Card printing mechanism with card return path

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11238330-B2
Application number	US-201916291739-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 4, 2019
Priority date	Jan 8, 2016
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

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.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

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 travel path along which cards can travel in a downstream direction;
at least one drop-on-demand print station on the primary card travel path that performs a drop-on-demand printing operation on a surface of a card on the primary card travel path using ultra-violet (UV) curable ink;
a return card travel path along which a card that has been fed through the at least one drop-on-demand 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 drop-on-demand print station to be fed again through the at least one drop-on-demand print station; and
a UV curing station on the primary card travel path located downstream of the at least one drop-on-demand 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 drop-on-demand print station comprises a plurality of drop-on-demand print heads.

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

9. A method of processing cards in a card processing system that includes a card printing mechanism with a drop-on-demand print station, the method comprising:
with a first card and a second card simultaneously disposed in the card printing mechanism, printing on a first side of the first card with ultra-violet (UV) curable ink using the drop-on-demand print station of the card printing mechanism and thereafter curing the UV curable ink in a UV curing station located downstream of the drop-on-demand print station;
after printing on the first side of the first card, printing on a second side of the second card with UV curable ink using the drop-on-demand print station and thereafter curing the UV curable ink in the UV curing station;
after printing on the second side of the second card, printing on a second side of the first card using the drop-on-demand print station.

10. The method of claim 9 , 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 drop-on-demand print station.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein after printing on the first side of the first card, discharging the first card from the drop-on-demand print station to a location downstream of the drop-on-demand print station and thereafter transporting the first card to a location upstream of the drop-on-demand print station without passing through the drop-on-demand print station.

12. The method of claim 11 , 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 drop-on-demand print station.

13. The card processing system of claim 1 , further comprising a smart card programming mechanism disposed in the card processing path upstream of the card printing mechanism or downstream of the card printing mechanism, the smart card programming mechanism is configured to program a chip embedded in a card.

14. The card processing system of claim 1 , wherein the card printing mechanism further comprises a surface treatment station on the primary card travel path located upstream of the at least one drop-on-demand print station.

Assignees

• Entrust Corp

Inventors

• Beech Brian
• Wagener Thomas J
• Flitsch Timothy J

Classifications

• B41J2/315

  characterised by selective application of heat to a heat sensitive printing or impression-transfer material (B41J2/385, B41J2/435 take precedence) · CPC title

• G06K19/10 Primary

  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) · CPC title

• B65H85/00

  Recirculating articles, i.e. feeding each article to, and delivering it from, the same machine work-station more than once · CPC title

• B41J13/12

  specially adapted for {small} cards, envelopes, or the like {, e.g. credit cards, cut visiting cards} · CPC title

• B41J3/60 Primary

  for printing on both faces of the printing material · CPC title