Point-of-sale printer interpreting a markup language from a client device to control a scanner using scanner-control commands

• US 10,043,169 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2016
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Takasu, Kazuhiro, Tsutsumi, Koichiro, Ikeda, Shigeo
• Primary Examiner(s): Rust, Eric A
• Application Number:
  US15/269,172
• Publication Number:
  US 20170004480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 687 Days
• Field of Search: 358 115, 705 16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1205 resulting in increased flexibility in print job configuration, e.g. job settings, print requirements, job tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1207 resulting in the user being informed about print result after a job submission
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1209 resulting in adapted or bridged legacy communication protocols, e.g. emulation, protocol extension
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1236 Connection management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1246 by handling markup languages, e.g. XSL, XML, HTML
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1253 Configuration of print job parameters, e.g. using UI at the client
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1279 Controller construction, e.g. aspects of the interface hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1284 Local printer device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1286 via local network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1291 Pool of printer devices: self-managing printing devices in a network, e.g. without a server
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1292 Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1294 Status or feedback related to information exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1297 Printer code translation, conversion, emulation, compression; Configuration of printer parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1298 Printer language recognition, e.g. programme control language, page description language
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/02 using printers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/14 Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit data transmission in general H04L; telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00334 : with an apparatus processing barcodes or the like arrangements for sensing record carriers G06K7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32 : Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device H04N1/38, H04N1/387 take precedence

Abstract

A device control system has a terminal 3 with an application 31, and a printer 5 that controls a scanner, or other device. The terminal 3 sends a request written in XML generated by the application 31. The printer 5 receives the XML request, and the terminal 3 receives an XML response. If the terminal 3 requested control of the scanner in the XML request, the terminal controls the scanner.

Claims

1. A point-of-sale printer for a point-of-sale (POS) system, the point-of-sale printer comprising:

a first connector configured to connect to a scanner responsive to scanner-control commands, the scanner being external to the point-of-sale printer;

a second connector configured to communicate with a terminal, to receive a markup language request from the terminal, and to send a markup language response to the terminal, the terminal being external to the point-of-sale printer;

a controller configured to interpret the markup language request received from the terminal, and to control the scanner using the scanner-control commands to execute the interpreted markup language request;

wherein the controller is configured to encode scanned data from the scanner as a markup language response and to send the markup language response to the terminal, the markup language response including a markup language element indicating a type of the scanner and a markup language sub-element indicative of the scanned data, and wherein the scanner-control commands are not in a markup language.

2. The point-of-sale printer described in claim 1, wherein

the markup language response includes data denoting a result of scanner control.

3. The point-of-sale printer described in claim 1, wherein

the point-of-sale printer is configured such that, when the point-of-sale printer receives from the terminal an establish communication markup language request to establish a communication link with the point-of-sale printer, the point-of-sale printer sends to the terminal a markup language response to the establish communication markup language request.

4. The point-of-sale printer described in claim 1, wherein

the point-of-sale printer is configured such that, in response to the point-of-sale printer receiving from the terminal an open markup language request to open communication with the scanner connected to the point-of-sale printer, the point-of-sale printer sends to the terminal a markup language response to the open markup language request indicating whether a communication link with the scanner is established, as a result of scanner control.

5. The point-of-sale printer described in claim 1, wherein

the point-of-sale printer is configured such that, in response to the point-of-sale printer receiving from the terminal a close markup language request to close communication with the scanner, the point-of-sale printer sends to the terminal a markup language response to the close markup language request indicating whether communication with the scanner is closed, as a result of scanner control.

6. The point-of-sale printer described in claim 1, wherein the first connector is a USB interface.

7. The point-of-sale printer described in claim 1, wherein the second connector is part of a computer network interface to connect with the terminal over a computer network.