Image recognition device, copy apparatus and image recognition method

• US 8,358,848 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2007
• Issued: 01/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Sato, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Rush, Eric
• Application Number:
  US11/858,661
• Publication Number:
  US 20080075369A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,951 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/112, 382/181, 382/190, 382/195, 382/203, 382/205, 382/206, 382/209, 382216-218, 399/366
• US Class Current: 382/195
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/50 by performing operations within image blocks; by using histograms, e.g. histogram of oriented gradients [HoG]; by summing image-intensity values; Projection analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/95 Pattern authentication; Markers therefor; Forgery detection

Abstract

An image recognition device of the invention includes an image reading means for reading image information from a manuscript, discriminating a specific image in which a surrounded image is surrounded by a surrounding image from the image information. The image recognition device includes a first determination means for determining whether the surrounding image is included in the image information or not and a second determination means for determining whether there is the specific image in the image information or not by extracting n×n images to be processed by dividing an extraction region positioned at the center of the surrounding image into n×n regions (“n” is an odd-number of three or more) when the first determination means determines that the surrounding image is included in the image information, then, by checking respective images to be processed with a specific image template.

Claims

1. An image recognition device comprising:

a processor;

a memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the image recognition device to function as;

a first determination unit configured to determine whether a surrounding image is included in image information read from a document, wherein the surrounding image is part of a specific image in which the surrounding image surrounds a surrounded image; and

a second determination unit configured to determine whether the specific image is included in the image information,

wherein the second determination unit is configured to divide an extraction region positioned at a center of the surrounding image into N×

N regions, wherein N is an odd-number of three or more, and to extract N×

N images to be processed,

wherein the second determination unit determines whether the specific image is included in the image information by checking N×

N images to be processed with a specific image template once the first determination unit has determined the surrounding image is included in the image information;

a first image processing means provided downstream of a reading means, including, in order from upstream to downstream, an A/D converter, a D-range correction unit, a reading gamma correction unit, a variable magnification processing unit, a filtering unit, a masking unit, a GCR unit, a recording gamma correction unit, a binarization unit, and a recording unit; and

a second image processing means provided downstream of the position of the D-range correction unit of the first image processing means and parallel to a position from the reading gamma correction unit to the recording unit in the first image processing means, the second image processing means including, in order from upstream to downstream, a gamma correction unit, a variable magnification processing unit, a filtering unit, and a binarization unit,

wherein the binarization unit of the second image processing means is configured to perform binarization according to a luminance of input RGB values, wherein conversion to luminance is performed by weighting, including attaching importance to, a color which is used for a specific mark corresponding to the specific image.

2. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein the first determination unit divides a pre-extraction region into 2×

2 regions and extracts four images for pre-processing, and

wherein the second determination unit divides the extraction region into 3×

3 regions and extracts nine images to be processed.

3. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein the first determination unit determines whether the surrounding image is included in the image information by using a peak value of similarity obtained by checking images extracted for pre-processing with a surrounding image template.

4. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein the second determination unit determines whether the specific image is included in the image information by using a peak value of similarity obtained by checking the images to be processed with the specific image template.

5. The image recognition device according to claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, further cause the image recognition device to function as:

a third determination unit for determining a color of the specific image when the first determination unit determines that the surrounding image is included in the image information.

6. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein the second determination unit checks one of the images to be processed, the one of the images to be processed being positioned at a center of the extraction region, first.

7. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein the image recognition device performs smoothing processing with respect to the image information in advance of determining whether the specific image is included in the image information.

8. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein a pre-extraction region, from which the first determination unit is configured to extract images for pre-processing, has a larger area than the surrounding image, and

wherein the images for pre-processing have smaller areas than the surrounding image.

9. The image recognition device according to claim 1,

wherein the first determination unit is configured to extract images to be pre-processed which have larger areas than the images to be processed from the image information, and to determine whether the surrounding image exists in the image information based on the respective extracted images to be pre-processed.