Method and apparatus for capturing information from a document

An input device for an information handling system, the input device comprising:

• a housing having a shape that defines a viewing area, so that a user may selectively place the housing on a document with the viewing area revealing a first revealed portion of the document;
• a shutter attached to the housing, for selecting a subportion of the first revealed portion of the document by shutting off a portion of the viewing area, thereby hiding a portion of the first revealed portion of the document and revealing only the selected subportion, wherein the shutter has a first and second flap, the flaps being adjustable for shutting off the portion of the viewing area in respective first and second directions;
• a magnifying lens for displaying an enlarged view of the portion of the document revealed in the viewing area, so that a user of the input device may more precisely select the subportion of the document;
• an scanner attached to the housing;
• and
• a motor attached to the scanner for transporting the scanner across the viewing area responsive to a demand for the scanner to capture an image of the revealed subportion of the document, wherein the scanner is capable of being coupled to an information handling system for transmitting the captured image to the information handling system.

A method for capturing information comprising the step of:

• a) placing a housing having a shape that defines a viewing area on a document with the viewing area revealing a first revealed portion of the document;
• b) selecting a subportion of the first revealed portion by shutting off a portion of the viewing area, thereby hiding a portion of the first revealed portion of the document and revealing only the selected subportion;
• d) capturing an image of the revealed subportion of the document by a scanner attached to the housing, wherein the step b) comprises the step of:
• b1) adjusting a first and second flap of a shutter to shut off the portion of the viewing area in respective first and second directions.

A method for capturing information comprising the step of:

• a) placing a housing having a shape that defines a viewing area on a document with the viewing area revealing a first revealed portion of the document;
• b) displaying an enlarged view of the portion of the document revealed in the viewing area by a magnifying lens, so that a user of the input device may more precisely select a subportion of the document;
• c) selecting the subportion of the first revealed portion by shutting off a portion of the viewing area, which includes adjusting a first and second flap of a shutter to shut off the portion of the viewing area in respective first and second directions, thereby hiding a portion of the first revealed portion of the document and revealing only the selected subportion;
• and
• d) capturing an image of the revealed subportion of the document by a scanner attached to the housing, which, includes transporting the scanner across the viewing area, by a motor attached to the scanner, responsive to a demand for the scanner to capture the image of the revealed subportion of the document.

An apparatus for accessing information in a network, comprising:

• an information handling system coupled to a network for accessing information at a network address selected by a user;
• an input device coupled to the information handling system, for capturing a network address from a document, wherein the input device comprises:
• a housing having a shape that defines a viewing area, so that a user may selectively place the housing on a document with the viewing area revealing a first revealed portion of the document, wherein a subportion of the first revealed portion of the document has printed characters therein, at least some of the printed characters defining a certain network address;
• a shutter attached to the housing, for selecting the subportion of the first revealed portion of the document by shutting off a portion of the viewing area, thereby hiding a portion of the first revealed portion of the document and revealing only the selected subportion;
• wherein the shutter has a first and second flap, the flaps being adjustable for shutting off the portion of the viewing area in respective first and second directions;
• and
• an scanner attached to the housing, for capturing an image of the revealed subportion of the document and transmitting the image to the information handling systems;
• wherein the information handling system extracts the characters from the image and accesses the information at the certain network address.

A method for accessing information in a network, comprising the steps of:

• a) placing a housing having a shape that defines a viewing area on a document with the viewing area revealing a first revealed portion of the document, wherein a subportion of the first revealed portion of the document has printed characters therein, at least some of the printed characters defining a certain network address;
• b) selecting the subportion of the first revealed portion by shutting off a portion of the viewing area, which includes adjusting a first and second flap of a shutter to shut off the portion of the viewing area in respective first and second directions, thereby hiding a portion of the first revealed portion of the document and revealing only the selected subportion;
• d) capturing an image of the revealed subportion of the document by a scanner attached to the housing;
• e) transmitting the image to an information handling system coupled to a network;
• f) extracting the characters from the image by the information handling system;
• and
• g) accessing the information at the certain network address by the information handling system.