Method and apparatus for processing document requests at a printer server
First Claim
1. A image forming apparatus coupled to and for use with a network, the image forming apparatus comprising:
- a image forming server to receive requests from one or more browser clients over the network, to retrieve one or more network documents from a network server over the network, and to transmit the one or more documents to the one or more browser clients over the network.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
According to one embodiment, a system is disclosed that includes a network, a server and a browser client coupled to the network. The browser client is operable to receive server documents from the server via the network. The system also includes a printer coupled to the network. The printer is operable to retrieve server documents to be printed from the server upon receiving a command from the browser client. In another embodiment, the browser is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) coupled to the network. The PDA is operable to receive server documents from the server via the network. In this embodiment, the printer is adaptable to retrieve server documents to be printed from the server upon receiving a command from the PDA.
254 Citations
57 Claims
-
1. A image forming apparatus coupled to and for use with a network, the image forming apparatus comprising:
a image forming server to receive requests from one or more browser clients over the network, to retrieve one or more network documents from a network server over the network, and to transmit the one or more documents to the one or more browser clients over the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
11. A system comprising:
-
a network;
a server coupled to the network;
a browser client coupled to the network; and
a printer coupled to the network, wherein the retrieves documents to be printed from the server upon receiving a request from the browser client and transmits the retrieved documents to the browser client to be viewed prior to printing the documents. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22)
a printer server to handle requests for document handling by the printer; and
a print engine.
-
-
13. The system of claim 12 wherein the printer server is independent of the browser client.
-
14. The system of claim 12 wherein the server transforms the retrieved documents into a book document and generates a table of contents for the book document.
-
15. The system of claim 12 wherein the printer server formats the retrieved document to a format specified by the browser client prior to transmitting the document to the browser client to be viewed.
-
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the formatting by the printer server includes adding one or more control buttons to the document before the document is viewed at the browser client.
-
17. The system of claim 11 wherein the browser client comprises a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
-
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the PDA transmits data to the server, wherein the data is included in a first server document transmitted to the PDA.
-
19. The system of claim 18 wherein a second server document transmitted to the printer includes the data transmitted from the PDA to the server.
-
20. The system of claim 19 wherein the first server document comprises a sales quote and the second server document comprises a sales contract.
-
22. The system of claim 17 wherein the PDA is coupled to the network via a wireless link.
-
21. The system of 19 claim wherein the printer server comprises a template for rendering the second server document based on the content of the second server document.
-
23. A method, comprising:
-
receiving a request at printer a from a browser client to retrieve a first document from a network server over a network;
retrieving the first document from the network server over the network;
transmitting the first document to the browser client for viewing; and
printing the first document at the printer. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
formatting the first document according to a format specified by the browser client after retrieving the first document at the printer; and
transmitting the formatted first document to the browser client for viewing.
-
-
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the process of formatting the first document comprises adding one or more control buttons to the document.
-
26. The method of claim 24 wherein the process of formatting the first document comprises:
-
retrieving a second document at the printer corresponding with a first hypertext link included within the first document;
retrieving a third document at the corresponding with a second hypertext link included within the first document; and
organizing the second and third documents to form a book document.
-
-
27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:
adding a table of contents associated with contents of the book document to the book document.
-
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
-
selecting the second and third hypertext links at the browser client while viewing the first document; and
transmitting the selection information to the printer.
-
-
29. The method of claim 23, further comprising inputting the uniform resource locator (URL) of the first document into the browser client prior to transmitting the request to the printer.
-
30. A method, comprising:
-
transmitting a first request from a personal digital assistant (PDA) to a network server over a network to transmit a first document to the PDA;
transmitting the first document to the PDA in response to the first request;
transmitting a second request from the PDA to a printer over the network to retrieve a second document from the server;
retrieving the second document at the in response to the second request;
transmitting the second document from the to the PDA to be viewed; and
printing the second document at the printer. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
formatting the second document in a format specified by the PDA;
displaying the second document at the PDA in the specified format.
-
-
32. The method of claim 30 further comprising transmitting data to the server, wherein the data is to be included in the first and second documents.
-
33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:
-
providing one or more control buttons in the second document displayed to receive an interaction from a user of the PDA; and
printing the second document at the printer in the specified format in response to an input from the user via the one or more control buttons.
-
-
34. A peripheral coupled to a network, the peripheral comprising:
-
a server, directly in response to a request received from a remote client over the network, to retrieve one or more first documents from a network server over the network and to transform the one or more first documents to a second document having a format specified by the remote client based on the request. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
a camera;
a report camera;
a digital camera;
a scanner;
a facsimile machine;
an image forming device;
a Web Kiosk;
a storage device;
a video server; and
an audio server.
-
-
51. The peripheral of claim 34, wherein the one or more first documents include one or more quotes from one or more service providers and wherein the second document is a legally bindable document.
-
52. A method for operating a peripheral, the method comprising:
-
retrieving, at the peripheral, one or more first documents from a network server over a network in response to a request received from a remote client over the network; and
automatically transforming, at the peripheral, the one or more first documents to a second document having a format specified by the remote client based on the request. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56)
generating, at the peripheral, additional information based on the one or more first documents; and
integrating the additional information with the second document.
-
-
54. The method of claim 52, further comprising printing at least one of the one or more first documents and the second document at the peripheral.
-
55. The method of claim 52, further comprising:
-
transmitting the second document to the remote client; and
displaying the second document in the specified format at the remote client.
-
-
56. The method of claim 55, further comprising presenting one or more control buttons within the displayed second document to allow a user of the remote client to interact with the peripheral with respect to the second document.
-
57. A peripheral coupled to a network, the peripheral comprising:
-
a software agent executed by a processor within the peripheral, wherein the software agent, directly in response to a request received from a remote client over the network, retrieves one or more first documents from a network server over the network and transforms the one or more first documents to a second document having a format specified by the remote client based on the request.
-
Specification