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Method for analyzing printer faults

1. ItemEqua ItemEquals ItemEqua ItemEqua ItemEqua ItemEqua action true Solution NextLine Solution NextLine Solution NextLine So So So So So So So So So NextLine So So So So So So So NextLine So So So So So So So ul ul u u u u u u u ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ul ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion ion actio false Next Next Next Next Next Next Next Next Next Next Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Rule Line Line Line Solution NextRule NextLine Next Next Next Next Next Line Line Line Line Line Solution Next Next Next Next Next Next Next Rule Line Line Line Line Line Line Solution Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 rule header id 263 263 263 263 263 264 264 264 264 265 266 266 266 267 267 267 268 268 268 269 270 270 270 27 271 271 272 273 rule line id 2080 2081 2082 2083 2084
2. created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table NEW created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL US 2003 0110413 1 Jun 12 2003 13 0062 Table 3 shows the data lookup types and codes for the exemplary Rules Engine Data Lookup Type Description RuleAction Action types for rules RuleError Error types when rules don t work as expected RuleOperator Instructions for comparing usage profile parameters RuleValueType Instructions for determining what aspects of a UP parameter to evaluate SolutionStatus Status codes for solutions returned to calling modules Units Measurements day month year etc UPInterface Status codes for the UP Interface table ErrorLevel Error codes for solutions other to help determine how processing should continue Lookup Type Lookup Code Description RuleAction NextLine Go to next line within same rule RuleAction NextRule Go to next rule Rule Action Solution Return the Solution RuleAction SkipToLine Skip to Rule Line number indicated within the same rule RuleAction SkipToRule Skip to Rule Header number indicated for same printer type RuleAction RuleStop Stop processing further rules RuleAction RuleError LineNotFound Action was NextLine but no m
3. ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue ue token num 284 282 284 282 284 282 284 237 266 266 266 266 266 266 266 268 266 266 266 266 266 266 266 268 266 266 266 266 266 266 266 continued token name PrintHead C ean Date Log PrintHead PrintHead C ean Date Log PrintHead Source PrintHead C ean Date Log PrintHead C ean Source PrintHead ean Date Log Printer Status Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error DateLog Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Date Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log Jam Error Log pay parm load num key 1 19 parms to search operator TimeLessThan ItemEquals TimelessThan ItemEquals TimelessThan ItemEquals TimelessThan WithinValue ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan ItemEqua
4. 2085 2086 2087 2088 2089 2090 2091 2092 2093 2094 2095 2096 2097 2098 2099 2105 rule line value num type 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 4 TokenValue 5 NameValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 4 NamedValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 3 TokenValue 1 TokenValue 2 TokenValue 3 TokenValue 1 NamedValue token num 237 282 284 284 280 282 284 284 280 237 262 262 264 262 262 264 262 262 237 237 284 237 237 284 151 continued pay token parm load name num key Printer 1 Status PrintHead 1 Clean Source PrintHead 3 Clean Date Log PrintHead 1 Clean Date Log Print Energy Head Star Auto Clean Source PrintHead 1 Clean Source PrintHead 3 Clean Date Log PrintHead 1 Clean Date Log Print Energy Head Star Auto Clean Source Printer 1 Status Engine 1 Error Log Engine 1 Error Log Engine 1 Error Date Log Engine 1 Error Log Engine 1 Error Log Engine 1 Error Date Log Engine 1 Error Log Engine 1 Error Log Printer 1 Status Printer 3 Status PrintHead 1 Clean Date Log Printer 1 Status Printer 3 Status PrintHead 1 Clean Date Log Print Fast Quality Color
5. Replaceable Interval Total Percent Coverage pages 1036 0066 Rules Engine identifies the model of printer from the value in token 5 which in this case is a Phase Model 860 step 226 To facilitate operation on the various token values the usage profile records table 4 are written to an interface table stored in memory step 228 Next all rules in the rules database are analyzed sequentially using data from the usage profile record Each rule is retrieved based on its particular rules header step 230 0067 Table 5 lists the Data Rule Headers for the exem plary Rules Engine rule header id name symptom 257 Currently Cleaning for Light 28128 Light Stripes stripes maybe for Ink Smears Faded or White Lines but unlikely or Streaks 258 Light Stripes in Last 15 Minutes 28128 Light Stripes Faded or White Lines or Streaks 259 Light Stripes in Last 4 Days 28128 Light Stripes Without an automatic dean Faded or White Lines following it or Streaks 260 Current Jam Message Any Jam 261 in Last 15 Minutes Any Jam 262 Jams in Last 4 Days Any Jam 263 Ink Use Message and Energy Star 33329 The Printer or Auto Cleans Consumes more Ink than Anticipated 264 Frequent Recent Auto Cleans 33329 The Printer Consumes more Ink than Anticipated 265 266 Current Fault Code Any Service Fault 267 Fault in Last 15 Minutes Any Service Fault 268 Fault in Last 4 Days Any Service Fa
6. 71 Job Source Internal 5 EtherTalk 0 Parallel 14 USB 0 FrontPanelJobInput 7 AppSocket 220 FTP 0 LPR 0 Remote Internet Printing 0 TokenTalk 0 PrintServer 0 IPP 3 Other 0 72 Job Language PostScript 241 PCL 0 AutoSelect 0 Scanner 0 PDF 0 Other 0 73 Jobs Collated No 241 Yes 0 74 Time Per Job mins 0 1 217 2 3 13 4 9 10 10 29 0 30 59 0 60 0 75 Total Jobs Printing Jobs 241 Non Printing Jobs 8 76 Cancelled Jobs 3 81 Days Printed 24 82 Pages Per 0 1 7 2 4 1 5 9 1 10 24 2 25 49 7 50 99 3 100 249 3 250 499 0 500 999 0 1000 0 83 Power On Count 6 84 Time On Distribution hours 0 1 1 2 3 0 4 9 0 10 23 3 24 167 0 168 1 85 Days Since Activation 23 86 Hours Since Last Power On 345 87 Total Time On hours 569 88 Power Off Page 0 0 3141 3142 3366 89 Power Off Date Log Wed Oct 25 15 05 34 2000 Wed Oct 25 15 08 26 2000 Wed Nov 01 17 55 55 2000 91 Total Warmup Time hours 1 92 Total Offline Time hours 0 93 Total EnergyStar Time hours 0 94 EnergyStar Time Distribution mins 0 14 0 15 29 0 30 119 0 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 201 JetStack StandBy Time hours 28 Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 continued Sample Usage Profile Record 202 JetStack StandBy Time Distribution mins 0 14 5 15 29 0 30 119 30 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 203 StandBy Time hours 373 204 StandBy Time Distribution mins 0 1
7. pages 20 parms to search operator WithinValue MatchCourt TimeLessThan TimeLessThan NumGreater Than MatchCourt TimeLessThan TimeLessThan NumGreater Than ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals ItemEquals MatchCount TimeLessThan ItemEquals ItemEquals TimeLessThan NumIncrement action true NextLine NextLine NextLine NextLine Solution NextLine NextLine NextLine Solution NextLine Field Escalate Field Escalate NextLine Field Escalate Field Escalate NextLine Field Escalate Field Escalate NextLine NextLine NextRule NextLine NextLine NextRule NextLine action false NextRule NextRule NextRule NextRule Solution NextRule NextRule NextRule Solution NextRule NextLine Solution NextRule NextLine Solution NextRule NextLine Solution NextRule NextRule Solution NextRule NextRule Solution NextLine Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 Jun 12 2003 21 continued rule rule rule pay parms header line line value token token parm load to action action id id num type num name num key search operator true false 273 2108 2 NamedValue 51 Prin En NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Quality hanced pages 273 2109 3 NamedValue 51 Print Photo NumIncrement NextLine NextL
8. 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 403 Diagnostic Result 2 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 42 02 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 404 Diagnostic Result 3 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 39 10 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 405 Diagnostic Result 4 406 Diagnostic Result 5 411 WarmUp Mode Intelligent Ready 412 Adaptive Data Sun 413 Adaptive Data Mon 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 414 Adaptive Data Tue 2 2 3 2 3 3 1 415 Adaptive Data Wed 2 1 3 3 3 32 416 Adaptive Data Thu 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 417 Adaptive Data Fri 3 2 2 1 3 3 3 2 2 418 Adaptive Data Sat 419 Warmup Setting Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 420 Standby Setting Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 END Usage Profile Report For User 1001 Profile Error Count 3 1002 Profile Error Log 0
9. 19 United States US 20030110413A1 a2 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2003 0110413 1 Bernklau Halvor 43 Pub Date Jun 12 2003 54 METHOD FOR ANALYZING PRINTER 75 73 Q1 22 FAULTS Inventor David I Bernklau Halvor Portland OR US Correspondence Address Patent Documentation Center Xerox Corporation Xerox Square 20th Floor 100 Clinton Avenue South Rochester NY 14644 US Assignee Xerox Corporation Appl No 09 886 453 Filed Jun 19 2001 PROCESSOR Publication Classification 51 Int HO4L 1 22 US OL 714 25 57 ABSTRACT A method of diagnosing a printer problem includes corre lating a wide range of printer data types with suggested solutions Printer diagnostic data which may include usage information and printer status information collected over a period of time is parsed into individual components The components are then input into a set of rules Each rule compares each component with a corresponding reference value to generate a comparison result correlates the com parison result with a set of actions including solutions and if there is a correlation between the comparison result and a solution providing the solution Patent Application Publication Jun 12 2003 Sheet 1 of 7 US 2003 0110413 A1 DIAGNOSTICS UTILITY FIG 1 5 2003 0110413 1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 2 of 7 Patent Appli
10. 249 0 250 0 0 1 233 2 4 7 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 0 1 141 2 4 233 5 9 77 10 19 112 20 29 48 30 49 159 50 74 120 75 99 80 100 249 0 250 0 0 1 940 2 4 30 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 Internal 5 EtherTalk 0 Parallel 14 USB 0 FrontPanelJobInput 7 AppSocket 220 FTP 0 LPR 0 Remote Internet Printing 0 TokenTalk 0 PrintServer 0 IPP 3 Other 0 PostScript 241 PCL 0 AutoSelect 0 Scanner 0 PDF 0 Other 0 No 241 Yes 0 0 1 217 2 3 13 4 9 10 10 29 0 30 59 0 60 0 Printing Jobs 241 Non Printing Jobs 8 3 24 0 1 7 2 4 1 59 1 10 24 2 25 49 7 50 99 3 100 249 3 250 499 0 500 999 0 1000 0 6 0 1 1 2 3 0 4 9 0 10 23 3 24 167 0 168 1 23 345 569 0 0 3141 3142 3366 Wed Oct 25 15 05 34 2000 Wed Oct 25 15 08 26 2000 Wed Nov 01 17 55 55 2000 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 Token 194 201 202 203 204 221 222 223 224 231 232 233 234 235 237 251 252 253 254 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 271 272 273 274 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 291 Token Description EnergyStar Time Distribution mins JetStack StandBy Time hours JetStack StandBy Time Distribution mins StandBy Time hours StandBy Time Distribution mins Maintenance Kit Installation Date Maintenance
11. RuleOperator TimeBetween Time interval between comparison value list of 2 and to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator TimeEquals Time interval equals comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator TimeGreaterThan Time interval greater than comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator TimeLessThan Time interval less than comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator WithinPayload Comparison value string or number found within the token payload RuleOperator WithinValue String or number found within the comparison value delimited list RuleOperator RuleOperator RuleValueType Constant A fixed number or text value RuleValueType Named value Specific token payload value identified by its key name portion of the name value pair RuleValueType PayloadSum The sum of all values from that name value pairs in a token payload RuleValueType TokenValue A value from the token payload where name value pairs are not a factor RuleValueType RunningTotal The accumulated sum of several token values gathered in prior rules RuleValueType Ignore Ignore this value used to skip evaluating a primary or secondary value when incrementing the other in a series of rule lines Units Seconds Units Minutes Units Hours Units Days Units Weeks Units Months Units Years Units US 2003 0110413 1 continued SolutionStatus Positive data SolutionStatus Indeterminate the Usage Pr
12. a problem with a printer typically the user will first attempt to ascertain and fix the problem using whatever built in diagnosis tools were provided with the printer if any For some printers the built in diagnostic tools may be in the form of a user manual or diagrams on the user interface showing possible locations of printer jams and out of supply notices For printers linked to a personal computer the install disk of the printer may include diag nostics in the form of a utility program to be run on the user s personal computer Utility programs may offer sug gestions for relatively minor problems such as cleaning inkjets to improve print quality or how to ascertain a printer jam When the local diagnostic aids are insufficient to solve the user s printing problem the user is faced with the decision of taking the printer to a service center which usually only occurs if the printer is small enough for the user to transport or requesting a service call from a service technician 0003 Diagnosing and fixing problems in larger more complex printers in the field of necessity requires a tele phone call to the service center or call center Depending on the protocol at the particular service center a product support representative will log in the user s printer com plaint issue a Request ID RID to identify the service request and then attempt to solve the problem over the phone To attempt to solve the problem over the phone the sup
13. a result of a downloaded printer diagnostics utility An example of a Rules Engine used in the PhaserS MART system is described below and with reference to FIGS 6 and 7 0061 Table 2 is a table of definitions used in the exem plary rule engine Table Definitions ss up interface session id token num token desc token payload status created by creation date last updated by last update date ss lookup types lookup type description created by creation date last updated by last update date ss lookup codes lookup type lookup code description active flag start date end date created by creation date last updated by last update date solutions solution id name status code create table 85 up interface NUMBER 15 NOT Primary key session id NUMBER 15 NULL NOT NUIL VARCHAR2 10 token num VARCHAR2 10 NULL NOT NULL VARCHAR2 100 token desc VARCHAR2 100 NULL NOT NUIL VARCHAR2 2000 token payload VARCHAR2 2000 VARCHAR2 20 NOT Indicates status of status VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL records posted to UP NULL database VARCHAR2 20 NOT created by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL DATE NOT creation date DATE NOT NULL NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL DATE NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL kup types VARCHAR2 25 NOT primary key lookup type VARCHAR2 25 NULL NOT NULL VARCHAR2 240 description VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 NOT creat
14. count from first for values lt 1 count from last 0 or blank first parm identify particular name value pairs in payloads Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type Units Must be gt 1 or NULL VARCHAR2 25 NOT Foreign key NULL ss Lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleAction A solution id other rule id rule etc or blank VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 25 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 20 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 25 NOT Foreign key NULL ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleAction VARCHAR2 20 A solution id other rule id rule etc or blank VARCHAR2 240 NUMBER 15 NOT NULL DATE NOT NULL NUMBER 15 NOT NULL DATE NOT NULL NUMBER 15 NOT Primary key NULL NUMBER 15 Foreign key rule headers rule header id Note only header OR line id should be specified NOT both NUMBER 15 Foreign key rule lines rule line id VARCHAR2 25 NOT Foreign key NULL ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleError NUMBER 15 NOT Foreign key NULL solutions solution id VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 NULL 11 secondary value type VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL secondary token num VARCHAR 10 secondary token name VARCHAR2 100 secondary parm num BINARY INTEGER secondary payload key VARCHAR2 100 comparison units VARCHAR2 25 comparison count POSITIVE action true VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL target true VARCHAR2 20 desc
15. form of an image onto the print medium and exiting the printed print medium Printer controller 22 controls operation of the printer hardware The functions contained with box 28 may be located within the printer 14 in the case of larger or production type printers or they may be located on an external computer such as personal computer or a network server to which the printer is connected in the case of smaller or simpler printers Functions 28 include a user interface 24 for receiving a print job 30 processor 26 and memory 40 Processor 26 executes the printer driver 42 stored in memory 40 After the print job 30 is interpreted by processor 26 and stored as yellow cyan magenta and or black image data in memory 40 printer controller 22 causes the printer 20 to feed a print medium from a media tray not shown and be processed through the printer 20 such that a full color and or black and white image is transferred onto the print medium which is then fed by means of an exit path from the printer 0024 communicate with support server 12 via the Internet printer driver 42 may include a web browser 44 Alternatively the printer driver 42 may communicate through a web browser located on the computer or network to which the printer 14 is connected Printer 14 may option ally include a usage utility 46 The usage utility 46 gathers various usage information and printer status information US 2003 0110413 1 during operation o
16. num primary payload pey parms to search operator comparison value VARCHAR2 25 NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 NUMBER 15 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 25 VARCHAR2 10 VARCHAR2 100 BINARY IN TEGER VARCHAR2 100 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 25 VARCHAR2 240 continued Table Definitions NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NOT NULL Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type ErrorLevel Foreign key Primary Key Foreign key rule headers rule header id Primary key unique rule line id rule line num Foreign key ss lookup codes LOOkup code lookup type RuleValueType for values 1 count from first for values lt 1 count from last 0 or blank first parm identify particular name value pairs in payloads for values gt 1 search through specified number of parameters 0 or blank 1 Foreign key ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleOperator Jun 12 2003 10 error level VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL link text id NUMBER 15 solution content VARCHAR2 240 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last up
17. parametric test variation is associated with a particular printer fault event At the time of a suspected printer fault the same parametric tests are performed and a set of suspected fault values generated The difference between the suspected fault value and the baseline value is calculated for each parametric test If the difference for a particular parametric test is greater than the maximum parametric test variation for that particular parametric test the particular print fault event associated with the parametric test value may be indicated This information could be stored within a separate manufacturing database for access by the Rules Engine in diagnosing printer problems 0058 Usage Profile database 116 is used to store the Usage Profile information submitted from the user s printer In addition to PhaserSMART submitted Usage Profile infor mation this database may also contain the Usage Profile information submitted via email from printers The Rules Engine 111 first parses the incoming Usage Profile informa tion and then formats it for insertion into the Usage Profile database 116 The Customer Session Database 118 contains the records of the users interactions with the PhaserSMART system To provide tracking information the session data base 118 contains a log of any support requests opened and infoSMART session IDs In addition to tracking informa tion the database captures any other user input requested by the support s
