US5486686A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Hardcopy lossless data storage and communications for electronic document processing systems
Assignee: Xerox Corp
•
Filing: 1992-05-18
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Granted: 1996-01-23
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Expires: 2012-05-18
Abstract
Abstract Machine readable electronic domain definitions of part or all of the electronic domain descriptions of hardcopy documents and/or of part or all of the transforms that are performed to produce and reproduce such hardcopies documents are encoded in codes that are printed on such documents, thereby permitting the electronic domain descriptions of such documents and/or such transforms to be recovered more robustly and reliably when the information carried by such documents is transformed from the hardcopy domain to the electronic domain.
Inventors
- 👤 Frank Zdybel, Jr.
- 👤 Henry W. Sang, Jr.
- 👤 Jan O. Pedersen
- 👤 Z. E. Smith, III
- 👤 D. A. Henderson, Jr.
- 👤 David L. Hecht
- 👤 Dan S. Bloomberg
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 06:40
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/32; H04N1/32101; H04N1/32128; H04N1/32133; G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/93; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/10; H04N2201/00; H04N2201/32; H04N2201/3201; H04N2201/3204; H04N2201/3205; H04N2201/3212; H04N2201/3214; H04N2201/3225; H04N2201/3226; H04N2201/3232; H04N2201/3233; H04N2201/3242; H04N2201/3269; H04N2201/3271
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
226 words
In an electronic document processing system for transferring information back and forth between an electronic domain and a hardcopy domain; said system including computer means for operating upon and storing electronic document files in a machine readable format in said electronic domain, input scanner means coupled to said computer means for transforming information from hardcopy documents in said hardcopy domain to said electronic domain, and printer means coupled to said computer means for printing human readable renderings of selected ones of said files on hardcopy documents; the improvement comprising an interface means between said computer means and said printer means for encoding at least one attribute of each of said selected electronic document files in a machine readable code that said printer means prints on said hardcopy documents along with the human readable renderings of the respective files; said attribute of each file being content of said file that is defined in said electronic domain but not explicitly defined by the human readable rendering of said file that is printed by said printer means, whereby said attribute of each of said selected electronic document files is recoverable from the code printed on a corresponding hardcopy document when information carried by said corresponding hardcopy document is transformed from said hardcopy domain to said electronic domain, even when such an attribute is irrecoverable from the human readable rendering.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
226 words
In an electronic document processing system for transferring information back and forth between an electronic domain and a hardcopy domain; said system including computer means for operating upon and storing electronic document files in a machine readable format in said electronic domain, input scanner means coupled to said computer means for transforming information from hardcopy documents in said hardcopy domain to said electronic domain, and printer means coupled to said computer means for printing human readable renderings of selected ones of said files on hardcopy documents; the improvement comprising an interface means between said computer means and said printer means for encoding at least one attribute of each of said selected electronic document files in a machine readable code that said printer means prints on said hardcopy documents along with the human readable renderings of the respective files; said attribute of each file being content of said file that is defined in said electronic domain but not explicitly defined by the human readable rendering of said file that is printed by said printer means, whereby said attribute of each of said selected electronic document files is recoverable from the code printed on a corresponding hardcopy document when information carried by said corresponding hardcopy document is transformed from said hardcopy domain to said electronic domain, even when such an attribute is irrecoverable from the human readable rendering.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The improvement of claim 1 wherein the attributes encoded in said code include machine readable electronic domain definitions of at least selected portions of the human readable renderings that said printer means prints on the respective hardcopy documents.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
The improvement of claim 2 wherein the attributes encoded in said code include complete machine readable electronic domain definitions of the human readable renderings that said printer means prints on the respective hardcopy documents.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
42 words
The improvement or claim 1 wherein the attributes encoded in said code include a machine readable electronic domain definition of at least a first attribute of said electronic document files that is incapable of being inferred reliably from said human readable renderings.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
The improvement of claim 4 wherein said first attribute relates to at least one structural characteristic of said electronic document files.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
The improvement of claim 5 wherein said electronic document files are encoded in accordance with predetermined structural encodings, and said first attribute defines such encodings.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
The improvement of claim 4 wherein said first attribute relates to at least one operation performed by said electronic processing system for producing said electronic document files.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
30 words
The improvement of claim 4 wherein said first attribute relates to at least one operation performed by said electronic processing system for processing scanned-in representations of said electronic document files.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
39 words
The improvement of claim 1 wherein said renderings are composed of at least two colors, and the data embedded in said renderings quantitatively defines compositional values of each of said colors for at least selected portions of said renderings.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
The improvement of any of claims 2-9 wherein at least some of said code is compressed in accordance with a predetermined compression algorithm, and another portion of said specifies a decompression algorithm for decompressing the compressed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
The improvement of any of claims 2-9 wherein at least some of said code is encrypted, and another portion of said code defines a key for decrypting the encrypted code.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
34 words
The improvement of any of claims 2-9 wherein multiple copies of said code are redundantly printed on said hardcopy documents, thereby enabling such a scanner to recover said from any one of said copies.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
The improvement of claim 1 wherein the attributes encoded in said code enables such a computer means to authenticate scanned-in electronic domain representations of said renderings.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
152 words
In an electronic document processing system having scanner means for transforming information from a hardcopy domain to an electronic domain, and rendering means for transferring representations of human readable information from sources in at least one-of said domains to hardcopy documents in said hardcopy domain in accordance with a transform having known attributes, including system attributes which are not explicitly defined by said human readable information; the improvement comprising means within said rendering means for printing a machine readable encoded description of at least one of the known system attributes, including system attributes which are not explicitly defined by said human readable information of said transform on said hardcopy documents along with said human readable information, such that at least one of said system attributes of said transform is stored on said hardcopy documents for retrieval when any of said hardcopy documents is transformed from said hardcopy domain to said electronic domain.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
152 words
In an electronic document processing system having scanner means for transforming information from a hardcopy domain to an electronic domain, and rendering means for transferring representations of human readable information from sources in at least one-of said domains to hardcopy documents in said hardcopy domain in accordance with a transform having known attributes, including system attributes which are not explicitly defined by said human readable information; the improvement comprising means within said rendering means for printing a machine readable encoded description of at least one of the known system attributes, including system attributes which are not explicitly defined by said human readable information of said transform on said hardcopy documents along with said human readable information, such that at least one of said system attributes of said transform is stored on said hardcopy documents for retrieval when any of said hardcopy documents is transformed from said hardcopy domain to said electronic domain.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
30 words
The improvement of claim 14 wherein said rendering means includes a printer for performing a printing process, and said encoded description defines at least one attribute of said printing process.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
38 words
The improvement of claim 14 wherein said renderings are composed of at least two colors, and said encoded description quantitatively defines compositional values of each of said colors for at least selected portions of said human readable information.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
36 words
The improvement of any of claims 14 or 16 wherein one part of said encoded description is encrypted, and another portion of said encoded description defines a key for decrypting said one part of said description.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
The improvement of any of claims 14 or 16 wherein at least one part of said encoded description is compressed in accordance with a predetermined compression algorithm.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
The improvement of any of claim 18 wherein another part of said encoded description specifies a decompression algorithm for decompressing said one part of said description.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1999-01-22 | 1999-07-24 | 2000-01-23 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-01-22 | 2003-07-24 | 2004-01-23 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2007-01-22 | 2007-07-24 | 2008-01-23 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |