Patents Assigned to Kodak Alaris Inc.
  • SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR METALLIC OBJECT DETECTION IN A MEDIA TRANSPORT SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20170158447
    Abstract: A system and method of detecting the presence of metallic objects in media to be conveyed in a medium transport system is disclosed. One or more metal detectors are included in the medium transport system to detect the presence of metal in the medium being transported. Signals from the metal detectors are sent to a system processor, which analyzes the signals, and produces proximity, duration, and/or intensity values therefrom. One or more microphones may also be included which detect the sound created as the medium is being transported. The processor computes sound values from the microphone signals, and analyzes the computed sound values along with the proximity, duration, and/or intensity values in order determine if the conveyance of the medium along the transport path should be stopped due to the presence of metal in the media or a jam occurring within the medium transport path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Publication date: June 8, 2017
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce Link, John Fagan, Thomas Middleton, Daniel Phinney
  • Identifying scene boundaries using group sparsity analysis
    Patent number: 9665775
    Abstract: A method for identifying a set of key video frames from a video sequence comprising extracting feature vectors for each video frame and applying a group sparsity algorithm to represent the feature vector for a particular video frame as a group sparse combination of the feature vectors for the other video frames. Weighting coefficients associated with the group sparse combination are analyzed to determine video frame clusters of temporally-contiguous, similar video frames. The video sequence is segmented into scenes by identifying scene boundaries based on the determined video frame clusters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Mrityunjay Kumar, Alexander C. Loui, Bruce Harold Pillman
  • CROSS CULTURAL GREETING CARD SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20170140563
    Abstract: A system and method for creating customized, personally relevant greeting cards, e-cards, mementos, invitations, decorations, and other types of printed and virtual media to convey affection, friendship, emotional connections, celebration, gratitude, condolence and other types of sentiments to relatives, friends, coworkers, business associates, and acquaintances regardless of the cultural backgrounds of the giver and the recipient.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2016
    Publication date: May 18, 2017
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Young No, Joseph A. Manico
  • DETECTION OF PROCESS ABNORMALITIES IN A MEDIA PROCESSING SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20170118356
    Abstract: Sheet media jams are detected along a media transport path by one or more vibration sensors that capture mechanical movements of components along the path that interact with the sheet media for driving or guiding the sheet media along the transport path. The detected vibrations during the advancing of the sheets are analyzed for distinguishing between detected vibrations associated with normal handling of the sheets and detected vibrations associated with abnormal handling of the sheets. An error condition can be signaled to a control system in response to distinguishing the detected vibrations associated with the abnormal handling of the sheets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Publication date: April 27, 2017
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas G. Middleton, Bruce A. Link, Daniel P. Phinney
  • DETECTION OF PROCESS ABNORMALITIES IN A MEDIA PROCESSING SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20170113891
    Abstract: Sheet media jams are detected along a media transport path by one or more vibration sensors that capture mechanical movements of components along the path that interact with the sheet media for driving or guiding the sheet media along the transport path. The detected vibrations during the advancing of the sheets are analyzed for distinguishing between detected vibrations associated with normal handling of the sheets and detected vibrations associated with abnormal handling of the sheets. An error condition can be signaled to a control system in response to distinguishing the detected vibrations associated with the abnormal handling of the sheets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Publication date: April 27, 2017
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas G. Middleton, Bruce A. Link, Daniel P. Phinney
  • System and method for measuring mobile document image quality
    Patent number: 9626582
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting the quality of a captured digital image depicting a hardcopy document are disclosed. The captured digital image is analyzed to determine a corresponding blurriness, noise, hotspot, and uneven illumination metric representing a quality level of the image data. The blurriness, noise, hotspot, and uneven illumination metrics are then combined to formulate a pass/caution/fail indicator for the user to respond to the captured digital image quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventor: Louis Beato
  • System and method for metallic object detection in a media transport system
    Patent number: 9617097
    Abstract: A system and method of detecting the presence of metallic objects in media to be conveyed in a medium transport system is disclosed. One or more metal detectors are included in the medium transport system to detect the presence of metal in the medium being transported. Signals from the metal detectors are sent to a system processor, which analyzes the signals, and produces proximity, duration, and/or intensity values therefrom. One or more microphones may also be included which detect the sound created as the medium is being transported. The processor computes sound values from the microphone signals, and analyzes the computed sound values along with the proximity, duration, and/or intensity values in order determine if the conveyance of the medium along the transport path should be stopped due to the presence of metal in the media or a jam occurring within the medium transport path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Bruce Link, John Fagan, Thomas Middleton, Daniel Phinney
  • Detection of process abnormalities in a media processing system
    Patent number: 9598252
    Abstract: Sheet media jams are detected along a media transport path by one or more vibration sensors that capture mechanical movements of components along the path that interact with the sheet media for driving or guiding the sheet media along the transport path. The detected vibrations during the advancing of the sheets are analyzed for distinguishing between detected vibrations associated with normal handling of the sheets and detected vibrations associated with abnormal handling of the sheets. An error condition can be signaled to a control system in response to distinguishing the detected vibrations associated with the abnormal handling of the sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Thomas G. Middleton, Bruce A. Link, Daniel P. Phinney
  • SIMPLIFIED CONFIGURATION OF NETWORK DEVICES USING SCANNED BARCODES
    Publication number: 20170078145
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to systems and methods for configuring network devices that include native scanning or image-reading elements. Network configuration information is provided in a scannable image. A network device reads the scannable image and extracts configuration data from the image. The device then uses the extracted configuration data to configure the device to operate on a desired network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Publication date: March 16, 2017
    Applicant: KODAK ALARIS, INC.
    Inventors: Carl Tesavis, Lawrence Bernstein
  • IMAGING WORKFLOW USING FACIAL AND NON-FACIAL FEATURES
    Publication number: 20170046561
    Abstract: A method for determining an impact score for a digital image includes providing the digital image wherein the digital image includes faces; using a processor to determine an image feature for the faces; using the processor to compute an object impact score for the faces, wherein the object impact score is based at least upon one of the determined image features; weighting the object impact score for the faces based on one of the determined image features for a face; using the processor to compute an impact score for the digital image by combining the weighted object impact scores for the faces in the image; and storing the computed impact score in a processor accessible memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2016
    Publication date: February 16, 2017
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Raymond William Ptucha, Alexander C. Loui, Mark D. Wood, David K. Rhoda, David Kloosterman, Joseph Anthony Manico
  • Detection of process abnormalities in a media processing system
    Patent number: 9561926
    Abstract: Sheet media jams are detected along a media transport path by one or more vibration sensors that capture mechanical movements of components along the path that interact with the sheet media for driving or guiding the sheet media along the transport path. The detected vibrations during the advancing of the sheets are analyzed for distinguishing between detected vibrations associated with normal handling of the sheets and detected vibrations associated with abnormal handling of the sheets. An error condition can be signaled to a control system in response to distinguishing the detected vibrations associated with the abnormal handling of the sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2017
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Thomas G. Middleton, Bruce A. Link, Daniel P. Phinney
  • Imaging workflow using facial and non-facial features
    Patent number: 9552374
    Abstract: A method for determining an impact score for a digital image includes providing the digital image wherein the digital image includes faces; using a processor to determine an image feature for the faces; using the processor to compute an object impact score for the faces, wherein the object impact score is based at least upon one of the determined image features; weighting the object impact score for the faces based on one of the determined image features for a face; using the processor to compute an impact score for the digital image by combining the weighted object impact scores for the faces in the image; and storing the computed impact score in a processor accessible memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS, INC.
    Inventors: Raymond William Ptucha, Alexander C. Loui, Mark D. Wood, David K. Rhoda, David Kloosterman, Joseph Anthony Manico
  • CAMERA SUBASSEMBLY DUST AND DEFECT DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD
    Publication number: 20160381354
    Abstract: A high resolution image of a CCD camera subassembly is examined to determine whether dust is present inside the subassembly. By examining the size, number, and location of the dust particles it can be determined whether the dust is likely to cause issues when the camera subassembly is integrated into a fully assembled document scanner. Other contaminants and defects, such as scratches on the glass covering, can also be detected. This method can be used as the acceptance criteria of individual camera subassemblies from the manufacturer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2015
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: John Jamieson, Robert Johnson
  • GRAPH-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR VIDEO OBJECT SEGMENTATION AND EXTRACTION IN FEATURE SPACE
    Publication number: 20160379055
    Abstract: A method for graph-based spatiotemporal video segmentation and automatic target object extraction in high-dimensional feature space includes using a processor to automatically analyze an entire volumetric video sequence; using the processor to construct a high-dimensional feature space that includes color, motion, time, and location information so that pixels in the entire volumetric video sequence are reorganized according to their unique and distinguishable feature vectors; using the processor to create a graph model that fuses the appearance, spatial, and temporal information of all pixels of the video sequence in the high-dimensional feature space; and using the processor to group pixels in the graph model that are inherently similar and assign the same labels to them to form semantic spatiotemporal key segments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander C. Loui, Lei Fan
  • Method for determining stereo quality score and automatically improving the quality of stereo images
    Patent number: 9530192
    Abstract: A method for improving a stereo image including a left view image and a right view image, comprising: using a data processor to automatically analyze the stereo image to determine an original stereo quality score responsive to relative positions of corresponding points in the left view image and the right view image; specifying a set of one or more candidate modifications to the stereo image; determining revised stereo quality scores based on each of the candidate modifications to the stereo image; selecting a particular candidate modification that produces a revised stereo quality score which indicates a higher quality level than the original stereo quality score; forming an output stereo image corresponding to the selected particular candidate modification; and storing the output stereo image in a processor-accessible memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Minwoo Park, Jiebo Luo, Andrew Charles Gallagher
  • Identifying particular images from a collection
    Patent number: 9524349
    Abstract: A method of identifying one or more particular images from an image collection, includes indexing the image collection to provide image descriptors for each image in the image collection such that each image is described by one or more of the image descriptors; receiving a query from a user specifying at least one keyword for an image search; and using the keyword(s) to search a second collection of tagged images to identify co-occurrence keywords. The method further includes using the identified co-occurrence keywords to provide an expanded list of keywords; using the expanded list of keywords to search the image descriptors to identify a set of candidate images satisfying the keywords; grouping the set of candidate images according to at least one of the image descriptors, and selecting one or more representative images from each grouping; and displaying the representative images to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Mark D. Wood, Alexander C. Loui
  • Imaging product selection system
    Patent number: 9524086
    Abstract: A display system for a collage of digital multimedia elements. A display is used to display the collage and a pointing device selects one of the collage elements for activating a multimedia presentation of the selected element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Kathleen A. Mahoney, Ronald S. Cok
  • Imaging product selection method
    Patent number: 9524087
    Abstract: A method for displaying a collage of digital images on a display, receiving a selection for one of the digital images to be presented on a separate area of the display together with any associated multimedia, wherein one of the digital images has a portion overlapped by another digital image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: KODAK ALARIS INC.
    Inventors: Kathleen A. Mahoney, Ronald S. Cok
  • IDENTIFYING SCENE BOUNDARIES USING GROUP SPARSITY ANALYSIS
    Publication number: 20160328615
    Abstract: A method for identifying a set of key video frames from a video sequence comprising extracting feature vectors for each video frame and applying a group sparsity algorithm to represent the feature vector for a particular video frame as a group sparse combination of the feature vectors for the other video frames. Weighting coefficients associated with the group sparse combination are analyzed to determine video frame clusters of temporally-contiguous, similar video frames. The video sequence is segmented into scenes by identifying scene boundaries based on the determined video frame clusters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2016
    Publication date: November 10, 2016
    Applicant: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Mrityunjay Kumar, Alexander C. Loui, Bruce Harold Pillman
  • Automatically generated visual annotated graphic legend
    Patent number: 9491318
    Abstract: A method for automatically generating a hardcopy photo product with a visual annotated graphic legend provides additional information related to the printed image without obscuring the printed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Swire, Joseph A. Manico, Peter O. Stubler