Iconic access to remote electronic monochrome raster data format document repository
First Claim
1. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
- (a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device;
(b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system;
(c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program;
(d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository;
(e) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for storage and retrieval of electronic documents is disclosed. A central document repository and one or more remote access sites are interconnected via a general purpose data network. Documents are stored within the system using a monochrome, raster format. Documents are transmitted from the repository to the remote access sites for display to the user. Additional capability is provided to search the stored documents; generate on-demand user interface screens containing the search results; insert documents into the repository via transmission by facsimile machine; and to interactively communicate between users of the system. The electronic documents can be either conventional text and graphics; or multi-media documents containing text, video, and audio material. A single physical document repository can be logically segmented into multiple virtual repositories supporting diverse groups of users.
-
Citations
11 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
-
(a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository; (e) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
-
(a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on, and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for searching said stored electronic documents for documents which match criteria specified by said remote system user; (e) means for on-demand generation of user interface screens containing plural user selectable elements linked to said documents located by said query, said screens displayed by said remote access systems; (f) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said document repository by a data link, wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository; (g) means for transmitting interactive communication between said users over said general purpose data network; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format selected from the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) family of formats. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 8)
-
-
7. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
-
(a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; (d) means for searching said stored electronic documents for documents which match criteria specified by said remote system user; (e) means for on-demand generation of user interface screens containing plural user selectable graphic icons linked to said documents located by said means for searching, said screens displayed by said remote access systems; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.
-
-
9. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
-
(a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; and (d) means for remote data entry which accepts control and document data from plural facsimile machines connected to said first programmable computer by a data link;
wherein said control information specifies where said document data is to be stored within said document repository,wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.
-
-
10. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
-
(a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; and (d) means for transmitting interactive audio communication between said users over said general purpose data network; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.
-
-
11. An apparatus for storing and retrieving electronic documents, comprising:
-
(a) a document repository comprising a first programmable computer, a non-volatile storage device accessible by said programmable computer, and a storage program executing on said first computer which stores said documents on and retrieves said documents from said non-volatile storage device, said document repository being segmented into plural virtual repositories; (b) a plurality of remote access systems, each comprising a second programmable computer and an access and display program executing on said second computer for displaying said documents to the user of said remote system; (c) a general purpose, wide area data network connecting said first computer and said second computer, whereby said documents can be transferred from said storage program to said display program; wherein said electronic documents are encoded in a monochrome, raster data format.
-
Specification