Patents Portfolio

U.S. Patent: 10,481,846

Patent Title

Software applications and information apparatus for printing over air or for printing over a network

Meta Information

Issued Date: Nov. 19, 2019
Inventor: William Ho Chang et al
External Links: UPSTO, Google Patents

Technical Fields

Smart Phone / Tablet, Printer, Laptop

Abstract

Information apparatus and application software supporting printing over air or network are herein disclosed and enabled. The information apparatus may include one or more software components that include (1) a discovery component to discover a supported printer in a local area network (LAN) and to receive device information related to the printer (e.g., capability, language or format supported, identification) from the printer, and (2) a printing component to generate or obtain print data based on the device information received and to transmit the print data to the discovered printer. After establishing the connection to the LAN, application software (e.g., Internet browser, email, photos, documents) in the information apparatus may print digital content by using the discovery component to discover the printer in the LAN, and may use the printing component to obtain and transmit print data in a form that is acceptable to the printer for printing the digital content.

Sample Claim

1. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded therein at least part of a software program executable, at least partly, by one or more processors of an information apparatus to perform a printing method, the information apparatus includes:
the one or more processors;
a network communication interface for establishing a local area network connection to a local area
network; and
memory or storage storing at least part of operating system software to facilitate, at least in part,
operations of the software program; and
wherein the printing method comprises:
(1) obtaining, at the information apparatus, by the software program, digital content for printing;
(2) discovering, using the network communication interface of the information
apparatus and over the established local area network connection, a printer that is available in the local area network;
(3) receiving, over the established local area network connection and via the network communication interface of the information apparatus, a device profile from the printer discovered in (2), the device profile received from the printer is related to the printer, and the device profile includes one or more of device attribute information, language information, format information, duplex printing information, color space information, bit depth information, or resolution information, individually or in any combination, corresponding to the printer discovered in (2);
(4) generating, at the information apparatus, print data from at least part of the digital content obtained in (1), the generating of the print data is based, at least in part, on the device profile that is received from the printer in (3); and
(5) transmitting, via the established local area network connection and using the network communication interface of the information apparatus, at least part of the print data generated in (4) to the printer discovered in (2) for printing the digital content obtained in (1); and wherein the print data, generated in (4) and transmitted in (5) to the printer discovered in (2), is in accordance, at least in part, with the device profile received from the printer in (3); and wherein printing of at least part of the digital content obtained in (1), from the information apparatus to the printer that is available in the local area network in (2), does not require the information apparatus to use, at the information apparatus, a printer driver that is specific to the printer discovered in (2).