Title of Invention

A PERIPHERAL DEVICE WITH SILENT MODE FEATURE

Abstract

The proposed invention relates to incorporating silent mode feature in a document processing system comprising multi function peripherals like scanner, printer, fax machine, copier etc. The silent mode feature enables the user to store the received documents into the user memory as well as disables the key sounds, ringer volumes etc. This feature can be enabled or disabled through an interface user device which could be the button on the operator panel or through pull down menu or a touch screen panel. The proposed novel feature is very useful and valuable in places like hospitals, hotels, discussion rooms where disturbance free environment is mandatory.

Full Text

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY The present invention relates generally to the field of document-processing devices, such as copiers, printers, scanners, facsimile and, more specifically to the facsimiles, which include on-board memory. Further, this invention relates to incorporating SILENT MODE feature in these peripheral devices for operation in places demanding disturbance free environment. The SILENT MODE feature includes storing the received documents in the memory and disabling all the key sounds, alarm sounds, and ringer volume through user interface. These devices can be a part of a stand-alone machine (such as a copier) or disposed as a peripheral on a distributed network. This feature can be implemented in the devices under any operating system. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART With increasing demand for usage of document processing system featuring peripheral devices like copiers, fax machines, scanners, printers etc for data communication, the satisfactory operation of these peripheral devices in all kinds of environments assumes great significance. To be very specific, these devices should include features, which enable the operation void of any disturbance to users in places like discussion rooms, hospitals, hotels etc. None of the existing document processing systems provide this feature. The structure and operation of the existing art as well as the limitations of the existing art are explained as follows: This invention refers to one of the peripherals, namely facsimile. Transmission and reception of facsimiles requires resources such as Operating system, microprocessor, RAM, ROM, 10 interfaces etc. The logic constituting the facsimiles implements the single line fax or internet. Functionally, typical main board logic will comprise the following: 1. CPU subsystem 2. Scanner 3. Modem 4. Printer 5. I/O Interface - Key 6. I/O Interface - LCD display 7. RTC 8. USB port 9. Parallel port This document processing system is a standalone device, which includes printers, copier, scanners facsimiles, and LCD display with user interface in which numerous features are offered. Each feature may include a plurality of selectable options. Some of the important features are highlighted as follows: 1. Delay dialing 2. Mailbox transmission and reception 3. Polling 4. Memory TX 5. Priority TX 6. Group Dial 7. Toll Saver Structure of Related Art In a document processing system, whether a standalone copier or network system including printers, scanners and facsimiles, a user is presented with a display in which numerous features pertaining to print, copy and scan operations are displayed. Scanned document uses the user memory and ECM buffer for transmitting the document whereas copier and PC printing and Fax printing uses ECM buffer, User Memory and Printer Buffer for printing the data. Operation of Related Art All the operations presently are done using the keyboard. The LCD display provides the visual indication of the current status of the system and guides the operator while programming the various features associated with the system. The display also output the error messages related to the usage, status of the various electromechanical exceptions like toner low, paper jam, overheat, no paper, toner empty etc. The CPU either stores the scanned image in the memory or may transfer the scanned image directly to the modem buffer for further transmission to the remote fax. The Images for storing into memory will be compressed due to Memory Usability. For direct copying, Raw Data or Compressed Image will be used. Storing of the scanned image in the memory is, typically, for the purpose of implementing delayed transmission, transmission intended for multiple targets, etc. Scanning operation can overlap with certain other operations like receiving an incoming fax into the memory. The CPU on the main board is interfaced with a high speed modem. The modem interfaces with the CPU on one side and the analog telephone line on the other side. The scanned image is, either directly from the scanner or from the system memory of the CPU placed in the modem's buffer and the relevant control signal is turned on so that the information is flown on the telephone line. Using the printer interface, the main board can be interfaced with a standard parallel printer. The printer, in addition to printing of an incoming fax, can also be used to generate various reports like job schedule, system data (configuration information), fax transmission confirmation etc. The printer is also used to print any document from the host computer. It is possible to enable printing operation concurrently with other tasks like storing a fax document for later transmission while printing an incoming fax, print an incoming fax, receive a fax into memory while printing a PC document etc. LIMITATIONS Current functionality of any peripheral device such as fax machine do not have any option to store the received documents in the memory and disable all the key sounds, alarm sounds, and ringer volume using a user interface / keypad component or as a part of menu item, selected through the scrolling buttons. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the invention is to define a silent mode feature for facsimiles describing the implementation for virtually any peripheral devices under any operating system, thereby enabling a silent mode feature to interface with the peripheral device regardless of the operating system being utilized. It is another object of the present invention to provide additional feature through Silent mode enabling means on operation panel, which allows users to store the document in the memory. It is another object of the present invention to enable users to select features through a user interface or keypad. It is another object of the present invention to help the user to select either storage of received document or disabling of volumes or both in the silent mode. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the existing document processing systems, facsimiles print the received fax data without storing them in the memory. The user interface on the device displays "PRINTING..." while printing the received fax data. An enabling means is provided for the feature of the present invention on the user interface of the device which could be a dedicated button, a part of menu, a touch screen control, etc. and further an extended / additional memory is also provided which can be used for storing the received data in the devices. When the dedicated key/button/ touch screen control is pressed or if the feature is selected through the scroll menu, the display of the device can show the desired messages as shown in figure 1. The present invention captures the following novel features which enable the document processing system to work in all kinds of environments / situations: 1. Store the received data in the memory, with key/button/touch screen control support on the operation panel, or with selection from the menu items; 2. Disable all the key sounds, alarm sounds, and ringer volume, with key/button/touch screen control support on the operation panel, or with select from the menu items; 3. The user can trigger the SILENT mode in the device in a time bound manner, which starts printing the received data without sound alerts, alarms and keypad tones. These features can be used all at the same time or can be used individually. In the present invention it is to be construed that "Silent Mode" is a term which can include an additional feature in the document processing system including devices such as copier, scanner, a digital printer and facsimile, communicating over PSTN or internet. Accordingly, the present invention comprises a peripheral device comprising a silent mode feature characterized in that an enabling means is incorporated in the user interface or keypad and an extended memory storage is provided wherein the said enabling means in tandem with the embedded software enables the silent mode feature whereby the sound alerts, ring tones and sound alarm features are deactivated and the data to be processed are stored in the extended memory and the output is generated after the silent mode is disabled. The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a simplified illustration of the steps of the Silent mode feature's display on the LCD for identification by the operator. FIGURE 2 illustrates an example of a how the documents are stored in the memory, after receiving the fax documents. FIGURE 3 illustrates an implementation of KEY/Button on the operation panel of the device, representing SILENT MODE. FIGURE 4 is a chart showing the various options and features of the silent mode. FIGURE 5 shows the user selectable time bound trigger option displayed on the LCD of the device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. The term "peripheral device" includes printer, scanner, facsimile machine, paper shredder, etc. The present invention is applied for devices, which can either be stand-alone or part of a network system communicating using internet, intranet or PSTN. While the invention covers all the Peripheral devices, the description here pertains to facsimile devices, in particular The display on the operating panel is used to guide the user/operator by displaying the messages related to enabling and disabling of the Silent mode feature. Normally date, time and percentage of memory are displayed on the user interface. When the Silent mode feature is enabled, the display displays SILENTMODE on the user interface along with date and percentage of memory occupied. When Silent mode operation is disabled, the display comes to normal mode. Figure 2 shows a typical block diagram depicting various peripherals used in the document processing system including silent mode feature on the keyboard panel. The SILENT MODE feature is implemented as an integral part of the operation software application of the peripheral device which can be adapted for use any such device such as scanner, printer and fax or on a single device having all these functions. When the user activates the SILENT MODE function, an interrupt is generated in the program embedded and running in the device and consequently, the program jumps to an interrupt subroutine which disables all the keypad tones, alarm sounds and sound alerts including ringer volume. During SILENT MODE, the received data is stored in the onboard memory of the device. The volume of data that can be stored will depend on the size of the memory. The hardware construction may be effected in several ways based on several market and commercial factors and is not restricted to any specific construction. The only essential addition to the hardware for the silent mode feature to be present in the peripheral device is an enabling means for enabling the silent mode feature, which could be in the form of a dedicated button/key on the keypad or touch screen user interface as in figure 3. Such enabling means is added in the user interface of the peripheral device and the same can be used for dual functions to include this feature. The following are the salient features of the silent mode operation of the document processing system proposed in this invention: 1. One of the salient features of the silent mode operation is that it stores all the data that is received in the extended memory provided. These data will be processed and output generated when the silent mode option is disabled. To disable silent mode feature, user can use the enabling means. Fig 1 illustrates the typical representation of disabling and enabling of silent mode operation. 2. When the Silent mode feature is enabled, then the key, alarm, and ringer volumes are disabled. 3. Yet another important feature of the silent mode operation is that user can set the pre specified time, by which system will automatically go to the Silent mode. In this mode user can process the data just by disabling the alarms and sounds, or can store the data by disabling printing. 4. During the Silent mode, when the data is received into the memory of the device, the display of the device can also display the index of data received along with the date and time. 5. During the silent mode, if the memory becomes full due to reception of a large volume of data, then all the received data will be processed and output generated and once again it will go to silent mode. 6. Enabling and disabling can be done with or without using password. Security level will be enhanced if the password is used. 7. In the silent mode operation, disabling of volumes and / or storage of data can be effected. 8. The operation can be effected without the usage of key buttons on the panel and by adding key features in the scroll down menu. 9. As the selection of the features is through user interface, the user can implement the same in a variety of ways possible as in figure 4. 10. Specific memory in the multi functional peripheral device can be increased, according to user requirements. Structure of the Invention The invention captures silent mode operation as additional feature in the document processing system, the structure of which is explained as follows: (1) An enabling means on the user interface such as a button or key representing silent mode option or a menu item, which can be seen through the scrolling buttons. This helps the user in operations to store data and / or disable sounds. (2) User interface display of the device for representation of SILENT MODE option ON or OFF Operation of the Invention The operation of the Silent mode option is explained below: 1. Just enable the silent mode option by using the user interface device (button on the keyboard/touch screen control or part of menu). 2. The selection of the silent mode is indicated to the operator via presentation on the device display. 3. Once the user is in silent mode, he can select features like storing documents or disabling volumes or both. 4. The user can set the time at which the silent mode can become operational i.e. a time bound trigger as in figure 5. The start and end time of the mode is indicated to the user on the device display. 5. When documents are received, the device can display the index of data received along with date and time. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a computer, printer or a multi function device. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom. WE CLAIM 1. A peripheral device comprising a silent mode feature characterized in that an enabling means and an extended memory storage is provided wherein the said enabling means in tandem with the embedded software enables the silent mode feature whereby the sound alerts, ring tones and sound alarm features are deactivated and the data to be processed are stored in the extended memory and the output is generated after the silent mode is disabled. 2. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1 is capable of communicating either by using PSTN or Internet or Intranet. 3. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said enabling means can be a component of the user interface device namely keypad, or touch screen control. 4. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user interface displays "SILENT MODE" when the silent mode enabling means is operated. 5. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the keypad tones are turned off by enabling the silent mode feature. 6. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1 wherein by enabling the silent mode feature, the data to be processed are optionally stored in the extended memory and processing is carried out only when the Silent Mode is disabled. 7. The peripheral device as claimed in the Claim 8, wherein when the extended memory is full due to reception of a large volume of data, all the received data will be processed and once again device goes to silent mode. 8. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a time bound trigger can be set for the activation of silent mode. 9. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1, wherein user interface displays the details of data stored in the extended memory received during silent mode operation. 10. The peripheral device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said silent mode feature is optionally enabled or disabled with the usage of password. 11. A peripheral device with a silent mode feature such as substantially herein described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1045-che-2003-abstract.pdf

1045-che-2003-claims duplicate.pdf

1045-che-2003-claims original.pdf

1045-che-2003-correspondence others.pdf

1045-che-2003-correspondence po.pdf

1045-che-2003-description complete duplicate.pdf

1045-che-2003-description complete original.pdf

1045-che-2003-drawings.pdf

1045-che-2003-form 1.pdf

1045-che-2003-form 13.pdf

1045-che-2003-form 26.pdf