JP2007164314A - Time card reading system, reading device, reading method for time card reading system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a time card reading system for reading information input(recorded) to a time card regardless of the type of the time card. <P>SOLUTION: This time card reading system is provided with a template storage part 51 for storing a plurality of types of templates in which the arrangement of input items in a time card is different; a reading part 20 for reading the image of the time card; a template designation part 52 for designating the template to be used from among the stored plurality of types of templates; and an item information acquiring part 53 for acquiring the item information of each input item by extracting text data in a predetermined region based on the designated template from the reading result of the reading part 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a time card reading system, a reading device, and a reading method for the time card reading system, which are constituted by a reading device that reads an image of a time card having a plurality of input items, and a control device that takes in item information of the time card. , About the program.

Conventionally, as a time management of employees in companies, it has become widespread that time management is recorded (input) using time recorders on time cards and this time card is totaled at the end of the month to perform time management. Yes. A time card tabulation processing system capable of optically reading information stamped on the time card is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). According to this total processing system, it is not necessary to manually count the information stamped on the time card, so that the burden of paperwork can be greatly reduced and human error can be prevented. became.
JP 2001-322383 A

In such an aggregation processing system, a dedicated time card is used for optically reading the attendance information stamped on the time card. However, time cards from a plurality of manufacturers are distributed in the market, and various time cards are used by each company. Therefore, in order to introduce the above-described total processing system, it becomes necessary to newly purchase a time card or a time recorder to be used, which has been a factor hindering the introduction of the system.

In view of the above problems, the present invention is able to input to a time card regardless of the type of time card (
It is an object of the present invention to provide a time card reading system, a reading apparatus, a reading method of the time card reading system, and a program capable of reading the stamped information.

A time card reading system according to the present invention is a time card reading system including a reading device that reads an image of a time card having a plurality of input items, and a control device that takes in item information of the input items. A template storage unit that stores a plurality of types of templates having different item arrangements, a reading unit that reads a time card image, a template specifying unit that specifies a template to be used among the stored types of templates, and a reading unit Item information acquisition means for acquiring item information of each input item by extracting text data of a predetermined area based on a specified template from the read result is provided.

Similarly, the reading method of the time card reading system according to the present invention includes a reading device that reads an image of a time card having a plurality of input items, and a control device that reads item information of the input items. A system reading method that stores a plurality of types of templates with different input item arrangements, a reading step for reading a time card image, and a template to be used among the stored types of templates. Performing a template designating step, and an item information obtaining step of obtaining item information of each input item by extracting text data of a predetermined area based on the designated template from the reading result of the reading step. Features.

According to these configurations, by storing a plurality of types of templates with different arrangements of input items, it is possible to accurately acquire each item information of the time card using a template corresponding to the time card to be read. Can do. That is, if a template corresponding to a time card to be read is stored, all types of time cards can be read. Accordingly, the type of the time card is not restricted in reading the time card, and the introduction of the system can be easily realized.

In this case, it is preferable that the template designating unit includes a template automatic determination unit that determines a template to be used based on the reading result of the reading unit.

According to this configuration, since a template to be used can be automatically determined without requiring an instruction from the user, it is possible to save time and effort of the user. Further, there is no possibility that an artificial operation error such as an error in specifying a template to be used will occur.

In these cases, it is preferable to further include item information display means for displaying the acquired item information and item information editing means for editing the displayed item information.

According to this configuration, the user can visually recognize the item information of each item included in the read time card, and can edit and correct the information as necessary. For example, there are many time cards in which item information is entered by handwriting due to an imprint error or the like. In such a case, there is a limit in accurately reading item information entered by handwriting on the device side. Therefore, by configuring the read item information so that the user can edit it, a more convenient reading system can be provided.

The reader of the present invention preferably includes each means in the time card reading system described in any one of the above.

According to this configuration, since each item information included in the time card can be acquired in the reading device, when the control device captures the item information of the time card, all the information transmitted from the reading device is text data. Therefore, the transmission process can be speeded up.

The program of the present invention is for causing a computer to function each means in the time card reading system described in any one of the above.

By running this program on a computer, regardless of the type of time card,
It is possible to realize a time card reading system capable of reading information input (engraved) on the time card.

Hereinafter, a time card reading system, a reading apparatus, a reading method of the time card reading system, and a program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a time card reading system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the time card reading system 1 of the present embodiment captures the reading device 10 that reads an image of a time card T (see FIG. 3) having a plurality of input items and item information of the time card T. And a control device 30. The reading device 10 is a control device 30.
Are connected via a cable (not shown).

The reading device 10 is a so-called scanner and optically reads an image by an image sensor 11 such as a CCD.