18. particular jam Error Log ype 3 Last 22 52 Solution Next Checks for a parameter 2 04 Field match with a line 266 Jam particular jam Error Log ype 4 Last 22 50 Solution C Solu Checks for a Parameter 8 10 tion match with a line 266 Jam D particular jam Error Log ype If none is ound chooses a general solution or any jam 0050 The system offers flexibility to perform complex comparisons but allows easy editing to any specific state ment In addition to the production instance of the Rules Engine Database there may be a staging instance to test rule modifications After testing and authorization these rules may be migrated to the production instance 0051 The Rules Engine contains a set of Rules stored in Rules Engine database 122 for each printer type These Rules consist of analysis of combinations of Usage Profile tokens that represent error conditions or symptoms within a printer The Rules Engine database 122 associates Rule lines with solution Ids which reference solutions stored within the infoSMART database 124 The Rules Engine 122 returns a solution list and a status message 68 which is transmitted by the support server 110 to the printer via the web browser web application may transmit the solution list and status message in the form of a URL uniform resource locator which the user can access via the web browser The URL directs the user to an infoSMART solution in the infoS MART data base 124
19. ponents search for answers that match a system configura Jun 12 2003 tion connect to a support specialist send a detailed report to support specialist and ask questions This type of support is reportedly being extended to the printer industry in that Hewlett Packard offers an automated Web based diagnostic and resolution support service for embedded Web server enabled EWS printers which is intended to help users anticipate address and resolve printer specific problems intent of such systems is aimed at facilitating the use of phone support as an alternative to on site service 0005 While improved use of phone support is helpful to users and reduces costs to manufacturers there is a need for a remote diagnostic system and method which minimizes or does not require human intervention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0006 support system for diagnosing printer problems according to the invention includes a support server a rules engine for parsing printer diagnostic data into components for analyzing the components and for generating a suggested solution based on combinations of printer diagnostic data and error conditions and at least one printer located remote from the support server and which includes a printer driver When a user encounters a printer problem the user selects the printer driver which sends a request for support to the support server The rules engine needs printer diagnostic data in order to
20. the rules engine adds the parameters to the solution id list and run status step 268 and the rule engine analysis ends step 270 If more rules are to be run it returns to step 230 If the error is a warning the rules engine sets the run status to warning step 262 and goes to step 264 0071 Table 7 Data Solutions TABLE 7 solution id name 00 Default LineNotFound 101 Default RuleNotFound 02 Default EvalFailure 04 Default LineLoop Default TimedOut 07 Critical NextLine Failure 08 Field Escalate General 860 01 860 02 860 03 03 Default HeaderLoop 06 LightStripes Failure 09 Printer jam general 10 Printer jam general 11 Printer jam general Data Solution status code error level description RuleFailure Warning Default solution for rule failure Line Not Found RuleFailure Warning Default solution for rule failure Rule Not Found RuleFailure Warning Default solution for rule failure Evaluation Failure RuleFailure Fatal Default solution for rule failure Header loop RuleFailure Fatal Default solution for rule failure Line loop RuleFailure Fatal Default solution for rule failure Time out RuleFailure Warning Specific solution for light strips rule failure RuleFailure Fatal For critical nextline failures Positive Normal General field escalation solution Positive Normal Printer jam solution Indeterminate Normal Printer jam solution Positive Normal Printer
21. 0 0 0 0 0 2164 2199 2614 2826 3001 268 Jam Error Date Log Thu Oct 12 11 45 36 2000 Thu Oct 12 13 42 32 2000 Wed Oct 18 12 04 43 2000 Fri Oct 20 09 31 24 2000 Tue Oct 24 18 34 47 2000 271 PostScript Error Count 0 272 PostScript Error Log 0 0 0 0 0 273 PostScript Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 274 PostScript Error Date Log 280 Print Head Auto Clean Source PowerUp 0 EnergyStar 0 281 PrintHead Clean Count Automatic 0 Manual 0 282 PrintHead Clean Source 283 PrintHead Clean Page 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 284 PrintHead Clean Date Loge 285 PrintHead Installation Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2936 286 PrintHead Installation Date Log Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 287 PrintHead Purge Count Cold Purge 0 Warm Purge 0 High Voltage Cold Purge 0 High Voltage Warm Purge 0 291 Last Jam Location Jam D 292 Last Jam Media Tray Upper Tray 293 Last Jam Media Upper Paper Letter 294 Last Jam Page 0 0 0 0 3001 295 Last Jam Date Log Tue Oct 24 18 35 06 2000 296 Last Jam Transfix Speed SIPS 301 Jam A Upper Tray Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 0 Upper Tr
22. 0 127 101 117 1003 Profile Error Page 0 0 3001 3001 3415 1011 Page Count Trigger 500 1012 Time Trigger hours 84 1013 Jam Count Trigger 5 1021 Polling Interval 2 1022 Email on First Jam 0 1023 Restart Count Trigger 5 1031 Pages From Engine Usage Profile 970 Total Pages 3908 1033 Verification State 0xc0 1034 Recent Coverage Page Setting 1000 1035 Supplies Replaceable Interval 2 60 1036 Total Percent Coverage pages 0 9 512 10 24 303 25 49 44 50 99 27 100 199 94 200 0 END Usage Profile Report 0031 The first action upon receipt of the support request 108 at the support server 110 is to validate that the Usage Profile information has been received Support server 110 has an Oracle based Rules Engine 111 which parses the Usage Profile information into a readily accessible format and stores the information in the Usage Profile database 116 and starts a user session in the Customer Session database 118 The fields of interest from the Usage Profile informa tion for the Session database 118 include serial number of printer 14 model number Usage Profile timestamp and printer IP address The user s usage profile data are submit ted to the Oracle stored procedure created for the Rules Engine The Rules Engine parses the Usage Profile data performs an analysis and returns an error status an error message possibly null and a record set of solutions The error status describes the relative success
23. 222 The Rules Engine then parses the Usage Profile record such as the one shown in Table 1 into a format shown in Table 3 and stores the tokenized result in Usage Profile database 116 step 224 0065 Table 4 shows a the User Profile of Table 1 after it has been parsed into individual components or tokens a token value or payload assigned to each component and the components stored in the User Profile database 116 Token Token Description Token Payload 1 Date of Report 2 Activation Date Thu Nov 16 17 43 47 2000 Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 3 Printer IDs Serial BCLP356 Ethernet 08 00 11 0F 01 33 IP 13 62 70 236 xxxxxx 4 Printer Name Steffen s BC 5 Printer Type Model Phaser 860DP Printer Class Solid Ink 6 Adobe Firmware 3010 108 11 7 Xerox Firmware VxWorks 3 18 Engine 14 20 PostScript 14 18 Network 12 48 10 18 2000 8 Installed RAM MBs 128 9 Installed Trays incl 3 Manual 0 Accessories 1 Current Media Duplexer Resolution Photo 60401 Upper Tray Transparency Letter Middle Tray Lower Tray Paper Letter Manual Feed Other Other 01 Report Intervals Pages 1000 Hours 168 1 Total Pages amp Pages 980 Sheets 924 Sheets 2 Total Pixels Printed Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 1K Black 1029656 3 Average Coverage Cyan 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 4 Coverage Last 1000 Cyan 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 Pages 96 5 Co
24. 4 3 15 29 1 30 119 3 120 299 0 300 599 1 600 17 221 Maintenance Kit Installation Date Wed Aug 09 07 39 13 2000 222 Maintenance Kit Remaining 59 223 MKIC 4354 224 Maintenance Kit Consumption Rate Low 0 Medium 0 High 980 231 Doors Open Front Cover 6 Exit Cover 0 Top Cover 2 232 Supplies Replaced Ink Low 0 Ink Empty 0 Maintenance Kit Low 0 Maintenance Kit Empty 0 Other 0 233 Paper Out Upper Tray 2 Middle Tray 0 Lower Tray 10 234 Button Presses 328 235 Feature Info Button 4 Supplies Info Menu 1 Network Setup Menu 0 Printer Setup Menu 0 Job Defaults Menu 0 Printable Pages Menu 10 Service Pages Menu 0 Support Menu 3 Printer Identification 6 Improve Print Quality 1 Network Questions 0 Resolve Paper Jams 0 Service Tools Menu 0 TroubleShoot Jams 0 237 Printer Status 0 10 0 6 9 6 10 0 10 0 10 0 10 0 18 251 System Reset Count 0 252 System Reset Log 0 0 0 0 0 253 System Reset Page 0 0 0 0 0 254 System Reset Date Log 261 Engine Error Count 0 262 Engine Error Log 263 Engine Error Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 264 Engine Error Date Log 265 Jam Error Count 10 266 Jam Error Loge 22 705 07 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 500 00 267 Jam Error Page 0 0 0 0 0
25. 6 2000 Thu Nov 16 09 25 54 2000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3198 3243 3463 3490 3591 3671 3880 ID 23 TS 6 PC 3806 Thu Nov 02 2000 08 21 28 R0 180 0000 R 1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2663 Thu Oct 12 2000 16 32 57 0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 42 02 0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2635 Thu Oct 12 2000 13 39 10 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0 000 R4 180 000 gt gt Intelligent Ready gt gt 35 9 gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt 2 2 3 2 gt gt gt gt gt gt D gt 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt 3 3 gt 1 3 gt 3 2 gt 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 gt 2 2 1 3 3 3 2 2 gt gt Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 Sun 1 Mon 1 Tue 1 Wed 1 Thu 1 Fri 1 Sat 1 3 0 0 127 101 117 0 0 3001 3001 3415 500 84 5 2 0 5 Jun 12 2003 continued Token Token Description Token Payload 1031 Pages From Engine Usage Profile 970 Total Pages 3908 1033 Verification State 0 1034 Recent Coverage 1000 Page Setting 1035 Supplies 2 60
