Patent Application
20110149335
The present invention relates to computer systems, and particularly relates to a processor-implemented method and system of printing a plurality of electronic documents on a computer printer, where the printer is logically coupled to a plurality of computer systems.
A typical company may share a computer printer among a set of its employees (e.g., over a computer network). The printer typically prints a cover sheet for each print job in order to identify the owner of the print job and to allow sorting or delivery of the printed pages to the right person. Unfortunately, such cover sheets are usually discarded once the print job has been picked up, leading to significant waste of paper.
One prior art system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,279, discusses outputting cover sheets for print jobs from a computer printer. Referring to
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Another prior art system, described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040156064, discussed optimizes printing on shared printers to output documents as fast as possible using multiple print engines. However, this prior art system also fails to teach conserving paper when printing such cover sheets.
Another prior art system (from FinePrint Software, LLC) provides a client-side software solution that allows users to manage print jobs after printing (e.g., reviewing the print job, deleting pages, shrinking multiple pages into one page, merging print jobs). This prior art system merges multiple pages into one. However, the prior art system requires significant manual effort by the user.
Therefore, a processor-implemented method and system of printing a plurality of electronic documents on a computer printer, where the printer is logically coupled to a plurality of computer systems, is needed.
The present invention provides a processor-implemented method and system of printing a plurality of electronic documents on a computer printer, where the printer is logically coupled to a plurality of computer systems. In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include (1) bundling requests for printing a set of the documents from at least one user of at least one of the computer systems, where the bundling includes (a) delaying each of the requests by a certain amount of time and (b) reordering a print queue so that the documents from the user form a contiguous set of documents from the user, (2) outputting one cover sheet from the printer for the contiguous set, and (3) printing the contiguous set on the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the bundling further includes reordering the print queue of the printer so that the documents from the user form the contiguous set of documents from the user. In an exemplary embodiment, the bundling further includes reordering the print queue of a computer server, where the computer server is logically coupled to the printer, so that the documents from the user form the contiguous set of documents from the user. In an exemplary embodiment, the bundling further includes reordering the print queue of a client computer system, where the client computer system is logically coupled to the printer, so that the documents from the user form the contiguous set of documents from the user.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include, if a request is received to print a set of the documents from at least one user, a present user, of at least one of the computer systems, (a) printing a first document from the set of documents on the printer, (b) if the next request for printing on the printer is from the present user, foregoing printing a cover sheet for the present user on the printer, and (c) if the next request for printing on the printer is from another user, a subsequent user, of at least one of the computer systems, outputting a cover sheet for the present user on the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the foregoing includes having the foregoing performed by the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the foregoing includes having the foregoing performed by a computer server, where the computer server is logically coupled to the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the outputting includes, if the printer receives an indication that an output tray of the printer is empty, foregoing printing a cover sheet for the present user on the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the foregoing includes having the foregoing performed by the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the foregoing includes having the foregoing performed by a computer server, where the computer server is logically coupled to the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include, if a particular one of the documents from at least one user of at least one of the computer systems contains an odd number of pages, printing information of the cover sheet for the user on the back of the last page of the particular one of the documents. In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include, for each of the documents, outputting a blank sheet before printing the document on the printer.
The present invention also provides a computer program product usable with a programmable computer having readable program code embodied therein of printing a plurality of electronic documents on a computer printer, where the printer is logically coupled to a plurality of computer systems. In an exemplary embodiment, the computer program product includes (1) computer readable code for bundling requests for printing a set of the documents from at least one user of at least one of the computer systems, wherein the computer readable code for bundling comprises (a) computer readable code for delaying each of the requests by a certain amount of time and (b) computer readable code for reordering a print queue so that the documents from the user form a contiguous set of documents from the user, (2) computer readable code for outputting one cover sheet from the printer for the contiguous set, and (3) computer readable code for printing the contiguous set on the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the computer readable code for bundling further includes computer readable code for reordering the print queue of the printer so that the documents from the user form the contiguous set of documents from the user. In an exemplary embodiment, the computer readable code for bundling further includes computer readable code for reordering the print queue of a computer server, where the computer server is logically coupled to the printer, so that the documents from the user form the contiguous set of documents from the user. In an exemplary embodiment, the computer readable code for bundling further includes computer readable code for reordering the print queue of a client computer system, where the client computer system is logically coupled to the printer, so that the documents from the user form the contiguous set of documents from the user.
The present invention provides a processor-implemented method and system of printing a plurality of electronic documents on a computer printer, where the printer is logically coupled to a plurality of computer systems. In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include (1) bundling requests for printing a set of the documents from at least one user of at least one of the computer systems, where the bundling includes (a) delaying each of the requests by a certain amount of time and (b) reordering a print queue so that the documents from the user form a contiguous set of documents from the user, (2) outputting one cover sheet from the printer for the contiguous set, and (3) printing the contiguous set on the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include, if a request is received to print a set of the documents from at least one user, a present user, of at least one of the computer systems, (a) printing a first document from the set of documents on the printer, (b) if the next request for printing on the printer is from the present user, foregoing printing a cover sheet for the present user on the printer, and (c) if the next request for printing on the printer is from another user, a subsequent user, of at least one of the computer systems, outputting a cover sheet for the present user on the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include, if a particular one of the documents from at least one user of at least one of the computer systems contains an odd number of pages, printing information of the cover sheet for the user on the back of the last page of the particular one of the documents. In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include, for each of the documents, outputting a blank sheet before printing the document on the printer.
In an exemplary embodiment, the user is human being. In an exemplary embodiment, the user is a computer system. In an exemplary embodiment, the user is a computer software application.
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In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes, for each of the documents, outputting a blank sheet before printing the document on the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the outputting includes outputting a blank sheet of paper before printing the document on the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the outputting includes outputting a blank sheet of a durable material before printing the document on the printer. In an exemplary embodiment, the durable material is a plastic material.
The present invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, and microcode.
Furthermore, the present invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer system or any instruction execution system. The computer program product includes the instructions that implement the method of the present invention. A computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid-state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk—read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk—read/write (CD-R/W), and DVD.
A computer system suitable for storing and/or executing program code includes at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at least some program code to reduce the number of times code is retrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output (I/O) devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the computer system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to the computer system in order to enable the computer system to become coupled to other computer systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modems, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters. The computer system can also include an operating system and a compute file-system.
Having fully described a preferred embodiment of the invention and various alternatives, those skilled in the art will recognize, given the teachings herein, that numerous alternatives and equivalents exist which do not depart from the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention not be limited by the foregoing description, but only by the appended claims.
