Image processing device and image processing method

Abstract

When an amount is stated in a document, an amount identifying unit (13) identifies the amount stated in the document on the basis of a document image of the document. When a revenue stamp is attached to the document, a revenue stamp detecting unit (14) detects an image object of the revenue stamp in the document image of the document. A tax amount identifying unit (15) identifies the tax amount of the attached revenue stamp on the basis of the image object of the revenue stamp. A determining unit (16) determines, on the basis of the identified amount, whether or not the document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed, derives a stamp tax amount on the basis of the identified amount, determines whether or not the tax amount of the identified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount, and outputs the determination result.

Description

Image Processing Apparatus and Image Processing Method

[0001] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method.

[0002] A certain image processing apparatus extracts the amount, addressee, and date described in a receipt image from a receipt (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-22573

[0004] However, although the above-described image processing apparatus extracts the amount, addressee, and date described in a receipt, it is difficult to automatically determine whether a revenue stamp is properly affixed.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to obtain an image processing apparatus and an image processing method that automatically determine whether a correct revenue stamp is affixed to a document based on a document image of the document.

[0006] The image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: an amount specifying unit that specifies the amount described in the document based on the document image of the document when an amount is described in the document; a revenue stamp detection unit that detects an image object of the revenue stamp in the document image when a revenue stamp is affixed to the document; a tax amount specifying unit that specifies the tax amount of the revenue stamp based on the image object of the revenue stamp; and a determination unit that (a) determines whether the document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the specified amount, and (b) derives a stamp tax amount based on the specified amount, and determines whether the tax amount of the specified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount, and outputs the result of the determination.

[0007] The image processing method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) determining whether the document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the document image of the document if the document contains an amount of money; (b) determining whether the document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the determined amount; and (c) determining whether the determined amount of stamp tax matches the determined amount of stamp tax, and outputting the result of the determination.

[0008] The image processing program according to the present invention causes a computer to function as the above-mentioned amount identification unit, revenue stamp detection unit, tax amount identification unit, and determination unit.

[0009] According to the present invention, an image processing device and an image processing method are provided that automatically determine whether or not the correct revenue stamp has been affixed to a document based on the document image of the document.

[0010] The above or other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become even more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image processing apparatus shown in Figure 1.

[0012] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures.

[0013] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image processing apparatus shown in Figure 1 is an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or a server, or an electronic device such as a digital camera or an image forming apparatus (scanner, multifunction printer, etc.), and comprises a processing unit 1, a storage device 2, a communication device 3, a display device 4, an input device 5, an internal device 6, and the like.

[0014] The arithmetic processing unit 1 includes a computer and operates as various processing units by executing image processing programs on that computer. Specifically, the computer includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and operates as a predetermined processing unit by loading programs stored in the ROM or storage device 2 into the RAM and executing them with the CPU. The arithmetic processing unit 1 may also include an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) that functions as a specific processing unit.

[0015] The storage device 2 is a non-volatile storage device such as flash memory, and stores the image processing program 2a and data (such as tax data 2b) necessary for the processing described later. The image processing program 2a is stored, for example, on a non-temporary, computer-readable recording medium and installed from that recording medium to the storage device 2.

[0016] Tax data 2b is data (such as a table) that shows the correspondence between the amount stated in the document (such as the contract amount) and the stamp duty amount (the tax amount of the revenue stamp to be affixed). Here, tax data 2b is data (such as a table) that shows the correspondence between the document type and the amount stated in the document and the stamp duty amount. In addition, tax data 2b also shows the conditions for non-taxable documents (conditions such as the amount) for each document type.

[0017] Communication device 3 is a device that communicates data with external devices, such as a network interface or peripheral device interface. Display device 4 is a device that displays various information to the user, such as a display panel such as a liquid crystal display. Input device 5 is a device that detects user operations, such as a keyboard or touch panel.

[0018] The internal device 6 is a device that performs a predetermined function of the image processing device. For example, if the image processing device is an image forming apparatus, the internal device 6 may be an image reading device that optically reads an image from a document, or a printing device that prints an image onto printing paper.

[0019] In this configuration, the arithmetic processing unit 1 operates based on the image processing program 2a as the aforementioned processing units: the target image acquisition unit 11, the document type identification unit 12, the amount identification unit 13, the revenue stamp detection unit 14, the tax amount identification unit 15, the determination unit 16, and the postmark image detection unit 17.

[0020] The target image acquisition unit 11 acquires document images as target images (raster image data) from the storage device 2, communication device 3, internal device 6, etc., and stores them in RAM or similar. These document images are document images of a specific document type.

[0021] The document type identification unit 12 identifies the document type of the document based on the document image described above. This document type is a type of document to which revenue stamps may be affixed, and is, for example, one of the following: a contract, a bill of exchange, a stock certificate, a security, articles of incorporation, or a receipt. For example, the document type identification unit 12 makes this determination based on a string obtained by performing character recognition processing on the document image.