26. K Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 Black 944048 135 Coverage Color Cyan 7 Magenta 8 Yellow 4 Black 8 141 1 Sided vs 2 Sided sheets 1 Sided 868 2 Sided 56 143 Manual Feed Media sheets Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 144 Cassette Tray Media sheets Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 41 Upper Transparency A4 0 Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 883 Lower Paper A4 0 151 Print Quality pages Fast Color 46 Standard 903 Enhanced 3 High Resolution Photo 28 152 Color Correction pages None 1 Vivid Color 0 Simulate Display 2 SWOP Press 0 Euroscale Press 0 Commercial Press 0 Black and White 0 Raw CMYK 20 Raw RGB 0 Automatic 957 Toyo Press 0 Dai Nippon Press 0 Fuji Press 0 Newsprint 0 Non PostScript 0 Undefined 0 61 Sets Printed pages First Set Pages 951 Subsequent Set Pages 19 62 Jobs By Document Length 0 1 132 2 4 77 5 9 14 10 19 8 20 29 2 30 49 4 50 74 2 75 99 1 100 249 0 250 0 63 Jobs By Number of 0 1 233 2 4 7 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0 64 Pages By Document Length 0 1 141 2 4 233 5 9 77 10 19 112 20 29 48 30 49 159 50 74 120 75 99 80 100 249 0 250 0 65 Pages By Number of Sets 0 1 940 2 4 30 5 9 0 10 19 0 20 29 0 30 49 0 50 74 0 75 99 0 100 249 0 250 0
27. Kit Remaining MKIC Maintenance Kit Consumption Rate Doors Open Supplies Replaced Paper Out Button Presses Feature Printer Status System Reset Count System Reset Log System Reset Pages System Reset Date Log Engine Error Count Engine Error Log Engine Error Page Engine Error Date Log Jam Error Count Jam Error Log Jam Error Pages Jam Error Date Log PostScript Error Count PostScript Error Log PostScript Error Page PostScript Error Date Log Print Head Auto Clean Source PrintHead Clean Count PrintHead Clean Source PrintHead Clean Page PrintHead Clean Date Log PrintHead Installation Page PrintHead Installation Date Log PrintHead Purge Count Last Jam Location 16 continued Token Payload 0 14 0 15 29 0 30 119 0 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 28 0 14 5 15 29 0 30 119 30 120 299 0 300 599 0 600 0 373 0 14 3 15 29 1 30 119 3 120 299 0 300 599 1 600 17 Wed Aug 09 07 39 13 2000 59 4354 Low 0 Medium 0 High 980 Front Cover 6 Exit Cover 0 Top Cover 2 Ink Low 0 Ink Empty 0 Maintenance Kit Low 0 Maintenance Kit Empty 0 Other 0 Upper Tray 2 Middle Tray 0 Lower Tray 10 328 Info Button 4 Supplies Info Menu 1 Network Setup Menu 0 Printer Setup Menu 0 Job Defaults Menu 0 Printable Pages Menu 10 Service Pages Menu 0 Support Menu 3 Printer Identification 6 Improve Print Quality 1 Network Questions 0 Resolve Paper Jams 0 Ser
28. No solutions returned by the Rules Engine require display of an interactive diagnostic session 0052 Referring to FIG 4 an optional web based Cus tomer Support interface 112 permits call center agents to view user session information and submission history 62 An optional reports module 114 generates reports 64 of service active for administrative and other purposes Some of these reports may include a record of each discrete activity or event and the calculated proficiency of events the percent age of events that result in a fix relative to total events The reports can be used to measure the Rules Engine s sessions solved and sessions which result in a call to the Support Center 0053 PhaserSMART system of this embodiment generates four use scenarios In the first scenario the user obtains an instant self support solution In this case the information submitted to the Rules Engine contains a dead ringer This information is identified by the system and a solution to the identified problem is immediately displayed US 2003 0110413 1 system runs its pattern matching algorithm against the Usage Profile information and system rules The system finds a high probability solution match The system finds an associated solution ID in the solution lookup table The system displays the infoSMART solution 68 on the Rules Engine Resolution page The user attempts the fix provided by the solution and it is successful The
29. VARCHAR2 20 DATE continued Table Definitions NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL NOT NULL Primary key unique by printer type id rule id sequence num Foreign key printer models printer model id Foreign key rule headers rule header id Can be Y or N primary key Jun 12 2003 12 creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table printer models printer model id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL model VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NULL create table printers to rules printer model id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule header id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL sequence num POSITIVE NOT NULL active flag VARCHAR2 1 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table link text link text id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL link text VARCHAR2 100 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240
30. age Profile Record 1 Total Pages amp Sheets Pages 980 Sheets 924 2 Total Pixels Printed 1K Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 ack 1029656 3 Average Coverage 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 4 Coverage Last 1000 Pages 6 Magenta 7 Yellow 3 Black 8 5 Ink Consumed Sticks Cyan 0 90481 Magenta 1 08198 Yellow 0 50879 Black 1 15476 6 Pixels Printed Cyan 1K Fast Color 10453 Standard 588447 Enhanced 2436 High Resolution Photo 287669 7 Pixels Printed Magenta 1K Fast Color 13880 Standard 651569 Enhanced 3615 High Resolution Photo 420024 8 Pixels Printed Yellow 1K Fast Color 10831 Standard 371417 Enhanced 2694 High Resolution Photo 90629 9 Pixels Printed Black 1K Fast Color 22223 Standard 944578 Enhanced 2454 High Resolution Photo 60401 21 Paper vs Transparency pages Paper 939 Transparency 41 Other 0 22 Pixels Printed Paper 1K Cyan 798613 Magenta 974505 Yellow 425226 Black 708775 23 Coverage Paper Cyan 5 Magenta 6 Yellow 3 Black 5 24 Pixels Printed Transparency 1K Cyan 90392 Magenta 114583 Yellow 50345 Black 320881 125 Coverage Transparency Cyan 16 Magenta 20 Yellow 9 Black 56 31 Color vs Black amp White pages Color 821 Black amp White 156 Blank 3 132 Pixels Printed Black amp White 1K Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 85608 133 Coverage Black amp White Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 4 134 Pixels Printed Color 1
31. and the printer contains a usage utility and an embedded web server The user requests support by access ing the printer driver which will contain a link for support printer driver invokes the user s default browser with a URL argument The URL is the IP address of the printer e g http H13 62 154 233 xerox upr tech post and the web server displays a web page in the web browser The printer s web server calls postscript functions which extract diagnos tic data generated from the usage utility resident on the printer and package them in an HTML form variable US 2003 0110413 1 Immediately after the page loads in the user s browser it automatically submits the HTML form via HTTP to the support server The support server calls the rules engine the rules engine parses and returns a record set of solution links support server constructs a web page and returns it to the user s browser 0009 system may also store historical information such as a record of the service request the printer diagnostic data and the suggested solution at the support server Warranty information may be stored in the support server and the warranty entitlement information may be checked at the time of the initial request Any stored historical infor mation may be provided to the user along with the suggested solution to the current problem Thus the user sees a very simple elegant interface with all the complex data interac tions don
32. ansparency A4 0 302 Jam B Middle Lower Trays Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 0 Lower Paper A4 0 303 Jam Exit Cover Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 304 Jam D Front Cover Paper Letter 1 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 305 Jam E Exit Tray Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 307 Jam Manual Feed Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 331 JetStack PF Count 7 332 JetStack Hours 267 97 333 JetStack PF Log 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 35 77 78 21 14 59 17 16 19 02 83 11 20 09 334 JetStack Date Log Fri Oct 27 15 09 57 2000 Tue Oct 31 09 02 49 2000 Mon Nov 06 09 02 29 2000 Wed Nov 08 09 03 55 2000 Fri Nov 10 09 04 32 2000 Tue Nov 14 09 25 16 2000 Thu Nov 16 09 25 54 2000 335 JetStack PF Page 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3198 3243 3463 3490 3591 3671 3880 Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 continued Sample Usage Profile Record Jun 12 2003 401 Diagnostic Result 0 ID 23 TS 6 PC 3806 Thu Nov 02 2000 08 21 28 R0 180 0000 R1 180 0000 R2 180 0000 R3 0 0000 R4 180 000 402 Diagnostic Result 1 ID 23 TS 6 PC 2663 Thu Oct 12 2000 16 32 57 R0 180 0000 R1
33. atabase for the most recent user session The Customer Support Agent uses the session history and standard troubleshooting techniques to verify problem The problem is fixed escalated or dispatched to field service following standard OPB Customer Support practices Addi Jun 12 2003 tional contingent Use Cases are also possible to implement with the PhaserSMART system 0057 completion the first three scenarios automati cally open a service request through a PL SQL package interface to special interface tables the OpenUPTIME T Tables This integration automates much of the manual information collection into an existing customer support system and automates the routing of requests This also enables updating of databases The invention may be used alone or in combination with the methods described in co pending co assigned patent application D A1151 Printer Diagnostics Method David Bernklau Halvor filed the same date as this application which is incorporated herein by reference D A1151 describes a method of diag nosing a printer where the printer is one of a particular type includes performing a series of parametric tests on the printer at the time of manufacture to generate a set of baseline values for the printer and storing the baseline results The baseline results may be stored remotely or with the printer or both A set of maximum parametric test variations for the printer type is generated such that each maximum
