Patent Document ID: 20040042346
Application ID: 10451534
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. Method for recognising characters traced manually on an input zone ( 10 ) of an electronic device by means of a finger or a tracing instrument ( 13 ), said input zone ( 10 ) comprising a plurality of sensors ( 15 ) each capable of being activated by means of said finger or said tracing instrument ( 13 ), said method consisting in particular in comparing the manual trace of a character ( 100 ) performed on said input zone ( 10 ) with a group of characters from a predetermined set of characters, said method being characterised in that each character of said set of characters is represented by at least one model representative of a way in which the character in question can be traced, and in that a model representative of the way in which said manual trace of the character ( 100 ) has been performed on said input zone ( 10 ) is elaborated, the models comprising at least topological parameters concerning the topology of the character, namely, in particular: (i) the number of strokes (A, B, C, D,... ) used to trace the character; (ii) the nature of each stroke (A, B, C, D,... ), namely whether it is a stroke of one-dimensional or two-dimensional nature; and (iii) the composition of each stroke of two-dimensional nature, namely: the number of segments (A 1, A 2,..., B 1, B 2,... ) forming said stroke of two-dimensional nature; and the nature of each segment (A 1, A 2,..., B 1, B 2,... ), namely whether it is a segment of rectilinear or curved nature, the models further comprising, where appropriate: (iv) for each segment of rectilinear or curved nature (A 1, A 2,..., B 1, B 2 ), geometric parameters (&phgr;, &phgr; 1, &phgr; 2, &agr;) representative of the evolution of angular orientation of the trace of the segment (A 1, A 2,..., B 1, B 2,... ); and/or (v) for each stroke of one- or two-dimensional nature (A, B, C, D,... ), geometric parameters (P 0, P 1, P 2 ) representative of the position of the stroke (A, B, C, D,... ), said method essentially consisting in: determining a group of candidates, from among the models of the characters of said set of characters, which have topological parameters similar to the model of said manual trace of the character ( 100 ); then if the group of candidates includes more than one candidate, identifying the candidate that has the geometric parameters of evolution of angular orientation (&phgr;, &phgr; 1, &phgr; 2, &agr;) and/or of position (P 0, P 1, P 2 ) closest to the model of said manual trace of the character ( 100 ).