Toner monitoring network printer system and method of monitoring a toner cartridge thereof
First Claim
1. A network printer system comprising a first network printer and at least one second network printer communicably connected to one or more terminals, wherein the first network printer comprises:
- a communication module to communicate data with the terminals through a network and to support communication with the at least one second network printer;
a toner residue computing unit to compute a toner residue value of a toner cartridge based on a number of pages printed by the first network printer;
a memory to store toner cartridge information which includes the toner residue value computed by the toner residue computing unit; and
a central processing device to, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, control the communication module to provide the at least one second network printer with the toner cartridge information, and when the toner cartridge information provided from the at least one second network printer includes the most recent information on a currently-mounted toner cartridge, to control the toner cartridge information provided from the at least one second network printer to be stored in at least one of the memory and the currently mounted toner cartridge.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A toner monitoring network printer system and method of monitoring a toner cartridge thereof. A first network printer includes a communication module to communicate data with terminals through a network and to support communication with a second network printer, a toner residue computing part to compute a toner residue value of a toner cartridge based on a number of pages printed by the first network printer, a memory to store toner cartridge information including the toner residue value computed by the toner residue computing part, and a central processing device to control the communication module to provide the second network printer with the toner cartridge information including the toner residue value computed by the toner residue computing part, and to control the toner cartridge information including the toner residue value provided from a second network printer to be stored in at least one of the memory and the toner cartridge.
35 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A network printer system comprising a first network printer and at least one second network printer communicably connected to one or more terminals, wherein the first network printer comprises:
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a communication module to communicate data with the terminals through a network and to support communication with the at least one second network printer; a toner residue computing unit to compute a toner residue value of a toner cartridge based on a number of pages printed by the first network printer; a memory to store toner cartridge information which includes the toner residue value computed by the toner residue computing unit; and a central processing device to, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, control the communication module to provide the at least one second network printer with the toner cartridge information, and when the toner cartridge information provided from the at least one second network printer includes the most recent information on a currently-mounted toner cartridge, to control the toner cartridge information provided from the at least one second network printer to be stored in at least one of the memory and the currently mounted toner cartridge. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of monitoring a toner cartridge in a network printer system which comprises a first network printer and at least one second network printer connected communicably with one or more terminals, the method comprising:
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computing a toner residue value of a toner cartridge based on an amount of pages printed by the first network printer; if a predetermined condition is satisfied, providing the at least one second network printer with toner cartridge information including at least the toner residue value; determining whether toner cartridge information provided from the at least one second network printer includes toner cartridge information coinciding with a currently-mounted toner cartridge; if it is determined that the toner cartridge information provided from the at least one second network printer includes the toner cartridge information coinciding with the currently-mounted toner cartridge, selecting the most recent information of the toner cartridge information provided through the network and the information stored in the currently-mounted toner cartridge; and if the toner cartridge information provided through the network is determined to be the most recent information, updating the toner cartridge information stored in the currently-mounted toner cartridge with the toner cartridge information provided through the network. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification