Thermoformed customized object holder for direct to object printers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10987945-B2
Application number	US-201916405231-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 7, 2019
Priority date	Apr 3, 2017
Publication date	Apr 27, 2021
Grant date	Apr 27, 2021

Abstract

A method for printing on a multi-dimensional object may include creating a customized object holder for the multi-dimensional object by heating a thermoforming sheet to a thermoforming temperature, molding the heated thermoforming sheet around at least a portion of a multi-dimensional object to form a holding portion for the multi-dimensional object, creating one or more printable areas on the molded thermoforming sheet, and applying one or more datum points on the molded thermoformed sheet. The one or more datum points may be configured to provide information relating to position of the one or more printable areas to a print system.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for printing on a multi-dimensional object, the method comprising, creating a customized object holder for holding the multi-dimensional object during printing by:
heating a thermoforming sheet to a thermoforming temperature;
molding the heated thermoforming sheet around at least a portion of a multi-dimensional object to form a holding portion for the multi-dimensional object;
creating one or more printable areas on the molded thermoforming sheet by removing a art of the thermoforming sheet that forms the holding portion;
applying one or more datum points on the molded thermoformed sheet, wherein the one or more datum points are configured to provide information relating to position of the one or more printable areas to a print system.

2. A method of claim 1 , further comprising:
mounting the multi-dimensional object on the customized object holder;
attaching, via a mounting structure, the customized object holder to a moving sled of a print system;
by a processor, controlling a movement of the moving sled relative to a plurality of print heads by:
determining, using the one or more datum points, a position of at least one printable area on the multi-dimensional object with respect to the plurality of print heads, and
using the determined position to control the movement of the moving sled relative to the plurality of print heads; and

by the processor, operating the plurality of print heads to eject marking material onto the multi-dimensional object.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining, using the one or more datum points, the position of at least one printable area on the multi-dimensional object with respect to the plurality of print heads comprises:
receiving, from the one or more datum points, the registration information corresponding to the one or more printable areas of the multi-dimensional object; and
determining the position of the at least one printable area on the multi-dimensional object using the received registration information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the one or more printable areas on the molded thermoform sheet further comprises molding the heated thermoforming sheet around at least the portion of the multi-dimensional object such that a second portion of the multi-dimensional object is not covered by the thermoforming sheet.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the at least one datum point comprises applying one or more of the following: optical gratings, color markings, ultraviolet (UV) traces, infrared (IR) traces, thermal traces, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating the customized object holder to include an identification tag that includes information relating to the customized object holder.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the information relating to the customized object holder comprises one or more of the following:
a type of object held within the customized object holder;
a number of objects held within the customized object holder;
information regarding one or more characteristics of an object;
information regarding a printable area of an object;
information regarding one or more characteristics of the customized object holder; or
a location of the object within the customized object holder.

8. A system for printing on a multi-dimensional object, the system comprising:
a plurality of print heads;
a moving sled configured to receive a customized object holder;
an actuator configured to move the moving sled relative to the plurality of print heads;
a processing device; and
a non-transitory, computer-readable memory containing programming instructions that are configured to cause the processing device to:
create the customized object holder that is configured to hold a multi-dimensional object by causing a thermoforming system to:
heat a thermoforming sheet to a thermoforming temperature,
mold the heated thermoforming sheet around at least a portion of the multi-dimensional object to form a holding portion for the multi-dimensional object,
create the one or more printable areas on the molded thermoforming sheet by removing a part of the thermoforming sheet that forms the holding portion, and
apply at least one datum point on the molded thermoformed sheet, wherein the at least one datum point is configured to provide information relating to position of the one or more printable areas to the processing device,

control a movement of the moving sled relative to the plurality of print heads, via the actuator, and
control a movement of the moving sled relative to the plurality of print heads, via the actuator, and
operate the plurality of print heads to eject marking material onto a multidimensional object mounted on the moving sled.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the customized object holder further comprises a base.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the customized object holder is configured to be mounted on the moving sled via a mounting structure; and
the base of the customized object holder is configured to have a size and a shape that fits within the mounting structure.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the mounting structure is configured to attach to the base along a periphery.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instruction to create the one or more printable areas on the molded thermoform sheet further comprise instructions to mold the heated thermoforming sheet around at least the portion of the multi-dimensional object such that a second portion of the multi-dimensional object is not covered by the thermoforming sheet.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instruction to apply the at least one datum point comprise instructions to apply one or more of the following: optical gratings, color markings, ultraviolet (UV) traces, infrared (IR) traces, thermal traces, or a combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to control the movement of the moving sled relative to the plurality of print heads, further comprise instructions to:
determine, using the at least one datum point, a position of at least one printable area on the multi-dimensional object with respect to the plurality of print heads, and
use the determined position to control the movement of the moving sled relative to the plurality of print heads.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions to determine, using the at least one datum point, the position of at least one printable area on the multi-dimensional object with respect to the plurality of print heads further comprise instructions to:
receive, from the at least one datum point, the registration information corresponding to the one or more printable areas of the multi-dimensional object; and
determine the position of the at least one printable area on the multi-dimensional object using the received registration information.

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Johnson D Clay
• Atwood Mark A
• Foley Timothy P
• Robles Flores Eliud

Classifications

• B29C51/421

  of preforms, specially adapted for thermoforming (preheating sheets in general B29B13/023; B29C51/427 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29L2031/723

  Articles for displaying or advertising (labels, badges B29L2031/744) · CPC title

• B29C2795/007

  after shaping · CPC title

• B29L2031/767

  Printing equipment or accessories therefor · CPC title

• B29L2031/727

  Fastening elements (bolts B29L2001/002; nuts B29L2001/005; screws B29L2001/007; slide fasteners B29L2005/00; buttons for haberdashery B29L2019/00) · CPC title