JPH07239679A - Device for forming signboard - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and rapidly make a signboard with a large area and to make the signboard incorporating figure, deformed character and a handwritten character, etc., in particular. CONSTITUTION:Character and a figure to be used in signboard are read optically, and an outline point line is obtained, and the co-ordinates of the outline point line are stored by using an independent variable (t), and the joint point of the outline point line is obtained, and a section between the joint points is approximated by a straight line, a circular arc and a free curve, and a parameter of approximation and the co-ordinates of the joint points are stored. At a reproducing time, the parameter of the line linking between the co-ordinates of the joint points and the adjacent joint point is outputted, and thus, the outline point line is reproduced, and an area surrounded by the outline point line is distinguished from the area excepting that to be outputted by a printer with a large print area and a cutting plotter.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing a display having a large area such as a signboard or a banner. There are various kinds of signs. The size varies from several tens of centimeters to several tens of meters. There is also a distinction between vertical and horizontal. The content is also different. Some are made up of only kanji and kana. Some are in English only.
In addition, figures, logos, and illustrations may be included. Not only in black and white, but also in colors. In some cases, there are multiple colors instead of a single color. There are various display means. Some are written in ink on paper. In the case of a banner, characters may be written on the cloth with ink or paint.

There are various uses. A signboard with the name of the meeting may be suspended on the subject at the conference hall of the hotel. Some are installed as vertical advertisements on the street. There are many signboards for advertising of hospitals, doctors and companies at airfields and stops. Some are removed in a short time, and others are fixed for many years. In this way, the types, uses, and purposes of signboards are extremely diverse and are used in large quantities in quantity.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In many cases, signboards containing kana and kana are handwritten. Hand write on the tree with paint or ink. You can write any kind of letters, so you have a high degree of freedom. However, in this case, a person skilled in writing is necessary. A specialized sign shop has several letter patterns. Mincho type,
It is the original form of standard characters such as Gothic. There are several types of dimensions. With this type, you can write letters on the tree with paint or ink. Alternatively, a plastic plate may be cut according to the mold and attached to a flat plate to form a signboard. In the case of a signboard, the characters are large and viewed from a distance, so it may not be necessary to make it accurately because it is not noticeable even if there is some burrs or deviations.

In the case of including a figure, it is necessary to actually make an enlarged figure of the figure and paste it. It may be a simple figure, but it takes time for a complicated figure. You must make a magnifying copy and then trace the contour of this to complete a beautiful magnified view.

[0005]

In the case of a handwritten signboard, characters of any typeface can be drawn, so there is a high degree of freedom, but a skilled craftsman is essential for calligraphy. The number of craftsmen with such skillful arms is decreasing. In many cases, there are not many types of fixed-sized signs because they use fixed fonts such as Gothic and Mincho. It becomes a fixed typeface. If you want a special font, you have to design it specially and expand it to make a mold. It is not an easy task and a large amount of money is required to make a signboard.

Especially, when a graphic is included, it is fatal. In the case of complicated figures, it is necessary to enlarge the original picture and rewrite it. If you want to make several signs with different sizes, you have to duplicate some sizes. In this specification, the signboard includes not only a rigid signboard but also an indefinite large display such as a banner.

It is a first object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of making a signboard with characters of an appropriate typeface without preparing many original forms of characters. It is a second object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of producing a signboard of characters written by brush even if there is no skilled craftsman in the calligraphy. It is a third object of the present invention to provide a device which can put not only characters but also arbitrary logos, illustrations and figures on a signboard. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of easily and quickly producing a signboard or a banner having an arbitrary size. It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide a device capable of guaranteeing a clean outline without increasing noise even if the size of a character or a figure becomes large.

[0008]

A signboard producing apparatus of the present invention reads an original image such as a desired character or figure to be drawn on a signboard with an image scanner, stores it for each pixel, and extracts a contour line. , The connection points are found from the contour line, the line segment between the adjacent connection points is approximated by an appropriate function, the contour line and the function are stored, and the character / graphic data corresponding to the original drawing is stored from the stored information. Is generated and output to a printer or a cutting plotter, and characters and figures made by enlarging the original drawing are drawn on the signboard medium.

The signboard medium is any planar medium such as paper, plastic, metal, cloth, and foil. Characters and figures are written on this with a printer. In the case of a cutting plotter, paper, plastic, metal, foil, etc. can be cut out along the contour line. As the printer, a laser printer, a thermal printer, or any large-area printer is used.

The joint plays a central role in the present invention. Extraction of joint points and function approximation are performed automatically. In order to obtain the joint point and perform the function approximation, the reading error and noise by the image scanner are removed, and the image is corrected neatly. Therefore, the characters and figures drawn on the signboard medium can faithfully reproduce the characteristics of the original picture. In the case of fixed characters and numbers, the original character font is read by an image scanner, contour lines are extracted, joint points are extracted, and data is extracted after function approximation.
It is stored in the storage device in the form of This is a common data
Make sure you are prepared from the beginning.

That is, the signboard producing apparatus of the present invention is an image storage device for optically reading a desired character / figure and optically reading character / figure data, and storing the data in correspondence with a finite number of vertically and horizontally arranged pixels. And a contour line extraction device that extracts a contour line of a character / graphic read in association with pixels arranged vertically and horizontally as a contour point sequence, and two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) of the extracted contour point sequence are continuous. A contour point sequence storage device that stores t as an independent variable and X and Y as dependent variables for each group, a curvature calculation mechanism that obtains a curvature at each point of a point sequence for each group in the x and y spaces, and a curvature calculation mechanism for each group. A perfect circle extraction mechanism that extracts a perfect circle from curvature data, a splice point extraction mechanism that extracts a point that cannot be spatially differentiated as a splice point from the curvature data of a point sequence, and the same point sequence group Approximate a straight line and a circular arc between the adjacent joint points in Independent variable t is time that can not be, x, y
Approximate a piecewise polynomial with the dependent variable as a dependent variable, and repeat the least-squares approximation while increasing the number of dimensions of the piecewise polynomial until the accuracy of the approximation falls within a predetermined value. A data approximation mechanism, a compression data storage device for storing the coordinates of the joint points and the parameters of the function approximating between the joint points for each group of point sequences, and the stored compression data. -A contour reproducing mechanism for reproducing the contour line by inputting data to obtain the coordinate of the joint point for each group of point sequences and the function parameter approximating the adjacent joint point, and the pixel inside the reproduced contour line and the outside It is characterized by comprising a character / graphics reproducing mechanism for reproducing a character / graphic by associating different values with the pixels of, and a reproducing data output mechanism for outputting the reproduced character / graphic.

When the medium is cut out by using the cutting plotter, the value of the contour reproducing mechanism is used to operate the cutting plotter to cut out the contour line of the character / graphic.

[0013]

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

The size of a signboard or banner that can be created depends on the size of an existing output device. In the case of thermal printers, there are commercially available ones capable of printing a printer having a width of 1 m or more. Using this, you can easily and quickly create a signboard with a width of 1 m or more. However, size limitations are not inherent in the present invention. The present invention can be used to reproduce characters and figures of any size. What limits the size is the size of the printer or cutting plotter. If a printer having a large size can be produced, the present invention can easily and quickly create a large signboard. What is important in the present invention is how to extract, store, and reproduce the data defining the character graphic.

The overall structure of the present invention is shown in a list in FIG. All the mechanisms will be described here in advance and explained one by one. A. Image storage device B. Contour point sequence extraction device C. Contour point sequence storage device D. Data approximation mechanism A E. Curvature calculation mechanism E '. Approximate curvature storage device F. Perfect circle extraction mechanism G. Perfect circle memory device Joint position extraction mechanism I. Junction point storage device N. Data approximation mechanism B O. Compressed data output mechanism P. Compressed data storage device R. Contour reproduction mechanism S. Character / figure reproduction mechanism Reproduction data output mechanism

Characters and figures to be displayed on the signboard are purpose, target,
It varies depending on the subject of display. Sometimes it uses fixed characters, sometimes it uses special characters. It may also be a handwritten letter. Sometimes it includes figures and illustrations. The present invention can handle any character or figure. For example, the procedure will be briefly described for the symbol of the diode shown in FIG.

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

The X and Y coordinates of the contour point are defined as a function of t using the parametric display. Since the sequence of contour points is continuous, X
(T) and Y (t) are almost continuous functions with respect to t. Approximate with a piecewise polynomial over the entire contour point sequence group. In the first approximation, one contour point string is approximated by one piecewise polynomial. This is to find the curvature. The accuracy of the approximation may be low. Since it is a continuous function with a piecewise polynomial, the second-order differentiation is performed on each contour point sequence to obtain the curvature. A contour point sequence having a constant curvature is a perfect circle. This is separated as a perfect circle. The junction has a large curvature. In FIG. 3, cross marks, intersections, and the like of the contour point sequence are marked with x. This is the junction.

The contour point sequence is divided by the joint points. Approximate a straight line, a circular arc, and a free curve between the joining points. Approximation is performed in the order of straight line, circular arc, and free curve. First, approximate with a straight line. This can be expressed simply by the fact that it is a straight line with the starting point coordinates. Next, it approximates with an arc. This can also be specified by the starting point, radius, and central angle. There is very little data for expressing these.

If a straight line or a circular arc cannot be approximated, a free curve approximation is performed. In this case, the joining points are divided into M subsections and approximated by a piecewise polynomial. Since the approximation can be improved by increasing the number of subdivisions, the approximation with desired accuracy can be performed.

In this way, the parameters of the joining point and the straight line, the circular arc, and the free curve can be obtained.
Memorize as data. It is stored in a memory element, which requires only a small memory capacity because the data is significantly compressed according to the invention. The time required for reading is also short. Depending on the number of strokes and complexity, it is about 30 per character / figure
Data of 0 to 500 bytes is enough. If the image is a black and white image, there is data corresponding to the number of all the pixels that make up the screen. For example, if there are 256 pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions, there are 8 kilobytes (kbytes), but in the present invention, the data can be significantly compressed.

On the contrary, this data can be read out to reproduce a straight line, a circular arc or a free curve with the junction point as a reference.
It can be reproduced at any size and at any position by calculation. The reproduction data is output by the cutting plotter. The thermal transfer sheet is cut along the contour.

[0023]

【Example】

[A. Image Storage Device] This is a device for reading characters / graphics written on paper or the like by optical means and storing them as information decomposed into pixels. A commercially available image scanner is used. The character / figure portion becomes black, and the portion not forming the character / figure is made white to form a binary image, which is stored for each pixel.

For example, using an image scanner, 256 ×
It is entered with an accuracy of 256 dots. Of course, the number of dots is arbitrary, and the one with a large number of dots should be of high quality if it is stored as a character or graphic. However, a large number of dots will increase the calculation time and storage capacity. The image reading device described above may be used. If the number of dots is limited and the resolution is poor, the reading size is limited. In this case, the entire screen is divided into a number of fine areas, and the data read in each fine area is processed and stored separately. Make arrangements so that continuity can be ensured at the joints during playback.

Each dot (pixel) is temporarily stored by distinguishing whether it is a white pixel or a black pixel. Hereinafter, one pixel may be referred to as a point. A continuous black pixel row is called a dot row. To indicate a point, coordinates (x, y) consisting of a horizontal number x and a vertical number y of the pixel on the screen are used. Different suffixes are added to coordinate variables to distinguish them.

[B. Contour Point Sequence Extraction Device] The contour point sequence extraction device performs an operation for obtaining the contour line of the read character / graphic. Since we know the coordinates of all black pixels,
A contour point sequence can be obtained as a boundary between black pixels and white pixels.

Representation of Contour Point Sequence The contour point sequence is a sequence of points that are continuous diagonally to the left, right, up, down, and left and right of the black pixels on the outer periphery of the block of black pixels. In the case of a closed curve element, there are contour point sequences inside as well as outside. One closed point sequence is called a contour point sequence. Let U be the total number of contour point sequences. The U contour point sequences are numbered from 0 to U-1. The total number of contour points in the u-th contour point sequence is N (u)
It is represented by. Number k for consecutive points in one contour point sequence
Attach. k is an integer of 0 to N (u) -1.

The coordinates of the k-th contour point in the u-th contour point sequence are represented by (x _k ^u , y _k ^u ). All contour points are represented by {(x _k ^u , y _k ^u )} _{k = 0} ^{N u -1} _{u = 0} ^U-1 (1). _{k = 0} ^{N u -1} is the sequence number k
Can take values from 0 to N (u) -1. Since N (u) -1 includes parentheses and this cannot be made into a quarter-corner, when it becomes a suffix of a variable, parentheses are removed and written as Nu-1. N u −1 = N (u)
-1. Since it is a suffix, it should be written above and below, but since this cannot be done, it is attached separately to the lower left and upper right.
_{u = 0} ^U-1 means that the number u of the contour point sequence group takes a value of _{0 to} ^U-1 . Further, the number u of the contour point sequence should be shown with parentheses attached to the right shoulder of the variable, but the parentheses cannot be made into quarter-squares, so the parentheses are omitted. Actually, it has brackets as shown in the drawing. It is not the u-th power of the variable. This is common to the parameter t and the independent variables x and y. u is a group number and is written on the right shoulder of the variable as it is, but it is actually enclosed in parentheses.

[C. Contour Point Sequence Storage Device] The contour point sequence storage device is a device for storing the contour point sequence obtained in the preceding stage. (X
This is stored in the form of _k ^u , y _k ^u ) _{k = 0} ^{N u -1} _{u = 0} ^U-1 . As described above, U is the number of all points and u is the number given to the points. The number of points in the point sequence u is N (u)
And k is the point number attached to it. Such a thing is expressed by _{k = 0} ^{N u -1} _{u = 0} ^U-1 . (X _k ^u, y _k
^u ) is the x, y coordinate of the kth point of the uth point sequence.
Again, with N (u) -1 as the suffix, N
It is written as u -1.

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

This is decomposed into a parameter display. That is, for each point, a common parameter t is associated with two (x _k ^u , y _k ^u ). This is also subscripted to be t _k ^u . It was two-dimensional information, but to make this a one-dimensional problem, parameters are used. u is the group number of the contour point sequence,
k is a point number in one contour point sequence.

By using the parameters, (t _k ^u ,
A combination of two coordinates of (x _k ^u ) and (t _k ^u , y _k ^u ) corresponds to each point of each contour point sequence. Hereinafter, the same thing will be done for the two variables, so only one will be explained. The function S _{x of} t approximating the contour point sequence (t _k ^u , x _k ^u ) in the group u
(T) is given as a linear combination whose base is a quadratic full-energy-function system {ψ _m }. We approximate x as a function of t in group u by S _x (t). Similarly S _y
Approximate y in group u by (t). The evaluation as to whether or not it is appropriate as an approximate function is made by the method of least squares and whether or not the error is within a predetermined range.

It should be noted that S _x (t), S _y
This means that the entire closed curve of the group of contour point sequences u is approximated at once by (t). Instead of having a junction in the middle, the whole is approximated by one function S _x (t). This is done because the junction has not been decided yet. As mentioned above, there is a simpler method for obtaining the curvature without using approximation. It is the contour point sequence data
This is a method of directly calculating the discrete curvature. Such a discrete curvature may be used for carrying out the present invention. However, this is not explained here, and the approximation function S _x
Generation of (t) and S _y (t) will be described.

