The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 11, 2008
Filed:
Jul. 05, 2006
Richard A. Keeney, Prior Lake, MN (US);
Philip A. Lodwick, Richfield, MN (US);
Farhad Nourbakhsh, Apple Valley, MN (US);
Loren Schoenzeit, Orono, MN (US);
Ofer Tenenbaum, San Jose, CA (US);
Richard A. Keeney, Prior Lake, MN (US);
Philip A. Lodwick, Richfield, MN (US);
Farhad Nourbakhsh, Apple Valley, MN (US);
Loren Schoenzeit, Orono, MN (US);
Ofer Tenenbaum, San Jose, CA (US);
Electronics for Imaging, Inc., Foster City, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for requesting and receiving print jobs over a communications network. In particular, the present invention enables a user to obtain print jobs at a location which may be unspecified, and which may be remote from the source of the print job. A spooling server is used to store a print job received via the network from a print job source. A printer polling device, which may be used at a location remote from the client device, is capable of polling the spooling server via the network to identify whether any print jobs associated with the printer polling device are available for printing at a printer currently associated with the polling device. The spooling server need not initiate contact with the printer through a firewall, since it is polled by the printer polling device. Thus, network security is maintained.