Information processing device, information processing system, and control method and program thereof

Abstract

To allow a user to more easily set character strings with less mistakes as character strings used for properties of a document file.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus is for setting properties of a document file by using a result of character recognition processing on a scan image of a document, and comprises acquisition means and setting means. The acquisition means performs character recognition processing on a scan image related to a document file to be created this time to acquire character strings. When the character strings acquired by the acquisition means are character strings that are obtained through character recognition processing on a scan image related to the document file created in the past and that are approved by a user a certain number of times or more, the setting means automatically sets the character strings acquired by the acquisition means as character strings used for the properties of the document file to be created this time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for setting properties in a document file. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a widely used method is to scan documents such as paper forms, convert them into files, and store and manage them on a storage server on a network. To store and manage them as document files on a storage server on a network, it is necessary to set properties such as file names. For example, one method of setting file names is to apply character recognition processing to the scanned image of the document to extract character information, and then select a character string to use as the file name from the obtained character information.

[0003] Also, character area information of character strings used by users to set file names is saved and accumulated for each document type. Then, when the characteristics of a document form match those of a previously saved document, the character string used in the previously saved document is automatically suggested as the character string to be used in the file name. In this case, if the character string used to set the file name in the past is incorrect, the incorrect character string will be suggested.

[0004] In this regard, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that uses a degree of certainty as an index showing the accuracy of a character string that has been processed by character recognition, and that prompts the user to check or correct the character string even if the degree of certainty of the character string that has been processed by character recognition is high. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-46819 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The technology of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 attempts to ensure the accuracy of character strings by having the user confirm or correct them, but it is possible that the user himself may make a mistake in correction or confirmation. In that case, an incorrect character string may be set in a file name, etc., due to the user's own correction or other mistake.

[0007] The technology disclosed herein has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to enable a user to more easily set a character string that is less prone to errors as a character string to be used in the properties of a document file. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The image processing device according to the present disclosure is an image processing device for setting properties of a document file using the results of character recognition processing on a scanned image of a document, and is characterized in having an acquisition means for acquiring a character string by performing character recognition processing on a scanned image related to a currently generated document file, and a setting means for automatically setting the character string acquired by the acquisition means as a character string to be used in the properties of the currently generated document file if the character string acquired by the acquisition means is a character string obtained in character recognition processing on a scanned image related to a previously generated document file and has been approved by a user a certain number of times or more. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the technique of the present disclosure, a user can more easily set a character string that is less prone to errors as a character string to be used in the properties of a document file. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the present system. [Diagram 2] MFP hardware configuration diagram. [Diagram 3] Hardware configuration diagram of an MFP linked server and a storage server. [Figure 4]Software configuration diagram of this system. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing between the devices. [Figure 6A] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a UI screen of a main menu. [Figure 6B] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a login screen. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a scan setting screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure showing the results of analysis processing in the present system. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a file name setting screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission confirmation screen. [Figure 11] 5 is a flowchart showing details of character recognition processing performed by an image processing unit in the present system. [Figure 12] 6 is a flowchart showing details of an automatic transmission determination process performed by an image processing unit in the present system. [Figure 13] 6 is a flowchart showing details of a file name setting information saving process performed by an image processing unit in the present system. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing details of an automatic transmission determination process performed by an image processing unit in the second embodiment. [Figure 15] 11 is a flowchart showing details of a file name setting information saving process performed by an image processing unit according to the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0012] [Embodiment 1] <System configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an image processing system according to the present embodiment. The image processing system includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 110, and server devices 120 and 130 that provide cloud services on the Internet. The MFP 110 is communicably connected to the server devices 120 and 130 via the Internet.

[0013] The MFP 110 is an example of an information processing device having a scan function. The MFP 110 is a multifunction device having a plurality of functions such as a print function and a BOX storage function in addition to the scan function. The server devices 120 and 130 are both examples of information processing devices that provide cloud services. The server device 120 of the present embodiment provides a cloud service that performs image analysis on a scanned image received from the MFP 110 or transfers a request from the MFP 110 to the server device 130 that provides another service. Hereinafter, the cloud service provided by the server device 120 will be referred to as the "MFP cooperation service". The server device 130 provides a cloud service (hereinafter referred to as the "storage service") that stores a file sent via the Internet and provides a stored file in response to a request from a web browser such as a client PC (not shown). In the present embodiment, the server device 120 that provides the MFP cooperation service will be referred to as the "MFP cooperation server", and the server device 130 that provides the storage service will be referred to as the "storage server".

[0014] The configuration of the image processing system shown in FIG. 1 is an example and is not limited thereto. For example, the MFP 110 may also have the functions of the MFP cooperation server 120. Further, the MFP cooperation server 120 may be connected to the MFP 110 via a LAN (Local Area Network) instead of the Internet. Further, the storage server 130 may be replaced with a mail server that performs a mail delivery service and applied to a scenario where a scanned image of a document is attached to and sent by mail.

[0015] <Hardware Configuration of MFP> FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the MFP 110. The MFP 110 is composed of a control unit 210, an operation unit 220, a printer unit 221, a scanner unit 222, and a modem 223. The control unit 210 is composed of the following units 211 to 219, and controls the operation of the entire MFP 110. The CPU 211 reads out and executes various control programs (programs corresponding to various functions shown in a software configuration diagram described later) stored in the ROM 212. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and a work area of ​​the CPU 211. Note that in this embodiment, one CPU 211 executes each process shown in a flowchart described later using one memory (RAM 213 or HDD 214), but is not limited to this. For example, each process may be executed by cooperating with multiple CPUs and multiple RAMs or HDDs. The HDD 214 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores image data and various programs. The operation unit I / F 215 is an interface that connects the operation unit 220 and the control unit 210. The operation unit 220 includes a touch panel, a keyboard, and the like, and receives operations / inputs / instructions from a user. The touch operation on the touch panel includes an operation with a person's finger and an operation with a touch pen. The printer I / F 216 is an interface that connects the printer unit 221 and the control unit 210. Image data for printing is transferred from the control unit 210 to the printer unit 221 via the printer I / F 216, and is printed on a recording medium such as paper. The scanner I / F 217 is an interface that connects the scanner unit 222 and the control unit 210. The scanner unit 222 optically reads an original set on a document table or an ADF (Auto Document Feeder), not shown, to generate scanned image data, and inputs the scanned image data to the control unit 210 via the scanner I / F 217. The scanned image data generated by the scanner unit 222 can be printed by the printer unit 221 (copy output), saved in the HDD 214, or sent as a file to an external device such as the MFP linkage server 120 via a LAN. The modem I / F 218 is an interface that connects the modem 223 to the control unit 210. The modem 223 transmits image data by facsimile communication with a facsimile device (not shown) on the PSTN.Network I / F 219 is an interface that connects control unit 210 (MFP 110) to a LAN. MFP 110 uses network I / F 219 to transmit scanned image data to MFP linked server 120 and to receive various data from MFP linked server 120. The hardware configuration of MFP 110 described above is an example, and other configurations may be included as necessary, or some of the configurations may be omitted.

