System and method for controlling a remote printer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for remotely printing a document, wherein said system comprises:
- a network;
a mail server connected to said network, wherein said mail server receives and stores E-mail messages from said network;
a computer transmitting an E-mail message including said document to said mail server over said network; and
a printer receiving said E-mail message from said mail server, wherein said printer includes a processor, data storage, and a print engine printing images on paper in response to operation of said processor, wherein said processor is programmed to execute steps of;
parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings;
wherein, said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said user settings in response to a determination that an E-mail address of said printer is an only address in a “
To”
destination address within said header of said E-mail message, said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said administrative settings in response to a determination that said E-mail address of said printer is one of a plurality of addresses in said “
To”
destination address within said header of said E-mail message, and said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said administrative settings in response to a determination that said E-mail address of said printer is in a “
CC”
destination address line within said header of said E-mail message instead of in said “
To”
destination address within said header of said E-mail message.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A printer connected to a network prints documents transmitted as portions of E-mail messages sent to the printer from computer systems through a print server. The printing process is controlled by administrative settings stored within the printer and further by keyword-value pairs recorded in the subject lines of the E-mail messages. The printer preferably also acts as a web page server to client systems connected to the network, with administrative settings being updated through the network following recognition of a password.
40 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for remotely printing a document, wherein said system comprises:
- a network;
a mail server connected to said network, wherein said mail server receives and stores E-mail messages from said network;
a computer transmitting an E-mail message including said document to said mail server over said network; and
a printer receiving said E-mail message from said mail server, wherein said printer includes a processor, data storage, and a print engine printing images on paper in response to operation of said processor, wherein said processor is programmed to execute steps of;
parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings;
wherein, said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said user settings in response to a determination that an E-mail address of said printer is an only address in a “
To”
destination address within said header of said E-mail message, said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said administrative settings in response to a determination that said E-mail address of said printer is one of a plurality of addresses in said “
To”
destination address within said header of said E-mail message, and said processor is programmed to determine that said portions of said E-mail messages are to be printed according to said administrative settings in response to a determination that said E-mail address of said printer is in a “
CC”
destination address line within said header of said E-mail message instead of in said “
To”
destination address within said header of said E-mail message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- a network;
-
10. A method for remotely printing a document, wherein said method comprises:
- a) receiving within a printer connected to a network an E-mail message including said document addressed to said printer;
b) parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, determining whether an address of said printer is an only address within a “
To”
destination address line of said E-mail message;
in response to determining that said address of said printer is an only address within said “
To”
destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, and in response to determining that said address of said printer is not an only address within said “
To”
destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, c) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and d) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
- a) receiving within a printer connected to a network an E-mail message including said document addressed to said printer;
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18. A computer readable medium having recorded thereon computer executable instructions for performing a method for remotely printing a document, wherein said method comprises:
- a) receiving within a printer connected to a network an E-mail message including said document addressed to said printer;
b) parsing a header portion of said E-mail message to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to administrative settings derived from data stored within said data storage and to determine whether portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to user settings determined from keywords within said header portion of said E-mail message, determining whether an address of said printer is an only address within a “
To”
destination address line of said E-mail message;
in response to determining that said address of said printer is an only address within said “
To”
destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, and in response to determining that said address of said printer is not an only address within said “
To”
destination address line of said E-mail message, determining that said portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, c) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said administrative settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said administrative settings, and d) in response to determining that portions of said E-mail message are to be printed according to said user settings, causing said print engine to print said portions of said E-mail message according to said user settings. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
- a) receiving within a printer connected to a network an E-mail message including said document addressed to said printer;
Specification