Patent US5963966A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5963966A
Expired / Lapsed
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Automated capture of technical documents for electronic review and distribution
Assignee: Google LLC
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Filing: 1996-11-08
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Granted: 1999-10-05
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Expires: 2016-11-08
Abstract
Abstract Paper documents are automatically converted into a hypertext-based format so that they can be accessed through electronic networks, including the Internet, or via non-volatile transfer media such as disks or CD-ROMs. The invention generalizes the concept of form-based recognition while extending the concept of document retrieval to include document structure knowledge, thereby providing the advantages found in both form-based recognition (utilization of document structure knowledge) and image-based information retrieval (robustness). In a preferred embodiment, a method according to the invention enables direct translation of a paper document into a hypertext-based format so that it may be directly accessed through the Internet using current browsers such as Mosaic, Netscape and Microsoft's Explorer.
Inventors
- 👤 Brian T. Mitchell
- 👤 Margaret J. Whalen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 14:23
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/70; G06F16/74; G06F16/748; G06V; G06V30/00; G06V30/40
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
95 words
A method of automatically coding, managing, and displaying a document in digital form, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a document into an image format suitable for display purposes; embedding the image format into a hypertext-based meta-language format including one or more hypertext links; segmenting the hypertext-based document into one or more structured blocks; decoding a particular block into text, images, and tables, as appropriate, in accordance with a block-specific decoding strategy; and embedding the text derived from the block decoding into a conventional document format, enabling the use of a text-based search method.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
95 words
A method of automatically coding, managing, and displaying a document in digital form, the method comprising the steps of: scanning a document into an image format suitable for display purposes; embedding the image format into a hypertext-based meta-language format including one or more hypertext links; segmenting the hypertext-based document into one or more structured blocks; decoding a particular block into text, images, and tables, as appropriate, in accordance with a block-specific decoding strategy; and embedding the text derived from the block decoding into a conventional document format, enabling the use of a text-based search method.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein GIF is used as the image format.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein JBIG is used as the image format.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein HTML is used as the meta-language format.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein SGML is used as the meta-language format.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the block-specific decoding strategy includes optical character recognition.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the text-based search method is based on Boolean keyword expression matching.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1, including the step of visually indicating the hypertext links.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the hypertext links are HTML-compatable URLs.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the meta-language is primarily text-based, and wherein the images are in a native operating system format.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the documents are stored on an Internet server enabling remote browser access.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the documents are locally stored on a disk-based medium.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
99 words
A method of digital document encoding and management, comprising the steps of: scanning a document into one or more page images; embedding at least one of the page images into a hypertext-based meta-language format which enables a user to automatically or manually segment the page images into document structure blocks; decoding a particular block into text plus images and tables, as appropriate, in accordance with a block-specific decoding strategy, the text including one or more non-proofread (dirty) sections; and embedding the text, including the dirty sections, into a conventional document format, enabling the use of a text-based search method.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
99 words
A method of digital document encoding and management, comprising the steps of: scanning a document into one or more page images; embedding at least one of the page images into a hypertext-based meta-language format which enables a user to automatically or manually segment the page images into document structure blocks; decoding a particular block into text plus images and tables, as appropriate, in accordance with a block-specific decoding strategy, the text including one or more non-proofread (dirty) sections; and embedding the text, including the dirty sections, into a conventional document format, enabling the use of a text-based search method.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 13, further including the step of transmitting the scanned image, including dirty text sections, for display purposes.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the step of embedding at least one of the page images into a hypertext-based meta-language format further supports hypertext linkage through coding or attaching of hypertext links to subimage locations over word subimages within the full page image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the meta-language is a text-based format, and the images are in a native operating system format selected from among the following: PICT (Macintosh), BMP (Windows), TIF (Generic), MacDraw (Macintosh), X11 (Unix), CGM (Generic), PostScript (Generic for printer output), GIF (WWW/HTML), and JPEG (WWW/HTML).
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the documents are stored on a World Wide Web server for remote HTML browser access.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 13, wherein the documents are stored on removable, nonvolatile medium for local computer use.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-10-04 | 2003-04-05 | 2003-10-05 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-10-04 | 2007-04-05 | 2007-10-05 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-10-04 | 2011-04-05 | 2011-10-05 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |