Patent ID: 6665422
Filing Date: 2003-12-16
Classification: B07C,G06K,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of recognizing distribution information on mail items, in which an image of a surface of each mail item containing the distribution information is obtained and evaluated by means of automatic OCR recognition methods and video coding, the method comprising:a) performing a first automatic search of a region of interest (ROI), the ROI being a region of the mail item containing the distribution information, the search including determining an orientation of the distribution information and performing a first automatic OCR recognition; b) displaying an entire image of the surface containing the distribution information on a video-coder monitor if the first automatic OCR recognition yields an ambiguous result; c) dividing the image on the video-coder monitor into image segments with a grid; d) manually selecting the image segment from the displayed image that contains a portion of the ROI via a single keystroke; e) performing a second automatic search of a new region containing the distribution information, where the new region is designated by the manually selected image segment and includes marginal regions of segments adjacent to the manually selected image segment such that the new region encompasses the distribution information; and f) performing a second automatic OCR evaluation of the new region containing the distribution information.