Identification card printer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An identification card printer comprising:
- a cartridge receiver adapted to receive a card cartridge and including a support member; and
a card transport mechanism including a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend through the support member and define a card transport plane.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to an identification card printer that can be used with a card cartridge that protects a stack of cards stored therein from environmental contamination and establishes a card transport plane, from which other components of the identification card printer can be aligned, independent of the card cartridge. The identification card printer includes a cartridge receiver adapted to receive the card cartridge and a card transport mechanism. The card transport mechanism includes a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend to the cartridge receiver and define the card transport plane.
204 Citations
55 Claims
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1. An identification card printer comprising:
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a cartridge receiver adapted to receive a card cartridge and including a support member; and
a card transport mechanism including a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend through the support member and define a card transport plane. - 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)
the card transport mechanism includes a pair of side walls; and
the feed rollers and the;
card singulation component are mounted to the side walls of the transport mechanism.
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9. The printer of claim 1, wherein the cartridge receiver includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts for electrically interfacing corresponding electrical contacts of a card cartridge.
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10. The printer of claim 2, wherein:
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the cartridge receiver includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts; and
the housing of the card cartridge includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts that engage corresponding electrical contacts of the cartridge receiver when seated on the cartridge receiver.
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11. The printer of claim 10, wherein the card cartridge includes a supply circuit electrically coupled to the electrical interface of the base, the supply circuit including a memory for storage of supply information.
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12. The printer of claim 11, including a printer controller adapted to access the supply information in the memory of the supply circuit through the electrical interfaces of the card cartridge and cartridge receiver when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver.
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13. The printer of claim 10, wherein the electrical interface of the cartridge receiver is mounted to a deck member and the electrical interface of the card cartridge is mounted to the base of the housing between the first and second apertures of card access.
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14. The printer of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of the housing is formed of transparent or opaque plastic.
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15. The printer of claim 2, wherein the card cartridge includes a biasing mechanism adapted to apply a force to an end card opposite a lead card of an enclosed stack of cards thereby directing the lead card toward the base of the housing and against the feed rollers when the card cartridge is installed on the cartridge receiver, whereby the lead card is aligned with the card transport plane.
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16. The printer of claim 15, wherein the biasing mechanism includes a card plate that engages the end card and a spring compressed between the housing and the card plate.
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17. The printer of claim 2, wherein the housing includes a removable cover, whereby the interior cavity can be accessed for loading and unloading cards.
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18. The printer of claim 2, including a connector having a first connecting portion mounted to the card cartridge and a second connecting portion mounted to the cartridge receiver, the first and second connecting portions cooperating to secure the card cartridge to the cartridge receiver.
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19. The printer of claim 18, wherein the first connecting portion includes a tab member mounted to each side wall of the housing at a proximal end, each tab member having a distal end that includes a latching component having a shoulder member;
- the second connecting portion including an aperture for receiving the shoulder member of the latching component of the first connecting portion.
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20. The printer of claim 19, wherein the tab members are biased toward a locking position.
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21. The printer of claim 19, wherein the tab members include finger pads.
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22. The printer of claim 2, wherein the cartridge receiver includes guide members adapted to engage the housing of the card cartridge to encourage proper installation.
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23. The card cartridge of claim 2, wherein the base includes a card separating member adjacent back wall, whereby card feed operations are improved.
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24. The card cartridge of claim 23, wherein the card separating member is a ramp or a curved step member.
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25. An identification card printer comprising:
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a card cartridge including a housing having an interior cavity that is sized to accommodate a stack of cards, a pair of opposing side walls, a top, a base, a front wall, a back wall opposite the front wall, and a card output slot, the base having first and second apertures that form a card access;
a cartridge receiver adapted to receive the card cartridge; and
a card transport mechanism including a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend into the cartridge receiver and through the card access of the card cartridge when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver, the feed rollers defining a card transport plane. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
the card transport mechanism includes a pair of side walls; and
the feed rollers and the card singulation component are mounted to the side walls of the transport mechanism.
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33. The printer of claim 25, wherein:
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the cartridge receiver includes an electrical interface having a plurality of exposed electrical contacts; and
the housing of the card cartridge includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts that engage corresponding electrical contacts of the cartridge receiver when seated on the cartridge receiver.
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34. The printer of claim 33, wherein the card cartridge includes a supply circuit electrically coupled to the electrical interface of the base, the supply circuit including a memory for storage of supply information.
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35. The printer of claim 34, including a printer controller adapted to access the supply information in the memory of the supply circuit through the electrical interfaces of the card cartridge and cartridge receiver when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver.
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36. The printer of claim 33, wherein the electrical interface of the cartridge receiver is mounted to a deck member and the electrical interface of the card cartridge is mounted to the base of the housing between the first and second apertures of the card access.
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37. The printer of claim 25, wherein at least a portion of the housing is formed of transparent or opaque plastic.
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38. The printer of claim 25, wherein the card cartridge includes a biasing mechanism adapted to apply a force to an end card opposite a lead card of an enclosed stack of cards thereby directing the lead card toward the base of the housing and against the feed rollers when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver, whereby the lead card is aligned with the card transport plane.
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39. The printer of claim 38, wherein the biasing mechanism includes a card plate that engages the end card and a spring compressed between the housing and the card plate.
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40. The printer of claim 25, wherein the housing includes a removable cover, whereby the interior cavity can be accessed for loading and unloading cards.
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41. The printer of claim 25, including a connector having a first connecting portion mounted to the card cartridge and a second connecting portion mounted to the cartridge receiver, the first and second connecting portions cooperating to secure the card cartridge to the cartridge receiver.
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42. The printer of claim 41, wherein the first connecting portion includes a tab member mounted to each side wall of the housing at a proximal end, each tab member having a distal end that includes a latching component having a shoulder member;
- the second connecting portion including an aperture for receiving the shoulder member of the latching component of the first connecting portion.
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43. The printer of claim 42, wherein the tab members are biased toward a locking position.
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44. The printer of claim 42, wherein the tab members include finger pads.
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45. The printer of claim 25, wherein the cartridge receiver includes guide members adapted to engage the housing of the card cartridge to encourage proper installation.
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46. The printer of claim 25, wherein the card cartridge includes a supply circuit having a memory for storage of supply information.
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47. The card cartridge of claim 25, wherein the base includes a card separating member adjacent back wall, whereby card feed operations are improved.
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48. The card cartridge of claim 47, wherein the card separating member is a ramp or a curved step member.
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49. An identification card printer comprising:
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a cartridge receiver including a plurality of electrical contacts for electrically interfacing corresponding electrical contacts of a card cartridge; and
a card transport mechanism including a feed roller, a portion of which extends the cartridge receiver. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification