US 7,479,964 B2
Display technique for displaying a layout of a print network system
Kiyotaka Ohara, Nagoya (Japan); and Tsukasa Nagata, Nagoya (Japan)
Assigned to Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken (Japan)
Filed on Mar. 29, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/277,829.
Claims priority of application No. 2005-099256 (JP), filed on Mar. 30, 2005.
Prior Publication US 2006/0224714 A1, Oct. 05, 2006
Int. Cl. G06T 15/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 345—581  [710/8; 710/14; 710/15] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A display terminal for displaying a layout of a print network system, the print network system comprising a plurality of terminals and a plurality of printers, wherein the display terminal is one of the terminals of the print network system, the display terminal comprising:
a position storage for storing a position of each of the terminals and the printers; a status storage for storing a status of each of the printers;
a connection relationship storage for storing a connection relationship between each of the terminals and each of the printers; and
a display device for displaying the layout of the print network system, the layout comprising a plurality of terminal objects, a plurality of printer objects, and a communication path object, wherein
(1) each of the terminal objects and the printer objects is disposed at a corresponding position stored in the position storage,
(2) each of the printer objects is displayed in a manner that represents a status of a corresponding printer stored in the status storage, and
(3) the communication path object is disposed between each of the terminal objects and each of the printer objects based on the connection relationship stored in the connection relationship storages
wherein the printer object includes a printer figure object and a status figure object,
the communication path object is disposed between each of the terminal objects and each of the printer figure objects,
the printer object of a printer having a predetermined status is displayed in a manner that includes the printer figure object and the status figure object,
the predetermined status includes one or both of an in-printing status and a communication trouble status,
the status figure object includes one or both of an in-printing status figure object and a communication trouble status figure object,
the printer object of a printer having the in-printing status is displayed in a manner that includes the in-printing status figure object disposed along the communication path object between the terminal object of a terminal which has output a print instruction and the printer figure object of the printer having the in-printing status, and
the printer object of a printer having the communication trouble status is displayed in a manner that includes the communication trouble status figure object disposed along the communication path object between the terminal object of a terminal which has output a print instruction and the printer figure object of the printer having the communication trouble status.