Abstract:
Systems and methods are described for collecting printing device data from a printing system. The printing device data is collected from a host computer connected to the printing device, printing device memory, a data storage device in the printing device, component memory in a replaceable component used in the printing device, and/or a server hosting a network to which the printing device is connected. Pursuant to consent from a user of the printing system, an application program on a host computer is periodically executed to collect data related to one or more printing devices. After the data is collected, a printing device profile is created from processing the data and the profile is transmitted to a remote server. The printing system user is offered purchase incentives, such as a percentage off a future purchase, if the user allows the data to be collected. The purchase incentives are accumulated by the application program and applied on a future purchase.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The systems and methods that are described herein relate generally to collecting usage data related to printing devices. More particularly, the systems and methods described herein relate to collecting printing device usage data from a host computer, a printing device, and/or component memory of a replaceable component in a printing device and offering marketing incentives for the collection of the usage data. 
     BACKGROUND 
     It is important to product manufacturers to understand their customers so that the manufacturers can develop their products to better suit their customers&#39; needs. Some questions that a manufacturer may have about a customer include: What does the customer like about the product? How is the customer using the product? and, What can the manufacturer do differently with future products that would satisfy the customer&#39;s needs? 
     Although this information can be of great value to a manufacturer, collecting this information can place a burden on the customer because of the time it takes to collect the information. Specifically regarding the manufacture and sale of printing devices and collection of data therefrom, the manufacturer must rely on sample based market research using techniques such as telephone interviews with a customer to gather the desired data. From this data, the manufacturer can tailor future products to better fit the customer&#39;s needs. 
     SUMMARY 
     The systems and methods described herein offer a way in which a printing device manufacturer can collect usage data for printing devices without causing undue burden on a customer, and for providing an incentive to a customer for allowing the manufacturer to collect the data. 
     It is noted that the systems and methods described herein may be applied with any type of printing device that utilizes replaceable components. Such printing devices includes, but are not limited to, laser printer, ink jet printers, electro-thermographic printers, dry medium printers, ribbon printers, facsimile machines that utilizes any of the previously mentioned printing methods, copy machines that utilize such printing methods, and the like. Replaceable components for such printing devices include, but are not limited to, toner cartridges, ink cartridges, imager drums, fusers, and the like. For discussion purposes, the systems and methods described herein will refer to a laser printer and a toner cartridge, although it should be understood that the systems and methods may be utilized with any printing device and replaceable component for the printing device. 
     An application program is stored on a host computer in a printing system that includes at least one printing device connected to the host computer. The customer agrees to load the application program on the host computer in return for a future purchase incentive. For example, an incentive program may credit the customer with a certain number of points if the customer allows the application program to be loaded, more points each time the application is run, etc. Accruing a certain number of points may allow the customer to receive free merchandise or a discount off of a future purchase from the manufacturer. 
     At periodic intervals, the application program displays a user interface that requests to run the application program to collect printing device data. If the customer allows the application program to execute, the program collects data from the host computer (print log data) and/or the printing device (memory or a memory storage device such as a hard disk drive). If the host computer is connected to a network and a network server has information about print jobs sent to the printing device, the application program may also collect printing device data from the server. 
     When the printing device data has been collected, the data is transmitted to a remote server at a site controlled by the manufacturer. The manufacturer can then analyze the data to obtain relevant information. Alternatively, the application program processes the raw data on the host computer and then transmits a printing device profile to the manufacturer&#39;s remote site. In one implementation, the data or profile is sent to the manufacturer without requiring any action on the part of the customer. 
     In printing systems that utilize component memory on replaceable components in an automatic reorder system, the systems and methods described herein can be implemented to work with the reorder system. In such a system, when it is time to replace the component (as indicated by data in the memory of the component) the manufacturer is contacted automatically and a component is ordered. The present invention could be implemented in such a system so that printing device data is automatically collected during periods of non-use, incentive points are accrued and applied automatically when the purchase is made. In this way, the customer gets the benefits of the purchase incentive and the manufacturer gets the benefit of the printing device data. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more complete understanding of exemplary methods and arrangements of the invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a laser printer toner cartridge having integrated memory. 
