System for servicing electronic printers and printing systems

A process for enhancing detection and correction of faults when servicing copying and printing systems by allowing a service technician to run customer type jobs as test jobs, but with the job program selections that the technician is allowed to make restricted, the test job deleted when no longer needed by the technician, and billing for any prints made by the technician to a customer's account inhibited.

The invention relates to electronic printers and printing systems, and more 
particularly, to a system for enhancing servicing of such printers and 
printing systems. 
Current day electronic printers and printing systems are relatively complex 
machines, with the level of complexity normally increasing with increases 
in system size, speed, and feature selections. As the complexity and 
sophistication of these systems grows, the difficulty in finding, 
identifying, and correcting faults, problems, etc. that crop up in the 
system has also rises. While the service representative, referred to 
herein as a Tech Rep or service technician, is normally well trained and 
schooled in servicing the system and is provided with a variety of aides 
such as service manuals, test equipment, system historical data such as 
number of past faults, previous service call records, etc. to work with, 
it is ofttimes difficult to track down a particular system problem or 
fault in response to a customer's complaint. 
In one situation for example, a customer may complain about a fault that 
occurs while he was running one of his print jobs. However, attempts by 
the Tech Rep to locate the problem, hampered many times by the inability 
of the customer to clearly explain the problem, are without avail despite 
the Tech Rep's best efforts to find the problem. While the problem may 
eventually be found and corrected, the time and effort required to do so 
may be excessive. Further, the credibility of the Tech Rep and the system 
manufacturer in the eyes of the customer suffers. 
In situations of this type, it may be helpful if the Tech Rep could run 
customer print jobs that evidenced the problem. However, there is normally 
hesitancy in allowing Tech Rep access customer to customer jobs since this 
could breach the customer's file security. Further, the file(s) might be 
lost during the process as, for example, due to a sudden crash, or 
accidentally altered by the Tech Rep during the course of the servicing 
routine, etc. 
In this context, in the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,720 to Ackerman 
discloses a maintenance training system that permits a student to receive 
hands-on maintenance training in an electronic system without interfering 
with the operation of the electronic system. Further, U.S. Pat. Nos. 
4,525,780 to Bratt et al and 4,498,132 to Ahlstrom et al, disclose data 
processing systems having protection schemes for controlling access rights 
to information in the system. And, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,713,753 to Boebert et 
al and 4,799,258 to Davies, disclose file security systems for computers 
designed to prevent alteration of programs. 
In contrast, the present invention provides a process for enhancing 
diagnosing of faults by a service technician when servicing an electronic 
printing system, the system including a printer for making prints, an 
input station providing print jobs in the form of electronic pages for 
printing, compression means for compressing the electronic pages, memory 
means for storing the compressed electronic pages, and a user interface 
providing an operator dialog to enable system users to input print program 
instructions in the form of an electronic job ticket for printing the 
print jobs, the user interface including an interactive screen for 
displaying the job ticket with print program selections for selection by 
the users, comprising the steps of: controlling access to the system by 
requiring users of the system including technicians to enter a user 
identification number and password; on entry of an authorized user 
identification number and password by a technician, enabling the 
technician to access the system and program a user type print job for use 
as a test job for diagnosing system faults; limiting access of the 
technician to the operator dialog by displaying a special job ticket with 
a restricted number of print program selections that the technician is 
permitted to make when programming the test job; using the operator 
dialog, selecting at least one the restricted number of print program 
selections from the special job ticket displayed whereby to program the 
job ticket with print program instructions for the test job; running the 
test job on the system in response to the print program instructions from 
the special job ticket; and on completion of the last run of the test job 
by the technician, deleting the special job ticket for the test job.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an exemplary image printing 
system 2 of the type adapted to use the servicing system of the present 
invention. Printing system 2 includes an image input section 4, controller 
section 7, and printer section 8. Image input section 4 has both remote 
and on-site image inputs, enabling system 2 to provide network, scan, and 
print services. Other system combinations may be envisioned such as a 
stand alone printing system with on-site image input (i.e., a scanner), 
controller, and printer; a network printing system with remote input, 
controller, and printer, etc. 
For on-site image input, image input section 4 has a document scanner 10 
for the purpose of automatically and sequentially placing and locating 
sets of multiple documents on a platen 12 for scanning by one or more 
linear light sensitive arrays 14. Array 14, which may utilize 
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) technology or the like, provides image 
elemental signals or pixels representative of the image scanned which are 
input to processor 18 for processing. Alternately, documents may be 
located on platen 12 manually for scanning. 
Processor 18 converts the analog image signals output by array 14 to 
digitally represented facsimile signals and processes the signals as 
required to enable controller section 7 to store and handle the image in 
the form and order required to carry out the job programmed. After 
processing, the image signals are output to controller section 7. 
For off-site image input, image input section 4 has a network 5 with a 
suitable communication channel such as a telephone line enabling image 
data in the form of image signals or pixels from one or more remote 
sources to be input to processor 18 for processing. Where the Page 
Description Language (PDL) of the incoming imaging data is different than 
the PDL used by system 2, suitable conversion means (not shown) are 
provided. Other remote sources of image data such as streaming tape, 
floppy disk, etc. may be envisioned. 
The image data from processor 18 is compressed by image 
compressor/processor 20 and placed in an image file which is stored in 
memory 22 pending use. Memory 22 has plural hard disks 24-1, 24-2, 24-3 
for this purpose. For printing, the image data is accessed and output to 
image output controller 26 where the data is decompressed and readied for 
printing by printer section 8. 
As seen in FIG. 1, a User Interface (UI) 29 consisting of a combined 
operator controller/CRT display provides an interactive touchscreen 30, 
keyboard 32, and mouse 34. UI 29 interfaces the operator with printing 
system 2, enabling the operator to program print jobs and other 
instructions, and to obtain system operating information, visual document 
facsimile display, programming information and icons, diagnostic 
information and pictorial views, etc. Items displayed on touchscreen 30 
such as files and icons are actuated by either touching the displayed item 
on screen 30 with a finger or by using mouse 34 to point a cursor 36 (seen 
in FIG. 3) to the item selected and keying the mouse. 
Printer section 8 has a laser type printer with a Raster Output Scanner 
(ROS) 40, Print Module 42, Paper Supply 44, Finisher 46, and Printer 
System Control 48. ROS 40 uses plural laser beams modulated in accordance 
with the content of an image signal input by acousto-optic modulator to 
create latent electrostatic images on a photoreceptor. The latent 
electrostatic images are developed and transferred and fixed to a print 
media delivered by Paper Supply 44. The finished prints are delivered to 
either top tray 49 or to finisher 46 which provides certain finishing 
selections such as a stitching, stapling, etc. Printer system control 48 
automatically and precisely controls all the printer functions and 
operations in accordance with job program instructions received from 
controller section 7. 
While a specific printing system is shown and described, the present 
invention may be used with other types of printing systems. For example, 
printer section 8 may instead use a different printer type such as ink 
jet, ionographic, thermal, photographic, etc., and furthermore may be 
incorporated in electronic display systems, such as CRTs, LCDs, LEDs, 
etc., or else other image scanning/processing/recording systems, or else 
other signal transmitting/receiving, recording systems, etc. as well. 
A more complete description of printing system 2 may be found in copending 
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/748,717 to Lawrence E. Peck, and 
entitled "System for Training Technicians for Servicing Electronic 
Printers and Printing Systems", filed on Aug. 22, 1991, the disclosure of 
which is herein incorporated by reference. 
Referring to FIG. 3, jobs are programmed in a Job Program mode in which 
there is displayed on touchscreen 30 a Job Ticket 50 and a Job Scorecard 
52 for the job being programmed. Job Ticket 50 displays various print 
program selections available for programming the test job, while Job 
Scorecard 52 displays the basic instructions to the system for printing 
the job. Various Job Ticket types are provided, with access by means of 
Job Types and Tickets icon 54. 
Referring to FIG. 4, the business location for the printing system 2, 
referred to herein as the site, is normally secured to prevent 
unauthorized persons from using or tampering with the system. Typically, 
site security is achieved by giving each user a user Identification Number 
(User ID) 62 and Password 64. As a result, a user, in order to gain access 
to printing system 2, must authenticate himself by entering his User 
Identification Number (User ID) and Password. 
Since Tech Reps are also users who require access to the system in order to 
service and repair the system, Tech Reps are also assigned a Tech Rep ID 
number 62 and Tech Rep Password 64. The Tech Rep ID number 62 may be a 
number assigned when printing system 2 is manufactured or when system 2 is 
installed while the Tech Rep Password 64 may be assigned by the service 
organization to which the Tech Rep belongs. This protects both the service 
organization and the site by limiting access to only Tech Reps who have 
the correct password. The Tech Rep password can be changed at any time by 
the service organization. 
Normally, the Tech Rep is barred from accessing or using customer files 
stored in system 2. This is done to prevent a Tech Rep from altering or 
erasing customer files, from reading privileged or confidential 
communications, etc. In the present invention, the Tech Rep is permitted 
to program and run customer type jobs for the limited purpose of servicing 
the system. The intent is to allow the Tech Rep to program and execute a 
job while in the Diagnostic Mode without having access to the full 
operator dialog provided by UI 29. As will appear, the Limited Job Run 
options or selections provided are a sub-set of the operator dialog job 
options provided by UI 29. This protects customer files against loss, 
alteration, etc. by the Tech Rep during the course of servicing the system 
since the Tech Rep is not able to access, change or alter the customer's 
files. Additional program choices, which are not available to the ordinary 
user are also made available to the Tech Rep as will appear. 
Referring now particularly to FIGS. 4-10A and 10B, to service system 2, a 
Diagnostic Mode ("Diagnostics") is entered. This mode provides access to 
various diagnostic routines stored in the system and available to the Tech 
Rep for use in identifying and correcting system faults. Alternately or in 
addition, diagnostic routines may be loaded in from exterior sources as by 
floppy disk, streaming tape, etc. To enter the Diagnostic Mode and access 
the service dialog, a system auxiliary menu icon 70 (seen in FIG. 3) is 
provided together with a "Diagnostic" selection button 72 on keyboard 32 
(seen in FIG. 1). 
On actuation of auxiliary menu icon 70 either by touching icon 70 or by 
pointing cursor 36 to icon 70 and keying mouse 34, the Log On sheet 60 is 
displayed on screen 30 with "User ID" and "Password" windows 62, 64. Using 
Log On sheet 60 and entering the correct user ID number 62 and Password 
64, the Tech Rep logs onto the system. With logging on, a special default 
account is set up against which any jobs run by the Tech Rep during 
servicing are logged. This enables statistics such as number of prints, 
finishing selections, etc. to be collected yet does not bill any Tech Rep 
jobs to a customer's account. 
To access the special or "Limited Job Run" ticket that enables the Tech Rep 
to simulate and run customer type jobs as test print jobs during servicing 
of the system 2, "Diagnostic" button 72 on keyboard 32 is depressed to 
display "Service Call Procedures" (SCP) frame 80 on screen 30. Frame 80 
has SCP, "Controller Diagnostic Programs" (dC), and "Fault Analysis" (FA) 
buttons 82, 84, and 86 respectively for selection. Actuating dC button 84 
displays a "Controller Diagnostics Programs" frame 90 listing the various 
diagnostic programs available for selection. These include a "Job 
Exerciser" 92 diagnostic program. Selecting "Job Exerciser" 92 displays a 
"Limited Job Run" job ticket 50-1, 50-2, or 50-3 that provides the Tech 
Rep with limited print program selections for programming jobs in either a 
"Scan & Print" mode, or a "Print" mode, or "Compression Ratio Test" mode. 
"Scan & Print", "Print", and "Compression Ratio Test" modes are selected 
by means of "Scan & Print" "Print", and "Compression Ratio Test" buttons 
100, 102, 103 respectively. "Scan & Print" mode, which has the job ticket 
50-1 shown in FIG. 7, and "Compression Ratio Test" mode utilize both 
scanner and printer sections 4 and 8 respectively while "Print" mode, 
which has the job ticket 50-2 shown in FIG. 8, utilizes printer section 8 
only as will appear. 
Compression ratio test enables the Tech Rep to determine if 
compressor/processor 20 is satisfactorily compressing the image data for 
storage on disks 24-1, 24-2, 24-3 of memory 22. Where compressor/processor 
20 is not compressing the data at the designed ratio, the amount of data 
that can be stored on disks 24-1, 24-2, 24-3 is reduced which, in turn, 
reduces the operating efficiency of the system. 
Referring particularly to FIGS. 7 and 10A and 10B, actuating "Scan & Print" 
button 100 displays a "Scan & Print" job ticket 50-1 having a series of 
icons representing the limited number of print program selections 
available to the Tech Rep in this mode. These include a key pad icon 106 
that enables the Tech Rep to program the number of sets to be printed. As 
will be understood, the number of pages in a set is determined by the 
number of documents in document handler 10. Additionally, there is 
provided "Sides Imaged" buttons 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 110-4 for 
simplex-to-simplex ("1-1"), simplex-to-duplex ("1-2"), duplex-to-simplex 
("2-1"), and duplex-to-duplex ("2-2") printing selection; "Output 
Destination" buttons 112-1, 112-2, 112-3, 112-4 for "Top Tray Uncollated", 
"Top Tray Collated", "Stacker Uncollated", and "Stacker Collated" 
selections respectively; "Finishing" buttons 114-1, 114-2, 114-3, 114-4 
for "None", "One Stitch", "Two Stitches", and "Bind" finishing selections; 
"Paper Tray" selection buttons 116-1, 116-2, 116-3 for selecting "Tray 1", 
"Tray 2" , or "Tray 3" as the paper tray from which the print stock will 
be supplied; "Print Darkness" buttons 118-1 and 118-2 respectively for 
setting print darkness or lightness levels, and "Scan/Print and Image 
Quality" button 119 for image quality selection. 
Referring particularly to FIGS. 8 and 10A and 10B, actuating "Print" button 
102 displays "Print" job ticket 52-2 with the program selections available 
to the Tech Rep in the "Print" mode. These include key pad 106 for 
selecting the number of pages per set; "Sides Imaged" buttons 110-1 
("Simplex"), 110-4 ("Duplex"); Output Destination buttons 112-1, 112-2, 
112-3, 112-4; "Paper Tray" selection buttons 116-1, 116-2, 116-3; and 
"Print Darkness" buttons 118-1, 118-2 as described above. "Number of Sets" 
buttons 120-1 and 120-2 enable the number of sets programmed for printing 
to be increased or decreased respectively. 
Additionally, "Test Pattern" selection buttons 122-1, 122-2, 122-3, 122-4, 
122-5 permit the Tech Rep select registration, solid area, halftone, text, 
and halftone picture test patterns stored in the system memory 22. "Test 
Pattern" selections are the type of selection that are not ordinarily 
available to the normal user or operator of system 2 but instead are for 
the use of the Tech Rep only. 
Referring to FIGS. 9, 10A and 10B, actuating "Compression Ratio Test" 
button 103 displays "Compression Ratio Test" job ticket 50-3 that enables 
the Tech Rep to identify the current operating compression ratio of 
compressor/processor 20. For this, a standardized document is placed on 
platen 12, the number of prints desired programmed using keyboard 106 
(seen in FIG. 7), and Start/Scan selected. It is necessary for this test 
that the image size selected matches the document size and the size of the 
print media in paper supply 44. Scanner 10 scans the document on platen 12 
while printer section 8 prints the number of prints programmed. The 
compression ratio, which is a ratio of input bits to output bits to and 
from compressor/processor 20, is displayed in window 130. Using this 
information, the Tech Rep can compare the ratio shown in window 130 with 
the ratio that should be obtained when processing the standarized 
document. 
It is understood that the print program selections described above are 
exemplary only and that different and/or additional selections may be 
provided. Further, that various test pattern types other than those 
described may be envisioned as well as various types of documents for 
testing the compression ratio. 
When the Tech Rep is finished running the test job, stop button 124 is 
depressed. Actuation of stop button 124 purges the copy of the test job 
from the system. Since any jobs run by the Tech Rep are charged to the 
special default account, prints made by the Tech Rep during the course of 
servicing the system are not billed by the system. At the end of 
servicing, the special default account is closed. 
While the invention has been described with reference to the structure 
disclosed, it is not confined to the details set forth, but is intended to 
cover such modifications or changes as may come within the scope of the 
following claims.