Apparatus and method for recognizing characters

• US 5,410,612 A
• Filed: 06/16/1992
• Issued: 04/25/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Oguchi, Yoshihiro, Mizuhara, Shigeru, Kobayashi, Katsuyuki, Tokioka, Masaki, Arai, Tsunekazu, Kaneko, Kiyoshi, Shimada, Kazutoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Boudreau, Leo H.
• Application Number:
  US07/899,698
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 382/13, 382/57
• US Class Current: 382/187
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/32 Digital ink

Abstract

An apparatus and method for recognizing characters in image information includes inputting image coordinate data corresponding to the handwritten image, displaying a calligraphic image on the basis of the image coordinate data, recognizing characters in the image coordinate data, and erasing the calligraphic image and displaying recognized characters recognized in the recognizing step in the event that a recognized character is a predetermined character such as a period (".").

Claims

1. A method for recognizing characters in image information, comprising the steps of:

outputting a displayable image signal on the basis of the information;

recognizing character information on the basis of the image information;

determining whether the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark; and

outputting the result of character recognition in a case where it has been determined in said determining step that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined in said determining step that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark, and, in a case where it has not been determined in said determining step that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark, not outputting the result of character recognition, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

2. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 1, wherein the image information is coordinate information for a handwritten image.

3. A method for recognizing characters in image according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined character is a period (.).

4. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of inputting the image information, wherein the step of recognizing character information is initiated in response to the determination that inputting of one character of image information is complete.

5. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 4, wherein an input area for each character is preallocated in an input portion for the coordinate information, and wherein termination of the inputting of one character of input coordinate information is determined upon moving an input of coordinate information from one input area to another input area.

6. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 1, wherein the result of the character recognition is converted to image information corresponding to the character recognition result and displayed.

7. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 1, wherein the character recognition result to be output is a prestored character pattern.

51. A method according to claim 1, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

8. A method for displaying characters in a handwritten image comprising the steps of:

inputting image coordinate data corresponding to the handwritten image;

displaying a calligraphic image on the basis of the image coordinate data;

recognizing characters in the image coordinate data; and

erasing the calligraphic image and displaying recognized characters recognized in said recognizing step in a case where a recognized character is a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined that the recognized character consists of a punctuation mark, not erasing the calligraphic image or displaying the recognized characters, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

9. A method for displaying characters in a handwritten image according to claim 8, wherein said step of displaying a calligraphic image includes the step of connecting coordinate points in the image coordinate data.

10. A method for displaying characters in a handwritten image according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined character is a period (.).

11. A method for displaying characters in a handwritten image according to claim 8, wherein what is to be displayed in said erasing and displaying step is a prestored character pattern.

52. A method according to claim 8, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

12. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information, comprising:

image signal output means for outputting a displayable image signal on the basis of the image information;

character recognition means for recognizing character information on the basis of the image information;

determination means for determining whether the character information recognized by the character recognition means consists of a punctuation mark; and

character information output means for outputting stored character information in a case where it has been determined by the determination means that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark and, in a case where the determination means has not determined that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark, not outputting the result of character recognition, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

13. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 12, wherein the image information is coordinate information for a handwritten image.

14. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined character determined by the determination means is a period (.).

15. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 12, further comprising input means for inputting image information, wherein the recognition by the recognition means is initiated in response to a determination that inputting of one character of the coordinate information is terminated.

16. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 15, wherein said input means includes a preallocated input area for coordinate information for each character, and wherein termination of inputting one character of the input coordinate information is determined upon moving the input of coordinate information from one input area to another input area.

17. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 12, wherein output from the character information output means is converted to image information corresponding to the character recognition result, output from the image information output means, and displayed.

18. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 12, wherein the character information output from the character information output means is a prestored character pattern.

53. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

19. An apparatus for displaying characters in a handwritten image comprising:

inputting means for inputting image coordinate data corresponding to the handwritten image;

displaying means for displaying a calligraphic image on the basis of the image coordinate data;

recognizing means for recognizing characters in the image coordinate data; and

erasing means for erasing the calligraphic image and displaying recognized characters in a case where a recognized character is a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined that the recognized character consists of a punctuation mark, not erasing the calligraphic image or displaying the recognized characters, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

20. An apparatus for displaying characters in a handwritten image according to claim 19, wherein said displaying means includes connecting means for connecting coordinate points in the image coordinate data.

21. An apparatus for displaying characters in a handwritten image according to claim 19, wherein the specific character information is a period (.).

22. An apparatus for displaying characters in a handwritten image according to claim 19, wherein the character recognition result to be output is a prestored character pattern.

54. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

23. A method for recognizing characters in image information, comprising the steps of:

inputting coordinate data of a plurality of character patterns;

displaying the character patterns on the basis of the coordinate data;

recognizing character information on the basis of the coordinate data;

determining whether the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark; and

outputting the result of character recognition in a case where it has been determined in said determining step that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined in said determining step that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark, not outputting the result of character recognition, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

24. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 23, wherein the image information is coordinate information for a handwritten image.

25. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 23, wherein the predetermined character is a period (.).

26. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 23, further comprising the steps of inputting the image information, wherein the step of recognizing character information is initiated in response to the determination that inputting of one character of image information is complete.

27. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 26, wherein an input area for each character is preallocated in an input portion for the coordinate information, and wherein termination of the inputting of one character of input coordinate information is determined upon moving an input of coordinate information from one input area to another input area.

28. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 23, wherein the result of the character recognition is converted to image information corresponding to the character recognition result and displayed.

29. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 23, wherein the character recognition result to be output is a prestored character pattern.

55. A method according to claim 23, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

30. A method for recognizing characters in image information, comprising the steps of:

providing a storing unit for storing a plurality of character data;

inputting coordinate data of a character pattern;

recognizing character data on the basis of the coordinate data;

storing the recognized character data in said storing unit by adding it to said plurality of character data prestored therein;

determining whether the recognized character data is a punctuation mark; and

outputting said plurality of character data stored in said storing unit in a case where it has been determined that the recognized character data is a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined that the recognized character information is a punctuation mark, not outputting said plurality of character data stored in said storing unit, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

31. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 30, wherein the image information is coordinate information for a handwritten image.

32. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 30, wherein the predetermined character is a period (.).

33. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 30, further comprising the steps of inputting the image information, wherein the step of recognizing character information is initiated in response to the determination that inputting of-one character of image information is complete.

34. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 33, wherein an input area for each character is preallocated in an input portion for the coordinate information, and wherein termination of the inputting of one character of input coordinate information is determined upon moving an input of coordinate information from one input area to another input area.

35. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 30, wherein the result of the character recognition is converted to image information corresponding to the character recognition result and displayed.

36. A method for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 30, wherein the character recognition result to be output is a prestored character pattern.

56. A method according to claim 30, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

37. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information, comprising:

means for inputting coordinate data of a plurality of character patterns;

means for displaying the character patterns on the basis of the coordinate data;

means for recognizing character information on the basis of the coordinate data;

means for determining whether the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark; and

means for outputting the result of character recognition in a case where it has been determined by said determining means that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined by said determining means that the recognized character information consists of a punctuation mark, not outputting the result of character recognition, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

38. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 37, wherein the image information is coordinate information for a handwritten image.

39. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 37, wherein the predetermined character is a period (.).

40. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 37, further comprising means for inputting the image information, wherein said recognizing means performs its recognition of character information in response to the determination that inputting of one character of image information is complete.

41. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 40, wherein an input area for each character is preallocated in an input portion for the coordinate information, and wherein termination of the inputting of one character of input coordinate information is determined upon moving an input of coordinate information from one input area to another input area.

42. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 37, wherein the result of the character recognition is converted to image information corresponding to the character recognition result and displayed.

43. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 37, wherein the character recognition result to be output is a prestored character pattern.

57. An apparatus according to claim 37, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.

44. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information, comprising:

a storing unit for storing a plurality of character data;

means for inputting coordinate data of a character pattern;

means for recognizing character data on the basis of the coordinate data;

means for storing the recognized character data in said storing unit by adding it to the plurality of character data prestored therein;

means for determining whether the recognized character data is a punctuation mark; and

means for outputting the plurality of character data stored in said storing unit in a case where it has been determined that the recognized character data is a punctuation mark and, in a case where it has not been determined that the recognized character information is a punctuation mark, not outputting the plurality of character data stored in said storing unit, thereby resulting in the reduction of screen display flicker.

45. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 44, wherein the image information is coordinate information for a handwritten image.

46. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 44, wherein the predetermined character is a period (.).

47. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 44, further comprising means for inputting the image information, wherein the recognizing of character information by said recognizing means is initiated in response to the determination that inputting of one character of image information is complete.

48. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 47, wherein an input area for each character is preallocated in an input portion for the coordinate information, and wherein termination of the inputting of one character of input coordinate information is determined upon moving an input of coordinate information from one input area to another input area.

49. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 44, wherein the result of the character recognition is converted to image information corresponding to the character recognition result and displayed.

50. An apparatus for recognizing characters in image information according to claim 44, wherein the character recognition result to be output is a prestored character pattern.

58. An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the punctuation mark is a punctuation mark that indicates the completion of a sentence or a partial sentence.