Abstract:
A method and apparatus are provided for stamping a piece of ePaper. A grid is positioned within a selected distance to a first side of the piece of ePaper. A grounding pin conductively connects a conductive backing plate located on a second side of the piece of ePaper. The grounding pin completes a voltage path from the grid through the piece of ePaper to the conductive backing plate. A voltage is supplied to the grid and supplying the voltage to the grid changes the appearance of the piece of ePaper to form a stamped image.

Description:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/548,874, filed Oct. 12, 2006, status allowed. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to ePaper and in particular to ePaper writing. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for writing ePaper using a stamp. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Electronic reusable paper (ePaper) is a display material used to present information and has many of the properties of paper. Electronic reusable paper stores an image, is viewed in reflective light, has a wide viewing angle, is flexible, and is relatively inexpensive. Unlike conventional paper, however, it is electrically writeable and erasable. Although projected to cost somewhat more than a normal piece of paper, a sheet of electronic reusable paper could be re-used thousands of times. Electronic reusable paper has many potential applications in the field of information display including digital books, low-power portable displays, wall-sized displays, and fold-up displays. 
     Electronic reusable paper utilizes a display technology, invented at the Xerox® Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), called “Gyricon.” A Gyricon sheet is a thin layer of transparent plastic in which millions of small beads, somewhat like toner particles, are randomly dispersed. The beads, each contained in an oil-filled cavity, are free to rotate within those cavities. The beads are “bichromal,” with hemispheres of two contrasting colors, such as black and white, red and white, or blue and yellow, and charged so they exhibit an electrical dipole. When voltage is applied to the surface of the Gyricon sheet, the beads rotate to present one colored side to the viewer. Voltages can be applied to the surface of the Gyricon sheet to create images, such as text and pictures. The image will persist without a voltage applied for a significant period of time. 
     There are many ways an image can be created in electronic reusable paper. For example, Gyricon sheets can be fed into printer-like devices that will erase old images and create new images. Printer-like devices can be made so compact and inexpensive that one can imagine carrying one in a purse or briefcase at all times. One envisioned device, called a wand, could be pulled by hand across a sheet of electronic reusable paper to create an image. With a built-in input scanner, this wand becomes a hand operated multi-function device, such as a printer, copier, fax, and scanner. The wand device writes the image one line at a time. 
     For applications requiring more rapid and direct electronic updates, the Gyricon material might be packaged with a simple electrode structure on the surface and used more like a traditional display. An electronic reusable paper display could be very thin and flexible. A collection of these displays could be bound into an electronic book. With the appropriate electronics stored in the spine of the book, pages could be updated at will to display different content. 
     For portable applications, an active matrix array may be used to rapidly update a partial- or full-page display, much like what is used in today&#39;s portable devices. Gyricon displays do not require backlighting or constant refreshing and are brighter than today&#39;s reflective displays. These attributes will lead to Gyricon&#39;s utilization in lightweight and lower-power applications. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The illustrative embodiments provide a method and apparatus for stamping a piece of ePaper. The illustrative embodiments position a grid within a selected distance to a first side of the piece of ePaper. The illustrative embodiments conductively connect a grounding pin to a conductive backing plate located on a second side of the piece of ePaper. The grounding pint completes a voltage path from the grid through the piece of ePaper to the conductive backing plate. The illustrative embodiments supply a voltage to the grid. Supplying the voltage to the grid changes the appearance of the piece of ePaper to form a stamped image. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows a pictorial representation of a data processing system in which the illustrative embodiments may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a block diagram of a data processing system in which the illustrative embodiments may be implemented; 
         FIG. 3  depicts a piece of ePaper in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; 
         FIG. 4A  illustrates the mechanisms required to stamp a piece of ePaper in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; 
         FIG. 4B  illustrates the stamping of a piece of ePaper in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; 
         FIG. 4C  illustrates a front view of a grid comprised of a thin film of mini-transistors. 
         FIG. 5A  illustrates the mechanisms utilized to stamp a piece of ePaper in conjunction with video/image confirmation and video alignment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; 
         FIG. 5B  illustrates the stamping of a piece of ePaper in conjunction with video/image confirmation and video alignment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary view of a piece of ePaper from a video system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; and 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary composite view of a larger piece of ePaper from a video system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The illustrative embodiments provide for writing ePaper using a stamp. With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference to  FIG. 1 , a pictorial representation of a data processing system is shown in which the illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Computer  100  includes system unit  102 , video display terminal  104 , keyboard  106 , storage devices  108 , which may include floppy drives and other types of permanent and removable storage media, and mouse  110 . Additional input devices may be included with personal computer  100 . Examples of additional input devices (not shown) may include a joystick, touchpad, touch screen, trackball, microphone, and the like. The illustrative embodiments describe a stamping mechanism that is an input device. 
     Computer  100  may be any suitable computer, such as an IBM® eServer™ computer or IntelliStation® computer, which are products of International Business Machines Corporation, located in Armonk, N.Y. Although the depicted representation shows a personal computer, other embodiments may be implemented in other types of data processing systems. For example, other embodiments may be implemented in a network computer. Computer  100  also preferably includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that may be implemented by means of systems software residing in computer readable media in operation within computer  100 . 
     Next,  FIG. 2  depicts a block diagram of a data processing system in which the illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Data processing system  200  is an example of a computer, such as computer  100  in  FIG. 1 , in which code or instructions implementing the processes of the illustrative embodiments may be located. 
     In the depicted example, data processing system  200  employs a hub architecture including a north bridge and memory controller hub (MCH)  202  and a south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (ICH)  204 . Processing unit  206 , main memory  208 , and graphics processor  210  are coupled to north bridge and memory controller hub  202 . Processing unit  206  may contain one or more processors and even may be implemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems. Graphics processor  210  may be coupled to the MCH through an accelerated graphics port (AGP), for example. In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter  212  is coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub  204 , audio adapter  216 , keyboard and mouse adapter  220 , modem  222 , read only memory (ROM)  224 , universal serial bus (USB) ports, and other communications ports  232 . PCI/PCIe devices  234  are coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub  204  through bus  238 . Hard disk drive (HDD)  226  and CD-ROM drive  230  are coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub  204  through bus  240 . Some modern south bridge and I/O controller hubs, such as south bridge and I/O controller hub  204 , may incorporate audio adapter  216 , keyboard and mouse adapter  220 , modem  222 , and universal serial bus (USB) ports and other communications ports  232  internal on the chip. 
     PCI/PCIe devices may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-in cards, and PC cards for notebook computers. PCI uses a card bus controller, while PCIe does not. ROM  224  may be, for example, a flash binary input/output system (BIOS). Hard disk drive  226  and CD-ROM drive  230  may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. A super I/O (SIO) device  236  may be coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub  204 . Other devices that may be connected to PCI/PCIe devices  234 , USB and other ports  232 , or super I/O (SIO) device  236  may be devices that write to ePaper and confirm what has been written to ePaper. A device such as the stamping mechanism describe in the following illustrative embodiments may be controlled via a data processing system, such as processing unit  206 . 
     An operating system runs on processing unit  206 . This operating system coordinates and controls various components within data processing system  200  in  FIG. 2 . The operating system may be a commercially available operating system, such as Microsoft® Windows XP®. (Microsoft® and Windows XP® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both). An object oriented programming system, such as the Java™ programming system, may run in conjunction with the operating system and provides calls to the operating system from Java™ programs or applications executing on data processing system  200 . Java™ and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both. 
     Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programming system, and applications or programs are located on storage devices, such as hard disk drive  226 . These instructions and may be loaded into main memory  208  for execution by processing unit  206 . The processes of the illustrative embodiments may be performed by processing unit  206  using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in a memory. An example of a memory is main memory  208 , read only memory  224 , or in one or more peripheral devices. 
     The hardware shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  may vary depending on the implementation of the illustrated embodiments. Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory, equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . Additionally, the processes of the illustrative embodiments may be applied to a multiprocessor data processing system. 
     The systems and components shown in  FIG. 2  can be varied from the illustrative examples shown. In some illustrative examples, data processing system  200  may be a personal digital assistant (PDA). A personal digital assistant generally is configured with flash memory to provide a non-volatile memory for storing operating system files and/or user-generated data. Additionally, data processing system  200  can be a tablet computer, laptop computer, or telephone device. 
