Abstract: An FSM data structure is encoded by generating a transition unit of data corresponding to each transition which leads ultimately to a final state of the FSM. Information about the states is included in the transition units, so that the encoded data structure can be written without state units of data. The incoming transition units to a final state each contain an indication of finality. The incoming transition units to a state which has no outgoing transition units each contain a branch ending indication. The outgoing transition units of each state are ordered into a comparison sequence for comparison with a received element, and all but the last outgoing transition unit contain an alternative indication of a subsequent alternative outgoing transition.

Abstract: A data structure for use in hyphenation is created by including hyphen codes at the acceptable hyphenation points of words and then collapsing the words into a minimal state determinized FSM data structure. The transitions of the data structure are sorted so that a hyphen code that has alternatives is positioned before its alternatives. The data structure is then encoded for compactness. In searching with a word, if a mismatch occurs in the branch of the data structure that depends from a hyphen code, the search continues with its alternatives, because a match could be found in a branch depending from one of the alternatives. The data structure may be accessed with a hyphenated word to check hyphenation or spelling. It may be accessed with an unhyphenated word to retrieve its hyphenation points. It may be accessed with a number corresponding to a word to retrieve that word with its hyphenation points.

Abstract: A compactly stored word list that includes a directed graph data structure is used for word to number (W/N) and number to word (N/W) mapping. Each word accepted by the data structure is mapped to a unique corresponding number within a dense set of numbers ranging from zero to one less than the total number of acceptable words. Some common suffixes are collapsed into shared branches, which is possible because the numbers are not stored within the word list. In addition, some branches of the data structure can be skipped during mapping because of information associated with branch points. That information permits the mapping scan to continue with a next branch or with an alternative branch. That information also indicates the number of suffix endings in the next branch; this number is used to keep a count of the word endings during word to number mapping; it is also used both to determine whether to continue with the next branch and also to reduce the number being mapped during number to word mapping.

Abstract: A compactly stored word list that includes a directed graph data structure is used for word to number (W/N) and number to word (N/W) mapping. Each word accepted by the data structure is mapped to a unique corresponding number within a dense set of numbers ranging from zero to one less than the total number of acceptable words. Some common suffixes are collapsed into shared branches, which is possible because the numbers are not stored within the word list. In addition, some branches of the data structure can be skipped during mapping because of information associated with branch points. That information permits the mapping scan to continue with a next branch or with an alternative branch. That information also indicates the number of suffix endings in the next branch; this number is used to keep a count of the word endings during word to number mapping; it is also used both to determine whether to continue with the next branch and also to reduce the number being mapped during number to word mapping.

Abstract: A thesaurus receives a word and uses a word list to obtain a corresponding number. The corresponding number is then compared with numbers grouped in sequence to represent synonym groups. For each match, information about the group including the matching number is determined based on the sequential position of the matching number. This information may include the group's part of speech, its length, and the positions of its members. The numbers in the group are retrieved and the corresponding synonymous words are obtained, again using the word list. Tables contain data used to determine the information about a group containing a matching number. The groups are sorted by part of speech and one table contains information about the ending position of each part of speech so that a group's part of speech can be determined from the position of any number in it.

Abstract: A top-down technique for character text recognition of an image comprises a left-to-right analysis of each image line. A current image portion is selected. Possible text prefixes are selected from a dictionary. The upper and lower text contours of the text prefixes are compared with a bitmap of the current image portion. A distance value is generated, indicating the quality of the comparison. The prefixes are then added to an agenda of prefixes. Based on the distance value, corresponding to the similarity of the upper shapes and lower shapes of the possible prefix to the bitmap of the image portion, a list of the text prefixes generating the best distance values is selected from the agenda. From the selected list, a new list of extended text prefixes is obtained from the dictionary and added to the agenda. The process is repeated until the current image portion ends.

Abstract: A computerized multilingual translation dictionary includes a set of word and phrases for each of the languages it contains, plus a mapping that indicates for each word or phrase in one language what the corresponding translations in the other languages are. The set of words and phrases for each language are divided up among corresponding concept groups based on an abstract pivot language. The words and phrases are encoded as token numbers assigned by a word-number mapper laid out in sequence that can be searched fairly rapidly with a simple linear scan. The complex associations of words and phrases to particular pivot language senses are represented by including a list of pivot-language sense numbers with each word or phrase. The preferred coding of these sense numbers is by means of a bit vector for each word, where each bit corresponds to a particular pivot element in the abstract language, and the bit is ON if the given word is a translation of that pivot element.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for excerpting and summarizing an undecoded document image, without first converting the document image to optical character codes such as ASCII text, identifies significant words, phrases and graphics in the document image using automatic or interactive morphological image recognition techniques, document summaries or indices are produced based on the identified significant portions of the document image. The disclosed method is particularly adept for improvement of reading machines for the blind.

Abstract: A data storage medium stores string data that can be used in character recognition and instructions for accessing the string data. The string data includes data units that can be accessed by a processor in executing the instructions. The processor can use character data indicating characters of a string to access a sequence of the data units that ends with an ending subsequence. The ending subsequence includes acceptance information indicating whether a string whose sequence of data units ends with the ending subsequence is an acceptable string. If so, the ending subsequence also includes category set information indicating a set of categories for strings whose sequences end with the ending subsequence. The categories can include words, numbers, compound words, and so forth. The acceptance information can include a bit in a character label data unit that includes information indicating the character type of an ending character.

