US5666549A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and system for processing a document transmitted via facsimile in an initially input form stored in a knowledge base
Assignee: Hitachi Software Engineering Co Ltd
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Filing: 1995-02-09
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Granted: 1997-09-09
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Expires: 2015-02-09
Abstract
Abstract A document processing method and system are provided in which data is inscribed as handwritten information on a blank form in a document form hitherto used or a blank form for a document produced by a word processor or the like. The blank form with the handwritten information data is facsimile-input and is transmitted to a computer which in turn receives the data directly and recognizes the received data to process the document. Initially, the contents or format of a blank form are read to obtain and store information regarding ruled lines and handwritten character input areas. Upon execution of document processing, an input document image received via facsimile is searched for reference ruled lines on the basis of the ruled line information initially stored to positionally adjust the document image and ruled line images in handwritten character input areas are erased from the adjusted document image on the basis of the handwritten character input area information initially stored to recognized handwritten characters. A function of returning the result of recognition or the result of processing by the computer to a sender facsimile or a function of eliminating improper facsimile transmission may be provided by receiving a sender facsimile number as data upon reception of the facsimile document image and storing it or comparing the received number with transmission-allowed facsimile numbers previously registered.
Inventors
- 👤 Masayuki Tsuchiya
- 👤 Hiroshi Fujise
- 👤 Masato Teramoto
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 18:36
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/002; G06V; G06V30/00; G06V30/10; G06V30/14; G06V30/1444; G06V30/40; G06V30/41; G06V30/412; H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/00127; H04N1/00204; H04N1/0035; H04N1/00352; H04N1/00355; H04N1/00358; H04N1/0036; H04N1/00962; H04N1/00968; H04N2201/00; H04N2201/0008; H04N2201/0015; H04N2201/32; H04N2201/3201; H04N2201/3204; H04N2201/3205; H04N2201/3212; H04N2201/3219; H04N2201/3278
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
348 words
A document processing system connected by a communication line for processing facsimile machine transmitted document form data as image information, by using a computer, comprising: read means for initially reading form information of a first form which includes a format having a plurality of vertical and horizontal lines; recognition and storage means, responsive to said read means, for recognizing positions of border patterns in the format of the first form, based on a knowledge base, generating information defining character input areas on which data is to be recorded and storing the recognized positions of border patterns and the generated information, wherein said recognition and storage means includes: means for selecting either one of a vertical ruled line and a horizontal ruled line which are outermost in image information of the format of the first form are not crossed with another ruled line and registering information regarding the position of the selected ruled line; comparing means for comparing the positions of border patterns and the character input areas stored in said recognition and store means with image information of a second form having the same format as the first form and input from a facsimile machine, said second form having data recorded thereon, and outputting a comparison result indicating relative positions of border patterns and character inputs areas of said first form and said second form, wherein said comparing means includes: means for determining whether coordinates information for the first form stored in said recognition and storage means exists in the second form, means responsive to a mismatch of the coordinates information by said determining means for reversing the image information of the second form, and means for correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first form and the second form by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line; character recognition means responsive to said comparison result for recognizing character data in character input areas at positions identified on said second form; and conversion means for converting the character data recognized by said character recognition means into a code data.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
348 words
A document processing system connected by a communication line for processing facsimile machine transmitted document form data as image information, by using a computer, comprising: read means for initially reading form information of a first form which includes a format having a plurality of vertical and horizontal lines; recognition and storage means, responsive to said read means, for recognizing positions of border patterns in the format of the first form, based on a knowledge base, generating information defining character input areas on which data is to be recorded and storing the recognized positions of border patterns and the generated information, wherein said recognition and storage means includes: means for selecting either one of a vertical ruled line and a horizontal ruled line which are outermost in image information of the format of the first form are not crossed with another ruled line and registering information regarding the position of the selected ruled line; comparing means for comparing the positions of border patterns and the character input areas stored in said recognition and store means with image information of a second form having the same format as the first form and input from a facsimile machine, said second form having data recorded thereon, and outputting a comparison result indicating relative positions of border patterns and character inputs areas of said first form and said second form, wherein said comparing means includes: means for determining whether coordinates information for the first form stored in said recognition and storage means exists in the second form, means responsive to a mismatch of the coordinates information by said determining means for reversing the image information of the second form, and means for correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first form and the second form by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line; character recognition means responsive to said comparison result for recognizing character data in character input areas at positions identified on said second form; and conversion means for converting the character data recognized by said character recognition means into a code data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
107 words
A document processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: means for storing the code data from said conversion means in a data base; means for performing a user's application processing based on the code data stored in said code data storing means; means for storing a result of the user's application processing obtained by said performing means in a data file; and means for returning the result stored in said user's application processing result storing means indicating that data in the second form is not recognizable back to the facsimile machine from which the second form has been sent, using the number of the facsimile machine.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
A document processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: means for rotating the second form by 180° in response to detection of the second form being in a reverse direction based on a positional relation between the border patterns and ruled lines of the image information of the second form.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
60 words
A document processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: means for detecting the input of a document form in a reverse direction from the contents of a facsimile input image of the document form, rotating the image of the document form by 180° and outputting the rotated image, said recognizing means recognizing an output image from said rotated image.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
85 words
A document processing system according to claim 1, wherein said document data transmitted via said facsimile machine has a sender facsimile number and the document processing system further comprises: producing means for producing, when said recognizing means detects unrecognizable data in said document data, error data reply information with reference to said sender facsimile number; and responding means for responding to said producing means to automatically make a request to the sender for retransmission of document data referred to by the error data reply information.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
42 words
A document processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: means for displaying a linking scroll for dividing an image portion and a conversion result portion on a screen to permit the conversion result to be confirmed and corrected on the screen.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
281 words
A document processing system connected by a communication line for processing form document data as image information transmitted via a facsimile machine, using a computer, comprising: means for sending a first document form which includes a format having horizontal and vertical lines and on which no data is recorded from the computer to a facsimile machine; means for recording data according to said format on the sent first document form and returning said data recorded according to said format on said first document form and data of said format from said facsimile machine to the computer as a second document form, wherein said means for recording data includes: means for selecting either one of a vertical ruled line a horizontal ruled line which are outer most in image information of the format of the first document form and are not crossed with another ruled line and registering information regarding information of the position of the selected ruled line; recognition means for recognizing said format having horizontal and vertical lines and character data contained in the second document form based on a knowledge base, wherein said recognition means includes: means for determining whether recorded coordinates information for the first document form exists in the second document form, means responsive to a mismatch of the coordinates information by said determining means for reversing the image information of the second document form, and means for correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first document form and the second document form by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line; and conversion means for converting the character data recognized by said recognition means into a code data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
281 words
A document processing system connected by a communication line for processing form document data as image information transmitted via a facsimile machine, using a computer, comprising: means for sending a first document form which includes a format having horizontal and vertical lines and on which no data is recorded from the computer to a facsimile machine; means for recording data according to said format on the sent first document form and returning said data recorded according to said format on said first document form and data of said format from said facsimile machine to the computer as a second document form, wherein said means for recording data includes: means for selecting either one of a vertical ruled line a horizontal ruled line which are outer most in image information of the format of the first document form and are not crossed with another ruled line and registering information regarding information of the position of the selected ruled line; recognition means for recognizing said format having horizontal and vertical lines and character data contained in the second document form based on a knowledge base, wherein said recognition means includes: means for determining whether recorded coordinates information for the first document form exists in the second document form, means responsive to a mismatch of the coordinates information by said determining means for reversing the image information of the second document form, and means for correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first document form and the second document form by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line; and conversion means for converting the character data recognized by said recognition means into a code data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
59 words
A document processing system according to claim 7, further comprising: means for storing the code data in a data base; means for performing a user's application processing based on the code data stored in said code data storing means; and means for storing the result of the user's application processing obtained by said performing means in a data file.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
269 words
A method of processing a facsimile machine transmitted document image by use of a computer, said method comprising the steps of: reading, in advance form information of a first form which includes a format having vertical and horizontal lines and on which no data is recorded; recognizing positions of border patterns and characters in the format of the first form based on a knowledge base, including the step of selecting either one of a vertical ruled line and a horizontal ruled line which are outermost in image information of the format of the first form and are not crossed with another ruled line; generating information defining character input areas on which data is to be recorded based on the recognized border patterns; comparing positions of the recognized border patterns and character input areas and positions of border patterns and character input areas of image information of a second form having the same format as the first form, input from the facsimile machines, said second form having data recorded thereon, and outputting a comparison result based on the comparison, said comparing step includes: determining whether recorded coordinates information for the first form exists in the second form, responsive to a mismatch of coordinates by said determining step, reversing the image information of the second form, and correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first and second forms by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line; recognizing character data in the character input areas of said second form based on said comparison result; and converting the recognized character data into code data.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
269 words
A method of processing a facsimile machine transmitted document image by use of a computer, said method comprising the steps of: reading, in advance form information of a first form which includes a format having vertical and horizontal lines and on which no data is recorded; recognizing positions of border patterns and characters in the format of the first form based on a knowledge base, including the step of selecting either one of a vertical ruled line and a horizontal ruled line which are outermost in image information of the format of the first form and are not crossed with another ruled line; generating information defining character input areas on which data is to be recorded based on the recognized border patterns; comparing positions of the recognized border patterns and character input areas and positions of border patterns and character input areas of image information of a second form having the same format as the first form, input from the facsimile machines, said second form having data recorded thereon, and outputting a comparison result based on the comparison, said comparing step includes: determining whether recorded coordinates information for the first form exists in the second form, responsive to a mismatch of coordinates by said determining step, reversing the image information of the second form, and correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first and second forms by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line; recognizing character data in the character input areas of said second form based on said comparison result; and converting the recognized character data into code data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of: storing the code data in a data base; performing application processing based on the code data stored in said data base; and storing a result of the application processing in a data file.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of: returning the result of the application processing stored in the data file to the facsimile machine from which the second form has been sent using a facsimile number.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of: correcting offsets and skews of image information between the first and second form, using the positions of ruled lines of the first form as a reference.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
62 words
A method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of: determining whether or not the second form is in a reverse direction based on a positional relation between the border patterns and ruled lines of the image information of the second form; and rotating the second form by 180° if the second form is determined to be in the reverse direction.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method according to claim 9, wherein said code data buffering step includes the step of: displaying received document image and document data based on the information of said knowledge base and said code data on a display screen to interactively correct the document data.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of: displaying a linking scroll for dividing an image portion and a conversion result portion on a screen to permit the conversion result to be confirmed and corrected on the screen.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
257 words
A document processing system connected by a communication line for processing document data of a facsimile machine transmitted form containing ruled lines by using a computer, comprising: register means for registering ruled line information obtained from said form, said ruled line information representing vertical and horizontal lines defining document data input areas, wherein said register means includes: means for selecting either one of a vertical ruled line and a horizontal ruled line which are outermost and image information of said form and are not crossed with another ruled line and registering information regarding the position of the selected ruled line; and recognition means for determining offsets and skew of a facsimile machine transmitted form having ruled lines by referring to said ruled line information registered in said register means as a reference to correct positions of document data input areas of said facsimile machine transmitted form based on said offsets and skew and recognizing document data in the corrected document data input areas, wherein said recognition means includes: means for determining whether coordinates information corresponding to the ruled line information registered in said register means exists in the facsimile machine transmitted form, means responsive to a mismatch of the coordinates information by said determining means for reversing the image information of the facsimile machine transmitted form, and means for correcting offsets and skews of image information between the ruled line information registered in said register means and the facsimile machine transmitted form by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
257 words
A document processing system connected by a communication line for processing document data of a facsimile machine transmitted form containing ruled lines by using a computer, comprising: register means for registering ruled line information obtained from said form, said ruled line information representing vertical and horizontal lines defining document data input areas, wherein said register means includes: means for selecting either one of a vertical ruled line and a horizontal ruled line which are outermost and image information of said form and are not crossed with another ruled line and registering information regarding the position of the selected ruled line; and recognition means for determining offsets and skew of a facsimile machine transmitted form having ruled lines by referring to said ruled line information registered in said register means as a reference to correct positions of document data input areas of said facsimile machine transmitted form based on said offsets and skew and recognizing document data in the corrected document data input areas, wherein said recognition means includes: means for determining whether coordinates information corresponding to the ruled line information registered in said register means exists in the facsimile machine transmitted form, means responsive to a mismatch of the coordinates information by said determining means for reversing the image information of the facsimile machine transmitted form, and means for correcting offsets and skews of image information between the ruled line information registered in said register means and the facsimile machine transmitted form by performing parallel translation vertically and horizontally based on information set as a reference line.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system according to claim 16, further comprising: conversion means for converting document data recognized by said recognition means into a code data; and means for performing a user's application processing based on said code data from said conversion means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 17, further comprising: means for sending a result of the user's application processing to the facsimile machine which transmitted said facsimile machine transmitted form.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
49 words
A system according to claim 16, further comprising: means for detecting that said facsimile machine transmitted form having ruled lines is in a reverse direction and thereby rotating said facsimile machine transmitted form by 180 degrees for allowing recognition of the facsimile machine transmitted form in its proper direction.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system according to claim 17, further comprising: means for scrolling an image portion and conversion result portion on a screen together to permit a user to confirm and modify the code data from said conversion means on the screen.
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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) | 2000-09-08 | 2001-03-10 | 2001-09-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2004-09-08 | 2005-03-10 | 2005-09-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2008-09-08 | 2009-03-10 | 2009-09-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |