Patent ID: 11902485
Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  Y | IPC H

Claim 1:
2. An image forming system comprising an image forming device and a terminal device,
wherein the image forming device comprises a USB interface and a memory,
wherein:
the image forming device is configured to perform a normal operation, by executing firmware stored in the memory, as an image forming device having multiple functions including an image forming function;
the terminal device is configured to perform an installing process of installing a driver of the image forming device in association with the image forming device, and stores USB configuration information in association with the image forming device in the installing process, the USB configuration information being transmitted from the image forming device via the USB interface;
the image forming device is configured to perform a firmware updating process of updating the firmware of the image forming device based on an instruction transmitted, via the USB interface, from the terminal device which has performed the installing process;
the terminal device is configured to perform:
when the terminal device is performing the installing process and when a particular relationship is satisfied between the USB configuration information stored in association with the image forming device in the installing process and the USB configuration information transmitted from the image forming device prior to the firmware updating process, transmitting the firmware to be used in the firmware updating process to the image forming device, and when the particular relationship is not satisfied between the USB configuration information stored in association with the image forming device in the installing process and the USB configuration information transmitted from the image forming device prior to the firmware updating process, not communicating via the USB interface;

when updating of the firmware is completed in the firmware updating process, the image forming device is configured to perform the normal operation by executing the updated firmware;
the image forming device is configured to perform a recovery operation when the firmware becomes unexecutable as a result of performing the firmware updating process;

wherein, while the image forming device performing the recovery operation, the image forming system is configured to perform the firmware updating process;
wherein:
while the image forming device performing the recovery operation, the image forming device is configured not to perform the normal operation;
when performing the firmware updating process in the recovery operation, the image forming device is configured to transmit information satisfying the particular relationship with the USB configuration information transmitted from the image forming device performing the normal operation;
when the firmware updating process is completed in the recovery operation, the image forming device is configured to perform the normal operation by executing the updated firmware;
when the terminal device has performed the installing process of installing the driver of the image forming device which performs the normal operation before performing the recovery operation and when the particular relationship is satisfied between the USB configuration information stored in association with the image forming device in the installing process and the USB configuration information transmitted from the image forming device prior to the firmware updating process, the terminal device is configured to perform transmitting the firmware to be used in the firmware updating process to the image forming device.