Distinguishing Text From Other Regions Patents (Class 382/176)
  • Publication number: 20140247988
    Abstract: A city directory, having a listing of names and associated information of residents in a city (or similar location), is digitized. Zones of text having information not useful to users of the digitized directory are removed, and lines of information corresponding to residents are reconstructed, to make the digitized directory more easily accessed and reviewed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2014
    Publication date: September 4, 2014
    Applicant: ANCESTRY.COM OPERATIONS INC.
    Inventors: Peter McCombs, Spence Koehler, Laryn Brown
  • Publication number: 20140247989
    Abstract: In various aspects, methods disclosed herein may include the step of associating an identified user with a computer, and the step of capturing an image of a monitored region of a computer screen of the computer at a specified time. The methods may include the step of extracting image text from the image, the step of determining an emotional state of the identified user using image text content of the image text, and the step of capturing a subsequent image of the monitored region of the computer screen of the computer at a subsequent time subsequent to the specified time, a time difference between the specified time and the subsequent time is dependent upon the emotional state of the user, in various aspects. The associating step, the capturing step, the extracting step, the determining step, and the capturing a subsequent image step are not controlled by the identified user, in various aspects. This Abstract is presented to meet requirements of 37 C.F.R. ยง1.72(b) only.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2014
    Publication date: September 4, 2014
    Inventor: F. Scott Deaver
  • Patent number: 8824798
    Abstract: An information processing device includes: a document receiving unit that receives a document containing at least one page, wherein positions of document components of a page of the at least one page are fixed within the page; a page dividing unit that divides the document received by the document receiving unit into at least one page; a page heading determining unit that determines a heading of a page of the at least one page divided by the page dividing unit based on components included in the page; and a processing unit that assigns the heading determined by the page heading determining unit to the page divided by the page dividing unit as first level outline information of the page.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunichi Kimura, Satoshi Kubota, Ikken So, Masanori Sekino
  • Patent number: 8824031
    Abstract: A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and apparatus for transmitting an object from a scanned document are disclosed. For example, the method receives a scanned document, automatically segments one or more objects from the scanned document, presents the scanned document to the user, wherein the scanned document is modified to visually identify the one or more objects that are automatically segmented, receives a selection of an object of the one or more objects that are automatically segmented and transmits the object that is selected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: David Jon Metcalfe, Mihai Cuciurean-Zapan
  • Patent number: 8824806
    Abstract: Content portions to be presented on a display of an electronic device are identified by designating portions of a digital image as content regions and other portions of the digital image as non-content regions. The content portions are then identified from within the content region, in which each content portion has a predetermined width. Each content portion is then expanded to produce an expanded content portion. Each expanded content portion is presented on a display of an electronic device in a sequential manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Edward J. Gayles, Parmanand P. Kejriwal
  • Patent number: 8824799
    Abstract: A method for encoding an image, one embodiment comprising analyzing colors and spatial features of pixels of the image to identify a text region separate from a picture region; generating, for a portion of the text region, a mask dividing the portion into background pixels and text pixels, the background pixels identified as pixels with a constant color, the text pixels identified as pixels contrasting the constant color and comprising a plurality of colors; analyzing chrominance values of the plurality of colors to determine a text chrominance; generating, for each text pixel of the plurality of text pixels, a text pixel value to generate text pixel values, each text pixel value based on a luminance of a text pixel for which it was generated; and transmitting an encoding of the portion comprising an encoding of each of the constant color, the mask, the text chrominance and the text pixel values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Teradici Corporation
    Inventor: David Victor Hobbs
  • Patent number: 8824018
    Abstract: In a case where a line noise suppression mode in which a line noise image is suppressed is enabled by a mode setting section 81, (A) a spatial filter process section 108 executes a spatial filter process with respect to a text pixel which have determined to be included in a text region by a segmentation process section 105, in which spatial filter process an edge enhancement degree of an image is smaller than that obtained when the line noise suppression mode is disabled, and (B) an output tone correction section 109 executes, with respect to the text pixel subjected to the spatial filter process, a tone correction process in which a contrast enhancement degree of an image is higher than that obtained when the line noise suppression mode is disabled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshinori Murakami
  • Patent number: 8824800
    Abstract: A method and system for analysis of immunoassays, and more specifically to an improved analysis of chromatographic assays, often referred to as a lateral flow assay is disclosed. These assays commonly employ a test strip utilizing visible particles as the labels for the analytes to be detected, where, as an additional feature, the analytical strip is removable for reading the quantity of analytes captured therein and for archival purposes. An image of the test strip is analyzed automatically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Skannex AS
    Inventors: Dag Bremnes, Eystein Ebeltoft
  • Publication number: 20140241631
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of acquiring tax data for use in tax preparation application includes acquiring an image of at least one document containing tax data therein with an imaging device. A computer extracts one or more features from the acquired image of the at least one document and compares the extracted one or more features to a database containing a plurality of different tax forms. The database may include a textual database and/or geometric database. The computer identifies a tax form corresponding to the at least one document from the plurality of different tax forms based at least in part on a confidence level associated with the comparison of the extracted one or more features to the database. At least a portion of the tax data from the acquired image is transferred into corresponding fields of the tax preparation application.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: INTUIT INC.
    Inventors: Nankun Huang, Amir Eftekhari, Carol A. Howe, Alan B. Tifford, Jeffrey P. Ludwig
  • Patent number: 8818099
    Abstract: A method is described for binarizing a gray scale document image, in particular, a document image containing both text and non-text contents. Phase congruency maps are calculated from the gray scale image, and used to segment the text and non-text areas of the gray scale image. The phase congruency maps are also used to extract long lines such as table lines, which can be optionally removed from the image. The text and non-text areas of the gray scale image are divided into image patches; for the text areas, connected components obtained from the phase congruency map are used to generate image patches, so that each image patch contains a text character. The image patches are binarized individually using individual threshold values, and then combined to generate a binary image of the gray scale image. The method can also be used for purposes of OCR or document authentication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Laboratory U.S.A., Inc.
    Inventor: Yibin Tian
  • Patent number: 8810850
    Abstract: A controlling device may perform an image process on specific image data so as to generate processed image data, select a process mode from a plurality of process modes, including a first process mode and a second process mode, and perform the image process according to the selected process mode. The first process mode may be for performing the image process by performing, in order to compensate variability of discharging amounts of the liquid droplets discharged from the plurality of nozzles, a specific process on a target pixel within target image data using correction data for a target nozzle. The target nozzle may be to form a dot at a position on a print medium corresponding to the target pixel. The second process mode may be for performing the image process by performing the specific process on the target pixel within target image data without using the correction data for the target nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasunari Yoshida
  • Patent number: 8811731
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed include methods and systems for assigning one or more labels to one or more segments of data received in an incoming segment to a line buffer for propagated component labeling, including preventing repeated labels in each line of the line buffer by assigning a different label for each of the one or more segments of data received in each line; labeling the incoming segment of the one or more segments of data by adopting a label of an overlapping segment on a prior received line when the overlapping segment does not overlap any other segment of data; labeling the incoming segment of the one or more segments of data by adopting a label of an overlapping segment on a prior received line when the overlapping segment overlaps more than one segment on the incoming segment when the segment is a first segment in the line buffer; and labeling the incoming segment of the one or more segments of data by adopting a label of a last overlapping segment when more than one segment overlaps the incoming s
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: eyeP, Inc.
