Abstract:
Systems and methods for automatic selection of mobile device default action are disclosed. The method comprises presenting a default action and a list of alternative actions that identify document processing operations that may be completed by a multifunction peripheral to thereby generate an electronic document, the default action automatically selected and the list of alternative actions available for selection and receiving user interaction, on the mobile device, with the list of alternative actions thereby selecting a selected alternative action. The method further includes storing the selected alternative action as a new default action, sending instructions to the multifunction peripheral to begin a document processing operation identified by the selected alternative action, and presenting, on the mobile device, the new default action and a second list of alternative actions available for selection, the second list of alternative actions including the default action and excluding the new default action.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field 
         [0002]    This disclosure relates to user interfaces for mobile devices used in conjunction with multifunction peripherals. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    A multifunction peripheral (MFP) is a type of document processing device which is an integrated device providing at least two document processing functions, such as print, copy, scan and fax. In a document processing function, an input document (electronic or physical) is used to automatically produce a new output document (electronic or physical). 
         [0005]    Documents may be physically or logically divided into pages. A physical document is paper or other physical media bearing information which is readable unaided by the typical human eye. An electronic document is any electronic media content (other than a computer program or a system file) that is intended to be used in either an electronic form or as printed output. Electronic documents may consist of a single data file, or an associated collection of data files which together are a unitary whole. Electronic documents will be referred to further herein as documents, unless the context requires some discussion of physical documents, which will be referred to by that name specifically. 
         [0006]    In printing, the MFP automatically produces a physical document from an electronic document. In copying, the MFP automatically produces a physical document from a physical document. In scanning, the MFP automatically produces an electronic document from a physical document. In faxing, the MFP automatically transmits via fax an electronic document from an input physical document, which the MFP has also scanned, or from an input electronic document, which the MFP has converted to a fax format. 
         [0007]    MFPs are often incorporated into corporate or other organization&#39;s networks, which also include various other workstations, servers and peripherals. An MFP may also provide remote document processing services to external or network devices. 
         [0008]    Increasingly, users have access to mobile devices, such as mobile telephones, tablets, and mobile computers, and wish to interact with MFPs that are available to them to accomplish tasks. The capabilities and processing power of mobile devices sometimes exceed those available on the MFP itself. As such, user interface tasks and tasks which utilize network access, either for the MFP or in order to perform a function involving transmission or storage of the resulting document may rely upon the mobile device used, rather than direct interaction or operation by the MFP. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of an MFP system. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an MFP. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a computing device. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a software system for an MFP. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a mobile device user interface showing a default action. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a mobile device user interface showing one set of alternative actions. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a mobile device user interface showing another set of alternative actions. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a mobile device user interface showing a new default action. 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart for the operation of mobile device software. 
       
    
    
       [0018]    Throughout this description, elements appearing in figures are assigned three-digit reference designators, where the most significant digit is the figure number where the element is introduced, and the two least significant digits are specific to the element. An element that is not described in conjunction with a figure may be presumed to have the same characteristics and function as a previously-described element having the same reference designator. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Performing document processing operations directly from a mobile device enables users to avoid the hassle of moving documents from the mobile device to a computer suitably adapted to provide document processing requests to an MFP. In many situations, a user may receive a document at his or her mobile device via email. The user may then wish to print or to fax or store that document in a network or cloud location. In other situations, the user interface and processing powers available to a mobile device may provide a better user experience than is available on an MFP. In addition, a user&#39;s mobile device may be with them while taking part in meetings, while in his or her office, while at home and while far from any MFP. 
         [0020]    Because mobile devices are typically small, and touch-based, the user interface experiences must be well-designed to avoid screen clutter and to provide good experiences for users. Extraneous settings and options are typically hidden. However, because most mobile devices are capable computing devices, user interfaces can be designed in such a way to make the most important options or the most important options given a particular situation or workflow, most obvious. 
         [0021]    Description of Apparatus 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  there is shown an MFP system  100 . The system  100  includes an MFP  110 , a server  120 , and a mobile device  130 , all interconnected by a network  102 . The system  100  may be implemented in a distributed computing environment and interconnected by the network  102 . An MFP system may include more than one MFP, more than one server, and many more than one mobile devices. 
         [0023]    The network  102  may be a local area network, a wide area network, a personal area network, a mobile or telephone network, the Internet, an intranet, or any combination of these. The network  102  may have physical layers and transport layers according to IEEE 802.11, Ethernet or other wireless or wire-based communication standards and protocols such as WiMAX®, Bluetooth®, mobile telephone and data protocols, the public switched telephone network, a proprietary communications network, infrared, and optical. 
