System and a method for the creation of edible, optically invisible images

1. A pharmaceutical product or packaging comprising:

an ultraviolet (UV) fluorescing substrate; and

an invisible, edible, non-ultraviolet (UV) fluorescent ink comprising a jettable vehicle;

wherein said non-fluorescent ink is invisible when viewed in white light conditions; and

wherein said ink is selectively deposited onto said UV-fluorescing substrate, said ink selectively blocking fluorescence from said fluorescing substrate, thereby forming a UV viewable image on said substrate.

2. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said substrate comprises a pharmaceutical product.

3. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said substrate comprises a package for a pharmaceutical product.

4. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said ink further comprises a known concentration of medication.

5. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 4 , wherein said substrate comprises a wafer made of one of a cellulose, a starch, or a wheat flour based medium.

6. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said jettable vehicle comprises a solvent.

7. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 6 , wherein said solvent comprises one of water or an alcohol.

8. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 6 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises a surfactant.

9. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 8 , wherein said surfactant comprises one of an ethyl alcohol, a glycerol, a methyl alcohol, an ethyl alcohol, an isopropyl alcohol, a butyl alcohol, a lecithin, a crillet, a polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate, a xanthan gum, a sorbitol, or an edible starch.

10. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises an edible humectant.

11. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 10 , wherein said edible humectant comprises one of a glycerin, a sorbitol, or a mannitol.

12. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said ink comprises a drug.

13. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 1 , wherein said jettable vehicle comprises:

lecithin;

ethyl alcohol; and

water.

14. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 13 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises:

approximately 10% v/v ethyl alcohol;

approximately 2% v/v lecithin; and

approximately 88% v/v water.

15. The pharmaceutical product or packaging of claim 12 , wherein said drug comprises acetaminophen.

16. The pharmaceutical product or packaging claim 1 , wherein said ink further comprises one of a drier, a thinner, a wax, a lubricant, a reducing oil, a solvent, a body gum, a binding varnish, an antioxidant, an anti-skinning agent, a resin, or a binder.

17. A printed medicinal dosage: comprising:

an edible, UV-fluorescing substrate; and

an invisible, edible, non-ultraviolet (UV) fluorescent ink, said ink comprising:

a jettable vehicle; and

a known drug concentration;

wherein said ink is selectively deposited onto said substrate to form a desired dosage of said drug, and selectively blocks said fluorescing substrate, thereby forming a UV viewable image on said substrate.

18. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 17 , wherein said substrate comprises a wafer made of one of a cellulose, a starch, or a wheat flour based medium.

19. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 17 , wherein said jettable vehicle comprises a solvent.

20. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 19 , wherein said solvent comprises one of water or an alcohol.

21. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 19 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises a surfactant.

22. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 21 , wherein said surfactant comprises one of an ethyl alcohol, a glycerol, a methyl alcohol, an ethyl alcohol, an isopropyl alcohol, a butyl alcohol, a lecithin, a crillet, a polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate, a xanthan gum, a sorbitol, or an edible starch.

23. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 17 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises an edible humectant.

24. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 23 , wherein said edible humectant comprises one of a glycerin, a sorbitol, or a mannitol.

25. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 17 , wherein said jettable vehicle comprises:

lecithin;

ethyl alcohol; and

water.

26. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 25 , wherein said jettable vehicle further comprises:

approximately 10% v/v ethyl alcohol;

approximately 2% v/v lecithin; and

approximately 88% v/v water.

27. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 17 , wherein said drug comprises acetaminophen.

28. The printed medicinal dosage of claim 17 , wherein said ink further comprises one of a drier, a thinner, a wax, a lubricant, a reducing oil, a solvent, a body gum, a binding varnish, an antioxidant, an anti-skinning agent, a resin, or a binder.

29. A method for labeling a UV-fluorescing substrate comprising:

positioning said UV-fluorescing substrate adjacent to an inkjet material dispenser; and

selectively jetting an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink onto said UV-fluorescing substrate with said inkjet material dispenser;

wherein said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink comprises a jettable vehicle;

wherein said non-fluorescent ink is invisible when viewed in white light conditions; and

wherein said ink is configured to selectively block a fluorescence of said UV-fluorescing substrate when exposed to an ultraviolet light.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein said substrate comprises a pharmaceutical product.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein said pharmaceutical product comprises one of a tablet, a capsule, a gel cap, a pill, or a caplet.

32. The method of claim 29 , wherein said substrate comprises one of a food product, a pharmaceutical covering, or a dental product.

33. The method of claim 29 , 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.

34. The method of claim 29 , 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, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink onto said substrate in a pattern corresponding to said desired image.

35. The method of claim 34 , wherein said desired image comprises a product identifiable mark.

36. The method of claim 35 , 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.

37. The method of claim 29 , wherein:

said ink further comprises a known concentration of a drug; and

said UV fluorescing substrate comprises an edible UV-fluorescing substrate.

