Highlighting for photocopiers and facsimile machines

Abstract: Text (indicia, words, symbols, etc.) of documents (10) is highlighted in such a way that it will reproduce when electronically copied (e.g. photocopied or telecopied). This is accomplished by applying a tone (17) to only that area of the document to be highlighted and so that the tone remains in place during copying. The tone is sufficiently dark so as to highlight the text, but light enough so that the text is readable. The tone may be a dot or line screened tone having about 30-65 lines per inch with a density of about 10-22%. The tone may be applied on adhesive tape (15) and just placed over the document portions to be highlighted. The tape may be dispensed from a dispenser (24). Alternatively the tone may be on a transfer sheet (52, 152), and is transferred to the document merely by the act of rubbing on the transfer sheet. The tone may also be applied to the document utilizing a print wheel (63, 163) in a casing (62, 162), that is moved over the document. After the document is electronically copied (e.g. by a photocopier or a facsimile machine, for example) the document is highlighted yet the text is clearly legible.

Description: BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A standard felt-tipped fluorescent highlighter is commonly used to accentuate text or other printed images in letters, reports, books, etc. In its brightly colored, semi-translucent state it is effective in drawing one's attention to a particular area of a page. However, this translucency also limits a highlighters' usefulness as it cannot be 'seen' by the optics of a photocopier and thereby cannot be consistently reproduced. In addition, facsimile technology cannot distinguish standard highlighter markings and thus cannot transmit the highlighted background. According to the present invention. a method, product, and apparatus are provided for effecting highlighting of text, symbols, or the like in documents so that the highlighting reproduces when the document is reproduced electronically (e.g. by photocopying or by facsimile transmission), while not adversely the text after it has been reproduced. This is effectively provided for according to the present invention -- in general -- by providing a background tone to the text to be highlighted. A background "tone" is typically produced by screening utilizing either a dot screen or a line screen. It is most desirable according to the invention to utilize a tone produced from a dot screen where the dots are small enough and close enough in proximity to one another to appear as a continuous gray tone. The tone is of sufficient density to effectively highlight the text, but does not impair the legibility of the underlined text/symbols. It is most desirable to provide a tone of about 10-22% density (e.g. approximately 20% density), with about 12-26 (30-65) lines per cm (inch). Such a tone will adequately highlight the text on documents, while being reproduceable utilizing a photocopier or a facsimile transmission, without the highlighted information being obscured. According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of marking documents so as to highlight indicia areas thereof in such a way that the highlighting is reproduced when the document is electronically copied, characterized by the steps of: (a) applying a screen tone formed by a dot or line screen to only that indicia area of the document to be highlighted so that the tone remains in place during copying, the tone having sufficient characteristics so that it clearly highlights the portions of the document to which it is applied while the indicia underlying it remain clearly legible; and (b) electronically copying the document so that the areas to which the screen tone was applied are highlighted on the copy, yet the indicia underlying the screen tone are clearly legible. One way of practicing step (a) is to provide the tone on a piece of adhesive tape, and applying the tape to the area to be highlighted. The tape may be a roll in a dispenser and the applying step is practiced by dispensing the tape from the dispenser onto the document. The tape may be perforated at predetermined spaced points along its length in the roll, and after the necessary length is determined the tape may be separated at the closest perforation to the desired length. Alternatively, the applying step may be practiced by applying ink directly to the document to be highlighted, such as by utilizing an ink applicator roller which has the tone pattern thereon and is mounted in a housing for rotation about a horizontal axis. The ink applicator roller has another roller that it is in contact with, which in turn is in contact with a supply of ink so that ink is supplied to the applicator roller. In yet another alternative, the tone may be provided on a transfer sheet and the transfer sheet may be applied over the document to be highlighted. By rubbing on the transfer sheet at the area of the transfer. it is applied to the document. The transfer sheet preferably has a plurality of quadrate spaced rows and columns of tone at least some of which have a height dimension about the height of a line of type in the document. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a tape for highlighting a document. The tape comprises an elongated substrate of transparent material with adhesive on one face thereof and a tone applied thereto. The width of the tape is preferably one-sixth of an inch, or an even (i.e. integer) multiple of about one-sixth of an inch so that it will cover one or more lines of type (standard type being about one-sixth inch in height). It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a method, and devices, for effecting highlighting of documents so that the highlighted portions will reproduce when the document is electronically copied, but will not obscure the portions they highlight. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 illustrates a portion of a document, which includes highlighting according to the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a roll of adhesive tape which includes a highlighting tone thereon, such as may be utilized to highlight a document as shown in FIGURE 1; FIGURE 3 is a side longitudinal cross-sectional view, partly in elevation, showing an exemplary tape dispenser for dispensing tape of FIGURE 2; FIGURE 4 is a detail view showing the tape driving and guiding components of the dispenser illustrated in FIGURE 3; FIGURE 5 is a side view, with portions cut away for clarity of illustration, of another exemplary tape dispenser according to the invention; FIGURES 6 and 7 are plan views of portions of exemplary transfer sheets with tones thereon, for applying highlighting as according to the invention; FIGURE 8 is a top perspective view of an exemplary tone highlighting device according to the invention for applying ink directly onto document portions to be highlighted; FIGURE 9 is a view like that of FIGURE 8 only with a portion of the casing cut away to illustrate the internal components for applying the highlighted tone; FIGURE 10 is a perspective exploded view of another exemplary form of tone applying roller assembly according to the invention; and FIGURE 11 is a top perspective view of the bottom half of the body portion of the assembly of FIGURE 10. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 illustrates a highlighted document 10, such as is produced according to the method of the present invention. The document comprises a substrate 11, preferably of paper, with words, symbols, or other indicia 12, 13. The indicia 12 is not highlighted, but the indicia 13 is highlighted according to the present invention. This is accomplished by applying a tone 15 over the indicia 13. The tone may be formed utilizing a dot screen, line screen, or the like. For example it may be formed utilizing the dots 17 which are black and spaced from each other so that they clearly highlight the indicia 13, but are far enough apart so that the underlying indicia 13 is readable. The tone is preferably formed from screens with about 30-65 lines per inch and with a density of about 10-22% (e.g. about 20%). While it is preferred that the tone be screened on, it may be printed in other conventional manners too. One way that the tone may be applied is by adhesive tape 15. The adhesive tape 15 comprises an elongated transparent substrate 19 (e.g. plastic) with the tone dots 17 or the like screened thereon. At predetermined places along the length of the substrate 19 are perforations 21, extending transversely to the dimension of elongation of the substrate 19 (and to the tape edge). An adhesive 22 is applied to one face of the tape 15, and preferably the tape is in the form of a roll 23. The adhesive may be of any conventional type, and may be a permanent adhesive such as is present on conventional pressure sensitive transparent tape, or it may be a readily releasable adhesive so that the tape 15 may be removed after it is applied (e.g. of the type utilized in the 3M "Post It Note"® products). If a roll of tape 23 is utilized, preferably it is applied to the areas to be highlighted by tape dispenser 24. If the tape dispenser 24 is utilized perforations 21 are not necessary to effect separation of portions of tape. The tape dispenser 24 preferably comprises a housing 25 which includes means for mounting the tape roll 23 therein, which means may either be a portion of the housing 25 shaped to mount the roll, or a post for receiving the tape roll 23. The housing 25 is elongated in a dimension of elongation illustrated by arrows A in FIGURE 3, and the roll 23 is mounted for rotation about an axis generally perpendicular to the dimension A. The housing 25 may have a trigger 26 mounted therein, for pivotal movement about a pivot pin 27 mounted to the portion 28 of the housing 25 opposite that portion of the roll 23 from which the tape 15 is dispensed. Opposite from the roll 23 in the dimension of elongation A is means defining a tape dispensing opening 29 through which the tape 15 is dispensed. Connected to the trigger 26 there preferably is a rack 30 which has teeth 31 which engages a pinion 32 connected to a roller 33, the roller 33 comprising a driving roller rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis B. The roller 33 preferably cooperates with a stationary axis driven roller 35 mounted above the tape 15. Means are provided for defining a guide for the movement of the tape 15 from the roll 23 to the tape dispensing opening 29, for example the channel forming members 36. 37. Preferably the inner surfaces of the members 36, 37, and the outer surface of roller 33, are of low friction material (e.g. polytetrafluoroethylene) so that the tape 15 will not stick thereto. The roller 35 is of a frictional rubber material, or the like. The dispenser 24 also preferably comprises means for severing the tape (if perforated tape is not used). Such means preferably comprises the trigger 39 rotatable about pivot pin 40, with a movable blade 41 mounted thereto and cooperating with a stationary blade 42. The relative movement between the blades 41, 42 caused by depressing the trigger 39 severs the tape 15. Guidance of the tape out of the tape dispensing opening 29 is preferably provided by idler roller 44. Preferably the tape roll 23 may be inserted into the dispenser 24, and a used roll removed therefrom, merely by removing an entire side of the housing 25. When the side is removed the housing 25 and internal components appear as illustrated in FIGURE 3. The tape dispenser may take a variety of other forms too. Another exemplary form of tape dispenser is illustrated generally by reference numeral 124 in FIGURE 5. The dispenser of FIGURE 5 is like that of FIGURES 3 and 4 except for the mechanism for effecting rotation of the drive wheel. Components of the FIGURE 5 embodiment that are identical or similar in function to those of the FIGURES 3 and 4 embodiment are illustrated by the same reference numeral only preceded by a "1". In FIGURE 5, the rack 130 with gear teeth 131 thereon is moved by arcuately moving the actuator 126. The teeth 131 engage pinion 132 on driving roller 133, which cooperates with upper pinch roller 135 to effect driving of the tape 15 within the dispenser. The cutting mechanism is actuated by trigger 139. Another manner in which the tone may be applied is illustrated by the transfer sheet 50 in FIGURE 6. The transfer sheet 50 comprises a substrate 52 of conventional transfer sheet material, which will receive ink thereon but then release the ink when it is rubbed. A number of spaced tone areas 53 are disposed on the substrate 52, e.g. screened thereon as by using a dot screen having between about (2-26) lines per cm (30-65 lpi) and a density of between about 10-22%. As seen in FIGURE 6 the tone areas 53 are quadrate (e.g. rectangular), and preferably they have a height 54 corresponding to the average height of a line of type (e.g. about one-sixth inch). Simply by rubbing on the surface of the substrate 52 opposite that to which the ink has been screened, the tone pattern 53 will transfer onto an underlying document, covering one line of type at a time. FIGURE 7 illustrates a transfer sheet much like that in FIGURE 6 except for the arrangement of the tone patterns. Like components in the FIGURE 7 embodiment to those in the FIGURE 6 embodiment are illustrated by the same reference numeral only preceded by a "1". The transfer sheet 150 includes a substrate 152 with the quadrate tone areas 153 thereon. In this case the quadrate tone areas 153 are square in shape, and have a height 154 about the height of two lines of type (e.g. 0,84 cm (1/3 inch)). Yet another way that the tone can be applied to highlight indicia on a document, according to the invention, is illustrated by the ink applicator 60 in FIGURES 8 and 9. The applicator 60 comprises an outer housing 61 and an inner housing 62, which are relatively movable with respect to each other. A rolling drum print wheel 63 is mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis by a shaft 64, which is guided by and reciprocal within elongated slot 65 formed in inner housing 62. The shaft 64 is affixed to the interior of the outer housing 61. The print wheel 63 has a plurality of projections 68 extending radially outwardly therefrom which. when they are contacted with ink, will transfer the ink onto a substrate that they contact during rolling action of the roller 63. A bottom portion of the inner housing 62 extends outwardly from the outer housing 61 at the bottom, and has an arrow indicia 73 formed thereon to indicate the ink application area of the roller 63, with the cut out end surfaces 74 on the inner housing 62 defining the band that will be highlighted by the roller 63. Preferably the width of the roller 63 is an integer multiple of the height of a line of type (e.g. a multiple of one-sixth inch). Ink may be applied to the print wheel 63 utilizing the drum wheel 70 rotatable about axis 71, and supplied by ink from a felt pad (not shown) mounted within housing 72. Ink from the felt pad transfers to the drum wheel 70 and then onto the "dot" projection 68 to ultimately be applied to the document substrate. Another embodiment of a roller assembly for applying a tone to highlight indicia on a document is illustrated in FIGURES 10 and 11. In the FIGURES 10 and 11 embodiment, structures comparable in function to those in the FIGURES 8 and 9 embodiment are indicated by the same reference numeral only preceded by a "1". In this embodiment, the roller assembly 160 has a main elongated hollow casing having a body portion 161 and a removable cap 162 at one end of the body portion 161. The body portion is designed to look like a conventional highlighter which applies a liquid highlighting medium from a felt tip. At one end of the body 161 a shoulder 81 is provided which cooperates with the removable cap 162, having pocket clip 80, to hold it in place in the closed position. A projecting portion 82 is provided extending outwardly from the shoulder 81 having an angled portion 83 terminating the projecting portion 82, with means defining an opening 84 in the angled portion 83. A print wheel 163, mounted for rotation about a pivot pin defining an axis 164, has tone applying projections 168 extending radially outwardly from the peripheral surface of print wheel 163. The mounting pin defining axis 164 mounts the print wheel 163 so that a portion of the peripheral portion thereof (with projections 168) extends outwardly from the angled portion 83 of the casing 161, through the opening 84 thereof. A drum wheel 170 is mounted for rotation about an axis 171 defined by a pivot pin, parallel to the axis of rotation 164 of the print wheel 163. As illustrated in FIGURE 11, the drum 170 is mounted within the hollow interior 85 of the casing 161, right at the junction of the projecting portion 82, so that the drum wheel 170 may provide somewhat of a seal at that juncture to prevent ink from leaking therepast. Ink may be provided in the hollow casing 85 either in liquid or semi-solid form, or impregnated in a felt material (not shown), so that as the print wheel 163 is moved along a document 10, ink is transferred from the drumwheel 170 to the projections 168, and a tone pattern is applied to the document, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. Operation For the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 2, the length of the area to be highlighted is determined, and then the tape 15 is separated at the appropriate perforation 21 closest to that length. The tape is then applied directly over the indicia 13 (as seen in FIGURE 1) to highlight the indicia 13, while the indicia 13 is still readable. The document 10 is then electronically copied, as by a photocopier or transmission by facsimile machine, the highlighting 15, 17 also appearing on the electronically copied document while allowing the words and/or symbols comprising the indicia 13 to be clearly legible on such a copy. If adhesive 22 on the tape 15 is a releasable adhesive, then the tape 15 is removed from the original after copying. Utilizing the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the trigger 26 is depressed which causes the gear teeth to rotate the gear 32, in turn driving the tape 15 from the roll 23 to the opening 29 by interaction between rollers 33, 35, the tape moving along the smooth surfaces of the guide channel 36, 37. During dispersing of the tape. the roller 44 is used to impress the tape 15 onto the document. Once the desired length of tape has been dispensed from the opening 29, the trigger 39 is actuated causing the blades 41, 42 to move toward each other, severing the tape 15. For the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 5, the operation is the same except that the actuator 126 is moved to advance the tape, the trigger 139 causing operation of the severing blades. With the embodiments illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, one merely places the transfer sheet 52, 152 over the desired area to be highlighted, ink side down, and the areas 53, 153 are rubbed with a rubbing instrument to transfer the tone pattern of ink from the substrate 52, 152 to the document. For the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9, during use the base 69 is placed over the line or lines to be highlighted. Then the upper housing 61 is moved downwardly which moves the print wheel 63 into contact with the document. The entire structure 60 is then moved horizontally parallel to the line or lines of text to be highlighted, causing the projections 68 to engage the document in a rolling action and to transfer ink to the document. Ink is supplied to the projections 68 by the roller 70, which in turn is provided ink by a felt pad in the structure 72. The area to which the ink will be applied is gauged by viewing the indicia 73 and the cut out portions 74. It will thus be seen that according to the present invention an effective method and apparatus have been provided for highlighting of documents in such a way that the highlighting will reproduce when the document is electronically copied (e.g. by a photocopier or facsimile).

Claims: A method of marking documents (10) so as to highlight (15) indicia areas (13) thereof in such a way that the highlighting is reproduced when the document is electronically copied, characterized by the steps of: (a) applying a screen tone (17) formed by a dot or line screen to only that indicia area (13) of the document (11) to be highlighted so that the tone remains in place during copying, the tone having sufficient characteristics so that it clearly highlights the portions of the document to which it is applied while the indicia underlying it remain clearly legible; and (b) electronically copying the document so that the areas to which the screen tone was applied are highlighted on the copy, yet the indicia underlying the screen tone are clearly legible. A method as recited in claim 1 further characterized in that step (b) is practiced by photocopying or by facsimile transmission. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the tone exists on a piece of adhesive tape (15), and further characterized in that step (a) is practiced by applying the tape to the areas to be highlighted. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein the tape is on a roll (23) in a tape dispenser (24, 124), and is perforated at predetermined spaced points along its length, and further characterized in that step (a) is practiced by: determining the necessary length of tape; separating the tape at the closest perforation to the desired length; and dispensing the tape from the dispenser onto the document (10). A method as recited in claim 1 further characterized in that step (a) is practiced by applying ink directly to the areas of the document to be highlighted. A method as recited in claim 5 wherein an ink applicator roller (63, 163) has a tone pattern (68, 168) thereon and is mounted in a housing (62, 162) for rotation about a horizontal axis (64, 164), and may be contacted by an ink applicator (70, 170), and further characterized in that step (a) is practiced by rolling the tone pattern roller over the document areas to be highlighted to apply the ink. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the tone is provided on a transfer sheet (52, 152) and further characterized in that step (a) is practiced by placing the transfer sheet over the document area to be highlighted, and rubbing on the transfer sheet at said area to transfer the tone (53, 153) to said area. A method as recited in any of the preceding claims further characterized in that step (a) is practiced by applying a tone having about 12-26 lines per cm (30-65 lines per inch) and a density of about 10-22%.

Inventors: VOORHEES SCOTT W, VOORHEES, SCOTT W.
Applicants: VOORHEES SCOTT W, VOORHEES, SCOTT W.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G03G15
IPC codes: G03G15, H04N1