RIP Idle-Time Rendering for Faster Print Engine Restart

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Solution Overview

Problem

Print engines in printing devices often sit idle due to offline conditions or requiring attention, leading to inefficiencies in large production printing operations.

Innovation Solution

Implement a raster image processing (RIP) system that continues rendering pages during idle time, storing them in fast and secondary storage, and reallocating resources to process complex pages when the print engine resumes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the print engine sits idle waiting for resolution of offline situations, then the printing device can respond to human interaction, but large production printing operations experience significant loss of time and productivity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehuman interaction capabilityVSAvoidprinting operations efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The RIP system performs preliminary rendering actions during print engine idle time. Pages are rendered in advance and stored in fast storage before the print engine becomes available, so that when printing resumes, the rendered pages are already ready and can be printed immediately without waiting for the idle period to end.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The useful action of page rendering continues during print engine idle time rather than stopping. The RIP system maintains continuous rendering operations using available CPU resources, transforming what would be wasted idle time into productive rendering time, thus eliminating the downtime loss.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

2Productivity

If the RIP system renders all pages during idle time, then page availability is maximized, but storage space requirements increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepage rendering throughputVSAvoidstorage space consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Different storage locations are used for different page types based on their characteristics. Fast storage is used for pages that need immediate availability (critical pages), while secondary storage is used for pages that can be rendered later (non-critical pages). This local differentiation optimizes both productivity and storage usage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system does not render all pages during idle time, but only the necessary subset. Pages are selectively rendered based on their importance and the available storage capacity, avoiding excessive rendering that would waste storage resources while still ensuring sufficient page availability for continuous printing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Speed

If the RIP system uses fast storage for all rendered pages, then page retrieval speed is maximized, but storage cost and capacity constraints are exceeded

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepage retrieval speedVSAvoidstorage system configuration

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The storage system is segmented into two distinct parts: fast storage for critical pages and secondary storage for non-critical pages. This segmentation allows the system to optimize for speed where needed while using cost-effective storage where capacity is the constraint, avoiding the need for all pages to reside in expensive fast storage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Secondary storage acts as an intermediary for non-critical pages. Instead of directly using fast storage for all pages, the system uses secondary storage as an intermediate layer for pages that don't require immediate retrieval, thereby reducing the burden on fast storage and lowering overall system cost.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS20250370669A1Methods and printing system for managing printing operations during idle time

Publication Date: 2025.12.04 KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC

AI summary

A printing system includes a printing device that receives print jobs. The printing device includes a controller having a raster image processing (RIP) system that includes a RIP manager and at least one renderer. The RIP manager detects that the print engine of the printing device is idle. The RIP system renders various jobs using renderers during the idle time and stores the rendered pages in a storage for the RIP system. Once a storage threshold is reached, the RIP system allocates the renderers to render only complex pages within the print job and stores the rendered complex pages to a secondary storage. If a secondary job is active, then available renderers are allocated to rendering pages of the secondary job. Once printing resumes at the print engine, the RIP manager reallocates the rendering resources back to normal.