34. be any available web browser such as Netscape 4 x and IE 4 x or greater browsers or other such browsers that are JavaScript 1 1 compatible and support standard frames tables and other common HTML elements The web browser 83 used should have cookies enabled and the web based user interface may be 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high excluding the browser window The web browser 83 provides exclusive navigation for the user in this embodiment The user would open the printer driver appli cation on his personal computer 50 and select technical support link on the troubleshooting tab This action causes a dialog box 52 to be displayed for the user A form call 54 is made to the printer 14 which directs that any stored usage profile information 56 be sent to the support server 110 Usage profile information 56 in the form of a single field Updata is appended to a support request 108 in the form of an HTTP post which is sent via the Internet to support server 110 Updata contains Usage Profile information generated by the usage profile utility resident on the printer 0029 Alternatively in the case where the printer 14 includes an embedded web server 45 when the user opens the printer driver application on his personal computer 50 and select s technical support link on the troubleshooting tab this action causes the user s web browser 45 to display invoking a form call 54 to the printer s embedded web server 45 which returns a web page 82 wi
35. be made by those skilled in the art from this teaching which are intended to be encom passed by the following claims What is claimed is 1 A method of diagnosing a printer problem comprising providing printer diagnostic data wherein printer diag nostic data comprises data pertaining to operation of a printer at a time of a printer fault parsing the printer diagnostic data into components executing a rule comprising comparing each component with a corresponding ref erence value to generate a comparison result correlating the comparison result with a set of actions including solutions wherein if there is a correlation between the compari son result and a solution identifying the solution Jun 12 2003 2 The method of claim 1 where in the correlating step further includes the steps of determining if the comparison is true wherein if the comparison is true the set of actions includes going to next statement in the rule going to a next rule going to a specific solution and storing a variable if the comparing step was to identify a data location and determining if the comparison is false wherein if the comparison is false the set of actions include going to next statement going to a next rule and going to a specific solution 3 The method of claim 1 wherein the comparing step includes one of less than greater than equal to contains count of matches and match location 4 The method of clai
36. cation Publication A m a mmm moo mmo mm m a eee 305532044 J Vj33lNI 1 4 vr m 311103 7 02 Patent Application Publication Jun 12 2003 Sheet 3 of 7 US 2003 0110413 A1 USER SELECTS SUPPORT SUPPORT SERVER 108 110 112 SUPPORT REQUEST ENGINE RULES ENGINE DATABASE CUSTOMER SESSION DATABASE USAGE PROFILE DATABASE 24 116 118 122 5 2003 0110413 1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 4 of 7 Patent Application Publication NOI1010S 035 8 83M 3svavivd Ki 13416 03 1 5140434 i 3NI9N3 SINY 0 NOISSINGAS 2 1404405 3AIDVHINI 9 ER usn 06000000000 22 02 QS X00000000000 000 95 641 SS oe eg BELL I 5 2003 0110413 1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 5 of 7 Patent Application Publication 9 0914 912 53402 403001 S3dAL 417001 SINO AWIL SIdAL INVA 5401 4340 wal SNOILITIOS 812 012 ANIONI SNOLDV 616 902 SIINY 01 58111134 5430 3 TINA 0 000 002 513004 33181 4 SANIT TNA 914 uni isi suopnjos S
37. d for the comparison this can be a single field or a range of fields from a selected database similar to what may be seen when defining a range in a program such as Microsoft Excel 0039 Comparison Type or Operator such as for example lt gt contains count of matches match location etc 0040 comparison data or result this can be fixed value a data base field or a set of possibilities and any of these may be modified by addition or subtraction 0041 What to do if the comparison is true go to the next statement the next Rule or a specific solution set or store a variable if the comparison was to identify a data location 0042 What to do if the comparison is false go to the next statement the next Rule or a specific solution set and 0043 Comments section for explaining the purpose of the statement and making it easier to edit in the future optional 0044 simple rule may look like 0045 Rule ID 123456 0046 Prioritization 3 0047 Name Current Jam Message 0048 Rule Type Direct Correlation Jun 12 2003 0049 Simple Rule statements may include Order Source Op Value True False Comments 1 Last 76 Next Next Looks to see if parameter in 77 Field Rule the current status line 236 78 message identifies Printer 79 a jam condition Status OR 80 2 Last 22 70 Solution Next Checks for a parameter 3 05 Field match with a line 266 Jam
38. date date DATE NOT NULL create table rule headers rule header id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL name VARCHAR2 100 NOT NULL symptom VARCHAR2 240 description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table rule lines rule header id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule line id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule line num POSITIVE NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 primary value type VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL primary token num 2 10 primary token name 2 100 primary parm num BINARY INTEGER primary payload key VARCHAR2 100 parms to search POSITIVE operator VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL comparison value VARCHAR2 240 US 2003 0110413 1 secondary value_type secondary token num secondary token name secondary parm num secondary payload key comparison units comparison count action true target true description true action false target false description false created by creation date last updated by last update date rule recovery rule recovery id rule header id rule line id error code solution 14 description created by continued Table Definitions VARCHAR2 25 NOT Foreign key NULL ss lookup codes lookup code lookup type RuleValueType VARCHAR2 10 VARCHAR2 100 BINARY IN for values gt 1 TEGER
39. des the steps of determining if the comparison is true wherein if the comparison is true the set of actions includes going to a next statement in the rule going to a next rule going to a specific solution and storing a variable if the comparing step was to identify a data location and deter mining if the comparison is false wherein if the comparison is false the set of actions include going to a next statement going to a next rule and going to a specific solution 0013 The system and method of the invention offer many advantages For example the system enables use of printer generated status data to enable a diagnosis as opposed to customer entered information alone A centralized support server implementing a rules engine enables the support center to have the latest diagnostics utilities as well as the latest solutions to errors Use of the Internet as a medium to allow data transfers to take place enables a large number of users to communicate quickly and efficiently with the sup port server If the printer includes software for collecting usage profile information including supplies usage infor mation and printer status information such information can also be transmitted to the support server for use in analysis by the rules engine The system and method of the invention Jun 12 2003 automates the service call handling process and reduces the cost of support while also allowing a 24 hr day by 7 days week support coverag
40. e behind the scenes of the information sent to the support server is collected without requiring the user to perform any diagnostic tests directly or to answer questions or to interact with the support server or a service technician 0010 In the event the suggested solution does not fix the printer problem the user can access a phone support system The phone support system can access all printer diagnostic data received at the support server during the automated process and use that data to facilitate telephone support or for a service representative call 0011 system may be used on any network whether intranet or extranet e g the Internet although it is expected that most users would contact the support server over the Internet The printer driver may include a web browser for pointing to a web page at the support server 0012 Amethod of diagnosing a printer problem includes providing printer diagnostic data wherein printer diagnostic data comprises data pertaining to operation of a printer at a time of a printer fault parsing the printer diagnostic data into components executing a rule comprising comparing each component with a corresponding reference value to generate comparison result and correlating the comparison result with a set of actions including solutions wherein if there is correlation between the comparison result and a solution providing the solution The correlating step may further inclu
41. e for the customer BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0014 FIG 1 is a block diagram of a support system for diagnosing printer problems 0015 FIG 2 is a block diagram of a printer shown in FIG 1 0016 FIG 3 is a block diagram illustrating the architec ture for a service request in the support system 0017 FIG 4 is another block diagram of an architecture for a support system 0018 5 is another block diagram of an architecture for a service request and result in a support session 0019 FIG 6 is a block diagram of the entity relation ships between the elements in the rule engine 0020 FIG 7 is a block diagram of the process flow in the rules engine and 0021 FIG 8 is a block diagram illustrating several ways of communication between the printer and the support server DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0022 Referring to FIG 1 a system for providing support 10 includes a support server 12 and one or more printers 14 located remote from the support server 12 Communication between support server 12 and printer 14 is made via the Internet 16 or such other communications channel as may be available The Internet is particularly useful because it provides a ubiquitous connection for large numbers of individuals and businesses 0023 A typical printer 14 is shown in FIG 2 Printer 14 includes printer hardware 20 for receiving a print medium transferring ink or toner in the
42. ed_by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL DATE NOT creation_date DATE NOT NULL NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL DATE NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL create table ss lookup codes VARCHAR2 25 NOT foreign key lookup type VARCHAR2 25 NULL NOT NULL VARCHAR2 25 NOT primary key lookup code VARCHAR2 25 NULL reflected in program NOT NULL code for logic breaks VARCHAR2 240 description VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 1 NOT Can be or N active_ flag VARCHAR2 1 NULL NOT NULL date date VARCHAR2 20 NOT created_by VARCHAR2 20 NULL NOT NULL DATE NOT creation date DATE NULL NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT last updated by NULL VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL DATE NOT last update date DATE NOT NULL NULL create table solutions NUMBER 15 NOT solution id NUMBER 15 NULL NOT NUIL VARCHAR2 100 NOT name VARCHAR2 100 NOT NULL NULL VARCHAR2 25 NOT Foreign key status code VARCHAR2 25 NULL ss lookup codes NOT NULL lookup code lookup type SolutionStatus US 2003 0110413 1 error level link text id solution content description created by creation date last updated by last update date rule headers rule header id name symptom description created by creation date last updated by last update date ines rule rule header id rule line id rule line num description primary value type primary token num primary token name primary parm _
43. erver 110 The Rules Engine database 122 provides the location for rules and solution lookup tables The rules tables relate printers to specific rule sets to match against incoming Usage Profile information If a match is found the solution table is queried to determine which infoSMART solution stored in infoSMART Database 124 should be displayed to the user The Support Agent interface 112 defines the web screens that the Call Center agents use to interact with Rules Engine and the data sources it touches The Support Agent screen includes of a list of recent interactions with the support server Each interaction is represented by a link that shows the session detail when clicked The screen permits several different ways to sort and filter the list of links that is displayed to the Support Agent At the top of this screen a portion may be reserved US 2003 0110413 1 to display customer information such as model number serial number RID product place notes and customer notes 0059 Report interface 114 allows internal users to measure overall traffic solution delivery success and prod uct trending It matches the serial numbers in against the PhaserSMART session database to determine how many of the PhaserSMART sessions were successful Predefined or ad hoc reports may be generated Jun 12 2003 0060 Rules Engine 111 parse all incoming user information such as usage profile information or data generated as
44. f the printer 14 and stores a record of it usually called a usage profile or usage profile information in the memory 40 As described later when a request for service is made to the supply server 12 the support server will request any usage profile information stored about the printer be sent to it for analysis Alternatively the printer may send the usage profile information with the request for support 0025 To aid in the diagnosis of a printer problem or if the printer does not contain a usage profile utility for generating usage profile information the support server 12 may send a printer diagnostic utility 13 to the printer 14 On receipt the printer 14 runs the diagnostic utility 13 and generates a set of printer diagnostic data which is sent to the support server 12 for analysis Of course a printer with a usage utility and stored usage profile information may also download and run the printer diagnostic utility data received from the printer 14 by the support server 12 will be parsed and analyzed by the rules engine 15 and a suggested solution generated and transmitted back to the printer 14 Any other data stored in the printer memory 40 may also be sent to the support server for analysis by the rules engine 0026 more detailed example of a printer diagnostic system and method will be described with respect to a system and method to be used with Xerox solid ink printers called PhaserSMART PhaserSMART is a web based ap
45. he name is engine error log which has a parametric value of 1 The operator is itemequals and the action if true is to escalate to a field call If false go to the next line of the rule 0069 Table 6 lists the rule lines for the exemplary rules engine pay parms token parm load to action action name num key search operator true false Printer 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Status Printer 3 ItemEquals NextLine Solution Status PrintHead 1 ItemEquals NextLine NextRule Clean Source US 2003 0110413 1 rule header id 257 258 258 259 259 259 259 260 260 260 260 260 260 260 260 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 262 262 262 262 262 262 262 262 rule line id 2049 2050 2051 2052 2053 2054 2055 2056 2057 2058 2059 2060 2061 2062 2063 2064 2065 2066 2067 2068 2069 2070 2071 2072 2073 2074 2075 2076 2077 2078 2079 rule line value num type 4 TokenVa 1 2 TokenVa 1 2 TokenVa 3 TokenVa 4 TokenVa 1 TokenVa 2 TokenVa 3 TokenVa 4 TokenVa 5 TokenVa 6 TokenVa 7 8 TokenVa 1 2 3 TokenVa 4 TokenVa 5 TokenVa 6 TokenVa 7 8 TokenVa 1 TokenVa 2 3 TokenVa 4 TokenVa 5 TokenVa TokenVa 7 8 TokenVa ue ue ue
46. iagnostic Result 4 Diagnostic Result 5 WarmUp Mode Adaptive Data Sun Adaptive Data Mon Adaptive Data Tue Adaptive Data Wed Adaptive Data Thu Adaptive Data Fri Adaptive Data Sat Warmup Setting Standby Setting Profile Error Count Profile Error Log Profile Error Page Page Count Trigger Time Trigger hours Jam Count Trigger Polling Interval Email on First Jam Restart Count Trigger 17 continued Token Payload Upper Tray Upper Paper Letter 0 0 0 0 3001 Tue Oct 24 18 35 06 2000 SIPS Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 0 Upper Transparency A4 0 Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 0 Lower Paper A4 0 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Paper Letter 1 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 7 267 97 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 0 00 35 77 78 21 14 59 17 16 19 02 83 11 20 09 09 02 49 2000 Mon Nov 06 09 02 29 2000 Wed Nov 08 09 03 55 2000 Fri Nov 10 09 04 32 2000 Tue Nov 14 09 25 1
47. ine Quality pages 273 210 4 RunningTotal NumLessThan Solution NextLine 273 211 5 NamedValue 43 Manual Transparency NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Feed Letter Media sheets 273 2111 6 NamedValue 43 Manual Transparency NumIncrement NextLine NextLine Feed A4 Media sheets 273 211 7 RunningTotal NumGreater Solution NextLine Than 273 2112 8 NamedValue 152 Color Auto NumLessThan Solution NextLine Correction matic pages 273 2113 9 TokenValue 10 Acces WithinPayload NextLine NextRule sories 273 2114 10 NamedValue 141 1 Sided 2 NumLessThan Solution NextRule vs 2 Sided Sided sheets 0070 Referring back to FIG 7 suppose a particular rule returned a solution instead of a next line indication Table 7 lists the solutions by solution id Referring to Table 7 and with reference to step 232 the error level in column 4 of table 7 is checked first The lookup error recovery solution is determined step 242 and the solution is then appended to the list of information to be sent to the user in response to his service request step 250 In step 260 the error level is checked to see if it is either normal warning or fatal If fatal the rules engine sets the status to fatal step 266 and adds the parameters to the solution id list and run status step 268 and the rule engine analysis ends step 270 If the solution is normal the rules engine checks to see if more rules have to be evaluated step 264 If not
48. is directed to contact customer support In all cases the exit page updates the session record to capture the end timestamp the exit route if the problem was solved the solution type and the infoSMART ID and key if any 0035 Rules Engine provides mechanisms to tie the information received from a user to the appropriate self support solution A function of the Rules Engine is to interface with the support server to deliver a solution to the user via the user s browser The rules that the Rules Engine relies on are stored in the Rules Engine database 122 These rules are stored in a database for easy addition modification and maintenance As new printers are developed to use PhaserSMART Rules Administrators must be able to define and add rule sets rapidly and easily 0036 Each Rule contains header information and a series of comparison statements The header for the Rule typically defines a Unique ID for the rule prioritization rank in comparison to all the other rules a descriptive name for the rule and a rule type which defines when the rule should be used i e is the rule looking for a direct symptom solution correlation an indirect symptom solution correlation or some other information Each comparison statement typi cally contains the following items 0037 Order of execution within the Rule 0038 Source Data from the printer diagnostic data or usage profile information or such other informa tion provide
49. jam solution US 2003 0110413 1 TABLE 7 continued Data Solution solution id name status code error level description 22 112 Printer jam general Indeterminate Normal Printer jam solution 860 04 113 Printer jam general Indeterminate Normal Printer jam solution 860 05 0072 If the result of step 232 indicates there is no error the rules engine retrieves the next rule line step 234 and checks for an error at step 236 If yes it continues to step 242 If not at step 238 usage profile token value from table 4 is compared with the token value for the rule The two values are compared in step 240 If the match is true the true action line from the rule line step 246 is selected If the match is false the false action line from the rule line is selected step 248 If there is an error in the match the rules engine goes to step 242 In step 252 the action type is determined If it is a solution the rules engine goes to step 250 If it says to go to the next line or skip to a particular line it goes to that line and returns to step 234 If the action type is next rule or skip to rule it goes to step 230 0073 The invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding this speci fication taken together with the drawings The embodiments are but examples and various alternatives modifications variations or improvements may
50. m 1 wherein the rule specifies the order of execution of the comparing step 5 The method of claim 1 further comprising executing a plurality of rules in accordance with a hierarchical order 6 The method of claim 5 wherein each rule has a unique identifier 7 The method of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic data comprises usage information wherein the usage information comprises printer operational usage and status information generated over a period of time 8 The method of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic data comprises data generated subsequent to operation of a printer diagnostic utility 9 The method of claim 1 wherein the parsing step includes the steps of parsing the printer diagnostic data into components having a particular format and storing the components in a database 10 The method of claim 1 wherein the solutions repre sent error conditions or symptoms within a printer 11 The method of claim 5 wherein the plurality of rules comprise a set of rules for a particular printer type
51. nce Activation Hours Since Last Power On Total Time On hours Power Off Pages Power Off Date Log Total Warmup Time hours Total Offline Time hours Total EnergyStar Time hours Jun 12 15 continued Token Payload Paper 939 Transparency 41 Other 0 Cyan 798613 Magenta 974505 Yellow 425226 Black 708775 Cyan 5 Magenta 6 Yellow 3 Black 5 Cyan 90392 Magenta 114583 Yellow 50345 Black 320881 Cyan 16 Magenta 20 Yellow 9 Black 56 Color 821 Black amp White 156 Blank 3 Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 85608 Cyan 0 Magenta 0 Yellow 0 Black 4 Cyan 889005 Magenta 1089088 Yellow 475571 Black 944048 Cyan 7 Magenta 8 Yellow 4 Black 8 1 Sided 868 2 Sided 56 Paper Letter 0 Paper Legal 0 Paper A4 0 Transparency Letter 0 Transparency A4 0 Other 0 Upper Paper Letter 0 Upper Paper Legal 0 Upper Paper A4 0 Upper Transparency Letter 41 Upper Transparency A4 0 Middle Paper Letter 0 Middle Paper A4 0 Lower Paper Letter 883 Lower Paper A4 0 Fast Color 46 Standard 903 Enhanced 3 High Resolution Photo 28 None 1 Vivid Color 0 Simulate Display 2 SWOP Press 0 Euroscale Press 0 Commercial Press 0 Black and White 0 Raw CMYK 20 Raw RGB 0 Automatic 957 Toyo Press 0 Dai Nippon Press 0 Fuji Press 0 Newsprint 0 Non PostScript 0 Undefined 0 First Set Pages 951 Subsequent Set Pages 19 0 1 132 2 4 77 5 9 14 10 19 8 20 29 2 30 49 4 50 74 2 75 99 11 100
52. nsumed Cyan 0 90481 Magenta 1 08198 Yellow 0 50879 Sticks Black 1 15476 6 Pixels Printed Cyan Fast Color 10453 Standard 588447 Enhanced 2436 High 1K Resolution Photo 287669 7 Pixels Printed Fast Color 13880 Standard 651569 Enhanced 3615 High Magenta 1K Resolution Photo 420024 8 Pixels Printed Yellow Fast Color 10831 Standard 371417 Enhanced 2694 High 1K Resolution Photo 90629 9 Pixels Printed Black Fast Color 22223 Standard 944578 Enhanced 2454 High US 2003 0110413 1 Token 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 34 35 141 43 144 151 152 61 62 63 64 65 71 85 86 87 88 91 92 93 Token Description Paper vs Transparency pages Pixels Printed Paper 1K Coverage Paper Pixels Printed Transparency 1K Coverage Transparency Color vs Black amp White pages Pixels Printed Black amp White 1K Coverage Black amp White Pixels Printed Color Coverage Color 96 1 Sided vs 2 Sided sheets Manual Feed Media sheets Cassette Tray Media sheets Print Quality pages Color Correction pages Sets Printed pages Jobs By Document Length Jobs By Number of Sets Pages By Document Length Pages By Number of Sets Job Source Job Language Jobs Collated Time Per Job mins Total Jobs Cancelled Jobs Days Printed Pages Per Day Power On Count Time On Distribution hours Days Si
53. of the analysis and may be one of normal warning or fatal 0032 a normal or warning condition the Rules Engine will return a record set The record set contains Column Name Description Status code error level link text id solution content One of three values see table below The error level returned by the Rules Engine The Link text for the URL The solution URL continued Column Name Description description name The solution description name of this solution 0033 Each row in this record set represents one of three conditions The solution id table documents those condi tions Status Message Action RuleFailure An error occurred within the Rules Engine while processing rules Contact Rules admin Positive A dead ringer solution was discovered for the user s problem The user can fix the problem with parts Display these first Indeterminate The solution was uncertain Display these next 0034 the problem is Positive and a solution 68 is available within the infoSMART database 124 the solution is sent to the user If the problem is Positive and the user needs service the URL points to a separate template path 66 within the application The user is prompted for contact information and the service request is assigned for process US 2003 0110413 1 ing by the field service teams if the printer is under warranty or contract If the service job is billable the user
54. ofile data SolutionStatus RuleFailure SolutionStatus SolutionStatus UPInterface Error Error processing for interface UPInterface Loading Records are still loading don t post yet UPInterface Posted Records are posted to UP database UPInterface Purge UPInterface Ready Records can be purged Indicates records are ready to post Jun 12 2003 Solution represents certain diagnosis of problem from Usage Profile Unable to determine with certainty the nature of the problem from A rule failed and this solution came from the Rule Recovery table UPInterface ErrorLevel Normal Processing ended normally ErrorLevel Warning Processing ended with warning level errors ErrorLevel Fatal Processing ended with fatal errors ErrorLevel 0063 Referring to FIG 6 the relationships between the various entities in the Rules Engine is described For each printer model 200 there is a list of printer rules 202 Each rule includes a header 204 which is used to access the rule lines 206 Rule lines 206 are operated on by actions operators value types and time units 212 reference lookup codes 216 which reference lookup types 214 to generate solutions 210 Solutions 210 reference text link 218 0064 The overall process flow of the Rules Engine is shown in FIG 7 Upon receipt of a support request the Rules Engine sets up a Session id and stores the received Usage Profile text in memory step 220 The run status is initialized to normal step
55. ore lines available RuleError RuleNotFound Action was NextRule but no more Rules available RuleError EvalFailure Unable to evaluate Usage Profile Parameter s RuleError HeaderLoop Encountered endless loop through rule headers due to rule misconfiguration RuleError LineLoop Encountered endless loop through rule lines due to rule misconfiguration RuleError TimedOut Time limit exceeded possible endless loop or system failure RuleError TokenNotFound A rule line asked for a token number that could not be found in the current UP record RuleError SolutionNotFound rule line asked for a solution id that doesn t exist in the solutions table RuleError RuleOperator DateAfter Date occurs on or after comparison value RuleOperator DateBefore Date occurs on or before comparison value RuleOperator DateBetween Date occurs between comparison value list of 2 RuleOperator DateEquals Date equals comparison value to nearest time unit specified RuleOperator ItemEquals String or number equals the comparison value RuleOperator MatchCount String or number pattern found multiple times in token payload RuleOperator NumBetween Number is between comparison values list of 2 RuleOperator NumGreaterThan Number greater than the comparison value RuleOperator NumAccumulate Add the numeric result from this token value to the running total no comparison with another value yet RuleOperator NumLessThan Number less than the comparison value
56. pli cation that analyses information from a user s printer and returns web based self support solutions to the user In addition to providing printer information analysis Phaser SMART can be used to combine other systems such as infoSMART an interactive online support module and OpenUPTIME a worldwide customer management system which maintains inventory and manufacturing data Phaser SMART for purposes of this example is used with printers that have a Usage Profile utility resident in the printer firmware The Usage Profile utility gathers usage informa tion and printer status information during operation of the printer and stores it in a local memory 0027 block diagram of the architecture of the Phaser SMART system is shown in FIGS 3 4 5 and 8 Several methods of accessing the printer 14 in order to request support from support server 110 are shown in FIG 8 First the printer 14 may be connected to a personal computer wireless telephone personal digital assistant or any device that can accept an IP address Typically this means that the device 81 including the printer itself through a front panel Jun 12 2003 input device includes a memory and processor running a web browser or application for communicating over the Internet 0028 In this embodiment the user accesses printer 14 through a personal computer with a web browser PhaserS MART presents all information to the user via a web browser 83 which may
57. port representative will make suggestions to the user which the user will perform on the printer and report back the result if any If the problem is resolved the service call is closed Otherwise the service call goes through an escalation process This may include transferring the call to a different service representative who may be more skilled or skilled in different problem area who asks different questions and makes different suggestions If the escalated phone process is not successful a field technician is dis patched While all human assisted calls not including the cost of maintaining a service staff at a particular staffing level are more expensive than automated response systems dispatching a field technician to the printer is the most expensive 0004 With the advent of the internet many companies have established web sites to market their products enable users to download upgrades to various software products and drivers and provide online service Some computer manufacturers offer a special technical service software package which a user downloads to his her computer enabling the user to connect directly to the computer manu facturer service site for support Compaq for example has dial up remote diagnostic system for personal computer customers Hewlett Packard offers a service called Instant Support primarily intended for personal computers which enables users to automatically check their system for com
