Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Yu Du

Tzer-Yi Chen

Donald MacKay

Stephen Jay Liker

Donald Mackay

A printing system and method direct a printing assembly to apply a first ink of a first color toward first areas of a machine-readable data representation on a corrugated material surface, and direct the printing assembly to apply a second ink of a second color toward second areas of the machine-readable data representation on the corrugated material surface. The second color of the second ink is different from the first color of the first ink. The first and second areas are not identical to each other. The printing assembly is directed to apply the first ink and to apply the second ink to form the machine-readable data representation for machine scanning of the machine-readable data representation while on the corrugated material surface.

Printing system and method

A printing system and method print different colors onto a target object to form a machine-readable data representation having a symbol contrast of at least 40%. The printing system and method direct print heads to print the different colors by printing a base layer of a first color of the different colors on the target object and printing an upper layer of a different, second color of the different colors on top of the base layer of the first color, or by printing print the machine-readable data representation as an interdigitated data representation by printing the different colors onto the target object so that none of the different colors is printed on top of another color of the different colors.

Growing community of inventors

Bethany, CT, United States of America

Yu Du