GB2271081A - Inkless label printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Dry or inkless printing apparatus includes an elongated spooled roll (10) of blank labels (16) adhesively secured to a carrier web, and spooled on a supply reel, the carrier web being provided with first and second longitudinally extending rows of sprocket holes adjacent the respective edges of the web; a laser printer (20) for forming a series of images on the label stock, as the carrier web moves through the printer the images comprising a matrix of individual label images, (fig 2, not shown) in which the images extending longitudinally with respect to the direction of motion of the web are repeated a multiplicity of times, while the images formed in a direction transverse to the motion of the web include at least two or more different images (A to I, figure 2); a tractor for advancing the web through the laser printer; a slitter (32) disposed adjacent an output of the laser printer for slitting the web longitudinally with respect to its direction of motion to produce thin elongated webs, each being one label wide and having a multiplicity of identical labels disposed along the length thereof; and a spooler for engaging and spooling the individual webs of labels into coils. <IMAGE>

Description

CObnTNUOUS REB LASER PRINTlhPG SYSTEM This invention relates generally to printing systems, and more particularly to systems for printing labels, especially address, on continuous web stock.

Conventional printing processes, be they lithographic, flexographic, or the like, that involve wet ink transfer to a web, are poorly suited to short run printing requirements, because the processes require a not insubstantial fixed amount of set up and take down time, as well as preliminary running time to optimally tune and/or configure the process to produce an acceptable image. A plate must be produced for each job, and it is not normally not practical to modify a plate when a change is required. When used in jobs requiring the printing of large numbers, of impressions such as thousands of copies or more, neither these times nor the amount of waste generated during set up are significant. However, for short runs, such as runs in the low hundreds of impressions, conventional printing processes may create waste exceeding 15% or 20% of the totaljob.

A variety of computer driven printers, from what are essentially computer controlled typewriters, to line printers that print an entire line of type at once, to laser printers that print a page at a time have been developed. These printers are ideal for one of a kind or continuously changing images in small quantities.

Known xerographic printing techniques involve little or no waste, and can, when appropriately computer controlled, be run with a minimum of set up time.

Tractor drive systems have been developed for feeding a continuous web of paper to computer controlled printers, most commonly in the well known fanfold configuration, in which paper is stored in a zig-zag arrangement in a feed box, fed through the printer by such tractors and refolded in an output tray. The paper can then be manually or automatically divided into sheets, usually along perforated lines of weakness arranged transverse to the length of the web. Removable edges having sprocket holes for use in printers with drive sprockets are often provided as well. Apparatus is available for feeding a continuous web of pressure sensitive material, such as labels, to a printer, withdrawing the printed web from the printer, removing pin feed edges, splitting the web into narrow strips, and respooling the strips.

While many print jobs are somewhat flexible as regards the way in which the printed output may be provided, other jobs such as short run label printing jobs require that the output be prepared in a particular way such as in spool form. Address labels in particular must, in some instances, be provided on pressure sensitive stock adhered to an elongated web, one label wide, and 250 or 500 labels long. The preparation of such labels by flexographic printing techniques is known, but there is no known dry ink or inkless process or available apparatus for efficiently and cost effectively preparing spools of labels in small numbers.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus and a method for printing short run labels, such as address labels, utilizing a dry or other inkless process, such as a toner based process, and providing the printed labels rolled up on a spool.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process for printing batches of labels, such as the ones just described, on a computer controlled printer that substantially reduces the cost of printing each run.

Briefly stated, and in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, dry or inkiess printing apparatus comprises an elongated spooled roll of blank labels adhesively secured to a carrier web, and spooled on a supply reel, the carrier web being provided with first and second longitudinally extending rows of sprocket holes adjacent the respective edges of the web; laser printer means for forming a series of images on the label stock, as the carrier web moves through the printer the images comprising a matrix of individual label images, in which the images extending longitudinally with respect to the direction of motion of the web are repeated a multiplicity of times, while the images formed in a direction transverse to the motion of the web include at least two or more different images;; tractor means for advancing the web through the laser printer means; slitter means disposed adjacent an output of the laser printer means for slitting the web longitudinally with respect to its direction of motion to produce thin elongated webs, each being one label wide and having a multiplicity of identical labels disposed along the length thereof; and spooling means for engaging and spooling the individu# ;webs of labels into coils.

