Image Forming Device Additional Information Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional port monitors on terminal devices, such as smartphones or tablets, face high load when determining and regenerating print job settings for image forming devices, limiting user configuration options and increasing device load during print job transmission.
Innovation Solution
An image forming device with an additional information determining part, storage, requesting part, obtaining part, applying part, and printing part, along with a terminal device featuring a display, input part, and transmission part, collaborate to allow users to configure various image forming device settings without increasing the terminal device's load, by determining necessary additional information and requesting it from the terminal device for application to the print job.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the terminal device performs all processes of determining setting items and regenerating the final print job, then the user can configure various image forming device settings, but the load on the terminal device increases extremely
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the print job processing into two segments: the terminal device generates a simple print job with basic settings, while the image forming device performs the complex process of determining additional setting items and regenerating the final print job. This segmentation allows the terminal device to maintain low complexity while the image forming device provides comprehensive configuration options.
Solution Approach 2:
The image forming device acts as an intermediary that receives the simple print job from the terminal device, determines what additional settings are needed, requests those settings from the user via the terminal device, and then regenerates the final print job with all settings applied. This intermediary role transfers the processing load from the terminal device to the image forming device.
2Ease of operation
If the port monitor is equipped with the terminal device, then the user can configure various setting items, but all processes must be performed at the terminal device resulting in extreme increase in load
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of equipping the terminal device with a port monitor to handle all processing, the patent inverts the approach by placing the port monitor functionality in the image forming device. The terminal device simply transmits the simple print job, while the image forming device performs the determination, request, and regeneration processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The image forming device serves itself by having its own port monitor that autonomously determines what additional settings are needed, requests those settings, and regenerates the final print job without requiring the terminal device to perform these complex operations.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming device comprises: an additional information determining part that determines necessity of additional information required for execution of a print job based on information received from a terminal device; a print job storage that temporarily stores therein the print job received from the terminal device when the additional information determining part determines the additional information is necessary; an additional information requesting part that requests for the additional information to the terminal device when the additional information determining part determines the additional information is necessary; an additional information obtaining part that obtains the additional information from the terminal device; a print setting applying part that applies the additional information to the print job stored in the print job storage; and a printing part that produces the printed output based on the print job to which the additional information is applied by the print setting applying part.