Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-16
2001-08-07
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Combined
C347S004000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06270176
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of labeling, and in particular to the placement of visual labels on optical media, such as compact disks and digital video disks. In one particular embodiment, the invention provides systems and methods for printing a label on the medium while the medium is rotating.
Optical disks, such as compact disks and digital video disks, or digital versatile disks, have recently become a popular form of media for storing digital information. With advances in technology, it is now possible not only to read information from such optical media, but also to record digital information directly onto the media. For example, recordable compact disks (referred to as CD-Rs) may have digital information recorded on them by placing the CD-R into a compact disk recorder that receives the digital information from a computer. Such forms of optical media are thus particularly useful for data distribution and/or archiving.
When using the CD-R or other optical disks for data distribution and/or archiving, it is important to properly label the disks. Because the CD-R is not mass produced, it is not cost effective to silkscreen a label on the disk as is the current method with the CD ROM. Instead, present methods for labeling the CD-R include manually writing identification information on a label and attaching the label to the disk, or by taking a felt tip pen or marker and writing identification information on the surface of the disk itself. However, such techniques are time consuming and error-prone.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for printing labels directly on optical media in an efficient manner. For example, it would be desirable to provide a printer that could be integrated into a recorder or otherwise associated with a recording system so that labels could be printed on the recording medium at or near the time when the digital information is recorded onto the medium. It would further be desirable if such systems and methods were conducive to printing multiple label entries on an optical medium at different print sessions, such as when archiving data from a computer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides exemplary systems and methods for printing labels on optical media. According to one exemplary method, an optical medium is inserted into a printing device having a mechanism for rotating the optical medium. A print head is positioned over the medium and ink is ejected onto the medium while the medium is rotating to create a label on the medium. In this way, a label may be placed on the optical medium while the medium is within a recording device. Alternatively, the print head may be included in a stand-alone print mechanism to allow the label to be created before or after a recording session.
The optical medium will preferably be circular in geometry and may be any one of a variety of optical media, including compact disks, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, digital video disks or digital versatile disks, and the like, as well as any future implementations of optical media. In one particular aspect, the print head is mounted above the rotating medium on a linear track. In this way, the print head may be translated along the track to move the print head over the medium. By translating the print head in this manner, different locations on the medium may be printed with the print head. Preferably, the print head is translated along a line that is parallel to and offset from a radial line of the optical media. Alternatively, the print head may be configured to have a sufficient number of jets to print the entire printable area on the medium (in a radial direction or a direction parallel to a radial direction) without requiring translation of the print head.
In another aspect of the method, the label is produced from label information that is initially created in an x,y coordinate format. The label information is translated from this format to a polar coordinate format prior to ejecting the ink onto the medium. The ink ejected onto the rotating medium is preferably distributed in distinct dots. The number of dots printed on the medium is preferably equal in number to the number of dots in the x, y coordinate format. In this way, the halftone image representation of the label is preserved during the translation into polar coordinates.
In still another aspect, the method provides for printing a circular label in a manner such that the ends of the label abut each other at approximately the same location. To abut the ends in this manner, the rate of rotation of the optical medium is measured, and the optical medium is partitioned into print sectors. The ink is then ejected during time periods that are equal to the number of sectors divided by the time required to rotate the optical medium one revolution. In this way, each time the ink is ejected an adjacent sector is printed. Preferably, the rate of rotation is measured by sensing a marker on the optical medium during rotation of the optical medium and counting the number of clock pulses produced when rotating the optical medium one revolution. In one particular aspect, the marker is produced on the optical medium by ejecting ink from the print head.
Use of a marker on the optical medium is further advantageous in that it may be used to rotationally align a second label with the first label that was previously printed by the print head. More specifically, since the location of the first label relative to the marker will be known, the second label may be printed in alignment with the first label after sensing the location of the marker.
In still another aspect, multiple labels which are created at different print sessions may be radially positioned relative to each other by sensing features on the medium, such as the outer periphery or center of the optical medium, and radially positioning the labels relative to the outer periphery or the center. For example, the location of the print head relative to the outer periphery or the center of the medium may be sensed by sensing a flag on the print head with a sensor whose location is known relative to the outer periphery or the center. Preferably, the first label will be printed beginning at an initial printing position which is at a location where the sensor initially senses the flag as it is translated along the track. Hence, when ready to print a second label, the radial position of the second label may be determined based on how far the first label was printed relative to the initial printing position.
In another exemplary method of the invention, the label is printed on an optical medium by inserting the optical medium into a reading or recording device which reads data from or records data onto the medium as the medium rotates. While within the reading or recording device, the medium is rotated and a print head is moved over the medium. Ink is then ejected onto the medium while the medium is rotating to create the label on the medium. In this way, a label may be placed on the medium while within a reading or recording device, such as a compact disk recorder.
In a preferable aspect, the print head is mounted above the rotating medium on a linear track so that the print head may be translated along the track to move the print head over the medium. In another aspect, the print head is moved by a motor which is separate from the motor employed to spin the optical medium while reading or recording digital information. The print head is operably connected to a controller having label information, and the controller sends a signal to the motor to move the print head and to deliver the label information to the print head so that ink may be ejected onto the medium. In still another aspect, the printed label may be produced from black ink or from a variety of colors.
The invention further provides an exemplary label printing system for optical media. The system comprises a print head and a track which is adapted to position the print head above the rotating optical medium. A controller is provided to send signals to move the
Barlow John
Compulog Corporation
Hallacher Craig A.
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
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