Patent Document ID: 5535287
Application ID: 08203483
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An image separation apparatus, comprising: configuration tracing means for tracing coordinate information concerning a configuration of an image of input image data; distance computing means for computing, on the basis of the coordinate information traced by said configuration tracing means, distance information relating to distances between an upper y coordinate end and a lower y coordinate end of the traced configuration as measured in a direction perpendicular to a train of characters represented by the input image data, for successive points along a line parallel to the train of characters; and separation position determining means for determining, on the basis of the distance information obtained by said distance computing means, a position where the image data is to be cut into separate images, wherein said separation position determining means determines, as the position where the image of interest is to be cut, a position where a distance between the ends of the configuration as computed by said distance computing means is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value, and wherein, when no distance information computed by said distance computing means is equal to or below the threshold value, said separation position determining means conducts again its position determining operation after varying the threshold value.