U.S. patent application number 13/152800 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-05 for system and method for storing and retrieving digital content with physical file systems.
Invention is credited to Leigh M. Rothschild.
Application Number | 20120002244 13/152800 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41381064 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120002244 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rothschild; Leigh M. |
January 5, 2012 |
System and Method for Storing and Retrieving Digital Content with
Physical File Systems
Abstract
A system and method for retrieving and storing digital documents
with physical file storage systems are provided. The disclosed
system and methods allow a user to retrieve digital documents from
a conventional file storage system and to seamlessly categorize and
store the digital documents within the conventional file storage
system. The system and method provide for receiving an identifier
associated with the physical file folder; and accessing the digital
documents of the physical file folder using the received
identifier. The system and method further provide for storing
digital content in a file folder over a network including uploading
and storing the digital content; entering an identification code
associated with at least one file folder; and assigning digital
content to the at least one selected file folder.
Inventors: |
Rothschild; Leigh M.; (Sunny
Isle Beach, FL) |
Family ID: |
41381064 |
Appl. No.: |
13/152800 |
Filed: |
June 3, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12156519 |
Jun 2, 2008 |
7979434 |
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13152800 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
358/403 ;
709/219 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/40 20190101;
G06F 16/93 20190101; G06F 16/21 20190101 |
Class at
Publication: |
358/403 ;
709/219 |
International
Class: |
H04N 1/04 20060101
H04N001/04; G06F 15/16 20060101 G06F015/16 |
Claims
1-27. (canceled)
28. A method for retrieving and storing digital documents over a
network, the method comprising: receiving an identifier through a
user interface of a computing device, the identifier associated
with a physical file folder; transmitting the identifier to a
server coupled to a remote database that stores an electronic file
folder corresponding to the physical file folder, the electronic
file folder having one or more digital documents; accessing the
electronic file folder and the one or more digital documents
contained therein to store on the computing device; displaying a
list of the digital documents contained in the electronic file
folder on the user interface of computing device; wherein the
identifier comprises information identifying the subject matter of
the digital documents and information identifying the location of
the digital documents in the remote database.
29. The method as in claim 28, wherein the identifier is a
symbology or alpha-numeric string.
30. The method as in claim 28, wherein the identifier is
transmitted over a wireless communication network and the
electronic file folder is accessed over the wireless network.
31. The method as in claim 28, further comprising: enabling the
first user to preview at least one accessed digital document; and
enabling the first user to provide instructions to review, edit,
email, publish, or print the at least one accessed digital document
using the computing device.
32. The method as in claim 31, wherein at least one accessed
digital document is locked out from being accessed by a second user
while being accessed by the first user.
33. The method as in claim 31, wherein the displaying step further
comprises indicating to the first user which of the digital
documents are in use by other users.
34. The method as in claim 28, further comprising generating a
watermark on each digital document, each watermark representing a
respective document identification code.
35. The method as in claim 28, further comprising generating a
single symbology containing the identifier and the document
identification code.
36. The method as in claim 28, further comprising: enabling the
first user to preview at least one accessed digital document; and
enabling the first user to email the at least one accessed digital
document using the computing device to a second user.
37. The method as in claim 28, wherein the computing device is a
portable computing device.
38. A method for retrieving and storing digital documents over a
network, the method comprising: scanning one or more physical
documents corresponding to a physical file folder using a computing
device into one or more digital documents, wherein each digital
document corresponds to a physical document; uploading the digital
content to a remote server for storage in a remote database
inputting an identifier associated with the physical file folder
through a user interface of the computing device; storing the one
or digital documents using the remote server into the remote
database; assigning the digital content to the identifier, enabling
a user to access and edit the digital content; wherein the
identifier code comprises information identifying the location of
the digital content in the database.
39. The method as in claim 38, wherein the identifier is a
symbology or alpha-numeric string.
40. The method as in claim 38, wherein the network is a wireless
network.
41. The method as in claim 38, wherein the physical file folder is
a placard including the identifier in printed form.
42. The method as in claim 38, further comprising: enabling the
first user to preview at least one scanned digital document; and
enabling the first user to provide instructions to review, edit,
email, publish, or print the at least one accessed digital document
using a computing device.
43. The method as in claim 38, further comprising generating a
watermark on each digital document, each watermark representing a
respective document identification code.
44. The method as in claim 38, further comprising generating a
single symbology containing the identifier and the document
identification code.
44. The method as in claim 38, further comprising: enabling the
first user to preview at least one scanned digital document; and
enabling the first user to email the at least one accessed digital
document using the computing device.
45. The method as in claim 38, wherein the computing device is a
portable computing device.
46. A system for retrieving and storing digital documents over a
network comprising: an input computing device configured for:(i)
scanning one or more physical documents corresponding to a physical
file folder using a computing device into one or more digital
documents, wherein each digital document corresponds to a physical
document; (ii) uploading the digital content to a remote server for
storage in a remote database; (iii) inputting an identifier
associated with the physical file folder through a user interface
of the computing device; a remote database; a remote server
configured for: (i) storing the one or digital documents using the
remote server into the remote database; (ii) assigning the digital
content to the identifier, enabling a user to access and edit the
digital content; wherein the identifier code comprises information
identifying the location of the digital content in the remote
database.
47. The system of claim 46, further comprising an output computing
device configured for: (i) receiving an identifier through a user
interface of the output computing device, the identifier associated
with a physical file folder; (ii) transmitting the identifier to
the remote server coupled to a remote database that stores
electronic file folder corresponding to the physical file folder,
the electronic file folder having one or more digital documents;
(iii) accessing the electronic file folder and the one or more
digital documents contained therein to store on the computing
device; (iv) displaying a list of the digital documents contained
in the electronic file folder on the user interface of computing
device; wherein the identifier comprises information identifying
the subject matter of the digital documents and information
identifying the location of the digital documents in the remote
database.
48. The system of claim 47, wherein the remote server is further
configured for receiving the identifier, retrieving the digital
documents associated with the physical file folder from the remote
database and transmitting to the output computing device one or
more of the digital documents.
49. The system as in claim 46, wherein the identifier is a
symbology or alpha-numeric string.
50. The system as in claim 46, wherein the input computing device
is an input portable computing device and the output computing
device is an output portable computing device.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to data processing
and communication systems, more particularly, to a system and a
method of seamlessly linking, categorizing and storing paper
documents originating from a physical file folder in digital form,
eliminating the paper documents, and storing and retrieving digital
documents from a conventional file storage system.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Billions of paper documents originating from digital files
are printed and filed each year. Most of these documents originate
in some sort of digital form, such as a word processing document, a
scanned document or an email. However, upon retrieval, they are not
easily available or available at all in their original digital form
or, if they are, they are not easily found if found at all.
[0005] The goal of any business, government organization, or any
other type of organization is to reduce paper and to transform
paper documents originating from digital file documents to digital
documents that are easily categorized and located.
[0006] At the current time, many paper documents that originate
from digital documents are printed, stored and/or filed in
conventional file cabinets or storage systems. One of the reasons
for the above system is to provide a convenient way to store and
organize these paper documents for retrieval at a later time.
However, once the paper documents, which sometimes originate from
digital form, are retrieved they are not easily linked back to back
to the original digital files from which they were created.
[0007] Therefore, a need exists for a system and a method of
storing and retrieving paperless digital files in a conventional
file storage system without printing out the paper documents. A
need also exists for a method to allow multiple users to be able to
access the same digital file and, therefore to allow multiple
parties access to information in the digital file, and the digital
file themselves, e.g. for editing, reviewing, etc.
SUMMARY
[0008] A system and method for retrieving and storing digital
documents with physical file storage systems are provided. The
disclosed system and method allow a user to retrieve digital
documents from a conventional physical file storage system and to
seamlessly categorize and store the digital documents within the
conventional physical file storage system.
[0009] A system for retrieving and storing digital documents from a
physical file folder over a network is provided including at least
one terminal configured for retrieving at least one digital
document from a physical file folder associated with an identifier;
a remote server configured for reading the identifier and
retrieving the at least one digital document from a digital storage
medium representing the physical file folder; and a communications
network for coupling the at least one terminal and the remote
server.
[0010] A method for retrieving and storing a digital document in a
physical file over a network is provided. The method comprises
receiving an identifier associated with the physical file folder;
and accessing at least one digital documents of the physical file
folder using the received identifier.
[0011] A method of storing digital content in a file folder over a
network is also disclosed, including uploading and storing the
digital content; entering an identification code associated with at
least one file folder; and assigning digital content to the at
least one selected file folder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the
disclosure will become more apparent in the light of the following
detailed description when taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is an overall flow diagram of a system and method for
retrieving and storing paperless digital file folders in a
conventional file storage system;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system for linking paperless
digital file folders over a network in accordance with an
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for retrieving
a digital document or file of a physical file folder in accordance
with an embodiment of the disclosure; and
[0016] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of storing a
digital document in a physical file folder in accordance with an
embodiment of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Preferred embodiments of the disclosure will be described
hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the
following description, well-know functions or constructions are not
described in detail to avoid obscuring the disclosure.
[0018] A system and method for retrieving and storing digital
documents with physical file storage systems are provided. The
disclosed system and method allow a user to retrieve digital
documents from a conventional file storage system and to seamlessly
categorize and store the digital documents within the conventional
file storage system.
[0019] Digital documents refer to any type of digital content, such
as documents drafted using any composition program herein known or
known in the future including, but not limited to, Microsoft
Word.TM., Google Docs, Corel's WordPerfect.TM., Adobe Photoshop.TM.
or Creative Suite.TM. or Acrobat.TM., Microsoft Excel.TM., Lotus
SmartSuite.TM., etc., or other digital content such as, e-mails,
web pages, web links, invoices, brochures, court papers, scanned
documents, etc.
[0020] In an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for retrieving
digital documents from a conventional file cabinet/storage system
is disclosed. In this embodiment, a user or multiple users decide
to retrieve digital documents from a physical file folder located
in a conventional file cabinet/storage system. The user accesses
the physical file folder in a conventional file cabinet/storage
that contains no paper files. The user takes the physical file
folder to their user terminal/workstation and, upon inquiry from
the terminal/workstation, the computer gives a list of all the
digital documents contained within the file folder. A second user
may also decide to retrieve digital documents from the physical
file folder located in the conventional file cabinet/storage
system. The second user also takes the file folder to his or her
terminal/workstation to view the digital documents contained within
the file folder. However, the second user will be locked out from
accessing digital documents that are being accessed by others. For
example, when viewing the list of documents associated to the
physical file folder, the second or subsequent user will be
presented with a list indicating which documents are currently
being accessed by other users. Subsequent users will be locked out
from accessing these documents until the first user saves or stores
the document or otherwise not accessing the document.
[0021] The users may sort the digital documents by date, by
subject, by title, by category, by author, or any other defined
search criteria. Further, the user(s), if they have security
access, may access the digital documents on his or her computer or
terminal screen. Given the user(s) has the requisite security
access, the user(s) may edit the digital documents or may print the
digital documents of the file folder. The user(s) can then reply to
the digital documents, if needed, or perform any routine processing
of any type on the digital documents as he or she would as if the
digital documents of the file folder had existed in paper form.
[0022] In another embodiment of the disclosure, a system and method
for storing digital documents in a physical file folder located in
a conventional file cabinet/storage system is provided. In this
embodiment of the disclosure, a user desires to store a digital
document that they have created, modified and/or edited on their
computer or terminal in a file folder. The user can view which
digital documents, pending requisite security access, are contained
in each file folder. Viewing the digital documents in one or more
file folders may include viewing individual digital documents in
every file (to determine contents of a particular file), seeing a
preview of the digital documents of a requested file folder and/or
viewing the entire digital contents of one or more requested file
folders. Once the user determines which file folder he decides to
store the digital document in, the user specifies to the user
terminal/workstation an identification code of the file folder. The
user directs the user terminal/workstation to digitally
`print/store` the user's digital document in that file folder. In
one embodiment, for the `store` function, the user's computer
transmits the identification code of the file folder to a remote or
local database along with the digital document so that the digital
document is stored on a digital storage medium in association with
the proper physical file folder. The digital document may also have
a digital document identification code and name that will also be
stored in the database. Furthermore, in certain embodiments, for
the `print` function, the digital document will be printed at the
user's terminal or at a printer associated with a server of the
network wherein the printed digital document can be filed in the
physical file folder at a later time. In a totally "paperless
environment", the print function will not cause the document to be
printed out but merely stored in association with the file folder.
In one embodiment, the user is given the location of the
conventional file cabinet/storage system once he specifies the
chosen file folder for the digital documents, e.g., the file folder
is in the file cabinet located in the conference room or simply the
file folder is located in file cabinet number one.
[0023] In another embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
viewing the digital documents via a portable viewer from the
physical file folder within a conventional file cabinet/storage
system is provided. The user directs the user terminal/workstation
to send the digital documents via Bluetooth.TM., Wi-Fi, Universal
Serial Bus (USB.TM.) cable, infrared, or any other data
transmission system now known or later known to the designated
viewer. Exemplary standalone dedicated viewers currently exist
including, but not limited to, the Sony Ereader and the IRex Iliad,
Readius, GeR2 by Ganaxa, Kindle by Amazon.com, and Hanlin eReader
by Jinke. Other portable readers include various tablet computers
such as the Toshiba.TM. and Hewlett Packard.TM. Tablet computers.
In a preferred embodiment, the reader also contains a computer
processor and a communications port (such as via Bluetooth.TM.,
Wi-Fi, Universal Serial Bus (USB.TM.) cable, infrared, or any other
data transmission system now known or later known) then the user
can use this device to recognize the identifier of the file folder
in the conventional file cabinet/storage system. Once the
identifier of the physical file folder is read by a device
containing a communications port and a processor, the user can view
the digital documents of the file folder on a display included in
the device.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, an overall flow diagram of a system and
method for retrieving and storing paperless digital files in a
conventional storage system is illustrated. Physical file folder 12
is located in a traditional conventional file cabinet/storage
system. Initially, if a user determines that they require file
folder 12, they retrieve physical file folder 12 from the
conventional file cabinet/storage system (Step 1). File folder 12
may be a traditional file folder that allows for storage of paper
documents (some or all derived from digital files), or file folder
12 may contain a file placard that does not allow for storage of
any paper documents. In one embodiment, file folder 12 may contain
an electronic screen display, digital memory and a computer
processor. In this embodiment, the electronic screen display will
present to the user all the information on the contents of the file
folder and file folder 12 will be devoid of paper files.
Alternatively, the screen display may be incorporated in the
physical file folder. The display could be in the form of an liquid
crystal display device or even in the form of electronic paper such
as the Xerox.TM. epaper. A further exemplary display device is an
electrophoretic display which is an information display that forms
visible images by rearranging charged pigment particles using an
applied electric field. Examples of commercial electrophoretic
displays include the high-resolution active matrix displays used in
the Amazon Kindle, Sony Librie, Sony Reader, and iRex iLiad
e-readers. These displays are constructed from an electrophoretic
imaging film manufactured by E Ink Corporation. It is to be
appreciated other types of currently used or to be developed
display devices may be incorporated into the physical file folder
for displaying the contents of the physical file folder to the
user.
[0025] File folder 12 contains identifier 11, which identifies the
subject matter of the file folder 12. Identifier 11 may be the name
of file folder, the number convention that the files are identified
by, etc. It is to be appreciated identifier 11 may be placed on the
file folder 12 itself or it may be placed on a tab. Identifier 11
(a printed tab or handwritten tab) may be directly affixed onto
file folder 12 or placard. In one embodiment, identifier 11
includes a bar code or an alpha-numeric string. If identifier 11
for file folder 12 is handwritten or printed without a barcode, the
entry into user terminal 10 is manual. A manual entry could include
any method now known or developed in the future including, but not
limited to, using a keyboard, voice recognition software, etc. If
the printed identifier has a bar code, the code may be scanned via
a scanner coupled to the user terminal 10.
[0026] In another embodiment, the file folder 12 also includes an
electronic identification tag 16. There are various types of
electronic identification tags known in the art including, but not
limited to, Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tags,
electric identification, and transponders of various types and any
other type of device that can receive, store and transmit
information. The tag 16 will includes an identification code
indicating the associated physical file folder. The tag 16 will
wirelessly transmit the identification code to the user terminal 10
when the file folder is within a predetermined distance of the user
terminal 10.
[0027] Generally, once the user retrieves the physical file folder
12 from the conventional file cabinet/storage system, the remote
server 14 will request the identifier or identification code
affixed to the file folder 12. The identifier or identification
code identifies the location of the digital documents of file
folder 12 on remote server 14. Identification code will include a
unique code transmitted from the electronic identification tag
and/or any other type of device that can receive, store and
transmit information to a reader/receiver coupled to user terminal
10 or to a computer on the user's computer network. User's computer
terminal 10 or computer network will retransmit identification code
to the global communication network (the Internet) (discussed in
detail below), a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network
(WAN) that will identify file folder 12. It is to be appreciated
that the identifier and identification code will be used in an
interchangeable manner throughout the disclosure and either the
identifier or identification code can be sent to the server for
determining the file folder.
[0028] Identifier or identification code 11 is then submitted to
the database storing file folder 12 situated either locally or
remotely (Step 2). In either case, using standard database
software, the database will resolve identifier or identification
code 11 and determine where digital documents 20 of file folder 12
are located. The user may then request retrieval of digital
documents 20 of file folder 12 to user terminal 10. The information
provided by file folder 12 includes what digital documents have
been stored in file folder 12 and where digital documents 20 in
file folder 12 are located, e.g. in remote digital storage 14 or in
local digital storage.
[0029] In one embodiment, digital documents 20 of file folder 12
will be stored on the remote server 14 or local server 10 along
with a user identifier, e.g., the user's name or other code
relating to the identity of the user, and identification code 11 in
a database. The user can then access original file folder 12 as
stored on remote server 14 via the user's terminal 10. Once
connected to remote server 14, the user will enter the user's
identifier and identifier or identification code 11 to gain access
to digital documents 20 of file folder 12. The user's identifier
operates as, among others, an identifier to identify to others who
has the digital file, it operates to allow or disallow previewing
of digital documents 20 depending on the user's security access,
etc. Once connected to remote server 14, the user will enter user's
identifier to gain access to digital documents 20 of file folder
12. The user then has access to full file folder 12 or partial file
12 depending on the security access of the user.
[0030] Once the user has access to file folder 12, they may have
access to any of digital documents 20 on the computer display of
the user terminal 10 (if the user has security access to these
documents/contents). Further, digital documents 20 can be sorted by
subject, title, by category, by author, or by any other useful,
defined criteria. In this manner, the user can perform editing on
digital documents 20 (documents, spreadsheets, etc.), print out any
of digital documents 20, or perform any routine processing, as the
user would be able to do had file folder 12 existed in paper
form.
[0031] In another embodiment, a second user terminal (not shown)
may access file folder 12 at the same time as user terminal 10. The
second user may also take file folder 12 to the second user
terminal (not shown) and obtain the same information as stated
above. However, the second user will be presented with a list of
documents indicating which documents are in use by other users. The
second user will be locked out from accessing these documents. In
this manner, the system and method of the present disclosure
ensures only one user can access and edit a digital document at one
time, thereby eliminating the possibility of users overwriting each
others work.
[0032] Referring to the storage aspect of FIG. 1, a user 10, e.g.,
a user of a digital file folder, previews, edits, revises and/or
composes and stores digital document 20 on a Local Area Network
(LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN) or the global computer network,
e.g., the Internet. A user previews, edits, revises and/or composes
digital document 20 (Step 3). It is to be appreciated that digital
document 20 can be a new digital document or a revised document
that was accessed and now is different than the original. Digital
document 20 is then uploaded from the user terminal 10 to the
remote server 14 (Step 4). Alternatively, the user, can compose,
review, edit and revise the document on the remote server 14 and
save digital document 20 on remote server 14 using remote server's
14 computer processing power.
[0033] In Step 5 of FIG. 1, once digital document 20 is saved on
the remote server 14 database, the user will choose a file folder
12 with assigned identification code 11 for digital document 20
(document, etc.). The user may choose same file folder 12 from
which digital document 20 (document, etc.) was retrieved or choose
another file folder in which to save digital document 20. Remote
server 14 will then assign document identification code 21 for each
digital document 20. Each document 20 will also have its own name
identifier and identification code 21. In one embodiment,
identification code 21 will be an alpha-numeric string consisting
of at least nine digits and presented in the form of an area code
phone number. A sample code would be A9C-RT1-09HG. This
alpha-numeric code would allow remote server 14 to assign more then
a thousand trillion identification codes. Remote server 14 will
assign these numbers at random so that no documents fall in a
number sequence, to prevent guessing code sequences and `hacking`
into the documents database. Document identification code 21 once
assigned may be converted to any form of symbology currently know
including barcodes such as UPC, EAN, PDF417, etc., photosymbols,
standard or specialized text, etc., or any future type of
symbology. Once assigned the alpha-numeric string or symbology
representing the alpha string will be printed onto the document as
either a visible watermark, a digital watermark, or both, such that
the recipient or viewer of the document can easily read the
symbology or that a machine (e.g., a scanner or other type of
device) can read the identification code. It is to be appreciated
that, in certain embodiments, the file folder identifier and
document identification code can be used to create a single
symbology and/or alpha-numeric code which will simplify entry of
this information and simplify the retrieval of this single document
from a file folder at a later time.
[0034] The user will then receive via download or other form of
communication between remote server 14 and user's terminal 10
digital document 20 with identification code 21 affixed. Digital
document 20 can then be printed by the user with identification
code 21 and/or stored into a file folder of the user's choice. The
user may request information on what digital documents each digital
file folder contains by requesting the information using the file
folder's identifier or identification code 11. Once identified file
folder 12 is selected, the user's local computer or a computer
associated with the user's computer (such as a computer hooked to a
network) will then transmit to a remote database, such as the
global communications network, the Internet, or a local database,
identification code 21 of file folder 12 that the digital document
has been stored/filed in. The name and location of the digital
document will also be stored in the database using the document
identification code 21. This information will remain in the remote
or local database until it is deleted or modified. The remote
server 14 will return the physical file location of the file folder
to the user.
