JP4810853B2 - Character image cutting device, character image cutting method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for always accurately and correctly segmenting image data showing each character from image data showing hand written characters by different writers. <P>SOLUTION: A shape characteristic specifying section 1014 specifies the shape characteristic of a character image showing each character written in a square, and stores it as shape characteristic data 1023 in a storage section 102. A second character image recognition section 1016 takes, as a segment, a candidate of the character image showing one character from an image showing a character string written in a free space. The second character image recognition section 1016 compares the shape characteristic of the taken segment with the shape characteristic shown by the shape characteristic data 1023, and determines whether or not the segment is segmented as a character image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a character image clipping technique used for character recognition processing.

  By comparing the feature points extracted from the image data indicating characters with the feature points of characters registered in advance in the database, the characters indicated by the image data are recognized, and text data indicating the recognized characters is generated. There is technology.

In the character recognition process as described above, when image data indicates a plurality of characters, it is necessary to cut out image data indicating each character from the image data. That is, it is necessary to specify which of the continuous on-pixel groups included in the image data constitutes one character. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose such character image segmentation techniques.
JP-A-9-81684 JP 11-224310 A

  In the case of the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, there is a high possibility that image data indicating each character is correctly cut out when the aspect ratio of the character indicated by the image data is within a predetermined range. . However, since the shape characteristics of handwritten characters vary depending on the writer, in the case of the conventional technique, it is difficult to correctly cut out image data indicating each character with high accuracy with respect to characters by all the writers.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention relates to handwritten characters by different writers, and an object thereof is to provide means for cutting out image data indicating each character correctly and with high accuracy from image data indicating the handwritten character.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides image data acquisition means for acquiring first image data indicating an image and second image data indicating a second image, and an image indicated by the first image data. shape characteristics of the recognized character image and the first character image recognition means for recognizing a portion of the respective squares are arranged in a predetermined square area as a character image indicating a character, by the first character image recognition unit of And a second character image for recognizing a part of the image indicated by the second image data as a character image indicating one character, using the shape characteristic specified by the shape characteristic specifying unit. There is provided a character image cutting device comprising: a recognizing unit; and an output unit that outputs image data indicating a character image recognized by the second character image recognizing unit.

In a preferred aspect, the character image cutting device cuts out a component image showing a character component for each character image recognized by the first character image recognition means, and identifies a circumscribed figure circumscribing the component image. A first classification unit that classifies the character image into any of a plurality of types using the circumscribed figure, and extracts a part of the image indicated by the second image data as a character image candidate indicating one character, A second classifying unit that identifies a circumscribed figure circumscribing the extracted image, and classifies the character image candidate into one of the plurality of types using the circumscribed figure, and the shape characteristic identifying unit includes: identify the shape characteristics of the circumscribed figure is the first classifying means was identified, the second character image recognition means, a shape characteristic of a circumscribed figure of the character image candidates extracted by the second classifying means, the type A specified shape characteristics by characteristic identifying unit, circumscribing the component image of the classified character image by the first classifying means into the same category as the type candidate of the character image is classified by the second classification means It may be configured to determine whether or not the character image candidate is recognized as a character image indicating one character by comparing the shape characteristics of the circumscribed figure to be recognized.

  In another preferable aspect, the shape characteristic specifying unit of the character image cutting device includes an aspect ratio of the character image recognized by the first character image recognizing unit or each of a plurality of portions constituting the character image. The aspect ratio may be specified as the shape characteristic.

  In another preferable aspect, the shape characteristic specifying unit of the character image cutting device includes a slope of the character image recognized by the first character image recognition unit or each of a plurality of portions constituting the character image. The inclination may be specified as the shape characteristic.

  In another preferred embodiment, the character image cutting device is represented by an image and storage means for storing standard shape characteristic data indicating a standard character shape characteristic or a standard character shape characteristic. A character recognizing unit for recognizing a character, wherein the second character image recognizing unit takes out a part of an image indicated by the second image data as a character image candidate indicating one character, and the character recognizing unit Recognizing a character presumed to be indicated by the character image extracted by the second character image recognizing means, wherein the second character image recognizing means includes the character of the standard shape characteristic data stored in the storage means; A character recognized by the recognition means, a character having a shape similar to the character recognized by the character recognition means, and a constituent part of the character, and recognized by the character recognition means. A correction made in accordance with the shape characteristic specified by the shape characteristic specifying means with respect to the shape characteristic indicated by the standard shape characteristic data relating to at least one of the constituent parts having a shape similar to the formed character, and the character It may be configured to determine whether or not the character image candidate is recognized as a character image indicating one character by comparing the shape characteristics of the image candidate.

  Moreover, this invention provides the character image cutting method performed in the said character image cutting device in any one of the said. Furthermore, the present invention provides a program that causes a computer to execute a process similar to the process performed by any one of the character image cutting apparatuses described above.

  According to the present invention, when an image showing each character is cut out from an image showing a handwritten character written in a seamless area, the shape characteristic of the handwritten character written by the same writer is used. As a result, the image showing each character is correctly cut out with high accuracy.

[1. First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a character recognition system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The character recognition system 1 includes a character image cutting device 10 that cuts out and transmits image data indicating each character from image data indicating a plurality of characters, and optically reads a figure or a character written on a paper surface, A scanner 11 that transmits image data indicating graphics and characters in black and white to the character image cutting device 10, and text data indicating characters recognized by performing character recognition processing on the image data transmitted from the character image cutting device 10. A character recognition device 12 for generation is provided.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an entry form on which a reading process is performed by the scanner 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the entry form includes a name field and address field in which an area in which each character is to be written is designated by a square, and a free entry field without a square. In these entry fields, handwritten character strings are entered by the writer. The scanner 11 generates image data indicating graphics and characters described on the entry form, and transmits the generated image data to the character image cutting device 10.

  The character image cutting device 10 stores a control unit 101 that controls the components of the character image cutting device 10, a program that instructs various processes by the control unit 101, and various data, and is used as a work area for the control unit 101. The storage unit 102 is provided. Hereinafter, processing performed by the control unit 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

  The control unit 101 includes an image data input unit 1011 that receives image data from the scanner 11. The image data input unit 1011 stores the image data received from the scanner 11 as image data 1021 in the storage unit 102 (step S1). The image data 1021 is a collection of pixel data corresponding to pixels arranged at equal intervals on a plane, and each pixel data is either on-pixel data indicating black or off-pixel data indicating white.

  The control unit 101 identifies an area occupied by each square (hereinafter referred to as “square area”) and an area occupied by a free entry field (hereinafter referred to as “free entry area”) from the image indicated by the image data 1021. An area specifying unit 1012 is provided. For example, the region specifying unit 1012 performs a thinning process on the image data 1021 and then performs a feature point extraction process. The feature points mean, for example, end points, intersections, bending points, and the like of the on pixels after the thinning process. The area specifying unit 1012 specifies a straight line portion from the extracted feature points, and recognizes a region surrounded by the specified straight line portion as a check box area or a free entry field area. The area specifying unit 1012 stores area data 1022 indicating each recognized cell area and free entry field area in the storage unit 102 (step S2).

  The control unit 101 includes a first character image recognition unit 1013 that extracts an image included in the grid area. The first character image recognizing unit 1013 extracts a pixel data group included in each of the grid areas indicated by the area data 1022 from the image data 1021, and converts the extracted on-pixel data group into an image indicating one character (hereinafter, “ It is recognized as image data (hereinafter referred to as “character image data”) indicating “character image” (step S3).

  The control unit 101 includes a shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 that specifies the aspect ratio and the inclination of the character image. The first character image recognition unit 1013 delivers the character image data to the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014. Upon receiving the character image data from the first character image recognition unit 1013, the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 specifies a parallelogram that has an upper base and a lower base extending in the horizontal direction and circumscribes the character image indicated by the character image data. To do. When there are a plurality of parallelograms circumscribing the character image, the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 selects, for example, the one having the smallest area among the parallelograms. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the parallelogram specified by the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 circumscribes each character image written in the grid area.

  The shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 writes the average value of the ratio (x / y) of the height x of the parallelogram circumscribing each character image to the length y of the upper base (or lower base) in the square area. The aspect ratio of the character image group is calculated. In addition, the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 uses the average value of the angle of the left (or right) side of the parallelogram circumscribing each character image as the inclination of the character image group written in the cell area. calculate. The shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 stores data indicating the calculated aspect ratio and inclination in the storage unit 102 as shape characteristic data 1023 (step S4).

  The control unit 101 includes a line image recognition unit 1015 that cuts out an image indicating a character string of each line (hereinafter referred to as “line image”) from an image included in the free entry field area. First, the line image recognition unit 1015 extracts the on-pixel data included in the free entry column area indicated by the area data 1022 from the image data 1021, scans the horizontal distribution of the extracted pixel data in the vertical direction, A range in the vertical direction in which the on-pixel data exceeds a predetermined threshold is specified. The pixel data group included in the range thus specified is image data indicating a row image (hereinafter referred to as “row image data”) (step S5).

  The control unit 101 includes a second character image recognition unit 1016 that extracts a character image indicating each character from the line image. The line image recognition unit 1015 delivers the line image data to the second character image recognition unit 1016. When the second character image recognition unit 1016 receives the line image data, the leftmost pixel among the on pixels included in the line image indicated by the received line image data is set as the starting pixel, and the on pixel continuous to the starting pixel. Take out the group. Hereinafter, the on-pixel group thus extracted is referred to as a “first segment” (step S6).

  Subsequently, the second character image recognition unit 1016 specifies the parallelogram circumscribing the first segment in the same manner as when the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 performs the character image in the grid area, and the specified parallelogram The aspect ratio and inclination of the shape are calculated (step S7). The second character image recognition unit 1016 determines that the ratio of the calculated aspect ratio to the aspect ratio indicated by the shape characteristic data 1023 and the ratio of the calculated inclination to the inclination indicated by the shape characteristic data 1023 are both within a predetermined range. (For example, 0.8 to 1.2) is determined. Hereinafter, this determination is referred to as “shape characteristic determination” (step S8).

  When the second character image recognition unit 1016 obtains a positive result in the shape characteristic determination regarding the first segment (step S8: Yes), the image of the inner side region of the parallelogram circumscribing the first segment has one character. The image data indicating the character image is determined, and an identification label is attached to the image data indicating the character image, and the character image data is stored in the storage unit 102 (step S9). The identification label is an array having two elements such as (1, 1), for example, the first element indicates the line image number, that is, the line number, and the second element is the number of the character image in the line image. That is, the character number from the beginning of the line is shown. In the following description, an image of a parallelogram inner region circumscribing a segment is referred to as a “segment region image”.

  On the other hand, when the second character image recognition unit 1016 obtains a negative result in the shape characteristic determination regarding the first segment (step S8: No), the first segment region image is not a character image indicating one character but 1 Assuming that this is an image showing the constituent parts constituting the character, among the on pixels included in the line image, the pixel located on the right side and the leftmost from the first segment is set as the starting pixel, and is continuous with the starting pixel. An on-pixel group is extracted. Hereinafter, the on-pixel group thus extracted is referred to as a “second segment” (step S10).

  The second character image recognition unit 1016 performs shape characteristic determination on an on-pixel group including both the first segment and the second segment (hereinafter referred to as “connected segment”) (step S11). When the second character image recognition unit 1016 obtains a positive result in the shape characteristic determination regarding the connected segment (step S11: Yes), the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines that the connected segment region image is a character image indicating one character, and the character image. Is attached to the storage unit 102 as character image data with an identification label (step S12).

  On the other hand, if the second character image recognition unit 1016 obtains a negative result in the shape characteristic determination regarding the connected segment (step S11: No), for example, the aspect ratio of the first segment and the connected segment is the shape. A character closer to the aspect ratio indicated by the characteristic data 1023 is selected, the segment area image relating to the selected segment is determined to be a character image indicating one character, and an identification label is attached to the image data indicating the character image. The image data is stored in the storage unit 102 (step S13).

  When part of the line image is cut out as a character image as described above, the second character image recognition unit 1016 excludes the cut out character image from the line image (step S14), and then cuts out the character image from the line image (step S14). Steps S6 to S14) are repeated until all the ON pixels are excluded from the row image (step S15).

  When a plurality of line images are extracted by the line image recognition unit 1015, the second character image recognition unit 1016 repeats the character image cut-out process (steps S6 to S15) for all the remaining line images. (Step S16). Character image data indicating the character image cut out by the second character image recognition unit 1016 is sequentially stored in the storage unit 102. In FIG. 1, those character image data are shown as a character image data group 1024.

  The control unit 101 includes an image data output unit 1017 that transmits character image data to the character recognition device 12. The second character image recognition unit 1016 instructs the image data output unit 1017 to transmit image data when the character image segmentation processing is completed for all the row images. In response to the instruction, the image data output unit 1017 sequentially transmits the character image data included in the character image data group 1024 stored in the storage unit 102 to the character recognition device 12 according to the order of the identification labels (step S17). ).

  When the character recognition device 12 receives character image data from the character image cutting device 10, the character recognition device 12 performs character recognition processing on the image indicated by the received character image data, and generates character data indicating the character indicated by the image. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a character image is correctly cut out from a line image by the character image cutting device 10. For example, when Taro Tanaka, a writer with a habit of writing horizontally long characters, writes “Today tomorrow” in the free entry field (FIG. 6A), according to the prior art, the character “Ming” is Although there is a high possibility of being cut out as “day” and “month” (FIG. 6 (a-1)), according to the character image cutting device 10, there is a high possibility of being cut out correctly as “bright” (FIG. 6 ( a-2)).

  Similarly, when Jiro Yamada, a writer with a habit of writing vertically long letters, writes the word “Insect repellent workshop” in the free entry field (FIG. 6B), according to the prior art, “insect” and Although there is a high possibility that the character “Kaku” is cut out as “rainbow” (FIG. 6B-1), according to the character image cutting device 10, there is a possibility that it is correctly cut out as “insect” and “man”. Is high (FIG. 6B-2).

  Furthermore, when Hanako Suzuki, a writer with a habit of writing strongly inclined characters, writes “Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter” in the free entry field (FIG. 6C), for example, due to the vertical distribution of on-pixels. According to the conventional technique for segmenting, there is a high possibility that characters cannot be segmented (FIG. 6 (c-1)). However, according to the character image segmenting apparatus 10, each character may be segmented correctly. Is high (FIG. 6 (c-2)).

  As described above, the character image cutout device 10 cuts out the character image written in the free entry field based on the shape characteristics of the character image written in the cell area. It is highly possible that the image indicates Therefore, the result of character recognition by the character recognition device 12 performed using the character image data generated by the character image cutting device 10 is highly accurate.

  In the above description, the character image cutting device 10 has been described as specifying the cell area and the free entry field area by the image recognition process. However, the storage unit 102 stores area data indicating the cell area and the free entry field area in advance. You may make it memorize. When there are a plurality of types of entry sheets, a plurality of area data may be stored in advance in the character image cutting device 10 so that the areas are recognized according to the area data corresponding to the entry sheets. In that case, for example, an identifier of the entry form is described in a predetermined part of the entry form, and an area DB (database) for storing the identifier and the area data in association with each other is prepared in the storage unit 102 of the character image cutting device 10. Keep it. Then, the character image cutout device 10 may recognize an identifier included in the image data 1021 by character recognition processing, and search and use region data corresponding to the recognized identifier from the region DB.

  In the above description, the character image cutting device 10 uses the aspect ratio and the inclination of the parallelogram circumscribing the image as the shape characteristic of the image. However, the character image cutting device 10 cuts out the character image. Various other shape characteristics may be used as a criterion. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle circumscribing the image may be used as the shape characteristic, or the ratio of the upper base to the lower base of the trapezoid circumscribing the image may be used as the shape characteristic.

  In the above description, the second character image recognition unit 1016 extracts the first segment and the second segment by selecting a continuous on-pixel group from the starting pixel, but extracts the first segment and the second segment. Various other methods are conceivable. For example, the vertical distribution of on pixels included in the row image may be scanned in the horizontal direction, and a range in which the distribution exceeds a predetermined threshold may be specified as the range of the first segment or the second segment.

  In the above description, the second character image recognizing unit 1016 first performs shape characteristic determination regarding the first segment, and if a negative result is obtained in the determination, the second character image recognition unit 1016 performs shape characteristic determination regarding the connected segment. It has been described that the first segment region image or the connected segment region image is selected as the character image when the result is obtained. However, it is possible to variously change which segment area image the second character image recognition unit 1016 recognizes as a character image by what determination. For example, when the horizontal length of the first segment exceeds a predetermined length, the first segment region image can be extracted as a character image without determining the shape characteristics of the connected segment, or the connected segment Even if the result of the shape characteristic determination is negative, if the horizontal length of the connected segment does not reach the predetermined length, a new segment that is connected to the segment located further to the right is connected. The shape characteristics may be determined for the connected segments.

[2. Second Embodiment]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the character recognition system 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the character recognition system 2, in order to improve the accuracy of character image segmentation, shape characteristics corresponding to the type according to the arrangement of the components constituting the character are used. Since the configuration and operation of the character recognition system 2 are the same as those of the character recognition system 1 in many respects, the components corresponding to the components of the character recognition system 1 in FIG. The same reference numerals are given.

  The character recognition system 2 includes a character image cutting device 20 instead of the character image cutting device 10 of the character recognition system 1. The control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 20 classifies the character indicated by the character image recognized by the first character image recognition unit 1013 in addition to all the components included in the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10. A first classification unit 2011 that classifies each character, and a second classification unit 2012 that classifies characters indicated by the segments extracted by the second character image recognition unit 1016 by type.

  8 and 9 are flowcharts showing processing performed by the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 20. The control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 20 first receives the image data from the scanner 11 as in the case where the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10 performs (step S1), and the cell area and free entry field. The area is specified (step S2), the character image in the square area is extracted (step S3), and the shape characteristics of the character image included in the square area are specified, that is, the average value of the aspect ratio and the inclination of each character image is calculated. Perform (step S4).

  Subsequently, the control unit 101 classifies the characters indicated by each character image for each type (step S201). Specifically, first, the first character image recognition unit 1013 delivers character image data indicating a character image extracted from the cell area to the first classification unit 2011. The first classification unit 2011 uses an arbitrary on-pixel included in the character image indicated by the received character image data as a starting pixel, and specifies an on-pixel group continuous with the starting pixel. The first classification unit 2011 cuts out the on-pixel group thus identified as an image showing a character component (hereinafter referred to as “component image”), and excludes the on-pixel group from the character image. The first classification unit 2011 repeats the clipping process of the component image until there are no ON pixels in the character image.

  When the first classification unit 2011 completes the clipping process of the component image for one character image as described above, the character indicated by the character image is classified into a plurality of types based on the area occupied by the clipped component image in the character image. Classify either. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing types used for classification by the character recognition system 2. The type identified by the type number “1” (hereinafter, referred to as type “1”) indicates the type of character composed of one component. Further, for example, the type “2” indicates the type of a character composed of a bias and a make.

  The first classification unit 2011 identifies a rectangle or a combination of rectangles (for example, L-shaped polygons) circumscribing each of the cut-out component image. Hereinafter, such a specified graphic is referred to as a “circumscribed graphic”. Subsequently, the first classification unit 2011 applies enlargement / reduction and deformation according to the size and inclination of the character image to the figure indicating the occupied area (shaded portion in FIG. 10). The first classification unit 2011 calculates the area of the overlapping portion between the circumscribed figure and the deformed occupied area figure for each type. The first classification unit 2011 determines that the type with the largest area calculated in this way is the type of character indicated by the character image.

  However, the method by which the first classification unit 2011 classifies characters is not limited to the method based on the area of the overlapping portion. For example, the first classification unit 2011 extracts a feature point of a character image and compares it with a feature point of a figure indicated by a hatched portion of each occupation area, so that the character indicated by the character image belongs to any type. You may make it judge.

  When the first classification unit 2011 classifies the character image into any of the types as described above, the image data indicating the circumscribed figure and the type number indicating the type into which the character image is classified are delivered to the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014. When the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 receives the image data and the type number from the first classification unit 2011, the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 calculates the shape characteristic of the circumscribed figure indicated by the received image data, and receives data indicating the result from the first classification unit 2011. The type number is temporarily stored in the storage unit 102.

  Here, the shape characteristics of the circumscribed figure differ depending on the type. For example, in the case of the type “2”, the aspect ratio of the entire character, the aspect ratio of the partial character, the aspect ratio of the font, and the like are used as the shape characteristics. For example, in the case of the type “3” consisting of 繞 and 旁, the aspect ratio of the entire character, the heel length, the width and width ratio, and the heel aspect ratio are used as shape characteristics.

  The first classification unit 2011 repeats the above classification process for all character images recognized by the first character image recognition unit 1013, and the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 relates to all the character images classified by the first classification unit 2011. Repeat the shape characteristic identification process. When the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 finishes the shape characteristic specifying process for all the character images, the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 stores both the data indicating the shape characteristics of the circumscribed figure of each character image temporarily stored in the storage unit 102. The result is averaged for each type number, and the result is stored in the storage unit 102 as type shape characteristic data 2021 (step S202). FIG. 11 is a diagram exemplifying the contents of the type shape characteristic data 2021.

  When the type shape characteristic data 2021 is stored in the storage unit 102 by the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 as described above, the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 20 is performed by the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10. Similarly, the line image is cut out from the free entry field area (step S5), the first segment is extracted from the line image (step S6), the shape characteristic of the first segment is specified (step S7), and the shape related to the first segment Characteristic determination is performed (step S8).

  When a positive result is obtained in the shape characteristic determination regarding the first segment (step S8: Yes), the control unit 101 cuts out the first segment region image as a character image (step S9). On the other hand, when a negative result is obtained in the shape characteristic determination regarding the first segment (step S8: No), the control unit 101 extracts the second segment from the row image (step S10), and performs the shape characteristic determination regarding the connected segment. Do. However, unlike the case where the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10 performs the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 20, the type shape characteristic data 2021 is used instead of the shape characteristic data 1023 in the shape characteristic determination regarding the connected segment. Use.

  That is, the second classification unit 2012 performs the same classification process as that performed by the first classification unit 2011 in step S201 on the connected segment region image. The type specified for the connected segment region image by the second classification unit 2012 indicates the type of the one character when it is assumed that the connected segment region image is an image indicating one character.

  Based on the type specified for the connected segment region image, the second character image recognizing unit 1016 uses the same method as that performed by the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 in step S202 to determine the shape characteristics of the circumscribed figure of the connected segment region image. Generate data indicating Subsequently, the second character image recognition unit 1016 extracts data corresponding to the type specified for the connected segment region image from the type shape property data 2021, and the type shape property of the shape characteristic of the circumscribed figure of the connected segment region image. It is determined whether or not the ratio to the shape characteristic indicated by the data extracted from the data 2021 is within a predetermined range (for example, 0.8 to 1.2) (step S203).

  After that, the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 20 performs the connected segment region image or the first segment region image according to the result of step S203 and the like, similarly to the case where the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10 performs. Is cut out as a character image (steps S12 and S13). When the control unit 101 cuts out the character image as described above, the control unit 101 excludes the cut out character image from the line image (step S14), and repeats the character image cut-out process for the remaining on-pixels of the line image (step S15). Further, the control unit 101 repeats the character image cut-out process for all the line images (step S16). The character image data indicating the clipped character image is then transmitted from the character image cutting device 20 to the character recognition device 12 (step S17) and used for the character recognition process.

  As described above, according to the character recognition system 2, not only the shape characteristics of the entire character written in the cell area but also the shape characteristics of the constituent parts of the characters are used for cutting out the character image. Therefore, an image showing one character correctly is cut out with higher accuracy.

[3. Third Embodiment]
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the character recognition system 3 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the character recognition system 3, in order to improve the accuracy of character image segmentation, a comparison is made between the shape characteristics relating to standard characters or character components stored in advance and the shape characteristics of the segmented image. At that time, since the shape characteristic of a standard character or the like is corrected according to the shape characteristic of the character written in the grid area, the character image can be cut out with high accuracy.

  Since the configuration and operation of the character recognition system 3 are the same as those of the character recognition system 1 in many respects, only the differences between the character recognition system 3 and the character recognition system 1 will be described below. In FIG. 12, the same reference numerals as those used in FIG. 1 are assigned to the components corresponding to the components of the character recognition system 1.

  The character recognition system 3 includes a character image cutting device 30 instead of the character image cutting device 10 of the character recognition system 1. The control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 30 includes the first segment region image and the second segment image extracted by the second character image recognition unit 1016 in addition to all the components included in the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10. A character recognition unit 3011 is provided for performing character recognition processing on the segment area image.

  In addition, the storage unit 102 of the character image cutting device 30 stores standard shape characteristic data indicating the shape characteristics of standard characters or character constituent parts classified and stored according to their shapes and occupied areas in the characters. A shape characteristic DB 3021 is stored.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the contents of the standard shape characteristic DB 3021. The standard shape characteristic DB 3021 includes a plurality of pieces of standard shape characteristic data corresponding to each character or character component (hereinafter referred to as “character / component”). The standard shape characteristic data includes a “recognized character” that indicates a character that is likely to be recognized by the character / component in the character recognition process, an “occupied region” that indicates an area occupied by the character / component in the character, Each item includes “character / component” indicating the contents of the component / component and “shape characteristic” indicating the shape characteristic of the character / component. However, in the following description, it is assumed that “shape characteristic” is an aspect ratio of a rectangle circumscribing a character / component.

  In the standard shape characteristic DB 3021, standard shape characteristic data is first classified by “recognized characters” and further classified by “occupied region”. For example, in FIG. 13, the standard shape characteristic data in the first row is data for one character “person” and indicates that the aspect ratio is “1.0”. The standard shape characteristic data in the second row is data for one character “G”, and indicates that its aspect ratio is “1.3”.

  Since the “recognized character” is “person” in both the data on the first line and the second line, the characters “person” and “g” indicated by “character / component” are both “character” in the character recognition process. This indicates that there is a high possibility of being recognized as a “person”. The standard shape characteristic data as in the second row is included in the standard shape characteristic DB 3021 in order to correctly cut out a character image even when “G” is erroneously recognized as “person”.

  14 and 15 are flowcharts showing processing performed by the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 30. FIG. The control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 30 first performs the processes of steps S <b> 1 to S <b> 7 in the same manner as the control unit 101 of the character image cutting device 10. However, the first segment in the character image cutting device 30 is simply referred to as “segment”.

  Subsequently, the character recognition unit 3011 of the control unit 101 performs character recognition processing on the segment area image, and delivers text data indicating the result to the second character image recognition unit 1016 (step S301). The second character image recognition unit 1016 extracts, from the standard shape property DB 3021, standard shape property data whose “recognized character” data matches the data received from the character recognition unit 3011 (step S 302). The standard shape characteristic data extracted as described above is data indicating a candidate for a character or a component indicated by the segment area image.

  Subsequently, the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines the “shape” of the standard shape characteristic data extracted in step S302 in accordance with the shape characteristic data 1023 generated by the shape characteristic specifying unit 1014 and stored in the storage unit 102 in step S4. Correct the data in the “Characteristic” column. For example, when the average value of the aspect ratio of a standard character is 1.0 and the aspect ratio of a handwritten character indicated by the shape characteristic data 1023 is 1.2, the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines that “shape characteristic ”Column data is multiplied by 1.2 (= 1.2 / 1.0) to correct those values (step S303).

  Subsequently, the second character image recognition unit 1016 calculates a ratio of the shape characteristic of the standard character / constituent part corrected in step S303 to the shape characteristic of the segment region image specified in step S7, and the ratio is a predetermined value. Characters / components included in the range (for example, 0.8 to 1.2) are extracted (step S304).

  By the way, in the character image cutting device 30, since the segment area image may be recognized as a character component by the character recognition unit 3011, the second character image recognition unit 1016 has the character / component extracted in step S304. In order to select any one of these as a character image, it is necessary to similarly perform candidate character / component extraction processing (steps S301 to S304) for subsequent segment region images. Accordingly, in this case, the second character image recognition unit 1016 temporarily stores the result of step S304 in the storage unit 102. In this way, the segment area image for which the determination of which character / component is held is hereinafter referred to as an “indeterminate segment area image”.

  Following the process of step S304, the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines the presence / absence of a preceding undetermined segment area image (step S305). In this case, since there is no preceding undetermined segment area image (step S305: No), the second character image recognition unit 1016 subsequently determines whether or not on-pixels remain in the line image (step S15). In this case, normally, the second character image recognition unit 1016 obtains a positive result in the determination in step S15 (step S15: Yes), and returns to the process in step S6.

  Thereafter, as described above, second character image recognition unit 1016 performs candidate character / component extraction processing (steps S301 to S304) for subsequent segment region images. Thereafter, the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines whether or not there is an undetermined segment area image (step S305). In this case, the second character image recognition unit 1016 obtains a positive result (step S305: Yes). The second character image recognizing unit 1016 is an optimal combination of a candidate character / component for the preceding uncertain segment region image and a candidate character / component for the subsequent segment region image. Select.

  Specifically, for example, a configuration unit that includes the left side of a character as an occupied region in a candidate for a preceding undefined segment region image, and a configuration unit that uses a right side of a character as a candidate for a subsequent segment region image Is included, the second character image recognition unit 1016 cuts out the connected segment area image obtained by connecting the segment area images as a character image. Further, for example, when the candidate for the subsequent segment area image includes only a component having the entire character and the left side of the character as the occupied area, the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines that the preceding undefined segment area image As a character image, and the subsequent segment area image is temporarily stored in the storage unit 102 as an undefined segment area image.

  When there are a plurality of possible combinations, for example, the second character image recognition unit 1016 calculates the average value of the ratio of the shape characteristic of each segment area image to the shape characteristic of the standard character / component after correction. And the one whose average value is closest to 1 is selected as the optimum combination. However, the method for selecting the optimum combination is not limited to this.

  When any of the segment area images is cut out as a character image as described above, the second character image recognition unit 1016 stores the cut out character images as the character image data group 1024 in the storage unit 102 (step S306), The segment area image cut out from the image is excluded (step S14). Subsequently, the second character image recognition unit 1016 determines whether or not the on-pixel remains in the line image (step S307), and if the determination result is affirmative (step S307: Yes), further subsequent The candidate character / component extraction process and the character image writing process (steps S301 to S307) are repeated for the segment area image.

  The second character image recognition unit 1016 performs candidate character / component extraction processing and character image writing processing (steps S301 to S306) for the segment area image located at the end of the line image (step S307: No), it is determined whether or not there is an undetermined segment area image (step S308). If there is an undetermined segment area image (step S308: Yes), since it is a segment area image at the end of the line, the second character image recognition unit 1016 cuts out the segment area image as a character image (step S309).

  Thereafter, the second character image recognition unit 1016 repeats the processes of steps S6 to S309 for the subsequent line image (step S16). The character image data indicating the character image cut out by the second character image recognition unit 1016 as described above is then transmitted from the character image cutting device 30 to the character recognition device 12 (step S17), and the character recognition processing is performed. Used.

  As described above, according to the character recognition system 3, the shape characteristics of the standard characters and the constituent parts of the characters are corrected according to the shape characteristics of the characters written in the grid area, and the correction is performed. Based on the shape characteristics, it is determined whether the segment area image extracted from the line image should be cut out as a character image or treated as a character component. Furthermore, the shape characteristic of the similar shape is also taken into consideration in the character image segmentation determination. Therefore, an image showing one character correctly is cut out with high accuracy.

  By the way, each of the character image cutting device 10 to the character image cutting device 30 described above may be realized by dedicated hardware, or a general-purpose PC (Personal Computer) executes processing according to an application program. May be realized.

  In the above-described embodiment, the character recognition system according to the present invention has been described as being realized by the character image cutting device, the scanner connected thereto, and the character recognition device. However, the arrangement of these components is arbitrary. It can be changed. For example, the character recognition device 12 is arranged in the same housing as the character image cutting device 10, a character image cutting device is provided in the scanner housing, the character image cutting device, the scanner, and the character image cutting device. The character recognition devices may be connected to each other via a network.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image data indicating the character string is input from the scanner to the character image cutting device. However, for example, a tablet PC including a pen tablet integrated with a display unit is used. It may be connected to the character image cutting device, and image data generated in response to a writing operation on the pen tablet by the user may be input from the tablet PC to the character image cutting device.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shape characteristics of the grid area image are compared with the shape characteristics of the segment area image extracted from the free entry field area, and the segment area image is converted into a character image based on the comparison result. It has been described that it is determined whether or not to cut out. However, for example, by extracting a segment having a shape corresponding to the shape characteristics of the image in the grid area from the free entry field area, and extracting the on pixel continuous with the on pixel included in the extracted segment into the segment, etc. May be performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the handwritten character is described as horizontally written, but it goes without saying that the character recognition system according to the present invention can be used for handwritten characters such as vertically written.

It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the character recognition system concerning 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the entry paper processed in the character recognition system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is the flowchart which showed the process performed by the character image cutting device concerning 1st Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process performed by the character image cutting device concerning 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed a mode that the parallelogram circumscribed to a character image was specified by the character image cutting device concerning embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which illustrated a mode that a character image was correctly cut out by the character image cutting device concerning a 1st embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the character recognition system concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process performed by the character image cutting device concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process performed by the character image cutting device concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the classification of the character concerning 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the contents of classification shape characteristic data concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the character recognition system concerning 3rd Embodiment. It is the figure which illustrated the contents of standard shape characteristic DB concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process performed by the character image cutting device concerning 3rd Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the process performed by the character image cutting device concerning 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 * 2 * 3 ... Character recognition system, 10 * 20 * 30 ... Character image cutting device, 11 ... Scanner, 12 ... Character recognition apparatus, 101 ... Control part, 102 ... Memory | storage part, 1011 ... Image data input part, 1012 ... area specifying unit, 1013 ... first character image recognizing unit, 1014 ... shape characteristic specifying unit, 1015 ... line image recognizing unit, 1016 ... second character image recognizing unit, 1017 ... image data output unit, 1021 ... image data, 1022 ... area data, 1023 ... shape characteristic data, 1024 ... character image data group, 2011 ... first classification part, 2012 ... second classification part, 2021 ... type shape characteristic data, 3011 ... character recognition part, 3021 ... standard shape characteristic DB

Claims (7)

Image data acquisition means for acquiring first image data indicating each image and second image data indicating a second image;
First character image recognizing means for recognizing a portion in each cell arranged in a predetermined cell area of the image indicated by the first image data as a character image indicating one character;
Shape characteristic specifying means for specifying the shape characteristic of the character image recognized by the first character image recognition means;
Second character image recognition means for recognizing a part of an image indicated by the second image data as a character image indicating one character using the shape characteristic specified by the shape characteristic specifying means;
An output means for outputting image data indicating the character image recognized by the second character image recognition means. For each character image recognized by the first character image recognition means , a component image indicating a component of the character is cut out to identify a circumscribed figure circumscribing the component image, and the character image is defined using the circumscribed graphic. A first classification means for classifying into any of a plurality of types;
A part of the image indicated by the second image data is extracted as a candidate character image indicating one character, a circumscribed figure circumscribing the extracted image is specified, and the plurality of character image candidates are selected using the circumscribed figure. And a second classification means for classifying into any of the following types,
The shape characteristic specifying means specifies the shape characteristic of the circumscribed figure specified by the first classification means,
The second character image recognition means includes a shape characteristic of a circumscribed figure of a character image candidate extracted by the second classification means, and a shape characteristic specified by the shape characteristic specification means, wherein the second classification means By comparing the shape characteristics of the circumscribed figure circumscribing the component image of the character image classified by the first classification means into the same type as the classification of the candidate character image by It is determined whether it recognizes as a character image which shows 1 character. The character image cutting device of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. The shape characteristic specifying means specifies the aspect ratio of the character image recognized by the first character image recognition means or the aspect ratio of each of a plurality of parts constituting the character image as the shape characteristic. The character image cutting device according to claim 1. The shape characteristic specifying means specifies, as the shape characteristic, the inclination of the character image recognized by the first character image recognition means or the inclination of each of a plurality of parts constituting the character image. The character image cutting device according to claim 1. Storage means for storing standard shape characteristic data indicating standard character shape characteristics or shape characteristics of standard character components;
Character recognition means for recognizing the character indicated by the image,
The second character image recognition means takes out a part of the image indicated by the second image data as a character image candidate indicating one character,
The character recognition means recognizes a character presumed to be indicated by the character image taken out by the second character image recognition means;
The second character image recognizing unit includes a character recognized by the character recognizing unit and a character having a shape similar to the character recognized by the character recognizing unit among the standard shape characteristic data stored in the storage unit. And the shape characteristic specified by the shape characteristic specifying means with respect to the shape characteristic indicated by the standard shape characteristic data relating to at least one of the constituent parts of the character that are similar to the character recognized by the character recognition means Determining whether or not the character image candidate is recognized as a character image representing one character by comparing the shape characteristic of the character image candidate with a shape characteristic correction. The character image cutting device according to claim 1, wherein An image data acquisition process for acquiring first image data representing each image and second image data representing a second image;
A first character image recognition process for recognizing a portion of each cell arranged in a predetermined cell area of the image indicated by the first image data as a character image indicating one character;
A shape characteristic specifying process for specifying a shape characteristic of the character image recognized in the first character image recognition process;
A second character image recognition process for recognizing a part of an image indicated by the second image data as a character image indicating one character using the shape characteristic specified in the shape characteristic specifying process;
An output process for outputting image data indicating the character image recognized in the second character image recognition process. Processing to obtain first image data representing each image and second image data representing a second image;
A process of recognizing a portion in each cell arranged in a predetermined cell area of the image indicated by the first image data as a character image indicating one character;
Processing to identify the shape characteristics of the recognized character image;
A process of recognizing a part of an image indicated by the second image data as a character image indicating one character using the specified shape characteristic;
A program for causing a computer to execute a process of outputting image data indicating a part of an image indicated by the second image data recognized as a character image.

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