CN111278658B

CN111278658B - Method for the continuous printing of authentic identification elements on a web

Info

Publication number: CN111278658B
Application number: CN201880061114.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J·普拉特·希尔; J·阿希莱斯·略伦斯
Original assignee: Kemeixi Group Industrial Co ltd
Current assignee: Kemeixi Group Industrial Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-09-20
Filing date: 2018-09-18
Publication date: 2021-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-18
Also published as: EP3339047A1; EP3339047B1; WO2019057692A1; ES2775448T3; CN111278658A; CA3076176A1; MX2020002951A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for continuously printing authenticated identification elements on a web, the method comprising randomly generating a register comprising identification elements to be printed; continuously printing said identification elements on a web; and The printed identification elements are transferred into the register containing the printed identification elements in the register of the identification elements to be printed. When a defective web segment is detected, the method further includes discarding the web segment, identifying adjacent identification elements of the defective web segment, and removing from the register including the printed identification elements, the adjacent identification elements All identity elements between identity elements.

Description

Method for the continuous printing of authentic identification elements on a web

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for continuously printing on a web certified identification elements to obtain a web having a series of printed identification elements, wherein identification elements actually printed on non-defective web sections can be certified, which therefore ensures that no identification elements are lost due to printing on defective web sections and generally allows to ensure that all elements of a given set of identification elements are actually printed.

The method is applicable to the promotion of products bearing identification elements that may be used to award prizes or allow returns, or as a unique identification of pharmaceutical products, or for other similar uses.

Background

The use of individual printing of unique and unique identification elements is known in the industry. For example, the print date or manufacturing date, the product lot, etc. typically include a code or number, but in this case the codes used are typically in a regular sequence and are therefore predictable. Because of the concern of counterfeiting, there is no interest in using it to conduct a lottery (drawing) or to award a prize.

It is well known to include random alphabetic identification elements (e.g. alphanumeric codes) for the very purpose of participating in a lottery or distributing a prize. The randomness of the identification elements makes it highly unlikely that a counterfeiter will use a code corresponding to one of the codes that is actually used by chance in a lottery or prize.

However, it is because they are unpredictable random codes that a register of generated identification elements needs to be maintained in order to be able to subsequently draw a lottery from the generated and printed identification elements.

However, there is currently a risk of print defects (caused by the continuous printing speed) occurring, which may result in hundreds or thousands of identification elements being printed on defective sections of web that cannot be marketed, leading to variations or errors in the possibility of obtaining prizes, or awarding prizes to identification elements that are not on the market (because these identification elements are damaged during the printing task).

The known documents or prior art still do not provide a solution to this problem, i.e. a register allowing to automatically acquire a print-certified identification element capable of printing the identification element absolutely correctly (this identification element refers to the identification element printed on the envelope or bag of the unified product, acquired from the print web, which is about to be put on the market).

Disclosure of Invention

The invention relates to a method for continuously printing an authentic identification element on a web.

It will be understood that a continuously printed web is a web of material that is continuously moving in one direction, and that marking elements are printed on the web without having to stop the web.

The identification elements are non-repeating marks, symbols, codes, numerical sequences, letters or combinations thereof, which are different each time they are printed, and thus are unique identifiers.

The identification elements are to be printed in predetermined areas of the web. Typically, the web is cut segment by segment into segments corresponding to product units, e.g. for forming sachets, bags or pouches for use as consumables. The identification element of each product unit will be printed on the web to contain one identification element to distinguish it from other product units having different identification elements.

This is useful, for example, in drawing a drawing that assigns prizes to a particular product unit associated with an identification element, or for ensuring the authenticity of a product, by checking whether the identification element corresponds to an authenticated identification element, it can be ensured that the product unit is not a false counterfeit.

The web will typically contain other printed matter than that of the identification element, for example, an identification of the product that a future packet or bag will contain. The previous prints may be made in the same printing unit in which the marking elements are printed or in another printing unit in which the web is wound onto a reel and subsequently fed into the unit in which the marking elements are printed. In any case, the web will preferably include previous prints.

The proposed method for continuously printing an identification element for authentication on a web therefore comprises: the identification elements which differ from one another are randomly generated by means of the calculation unit.

The identification elements are continuously printed on the web under control of the processing unit.

The invention proposes, in a novel manner, to store, in a register comprising printed identifiers, copies of a series of identification elements that have been printed on a web, including the printing order. The printed identifier of the register is obtained by the processing unit.

