Laser Label Printer With Disposable Window
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laser-marking systems for materials like metals, glass, and plastic are expensive, making them inaccessible to smaller industrial or commercial users due to high costs, despite offering advantages over inkjet-printed labels in terms of ruggedness and durability.
Innovation Solution
A cost-effective laser label-printer apparatus using a diode-laser source, optical fiber, collimating and focusing modules, and a protective window with self-diagnostic capabilities to maintain consistent beam power and focus, allowing for unskilled operation and minimizing maintenance needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional laser-marking system with diode-pumped solid-state lasers or fiber-lasers is used, then marking quality and durability are improved, but system cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the laser wavelength parameter from traditional CO2 (10.6 μm) or fiber laser wavelengths to a diode-laser wavelength (around 808 nm), which can be absorbed by the black material layer of the label. This parameter change enables the use of less expensive diode-lasers while maintaining effective label marking capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a disposable window positioned between the focusing lens and the label material. This window captures harmful by-products (smoke, vapor, debris) generated during laser marking, protecting the expensive focusing lens from contamination. The window can be easily replaced when contaminated, minimizing maintenance costs and downtime while protecting the core optical components
2Ease of repair
If a protective window is added to protect the focusing lens from contamination, then lens maintenance frequency is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a protective window as an intermediary component between the focusing lens and the label material. This window acts as a sacrificial element that captures harmful by-products (smoke, vapor, debris) generated during laser marking, preventing them from contaminating the focusing lens. The window can be easily replaced when contaminated, minimizing maintenance costs and downtime while protecting the core optical components
Solution Approach 2:
The optical path is segmented into distinct functional zones: the collimating lens section, the protective window section, and the focusing lens section. This segmentation allows the protective window to be independently maintained without affecting the other optical components, simplifying the overall maintenance strategy despite adding a component
3Productivity
If high-power laser-radiation is used for fast printing, then productivity increases, but heat generation and safety risks worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs pulsed laser operation rather than continuous wave operation. The diode-laser emits periodic pulses of radiation, allowing the material to absorb energy in controlled bursts with cooling intervals between pulses. This periodic action enables high peak powers for fast marking while preventing excessive heat accumulation that would occur with continuous high-power operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the laser operating mode from continuous wave to pulsed operation, and adjusts the pulse duration and repetition rate to optimize both marking speed and thermal management. The pulse width and frequency are tuned to achieve ablation of the black material layer before excessive heat can diffuse to surrounding areas or damage the label structure
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
The solution provides a cost-effective, user-friendly laser label-printing system that maintains print quality and extends the life of focusing optics, enabling unskilled operation and reducing maintenance requirements, thus making high-quality laser-markable materials more accessible.
Implementation Method 1
an optical fiber is provided for transporting the laser-radiation from the source thereof to the collimating module and delivering the laser-radiation from a distal end thereof in a diverging beam to the collimating lens
Implementation Method 2
The collimating lens is arranged to collimate the diverging beam from the optical fiber and direct the collimated beam to the focusing module
Implementation Method 3
the focusing lens focuses the collimated beam through the window onto the sheet at a focal distance from the focusing lens for printing on the sheet
Implementation Method 4
Beneath the black material is a layer of white material which is exposed when the black material is ablated away by laser-radiation
Implementation Method 5
The window protects the focusing lens from contamination from by-products of the printing by the focused beam
Implementation Method 6
A detector is arranged to provide a signal representative of power of the focused beam on the sheet
Data Source
AI summary
A laser label printer for use with a laser markable medium includes a laser-diode fiber-coupled to an optical train, which includes a focusing lens for focusing the radiation on the medium. The focusing lens is traversed across the medium, with incremental motion of the medium between traverses, for line by line printing of the label. The printer includes a feature for protecting the focusing lens from contamination, and self-diagnostic and adjustment features.