Back to results
US 11,693,614 B2Granted
Methods and systems for ink use estimation
AssigneeKYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
InventorJavier A. Morales
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for estimating ink use by a printer is provided. The method involves receiving, by a computer, a request for a comingled print job comprising a plurality of print jobs to be carried out by the printer. The method also involves traversing, by the computer, pages of the comingled print job and identifying, for each page of the comingled print job, a print job of the plurality of print jobs to which the page belongs. The method also involves for each of the plurality of print jobs, calculating, by the computer, an estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job. The method also involves communicating, by the computer, to a client terminal, the estimated total amounts of ink required for printing the plurality of print jobs.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for estimating ink use by a printer, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a computer, a request for a print job to be carried out by the printer, wherein the print job comprises multiple pages to be printed;
- traversing, by the computer, the pages of the print job and calculating, for each page of the print job, an estimated amount of ink required for printing the page, wherein the traversing begins at a first page selected from the pages of the print job;
- while traversing the pages of the print job and calculating, for each page of the print job, the estimated amount of ink required for printing the page:
- calculating, by the computer, at a first predefined interval of a plurality of predefined intervals, a first snapshot of an estimated average amount of ink required for printing a number of traversed pages, and
- at each of the plurality of predefined intervals following the first predefined interval, and until a predefined ink use condition is satisfied, (i) calculating, by the computer, an updated snapshot of an estimated average amount of ink required for printing the number of traversed pages and (ii) comparing, by the computer, the updated snapshot to a preceding snapshot, wherein the predefined ink use condition relates to an output of the comparison between the updated snapshot and the preceding snapshot;
- in response to the predefined ink use condition being satisfied, calculating, by the computer, an estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job, wherein the estimated total amount of ink for printing the print job is based on the updated snapshot and a total number of pages of the print job;
- and
- communicating, by the computer, to a client terminal, the estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job.
5 more elements
A system comprising:
- a memory that stores instruction code;
- and
- a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the instruction code is executable by the processor to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a request for a print job to be carried out by a printer, wherein the print job comprises multiple pages to be printed;
- traversing the pages of the print job and calculating, for each page of the print job, an estimated amount of ink required for printing the page, wherein the traversing begins at a first page selected from the pages of the print job;
- while traversing the pages of the print job and calculating, for each page of the print job, the estimated amount of ink required for printing the page:
- calculating, at a first predefined interval of a plurality of predefined intervals, a first snapshot of an estimated average amount of ink required for printing a number of traversed pages, and
- at each of the plurality of predefined intervals following the first predefined interval, and until a predefined ink use condition is satisfied, (i) calculating an updated snapshot of an estimated average amount of ink required for printing the number of traversed pages and (ii) comparing the updated snapshot to a preceding snapshot, wherein the predefined ink use condition relates to an output of the comparison between the updated snapshot and the preceding snapshot;
- in response to the predefined ink use condition being satisfied, calculating, an estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job, wherein the estimated total amount of ink for printing the print job is based on the updated snapshot and a total number of pages of the print job;
- and
- communicating, to a client terminal, the estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job.
8 more elements
An article of manufacture comprising non-transitory data storage storing at least computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a request for a print job to be carried out by a printer, wherein the print job comprises multiple pages to be printed;
- traversing the pages of the print job and calculating, for each page of the print job, an estimated amount of ink required for printing the page, wherein the traversing begins at a first page selected from the pages of the print job;
- while traversing the pages of the print job and calculating, for each page of the print job, the estimated amount of ink required for printing the page:
- calculating, at a first predefined interval of a plurality of predefined intervals, a first snapshot of an estimated average amount of ink required for printing a number of traversed pages, and
- at each of the plurality of predefined intervals following the first predefined interval, and until a predefined ink use condition is satisfied, (i) calculating an updated snapshot of an estimated average amount of ink required for printing the number of traversed pages and (ii) comparing the updated snapshot to a preceding snapshot, wherein the predefined ink use condition relates to an output of the comparison between the updated snapshot and the preceding snapshot;
- in response to the predefined ink use condition being satisfied, calculating, an estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job, wherein the estimated total amount of ink for printing the print job is based on the updated snapshot and a total number of pages of the print job;
- and
- communicating, to a client terminal, the estimated total amount of ink required for printing the print job.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.