Foamed Product Coding Method for Deformation Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Foamed products, such as polyurethanes, experience shape changes and surface deformations during the curing process, making it difficult to maintain legibility and retrievability of codes printed on their surfaces, especially when manufactured in a longitudinal direction, as traditional coding methods like QR codes fail to account for these changes.
Innovation Solution
A coding method that prints a code using segments activated independently in a transverse direction to the longitudinal movement, forming a matrix of lines and columns, allowing for deformation compensation and maintaining legibility through a specific pattern and binary representation, enabling robust decoding even after shape changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a code is printed on the surface of a foamed product during manufacturing, then traceability information is established, but the code becomes deformed and blurred after the product undergoes shape changes during curing
Solution Approach 1:
The code is printed on the foamed product surface before the curing process completes. By performing the printing action in advance, while the product is still in a less deformed state, the code structure is established prior to the shape changes that would otherwise blur or deform it. The product continues to cure and change shape afterward, but the code was already fixed in its initial configuration.
2Loss of time
If the code is printed before curing completes, then traceability is established early, but the code structure deforms and information becomes difficult to retrieve
Solution Approach 1:
The code is divided into multiple segments or zones distributed across the foamed product surface. Each segment contains a portion of the traceability information. This segmentation allows the code to maintain its structural integrity even when the product undergoes shape changes, as the distributed segments are less susceptible to complete deformation compared to a single continuous code structure.
3Quantity of substance
If traditional QR codes are used on foamed products, then information storage capacity is increased, but the codes fail when the product experiences shape changes during manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The code design parameters are specifically adapted for foamed products. Instead of using standard QR code parameters, the invention modifies the code structure to account for the expected shape changes and surface characteristics of foamed products. This includes adjusting the code geometry, spacing, and positioning to maintain readability despite the product's deformation during curing and handling.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a coding method for a foamed product, the decoding method, and the code used in both methods. The coding method is particularly adapted to print a code on a surface of a foamed product, wherein the shape and surface characteristics of the foamed product may change, for example, during the curing process, giving rise to a code which deforms after printing and in which the borders of the printed image are blurred. The coding method is such that the printed code remains legible and the information it contains remains retrievable. The decoding method allows identifying the original structure of the code, even if the surface of the foamed product is uneven and has experienced shape changes from printing, and it also allows extracting the coded information.