Method and system to automatically convert a file format and image forming apparatus used in the same

• US 20070146758A1
• Filed: 10/11/2006
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HP Printing Korea Co., Ltd. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Hyung-ho
• Granted Patent: US 8,526,018 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.130
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1297 Printer code translation, conversion, emulation, compression; Configuration of printer parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00347 with another still picture apparatus, e.g. hybrid still picture apparatus circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between image input and image output device H04N1/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00912 Arrangements for controlling a still picture apparatus or components thereof not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32496 Changing the task performed, e.g. reading and transmitting, receiving and reproducing, copying facsimile mode changing H04N1/333
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0067 Converting to still picture data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0068 Converting from still picture data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A method to automatically convert a format of a file through an image forming apparatus, the method including displaying list of tasks executable by the image forming apparatus and a list of files stored in the image forming apparatus, selecting a task to be executed from the list of tasks and a file from one or more files stored in the image forming apparatus that is an object of the selected task, converting a format of data of the selected file into a bitmap format and converting the bitmap format of the data into a format that is compatible with the selected task, and executing the selected task using the converted file.

Claims

1. A method to automatically convert a format of a file using an image forming apparatus, comprising:

selecting a task to be executed by the image forming apparatus, and selecting a file that is an object of the selected task from one or more stored files stored in the image forming apparatus;

converting a format of data of the selected file into a format that is compatible with the selected task; and

executing the selected task using the converted file.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selected task is one of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending, and e-mailing tasks.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more files stored in the image forming apparatus comprises:

files that are stored after being used in a task of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending/receiving, e-mailing, and file receiving from a host to control the image forming apparatus.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a list of tasks executable by the image forming apparatus and a list of files stored in the image forming apparatus,

wherein the selecting of the task comprises selecting a task from the displayed list of tasks and selecting a file from the displayed list of files.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the converting of the format of the data comprises:

converting the format of the data of the selected file into a bitmap format; and

converting the bitmap format of the data into the format that is compatible with the selected task.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the displaying operation comprises:

displaying icons representing tasks of the list of tasks; and

showing option information necessary to execute the tasks.

7. An image forming apparatus to automatically convert a file format and execute a task, comprising:

a storage unit to store at least one file;

a input unit through which a user selects a task to be executed and a file from the at least one file stored in the storage unit that is an object of the selected task;

a data converter to convert a format of data of the selected file into a format that is compatible with the selected task; and

a controller to control the task to be executed using the converted file.

8. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the selected task is one of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending, and e-mailing tasks.

9. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the storage unit stores files that have been used in a task of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending/receiving, and file receiving from a host to control the image forming apparatus.

10. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising:

a display unit to display a list of tasks executable by the image forming apparatus and a list of files stored in the storage unit, wherein the list of tasks is stored in the storage unit and a user selects one task from the list of tasks and one file from the list of files, which are displayed on the display unit, through the input unit.

11. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the data converter converts the format of the data of the selected file into a bitmap format and converts the bitmap format of the data into the format that is compatible with the selected task.

12. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the display unit displays icons representing tasks of the list of tasks and option information necessary to execute the tasks.

13. A system to automatically convert a file format using an image forming apparatus, comprising:

an input unit through which a user selects a task to execute using the image forming apparatus and a file from one or more files stored in the image forming apparatus that is an object of the selected task;

a host having a communication interface to transmit the selected task and the selected file to the image forming apparatus; and

the image forming apparatus to convert an format of data of the transmitted file into a format that is compatible with the selected task and to execute the transmitted task using the converted file.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the selected task is one of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending, and e-mailing tasks.

15. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the one or more files stored in the image forming apparatus comprises:

a file that is stored after being used in a task of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending/receiving, e-mailing, and file receiving from the host.

16. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the host further comprises:

a display unit to display a list of tasks executable by the image forming apparatus and a list of files stored in the image forming apparatus,

wherein the list of tasks and the list of files are received from the image forming apparatus through the communication interface, and the user selects one task from the list of tasks and one file from the list of files, which are displayed on the display unit, through the input unit.

17. The system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the display unit displays icons representing the tasks of the list of tasks and option information necessary to execute the tasks.

18. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a control unit to determine whether a format of a selected file is compatible with a selected task; and

a conversion unit to convert the format of the selected file to a compatible format compatible with the selected task using the data converter when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task,

wherein the control unit controls the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the selected file when the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task, and controls the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the converted file when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task.

19. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

a storage unit,

wherein the control unit extracts the selected file from the storage unit of the image forming apparatus to determine whether the format of the extracted file is compatible with the selected task.

20. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the storage unit is an internal storage unit internal to the image forming apparatus.

21. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the storage unit is an external storage unit external to the image forming apparatus.

22. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the conversion unit converts the format of the selected file directly to the compatible format, and the control unit controls the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the converted file using the image forming apparatus.

23. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the conversion unit converts the format of the selected file indirectly to the compatible format, and the control unit controls the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the converted file using the image forming apparatus.

24. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 23, wherein the conversion unit converts the format of the selected file to an intermediate format and converts the intermediate format of the selected file to the compatible format, and the image forming apparatus performs the selected task with the file having the compatible format.

25. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

a display unit to display a list of one or more tasks and a list of one or more files,

wherein the selected task and the selected file are selected from the displayed list of one or more tasks and the displayed list of one or more files, respectively.

26. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising:

at least one predetermined task unit to perform the selected task with the selected file when the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task, and with the converted file when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task.

27. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein the at least one predetermined task unit is selected from a printing unit, a facsimile unit, an e-mail unit, a scanning unit, and a photocopying unit.

28. An image forming system, comprising:

an image forming apparatus, comprising;

a control unit to determine whether a format of a selected file is compatible with a selected task, and

a conversion unit to convert the format of the selected file to a compatible format compatible with the selected task using the data converter when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task,

wherein the control unit controls the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the selected file when the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task, and controls the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the converted file when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task; and

a host device, comprising;

a display unit to display a list of one or more tasks and a list of one or more files,

wherein the selected task and the selected file are selected from the displayed list of one or more tasks and the displayed list of one or more files, respectively.

29. A method of performing a selected task using a selected file and an image forming apparatus including a data converter, the method comprising:

determining whether a format of a selected file is compatible with a selected task;

performing the selected task with the selected file using the image forming apparatus when the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task; and

converting the format of the selected file to a compatible format compatible with the selected task using the data converter and performing the selected task with the converted file using the image forming apparatus when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task.

30. The method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the determining of whether the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task comprises:

extracting the selected file from an internal storage unit of the image forming apparatus; and

determining whether the format of the extracted file is compatible with the selected task.

31. The method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the determining of whether the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task comprises:

extracting the selected file from an external storage unit external to the image forming apparatus; and

determining whether the format of the extracted file is compatible with the selected task.

32. The method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the converting of the format of the selected file comprises:

converting the format of the selected file directly to the compatible format using the data converter and performing the selected task with the converted file using the image forming apparatus.

33. The method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the converting of the format of the selected file comprises:

converting the format of the selected file indirectly to the compatible format using the data converter and performing the selected task with the converted file using the image forming apparatus.

34. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein the converting of the format of the selected file indirectly to the compatible format comprises:

converting the format of the selected file to an intermediate format using the data converter; and

converting the intermediate format of the selected file to the compatible format using the data converter and performing the selected task with the file having the compatible format using the image forming apparatus.

35. The method as claimed in claim 29, further comprising:

displaying a list of one or more tasks and a list of one or more files on a display unit of the image forming apparatus,

wherein the selected task and the selected file are selected from the displayed list of one or more tasks and the displayed list of one or more files, respectively.

36. The method as claimed in claim 29, further comprising:

displaying a list of one or more tasks and a list of one or more files on a display unit of a host connected with the image forming apparatus,

wherein the selected task and the selected file are selected from the displayed list of one or more tasks and the displayed list of one or more files, respectively.

37. The method as claimed in claim 29, further comprising:

selecting a predetermined task unit of the image forming apparatus to perform the selected task with the selected file when the format of the selected file is compatible with the selected task, and with the converted file when the format of the selected file is not compatible with the selected task.

38. The method as claimed in claim 37, wherein the predetermined task unit is at least one of a printing unit, a facsimile unit, an e-mail unit, a scanning unit, and a photocopying unit.

39. A method of automatically converting a format of a file through an image forming apparatus, comprising:

receiving a request to perform a task among a plurality of tasks that can be performed together with a file among one or more stored files to be associated with the task;

converting the file data to a format compatible with the task; and

executing the task using the converted file.

40. The method as claimed in claim 39, wherein the task requested to be performed is one of a printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending, and e-mailing.

41. The method as claimed in claim 39, wherein the one or more files stored in the image forming apparatus comprises:

files that are stored after being used in a task of printing, scanning, photocopying, facsimile sending/receiving, e-mailing, and file receiving from a host to control the image forming apparatus.

42. The method as claimed in claim 39, wherein the file data is compatible with the requested task when the formats of the data are the same.

43. The method as claimed in claim 39, wherein the file data is compatible with the requested task when the requested task and the file can be received together in a same transmission.