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:
Oct. 26, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 14, 1997
Takashi Harada, Yokohama, JP;
Kazutoshi Shimada, Yokosuka, JP;
Eisaku Tatsumi, Kawasaki, JP;
Shigeki Mori, Koshigaya, JP;
Kazuhiro Matsubayashi, Yokohama, JP;
Shinichi Sunakawa, Kawasaki, JP;
Katsuhiko Nagasaki, Ichikawa, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image containing characters and lines, which is inputted by a scanner or the like, is binarized and stored in a memory. A thickening process is repeatedly applied on groups of significant bits stored in the memory, until a predetermined condition is fulfilled. After this process, the thickened image is thinned at least a greater number of times than the number of times the thickening process is repeated in order to eliminate lines. As a result, characters are determined to exist at areas where groups composed of remaining significant dots exist, then characters are separated from the input image based on the areas of groups composed of the remaining significant dots.