Character recognition system employing a plurality of character compression transforms

Claim 1

In a character recognition system, the combination comprising a. scanning means for scanning the characters to be recognized and providing binarized video data corresponding to the scanned character, b. a two-dimensional storage matrix comprising a plurality of binary storage elements arranged in columns and rows, said storage matrix being connected to said scanning means to receive and store said binarized video data, c. registration means connected to said storage matrix and said scanning means for aligning said video data in said matrix with respect to the boundaries of said matrix and selected storage elements from which critical characteristics of the data may be extracted, d. transform means connected to said selected storage elements of said matrix for extracting and consolidating said video data located in peripheral areas of said matrix, comprising a plurality of logic elements connected to selected pairs of storage elements in said matrix in peripheral locations of said matrix for combining the video data contained in the associated peripheral storage elements, e. switching means connected to said transform means and said matrix for returning data consolidated by said transform means to a plurality of selected elements in said storage matrix in locations radially inward from the peripheral areas of said storage matrix, and f. logic circuit means connected to said radially inward locations in said matrix for providing outputs indicative of the characters scanned.