Corrugated Pipe Marking Layout for High-Speed Code Readability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing process for corrugated pipes with digital markings, such as QR codes or barcodes, requires significant reduction in production speed to achieve readable quality, leading to increased costs.
Innovation Solution
Applying markings only on the wave crests and troughs of the corrugated pipe's surface using a laser marking process, allowing for higher production speeds and reducing costs by avoiding the use of inkjet printers and enabling markings that extend over wave crests and troughs for scanner readability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If inkjet printing is used to create readable digital markings on corrugated pipes, then marking quality is sufficient for scanner readability, but production speed must be significantly reduced leading to increased production costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies markings only to specific locations on the corrugated pipe surface - namely the wave crests and wave troughs - where the surface geometry provides optimal scanning conditions. By concentrating markings on these favorable surfaces rather than attempting to mark the entire surface including problematic flanks, the system achieves reliable scanner readability without requiring slow inkjet printing processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the inkjet printing process with a marking process that creates markings through material modification rather than ink deposition. This substitution enables high-speed marking while maintaining readability, as the marking process can operate at production line speeds without the quality constraints that limit inkjet printing
2Area of stationary object
If markings are applied on the flank sections of the corrugated pipe, then complete surface coverage is achieved, but surface reflections prevent successful marking and reduce scanner readability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent deliberately excludes the flank sections from marking and concentrates markings only on the wave crests and wave troughs. This local quality approach recognizes that the crest and trough surfaces provide the geometric conditions necessary for successful marking and reliable scanning, while the flank surfaces with their reflective properties are unsuitable for both marking and scanning purposes
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables efficient and cost-effective production of corrugated pipes with readable digital markings, maintaining scanner readability even when the pipe is cut, and allowing for adaptable printing schedules.
Implementation Method 1
The markings are applied using a laser marking process
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a corrugated tube (10) made of plastic, which defines a channel (20) in its interior, wherein a wall of the corrugated tube (10), viewed in an axial direction along a principal extension direction of the channel (20), has a sequence of wave crests (12) and wave troughs (14), wherein each wave crest (12) and a wave trough (14) adjacent to it are connected by a flank (16), wherein the corrugated tube (10) has on its outside a plurality of markings (22, 24) which each comprise a digitally readable encoding, and wherein the flanks (16) are substantially free of such markings (22, 24).