US6738491B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Image forming apparatus and copy management system
Assignee: Minolta Co Ltd
•
Filing: 1997-08-14
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Granted: 2004-05-18
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Expires: 2017-08-14
Abstract
Abstract Additional data useful for the management of copies of a document for an image forming apparatus is embedded in a hard copy of the document. The additional data is embedded in an image of a document as discrete dots arranged in a prescribed format. Preferably, the size of each of said discrete dots is such as not to be recognized easily with the naked eye. The image data for embedding the additional data can be obtained by reading a document, or by receiving data sent from a computer. Additional data embedded in a hard copy can be extracted from the image data on the hard copy. Further, the production of a copy according to the image data, can be controlled according to the extracted additional data. Additional data is generated for each copy according to the extracted additional data for embedding it in a hard copy to identify each copy.
Inventors
- 👤 Yoshikazu Ikenoue
- 👤 Hideo Kumashiro
- 👤 Munehiro Nakatani
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 18:04
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/00838; H04N1/0084; G; G06; G06T; G06T1/00; G06T1/0021; G06T1/0028; H04N1/00843; H04N1/00846; H04N1/00854; H04N1/00856; H04N1/00864; H04N1/00867; H04N1/0087; H04N1/00875; H04N1/00877; H04N1/32; H04N1/32101; H04N1/32144; H04N1/32149; H04N1/32203; H04N1/32208; H04N1/32213; H04N1/32229; H04N1/32251; H04N1/32261; H04N1/32288; G06T2201/00; G06T2201/005; G06T2201/0051; G06T2201/0061; G06T2201/0064; H04N2201/00; H04N2201/32; H04N2201/3201; H04N2201/3204; H04N2201/3205; H04N2201/3212; H04N2201/3214; H04N2201/3215; H04N2201/3225; H04N2201/3226; H04N2201/3232; H04N2201/3242; H04N2201/3246; H04N2201/3269; H04N2201/327; H04N2201/3274; H04N2201/328; H04N2201/3283; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S283/00; Y10S283/901; Y10S283/902
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 46
Claim 1
Independent Claim
62 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting image data; an extracting device for extracting additional data embedded in input image data; and an analyzer for analyzing a distribution path from original image data, which corresponds to such input image data, to the input image data by said input device based on that additional data extracted by said extracting device.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
62 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting image data; an extracting device for extracting additional data embedded in input image data; and an analyzer for analyzing a distribution path from original image data, which corresponds to such input image data, to the input image data by said input device based on that additional data extracted by said extracting device.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein additional data have a plurality of kinds of information, and said analyzer is adapted to make an analysis based on the plurality of kinds of information in additional data extracted by said extracting device.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
62 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: an input device to input image data; an extracting device to extract additional data embedded in input image data inputted by said input device; and an embedding device to prepare new additional data, based on additional data extracted by said extracting device, and to embed the new additional data in image data inputted by said input device.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
62 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: an input device to input image data; an extracting device to extract additional data embedded in input image data inputted by said input device; and an embedding device to prepare new additional data, based on additional data extracted by said extracting device, and to embed the new additional data in image data inputted by said input device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
80 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: an input device to input first image data; a search means to search for an area to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device; and an embedding device to change density levels of pixels of image data included in an area searched by said search means, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, and to embed the additional data in the image data inputted by said input device.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
80 words
An image forming apparatus comprising: an input device to input first image data; a search means to search for an area to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device; and an embedding device to change density levels of pixels of image data included in an area searched by said search means, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, and to embed the additional data in the image data inputted by said input device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
248 words
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an input device for inputting image data; an embedding device to embed at least first additional data and second additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the first additional data and the second additional data are the same, wherein the embedding device is adapted to synthesize the first and second additional data and the image data inputted by said input device such that an output image data provided by the embedding device includes the image data, at least a first pixel group and at least a second pixel group within the input image data, the first and second pixel groups having a predetermined pattern and having selected ones of the pixels in each pixel group altered or unaltered, wherein at least one pixel in the first pixel group represents a binary digit of the first additional data indicated by whether the one pixel in the fires pixel group is altered or unaltered and at least one pixel in the second pixel group represents a binary digit of the second additional data indicated by whether the one pixel in the second pixel group is altered or unaltered, wherein the output image is substantively identical visually to an image representative of image data inputted by said input device; and wherein in the output image the first additional data assumes a first orientation and the second additional data assumes a second orientation, and said first orientation and said second orientation are different.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
248 words
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an input device for inputting image data; an embedding device to embed at least first additional data and second additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the first additional data and the second additional data are the same, wherein the embedding device is adapted to synthesize the first and second additional data and the image data inputted by said input device such that an output image data provided by the embedding device includes the image data, at least a first pixel group and at least a second pixel group within the input image data, the first and second pixel groups having a predetermined pattern and having selected ones of the pixels in each pixel group altered or unaltered, wherein at least one pixel in the first pixel group represents a binary digit of the first additional data indicated by whether the one pixel in the fires pixel group is altered or unaltered and at least one pixel in the second pixel group represents a binary digit of the second additional data indicated by whether the one pixel in the second pixel group is altered or unaltered, wherein the output image is substantively identical visually to an image representative of image data inputted by said input device; and wherein in the output image the first additional data assumes a first orientation and the second additional data assumes a second orientation, and said first orientation and said second orientation are different.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
66 words
An apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the embedding device is adapted to embed the first additional data at a first position in a reproduced image representative of the image data including the first additional data and the second additional data and to embed the second additional data at a second position in such reproduced image, and the first position differs from the second position.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein each pixel of the first and second pixel groups corresponds to a pixel of the image data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
89 words
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an input device for inputting image data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
89 words
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an input device for inputting image data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
46 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device for extracting additional data embedded in inputted image data; and an analyzer for analyzing a distribution path from original image data, which corresponds to such input image data, to the inputted image data based on extracted additional data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
46 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device for extracting additional data embedded in inputted image data; and an analyzer for analyzing a distribution path from original image data, which corresponds to such input image data, to the inputted image data based on extracted additional data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein additional data have a plurality of kinds of information, and said analyzer is adapted to make an analysis based on the plurality of kinds of information in additional data extracted by said extracting device.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device to extract additional data embedded in inputted image data; and an embedding device to prepare new additional data, based on extracted additional data, and to embed the new additional data in inputted image data.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device to extract additional data embedded in inputted image data; and an embedding device to prepare new additional data, based on extracted additional data, and to embed the new additional data in inputted image data.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
63 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: search means to search for an area to embed additional data in input image data; and an embedding device to change density levels of pixels of image data included in an area searched by said search means, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, and to embed the additional data in the input image data.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
63 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: search means to search for an area to embed additional data in input image data; and an embedding device to change density levels of pixels of image data included in an area searched by said search means, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, and to embed the additional data in the input image data.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
150 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting image data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the embedding device is adapted to embed the additional data within the image data inputted by said input device such that an output image data provided by the embedding device includes the image data and at least one pixel group within the image data, the one pixel group having a predetermined pattern and having selected ones of the pixels in the one pixel group altered or unaltered, wherein at least one pixel in the one pixel group represents a binary digit of the additional data indicated by whether the one pixel is altered or unaltered, and wherein the output image data including the additional data is substantively identical visually to an image representative of image data inputted by said input device.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
150 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting image data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the embedding device is adapted to embed the additional data within the image data inputted by said input device such that an output image data provided by the embedding device includes the image data and at least one pixel group within the image data, the one pixel group having a predetermined pattern and having selected ones of the pixels in the one pixel group altered or unaltered, wherein at least one pixel in the one pixel group represents a binary digit of the additional data indicated by whether the one pixel is altered or unaltered, and wherein the output image data including the additional data is substantively identical visually to an image representative of image data inputted by said input device.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
66 words
An apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the embedding device is adapted to embed the first additional data at a first position in said reproduced image representative of the image data including the first additional data and the second additional data and to embed the second additional data at a second position in such reproduced image, and the first position differs from the second position.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
27 words
An image forming apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein each pixel of the at least one pixel group corresponds to a pixel of the image data.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
89 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting image data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
89 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting image data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in image data inputted by said input device, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
