Location-based print notifications

• US 9,323,483 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2011
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Venkatesh, Ranjeetha
• Primary Examiner(s): Hon, Ming
• Application Number:
  US13/284,213
• Publication Number:
  US 20130107312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,642 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1207 resulting in the user being informed about print result after a job submission
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1238 Secure printing, e.g. user identification, user rights for device usage, unallowed content, blanking portions or fields of a page, releasing held jobs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1259 Print job monitoring, e.g. job status
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1267 Job repository, e.g. non-scheduled jobs, delay printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1292 Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

In one implementation, a print service system communicates with a device to provide notifications related to a print job at the device based on the proximity of the device to the printer. Additionally, the print service system communicates with the printer to provide a print job to the printer.

Claims

1. A print service system, comprising:

a print job distribution module to provide a print job associated with a device to a printer;

a location module to determine, following the print job being provided to the printer, whether location information of the device and location information associated with the printer to which the print job was provided satisfy a proximity rule;

a notification module to provide a notification to the device in response to the location information of the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule, wherein the notification includes at least one of information to release the print job and a mechanism to release the print job;

a role module to determine whether a user associated with the device has an administrator role in response to the location information of the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule;

a status module to include, in the notification, status information associated with a level of a consumable in the printer in response to a determination that the user has an administrator role; and

a processor to implement the print job distribution module, the location module, the notification module, the role module, and the status module.

2. The print service system of claim 1, wherein the print job distribution module is to provide a release instruction to the printer in response to a print request received from the device after the notification is provided to the device.

3. The print service system of claim 1, wherein the print job distribution module generates the print job in response to receipt of a print request;

and wherein the printer service system further comprises;

a scheduler module to determine whether the print job satisfies a predetermined time condition, wherein the notification module is to provide the notification to the device in response to one or both of (i) the location information associated with the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule and (ii) the print job satisfying the predetermined time condition.

4. The print service system of claim 1, further comprising:

a printer location registry including location information associated with each printer from a plurality of printers, the printer location registry including the location information associated with the printer.

5. The print service system of claim 1, wherein the mechanism to release the print job includes a release code associated with the print job.

6. The print service system of claim 1, wherein the notification includes status information associated with the print job.

7. The print service system of claim 1, further comprising:

a status module to receive status information associated with the printer, the notification including the status information.

8. A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions that when executed at a processor cause the processor to:

provide a print job associated with a device to a printer;

receive location information from the device following the print job being provided to the printer;

receive status information associated with the printer, wherein the status information is associated with a level of a consumable in the printer;

determine whether the location information received from the device and location information associated with the printer satisfy a proximity rule, wherein the proximity rule defines a minimum distance condition between the device and the printer;

determine whether a user associated with the device has an administrator role in response to the location information of the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule;

provide a notification that includes at least one of information to release the print job and a mechanism to release the print job to the device in response to the proximity rule being satisfied; and

provide, in the notification, the status information in response to a determination that the user has an administrator role.

9. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the status information includes quantity information related to the consumable of the printer.

10. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the status information includes an operational condition of the printer.

11. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising code representing instructions that when executed at a processor cause the processor to:

receive a configuration parameter from the device; and

apply the configuration parameter to the printer.

12. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the location information associated with the device is first location information associated with the device, the processor-readable medium further comprising code representing instructions that when executed at a processor cause the processor to:

receive second location information from the device;

receive a configuration parameter from the device; and

apply the configuration parameter to the printer in response to the second location information received from the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule.

13. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the notification is a first notification, the processor-readable medium further comprising code representing instructions that when executed at a processor cause the processor to:

provide the print job to the printer in response to receipt of a print request from the device; and

provide a second notification to the device in response to the location information being received from the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule, the notification including the status information and the second notification including a release code associated with the print job.

14. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the notification is a first notification, the processor-readable medium further comprising code representing instructions that when executed at a processor cause the processor to:

provide the print job to the printer in response to a first print request from the device;

provide a second notification to the device in response to the location information being received from the device and the location information associated with the printer satisfying the proximity rule, the notification including the status information, the second notification including a release code associated with the print job; and

provide a release instruction to the printer in response to a second print request received from the device in response to the second notification.