Patent Document ID: 5410611
Application ID: 08169949

Base Claim:
1. A method of extracting at least one string of characters forming a word object within rasterized data defining an image, comprising the steps of: (a) finding the connected components within the image wherein the image comprises at least one text row including a plurality of word objects; (b) identifying rectangular boundaries about each group of connected components within the image; (c) locating text rows using the rectangular boundaries identified in step (b); and (d) combining adjacent groups of connected components within the text rows located in step (c), based upon a relationship between the rectangular boundaries of the adjacent groups, so as to segment the image into strings of characters forming word objects.

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Claim 6:
6. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: (a) identifying those groups of connected components which represent noise in the image; and (b) removing the groups of connected components identified in step (a).