Needle-point pen apparatus and methods for marking and/or creating articles

Abstract

Needle-point pen apparatuses and methods for marking and/or creating articles and objects. Other uses for the needle-point pen are also disclosed herein. Further needle, ink, and carriage control improvements are further discussed as well as marking and manufacturing processes. Further control, characterization and design parameters, components, and processes are disclosed. Methods for designing and manufacturing articles as well as collaboration between artists and article designers, including distributed and remote collaboration, are disclosed. New marking techniques, computer control, software, hardware and interactive techniques are further disclosed. And, designs and use of the needle-point pens are further described and illustrated.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A marking machine, comprising:
 a barrel;   a needle movably disposed within an inner channel of the barrel, the needle having a tip and an elongate shaft;   a driving unit coupled to the needle and providing a driving actuation to the needle, the driving actuation causing the needle to reciprocate within the barrel between one or more extended and a retracted positions;   the needle being designed to at least partially insert ink into a material;   an ink reservoir supplying ink to the needle for at least partial insertion into the material; and   a computing device controlling the needle actuation and ink supply to the needle for controlling marking of the material with the needle and ink.   
     
     
         2 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , the computing device including:
 a processor; and   memory,   the processor executing instructions stored by the memory causing the processor to control the actuation of the needle.   
     
     
         3 . A marking machine according to  claim 2 , the processor accessing needle control parameters stored on the memory, the needle control parameters specifying an oscillation frequency of the actuation of the needle. 
     
     
         4 . A marking machine according to  claim 3 , the needle control parameters specifying different oscillation frequencies for actuation of the needle based on different types of needles used by the marking machine. 
     
     
         5 . A marking machine according to  claim 3 , the needle control parameters specifying different oscillation frequencies for actuation of the needle based on different materials marked by the marking machine. 
     
     
         6 . A marking machine according to  claim 3 , the needle control parameters specifying different needle control parameters based characteristics of leather. 
     
     
         7 . A marking machine according to  claim 6 , wherein the leather includes cow-hide. 
     
     
         8 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the material is human tissue. 
     
     
         9 . A marking machine according to  claim 3 , the needle control parameters including at least two angles at which the needle reciprocates relative to a surface of the material and the angles are not-perpendicular to the surface of the material. 
     
     
         10 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , the computing device controlling the pressure of ink supply to the needle. 
     
     
         11 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , the computing device controlling the pressure of the needle applied to the material during oscillation. 
     
     
         12 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising a two dimensionally positionable carriage supporting and positioning at least the barrel and needle. 
     
     
         13 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising a three dimensionally positionable carriage supporting and positioning at least the barrel and needle. 
     
     
         14 . A method for needle printing in cow-hide leather, comprising:
 providing the marking machine of  claim 1 , the material being cow-hide leather; and   printing in in the cow hide leather using the marking machine, wherein the cow-hide leather includes dead cow hide and the needle is selected to be sufficiently ridged and thick to at least partially penetrate the ink into the cow hide leather at a selected and controllable depth of the cow hide.   
     
     
         15 . A two-dimensional printing machine for needle-point printing in clay, comprising:
 the marking machine of  claim 1 ;   a carriage supporting the housing of the printing machine, the carriage including at least two dimensional articulating means for positioning the carriage at multiple positions in at least two different directions;   a carriage control processor; and   an electrical interconnect between the carriage control processor and the carriage for signal communication between the carriage control processor and the carriage to control the operation of the needle and ink.   
     
     
         16 . A marking machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising a needle pressure sensor sensing a pressure applied to the material by the needle, the computing device controlling the amount of pressure applied to the needle based on the sensed needle pressure to the material. 
     
     
         17 . A method for marking an article using the marking machine according to  claim 1 , where the material is part of an article and the article is footwear, an artist provides an artistic design to a server and an article designer applies this design to unassembled parts of the footwear including the artist's design applied to the tongue, heel, sides, and/or toe of the footwear, the marking machine automatically applying the design using the needle and ink to the tongue, heel, sides, and/or toe of the footwear for subsequent assembly of the shoe having the design applied thereto. 
     
     
         18 . A method of manufacturing a magnetic or conductive circuit using the marking machine according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 printing a magnetic or electronically conductive material using the marking machine of  claim 1  at a predetermined depth within a material.   
     
     
         19 . A method of imprinting conductive ink into a material using a needle-point pen, the needle point pen comprising:
 a barrel;   a needle movably disposed within an inner channel of the barrel, the needle having a tip and an elongate shaft;   a driving unit coupled to the needle and providing a driving actuation to the needle, the driving actuation causing the needle to reciprocate within the barrel between one or more extended and a retracted positions;   the needle being designed to at least partially insert conductive ink into the material, wherein the conductive ink imprinted into the material has variable resistance.;   a conductive ink reservoir supplying the conductive ink to the needle for at least partial insertion into the material; and   a computing device controlling the needle actuation and the conductive ink supply to the needle.   
     
     
         20 . A method of imprinting magnetizable ink into a material using a needle point pen comprising:
 a barrel;   a needle movably disposed within an inner channel of the barrel, the needle having a tip and an elongate shaft;   a driving unit coupled to the needle and providing a driving actuation to the needle, the driving actuation causing the needle to reciprocate within the barrel between one or more extended and a retracted positions;   the needle being designed to at least partially insert magnetizable ink into the material;   a magnetizable ink reservoir supplying the magnetizable ink to the needle for at least partial insertion into the material, wherein the magnetizable ink contains magnetizable particles suspended in the ink; and   a computing device controlling the needle actuation and the conductive ink supply to the needle.