Data processing apparatus for recognizing and processing content recorded on a recording medium

• US 8,169,651 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2003
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Aoki, Kazuma
• Primary Examiner(s): Poon, King
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZHU, RICHARD Z
• Application Number:
  US10/740,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20040130749A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,053 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.18, 358/401, 358/452, 358/527, 358/537, 382/309, 382/176, 382/177, 382/179, 382181-231, 382/312, 382/321, 709/201, 709/203, 709/212, 709/218, 709/219, 709/238, 715/234, 715221-226
• US Class Current: 358/1.18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0035 User-machine interface; Control console input or output arrangements for computers G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0036 Alphanumeric symbols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00376 Means for identifying a mark sheet or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00395 Arrangements for reducing operator input input arrangements for job or mode instructions or parameters H04N1/00962; intelligent menu interfaces H04N1/00437
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00968 by scanning marks on a sheet mark-sheet input means H04N1/00355; sensing record carriers G06K7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00973 from a remote device, e.g. receiving via the internet instructions input to a computer terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32496 Changing the task performed, e.g. reading and transmitting, receiving and reproducing, copying facsimile mode changing H04N1/333
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3207 of an address
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3209 of a telephone number
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3212 of data relating to a job, e.g. communication, capture or filing of an image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3235 Checking or certification of the authentication information, e.g. by comparison with data stored independently
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3243 of type information, e.g. handwritten or text document
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

A data processing apparatus scans a web page image printed on paper, recognizes the character array for a URL included in the image, acquires data for the web page in the image through the Internet, identifies the positions of entry spaces in the web page, recognizes the content entered by hand on the paper, and stores this content in RAM. The data processing apparatus prompts the user to select whether to perform a verification print for verifying the recognized content and prints the recognized content when the user indicates such a desire. Further, the data processing apparatus prompts the user to select whether to transmit the content to the server and transmits the content stored in RAM when the user indicates such a desire.

Claims

1. A data processing apparatus comprising:

a communication unit that communicates with a network;

a storing unit that stores data;

a printing unit that performs printing;

a scanning unit that scans an image on a recording medium, the image including Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information that indicates a URL, printed content that has a first entry space at a first position on the recording medium, and manual-entry content that is written manually in the first entry space, the scanning unit producing output data indicative of the URL information, the printed content and the manual-entry content; and

a controller that;

extracts the URL information from the output data and recognizes the URL;

controls the communication unit to access the recognized URL and obtain a web page therefrom;

recognizes a second position of a second entry space of the web page obtained from the recognized URL by analyzing the obtained web page without printing;

identifies the first entry space on the recording medium according to the recognized second position of the second entry space;

recognizes, from the output data, the manual-entry content written in the identified first entry space of the scanned recording medium.

2. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the communication unit is connected to a first location and a second location on the network, the controller controls communications with the first location and the second location, the web page is located at the first location, the first location is indicated by the URL information, and the web page includes second locating information that indicates the second location,

the controller identifies the second location by reading the second locating information in the web page, and

the controller performs a transmitting process to transmit the manual-entry content stored in the storing unit to the second location.

3. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the printing unit prints, on the another recording medium, a message prompting a user to perform an input operation to indicate whether to transmit the manual-entry content to the second location.

4. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing unit prints the printed content on the recording medium, thereby enabling a user to manually enter the manual-entry content in the first entry space of the printed content.

5. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing unit prints the manual-entry content, stored in the storing unit, in a predetermined format different from the image scanned by the scanning unit.

6. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller enables a user to make a selection whether to print the manual-entry content, the controller producing a first signal instructing to print the manual-entry content when the user has performed a first input operation instructing to print the manual-entry content, and producing a second signal instructing not to print the manual-entry content when the user has performed a second input operation instructing not to print the manual-entry content.

7. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the web page is described in a format of HTML data.

8. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller prompts a user to confirm the manual-entry content printed on the another recording medium, and

the controller performs a predetermined process using the manual-entry content stored in the storing unit when the manual-entry content printed on the another recording medium is confirmed.

9. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined process is to transmit the manual-entry content stored in the storing unit to a second location included in the web page.

10. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the controller identifies the second location from the web page.

11. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller controls the printing unit to print a message that prompts a user to confirm the recognized manual-entry content.

12. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller prompts a user to select whether to perform the printing;

and

the controller prohibits the printing and performs a predetermined process using the manual-entry content stored in the storing unit, when the printing is not selected.

13. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the URL information includes a character array indicating the URL, and

the controller performs an optical character recognition process to recognize the URL from the scanned image.

14. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the manual entry-content comprises a character.

15. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller recognizes the second position of the second entry space by analyzing HTML within the obtained web page.

16. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second entry space corresponds to the first entry space without any of the manual-entry content.

17. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller controls to store the recognized manual-entry content in the storing unit.

18. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller controls the printing unit to print the manual-entry content stored in the storing unit on another recording medium.