Patent ID: 6252984
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
A character recognition device, which is a character recognition device for recognizing characters in a character image that has been picked up by an image pick-up means and stored in a storage means by using a recognizing means, the device comprising:character cut-out means for cutting out a character from the character image that has been picked up by the image pick-up means at a time of pick-up by said image pick-up means;character-size storing means for storing at least one character size among character sizes used for making a recognition process operable, each of which is set for each of character types that can be recognized by the recognizing means;character-size comparison/judgment means for comparing the size of the character that has been cut out by the character cut-out means with at least one recognizable character out of a plurality of different character sizes stored in the character size storing means, the one recognizable character being of a size in accordance with a type of character that has been cut out, wherein said comparing is carried out at the time of pick-up and prior to a recognition process to be performed by the recognizing means;means for determining whether or not to initiate the recognition process based at least in part upon whether the size of the cut-out character is determined to be sufficient; andinforming means for informing as a guidance for recognition information corresponding to results obtained by comparing the size of the character that has been cut out by the character cut-out means with at least one of character sizes that have been stored in the character-size storing means by using the character-size comparison/judgment means, so as to enable a judgment as to whether or not the character in the picked-up character image is recognizable prior to the recognition process at the time of image pick-up.