transporting the medium 20 is connected to the I / O port 27. This transport motor 2
Reference numeral 8 denotes, for example, a stepping motor. The transport motor 28 is provided separately for driving the transport rollers of the left transport system 15 and for driving the transport rollers of the right transport system 16. The transport rollers of the left transport system 15 and the right transport system 16 may be driven by one transport motor 28. In any case, the left transport system 15 and the right transport system 16
Are configured to be driven at different transport speeds.

The I / O port 27 has a medium 2
A solenoid driver 31 for driving various solenoids 30 such as a clamp solenoid for clamping a medium with a conveyance roller and a pinch roller (not shown) opposed thereto, the suction sensor 12, the skew sensor 13, and the reading position sensor 1
4 and other various sensors 32 are connected.

The CPU 21 performs processing as shown in FIG. 3 when the medium 20 such as a passbook or a slip is inhaled from the inlet. That is, the CPU 21 first performs a medium suction process in ST (step) 1. Specifically, when the leading end 20a of the medium 20 is detected by the suction sensor 12, the conveyance motor 28 is driven to synchronously drive the left conveyance system 15 and the right conveyance system 16 with the same number of steps. Inhalation.

A history storage unit 33 as history storage means is connected to the bus line to which the CPU 21 is connected. The history storage unit 33 is constituted by a nonvolatile memory. The history storage unit 33 stores the skew amount (W shown in FIG. 4) measured from the image of the medium read by an image reading process (ST8) described later, by the transfer motor 28 in the left and right transfer systems 15 and 16. The past history of the number of steps converted into the difference of the number of steps is stored.

Next, in ST2, based on the detection result of the skew sensor 13, it is determined whether or not the skew of the medium 20 in the transport direction can be corrected. Specifically, when each of the optical sensors of the skew sensor 13 detects the leading end 20a of the medium 20, the transport motors 28 of the left and right transport systems 15, 16 are used.
Is the number of steps x as the first skew amount.
As 1, the number of steps x1 is compared with the number of steps A, which is the amount of skew that is the limit for properly correcting skew.
It is determined whether or not the number of steps x1 is within the range of the number of steps A at which skew correction can be properly performed.

Incidentally, of the optical sensors of the skew sensor 13,
As long as the number of steps between at least two optical sensors can be measured, skew can be detected, but any two may be selected and the average of both may be obtained. In addition, the number of optical sensors provided may be changed according to the length in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the medium to be used so that skew can be detected even with media of different sizes.

The number of steps A is the limit at which the skew correction can be properly performed by driving one of the left and right transport systems 15 and 16 more than the other by performing experiments in advance. The number A is checked and set.

If it is determined in ST2 that the skew amount detected by the skew sensor 13 is not at a level that can be corrected, that is, if the number of steps x1 detected by the skew sensor 13 exceeds the limit number of steps A that can be corrected. Performs error processing in ST3. For example, a display to prompt the user to eject the medium 20 and prompt the user to inhale again is performed.

When it is determined in ST2 that the amount of skew detected by the skew sensor 13 can be corrected, that is, the range of the number of steps A within which the number of steps x1 detected by the skew sensor 13 can be corrected. In step ST4, the number of skew correction steps (skew correction amount) X is calculated in ST4. The number of skew correction steps X is the number of steps x1 as the first skew amount detected by the skew sensor 13 and the number of past histories of the second skew amount stored in the history storage unit 33. It is calculated by adding the average number of steps (skew amount) x2. The number of steps x2 corresponds to the skew amount (W shown in FIG. 4) measured from the image of the medium read by the image reading process after skew correction (ST8) described later,
16 is the average value of the past history of the number of steps as the second skew amount converted into the difference in the number of steps of the transport motor 28 in step 16. That is, the number of steps x2 is
This is the average amount of skew detected by reading an image of the skew of the medium 20 that could not be corrected even by the skew correction based on the skew sensor 13.

Next, in ST5, based on the skew feeding correction step number X, it is determined whether the skew feeding is such that an image on the medium 20 can be read without skew feeding correction. Specifically, the skew correction step number X is compared with the limit step number B that can be read by the image scanner 11 to determine whether the skew correction step number X is within the range of the step number B. I do.

The number of steps B can be determined by performing experiments in advance to determine the amount of skew that can be read correctly by the image scanner 11 without correcting the skew of the medium 20. Conveying motor 2 in 15 and 16
This is set as a difference between the number of steps of 8 and is checked.

In step ST5, even if the skew correction is not performed,
If it is determined that the image is not skewed enough to read the image, that is, if the skew correction step number X exceeds the step number B, skew correction conveyance processing is performed in ST6 (skew correction conveyance processing means). That is, the medium 20 is conveyed toward the image scanner 11 by driving one of the left and right conveyance systems 15 and 16 by the number of skew correction steps X. Thus, the skew of the medium 20 is corrected, and the process proceeds to ST7.

In performing the skew correction transport process, which of the left and right transport systems 15 and 16 should be driven by the skew correction step number X is determined based on the direction in which the medium 20 is skewed. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the medium 20 is skewed to the left, the left transport system 15 is driven more than the right transport system 16 by the number of skew correction steps X, and when the medium 20 is skewed to the right. The right transport system 16 is driven more than the left transport system 15 by the number of skew correction steps X.

When it is determined in ST5 that the skew is such that the image on the medium 20 can be read without skew correction, that is, the skew correction step number X is within the range of the step number B. In this case, the process proceeds to ST7. In this case, the skew feeding correction transport process is not performed.

In step ST7, the medium 20 is read by the reading position sensor 14.
Transports the image to the reading position of the image scanner 11 based on the result of detecting the leading end of the medium 20, and performs image reading processing of the medium 20 by the image scanner 11 in ST8. At this time, an image such as a character or a graphic written on the medium 20 is read from the read image.

Then, in ST9, the image reading process (S
The number of steps x2 is calculated based on T8) (detection means), and the number of steps x2 is stored as history data in the history storage unit 33, and a series of processing ends. In particular,
First, the skew amount of the medium 20 in the transport direction is detected based on the image reading process.

That is, in the range V read by the image scanner 11, the shift of the side end of the image of the medium 20 from the portion where the image of the medium 20 is not present (the hatched portion shown in FIG. 4), that is, the amount of skew (see FIG. 4). W) is detected. Then, the skew amount is converted into a difference between the number of steps of the transport motor 28 in the left and right transport systems 15 and 16, and the number of steps is stored in the history storage unit 33 as history data.

In the embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration, when the medium 20 is sucked while being skewed, it is obtained based on the result that the tip 20a of the medium 20 is detected by the skew sensor 13. The skew amount, which is the average of the past history of the second skew amount obtained based on the image of the medium 20 that has been read after the skew correction conveyance process up to the previous time, is added to the first skew amount x1 of the medium 20 obtained. x2 is added to the skew correction amount X, and the skew of the medium 20 is corrected by driving one of the left and right transport systems 15 and 16 by the skew correction amount X. Thereafter, the medium 20 is read based on the image read by the image scanner.
Is detected in the history storage unit 33 for the next skew correction.

As described above, not only the first skew amount x1 obtained by the skew sensor 13 but also the second skew correction image obtained on the basis of the image of the medium 20 read after the previous skew feeding correction processing. Since the skew correction is performed by adding the skew amount x2 which is the average of the past history of the skew amount, the skew correction can be performed in consideration of the tendency of the past skew correction.

For this reason, as the apparatus is used, the skew sensor 3 is deteriorated or malfunctions, the belt for driving the conveyance rollers of the conveyance system is deteriorated, or the skew sensor 3 is deteriorated.
Skew sensor 13 as in the case where there is a mounting error
The skew of the medium 20 that cannot be corrected by only the skew can be corrected, and the skew of the medium 10 can be sufficiently corrected by simple control.

In the present embodiment, the detection of the skew amount of the medium based on the image read by the image scanner 11 in ST9 is performed by transferring the image of the medium read by the image scanner 11 to the host computer 26. The program may be executed on the host computer 26 side.

[0033]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the deterioration and failure of the skew sensor 3 and the deterioration of the belt for driving the transport rollers of the transport system occur during the use of the apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medium reading apparatus capable of sufficiently correcting skew of a medium that cannot be corrected only by the skew sensor when the skew sensor occurs or when there is a mounting error in the skew sensor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration near a medium suction port of a medium reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing the configuration of the medium reading apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing performed by the CPU shown in FIG. 2 when a medium is sucked.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a range V read by an image scanner and an image on a medium 20 in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an internal configuration near a medium suction port of a conventional medium reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 image scanner 13 skew sensor 15 left transport system 16 right transport system 20 medium 21 CPU 28 transport motor 33 history storage unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A medium conveying means for movably conveying a medium on the right and left with respect to a medium conveying direction, and a skew sensor for conveying a medium to be read and obliquely moving the medium in the conveying direction. A skew feeding correcting means for detecting the skew and correcting the skew by adjusting the right and left conveyance distances of the medium by the medium feeding means based on the first skew amount detected by the skew sensor. A medium reading device for reading the conveyed medium by an image scanner, wherein the medium conveyed by the skew correction conveyance processing means is read by the image scanner, and a second skew amount of the medium is determined based on the read image. And a history storage unit for storing the second skew amount detected by the detection unit as a past history, wherein the skew correction transport processing unit comprises: To quantity Correcting the skew of the medium by adjusting the transport distance to the left and right of the medium based on the skew amount obtained by adding the average of a plurality of past second skew amounts stored in the history storage unit. Characteristic medium reading device.