E-paper imager

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10460160-B2
Application number	US-201515764037-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2015
Priority date	Oct 29, 2015
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

An imager includes an ion-emitting unit and a conveying structure to move a passive e-paper display medium in a first orientation along a travel path and to releasably support the display medium in spaced relation to receive airborne ions from the ion-emitting unit for imaging operations.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An imager comprising:
an ion-emitting unit;
a conveying structure to move a passive e-paper display medium in a first orientation along a travel path and to releasably support the display medium in spaced relation to receive airborne ions from the ion-emitting unit for imaging operations;
a validation arrangement to permit target-content imaging operations via the ion-emitting unit upon a determination the display medium is valid and to prevent target-content imaging operations upon a determination that the display medium is invalid, and
a machine-readable-code reader;
wherein the ion-emitting unit comprises:
an erasing unit spaced apart, and located downstream, from the machine-readable-code reader; and
a writing unit spaced apart, and located downstream, from the erasing unit.

2. The imager of claim 1 , wherein the conveying structure includes a pair of conveying units laterally spaced apart in the second orientation to be positioned laterally externally to a writable portion of the travel path, and comprising a frame supporting the pair of conveying units and including a window be positioned laterally external to the writable portion of the travel path at least in the region of the writing unit to enable viewing of the rewritable portion of the passive e-paper display medium during at least some imaging operations.

3. The imager of claim 1 , the conveying structure to move the display medium at a first velocity with a first zone including the machine-readable-coder reader, at a second velocity within a second zone including the erasing unit, and a third velocity within a third zone including the writing unit, wherein each respective velocity is selectably different from each other.

4. The imager of claim 1 , wherein the validation module determines a validity of the display medium according to at least one of:
the machine-readable-code reader according to at least one of a presence and a content of the machine-readable-code on the display medium;
a physical structure to filter the display medium according to at least physical parameters of the display medium; and
an electrical element to filter the display medium according to at least electrical parameters of the display medium.

5. The imager of claim 4 , wherein the physical structure is closer to the display medium than the writing unit to ensure a minimum clearance between a face of the display medium and the writing unit.

6. The imager of claim 1 , comprising:
an array of location sensors arranged in series and spaced apart along the travel path, each location sensor to identify a presence or absence of the display medium at each respective location of a corresponding sensor.

7. An imager comprising:
a frame defining, at least, a travel path along a first orientation;
an ion-emitting erasing unit and an ion-emitting writing unit, both located along the travel path with the writing unit spaced apart downstream from the erasing unit;
a conveying structure to move and releasably support a passive e-paper display medium in the first orientation in spaced relation to receive airborne ions from at least one of the respective erasing and writing units for imaging operations, the conveying structure to releasably support the display medium via releasable engagement of opposite faces of the display medium; and
a conductive element to releasably contact a first conductive portion of a side edge of the display medium to establish electrical communication between a power supply and the first conductive portion, the side edge generally perpendicular to the faces of the display medium, wherein the conductive element is separate from, and independent of, the conveying structure.

8. The imager of claim 7 , wherein the conductive element includes a plurality of conductive elements with at least one first conductive element located at generally the same position along the travel path as the erasing unit and at least one second conductive element located at generally the same position along the travel path as the writing unit, the at least one first conductive element spaced apart from, and independent of, the at least one second conductive element.

9. The imager of claim 8 , wherein the conveying structure includes a pair of conveying structures laterally spaced apart in the second orientation to be positioned laterally externally to a writable portion of the travel path, and wherein the frame includes a window having side edges positioned laterally external to the writable portion of the travel path at least in the region of the writing unit.

10. The imager of claim 7 , comprising:
a validation arrangement to permit target content imaging operations via the respective erasing and writing units upon a determination the display medium is valid and to prevent target content imaging operations upon a determination that the display medium is invalid, wherein the conductive element forms part of the validation arrangement.

11. The imager of claim 10 , wherein the validation arrangement comprises at least one of:
a machine-readable-code reader to read machine-readable-code on display medium and to determine a validity of the display medium according to at least one of:
a presence or absence of the machine-readable-code;
a location of the machine-readable-code; and
a content of the machine-readable-code;

a physical structure to filter the display medium according to physical parameters of the display medium; and
an electrical element to filter the display medium according to electrical parameters of the display medium, wherein the electrical filter includes the conductive element.

12. The imager of claim 7 , comprising:
an image evaluation module including a camera aligned with the travel path to capture an image of the re-writable portion of the passive e-paper display medium, wherein the image evaluation module evaluates the captured image regarding at least one of:
an image quality parameter;
a defect detection parameter;
a color calibration parameter; and
a security indicia parameter.

13. An imager comprising:
a frame defining, at least, a travel path along a first orientation;
an ion-emitting erasing unit and an ion-emitting writing unit, both located along the travel path with the writing unit spaced apart downstream from the erasing unit;
a conveying structure to move and releasably support a passive e-paper display medium in the first orientation in spaced relation to receive airborne ions from at least one of the respective erasing and writing units for imaging operations, the conveying structure to releasably support the display medium via releasable engagement of side portions of the display medium to maintain exposure of a passive e-paper display of the display medium for imaging operations;
an array of location sensors arranged in series and spaced apart along the travel path, each location sensor to identify a presence or absence of the display medium at each respective location of a corresponding sensor;
a control portion to control forward and reverse movement, via the conveying structure, of the display medium along the travel path in coordination with the location sensors and in association with the validation arrangement; and
a validation arrangement, to operate in association with the control portion, to permit target-content imaging operations via the respective erasing and writing units upon a determination the display medium is valid and to prevent target-content imaging operations upon a determination that the display medium is invalid.

14. The imager of claim 13 , wherein the target-content imaging operations

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Leoni Napoleon J
• Gila Omer
• Birecki Henryk

Classifications

• G02F1/167

  by electrophoresis · CPC title

• G06K1/128

  by electric registration, e.g. electrolytic, spark erosion (recording apparatus for measuring instruments G01D15/06; information storage in general G11) · CPC title

• G07F7/0846

  On-card display means · CPC title

• G06K7/1417

  2D bar codes · CPC title

• G06T2207/30168

  Image quality inspection · CPC title