Patent ID: 7924446

Claim:
A method for error handling in a printer or copier, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of separate monitoring units each located in a different device component of the printer or copier, each monitoring unit detecting a respective error state at a respective time point represented by a respective error signal from said respective monitoring unit of the printer or copier created by a single causative error; transmitting the detected error states and the respective time points to a coordination module which receives them; storing said received error states and the respective time points at a storage associated with said coordination module where combined they form a temporally successive error state pattern comprising said error states and the respective time points caused by said single causative error; evaluating the stored error state pattern by the coordination module; for said evaluation, said coordination module comparing the stored temporally successive error state pattern comprising said error states and the respective time points caused by said single causative error with predetermined error state patterns, each of said predetermined error state patterns defining a temporal sequence of error states at respective time points of a predetermined single error type, and determining at least one error type identifying said single causative error; and implementing a corrective action by the coordination module dependent on the error type.