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US 6,184,995 B2Granted
Printer apparatus, control method thereof, and printer system
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsHideki Sakai, Junichi Mori, Takashi Okazawa, Yasuko Shibahara
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
It is an object to provide a printer apparatus, a control method of such an apparatus, and a printer system, in which a proper control can be performed in consideration of a change in network load. When a load of a transmission path is measured and a data reception from a host is interrupted, a waiting time of the data is extended in accordance with the measured load, thereby realizing the object. The set operating conditions are transmitted to the host and are also automatically set into the other printers connected to the network to which the printer is connected via the host, thereby realizing the object.
Claims74
A printer system comprising a plurality of printer apparatuses and a host computer for transmitting print data to the plurality of printer apparatuses, said host computer being connected to said plurality of printer apparatuses through a network,
- wherein said host computer comprises:
- a receiver adapted for receiving operating conditions set in a first printer apparatus of said plurality of printer apparatuses from the first printer apparatus;
- and
- a transmitter adapted for transmitting the operating conditions received by the receiver to said plurality of printer apparatuses excluding the first printer apparatus, and
- wherein each of said plurality of printer apparatuses comprises:
- a discrimination circuit adapted for, if a data reception process of data from said host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy, and
- a processing circuit adapted for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if the discrimination circuit discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if the discrimination circuit discriminates that the load is not heavy.
4 more elements
A printer connected to a host computer via a network, said printer comprising:
- a discrimination circuit adapted for, if a data reception process of data from the host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- a processing circuit adapted for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if said discrimination circuit discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if said discrimination circuit discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A printer comprising:
- a discriminating circuit adapted for discriminating whether said printer is connected to a host computer via a network or connected directly to the host computer;
- a setting circuit adapted for setting a first waiting time if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said printer is connected directly to the host computers and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said printer is connected to the host computer via the network;
- and
- a processing circuit adapted for performing a data reception process of data from the host computer,
- wherein, if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said printer is connected directly to the host computer, said processing circuit discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said printer is connected to the host computer via the network, said processing circuit discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A data reception apparatus connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network, said data reception apparatus comprising:
- a discrimination circuit adapted for, if a data reception process of data from a host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- a processing circuit adapted for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if said discrimination circuit discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if said discrimination circuit discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A data reception apparatus comprising:
- a discriminating circuit adapted for discriminating whether said data reception apparatus is connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network or connected directly to the data transmission apparatus;
- a setting circuit adapted for setting a first waiting time if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network;
- and
- a processing circuit adapted for performing a data reception process of data received from the data transmission apparatus,
- wherein, if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, said processing circuit discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said discriminating circuit discriminates that said data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network, said processing circuit discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A method operative in a printer connected to a host computer via a network, said method comprising the steps of:
- if a data reception process of data from the host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if said discriminating step discriminates that the load is heavy, and suspending the data reception process if said discriminating step discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A method operative in a printer, said method comprising the steps of:
- discriminating whether the printer is connected to a host computer via a network or connected directly to the host computer;
- setting a first waiting time if said discriminating step discriminates that the printer is connected directly to the host computers and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said discriminating step discriminates that the printer is connected to the host computer via the network;
- and
- performing a data reception process of data from the host computer,
- wherein, if said discriminating step discriminates that the printer is connected directly to the host computer, said processing step discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said discriminating step discriminates that the printer is connected to the host computer via the network, said processing step discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A method operative in a data reception apparatus connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network, said method comprising the steps of:
- if a data reception process of data from a host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if said discriminating step discriminates that the load is heavy, and suspending the data reception process if said discriminating step discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A method operative in a data reception apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:
- discriminating whether the data reception apparatus is connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network or connected directly to the data transmission apparatus;
- setting a first waiting time if said discriminating step discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said discriminating step discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network;
- and
- performing a data reception process of data received from the data transmission apparatus,
- wherein, if said discriminating step discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, said processing step discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said discriminating step discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network, said processing step discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A computer readable storage medium storing a program for executing a method operative in a printer connected to a host computer via a network, the program comprising:
- code for, if a data reception process of data from the host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- code for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A computer readable storage medium storing a program for executing a method operative in a printer, the program comprising:
- code for discriminating whether the printer is connected to a host computer via a network or connected directly to the host computer;
- code for setting a first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected directly to the host computers and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected to the host computer via the network;
- and
- code for performing a data reception process of data from the host computer,
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected directly to the host computer, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected to the host computer via the network, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A computer readable storage medium storing a program for executing a method operative in a data reception apparatus connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network, the program comprising:
- code for, if a data reception process of data from a host computer has been suspended for a time at least as lone as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- code for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process of if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A computer readable storage medium storing a program for executing a method operative in a data reception apparatus, the program comprising:
- code for discriminating whether the data reception apparatus is connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network or connected directly to the data transmission apparatus;
- code for setting a first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network;
- and
- code for performing a data reception process of data received from the data transmission apparatus,
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A computer program product for a implementing a method operative in a printer connected to a host computer via a network, said program product comprising:
- code for, if a data reception process of data from the host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- code for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A program product for implementing a method operative in a printer, said program product comprising:
- code for discriminating whether the printer is connected to a host computer via a network or connected directly to the host computer;
- code for setting a first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected directly to the host computer, and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected to the host computer via the network;
- and
- code for performing a data reception process of data from the host computer,
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected directly to the host computer, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the printer is connected to the host computer via the network, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
A program product for implementing a method operative in a data reception apparatus connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network, said program product comprising:
- code for, if a data reception process of data from a host computer has been suspended for a time at least as long as a time-out time, discriminating whether a load on the network is heavy;
- and
- code for extending the time-out time and continuing the data reception process of if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is heavy, and for suspending the data reception process if said code for discriminating discriminates that the load is not heavy.
A program product for implementing a method operative in a data reception apparatus, said program product comprising:
- code for discriminating whether the data reception apparatus is connected to a data transmission apparatus via a network or connected directly to the data transmission apparatus;
- code for setting a first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, and setting a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network;
- and
- code for performing a data reception process of data received from the data transmission apparatus,
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected directly to the data transmission apparatus, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the first waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the first waiting time, and
- wherein, if said code for discriminating discriminates that the data reception apparatus is connected to the data transmission apparatus via the network, said code for performing a data reception process discontinues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time at least as long as the second waiting time, and continues the data reception process if the data reception process has been suspended for a time shorter than the second waiting time.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.