The control device 30 includes an input device 31 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display 32 that displays input data and processing results, and a hard disk 33 (hereinafter referred to as “HD33”). It is connected. The control device 30 includes a CPU 35, a ROM 36, and a RAM 37, which are connected to the input / output interface 34 via an internal bus.

The CPU 35 follows the control program in the ROM 36 to input / output interface 34.
Various signals and data are input from each part of the control device 30 via the
Various data in the RAM 37 are processed based on the data. Furthermore, various processes are controlled by outputting various signals and data to each part in the control device 30 via the input / output interface 34.

In addition, the HD 33 includes an operating system 38 serving as basic software and a reading device 1.
A driver 39 for controlling various devices such as 0 is incorporated, a time card reading program 40 for reading the time card T, and text data for extracting text data from the reading result transmitted from the reading device 10 The extraction program 41 and the attendance information totaling program 42 for totaling attendance information are stored. The time card reading program 40 and the text data extraction program 41 are stored in the reading device 10.
The driver 39 may be incorporated.

Next, the functional configuration of the time card reading system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The reading device 10 includes a reading unit 20 that reads an image of the time card T. In the present embodiment, the above-described image sensor 11 such as a CCD corresponds to the reading unit 20. On the other hand, the control device 30 includes a template storage unit 51 for storing a plurality of types of templates TM corresponding to a plurality of types of time cards T having different arrangements of items, and a stored template T.
A template designating unit 52 for designating a template to be used for reading from M, and an item information obtaining unit 53 for obtaining item information of the time card T by extracting text data of a predetermined area based on the designated template TM. , An item information display unit 54 for displaying the acquired item information, and an item information editing unit 55 for editing the displayed item information.

Further, the template designating unit 52 further includes a template automatic determining unit 56.
The template automatic determination unit 56 automatically determines the template TM to be used based on the read image data of the time card T (the reading result by the reading unit) when there is no instruction from the user who specifies the template, for example. is there. Note that the template storage unit 51 includes the HD 33 of the control device 30 as a main part, and the template designation unit 52.
, The item information acquisition unit 53, the item information display unit 54, and the item information editing unit 55 are connected to the control device 3.
The zero CPU 35 performs various processing according to the time card reading program 40 or the text data extraction program 41.

Furthermore, specific processing procedures by the above-described units will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, the time card T to be read by the reading system according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 illustrates three types of time cards T from type A to type C.
The type A time card T shown in FIG. 5A includes, for example, a “number” item 101 in which an employee number is entered, a “name” item 102 in which a name is also entered, and “year (year)” and “ A “year” item 103 and a “month” item 104 in which “month” is entered are arranged in the vertical direction of the time card T. In the lower part, for example, a “date”, “attendance”, “exit”, “
The items “number of hours”, “going out”, and “re-entry” are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction.

On the other hand, the type B time card T shown in FIG.
The item 102 is arranged side by side in the left-right direction of the time card T, and a “year” item 103 and a “month” item 104 are arranged below the item 102. Each stamping item 105 includes “date”, “
They are arranged in the order of “commuting”, “going out”, “returning (re-entry in type A)”, “exit”, and the order is different from that of type A.

Further, in the type C time card T shown in FIG. 5C, the arrangement of the “number” item 101, the “name” item 102, the “year” item 103, and the “month” item 104 is type B. Although it is the same as the time card T, the stamping item 105 includes “date”, “attendance (morning)”,
Each item of “Exit (AM)”, “Attendance (PM)”, “Exit (PM)” is arranged side by side in the left and right direction of the time card T. The contents are different from Type A and Type B. Further, in common with the time card T shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, a barcode B representing type information for identifying the type of the time card T is printed on each time card T.

FIG. 4 illustrates three types of templates TM corresponding to these three types of time cards T from type A to type C. “Template TM” means time card T
Means the information related to the reading start position and reading end position of each input item (entry item or stamping item) arranged in, and the reading start position and reading end position of each item, for example, “image data of time card T (reading) The information is “how many millimeters each position is from the left end and the upper end in the reading result read by the apparatus 10”.
In addition to millimeters, for example, dot or the like may be adopted as a unit of numerical values, one end of image data of the time card T is set as coordinates (0, 0), and each reading start position and reading end position are set as coordinates. You may remember.

The template TM shown in FIG. 6A is the type A time card T shown in FIG.
The template TM for reading is shown. As shown in the figure, for each of the “number” item 101, “name” item 102, “year” item 103, and “month” item 104 that are entry items, the upper end or the left end is used as a base point. The reading start position and the reading end position are stored numerically. In addition, for each of the “date”, “attendance”, “exit”, “number of hours”, “going out”, and “re-entry” items that are stamped items 105, reading starts when “left end” is used as a base point Only the position and the reading end position are stored numerically. And stamping item 1
Each item information of 05, because one day of information (1 data) is continuously stamped in the vertical direction,
The start position of the head data is stored as the reading start position when the “upper end” is the base point, and the item length in the vertical direction of the time card T of one data is stored.

