Suzanne Carole Taylor

US Patent:

58481842, Dec 8, 1998

Filed:

Jun 30, 1995

Appl. No.:

8/496917

Inventors:

Suzanne Amy Taylor - West Chester PA
Mark Lipshutz - Philadelphia PA

Assignee:

Unisys Corporation - Blue Bell PA

International Classification:

G06K 934

US Classification:

382173

Abstract:

Apparatus and method are provided which determine the geometric and logical structure of a document page from its image. The document image is partitioned into regions (both text and non-text) which are then organized into related "article" groups in the correct reading order. The invention uses image-based features, text-based features, and assumptions based on knowledge of expected layout, to find the correct reading order of the text blocks on a document page. It can handle complex layouts which have multiple configurations of columns on a page and inset material (such as figures and inset text blocks). The apparatus comprises two main components, a geometric page segmentor and a logical page organizer. The geometric page segmentor partitions a binary image of a document page into fundamental units of text or non-text, and produces a list of rectangular blocks, their locations on the page in points (1/72 inch), and the locations of horizontal rule lines on the page. The logical page organizer receives a list of text region locations, rule line locations, associated ASCII text (as found from an OCR) for the text blocks, and a list of text attributes (such as face style and point size).