Patent ID: 7120302

Claim:
A character recognition method for accurately constructing a result string, the method comprising the steps of: generating a digital representation of an input string including characters; generating a result set for each character in the input string, each result set including a plurality of candidate characters and a plurality of associated confidence indications; selecting a plurality of character types; for a first selected character type, creating a first candidate string by concatenating candidate characters with a most favorable corresponding confidence indication of the first selected character type from each result set; for a second selected character type, creating a second candidate string by concatenating candidate characters with a most favorable corresponding confidence indication of the second selected character type from each result set; if there is no candidate character for the first candidate string in a result set for the first selected character type, extracting a substitute candidate character of the second selected character type; concatenating the substitute candidate character with candidate characters with a most favorable corresponding confidence indication of the first selected character type from each result set to thereby form the first candidate string; ascribing a substitute associated confidence indication for the substitute candidate character; for the first and second candidate strings, combining the associated confidence indication for each concatenated candidate character to form a corresponding combined confidence indication; and selecting as the result string the created candidate string with a most favorable corresponding combined confidence indication.