Paper-based upload and tracking system

• US 7,734,093 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2004
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: McFarland, Max, Piersol, Kurt W., Wolff, Gregory J., Barrus, John W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mariam; Daniel G
• Application Number:
  US10/852,768
• Publication Number:
  US 20050258246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,210 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/103, 382/139, 382/181, 382/183, 382/190, 382/101, 382/305, 235/375, 235/462.09, 235/462.1, 235/462.11, 709/225
• US Class Current: 382/183
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

A method and apparatus for performing paper-based upload and tracking of documents is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises scanning a version of a document to obtain an image, the document having machine readable information, decoding the machine readable information from the image to obtain a destination specification, and uploading information corresponding to the image to a destination host specified by the destination specification.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

scanning a version of a document to obtain an image, the document having machine readable information;

decoding the machine readable information from the image to obtain a destination specification; and

uploading information corresponding to the image directly to a selected storage location of a destination host specified by the destination specification upon determination that the destination host is not on a list of destination hosts to which no images are permitted to be uploaded.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the information corresponding to the image comprises the image.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the destination specification comprises a destination server and a document identifier associated with the destination server.

4. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the destination specification comprises a universal resource locator (URL).

5. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the destination specification comprises a facsimile (fax) number and a document identifier.

6. The method defined in claim 5 wherein the document identifier comprises a universal resource locator (URL).

7. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising requesting confirmation, via a user interface, that upload is to occur.

8. The method defined in claim 7 further comprising halting processing if the destination host is identified as being on the list.

9. The method defined in claim 1 wherein decoding the machine readable information obtains metadata used to process upload image information.

10. The method defined in claim 9 wherein the metadata includes one or more of a group consisting of:

an indication of the maximum number of pages in the document, an indication of the minimum number of pages in the document, a response field indicating whether to wait for a response from the destination host after uploading the image, timeout information indicating appropriate action to take in response to not receiving a response from the destination host after a period of time after uploading the image to the destination host when a response from the destination host is required, courtesy copy information indicating whether a copy of the image is to be stored to a location in addition to the destination host, version information specifying which version of the document has been scanned, update information specifying whether the document may be updated, a digital signature of the originator of the document, and a public key of an originator of the document.

11. The method defined in claim 10 further comprising uploading at least a portion of the metadata to the destination host.

12. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising uploading annotations and metadata to the destination host.

13. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the machine readable information includes a pointer to a storage location including the destination specification and metadata to control one or more operations in processing the image.

14. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the machine readable information includes metadata, and further comprising applying a hash function to the metadata to determine a location of information needed to process the image.

15. The method defined in claim 14 wherein the information needed to process the image comprises the destination specification.

16. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising extracting information from the image, and uploading extracted information along with the image information.

17. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising:

obtaining information specifying one or more field locations from the machine readable information; and

checking the one or more field locations for user entered information.

18. The method defined in claim 17 further comprising sending the user entered information with the information corresponding to the image to the destination host.

19. The method defined in claim 17 further comprising:

determining whether each field location includes user entered information; and

requesting additional user input via a user interface in response to determining at least one field location does not contain user entered information.

20. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising:

associating a tracking number with the image; and

using the tracking number to access a stored version of the image or associated information.

21. The method defined in claim 20 wherein the tracking number is the hash value of the destination specification.

22. The method defined in claim 20 wherein the tracking number is a hash value of one or both of the image and additional information.

23. The method defined in claim 20 wherein storing the image comprises storing an encrypted version of the image.

24. The method defined in claim 20 further comprising:

receiving a request for the image from the destination host using the tracking number;

retrieving the image from the local storage; and

sending the retrieved image to the destination host.

25. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the hardcopy version of the document comprises a modified version of an original document.

26. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising receiving a response from the destination server indicating whether uploading of the image was successful.

27. The method defined in claim 26 wherein receiving the response includes waiting for the response only if required by metadata encoded and stored in the machine readable information.

28. The method defined in claim 26 further comprising displaying the response.

29. The method defined in claim 26 further comprising collecting additional user input.

30. The method defined in claim 26 further comprising printing the response.

31. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising:

waiting for a response from the destination host indicating whether uploading of the image was successful; and

retrying to upload the image to the destination host after a predetermined time has occurred if the response has not been received.

32. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising:

waiting for a response from the destination host indicating whether uploading was successful; and

retrying to upload the image to another destination host after a predetermined time has occurred if the response has not been received.

33. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising requesting additional data from the user before uploading the image information.

34. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising marking the hardcopy version of the document after scanning.

35. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising:

reading additional machine readable information from the image; and

sending another copy of the image to a device specified in the additional machine readable information.

36. The method defined in claim 35 further comprising:

receiving a response from the destination host indicating whether uploading of the image was successful; and

sending a copy of the response to the device specified in the additional machine readable information.

37. The method defined in claim 36 further comprising sending an error associated with uploading the image to the destination host to the device specified in the additional machine readable information.

38. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the machine readable information comprises a barcode.

39. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the machine readable information is affixed to the hardcopy version of the document.

40. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the hardcopy version of the document is paper.

41. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising encrypting the information using an encryption key prior to uploading the information.

42. The method defined in claim 41 further comprising computing a hash of the destination specification and using the destination specification as the encryption key.

43. The method defined in claim 42 further comprising storing the destination specification and the encrypted information and using the computed hash of the destination specification as a locator to obtain the encrypted information from storage.

44. The method defined in claim 42 further comprising sending the computed hash of the destination specification to the destination host along with the encrypted information.

45. An apparatus comprising:

a scanner to scan a document to produce an image;

a processing unit to identify a destination host from machine-readable information on the image; and

a communication interface to upload information corresponding to the image directly to a selected storage location of the destination host upon determination that the destination host is not on a list of destination hosts to which no images are permitted to be uploaded.

46. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the image information comprises the image.

47. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the destination specification comprises a destination server and a document identifier associated with the destination server.

48. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the decoder obtains metadata used to process upload image information.

49. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the decoder decodes the machine readable information to obtain metadata that includes one or more of a group consisting of:

an indication of the maximum number of pages in the document, an indication of the minimum number of pages in the document, a response field indicating whether to wait for a response from the destination host after uploading the image, timeout information indicating appropriate action to take in response to not receiving a response from the destination host after a period of time after uploading the image to the destination host when a response from the destination host is required, courtesy copy information indicating whether a copy of the image is to be stored to a location in addition to the destination host, version information specifying which version of the document has been scanned, update information specifying whether the document may be updated, a digital signature of the originator of the document, and a public key of an originator of the document.

50. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the processing unit extracts information from the image and uploads extracted information along with the image information.

51. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the processing unit associates a tracking number with a stored version of the image and sends the tracking number with the upload of the image to the destination host.

52. The apparatus defined in claim 51 wherein the processing unit retrieves the image from storage in response to a request for the image from the destination host using the tracking number and sends the retrieved image to the destination host.

53. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the communication interface receives a response from the destination server indicating whether uploading of the image was successful.

54. The apparatus defined in claim 45 wherein the communication interface receives a response from the destination host indicating whether uploading of the image was successful;

and

sends a copy of the response to the device specified in the additional machine readable information.

55. The apparatus defined in claim 45 further comprising a marking unit to mark the paper with a new identifier to indicate that the paper has been processed.

56. An article of manufacture having one or more computer readable storage media storing instructions thereon which, when executed by a system, cause the system to perform a method comprising:

scanning a version of a document to obtain an image, the document having machine readable information;

decoding the machine readable information from the image to obtain a destination specification;

uploading information corresponding to the image directly to a selected storage location of a destination host specified by the destination specification upon determination that the destination host is not on a list of destination hosts to which no images are permitted to be uploaded.

57. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein the image information comprises the image.

58. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein the destination specification comprises a destination server and a document identifier associated with the destination server.

59. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein decoding the machine readable information obtains metadata used to process upload image information.

60. The article of manufacture defined in claim 59 wherein the metadata includes one or more of a group consisting of an indication of the maximum number of pages in the document, an indication of the minimum number of pages in the document, a response field indicating whether to wait for a response from the destination host after uploading the image, timeout information indicating appropriate action to take in response to not receiving a response from the destination host after a period of time after uploading the image to the destination host when a response from the destination host is required, courtesy copy information indicating whether a copy of the image is to be stored to a location in addition to the destination host, version information specifying which version of the document has been scanned, update information specifying whether the document may be updated, a digital signature of the originator of the document, and a public key of an originator of the document.

61. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein the method further comprises extracting information from the image and uploading extracted information along with the image information.

62. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein the method further comprises associating a tracking number with a stored version of the image and sending the tracking number with the upload of the image to the destination host.

63. The article of manufacture defined in claim 62 wherein the method further comprises retrieving the image from storage in response to a request for the image from the destination host using the tracking number and sending the retrieved image to the destination host.

64. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein the method further comprises receiving a response from the, destination server indicating whether uploading of the image was successful.

65. The article of manufacture defined in claim 56 wherein the method further comprises

receiving a response from the destination host indicating whether uploading of the image was successful;

and

sending a copy of the response to the device specified in the additional machine readable information.

66. A method comprising:

receiving a tracking number associated with an image of a document, the tracking number obtained from a destination decoded from the image and to which the image had been uploaded directly upon determination that the destination is not on a list of destinations to which no images are permitted to be uploaded;

generating a request using the tracking number;

sending the request to a server; and

receiving the image or information related to the image in response to the request.

67. The method defined in claim 66 wherein the request is generated by a destination host and further wherein the server comprises an upload client.

68. The method defined in claim 66 wherein the server is a destination host.

69. The method defined in claim 66 wherein the request specifies additional annotation information, and further comprising the server adding the annotation information to annotations stored with the image information to create updated annotations for the image.

70. The method defined in claim 69 further comprising the server signing the updated annotation information.

71. The method defined in claim 69 further comprising the server responding with the updated annotation information and a signature.

72. The method defined in claim 69 further comprising the server sending a new request to another device, the new request including the updated annotations.

73. The method defined in claim 72 wherein the another device is specified in the tracking number.

74. The method defined in claim 72 wherein the another device is specified in an upload specification corresponding to the document.

75. The method defined in claim 66 wherein the request is encrypted using an identifier corresponding to the tracking number.

76. The method defined in claim 75 wherein the tracking number is a hash of the identifier.

77. The method defined in claim 66 wherein received information is encrypted using an identifier corresponding to the tracking number.

78. The method defined in claim 77 wherein the tracking number is a hash of the identifier.

79. A method comprising:

receiving annotations and a tracking number, the tracking number obtained from a destination decoded from an image and to which the image had been uploaded directly upon determination that the destination is not on a list of destinations to which no images are permitted to be uploaded;

locating stored annotations in response to the tracking number;

updating the stored annotations; and

sending the updated annotations to a requester.

80. The method defined in claim 79 wherein locating a stored decryption key and the stored annotations are performed using the tracking number.

81. The method defined in claim 79 further comprising sending a signature to the requester.

82. The method defined in claim 79 wherein annotations are encrypted using a key associated with the tracking number.

83. The method defined in claim 82 wherein the tracking number is computed from the encryption key.