Patent Application
20070248394
This application relates to system and method for ordering and producing made-to-order corrugated products, and more specifically to a product with a desired image incorporated into the printed image.
Corrugated cardboard sheets or similar paper products intended for incorporation into packing or shipping boxes may be printed by ink jet technology, as disclosed in a related US patent application mentioned above. Presently, two differing technologies may be used for ink jet printing. One technology is a thermal-type print head in which a bubble is formed inside a nozzle to eject the ink droplet toward the surface to be printed, and a second technology is a piezoelectric type in which the ink droplet is produced in response to the vibration of the ink orifice.
Where ink jet technology is used for printing a surface, such as the surface of a corrugated cardboard sheet used to form a box, the sheet width may be wide; as an example about 1500 mm. The ink jet printer for such a width may have a plurality of ink jet print heads, each ink jet print head having a plurality of ink jet nozzles oriented in a linear fashion. Such ink jet heads may have a several rows of nozzles, each associated with a specific color, such as the ink colors yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) as are used in a printing process.
The ink jet print heads are disposed in a widthwise direction so as to span the entire width of the surface to be printed. Each of the ink jet print heads may be controlled by one or more process computers so as to eject the ink droplets to produce a desired image. The ink jet heads are fixed in position and the surface to be printed is advanced at a predetermined feeding rate so that the ink droplets can impinge thereon and form dots thereon and thus create the image.
The image data to be printed by the ink jet printer is provided to the printer controller in digital format. As such, multiple images may be transmitted for printing on various portions of the sheet corresponding to the faces of the box. The selected image data may be rapidly be replaced by new image data. As such, box printing may be adapted to customer requirements by changing the image data supplied to the process controller.
A system for producing a made-to-order box is described, having a server computer configured to access a first data base of available box characteristics, and a second data base of images, at least one of the images in the second data base having a blank area therein. The server has a communications interface for receiving customer specified box characteristics and images, at least one image may be obtained from the second data base and modified by a customer so that the blank area may be filled with an image or text data supplied by the customer.
A system for ordering a made-to-order box is described, having a computer configured to request information through a communications interface, the requested information defining at least available box characteristics, to request image data by a transmission over a network, and to display image data received through the communications interface. At least one of the displayed images may have a blank area therein. The customer may have a data storage device having image insert data stored thereon, and the computer may be configured to select and insert image data obtained from the data storage device in the blank area of the displayed image to create a composite image.
A method of producing a made-to-order box is described, the method including providing a first data base of box attribute data and developed box outline images corresponding thereto; providing a second data base of image data, at least one image having a blank area therein; and supplying the box attribute data to a customer over through a communications interface. The method further includes receiving the customer-selected box attributes through the communications interface; supplying the customer with a developed box outline image corresponding to the customer-selected box attributes; and receiving a composite image over the communications interface, where the composite image is selected from one or more of at least one image having a blank area, the blank area having been filled with customer-supplied image data.
A method of ordering a made-to-order box is described, the method including: requesting box attribute data and developed box outline images corresponding thereto; requesting image data, at least one image having a blank area therein; receiving box attribute data and image data over a network through a communications interface; selecting desired box attribute data from the available box attribute data and displaying the corresponding developed box outline image; selecting image data and associating each selected image with a box face as represented on the developed box outline image; selecting image insert data from a data base of customer images and designating the position of the image insert with respect to the blank area in the image to create a composite image; and transmitting the composite image and the box attribute data on a network through a communications interface.
Exemplary embodiments may be better understood with reference to the drawings, but these embodiments are not intended to be of a limiting nature. Like numbered elements in the same or different drawings perform equivalent functions.
A system and method for ordering and producing a made-to-order corrugated product suitable for forming into a box for packaging or shipping of an enclosed product is described. In an aspect, a variety of sizes and shapes of boxes which may be produced by a manufacturer are defined and stored in a product data base. Similarly a variety of images which may be printed on the surface of such a box are defined and stored in an image data base. Each of the box and image data bases may be accessed by a user, either locally or by way of a communications network such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or by wireless means. The user, who may be a customer of the manufacturer, may be provided with the ability to insert one or more user supplied images in blank spaces provided in the images pre-defined by the manufacturer.
In this description, the entity specifying the made-to-order configuration of a box to be produced is the user or the customer, and the entity providing the product attribute data base, the image data base, and producing the made-to-order printed sheet suitable for forming into a box is the manufacturer or producer. The made-to-order printed sheet may be used by the producer to package a product being made by the producer, may be shipped to the customer or be shipped to a third entity for forming into a box for the same or similar purpose.
Instructions for implementing the manufacturing processes of the producer, the processes of a computer, and the like may be provided on computer-readable storage media or memories, such as a cache, buffer, RAM, removable media, hard drive or other computer readable storage media. Computer readable storage media include various types of volatile and nonvolatile storage media. The functions, acts or tasks illustrated in the figures or described herein may be executed in response to one or more sets of instructions stored in or on computer readable storage media. The functions, acts or tasks are independent of the particular type of instruction set, storage media, processor or processing strategy and may be performed by software, hardware, integrated circuits, firmware, micro code and the like, operating alone or in combination. Likewise, data processing strategies may include multiprocessing, multitasking, parallel processing and the like. In an aspect, the instructions may be stored on a removable media device for reading by local or remote systems. In other aspects, the instructions may be stored in a remote location for transfer through a computer network, a local or wide area network or over telephone lines. In yet other aspects, the instructions are stored within a given computer or system. The terms server, computer, processor and the like are used equivalently in the art and that practice is continued herein.
To support multiple users at geographically distributed locations, web-based applications and devices may be used. Where the term “network” or “Internet” is used, the intent is to describe an internetworking environment, which may include both local and wide area networks, where defined transmission protocols are used to facilitate communications between diverse, possibly geographically dispersed, entities. An example of such an environment is the world-wide-web and the use of the TCP/IP data packet protocol, and the use of Ethernet or other hardware and software protocols for some of the data paths.
As used herein, a corrugated sheet is intended to mean any structure having at least a liner and a corrugated structure, the liner and the corrugated structure being integral or co-joined by a fixation means such as an adhesive an interlayer or the like. Such corrugated sheets are commonly made from cellulose-based materials, but as used herein the term is not intended to exclude other materials such as plastics, staple fibers, or other combinations of materials that may be formed into sheets. A corrugated structure has a minimum of a liner and a corrugated structure, but may include multiple layers of each type and with various means of joining the layers together.
A sheet may be a corrugated sheet, a flat sheet, a flat sheet with a corrugated sheet affixed to one surface, a corrugated sheet having flat sheets affixed to opposing surfaces thereof, on combinations of such arrangements. The corrugations may be sinusoidal, crenellated, triangular or the like. The sheet may be cellulose-based, plastic, fibrous or the like and may be a combination of a variety of materials such that a surface suitable for printing is formed.
An image may include a picture, a drawing, a geometric or abstract design, including text, and be of one or more colors, and an image may consist of a single solid color. More than one image may be combined for printing on a surface or a face of the box or container. An insert image may have the characteristics of an image.
In an aspect, the manufacturer creates a first data base comprising product physical characteristics or attributes, which may include, but are not limited to, overall dimensions of the sheet to be printed, the dimensions of each surface of the box which may be controlled by the user, the position of the slots, scores and creases, the specifications of the sheet, including corrugation, the direction of corrugation, bursting strength, inner and outer surface liner and the like. Such characteristics or attributes are available for the user to select, within any limitations contained in the data base definition provided by the manufacturer.
Corresponding to the box dimensions, a developed box outline drawing may be stored or computed showing the relative dimensions, the positions of the scores, creases and slots, and designating portions of the outline drawing with identifiers so that images or other data may subsequently be associated therewith. Other outline drawings may also be prepared, such as perspective views, and views of individual faces of the box. These may facilitate user interaction. In addition to an outer surface developed box outline drawing, an inner surface box outline drawing, or a portion thereof may be prepared, so that an inner surface of the box, such as the inner surface of the top lid may be printed. Further, the user may select a corrugated surface for printing a desired image in a case, for example, of a gift box. In this case, an ink jet printing is effective, since an ink jet printing process can print an image on the corrugated surface in a non-contact manner.
A second data base may contain a variety of images, selectable by the user for printing on a specified portion of the sheet corresponding to a desired surface of the box. Herein, it should be understood that when a “side” or “face” of the box is described, this represents the side or face of the box when it has been manufactured and assembled. In the manufacturing process, the sheet is printed as a flat object. The sheet is subsequently slotted, creased (scored), or die-cut and may be formed into a box at a later time. Some of the drawings also include a formed box to aid in the explanation of the overall process. This is done without suggesting a requirement for formation of a box at a specific stage of manufacture.
Some of the images in the data base are configured so as to permit the user to customize the appearance of the box. Specifically, some of the images are provided with blank areas of regular or irregular shape within which the user may insert image data supplied by the user, or from another data base provided by the producer. By specifying an image to be printed within the blank area of the image provided by the manufacturer, the user may customize the appearance of the box by altering one or more of the images printed thereon. For example, a box may have a pre-defined image of a doll, selected from the second data base, and the user may provide or specify a digital image of a face of a family member who may be the recipient of the doll to be inserted in a blank area formed in the pre-defined image corresponding to the location of the face. Alternatively, the pre-defined image may have the form of a gift card, and the user may insert text to be printed in a blank area of the gift card. Such an image may be printed on either an interior or an exterior surface of the box. Not all of the images or information to be printed on the box may be customized. Some images may be complete, and some images may be fixed with respect to a specific product, but at least one of the images to be printed may be customizable by a user.
Where the image data of the second data base is intended to be transmitted to another location for display or modification, the resolution may be reduced to improve data transmission speed while maintaining appropriate image quality. Alternatively, thumbnails or icons of the images may be prepared and first transmitted to the user to assist the user in selecting more complete image data from the second data base. In an aspect, the thumbnails may suffice for certain operations, such as where the image is not to be modified, and an icon may suffice where only text is to be inserted. Unless specifically mentioned to the contrary, the term image data is meant to interpreted as any one of the full image data, a reduced resolution version of the image data, a thumbnail or an icon.
At the producer location, a server or computer 600 has an interface to the network 500 and executes a compatible software protocol to establish and maintain communications with the client or user. A mass storage device 610, which may be any of the known types of memory is connected to the server 600. The server further interfaces with the ink jet printer 100, the ink jet printer having a process computer 141. A finisher 200, which may be comprised of a creaser and a slotter may be connected to the server 600. Alternatively the server may display or print instructions for operators regarding the operation of the finisher 200, and the steps needed to perform the setup and the operation of the finisher may be performed either manually or automatically.
To better describe the system and method, an example of an ink jet printer system is shown in
The finisher 200 may comprise a creaser 30 and a slotter 40. The creaser 30 is representative of a device that performs a creasing or a scoring process, the difference between creasing and scoring being that creasing is transverse to the maximum dimension of the sheet 5 and scoring is longitudinal to the maximum dimension of the sheet 5. A feeder 113 feeds the printed sheets one-by-one into the creaser 30 and the slotter 40, and the sheet is then deposited on a stacker (not shown) prior to further processing. At this stage, the printed sheet 5 may be made into a box 50, be stored for future use, or be shipped to another entity for use.
The images printed on the sheet 5 by the ink jet printer 100 represent the images transmitted to the print controller 141 by the server 600. As such, each of the sheets 5 that are fed one-by-one under the print head 114 by the conveyer belt 118 may be printed with differing images, resulting in a made-to-order sheet for use in a box 50. The number of sheets 5, printed with the same pattern of images may be specified in the customer order.
a-c illustrate images that may be displayed on the client computer display 401 during a phase of the method for ordering the made-to-order printed sheet 5 for the box 50. In an example,
It should be understood that the characteristics of a box may be provided from the first data base to the customer, or the customer may enter numerical dimensions and other characteristics needed to produce the box on an ordering display in a manual or other manner. The range of characteristics for a particular box style that are available from the supplier may be explicitly displayed or checked against limits during the ordering process.
One or more of the selected images has at least one blank area 61 where client specified images (which may be text) may be inserted by the user. Each image may be given a designation, and alphanumeric labels or other indications given so as to identify the blank areas 61 suitable for inserting customer specified material. The positions of slots 51, creases 52 and scores 53 in the manufactured printed sheet may also be shown.
b shows examples of user specifiable images 71a-c, which may be images stored on the local storage device 403 as image data, or text 71 prepared using the keyboard 402 or as text selected from text messages stored on the local storage device 403. A variety of image and digital photographic image processing techniques as are known in the art may be used to, for example, size, crop, rotate, stitch, morph and merge all or a portion of the user provided image data with the image obtained from the second data base of the producer server 600 so as to form a composite image 73. The process of forming a composite image 73 from the image selected from the second data base and a user selected insert image 71 may be performed for one or more of the blank areas 61 on an image, and may be performed for the image selected for each of the faces of the box 50 for which a customized image 73 is desired.
When the user has completed the ordering process, the modified images, the sheet specifications, box attributes, the quantity of sheets required, and other administrative data necessary to place the order is sent from the user computer 400 to the server 600 by way of the network 500. The server 600 may perform error checking, confirm the order to the user and convert the order information and image data into a format suitable for transmission to the manufacturing operation.
The set up of the ink jet printer 100, and the selection and provision of the sheets 5 may be either performed automatically in whole or in part, or the information necessary to perform the equipment set up and materials selection is displayed or printed for use by manufacturing personnel.
The image data to be printed on the sheet 5, the quantity of sheets 5 to be printed, and the like, may be sent by the server to the process computer 141 by any electronic means, or the information may be written to removable storage media and physically transported between the server 600 and the process computer associated with the ink jet printer 100.
When the printer 100 has received the image information from the server 600 and the selected type of sheets 5 are loaded in the feeder 113, the ink jet printing process may be performed. In this manner, a printed sheet 5 is produced having the characteristics desired by the user, and may be termed a made-to-order box 50.
Printers may be configured to print information on both sides of the sheet 50 sequentially, so that interior surfaces of the box, such as the inner lid may be printed with image or text information. Alternatively, only the side of the sheet 5 corresponding to the interior of the box 50 may be printed. The information and images may be fixed or customizable as previously described.
In an aspect, the composite printing image 73 including images from the second data base and the customer image may either be printed on the sheet 5 all at the same time, or only the customer image may be printed on the blank areas 61 of the sheet 5 on which the image from the second data base is already printed. The printing steps may also be performed in the reverse order.
A method of producing a made-to-order box includes the steps of: transmitting information defining the types and dimensions of boxes which may be ordered; transmitting image data representing images which may be printed on the faces of a box, at least one image having a blank area thereon suitable for the insertion of other image or text data; receiving a specification indicating the type and dimensions of a box to be produced; receiving image data representing the image having a blank area thereon with an image inserted in the blank area; formatting the image data for transmission to an ink jet printer; and printing images on the sheet.
A method of ordering a made-to-order box includes the steps of: receiving information defining the types and dimensions of boxes which may be ordered; receiving image data representing images which may be printed on the faces of a box, at least one image having a blank area thereon suitable for the insertion of other image or text data; transmitting a specification indicating the type and dimensions of a box to be produced; transmitting image data representing the image having a blank area thereon with an image inserted in the blank area.
Each of the methods may include an order verification and confirmation step.
The subsequent steps of the manufacturing process may be performed automatically, manually, or by a combination of automatic and manual steps.
Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.
