The Palantir Corporation

David H Zobel

A method and structure is provided which allows for a plurality of patterns or characters which are joined to be separated for further processing. For characters which are determined not to have a fixed pitch, a first approximation cleavage point is determined based on the width of the segment. Next, a caliper histogram is formed plotting the distance between the uppermost and bottommost 'on' pixel in each column of the segment. If a satisfactory minimum in the caliper histogram is found, this segment is cleaved into left and right segments at this point. It not, a raw histogram, indicating the total number of 'on' pixels in each column of the segment, is formed. If an adequate minimum of the raw histogram is found, the segment is cleaved into right and left segments at this point. In one embodiment of this invention, the caliper histogram operation is not performed if it is determined that the segment includes top and bottom serifs. Characters determined to be of fixed pitch are separated if a suitable minimum is found in the raw histogram of the segment and, if not, if a satisfactory minimum is found in the caliper histogram for the segment. In one embodiment of this invention, two adjacent segments are compared and, if necessary, joined to form a single segment. This allows separate segments which in fact form a single pattern or character to be combined into a single segment representing that pattern or character for a more accurate analysis.

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Redwood City, CA, United States of America

David H Zobel