Print system and printer device facilitating reuse of print data

• US 8,345,293 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2011
• Issued: 01/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Saeki, Iwao
• Primary Examiner(s): EBRAHIMI DEHKORDY, SAEID
• Application Number:
  US13/286,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20120044537A1
• Time in Patent Office: 427 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1203 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
• 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 3/1208 resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/121 Facilitating exception or error detection and recovery, e.g. fault, media or consumables depleted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1213 at an intermediate node or at the final node
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1214 at the submitting node
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1234 Errors handling and recovery, e.g. reprinting G06F3/1261 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1244 Job translation or job parsing, e.g. page banding
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1267 Job repository, e.g. non-scheduled jobs, delay printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1273 Print job history, e.g. logging, accounting, tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/129 in server-printer device-client configuration, e.g. print flow goes from server to printer and then bidirectional from printer to client, i.e. the client does not communicate with the server

Abstract

A print system includes a communication path, a client device which transmits print data to said communication path, a host device connected to said communication path, and a printer device which prints the print data after receiving the print data from said client device via said communication path, and automatically sends the print data together with printer output information to said host device via said communication path, said printer output information including keywords for identifying said print data.

Claims

1. A printer device connected to a client device and a host device, comprising:

a control unit that prints print data received from the client device; and

a data transfer unit that transfers image data generated from the received print data together with printer output information to the host device, the printer output information including information regarding outputting of the print data, and the printer output information including key information that serves as a key when searching for the print data.

2. The printer device as claimed in claimed in claim 1, wherein the printer output information further includes client information, the client information being received from the client device.

3. The printer device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the data transfer unit transfers the print data together with the printer output information to the host device when the client information indicates transmission of the print data, and does not send the print data together with the printer output information to the host device when the client information indicates no transmission of the print data.

4. The printer device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the data transfer unit sends the print data together with the printer output information to a selected host device that is indicated in the client information when a plurality of host devices are connected to the printer device.

5. The printer device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the data transfer unit sends the print data together with the printer output information to a selected host device when a plurality of host devices are connected to the printer device, the data processing unit selecting the selected host device by comparing the client information with a data list sent from the host devices.

6. The printer device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a data buffer that stores print data therein received from the client device;

an image rendering unit that generates image data by expanding the print data stored in the data buffer;

a frame buffer that stores therein the image data;

a printer engine that prints the image data supplied from the frame buffer; and

the data transfer unit automatically sends the image data to the host device when the printer engine prints the image data.

7. A printer device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a data buffer that stores print data therein received from the client device;

an image rendering unit that generates image data by expanding the print data stored in the data buffer;

a frame buffer that stores therein the image data;

a printer engine that prints the image data supplied from the frame buffer;

a text buffer that stores therein text data corresponding to the print data; and

the data transfer unit automatically sends at least one of the image data, the print data, and the text data to the host device when the printer engine prints the image data.

8. The printer device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a text-extraction unit that extracts the text data from the print data stored in the data buffer, and stores the text data in the text buffer.

9. The printer device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a character recognition unit that extracts the text data from the image data stored in the frame buffer, and stores the text data in the text buffer.

10. The printer device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a memory unit that stores a flag, wherein the data transfer unit selects the at least one of the image data, the print data, and the text data that is indicated by the flag.

11. The printer device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising an index-generation unit that generates index information from the text data, and the data transfer unit sends the index information as part of the text data to the host device, the index information including the key information.

12. The printer device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising an index buffer that stores therein client information received from the client device, wherein the index generation unit adds the client information to the index information generated from the text data.

13. The printer device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the data transfer unit selects, based on the index information, whether or not to send the at least one of the image data, the print data, and the text data to the host device.

14. The printer device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the data transfer unit selects, based on the index information, which data of the image data, the print data, and the text data is sent to the host device.

15. The printer device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the data transfer unit sends the at least one of the image data, the print data, and the text data to a host device that is selected based on the index information when a plurality of host devices are connected to the printer device.