a2) United States Patent
`US 6,362,894 Bl
`(0) Patent No.:
`Mar. 26, 2002
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Shima
`
`US006362894B1
`
`(54) NETWORK PRINTER AND NETWORK
`PRINTING METHOD
`
`6,061,700 A *
`6,199,071 BL *
`
`
`5/2000 Brobst etal. .
`.. 707/517
`.
`(2001 Nielsen ....... eee eee 707/204
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Toshihiro Shima, Nagano (JP)
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`(73) Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
`
`(*)
`
`Notice:
`
`4}
`y
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`Primary Examiner—Mark Wallerson
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Sughrue Mion, PLLC
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/199,392
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Nov. 25, 1998
`
`(30)
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`Jan. 8, 1998
`
`Aprocessfor directly accessing a network and receiving and
`printing only required information of information resources.
`Wheninformation resources (a Web page) specified by a
`host computer are accessed, the configuration is analyzed
`IP) ve eeceeeeececesesseeerenesecereneenee 10-002061
`based upon an HTML source code and the format of
`
`information constituting the Web page is checked. If the
`(SL) Unt. C1? eeececeeeeeeteeneeeeenien GO06F 15/00
`(52) U.S. Ch oe 358/l.15; 358/1.12; 358/1.13;
`format
`is a format
`in which receiving is allowed,
`the
`707/513; 707/523
`information is received and addedto the layout of printing.
`The information is checked for any information constituting
`(58) Field of Search 0.0... eee 358/1.12, 1.13,
`358/1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.1, 1.5; 707/3, 5,
`the information resources indicating whether receiving is
`101, 501, 512, 513, 523; 709/217, 218,
`allowed or not. Ilereby, required information can be indi-
`219
`vidually received from the information resources, useless
`data can be prevented from being transferred and the
`required information can be promptly printed.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`6,029,182 A *
`
`2/2000 Nehab et al. oo... JOT{523
`
`60 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`SERVER
`
`104
`
`
`
`102
`
`
`
`
`
`104
`
`SERVER
`
`103
`
`| SPECIFIED Web PAGE
`,
`IS DOWNLOADED
`
`PRINT
`
`
`CONTROL
`
`SECTION
`
` RECEIVING CONTROLSECTION
`
`
`
`
`ANALYZE
`|
`
`
`7 CONFIGURATION SECTION
`20
`
`[Reoumeoce|RANGEneue2anne
`
`SETTING SECTION
`
`
`18)
`
`MEMORY SECTION
`
`FORMAT
`MANAGEMENTTABLE
`
`ty
`
`3—| INSTRUCTION
`SECTION
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 1
`PayPal Ex. 1048,p. 1
`PayPalv. IOENGINE
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.26, 2002
`
`Sheet 1 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
` |||||oz—~THN|NOILOSSAHOWSWN|||||||
`
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`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 2
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`PayPal v. lOE
`NGINE
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 26,2002
`
`Sheet 2 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`RESULT OF EITHER RECEIVABLE
`REFER TO FORMAT
`
`OR UNRECEIVABLE
`
`FIG. 2
`
`
`
`RECEIVABLE OR
`FORMAT
`UNRECEIVABLE
`
`TXT
`
`
`
`
`FIG. 3
`
`HOST
`COMPUTER
`
`URL INPUT
`
`NETWORKPRINTER
`
`SERVER
`
`REQUEST HTML SOURCE
`
`RETURN HTML SOURCE
`
`REQUEST TRANSFER
`
`TRANSFER INFORMATION
`
`ANALYZE
`CONFIGURATION
`
`|
`
`SET ACQUIRED
`RANGE
`
`GENERATE
`PRINT IMAGE
`
`COMPLETION OF PRINTING—PRINT
`
`INFORM ABOUT
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 3
`PayPal Ex. 1048,p. 3
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`

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`
`
`
`U.S. Patent Mar. 26,2002—-Sheet 3 of 10 US 6,362,894 B1
`
`FIG. 4
`
`igRLineuTa
`
`PROCESSING ONSIDE OF PRINTER
`
`NO
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`FIG. 5
`
`INFORMATION ACQUISITION PROCESSING
`
`ANALYZE CONFIGURATION
`
`|~$11
`
`REFER TO FORMAT MANAGAEMENTTABLE
`
`/-$12
`
`
`
`$13—<IS RECEIVING ALLOWED?
`YES
`
`REQUEST TRANSFER OF THE INFORMATION|~S14
`
`RECEIVE INFORMATION
`
`|~-S15
`
`ADD INFORMATION TO THE LAYOUTF--S16
`
`NO\INFORMATION IS RECEIVABLE? $17
`
`CHECK WHETHER ALL
`
`YES
`
`END
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 4
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 4
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 26,2002
`
`Sheet 4 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`|
`
`
`
` IMAGE Imt
`
`
`CHARACTER IMAGE
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 5
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 5
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`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.26, 2002
`
`Sheet 5 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
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`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 6
`PayPal Ex. 1048,p. 6
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPalv. IOE
`NGINE
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 26,2002
`
`Sheet 6 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`
`
`FIG. 8
`
`INFORMATION ACQUISITION PROCESSING
`
`| ANALYZE CONFIGURATION |-si1
`
`REFER TO FORMAT MANAGAEMENTTABLE
`
`IS RECEIVING ALLOWED?
`
`YES
`
`S21
`
`IS THE INFORMATION STORED
`IN STORAGE SUBSECTION?
`
`NO
`
`OF THE INFORMATION
`
`
`
` $13
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`lpn
`
`NO
`
`CHECK WHETHER ALL
`INFORMATION IS RECEIVABLE?
`
`S17
`
`YES
`
`END
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 7
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 7
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.26, 2002
`
`Sheet 7 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`|||||:oz~|THN|||
`
`
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`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 8
`PayPal Ex. 1048,p. 8
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPal v. lOE
`NGINE
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`
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`e0v0
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.26, 2002
`
`Sheet 8 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`FIG. 10
`
`
`
`
`
`ACQUIRED RANGE SETTING SECTION
`
`
` RESULT OF EITHER RECEIVABLE
`REFER TO FORMAT
`OR UNRECEIVABLE
`
`
`
`
`RECEIVABLE OR}=LIMITATION
`
`FORMAT
`UNRECEIVABLE|OF ATTRIBUTE
`
`
`
`TXT
`
`BMP
`
`MPEG
`
`44
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`x
`
`
`
` RECEIVE LIMITATION CONDITION
`
`
`Di OR LESS
`
`
`QUANTITY OF
`
`
`
`DATA
`
`
`LOW DEGREE OF
`COMMUNICATION
` D2 OR LESS
`CONGESTION
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ADVERTISEMENT
`UNRECEIVABLE
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 9
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`9 E
`
`O
`
`NONE
`
`
`
`
`NONE
`
`NONE
`
`||
`
`x
`
`ATTRIBUTE
`
`45
`
`HIGH DEGREE OF
`COMMUNICATION
`CONGESTION
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 26,2002
`
`Sheet 9 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`FIG. 11
`
`»N2
`
`IS RECEIVING LIMITED
`BASED UPON ATTRIBUTE?
`
`REQUEST TRANSFER OF THE INFORMATION
`
`RECEIVE INFORMATION
`
`ADD INFORMATION TO PRINTING LAYOUT
`
`INFORMATION ACQUISITION PROCESSING
` IS RECEIVING ALLOWED?
`
`
`
`
`
`CHECK WHETHER ALL
`INFORMATION IS RECEIVABLE?
`
`YES
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 10
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 10
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPalv. IOENGINE
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.26, 2002
`
`Sheet 10 of 10
`
`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`FIG. 12
`
`ADVERTISEMENT INFORMATION
`JUDGMENT PROCESSING
`
`
`
`51
`
`
`
`IS RECEIPT OF INFORMATION
`
` S41
`
`INFORMATION
`ADVERTISING LIMITED?
