US5987457A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Query refinement method for searching documents
Assignee: Hanger Solutions LLC
•
Filing: 1997-11-25
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Granted: 1999-11-16
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Expires: 2017-11-25
Abstract
Abstract A user views search results and subjectively determines if a document is desirable or undesirable. Only documents categorized by the user are analyzed for deriving a list of prospective keywords. The frequency of occurrence of each word of each document is derived. Keywords that occur only in desirable documents are good keywords. Keywords that occur only in undesirable documents are bad keywords. Keywords that occurs in both types are dirty keywords. The best keywords are the good keywords with the highest frequency of occurrence. The worst keywords are the bad keywords with the highest frequency of occurrence. A new query phrase includes the highest ranked good keywords and performs filtering using the highest ranked bad keywords. Key phrases are derived to clean dirty keywords into good key phrases. A key phrase also is derived from a good keyword and replaces the good keyword to narrow a search.
Inventors
- 👤 Clinton L. Ballard
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 13:59
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/95; G06F16/953; G06F16/9532; G06F16/9535; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99932; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99935
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 48
Claim 1
Independent Claim
162 words
A method for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising the steps of: categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; categorizing at least one other document found in the search using the initial query phrase as not of interest based upon feedback from the user; generating a list of keywords by analyzing only the categorized documents; ranking as first keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the documents of interest; ranking as second keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the documents not of interest; forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked first keywords, and to filter out documents which include any one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked second keywords.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
162 words
A method for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising the steps of: categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; categorizing at least one other document found in the search using the initial query phrase as not of interest based upon feedback from the user; generating a list of keywords by analyzing only the categorized documents; ranking as first keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the documents of interest; ranking as second keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the documents not of interest; forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked first keywords, and to filter out documents which include any one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked second keywords.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of ranking as first keywords comprises ranking by number of documents of interest that each respective first keyword occurs in; and wherein the step of ranking as second keywords comprises ranking by number of documents not of interest that each respective second keyword occurs in.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 2, wherein ranking among a plurality of first keywords having a common number of documents of interest that each one of said plurality of first keywords occurs in is by number of occurrences.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of ranking as first keywords comprises ranking by number of occurrences of each respective first keyword, and wherein the step of ranking as second keywords comprises ranking by number of occurrences of each respective second keyword.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1, wherein of all the documents found in the search, the documents not categorized as `of interest` or `not of interest` are uncategorized.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1, wherein a user views a plurality of documents, and of all the documents viewed by the user, the documents not categorized as `of interest` by the user are categorized as `not of interest.`
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
96 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of documents of interest that the third keyword occurs in to the number of documents not of interest that the third keyword occurs in; wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
91 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of occurrences in the documents of interest to the number of occurrences in the documents not of interest; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
97 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of occurrences in the documents of interest to the total number of occurrences in both the documents of interest and documents not of interest; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
104 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: identifying as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest; for at least one of the third keywords, replacing said at least one of the third keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said at least one of the third keywords; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of the plurality of key phrases.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 10, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one of the third keywords in a document of interest and combining said one of the third keywords with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
121 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising for at least one of the first keywords, replacing said at least one of the first keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said at least one of the first keywords, and wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one of the first keywords and combining said one of the first keywords with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of the plurality of key phrases.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
177 words
A method for refining an initial query phrase to search for web pages on the world wide web that are of interest to a user, comprising the steps of: categorizing at least one web page found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; categorizing at least one other web page found in the search using the initial query phrase as not of interest based upon feedback from the user; generating a list of keywords by analyzing only the categorized web pages; ranking as first keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the web pages of interest; ranking as second keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the web pages not of interest; forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked first keywords, and to filter out web pages which include any one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked second keywords.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
177 words
A method for refining an initial query phrase to search for web pages on the world wide web that are of interest to a user, comprising the steps of: categorizing at least one web page found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; categorizing at least one other web page found in the search using the initial query phrase as not of interest based upon feedback from the user; generating a list of keywords by analyzing only the categorized web pages; ranking as first keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the web pages of interest; ranking as second keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in only the web pages not of interest; forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked first keywords, and to filter out web pages which include any one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked second keywords.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the step of ranking as first keywords comprises ranking by number of web pages of interest that each respective first keyword occurs in; and wherein the step of ranking as second keywords comprises ranking by number of web pages not of interest that each respective second keyword occurs in.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 14, wherein ranking among a plurality of first keywords having a common number of web pages of interest that each one of said plurality of first keywords occurs in is by number of occurrences.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the step of ranking as first keywords comprises ranking by number of occurrences of each respective first keyword, and wherein the step of ranking as second keywords comprises ranking by number of occurrences of each respective second keyword.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 13, wherein of all the web pages found in the search, the web pages not categorized as `of interest` or `not of interest` are uncategorized.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 13, wherein a user views a plurality of web pages, and of all the web pages viewed by the user, the web pages not categorized as `of interest` by the user are categorized as `not of interest.`
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
101 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the web pages of interest and the web pages not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of web pages of interest that the third keyword occurs in to the number of web pages not of interest that the third keyword occurs in; wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
96 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the web pages of interest and the web pages not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of occurrences in the web pages of interest to the number of occurrences in the web pages not of interest; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
103 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the web pages of interest and the web pages not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of occurrences in the web pages of interest to the total number of occurrences in both the we pages of interest and web pages not of interest; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
107 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of: identifying as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the web pages of interest and the web pages not of interest; for at least one of the third keywords, replacing said at least one of the third keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said at least one of the third keywords; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of the plurality of key phrases.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 22, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one of the third keywords in a web page of interest and combining said one of the third keywords with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
122 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising for at least one of the first keywords, replacing said at least one of the first keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said at least one of the first keywords, and wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one of the first keywords and combining said one of the first keywords with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence; and wherein the step of forming further comprises forming a refined query phrase to search for web pages which include one or more of the plurality of key phrases.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
163 words
A system for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising: a display device; an input device; means for accessing a document domain; processing means for categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; processing means for categorizing at least one other document found in the search using the initial query phrase as not of interest based upon feedback from the user, processing means for ranking as first keywords, words which occur in only the documents of interest; processing means for ranking as second keywords, words which occur in only the documents not of interest; processing means for forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked first keywords, and to filter out documents which include any one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked second keywords.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
163 words
A system for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising: a display device; an input device; means for accessing a document domain; processing means for categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; processing means for categorizing at least one other document found in the search using the initial query phrase as not of interest based upon feedback from the user, processing means for ranking as first keywords, words which occur in only the documents of interest; processing means for ranking as second keywords, words which occur in only the documents not of interest; processing means for forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked first keywords, and to filter out documents which include any one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked second keywords.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 25, wherein of all the documents found in the search, the documents not categorized as `of interest` or `not of interest` are uncategorized.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system of claim 25, wherein a user views a plurality of documents, and of all the documents viewed by the user, the documents not categorized as `of interest` by the user are categorized as `not of interest.`
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
59 words
The system of claim 25, wherein the processing means for ranking as first keywords comprises means for ranking by number of documents of interest that each respective first keyword occurs in; and wherein the processing means for ranking as second keywords comprises means for ranking by number of documents not of interest that each respective second keyword occurs in.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system of claim 28, wherein ranking among a plurality of first keywords having a common number of documents of interest that each one of said plurality of first keywords occurs in is by number of occurrences.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
50 words
The system of claim 25, wherein the processing means for ranking as first keywords comprises means for ranking by number of occurrences of each respective first keyword, and wherein the processing means for ranking as second keywords comprises means for ranking by number of occurrences of each respective second keyword.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
94 words
The system of claim 25, further comprising: processing means for ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of documents of interest that the third keyword occurs in to the number of documents not of interest that the third keyword occurs in; wherein the processing means for forming forms the refined query phrase to encompass documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
95 words
The system of claim 25, further comprising: processing means for ranking as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest based upon a ratio of the number of occurrences in the documents of interest to the total number of occurrences in both the documents of interest and documents not of interest; and wherein the processing means for forming forms the refined query phrase to encompass documents which include one or more of a plurality of the highest ranked third keywords.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
96 words
The system of claim 25, further comprising: processing means for identifying as third keywords, the keywords in the list of keywords which occur in both the documents of interest and the documents not of interest; processing means for replacing at least one of the third keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said at least one of the third keywords; and wherein the processing means for forming forms the refined query phrase to encompass documents which include one or more of the plurality of key phrases.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
177 words
A method for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising the steps of: categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; generating a list of words occurring in the at least one document categorized as of interest; ranking the words in said list of words as keywords; for at least one of the ranked keywords, replacing said one of the ranked keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said one ranked keyword, and wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one ranked keyword and combining said one ranked keyword with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence of said keyword in a document of interest; forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the keywords and key phrases.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
177 words
A method for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising the steps of: categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; generating a list of words occurring in the at least one document categorized as of interest; ranking the words in said list of words as keywords; for at least one of the ranked keywords, replacing said one of the ranked keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said one ranked keyword, and wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one ranked keyword and combining said one ranked keyword with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence of said keyword in a document of interest; forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the keywords and key phrases.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 34, wherein the step of ranking comprises ranking the words in said list of words by number of documents of interest that each respective word occurs in.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 35, wherein ranking among a plurality of words having a common number of documents of interest that each one of said plurality of words occurs in is by number of occurrences.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 34, wherein the step of ranking comprises ranking the words in said list of words by number of occurrences in the documents categorized as of interest.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 35, wherein the step of ranking comprises filtering out words in said list of words which occur in a list of words excluded from being keywords.
Claim 43
Independent Claim
182 words
A system for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising: a display device; an input device; means for accessing a document domain; processing means for categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; processing means for ranking keywords which occur in the documents of interest; for at least one of the ranked keywords, processing means for replacing said one of the ranked keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said one ranked keyword, and wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one ranked keyword and combining said one ranked keyword with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence of said keyword in a document of interest; and processing means for forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the keywords and key phrases.
Claim 44
Independent Claim
182 words
A system for refining an initial query phrase to search for documents of interest to a user, comprising: a display device; an input device; means for accessing a document domain; processing means for categorizing at least one document found in a search using the initial query phrase as of interest based upon feedback from the user; processing means for ranking keywords which occur in the documents of interest; for at least one of the ranked keywords, processing means for replacing said one of the ranked keywords with a plurality of key phrases, wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases includes said one ranked keyword, and wherein each one of the plurality of key phrases is obtained by finding an occurrence of said one ranked keyword and combining said one ranked keyword with either one of a preceding word or following word in the respective occurrence of said keyword in a document of interest; and processing means for forming a refined query phrase to search for documents which include one or more of a plurality of the keywords and key phrases.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system of claim 39, wherein the processing means for ranking comprises means for ranking the words in said list of words by number of documents of interest that each respective word occurs in.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 40, wherein the processing means for ranking comprises means for ranking among a plurality of words having a common number of documents of interest that each one of said plurality of words occurs in is by number of occurrences.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 39, wherein the processing means for ranking comprises means for ranking the words in said list of words by number of occurrences in the documents categorized as of interest.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 42, wherein the processing means for ranking comprises means for filtering out words in said list of words which occur in a list of words excluded from being keywords.
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