Patent Abstract:
An image reading technique is disclosed that involves acquiring document image data including more than one set of page image data, reading an image located at a predetermined page position from the acquired set of page image data, recognizing the read image of the predetermined page position and converting the recognized image into text data, and assigning page number order to the set of page image data according to value information represented by the converted text data.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, an image reading method, and an image reading program for reading image data and performing character recognition on a portion of the image data.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     An image reading apparatus that reads image data and generates document data therefrom is conventionally used. Also, an image reading apparatus that reads image data and performs character recognition thereon is becoming increasingly popular. However, image reading may not necessarily be performed in the proper order and direction. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-83691 discloses an image processing technique implemented in the case of alternatingly inputting odd numbered pages and even numbered pages of a book, the technique enabling images to be read in the proper direction and output in proper order based on the alignment direction of characters and preventing the pages from being read in reverse order.  
         [0005]     However, the above-disclosed technique is implemented under the premise that the pages are arranged in proper order when they are read. Specifically, the above-disclosed technique merely relates to switching the direction in which pairs of successive pages are read according to whether characters are aligned vertically or horizontally. In other words, the disclosed technique does not relate to rearranging the direction of images that are read in different directions or rearranging the order of images that are not read in order. Thus, pages have to be arranged in proper order before image data of the pages are read according to the disclosed technique. However, in the case of processing image data of dual-side printed document pages, for example, it may be more convenient to read odd numbered pages first before reading the even-numbered pages. In the case of arranging image data of such document pages in order, the front and back side of each page may have to be read which may be quite burdensome. Accordingly, a technique is in demand for rearranging read image data in proper order and recombining the image data.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an image reading apparatus, an image reading method, and an image reading program that are configured to assign order to image data of a document that are input and read in random order, rearrange the image data in proper order, and generate a new document that is arranged in proper order.  
         [0007]     According to one embodiment of the present invention, an image reading apparatus is provided that includes:  
         [0008]     an image data acquiring unit configured to acquire document image data including more than one set of page image data;  
         [0009]     an image reading unit configured to read an image located at a predetermined page position from the acquired set of page image data;  
         [0010]     a conversion unit configured to recognize the read image of the predetermined page position and convert the recognized image into text data; and  
         [0011]     an order assigning unit configured to assign page number order to the set of page image data according to value information represented by the converted text data.  
         [0012]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, an image reading method is provided that includes the steps of:  
         [0013]     acquiring document image data including more than one set of page image data;  
         [0014]     reading an image located at a predetermined page position from the acquired set of page image data;  
         [0015]     recognizing the read image of the predetermined page position and converting the recognized image into text data; and  
         [0016]     assigning page number order to the set of page image data according to value information represented by the converted text data.  
         [0017]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a computer-readable program is provided that is run on a computer to execute the image reading method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing an exemplary hardware configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading image data of pages of a document;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating how the image data are arranged after reading the document;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a process of rearranging the image data in proper order after reading the page numbers of the pages;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a process of recombining the rearranged image data;  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing image data of an odd page number;  
         [0025]      FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing image data of an even page number;  
         [0026]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart illustrating a process sequence of reading, recognizing, and rearranging image data;  
         [0027]      FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number area from image data of an odd-numbered page as is read;  
         [0028]      FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number area from image data of the odd-numbered page turned upside down;  
         [0029]      FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number area from image data of an even-numbered page as is read;  
         [0030]      FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number are from image data of the even-numbered page turned upside down;  
         [0031]      FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading an upper section of image data of a page;  
         [0032]      FIG. 15  is a diagram illustrating a page number recognition process involving image data rotation;  
         [0033]      FIG. 16  is a diagram showing a designation screen for specifying a page number area;  
         [0034]      FIG. 17  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number area from image data of two facing pages oriented in a proper direction;  
         [0035]      FIG. 18  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number area from image data of two facing pages turned upside down;  
         [0036]      FIG. 19  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing a page number from image data of two facing pages;  
         [0037]      FIG. 20  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading a page number area from image data of two facing pages turned sideways;  
         [0038]      FIG. 21  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing an even page number from image data of two facing pages turned sideways;  
         [0039]      FIG. 22  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing an odd page number from image data of two facing pates turned sideways;  
         [0040]      FIG. 23  is a diagram illustrating a process of identifying the direction of a page number based on the direction of a title of a page;  
         [0041]      FIG. 24  is a flowchart illustrating a page number reading pre-process;  
         [0042]      FIG. 25  is a diagram illustrating a process of determining an original page size based on histograms of image data;  
         [0043]      FIG. 26  is a diagram illustrating a process of moving a page number area;  
         [0044]      FIG. 27  is a diagram illustrating a document including image data having unnecessary margin portions;  
         [0045]      FIG. 28  is a diagram illustrating a document including image data having margin portions removed therefrom; and  
         [0046]      FIG. 29  is a flowchart illustrating another process of recognizing and rearranging image data. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0047]     In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0048]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated image reading apparatus may be used to scan a document  110 , for example. Image data of the pages of the document  110  may be read to obtain image data of the document. However, it is noted that the pages may not necessarily be read in proper order. Accordingly, the image data of the pages may desirably be rearranged in proper order upon generating image data of the document  110 .  
