Abstract:
A printer is configured such that it can automatically order labels, tags or the like directly from a label, tag or the like production facility over a TCP/IP connection using such protocols as e-mail, hyper-text-transfer-protocol (i.e., web page), and TCP datagrams, and have the ordered labels, tags or the like delivered directly to the physical location of the printer.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/287,761, filed May 1, 2001, and is a continuation in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/642,538, filed Aug. 18, 2000, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to printers which are configured to print onto consumable media, such as labels, tags or the like, and more specifically relates to a printer which is configured to monitor its own consumption of consumable media and automatically order more consumable media from, for example, an order-fulfillment house or production facility.  
           [0003]    It is advantageous to prevent printer downtime, or at least keep downtime to a minimum. Oftentimes, printers which print labels, tags or the like, such as barcode printers, are used in mission-critical applications. In such circumstances, when a printer goes down, it can be quite costly. For example, if a printer configured to print shipping labels runs out of ribbon or labels, it is possible that several hundred boxes will be placed into inventory without identification. In this case, every hour that the system or printer is unavailable can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in lost productivity. Hence, it is advantageous to prevent printer downtime, and in mission-critical applications, it is generally economically imperative.  
           [0004]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/642,538, which has been incorporated herein by reference, discloses a printer which provides an active alerting feature. This feature immediately alerts an information technology person or other person responsible for managing the printer that the printer needs servicing, such as a new thermal printhead or additional labels. The alert generated from the printer can be selectively transmitted over a plurality of communication channels to the person responsible for servicing and keeping the printer operating for the purpose of minimizing printer down time which directly correlates to a minimization in lost productivity. The communication channels may include e-mail, cellular or satellite pager, and the printer&#39;s display.  
           [0005]    [0005]FIGS. 1 and 2 of the present application illustrate a printer  10  which is consistent with that which is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/642,538. The printer  10  is configured to print labels  12 , and includes a display  14  which shows various printer alert conditions in textual or graphical format. As shown in FIG. 2, the printer  10  is configured such that it can be connected to a TCP/IP network  16 , and the TCP/IP network  16  may contain Internet, Intranet, LAN, and WAN connectivity. When the printer  10  encounters a printing error such as being out of labels, the printer  10  sends an alert message over the TCP/IP network  16 . That message may be selectively transmitted and routed over e-mail  18 , to a cellular paging system  20 , or on to the printer&#39;s display  14 . A cellular receiving device  22  receives the page. An optional mail-server  24  may be required to handle the transmission of e-mail messages from the printer  10  over the TCP/IP network  16  to successfully transmit e-mail messages  18  containing the printer alert messages.  
           [0006]    Typically, a network manager would select what alert messages would be communicated and how the alert messages will be communicated by selecting what communication channel or channels over which the alert messages will be transmitted. For example, a network manager may have a goal of not transmitting alert messages about the printer&#39;s power supply temperature to anyone. Hence, the network manager may disable that alert message, i.e., prevent that particular alert message from being communicated. Furthermore, the network manager may desire that alerts regarding whether the printer requires a new thermal printhead be communicated via e-mail  18  to a printer service worker and herself, and, simultaneously inform the printer operator of the printer&#39;s alert condition via the printer&#39;s front panel display  14 . In addition, the network administrator may desire that any alert conditions regarding the state of the printer&#39;s label supply be communicated via cellular pager  22  to a second mobile service worker to locate and deliver labels to the location of the printer  10  to minimize printer downtime.  
           [0007]    As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/642,538, one type of alert generated by the printer  10  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the present application may be an alert regarding the state of the printer&#39;s label supply. However, the printer  10  is only capable of detecting when the printer  10  is completely out of labels. When the printer  10  is out of labels, the printer  10  immediately stops printing until a new supply of labels is inserted into the printer  10 , and transmits an alert message that the printer  10  is out of labels. Depending on how the network manager has configured the printer  10  with regard to alert messages, the printer  10  may alert either the printer operator via the printer&#39;s front panel  14  or directly alert a mobile worker using a cellular paging device  22 . Although these communication methods are effective in procuring replacement labels for the printer  10 , the time period between when the printer  10  transmits the alert message and new labels are delivered to the printer  10  may range from minutes to hours depending on how quickly new labels can be located and delivered to the printer  10 . This time period between when the printer  10  stops printing labels and a new label supply is provided to the printer  10  results in downtime and lost productivity, which can be very expensive.  
