Patent Issued for Computer Systems For Updating A Record To Reflect Data Contained In Image Of Document Automatically Captured On A User’S Remote Mobile Phone Displaying An Alignment Guide And Using A Downloaded App (USPTO 10,848,665)

2020 DEC 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Prasad, Bharat (San Antonio, TX); Liang, Minya (San Antonio, TX); Medina, III, Reynaldo (San Antonio, TX), filed on October 19, 2018, was published online on December 7, 2020, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 10,848,665 is assigned to United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Checks typically provide a safe and convenient method for an individual such as a payor to transfer funds to a payee. To use a check, the individual usually opens a checking account, or other similar account, at a financial institution and deposits funds, which are then available for later withdrawal. To transfer funds with a check, the payor usually designates a payee and an amount payable on the check. In addition, the payor often signs the check. Once the check has been signed, it is usually deemed negotiable, meaning the check may be validly transferred to the payee upon delivery. By signing and transferring the check to the payee, the payor authorizes funds to be withdrawn from the payor’s account on behalf of the payee.

“While a check may provide a payor with a convenient and secure form of payment, receiving a check may put certain burdens on the payee, such as the time and effort required to deposit the check. For example, depositing a check typically involves going to a local bank branch and physically presenting the check to a bank teller. To reduce such burdens for the payee, systems and methods have been developed to enable the remote deposit of checks.

“For example, the payee may capture a digital image of a check using a mobile device. The financial institution may then receive from the payee the digital image of the check. The financial institution may then use the digital image to credit funds to the payee. However, such a technique requires the efficient and accurate detection and extraction of the information pertaining to a check in the digital image. Capturing a digital image at a mobile device that allows for detection and extraction of the information from the digital image is difficult.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “An alignment guide may be provided in the field of view of a camera associated with a mobile device used to capture an image of a check. When the image of the check is within the alignment guide in the field of view, an image may be taken by the camera and provided from the mobile device to a financial institution. The check may be deposited in a user’s bank account based on the image. Any technique for sending the image to the financial institution may be used.

“In an implementation, the alignment guide may be adjustable at the mobile device. The adjustment may be made by the user, the financial institution, the camera, and/or the mobile device. In an implementation, an image may be captured when the image of the check is detected to be within the alignment guide. The image capture may be performed automatically by the camera or the mobile device as soon as the image of the check is determined to be within the alignment guide.

“This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed:

“1. A system for depositing a check, comprising: a mobile phone having a camera, a touch screen display and a processor coupled to a memory storing a previously downloaded and installed app, the mobile phone lacking magnetic reading ability and configured to receive instructions from a remote server to execute at least part of the previously downloaded and installed app, the previously downloaded and installed app including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile phone to perform operations including: generating an alignment guide associated with a field of view of the camera, the alignment guide including a shape to align with a front of the check in the field of view; displaying, on the touch screen display, the alignment guide in the field of view of the camera; providing feedback to a user regarding positioning the check in the field of view; instructing the user to place the check on a dark background; adjusting the displayed alignment guide without user intervention so that an image of the check displayed in the field of view of the camera is positioned within the alignment guide, the adjusting comprising changing an aspect ratio and location of the displayed alignment guide in the field of view; after providing the feedback regarding positioning the check, after the check has been repositioned with respect to the alignment guide by the user, and after the adjusting the displayed alignment guide, automatically capturing an image of the front of the check when the check is determined sufficiently to be properly disposed; detecting information on the check; processing the captured image of the front of the check; after the automatically capturing and the processing, transmitting the processed image of the front of the check from the mobile phone to a server via a communication pathway between the mobile phone and the server; and cropping the captured image after the automatically taking and before the transmitting; the mobile phone further comprising a camera control interface separate from the previously downloaded and installed app, the camera control interface being configured to translate instructions from apps into instructions operable by the camera, the previously downloaded and installed app being programmed to access the camera through the separate camera control interface to at least partially control the camera to perform operations including capturing the automatically captured image of the front of the check; a server, remote from the mobile phone, configured to send to the mobile phone the instructions to execute at least part of the previously downloaded and installed app; and a computer, remote from the mobile phone, configured to update a record to reflect data contained in the transmitted image.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the check is determined sufficiently to be properly disposed when the check is displayed within the alignment guide.

“3. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer is further configured to receive the transmitted images.

“4. A system for depositing a check, comprising: a mobile phone having a camera, a display and a processor coupled to a memory storing an app, the app including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile phone to perform operations including: generating an alignment guide associated with a field of view of the camera, the alignment guide including a shape to align with the check in the field of view; displaying, on the display, the alignment guide in the field of view of the camera; instructing a user to place the check on a dark background; adjusting the displayed alignment guide so that an image of the check displayed in the field of view is positioned within the alignment guide, the adjusting comprising changing a location of the displayed alignment guide in the field of view; verifying information written on the check; after the adjusting the displayed alignment guide, automatically taking a photo of the check when the check is determined sufficiently to be properly disposed; instructing a user to take a picture of a back of the check; and after the automatically taking a photo and the verifying, transmitting an image of a front of the check and an image of the back of the check from the mobile phone to a server via a communication pathway between the mobile phone and the server; the mobile phone further comprising a camera control interface separate from the app, the app being programmed to access the camera through the separate camera control interface to at least partially control the camera to perform operations including taking photos; and a computer, remote from the mobile phone, configured to update a record to reflect data contained in the transmitted image.

“5. The system of claim 4 wherein the operations further include processing the photo before the transmitting.

“6. The system of claim 5 wherein the computer is further configured to receive copies of the transmitted images.

“7. The system of claim 6 wherein the operations further include automatically identifying corners of the check.

“8. The system of claim 6 wherein the operations further include verifying information handwritten on the check.

“9. The system of claim 5 wherein the operations further include cropping the photo after the automatically taking and before the transmitting.

“10. The system of claim 4 wherein the check is determined sufficiently to be properly disposed when the check is displayed within the alignment guide.

“11. The system of claim 4 wherein the app is previously downloaded and installed and the mobile phone is configured to receive instructions from a remote server to execute at least part of the previously downloaded and installed app, and the system further comprises a server, remote from the mobile phone, configured to send to the mobile phone the instructions to execute at least part of the previously downloaded and installed app.

“12. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: before the capturing, receiving a check amount entered by the user for the check.

“13. The system of claim 4, wherein the adjusting further comprises changing an aspect ratio of the displayed alignment guide.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Prasad, Bharat; Liang, Minya; Medina, III, Reynaldo. Computer Systems For Updating A Record To Reflect Data Contained In Image Of Document Automatically Captured On A User’S Remote Mobile Phone Displaying An Alignment Guide And Using A Downloaded App. U.S. Patent Number 10,848,665, filed October 19, 2018, and published online on December 7, 2020. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,848,665.PN.&OS=PN/10,848,665RS=PN/10,848,665

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