Dynamic Scheduling System for Printing Device Feature Management

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional printing devices lack dynamic scheduling of features and settings, leading to inefficient resource usage and maintenance, as features and settings are not tailored to specific usage contexts or times, resulting in potential misuse and reduced device lifespan.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a dynamic scheduling system that uses an artificial intelligence service to deactivate or hide features based on policies, creating a contextual user interface that adapts to time schedules, thereby conserving resources and extending device life.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If all features are immediately available based on factory defaults, then ease of operation is improved, but resource consumption increases and device lifespan decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefeature availabilityVSAvoidresource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic scheduling of feature availability based on time-of-day, day-of-week, and usage context. The system transitions from static factory defaults to dynamic feature activation, where features are enabled or disabled according to scheduled policies that match actual usage patterns, thereby reducing resource consumption during low-usage periods while maintaining ease of operation during high-usage periods

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the operational parameters of features by adjusting their availability state (enabled/disabled) based on temporal and contextual parameters. The dynamic scheduling service modifies feature parameters dynamically according to scheduled policies, optimizing the balance between ease of operation and resource consumption across different time periods and usage scenarios

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Ease of operation

If all features are immediately available based on factory defaults, then ease of operation is improved, but device lifespan decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefeature availabilityVSAvoiddevice lifespan

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The dynamic scheduling system adjusts feature availability dynamically based on usage patterns and temporal context. By scheduling features to be available only when needed and disabling them during low-usage periods, the system reduces unnecessary wear and tear on device components, thereby extending device lifespan while maintaining ease of operation when features are actually needed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Loss of energy

If features are dynamically scheduled based on policies, then resource consumption decreases, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresource consumptionVSAvoidscheduling system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a dynamic scheduling service as an intermediary layer between the user interface and the underlying printing device. This service handles the complexity of policy-based feature scheduling, translating high-level scheduling policies into specific feature activation states. The intermediary absorbs the complexity, presenting a simplified interface to users while implementing sophisticated resource management in the background

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The dynamic scheduling service operates autonomously based on pre-configured policies, automatically enabling or disabling features according to time-of-day, day-of-week, and usage context without requiring manual user intervention. This self-service approach reduces the operational complexity users would otherwise face while achieving resource optimization

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Loss of energy

If features are dynamically scheduled based on policies, then resource consumption decreases, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresource consumptionVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The dynamic scheduling service acts as an intermediary that manages system complexity centrally. It coordinates between the user interface, feature management, and underlying device components, implementing policy-based resource optimization without requiring complexity distribution across multiple system layers. The intermediary consolidates the scheduling logic, reducing overall system complexity while achieving resource consumption reduction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS11586402B2Contextual features and settings thereof for a printing device

Publication Date: 2023.02.21 KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC

AI summary

Systems and methods relate generally to contextual features for a printing device. In an example method thereof, features of a printing device configuration are queried by a firmware service. The features obtained by a first dynamic scheduling service associated with the printing device are packaged. The features packaged are retrieved to provide a features list thereof by a second dynamic scheduling service for a driver associated with the printing device. Dynamic scheduling data is generated by an artificial intelligence service including deactivating one or more of the features responsive to a policy. The generating of the dynamic scheduling data includes filtering the features using the policy by the artificial intelligence service. A dynamic user interface is created by the second dynamic scheduling service responsive to the dynamic scheduling data.