S _x (t) is a non-period mth-order full-energy
Expand with the function ψ _k as the basis. S _x (t) = Σ _{k = -m} ^{M + m} C _k ^x ψ _k (t) (2)

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

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

However, k = -m, -m + 1, ..., 0,
1,2, ..., m + M

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

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

The basis function ψ _k is a mountain-shaped function having a finite value from division number _{k to k} + m + 1 and having 0 on both sides. This is 0 such as {t- (k + q) (T / M)} ^m ₊
The coordinates of the m-th order function rising from are shifted laterally one by one (increase q by one), and these are superimposed. 0 when t> (k + m + 1) (T / M)
Must. Under this condition, the superposition coefficient is (-1) ^q / {q! (M + 1-q)! } Is decided.

The area size T is the number N of points in the contour point sequence group.
It is easy to make it equal to (u), but it may be defined as proportional. As described above, the contour point sequence is approximated by using the full-energy function. However, since there are many division points having the intervals of T / M, the contour point sequence can be approximated even if there are no junction points. In order to increase the degree of approximation, the order m of the full-energy function may be increased.

The inventor's argument is that many functions representing the fluctuations of physical quantities in the natural world are expressed as a linear combination of first-order and second-order full-energy functions. The full-ency function is not a complete orthogonal normalization function. If a function up to ∞ is adopted as m and a linear combination of them is adopted, an arbitrary function can be expressed. There is no doubt about this. However, the present inventor does not mean that it is possible to write down the fluctuation of the physical quantity in the natural world by using the full-energy function having a small number of dimensions. Here, only m = 2 is adopted.
As a result, the outlines of characters and figures can be expressed without excess or deficiency.

If the most suitable function system is adopted and the fluctuation of the physical quantity is described by the linear combination, the optimum approximation can be obtained with the fewest function. If the function system is not good, we have to expand the equation of linear combination with many functions as the base. With this, a good approximation cannot be obtained, the number of final data is increased, and the load on the storage device is heavy. It is also not easy to read and use this. You should choose the optimal function system. The inventor thinks that m = 2 is optimal.

The inventor here uses a flu-enchy function with m = 2. This is a quadratic curve over three intervals. The rising and falling edges at both ends are quadratic functions. It is the maximum at the central point, but it is also a quadratic function in this neighborhood.

Generally, the m-th order full-energy function is (m +
1) A smooth (m ≧ 2) function that exists over the interval and has a maximum in the central portion. At both ends, it rises and falls with the m-th power. The function form at the center is also the m-th power. Base ψ
_When the parameter _k of k increases by one, it means that the original one is translated to the right one by one.

In the above equation, when m = 2,

S _x (t) = Σ _{k = −2} ^{M + 2} C _k ^x ψ _k (t) (6)

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

It becomes The basis function is {t- (k + q) (T
/ M)} ² ₊ is a superposition of quadratic functions rising from four 0s which are shifted by T / M in the lateral direction. It is a function whose number of subdivisions has a value from k to k + 3. k + 4
The coefficient of superposition is (-
1) ^q / {q! (3-q)! } Becomes. The number of basis functions is M + 5. M is the number of divisions of the entire section, which is called the approximate number of dimensions. This should not be confused with the order m of the full-ency function.

If the number of dimensions M is increased, any complicated change can be approximated as it is. If the number of dimensions M is large, calculation takes time and the amount of data to be stored also increases. It is desirable to perform approximation with the minimum number of dimensions that gives the required approximation. The degree of approximation can be judged by how close it is to the original contour point sequence (x _k ^u , y _k ^u ).
We evaluate this by the method of least squares, which is

Q = Σ {S _x (t _k ^u ) −x _k ^u } ² + {S _y (t _k ^u ) −y _k ^u } ² (8)

Is to be minimized. The range of integration is all the points of the contour point sequence group u. Since only the curvature is obtained here, the accuracy does not have to be so high. The coefficient C _h is determined, and the number of dimensions of this is M. When defining a certain M, equation (6), is uniquely determined coefficient C _h ^x (7). However, this coefficient does not always satisfy the restriction by the least square method. In this case, the number of dimensions M is increased by one. When the desired approximation range is reached, the coefficient C _h in the dimension M is determined.

[E. Curvature calculation mechanism] Since approximate functions have been obtained for all contour point sequence groups, the second order differentiation is performed to obtain the curvature at each contour point sequence group and each point. The curvature K (t _k ^{u at} the k-th point (x _k ^u , y _k ^u ) of the contour point sequence group ^u
) Is

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

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

[E '. Approximate Curvature Storage Device] This is a device that stores the curvature K (t _k ^u ) obtained in the previous stage for each point (contour point group u, point number k).

[F. True Circle Extraction Mechanism] This is to extract a true circle by discriminating whether or not a certain contour point sequence is a perfect circle based on the approximate curvature. A perfect circle means that the curvature at each point in the contour point sequence is all the same.
In reality, since there is noise, the curvature is extracted on the condition that it is within a certain small error range from a certain value. Characters and figures have a lot of parts that are perfect circles. However, since the true circle here is about the contour line, it means an isolated true circle. If the part of the perfect circle is in contact with another straight line or curve, it is not extracted as a perfect circle. Extracting a perfect circle has the following advantages. One is that even if what is originally a perfect circle is slightly distorted due to noise, it is converted to a perfect circle and the noise is dropped, so that the shape can be determined more accurately. Further, since the circle can be specified only by the radius and the coordinates of the center, it is extremely effective in terms of data compression.

[G. True circle storage device] The center circle coordinates and radius r obtained in the previous step are stored. Thereby, the data of the group u can be described by three values. Since the target is characters and figures, all the outline point sequences are closed curves. In the case of a single true circle, this is an isolated circle point because the entire interior is a circle filled with black pixels. In the case of a double true circle, the space between the double circles corresponds to a circle filled with black pixels.

[H. Joint Point Position Extraction Mechanism] A joint point is a joint between straight lines, a joint between curves, a joint between curves, or a joint between curves. This is called a junction because lines with different slopes touch. Junction points play an extremely important role when approximating characters and figures by function. Here is the gist of the present invention. According to the present invention, the amount of data can be minimized while maintaining high quality of characters and figures through accurate and appropriate determination of the joining points.

The junction is obtained from the curvature given by the previous approximate expression of the piecewise polynomial. This is obtained as a point with a large curvature. Joint points are obtained for all contour point sequences. In the schematic diagram of the diode in FIG. 3, the junction point is indicated by x. There are a total of three contour lines, which are the outer circular contour line Y and the inner contour lines R and S. Although there are eight junction points of the outer contour line, only the upper half is marked. Tu-ne is a short line segment, ne-na is a semi-circular arc, na-la is a short line segment, and tu-f is a short arc or a free curve. Since the inner contour lines R and S are symmetric, R will be described. Mu-u is a line segment, u- ヰ is a line segment, and ヰ -no is also a line segment, but it is a free curve that bends near No. No-o is a line segment, o-ku is also a line segment, k-
YA is a line segment, YAM is a line segment, and MAM is a semi-circle. This also has many straight lines. Then there are many arcs. Geometrically, a line segment is fixed at both ends, and a straight line is a figure without both ends. However, in this specification, a line segment or a half line is also called a straight line.

[I. Joining point position storage device] This is the number and coordinates {d _i (x _i ^u , y _{i of} the joining point obtained by the above operation.
^u )} is stored.

[N. Data approximation mechanism B] Then, when the joint points are obtained, the contour point sequence is divided into several sections by the joint points. The section divided by the junction points is approximated by a piecewise polynomial. The approximation of this piecewise polynomial is the same as that described in the data approximation mechanism A, but in the previous one, the approximation interval was over the entire contour point sequence group. This time, instead, a piecewise polynomial approximation is performed for each junction. The data approximating mechanism B is a mechanism for approximating the data from the data of the contour point sequence, the final joining point, the perfect circle and the like obtained so far. It is the central part of the invention. What is input from each storage device is a contour point sequence storage device ... Contour point sequence {(x _k ^u , y _k ^u )}
_{k = 0} ^{N u -1} _{= 0} ^U-1 Junction point memory ...... Joint point {(x _i ^u , y _i ^u )
_{i = 0} ^I-1 True circle memory device ... Circle Circle (u)

It is A straight line, a circular arc, and a free curve are approximated between two adjacent joint points (between joint points). As in the previous approximation, the parameter t is used to calculate the x component as s _x (t)
Then, the y component is represented by s _y (t).

This means that the entire contour point sequence is first transformed by the parameter t.
It is the same method as described in. But this time the region is between the junctions, so the range of t or t and s _x
The correspondence between (t) and s _x (t) is different from the previous one. Further, it is known when the curvature is obtained at each point whether the section starting from a certain joint is a straight section, an arc section, or a free curve section.

Since the characteristics of the intervals can be distinguished in this way, it is easy to determine the parameters of the approximate calculation. [Approximation of straight line section] The approximation of the section starting from the junction of straight lines will be described. It is determined to be a straight line in the step of extracting the junction point.

The proportional constants of the parameters t and s _x (t) and s _y (t) serve as parameters. However, it is not necessary to store this proportional constant. If it is a straight line section, the starting point (x ₁ , y ₁ )
This is because if the end point (x _n3 , y _n3 ) is known, a straight line can be drawn between them. Since the end point (x _n3 , y _n3 ) is given as the start point of the next section, it is not necessary to store it here. All you have to do is set a flag that is a straight line with the starting point coordinates.

[Approximation of Arc Section] Approximation of a section starting from a junction point of arcs will be described. This section is determined to be a circular arc at the stage of extracting the joining point. Approximate curves s _x (t) and s _y (t) representing arcs are represented by the linear combination of the following trigonometric functions. If the observation interval is t ∈ [0, T],
s _x (t) and s _y (t) are

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

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

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

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

B _y / A _y = B _x / A _x (13)

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

[Approximation of Free Curve] Even at the junction of straight lines,
Approximate the section starting from the joining point that is not the joining point of the circular arc with the free curve. The contour point sequence is (x _i3
^u , y _i3 ^u ), and t is associated with this,
The parameters are represented by (t _i3 ^u , x _i3 ^u ) and (t _i3 ^u , y _i3 ^u ). Up to now, the suffix of the contour point sequence has been k, but since k is used as the section division number here, i3 is used as the contour point sequence number instead of k. The total number of contour point sequences is n3.

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

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

It is With this as the base, s _x (t _i3 ), s
_y (t _i3 ) is _obtained by using the coefficients c _k ^x and c _k ^y ,

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

S _y (t _i3 ) = Σ _{k = −2} ^{M + 2} c _k ^y ψ _k3 (t _i3 ) (16)

It is expressed as here,

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

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

It is defined as ξ _{k + q} is the interval T is M
It is a subdivision when divided into equal parts.

Ξ _{k + q} = (k + q) T / M (19)

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

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

Is defined by (15), (16)
The coefficient can be determined by solving The squared error is obtained by inserting this coefficient. If this does not fall below a predetermined threshold value, the number of dimensions is increased. The same process is repeated so that the squared error is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold. This determines the number of dimensions and the coefficient.

[O. Compressed data output mechanism] The outlines of characters and figures are separated into straight lines (line segments), perfect circles, arcs, and free-form curves by the above procedure. These have start and end points, and have parameters such as inclination, center, and radius. The data to be stored also differs depending on each type.

In the case of straight line data, a flag indicating that the line is a straight line and the start point coordinates of the straight line are stored as data. Since the end point coordinate is given as the start point of the next section, it is not necessary to store it here.

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

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

[P. Compressed data storage device] Stores data such as straight lines, perfect circles, circular arcs, and free curves output from the compressed data output mechanism. This is stored and then output at an appropriate time. Up to this point, the device is for compressing and generating data and storing it. An apparatus for reproducing characters / figures from the accumulated data will be described. Table 1 shows the data structure stored in the compressed data storage device P.

[0093]

[Table 1]

The size of the data will be described. If there is a straight line between the junction points, 1 byte for the flag indicating the straight line, 2 bytes for indicating the start point of the line segment (x coordinate and y coordinate)
It requires a total of 3 bytes. If there is an arc between the joining points, 1 byte is the flag that indicates the arc, 2 bytes to indicate the start point of the arc,
4 bytes to represent the central angle of the arc, 1 byte to represent the number of contour point sequences, 1 to represent the coefficients of the approximation function (there are 6)
Two bytes require a total of 20 bytes. If there is a free curve between the connecting points, it is 1 byte to represent the dimension number M of the function, 1 byte to represent the number of contour points, 2 bytes to represent the center of variation of the contour points, and 2M to represent the coefficient of the approximation function. 4 bytes in total
It becomes +2 Mbytes.

A contour reproducing mechanism R, a character / graphics reproducing mechanism S, and a reproduction data output mechanism T, which will be described below, are mechanisms for reproducing the characters / graphics in arbitrary sizes and outputting them to the cutting plotter.

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

[Reproduction of Straight Line] Reproduction of a straight line is performed by connecting a straight line from the coordinates of the starting point to the coordinates of the junction point of the next section. No data is needed on the slope of the straight line. [Reproduction of Perfect Circle] The reproduction of a perfect circle is performed by drawing a circle having a given radius centered on the center coordinate from the data of the center coordinate and the radius. [Reproduction of arc] Reproduction of arc is performed by storing each data (A _x , B _x , ...
・) Is substituted into the following formula.

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

[0099] _{S y (t) = A y} cos {2πt / (T / n arc)} + B y sin {2πt / (T / n arc)} + C y (2 2)

By varying the parameter t in the interval [0 to T], the x and y coordinates are obtained from S _x (t) and S _y (t).

[Reproduction of Free Curve] The value of the basis ψ _K3 of the approximation function at each sample point t _i is such that the sample point t _i is in the interval [(L
-1) (T / M), L (T / M)] (1≤L
≦ M), p = L−t _i × M / T,

Ψ _k3 (t _i ) = 0.5p ² k = L (23) ψ _k3 (t _i ) = p (1-p) +0.5 k = L + 1 (24) ψ _k3 (t _i ) = 1 −φ _L3 (t _i ) −φ _{L + 13} (t _i ) k = L + 2 (25) φ _k3 (t _i ) = 0 k ≦ L−1, L + 3 ≦ k (26) However, L is a natural number having a dimension number M or less. It should be written as M'because it is a number of the same property, but since 'does not become a quarter angle, it is expressed by L.

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

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

It is calculated by

[S. Character / figure reproducing mechanism] Since the contour line is obtained, the portion surrounded by the contour line is used as a black pixel to reproduce a black and white binary image in a character / figure shape. Alternatively, on the contrary, the portion surrounded by the contour line may be white pixels and the rest may be black pixels. Further, it is possible to make a part surrounded by the contour line a certain color and another part another color.
In short, it suffices that the inside and outside of the outline can be distinguished.
This step is omitted when outputting the outline and cutting the sheet with the cutting plotter.

[T. Reproduction data output mechanism] This is roughly divided into two cases. One is a printer. Since the characters / graphics have been obtained as reproduction data, they are printed. This is an enlarged reproduction of the original characters / figures. In this case, the data from the character / figure reproducing mechanism S in the preceding stage is
Reproduce characters and figures on paper, plastic sheets, metal plates, cloth, etc. Several existing printers are available.
For example, Rico-SP8, Rico-Imagio MF530, etc. can be used. With the advent of printers that can output to larger sheets and sheets, the utility of the present invention will be further enhanced.

The other is a data output mechanism for cutting out a contour line. This is the cutting plotter. For example, only the portion of the plastic sheet attached to the mount is accurately cut out. Characters except unnecessary parts
Obtain the sheet portion of the shape of the figure. This is attached to an appropriate base plate and the release paper is removed to form a signboard. Not only sheets but also metal plates and foils can be cut out. This cuts the contour line by the data of the contour reproducing mechanism R. For example, a cutting plotter of CAMM-1 series manufactured by ROLAND, a cutting plotter HS460, GS460, SP-920 manufactured by MUTOH can be used.

In the diagram showing the actual mechanism of the present invention in FIG. 1, an image scanner, a personal computer and a cutting plotter are shown. The mechanism for data processing described above is housed in a custom IC fixed to a printed circuit board.
It's not just installed on a PC as software. In the present invention, since the original image is stored in the form of the coordinates of the joining point and the coefficient, the original image can be enlarged to any magnification. In addition, the center of coordinates can be arbitrarily specified.
Therefore, it is possible to output an arbitrary design character / graphic in an arbitrary size. That is, a sheet having a desired size can be cut out without being limited to the size of the original image.

FIG. 4 shows the kanji “signboard master” and the corresponding alfbed on the signboard. This can be created by cutting out the sheet with a cutting plotter, or by drawing on a continuous paper or plastic with a printer.
It is the size of the cutting plotter or printer that limits the size. With a large printer and cutting plotter, you can make as many large signs as you want.

FIG. 5 shows a signboard with the letters "○○ Inc. Memorial Ceremony" created by the device of the present invention. This can also be created by cutting with a cutting plotter or by printing on a long sheet with a printer. It can be used as a signboard for ceremonies in large conference rooms such as hotels. It is a signboard with a short life that can be thrown away only for one day. The font is often fixed. Even this kind of thing currently requires a considerable production cost. The device of the present invention makes such an easy signboard very easily. The present invention is effective because of high demand.

FIG. 6 is an example of a signboard made of the characters of "Central Bank" made by the device of the present invention. It is suspended to the side of the building wall. It can be created by cutting out a plastic sheet with a cutting plotter and attaching it. There are already some cutting plotters that can cut hard plastics. It is also possible to make the character portion a thin metal plate.

FIG. 7 shows "Cyugin Cash Service".
It is a sign representing the letters. It is a display attached near the automatic cash dispenser. This is also easy to make. It uses a standard character font, but any handwritten character can be easily represented.

FIG. 8 is a display of "Takshi-Hall". Not only letters but also car figures. This can also be easily input and output by the device of the present invention. In the case of a signboard including graphics, the advantages of the present invention are fully realized.

FIG. 9 is a display of the reception information placed on the table near the entrance of the company. This is a cut-out piece of plastic sheet. You can also engrave a plastic base plate using a special cutting plotter.

FIG. 10 shows a signboard of "Congratulations on your graduation congratulations" made by the apparatus of the present invention. This is a signboard that can be attached to department stores, shops, etc. The letters have some ingenuity. This is an image processing of a handwritten character as it is. The outline does not get distorted even when enlarged. A sharp ridgeline can be maintained. Since such an arbitrary figure can be freely reproduced, the contents such as a figure character that can be used as a signboard are extremely rich. It is possible to quickly and easily create effective signs and advertisements that will enhance customers' willingness to purchase.

[0117] Fig. 11 shows a signboard called "Chii system CHIE" made by the device of the present invention. This is a plastic sheet cut out by a cutting plotter. Kanji is handwritten. CHIE is also specially designed. If there is only one original image, this can be data-compressed and stored by the method of the present invention. It is easy to output this with the method of the present invention to create such a display.

Not only the rigid signboards as described above,
According to the present invention, a banner extending over 10 m can be easily made. It is an extremely convenient and useful invention.

[0119]

Industrial Applicability According to the present invention, various character fonts, characters and figures which are original images of handwriting, etc. are optically read, stored as small data, and stored in a printer or a cutting plotter. Characters and figures in the desired typeface can be displayed on a large signboard. Calligraphy eliminates the need for skilled craftsmen. It is possible to make a signboard including handwritten characters and figures without relying on such craftsmen's hands.

More important than that is that a large number of various character fonts can be stored.
Since the data is stored by the compressed data, the storage capacity required for each character is extremely small. You don't actually have to have a prototype. It is housed in the computer's memory in the form of compressed data and can be scaled up arbitrarily at any size, eliminating the need for several different sized molds.
The present invention is particularly effective in the case of creating a signboard or a banner including a graphic. All you have to do is write one small figure. Since this is stored in the storage device as compressed data, a graphic of any size can be automatically created from this.

Even the currently popular copy machine is expanded.
You can Therefore, if it is enlarged many times, it will be easy to make it large enough to be attached to a signboard. However, the present invention is not merely an expansion copy. When the enlargement copy is repeated many times, many jagged edges appear on the ridgeline. If there is dirt on the screen, it will spread. If the original drawing has line distortion, it will be magnified many times and the drawing will be dirty. Noise increases and it becomes useless. Moreover, a large amount of time and paper are consumed for the enlargement copy. The present invention approximates a straight line and a circular arc between the joining points, and extracts a perfect circle first. For this reason, what was originally a straight line or a circular arc but was distorted due to noise is corrected correctly. It is stored as a graphic element according to the geometric definition. The line does not get disturbed no matter how much the image is enlarged.
A clear line can be reproduced. It is unprecedented.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

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

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining extraction of a sequence of contour points and extraction of a connection point by taking a figure of a diode as an example.

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

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which the letters “XX Corporation Memorial Ceremony” are stamped out using the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which a vertical type kanji signboard called “central bank” is made by using the device of the present invention.

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

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which a signboard “Takshi-Hall” is created using the device of the present invention.

[FIG. 9] Using the device of the present invention, “Reception INFORMATI
The figure which shows the example which created the desk tag called "ON."

FIG. 10 shows a system using the device of the present invention.
The figure which shows the example which created the signboard "E".

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 1, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Fig. 10

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

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

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Fig. 11

[Correction method] Added

[Correction content]

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a system using the device of the present invention.
The figure which shows the example which created the signboard "E".

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G06T 5/00 9/20 G09F 15/00 Z G06F 15/66 410 7459-5L 15/70 335 Z

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A device for producing a signboard of desired size composed of desired characters / figures, which optically reads desired characters / figures to be written on the signboard and optically reads the characters / figures. An image storage device for reading data and storing it in correspondence with a finite number of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally, and a contour point sequence extraction for extracting the contour line of a character or figure read in association with pixels arranged vertically and horizontally as a point sequence. The device and the two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) of the extracted contour line are grouped in succession with t as an independent variable, X,
A contour point sequence storage device for storing Y as a dependent variable, a data approximation mechanism A for approximating the entire contour point sequence group by a piecewise polynomial, and a point sequence for each group in the x and y spaces A curvature calculation mechanism that obtains the curvature, a perfect circle extraction mechanism that extracts a perfect circle from the curvature data for each group, and a join that extracts a point that cannot be spatially differentiated from the curvature data of the point sequence as a joint point. When the point position extraction mechanism and adjacent joint points in the same point sequence group are approximated in the order of a straight line and a circular arc and a predetermined approximation accuracy cannot be obtained by this, t is an independent variable and x and y are dependent variables. Approximate with a piecewise polynomial, while increasing the number of dimensions of the piecewise polynomial until the approximation accuracy falls within a predetermined value, repeat least-squares approximation to approximate a straight line, arc, or piecewise polynomial between adjacent junction points. Approximate the coordinates of the above-mentioned joint point and the space between adjacent joint points for each of the mechanism B and the group of point sequences A compression data storage device for storing the function parameters and a function parameter for approximating the coordinates of the junction points and the adjacent junction points for each group of point sequences by inputting the stored compression data. The contour reproduction mechanism that reproduces the contour line, the character / graphics reproduction mechanism that associates different values to the pixels inside the reproduced contour line and the external pixels, and on the medium according to the reproduced characters / graphics. And a reproduction data output mechanism for outputting characters and figures. 2. A device for producing a signboard of desired size consisting of desired characters / figures, etc., which optically reads desired characters / figures to be written on the signboard and optically reads the characters / figures. An image storage device for reading data and storing it in correspondence with a finite number of pixels arranged vertically and horizontally, and a contour point sequence for extracting a contour line of a character or figure read in association with pixels arranged vertically and horizontally as a contour point sequence. Extraction device and extracted contour line 2
T is an independent variable for each continuous group of dimensional coordinates (X, Y),
A contour point sequence storage device that stores X and Y as dependent variables;
A data that approximates the entire contour point sequence group by a piecewise polynomial
Approximation mechanism A, a curvature calculation mechanism for obtaining the curvature at each point of the point sequence for each group in the x and y spaces, a perfect circle extraction mechanism for extracting a perfect circle from the curvature data for each group, and a point Column curvature data
The joint position extraction mechanism that extracts points that cannot be spatially differentiated from the joint as joint points, and the adjacent joint points within the same point sequence group are approximated in the order of straight lines and arcs, and the prescribed approximation accuracy cannot be obtained. Time is approximated by a piecewise polynomial in which t is an independent variable and x and y are dependent variables, and the least-squares approximation is repeated while increasing the number of dimensions of the piecewise polynomial until the approximation accuracy falls within a predetermined value. A data approximating mechanism for approximating a straight line, an arc, and a piecewise polynomial, and a compression data storing the coordinates of the above-mentioned joining points for each group of point sequences and the parameters of the function approximating between adjacent joining points. A data storage device, a contour reproducing mechanism for inputting the stored compression data to obtain the function parameters approximating the coordinates of the junction points and the adjacent junction points for each group of point sequences, and reproducing the contour line, Playback that cuts the sheet that should be a signboard along the outline of the written characters and figures - Signs of creating apparatus characterized by comprising a data output mechanism.