           [0008]    To minimize printer downtime and maximize productivity, replacement label stock is typically stored near the printer  10  unless space constraints prohibit such label storage. Regardless, in order to keep an adequate supply of replacement label stock on hand, the printer operator needs to periodically order additional label stock. This is neither convenient nor productive for the printer operator to do, and oftentimes the printer operator will forget to order replacement labels. In such case, when the printer runs out of labels and stops printing, expensive productivity time is lost while an order for new labels is placed, and the labels are finally received and installed in the printer  10 .  
           [0009]    In most applications, the printer operator would order replacement labels from her company&#39;s stock room by filling out a stock-requisition, which is an ineffective use of the printer operator&#39;s time. The company&#39;s stock room or purchasing agent is typically responsible for keeping track of the printer&#39;s label consumption rate so that a continuous supply of labels may be provided to the printer  10 . Unfortunately, oftentimes the company&#39;s stock room or purchasing agent may have not ordered replacement labels because neither were informed nor aware of the printer&#39;s label consumption rate. When this occurs, substantial printer downtime occurs since labels have to be ordered from an order-fulfillment house or label production facility, which is normally located outside of the company. Delays from days to weeks are not uncommon, which can cause substantial financial hardship upon the company.  
         OBJECTS AND SUMMARY  
         [0010]    An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a printer which can monitor its own consumption of consumable media, such as labels, tags or the like, and order more consumable media upon its consumption of the consumable media reaching a pre-determined level, thereby eliminating or at least reducing printer downtime.  
           [0011]    Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method for a printer to automatically order its own consumable media, thereby eliminating or at least reducing printer downtime.  
           [0012]    Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions which are readable by a printer, where the instructions are configured to direct the printer to measure a quantity of consumable media consumed by the printer and automatically order consumable media.  
           [0013]    Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method of keeping a printer supplied with consumable media, where the method includes having the printer monitor the quantity of consumable media consumed by the printer and order more consumable media.  
           [0014]    Still yet another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a printer which is configured such that it can automatically order consumable media such as labels, tags or the like directly from a label, tag or the like order-fulfillment house or production facility over a TCP/IP connection using such protocols as e-mail or hypertext-transfer-protocol (i.e., web page and HTTP) or FTP, and have the ordered consumable media (e.g., labels, tags or the like) delivered directly to the physical location of the printer.  
           [0015]    Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a printer which can be configured by a printer administrator to automatically order consumable media such as labels, tags or the like directly from a label, tag or the like order-fulfillment house or production facility once a pre-determined quantity of labels, tags or the like has been consumed by the printer.  
           [0016]    Briefly, and in accordance with at least one of the foregoing objects, an embodiment of the present invention provides a printer which is configured to print onto consumable media, such as labels, tags or the like, where the printer includes a means for determining the quantity of labels, tags and the like consumed and includes a means for transmitting the printer&#39;s label, tag or the like consumption information via e-mail or TCP message to a world-wide-web internet site which collects such information and disseminates that information to a label, tag, or the like order-fulfillment house or production facility.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The organization and manner of the structure and operation of the invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer which is configured to generate and transmit alert messages about the printer;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a view of the printer illustrated in FIG. 1, showing the printer connected to a TCP/IP network over which the printer transmits the alert messages;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a printer which is in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating certain portions of the printer shown in FIG. 3;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the printer in communication with an e-mail server;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 illustrates a web site to which the printer shown in FIGS.  3 - 5  is configured to send TCP messages;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 illustrates the situation where the printer shown in FIGS.  3 - 5  is configured to send information directly to an order-fulfillment house or production facility;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 illustrates a first portion of a program which operates the printer shown in FIG. 7; and  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 illustrates a second portion of the program shown in FIG. 8.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0027]    While the present invention may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there are shown in the drawings, and herein will be described in detail, embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present description is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to that as illustrated and described herein.  
         [0028]    FIGS.  3 - 5  illustrate a printer  30  which is in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Printer  30  is configured to monitor their consumption of consumable media, such as tags, labels or the like, and automatically order more consumable media without human intervention. As a result, the printer  30  is configured to eliminate or at least substantially reduce printer downtime which may otherwise result from the printer  30  running out of consumable media, such as tags, labels or the like.  
         [0029]    Printer  30  is configured to print variable indicia onto consumable media, such as label, tag or the like stock  32 . Information about the printer&#39;s status and various printing configuration settings are preferably displayed in the printer&#39;s LCD display  34 , and the printer  30  preferably includes an operating panel  35  which provides an interface for operating or otherwise setting parameters relating to function of the printer  30 .  
         [0030]    As shown in FIG. 4, the printer  30  preferably includes not only a print mechanism  36  for printing onto consumable media, but also consumable media measuring apparatus  38 , and communications apparatus  40  which is coupled to the consumable media measuring apparatus  38 . Preferably, the consumable media measuring apparatus  38  is configured to measure a quantity of consumable media consumed by the printer  30 , and is configured to communicate consumable media consumption data to the communications apparatus  40 . Preferably, the communications apparatus  40  is configured to transmit the consumable media consumption data to a destination  42  which is external to the printer  30 , such as to a web site, a consumable media order-fulfillment house, a consumable media production facility, or some other appropriate destination.  
         [0031]    As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, preferably the printer  30  is configured such that it can be connected to a TCP/IP network  44 , such as a LAN, WAN, Internet, or an Intranet network, where bi-directional TCP/IP communions can take place between the network  44  and the printer  30 . This connection provides the ability for label formats and data to be transmitted to the printer  30 , and status information to be transmitted from printer  30 . In addition, printer configuration settings such as darkness may be transmitted to the printer  30  from the network  44  via e-mail, TCP, or UDP. Preferably, the printer  30  is configured such that it can be set to send out a TCP message  46  over the TCP/IP network  44  containing the status of the printer  30 , or any other information that printer  30  requires to be transmitted to a destination, such as to a web site  48  as shown in FIG. 6 on the network  44 . Optionally, as shown in FIG. 5, the printer  30  can be configured to send status or other information over network  44  via an e-mail message  50 . As shown, an e-mail server  52  may be provided to send and route such an e-mail message  50  over the network  44 . Furthermore, the printer  30  can be configured such that it can transmit status information over a port  43  of the printer  30 , such as the printer&#39;s parallel or serial port.  
         [0032]    As described above, printer  30  includes a consumable media measuring apparatus  38  which is configured to count the number of consumable media, such as tags, tickets or the like, consumed by the printer  30 . The media measuring apparatus  38  may be provided in the form of firmware internal to the printer  30  which determines the number of labels, tags, or the like printed by incrementing an internal counter for every label, tag, or the like printed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the consumable media measuring apparatus  38  may consist of means  54  for measuring a quantity of consumable media consumed by the printer  30 , where the means  54  includes a counter, as well means  56  for generating a consumable media consumption value based on the quantity which is measured. Preferably, the means  56  for generating a consumable media consumption value is in communication with the communications apparatus  40 , and is configured to communicate the consumable media consumption value thereto for subsequent transmission to destination  42  external to the printer  30 .  
         [0033]    Specifically, the printer  30  can be configured such that it can be programmed to send out an e-mail message  50  or TCP message  46  over network  44  when the printer  30  consumes a pre-determined quantity of consumable media, e.g., prints a pre-determined quantity of labels, tags or the like. Preferably, the printer  30  is configured such that the pre-determined quantity of labels, tags or the like printed before an alert message is transmitted over network  44  is variable and modifiable by sending an e-mail message, TCP message, UDP message or FTP transmission to the printer  30 , or by communicating with the printer&#39;s serial port or parallel port  43 , over network  44  or other means. Alternatively, or in addition, the printer  30  can be configured such that such information can be communicated to the printer using the printer&#39;s operations panel  35 . Furthermore, the printer  30  can be configured such that it can be programmed, as described above, with instructions on the address to send e-mail message  50  or TCP message  46  over network  44 . Preferably, the printer  30  is configured such that it can be programmed to send information via a TCP message  46  to a web site  48  using HTTP, FTP, UDP or other similar protocols to order consumable media, such as labels, tags or the like, directly from the web site  48  without human intervention.  
