Abstract: In one embodiment, a two- or dual-sided thermal print switch is provided to direct printing of received print data on one or both sides of thermal media such as a receipt, document, or label. In a further embodiment, a dual-sided thermal print switch is provided to select custom or predefined data for printing on one or both sides of thermal media with or without received print data. Dual-sided print switch operation may be defined using commands implemented with, for example, setup configuration settings in hardware or software, escape sequences, real-time printer commands, and the like.

Abstract: A print control program for controlling execution of a print job, the print job being shared among a main printing apparatus and one or more sub-printing apparatus(es), the print control program allowing a computer to function as: a print requesting section for requesting the main printing apparatus and the sub-printing apparatus(es) to execute the print job in a cooperative manner; an apparatus information acquiring section for acquiring information relating to printing capabilities of the respective printing apparatuses as apparatus information, the apparatus information being stored in the main printing apparatus in advance; an instruction determining section for determining shares of the print job assigned to the respective apparatuses based upon the acquired apparatus information; and a controlling section for generating control instructions to be transmitted to the respective apparatuses.

Abstract: A terminal is designed so that a user who employs numerical keys, allocated for the entry of dots, can enter Braille dot combinations that are used for the input of characters. The input characters may be output as speech for feedback. Further, when a terminal accesses a server, Braille dot combinations can be entered in the above described manner, and speech can be fed back from the server. Furthermore, the server can provide a service for the user in accordance with a character string input at the terminal.

Abstract: In a printer system comprising a plurality of printers, a printer in an output-impossible state can specify and confirm a backup printer. Each of the printers comprises display means, data storage means, printer information obtaining means, backup printer determining means, and data transfer means. One of the printers in output-impossible state stores output data in the data storage means and displays an error-state display in a status display unit thereof. The printer obtains information of the other printers via the printer information obtaining means. The backup printer determining means of the printer determines a backup printer based on a predetermined condition and displays which is the backup printer on the backup printer display unit thereof. At the same time, the printer reads the output data from the data storage means and transfers the data to the backup printer via the data transfer means.

Abstract: A method is provided for making a paper card with printed graphics and a magnetically encoded stripe in an in-line process. The printed graphics information is synchronized with the magnetically encoded information to provide a card with information targeted to a particular customer.

Abstract: A print system having a plurality of printers and a plurality of host computers connected to permit communication on a network, comprises a quantifying unit provided in each of the host computers for analyzing print data to be printed to quantify the print data to an index indicating complexity, a transmission unit provided in each of the host computers for adding the index quantified by the quantifying unit to the print data and transmitting the print data to one of the printers through the network, an operation unit provided in each of the printers for converting the index added to the print data transmitted from the transmission unit to a required record time based on a pre-registered conversion value, and a presentation unit provided in each of the printers for presenting the required record time converted by the operation unit.

Abstract: A print control method capable of reducing power consumption of an information apparatus is performed between the information apparatus for transmitting print data and a printer receiving the print data for image forming in accordance with the print data which are connected by wireless communication. The print control method includes the steps of: calculating a first period of time it takes before it becomes ready to receive the print data by the printer; notifying the information apparatus of the first period of time by the printer; determining if the first period of time is elapsed by the information apparatus; and transmitting the print data to the printer by the information apparatus when the first period of time is elapsed. It is noted that a printing system using the print control method is also claimed.

Abstract: This invention utilizes a simple mechanical buffer that will hold material and a two stage software buffering technique that controls the mechanical buffer to act as a First In First Out mechanical mechanism that allows other system events to be triggered off of dynamic thresholds. The two stage software buffering technique consists of a simple software FIFO with rule based logic to control input into a primary queue input and a secondary reserve queue which holds information as soon as it arrives. The decision to move information from the secondary reserve queue into the primary queue is based upon specific rules that are dynamically executed. This permits the creation of a dynamic threshold and allows the reliable triggering of the systems events. The foregoing permits material that is being produced at one fixed speed to be synchronized with material that is produced at variable speeds.

Abstract: A recording device comprises a plurality of ink-jet recording units arranged separately from each other and an ink reservoir to supply an ink commonly to the recording units.