Integrated printing/scanning system using invisible ink for document tracking

A document printing and verification system, comprising:

• a medium path along which pages of a print medium are passed;
• an electrophotographic printer for printing a multi-page document including text on said pages of said print medium;
• an inkjet printer apparatus positioned along the medium path downstream of the electrophotographic printer, said printer apparatus comprising an inkjet printhead adapted to emit ink droplets of an ink which is not visible under natural illumination for printing an invisible barcode on said pages of the print medium which is invisible to the unaided eye under natural illumination;
• a scanner apparatus positioned along the medium path downstream of the inkjet printer apparatus for producing an image of the barcode printed on each page of the multi-page document for verification use, said scanner apparatus including a light source for illuminating an imaging zone along said medium path with light including nonvisible energy components and a camera sensitive to illumination light from the print medium to form an image of said nonvisible barcode;
• and
• a system controller for controlling the electrophotographic printer and the inkjet printing apparatus and responsive to image signals from the scanner apparatus to verify the presence of barcoded print media and that each page of the multi-page document is accounted for.

A document printing and verification system, comprising:

• a document printing apparatus for printing multi-page documents including text on print media;
• an inkjet printer apparatus comprising an inkjet printhead adapted to emit ink droplets of an invisible ink which is not visible to the unaided eye when viewed with natural light illumination for printing on each page of the multi-page document an invisible identification pattern which is not visible to the unaided eye when viewed with natural light, said ink droplets emitted by said printhead including a far red (FR)/infrared (IR) dye which produces FR/IR emissions in response to illumination in an FR/IR wavelength band, said printhead positioned adjacent a first surface of said print media to print the identification pattern on said first surface of each page;
• a scanner apparatus positioned for producing an image of said identification image for verification use, said scanner apparatus including a light source for illuminating an imaging zone with light including nonvisible energy components and a camera sensitive to nonvisible light from the print media to form an image of said nonvisible identification image, said camera sensitive to FR/IR emissions of said dye to form said image of said identification pattern which has been imprinted on said print media;
• wherein said light source comprises a source of FR/IR energy positioned adjacent a second surface of said print media at the imaging zone to provide a backside illumination of the imaging zone, and said camera is positioned adjacent said first surface, said light source adapted to pass sufficient FR/IR energy through the print media to excite said FR/IR dye in said ink forming said identification pattern;
• and
• a system controller for controlling the inkjet printing apparatus and responsive to image signals from the scanner apparatus to verify the presence of each page of the multi-page document imprinted with said identification pattern.

A method for document printing and verification, comprising the following steps:

• printing a multi-page document with text visible to the unaided eye under natural light illumination;
• printing an identification pattern on a first surface of each page of said document using an inkjet printer, said pattern printed with ink which is invisible to the unaided eye under natural light illumination, said ink including an far red (FR)/infrared (IR) dye which is excited by FR/IR energy;
• illuminating a second surface of each document page with light energy including FR/IR energy to pass sufficient FR/IR energy through said page to excite the identification pattern formed by said ink including an FR/IR dye;
• electronically capturing an image of said identification pattern on said first surface for each document page at said imaging zone by imaging said identification pattern onto a camera sensitive to FR/IR energy;
• and
• performing a verification procedure using said electronically captured image for each page to verify that all pages of the multi-page document are accounted for.

A document printing and verification system, comprising:

• a document printing apparatus for printing multi-page documents including text on print media;
• an inkjet printing apparatus comprising an inkjet printhead adapted to emit ink droplets of an invisible ink which is not visible to the unaided eye when viewed with natural light illumination, said inkjet printing apparatus for printing on each page of the multi-page document an invisible identification pattern which is not visible to the unaided eye when viewed with natural light, said droplets including a UV dye and a far red (FR)/infrared (IR) dye, said UV dye when excited by illumination in an UV wavelength band causing said identification pattern to be visible to the unaided eye, said far red (FR)/infrared (IR) dye producing FR/IR emissions in response to illumination in an FR/IR wavelength band;
• a scanner apparatus for producing an image of said identification image for verification use, said scanner apparatus including a light source for illuminating an imaging zone with light including nonvisible energy components in said FR/IR wavelength band and a camera sensitive to excitation of said dye to produce an identification pattern image of said excited FR/IR dye which has been imprinted on said print medium;
• and
• a system controller for controlling the document printing apparatus and the inkjet printing apparatus and responsive to image signals from the scanner apparatus to verify the presence of each page of the multi-page document imprinted with said identification pattern.

A method for document printing and verification, comprising:

• printing a multi-page document with text visible to the unaided eye under natural light illumination;
• printing an identification pattern on each page of said document using an inkjet printhead emitting ink droplets of an invisible ink, said pattern invisible to the unaided eye under natural light illumination, the droplets including a UV dye and a far red (FR)/infrared (IR) dye, said UV dye when excited by illumination in an UV wavelength band causess said identification pattern to be visible to the unaided eye, said FR/IR dye producing FR/IR emissions in response to illumination in an FR/IR wavelength band;
• illuminating one or more pages of the document with UV radiation to cause the identification pattern to be visible to the unaided eye to provide a visual check of said identification pattern printing;
• illuminating each document page with light energy including energy components in the FR/IR wavelength band;
• electronically capturing an image of said identification pattern for each document page at an imaging zone;
• and
• performing a verification procedure using said electronically captured image for each page to verify that all pages of the multi-page document are accounted for.