Patent Application
20150332492
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-099797 filed in Japan on May 13, 2014.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and a method for image processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques for facilitating the editing of document data obtained by computerizing paper document have been conventionally known. For example, Japanese Patent No. 4980691 discloses a configuration in which information about setting items unique to a document database is linked to a document with a groupware server to simplify the editing of document data.
Such conventional techniques, however, have no mechanism capable of detecting whether or not a manuscript includes an omission and allowing, if there is an omission, a user to perform an adding operation easily.
In view of the above problem, there is a need to provide an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and a method for image processing capable of detecting whether or not a manuscript includes an omission and allowing, if there is an omission, a user to perform an adding operation easily.
It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve the problems in the conventional technology.
According to the present invention, there is provided an image processing system comprising: a reading unit that reads image information from an original manuscript to generate image data; a checking unit that checks whether or not a plurality of items listed in the original manuscript include an unentered item with a result of a character recognition process for recognizing a character contained in the image data; a display control unit that performs, when the unentered item is present, control to display information for informing a user of the unentered item; and an image correcting unit that adds a text with respect to the unentered item according to an input made by the user to correct the image data.
The present invention also provides an image processing apparatus comprising: a reading unit that reads image information from an original manuscript to generate image data; a checking unit that checks whether or not a plurality of items listed in the original manuscript include an unentered item on the basis of a result of a character recognition process for recognizing a character contained in the image data; a display control unit that performs, when the unentered item is present, control to display an existence of the unentered item; and an image correcting unit that adds a text with respect to the unentered item according to an input made by a user to correct the image data.
The present invention also provides an image processing method comprising: a reading step of reading image information from an original manuscript to generate image data; a checking step of checking whether or not a plurality of items listed in the original manuscript include an unentered item on the basis of a result of a character recognition process for recognizing a character contained in the image data; a display control step of performing, when the unentered item is present, control to display an existence of the unentered item; and an image correcting step of adding a text with respect to the unentered item according to an input made by a user to correct the image data.
The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and a method for image processing according to the present invention will now be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the following description will be made with respect to a case where the image processing apparatus according to the present invention is used in a multifunction peripheral (MFP) having at least a print function and a scanner function, the invention is not limited thereto.
As shown in
The copy unit 11 provides a copy function of the MFP 10. The scan unit 12 provides a scan function of the MFP 10. More specifically, the scan unit 12 has the function of reading image information from an original manuscript and generating image data. The scan unit 12 can be considered as corresponding to a “reading unit” in claims. The printer unit 13 provides a printer function of the MFP 10. The fax unit 14 provides a facsimile transmission function of the MFP 10.
The panel operation unit 15 receives a user's operation and displays various information. In this example, a main unit of the MFP 10, including the copy unit 11, the scan unit 12, the printer unit 13, and the fax unit 14, and the panel operation unit 15 operate independently of each other with different operating systems. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. A configuration in which the main unit and the panel operation unit 15 operate with the same operating system may be employed.
An application set in the panel operation unit 15 is a software (program) for providing a user interface (UI) function used for operations and display mainly about the functions provided by the copy unit 11, the scan unit 12, the printer unit 13, and the fax unit 14. In the present embodiment, the panel operation unit 15 has a hardware configuration that utilizes a computer device including: a CPU; a storage such as a ROM or a RAM; a communication interface for connecting to the network 40; and a display unit for displaying various images. The CPU mounted in the panel operation unit 15 can provide various functions by executing a program/programs. In the present embodiment, a software for providing work service on questionnaires (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a “questionnaire application”) is set in the panel operation unit 15. Functions regarding the questionnaire application will be described mainly below.
Note that the “questionnaire” means a questionnaire survey. In this example, a format (form) in which an answer column used for writing an answer is provided for each of one or more items is employed. The form of a questionnaire is sometimes referred to as a “questionnaire form” in the following description. In this example, a user can prepare a questionnaire form on the client terminal 30 and register the prepared questionnaire form in the questionnaire server 20.
As shown in
The questionnaire form requesting unit 101 performs control to display, on the panel operation unit 15, a selection screen from which a questionnaire form registered in the questionnaire server 20 to be described later is selected according to a user's operation. The questionnaire form requesting unit 101 then selects one of questionnaire forms according to a user's operation on the selection screen and requests the selected questionnaire form to the questionnaire server 20. Once the questionnaire form is obtained from the questionnaire server 20, the questionnaire form requesting unit 101 requests the MFP function control unit 102 to print out the obtained questionnaire form.
The MFP function control unit 102 provides the copy function, the scan function, the printer function, and the fax function in cooperation with and utilizing the copy unit 11, the scan unit 12, the printer unit 13, and the fax unit 14, respectively. In this example, a combination of the MFP function control unit 102 and the scan unit 12 can be considered as corresponding to the “reading unit” in claims. Once the MFP function control unit 102 receives a request for printing out the questionnaire form from the questionnaire form requesting unit 101, the MFP function control unit 102 performs control to cause the printer unit 13 to print out the questionnaire form. Consequently, a questionnaire sheet (questionnaire sheet which has not been answered yet) corresponding to the questionnaire form is outputted. The user writes an answer by hand for each of one or more items listed in the questionnaire sheet.
When the mode setting unit 103 receives an operation of selecting a mode for scanning the answered questionnaire sheet (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an “entry value checking mode”), the mode setting unit 103 sets an operation mode in the scan function to the entry value checking mode. The image data generated by the scan unit 12 in the entry value checking mode is regarded as image data generated by reading image information from the answered questionnaire sheet. For example, the panel operation unit 15 displays a button used for selecting the entry value checking mode. The user can perform an input of selecting the entry value checking mode by pressing down the button. The user then sets the answered questionnaire sheet and performs an operation of giving an instruction to scan the sheet. The MFP function control unit 102, which has received this operation, performs control to cause the scan unit 12 to carry out a scanning process (a process of reading image information from a set original manuscript and generating its image data).
With the result of a character recognition process for recognizing characters contained in the image data generated by the scan unit 12, the checking unit 104 checks whether or not the plurality of items listed in the manuscript include an unentered item. In this example, the checking unit 104 performs a known OCR process on the image data generated by the scan unit 12 in the entry value checking mode. With the result of the OCR process, the checking unit 104 checks if the plurality of items listed in the answered questionnaire sheet include an item for which no answer has been entered.
In the presence of an unentered item, the display control unit 105 performs control to display information for informing the user of the unentered item. In the present embodiment, when the plurality of items listed in the answered questionnaire sheet include an item for which no answer has been entered, the display control unit 105 performs control to display, on the panel operation unit 15, information for informing the user about the item for which no answer has been entered. The user, who has checked this information, can complete an answer to the unentered item in handwriting or with the use of a function of the questionnaire application. For example, the panel operation unit 15 displays a button used for selecting that an answer to the unentered item is completed with the function of the questionnaire application. By pressing down the button, the user can perform an input of selecting that an answer to the unentered item is completed with the function of the questionnaire application.
The image correcting unit 106 adds a text with respect to the unentered item according to a user's input to correct the image data (the image data generated by the scan unit 12). In the present embodiment, when the input of selecting that the answer to the unentered item is completed with the function of the questionnaire application is received, the image correcting unit 106 performs control to display, on the panel operation unit 15, the image data generated by the scan unit 12 in the entry value checking mode (the image data of the answered questionnaire sheet including an item for which no answer has been entered). The user can input an answer to the item for which no answer has been entered by operating a soft keyboard, or the like, while checking this image data. The image correcting unit 106 adds the answer to the item for which no answer has been entered according to the user's input to correct (edit) the image data.
The questionnaire result data transmission control unit 107 performs control to transmit the image data generated by the scan unit 12 (image data on which no correction has been made by the image correcting unit 106) or the image data on which a correction has been made by the image correcting unit 106 to the questionnaire server 20 to be described later as questionnaire result data.
Although the above scan unit 12, checking unit 104, display control unit 105, and image correcting unit 106 are mounted in a single MFP 10 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, these units may be mounted separately into a plurality of devices. In short, it is only required that an image processing system to which the present invention is applied has a configuration including a function corresponding to the above scan unit 12, a function corresponding to the checking unit 104, a function corresponding to the display control unit 105, and a function corresponding to the image correcting unit 106.
The function of the questionnaire server 20 will be described next. The questionnaire server 20 has a function of accumulating information about questionnaire forms, questionnaire result data, and the like.
As shown in
The registering unit 201 performs control to register the questionnaire form produced by the client terminal 30 in the questionnaire form storage unit 202. The questionnaire form transmission control unit 203 performs control to transmit the questionnaire form registered in the questionnaire form storage unit 202 to the MFP 10 in response to a request from the MFP 10 (the questionnaire form requesting unit 101). The questionnaire result data acquisition unit 204 acquires questionnaire result data transmitted from the MFP 10 (the questionnaire result data transmission control unit 107). The questionnaire result data storage unit 205 stores the questionnaire result data acquired by the questionnaire result data acquisition unit 204.
In the present embodiment, the questionnaire server 20 has a hardware configuration that utilizes a computer device including a CPU, a storage such as a ROM or a RAM, a communication interface for connecting to the network 40, and a display unit for displaying various images. The CPU mounted in the questionnaire server 20 can provide the function of each unit (such as the registering unit 201) in the above questionnaire server 20 by executing a program/programs.
