Card de-bowing mechanism
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A substrate de-bowing mechanism, comprising:
- a substrate support having a substrate travel path;
a first, stationary substrate contact member mounted on the substrate support and positioned to engage a surface of a substrate during de-bowing;
a first, movable substrate contact member rotatably mounted on the substrate support for rotation about a rotation axis, and the first, movable substrate contact member is rotatable between a first home position that is on one side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a first surface of the substrate and a second home position that is on a second, opposite side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a second surface of the substrates;
a second, movable substrate contact member rotatably mounted on the substrate support for rotation about a rotation axis, and the second, movable substrate contact member is rotatable between a first home position that is on the one side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the second, movable substrate contact member with the first surface of the substrate and a second home position that is on the second, opposite side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the second, movable substrate contact member with the second surface of the substrate;
the first, movable substrate contact member is disposed on a first axial side of the first, stationary substrate contact member and the second, movable substrate contact member is disposed on a second axial side of the first, stationary substrate contact member, and the first, stationary substrate contact member is located between the first and second movable substrate contact members; and
the rotation axes of the first and second movable substrate contact members are located axially between the first and second movable substrate contact members, and the rotation axes are perpendicular to a substrate transport direction.
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Abstract
A substrate de-bowing mechanism, system and method are described. The mechanism can include a substrate support, one or more stationary contact members, and one or more dynamic or movable contact members that are adapted to contact the substrate and bend the substrate in a desired direction to reduce or eliminate bowing of the substrate. The mechanism is controlled by a CPU or other controller that can adjust the de-bow parameters of the de-bowing mechanism based on input settings that can be dynamic and/or static settings. The mechanism can be used to de-bow a variety of substrates including plastic cards, passports, and passport pages.
29 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A substrate de-bowing mechanism, comprising:
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a substrate support having a substrate travel path; a first, stationary substrate contact member mounted on the substrate support and positioned to engage a surface of a substrate during de-bowing; a first, movable substrate contact member rotatably mounted on the substrate support for rotation about a rotation axis, and the first, movable substrate contact member is rotatable between a first home position that is on one side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a first surface of the substrate and a second home position that is on a second, opposite side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a second surface of the substrates; a second, movable substrate contact member rotatably mounted on the substrate support for rotation about a rotation axis, and the second, movable substrate contact member is rotatable between a first home position that is on the one side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the second, movable substrate contact member with the first surface of the substrate and a second home position that is on the second, opposite side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the second, movable substrate contact member with the second surface of the substrate; the first, movable substrate contact member is disposed on a first axial side of the first, stationary substrate contact member and the second, movable substrate contact member is disposed on a second axial side of the first, stationary substrate contact member, and the first, stationary substrate contact member is located between the first and second movable substrate contact members; and the rotation axes of the first and second movable substrate contact members are located axially between the first and second movable substrate contact members, and the rotation axes are perpendicular to a substrate transport direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A substrate de-bowing mechanism, comprising:
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a substrate support having a substrate travel path; a first, stationary substrate contact member mounted on the substrate support and positioned to engage a surface of a substrate during de-bowing; a first, movable substrate contact member rotatably mounted on the substrate support for rotation about a rotation axis, and the first, movable substrate contact member is rotatable between a first home position that is on one side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a first surface of the substrate and a second home position that is on a second, opposite side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a second surface of the substrate; and means for heating the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A substrate de-bowing mechanism, comprising:
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a substrate support having a substrate travel path; a first, stationary substrate contact member mounted on the substrate support and positioned to engage a surface of a substrate during de-bowing; a first, movable substrate contact member rotatably mounted on the substrate support for rotation about a rotation axis, and the first, movable substrate contact member is rotatable between a first home position that is on one side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a first surface of the substrate and a second home position that is on a second, opposite side of the substrate travel path to permit engagement of the first, movable substrate contact member with a second surface of the substrate; and means for detecting bowing in the substrate.
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16. A method of de-bowing a substrate, comprising:
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inserting a substrate to be de-bowed onto a substrate support and into a nip between a first, stationary substrate contact member and a second, stationary substrate contact member so that the first, stationary substrate contact member contacts a first side surface of the substrate and the second, stationary substrate contact member contacts a second side surface of the substrate approximate a center of the substrate; engaging a first, movable substrate contact member with the second side surface of the substrate adjacent to a first end of the substrate, and engaging a second, movable substrate contact member with the second side surface of the substrate adjacent to a second end of the substrate; rotating the first, movable substrate contact member and the second, movable substrate contact member in opposite directions to cause the substrate to bend about the first, stationary substrate contact member. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification