Small aio (all in one) printer that uses external storage for the purpose of paper collation

Abstract

A method implemented in a data processing system including an image forming apparatus for producing a print job, which includes the steps of: (a) receiving data representing a document to be printed in the print job; (b) receiving job information about the print job; (c) determining if the job information includes an instruction to print multiple copies of the document in a collated order; (d) forwarding the data representing the document to be printed in the print job to an external storage unit when multiple copies of the document in collated order have been requested; (e) retrieving the data from the external storage unit; and (f) printing the multiple copies of the document in collated order.

1 . A method implemented in a data processing system including an image forming apparatus for producing a print job, comprising:
 (a) receiving data representing a document to be printed in the print job;   (b) receiving job information about the print job;   (c) determining if the job information includes an instruction to print multiple copies of the document in a collated order;   (d) forwarding the data representing the document to be printed in the print job to an external storage unit when multiple copies of the document in collated order have been requested;   (e) retrieving the data from the external storage unit; and   (f) printing the multiple copies of the document in collated order.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising checking the external storage unit for availability to store the data representing the print job to be printed before forwarding the data to the external storage unit. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein if one or more external storage units are available, selecting the external storage unit from the one or more external storage units. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein in steps (a) and (b), the data and the job information are received from a host computer connected to the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (a) includes scanning an original hard copy of the document on the image forming apparatus to generate the data representing the document to be printed, and wherein step (b) includes receiving the job information from an input panel of the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a firmware application within the image forming apparatus, which controls steps (a)-(f). 
     
     
         7 . A method implemented in a data processing system including an image forming apparatus for producing a print job, comprising:
 (a) receiving data representing a document to be printed in the print job;   (b) receiving job information about the print job, the job information including an instruction to print multiple copies of the document in a collated order;   (c) forwarding the data to an external storage unit when an internal memory of the image forming apparatus does not have sufficient memory to store the data representing the print job;   (d) retrieving the data from the external storage unit; and   (e) printing the multiple copies of the document in collated order.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising checking the external storage unit for availability to store the data representing the print job to be printed before forwarding the data to the external storage unit. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein if at least one external storage unit is not available to the image forming apparatus, printing a single copy of the print job. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising determining if the data representing the document to be printed can be stored in its entirety within the internal memory of the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein if the data representing the document to be printed can be stored in its entirety within the internal memory of the image forming apparatus, storing the data representing the print job within the internal memory of the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein if the data representing the document to be printed cannot be stored in its entirety within the internal memory of the image forming apparatus, selecting the external storage unit from at least one external storage unit available to the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein in steps (a) and (b), the data and the job information are received from a host computer connected to the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein step (a) includes scanning an original hard copy of the document on the image forming apparatus to generate the data representing the document to be printed, and wherein step (b) includes receiving the job information from an input panel of the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising a firmware application within the image forming apparatus, which controls steps (a)-(e). 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising converting the data representing a document to be printed in the print job from an original print format to a storage format. 
     
     
         17 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable code embodied therein for controlling an image forming apparatus, the computer readable program code configured to cause the image forming apparatus to execute a process for producing a print job, the process comprising the steps of:
 (a) receiving data representing a document to be printed in the print job;   (b) receiving job information about the print job;   (c) determining if the job information includes an instruction to print multiple copies of the document in a collated order;   (d) forwarding the data representing the document to be printed in the print job to an external storage unit when multiple copies of the document in collated order have been requested;   (e) retrieving the data from the external storage unit; and   (f) printing the multiple copies of the document in collated order.   
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , further comprising checking the external storage unit for availability to store the data representing the print job to be printed before forwarding the data to the external storage unit. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein if one or more external storage units are available, selecting the external storage unit from the one or more external storage units. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein in steps (a) and (b), the data and the job information are received from a host computer connected to the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein step (a) includes scanning an original hard copy of the document on the image forming apparatus to generate the data representing the document to be printed, and wherein step (b) includes receiving the job information from an input panel of the image forming apparatus. 
     
     
         22 . An image forming apparatus comprising:
 a memory unit, the memory unit having a firmware application which performs the following steps:
 (a) receiving data representing a document to be printed in the print job; 
 (b) receiving job information about the print job; 
 (c) determining if the job information includes an instruction to print multiple copies of the document in a collated order; 
 (d) forwarding the data representing the document to be printed in the print job to an external storage unit when multiple copies of the document in collated order have been requested; and 
 (e) retrieving the data from the external storage unit; and 
   a print engine for printing multiple copies of the document in collated order from the data representing the document to be printed in the print job.   
     
     
         23 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 a scanning section for scanning an original hard copy of the document to generate the data representing the document to be printed; and   an input panel for inputting the job information.   
     
     
         24 . The image forming apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the external storage unit is a flash drive unit, a FTP based external storage unit, a SMB based external storage unit, a server based external storage unit, and/or an Internet based external storage unit.