Printing Code Redundancy for Production Information Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling and regulating production processes in printed product manufacturing are limited by the small amount of information and control commands that can be stored in print marks, leading to errors and interruptions when codes become unreadable, especially in variable production processes.
Innovation Solution
A method involving printing codes, particularly matrix codes, on multiple signatures of printing material that contain production information for multiple signatures, allowing for redundant data storage and retrieval, enabling stable and error-reduced production by accessing information from adjacent codes if one is illegible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If codes are printed on printing material to store production information, then the amount of stored information increases, but the reliability decreases when codes become unreadable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements redundancy by printing identical codes on multiple signatures (pages) of the printing material. Each code contains the same production information, so if one code becomes unreadable, the information can be retrieved from another signature. This copying strategy ensures that critical production information is preserved even when individual codes are damaged or illegible.
2Reliability
If redundancy is implemented by printing codes on multiple signatures, then reliability improves when codes are unreadable, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the printing material into multiple signatures (pages), each carrying an identical code. This segmentation allows the system to distribute the information across multiple independent units, so that the failure or illegibility of one signature does not compromise the overall information availability. The detection system can selectively read from any valid signature.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of code placement from single-instance to multi-instance across different signatures. By replicating the code on multiple pages with the same production information, the system transforms a single-point-failure vulnerability into a distributed-redundancy architecture, improving reliability without requiring complex error correction algorithms.
3Productivity
If more production information is stored in codes, then monitoring and control capability improves, but the susceptibility to errors increases when codes are partially unreadable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses this contradiction by copying the complete set of production information across multiple signatures. Rather than attempting to error-correct partial reads from a single code, the system ensures that each signature contains a complete, independent copy of the production information, allowing the detection system to retrieve full information from any valid signature.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A method for controlling or regulating, respectively, a production process in the production of printed products of a web-shaped or sheet-shaped printing material (1) in a printing system, wherein the method has the following steps: printing a code (4a, 4b), in particular a matrix code, with production information included therein for the control or regulation, respectively, of the production process onto the printing material (1); detecting the code (4a, 4b) by means of a detection device (6); evaluating the production information included in the code (4a, 4b) by means of an evaluation unit; carrying out the control or regulating actions, respectively, on the basis of the determined production information by means of the printing system; wherein a code (4a, 4b), which includes production information relating to a plurality of different signatures, is printed onto at least one signature (2a, 2b, 2c), which is to be separated from the web-shaped printing material (1) by means of cross-cutting.