Decorating system for edible items

Abstract

A system for creating a decorative edible item from a selected image. The system includes at least one image source, such as a scanner and/or a library of stored images, a controller unit and a printer. An edible media is inserted into the printer. The user then selects the image source, such as the scanner for scanning in a photograph reminiscence of a person or event being honored. The size of the printed image is then selected as well as the number of copies to be printed from the image. The print sequence is then activated. The controller unit applies color correction to the digital image and converts the digital image into printer control signals to operate the printer. The printer then prints a rendition of the image with edible inks as the edible media travels through the printer. A high-quality pictorial rendition of the image is thus created. The printed edible media can then be applied onto a product, shipped to a separate location or eaten as is.

1 - 28 . (canceled)  
     
     
         29 . A system for decorating an edible medium to be applied to one or more cakes, comprising: 
 a scanner device to generate a scanned image;    an edible ink printer to print edible ink upon an edible medium when the edible medium is received by the printer;    a control system coupled to the edible ink printer and the scanner device to retrieve the scanned image from the scanner and transmit the scanned image to the edible ink printer in response to user input; and    an input device to receive a user selection of a cake size on which the image is to be disposed,    wherein the control system modifies the size of the scanned image according to the cake size selection.    
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the control system adjusts dimensions of the scanned image to fit within the user-selected cake size according to an original aspect ratio of the scanned image.  
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the input device indicates a standard cake size selected from the group consisting of: ¼ sheet, ½ sheet, and full sheet.  
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the input device comprises a user interface including one or more user-selectable buttons, at least one of the buttons indicating a cake size.  
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the user interface comrprises a touch screen interface, the touch screen interface including one or more selectable buttons.  
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the control system selectively retrieves images from at least three image sources in response to input on the user interface, the at least three image sources including: (1) the scanner device, (2) a storage drive device that stores a digital image library, and (3) an external storage device that stores at least one digital image.  
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the external storage device is selected from the group consisting of: a cd-rom, a floppy disk, a digital camera, and a video camera.  
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the control system includes an image editing system that is operable to crop the scanned image in response in response to user input.  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 29 , further comprising an image library source that stores a plurality of digital images, wherein the control system is coupled to the image library source so as to retrieve a digital image from the image library source and transmit the digital image to the printer in response to user input.  
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein at least a portion of the digital images stored in the image library source include clip-art, illustrations, or licensed images.  
     
     
         39 . A method for decorating a cake of a particular size, comprising: 
 positioning an image on a scanner device to scan the image;    selecting a size of a cake to be decorated from a plurality of cake sizes;    scanning the image;    adjusting the size of the scanned image according to the selected cake size;    printing at least a portion of the scanned image onto an edible medium; and    applying the image-bearing edible medium to a cake having a size that substantially corresponds to the the selected cake size.    
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein adjusting the size of the scanned image comprises adjusting dimensions of the scanned image to fit the user-selected cake size according to an original aspect ratio of the scanned image.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the plurality of cake sizes includes at least one standard cake size selected from the group consisting of: ¼ sheet, ½ sheet, and full sheet.  
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the image positioned on the scanner device is a photograph to be scanned.  
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising inserting the printable edible medium into a printer.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein selecting the cake size includes selecting a button on an input device that indicates the cake size.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein the input device comprises a touch screen interface, the touch screen interface including one or more selectable buttons.  
     
     
         46 . A system for decorating an edible medium to be applied to one or more cakes, comprising: 
 a scanner device to generate a scanned image;    an edible ink printer to print edible ink upon an edible medium when the edible medium is received by the printer;    control means for retrieving the scanned image from the scanner device and for transmitting the scanned image to the edible ink printer in response to user input, the control means being coupled to the edible ink printer and the scanner; and    an input means for selecting a cake size on which the scanned image is to be disposed,    wherein the control means modifies the size of the scanned image according to the selected cake size.    
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the control means adjusts dimensions of the scanned image to fit within the selected cake size according to an original aspect ratio of the scanned image.  
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the input means comprises a user interface including one or more user-selectable buttons, at least one of the buttons indicating a cake size selected from the group consisting of: ¼ sheet, ½ sheet, and full sheet.