Injection molding process including digital watermarking and articles manufactured from injection molding process

• US 7,065,228 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Issued: 06/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Brundage, Trent J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Sanjiv
• Assistant Examiner(s): AZARIAN, SEYED H
• Application Number:
  US10/286,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20040086151A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,328 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/112, 382/116, 382/135, 382/139, 382/168, 382232-239, 382/243, 382/274, 382/291, 264/297.2, 106/162.51, 428/412, 235/486, 235/492
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/14713 decorations in contact with injected material
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/14737 decorations printed on the insert by a digital imaging technique
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/1418 the inserts being deformed or preformed, e.g. by the injection pressure
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/14688 Coating articles provided with a decoration
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0021 Image watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0051 Embedding of the watermark in the spatial domain
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0052 Embedding of the watermark in the frequency domain
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0601 whereby calibration information is embedded in the watermark, e.g. a grid, a scale, a list of transformations

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods of marking objects produced through a molding process. The marking facilitates authentication of the objects. A cellular phone faceplate is steganographically marked in one implementation of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of steganographically marking an object comprising:

providing a steganographically encoded image, wherein the steganographic encoding is generally imperceptible to a human viewer of the image, but is machine-readable with computer analysis;

printing the steganographically encoded image onto a print receiving material, the print receiving material comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the print receiving material receives the print on the bottom surface, and wherein the image is perceptible to a human viewer of the image when viewed through the top surface of the print receiving material;

providing the printed encoded print receiving material to an injection mold, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material is positioned so as to be adjacent to a second material to be injected into the mold; and

injection molding the printed encoded print receiving material and the second material.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material contacts the second material.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material contacts the second material through at least one of the printed encoded image, a resin, a tie coat and an adhesive.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the steganographic encoding comprises a digital watermark.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the digital watermark comprises an orientation component.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the digital watermark is redundantly encoded in the image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the steganographic encoding comprises at least two digital watermarks.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the print receiving material comprises at least one of a polycarbonate (PC), acrylnitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and acrylic.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second material comprises at least one of a plastic and polymer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the print receiving material and the bottom surface of the print receiving material are separated by a measurable distance.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a cell phone faceplate.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a logo.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises at least one of a personal digital assistant component, a handheld computer game component, a game console component, and a camera component.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the image comprises at least one of a tint or background pattern.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the steganographically-encoded image is encoded by adjusting transform domain coefficients corresponding to the image.

16. A cell phone faceplate manufactured according to the method of claim 1.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the steganographic encoding is detectable with visible light scanning.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the steganographic encoding is detectable with infrared scanning.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the image comprises at least one of a company logo, photographic image, design and graphic.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the image appears reversed to a human viewer of the image when viewed from the bottom surface of the print receiving material prior to said injection molding.

21. A component comprising:

a body comprising;

a first layer including a top surface and a bottom surface;

printing providing on the bottom surface of the first layer, wherein the printing conveys an image including steganographic encoding that is generally imperceptible to a human viewer thereof, but is machine-readable with computer analysis, and wherein the image is perceptible to a human viewer when viewed through the top surface of the first layer; and

a second layer adjacently arranged with respect to the bottom layer of the first layer.

22. The component according to claim 21, wherein the body comprises an injection molded body, and wherein the second layer comprises at least a polymetric material which is injection molded so as to be adjacently arranged to at least a portion of the bottom surface of the first layer, the injection molding forming a one-piece component.

23. The component of claim 22, wherein the second layer contacts the bottom surface of the first layer through the print.

24. The component of claim 22, wherein the steganographic encoding comprises a digital watermark.

25. The component of claim 22, wherein the component comprises a cell phone faceplate.

26. The component of claim 22 wherein the component comprises a company or product logo.

27. A method of authenticating the component of claim 21, comprising;

presenting the faceplate to an optical sensor, the optical sensor producing scan data;

analyzing the scan data to decode the steganographic encoding; and

determining based on the decoded steganographic encoding whether the faceplate is authentic.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein said steganographic encoding comprises a digital watermark.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein said steganographic encoding comprises at least two digital watermarks, and said determining determines whether the faceplate is authentic at least in part by cross-correlating information conveyed by the two digital watermarks.

30. A method of marking an object comprising:

providing a steganographic signal;

printing the steganographic signal onto a print receiving material, the print receiving material comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the print receiving material receives the print on the bottom surface, and wherein the printing comprises at least ultraviolet ink;

providing the printed encoded print receiving material to a mold, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material is positioned so as to be adjacent to a second material to be provided to the mold; and

molding the printed encoded print receiving material and the second material.

31. A method of steganographically marking an object comprising:

providing a steganographically encoded image, wherein the steganographic encoding is general imperceptible to a human viewer of the image, but is machine-readable with computer analysis;

printing the steganographically encoded image onto a print receiving material, the print receiving material comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the print receiving material receives the print on the bottom surface, and wherein the image is perceptible to a human viewer of the image as viewed through the top surface of the print receiving material;

providing the printed encoded print receiving material to a mold, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material is positioned so as to be adjacent to a second material to be injected into the mold; and

molding the printed encoded print receiving material and the second material.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the molding process comprises at least one of heat and pressure.

33. A method for steganographically marking a molded article comprising:

providing a transparent substrate, the transparent substrate comprising a top surface and a bottom surface;

printing an image on the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the image comprises machine-readable steganographic encoding;

forming the printed substrate into a three-dimensional shape;

providing the formed, printed substrate to a mold, the mold including a cavity surface to cooperate with the three-dimensional shape of the formed, printed substrate, wherein the top surface of the substrate is adjacently arranged with respect to the mold cavity surface; and

injecting a molten resin into the mold cavity directly against the bottom surface of the substrate to produce a one-piece, bonded thee-dimensional article.

34. The molded article according to claim 33, wherein the steganographic encoding comprises a calibration component.

35. The molded article according to claim 34, wherein the steganographic encoding is redundantly encoded in the image.

36. The molded article according to claim 35, wherein the steganographic encoding comprises at least one digital watermark.