Method and system for document presentation and analysis

• US 8,739,032 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2010
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Patrick Sander Walsh
• Original Assignee: Patrick Sander Walsh
• Inventors: Walsh, Patrick Sander
• Primary Examiner(s): DYER, ANDREW R
• Application Number:
  US13/501,370
• Publication Number:
  US 20120204104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,323 Days
• Field of Search: 715/273, 715/277, 707/706, 707/708, 707/722, 707/723, 707/728, 707748-750
• US Class Current: 715/273
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

A document analysis system receives multiple concepts along with multiple reference documents and generates sensory indicators that assist a researcher in assessing the relevance of each of the documents to the concepts. In one exemplary aspect, the document analysis system displays a table of keywords separated into blocks, each block of keywords corresponding to one of the concepts. Each block is colored according to the prevalence of any keyword within a given keyword group. The color of a block thus indicates the relative presence of a concept in the document. The document analysis system also determines a unique color for each block of keywords for highlighting in the text of the document. In this manner a researcher can quickly identify passages that contain multiple concepts. Additionally, the researcher is provided the ability to quickly locate reference characters, figure numbers and patent numbers in the document.

Claims

1. A document analysis and search system for searching through a plurality of documents and for analyzing documents located as a result of a conducted search, the search being directed to a predetermined subject matter, the system comprising:

a client device comprising at least one of a non-transitory computer readable medium and a memory;

a program module stored on the client device, the client device being positioned in communication with a network, and the network being in communication with a document provider database and a thesaurus database, the program module comprising instructions executable by a processor of the client device to locate at least one document from among the plurality of documents, the program module comprising

an interface module; and

a document analysis module;

wherein the interface module receives concept data relating to the subject matter of the search, the concept data including at least one concept, the concept including a plurality of keywords used to conduct the search;

wherein the interface module receives a plurality of documents relating to the concept data from the document provider database;

wherein the interface module generates and displays a document analysis graphical user interface, the document analysis graphical user interface comprising

a keyword entry interface,

a document relevancy interface,

a document management interface, and

a document image window,

wherein the document analysis module generates statistical data based on the at least one concept, and wherein the statistical data is used to assess relevancy of each of the documents located in the search so that each of the documents can be displayed using the document relevancy interface and wherein the statistical data includes a count of a number of instances that each of the keywords appears in a document located in the search;

wherein the document analysis module transmits the statistical data to the interface module to be displayed;

wherein the document analysis module transforms the count of the number of instances of each of the keywords into a normalized count; and

wherein the normalized count is calculated by dividing a total number of text characters in each document by five to provide a normalized word count, dividing the count of the number of instances of each of the keywords by the normalized word count to provide a density of each of the keywords, and multiplying the density of each of the keywords by a predetermined value to provide the normalized count;

wherein the keyword entry interface allows entry of one or more keyword groups, and wherein each keyword group includes a plurality of keywords that are conceptually related to one another.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the interface module allows for each of the documents located in the search to be manually assigned a relevancy value.

3. A system according to claim 1 wherein the document relevancy interface includes a keyword table and a document text window;

and wherein corresponding text relating to at least one of the documents is displayed in the document text window.

4. A system according to claim 3 wherein the keyword table includes a first column to display the keywords used to conduct the search, and a second column to display a numeric value relating to the number of times each keyword appears in each of the documents located in the search.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein the keywords in the keyword table are arranged in keyword blocks;

and wherein each keyword block includes a keyword group.

6. A system according to claim 5 wherein the keyword table is color coded according to a block color scheme;

and wherein the block color scheme assigns a color to each keyword appearing in a keyword block.

7. A system according to claim 6 wherein the color is assigned according to the highest occurring keyword from the block.

8. A system according to claim 7 wherein the block color scheme is a continuum between a first predetermined color and a second predetermined color, wherein the first predetermined color signifies zero occurrence of the highest occurring keyword from the block, and wherein the second predetermined color signifies a high occurrence of the highest occurring keyword from the block.

9. A system according to claim 8 wherein a document is considered relevant when colors other than the first predetermined color are displayed in the keyword table, and wherein a document is considered irrelevant when the first predetermined color is dominant in the keyword table.

10. A system according to claim 5 wherein the keywords occurring in the corresponding text displayed in the document text window are color coded according to a document text color scheme;

wherein the document text color scheme assigns a color to each keyword from a keyword group;

wherein each keyword group is assigned a different color; and

wherein the different colors are chosen based upon ability to contrast against each other and against a white background of the document text window.

11. A system according to claim 10 wherein a document paragraph is considered relevant when multiple colors are displayed.

12. A system according to claim 11 wherein the document text window displays document paragraphs having a predetermined minimum number of different colors displayed therein;

and wherein the predetermined minimum number of different colors is controlled by a keyword setting on the document relevance interface.

13. A system according to claim 11 wherein the document text window displays document paragraphs having a predetermined maximum number of different colors displayed therein;

and wherein the predetermined maximum number of different colors is determined by counting the number of keyword groups represented in each paragraph and isolating the highest number of keyword groups represented in each paragraph.

14. A system according to claim 4 wherein the document relevancy interface further comprises a figures table;

wherein the figures table displays one or more figure numbers located in the corresponding text of the document; and

wherein the location of the figure numbers in the corresponding text is indexed.

15. A system according to claim 4 wherein the document relevancy interface further comprises a Bill of Material (BOM) table;

wherein the BOM table displays one or more reference characters located in the corresponding text; and

wherein the location of the reference character in the corresponding text is indexed.

16. A system according to claim 1 wherein the interface module is adapted to store the documents located as a result of the search on a portable storage device.

