US6724926B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Networked automated document processing system and method
Assignee: Cummins Allison Corp
•
Filing: 2002-01-08
•
Granted: 2004-04-20
•
Expires: 2022-01-08
Abstract
Abstract A document processing system comprises an input receptacle for receiving documents. A transport mechanism receives the documents from the input receptacle and transports the documents past a full image scanner and a discrimination unit. An output receptacle receives the documents from the transport mechanism after being transported past the full image scanner and the discrimination unit. The full image scanner includes means for obtaining a full video image of said documents, means for obtaining a image of a selected area of said documents, and means for obtaining information contained in said selected area of said document. The discrimination unit includes means for determining the authenticity of said document. A system controller directs the flows of documents over the transport mechanism.
Inventors
- 👤 John E. Jones
- 👤 Paul A. Jones
- 👤 William J. Jones
- 👤 Douglas U. Mennie
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 08:22
CPC Classifications
G; G07; G07D; G07D7/00; G07D7/06; G07D7/12; G06; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/10; G06Q20/00; G06Q20/04; G06Q20/042; G06Q20/0425; G06Q20/08; G06Q20/10; G06Q20/105; G06Q20/108; G06Q20/1085; G06Q20/18; G06Q20/20; G06Q40/00; G06Q40/02; G06T; G06T1/00; G06V; G06V30/00; G06V30/10; G06V30/12; G06V30/127; G06V30/26; G06V30/262; G06V30/274; G07D11/00; G07D11/50; G07D7/1205; G07D7/20; G07F; G07F19/00; G07F19/20; G07F19/202; G07F19/207; G07F7/00; G07F7/04; G07D7/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 74
Claim 1
Independent Claim
169 words
A system for processing documents comprising: a multitude of compact image processing units coupled together to form a network, each unit comprising: an input receptacle for receiving documents; an image scanner; a discrimination unit; a transport mechanism coupled to the input receptacle for receiving the documents from the input receptacle and transporting the documents past the image scanner and the discrimination unit; an output receptacle for receiving documents from the transport mechanism after the documents have been transported past the image scanner and the discrimination unit; the image scanner being adapted to obtain video images of the documents, the scanner further being adapted to recognize fields within the documents and to extract information from the fields; the discrimination unit including an authenticator adapted to determine the authenticity of the documents; and an interface adapted to communicate extracted field information; and an outside accounting system connected to the interface of each of the image processing units, the outside accounting system being adapted to update financial accounts associated with the documents.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
169 words
A system for processing documents comprising: a multitude of compact image processing units coupled together to form a network, each unit comprising: an input receptacle for receiving documents; an image scanner; a discrimination unit; a transport mechanism coupled to the input receptacle for receiving the documents from the input receptacle and transporting the documents past the image scanner and the discrimination unit; an output receptacle for receiving documents from the transport mechanism after the documents have been transported past the image scanner and the discrimination unit; the image scanner being adapted to obtain video images of the documents, the scanner further being adapted to recognize fields within the documents and to extract information from the fields; the discrimination unit including an authenticator adapted to determine the authenticity of the documents; and an interface adapted to communicate extracted field information; and an outside accounting system connected to the interface of each of the image processing units, the outside accounting system being adapted to update financial accounts associated with the documents.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the output receptacle is a single bin.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 2 , further comprising a stacking wheel comprising flexible blades positioned to restack documents in the single bin.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the output receptacle is two bins.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 4 , wherein one of the two bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 4 , further comprising a stacking wheel comprising flexible blades positioned to restack documents in each of the two bins.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the output receptacle is a plurality of bins.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 7 , wherein one of the plurality of bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 7 , further comprising a stacking wheel comprising flexible blades positioned to restack documents in each of the plurality of bins.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 1 , further comprising a communications panel adapted to communicate operational instructions to a user.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the outside accounting system is adapted for storing, tracking, and analyzing the extracted field information received from each of the image processing units.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 1 , further comprising a discriminator functionality associated with the scanner for automatically authenticating the documents using the extracted field information.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with their wide dimension parallel to a direction of transport.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with their narrow dimension parallel to a direction of transport.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the multitude of image processing units are located at teller windows and retailers.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the documents comprise financial institution documents.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 16 , wherein the financial institution documents comprise at least one of checks, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, loan payment documents, and cash tickets.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
11 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the documents comprise currency bills.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the transport mechanism is further adapted to process at a rate of at least 800 documents per minute.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
148 words
A system for processing documents comprising: a multitude of image processing units communicatively coupled together to form a network, each of the units comprising: an input receptacle for receiving documents; an image scanner; a transport mechanism coupled to the input receptacle for receiving the documents from the input receptacle and transporting the documents past the image scanner; an output receptacle for receiving the documents from the transport mechanism after being transported past the image scanner; the image scanner being adapted to obtain video images of the documents, the scanner further being adapted to recognize fields within the documents and to extract information from the fields; and an interface adapted to communicate the information extracted from selected fields of the documents; and an outside accounting system, connected to the interface of each of the image processing units, processing deposits to and withdrawals from personalized accounts associated with the documents.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
148 words
A system for processing documents comprising: a multitude of image processing units communicatively coupled together to form a network, each of the units comprising: an input receptacle for receiving documents; an image scanner; a transport mechanism coupled to the input receptacle for receiving the documents from the input receptacle and transporting the documents past the image scanner; an output receptacle for receiving the documents from the transport mechanism after being transported past the image scanner; the image scanner being adapted to obtain video images of the documents, the scanner further being adapted to recognize fields within the documents and to extract information from the fields; and an interface adapted to communicate the information extracted from selected fields of the documents; and an outside accounting system, connected to the interface of each of the image processing units, processing deposits to and withdrawals from personalized accounts associated with the documents.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the output receptacle is a single bin.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 2 , further comprising a stacking wheel comprising flexible blades positioned to restack documents in the single bin.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the output receptacle is two bins.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 23 , wherein one of the two bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 20 , further comprising a stacking wheel comprising flexible blades positioned to restack documents in each of the two bins.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the output receptacle is a plurality of bins.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 26 , wherein one of the plurality of bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 26 , further comprising a stacking wheel comprising flexible blades positioned to restack documents in each of the plurality of bins.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the outside accounting system is a deposit system which credits personalized accounts based on the extracted field information.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the outside accounting system is a withdrawal system which debits personalized accounts based on the extracted field information.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 20 , further comprising a teller monitor coupled to display document images.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with their wide dimension parallel to a direction of transport.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions and the documents are transported with their narrow dimension parallel to a direction of transport.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the transport mechanism is further adapted to process at a rate of at least 800 documents per minute.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 20 wherein the documents comprise financial institution documents.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 35 , wherein the financial institution documents comprise checks, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, loan payment documents, and cash tickets.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
11 words
The system of claim 20 wherein the documents comprise currency bills.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
108 words
A method for processing documents comprising: connecting a multitude of compact image processing units together to form a network; processing documents at each image processing unit, the processing comprising: receiving documents in an input receptacle; transporting the documents from the input receptacle past an image scanner and a discrimination unit to an output receptacle; obtaining by the image scanner of images of the documents; recognizing fields within the documents; extracting information from the fields; determining by the discrimination unit the authenticity of the documents; and communicating extracted field information to an outside accounting system; and updating by the outside accounting system of financial accounts associated with the documents.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
108 words
A method for processing documents comprising: connecting a multitude of compact image processing units together to form a network; processing documents at each image processing unit, the processing comprising: receiving documents in an input receptacle; transporting the documents from the input receptacle past an image scanner and a discrimination unit to an output receptacle; obtaining by the image scanner of images of the documents; recognizing fields within the documents; extracting information from the fields; determining by the discrimination unit the authenticity of the documents; and communicating extracted field information to an outside accounting system; and updating by the outside accounting system of financial accounts associated with the documents.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 38 , wherein the output receptacle is a single bin.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 39 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises restacking documents in the single bin.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 38 , wherein the output receptacle is two bins.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein one of the two bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises restacking documents in each of the two bins.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 38 , wherein the output receptacle is a plurality of bins.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 44 , wherein one of the plurality of bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 44 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises restacking documents in each of the plurality of bins.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 38 , further including the steps of storing, tracking, and analyzing, by the outside accounting system, of the information received from each of the image processing units.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 38 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises authenticating, by the scanner, the documents using the extracted field information.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 38 , wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions and the transporting of documents is performed with their narrow dimension parallel to a direction of transport.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 38 wherein the documents comprise financial institution documents.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 50 , wherein the financial institution documents comprise at least one of checks, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, loan payment documents, and cash tickets.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 38 wherein the documents comprise currency bills.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 38 , wherein the transporting of documents is performed at a rate of at least 800 documents per minute.
Claim 57
Independent Claim
107 words
A method for processing documents comprising: coupling a multitude of image processing units communicatively together to form a network; processing documents in each of the image processing units, the processing of documents comprising: receiving documents in an input receptacle; transporting the documents from the input receptacle past an image scanner to an output receptacle; obtaining by the image scanner of images of the documents; recognizing fields within the documents; extracting information from the fields; and communicating the information extracted from selected fields of the document to an outside accounting system; and processing deposits to and withdrawals from personalized accounts associated with the documents [automatically and substantially immediately].
Claim 58
Independent Claim
107 words
A method for processing documents comprising: coupling a multitude of image processing units communicatively together to form a network; processing documents in each of the image processing units, the processing of documents comprising: receiving documents in an input receptacle; transporting the documents from the input receptacle past an image scanner to an output receptacle; obtaining by the image scanner of images of the documents; recognizing fields within the documents; extracting information from the fields; and communicating the information extracted from selected fields of the document to an outside accounting system; and processing deposits to and withdrawals from personalized accounts associated with the documents [automatically and substantially immediately].
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the output receptacle is a single bin.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 55 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises restacking documents in the single bin.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the output receptacle is two bins.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 57 , wherein one of the two bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 57 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises restacking documents in each of the two bins.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the output receptacle is a plurality of bins.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 60 , wherein one of the plurality of bins is an off sort bin.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 60 , wherein the processing of documents further comprises restacking documents in each of the plurality of bins.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the updating by the outside accounting system performs a deposit which credits personalized accounts based on the extracted field information.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the updating by the outside accounting system performs a withdrawal which debits personalized accounts based on the extracted field information.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 54 , further comprising displaying of document images.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the documents have wide and narrow dimensions and the transporting of documents conveys the documents with their narrow dimension parallel to a direction of transport.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 54 , wherein the transporting of documents conveys at a rate of at least 800 documents per minute.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 54 wherein the documents comprise financial institution documents.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 68 , wherein the financial institution documents comprise checks, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, loan payment documents, and cash tickets.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 54 wherein the documents comprise currency bills.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US446303A
Cited
US2750949A
Cited
US2669998A
Cited
US2835260A
Cited
US2936684A
Cited
US3246295A
Cited
US3148932A
Cited
US3280974A
Cited
US3104314A
Cited
US3150912A
Cited
US3443107A
Cited
US3480785A
Cited
US3496370A
Cited
US3509535A
Cited
US3618765A
Cited
US3679314A
Cited
US3612835A
Cited
US3656615A
Cited
US3725667A
Cited
US3715031A
Cited
US3778628A
Cited
US3798603A
Cited
US3806710A
Cited
US3782543A
Cited
US3815021A
Cited
US3764899A
Cited
USRE31692E
Cited
US3800078A
Cited
US3842281A
Cited
US3930582A
Cited
US3870629A
Cited
US3976198A
Cited
US3906449A
Cited
US3966047A
Cited
US4096991A
Cited
US4023011A
Cited
US4355369A
Cited
US4109238A
Cited
US4040010A
Cited
US4041456A
Cited
US4114804A
Cited
US4179685A
Cited
US4147430A
Cited
US4180798A
Cited
US4205780A
Cited
US4166945A
Cited
US4237378A
Cited
US4302781A
Cited
US4187463A
Cited
US4277774A
Cited
US4255651A
Cited
US4264808A
Cited
US4310885A
Cited
US4288781A
Cited
GB2038063A
Cited
US4449240A
Cited
US4250806A
Cited
US4334619A
Cited
US4311914A
Cited
US4275874A
Cited
US4326636A
Cited
US4231014A
Cited
US4283708A
Cited
US4442541A
Cited
US4313598A
Cited
US4348656A
Cited
US4386432A
Cited
US4352988A
Cited
US4321672A
Cited
US4355300A
Cited
US4337864A
Cited
US4349111A
Cited
US4360034A
Cited
US4396902A
Cited
US4381447A
Cited
US4420153A
Cited
US4356473A
Cited
US4461028A
Cited
US4569421A
Cited
US4490846A
Cited
US4480177A
Cited
US4530067A
Cited
US4383540A
Cited
US4441205A
Cited
US4464786A
Cited
US4464787A
Cited
US4547896A
Cited
US4487306A
Cited
EP0071421A2
Cited
US4592090A
Cited
US4416299A
Cited
EP0185200A2
Cited
EP0077464A2
Cited
US4587434A
Cited
US4544266A
Cited
US4542829A
Cited
US4559451A
Cited
EP0083062B1
Cited
US4582172A
Cited
US4553846A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2007-04-20 | 2007-10-20 | 2008-04-20 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-04-20 | 2011-10-20 | 2012-04-20 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-04-20 | 2015-10-20 | 2016-04-20 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |