1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and devices for printing and affixing individual (e.g., unique) labels on items having a machine readable code thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional industrial label printers are configured to print identical labels on manufactured items. Although the items may include a unique machine-readable code thereon, the labels affixed to them typically contain no information obtained from the machine-readable code. For example, in the case wherein the manufactured item is a hard disk drive (e.g., a 1-inch drive), such label printers conventionally print the same label for every disk drive even though the drive may include machine readable code printed or otherwise provided thereon. Accordingly, the labels affixed to such disk drives do not bear any information that is unique to the specific disk drive to which the label is affixed.
Moreover, as the form factor of hard disk drives continues to shrink, the process of printing and affixing labels to small form factor disk drives becomes increasingly difficult. For example, for 1-inch and smaller form factor disk drives, conventional processes and devices for printing and affixing labels begin to reveal their inherent limitations. Indeed, for such small form factor drives, the label is both small and thin (may be about 1.8 mils thick, for example), rendering the label flimsy and difficult to peel from its backing material. It is also difficult to pick up the peeled label and to accurately place it on the drive without wrinkling the label and without trapping air bubbles between the drive and the label.
There is, therefore, a need for methods and automated devices for printing and affixing individual labels on items.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of printing and affixing an individual label onto an item having a machine readable code thereon. The method may include scanning the machine readable code to obtain unique item information from the scanned machine readable code; supplying a label to a printer; sending the unique item information to the printer; printing information to the label using the unique item information; and affixing the printed label onto the item.
Another embodiment of the present invention is an automated device to print an individual label for an item having a machine readable code thereon. The automated device may include a scanner configured to scan machine readable code to obtain unique item information from the scanned machine readable code; a printer coupled to the scanner for receiving the unique item information from the scanner; a label supply roll supplying a strip of labels adhered to a strip of backing material to the printer; and a take up roll coupled to the label supply roll via the strip of backing material such that the printer prints to the strip of labels between the label supply roll and the take up roll.
According to embodiments of the present invention, each item (such as the aforementioned disk drives, for example) may have unique or individual item information printed or otherwise affixed or provided thereon. Such unique item information may include, for example, an identification of the manufacturer of the disk drive, a model number and capacity of the disk drive, a serial number of the disk drive, lot number and/or other pertinent information (such as formatting information and/or power requirements for example). The unique item information may be written in plain text or may be provided as some other machine readable code, such as a bar code or other more advanced machine readable codes having a greater information carrying capacity.
The automated device of
The label 102 may be provided on a roll or strip of identical blank labels (in the present context, blank labels lack unique printed information corresponding to a particular disk drive, but may still have pre-printed information or other graphic designs printed thereon). The strip of blank labels may include a continuous strip of backing material 104 and a plurality of blank labels 102 adhered on a surface of the strip of backing material 104 at regular intervals. To supply the labels 102 to the peel, pick and place portion 152 of the automated device 100, the printer portion 150 may include a label supply roll 106 and a take up roll 108 that collects the strip of backing material 104 after the printed labels 102 have been peeled off the strip of backing material 104. It should be noted that other configurations are possible. For example, instead of supply and take up rolls 106, 108, the continuous strip of backing material 104 may be creased so as to fold accordion-style. The labels 102 may then be provided to the print mechanism of the printer portion 150 as a stack of blank labels and the backing material may be returned and similarly folded along the provided creases. Other configurations are possible and present embodiments are not limited to the manner in which the labels 102 are provided to the printer portion 150. The labels 102 may be provided to the print mechanism of the printer portion 150 by a stepper motor, as is known in this art.
After the label 102 has been printed with the desired unique printed information, the printed label 102 may be removed from the continuous strip of backing material 104 to allow the removed label to be affixed to the loaded drive. Reference is now made to
To assist in the peeling of the labels 102 from the strip of backing material 104, the automated device 100 may also include an air blower 116 (shown in
The pick and place unit 114, according to an embodiment of the present invention, may include a vacuum chuck that is configured to apply a partial vacuum to a non-adhesive side of the peeled label 102. In one embodiment, the vacuum chuck of the pick and place unit 114 may be triggered by an optical sensor (such as a fiber optic sensor, for example) indicating that the label 102 is properly positioned and may be lowered on the slide support 205 to bring it in intimate contact with the label 102, the underside (adhesive side) of which may be subjected to the upwardly-directed force generated by the stream of air 202 exiting from the outlets of the blower 116. The vacuum chuck may be lowered close to the label 102 before the partial vacuum is applied. This tends to avoid or minimize wrinkles or trapped air bubbles between the vacuum chuck and the label and results in the label 102 being smoothly applied to the item, thereby also minimizing wrinkles and air bubbles between the item and the label. Thus, the vacuum chuck may be controlled to move downward along the slide support 205 in the direction of arrow 204 until it comes into contact with (or close to) the label 102 and applies suction to the non-adhesive side of the label 102. At this point, about 90 percent of the surface area of the label 102 may be lying flat and sealed against the vacuum chuck and detached from the strip of backing material 104. Therefore, if not already peeled, the label 102 may be fully peeled from the backing material 104 as the vacuum chuck and peeled label (coupled to the vacuum chuck by the partial vacuum) is moved back upwards on the slide support 205, in the direction of arrow 206.
The vacuum chuck of the pick and place unit 114 may then be moved on a support slide 207 in the direction of arrow 208 to a suitable position for affixing the label 102. For example, the vacuum chuck and label 102 may be moved along the slide support 207 to a position in which the label 102 held by the vacuum chuck is just above the item onto which the label 102 is to be affixed. For example, the vacuum chuck and label 102 may be moved to a position that is just above the cradle 302 in
Thereafter, the vacuum chuck may be lowered to a position in which the label 102 held by the vacuum chuck makes contact or near contact with the disk drive loaded in its cradle 302. The vacuum chuck preferably then stops applying vacuum, and the label 102 may then be pressed onto the drive loaded in the cradle 302 by a roller 112 (best seen in
As shown at step S42, the method may also include a step of supplying one or more labels to the printer portion 150. The supplying step S42 may include mounting a strip of backing material 104 and adhered labels 102 onto a label supply roll, as shown in
Step S43 calls for the unique item information obtained from the scanning step S41 to be sent to the printer portion 150, and step S44 calls for the unique item information sent to the printer portion 150 to be used to print the customized, individual label to be affixed to the item. Note that the printing step includes printing unique printed information based on all or only a portion of the unique item information scanned from the item onto which the label is to be affixed. Moreover, the printing step may include printing other information and/or graphical content onto the label, in addition to the unique printed information.
Step S45 calls for the label printed in step S45 to be affixed onto the item. The printer portion 150 of the automated device 100 may be obtained, for example, from Zebra Technologies Corporation of Vernon Hills, Ill., although such printers do not include the label peel structures and functionalities disclosed herein. Such a printer may then be modified to include the label peel structures and functionality described above.
As shown and described herein, step S45 may include a number of steps, including peeling the label 102 from the strip of backing material 104. Step S45 may also include picking the printed and peeled label 102 up and placing the picked up label onto the item, as described relative to
The peeling step preferably includes running the strip of backing material with the label(s) adhered thereon over a static knife edge 118 at an acute angle to the strip of backing material. The peeling step may also include a step of blowing air (and/or other gas) as shown at 202 in
As also described earlier, the vacuum chuck of the pick and place unit 114 may then apply a partial vacuum to a non-adhesive side of the label (before the printing step is completed, according to one embodiment). The affixing step S45 may further include affixing a first portion of the label onto a first side of the item, flipping the item over and affixing a second portion of the label 102 onto a second side of the item. Affixing the second portion of the label onto the second side of the item may include rolling a roller such as shown at 112 against a non-adhesive side of the label 102. Doing so may also affix a third portion of the label onto a third side (e.g., an edge or side) of the item. Although a 1-inch form factor disk drive has been used as an illustrative example of the item onto which the label 102 is to be affixed, the embodiments of the present invention are not to be limited thereto.
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