[0016] <Server hardware configuration> 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of MFP collaborative server 120 and storage server 130. MFP collaborative server 120 and storage server 130 have a common hardware configuration, and are composed of a CPU 311, a ROM 312, a RAM 313, a HDD 314, and a network I / F 315. CPU 311 controls the overall operation by reading out a control program stored in ROM 312 and executing various processes. RAM 313 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and work area of ​​CPU 311. HDD 314 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores image data and various programs. Network I / F 315 is an interface that connects control unit 310 to the Internet. MFP collaborative server 120 and storage server 130 receive various processing requests from other devices (such as MFP 110) via network I / F 315, and return processing results according to the requests.

[0017] <Image processing system software configuration> 4 is a block diagram showing the software configuration of an image processing system according to this embodiment. Below, the software configurations corresponding to the respective roles of MFP 110, MFP linkage server 120, and storage server 130 constituting the image processing system will be described in order. Note that, of the various functions of each device, the following description will focus on functions related to the process of scanning a document, digitizing it (making it into a file), and saving it in storage server 130.

[0018] <MFP software configuration> The function modules of the MFP 110 are roughly divided into two: a native function module 410 and an additional function module 420. The native function module 410 is an application that is provided as standard in the MFP 110, whereas the additional function module 420 is an application that is additionally installed in the MFP 110. The additional function module 420 is an application based on Java (registered trademark), and can easily realize the addition of functions to the MFP 110. Note that other additional applications (not shown) may be installed in the MFP 110.

[0019] The native function module 410 includes a scan execution unit 411 and a scan image management unit 412. The additional function module 420 includes a display control unit 421, a scan control unit 422, a cooperative service request unit 423, and an image processing unit (not shown).

[0020] Display control unit 421 displays a UI (User Interface) screen for receiving various user operations on the touch panel of operation unit 220. The various user operations include, for example, input of login authentication information for accessing MFP linkage server 120, scan settings, an instruction to start scanning, file name settings, an instruction to save a file, and the like.

[0021] In response to a user operation (e.g., pressing a “Start Scan” button 701 described later) performed on the UI screen, the scan control unit 422 instructs the scan execution unit 411 to execute a scan process together with information on scan settings. In accordance with the instruction to execute a scan process from the scan control unit 422, the scan execution unit 411 causes the scanner 222 to execute a document reading operation via the scanner I / F 217, and generates scan image data. The generated scan image data is stored in the HDD 214 by the scan image management unit 412. At this time, information on a scan image identifier that uniquely identifies the stored scan image data is notified to the scan control unit 422. The scan image identifier is a number, symbol, alphabet, or the like for uniquely identifying an image scanned in the MFP 110. The scan control unit 422 acquires, for example, the scan image data to be converted into a file from the scan image management unit 412 using the above-mentioned scan image identifier. Then, the scan execution unit 411 instructs the cooperation service request unit 423 to make a request for processing required for the file to the MFP cooperation server 120.

[0022] Cooperation service request unit 423 makes various processing requests to MFP cooperation server 120 and receives the responses. The various processing includes, for example, login authentication, analysis of a scanned image, transmission of scanned image data, etc. Communication protocols such as REST and SOAP are used for communication with MFP cooperation server 120.

[0023] An image processing unit (not shown) performs predetermined image processing on the scanned image data to generate an image used on a UI screen displayed by the display control unit 421. The predetermined image processing will be described in detail later.

[0024] Note that a device (such as a client PC not shown) different from the MFP 110 may include the above-mentioned additional function module 420. That is, a system configuration may be used in which an analysis request for a scanned image obtained by the MFP 110 and setting of a file name based on the analysis result are performed by the client PC.

[0025] <Server device software configuration> First, the following describes the software configuration of MFP linked server 120. MFP linked server 120 has a request control unit 431, an image processing unit 432, a cloud storage access unit 433, a file generation unit 434, and a display control unit 435. Request control unit 431 waits in a state in which it can receive a request from an external device, and instructs image processing unit 432, cloud storage access unit 433, and file generation unit 434 to execute a predetermined process according to the content of the received request.

[0026] The image processing unit 432 performs analysis processes on the scanned image data sent from the MFP 110, such as character area detection processing, character recognition processing (OCR processing), similar document determination processing, and automatic transmission determination processing, as well as image processing such as rotation and tilt correction.

[0027] In the following, a character area detected from a scanned image is referred to as a "character area." In addition, as a target document, a form such as an estimate or an invoice will be used for the description, and the scanned image will be referred to as a "form image." The cloud storage access unit 433 makes a processing request to the storage server 130. In the cloud service, various interfaces are made public for saving files to the storage server using protocols such as REST and SOAP, and for retrieving the saved files. The cloud storage access unit 433 makes a request to the storage server 130 using the published interface. The file generation unit 434 receives an instruction from the request control unit 431 and generates a document file including a scanned image. At that time, the file name is set based on the result of character recognition processing of a character string included in the scanned image. The display control unit 435 receives a request from a web browser running on a PC or a mobile terminal (neither of which is shown in the figure) connected via the Internet, and returns screen configuration information (HTML, CSS, etc.) required for screen display. A user can check registered user information and change scan settings via a screen displayed on the web browser.

[0028] Next, the software configuration of storage server 130 will be described. Storage server 130 has a request control unit (not shown), a file management unit (not shown), and a display control unit (not shown). The request control unit (not shown) waits in a state in which it can receive a request from an external device, and in this embodiment, instructs the file management unit (not shown) to save the received file or read the saved file in response to a request from MFP linked server 120. Then, it returns a response in response to the request to MFP linked server 120. The display control unit (not shown) receives a request from a web browser running on a PC or mobile terminal (neither of which are shown) connected via the Internet, and returns screen configuration information (HTML, CSS, etc.) required for screen display. A user can check or obtain saved files via a screen displayed on the web browser.

[0029] <Overall process flow> Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing between devices when scanning a document (for example, a form such as an estimate) with the MFP 110 and creating a file of the resulting scanned image (for example, a form image) to store in a storage server. Note that the sequence diagram in Fig. 5 explains the case of setting a file name to be given when creating a file of the scanned image, but it can be applied to general properties such as a folder path and metadata in addition to the file name.

[0030] 6A is a diagram showing an example of a UI screen of a main menu (hereinafter referred to as a "main screen") displayed when the MFP 110 is started up. By scanning a document into a file and installing a dedicated application required for using a cloud storage service on the MFP 110, a "scan and save to cloud storage" button 601 is displayed on the main screen 600. When the user presses the "scan and save to cloud storage" button 601 from among the menu buttons displayed on the main screen 600, a series of processes shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 5 is started.

[0031] Below, the exchanges between devices will be explained in chronological order according to the sequence diagram in Figure 5. In the following explanation, the symbol "S" represents a step.

[0032] In S501, MFP 110 displays a UI screen (hereinafter referred to as a "login screen") for inputting login authentication information for accessing MFP linkage server 120, on operation unit 220. An example of login screen 610 displayed on operation unit 220 is shown in FIG. 6B. As shown in FIG. 6B, login screen 610 includes a "Login" button 611, an ID input field 612, and a password input field 613.

[0033] In S502, when the user enters a pre-registered user ID and password in ID input field 612 and password input field 613 on login screen 610, respectively, and presses “Login” button 611, a login authentication request is sent to MFP linkage server 120.

[0034] In S503, MFP cooperation server 120 that has received the login authentication request performs authentication processing using the user ID and password included in the request. If the authentication processing confirms that the user is a valid user, MFP cooperation server 120 returns an access token to MFP 110. Thereafter, the access token is sent together with various requests made from MFP 110 to MFP cooperation server 120, thereby identifying the currently logged-in user. In this embodiment, the completion of login to MFP cooperation server 120 also completes login to storage server 130 at the same time. For this purpose, the user associates in advance a user ID for using the MFP cooperation service with a user ID for using the storage service via a web browser or the like of a PC (not shown) on the Internet. As a result, if login authentication to MFP cooperation server 120 is successful, login authentication to storage server 130 is also completed at the same time, and the operation for logging in to storage server 130 can be omitted. Then, MFP cooperation server 120 can also respond to requests for storage services from users who have logged in to its own device. The login authentication may be performed using a generally known method (Basic authentication, Digest authentication, authorization using OAuth, etc.).

[0035] When the login is completed in S504, the MFP 110 displays a UI screen for scan settings (hereinafter, referred to as a "scan setting screen") on the operation unit 220. FIG. 7 shows an example of the scan setting screen. The scan setting screen 700 has a "Start Scan" button 701, a color setting field 702, and a resolution setting field 703. The "Start Scan" button 701 is a button for instructing the start of a scan process for a document (in this embodiment, a document such as an estimate or an invoice) set on a platen. The color setting field 702 sets the color mode at the time of scanning. For example, the color mode can be selected from among options such as full color and monochrome. The resolution setting field 703 sets the resolution at the time of scanning. For example, the resolution can be selected from among options such as 600 dpi and 1200 dpi. Note that the color mode and the resolution are examples of setting items, and all of these items may not be present, or other setting items may be present. Also, the options for the color mode and the resolution may be limited to only the setting values ​​required by the storage service. A logged-in user sets detailed conditions for the scan process via the scan setting screen 700.

[0036] In S505, the logged-in user who has completed the scan settings places a document to be scanned on the platen of the MFP 110 and executes scanning by pressing the "Start Scan" button 701. This generates scanned image data that is a digitalized version of the paper document.

[0037] In S506, after the scan is completed, MFP 110 transmits scanned image data, which is data including an image obtained by the scan, to MFP link server 120 together with an analysis request, which is a request to analyze the scanned image data.

[0038] In S507, in MFP link server 120 that has received the analysis request for the scanned image, request control unit 431 instructs image processing unit 432 to execute analysis processing (S508 to S511). At that time, request control unit 431 returns to MFP 110 a request ID ("processId") that can uniquely identify the received analysis request.

[0039] In S508, the image processing unit 432 that has received the instruction to execute the analysis process executes the analysis process on the scanned image related to the analysis request. In this analysis process, first, a process (text area detection process) is performed to detect a text area present in the scanned image (hereinafter, referred to as the "target image") that is the target of the analysis process. The detection of the text area may be performed by applying a known method, such as a method of extracting a rectangular area that is assumed to be a text from an image that has been binarized with a certain threshold value.

[0040] In S509, the image processing unit 432 performs a process of collating the image data of the paper document to be image-analyzed with the learning data to determine whether the image data of the paper document to be image-analyzed is similar to the image of the paper document that was previously digitized. For example, an example of the paper document to be image-analyzed is a form such as an estimate. The process of collating the image data of the form to be image-analyzed with the learning data to determine whether the image data of the form to be image-analyzed is similar to the image of the form that was previously digitized is hereinafter referred to as "similar form determination" as appropriate. In this similar form determination, arrangement information is used, which is information indicating where in the target image a character area (hereinafter referred to as "character area") that is an area that exists in the target image and includes a character string that is the subject of the character recognition process described later is located. Specifically, the arrangement information of the target form image to be generated this time is compared with the arrangement information of past form images accumulated in the learning data to determine whether the arrangement of the character area is the same or similar. This is based on the fact that if the arrangements of the character areas are the same or similar, it can be assumed that they are the same type of form created using the same document form (form form). The layout information of past form images used in this similar form judgment is accumulated as learning data by the "learning process" described later. Note that in this embodiment, the similarity judgment of forms is performed based only on the degree of similarity of the layout of character regions, but for example, the type of form (quote, invoice, etc.) may be specified from the results of the OCR process described later, and the similarity judgment may be performed taking into account the obtained type information.

[0041] In S510, image processing unit 432 executes character recognition processing for each character region found by the character region detection processing. The character recognition processing by image processing unit 432 in S510 will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0042] In S511, the image processing unit 432 executes a process of determining whether or not the document file of the target image to be generated this time may be subject to automatic transmission (hereinafter, referred to as an "automatic transmission determination process"). The automatic transmission determination process will be described later with reference to FIG. 12.

[0043] In S512, while the above analysis process is being performed, MFP 110 uses the above request ID to periodically (for example, every several hundred milliseconds to several milliseconds) check the analysis process status with MFP linked server 120 (S512 to S513). This check is repeated until a response including information indicating that the analysis process is complete can be obtained from MFP linked server 120. When request control unit 431 of MFP linked server 120 receives a request to check the analysis process status, it checks the progress of the analysis process corresponding to the request ID, and if the analysis process is not complete, it returns an in-process response indicating that the analysis process is in progress. On the other hand, if the analysis process is complete, it returns a completion response. A character string indicating the current processing status is included in the "status" of these responses. Specifically, if the processing is being performed by MFP linked server 120 (in-process response), "processing" is included, and if the processing is complete (completion response), "completed" is included. Note that a character string indicating another status, such as "failed" if the processing has failed, may also be included. The completion response also includes information such as a URL indicating the storage destination of the image analysis results. Then, when MFP 110 acquires the completion response of the above analysis process, it sends a request to MFP linkage server 120 to acquire the results of the analysis process, using the URL included in the completion response indicating the storage destination of the image analysis results. When request control unit 431 of MFP linkage server 120 receives the request, it returns information including the results of the analysis process (result information) to MFP 110. The result information at this time includes the result of the character region determination for the target image, the result of the similar form determination, the result of the character recognition process, and the result of the automatic transmission determination process.

[0044] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure showing the result of the analysis process. In "enabledAutoTransmission", a value ("true" or "false") indicating whether the target image can be transmitted to the storage server 130 without user confirmation or learning by the automatic transmission determination process of S511 is stored. The client PC (not shown) determines whether to automatically transmit the target form to the storage server 130 by referring to this value. In "matched", a value indicating whether a similar form, which is a scanned image obtained by scanning a form of a similar type to the form related to the target image, was found in S509 is stored. In "formId", a value that uniquely indicates the form is stored if a similar form is found. On the other hand, if a similar form is not found, a new value is issued and the new value is stored. In "matchingScore", a value indicating the degree of similarity is stored if a similar form is found. "matchingScore" represents the degree of match between the layout information of a previously scanned image and the layout information of the currently scanned image as a real value ranging from 0 to 1. The larger the real value, the more similar the image scanned this time is to an image scanned in the past. In "rectInfoArray", information indicating the character area of ​​the image to be analyzed this time, which corresponds to the character area used when the user previously set a file name for a similar form, is stored. For example, assume that an image was previously scanned and a file name was set using "quote" and "Shimomaruko Co., Ltd.", and input result learning was performed. After that, when a new image is scanned and a similar form determination is performed with the scanned image, if it is determined to be a similar form, the input information is stored under "rectInfoArray" as information to be automatically input. First, a character area that partially overlaps with the coordinate information of the character area of ​​"quote" and "Shimomaruko Co., Ltd." previously set in the input result learning is identified from the information stored in HDD 314 of MFP linkage server 120. Then, the coordinate information of the partially overlapping character area and the character are stored in "text" of "rectInfoArray" described later. In "key", a value that uniquely indicates the character area to be used for automatic input is stored.“score” stores a value that indicates the degree of certainty, which is an index of the accuracy of the results of the character recognition process. The degree of certainty is expressed as a real number between 0 and 1. The larger the real number, the more accurate the result of the character recognition process. “region” stores the coordinate information of the character region and the characters extracted as a result of the character recognition. “rect” indicates the coordinates of one extracted character region. “x” indicates the X coordinate of the top left of the region, “y” indicates the Y coordinate of the top left of the region, “width” indicates the number of pixels in the X direction of the region, and “height” indicates the number of pixels in the Y direction of the region. “text” indicates the characters extracted as a result of character recognition processing of the character region of “rect”. “metadataArray” stores information indicating the order of the character regions used in the file name for automatically inputting the file name and where the delimiter is to be inserted. If information including properties such as metadata other than the file name is set, the necessary information is added to “rectInfoArray” and “metadataArray”. “key” stores a value that uniquely indicates the setting value to be set in the scanned document. “keyType” stores a value indicating the type of the setting value of “key”. When used as a file name, "key" is "filename" and "keyType" is "filename". "value" stores information on the character area and delimiter used for the "key" value. In the example in Figure 8, the file name is automatically entered in the order of the area with the "key" of "fileRegion0" in "rectInfoArray", the delimiter, and the area with the "key" of "fileRegion1".

[0045] If the result of the automatic transmission determination process is "automatic transmission not possible", the processes of S515 to S518 described below are executed to prompt the user to confirm or correct. On the other hand, if the result of the automatic transmission determination process is "automatic transmission possible", the process proceeds to S520 without executing the processes of S515 to S518 described below, and a document file of the target image is automatically generated and automatically transmitted to the storage server 130 (S521). When the document file is automatically generated, the character string obtained by the character recognition process is used as the file name.

[0046] If the result of the automatic transmission determination process is "automatic transmission not possible", in S515, the MFP 110 displays a file name setting screen 900 (see FIG. 9) for setting a file name using the result information acquired in S514. A character string (initial character string) that has been determined to be the most likely in advance is input in a file name input field 901 of the file name setting screen 900. In other words, if the cumulative number of approvals is not met and automatic transmission is not possible, a provisional file name using the confirmed character string at that time is presented to the user. Here, if there is no error in the character string displayed in the file name input field 901, the user presses an "OK" button 902 to approve the character string as the file name. On the other hand, if there is an error in the character string, the user manually corrects the error as appropriate and then presses the "OK" button 902.

[0047] When it is detected that "OK" button 902 has been pressed, in S516, MFP 110 displays transmission confirmation screen 1000 (see FIG. 10) on operation unit 220. Then, when MFP 110 detects that "Send" button 1001 has been pressed by the user, it transmits a request to MFP linkage server 120 to save the file name setting information. Here, the file name setting information when the confirmed character string has not been corrected includes the character string displayed in file name input field 901 as the most likely character string as a result of the character recognition process. Furthermore, the file name setting information when the confirmed character string has been corrected includes character area information of the character string and information on the type of the form on which the character string was written. Furthermore, the file name setting information when the confirmed character string has been corrected further includes information on the character string before and after the correction.

[0048] In S517, when request control unit 431 of MFP link server 120 receives the file name setting information from MFP 110, it instructs image processing unit 432 to save the file name setting information.

[0049] In S518, image processing unit 432 executes processing for saving the file name setting information upon receiving the save instruction from request control unit 431. The processing for saving the file name setting information will be described in detail later.

[0050] In S518a, image processing unit 432 passes information including status information indicating that the file name setting information saving process has been completed to request control unit 431. In S518b, upon acquiring information including status information indicating that the file name setting information saving process has been completed from image processing unit 432, request control unit 431 transmits a response including status information indicating that fact to MFP 110.

[0051] In S519, upon acquiring the response from request control unit 431 in S518, MFP 110 sends a request to generate a file (file creation request) to MFP linked server 120 based on the information included in the response. Upon receiving the file creation request, request control unit 431 of MFP linked server 120 starts file creation processing and returns a response including information indicating that the file creation request was successfully received to MFP 110. Upon receiving the response from request control unit 431, MFP 110 ends the processing and returns to the scan setting screen display of S504.

[0052] In S520, MFP linked server 120 obtains file format information from preregistered scan settings, and files (generates) the target image according to the file format. In this case, for a document file that is automatically transmitted, a character string that has been used in a past file conversion process (i.e., approved by the user) and that has satisfied the cumulative number of approvals is automatically set as the file name. On the other hand, for a document file that is transmitted according to an explicit instruction from a user, a file name that has been finally confirmed by the user after appropriate corrections to the character string presented on the file name setting screen is set.