The processing unit may be part of the computing unit or may be a separate unit.

During the printing process, the method envisages the detection of defective printed web sections, comprising defects selected from:

o identifying defects in the element printing process;

o defects in the position or condition of the web, including cracks therein;

o defects in previous prints of the web;

and in response to said detection of a defective web segment:

identifying an adjoining identification element adjoining the defective web segment and communicating said adjoining identification element to the processing unit;

the processing unit removes all identification elements included between contiguous identification elements from the register including the printed identifier;

discarding the defective web segment;

so that the register containing the printed identifier contains all the identification elements printed on a defect-free web, ensuring its authentication status.

Preferably, defects in the web will be detected automatically. For example, the printing unit responsible for printing the identification element may communicate its correct operation to the processing unit, where any change may be detected, or the correct state of the web may be detected at all times by an optical sensor, where any deviation may be detected. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the present invention contemplates that the operator can indicate any detected event to the processing unit.

It will be understood that the contiguous identification element of the defective web segment is the last identification element printed on the outside of the defective web segment, or the first identification element printed on the inside of the defective web segment, which defines one of the ends of the defective web segment, and that the other end of the defective web segment is defined when the first identification element is again printed on the outside of the defective web segment or the last identification element is again printed on the inside of the defective web segment.

Thus, the abutting identification elements may be the first and last identification elements printed on the defective web segment, and the last identification element is correctly printed before the defective web segment, while the first identification element is correctly printed again after the end of the defective web segment.

Thus, the entire defective web segment and all the identification elements printed thereon will be included between the two identification elements.

The defective web segment will be discarded because it cannot be used for production (since it contains errors or defects); thus, all identification elements that have been printed on the defective web segment will also be discarded and will not reach the consumer. The physical elimination of the defective web segment will be performed by an operator who will discard the defective web segment and add the web segment before and after the defective web segment, thereby providing continuity to the entire web segment.

In order to prevent that the register containing the printed identification elements contains identification elements which will not actually end up in the hands of the consumer, since it may be problematic to perform the drawing using said identification elements, the above-mentioned contiguous identification elements are identified and transferred to the processing unit which will eliminate from the register containing the printed identification elements all the identification elements comprised between the contiguous identification elements and the contiguous identification elements if they correspond to the identification elements printed on the defective piece of web paper.

In this way, only those identification elements that have actually been printed on a non-defective web segment and that will reach the consumer remain in the register that includes the printed identification elements.

According to one embodiment, the processing unit may infer the contiguous identification element based on a moment in time when the inspection device detects the defect. In this case, the processing unit will indicate the abutment identification element to the operator so that the operator can correctly identify the defective web segment to be eliminated.

It is also conceivable to connect the processing unit to a recognition device which is directed to the area on the web on which the identification elements are printed, so that, once a print defect is detected, said recognition device can recognize these contiguous identification elements by combining its reading with the reading of the inspection device.

According to another embodiment, it is also envisaged that the aforesaid operator will be responsible for identifying the beginning and the end of the defective piece of web during elimination and, therefore, for communicating the abutment identification element to the processing unit (either by manual input or by displaying said abutment identification element to an identification element reader connected to said processing unit).

This allows a register containing printed identification elements to authenticate a properly printed identification element, thus eliminating the need for a principal, such as a notary, to be present for such authentication.

According to the proposed embodiment, all identification elements are generated by the calculation unit before the start of the printing process and stored in a register accessible to the processing unit comprising the identifier to be printed, and the identifier to be printed is gradually eliminated therefrom after printing, so that the printed identification elements contained in the register comprising the printed identification elements and the identification elements to be printed contained in the register comprising the identification elements to be printed are always known.

In this case, since the identification elements eliminated from the register comprising the printed identifier have already been printed on the defective web segment, they can be re-entered into the register comprising the identifier to be printed for subsequent printing, allowing, at the end of the process, to determine that all the identification elements originally contained in the register comprising the identification elements to be printed have been printed correctly.

The identification elements presented herein are numeric, alphabetic or alphanumeric codes that can be easily manually entered into the processing unit to transmit the contiguous identification elements, or alternatively they are conceived as bar codes or QR codes that can be easily communicated to the processing unit by an optical reader.

According to another embodiment, the web with correctly printed identification elements is wound in a winding unit that produces several rolls of printed web, and wherein a register comprising the printed identifiers is associated with the register comprising the identification elements, further storing a subset comprising the identification elements in each individual reel, so that it is possible to know exactly which correctly printed identification elements are contained in each individual reel.

Each individual reel may also receive an identification tag associated with the subset that includes the identification element from a register that includes the printed identifier.

Preferably, the marking elements are printed by means of a laser printing unit which allows rapid and precise successive printing on the web, so that the marking elements are changed in each printing. The laser printing unit may communicate the printed identification elements to the processing unit as they are printed onto the web.

An image capturing unit is also proposed which analyzes at least the area of the web on which the marking elements have been printed, and transfers the captured image to a processing unit for analysis in order to identify defective web sections (e.g. to detect web movements, misprints of the marking elements or web tears). The image capturing unit may be configured to capture stroboscopic images in coordination with the speed of movement of the web, i.e. it will capture an image in which the position of the identification element is always the same in all captured images despite the continuous movement of the web.

It will be understood that the geometric positions referred to herein (e.g., parallel, perpendicular, tangent, etc.) allow for a maximum ± 5 ° deviation from the theoretical position defined by the nomenclature.

It will also be understood that the final value of any range of values provided herein may not be optimal and that modifications to the invention may be required so that the final value is applicable, such modifications being within the ability of one skilled in the art.

Other features of the present invention will be seen in the detailed description of the embodiments which follow.

Drawings

The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more clearly understood on the basis of the following detailed description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, which must be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, wherein:

fig. 1 shows a list of the main steps of the proposed method, which briefly outlines the method;

fig. 2 shows a schematic view of a device conceived for applying the proposed method.

Detailed Description

The drawings show illustrative and non-limiting embodiments of the invention.

According to one embodiment, the method proposed herein starts with printing a web 1 made of flexible material in a repeated pattern in a flexographic printing unit. It is envisaged to cut the web 1 into pieces, each piece corresponding to a unit of product on which the pattern is printed, for example a box, a bag or a wrapper of product to be put on the market. The printed flexible web 1 is wound on a reel.

The reel is then unwound and fed into a unit in which the identification elements 2 are printed. When one reel is completed, a new reel is fed by connecting the end of one reel to the beginning of the next reel, thereby realizing continuous paper feeding.

The supplied flexible web 1 passes through a laser printing unit 30, which laser printing unit 30 is configured to print identification elements 2 on the flexible web 1 in correspondence with the repeating pattern previously printed on the web 1, a single identification element 2 being printed on each product unit.

The calculation unit generates a list of random, unique and non-repetitive identification elements 2 and stores them in a register 11 comprising the identification elements to be printed. In this example, the identification element 2 is an alphanumeric code having 10 digits, but it will be appreciated that the code may have a different number of digits, or may be another type of code.

The register 11 comprising the identification elements to be printed is communicatively connected to a processing unit 10 connected to the laser printing unit 30.

As the flexible web 1 passes the laser printing unit 30, the different marking elements 2 present in the register 11 including the marking elements to be printed are printed on the web 1 by the laser printing unit 30. Each time an identification element 2 is printed, the processing unit 10 removes said identification element 2 from the register 11 comprising the identification element to be printed and transfers it to the register 12 comprising the printed identification elements, where it is stored in print order.

After the printing of the marking elements 2, the web 1 is wound up again, so that a reel with the marking elements 2 is produced. When the reel is completed, the web is cut and then wound onto a different reel.

In this embodiment the machine has an inspection device 20 (for example implemented as an optical sensor), which inspection device 20 detects whether the flexible web 1 is moved transversely with respect to the forward movement direction or whether the marking elements 2 are printed correctly or in the correct position. The optical sensor may also detect tears in the flexible web 1.

If a deviation greater than a threshold value indicating a defect is detected, printing is stopped.

The operator removes the web segment 1 containing the defect and joins the non-defective web segments to each other again. The operator then communicates the abutment identification element of the defective web segment to the processing unit 10 via the user interface. In this example, the operator enters in the user interface the last correctly printed identification element 2 before the defective web section and the first correctly printed identification element 2 after the defective web section.

The user interface may be a screen with a keypad or an optical reader for reading an alphanumeric code, a barcode or a QR code or other identification element.

Alternatively, the user interface is responsible for communicating with the operator to report the start and end of the defective web segment detected thereat and to send the abutment identification element to said operator.

Knowing the adjacent identification elements, the processing unit 10 will recognize all the identification elements 2 already printed on the test web segment, eliminate them from the register 12 containing the already printed identification elements, and then merge them again into the register 11 containing the identification elements to be printed, so as to reprint them onto the non-defective web segment 1.

This therefore makes it possible to ascertain that all the identification elements 2 initially contained in the register 11 comprising the identification elements to be printed will eventually be printed on the defect-free piece of web 1 and thus eventually arrive at the consumer.

This allows to obtain an authentication register 12 comprising printed identification elements.

The present embodiment also envisages the transfer of at least the first and/or last marking element 2 of the web-like section forming the reel to the processing unit. This allows the processing unit 10 to further store information about which reel contains the respective identification element 2 in the register 12 comprising the printed identification elements, thereby creating a subset of the identification elements 2 in the register 12 comprising the printed identification elements.

The processing unit 10 may generate labels associated with each of the subsets and identify each reel with one of the labels.

The present invention is particularly useful for those packages that include unique codes associated with lotteries or promotions, such as packages for food products, because it allows having an authentication register 12 that includes printed identification elements without requiring an authenticator to record whether the identification elements 2 have been properly printed during the printing process.

It will be understood that even if the combination is not explicitly described, different parts of the invention described in one embodiment may be freely combined with parts described in other different embodiments, as long as the combination is defect-free.

Claims

1. A method for continuously printing certified identification elements on a web, wherein the identification elements are all distinct and randomly generated by a computing unit, wherein the method comprises:

Under the control of the processing unit (10), a set of said generated identification elements (2) are sequentially printed on the web (1),

It is characterized in that it includes:

the processing unit (10) stores copies of the series of identification elements (2) already printed on the web (1) in a register including the printed identifiers, including the order of printing;

The inspection device (20) detects defective web sections in the printed web, wherein the defects comprise defects selected from the group consisting of:

o Defects in the printing process of the logo element;

o Defects in the position or condition of the web, including cracks therein;

o Defects in previous prints of the web;

In response to said detection of a defective web segment:

Identifying abutment identification elements adjoining a defective web length and communicating said abutment identification elements to the processing unit (10);

the processing unit (10) removes from the register containing the printed identifiers all identification elements (2) comprised between adjacent identification elements; and

· Discard defective web segments and rebuild the web to continue printing;

The register including the printed identifiers is thus made to contain all identification elements (2) printed on the defect-free web, thus ensuring its certified status.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identification elements (2) are all generated by the computing unit before starting the printing process and are stored in a register (11) comprising an identifier to be printed , the identification element (2) is accessed by the processing unit (10) and the identifiers to be printed are gradually eliminated therefrom after printing.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the identification elements (2) deleted from the register containing the printed identifiers are re-entered into the ones containing the to-be-printed when printing has been made on the defective web section in the register of identifiers (11) to perform subsequent printing, thereby ensuring that when printing is complete, the register containing the printed identifiers includes the set of all generated identification elements (2).

4. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the contiguous identification element of the defective web section refers to the direction of forward movement of the web (1) and in the defective web section The last correctly printed identification element ( 2 ) before the start of the web segment of the faulty web and the first correctly printed identification element ( 2 ) after the end of the defective web segment.

5. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the adjoining identification element of the defective web section refers to the direction of forward movement of the web (1) and in the defective web section the first and last identification elements (2) on the web segment of the Identity element.

6. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the processing unit (10) derives the adjacency identification element based on the moment when the defect is detected by the inspection device (20).

7. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the identification element (2) is a numerical code, an alphabetic code, an alphanumeric code, a barcode or a QR code.

8. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the web (1) with correctly printed identification elements (2) is wound in a winding unit, generating a plurality of printed webs comprising A reel, wherein the register including the printed identifier is associated with the register including the identification element (2), further storing a subset of the identification element (2) contained in each reel including the printed web.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the respective spools receive identification labels associated with the subset including identification elements (2) from a register including printed identifications.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identification elements are printed by means of a laser printing unit (30).

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the laser printing unit (30) is connected to the processing unit (10), and the printed identification element (2) is printed on the web (10). 1) the printed identification element (2) is communicated to the processing unit (10).

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inspection device (20) is an image capture unit which analyzes at least the area on the web in which the identification element (2) has been printed, and wherein, The processing unit (10) analyzes the captured images to identify defective web sections.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the image capture unit captures a stroboscopic image according to the speed of movement of the web (1), the stroboscopic image coinciding with the area containing the printed identification elements (2) .