JP2733956B2 - Binary information reproducing method and apparatus, and recording sheet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is used in a binary information reproducing method and apparatus for restoring binary information from an image recorded on a sheet such as paper, and in such a method and apparatus. Regarding the recording sheet.

[Background] A barcode technology (a barcode recording sheet, a barcode decoding device) is known as a technology for encoding binary information with an image and a technology for reproducing information from the encoded image. However, in the case of this technique, the density of information that can be recorded on a recording sheet is limited due to the structure of a barcode. For example, when the technique is applied to input of music piece performance information, performance data for one piece of music is recorded as a barcode. Required an area of A4 size or more. Further, since the barcode information is included in the bar width pattern, if the bar width changes due to topological deformation, decoding becomes difficult.

[Object of the Invention] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording sheet on which an encoded image is recorded such that the recording density of information is high and a decoding error hardly occurs due to deformation.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a binary information reproducing method and apparatus capable of accurately performing conversion (reproduction) from an encoded image on a recording sheet into binary information as described above with a relatively simple configuration. That is.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-described object, a plurality of branch lines having different positions on one elongated line two-dimensionally developed as branch points are formed by the first branch of the elongated line. A line drawing of a structure projecting from the side or the second side, wherein the bit value 1 is encoded by a branch line projecting from the first side of the elongated line, and the bit value 0 is encoded by a branch line projecting from the second side. Is provided, which is a recording sheet on which a line drawing encoding is encoded, and which is used in a binary information reproducing method and apparatus of the present invention described later.

According to this configuration, the width of the branch lines and the interval between the branch lines can be made as narrow as possible, so that the number of branch lines per unit price area can be maximized. Therefore, if one branch line is used as a bit unit, the recording density of binary information is high. Also, since all the branch lines are connected to one elongated line, they are clearly ordered by this one elongated line, and this order is not changed by the topological deformation of the line drawing. In addition, some branch lines protrude from a first side of the elongate line (to the right along the course), while other branch lines protrude from a second side of the elongate line (to the left along the course). The shape of this protrusion is not affected by the topological deformation of the line drawing. Therefore, by using these properties in the binary information reproducing method and apparatus, the configuration can be simplified, and the decoding result can be prevented from being affected by topological deformation.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided a structure in which a plurality of branch lines each having a branch point at a different position on one elongated line two-dimensionally extended project from the first side or the second side of the elongated line. A recording sheet on which is recorded a line drawing in which a bit value 1 is encoded by a branch line protruding from a first side of the elongated line, and a bit value 0 is encoded by a branch line protruding from a second side. A step of reading the image information on the recording sheet, a step of storing the read image information, and a part corresponding to the elongated line in the stored image information is two-dimensionally moved from its start point to its end point. , And when the branch line is detected in the process, a bit is generated according to the direction of the branch line,
Decoding the binary information encoded by the line drawing.

Further, according to the present invention, a structure is provided in which a plurality of branch lines each having a branch point at a different position on one elongated line two-dimensionally extended project from the first side or the second side of the elongated line. A recording sheet on which is recorded a line drawing in which a bit value 1 is encoded by a branch line protruding from a first side of the elongated line, and a bit value 0 is encoded by a branch line protruding from a second side. From, image input means for reading the image information on the recording sheet, image storage means for storing the image information read by the input means,
A portion corresponding to the elongated line in the image information stored in the image storage means is two-dimensionally traced from a start point to an end point, and the direction of the branch line is detected when the branch line is detected in the process. Computing means for decoding the binary information encoded by the line drawing by generating bits according to
A hexadecimal information reproducing device is provided.

Thus, in the binary information reproducing method and apparatus of the present invention,
Since a portion corresponding to an elongated line in the stored image information is tracked and branch lines are sequentially detected and determined in the process, a pattern of the branch lines clearly ordered by the elongated lines on a recording sheet. Can be correctly determined, and the configuration can be simplified.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an encoded image recorded on a recording sheet according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the encoded image is a line drawing, and this line drawing has one elongate line L starting from S and ending at E, and a number of branch lines having different positions on the elongate line L as branch points. B ₁ , B _2, and one branch line B ₁ projects from the left side of the elongated line L when the direction from the start point S to the end point is the traveling direction of the elongated line L, and another branch line B ₂ Protrudes from the right side of the elongated line L (note that the branch line B ₁ ,
B ₂ is in the FIG. 1 for simplicity of it may be distributed drawings over the entire length of the elongate line L shows only part of the branch line). Here, it should be noted that since all the branch lines are "connected" by one elongated line L, the branches appearing sequentially when the elongated line L is traced from the start point S to the end point E. If the lines are numbered, the order of the numbers does not change even if the linework is topologically deformed. FIG. 1 (a),
The elongated lines L shown in (b), (c), and (d) are different in overall shape but are the same in topology. Further, the element that is not affected by the topological deformation is the direction of each branch line B ₁ , B ₂ . That is, rather than the branch line B ₁ projecting from the left side of the elongated line L the direction is changed to a state protruding from the right side of the line L, the branch lines B ₂ protruding from the right side of the same elongated line L The direction does not change so as to protrude from the left side of the line L. As described below, the branch lines B ₁ that projects from the right side of the elongated line L represents the first bit (e.g., bit 1), the branch line that protrudes from the left side of the elongated line L the second bit (e.g., bit 0) Represents

Here, in the assignment of 1 bit / branch line, the recording density of the line image will be described. For simplicity,
Figure 1 (c) is taken as an example, seen as the spacing d ₁ of the branch line adjacent to the equally 1 mm, a 2mm by distance d ₂ equally between the rows of elongated lines L. In this case, since the area per branch line is 2 mm ² , the recording density is 50 bits / cm ² . Therefore, information of approximately 1 Kbit can be recorded on a small recording sheet of about 10 cm in length and 2 cm in width.

FIG. 2 shows a binary information reproducing apparatus which captures an image from a recording sheet on which a line drawing having a structure as exemplified in FIG. 1 is recorded and reproduces binary information image-encoded by the line drawing. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording sheet on which a line drawing as described above is recorded.
The image on the recording sheet 1 is read by the image input device 2 and binary (black and white) by the image storage device 3.
Is stored as image data. Since a well-known image scanner or a television camera (for example, a CCD camera) can be used as the image input device 2, the description of the configuration is omitted. However, generally, the process of converting an image on the recording sheet 1 into an image on a memory (typically, a frame memory) of the image storage device 3 involves a greater or lesser topological deformation. For example, even in the case of a television camera, slight topological deformation occurs at the corner of the field of view due to lens barrel distortion and the like. In a hand-held image scanner that scans a recording sheet manually from one end to the other and inputs an image line by line, the relative speed and orientation between the image scanner and the sheet during scanning are determined. Due to relative fluctuations, considerable topological deformations can occur. However, according to the present invention, there is no problem at all for topological deformation caused by image input. This suggests that a simple image input device can be used.

In FIG. 2, the image data stored in the image storage device 3 is accessed by the arithmetic device 4, a decoding process utilizing the structural features of the line drawing is executed, and the result is output.

FIG. 3 shows a general flow of the binary information reproducing apparatus of FIG.

In 3-1, the image input device 2 and the image storage device 3 operate to write an image on the recording sheet 1 into the image storage device 3. Then, at 3-2, the arithmetic unit 4
Thereby, the thinning processing of the image data stored in the image storage device 3 is performed. This is a process of converting a thick line into a thin line (a line having a width of one pixel) as shown in FIG. 4, thereby facilitating the decoding of the image data executed in step 3-3. However, this is not an indispensable process, and the image data can be decrypted by changing the process of decrypting the image data. Since the thinning process itself is a well-known technique, a detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 5 shows details of the decryption process executed by the arithmetic unit 4 in 3-3.

The principle of this decipherment is based on the topological rule of the line drawing described above, and it tracks the continuation of the pixels of the line drawing, and when it arrives at the branch point, checks which direction is a dead end, and as a result Is used to decode the bits.

Referring to FIG. 5, the starting point (point corresponding to S in FIG. 1) of the line drawing is searched in 5-1 and the coordinates (x, y) of the found starting point are substituted into _PN . Next, at 5-2, the scanning position is moved to the next point on the line drawing, and at 5-3, it is checked whether the _PN is the branch point 5-3. If the _PN is not established, the process returns to 5-2, and the branch point is detected. The loop is continued with 5-2 and 5-3 until it is done. _PN becomes a branch point when there are three connection points around _PN . One of three connection points
One is P _0. For the two points remain, one of which has Kakari' the elongated line L of FIG. 1, the other is Kakari' the branch line B ₁ or B _2. Now, the point on the right side of the remaining two points is referred to as a first neighbor point, and the point on the left side is referred to as a second neighbor point. (If the two adjacent points are P ₁ and P ₂ ,
Angle between the vector from the vector and the point P _N from the point P _N to the point P ₀ to P ₁ (value measured counterclockwise) is the point from point P _N
P the point P ₁ is smaller than the angle formed between the vector from the vector and the point P _N to ₀ to point P ₂ is a point a point that is, the first on the right side, the second point is the point P ₂ on the left Is).

The first next point is set to P _N1 5-4, the second neighboring point is set to P _N2. Second neighboring point P _N2
Is the beginning of the branch line, there is a dead end (see FIG. 1). In other words, the first neighboring point P _N1 is the main line (slender line L), and there should be a branch point on its extension. Accordingly, as shown in 5-5, determine whether there is a branch point on the extension of P _N1. When this is true, the line starting from the second adjacent point _PN2 is a branch line and a line protruding from the left side of the elongated line.
Therefore, in 5-6, the branch point on the extension of P _N1 is set in P _N, and bit 0 is output as decoded data to make 5
Return to -4. On the other hand, when the condition of 5-5 is not satisfied, 5
-7 investigate whether there is a branch on the extension of the P _N2 in. When this is true, the point at P _N2 is the main line, and the line starting from P _N1 is a branch line, which is a line protruding from the right side of the main line. Therefore, the branch point on an extension of the P _N2 outputs bit 1 as the decoded data as well as sets the P _N 5-8, the flow returns to 5-4. By executing the loop of 5-4 to 5-8, branch lines branching right or left from the main line are sequentially detected, and corresponding bits are generated.
The binary information is reproduced. In the path following the detection of the last branch point, no branch point exists on the extension of any of the points P _N1 and P _N2 , and the decoding process is completed.

As described above, since the decoding of the image of the line drawing depends only on the topological connection structure of the coded line drawing, the decoding result is not affected by the topological deformation of the line drawing. Further, since the one-bit encoded patterns in the encoded image are connected by one elongated line L, the ordering problem, ie, which one-bit encoded pattern is the next one-bit encoded pattern, There is no need for special recognition.

The image input device 2 is not limited to an optical image reader, but may be a device that reads a magnetic image (for example, a magnetic ink pattern reading device).

[Effects of the Invention] The recording sheet of the present invention used by the binary information reproducing method and apparatus of the present invention has one elongated line two-dimensionally developed and a plurality of points having different positions on the elongated line as branch points. Using a line drawing composed of a branch line of the above as a recording image, and encoding a bit value 1 by a branch line protruding from a first side of an elongated line among a plurality of branch lines for image coding of binary information; Since the bit value 0 is encoded by the branch line protruding from the second side, the recording density of the information can be increased, and the topology of the line drawing (branch line for bit encoding) can be obtained even for topological deformation. Order, projection direction, etc.) can be saved, so that the method and apparatus for reproducing information can be simplified.

Further, the binary information reproducing method and apparatus according to the present invention utilize the topological structural features of the line drawing of the recording sheet, track the connected elements of the line drawing information, and detect a branch line when the branch line is detected. Since the binary information is reproduced by generating the bits according to the direction, there is an advantage that the configuration is simple and an advantage that the topological deformation of the line drawing can be tolerated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an encoded image recorded on a recording sheet according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a binary information reproducing apparatus that captures an image on a recording sheet and reproduces binary information.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the binary information reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a diagram used for explaining thinning processing, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart of the decoding of the binary information executed by the arithmetic unit of FIG. 1 ...... recording sheet, 2 ...... image input device, 3 ...... image storage device, 4 ...... computing device, L ...... elongated lines, B ₁
…… Branch to the right, B ₂ …… Branch to the left.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A line drawing of a structure in which a plurality of branch lines, each having a branch point at a different position on one elongated line two-dimensionally developed, project from the first side or the second side of the elongated line. The bit line 1 is encoded by a branch line protruding from a first side of the elongated line, and the line drawing is encoded by a bit line 0 by a branch line protruding from a second side. Reading image information on a recording sheet; storing the read image information; two-dimensionally tracking a portion corresponding to the elongated line in the stored image information from a start point to an end point thereof Decoding the binary information encoded by the line drawing by generating bits in accordance with the direction of the branch line when the branch line is detected in the process. Binary information reproduction method. 2. A line drawing of a structure in which a plurality of branch lines, each having a branch point at a different position on one elongated line two-dimensionally developed, protrude from a first side or a second side of the elongated line. The bit line 1 is encoded by a branch line protruding from a first side of the elongated line, and the line drawing is encoded by a bit line 0 by a branch line protruding from a second side. Image input means for reading image information on a recording sheet; image storage means for storing the image information read by the input means; equivalent to the elongated line in the image information stored in the image storage means The two-dimensional trace of the part to be performed is two-dimensionally traced from the start point to the end point. In the process, when the branch line is detected, a bit is generated according to the direction of the branch line. Binary information reproducing apparatus characterized by comprising a calculating means for decoding the binary information being Goka, the. 3. The recording sheet for use in the binary information reproducing method according to claim 1 or the binary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2.