Back to results
US 5,897,797 AGranted
Produce marking system
AssigneeAtrion Medical Product. Inc.
InventorsGreg Drouillard, Rowland W. Kanner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A produce (e.g. fruits and vegetables) marking system is used to etch the skin of a piece of produce with an identifying mark. The first embodiment of the system uses a laser to emit a high intensity light beam to form the identifying mark. The second and third embodiments of the system use a dot matrix printer head. In the second embodiment, the pins of the printer head directly contact the produce skin to etch an area of the skin to form the identifying mark. In the third embodiment, a thermally conductive ribbon member is placed between the printer head and the produce. The pins of the printer head impact the ribbon member thereby forming a hot spot on the ribbon member, which in turn, etches the skin of the produce to form the identifying mark.
Claims29
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce having a skin cell depth ranging from approximately 40 to 200 microns;
- and structure for marking a plurality of dots in said produce skin in a dot matrix pattern to form an identifying mark, said dots having a depth into said produce skin not exceeding said cell depth, said dots have a depth of approximately 20 to 120 microns so that the identifying mark formed is approximately one-half of the skin cell depth.
A method of marking the skins of a plurality of pieces of produce with an identifying mark comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of pieces of produce;
- and marking the skin of each produce in a continuous manner using a laser to emit a high intensity light beam which contacts an area of the skin of each produce by directing said laser light beam along a predetermined path along each said produce skin which corresponds to an identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin.
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce having a skin with a thickness ranging from approximately 40 to 200 microns;
- and a laser which emits a high intensity light beam for marking the skin of said piece of produce with an identifying mark, said laser light beam being directed along a predetermined path along said produce skin which corresponds to said identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin, the laser light beam is controlled so as to form said identifying mark on said produce skin which does not exceed approximately 20 to 120 microns of the produce skin thickness so that the identifying mark formed is approximately one-half of the skin thickness.
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce;
- a laser which emits a high intensity light beam for marking the skin of said piece of produce with an identifying mark, said laser light beam being directed along a predetermined path along said produce skin which corresponds to said identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin;
- and a swabbing structure for swabbing a coloring agent onto said identifying mark to further enhance the visibility of said identifying mark.
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce;
- a laser which emits a high intensity light beam for marking the skin of said piece of produce with an identifying mark, said laser light beam being directed along a predetermined path along said produce skin which corresponds to said identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin;
- said laser has a head which can be positioned at a variety of positions relative to said piece of produce;
- and an open-topped cup member which holds said piece of produce, said open-topped cup member including an aperture therein along one of the sides or the bottom of said cup member and said laser head is aligned with said aperture.
1 more element
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce;
- a laser which emits a high intensity light beam for marking the skin of said piece of produce with an identifying mark, said laser light beam being directed along a predetermined path along:
- said produce skin which corresponds to said identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin;
- said laser has a head which can be positioned at a variety of positions relative to said piece of produce;
- and an open-topped cup member holds said piece of produce, said open-topped cup member includes an aperture therein along the bottom and said laser head is aligned with said aperture and further providing a flow of air over said laser head to carry away particles when said produce is laser etched.
2 more elements
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce;
- a laser which emits a high intensity light beam for marking the skin of said piece of produce with an identifying mark, said laser light beam being directed alone a predetermined path along;
- said produce skin which corresponds to said identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin;
- said laser has a head which can be positioned at a variety of positions relative to said piece of produce;
- and an open-topped cup member holds said piece of produce, said open-topped cup member includes an aperture therein along the bottom and said laser head is below said cup member and offset from said aperture, and further including a mirrored surface disposed for directing said laser light beam onto said produce sitting in said cup member.
2 more elements
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce having a skin thickness of approximately 40 to 200 microns;
- and a printer head having a plurality of pins therein which, when activated will engage the produce and etch an area of the skin of the produce to form the identifying mark the pins are controlled so as to form an identifying mark in the produce skin which does not exceed approximately 20 to 120 microns of the produce skin so that the mark formed is approximately one-half of the skin thickness.
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce;
- and a printer head having a plurality of pins therein which, when activated, will engage the produce and etch an area of the skin of the produce to form the identifying mark, said printer head is of a dot-matrix-type including a plurality of pin members and further includes a heating element therein to generate heat to cauterize the produce skin around the etched area.
A produce marking system comprising:
- a piece of produce;
- a printer head having a plurality of pins therein;
- and a thermally conductive ribbon member between said printer head and said piece of produce such that when said pins of the printer head are activated, the pins impact the thermally conductive ribbon member which forms a hot spot on the thermally conductive ribbon member and etches an area of the skin of the piece of produce to form the identifying mark.
A method of marking the skin of a piece of produce with an identifying mark comprising the steps of:
- providing a piece of produce having a skin thickness of approximately 40 to 200 microns;
- and marking the skin of the produce using a laser to emit a high intensity light beam which contacts the area of the skin of the produce by directing said laser light beam along a predetermined path along said produce skin which corresponds to an identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin, the laser beam is controlled so as to form said identifying mark which does not exceed approximately 20 to 120 microns so that the mark formed is approximately one-half of the skin thickness.
A method of marking the skin of a piece of produce with an identifying mark comprising the steps of:
- providing a piece of produce;
- marking the skin of the produce using a laser to emit a high intensity light beam which contacts the area of the skin of the produce by directing said laser light beam along a predetermined path along said produce skin which corresponds to an identifying mark to be applied on said produce skin;
- and swabbing said produce skin around said mark with a coloring agent to enhance the visibility of the contrast between said mark and the exterior skin of the produce.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.