Card transport mechanism and method of operation
First Claim
1. A process for sequentially embossing a card with individual characters contained in a character set by rotating an embosser to a series of selected rotary positions at which individual characters of the character set are aligned with selected card positions at which the individual characters of the character set are embossed comprising:
- sorting the set of characters to form a first ordered set containing the characters in an order of increasing distance between a reference rotary position of the embosser and a rotary position of each individual character of the first ordered set on the embosser relative to the reference rotary position;
sorting the first ordered set to form a second ordered set having the characters in a new order in which the individual characters of the second ordered set increase in distance measured relative to the reference rotary position from a distance of the first character in the second ordered set to a distance of the last character in the second ordered set with at least some of the individual successive characters from the first character to the last character in the second ordered set not being located farther from the reference rotary position than an immediately preceding character of the second ordered set; and
embossing the characters of the second ordered set with the embosser in an order beginning from the first character of the second ordered set successively to the last character of the second ordered set by coordinated rotary motion of the embosser and rectilinear motion of a carriage holding the card to sequentially position the embosser and card at selected rotary and rectilinear positions respectively to emboss the individual characters of the character set.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a card transport mechanism for transporting cards (114) along a transport path (108) and method of operation thereof. A card transport mechanism (180) in accordance with the invention includes a pair of spaced apart channels (186, 188), each channel engaging a different one of a pair of opposed edges of the cards; a carriage (196) for holding the cards at a fixed position relative to the carriage during motion along the transport path, the carriage having first (198) and second (120) card contacting elements spaced apart at different positions along the transport path and projecting into the transport path for contacting and holding a card in the fixed position during motion along the transport path, the first card contacting element being compliant to move orthogonally from within the transport path to permit movement of the card along the channels while the carriage is stationary prior to contact of the card by the second card contacting element and the second card contacting element being compliant along the transport path in response to contact with the card to produce contact and holding of the opposed edges of the card with the first and second card contacting elements in the fixed position; and a carriage support (120), connected to the carriage, for guiding the carriage along the transport path.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A process for sequentially embossing a card with individual characters contained in a character set by rotating an embosser to a series of selected rotary positions at which individual characters of the character set are aligned with selected card positions at which the individual characters of the character set are embossed comprising:
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sorting the set of characters to form a first ordered set containing the characters in an order of increasing distance between a reference rotary position of the embosser and a rotary position of each individual character of the first ordered set on the embosser relative to the reference rotary position; sorting the first ordered set to form a second ordered set having the characters in a new order in which the individual characters of the second ordered set increase in distance measured relative to the reference rotary position from a distance of the first character in the second ordered set to a distance of the last character in the second ordered set with at least some of the individual successive characters from the first character to the last character in the second ordered set not being located farther from the reference rotary position than an immediately preceding character of the second ordered set; and embossing the characters of the second ordered set with the embosser in an order beginning from the first character of the second ordered set successively to the last character of the second ordered set by coordinated rotary motion of the embosser and rectilinear motion of a carriage holding the card to sequentially position the embosser and card at selected rotary and rectilinear positions respectively to emboss the individual characters of the character set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 6)
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3. A process for sequentially embossing a card with individual characters contained in a character set by rotating an embosser to a series of selected rotary positions at which individual characters of the character set are aligned with selected card positions at which the individual characters of the character set are embossed comprising:
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sorting the set of characters to form a first ordered set containing the characters in an order of increasing distance between a reference rotary position of the embosser and a rotary position of each individual character of the first ordered set on the embosser relative to the reference rotary position; sorting the first ordered set to form a second ordered set having the characters in a new order which partially has successive characters of the second ordered set in an order of increasing distance measured relative to the reference rotary position and partially has successive characters of the second ordered set in an order with a distance between X an Y axes embossing coordinates of the successive characters on the card not being separated by a distance measured along orthogonal coordinate axes which exceeds a maximum distance that the card may be moved during a time interval; and embossing the characters of the second ordered set with the embosser in an order beginning from the first character of the second ordered set successively to the last character of the second ordered set by coordinated rotary motion of the embosser and rectilinear motion of the carriage holding the card to sequentially position the embosser and card at selected rotary and rectilinear positions respectively to emboss the individual characters of the character set. - View Dependent Claims (4, 7, 8)
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9. An embossing system comprising:
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an embosser having first and second rotatable wheels carrying pairs of matched characters which may be selectively embossed and which are rotated in unison to a selected rotary position to emboss a selected character from the pairs of matched characters on a card disposed between the wheels, each matched character pair being activated to emboss a selected character when positioned at the selected rotary position to drive each character pair into contact with opposed surfaces of the card and away from contact with the card to emboss the card disposed between the first and second rotating wheels with the selected character; a motor, coupled to the embosser wheels, for selectively rotating the wheels to the selected rotary position to position the selected character for embossing; a power source and power transmission for transmitting power produced by the power source to a pair of matched characters of the selected character positioned at the selected rotary position to emboss the selected character at the selected rotary position on the card disposed between the first and second rotary wheels; a carriage and carriage drive for holding individual cards at a position between the first and second rotating wheels and for translating each card held by the carriage selectively along orthogonal coordinate axes to selectable individual positions on the card held by the carriage at which each selected character positioned at the selected rotary position is embossed on the card held by the carriage; a detector for indicating when each pair of matched characters at the selected rotary position has first cleared opposed faces of the card being embossed; and an embosser controller, responsive to the detector, for controlling the motor, the power source, and the carriage drive, for controlling activation of the motor and the carriage drive to begin rotation of the first and second rotatable wheels from a selected rotary position at which a selected character has been embossed on the card to a next selected rotary position at which a next selected character is to be embossed on the card and to begin translation of the card held by the carriage by the carriage drive from a card position at which the selected character has been embossed along at least one of the orthogonal coordinate axes to a next card position at which a next selected character is to be embossed on the card in response to the detector indicating that the pair of matched characters, which embossed the selected character, has first cleared engagement with the opposed surfaces of the card. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of embossing cards with a plurality of selected characters comprising:
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positioning a card to be embossed at selected card positions with the plurality of selected characters between a pair of rotatable embossing wheels respectively carrying pairs of matched characters which emboss the plurality of selected characters and rotating the pair of rotatable embossing wheels to a selected rotary position at which a selected character is to be embossed at a selected card position with a selected pair of the pairs of matched characters; providing power from a power source to a matched pair of the selected character positioned at the selected rotary position to drive the matched pair into opposed surfaces of the card to emboss the selected character at a selected card position; indicating when the matched pair of the selected character has first cleared opposed surfaces of the card during the providing of power to the matched pair of the selected character; and responsive to the indication that the matched pair of the selected character has first cleared the opposed surfaces of the card, beginning rotation of the pair of rotatable embossing wheels to a selected rotary position where a next selected character is to be embossed and in response to the indication that the matched pair of the selected character has first cleared the opposed surfaces beginning translation of the card to a next selected card position where a next selected character is to be embossed thereon. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification