← Back to Patent Explorer
US5200958A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method and apparatus for recording and diagnosing faults in an electronic reprographic printing system

Assignee: Xerox Corp
•
Filing: 1990-09-28
•
Granted: 1993-04-06
•
Expires: 2010-09-28
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A method and apparatus provide for recovering from faults in an electronic reprographic system for scanning and synchronously or asynchronously processing and printing a plurality of jobs. The system is monitored for the occurrence of faults in a job, the faults are identified and recorded through a fault logging service and a specific response is initiated to the faults recorded by the fault logging service. Provision is made for using the log offline to determine the cause and effect of problems created by the faults in the system. The invention further provides for using the log online to monitor the occurrence of hardware faults in the system, and initiate the appropriate online diagnostic routine, whose response can further isolate a suspected problem.

Inventors

  • 👤 Robert S. Hamilton
  • 👤 Daniel C. Chen
  • 👤 Sharon Mathiason
  • 👤 Ronald S. Tomory
  • 👤 Anthony M. Federico

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-27 14:01
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/0703; G06F11/0766; G06F11/0787; G03; G03G; G03G15/00; G03G15/50; G03G15/5075; G03G15/5079; G06F11/0706; G06F11/0715; G06F11/0793; G06F11/22; G03G15/55

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim 163 words
A method for recording and diagnosing faults in an electronic reprographic system for scanning and processing and printing a plurality of jobs, comprising the steps of: monitoring the system for occurrence of faults in a job; providing a fault logging service; recording each fault of said faults in the fault logging service; determining whether the number of recordings of a particular fault in said fault logging service exceeds a previously determined threshold number set for said particular fault; providing an online diagnostic routine for at least one of the faults recordable in the fault logging service; determining whether an online diagnostic routine is available for the particular fault when a determination is made that occurrences of said particular fault have exceeded said threshold number set for said particular fault; and providing information to an operator regarding said particular fault recorded in said fault logging service means and providing information to the operator regarding an available online diagnostic routine related to said particular fault.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 163 words
A method for recording and diagnosing faults in an electronic reprographic system for scanning and processing and printing a plurality of jobs, comprising the steps of: monitoring the system for occurrence of faults in a job; providing a fault logging service; recording each fault of said faults in the fault logging service; determining whether the number of recordings of a particular fault in said fault logging service exceeds a previously determined threshold number set for said particular fault; providing an online diagnostic routine for at least one of the faults recordable in the fault logging service; determining whether an online diagnostic routine is available for the particular fault when a determination is made that occurrences of said particular fault have exceeded said threshold number set for said particular fault; and providing information to an operator regarding said particular fault recorded in said fault logging service means and providing information to the operator regarding an available online diagnostic routine related to said particular fault.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 31 words
The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of recording each fault through a fault logging service includes time stamping and recording each fault in said fault logging service.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising the step of using the fault logging service offline to determine cause and effect of problems created by at least one fault in the system.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 27 words
The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising the step of using the fault logging service online to monitor occurrence of hardware faults in the system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 32 words
The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of initiating a selectively accessible online diagnostic routine while suppressing interactive subroutines in said online diagnostic routine to evaluate a fault.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising the step of informing the operator of the results of the online diagnostic routine.
Claim 8
Independent Claim 175 words
An apparatus for recording and diagnosing faults in an electronic reprographic system for scanning and processing and printing a plurality of jobs, comprising: means for monitoring the system for occurrence of faults in a job; a fault logging means; means for recording each fault of said faults in said fault logging means; means for determining whether the number of recordings of a particular fault in the fault logging means exceeds a previously determined threshold number set for the particular fault; providing means for providing at least one online diagnostic routine; means for determining whether an online diagnostic routine is available from the providing means for the particular fault when a determination is made that the number of recordings of said particular fault in the fault logging means has exceeded said threshold number set for said particular fault; and means for providing information to an operator regarding said particular fault recorded in said fault logging means and means for providing information from the providing means regarding an available online diagnostic routine related to said particular fault.
Claim 9
Independent Claim 175 words
An apparatus for recording and diagnosing faults in an electronic reprographic system for scanning and processing and printing a plurality of jobs, comprising: means for monitoring the system for occurrence of faults in a job; a fault logging means; means for recording each fault of said faults in said fault logging means; means for determining whether the number of recordings of a particular fault in the fault logging means exceeds a previously determined threshold number set for the particular fault; providing means for providing at least one online diagnostic routine; means for determining whether an online diagnostic routine is available from the providing means for the particular fault when a determination is made that the number of recordings of said particular fault in the fault logging means has exceeded said threshold number set for said particular fault; and means for providing information to an operator regarding said particular fault recorded in said fault logging means and means for providing information from the providing means regarding an available online diagnostic routine related to said particular fault.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 38 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein the means for recording each of said plurality of faults through a fault logging means includes means for time stamping and means for recording each said fault in a log.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 34 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 8, further comprising means for using the fault logging means offline to determine the cause and effect of problems created by at least one fault in the system.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 27 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 8, further comprising means for using the fault logging recording means online to monitor occurrence of hardware faults in the system.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 33 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 7, further comprising means for initiating a selectively accessible online diagnostic routine and means for suppressing interactive subroutines in said online diagnostic routine to evaluate a fault.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 21 words
The apparatus as recited in claim 11, further comprising means for informing the operator of results of the online diagnostic routine.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1996-04-05 1996-10-05 1997-04-06 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2000-04-05 2000-10-05 2001-04-06 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2004-04-05 2004-10-05 2005-04-06 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag