Job interrupt for electronic copying/printing machines

A method for producing prints from an interrupt job in a printing apparatus having a printing device responsive to electronic imaging signals and a print queue containing a plurality of print jobs in a preselected job file succession with each of the print jobs including electronic imaging signals representative of image information on a document and corresponding printing instructions for performing the print job, comprising the steps of:

• producing prints for the corresponding electronic imaging signals of each successive print job in the print queue in response to processing of printing instructions from the print jobs in the print queue;
• forming the interrupt job by programming printing instructions for the interrupt job, providing electronic imaging signals representative of image information on a document with a plurality of pages, and combining the printing instructions with the electronic imaging signals;
• interrupting the job file succession in the print queue for inserting the interrupt job at a selected location in the job file succession for printing the interrupt job at an earliest logical point and interrupting the print job currently being printed when the printer detects the interrupt job;
• reprogramming the printing apparatus with the printing instructions of the interrupt job;
• producing prints of the interrupt job in response to the reprogrammed printing instructions;
• deleting the interrupt job once the interrupt job has been printed completely unless the printing instructions of the interrupt job indicate that the interrupt job should be saved;
• reprogramming the printing apparatus with the printing instructions for the interrupted job upon detecting the completion of printing of the interrupt job;
• and
• resuming printing of the interrupted print job when a current operating mode of the printing device is compatible with the printing instructions for the interrupt job.