Apparatus, architecture and method for high-speed printing

US6583852B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Shutterfly, LLC · US

Inventors

• Daniel Baum · Menlo Park, US
• Jeff Boone · Sunnyvale, US
• Russ Ennio Muzzolini · Redwood City, US
• Jarrett Redd · San Jose, US
• Jeannine Marie Smith · Menlo Park, US
• John Voris · Los Gatos, US
• Xin Wen · Rochester, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 31, 2001
• Grant date: Jun 24, 2003
• Expiry date: May 31, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G03D3/00
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A high-speed digital photographic printing system and method includes image-specific backprinting and automatic tracking and sorting of printed jobs. The system includes one or more photographic printers, where each printer can have a different printing rate. A scheduler schedules printing orders to the different printers. The printer-independent image rendering is conducted asynchronous to the printing to maximize the printing throughput. In some embodiments, the rendering image processor does the vast majority of the image processing and outputs a printer-independent data file (generally much larger than the source image data file) that requires little if any further data manipulations or processing in the exposure unit. A photographic printing method and system for producing prints in response to input digital images includes a high-speed exposure unit that exposes a photosensitive material coated on a substrate in response to the input digital image, a chemical processor unit that receives and processes the exposed photosensitive material to form visible dye images on the substrate, a backprinting unit that receives the substrate having the visible dye images and prints informa…