[0022] Furthermore, if the document image consists of only one specific document type, the document type identification unit 12 is unnecessary.

[0023] The amount identification unit 13 identifies the amount written in the document based on the document image if the document contains an amount. For example, the amount identification unit 13 determines the amount based on the string obtained by performing character recognition processing on the document image. In this case, for example, character recognition processing is performed on the string portion following the currency mark (in this case, ¥) or the string portion before or after the currency unit string (in this case, yen) to obtain the numerical value of the amount.

[0024] If multiple amounts are detected, the highest amount among them will be identified.

[0025] The revenue stamp detection unit 14 detects the revenue stamp image object in the document image of a document if a revenue stamp is affixed to the document. The revenue stamp detection unit 14 may detect the revenue stamp image object using pattern matching, or it may detect the revenue stamp image object using an existing object detection method with a machine learning-trained learner.

[0026] Furthermore, even if the revenue stamp detection unit 14 does not detect an image object of a revenue stamp, if it detects a specific approval string such as "Approved by the Tax Office," it will consider that an image object of a revenue stamp has been detected. In that case, since the tax amount cannot be obtained from the document image, the document is determined to be a valid document.

[0027] The tax amount identification unit 15 identifies the tax amount of the revenue stamp based on the detected image object of the revenue stamp. Specifically, the tax amount identification unit 15 performs character recognition processing on a specified part of the image object of the revenue stamp and identifies the amount written on the revenue stamp as the tax amount of the affixed revenue stamp.

[0028] The determination unit 16 (a) refers to the tax amount data 2b and determines whether the document is a document on which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the specified amount (such as the contract amount on the contract), (b) refers to the tax amount data 2b and derives the stamp tax amount based on the specified amount, and (c) determines whether the tax amount of the specified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount, and outputs the result of the determination.

[0029] For example, if, based on the tax data 2b, it is determined that the document is a non-taxable document based on the specified amount, then it is determined that the document is not one that requires a revenue stamp to be affixed.

[0030] Furthermore, if the document image is not limited to a specific document type, the determination unit 16 (a) refers to the tax amount data 2b and determines whether the target document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the document type and amount specified by the document type identification unit 12, (b) refers to the tax amount data 2b and derives the stamp tax amount based on the specified document type and amount, and (c) determines whether the tax amount of the specified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount.

[0031] If multiple revenue stamps are affixed to a document, the revenue stamp detection unit 14 detects multiple revenue stamp image objects in the document image, the tax amount identification unit 15 identifies the tax amount of each of the multiple revenue stamps based on the multiple revenue stamp image objects, and the determination unit 16 (a) derives the sum of the tax amounts of the identified multiple revenue stamps, and (b) determines whether the sum of the identified tax amounts of the multiple revenue stamps matches the derived stamp tax amount.

[0032] Furthermore, the determination unit 16 outputs the determination result described above. For example, the determination unit 16 displays the determination result on the display device 4, or sends it to a predetermined recipient via email or other means so that it is displayed on the user's terminal device (such as a smartphone). Specifically, if the tax amount of the identified revenue stamp does not match the derived stamp tax amount, a warning to that effect is output.

[0033] Furthermore, the cancellation mark image detection unit 17 detects the cancellation mark image object superimposed on the revenue stamp image object if a cancellation mark is stamped on the revenue stamp affixed to the document. For example, the cancellation mark image object is detected by pattern matching or an existing object detection method using a machine learning-trained learner. If the revenue stamp image object is detected, but the cancellation mark image detection unit 17 does not detect the cancellation mark image object, the determination unit 16 outputs a warning to that effect. Note that the cancellation mark image detection unit 17 may or may not be provided.

[0034] Next, the operation of the image processing device shown in Figure 1 will be explained. Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image processing device shown in Figure 1.

[0035] When the target image acquisition unit 11 acquires a document image (step S1), the document type identification unit 12 determines whether the document type of the document image has been specified in advance (step S2). If the document type of the document image has not been specified in advance, it identifies the document type based on the document image (step S3). Next, the amount identification unit 13 identifies the amount written in the document based on the document image (step S4).

[0036] Then, the determination unit 16 refers to the tax amount data 2b and derives the stamp tax amount (i.e., the tax amount or exemption for the revenue stamp to be affixed) based on the document type and amount, and determines whether the document in question is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed (step S5).

[0037] If the determination unit 16 determines that the document in question is not a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed, it determines that the document is a valid document regardless of whether a revenue stamp is affixed or not, and outputs a message to that effect as necessary, and terminates the process.

[0038] On the other hand, if the system determines that the document in question is one to which revenue stamps should be affixed, the revenue stamp detection unit 14 attempts to detect an image object of a revenue stamp in the document image, and if an image object of a revenue stamp exists, it detects it. The tax amount determination unit 15 then determines the tax amount of the affixed revenue stamp based on the document image.

[0039] Then, the determination unit 16 determines whether or not a revenue stamp is affixed to the target document based on whether or not an image object of a revenue stamp has been detected (step S6).

[0040] If the determination unit 16 determines that a revenue stamp should be affixed to the document but that no revenue stamp has been affixed, it outputs a warning to that effect (step S7).

[0041] On the other hand, when it is determined that a revenue stamp is affixed, the determination unit 16 determines whether the tax amount of the identified revenue stamp matches the stamp tax amount based on the tax amount data 2b, thereby determining whether a revenue stamp with the correct tax amount is affixed (step S8).

[0042] When it is determined that a revenue stamp with the correct tax amount is affixed, the determination unit 16 determines that the document is a proper document, and if necessary, outputs a message indicating that and ends the process.

[0043] On the other hand, when it is determined that a revenue stamp with the correct tax amount is not affixed, the determination unit 16 outputs a warning indicating that (step S7).

[0044] As described above, according to the above embodiment, when an amount is described in a document, the amount specifying unit 13 specifies the amount described in the document based on the document image of the document. When a revenue stamp is affixed to a document, the revenue stamp detection unit 14 detects an image object of the revenue stamp in the document image of the document. The tax amount specifying unit 15 specifies the tax amount of the affixed revenue stamp based on the above-described image object of the revenue stamp. The determination unit 16 (a) determines whether the document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the specified amount, (b) derives a stamp tax amount (that is, the correct tax amount) based on the specified amount, and (c) determines whether the tax amount of the specified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount, and outputs the result of the determination.

[0045] Thereby, based on the document image of the document, it is determined whether a correct revenue stamp is affixed to the document, and the visual check burden on the user is reduced.

[0046] Various changes and modifications to the above-described embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter and without diminishing the intended advantages. That is, it is intended that such changes and modifications be included in the scope of the claims.

[0047] For example, in the above embodiment, if the tax amount on the affixed revenue stamp is insufficient, the determination unit 16 may include that fact, the correct tax amount, and the tax amount of additional revenue stamps to be affixed in the above warning. Also, if the tax amount on the affixed revenue stamp exceeds the correct tax amount, the determination unit 16 may include that fact, the correct tax amount, etc., in the above warning.

[0048] The present invention is applicable, for example, to an image processing apparatus.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising: an amount identification unit that identifies the amount stated in the document based on the document image of the document if the document contains an amount; a revenue stamp detection unit that detects an image object of the revenue stamp in the document image if a revenue stamp is affixed to the document; a tax amount identification unit that identifies the tax amount of the revenue stamp based on the image object of the revenue stamp; and a determination unit that (a) determines whether the document is a document to which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the identified amount, and (b) derives a stamp tax amount based on the identified amount, determines whether the tax amount of the identified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount, and outputs the result of the determination.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a document type identification unit that identifies the document type of the document based on the document image, wherein the determination unit (a) determines whether the document is a document on which a revenue stamp should be affixed based on the identified document type and the identified amount, and (b) derives a stamp tax amount based on the identified document type and the identified amount, and determines whether the tax amount of the identified revenue stamp matches the derived stamp tax amount.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, if a plurality of revenue stamps are affixed to the document, the revenue stamp detection unit detects image objects of the plurality of revenue stamps in the document image; the tax amount determination unit determines the tax amount of each of the plurality of revenue stamps based on the image objects of the plurality of revenue stamps; and the determination unit (a) determines whether the document is a document to which revenue stamps should be affixed based on the determined amounts, and (b) derives a stamp tax amount based on the determined amounts and determines whether the sum of the tax amounts of the specified plurality of revenue stamps matches the derived stamp tax amount.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cancellation mark image detection unit that detects a cancellation mark image object superimposed on the image object of the revenue stamp if a cancellation mark has been stamped on the revenue stamp affixed to the document, wherein the determination unit outputs a warning when the image object of the revenue stamp is detected but the cancellation mark image detection unit does not detect the cancellation mark image object.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the type of document is one of a contract, a bill of exchange, a stock certificate, a security, articles of incorporation, and a receipt.

6. An image processing method characterized by comprising: (a) determining whether the document is a document on which an amount is stated, based on a document image of the document; (b) determining whether the document is a document on which an amount is stated, based on the document image of the document, based on the document image of the document, based on the document image of the document on which an amount is stated; (c) determining whether the document is a document on which an amount is stated, based on the determined amount, and (c) determining whether the determined amount of stamp duty matches the determined amount of stamp duty, and outputting the result of the determination.

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