Method and apparatus for storing images of documents having magnetic ink code line

• US 5,917,965 A
• Filed: 05/05/1995
• Issued: 06/29/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Wilson, Philip, Levine, Glenn, Cahill, Thomas, Sferra, Richard H., McMonagle, John J., Goldfisher, Saul
• Primary Examiner(s): COUSO, YON JUNG
• Application Number:
  US08/435,748
• Time in Patent Office: 1,516 Days
• Field of Search: 382/305, 382/137, 382/138, 382/139, 382/140, 382/311
• US Class Current: 382/305
• 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: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/987 with the intervention of an operator
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/956 Hierarchical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access

Abstract

A method and apparatus for storing and retrieving images of documents, e.g. checks. The method comprises placing a plurality of documents in a document imaging machine and forming an electronic image of each document, storing each electronic image in an electronic storage device, providing at least one user interface device in communication on a communication link with the electronic storage device, placing a request for at least one document image on the user interface device, transmitting the request by the communication link to the electronic storage device, searching the electronic storage device for the requested electronic image of the document, retrieving the at least one electronic image or providing an indication that the image was not found, storing the electronic image, if found, in an electronic file, for transmission to the user interface device at user option, providing the electronic image to the user interface device at command of a user at the user interface device for storage at the user interface device and displaying the requested electronic image on a display of the user interface device. Preferably, the electronic, images are stored with embedded identifying information in a TIFF® (trademark of Aldus Corp.) file format and the check images can be displayed on a display device which permits the user to view both sides of the checks simultaneously and perform functions such as zooming and rotation of the images.

Claims

1. A method for storing electronic images of documents having printed or written indicia thereon and further having a magnetic ink code line, the method comprising:

forming an electronic image of each document;

electronically reading and decoding said magnetic ink code line to form decoded magnetic ink coded data;

merging said electronic image and said decoded magnetic ink coded data into a tagged image file format (TIFF) file, with the decoded magnetic ink coded data stored in a tag field in the TIFF file, each document being associated with a TIFF file; and

storing the TIFF file in an electronic storage device.

2. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising storing said TIFF file in a queue prior to transmitting the TIFF file to the electronic storage device.

3. The method recited in claim 2, further comprising forming a plurality of said TIFF files for respective documents and storing said plurality of TIFF files in said queue, further comprising grouping a plurality of said TIFF files into a binary large object (BLOB) and transmitting said BLOB to said electronic storage device.

4. The method recited in claim 3, further comprising forming a plurality of BLOBs and transmitting each said BLOB to the electronic storage device.

5. The method recited in claim 4, further comprising generating a BLOB record for each BLOB, and storing each BLOB record in a BLOB index.

6. The method recited in claim 5, further comprising storing each BLOB record in a further electronic storage device.

7. The method recited in claim 6, wherein the step of generating a BLOB record comprises generating the decoded magnetic ink coded data for each document, a BLOB pointer to the BLOB containing the image of a particular document and a TIFF pointer providing information regarding the location of the TIFF for a particular document in a BLOB.

8. The method recited in claim 7, wherein the step of generating the decoded magnetic ink coded data for each check comprises decoding the check number, account number and amount of each check.

9. The method recited in claim 8, further comprising inserting a user defined reference field entered by a user at the user interface device into the BLOB record and maintaining the association of the user defined reference field with a respective check.

10. The method recited in claim 1, wherein said step of storing the TIFF file in the electronic storage device comprises bundling a plurality of said TIFF files together in a grouping and storing said grouping as a unit in said electronic storage device, thereby to increase the speed at which the images can be stored in and retrieved from said electronic storage device.

11. The method recited in claim 7, wherein the documents comprise checks and further comprising searching said electronic storage device for the requested electronic image, said step of searching comprising searching said BLOB index by using the account number and check number of the requested check, thereby determining the BLOB containing the image of the check and the TIFF pointer to the check in the BLOB and using said determined BLOB and TIFF pointer to find the check image in the electronic storage device.

12. The method recited in claim 11, further comprising verifying each request for a check to insure that the user placing the request is authorized.

13. The method recited in claim 12, further comprising compiling a list of authorized account numbers associated with a requester, and comparing an account number in the request to the list to determine if the requester is authorized to make requests from the account specified by the account number.

14. The method recited in claim 13, wherein the electronic storage device comprises a plurality of storage platters, and said step of searching said electronic storage device for the requested electronic image further comprises

determining the platter associated with each request and forming a listing of the requests for each platter;

determining if there is a request for an image corresponding to any electronic images on a platter currently being searched of said electronic storage device, and if so, retrieving the image;

once all images on the plate currently being searched have been retrieved or if there is no request corresponding to any electronic image on the platter currently being searched, determining the platter associated with the most image requests and searching the platter associated with the most image requests for the requested images and retrieving the requested images; and

searching each other platter associated with image requests in an order determined by the number of requests per platter such that a platter having the most requests is searched first.

15. The method recited in claim 14, wherein each platter is two sided, and further comprising determining if there is a request associated with a second side of the platter, and if so, searching the second side of the platter for a request prior to searching another platter.

16. The method recited in claim 1, wherein said step of forming an electronic image comprises forming an electronic image of two sides of a two sided document.

17. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of storing each electronic image in an electronic storage device comprises storing the electronic image in a mass storage device.

18. The method recited in claim 17, wherein the step of storing in a mass storage device comprises storing each electronic image in an electronic optical storage device.

19. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the document comprises a two-sided check, and further comprising generating a TIFF file for each side of each check.

39. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising providing a further storage device for temporary storage of images prior to storage in said electronic storage device.

40. The method recited in claim 39, further comprising the step of coupling said electronic storage device to said further storage device over a local area network (LAN) and using said further storage device for temporary storage of images in the event said LAN is defective, thereby allowing image processing to continue.

20. Apparatus for storing electronic images of documents having printed or written indicia thereon and further having a magnetic ink code line, comprising:

a document imaging machine for forming an electronic image of each document;

a magnetic ink reader for decoding said magnetic ink code line to form decoded magnetic ink coded data;

a memory comprising a tagged image file format (TIFF) file having said electronic image merged with the decoded magnetic ink coded data, with the decoded magnetic ink coded data stored in a tag field in the TIFF file, each document being associated with a TIFF file, the TIFF file being stored in the memory.

21. The apparatus recited in claim 20, further comprising a queue for storing said TIFF file prior to transmitting the TIFF file to the electronic storage device.

22. The apparatus recited in claim 21, further comprising a plurality of said TIFF files for respective documents, each of said plurality of TIFF files stored in said queue, and further wherein a plurality of said TIFF files are grouped into a binary large object (BLOB) for storage on said electronic storage device.

23. The apparatus recited in claim 22, further comprising a plurality of BLOBs stored on the electronic storage device.

24. The apparatus recited in claim 23, further comprising a BLOB record for each BLOB, and a BLOB index for storing each BLOB record.

25. The apparatus recited in claim 24, wherein the BLOB index for storing each BLOB record comprises a further electronic storage device.

26. The apparatus recited in claim 25, wherein the BLOB record comprises said decoded magnetic ink coded data for each document, a BLOB pointer to the BLOB containing the image of a particular document and a TIFF pointer providing information regarding the location of the TIFF for the particular document in the BLOB.

27. The apparatus recited in claim 26, wherein the decoded magnetic ink coded data for each check comprises the check number, account number and amount of each check.

28. The apparatus recited in claim 27, further wherein the user interface device is adapted to insert a user defined reference field into the BLOB record, the user defined reference field being associated with a respective check.

29. The apparatus recited in claim 20, wherein the electronic storage device comprises a plurality of sectors, a plurality of said images being bundled together in a grouping and stored as a unit in each sector of said electronic storage device, thereby to increase the speed at which images can be stored in and retrieved from said electronic storage device.

30. The apparatus recited in claim 26, wherein the documents comprise checks, and further comprising a computer for searching said electronic storage device for the requested electronic image comprising means for searching said BLOB index by using the account number and check number of the requested check, thereby determining the BLOB containing the image of the check and the TIFF pointer to the image of the check in the BLOB, said computer using said determined BLOB and TIFF pointer to find the check image in the electronic storage device.

31. The apparatus recited in claim 30, further comprising means for verifying each request for a check to insure that the user placing the request is authorized.

32. The apparatus recited in claim 31, further comprising a memory containing a list of authorized accounts associated with a requester, and means for comparing the account number in the request to the list to determine if the requester is authorized to make requests from the account specified by the account number.

33. The apparatus recited in claim 32, wherein the electronic storage device comprises a plurality of storage platters and said computer for searching said electronic storage device for the requested electronic image further comprises

means for determining the platter associated with each request and forming a listing of the requests for each platter;

means for determining if there is a request for an image corresponding to any electronic images on a platter currently being searched of said electronic storage device, and if so, for retrieving the image;

once all images on the platter currently being searched have been retrieved or if there is no request corresponding to any electronic image on the platter currently being searched, means for determining the platter associated with the most image requests and searching the platter associated with the most requests for the requested images and for retrieving the requested images; and

means for searching each other platter associated with image requests in an order determined by the number of requests per platter such that a platter having the most requests is searched first.

34. The apparatus recited in claim 33 wherein each platter is two sided, and further comprising means for determining if there is a request associated with a second side of the platter, and if so, for searching the second side of the platter for a request prior to searching another platter.

35. The apparatus recited in claim 20, wherein said electronic image comprises an electronic image of two sides of a two sided document.

36. The apparatus recited in claim 35, wherein the electronic storage device comprises a mass storage device.

37. The apparatus recited in claim 36, wherein the mass storage device comprises an electronic optical storage device.

38. The apparatus recited in claim 20, wherein the document comprises a two-sided check, and further comprising a TIFF file for each side of each check.

41. The apparatus recited in claim 20, further comprising a further storage device for temporary storage of images prior to storage in said electronic storage device.

42. The apparatus recited in claim 41, further comprising a local area network (LAN) coupling said electronic storage device to the further storage device being provided for temporary storage of images in the event said LAN is defective, thereby allowing image processing to continue.