Field of the Invention
Printing consumables and substrate identification PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and system comprising a method of identifying materials to be printed on, and such as paper, metal, wood, plastic or any other composite mix by way of embedding or applying a visible or invisible mark, pattern, identifier or structural code, that can be identified by a sensor or sensors using optical, electromagnetic, texture, capacitive or other means, and, in the case where a printable substrate is manufactured from a specific material that is not marked with an additional identifier, the material's physical form and composition would be the attributes that are considered by the sensor/sensors.
Also with many people using refilled ink in their print head or cartridge, the contents of any print cartridge or print head will also be identified by the sensors This will ensure that the printable material can only be imaged by the specific device and proprietary ink it has been designed to be used with, or to warn the consumer that he/she may be using media or ink that will not work, or present inferior results.
Therefore ensuring consistency and quality
Background of the Invention
In the world of printing and image reproduction it is often the case that printing and imaging devices will only produce their designed results by using a specific formulation of inks, toners and ribbons with a specified type of printable papers, metals, woods plastics and other composites. In some cases the use of the incorrect consumables will produce inferior results and possibly damage the device.
It is very common for a manufacturer of printing devices, to supply a formulated ink and type of substrate for a printing device, so that the device will provide the best possible print. Unfortunately it is common to find cheaper alternatives to both the colour system such as the ink in re-filled ink cartridges, and the printable papers, metals, woods plastics and other composite materials. This not only undermines the market share of the brand of the printing device and the consumables, but it also can put the uninformed consumer in a position where they obtain a lower cost/specification, product thinking that they are saving money, only to find that it does not perform the task as designed and intended by the manufacture of the printing device.
There are a number of printing and marking devices where the colour forming materials are pre-coated, embedded in, or form a constituent part of the substrate material to be printed.
Although identification of the substrate and printable surface would be beneficial to both the consumer and the device manufacture in relation to conventional methods of printing such as inkjet, laser and thermal. It will be essential for printing systems that are made up of pre-formed substrate with embedded colour systems that are imaged by methods such as electromagnetic radiation and other means, that the material, its coating and its composition are identifiable. Without such substrate and pre-coated material identification methods, it would be difficult for printer manufacturers to define their share of the consumables market and to ensure that their branded consumables, intended for use with their devices, are being used with their printing devices.
Statement of the Invention
There are many methods of printing or marking such as laser, inkjet, thermal, impact, and directed energy to name a few. All of these methods require a particular type of consumable and substrate.
In most cases the formulation and composition of these consumables and substrates defines the ability to print and the quality of the image.
This invention ensures that the correct consumable and substrate is used with the printing system.
A substrate to be printed on or marked is constructed with a unique identification.
This unique identifier is recognised by the printing device and an appropriate action is taken by the printing device.
This appropriate action may be to acknowledge the correct media/consumable and continue as required, or to inform the consumer that the media/consumable is not the approved or required type and may result in poor performance.
The appropriate action may also be to inform the consumer that the media/consumable is not the approved or required type and prevent operation of the printing device.
The appropriate action may also be to adjust the parameters of the printing device to operate correctly with the supplied media/consumable.
Operation (One possible embodiment) A printer ink cartridge is fitted to a printing device and the printing device is loaded with paper.
The printing device interrogates the printer ink, and the paper to obtain its identification.
If the ink, is of the correct type and the paper is of the correct type, printing will proceed.
If the ink, ink or the paper is of an incorrect type the printer will either:- 1 Abort printing and inform the operator of the error, or.
2 Make the necessary adjustments to enable correct operation with the fitted Ink cartridge and paper.
3 inform the user of the error and obtain user instruction on how to proceed (The embodiment described above is illustrative, rather than limiting, to the present invention.
Alternative embodiments apparent on reading the above description may nevertheless fall within the scope of the invention.)