Identification card reader

• US 7,382,911 B1
• Filed: 02/16/2001
• Issued: 06/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Sakal, Joseph, Smith, George S. II, Havens, William H., Meier, Timothy P., Barber, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, BRIAN Q
• Application Number:
  US09/788,179
• Time in Patent Office: 2,664 Days
• Field of Search: 382135-140, 902 24- 26, 340/5.6, 340/5.52, 340/5.53, 340/5.54, 340/5.84, 340/5.83, 340/5.64
• US Class Current: 382/139
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence

Abstract

There is described a method and apparatus for processing a card. A card that is processed can have a corresponding card holder. In one embodiment, a card reader can be provided for reading information of a card. A card reader in one embodiment can be configured to sense a level of degradation of a card. A card reader in one embodiment can be in communication with a remote processor system.

Claims

1. A card reader for processing a card having encoded thereon, in decodable form, information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reader comprising:

(a) a housing;

(b) a display disposed on said housing;

(c) a control circuit;

(d) a memory in communication with said control circuit; and

(e) a card reading unit incorporated in said housing reading said information of said card that encodes information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reading unit being coupled to said control circuit,

(f) wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card, and

(g) wherein said card reader is further configured to display indicia on said display in a manner that varies depending upon a determined level of degradation of said card.

2. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reading unit includes a bar code reader.

3. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reading unit includes an imaging assembly.

4. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reader includes a tray for holding said card.

5. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said memory includes a lookup table correlating card type with operating parameters of said reader, wherein said control circuit reads data of said lookup table so that operating parameters of said reader vary depending upon card type of said card.

6. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reading unit is provided by an imaging assembly, and wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card by processing of image data.

7. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reading unit is provided by a bar code reader, wherein said card reader is configured to determine a level of degradation of said card by determining a level of error correction of a bar code symbol.

8. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reader includes a slot for receiving a card.

9. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said housing is a hand held housing.

10. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said control circuit and said memory are disposed within said housing.

11. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said card reader is configured to send information indicating said level of level of degradation to a remote processor system.

12. The card reader of claim 1, wherein said housing has at least a bottom and a side, and wherein said card reader further comprises a control panel disposed on said housing;

a tray assembly mounted to said housing, said tray assembly having a tray for receiving an identification card and wherein said card reader includes;

an imaging assembly in communication with said control circuit having an imaging axis passing through said tray.

13. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said housing includes a hole, and wherein said at least one tray opposes said hole, wherein said imaging axis further passes through said hole, and wherein an object detection symbol is disposed on said at least one tray, wherein said tray is mounted at an angle of at least about 10 degrees relative to a plate perpendicular to said imaging axis so that specular reflections are reduced.

14. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said tray assembly includes a plurality of trays, wherein said at least one tray is adapted to be of adjustable height, and wherein said control circuit displays a prompt on said display prompting a user to place a card on a certain tray of said tray assembly depending on said determined tray height.

15. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said memory includes a lookup table that correlates card type with tray height, and wherein said control circuit determines a card type of said card and reads data from said lookup table to determine a tray height for said card based on said card type, wherein said memory includes a lookup table correlating card type with operating parameters of said reader, wherein said control circuit reads data of said lookup table so that operating parameters of said reader vary depending upon a card type of said card.

16. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said memory includes a lookup table correlating card type information with dataform information, wherein said control circuit deactivates certain decoding algorithms when processing a card based on said dataform information so that decoding algorithms activated by said control circuit when processing a card depends on a card type of said card.

17. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said control circuit determines a card type of said card by displaying on said display a card type prompt prompting a user for card type information and by reading user input data input in response to said card type prompt.

18. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said control circuit is adapted to:

display in said display a right-side up prompt prompting a user to place an identification card in said tray right-side up;

read a dataform of a topside of said card;

display on said display an upside down prompt prompting a user to place an identification card in said tray bottom-side up;

read a dataform of a bottom-side of said card;

compare decoded dataform data from a topside of a card to decoded dataform data from a bottom-side of a card; and

display on said display an INVALID CARD message if there is a mismatch of topside and bottom-side data.

19. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said car reader is configured to read dataform of said card where a dataform of a topside of said card is an OCR decodable dataform and wherein a dataform of a bottom-side of said card is a symbol dataform.

20. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said control circuit decodes said at least one dataform to determine a first set of image information, captures an image representation of a photograph of said card to determine a second set of image information, and displays on said display said first set of image information side by side said second set of image information.

21. The card reader of claim 12, further comprising a mag stripe reader, wherein said control circuit is adapted to:

decode said dataform of said card to generate a first decoded message from a first card;

display on said display a prompt prompting a user to swipe a second card in said mag stripe reader;

read said mag stripe of said second card to generate a second decoded message from a second card; and

compare said first decoded message to said second decoded message.

22. The card reader of claim 12, wherein said card reader is in communication with an external database stored on an Internet server, and wherein said control circuit is adapted to:

decode a dataform of said card to generate a dataform message;

parse data of one certain field of said dataform message from remaining data from said dataform message wherein said parsed field data parsed from said dataform message is name field data;

access said external database;

call database data from said remote database using said parsed field data; and

compare remaining data from said dataform message to said database data called from said remote database.

23. The reader of claim 12, wherein said reader is mobile and hand-held, wherein said housing comprises a front and a top, wherein said imaging axis extends from a front of said reader, wherein said tray assembly extends from a front of said housing, and wherein said control panel and display are disposed in said top of said housing.

24. A method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a card reader capable of detecting a card degradation status of a card that has a corresponding card holder;

(b) detecting card degradation status of said card using said card reader capable of detecting card degradation status;

(c) communicating said detected card degradation status detected at step (b) to a remote processor system; and

(d) sending a notice or a new card to said card holder if data of said remote processor system indicates that a card degradation status of said card has exceeded a predetermined level.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said card carries a bar code symbol.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein said card is a driver'"'"'s license.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein said detecting step (b) includes the step of processing an image representation.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein said providing step includes the step of providing a card reader having an RF tag reader.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein said providing step includes the step of providing a hand held reader having a display.

30. A card reader system including a card reader for processing a card having encoded thereon, in decodable form, information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reader system comprising:

(a) a card reader including

a housing;

a display disposed on said housing;

a control circuit;

a memory in communication with said control circuit; and

a card reading unit incorporated in said housing reading said information of said card that encodes information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reading unit being coupled to said control circuit,

wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card and to send information indicating a level of degradation of a card to a storage location; and

(b) a remote processor system

wherein said remote processor system is configured so that said remote processor system, responsively to processing of said information sent to said storage location issues a communication resulting in a notice or a new card being sent to a card holder if data of said remote processor system indicates that a card degradation status of said card has exceeded a predetermined level.

31. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said card reading unit includes a bar code reader.

32. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said card reading unit includes an imaging assembly.

33. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said card reading unit is provided by an imaging assembly, and wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card by processing of image data.

34. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said card reading unit is provided by a bar code reader, wherein said card reader is configured to determine a level of degradation of said card by determining a level of error correction of a bar code symbol.

35. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said card reader includes a slot for receiving a card.

36. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said housing is a hand held housing.

37. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said control circuit and said memory are disposed within said housing.

38. The card reader system of claim 30, wherein said storage location is a remote processor system.

39. A method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a card reader capable of detecting a card degradation status of a card that has a corresponding card holder;

(b) detecting card degradation status of said card using said card reader capable of detecting card degradation status;

(c) communicating said detected card degradation status detected at step (b) to a remotely located database;

(d) processing data of said database; and

(e) issuing a communication resulting in a notice or a new card being sent to said card holder responsively to said processing.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said processing of step (d) includes determining whether said card degradation status has exceeded a predetermined level.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein said database includes card holder identifiers correlated with card degradation status for a plurality of card holders.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein said card carries a bar code symbol.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein said card is a driver'"'"'s license.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein said detecting step (b) includes the step of processing an image representation.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein said providing step includes the step of providing a card reader having an RF tag reader.

46. The method of claim 39, wherein said providing step includes the step of providing a hand held reader having a display.

47. A card reader system having a card reader for processing a card having encoded thereon, in decodable form, information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reader system comprising:

(a) a card reader including

a housing;

a display disposed on said housing;

a control circuit;

a memory in communication with said control circuit; and

a card reading unit incorporated in said housing reading said information of said card that encodes information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reading unit being coupled to said control circuit;

wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card and to send information indicating a level of degradation of a card to a database; and

(b) a remote processor system

wherein said remote processor system is configured to process data of said database and responsively to said processing send a communication resulting in a notice or a new card being sent to said card holder.

48. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said processing includes determining whether said card degradation status has exceeded a predetermined level.

49. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said database includes card holder identifiers correlated with card degradation status for a plurality of card holders.

50. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reader is hand held.

51. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reading unit includes a bar code reader.

52. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reading unit includes an imaging assembly.

53. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reading unit is provided by an imaging assembly, and wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card by processing of image data.

54. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card conditionally on the condition that said card reader encounters difficulty in reading said card.

55. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card responsively to a control input by an operator of said card reader.

56. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reading unit is provided by a bar code reader, wherein said card reader is configured to determine a level of degradation of said card by determining a level of error correction of a bar code symbol.

57. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reader includes a slot for receiving a card.

58. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said housing is a hand held housing.

59. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said control circuit and said memory are disposed within said housing.

60. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said card reader utilizes said card reader unit for said sensing of said level of degradation of said card.

61. The card reader system of claim 47, wherein said database is stored on a remote processor system.

62. A card reader system having a card reader for processing a card having encoded thereon, in decodable form, information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reader system comprising:

(a) a card reader including

a housing;

a display disposed on said housing;

a control circuit;

a memory in communication with said control circuit; and

a card reading unit incorporated in said housing reading said information of said card that encodes information identifying a card holder of said card, said card reading unit being coupled to said control circuit;

wherein said card reader is configured to send information indicating a level of degradation of a card to a storage location; and

(b) a remote processor system

wherein said remote processor system is configured to process said information sent to said storage location and responsively to said processing send a communication resulting in a notice or a new card being sent to a card holder.

63. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said processing includes determining whether said card degradation status has exceeded a predetermined level.

64. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said database includes card holder identifiers correlated with card degradation status for a plurality of card holders.

65. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reader is configured to send said information indicating a level of degradation of said card conditionally on the condition that said card reader encounters difficult in reading said card.

66. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reader is configured to said information indicating a level of degradation of said card responsively to a control input into said card reader.

67. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reader is configured to send said information indicating a level of degradation of said card responsively to a control input by an operator of said card reader.

68. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reading unit includes a bar code reader.

69. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reading unit includes an imaging assembly.

70. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card.

71. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reading unit is provided by an imaging assembly, and wherein said card reader is configured to sense a level of degradation of said card by processing of image data.

72. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reading unit is provided by a bar code reader, wherein said card reader is configured to determine a level of degradation of said card by determining a level of error correction of a bar code symbol.

73. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reader includes a slot for receiving a card.

74. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said housing is a hand held housing.

75. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said control circuit and said memory are disposed within said housing.

76. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said card reader utilizes said card reader unit for said sensing of said level of degradation of said card.

77. The card reader system of claim 62, wherein said storage location is a remote processor system.