Credit card embossing and recording system
First Claim
1. A recording system for embossing blank cards with a plurality of vertically separated horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed with at least one line being embossed with characters of a first pitch and at least one line being embossed with characters of a second pitch and for magnetically recording digitally encoded information on one or more tracks of a recording medium disposed on the card comprising:
- card supply means for feeding blank cards to be embossed from a pickup station to a recording station where the one or more tracks are recorded, the recording station having means for receiving individual blank cards which are fed by the card supply means and holding the individual cards in a fixed recording position while the one or more tracks are recorded;
card transporting means for receiving blank cards to be embossed from the recording station and for transporting cards received from the recording station along a card transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions and to a position where embossing is completed;
recording means mounted in proximity to the recording station, the recording means having a head assembly including head means for recording and playback which is movable by a head transporting means along the magnetic recording medium of a card to cause digitally encoded information to be recorded on the one or more tracks of the magnetic recording medium when moved in a forward direction and to be played back from the magnetic recording medium when moved in a reverse direction;
a plurality of card embossing means each disposed at a separate one of the embossing positions disposed along the transport path, each card embossing means being vertically positioned with respect to the transport path to emboss a different one of the horizontally disposed lines of characters on each card with either the first or the second pitch, at least one of the horizontally disposed lines being embossed with the first pitch and at least one of the horizontally disposed lines being embossed with the second pitch; and
control means coupled to the card supply means, the recording means, the card transporting means and the plurality of card embossing means for controlling the card supply means to feed blank cards from the pickup station to the recording station, the recording of the one or more tracks of the recording medium by activating the head transporting means to the head assembly in the forward direction while the head means records the tracks, the playback of the recorded information by the head means by activating the head transporting means to move the head assembly in the reverse direction and verification that the information which was recorded is that which was desired to be recorded by comparing the played back information with stored information which was desired to be recorded, the transporting of the cards received by the card transporting means from the recording station to the separate embossing positions along the transporting path and to the position where embossing is completed and the plurality of card embossing means to emboss the plurality of lines on each blank card.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for embossing a plurality of lines and recording encoded tracks of digitally encoded characters for credit cards is disclosed. The system has an improved recording station for recording digitally encoded characters, indent embossing unit, card transporting unit, process for verifying the accuracy of recording the tracks; and stacker.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A recording system for embossing blank cards with a plurality of vertically separated horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed with at least one line being embossed with characters of a first pitch and at least one line being embossed with characters of a second pitch and for magnetically recording digitally encoded information on one or more tracks of a recording medium disposed on the card comprising:
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card supply means for feeding blank cards to be embossed from a pickup station to a recording station where the one or more tracks are recorded, the recording station having means for receiving individual blank cards which are fed by the card supply means and holding the individual cards in a fixed recording position while the one or more tracks are recorded; card transporting means for receiving blank cards to be embossed from the recording station and for transporting cards received from the recording station along a card transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions and to a position where embossing is completed; recording means mounted in proximity to the recording station, the recording means having a head assembly including head means for recording and playback which is movable by a head transporting means along the magnetic recording medium of a card to cause digitally encoded information to be recorded on the one or more tracks of the magnetic recording medium when moved in a forward direction and to be played back from the magnetic recording medium when moved in a reverse direction; a plurality of card embossing means each disposed at a separate one of the embossing positions disposed along the transport path, each card embossing means being vertically positioned with respect to the transport path to emboss a different one of the horizontally disposed lines of characters on each card with either the first or the second pitch, at least one of the horizontally disposed lines being embossed with the first pitch and at least one of the horizontally disposed lines being embossed with the second pitch; and control means coupled to the card supply means, the recording means, the card transporting means and the plurality of card embossing means for controlling the card supply means to feed blank cards from the pickup station to the recording station, the recording of the one or more tracks of the recording medium by activating the head transporting means to the head assembly in the forward direction while the head means records the tracks, the playback of the recorded information by the head means by activating the head transporting means to move the head assembly in the reverse direction and verification that the information which was recorded is that which was desired to be recorded by comparing the played back information with stored information which was desired to be recorded, the transporting of the cards received by the card transporting means from the recording station to the separate embossing positions along the transporting path and to the position where embossing is completed and the plurality of card embossing means to emboss the plurality of lines on each blank card. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An embossing system for embossing blank cards having two sides with a plurality of vertically separated horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed with at least one line being embossed with characters of a first pitch and at least one line being embossed with characters of a second pitch on the first side and a line having one of the pitches on the second side comprising:
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card supply means for feeding blank cards to be embossed; card transporting means for receiving blank cards to be embossed from the card supply means and for transporting the cards received from the card supply means along a transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions and to a position where embossing is completed; a plurality of card embossing means and an indent printing means each disposed at a separate one of the embossing positions disposed along the transport path, each card embossing means and the indent printing means being vertically positioned with respect to the transport path to emboss and print a different one of the horizontally disposed lines of characters on each card, at least one of the lines on the first side being embossed with a character set of a first pitch, at least another of the lines on the first side being embossed with a character set of a second pitch and the line on the second side being printed with an indent character set of one of the pitches; means for driving the plurality of card embossing means and the indent printing means from a common power source; control means coupled to the card supply means, the card transporting means and the plurality of card embossing means and indent printing means for controlling the card supply means to feed blank cards to the card transporting means, the transporting of the cards received by the card transporting means to the separate embossing positions along the transporting path and the position where embossing and printing is completed and the plurality of card embossing means to emboss the plurality of lines on each blank card and the indent printing means to print a line of indent characters on the second side; and the indent printing means for printing the second side having a single movable member which is cyclically moved between first and second positions, a rotatable wheel mounted on a shaft and a fixed anvil between which a blank card to be printed is moved by the card transporting means, the wheel being a punch wheel carrying male indent printing elements of each of the character set printed by the wheel which are movable from a retracted position to a printing position, the wheel carrying indent printing elements of each of the characters to be printed which are disposed at different circumferential positions around the wheel and a space without an indent imprinting element at a circumferential position which is separate from the circumferential position of indent imprinting elements which is the circumferential position of the wheel when a space is to be left on a blank card, the movement of the movable member causing the cyclical movement of one of the indent printing elements from the retracted position to the printing position and back, a shaft encoding means for encoding the circumferential position of the wheel with respect to a reference position, and means for rotating the wheel to any one of the circumferential positions in response to a command from the control means to position the wheel for printing a particular indent printing character or to leave a blank space. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. An embossing system for embossing blank cards with a plurality of separated horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed with at least one line being embossed with characters of a first pitch, at least one line being embossed with characters of a second pitch, and a line being embossed with indent characters comprising:
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card supply means for feeding blank cards to be embossed; card transporting means for receiving blank cards to be embossed from the card supply means and for transporting the cards received from the card supply means along a transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions and to a position where embossing is completed; a plurality of card embossing means each disposed at a separate one of the embossing positions disposed along the transport path, each card embossing means being vertically positioned with respect to the transport path to emboss a different one of the horizontally disposed lines of characters on each card, at least one of the lines of embossing being embossed by a character set of a first pitch, and at least another of the lines of embossing being embossed with a character set of a second pitch; an indent printing means disposed at a separate one of the embossing positions disposed along the transport path for printing indent characters of either the first or second pitch; the printing means for printing the indent characters having a single movable member which is cyclically moved between first and second positions, a rotatable wheel mounted on a shaft and a fixed anvil between which a blank card to be embossed is moved by the card transporting means, the wheel being a punch wheel carrying male printing elements which are movable from a retracted position to a printing position, the wheel carrying printing elements of each of the characters to be printed which are disposed at different circumferential positions around the wheel and a space without a printing element at a circumferential position which is separate from the circumferential position of the printing elements which is the circumferential position of the wheel when a space is to be left on a blank card, the movement of the movable member causing the cyclical movement of one of the printing elements from the retracted position to the printing position and back, a shaft encoding means for providing a signal encoding the circumferential position of the wheel with respect to a reference position, and means for rotating the wheel to any one of the circumferential positions in response to a command from the control means to position the wheel for printing a particular character; means for driving the plurality of card embossing means and indent printing means from a common power source; and control means coupled to the card supply means, the card transporting means and the plurality of card embossing means for controlling the card supply means to feed blank cards to the card transporting means, the transporting of the cards received by the card transporting means to the separate embossing positions along the transporting path and to the position where embossing and printing is completed and the plurality of card embossing means to emboss the plurality of lines on each blank card and the indent printing means to print a line of indent characters on the second side.
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Specification