Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer network managing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-05
2002-11-05
Burgess, Glenton B. (Department: 2153)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer network managing
C709S250000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06477567
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network system provided with a printer, a computer or the like and a method for managing the network system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a network system in which a plurality of printers are managed by a single computer. In this network system, the operational conditions and the failure situations of the respective printers are collectively managed by the single computer, and the repairs thereof are effectively performed. Moreover, when one of the printers cannot be used, the connection thereof is changed so as to substitute another printer for this one of the printers. At this time, the computer for preparing the data of image to be printed and outputted by each printer and the like may be also used to manage the network system. Or, the network system may contain the computer dedicated to prepare the data, apart from the computer for managing the network system.
Now, referring to the single printer contained in the network system, if the printer is connected to a connection line (actually, a telephone line, a so-called LAN (Local Area Network) or the like corresponds to the connection line. Hereafter, this connection line is referred to as a network) for the connections in the network system, the printer is typically connected to the network through an interface card normally referred to as an NIC (Network Interface Card). Each printer comprises one NIC, and further each NIC comprises a CPU, such as a micro computer and the like. Then, the NIC transmits various information from the computer for managing the network system to an appropriate printer, and also has a function of transmitting various data from the appropriate printer through the network to the computer for managing the network system.
In the network system, there are two types of information as the information to be managed by the computer for managing the network system. That is, for example, one information is the information with regard to the setting of the NIC itself, such as an address (an identification number) on the network of the NIC itself, and the other information is the information with regard to the setting of the printer itself, such as a number of copies in each printer to which the NIC is connected.
In the above mentioned NIC, the above mentioned two kinds of the information are stored in advance in ROMs (Read Only Memories) which are all contained in the NIC, as the readable information itself, or as the process procedure of detecting the information (for example, error information and the like) changed on the basis of a state of a device or the information which is specified by a user and stored in a memory, such an RAM (Random Access Memory) and the like. Then, the NIC in which the information are stored and the appropriate printer are connected to each other by using an interface peculiar to the printer.
However, there are many kinds of printers, based on the differences of printing mechanisms and paper feeding mechanisms. Moreover, there is a single printer having various processing mechanisms corresponding to kinds of data to be processed. For example, there are a printer having an electrophotographic process as the printing mechanism, a printer having an ink jet type, a printer having a process suited for a color print, a printer having different devices to supply a print medium based on a paper size and the number of trays for supplying print papers, a printer which can further control a discharge tray, a printer having various processing mechanisms corresponding to kinds of data to be treated (a printer description language, a format of image data and the like), a printer having different resolutions and the like. Furthermore, there is a printer which can add a function in future as an option. In order to effectively utilize the above mentioned various functions, there are a variety of set items in the printer. Accordingly, the statuses of the apparatuses, for example, the error statuses are also different.
Thus, according to the configuration of the conventional NIC, it is necessary to connect to one printer the NIC having the storage content of the ROM peculiar to the printer. Hence, it is necessary to prepare the NIC having the storage contents of the ROMs which are different from each other by the number of the kinds of the printers contained in the network system. Accordingly, this leads to an expensive cost in the configuration of the network system and further this results in a problem that the configuration becomes complex as the whole system.
These problems are not limited to the above mentioned printers. That is, they exist as the similar problems in an image reading apparatus such as an image scanner, a multiple function apparatus having both the printing mechanism and the image reading mechanism (an apparatus having the functions of the printer, the image scanner, a copier, a facsimile and the like), and other terminal devices connected to the network.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is proposed in view of the above mentioned problems. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a network system, a network managing method, an interface device and a terminal device, which can implement a simple configuration and attain a low cost in a network system including a plurality of printers, a plurality of computers or the like, and a program storage device which stores a computer program to drive the interface device.
The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a network system including: a managing device such as a manager etc., for managing a terminal device through a network; the terminal device such as a printer etc., connected to the network through an interface device; and the interface device such as a NIC etc., which is connected to the terminal device and is also connected to the managing device through the network, wherein (i) the managing device is provided with an information transmitting device such as a CPU etc., for transmitting transmission information to the network, (ii) the interface device is provided with: a judging device such as a CPU etc., for, when receiving the transmission information through the network, judging whether the received transmission information is one transmission information to be processed by the interface device or another transmission information to be processed by the terminal device, based on the received transmission information; a first information processing device such as a CPU etc., for processing the received transmission information and returning a first process information, which is a process result corresponding to the received transmission information, to the managing device through the network, if the received transmission information is one transmission information to be processed by the interface device according to a judgment result of the judging device; a transferring device such as a CPU etc., for transferring the received transmission information to the terminal device if the received transmission information is another transmission information to be processed by the terminal device according to the judgment result; and a returning device such as a transceiver etc., for returning second process information, which is a process result corresponding to the received transmission information transferred to the terminal device from the transferring device, to the managing device through the network when the second process information is transmitted thereto from the terminal device, and (iii) the terminal device is provided with a second information processing device such as a CPU etc., for processing the received transmission information and transmitting the second process information to the returning device when receiving the transmission information transferred thereto from the transferring device.
According to the network system of the present invention, the transmission information is transmitted to the network from the information transmitting device in the managing de
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Burgess Glenton B.
Edelman Bradley
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