    Inventor: Craig Sullender
  • Patent number: 8810827
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus which is capable of preventing wasteful transmission of metadata. Metadata is registered in advance in association with a type of a transmission destination of an image data. When transmitting the image data, metadata associated with the type of the transmission destination of the image data is determined, and the image data and the determined metadata are transmitted to the transmission destination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masakazu Kitora
  • Patent number: 8805077
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes the following elements. A line-candidate identifying unit identifies candidates of lines that constitute a contour of a subject region, on the basis of a captured image. A line-probability calculating unit calculates, for each identified candidate, line probability information representing a probability that the candidate is a line that constitutes the contour of the subject region, on the basis of feature values of positions located at or within a reference distance from the candidate in the captured image. A region-probability calculating unit calculates region probability information representing a probability that a target region surrounded by a predetermined number of candidates chosen from the identified candidates is the subject region, on the basis of the line probability information of the predetermined number of candidates. A subject-region detecting unit detects the subject region, on the basis of the calculated region probability information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jin Guo, Takeshi Onishi
  • Patent number: 8806455
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for text processing includes processing at least one body of text including semantic elements. Syntactic roles of the respective semantic elements are recognized, and the body of text is segmented into individual semantic constructs. At least one selected semantic element is removed from the semantic constructs, so as to produce respective nuclear semantic constructs. Occurrence frequencies of the respective nuclear semantic constructs are computed. An action is invoked with respect to one or more of the nuclear semantic constructs whose occurrence frequencies meet a predefined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Verint Systems Ltd.
    Inventor: Eliezer Katz
  • Patent number: 8804209
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus including, an input unit for inputting image data including a document region, a storage for storing the brightness of each pixel on a first main scan line outside the document region, a corrector for correcting the brightness of each pixel on the first main scan line in accordance with the brightness of pixels in a first part and the brightness of pixels in a second part on a second main scan line following the first main scan line, and an edge point detector for detecting an edge point of the document region situated on the second main scan line in accordance with the difference between the brightness of each pixel on the first main scan line corrected and the brightness of each pixel on the second main scan line respectively corresponding to each pixel on the first main scan line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: PFU Limited
    Inventors: Akira Iwayama, Masayoshi Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20140219561
    Abstract: A character segmentation section, for segmenting characters of a character line may include a minimum pixel-value curve creating section configured to extract a smallest pixel value in pixels composing a pixel line arranged in a direction orthogonal to a character line direction in said multi-level image data and create a minimum pixel-value curve, a character partitioning position determining section configured to determine partitioning positions of said characters, based on said minimum pixel value curve, a binarization processing section configured to detect a minimum pixel value indicating said linear drawing from said minimum pixel-value curve, acquires a binarization threshold based on said minimum pixel value, and binarizes said multi-level image data using said binarization threshold, and a character segmentation implementing section configured to extract the image data of each character.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2014
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: NIDEC SANKYO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiroshi NAKAMURA
  • Patent number: 8798396
    Abstract: An apparatus usable in an image encoding and/or decoding system includes a segmentation unit to convert a first image of a first resolution into a second image of a second resolution, to segment the second image of the second resolution with one or more blocks of a binary mask layer having a foreground and a background, and to convert the segmented second image into a third image of a third resolution as a segmented image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Purdue Research Foundation
    Inventors: Hyung-Soo Ohk, Jonghyon Yi, Charles A. Bouman, Eri Haneda
  • Publication number: 20140212038
    Abstract: A method of detection of numbered captions in a document includes receiving a document including a sequence of document pages and identifying illustrations on pages of the document. For each identified illustration, associated text is identified. An imitation page is generated for each of the identified illustrations, each imitation page comprising a single illustration and its associated text. For a sequence of the imitation pages, a sequence of terms is identified. Each term is derived from a text fragment of the associate text of a respective imitation page. The terms of a sequence complying with at least one predefined numbering scheme which defines a form and an incremental state of the terms in a sequence. The terms of the identified sequence of terms are construed as being at least a part of a numbered caption for a respective illustration in the document.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2013
    Publication date: July 31, 2014
    Applicant: XEROX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Herve Dejean, Jean-Luc Meunier
  • Patent number: 8787676
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a receiving unit, a path calculation unit, and a separation unit. The receiving unit receives an image including at least a character image. The path calculation unit calculates a separation path in the image received by the receiving unit. The separation path is a line segment that separates a character image from the image. The separation unit separates the image received by the receiving unit into plural character images using a separation path calculated by the path calculation unit. The path calculation unit calculates a separation path within a predetermined range including a portion of a character image in the image so that a cumulative value of luminance values of pixels along the separation path satisfies a predetermined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox, Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Eiichi Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8787670
    Abstract: Software for editing text and images enables a user to select a portion of an image and read the text on the selected image portion via an OCR function. The software enables the user to apply a mask containing the originally read text, that allows the user to type or paste new text to replace the previously read text in the selected image portion. The software also enables a user to edit images by automatically recognizing the borders of fields and/or columns and the background color. As a result the user can easily modify an image by applying a mask to an image wherein the mask has new data such as different text the identical background color or a different background color or different layout etc. and which may be placed exactly on the recognized borders of the original image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Inventors: Victor John Cowley, Simon William Yearwood
  • Patent number: 8783570
    Abstract: An imaging-based bar code reader that includes an imaging and decoding system. Focusing optics and a sensor array define a field of view. A data processor has a memory for storing a pattern definition of previously imaged OCR characters and comparing a format of said previously stored characters to a present image to determine a character content of the present image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaomei Wang, Christopher J. Fjellstad
  • Patent number: 8774514
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses of classifying an image as either a text image or a non text image are provided. The method includes converting an input image into an image histogram comprising gray levels and a frequency of the gray levels; analyzing the image histogram to determine a characteristic of the image histogram; and classifying the input image as a text image or a non text image based on the characteristic. The characteristic of the image histogram may include the frequency of the gray levels, a number of peaks, a distance between peaks, and a peak width. The image may be split into blocks and a number of edge pixels determined for each block. The blocks with at least a predetermined number of edge pixels may then be classified. The entire image may then be classified based on the number of blocks determined to be a text image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Seung-hun Kim, Tae-hoon Kang
  • Patent number: 8761508
    Abstract: An image processing system includes a first image processing apparatus and a second image processing apparatus. The first image processing apparatus includes a first image obtaining module, a first image extraction module, a first density extraction module, a first feature conversion module, a register module. The first image obtaining module obtains an image of an object having a seal impressed on a face thereof and having a film formed or laminated on the face thereof. The second image processing apparatus includes a second image obtaining module, a second image extraction module, a second density extraction module, a second feature conversion module, and a collation module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Kimura, Kensuke Ito
  • Patent number: 8756497
    Abstract: An education digital reading platform provides a visualization interface displaying visual object elements of a document to a user. A visual object element may include images, videos, charts, tables, etc. The visual objects may be identified in a document by extracting metadata associated with the document. Additionally, the ideas or concepts represented by the visual object elements may be identified by analyzing the document, and content related to the ideas or concepts may be identified and associated with the visual object elements. The related content may include user generated content or content stored in one or more databases. The related content is provided to a user in the visualization interface wherein the user may access the related content. The interface allows a user to navigate a document by moving from one visual object element to another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Chegg, Inc.
    Inventors: Vincent Le Chevalier, Charles F. Geiger
  • Publication number: 20140161353
    Abstract: A technique is described for table grid detection and separation during the analysis and recognition of documents containing table contents. The technique includes the steps of table detection, grid separation, and table cell extraction. The technique is characterized by the steps of detecting the grid lines of a table using, for example, inverse cell detection, separating noise and touching text from the grid lines, and extracting the cell contents for OCR recognition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2013
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Applicant: The Neat Company, Inc. d/b/a Neatreceipts, Inc.
    Inventor: Huanfeng Ma
  • Patent number: 8750616
    Abstract: In an extracting step, the extracting portion obtains a linked component composed of a plurality of mutually linking pixels from a character string region composed of a plurality of characters, and extracts section elements from the character string region, the section elements each being surrounded by a circumscribing figure circumscribing to the linked component. In the first altering step, the first altering portion combines section elements at least having a mutually overlapping part among the extracted section elements so as to prepare a new section element. In the first selecting step, the first selecting portion determines a reference size in advance and selects section elements having a size greater than the reference size, from among the section elements altered in the first altering step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Bo Wu, Jianjun Dou, Ning Le, Yadong Wu, Jing Jia
  • Patent number: 8749832
    Abstract: An information processing device includes an acquiring unit, an image page selecting unit, a reducing unit, and an outputting unit. The acquiring unit acquires a file including a plurality of pages. At least one of a character and an image is carried on each page. The image page selecting unit selects a page containing the image from the plurality of pages. The reducing unit generates a reduced-size page carrying a reduced-size image from the selected page. The outputting unit outputs the reduced-size image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Norio Mizutani
  • Patent number: 8743424
    Abstract: A method for pre-print enhancement of a raster image is disclosed. The method includes receiving the raster image, categorizing an element in the raster image as a graphical element or an image element; and if the element is categorized as a graphical element applying graphical enhancement to the graphical element. A computer program product for pre-print enhancement of a raster image is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Noam Shaham, Gideon Amir, David Ben-Ovadia, Ram Dagan
  • Publication number: 20140140621
    Abstract: This invention is a method for rectifying an input digital image including warped textual information. The method includes analyzing the input digital image to determine local orientations for a plurality of local image regions and determining an orientation vector field by interpolating between the determined local orientations for a lattice of positions. A set of streamlines are determined responsive to the orientation vector field. A global deformation function is formed by interpolating between the streamlines and is used to form a rectified image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Inventors: Hao Wu, Kevin Edward Spaulding
  • Patent number: 8731296
    Abstract: A device and method for identifying text pixels that are erroneously classified as non-text pixels, includes accessing an image region containing a non-text component. For each non-text component within the image region component, only one determines if there are any long line structures within the bounding box defined by the non-text component. If the long line structures are greater than a predefined percentage of the span of the dimension of the bounding box parallel to the line structure, then the line structure is removed. Any remaining non-text pixels within the bounding box are reclassified as text-pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Jing Xiao
  • Patent number: 8730244
    Abstract: A device includes a character-data rotating section that rotates a regular-position character by a predetermined angle with respect to a reference point that is the center point of the background area of the regular-position character by using regular-position character data having a rotation angle of 0ยฐ and a center-point matching processing section that horizontally and/or vertically enlarges the background area of the rotated character data to cause the center point of the rotated character and the center point of BMP data to match each other even with respect to rotated character data. Thus, when multiple pieces of character data are arranged so that the center points thereof lie on a reference line, not only are the center points of the characters aligned along the reference line, but also bottom portions of the characters aligned with respect to the reference line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Noboru Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 8724165
    Abstract: An image data generating device includes an original image acquirer that acquires original image data of a subject. The image data generating device also includes a controller that generates image data. The controller includes a monochrome image data generator that generates monochrome image data from the original image data. The controller also includes a color image data generator that generates color image data from the original image data. Further, the controller includes a text data acquirer that acquires recognition result data from the monochrome image data generated by the monochrome image data generator. In addition, the controller includes a recording unit that associates and records the color image data generated by the color image data generator and the recognition result data acquired by the text data acquirer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Koji Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 8723964
    Abstract: A device for communication may include an optical sensor to capture an image. A processor may be provided to identify or select a class of data in the image and to perform a predetermined function in response to the class of data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications AB
    Inventor: Ivan N. Wakefield
  • Patent number: 8718367
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates displaying automatically recognized text, wherein the automatically recognized text includes optical character recognition (OCR) text or intelligent character recognition (ICR) text. During operation, the system receives a source image containing text from a user. Next, the system performs a character-recognition operation on the source image to produce recognized text. The system then locates a data field within the source image. Next, the system identifies a subset of the recognized text that corresponds with the data field. After that, the system displays the source image to the user. At the same time, the system displays the subset of the recognized text in close proximity to the data field in the source image to facilitate comparing the recognized text with the text contained in the source image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Intuit Inc.
    Inventors: James Alan Schneider, Rajalakshmi Ganesan, Lionel Roy, George Chiramattel Kunjachan, Thanuj Thyagarajan Kambil, Sumeet Bansal, Bibhakar Ranjan
  • Patent number: 8718318
    Abstract: A fingerprint of an image identified within a received message is generated following analysis of the message. A spam detection engine identifies an image within a message and converts the image into a grey scale image. The spam detection engine analyzes the grey scale image and assigns a score. A fingerprint of the grey scale image is generated based on the score. The fingerprint may also be based on other factors such as the message sender's status (e.g. blacklisted or whitelisted) and other scores and reports generated by the spam detection engine. The fingerprint is then used to filter future incoming messages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: SonicWALL, Inc.
    Inventor: Bong Gyoune Kim
  • Patent number: 8718368
    Abstract: Providing text flow in or around an irregular container, such as a non-rectangular graphic, is disclosed. In the case of flow around a container, the intersection, if any, between a proposed text rectangle and the irregular container is determined. A valid rectangle, if any, that is not within the bounds in the x-direction of an area of intersection between the proposed text rectangle and the graphic is identified as a valid text area within the proposed text rectangle. In the case of flow around a container, one or more difference areas, if any, in which a proposed text rectangle is present but the container is not present are found. A valid rectangle, if any, that is not within the bounds in the x-direction of any of said one or more difference areas is identified as a valid text area within the proposed text rectangle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Steve Sprang, Scott Lindsey
  • Patent number: 8718366
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for detecting moving text in video comprising receiving consecutive frames from a video stream, extracting a sequence of pixels from the consecutive frames, categorizing the pixels, thinning the pixels, correlating corresponding thinned pixels in the frames, identifying the peaks that are equal to or exceed a threshold, and performing further processing on the peaks to determine if the peaks contain moving text.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: ATI Technologies ULC
    Inventor: Gordon F. Wredenhagen
  • Patent number: 8717377
    Abstract: A shell texture image shared for use among multilayer shell polygons and including a plurality of areas having transparency different from one another, is distorted to varying degrees depending on a position of each layer of the shell polygons, so as to texture-map each layer of the shell polygons therewith and so as to position the multilayer shell polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space. Thus, it is possible to realistically represent hair, grass, and the like with little effort in three-dimensional image processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuki Tawaraishi, Yusuke Kurahashi
  • Patent number: 8718364
    Abstract: An apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a region extraction unit configured to extract region data for each object from document image data including tables; a table structure analysis unit configured to analyze the region data relating to table objects out of the extracted region data and extract table structure information on each of the table objects; a sheet generation unit configured to generate a display sheet for reproducing a layout of the object in the document image data and an edit sheet for each table for editing the table, by using the region data and the table structure information on each object; and an electronic-document generation unit configured to generate an electronic document which associated the display sheet with the edit sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Makoto Enomoto
  • Patent number: 8711419
    Abstract: What is disclosed is a novel system and method for preserving user-applied markings made to a hardcopy of an original document and for generating a new composite document containing the user markings which can be reprinted without loss of image quality. In one embodiment, an original document is scanned to produce a digital representation thereof. One or more marked documents containing the user markups are scanned. The user markings are identified in each of the marked document by an iterative comparison between the marked document and the image of the original document. The identified user markings are stored to records. Thereafter, the stored user markings are retrieved and combined into an image of the original document to produce a new composite document containing selected user markings. The new file is smaller in file size and has no loss of image quality during subsequent reprints. Various embodiments have been disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Mu Qiao
  • Patent number: 8711440
    Abstract: A method of identifying a printed page from a scan of the printed page is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of generating a page key of the printed page on the basis of the scan (710), searching a database (199) for a similar page key (730). For each found similar page key (740), the method further comprises; retrieving from the database an instance key location (750), generating an instance key for the printed page (530), based on the retrieved instance key location of the referenced page instance; and comparing the generated instance key for the printed page with the retrieved instance key of the referenced page instance (770). A match between the instance keys indicates that the printed page is the referenced page instance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Stephen James Hardy
  • Publication number: 20140112527
