def merge_boxes(box1, box2): return (min(box1[0], box2[0]), min(box1[1], box2[1]), max(box1[2], box2[2]), max(box1[3], box2[3])) def join_lines(bboxes, max_gap=5): to_merge = {} for i, box1 in bboxes: for z, box2 in bboxes[i + 1:]: j = i + z + 1 if box1 == box2: continue if box1[0] <= box2[0] and box1[2] >= box2[2]: if abs(box1[1] - box2[3]) <= max_gap: if i not in to_merge: to_merge[i] = [] to_merge[i].append(j) merged_boxes = set() merged = [] for i, box in bboxes: if i in merged_boxes: continue if i in to_merge: for j in to_merge[i]: box = merge_boxes(box, bboxes[j][1]) merged_boxes.add(j) merged.append(box) return merged