# US 2014/0195382 A1 · Collation/retrieval system, collation/retrieval server, image feature extraction apparatus, collation/retrieval method, and program

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- Number: US 2014/0195382 A1
- Document ID: US20140195382A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/235,416
- Filed: 2012-07-25
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2011-07-29
- Assignees: NEC Corporation
- Inventors: Rui Ishiyama
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195382A1

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0623: {by investigating goods or services}
- G06F 18/28: Determining representative reference patterns, e.g. by averaging or distorting; Generating dictionaries
- G06Q 10/08: Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
- G06Q 30/018: Certifying business or products
- G06T 7/74: {involving reference images or patches}
- G06V 20/80: Recognising image objects characterised by unique random patterns
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING

## Abstract

The present invention is a collation/retrieval system collating a product produced by or delivered from a producer or a distributor with a product to be collated for retrieval, comprising: a storage that stores, while a predetermined section formed into the same pattern for every product is set to a reference section and a recessed portion existing at a standard position relative to the reference section of the product is set to a collation area, an image feature in the collation area of the product; a to-be-collated product feature extraction unit that receives an image of a product to be collated, detects from the received image the reference section of the product to be collated, and thereby extracts an image feature of the collation area of the reference section; and a collation/retrieval unit that collates the stored image feature with the image feature of the collation area of the product to be collated.

## Claims

### Claim 1

(canceled)

### Claim 2

(canceled)

### Claim 3

(canceled)

### Claim 4

(canceled)

### Claim 5

(canceled)

### Claim 6

(canceled)

### Claim 7

(canceled)

### Claim 8

A collation/retrieval system collating a product produced by or delivered from a producer or a distributor with a product to be collated for retrieval, comprising:
a storage that stores, while a predetermined section formed into the same pattern for every product is set to a reference section and a recessed portion existing at a standard position relative to the reference section of the product is set to a collation area, an image feature in the collation area of the product;
a to-be-collated product feature extraction unit that receives an image of a product to be collated, detects from the received image the reference section of the product to be collated, and thereby extracts an image feature of the collation area of the reference section; and
a collation/retrieval unit that collates the stored image feature with the image feature of the collation area of the product to be collated.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8, further comprising:
a product feature extraction unit that receives an image of a product produced by or delivered from a producer or a distributor, detects from the received image the reference section of the product, extracts an image feature of the collation area of the detected reference section, and registers the extracted image feature of the collation area in the storage means.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8, wherein the reference section is at least any one of a trademark, a logotype, a name of manufacturer, a manufacturing company, a brand name, a product name, a product number, and a section marked, branded, pressed, or attached on/to the product.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8, wherein the collation area is the recessed portion of the reference section.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8, wherein the image feature is at least any one of a scratch naturally generated in the course of manufacturing/processing the product, minute unevenness, and a design pattern, which are different for each individual, in the collation area of the product.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8, wherein the product feature extraction means or the to-be-collated product feature extraction means stores in advance the feature of the reference section and the position of the collation area, detects the reference section of the product from the image captured based on the feature of the reference section, and normalizes the position and a size of the collation area from the detected reference section to thereby extract the image feature of the collation area.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8,
wherein the storage stores a plurality of image features of collation areas extracted from a plurality of products to be retrieved and management information corresponding to the plurality of products to be retrieved in a mutually associated manner; and
wherein the collation/retrieval unit retrieves an image feature having the highest similarity to the image feature of the collation area of the product to be collated from the stored plurality of image features to output management information of a product corresponding to the image feature having the highest similarity.

### Claim 15 (depends on 8)

The collation/retrieval system according to claim 8, wherein the product is a leather product, a metal workpiece, a wood product, a molten resin, or an industrial product including a ceramic portion.

### Claim 16

An image feature extraction apparatus comprising:
a feature extraction unit that receives an image of a product to be collated, detects from the received image a predetermined section defined in the product as a reference section, and thereby extracts an image feature of a recessed portion, as a collation area, existing at a standard position relative to the detected reference section of the product.

### Claim 17

A collation/retrieval method comprising:
setting a predetermined section formed into the same pattern for every product to a reference section;
setting a recessed portion existing at a standard position relative to the reference section to a collation area; and
using an image feature in the collation area of the product for collation/retrieval.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17, further comprising:
capturing, while the predetermined section formed into the same pattern for every product is set to the reference section, an image of the product including at least the reference section;
detecting from the captured image the reference section of the product to extract, while the recessed portion existing at the standard position relative to the detected reference section is set to the collation area, an image feature in the collation area of the product;
storing the extracted image feature of the collation area of the product;
capturing an image including at least the reference section of a product to be collated;
detecting from the captured image to be collated the reference section of the product to be collated and extracting an image feature of the collation area of the detected reference section; and
collating the stored image feature with the image feature of the collation area of the product to be collated.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17, wherein the reference section is at least a trademark, a logotype, a name of manufacturer, a manufacturing company, a brand name, a product name, and a product number marked, branded, pressed, or attached on/to the product.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17, wherein the collation area is the recessed portion of the reference section.

### Claim 21 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17, wherein the image feature is at least any one of a scratch naturally generated in the course of manufacturing/processing the product, minute unevenness, and a design pattern, which are different for each individual, in the collation area of the product.

### Claim 22 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17, further comprising:
storing in advance a feature of the reference section and the position of the collation area;
detecting the reference section of the product from the image captured based on the feature of the reference section; and
normalizing the position and a size of the collation area from the detected reference section to extract the image feature of the collation area.

### Claim 23 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17 further comprising:
storing a plurality of image features of collation areas extracted from a plurality of products to be retrieved and management information corresponding to the plurality of products to be retrieved in a mutually associated manner; and
retrieving an image feature having the highest similarity to the image feature of the collation area of the product to be collated from the stored plurality of image features to output management information of a product corresponding to the image feature having the highest similarity.

### Claim 24 (depends on 17)

The collation/retrieval method according to claim 17, wherein the product is a leather product, a metal workpiece, a molten resin, or an industrial product including a ceramic portion.

### Claim 25

(canceled)

### Claim 26

(canceled)