The novel aspects of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, taken together with further objects and advantages thereof, may be more readily comprehended by reference to the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of label printing apparatus in accordance with this invention; and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of the label bearing supply web.

Referring now to Figure 1 label printing apparatus in accordance with this invention is illustrated in diagrammatic form. Throughout the description of the invention, like reference numerals will be used to designate like elements. The following description will be limited to the novel aspects of the invention. Many of the components of the label printing system in accordance with the invention are per se well known, and will not be described in detail.

A coiled spool 10 of continuous label bearing web material 12 is mounted on a spindle 14 at one end of the label printing apparatus. Preferably, a plurality of dry toner printable labels 16, the thickness of which is greatly exaggerated, is adhered to the web by a pressure sensitive adhesive that is selected to be compatible with the temperatures involved in the laser printing process, which may exceed 300"F. It is essential that the adhesive that secures the labels to the web maintains the labels securely attached to the web during the process of transferring and fusing dry toner to the labels, while at the same time not degrading, so as to make the labels difficult to remove from the web after they have been printed. Sheet form label bearing backing materials are known and, if converted to web form and provided with drive perforations, may be used in accordance with this invention. Preferably, the supply spool of label material is long enough, 2,000 feet or more, to print a plurality of jobs, each of which may be relatively small in number, such as 250 or 500 labels.

As seen in Figure 2, the web 12 carries a matrix of labels having a plurality, such as 8 or 10 labels A-I, arranged in a direction transverse to the web and a much larger number arranged longitudinally. In accordance with this invention, a typical job is one label in the transverse direction by 250 labels in the longitudinal direction of the web. It is desirable to provide labels to the printer in even multiples of the smallest quantity normally printed, so that a plurality of jobs may be printed simultaneously, without the need for stopping the apparatus in the middle of a job. For example, where a minimum quantity of 250 labels is required, a 500 label job is printed by either printing two parallel longitudinal strips of 250 labels simultaneously, or by sequentially printing two 1 x 250 label strips.This allows 7 or 9 other 250 label jobs to be printed simultaneously on a web 8 or 10 labels wide, all starting and stopping at the same point on the web.

The spooled label bearing web 12 is fed into a conventional sprocket driven laser printer 20 in a controlled manner by simultaneously unwinding the supply spool and feeding the web into the printer. While the tractor drive of a laser printer could be used to pull the web from the supply spool 10, it is preferable to unwind the supply spool, so as to reduce any tendency of the web to feed into the printer otherwise than smoothly, which could degrade the printed image. A photoelectric sensor 18 of conventional design can be used to control the supply spindle 14.

Laser printers print images 1 "page" at a time. Typically, a page image is rastorized in the printer memory, and then scanned onto a photosensitive drum with a deflected laser beam. In accordance with this invention, a typical job will require the printing of a plurality of pages, such as 19 or 20 pages.

The process may be carried out at high speeds by rastorizing the page image once which may take some time, and then printing it repeatedly. This makes printing all pages subsequent to the first relatively quick.

In accordance with a presently preferred aspect of this invention, a print job includes a plurality, for example 10, of separate label orders. The information pertaining to each order is stored in non-volatile computer memory, such as a magnetic disk and read by a controller 22. In addition to the information needed to print the labels, it is preferred to store the additional information necessary to generate a mailing label to ship the order, information relative to the type of label stock on which the order is to be printed, bookkeeping and other information necessary to fulfill repeat orders and the like on this same disk. Preferably, information relative to a single batch of print jobs may be supplied to the label printer operator in the form of a hard copy page map carrying a proof of each label, together with some or all of the additional information mentioned before.

In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of this invention, the page map includes scannable indicia such as a bar code that the operator may use to commence a printjob. Scanning the bar code into the laser printer controller 22 with a wand 24 retrieves the data necessary to rastorize the print page from the disk, feeds the information to the laser printer, and designates the job as completed. The page map may then physically accompany the printed labels as they move from the printer to be shipped to the customer.

As the label bearing web 12 emerges from the laser printer, 20 it moves to a idler roller, 26 and then to a slicing station 30. The slicing station includes a plurality of knives, saws or the like 32, for slicing the web, in a direction longitudinal to its motion, into a plurality of one label wide strips.

The printed label bearing strips move from the slicing station 30 to spooler 36 for spooling the labels onto take up reels. Preferably, the take up reels are mounted on a spindle 40 driven in a controlled fashion, using photo electric detector 28 to maintain a predetermined constant tension on the web as it emerges from the printer, once again to ensure that the web moves smoothly through the printer to produce the highest quality image on the labels. The printed labels may be spooled on to a hub or directly on to the spindle, as desired.

