Marking machine user interface supplementation via added, attached portable electronic device

• US 20040041834A1
• Filed: 10/16/2002
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Talbert, Bruce E., Wegeng, Donald L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,526,727 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/740
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5016 User-machine interface; Display panels; Control console
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5075 Remote control machines, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00109 Remote control of apparatus, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/166 related to integrated arrangements for adjusting the position of the main body with respect to the supporting surface, e.g. legs for adjusting the tilt angle
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266

Abstract

A user interface extension allows data entry into a marking machine user interface field from an electronic device, such as a PDA, attached to the marking machine via compatible communications ports. The marking machine includes a UI field into which data must be entered, the user lets the machine know that data will come from the electronic device, and the machine begins monitoring its communications ports for the data. The user enters or selects data to be transmitted from the electronic device, then indicates that the data is ready to be sent, at which point the electronic device transmits the data to the machine via a communications port of the electronic device.

Claims

1. An interface comprising:

an electronic device attached to a marking machine;

an input device with which a user can enter data into the electronic device; and

a transmission system allowing transmission of data from the electronic device to a local user interface of the marking machine.

2. An interface according to claim 1 wherein the transmission system uses a wireless networking communications port of the electronic device.

3. The interface of claim 2 further comprising a network module including a wireless communications port compatible with that of the electronic device, the network module conveying data received via the wireless communications ports to the marking machine via a network to which the marking machine and the network module are attached.

4. The interface of claim 1 wherein the transmission system uses a preexisting communications port of the marking machine.

5. The interface of claim 1 wherein the pre-existing communications port is a parallel port.

6. The interface of claim 1 wherein the transmission system comprises a hard wire connection between the electronic device and the marking machine.

7. The interface of claim 1 wherein the input device comprises a stylus.

8. The interface of claim 1 implemented as an applet in the electronic device.

9. The interface of claim 8 further comprising a component resident on the marking machine that receives the data and inserts the data into an active field of the local UI of the marking machine.

10. A method of effectively extending a marking machine local UI comprising:

providing an electronic device with a communications port and an input device;

attaching the electronic device to a marking machine;

entering data on the electronic device with the input device; and

transmitting the data to the marking machine via the communications port.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising providing a software application on the marking machine, monitoring at least one communications port of the marking machine, detecting incoming data from the electronic device, and inserting the transmitted data into an active area on the local UI of the marking machine.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising equipping the marking machine with a wireless communications port.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein equipping includes directly connecting the wireless communications port to the marking machine.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein equipping includes installing the wireless communications port on a network module and connecting the network module to a network to which the marking machine is connected.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein providing an electronic device with a communications port and an input device includes providing a stylus interface.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising providing a UI dialog into which an entry must be made and providing a UI element allowing a user to indicate that data for the entry will come from the communications port of the electronic device.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein entering text data includes indicating when text data is ready for transmission to the marking machine.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein entering text data includes reading at least a portion of an entry in a database accessible by the electronic device.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the database is an address book and reading at least a portion of an entry in a database includes reading an e-mail address from the address book.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the database is stored on a memory that the user attaches to the electronic device.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the database is accessed over a network.

22. An interface comprising:

an electronic device attached to a marking machine;

an input device with which a user can enter data into the electronic device; and

a transmission system allowing transmission of data from the electronic device to a local user interface of the marking machine;

the interface further comprising;

providing the electronic device with a communications port and the input device;

attaching the electronic device to the marking machine;

entering data on the electronic device with the input device; and

transmitting the data to the marking machine via the communications port.