[0035] The disclosure contemplates the use of any known or to be
developed document composition programs such as Microsoft Word.TM.,
Google Docs, Corel WordPerfect.TM., Adobe Photoshop.TM., and other
programs. The present disclosure also contemplates adding a plug-in
control to a user's software applications residing on a local
terminal (whether the plug-in is supplied by the software publisher
or supplied by a third party provider). The plug-in control will
allow the documents that are created with these various composition
programs on the local terminal to be stored, data based, and the
symbology/alpha-numeric strings added to the final document without
the user having to manually upload and download the digital
document to the remote server. The plug-in control will seamlessly
interact with the remote server and cause an identification code to
be generated and the final version of the digital document to be
stored on the remote server in addition to being stored on the
local terminal. Once loaded at a local terminal, the plug-in may
appear as a button in a toolbar of the document composition program
or may appear as an additional and separate toolbar. In this
manner, after the digital document has been created, edited, and/or
revised in any manner, the user will simply select, or click on,
the appropriate button or toolbar with a cursor control device and
the local terminal will interact with the remote server and an
identification code will be generated for the digital document as
described herein. It is to be appreciated that other software
applications, e.g., an applet, may reside on the local terminal,
which will perform the same functionality as the plug-in.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 2 a diagram of a system for linking
paperless digital files over a network is illustrated. System 100
includes a terminal 102, e.g., a user computer, for accessing
server 104 over communications network 106, e.g., the Internet.
Terminal 102 and server 104 will communicate using any conventional
architecture, for example a client/server architecture where
terminal 102 will execute a client application, e.g., a web
browser, to access an application executing on server 104. Terminal
102 will access server 104 to enable a user to transmit
identification code 119 for file folder 110. Server 104 will
receive identification code 119 affixed to file folder 110.
Identification code 113 identifies the location of digital content
of file folder 110 on remote server 104. In one embodiment, scanner
114 will read the identifier from the file folder and determine the
identification code. In another embodiment, identification tag 113
will transmit a unique code to an electronic identification tag
and/or any other type of device that can receive, store, and
transmit information to a reader/receiver coupled to terminal 102
on user's server/network 102 so that the user can preview, review,
edit, print, etc. portions of the digital documents of the or file
folder 110 itself and possibly forward the digital document to a
second user terminal (not shown). Terminal 102 will include
communication module 112 for communicating to remote server
104.
[0037] It is to be understood that the present disclosure may be
implemented in various forms of hardware, software, firmware,
special purpose processors, or a combination thereof. In one
embodiment, the present disclosure may be implemented in software
as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage
device. The application program may be uploaded to, and executed
by, a machine, e.g., terminal 102 or server 104, comprising any
suitable architecture such as a personal computer, a workstation or
server. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer
platform having hardware such as one or more central processing
units (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM)
and input/output (I/O) interface(s) such as a keyboard, cursor
control device (e.g., a mouse or joystick) and display device. A
system bus couples the various components and may be any of several
types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory
controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a
variety of bus architectures. The computer platform also includes
an operating system and micro instruction code. The various
processes and functions described herein may either be part of the
micro instruction code or part of the application program (or a
combination thereof) which is executed via the operating
system.
[0038] In addition, various other peripheral devices may be
connected to the computer platform of the machine by various
interfaces and bus structures, such a parallel port, serial port or
universal serial bus (USB). One such peripheral device may include
a communications device, e.g., a modem, satellite relay, wireless
connection, etc., for enabling communications from terminal 102 to
various servers. Other peripheral devices may include additional
storage devices, printer 111 and scanner 114.
[0039] It is to be further understood that, because some of the
constituent system components and method steps depicted in the
accompanying figures may be implemented in software, the actual
connections between the system components (or the process steps)
may differ depending upon the manner in which the present
disclosure is programmed. Given the teachings of the present
disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the related
art will be able to contemplate these and similar implementations
or configurations of the present disclosure.
[0040] Terminal 102 and/or server 104 may operate in a networked
environment using logical connections to one or more remote
computers. The remote computer may be a personal computer, a
server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common
network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements
described above relative to the machine. It is to be appreciated
that network 106 may be a local area network (LAN), wide area
network (WAN), the Internet or any known network that couples a
plurality of computers to enable various modes of communication via
network messages. Terminal 102 may communicate to the server 104
and network 106 via any known communication link 107, for example,
dial-up, hardwired, cable, DSL, satellite, cellular, PCS, wireless
transmission (e.g., 802.11a/b/g, etc.), etc. Furthermore, the
devices will communicate using the various known protocols such as
Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), File
Transfer Protocol (FTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.
