# US 2020/0401357 A1 · Information processing apparatus

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- Number: US 2020/0401357 A1
- Document ID: US20200401357A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/904,236
- Filed: 2020-06-17
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2019-06-20
- Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Inventors: Satoshi Hirakawa
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200401357A1

## CPC

- G06F 3/1224: {Client or server resources management}
- G06F 3/1255: {Settings incompatibility, e.g. constraints, user requirements vs. device capabilities}
- G06F 3/1204: {resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data}
- G06F 3/1206: {resulting in increased flexibility in input data format or job format or job type}
- G06F 3/1226: {Discovery of devices having required properties}
- G06F 3/1231: {Device related settings, e.g. IP address, Name, Identification}
- G06F 3/1285: {Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server}
- G06F 3/1298: {Printer language recognition, e.g. program control language, page description language}
- G06F 3/1228: {Printing driverless or using generic drivers}
- G06F 3/1247: {by conversion to printer ready format}
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

An apparatus and a method are provided in which a virtual printer service of a host computer automatically acquires from a real printer a response in response to a device search request without receiving the virtual printer generation instruction from a user, and a virtual printer configured to transmit a print job to the printer is then generated for each printer that responded to the device search request.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An information processing apparatus comprising at least one processor and a storage that stores an application, wherein execution of the application by the at least one processor causes the information processing apparatus to:
determine whether a virtual printer has been generated, the virtual printer being configured to receive print data from an operating system and instruct a printer to perform printing based on the received print data;
prompt a user to generate the virtual printer based on a determination that the virtual printer has not been generated;
search a network for a printer based on an instruction to generate the virtual printer from the user; and
generate a virtual printer for the printer found by the search.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination is performed based on an activation of the application.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein execution of the application by the at least one processor causes the information processing apparatus to:
display information about a plurality of printers found in the search;
receive a user operation for specifying information about one printer from among the displayed information about the plurality of printers; and
generate, based on reception of the user operation, a virtual printer corresponding to the one printer.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the virtual printer receives the print data from the OS, converts the received print data into print data interpretable by the one printer, and provides the print data after the conversion to the one printer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the application is activated based on booting up of the information processing apparatus.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the one printer is unable to interpret the print data generated by the operating system.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, by information about the virtual printer being notified to the operating system, the virtual printer is subjected to printer registration by the operating system.