Document processing system

• US 7,973,960 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2009
• Issued: 07/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Ono, Yasuhiro, Sato, Yasuhiro, Furuta, Toshiyuki, Horikawa, Hirofumi, Kozuka, Naoki, Beppu, Tomohiko, Ohkuma, Takashi, Suga, Satoshi, Takahashi, Sadao
• Primary Examiner(s): EBRAHIMI DEHKORDY, SAEID
• Application Number:
  US12/353,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20090190168A1
• Time in Patent Office: 902 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.14, 358/1.13, 358/1.16, 358/462, 235/181, 235/463, 235/436, 235/380, 235/487, 235/462.04, 382/162, 382/260, 382/173, 707/200, 707/E17.01, 706/16, 706/23, 706/25, 345/173, 345/177
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1444 Selective acquisition, locating or processing of specific regions, e.g. highlighted text, fiducial marks or predetermined fields

Abstract

A document processing system is disclosed that is capable of processing both fixed-format and unfixed-format hand written paper documents. The document processing system includes an encoding unit that encodes a sheet ID for identifying a hand written first document on a sheet to generate a coded sheet ID; a decoding unit that decodes the coded sheet ID; a document-sheet ID association unit that associates the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document; a printing unit that acquires the sheet ID and prints the coded sheet ID on the first document; a sheet ID management unit that manages the sheet ID; an information acquisition unit that acquires the sheet ID decoded by the decoding unit, and hand-written data from the first document on which the coded sheet ID is printed; and a process-sheet ID association unit that associates the sheet ID with a process ID of a process for processing the hand-written data acquired by the information acquisition unit.

Claims

1. A document processing system for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing system comprising:

an encoding unit configured to encode a sheet ID for identifying the first document to generate a coded sheet ID;

a decoding unit configured to decode the coded sheet ID;

a document-sheet ID association unit configured to associate the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document;

a printing unit configured to acquire the sheet ID and print the coded sheet ID on the first document;

a sheet ID management unit configured to manage the sheet ID;

an information acquisition unit configured to acquire the sheet ID decoded by the decoding unit, and hand-written data from the first document on which the coded sheet ID is printed; and

a process-sheet ID association unit configured to associate the sheet ID with a process ID of a process for processing the hand-written data acquired by the information acquisition unit.

2. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing unit comprises a printing service unit that prints the first document based on the second document, wherein the printing service unit includes:

a first unit that acquires the sheet ID assigned to the first document;

a second unit that generates the coded sheet ID from the acquired sheet ID from the acquired sheet ID; and

a third unit that superposes the coded sheet ID on the second document.

3. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing unit includes:

a first unit that acquires the sheet ID assigned to the first document;

a second unit that sends the acquired sheet ID to the encoding unit to generate the coded sheet ID;

a third unit that superposes the coded sheet ID on the second document; and

a printing service unit that outputs the second document superposed with the coded sheet ID for printing the first document.

4. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing unit comprises a printing service unit that prints the first document based on a printing image, wherein the printing service unit includes:

a document conversion unit that converts the second document to the printing image;

a first unit that acquires the sheet ID assigned to the first document;

a second unit that sends the acquired sheet ID to the encoding unit to generate the coded sheet ID; and

a third unit that superposes the coded sheet ID on the printing image.

5. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing unit comprises:

a document conversion unit that converts the second document to a printing image or a page description language sequence; and

a printing service unit that prints the first document based on the printing image or the page description language sequence,

wherein the printing service unit includes

a first unit that acquires the sheet ID assigned to the first document;

a second unit that sends the acquired sheet ID to the encoding unit to generate the coded sheet ID; and

a third unit that superposes the coded sheet ID on the printing image.

6. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet ID management unit stores document-sheet ID association information in a non-volatile storage unit, said document-sheet ID association information being used for associating the second document with the sheet ID.

7. The document processing system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the document-sheet ID association information is accessible from a communication network.

8. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet ID management unit associates the second document with the sheet ID in response to a request transmitted from a communication network.

9. The document processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sheet ID management unit associates a document title of the second document with the sheet ID.

10. The document processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sheet ID management unit stores the second document associated with the sheet ID.

11. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

an image pick-up unit that picks up an image of an object including the first document;

a driving unit that drives the image pick-up unit relative to the first document;

a control unit that controls the driving unit to divide the first document into a plurality of regions for image pick-up; and

a combination unit that combines images of the divided regions of the first document into one image.

12. The document processing system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

a sheet ID image pick-up unit that picks up an image of the coded sheet ID.

13. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

an image pick-up unit that picks up an image of an object including the first document;

a driving unit that drives the image pick-up unit relative to the first document;

a detection unit that detects a position of the coded sheet ID on the object; and

a control unit that determines a position of the image pick-up unit so that the image pick-up unit is able to pick up an image of the coded sheet ID, and determines a magnification to be applied for picking up the image of the coded sheet ID;

wherein the image obtained by the image pick-up unit is associated with the sheet ID obtained from the image of the coded sheet ID.

14. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

an image pick-up unit that picks up an image of an object including the first document; and

a sheet ID display unit provided in the object for displaying the coded sheet ID, said sheet ID display unit being storable and including the coded sheet ID.

15. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

an image pick-up unit that picks up an image of an object including the first document; and

an optical projecting unit that optically projects the coded sheet ID so as to allow the image pick-up unit to pick up an image of the coded sheet ID.

16. The document processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

an image pick-up unit that picks up an image of an object including the first document; and

a display unit provided in the object for displaying an image of the coded sheet ID taken by the image pick-up unit.

