Patent Issued for Systems and methods of check detection (USPTO 11749007): United Services Automobile Association

2023 SEP 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Medina, III, Reynaldo (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on December 9, 2019, was published online on September 5, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11749007 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote 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 By signing and transferring the check to the payee, the payor authorizes funds to be withdrawn from the payor’s account on behalf of the payee.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 scan a check in a digital image using a scanner or other imaging device and a computing 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 of a check in the digital image. Detecting and extracting the check image from the background image in the digital image is difficult.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “A digital image of a check may be divided into segments. The segments may be processed to determine the edges between the background data and the check data in the segments of the digital image. The data outside the edges of the check image portions in the segments may be considered to be background data and may be identified and/or removed. The segments, with the background data identified or removed, may be recombined into an image of the check and provided into a digital image file that may be transmitted to an institution system for deposit of the check in an account.

“In an implementation, a histogram of each segment may be determined and used to determine the edges of the check image portions in the segments and thus the edges of the check.

“In an implementation, after the segments are recombined, corners of the image of the check may be detected and used to process a copy of the digital image. The processed copy may used for deposit of the check in an account.

“In an implementation, convolution filtering may be used on each segment to identify and/or remove background data of each segment.

“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:

“1. A method for feature detection in a digital image, the method comprising: dividing the digital image into a plurality of segments, wherein the digital image includes a depiction of a document and background portions, each of the plurality of segments including a depiction of a part of the document; obtaining a histogram for each of the plurality of segments; identifying and removing a background portion in a segment included in the plurality of segments; recombining the plurality of segments to form a digital image file; modifying the recombined digital image of the digital image file to perform at least one of a warp removal image modification, a cropping image modification, or a rotation image modification; and transmitting the digital image file to an institution server for processing of the document depicted in the digital image file.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: blurring the digital image according to a predetermined amount prior to dividing the digital image into the plurality of segments.

“3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting corners of the document depicted in the digital image file; wherein the recombined digital image is modified based in part on the detected corners of the document.

“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: applying a convolution filter to each of the plurality of segments, wherein the convolution filter comprises a convolution matrix formed from a vector.

“5. A computing device comprising: a machine-readable medium, other than a transitory signal; and instructions stored on the machine-readable medium, the instructions configured to, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: divide a digital image into a plurality of segments, wherein the digital image includes a depiction of a document and background portions, each of the plurality of segments including a depiction of a part of the document; obtain a histogram for each of the plurality of segments; determine a threshold for each of the plurality of segments, wherein the threshold corresponds to a level on the histogram between a first density area corresponding to the depiction of a part of the document and a second density area corresponding to a background portion; identify and remove a background portion in a segment included in the plurality of segments; recombine the plurality of segments to form a digital image file; modify the recombined digital image of the digital image file to perform at least one of a warp removal image modification, a cropping image modification, or a rotation image modification; and transmit the digital image file to an institution server for processing of the document depicted in the digital image file.

“6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: blur the digital image according to a predetermined amount prior to dividing the digital image into the plurality of segments.

“7. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: detect corners of the document depicted in the digital image file; wherein the recombined digital image is modified based in part on the detected corners of the document.

“8. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the image modification is at least one of a warp removal image modification, a cropping image modification, or a rotation image modification.

“9. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to: apply a convolution filter to each of the plurality of segments, wherein the convolution filter comprises a convolution matrix formed from a vector.

“10. A computing device comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: divide a digital image into a plurality of segments, wherein the digital image includes a depiction of a document and background portions, each of the plurality of segments including a depiction of a part of the document; obtain a histogram for each of the plurality of segments; determine a threshold for each of the plurality of segments, wherein the threshold corresponds to a level on the histogram between a first density area corresponding to the depiction of a part of the document and a second density area corresponding to a background portion; identify and remove a background portion in a segment included in the plurality of segments; recombine the plurality of segments to form a digital image file; modify the recombined digital image of the digital image file to perform at least one of a warp removal image modification, a cropping image modification, or a rotation image modification; and transmit the digital image file to an institution server for processing of the document depicted in the digital image file.

“11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: blur the digital image according to a predetermined amount prior to dividing the digital image into the plurality of segments.

“12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: apply a convolution filter to each of the plurality of segments, wherein the convolution filter comprises a convolution matrix formed from a vector.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Medina, III, Reynaldo. Systems and methods of check detection. U.S. Patent Number 11749007, filed December 9, 2019, and published online on September 5, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11749007)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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