Patent ID: 6181837
Filing Date: 2001-01-30
Classification: G06F,G06K,G06Q,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for storing and retrieving images of documents comprising:placing a plurality of documents in a document imaging machine and forming an electronic image of each document;storing each electronic image in an electronic storage device;providing at least one user interface device in communication on a communication link with said electronic storage device;placing a request for at least one document image on said user interface device;transmitting said request by said communication link to said electronic storage device;searching said electronic storage device for the requested electronic image of the document;retrieving said at least one electronic image or providing an indication that said image was not found;storing said electronic image, if found, in an electronic file, for transmission to said user interface device at user option;providing the electronic image to said user interface device at command of a user at the user interface device for storage at the user interface device;displaying the requested electronic image on a display of the user interface device;wherein the documents comprise checks each having a magnetic ink code line thereon, and further comprising electronically reading and decoding said magnetic ink code line to form decoded magnetic ink coded data and wherein said step of storing comprises merging said electronic image and said decoded magnetic ink coded data into a tagged image file format (TIFF) file, with the decoded magnetic ink coded data stored in a tag field in the TIFF file, each check being associated with a TIFF file, and storing the TIFF file in the electronic storage device;checking for errors in said decoded magnetic ink coded data;correcting the decoded magnetic ink coded data comprising:determining if the decoded data requires correction;assigning a specified character to characters requiring correction in the decoded data;displaying the uncorrected decoded data on a display device with the specified character replacing characters requiring correction;entering data to replace the specified characters;replacing the specified characters with the entered data;checking if the number of characters in the data entered is equal to the number of specified characters and if so replacing only the specified characters with the entered data;if the number of characters in the data entered is less than the number of specified characters, replacing all the decoded data with the entered data; andif the number of characters in the entered data is greater than the decoded data, generating a warning message to confirm that the entered data is longer than the decoded data prior to replacing the decoded data with the entered data.