GRAPHICAL INDICATOR
A graphical indicator comprising a plurality of first header blocks, a plurality of second header blocks and a plurality of data blocks for forming an indicator matrix is provided. Each of the first and second header blocks has a header graphical micro-unit, and each of the data blocks has a data graphical micro-unit. An array area is formed by the second header blocks and the data blocks. A first virtual line and a second virtual line are respectively formed by virtual centers of the first and second header blocks, and an included angle between the first and second virtual lines is less than 90 degrees.
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 103119595, filed on Jun. 5, 2014. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a graphical indicator that can be read by using pattern/image recognition, and the graphical indicator corresponds to indicator data.
2. Description of Related Art
With advances in printing and electronics, technologies that include graphical indicators together with visible text information or graphic information have been widely applied in daily life.
Generally, when a high proportion of all graphical micro-units 216 in a graphical indicator 102 are located within the header area 212, it indicates that the header information contains more details, so that the electronic system 110 is capable of orienting and positioning the graphical indicator 102 for recognition more accurately. However, if the header area 212 is expanded, the capacity of the graphical indicator 102 to carry indicator data is reduced. On the other hand, if the graphical micro-units 216 are arranged too densely in the content data area 214 or if some of the graphical micro-units 216 in the content data area 214 are too far away from the header area 212, the recognition rate may be lowered for the graphical indicator 102. Accordingly, it is an important issue to be solved by persons skilled in the art as how to design a graphical indicator having a suitable arrangement of the graphical micro-units 216 in the content data area 214 without overly expanding the proportion of the graphical indicator 102 occupied by the header area 212 to increase the recognition rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, the invention is directed to a graphical indicator capable of an increased recognition rate for the graphical indicator during image recognition process.
The invention provides a graphical indicator, that comprises a plurality of first header blocks, a plurality of second header blocks and a plurality of data blocks for forming a graphical indicator matrix. Each of the first header blocks and the second header blocks has a header graphical micro-unit. Each of the data blocks has a data graphical micro-unit. An array area is formed by the second header blocks and the data blocks. A first virtual line is formed by virtual centers of the first header blocks, a second virtual line is formed by the virtual centers of the second header blocks, and an included angle between the first virtual line and the second virtual line is less than 90 degrees.
The invention provides a graphical indicator, which comprises both a linear area and an array area. The linear area comprises a plurality of header blocks, and each of the blocks has a header graphical micro-unit. A graphical indicator matrix is formed by the array area and the linear area.
The dimension of the graphical indicator matrix is M×N, and M and N are positive integers, respectively greater than 2. The array area is comprised of a plurality of linear sub-array areas that are positioned so that they are parallel to the linear area. Each of the linear sub-array areas has a plurality of blocks and comprises at least one header graphical micro-unit and a plurality of data graphical micro-units respectively disposed in the blocks according to an arrangement sequence. The arrangement sequences of all the linear sub-array areas in the graphical indicator matrix are not completely identical. Each of the data graphical micro-units is selectively and respectively disposed in one of a plurality of virtual areas of the block. The header graphical micro-units represent header information, and the data graphical micro-units represent indicator data.
The graphical indicators are merged into a graphical indicator structure. In the graphical indicator structure, the number of the data graphical micro-units that can be consecutively arranged in each column of the graphical indicator structure and the number of the data graphical micro-units that can be consecutively arranged in each row of the graphical indicator structure are not over M−1 and N−1.
One of the header graphical micro-units of each of the array areas is selectively disposed at a virtual center of the corresponding block or deviated from the virtual center of the corresponding block, and the rest of the header graphical micro-units are located at the virtual centers of the corresponding blocks.
Based on the above, in the present invention, the graphical indicator is a matrix comprising header graphical micro-units and the data graphical micro-units. By accurately disposing the header graphical micro-units and the data graphical micro-units in the graphical indicator matrix, the graphical indicator may provide a more efficient recognition rate during the image recognition process while maximizing the data payload for the graphical indicators.
Several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.
The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Reference is made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like features.
More specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the graphical indicator matrix 280 is formed by the header blocks 260A and the data blocks 260B that comprise the array area 240 and the linear area 220. Further, the dimension of the graphical indicator matrix 280 is M×N blocks, and M and N are positive integers respectively greater than 2. In the present embodiment, M is 5 and N is 4 for example, but the invention is not limited thereto.
The array area 240 is comprised of a plurality of linear sub-array areas 242 parallel to the linear area 220. Each of the linear sub-array areas 242 has a plurality of data blocks 260B, at least one header block 260A, and comprises at least one of the header graphical micro-units A and a plurality of data graphical micro-units B respectively disposed in the data blocks 260B according to an arrangement sequence. Each of the data graphical micro-units B is selectively and respectively disposed in one of a plurality of virtual areas 262 of the data block 260B. The header graphical micro-units A present header information, and the data graphical micro-units B present indicator data. It should be noted that, the arrangement sequences of all the linear sub-array areas 242 in the graphical indicator matrix 280 are not completely identical.
Each of the header blocks 260A and data blocks 260B comprises one graphical micro-unit A or B. In
Referring back to
In
More specifically, referring to
It should be noted that, regardless of whether the graphical indicator structure I in
In order to solve the aforesaid issue so that the system can determine the proper orientation, as noted above one header graphical micro-unit A′ in each of the array areas 240 can be deviated from the virtual center P of the corresponding header block 260A. In
In the present embodiment, distances from the header blocks 260A, to which the header graphical micro-units A′ deviated from the virtual center P belong, to neighboring two of the linear areas 220 (or the header blocks 260A of the neighboring linear area 220) are not equidistant. It should be noted that, if the arrangement of the header blocks 260A to which the header graphical micro-units (A, A′) belong correspondingly changes when the graphical indicator structure I is inverted, one header graphical micro-unit A′ in the array area 240 may be selectively disposed at the virtual center P of the corresponding header block 260A or deviated from the virtual center P of the corresponding header block 260A.
Referring back to
As similar to the graphical indicator 20 in
In
Therefore, by deviating one header graphical micro-unit A′ in each of the array areas 240 from the virtual center P of the corresponding header block 260A, the electronic system can determine a relation between relative positions of the header block 260A and the neighboring linear areas 220 when the recognition is performed to thereby further positioning the graphical indicator structure IA.
The design of the graphical indicators is not limited only to the embodiments in
Referring to
The design for the data block 360B still uses the position of the data graphical micro-unit B relative to the virtual center P of the data block 360B for indicating the bit value represented by the block 360B. However, in the present embodiment, the valid number of bits in the bit value is increased by one bit as compared to the bit value in the embodiment of
Referring to
In summary, in the present invention, a graphical indicator is a graphical indicator matrix, which comprises header graphical micro-units and data graphical micro-units. By accurately positioning the header graphical micro-units and the data graphical micro-unit in the graphical indicator matrix, the graphical indicator may provide a better recognition rate during the image recognition process.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure will be defined by the attached claims and not by the above detailed descriptions.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A graphical indicator, comprising a plurality of first header blocks, a plurality of second header blocks and a plurality of data blocks for forming an indicator matrix, each of the first header blocks and the second header blocks having a header graphical micro-unit, and each of the data blocks having a data graphical micro-unit, wherein an array area is formed by the second header blocks and the data blocks, a first virtual line is formed by virtual centers of the first header blocks, a second virtual line is formed by the virtual centers of the second header blocks, and an included angle between the first virtual line and the second virtual line is less than 90 degrees.
2. The graphical indicator of claim 1, wherein the second header blocks are obliquely arranged in the array area.
3. The graphical indicator of claim 1, wherein the first header blocks are disposed at one side of the array area to form the indicator matrix together with the array area.
4. The graphical indicator of claim 1, wherein one of the header graphical micro-units in the second header blocks is selectively disposed at the virtual center of the corresponding second header block or deviated from the virtual center of the second header block, and the rest of the header graphical micro-units are located at the virtual centers of the corresponding second header blocks.
