Printer status user interface and methods relating thereto
US5706411A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 9, 1992 |
| Grant date | Jan 6, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 9, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06K2215/0085
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A computer system having a visual display indicating the status of an attached printer is disclosed. The visual display allows the user to determine various status states of the attached printer without physical examination of the printer itself. Printer states requiring user intervention, and printer states not requiring user intervention, are disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, the computer system displays a Printer Status window which both graphically and textually indicates the printer state. When printing, a graphical representation of the attached printer is displayed within a portion of the Printer Status window, and is animated to represent the actual printing of a page. If an error occurs while printing, the Printer Status window preferably indicates the nature of the error, and the steps which must be performed (if any) to continue printing. When not printing, the user may determine the present status of the attached printer, and such information is preferably presented to the user in graphical form. The Printer Status window may be iconized by the user, and the corresponding icon also displays to the user the state of the attached printer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.