Document verification and tracking system for printed material

A printing line, comprising

• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• the test equipments are located at an output path of the printing device;
• and
• the optical image test equipment and the magnetic test equipment being located in a box with the printing device.

A printing line, comprising:

• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• the test equipments are located at an output path of the printing device;
• and
• the optical image test equipment and the magnetic test equipment being located in a stand-alone box separate from the printing device.

A printing line, comprising

• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• the test equipments are located at an output path of the printing device;
• and
• first and second printing devices being provided and the optical image test equipment and the magnetic test equipment being located in a stand-alone box after the second printing device.

A printing line, comprising:

• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• a character recognition device connected to a document contents verification unit which is adapted to compare the information detected by the character recognition device with the information provided as a data stream from the electronic data source;
• and
• the optical image test equipment and the magnetic test equipment being located in the stand-alone box separate from the printing device.

A printing line, comprising:

• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• a controller which controls a carrier transport unit to transport the recording carrier upon receipt of a test signal to a predetermined position with respect to at least one of the test equipments before the testing step is initiated;
• and
• the magnetic test equipment and the optical image test equipment being located in a same box as the printing device.

A printing line;

• comprising;
• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• a controller which controls a carrier transport unit to transport the recording carrier upon receipt of a test signal to a predetermined position with respect to at least one of the test equipments before the testing step is initiated;
• and
• the optical image test equipment and the magnetic test equipment being located in a stand-alone box separate from the printing device.

A printing line, comprising:

• a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier, the information being provided as a data stream from an electronic data source, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to inspect print quality or to recognize printed contents of a document;
• a magnetic test equipment for inspection located in line with the printing line and adapted to detect magnetic information printed on the recording carrier;
• a controller which controls a carrier transport unit to transport the recording carrier upon receipt of a test signal to a predetermined position with respect to at least one of the test equipments before the testing step is initiated;
• and
• the optical image test equipment comprises a bar code scanner and a CCD camera and the magnetic test equipment comprises a magnetic image character reader.

A method for printing at least an optical information onto a continuous web-shaped recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least an optical recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing the optical information by a printing station onto the recording carrier using optical readable toner;
• testing by using at least an optical image test equipment for inspection and wherein the optical image test equipment is located in line in the printing line;
• inspecting with the optical image test equipment a front and a backside of the recording carrier with respective optical sensors positioned at the front and the backside of the carrier;
• and
• the optical image test equipment comprises a first video camera at a front side and a second video camera at a backside of the line recording carrier.

A method for testing in a printing line, comprising the steps of:

• providing a printing device for printing at least one of optical and magnetic information onto a web-shape recording carrier, the carrier having at least one of an optical recording zone and a magnetic recording zone;
• positioning a stand-alone box at a location after and separate from the printing device and having contained inside thereof an optical image test equipment for inspecting the optical recording zone and a magnetic test equipment for inspecting the magnetic recording zone;
• and
• inspecting at least one of the optical recording zone and the magnetic recording zone with the optical and magnetic test equipment.

A method for printing at least an optical information onto a continuous web-shaped recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least an optical recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing the optical information by a printing station onto the recording carrier using optical readable toner;
• testing by using at least an optical image test equipment for inspection and wherein the optical image test equipment is located in line in the printing line;
• and
• storing portions of the recording carrier after it has been printed by the printing station in a paper buffer.

A system for printing at least an optical information onto a continuous web-shaped recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least an optical recording zone, comprising:

• a printing station for printing optical information onto the recording carrier using optical readable toner;
• an optical image test equipment for inspection, the optical image test equipment being located in line in the printing line;
• and
• a paper buffer separate from the printing station for storing portions of the recording carrier after it has been printed by the printing station.

A method for printing at least an optical information onto a continuous web-shaped recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least an optical recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing the optical information by a printing station onto the recording carrier using optical readable toner;
• testing by using at least an optical image test equipment for inspection and wherein the optical image test equipment is located in line in the printing line;
• inspecting with the optical image test equipment a front and a backside of the recording carrier with respective optical sensors positioned at the front and the backside of the carrier;
• and
• the test equipment is used after a print stop of the printing station has been initiated.

A method for printing optical information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least an optical recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing the optical information by a printing station onto the recording carrier using optical readable toner;
• testing by using an optical image test equipment for inspection, the optical image test equipment being located in line in the printing line;
• and
• the testing with the optical image test equipment includes the step of sending data into at least one of a flat file and a data base to store and update the at least one of flat file and data base in a management computer, and to display at least one of status messages and document locations by the computer.

A method for printing an optical information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least an optical recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing the optical information by a printing station onto the recording carrier using optical readable toner;
• testing by using at least an optical image test equipment for inspection, the optical image test equipment being located in line in the printing line;
• and
• providing said optical image test equipment with a data acquisition system for multi-threaded software capable of reading and passing data sent by a plurality of scanning systems and storing the data into at least one of a flat file and a data base in a form suitable for further processing.

A method for printing at least one of optical, bar code, and magnetic information onto a continuous web-shaped recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical, bar code, and magnetic ink recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing at least one of the optical, bar code, and magnetic ink information by a printing station onto the recording carrier;
• testing by using at least one of an optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment for inspection and wherein the at least one of the optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment is located in line in the printing line;
• and
• storing portions of the recording carrier after it has been printed by the printing station in a paper buffer.

A method for printing at least one of optical, bar code, and magnetic ink information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical, bar code, and magnetic ink recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing at least one of the optical, bar code, and magnetic ink information by a printing station onto the recording carrier;
• testing by using at least one of an optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment for inspection, at least one of the optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment being located in line in the printing line;
• and
• the testing with the at least one of the optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment includes the step of sending data into at least one of a flat file and a data base to store and update the at least one of the flat file and data base in a management computer, and to display at least one of status messages and document locations by the computer.

A method for printing at least one of an optical, bar code, and magnetic ink information onto a continuous web-shape recording carrier in a printing line, the carrier comprising at least one of an optical, bar code, and magnetic ink recording zone, comprising the steps of:

• printing the at least one of the optical, bar code, and magnetic ink information by a printing station onto the recording carrier;
• testing by using at least one of an optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment for inspection, the at least one of the optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment being located in line in the printing line;
• and
• providing the at least one of the optical image, bar code, and magnetic ink test equipment with a data acquisition system for multi-threaded software capable of reading and passing data sent by a plurality of scanning systems and storing the data into at least one of a flat file and a data base in a form suitable for further processing.