Distributed rendering of print jobs

• US 7,180,614 B1
• Filed: 02/17/2000
• Issued: 02/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Bhatti, Shahzad H., Senoo, Masumi, Aoyama, Kazuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Thomas D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRINICH, STEPHEN M
• Application Number:
  US09/506,418
• Time in Patent Office: 2,560 Days
• Field of Search: 358 114- 115, 709/202, 709/205, 395/114
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• 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 3/1241 Dividing a job according to job requirements, e.g. black/white and colour pages, covers and body of books, tabs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1244 Job translation or job parsing, e.g. page banding
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1287 via internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/02 using printers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1823 for evaluating the resources needed, e.g. rasterizing time, ink, paper stock
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1859 involving data processing distributed amongst different data processing apparatus

Abstract

A printer handles a print job by determining whether the entire print job can be processed locally by the printer. If possible, the printer processes the print job locally. If the entire print job cannot be processed locally, then the printer sends the print job (or a portion of the print job) to an external rendering device. The printer receives a rendered print job (or a rendered portion of a print job) from the external rendering device. Finally, the printer prints the rendered print job. If different portions of the print job require processing by different external rendering devices, then portions of a particular print job may be distributed to multiple external rendering devices. An external rendering device may be a server coupled to the printer via the Internet.

Claims

1. A method of handling a print job, the method comprising:

determining whether the entire print job can be processed by a printer;

processing the print job, by the printer, if the entire print job can be processed by the printer;

if the entire print job cannot be processed by the printer;

sending, by the printer, the print job to an external rendering device;

receiving, by the printer, a rendered print job from the external rendering device; and

the printer printing the rendered print job received from the external rendering device.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein sending the print job to an external rendering device includes sending, by the printer, a portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to an external rendering device.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein sending the print job to an external rendering device includes sending, by the printer, a first portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to a first external rendering device and sending, by the printer, a second portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to a second external rendering device.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the external rendering device is accessible via the Internet.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the external rendering device is a server coupled to the Internet.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein determining whether the entire print job can be processed by the printer is performed by the printer.

7. A computer-readable memory containing a computer program that is executable by a processor to perform the method recited in claim 1.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by a printer, a print job;

the printer identifying portions of the print job that can be processed by the printer;

the printer processing the identified portions of the print job;

the printer sending the portions of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to an external rendering device; and

the printer receiving rendered portions of the print job from the external rendering device.

9. A method as recited in claim 8 further including the printer printing the print job by combining portions processed by the printer and rendered portions received from the external rendering device.

10. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein sending the portions of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to an external rendering device includes the printer sending a first portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to a first external rendering device and the printer sending a second portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to a second external rendering device.

11. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the external rendering device is accessible via the Internet.

12. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein the external rendering device is a server coupled to the Internet.

13. A computer-readable memory containing a computer program that is executable by a processor to perform the method recited in claim 8.

14. A printer comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processor coupled to the communication interface, wherein the processor determines whether an entire print job can be processed by the printer, if the entire print job cannot be processed by the printer, then the printer sends the portions of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to an external rendering device, and the printer receives rendered portions of the print job from the external rendering device.

15. A printer as recited in claim 14 wherein the communication interface is a network communication interface coupled to the Internet.

16. A printer as recited in claim 14 wherein the external rendering device is a server coupled to the communication interface.

17. A printer as recited in claim 14 wherein the printer sends a first portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to a first external rendering device and the printer sends a second portion of the print job that cannot be processed by the printer to a second external rendering device.