         [0049]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing an exemplary hardware configuration of the image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated example of  FIG. 2 , the image reading apparatus  100  includes a CPU (central processing unit)  201 , a ROM (read only memory)  202 , a RAM (random access memory)  203 , a HDD (hard disk drive)  204 , a HD (hard disk)  205 , a CD/DVD drive  206 , a CD/DVD  207 , a display  208 , an I/F (interface)  209 , a keyboard  210 , a mouse  211 , a scanner  212 , and a printer  213 . Also, the above component elements  201 - 213  are interconnected by a bus  220 .  
         [0050]     The CPU  201  controls overall operations of the image reading apparatus  100 . The ROM  202  stores various programs. The RAM  203  is used as a working area for the CPU  201 . The HDD  204  controls reading/writing of data on the HD  205  in accordance with control command signals from the CPU  201 . The HD  205  stores data that are written thereon by the HDD  204 . The CD/DVD drive  206  controls reading/writing of data on the CD/DVD  207  in accordance with control command signals from the CPU  201 .  
         [0051]     The CD/DVD  207  stores data written thereon by the CD/DVD drive  206  and may be detached from the image reading apparatus  100 . The CD/DVD  207  as an attachable storage medium may correspond to a CD-ROM (CD-R, CD-RW) or a DVD (digital versatile disk), for example. In other embodiments, a FD (flexible disk), a MO (magneto-optic disk), or a memory card may be used as the detachable medium, for example. The display  208  may be a TFT (thin film transistor) liquid display, a CRT (cathode ray tube), or a plasma display, for example.  
         [0052]     The I/F  209  functions as an interface of the image reading apparatus  100  and may be connected to a network  203  such as a phone line, the Internet, or a local area network via a communication line. The I/F  209  controls input/output of data to/from a terminal.  
         [0053]     The keyboard  210  and mouse  211  are used for inputting/setting data to the image reading apparatus  100 . The scanner  21  optically reads image information. The printer  213  may be a laser printer or an inkjet printer that prints image information, for example.  
         [0054]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary process for reading image data of a document. In the illustrated example, image data of six pages that are in random order are read, namely, pages 5, 7, 9, 10, 8, and 4 are read in this order. The image data of the pages include corresponding page numbers. That is, a page number  302  is written in each set of image data  301  so that the page number  302  may be read when the image data  301  are read. In the illustrated example, image data of the pages are successively read along the direction of arrow  303 .  
         [0055]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating how the image data are arranged after reading the pages. At this stage, the image data  301  and page number  302  of each page are read, and character recognition is performed on the read page number  302 . The number identified by the character recognition is assigned to the corresponding image data  301  as page number information. Specifically, the page numbers  302  of the image data  301  of the read pages may be identified as pages numbers 5, 7, 9, 10, 8, and 4 (from the left side) in the illustrated example, and in turn, page number order information  400  is assigned to the read pages.  
         [0056]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a process of rearranging the image data after the page numbers are read. As is described above in relation to  FIG. 4 , the page numbers  302  of image data  301  are read, but at this point, the image data  301  are not yet arranged in proper order according to their corresponding page numbers as is illustrated by arrangement  501  where the image data  301  of pages 5, 7, 9, 10, 8, 4 are arranged in this order. Since the page numbers  302  of the image data  301  are recognized, the image data  301  may be rearranged in proper order based on the recognized page number information assigned to the image data  301  as is illustrated by arrangement  502 . Specifically, in arrangement  502 , the image data  301  of pages 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are arranged in this order.  
         [0057]      FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating how the rearranged image data are recombined. As is described above in relation to  FIG. 5 , the image data  301  are rearranged in proper order as is illustrated by arrangement  502 , but at this point, the image data  301  are not yet compiled into one document file. Thus, the image data  301  of pages 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 arranged in this order have to be combined and stored as a new set of image data.  
         [0058]     In the above-described example, it is assumed that the page number of each page is located at the same position. However, in certain types of documents such as a book, the position of page numbers may be different depending on whether the page is an odd-numbered page or an even-numbered page, for example. Specifically, in a case where the page number of a book is arranged to be positioned at the outer edge of a page, odd page numbers and even page numbers may be located at opposite sides. When character recognition of page numbers is performed without taking such a factor into consideration, only page numbers located on one side may be recognized while page numbers located on the other side may not be recognized. Or in another example, character recognition may be completely off target so that page numbers may not be recognized at all from any of the pages. However, performing character recognition on the entire image data of each page to recognize the page number may be inefficient and impractical. Thus, in a preferred embodiment, differing character recognition positions are designated for an odd-numbered page and an even-numbered page.  
         [0059]      FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing image data of an odd page number. In the illustrated example, a page number  701  is written in image data  700  subject to image reading. Since page numbers are located at different positions depending on whether the page is an odd-numbered page or an even-numbered page, it is first assumed that the page number  701  is an odd number. Accordingly, character recognition position  702  for an odd page number is read and character recognition is performed thereon to recognize page number  701 . In this way, the page number  701  of the image data  700  may be identified as page 5.  
         [0060]      FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing image data of an even page number. In this illustrated example, a page number  801  is written in image data  800  subject to image reading. As in the example of  FIG. 7 , the page number  801  is first assumed to be an odd number. Accordingly, character recognition position  802  for an odd page number is read and character recognition is performed thereon. However, since the page number  801  is not located at this position  802 , no page number is recognized. In such a case, it is assumed that the page number  801  is an even number, and the character recognition position  802  is moved along arrow  803  to character recognition position  804  for an even page number so that character recognition may be performed thereon. Thus, the page number  801  is recognized from character recognition position  804 . In this way, the page number  801  of the image data  800  may be identified as page 4.  
         [0061]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart illustrating an image reading process sequence that involves reading, recognizing, and rearranging image data. In this process, first, information on a page number area is specified (step S 901 ). For example, information on the page number area may be specified by designating whether the image data represent a single page or two facing pages, whether a page number is located at the center, whether an odd page number is located at the right side or the left side, and whether the odd page number is positioned at an upper side or a lower side.  
         [0062]     Then, image data of a page are read (step S 902 ). Specifically, an image is read from the specified page number area. Then, the read image data are stored (step S 903 ). After storing the read image data, a determination is made as to whether image data have been read for all the relevant pages (step S 904 ). If image reading for all the pages is not yet complete (step S 904 , NO), the process goes back to step S 902  in order to complete reading of the image data of all pages.  
         [0063]     If it is determined that the image data of all pages have been read (step S 904 , YES), a determination is made as to whether an image exits within an odd page number area (step S 905 ). If an image exits within the odd page number area (step S 905 , YES), namely, if a page number is found in this area, page number character recognition is performed on this odd page number area (step S 906 ) and the process moves on to step S 913 .  
         [0064]     If an image does not exist within the odd page number area (step S 905 , NO), a determination is made as to whether an image exists in an even page number area (step S 907 ). If an image exists within the even page number area (step S 907 , YES), namely, if a page number is found in this area, page number recognition is performed on this even page number area (step S 908 ) and the process moves on to step S 913 .  
         [0065]     If an image does not exist within the even page number area (step S 907 , NO), a determination is made as to whether an image exists within a reversed odd page number area (step S 909 ). If an image exists within the reversed odd page number area (step S 909 , YES), namely, if a page number is found in this area, page number character recognition is performed on this reversed odd page number area (step S 910 ) and the process moves on to step S 913 .  
         [0066]     If an image does not exist within the reversed odd page number area (step S 909 , NO), a determination is made as to whether an image exists within a reversed even page number area (step S 911 ). If an image exists within this area (step S 911 , YES), namely, if a page number is found in this area, page number character recognition is performed on this reversed even page number area (step S 912 ) and the process moves on to step S 913 .  
         [0067]     If an image does not exist within the reversed even page number area (step S 911 , NO), a determination is made as to whether character recognition has been performed on all pages (step S 913 ). If character recognition has not been performed on all pages (step S 913 , NO), the process goes back to step S 905 . If character recognition has been performed on all pages (step S 913 , YES), image data of the pages are sorted and rearranged in proper order based on the page number information to be stored (step S 914 ) after which the process sequence is ended.  
         [0068]      FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading image data of an odd-numbered page. In the illustrated example, a page number  1001  is written in image data  1000  subject to image reading. As in  FIG. 7 , first it is assumed that the page number  1001  is an odd page number upon performing character recognition. Thus, character recognition position  1002  is read and character recognition is performed thereon. However, since a page number cannot be found in this position  1002 , it is then assumed that the page number  1001  is an odd page number. Thus, character recognition position  1003  is read and character recognition is performed thereon. However, a page number cannot be found in this position  1003  either.  
         [0069]      FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading image data of the odd-numbered page turned upside down. Specifically, after performing character recognition on the character recognition positions  1002  and  1003  in  FIG. 10 , the image data  1000  are turned upside down (reversed) to obtain image data  1100  having a page number  1101  written therein. Then, as in  FIG. 10 , it is assumed that the page number  1101  is an odd page number, and character recognition position  1102  is read to perform character recognition thereon. In this case, the page number  1101  is recognized at position  1102 . In this way, the page number  1101  of the image data  1100  may be identified as page 5.  
         [0070]      FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading image data of an even-numbered page. In the illustrated example, a page number  1201  is written in image data  1200  subject to image reading. As in the example of  FIG. 7 , first it is assumed that the page number  1201  is an odd page number. Thus, character recognition position  1202  for an odd page number is read and character recognition is performed thereon. However, since the page number  1201  is not recognized from this position  1202 , it is then assumed that the page number  1201  is an even page number. Thus, character recognition position  1203  for an even page number is read and character recognition is performed thereon. However, the page number  1201  is not recognized from this position  1203  either.  
         [0071]      FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading image data of the even-numbered page turned upside down. After character recognition is performed on positions  1202  and  1203  in  FIG. 12 , the image data  1200  are turned upside down (reversed) to obtain image data  1300  having a page number  1301  written therein. Then, as in  FIG. 12 , it is first assumed that the page number  1301  is an odd page number. Accordingly, character recognition position  1302  for an odd page number is read and character recognition is performed thereon. However, the page number  1301  is not recognized from this position  1302  so that the page number  1301  is then assumed to be an even page number. Accordingly, the character recognition position is moved in the direction indicated by arrow  1303  to position  1304 , and the page number  1301  is recognized from this position  1304 . In this way, the page number  1301  of the image data  1300  may be identified as page 4.  
         [0072]     As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, when image data read from a page are turned upside down (reversed), the image data are reversed after confirming that an image (page number) cannot be recognized from the image data in its original orientation and page number character recognition is performed on the reversed image data. In this example, image data may be rearranged in proper order based on their page number information regardless of the orientation in which the image data are read.  
         [0073]     It is noted that the above-described example illustrates a case of reading image data that are reversed vertically (i.e., turned upside down); however, in other examples, image data may be turned sideways. In one embodiment, an image of a page number may be read from one of four corner positions of image data subject to image reading, and the image of the page number may be rotated according to its orientation so that the page number may be successfully recognized, for example.  
         [0074]     In the following, a page number character recognition process that involves such image rotation is described. In this process, as in  FIGS. 10 and 12 , first, an odd page number area (e.g., position  1002  and position  1202 ) and an even page number area (e.g., position  1003  and position  1203 ) are read. Then, when an image (page number) is not recognized from any of these areas, a next process as is illustrated in  FIGS. 14 and 15  is performed instead of the process of reversing the image data as is illustrated in  FIGS. 11 and 13 .  
         [0075]      FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading an upper portion of image data. Specifically, after reading a lower portion of image data as is described above, the process moves on to read an upper portion of image data  1000 . It is noted that the position of a page number varies depending on whether the page number is an odd page number or an even page number. Therefore, at first, it is assumed that the page number to be recognized is an odd page number. Accordingly, position  1401  for an odd page number is read. However, since a page number cannot be read from position  1401 , the page number to be recognized is then assumed to be an even page number. Accordingly, position  1402  for an even page number is read and a page number is read from this position  1402 .  
         [0076]     It is noted that at this point, the page number is not yet identified. That is, although image data of the page number are read, the page number is not yet recognized as page number information for determining the page order. In the present example, recognition of the page number is performed by rotating image data of the page number.  
         [0077]      FIG. 15  is a diagram illustrating a page number recognition process involving image rotation. In  FIG. 14 , image data of a page number is read from position  1402 . If the page number is properly oriented within the image data, the page number may be recognized from the image data as is read. However, if the page number is turned upside down or sideways, the page number may not be properly recognized. Accordingly, in the present example, character recognition is successively performed on image data of position  1402  in its original orientation, in a reversed orientation, in a 90-degree-rotated orientation, and in a 270-degree-rotated orientation. A character properly recognized from one of these character recognition processes is identified as the page number of the image data.  
