Iconic access to remote electronic monochrome raster data format document repository

Claim 1

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository; (e) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network.

Claim 2

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository; (e) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network.

Claim 5

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for searching said stored electronic documents for documents which match criteria specified by said remote system user; (e) means for on-demand generation of user interface screens containing plural user selectable elements linked to said documents located by said query, said screens displayed by said remote access systems; (f) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said document repository by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository; (g) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format selected from the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) family of formats.

Claim 6

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for searching said stored electronic documents for documents which match criteria specified by said remote system user; (e) means for on-demand generation of user interface screens containing plural user selectable elements linked to said documents located by said query, said screens displayed by said remote access systems; (f) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said document repository by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository; (g) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format selected from the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) family of formats.

Claim 9

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for searching said stored electronic documents for documents which match criteria specified by said remote system user; (e) means for on-demand generation of user interface screens containing plural user selectable graphic icons linked to said documents located by said means for searching, said screens displayed by said remote access systems; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 10

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for searching said stored electronic documents for documents which match criteria specified by said remote system user; (e) means for on-demand generation of user interface screens containing plural user selectable graphic icons linked to said documents located by said means for searching, said screens displayed by said remote access systems; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 12

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; and (d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link; wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository, wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 13

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; and (d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link; wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository, wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 14

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; and (d) means for transmitting interactive audio communication between said users over said general purpose data network; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 15

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; and (d) means for transmitting interactive audio communication between said users over said general purpose data network; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 16

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device, said document repository being segmented into plural virtual repositories; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.

Claim 17

An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising: (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device, said document repository being segmented into plural virtual repositories; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.