DESKTOP CARD PRINTER

• US 20110217109A1
• Filed: 03/01/2011
• Published: 09/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Entrust Corp.
• Original Assignee: Datacard Corp. (Entrust Corp.)
• Inventors: Bungert, Lyle Cecil, Steinbach, Jerry L., Wickstrom, David Evert, Cronin, Patrick Charles, Schuller, Peter David
• Granted Patent: US 8,702,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 400/624
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 13/12 specially adapted for small cards, envelopes, or the like , e.g. credit cards, cut visiting cards
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2301/42322 from bottom of the pile
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2404/623 gate arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2701/1914 Cards, e.g. telephone, credit and identity cards
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 3/24 by pushers engaging the edges of the articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 3/56 Elements, e.g. scrapers, fingers, needles, brushes, acting on separated article or on edge of the pile B65H3/52 takes precedence

Abstract

A desktop card print having an improved automatic card feed hopper that employs a card picking mechanism that includes an automatic gate mechanism in combination with a card edge assist picker while providing a card exception slot for manual feeding of a card, a removable ribbon cassette that employs a magnetic encoder mechanism for tracking the motion of a ribbon mounted on the ribbon cassette, a scanning station that is configured and arranged to capture an image of one or more surfaces of the card as it passes the scanner, and a power take-off (PTO) gear adjacent the rear end of the printer for use in driving an additional processing mechanism to be mounted at the rear of the printer.

Claims

1. A desktop card printer, comprising:

a housing having a first end and a second end, a first side surface and a second side surface, and a top surface;

a card hopper mounted to the housing at the first end thereof, the card hopper includes a card input hopper portion that is configured to hold a plurality of cards to be processed by the desktop card printer;

the card hopper includes a card picking mechanism that is configured and arranged to pick and feed a single card from the plurality of cards within the card input hopper portion into the desktop card printer for processing;

the card picking mechanism includes an automatic gate mechanism that is disposed at a discharge side of the card input hopper portion adjacent first edges of the cards and is configured and arranged to control the discharge of cards from the card input hopper portion into the desktop card printer, and a card edge assist mechanism that is configured and arranged to engage a second edge of a card to be picked to help separate the card to be picked from the remainder of the cards in the card input hopper portion;

a card output;

a card processing mechanism within the housing; and

a card transport mechanism within the housing that is configured and arranged to receive a picked card from the card input hopper portion and to transport the picked card within the housing to the card processing mechanism and to the card output.

2. The desktop card printer of claim 1, wherein the card output comprises an output hopper portion, and the card hopper is an integrated, single unit that includes the card input hopper portion and the card output hopper portion;

and the card hopper is removable as a single unit from the desktop card printer.

3. The desktop card printer of claim 1, wherein the card input hopper portion is configured to hold the plurality of cards in a vertically stacked arrangement one on top of the other.

4. The desktop card printer of claim 1, wherein the card edge assist mechanism includes a pick block that is detachably mounted to a mounting element, and the pick block and the mounting element are movable axially as well as up and down.

5. The desktop card printer of claim 4, wherein the card edge assist mechanism further includes an idler roller mounted on the mounting element and that moves therewith, the idler roller being positioned to rotatably engage a bottom surface of the card to be picked.

6. The desktop card printer of claim 4, wherein the card hopper further includes a card exception slot.

7. The desktop card printer of claim 4, wherein the automatic gate mechanism includes a gate disposed in an exit slot, the gate is biased downward, and an idler roller is mounted to a bottom edge of the gate;

and further comprising a driven pick roller disposed opposite the idler roller and defining a nip therebetween.

8. The desktop card printer of claim 1, wherein the card processing mechanism comprises a thermal print mechanism.

9. The desktop card printer of claim 2, wherein an upper panel of the card hopper forms a portion of the top surface of the housing.

10. The desktop card printer of claim 4, wherein the pick block has a thickness that is equal to or less than a thickness of the cards so that the pick block only engages a single card at a time.

11. The desktop card printer of claim 7, wherein the pick block and the mounting element are driven by a shaft eccentrically mounted on a crank shaft, the crank shaft is driven by a first gear, and a slip-clutch is provided between the crank shaft and the first gear.

12. The desktop card printer of claim 11, wherein the pick roller is driven by a second gear, and a slip-clutch is provided between the pick roller and the second gear.

13. The desktop card printer of claim 12, wherein the first gear and the second gear are driven by a third gear that is driven by a motor that is part of the card hopper, and the third gear is drivable in forward and reverse directions.