System and a method for an edible, optically invisible ink

1. An ink comprising:

a jettable vehicle; and

a colorant configured to fluoresce in a visible light range when exposed to an ultraviolet (UV) light;

wherein said ink is edible, and wherein said ink is invisible when viewed under white light conditions.

2. The ink of claim 1 , wherein said jettable vehicle comprises a solvent.

3. The ink of claim 2 , wherein said solvent comprises one of water, an alcohol or both water and an alcohol.

4. The ink of claim 2 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises a surfactant.

5. The ink of claim 4 , wherein said surfactant comprises one of an ethyl alcohol, a glycerol, a methyl alcohol, an isopropyl alcohol, a butyl alcohol, a lecithin, a crillet, a polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate, a xanthan gum, a sorbitol, or an edible starch or any combination thereof.

6. The ink of claim 1 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises an edible humectant.

7. The ink of claim 6 , wherein said edible humectant comprises one of a glycerin, a sorbitol, or a mannitol or any combination thereof.

8. The ink of claim 1 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises an edible pH buffer.

9. The ink of claim 8 , wherein said edible pH buffer comprises sulfuric acid.

10. The ink of claim 8 , wherein an intensity of said colorant fluorescence is varied by varying a concentration of said edible pH buffer.

11. The ink of claim 1 , wherein said colorant comprises a naturally fluorescent compound.

12. The ink of claim 11 , wherein said colorant comprises one of a riboflavin, a riboflavin phosphate, a pyridoxine hydrochloride, a folic acid, a D&C Orange No. 5, a niacin, a nicotinamide, or a quinine sulfate or any combination thereof.

13. The ink of claim 1 , further comprising:

a jettable vehicle including a solvent, a surfactant, and a buffer; and

an edible colorant.

14. The ink of claim 13 , wherein:

said solvent comprises water;

said surfactant comprises ethyl alcohol;

said buffer comprises sulfuric acid; and

said edible colorant comprises quinine sulfate.

15. The ink of claim 14 , wherein:

said water comprises approximately 80% by volume of said ink;

said ethyl alcohol comprises approximately 20% by volume of said ink;

said sulfuric acid comprises approximately 0.05 mol per liter of said water; and

said quinine sulfate comprises approximately 2 milligrams per milliliter of said ink.

16. The ink of claim 1 , further comprising

a jettable vehicle including a solvent, a surfactant, and a humectant; and

an edible colorant.

17. The ink of claim 16 , wherein:

said solvent comprises water;

said surfactant comprises ethyl alcohol;

said humectant comprises glycerin; and

said colorant comprises riboflavin 5′-phosphate.

18. The ink of claim 17 , wherein:

said water comprises approximately 80% by volume of said ink;

said ethyl alcohol comprises approximately 17% by volume of said ink;

said glycerin comprises approximately 3% by volume of said ink; and

said riboflavin phosphate comprises approximately 9 milligrams per milliliter of said ink.

19. The ink of claim 1 , further comprising:

a jettable vehicle including water, ethyl alcohol, glycerin, lecithin, and sorbitol; and

an edible colorant.

20. The ink of claim 19 , wherein said edible colorant comprises one of a riboflavin, a riboflavin phosphate, a pyridoxine hydrochloride, a folic acid, a D&C Orange No. 5, a niacin, a nicotinamide, or a quinine sulfate or any combination thereof.

21. The ink of claim 1 , wherein said ink further comprises one of a drier, a thinner, a wax, a lubricant, a reducing oil, a body gum, a binding varnish, an antioxidant, an anti-skinning agent, a resin, or a binder or any combination thereof.

22. The ink of claim 1 , wherein:

said jettable vehicle comprises water; and

said colorant comprises a naturally occurring fluorescent compound.

23. The ink of claim 22 , wherein said colorant comprises one of a riboflavin, a riboflavin phosphate, a pyridoxine hydrochloride, a folic acid, a D&C Orange No. 5, a niacin, a nicotinamide, or a quinine sulfate or any combination thereof.

24. A method for making an edible, invisible ink, comprising:

forming an ink vehicle including a solvent; and

adding a colorant to said vehicle, said colorant being configured to fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light;

wherein said ink vehicle and said colorant are edible and invisible when viewed under white light conditions.

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising:

adding at least one additive to said edible, invisible ink;

wherein said at least one additive is edible and invisible when viewed under white light conditions.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein said at least one additive comprises one of a surfactant, a humectant, or a buffer or any combination thereof.

27. The method of claim 24 , further comprising:

preparing an aqueous acid solution;

adding a colorant to said aqueous acid solution;

adding a surfactant to said aqueous acidic solution; and

mixing said solution until said colorant is well dissolved in said aqueous acid solution.

28. The method of claim 27 , wherein:

said aqueous acid solution comprises 0.05 molar aqueous sulfuric acid;

said colorant comprises quinine sulfate; and

said surfactant comprises ethyl alcohol.

29. The method of claim 24 , further comprising:

combining a solvent, a surfactant, and a humectant;

adding a colorant to said combination; and

mixing said combination until said colorant is dissolved.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein:

said solvent comprises water;

said surfactant comprises an ethyl alcohol;

said humectant comprises a glycerin; and

said colorant comprises a riboflavin phosphate.

31. A method for labeling a substrate comprising:

positioning said substrate adjacent to an inkjet material dispenser; and

selectively jetting an edible ink onto said substrate with said inkjet material dispenser;

wherein said edible ink includes a colorant configured to fluoresce in a visible light range when exposed to an ultraviolet light, and wherein said ink is invisible when viewed under white light conditions, said edible ink includes a jettable vehicle.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein said substrate comprises a pharmaceutical product.

33. The method of claim 32 , wherein said pharmaceutical product comprises one of a tablet, a capsule, a gel cap, a pill, or a caplet.

34. The method of claim 31 , wherein said substrate comprises one of a food product, a pharmaceutical covering, or a dental product.

35. The method of claim 31 , wherein said inkjet material dispenser comprises one of a thermally actuated inkjet dispenser, a mechanically actuated inkjet dispenser, an electrostatically actuated inkjet dispenser, a magnetically actuated dispenser, a piezoelectrically actuated dispenser, or a continuous inkjet dispenser.

36. The method of claim 31 , wherein said selectively jetting comprises:

forming a desired image on a program hosted by a computing device;

translating said desired image into a plurality of machine commands configured to control said inkjet material dispenser; and

causing said inkjet material dispenser to selectively dispense said edible ink onto said substrate in a pattern corresponding to said desired image.

37. The method of claim 36 , wherein said desired image comprises a product identifiable mark.

38. The method of claim 37 , wherein said product identifiable mark comprises one of a logo, a name, a bar code, a dosage indicator, a general surface hue, or a color.

39. The method of claim 31 , wherein said ultraviolet light has a wavelength between 254 and 400 nanometers.

40. A method for labeling a pharmaceutical product comprising:

positioning said pharmaceutical product adjacent to an inkjet material dispenser; and

selectively jetting an edible ink onto said pharmaceutical product with said inkjet material dispenser;

wherein said edible ink includes a colorant configured to fluoresce in a visible light range when exposed to an ultraviolet light, and wherein said ink is invisible when viewed under white light conditions, said edible ink includes a jettable vehicle.

41. The method of claim 40 , wherein said selectively jetting an edible ink onto said pharmaceutical product comprises jetting said edible, invisible ink in the form of a desired image.

42. The method of claim 41 , wherein said desired image comprises a product identifiable mark.

43. The method of claim 42 , wherein said product identifiable mark comprises one of a logo, a name, a bar code, a dosage indicator, a general surface hue, or a color.

44. The method of claim 40 , wherein said pharmaceutical product comprises one of a tablet, a capsule, a gel cap, a pill, a caplet, or a pharmaceutical covering.

45. A method for marking a pharmaceutical product, comprising:

printing information on a pharmaceutical product with an edible ink;

wherein said edible ink includes a colorant configured to fluoresce in a visible light range when exposed to an ultraviolet light, and wherein said ink is invisible when viewed under white light conditions, said edible ink includes a jettable vehicle.

46. The method of claim 45 , wherein said pharmaceutical product comprises a tablet, a capsule, a gel cap, a caplet, a pill, or a pharmaceutical covering.

47. The method of claim 45 , wherein said information is printed by one of a thermally actuated inkjet dispenser, a mechanically actuated inkjet dispenser, an electrostatically actuated inkjet dispenser, a magnetically actuated dispenser, a piezoelectrically actuated dispenser, or a continuous inkjet dispenser.

48. The method of claim 45 , wherein said information comprises one of a logo, a name, a number, a bar code, an alphanumeric code, a text, or a watermark.

49. A pharmaceutical comprising:

a surface,

wherein said surface is marked with an edible ink;

said edible ink includes a colorant configured to fluoresce in a visible light range when exposed to an ultraviolet light, and wherein said ink is invisible when viewed under white light conditions, said edible ink includes a jettable vehicle.

50. The pharmaceutical of claim 49 , wherein said pharmaceutical comprises one of a tablet, a capsule, a gel cap, a caplet, or a pill.

51. The pharmaceutical of claim 49 , wherein said mark comprises information regarding said pharmaceutical.

52. The pharmaceutical of claim 51 , wherein said mark comprises one of a logo, a name, a number, a bar code, an alphanumeric code, a text, a watermark, or a color.

53. The pharmaceutical of claim 49 , wherein said edible invisible ink is distributed on said surface by one of a thermally actuated inkjet dispenser, a mechanically actuated inkjet dispenser, an electrostatically actuated inkjet dispenser, a magnetically actuated dispenser, a piezoelectrically actuated dispenser, or a continuous inkjet dispenser.

54. The method of claim 24 , further comprising adding an edible pH buffer to said ink vehicle.

55. The method of claim 54 , wherein said edible pH buffer comprises sulfuric acid.

56. The method of claim 24 , further comprising varying an intensity of said colorant fluorescence by varying a concentration of said edible pH buffer.

57. The ink of claim 1 , wherein said colorant comprises quinine sulfate, riboflavin phosphate or both quinine sulfate and riboflavin phosphate.

58. The method of claim 24 , wherein said colorant comprises quinine sulfate, riboflavin phosphate or both quinine sulfate and riboflavin phosphate.