Secondary scan to ensure transient document erasure
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorBryan J. Roof
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods of ensuring the erasure of transient documents are disclosed. The systems and methods include an imaging device that sends a transient document with a pre-printed image into an erase cycle to attempt to remove the image from the document. After the erase cycle, a scanner scans the transient document and converts the transient document into a digital image. A processor compares bit depths of individual bits of the digital image to a bit depth threshold. Depending on the comparison and a number of completed erase cycles, the transient document enters an additional erase cycle, completes as sufficiently erased, or is rejected as not sufficiently erased.
Claims18
A method of ensuring an erasure of a transient document, comprising:
- forming a grayscale digital image of the transient document;
- determining individual bit depths of the grayscale digital image;
- comparing the individual bit depths of the grayscale digital image to a bit depth threshold;
- determining a status of the erasure of the transient document based on the comparison;
- comparing a number of completed erase cycles to a number of allowable erase cycles if the individual bit depths is below the bit depth threshold;
- and
- issuing a warning for the transient document if the number of completed erase cycles is equal to or greater than the number of allowable erase cycles.
An imaging device for ensuring an erasure of a transient document, comprising:
- a scanner configured to form a grayscale digital image of the transient document;
- and
- a processor configured to determine individual bit depths of the grayscale digital image, compare the individual bit depths of the grayscale digital image to a bit depth threshold, determine a status of the erasure of the transient document based on the comparison, compare a number of completed erase cycles to a number of allowable erase cycles if the individual bit depths is below the bit depth threshold, and issue a warning for the transient document if the number of completed erase cycles is equal or greater than the number of allowable erase cycles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.