Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-01
2001-12-25
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Medium and processing means
C347S106000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332680
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus for a printing plate-like recording medium, which are suitable for printing a caption, information or an image related to recorded content or the like on the surface of a compact disk per se, the surface of a case thereof, the surface of a case for a floppy disk, or the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as “plate-like recording media).
BACKGROUND ART
Plate-like recording media, e.g., CD-R and the like, are media which the user can utilize freely for recording. The surfaces of some media are printed in advance by another method with characters, designs, patterns and the like indicating company name, product name etc. that do not have to be changed with each recording of data. However, printing of additional information etc. is possible. Moreover, the recording capacity of such a medium is large. In view of these points, it is convenient to print titles and the like indicating the recorded content on the surface of the case or directly on the CD-R surface.
In the case of new record releases, computer software and other such products produced in large quantities and recorded with information known in advance, this kind of printing can be done by the manufacturer beforehand. However, no method or apparatus has ever been proposed for enabling the user to print desired content-related information, images and the like by a simple operation.
The object of this invention is to provide a printing method and printing apparatus enabling captions and the like to be easily printed on the surface of a CD-R or other plate-like recording medium or the surface of the case thereof.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
For achieving the aforesaid object, this invention adopts a method having an ink-jet printing head and a medium tray for conveying a compact disk or other plate-like recording medium and conducting printing with the printing head of a caption or the like on the surface of the plate-like recording medium conveyed as carried on the medium tray. By placing the plate-like recording medium on the medium tray and conveying it to the printing position in this way, the printing of the plate-like recording medium can be conducted using an existing ink-jet printer substantially without modification.
The medium tray is preferably reciprocated within the printer along a conveyance path traversing the printing head. This is convenient because it enables printing to be conducted on the surfaces of a large number of plate-like recording media by loading unprinted media on the medium tray one at a time on one side and removing the printed plate-like recording media from the medium tray on the other side.
Although a printing head that uses dye ink can be employed, one using pigment ink can be used instead. Use of pigment ink enables formation of a durable printed surface since the film formed by the printing is not soluble in water.
When repeatedly printing disk-shaped recording media such as CD-Rs or when characters, designs, patterns and the like indicating company name, product name etc. that do not have to be changed with each recording of data are already printed by another method, the media must be oriented with respect to the medium tray when placed thereon. For this, an index can be formed on one or both of the plate-like recording medium and the medium tray to enable the plate-like recording medium to be placed in a prescribed positional relationship with respect to the medium tray and placing the recording medium on the medium tray based on the index.
When the plate-like recording medium is disk-shaped like a CD-R, for example, it suffices to form one or more indexes in the circumferential direction at one or more places on the outer edge or the center side.
Further, when it is possible to use an image reader or other such system and a sensor capable of discriminating a very small spot, the image pattern on the surface of the plate-like recording medium can be read in the circumferential direction and the plate-like recording medium be placed in the prescribed positional relationship with respect to the medium tray based on the read-out information.
The plate-like recording medium printing apparatus utilizing the invention method can comprise an ink-jet printing head, a medium tray for conveying a compact disk or other plate-like recording medium, a tray conveyance mechanism for reciprocating the medium tray within the printer along a conveyance path traversing the printing head, a feeding mechanism for feeding the unprinted plate-like recording medium to the medium tray, and a retrieving mechanism for retrieving the printed plate-like recording medium from the medium tray. This apparatus can, by its printing head, print a caption or the like on the surface of the plate-like recording medium conveyed as carried by the medium tray.
The feeding mechanism can be equipped with a medium carrier which conveys the unprinted plate-like recording medium along a prescribed conveyance path and places it on the medium tray. In this case, it is preferable to adopt a medium carrier equipped with a blower, an openable cover attached at an air outlet of the blower and a medium suction surface formed at an air intake of the blower.
In addition, the retrieving mechanism can be equipped with a medium carrier which retrieves the printed plate-like recording medium from the medium tray and conveys it along a prescribed conveyance path. This medium carrier can be equipped with a blower, a closable cover attached at an air outlet of the blower and a medium suction surface formed at an air intake of the blower.
When carriers of this configuration are used, operation of the blower enables the plate-like medium to be readily held by suction and conveyed to the desired location. After it reaches the desired position, the plate-like recording medium held by suction can be released and transferred to the desired spot by closing the air intake of the blower with the closable cover.
Preferably, the medium carriers further have a perforated turntable defining the medium suction surface, a rotational driver for rotating the turntable, and detection means, for detecting a positioning index formed on the plate-like recording medium, disposed at a position to be movable depending on the position of the index, rotation of the perforated turntable retaining the plate-like recording medium by suction being continued until the index is detected. By adopting this arrangement, the plate-like medium can be placed in a prescribed positional relationship with respect to the medium tray.
For continuously writing information to a large number of plate-like recording media and conducting printing on the surface thereof, the feeding mechanism of printing apparatus is preferably equipped with a medium storage section for storing unprinted plate-like recording media and a drive for conducting at least writing of information with respect to the plate-like recording media supplied from the medium storage section. In addition, the retrieving mechanism is preferably equipped with a reject retrieving section for retrieving rejects from among the plate-like recording media after writing and reading have been conducted in the drive.
On the other hand, when the reciprocating medium tray is not used, printing of plate-like recording media can be conducted using a printing apparatus of the following type. That is, there can be used a printing apparatus for printing plate-like recording media comprising a medium storage section for storing a vertical stack of separate trays having unprinted plate-like recording media set therein, a medium feeding mechanism configured to push out the separate trays having plate-like recording media set therein and stored in the medium storage section laterally from the lower end thereof one by one, a medium conveyance mechanism for receiving the separate trays having plate-like recording media set therein and pushed out by the medium feeding mechanism and conveying them along a prescribed conveyance path, an ink-jet printing head fo
Barlow John
Brooke M.
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Mastermind Co., Ltd.
LandOfFree
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