     Other components shown in  FIG. 2  can be varied from the illustrative examples shown. For example, a bus system may be comprised of one or more buses, such as a system bus, an I/O bus, and a PCI bus. Of course the bus system may be implemented using any suitable type of communications fabric or architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the fabric or architecture. Additionally, a communications unit may include one or more devices used to transmit and receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. Further, a memory may be, for example, main memory  208  or a cache such as found in north bridge and memory controller hub  202 . Also, a processing unit may include one or more processors or CPUs. 
     The depicted examples in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  are not meant to imply architectural limitations. In addition, the illustrative embodiments provide for a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for compiling source code and for executing code. The methods described with respect to the depicted embodiments may be performed in a data processing system, such as data processing system  100  shown in  FIG. 1  or data processing system  200  shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     The illustrative embodiments provide a hand-held or robotic mounted stamping mechanism for stamping a piece of ePaper. The stamping mechanism may stamp and re-stamp information onto the ePaper numerous times without deteriorating the ePaper. Both images and text may be stamped onto the ePaper. 
     The illustrative embodiments also provide for a video system that verifies the correct information was stamped onto the ePaper. The illustrative embodiments also provide for a video system that verifies the information that is already stamped onto the ePaper to enable determination if the information on the ePaper needs to be changed by stamping new information on the ePaper. The illustrative embodiments also provide for a video system that aligns the stamping mechanism so that the information is stamped in the correct location. The illustrative embodiments also provide for a video system that aligns the stamping mechanism for stamping a piece of ePaper multiple times when the ePaper is larger than the stamping mechanism and requires multiple stamps to reflect all required information. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a piece of ePaper in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. ePaper  302  is a thin sheet of material in which millions of small beads  304 , somewhat like toner particles, are dispersed. The beads may be dispersed randomly in the material or arranged in rows and columns or arranged in any desired pattern. The material may be transparent. The material may cover the beads, or the beads may be embedded into the material so their top surfaces are visible. Beads  304  may be each contained in an oil-filled cavity, and beads  304  are free to rotate within those cavities. Beads  304  are bichromal with hemispheres of two contrasting colors, such as bead  306  indicating a black color and bead  308  indicating a white color. Any set of contrasting colors may be used. 
     Beads  304  have an electric charge; therefore, beads  304  exhibit an electrical dipole. When an electric field (voltage) is applied across Paper  302 , beads  304 , within that electric field, rotate to present one colored side to the viewer. Voltages can be applied to ePaper  302  to create images, such as text and pictures. The image will persist on ePaper  302  for a substantial amount of time until new voltage patterns are applied. 
       FIG. 4A  illustrates the mechanisms required to stamp a piece of ePaper in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. The mechanism described in the following figures may be a device that accesses a data processing system, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 , via PCI/PCIe devices  234 , USB and other ports  232 , or super I/O (SIO) device  236  of  FIG. 2 . The mechanisms required to stamp a piece of ePaper are stamping mechanism  402 , ePaper label  404 , and metal backing plate  416 . ePaper label  404  may be a piece of ePaper, such as ePaper  302  of  FIG. 3 . Stamping mechanism  402  comprises support structure  406  and handle  408 . Handle  408  may be hand-held or mounted on a robot arm or other mechanism. Support structure  406  provides support to flexible backing  410  and grid  412 . Flexible backing  410  provides flexibility to grid  412  when grid  412  is pressed against ePaper label  404 . Grid  412  can be comprised of a thin film of mini-transistors which supplies the voltage or charge necessary to rotate the beads in ePaper label  404  to present one colored side for the beads in ePaper label  404 , as shown by elements  413  of  FIG. 4C . Stamping mechanism  402  can also comprise spring loaded ground pin  414  that completes the circuit necessary to write ePaper label  404 . 
     ePaper label  404  may be affixed to metal backing plate  416 . Metal backing plate  416  may be a metal plate or other conductive material that conducts electricity. Metal backing plate  416  may further be affixed to non-conductive ePaper mount  418 , and non-conductive ePaper mount  418  may be further affixed to shelf  420  which may be a shelf in a retail store. Conductor  422  provides signals to the thin film of mini-transistors on grid  412 . The signals may be from a processing unit, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 . Conductor  424  provides a grounding path to spring loaded ground pin  414 . Other grounding methods, such as flexible electrically conductive foam, flexible metal “fingers”, etc., may be used. 
