CARD PRINTING MECHANISM WITH CARD RETURN PATH

• US 20170200074A1
• Filed: 12/30/2016
• Published: 07/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Entrust Corp.
• Original Assignee: Entrust Datacard Corporation (Entrust Corp.)
• Inventors: BEECH, Brian, WAGENER, Thomas J., FLITSCH, Timothy J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,049,320 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 13/12 specially adapted for small cards, envelopes, or the like , e.g. credit cards, cut visiting cards
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/60 for printing on both faces of the printing material
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2701/1914 Cards, e.g. telephone, credit and identity cards
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 85/00 Recirculating articles, i.e. feeding each article to, and delivering it from, the same machine work-station more than once
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/07 Transporting of cards between stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/077 with intermittent movement; Braking or stopping movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/10 at least one kind of marking being used for authentication, e.g. of credit or identity cards verification of coded identity or credit cards in mechanisms actuated by them G07F7/12

Abstract

Card processing mechanisms and methods whereby after a card has been processed on one surface thereof at a card processing station such as, but not limited to, a card printing mechanism, the card can be recirculated back upstream of the card processing station along a return card travel path that is separate from the primary card travel path through the card processing station where the card can then be reintroduced back into the primary card travel path and transported through the card processing station a second time. As the card is being returned along the return card travel path, the card can be flipped over so that when the card is transported back through the card processing station, the opposite surface of the card can be processed.

Claims

1. A card processing system, comprising:

a card processing path;

a card printing mechanism disposed along the card processing path, the card printing mechanism includes;

a primary card path along which cards can travel in a downstream direction;

at least one print station on the primary card travel path that performs a printing operation on a surface of a card on the primary card travel path;

a return card travel path that intersects the primary card travel path downstream and upstream of the at least one print station and along which a card that has been fed through the at least one print station can be diverted from the primary card travel path and returned back to the primary card travel path at a location upstream of the at least one print station to be fed again through the at least one print station.

2. The card processing system of claim 1, further comprising a card feed mechanism that feeds cards to be processed onto the card processing path, the card feed mechanism is located upstream of the card printing mechanism.

3. The card processing system of claim 1, further comprising a card processing mechanism located downstream of the card printing mechanism and receiving cards therefrom, and a card output located downstream of the card processing mechanism into which processed cards are output.

4. The card processing system of claim 3, further comprising a card processing mechanism located upstream of the card printing mechanism that outputs cards to the card printing mechanism.

5. The card processing system of claim 4, wherein the card processing mechanism located upstream of the card printing mechanism has a first card processing rate, the card printing mechanism has a second card processing rate that is greater than the first card processing rate, and the card processing mechanism located downstream of the card printing mechanism has the first card processing rate.

6. The card processing system of claim 3, wherein the card processing mechanism located downstream of the card printing mechanism is configured to process a card while the card is in a first card orientation, the card printing mechanism is configured to process a card while the card is in a second card orientation, and the first card orientation is 90 degrees relative to the second card orientation.

7. The card processing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one print station comprises a drop-on-demand printer.

8. The card processing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one print station comprises a plurality of print heads.

9. The card processing system of claim 1, wherein the return card travel path includes at least one card flipper mechanism.

10. A method of processing cards in a card processing system that includes a card printing mechanism with a print station, the method comprising:

printing on a first side of a first card in the card processing system using the print station of the card printing mechanism;

after printing on the first side of the first card, printing on a second side of a second card in the card processing system using the print station, the second card includes printing on a first side thereof that was previously applied to the first side thereof using the print station;

after printing on the second side of the second card, printing on a second side of the first card using the print station.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein after printing on the first side of the first card and before printing on the second side of the first card, printing on one of a first side or a second side of a plurality of cards in addition to the second card using the print station.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein after printing on the first side of the first card, discharging the first card from the print station to a location downstream of the print station and thereafter transporting the first card to a location upstream of the print station without passing through the print station.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein after printing on the first side of the first card and before printing on the second side of the first card, flipping the first card 180 degrees as the first card is being transported to the location upstream of the print station.

14. A card processing system, comprising:

a card feed mechanism that feeds cards to be processed onto a card processing path at up to a first card rate;

a first card processing mechanism disposed along the card processing path, the first card processing mechanism processes cards at up to the first card rate; and

a second card processing mechanism disposed along the card processing path, the second card processing mechanism processes cards at up to a second card rate that is greater than the first card rate.

15. The card processing system of claim 14, further comprising a third card processing mechanism disposed along the card processing path, the third card processing mechanism processes cards at up to the first card rate.

16. The card processing system of claim 15, wherein the first card processing mechanism is located upstream of the second card processing mechanism, the third card processing mechanism is located downstream of the second card processing mechanism, and the second card processing mechanism is between the first card processing mechanism and the third card processing mechanism.

17. The card processing system of claim 14, wherein the second card rate is approximately twice the first card rate.