NEURAL NETWORK OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING CHARACTERS IN A MOVING WEB

A neural network based optical character recognition technique is presented for identifying characters in a moving web. Image acquisition means defines an imaging window through which the moving web passes such that the characters printed thereon can be imaged. Classification data is extracted and accumulated for each printed web character passing through the imaging window. A light source provides transmissive illumination of the web as it is being imaged. A neural network accelerator is coupled to the image acquisition means for intelligent processing of the accumulated classification data to produce therefrom printed character classification information indicative of each corresponding character imaged. A processor is coupled to the accelerator for converting the classification information into the appropriate ASCII character code. The technique is particularly useful for reading dot-matrix-type characters on a noisy, semi-transparent background at fast real-time rates. A neural network algorithm based recognition method is also described.