The present invention enables to increase the speed of recognizing characters on an undefined-size postal matter such as a flat mail. The flat mail often has an address area different in color or pattern from the flat mail itself. The present invention provides an image input apparatus including pickup means of monochromatic-mode CCD 31 having a fine resolution capable of recognizing characters and pickup means of color-mode CCD 30 having a rough resolution only sufficient for detecting an address area. These pickup means are mounted in a unitary block so that images are taken in from approximately identical positions and a color image is used to detect an address area and a monochromatic image is used to recognize characters, thereby significantly increasing the speed of flat mail classification. An illumination unit 44 is forcibly cooled so as to enable to use a large-output lamp tube 75 capable of illuminating a wide range to assure the character recognition.
An image inputting device is provided which is capable of making reliable and speedy detection of an indicia even for an nonstandard size postal matter. The postal matter, when having passed by a proximity detecting section, is radiated with ultraviolet light at specified timing from light radiating unit. When a postal matter is radiated with ultraviolet light, fluorescence is emitted from a phosphor formed on an indicia after being pumped. In the case where the indicia is an meter, when the meter passes by a fluorescence field of view, red fluorescence enters a fluorescence light receiving optical system along a fluorescence detecting optical axis. If the indicia is a postage stamp containing a substance that emits phosphorescence, when the postage stamp passes by a phosphorescence detecting field of view where no ultraviolet light is not emitted, green fluorescence enters a phosphorescence light receiving optical system along a phosphorescence detecting optical axis.
The invention relates to a color photosensor for sensing the color contents of incident light. In order to provide a color photosensor which is cheap to produce and which allows the control of light in as well intensity as color a color photosensor is proposed comprising: a sensing unit (2) divided into four sensing areas (21, 22, 23, 24) each sensing the color content of incident light and outputting a sensing current, a filter unit (3) comprising four filter elements (31, 32, 33, 34) each being assigned and adapted to one of said sensing areas, said filter elements comprising a cyan colored filter element, a yellow colored filter element and a magenta colored filter element, and a subtraction unit (4) for separately subtracting each of the three sensing currents outputted from the three sensing areas to which one of said colored filter elements is assigned, from the forth sensing current obtaining color signals proportional to the red, green and blue content of said incident light.