5. The graphical indicator of claim 4, wherein a plurality of the graphical indicators are merged into a graphical indicator structure, when an arrangement of the first header blocks and the second header blocks in the graphical indicator structure does not change along with the graphical indicator structure being inverted, one of the header graphical micro-units in each of the graphical indicator is deviated from the virtual center of the corresponding second header block, distances from the second header block, to which the header graphical micro-unit deviated from the virtual center belong, to neighboring two of the first header blocks are not equidistant, and the rest of the header graphical micro-units are located at the virtual centers of the corresponding second header blocks and the corresponding first header blocks.
6. The graphical indicator of claim 1, wherein each of the data blocks, to which the data graphical micro-units belong, is divided into a first virtual area, a second virtual area, a third virtual area and a fourth virtual area, and the data graphical micro-unit is selectively disposed in the first virtual area, the second virtual area, the third virtual area or the fourth virtual area of the data block, so that the data block is corresponding to a bit value or several bit values.
7. A graphical indicator, comprising:
- a linear area, comprising a plurality of blocks, each of the blocks having a header graphical micro-unit; and
- an array area for forming an indicator matrix together with the linear area, a dimension of the indicator matrix being M×N, M and N being positive integers respectively greater than 2, the array area being comprised of a plurality of linear sub-array areas parallel to the linear area, each of the linear sub-array areas having a plurality of the blocks and comprising at least one of the header graphical micro-units and a plurality of data graphical micro-units respectively disposed in the blocks according to an arrangement sequence, the arrangement sequences of all the linear sub-array areas in the indicator matrix being not completely identical, each of the data graphical micro-units being selectively and respectively disposed in one of a plurality of virtual areas of the block, the header graphical micro-units presenting header information, and the data graphical micro-units presenting indicator data,
- wherein a plurality of the graphical indicators are merged into a graphical indicator structure, and a number of the data graphical micro-units that are consecutively arranged in each column of the graphical indicator structure and a number of the data graphical micro-units that are consecutively arranged in each row of the graphical indicator structure are not over M−1 and N−1; and one of the header graphical micro-units of each of the array areas is selectively disposed at a virtual center of the corresponding block or deviated from the virtual center of the corresponding block, and the rest of the header graphical micro-units are located at the virtual centers of the corresponding blocks.
8. The graphical indicator of claim 7, wherein when an arrangement of the blocks, to which the header graphical micro-units belong, in the graphical indicator structure does not change along with the graphical indicator structure being inverted, one of the header graphical micro-units in each of the graphical indicators is deviated from the virtual center of the corresponding block, distances from the block, to which the header graphical micro-unit deviated from the virtual center belong, to neighboring two of the linear areas are not equidistant, and the rest of the header graphical micro-units are located at the virtual centers of the corresponding blocks.
9. The graphical indicator of claim 7, wherein in each of the array areas, the blocks, to which the header graphical micro-units belong, are located on an oblique line of the array area, and each of the rest of the blocks outside the oblique line has the data graphical micro-unit.
10. The graphical indicator of claim 9, wherein the oblique line is a diagonal line of the array area.
11. The graphical indicator of claim 9, wherein one of the blocks on the oblique line is adjacent to the linear area.
12. The graphical indicator of claim 7, wherein each of the blocks, to which the data graphical micro-units belong, is divided into a first virtual area, a second virtual area, a third virtual area, and a fourth virtual area, and the data graphical micro-unit is selectively disposed at the first virtual area, the second virtual area, the third virtual area or the fourth virtual area of the block, so that the block is corresponding to a bit value or several bit values.
13. The graphical indicator of claim 7, wherein each of the blocks, to which data graphical micro-units belong, is divided into a first virtual area to an eighth virtual area, and the data graphical micro-unit is selectively disposed at one of the first virtual area to the eighth virtual area of the block, so that the block is corresponding to a bit value or several bit values.
14. The graphical indicator of claim 7, wherein each of the graphical indicators at least comprises M+N−1 number of the header graphical micro-units.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 5, 2015
Publication Date: Dec 10, 2015
Inventors: Cheng-Ta Lee (Taichung City), Jang-Jer Tsai (Hsinchu City), Tzu-Fong Huang (Hsinchu City)
Application Number: 14/731,417