Non-edit multiple image font processing of records

• US 5,875,263 A
• Filed: 12/07/1993
• Issued: 02/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Horst Froessl
• Original Assignee: Horst Froessl
• Inventors: Froessl, Horst
• Primary Examiner(s): Couso, Jose L.
• Application Number:
  US08/162,367
• Time in Patent Office: 1,904 Days
• Field of Search: 382/10, 382/40, 382/56, 382/57, 382/61, 395/163, 395/600, 364/225.4, 364/963, 364/963.1, 364/963.2, 364/963.3, 364/963.5
• US Class Current: 382/181
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5846 using extracted text

Abstract

A sequence of documents is delivered to an optical scanner in which each document is scanned to form a digital image representation of the content of the document. The image representation is automatically examined by data processing apparatus to select search words which meet predetermined criteria and by which the document can be subsequently located. The search words are stored in a non-volatile memory and the entire document content is stored in mass storage in image form. A font table is established and images of entered search words are constructed from the table. Unrecognized or imperfectly formed ambiguous characters are stored with the font table and are used in the construction of search words to eliminate text editing or are stored with converted characters of search words. The approach can also be used to eliminate editing of full text-converted data bases during input.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of retrievably storing contents of a plurality of documents having images imprinted thereon comprising

optically scanning the documents to generate electrical signals forming a digital representation of the images on the documents,

storing the signals forming the digital image representation of each document,

establishing a font table in memory including signals forming images of characters in a plurality of different fonts, the signals for images of each character of each font having a unique, identifiable location in a memory area,

selectively recognizing and converting groups of characters from signals forming the digital representations of the images into signals representing computer readable code,

storing signals forming images of characters which are not recognizable and convertible as ambiguous characters in unique, identifiable locations in the font table,

searching for a document by the steps of

selecting a search word,

constructing signals forming an image of the selected search word by copying signals representing individual characters from the font table in at least one font,

comparing the signals forming the constructed search word image with signals forming the image representations of scanned and stored documents until a match is found,

selecting images of the ambiguous characters for use in search word images, and

repeating the step of comparing including comparing signals representing images of ambiguous characters with stored signals representing images of the document contents until a match is found.

2. A method according to claim 1 and further comprising

displaying an image of the document containing the match.

3. A method according to claim 2 and including

automatically assigning an identification to each image representation of each document.

4. A method according to claim 2 and including

automatically machine-selecting search words from each document to be used in locating the document from mass storage.

5. A method according to claim 4 and including correlating each search word with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document from which the search word was selected was sent and received.

6. A method according to claim 4 and further comprising comparing characters of an incoming document with the font table and, if a matching font is not found, adding images of the characters of the incoming document to the font table.

7. A method according to claim 6 and including correcting an image stored in the font table by replacing it with a different image selected from a document.

8. A method according to claim 4 and further comprising

forming a logo table of stored images of logo designs identifying sending organizations together with information in code form about the sender employing each such design,

when a document having a design is scanned, conducting a pattern search of the stored images in the logo table to seek a match between the scanned design and a stored image,

when a pattern match is found, retrieving and correlating with the identification of the document the identifying organization information associated with the matched pattern from the logo table, and

when a match is not found, flagging the document for addition of the design and identifying company information to the logo table.

9. A method according to claim 1 which includes selecting images of ambiguous characters for use as search word images.

10. A method according to claim 9 and including correlating each search word with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document from which the search word was selected was sent and received.

11. A method according to claim 9 and including combining recognized characters with ambiguous characters to form search words.

12. A method according to claim 11 and including correlating each search word with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document from which the search word was selected was sent and received.

13. A method according to claim 11 and including selecting a search word by keying in a word, displaying a stored image of a selected group of characters of a similar word and, if the selected group includes an ambiguous character and is the same word as the keyed in word, approving the displayed word and thereby correcting the ambiguous character in the converted group.

14. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of storing images of ambiguous characters includes storing the image of each group of characters containing an ambiguous character.

15. A method according to claim 1 and including combining recognized characters with ambiguous characters to form search words.

16. A method according to claim 15 and further including preparing for a search by

displaying a selected group of converted characters to be used as a search word,

concurrently displaying the image of the group from which the characters were converted, and

conducting the search.

17. A method according to claim 16 wherein, if the selected group includes an ambiguous character and is the same word as the keyed-in word, approving the displayed word and thereby correcting the converted group.

18. A method according to claim 16 and including, if the selected group includes an ambiguous character which is not recognizable on the display, additionally displaying words adjacent to the displayed word from the image of the document from which the word with the ambiguous character was selected.

19. A method according to claim 16 and including displaying an ambiguous character in a distinctive display different from the display of the converted characters.

