Patent Application
20180117905
This disclosure relates to card processing operations conducted on plastic cards in card processing machines such as desktop card processing machines or central issuance, large volume batch processing machines. Before, during, or after a card processing operation on a card, the card can be actively cooled to improve the card processing operation and/or improve the results of the card processing operation.
It is known to process plastic cards including, but not limited to, financial (e.g., credit, debit, or the like) cards, driver's licenses, national identification cards, business identification cards, gift cards, and other plastic cards in card processing machines. Examples of card processing machines are desktop card personalization machines that are designed to personalize cards one at a time, for example on the order of tens or hundreds per hour, or central issuance card personalization machines that are designed to simultaneously personalize multiple cards, for example on the order of thousands per hour.
While present in a card processing machine, the card may be heated. Heating may occur a number of ways. For example, heating may occur through exposure to an internal ambient temperature of the card processing machine, which temperature may be elevated compared to the external ambient temperature outside of the card processing machine. Heating may also occur as a direct result of a processing operation performed on the card. A card that has an excessive temperature can interfere with, and degrade the quality of, a card processing operation.
Methods and systems of actively cooling a card while the card is within a card processing machine are described herein. One or more cooling stations are provided within the card processing machine to actively cool the card prior to performing a processing operation, cool the card during a processing operation, and/or cool the card after a processing operation on the card in order to reduce a temperature of the surface of the card.
In one embodiment, a method of processing a plastic card includes inputting the plastic card into a card processing machine having a card processing station, performing a processing operation on the plastic card in the card processing station, and prior to performing the processing operation, during the processing operation, and/or after the processing operation, actively cooling a surface of the plastic card in order to reduce a temperature of the surface of the plastic card.
In another embodiment, a card processing machine includes a card input, a card output, a card processing station, a cooling station configured to actively cool a surface of a plastic card that is input into the card processing machine in order to reduce a temperature of the surface of the plastic card, and a card transport mechanism for transporting the plastic card through the card processing machine from the card input, to the cooling station and to the card processing station, and to the card output.
Methods and systems of actively cooling a card while the card is within a card processing machine are described where one or more cooling stations are provided within the card processing machine to actively cool the card prior to performing a processing operation, during a processing operation, and/or after a processing operation on the card in order to reduce a temperature of the card or a surface of the card.
Actively cool, active cooling, and the like as used herein are intended to mean that energy is consumed in the process of cooling the card. In this case, an energy consuming mechanism is provided within the card processing machine at a suitable location to interact with the card in order to reduce the temperature of the card. In one example, the energy consuming mechanism is a fan that is provided within the card processing machine to blow air (or other gas) onto the card to reduce the temperature of the card. Other energy consuming mechanisms can be used as well.
Active cooling could be applied directly to the card itself, or to a structure that the card is in contact with so that the structure in contact with the card operates like a cooling plate to cool the card.
In another embodiment, passive cooling can be utilized or is used separately from and in addition to active cooling. With passive cooling, an energy consuming device is not used to cool the card. Instead, the card can be transported to a desired location in the card processing machine and stopped or “parked” for a period of time allowing the card to passively cool. Therefore, actively cool, active cooling, and the like as used herein is distinguished from and is different than passive cooling.
Reducing the temperature of the card includes and encompasses, but is not limited to, reducing the temperature of the entire card so that the card has a substantially uniform temperature, reducing the temperature of a surface of the card so that the surface has a temperature that is lower than the remainder of the card, and reducing the temperature of one surface of the card so as to cause a reduction in the temperature of the other surface of the card so that a temperature differential exists across the thickness of the card.
A card processing machine as used herein is intended to encompass, but not be limited to, both desktop card personalization machines and central issuance card personalization machines.
A desktop card personalization machine is a type of machine that is typically designed for relatively small scale, individual card personalization and production, for example on the order of tens or hundreds per hour. In these machines, a single card to be personalized is input into the printer, which typically includes one or two personalization/processing capabilities, such as printing and laminating. These printers are often termed desktop printers because they have a relatively small footprint intended to permit the machine to reside on a desktop. Many examples of desktop printers are known, such as the SD or CD family of desktop card printers available from Entrust Datacard Corporation of Shakopee, Minn. Other examples of desktop card printers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,434,728 and 7,398,972, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A central issuance card personalization machine is typically designed for large volume batch production of personalized cards, often employing multiple processing stations or modules, including one or more printing mechanisms, to process multiple cards at the same time to reduce the overall per card processing time. Examples of central issuance card personalization machines include the MX and MPR family of central issuance machines available from Entrust Datacard Corporation of Shakopee, Minn. Other examples of central issuance machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,825,054, 5,266,781, 6,783,067, and 6,902,107, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The card may be referred to herein as a plastic card or just a card. A plastic card encompassed herein includes, but is not limited to, financial (e.g., credit, debit, or the like) cards, driver's licenses, national identification cards, business identification cards, gift cards, and other plastic cards which bear personalized data unique to the cardholder and/or which bear other card information. A plastic card is primarily made of plastic materials but can include materials other than plastic. In some embodiments, the card may be made primarily of materials other than plastic.
Examples of processing operations that can be performed on the card in the card processing machine include, but are not limited to, retransfer printing on one or both surfaces of the card, direct to card printing on one or both surfaces of the card, laminating one or both surfaces of the card, embossing or indenting one or both surfaces of the card, applying a security feature such as a hologram to one or both surfaces of the card, programming a magnetic stripe on the card, contact or contactless programming of an integrated circuit chip on the card, and other known card processing operations.
Further information on the construction and operation of a card processing machine that can employ the active cooling described herein is disclosed in US Published Application No. 2016/0300128, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Referring now to
The card processing machine 10 includes a card input 22 for inputting cards into the card processing machine 10. The card input 22 can be located at any position on the card processing machine 10. In the illustrated example, the card input 22 is located at the front side 14 of the housing 12. However, the card input 22 could be located at the rear side 16, the top side 18 or the bottom side 20. Cards are input one-by-one into the machine 10 along a card travel path 24. The card input 22 can be an input slot through which a single card is fed, or as in the illustrated example, the card input 22 can be a card input hopper that holds a plurality of cards waiting to be input and processed in the card processing machine 10.
The card processing machine 10 also includes a card output 26 into or through which processed cards are output from the interior of the card processing machine 10. The card output 26 can be located at any position on the card processing machine 10. In the illustrated example, the card output 26 can be located at the front side 14 of the housing 12. However, the card output 26 could be located at the rear side 16 (see
Still referring to
For sake of convenience, the card processing station 30 will be described with further reference to
The retransfer printing station illustrated in
The retransfer film 40 is supplied from a film supply 42 on a retransfer side, and after retransfer the remaining film is wound onto a film take-up 44 also on the retransfer side. The retransfer film 40 is directed past a platen roller 46 positioned opposite the print head 38 and which in the illustrated example can be moved toward and away from the print head 38 to press the retransfer film 40 and the print ribbon 34 between the print head 38 and the platen roller 46 during printing onto the retransfer film 40.
Once a desired image is printed onto the retransfer film 40, the section of the retransfer film 40 with the printed image thereon is advanced to a transfer station 48 where the printed image on the retransfer film 40 is transferred onto a surface 50, such as the rear surface, of a card 52. The surface 50 can include features such as a signature panel that provides a location for the intended card holder to sign their name, text, graphics, and other features commonly found on the rear surfaces of plastic cards. In this example, the transfer station 48 includes a heated transfer mechanism 54, for example a transfer roller, that is movable toward and away from a fixed platen 56 positioned on the opposite side of the card travel or transport path 24. The heated transfer mechanism 54 presses the portion of the retransfer film 40 containing the printed image against the surface 50 of the card 52 which is backed by the platen 56, with the retransfer film 40 and the card 52 then being transported together past the heated transfer mechanism 54 to transfer the layer of the retransfer film 40 containing the printed image onto the card surface 50. The retransfer film 40 and the card 52 are then transported to a stripping station 60 that includes a stripping mechanism where the retransfer film 40 is stripped from the card surface 50 leaving behind the printed image on the card surface 50. The remainder of the retransfer film 40, minus the transferred image, is then wound onto the film take-up 44.
Returning to
In some embodiments, in the case of retransfer printing, the rear surface 50 is printed first followed by printing on the front surface 68. However, other printing sequences can be used.
The card 52 is transported along the card travel path 24 by a card transport mechanism, such as sets of rollers 64. The card transport mechanism transports the card 52 throughout the card processing machine 10 including from the card input, to and/or through the card reorienting mechanism 66, to and/or through a cooling station (described below), to and/or through the card processing station 30, and to the card output 26.
In some embodiments, one or more additional card processing stations can be included within and/or connected to the card processing machine 10. For example, referring to
An additional card processing station 86 can be located at the rear of the machine 10 in communication with the outlet 26 in the rear wall 16. Alternatively, an additional card processing station 88 can be located at the bottom of the machine 10 in communication with the outlet 26 in the bottom wall 20. Further information on additional card processing stations 80, 84, 86, 88 are disclosed in U.S. Published Application No. 2016/0300128, filed on Apr. 8, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
One or more card cooling stations are provided at suitable locations in the card processing machine 10. The cooling station(s) is configured to actively or passively cool either of the card surfaces 50, 68 in order to reduce a temperature of the surface of the card 52. Prior to performing a processing operation (such as, but not limited to, retransfer printing) on the card, during the processing operation, or after the processing operation, a surface of the plastic card is cooled while the card 52 is at the cooling station in order to reduce a temperature of the surface of the card. Any form of active or passive cooling that results in a reduction of the temperature of the card surface prior to transferring the image or prior to a subsequent card processing operation can be utilized. In some embodiments, the card can be cooled so that the temperature of the first side of the card is approximately the same as the temperature of the second side during the stripping process. In some embodiments, the card is cooled so that one or both surfaces are cooled to room temperature.
For example, referring to
In another possible example, with reference to
The cooling station and the fan 70 can be located anywhere in the card processing machine 10 where the card is able to be actively cooled by a stream of air from the fan 70 or other cooling mechanism. The card 52 can be transported to and held at the cooling station any time prior to performing the processing operation, during the processing operation, or after the processing operation. For example, the card 52 can be transported to the cooling station anytime:
In one example, where the processing station 30 is a retransfer printing station as described above in
In another example, the card 52 can be “parked” in the cooling station for a period of time during which the card 52 is cooled, either actively or passively as discussed further below, after printing on one side of the card 52 and while the image for the opposite side of the card 52 is being produced/printed onto the retransfer film 40 prior to retransfer onto the card surface.
In an alternative embodiment, passive cooling can be utilized to cool the card 52. For example, the card 52 can be transported to a cooling station, such as but not limited to the card reorienting mechanism 66, where the card 52 is held stationary or “parked” for a period of time while the card 52 passively cools. For example, where the processing station 30 is a retransfer printing station as described above in
The examples disclosed in this application are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not limitative. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description; and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62416458 | Nov 2016 | US |
