IP Library Granted Patent US 12,659,411
Granted Patent B2
US 12,659,411 · App. 18/434,259 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Multi-function device (MFD) system configured to provide a real-time help to a user

Inventors: Aurora Gayango Perez (London, GB); Michael Blowers (Fairport, NY); Ian Davis (Fleet, GB)
Assignee: Xerox Corporation
H04N1/00074H04N1/00039H04N1/00042H04N1/0005H04N1/00087H04N1/00408H04N2201/0094
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,659,411
App. No.
18/434,259
Granted
Jun 16, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A multi-function device (MFD) ( 100 ) configured to provide real-time help feedback to a user, comprising: one or more MFD sensors ( 390 ) configured to obtain MFD sensor data; a processor ( 320 ) configured to: (i) automatically receive MFD monitoring data, the MFD monitoring data comprising MFD sensor data and user input data to an MFD, the user input data comprising a request for assistance with a component of the MFD; (ii) automatically detect, from the received MFD monitoring data, an anomaly in one or more of the one or more MFDs; (iii) automatically identify, by a trained support model analyzing the detected anomaly, a solution to the detected anomaly; and a user interface ( 340 ) configured to automatically provide the identified solution to the user, wherein the identified solution is provided to the user in real-time in response to the provided request for assistance.

Claims (24)

1 . A multi-function device (MFD) configured to provide real-time help to a user, comprising:

one or more MFD sensors configured to obtain MFD sensor data;

a processor configured to: (i) automatically receive MFD monitoring data, the MFD monitoring data comprising MFD sensor data and user input data to an MFD, the user input data comprising a request for assistance with a component of the MFD; (ii) automatically detect, from the received MFD monitoring data, an anomaly in one or more MFDs; (iii) automatically identify, by a trained support model analyzing the detected anomaly, a solution to the detected anomaly; and

a user interface configured to automatically provide the identified solution to the user, wherein the identified solution is provided to the user in real-time in response to the provided request for assistance.

2 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to automatically enact the identified solution.

3 . The MFD of claim 2 , wherein automatically enacting the identified solution comprises one or more of ordering a supply for an MFD, order a part for an MFD, and adjusting a setting or parameter of an MFD.

4 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein providing the identified solution via the user interface of the one or more MFDs experiencing the anomaly comprises providing an instruction to a user.

5 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein providing the identified solution via the user interface comprises a visualization of the identified solution.

6 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein providing the identified solution comprises one or more of closing the request for assistance and dismissing the detected anomaly.

7 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein providing the identified solution further comprises escalating the detected anomaly to an expert.

8 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein the anomaly is detected by analysis of the received MFD monitoring data by an anomaly detection model of the MFD.

9 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein detecting the anomaly comprises analyzing a query received from the user of the MFD with a language model.

10 . The MFD of claim 9 , wherein detecting the anomaly comprises analyzing the query received from the user of the MFD with one or more knowledge graphs identifying one or more contextual features in the query, and further wherein the trained support model identifies the solution to the detected anomaly based at least in part on the identified one or more contextual features in the query.

11 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein identifying the solution to the detected anomaly further comprises classifying the detected anomaly into an anomaly category.

12 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein the trained support model is trained by a method comprising:

generating support model training data, comprising the steps of:

receiving a corpus of historical multimodal MFD data, the historical multimodal MFD data comprising at least MFD sensor data and historical ticketing data, wherein at least some of the corpus of historical multimodal MFD data comprises historical MFD anomalies and associated historical anomaly solutions;

transforming, using a natural language process model, the received corpus of historical multimodal MFD data to support model training data of a single mode; and

training a support model with the generated support model training data, wherein the support model is trained to analyze an identified MFD anomaly to identify a solution to the identified MFD anomaly.

13 . The MFD of claim 12 , wherein the historical multimodal MFD data further comprises one or more of images, email text, email attachments, MFD incident logs, and audio recordings.

14 . The MFD of claim 12 , further comprising the step of dimensionality reduction of the support model training data, comprising removal of personal data identifiers in the support model training data.

15 . The MFD of claim 12 , further comprising the step of clustering of the support model training data.

16 . The MFD of claim 12 , further comprising the step of associating historical MFD anomalies with historical anomaly solutions.

17 . The MFD of claim 1 , wherein the processor is a remote central processor.

Assignments (5)
SECOND LIEN NOTES PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 2, 2025
From: XEROX CORPORATION
To: U.S. BANK TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 071785/0550 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 11, 2025
From: XEROX CORPORATION
To: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 070821/0219 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 11, 2025
From: XEROX CORPORATION
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 070821/0240 →
FIRST LIEN NOTES PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 11, 2025
From: XEROX CORPORATION
To: U.S. BANK TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 070824/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 27, 2025
From: GAYANGO PEREZ, AURORA; BLOWERS, MICHAEL; DAVIS, IAN A.
To: XEROX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 070647/0777 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20250254245A1 · Aug 7, 2025
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