47 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device for extracting embedded additional data in inputted data; and an analyzer for analyzing a distribution path from original data, which corresponds to such input data, to the inputted data, wherein the distribution path is derived from extracted additional data.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
47 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device for extracting embedded additional data in inputted data; and an analyzer for analyzing a distribution path from original data, which corresponds to such input data, to the inputted data, wherein the distribution path is derived from extracted additional data.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
40 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device to extract embedded additional data in inputted data; and an embedding device to prepare new additional data, based on extracted additional data, and to embed the new additional data in inputted data.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
40 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: an extracting device to extract embedded additional data in inputted data; and an embedding device to prepare new additional data, based on extracted additional data, and to embed the new additional data in inputted data.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
58 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: search means to search for an area to embed additional data in input data; and an embedding device to change a prescribed characteristic level included in an area searched by said search means, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, and to embed the additional data in the input data.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
58 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: search means to search for an area to embed additional data in input data; and an embedding device to change a prescribed characteristic level included in an area searched by said search means, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, and to embed the additional data in the input data.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
87 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in data inputted by said input device, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
87 words
A data processing apparatus comprising: an input device for inputting data; and an embedding device to embed additional data in data inputted by said input device, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
55 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting image data; extracting additional data embedded in inputted image data; and analyzing a distribution path from original image data, which corresponds to such inputted image data, to the inputted image data based on extracted additional data.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
55 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting image data; extracting additional data embedded in inputted image data; and analyzing a distribution path from original image data, which corresponds to such inputted image data, to the inputted image data based on extracted additional data.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
50 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting image data; extracting additional data embedded in inputted image data; and preparing new additional data, based on extracted additional data, and embedding the new additional data in said inputted image data.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
50 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting image data; extracting additional data embedded in inputted image data; and preparing new additional data, based on extracted additional data, and embedding the new additional data in said inputted image data.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
74 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting first image data; searching inputted first image data for an area to embed additional data; and changing density levels of pixels of the inputted first image data included in a searched area, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, so as to embed the additional data in the inputted first image data.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
74 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting first image data; searching inputted first image data for an area to embed additional data; and changing density levels of pixels of the inputted first image data included in a searched area, in a manner representative of additional data to be embedded, so as to embed the additional data in the inputted first image data.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
90 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting image data; and embedding additional data in inputted image data, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
90 words
A method of processing data so as to embed additional data in image data comprising the steps of: inputting image data; and embedding additional data in inputted image data, wherein the additional data are a plurality of predefined, discontinuous data units, and each data unit includes at least one indicator that establishes a predefined relationship with respect to at least one other data unit, and wherein at least a portion of said plurality of data units are combinable, based on said predefined relationship, to form a single set of information.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
56 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an input device to input image data; an extracting device to extract additional data embedded in input image data; a generator to generate new additional data, wherein the new additional data has a relationship with extracted additional data; and an embedding device to embed new additional data in input image data.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
56 words
An image processing apparatus comprising: an input device to input image data; an extracting device to extract additional data embedded in input image data; a generator to generate new additional data, wherein the new additional data has a relationship with extracted additional data; and an embedding device to embed new additional data in input image data.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
39 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: inputting image data; extracting additional data embedded in input image data; generating new additional data having a relationship to extracted additional data; and embedding new additional data in input image data.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
39 words
An image processing method comprising the steps of: inputting image data; extracting additional data embedded in input image data; generating new additional data having a relationship to extracted additional data; and embedding new additional data in input image data.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2007-05-18 | 2007-11-17 | 2008-05-18 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-05-18 | 2011-11-17 | 2012-05-18 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-05-18 | 2015-11-17 | 2016-05-18 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |