US3639902A — Character recognition using shape detection

Claim 1

Independent Claim 276 words

In an automatic character recognition arrangement, in which the characters are broken up into their characteristic shape elements, in which the scanned and electrically stored shape elements are detected by probes correspoNding to the shape elements, in which the shape elements are successively fed to the probes so that the probe most similar to the particular shape element is detected by means of a first maximum detecting circuit, whereupon the probe thus detected is assigned to the relevant character on the basis of its location in the character area, and in which for each character the number of probes assigned thereto is stored and the character with the largest number of assigned shape elements is determined and thus recognized by means of a second maximum detecting circuit, and in which the character area is divided into zones and the order of succession of the shape elements within a zone is not taken into consideration, the improvement comprising: an additional discrimination means in a characteristically identical zone with respect to at least one other similar character; means for storing the result of the additional discrimination until the end of the recognition procedure, so that the character whose shape element has been examined in the fixed zone in the course of the additional discrimination increases its recognition reliability; binary counter means coupled for each character for the purpose of storing the detected probes, so that for effecting an additional distinction, a shape element of the character to be recognized is detected and stored; and means associated with the character to step the counter means forward and means associated with the similar character to step the binary counter backward.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 276 words

In an automatic character recognition arrangement, in which the characters are broken up into their characteristic shape elements, in which the scanned and electrically stored shape elements are detected by probes correspoNding to the shape elements, in which the shape elements are successively fed to the probes so that the probe most similar to the particular shape element is detected by means of a first maximum detecting circuit, whereupon the probe thus detected is assigned to the relevant character on the basis of its location in the character area, and in which for each character the number of probes assigned thereto is stored and the character with the largest number of assigned shape elements is determined and thus recognized by means of a second maximum detecting circuit, and in which the character area is divided into zones and the order of succession of the shape elements within a zone is not taken into consideration, the improvement comprising: an additional discrimination means in a characteristically identical zone with respect to at least one other similar character; means for storing the result of the additional discrimination until the end of the recognition procedure, so that the character whose shape element has been examined in the fixed zone in the course of the additional discrimination increases its recognition reliability; binary counter means coupled for each character for the purpose of storing the detected probes, so that for effecting an additional distinction, a shape element of the character to be recognized is detected and stored; and means associated with the character to step the counter means forward and means associated with the similar character to step the binary counter backward.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 45 words

An arrangement according to claim 1 including a third maximum detecting circuit coupled to detect what character the shape element belongs to, and an output signal of said third maximum detecting circuit acts upon the output signals of the counters associated with the similar characters.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 244 words

In an automatic character recognition arrangement in which the characters are broken up into their characteristic shape elements, in which the scanned and electrically stored shape elements are detected by probes corresponding to the shape elements, in which the shape elements are successively fed to the probes, so that the probe most similar to the particular shape element is detected by means of a first maximum detecting circuit, whereupon the probe thus detected is assigned to the relevant character on the basis of its location in the character area, and in which for each character the number of probes assigned thereto is stored and the character with the largest number of assigned shape elements is determined and thus recognized by means of a second maximum detecting circuit, and in which the character area is divided into zones and the order of succession of the shape elements within a zone is not taken into consideration, and including one binary counter for each character to store the outputs of the probes, that for the purpose of enabling a better distinction of a character from other similar characters, during the assignment of shape elements to zones and characters upon occurrence of a shape element in a zone which is characteristically identical with respect to at least one other similar character, the improvement comprising means associated with the character to step the binary counter forward and means associated with the similar character to step the binary counter backward.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 244 words

In an automatic character recognition arrangement in which the characters are broken up into their characteristic shape elements, in which the scanned and electrically stored shape elements are detected by probes corresponding to the shape elements, in which the shape elements are successively fed to the probes, so that the probe most similar to the particular shape element is detected by means of a first maximum detecting circuit, whereupon the probe thus detected is assigned to the relevant character on the basis of its location in the character area, and in which for each character the number of probes assigned thereto is stored and the character with the largest number of assigned shape elements is determined and thus recognized by means of a second maximum detecting circuit, and in which the character area is divided into zones and the order of succession of the shape elements within a zone is not taken into consideration, and including one binary counter for each character to store the outputs of the probes, that for the purpose of enabling a better distinction of a character from other similar characters, during the assignment of shape elements to zones and characters upon occurrence of a shape element in a zone which is characteristically identical with respect to at least one other similar character, the improvement comprising means associated with the character to step the binary counter forward and means associated with the similar character to step the binary counter backward.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 33 words

The arrangement of automatic character recognition according to claim 3 wherein the zone column lead of one character is connected to the reset input of the binary counter associated with the other character.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 35 words

The arrangement of automatic character recognition according to claim 3 in which at said other character there is provided a separate zone column lead which is connected to the reset input of said binary counter.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1975-01-31	1975-08-02	1976-02-01	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1979-01-31	1979-08-02	1980-02-01	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1983-01-31	1983-08-02	1984-02-01	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Character recognition using shape detection

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