Similarly, the templates TM shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C are the same as those shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C.
The template TM for reading the time cards T of type B and type C shown in FIG. 6 is shown, and the detailed description thereof is the same as that of the template TM described above and is omitted.
Instead of storing each item and the corresponding position information on a one-to-one basis, the position information may be stored for each type of time card T for one item as shown in FIG. Good. At this time, the “re-entry” item in the type A time card T and the “return” item in the type B time card T (see also FIG. 3) represent the same contents, so type A and type It may be handled as a common item in the time card T of B.

Next, the item information acquisition process by the item information acquisition unit 53 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. The item information acquisition unit 53 reads the time card T read by the reading device 10.
The item area of each item is specified based on the designated template TM from the image data (see (a) in the figure) (see (b) in the figure). For example, type A time card T (FIG. 3
(See (a)), based on the corresponding template TM (see FIG. 4 (a)),
10 mm from the top and 15 mm from the left, and 20 mm from the top and 5 from the left
An area defined by a position of 5 mm is specified as the area of the “number” item 101.

Then, text data is extracted from each identified item area, and the extracted text data is identified as item information for each item (see FIG. 10C). In the above example, the “number” item 10
The text data “12345” specified as one area and extracted from the area is specified as item information of the “number” item 101.
In addition, for portions where text data cannot be extracted due to handwriting or blurring on the time card, the image data read by the reading device is displayed on the display 32 as an auxiliary screen, and the input device 31 is viewed while viewing it. It is also possible to edit text data.

Further, the entire process for reading the time card T will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this description, it is assumed that the template TM to be used is designated by an instruction from the user. As shown in the figure, first, the template designating unit 5 of the control device 30 is used.
2 specifies the template TM to be used (S01). For example, this process is shown in FIG.
The template designation screen D1 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 32, and the user completes the operation by designating an arbitrary template TM on the designation screen D1. Next, the image of the time card T is read by the reading device 10, and the read result is the control device 3.
It is transferred to 0 (S02). The execution order of the template TM specifying process (S01) and the time card T reading (S02) may be reversed. Then, the item information acquisition unit 53 of the control device 30 acquires each item information of the time card T (S03), and the item information display unit 54 of the control device 30 acquires the item information (text data) of each item acquired. Are displayed in a list (S04). The acquired item information is stored in, for example, the HD 33 and used as input data for the attendance information aggregation program 42 (see FIG. 1).

FIG. 9A illustrates a display screen D2 in which item information of each item is displayed as a list. As shown in the figure, the item information display unit 54 displays on the display 32 a display screen D2 that displays a list of item information of each acquired item. Thereby, the user can easily confirm whether or not the item information of each item entered and stamped on the time card T has been accurately read. Furthermore, the item information displayed on the display screen D <b> 2 can be edited by the user performing a predetermined operation using the input device 31 under the control of the item information editing unit 55 of the control device 30.

In the display screen shown in FIG. 5A, for example, when an outing time “15:00” and a reentry time “16:00” are entered in the “2 days” field, the information entered in the acquired (stored) item information (
“Going out” 15:00 and “re-entry” 16:00 ”on the day“ 02 ”are added and stored (see FIG. 5B). Further, when the displayed item information is corrected, the corrected item information is overwritten and saved.

Furthermore, the template automatic determination process by the template automatic determination part 56 (refer FIG. 2) of the control apparatus 30 is demonstrated. The template automatic determination unit 56 identifies the type of the time card T based on the identification information printed on the time card T (barcode B or the like; see FIG. 3), and determines the template TM to be used. Specifically, when the identification information is barcode B, the printing portion of the identification information is decoded from the read image data of the time card T,
The template automatic determination unit 56 automatically determines the template TM based on the decoding result.

Even when the identification information is not printed on the time card T, if one template TM is used from the stored templates TM and text data can be extracted in each item area, this is acquired as item information. If the text data cannot be extracted, the template TM may be automatically determined such that another template is used. Further, text data may be once extracted from the read image data of the time card T, and the template TM may be automatically determined based on the arrangement position of the extracted text data.

Further, when identification information for identifying the front and back (for example, “front” and “back” characters) is printed on the time card T, the front and back of the time card T may be identified based on this identification information. At this time, depending on the front and back of the read time card T, it can be assumed that the acquired item information is handled as data of the first half or the second half of January. In this case, the front side (back side) is assumed to be continuous. When reading, it may notify that. Thereby, if the user accidentally continuously reads the same surface of the time card T, it is possible to notify the user of that fact.

Note that the identification information for identifying the type of the time card T and the identification information for identifying the front and back of the time card T are not limited to the information printed on the time card T, but the state of the time card T (shape and color scheme). May be identified based on this.

As described above, the time card reading system 1 of the present invention stores the template TM that defines the arrangement position of each item included in the time card T, so that the template TM corresponding to the read time card T is stored. The item information of each item included in the time card T can be accurately acquired using. That is, as long as the template TM corresponding to the time card T to be read is stored, all types of time cards T can be read. In other words, since the type of the time card T is not restricted in reading the time card T, the introduction of the present system can be easily realized.

By the way, in the above description, the image data of the time card T read by the reading device 10 is transferred to the control device 30, and the item information of each item is acquired from the image data using the template TM stored in the control device 30. As described above, instead of this configuration, the reading device 10 may store the template TM, and the reading device 10 may acquire item information of each item from the image data of the time card T. Hereinafter, this configuration will be described as a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a functional configuration diagram of the time card reading system 1 according to the second embodiment. Second
The reading apparatus 10 according to the embodiment includes, in addition to the reading unit 20 that reads the image of the time card T, a template storage unit 61 that stores a plurality of types of templates TM, and a template that is used for reading from the stored templates TM. A template designating unit 62 for designating TM and an item information obtaining unit 63 for obtaining item information of the time card T by extracting text data of a predetermined area based on the designated template TM are provided. As in the first embodiment, the template designating unit 62 has an automatic template determining unit 64.

On the other hand, the control device 30 includes an item information display unit 54 that displays item information transmitted (transferred) from the reading device 10 and an item information editing unit 55 that edits the displayed item information.
The detailed description of each part is the same as in the first embodiment described above, and will be omitted.

Although not shown in the drawings, the configuration of the reading device 10 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the control device 30 according to the first embodiment. CPU, ROM, RAM, time card reading program, and text data extraction program Needless to say, etc. However, when the reading device 10 includes the template storage unit 61, for example, a ROM is used instead of the HD 33.
The template storage unit 61 may be configured by a semiconductor memory such as the above. Similarly, the template designation unit 62 may be realized by providing the reading device 10 with a switch or a button instead of the designation on the screen display (GUI) described above.

As described above, when the reading device 10 acquires item information of each item from the image of the time card T, all information transmitted (transferred) from the reading device 10 to the control device 30 becomes text data. Can be speeded up.

It is also possible to provide each function of the time card reading system 1 shown in the above example as a program. Further, the program can be provided by being stored in a recording medium (not shown). CD-ROM, flash ROM, memory card (compact flash (registered trademark), smart media, memory stick, etc.), compact disk, magneto-optical disk, digital versatile disk, flexible disk, hard disk, etc. can be used as the recording medium. is there.

Note that, regardless of the example of the time card reading system 1 in the above-described embodiment, the apparatus configuration, processing steps, and the like can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a system configuration figure of a time card reading system. It is a functional block diagram of a time card reading system. It is a figure which illustrates multiple types of time cards. It is a figure which illustrates the multiple types of template corresponding to a multiple types of time card. It is a figure which illustrates the other example of a template. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the acquisition process of item information. It is a flowchart which shows a time card reading process. It is a figure which shows an example of a template designation | designated screen. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates an item information display screen and illustrates an example of the edit process of item information. It is a functional block diagram of the time card reading system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Time card reading system 10 ... Reading apparatus 20 ... Reading part 30 ... Control apparatus 5
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Template memory | storage part 52 ... Template designation | designated part 53 ... Item information acquisition part 54 ... Item information display part 55 ... Item information edit part 56 ... Template automatic determination part T ... Time card TM ... Template

Claims (6)

A time card reading system comprising a reading device that reads an image of a time card having a plurality of input items, and a control device that takes in item information of the input items,
Template storage means for storing a plurality of types of templates having different arrangements of the input items;
Reading means for reading the image of the time card;
A template designating unit for designating a template to be used among the plurality of types of stored templates;
Item information acquisition means for acquiring item information of each input item by extracting text data of a predetermined area based on the specified template from the reading result of the reading means. Time card reading system. 2. The time card reading system according to claim 1, wherein the template designating unit includes a template automatic determining unit that determines the template to be used based on a reading result of the reading unit. Item information display means for displaying the acquired item information;
3. The time card reading system according to claim 1, further comprising item information editing means for editing the displayed item information. A reading apparatus comprising the respective units in the time card reading system according to claim 1. A reading method of a time card reading system comprising a reading device that reads an image of a time card having a plurality of input items, and a control device that takes item information of the input items,
A template storage step of storing a plurality of types of templates having different arrangements of the input items;
A reading step of reading an image of the time card;
A template designating step for designating a template to be used among the plurality of types of stored templates;
Performing an item information acquisition step of acquiring item information of each input item by extracting text data of a predetermined area based on the specified template from the reading result of the reading step. Reading method of time card reading system. A program for causing a computer to function each means in the time card reading system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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