Patent US5987448A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5987448A
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Methodology for displaying search results using character recognition
Assignee: RPX Corp
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Filing: 1997-07-25
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Granted: 1999-11-16
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Expires: 2017-07-25
Abstract
Abstract Document texts are produced by recognizing characters in document images by an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process. When such a document text matches one or more search terms of a query, the corresponding document image is displayed. Regions of the document image, corresponding to words of the document text that match the search terms, are displayed in a visually distinctive manner. The display of the document image may be augmented by displaying a region corresponding to a reference text within the document text in another visually distinctive manner.
Inventors
- 👤 David A. Evans
- 👤 Michael J. McInerny
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 11:55
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/30; G06F16/33; G06F16/338; G06F16/50; G06F16/58; G06F16/583; G06F16/5846; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99941; Y10S707/99944; Y10S707/99945
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
151 words
A method of outputting search results, comprising the computer-implemented steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document text; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner, wherein the step of displaying the featured region includes highlighting the featured region.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
151 words
A method of outputting search results, comprising the computer-implemented steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document text; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner, wherein the step of displaying the featured region includes highlighting the featured region.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
196 words
A method of outputting search results, comprising the computer-implemented steps of; recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document text; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word, the step of determining a featured region includes identifying a noun phrase of one or more consecutive words in the document text, wherein the noun phrase includes the matched word, and determining the featured region to include regions of the document image corresponding to the one or more consecutive words in the document text of the noun phrase; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
196 words
A method of outputting search results, comprising the computer-implemented steps of; recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document text; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word, the step of determining a featured region includes identifying a noun phrase of one or more consecutive words in the document text, wherein the noun phrase includes the matched word, and determining the featured region to include regions of the document image corresponding to the one or more consecutive words in the document text of the noun phrase; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
201 words
A method of outputting search results, comprising the computer-implemented steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document text; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner; determining a reference text in the document text, said reference text being different from any of the one or more search terms; determining a second featured region in the matching document image to include regions of the document image corresponding to the reference text; and displaying the second featured region in a third manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second manner.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
201 words
A method of outputting search results, comprising the computer-implemented steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document text; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner; determining a reference text in the document text, said reference text being different from any of the one or more search terms; determining a second featured region in the matching document image to include regions of the document image corresponding to the reference text; and displaying the second featured region in a third manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second manner.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining a reference text in the document text includes the step of retrieving the reference text from a reference database based on the one or more search terms.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the step of retrieving the reference text from a reference database includes the step of retrieving a synonym of the matching word the step of retrieving a synonym of the matching word from the reference database.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
171 words
An apparatus for outputting search results, comprising: an OCR device for recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; means for determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; an input device for receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; a search engine for retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; a display unit for displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text, said display unit is controllable to display a featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner, wherein the display unit is controllable to highlight the featured region; and means for determining the featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
171 words
An apparatus for outputting search results, comprising: an OCR device for recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; means for determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; an input device for receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; a search engine for retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; a display unit for displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text, said display unit is controllable to display a featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner, wherein the display unit is controllable to highlight the featured region; and means for determining the featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
222 words
An apparatus for outputting search results, comprising: an OCR device for recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; means for determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; an input device for receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; a search engine for retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; a display unit for displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text, the display unit is controllable to display the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner; and means for determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word, the means for determining a featured region includes, means for identifying a noun phrase of one or more consecutive words in the document text, wherein the noun phrase includes the matched word, and means for determining the featured region to include regions of the document image corresponding to the one or more consecutive words in the document text of the noun phrase.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
222 words
An apparatus for outputting search results, comprising: an OCR device for recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; means for determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; an input device for receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; a search engine for retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; a display unit for displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text, the display unit is controllable to display the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner; and means for determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word, the means for determining a featured region includes, means for identifying a noun phrase of one or more consecutive words in the document text, wherein the noun phrase includes the matched word, and means for determining the featured region to include regions of the document image corresponding to the one or more consecutive words in the document text of the noun phrase.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
228 words
An apparatus for outputting search results, comprising: an OCR device for recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; means for determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; an input device for receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; a search engine for retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; a display unit for displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; means for determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; means for determining a reference text in the document text, said reference text being different from any of the one or more search terms; and means for determining a second featured region in the matching document image to include regions of the document image corresponding to the reference text; wherein the display unit is controllable to display the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second featured region in a third manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second manner.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
228 words
An apparatus for outputting search results, comprising: an OCR device for recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; means for determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; an input device for receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; a search engine for retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; a display unit for displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; means for determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; means for determining a reference text in the document text, said reference text being different from any of the one or more search terms; and means for determining a second featured region in the matching document image to include regions of the document image corresponding to the reference text; wherein the display unit is controllable to display the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second featured region in a third manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second manner.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the means for determining a reference text in the document text includes means for retrieving the reference text from a reference database based on the one or more search terms.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for retrieving the reference text from a reference database includes means for retrieving a synonym of the matching word from the reference database.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
165 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for outputting search results, said sequences of instructions comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner, wherein the step of displaying the featured region includes highlighting the featured region.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
165 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for outputting search results, said sequences of instructions comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner, wherein the step of displaying the featured region includes highlighting the featured region.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
210 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for outputting search results, said sequences of instructions comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word, the step of determining a featured region includes identifying a noun phrase of one or more consecutive words in the document text, wherein the noun phrase includes the matched word, and determining the featured region to include regions of the document image corresponding to the one or more consecutive words in the document text of the noun phrase; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
210 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for outputting search results, said sequences of instructions comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word, the step of determining a featured region includes identifying a noun phrase of one or more consecutive words in the document text, wherein the noun phrase includes the matched word, and determining the featured region to include regions of the document image corresponding to the one or more consecutive words in the document text of the noun phrase; and displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
215 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for outputting search results, said sequences of instructions comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner; determining a reference text in the document text, said reference text being different from any of the one or more search terms; determining a second featured region in the matching document image to include regions of the document image corresponding to the reference text; and displaying the second featured region in a third manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second manner.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
215 words
A computer readable medium bearing sequences of instructions for outputting search results, said sequences of instructions comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: recognizing characters in a plurality of document images to produce respective document texts; determining regions of the document images that correspond to words of the respective document texts; receiving an input indicating one or more search terms; retrieving a matching document text from among the document texts based on the one or more search terms, wherein the matching document text includes at least one matching word that matches one of the search terms; displaying, in a first manner, a matching document image corresponding to the matching document text; determining a featured region in the matching document image that includes a matching region in the matching document image corresponding to the matching word; displaying the featured region in a second manner visually distinct from the first manner; determining a reference text in the document text, said reference text being different from any of the one or more search terms; determining a second featured region in the matching document image to include regions of the document image corresponding to the reference text; and displaying the second featured region in a third manner visually distinct from the first manner and the second manner.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
38 words
The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the step of determining a reference text in the document text includes the step of retrieving the reference text from a reference database on the one or more search terms.
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