Techniques for performing actions based upon physical locations of paper documents

• US 20040079796A1
• Filed: 09/03/2002
• Published: 04/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey, Hull, Jonathan J., Lee, Dar-Shyang
• Granted Patent: US 7,884,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10079 the collision being resolved in the spatial domain, e.g. temporary shields for blindfolding the interrogator in specific directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10356 using a plurality of antennas, e.g. configurations including means to resolve interference between the plurality of antennas

Abstract

Techniques for performing one or more actions based upon physical locations of one or more paper documents. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the paper documents have identification tags physically associated with them. The physical locations of the paper documents are determined based upon information read from the identification tags physically associated with the paper documents. One or more actions are performed based upon the physical locations of the paper documents

Claims

1. A method of performing an action based upon physical locations of paper documents, the method comprising:

receiving information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the first physical location;

determining, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, paper document-related information for the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

performing the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is embedded in a page of the paper document.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is attached to the paper document.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the identification tag is attached to a staple that is attached to the at least one paper document.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the first physical location comprises:

determining one or more tag readers corresponding to the first physical location; and

receiving information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein determining the one or more tag readers corresponding to the first physical location comprises:

accessing tag reader location information identifying a plurality of tag readers and physical locations of the plurality of tag readers; and

identifying, based upon the tag reader location information, one or more tag readers from the plurality of tag readers corresponding to the first physical location.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein receiving information read by the one or more tag readers comprises:

sending a signal to each tag reader in the one or more tag readers instructing the tag reader to read information from identification tags that the tag reader can read; and

receiving information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents in response to the signal.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the paper document-related information corresponding to each paper document in the one or more paper documents comprises:

determining an identification code for each paper document from the information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code comprises:

accessing first information identifying a plurality of identification codes and paper document-related information associated with each identification code; and

determining for each paper document, from the first information, paper document-related information associated with an identification code that matches the identification code read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises printing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises photocopying a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises faxing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises emailing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the paper document-related information for the at least one paper document is included in the information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the first physical location.

15. A method of performing an action, the method comprising:

receiving information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the physical location;

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the physical location; and

performing the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a first paper document is located at the physical location; and

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises determining if the first paper document is included in the one or more paper documents.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises:

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determining an identification code for the paper document from the information read from the identification tags;

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determining paper document-related information for the paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document; and

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the paper document-related information determined for the one or more paper documents.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein performing the action comprises performing the action using paper document-related information for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a paper document having a first characteristic is located at the physical location; and

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises determining if the one or more paper documents includes at least one paper document having the first characteristic.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the physical location comprises:

determining one or more tag readers corresponding to the physical location; and

receiving information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

21. A system for performing an action based upon physical locations of paper documents, the system comprising:

a set of tag readers; and

a data processing system coupled to the set of tag readers;

wherein the data processing system is configured to receive information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

wherein the set of tag readers is configured to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the first physical location and to communicate the information read from the identification tags to the data processing system;

wherein the data processing system is configured to, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determine paper document-related information corresponding to the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

wherein the data processing system is configured to perform the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is embedded in a page of the paper document.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is attached to the paper document.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the identification tag is attached to a staple that is attached to the at least one paper document.

25. The system of claim 21 wherein the data processing system is configured to:

determine one or more tag readers from the set of tag readers corresponding to the first physical location; and

receive information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents from the one or more tag readers.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the data processing system is configured to:

send a signal to each tag reader in the one or more tag readers instructing the tag reader to read information from identification tags that the tag reader can read; and

receive information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents in response to the signal.

27. The system of claim 21 wherein the data processing system is configured to determine paper document-related information for each paper document in the one or more paper documents by:

determining an identification code for each paper document in the one or more paper documents from the information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document.

28. The system of claim 21 wherein the first action performed by the data processing system comprises at least one of printing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, photocopying a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, faxing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, and emailing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

29. The system of claim 21 wherein the paper document-related information for the at least one paper document is included in the information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the first physical location.

30. A system for performing an action, the system comprising:

a set of tag readers; and

a data processing system coupled to the set of tag readers;

wherein the data processing system is configured to receive information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

wherein one or more tag readers from the set of tag readers are configured to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the physical location and to communicate the information read from the identification tags to the data processing system;

wherein the data processing system is configured to determine if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the physical location, and to perform the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a first paper document is located at the physical location; and

the data processing system is configured to determine if the first paper document is included in the one or more paper documents.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein the data processing system is configured to:

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determine an identification code for the paper document from the information read from the identification tags;

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determine paper document-related information for the paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document; and

determine if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the paper document-related information determined for the one or more paper documents.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the data processing system is configured to perform the action using paper document-related information for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

34. The system of claim 30 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a paper document having a first characteristic is located at the physical location; and

the data processing system is configured to determine if the one or more paper documents includes at least one paper document having the first characteristic.

35. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for performing an action based upon physical locations of paper documents, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

code for receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the first physical location;

code for determining, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, paper document-related information for the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

code for performing the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

36. The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the code for receiving information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the first physical location comprises:

code for determining one or more tag readers corresponding to the first physical location; and

code for receiving information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

37. The computer program product of claim 36 wherein the code for receiving information read by the one or more tag readers comprises:

code for sending a signal to each tag reader in the one or more tag readers instructing the tag reader to read information from identification tags that the tag reader can read; and

code for receiving information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents in response to the signal.

38. The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the code for determining the paper document-related information corresponding to each paper document in the one or more paper documents comprises:

code for determining an identification code for each paper document from the information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

code for determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document.

39. The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the code for performing the first action comprises at least one of code for printing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, code for photocopying a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, code for faxing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, and code for emailing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

40. The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the paper document-related information for the at least one paper document is included in the information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the first physical location.

41. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for performing an action, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

code for receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the physical location;

code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the physical location; and

code for performing the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied.

42. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a first paper document is located at the physical location; and

the code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises code for determining if the first paper document is included in the one or more paper documents.

43. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein the code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises:

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, code for determining an identification code for the paper document from the information read from the identification tags;

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, code for determining paper document-related information for the paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document; and

code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the paper document-related information determined for the one or more paper documents.

44. The computer program product of claim 43 wherein the code for performing the action comprises code for performing the action using paper document-related information for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

45. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a paper document having a first characteristic is located at the physical location; and

the code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises code for determining if the one or more paper documents includes at least one paper document having the first characteristic.

46. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein the code for receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the physical location comprises:

code for determining one or more tag readers corresponding to the physical location; and

code for receiving information read by the one or more tag readers from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

47. A system for performing an action based upon physical locations of paper documents, the system comprising:

means for receiving information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

means for receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the first physical location;

means for determining, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, paper document-related information for the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

means for performing the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

48. A system for performing an action, the system comprising:

means for receiving information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

means for receiving information read from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located at the physical location;

means for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents located at the physical location; and

means for performing the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied.