Patent EP0654746A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0654746A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Form identification and processing system
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1994-11-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-11-23
Abstract
Abstract A method and an apparatus for identifying completed forms includes scanning a plurality of different blank forms, and creating hierarchical profiles of each scanned blank form. Each hierarchical form profile is stored in a dictionary. Once the form dictionary is created, a completed form is scanned. A hierarchical profile of the completed form is created, and the hierarchical profile of the completed form is compared with stored hierarchical form profiles. In accordance with the result of comparison, one of the stored hierarchical form profiles is identified as corresponding to the completed form hierarchical profile. Based on the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile, the completed form can be routed for further processing. A further aspect of the invention makes it possible to extract data from predesignated fields which may be unique to that particular form within a completed form based on the form's identity. Furthermore, by using the form dictionary, it is possible to identify a completed form, extract data from the completed form, store the data with the form's identity, and display the completed form by drawing the identified form using the vectorized data from the form dictionary and superimposing the extracted data from the completed form into respective data fields.
Inventors
- 👤 Willis J. Luther
- 👤 Shin-Ywan Wang
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 12:46
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F40/00; G06F40/10; G06F40/166; G06F40/174; G06V; G06V30/00; G06V30/10; G06V30/14; G06V30/1444; G06V30/40; G06V30/41; G06V30/412; G06V30/414
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 47
Claim 1
Independent Claim
91 words
A method for creating a form dictionary, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a first blank form; creating a hierarchical profile of the first blank form; scanning a plurality of exemplary completed forms of the first blank form; creating a hierarchical profile for each exemplary completed form; comparing and extracting invariant elements between each completed form hierarchical profile; correlating the blank form hierarchical profile with extracted invariant elements to create a first enhanced blank form hierarchical profile; and storing the first enhanced blank form hierarchical profile in the form dictionary.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
91 words
A method according to Claim 1, further comprising the steps of: scanning a second blank form; creating a hierarchical profile of the second blank form; scanning a plurality of exemplary completed forms of the second blank form; creating a hierarchical profile of each exemplary completed form; comparing and extracting invariant elements between each completed form hierarchical profile; correlating the second blank form hierarchical profile with the extracted invariant elements to create a second enhanced blank form hierarchical profile; and storing the second enhanced blank form hierarchical profile in the form dictionary.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method according to Claim 2, further comprising the step of disambiguating the first enhanced blank hierarchical profile and the second enhanced blank hierarchical profile.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
52 words
A method according to Claim 3, wherein the step of disambiguating comprises the steps of: comparing and extracting invariant elements between the first enhanced hierarchical profile and the second enhanced hierarchical profile; discarding the invariant elements; and storing disambiguated hierarchical profiles of the first and second blank forms in the form dictionary.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
69 words
A method for identifying a completed form using a form dictionary of hierarchical form profiles, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a completed form; creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with hierarchical form profiles in the form dictionary; and identifying, in accordance with the comparing step, one of the hierarchical form profiles as corresponding to the completed form.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to Claim 5, further comprising the step of extracting portions of the hierarchical profile of the completed form which differ from the identified hierarchical form profile.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to Claim 6, further comprising the step of routing the extracted portions for processing in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method according to Claim 5,6 or 7, further comprising the step of storing predetermined data from the extracted portions in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method according to Claim 5,6, 7 or 8, further comprising the step of displaying selected data from the extracted portions in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to Claim 5,6, 7, 8 or 9, further comprising the step of optical character recognition of selected data from the extracted portions in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
53 words
A method for displaying completed portions of a form, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a completed form; creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with a stored hierarchical profile of a blank form; and displaying dissimilar portions of the completed hierarchical profile.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method according to Claim 11, further comprising the step of extracting portions of the hierarchical profile of the completed form which differ from the hierarchical profile of the blank form.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method according to Claim 12, wherein the step of extracting includes the step of extracting respective field header information for the extracted portions of the hierarchical profile of the completed form and displaying extracted portions with the respective header information.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method according to Claim 11, 12 or 13, further comprising a step of identifying the scanned completed form by comparing the completed form with blank forms stored in a form dictionary.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
84 words
A method according to Claim 11, 12, 13 or 14, further comprising the steps of: creating a hierarchical profile of a blank form; scanning a plurality of corresponding exemplary completed forms; creating a hierarchical profile for each exemplary completed form; comparing and extracting invariant elements from completed form hierarchical profiles; correlating the blank form profile and extracted invariant elements from the completed form profiles to create an enhanced blank form hierarchical profile; and storing the enhanced blank form hierarchical profile in the form dictionary.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
