Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.p.

Hewlett-Packard Company

Joseph L Burquist

Quintin T Phillips

Robert E Haines

Darius Boockholdt

Mark A Harper

Santiago R Rodriguez

K Trent Christensen

Mary B Baumunk

A system and method for verifying a printed document. Generally, the system is implemented to automatically compare first and second images and provide an output with respect thereto. In an illustrative embodiment, the inventive system includes a computer for providing a first electronic image of a document. The image may be provided via a network such as the Internet. A printer is coupled to the computer and driven to print the document. The document is then scanned to provide a second electronic image of the document. The scanned image is then compared to the original image to provide verification of the printed output. For text based documents, the first and second images may be converted to text using conventional optical character recognition software to facilitate comparison. In a refinement of the present teachings, a mechanism is provided to detect a file characterization by which a restriction may be imposed on the number of the documents to be printed. If a document is restricted, successful printouts above the restriction are disabled. As a further refinement, a second mechanism is included to enable a fingerprint to be printed on the restricted document. When scanned, the fingerprint provides an indication of the operability of the printer and the scanner. In the event the fingerprint is not detected, the printer is disabled. This mechanism would be useful in a pay-to-print application to frustrate fraudulent efforts to disable the scanner and thereby cause the printer to output unauthorized printouts.

System and method for automatic document verification

A printer system uses a statistical routine to determine when to automatically place an order for additional print media or warn a user about placing such an order. The system collects print media usage data and correlates it with user-defined parameters to determine when and how much print media should be ordered. The automatic tracking and ordering of print media supplies provides just-in-time management of print media inventories that reduces overall printing costs.

System and methods for automatically ordering print media

A printing system utilizes printing material cartridges with memory to provide a way to uniquely identify the contents of a printing device cartridge and optimize printing parameters for use with the printing material. Newly developed printing materials and printing solutions therefor can be provided to printing devices that were manufactured prior to the development of the new printing material. Additionally, all cartridges can be physically similar without regard for the type of printing material contained therein, so no special manufacturing is required for each different printing material.

Printer cartridge with memory for printer control and adjustment of printer settings

A printing system utilizes memory integrated into a replaceable component to store printing device usage data. The manufacturer of the printing device retrieves the data when the component is returned to the manufacturer for recycling.

Storage of printing device usage data on a printing device replaceable component

Methods and apparatus for generating notifications associated with the lifetime of peripheral unit consumables are described. In the described embodiments, users or clients are able to define and adjust their own threshold values that are associated with a consumable's lifetime. In one embodiment, a lifetime monitoring mechanism is provided and monitors the lifetime of a peripheral unit consumable that is associated with operation of the peripheral unit. The lifetime monitoring mechanism is configured with a user-manipulable, threshold-defining mechanism that is configured to receive user input and, responsive to the user input, define a threshold value for the lifetime monitoring mechanism. The peripheral unit's use of the consumable is monitored using the lifetime monitoring mechanism. A determination is made when the peripheral unit's use of the consumable reaches the threshold value and, responsive thereto, a notification is generated.

Methods and systems for monitoring consumable item lifetimes for peripheral units

New consumables installed in printing devices sometimes must print several pages to &ldquo;condition&rdquo; the consumable before use. This &ldquo;conditioning&rdquo; is required to allow various components to reach optimal condition for printing. The present invention seeks to ameliorate the situation of changes in a consumable affecting the print quality by modifying the printing behavior based on measurements made on the consumable or on the history of the consumable which is installed. If necessary, the new consumable is pre-conditioned before additional page are printed. Pre-conditioning is accomplished by printing either several test pages or by developing several images and subsequently cleaning these images into the waste toner hopper.

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Boise, ID, United States of America

Joseph L Burquist