17. A document processing system for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing system comprising:

an encoding unit configured to encode a sheet ID for identifying the first document to generate a coded sheet ID;

a decoding unit configured to decode the coded sheet ID;

a document-sheet ID association unit configured to associate the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document;

a printing unit configured to acquire the sheet ID and print the coded sheet ID on the first document;

a sheet ID management unit configured to manage the sheet ID;

an information acquisition unit configured to acquire the sheet ID decoded by the decoding unit and hand-written data from the first document on which the coded sheet ID is printed;

a process-sheet ID association unit configured to associate the sheet ID with a process ID of a process for processing the hand-written data acquired by the information acquisition unit; and

an ID conversion unit configured to convert the sheet ID to the document ID and the process ID.

18. The document processing system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the information acquisition unit comprises:

an image pick-up unit that picks up an image of an object including the first document; and

a detection unit that detects a position of the coded sheet ID on the object;

wherein the sheet ID obtained from an image of the coded sheet ID taken by the image pick-up unit is associated with the document ID and the process ID by the ID conversion unit.

19. A document processing system for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing system comprising:

an encoding unit configured to encode a sheet ID for identifying the first document to generate a coded sheet ID;

a decoding unit configured to decode the coded sheet ID;

a printing unit configured to acquire the sheet ID and print the coded sheet ID on the first document;

a document-sheet ID association unit configured to associate the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a second document, said second document being a computerized document having a predetermined format;

a sheet ID management unit configured to manage the sheet ID;

an information acquisition unit configured to acquire the sheet ID decoded by the decoding unit and hand-written data from the first document on which the coded sheet ID is printed;

a process-sheet ID association unit configured to associate the sheet ID with a process ID of a process for processing the hand-written data acquired by the information acquisition unit;

a process ID management unit configured to manage the process ID; and

a decomposition storage unit configured to decompose the hand-written data acquired by the information acquisition unit based on layout information of the predetermined format and the process ID, and store the decomposed hand-written data.

20. The document processing system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the process ID management unit manages program-process ID association information that associates the process ID with a program for executing the process for processing the hand-written data.

21. The document processing system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the process ID management unit stores the program-process ID association information in a non-volatile storage unit.

22. The document processing system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the program-process ID association information is stored in a database accessible from a communication network.

23. The document processing system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the program-process ID association information includes information of a position of storing data to be processed by the program.

24. The document processing system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the program-process ID association information includes information of a position of a service to be provided by executing the program.

25. The document processing system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the process ID management unit associates the process ID with the program in response to a request transmitted from a communication network.

26. A document processing method for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing method comprising the steps of:

associating a sheet ID with a process ID, said sheet ID being used for identifying the first document, said process ID being used for indicating a process for processing hand-written data on the first document;

associating the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document;

assigning the sheet ID to the first document;

encoding the sheet ID to generate a coded sheet ID; and

acquiring the coded sheet ID and the hand-written data from the first document, the coded sheet ID being printed on the first document.

27. A document processing method for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing method comprising the steps of:

associating a sheet ID with a process ID, said sheet ID being used for identifying the first document, said process ID being used for indicating a process for processing hand-written data on the first document;

associating the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document;

associating the process ID with a program for executing the process for processing the hand-written data;

assigning the sheet ID to the first document;

encoding the sheet ID to generate a coded sheet ID;

printing the first document with the coded sheet ID thereon;

acquiring the coded sheet ID and the hand-written data from the first document, the coded sheet ID being printed on the first document; and

converting the sheet ID to the document ID and the process ID.

28. A document processing method for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing method comprising the steps of:

associating a sheet ID with a process ID, said sheet ID being used for identifying the first document, said process ID being used for indicating a process for processing hand-written data on the first document;

associating the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document having a predetermined format;

assigning the sheet ID to the first document;

encoding the sheet ID to generate a coded sheet ID;

acquiring the coded sheet ID and the hand-written data from the first document, the coded sheet ID being printed on the first document; and

decomposing the hand-written data based on layout information of the predetermined format and the process ID and storing the decomposed hand-written data.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program executable in a computer for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, the program making the computer execute the steps of:

associating a sheet ID with a process ID, said sheet ID being used for identifying the first document, said process ID being used for indicating a process for processing hand-written data on the first document;

associating the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document;

assigning the sheet ID to the first document;

encoding the sheet ID to generate a coded sheet ID; and

acquiring the coded sheet ID and the hand-written data from the first document, the coded sheet ID being printed on the first document.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program executable in a computer for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, the program making the computer execute the steps of:

associating a sheet ID with a process ID, said sheet ID being used for identifying the first document, said process ID being used for indicating a process for processing hand-written data on the first document;

associating the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document;

associating the process ID with a program for executing the process for processing the hand-written data;

assigning the sheet ID to the first document;

encoding the sheet ID to generate a coded sheet ID;

printing the first document with the coded sheet ID thereon;

acquiring the coded sheet ID and the hand-written data from the first document, the coded sheet ID being printed on the first document; and

converting the sheet ID to the document ID and the process ID.

31. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program executable in a computer for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, the program making the computer execute the steps of:

associating a sheet ID with a process ID, said sheet ID being used for identifying the first document, said process ID being used for indicating a process for processing hand-written data on the first document;

associating the sheet ID with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document having a predetermined format;

assigning the sheet ID to the first document;

encoding the sheet ID to generate a coded sheet ID;

acquiring the coded sheet ID and the hand-written data from the first document, the coded sheet ID being printed on the first document; and

decomposing the hand-written data based on layout information of the predetermined format and the process ID and storing the decomposed hand-written data.

32. A document processing system for processing a hand-written first document on a sheet, said document processing system comprising:

a document-sheet ID association unit configured to associate a sheet ID for identifying the first document with a document ID assigned to a computerized second document; and

a sheet ID management unit configured to manage the sheet ID based on document-sheet ID association information, said document-sheet ID association information being used for associating the second document with the sheet ID.