Abstract: A pressure sensitive adhesive tape for skin, including a stretchable base material having good moisture permeability and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer formed on at least one side of the base material, wherein the adhesive tape has features that (a) the conformability to a stretchable film is at most 4.2 times as much as the stress of the stretchable film at 15% elongation, (b) the water-vapor transmission rate is at least 500 g/m2·24 h, and (c) the adhesive strength to bakelite is at most 1.5 N/15 mm, and a base material of a pressure sensitive adhesive tape for skin, including a microporous film formed from a resin composition containing a polyolefin resin and an inorganic filler, and having features that (1) the thickness is 40 to 200 &mgr;m, (2) the average pore size is 0.

Abstract: A character reading method has enhanced character segmentation accuracy and character string recognition accuracy for reading correctly hand-written addresses on postal matters. The method extracts provisional character patterns from image information of the address character string (step 206), creates a table 219 of tentative character patterns and implements the character classification for the tentative character patterns (step 207), extracts, specifically for characters of the street number portion of the address character string, periphery information (vertical and horizontal lengths, vertical/horizontal length ratio, pattern spacings, etc.) of tentative character patterns (step 212), and segments the character string into characters accurately based on the information (step 215).

Abstract: A multi-lingual information retrieval system which includes an information storage section for storing information, a data storage section for storing data for language conversion and for converting the stored information to strings of characters in natural language expressions in order to enable a person's interpretation, an interface section for user's interaction operations for information retrieval, a retrieval section for retrieving information from the information storage section in response to a request for a retrieval from the interface section, and an output section for outputting a retrieved result of the retrieval section. The data storage section coexistently stores the information therein in a plurality of different languages, thereby making possible to retrieve identical information by use of the plurality of different languages.

Abstract: A sign language telephone device is offered which enables an aurally handicapped person who uses the sign language to converse with a normal person at a distant place who does not know the sign language. The sign language telephone device is placed on the side of the aurally handicapped person, and hand gestures of the sign language inputted from a sign language input means are recognized as the sign language, and the recognized sign language is translated to Japanese. The translated Japanese word train is converted to synthesized voices and it is transmitted to a videophone on the side of a normal person. The voices from the videophone are recognized, and the recognized Japanese is translated to the sign language to generate sign language animations and they are displayed on the screen of a TV set on the side of the aurally handicapped person.

Abstract: A method for making document information searches. In performing a document search with respect to the desired key word, two stages of presearch are carried out. In a first stage of presearch, a character component table in which an existence of character codes for every document is stated with respect to all the character codes contained in the group of document text data of stored documents is generated, and the character component table is searched for all the character strings constituting a desiredly designated search subject key word to thereby extract all the documents each containing all the character codes constituting the search subject key word. In a second stage of presearch, contracted text data for every document in which adjuncts and duplication of repeatedly stated words contained in advance in the text data are eliminated is generated, and the documents each containing the search subject key words by word are extracted from the documents extracted by the first presearch.

Abstract: A document retrieval method and system for retrieving, from a document database storing document data in the form of character codes, a document which contains given search terms and which meets a given search query condition. From documents loaded from the document database, a document containing terms which match the search terms is searched to generate document identification (ID) information including a document identifier of the searched document and containing match terms found to match with the search terms as well as term identifiers of the match terms and position information of the match terms in the searched document. A decision is then made as to whether or not the position information of the match terms satisfies a positional condition specified in the search query condition concerning a positional relation between the search terms, and match information is then generated indicating satisfaction of the search query condition when the positional condition is satisfied.

Abstract: An information storage and retrieval system which permits storage of fact information represented in terms of conceptual concepts expressing things and relational concepts expressing relations therebetween on a knowledge base, easy inputting and correction of the fact information, easy browsing and retrieval of the fact information and display of the fact information with effective use of a limited view area, and also to provide a display method used in the information storage and retrieval system.

Abstract: A document storage and retrieval system is provided with means for storing a document body in the form of image, means for storing text information in the form of a character code string for retrieval, means for executing a retrieval with reference to the text information, and means for displaying a document image relating thereto on a retrieval terminal according to the retrieval result. Such a form of the system is available for retrieving the full contents of a document and also for displaying the document body printed in a format easy to read straight in the form of image. Accordingly, users are capable of retrieving documents with arbitrary words and also capable of reading even such a document as is complicated to include mathematical expressions and charts through a terminal in the form of image, the same as on paper. Further, the invention provides a system wherein the text information for retrieval is extracted automatically from the document image through character recognition.

Abstract: Monochrome multi-color, and full-color documents are automatically discriminated from each other, and character and photograph regions are also determined in an automatic manner, thereby producing appropriate binary image data according to the operation results. An image data transformation apparatus includes a binarizing section for converting image data inputted thereto into binary image data associated with a plurality of different colors, binary image data buffers for temporarily storing therein the binary image data, a decision section for deciding based on the input image data whether the monochrome, color, or multi-color output is to be produced and whether an intermediate-tone or particular color pixel is to be processed, and a binary image data selection/output section for selecting as output therefrom binary image data according to the decision results.

Abstract: A fast access high capacity data storage system and method are disclosed, the data storage system including a disk-based storage system employing a plurality of storage surfaces. Selected storage surfaces have a plurality of independently controlled data access heads in data communication therewith, and circuitry is provided for allowing concurrent data transfers through the plurality of data access heads. Performance is further improved by monitoring frequently accessed data records and transferring them to a copy recording surface or recording surfaces less frequently used, and by moving a data access head of the plurality of data access heads to other recording surfaces to decrease access bottlenecks. The storage system further includes circuitry for averaging at least one of record length data, transfer timing data, access timing data and address data.

Abstract: A file system including an input/output unit for inputting data from and outputting data to an external system; a controller connected to the input/output unit for dividing the data into an optional number of parallel data; a management table for storing the number of divisions of the data; a head group for writing the divided parallel data into a storage medium at the same time; and a unit for reading the data from the storage medium while referring to information stored in management device.

Abstract: An information retrieval system with good human-interface methods to give the system ease-of-use having two distinctive features with the first being visual interface and the second being natural language interpretation. The visual interface provides for one is visual interaction for local search and natural language interpretation provides for linguistic interaction for global search. The visual interface provides versatile views onto the contents of the knowledge base that the system has, controlling mechanisms for browsing through the knowledge base, a capability of showing relevant information for the users, and a mechanism for editing a query expression that describes information to retrieve. By using the visual interface for information retrieval, the users can easily create query expressions, by consulting and reacting with the system. The natural language interpretation makes use of a conceptual network as a knowledge-base that stores important concepts and relationships among these concepts.

Abstract: When a network representing the relationship among immense concepts is indicated using a multi-window function, a concept network display system simultaneously displays a superconcept for a current concept in the network, a network representing the subsumption relation of the current concept, and a network representing generic and instance relations of the current concept in a dynamically linked relationship. The concept network display system also edits the displays of the networks by rewriting displayed networks in response to selection of a new current concept, and displays a history of the current concepts without repetition.

Abstract: An image processing system wherein for an inputted composite image composed of a line image and a dither image, both a line image processing and a dither image processing are carried out in parallel, and one of the processed results as selected in accordance with the image region discrimination result. The dither image processing is carried out through data conversion for calculating multivalued gray scale image from the inputted image data, gray scale data conversion for adjusting the gray scale image data so as to match an output device and obtaining such adjusted gray scale image data, and re-binarization for re-binarizing the gray scale image data after subjected to the gray scale conversion. The image region discrimination for discriminating if an image region is of a line image of a dither image is carried out based on a ratio of the number of black or white pixels within the region to the contour line length within the range.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing a document information search to uncover specified text data containing a given search subject key word from a group of document text data stored in a memory. In the document information search method, two stages of presearch are carried out to perform the document search with respect to a desired subject key word. In a first stage of presearch, a character component table is generated in which the existence of character codes for every document is set forth with respect to all the character codes contained in the group of document text data of stored documents. The character component table is searched for all the character codes comprising a designated search subject key word to thereby extract all documents containing all the character codes comprising the search subject key word. Further, in the presearch step, all texts without the possibility of containing the search subject key word are eliminated.

Abstract: A document is scanned by an optical scanner to be converted into digital image data to be transmitted to an image memory. Characters are extracted from the digital image data one by one and features are extracted from each of the extracted characters. The features as standard patterns stored in a character recognition dictionary are read out to be subjected to 90 degree rotation, 180 degree rotation and 270 degree rotation by a feature rotator, thereby to produce standard patterns of the four directions. Similarity measures are individually calculated between the standard patterns of the four directions and the features of each extracted character, with respect to the four directions. This processing is repeated for a plurality of characters recorded in the document to select a direction having the maximum add value of the similarity measures, thereby to detect an input direction of the document.

Abstract: High-speed full document retrieval method and system capable of providing result of retrieval within practically acceptable short search time. Upon registration of documents in a document database, condensed texts are created by decomposing each of textual character strings of the documents to be registered into fragmental character strings in dependence on character species and by checking mutual inclusion relations existing among the fragmental character strings. A component character table is created in which characters occurring in each of the condensed texts are registered without duplication. The condensed texts and the component character table are registered in the data base together with the texts of the documents to be registered.

Abstract: A parallel comparator for performing a parallel and high-speed processing for collation of partial character strings which are partially taken out of a plurality of character strings of interest to be searched out with a character string to be searched in which document data to be searched is arranged sequentially from a leading character, is provided in a front stage of an automaton executing device. Only when a part of the character string to be searched coincides with the partial character string set in the comparator, the collation of the remaining portion of the character string to be searched is performed by the automaton executing device. Also, it is possible to set "don't care" in which a character at any position in the partial character string is ignored at the time of comparison by the comparator and to set a negation condition in which the comparison by the comparator is made taking the negation of a character at any position in the partial character string.

Abstract: An information retrieval system with good human-interface methods to give the system ease-of-use having two distinctive features with the first being visual interface and the second being natural language interpretation. The visual interface provides for visual interaction for local search and natural language interpretation provides for linguistic interaction for global search. The visual interface provides versatile views onto the contents of the knowledge base that the system has, controlling mechanisms for browsing through the knowledge base, a capability of showing relevant information for the users, and a mechanism for editing a query expression that describes information to retrieve. By using the visual interface for information retrieval, the users can easily create query expressions, by consulting and reacting with the system. The natural language interpretation makes use of a conceptual network as a knowledge-base that stores important concepts and relationships among these concepts.

Abstract: Color image processing method and apparatus for suppressing side effects of a chrominance emphasizing process are provided. A chrominance C of an original color image is detected by a chrominance detector. A luminousness V of the original color image is detected by a luminousness detector. A parameter selector selects chrominance conversion parameters on the basis of the chrominance C and luminousness V to generate a selected parameter. A chrominance converter executes the chrominance conversion by chrominance conversion parameters a to i. It is possible to suppress a side effect such that the color deviation becomes conspicuous in a portion of small chrominance and luminousness due to the execution of the chrominance emphasizing process. Thus, image data of a high quality can be obtained.