Credit card embossing system
First Claim
1. An embossing system for embossing blank cards with a plurality of vertically separated horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed comprising:
- (a) card supply means for feeding blank cards to be embossed;
(b) card transporting means for receiving blanks cards to be embossed from the card supply means and for transporting the cards received from the card supply means along a single continuous transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions and to a position where embossing is completed;
(c) 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; and
(d) 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 the position where embossing is completed and the plurality of card embossing means to emboss the plurality of lines on each blank card.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An embossing system is disclosed for embossing cards with characters of at least two pitches. A number of embossers equal to the number of lines of characters to be embossed on the card are positioned in line. Each embosser is dedicated to the embossing of a particular line of characters with a particular pitch. A common transport belt conveys the cards from an input hopper past the embossing stations of each of the line embossers to a wait station. During embossing, the transport belt is moved from the current longitudinal position to the longitudinal position where the closest next character(s) are to be embossed by any one of the embossers. The embossed cards are conveyed from the wait station to a topper which applies topping to the embossed characters.
25 Citations
27 Claims
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1. An embossing system for embossing blank cards with a plurality of vertically separated horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed comprising:
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(a) card supply means for feeding blank cards to be embossed; (b) card transporting means for receiving blanks cards to be embossed from the card supply means and for transporting the cards received from the card supply means along a single continuous transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions and to a position where embossing is completed; (c) 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; and (d) 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 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. In an embossing system for embossing blank cards with a plurality horizontally disposed lines on which characters are to be embossed, the improvement comprising:
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(a) card transporting means for transporting blank cards to be embossed along a transport path to a plurality of separate embossing positions; (b) a plurality of card embossing means each disposed at a separate one of the embossing positions along the transport path, each card embossing means embossing a different one of the horizontally disposed lines of characters on each card; and (c) control means, coupled to the card transporting means and to the plurality of card embossing means, for controlling the transporting of the card received by the card transporting means to the separate embossing positions along the transporting path, the plurality of card embossing means embossing the plurality of lines on each blank card, and comparing a current longitudinal position of the cards being embossed by each of the card embossing means determined with respect to a reference point with a longitudinal position of a next character to be embossed on the cards being embossed by each of the card embossing means on each of the horizontally disposed lines to identify a longitudinal position of one or more closest next characters to be embossed on any of the horizontally disposed lines which are closest to the current longitudinal position, moving the card transporting means to the longitudinal position of the closest one or more next characters to be embossed, and activating the one or more embossers which are to emboss the closest one or more next characters to emboss the one or more closest next characters.
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Specification