Abstract: An FSM data structure is encoded by generating a transition unit of data corresponding to each transition which leads ultimately to a final state of the FSM. Information about the states is included in the transition units, so that the encoded data structure can be written without state units of data. The incoming transition units to a final state each contain an indication of finality. The incoming transition units to a state which has no outgoing transition units each contain a branch ending indication. The outgoing transition units of each state are ordered into a comparison sequence for comparison with a received element, and all but the last outgoing transition unit contain an alternative indication of a subsequent alternative outgoing transition.

Abstract: Unification of a disjunctive system is performed based on context identifiers within data structures that correspond to disjunctions. Each context identifier is a logical combination of choices, with each choice identifying one of the disjuncts of a disjunction in the system. Each choice can include a disjunction identifier and a choice identifier identifying one of the disjuncts of the identified disjunction. The logical combination of choices in a context identifier thus corresponds to a combination of disjuncts, all of which could be from different disjunctions. If two data units have context identifiers identifying contexts that are genuine alternatives, those data units are not unified. Data units that have context identifiers that are not genuine alternatives are unified.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing a document image, using a programmed general or special purpose computer, includes forming the image into image units, and at least one image unit classifier of at least one of the image units is determined, without decoding the content of the at least one of the image units. The classifier of the at least one of the image units is then compared with a classifier of another image unit. The classifier may be image unit length, width, location in the document, font, typeface, cross-section, the number of ascenders, the number of descenders, the average pixel density, the length of the top line contour, the length of the base contour, the location of image units with respect to neighboring image units, vertical position, horizontal inter-image unit spacing, and so forth. The classifier comparison can be a comparison with classifiers of image units of words in a reference table, or with classifiers of other image units in the document.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus of processing an undecoded document image in a digital computer to modify the document image so as to emphasize semantically significant portions without first converting the document image to character codes. The document image is segmented into image units, and morphological image characteristics of the image units are evaluated to identify significant image units for emphasis. In one embodiment, the significant image units are emphasized by modifying at least one shape characteristic of the significant image units using at least one uniform morphological bitmap operation applied to the entire image unit bitmaps corresponding to the significant image units.

Abstract: A text-compression technique utilizes a plurality of word-number mappers ("WNMs") in a frequency-ordered hierarchical structure. The particular structure of the set of WNMs depends on the specific encoding regime, but can be summarized as follows. Each WNM in the set is characterized by an ordinal WNM number and a WNM size (maximum number of tokens) that is in general a non-decreasing function of the WNM number. A given token is assigned a number pair, the first being one of the WNM numbers, and the second being the token's position or number in that WNM. Typically, the most frequently occurring tokens are mapped with a smaller-numbered WNM. The set of WNMs is generated on a first pass through the database to be compressed. The database is parsed into tokens, and a rank-order list based on the frequency of occurrence is generated. This list is partitioned in a manner to define the set of WNMs. Actual compression of the data base occurs on a second pass, using the set of WNMs generated on the first pass.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining word frequency from a document without first converting the document to character codes. The method includes morphological image processing to determine word unit characteristics for placement into equivalence classes utilizing non-content based information. Word shape representations are preferably determined and compared to define equivalent word units.

Abstract: A personal computerized dictionary to which not only positive but also negative versions of words can be added by the user to customize the spelling check module to a specific application. In a preferred embodiment, such a dictionary is incorporated in a spelling check module for use in conjunction with an electronic typewriter or personal computer of the type which has a keyboard and a data processor interconnected by a respective keyboard connector and a data processor connector. The spelling check module includes male and female connectors which are arranged to receive the keyboard connector and data processor connectors. The spelling check module is installed by disconnecting the keyboard connector from the data processor connector and interposing the spelling check module therebetween by connecting the keyboard connector and the data processor connector to the respective connectors of the spelling check module. The spelling check module is controlled by selected non-printing, non-control keys.

Abstract: An existing character, in a text defined in image form by data such as a two-dimensional array, is copied to add a new character to the text. The existing character is found by performing character recognition on a two-dimensional data array defining an image that includes part of the text, such as a page. The array can be obtained from a scanner. A word that is recognized as including characters of the type needed is tested to determine whether it can be divided into the correct number of characters. The word is divided by finding connected components in the part of the array in which the word was found during recognition. The connected components are grouped into sets, each set being likely to be a character. If the word can be correctly divided, character-size arrays for its characters are obtained and saved. One of the arrays for the character type of the new character is selected and used to produce an array for the word in which it is included.

Abstract: A lightweight compact, portable, advertising display apparatus provides an attractive, rotatable, miniature billboard assembly for displaying advertising material to viewing areas about the advertising display apparatus. The advertising display apparatus includes a plastic shaft with a convenient handle and a special coupling head which fits into corresponding keyholes in the container assembly to provide for easy assembly and disassembly of the unit when inserting and removing different advertising material.

Abstract: A method of making a disc having integral blades wherein (1) a billet is preformed with the disc being formed close to final shape except that material needed to complete the outer portion including the blades is placed adjacent the outer edge of the preform; (2) the preform dies are changed and the preform is pressed into its final form. The outer die is formed as a two part die having an inner section and outer section, said outer section placing a holding force on the inner formed section and a forming force on the material needed to complete the disc and blades. The blade dies are formed to have a blade cavity longer than the length of the blade desired so that the ends of the blades can be machined to a desired length.

Abstract: A method of making a disc having integral blades wherein (1) a billet is preformed with the disc being formed close to final shape except that material needed to complete the outer portion including the blades is placed adjacent the outer edge of the preform; (2) the preform dies are changed and the preform is pressed into its final form. The outer die is formed as a two part die having an inner section and outer section, said outer section placing a holding force on the inner formed section and a forming force on the material needed to complete the disc and blades. The blade dies are formed to have a blade cavity longer than the length of the blade desired so that the ends of the blades can be machined to a desired length.