Method and apparatus for recording sound information and playing sound information back using an all-in-one printer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A sound recording and image forming system, comprising:
- a memory circuit for storage of data;
a print engine that applies printing material to sheets of print media that are pre-cut to a predetermined size and fed to said print engine as needed upon the occurrence of a print job;
a microphone;
an interface circuit; and
at least one processing circuit that is configured to control a flow of data;
(a) from said interface circuit, and (b) between said print engine and said memory circuit;
wherein;
said microphone generates an audio-frequency signal from received sound waves;
said interface circuit receives and converts said audio-frequency signal generated by said microphone into a digitized first data signal, wherein at least a portion of said digitized first data signal comprises information representative of said received sound waves in a form that can be stored in said memory circuit; and
said at least one processing circuit is further configured;
(c) to receive said digitized first data signal from said interface circuit, (d) to convert said digitized first data signal into a second data signal comprising a print job that includes information representative of said received sound waves, and (e) to transfer said second data signal to said print engine for recording as a hard-copy printout upon said print media, in which at least a portion of said hard-copy printout is representative of said received sound waves, wherein(a) said portion of said hard-copy printout that is representative of said received sound waves comprises encoded dot patterns that do not form text characters, but instead said encoded dot patterns correspond to the received sound waves without regard to whether or not the received sound waves form spoken words; and
(b) said encoded dot patterns that correspond to the received sound waves are printed on a surface area of said print media that does not contain other image data that is to be viewed by a person.
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Abstract
An all-in-one (AIO) printer is provided, in which its bulk input device (scanner) is employed as a data reader of audio information, and its bulk output device (print engine/printhead) is employed as a data burner (or writer) of audio information. The present invention acts as a sound recording device and a sound playback device that may be incorporated within an AIO printer. If the AIO printer is combined with a host computer that includes a microphone and speakers, then no physical hardware need be added to a standard AIO printer to perform the functions of the present invention of recording and storing audio information.
37 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A sound recording and image forming system, comprising:
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a memory circuit for storage of data;
a print engine that applies printing material to sheets of print media that are pre-cut to a predetermined size and fed to said print engine as needed upon the occurrence of a print job;
a microphone;
an interface circuit; and
at least one processing circuit that is configured to control a flow of data;
(a) from said interface circuit, and (b) between said print engine and said memory circuit;
wherein;said microphone generates an audio-frequency signal from received sound waves; said interface circuit receives and converts said audio-frequency signal generated by said microphone into a digitized first data signal, wherein at least a portion of said digitized first data signal comprises information representative of said received sound waves in a form that can be stored in said memory circuit; and said at least one processing circuit is further configured;
(c) to receive said digitized first data signal from said interface circuit, (d) to convert said digitized first data signal into a second data signal comprising a print job that includes information representative of said received sound waves, and (e) to transfer said second data signal to said print engine for recording as a hard-copy printout upon said print media, in which at least a portion of said hard-copy printout is representative of said received sound waves, wherein(a) said portion of said hard-copy printout that is representative of said received sound waves comprises encoded dot patterns that do not form text characters, but instead said encoded dot patterns correspond to the received sound waves without regard to whether or not the received sound waves form spoken words; and (b) said encoded dot patterns that correspond to the received sound waves are printed on a surface area of said print media that does not contain other image data that is to be viewed by a person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A sound recording and image forming system, comprising:
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a memory circuit for storage of data;
a print engine;
a microphone;
an interface circuit; and
at least one processing circuit that is configured to control a flow of data;
(a) from said interface circuit, and (b) between said print engine and said memory circuit;
wherein;said microphone generates an audio-frequency signal from received sound waves; said interface circuit receives and converts said audio-frequency signal generated by said microphone into a first data signal, wherein at least a portion of said first data signal comprises information representative of said received sound waves; and said at least one processing circuit is further configured;
(c) to receive said first data signal from said interface circuit, (d) to convert said first data signal into a second data signal comprising a print job, and (e) to transfer said second data signal to said print engine for recording as a hard-copy printout upon a print media, in which at least a portion of said hard-copy printout is representative of said received sound waves; andan optical scanner that generates a third data signal from scanning a sheet of hard-copy media, wherein; at least a portion of image information on said hard-copy media comprises audio information; at least a portion of said third data signal is representative of said audio information; and said at least one processing circuit is further configured for one of;
(f) to convert said third data signal into a fourth data signal comprising a print job, and to transfer said fourth data signal to said print engine for recording as a hard-copy printout upon a print media, in which at least a portion of said hard-copy printout is representative of said audio information; and
(g) to store one of said third data signal and said fourth data signal as a file in a bulk memory device, wherein said file comprises one of;
(i) uncompressed data;
(ii) lossless compressed data;
(iii) lossy compressed data;
(iv) a WAV file, and (v) an MP3 file. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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8. A sound recording and image forming system, comprising:
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a memory circuit for storage of data;
a print engine that applies printing material to sheets of print media that are pre-cut to a predetermined size and fed to said print engine as needed upon the occurrence of a print job;
a microphone;
an interface circuit; and
at least one processing circuit that is configured to control a flow of data;
(a) from said interface circuit, and (b) between said print engine and said memory circuit;
wherein;said microphone generates an audio-frequency signal from received sound wares; said interface circuit receives and converts said audio-frequency signal generated by said microphone into a first data signal, wherein at least a portion of said first data signal comprises information representative of said received sound waves; and said at least one processing circuit is further configured;
(c) to receive said first data signal from said interface circuit, (d) to convert said first data signal into a second data signal comprising a print job, (e) to transfer said second data signal to said print engine for recording as a hard-copy printout upon a print media, in which at least a portion of said hard-copy printout is representative of said received sound waves;
(f) to receive an additional audio-frequency signal from said microphone;
(g) to convert said additional audio-frequency signal and to automatically append said additional audio-frequency signal as a further portion of said second data signal; and
(h) to record said further portion of said second data signal as part of said hard-copy printout. - View Dependent Claims (9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification