System and method for batch printing high-volume electronic documents from a network

• US 7,692,807 B1
• Filed: 04/01/2004
• Issued: 04/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DTI of Washington LLC
• Original Assignee: Applied Discovery, Inc. (EPIQ Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sanders, Ryan E. T., Frazier, Donald P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Haskins; Twyler L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pachol; Nicholas C
• Application Number:
  US10/816,468
• Time in Patent Office: 2,196 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.16, 358/487, 358/3.28, 358/1.18, 715/517, 715/527, 710/8, 710/7, 710/20, 710/52
• 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 3/1213 at an intermediate node or at the final node
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1262 by grouping or ganging jobs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1267 Job repository, e.g. non-scheduled jobs, delay printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1289 in server-client-printer device configuration, e.g. the server does not see the printer

Abstract

Large volumes of electronic documents can be printed from a network, such as the Internet, using a batch printing technique. Sizable print jobs are broken into batches, which are sent sequentially to a printer executable component at the client side. As one batch finishes printing, another batch is sent to the printer executable component. Logs are kept so that if there is an interruption in the printing, a print job can be re-started at any batch, instead of having to re-start printing in its entirety from the beginning. The electronic documents may also be downloaded for storage alternatively or in addition to printing. Stamps may be applied en masse to the electronic documents to be printed.

Claims

1. A method in a computing system, comprising:

under control of the computing system,

receiving a print job that requests to print a set of electronic document pages that are available from a communication network;

breaking up the print job into a plurality of batches each having a plurality of electronic document pages that together form the set of electronic document pages;

before printing each batch of said print job, applying stamps to the electronic document pages of each said batch, such that stamps are applied to at least one batch while at least one already stamped batch of said print job is currently printing; and

under control of a server of the computing system, controlling the printing of said batches of said print job by separately sending said each batch having said respective stamps that have been applied to electronic document pages of said batch to a client terminal to be printed, while electronic document pages of other batches of said print job that are awaiting to be printed are having said respective stamps applied, wherein all said batches of said print job are sent to said client terminal for printing on a same single printer of said client terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising logging print job status information as electronic document pages of each batch are stamped and sent to the client terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising if an interruption occurs during printout of electronic document pages of a batch:

checking the logged print job status information to determine which batch was last successfully printed; and

re-starting the print job at a batch subsequent to the batch that was last successfully printed, instead of re-starting the print job from its beginning first batch.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a poll from the client terminal that requests transmission of electronic document pages that have been stamped;

sending the requested stamped electronic document pages to the client terminal, the requested stamped electronic document pages sent to the client terminal forming less than a complete batch.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a download request for another set of electronic document pages;

breaking up the download request into a plurality of batches each having a plurality of electronic document pages that together form the another set of electronic document pages;

applying stamps to these electronic document pages of each batch; and

separately sending each of these batches having stamps applied to its electronic document pages to the client terminal, while electronic document pages of other batches are having stamps applied to them.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein receiving the download request comprises receiving a request to store the requested set of electronic document pages in a storage unit.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a printer executable component to manage flow of the received stamped electronic document pages to a print spooler is present at the client terminal;

if the printer executable component is determined to not be present, downloading and installing the printer executable component in the client terminal; and

launching the printer executable component if a print job is generated.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing print job data, including template information usable for applying the stamps to the electronic document pages, at a first server remote from the client terminal;

if the print job is generated, providing at least some of the print job data to the client terminal;

at a second server, receiving the print job data from the client terminal and obtaining template information corresponding to the print job data from the first server.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising making a temporary copy of the each electronic document page, wherein applying stamps to electronic document pages of each batch includes applying stamps to the temporary copies.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating stamping statistics indicative of either one or both of which electronic document pages have been stamped and an amount of electronic document pages that have been stamped.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising printing the stamped electronic document pages asynchronously from other applications running on the client terminal.

12. A system, comprising:

a printer executable component to control download of remote electronic files to a printer;

a server communicatively coupled to the printer executable component to store print job data; and

at least one stamping service in communication with both the server and the printer executable component, wherein when the printer executable component is launched to initiate a print job, the printer executable component is coupled to obtain at least some of the stored print job data from the server and to provide this obtained print job data to the stamping service, the printer executable component being configured to use the print job data to obtain stamps from the server that are to be applied to a set of electronic files before being printed by said printer and to break up the print job into multiple batches having a plurality of pages that together form the set of electronic files, the printer executable component being further configured to apply the obtained stamps to pages of each batch of said print job before being printed by said printer and to download the pages having stamps applied thereon to either one or both the printer executable component and the printer while pages of other batches of said print job that are awaiting to be printed are being stamped, wherein all of said multiple batches of said print job are sent to same said printer to be printed therefrom.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of stamping services, each stamping service being configured to stamp pages of batches corresponding to a same print job.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the printer executable component is configured to poll the stamping service to request pages that have been stamped, the stamping service being further configured to send the requested pages, which may comprise less than all pages in a batch.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the stamping service is configured to provide print job updates to the server, wherein the printer executable component is adapted to access the print job updates at the server to re-start the print job in case of interruption, at a batch subsequent to a batch that was last successfully printed, instead of a re-start of the print job from a first batch.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the printer executable component operates asynchronously of client applications.

17. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a first server unit to store indexed content of the electronic files;

a second server unit to store metadata content of the electronic files, the metadata content including stamps that are obtained by the stamping service and applied to pages of the electronic files; and

a third server unit to store the pages of the electronic files, the stamping service being configured to obtain a temporary copy of the stored pages and to apply the stamps thereto.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising a stamping data store in communication with the stamping service to store stamping statistics that are provided by the stamping service.

19. The system of claim 12 wherein the server is adapted to request print preview information from the stamping service, the stamping service being configured to provide the preview information as a representation of a page having stamps applied thereto, the server being able to subsequently provide the preview information to the printer executable component.

20. The system of claim 12, further comprising at least another executable component, including a download executable component to control storage of stamped pages of batches to a storage unit.

21. The system of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of user interfaces usable to perform at least one of create a template having the stamps, assign Bates number formats to the electronic files, identify a print job, view print job status information, select a location to save the stamped pages, and/or select a printer to print the stamped pages.

22. The system of claim 12, further comprising another server to download the printer executable component to a client terminal if the printer executable component is not installed in the client terminal if the print job is initiated.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the printer executable component is downloaded to be installed as part of a browser application on the client terminal.

24. A computer system comprising:

a means for receiving a print job that requests to print a set of electronic document pages that are available from a communication network;

a means for breaking up the print job into a plurality of batches each having a plurality of electronic document pages that together form the set of electronic document pages;

a means for applying, before printing each batch of said print job, stamps to the electronic document pages of each said batch, such that stamps are applied to at least one batch while at least one already stamped batch of said print job is currently printing; and

a means for controlling the printing of said batches of said print job by separately sending said each batch having said respective stamps that have been applied to electronic document pages of said batch to a client terminal to be printed, while electronic document pages of other batches of said print job that are awaiting to be printed are having said respective stamps applied, wherein all said batches of said print job are sent to said client terminal for printing on a same single printer of said client terminal.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising:

a means for storing the electronic document pages and associated metadata, including template information having the stamps that are applied to the electronic document pages;

a means for querying for and returning corresponding data results associated with stored electronic document pages that are stamped;

a means for providing preview information of electronic document pages showing stamps applied thereto; and

a means for downloading executable files to the client terminal if the executable files are not yet installed in the client terminal when the print job is initiated.

26. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means for updating print job status information and for keeping stamping statistics.

27. The system of claim 24, further comprising means for downloading batches having stamped electronic document pages for purposes different from printing.

28. The system of claim 24, further comprising a means for polling to identify and obtain electronic document pages of a batch that have been stamped and that are ready to be printed, wherein such electronic document pages comprise less than a full batch.

29. The system of claim 24, further comprising user interface means for creating templates and for initiating print jobs.