WO2012045862A1

WO2012045862A1 - System and method for printing

Info

Publication number: WO2012045862A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/067551
Authority: WO
Inventors: Karsten Huster
Original assignee: Canon Europa N.V.
Priority date: 2010-10-08
Filing date: 2011-10-07
Publication date: 2012-04-12
Also published as: GB2486629A; GB201017032D0; EP2625596A1; GB2486629B

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for printing an electronic document. A processing means, like a print server, is provided for interacting with a mobile device to receive electronic-document-information related to an electronic document. The processing means converts the electronic document into a print-ready-converted electronic document by using the electronic-document-information and a print-related-information, like the selection of a printer or providing necessary finishing options, such as duplex printing. The print-ready-converted electronic document is thereafter stored within a secure print queue on the processing means, including the print server. Using the mobile device the print-ready-converted electronic document may be released by the mobile device for printing on a designated multifunctional device. The mobile device may also be used for initiating a scanning of a hardcopy on a designated multifunctional device. The processing means, the mobile device and the multifunctional device may be part of a network.

Description

System and Method for Printing

Background of the Invention

Description of the related Art

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and a method for printing an electronic document.

[0002] Today's computer system infrastructures and communication networks are being more and more combined and merged. Computer systems and communication devices, like Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), mobile phones, laptops, net books or web cell phones share and combine a lot of functionalities and communicate in various ways. Especially the advent of software-based development kits for configuring various mobile device management systems, like Application Programming Interfaces (API), extend tremendous the possible field of application of the mobile devices within different networking environments .

[0003] Currently there is, however, no convenient way for printing or scanning of documents in different networking environments managed by a mobile device. In a commonly used networking environment, print servers are connected to client terminals within the networking environment and the print servers are configured to store and release print jobs to connected multifunctional devices. In addition to directing the print jobs from the client terminals directly to

appropriate multifunctional devices, the functionality of the print server may be extended for other uses. For example, it is known to cause the print server to check the identity of a user accessing the multifunctional device before allowing the user to print on the multifunctional device. Normally the identity of the user is necessary to access the network as a whole, which is often a closed security system and limited to a specific company, department or building. Also the scanning of hardcopies on multifunctional devices requires the direct physical presence of the user in front of the scanning device and therefore the presence and identification of a user within the networking environment.

[0004] According to US 2004/0001217A1 a print service on a network is provided for mobile computing devices, like PDAs, to print documents. When the user of a mobile device wants to print a document, the mobile device is used to access the print service and send a print request that specifies the location the document on the network in terms of a URL. In response, the print service validates the print request, retrieves the document, renders the document for printing, and prints directly the document as requested by the user.

[0005] Also GB 2 429 872 A discloses a method of

communication between a mobile device and a printing system. The communication is initiated automatically when the mobile device and the printing system are in proximity. Thus, after initial communication, login and verification is established, a document selection screen is displayed, showing document files stored on the phone mobile device. If the operational status is set by selecting a document, the process moves to sending the document directly to the printer. If no document is selected, the process moves to receiving and saving a document file from the printer, which file represents a hard copy scanned by the printer. [0006] EP 0 691 619 Al discloses a system including a number of workstations and printers coupled in a network, and a number of portable devices carried by users and coupled to the network by infrared link. Each portable device emulates its user's personal satchel for documents. The device is programmed to receive, transmit and store document references or tokens, each of which is associated with an electronic document stored in the database. Documents are distributed from one person to another by transmission of document references or tokens, and a document is sent to a printer by beaming that document's reference or token to an infrared transceiver associated with that printer. The portable device is preferably a handheld computer with a graphical display for enabling the user to transfer documents.

[0007] In comparison with printing from fixed client terminals within the networking environment, it is even harder for users of mobile devices to print documents.

Present day mobile devices have only limited resources of hardware and software to store large documents and to render documents in print-ready print jobs, which normally have to be configured for a specific printer. Also mobile devices are often not allowed to communicate directly with client terminals and/or printers and/or scanners within a networking environment for computer security reasons.

[0008] Thus, there is needed an effective and easy way to handle requests for users of mobile devices to print and/or scan documents even if the mobile devices are not connected directly to any multifunctional device within a secure network. The printing and/or scanning managed by the mobile device should also be possible even, if the mobile device does not have the capacity or software to handle the printing and/or scanning tasks.

Summary of the Invention

[0009] In view of the foregoing, herewith a system and a method for printing and scanning a document are disclosed. The system enables mobile devices, such as PDAs or mobile phones, to print and/or scan documents easily also outside the network, like a closed company intranet. Even though the mobile devices are not directly connected to the

multifunctional device in the networking environment or do not support the software applications and printer drivers for printing. When the user of the mobile device wants to print and/or scan a document, the mobile device is used to access the company intranet, even from outside, and therefore by access the multifunctional devices for printing and scanning. It will be appreciated that additional networks, such as the Internet or radio telecommunication networks, are combined and can interact with each other. Present computer security systems, like using routers or gateways between different networks or user identification by closed networking

environments, are still in use and not by-passed by the disclosed method and system for printing and/or scanning.

[0010] The disclosed system and method provide a

processing means for interacting with the mobile device to receive electronic-document-information. Additionally print- related-information, like the selection of a possible printer or providing necessary finishing options, such as duplex printing, may be sent by the mobile device to the processing means. The processing means, including a print server, converts the electronic document into a print-ready-converted electronic document by using the electronic-document- information and print-related-information. The print-ready- converted electronic document is thereafter stored in a secure print queue on the print server. The processing means may be part of a closed computer network, like a company intranet, and is connected with at least one multifunctional device, which is also part of the networking environment. Using the mobile device, which may be connected to an interface in connection with the processing means in the network, the print-related-information and the electronic- document-information may be routed from the mobile device to the processing means.

[0011] The identity of the user using the mobile device, the electronic-document-information and the print-related- information are checked within the network, especially by the processing means. The identity of the user must be pre- registered within the network, so that only users with already registered identifications may access the network and therefore to the secure print queue on the print server.

After the authentication the user has full access the secure print queue on the print server and to all multifunctional devices connected with the processing means.

[0012] The electronic-document-information and/or print- related-information may be part of a message, especially of a short message service (SMS) or an electronic mail (email) . The electronic-document-information and/or print-related- information are analysed by the processing means, perhaps including additional file server and/or mail server and/or web server. The electronic-document-information may contain the electronic document itself or a link to one of the file servers, where the electronic document is stored. [0013] It will be appreciated that the electronic document is stored in a specific way on several connected processing means, like the archiving of documents within a computer cloud network of file servers. Also the conversion of the electronic document in a print-ready-converted electronic document may be conducted on several processing means, which may also be part of a cloud computing network.

[0014] The print-ready-converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server and the user can release the print-ready-converted electronic document from the secure print queue for printing on a designated multifunctional device. The designated

multifunctional device may be selected by the mobile device, whereas it will be appreciated that the mobile device has a display, especially a touch screen, for intuitive selecting one of the possible multifunctional devices displayed on the mobile device. The multifunctional device may be selected directly by the user using a user-interface attached to the multifunctional device. Also the status of the different multifunctional devices within the network may be routed to the mobile device. After choosing one specific

multifunctional device by the mobile device and/or user- interface the release message of the mobile device and/or user-interface is routed to the processing means and the print server is sending the print-ready-converted electronic document to the designated multifunctional device for printing. Additionally the processing means may prepare the print-ready-converted electronic document for printing on the designated multifunctional device by combining the relevant print driver with the print-ready-converted electronic document .

[0015] According to the present disclosure there is provide a system for printing an electronic document

comprising at least one multifunctional device, a processing means, including a print server, which is connected to the multifunctional device and the processing means is configured to process the electronic document for printing on the multifunctional device. A mobile device, which is connectable with the processing means, is configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document.

[0016] resent disclosure the

the parameterisation

c document into a pri

nt and/or the releasi

ronic document from a

The electronic format

a text-based format,

rpoint-ppt, or an ima

or even an audio file

MPEG.

[0017] The electronic-document-information may contain the electronic document and is routed from the mobile device to the processing means. The processing means uses the print- related-information for converting the electronic document into a print-ready-converted electronic document. Afterwards the print-ready-converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server and is releasable by the user from the secure print queue on the print server for printing on the multifunctional device.

[0018] According to a first aspect of the present

disclosure the mobile device is accessing within a

communication network directly to the processing means. Also the mobile device is sending a release message to the processing means for releasing the print-ready-converted electronic document from the secure print queue on the print server for printing on the multifunctional device.

[0019] The electronic document is preferably part of the electronic-document-information and is routed with the print- related-information as part of a message from the mobile device to the processing means. The processing means uses the electronic-document-information and the print-related- information for converting the electronic document into a print-ready-converted electronic document. Then the print- ready-converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server, and is releasable by the user from the secure print queue on the printer server.

[0020] It will be appreciated that the message is analysed and the electronic-document-information and/or the electronic document and/or the print-related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device are extracted and used by the processing means. The processing means preferably including a mail server and a document conversion server for converting the electronic document into the print-ready- converted electronic document. [0021] The address of the recipient of the message may relate to the print-related-information and/or designation of one multifunctional device. The possible addresses of

recipient of the message, especially an email, may select the designated multifunctional devices and/or define the

finishing options for printing. The address of the recipient may be selected by the mobile device. Therefore the

multifunctional device and/or finishing options could be selected very easily and no further print-related-information need to be defined.

[0022] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure the electronic-document-information is routed from the mobile device to the processing means. The processing means uses the electronic-document-information for

downloading the electronic document from the processing means, including the file server, and using the print-related- information for converting the electronic document into the print-ready-converted electronic document. Afterwards the print-ready-converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server and is releasable by the user from the secure print queue on the print server for printing on the designated multifunctional device.

[0023] It will be appreciated that the electronic- document-information contains a document link to the

electronic document stored on at least one processing means including the file server and print server. By using this electronic-document-information the processing means is configured to retrieve the electronic document from the fil server based on the document link. Also the print-related- information may be pre-defined and stored on the processing means .

[0024] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure the electronic-document-information and the print- related-information are routed from the mobile device and/or by a user-interface to a number of connected processing means defining a network. The network could be an open network, like the internet or a computer cloud network, or a closed network, like a company intranet or a radio communication network, like Bluetooth. The network is used for a

coordinated storing, analysing and/or extracting of

information from the electronic-document-information and/or the electronic document and/or the print-related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device. A number of connected processing means defining the network uses the electronic-document-information and the print-related- information for converting the electronic document within the network into a print-ready-converted electronic document. Afterwards the print-ready-converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server in the network and is releasable by the user from the secure print queue on the print server for printing.

[0025] According to another embodiment of the present disclosed system the electronic-document-information and the print-related-information are routed via a router to the processing means, including a file server, and the processing means uses the electronic-document-information for

downloading the electronic document from the file server. The processing means is using the print-related-information for converting the electronic document into a print-ready- converted electronic document. Then the print-ready-converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server and is releasable by the user from the secure print queue on the print server. Also the router is used for connecting the first network with a second network and for accessing the mobile device to the networks. The router is connected with at least one processing means and one mobile device and files and information are stored on the router. Only if the mobile device and/or the processing means accessing the router are authorized to connect to the router, the information and/or files may be retrieved from the router. Also files and/or information could not be directly exchange between the mobile device and the processing means and could only be forwarded to and stored on the router.

[0026] It will appreciate that the print-related- information are part of a release message sent by a second mobile device. The electronic format of the print-ready- converted electronic document contains PostScript (PS),

Printer Command Language (PCL), Page Description Language

(PDL), Portable Document Format (PDF) or Page Description Markup Language (PDML) . Also the user may access the

processing means by means of a second mobile device and/or by means of a user-interface of the multifunctional device to the secure print queue on the print server.

[0027] According to another aspect of the present

embodiment at least one multifunctional device is configured to process a hardcopy for scanning on the multifunctional device and the user may access the processing means by means of the mobile device and/or by means of the user-interface of the multifunctional device to initiate the scanning of the hardcopy on the multifunctional device.

[0028] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure a method for printing the electronic document on at least one multifunctional device is disclosed, which is connected to the processing means, including the print server The processing means is configured to process the electronic document for printing on the multifunctional device. Also the mobile device, which is connectable with the processing means is configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document. The disclosed method comprising the steps of initiating a communication between the mobile device and the processing means and routing from the mobile device the electronic-document-information related to the electronic document to the processing means. After that the electronic- document-information and the print-related-information are used for converting the electronic document into the print- ready-converted electronic document, the print-ready- converted electronic document is stored within the secure print queue on the print server. After that the print-ready- converted electronic document are released from the secure print queue on the print server for printing on the

multifunctional device in case the user accesses to the processing means and releases the print-ready-converted electronic document for printing.

[0029] According to a preferred embodiment of the disclose method at least one of multifunctional devices is configured to scan a hardcopy and the processing means is configured to process the hardcopy for scanning on the multifunctional device. In case the mobile device and/or the user-interface are connected to the processing means the user may route from the mobile device and/or the user-interface a scan-related- information to the processing means. When the user accessing the processing means by the mobile device and/or the user- interface, the hardcopy is scanned on the multifunctional device .

[0030] The present invention also provides a program that, when executed by a system for printing, causes the system for printing to perform the steps of a method for printing and scanning. The present invention provides also a computer- readable storage medium having computer-executable

instructions to perform steps for providing a method for printing and scanning.

[0031] Preferably a system for printing the electronic document comprising, at least one multifunctional device, a processing means, including a print server, which is

connected to the multifunctional device, and a mobile device, which is connectable with the processing means. The mobile device is configured to initiate the printing of the

electronic document with a text-based format, like Microsoft® Word-doc format, a images file format, JPEG or TIFF, or even an audio file format, like MPEG, wherein when the mobile device is connected to the processing means, including the print server. A user may route from the mobile device an electronic-document-information related to the electronic document to the processing means and the processing means uses the electronic-document-information and the print- related-information for converting the electronic document into a print-ready-converted electronic document. Afterwards the print-ready-converted electronic document is stored within a secure print queue on the print server and in case the user has access the processing means the print-ready- converted electronic document is releasable by the user from the secure print queue on the print server for printing on the multifunctional device. Additionally the electronic document is part or separate of the electronic-document- information .

[0032] The electronic-document-information and/or the print-related-information are routed as part of the message, like short message service (SMS) or electronic mail (email), from the mobile device to the processing means. Also it will be appreciated that the electronic-document-information, the print-related-information and/or the electronic document are routed as part of the message from the mobile device via at least one processing means, including the file server to the processing means, including the print server. In case of a number of processing means, including file servers, these file servers may be connected as a computer cloud network for storing and retrieving documents within a widespread

networking environment. In addition the electronic-document- information contains a document link to the electronic document stored on at least one processing means or within a network with a number of processing means, including file servers, like a computer cloud network. The processing means is configured to retrieve the electronic document from the file server based on the document link.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment the electronic-document- information and/or the electronic document and the print- related-information are part of an electronic mail and the electronic mail as part of the message is routed by the mobile device to an address of the electronic mail relating to the processing means, including especially a mail server. Also the electronic mail message is relating to the

electronic-document-information and/or to the print-related- information and the electronic mail is routed as a message by the mobile device to the processing means.

