Title of Invention

A METHOD FOR PRINTING ARBITRARY NUMBER OF COPIES OF A DOCUMENT

Abstract

The invention proposes a method which enables the user to set the preferences in a print job at page level using single user friendly interface. The method is for the customization of the print job at page level and can be achieved with the addition of modules which can be easily integrated with the existing print set up. The solution enables the user to avoid repetitive task of setting print job preferences for each page and then printing. The method enables the user to obtain arbitrary number of selected copies of arbitrary number of selected pages in a given job through single user friendly interface.

Full Text

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to printing technology and in particular relates to a method which enables the user to select preferences in a print job at page level, including number of copies to be printed, through friendly user interface. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of printing arbitrary number of copies of arbitrarily selected individual pages of a document in a single print-job request. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART In US Patent 6,687,019 titled "a device and method of printing data in multiple copies" has been described. In the said patent, a fixed number of print copies as desired are set and the data is converted to a predetermined format suitable for printing. The converted data is stored in a storage unit when the copy mode is the collated copy mode or directly printed when the copy mode is the uncollated copy mode. In another US Patent 6,707,574 titled "a method of providing print job attributes for later access before printing the job" includes collecting and storing print job attributes of the print job in a manner that makes them accessible for viewing. The attributes may later be viewed in response to a user query of a stored print job. From the attributes, a user can determine when and whether the stored print job should be printed. The collected attributes may also be used to determine the order of printing jobs stored in a print queue. The print job data is converted to a format suitable for printing and stored in a data storage unit. All the attributes for the print job is also stored in the storage. This is done so that the document need not be sent repeatedly for printing if a document needs to be printed more than once. The solution provided for customization of preferences in the print job is not generic, in the sense that the preferences in the print job cannot be selected through single user friendly interface. The existing art would require additional hardware support for the implementation. The existing methods/ solutions cannot be easily integrated with the existing setup. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to invent a method for printing arbitrary number of copies of arbitrarily selected individual pages of a document in a single print-job request. It is another object of this invention to provide a method which enables the user to set the preferences in a print job at page level and customize the print job preferences through a single user friendly interface. It is another object of the invention to provide a method for customization of the print job at page level with the addition of software modules which can be easily integrated with the existing print set up. It is another object of the invention to enable the user to obtain arbitrary number of selected copies of arbitrary number of selected pages in a given job through single user friendly interface. The present invention provides a generic solution in the form of a simple user interface for the user to customize printing for each of the pages in the print job. The method enables the user to set the preferences at page level in the print job through single user friendly interface. The solution is based on addition of software modules and can be easily integrated with existing setup. Accordingly, the present invention comprises a method for printing arbitrary number of copies of a document with a single print-job request comprising the steps of: a. enabling a printing command by the user; b. selecting the required page to be printed using a user interface; c. changing the print preferences as per the print job; d. checking for confirming the changes done in the print preferences; and e. sending the print job for printing if changes have been done successfully. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings and the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows the set up required in the prior art while printing. Figure 2 shows the user interface of the prior art while printing. Figure 3 shows the flowchart for selection of the print job under collated and uncollated modes in the prior art. Figure 4 illustrates an implementation according to the present invention. Figure 5 shows one of the solutions that can be provided to the users for setting their preferences for each page in a single print job. Figure 6 shows a diagram for printing any number of copies of any selected arbitrary page in a single print job. figure 7 shows a flow diagram according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. Before describing the various aspects and details of the present invention it will be useful to describe the context in which the invention is used. Consequently, a preliminary discussion that refers to Figures is hereby provided. First let us see how the invention in the prior art works. Figure 1, shows a block diagram of a pnnting device to print the data in multiple copies according to the Prior art a data register unit (200) sets an environment to print the data made in the computer. That is, the data register unit stores information pertaining to various print parameters set by a user for printing a document. Such print parameters including, but not limited to, a collated or uncollated copy mode and number of copies to be printed. A data storage unit (300) stores the print data generated in the computer, and the data is converted at a data conversion unit (500) to be suitable for printing. A data print unit (400) prints the data stored in the data storage unit (300) according to the environment determined at the data register unit (200). The data conversion unit (500) converts the data made in the computer to a data suitable for printing at the data print unit (400). After the data made in the computer is converted to a suitable form for printing at the data 'conversion unit (500), a data control unit (100) generates a control signal to store the data made in the computer at the data storage unit (300) and also generates a control signal to print the data at the data output unit (400) which is stored in the data storage unit (300). The Prior art invention now will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 2 and 3, in which the printing device for printing the data in multiple copies and the method of using the device to print the data in multiple copies will be described in more detail. First of all, it is determined whether the data at the data print unit (400), which is made in computer, should be printed (S100). That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the decision is made by checking the data register unit (200) of the computer, to determine whether a print control program to perform a print command has been executed. Then, it is determined whether the mode to print the created data has been set to a collated copy mode (S210). As shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to check the collated copy mode setting by reviewing whether collated copy (210) has been selected. When the collated copy mode is set, a number of print copies (230), shown in FIG. 2, is set according to the quantity desired to print the created data (S220). After setting the number of copies, it is determined whether the command to print the data has been executed (S310). It is possible to execute the print command by activating a print command button (220) shown in FIG. 2. When the print command button (220) is activated a print command is input to the printer and the data conversion unit (500) converts the data from the computer to a printable data suitable for printing at the data print unit (400) (S320). The printable form of data for printing is the print image made of the PCL (Printer Control Language) in order to convert to the data printable at the data print unit (400). The converted data is stored in the data storage unit (300) (S330). That is, a data storage device of the computer called a hard disk drive is used as the storage device. The reason for storing the converted data in the hard disk is described herein below. Conventionally when printing the data in the collated copy mode, the number of print images of each page of a document created was identical to the number of print copies desired. That is, if multiple copies are set to three, for example, then in order to print the data of one page, three separate print images were created to print the data. The prior art invention, however, stores the print image on the hard disk when printing multiple copies of data, then the print image stored on the hard disk is referenced for the purpose of printing multiple copies without the need to create additional print images again. After the storage, the stored data is output and printed at the data print unit (400) in the collated copy mode (S400). After printing, it is then determined whether the selected number of copies have been printed (S500). If the selected number of copies has not been printed, the process returns to step S400 to print the next copy. If the selected number of copies have been printed the print operation ends. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S210 that the collated copy mode is not set, then, in step S601, it is determined whether or not the uncollated copy mode is set. If not, the print process ends. When the uncollated copy is set the number of print copies is set to the number of copies desired (S620). Then, in step S630, the printer determines whether a print command is received. Once the print command is received, the printer receives the data from the computer and, in step S640, converts the data to a print image in a format (PCL) suitable for printing at the data print unit (400). The print image is then printed in the uncollated copy mode (S650) according to the number of copies set in step S620. Figure 4 illustrates the screen shot of the present invention where the user can choose the page range and number of copies. Also he can choose whether the printing should be collated. figure 5 illustrates the screen shot of the present invention where the user can choose the page range and number of copies. Additionally a screen area is displayed where the pages are individually displayed whereby the user is given a user friendly interface to select the pages. This figure depicts one of the solutions for the invention. User can set the number of copies for each page in the document by selecting each page in the document and setting the option. Figure 6 illustrates the screen shot of the present invention where the user can choose the page range and number of copies. Additionally the number of copies of each of the pages can be entered in braces. This figure depicts one of the solutions for the invention. User can set the number of copies for any arbitrary page or range of pages by entering the page number and the copies of the same. Figure 7 gives a flow chart of the present implementation. First the printing command is enabled The page to be printed is selected in the user interface. Using the user interface printing preferences like layout or number of copies can be changed. Then check is done for confirming the changes done. If the changes are successfully done print job is send to the printer device. If not again the pages are selected and the cycle is repeated. In the current setup, users cannot customize printing of a number of different pages in a single print job. Users must enter their requirements for each page separately before printing. This task is repetitive and time consuming. The current invention provides an easy to use user interface using which the user can easily set preferences for each page before sending the document to printer in a single print job. The method claimed in the invention speaks of a generic method for printing arbitrary pages in a document that can be incorporated in software and hence can be easily incorporated in any existing setup with the addition of software modules. Since no additional hardware is required to support this invention, the solution is cost effective. > The existing solution is shown in Figure 3. The pages to be printed by the user in the specified ranges can be printed immediately or subsequently depending on the selection of 'uncollated' mode or the 'collated mode'. > The new solution #1 is given in Figure 5. When user wants to print a document the user interface as shown in figure 5 will be displayed. User will be given an option to select the page in the document and set the number of copies for each page, by default the number of copies will always be one. In case, for a page, the page number is mentioned in the page range column and the number of copies is not mentioned in "copies" column then the default value of one will be taken. For other pages the number of copies mentioned in brackets will be taken into account, as the default value is not applicable in these cases. When the user wants to print, the print job will be created based on the user preferences and spooled before being sent to the printing device. The page(s) that are not required to be printed in the current print job are set as gray shade. All the remaining pages will be printed in the current print job as selected by the user. > The new solution #2 is given in Figure 6. In this method user will be able to specify the number of copies for each page or a range of pages before creating the print job which will be spooled before being sent to the printing device. The user selects pages to be printed in the specified ranges including the number of copies required in the individual range. It can be noted that the solution enables the user to specify all the above said preferences for the print job Including arbitrary number of selected copies of arbitrary number of selected pages through single user friendly interface. As per the method proposed in the invention, in order to set the preferences for printing the required number of copies of the selected page(s) in the current print job, the user selects options provided in the user friendly interface as explained below; 1. Solution 1: This solution enables the user to select not only the pages and the copies to be printed but also the page(s) that will not be printed in the current print job. Refer to Figure 5. 2. Solution 2: This solution enables the user to specify the pages to be printed in ranges as well as the number of copies required in braces as shown in Figure 6. It is to be noted that the user is able to specify his preferences at page level and obtain print job of arbitrary number of selected copies of arbitrary number of selected pages. The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, these embodiments are merely illustrative, and not restrictive of the invention. For example, a receiver device can also include other elements such as copier, printer, disk drives etc. Memory also contains additional information such as applications programs, network, communication programs, operating system software data etc. Although the scanning and sending of the document is done by the interface between the scanner and the GSM module, Local Area Network, Internet or the Bluetooth mobile as have been described, it should be apparent that other methods and types of scanning and forwarding can be provided. In the description herein, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of components and/or methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that an embodiment of the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other apparatus, systems, assemblies, methods, components, materials, parts, and/or the like. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not specifically shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments of the present invention. Embodiments of the invention may be implemented by using a programmed general purpose digital computer, by using application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, field programmable gate arrays, optical, chemical, biological, quantum or nano-engineered systems, components and mechanisms may be used. In general, the functions of the present invention can be achieved by any means as is known in the art. Distributed or networked systems, components and circuits can be used. Communication, or transfer, of data may be wired, wireless, or by any other means. It will also be appreciated that one or more of the elements depicted in the drawings/figures can also be implemented in a more separated or integrated manner, or even removed or rendered as inoperable in certain cases, as is useful in accordance with a particular application. It is also within the spirit and scope of the present invention to implement a program or code that can be stored in a machine-readable medium to permit a computer to perform any of the methods described above. Additionally, any signal arrows in the drawings/Figures should be considered only as exemplary, and not limiting, unless otherwise specifically noted. Furthermore, the term "or" as used herein is generally intended to mean "and/or" unless othenrwise indicated. Combinations of components or steps will also be considered as being noted, where terminology is foreseen as rendering the ability to separate or combine is unclear. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, "a", "an", and "the" includes plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The foregoing description of illustrated embodiments of the present invention, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed herein. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes only, various equivalent modifications are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize and appreciate. As indicated, these modifications may be made to the present invention in light of the foregoing description of illustrated embodiments of the present invention and are to be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, while the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosures, and it will be appreciated that in some instances some features of embodiments of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth. Therefore, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the essential scope and spirit of the present invention. It is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular terms used in following claims and/or to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include any and all embodiments and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims. WE CLAIM 1. A method for printing arbitrary number of copies of a document with a single print-job request comprising the steps of: (a) enabling a printing command by the user; (b) selecting the required page to be printed using a user interface; (c) changing the print preferences as per the print job; (d) checking for confirming the changes done in the print preferences; and (e) sending the print job for printing if changes have been done successfully. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the print preferences include page layout and number of copies. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pages to be printed in the specified ranges can be printed immediately or subsequently depending on the selection of an 'uncollated' mode or a 'collated mode'. 4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pages to be printed and not to be printed are marked uniquely to distinguish in the print job. 5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a user selects pages to be printed in the specified ranges including the number of copies required in an individual range. 6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pages not be printed are configurable by the user in a print job. 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user specify the pages to be printed in ranges and the total number of copies required in braces. 8. A method for printing arbitrary number of copies of a document with a single print-job request substantially herein described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings figures 5 to 7.

Documents:

1083-che-2004-abstract.pdf

1083-che-2004-claims filed.pdf

1083-che-2004-claims grand.pdf

1083-che-2004-correspondnece-others.pdf

1083-che-2004-correspondnece-po.pdf

1083-che-2004-description(complete) filed.pdf

1083-che-2004-description(complete) grand.pdf

1083-che-2004-drawings.pdf

1083-che-2004-form 1.pdf

1083-che-2004-form 19.pdf

1083-che-2004-form 26.pdf

1083-che-2004-form 3.pdf

1083-che-2004-form 5.pdf