Image analysis – Pattern recognition – On-line recognition of handwritten characters
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-15
2003-09-09
Mehta, Bhavesh (Department: 2625)
Image analysis
Pattern recognition
On-line recognition of handwritten characters
C382S209000, C382S188000, C178S020010, C178S108000, C178S018030, C178S018010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06618504
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a business management system for managing business in general by computer, and particularly to a business management system for performing input and control of accounting vouchers and other writing media.
BACKGROUND ART
The management of business by means of computers (hereinafter the management of business in general by computer is referred to as “business management”) is quite advanced today. As always, however, vouchers, accounting documents, lists, and other forms (hereinafter referred to as “writing media”) used in conducting business are indispensable. If data are input to computer, data can easily be totaled, decided on, printed, or otherwise processed. Nevertheless, writing media constitute the medium most frequently employed in conducting business activities. The reasons for this lie in the several outstanding qualities of paper. For example, paper has the property of immediateness, whereby, if one has paper and a writing instrument at hand, character information can be recorded at any time. Paper exhibits the property of portability; it is itself lightweight and convenient to carry about. Paper has the property of being universal, in that it does not require a power source. And paper exhibits the property of retainability and is suitable for storage because the character information written thereon does not readily disappear. Thus, because of these outstanding properties of paper, no matter how efficient computer-based business operations become in the future, it is most unlikely that writing media should ever cease to be used in business activities.
Where business activities are actually conducted, when a product is ordered, for example, an order voucher is used on which the product name, quantity, and delivery destination, etc., are written. This order voucher on which necessary items are written is sent to the manufacturer or wholesaler. At the office of the manufacturer or wholesaler, a purchase voucher is prepared, according to the order voucher. In cases where the order is placed by telephone from a sales office or sales counter to a retail store, the purchase voucher is generated directly at the retail store. In other words, an operator in the retail store uses a purchase voucher for the purpose of recording the particulars communicated over the telephone.
When sales are managed by computer, on the other hand, data entry is performed again, to inform the computer of the data, based on vouchers on which character information is written as described above. At the retail store which takes the order and does the product delivery processing, for example, an operator in the retail store keys in information based on the purchase voucher that was prepared on the bases of a telephone conversation.
Vouchers and accounting documents are also widely used in accounting operations within a company. For example, necessary information is written by hand to accounting vouchers based on such original accounting documents as delivery statements, receipts, and invoices. When accounting processes are performed by a computer-based management system, the particulars written by hand on the accounting vouchers must again be entered from a keyboard to the computer system. The management system thereupon produces accounting documents based on the data so entered.
When stocktaking is performed in conducting inventory management, an inventory list output by a computer is carried to the warehouse, and the quantities of products actually counted are written alongside the inventory quantities printed on the inventory list. This inventory list is then returned and the inventory quantities controlled by computer are updated.
When a questionnaire survey is conducted, a surveyor asks questions of passersby and writes their answers onto a questionnaire form. These questionnaire forms are later collected and totals are produced by an operator using a computer.
In all kinds of business management operations besides these—whether it be the processing of transactions at a store, the processing of teller transactions at a bank, or the entry and processing of medical information at a hospital—vouchers, lists, and other writing media are used.
Thus, in a conventional business management system, a worker writes down information deemed necessary to that business on a specified writing medium, and this information is subsequently reentered into a computer. That is what usually happens.
Conventional business management systems, however, present various problems, as noted below.
In the first place, intricate operations are required for performing keyboard data entry. In a conventional data management system, information written by hand on writing media must be entered to a computer from a keyboard. In other words, the keyboard entry must be performed by hand, placing a large work burden on the operator. In the second place, there is a danger that erroneous data will be entered when keying data in. So long as the keyboard entries are made by hand, the possibility of data entry errors occurring will always exist. Such data entry errors can become an enormous problem in such business management operations as those described in the foregoing. In the event that the product quantity written on an order voucher is entered improperly, for example, the wrong quantity of product will be delivered. Or if the money amount written on an original accounting document is entered incorrectly, the accounting will be in error.
In the third place, rapid business management is very difficult. Character information written down on writing media must be input to a computer by keyboard entry. In other words, even though the character information is written down on the writing media, etc., those characters cannot be immediately processed by computer. For this reason, accounting cannot be done so that daily settlements are performed, wherefore settlements are only performed several days behind. In the processing of orders and purchases, moreover, product deliveries are sometimes delayed.
In conventional inventory management, for example, a number of operations requiring human intervention are necessary for the purpose of correcting data, including the operation of outputting an inventory list from a computer beforehand, the operation of writing information to that output inventory list, and the operation of reentering data into the computer based on the annotated inventory list.
In conventional questionnaire surveys, moreover, the operation of writing information on questionnaire forms and the operation of entering that information, based on those questionnaire forms, into a computer are necessary. Also, the responses to the questionnaire, and the results of totaling those responses, are not known until a later date, making it impossible to provide any kind of immediate feedback to the survey subjects.
In conventional ticket sales, a person wishing to purchase a ticket must appear in person at a reservation center. Even if the reservation is made by telephone, one must perform a reservation operation by telephone, based on information gathered by oneself. Thus it is not possible to select and purchase tickets conveniently, as when buying items at a local convenience store.
Needless to say, moreover, even when the problems noted in the foregoing are resolved, some degree of security must be maintained.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention, that having been devised with the foregoing problems in view, is to provide a business management system wherewith, by providing a configuration capable of directly entering written information into a computer, the operation of again entering the character information on the writing media, to the computer, can be eliminated, wherefore, business can be made more efficient, keyboard entry errors can be prevented, and rapid processing is facilitated.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a business management system wherewith, by providing a configuration combining both time information and written information, i
Kassa Yosef
Mehta Bhavesh
Rosenthal & Osha L.L.P.
Toho Business Management Center
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