System and method for printing on multiple different articles of manufacture by the same printing system in a conveyor system
First Claim
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1. A conveyance printing system comprising:
- a conveyance system configured to interface with and convey a plurality of trays, each tray comprising an identifier, each tray further configured to hold a plurality of articles of manufacture within the tray such that respective print surfaces of the articles are positioned along a common plane;
an individual print job aggregation controller which receives individual print jobs having associated individual print-ready content each for printing on an associated article of manufacture and which aggregates a plurality of the received individual print jobs into a single aggregate print job, and which associates the aggregate print job to a tray identifier of a tray loaded with the articles of manufacture corresponding to associated individual print jobs in the aggregate print job;
a tray tracking controller which associates the aggregate print job with the tray identifier of the loaded tray;
the conveyance system configured to convey the loaded tray to an entrance of a printing system;
a tray identifier reader which reads the tray identifier of the loaded tray conveyed to the entrance of the printing system;
a print job controller responsive to the tray identifier reader to retrieve the aggregate print job associated with the tray identifier;
the printing system configured to receive the loaded tray from the conveyance system, receive the retrieved aggregate print job associated with the tray identifier, and print the associated print job onto the respective print surfaces of the respective articles of manufacture on the loaded tray.
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Abstract
A conveyance printing system and methods for printing articles of manufacture of different types and with different content is presented. Systems include a conveyance system configured to convey a plurality of trays, each having an associated identifier and each holding one or more articles of manufacture within the tray, and a printing system configured to receive a print tray from the conveyance system, receive a print job associated with the tray identifier, and print the associated print job simultaneously onto the respective print surfaces of the one or more articles of manufacture held by the tray.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A conveyance printing system comprising:
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a conveyance system configured to interface with and convey a plurality of trays, each tray comprising an identifier, each tray further configured to hold a plurality of articles of manufacture within the tray such that respective print surfaces of the articles are positioned along a common plane; an individual print job aggregation controller which receives individual print jobs having associated individual print-ready content each for printing on an associated article of manufacture and which aggregates a plurality of the received individual print jobs into a single aggregate print job, and which associates the aggregate print job to a tray identifier of a tray loaded with the articles of manufacture corresponding to associated individual print jobs in the aggregate print job; a tray tracking controller which associates the aggregate print job with the tray identifier of the loaded tray; the conveyance system configured to convey the loaded tray to an entrance of a printing system; a tray identifier reader which reads the tray identifier of the loaded tray conveyed to the entrance of the printing system; a print job controller responsive to the tray identifier reader to retrieve the aggregate print job associated with the tray identifier; the printing system configured to receive the loaded tray from the conveyance system, receive the retrieved aggregate print job associated with the tray identifier, and print the associated print job onto the respective print surfaces of the respective articles of manufacture on the loaded tray. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification