CA1198218A - Process and apparatus for reading contrasting indicia - Google Patents
Process and apparatus for reading contrasting indiciaInfo
- Publication number
- CA1198218A CA1198218A CA000416464A CA416464A CA1198218A CA 1198218 A CA1198218 A CA 1198218A CA 000416464 A CA000416464 A CA 000416464A CA 416464 A CA416464 A CA 416464A CA 1198218 A CA1198218 A CA 1198218A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- indicia
- context
- reading
- control character
- context control
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
- G06K7/10—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
- G06K7/10544—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum
- G06K7/10821—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum further details of bar or optical code scanning devices
- G06K7/10861—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum further details of bar or optical code scanning devices sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels
- G06K7/10871—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation by scanning of the records by radiation in the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum further details of bar or optical code scanning devices sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels randomly oriented data-fields, code-marks therefore, e.g. concentric circles-code
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
- G06V30/14—Image acquisition
- G06V30/1429—Identifying or ignoring parts by sensing at different wavelengths
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
- G06V30/14—Image acquisition
- G06V30/1444—Selective acquisition, locating or processing of specific regions, e.g. highlighted text, fiducial marks or predetermined fields
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
- G06V30/26—Techniques for post-processing, e.g. correcting the recognition result
- G06V30/262—Techniques for post-processing, e.g. correcting the recognition result using context analysis, e.g. lexical, syntactic or semantic context
- G06V30/274—Syntactic or semantic context, e.g. balancing
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
- G06V30/10—Character recognition
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Computational Linguistics (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Toxicology (AREA)
- Artificial Intelligence (AREA)
- Character Input (AREA)
- Character Discrimination (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract An apparatus and process is provided for reading contrasting indicia provided in one or more data fields in at least one data track and arranged in indicia groups containing, if necessary, format controlling symbols which indicate the partial format of each following indicia group. The data field(s) are optically scanned and con-verted to a corresponding video signal, which is decoded.
The indicia and format controlling symbols thus read are then translated serially into standard code binary indicia- or format controlling symbol-signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further. In order to display or process further the data field(s) thus read only if certain predetermined context requirements contained in the data field(s) are fulfilled, at least one context requirement is provided which indicates an in-terrelation between several partial formats. A review is made as to whether the interrelation between the partial formats thus read is as required by the context condition.
If the required context condition is found, further pro-cessing or display of the binary signals from the decoder takes place. On the other hand, if the required context conditions are not fulfilled, an error signal is produced which either triggers a new reading process or displays an error.
The indicia and format controlling symbols thus read are then translated serially into standard code binary indicia- or format controlling symbol-signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further. In order to display or process further the data field(s) thus read only if certain predetermined context requirements contained in the data field(s) are fulfilled, at least one context requirement is provided which indicates an in-terrelation between several partial formats. A review is made as to whether the interrelation between the partial formats thus read is as required by the context condition.
If the required context condition is found, further pro-cessing or display of the binary signals from the decoder takes place. On the other hand, if the required context conditions are not fulfilled, an error signal is produced which either triggers a new reading process or displays an error.
Description
~ ~ 3 ~
DESCRIPTION
The invention relates to a process for reading con-trasting indicia provided in one or more data fields in at least one data track and arranged in indicia groups containing format controlling symbols, which indicate the partial format of the succeeding indicia group, whereby the data field(s) are optically scanned and converted into a corresponding electrical video signal, which is decoded, and wherein the indicia and when present the context con-trolling symbols thus read are converted serially into standard-code binary indicia signals or format control-ling symbol signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further, and also to an apparatus for carrying out this process.
Such processes and apparatus for reading optical indicia are known in various forms, cf e.g. DE-OS
30 14 513, published Oll October 22, 1981. These known processes and apparatus have a problem in that errors arise, e.q. during the application of the indicia, gen-erally during printing on the data field, or errors are indicated during reading of the indicia, and a reading operation must then be interrupted or repeated, if a mis-take is recognized~ For this purpose, the decoder of the known apparatus is, in most cases, so designed that it can be detected if a symbol o~ an indicia group is not properly printed or incorrectly read or decoded. Known decoders can therefore determine whether mistakes occur within single partial formats.
Known apparatus cannot however determine and report the absence of complete indicia groups, i.e. so-called partial formats or complete data tracks. In particular, the known apparatus and/or method cannot determine whether several data fiields should be read during a single reading operation.
The object of the invention is in contrast to improve the process and apparatus of the above~mentioned type, so that the indicia of one or more data fields can, after a reading operation, only be processed further or displayed if the data field(s) thus read fulfill specific predeter-mined context control character, which determine the interrelation between several partial formats of one or more data fields.
According to the invention there is provided a process ~or reading contrasting indicia provided in one or more data fields arranged in at least one data track and collected together in indicia groups and if necessary containing format controlling symbols, which indicate the partial format of the following indicia group, wherein the data field(s) are optically scanned and converted into a corresponding electrical video signal, which is decoded, and wherein the indicia and format controlling symbols thus read are serially converted into standard coded binary indicia- or format controlling symbol-signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further, wherein at least one context control character is provided which indicates a relationship between several partial formats, and wherein a review is carried out to determine whether the necessary relationship required by the context control character is fulfilled.
An apparatus for carrying out the process comprises a reading apparatus for reading and ~ransforming the indicia into an electronic video signal, a decodex for decoding the video signal, which translates the indicia and format 3~ controlling s~mbols into standard-code binary signals and delivers them to a display apparatus or further processing apparatus. This apparatus is characterized according to the inverltiorl by a memory, into which a context control character can be fed, and an electrical comparing device t8~
at the output of the decoder, which examines whether the binary signals from the decoder satisfy the context control character contained in the memory.
The advantages of the invention consist in particular in that data fields are only passed to the display or further processed, if one or more predetermined context interrelations are also present and are recognized upon reading of the data field(s)O Data field~ which do not possess the predetermined context interrelationship, which can determine the number, structure, position of the par-tial formats, are recognised as incorrect. The context control character also makes it possible to provide one interrelation that extends to several data fields.
The invention possesses remarkable advantages e.g.
upon the automatic reading and display of labels that are printed with e~g. OCR-A or OC~-B clear code or with a bar code and can comprise, for example, two partial formats in a first data track and a further partial format, usually the price, in a second data track. If a first context control character is provided for such a label which requires that three partial formats must be observed in order to read the label completely, then all tickets possessing other structures are not accepted, e.g. those having a partial format that is badly printed or diffi-cult to read. If a second context control character isprovided, that stipulates that upon one or two subsequent reading operations a total of six partial formats must appear before a display or further processing of the data can take place, this means that an error free reading operation is completed only when two tickets are pre-sented and read.
In addition the meaning can be assigned, for example, to the format controlling symbol often present at the end ~ I/A., ~ 4 ~
of a data field, or a context controlling s~mbol provided there~ that a further reading operation must immediately be carried out, which is only successfully completed when a further data field is read, to whose format controlling symbol a further context control character can be assigned.
The context control character can, according to the invention, also determine what type of symbols an individual data field or partial format must possess, in order to guarantee an error free readlng operation.
It is particularly preferred to use the process and corresponding apparatus of the invention for omnidirectional reading of data fields~ For omni-directional reading, the data field(s) comprise, in addition to the indicia and format controlling symbols, predetermined recognition patterns, which indicate t:he orientation and position of the data field on the reading field. However, if the indicia itself consist of a bar code, a part of the indicia can additionally be used to determine orientation and position of the data field.
Upon omnidirectional reading, the position and orientation of the orientation pattern is first sought in a seacching step, and upon the reading of such a pattern, the actual co-ordinates of the orientation pattern (PIC-pattern) are stored and from this the orientation and position of the data field are calculated. Then in a reading step the data field(s) are optically scanned, and the indicia or format controlling symbols are further processes accord-ing to the characteristics of the present invention.
The characteristics of the invention possess particular advantages upon omnidirectional reading of several data fields arranged on a reading window with different or-ientatiolls f since then after the location and during the reading of a data field, a context condition can be providedt that triggers a second search procedure for a second data field and only terminates the reading opera-tion when the second data field is also read in this way.
Other advantageous forms of the invention are charac-terized by the fea~ures of the claims below.
A preferred embodim~nt of the invention is described in detail in the following wit:h reference to the accom-panying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a data field having two data tracks and three partial formats; and Fig. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the apparatus according to the invention.
Figure 1 shows a data field 30 having two data tracks 32. Each data track 32 contains one or more format con-trolling symbols 35, which, for example, indica~e the format of the following indicia group 34. For example, the format controlling symbol C at the start of the first data track 3~, should determine - according to generally accepted convention - that the following indicia group 34 consists of a predetermined number of symbols, e~g.
three. The following format indicating symbol U deter-mines, for example, that the following indicia group 34 contains f ive symbols, and the format controlling symb~l + in the second data track 32 determines, for example, that the format of the following indicia group 34 has four symbols~
Additionally, in accordance with the invention, the context control character is assigned to -the format controlling symbol C, for example, that three indicia groups or partial formats are provided in the data field~
Another context controlling symbol, e.g. *, is provided at the end of the second data track 32, to which the context condition can be assigned that a further data track should follow, which for example consists of a predetermined number of data tracks.
Figure 2 is a block circuit diagram of the appa-ratus according to the invention. A data field 30, e.g~ according to Figure 1, is illuminated by lighting device 2 and read by reading device 4, e.g~ a vidicon.
The reading device 4 contains an opto-electrical converter 6 which scans indicia formed on a screen or a diode matrix and delivers an electrical video signal corresponding to the scanning cycle to a decoder 8, which translates the information contained in the video signal, i.e. the indicia and format controlling symbol etc. thus reads into standard code binary signals.
A memory 9 is connected to the output of the decoder 8, in which a context control character can be entered either by the user or automatically if the decoder generates a signal for a format controlling symbol or a context controlling symbol. The output of the decoder 8 is also connected to an electrical comparison device 10~
which examines whether the context control character held in the memory 9 is fulfilled by the binary indicia signal generated by the decoder 8. If the context condition is fulfilled, the comparison device passes the binary signal from the decoder to, for example, the display or further processing apparatus 16, which either displays the infor-mation or processes it further in any desired way~ If the comparison device generates an error signal, because the context control character is not fulfilled, the error signal is passed to a control device 12, which sends a trigger signal to the reading device 6 for the repetition of the reading procedure and indicates the repetition of the reading procedure in the display 14. Alternatively, the trigger signal can trigger other sequences of events.
~91 32~
Memory 9, comparison device 10 ancl, if necessary, control device 12 can be put into effect by a microprocessor.
A counter 18 is also connected to the decoder to count the format controlling s~mbol signals received. The com-parison device 10 can be so formed that a control signal for the further processing of the binary signal is gen-erated, if the number of read partial formats corresponds, for example, to a predetermined number determined by a context control characterO
If therefore, for example, a binary signal is gener-ated by the decoder 8 which corresponds to the context controlling signal 36, a signal is also generated by the co~parison device which triggers a further reading operation either via the con~rol device 12 or directly, in order to cause the second data field ~not shown)to be read. The comparison device 10 then examines whether the second data field is in fact in the predetermined form provided by the context controlling sym~ol 36 with corresponding partial formats etc. If this is not the case, an error signal is generatedO If the context control characters are fulfilled, a trigger signal is generated or the data thus read - and if necessary temporarily or permanently stored - can be partially or comple~ely fed to the display or processed further.
'i,~" ,,J
DESCRIPTION
The invention relates to a process for reading con-trasting indicia provided in one or more data fields in at least one data track and arranged in indicia groups containing format controlling symbols, which indicate the partial format of the succeeding indicia group, whereby the data field(s) are optically scanned and converted into a corresponding electrical video signal, which is decoded, and wherein the indicia and when present the context con-trolling symbols thus read are converted serially into standard-code binary indicia signals or format control-ling symbol signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further, and also to an apparatus for carrying out this process.
Such processes and apparatus for reading optical indicia are known in various forms, cf e.g. DE-OS
30 14 513, published Oll October 22, 1981. These known processes and apparatus have a problem in that errors arise, e.q. during the application of the indicia, gen-erally during printing on the data field, or errors are indicated during reading of the indicia, and a reading operation must then be interrupted or repeated, if a mis-take is recognized~ For this purpose, the decoder of the known apparatus is, in most cases, so designed that it can be detected if a symbol o~ an indicia group is not properly printed or incorrectly read or decoded. Known decoders can therefore determine whether mistakes occur within single partial formats.
Known apparatus cannot however determine and report the absence of complete indicia groups, i.e. so-called partial formats or complete data tracks. In particular, the known apparatus and/or method cannot determine whether several data fiields should be read during a single reading operation.
The object of the invention is in contrast to improve the process and apparatus of the above~mentioned type, so that the indicia of one or more data fields can, after a reading operation, only be processed further or displayed if the data field(s) thus read fulfill specific predeter-mined context control character, which determine the interrelation between several partial formats of one or more data fields.
According to the invention there is provided a process ~or reading contrasting indicia provided in one or more data fields arranged in at least one data track and collected together in indicia groups and if necessary containing format controlling symbols, which indicate the partial format of the following indicia group, wherein the data field(s) are optically scanned and converted into a corresponding electrical video signal, which is decoded, and wherein the indicia and format controlling symbols thus read are serially converted into standard coded binary indicia- or format controlling symbol-signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further, wherein at least one context control character is provided which indicates a relationship between several partial formats, and wherein a review is carried out to determine whether the necessary relationship required by the context control character is fulfilled.
An apparatus for carrying out the process comprises a reading apparatus for reading and ~ransforming the indicia into an electronic video signal, a decodex for decoding the video signal, which translates the indicia and format 3~ controlling s~mbols into standard-code binary signals and delivers them to a display apparatus or further processing apparatus. This apparatus is characterized according to the inverltiorl by a memory, into which a context control character can be fed, and an electrical comparing device t8~
at the output of the decoder, which examines whether the binary signals from the decoder satisfy the context control character contained in the memory.
The advantages of the invention consist in particular in that data fields are only passed to the display or further processed, if one or more predetermined context interrelations are also present and are recognized upon reading of the data field(s)O Data field~ which do not possess the predetermined context interrelationship, which can determine the number, structure, position of the par-tial formats, are recognised as incorrect. The context control character also makes it possible to provide one interrelation that extends to several data fields.
The invention possesses remarkable advantages e.g.
upon the automatic reading and display of labels that are printed with e~g. OCR-A or OC~-B clear code or with a bar code and can comprise, for example, two partial formats in a first data track and a further partial format, usually the price, in a second data track. If a first context control character is provided for such a label which requires that three partial formats must be observed in order to read the label completely, then all tickets possessing other structures are not accepted, e.g. those having a partial format that is badly printed or diffi-cult to read. If a second context control character isprovided, that stipulates that upon one or two subsequent reading operations a total of six partial formats must appear before a display or further processing of the data can take place, this means that an error free reading operation is completed only when two tickets are pre-sented and read.
In addition the meaning can be assigned, for example, to the format controlling symbol often present at the end ~ I/A., ~ 4 ~
of a data field, or a context controlling s~mbol provided there~ that a further reading operation must immediately be carried out, which is only successfully completed when a further data field is read, to whose format controlling symbol a further context control character can be assigned.
The context control character can, according to the invention, also determine what type of symbols an individual data field or partial format must possess, in order to guarantee an error free readlng operation.
It is particularly preferred to use the process and corresponding apparatus of the invention for omnidirectional reading of data fields~ For omni-directional reading, the data field(s) comprise, in addition to the indicia and format controlling symbols, predetermined recognition patterns, which indicate t:he orientation and position of the data field on the reading field. However, if the indicia itself consist of a bar code, a part of the indicia can additionally be used to determine orientation and position of the data field.
Upon omnidirectional reading, the position and orientation of the orientation pattern is first sought in a seacching step, and upon the reading of such a pattern, the actual co-ordinates of the orientation pattern (PIC-pattern) are stored and from this the orientation and position of the data field are calculated. Then in a reading step the data field(s) are optically scanned, and the indicia or format controlling symbols are further processes accord-ing to the characteristics of the present invention.
The characteristics of the invention possess particular advantages upon omnidirectional reading of several data fields arranged on a reading window with different or-ientatiolls f since then after the location and during the reading of a data field, a context condition can be providedt that triggers a second search procedure for a second data field and only terminates the reading opera-tion when the second data field is also read in this way.
Other advantageous forms of the invention are charac-terized by the fea~ures of the claims below.
A preferred embodim~nt of the invention is described in detail in the following wit:h reference to the accom-panying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a data field having two data tracks and three partial formats; and Fig. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the apparatus according to the invention.
Figure 1 shows a data field 30 having two data tracks 32. Each data track 32 contains one or more format con-trolling symbols 35, which, for example, indica~e the format of the following indicia group 34. For example, the format controlling symbol C at the start of the first data track 3~, should determine - according to generally accepted convention - that the following indicia group 34 consists of a predetermined number of symbols, e~g.
three. The following format indicating symbol U deter-mines, for example, that the following indicia group 34 contains f ive symbols, and the format controlling symb~l + in the second data track 32 determines, for example, that the format of the following indicia group 34 has four symbols~
Additionally, in accordance with the invention, the context control character is assigned to -the format controlling symbol C, for example, that three indicia groups or partial formats are provided in the data field~
Another context controlling symbol, e.g. *, is provided at the end of the second data track 32, to which the context condition can be assigned that a further data track should follow, which for example consists of a predetermined number of data tracks.
Figure 2 is a block circuit diagram of the appa-ratus according to the invention. A data field 30, e.g~ according to Figure 1, is illuminated by lighting device 2 and read by reading device 4, e.g~ a vidicon.
The reading device 4 contains an opto-electrical converter 6 which scans indicia formed on a screen or a diode matrix and delivers an electrical video signal corresponding to the scanning cycle to a decoder 8, which translates the information contained in the video signal, i.e. the indicia and format controlling symbol etc. thus reads into standard code binary signals.
A memory 9 is connected to the output of the decoder 8, in which a context control character can be entered either by the user or automatically if the decoder generates a signal for a format controlling symbol or a context controlling symbol. The output of the decoder 8 is also connected to an electrical comparison device 10~
which examines whether the context control character held in the memory 9 is fulfilled by the binary indicia signal generated by the decoder 8. If the context condition is fulfilled, the comparison device passes the binary signal from the decoder to, for example, the display or further processing apparatus 16, which either displays the infor-mation or processes it further in any desired way~ If the comparison device generates an error signal, because the context control character is not fulfilled, the error signal is passed to a control device 12, which sends a trigger signal to the reading device 6 for the repetition of the reading procedure and indicates the repetition of the reading procedure in the display 14. Alternatively, the trigger signal can trigger other sequences of events.
~91 32~
Memory 9, comparison device 10 ancl, if necessary, control device 12 can be put into effect by a microprocessor.
A counter 18 is also connected to the decoder to count the format controlling s~mbol signals received. The com-parison device 10 can be so formed that a control signal for the further processing of the binary signal is gen-erated, if the number of read partial formats corresponds, for example, to a predetermined number determined by a context control characterO
If therefore, for example, a binary signal is gener-ated by the decoder 8 which corresponds to the context controlling signal 36, a signal is also generated by the co~parison device which triggers a further reading operation either via the con~rol device 12 or directly, in order to cause the second data field ~not shown)to be read. The comparison device 10 then examines whether the second data field is in fact in the predetermined form provided by the context controlling sym~ol 36 with corresponding partial formats etc. If this is not the case, an error signal is generatedO If the context control characters are fulfilled, a trigger signal is generated or the data thus read - and if necessary temporarily or permanently stored - can be partially or comple~ely fed to the display or processed further.
'i,~" ,,J
Claims (16)
1. Process for reading contrasting indicia provided in one or more data fields arranged in at least one data track and collected together in indicia groups and if necessary containing format controlling symbols, which indicate the partial format of the following indicia group, wherein the data field(s) are optically scanned and converted into a corresponding electrical video signal, which is decoded, and wherein the indicia and format controlling symbols thus read are serially con-verted into standard coded binary indicia- or format controlling symbol-signals and then displayed, printed out or processed further, wherein at least one context control character is provided which indicates a rela-tionship between several partial formats, and wherein a review is carried out to determine whether the necessary relationship required by the context control character is fulfilled.
2. Process according to Claim 1, wherein individual format controlling symbols are assigned to a context control character, and that upon the generation of the binary format controlling symbol signal a review is made as to whether the context conditions are fulfilled by the partial format thus read.
3. A process according to Claim 1, wherein additional context controlling symbols are provided and the context control character determined.
4. Process according to Claim 1, wherein one or more context control characters are provided by the user according to software or hardware.
5. Process according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the context control character determines the order of the required partial formats.
6. Process according to one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the context control character determines the number of partial formats of the data field(s).
7. Process according to one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the context control character determines the position of individual or several partial formats within the data field(s).
8. Process according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the context control character acts on preceding partial formats of the data field(s), that the quantity of single partial formats, about which the context condition makes a requirement, are stored upon reading of the data field, and after the reading process and decoding process are examined as to whether the context control character is fulfilled.
9. A process according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein a control signal for controlling further pro-cessing of the binary indicia signals and/or the format controlling symbol signals is provided when the context interrelation made by the context control character is fulfilled upon the reading the data field(s).
10. Apparatus for reading contrasting indicia provided in one or more data fields arranged in at least one data track and collected together in indicia groups and if necessary containing format controlling symbols, which indicate the partial format of the following indicia group, said apparatus comprising reading apparatus for reading and converting symbols into an electrical video signal, having a decoder for decoding the video signal, which transforms the indicia and format controlling symbols into standard-code binary indicia signals or if necessary processes further, characterized by a memory, into which a context control character can be entered, and an electrical comparison device at the output of the decoder, which examines whether the context control character contained in the memory is fulfilled by the binary indicia signals generated by the decoder.
11. Apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein one or more context control characters can be entered into the memory upon the delivery of binary format controlling symbol signals from the decoder.
12. Apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein the context control character(s) are provided by the user and are stored in the memory.
13. Apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein context control character(s) are entered in the memory upon reading a corresponding optical context symbol and generation of a corresponding binary symbol signal.
14. Apparatus according to Claim 10, Claim 11 or Claim 12, wherein, the context control character determines the number of partial formats of the data field(s), that a counting apparatus connected to the output of the decoder counts the number of binary format controlling symbol signals, and that the comparison device generates a control signal for the further processing of the binary signals if the number of read partial formats corresponds to the number required by the context control character, and that the electrical comparison device generates an error signal if the number of partial formats does not satisfy the context control character.
15. Apparatus according to any of Claims 10 to 12 wherein the comparison device is connected to a control device, which sends a trigger signal to the reading apparatus to repeat the reading process upon receiving an error signal, and which upon receiving error signal from reading processes triggered by error signals displays a reading error.
16. Apparatus according to one of Claims 10 to 12, wherein the comparison device contains a microprocessor.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEP3147225.7 | 1981-11-28 | ||
| DE19813147225 DE3147225A1 (en) | 1981-11-12 | 1981-11-28 | Method and device for reading contrasting characters |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1198218A true CA1198218A (en) | 1985-12-17 |
Family
ID=6147430
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000416464A Expired CA1198218A (en) | 1981-11-28 | 1982-11-26 | Process and apparatus for reading contrasting indicia |
Country Status (7)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP0094952B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS58502024A (en) |
| AU (1) | AU1014183A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1198218A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3273914D1 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO1983002026A1 (en) |
| ZA (1) | ZA828710B (en) |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3553646A (en) * | 1967-10-03 | 1971-01-05 | Ibm | Format control in a character recognition system |
| US3713097A (en) * | 1971-05-14 | 1973-01-23 | Ibm | Test bit pattern generator for pattern recognition machines |
| US3872433A (en) * | 1973-06-07 | 1975-03-18 | Optical Business Machines | Optical character recognition system |
| US3988571A (en) * | 1974-05-30 | 1976-10-26 | Recognition Equipment Incorporated | Document reject reentry |
| US4021777A (en) * | 1975-03-06 | 1977-05-03 | Cognitronics Corporation | Character reading techniques |
| US4013894A (en) * | 1975-05-27 | 1977-03-22 | Addressograph Multigraph Corporation | Secure property document and system |
| US4088877A (en) * | 1976-10-08 | 1978-05-09 | Wilson William J | Sequence checking device |
-
1982
- 1982-11-26 WO PCT/EP1982/000252 patent/WO1983002026A1/en active IP Right Grant
- 1982-11-26 ZA ZA828710A patent/ZA828710B/en unknown
- 1982-11-26 CA CA000416464A patent/CA1198218A/en not_active Expired
- 1982-11-26 JP JP50353682A patent/JPS58502024A/en active Pending
- 1982-11-26 AU AU10141/83A patent/AU1014183A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1982-11-26 DE DE8282903454T patent/DE3273914D1/en not_active Expired
- 1982-11-26 EP EP82903454A patent/EP0094952B1/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| AU1014183A (en) | 1983-06-17 |
| WO1983002026A1 (en) | 1983-06-09 |
| EP0094952A1 (en) | 1983-11-30 |
| EP0094952B1 (en) | 1986-10-22 |
| ZA828710B (en) | 1983-11-30 |
| DE3273914D1 (en) | 1986-11-27 |
| JPS58502024A (en) | 1983-11-24 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |