Information delivery device and information processing method

• US 8,255,481 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2008
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Kadota, Masatoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): BATES, KEVIN T
• Application Number:
  US12/027,520
• Publication Number:
  US 20080215666A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,664 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/121 Facilitating exception or error detection and recovery, e.g. fault, media or consumables depleted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1229 Printer resources management or printer maintenance, e.g. device status, power levels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1285 Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server

Abstract

There is provided an information delivery device including a command transmission unit configured to accept a command request from a client and to transmit a command corresponding to the command request to a device, an information obtaining unit configured to obtain device information transmitted from the device as a response to the command, and an information storage unit configured to store the device information obtained by the information obtaining unit. The device may further include a judgment unit configured to judge which of current device information obtained by the information obtaining unit and past device information stored in the information storage unit should be provided for a requesting source, the current device information corresponding to device information presently set to the device, and an information providing unit configured to provide one of the current device information and the past device information for the requesting source in accordance with a judgment result of the judgment unit.

Claims

1. An information delivery device, comprising:

a processor;

an information storage unit configured to store device information;

memory for storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the information delivery device to provide;

a command transmission unit configured to receive a command request from a client and to transmit a command requesting a device to transmit device information in response to the command request;

an information obtaining unit configured to obtain device information transmitted from the device in response to the command transmitted by the command transmission unit;

a judgment unit configured to judge whether the device information has been obtained by the information obtaining unit from the device within a predetermined period in response to the command transmitted by the command transmission unit;

an information providing unit configured to;

provide the device information obtained by the information obtaining unit from the device to the client in response to the command request if the judgment unit judges that the device information has been obtained within the predetermined period, and

provide past device information stored in the information storage unit to the client in response to the command request if the judgment unit judges that the device information has not been obtained within the predetermined time period;

a prohibition unit configured to prohibit a predetermined type of device information from being provided to the client as past device information by the information providing unit, wherein the prohibition unit comprises

a deletion unit configured to delete, from the information storage unit, the past device information corresponding to the predetermined type of device information, and configured to judge that the past device information is the predetermined type of device information to be deleted if an elapsed time from acquisition of the past device information reaches a first predetermined time period and an elapsed time from last reception of the command request from the client reaches a second predetermined time period.

2. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the information providing unit is further configured to provide identification information for identifying the past device information as past information when the information providing unit provides the past device information to the client.

3. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined type of device information is defined as information to be provided to the client as latest information.

4. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined type of device information corresponds to the device information concerning the device for which communication cannot be established.

5. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein:

the information storage unit starts to store the device information in response to the information obtaining unit starting to obtain the device information.

6. The information delivery device according to claim 5, wherein the information obtaining unit is further configured to obtain at least a part of a plurality of types of device information which the information obtaining unit has received from the device in the past.

7. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein:

the information obtaining unit is further configured to obtain the device information from the device each time a status change occurs in the device; and

the information storage unit is further configured to store the device information each time the information obtaining unit obtains the device information from the device.

8. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the information storage unit is configured to store the device information obtained from the device in association with the command transmitted to the device.

9. The information delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the information storage unit is configured such that, if the command transmitted by the command transmission unit corresponds to a predetermined command type for obtaining device information for a plurality of times by transmitting the command to the device one time, the information storage unit stores the obtained device information in association with the command of the predetermined command type and also stores the obtained device information in association with a command of a command type for obtaining same type of device information as that obtained with the command of the predetermined command type.

10. An information processing method, comprising the steps of:

receiving a command request from a client;

transmitting a command corresponding to the command request to a device;

obtaining device information transmitted from the device in response to the command;

storing the obtained device information;

judging whether the device information has been obtained in the obtaining step from the device within a predetermined period in response to the command transmitted in the transmitting step;

providing the device information obtained in the information obtaining step from the device to the client in response to the command request if the judging step judges that the device information has been obtained within the predetermined period;

providing stored past device information to the client in response to the command request if the judging step judges that the device information has not been obtained within the predetermined time period;

prohibiting a predetermined type of device information from being provided to the client as past device information;

deleting the past device information corresponding to the predetermined type of device information; and

judging that the past device information is the predetermined type of device information to be deleted if an elapsed time from acquisition of the past device information reaches a first predetermined time period and an elapsed time from last reception of the command request from the client reaches a second predetermined time period.

11. A computer readable storage device having computer readable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor of an information delivery device, configures the processor to perform the steps of:

receiving a command request from a client;

transmitting a command corresponding to the command request to a device;

obtaining device information transmitted from the device in response to the command;

storing the obtained device information;

judging whether the device information has been obtained in the obtaining step from the device within a predetermined period in response to the command transmitted in the transmitting step;

providing the device information obtained in the information obtaining step from the device to the client in response to the command request if the judging step judges that the device information has been obtained within the predetermined period;

providing stored past device information to the client in response to the command request if the judging step judges that the device information has not been obtained within the predetermined time period;

prohibiting a predetermined type of device information from being provided to the client as past device information;

deleting the past device information corresponding to the predetermined type of device information; and

judging that the past device information is the predetermined type of device information to be deleted if an elapsed time from acquisition of the past device information reaches a first predetermined time period and an elapsed time from last reception of the command request from the client reaches a second predetermined time period.