20. A method according to claim 16 and including displaying the group of characters with recognized characters being displayed from code and ambiguous characters being displayed in image.

21. A method according to claim 1 and including determining an identity for the sender of each document scanned, and correlating the identity with specific fonts used by the sender.

22. A method according to claim 21 wherein, when searching for a document from a specific sender for whom certain fonts have been correlated with the sender'"'"'s identity, constructing search words in only the certain fonts used by that sender.

23. A method according to claim 1 and including constructing images of the same search word from the font table in every font in the table.

24. A method according to claim 1 wherein establishing the font table includes initially storing images of characters from a standard font in storage locations in the font table memory area.

25. A method according to claim 24 wherein establishing the font table includes, for each font which differs from fonts stored in the table, identifying characters in the documents being scanned and storing images of the characters in storage locations in the table memory area.

26. A method according to claim 1 wherein establishing the font table includes identifying characters in the documents being scanned and storing images of the characters in selected storage locations in the table memory area.

27. A method according to claim 26 wherein establishing the font table includes storing images of characters of a plurality of fonts in a sequence of predetermined locations in the memory area, said locations having an order which is the same for each font.

28. A method according to claim 27 and including viewing a display of an ambiguous character, identifying the character as belonging to a specific slot in a font sequence which already contains an image, and storing an image of the identified character in a separate slot as an additional form of the same character.

29. A method according to claim 28 and including running a routine to eliminate a selected ambiguous character stored as an additional form of an existing character in the font table.

30. A method according to claim 28 and including automatically comparing ambiguous characters in incoming documents with stored ambiguous characters which have been previously viewed and identified, and identifying the ambiguous characters in the incoming documents on the basis of the previous viewing and identification.

31. A method according to claim 27 and including identifying a date on the document.

32. A method according to claim 31 wherein the images of ambiguous characters are stored in locations in the font table correlated with the date identified on the document.

33. A method according to claim 31 and including counting ambiguous characters in an incoming document and providing an indication of excessive ambiguous characters when the count exceed a predetermined level.

34. A method according to claim 31 wherein identifying a date includes establishing a table of dates in a plurality of formats, examining the image of an initial portion of the scanned document, and comparing character groups therein with the table of dates.

35. A method according to claim 34 wherein, when more than one date is located in the document, selecting the date closest to the date on which the document is scanned.

36. A method according to claim 1 wherein the images of ambiguous characters are stored in locations in the font table correlated with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document was sent and received.

37. A method according to claim 1 and further including establishing a dictionary of search words in image for each font in the font table, and wherein the step of selectively recognizing and converting groups of characters includes comparing groups of characters in each scanned document with the dictionary to determine which words should be converted into code, and storing converted words as search words.

38. A method according to claim 37 wherein the dictionary includes words which are to be selected as search words.

39. A method according to claim 37 wherein the dictionary includes words which are not to be selected as search words.

40. A method according to claim 37 wherein establishing a dictionary includes entering in code words to be included in the dictionary, constructing a first dictionary section from a first font in the font table, and thereafter automatically constructing additional dictionary sections using each other font in and added to the font table.

41. A computer-implemented method of retrievably storing contents of a plurality of documents having images imprinted thereon comprising

optically scanning the documents to generate electrical signals forming a digital representation of the images on the documents,

storing the signals forming the digital image representation of each document,

establishing a font table in memory including signals forming images of characters in a plurality of different fonts, the signals for images of each character of each font having a unique, identifiable location,

selecting groups of characters from signals forming the digital representations of the images for use as search words,

storing signals representative of images of characters which are imperfectly formed on the document as ambiguous characters in unique, identifiable locations in the font table,

searching for a document by the steps of

selecting a search word,

constructing signals forming an image of the selected search word by copying signals representing individual characters from the font table in at least one font,

comparing the signals forming the constructed search word image with signals forming the image representations of scanned documents until a match is found,

selecting signals forming images of the ambiguous characters for use in search word images, and

repeating the step of comparing including comparing signals representing images of ambiguous characters with stored signals representing images of the document contents until a match is found.

42. A method according to claim 41 and further comprising

displaying an image of the document containing the match.

43. A method according to claim 42 and including

automatically assigning an identification to each image representation of each document.

44. A method according to claim 42 and including

automatically machine-selecting search words from each document to be used in locating the document from mass storage.

45. A method according to claim 44 and including correlating each search word with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document from which the search word was selected was sent and received.

46. A method according to claim 44 and further comprising comparing characters of an incoming document with the font table and, if a matching font is not found, adding images of the characters of the incoming document to the font table.

47. A method according to claim 46 and including correcting an image stored in the font table by replacing it with a different image selected from a document.

48. A method according to claim 44 and further comprising

forming a logo table of stored images of logo designs identifying sending organizations together with information in code form about the sender employing each such design,

when a document having a design is scanned, conducting a pattern search of the stored images in the logo table to seek a match between the scanned design and a stored image,

when a pattern match is found, retrieving and correlating with the identification of the document the identifying organization information associated with the matched pattern from the logo table, and

when a match is not found, flagging the document for addition of the design and identifying company information to the logo table.

49. A method according to claim 41 which includes selecting images of ambiguous characters for use as search word images.

50. A method according to claim 49 and including correlating each search word with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document from which the search word was selected was sent and received.

51. A method according to claim 49 wherein the step of storing images of characters which are imperfectly formed includes storing the image of each group of characters containing an ambiguous character.

52. A method according to claim 41 and including combining images of known characters from the font table with images of ambiguous characters to form search words.

53. A method according to claim 52 and including selecting a search word by keying in a word, displaying a stored image of a selected group of characters of a similar word and, if the selected group includes an ambiguous character and is the same word as the keyed in word, approving the displayed word and thereby correcting the converted group.

54. A method according to claim 41 and including determining an identity for the sender of each document scanned, and correlating the identity with specific fonts used by the sender.

55. A method according to claim 54 wherein, when searching for a document from a specific sender for whom certain fonts have been correlated with the sender'"'"'s identity, constructing search words in only the certain fonts used by that sender.

56. A method according to claim 41 and including constructing images of the same search word from the font table in every font in the table.

57. A method according to claim 41 wherein establishing the font table includes initially storing images of characters from a standard font in storage locations in the font table memory area.

58. A method according to claim 57 wherein establishing the font table includes, for each font which differs from fonts stored in the table, identifying characters in the documents being scanned and storing images of the characters in storage locations in the table memory area.

59. A method according to claim 58 wherein identifying characters includes displaying characters of a document for which the font is different from fonts stored in the table, viewing the displayed characters and manually assigning memory locations in the table memory area to the characters.

60. A method according to claim 59 which includes counting the number of documents which are displayed for manual entry of memory locations of each new font being added to the font table and displaying a message indicating probable completion of that font after a count of a predetermined number of reviewed documents.

61. A method according to claim 41 wherein establishing the font table includes identifying characters in the documents being scanned and storing images of the characters in selected storage locations in the table memory area.

62. A method according to claim 61 wherein establishing the font table includes storing images of characters of a plurality of fonts in a sequence of predetermined locations in the memory area, said locations having an order which is the same for each font.

63. A method according to claim 62 and including viewing a display of an ambiguous character, identifying the character as belonging to a specific slot in a font sequence which already contains an image, and storing an image of the identified character in a separate slot as an additional form of the same character.

64. A method according to claim 63 and including running a routine to eliminate a selected ambiguous character stored as an additional form of an existing character in the font table.

65. A method according to claim 64 and including automatically comparing ambiguous characters in incoming documents with stored ambiguous characters which have been previously viewed and identified, and identifying the ambiguous characters in the incoming documents on the basis of the previous viewing and identification.

66. A method according to claim 62 and including identifying a date on the document.

67. A method according to claim 66 wherein the images of ambiguous characters are stored in locations in the font table correlated with the date identified on the document.

68. A method according to claim 62 and including counting ambiguous characters in an incoming document and providing an indication of excessive ambiguous characters when the count exceed a predetermined level.

69. A method according to claim 66 wherein identifying a date includes establishing a table of dates in a plurality of formats, examining the image of an initial portion of the scanned document, and comparing character groups therein with the table of dates.

70. A method according to claim 69 and including constructing images of the dates from the font table in every font in the table.

71. A method according to claim 69 wherein, when more than one date is located in the document, selecting the date closest to the date on which the document is scanned.

72. A method according to claim 41 wherein the images of ambiguous characters are stored in locations in the font table correlated with a date indicative of an interval of time during which the document was sent and received.

73. A method according to claim 41 and further including establishing a dictionary of search words in image for each font in the font table, and wherein the step of selecting groups of characters includes comparing groups of characters in each scanned document with the dictionary to determine which words should be selected, and storing the selected words as search words.

74. A method according to claim 73 wherein the dictionary includes words which should be selected as search words.

75. A method according to claim 73 wherein the dictionary includes words which should not be selected as search words.

76. A method according to claim 73 wherein establishing a dictionary includes entering in code words to be included in the dictionary, constructing a first dictionary section from a first font in the font table, and thereafter automatically constructing additional dictionary sections using each other font in and added to the font table.