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US6199073B1 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Automatic archiving of documents during their transfer between a peripheral device and a processing device

Assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
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Filing: 1997-09-26
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Granted: 2001-03-06
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Expires: 2017-09-26
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Abstract

Abstract A system and method for processing documents is described. The system and method provide for executing a command as part of the execution of an application program, where execution of the command causes the transfer of the document between a processing device in a computer system and a peripheral device. The present invention also provides for transferring the document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command. The present invention further provides for archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command and transparently to the execution of the application program.

Inventors

  • 👤 Mark Peairs
  • 👤 Jonathan J. Hull
  • 👤 John Cullen
  • 👤 Kiyoshi Suzuki

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 17:51
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/21; G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/14; G06F11/1446; G06F11/1458; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/93; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/08; G06Q10/087; G06Q99/00; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99933; Y10S707/99935; Y10S707/99951; Y10S707/99952; Y10S707/99955

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 39
Claim 1
Independent Claim 89 words
A method for processing documents in a computer system, the method comprising: executing a command, as part of execution of an application program, to transfer a document between a processing device in the computer system and a peripheral device; transferring document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command; and archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command to transfer the document between the processing device and the peripheral device transparently to the application program.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 89 words
A method for processing documents in a computer system, the method comprising: executing a command, as part of execution of an application program, to transfer a document between a processing device in the computer system and a peripheral device; transferring document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command; and archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command to transfer the document between the processing device and the peripheral device transparently to the application program.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 26 words
The method defined in claim 1 wherein the step of archiving the document data is performed transparently to an operating system running on the computer system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 63 words
The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of archiving the document data comprises: running software on the computer system to monitor a device driver for the peripheral device while the application program runs; capturing the document data when the device driver operates to invoke transfer of the document data; and converting the document data to an image of the document data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 33 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the document image is stored in a format that includes one format from the group consisting of Postscript, PCL, TIFF, GIFF, PDF and FLAS 4 PIX.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 17 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the document image is stored in a text file format.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the memory is a storage device in which storage is partitioned between a file archiving system and a document archiving system.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 24 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the document data is stored as a record in a database maintained in a remote storage facility.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the document data is stored as a record in a database maintained in a paperless printer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the document data is stored as an entry in a database maintained in the storage device.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising capturing a source filename of the document.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method defined in claim 10 , further comprising providing links between an archived document data and the original document data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 20 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device is coupled to a network interface of the computer system.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising accessing archived documents via a browser interface.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 22 words
The method defined in claim 13 further comprising accessing files stored in the memory storing the archived documents using the browser interface.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method defined in claim 13 further comprising requesting a subset of all documents stored based on object type.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 20 words
The method defined in claim 15 further comprising requesting a subset of all documents stored based on application program type.
Claim 18
Independent Claim 78 words
A method for automatically archiving document images in a computer system, the method comprising the steps of: monitoring transfers of document data between peripheral devices in the computer system and at least one processing device running application programs in the computer system; capturing a copy of all document data transferred between the peripheral devices and the at least one processing device transparently to the application program; and storing the document data in a memory in the computer system.
Claim 19
Independent Claim 78 words
A method for automatically archiving document images in a computer system, the method comprising the steps of: monitoring transfers of document data between peripheral devices in the computer system and at least one processing device running application programs in the computer system; capturing a copy of all document data transferred between the peripheral devices and the at least one processing device transparently to the application program; and storing the document data in a memory in the computer system.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method of claim 17 further comprising: capturing electronic activities of computer system processing; and storing a document containing a record of the electronic activities in the memory.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 24 words
The method of claim 17 further comprising: capturing completion of a network document; and storing the network document as a record in the memory.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method defined in claim 17 wherein storing the document data is performed transparently to the operating system.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 56 words
The method of claim 17 , further comprising: running software on the computer system to monitor a device driver for the peripheral device while application programs run; capturing the document data when the device driver operates to evoke transfer of document data; and converting the document data in an image of the document data for storage.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method of claim 17 , wherein the memory is a storage device in which storage is partitioned between a file archiving system and a document archiving system.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 17 , further comprising accessing archived documents via a browser interface.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method defined in claim 23 , further comprising accessing files stored in the memory using the browser interface.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method defined in claim 17 , further comprising: capturing a source filename of the document; and providing links between archived document data and the original document data.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 89 words
A computer system comprising: at least one peripheral device; a memory storing at least one application program and an archiving program; a bus coupled to the memory and the at least one peripheral device; a processor coupled to the bus, the processor running at least one application program and the archiving program to automatically capture documents created during execution of said at least one application program and store captured documents in the memory via execution of the archiving program transparently with respect to said at least one application program.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 89 words
A computer system comprising: at least one peripheral device; a memory storing at least one application program and an archiving program; a bus coupled to the memory and the at least one peripheral device; a processor coupled to the bus, the processor running at least one application program and the archiving program to automatically capture documents created during execution of said at least one application program and store captured documents in the memory via execution of the archiving program transparently with respect to said at least one application program.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 35 words
The system defined in claim 26 wherein the processor executes a command to transfer the document and the archiving program monitors a device driver of said at least one application program to capture the document.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 30 words
The system defined in claim 26 wherein the memory stores an operating system which is executed by the processor and wherein the documents are captured transparently to the operating system.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim 22 words
The system defined in claim 26 wherein the computer system is partitioned between a file archiving system and a document archiving system.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim 30 words
The system defined in claim 26 wherein the archiving program includes an interface which is generated by the processor to enable accessing of the archived documents via a browser interface.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim 19 words
The system defined in claim 30 wherein files stored in the memory are also accessed via the browser interface.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim 107 words
A computer software product including a medium readable by a processor, the medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to: execute a command, as part of execution of an application program, to transfer a document between a processing device in the computer system and a peripheral device; transfer document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command; and archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command to transfer the document between the processing device and the peripheral device transparently to the application program.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim 107 words
A computer software product including a medium readable by a processor, the medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to: execute a command, as part of execution of an application program, to transfer a document between a processing device in the computer system and a peripheral device; transfer document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command; and archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command to transfer the document between the processing device and the peripheral device transparently to the application program.
Claim 37
Independent Claim 94 words
An apparatus for processing documents in computer systems comprising: means for executing a command, as part of execution of an application program, to transfer a document between a processing device in the computer system and a peripheral device; means for transmitting document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command; and means for archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command to transfer the document between the processing device and the peripheral device transparently to execution of the application program.
Claim 38
Independent Claim 94 words
An apparatus for processing documents in computer systems comprising: means for executing a command, as part of execution of an application program, to transfer a document between a processing device in the computer system and a peripheral device; means for transmitting document data between the processing device and the peripheral device in response to the command; and means for archiving the document data in a memory in the computer system in response to the command to transfer the document between the processing device and the peripheral device transparently to execution of the application program.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim 30 words
The apparatus defined in claim 33 further comprising: means for capturing a source filename of the document, and means for providing links between archived document data and the electronic originals.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2004-03-05 2004-09-04 2005-03-06 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2008-03-05 2008-09-04 2009-03-06 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2012-03-05 2012-09-04 2013-03-06 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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