38. The method of claim 37 , further comprising:

selectively dispensing said ink onto said edible UV-fluorescing substrate to form a desired dosage of said drug.

39. The method of claim 29 , wherein said ultraviolet light comprises a wavelength between 254 and 400 nanometers.

40. A method for labeling a pharmaceutical product comprising:

coating said pharmaceutical product with a UV-fluorescing material;

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

selectively jetting an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink onto said pharmaceutical product with said inkjet material dispenser;

wherein said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink is configured to selectively block a fluorescence of said UV-fluorescing coating when exposed to an ultraviolet light.

41. The method of claim 40 , wherein said selectively jetting an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink onto said pharmaceutical product comprises jetting said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing 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 forming a dosage of a pharmaceutical product, comprising:

providing an edible, UV-fluorescing substrate; and

selectively dispensing an edible, non-UV fluorescing ink containing a known concentration of said pharmaceutical product onto said edible, UV-fluorescing substrate;

wherein an amount of said pharmaceutical product associated with said selective dispensing corresponds to said dosage.

46. The method of claim 45 , wherein said edible, UV-fluorescing substrate comprises on of a cellulose, a starch, or a wheat flour based medium.

47. The method of claim 45 , wherein said edible, UV-fluorescing substrate further comprises a coating of a naturally UV-fluorescing material.

48. The method of claim 45 , wherein said selectively dispensing an edible, non-UV fluorescing ink comprises selectively dispensing said edible, non-UV fluorescing ink in a product identifiable mark.

49. The method of claim 48 , wherein said product identifiable mark comprises one of a logo, a name, a number, a bar code, an alphanumeric code, a text, or a watermark.

50. The method of claim 45 , wherein said selective dispensing is performed 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.

51. A method for tracking a fraudulent dispensing of pharmaceuticals, comprising:

coating said pharmaceutical with a UV-fluorescing material;

selectively marking said pharmaceutical with information in an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink, wherein said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink is configured to block the fluorescence of said UV-fluorescing material when exposed to an ultraviolet light; and

exposing said pharmaceutical to said ultraviolet light.

52. The method of claim 51 , wherein said exposing said pharmaceutical to said ultraviolet light comprises verifying said information.

53. The method of claim 51 , wherein:

said marking comprises forming a barcode on said pharmaceutical; and

said verifying said information comprises scanning said barcode.

54. A method for controlling an administration of proper medication to patients, comprising:

coating said medication with a UV-fluorescing material;

marking said medication with information in an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink, wherein said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink is configured to selectively block a fluorescence of said coating when exposed to an ultraviolet light; and

exposing said pharmaceutical to said ultraviolet light to verify said information.

55. A pharmaceutical comprising:

a surface;

a UV-fluorescing coating disposed on said surface;

wherein said UV-fluorescing coating is marked with an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink;

said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink being configured to selectively block a fluorescence of said coating when exposed to an ultraviolet light.

56. The pharmaceutical of claim 55 , wherein said pharmaceutical comprises one of a tablet, a capsule, a gel cap, a caplet, or a pill.

57. The pharmaceutical of claim 55 , wherein said mark comprises information regarding said pharmaceutical.

58. The pharmaceutical of claim 55 , wherein said mark comprises one of a logo, a name, a number, a bar code, an alphanumeric code, a text, or a watermark.

59. The pharmaceutical of claim 55 , wherein said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink is distributed onto said coating 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.

60. A system for labeling a pharmaceutical comprising:

a pharmaceutical carrying substrate, in which said pharmaceutical carrying substrate is an edible, UV-fluorescing substrate;

an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink;

an inkjet material dispenser disposed adjacent to said pharmaceutical carrying substrate that dispenses said ink; and

an ink reservoir coupled to said inkjet material dispenser that supplies said ink to said inkjet material dispenser;

in which said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink selectively blocks a fluoresce in a visible range when exposed to an ultraviolet light.

61. The system of claim 60 , further comprising:

a computing device controllably coupled to said inkjet material dispenser;

wherein said computing device is configured to control a selective dispensing of said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink by said inkjet material dispenser.

62. The system of claim 60 , 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.

63. A method for preventing a counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals, comprising marking identification information on a UV-fluorescing pharmaceutical with an edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink, wherein said edible, invisible, non-UV fluorescing ink is configured to selectively block a fluoresce in a visible range when exposed to an ultraviolet light.

64. The method of claim 63 , further comprising exposing said pharmaceutical to said ultraviolet light.

65. The method of claim 64 , wherein said exposing said pharmaceutical to said ultraviolet light comprises verifying said identification information.

66. The method of claim 63 , wherein:

said marking comprises forming a barcode on said pharmaceutical; and

said verifying said information comprises scanning said barcode.