Method and apparatus for converting documents into electronic data for transaction processing
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for electronically engaging in a transaction prompted by a document, comprising:
- scanning means for optically scanning the document to provide electronic image signals indicative of the image of the document, at least said image signals constituting a record;
main local area network means onto which said record is placed;
at least two servers connected to said main network means for receiving the records, each server communicating its status with the other and being programmed with a routing program such that one of the servers elects to accept a record for processing based in part on the status of each server;
secondary local area network means onto which at least one of said servers places said record, said secondary network means being capable of operating at a lower speed than said main network; and
at least one workstation connected to said secondary local area network means, said workstation modifying said record according to predetermined transactions, and returning said modified record to the server connected to said secondary local area network.
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Abstract
A system for electronically transaction processing a large volume of documents utilizes high speed local area networks to distribute images and data related to the documents. Connected to the high speed network are slower speed networks in which the processing takes place at workstations. The workstations are programmed with window presentations that sequentially magnify portions of the image of the document where relevant information may be found and corresponding locations on a form generated by the workstation. System operation is controlled by distributed programs.
519 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system for electronically engaging in a transaction prompted by a document, comprising:
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scanning means for optically scanning the document to provide electronic image signals indicative of the image of the document, at least said image signals constituting a record; main local area network means onto which said record is placed; at least two servers connected to said main network means for receiving the records, each server communicating its status with the other and being programmed with a routing program such that one of the servers elects to accept a record for processing based in part on the status of each server; secondary local area network means onto which at least one of said servers places said record, said secondary network means being capable of operating at a lower speed than said main network; and at least one workstation connected to said secondary local area network means, said workstation modifying said record according to predetermined transactions, and returning said modified record to the server connected to said secondary local area network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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3. A system as claimed in calim 1 wherein said scanning means further includes an optical character reader for extracting data from the record of a scanned document and including the data in the record.
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14. A system for electronically engaging in a transaction prompted by a document, comprising:
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at least one electronic scanner means for optically scanning the document to provide electronic image signals indicative of the image of the document, at least the image signals constituting a record; a main local area network means onto which said record is placed; at least two department servers connected to said main network means for receiving the records, said scanner means operating according to a first route program so as to direct the records over the main network means to the appropriate department server according to predetermined criteria; a department local area network means for each department server, each department server placing records onto its department network means; at least two workstations connected to each department network means, said department servers operating according to a second route program so as to direct the records over its department network means to the appropriate workstation according to predetermined criteria, said work station modifying said records according to predetermined transactions, and returning said modified records to said server. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of electronically transaction processing a document comprising the steps of:
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scanning the document to create an electrnic image of the document which is part of a record; transmitting the record over a main local area network to one of a plurality of department servers, according to a routing routine resident in said servers; exchanging information between said servers over said main local area network about the status of said servers; determining, according to the routing routine, which server will elect to process a record based on the status of the servers; distributing the record from the department server electing to process the record to one of the plurality of workstations according to the routing routine; electronically creating a form at the workstation as part of the record; displaying the record in window type screen segments for data input; processing the document by manipulating the data in the record; and returning the data to the department server for storage and action based on the processing. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification