Method for processing large-size postal objects in a sorting installation

• US 7,065,229 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2001
• Issued: 06/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Solystic
• Original Assignee: Solystic
• Inventors: Caillon, Christophe, Lagrange, Hervé
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta, Bhavesh M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MACKOWEY, ANTHONY M
• Application Number:
  US10/239,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20030048925A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,793 Days
• Field of Search: 382/101, 382/102, 382/282, 382/299
• US Class Current: 382/101
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 3/20 Arrangements for facilitating the visual reading of addresses, e.g. display arrangements coding stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/987 with the intervention of an operator
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/424 Postal images, e.g. labels or addresses on parcels or postal envelopes

Abstract

The method of processing postal objects of large size in order to read automatically a postal address (AD) on each object consists in acquiring a digital image of each object at a certain level of resolution; in detecting in the image one or more zones of interest (ZI) apparently containing a postal address; in performing automatic address recognition on each zone of interest in order to extract a postal address (AD) of the object, and in the event of the automatic address recogition failing, in displaying each zone of interest (ZI) on a screen so that a video-coding operator can read the postal address (AD) of the object. Each zone of interest (ZI) is displayed on the screen on a screen context background (F) that is representative of the object but at a level of resolution that is lower than the level of resolution of the digital image and the zone of interest. In this way, the video-coding operator has an overall view of the detected zones of interest, thus making it easier to read the postal address of the object.

Claims

1. A method of processing postal objects, in particular packets, in order to read a postal address (AD) automatically on each object, the method including a step of assistance by video-coding, said method comprising the following steps for each object:

acquiring (10) a digital image of the object at a first level of resolution;

detecting (20) in said digital image of the object one or more zones of interest (ZI) of the image each apparently containing a postal address;

applying an automatic address recognition algorithm to each detected zone of interest in order to extract a postal address (AD) of said object; and

if the automatic address recognition step fails, displaying each zone of interest (ZI) at a second level of resolution on a screen of a video-coding station on a screen context background (F) representative of said digital image of the object in order to enable an operator to perform semi-automatic processing (50) to read the postal address (AD) of said object, wherein the screen context background is displayed on the screen at a third level of resolution that is lower than said second level of resolution.

2. The method of claim 1, in which all of the zones of interest detected in a digital image of an object are displayed together on said screen context background if the automatic address recognition step fails.

3. A method according to claim 1, in which said second level of resolution is lower than said first level of resolution.