[0034] In this embodiment no document link is needed because all necessary information about the storage location of the document is within the address of the recipient of the message. Alternatively the address of the electronic mail message relating to the multifunctional device and the electronic mail message is routed by the mobile device to the processing means, including the print server, and after the conversion the related print-ready-converted electronic document is printed on the multifunctional device. Also the print-related-information, like the selection of a printer and/or the setting of finishing options for the printing, like duplex printing or paper orientation, may be defined by the address of the recipient.

[0035] By way of example, the message is analysed and the electronic-document-information and/or the electronic document and/or the print-related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device are extracted und used by the processing means, including a document conversion server or the print server, for the conversion of the electronic document into the print-ready-converted electronic document. The processing means is used for analysing and extracting of information about the electronic-document- information and/or the electronic document and/or the print- related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device and the extracted electronic-document- information and/or the extracted electronic document and/or the extracted print-related-information and/or the extracted selection of the multifunctional device are used by the processing means for the conversion of the electronic

document into the print-ready-converted electronic document. After that the processing means routes the print-ready- converted electronic document to the secure print queue on the print server.

[0036] It will be appreciated that the number of connected processing means, including file servers, are used for a coordinated analysing and extracting of information about the electronic-document-information and/or the electronic

document and/or the print-related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device. The extracted

electronic-document-information and/or the extracted

electronic document and/or the extracted print-related- information and/or the extracted selection of the

multifunctional device are used by the number of connected processing means, including file servers and the print server, for the conversion of the electronic document into the print- ready-converted electronic document. The print-ready- converted electronic document is routed to the secure print queue on the print server. The connected processing means defining a computer cloud network ensuring the coordinated analysing and extracting of information from the address of the message relating to the multifunctional device for

printing the print-ready-converted electronic document on the multifunctional device. Preferably the electronic format of the print-ready-converted electronic document contains

PostScript (PS), Printer Command Language (PCL), Page Description Language (PDL), Portable Document Format (PDF) or Page Description Markup Language (PDML) .

[0037] It may be preferable that a number of

multifunctional devices are connected with secure print queue on the processing means, including the print server and the user may select a specific multifunctional device of the number of multifunctional devices for printing a selected print-ready-converted electronic document on the designated multifunctional device. The user may access the processing means by means of a second mobile device and/or by means of a user-interface attached to one of the multifunctional devices to the secure print queue on the print server. Preferably the mobile device and/or the user-interface of the

multifunctional device are connected by a wireless link to the processing means and the user must be authenticated on the mobile device and/or the user-interface of the

multifunctional device for accessing the secure print queue on the print server.

[0038] The user is authenticated for accessing the processing means by means of a security token, especially a hardware security token or an USB token. Also the user may access the processing means for releasing the print-ready- converted electronic document from the secure print queue when a connection between the processing means and the mobile device and/or the user-interface of the multifunctional device is established. The mobile device may be configured to allow the user to interact with the processing means.

Preferably when the user is identified for accessing the secure print queue on the print server, the user is allowed to route and/or release from the secure print queue on the print server the print-ready-converted electronic document. Additionally the user may also be allowed to select the multifunctional device for printing the print-ready-converted electronic document. Also the mobile device may accesses within a communication network, like a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) or a global system for mobile communications (GMS), or within a radio communication network, like the use of devices based on the standard IEEE 802.11 (WiFi) or the use of devices based on the standard IEEE 802.15.1 (Bluetooth) . The necessary router may define a gateway to the internet or be a mail server, a fax server or a printer proxy for connecting to the computer cloud network. The router or gateway acts in that way, that requests, messages, including electronic-document-information and/or the electronic document and/or the print-related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device, or status information from the mobile device are stored on the router. The processing means is then accessing the router and

retrieving the documents, requests or information, especially after checking the user identification related to the

documents, information and/or messages. Also the mobile device is conducted to retrieve documents, requests or information from the storage of the router, if the mobile device is authorized for accessing the router.

[0039] It will be appreciated that the mobile device contains an application programming interface (API), which is configured to interact with the number of connected

processing means via the router and defining a proxy or gateway with the processing means. The mobile device contains an application programming interface (API), which is

configured to interact with the secure print queue on the print server by use of a direct connection within the

communication network, like a WIFI-link or Bluetooth-link, perhaps even with a user authentication. The mobile device may also contain an application programming interface (API), which is configured to make, change and/or delete the

electronic-document-information and/or the print-related- information on the mobile device. Preferably the router is synchronized with the information about the secure print queue on the processing means, including the print server. In case the mobile device is connected with the router the mobile device may be updated by a status message with

information about the secure print queue on the print server.

[0040] The use of different communication networks routers are used between different communication networks is

preferred. In another embodiment at least one of the

multifunctional devices is configured to scan a hardcopy and the processing means is configured to process the hardcopy for scanning on the multifunctional device. In case the mobile device and/or the user-interface are connected to the processing means the user may route from the mobile device and/or the user-interface a scan-related-information to the processing means and/or multifunctional device. In case the user has access the processing means by the mobile device and/or the user-interface the hardcopy is scanned on the multifunctional device.

[0041] Also a method for printing an electronic document on at least one multifunctional device is disclosed, whereas the multifunctional device is connected to a processing means and the processing means is configured to process the

electronic document for printing on the multifunctional device. Also the mobile device is configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document, comprising the steps of initiating a communication between the mobile device and the processing means and routing from the mobile device the electronic-document-information to the processing means, including the print server. After that using the electronic- document-information and the print-related-information for converting the electronic document into a print-ready- converted electronic document and storing the print-ready- converted electronic document within the secure print queue on the print server. Then releasing the print-ready-converte electronic document from the secure print queue on the print server for printing on the multifunctional device in case a user accesses to the processing means and releases the print ready-converted electronic document for printing on the multifunctional device. The electronic-document-information, the print-related-information and/or the electronic document may be routed as a message from the mobile device to the processing means.

[0042] It will be appreciated that the message, especially an electronic mail (email) message, is analysed and

information about the electronic-document-information and/or the electronic document and/or the print-related-information and/or the selection of the multifunctional device are extracted from the message. After the extraction of relevant information from the message the extracted electronic- document-information and/or the extracted electronic document and/or the extracted print-related-information and/or the extracted selection of the multifunctional device are used by the processing means for the conversion of the electronic document into the print-ready-converted electronic document. Preferably the electronic format of the print-ready-converted electronic document contains PostScript (PS), Printer Command Language (PCL) , Page Description Language (PDL), Portable Document Format (PDF) or Page Description Markup Language (PDML) .

[0043] In case the mobile device and/or the user-interface of the multifunctional device is connected to the processing means the user must be authenticated on the mobile device and/or on the user-interface attached to the multifunctional device for accessing the secure print queue on the print server. Additionally information about the secure print queue on the print server are synchronized with a router and in case the mobile device is connected with the router the mobile device may be updated with information about the secure print queue and/or the printer status. The costs for the printing of every print-ready-converted electronic document on the multifunctional device may be determined and the costs may be charged to a specific cost-centre account.

[0044] In another preferred embodiment the processing means is additionally configured to process a hardcopy for scanning on the multifunctional device. Also the mobile device is configured to initiate the scanning of the hardcopy on the multifunctional device.