58. ription true VARCHAR2 240 action false VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL target false VARCHAR2 20 description false VARCHAR2 240 created by NUMBER 15 NOT NULL creation date DATE NOT NULL last updated by NUMBER 15 NOT NULL last update date DATE NOT NULL create table rule recovery rule recovery id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL rule header id NUMBER 15 rule line id NUMBER 15 error code VARCHAR2 25 NOT NULL solution id NUMBER 15 NOT NULL description VARCHAR2 240 created by VARCHAR2 20 NOT NULL Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 creation date last updated by last update date printer models printer model id model description created by creation date ast updated by ast update date printers to rules printer model id rule header id sequence num active flag description created by creation date ast updated by ast update date ink text ink text id ink text description created by creation date last updated by last update date NEW created by creation date last updated by last update date DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 25 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 NUMBER 15 POSITIVE VARCHAR2 1 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE NUMBER 15 VARCHAR2 100 VARCHAR2 240 VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE VARCHAR2 20 DATE
59. se the information submitted to the Rules Engine or the decision tree path leads to a solution that calls for servicing the printer The system runs its pattern matching algorithm against the Usage Profile information and system rules The system finds a high probability solution match The system finds a service needed entry in the solution lookup table The system displays a page notifying end user of need for service with a send technician option The user clicks yes or no on sending a technician The system opens a request for a service technician The system checks for warranty or con tract If not billable system displays exit page with request ID and assigns the job If billable the system displays a Call Choice page The user chooses to contact a service center or have a service center contact them 0056 In the fourth scenario the Customer Support Agent views a user s Rules Engine session In this case the user was not able to resolve their issue via the Rules Engine As a result they were assigned a Request ID and have called support The Customer Support Agent needs to access the user s information The Customer Support Agent takes a call from an PhaserSMART escalation customer The Customer Support Agent gets the Request ID RID from the customer and opens the support session The Customer Support Agent launches a web browser from a URL within the OpenUP TIME system with RID included The system queries the PhaserSMART d
60. suggest a solution Printer diagnostic data may be obtained by one or a combination of methods The support server may cause a printer diagnostics utility to be sent to the printer The printer runs the printer diagnostics utility which generates a set of printer diagnostic data and transmits the data to the support server An advantage of using downloaded printer diagnostics utilities is that the utility can be updated from time to time to retrieve or generate different types of data If the printer includes a utility which generates and stores printer usage information and printer status information during operation of the printer that information may be transmitted to the support server instead of the printer diagnostic data generated by the printer diagnostics utility or in addition to the printer diag nostic data Indeed printer diagnostic data may include any data stored in the printer memory 0007 The rules engine then parses the printer diagnostic data into components and analyzes the components in order to determine a cause for the printer problem The rules engine then determines a suggested solution set for the problem and transmits the suggested solution to the printer suggested solution set is typically determined from a database of solutions based on printer diagnostic data and error conditions 0008 In one particular embodiment the printer is coupled to a computer having a web browser for connecting to the Internet
61. th an HTML form to be sent to the support server 110 Usage profile information 56 in the form of a single field Updata comprises the support request 108 in the form of an HTTP post which is sent via the Internet to support server 110 This form is automatically submitted when the user s browser loads the web page 82 returned by the printer s embedded web server Updata contains Usage Profile information generated by the usage profile utility resident on the printer An alternative web page generated by the printers embedded web server is the CenterWare Support page 84 which is displayed in the user s browser 83 0030 Table 1 shows a sample usage profile record that might be collected for a particular user s printer Sample Usage Profile Record 1 Date of Report Thu Nov 16 17 43 47 2000 2 Activation Date Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 3 Printer Ds Serial BCLP356 Ethernet 08 00 11 0F 01 33 IP 13 62 70 236 xxxxxx 4 Printer Name Steffen s BC 5 Printer Type Model Phaser 860DP Printer Class Solid Ink 6 Adobe Firmware 3010 108 11 7 Xerox Firmware VxWorks 3 18 Engine 14 20 PostScript 14 18 Network 12 48 10 18 2000 8 Installed RAM MBs 128 9 Installed Trays incl Manual 3 10 Accessories Duplexer 11 Current Media Upper Tray Transparency Letter Middle Tray Lower Tray Paper Letter Manual Feed Other Other 101 Report Intervals Pages 1000 Hours 168 US 2003 0110413 1 continued Sample Us
62. ui WV Vd ON OL 11416 135 NafL33 0 2 5 2003 0110413 1 01 511415 NAVY 135 11131014155 TINYLXIN 5 NOILIOS JNTIOLADS N WW 19 2 09 151101 01 INN zm E nw 2 NOLLIOS QN3ddV WOYJ NOLDV 0313 NOLDY 16114 139 3041139 ei 0 105 JI3A0038 40441 413001 v Y30V3H 31N4 3MIVA NDIOL INIT 3104 DAN INBA 10483 381410 02 ia 5 TEGO 080938 ION OL Tal 171084 39151 311184 4301 19850 3S3Vd 50115 NAX p 1015595 54313 e 311504 19950 ALM bel 0 022 Patent Application Publication 5 2003 0110413 1 Jun 12 2003 Sheet 7 of 7 Patent Application Publication 01 331935 1904415 8 39 14044015 39 41M 01001813 33 M3 LNGD yg 4154048 5 435 51944 83 03003813 53311134 33135 83M 01003813 28 TANWd 1104 3314 pid 5511331 18 Aun DIISONOVIA US 2003 0110413 1 METHOD FOR ANALYZING PRINTER FAULTS FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 This invention relates generally to a method of analyzing printer faults and more particularly to a method of analyzing printer diagnostic and usage information in order to suggest solutions automatically BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 When a user has
63. ult 269 rule rule rule header line line value token id id num type num 257 2046 1 TokenValue 237 257 2047 2 237 257 2048 3 TokenValue 282 18 Jun 12 2003 0 9 512 10 24 303 25 49 44 50 99 27 100 199 94 200 0 continued rule header_id name symptom 270 Currently Cleaning for 28297 Marks Smudges Ink Smears or Scratches 271 Recent Cleaning for 28297 Marks Smudges Ink Smears or Scratches 272 273 Used Driver 26085 Cannot get the Printer to do Automatic Duplex or Two Sided Printing Features 0068 Each rule header identifies a particular rule line which contains the ruler header id the rule line id rule line number value type token number token name parameter number payload key parameters to search operator com parison value action true what to do if the action is true i e go to a solution or the next rule and action false go to the next rule or in some cases a solution Each rule tells the rules engine how to process particular values of user profile information to determine a solution which is identified by a solution ID The solution ID will be shown in the action true or action false columns in Table 5 For example rule header id 266 current fault code has a symptom of any service fault Rule 266 in Table 6 has a value type of token which means a token value from the usage profile data must be obtained The token number is 262 and t
64. user clicks an appropriate link on the dialog box 52 to indicate that the problem has been resolved The system writes the session record including infoSMART solution ID resolution status timestamp 0054 In the second scenario the user obtains an inter active self support solution In this case the information submitted to the Rules Engine does not contain a dead ringer Further information is needed from the user to diag nose the issue The system runs its pattern matching algo rithm against the Usage Profile information and system rules The system does not find a match The system displays User Choice page with links to interactive diagnostics and other support links The user chooses the interactive diag nostic link The system does an analysis of the Usage Profile information to assess where in the infoSMART decision trees to place the user The system loads the infoSMART decision tree in the main display frame The user navigates the decision tree answering questions that narrow the issue to a solution or set of solutions The system displays the infoSMART solution on a Resolution page The user attempts the fix provided by the solution The user clicks the button to indicate that the problem has been resolved The system writes the session record including infoSMART solution ID resolution status timestamp 0055 In the third scenario the end user needs service a service call from a service representative In this ca
65. vice Tools Menu 0 TroubleShoot Jams 0 0 10 0 6 9 6 10 0 10 0 10 0 10 0 18 10 gt 22 705 07 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 024 01 22 500 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2164 2199 2614 2826 3001 y Thu Oct 12 11 45 36 2000 Thu Oct 12 13 42 32 2000 Wed Oct 18 12 04 43 2000 Fri Oct 20 09 31 24 2000 Tue Oct 24 18 34 47 2000 PowerUp 0 EnergyStar 0 Automatic 0 Manual 0 gt gt BI SE CS gt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 gt gt gt gt Dr x Ta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 2938 y Mon Oct 23 23 25 59 2000 Cold Purge 0 Warm Purge 0 High Voltage Cold Purge 0 High Voltage Warm Purge 0 Jam D Jun 12 2003 US 2003 0110413 1 Token 292 293 294 295 296 301 302 303 304 305 307 331 333 334 335 401 402 403 404 405 406 un 013 023 Token Description Last Jam Media Tray Last Jam Media Last Jam Page Last Jam Date Log Last Jam Transfix Speed Jam A Upper Tray Jam B Middle Lower Trays Jam C Exit Cover Jam D Front Cover Jam E Exit Tray Jam Manual Feed JetStack PF Count JetStack PF Hours JetStack PF Log JetStack PF Date Log JetStack PF Page Diagnostic Result 0 Diagnostic Result 1 Diagnostic Result 2 Diagnostic Result 3 D

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