| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20080217416 | MAGNETIC WATERMARK FOR TEXT DOCUMENTS - The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for applying magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) technology to enable the embedding of coded information within text characters of a document. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080225738 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RETRIEVING TIME SERIES DATA - Systems and methods for analyzing time series data are disclosed. A query including a machine variable identifier may be received. The machine variable identifier may include an identifier pertaining to one or more of a state, a condition and a performance measure for a printer. A first time series data entry may be determined based on the query. The first time series data entry may include a data value and a time entry for the machine variable identifier. One or more second time series data entries may be selected based on the data value associated with the first time series data entry. One or more maintenance operations may be performed based on the one or more second time series data entries. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080247666 | DARKNESS CONTROL USING PATTERN MATCHING - The present invention is a method and apparatus for processing image data to accomplish tuning or adjustment of images, so as to modify at least the darkness thereof, using compact, efficient methods and designs. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080256230 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING AN ANOMALOUS NETWORKED DEVICE - Methods and systems for detecting one or more anomalous devices are disclosed. For each of a plurality of devices, semi-structured data may be received from the device. For each pair of devices, of the plurality of devices, a similarity measurement may be determined between semi-structured data from a first device of the pair of devices and semi-structured data from a second device of the pair of devices. One or more anomalous devices may then be identified and one or more remedial actions may be performed for the one or more identified anomalous devices. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080292130 | Preserving scanner signature using MRC technology - Systems and methods are described that facilitate encrypting document status information into a scanned image of a document using a mixed raster content document parsing protocol, in accordance with various features described herein. A text string comprising status information can be imaged into a mask layer that overlays the scanned image. Additionally or alternatively, the text string can be encrypted into a binary image that is encoded into the mask layer and overlaid on the image. The image itself is parsed into a background layer and one or more mask layers comprising different portions of the document. The encrypted mask layer comprising the text string and/or binary image can be generated using the same color as the background layer, such that the document status information is invisible and does not cause unwanted artifacts during printing or conversion of the document between formats. The document status information can be scanner signature information, scan-to-file authentication information, object metadata, etc. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292215 | SELECTIVE TEXT FLIPPING AND IMAGE MIRRORING SYSTEM AND METHOD - Selectively flipping text and mirroring graphical elements of image without disrupting the readability of the overall image can be desirable. A multifunction device can manipulate an image by separating the image into a first object and a second object, processing the first object so as to mirror the first object about an axis, processing the second object so as to mirror a first position of the second object about the axis and arranging the second object at the mirrored position, and combining the first object and the second object to form an output image. The first object can include a graphical image and the second object can include text, and the second object can overlap the first object. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20090006176 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF ORGANIZING VENDORS OF PRODUCTION PRINT SERVICES BY RATINGS - Methods and systems of evaluating customer satisfaction with a plurality of print-related items are disclosed. A plurality of evaluator ratings, each including an ordinal scale value, may be received for each print-related item in a set. A rating distribution may be determined for each print-related item based on the received evaluator ratings. A similarity value between the rating distribution for the print-related item and each other print-related item may also be determined. The set of print-related items may be divided into one or more clusters based on the corresponding similarity values. A comparison of the one or more clusters may be displayed. The comparison may include a comparison of the similarity values and/or a rating variability between rating distributions associated with the print-related items in one or more clusters and/or a comparison of average rating distributions associated with one or more clusters. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090037390 | METHOD OF ANALYZING DOCUMENTS - A method for analyzing documents is disclosed. The method compares concepts consisting of groups of terms for similarity within a corpus of document, clusters documents that contain certain concept term sets together. It may also rank the documents within each cluster according to the frequency of term co-occurrence within the concepts. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090094094 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FORECASTING PRINT JOB RELATED DEMAND - A print demand forecasting system is provided for use with a print production system in which print demand data is collected for each print job processed during a selected time interval. The print demand data is processed with a computer implemented service manager to obtain a first demand series with two or more demand components and a second demand series with one demand component. Each one of the two or more demand components is less than a selected variability level and the one demand component is greater than the selected variability level. The computer implemented service manager is adapted to (1) generate a first demand related forecast with a combination of the two or more demand components, and (2) generate a second demand related forecast with the one demand component if convergent forecasting results are obtainable for the second demand series. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090147294 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ASSESSING RESOURCE UTILIZATION IN A PRINT PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT - A method of assessing resource utilization in a print production environment may include receiving a plurality of utilization profiles where each utilization profile corresponds to a utilization of a resource in an enterprise. For at least one resource in the enterprise, a computing device may determine a distance between a utilization profile for the resource and a utilization profile for one or more other resources in the enterprise. The computing device may convert one or more distances into at least one visualization, and a report management system may generate a report comprising the visualization. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090157351 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING PRINT SHOP OPERABILITY - A computer implemented system for segmenting data collected from a document production environment is provided. The system includes determining, with a computer implemented data processing platform, that a set of document production related data should be represented as a non-normal distribution. A first test is performed and it is determined that the non-normal distribution should not be analyzed pursuant to a first analytic category. A second test is performed and when it is determined that the non-normal distribution should be analyzed pursuant to a second analytic category, an output, indicating that the non-normal distribution should be analyzed pursuant to the second analytic category is provided. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090327033 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR FORECASTING INVENTORY LEVELS IN A PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT - A method of maintaining an inventory of a consumable in a production environment may include identifying a demand distribution for a consumable in a production environment, identifying a lead time period for replenishing the consumable and selecting, from a plurality of candidate parameters, a control parameter that is a function of total inventory management cost so that the selected control parameter corresponds to a lowest determined total inventory management cost. The method may also include using a forecasting model to automatically forecast a total future demand value for the consumable based on the demand distribution, the lead time period and a standard error of forecasting adjusted by the selected control parameter, determining whether additional inventory is needed based on at least the total forecasted future demand value and an inventory position and, if additional inventory is needed, generating an order for the consumable. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327103 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF MAINTAINING AN INVENTORY LEVEL IN A PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT - A method of maintaining an inventory level of a consumable in a production environment may include monitoring an inventory position associated with a consumable in a production environment, and, based on the monitoring, identifying a plurality of window sets. Each window set may include a plurality of windows, and each window may include a portion of a historic demand distribution associated with the consumable and corresponds to a total inventory management cost. The method may also include selecting, from the plurality of window sets, the window set having the window corresponding to a lowest total inventory management cost. A lower inventory threshold level for the consumable and an upper inventory threshold level for the consumable may be automatically determined. An amount of the consumable may be ordered if the monitored inventory position is less than the lower inventory threshold level. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100005083 | FREQUENCY BASED KEYWORD EXTRACTION METHOD AND SYSTEM USING A STATISTICAL MEASURE - Frequency based keyword extraction method and system utilizing a statistical measure is disclosed which generates keywords within a page and/or document that can distinguish the document from an average document. A simple frequency threshold parameter can be utilized to determine a number of common stop words if a word in the document possesses a frequency in a corpus that is more than the threshold parameter. A statistical confidence interval of the frequency in the document can be compared against a frequency confidence interval of the word in the corpus. The extracted keyword possesses a greater intra-document frequency confidence interval than the frequency confidence interval of the word within the corpus. A statistical hypothesis test can also be utilized to determine the keyword by calculating a test statistic and testing whether the test statistic is greater than some threshold. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100030617 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FORECASTING PRINT JOB RELATED DEMAND - There is provided a print demand forecasting system and method for use with a print production system in which print demand data is collected for each print job processed during a selected time interval. The collected print demand data is stored in memory and then processed to obtain a first time series component and a second time series component. The first and second time series components are corresponded respectively with first and second forecast models. One of the first and second forecast models is selected with an S process, and the selected one of the first and second forecast models is used to obtain forecast data. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100149606 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING AND LABELING FIELDS OF TEXT ASSOCIATED WITH SCANNED BUSINESS DOCUMENTS - A system for electronically distilling information from a business document uses a network scanner to electronically scan a platen area, having a business document thereon, to create a bitmap. A network server carries out a segmentation process to segment the scan generated bitmap into a bitmap object, the bitmap object corresponding to the scanned business document; a bitmap to text conversion process to convert the bitmap object into a block of text; a semantic recognition process to generate a structured representation of semantic entities corresponding to the scanned business document; and a document generation process to convert the structured representation into a structure text file. The semantic recognition process includes the processes of generating, for each line of text having a keyword therein, a terminal symbol corresponding to the keyword therein; generating, for each line of text not having a keyword therein and absent of numeric characters, an alphabetic terminal symbol; generating, for each line of text not having a keyword therein and having a numeric character therein, an alphanumeric terminal symbol; generating a string of terminal symbols from the generated terminal symbols; determining a probable parsing of the generated string of terminal symbols; labeling each text line, according to a determined function, with non-terminal symbols; and parsing the business document information text into fields of business document information text based upon the non-terminal symbol of each text line and the determined probable parsing of the generated string of terminal symbols. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150397 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING AND LABELING FIELDS OF TEXT ASSOCIATED WITH SCANNED BUSINESS DOCUMENTS - A system for electronically distilling information from a business document uses a network scanner to electronically scan a platen area, having a business document thereon, to create a bitmap. A network server carries out a segmentation process to segment the scan generated bitmap into a bitmap object, the bitmap object corresponding to the scanned business document; a bitmap to text conversion process to convert the bitmap object into a block of text; a semantic recognition process to generate a structured representation of semantic entities corresponding to the scanned business document; and a document generation process to convert the structured representation into a structure text file. The semantic recognition process includes the processes of generating, for each line of text having a keyword therein, a terminal symbol corresponding to the keyword therein; generating, for each line of text not having a keyword therein and absent of numeric characters, an alphabetic terminal symbol; generating, for each line of text not having a keyword therein and having a numeric character therein, an alphanumeric terminal symbol; generating a string of terminal symbols from the generated terminal symbols; determining a probable parsing of the generated string of terminal symbols; labeling each text line, according to a determined function, with non-terminal symbols; and parsing the business document information text into fields of business document information text based upon the non-terminal symbol of each text line and the determined probable parsing of the generated string of terminal symbols. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100223506 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING TIME SERIES DATA - Systems and methods for performing fault analysis using numerically coded time series data are disclosed. First time series data, including a plurality of first time entries and an associated first data value for each first time entry, may be received for a machine variable for a first printer. Second time series data, including a plurality of second time entries and an associated second data value for each second time entry, may be received for the machine variable for each of a plurality of second printers. For each second printer, a similarity measurement may be determined for the first time series data for the first printer and the second time series data for the second printer. One or more closest matching second printers may be determined based on the similarity measurements. An association may be displayed between the first printer and each closest matching second printer. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100268572 | INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN A PRINT- PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT - An inventory management system for forecasting demand in a print production environment may include a computing device and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the computing device. The computer-readable storage medium may include programming instructions for updating a predictive model with intervention information comprising an anticipated demand value and a confidence value associated with the anticipated demand value. The predictive model may be associated with a demand distribution of a print-related service. The computer-readable storage medium may include programming instructions for generating a demand forecast associated with the print-related service by using the updated predictive model, using the generated demand forecast to compare a current inventory level associated with the print-related service to an anticipated inventory level associated with the demand forecast of the print-related service, and ordering additional inventory in response to the current inventory level being less than the anticipated inventory level. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100290079 | CAPACITY PLANNING INCORPORATING JOB SIZE DISTRIBUTION - Methods and systems for determining print capacity are disclosed. A maximum job speed for a document processing device and information pertaining to a plurality of jobs performed by the document processing device may be received. The information may include a job speed and a job size for each job. Sets of first and second jobs may be identified from the plurality of jobs. Each first job may have a job speed greater than a percentage of the maximum job speed. Each second job may have a job speed less than the percentage of the maximum job speed. A job size threshold may be determined based on the job sizes for the first and second jobs. In response to such determination, a linear function based on the one or more second jobs may be obtained. The linear function may be a function of job speed based on job size. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20110064278 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO DETECT CHANGES IN IMAGE QUALITY - A systems and methods for providing an image forming machine capable of monitoring the image quality of images that the image forming machine produces and detecting changes in the image quality. The monitoring system using statistical techniques to fit predetermined models to a measured image quality of time sequence of formed images. The predetermined models used to find current and predicted values of image quality and notifying a user or service provider when the image quality has changed. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110071866 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING SUSPECT METER READS IN A PRINT ENVIRONMENT - A system for detecting suspect meter reads in a print environment may include a computing device and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the computing device. The computer-readable storage medium may include one or more programming instructions for receiving historical meter read values associated with a print-related service, selecting a model set including one or more of the historical meter read values, using a predictive model to determine an anticipated meter read value and a corresponding forecast error value from the model set, determining an updated forecast error value, determining a threshold value, identifying an actual meter read value, determining an average rate associated with the actual meter read value, and flagging the actual meter read value as suspect based on a comparison of the average rate and the threshold value. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110082722 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO ASSOCIATE DEVICE MODELS AND ACCOUNTS BY UTILIZATION BANDS - Methods and systems for identifying devices having a specified utilization are disclosed. A selected minimum utilization and maximum utilization defining a utilization band may be received. Device information for each of a plurality of accounts, including a device model and utilization information for each device associated with an account, may also be received. A utilization may be determined for each device based on the utilization information. For each device model in an account, a number of devices in an account having the device model and a utilization in the utilization band may be determined. A plurality of clusters may be identified for device model-account pairs, and at least one device model-account pair may be assigned to a cluster. | 04-07-2011 |