US5850219A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and system for electronic document approval with displayed imprint
Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
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Filing: 1996-09-20
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Granted: 1998-12-15
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Expires: 2016-09-20
Abstract
Abstract An electronic approval method and system for determining an electronic mail to be approved from received pieces of electronic mail, efficiently performing electronic approval on a selected piece of electronic mail, and efficiently sending the processed pieces of electronic mail back to its sender if not approved or to the next approving person if approved. Pieces of electronic mail are received and classified by types according to various categories such as mail for approval, mail for return/forwarding, mail for reference (peruse), and unread/already read mail others as necessary. From the received pieces of electronic mail, a piece of electronic mail to be approved is selected and displayed on a display device. An electronic approval column of the displayed piece of electronic mail is registered with an approval seal of the previous approving person. In an electronic approval column of the current approving person who has received the mail, an imprint of the current approving person blinks to indicate the location the approval seal of the current approving person is to be disposed. If the current approving person does not approve the mail, clicks the approval column of the previous approving person to send the mail back to the sender. If the current approving person approves the mail, the current approving person registers their approval seal and clicks an imprint of a next approving person which may be a superior, another section or other such destination to forward the mail.
Inventors
- 👤 Akira Kumomura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 19:30
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/10; G06Q10/107
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 56
Claim 1
Independent Claim
221 words
An electronic approval method for an electronic approval system for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval method comprising the steps of: displaying a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; displaying in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint; displaying in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal; displaying in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
221 words
An electronic approval method for an electronic approval system for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval method comprising the steps of: displaying a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; displaying in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint; displaying in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal; displaying in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of: when the displayed piece of electronic mail has not been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said previous approving person when said previous approving person has been selected.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
40 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 1, wherein said previous imprint is displayed in a previous approval column, said current imprint is displayed in a current approval column and said next imprint is displayed in a next approval column.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 3, wherein said first manner causes said previous imprint to be displayed using solid lines.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 4, wherein said second manner causes said current imprint to be displayed in a blinking manner.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
23 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 5, wherein said third manner causes said next imprint to be displayed in a dim manner.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
37 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 1 wherein when said displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, selection of said next approving person is conducted by designating said next imprint.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 2 wherein when said displayed piece of electronic mail has not been approved by said current approving person, selection of said previous approving person is conducted by designating said previous imprint.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 1, wherein each of said imprints contains a name of the approving person, said imprint being electronically provided to documents sent as electronic mail.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
38 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 9, wherein said approval seal affixed to said displayed piece of electronic mail when approved contains one of a signature of an approving person or a stamp of an approving person.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
47 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 1, wherein said current imprint is different from said approval seal to be affixed when said displayed piece of electronic mail is approved and said approval seal contains one of a signature or a stamp of said current approving person.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 1, wherein said next imprint is different from said approval seal to be affixed when said displayed piece of electronic mail is approved and said approval seal contains one of a signature or a stamp of said next approving person.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 10, wherein all imprints to which approval seals have not been affixed are displayed in a blinking manner.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 10, wherein when one of said blinking imprints is selected by said approving person, the approval seal corresponding to said approving person is affixed.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 14, wherein when one of said blinking imprints is affixed with an approval seal, a pointer moves to one of the remaining blinking imprints.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
103 words
An electronic approval method according to claim 10, further comprising the steps of: classifying said pieces of received electronic mail into different categories including mail for approval, mail for return/forwarding, mail for reference and unread/already read mail beforehand; and displaying the number of pieces of electronic mail falling in each of said categories; wherein said displaying a piece of electronic mail step includes the steps of: displaying a list of the pieces of electronic mail in a category when the category has been selected, and displaying a piece of electronic mail from said list when said piece of electronic mail has been selected.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
107 words
An electronic approval system for electronically approving received pieces of electronic mail and transmitting the approved pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval system comprising: a display device for displaying a received piece of electronic mail; an imprint display controller for displaying an approved imprint and a plurality of imprint to be approved on said displayed piece of electronic mail; approval seal affixing apparatus for selecting an imprint to be approved and electronically affixing an approval seal to the selected imprint; and a transmitter for selecting one of the displayed imprints and transmitting the displayed piece of electronic mail to a person corresponding to the selected imprint.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
107 words
An electronic approval system for electronically approving received pieces of electronic mail and transmitting the approved pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval system comprising: a display device for displaying a received piece of electronic mail; an imprint display controller for displaying an approved imprint and a plurality of imprint to be approved on said displayed piece of electronic mail; approval seal affixing apparatus for selecting an imprint to be approved and electronically affixing an approval seal to the selected imprint; and a transmitter for selecting one of the displayed imprints and transmitting the displayed piece of electronic mail to a person corresponding to the selected imprint.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
An electronic approval system according to claim 17, wherein said approved imprint and each of said imprints to be approved are displayed in separate approval columns on said displayed piece of electronic mail.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
24 words
An electronic approval system according to claim 17, wherein said approval seal affixing apparatus selects an imprint by designating said imprint with a cursor.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
21 words
An electronic approval system according to claim 17, wherein said transmitter selects an imprint by designating said imprint using a cursor.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
261 words
A computer program stored on a computer readable medium executable by a computer for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said computer program comprising: a first code for causing said computer to display a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; a second code for causing said computer to display in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint; a third code for causing said computer to display in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal; a fourth code for causing said computer to display in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and a fifth code for causing said computer to transfer, when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
261 words
A computer program stored on a computer readable medium executable by a computer for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said computer program comprising: a first code for causing said computer to display a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; a second code for causing said computer to display in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint; a third code for causing said computer to display in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal; a fourth code for causing said computer to display in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal; and a fifth code for causing said computer to transfer, when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
53 words
A computer program according to claim 21, further comprising: a sixth code for causing said computer to transfer, when the displayed piece of electronic mail has not been approved by said current approving person, said displayed piece of electronic mail to said previous approving person when said previous approving person has been selected.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
39 words
A computer program according to claim 21, wherein said previous imprint is displayed in a previous approval column, said current imprint is displayed in a current approval column and said next imprint is displayed in a next approval column.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
21 words
A computer program according to claim 23, wherein said first manner causes said previous imprint to be displayed using solid lines.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
22 words
A computer program according to claim 24, wherein said second manner causes said current imprint to be displayed in a blinking manner.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
22 words
A computer program according to claim 25, wherein said third manner causes said next imprint to be displayed in a dim manner.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
36 words
A computer program according to claim 21, wherein when said displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, selection of said next approving person is conducted by designating said next imprint.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
37 words
A computer program according to claim 22, wherein when said displayed piece of electronic mail has not been approved by said current approving person, selection of said previous approving person is conducted by designating said previous imprint.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
30 words
A computer program according to claim 21, wherein each of said imprints contains a name of the approving person, said imprint being electronically provided to documents sent as electronic mail.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
37 words
A computer program according to claim 29, wherein said approval seal affixed to said displayed piece of electronic mail when approved contains one of a signature of an approving person or a stamp of an approving person.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
46 words
A computer program according to claim 21, wherein said current imprint is different from said approval seal to be affixed when said displayed piece of electronic mail is approved and aid approval seal contains one of a signature or a stamp of said current approving person.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
46 words
A computer program according to claim 21, wherein said next imprint is different from said approval seal to be affixed when said displayed piece of electronic mail is approved and said approval seal contains one of a signature or a stamp of said next approving person.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
24 words
A computer program according to claim 30, wherein all imprints to which approval seals have not been affixed are displayed in a blinking manner.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
30 words
A computer program according to claim 30, wherein when one of said blinking imprints is selected by said approving person, the approval seal corresponding to said approving person is affixed.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
30 words
A computer program according to claim 34, wherein when one of said blinking imprints is affixed with an approval seal, a pointer moves to one of the remaining blinking imprints.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
123 words
