Label Printer Rasterization for Unsupported Font Printing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Label printers have limited font support and struggle to print label data created by external devices that use unsupported fonts, necessitating inefficient data transfer to a server for rasterization.
Innovation Solution
A label printer with a memory to store label data and a controller to generate print data using internal fonts, or retrieve and print data from a server when offline or online, ensuring font compatibility and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If label printer uses limited internal font support, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to external device fonts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary component between the label printer and external devices. The server receives label data from external devices, performs font conversion using its extensive font library, and sends the converted data to the label printer. This mediator approach allows the printer to maintain limited internal font support while achieving broad font compatibility through the server's font conversion capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the font processing function into separate components: external devices create label data with any fonts, the server handles font conversion using its comprehensive font library, and the label printer only needs to support basic font rendering. This segmentation allows each component to have optimized, limited functionality rather than requiring all components to support every font.
2Adaptability or versatility
If label printer transfers data to server for rasterization, then font compatibility is improved, but loss of time increases due to network transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the label printer store and process label data locally before printing. The printer can cache converted label data or pre-process fonts that are frequently used, so that when printing is needed, the data is already ready or can be quickly generated without requiring time-consuming network transmissions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic selection between offline and online processing modes. The system can determine whether to use local font conversion (faster, no network needed) or server-based conversion (more versatile, requires network) based on current conditions such as network availability, printer workload, and the specific font conversion requirements.
3Productivity
If label printer stores label data in memory, then productivity is improved by avoiding repeated transfers, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the label printer's memory serve multiple functions: storing label data, caching font information, buffering converted data, and managing print queues. By making the memory system multi-functional, the patent improves productivity through reduced data transfers while avoiding the need for separate complex storage management systems for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
A label printer includes: a printing engine; a memory; and a controller. The controller is configured to perform, when receiving a first print instruction, a first printing process including: generating first print data by rasterizing target label data using font data stored in the memory; and executing printing based on the first print data with the printing engine. The controller is configured to perform, when receiving a second print instruction: a transmission requesting process including: transmitting, to a server, a transmission request specifying the target label data; and in response to receiving second print data from the server as a response to the transmission request, a second printing process including: executing printing based on the second print data with the printing engine. The second print data is generated by the server rasterizing label data stored in the server and corresponding to the target label data specified in the transmission request.