TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the field of printing systems and, in particular, to printers capable of detecting potential intrusion.

BACKGROUND

Entities with substantial printing demands often use a production printer that prints on a web of print media at high-speed (e.g., one hundred pages per minute or more). A production printer typically includes a print controller that controls the overall operation of the printing system, and a print engine that physically marks the web. The print engine has an array of printheads and each individual printhead includes multiple tiny nozzles (e.g., 360 nozzles per printhead depending on resolution) that are operable to discharge ink as controlled by the printhead controller. Due to the complex arrangement of components inside a production printer, there are numerous different types of maintenance procedures and agents (personnel and/or objects) to potentially change the physical operation of the printer and/or impact the physical security of the printer.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein provide for printer intrusion detection. The printer implements detection of several levels of operator classes, and determines whether a person in proximity of the printer is allowed to perform certain actions on the printer based on their operator class. This improves safety in the area of the printer and prevents potential instances of printer damage and degraded printer performance.

In one embodiment, a system that includes memory configured to store personnel identification data for a plurality of operator classes permitted to perform different levels of maintenance actions on a printer. The system also includes an intrusion detection controller configured to detect a presence of a person in an operating space of the printer based on image data, to analyze the image data to detect one or more characteristics of the person, to determine an operator class for the person based on a match of the detected characteristics of the person with the personnel identification data stored in the memory, and to monitor adherence to maintenance permissions by the person in a plurality of physical areas of the printer based on the operator class of the person.

Another embodiment is a method that includes storing, in memory, personnel identification data for a plurality of operator classes permitted to perform different levels of maintenance actions on a printer, detecting a presence of a person in an operating space of the printer, analyzing an image of the person to detect one or more characteristics of the person, determining an operator class for the person based on a match of the detected characteristics of the person with the personnel identification data stored in the memory, and monitoring adherence to maintenance permissions by the person in a plurality of physical areas of the printer based on the operator class of the person.

Other illustrative embodiments (e.g., methods and computer-readable media relating to the foregoing embodiments) may be described below.

