Scanner having connected and unconnected operational behaviors

• US 20060136629A1
• Filed: 08/18/2005
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Exbiblio BV
• Original Assignee: Exbiblio BV
• Inventors: Kushler, Clifford A., Stafford-Fraser, James Q., King, Martin T., Grover, Dale L.
• Application Number:
  US11/208,408
• Publication Number:
  US 20060136629A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00127 Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00236 using an image reading or reproducing device, e.g. a facsimile reader or printer, as a local input to or local output from a computer image input to or image output from a computer via a network H04N1/00209
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32529 of different type, e.g. internal and external devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32771 in response to a request, e.g. for a particular document
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0087 Image storage device

Abstract

Information is scanned to a scanner memory. A user of the scanner is signaled when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information.

Claims

1. A method in a computing system, comprising:

scanning information to a scanner memory; and

signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein scanning information further comprises:

applying at least one of a charge coupled device, pixelator, or a contact image sensor to a printed document or to an optical display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information further comprises:

signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one document comprising the scanned information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises one or more of:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols;

counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types;

an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words;

a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols;

or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises one or more of:

changing the state of at least one light emitting diode;

providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal;

providing an indication on a display;

or producing a vibration.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of;

an image fragment;

text produced from an image fragment;

a parametric representation of scanned symbols;

or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises one or more of:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols;

counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types;

an overall number of scanned symbols;

a number of scanned words;

a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols;

or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanner memory further comprises:

at least one of a flash memory or a dynamically refreshed random access memory.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises one or more of:

changing the state of at least one light emitting diode;

providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal;

providing an indication on a display;

or producing a vibration.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the action associated with the scanned information further comprises:

at least one of a commerce operation, an annotation, a format operation, identifying an advertisement, or identifying a document.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanner further comprises:

at least part of a pen-style device, at least part of a mouse, at least part of a cell phone, at least part of a remote control, or at least part of a personal digital assistant.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequent to the scanning, upon establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network, transferring the scanned information to at least one of the separate computing device or the network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the scanned information further comprises one or more, or a combination of:

an image fragment;

text produced from an image fragment;

a parametric representation of scanned symbols;

or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises one or more, or a combination of:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols;

counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types;

an overall number of scanned symbols;

a number of scanned words;

a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols;

or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises one or more, or a combination of:

establishing communication using wires or optical fibers, or wireless communication.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the separate computing device further comprises at least one of:

a cell phone;

personal digital assistant;

desktop computer;

laptop computer;

portable music player;

television;

or set top box.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the network further comprises one or more, or a combination of:

the Internet;

an intranet;

a home network;

or another telephone or data network.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises at least one of:

docking the scanning device in a cradle coupled to the separate computing device or network;

establishing a wireless connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network;

or completing a Plug and Play connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the separate computing device further comprises at least one of:

a cell phone;

personal digital assistant;

desktop computer;

laptop computer;

portable music player;

television;

or set top box.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the network further comprises one or more, or a combination of:

the Internet;

an intranet;

a home network;

or some other telephone or data network.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing scan context information with the scanned information in the scanner memory.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

an indication of a publication comprising or likely comprising the document.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

a manner in which the scan was performed.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

a time of day or date or combination thereof at which or during which the scan was performed.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

a location in the document from which the scanned information was obtained.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

a physical location at which the scan was performed.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

environment signals proximate in time with the scan.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

information derived at least in part from the information from the scan.

32. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

at least part of scan habits for a person performing the scan, or at least part of scan habits for a group with which the person performing the scan is associated.

33. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

at least one attribute of a person performing the scan, or at least one attribute of a group with which the person performing the scan is associated.

34. The method of claim 22, wherein the scan context further comprises:

a relationship of the information from the scan with metadata associated with the document.

35. The method of claim 22, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

37. The method of claim 22, wherein the scanner memory further comprises:

at least one of a flash memory or a dynamically refreshed random access memory.

38. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network, processing the scanned information to determine at least one of an action or actions associated with the scanned information, or a document or documents associated with the scanned information.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises:

establishing communication using wires or optical fibers, or wireless communication.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein the separate computing device further comprises:

at least one of a cell phone, personal digital assistant, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable music player, television, or set top box.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein the network further comprises:

the Internet, an intranet, a home network, or some other telephone or data network.

44. The method of claim 38, wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises:

docking the scanning device in a cradle coupled to the separate computing device or network, establishing a wireless connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network, or completing a Plug and Play connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the separate computing device further comprises:

at least one of a cell phone, personal digital assistant, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable music player, television, or set top box.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the network further comprises:

Internet, intranet, home net, or other telephone or data net.

47. The method of claim 38, wherein the processing the scanned information further comprises:

at least one of submitting at least part of the scanned information to a search engine as part of a query, applying the scanned information at least in part to form a Uniform Resource Locator or other link to content of a network, applying at least part of the scanned information to at least in part determine a product or class of products, or advertisements associated therewith, or applying at least part of the scanned information to at least in part determine the contents of a menu of options presented in conjunction with a document interaction.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the network further comprises:

Internet, intranet, home net, or other telephone or data net.

51. A device, comprising:

a scanner;

a memory; and

logic that when applied to affect the operation of the device results in scanning information to a scanner memory, and

signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information.

52. The device of claim 51, wherein scanning information further comprises:

applying at least one of a charge coupled device or a contact image sensor to a printed document or to an optical display.

53. The device of claim 51, wherein signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information further comprises:

signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one document comprising the scanned information.

54. The device of claim 53, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

55. The device of claim 54, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

56. The device of claim 53, wherein the signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises:

changing the state of at least one light emitting diode, providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal, providing an indication on a display, or producing a vibration.

57. The device of claim 51, wherein the scanned information further comprises:

one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.

58. The device of claim 57, wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:

information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.

59. The device of claim 51, wherein the scanner memory further comprises:

at least one of a flash memory or a dynamically refreshed random access memory.

60. The device of claim 51, wherein signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises:

changing the state of at least one light emitting diode, providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal, providing an indication on a display, or producing a vibration.

61. The device of claim 51, wherein the action associated with the scanned information further comprises:

at least one of a commerce operation, an annotation, a format operation, identifying an advertisement, or identifying a document.

62. The device of claim 51, wherein the scanner further comprises:

at least part of a pen-style device, at least part of a mouse, at least part of a cell phone, at least part of a remote control, or at least part of a personal digital assistant.