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OwnerBarbara Burklin Carter, David William Murphy +2inventors
InventorsBarbara Burklin Carter, David William Murphy, Peter Eric Wallin, Timothy Gerard Yorkey
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A color printer having a black-and-white lock mode is provided by the present application. The color printer has firmware programming that is accessed through an operator panel menu that allows selected personnel to place the printer in a lock mode such that the printer will only print in black-and-white. An access code is utilized to access the lock mode such that only individuals that are provided the access code can lock and unlock the color printing function of the printer. Once the printer is in lock mode, the printer will only print in black-and-white no matter what the user's intent or the print job's source. The invention is equally applicable to all types of printers and copiers including ink jet and laser type devices.
A printer that is capable of producing both color and black-and-white prints, said printer comprising a print mode selection mechanism for selecting between at least two printing modes wherein when said printer is placed in a first printing mode said printer can produce either black-and-white or color prints and wherein when said printer is placed in a second printing mode said printer can produce only black-and-white prints.
A method of controlling a printer that is designed to produce both color and black-and-white printouts, the method comprising:
A method of controlling a printer wherein said printer is capable of producing both color and black-and-white prints, said method comprising:
A printer for printing color and black-and-white images wherein the printer operates in either a locked mode or an unlocked mode such that when the printer is in the locked mode the printer will only print black-and-white images and when the printer is in the unlocked mode the printer will print either black-and-white or color images.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.