Apparatus and method for annotating an object with an audio message

• US 6,590,837 B1
• Filed: 05/21/1999
• Issued: 07/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lawrence M. Kaplan
• Inventors: Kaplan, Lawrence M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Neyzari, Ali
• Application Number:
  US09/316,745
• Time in Patent Office: 1,509 Days
• Field of Search: 369/25.01, 369/26.01, 369/29.02, 369/47.23, 369/14, 369/64, 369/97, 178/18.03, 178/18.09, 704/500, 235/436, 235/487, 235/454, 235/472, 235/462.15, 709/231, 709/236, 714/752
• US Class Current: 369/25.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes

Abstract

An apparatus and method for annotating an object, such as a document, with an audio event is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a recording component that makes a recording of an audio event, a data code applicator that places a data code on the object after the recording of the audio event is made by the recording component, a data code reader that reads the data code from the object, and a playback component that plays back the recording of the audio event after of the data code is read from the object by the data code reader.

Claims

1. An apparatus for annotating an object with an audio event comprising:

a recording component that makes a recording of an audio event;

a data code applicator that places a data code on the object after the recording of the audio event is made by the recording component;

a data code reader that reads the data code from the object; and

a playback component that plays back the recording of the audio event after the data code is read from the object by the data code reader.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the object on which the data code is placed is a paper document.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said recording component further comprises:

a microphone that receives audible sounds that comprise the audio event and converts said audible sounds into an electrical signal representative thereof; and

a digital converter that receives the electrical signal from the microphone and converts the electrical signal into digital data.

4. The invention of claim 1 further comprising:

a memory into which the recording of the audio event is stored.

5. The invention of claim 1 further comprising:

a housing sized for holding in a human hand, and wherein said recording component, said data code applicator, said data code reader, and said playback component are contained in said housing.

6. The invention of claim 5 further comprising:

operator controls located along said housing.

7. The invention of claim 5 further comprising:

a battery located in said housing and operatively connected to said recording component, said data code applicator, said data code reader, and said playback component to provide power thereto.

8. The invention of claim 1 further comprising:

a code generator that generates a plurality of unique codes, wherein one of said plurality of unique codes is associated with the recording of the audio event.

9. The invention of claim 8 further comprising:

a code format converter responsive to said code generator and adapted to convert said unique codes into a data format suitable for application to objects.

10. The invention of claim 1 wherein the data code includes a code associated with data stored in a memory of the apparatus, wherein the data stored in the memory comprises the recording of the audio event.

11. The invention of claim 1 wherein the data code comprises the recording of the audio event.

12. The invention of claim 1 wherein the data code applicator comprises a print head.

13. The invention of claim 1 wherein the data code reader comprises a scanner.

14. An apparatus for annotating an object with an audio event comprising:

a housing;

a microphone located in said housing;

a data converter located in said housing and that receives a signal representative of an audio event from the microphone and converts said signal into storable data;

a data code applicator located in said housing, wherein said data code applicator applies a data code on a surface of the object after conversion of the signal representative of the audio event into storable data;

a code reader located in said housing and capable of reading data codes from surfaces of objects;

a playback device located in said housing, wherein said playback device converts data representative of the audio event back into an audio signal after the code reader has read a data code from the surface of the object;

manually-operable controls located on said housing and adapted to control operation of said recording apparatus; and

a battery located in said housing, wherein said battery supplies power for the data converter, the data code applicator, the code reader, and the playback device.

15. The invention of claim 14 further comprising a storage medium located in said housing that stores the data representative of the audio event.

16. A method of annotating an object with an audio event comprising the steps of:

recording an audio event with a hand-held device;

applying a data code onto the object with the hand-held device;

reading the data code from the object; and

playing back the audio event upon having read the data code from the object.

17. The method of claims 16 wherein the steps of recording, applying, reading, and playing back are performed using a hand-held, battery-operated device.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of:

encrypting the recording of the audio event prior to applying the data code; and

decrypting the audio event prior to playing back the audio event.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of applying a data code further comprises:

applying said data code onto a supplementary surface, and then applying the supplementary surface onto the object.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of applying a data code further comprises:

applying a magnetically-readable strip onto the object.

21. A method of operating a device to play back an audio annotation comprising:

using a scanning component in the device to scan a code applied to a document;

finding an audio message that had been recorded and associated with the code; and

playing back the audio message with the device.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the audio message was recorded with the device.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the audio message was stored in the device.