US5913018A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Print band rendering system
Assignee: Adobe Inc
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Filing: 1996-07-24
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Granted: 1999-06-15
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Expires: 2016-07-24
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing bands of image information defined by a page description language. The invention estimates the print time for each print band sufficiently in advance to control a page-oriented output device print engine. In a first embodiment, the present invention controls the speed of the print engine for each page to be printed, based on a "rendering cost" or rasterization time estimate for some or all of the bands on each page. In a second embodiment, the present invention controls the speed of the print engine for each band to be printed, based on a "rendering cost" or rasterization time estimate for each band. An additional aspect of the present invention is that the print engine can be sped up for empty or sparse pages or bands, thus improving overall print speed. A third variation of the invention controls the speed of the print engine between groups of bands ("subpages") when the engine speed cannot be changed for each band, but can be changed for spaced-apart bands or groups of bands. In each case, the print speed is matched to the rendering speed to eliminate or reduce the need to pre-render, compress, and decompress page description language print information. By rendering and printing each band of data "on the fly", memory requirements are reduced. Print speed is optimized by providing band print data "on the fly" while maintaining the highest print engine speed possible for the complexity of particular data.
Inventors
- 👤 Avichay Sela
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 21:48
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06T; G06T11/00; G06T11/60; G06K2215/00; G06K2215/0002; G06K2215/0062; G06K2215/0065
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
191 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-rendering all bands with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) computing max T i for all bands with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to max T i ; and (e) rendering each band with T i ≦max T E concurrently with printing of each such band, thereby permitting complete rendering and printing of all bands with T E ≦max T E and printing of all pre-rendered bands of the page within such band print time.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
191 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-rendering all bands with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) computing max T i for all bands with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to max T i ; and (e) rendering each band with T i ≦max T E concurrently with printing of each such band, thereby permitting complete rendering and printing of all bands with T E ≦max T E and printing of all pre-rendered bands of the page within such band print time.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
185 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-rendering each band i with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) saving T i for each band i with T i ≦max T E ; (d) for each pre-rendered band i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other band i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the saved T i for such band, and rendering each such band concurrently with printing of such band.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
185 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-rendering each band i with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) saving T i for each band i with T i ≦max T E ; (d) for each pre-rendered band i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other band i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the saved T i for such band, and rendering each such band concurrently with printing of such band.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of: (a) determining if a page is blank; (b) if a page is blank, then speeding the print engine through that page.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
103 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a nominal band print time T E ', comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) if T i is greater than T E ' for band i, then slowing the print engine sufficiently during printing of band i to permit complete rendering and printing of band i.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
103 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a nominal band print time T E ', comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) if T i is greater than T E ' for band i, then slowing the print engine sufficiently during printing of band i to permit complete rendering and printing of band i.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of: (a) determining if a band i is has a T i less than T E '; (b) if a band i has a T i less than T E ', then speeding the print engine through band i.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of: (a) determining if each T i is greater than a maximum T E for the print engine; (b) if T i is greater than such maximum T E , then rendering the corresponding band i as print data in a memory before transmitting such data to the print engine.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of: (a) if the print data exceeds a capacity of the memory, then compressing the print data.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
10 words
The method of claim 7, wherein the compression is lossless.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
10 words
The method of claim 7, wherein the compression is lossy.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
199 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for pre-rendering all bands with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) means for computing max T i for all bands with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to max T i ; and (e) means for rendering each band with T i ≦max T E concurrently with printing of each such band, thereby permitting complete rendering and printing of all bands with T i ≦max T E and printing of all pre-rendered bands of the page within such band print time.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
199 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for pre-rendering all bands with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) means for computing max T i for all bands with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to max T i ; and (e) means for rendering each band with T i ≦max T E concurrently with printing of each such band, thereby permitting complete rendering and printing of all bands with T i ≦max T E and printing of all pre-rendered bands of the page within such band print time.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
189 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for pre-rendering each band i with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) means for saving T i for each band i with T i ≦max T E ; (d) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E for each pre-rendered band i; and (e) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the saved T i for each other band i, and rendering each such band concurrently with printing of such band.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
189 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for pre-rendering each band i with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) means for saving T i for each band i with T i ≦max T E ; (d) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E for each pre-rendered band i; and (e) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the saved T i for each other band i, and rendering each such band concurrently with printing of such band.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
The printer apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: (a) means for determining if a page is blank; (b) means for speeding the print engine through each blank page.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
101 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a nominal band print time T E ', comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for slowing the print engine sufficiently during printing of band i to permit complete rendering and printing of band i if T i is greater than T E '.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
101 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a nominal band print time T E ', comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for slowing the print engine sufficiently during printing of band i to permit complete rendering and printing of band i if T i is greater than T E '.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
The printer apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: (a) means for determining if a band i is blank; (b) means for speeding the print engine through band i if such band is blank.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
48 words
The printer apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: (a) means for determining if each T i is greater than a maximum T E for the print engine; (b) means for rendering and compressing the corresponding band i if T i is greater than such maximum T E .
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
208 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-render all bands with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) compute max T i for all bands with T i ≦max T E , and set max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the T i ; and (e) render each band with T i ≦max T E concurrently with printing of each such band, thereby permitting complete rendering and printing of all bands with T i max T E and printing of all pre-rendered bands of the page within such band print time.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
208 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a page, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-render all bands with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) compute max T i for all bands with T i ≦max T E , and set max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the T i ; and (e) render each band with T i ≦max T E concurrently with printing of each such band, thereby permitting complete rendering and printing of all bands with T i max T E and printing of all pre-rendered bands of the page within such band print time.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
201 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1,. . . n; (b) pre-render each band i with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) save T i for each band i with T i ≦max T E ; (d) for each pre-rendered band i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other band i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the saved T i for such band, and render each such band concurrently with printing of such band.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
201 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E , the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1,. . . n; (b) pre-render each band i with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) save T i for each band i with T i ≦max T E ; (d) for each pre-rendered band i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other band i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the saved T i for such band, and render each such band concurrently with printing of such band.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
40 words
The computer program of claim 17, further comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) determine if a page is blank; (b) if a page is blank, then speed the print engine through that page.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
119 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a nominal band print time T E ', the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1,. . . n; (b) if T i is greater than T E ' for band i, then slow the print engine sufficiently during printing of band i to permit complete rendering and printing of band i.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
119 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a nominal band print time T E ', the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for at least one band i of a page, where i=1,. . . n; (b) if T i is greater than T E ' for band i, then slow the print engine sufficiently during printing of band i to permit complete rendering and printing of band i.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
42 words
The computer program of claim 19, further comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) determine if a band i is blank; (b) if a band i is blank, then speed the print engine through band i.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
56 words
The computer program of claim 19, further comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) determine if each T i is greater than a maximum T E for the print engine; (b) if T i is greater than such maximum T E , then render and compress the corresponding band i.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
51 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine having a variable speed, comprising the steps of: (a) determining if a page is blank; (b) if a page is blank, then speeding the print engine through that page.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
51 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine having a variable speed, comprising the steps of: (a) determining if a page is blank; (b) if a page is blank, then speeding the print engine through that page.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
48 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine having a variable speed, comprising: (a) means for determining if a page is blank; (b) means for speeding the print engine through each blank page.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
48 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine having a variable speed, comprising: (a) means for determining if a page is blank; (b) means for speeding the print engine through each blank page.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
68 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine having a variable speed, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) determine if a page is blank; (b) if a page is blank, then speed the print engine through that page.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
68 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine having a variable speed, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) determine if a page is blank; (b) if a page is blank, then speed the print engine through that page.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
220 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E for subpages j of bands i, where the print band time can be changed between subpages, comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a subpage j, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-rendering all bands i of a subpage j with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) computing max T i for all bands i of a subpage j with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) for each subpage j of pre-rendered bands i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other subpage j of bands i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the max T i for the bands i in such subpage j.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
220 words
A method for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E for subpages j of bands i, where the print band time can be changed between subpages, comprising the steps of: (a) computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a subpage j, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-rendering all bands i of a subpage j with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) computing max T i for all bands i of a subpage j with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) for each subpage j of pre-rendered bands i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other subpage j of bands i, setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the max T i for the bands i in such subpage j.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
220 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E for subpages j of bands i, where the print band time can be changed between subpages, comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a subpage j, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for pre-rendering all bands i of a subpage j with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) means for computing max T i for all bands i of a subpage j with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E for each subpage j of pre-rendered bands i; and (e) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the max T i for the bands i of each other subpage j.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
220 words
A printer apparatus for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E for subpages j of bands i, where the print band time can be changed between subpages, comprising: (a) means for computing an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a subpage j, where i=1, . . . n; (b) means for pre-rendering all bands i of a subpage j with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) means for computing max T i for all bands i of a subpage j with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E for each subpage j of pre-rendered bands i; and (e) means for setting the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the max T i for the bands i of each other subpage j.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
237 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E for subpages j of bands i, where the print band time can be changed between subpages, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a subpage j, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-render all bands i of a subpage j with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) compute max T i for all bands i of a subpage j with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) for each subpage j of pre-rendered bands i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other subpage j of bands i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the max T i for the bands i in such subpage j.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
237 words
A computer program, residing on a computer-readable medium, for efficiently rendering and printing a page of information comprising a plurality of bands n defined by a page description language by means of a page-oriented output device having a print engine with a selectable band print time T E for subpages j of bands i, where the print band time can be changed between subpages, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor within the page-oriented output device to: (a) compute an estimated rendering time T i for each band i of a subpage j, where i=1, . . . n; (b) pre-render all bands i of a subpage j with T i >max T E , such pre-rendered bands being printable by the print engine within max T E ; (c) compute max T i for all bands i of a subpage j with T i ≦max T E , and setting max T i to 0 if no such bands exist; (d) for each subpage j of pre-rendered bands i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the minimum T E ; and (e) for each other subpage j of bands i, set the selectable band print time T E of the print engine to be greater than or equal to the max T i for the bands i in such subpage j.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-06-14 | 2002-12-14 | 2003-06-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-06-14 | 2006-12-14 | 2007-06-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-06-14 | 2010-12-14 | 2011-06-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |