JPH02254575A - Automatic time chart reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable speedy processing by executing the segmentation processing of a pattern on a time chart by a write area deciding means. CONSTITUTION:The pattern is obtained as a result of scan to the time chart of a recording medium 1, for example, the time chart, in which a character and an waveform are mixed, by using a reading means 2. Then, this pattern is given to a pattern recognizing means 4a and a write area deciding means 9. The write area deciding means 9 determines a segmentation area by investigating the distribution of a histogram in a black picture element along the X direction of the pattern inputted from the reading means 2 (along the lengthwise direction of a character and waveform writing area 10). Thus, when the recording medium, in which the pattern of the character and the pattern of the waveform are mixed, is read, a processing speed and a recognizing rate can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic time chart reading device that is capable of automatically reading time charts and the like that include a mixture of characters and waveforms.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional time chart automatic reading device. In the figure, ■ is a recording medium on which characters to be recognized are recorded by handwriting or printing, and here it is assumed that the time chart is a time chart in which characters and waveforms are mixed. 2 is a reading means such as an image scanner that scans and photoelectrically converts the characters and waveforms of the time chart on the recording medium 1; 3 is a recognition dictionary in which reference patterns such as characters to be recognized are stored in a ROM; and 4 is a reading means 2. Input character pattern and waveform pattern obtained from recognition dictionary 3
A recognition means outputs recognition candidate characters and waveforms with a high degree of similarity by comparing with reference patterns in the recognition means 4, and 5 is a memory consisting of a RAM etc. for storing the recognition result candidate characters and waveforms sent from the recognition means 4. means, 6 is storage means 5
7 is a display means such as a CRT display for displaying the candidate characters and waveforms of the recognition results stored in the display means 6; Input means 8 such as a keyboard for newly inputting correct characters and waveforms for unreadable characters and misread characters obtained as a result of recognition; This control means displays the stored contents on the display means 6, corrects the recognition result based on the input from the input means 7, replaces unreadable characters or misread characters, etc. Note that the recognition means 4 and the control means 8 are realized by a microprocessor or the like.

Next, the operation will be explained. A pattern obtained as a result of scanning the time chart on the recording medium l by the reading means 2 is given to the recognition means 4. The recognition means 4 sequentially compares the given pattern with the reference pattern stored in the recognition dictionary 3, and stores characters and waveforms with a high degree of similarity into the storage means 5.
Output to and store. The control means 8 displays the recognition candidate characters and waveforms stored in the storage means 5 on the display means 6.

The user looks at the content displayed on the display means 6 and corrects unreadable characters or misread characters using a keyboard or the like.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a time chart on the recording medium 1 read by the above-mentioned automatic time chart reading device. Here, 10 is a character and waveform writing area, respectively. Further, FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are more detailed schematic diagrams of each character and waveform writing area 10.

Normally, the inside of the character and waveform writing area 10 is divided into character frames 11 of a size corresponding to the character writing area M (see FIG. 5), in order to facilitate the writing of characters and waveforms.
Therefore, in the conventional automatic time chart reading device, the fourth
When reading a time chart in which characters and waveforms coexist as shown in the figure, the width, height, spacing, etc. corresponding to the character frame 11 are set in advance by the recognition means 4, and these Accordingly, the patterns given from the reading means 2 are forcibly cut out and each pattern is recognized. Therefore, regarding the waveform area,
As described above, the cutout area is determined using the character frame 11, and the high level/low level is determined based on position information within the character frame 11. Furthermore, the cutting process is also performed on areas where no waveforms or characters are written.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Since the conventional time chart automatic reading device is configured as described above, a certain cutting process is performed regardless of the writing status in the time chart on the recording medium 1, so the processing speed is slow and the Fm rate is low. There were problems such as not improving.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its purpose is to improve the processing speed when reading a recording medium such as a time chart that has a mixture of character patterns and waveform patterns. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic time chart reading device that also improves the recognition rate.

[Means to solve the problem]

The automatic time chart reading device according to the present invention includes determining means for determining the entry area in the time chart.

[Effect]

The automatic time chart reading device according to the present invention uses a determining means to check the entry status in the time chart and performs different cutting processing depending on the entry contents.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block system diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic time chart reading device according to the present invention. In the same figure, 4
Reference numeral a denotes a recognition means, and reference numeral 9 denotes an entry area determination means for determining an area in which characters and waveforms are written based on the pattern read by the reading means 2.

In FIG. 1, the same or equivalent parts as in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, the recognition means 4a has, in addition to the functions of the conventional recognition means 4 shown in FIG. 3, a function of performing different processing for each area cut out by the entry area determination means 9.

Note that the writing area determining means 9 and the recognizing means 4a are realized by a microprocessor or the like.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. Note that explanations that overlap with those described in the [Prior Art] section will be omitted, and only newly added or changed means will be explained here.

Scanning the time chart of the recording medium l by the reading means 2,
For example, a pattern obtained as a result of scanning a time chart in which characters and waveforms are mixed as shown in FIG.

The writing area determining means 9 determines the cutting area by examining the distribution of the histogram of black pixels along the X direction (the longitudinal direction of the character and waveform writing area 10, see FIG. 2) of the pattern input from the reading means 2. do. Specifically, the cutting out by the entry area determining means 9 is performed as follows.

For example, an X-direction histogram of a character and waveform pattern as shown in FIG. 2(a) is classified into four types of continuous regions as shown in FIG. 2(b). The entry area determination means 9 outputs this area as the cutout area 13 to the recognition means 4a.

The recognition means 4a performs character recognition when the length of the cutout region 13 in the X direction is less than a certain value, and performs waveform recognition when it is greater than or equal to -a certain value. Furthermore, if the interval between the cutout regions 13 is equal to or greater than a certain value, blanking processing is performed.

Note that in the above embodiment, a time chart in which characters and waveforms are mixed is targeted for recognition, but it is also possible to target a recording medium in which characters and other continuous figures are mixed together.

In addition, character recognition processing is performed not only by comparison with the reference pattern described above, but also by techniques such as feature extraction.
Of course it is possible.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the time chart automatic reading device according to the present invention can reduce the number of cut out areas compared to the conventional method by cutting out patterns on the time chart using the entry area determining means. This has the effect of enabling rapid processing. Therefore, the overall processing speed is improved and the recognition rate is also improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block system diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic time chart reading device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a) and (b)
) is a schematic diagram and a histogram of its black pixels for explaining the extraction process of character and waveform patterns, Figure 3 is a block system diagram showing the configuration of a conventional automatic time chart reading device, and Figure 4 is a diagram of characters and waveforms. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a time chart in which both are mixed. FIG. 5 is a more detailed schematic diagram thereof. l... Recording medium, 2... Reading means, 3... Recognition dictionary, 4a... Recognition means, 5... Storage means, 6...
Display means, 7... Input means, 8... Control means, 9.
...Entry area determination means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A reading means for reading a recognition target pattern recorded on a recording medium, a recognition dictionary storing reference patterns of characters and waveforms as recognition targets, and an input pattern obtained from the reading means. Recognition means for comparing the recognition candidate characters and waveforms with a reference pattern in the recognition dictionary and outputting recognition candidate characters and waveforms with high similarity, storage means for storing the recognition candidate characters and waveforms, and display means for displaying the recognition results; An input means for performing a correction process according to the recognition result displayed on the display means, the storage means, the display means, and the input means are controlled to display the recognition result of the recognition candidate character and the waveform; In an automatic time chart reading device, the time chart automatic reading device is equipped with a control means for performing a process of replacing the recognition candidate characters and waveforms with correct characters based on correction inputs, and an area in which the characters and waveforms are written is determined from the pattern read by the reading means. Equipped with a writing area determination means,
The automatic time chart reading device is characterized in that the recognition means performs different recognition processing depending on the entry area.