[0045] Additionally a program is disclosed that, when executed by the system for printing according to the above mentioned disclosure , causes the system for printing to perform a method for printing and scanning. In addition a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions to perform steps for providing a method for printing and scanning.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0046] While the appended claims set forth the features of the present invention with particularity, the invention, together with its objects and advantages, may be best

understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

[0047] Fig. 1 shows parts of a system for printing and scanning in first embodiment of the present invention; [0048] Fig. 2 shows hardware of an MFP;

[0049] Fig. 3 shows hardware of a mobile phone;

[0050] Fig. 4 shows print server hardware;

[0051] Fig. 5 shows a processing means, including a print server, connected to a mobile device, whereas the print server is connected to a plurality of multifunctional

devices ;

[0052] Fig. 6 shows the mobile device connected with the processing means by two networks, whereas a message from the mobile device is analysed by the processing means, including a document conversion server;

[0053] Fig. 7 shows the mobile device connected with the processing means via one network, whereas the electronic document is stored on the processing means, including a file server, and the electronic-document-information contains a document link to the electronic document on the file server;

[ 0054 ] Fig. 8 shows a cloud computing network defined by a number of processing means, whereas the electronic document is stored and converted within the cloud computing network;

[ 0055 ] Fig. 9 shows a system for printing with two combined networks;

[ 0056 ] Fig. 10 shows a system for printing and scanning, whereas the electronic document is stored and converted within the cloud computing network defined by a number of processing means;

[ 0057 ] Fig. 11 shows a Unified Modeling Language (UML)- sequence diagram of the disclosed method for printing, which makes use of the mobile device and of the processing means, including the print server, the file server and the

documentation conversion server.

Detailed Description of preferred Embodiments

[ 0058 ] Turning to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, the invention is illustrated as being implemented in a suitable computing environment. Although not required, the disclosed invention will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a processing means and/or by a personal computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performs 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 networks and/or system components, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network-PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. [0059] The invention may be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing means that are linked through a network. In the distributed computing environment, program modules and/or data and/or files may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. Especially the distributed storing and retrieving of electronic data and files within a cloud computing network defined by a number of processing means is envisaged . [0060] Fig. 1 shows a system 13 for printing and scanning of the first embodiment. The system 13 for printing and scanning comprises a multifunction peripheral (MFP) 6 and a mobile device 4. The multifunction peripheral 6 has an associated processing means 3h in form of a print server 3h, as will be explained in more detail below.

[0061] Fig. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 6. The multifunction peripheral 6 comprises a CPU 37, a ROM 38, a hard disk drive 39, and a RAM 40. These components are standard hardware components for computers and other devices and perform their usual functions The multifunction peripheral 6 further comprises a display unit 41, an operation unit 42, a communication control unit 43, an image reader 44, a recording unit 45, an image memory 46, an image processing unit 47, an authentication unit 48, a card reader 49 and an I/O control unit 50. The display unit 41 is a touch-screen LCD display provided on the multifunction peripheral 6 to allow a user to make selections and view information on the multifunctional device 6. The operation unit 42 is a keypad and other buttons to allow a user to enter settings and other information to the multifunction peripheral 6. The communication control unit 43 is provided to allow the multifunctional device 6 to communicate over a LAN with the print server 3h (not shown in Fig. 2) especially with the print server 3h,ll. The multifunctional device 6 may be also a scanner that allows scanning of documents. The recording unit 45, shown in Fig. 2, represents parts of the multifunctional device 6 dedicated to printing. The recording unit 45 functions to print image data onto a recording medium and output the recording medium for collection by a user. The image memory 46 is a memory provided for storage of image data during scanning by the image reader 44 or printing by the recording unit 45. The image-processing unit 47 represents various application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) provided in the multifunctional device 6 in order to increase the speed of certain image processing operations, such as conversion of scanned R,G,B data into C,M,Y,K data during a copying operation. The authentication processing unit 48 is provided in order to authenticate user details received from the card reader 49. Data from the card reader 49 is received at the authentication unit 48 via the I/O control unit 50. The authentication unit 48 may be implemented by software run using the CPU 37 and RAM 40 rather than as a separate hardware component. The components

37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50 described above are interconnected via a system bus 51. [ 0062 ] The multifunctional device 6 runs an operating system. In this particular embodiment the operating systems is the Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform (MEAP) operating system provided on multifunctional device devices sold by Canon (RTM) . The operating system allows the running of JAVA applications and also includes a web interface.

[ 0063 ] Fig. 3 shows the hardware configuration of the mobile device 4. The mobile phone 4 comprises a control unit 52 connected to a digital signal processing unit 53. The control unit 52 controls operation of a display unit 54, an operation unit 55, a camera unit 56, an external I/F 57, a wireless communication unit 58 and a power supply unit 59. The display unit 54 comprises an LCD display for displaying information to a user of the phone 4. The operation unit 55 comprises a keypad and other operation buttons to allow a user to make inputs into the mobile phone 4. The camera unit 56 is a camera that is integrated into the phone 4 to allow a user to take pictures and to collect visual information. The external I/F 57 is a port provided in the mobile phone 4 to allow the mobile phone 4 to communicate with other devices. In particular the external I/F 57 allows the mobile phone 4 to be connected to a computer for the purposes of synchronizing data (contact details, calendar entries etc.) stored on the mobile phone 4 with data stored on the computer The wireless communication unit 58 provides support for various wireless services. In particular the wireless communication unit 58 provides support for Wi-Fi communication and Bluetooth communication. The wireless communication unit 58 is connected to an antenna. The power supply unit 59 includes a battery and a mechanism for charging the battery from an external power supply.

[0064] The digital signal processing unit 53 is connected to an audio input unit 60, an audio output unit 61, and an RF input/output unit 62. The audio input unit 60 is an analogue to digital processor for receiving and converting audio signals from a microphone 63. The audio output unit 61 is a digital to analogue processor for receiving and converting digital signals into an analogue output to be output by a speaker 64. The RF input/output unit 62 is connected to an antenna 65 and is used to allow the mobile phone 4 to communicate with a local mobile phone station. The audio input unit 60, audio output unit 61, digital signal processing unit 53 and RF input/output unit 62 allow the mobile phone 4 to operate as a portable telephone. The mobile phone 4 is a so called 'smart phone' in this embodiment and runs Google (RTM) Android (RTM) operating system.

[0065] The print sever 3h comprise typical server hardware exemplified by Fig. 4. The server hardware includes a CPU 37, a RAM 40, a hard disk drive 40 and a network I/O 50. The network I/O 50 allows the print server 3h including web server functionality to communicate over a LAN. The print server 3h is storing print-ready-converted electronic document 7 in a print queue. The print server 3h is also connected with the multifunctional device 6 and conducted to manage and proceed print jobs in different formats within the print queue for the multifunctional device 6. [0066] As mentioned in Fig. 1 the multifunctional device 6 and the print server 3h are associated via a network 15,16

(not shown in Fig. 1) with each other. In particular shown in Fig. 1, a web application is run on the print server 3h in order to control operations on the multifunctional device 6. Installed on the multifunctional device 6 is a web browser

(not shown in Fig. 1) which receives HTML web pages to be displayed to a user from the presentation logic (not shown in Fig. 1) . Also installed on the multifunctional device 6 is a service interface (not shown in Fig. 1) to allow the business logic of the print server 3h (not shown in Fig. 1) to access various services of the multifunctional device 6. For example, the business logic of the print server 3h may send commands to the service interface to cause the scanner 6 to perform a scanning operation or to cause the multifunctional device to print a print ob.

[0067] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary embodiment of the processing means 3a, 12a connected to a mobile device 4. The processing means 3a, 12a in this

embodiment is a print server 3a with a document conversion server 12a combined on one server. It will be appreciate that the print server 3a and the document conversion server 12a are different servers. Alternatively it will be appreciate that the print server 3a may have document conversion 12a functionalities or the document conversion server 12a may contain print server 3a functionalities. The print server 3a is also connected with a number of multifunctional devices 6. The print server 3a, the multifunctional devices 6 and the mobile device 4 are linked together by a wired or by a

wireless connection. Mobile devices 4 may include Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a laptop, a computer hand-held device, a microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic device, a network-PC, a minicomputer, a web cell phone or the like. The mobile device 4 is configured to initiate the printing of an electronic document 10 on the multifunctional device 6.

[0068] A user 5 of the mobile device 4 and routes an electronic-document-information 1 containing the electronic document 10 and a print-related-information 2 to the print server 3a after a connection is established. In the described embodiment of Fig. 5 the mobile device 4 is a computer laptop. The electronic-document-information 1 may contain additional information about the electronic document 10, like the file name, the file size and/or the file format. The print- related-information 2 may also contain information about the electronic document 10, such as the file format and/or

information or parameters about the selection of the

multifunctional device 6 and/or the finishing options, such as duplex printing, paper size or paper orientation, for the printing of a print-ready-converted electronic document 7 on the designated multifunctional device 6. The multifunctional device 6 may be a multifunctional office colour printer, for example the Canon iRC5185i having a variety of functions including printing, copying, faxing, scanning and sending functions and files within the networking environment.

[0069] The mobile device 4 and the printer server 3a with the document conversion server functionality 12a are directly linked without any need for a router or gateway. The print-related-information 2 and the electronic-document- information 1 and the electronic document 10 are transmitted to the print sever 3a. The print-related-information 2 and/or the electronic-document-information 1 and/or the electronic document 10 may in combination define a job ticket with all relevant information about the electronic document 10, the associated print-ready-converted electronic document 7 and/or perhaps additional company/office information. Such a job ticket may also contain information about the printing status 21 of the print-ready-converted electronic document 7. The job ticket is commonly used for the monitoring of the status of the printing within a company from the document receiving until the accounting or delivery of the printed hardcopies to the customer.

[0070] By way of example, in the disclosed embodiment of Fig. 5 the print server 3a receives the electronic-document- information 1 and electronic document 10 and print-related- information 2. The document conversion server functionality 12a on the print server 3a is also converting 19 the

electronic document 10 into the print-ready-converted electronic document 7, for example PDF. In case the

multifunctional device 6 must be supported by a specific printer driver the print server 3a combines the print-ready- converted electronic document 7 with the relevant printer driver when the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is released from the secure print queue on the print server 3a by a release message 20 of the mobile device 4. The path of the release message 20 from the mobile device 4 is depicted in Fig. 5 by the 2-dotted and dashed line.

[0071] Based on the release message 20 from the mobile device 4, the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is sent by the print server 3a to the designated multifunctional device 6 and printed. It will be appreciated that the status of the multifunctional device 6 and/or the printing status of the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is forwarded as a status message 21 to the mobile device 4. In case the mobile device 4 contains a display the status message 21 may be visualized on the mobile device 4. The paths of the status messages 21 from the multifunctional devices 6 to the mobile device 4 are depicted in Fig. 5 by 1-dotted and dashed lines. Therefore the user 5 of the mobile device 4 is continually informed about the printing of the electronic document 10 initiated by him or her.

[ 0072 ] Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a system 13 for printing. An email message 8 is sent by the mobile device 4 via a first network 15 to a mail server 11 within a second network 16, such as a local area network (LAN) . The processing means 3b, 11, 12b in this embodiment are a print server 3b, a mail server 11 and a separate document conversion server 12b. Generally the second network 16 is protected by a security system and contains a firewall and individual user authentication tools. According to Fig 6 the email message 8 contains the electronic document 10 to be printed, the electronic-document-information 1 and the print- related-information 2 and the release message 20.

Alternatively the print-related-information 2 and/or release message 20 may be generated by a terminal within one of the networks 15,16 or by web-based applications making use of different print processing methods, such as the internet printing protocol (IPP) . [ 0073 ] In a preferred embodiment in accordance with the disclosed invention the address of the recipient of the message 8, especially a short message service (SMS) or an electronic mail (email) within one and/or more networks 15,16), is used to splits or convert at least parts of the print-related-information 2. The address of the recipient defines the selection of a specific multifunctional device 6 and/or defines possible printing and finishing options, such as duplex printing, paper size or paper orientation. Once the email message 8 is received by the mail server 11 the address of the recipient, e.g. "printer2.duplex.A5@company.com", is analyzed and forwarded as the print-related-information 2 to the document conversion server 12b. The body of the message 8 contains the electronic document 10 or a document link for uploading the electronic document 10 from another location within the network 15. After that the relevant print-ready- converted electronic document 7 with the selected finishing options is released to the designated multifunctional device 6. Also the sender of the email message 8, identified in the message header, could be analysed and compared with an internal look-up table to ensure a clear authentication of the user 5 sending the message 8. In the preferred embodiment of Fig. 6 the conversion 19 into a print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is done by a document conversion server 12b, which forwarded the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 to the secure print queue on the print server 3b. [0074] According to the embodiment disclosed in Fig. 6, the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is released by the release message 20 within the email message 8. A connection between the mobile device 4 for transmitting the release massage 20 and the print server 3b may be proceeded by a telephone network, such as a universal mobile

telecommunication system (UMTS) or a global system for mobile communications (GMS), or a radio communication network, including a wireless local area network (WLAN) based on the standard IEEE 802.11 (WiFi) or on the standard IEEE 802.15.1 (Bluetooth) . Also a direct wired connection between the mobile device 4 and the print server 3b and/or the mail server 11 and/or the document conversion server 12b and/or to the designated multifunctional device 6 is envisaged. The mobile device 4 displays a list of network-based

multifunctional devices 6, which may be selected by the user 5 on the mobile device 4. The information about the

designated multifunctional device 6 is sent with the release message 20 to the print server 3b, which triggers the further release of the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 to the designated multifunctional device 6. If necessary the print server 3b may also prepare the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 for printing on a multifunctional device 6, which needs a specific printer driver for printing.

[0075] The user 5 will be identified by analyzing the sender of the message 8, especially the email or SMS sender. The sender information in the email message 8 will be

compared with user information that may be taken directly from a standard database within the company network 15,16 or could be extracted from a look-up table that would allow the user 5 to associate more than one address to his or her account. Also the user could be indentified during a login on the mobile device 4. Additionally the user 5 may be

identified within the system 13 based on a password

associated with a username, a proximity card, a fingerprint, an access card or even by the recognition of the user's actual voice and speech pattern compared with an already stored voice and speech pattern of the user 5. [0076] For example, the user 5 would be known in one of the networks 15,16 to have the company email address

smith@company.com used within the email message 8. The look-up table would also store that user 5 has one private email address which he might use to initiate a printing within the company network 16, like oesmith@mail . eu . If the email message 8 from the mobile device 4 is any of these two email addresses, then the system 13 will assign the user 5 as the owner of the electronic document 10. Any messages 8 received from an unknown sender email account will be treated as spam and automatically deleted. A similar procedure is envisaged for other message-formats, like SMS, in which case the sender identification is adapted suitably by those skilled in the art. For example, checking the sender mobile number is possible for user authentication in case of using SMS messages 8.

[0077] As the email attachment is in the secure print queue on the printer server 3b as a print-ready-converted electronic document 7, e.g. PDF, the user 5 can release this print-ready-converted electronic document 7 from the secure print queue on the print sever 3b from any accessible mobile device 4 in the network 15,16. The mobile device 4 that releases the print job 7 does not need to be the same device that sent the electronic document 10 to the mail server 11. In the embodiment of Fig. 6 the release message 20 is part of the email message 8. The user 5 may also release the print- ready-converted electronic document 7 along with any other print-ready-converted electronic documents 7 relating to him or her that may be already in the secure print queue on the print server 3b. [ 0078 ] Referring to Fig. 7 there is shown schematically another embodiment of the system 13 for printing with one network 15 and the processing means 3c, 9a, 12c. The processing means 3c, 9a, 12c is defined by a document conversion server 12c, one print server 3c and a file server 9a. The electronic document 10 is stored on the file server 9a and may be pulled by the print server 3c on the basis of a document link within the electronic-document-information 1 sent by the mobile device 4.

