Patent ID: 7790092

Claim:
A system for forming solid ink sticks comprising: a molten ink delivery station configured to introduce molten ink material into a forming tub to form a solid ink stick, said forming tub including an open top and a cavity for receiving the molten ink, the cavity defining at least a lower portion of a solid ink stick shape; a thermal control station configured to cool the ink material introduced into the cavity of the forming tub until the ink material has solidified in the cavity and the thermal control station being configured to heat a top surface of the solidified ink material exposed through the open top of the forming tub; a laser writing station having a laser that is configured to ablate a top surface of the ink material in the forming tub; a tub transport configured to move the forming tub with the ink material from the molten ink delivery station to the thermal control station before moving the forming tub to a position opposite the laser writing station; a laser control station configured to receive pattern data and to move the laser of the laser writing station to scan repetitively the top surface of the ink material in the forming tub in a pattern corresponding to the received pattern data to control a depth of ablation for a mark formed in the top surface of the ink material in the forming tub with the laser, the pattern data corresponds to data pertaining to the ink stick in which the mark was formed; and the laser control station being further configured to modify the pattern data in response to a next forming tub arriving at the forming tool and to control movement of the laser with reference to the modified pattern data to form a mark in the top surface of the ink material exposed through the open top of the next forming tub that corresponds to modified data pertaining to the ink stick in which the mark was formed.