29 words
A method according to any of claims 11 to 15, wherein the hierarchical profile of the completed form and the blank form each include vectorized data and attribute data.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
93 words
A method for routing completed forms, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a plurality of different blank forms; creating and storing hierarchical profiles of each scanned blank form; scanning a completed form; creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with stored hierarchical profiles; identifying one of the stored hierarchical profiles as corresponding to the completed form hierarchical profile in accordance with the result of comparison; and routing the completed form for processing in accordance with the identity of the corresponding stored hierarchical profile.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
78 words
A method according to Claim 17, wherein the step of creating a hierarchical profile of a blank form includes: creating hierarchical profiles of blank forms; scanning a plurality of corresponding exemplary completed forms for each blank form; creating a hierarchical profile for each exemplary completed form; comparing and extracting invariant elements from completed form hierarchical profiles; and correlating each blank form profile with extracted invariant elements of corresponding completed form profiles to create enhanced blank form hierarchical profiles.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to Claim 17 or 18, wherein the hierarchical profile of the completed form and the blank form each include vectorized data and attribute data.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
109 words
A method for storing and retrieving completed portions of a form, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a plurality of different blank forms; creating and storing hierarchical profiles of each scanned blank form; scanning a completed form; creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with stored hierarchical profiles; identifying a stored hierarchical profile in accordance with the result of comparison as corresponding to the completed form hierarchical profile; extracting completed portions of the completed form respective header information, the extracted completed portions differing from the identified stored hierarchical profile; and displaying the extracted completed portions and respective header information.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
79 words
A method according to Claim 20, wherein the step of creating a hierarchical profile of a blank form includes: creating hierarchical profiles of a blank form; scanning a plurality of corresponding exemplary completed forms for each blank form; creating a hierarchical profile for each exemplary completed form; comparing and extracting invariant elements from completed form hierarchical profiles; and correlating the blank form profile with extracted invariant elements of corresponding completed form profiles to create enhanced blank form hierarchical profiles.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to Claim 20 or 21, wherein the hierarchical profile of the completed form and the blank form each include vectorized data and attribute data.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to Claim 20, 21 or 22, wherein the storing step includes storing an indicia of the identified stored hierarchical profile.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
56 words
A method according to Claim 20, 21, 22 or 23, further comprising the step of displaying the completed form by displaying the corresponding blank form which has been retrieved in accordance with the stored indicia and superimposing the extracted completed portions from the completed form with respective header information into appropriate locations of the blank form.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
101 words
An apparatus for identifying a completed form using a form dictionary of hierarchical form profiles, the apparatus comprising: scanning means for scanning a completed form; profile creating means for creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparison means for comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with hierarchical form profiles in the form dictionary; identifying means for identifying, in accordance with the result of comparing, one of the hierarchical form profiles as corresponding to the completed form; and extracting means for extracting portions of the hierarchical profile of the completed form which differ from the identified hierarchical form profile.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus according to Claim 25, further comprising routing means for routing the extracted portions for processing in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
31 words
An apparatus according to Claim 25 or 26, further comprising storing means for storing predetermined data from the extracted portions in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus according to Claim 25, 26 or 27, further comprising displaying means for displaying selected data from the extracted portions in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
34 words
An apparatus according to Claim 25, 26, 27 or 28, further comprising character recognition means for recognizing selected data from the extracted portions in accordance with the identity of the corresponding hierarchical form profile.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
91 words
An apparatus for displaying completed portions of a form, the apparatus comprising: scanning means for scanning a completed form; profile creating means for creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparison means for comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with a hierarchical profile of a blank form stored in a form directory; extracting means for extracting portions of the hierarchical profile of the completed form which differ from the hierarchical profile of the blank form; and displaying means for displaying the extracted portions of the completed hierarchical profile.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus according to Claim 30, further comprising identifying means for identifying the scanned completed form by comparing the completed form to blank forms stored in the form dictionary.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus according to Claim 30 or 31, wherein the extracting means includes means for extracting respective field header information with the extracted portions of the hierarchical profile of the completed form and the displaying means displays the extracted portions with the respective header information.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
87 words
An apparatus according to Claim 30, 31 or 32, further comprising: scanning means for scanning a plurality of corresponding exemplary completed forms; form profile creating means for creating a hierarchical profile of a blank form and for creating a hierarchical profile for each exemplary completed form; comparing and extracting means for comparing and extracting invariant elements from completed form hierarchical profiles; and correlating means for correlating the blank form profile and extracted invariant elements from the completed form profiles to create an enhanced blank form hierarchical profile.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus according to Claim 30, 31, 32 or 33, wherein the hierarchical profile of the completed form and the blank form each include vectorized data and attribute data.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
101 words
An apparatus for identifying completed forms, the apparatus comprising: memory means for storing hierarchical profiles for a plurality of different blank forms; scanning means for scanning a completed form; creating means for creating a hierarchical profile of the completed form; comparison means for comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form with stored hierarchical profiles; identifying means for identifying one of the stored hierarchical profiles as corresponding to the completed form hierarchical profile in accordance with the result of comparison; and routing means for routing the completed form for processing in accordance with the identity of the corresponding stored hierarchical profile.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
80 words
A completed form identifier, comprising: a scanner for scanning a completed form; a hierarchical profile creator for creating a hierarchical profile of the scanned completed form; a comparator for comparing the hierarchical profile of the scanned form with hierarchical profiles of various blank forms stored in a form dictionary; a form identifier for identifying the completed form based on the comparison result of the comparator; and a form router for routing the form for further processing based on its identity.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
81 words
An apparatus for displaying extracted data from a completed form, comprising: a scanner for scanning a completed form; a hierarchical profile creator for creating a hierarchical profile of the scanned form; comparator for comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form to hierarchial profiles of various blank forms stored in a form dictionary; form identifier for identifying the completed form and for extracting data from the completed form based on its identity; and a display screen for displaying the extracted data.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
165 words
An apparatus for displaying a completed form, comprising: a scanner for scanning a completed form; a hierarchical profile creator for creating a hierarchical profile of vectorized data corresponding to the scanned form; a comparator for comparing the hierarchical profile of the completed form to hierarchical profiles of vectorized data corresponding to blank forms in a form dictionary and for locating a blank form hierarchical profile matching the completed form profile; data extractor for extracting data identifiers and data which is dissimilar to the matching blank form hierarchial structure from the hierarchical profile of the completed form; a memory for storing the extracted data, data identifiers, and an indicia of the matching blank form; and a screen display for displaying the extracted data superimposed on the matching blank form, wherein the matching blank form is drawn in accordance with vectorized data in the hierarchical profile, and wherein the extracted data is superimposed into appropriate locations in the blank form in accordance with the extracted data identifiers.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
129 words
A form identifier for identifying a completed form using a form dictionary of hierarchical form profiles, the apparatus comprising: a processing unit including a computer for executing stored program steps; a memory for storing the form dictionary of hierarchical form profiles and process steps for execution by the processing unit; and a scanner for scanning completed forms, wherein the process steps stored in the memory include steps to create a hierarchial profile of a scanned completed form, to compare the hierarchical profile of the completed form to hierarchical form profiles in the memory, to match the hierarchical form profile of the completed form to one of the hierarchical form profiles in the memory, and to form-process the completed form based on an identity of the matched hierarchical form profile.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
23 words
A form identifier according to Claim 39, wherein the process step of form-processing includes routing the completed form to an appropriate key-input operator.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
43 words
A form identifier according to Claim 39, wherein the process step of form-processing includes extracting invariant elements from the completed form hierarchical profile based on a comparison to the matched hierarchical form profile and displaying the extracted invariant elements to a key-input operator.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
22 words
An apparatus for automated scanning and display of documents, wherein areas of difference relative to a pre-defined template document are preferentially displayed.
Claim 43
Independent Claim
31 words
An apparatus for the storage and retrieval of document images, wherein a document to be stored is compared with a template image, and areas of difference only are stored for retrieval.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 43, wherein for image retrieval, stored difference information is combined with template information to synthesize a retrieval document image.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
31 words
An apparatus according to any of claims 42, 43 or 44, further comprising means for automatically identifying one template document by comparing an input document with a plurality of candidate templates.
Claim 46
Independent Claim
30 words
An apparatus for storing document templates, wherein stored template definitions are enhanced so as to emphasize features which are invariant between a plurality of sample documents having the relevant template.
Claim 47
Independent Claim
25 words
An apparatus for storing a plurality of document templates for recognition, wherein the templates are enhanced so as to de-emphasize features common to different templates.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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