CONTENT-BASED ACCOUNTING METHOD IMPLEMENTED IN IMAGE REPRODUCTION DEVICES

• US 20080243818A1
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Systems Lab Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Systems Lab Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Ming, Wei
• Application Number:
  US11/694,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20080243818A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/40 Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00832 Recording use, e.g. counting number of pages copied
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00859 Issuing an alarm or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/34 for coin-freed systems ; Pay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/342 Accounting or charging based on content, e.g. charging for access to a particular document
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A content-based accounting method is implemented in a management section for a copier, scanner, printer or multifunction device (referred to as MFP), or on a networked server accessible by the copier, scanner, printer or MFP. When copying, scanning or printing a document, the management section automatically extracts content information from the documents being copied, scanned or printed, groups the documents based on the content, and updates an accounting database. The accounting database contains user accounts that store usage information according to content groups. For copied and scanned documents, textual content is extracted from the document image using OCR techniques. For printed documents, textual information is extracted from the digital data used to print the document.

Claims

1. A method for managing an image reproduction device for copying or scanning a document, comprising:

(a) copying or scanning the document using the image reproduction device, including obtaining a digital image of the document;

(b) analyzing content of the digital image of the document;

(c) grouping the document based on the analysis of the content; and

(d) updating an accounting database based on the grouping of the document, the accounting database containing user accounts and storing usage information for each user account according to content groups.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) includes:

(b1) segmenting the digital image into areas;

(b2) determining whether one or more text areas exist in the digital image; and

(b3) extracting textual information from the text areas if they exist and analyzing the extracted textual information.

3. The method of claim 2, where step (b) further includes analyzing non-textual content of the digital image.

4. A method for managing an image reproduction device for printing a document from digital data, comprising:

(a) printing the document from the digital data using the image reproduction device;

(b) analyzing content of the digital data;

(c) grouping the document based on the analysis of the content; and

(d) updating an accounting database based on the grouping of the document, the accounting database containing user accounts and storing usage information for each user account according to content groups.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (b) includes:

(b1) determining whether one or more text objects exist in the digital data; and

(b2) analyzing textual information in the text objects.

6. The method of claim 4, where step (b) further includes analyzing non-textual objects of the digital data.

7. An image reproduction device comprising:

a scanning section for generating digital images representing a document by scanning a physical medium;

an accounting database containing user accounts and storing usage information for each user account according to document content groups; and

a management section for analyzing content of digital images generated by the scanning section, grouping the document represented by the digital image or digital data based on the analysis of the content, and updating the accounting database based on the grouping of the document.

8. The image reproduction device of claim 7, wherein the management section includes an optical character recognition module for extracting textual information from the digital images.

9. The image reproduction device of claim 7, further comprising a printing section for forming images on a physical medium from digital images generated by the scanning section.

10. An image reproduction device comprising:

a printing section for forming images on a physical medium from digital data representing a document supplied to the printing section;

an accounting database containing user accounts and storing usage information for each user account according to document content groups; and

a management section for analyzing digital data supplied to the printing section, grouping the document represented by the digital data based on the analysis of the content, and updating the accounting database based on the grouping of the document.

11. The image reproduction device of claim 10, wherein the management section includes an optical character recognition module for extracting textual information from the digital data.

12. A method for managing an image reproduction device for copying or scanning a document, comprising:

(a) scanning the document using the image reproduction device to obtain a digital image of the document;

(b) analyzing content of the digital image of the document to detect pre-defined content;

(c) issuing an alarm if the pre-defined content is detected; and

(d) printing the digital image of the document if the pre-defined content is not detected.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (b) includes:

(b1) segmenting the digital image into areas;

(b2) determining whether one or more text areas exist in the digital image; and

(b3) extracting textual information from the text areas if they exist and analyzing the extracted textual information to detect the pre-defined content.