Method and apparatus for tracking documents in a workflow
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for monitoring documents in a workflow comprising:
- receiving a workflow graph representative of said workflow, said workflow graph comprising information representative of one or more stages in said workflow;
sensing a first document at a first sensed location;
determining whether there is a first matching stage among said one or more stages that corresponds to said first sensed location;
associating said first matching stage with document-related information relating to said first document;
sensing said first document at a second sensed location;
determining whether there is a second matching stage among said one or more stages that corresponds to said second sensed location; and
associating said second matching stage with said document-related information.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A workflow system and method include tracking the physical movement of documents. The information of the physical movement is incorporated with the flow graph of a workflow. A display of the workflow can then be enhanced by the information relating to the physical movement of the document.
288 Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A method for monitoring documents in a workflow comprising:
-
receiving a workflow graph representative of said workflow, said workflow graph comprising information representative of one or more stages in said workflow;
sensing a first document at a first sensed location;
determining whether there is a first matching stage among said one or more stages that corresponds to said first sensed location;
associating said first matching stage with document-related information relating to said first document;
sensing said first document at a second sensed location;
determining whether there is a second matching stage among said one or more stages that corresponds to said second sensed location; and
associating said second matching stage with said document-related information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for monitoring a document in a workflow, said workflow being represented by a workflow graph, the method comprising:
-
at each of plural locations, sensing for presence of a document having physically associated therewith a radio identification device (RFID);
accumulating a plurality of first locations where said document was sensed; and
presenting a representation of said workflow graph, said representation including information indicative of one or more of said first locations thereby making known one or more locations of said document in said representation of said workflow graph. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A document workflow system comprising:
-
a first processing component;
a second processing component in communication with said first processing component, said second processing component effective for receiving information which constitutes a workflow graph; and
a plurality of sensors disposed about a plurality of locations and in communication with said first processing component, said sensors operable to sense a document and to transmit first information indicative of said document to said first processing component, said first processing component operable to communicate to said second processing component second information indicative of a location where said document was sensed, said second processing component operable to identify said document in said workflow graph using document-related information and said second information. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for monitoring documents in a workflow comprising:
-
receiving a workflow graph representative of said workflow, said workflow graph comprising information representative of one or more stages in said workflow;
sensing a first document at a first sensed location;
determining whether there is a first matching stage among said one or more stages that corresponds to said first sensed location;
associating said first matching stage with document-related information relating to said first document;
sensing said first document at a second sensed location;
determining whether there is a second matching stage among said one or more stages that corresponds to said second sensed location; and
associating said second matching stage with said document-related information, wherein said document includes a re-writable RFID (radio frequency identification) tag and said step of receiving includes storing at least a portion of said workflow graph in said RFID tag. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
-
Specification