    Abstract: Architecture that enables optical character recognition (OCR) of text in video frames at the rate at which the frames are received. Additionally, conflation is performed on multiple text recognition results in the frame sequence. The architecture comprises an OCR text recognition engine and a tracker system; the tracker system establishes a common coordinate system in which OCR results from different frames may be compared and/or combined. From a set of sequential video frames, a keyframe is chosen from which the reference coordinate system is established. An estimated transformation from keyframe coordinates to subsequent video frames is computed using the tracker system. When text recognition is completed for any subsequent frame, the result coordinates can be related to the keyframe using the inverse transformation from the processed frame to the reference keyframe. The results can be rendered for viewing as the results are obtained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2012
    Publication date: April 24, 2014
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: David Nister, Frederik Schaffalitzky, Michael Grabner, Matthew S. Ashman, Milan Vugdelija, Ivan Stojiljkovic
  • Patent number: 8704948
    Abstract: Systems and methods are operable to present text identified in a presented video image of a media content event. An exemplary embodiment receives a complete video frame that is associated with a presented video image of a video content event, wherein the presented video image includes a region of text; finds the text in the complete video frame; uses an optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm to translate the found text; and presents the translated text. The translated text may be presented on a display concurrently with the video image that is presented on the display. Alternatively, or additionally, the translated text may be presented as audible speech emitted from at least one speaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Eldon Technology Limited
    Inventor: Dale Mountain
  • Patent number: 8693779
    Abstract: Methods and systems for segmenting printed media pages into individual articles quickly and efficiently. A printed media based image that may include a variety of columns, headlines, images, and text is input into the system which comprises a block segmenter and an article segmenter system. The block segmenter identifies and produces blocks of textual content from a printed media image while the article segmenter system determines which blocks of textual content belong to one or more articles in the printed media image based on a classifier algorithm. A method for segmenting printed media pages into individual articles is also presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Ankur Jain, Vivek Sahasranaman, Shobhit Saxena, Krishnendu Chaudhury
  • Patent number: 8693790
    Abstract: Disclosed are a form template definition method and a form template definition apparatus. The form template definition method comprises a cell extraction step of analyzing an image of a form so as to extract one or more cells from the image of the form; a cell classification step of classifying the extracted cells; and a cell attribute definition step of defining attributes of the extracted cells class by class. If an attribute of a first cell in one class is defined, then other cells in the class automatically copy the attribute of the first cell. As a result, the work amount of form template definition may be dramatically reduced by employing the form template definition method and form template definition apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yan Jiang, Rui Zhang, Toshifumi Yamaai, Yoshihisa Ohguro
  • Patent number: 8693058
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a communication interface unit which receives print data, a rendering unit which converts the received print data into a bitmap image by rendering, a binarization unit which generates binary data by carrying out halftoning with respect to the bitmap image, a data combining unit which generates multi-bit data by combining a plurality of successive binary data of the generated binary data, and a print engine which forms an image on a print paper using the generated multi-bit data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kyeong-man Kim
  • Publication number: 20140093170
    Abstract: A document processing device includes: a character information extracting unit that extracts character information from document image data; a feature character string extracting unit that extracts, as document name candidate character strings, a given number of character strings indicative of features of the document image data from the character information extracted by the character information extracting unit; an output condition acquiring unit that, when the document image data is processed by one of multiple processing methods involving an output of a document name of the document image data, acquires an output condition required for the output of the document name of the document image data; and a document name generating unit that generates the document name complying with a character condition corresponding to the output condition from the document name candidate character strings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Inventor: Yoshihisa OHGURO
  • Patent number: 8687890
    Abstract: A city directory, having a listing of names and associated information of residents in a city (or similar location), is digitized. Zones of text having information not useful to users of the digitized directory are removed, and lines of information corresponding to residents are reconstructed, to make the digitized directory more easily accessed and reviewed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Ancestry.com Operations Inc.
    Inventors: Peter McCombs, Spencer Koehler, Laryn Brown
  • Patent number: 8687241
    Abstract: Method for security printing. A digital model of a feature for printing is received, wherein the feature is for authentication by an external device. Deviation from the digital model is compensated for, to a printed instance of the feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Steven J. Simske, Malgorzata M. Sturgill, Jason S. Aronoff, Juan C. Villa, Galia Golodetz