Patent Publication Number: US-2010110494-A1

Title: Image forming method and apparatus using portable storage medium

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0107081, filed on Oct. 30, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus using a portable storage medium, and, more particularly, to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus to print, transmit, email, and/or fax a file stored in a portable storage medium more conveniently, and a recording medium storing a program to execute the image forming method. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Thanks to the development of electronic technology, various electronic devices have been developed and have become widespread. One such example of the electronic devices is an image forming apparatus. 
     The electronic device referred to as an image forming apparatus is an apparatus that generates image data by directly scanning an image from a document, such as operations performed by a scanner or a photocopier, or by indirectly receiving image data through a telephone network or receiving data from a host computer through a local/network interface like a facsimile machine or a printer. The image data generated may generally be printed on a recording medium, such as paper, or stored to a portable storage medium. 
     A conventional image forming apparatus may be adapted to be connected to the portable storage medium such as a universal serial bus (USB) memory or a memory card. 
     Accordingly, a user is able to directly transmit a file stored in the portable storage medium to the image forming apparatus without using an external host device, so that the user can promptly print the file, email the file to an external host device, transmit the file to a file transfer protocol (FTP) sever, or fax the file to a facsimile machine at a receiving end. 
     A user frequently uses such a portable medium due to the easy portability of the portable medium. However, a user may forget to disconnect the portable storage medium from the image forming apparatus after printing a file stored in the portable storage medium. In this case, the user may lose the portable storage medium, and there may also be a security problem regarding the file stored in the portable storage medium. As a result, the user may suffer unwanted consequences of such an error. 
     SUMMARY 
     Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept provide an image forming method and an image forming apparatus which are capable of preventing the loss of a portable storage medium and a recording medium storing a program to execute the image forming method. 
     Additional features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing an image forming method of an image forming apparatus using a portable storage medium, the method including connecting the portable storage medium to the image forming apparatus, selecting at least one file stored in the portable storage medium, disconnecting the portable storage medium from the image forming apparatus, and performing a job corresponding to the at least one selected file in response to the portable storage medium being disconnected from the image forming apparatus. 
     The image forming method may further include converting the at least one selected file into job data. 
     The image forming method may further include copying the at least one selected file into a storage unit of the image forming apparatus, and the performing of the job may include converting the at least one selected file into job data. 
     The image forming method may further include outputting a message to request a disconnection of the portable storage medium prior to performing the job corresponding to the at least one selected file. 
     The image forming method may further include displaying an error message in response to the portable storage medium not being disconnected from the image forming apparatus after a predetermined time. 
     The portable storage medium may include at least one memory device connectible to a USB port of the image forming apparatus, at least one memory card connectible to a memory slot of the image forming apparatus, or a combination thereof. 
     The job may include at least one of a printing job, a faxing job, an emailing job, and a file transmitting job. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a recording medium storing a program to execute an image forming method including connecting a portable storage medium to an image forming apparatus and selecting at least one file in the portable storage medium, and performing a job corresponding to the at least one selected file in response to the portable storage medium being disconnected from the image forming apparatus. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing an image forming apparatus including a connector which is connectible with a portable storage medium, a user interface to display information regarding one or more files stored in the portable storage medium connected to the connector and receive a user selection of at least one of the files based on the displayed file information, a storage unit to copy the at least one selected file, and a controller to perform a job requested by the user with respect to the at least one selected file copied into the storage unit in response to the portable storage medium being disconnected from the connector. 
     The controller may convert the at least one selected file into job data in response to the portable storage medium being disconnected from the connector. 
     The user interface may output a message to request a disconnection of the portable storage medium prior to performing the job corresponding to the at least one selected file. 
     The user interface may output an error message in response to the portable storage medium not being disconnected from the connector after a predetermined time. 
     The portable storage medium may be at least one memory device connectible to the USB port, at least one memory card connectible to the memory slot, or a combination thereof. 
     The job may include at least one of a printing job, a faxing job, an emailing job, and a file transmitting job. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing a method of controlling an image forming apparatus, the method including receiving a job request corresponding to data recorded in a portable storage medium connected to the image forming apparatus, and performing the job request in response to the portable storage medium being disconnected from the image forming apparatus. 
     The method may further include outputting an alert in response to the portable storage medium not being disconnected from the image forming apparatus after a predetermined time. 
     The predetermined time may start after receiving the job request. 
     The alert may be visual, audible, or a combination thereof. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing a recording medium having recorded thereon a program to control an image forming apparatus to perform operations including receiving a job request corresponding to data recorded in a portable storage medium connected to the image forming apparatus, and performing the job request in response to the portable storage medium being disconnected from the image forming apparatus. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing an image forming apparatus including a detection circuit to detect that a requested job is based on data recorded on a portable storage medium connected to the image forming apparatus, and a delay circuit to delay performance of the requested job until after the portable storage medium is disconnected from the image forming apparatus. 
     The image forming apparatus may further include an alert circuit to output an alert in response to the portable storage medium not being disconnected after a predetermined time after the job is requested. 
     The image forming apparatus may further include a device to visually output the alert, a device to audibly output the alert, or a combination thereof. 
     The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing a method of controlling an apparatus, the method including delaying execution of a requested job based on data recorded on a portable storage medium until after the portable storage medium is disconnected from the apparatus. 
     Accordingly, the portable storage medium can be used more safely and conveniently. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other features and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating an image forming method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are flowcharts illustrating diverse examples of a detailed process of the image forming method of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures. 
       FIG. 1  is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to  FIG. 1 , an image forming apparatus  10  may include a connector  11  which is connectible with a portable storage medium  20 . 
     The portable storage medium  20  may be embodied by, for example, a memory card or a universal serial bus (USB) memory, and may also be embodied by various electronic devices which may have a hard memory and are connectible to the connector  11  through a connection such as a cable, for example, a camera, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, etc. 
     A user may connect the portable storage medium  20  to the image forming apparatus  10 , select a file to be processed from files stored in the portable storage medium  20 , and then input a command to perform a job corresponding to the file to the image forming apparatus  10 . 
     In this example, the image forming apparatus  10  may read out the file from the portable storage medium  20  and copy the file into an internal memory of the image forming apparatus  10 . Then, the image forming apparatus  10  may wait for the disconnection of the portable storage medium  20  from the image forming apparatus  10  and perform the job for the file after the disconnection. The job for the file may include operations such as, for example, printing, faxing, file transmitting, emailing, etc. As such, since the image forming apparatus  10  does not perform a job desired by a user until the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected from the image forming apparatus  10 , it is possible to prevent a user from forgetting to disconnect the portable storage medium  20 . 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating an image forming method of operating the image forming apparatus  10  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to  FIG. 2 , if a user connects the portable storage medium  20  to the image forming apparatus  10  in operation S 210  and selects at least one of files stored in the portable storage medium  20  in operation S 220 , it may be determined whether the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected in operation S 230 . 
     If the portable storage medium  20  is not disconnected from the image forming apparatus  10 , the image forming apparatus  10  may wait for the disconnection. On the other hand, if the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected from the image forming apparatus  10 , a job requested by the user may be performed in operation S 240 . If the image forming apparatus  10  has only a printing function, the image forming apparatus  10  may be set to start the printing job in response to the portable storage medium  20  being disconnected from the image forming apparatus  10  without receiving an extra command from the user. If the image forming apparatus has diverse functions such as printing, emailing, faxing, file transmitting, etc., the image forming apparatus may selectively perform the job desired by the user. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating an example of a detailed process of the image forming method of  FIG. 2  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , if the portable storage medium  20  is connected in operation S 310  and a file to be processed is selected in operation S 320 , the image forming apparatus  10  may read out the file from the portable storage medium  20  and store it thereto in operation S 330 . 
     The read file may be converted into job data in operation S 340 . The job data refers to data of a format suitable for the job desired by the user. For example, if the user wishes to print the file, the file may be converted into printing data such as, for example, a bitmap image which is readable by a print engine controller. Similarly, if the user wishes to fax the file, the file may be converted into fax data, and if the user wishes to email or otherwise transmit the file, the file may be converted into data to which a header containing a destination address and a sender address or a tail is added. 
     With the read file converted into the job data, the image forming apparatus  10  may output a message to request the user to disconnect the portable storage medium  20  in operation S 350 . The message may be a visual message displayed on a display panel provided on the image forming apparatus  10 , but the message is not limited to such a visual message. The message may be output in one or more various forms, such as a voice message through a speaker, an alert light or sound, and so on. 
     If the user disconnects the portable storage medium  20  from the image forming apparatus  10  at the request for disconnection in operation S 360 , the image forming apparatus  10  may perform a job desired by the user in operation S 370 . Selecting the job may be performed at the same time as operation S 320 , but the timing of the selection of the job is not limited thereto. The job may be selected at predetermined time, before or after selecting the file, and so on. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating another example of a detailed process of the image forming method of  FIG. 2  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to  FIG. 4 , if the portable storage medium  20  is connected in operation S 410  and a file is selected in operation S 420 , the image forming apparatus  10  may read out the file from the portable storage medium  20  and store it thereto in operation S 430 . With the read file stored, the image forming apparatus  10  may output a message to request a disconnection in operation S 440  and wait until the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected from the image forming apparatus  10 . 
     If the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected in operation S 450 , the image forming apparatus may convert the file which has been copied thereto into job data in operation S 460  and perform a corresponding job in operation S 470 . Unlike the method of  FIG. 3 , in the method of  FIG. 4  the image forming apparatus  10  may only copy the file and not perform the converting operation until the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected. 
     As such, the order of operations of the image forming method may change depending on the characteristic and purpose of the image forming apparatus, and various operations may be deleted or added. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus  10  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the image forming apparatus  10  may include the connector  11 , a user interface  12 , a controller  13 , and a storage unit  14 . 
     The connector  11  may be a component that is connectible with the portable storage medium  20 . More specifically, the connector  11  may be, for example, a USB port to which a USB memory or a USB cable is connected, a memory slot into which a memory card is mounted, and so on. Also, a plurality of USB ports, or a plurality of memory slots, or a plurality of other similarly configured devices, may be provided. 
     The user interface  12  may display information about files stored in the mobile storage medium  20  in response to the mobile storage medium  20  being connected to the connector  11 , so as to allow a user to select at least one of the files based on the file information. The user interface  12  may be implemented, for example, as having a display panel and/or a keypad, a sound output component, such as a speaker, or a combination of such configurations. 
     The controller  13  may control operations of the image forming apparatus  10  so as to perform a job corresponding to the file selected by a user after the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected from the connector  11 . More specifically, if the portable storage medium  20  is connected to the connector  11  and a file is selected through the user interface  12 , the controller  13  may read out the file and store it to the storage unit  14 . In this state, the image forming apparatus may wait until the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected before performing the corresponding job. 
     In response to the portable storage medium  20  being disconnected, a job corresponding to the file selected and stored in the storage unit  14 , such as printing, file transmitting, faxing, emailing, etc., may be performed. The selection of the job may be performed through the user interface  12 , or by various other methods (for example, a default job may be set or a command to select a job may be received from an external host). 
     If the portable storage medium  20  remains connected to the connector  11 , the controller  13  may control the user interface  12  to output a message requesting a disconnection. For example, the user interface  12  may output a message such as, “Disconnect the portable storage medium if you wish to continue the job”. Such a message may include visual and/or audio components. 
     The controller  13  may convert the selected file into data of a format suitable for the job, i.e., job data. The converting operation may be performed before or after the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected. 
       FIG. 6  is a detailed block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an image forming apparatus  300  may include a connector  310 , a user interface  320 , a power supply unit  330 , a controller  340 , a storage unit  350 , a printer unit  360 , a fax unit  370 , and an emailing unit  380 .  FIG. 6  illustrates a multifunction peripheral which may perform at least two functions such as, for example, printing, photocopying, faxing, etc. In the case of a printer, some components such as the fax unit  200  or the emailing unit  300  may be omitted. Although not shown, additional components such as a bus to exchange data between the components and a buffer to temporarily store data may be added. Similarly, various components may be omitted according to the type and/or function of the image forming apparatus  300 . 
     In  FIG. 6 , the connector  310  may be connected with a USB memory, a memory card, and/or other memory devices by various methods. 
     The user interface  320  may be provided to receive various selecting commands from the user. The user interface  320  may include a display panel (not shown) and at least one button (not shown). As merely one example, the display panel may be realized as a touch screen. The user interface  320  may provide various user interface (UI) windows such that the user may input a selecting command by touching the UI window or manipulating the button provided on the user interface  320 . The selecting command may set various functions provided by the image forming apparatus or set a mode change, pause, replay, etc. As described above, the user interface  320  may output a message to request a disconnection of the portable storage medium  20 . 
     The power supply unit  330  may supply a power to respective components of the image forming apparatus  300 . More specifically, the power supply unit  330  may receive a common alternating current (AC) power (AC_IN) and convert it into a direct current (DC) power of an electric potential suitable for respective components using an element such as a transformer, an inverter, a rectifier, etc., and output the DC power (DC_OUT). 
     The controller  340  may read out a file from the portable storage medium  20  connected to the image forming apparatus  300  through the connector  310  and store it to the storage unit  350 . 
     As such, the storage unit  350  may be provided to copy and store a file from the portable storage medium  20 . Herein, the copy may be a temporary copy. That is, if a job for the file is completed, the file may be deleted. Also, the storage unit  350  may store various information such as the specification of the image forming apparatus  300 , current state, printing data, scan data, already-processed data, printing history information, etc., and various application programs used in the image forming apparatus  300  and an operating system. 
     The storage unit  350  may include a volatile memory  351  and a non-volatile memory  352 . The volatile memory  351  may serve as a temporary storing space for the file to be used in the operation. As described above, the file copied from the portable storage medium  20  may be temporarily stored to the volatile memory  351  and may be discarded after a corresponding job is completed. The non-volatile memory  352  may store various data or programs in a non-volatile manner. 
     Although  FIG. 6  illustrates a single volatile memory  351  and a single non-volatile memory  352 , the number and size of such memories may vary depending on the characteristics of the image forming apparatus  300 . 
     The controller  340  may control operations of the image forming apparatus  300  to perform a job corresponding to the file read out from the portable storage medium  20  in response to the portable storage medium  20  being disconnected. More specifically, in order to perform a printing job with respect to a selected file of the files copied into the storage unit  350  from the portable storage medium  20 , the controller  340  may, for example, convert printing data into a bitmap image having values of “0” and “1” using a halftone table. The converting operation may be performed before or after the portable storage medium  20  is disconnected. 
     In response to the job data converting operation being completed, the controller  340  may provide data to the printer unit  360  to print the data on a print medium. The printer unit  360  may include a print engine controller  110  and a plurality of units  120 - 1 ˜ 120 - n  which may be operated to perform the printing job. In the case of a laser printing method, the units  120 - 1 ˜ 120 - n  may be, for example, a paper feeding unit, a charging unit, a laser scanning unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a fusing unit, and a paper discharging unit. In the case of an ink-jet printing method, the units  120 - 1 ˜ 120 - n  may be, for example, a paper feeding unit, an ink-jet printer head, an ink cartridge, and a paper discharging unit. The print engine controller  110  may control respective units  120 - 1 ˜ 120 - n  to perform the printing operation based on the bitmap image provided from the controller  340 . 
     In order to perform a faxing job, the controller  340  may control the fax unit  370  to fax the file stored in the storage unit  350 . Accordingly, the fax unit  370  may have access to a fax net and fax the file to a fax number selected by the user. 
     In order to perform an emailing job or a file transmitting job, the controller  340  may control the emailing unit  380  to transmit the file stored in the storage unit  350  or a mail attached to the file to a mail address selected by the user. The emailing unit  380  may include, for example, a network interface card (not shown) connectible to the Internet. 
     The present general inventive concept can also be embodied as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium can include a computer-readable recording medium and a computer-readable transmission medium. The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data as a program which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, DVDs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. The computer-readable code can be transmitted through carrier waves or signals (e.g., wired or wireless data transmission through the Internet). Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments to accomplish the present general inventive concept can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present general inventive concept pertains. 
     While various embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been described, additional variations and modifications of the embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed to include both the above embodiments and all such variations and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the present general inventive concept.