[ 0079 ] In the disclosed embodiment of Fig. 7 the mobile device 4 is a voice recording and/or speech recognition device. These kinds of mobile devices 4 need no keyboard and have the capability to convert speech patterns of the user 5 into machine-readable information and parameters. According to Fig. 7 these recognized speech patterns are converted into electronic-document-information 1 and sent within the network 15. The electronic-document-information 1 is dictated into the mobile device 4. The user 5 needs to know the storage location of the electronic document 10 on a known file server 9a. The user 5 may dictate the following document link, e.g. "Server4 : \mydocs\patent . doc" , which may be used directly as machine-readable electronic-document-information 1 within the system 13.

[ 0080 ] Alternatively the print-related-information 2 and/or the electronic document 10 could be dictated by the user 5 into the mobile device 4, like an electronic

Dictaphone with speech recognition or just a normal mobile telephone, and be converted into machine-readable information. The release of the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 from the print server 3c may be also initiated by means of the voice and speech recognition of the mobile device 4. The speech patterns of the voice of the user 5 are analyzed and converted into machine-readable information and/or parameter settings. The speech recognition and/or voice-based user authentication may also be conducted on the document

conversion server 12c, the print server 3c, the file server 9a or on one of the network 15 components.

[0081] In case the electronic document 10 is stored on the file server 9a the address of recipient of the message 8 relates to the electronic-document-information 1 and may defining the document link to the electronic document 10 on the file server 9a. In case of an email message 8 the mail server 11, as part of the document conversion server 12c, is analyzing the address of the recipient, like "server- patent . doc@company . com" , and forwarding this electronic- document-information 1 to the document conversion server 12c. According to the received document link the document

conversion server 12c is configured to download the relevant electronic document 10, in this example "patent.doc", from the relevant file server 9a, in this example "server4". The downloaded electronic document 10 is then converted into a print-ready-converted electronic document 7.

[0082] The electronic-document-information 1 is sent via the network 15 to the designated file server 9a and contains the document link to the electronic document 10 stored on the file server 9a. After that, the electronic document 10 is pushed by the file server 9a to the document conversion server 12c and afterwards to the printer server 3c.

Alternatively the electronic-document-information 1 is sent to document conversion server 12c, which uses the electronic- document-information 1 for pulling the electronic document 10 from the file server 9a via the network 15.

[ 0083 ] Within the disclosed embodiment of Fig. 7 the print-related information 2 is stored on the document conversion server 12c. After the conversion 19 on the document conversion server 12c the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is sent to the print server 3c and stored within the secure print queue.

[ 0084 ] According to Fig. 7 the user identification for releasing the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 from secure print queue on the print server 3c is initiated by the mobile device 4 as a hardware security token 4, such as a pager or a RSA authentication token of the EMC

Corporation. The mobile device 4 accesses the network 15 and generating a security number, which is compared with a second security number generated within the network 15. If both security numbers are identical the hardware security token 4 is accepted within the network 15 and the designated user 5 is allowed to access to retrieve his or her related

electronic documents 10, electronic-document-information 1 and/or print-related-information 2 and/or scan-related- information 18. According to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 7 the authentication of the hardware security token 4 within the network 15 causes also the sending of the release message 20 for the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 of the related user 5. The print server 3c receives the release message 20 and sends the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 to the designated multifunctional device 6 for printing. [0085] Fig. 8 illustrates the retrieving of an electronic document 10 from a computer cloud network 15 initiated by the sending of the electronic-document-information 1 by means of the mobile device 4. The processing means 3d, 9b, 12d have the capability of storing and converting 19 of the electronic document 10 and defining a computer cloud network 15.

According to this embodiment of Fig. 8 the processing means 3d, 9b, 12d is defined by a print server 3d and a array of file servers 9b with a document conversion server 12d

functionalities.

[0086] The user 5 may access a user-interface 14 of the multifunctional device 6 and may send the release message 20 and the print-related-information 2 to the computer cloud network 15 for conversion the electronic document 10 into the print-ready-converted electronic document 7. Within the computer cloud network 15, defined by the file servers 9b, the electronic document 10 is converted into the print-ready- converted electronic document 7.

[0087] After the conversion 19 within the computer cloud network 15 the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is stored within the secure print queue on the computer-cloud- based print server 3d. The print-ready-converted electronic document 7 may be released by means of a release message 20 from the user-interface 14 and be pulled by the designated multifunctional device 6 for printing. The file servers 9b may be also part of the computer cloud network 15. The functions could also be provided by an array of servers, like an array of print servers 3d for ensuring the print server 3d functionality . [0088] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing another exemplary embodiment of the system 13 with two different communication networks 15,16. The communication and computer system networks 15,16 may be different, for example a first (telephone) network 15 and a second (radio communication) network 16, such as Bluetooth. The networks 15,16 are

separated by routers 17a, 17b or gateways. Especially internet gateways are provided between the internet and an internal network, which control the security access and within the relevant network 15,16. The router 17a, 17b between two networks 15,16 also converts the different communication protocols used in each network 15,16. The electronic- document-information 1 is sent by means of a first mobile device 4 to a first router 17a. The first router 17a controls the identification of the user 5 within the first network 15. The electronic document 10 is stored on one of a number of connected file servers 9c defining the computer cloud network 15. The electronic document 10 is pushed or pulled from the first network 15 to the second network 16. A second router 17b is used for the re-authentication of the user 5 within the second network 16.

[0089] The prmt-related-mformation 2 is combined with the release message 20 of a second mobile device 4. The electronic document 10 and the print-related-information 2 are converted by the document conversion server 12e

functionality on the print server 3e into the print-ready- converted electronic document 7 and the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is stored within the secure print queue of the print server 3e. The user 5 may use the second mobile device 4 for sending the release message 20 to the print server 3e with the document conversion server 12e functionality. According to Fig. 9 the second mobile device 4 is located within the second network 16 and accesses the second router 17b to transmit the release message 20 to the print server 3e. After that the print server 3e pushes the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 to the designated multifunctional device 6.

[0090] A status message 21 indicates the status of the multifunctional device 6 and/or the printing of the released print-ready-converted electronic document 7 on the designated multifunctional device 6 may be sent to the print server 3e and/or file servers 9c. The print server 3e and/or file servers 9c may share the status message 21 with the second router 17b, whereas the second router 17b allowing the access the status message 21 by the first mobile device 4 from the first network 15 and the first router 17a and/or by the second mobile device 4. Therefore at least one of the mobile devices 4 may display the actual status of the printer 6 and/or printing status about the released print-ready- converted electronic document 7 on the designated

multifunctional device 6 based on the status message 21.

[0091] Turning now to Fig. 10, another preferred

embodiment of a system 13 with scanning and printing

functionality is illustrated. A hardcopy is scanned on the designated multifunctional device 6, such scanning of the hardcopy may be initiated on the designated multifunctional device 6 by receiving scan-related-information 18 from the mobile device 4 or from the user-interface 14. In Fig. 10 the scan-related-information 18 is entered into the user- interface 14 of the multifunctional device 6 by the user 5. Afterwards the scan-related-information 18 and the hardcopy scan 22 are forwarded to the the print server 3f. The hardcopy scan 22 is analyzed and/or converted 32 into an electronic document 10 on the print server 3f. Text based recognition methods, such as optical character recognition (OCR) , and/or graphic-based recognition methods and/or pattern recognition methods could be used for analyzing the scanning and converting 32 of the hardcopy scan 22 into the electronic document 10.

[0092] The electronic document 10 based on the hardcopy scan 22 is routed via the print server 3f to the computer cloud network 15 and stored within the computer cloud network 15 defined by file servers 9d with document conversion server 12f functionalities. The electronic-document-information 1 in this embodiment is a document link referring to the

electronic document 10. Because of that the electronic- document-information 1 may be used by the mobile device 4 to initiate and release printing of the previously scanned electronic document 10 stored within the computer cloud network 15. The electronic document information 1 can also be used by the mobile device 4 to release such an electronic document 1 to the multifunctional device 6. Also the print- related-information 2 is sent by the mobile device 4 or by the user-interface 14 to the computer cloud network 15. The electronic document 10 is retrieved from the file servers 9d within the computer cloud network 15 and converted into the print-ready-converted electronic document 7. The print- related-information 2 also designates one of the

multifunctional devices 6 for printing, which may be a different multifunctional device 6 from that provide the scanned hardcopy. [0093] The print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is routed to the secure print queue on the print server 3f and released to the designated multifunctional device 6 based on the release message 20 of the mobile device 4. After that the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is stored within the secure print queue and is pulled by the multifunctional device 6 for printing.

[0094] Referring to Fig. 11, an UML-sequence diagram illustes another preferred embodiment of the disclosed method for printing. The system 13 for printing in this embodiment contains a mobile device 4, a router 17a, a print server 3g, a file server 9e, a document conversion server 12g and a printer as a multifunctional device 6. The print server 3g functionality may also be conducted by a number of connected processing means 3g,9e,12g, including print servers 3g, and acting as a computer network 15 (not shown in Fig. 11), especially a computer cloud network 15. The mobile device 4 sends a request for authentication 23 to the designated router 17a. The router 17 makes a security check based on the request 23 and in case of a successful user identification an acknowledge 24 is sent in response to the mobile device 4. At the same time the user 5 is also logged on the print server 3g within the networking environment, like an intranet, protected by the router 17a.

[0095] According to the preferred embodiment of Fig. 11, the electronic-document-information 1 and the print-related- information 2 are sent by the mobile device 4 to the router 17, whereas the router 17 routes 27 the electronic-document- information 1 and the print-related-information 2 to the print server 3g. A message 8 (not shown in Fig. 11) containing the electronic-document-information 1 and the print-related-information 2 must be sent by the mobile device 4 and be converted into the communication protocol used within the network 15.

[0096] Based on the electronic-document-information 1 the print server 3g sends a request 28 to the file server 9e to pull the electronic document 10 from the file server 9e.

After the user authentication and the retrieving of the electronic document 10 within the file system of the file server 9e, the file server 9e sends 29 the electronic document 10 to the print server 3g. The print server 3g checks 30 all available information, like the electronic document 10 in relation with the print-related-information 2, and after that routes 31 the electronic document 10, for example a TIFF-file commonly used as a scanned file format, to the document conversion server 12g.

[0097] The document conversion server 12g converts 32 the document format, for example from the TIFF- format to

Microsoft® word-format by use of OCR-technologies, and sends 33 the format converted document to the print server 3g. The print server 3g then converts 19 the format-converted document into a print-ready-converted electronic document 7 considers the print-related-information 2. At the same time a status message 21 is sent via the router 17 to the mobile device 4. Also the print server 3g requests 34 the printer status of the multifunctional device 6, perhaps even of other multifunctional devices 6 within the network 15. After receiving the printer status message 21 the print server 3g routes the status message 21 via the router 17a to the mobile device 4. One of the multifunctional devices 6 may be designated by means of the mobile device 4 and the printer selection 35 is routed via the router 17a to the print server 3g. Based on this information the print server 3g selects 35 the designated multifunctional device 6.

[0098] The mobile device 4 generates the release message 20 by selecting the printing of the electronic document 10 and routing the release message 20 via the router 17 to the print server 3g. The printer server 3g processes the print- ready-converted electronic document 7 by combining 36 it with the relevant printer driver for the designated

multifunctional device 6. This step 36 is not necessary if a universal printer driver is used within the network 15. After that the print-ready-converted electronic document 7 is pushed to the designated multifunctional device 6 for printing based on the release message 20. Additionally the device status of the designated multifunctional device 6 may be routed as a status message 21 via the print server 3g and via the router 17 to the mobile device 4.

[0099] It will be appreciated that the processing means be defined by a combination of print server

3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f , 3g, 3h, document conversion server

12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f , 12g and/or file servers

9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e . Alternatively it will be appreciate that print server 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f , 3g, 3h, document conversion server 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f , 12g and/or file servers

9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e may conduct print server

3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f , 3g, 3h, document conversion server

12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f , 12g and/or file servers

9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e . functionalities. Reference Numerals

1 electronic-document-information

2 print-related-information

3a to 3h print server

4 mobile device

5 user

6 multifunctional device

7 print-ready-converted electronic document

8 message

9a to 9e file server

10 electronic document

11 mail server

12a to 12g document conversion server

13 system for printing

14 user-interface

15 first network

16 second network

17a, 17b router

18 scan-related-information

19 document conversion

20 release message

21 status message

22 hardcopy scan

23 requesting identification

24 responding acknowledge

25 user identification

26 sending information

27 sending information

28 requesting electronic document

29 sending electronic document 30 comparing information

31 sending electronic document

32 scan format conversion

33 sending format converted document

34 requesting printer status

35 selecting printer

36 selecting and combining with printer driver

37 central processing unit (CPU)

38 read only memory (ROM)

39 hard disk drive

40 random access memory (RAM)

41 display unit

42 operation unit

43 communication control unit

44 image reader

45 recording unit

46 image memory

47 image processing unit

48 authentication processing unit

49 card reader

50 I/O control unit

51 system bus

52 control unit

53 digital signal processing unit

54 display unit

55 operation unit

56 camera unit

57 external I/F

58 wireless communication unit

59 power supply unit

60 audio input uni 61 audio out punt unit

62 RF input/output unit

63 microphone

64 speaker

65 antenna

Claims

A system (13) for printing an electronic document (10) comprising :

• at least one multifunctional device (6),

• a processing means (3a, 12a), including a print server (3a), which is connected to the multifunctional device (6), the processing means (3a, 12a) being configured to process the electronic document (10) for printing on the multifunctional device (6),

• a mobile device (4), connectable with the print

server (3a) is configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document (10),

wherein electronic-document-information (1) containing the electronic document (10) and print-related- information (2) are routed from the mobile device (4) to the processing means (3a, 12a) and the processing means (3a, 12a) uses the print-related-information (2) for converting (19) the electronic document (10) into a print-ready-converted electronic document (7) and the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) is stored within a secure print queue on the print server (3a) and is releasable by the user (5) from the secure print queue on the print server (3a) for printing on the multifunctional device (6) .

A system (13) for printing according to claim 1, wherein the mobile device (4) has directly access to the

processing means ( 3a, 12a) within a communication network. A system (13) for printing according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mobile device (4) is configured to send a release message (20) to the processing means (3a, 12a) to release the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) from the secure print queue on the print server (3a) for printing on the multifunctional device (6) .

A system (13) for printing an electronic document (10) comprising :

• at least one multifunctional device (6),

• a processing means ( 3b, 9b, 11 , 12b) , including a print server (3b), which is connected to the

multifunctional device (6), the processing means

( 3b , 9b, 11 , 12b ) being configured to process an

electronic document (10) for printing on the

multifunctional device (6),

• a mobile device (4), connectable with the processing means (3b, 9b, 11, 12b) and configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document (10),

wherein the electronic document (10), electronic- document-information (1) and print-related-information (2) are routed as part of a message (8) from the mobile device (4) to the processing means (3b, 9b, 11, 12b) and the processing means ( 3b, 9b, 11 , 12b ) uses the print- related-information (2) for converting (19) the

electronic document (10) into a print-ready-converted electronic document (7) and the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) is stored within the secure print queue on the print server (3b) and is releasable by the user (5) from the secure print queue on the print server (3b) for printing on the multifunctional device (6) .

A system (13) for printing according to claim 4, wherein the message (8) is analysed and the electronic-document- information (1) and/or the electronic document (10) and/or the print-related-information (2) and/or the selection of the multifunctional device (6) are

extracted and used by the processing means

( 3b , 9b, 11 , 12b ) , including a mail server (11) and a document conversion server (12b), for the converting

(19) the electronic document (10) into the print-ready- converted electronic document (7) .

A system (13) for printing according to claim 4 or 5, wherein an address of a recipient of the message (8) is changed in dependence upon the print-related-information (2) and/or designation of one multifunctional device (6)

A system (13) for printing an electronic document (10) comprising :

• at least one multifunctional device (6),

• a processing means (3c, 9a, 12c), including a print

server (3c) and a file server (9a), which is

connected to the multifunctional device (6) and the processing means (3c, 9a, 12c) being configured to process the electronic document (10) for printing on the multifunctional device (6),

• a mobile device (4), connectable with the processing means (3c, 9a, 12c) and configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document (10), wherein electronic-document-information (1) is routed from the mobile device (4) to the processing means

(3c, 9a, 12c) and the processing means (3c, 9a, 12c) uses the electronic-document-information (1) for downloading the electronic document (10) from the file server (9a) and using print-related-information (2) for converting

(19) the electronic document (10) into a print-ready- converted electronic document (7) and the print-ready- converted electronic document (7) is stored within the secure print queue on the print server (3c) and is releasable by the user (5) from the secure print queue on the print server (3c) for printing on the

multifunctional device (6) .

A system (13) for printing according to claim 7, wherein the electronic-document-information (1) contains a document link to the electronic document (10) stored on the file server (9a) and is configured to retrieve the electronic document (10) from the file server (9a) based on the document link.

A system (13) for printing according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the print-related-information (2) are predefined and stored on the processing means (3c, 9a, 12c) .

A system (13) for printing an electronic document (10) comprising :

• at least one multifunctional device (6),

• a processing means (3d,9c,12d), including a print

server (3d), which is connected to the multifunctional device (6) within a network (15) and is configured to process the electronic document (10) for printing on the multifunctional device (6),

• a mobile device (4), connectable with the network

(15) and the mobile device (4) being configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document (10) wherein electronic-document-information (1) and print- related-information (2) are routed from the mobile device (4) and/or by an user-interface (14) to the processing means (3d, 9c,12d) and a number of connected processing means (3d, 9c,12d) defining a network (15) and are used for a coordinated storing, analysing and/or extracting of information about the electronic-document- information (1) and/or the electronic document (10) and/or the print-related-information (2) and/or the selection of the multifunctional device (6) and the number of connected processing means (3d, 9c,12d) uses the electronic-document-information (10) and the print- related-information (2) for converting (19) the

electronic document (10) within the network (15) into a print-ready-converted electronic document (7) and the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) is stored within the secure print queue on the print server (3d) in the network (15) and is releasable by the user (5) from the secure print queue on the print server (3d) in the network (15) for printing on the multifunctional device ( 6 ) .

A system (13) for printing an electronic document (10) comprising :

• at least one multifunctional device (6), • a processing means (3e,9c,12e), including a print server (3e) and at least one file server (9c), which is connected to the multifunctional device (6) within a network (15) and is configured to process the electronic document (10) for printing on the

multifunctional device (6),

• a mobile device (4), connectable with the network

(15) and the mobile device (4) being configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document (10) wherein the electronic-document-information (1) and the print-related-information (2) are routed via a router (17) to the processing means (3e,9c,12e) and the

processing means (3e,9c,12e) uses the electronic- document-information (1) for retrieving the electronic document (10) from the file server (9c) and using the print-related-information (2) for converting (19) the electronic document (10) into a print-ready-converted electronic document (7) and the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) is stored within the secure print queue on the print server (3e) and is releasable by the user (5) from the secure print queue on the print server (3e) for printing on the multifunctional device (6) .

A system (13) for printing according to claim 11, wherein said router (17a, 17b) is used for connecting the first network (15) with a second network (16) and for providing the mobile device (4) with access to the networks (15,16) .

13. A system (13) for printing according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the mobile device (4) sends the electronic- document-information (1) and the print-related- information (2) are part of a release message (20) by a second mobile device (4) .

A system (13) for printing according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the format of the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) is PostScript (PS), Printer Command Language (PCL), Page Description Language (PDL), Portable Document Format (PDF) or Page Description

Markup Language (PDML) .

A system (13) for printing according to any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the user (5) accesses the processing means

(3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 11, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12 f) by means of additional mobile devices (4) and/or by means of a user-interface (14) of the multifunctional device (6) as so to release the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) for the secure print queue on the print server ( 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f ) .

A system (13) for printing according to any of claims 1 to 15, wherein at least on multifunctional device (6) is configured to process a hardcopy for scanning on the multifunctional device (6) and the user (5) accesses the processing means

(3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 11, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12 f) by means of the mobile device (4) and/or by means of a user-interface (14) of the multifunctional device (6) so as to initiate the scanning of the hardcopy on the multifunctional device (6) . A method for printing an electronic document (10) on at least one multifunctional device (6), which is connected to a processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g), including a print server ( 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e , 3 f ) , and the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g) is configured to process the electronic document (10) for printing on the multifunctional device

(6) and a mobile device (4), which is connectable with the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g) and the mobile device (4) is configured to initiate the printing of the electronic document (10), comprising the steps of:

• initiating (23,24,25) a communication between the

mobile device (4) and the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d, 12e, 12f, 12g) ,

• routing (26,27,28) from the mobile device (4) an

electronic-document-information (1) related to the electronic document (10) to the processing means (3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d, 12e, 12f, 12g) ,

• using the electronic-document-information (1) and a print-related-information (2) for converting

(19,32,36) the electronic document (10) into a print- ready-converted electronic document (7), and

• storing the print-ready-converted electronic document (7) within a secure print queue on the print server (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f ) , and • releasing (20,35) the print-ready-converted

electronic document (7) from the secure print queue on the print server ( 3a , 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e , 3 f ) for printing on the multifunctional device (6) in case a user (5) accesses (20,35) to the print server

( 3a , 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e , 3 f ) and releases (20,35) the print- ready-converted electronic document (7) for printing on the multifunctional device (6) .

A method for printing and scanning according to claim 17 , wherein at least one of multifunctional device (6) is configured to scan a hardcopy and the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g), including the print server

(3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f ) , is configured to process the hardcopy for scanning on the multifunctional device (6) and in case the mobile device (4) and/or the user- interface (14) is connected to the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g) the user (5) may route from the mobile device

(4) and/or the user-interface (14) a scan-related- information to the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g) and in case the user (5) has access the processing means

(3a,3b,3c,3d,3e,3f,3g,9a,9b,9c,9d,ll,12a,12b,12c,12d,12e ,12f,12g) by the mobile device (4) and/or the user- interface (14) the hardcopy is scanned on the

multifunctional device (6) .

19. A method for printing and scanning according to claim 17 or 18 executed by a system (13) according to any of claims 1 to 16.

20. A program that, when executed by a system (13) for

printing according to any of claims 1 to 16, causes the system (13) for printing to perform a method for

printing and scanning according to any of claims 17 to 19.

21. A computer-readable storage medium having computer- executable instructions to perform steps for providing a method for printing according to any of claims 17 to 19.