         [0034]    In operation, printer  30  is programmed with the quantity of consumable media, such as labels, tags or the like, to be printed before an alert message is transmitted over network  44  via e-mail  50  or a TCP message  46 . Preferably, the printer  30  sends a TCP message  46  once the printer  30  has printed a pre-determined, pre-set quantity of labels, tags or the like. Preferably, the destination for that TCP message  46  is a web site  48 , as shown in FIG. 6, and the TCP message  46  destination is web address  58 . The printer  30  is configured such that the TCP message  46  which is transmitted by the printer  30  fills in the quantity of labels  60 , label part number  62  and address information  64 . After that information is transmitted to web site  48 , printer  30  sends another TCP message to the website  48  which has the effect of depressing button  66 , thereby, placing an order for replacement labels.  
         [0035]    Web site  48  may be hosted on a web server  68 , as shown in FIG. 7, which is located in a facility  70  relating to consumable media, such as an order-fulfillment house or a consumable media production facility. FIG. 7 specifically depicts the case where the printer  30  is located in a manufacturing plant  71 , and communicates directly with a consumable media production facility to order additional consumable media, such as more labels, tags or the like. As shown, preferably after the order is transmitted by printer  30  and received by web server  68 , and the production order for the labels, for example, is transmitted over communication means  72  to a label production machine  74 . The labels are then manufactured by the label production machine  74  and transported to shipping dock  76 . A courier  78  then picks up the labels manufactured by label production plant  70 , and they are subsequently transported to dock  79  of the manufacturing plant  71 , and thereafter directly to the printer  30 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 7 depicts the situation where the manufacturing plant  71  manufactures goods for sale, such as IC chips  80  that need to be labeled, and the printer  30  is programmed to label the IC chips  80  as they are manufactured in manufacturing area  82 . Preferably, printer  30  is programmed with the quantity of labels  60  (see FIG. 6) it should order every time it orders labels from website  48 , the label part number  62 , and the shipping address  64  of manufacturing plant  71 . Printer  30  is preferably also programmed with the quantity of labels it must consume before it places a new order from web site  48 . As described above, the printer  30  may be programmed with the quantity of labels it must consume over a communications network  44  (i.e., via TCP, UDP, E-Mail, FTP, the printer&#39;s serial or parallel port  43 ) or through the printer&#39;s operation panel  35 .  
         [0037]    After the pre-programmed quantity of labels is printed on printer  30 , printer  30  connects to web site  48  and places a new order for labels. The labels are manufactured in facility  70 , and delivered by courier  78  to the shipping dock  79  in plant  71 , described above, and installed in printer  30  for its consumption.  
         [0038]    Printer  30  may include firmware (identified as “ZBJ”) which allows custom programs to be written and embedded inside the printer  30  to control its operation. ZBI is part of the operating system of Zebra brand printers under the brand name of ZebraLink, and is well known and understood in the art. A ZBI program which can be used in association with the present invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown, the program can be configured to receive an e-mail message containing information regarding how often the printer  30  should re-order labels, tags or the like. The ZBI program contains information regarding label part numbers, quantity and shipping information, and that information is automatically e-mailed via an e-mail message  50  to a remote destination  42 , such as to a consumable media order-fulfillment house or production facility, over a network connection  44 , as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. As shown in FIG. 7, if the destination is a production facility, the production facility receives the e-mail message  50  from the network  44 , and responds by producing labels, tags or the like and shipping them to printer  30 . After the predetermined number of labels is printed and an order is placed as just described, the printer  30  resets its counting cycle and counts another pre-determined quantity of labels. When the pre-determined quantity of labels have been consumed by the printer  30 , printer  30  resets its counting cycle again. The cycle continues automatically ordering new labels after the predetermined quantity of labels have printed until terminated by a user or a new e-mail message is received by the printer  30  which changes the pre-determined label count to another value.  
         [0039]    While embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the foregoing description.