During a purchasing transaction, the computing devices may employ
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPs), Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) Protocol, Secure Electronic Transaction (SEC) Protocol,
etc.
[0041] Referring to FIG. 2-4, a system and a method for retrieving
and storing documents from a conventional file cabinet, storage
system to a digital system are described. FIG. 3 is a flow chart
illustrating a method for retrieving digital documents from a
conventional file cabinet/storage system. FIG. 4 is a method of
storing the digital documents in a file folder.
[0042] Initially, once the physical and digital file folder have
been created and stored, the physical file folder is retrieved from
the storage system and/or file cabinet in step 202. The user will
retrieve the physical file folder 110 (step 202) and connect to a
remote site residing on remote server 104 (step 204). In step 206,
the recipient enters identifier 119 from file folder. The recipient
may enter the information manually via the keyboard, voice
recognition, etc. or by scanning identifier 119 via scanning device
114. Identifier 119 may be the file folder name or any other
identifier.
[0043] Alternatively, once the user retrieves the physical file
folder 110 from the conventional file cabinet/storage system, the
terminal 102 will read identification tag 113 affixed to file
folder 110 at step 206. Identification tag 113 identifies the
location of the digital document of file folder 110 on remote
server 104. Identification code 110 will transmit a unique code to
a reader/receiver coupled to user terminal 102 or to a computer on
the user's computer network.
[0044] Once entered, identification code or identifier will cause
the remote server 104 to access standard database software
including Microsoft Access.TM., Oracle.TM. Software, etc., and
using standard computer processing power, locate the requested
document and then allow the user to view the digital documents of
file folder 110 on his local terminal 102 (step 208). Once
accessed, the digital documents of file folder 110 may be sorted by
content, document category, document name, recipient's name,
document date, or any other user defined parameters. In step 210,
if the user has the granted security access, the user may preview,
edit, revise, print, etc. the digital documents accessed.
[0045] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the user may
also indicate the user's account login and password and then the
remote server will locate all documents that are associated with
the user's identity. If the user accesses their account, the
subject document, i.e., the newly received document, will then be
added into the database of the user's stored and accessible
documents.
[0046] Referring to FIG. 4, initially, a user previews, edits,
revises, and/or prints, etc. digital documents on the global
computer network, e.g., the Internet. The user will preview, edit,
revise and/or print, etc the digital documents on local terminal
102. The document is then uploaded from local terminal 102 to
remote server 104, in step 302. Alternatively, the user can
preview, edit, revise, and/or print, etc. the digital documents on
remote server 104 and save the document on remote server 104 using
remote server's 104 computer processing power. Any other notations
regarding digital document such as how to file the document (for
example, by category, subject matter, identification code, etc.)
can also be communicated to remote server 104. All of the
information on the document will be stored in a standard database
program such as Oracle's Database.TM., Microsoft Access.TM., etc.
using standard database storage protocols on storage medium
108.
[0047] In another embodiment, the user will also indicate the
user's identity (e.g., the user's e-mail address or any other
unique identification) so that the remote server knows the identity
of the originator of the document, i.e., the user of the digital
document. Any other notations regarding digital document 20 such as
how to file digital document 20 (for example, by category, subject
matter, file number, etc.) can also be communicated to remote
server 104. Identification code 119 will be used in conjunction
with an identifier of the user as the login/password set for future
access to an edited or final product digital document (document,
etc), in a case where one user has final review of the digital
document 20 of a digital file folder. The user identifier such as
the user's name on digital document 20 is used as the login entry.
This identifier will be something that is obvious to all users of
the digital documents 110, except in the case of a `secure`
document where the user will inform server 104 not to specify login
information.
[0048] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the user
can also indicate an addressee of the digital document, e.g., an
intended recipient, by entering the addressee's name, residence
address, e-mail address and/or fax number. While entering the
addressee's information, the user can also indicate that the
addressee should be sent a preview of the digital document by
e-mail or fax.
[0049] Once the previewed, edited, revised and/or printed, etc.,
the digital document is saved on remote server database 108, the
user will select file folder 110 to store the digital document.
When a digital document is stored, the user instructs local
terminal 102 or remote terminal 104 database 108 the identification
code 119 of file folder 110 that the user decides to store the
digital document within. The user may request information on all
relevant file folders using identification code 119 as described in
detail above. Once file folder 110 is selected, user terminal 102
or a computer associated with user terminal 102, such as a computer
hooked to a network, will then transmit to the global
communications network 106 identification code 119 of file folder
110 that the digital document is filed in (step 306).
[0050] After the digital document is saved on remote server
database 108, the server 104 will assign a name and document
identification code to the document, in step 308. The remote server
104 will then assign an document identification code for this
individual document. Each document will have its own document
identification code. In one embodiment, the document identification
code will be an alpha-numeric string consisting of at least nine
digits and presented in the form of an area code phone number. A
sample code would be A9C-RT1-09HG. This alpha-numeric code would
allow the remote server 104 to assign more then a thousand trillion
identification codes. The remote server 104 will assign these
numbers at random so that no documents fall in a number sequence,
to prevent guessing code sequences and `hacking` into the documents
database. Document identification code once assigned may be
converted to any form of symbology currently know including
barcodes such as UPC, EAN, PDF417, etc., photosymbols, standard or
specialized text, etc., or any future type of symbology. Once
assigned the alpha-numeric string or symbology representing the
alpha string will be printed onto the document either as a visible
watermark, a digital watermark, or both, such that the recipient of
the document can easily read the symbology or that a machine (e.g.,
a scanner or other type of device) can read document identification
code.
[0051] The user will then receive via download or other form of
communication between remote server 104 and user's terminal 102
digital document 20 with identification code 21 affixed. Digital
document 20 can then be printed by the user with identification
code 21 and/or stored into a file folder of the user's choice. The
user may request information on what digital documents 20 each
digital file folder contains by requesting the information using
the file folder's identification code 16. Once identified file
folder 110 is selected, the user's local computer or a computer
associated with the user's computer (such as a computer hooked to a
network) will then transmit to a remote database, such as the
global communications network, the Internet, or a local database,
identification code of file folder 110 that the digital document
has been stored/filed in. The name and location of the digital
document will also be stored in the database using the document
identification code 21. Once file folder 12 has been selected, user
terminal 10 or a computer associated with user terminal 10 will
transmit to a remote or a local data base identification code 16 of
file folder 12 that digital document 20 has been filed within. The
name, document identification code and location of digital document
20 will be stored in the remote or local database until it is
deleted or modified.
[0052] In step 310, the user stores digital document via user
terminal 102 with a file folder 110 identification code 119,
digital document name and document identification code. If the user
is creating the document on the remote server 104, the server 104
can store and print the document via printer 116.
[0053] In another embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
storing digital document 20 via a portable viewer 118 from physical
file folder 110 within a conventional file cabinet/storage system
is disclosed. The user retrieves the physical file folder 12 from
the conventional file cabinet/storage system and the user terminal
102 will read identifier 119 or identification code 113 affixed to
the file folder 110. Identifier or Identification code identifies
the location of the digital document 20 of file folder 110 on
remote server 104. A list of documents in the file folder is then
presented to the user. The user will then specify the IP address or
any other identifier of the location of the mobile device 118 to
the server. The local or remote server will then transmit the
requested digital file contents to the mobile device 118 using
known or future communication protocols including via
Bluetooth.TM., Wi-Fi, Universal Serial Bus (USB.TM.) cable,
infrared, or any other data transmission system now known or later
known to the designated viewer.
[0054] In a preferred embodiment, the mobile stand-alone device 118
also contains a computer processor and a communications port, such
as via Bluetooth.TM., Wi-Fi, Universal Serial Bus (USB.TM.) cable,
infrared, or any other data transmission system now known or later
known to the designated viewer. Then the user can use the mobile
stand-alone device 118 to recognize identifier 119 or
identification code 113 of the file folder in the conventional file
cabinet/storage system. In one embodiment, the portable reader
device 118 includes a reader for reading the identifier 119
associated with the physical file folder. The reader for reading
the identifier includes but is not limited to a barcode scanner, a
imaging device (such as a CCD encoding device), an electronic tag
reader or any other known or to be developed device for reading and
decoding an identifier or symbology located on the physical file
folder. Once electronic identification code of the physical file
folder 110 is read by a device 118 containing a communications
port, a processor and a display screen, so that one device can both
request, receive, display, process and store the digital documents
20 of the digital file folder on the display included in the
device. In this embodiment, the user may request, using standard
computer processing power, digital document 20 in the file to be
sorted by date, by subject, by title, by category, by author, or by
any other user defined search criteria. As discussed in great
detail above, the user can use the mobile stand-alone device to
store digital documents 20 as the user would from a user
terminal.
[0055] While this disclosure has been shown and described with
reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form
and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit
and scope of disclosure of the appended claims.
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