Scanner Exception Preview via Thumbnail Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Document scanners often face inefficiencies in handling exception conditions, such as multi-page feeds or documents with incompatible characteristics, leading to costly recovery processes and insufficient information provided to operators for corrective actions.
Innovation Solution
A scanning system with an image sensor, sensing system, user interface, and data processing capabilities that detects exception conditions, displays affected pages, and offers user-selectable corrective actions, allowing operators to efficiently manage and correct issues during the scanning process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If minimal information is provided to the operator (audio tone or simple LED), then the device complexity is reduced, but the operator cannot properly evaluate the severity of the exception and determine appropriate action
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional notification (audio tone or simple LED) to two-dimensional information presentation by displaying thumbnail images of affected pages alongside exception messages. This dimensional enhancement allows operators to visually assess document characteristics and exception severity without increasing device complexity significantly, as the imaging system already exists for scanning purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified copies (thumbnails) of the actual document pages to provide visual information to operators. These thumbnail images serve as information proxies that convey document characteristics without requiring the full-resolution images, thus providing sufficient information for exception evaluation while minimizing the additional data burden on the system.
2Productivity
If exceptions are detected later in the scanning processing stream, then the scanning throughput is maintained, but the recover process becomes more difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements immediate feedback to operators by displaying exception information and affected page thumbnails in real-time during the scanning process. This allows operators to detect and correct exceptions promptly, preventing cascading errors and reducing recovery costs. The feedback mechanism maintains scanning throughput by allowing parallel processing of non-exception pages while providing timely notification for exception handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables operators to take preliminary corrective actions by displaying exception information before the scanning batch is fully processed. Operators can review affected pages and decide on correction strategies in advance, preventing the need for costly post-processing recovery operations after the entire batch has been scanned.
3Reliability
If the scanner stops for exception handling, then the operator can correct issues properly, but the scanning operation efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial scanning continuation by allowing the scanning operation to proceed with non-exception pages while pausing only when exceptions are detected. This partial action approach maintains overall scanning efficiency by processing unaffected documents without interruption while providing targeted pauses for exception correction, minimizing total time loss compared to complete scanning stops.
Data Source
AI summary
A scanning system is described providing an exception correction capability during multi-page scanning operations. A sensing system is used to sense exception conditions during a multi-page scanning operation. In response to detecting an exception, at least one scanned page associated with the exception condition is displayed on an image display and a user interface system is used to provide a plurality of user-selectable corrective actions associated with the exception condition. One or more corrective operations are then performed in response to a user selecting a particular corrective action.