Information collection system

An information collection system is used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the collection of information for warranty database for printers. The system includes an information reading device attached to a computer system. Printer configuration and performance parameters which are to be collected are printed on a selftest page encoded as a bar code. In the preferred embodiment of the information collection system, the information reading device is a standard hand held bar code reader and the computer system is a portable computer. A windows based bar code reading utility is used to decode the data from the bar code reader. Information would be collected from the printer by printing a selftest page including the bar code, reading the bar code using the bar code reader, and storing the information decoded by the bar code reading utility on the hard disk drive of the computer system. At a later time, the data is transferred to the warranty database over a communications link such as a modem.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates to the collection of information for products 
located in the field and more particularly to an information collection 
system for the collection of configuration and performance parameters for 
a printing system. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
As part of the process for servicing printers at customer sites in the 
field, printer specific data is collected and entered into a warranty 
database. This data includes information relating to the printer 
configuration and information relating to the printer performance. The 
warranty database serves as a source for a large volume of product quality 
and reliability information for printer products which have been shipped 
to customers. The information collected for the warranty database allows 
an ongoing analysis of the field quality and reliability of printer 
products to be performed. Through the use of the warranty database 
information, product problems are identified and the necessary corrective 
action is implemented in the field and/or at customer sites. 
Typically, the data collected for the warranty database includes such basic 
information as the product model number, some sort of failure code used to 
classify the problem, a repair code to identify, at a relatively high 
level, the cause of the problem, and the actions undertaken to correct the 
problem. On occasion, problems arise in the field involving printer 
products for which it is required, generally because of the magnitude of 
the problem, that a very thorough investigation of the problem is 
performed to determine, at a very basic level, the cause of the problem. 
It is also sometimes the case that the root causes of the problems 
printers experience in the field are not easily determined and, for these 
cases, certain kinds of additional information in the warranty database 
would be very helpful to assist in determining the root causes of the 
problems. 
The usual process for collection of this information involves customer 
service personnel manually recording the information for later manual 
entry into the warranty database. Given the time available for service 
personnel to perform service calls and the time required for recording 
collected information on customer service reports, collection of more than 
the basic information becomes impractical. In addition, manual collection 
of even the basic information is likely to introduce a substantial number 
of errors into the warranty database, thereby compromising its accuracy. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
To improve the efficiency and accuracy of the collection of information, an 
information collection system is used to collect information from and 
related to a device, such as a printer, capable of printing the 
information. The information collection system includes an information 
reading device, such as a bar code reader or an optical scanner, 
operatively coupled to a computer system. The information may be printed 
as text for reading by an optical scanner or the information may be 
printed as a bar code for reading by a bar code reader or the optical 
scanner. The printed information may include some or all of the available 
device related information or information about the system in which the 
device operates. 
The collection of information is accomplished by using the device to encode 
the information into a form for printing, such as text or a bar code, 
printing the information using the device, and then reading the printed 
information using the information reading device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The present invention is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiments 
illustrated herein. Although the description of the preferred embodiment 
is particularly well suited to an application involving the collection of 
information from a laser printer or an inkjet printer, one of ordinary 
skill in the art will recognize that the disclosed information collection 
system may be useful for the collection of information from any printing 
system. Furthermore, the information collection system may be useful for 
the collection of information from and about any device having the 
capability of generating a printed output. For example, many types of 
specialized test and measurement equipment, such as chromatographs, 
spectra photometers, or particle analysis systems include the capability 
for generating a printed output. Using this capability for generating a 
printed output for printing bar codes or text would allow the collection 
information, such as configuration and performance information, from these 
devices. 
Shown in FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram which includes the preferred 
embodiment of the information collection system. Preferably computer 
system 1 is a portable computer running a "WINDOWS" based bar code reading 
utility which receives bar code data over the serial port 2 of computer 
system 1. As one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize from 
understanding this disclosure, the operating system with which the bar 
code reading utility operates is not limited to "WINDOWS". It is possible 
to use a bar code reading utility program compatible with other operating 
systems, such as "MSDOS" or "OS/2". In the preferred embodiment of the 
information collection system, the information reading device used is bar 
code reader 3. Bar code reader 3 can be the standard type of hand held bar 
code reader commonly used for reading universal product codes. Bar code 
reader 3 is connected to the serial port 2 of the computer system 1. 
Printer 4 is the product for which the information is to be collected. 
As part of the internal test capability of printer 4, a self test page 5 is 
printed upon a user entered command from the front panel 7 of printer 4 or 
upon receiving the appropriate command from the host computer (not shown) 
which sends print data to printer 4. This self test page 5, generally 
includes in a printed text format, in addition to other information, 
printer and host computer system performance and configuration 
information. To allow for efficient and accurate recording of the desired 
information for entry into the warranty database, the desired information 
can be encoded into a bar code 6 on the self test page 5. By encoding this 
information into a bar code and printing bar code 6, potentially all of 
the performance and configuration information available from the printer 4 
and the host computer system is made available for convenient collection 
and entry into the warranty database. Because the use of the information 
collection system allows easy collection and entry of such a substantial 
amount of detailed information into the warranty database, the usefulness 
of the resulting warranty database is greatly improved over a warranty 
database which relied upon manual collection and entry methods. It should 
be recognized that in the event that a single bar code is not sufficient 
to encode the desired information, multiple bar codes may be printed upon 
self test page 5. 
The types of printer related performance and configuration information 
encoded into bar code 6 for collection may include the information listed 
below: 
the number of pages printed by the printer 
the serial numbers of the various printer electronic and mechanical 
assemblies 
the printer memory size 
the installed options 
the date of printer and/or printer option installation 
the number of power cycles the printer has undergone 
the printer firmware revision level 
the printer front panel settings 
temperature and humidity information 
dates of previous service calls 
printer event logs 
consumable usage history 
It may also be useful, for failure analysis purposes, to include 
information in the warranty database from the host computer system with 
which the printer operates. The host computer system information could be 
downloaded, upon command from the host computer system or the printer 4, 
into the printer 4 for encoding into a bar code. This host computer system 
information may include: 
the revision level of the printer driver software used by the host computer 
system 
the configuration of the host computer system 
the time and date of the service call. 
Depending upon the types of problems which can occur, it may be useful to 
include other types of printer or host computer system related information 
in the warranty database. For example, as disclosed in co-pending patent 
application entitled "IMAGE FORMING AND OFFICE AUTOMATION DEVICE 
CONSUMABLE WITH MEMORY", having patent application docket number 
10951100-1, assigned to the assignee of this patent application and 
incorporated by reference herein, the information downloaded from the host 
computer may include information related to and stored in memory 
associated with a consumable, such as the electrophotographic print 
cartridge included in printer 4. 
As is standard for bar codes, the information is encoded by varying the 
widths of the bars forming the bar code 6. Bar code reader 3 is then used 
to read the encoded information and transmit this information to computer 
system 1 through the serial port 2. Included in the bar code reading 
utility is the capability for storing digital data to a memory storage 
device such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, flash memory or 
other non-volatile type memory storage device included in computer system 
1. If the information were stored on a floppy disk, the floppy disk could 
be read by the computer system containing the warranty data base to merge 
the collected information with the warranty database information. If the 
information were stored on a hard disk drive or in a flash memory, the 
information could be downloaded to the computer system containing the 
warranty database through a modem or other type of communications link. 
It will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art from 
understanding this specification that the disclosed information collection 
system may have uses other than the collection of information for a 
warranty database. For example, customers having problems with their 
printers could print out a bar code containing diagnostic information and 
mail or fax this into a customer service center. This diagnostic 
information includes a current update of the continually changing printer 
configuration and performance information. Customer support personal could 
read the bar code into their computer system which would then generate a 
list of suggested steps to perform to correct the problems based upon the 
diagnostic information contained in the bar code. 
Although the preferred embodiment of the information collection system 
employs a portable computer for receiving the bar code data, one of 
ordinary skill in the art will recognize after understanding this 
specification that any computer system which includes the capability to 
interface with an information reading device and which could either store 
digital data into a memory storage device or transmit digital data over a 
communications link could be used for computer system 1. In addition, 
although the preferred embodiment of the information collection system 
uses bar code reader 3 as the information reading device, one of ordinary 
skill in the art will recognize after understanding this specification 
that it would also be possible to use an optical scanner as the 
information reading device. Use of an optical scanner would also require 
the use of image processing software to decode the information encoded in 
the scanned bar code image. Furthermore, by using optical character 
recognition software with the optical scanner, the information to be 
collected could be printed out in a text form and read by using the 
optical scanner. This implementation of the information collection system 
would allow collection of information without requiring the printing of a 
bar code. 
Shown in FIG. 2 is a flow chart for the process of collecting information 
using the preferred embodiment of the information collection system. 
First, the printer encodes 10 the information to be collected in a bar 
code. Then, a test page containing a bar code is printed 11 using printer 
4. Next, bar code reader 3 is used to scan 12 the printed bar code 6. Bar 
code reader 3 transmits 13 the information from the bar code 6, decoded as 
a sequence of numbers, to computer system 1. Then, the sequence of numbers 
is converted 14, by the "WINDOWS" based bar code reading utility, into the 
format for entry into the warranty database. The converted data is then 
stored 15 on the hard disk drive of computer system 1 for eventual 
transfer 16 to the computer system containing the warranty database. 
Although an embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, and that form 
described, it is readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various 
modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the 
invention or from the scope of the appended claims.