Next, the checking unit 104 performs the OCR process on the image data generated by the scanning process in the step S12. With the result of the OCR process, the checking unit 104 checks whether or not the plurality of items listed in the answered questionnaire sheet include an item for which no answer has been entered (step S13). In the absence of an item for which no answer has been entered (step S13: No), the questionnaire result data transmission control unit 107 performs control to transmit the image data generated by the scanning process in the step S12 to the questionnaire server 20 as questionnaire result data (step S14).
In the presence of an item for which no answer has been entered (step S13: Yes), on the other hand, the display control unit 105 performs control to display information for informing about the existence of an item for which no answer has been entered (step S15). When the input of selecting that an answer to the unentered item is completed with the function of the questionnaire application is received (step S16: Yes), the image correcting unit 106 performs control to display the image data generated by the scanning process in the step S12. The image correcting unit 106 then adds the answer to the item for which no answer has been entered in response to a user's input to correct the image data (step S17). The questionnaire result data transmission control unit 107 then performs control to transmit the image data corrected by the image correcting unit 106 in the step S17 to the questionnaire server 20 as questionnaire result data (step S14).
On the other hand, when no input of instructing that an answer to the unentered item is completed with the function of the questionnaire application is received in the above step S16 (step S16: No), the user completes the answer in handwriting, then sets the completed questionnaire sheet, and performs an operation of giving an instruction to scan the sheet. The MFP function control unit 102, which has received this operation, performs control to cause the scan unit 12 to carry out the scanning process (step S12). Thereafter, the above step S13 and the following processes are repeated.
As described above, the result of the OCR process on the image data generated by reading image information from the answered questionnaire sheet is used to check whether or not the plurality of items listed in the questionnaire sheet include an item for which no answer has been entered in the present embodiment. In the presence of an item for which no answer has been entered, the control to display information for informing a user of the item for which no answer has been entered is performed and a text with respect to the item for which no answer has been entered is added according to a user's input to correct the image data. Thus, a mechanism capable of detecting whether or not an answered questionnaire sheet includes an omission and allowing, if there is an omission, a user to perform an adding operation easily can be achieved.
The second embodiment will now be described next. A description regarding elements common to the above first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate. In the second embodiment, when no answer has been entered to a required item, which is an item required to be answered, the display control unit 105 performs control to display information for informing that no answer has been entered to the required item. When no answer has been entered to an optional item for which answering is optional, on the other hand, the display control unit 105 does not perform control to display information for informing that no answer has been entered to the optional item.
When the item for which no answer has been entered is a required item (step S22: Yes), the display control unit 105 performs control to display information for informing that no answer has been entered to the required item (step S23). When the item for which no answer has been entered is an optional item (step S22: No), the process ends without performing control to display information for informing that no answer has been entered to the optional item by the display control unit 105.
In the present embodiment, when no answer has been entered to “Q3” which is a required item, as shown in
The third embodiment will now be described next. A description regarding elements common to the above embodiments will be omitted as appropriate. The third embodiment further includes the function of compiling entries for each of items across pieces of questionnaire result data. The display control unit 105 performs control to display the compiled result.
The compiling unit 206 compiles entries for each of the items across pieces of questionnaire result data stored in the questionnaire result data storage unit 205. In this example, each questionnaire result data is identified by a unique ID. For example, an identifier (ID) such as a number, a bar code, or a two-dimensional bar code may be given to a questionnaire sheet. Each of
The compiling unit 206 loads and compiles entries for each of items across pieces of questionnaire result data stored in the questionnaire result data storage unit 205. The compiling unit 206 generates a CSV file as shown in
The compiled result transmission control unit 207 performs control to transmit the compiled result produced by the compiling unit 206 to the MFP 1000 (panel operation unit 15). The compiled result acquisition unit 108 of the questionnaire application acquires the compiled result and the display control unit 105 can perform control to display the compiled result.
Although the embodiments according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments exactly as described. The present invention can be embodied upon implementation by modifying the components without departing from the scope of the invention. Moreover, various inventions can be made by appropriately combining the plurality of components disclosed in the above embodiments.
For example, a part (for example, the checking unit 104) of the plurality of functions processed by the above questionnaire application may be provided on the side of the questionnaire server 20. In short, it is only required that an image processing system to which the present invention is applied has a configuration including a function corresponding to the above scan unit 12 (or a combination of the scan unit 12 and the MFP function control unit 102), a function corresponding to the checking unit 104, a function corresponding to the display control unit 105, and a function corresponding to the image correcting unit 106.
The programs to be executed by the above MFP 10 and questionnaire server 20 each may be recorded in a computer readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a digital versatile disk (DVD), or a universal serial bus (USB) memory as an installable or executable file and provided. Alternatively, such programs may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Alternatively, various programs may be preloaded into a non-volatile recording medium such as a ROM and provided.
The present invention can provide a mechanism capable of detecting whether a manuscript includes an omission and allowing, if there is an omission, a user to perform an adding operation easily.
Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-099797 | May 2014 | JP | national |
