Patent Grant
7301659
The present invention relates to the field of image capturing devices and processes. More specifically, in one embodiment, the present invention relates to systems and methods for remote image capturing using interactive profiles to dynamically control aspects of image capture.
In many instances, present image capture devices do not support profiles for storing control instructions associated with recurrent image capture needs. Accordingly, such devices require manual configuration prior to each capture. Some existing image capturing devices do support static profiles to aid in the capturing of images. In such devices, each static profile includes a set of instructions used by the device to control the methods and settings for scanning and processing a document. Such profiles provide a mechanism for storing control instructions associated with recurrent image capture needs but provide a one size fits all approach to this problem.
The OPTRAIMAGE multifunction device (Lexmark International, Inc., Lexington, Ky.) is an example of a system supporting such static profiles. This device extended the static profile approached in a limited fashion by allowing users to enter one or more integers using a keypad on the device in conjunction with a selected static profile. This integer entry capability afforded limited dynamic control, such as number of copies. This limited extension did not provide a facility for dynamic control of more complex aspects of image capture and disposition potentially controllable via a profile.
A significant limitation of static profiles is that they do not provide an image capturing device operator with the capability to provide dynamic information that relates to a specific document to be captured by the device. The present invention provides a practical and efficient solution to the limitations of static profiles.
In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method and system for attaching dynamic information to a scanned document to aid in the processing and delivery of scanned documents with increased automation and decreased human intervention.
Some embodiments of the present invention relate to systems for the selection and execution of a profile. In one exemplary embodiment, the system comprises a system data store (hereinafter “SDS”) capable of storing profiles, a user console allowing interaction between a user and a multifunction device, and a communication interface adapted to allow communication via at least one communication channel. Additionally, the system comprises a system processor in communication with the communication interface, the SDS and the user console. The processor functions to receive a profile from a profile source via the communication interface, store the received profile in the SDS, receive an indicator corresponding to a selected profile and execute the selected profile to perform an operation of the multifunction device.
Further, one exemplary method of profile selection and execution includes a variety of steps that can, in certain embodiments, be executed by the systems summarized above and more fully described below, or be stored as computer executable instructions in and/or on any suitable combination of computer-readable media. First, an interactive profile is received from a remote source via a network or other suitable communication channel to a multifunction device. Each profile includes a set of executable instructions to the multifunction device that control the methods and settings to be utilized in the scanning and/or disposition of a document to be scanned by the multifunction device. The received profile can, in some embodiments, be stored. An indicator of a selected profile is received. If the selected profile is interactive, the multifunction device user is requested to interactively enter at least one non-integer parameter based upon the profile selection. One or more parameters are received responsive to the request. An operation of the multifunction device is performed based upon the profile selection and any received parameters.
In some embodiments, a list of profiles stored in the multifunction device is displayed to a multifunction device user. This display can, in some such embodiments, be performed in response to the user's actuation of an icon displayed on a user console associated with the multifunction device. The received indicator corresponds to a profile selected from the displayed list. Additionally, in some embodiments, the performed operation includes scanning a document, packaging profile information into a data structure and transmitting the data structure and the scanned document to a destination.
Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Several embodiments of the invention are described below in detail. The disclosed embodiments are intended to be illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. In reference to the drawings, like numbers will indicate like parts continuously throughout the views. As utilized in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references also, unless the context of use clearly dictates otherwise. Additionally, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise as the term is utilized in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow.
One embodiment of the present invention is initially described with reference to
In one exemplary embodiment, a profile is executed when a user of the multifunction device 130 inserts a document into an automatic document feeder (not shown) of the multifunction device 130 and selects a profile setting that is displayed on a display screen located on a console 135. The display screen can, in some embodiments, include and/or employ known touch-screen technology. Alternatively, the user console can consist of a display screen and associated buttons for selecting and navigating items displayed. The user console can be either associated with or integrated with the multifunction device. In some embodiments, the user console includes a touch screen equipped with sensors that register touch events and generate one or more signals in response for delivery to a system processor for subsequent action.
In some cases a software driver may be necessary to translate the signal(s) generated by the touch screen to a signal that is recognizable by a particular system processor. Any suitable touch screen technology, such as resistive, capacitive, or surface acoustic wave type touch screens, can be used in various embodiments of the present inventions. Touch screens can use liquid crystal display (LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT), plasma screen or other type monitors. The profile execution and management according to the present invention, however, are not directed to any particular touch screen hardware configuration or architecture, and may be used with user consoles of any type. Likewise, the present invention is not limited to use in connection with an MFD with any particular combination of operational capabilities. Further, in some embodiments, profile execution need not require insertion of a document; rather, profile execution can begin upon selection of the profile from the user console.
If the profile selected from a listing of profiles displayed on the multifunction device's 130 display screen is a non-interactive profile, then the multifunction device 130 can execute the profile without requiring further user interaction. If the user selected profile is an interactive profile, a combination of one or more interfaces (such as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the user inputs requested data into the system via the console 135. The particular interfaces used depend upon the information contained in the selected profile. The document capture process begins when pre-capture-required, system requested data, if any, are obtained from the user. In some embodiments, a subset of the obtained interactive data can be subsequently packaged and included in a data structure that will precede that scanned document upon its transmittal to a final destination.
In one exemplary embodiment, the profile management and execution system includes a system processor potentially including multiple processing elements. The term processing element may refer to (1) a process running on a particular piece, or across particular pieces, of hardware, (2) a particular piece of hardware, or either (1) or (2) as the context allows. Each processing element can be supported via an ARM and/or MIPS RISC processors. Alternatively, a standard general purpose processor such as an Intel-compatible processor platforms using at least one PENTIUM III or CELERON (Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif.) class processor or UltraSPARC (Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, Calif.) could be used in other embodiments.
The system processor may also include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and/or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to support all or some of the desired functionality. In some embodiments, the system processor may include a combination of general purpose processors, ASICs and/or FPGAs. In some embodiments, profile management and execution functionality, as further described below, may be distributed across multiple processing elements.
The exemplary architecture includes an SDS that could include a variety of primary and secondary storage elements. In one embodiment, the SDS would include RAM as part of the primary storage and be integrated into the multifunction device. The amount of RAM might range from 512 KB to 32 MB, although these amounts could vary and represent overlapping use (such as where the hardware platform is used for other purposes rather than solely for supporting the functionality of the present invention). The primary storage may in some embodiments include other forms of memory such as cache memory, registers, non-volatile memory (e.g, FLASH, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM etc.), etc.
The SDS can also include secondary storage including single, multiple and/or varied servers and storage elements. For example, the SDS can use internal storage devices connected to the system processor. In embodiments where a single processing element supports all of the profile management and execution functionality, a local hard disk drive can serve as the secondary storage of the SDS, and a disk operating system executing on such a single processing element may act as a data server receiving and servicing data requests.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the different information used in the processes and systems according to the present invention may be logically or physically segregated within a single device serving as secondary storage for the SDS; multiple related data stores accessible through a unified management system, which together serve as the SDS; or multiple independent data stores individually accessible through disparate management systems, which may in some embodiments be collectively viewed as the SDS. The various storage elements that comprise the physical architecture of the SDS may be centrally located, or distributed across a variety of diverse locations.
The SDS 125 depicted in
The architecture of the secondary storage of the system data store can vary significantly in different embodiments. In several embodiments, database(s) are used to store and manipulate the data. In some such embodiments, one or more relational database management systems, such as DB2 (IBM, White Plains, N.Y.), SQL Server (Microsoft, Redmond, Wash.), ACCESS (Microsoft, Redmond, Wash.), ORACLE 8i (Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif.), Ingres (Computer Associates, Islandia, N.Y.), MySQL (MySQL AB, Sweden) or Adaptive Server Enterprise (Sybase Inc., Emeryville, Calif.), can be used in connection with a variety of storage devices/file servers (that can include one or more standard magnetic and/or optical disk drives using any appropriate interface including, without limitation, IDE and SCSI). In some embodiments, a tape library such as Exabyte X80 (Exabyte Corporation, Boulder, Colo.), a storage attached network (SAN) solution such as available from (EMC, Inc., Hopkinton, Mass.), a network attached storage (NAS) solution such as a NetApp Filer 740 (Network Appliances, Sunnyvale, Calif.), or combinations thereof can be used. In other embodiments, the data store can use database systems with other architectures such as object-oriented, spatial, object-relational or hierarchical.
Instead of, or in addition to, those organization approaches discussed above, certain embodiments can use other storage implementations such as hash tables or flat files or combinations of such architectures. Such alternative approaches can use data servers other than database management systems such as a hash table look-up server, procedure and/or process and/or a flat file retrieval server, procedure and/or process. Further, the SDS can use a combination of any of such approaches in organizing its secondary storage architecture.
Some embodiments can also include an imaging component for scanning a document. The imaging component can be of any suitable type known to those skilled in the art. Such imaging components can be found in any commercially available scanner, copier or facsimile machine. The imaging component can be integrated and housed together with the remaining components of a system according to the present invention. In other embodiments, the imaging component can be housed separately such as in a separate scanner, copier or facsimile machine and receive profiling instructions from the remaining components of the system.
Various methods and functions as exhibited in various embodiments according to the present invention are described below with respect to profile management and execution. In some embodiments, one or more processing elements within architectures of the environments as described above may execute the stops in such methods and provide such functionality. The functionality may spread across multiple processing elements. In other embodiments, any suitable computer readable storage device, media or combination of devices and/or media, including primary storage such as RAM, ROM, cache memory, etc. or secondary storage such as magnetic media including fixed and removable disks and tapes; optical media including fixed and removable disks whether read-only or read-write; paper media including punch cards and paper tape; or other secondary storage as would be known to those skilled in the art, may store instruction that upon execution by one or more processors and/or processing element cause the one or more processors and/or processing element to execute the steps in such methods and to provide such functionality.
A user selects an executable profile from the displayed listing of profiles at step 220.
In instances where some execution according to an interactive profile required no further information, the interactive request for data can occur either before or after partial execution of the operation according to the interactive profile. For instance, in a profile defining all scanning parameters but requiring entry of a destination for the scan-generated image, the destination request could occur before or after the scanning so long as the destination parameter is entered prior to the execution of the delivery of the scanned image portion of the profile. Further, in some embodiments, partial execution of the profile can occur prior to any request for data occurs in step 235.
In some instances, additional interactive data can be required at different points in profile execution. For instance, additional data requests can occur based upon received previously requested data. In addition, additional data requests can occur after some level of profile execution.
The user console of the multifunction device in some embodiments contains a Start button. The Start button can be either a hardware button with mechanical or touch sensitivity or software-based and actuatable via a touch screen, or portion thereof. In some embodiments, pressing Start while an interactive prompt is displayed causes the multifunction device to accept any valid default (or user supplied) values for the currently displayed prompt, and any additional prompts (including those that have not yet been displayed). If all remaining prompts have valid values, no more prompts need be displayed. Only the prompts without valid values can be displayed, and an error sound, or other sensory indicator (e.g., visual sign, tactile indicator, etc.), can draw attention of the user to the first prompt displayed.
At step 250, a subset of data associated with the pro-ile and/or interactively entered by the user is packaged into a data structure and transmitted to a final destination preceding the scanned document to a final destination at step 255. The packaging of data does not necessarily occur in all embodiments of the present invention.
Some embodiments, including the one depicted, can include a facility for sorting the stored profiles. Touching the Sort button cycles through methods of sorting the list that can include, without limitation, alphabetically by name A-Z, alphabetically by name Z-A, by shortcut number lowest to highest, and by shortcut number highest to lowest. In one embodiment, the current type of sorting, and current position in the list, is displayed in a message field on the screen. In this example, users alter the entries currently displayed by using the up and down arrow buttons at the top and bottom of the list. Other embodiments can support any variety of known navigational icons and/or buttons. In some embodiments, users may access profile-specific help information by touching the Tips button on the left, or return to the initial interface screen by touching Home.
As with the prior example screen, some embodiments can include context sensitive assistance and/or navigation. For instance, in some embodiments, touching the Tips button provides the user with an explanation for entering numeric information in this type of prompt. The presence of a Back button in this example can indicate that this is not the first prompt of the profile, and selecting it will open the previous prompt.
In some embodiments, touching the Cancel button will quit the profile, sending the user back to the profile selection screen (e.g.,
In some embodiments, when optional restrictions such as minimum or maximum inputs are requested by the profile source, user input can be checked by the system prior to allowing the profile process to move beyond the restricted prompt. Again, some embodiments can support contextual help and/or navigation. In the depicted example screen, help information on how to use the text prompt is accessed by touching the Tips button. Forward progress beyond this request would be accomplished via the Start button.
The profile further specifies the labels for the various items in the list. In the depicted example, default selections, if present, and user selections appear with a check in the box at the end of the selection, as exemplified in this example for entry 6 (“This choice has been selected.”) Touching an item already selected removes the checkmark, and the selection of that entry.
Different embodiments can provide varying levels of support for profile specification of allowable entries for such a prompt. In some embodiments, no constraints are supported; in such embodiments, any number of items can be selected or not selected including none or all. In other embodiments, profiles can specify a constraints as to maximum number, minimum number or absolute number of selected items required.
Other aspects of the invention may be found from the attached drawings and other related materials such as a detailed review of the various functions offered by the present invention, which are integral parts of this disclosure. Moreover, other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4642792 | Clements et al. | Feb 1987 | A |
| 5077795 | Rourke et al. | Dec 1991 | A |
| 5199063 | Erickson et al. | Mar 1993 | A |
| 5357350 | Matsunai | Oct 1994 | A |
| 5384632 | Nakajima et al. | Jan 1995 | A |
| 5438433 | Reifman et al. | Aug 1995 | A |
| 5499108 | Cotte et al. | Mar 1996 | A |
| 5764866 | Maniwa | Jun 1998 | A |
| 5798848 | Ouchi | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5806081 | Swen et al. | Sep 1998 | A |
| 5835627 | Higgins et al. | Nov 1998 | A |
| 5905581 | Suzuki et al. | May 1999 | A |
| 5970225 | Jackson et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
| 5982507 | Weiser et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
| 6091507 | Vatland et al. | Jul 2000 | A |
| 6091518 | Anabuki | Jul 2000 | A |
| 6094221 | Andersion | Jul 2000 | A |
| 6108008 | Ohta | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6118546 | Sanchez et al. | Sep 2000 | A |
| 6128415 | Hultgren, III et al. | Oct 2000 | A |
| 6147769 | Jackson et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
| 6181893 | Collard et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
| 6219153 | Kawanabe et al. | Apr 2001 | B1 |
| 6229620 | Makitani et al. | May 2001 | B1 |
| 6292271 | Phan | Sep 2001 | B1 |
| 6344905 | An | Feb 2002 | B1 |
| 6928564 | Tada et al. | Aug 2005 | B2 |
| 20010017700 | Homma | Aug 2001 | A1 |
| 20010035972 | Wurmfeld | Nov 2001 | A1 |
| 20010048823 | Nomura et al. | Dec 2001 | A1 |
| 20020006291 | Kuboki | Jan 2002 | A1 |
| 20020069234 | McIntyre | Jun 2002 | A1 |
| 20020111984 | Getler et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
| 20030038839 | Simpson et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
| 20040034654 | Simpson et al. | Feb 2004 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20040042027 A1 | Mar 2004 | US |
