Patent US 5,301,264

A figure encoder is disclosed which is particularly suitable for closed figures and which requires considerably reduced amount of information to be supplied by an operator and which is capable of registering the correct figures even when the original images contains some errors. The figure encoder may includes an image memory, a display, a device for specifying points on a displayed images, a device for extracting figures in accordance with the specified points, and a device for symbolizing the extracted figures. The figure encoder may include an image memory, a display, a device for specifying points on a displayed images, a device for thinning displayed images, a device for interpolating end points in the thinned figure, and a device for symbolizing the thinned figure.