JP2701195B2 - Sign making equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing a display having a large area such as a signboard or a banner. There are various kinds of signs. The size is various such as several tens cm to several tens m. There is also a distinction between portrait and landscape. The content is also different. Some consist only of kanji and kana. Some are English only. In addition, figures, logos and illustrations may be included. In addition to black and white, some are colored. It may be multicolor instead of monochromatic. There are various display means. Some are written in ink on paper. In the case of banners, characters may be written on the cloth with ink or paint.

[0002] There are various applications. A sign with the name of the rally may be suspended above the abstract at the hotel conference hall. Some are mounted as vertical ads on the street. There are many signs on the airfield and at the bus stop for advertising of hospitals, doctors and companies. Some are removed in a short time, others are permanently fixed. As described above, the types, uses, and purposes of signboards are extremely diverse, and are used in extremely large quantities.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In many cases, signboards containing kanji kana are created by hand. Hand-paint on wood with paint or ink. High degree of freedom because any character can be written. However, in this case, a skilled person is required. Specialized signboards have several character types. Mincho,
It is the original form of standard characters such as Gothic. There are several types of dimensions. This type allows you to write on the tree with paint or ink. Alternatively, a plastic plate may be cut out according to a mold and pasted on a flat plate to make a signboard. In the case of signboards, the characters are large and viewed from a distance, so even if there is a slight burr or inconsistency, there is little need to make them accurately because they are not understood.

When a figure is included, it is necessary to actually make the figure enlarged to an appropriate size and paste it. A simple figure may be sufficient, but a complicated figure requires time and effort. You must make a magnified copy by making an enlarged copy and tracing the outline of this.

[0005]

In the case of a handwritten signboard, characters of any typeface can be drawn, so that there is a high degree of freedom, but a skilled craftsman in calligraphy is indispensable. Artisans with such skillful skills are decreasing. There are not many types of fixed signboards because they often use fixed fonts such as Gothic and Mincho. It becomes a fixed font. If you want a special font, you have to design it specially and expand it to create a type. It is not easy and it takes a lot of money to create a sign.

It is particularly fatal when a figure enters. In the case of complicated figures, it is necessary to enlarge and rewrite the original image. If you create several signs with different dimensions, you must duplicate figures of several sizes. In this specification, a signboard includes not only a hard signboard but also a large display of an irregular shape such as a banner.

[0007] It is a first object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can create a signboard with characters of an appropriate typeface without preparing many original forms of characters. It is a second object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can create a signboard of a character written with a brushstroke even if there is no skilled craftsman in the calligraphy. It is a third object of the present invention to provide a device that can put any logo, illustration, or figure on a signboard as well as characters. It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can easily and quickly create a signboard or banner of any size. It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide a device capable of guaranteeing a beautiful outline without increasing noise even when characters and figures become large.

[0008]

According to the signboard producing apparatus of the present invention, an original image such as a desired character figure or the like to be drawn on a signboard is read by an image scanner, and this is stored for each pixel to extract a contour line. A joint point is determined from a contour line, a line segment between adjacent joint points is approximated by an appropriate function, the contour line and the function are stored, and character / graphic data corresponding to the original drawing is stored from the stored information. Is generated, output to a printer or cutting plotter, and characters and figures formed by enlarging the original drawing are drawn on a signboard medium.

A signboard medium is any flat medium such as paper, plastic, metal, cloth, foil, and the like. Characters and figures are written on this by a printer. In the case of a cutting plotter, paper, plastic, metal, foil, etc. can be cut out along its contour. A printer for an arbitrary large area such as a laser printer or a thermal printer is used.

[0010] It is the junction that plays a central role in the present invention. Extraction of junctions and function approximation are performed automatically. In order to obtain the junction and approximate the function, reading errors and noise by the image scanner are removed, and the image is corrected neatly. Therefore, the characters and figures drawn on the signboard media can faithfully reproduce the features of the original image. In the case of standard characters and numbers, the character font as the original image is read by an image scanner, and the data after contour line extraction, joint point extraction, and function approximation are performed.
In the storage device in the form of data. This is common data
Be prepared from the beginning.

That is, the signboard creating apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for creating a signboard of an arbitrary size composed of desired characters and figures, and optically converts desired characters and figures to be described on the signboard. And an image storage device for storing character / graphic data in correspondence with a finite number of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally, and a transport device for extracting contour lines of characters / graphics read in association with pixels arranged vertically and horizontally as a contour point sequence. A contour point sequence extracting device, a contour point sequence storage device for storing two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) of the extracted contour point sequence for each continuous group, and (X, Y) of the contour point sequence for each group ) Coordinates are approximated by a quadratic piecewise polynomial with t as an independent variable and x and y as dependent variables, and least squares approximation while increasing the number of dimensions of the quadratic piecewise polynomial until the approximation accuracy is within a predetermined range. To find an approximate polynomial for each group of contour points Data Fitting mechanism A and, from the approximate polynomial for each group of contour point sequence is approximated by a quadratic piecewise polynomial that the dependent variable was x and y the independent variables above t (x,
y) A curvature calculating mechanism for finding a curvature at each point of the contour point sequence for each group in space, a perfect circle extracting mechanism for extracting a perfect circle from the curvature data for each group, and a contour point sequence for removing the perfect circle. A joint position extraction mechanism that extracts a point having a curvature greater than a certain value from the curvature data as a joint point, and approximates a straight line and an arc in the order of a straight line and an arc between adjacent joint points in a sequence of points in the same group. If the predetermined approximation accuracy cannot be obtained, approximation is performed using a quadratic piecewise polynomial in which t is an independent variable and x and y are dependent variables, and a second-order classification is performed until the approximation accuracy falls within a predetermined value. Approximation B which repeats least squares approximation while increasing the number of dimensions of the geometric polynomial, and approximates a straight line, an arc, and a quadratic piecewise polynomial between adjacent junctions; A function that approximates the coordinates of the junctions and adjacent junctions for each group A compressed data storage device that stores parameters and the stored compressed data are input, and the parameters of a function that approximates the coordinates of the perfect circle data and the coordinates of the joining points for each group of point sequences and the adjacent joining points are obtained. A contour reproduction mechanism for reproducing the contour, a character / graphic reproduction mechanism for associating different values to pixels inside and outside the reproduced contour, and a character on the medium as reproduced characters / graphics・
And a reproduction data output mechanism for outputting a figure.

When a medium is cut out using a cutting plotter, the cutting plotter is operated by using the value of the contour reproducing mechanism to cut out the contours of characters and figures.

[0013]

FIG. 1 shows an outline of an example of a signboard producing apparatus according to the present invention. This is an image scanner for reading the original image,
It includes a computer for performing the above processing and a plotter for drawing characters and figures. This plotter is a cutting plotter for cutting a medium along a contour line. This is a case in which a cut sheet is attached to a flat plate to form a signboard. When a printer such as a thermal printer or a laser printer is used, a black or colored figure can be reproduced on paper, a plastic sheet, or a metal foil. Use any output depending on the application. Switching between the two is easy.

The size of a signboard or banner that can be created depends on the size of an existing output device. At present, a thermal printer capable of printing a printer having a width of 1 m or more is commercially available. By using this, a signboard having a width of 1 m or more can be easily and quickly created. However, the size limitation is not inherent in the present invention. The present invention can be used to reproduce characters and graphics of any size. What limits the size is the size of the printer or cutting plotter. If a printer having a large size is made, any signboard can be easily and quickly created by the present invention. What is important in the present invention is how to extract, store, and reproduce data defining a character / graphic.

FIG. 2 is a table showing the entire configuration of the present invention. Here, all the mechanisms are described in advance and explained one by one. A. Image storage device B. Contour point sequence extraction device C. Outline point sequence storage device D. Data approximation mechanism AE Curvature calculation mechanism E '. Approximate curvature storage device F. Perfect circle extraction mechanism G. Perfect circular storage device H. Junction point position extraction mechanism I. Junction point position storage device Data approximation mechanism B.O. Compressed data output mechanism Compressed data storage device Contour reproduction mechanism Character / graphic reproduction mechanism Reproduction data output mechanism

Characters and figures to be displayed on the signboard are the purpose, object,
It varies depending on the subject of display and the like. In some cases, fixed characters are used, and in other cases, special characters are used. It may be handwritten. Sometimes it contains figures and illustrations. The present invention can handle any characters and graphics. For example, the procedure will be briefly described for the symbol of the diode shown in FIG.

First, a figure of a diode written on paper is read by an image scanner (image reading device). This is the optical reading of characters and figures. Extracting the outline point sequence, which is a set of outlines, results in white characters and figures.
This is shown in FIG. Let the horizontal direction be the X axis and the vertical direction be the Y axis direction. Each point of the contour can be represented by two-dimensional coordinates. There are many continuous contour point sequences. These are treated independently.

Using the parameter display, the X and Y coordinates of the contour point are defined as functions of t. Since the contour point sequence is continuous, X
(T) and Y (t) are almost continuous functions with respect to t. Each contour point sequence group is approximated by a piecewise polynomial throughout. In the first approximation, one outline point sequence is approximated by one piecewise polynomial. This is to determine the curvature. The accuracy of the approximation may be low. Since a piecewise polynomial becomes a continuous function, the curvature is obtained by performing second order differentiation on each contour point sequence. A contour point sequence having a constant curvature is a perfect circle. This is separated as a perfect circle. The place where the curvature is large is the junction. In FIG. 3, crosses and curved points of the outline point sequence are marked with “x”. This is the junction.

The outline point sequence is divided by the joining points. Approximate a straight line, arc, or free curve between the joining points. The approximation is performed in the order of a straight line, an arc, and a free curve. First, approximate with a straight line. This can be expressed only by the starting point coordinates and the straight line. Next, it approximates with a circular arc. This can also be specified by the starting point, radius, and central angle. There is very little data to represent them.

When approximation cannot be made with a straight line or a circular arc, a free curve is approximated. In this case, the space between the joining points is divided into M subsections and approximated by a piecewise polynomial. If the number of subdivisions is increased, the approximation can be increased, so that an approximation with desired accuracy can be made.

In this manner, the parameters of the joint point, the straight line, the circular arc, and the free curve are obtained.
Stored as the data. According to the present invention, only a small memory capacity is required because the data is greatly compressed. The time required for reading is also short. Approximately 30 per character / graphic, depending on the number of strokes and complexity
Data of about 0 to 500 bytes is sufficient. If the image is still a black and white image, there is data for all pixels constituting the screen. For example, if there are 256 pixels in length and width, there are 8 kilobytes (kbytes), but the present invention can significantly compress data.

Conversely, the data can be read out to reproduce straight lines, circular arcs, and free curves based on the junction point.
It can be reproduced to any size and any position by calculation. Reproduction data is output by a cutting plotter. The thermal transfer sheet is cut along the contour.

[0023]

【Example】

[A. Image storage device] This is a device which reads characters and figures written on paper or the like by optical means and stores the information as decomposed for each pixel. A commercially available image scanner is used. The character / graphic portion is black, and the portion that does not constitute the character / graphic is white to form a binary image, which is stored for each pixel.

For example, 256 × using an image scanner
It is input with an accuracy of 256 dots. The number of dots is of course arbitrary, and the higher the number of dots, the higher the quality of what is stored as characters / graphics should be.However, if the number of dots is large, the calculation time and storage capacity will be large. May be used. When the number of dots is limited and the resolution is also determined, the reading size is limited. In this case, the entire screen is divided into a number of small areas, and data read in each of the small areas is separately processed and stored. At the time of reproduction, devise so that continuity can be ensured at the joint.

For each dot (pixel), whether it is a white pixel or a black pixel is distinguished and temporarily stored. Hereinafter, one pixel may be referred to as a dot. A continuous black pixel row is referred to as a dot row. In order to indicate a point, a coordinate (x, y) including a horizontal number x and a vertical number y of a pixel on the screen is used. Coordinate variables are distinguished by adding various suffixes.

[B. Contour Point String Extraction Apparatus] The contour point string extraction apparatus performs an operation of obtaining a contour line of a read character or figure. Since the coordinates of all black pixels are known,
An outline point sequence can be obtained as a boundary between a black pixel and a white pixel.

