Image analysis – Applications – Reading paper currency
Reexamination Certificate
1995-06-07
2001-01-30
Couso, Jose L. (Department: 2721)
Image analysis
Applications
Reading paper currency
Reexamination Certificate
active
06181812
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of invention
This invention relates generally to systems and methods for processing documents such as bank checks and/or remittance documents. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system of processing documents using image processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
High speed document processors are known which read documents, such as checks or remittance coupons, and, based upon the information read, control a subsequent processing operation on that document such as sorting it into a selected one of the plurality of pockets. Document processing of checks is discussed in the IBM Publications “Check Processing: Issues and Trends”, GE20-0685-2 (3rd Ed., 6/84), and “IBM ImagePlus High Performance Transaction System (HPTS)”, G520-6742-00 (1990), which are specifically incorporated herein by reference.
Conventionally, the document processing involves obtaining all the necessary machine readable information from that document as it is read during a single passage through a document processor from an input hopper to an output (sometimes referred to as a “single pass”), and using that information to determine in which pocket the check is to be sorted. An example of such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,879 to Galatha, et al and assigned to IBM. In some cases some or all of this information is incomplete or missing.
Recently several techniques relating to using digital image for document processing have been proposed. These systems, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,205,780, 4,264,808 and 4,813,077, relate to the storage and processing of digital images in conjunction with conventional document processors.
Each of these systems has the disadvantage that if some of the machine-readable data from the document is missing or unreadable, that document cannot be processed and must be rejected. Then, later, some further processing of that document is necessary. The lack of machine-readable data could occur, for example, if a portion of a routing-and-transit field were not readable or if the document were not inscribed with an amount field, and processing was based on such field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of the prior art system by providing a system in which each document is imaged and the image is stored for future use even if no data is readable from the document to allow processing (e.g., sorting) at that time. Thereafter, necessary data is obtained from the image and stored in association with the document. On a subsequent pass of that document, the data that has been stored in association with that document can be retrieved and used to process the document, as by sorting it or by inscribing it with an amount field.
The present invention has the advantageous effect that a part of the useful information from the document can be captured and stored in a record during a first pass, then missing information added from the stored image later. The added missing information is then included in a stored record associated with the document for use in subsequent readings of the same document.
The adding of additional information from the image means that images can be moved electronically to an operator, avoiding the need for moving paper documents from the transport to an operator. This allows the operator to be located in a different building, or even many miles away from the transport.
The present system makes magnetic character readers (MICR systems) and optical character readers (OCR systems) optional in a document processing system. Some or all of the information necessary for processing a document in the present invention is developed from a captured digital image of the document.
Accordingly, the present invention overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of the prior art system.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4523330 (1985-06-01), Cain
Couso Jose L.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Tennent A. P.
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