JP2018112957A - Business form processing system, business form processing apparatus and business form processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently deal with a large number of types of forms while suppressing an increase in cost and an increase in human labor due to an increase in storage capacity. Even when the form processing device 10 does not hold the data for processing the form P, the ruled line data read from the form P is passed to the form information management center 20 and the form information management center 20 is used. Based on the database held in, the form type is extracted, and the form processing device 10 can acquire the data for processing the form P. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a form processing system, a form processing apparatus, and a form processing method that can improve convenience when handling a plurality of types of forms.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automatic transaction apparatus is known that is installed in a financial institution such as a bank and automatically performs a payment transaction such as a tax or a public fee. For example, in Patent Document 1, the type of a form is determined from image data of an accepted form, and payment information is read based on the position and content to be read and the stamp position stored for each type. Describes an automatic transaction apparatus that executes a payment transaction, automatically stamps a receipt on a form, separates the receipt from the form, and returns it to the user.

JP 62-286168 A

  However, in the automatic transaction apparatus of Patent Document 1 described above, in order to determine the type of a form, determination information used for determining the type of form to be determined needs to be stored in the apparatus in advance. For this reason, in order for the automatic transaction apparatus to support a large number of types of forms, it is necessary to store a lot of discriminating information. Therefore, as the number of forms increases, the required storage capacity increases. , Cost constraints will increase. In addition, since public institutions and the like create new types of forms as appropriate, it is not possible to store discrimination information for all forms in advance in an automatic transaction apparatus.

  As a result, forms that cannot be handled by automatic transaction equipment must be processed manually by the person in charge of the counter, and there is a situation where the human labor of the person in charge of the counter is not reduced despite the introduction of the automatic transaction apparatus. At the same time, since the automatic transaction apparatus is used, there is a problem that the customer's restraint time increases due to the occurrence of waiting time at the counter.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and efficiently copes with many types of forms while suppressing an increase in cost and an increase in human labor accompanying an increase in storage capacity. An object of the present invention is to provide a form processing system, form processing apparatus, and form processing method that can be used.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is provided with a form processing apparatus that performs form processing using form information that specifies a form type, and is capable of communicating with the form processing apparatus, A form processing system having a form information management apparatus for managing form information, wherein the form processing apparatus obtains feature information indicating characteristics of the form from a receiving unit that receives the form and a form received by the receiving unit. The form information acquisition unit, the feature information transmission unit that transmits the feature information acquired by the feature information acquisition unit to the form information management device, and the reception unit that receives the form information. Is based on the registration information management unit that manages the registration information that associates the form type with the feature information of the form, and the feature information and the registration information transmitted from the form processing device. A form type extracting unit for extracting a form type corresponding to information, and a form information transmitting unit for transmitting form information corresponding to the form type extracted by the form type extracting unit to the form processing apparatus. It is characterized by.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the above invention, the form type extraction unit associates feature information transmitted from the form processing apparatus with feature information that matches at least a part of feature information based on the registration information. It is characterized in that the type of the generated form is extracted.

  In the invention described above, the feature information is ruled line information of a form.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the above invention, the form processing apparatus further includes a form type determining unit that determines a type of form received by the receiving unit, and the feature information transmitting unit is included in the form type determining unit. When the form type cannot be determined, the feature information is transmitted.

  Also, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the form type determining unit determines a form type using the form information received by the receiving unit.

  Further, the present invention is the above-described invention, wherein the form processing device, when the form information received from the form information management device has not been used for form processing for a predetermined period of time, Is further provided with a form information erasing unit for erasing data from the form information storage unit.

  Further, the present invention is a form processing apparatus that is provided so as to be able to communicate with a form information management apparatus that manages information related to a predetermined form, and that processes the form using form information of a predetermined type of form, A receiving unit that receives the feature information, a feature information acquisition unit that acquires feature information indicating the feature of the form from the form received by the receiving unit, and the feature information acquired by the feature information acquisition unit is transmitted to the form information management device A feature information transmitting unit, a receiving unit that receives the form information, and a form processing unit that processes a form using the form information received by the receiving unit.

  The present invention also includes a form processing apparatus that processes a form using form information that specifies a form type, and a form information management apparatus that is provided so as to be communicable with the form processing apparatus and manages the form information. A form processing method in a form processing system having a feature information acquisition step in which the form processing device acquires feature information indicating a feature of a form from a form received by a predetermined receiving unit, and the form processing device includes the A feature information transmitting step for transmitting the feature information acquired in the feature information acquiring step to the form information management device; and the form information management device includes registration information in which the form type and the feature information of the form are associated with each other, and the form Based on the feature information transmitted from the processing device, a form type extracting step for extracting the form type corresponding to the feature information, and the form information management device extracts the form type. A form information transmitting step for transmitting form information corresponding to the type of form extracted according to the process to the form processing apparatus, and a receiving step for receiving the form information by the form processing apparatus. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently cope with many types of forms while suppressing an increase in cost and an increase in human labor accompanying an increase in storage capacity.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the concept of the form processing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of the form processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the form processing unit. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the form processing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the form information management center. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the form processing apparatus and the form information management center. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a form. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of ruled line data generated from the form shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of form recognition data corresponding to the form shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the form processing shown in step S104 of FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of the form processing apparatus and the form information management center according to the second embodiment.

  Exemplary embodiments of a form processing system, form processing apparatus, and form processing method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Concept of Form Processing System According to Embodiment 1>
First, the concept of the form processing system according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the concept of the form processing system according to the first embodiment. Here, it is assumed that the form processing apparatus 10 and the form information management center 20 are communicably connected.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automatic machines (hereinafter referred to as “form processing devices”) for processing payment slips, gift certificates, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “forms”) related to public taxes have been arranged in financial institution stores. When the customer processes the form using the form processing apparatus, the customer does not need to perform the process at the window, so the work efficiency of the customer and the person in charge of the window is improved.

  By the way, such a form processing apparatus has a function of determining the type of form using the character recognition data (OCR data) of the form stored in advance in the form processing apparatus and recognizing the description items of the form. However, when the form brought in by the customer does not correspond to the OCR data stored in the form processing apparatus in advance, the form processing apparatus cannot process the form.

  For this reason, it is desirable to store the OCR data for all types of forms in the storage unit of the form processing device. However, the municipality creates OCR data for all types of forms in order to create a new type of form whenever necessary. It cannot be stored inside the device. Further, as the OCR data of the form type stored in the storage unit of the form processing apparatus increases, the capacity (resource) necessary for the storage unit of the form processing apparatus increases.

  Therefore, although it is desirable to store OCR data of a form type that is rarely brought into a store, such as a local tax payment form in other prefectures, in the storage unit of the form processing apparatus, these OCRs are actually used. The business data is not stored in the storage unit of the form processing apparatus. As a result, these forms are processed manually by the person in charge of the counter, and there is a problem that the human labor of the person in charge of the counter cannot be reduced despite the introduction of the form processing apparatus.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, even if the form OCR data of the form received by the form processing apparatus 10 does not exist, the data for specifying the form is transferred to the form information management center 20, and the form information management center. The form can be processed by acquiring the OCR data 20.

  The outline of the form processing system according to the first embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, when the form processing apparatus 10 receives a form P from a customer (step S1), the form processing apparatus 10 performs OCR processing on the image of the form P and displays ruled line information (hereinafter, “ "Rule line data"). Then, when the recognized ruled line data matches the OCR data of any form type held in the own apparatus, the description items (tax type etc.) for determining the form type are recognized as characters. When the form type associated with the OCR data is matched, other description items (name, payment category, payment amount, etc.) are recognized as characters and the form is processed.

  On the other hand, when the ruled line data does not match the OCR data of the form type held in the own apparatus, the description items for determining the form type of the matched ruled line data are associated with the OCR data. If the form type does not match or the description item cannot be read, it is determined that the form cannot be processed (cannot be handled) with the OCR data held in the own apparatus (step S2).

  If the form P cannot be handled, the ruled line data read from the form P is transmitted to the form information management center 20 (step S3). The form information management center 20 stores ruled line data in a database corresponding to the type of form, and has similar ruled line data compared to the ruled line data held inside the apparatus. The form type is extracted from the database (step S4).

  Thereafter, the form information management center 20 extracts OCR data for the extracted form type and transmits it to the form processing apparatus 10 (step S5). The form processing apparatus 10 performs keyword recognition using the received OCR data, specifies the form type, and then uses the OCR data to perform character recognition of the items described in the form P again (step S6). When there are a plurality of form types, character recognition is performed after keyword recognition is performed using a plurality of registered information to identify the form type.

  By doing so, the form processing system according to the first embodiment has the ruled line data read from the form P even when the form processing apparatus 10 does not hold the data for processing the form P. Is transferred to the form information management center 20, the form type is extracted based on the database held in the form information management center 20, and the form processing apparatus 10 can acquire data for processing the form P. While suppressing the resource burden of the form processing apparatus 10, it is possible to deal with various types of forms.

  For convenience of explanation, a case will be described in which ruled line data is used as information transferred from the form processing apparatus 10 in order to extract the form type in the form information management center 20, but image data, the background color of the form , Keywords (district names, etc.), contents written in transparent ink, mathematical characteristics of the form, size of the form, the position of the keyword and its specific logo (mark), QR code (registered trademark) ) Or the position detected by the barcode.

<External configuration and internal configuration of the form processing apparatus 10>
Next, an external configuration of the form processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of the form processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown in the figure, the form processing apparatus 10 includes a display operation unit 11, a cash card receiving unit 12, a personal identification number input unit 13, a receipt printing unit 14, a form receiving unit 15a, a coin receiving unit 16a, and a coin dispensing unit. 16b, the banknote reception part 16c, and the banknote payment part 16d.

  The display operation unit 11 is an input / output device such as a touch panel type display or a liquid crystal panel that receives an input operation by displaying a screen and operating buttons or the like displayed on the screen. The form receiving unit 15a is a receiving unit that receives a form such as a tax or a utility bill.

  The receipt printing unit 14 is an output unit that prints and outputs a processing receipt indicating the processing result of the accepted form. The cash card accepting unit 12 is a accepting unit that accepts a cash card of an account when the user uses a transfer process from a bank account for payment. The personal identification number input unit 13 is an input unit for inputting a personal identification number of an account when the user uses a transfer process from a bank account for payment.

  The coin receiving unit 16a is a receiving unit that receives coins when the user uses coins for payment. The coin dispensing unit 16b is a dispensing unit that dispenses coins that are returned as change at the time of payment or in response to a cancellation process. The banknote receiving unit 16c is a receiving unit that receives banknotes when the user uses banknotes for payment. The banknote withdrawal unit 16d is a withdrawal unit that withdraws banknotes that are returned as change at the time of payment or according to a cancellation process. Although not shown in the drawings, the coin receiving unit 16a, the coin dispensing unit 16b, the banknote receiving unit 16c, and the banknote dispensing unit 16d are provided with shutter covers that are closed when not necessary. Yes.

  The form accepted by the form acceptance unit 15 a is taken into the form processing unit 15 of the form processing apparatus 10. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the form processing unit 15. As shown in FIG. 3, the form processing unit 15 includes a conveyance roller 15b, a conveyance path 15c, a cutter 15d, an imaging unit 15e, a stamp processing unit 15f, a temporary storage unit 15g, and a storage unit 15h.

  The form processing unit 15 drives the transport roller 15b to feed the form located in the form receiving unit 15a to the transport path 15c. The fed-out form is conveyed on the conveyance path 15c, the imaging unit 15e images the form, and is temporarily held in the temporary holding unit 15g. Note that the form information such as the billing amount of the form is read by OCR processing the image of the form. When there are a plurality of forms in the form receiving unit 15a, the above processing is sequentially repeated to temporarily hold the plurality of forms in the temporary holding unit 15g. After that, when payment for the form is confirmed, the stamp processing unit 15f stamps a receipt (including a date stamp) at a predetermined position of the form, and the cutter 15d separates the receipt from the form. The form from which the receipt has been cut off is transported and stored in the storage unit 15h. The receipt is discharged and returned to the form receiving unit 15a. As described above, by automatically performing the stamping and processing, it is possible to reduce the work load on the clerk.

  The temporary holding unit 15g is a winding type temporary holding unit. Since such a winding-type temporary storage unit is a well-known technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted here. The reason why the form is temporarily held in the temporary holding unit 15g is that the form is retained in the apparatus until the OCR data of the form is acquired from the form information management center 20. It is also possible to configure such that the form is temporarily discharged without providing the temporary holding unit 15g, and the form is read again after obtaining the OCR data from the form information management center 20.

<Functional Configuration of Form Processing Apparatus 10>
Next, a functional configuration of the form processing apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the form processing apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the form processing apparatus 10 includes a display operation unit 11, a cash card receiving unit 12, a password input unit 13, a receipt printing unit 14, a form processing unit 15, A unit 16, a communication unit 17, a storage unit 18, and a control unit 19.

  The deposit / withdrawal unit 16 is a processing unit that accepts input of money, identifies a denomination, stores money type, and pays out money designated by the control unit 19. The communication unit 17 is an interface unit for data communication with the form information management center 20.

  The storage unit 18 is a storage device composed of a hard disk device, a nonvolatile memory, or the like. The storage unit 18 stores form data 18a, ruled line data 18b, and form type recognition data 18c. The form data 18a is data in which the accepted form image data is associated with the character recognition result data. The ruled line data 18b is data indicating a ruled line pattern read from the accepted form. The form type recognition data 18c includes a form type registered in the form processing apparatus 10, ruled line data of the form, and a location where information for specifying the form type is described (hereinafter referred to as "type specifying part"). And the form image data. The form type recognition data 18c is data corresponding to the OCR data described with reference to FIG. 1, and is used for character recognition and form type recognition. In the form type recognition data 18c, the “acquisition date” which is the date newly stored as data and the “last use date” which is the date last used for the form recognition are also associated with each type. It is remembered.

  The control unit 19 is a control unit that controls the form processing apparatus 10 as a whole, and includes a form data generation unit 19a, a character recognition unit 19b, a form type recognition unit 19c, a processing determination unit 19d, and a data time limit determination unit 19e. Actually, programs corresponding to the form data generation unit 19a, the character recognition unit 19b, the form type recognition unit 19c, the process determination unit 19d, and the data time limit determination unit 19e are stored in a storage device such as a nonvolatile memory or a magnetic disk device. By loading these programs into the memory and executing them by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), the corresponding processes are executed.

  The form data generation unit 19a is a processing unit that generates form data 18a from the form taken in by the form processing unit 15. First, the form data generation unit 19a stores the form image captured by the imaging unit 15e of the form processing unit 15 in the form data 18a as form image data, and generates ruled line data 18b obtained by extracting the ruled line portion from the image. Remember. Then, when processing is enabled by processing of a form type recognition unit 19c and a processing determination unit 19d described later, character recognition by the character recognition unit 19b is performed. Thereafter, when the character recognition unit 19b outputs the character recognition result data, the character recognition result data is added to the form data 18a.

  The character recognition unit 19b is a processing unit that performs character recognition processing on the form image data output from the form data generation unit 19a using the form type recognition data 18c to recognize characters on the form. This character recognition process includes a type specification recognition process for recognizing the character of the type specification part included in the form type recognition data 18c and a description content recognition process for recognizing the description content of the form. In the type specification recognition process, a process of recognizing the character of the type specification part specified by the ruled line data 18b extracted from the form image data is performed. In the description content recognition process, items such as storage location, type, billing amount, and date are identified. For example, in the case of C city water and sewage charges paid to D Corporation, if the tax amount is 8200 yen, the storage destination “D Corporation”, the type “water charge”, and the charge amount “8200 yen” will be identified. . In addition, characters printed on the form, such as the name of the person to be paid, can be appropriately identified.

  The form type recognition unit 19c is a processing unit that recognizes the form type based on the ruled line data 18b generated by the form data generation unit 19a from the form taken in by the form processing unit 15 and the form type recognition data 18c. . For example, when it is specified based on the form type recognition data 18c that the ruled line data matches the automobile tax ruled line data to be paid to the A prefecture automobile tax office, it is defined in the form type recognition data 18c. The character of the type specifying part is recognized by the type specifying recognition process by the character recognition unit 19b described above. Note that the form type for which matching of ruled line data is specified is not necessarily one type, and a plurality of types may be specified. In this case, the form type is specified by repeating the recognition of the type specifying part for a plurality of types. For example, in the C city water and sewage bill payment notice to be paid to D Corporation, the portion of the letter “C city” and “water and sewage bill” written in advance in the form is recognized and the form is of that type. Recognize

  The processing determination unit 19d needs to newly acquire the form type recognition data 18c from the form information management center 20 based on the form recognition results by the form data generation unit 19a, the character recognition unit 19b, and the form type recognition unit 19c. It is a processing unit for determining whether or not there is. For example, when the form type recognized by the type specifying recognition process based on the ruled line data 18b acquired from the form does not match any of the types defined in the form type recognition data 18c, or the ruled line acquired from the form When the data 18b does not match any of the ruled line data in the form type recognition data 18c, it is determined that it is necessary to acquire new form type recognition data from the form management center 20, and the communication unit 17 is used. Then, information requesting the form type recognition data is transmitted to the form information management center 20 together with the ruled line data 18b. The form type recognition data sent from the form information management center 20 is stored as form type recognition data 18c, and the form is processed again.

  When the last use date of a specific type is more than a predetermined period (for example, 90 days) from the current date and time with respect to the form type recognition data 18c, the data time limit determination unit 19e stores the form type recognition data of the type. It is a processing unit that determines that it is unnecessary and deletes it. The predetermined period can be arbitrarily changed by setting, and a specific type can be designated to perform setting without erasing.

<Functional Configuration of Form Information Management Center 20>
Next, a functional configuration of the form information management center 20 will be described. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the form information management center 20. As shown in FIG. 5, the form information management center 20 includes an operation unit 21 including a mouse and a keyboard, a display unit 22 including a liquid crystal display, a communication unit 24, a storage unit 25, and a control unit 26. Have.

  The operation unit 21 receives operations such as editing of data stored in the storage unit 25 from an administrator who manages the form information management center 20. The display unit 22 performs various displays according to operations. The communication unit 24 is an interface unit for data communication with the form processing apparatus 10.

  The storage unit 25 is a storage device including a hard disk device, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. The storage unit 25 stores ruled line data 25a, form type correspondence data 25b, and form type recognition data 25c. The ruled line data 25a corresponds to the ruled line data 18b transmitted from the form processing apparatus 10. The form type correspondence data 25b is reference data that is the basis of the form type recognition data 25c, and is associated with the form type, ruled line data, form image data, and the like. The form type recognition data 25c is data that can be used in the form processing apparatus 10 by adjusting the resolution of the form type correspondence data 25b, and corresponds to the form type recognition data 18c in the form processing apparatus 10. That is, the form type recognition data 25c is associated with the form type, the form ruled line data, the type specifying part, and the form image data. When the form type recognition data 25c is generated by adjusting the resolution or the like of the form type correspondence data 25b each time requested from the form processing apparatus 10, it is necessary to store the form type recognition data 25c in the storage unit 25. There is no. If all the resolutions of the form processing apparatuses 10 are the same, the form type correspondence data 25b such as the corresponding resolution may be stored in the storage unit 25. In this case, it is not necessary to perform resolution adjustment or the like. The form type recognition data 25c is the form type correspondence data 25b itself.

  The control unit 26 is a control unit that controls the form information management center 20 as a whole, and includes a form type extraction unit 26a and a form type recognition data generation unit 26b. Actually, the programs corresponding to the form type extraction unit 26a and the form type recognition data generation unit 26b are stored in a storage device such as a nonvolatile memory or a magnetic disk device, and these programs are loaded into the memory. By executing a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a corresponding process is executed.

  The form type extracting unit 26a is a processing unit that extracts a type of form similar to the ruled line data based on the ruled line data 25a transmitted from the form processing apparatus 10 and stored. Actually, among the data stored in the form type correspondence data 25b, the form type corresponding to the data having high similarity to the ruled line data is extracted. The form type corresponding to the data having the highest similarity is not specified. It is also possible to specify one or a plurality of forms corresponding to data at least partially matching the ruled line data 25a transmitted from the form processing apparatus 10.

  The form type recognition data generation unit 26b adjusts the resolution and the like so that the form processing unit 10 can process the form type corresponding data extracted by the form type extraction unit 26a as the type of the form having a high degree of similarity. It is a processing unit that generates form type recognition data 25c. Further, a process for transmitting the generated form type recognition data 25c to the form processing apparatus 10 is performed.

<Processing Procedure of Form Processing Device 10 and Form Information Management Center 20>
Next, processing procedures of the form processing apparatus 10 and the form information management center 20 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the form processing apparatus 10 and the form information management center 20. First, when the form receiving unit 15a of the form processing apparatus 10 receives a form (step S101), it is determined whether or not the received form can be processed (step S102). Specifically, a form is imaged by the imaging unit 15e to generate form image data, and ruled line recognition is performed on the form image data.

  When ruled line recognition could not be performed, although not shown in the figure, it is determined that processing as a form is impossible, processing after step S109 described later is performed, and the processing ends. On the other hand, when ruled line recognition can be performed, the recognized ruled line data is stored as ruled line data 18b, and the ruled line data 18b is compared with the form type recognition data 18c to show similar ruled line data. It is determined whether or not the form type exists in the form type recognition data 18c.

  For example, from the form shown in FIG. 7, ruled line data 18b as shown in FIG. 8 is generated by ruled line recognition. For example, data as shown in FIG. 9 is stored as the form recognition data 18c. In the data shown in FIG. 9, the file number is 604, the form name is “C city water and sewage delivery notice”, the form type is “water charge delivery notice”, and the acquisition date of this file is 2016. An example in which it is February 16 and the last use date is November 20, 2016 is shown.

  Further, it is indicated that this data is “erasable” data, and the data expiration date determining unit 19e indicates that the predetermined period has elapsed since the last use date when the data in this part is “possible”. The target of erasure processing by Further, ruled line data is associated as form data.

  In the form recognition data 18c, in addition to the ruled line pattern, data on an area to be subjected to character recognition by the character recognition unit 19b is also defined. For example, a hatched portion is defined as a type specifying portion that is a target of type specifying recognition processing in the form data of FIG. 9, and a shaded portion is specified as a portion that is a target of description content recognition processing. That is, as a result of the ruled line data shown in FIG. 9 being similar to the ruled line data shown in FIG. 9 generated from the form shown in the example of FIG. 7, the form recognition data shown in FIG. It will be extracted as a candidate for specifying the type.

  Then, as a result of the character recognition (type specific recognition process) of the type specific part shown in the form data of FIG. 9, the character “C city water and sewage charge delivery notice” is recognized. When the recognized character matches the character of the form name “C city water and sewage bill delivery notice” indicated by the form recognition data in FIG. 9, the form type being processed is specified, and the form can be processed. (Step S103; Yes). In this case, the form processing of the form is performed (step S104). Details of the form processing will be described later.

  On the other hand, if the ruled line data generated from the form does not match any data in the form recognition data 25c, or if the character recognition result of the type specifying part and the form name indicated by the form recognition data do not match, the type specifying part If the character cannot be recognized, it is determined that the form cannot be processed (step S103; No).

  If it is determined that the form cannot be processed, the acquired ruled line data is transmitted to the form information management center 20 (step S105). The form information management center 20 that has acquired the ruled line data extracts a form indicating similar ruled line data from the form data stored in the form type corresponding data 25b (step S111). As the form type correspondence data 25b, data substantially the same as the form recognition data shown in FIG. 9 is stored, but form data with a high resolution or the like is stored in order to increase the accuracy of similarity determination. .

  Then, after extracting the form type corresponding data 25b of the form indicating the similar ruled line data, an automatic adjustment process for generating the form recognition data from the form type corresponding data is performed (step S112). This automatic adjustment process is a process for adjusting the resolution of form-corresponding data to a resolution suitable for form recognition and distribution (for example, reducing the resolution). By this adjustment processing, it is possible to prevent the data capacity held by the form processing apparatus 10 from increasing suddenly, and to reduce the burden on data transmission / reception.

  And the process which transmits the produced | generated form classification recognition data 25c to the form processing apparatus 10 is performed (step S113). If similar ruled line data cannot be extracted, a message indicating that there is no similar data is transmitted. Although the case where the form recognition data is transmitted only to the form processing apparatus 10 that is the transmission source of the form data is shown here, the form recognition data can also be transmitted to other form processing apparatuses. This is because if a certain form processing apparatus 10 cannot identify the form type, the form may be put into another form processing apparatus.

  In step S106, the form processing apparatus 10 waits for receipt of similar data, that is, form recognition data for forms with similar ruled line data. When the similar data is received (step S106; Yes), the form type recognition data 18c. Is stored and the process is determined again (step S107). This process re-determination process is the same as the determination process in step S102. When similar data is not received, that is, when it is transmitted that there is no similar data (step S106; No), the processing after step S109 is executed.

  If it is determined that processing is possible by re-determination of whether processing is possible (step S108; Yes), the form processing in step S104 is performed. If it is determined that processing is not possible due to redetermination of whether processing is possible (step S108; No), the display operation unit 11 displays a window such as “This form cannot be processed. The guidance display (step S109) is performed, the form is returned (step S110), and the process is terminated.

  Note that the form image data included in the form data 18a of the form that could not be processed by the above-described processing is retained in the machine as unprocessable form data, and the bank clerk is included in the form image data after the business day ends. The personal information is deleted, data is transmitted to the administrator of the form information management center 20, and a registration request is made. The administrator of the form information management center 20 creates form type correspondence data from the form image data and stores it in the form management center 20.

  Next, the process procedure of the form process shown in step S104 of FIG. 6 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the form processing shown in step S104 of FIG. As shown in the figure, the form processing apparatus 10 displays the character recognition result on the display operation unit 11 (step S201). Thereafter, the deposit from the customer is accepted (step S202). If the deposit amount is not equal to or greater than the billing amount (step S203; No), the process proceeds to step S202 and the deposit is continuously accepted.

  On the other hand, if the deposit amount is equal to or greater than the billing amount (step S203; Yes), the form is automatically settled (step S204). Then, the receipt is stamped on the form (step S205), the receipt forming a part of the form is separated by the cut process (step S206), the receipt is returned to the form accepting unit 15a (step S207), and the form is received. Is taken into the machine (step S208).

  Thereafter, the form data 18a is stored in the storage unit 18 (step S209), the receipt is printed and output (step S210), and the change is returned to the deposit / withdrawal unit 16 (step S211). If payment is made with a cash card or the like in step S202, the change return in step S211 is not necessary. Further, when processing a plurality of forms, the change may be received after the change according to one form is returned instead of returning the change together.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, even if the form cannot be processed based on the data stored in advance in the form processing apparatus 10, the form information management center 20 needs the form processing. By requesting data, it is possible to continue the processing of the form, so that the types of forms that can be handled can be increased without increasing the data capacity and processing load of the form processing apparatus 10. Convenience can be improved.

  In the first embodiment described above, the type of the form accepted by the form processing unit 15 is specified using only the form type recognition data 18c. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be configured to narrow down types. For example, when the form is received, options for specifying the type of the form such as “automobile tax”, “water charge”, “property tax” are displayed on the display operation unit 11 and the form type corresponding to the option selected by the customer is displayed. The form type may be specified from the recognition data, and the form type recognition data request to the form information management center 20 may be requested by designating data corresponding to the option. In this way, it is possible to more quickly identify the type of form that the customer wants to process.

  By the way, in the first embodiment, when the form processing apparatus 10 determines that the form cannot be processed using the form type recognition data 18c in the self apparatus, the form type recognition data is received from the form information management center 20. The case where 25c is acquired and the form is processed has been described. Here, there is a case where the form information management center 20 does not hold the form type correspondence data 25b corresponding to the form data. In this case, the form processing apparatus 10 cannot process the corresponding form because the form type recognition data 25c cannot be acquired as a result.

  Further, when another form processing apparatus 10 tries to process the same type of form, the form type recognition data 25c cannot be obtained from the form information management center 20, and this type of form cannot be processed. The problem that will continue. Therefore, in the second embodiment, form image data (hereinafter, referred to as form image data from which personal information has been deleted) deleted from the part in which the personal information that could not be processed by the form processing apparatus 10 is deleted to the form information management center 20. A case will be described where the form information management center 20 generates the form type corresponding data 25b and the form type recognition data 25c corresponding to the form data. In addition, about the part which overlaps with Example 1, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

<Processing Procedure of Form Processing Device 10 and Form Information Management Center 20 in Center-side Data Registration>
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the form processing apparatus 10 and the form information management center 20 regarding the center-side data registration process in the second embodiment. First, if the form processing apparatus 10 does not determine that processing is possible in the re-determination process of step S107 shown in FIG. 6 (step S108; No), the process after step S109 is performed as described above. The form image data included in the form data 18a is held in the machine as unprocessable form data. For example, the unprocessable form data (unprocessable data) at a certain timing such as the end of business on the day. The form processing apparatus 10 determines whether or not there is any (step S301).

  If there is no unprocessable data (step S301; No), the process is terminated. On the other hand, when there is unprocessable data (step S301; Yes), the form image data included in the form data 18a corresponding to the unprocessable form data is extracted (step S302) and displayed on the display operation unit 11 or the like. The personal information erasing operation is waited for (step S303). This personal information erasing process is a process of erasing image data of a portion corresponding to personal information (name, address, etc.) by a clerk or the like specifying an area on the image and erasing the image data. If there is an input to complete the personal information erasure process (step S303; Yes), the personal image erased form image data is transmitted to the form information management center 20 (step S304).

  In the form information management center 20 that has received the transmission of the form image data, the form type correspondence data 25b corresponding to the form image data from which the personal information has been deleted, based on the method using the ruled line data and the type specifying part similar to step S102. Alternatively, it is extracted whether there is form type recognition data 25c (step S306). If there is the form type corresponding data 25b or form type recognition data 25c corresponding to the form image data for which the personal information has been deleted, it is determined that the form has been registered (step S307; Yes), and the form processing apparatus 10 receives the personal information. The fact that the form type corresponding data 25b or the form type recognition data 25c corresponding to the deleted form image data has been registered is transmitted (step S312), and the process ends. When the form processing apparatus 10 tried to process a form, the form type correspondence data 25b or form type recognition data 25c corresponding to the form image data whose personal information has been deleted has not been registered in the form information management center 20. This is because there is a case where the form type correspondence data 25b or the form type recognition data 25c corresponding to the form image data with the personal information deleted is registered in the form information management center 20 thereafter. In this case, since it is notified that the personal image erased form image data transmitted from the form processing apparatus 10 side is registered together with the form type recognition data 25c that is information that can be specified, the form processing apparatus 10 side The corresponding form image data is deleted from the unprocessable form data.

  On the other hand, when there is no corresponding form type correspondence data 25b or form type recognition data 25c (step S307; No), it is necessary to create the form type correspondence data 25b or the form type recognition data 25c for the form image data. Is displayed on the display unit 22 or the like, and the form image data is stored as waiting for registration of the form type corresponding data (step S308), while the administrator of the form information management center 20 waits for the creation of form type corresponding data (step S308). Step S309). The administrator of the form information management center 20 sees the display on the display unit 22 and the like and recognizes that it is necessary to create the form type correspondence data 25b, and inputs necessary items to create the form type correspondence data. When the creation of the form type correspondence data 25b is completed (step S309; Yes), automatic adjustment processing for generating the form type recognition data 25c from the form type correspondence data 25b is performed (step S310). Then, the created form type recognition data is transmitted to the form processing apparatus (step S311). Then, the form processing apparatus 10 that has received the form type recognition data 25c stores the received form type recognition data 25c as the form type recognition data 18c (step S305), and ends the process.

  Through the above series of processing, even when the form information management center 20 does not hold data related to forms that cannot be processed by the form processing apparatus 10, the information on the form is registered in the data on the form information management center 20. In addition, the form processing apparatus 10 can store information for form processing. For this reason, when the form of the said kind is brought in again, it becomes possible in the form processing apparatus 10 to respond. Further, when a plurality of form processing apparatuses 10 communicate with the form information management center 20, the form information is obtained by performing the process of the second embodiment when a form of the type is brought into one form processing apparatus 10. If the information is registered in the management center 20, the other form processing device 10 can use the information held in the form information management center 20 to deal with the type of form.

  The configuration of the second embodiment can simplify the configuration on the form information management center 20 side particularly when the form information management center 20 is provided for each region such as administrative divisions such as prefectures and cities. There is an effect of becoming. Specifically, the form information management center corresponding to A prefecture basically holds the form data (form type correspondence data) corresponding only to the forms in A prefecture, and irregularly administrative divisions such as B prefecture. When an external form is brought in, a configuration corresponding to this can be taken based on the transmission data from the form processing apparatus 10. In particular, when only a specific type is repeatedly brought in from outside the administrative division, it becomes possible to smoothly handle the first and subsequent carry-in.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the form type recognition data distributed from the form information management center 20 has been shown as an example of distribution including information such as locations where character recognition is performed at multiple locations. The recognition data may be configured to distribute limited data such as only the setting of the location where the “amount” of the form is described.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the data held on the form information management center 20 side is transmitted to the form processing apparatus 10 when it is determined that the form processing apparatus 10 cannot process the form. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the recognition accuracy of the form type recognition data stored on the form processing apparatus 10 side is low, the stored form type recognition data is transmitted to the form information management center 20 and its contents May be reviewed.

  Further, when the character recognition process in the form processing apparatus 10 fails, the image data of that part may be extracted and transmitted to the form information management center 20 to review the settings such as the recognition location.

  Each configuration illustrated in the first and second embodiments is functionally schematic and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. That is, the form of distribution / integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in an arbitrary unit according to various loads or usage conditions. Can be configured.

  As described above, the form processing system, form processing apparatus, and form processing method according to the present invention are efficient for many types of forms while suppressing an increase in cost and an increase in human labor accompanying an increase in storage capacity. Suitable for corresponding cases.

P Form 10 Form processing apparatus 11 Display operation section 12 Cash card receiving section 13 Security code input section 14 Receipt printing section 15 Form processing section 15a Form receiving section 15b Transport roller 15c Transport path 15d Cutter 15e Imaging section 15f Stamp processing section 15g Temporary hold Unit 15h Storage unit 16 Deposit / withdrawal unit 16a Coin receiving unit 16b Coin dispensing unit 16c Banknote receiving unit 16d Banknote dispensing unit 17 Communication unit 18 Storage unit 18a Form data 18b Ruled line data 18c Form type recognition data 19 Control unit 19a Form data Generation unit 19b Character recognition unit 19c Form type recognition unit 19d Processing determination unit 19e Data time limit determination unit 20 Form information management center 21 Operation unit 22 Display unit 24 Communication unit 25 Storage unit 25a Ruled line data 25b Form type corresponding data 25c For form type recognition Day 26 control unit 26a form type extractor 26b form type recognition data generating unit

Claims (8)

A form processing system having a form processing apparatus that processes form using form information that specifies a form type, and a form information management apparatus that is provided so as to be able to communicate with the form processing apparatus and manages the form information. And
The form processing apparatus includes:
A receiving department that accepts forms,
A feature information acquisition unit that acquires feature information indicating characteristics of the form from the form received by the receiving unit;
A feature information transmission unit that transmits the feature information acquired by the feature information acquisition unit to the form information management device;
A receiving unit for receiving the form information,
The form information management device includes:
A registration information management unit that manages registration information that associates the type of the form with the feature information of the form;
A form type extracting unit that extracts a form type corresponding to the feature information based on the feature information and the registration information transmitted from the form processing device;
A form processing system comprising: a form information transmitting unit configured to transmit form information corresponding to a form type extracted by the form type extracting unit to the form processing apparatus. The form type extraction unit
The form type associated with feature information that matches at least part of feature information with feature information transmitted from the form processing device is extracted based on the registered information. Form processing system.   The form processing system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic information is ruled line information of the form. The form processing apparatus includes:
A form type determining unit for determining the type of form received by the receiving unit;
The form processing system according to claim 1, wherein the feature information transmission unit transmits the feature information when the form type determination unit cannot determine the type of the form.   The form processing system according to claim 4, wherein the form type determining unit determines a form type using the form information received by the receiving unit. The form processing apparatus includes:
A form information erasure unit for erasing the type of form information from the form information storage unit when the form information received from the form information management device has not been used for form processing for a predetermined period of time; The form processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A form processing apparatus provided so as to be able to communicate with a form information management apparatus that manages information related to a predetermined form, and performs form processing using form information of a predetermined type of form,
A receiving department that accepts forms,
A feature information acquisition unit that acquires feature information indicating characteristics of the form from the form received by the receiving unit;
A feature information transmission unit that transmits the feature information acquired by the feature information acquisition unit to the form information management device;
A receiving unit for receiving the form information;
A form processing apparatus comprising: a form processing unit that processes a form using the form information received by the receiving unit. A form in a form processing system having a form processing apparatus for processing a form using form information for specifying a form type, and a form information management apparatus provided so as to be able to communicate with the form processing apparatus and managing the form information A processing method,
A feature information acquisition step in which the form processing device acquires feature information indicating a feature of the form from a form received by a predetermined receiving unit;
A feature information transmission step in which the form processing device transmits the feature information acquired in the feature information acquisition step to the form information management device;
The form information management device extracts a form type corresponding to the feature information based on registration information in which the form type is associated with the feature information of the form and the feature information transmitted from the form processing device. Type extraction process;
The form information management device transmits form information corresponding to the form type extracted by the form type extraction step to the form processing device;
A form processing method, wherein the form processing apparatus includes a receiving step of receiving the form information.

Images