Once the desired number of labels has been spooled on to the take up hubs, a transverse cutter which is preferably part of the slicer 30 separates the web between the completed job and the next job, which job has already been started by the laser printer without the need for any wasteful test impressions, as have been required in accordance with conventional printing processes. The finished spools of printed labels are then removed from the take-up spindle.

Preferably, two take-up spindles, capable of being driven simultaneously are provided. This allows the subsequent job to be started on the second take-up spindle, while the first job is being removed, thereby increasing the rate at which labels may be printed, reducing the labor requirements, and therefore the cost.

The method and apparatus described before permits enhancements in the label printing process that were difficult or impossible to achieve using conventional techniques. For example, it is convenient to print a shipping label at the same time an address label order is printed. The shipping label may be for a different address than shown on the address labels. The present method and apparatus allows non-identical labels to be printed at any point in the web.

In addition to address labels, re-order labels can be inserted at appropriate points on a spool of labels, and a label addressed to the printing firm could be provided also. We have also printed labels at the end of each run with distinctive indicia, such as a line of asterisks to delineate order separation points.

While the invention has been described in connection with a presently preferred embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, which is accordingly intended to be defined solely by the appended claims.

Claims (15)

CLAIMS:

1. Inkless label printing apparatus comprising: a supply spindle; means for controllably rotating said supply spindle; spool of laser printer compatible label carrying web material mounted on the supply spindle and having a plurality of label blanks secured thereto in an array of n labels in a direction transverse to the web and m labels in a direction longitudinal to the web, where m is much larger than n; the label carrying web having substantially parallel rows of sprocket holes disposed along the edges thereof;; laser printing means disposed adjacent to the supply spindle and including tractor means having drive sprockets for engaging the sprocket holes on the label carrying web and indexing the web through the laser printing means in a controlled manner, means for providing label data to the laser printing means for sequentially printing a plurality of label jobs, each job including a multiplicity x of labels in the direction longitudinal to the web and a substantially smaller number y of labels in the direction transverse to the web; rastorizing means for creating a page image including a number of labels w less than x in a direction longitudinal to the web, and printing the page image a plurality of times; slitting means disposed adjacent an output of the laser printer for diving the web longitudinally into strips one label wide;; transverse separating means for dividing the strips into lengths at least y labels long; and spooling means for winding the strips into coils, one coil per job.

2. The label printing apparatus of Claim 1 comprising means for printing a shipping label as part of one but not all of the page images.

3. The label printing apparatus of Claim 1 comprising means for storing information for printing a plurality of jobs and selectively retrieving the information for a smaller plurality of jobs and simultaneously printing the smaller plurality as a batch.

4. The label printing apparatus of Claim 3 comprising means for preparing a page map of selected portions of the information for printing the smaller plurality of jobs and indicia for designating the smaller plurality as a batch.

5. The label printing apparatus of Claim 4 in which the indicia comprises a bar code.

6. The label printing apparatus of Claim 5 comprising bar code reading means coupled to the means for storing information for reading the bar code from the page map and identifying the information for a batch.

7. The label printing apparatus of Claim 1 comprising means for selectively printing at least one distinctive label between the end of a first job and the beginning of a subsequent job.

8. A method for printing short run label jobs in batches comprising: storing the information required to print each of a plurality of the short run label jobs in a storage device; identifying a predetermined number of the short run label jobs for printing in a batch; retrieving the information required to print each one of the predetermined number of short run label jobs; repetitively and simultaneously printing a plurality of labels from each of the short run label jobs until each short run label job has been completed; and separating the simultaneously printed labels into separate jobs.

9. The method of Claim 8 in which the repetitively printing step comprises rastorizing a page image including at least one label from each of the short run print jobs and repetitively printing the page.

10. The method of Claim 9 comprising repetitively printing the page on a continuous web.

11. The method of Claim 10 comprising printing a unique label as part of each print job without interrupting the batch.

12. The method of Claim 10 wherein the separating step comprises slitting the web in a longitudinal direction.

13. The method of Claim 12 comprising the additional step of separating the web transversely at the end of all the short run print jobs.

14. Inkless label printing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

15. A method for printing short run label jobs in batches substantially as hereinbefore described wth reference to the accompanying drawings.