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US6182090B1 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method and apparatus for pointing to documents electronically using features extracted from a scanned icon representing a destination

Assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
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Filing: 1997-03-31
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Granted: 2001-01-30
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Expires: 2017-03-31
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Abstract

Abstract An example page taken from each document in a document database is processed by a page processor to yield an iconic representation for the example page. To form the iconic representation, the example page is segmented into text regions, line art regions, photograph regions, etc., and each region is reduced in a manner appropriate for that image type. Text is replaced with a block font and reduced, while graphics are reduced in level and/or spatial resolution. The reduced regions of the example page are then reassembled into the icon. When multiple icons are printed on a guide page, a user can visually identify the icon for an example page of a target document and supply the icon, or a label for the icon, to a document retrieval system, which selects candidate matching documents from the document database. For simplified processing, characters can be blocked and words formed into solid line segments with lengths proportional to word lengths.

Inventors

  • 👤 Mark Peairs

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 10:42
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T11/00; G06T11/60; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/50; G06F16/54; G06F16/58; G06F16/583; G06F16/5846; G06F16/90; G06F16/93; G06V; G06V30/00; G06V30/10; G06V30/18; G06V30/18086; G06V30/18095; G06V30/40; G06V30/41; G06V30/414; G06V30/418; H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/40; H04N1/40062; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99936

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 88 words
A method of routing a document electronically, comprising the steps of: generating a plurality of destination icons to form a guide page, wherein a destination icon is a representation of a specific destination; selecting at least one destination icon from said guide page; marking said selected destination icon; extracting at least one feature of said selected destination icon; using said extracted feature to electronically identify at least one electronic address of said specific destination correspondinf to said extracted freature; and electonically routing said document to said electronic address.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 88 words
A method of routing a document electronically, comprising the steps of: generating a plurality of destination icons to form a guide page, wherein a destination icon is a representation of a specific destination; selecting at least one destination icon from said guide page; marking said selected destination icon; extracting at least one feature of said selected destination icon; using said extracted feature to electronically identify at least one electronic address of said specific destination correspondinf to said extracted freature; and electonically routing said document to said electronic address.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said specific destinations correspond to specific people.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said specific destinations correspond to specific groups of people.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said destination icons are comprised of destination symbols.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said destination icons are comprised of pictures and names.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 26 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of entering said selected destination icon into a document server system prior to said extraction step.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 20 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein said entering step further comprises the step of scanning, said selected destination icon.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2004-01-30 2004-07-31 2005-01-30 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2008-01-30 2008-07-31 2009-01-30 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2012-01-30 2012-07-31 2013-01-30 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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