Expression of a contour point sequence A contour point sequence is a sequence of black pixels on the outer periphery of a cluster of black pixels that are connected to the left, right, up and down and obliquely. In the case of a closed curve element, there is a contour point sequence inside as well as outside. One closed point sequence is called a contour point sequence. Let U be the total number of contour point sequences. The U contour point sequences are numbered from 0 to U-1. Let the total number of contour points in the u-th contour point sequence be N (u)
Expressed by Number k is assigned to consecutive points in one contour point sequence.
Is attached. k is an integer of 0 to N (u) -1.

[0028] expressed by the u th k-th coordinate of the contour points of the contour point sequence _{^{(x k u, y k u}} ). All contour points are represented by _{^{{(x k u, y k}} u)} k = 0 N u -1 u = 0 U-1 (1). _{k = 0} ^{N u -1} because the point sequence number k
Can take on values from 0 to N (u) -1. N (u) -1 includes parentheses, which cannot be made into a quarter-square, so when it becomes a variable suffix, the parentheses are removed and written as Nu-1. N u -1 = N (u)
It is -1. Since it is a suffix, it should be written on the top and bottom, but since this is not possible, it is divided into lower left and upper right.
_{u = 0} ^U-1 means that the number u of the contour point sequence group takes a value of _{0 to} ^U-1 . The number u of the contour point sequence should be indicated by adding parentheses to the right shoulder of the variable. However, since the parentheses cannot be formed into a quarter square, the parentheses are omitted. In fact, parentheses are attached as shown in the drawing. It is not a variable raised to the power of u. This is common to the parameter t and the independent variables x and y. u is a group number and is written as it is on the right shoulder of the variable, but it is actually in parentheses.

[C. Contour Point Sequence Storage Device] The contour point sequence storage device is a device for storing the contour point sequence obtained in the preceding stage. (X
_k ^u, and stores this in the form of ^{_{y k u) k = 0 N}} u -1 u = 0 U-1. As described above, U is the number of all point sequences, and u is the number assigned to the point sequence. The number of points in the point sequence u is N (u)
And k is the point number assigned to this. Such things expressed by ^{_{k = 0 N u -1 u =}} 0 U-1. (X _k ^u, y _k
^u ) is the x, y coordinates of the kth point in the uth point sequence.
Again, if N (u) -1 is the suffix,
u -1 is written.

[D. Data approximation mechanism A] There are two data approximation mechanisms. This is the first one, but is appended with A to distinguish it. This is necessary in order to obtain a point having a large curvature of the outline point sequence and obtain a joint point. The x and y coordinates of the contour line sequence for each continuous group are approximated by a quadratic piecewise polynomial where t is an independent variable and x and y are dependent variables, and the least squares method is used until the approximation accuracy falls within a predetermined range. The approximation is repeated to obtain an approximate polynomial for each group of contour point sequences. This is not to obtain the final data but to obtain the junction. The coordinates of each contour point sequence are read from the contour point sequence storage device.

This is decomposed into parameter display. That for each point, the two _{^{(x k u, y k u}} ) is the corresponding common parameter t on. This also with a subscript and t _k ^u. Although it is two-dimensional information, it uses parametric variables to make this a one-dimensional problem. u is the group number of the contour point sequence,
k is the number of a point in one outline point sequence.

[0032] By using the parametric, (t _k ^u,
x _k ^u) and (t _k ^u, a combination of the two coordinate y _k ^u) corresponding to each point of each contour point sequence. Hereinafter, the same operation is performed for two variables, and only one of them will be described. Contour point sequence in the group ^{_{u (t k u, x k}} u) approximates the t function S _x
(T) is given as a linear combination based on a second-order full-energy function system { _m }. S _x (t) approximates x as a function of t in group u. Similarly, S _y
(T) approximates y in group u. The evaluation as to whether it is appropriate as an approximation function is made by checking whether the error is within a predetermined range by the least square method.

It should be noted that S _x (t), S _y
By (t), the entire closed curve of the outline point sequence group u is approximated at once. Instead of having a junction in the middle, the whole is approximated by one function S _x (t). This is because the junction has not been determined yet. As described above, there is a simpler method for obtaining the curvature without such approximation. It is the data of the contour point sequence.
In this method, the discrete curvature is obtained by directly using the data. In order to carry out the present invention, such a discrete curvature may be used. However, it is not described here, and the approximation function S _x
The generation of (t) and S _y (t) will be described.

S _x (t) is an aperiodic m-th order full-energy
Expand using the function 展開_k as a basis. _{S x (t) = Σ k} = -m M + m C k x ψ k (t) (2)

The full-energy function is a function name named by the present inventor. The degree m corresponds to the degree of the polynomial. M is the number of dimensions. In general, the m-th order full-energy function has a domain of [0, T], a parameter of k,
This parameter is represented with a suffix. C _k ^x
Is the coefficient of linear linear combination. ψ _k itself is a polynomial having a value near k.

Ψ_k (T) = 3 (T / M)^-mΣ_{q = 0} ^{m + 1}(-1)^q {T- (k + q) (T / M)} ^m ₊ / ｛Q! (M + 1-q)! ｝ (3)

Where k = −m, −m + 1,..., 0,
1,2, ..., m + M

The plus sign below the m-th power is 0 when the value in the parenthesis is negative and m-th when the value is positive, and is defined as follows.

(T−a) ^m ₊ = (t−a) ^m t> a, (4) 0 t ≦ a (5)

The basis function ψ _k is a chevron-shaped function having finite values from section numbers _{k to k} + m + 1 and having zero on both sides. This is 0 such as {t- (k + q) (T / M)} ^m ₊
The coordinates of the m-th order function that rises from are shifted one by one (q is increased one by one) and are superimposed. 0 when t> (k + m + 1) (T / M)
Must. Under this condition, the superimposition coefficient is (−1) ^q / ｛q! (M + 1-q)! It is determined as｝.

The size T of the area is the number N of points in the outline point sequence group.
Although it is easy to make it equal to (u), it may be defined as being proportional. As described above, the contour point sequence is approximated by using the full-energy function. However, since there are many division points having a T / M interval, the contour point sequence can be approximated without a joint point. To increase the degree of approximation, the order m of the full-energy function may be increased.

The inventor's claim is that many functions representing variations in physical quantities in the natural world are expressed as linear combinations of first-order and second-order full-energy functions. The full-ency function is not a complete orthogonal normalization function. If a function up to ∞ is adopted as m and a linear combination thereof is used, an arbitrary function can be expressed. This is no doubt. However, the present inventor does not say so, but it is possible to write down the variation of the physical quantity in the natural world with a full-energy function having a small number of dimensions. Here, only m = 2 is adopted.
As a result, contour lines such as characters and figures can be expressed without excess and deficiency.

If the most appropriate function system is adopted and the variation of the physical quantity is written by the linear combination, an optimal approximation can be obtained with the fewest functions. If the function system is not good, you have to expand the expression of linear combinations based on many functions. In this case, a good approximation cannot be obtained, and the number of final data increases, resulting in a heavy load on the storage device. Also, it is not easy to read and use this. You should choose the optimal function system. The present inventor thinks that m = 2 is optimal.

The inventor uses a full-energy function of m = 2 here. This is a quadratic curve over three sections. The rise and fall at both ends is a quadratic function. It is the maximum at the center point, but also a quadratic function in the vicinity.

In general, the m-th order full-energy function is (m +
1) A smooth (m ≧ 2) function that exists over the interval and has a maximum at the center. Both ends rise and fall to the m-th power. The function form at the center is also the m-th power. Baseψ
_When the parameter _k of k increases by one, it means that the original one has been translated to the right by one.

In the above equation, when m = 2,

[0047] _{S x (t) = Σ k} = -2 M + 2 C k x ψ k (t) (6)

Ψ _k (t) = 3 (T / M) ⁻² Σ _{q = 0} ³ (−1) ^q ｛t− (k + q) (T / M)｝ ² ₊ / ｛q! (3-q)! ｝ (7)

Is as follows. The basis function is Δt− (k + q) (T
/ M)} is a superposition of the quadratic function rising from four 0-shifted laterally by T / M is the ^two _+. The number of subdivisions is a function with values from k to k + 3. k + 3
As described above, since the constant is 0, the superimposition coefficient becomes (−
1) ^q / ｛q! (3-q)! It becomes｝. The number of basis functions is M + 5. M is the number of divisions of all sections, and this is called an approximate dimension number. This should not be confused with the order m of the fluency function.

As the number of dimensions M is increased, any complicated change can be approximated as such. If the number of dimensions M is large, the calculation takes time and the amount of data to be stored increases. It is desirable to perform the approximation with the minimum number of dimensions that can obtain the necessary approximation. The degree of approximation can be judged by this how the original contour point sequence _{^{(x k u, y k u}} ) that is closer to.
This is evaluated by the least squares method, which is

[0051] _{Q = Σ {S x (t} k u) -x k u} 2 + {S y (t k u) -y k u} 2 (8)

Is to be minimized. The range of integration is all points of the outline point sequence group u. Here, since the curvature is merely obtained, the accuracy need not be so high. The coefficient _Ch is determined, and the number of dimensions is M. When defining a certain M, equation (6), is uniquely determined coefficient C _h ^x (7). However, this coefficient does not always satisfy the restriction by the least squares method. In this case, the number of dimensions M is increased by one. And this in determining the coefficient C _h of the dimension number M reaches to the desired approximation range.

[E. Curvature operation mechanism] Since the approximate function has been obtained for all the contour point sequence groups, this is second-order differentiated to obtain the curvature at each contour point sequence group and each point. K-th point of the contour point sequence group ^{_{u (x k u, y k}} u) curvature at K (t _k ^u
)

K (t_k ^u ) = ｛S_x '(T_k ^u ) S_y '' (T_k ^u ) -S_x '' (T_k ^u ) S _y '(T_k ^u )｝ / ｛S_x '(T_k ^u )^Two + S_y '(T_k ^u )^Two ｝^3/2 (9)

Can be calculated by First u =
This calculation is started from the point k = 0 in the group of contour points 0. This calculation is performed for each point. That is, if the calculation can be performed for the k-th point, then the same calculation is performed for the (k + 1) -th point. When the calculation is completed for one outline point sequence group, the process moves to the next outline point sequence. Then, the curvatures are obtained for all the points in all the outline point sequences.

[E '. Approximate curvature memory] curvature K obtained in the previous stage of (t _k ^u) point (edge point sequence group u, the point number k) is a device for storing for each.

[F. Perfect circle extraction mechanism] This is to determine whether a certain contour point sequence is a perfect circle or not based on the approximate curvature and extract a perfect circle. A perfect circle means that the curvatures at each point in the outline point sequence are all equal.
Actually, since there is noise, the extraction is performed under the condition that the curvature is within a certain small error range from a certain value. Characters and figures have a lot of perfect circles. However, since the perfect circle mentioned here is about a contour line, it refers to an isolated perfect circle. If the part of the perfect circle is in cross contact with another straight line or curve, it is not extracted as a perfect circle. Extracting a perfect circle has the following advantages. In the first case, even if a circle that is originally a circle is slightly distorted due to noise, the data is converted into a true circle, so that the noise drops and the shape can be determined more accurately. Since a circle can be specified only by the coordinates of the radius and the center, it is extremely effective in data compression.

[G. Perfect circle storage device] Stores the center coordinates and radius r of the perfect circle obtained in the previous stage. Thus, the data of the group u can be described by three values. Since the target is a character / figure, all contour point sequences are closed curves. In the case of a single perfect circle, this is an isolated circle point because the entire inside is a circle filled with black pixels. In the case of a double perfect circle, the space between the double circles corresponds to a circle filled with black pixels.

[H. Joining Point Position Extraction Mechanism] The joining points include a joint between a straight line and a straight line, a joint between a curve and a curve, a joint between a straight line and a curve, and the like. Since the lines with different gradients come into contact, this is called a junction. Joint points play a very important role when approximating functions of characters and figures. Here is the gist of the present invention. The present invention can minimize the amount of data while maintaining high quality of characters and graphics through accurate and appropriate determination of the joining point.

A joining point is obtained from the curvature given by the approximate expression of the previous piecewise polynomial. This is determined as a point having a large curvature. Join points are obtained for all contour point sequences. In the schematic diagram of the diode in FIG. 3, the joining points are indicated by x. There are a total of three contour lines, including an outer circular contour line Y, an inner contour line, and a contour line. Although there are eight junctions of the outer contour line Y, only the upper half is marked. Tsu-ne is a short line segment, ne-na is a semicircular arc, na-ra is a short line segment, and tu-fu is a short arc or free curve. Since the inner contours ソ and ソ are symmetrical, レ will be described. M to U are line segments, U to ヰ are line segments, and ヰ to No are line segments, but they are curved near No and are free curves. No-o is a line segment, ok is a line segment, ku-
"Ya" is a line segment, "yama" is a line segment, and "ma" is a semicircular arc. This also has many straight lines. Then there are many arcs. Geometrically, both ends of a line segment are determined, and a straight line is a figure without both ends. In this specification, a line segment and a half line are also called straight lines.

[I. Joint position storage device] This is the joint number and coordinates ｛d _i (x _i ^u , y _i) determined by the above operation.
^u )｝ is stored.

[N. [Data approximation mechanism B] Then, when the joining point is determined, the outline point sequence is divided into several sections by the joining point. The section divided by the junction is approximated by a piecewise polynomial. The approximation of this piecewise polynomial is the same as that described above for the data approximation mechanism A, but in the previous one the approximation interval spanned the entire contour point sequence group. This time, instead, a piecewise polynomial approximation is performed for each junction. The data approximation mechanism B is a mechanism for approximating data from data such as a contour point sequence, a final joint point, and a perfect circle obtained so far. It is a central part of the present invention. Which is input from the respective storage device contour point string storage device ...... contour point sequence ^{_{{(x k u, y k}} u)}
^{_{k = 0 N u -1 = 0}} U-1 junction position storage ...... junction ^{_{{(x i u, y i}} u)
_{i = 0} ^I-1 perfect circle storage device ... circle Circle (u)

Is as follows. A straight line, an arc, and a free curve are approximated between two adjacent joining points (between the joining points). As in the previous approximation, the x component is converted to s _x (t) using the parameter t.
, The y component is represented by s _y (t).

First, the entire contour point sequence is defined as a parameter t.
This is the same method as expressed in. But this time, since the region is between the junctions, the range of t and t and s _x
The correspondence between (t) and s _x (t) is different from the previous one. Whether the section starting from a certain junction is a section of a straight line, a section of an arc, or a section of a free curve is known when the curvature is obtained at each point.

Since the properties of the sections can be distinguished in this way, it is easy to determine the parameters for the approximate calculation. [Approximation of Straight Line Section] Approximation of a section starting from a junction of straight lines will be described. It is determined to be a straight line in the extraction stage of the joint point.

The proportional constant between the parameter t and s _x (t), s _y (t) becomes a parameter. However, this proportionality constant does not need to be stored. Start point (x ₁ , y ₁ ) if it is a straight section
If the end point ( _xn3 , _yn3 ) is known, a straight line may be drawn between them. The end point (x _n3 , y _n3 ) is given as the start point of the next section, and need not be stored here. It is only necessary to set a flag that is a straight line with the start point coordinates.

[Approximation of Arc Section] The approximation of the section starting from the junction of the arcs will be described. This section is determined to be a circular arc at the point of joint point extraction. The approximate curves s _x (t) and s _y (t) representing the arc are expressed by the following linear combination of trigonometric functions. If the observation interval is t 区間 [0, T],
s _x (t) and s _y (t) are

S_x (T) = A_xcos (2πt / (T / n_arc )) + B_x sin (2πT / (T / n _arc )) + C_x (10)

S_y (T) = A_ycos (2πt / (T / n_arc )) + B_y sin (2πT / (T / n _arc )) + C_y (11)

Is represented by n _arc is the ratio of the arc to the total circle. That is, it is a value obtained by dividing the central angle of the arc by 360 degrees. For example, in the case of a _quadrant , n _arc is 1/4
It is. Therefore, 2πn _arc is the central angle of this arc. The variable 2πt / (T / n _arc ) is the central angle from the starting point of the arc to the point corresponding to the parameter t. (C _x , C
_y ) is the coordinates of the center of the arc. At this time,

A _x ² + B _x ² = A _y ² + B _y ² (12)

[0072] _{B y / A y = B x} / A x (13)

If the above holds, the approximation function becomes an arc. In this case, parameter defines an arc - data each coefficient A _x of the function, B _x, is _{C x, A y, B y} , C y, n arc. If it is known from the beginning that this section is a circular arc, such parameters can be uniquely determined from the coordinates of the start and end points, the curvature and the coordinates of one point in the middle.

[Approximation of Free Curve] Even at the junction of straight lines,
A section starting from a junction that is not a junction of arcs is approximated by a free curve. Although represented by the parameter t, the outline point sequence is (x _i3
^u , y _i3 ^u ), and corresponding to t,
(T _i3 ^u , x _i3 ^u ) and (t _i3 ^u , y _i3 ^u ) are used as parameters. Until now, the suffix of the contour point sequence was k. However, since k is used as the section number of the section, i3 is used as the contour point sequence number instead of k. Then, the total number of contour point sequences is set to n3.

Then, s _x (t) and s _y (t) are developed using the quadratic full-energy function ψ _k3 as the base. This is 3
A function that has a value in only one subdivision. The interval is [0,
T], the quadratic full-energy function ψ _k3 is an M-dimensional functional system

Ψ _k3 (t) = 3 (T / M) ^-2 _{= 0 q = 0} ³ (−1) ^q (t−ξ _{k + q} ) ² ₊ / {(q! (3-q)!)} (14) k = −2, −1, 0, 1, 2,... M + 2

Is as follows. Using this as the base, s _x (t _i3 ), s
_y (t _i3 ) is calculated using the coefficients c _k ^x and c _k ^y .

S _x (t _i3 ) = Σ _{k = −2} ^{M + 2} c _k ^x ψ _k3 (t _i3 ) (15)

[0079] _{s y (t i3) = Σ} k = -2 M + 2 c k y ψ k3 (t i3) (16)

Are expressed as follows. here,

When t> ξ _{k + q} (t−ξ _{k + q} ) ² ₊ = (t−ξ _{k + q} ) ² (17)

When t ≦ ξ _{k + q} (t−ξ _{k + q} ) ² ₊ = 0 (18)

Is defined as ξ _{k + q} is _defined as
It is a subdivision when divided equally.

Ξ _{k + q} = (k + q) T / M (19)

The coefficients c _k ^x and c _k ^y are defined as the values (x _i3
^u , y _i3 ^u ), s _x (t _i3 ), and s _y (t _i3 ) are determined to approximate one. Determine the value of the coefficient by the least squares method. The square error Q is

Q = Σ _{i3 = 1} ⁿ³ | x _i3 ^u −s _x (t _i3 ) | ² −Σ _{i3 = 1} ⁿ³ | y _i3 ^u −s _y (t _i3 ) | ² (20)

Is defined by (15), (16)
By solving in reverse, the coefficient can be determined. A square error is obtained by inserting this coefficient. If this does not fall below a predetermined threshold, the number of dimensions is increased. The same is repeated so that the square error is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Thereby, the number of dimensions and the coefficient are determined.

[O. Compressed Data Output Mechanism] The outlines of characters and figures have been separated into straight lines (line segments), true circles, circular arcs, and free curves by the above procedure. These have a starting point and an ending point, and have parameters such as inclination, center, and radius. The data to be stored differs depending on the type.

In the case of straight line data, a flag indicating a straight line and the coordinates of the starting point of the straight line are stored as data. Since the end point coordinates are given as the start point of the next section, there is no need to store them here.

In the case of the perfect circle data, the data can be obtained directly from the perfect circle storage device G. This has already been selected by the first data approximation mechanism A. In the case of a perfect circle, the flag indicating the perfect circle, the center coordinates of the circle, and the radius of the circle are provided.
Stored as data.

As the arc data, a flag indicating an arc, the coordinates of the starting point of the arc, the arc division length (arc length / perimeter),
Stores the number of contour points and function coefficients. De of free curve - The data, dimensionality of the function, the contour points, the middle point (μ _x, μ _y) of the variation of the contour point sequence and the coefficient of the function c ^x, stores c ^y.

[P. Compressed data storage device] Stores data such as straight lines, perfect circles, circular arcs, and free curves output from the compressed data output mechanism. This is output at an appropriate time after being stored. Up to this point, the data is compressed and generated and stored. Hereinafter, an apparatus for reproducing characters and graphics from accumulated data will be described. Table 1 shows the data structure stored in the compressed data storage device P.

[0093]

[Table 1]

The size of the data will be described. If a straight line exists between the joining points, one byte is used for the flag indicating the straight line, and two bytes are used for indicating the start point of the line segment (x coordinate and y coordinate).
Requires a total of 3 bytes. When the arc between the joining points is an arc, the flag indicating the arc is 1 byte, and the start point of the arc is 2 bytes.
4 bytes to represent the arc center angle, 1 byte to represent the number of contour points, 1 to represent the approximate function coefficients (there are 6)
A total of 20 bytes are required for 2 bytes. In the case of a free curve between the joining points, 1 byte is used to represent the dimension number M of the function, 1 byte is used as the number of contour points, 2 bytes is used to represent the center of variation of the contour points, and 2M is used to represent the coefficient of the approximate function. Bytes, 4 in total
+2 Mbytes.

A contour reproduction mechanism R, a character / graphic reproduction mechanism S, and a reproduction data output mechanism T described below are mechanisms for reproducing characters / graphics to an arbitrary size and outputting them to a cutting plotter.

[R. Contour Reproduction Mechanism] This is a mechanism for reproducing a contour to be a skeleton of a character or a figure from stored compressed data. The contour may be a straight line, a perfect circle, an arc, or a free curve.

[Reproduction of Straight Line] Reproduction of a straight line is performed by connecting a straight line from the coordinates of the starting point to the coordinates of the joining point in the next section. No data regarding the inclination of the straight line is required. [Reproduction of Perfect Circle] Reproduction of a perfect circle is performed by drawing a circle having a given radius around the center coordinates from data of the coordinates and the radius of the center. [Reproduction of circular arc] Reproduction of circular arc is performed by storing the stored data (A _x , B _x ,...).
・) Is substituted into the following equation.

S _x (t) = A _x cos ｛2πt / (T / n _arc )｝ + B _x sin ｛2πt / (T / n _arc )｝ + C _x (21)

S _y (t) = A _y cos ｛2πt / (T / n _arc )｝ + B _y sin ｛2πt / (T / n _arc )｝ + C _y (22)

The x and y coordinates are obtained from S _x (t) and S _y (t) by changing the parameter t in the interval [0 to T].

[Reproduction of Free Curve] The value of the basis ψ _K3 of the approximation function at each sample point t _i is such that the sample point t _i has an interval [(L
-1) (T / M), L (T / M)] (1 ≦ L
≦ M), with _{p = L-t i × M} / T,

Ψ _k (t _i ) = 0.5p ² k = L (23) ψ _k (t _i ) = p (1−p) +0.5 k = L + 1 (24) ψ _k (t _i ) = 0 .5 (p-1) ² k = L + 2 (25) ψ _k (t _i ) = 0 k ≦ L−1, L + 3 ≦ k (26) Here, L is a natural number of dimensions M or less. It should be written as M 'because they have the same property, but since' does not become a quarter angle, it is represented by L.

Using such a basis ψ _K3 , the approximate function value S (t _i ) at each sample point is

S (t _i ) = Σ _{k = L} ^{L + 2} C _k ψ _k3 (t _i ) (27)

Is obtained by

[S. Character / Graphic Reproduction Mechanism] Since the outline has been obtained, the portion surrounded by the outline is used as a black pixel, and a black-and-white binary image is reproduced in a character / graphic shape. Or, conversely, the portion surrounded by the outline can be white pixels, and the rest can be black pixels. Further, a portion surrounded by the outline may be set to a certain color, and another portion may be set to another color.
In short, it suffices that the inside and outside of the contour can be distinguished.
This step is omitted when outlines are output and the sheet is cut by a cutting plotter.

[T. Reproduction Data Output Mechanism] There are roughly two cases. One is a printer. Since characters / graphics are obtained as reproduction data, they are printed. This is an enlarged reproduction of the original character / graphic. In this case, the character / figure reproducing mechanism S at the preceding stage uses
Reproduce characters and graphics on paper, plastic sheets, metal plates, cloth, etc. Several existing printers are available.
For example, Rico-SP8, Rico-Imagio MF530 and the like can be used. If a printer capable of outputting on a larger paper or sheet appears, the utility of the present invention is further increased.

The other is a data output mechanism for cutting out a contour line. The cutting plotter corresponds to this. For example, only the portion of the plastic sheet attached to the mount is cut out with high precision. Characters except for unnecessary parts
Obtain the sheet part of the figure shape. This is affixed to a suitable base plate to remove the release paper, and used as a signboard. Not only sheets but also metal plates and metal foils can be cut out. This cuts out the contour line by the data of the contour reproducing mechanism R. For example, a cutting plotter of ROMM's CAMM-1 series, a cutting plotter HS460, GS460, SP-920 of MUTOH, etc. can be used.

FIG. 1 shows the actual mechanism of the present invention, in which an image scanner, a personal computer and a cutting plotter are illustrated. The mechanism for data processing described above is housed in a custom IC fixed to a printed circuit board.
It is not simply installed on a personal computer as software. According to the present invention, since the original image is stored in the form of the coordinates of the joining points and the coefficients, the original image can be enlarged to an arbitrary magnification. Also, the center can be arbitrarily specified for the coordinates.
Therefore, it is possible to output an arbitrary design character / graphic at an arbitrary size. That is, a sheet of a desired size can be cut out without being limited by the size of the original image.

FIG. 4 shows a kanji “signboard master” and the corresponding Alfet on the signboard. This can be made by cutting out the sheet with a cutting plotter, or by drawing it on continuous paper or plastic with a printer.
What limits the size is the size of the cutting plotter or printer. If you have a large printer or cutting plotter, you can make as many large signs as you like.

FIG. 5 shows a signboard with the character "XX Corporation Commemorative Ceremony" created by the apparatus of the present invention. This can also be created by cutting out with a cutting plotter or by printing a long sheet with a printer. It can be used as a signboard for ceremonies in large conference rooms such as hotels. It is a short-lived signboard that can be thrown away for only one day. Fonts are often fixed. Even such a thing requires considerable production cost at present. The device of the present invention makes such a simple sign very easily. The present invention is effective because there is much demand.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a signboard composed of Chinese characters of "Chuo Bank" created by the apparatus of the present invention. It is suspended on the side of the building wall. It can be created by cutting and pasting a plastic sheet with a cutting plotter. Many cutting plotters capable of cutting hard plastic have already been made. It is also possible for the character portion to be a thin metal plate.

FIG. 7 shows “Chugin cash service”.
It is a sign that expresses the letters. This is a display attached near the cash dispenser. This can also be easily made. It uses a standard character font, but can easily represent any handwritten character.

FIG. 8 shows a display of "Taxis-hall". There are cars as well as letters. This can also be easily input and output by the device of the present invention. In the case of a signboard including a figure, the advantages of the present invention can be fully demonstrated.

FIG. 9 is a display of the reception INFORMATION placed on the table near the entrance of the company. This is obtained by cutting and pasting a plastic sheet. A special cutting plotter can be used to engrave a plastic base plate.

FIG. 10 shows a signboard for "congratulations on graduation" created by the apparatus of the present invention. This is a signboard that is pasted on a sales floor such as a department store. The characters are ingenious. This is an image processing of a handwritten character as it is. Even when enlarged, the outline is not disturbed. A sharp ridgeline can be maintained. Since such an arbitrary graphic can be freely reproduced, the contents of graphic characters and the like that can be used as a signboard become extremely rich. Signs and advertisements that are effective in raising customers' motivation to purchase can be created quickly and easily.

FIG. 11 shows a signboard called “Wisdom System CHIE” made by the apparatus of the present invention. This is a plastic sheet cut out by a cutting plotter. Kanji is handwritten. CHIE is also specially designed. If there is only one original picture, it can be stored by compressing the data using the method of the present invention. It is easy to output this with the method of the present invention to create such a display.

Not only the hard signboard as described above,
According to the present invention, a banner as long as 10 m can be easily formed. This is a very useful and useful invention.

[0119]

According to the present invention, various characters such as character fonts and original images such as handwriting are optically read, stored as a small amount of data, and output to a printer or a cutting plotter. Characters and figures in the desired typeface can be displayed on a large signboard. Calligraphy eliminates the need for skilled craftsmen. A signboard containing handwritten characters and figures can be made without relying on the hands of such craftsmen.

More importantly, a large number of various character fonts can be stored.
Since data is stored using compressed data, the storage capacity required for each character is extremely small. There is no need to actually have a prototype. Since it is housed in the form of compressed data in a computer storage device, the size can be increased arbitrarily quickly, so that it is not necessary to prepare several molds of different sizes.
The present invention is particularly effective in the case of creating a signboard or banner including a graphic. You only need to write one small figure. Since this is stored in the storage device as compressed data, a figure of any size can be automatically created from this.

[0121] Enlarged copy can be performed even with currently used copy machines.
Can be. This would make it easy to make it as large as it can be pasted on a sign if it is expanded many times. However, the invention is not merely an enlarged copy. When the enlargement copy is repeated many times, many jaggies appear on the ridgeline. If the screen becomes dirty, it will spread. If the original drawing has line irregularities, it will be magnified many times and will stain the drawing. The noise increases and it becomes useless. In addition, a large amount of time and paper are consumed for the enlarged copy. According to the present invention, a straight line or an arc is approximated between joint points, and a complete circle is extracted first. For this reason, straight lines and circular arcs that were originally distorted due to noise are correctly corrected. It is stored as a graphic element as defined by the geometry. No matter how much you enlarge, the line will not be disturbed.
You can reproduce clear lines. It has never been known before.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an actual mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the entire mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining extraction of a contour point sequence and extraction of a joint point using a figure of a diode as an example.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example in which a kanji and an alphabet “signboard master” are displayed on a signboard using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which the character “XX Corporation Commemorative Ceremony” is embossed and made into a sign using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which a vertical kanji signboard called “Chuo Bank” is created using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example in which a signboard with the letters “Chugin Cash Service” is created using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which a signboard called “Taxis-landing” is created using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the “reception INFORMATI” using the apparatus of the present invention.
The figure which shows the example which created the desk card "ON".

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which a signboard “Congratulations on graduation sale” is created using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the system wisdom CHI using the apparatus of the present invention.
The figure which shows the example which created the signboard of "E". "

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical indication location G09F 15/00 G06F 15/70 335Z (56) References JP-A-5-143725 (JP, A) JP-A-5-282440 (JP, A) JP-A-5-35871 (JP, A) JP-A-5-257447 (JP, A) JP-A-4-14094 (JP, A) JP-A-64-44758 (JP, A) JP-A-63-303473 (JP, A) JP-A-4-153695 (JP, A) JP-A-1-282684 (JP, A) JP-A-64-53272 (JP, A) JP-A-59-191667 (JP, A) JP-A-2-29782 (JP, A) JP-A-2-60324 (JP, A) JP-A-6-348837 (JP, A) Compression ", IEICE (D), vol. J70-D, no. 6, pp 1164-1172 (1987) "Spline functions and their applications", Educational Publishing (1979) "Handwritten character / Hiragana recognition using relaxation matching method by curve approximation", IEICE (D-11), vol. . J73-D-11, no. 9, pp 1448-1457, (1990)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device for creating any size signboard consisting desired characters, figures and the like, reads the desired characters and graphics to be described in (a) Signs optically, character- An image storage device for storing graphic data in association with a finite number of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally, and (b) characters and / or characters read in association with pixels arranged vertically and horizontally.
A contour point sequence extracting device for extracting a contour line of a figure as a contour point sequence; and (c) a contour point sequence storage device for storing two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) of the extracted contour point sequence for each continuous group. And (d) the (X, Y) coordinates of the contour point sequence for each group are represented by t
Is an independent variable and x and y are dependent variables.
Approximate by the term formula, and use the second order section until the approximation accuracy is within the specified range.
Least-squares approximation while increasing the number of dimensions of the fractional polynomial
And a data approximation mechanism A for obtaining an approximate polynomial for each group of contour point sequences; and (e) x is a dependent variable and x and y are dependent variables.
Group-wise approximation of contour point sequence approximated by a quadratic piecewise polynomial
A curvature calculation device for obtaining a curvature at each point of the contour point sequence for each group in (x, y) space from the polynomial, and the true circle extraction mechanism for extracting a perfect circle from the data of the curvature of each group (f), ( g) A certain point is obtained from the curvature data of the contour point sequence excluding the perfect circle.
A junction position extraction mechanism for extracting a point having a curvature value greater than a junction, (h) a straight line between the contact consent the sequence of points within the same group adjacent approximated by an arc of the order, in which When a predetermined approximation accuracy is not obtained
Come approximates was the independent variable t x and y in secondary <br/> piecewise polynomial as the dependent variable, increasing the number of dimensions of the second-order piecewise polynomial until approximation accuracy is within a predetermined value by repeating the least-squares approximation to a straight line between adjacent junctions, arcs, data approximation mechanism for approximating by a quadratic piecewise polynomial B
If, stored (i) a circularity data, and the compressed data memory device for storing the parameters of the function that approximates between junction points adjacent to the junction points of the coordinates for each group of point sequence, (j) have entered the compressed data, the outline reproducing mechanism for reproducing the contour to obtain the parameters of the function that approximates between junction adjacent to the coordinates of the junction of each group of circularity data and point sequence, (k) A character / figure reproducing mechanism for associating different values to the pixels inside and outside the reproduced outline, and (l) reproduction data for outputting characters / graphics on the medium as reproduced characters / graphics A signboard producing apparatus, comprising: an output mechanism. 2. Any size consisting of desired characters, figures, etc.
(A) optically reading desired characters / graphics to be written on a signboard;
Taking,Characters and graphics data are arranged in a finite number of pixels vertically and horizontally.
And (b) characters and / or characters read in association with pixels arranged in rows and columns.
Contour point sequence extraction device that extracts outlines of figures as contour point sequences
(C) the extracted contourDot sequenceTwo-dimensional coordinates (X, Y)
A contour point sequence storage device for storing for each successive group; (d)The (X, Y) coordinates of the contour point sequence for each group are represented by t
Is an independent variable and x and y are dependent variables.
Approximate by the term formula, and use the second order section until the approximation accuracy is within the specified range.
Least-squares approximation while increasing the number of dimensions of the fractional polynomial
Returns the approximate polynomial for each group of contour pointsNear data
Similar mechanism A, (e)Let t be an independent variable and x and y be dependent variables
Group-wise approximation of contour point sequence approximated by a quadratic piecewise polynomial
From the polynomial, (x, y)Group in spaceEveryofContourEach point in the sequence
A curvature calculation mechanism for finding a curvature atEveryCircle extraction to extract the perfect circle from the curvature data
(G)Contour excluding perfect circleFrom the curvature data of the point sequenceOne
Has a curvature greater than the fixed valueExtract points as junctions
(H) in the same groupPoint sequenceadjacentContactMeeting pointofStraight line, circle between
Approximate in the order of the arc,This does not provide the required approximation accuracyWhen
ComeIs,t is the independent variableagexWheny is the dependent variableSecondary
Approximate by piecewise polynomial,Until the approximation accuracy is within the specified value
soSecondaryAt least two while increasing the number of dimensions of the piecewise polynomial
Iterative approximation,adjacentDoJunctionofStraight line, circle between
Arc,SecondaryData approximation mechanism approximated by piecewise polynomialB
And (i)True circle data,Group of point sequenceEveryAt the joint point
Mark and adjacentDoJunctionofBetween the parameters of the function that approximates
And (j) inputting the stored compressed data., True circle data andpoint
Group of columnsEveryCoordinates and neighbors ofDoJunctionBetweenApproximate
FunctionofContour reproduction that reproduces contours by obtaining parameters
And (m) a signboard along the outline of the reproduced character / graphic.
And a playback data output mechanism for cutting the sheet to be cut.
And a signboard creating apparatus.