Claims
- 1. A method for printing on a material, comprising:
providing a printing system having a laser source for producing a printing beam; directing the printing beam to a plurality of locations on a material; and adjusting a dwell time of the printing beam at the one or more locations so as to form a spot at each location.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein directing the printing beam to a plurality of locations includes steering the printing beam to a plurality of locations.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing beam is incident upon the material as the printing beam is moved from one of the locations to another location, the printing beam being moved at a speed which prevents the beam from marking the material between the locations.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spots are arranged so as to define one or more pixels on the material.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of spots are arranged to define a plurality of pixels on the material, the printing beam remaining incident upon the material as the printing beam is moved between the pixels, the printing beam being moved at a speed which prevents the beam from marking the material between the locations.
- 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:
varying a size of the pixel.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein varying the size of the pixels includes varying the number of spots defining the pixel.
- 8. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more pixels define at least one alphanumeric symbol on the material.
- 9. The method of claim further comprising:
changing the density of the pixels that define the at least one alphanumeric symbol on the material.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one symbol defines a code on the material.
- 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more pixels define a plurality of symbols on the material, the printing beam remaining incident upon the material as the printing beam is moved from one of the symbols to another of the symbols, the printing beam being moved at a speed which prevents the beam from marking the material between the symbols.
- 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
forming a visually observable outline on the material, the visually observable outline defining a print zone within which the spot is formed.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the printing system includes a printing beam exit member through which the printing beam exits the printing system, the printing beam exit member being adjustable such that the printing beam can be manually aimed to a particular portion of the material.
- 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is a label for affixing to a product.
- 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the laser is an air cooled laser.
- 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the laser is at most a 20 Watt laser.
- 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the laser is at most a 15 Watt laser.
- 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the laser is about a 13 Watt laser.
- 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing system weighs less than 25 pounds.
- 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing system weighs less than 22 pounds.
- 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing system includes a housing having a volume of less than 1200 cubic inches.
- 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing system includes a housing having a volume of less than 600 cubic inches.
- 23. A printing system, comprising:
a laser source for producing a printing beam; electronics for directing the printing beam to a plurality locations on a material; and electronics for adjusting a dwell time of the printing beam at the one or more location so as to form a spot at each location.
- 24. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the printing beam is incident upon the material as the printing beam is directed from one of the locations to another of the locations.
- 25. The printing system of claim 23, wherein directing the printing beam to a plurality of locations includes steering the printing beam to a plurality of locations.
- 26. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the locations are arranged such that the spots define one or more pixels on the material.
- 27. The printing system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of spots are arranged to define a plurality of pixels on the material, the printing beam remaining incident upon the material as the printing beam is moved from one of the locations to another location.
- 28. The printing system of claim 23, further comprising:
electronics for varying a size of the pixel.
- 29. The printing system of claim 28, wherein varying the size of the pixels includes varying the number of spots defining the pixel.
- 30. The printing system of claim 26, wherein the one or more pixels define at least one alphanumeric symbol on the material.
- 31. The printing system of claim 26, further comprising:
electronics for changing the density of the pixels that define the at least one alphanumeric symbol on the material.
- 32. The printing system of claim 30, wherein the at least one symbol defines a code on the material.
- 33. The printing system of claim 30, wherein the one or more pixels define a plurality of symbols on the material, the printing beam remaining incident upon the material as the printing beam is moved from one of the symbols to another symbol.
- 34. The printing system of claim 23, further comprising:
electronics for forming a visually observable outline on the material, the visually observable outline defining a print zone within which the spot is formed.
- 35. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the laser is mounted in a housing coupled with a printing beam exit member, the printing beam exit member being movable relative to the housing.
- 36. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the laser is an air cooled laser.
- 37. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the laser is at most a 20 Watt laser.
- 38. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the laser is at most a 15 Watt laser.
- 39. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the printing system weighs less than 25 pounds.
- 40. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the printing system weighs less than 22 pounds.
- 41. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the printing system includes a housing having a volume of less than 1200 cubic inches.
- 42. The printing system of claim 23, wherein the printing system includes a housing having a volume of less than 600 cubic inches.
- 43. A method for printing on a material, comprising:
providing a printing system having a laser source for producing a printing beam; directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material; and changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product.
- 44. The method of claim 43, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material includes directing the printing beam such that the printing beam dwells at a plurality of locations on the material, and
changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product includes changing the time that the printing beam dwells at each location.
- 45. The method of claim 43, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material includes directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of pixels on the material, the pixels being arranged so as to define the code, and
changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product includes changing the density of the pixels that define the code.
- 46. The method of claim 43, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material includes directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of pixels on the material, the pixels being arranged so as to define the code, and
changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product includes changing the size of the pixels that define the code.
- 47. The method of claim 46, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of pixels on the material includes directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of spots on the material, the spots arranged so as to define the pixels on the material, and
changing the size of the pixels that define the code includes changing the number of spots that define a pixel.
- 48. A printing system, comprising:
a laser source for producing a printing beam; electronics for directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material; and electronics for changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product.
- 49. The system of claim 48, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material includes directing the printing beam such that the printing beam dwells at a plurality of locations on the material, and
changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product includes changing the time that the printing beam dwells at each location.
- 50. The system of claim 48, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material includes directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of pixels on the material, the pixels being arranged so as to define the code, and
changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product includes changing the density of the pixels that define the code.
- 51. The system of claim 48, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a code on the material includes directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of pixels on the material, the pixels being arranged so as to define the code, and
changing the amount of time required to form the code on the product includes changing the size of the pixels that define the code.
- 52. The system of claim 51, wherein directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of pixels on the material includes directing the printing beam so as to form a plurality of spots on the material, the spots arranged so as to define the pixels on the material, and
changing the size of the pixels that define the code includes changing the number of spots that define a pixel.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/197,518, filed Apr. 18, 2000 and entitled “PRINTING A CODE ON A PRODUCT,” which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
[0002] This patent application is related to U.S. patent applications entitled “PRINTING A CODE ON A PRODUCT” (Docket No. LASER1140-2), Ser. No. ______ and “PRINTING A CODE ON A PRODUCT” (Docket No. LASER1140-3), Ser. No. ______ filed concurrently herewith. Both related patent applications are incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60197518 |
Apr 2000 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09704653 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
10454025 |
Jun 2003 |
US |