Method and device for recording of information

1. A device for recording information contained in a printed document by scanning the printed document with a scanner pen to obtain at least two images of said information having partially overlapping contents, comprising:

a processing device for converting coherent pieces of the information in the images to a coded representation of the extent of the pieces of information in at least one dimension;

a comparison device for comparing the extent of the coherent pieces of information for determining an overlap position between the at least two images; and

an assembling device including a memory for assembling said at least two images to form a composite image in said memory.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said coded representation includes a division of the information inside borders, each comprising portions of the information.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said borders include words included in said information.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 , further including a character recognition device for processing each image and converting it to character code format.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 , further including a determining device for determining structures in each of said images.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said determining device is adapted to identify direction of lines in each of said images.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein said determining device is adapted to identify text line directions.

8. A device as claimed in claim 6 or 7 , wherein the determining device is adapted to identify direction of lines and text line directions utilizing a Hough transformation of each image.

9. A device according to claim 1 , wherein a coherent piece of information is selected from the group of a symbol, a picture and a word.

10. A device according to claim 1 , wherein the coherent pieces of information are words and wherein the comparison device is adapted to compare the length of the words in said images.

11. A device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a character recognition device for processing the composite image and converting it to character code format.

12. A method for recording information contained in a printed document by scanning the printed document with a scanner pen to obtain at least two images of said information having partially overlapping contents, comprising:

converting coherent pieces of the information in the at least two images to a coded representation of the extent of the pieces of information in at least one dimension;

comparing the extent of the coherent pieces of information to determine an overlap position between the at least two images; and

assembling said at least two images to form a composite image.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein said coded representation includes a division of the information in rectangles each including portions of the information.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein said rectangles include words included in said information.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14 , further including processing each image and converting it to character code format.

16. A method as claimed in claim 12 , further including determining structures in each of said images.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 , further including identifying direction of lines in each of said images.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17 , further including identifying text line directions.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18 , further including identifying direction of lines utilizing a Hough transformation of each image.

20. A method as claimed in claim 19 , further including adjusting the perspective of each image in dependence of the direction of lines.

21. A method as claimed in claim 19 , further including adjusting the rotational position of each image in dependence of the direction of lines.

22. A computer readable medium storing a program for carrying out the method according to any of claims 12 , 13 , 14 , or 15 – 21 .

23. A method according to claim 12 , wherein a coherent piece of information is selected from the group of a symbol, a picture and a word.

24. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the coherent pieces of information are words and wherein the step of comparing comprises comparing the length of the words.

25. A method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

a character recognition device for processing the composite image and converting it to character code format.

26. A method for recording information contained in a printed document, comprising:

recording a plurality of images of the information by scanning the printed document with a scanner pen, the images having partially overlapping contents and each representing a part of the information;

identifying the graphical extent, in at least one dimension, of elements in the image;

converting the elements into coded representations of the graphical extent;

determining the overlap between pairs of images based on a comparison of the graphical extent of the elements; and

sorting out the images having redundant content based on the overlap.

27. The method according to claim 26 , wherein the information is selected from the group of a symbol, a picture and a word.

28. A device for recording information contained in a printed document, comprising:

an imaging device which records a plurality of images of the information by scanning the printed document, the images having partially overlapping contents and each representing a part of the information;

a processor which identifies the graphical extent, in at least one dimension, of elements in the image and converts the elements into coded representations of the graphical extent;

a comparator which determines the overlap between pairs of images based on a comparison of the graphical extent of the elements; and

an extractor which sorts out the images having redundant content based on the overlap.

29. The device according to claim 28 , wherein the information is selected from the group of a symbol, a picture and a word.