         [0024]    The MFP  110  may be equipped to receive portable storage media such as USB drives. The MFP  110  includes a user interface subsystem  113  which communicates information to and receives selections from users. The user interface subsystem  113  has a user output device for displaying graphical elements, text data or images to a user and a user input device for receiving user inputs. The user interface subsystem  113  may include a touchscreen, LCD display, touch-panel, alpha-numeric keypad and/or an associated thin client through which a user may interact directly with the MFP  110 . 
         [0025]    The server  120  is software operating on a server computer connected to the network. 
         [0026]    The mobile device  130  is a mobile or handheld PC, a tablet or smart phone, a feature phone, smart watch, or other similar device. The mobile device  130  is representative of one or more end-user devices and may be considered separate from the system  100 . 
         [0027]    Turning now to  FIG. 2  there is shown a block diagram of an MFP  200  which may be the MFP  110  ( FIG. 1 ). The MFP  200  includes a controller  210 , engines  260  and document processing I/O hardware  280 . The controller  210  includes a CPU  212 , a ROM  214 , a RAM  216 , a storage  218 , a network interface  211 , a bus  215 , a user interface subsystem  213  and a document processing interface  220 . 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 2  there are corresponding components within the document processing interface  220 , the engines  260  and the document processing I/O hardware  280 , and the components are respectively communicative with one another. The document processing interface  220  has a printer interface  222 , a copier interface  224 , a scanner interface  226  and a fax interface  228 . The engines  260  include a printer engine  262 , a copier engine  264 , a scanner engine  266  and a fax engine  268 . The document processing I/O hardware  280  includes printer hardware  282 , copier hardware  284 , scanner hardware  286  and fax hardware  288 . 
         [0029]    The MFP  200  is configured for printing, copying, scanning and faxing. However, an MFP may be configured to provide other document processing functions, and, as per the definition, as few as two document processing functions. 
         [0030]    The CPU  212  may be a central processor unit or multiple processors working in concert with one another. The CPU  212  carries out the operations necessary to implement the functions provided by the MFP  200 . The processing of the CPU  212  may be performed by a remote processor or distributed processor or processors available to the MFP  200 . For example, some or all of the functions provided by the MFP  200  may be performed by a server or thin client associated with the MFP  200 , and these devices may utilize local resources (e.g., RAM), remote resources (e.g., bulk storage), and resources shared with the MFP  200 . 
         [0031]    The ROM  214  provides non-volatile storage and may be used for static or fixed data or instructions, such as BIOS functions, system functions, system configuration data, and other routines or data used for operation of the MFP  200 . 
         [0032]    The RAM  216  may be DRAM, SRAM or other addressable memory, and may be used as a storage area for data instructions associated with applications and data handling by the CPU  212 . 
         [0033]    The storage  218  provides volatile, bulk or long term storage of data associated with the MFP  200 , and may be or include disk, optical, tape or solid state. The three storage components, ROM  214 , RAM  216  and storage  218  may be combined or distributed in other ways, and may be implemented through SAN, NAS, cloud or other storage systems. 
         [0034]    The network interface  211  interfaces the MFP  200  to a network, such as the network  102  ( FIG. 1 ), allowing the MFP  200  to communicate with other devices. 
         [0035]    The bus  215  enables data communication between devices and systems within the MFP  200 . The bus  215  may conform to the PCI Express or other bus standard. 
         [0036]    While in operation, the MFP  200  may operate substantially autonomously. However, the MFP  200  may be controlled from and provide output to the user interface subsystem  213 , which may be the user interface subsystem  113  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0037]    The document processing interface  220  may be capable of handling multiple types of document processing operations and therefore may incorporate a plurality of interfaces  222 ,  224 ,  226  and  228 . The printer interface  222 , copier interface  224 , scanner interface  226 , and fax interface  228  are examples of document processing interfaces. The interfaces  222 ,  224 ,  226  and  228  may be software or firmware. 
         [0038]    Each of the printer engine  262 , copier engine  264 , scanner engine  266  and fax engine  268  interact with associated printer hardware  282 , copier hardware  284 , scanner hardware  286  and facsimile hardware  288 , respectively, in order to complete the respective document processing functions. 
         [0039]    Turning now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a computing device  300 , which is representative of the server computers, client devices, mobile devices and other computing devices discussed herein. The controller  210  ( FIG. 2 ) may also, in whole or in part, incorporate a general purpose computer like the computing device  300 . The computing device  300  may include software and/or hardware for providing functionality and features described herein. The computing device  300  may therefore include one or more of: logic arrays, memories, analog circuits, digital circuits, software, firmware and processors. The hardware and firmware components of the computing device  300  may include various specialized units, circuits, software and interfaces for providing the functionality and features described herein. 
         [0040]    The computing device  300  has a processor  312  coupled to a memory  314 , storage  318 , a network interface  311  and an I/O interface  315 . The processor may be or include one or more microprocessors, and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). 
         [0041]    The memory  314  may be or include RAM, ROM, DRAM, SRAM and MRAM, and may include firmware, such as static data or fixed instructions, BIOS, system functions, configuration data, and other routines used during the operation of the computing device  300  and processor  312 . The memory  314  also provides a storage area for data and instructions associated with applications and data handled by the processor  312 . 
         [0042]    The storage  318  provides non-volatile, bulk or long term storage of data or instructions in the computing device  300 . The storage  318  may take the form of a disk, tape, CD, DVD, or other reasonably high capacity addressable or serial storage medium. Multiple storage devices may be provided or available to the computing device  300 . Some of these storage devices may be external to the computing device  300 , such as network storage or cloud-based storage. 
         [0043]    The network interface  311  includes an interface to a network such as network  102  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0044]    The I/O interface  315  interfaces the processor  312  to peripherals (not shown) such as displays, keyboards and USB devices. 
         [0045]    Turning now to  FIG. 4  there is shown a block diagram of a software system  400  of an MFP which may operate on the controller  210 . The system  400  includes client direct I/O  402 , client network I/O  404 , a RIP/PDL interpreter  408 , a job parser  410 , a job queue  416 , a series of document processing functions  420  including a print function  422 , a copy function  424 , a scan function  426  and a fax function  428 . 
         [0046]    The client direct I/O  402  and the client network I/O  404  provide input and output to the MFP controller. The client direct I/O  402  is for the user interface on the MFP (e.g., user interface subsystem  113 ), and the client network I/O  404  is for user interfaces over the network. This input and output may include documents for printing or faxing or parameters for MFP functions. In addition, the input and output may include control of other operations of the MFP. The network-based access via the client network I/O  404  may be accomplished using HTTP, FTP, UDP, electronic mail TELNET or other network communication protocols. 
         [0047]    The RIP/PDL interpreter  408  transforms PDL-encoded documents received by the MFP into raster images or other forms suitable for use in MFP functions and output by the MFP. The RIP/PDL interpreter  408  processes the document and adds the resulting output to the job queue  416  to be output by the MFP. 
         [0048]    The job parser  410  interprets a received document and relays it to the job queue  416  for handling by the MFP. The job parser  410  may perform functions of interpreting data received so as to distinguish requests for operations from documents and operational parameters or other elements of a document processing request. 
         [0049]    The job queue  416  stores a series of jobs for completion using the document processing functions  420 . Various image forms, such as bitmap, page description language or vector format may be relayed to the job queue  416  from the scan function  426  for handling. The job queue  416  is a temporary repository for all document processing operations requested by a user, whether those operations are received via the job parser  410 , the client direct I/O  402  or the client network I/O  404 . The job queue  416  and associated software is responsible for determining the order in which print, copy, scan and facsimile functions are carried out. These may be executed in the order in which they are received, or may be influenced by the user, instructions received along with the various jobs or in other ways so as to be executed in different orders or in sequential or simultaneous steps. Information such as job control, status data, or electronic document data may be exchanged between the job queue  416  and users or external reporting systems. 
         [0050]    The job queue  416  may also communicate with the job parser  410  in order to receive PDL files from the client direct I/O  402 . The client direct I/O  402  may include printing, fax transmission or other input of a document for handling by the system  400 . 
         [0051]    The print function  422  enables the MFP to print documents and implements each of the various functions related to that process. These include stapling, collating, hole punching, and similar functions. The copy function  424  enables the MFP to perform copy operations and all related functions such as multiple copies, collating, 2 to 1 page copying or 1 to 2 page copying and similar functions. Similarly, the scan function  426  enables the MFP to scan and to perform all related functions such as shrinking scanned documents, storing the documents on a network or emailing those documents to an email address. The fax function  428  enables the MFP to perform facsimile operations and all related functions such as multiple number fax or auto-redial or network-enabled facsimile. 
         [0052]    Some or all of the document processing functions  420  may be implemented on a client computer, such as a personal computer or thin client. The user interface for some or all document processing functions may be provided locally by the MFP&#39;s user interface subsystem though the document processing function is executed by a computing device separate from but associated with the MFP. 
         [0053]    Turning now to  FIG. 5 , a mobile device  550  user interface  560  showing a default action is shown. The mobile device  550  is a computing device, such as that shown in  FIG. 2 . The user interface  560  is a visual system of interacting with the mobile device  550  presented on a display that may include a touch screen overlay for detecting user touch or similar input. The user interface  560  enables user interaction with the mobile device  550  in order to accomplish tasks using the mobile device  550 . 
         [0054]    The mobile device  550  user interface  560  includes a document preview  570 . The document preview  570  may show the document operation to take place as a document operation preview  562  and may include one or more pages of a document that may result from the document processing operation identified by the default action button  572 . 
         [0055]    The document operation preview  562  may be a description of the document operation to which the document preview  570  relates. For example, the document operation preview may indicate that it is a scan operation, a print operation, an email operation, a cloud storage operation or the like. The document operation preview  562  may merely say, “scan preview” or something similar. 
         [0056]    The default action button  572  is presented in the form of a button, but may take any form, including merely an indication to proceed. The default action button  572  identifies some or all of a default action (a document processing operation) that may take place and that is automatically selected by the mobile device as a default option. The default action may be, for example, send the scan to a cloud location, store in a network drive location, send a document via email, and other operations. The default action, represented by the default action button  572  may also include the base operation itself, such as scanning, printing, emailing, faxing or otherwise operating upon a document or electronic document. Furthermore, the default action may identify a location to which to send to, store to, print to (one of a number of available MFPs or even another MFP or printer available via a network), a default email address to which to send an email to and other similar options. 
         [0057]    The user interface  560  also includes two sets of alternative action menus  580  and  590 . The alternative action menus  580  and  590  may take the form of a drop down menu, or a listing of alternative actions. In the example shown on user interface  560 , the alternative action menus  580  and  590  are shown as drop down menus. The alternative action menus  580  and  590  identify alternative actions (and associated settings) that may be selected by a user in place of the default action button  572 . 
         [0058]    These alternative action menus  580  are discussed with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7  below. 
         [0059]    Turning now to  FIG. 6 , a mobile device user interface showing one set of alternative actions is shown. The mobile device  650 , user interface  660 , document preview  670 , default action button  672 , alternative action menus  680  and  690  are substantially the same as those shown in  FIG. 5 . They will not be discussed again here. 
         [0060]    However, as seen in  FIG. 6 , the alternative action menu  680  has now been selected, which has resulted in expansion of the related “drop down” menu (which actually extends upward on the display in this example) including a list of alternative actions. This alternative action menu  680  includes operations of “send to” type that enable the resulting document to be “sent to” one or more locations. 
         [0061]    As a result, the buttons displayed include those locations. Selection of the local drive button  682  directs the mobile device to send the results of the document processing operation identified by the document operation preview  662  and shown in the document preview  670  to a local drive. This may mean storage on a hard disk drive available locally to the MFP or to a user&#39;s self-identified computer. Selection of the network drive button  684  instructs the operation to store the document on a network drive available to the MFP. Associated user authentication protocols and credentials may be required or may be associated with and stored in a mobile device  650  or in association with user credentials required to access the MFP using the mobile device  650 . 
         [0062]    Selection of the mobile device button  686  instructs the MFP to store the resulting document on the mobile device  650 . Mobile devices typically have flash storage available for use in storing data. The user may be further directed to identify a location on the mobile device  650  for storing the resulting document or a default location may be automatically selected. 
         [0063]    Selection of the cloud service button  688  instructs the MFP to store the resulting document on a cloud service. Multiple cloud services may be listed and identified. A user&#39;s authentication credentials for accessing the cloud service may be required or may be automatically stored in connection with his or her profile or the mobile application that enables interaction with the MFP. If a new cloud service is selected, the mobile device may enable a user to input relevant credentials at that time. 
         [0064]    Turning now to  FIG. 7 , a mobile device user interface showing another set of alternative actions is shown. The mobile device  750 , user interface  760 , document preview  770 , default action button  772 , alternative action menus  780  and  790  are substantially the same as those shown in  FIG. 5 . They will not be discussed again here. 
         [0065]    However, as seen in  FIG. 7 , alternative action menu  790  has been selected and alternative actions are available. This alternative action menu  790  includes operations of “open in” type that enable the resulting document to be “opened” one or more applications on the mobile device  750 . 
         [0066]    Selection of the Bluetooth® button  792  causes the mobile device  750  to open a Bluetooth® transmission application that enables the mobile device to transmit the resulting document to another Bluetooth®-enabled device (e.g. another mobile device, a Bluetooth® printer, a Bluetooth®-enabled notebook computer, etc.). 
         [0067]    Selection of the email button  794  causes the mobile device  750  to open the resulting document in an email application on the mobile device for email directly from the mobile device (as opposed to transmission by the MFP). 
         [0068]    Selection of the cloud print button  796  causes the mobile device to access a cloud print services to enable printing directly from the mobile device at a location available to the cloud print services. For example, Google Print service enables a user of a mobile device to print, via the Internet, at any printer enabled via the Google Print service. Similarly, services that enable printers to print directly via the Internet maybe accessible to the mobile device  750  directly via an application on the mobile device. The cloud print button is selected, as shown by the inverted dark background and light text. 
         [0069]    Selection of the “other . . . ” button  798  may enable direct selection of other mobile applications on the mobile device  750  to open the document that is generated as a result of the document processing operation. 
         [0070]    Turning now to  FIG. 8 , a mobile device user interface showing a new default action is shown. The mobile device  850 , user interface  860 , document preview  870 , default action button  872 , alternative action menus  880  and  890  are substantially the same as those shown in  FIG. 5 . They will not be discussed again here. 
         [0071]    However, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the cloud print has been selected in place of the default action. As a result, in  FIG. 8 , the cloud print button  872  now appears as the new default action. Similarly, when the user next performs the same document processing operation, the cloud print button  872  will again be shown as the default action. 
         [0072]    The cloud print button  872  may be the default action for only the particular document processing operation identified by the document operation preview  862 . For example, the document operation may be a print operation and may have an associated default action. The scan operation may have its own associated default action. As a result, the user initiation of a document processing operation via the mobile device  850  may present the user with the last-selected or most commonly-selected default action regarding that document processing operation. For a different document processing operation, a different default action may appear. 
         [0073]    Description of Processes 
         [0074]    Turning now to  FIG. 9 , a flowchart for the operation of mobile device software is shown. The flowchart begins at start  905  and ends at end  995 . The process may begin once a user has initiated a document processing operation using the mobile device. As shown in the flowchart, the process may repeat an indeterminate number of times. 
         [0075]    First, a user is presented with a default action at  910  as a part of the initiation process for a new document processing operation via a mobile device. For example, the user may elect to utilize his or her mobile device to initialize a scan operation. Once this operation is selected and an appropriate MFP selected to perform the operation, the MFP may scan the associated document and generate a document preview  570  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). The remainder of the user interface  560  may also be shown at this point along with a default action presented at  910 . 
         [0076]    Next, a determination is made whether or not the user has selected the default action at  915 . If the user selects the default action at  915 , then the default action is performed on the resulting document. This may be, for example, storage of the resulting document to a network drive. 
         [0077]    If the user selects a non-default action at  915  (as shown in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 ), then this means that the user has activated the list of alternative actions. This results in a display of the list of alternative actions from which the user may select (or may still select the default action which is also still displayed). 
         [0078]    Once the user selects an alternative action at  925 , the selected action is performed at  930 . Substantially simultaneously, the selected action is stored as the new default action at  940  and the prior default action merely becomes one of the list of alternative actions. In this sense, the new default action is excluded from the list of alternative actions while the default action is included in the list of alternative actions from this point until a further change is made. This may be seen in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , wherein “cloud print” is selected and performed, then automatically presented as the new default action. This storage may be in the cloud or on the mobile device itself. Going forward, at least for this particular document processing operation (print, scan, email, fax, etc.) that newly-selected default action will be presented as the default action and the prior default action will be a part of the list of alternative actions. 
         [0079]    Regardless of whether a the default action was performed at  920  or the new action was performed and stored at  930  and  940 , a determination is made whether the user has further interaction with the mobile device at  945  involving document processing operations. If not, the process ends. If further interaction with the mobile device regarding document processing operations are to take place, then the process resumes at  910 . 
         [0080]    As indicated above, the default action may be stored on the mobile device or stored in the cloud. Therefore, the default action may remain regardless of the MFP selected to perform a document processing operation. So, long as the user begins a document processing operation using the mobile device (or the user account associated with the cloud-stored default action), the default action will remain the same, no matter what MFP the user has selected. 
         [0081]    Closing Comments 
         [0082]    Throughout this description the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures disclosed or claimed. Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. With regard to flowcharts, additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the steps as shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the methods described herein. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments. 
         [0083]    As used herein, “plurality” means two or more. As used herein, a “set” of items may include one or more of such items. As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”, respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims. Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.