The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 03, 1995
Filed:
Feb. 18, 1993
Shigeaki Shimazu, Kyoto, JP;
Tetsuo Asano, Toyonaka, JP;
Nobuaki Usui, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuhiro Nakai, Kyoto, JP;
Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd., Kyoto, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides an improved technique for extracting contours in an image without waiting for processing of all the scanning lines in the image. Run-data on two boundary scanning lines, each representing the boundary coordinates at which the image changes, are stored in a run-data buffer. A contour extraction unit compares two sets of the run-data with one another to extract segment vectors and detect a set of closed-loop vectors defining a contour of a image area. Three registers in a working buffer store specific data representing the relationship between a starting point and a terminal point of each vector sequence and are used in detecting closed-loop vectors. A vector data memory stores vector data including coordinate values of start and end points of closed-loop vectors. The contour extraction unit detects a vector sequence which has a starting point identical with a terminal point as a function of the data registered in the working buffer to identify the vector sequence as a closed-loop.