WO1999025561A1

WO1999025561A1 - Bar code stamp

Info

Publication number: WO1999025561A1
Application number: PCT/GB1997/003162
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richard Henry Lucas
Original assignee: Richard Henry Lucas
Priority date: 1997-11-18
Filing date: 1997-11-18
Publication date: 1999-05-27
Also published as: AU4960897A

Abstract

The stamp has on the working surface an image of a barcode transferable onto surfaces such as products, packaging, labels, tags and similar. The distances between axes (4) of bars (3) of the image on the working surface and the corresponding distances between bar axes (2) of bars (1) of the image on the printed surface are the same. The width of bars (3) of the image on the working surface are between 45-70 % of the width of the nominal bars of the image printed on the surface.

Description

BAR CODE STAMP

The invention relates to bar code stamp designed to imprint a barcode on goods, packaging, labels, tags and similar articles

Already known are many printing techniques for imprinting barcodes on

different surfaces Each barcode has a series of parallel bars of varying widths and having varying distances between adjacent barcodes The arrangement of the bars represents specific information Such barcodes are generated for use on packaging and

the like to be read by electronic scanners, for example, in supermarkets Such

applications require that the barcode imprinted on the object surface is an exact reproduction of the barcode design so that the coded information can be accurately read by a scanner This requires the application of specialised complicated printing machinerv which in turn requires the appropriate technological conditions for printing

Also known are stamps having on a working surface a raised image, which is coated with an appropriate ink The ink can be transferred onto another surface such as

paper or paper like material, for example, cardboard In widespread use are office stamps, where the working surface is, for example, rubber and the image is printed onto popular types of paper typicallv of 30 to 160 grams per square metre In these applications the image to be printed is intended purely for visual recognition The

dimensions of the lines on the transferred image are not identical to those on the working surface of the stamp due to the manner in which the ink spreads onto the surface to be printed These stamps can be used successfully in these application because there is no requirement to achieve the exact dimensions of the image being transferred, rather just its legibility

Attempts to use existing stamps to transfer barcodes onto different types of surface do not work due to the lack of exact replication of the barcode on the surface

being printed The resulting barcode is not suitable for reading with a barcode scanner

It is an object of the present invention, therefore to enable a scanner readable barcode to be printed on a surface by means of a simple stamp and in particular a hand held ink stamp

The invention provides a bar code stamp comprising a working surface with an

image for stamping onto a surface, characterised in that the desired image to be printed

is a barcode having a pluralitv of parallel bars each having predetermined widths and longitudinal axes having predetermined distances between the axes of adjacent bars, and in that the distances between the axes of bars of the image on the working surface is the same as the corresponding distances between the bar axes of the bars of the desired image, and in that the width of each bar of the image on the working surface is

between 45 to 70% of the nominal width of the corresponding bar of the desired

image

The working surface of the stamp may be of any material which has the necessarv characteristics for being formed into the graphic design required whilst retaining sufficient hardness to perform repeated stamping actions Preferably, the working surface is a rubber, or a photosensitive polymer

The width of the bars on the working surface is preferably between 45-55% of the desired width of the corresponding bar on the surface to be printed, where the printing smoothness of the surface is from 3 0 to 8 3 grams per square metre, from

50% to 60% of the width of the corresponding bar on the surface to be printed where the printing smoothness of the surface is from 2 2 to 3 0 grams per square metre, from 55% to 65% of the width of the corresponding bar on the surface to be printed where

the printing smoothness of the surface is from 1.8 to 2.2 grams per square metre, and from 60% to 70% of the width of the corresponding bar on the surface to be printed where the printing smoothness of the surface is from 0.8 to 1 8 grams per square metre The term printing smoothness, is a term of art which is defined as the number of grams of printing ink required to cover a square metre of the printing medium The

smoother a printing surface the fewer grams of ink required to cover a fixed area

The invention also provides a method of printing a barcode onto a printing

medium comprising designing a barcode having a plurality of parallel bars having predetermined widths and predetermined distances between each adjacent bar, providing a stamp having a working surface, forming an image of the desired barcode on the working surface and stamping the image onto the printing medium, wherein the

distance between the axes of bars of the image on the working surface and the corresponding distance between the bar axis of the printed image are the same, and in that the width of the bars of the image on the working surface are between 45 to 70% of the nominal width of the bars of the printed image

The benefit of the described solution is simple implementation and ease of production, together with a low cost Use of the stamp is very easy and simple, and

barcodes can be printed in virtually all conditions, directly on the products, already packed or labelled The basic benefit of the innovation is the high quality of the

transferred barcode, and through the possibility of reading it with a scanner

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows the enlarged design of a barcode

Figure 2 shows an example of an equally enlarged barcode taken from the

working surface of a stamp according to the present invention

A stamp has a working surface made out of, for example, a photosensitive polymer In an example the barcode is for transfer onto standard typing paper and is made up of bars 1 , of the following widths A= 0 4 mm, B= 0 5 mm, C= 0 7 mm, D=

0 8 mm, E= 1 0 mm, F= 1 4 mm, G= 1 8 mm, H= 2 0 mm If the printing smoothness

of the printing medium is known, then the percentage reduction of bar width required

for the image on the working surface can be easily determined

For transfer onto surfaces having a printing smoothness of 2 2 to 3 0 grams per square metre the width of bars 3 , on the stamp is 50-60% of the bars, 1 , of the desired resulting barcode Assuming for caution's sake, an average value of 55%, one makes bars, 3, on the working surface sample at the following widths A= 0 22 mm, B= 0 275 mm, C= 0 385 mm, D= 0 44 mm, E= 0 55 mm, F= 0 77 mm, G= 0 99 mm, HP I mm

The distance between the longitudinal axes, 2, of bars, 1, of the designed code

and corresponding axes, 4, of bars, 3, of the barcode on the stamp's working surface are exactly the same, and shown according to the markings on the figures a = a', b = b\ c = c\ d = d\ e = e', f = f , g = g' A stamp designed according to the above example allows the printing on paper of the original code design This makes it

possible to read the code with a scanner

An example of a conventional office stamp suitable for use in the present invention is a trodat (RTM) Pπnty model 4913 Typically, inks which may be used in conjunction with the present invention are glycerine based inks used in such conventional office stamps However, the invention is also applicable to other types of

ink such as oil based inks often used in conjunction with metal stamps or quick drying

solvent based inks generally used with non-absorbent surfaces Glycerine based inks

are preferred The preferred printing surface is standard office photocopying or computer paper

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the amount of reduction in

the width of the bars on the working surface required to compensate for the spread of ink on the paper or other material, will depend to a large extent on the porosity of the material It is within the capacity of the skilled man to determine, whether by trial and error or otherwise, the proper dimensions of the bars on the working surface of the stamp required for any particular combination of ink and printing surface

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to a particular

embodiment, modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims For

example the working surface of the stamp may be a baked solid ink gel produced in a mould a laser engraved rubber a foaming polymer or a metal stamp

Claims

1 A. stamp comprising a working surface with an image for stamping onto a

surface, characterised in that the desired image to be printed is a barcode having a plurality of parallel bars ( 1 ) each having predetermined widths and longitudinal axes (2) having predetermined distances between the axes of adjacent bars, and in that the distances between the axes (4) of bars (3) of the image on the working surface are the

same as the corresponding distances between the bar axes ( 1 ) of the bars of the desired

image, and in that the width of the bars (3) of the image on the working surface is

between 45 to 70% of the nominal width of the bars (1 ) of the printed image

2 A stamp as claimed in claim 1, wherein the working surface of the stamp is made of photosensitive polymer

3 A stamp as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the width of each bar (3) of the

image on the working surface is between 45 to 55% of the width of the corresponding bar ( 1 ) of the desired image on surfaces having a printing smoothness of 3 0 to 8 3 grams per square metre, between 50 to 60% of the width of the corresponding bar ( 1 ) of the desired image on surfaces having a printing smoothness of 2 2 to 3 0 grams per

square metre, between 55 to 65% of the width of the corresponding bar ( 1 ) of the

desired image on surfaces having a printing smoothness of 1 8 to 2 2 grams per square

metre, and between 60 to 70% of the width of the corresponding bar ( 1 ) of the desired image on surfaces of quality 0 8 to 1 8 grams per square metre 4 A method of printing a barcode onto a printing medium comprising designing a barcode having a plurality of parallel bars having predetermined widths and predetermined distances between each adjacent bar, providing a stamp having a

working surface, forming an image of the desired barcode on the working surface and

stamping the image onto the printing medium, wherein the distance between the axes

(4) of bars (3) of the image on the working surface and the corresponding distance between the bar axis (2) of the printed image are the same, and in that the width of the

bars (3) of the image on the working surface are between 45 to 70% of the nominal width of the bars ( 1 ) of the printed image