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Methods and systems for identifying ink

a technology of ink and ink cartridge, applied in the field of methods for identifying ink, can solve the problems of large expenditure of warranty monies paid out by ink manufacturers, damage to the reputation of ink manufacturers, and substandard ink quality

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-05-10
HEWLETT PACKARD DEV CO LP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] In another embodiment, a method for deterring the incidence of ink counterfeiting is described. The method includes adding a detectable marker capable of fluorescing when subjected to infrared light or a tagging composition having at least one isotope of an element to an ink, thus producing an authentic ink. The method further includes obtaining an ink sample, exposing at least part of the ink sample to infrared light or determining whether the unidentified ink includes an abundance of at least one isotope, and determining whether the ink sample includes the detectable marker.

Problems solved by technology

This can lead, for instance, to damage to the reputation of an ink manufacturer if in an inkjet cartridge is replaced with a counterfeit ink of inferior quality and sold with the manufacturer's label attached to the cartridge.
Additionally, counterfeiting may lead to large expenditures of warranty monies paid out by an ink manufacturer if, for example, an authentic ink of the ink manufacturer is replaced with a counterfeit ink, or diluted, and then returned to the manufacturer accompanied by a complaint of substandard ink quality.
However, tagging techniques that are applicable to other articles or materials are not necessarily suitable for tagging inks.
Although these techniques may enable the detection or quantification of the tagged material, the incorporation of the tag into the ink may hinder ink development by the ink manufacturer.
For instance, ensuring printer performance is an expensive and time-consuming process for the ink manufacturer and the prevention of counterfeiting inks further frustrates the goal of ensuring printer performance.
While some metal and other multi-valent salts may have utility in tagging certain articles, they are not suitable for tagging inks used in thermal ink-jet printers because trace amounts of unwanted cations such as Fe3+, Cr3+ and Si4+ may cause mis-directed ink drops or misfiring of the ink jet nozzles.
Further, the use of UV absorbent materials or other fluorescent brighteners may add unwanted effects to color appearances of the ink or may fade upon prolonged exposure to light.

Method used

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  • Methods and systems for identifying ink
  • Methods and systems for identifying ink
  • Methods and systems for identifying ink

Examples

Experimental program
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Effect test

example 1

Preparation of an Authentic Ink

[0055] An isotope solution enriched with the 6Li isotope was obtained from Inorganic Ventures / IV Labs of Lakewood, N.J. The 6Li isotope enriched solution contained about 1002±1 ppm 6Li and 67±1 ppm 7Li in 5.0% HNO3. Thus, it can be seen that the 6Li isotope enriched solution contained about 6.7% 7Li isotope as well. A 5 part per million (ppm) 6Li isotope stock solution was prepared from the 6Li enriched isotope solution by diluting the 6Li enriched isotope solution with deionized water. A tagged ink having a detectable marker was prepared from the 6Li isotope stock solution by adding 0.1g of the 6Li isotope stock solution to 50g of ink. The resulting ink was a 10 ppb 6Li isotope tagged ink which was labeled as the “authentic” ink.

[0056] A sample of the authentic ink was diluted 100 fold with deionized water. The diluted samples were introduced into an Agilent-4500 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrument, obtained from Agilent...

example 2

Preparation of 20% Adulterated Ink

[0059] An ink adulterated by 20% relative to the authentic ink was prepared by mixing a sample of the authentic ink with an untagged ink of the same type and color to obtain an 8 ppb 6Li adulterated ink. Samples of the 20% adulterated ink were diluted 100 fold with deionized water. The diluted samples were introduced into the Agilent-4500 ICP-MS instrument and the cool plasma method was used to measure the isotope mass counts. As with the authentic ink samples, cobalt (Co) was added as the internal standard to compensate for any instrument drift and sample matrix effect and the instrument was not tuned to optimize the detection of light masses.

[0060] The 6Li and 7Li mass counts, as well as the ratio of 6Li:7Li are shown in FIG. 1. The 20% adulterated ink is labeled as 8 ppb 6Li Ink.

[0061] In a first comparison, using the 6Li mass counts of the authentic ink and the 20% adulterated ink, the ratio of the 6Li mass count of the adulterated ink to the...

example 3

Preparation of 50% Adulterated Ink

[0066] An ink adulterated by 50% relative to the authentic ink was prepared by mixing a sample of the authentic ink with an untagged ink of the same type and color to obtain a 5 ppb 6Li adulterated ink. Samples of the 50% adulterated ink were diluted 100 fold with deionized water. The diluted samples were introduced into the Agilent-4500 ICP-MS instrument and the cool plasma method was used to measure the isotope mass counts. As with the authentic ink samples, cobalt (Co) was added as the internal standard to compensate for any instrument drift and sample matrix effect and the instrument was not tuned to optimize the detection of light masses.

[0067] The 6Li and 7Li mass counts, as well as the ratio of 6Li:7Li are shown in FIG. 2. The 50% adulterated ink is labeled as 5 ppb 6Li Ink.

[0068] In a first comparison, using the 6Li mass counts of both the authentic ink and the 50% adulterated ink, the ratio of the 6Li mass count of the adulterated ink to...

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Abstract

The present invention relates to methods for tagging an ink with a detectable marker and methods for identifying an ink. The tagged ink includes a colorant visible under visible light and a detectable marker capable of fluorescing when subjected to infrared light. A method for identifying an ink includes obtaining a sample of an unidentified ink, subjecting the sample to infrared light such that a detectable marker, if present, fluoresces, and determining whether any fluorescence emitted from the sample corresponds to fluorescence from a tagged ink. A system for identifying an unidentified ink is also disclosed.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is related to a patent application entitled, “Methods for Tagging and Authenticating Inks Using Compositions” (Attorney Docket No. 200309791-2), filed on even date with this application. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to methods for identifying inks. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods for tagging or adding a detectable marker to an ink. Further, the present invention relates to methods for authenticating ink samples by probing the ink for the presence of the detectable marker in an ink sample. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Inkjet printers operate by placing small droplets of ink onto a medium, (e.g., a sheet of paper) to create an image. Inks used in inkjet printers are typically stored in and dispensed from one or more inkjet cartridges that are specific for the inkjet printer with which they are used. Once the ink in the inkjet cartridge has been used, the cart...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): G01J5/00
CPCB41M3/144C09D11/30G01N21/6428G01N2021/6439C09D11/03G01N33/32
Inventor MA, ZEYINGLARSON, GARY W.LIN, LUFEI
Owner HEWLETT PACKARD DEV CO LP
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