Method and system for laser marking in the volume of...

Jewelry – Gem

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C219S121620, C219S121680, C219S121690

Reexamination Certificate

active

11161917

ABSTRACT:
A method and an apparatus for laser marking indicia in the volume of gemstones such as diamonds, the indicia being made up of a plurality of microscopic dot-shaped marks whose build-up can be initiated by exposing naturally-occurring internal defects or impurities in the volume of a gemstone to a tightly focused train of laser pulses. Authentication data is encoded in the gemstone from the relative spatial arrangement of the dot-shaped marks that form the indicium. Taking advantage of the presence of otherwise invisible defects in the gemstone allows for inscribing indicia with laser pulses carrying energies substantially lower than the threshold energy required for inscribing in the volume of a perfect gemstone material. The marking process is then much less susceptible to inflict damages to the surface of the gemstone, and the marking can be performed using a broad variety of femtosecond laser systems. The dot-shaped marks engraved at a depth below the surface of a gemstone can be made undetectable with the unaided eye or with a loupe by limiting their individual size to a few micrometers, while devising indicia made up of only a few marks. As a result, the marking does not detract from the appearance and value of the gemstone. The procedure for laser marking accounts for the random spatial distribution of the defects present in natural gemstones as well as for their strongly localized character. The presence of an indicium can be detected by using a dedicated optical reader that can be afforded by every jewellery store.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4392476 (1983-07-01), Gresser et al.
patent: 4467172 (1984-08-01), Ehrenwald et al.
patent: 5149938 (1992-09-01), Winston et al.
patent: 5206496 (1993-04-01), Clement et al.
patent: 5410125 (1995-04-01), Winston et al.
patent: 5521984 (1996-05-01), Denenberg et al.
patent: 5573684 (1996-11-01), Winston et al.
patent: 5656186 (1997-08-01), Mourou et al.
patent: 5698120 (1997-12-01), Kurosawa et al.
patent: 5753887 (1998-05-01), Rosenwasser et al.
patent: 5761111 (1998-06-01), Glezer
patent: 5828405 (1998-10-01), Vanier et al.
patent: 5932119 (1999-08-01), Kaplan et al.
patent: 6031202 (2000-02-01), Arakawa et al.
patent: 6187213 (2001-02-01), Smith et al.
patent: 6211484 (2001-04-01), Kaplan et al.
patent: 6420705 (2002-07-01), Chou et al.
patent: 6476351 (2002-11-01), Kaplan et al.
patent: 6483073 (2002-11-01), Benderly
patent: 6489589 (2002-12-01), Alexander
patent: 6593543 (2003-07-01), Benderly
patent: 6624385 (2003-09-01), Patton et al.
patent: 6633419 (2003-10-01), Hosono et al.
patent: 6664501 (2003-12-01), Troitski
patent: 6684663 (2004-02-01), Kaplan et al.
patent: 6713715 (2004-03-01), Christensen et al.
patent: 6747242 (2004-06-01), Benderly
patent: 6788714 (2004-09-01), Benderly
patent: 2001/0012055 (2001-08-01), Mori
patent: 2001/0032831 (2001-10-01), Benderly
patent: 4-66283 (1992-03-01), None
patent: 9-182985 (1997-07-01), None
patent: 2002-86282 (2002-03-01), None
patent: 2004-223553 (2004-08-01), None
patent: WO-00/32349 (2000-06-01), None
U.S. Appl. No. 10/607,184, filed Jan. 15, 2004, Patton et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/607,185, filed Jan. 1, 2004, Patton et al.
J.B. Aschom, The Role of Focusing in the Interaction of Femtosecond Laser Pulses with Transparent Materials, Chpt. 4, Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Jan. 2003.

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Method and system for laser marking in the volume of... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Method and system for laser marking in the volume of..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and system for laser marking in the volume of... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3893188

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.