         FIG. 2  is a depiction of a system for collecting printing device data and offering purchase incentives. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a printing device data collection application that collects printing device data from various components of a printing system and transmits information from the printing system to a manufacturer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is illustrated in the drawings as being implemented in a suitable computing environment. Although not required, the invention will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, to be executed by a computing device, such as a personal computer, a hand-held computer or portable electronic device. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     General reference is made herein to one or more printing device. As used herein, “printing device” means any electronic device having data communications and data storage capabilities, and functions to render printed characters on a print medium. A printing device may be a printer, fax machine, copier, plotter, and the like. The term “printer” includes, but is not limited to, laser printers, ink jet printers, dot matrix printers, dry medium printers, copiers, facsimile machines and plotters. Although specific examples may refer to one or more of these printers, such examples are not meant to limit the scope of the claims or the description, but are meant to provide a specific understanding of the described implementations. 
       FIG. 1  is an illustration of a toner cartridge  100  that for a laser printer (not shown). The toner cartridge  100  is particularly suited for the present invention and includes a housing  102  and a toner reservoir  104  that may be filled with laser printer toner. The toner cartridge  100  also includes a label  106  that contains information identifying the toner cartridge  100  to a user. The label  106  typically recites the name of the manufacturer, the model number of the cartridge, etc. 
     A memory tag  108  is located underneath the label  106  on the toner cartridge  100 , although the memory tag  108  may be placed on the toner cartridge  100  at any location that may be practical for the purposes described herein. The memory tag  100  is preferably a radio frequency identification (RFID) memory tag. RFID memory tags and applications therefor are well known in the art. Further aspects of the RFID memory tag  108  will become clear as the discussion progresses. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of a printing system  200  that communicates with a printing device manufacturer  202  by way of the Internet  221 . Although the Internet  221  is shown as the preferred way in which the printing system  200  communicates with the manufacturer  202 , any other way in which information can be passed between the printing system  200  and the manufacturer  202  may be employed. For example, communications may take place over a conventional telephone line or over a private network. 
     The printing system  200  includes a host computer  204  and a laser printer  208 . The host computer  204  includes memory  209  that stores a data collector  210 , a communications subsystem  212  and an ordering subsystem  214 . The communications subsystem  212  is used to communicate with the manufacturer  202  via the Internet  204  or any other communication channel that is available to the printing system  200 . The ordering subsystem  214  directs communications with the manufacturer  202  when a new component is to be ordered from the manufacturer  202 . This process, which can be automatic or semi-manual, will be described in greater detail below. 
     The data collector  210  includes a data retrieval module  216 , an authorization module  218  and a credit module  220 . The data retrieval module  216  is configured to retrieve printer device data related to the laser printer  208  from various locations. The authorization module  218  is designed to request authorization from a printing system user. The data retrieval module  216  is only able to retrieve printer data if the user consents to the authorization request. The credit module  220  is configured to determine when a user is entitled to receive incentive points towards a future purchase from the manufacturer  202 . The function of the data collector  210  and its components will be discussed in greater detail below. 
     It is noted that although the data collector  210  and its components  216 ,  218 ,  220  are shown as software modules stored in the memory  209  of the host computer  204 , it is noted that these items may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. 
     The printing system  200  communicates with a server  222  over a network  224 . There may be other computers and printers on the network  224  with the server  222 , but for discussion purposes, only the server  222  is shown. The network  224  may be the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless network, etc. 
     The laser printer  208  includes memory  225  and uses a replaceable toner cartridge  226 . The toner cartridge  226  has cartridge memory  228  affixed to or integrated into the toner cartridge  226 . Among other things, the cartridge memory  228  is used to store usage data related to the laser printer  208  that is collected when the laser printer  208  is operational. The laser printer  208  also includes a data storage device  229 , such as a hard disk drive, that is used to stored printer related data. Although this example shows the laser printer  208 , any printing device, as described above, may be used in the systems and methods described herein. 
     The manufacturer  202  has a shipping department  230 , a database  232  and an order department  234 . The order department  234  receives orders for products from the printing system  204 . Information regarding the order is stored in the database  232  and the ordered product is shipped to the customer by the shipping department  230 . In this example, the shipping department  230  is shown shipping a replacement toner cartridge  236  with memory  238  to the customer to be used in the laser printer  208 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram that depicts a method for collecting printer data while offering and using purchase incentives. Continuing reference will be made to  FIG. 2  in the following discussion. At step  300 , the data collector  210  is installed on the host computer  204 . The installation may be accomplished in any way known in the art. For example, the installation may occur when the laser printer  208  is installed on the host computer  204  or it may be downloaded from the Internet  221  at some time after the laser printer  208  is installed. It may also be installed from the toner cartridge  226  if the data collector program  210  is stored in the cartridge memory  228 . 