A computer program according to claim 30, further comprising: a sixth code for causing said computer to classify said pieces of received electronic mail into different categories including mail for approval, mail for return/forwarding, mail for reference and unread/already read mail beforehand; and a seventh code for causing said computer to display the number of pieces of electronic mail falling in each of said categories; wherein said first code comprises: a eight code for causing said computer to display a list of the pieces of electronic mail in a category when the category has been selected, and a ninth code for causing said computer to display a piece of electronic mail from said list when said piece of electronic mail has been selected.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
239 words
An electronic approval apparatus for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval apparatus comprising: a display having a display screen for displaying display information including a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; and a controller for displaying on said display screen, in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint, displaying, on said display screen, in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal, displaying, on said display screen, in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal, and when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
239 words
An electronic approval apparatus for performing electronic approval processing on received pieces of electronic mail and transferring processed pieces of electronic mail, said electronic approval apparatus comprising: a display having a display screen for displaying display information including a piece of electronic mail to be approved from said received pieces of electronic mail; and a controller for displaying on said display screen, in a first manner on the displayed piece of electronic mail a previous imprint of a previous approving person who previously approved said displayed piece of electronic mail by affixing an approval seal at a location of said previous imprint, displaying, on said display screen, in a second manner different from said first manner on said displayed piece of electronic mail a current imprint at a location where a current approving person who received said displayed piece of electronic mail is to affix an approval seal, displaying, on said display screen, in a third manner, different from said first and second manners, on said displayed piece of electronic mail a next imprint at a location where a next approving person, who is to approve said displayed piece of electronic mail after said current approving person, is to affix an approval seal, and when the displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, transferring said displayed piece of electronic mail to said next approving person when said next approving person has been selected.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
47 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said controller when the displayed piece of electronic mail has not been approved by said current approving person, transfers said displayed piece of electronic mail to said previous approving person when said previous approving person has been selected.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
40 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said previous imprint is displayed in a previous approval column, said current imprint is displayed in a current approval column and said next imprint is displayed in a next approval column.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
22 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said first manner causes said previous imprint to be displayed using solid lines.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
23 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 40, wherein said second manner causes said current imprint to be displayed in a blinking manner.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
23 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 41, wherein said third manner causes said next imprint to be displayed in a dim manner.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
37 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 37, wherein when said displayed piece of electronic mail has been approved by said current approving person, selection of said next approving person is conducted by designating said next imprint.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
38 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 38, wherein when said displayed piece of electronic mail has not been approved by said current approving person, selection of said previous approving person is conducted by designating said previous imprint.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 37, wherein each of said imprints contains a name of the approving person, said imprint being electronically provided to documents sent as electronic mail.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
38 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said approval seal affixed to said displayed piece of electronic mail when approved contains one of a signature of an approving person or a stamp of an approving person.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
47 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said current imprint is different from said approval seal to be affixed when said displayed piece of electronic mail is approved and aid approval seal contains one of a signature or a stamp of said current approving person.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
47 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said next imprint is different from said approval seal to be affixed when said displayed piece of electronic mail is approved and said approval seal contains one of a signature or a stamp of said next approving person.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
25 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 46, wherein all imprints to which approval seals have not been affixed are displayed in a blinking manner.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 46, wherein when one of said blinking imprints is selected by said approving person, the approval seal corresponding to said approving person is affixed.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
31 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 50, wherein when one of said blinking imprints is affixed with an approval seal, a pointer moves to one of the remaining blinking imprints.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
99 words
An electronic approval apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said controller classifies said pieces of received electronic mail into different categories including mail for approval, mail for return/forwarding, mail for reference and unread/already read mail beforehand, displays, on said display screen, the number of pieces of electronic mail falling in each of said categories, displays, on said display screen, a list of the pieces of electronic mail in a category when the category has been selected, and displays, on said display screen, a piece of electronic mail from said list when said piece of electronic mail has been selected.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-12-14 | 2002-06-15 | 2002-12-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-12-14 | 2006-06-15 | 2006-12-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-12-14 | 2010-06-15 | 2010-12-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |