DOCUMENT PRINTING TECHNIQUES

• US 20090109468A1
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FlexEnable Limited (Plastic Logic JSC)
• Original Assignee: Plastic Logic Limited (Plastic Logic JSC)
• Inventors: Sirringhaus, Henning, Barclay, Duncan, Reeves, William
• Granted Patent: US 8,836,970 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.150
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133388 with constructional differences between the display region and the peripheral region
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0232 Special driving of display border areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/04 Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/14 Electronic books and readers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/393 Enlarging or reducing

Abstract

We describe a portable paperless electronic printer for displaying a printed document on an electronic paper display. The paperless electronic printer includes an input to receive print data from an output of a printer driver of a computerised electronic device, a non-volatile electrophoretic display to provide an electronic paper display of stored said print data for a said document page to mimic said document page when printed on paper; and a processor coupled to said input, to non-volatile memory, and to said non-volatile electrophoretic display and configured to input said print data, to store said data derived from said print data in said non-volatile memory, and to provide to said non-volatile electrophoretic display data for displaying a said document page derived from said stored data.

Claims

1. A portable paperless electronic printer for displaying a printed document on an electronic paper display, the paperless electronic printer comprising:

an input to receive print data from an output of a printer driver of a computerised electronic device, said print data comprising data for one or more document pages to be printed;

non-volatile memory for storing data derived from said print data;

a non-volatile reflective display to provide an electronic paper display of stored said print data for a said document page to mimic said document page when printed on paper; and

a processor coupled to said input, to said non-volatile memory, and to said non-volatile reflective display and configured to input said print data, to store said data derived from said print data in said non-volatile memory, and to provide to said non-volatile reflective display data for displaying a said document page derived from said stored data.

2. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said print data comprises an image of a printed said document page.

3. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said data derived from said print data comprises a lossless compressed version of said print data.

4. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data derived from said print data defines an image of a printed said document page with cropped margins.

5. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said non-volatile reflective display has a border substantially visually matched to said display to give the impression that part of a displayed document page extends beyond said display into said border.

6. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 5 when dependent on claim 4 wherein said part of a displayed document page which extends beyond said border comprises said cropped margins of said document page.

7. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 5 wherein said display and said borders have a lateral spatial extent substantially equal to a size of said displayed document page, whereby said displayed document page extends substantially to lateral boundaries of said paperless electronic printer.

8. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 5, wherein no portion of said display extends in front of said display surface.

9. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 5, wherein said border includes touch sensitive regions.

10. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 9 wherein said paperless electronic printer has a portrait orientation and a landscape orientation, and wherein said processor is configured to recognise one or more touch gestures performed on said border irrespective of said orientation.

11. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least a part of said display in touch sensitive, and wherein said processor is further configured and store data input using said touch sensitive display, and to synchronise with said computerised electronic device to provide said stored data input to said computerised electronic device.

12. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 1 wherein said non-volatile reflective display comprises an electrophoretic display.

13. A method of printing a document onto an electronic paper display, the method comprising:

inputting print data from a printer driver of a computerised electronic device, said print data comprising data for one or more document pages to be printed;

storing data derived from said print data in non-volatile memory;

reading said data derived from said print data from said non-volatile memory;

providing to a non-volatile reflective display document page data for displaying a document page derived from said stored data; and

displaying said document page data on said non-volatile reflective display to mimic said document page when printed on paper.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said non-volatile reflective display is smaller than said displayed document page and has a non-rewriteable border, and wherein said displaying comprises displaying said document page such that said border gives the impression of a margin of said document page.

15. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said print data comprises an image of a printed said document page at substantially a resolution of a re-writeable portion of said electronic paper display, said re-writable portion of said electronic paper display comprising said non-volatile reflective display.

16. A portable paperless electronic printer as claimed in claim 13 wherein said non-volatile reflective display comprises an electrophoretic display.

17. A carrier carrying processor control code to, when running, implement the method of claim 13.