[0053] In S521, request control unit 431 transmits the generated file to storage server 130. Then, in S522, upon receiving the file transmitted from MFP linked server 120, storage server 130 returns a response indicating a status that reception of the file has been completed to MFP linked server 120.

[0054] The above is a general flow of processing in the entire image processing system. Note that, although the sequence diagram in Fig. 5 shows that MFP 110 communicates with MFP link server 120, the acquisition of image analysis results, display of a UI screen (e.g., main screen 600, etc.), instruction for learning, etc. may be performed by a client PC (not shown) or the like.

[0055] <Character recognition processing> The character recognition processing of S510 will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of character recognition processing performed by image processing unit 432 of MFP linked server 120. The processing according to this flowchart is executed by CPU 311 after program code stored in ROM 312 or HDD 314 of MFP linked server 120 is loaded into RAM 313.

[0056] In S1101, the image processing unit 432 executes character recognition processing on the character area acquired in the character area analysis processing in S508.

[0057] The following steps S1102 and S1103 are processes performed for each character recognized from the character area that is the target of the character recognition process.

[0058] In S1102, the image processing unit 432 determines whether the confidence level, which is an index representing the certainty of the characters obtained as a result of the character recognition process in S1101, is lower than a preset threshold value. In the character recognition process, specific characters are recognized by finding, from dictionary data in which feature amounts (patterns) for various characters are registered in advance, the characters whose feature amounts match the input characters. Therefore, the higher the ratio of matching feature amounts, the more likely the character recognition result is correct (the higher the probability that the identified character is the correct answer). And the more distorted or crushed the characters are, the more this matching rate tends to decrease. Thus, the matching rate of the feature amounts in the character recognition result is used as the confidence level, and if the value of the confidence level is low, it is determined that the character is one for which a character replacement candidate should be created. On the other hand, if the value of the confidence level is high, it is determined that the character is one for which there is no need to create a character replacement candidate. Note that this confidence level depends on the OCR engine used. For this reason, a reference confidence level value (for example, a predetermined threshold value such as 95% or more) obtained experimentally from the OCR engine to be used is set in advance, and a determination as to whether the reliability of the character recognition result obtained in S1101 is high is made by comparing the reliability with the threshold value. For example, the image processing unit 432 sets a threshold value such as 95% or more in advance. Then, a determination as to whether the confidence level is high is made by comparing the reliability of the character recognition result for "見" in the character string "見積書" obtained in S1101 (for example, "score" 1.0 in FIG. 8) with the threshold value (95% or more). In this case, the reliability of the character recognition result for "見" is "score" 1.0 (that is, 100%), which exceeds the threshold value (95% or more), so it is determined that the reliability (that is, the confidence level) of the character recognition result is high. If the confidence level of the character recognition result is less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to S1103. On the other hand, if the confidence level of the character recognition result is equal to or higher than the threshold value, the process proceeds to S1104.

[0059] In S1103, the image processing unit 432 creates replacement candidate characters for characters determined to have a low degree of certainty in the character recognition result. For example, if the recognized character is the number "1" and the degree of certainty in the character recognition result is low, other characters with similar shapes, such as the lowercase letter "l" or the uppercase letter "I", are set as replacement candidate characters. In this case, the character recognized in the character recognition process and characters with similar shapes are assumed to have been learned in advance using a known machine learning function.

[0060] The process from S1104 onwards is carried out for each character region that is the target of the character recognition process.

[0061] In S1104, the image processing unit 432 uses the replacement candidate characters created in S1103 to create a correction candidate character string for the character string obtained from the character region. For example, if the initially obtained character string is "Sales 1nvoice" that includes the number "1", a correction candidate character string such as "Sales Invoice" is created by changing the number portion to a lowercase "l". Also, a correction candidate character string such as "Sales lnvoice" may be created by changing the number portion to a lowercase "l".

[0062] In S1105, the image processing unit 432 calculates a score for each correction candidate character string created in S1104. At that time, a word dictionary stored in advance is used, and a high score is given when the character sequence matches a word existing in the dictionary. For example, in the character string "Sales Invоice", "Sales" matches a word existing in the word dictionary, but "Invоice" does not match. In this case, only one of the two words matches a word existing in the word dictionary, so the score is 100×1 / 2=50. In addition, in the case of "Sales Invоice", both "Sales" and "Invоice" match words existing in the word dictionary, so the score is 100×2 / 2=100.

[0063] Although an example in which the image processing unit 432 calculates a score for each correction candidate character string has been described, the example in which the image processing unit 432 calculates a score for each correction candidate character string is not limited to this example. For example, for the character string "Shimomaruko Co., Ltd.", if only the character string "Shimomaruko" is processed for character recognition and the character string "Co., Ltd." is not recognized at all, "Shimomaruko" matches a word present in the word dictionary, so the score is 100×1 / 1=100. Then, in S1106 described later, the character string "Shimomaruko" is determined as the character string recognition result. However, even in such a case, the possibility that the determination in S1203 or S1204 described later will be negative, and furthermore, the user will visually confirm it, so that the character string "Shimomaruko" is unlikely to be a target for automatic transmission.

[0064] In S1106, the image processing unit 432 determines the correction candidate character string having the highest score calculated in S1105 as the final character string recognition result. Hereinafter, the character string determined in this manner is referred to as a "determined character string."

[0065] The above is the content of the character recognition process.

[0066] <Automatic sending decision process> The automatic transmission determination process of S511, which is executed following the character recognition process of S510, will be described with reference to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of the automatic transmission determination process. In the process according to this flowchart, program codes stored in ROM 312 and HDD 314, which are storage means possessed by MFP linked server 120, are expanded in RAM 313 and executed by CPU 311. As a premise of the automatic transmission determination process, it is assumed that information on the confirmed character string used in the file name of the document file that has been saved in storage (hereinafter referred to as "past data") is saved in HDD 314 of MFP linked server 120 by a process of saving file name setting information, which will be described later. For example, it is assumed that "quote" extracted as a confirmed character string is included in the file name of the document file that has been saved in storage. In this case, it is assumed that the user has approved the use of the character string "quote" as the file name, and the confirmed character string is decided as an "approved character string". Then, each time a confirmed character string is decided as an approved character string, the number of times is counted, and the count number is linked to the approved character string as the cumulative approval number, and is updated and saved.

[0067] In S1201, image processing unit 432 acquires information on a fixed character string of interest (hereinafter referred to as a fixed character string of interest) from among fixed character strings obtained by the character recognition process. For example, image processing unit 432 refers to "text" in Fig. 8 (described later) stored in HDD 314 of MFP linkage server 120, and acquires "quote" from "quote" and "Shimomaruko Co., Ltd." as a fixed character string of interest.

[0068] In S1202, the image processing unit 432 refers to the past data described above to obtain information on the approval character string that is most similar to the target determined character string. For example, if the character string "quote" exists as an approval character string in the saved past data, the character string "quote" is obtained.

[0069] In S1203, the image processing unit 432 performs a matching determination as to whether the focused determined character string acquired in S1201 matches the approved character string acquired in S1202. The "match" described here is a concept that does not include partial match. If the determination result shows that the focused determined character string matches the approved character string, the process proceeds to S1204. On the other hand, if the focused determined character string does not match the approved character string, the process proceeds to S1206.

[0070] In S1204, the image processing unit 432 refers to the above-mentioned past data and judges whether the cumulative number of approvals of the approval character string that matches the target determined character string is a predetermined number or more (a fixed number or more). Here, the predetermined number may be appropriately set according to the degree to which the user wants to suppress erroneous file transmission. For example, if the user places more importance on convenience than suppression of erroneous file transmission when automatically transmitting files, it is considered to set the predetermined number to a smaller number (e.g., 3 times). On the other hand, if the user wants to suppress erroneous transmission as much as possible, it is considered to set the predetermined number to a larger number (e.g., 10 times). If the cumulative number of approvals of the approval character string is a predetermined number or more as a result of the judgment, the process proceeds to S1205. On the other hand, if the cumulative number of approvals is less than the predetermined number, the process proceeds to S1206.

[0071] In S1205, the image processing unit 432 sets provisional information indicating that automatic transmission is possible for the target confirmed character string. This provisional information may be, for example, a flag expressing the possibility of automatic transmission as a binary value (for example, adding "1" for "automatic transmission possible" and "0" for "automatic transmission not possible").

[0072] In S1206, the image processing unit 432 sets, for example, the above-mentioned flag for the focused confirmed character string as provisional information indicating that automatic transmission is not possible.

[0073] In S1207, the image processing unit 432 checks whether there are any unprocessed confirmed character strings. If there are any unprocessed confirmed character strings remaining, the process returns to S1201 to determine the next confirmed character string of interest and repeat the same process. If the process for all confirmed character strings has been completed, the process proceeds to S1208.

[0074] In S1208, the image processing unit 432 determines whether the target image for the analysis process can be automatically transmitted based on the above-mentioned provisional information assigned to all confirmed character strings included in the target image. For example, if provisional information of "automatic transmission possible" is set for all confirmed character strings, the target image is determined to be automatically transmittable. Alternatively, if the proportion of confirmed character strings to which provisional information of "automatic transmission possible" is assigned is equal to or greater than a certain level, it may be determined to be automatically transmittable. After making this determination, the image processing unit 432 ends the process.

[0075] The above is the content of the automatic transmission determination process.

[0076] <File name setting information saving process> Next, the file name setting information save processing (S518) that is executed when it is determined that automatic transmission is not possible will be described. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of file name setting information save processing by image processing unit 432 of MFP linked server 120. The processing according to this flowchart is executed by CPU 311 after program code stored in ROM 312 or HDD 314 is loaded into RAM 313. The processing according to this flowchart is executed after image processing unit 432 of MFP linked server 120 receives an instruction from request control unit 431 to save file name setting information.

[0077] In S1301, the image processing unit 432 acquires file name setting information from the request control unit 431. As described in S516, the file name setting information includes information such as the character area and the form type in the target image in addition to the confirmed character string used in the file name. Here, the information on the character area and the form type corresponds to "rect" and "formId" in the data structure shown in FIG. 8. For example, when the character string is "quote", the image processing unit 432 acquires information "x:60,y:290,width:48,height:15" representing the character area of ​​"quote" and information "aaaaaaaa-ffff-49ab-acf8-55558888eeee" representing the form type. Note that each step from S1302 onwards is executed for each confirmed character string.

[0078] In S1302, image processing unit 432 determines whether the user has made any corrections to the confirmed character string based on information indicating whether or not the confirmed character string has been corrected, which is included in the file name setting information acquired in S1301. It is assumed that the user operates a UI screen (for example, a soft keyboard displayed on operation unit 220) to correct the erroneously recognized confirmed character string to a correct character string. In addition, such corrections include, for example, changing the character area used in the file name to be generated this time from the character area used in the initial file name, and adding or deleting delimiters.

[0079] The above determination is made by comparing the value of "value" of "metadataArray" included in the result information with the information input to the file name input field 901 after the file name setting for the current scanned image. If there is a difference as a result of the comparison, it is determined that the initial file name has been corrected, and the process proceeds to S1303, and if they match, it is determined that the initial file name has not been changed, and the process proceeds to S1304. For example, assume that a character string that should have been processed by character recognition as "Invoice" was erroneously recognized as a lowercase "l" instead of an uppercase "I" of the alphabet and displayed as "lnvoice" in the file name input field 901, and the user corrected it. In this case, the file name setting information includes information indicating that the "I" of the finalized character string "Invoice" has been corrected, and based on this, it is determined that the finalized character string has been corrected. If the user has corrected the character string, the process proceeds to S1303, and if not, the process proceeds to S1304.

[0080] In S1303, the image processing unit 432 associates the pre-correction character string (i.e., the character string erroneously recognized in the character recognition process) and the confirmed post-correction character string with information about the character area, and stores them. For example, assume that the pre-correction character string was "lnvoice" which includes a lowercase alphabet "l", and the confirmed post-correction character string was "Invoice" which correctly includes an uppercase alphabet "I". In this case, the image processing unit 432 associates the pre-correction "lnvoice" with the corrected "Invoice", and stores them in the storage unit as "past data" together with information about the character area.

[0081] In S1304, the image processing unit 432 associates the confirmed character string with the information of the character area and stores it. Furthermore, the image processing unit 432 checks whether the confirmed character string is registered as an approved character string, and if it is not registered, counts the cumulative number of approvals to "1", and if it is already registered, increments the current count value (+1).

[0082] The above is the content of the file name setting information saving process.

[0083] As described above, according to this embodiment, if the result of OCR processing of an image to be filed has been used a certain number of times or more in a file name in the past, it is automatically set as a candidate for that file name.

[0084] Specifically, when the cumulative number of approvals is met and the file is to be sent automatically, the confirmed character string at that time is used as the file name.

[0085] Furthermore, if the cumulative number of approvals is not met and automatic transmission is not possible, a provisional file name using the confirmed character string at that time will be presented to the user.

[0086] <Modification> The result of the similar form judgment may be used to determine whether or not automatic transmission is possible. For example, if the confirmed character string matches the approved character string and the form type related to the confirmed character string is the same as the form type related to the approved character string, the confirmed character string is more likely to be correct. Therefore, when saving the confirmed character string approved by the user, information indicating the type of the form in which the character string is written is also saved. When comparing the confirmed character string with the approved character string, the form type of the confirmed character string and the form type of the approved character string may also be compared, and only when the two match, a judgment on whether or not automatic transmission is possible based on the cumulative number of approvals may be made.

[0087] [Embodiment 2] In the first embodiment, a character string that has never been approved in the past or a character string that has been approved in the past but has been approved less than a predetermined number of times is not subject to automatic sending, thereby preventing a file with an incorrect file name from being automatically sent. In this case, even if the certainty of the character recognition process for all characters constituting the character string is close to "1" (for example, "0.9" or more) and the character string has not been corrected by the user, the character string is not subject to automatic sending if it has not been approved a predetermined number of times or more. This causes a problem that the user is forced to take the trouble of approving the character string even if the certainty of the character string is high, and this problem is solved in the second embodiment.

[0088] Here, the details of the automatic transmission determination process in the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 14. In the process according to this flowchart, program codes stored in the ROM 312 or HDD 314 are loaded into the RAM 313 and executed by the CPU 311. Note that since the system configuration and processing procedure of the second embodiment are the same as those described in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted and only the differences will be described.

[0089] S1401 and S1402 are the same as S1201 and S1203 in the flow of FIG. 12 of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0090] In S1403, similarly to S1203, the image processing unit 432 performs a matching determination as to whether the target determined character string and the approved character string match. If the target determined character string and the approved character string match, the process proceeds to S1404. On the other hand, if the target determined character string and the approved character string do not match, the process proceeds to S1406.

[0091] In S1404, similarly to S1204, the image processing unit 432 judges whether the cumulative approval count of the approval character string that matches the target determined character string is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. If the cumulative approval count is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, the process proceeds to S1406. On the other hand, if the cumulative approval count is less than the predetermined number, the process proceeds to S1405.

[0092] In S1405, the image processing unit 432 determines, for all characters constituting the confirmed target string, whether the confidence level is equal to or higher than a preset threshold. For the confidence level here, the confidence level calculated in the flowchart of FIG. 11 that has already been executed may be used. For example, when the confirmed target string is "estimate document", it is determined whether the confidence level for each of the three characters "see", "estimate", and "document" is equal to or higher than the preset threshold. The threshold for the confidence level in this case may be appropriately set according to the degree to which the user wants to suppress mistransmission of files. For example, when the user values convenience more than suppression of mistransmission regarding automatic transmission of files, it is conceivable to set a smaller value (e.g., 0.6, etc.) for the threshold of the confidence level. On the other hand, when the user wants to suppress mistransmission as much as possible, it is conceivable to set a larger value (e.g., 0.9, etc.) for the threshold of the confidence level. And if the confidence level is equal to or higher than the threshold for all characters constituting the confirmed target string, it is determined that the confirmed target string can be automatically transmitted. Alternatively, it may be determined that automatic transmission is possible if the ratio of the characters for which the confidence level is determined to be equal to or higher than the threshold among the characters constituting the confirmed target string is equal to or higher than a certain level. As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the confirmed target string can be automatically transmitted, the process proceeds to S1406. On the other hand, if it is determined that the confirmed target string cannot be automatically transmitted, the process proceeds to S1407.

[0093] In S1406, similarly to S1205, the image processing unit 432 sets provisional information indicating that the confirmed target string can be automatically transmitted for the confirmed target string. Also, when the confidence level is equal to or higher than the threshold, information indicating that the confidence level is equal to or higher than the threshold may be set separately. An example of the information indicating that the confidence level is equal to or higher than the threshold is "∞", but the examples of the information indicating that the confidence level is equal to or higher than the threshold are not limited to this.

[0094] When setting the information indicating that the confidence level is equal to or higher than the threshold separately, instead of the information regarding the cumulative approval count, this information may be set, or this information may be set in combination with the information regarding the cumulative approval count.

[0095] S1407 corresponds to S1206 in the flow of FIG. 12, and there is no particular difference, so the description will be omitted.

[0096] S1408 and S1409 also correspond to S1207 and S1208 in the flow of FIG. 12, respectively, and there is no particular difference, so the description will be omitted.

[0097] The above is the content of the automatic transmission determination process according to the second embodiment.

[0098] As described above, according to the second embodiment, even if the number of approvals of the finalized character string is less than the predetermined number, if the confidence threshold is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, provisional information indicating that automatic transmission is possible is set. This increases the number of document files that can be automatically sent compared to the first embodiment, and saves the user the trouble of making approvals.

[0099] [Embodiment 3] In the first and second embodiments, it is determined that a document file can be automatically transmitted when the cumulative number of approvals of a certain character string is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. However, some users frequently correct the character string displayed in the file name input field 901 in FIG. 9, while others rarely correct it. A user who frequently corrects a character string is at a higher risk of making a correction error than a user who rarely corrects a character string, and as a result, it is more likely that an incorrect character string will be approved. This leads to an incorrect character string being used as a file name or the like and being automatically transmitted. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cumulative number of approvals, which is a criterion for automatically transmitting a file, is changed according to the frequency of correction for each user. Specifically, for a user who frequently corrects a character string, the cumulative number of approvals required for automatically transmitting a file using a character string approved by the user as a file name is increased.

[0100] Since the system configuration and processing procedure of the second embodiment are the same as those described in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted and only the differences will be described.

[0101] <File name setting information saving process> Here, the details of the file name setting information saving process performed by image processing unit 432 of MFP linkage server 120 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 15. In the process according to this flowchart, program codes stored in ROM 312 and HDD 314 are expanded in RAM 313 and executed by CPU 311. In the following description, a user who is a target of the process of counting the cumulative number of revisions of a confirmed character string and calculating the revision frequency of a confirmed character string will be called a "target user". In addition, it is assumed that "past data" is tallied for each target user who created the document file and stored in a storage unit. Specifically, information on the number of times which a character string was revised and the number of times which a character string was not revised, and information on the frequency of revision of a confirmed character string when saving a document file are stored for each user.

[0102] In S1501, the image processing unit 432 acquires file name setting information from the request control unit 431. The file name setting information acquired in this embodiment includes information such as the character string used in the file name and its character area, as well as information on the user ID that identifies the target user and information on whether the target user has corrected the confirmed character string.

[0103] In S1502, the image processing unit 432 acquires "past data" for the target user. Note that each step from S1503 onwards is executed for each confirmed character string.

[0104] In S1503, the image processing unit 432 determines whether the target user has corrected the confirmed character string. Note that the details of the determination here are the same as those of S1302 in the flow of FIG. 13 in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again. If the target user has corrected the confirmed character string, the process proceeds to S1504. On the other hand, if the target user has not corrected the confirmed character string, the process proceeds to S1508.

[0105] When the target user corrects the confirmed character string, in S1504, the image processing unit 432 updates the cumulative number of times the target user corrects the confirmed character string (the cumulative number of corrections) based on the information indicating that the target user has corrected the confirmed character string. Furthermore, the image processing unit 432 checks whether the correction history of the confirmed character string is registered, and if it is not registered, counts the cumulative number of corrections to "1", and if it is registered, increments (+1) the current cumulative number of corrections. In S1505, the image processing unit 432 calculates the frequency at which the confirmed character string is corrected by the target user (hereinafter referred to as "correction frequency") based on the cumulative number of corrections for the confirmed character string. In S1506, the image processing unit 432 calculates the cumulative number of approvals required to automatically send the confirmed character string corrected by the target user using the confirmed character string as a file name based on the calculated correction frequency. S1507 corresponds to S1303 in the flow of FIG. 13, and there is no particular difference, so a description will be omitted.

[0106] If the target user has not corrected the confirmed character string, in S1508, image processing unit 432 calculates the correction frequency in the same manner as in S1505. Then, in S1509, image processing unit 432 calculates the cumulative number of approvals as a threshold value in the same manner as in S1506.

[0107] In S1510, the image processing unit 432 saves information such as the cumulative number of approvals for each target user. That is, the newly calculated and set cumulative number of approvals for each confirmed character string is associated with information identifying the target user (user ID) and saved as file name setting information.

[0108] The above is the flow of the file name setting information saving process according to this embodiment.

[0109] <Application Examples> Here, the process from S1504 onwards when the target user corrects the confirmed character string will be described using a concrete example.

[0110] For example, suppose that in previously executed file name setting information save processes, user A used the character string "Invoice" 19 times, and modified 9 of those times. Then, suppose that user A modified the character string "Invoice" in the 20th file name setting information save process. Then, for user A, the cumulative number of modifications for the character string "Invoice" is incremented and updated to 10 (S1504). In this case, the frequency of modifications for user A can be calculated, for example, by the following formula (1) (S1505).

[0111] "Cumulative number of revisions / (Cumulative number of revisions + number of times no revisions were made) = revision frequency" Equation (1) Now, from the above formula (1), the revision frequency of user A is (10 times) / (10 times)+(10 times)=0.5.

[0112] Then, based on the revision frequency calculated by the above formula (1), the cumulative number of approvals required to automatically send the file using the confirmed character string "Invoice" is calculated (S1506). For example, the following formula (2) may be used for the calculation in this case.

[0113] "(Modification frequency) × 10 + (predefined cumulative approval count) = new cumulative approval count" ··· Equation (2) Here, "×10" in the above formula (2) is a constant for converting the revision frequency expressed as a decimal into an integer. If the revision frequency continues to the second decimal place, the part after the second decimal place can be truncated.

[0114] Now, assume that the preset cumulative approval count is 5 times. In this case, the new cumulative approval count when the revision frequency is 0.5 is (0.5) x 10 + (5 times) = 10 times. Here, if the approval count calculated based on the above formula (2) is not an integer, the decimal point may be rounded down. As is clear from the above formula (2), the "new cumulative approval count" will not be lower than the "preset cumulative approval count". In other words, the "preset cumulative approval count" functions as the lower limit of the approval count required for automatic transmission using the confirmed character string as the file name. Note that, although the change in the case of increasing the cumulative approval count has been described here, it is not limited to this. For example, a value larger than the lower limit may be set as the initial value of the "preset cumulative approval count", and for a user who rarely modifies character strings, a change may be made to reduce the cumulative approval count for character strings approved by that user.

[0115] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to set the cumulative approval count as an appropriate threshold value according to the user's revision frequency.

[0116] (Other embodiments) The technology of the present disclosure can also be realized by a process in which a program for realizing one or more functions of the above-mentioned embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) for realizing one or more functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0117] 110 MFP 120 MFP Collaboration Server 130 Storage Server 220 Operation section 431 Request control section 432 Image Processing Unit 433 Cloud Storage Access Department 434 File Generation Unit 435 Display control unit

Claims

1. An acquisition means for acquiring a character string obtained by executing a character recognition process on the current scanned image; an automatic transmission means for automatically transmitting a file of the currently scanned image, the properties of which are automatically set based on the acquired character string, when the acquired character string matches a previous character string acquired by a character recognition process performed on another image scanned in the past and has been approved by a user a certain number of times or more; Equipped with The automatic transmission means includes: If the acquired character string does not match the previous character string acquired by a character recognition process performed on another image scanned in the past, the file of the current scanned image is not automatically transmitted; Even if the acquired character string matches the previous character string acquired in a character recognition process executed on another image scanned in the past, if the previous character string has not been approved by the user a certain number of times or more, the file of the current scanned image is not automatically transmitted.

13. An image processing device comprising:

2. When the type of document corresponding to the current scanned image, which is identified by the analysis process on the current scanned image, matches the type of document corresponding to the other scanned image, which is identified by the analysis process on the other previously scanned image, and the acquired character string matches the previous character string acquired in the character recognition process executed on the other previously scanned image, and the acquired character string has been approved by the user a certain number of times or more, the automatic sending means automatically sends the file of the current scanned image, whose properties have been automatically set based on the acquired character string.

2. The image processing device according to claim 1,

3. a display unit that displays a setting screen for setting properties of the currently scanned image when the acquired character string does not match the previous character string acquired by a character recognition process executed on another image scanned in the past, If the previous character string has not been approved by the user a certain number of times or more, even if the acquired character string matches a character string acquired by a character recognition process performed on another image scanned in the past, the display means displays a setting screen for setting properties of the current scanned image, and displays the acquired character string on the setting screen as an initial character string for the properties.

3. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second inputs are input to the image processing device.

4. The property is the file name of the current scanned image file.

4. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second inputs are input to the image processing apparatus.

5. An image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4; a display unit that displays the character string used in the property of the file; a server device that receives the automatically transmitted file, 1. An image processing system comprising:

6. A program for causing a computer to function as the image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

7. obtaining a character string obtained by performing character recognition processing on the current scanned image; automatically transmitting a file of the currently scanned image, the properties of which are automatically set based on the obtained character string, when the obtained character string matches a previous character string obtained by character recognition processing performed on another image scanned in the past and has been approved by a user a certain number of times or more; If the acquired character string does not match the previous character string acquired by a character recognition process performed on another image scanned in the past, do not automatically transmit the file of the current scanned image; a step of not automatically transmitting the file of the currently scanned image when the previously scanned character string is not approved by a user a certain number of times even if the previously acquired character string matches the previously acquired character string obtained in a character recognition process performed on another previously scanned image; 13. An image processing method comprising:

Images