JPH07160821A - Handwritten character recognizing device and sentence inputting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to recognize also a character in which the only a part of components can be clearly described, by performing two kinds of character recognition processings composed of a mode recognizing a character composed of all components and a mode recognizing only the part of the components. CONSTITUTION:In the handwritten character recognizing device, a recognition mode A when the constitution of the whole of a character is clearly proved and a recognition mode B when the only part of the component of the character is clear exist, and the recognition mode A is applied when the device is normally used. When a switch to the recognition mode B is designated, a designation button 28 composed of four areas 29 to 32 for designating the area of a screen and a confirmation button 33 for confirming the designation are displayed on the screen. When a user confirms the designated area and depresses the confirmation button 33, a character input frame 35 is displayed on the screen and a handwritten character is inputted on a tablet by using a stylus pen. On the side of the device, a partial recognition is performed by preserving an inputted character image and referring to a partial dictionary.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handwritten character recognition apparatus capable of recognizing a character in which the entire character is not accurately described and only a part of the constituent elements thereof is clearly described. The present invention relates to a device and a recognition method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional handwritten character recognition apparatus, normally, when a character is handwritten, all strokes and the like that compose the character are input and recognition is performed using these. On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-303279, instead of using the information of the entire character,
First, a method of recognizing a character by recognizing the radical and then inputting the portion excluding the radical by handwriting is used. That is, the structure of the handwritten character recognizing device is provided with a first character recognizing unit for recognizing a radical and a second character recognizing unit for recognizing a portion excluding the radical. First, the stylus is placed in the frame of the radical portion. When handwriting is input using a pen, the handwriting is displayed on the screen and stored in the memory. And
The radical recognition is performed by the first character recognition unit with reference to the radical dictionary data stored in the recognition dictionary. Next, if you input the rest of the text, excluding the radical, the handwriting will be displayed, and the image of the radical entered earlier will be combined with the remaining portion of the input next to create a single character image. The second character recognition unit performs recognition processing. In this way, a method has been proposed in which one character is divided and each character is recognized to reduce the load of recognition processing.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In the handwritten character recognition device, when inputting a sentence, it is not possible to clearly remember the characters in the sentence.
Alternatively, a deformed character such as a part of the character omitted may be input. In these cases, even if the entire character is targeted for recognition, there is a partly unclear portion, and therefore the conventional handwritten character recognition device cannot perform recognition processing. On the other hand, in the case of the apparatus described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-303279, the candidate can be specified if the radical is known,
There was a problem that it could not be recognized unless the radical was clear.
In addition, when inputting a sentence, there is a mixture of clear and unclear one-letter characters. It is desirable to switch between the recognition methods that can recognize even characters with parts. However, conventionally, such a method has not been considered. An object of the present invention is to solve the conventional problems as described above, and the user can arbitrarily switch the recognition mode for a certain character during text input, whereby only a part of the constituent elements is clear. An object of the present invention is to provide a handwriting character recognition device and a text input method capable of recognizing characters that can be written in.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a handwritten character recognition device of the present invention comprises: (a) a recognition device for recognizing a handwritten character; A processing means (14) for performing at least two kinds of character recognition processing including a mode for recognizing only a part of the elements, and a recognition mode switching means (27) for the user to select one of the recognition modes. It is characterized by having. (B) In the recognition device for recognizing handwritten characters, means (29 to 32) for designating a mode for recognizing each character component, a dictionary (15) classified by character component, and the mode are It is also characterized in that it is provided with recognition processing means (S9, 10) for recognizing each component by referring to the dictionary when designated. Further, the method of inputting a sentence to the handwritten character recognition device of the present invention determines (C) whether or not the recognition mode has been switched to the recognition mode for each component (S1). A confirmation button for specifying the area is displayed (S2), and when the user specifies the area (S2)
3) At the same time, the designated area is displayed in black / white inversion (S
4) A frame for inputting a character is displayed (S6), and when the character is input in the frame (S7), the input character image is saved (S8) and the constituent element is selected from the constituent element dictionary table. A search is performed (S9), and then a character portion other than the constituent element is searched from the element-specific table outside the designated area (S1).
0), by displaying the combined characters (S11),
The feature is that the user selects a similar candidate character (S12) and finally selects the corresponding character from a plurality of candidate characters (S13).

[0005]

According to the present invention, in the handwritten character recognition device, a process of recognizing the entire character as a recognition target,
There is a process of recognizing a partial character such as omission of a part of the character as a recognition target, and the user selects one of these two recognition modes by the switching means and activates it. . It also has a dictionary divided into components and a recognition unit that can recognize characters that can be clearly described only in a part of the components, and it is possible to switch and select one of multiple types of recognition modes for each component. . As a result, the user can switch the recognition mode for a certain character during text input by switching the recognition mode switching means. After that, by using a dictionary divided into each component, it was possible to recognize even a character in which only a part of the component can be clearly described.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a handwritten character recognition device to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is an integrated display input device. Integrated display / input device 10
Is a structure in which a transparent tablet 12 for coordinate input is overlaid and integrated on a display surface of a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter, referred to as LCD) 11, and a screen display and coordinate input can be performed on the same surface. Has become. Reference numeral 13 is a stylus pen for designating a position on the tablet 12, 14 is a CPU that controls the entire handwritten character recognition apparatus by program control, and 15 is a program, data, etc. necessary for control processing of the CPU 14, etc. Memory for storing, 16 is L
Reference numeral 17 is a display control unit for controlling the display of the CD 11, 17 is a tablet control unit for controlling the tablet 12, and 18 is a stylus pen control unit for controlling the stylus pen 13.

FIG. 2 is an operation flow chart of the handwritten character recognition processing showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the recognition dictionary in this invention, and FIG. 4 is a figure explaining the display state of the screen of a handwriting character recognition device. With reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4,
The operation of the present invention will be described. This handwritten character recognition device has a recognition mode A when the composition of the entire character is clearly known and a recognition mode B when only some of the constituent elements of the character are clear. The recognition mode A is initially set to be adopted. Now, for example,
I tried to write the word "Gi", but I can't clearly remember the "imaginary" part in the left half, but I can clearly remember the "戈" part in the right half. Here, the recognition mode A, which is recognized for the entire character, is switched to the recognition mode B for recognizing each component as shown in FIG. As for the switching method, switching of the recognition mode is instructed by a method such as clicking the switching button 27 displayed on the integrated display input device 10 shown in FIG. 4A with a stylus pen.

In the handwritten character recognition device, as shown in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the recognition mode switching is designated (S1). When the switching to the recognition mode B is designated, as shown in FIG. 4B, the designation button 2 including four areas (29 to 32) for designating the area of the screen.
8 and a confirmation button 33 for confirming the designation are displayed on the screen (S2). The user designates an area in which a clearly descriptable portion is written among the elements constituting the character to be written. The area is divided into four areas,
Three areas can be specified. In this example,
Designate areas 31 and 32 where "" is written (S
3). On the device side, the designated area is highlighted such as black and white reverse display (S4). The user confirms the designated area and presses the confirmation button 33 (S5). When the confirmation button is pressed, the character input frame 35 is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 4C (S6). Next, the stylus pen 13 is used to input handwritten characters on the tablet 12 (S7). On the device side, the input character image is saved and partial recognition is performed by referring to the partial dictionary (S9 to S10). That is, after recognizing a designated area, here areas 31 and 32, a non-designated area, here areas 29 and 30, are recognized, and recognition processing is executed by the method as shown in FIG. The designated area is displayed as a designated state display 34 in the upper right of the display screen, as shown in FIGS. 4 (c), (d), and (e).

A specific recognition method will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, 19 is a region designated by black and white inversion, 20 is a component described in the designated region, 21, 22 and 23 are components outside the designated region, 24, 25 and 26 are designated regions, respectively. It is a character such as a Chinese character in which the constituent elements of the above and the constituent elements outside the designated area are combined. Since there are 14 combinations of designated areas by four areas, 14 types of areas are registered in the table of the prepared partial dictionary. The designated area 19 is searched from the table for each designated area. In the recognition of the constituent elements described in the area 20, the "cut" 20 is searched from the constituent element table by checking the number of strokes, the stroke order, etc. (S9). Next, the outside of the designated area 29, 30 is recognized. Outside the designated area 29,
In the recognition of 30, the operator looks up the shape of the element displayed on the screen and searches for "imaginary" 22 from the table for each element outside the designated area (S10). In the same manner, if there are a plurality of elements that are considered to have similar components, that number is searched as a candidate character. As a result of the search, here, the candidate characters “battle” 24 and “gi” that have similar character outlines, etc.
Since "25" and "Pi" 26 have been retrieved, those candidate characters 36, 37, 38 are displayed at the bottom of the screen as shown in FIG. 4 (e) (S11). As a method of searching for candidate characters, another method is to use strokes outside the specified area, for example, in the case of uncertain characters, only the certain portion is handwritten and the number of strokes in the uncertain portion is additionally input. There is a way. further,
There is a method of selecting all the characters including the components shown in the designated area, and the method is not limited to the above method. If there is a corresponding character among these candidate characters, the corresponding character is selected (S12, S13). The character finally selected by the operator is displayed in the lower right part of the screen, as shown in FIGS. After the corresponding character is finally selected, the recognition process for this character is terminated. On the screen, as a recognition process end screen, as shown in FIG. 6F, a recognition mode switching button 27 is displayed at the lower right and the character selected by the latest process is displayed at the upper left. As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to recognize a character in which only a part of the constituent elements can be clearly described.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, if the recognition mode is switched to the recognition mode A (S1), the next character image is input (S14), and the input character image is stored in the memory ( S15), normal recognition processing is executed (S16). That is, in this case, since the recognition mode is A, all components are input by handwriting.
Character recognition processing is performed with reference to a normal dictionary. Now,
In the above-described embodiment, the LCD 11, the tablet 12, and the stylus pen 13 are used as the device configuration, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a CRT, an LED or the like as a display device, a digitizer and a mouse as an input device. It may be a trackball or the like. Further, these are stacked to form the integrated type input device 10, but this is not limited to the integrated type and may be a separated type. In the above-described embodiment, the switching of the recognition is performed by the switching button 27 and the confirmation of the designated area is performed by the confirmation button 33. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the gesture, the icon, the menu,
It may be a button attached to the device or a button attached to the pen. Further, although the designated area is divided into four in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.
Other than four divisions may be used if necessary. Furthermore, if it is not clear in which part of the character the clearly known component is located, select all separation areas and the input component is present in any part of the character. All characters can be searched as candidates.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even when inputting characters that can clearly describe only a part of the constituent elements, by specifying the recognition mode in advance before inputting, it is possible to recognize not only the radical but also a certain part (part) if it can be clearly described. It can be input using the recognition method.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a handwritten character recognition device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of handwritten character recognition processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a recognition dictionary for each component according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining a method of inputting handwritten characters in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Integrated display input device, 11 ... LCD, 12 ... Tablet, 13 ... Stylus pen, 14 ... CPU, 15 ... Main memory, 16 ... Display control part, 17 ... Tablet control part, 18 ... Stylus pen control part, 19 ... area designated by black and white inversion, 20 ... component described in designated area, 21, 22, 23 ... component outside designated area, 24, 25, 26 ... designated Characters such as Chinese characters that combine the components of the area and the components outside the specified area.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recognition device for recognizing handwritten characters, the processing means performing at least two types of character recognition processing, including a mode for recognizing characters consisting of all the constituent elements and a mode for recognizing only a part of the constituent elements. And a recognition mode switching means for the user to select one of the recognition modes. 2. A recognition device for recognizing handwritten characters, a means for designating a mode for recognizing each character component, a dictionary classified by each component of the character, and the dictionary when the mode is designated. A handwriting character recognizing device comprising: a recognition processing means for recognizing each component by referring. 3. A method of inputting a sentence to a handwritten character recognition device, determining whether or not a recognition mode has been switched to a recognition mode for each component, and if so, confirming that a region of the component is designated on the screen. When the button is displayed and the user specifies the area, the specified area is displayed in black / white inversion, and the frame for entering the character is displayed.When the character is entered in the above frame, the entered character image is saved. hand,
By retrieving the constituent element from the constituent element-specific dictionary table, and then searching character portions other than the constituent element from the non-designated area element-specific table, and displaying the merged characters, it is similar to the user. A method of inputting a sentence to a handwritten character recognition device, which comprises selecting a candidate character and finally selecting the corresponding character from a plurality of candidate characters.