Image processing apparatus and program product

• US 20070047844A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Watanabe, Satoshi, Matsuda, Makoto, Ohara, Kiyotaka, Aoki, Kazuma
• Granted Patent: US 7,809,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/305
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

An image processing apparatus transmits data via a network to a server equipped with a function for distributing an image received from a terminal apparatus over the network to another terminal apparatus over the network and a function for transmitting a track back notification with respect to a track back destination address. The image processing apparatus includes an image reading unit capable of reading an image from an original, a determining unit that determines a track back address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit, and a data transmitting unit that transmits both image data indicative of the image read by the image reading unit, and address data indicative of the track back destination address determined by the determining unit to the server.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an image reading unit capable of reading an image from an original;

a determining unit that determines a track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit; and

a data transmitting unit that transmits both image data indicative of the image read by the image reading unit, and address data indicative of the track back destination address determined by the determining unit via a network to a server that is equipped with a function for distributing an image received from a first information terminal over the network to second information terminal over the network and a function for transmitting a track back notification corresponding to the track back destination address.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines the track back destination address which is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address corresponding to a Web page to which one of the first information terminal and the second information terminal accessed in the past.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining unit reads out the track back destination address corresponding to the Web page to which the one of the first information terminal and the second information terminal accessed in the past from a database into which the track back destination address corresponding to the Web page is registered/stored by the one of the first information terminal and the second information terminal which accessed the Web page, and determines the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon the read track back destination address.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the database is configured by utilizing a storage unit provided in the first information terminal.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining unit determines the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address corresponding to a Web page that was printed by the first information terminal in the past.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data converting unit that converts the image read by the image reading unit into data that is represented by the read image,

wherein the determining unit determines the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address that is contained in the data converted by the data converting unit.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data reading unit capable of reading data from a detachable storage medium into which the data has been stored,

wherein the determining unit determines the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address that is contained in the data read by the data reading unit.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data receiving unit capable of receiving data from an information terminal capable of communicating with the first information terminal,

wherein the determining unit determines the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address that is contained in the data received by the data receiving unit.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an address list display unit that displays a list of track back destination addresses that constitute address candidates to be processed; and

an address selecting unit that selects at least one address from the list of track back destination addresses displayed by the address list display unit based upon an input received from a user,

wherein the determining unit determines the at least one address selected by the address selecting unit as the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus integrally comprises the image reading unit, the determining unit and the data transmitting unit.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image processing apparatus is a multifunction device.

12. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for enabling a computer configured in an image processing apparatus equipped with an image reading unit capable of reading an image from an original,

to perform predetermined operations which transmit data via a network to a server equipped with a function for distributing an image received from first information terminal over the network to a second information terminal over the network and a function for transmitting a track back notification corresponding to a track back destination address,

the predetermined operations including the steps of:

determining a track back address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit; and

transmitting both image data indicative of the image read by the image reading unit, and address data indicative of the track back destination address determined by the determining unit to the server.

13. The computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the determining determines the track back destination address which is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address corresponding to a Web page to which one of the first information terminal and the second information terminal accessed in the past.

14. The computer readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the determining determines the track back destination address that is used in correspondence with the image read by the image reading unit based upon a track back destination address corresponding to a Web page that was printed by the first information terminal in the past.