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US 7,751,727 B2Granted
Expense recovery system for multi-function device with smart data entry
AssigneenQUEUE, Inc.
InventorRay Zwiefelhofer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An expense recovery system for a digital MFD in the form of a modification to the application program interface of the MFD to allow input of identifiers for the user, the client and the job and to transmit this information and other transaction data to a host computer for billing purposes. Data entry is made faster and more accurate by minimizing keystrokes. The information is transmitted over a network and, optionally, the host computer may be located remote from the MFD.
Claims9
A cost recovery system, comprising:
- a multi-function device including an internal meter;
- a host computer connected to the multi-function device;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to scan a paper document and create an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to print a paper document from an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to track transaction information using the internal meter;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured the multi-function device to communicate a transaction record including information concerning the transaction directly to the host computer;
- and
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to provide a user identifier and a client identifier to the host computer for validation;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to photocopy paper documents by scanning the document to create an electronic file and then printing a paper document from the electronic file.
6 more elements
A cost recovery system, comprising:
- a multi-function device including an internal meter;
- a host computer connected to the multi-function device;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to scan a paper document and create an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to print a paper document from an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to track transaction information using the internal meter;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured the multi-function device to communicate a transaction record including information concerning the transaction directly to the host computer;
- and
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to provide a user identifier and a client identifier to the host computer for validation;
- wherein the multi-function device is also configured to electronically transmit electronic files created by the multi-function device via electronic mail.
6 more elements
A cost recovery system, comprising:
- a multi-function device including an internal meter;
- a host computer connected to the multi-function device;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to scan a paper document and create an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to print a paper document from an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to track transaction information using the internal meter;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured the multi-function device to communicate a transaction record including information concerning the transaction directly to the host computer;
- and
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to provide a user identifier and a client identifier to the host computer for validation;
- wherein the multi-function device is also configured to electronically transmit electronic files created by the multi-function device via facsimile.
6 more elements
A cost recovery system, comprising:
- a multi-function device including an internal meter;
- a host computer connected to the multi-function device;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to scan a paper document and create an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to print a paper document from an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to track transaction information using the internal meter;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured the multi-function device to communicate a transaction record including information concerning the transaction directly to the host computer;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to provide a user identifier and a client identifier to the host computer for validation;
- wherein the multi-function device and the host computer are connected via a network;
- and
- further comprising a billing system connected to the network.
7 more elements
A cost recovery system, comprising:
- a multi-function device including an internal meter;
- a host computer connected to the multi-function device;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to scan a paper document and create an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to print a paper document from an electronic file;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to track transaction information using the internal meter;
- wherein the multi-function device is configured the multi-function device to communicate a transaction record including information concerning the transaction directly to the host computer;
- and
- wherein the multi-function device is configured to provide a user identifier and a client identifier to the host computer for validation;
- wherein:
- the transaction record includes an identifier associated with the multi-function device, a count, and a transaction termination status;
- and
- the transaction record includes information identifying the type of transaction that is taking place.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.