Using a scanning implemented software for time economy without rescanning (S.I.S.T.E.R.)

• US 20140118796A1
• Filed: 12/12/2012
• Published: 05/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABBYY Development LLC
• Original Assignee: ABBYY Software
• Inventors: Isaev, Andrey
• Granted Patent: US 9,413,912 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/451
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/243 by compensating for image skew or non-uniform image deformations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00018 Scanning arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00045 using a reference pattern designed for the purpose, e.g. a test chart
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00681 Detecting the presence, position or size of a sheet or correcting its position before scanning H04N1/047 takes precedence; mode signalling H04N1/333; skew detection or correction in image signals H04N1/3878
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00702 Position
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00748 Detecting edges, e.g. of a stationary sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00758 using a prescan
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00774 Adjusting or controlling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00809 Orientation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00816 Determining the reading area, e.g. eliminating reading of margins
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00819 Self-calibrating reading means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0402 Scanning different formats; Scanning with different densities of dots per unit length, e.g. different numbers of dots per inch (dpi); Conversion of scanning standards H04N1/00283 takes precedence; picture signal circuits for modification of image resolution H04N1/3935, H04N1/40068
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/047 Detection, control or error compensation of scanning velocity or position H04N1/0402 and H04N1/17 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/10 using flat picture-bearing surfaces H04N1/113, H04N1/195 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3872 Repositioning or masking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3878 Skew detection or correction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/409 Edge or detail enhancement; Noise or error suppression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0006 details of the reference pattern (DM 1105)
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0422 Media holders, covers, supports, backgrounds; Arrangements to facilitate placing of the medium H04N2201/0406 - H04N2201/0412, H04N2201/0434 take precedence

Abstract

Methods and devices are described for detecting boundaries of documents on flatbed and multi-function scanners on a first pass of a carriage assembly, and then performing a high resolution scan on a second pass. High resolution images of documents can then be obtained with little or no interaction normally necessary to identify areas of interest on the scanner bed. Patterns on the scanner cover or lid facilitate not only edge determination, but orientation of text and other objects, and straightening of images in preparation for OCR and related functions. Electronic images and files derived from paper documents may be automatically cropped, deskewed, subjected to OCR, and named consistent with content or other information derived from them.

Claims

1. An apparatus for scanning a document comprising:

a housing including a transparent bed on which the document is placed;

a scanning carriage for generating an electronic image from the document; and

a cover for the transparent bed, wherein the cover includes a pattern for use in image processing.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pattern includes a repeated design element.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

one or more electronic storage devices containing programmatic instructions designed to allow steps, the steps including;

receiving an electronic image of the document;

detecting edges of a representation of the document based on the electronic image;

cropping a portion of the electronic image based on the detected edges;

defining an orientation of the generated electronic image relative to an edge of the electronic image of the document; and

deskewing the electronic image based on the defined orientation.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

one or more electronic storage devices containing programmatic instructions designed to allow steps, the steps including;

receiving an electronic representation of the document;

detecting edges of the document based on the electronic representation of the document;

cropping a portion of the electronic representation of the document based on the detected edges;

defining an orientation of the electronic representation of the document; and

deskewing the electronic representation of the document based on the defined orientation.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein two design elements of the pattern are spatially closer to each other than to other design elements of the pattern.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the steps further include:

performing optical character recognition (OCR) on a representation of a portion of the document; and

recording text recognized by the performed OCR to electronic storage.

7. The apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein deskewing includes:

detecting an angle of the document based on the detected edges relative to the transparent bed;

determining an angle of rotation for the representation of the document; and

generating an electronic copy of the representation of the document based on the angle of rotation.

8. The apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein deskewing includes:

after generating the electronic image of the document, detecting an angle from a representation of the document relative to the transparent bed;

determining an angle of rotation for the representation of the document; and

generating an electronic copy of the representation of the document based on the angle of rotation.

9. The apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein deskewing includes:

detecting a directional line for a line of text from a representation of the document;

determining an angle of rotation for the directional line relative to an edge of the representation of the document; and

generating an electronic representation of a portion of the document based on the angle of rotation.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

one or more electronic storage devices containing programmatic instructions designed to allow steps, the steps including;

detecting an edge of a representation of the document by detecting design elements of the pattern on the cover and detecting elements in the representation of the document relative to the detected design elements of the pattern on the cover; and

generating an electronic representation of the document based on the detected edge of the representation of the document.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein generating the electronic representation of the document further includes:

deskewing the electronic representation of the document based on the design elements of the pattern on the cover relative to the detected elements in the representation of the document.

12. A system for electronically generating a representation of a document, the system comprising:

an electronic storage;

a pattern for placing behind the document prior to being scanned;

a scanning carriage for generating an electronic image from the document and pattern and recording the electronic image in the electronic storage; and

instructions for causing the scanning carriage to generate the electronic image.

13. The system of claim 12 further comprising a boundary detector for determining a boundary between a representation of the document and a representation of a portion of the pattern.

14. The system of claim 12 further comprising an electronic image cropper.

15. The system of claim 12 further comprising an image deskewing component.

16. The system of claim 12 further comprising a character recognizer.

17. A method for scanning a document, the method comprising:

automatically positioning a document onto a bed of a scanner and under a pattern adjacent the bed of the scanner, the pattern being on top of the document;

generating a first image from a first pass of an imaging component of the scanner across the bed of the scanner using the pattern and said document;

programmatically defining an area using said first image and using the pattern; and

automatically generating a second image from a second pass of the imaging component of the scanner across at least a portion of the bed of the scanner.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first pass is a forward pass, and wherein the second pass is a backward pass.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein automatically positioning the pattern behind the document on the bed of the scanner and on top of the document includes automatically positioning a material with the pattern on the bed of the scanner and on top of the document.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the second image is at a higher resolution than the first image.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

automatically cropping the first image by selecting one or more portions of the first image, wherein generating the second image from the second pass of the imaging component includes generating the second image using said cropping.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein programmatically defining the area uses a second document, and wherein the method further comprises:

automatically placing a second document on the bed of the scanner; and

automatically generating a third image from the second pass of the imaging component based on a portion of the defined area.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein defining the area includes cropping a portion of the first image.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein defining the area includes determining a skew angle from the first image and applying a skew correction to the second image based on the skew angle.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the document includes two areas of content, and wherein defining the area of interest includes determining the two areas of content.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

performing optical character recognition on a portion of the second image.

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

extracting tags based on said optical character recognition of the second image;

generating a file name based on the extracted tags; and

saving an electronic file with the generated file name using said second image.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises:

defining a type associated with the document using results obtained from the optical character recognition;

extracting tags from said results;

forming the file name using a plurality of the tags and said type; and

saving an electronic file with the generated file name based on said second image.

29. A method for scanning a document, the method comprising:

positioning a document from a feeder onto a transparent bed of a scanning device;

generating an image using the document and the contents of a background behind the document; and

distinguishing the background from the document, wherein the background includes elements that facilitate distinguishing the background from the document.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the elements of the background include a repeated shape arranged at a higher density in a first region of the background relative to another region of the background.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the background includes a pattern of elements.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein distinguishing the background from the document includes comparing a representation of the image to a representation of a portion of the background stored in an electronic storage component.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein generating the image from the document on the bed of the scanning device is performed by a scanning component, wherein the representation of the background is oriented at an angle or position relative to a direction of movement or position of the scanning component.

34. A method for facilitating image capture of a document, the method including:

forming a pattern on a portion of a scanning device proximate to a bed of the scanning device, wherein the bed of the scanning device is configured for accepting placement of the document; and

provisioning the scanning device with instructions for controlling a scanning element to generate an electronic image from the bed of the scanning device, wherein the instructions cause each image to include a portion of the pattern irrespective of an orientation or position of the document on the bed of the scanning device.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

attaching a document feeder to the scanning device.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the pattern is positioned farther from the bed of the scanning than the document when the electronic image is generated.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

provisioning the scanning device with instructions for detecting a boundary between the a portion of the pattern and a portion of a representation of the document in the electronic image.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

provisioning the scanning device with instructions for detecting a skew angle for a representation of the document relative to a representation of the pattern in the electronic image.

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

provisioning the scanning device with instructions for correcting skew of a representation of the document based on the skew angle.