Image Forming Apparatus Trial Print Preview Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of standalone printers face challenges in confirming file contents and settings due to limited user interfaces, leading to misprinting and excessive ink or sheet consumption, especially when printing multiple pages or documents.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a trial printing function that allows users to select and print a subset of pages as trial pages, enabling confirmation of file contents and settings before completing the print job, with options to continue, interrupt, or retry the print process, minimizing ink and sheet waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a user interface such as a display or buttons is mounted on a printer to allow file selection and printing condition setting, then the printer can independently print files from removable media, but the user interface quality remains poor compared to PCs, leading to insufficient user confirmation and misprinting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trial printing function as an intermediary step between file selection and full printing. The control unit displays a trial print screen showing thumbnail images of pages, allowing users to confirm content before committing to full printing. This mediator interface compensates for the limited quality of the printer's built-in display by providing a preview mechanism that enhances user confidence in selection accuracy.
2Productivity
If full printing is executed without trial printing to improve productivity, then printing speed increases, but ink and sheet consumption increases due to misprinting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements trial printing as a preliminary action before full printing. The control unit executes a trial print of selected pages first, allowing users to verify content and settings. Only after user confirmation does the system proceed to full printing. This preliminary step prevents misprinting waste while maintaining overall productivity through the interruption/resume functionality that allows users to continue printing after review.
Solution Approach 2:
The trial printing function performs a partial print action (printing only some pages or a subset of the selected content) rather than the complete printing operation. This partial execution allows users to verify the printing output with minimal resource consumption before committing to the full printing job, thereby reducing potential waste from misprinting.
3Loss of substance
If trial printing is implemented to reduce misprinting and resource waste, then ink and sheet consumption decreases, but the printing process becomes more complex with additional user interaction steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the trial printing process dynamic and adaptable. The control unit provides options for users to interrupt the printing process at different stages and resume later. The system can switch between trial printing mode and full printing mode based on user preferences. This dynamic flexibility allows the system to simplify the process when users are confident in their selections while providing the trial option when verification is needed, thereby managing complexity adaptively rather than mandatorily.
4Measurement precision
If the printer provides detailed file content display for user confirmation, then user accuracy in selecting files and settings improves, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses thumbnail images as simplified copies of the actual file content for display purposes. Instead of requiring the full-resolution display capabilities needed for detailed content review, the system generates and displays thumbnail representations of pages. These thumbnails provide sufficient visual information for users to confirm file selection and basic content verification while maintaining compatibility with the printer's limited display capabilities, thus avoiding the need for complex high-resolution display hardware.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes: a selection section which selects a print target to be printed; an input section which inputs a print job for printing the print target selected by the selection section; an instruction section which instructs to continue the print job; and a printing section which executes a trial printing of printing a part of the print job including a plurality of pages input by the input section as a trial page, and thereafter, restarting and finishing the print job in response to that the instruction section instructs to continue the print job.