         [0078]     Specifically,  FIG. 15  illustrates a case in which page number  1500  (in the form of image data) is read from position  1402 . As is shown in this drawing, the character of page number  1500  is not properly oriented (i.e., turned to the right). First, character recognition is performed on page number  1500  in its original orientation. However, a character cannot be properly recognized from page number  1500  since the character is turned sideways. Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  1500  in a reversed orientation. However, a character cannot be properly recognized from the reversed image data either.  
         [0079]     Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  1500  rotated clockwise by 90 degrees. However, a character cannot be properly recognized from the 90-degree-rotated image data since the character is turned upside down in this case. Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  1500  rotated clockwise by 270 degrees, namely, rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees. In this case the number ‘5’ may be recognized from the image data and the page number  1500  may be recognized as page 5. In turn, the image data  1000  is rotated clockwise by 270 degrees to obtain image data  1501  having a properly oriented page number  1502  written therein.  
         [0080]     As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, according to an embodiment of the present invention, page numbers may be read, recognized, and used for rearranging image data in proper order regardless of whether the image data are properly oriented, turned upside down, or turned sideways.  
         [0081]     It is noted that the above-described examples relate to reading a single page of a document and performing character recognition thereon. However, there may be cases in which two facing pages of a document are read at once and character recognition is performed thereon. In the following, a character recognition process that is performed in such a case is described.  
         [0082]      FIG. 16  is a diagram showing an exemplary designation screen for specifying information on a page number area. In the illustrated example, first, a designation is made as to whether single-page reading or double-page reading is performed. In this case, double-page reading is designated. Then, the page number area of an odd page number is designated. It is noted that the illustrated screen portion for designating the page area number is displayed when double-page reading is designated; however, a similar screen portion may be displayed when single-leaf reading is designated as well. In the present example, a designation is made as to whether the page number area of the odd page number is located at the top, center, or bottom of a page (‘bottom’ is designated in  FIG. 16 ). Then, a designation is made as to whether the page number area is located at the right side, center, or left side (‘left’ is designated in  FIG. 16 ).  
         [0083]      FIG. 17  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing the page numbers of two facing pages that are properly oriented. In the illustrated example, image data  1700  is subject to the present process. Image data  1700  includes page numbers  1701  and  1702 . Since the lower left hand side area of two facing pages is designated as the page number area in  FIG. 16 , image data of position  1703  is read. In turn, the page number  1701  is recognized from position  1703 . In this way, the page number  1701  at the lower left hand side of the image data  1700  may be identified as page 5. It is noted that the page number  1702  at the lower right hand side may be identified as page 6 without performing character recognition on the relevant position since it is known that the page number  1702  is that coming right after page number  1701 .  
         [0084]      FIG. 18  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading and recognizing an image from image data of two facing pages turned upside down. In this process, first a page number recognition process is performed on image data  1800 . The image data  1800  includes page numbers  1801  and  1802 . Since it is designated in  FIG. 16  that the lower left hand side area of two facing pages corresponds to the page number area, image reading is performed on position  1803  at the lower left hand side of image data  1800 . However, since no image (page number) can be read from position  1803 , the process moves on to performing image reading on position  1804  at the upper right hand side of image data  1800  corresponding to the position  1803  turned upside down. In this case, the page number  1802  can be read from position  1804  so that the process moves on to character recognition of the page number  1802 .  
         [0085]     In the present example, since the image data  1800  is turned upside down, the page number  1802  is also turned upside down so that the page number (character) may not be properly recognized from the image data of page number  1802  in its original orientation. Accordingly, character recognition is performed on image data of page number  1802  oriented in four different directions as in the example of  FIG. 15 .  
         [0086]      FIG. 19  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing a page number from image data of two facing pages. As is described in relation to  FIG. 15 , when image data of a page number are turned upside down or sideways, the page number (character) may not be properly recognized from the image data as is read. Accordingly, character recognition is successively performed on image data of position  1804  in its original orientation, in an upside down orientation, in a 90-degree rotated orientation, and in a 270-degree rotated orientation so that a character may be properly recognized from the character recognition process, and such a character is identified as page number information of the image data.  
         [0087]     Specifically, in  FIG. 19 , page number  1900  (in the form of image data) is not oriented in a proper direction (i.e., is turned upside down). First, character recognition is performed on page number  1900  in its original orientation. However, a character is not properly recognized from page number  1900  since it is not oriented in the proper direction. Then, character recognition is performed on image data of page number  1900  turned upside down. As a result, the number ‘7’ is recognized from the upside down image data, and the page number  1900  is identified as page 7. Thus, it may be determined that image data  1800  represents an image of pages 7 and 8 of a document.  
         [0088]     The image data  1800  is then turned upside down to obtain image data  1901  having page numbers  1902  and  1903  corresponding to page numbers  1802  and  1801  oriented in the proper direction. It is noted that in the above-described example, the page number  1900  is turned upside down; however, there may be cases in which image data of a page number is turned sideways as well. In such cases, a character may not be properly recognized from image data of the page number turned upside down. Accordingly, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number rotated clockwise by 90 degrees. When a character is not properly recognized from such image data, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number rotated clockwise by 270 degrees.  
         [0089]      FIG. 20  is a diagram illustrating a process of reading and recognizing image data of two facing pages that are turned sideways. In this process, first, a recognition process is performed on image data  2000 . Since the page number area is designated to be at the lower left hand side of two facing pages, image reading is performed on position  2001 . In this case, an image can be read from position  2001 . However, since the read image data  2100  are turned sideways, a page number (character) may not be properly recognized from the image data  2100  as is read. Accordingly, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number oriented in different directions as is described in relation to  FIGS. 15 and 19 .  
         [0090]      FIG. 21  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing the page number of an even-numbered page of two facing pages that are oriented sideways. In this process, character recognition is successively performed on image data of position  2001  in its original orientation, in an upside down orientation, in a 90-degreee rotated orientation, and in a 270-degree rotated orientation, and a character that is properly recognized from the image data is identified as a page number. In  FIG. 21 , the character of page number  2100  is not oriented in a proper direction (i.e., is turned to the right). First, character recognition is performed on the page number  2100  in its original orientation. However, a character cannot be properly recognized from page number  2100  since it is not oriented in the proper direction. Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  2100  turned upside down. However, a character cannot be properly recognized from the upside down image either.  
         [0091]     Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  2100  rotated clockwise by 90 degrees in which case the number ‘6’ may be recognized from the image data. On the other hand, when character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  2100  rotated clockwise by 270 degrees, the number ‘9’ may be recognized from the image data. As can be appreciated, in the present case, two numbers ‘6’ and ‘9’ are recognized from the character recognition processes so that the page number cannot be identified. Thus, in such a case, character recognition is performed on position  2101 .  
         [0092]      FIG. 22  is a diagram illustrating a process of recognizing the page number of an odd-numbered page of two facing pages that are turned sideways. In this process, character recognition is performed on image data of position  2101  in different orientations (i.e., original orientation, upside down, 90-degree rotation, 270-degree rotation) in a manner similar to that described above, and a character properly recognized in the character recognition processes is identified as a page number. First, character recognition is performed on page number  2200  as the image data of position  2101  in its original orientation. However, a character cannot be properly recognized since page number  2200  is not oriented in the proper direction. Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  2200  turned upside down. However, a character is not properly recognized from the upside down image data either.  
         [0093]     Then, character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  2200  rotated clockwise by 90 degrees. However, a character is not properly recognized in this case either. On the other hand, when character recognition is performed on image data of the page number  2200  rotated clockwise by 270 degrees, namely, rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees, the number ‘5’ may be recognized from the image data. As can be appreciated, only one character is recognized from the character recognition processes performed with respect to page number  2200 . Specifically, the page number  2200  is identified as page number 5. Thus, the image data  2000  may be identified as an image of pages 5 and 6 as two facing pages of a document. In turn, the image data  2000  are rotated clockwise by 270 degrees to obtain image data  2201  having page numbers  2202  and  2203  oriented in the proper direction.  
         [0094]      FIG. 23  is a diagram illustrating a process of identifying the direction of a page number based on the direction of a title. It is noted that the previously-described embodiments of the present invention involve performing character recognition on image data as is read, changing the orientation of image data of a page and performing character recognition thereon, or changing the orientation of image data of a page number character and performing character recognition thereon. In another embodiment, the direction of image data may be determined by determining the direction of a title and a page number may be identified based on the determined direction of the title.  
         [0095]     Specifically, in the illustrated example of  FIG. 23 , image data  2301  includes a title  2302 . By identifying this title  2302  upon reading the image data  2301 , the direction of the image data  2301  may be determined. In turn, position  2304  may be located along arrow  2303 . That is, by identifying the title  2302 , it may be determined that the page number area is at position  2304 . In turn, the page number ‘5’ may be read and identified from position  2304 .  
         [0096]     It is noted that the above process relates to identifying the page number from the image data  2301  of an odd-numbered page. However, a similar process may be performed for identifying a page number from image data  2311  of an even-numbered page although the page number area of the even-numbered page may be located at a different position. Specifically, by reading the image data  2311 , a title  2312  that is included therein may be identified and the direction of the image data  2311  may be determined. Then, position  2314  may be located along arrow  2313 . That is, by identifying the title  2312 , it may be determined that the page number area is at position  2314 . Accordingly, page number ‘6’ may be read and identified from position  2314 .  
         [0097]      FIG. 24  is a flowchart illustrating an image reading process including a page number reading pre-process. The present pre-process may be performed before actually performing page number character recognition in the image reading process illustrated in  FIG. 9  to improve the accuracy of the recognition process. Specifically, the present pre-process may be performed between steps S 903  and S 905  of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0098]     In the process of  FIG. 24 , steps S 901  through S 903  are identical to the process of  FIG. 9 . Then, an original page size is determined based on vertical/horizontal histograms (step S 2401 ). It is noted that this process is described in detail below with reference to  FIG. 25 . Then, a determination is made as to whether image data reading has been performed on all relevant pages (step S 904 ) as in  FIG. 9 . If image data reading is not performed on all pages (step S 904 , NO), the process goes back to step S 902  to complete image reading of all pages.  
         [0099]     When image reading of all pages is complete (step S 904 , YES), the original page sizes of the pages are statistically processed to calculate a root mean square value (step S 2402 ). It is noted that this process is described in detail below with reference to  FIG. 27 . Then, page portions of all pages are extracted based on the histograms and calculated original page sizes of these pages (step S 2403 ). This process is described in detail below with reference to  FIG. 28 . Then, the pre-process sequence may be completed and the process moves on to step S 905  of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0100]      FIG. 25  is a diagram illustrating the process of determining a original page size based on histograms. For example, in a case where the document subject to image reading is a copied document of an original document, the copied document may include black margins in when the original document is smaller than the copied document. In such a case, page numbers of the copied document may not be successfully read when the position of the page number area is uniformly set. Accordingly, in the present process, a relevant page portion is identified and the page number area is changed accordingly in order to improve the accuracy of the page number recognition process.  
         [0101]     Specifically, image data  2500  includes black margins as described above so that a page number cannot be recognized from reading image data of position  2501 . Accordingly, histograms of the image data  2500  are obtained. That is, with respect to the horizontal direction, a horizontal histogram  2502  of the image data  2500  is obtained so that a horizontal margin (side margin)  2503  may be determined based on changes in the horizontal histogram  2502 . Similarly, with respect to the vertical direction, a vertical histogram  2504  of the image data  2500  is obtained so that a vertical margin (bottom margin)  2505  may be determined based on changes in the vertical histogram  2504 . In this way, a original page size of the image data  2500  excluding the margins  2503  and  2505  (relevant page portion) may be determined, and the page number area  2501  may be moved to an appropriate position based on the determined original page size.  
         [0102]      FIG. 26  is a diagram illustrating a process of moving the page number area. It can be appreciated that a page number cannot be recognized from performing character recognition on the page number area  2501  when the existence of margins is determined based on the histograms as in  FIG. 25 . Thus, the page number area  2501  is moved to a new page number area  2601 , and image reading and character recognition are performed on the new page number area  2601  so that a page number may be successfully read and recognized.  
         [0103]      FIG. 27  is a diagram illustrating image data of a document including unnecessary margins. The document includes image data  2701 , image data  2702 , and image data  2703 . The image data  2701  includes a relevant page portion  2704  and a margin portion. The image data  2702  includes a relevant page portion  2705  and a margin portion. The image data  2703  includes a relevant page portion  2706  and a margin portion. As is described above, the respective margin-excluded original page sizes of the image data  2701 - 2703  may be obtained based on their histograms. Additionally, in the case of reading image data of plural pages, statistical information on the original page sizes of the image data may be obtained and a standard original page size may be calculated therefrom. This standard original page size may be used to determine the page number area and document range of the image data  2701 - 2703 , for example.  
         [0104]      FIG. 28  is a diagram illustrating a document with pages having unnecessary margins removed therefrom. The image data  2701 - 2703  shown in  FIG. 27  may have margins removed therefrom in the manner illustrated in  FIG. 25 , for example, and the resulting image data may be rearranged in proper order according to their page number information and recomposed into a document including image data  2801 - 2803  that are properly arranged in numerical order.  
         [0105]      FIG. 29  is a flowchart illustrating another process for recognizing and rearranging image data. In  FIG. 9 , character recognition is performed on image data in its original orientation (as is read) and image data that are turned upside down. However, a document page may be read sideways in addition to being read in the proper direction or upside down. Also, the character recognition position may need to be adjusted, for example.  FIG. 29  illustrates a process that takes such additional factors into consideration upon recognizing a page number and rearranging image data. It is noted that the process steps S 901 -S 904  of  FIG. 9  or the process illustrated in  FIG. 24  may be performed before moving on to the present process of recognizing and rearranging image data.  
         [0106]     In this process, first, a determination is made as to whether an image exists in an odd page number area (step S 905 ). If an image is found in this area (step S 905 , YES), page number character recognition in four orientations mode is performed (step S 2901 ). Specifically, it is determined whether the character to be recognized is oriented in the proper direction, turned upside down, turned 90 degrees, or turned 270 degrees, and the orientation of the image is properly adjusted as is necessary to perform character recognition thereon. Then, a determination is made as to whether a correlation between page number and mode is correct (step S 2902 ). If the correlation is not correct (step S 2902 , NO), the process moves on to step S 907 . If the correlation is correct (step S 2902 , YES), the process moves on to step S 2909 .  
         [0107]     If an image is not found in the odd page number area (step S 905 , NO), a determination is made as to whether an image exists in an even page number area (step S 907 ). If an image is found in this area (step S 907 , YES), page number character recognition in four orientations mode is performed (step S 2903 . Specifically, it is determined whether the character to be recognized is oriented in the proper direction, turned upside down, turned 90 degrees, or turned 270 degrees, and the image is properly adjusted as is necessary to perform character recognition thereon. Then, a determination is made as to whether a correlation between page number and mode is correct (step S 2904 ). If the correlation is not correct (step S 2904 , NO), the process moves on to step S 909 . If the correlation is correct (step S 2904 , YES), the process moves on to step S 2909 .  
         [0108]     If an image is not found in the even page number area (step S 907 , NO), a determination is made as to whether an image exists in a reversed odd page number area (step S 909 ). If an image is found in this area (step S 909 , YES), page number character recognition is performed in four orientations mode (step S 2905 ). Then, a determination is made as to whether a correlation between page number and mode is correct (step S 2906 ). If the correlation is not correct (step S 2906 , NO), the process moves on to step S 911 . If the correlation is correct, (step S 2906 , YES), the process moves on to step S 2909 .  
         [0109]     If an image is not found in the reversed odd page number area (step S 909 , NO), a determination is made as to whether an image exists in a reversed even page number area (step S 911 ). If an image is found in this area (step S 911 , YES), page number character recognition in four orientations mode is performed (step S 2907 ), and the process moves to step S 2902 .  
         [0110]     If an image is not found in the even page number area (step S 911 , NO), corrections may be made to the page number character recognition (step S 2909 ). That is, a page number may not necessarily be recognized all the time, and at times a character recognition process may end in failure or an inaccurate character recognition result may be obtained, for example. In view of such circumstance, in one preferred embodiment, a page screen may be displayed on a display screen to accept correction inputs, for example. By accepting such corrections, errors in the arrangement order of image data due to image reading errors may be prevented. Then, page number information and image data of corresponding pages are stored (step S 2910 ). Then, the present process may move on to step S 913  of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0111]     As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a portion of image data of a document is read to recognize a page number included therein so that the order of the image data may be determined. In this way, image data of a document may be rearranged in proper order. That is, image data of pages of a document that are not read in proper order may be processed and rearranged in proper order so that a user may be relieved of the burden of rearranging the pages of a document himself/herself upon before reading the document. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the case of reading a double-side printed document where all the odd numbered pages are read before the even numbered pages or reading randomly gathered pages of a document that needs to be rearranged in proper order.  
         [0112]     It is noted that an image reading method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be embodied by a computer program that is executed on a computer such a personal computer or a work station. Such a program may be stored in a computer-readable medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a MO, or a DVD and may be executed by being downloaded from the computer-readable medium to a computer. Also, the program may be embodied by a transfer medium that is configured to distribute the program via a network such as the Internet.  
         [0113]     Also, an image data acquiring unit, an image reading unit, a conversion unit, an order assigning unit, a data generating unit, a rotating unit, a determining unit, and a correction unit of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may be embodied by a computer performing an image reading method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In one specific example, the above units may be realized by the CPU  201  of  FIG. 2  performing relevant control operations according to relevant instructions of an image reading program read from the ROM  202 .  
         [0114]     Further, it is noted that an image reading apparatus, an image reading method, and an image reading program according to embodiments of the present invention may be advantageously implemented in a scanner, a multifunction machine, and other various types of image processing machines having image reading functions, for example.  
         [0115]     Although the present invention is shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it is obvious that equivalents and modifications may occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification. The present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications, and is limited only by the scope of the claims.  
         [0116]     The present application is based on and claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-201109 filed on Jul. 24, 2006, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7