     The purchase incentive program run by the manufacturer  202  may give a user incentive points or some other type of credit just for installing the data collector  210 . If so, then those points are credited to the user at step  302 . The credit module  220  of the data collector  210  determines how many points are credited and adds the points to any previous points that may have been accrued. 
     Periodically, the data collector  210  will determine that it is time to attempt to collect print data. When it is time to collect print data (“Yes” branch, step  304 ), then the authorization module  218  of the data collector  210  provides a user interface to the user that requests that the user allow the data collector  210  to collect printer data from the printing system  200  (step  306 ). Otherwise, the data collector  210  is idle (“No” branch, step  304 ). 
     If the user does not want the data collector  210  to collect print data when the request is made, the user declines the request for authorization (“No” branch, step  308 ). The data collector terminates and will run again after a predefined period of time has elapsed. If the request is authorized (“Yes” branch, step  308 ), then the data retrieval module  216  of the data collector  210  identifies any locations that are available that might contain print data related to the laser printer  208 . Such locations include the memory  209  of the host computer (which may contain print logs about what types of files and lengths of files printed), the memory  225  of the laser printer  208 , the cartridge memory  228 , the data storage device  225 , or memory (not shown) on the server  222  (if the server is used to direct print jobs to the laser printer  208 ). 
     After the available locations have been identified, the data retrieval module  216  of the data collector  218  retrieves data related to the laser printer  208  from the locations. The data includes, but is not limited to, print logs on the host computer  206  or the laser printer  208 , printer usage data stored in the cartridge memory  228  of the toner cartridge  226 , print logs from the server  222 , etc. 
     Printer usage data that may be stored in the cartridge memory  228  includes, but is not limited to, length of print jobs printed while using the cartridge, average percent of page coverage per print job printed while using the cartridge, percent of mono vs. color print jobs, percent of print jobs that use duplexing, and so forth. The cartridge memory  228  may also include a serial number to identify the toner cartridge  228  or a serial number to identify the laser printer  208  or both. The laser printer  208  should be uniquely identified in the process in the event that more than one user (i.e., host computer) use the printer. In this way, statistics can be gathered per printer as well as per user to enhance integrity of the data collected. 
     When the data has been collected, the credit module  220  determines if incentive points are to be awarded to the user for allowing the data retrieval (step  314 ). In the preferred implementation, the user is told at the time the authorization request is made, that the user will receive a certain number of points if the user authorizes data collection. In this way, the user is more likely to let the data collection proceed and will have an incentive to purchase more products from the manufacturer  202 . 
     If no points are due (“No” branch, step  214 ), then no points are credited. However, if points are allowed for the retrieval (“Yes” branch, step  214 ), then the credit module  220  determines the number of points allowed and stores the points or adds them to a previously stored point total. The points are saved by the credit module  220  until the user redeems them with the manufacture  202  on the purchase of a new product. 
     The ordering subsystem  214  monitors the host computer  206  for an indication of when the user desires to order a product from the manufacturer. In one implementation, the ordering subsystem  214  automatically orders products, such as replacement toner cartridges for the laser printer  208  when needed. In another implementation, the user selects ordering criteria from a menu presented by the ordering subsystem  214 . 
     As long as the user does not place an order (“No” branch, step  318 , the process will continue from step  404  When an order is placed by the user (“Yes” branch, step  318 ), the ordering subsystem  214  refers to the credit module  220  to determine if there are any credits that can be redeemed with this purchase (step  420 ). If so (“Yes” branch, step  420 ), the points are redeemed either for free merchandise or for a discount of the purchase price of the ordered product at step  422 . This may be an option manually selected by the user, or it may be a step in an automatic ordering process. The order is then placed with the manufacturer at step  424 . If the user does not have points to redeem or does not choose to redeem points (“No” branch, step  420 ), then the order is placed with the manufacturer without purchase incentives at step  424 . 
     CONCLUSION 
     The systems and methods described herein thus provide an efficient and convenient way for a printing device manufacturer to collect data on how a customer uses the manufacturer&#39;s printing devices. This aids the manufacturer in developing new products or improving existing products. The user&#39;s privacy is protected in that the user can refuse to allow data collection to take place. However, the user is offered purchase incentives for allowing the data collection. This makes the user more likely to allow the data collection. At the same time, it makes it more likely that the user will purchase needed products from the manufacturer instead of a competitor, since the purchase incentives allow the user to receive the product at a savings from the manufacturer.