`
`
`
`DEGREE OF
`RELATED TO
`
`
`
`YES ADVERTISEMENT|RELATION
`
`
`
`
`
`REFERTO ADVERTISEMENT]. INFORMATION 1|70%
`DICTIONARY
`INFORMATION2
`
`INFORMATION n
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`IS INFORMATION RELATED TO
`ADVERTISEMENT INCLUDED?
`
`
`
`~\.
`
`IS IMAGE FILE LINKED
`WITH EXTERNAL SERVER?
`
`YES
`
`
`
`JUDGE INFORMATION TO BE
`ADVERTISEMENT INFORMATION
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 11
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 11
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`PayPal v. IOENGINE
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`

`

`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`1
`NETWORK PRINTER AND NETWORK
`PRINTING METHOD
`
`BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`The present invention relates to a network printer and a
`network printing method which enablesthe direct accessing
`of information resources existing on a network such as the
`Internet, downloading of the information resources and
`printing of the information.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`Anetwork printer connected to a network such as a local
`area network (LAN)and shared by plural host computers is
`known heretofore. Such a network printer receives and
`prints print jobs from a plurality of host computers con-
`nected to a network.
`
`2
`configuration of the information resources and receives and
`prints only predetermined information.
`The present invention disclosed in Claim 1 is directed to
`a network printer for receiving and printing information
`resources on a network comprising configuration analyzing
`meansfor actively accessing specified information resources
`via a network and analyzing the configuration of the infor-
`mation resources, acquired range setting meansforsetting
`the information acquired range of the information resources
`based upon the above analyzed configuration, receive con-
`trol means for receiving predetermined information of the
`information resources based upon the above information
`acquired range, and printing control means for controlling
`printing means based upon information received out of the
`information resources.
`
`10
`
`“Network” includes not only the Internet and an intranet
`but also a LAN. “Information resources” means a Web page
`Recently, demand for printing information resources on
`of a WWWserver anda file of a server accordingtoafile
`the Internet has been increasing as the Internet has been
`transfer protocol (FTP) and others. “The configuration of
`20
`developed. For typical information resources onthe Internet,
`information resources” meansthe type of information,a file
`there is a Web page described in hypertext markup language
`name and other parameters concerning the information
`resources.
`(IITML) and provided by World Wide Web (WWW)server
`and others. If a user wants to print a Web page, he/she
`accesses a predetermined WWW servervia a host computer
`and requests the WWW server to download a desired Web
`page to the host computer. Next, the host computer converts
`the Web page to print data and sends the print data to a
`network printer to print.
`In the above prior art, if a user wants to acquire infor-
`mation resources stored in a WWW serverand others on the
`
`30
`
`Internetas a printed matter, he/she is requiredto first activate
`a host computer to access the desired server, then request the
`desired server to download the desired documentdata to the
`host computer and finally request the host computerto print
`the downloaded document data.
`
`if a user wants to acquire information
`Therefore,
`resources whichare updated periodically such as a Web page
`on a WWWserveras a printed matter, he/she must always
`activate a host computer to access to the server which takes
`a lot of time.
`
`40
`
`it is also possible for a
`To solve the above problem,
`network printer to directly download a Web page without
`using a host computer (this is not the preceding art).
`However, a Web page is composed of not only text data
`but also various data such as image data and music data, and
`all types of data which is not always required for printing.
`That
`is, generally, most of the important
`information is
`represented by text data, and the image data and othersfulfill
`the role of supplementing the information represented by the
`text data and the decorative role of a Web page. A normal
`printer interprets and prints only received print data faith-
`fully. Therefore, there occurs a problem that unnecessary
`information is downloaded and printed by a networkprinter,
`useless data is transferred and in addition, the printing speed
`is reduced.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention is made to solve the above various
`problemsandthe object is to provide a network printer and
`a network printing method wherein specified information
`resources are directly accessed and only predetermined
`informationin the information resources can be received and
`printed.
`To achieve the above object, a network printer according
`to the present
`invention directly accesses information
`resources specified by an external device, analyzes the
`
`50
`
`60
`
`First, information resources to be accessed are specified to
`a network printer by an external host computer and others.
`Or, a plurality of information resources are registered
`beforehand in a memory built in a network printer or in an
`installed external memory and information resources to be
`accessed by the network printer are specified by selecting
`any of them. For example, if a Web pageis to be accessed,
`a uniform resource locator (URL) is input. Hereby,
`the
`configuration analyzing means accesses specified informa-
`lion resources and analyzes ithe configuration. The acquired
`range setting means sets the range of information to be
`acquired based upon the analyzed configuration. For
`example, the acquired range setting means maybe set so that
`only text data is acquired or only static image data is
`acquired. Receiving means receives the acquired informa-
`tion and the received information is printed via the printing
`control means.
`
`Therefore, the network printer actively accesses informa-
`tion resourecs without using a host computer and can
`acquire and print only predetermined information of the
`information resources.
`
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 2,
`the acquired range setting means can set an information
`acquired range based upon the format of information.
`“The format of information” includes the format of Mul-
`
`tipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) as defined in
`Request for comments (RFC) 1872, 2045, 2046, 2047 and
`2049 for cxamplc. Various formats for character
`information, a static image, a dynamic image, music and
`others such as TeXT (TXT), HTML, Graphics Interchange
`Format (GIF), Joint photographic coding experts group
`(JPEG), Moving picture coding experts group (MPEG),‘lag
`image file format (TIEF), Audio video interleaved (AVI) and
`Music instrument digital
`interface (MIDI) cxist. The
`acquired range setting means can be set so that only prede-
`termined format data is acquired. Hereby, not all image data
`is impartially excluded but
`image data according to a
`predetermined format
`is received and the acquisition of
`image data according to the other format can be excluded.
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 3,
`storage means for storing received information is further
`provided and the acquired range setting means can also set
`an information acquired range based upon the format of
`information and the contents stored in the storage means.
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 12
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`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`3
`For example, if storage means such as a hard disk is
`provided to a network printer and information received is
`stored in the storage means, the same information that is
`already stored is not required to be received again.
`‘Vherefore,
`the acquired range setting means limits the
`acquired range of information based upon the format of
`information and can set
`the suitable acquired range of
`information by excluding information stored in the storage
`means in the above range.
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 4,
`the acquired range setting means canalso set an information
`acquired range based upon the format of the information
`resources and the attribute information.
`
`For “attribute information’, the quantity of data in the
`information resources, the date on which the information
`resources are created, information display size, distinction
`between color and monochrome,
`the number of scales,
`distinction of an advertisement or not and others can be
`given. The acquired range setting means can be set so that
`information exceeding a predetermined data quantity, infor-
`mation exceeding a predetermined display size, color image
`information, advertisement information and others are not
`acquired.
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 5,
`the acquired range setting meanscanalsoset the information
`acquired range based upon the format of the information
`resources and the communication state of a network.
`For “the communication state of a network”, a transfer
`rate and the quantity oftraffic can be given. If a network is
`congested,
`information can be promptly received and
`printed by excluding the acquisition of image information
`containing a large quantily of data and a load on the network
`can be prevented from being increased.
`The present invention disclosed in Claim 6 is a network
`printing method for receiving and printing information
`resources on a network comprising the following steps: a
`step of specifying information resources, a step of accessing
`to the specified information resources via a network and
`acquiring the configuration information of the information
`resources, a step of analyzing the configuration of the
`information resources based upon the above configuration
`information,
`a sctting stcp of sctting the information
`acquired range of the information resources based upon the
`above analyzed configuration, a step of receiving informa-
`tion of the above information resources based upon the
`above information acquired range and a step of printing
`based upon the received information of the information
`resources.
`
`Hereby, when information resourcesto be printed from an
`external host computer and others are specified, the con-
`figuration information of the information resources is
`acquired and the configuration is analyzed. Next, the range
`of information to be acquired is set based upon the configu-
`ration and only information in the set range is received and
`printed. Therefore, unnecessary information is never
`received and necessary information can be promptly
`received and printed.
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 7,
`in the setting step, an information acquired range can be set
`based upon the format of the information resources.
`Hereby, the similar action to the present invention dis-
`closed in Claim 2 can be obtained.
`
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 8,
`a step for storing received information is further provided
`and in a setting step, an information acquired range can be
`also set based upon the format of information and the
`contents of stored information.
`
`4
`Hereby, the similar action to the present invention dis-
`closed in Claim 3 can be obtained.
`
`5
`
`According to the present invention disclosed in Claim 9,
`in a setting step, an information acquired range can be set
`also based upon the format of information and attribute
`information.
`
`Hereby, the similar action to the present invention dis-
`closed in Claim 4 can be obtained.
`
`Further, according to the present invention disclosed in
`Claim 10, in a setting step, an information acquired range
`can be also sct based upon the format of information and the
`communication state of a network.
`
`Hereby, the similar action to the present invention dis-
`closed in Claim 5 can be obtained.
`
`invention disclosed in Claim 11 is a
`The present
`computer-readable medium on which a printing control
`program for receiving and printing information resources on
`a network is recorded and characterized in that the program
`comprises analyzing means for accessing specified informa-
`tion resources via a network and analyzing the configuration
`of the information resources, information acquisition man-
`aging means in whichit is set every format of information
`whether the acquisition of information is right or not,
`acquired range setting means for setting the information
`acquired range of the information resources by referring to
`the information acquisition managing meansbased uponthe
`analyzed configuration, receive control means for receiving
`predetermined information of the information resources
`based upon the information acquired range and printing
`control means for controlling printing means based upon
`information received out of the information resources to
`
`20
`
`30
`
`print.
`Hereby, the similar action to the present invention dis-
`closed in Claim 2 can be obtained.
`
`weon
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`40
`
`50
`
`60
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional con-
`figuration of a network printing system and others equiva-
`lent to a first embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is an explanatory drawing showing the configu-
`ration of a format managementtable;
`FIG, 3 is an explanatory drawing showing a communi-
`cation state among a host computer, a network printer and a
`server;
`
`FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the
`network printer;
`FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the information acquisition
`processing, shown in FIG. 4;
`FIG. 6 is an explanatory drawing showingthe relationship
`between layout data and the result of printing;
`FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the functional con-
`figuration of a network printing system equivalent
`to a
`second embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing information acquisition
`processing;
`FIG, 9 is a block diagram showing the functional con-
`figuration of a network printing system equivalentto a third
`embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG, 10 is an explanatory drawing showing each configu-
`ration of a format management table and an attribute man-
`agement table and relationship between them;
`TIG,. 11 is a flowchart showing information acquisition
`processing; and
`FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing advertisement information
`judgmentprocessing.
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 13
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 13
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`
`

`

`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`5
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`Referring to the drawings, embodiments of the present
`invention will be described in detail below.
`
`First Embodiment
`
`First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, a first embodimentof the
`present invention will be described.
`FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing, the whole
`configuration of a network printing system using a network
`printer equivalent to this embodiment.
`A router 101 is provided to a communication line 100
`such as a LAN and the communication line 100 is connected
`
`to the Internet 102 via the router 101. Multiple servers 103
`such as a WWW serverare connectedto the Internet 102 and
`each server 103 stores various information resourcesin its
`spool device 104. For information resources, a Web page
`provided by a WWWserver,a file provided by a FTPserver,
`Netnews provided by a news server and others are known,
`however, in this embodiment, a Web pageis utilized as an
`example.
`For example, a network interface 2 and a URT. specifying
`section 3 are provided to a host computer 1 realized as a
`personal computer, a mobile information terminal and oth-
`ers. The network interface 2 is connected to a network
`printer 11 described later via the communication line 100
`such as a LAN. The specifying section representable as
`access instruction means, access information input means or
`printing instruction means transmits URL for specifying a
`Web page to be printed to the network printer 11. URL can
`be also represented as specific information or access infor-
`mation for specifying information resources.
`Needless to say, a printer driver may be also installed in
`the host computer 1 to issue a so-called local print job.
`The network printer 11 is provided with a network inter-
`face 12, a memory 13, a printing control section 14, a
`printing engine 15, a receive control section 16, a storage
`section 19 and others as describedlater.
`
`For example, the network interface 12 presentable as a
`network connecting means is provided with various hard-
`ware such as a LAN driver for connecting to LAN 100,
`various protocols such as Transmission control protocol/
`Internet protocol (TCP/IP) and HTTP and Ethernct as the
`network interface 2 on the side of the host computer.
`The memory 13 is provided to temporarily store HTML
`data downloaded from each server 103 and others and is
`controlled by a memorycontrol scction 13A.
`The printing control section 14 as printing control means
`prints the data downloaded from the server 103 by inter-
`preting it, generating print image data and controlling the
`operation of the printing engine 15.
`The printing engine 15 includes a paper feed mechanism,
`a print head and others to print on a record medium such as
`paper. For the printing engine 15, various engines used in a
`page printcr for printing in units of page such as a laser
`printer, a serial printer for printing in units of character such
`as an ink-jet printer and a thermal transfer printer, a line
`printer for printing in units of line, and others can be used.
`The receive control section 16 controls access to a Web
`page, downloading and others. The receive control section
`16 accesses a Web page as information resources specified
`bythe host computer 1 and downloads only predetermined
`information from the Web page. For the internal function of
`the receive control section 16, a configuration analyzing
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`subsection 17 as configuration analyzing means and an
`acquired range setting subsection 18 as acquired range
`setting means are provided.
`The configuration analyzing subsection 17 analyzes
`where and whattype of information is embedded based upon
`HTML source data in a Web page. The acquired range
`setting subsection 18 specifies the range of informationto be
`reccived according to a preset recciving allowance condi-
`tion.
`
`AURLstorage subsection 20 for storing URL specified by
`the host computer 1 and a format managementtable 21 as a
`receiving allowance condition are provided to a storage
`section 19 as storage means. In the format managementtable
`21, which functions as a format management means,infor-
`mation which represents whether formats such as TXT,
`HTML and GIFare able to be received or notis stored, as
`shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, a mark O showsthat the format
`1s receivable and a mark x showsthe formatis unreccivable.
`The acquired range setting subsection 18 receives only data
`in a format which can be received as shown in management
`table 21.
`
`Next, referring to 'IGS. 3 to 6, action in this embodiment
`will be described. First, FIG. 3 is an explanatory drawing
`showing the operation of the whole system.
`First, URL is input from the host computer 1 to the
`network printer 11. The network printer 11 accesses the
`specified URL and requesis the transfer of an HTMLsource
`code as an example of configuration information. The net-
`work printer 11 which receives the HTML source code
`analyzes the source code and sets informationto be received.
`For example,if it is determined to receive only a text and a
`small quantity of image data, the network printer requests a
`server 103 to transfer information according to the deter-
`mined format. When required informationis transferred, the
`network printer 11 generates print image data and prints.
`After printing is finished, a printing completion information
`may be issued to the host computer 1.
`Next, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing in the
`networkprinter 11.
`First, in a step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as S1), it is
`determined whether URLis input from the host computer 1
`or not. When URT. is input, the URT. is stored in the URT.
`storage subsection 20 in the storage section 19 in $2 and a
`Web page specified in the URL is accessed in $3.
`Whenthe transfer of an HTML source code is requested
`in S4 and the HTML source code is received, the HTML
`source code is interpreted and a layout is generated in $5.
`That is, the type of information such as a character and an
`image andsize for the information to account in a print arca
`are grasped and a layoutin printing is generated.
`As described later referring to FIG. 5, only predetermined
`information (data) is received from a server 103 in S6, print
`image data is generated in $7 andprinting is executed in S8.
`Next, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing information acqui-
`sition processing shown as S6 in FIG. 4.
`First, an HTMLsource code is analyzed and the formats
`of the information included therein are detected in S11.
`Next, the format managementtable 21 is referred to in $12
`and it is judged in $13 whether receiving is allowed in the
`detected formats of the information or not.
`
`If the format management table 21 shows that a certain
`formatis a format in which receiving is allowed, the network
`printer requests a server 103 to transfer the information in
`$14. When the network printer receives the information
`requested to be transferred in S15, the network printer adds
`
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 14
`PayPal Ex. 1048, p. 14
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`PayPal v. IOENGINE
`
`

`

`US 6,362,894 B1
`
`7
`the information into the layout generated in S5 in FIG. 4 in
`$16. In the case of a format in which receivingis not allowed
`as shown in the format managementtable 21, the format is
`judged NO in S13 and the processing in $14 to S16 is
`skipped.
`It is yudged in $17 whether any information included in
`the HTMLsource code is checked in relation to whether
`recciving is allowed or not and the processing in S11 to S16
`is repeated until the check of the informationis finished.
`FIG. 6 is an explanatory drawing showing the result of
`printing in this embodiment.
`In the upperpart of FIG. 6, a layout generated based upon
`an H'I'MLsource code is shown. ‘The layout is composed of
`two text data Tx1 and Tx2 and two image data Im1 and Im2.
`As shown onthe right side in the lower part of FIG. 6,if
`any information is received and printed, two text data and
`two image data are all printed. In the meantime, if the
`receiving of image data is refused,only text data is received
`and printed as shownonthe Icft side in the lowerpart of FIG.
`6.
`
`According to this embodiment as described above, the
`following effect is produced:
`First, the network printer 11 accesses specified informa-
`tion resources and receives it only by informing the network
`printer 11 of the URL ofthe desired information resources.
`Therefore,
`information resources on a network can be
`readily obtained as a printed matter without using the host
`computer 1. As the host computer 1 is relieved from the flow
`of processing for printing information resources after URT.
`is specified via the host computer 1, the throughput of the
`host computer 1 can be allocated to another application
`program.
`Second, as only preset information of specified informa-
`tion resources is received and printed, only required infor-
`mation can be promptly received and printed in high speed.
`In other words, transfer time can be reduced by preventing
`useless data transfer and the quantityof traffic in a network
`can be prevented from being increased. Further, the capacity
`of the memory 13 mounted in the network printer 11 can be
`reduced which enables low cost manufacture.
`
`For example, this embodiment is constructed as follows.
`A network printer for receiving and printing information
`resources on a network and characterized in that the network
`printer 11 actively accesses specified information resources
`via a network comprises configuration analyzing means 17
`for analyzing the configuration of the information resources,
`format management means 21 which stores information
`which represents whether certain tormats are able to be
`received or not, acquired range setting means 18 forsetting
`the information acquired range of the above information
`resources by referring to the format management means 21
`based upon the analyzed configuration,
`receive control
`means 16 for receiving predetermined information in the
`information resources based upon the above information
`acquired range and printing control means 14for controlling
`the printing means 15 based upon information received from
`the information resources to print.
`Second Embodiment
`
`Next, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a second embodiment of
`the present invention will be described. In the following
`embodiment, the same reference numbers are allocated to
`the same components as in the abovefirst embodiment and
`the description is omitted. This embodimentis characterized
`in that a large capacity storage section is provided to a
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`network printer and if the information to be received is
`stored in the storage section, then the same information is
`not received.
`
`A network printer 31 equivalent to this embodiment is
`provided with a printing control section 14, a receive control
`section 32, a storage section 33 and others as the network
`printer of the first embodiment. If certain information com-
`plies with a predetermined format in which receiving is
`allowed, the receive control section 32 judges whether the
`information is already stored or not. This embodiment is
`different from the above embodimentinthat if the informa-
`tion is already stored, receiving is not executed.
`The storage scction 33 as storage meansin this embodi-
`ment is composed of a relatively large capacity of storage
`such as a hard disk and a storage subsection 34 for storing
`information received in the past is provided in addition to a
`URLstorage subsection 20 for storing URL and a format
`management table 21. The storage subsection 34 can be
`represented as information storage means. The whole stor-
`age section 33 is not required to be constituted by a large
`capacity of auxiliary storage. For example, the URL storage
`subsection 20 and the format management
`table 21 are
`stored in a nonvolatile memory and only the storage sub-
`section 34 may be also composedof a hard disk and others.
`Ne