Intelligent electronic document content processing

• US 20090044254A1
• Filed: 08/08/2007
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Tian, Lifen
• Granted Patent: US 8,130,951 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3226 using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using passwords in a packet data network H04L63/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3234 involving additional secure or trusted devices, e.g. TPM, smartcard, USB or software token network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using an additional device in a packet data network H04L63/0853
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 283/902 Anti-photocopy

Abstract

A network device includes a content processing module that is configured to perform intelligent document content processing, such as confidential information processing, content optimization and workflow optimization. The network device authenticates a user and determines electronic document data that is to be processed. The electronic document data may be created at the network device, e.g., by a scanning module on the network device, or at a client device, e.g., by a word processing application executing on the client device. The content processing module retrieves particular user preference data based upon the user authentication. The particular user preference data may specify confidential information preferences, content optimization preferences and/or workflow preferences. The content processing module performs intelligent document content processing on the electronic document data based upon the particular user preference data and generates processed electronic document data.

Claims

1. A network device comprising:

a user authentication module configured to authenticate user data received by the network device;

a content processing module configured to;

determine electronic document data to be processed,

retrieve, from a plurality of user preference data based upon the user data, particular user preference data that specifies one or more confidential information preferences, and

process the electronic document data based upon the particular user preference data and generate processed electronic document data by removing confidential information from the electronic document data based upon the one or more confidential information preferences defined by the particular user preference data.

2. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more confidential information preferences specifies one or more of a social security number, a credit card number and a date of birth and removing the confidential information from the electronic document data includes removing one or more of the social security number, the credit card number and the date of birth from the electronic document data.

3. The network device recited in claim 2, wherein the content processing module is further configured to include in the processed electronic data one or more of a replacement social security number, a replacement credit card number and a replacement date of birth.

4. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the content processing module is further configured to add to the processed electronic document data one or more of replacement text and image data to replace the confidential information removed from the electronic document data.

5. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the content processing module is further configured to remove from the electronic document data one or more text fields associated with the confidential information.

6. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the content processing module is further configured to examine the electronic document data to identify confidential information contained in the electronic document data, wherein characteristics of the confidential information are specified by the one or more confidential information preferences.

7. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of user preference data is stored on the network device.

8. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of user preference data is stored on a server and the retrieving of the particular user preference data includes the network device retrieving the particular user preference data from the server over a network.

9. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein:

the network device is a network scanning device, and

the network scanning device further comprises a scanning module configured to scan a printed document and generate electronic document data that reflects the printed document.

10. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein:

the network device is a printer, and

the printer further comprises a print process configured to process print data received over a network and generate a printed version of an electronic document contained in the print data.

11. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the network device is an image forming device.

12. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the content processing module is further configured to cause, based upon workflow preference data contained in the user preference data, workflow optimization to be performed on the processed electronic document data.

13. The network device recited in claim 1, wherein the content processing module is further configured to cause, based upon workflow preference data contained in the user preference data, the processed electronic document data to be one or more of stored on a server by transmitting the processed electronic document data from the network device to the server over a network, transmitted from the network device over a network to one or more other network devices and printed at the network device without the confidential information.

14. The network device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a user authentication module configured to authenticate user data received by the network device;

a content processing module configured to;

determine electronic document data to be processed,

retrieve, from a plurality of user preference data based upon the user data, particular user preference data that specifies one or more content optimization preferences, and

process the electronic document data based upon the particular user preference data and generate processed electronic document data by changing one or more of one or more color values and one or more consumable values specified in the electronic document data based upon one or more content optimization preferences defined by the particular user preference data.

15. A network device comprising:

a user authentication module configured to authenticate user data received by the network device;

a content processing module configured to;

determine electronic document data to be processed,

retrieve, from a plurality of user preference data based upon the user data, particular user preference data that specifies one or more content optimization preferences, and

process the electronic document data based upon the particular user preference data and generate processed electronic document data by changing one or more of one or more color values and one or more consumable values specified in the electronic document data based upon one or more content optimization preferences defined by the particular user preference data.

16. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein changing one or more color values specified in the electronic document data includes one or more of changing a background color, changing a foreground color, changing the one or more color values in the electronic document data to improve a contrast between foreground text and a background color specified in the electronic document data, changing the one or more color values specified in the electronic document data so that no background color is printed and changing the one or more color values specified in the electronic document data so that no background color is printed and a foreground color is changed.

17. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the content processing module is further configured to compare a background color value specified in the electronic document data to a color value of paper on which the electronic document data is to be printed.

18. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the content processing module is further configured to compare a background color value specified in the electronic document data to a foreground color value specified in the electronic document data.

19. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the content processing module is further configured to examine the electronic document data to identify the one or more color values contained in the electronic document data.

20. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the plurality of user preference data is stored on the network device.

21. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the plurality of user preference data is stored on a server and the retrieving of the particular user preference data includes the network device retrieving the particular user preference data from the server over a network.

22. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein:

the network device is a network scanning device, and

the network scanning device further comprises a scanning module configured to scan a printed document and generate electronic document data that reflects the printed document.

23. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein:

the network device is a printer, and

the printer further comprises a print process configured to process print data received over a network and generate a printed version of an electronic document contained in the print data.

24. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the network device is an image forming device.

25. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the content processing module is further configured to cause, based upon workflow preference data contained in the user preference data, workflow optimization to be performed on the processed electronic document data.

26. The network device recited in claim 15, wherein the content processing module is further configured to cause, based upon workflow preference data contained in the user preference data, the processed electronic document data to be one or more of stored on a server by transmitting the processed electronic document data from the network device to the server over a network, transmitted from the network device over a network to one or more other network devices and printed at the network device without the confidential information.