JPH03196284A - Character recognizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a character recognizing device by reading printed characters as image information by a scanner with one word as the unit to store them in an image information storage means and recognizing and encoding image information. CONSTITUTION:Printed characters are read as image information by a scanner 101 with one word as the unit and are stored in an image information storage means 102. Pattern matching between patterns of characters stored in the image information storage means 102 and patterns of the standard font of characters stored in a recognition information storage means 103 is performed to select a character code corresponding to each of characters stored in the image information storage means 102, and the selected character code is stored in a word code storage means 105 with each word as the unit and is read and outputted. Since printed characters are read and stored with one word as the unit and are encoded in this manner, the whole of the character recognizing device is simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a character recognition device that reads and recognizes printed characters, such as alphanumeric characters, using a scanner.

(B) Prior Art Conventionally, in this type of character recognition device, in order to read and recognize sentences such as English sentences, as shown in FIG. Is it possible to manually input a sentence spanning a line into the RAM of the personal computer 53 as image information, and then perform recognition processing on a series of sentences in the recognition processing device 54?
What's wrong?

Furthermore, in place of the fixed scanner 51, a line-type scanner with a wide reading width is moved in the sub-scanning direction, and a plurality of lines are input as image information.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, in conventional character recognition devices, the entire sentence, such as English, is input as image information using a scanner and then recognized, so a series of sentences may be interrupted. This required a large amount of memory and a large scanner.

This invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and it is possible to encode and store recognized characters word by word, and to transfer the data to an external device when the encoding of a series of sentences is completed. The present invention provides a character recognition device with a simplified system.

(d) Means to solve the problem FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the present invention includes a scanner 10 that reads printed characters word by word as image information.
1, an image information storage means 102 for storing image information read by the scanner 101, a recognition information storage means 103 for storing standard font patterns of characters and character codes corresponding thereto, and an image information storage means! Selection of selecting a character code corresponding to each character stored in the image information storage means +02 by matching the character pattern stored in the image information storage means +02 with the standard font pattern of the character stored in the recognition information storage means 103. Means 104
This is a character recognition device comprising a word code storage means 105 for storing the character code selected by the selection means 104 for each word, and an output means +06 for reading out and outputting the character code from the word code storage means +05.

In this invention, the selection means +04 and the output means 106 generally include a CPU, ROM, RAM, I
It is convenient to use a microcomputer consisting of 10 boards, image information storage means 102 and word code storage means! As for 05, the RAM in it is usually
In addition, as the recognition information storage means 103, the RO
M are used respectively.

(E) Function As shown in FIG. 1, according to the present invention, printed characters are scanned by the scanner 101! Image information storage means that reads each word as image information!
02.

Then, the character pattern stored in the image information storage means 102 and the standard font pattern of the character stored in the recognition information storage means 103 are matched to correspond to each character stored in the image information storage means 102. The selected character code is stored for each word in the word code storage means 105, read out, and output.

Therefore, since the printed characters are read word by word, stored, and encoded, the scanner can be made smaller, and the storage capacity of the image information storage means is also reduced. The entire character recognition device including processing software can be simplified.

(f) Examples Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings. Note that this invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a word input scanner, which is a compact, day-to-day type scanner that reads characters in sentences printed on paper one by one as image information.

The human word scanner 1 transfers the words of the read image information to the recognition device 2.

The recognition device 2 includes a CPU 2a, an image information storage RAM 2b that stores words of image information input from a word input scanner 1, a standard font pattern of a character, a character code corresponding to the pattern, and a character code based on the standard font pattern of the character. Word recognition program RO that stores a program that recognizes and encodes words in image information
The device CPU 2a, which is composed of an M2c and a code storage RAM 2d that stores coded character codes for each word, stores character patterns stored in the image information storage RAM 2b and a word recognition program ROM 2c. A character code corresponding to each character stored in the image information storage RAM 2b is selected by matching the standard font pattern of the character stored in the image information storage RAM 2b. Store.

For example, when recognizing "period", °,
Treating it as the end of one sentence, use R for storing code.
The character code is read and output from the AM2d, and a series of coded sentences are transferred to the electronic notebook 3. In addition,
The text may be transferred to the electronic notebook 3 by providing a transfer key in the recognition device 2 and pressing the key.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing the processing contents of the character recognition device shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the scanner 1 includes, for example, rThis
When reading English sentences such as "is a pen" or "J", the characters between the spaces can be interpreted as one word block, or
The characters from the first character read by the scanner 1 to the next space are treated as one word block, and the text is read word by word.

By performing the first image information reading operation with this word scanner l, the recognition device 2
Recognize and code the word sJ and use R for code storage.
Store in AM2d.

Next, in the second scan of the word input scanner ■, the recognition device 2 recognizes and encodes the word risJ,
The code is stored in the storage RAM 2d.

Similarly, the words raJ, r pen, and J are also recognized and encoded, and stored in the code storage RAM 2d. At this time, a buzzer is provided on the word input scanner 1, and the buzzer is set to sound each time a word is recognized, and if a word recognition fails, the buzzer is set to sound continuously. It is convenient if you consider things such as

Then, at the point when all the series of sentences have been converted into character codes in this way, rThis is
A series of sentences such as a pen, j are data transferred using character codes.

Next, the contents of the processing operation in such a configuration will be explained in the fourth section.
This will be explained according to the flowchart shown in the figure.

First, when the word input scanner 1 inputs page information such as rThis is a pen, J in the above-mentioned example (step 41), a block of words to be recognized is extracted as rThis J. Step 42), convert the word block to rT, h, i, s
Step 4 for each l character as j
3) Recognize each character by pattern matching (
Step 44).

Then code each character as "T" → "54", "h" → "68" (step 45), thereby converting the entire word block into rThisJ-"56.6g, 69
．． 73'' (step 46), and stores the code in the code storage RAM 2d (step 47).

Then, steps 41 to 47 are repeated for each word.

In this way, the printed characters are read word by word as image information, and the read characters are coded and stored word by word, thereby making the scanner more compact and storing the image information. It is possible to reduce the capacity of RAM.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to this invention, printed characters are read word by word as image information by a scanner, stored in the image information storage means, and the image information is recognized and encoded. , it becomes possible to reduce the size of the scanner, and the storage capacity of the image information storage means can be reduced, thereby making it possible to simplify the entire character recognition device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 3 conceptually shows the processing contents of the character recognition device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional character recognition device. ■...Word scanner 2...Recognition device, 2a...CPU, 2
b...RAM for storing image information. 2c...Program ROM for word recognition. 2d...RAM for code storage, 3...
Electronic notebook. Figure 06-4 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A scanner that reads printed characters word by word as image information, an image information storage means that stores the image information read by the scanner, and a recognition device that stores standard font patterns of characters and their corresponding character codes. The information storage means corresponds to each character stored in the image information storage means by matching the character pattern stored in the image information storage means with the standard font pattern of the character stored in the recognition information storage means. A character recognition device comprising a selection means for selecting a character code, a word code storage means for storing the character code selected by the selection means for each word, and an output means for reading and outputting the character code from the word code storage means. .