METHODS AND DEVICES FOR FORM-INDEPENDENT REGISTRATION OF FILLED-OUT CONTENT

• US 20150256712A1
• Filed: 03/04/2014
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Campanelli, Michael R., Wshah, Safwan R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,374,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/412 Layout analysis of documents structured with printed lines or input boxes, e.g. business forms or tables
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/414 Extracting the geometrical structure, e.g. layout tree; Block segmentation, e.g. bounding boxes for graphics or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0432 Varying the magnification of a single lens group
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/4177 encoding document change data, e.g. form drop out data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0081 Image reader H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence

Abstract

A device for registration of content in a filled-out application form is disclosed. The device is configured for scanning at least one portion of the filled-out application form. The device is configured for extracting filled-out content from the scanned form. The geometrical features of the master form are retrieved. The master form includes one or more anchor fields. Each anchor field has one or more anchor zones and at least one anchor segment. At least one anchor segment has global adjustment parameters and geometrical features. The extracted filled-out content is related to the retrieved geometrical features of a master form to create a new geometrical representation of the extracted filled-out content of the scanned application form. The new representation of the filled-out content based on the global adjustment parameters for the at least one anchor segment is globally adjusted. The globally adjusted filled-out content based on the geometrical features for the anchor segments is locally adjusted.

Claims

1. A device for registration of content of a filled-out application form, the device configured for:

scanning at least one portion of the filled-out application form;

extracting filled-out content from the scanned form;

retrieving geometrical features of a master form including one or more anchor fields, each having at least one anchor zone and at least one anchor segment, wherein the at least one anchor field and zone has global adjustment parameters and geometrical features;

relating the extracted filled-out content to the retrieved geometrical features of a master form to create a new geometrical representation of the extracted filled-out content of the scanned application form;

globally adjusting the new representation of the filled-out content based on the global adjustment parameters for the at least one anchor field in the anchor zone; and

locally adjusting the globally adjusted filled-out content based on the geometrical features for the filled-out content.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the master form and the application form are employed for all types of services, wherein the master form includes anchor fields same as those in the application form.

3. The device of claim 1, further configured for calculating the global adjustment parameters by comparing geometrical features of the at least one anchor segment of the scanned application with its corresponding anchor field in the master form.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the global adjustment parameters include at least one of offset, scale, and angle.

5. A method for registration of content in an application form filled-out by a user, the method comprising:

scanning at least one portion of the filled-out application form;

extracting filled-out content from the scanned form;

retrieving geometrical features of a master form including one or more anchor fields, each corresponding to at least one anchor zone and at least one anchor segment, wherein the at least one anchor segment has global adjustment parameters and geometrical features;

correlating the extracted filled-out content relative to the retrieved master form geometrical features, forming a new geometrical representation of the application form; and

globally adjusting the filled-out content based on the global adjustment parameters for the at least one anchor segment; and

locally adjusting the globally adjusted filled-out content based on the geometrical features for the filled-out content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the master form and the application form are employed for all types of services, wherein the master form includes anchor fields same as those in the application form.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising calculating the global adjustment parameters by comparing geometrical features of the at least one anchor segment of the master form with that of the extracted content of the scanned form.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the global adjustment parameters include at least one of offset, scale, and angle.

9. A method for global registration of filled-out content in an application form, the method comprising:

extracting the filled-out content from the form;

correlating the extracted filled-out content to the geometrical features a master form to create a new geometrical representation of the form, wherein the master form includes one or more anchor fields, each corresponding to one or more anchor zones, wherein the one or more anchor field and zones have global adjustment parameters and geometrical features;

determining anchor segments in the extracted content of the form, the anchor segments correspond to anchor zones in the form, wherein the anchor zones are based on one or more anchor fields in the master form;

determining global adjustment parameters for the anchor segments in the extracted content of the form;

adjusting the global adjustment parameters in the extracted content of the form based on comparison of each of the anchor segments with the one or more anchor fields in the master form;

determining a global score for the adjusted global adjustment parameters; and

adjusting the filled-out content in the form based on the global adjustment parameters having the highest global score for the anchor segments in the form.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the master form and the application form are employed for all types of services, wherein the master form includes anchor fields same as those in the application form.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising calculating the global adjustment parameters by comparing geometrical features of the anchor fields of the master form with that of the application form.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the global adjustment parameters include at least one of offset, scale, and angle.

13. A method for local registration of filled-out content in an application form, the method comprising:

retrieving geometrical features of a master form including at least one anchor field corresponding to a first anchor segment associated with global adjustment parameters and geometrical features;

receiving an application form including the filled-out content correlated to the geometrical features of the master form, wherein the application form includes a second anchor segment;

adjusting the second anchor segment based on global adjustment parameters of the at least one anchor field;

determining geometrical features of the adjusted second anchor segment;

determining a location in the application form based on mapping of geometrical features of the adjusted second anchor segment and a third anchor segment in the master form, wherein the third anchor segment is associated with the second anchor segment in the application form; and

placing the adjusted second anchor segment into the determined location.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the master form and the application form are employed for all types of services, wherein the master form includes anchor fields same as those in the application form.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising calculating the global adjustment parameters by comparing geometrical features of the at least one anchor segment of the master form with that of the overlapped form.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the global adjustment parameters include at least one of offset, scale, and angle.