Method, system and data structure for processing documents and kit for finding and reading markings on a document

Abstract

A method for processing a document, including performing one or more processing steps with the document, such as printing, franking, assembling mail pieces, or opening received mail pieces. The method further includes defining a first possible location of a marking on a document; and searching a first part of a document for the marking, the first part corresponding to the first possible location. When the marking is not found in the first part a further possible location of a marking on a document is defined and a further part of the document for the marking is searched. The further part corresponds to the further possible location. The location of the marking with respect to the document is stored in the memory in case the marking is found in the first part or the further part. Information about the document is derived from the found marking. The derived information is presented at an output, for further processing of the information.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to European Patent Application, EP 05077682.2, filed Nov. 23, 2005, the contents of the entirety of which is incorporated by this reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The invention relates to a method, a system and a data structure for processing documents, to a kit for finding and reading markings on a document.BACKGROUND[0003]Systems for processing documents are known. Such systems can receive electronic documents, e.g., as print data, or as physical documents. In operation, the system performs one or more processing steps on the received documents, e.g., in order to print the documents, assemble the documents into mail pieces, to provide the documents with a franking value or otherwise.[0004]During the processing, the received documents are searched to find a barcode marking provided to the document. The barcode can, for example, be used for tracking and tracing purposes. Depending on the system, the settings of...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The invention provides a method for processing documents by using a search unit to find markings on the document. The method allows for the automatic learning of the marking detection without the need for predefining the settings. The search unit selects a possible location for the marking and searches the document for the marking in that location. The method can be performed quickly and with less time than previous methods. The invention also includes a system for processing documents by performing the processing steps with the document and storing the marking in a memory. The system can also search the document for the marking and output the information derived from the marking for further processing. The invention provides a more efficient and effective way to find and read markings on documents."

Problems solved by technology

However, a disadvantage of the method and device known from European patent publication 1 347 372 is the manual selection by the user.

This disadvantage is especially troublesome in case different types of documents are processed with the system, e.g., with different sizes or different locations of the marking.

However, a disadvantage of the system known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,341 is that the geometrical position of the broad area has to be pre-defined, i.e., the geometrical position has to be defined before the pre-scanning section performs the pre-scan.

Furthermore, scanning the relatively broad area requires a relatively large amount of time.

However, a disadvantage of this method and system is that the template has to be pre-defined before the processing of the image to determine the template.

Furthermore, processing of the image to determine the template and a barcode candidate requires a relatively large amount of type and processing power.

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