Methods and systems for providing external processing for a printing device
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorBrent Schanding
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printing device. The printing device can be configured to communicate with a workstation and an image capturing device, to obtain an image from the image capturing device, to determine if the workstation is available to the printing device, and, when the workstation is available to the printing device, to automatically transmit the image and processing instructions to the workstation, receive a processed image from the workstation, and print the processed image. The printing device can be further configured to process the image to generate a processed image and print the processed image, when the workstation is not connected to the printing device.
Claims22
A printing device comprising:
- a processor;
- a printing mechanism;
- a memory;
- means for interfacing with a workstation and with a image capturing device;
- and
- a communications bus in communication with the processor, printing mechanism, memory and the interface means, wherein the processor is configured to:
- communicate with the workstation and the image capturing device;
- obtain an image from the image capturing device;
- determine if the workstation is available to the printing device;
- and when the workstation is available to the printing device, automatically transmit the image and processing instructions to the workstation for processing, receive a processed image from the workstation, and print the processed image.
A method of printing an image with a printing device, the image captured by an image capturing device, the method comprising:
- transmitting the image from the image capturing device to the printing device;
- determining if a workstation is available to the printing device;
- and
- when the workstation is available to the printing device, automatically transmitting the image and processing instructions to the workstation, processing the image by the workstation to generate a first processed image, transmitting the first processed image from the workstation to the printing device, and printing the first processed image with the printing device.
A computer-readable medium including instructions for printing an image with a printing device, the image captured by an image capturing device, the instructions comprising:
- transmitting the image from the image capturing device to the printing device;
- determining if a workstation is available to the printing device;
- and
- when the workstation is available to the printing device, automatically transmitting the image and processing instructions to the workstation, processing the image by the workstation to generate a first processed image, transmitting the first processed image from the workstation to the printing device, and printing the first processed image with the printing device.
A driver operated by a workstation, the driver comprising instructions to:
- obtain a device-specific image from a printing device when the printing device is connected to the workstation;
- generate a generic image from the device-specific image;
- obtain a processed image based on the generic image;
- generate a device-specific processed image based on the processed image;
- and
- transmit the device-specific image to the printing device.
A driver as claimed in claim 21, further configured to obtain processing instructions from the printing device when the printing device is connected to the workstation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.