Techniques for performing actions based upon physical locations of paper documents

• US 7,884,955 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2002
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Lee, Dar-Shyang, Graham, Jamey, Hull, Jonathan J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coles; Edward L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rudolph; Vincent
• Application Number:
  US10/235,028
• Publication Number:
  US 20040079796A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,080 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/10.6, 340/10.42, 340/572.4, 235/385, 382/306, 358/405, 358/442
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/02 using radio waves G01S19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10079 the collision being resolved in the spatial domain, e.g. temporary shields for blindfolding the interrogator in specific directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10356 using a plurality of antennas, e.g. configurations including means to resolve interference between the plurality of antennas

Abstract

Techniques for performing one or more actions based upon physical locations of one or more paper documents. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the paper documents have identification tags physically associated with them. The physical locations of the paper documents are determined based upon information read from the identification tags physically associated with the paper documents. One or more actions are performed based upon the physical locations of the paper documents.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, a first request comprising information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

determining, by the computer system, a set of tag readers located at the first physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between a plurality of tag readers and a plurality of physical locations;

transmitting, by the computer system in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

receiving, by the computer system, information read from the identification tags in response to the second request;

determining, by the computer system for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, paper document-related information for the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document;

performing, by the computer system, the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents;

upon completion of performing the first action, storing, by the computer system for each paper document in the at least one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document, the information indicating that the first action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is embedded in a page of the paper document.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is attached to the paper document.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the identification tag is attached to a staple that is attached to the at least one paper document.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the paper document-related information corresponding to each paper document in the one or more paper documents comprises:

determining an identification code for each paper document from the information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code comprises:

accessing first information identifying a plurality of identification codes and paper document-related information associated with each identification code; and

determining for each paper document, from the first information, paper document-related information associated with an identification code that matches the identification code read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises printing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises photocopying a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises faxing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the first action comprises emailing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the paper document-related information for the at least one paper document is included in the information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, a first request comprising information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

determining, by the computer system, a set of tag readers located at the physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between a plurality of tag readers and a plurality of physical locations;

transmitting, by the computer system in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

receiving, by the computer system, information read from the identification tags in response to the second request;

determining, by the computer system, if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags;

performing, by the computer system, the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied; and

upon completion of performing the action, storing, by the computer system for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document, the information indicating that the action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a first paper document is located at the physical location; and

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises determining if the first paper document is included in the one or more paper documents.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises:

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determining an identification code for the paper document from the information read from the identification tags;

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determining paper document-related information for the paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document; and

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the paper document-related information determined for the one or more paper documents.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein performing the action comprises performing the action using paper document-related information for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a paper document having a first characteristic is located at the physical location; and

determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises determining if the one or more paper documents includes at least one paper document having the first characteristic.

17. A system comprising:

a plurality of tag readers; and

a data processing system coupled to the plurality of tag readers;

wherein the data processing system includes at least once processor;

wherein the data processing system is configured to receive a first request comprising information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

wherein the data processing system is configured to determine a set of tag readers located at the first physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between the plurality of tag readers and a plurality of physical locations;

wherein the data processing system is configured to transmit, in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

wherein the set of tag readers is configured to read information from the identification tags and to communicate the information read from the identification tags to the data processing system in response to the second request;

wherein the data processing system is configured to, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determine paper document-related information corresponding to the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

wherein the data processing system is configured to perform the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents; and

wherein the data processing system is further configured to upon completion of the first action, store, for each paper document in the at least one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document, the information indicating that the first action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is embedded in a page of the paper document.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein, for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents, the identification tag is attached to the paper document.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the identification tag is attached to a staple that is attached to the at least one paper document.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein the data processing system is configured to determine paper document-related information for each paper document in the one or more paper documents by:

determining an identification code for each paper document in the one or more paper documents from the information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document.

22. The system of claim 17 wherein the first action performed by the data processing system comprises at least one of printing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, photocopying a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, faxing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, and emailing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

23. The system of claim 17 wherein the paper document-related information for the at least one paper document is included in the information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

24. A system comprising:

a plurality of tag readers; and

a data processing system coupled to the plurality of tag readers;

wherein the data processing system includes at least once processor;

wherein the data processing system is configured to receive a first request comprising information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

wherein the data processing system is configured to determine a set of tag readers located at the physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between the plurality of tag readers and a plurality of physical locations;

wherein the data processing system is configured to transmit, in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request for the set of tag readers to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

wherein one or more tag readers from the set of tag readers are configured to read information from the identification tags and to communicate the information read from the identification tags to the data processing system;

wherein the data processing system is configured to determine if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags, and to perform the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied; and

wherein the data processing system is further configured to upon completion of the action, store, for each paper document of the one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document, the information indicating that the action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a first paper document is located at the physical location; and

the data processing system is configured to determine if the first paper document is included in the one or more paper documents.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the data processing system is configured to:

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determine an identification code for the paper document from the information read from the identification tags;

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, determine paper document-related information for the paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document; and

determine if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the paper document-related information determined for the one or more paper documents.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the data processing system is configured to perform the action using paper document-related information for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

28. The system of claim 24 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a paper document having a first characteristic is located at the physical location; and

the data processing system is configured to determine if the one or more paper documents includes at least one paper document having the first characteristic.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program executable by a processor, the computer program comprising:

code for receiving a first request comprising information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

code for determining a set of tag readers located at the first physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between a plurality of tai readers and a plurality of physical locations;

code for transmitting, in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

code for receiving information read from the identification tags in response to the second request;

code for determining, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, paper document-related information for the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document;

code for performing the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents; and

code for storing, for each paper document in the at least one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document upon completion of performing the first action, the information indicating that the first action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the code for determining the paper document-related information corresponding to each paper document in the one or more paper documents comprises:

code for determining an identification code for each paper document from the information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

code for determining paper document-related information for each paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the code for performing the first action comprises at least one of code for printing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, code for photocopying a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, code for faxing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document, and code for emailing a portion of the paper document-related information corresponding to the at least one paper document.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the paper document-related information for the at least one paper document is included in the information read from identification tags physically associated with the one or more paper documents.

33. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program executable by a processor, the computer program comprising:

code for receiving a first request comprising information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

code for determining a set of tag readers located at the physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between a plurality of tag readers and a plurality of physical locations;

code for transmitting, in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

code for receiving information read from the identification tags in response to the second request;

code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags; and

code for performing the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied; and

code for storing, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document upon completion of performing the action, the information indicating that the action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a first paper document is located at the physical location; and

the code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises code for determining if the first paper document is included in the one or more paper documents.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33 wherein the code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises:

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, code for determining an identification code for the paper document from the information read from the identification tags;

for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, code for determining paper document-related information for the paper document based upon the identification code for the paper document; and

code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the paper document-related information determined for the one or more paper documents.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 35 wherein the code for performing the action comprises code for performing the action using paper document-related information for at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 33 wherein:

the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied if a paper document having a first characteristic is located at the physical location; and

the code for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied comprises code for determining if the one or more paper documents includes at least one paper document having the first characteristic.

38. A system comprising:

means for receiving a first request comprising information identifying a first physical location and a first action to be performed;

means for determining a set of tag readers located at the first physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between a plurality of tag readers and a plurality of physical locations;

means for transmitting, in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

means for receiving information read from the identification tags in response to the second request;

means for determining, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, paper document-related information for the paper document based upon information read from the identification tag physically associated with the paper document; and

means for performing the first action using the paper document-related information corresponding to at least one paper document in the one or more paper documents; and

means for storing, for each paper document in the at least one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document upon completion of performing the first action, the information indicating that the first action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.

39. A system comprising:

means for receiving a first request comprising information specifying a physical location, a condition associated with the physical location, and an action to be performed if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied;

means for determining a set of tag readers located at the physical location, the determining being based on tag reader location information that includes associations between a plurality of tai readers and a plurality of physical locations;

means for transmitting, in response to the first request, a second request to the set of tag readers comprising a request to read information from identification tags physically associated with one or more paper documents located proximal to the set of tag readers;

means for receiving information read from the identification tags in response to the second request;

means for determining if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied based upon the information read from the identification tags;

means for performing the action if the condition associated with the physical location is satisfied; and

means for storing, for each paper document in the one or more paper documents, information in a document history associated with the paper document upon completion of performing the action, the information indicating that the action has been performed for the paper document, wherein the document history associated with each paper document provides a record of document-related actions that have been performed for the paper document, wherein a copy of the document history is stored in the identification tag associated with the paper document, and wherein the copy of the document history may be accessed by transmitting a request to the identification tag.