Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device

US7065497B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. · US

Inventors

• Jon A. Brewster · Monmouth, US
• Kenneth W Crangle · Albany, US
• Aloke Gupta · Corvallis, US
• Robert Miller · Corvallis, US
• Edmund Neumann · Hameln, DE
• Michael L. Roberts · Stafford, GB
• Pieter J. van Zee · Corvallis, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 7, 1999
• Grant date: Jun 20, 2006
• Expiry date: Dec 15, 2020

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T83/543
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A document is operatively coupled to a printing device, either directly or through a network such as the Internet. A print schedule is stored that keeps track of when a document should be printed on the printing device. When the print schedule indicates the document should be printed, the document is automatically transmitted to the printing device without user intervention. The printing device automatically prints the document, again without user intervention. The document can be stored on a electronic device, such as a personal computer connected to the printing device, or can be stored on a document server accessible to the printing device through the Internet. A user profile is stored that contains information about the recipient of the document, such as name, email address, household income, and interests. This user profile is updated when a document is printed on the printing device. This user profile can be used to select specific information of interest to the user to be included in a personalized document. Since advertising can also be included in the document, the user profile can also be used to select advertising likely to be of interest to the user to be included in th…