Character recognition apparatus
First Claim
1. In a character reading system wherein an analog signal having a waveform unique to each character to be read is generated, said unique waveform including a sequence of varying peak amplitudes and times of occurrence of same corresponding to the shape of the character being read, means for evaluating said waveform to derive signals representing feature characteristics of the character recognized compising:
- a. means for detecting said analog peak amplitudes and the times of occurrence thereof;
b. first means responsive to said detected analog peak amplitudes to output a first feature signal representing the ratio of one of said analog peak amplitudes to a predetermined one of said analog peak amplitudes;
c. second means responsive to the detection of the times of occurrence of said analog peak amplitudes to output a second feature signal representing the ratio of the time of occurrence of one of said analog peak amplitudes to the time of occurrence of a predetermined one of said analog peak amplitudes;
d. means for storing first and second features representing corresponding feature characteristics of a plurality of unique reference characters;
e. and means for comparing said first and second feature signals with the reference signals of each unique reference character to produce an output indicating the unique reference character corresponding to the unique waveform.
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Abstract
A magnetic character recognition system is disclosed for reading magnetized characters printed on a document such as a check, which system determines the magnitude and position of each of the peaks of an analog waveform representing each character read by a single gap magnetic read head. Means are provided for normalizing the peak amplitude by dividing the amplitude of each succeeding peak value by the amplitude of the first peak value read and generating a digital value representing the ratio of the succeeding peak values to the first value. Further means are provided for normalizing the peak position by determining the ratio of the position of each of the peaks within the waveform to the position of the first position peak of the waveform. The digital values of the normalized peak amplitude and position are then processed and compared with corresponding values of a plurality of reference characters to identify the character read. Threshold values are applied to insure a valid recognition operation.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. In a character reading system wherein an analog signal having a waveform unique to each character to be read is generated, said unique waveform including a sequence of varying peak amplitudes and times of occurrence of same corresponding to the shape of the character being read, means for evaluating said waveform to derive signals representing feature characteristics of the character recognized compising:
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a. means for detecting said analog peak amplitudes and the times of occurrence thereof; b. first means responsive to said detected analog peak amplitudes to output a first feature signal representing the ratio of one of said analog peak amplitudes to a predetermined one of said analog peak amplitudes; c. second means responsive to the detection of the times of occurrence of said analog peak amplitudes to output a second feature signal representing the ratio of the time of occurrence of one of said analog peak amplitudes to the time of occurrence of a predetermined one of said analog peak amplitudes; d. means for storing first and second features representing corresponding feature characteristics of a plurality of unique reference characters; e. and means for comparing said first and second feature signals with the reference signals of each unique reference character to produce an output indicating the unique reference character corresponding to the unique waveform. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for recognizing a unique analog waveform representing one of a plurality of unique reference characters comprising;
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a. means for generating an analog waveform representing an unknown unique character, said waveform having a sequence of varying peak amplitudes and time of occurrence of same corresponding to a unique character; b. first means for detecting each analog peak amplitude and time of occurrence of same in said analog waveform; c. first means responsive to the detection of each peak amplitude for dividing each peak amplitude by a predetermined one of said peak amplitudes to output a first digital value representing a first feature characteristic of the unique character recognized; d. second means responsive to the detection of the time of occurrence of each peak amplitude for dividing the time of occurrence of each peak amplitude by the time of occurrence of a predetermined one of said peak amplitudes to output a second digital value representing a second feature characteristic of the unique character recognized; e. means for storing a plurality of reference digital values representing corresponding feature characteristics of a plurality of unique reference characters; f. and means for comparing said first and second digital values with the reference values of each unique reference character to produce an output indicating the unique reference character corresponding to the analog waveform. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A character reading system comprising:
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a. means for detecting a plurality of analog peak amplitudes and time of occurrence thereof in an analog waveform representing an unknown unique character; b. first means responsive to said detected analog peak amplitudes to output a first signal representing the ratio of one of said analog peak amplitudes to a predetermined one of said analog peak amplitudes;
second means responsive to the detection of the times of occurrence of said analog peak amplitudes to output a second signal representing the ratio of the time of occurrence of one said peak amplitude to the time of occurrence of a predetermined one of said analog peak amplitudes;d. and means utilizing said first and second output signals to identify said unknown unique character.
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20. A system for recognizing a unique multi-peak analog waveform representing one of a plurality of unique reference characters comprising:
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a. means for detecting the amplitude and position of each peak in the analog waveform; b. means for forming a plurality of first values representing the ratio of the amplitude of each peak in the waveform to the amplitude of a predetermined one of said peaks in the waveform; c. means for forming a plurality of second values representing the ratio of the position of each peak in the waveform to the position of a predetermined one of said peaks in the waveform; d. means for subtracting the first and second values of each peak from the reference values of a corresponding peak in a plurality of unique reference characters to output a third value; e. and means for evaluating the set of third values to output a value representing the unique reference character corresponding to the analog waveform.
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21. A system for recognizing a unique multi-peak analog waveform representing one of a plurality of unique reference characters comprising:
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a. means for detecting the amplitude and position of each peak in the analog waveform; b. means for forming a plurality of first values representing the ratio of the amplitude of each peak in the waveform to the amplitude of a predetermined one of said peaks in the waveform; c. means for forming a plurality of second values representing the ratio of the position of each peak in the waveform to the position of a predetermined one of said peaks in the waveform; d. means for storing a plurality of first and second values each representing a feature characteristic of a corresponding peak in a unique reference character; e. means for subtracting the first and second values of the analog waveform from each of the corresponding first and second values of the unique reference character to output a plurality of third values for each unique reference character; f. means for adding the third values of each unique reference character to output a fourth value; g. and means for selecting the unique reference character represented by the minimum fourth value as the character corresponding to the analog waveform.
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22. A system for recognizing a unique multi-peak analog waveform representing one of a plurality of unique reference characters comprising;
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a. means for detecting the amplitude of each peak in the analog waveform; b. means for detecting the position of each peak in the analog waveform; c. means for dividing each peak amplitude by the amplitude of a predetermined one of said peaks in the analog waveform to output a first value; d. means for dividing the position of each peak by the position of a predetermined one of said peaks in the analog waveform to output a second value; e. means for storing a plurality of first and second values each comprising a feature characteristic of a corresponding peak in the waveform representing a unique reference character; f. means for subtracting the first and second values of the analog waveform from the corresponding first and second values of each unique reference character to output third and fourth values for each unique reference character; g. means for adding the third and fourth values of each unique reference character to output a fifth value; h. and means for selecting the unique reference character represented by the minimum fifth value as the character corresponding to the analog waveform.
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Specification