       FIG. 4B  illustrates the stamping of a piece of ePaper in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Stamping mechanism  402  is shown to be within a selected distance of ePaper label  404 . More specifically, grid  412  is within a selected distance of ePaper label  404 , and spring loaded ground pin  414  is in contact with metal backing plate  416 . At this point, signals received by grid  412  from conductor  422  are transmitted to ePaper label  404  which causes beads within ePaper label  404  to rotate to present one colored side. The signals may be from a processing unit, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 . The circuit is completed through ePaper label  404  to metal backing plate  416 . Metal backing plate  416  is grounded through spring loaded ground pin  414 , and the circuit completes through conductor  424 . 
       FIG. 5A  illustrates the mechanisms utilized to stamp a piece of ePaper in conjunction with video/image confirmation and video alignment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. The mechanisms required to stamp a piece of ePaper are stamping mechanism  502 , ePaper label  504 , and conductive backing plate  518 . Conductive backing plate  518  is typically metal but may be any other type of conductive material. ePaper label  504  may be a piece of ePaper, such as ePaper  302  of  FIG. 3 . Stamping mechanism  502  comprises support structure  506 , handle  508 , and video system  510 . Video system  510  may be a digital camera. Video system  510  contains lenses necessary to obtain a focused image of ePaper label  504  when stamping mechanism  502  is applied to ePaper label  504 . Handle  508  may be hand-held or mounted on a robot arm or other mechanism. Support structure  506  provides support to flexibly mounted transparent support  512  and transparent grid  514 . Flexibly mounted transparent support  512  may be spring loaded as shown or use some other type of flexible mounting mechanism. 
     Flexibly mounted transparent support  512  provides flexibility to transparent grid  514  when transparent grid  514  is pressed against ePaper label  504 , and spring loaded grounding pins  516  are pressed against conductive backing plate  518 . Flexibly mounted transparent support  512  also allows video system  510  to view ePaper label  504  during the stamping process. Transparent grid  514  is comprised of a thin film of mini-transistors which supplies the voltage or charge necessary to rotate the beads in ePaper label  504  to present one colored side for the beads in ePaper label  504 . Transparent grid  514  may be similar to such grids used in liquid crystal displays. Stamping mechanism  502  uses spring loaded grounding pins  516  to complete the circuit necessary with conductive backing plate  518  to write ePaper label  504 . 
     ePaper label  504  may be affixed to conductive backing plate  518 . Conductive backing plate  518  may further be affixed to non-conductive ePaper mount  520 , and non-conductive ePaper mount  520  may be further affixed to shelf  522 , which may be a shelf in a retail store. Conductor  524  provides signals to the thin film of mini-transistors on transparent grid  514 . The signals may be from a processing unit, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 . Conductor  526  provides a grounding path to spring loaded grounding pins  516 . 
     Video system  510  provides a viewing of ePaper label  504  prior to, during, and after the stamping process. Video system  510  uses light emitting devices (LED)  528  to provide the necessary light so that video camera  530  may view ePaper label  504 . Video camera  530  may be a digital camera. Images captured by video camera  530  are sent to a graphics processor, such as graphics processor  210  of  FIG. 2 , over conductor  532 . 
       FIG. 5B  illustrates the stamping of a piece of ePaper in conjunction with video/image confirmation and video alignment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Stamping mechanism  502  is shown to be in contact with ePaper label  504 . More specifically, grid  514  is within a selected distance of ePaper label  504 , and spring loaded grounding pins  516  are in contact with conductive backing plate  518 . At this point, signals received by grid  514  from conductor  524  are transmitted to ePaper label  504  which causes beads within ePaper label  504  to rotate to present one colored side. The signals may be from a processing unit, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 . The electric field circuit is completed through ePaper label  504  to conductive backing plate  518 . Conductive backing plate  518  is grounded through spring loaded grounding pins  516 , and the circuit completes through conductor  526 . 
     Video system  510  provides a viewing of ePaper label  504  prior to, during, and after the stamping process. Video system  510  uses light emitting devices (LED)  528  to provide the necessary light so that video camera  530  may view ePaper label  504 . Video camera  530  may be a digital camera. Images captured by video camera  530  are sent to a graphics processor, such as graphics processor  210  of  FIG. 2 , over conductor  532 . Video camera  530  may process an image into a standard image format, such as a JPEG file, and transmit the file directly to a processing unit, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 . Conductor  532  may be one or more conductors necessary to provide video data and control, lighting, etc. The graphics processor may process the images and send appropriate information to a processing unit, such as processing unit  206  of  FIG. 2 , and/or display the images on a display unit, such as video display terminal  104  of  FIG. 1 . 
     The images are used by the processing unit to signal alignment of stamping mechanism  502  so that ePaper label  504  may be stamped correctly. The alignment of stamping mechanism  502  may be through viewing the alignment on a display unit and manually moving stamping mechanism  502  or signals sent to a robot so that a robot arm may move to align stamping mechanism  502 . The images may also be used by the processing unit to check whether the existing image on ePaper label  504  needs updating and to determine whether the image just written by stamping mechanism  502  was successfully written. Existing image processing methods may be used for this. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary view of a piece of ePaper from a video system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Video camera view  602  is a view of ePaper  604  as may be seen through the lens of a video camera, such as video camera  530  of  FIG. 5B . 
     A stamping mechanism may be aligned with ePaper  604  in various ways. Alignment marks or alignment corners  606  may be printed near ePaper  604  as shown in  FIG. 6 . An image from the video camera containing alignment corners  606  enables the stamping mechanism to be centered, both vertically and horizontally, relative to ePaper  604  so that ePaper  604  may be stamped correctly using a stamping mechanism in which the video camera is installed. Other types of marks, such as text, bar codes, lines, dots, etc. near ePaper  604  may be used to enable alignment. A contrast in appearance between ePaper  604  and the conductive backing may also be used. The stamping mechanism may be moved manually, robotically, or via other automated method to achieve said centering. Alternatively, ePaper  604  may be moved relative to the stamping mechanism. 
     Another method of alignment may use visual characteristics of the conductive backing plate or the shelf the ePaper is mounted on or other elements in the environment near the epaper. 
     Another method of alignment may use a unique pattern of special electrical contacts and holes on/in the metal backing may be used in conjunction with special contactors on the stamping mechanism to enable alignment. 
     Another method of alignment may use a mechanical alignment mechanism that enables the ePaper mount to move into alignment with the stamping mechanism when the stamping mechanism contacts the mount while being slightly out of alignment. Self aligning mechanical connections are not new and are not claimed herein. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary composite view of a larger piece of ePaper from a video system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. The composite view is made up of multiple images, video camera view  702  and video camera view  708 , each image being part of the larger ePaper. As shown in the example, ePaper  704  is larger than the stamping mechanism is capable of viewing and stamping in one stamping. In this example, the video camera is used to attempt to align the stamping mechanism relative to ePaper  704 , using alignment corners  706 . Thus, the video camera uses alignment corners  706  to align the stamping mechanism vertically and identify the left edge of ePaper  704 . Once these alignments have been made, the stamping mechanism makes an initial stamp of ePaper  704 . In order to complete the stamp, the stamping mechanism moves to the right and then uses alignment corners  706  to vertically align ePaper  704  and identify the right edge of ePaper  704  as shown in video camera view  708 . Once these alignments have been made, the stamping mechanism makes a second stamp of ePaper  704 . 
     Although not shown in  FIG. 7 , if ePaper  704  requires multiple stamps, the stamping mechanism may align as shown above but may also stamp a line (or an unused pattern of light/dark bead orientations) at the rightmost edge of the initial stamp and use the stamped line to align the next stamp. Then, the next stamp would remove the line created in the initial stamp and place another line for alignment of any subsequent stamps. 
     The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. 
     Furthermore, parts of this invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any tangible apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. 
     A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution. 
     Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. 
     Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters. 
     The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.