Pre-Scanning Printer with Paper Fingerprinting

• US 20080240816A1
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Piersol, Kurt, Barrus, John W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,865,124 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/381
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/009 Detecting type of paper, e.g. by automatic reading of a code that is printed on a paper package or on a paper roll or by sensing the grade of translucency of the paper
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0095 Detecting means for copy material, e.g. for detecting or sensing presence of copy material or its leading or trailing end
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/44 Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms having dual functions or combined with, or coupled to, apparatus performing other functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/327 which are undetectable to the naked eye, e.g. embedded codes

Abstract

Techniques for scanning and generating fingerprints for articles prior to the use of the articles. The fingerprinting of the articles is performed such that it is decoupled from the process of using the articles. As a result, the fingerprinting process does not act as a bottleneck to the use of the articles. In one embodiment, a printer is provided that is configured to generate fingerprints for paper sheets loaded into the printer prior to the paper sheets being available for printing. The pre-fingerprinted sheets are then made available for printing. In this manner, the process of fingerprinting of the paper sheets is decoupled from the printing operations performed by the printer. As a result, the fingerprinting process does not act as a bottleneck to the printing process.

Claims

1. A method performed by a printer, the method comprising:

generating a fingerprint for a paper sheet from a first tray of the printer;

storing information in memory associating the fingerprint with the paper sheet; and

transporting the paper sheet to the first tray after a fingerprint is generated for the paper sheet, wherein the paper sheet is made available for printing.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a request to print an electronic document;

selecting at least one fingerprinted paper sheet from the first tray for printing the electronic document; and

generating a printed document using the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet from the first tray.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising selecting a non-fingerprinted paper sheet from a second tray of the printer different from the first tray and wherein generating the printed document comprises using the non-fingerprinted paper sheet for generating the printed document.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the request to print specifies a page of the electronic document for which a fingerprinted paper sheet is to be used for printing the electronic document.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising storing information for the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet associating the fingerprint generated for the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet with information related to the electronic document.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the information related to the electronic document comprises information related to contents of the electronic document printed on the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining if the paper sheet received from the first tray comprises a mark indicating that the paper sheet has been previously fingerprinted; and

wherein generating a fingerprint for the paper sheet comprising generating a fingerprint for the paper sheet only if it is determined that the paper sheet does not comprise the mark or the paper sheet comprises a mark that is not decipherable by the printer.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the fingerprint is performed upon detecting insertion of the first tray in the printer.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the fingerprint comprises marking the paper sheet to indicate that the paper sheet has been fingerprinted.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein marking the paper sheet comprises printing a code on the paper sheet wherein the code is at least one of a barcode, a code printed using infrared ink, and a code printed using an ink that becomes transparent upon exposure to light.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein marking the paper sheet comprises using a steganographic technique to mark the paper sheet.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the fingerprint comprises transporting the paper sheet from the first tray to a scanner.

13. A method performed by a printer of fingerprinting a paper sheet, the method comprising:

selecting a set of one or more paper sheets from a stack of paper sheets stored in a first tray of the printer;

generating a fingerprint for each paper sheet in the selected set of paper sheets;

storing in memory, for each paper sheet in the set of paper sheets, information associating the fingerprint generated for the paper sheet with the paper sheet; and

transporting the set of paper sheets to a second tray of the printer separate from the first tray.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

receiving a request to print an electronic document; and

generating a printed document in response to the print request, wherein the printed document comprises a fingerprinted paper sheet from the second tray and a non-fingerprinted paper sheet from the first tray.

15. A printer comprising:

a first tray for storing one or more paper sheets;

a fingerprinting system configured to generate a fingerprint for a paper sheet from the first; and

a memory configured to store information associating the fingerprint with the paper sheet;

wherein the first tray is configured to receive the paper sheet from the fingerprinting system after the fingerprinting system has generated a fingerprint for the paper sheet, and the paper sheet is made available for printing upon the first tray receiving the paper sheet from the fingerprinting system.

16. The printer of claim 15 further comprising a print module configured to:

receive a request to print an electronic document;

select at least one fingerprinted paper sheet from the first tray for printing the electronic document; and

generate a printed document using the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet from the first tray.

17. The printer of claim 16 wherein the print module is configured to select a non-fingerprinted paper sheet from a second tray different from the first tray and generate the printed document using the non-fingerprinted paper sheet.

18. The printer of claim 16 wherein the request to print specifies a page of the electronic document for which a fingerprinted paper sheet is to be used for printing the electronic document.

19. The printer of claim 16 wherein the memory is configured to store information for the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet associating the fingerprint generated for the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet with information related to the electronic document.

20. The printer of claim 19 wherein the information related to the electronic document comprises information related to contents of the electronic document printed on the at least one fingerprinted paper sheet.

21. The printer of claim 15 wherein the fingerprinting system is configured to:

determine if the paper sheet received from the first tray comprises a mark indicating that the paper sheet has been previously fingerprinted; and

generate a fingerprint for the paper sheet only if it is determined that the paper sheet does not comprise the mark or the paper sheet comprises a mark that is not decipherable by the printer.

22. The printer of claim 15 wherein the fingerprinting system is configured to generate the fingerprint upon detecting insertion of the first tray in the printer.

23. The printer of claim 15 wherein the fingerprinting system is configured to mark the paper sheet to indicate that the paper sheet has been fingerprinted.

24. The printer of claim 23 wherein the fingerprinting system is configured to print a code on the paper sheet wherein the code is at least one of a barcode, a code printed using infrared ink, or a code printed using an ink that becomes transparent upon exposure to light.

25. The printer of claim 23 wherein the fingerprinting system is configured to use a steganographic technique to mark the paper sheet.

26. The printer of claim 15 wherein the fingerprinting system comprises a scanner configured to receive the paper sheet from the first tray.

27. A system comprising:

a first tray configured to store a stack of paper sheets;

a fingerprinting system configured to generate a fingerprint for each paper sheet in a set of paper sheets, the set of paper sheets selected from the stack of paper sheets stored in the first tray;

a memory configured to store, for each paper sheet in the set of paper sheets, information associating the fingerprint generated for the paper sheet with the paper sheet; and

a second tray configured to receive a paper sheet from the set of paper sheets from the fingerprinting system after the fingerprinting system has generated a fingerprint for the paper sheet.

28. The system of claim 27 further comprising a print module configured to:

receive a request to print an electronic document; and

generate a printed document in response to the print request, wherein the printed document comprises a fingerprinted paper sheet from the second tray and a non-fingerprinted paper sheet from the first tray.