17. A system according to claim 1 wherein the documents located as a result of the search are paper-based documents, and wherein the documents are received by the interface module using a scanner in communication with the client device so that the documents are electronically readable using the client device.

18. A system according to claim 1 wherein the document image window displays non-textual data associated with the document.

19. A system according to claim 1 wherein the thesaurus further comprises a user thesaurus and a network thesaurus.

20. A system according to claim 19 wherein the user thesaurus includes a data storage element to store the keywords relating to the subject matter of the search and synonyms relating to the keywords;

and wherein the data storage element is editable.

21. A system according to claim 1 further comprising a document search history display to display a historical record of the search.

22. A system according to claim 1 wherein the document graphical user interface further comprises a concept management window to allow for different concepts to be defined while the search is being conducted.

23. A system according to claim 1 wherein the document relevancy interface includes a keyword density scrollbar;

wherein the keyword density scroll bar has a vertical section for each paragraph in the corresponding text; and

wherein each vertical section is color coded according to the number of keyword groups represented in the paragraph.

24. A method for conducting a search through a plurality of documents and for analyzing the documents located as a result of the search, wherein the search is directed to a predetermined subject matter, the method comprising:

using a program module stored on at least one of a non-transitory computer readable medium and a memory of a client device to locate at least one document from among a plurality of documents;

communicating from the client device being to a network, and the network being in communication with a document provider database and a thesaurus database;

receiving concept data relating to the subject matter of the search, the concept data including at least one concept, the concept including a plurality of keywords used to conduct the search;

receiving a plurality of documents relating to the concept data from the document provider database;

generating and displaying a document analysis graphical user interface, the document analysis graphical user interface comprising a keyword entry interface, a document relevancy interface, a document management interface, and a document image window;

generating statistical data based on the at least one concept, the statistical data being used to assess relevancy of the at least one document located in the search so that the at least one document can be displayed using the document relevancy interface, wherein the statistical data includes a count of a number of instances that each of the keywords appears in a document located in the search;

transforming the count of the number of instances of each of the keywords into a normalized count; and

wherein the normalized count is calculated by dividing a total number of text characters in each document by five to provide a normalized word count, dividing the count of the number of instances of each of the keywords by the normalized word count to provide a density of each of the keywords, and multiplying the density of each of the keywords by a predetermined value to provide the normalized count;

transmitting the statistical data to be displayed; and

wherein the keyword entry interface allows entry of one or more keyword groups, and wherein each keyword group includes a plurality of keywords that are conceptually related to one another.

25. A method according to claim 24 further comprising manually assigning a relevancy value to the at least one document located in the search.

26. A method according to claim 24 wherein the document relevancy interface includes a keyword table and a document text window;

and further comprising displaying corresponding text relating to at least one of the documents in the document text window.

27. A method according to claim 26 further comprising displaying the keywords used to conduct the search in a first column of the keyword table, and displaying a numeric value relating to the number of times each keyword appears in each of the documents located in the search in a second column of the keyword table.

28. A method according to claim 27 further comprising arranging the keywords in the keyword table in keyword blocks to form a keyword group;

and wherein each keyword group includes a plurality of keywords that are conceptually related to one another.

29. A method according to claim 28 wherein the keyword table is color coded according to a block color scheme;

and wherein the block color scheme assigns a color to each keyword appearing in a keyword block.

30. A method according to claim 29 wherein the color is assigned according to the highest occurring keyword from the block.

31. A method according to claim 30 wherein the block color scheme is a continuum between a first predetermined color and a second predetermined color;

wherein the first predetermined color signifies zero occurrence of the highest occurring keyword from the block; and

wherein the second predetermined color signifies a high occurrence of the highest occurring keyword from the block.

32. A method according to claim 31 wherein a document is considered relevant when colors other than the first predetermined color are displayed in the keyword table, and wherein a document is considered irrelevant when the first predetermined color is dominant in the keyword table.

33. A method according to claim 28 further comprising color coding the keywords occurring in the document displayed in the document text according to a document text color scheme;

assigning a color to each keyword from a keyword group;

assigning each keyword group a different color; and

choosing different colors based upon ability to contrast against each other and against a white background of the document text window.

34. A method according to claim 33 wherein a document paragraph is considered relevant when multiple colors are displayed.

35. A method according to claim 34 further comprising displaying document paragraphs having a predetermined minimum number of different colors;

and wherein the predetermined minimum number of different colors is controlled by a keyword setting on the document relevance interface.

36. A method according to claim 34 further comprising displaying document paragraphs having a predetermined maximum number of different colors;

and wherein the predetermined maximum number of different colors is determined by counting the number of keyword groups represented in each paragraph and isolating the highest number of keyword groups represented in each paragraph.

37. A method according to claim 27 further comprising displaying one or more figure numbers located in the corresponding text of the document;

and indexing the location of the figure numbers in the corresponding text.

38. A method according to claim 27 further comprising displaying one or more reference characters located in the corresponding text;

and indexing the location of the reference character in the corresponding text.

39. A method according to claim 24 further comprising storing the documents located as a result of the search on a portable storage device.

40. A method according to claim 24 wherein the documents located as a result of the search are paper-based documents, and wherein the documents are received using a scanner in so that the documents are electronically readable.

41. A method according to claim 24 wherein the document image window displays non-textual data associated with the document.

42. A method according to claim 24 wherein the thesaurus further comprises a user thesaurus and a network thesaurus.

43. A method according to claim 42 wherein the user thesaurus includes a data storage element to store the keywords relating to the subject matter of the search and synonyms relating to the keywords;

and wherein the data storage element is editable.

44. A method according to claim 42 further comprising selectively displaying a historical record of the search.

45. A method according to claim 42 wherein the document graphical user interface further comprises a concept management window to allow for different concepts to be defined while the search is being conducted.