Method of processing items in a check processing system and an apparatus therefor

• US 6,870,947 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2001
• Issued: 03/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Kelland, Stewart B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta, Bhavesh M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Choobin, Barry
• Application Number:
  US09/911,664
• Publication Number:
  US 20030021460A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,337 Days
• Field of Search: 382/137, 382/175, 382/176, 382/181, 382/187, 382/138, 382/198, 382/177, 382/179, 382/186, 382/182, 382/209, 382/229, 382/231, 382/305, 382/306, 382/321, 705/45, 705/43, 705/75, 235/379, 707/6
• US Class Current: 382/137
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/262 using context analysis, e.g. lexical, syntactic or semantic context

Abstract

A method of processing a deposit slip item in a check processing system comprises the steps of (a) capturing an image of the deposit slip item, (b) extracting account owner data from the captured image of step (a), (c) recognizing an account owner name from the extracted account owner data of step (b), and (d) storing the recognized account owner name of step (c) in memory to provide a lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared. The method may further comprise the steps of (e) generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data of step (b), and (f) storing the equivalent account owner names of step (e) in memory to provide other lexicons against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.

Claims

1. A method of processing a non-check item in a check processing system, the method comprising:

(a) capturing an image of the non-check item;

(b) extracting text data from the captured image of step (a);

(c) recognizing a name from the extracted text data of step (b); and

(d) storing the recognized name of step (c) in memory to provide an additional entry for a lexicon against which extracted text data from a check item can be compared.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the non-check item comprises a deposit slip item.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the text data extracted from the captured image of the non-check item comprises account owner data, and the name recognized from the account owner data comprises an account owner name.

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

(e) generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data of step (b); and

(f) storing the equivalent account owner names of step (e) in memory to provide a number of additional entries for the lexicon against which extracted text data from a check item can be compared.

6. A method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

(e) generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data of step (b); and

(t) storing the equivalent account owner names of step (e) in memory to provide a number of additional entries for the lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.

5. A method of processing a deposit slap item in a check processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) capturing an image of the deposit slip item;

(b) extracting account owner data from the captured image of step (a);

c) recognizing an account owner name from the extracted account owner data of step (b); and

(d) storing the recognized account owner name of step (c) in memory to provide an additional entry for a lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.

7. A check processing apparatus comprising:

means for capturing an image of a non-check item;

means for extracting text data from the captured image;

means for recognizing a name from the extracted text data from the captured image of the non-check item; and

means for storing the recognized name of in memory to provide an additional entry for a lexicon against which extracted text data from a check item can be compared.

8. A check processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the non-check item comprises a deposit slip item.

9. A check processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the text data extracted from the captured image of the non-check item comprises account owner data, and the name recognized from the account owner data comprises an account owner name.

10. A check processing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

means for generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data from the captured image of the non-check item, and means for storing the equivalent account owner names in memory to provide a number of additional entries for the lexicon against which extracted text data from a check item can be compared.

11. A check processing apparatus comprising:

means for capturing an image of a deposit slip item;

means for extracting account owner data from the captured image of the deposit slip item;

means for recognizing an account owner name from the extracted account owner data from the captured image of the deposit slip item; and

means for storing the recognized account owner name in memory to provide an additional entry for a lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.

12. A check processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising means for generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data from the captured image of the deposit slip item, and means for storing the equivalent account owner names in memory to provide a number of additional entries for the lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.

13. A program storage medium readable by a computer having a memory, the medium tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for processing a non-check item in a check processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) capturing an image of the non-check item;

(b) extracting text data from the captured image of step (a);

(c) recognizing a name from the extracted text data of step (b); and

(d) storing the recognized name of step (c) in memory to provide an additional entry for a lexicon against which extracted text data from a check item can be compared.

14. A program storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the non-check item comprises a deposit slip item.

15. A program storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the text data extracted from the captured image of the non-check item comprises account owner data, and the name recognized from the account owner data comprises an account owner name.

16. A program storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

(e) generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data of step (b); and

(f) storing the equivalent account owner names of step (e) in memory to provide a number of additional entries for the lexicon against which extracted text data from a check item can be compared.

17. A program storage medium readable by a computer having a memory, the medium tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for processing a deposit slip item in a check processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) capturing an image of the deposit slip item;

(b) extracting account owner data from the captured image of step (a);

(c) recognizing an account owner name from the extracted account owner data of step (b); and

(d) storing the recognized account owner name of step (c) in memory to provide an additional entry for a lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.

18. A program storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

(e) generating a number of equivalent account owner names based upon the extracted account owner data of step (b); and

(f) storing the equivalent account owner names of step (e) in memory to provide a number of additional entries for the lexicon against which extracted payee data from a check item can be compared.