Identification card printer-assembler for over the counter card issuing

Abstract
The present invention relates to assembling identification documents in an over-the-counter issuing environment. In one implementation of the present invention, an ink jet printer-based assembling system is provided. An identification document substrate receives ink jet printed information. The printed substrate is laminated. In another implementation, a carrier web carries lamination pieces. Both the carrier web and the document substrate include form feed holes or other registration notches. The holes or notches are used to align the substrate with the lamination pieces, and to align a laminated document substrate for final cutting.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to identification and security documents, and in particular, relates to identification document printing and assembly systems and methods.


BACKGROUND

Identification Documents


Identification documents (hereafter “ID documents”) play a critical role in today's society. One example of an ID document is an identification card (“ID card”). ID documents are used on a daily basis—to prove identity, to verify age, to access a secure area, to evidence driving privileges, to cash a check, and so on. Airplane passengers are required to show an ID document during check in, security screening, and prior to boarding their flight. In addition, because we live in an ever-evolving cashless society, ID documents are used to make payments, access an ATM, debit an account, or make a payment, etc.


(For the purposes of this disclosure, ID documents are broadly defined herein, and include, e.g., credit cards, bank cards, phone cards, passports, driver's licenses, network access cards, employee badges, debit cards, security cards, visas, immigration documentation, national ID cards, citizenship cards, social security cards, security badges, certificates, identification cards or documents, voter registration cards, police ID cards, border crossing cards, legal instruments, security clearance badges and cards, gun permits, gift certificates or cards, membership cards or badges, etc., etc. Also, the terms “document,” “card,” “badge” and “documentation” are used interchangeably throughout this patent application.).


Many types of identification cards and documents, such as driving licenses, national or government identification cards, bank cards, credit cards, controlled access cards and smart cards, carry thereon certain items of information which relate to the identity of the bearer. Examples of such information include name, address, birth date, signature and photographic image; the cards or documents may in addition carry other variant data (i.e., data specific to a particular card or document, for example an employee number) and invariant data (i.e., data common to a large number of cards, for example the name of an employer). All of the cards described above will hereinafter be generically referred to as “ID documents”.


In the production of images useful in the field of identification documentation, it is oftentimes desirable to embody into a document (such as an ID card, drivers license, passport or the like) data or indicia representative of the document issuer (e.g., an official seal, or the name or mark of a company or educational institution) and data or indicia representative of the document bearer (e.g., a photographic likeness, name or address). Typically, a pattern, logo or other distinctive marking representative of the document issuer will serve as a means of verifying the authenticity, genuineness or valid issuance of the document. A photographic likeness or other data or indicia personal to the bearer will validate the right of access to certain facilities or the prior authorization to engage in commercial transactions and activities.


Identification documents, such as ID cards, having printed background security patterns, designs or logos and identification data personal to the card bearer have been known and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,970, issued Sep. 18, 1973 to M. Annenberg; in Great Britain Pat. No. 1,472,581, issued to G. A. O. Gesellschaft Fur Automation Und Organisation mbH, published Mar. 10, 1976; in International Patent Application PCT/GB82/00150, published Nov. 25, 1982 as Publication No. WO 82/04149; in U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,775, issued Mar. 31, 1987 to T. Raphael, et al.; in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,949, issued Apr. 19, 1988 to G. S. Sethi, et al.; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,987, issued Nov. 16 1993 to J. W. Luening, et al. All of the aforementioned documents are hereby incorporated by reference. Laminated ID documents are used as certificates of citizenship, identification cards, driver's licenses, member cards, passports, transaction cards, national identification cards, etc., etc., etc


Printing Information onto ID Documents


The advent of commercial apparatus (printers) for producing dye images by thermal transfer has made relatively commonplace the production of color prints from electronic data acquired by a video camera. In general, this is accomplished by the acquisition of digital image information (electronic signals) representative of the red, green and blue content of an original, using color filters or other known means. These signals are then utilized by a printer having a plurality of small heating elements (e.g., pins) for imagewise heating of each of a series of donor sheets (respectively, carrying sublimable cyan, magenta and yellow dye). The donor sheets are brought into contact with an image-receiving element (which can, for example, be a substrate) which has a layer for receiving the dyes transferred imagewise from the donor sheets. Thermal dye transfer methods as aforesaid are known and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,271, issued Nov. 4, 1986 to S. Brownstein and U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,989, issued Jun. 18, 1991 to Y. H. Chiang, et al. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference.


Dye diffusion thermal transfer printing (“D2T2”) and thermal transfer (also referred to as mass transfer printing) are two printing techniques that have been used to print information on identification cards. For example, D2T2 has been used to print images and pictures, and thermal transfer has been used to print text, bar codes, and single color graphics.


D2T2 is a thermal imaging technology that allows for the production of photographic quality images. In D2T2 printing, one or more thermally transferable dyes (e.g., cyan, yellow, and magenta) are transferred from a donor, such as a donor dye sheet or a set of panels (or ribbons) that are coated with a dye (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, black, etc.) to a receiver sheet (which could, for example, be part of an ID document) by the localized application of heat or pressure, via a stylus or thermal printhead at a discrete point. When the dyes are transferred to the receiver, the dyes diffuse into the sheet (or ID card substrate), where the dyes will chemically be bound to the substrate or, if provided, to a receptor coating. Typically, printing with successive color panels across the document creates an image in or on the document's surface. D2T2 can result in a very high printing quality, especially because the energy applied to the thermal printhead can vary to vary the dye density in the image pixels formed on the receiver, to produce a continuous tone image. D2T2 can have an increased cost as compared to other methods, however, because of the special dyes needed and the cost of D2T2 ribbons. Also, the quality of D2T2-printed image may depend at least on an ability of a mechanical printer system to accurately spatially register a printing sequence, e.g., yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.


Another thermal imaging technology is thermal or mass transfer printing. With mass transfer printing, a material to be deposited on a receiver (such as carbon black (referred to by the symbol “K”)) is provided on a mass transfer donor medium. When localized heat is applied to the mass transfer donor medium, a portion (mass) of the material is physically transferred to the receiver, where it sits “on top of” the receiver. For example, mass transfer printing often is used to print text, bar codes, and monochrome images. Resin black mass transfer has been used to print grayscale pictures using a dithered gray scale, although the image can sometimes look coarser than an image produced using D2T2. However, mass transfer printing can sometimes be faster than D2T2, and faster printing can be desirable in some situations.


Printing of black (“K”) can be accomplished using either D2T2 or mass transfer. For example, black monochrome “K” mass transfer ribbons include Kr (which designates a thermal transfer ribbon) and Kd (which designates dye diffusion).


Both D2T2 and thermal ink have been combined in a single ribbon, which is the well-known YMCK (Yellow-Magenta-Cyan-Black) ribbon (the letter “K” is used to designate the color black in the printing industry). Another panel containing a protectant (“P”) or laminate (typically a clear panel) also can be added to the YMCK ribbon).


Manufacture and Printing Environments


Commercial systems for issuing ID documents are of two main types, namely so-called “central” issue (CI), and so-called “on-the-spot” or “over-the-counter” (OTC) issue.


CI type ID documents are not immediately provided to the bearer, but are later issued to the bearer from a central location. For example, in one type of CI environment, a bearer reports to a document station where data is collected, the data are forwarded to a central location where the card is produced, and the card is forwarded to the bearer, often by mail. Another illustrative example of a CI assembling process occurs in a setting where a driver passes a driving test, but then receives her license in the mail from a CI facility a short time later. Still another illustrative example of a CI assembling process occurs in a setting where a driver renews her license by mail or over the Internet, then receives a drivers license card through the mail.


In contrast, a CI assembling process is more of a bulk process facility, where many cards are produced in a centralized facility, one after another. (For example, picture a setting where a driver passes a driving test, but then receives her license in the mail from a CI facility a short time later. The CI facility may process thousands of cards in a continuous manner.).


Centrally issued identification documents can be produced from digitally stored information and generally comprise an opaque core material (also referred to as “substrate”), such as paper or plastic, sandwiched between two layers of clear plastic laminate, such as polyester, to protect the aforementioned items of information from wear, exposure to the elements and tampering. The materials used in such CI identification documents can offer the ultimate in durability. In addition, centrally issued digital identification documents generally offer a higher level of security than OTC identification documents because they offer the ability to pre-print the core of the central issue document with security features such as “micro-printing”, ultra-violet security features, security indicia and other features currently unique to centrally issued identification documents.


In addition, a CI assembling process can be more of a bulk process facility, in which many cards are produced in a centralized facility, one after another. The CI facility may, for example, process thousands of cards in a continuous manner. Because the processing occurs in bulk, CI can have an increase in efficiency as compared to some OTC processes, especially those OTC processes that run intermittently. Thus, CI processes can sometimes have a lower cost per ID document, if a large volume of ID documents are manufactured.


In contrast to CI identification documents, OTC identification documents are issued immediately to a bearer who is present at a document-issuing station. An OTC assembling process provides an ID document “on-the-spot”. (An illustrative example of an OTC assembling process is a Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) setting where a driver's license is issued to person, on the spot, after a successful exam.). In some instances, the very nature of the OTC assembling process results in small, sometimes compact, printing and card assemblers for printing the ID document. It will be appreciated that an OTC card issuing process is by its nature can be an intermittent—in comparison to a continuous—process.


OTC identification documents of the types mentioned above can take a number of forms, depending on cost and desired features. Some OTC ID documents comprise highly plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) or have a composite structure with polyester laminated to 0.5-2.0 mil (13-51 .mu.m) poly(vinyl chloride) film, which provides a suitable receiving layer for heat transferable dyes which form a photographic image, together with any variant or invariant data required for the identification of the bearer. These data are subsequently protected to varying degrees by clear, thin (0.125-0.250 mil, 3-6 .mu.m) overlay patches applied at the printhead, holographic hot stamp foils (0.125-0.250 mil 3-6 ..mu.m), or a clear polyester laminate (0.5-10 mil, 13-254 ..mu.m) supporting common security features. These last two types of protective foil or laminate sometimes are applied at a laminating station separate from the printhead. The choice of laminate dictates the degree of durability and security imparted to the system in protecting the image and other data.


As those skilled in the art know, ID documents such as drivers licenses can contain information such as a photographic image, a bar code (which may contain information specific to the person whose image appears in the photographic image, and/or information that is the same from ID document to ID document), variable personal information, such as an address, signature, and/or birthdate, biometric information associated with the person whose image appears in the photographic image (e.g., a fingerprint), a magnetic stripe (which, for example, can be on the a side of the ID document that is opposite the side with the photographic image), and various security features, such as a security pattern (for example, a printed pattern comprising a tightly printed pattern of finely divided printed and unprinted areas in close proximity to each other, such as a fine-line printed security pattern as is used in the printing of banknote paper, stock certificates, and the like).


An exemplary ID document can comprise a core layer (which can be pre-printed), such as a light-colored, opaque material (e.g., TESLIN (available from PPG Industries) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material). The core is laminated with a transparent material, such as clear PVC to form a so-called “card blank”. Information, such as variable personal information (e.g., photographic information), is printed on the card blank using a method such as Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer (“D2T2”) printing also described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,594, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The information can, for example, comprise an indicium or indicia, such as the invariant or nonvarying information common to a large number of identification documents, for example the name and logo of the organization issuing the documents. The information may be formed by any known process capable of forming the indicium on the specific core material used.


To protect the information that is printed, an additional layer of transparent overlaminate can be coupled to the card blank and printed information, as is known by those skilled in the art. Illustrative examples of usable materials for overlaminates include biaxially oriented polyester or other optically clear durable plastic film.



FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a front view and cross-sectional view (taken along the A-A line), respectively, of an exemplary prior art OTC identification document 1. In FIG. 1, the prior art OTC ID document 1 includes a photographic image 2, personal information 3, and a security pattern 4 (for example, a printed pattern comprising a tightly printed pattern of finely divided printed and unprinted areas in close proximity to each other, such as a fine-line printed security pattern as is used in the printing of banknote paper, stock certificates, and the like). If desired, the security pattern 4 can be part of different pattern designs (e.g., filigree, guilloche) and can be printed in different inks (e.g., UV ink).


Referring to FIG. 2, the prior art OTC ID document 1 comprises a pre-printed core 5 (such as, for example, white PVC material) that is, for example, about 30 mil thick. The core 5 is laminated with clear PVC material 6, which, by way of example, is about 1-5 mil thick. The composite of the core 5 and clear PVC material 6 form a so-called “card blank” 7 that can be about 30 mils thick. Information 8 is printed on the card blank 7 using Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer (“D2T2”) printing (which is described further below). To protect the information 8 printed by D2T2 printing, an additional layer of overlaminate 9 is coupled to the card blank 7 and D2T2 printing using, for example, 1 mil of adhesive (not shown).


One type of OTC identification document, available from the assignee of the present invention is a so-called “Desktop Security Card (DSC), which has a core layer (also referred to as “substrate”) formed from a sheet of an opaque printable material, such as an opaque sheet of printable silica-filled polyolefin, such as the materials sold commercially by PPG Industries, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. under the Registered Trade Mark “TESLIN”. In the currently fielded versions of the DSC card, printing of the ID document in OTC environments is achieved with D2T2 printers. Printing quality of the printed image may depend at least on an ability of a mechanical printer system to accurately register a printing sequence, e.g., yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,594 describes this type of OTC identification document in greater detail, and the contents of this patent are incorporated hereto by reference in their entirety.


SUMMARY

Manufacturing Costs and other Issues


Printing of ID documents in OTC environments is often achieved with D2T2 printers. The ribbons uses with such D2T2 printers can be quite expensive, and the card blanks printed with D2T2 (e.g., PVC or other more expensive card blanks) also can be expensive. Copending and commonly assigned U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/379,704, entitled Application of pigmented jet inks to ID cards and U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 10/289,962, entitled “Identification Card Printed With Jet Inks and Systems and Methods of Making Same” provide information about inventive methods and techniques for using ink jet printing (which can be significantly less expensive than using D2T2 ribbons) to print on blank sheets (e.g., TESLIN sheets) that can then be laminated to protect the printing.


Presently available dye diffusion printing also can be expensive, especially as compared to the cost of presently available inkjet printers. Part of the expense is attributable to a short life span of the dye diffusion ribbons, e.g., the ribbons can only be used for a few prints (sometimes only one print) before they are depleted. This sometimes occurs because the printing of a single card may require a full set of the D2T2 color panels, resulting in a high percentage of unused (and, unfortunately, wasted) imaging materials. These systems also can diffuse dye to expensive PCV or other, more expensive substrates.


Still another important issue with OTC ID documents is their durability. Many ID documents, such as driver's licenses, can be subjected to environmental conditions, such as humidity, water, dirt, and heat that can cause significant damage to the laminate, images, and/or text on the card. Such environmental conditions reduce the useful life of the card, yet issuers often want cards with lifetimes of up to 10 years. Manufacturing ID documents with such long lifetime, using known techniques and materials, adds greatly to the cost of the card.


Yet another issue with OTC manufacturing of ID documents is efficiency. In some environments, the OTC card issuing process can be at times an intermittent process. Intermittent operation of the OTC assembling process sometimes results in waste of the raw materials used to form the ID documents. Wasted raw materials increase the cost per ID card. It is possible, however, that the OTC card assembling process can be continuous, or can have intermittent periods of continuous operation).


Because many issuers of ID documents are often under budgetary pressure to keep the cost of ID documents low, while still maintaining a high quality, durable card, it would be desirable to improve the design and/or manufacture of ID documents to reduce ID document cost while maintaining ID document quality and durability.


We have found that in OTC applications we can achieve excellent printing and durability results by using ink jet printing to print on a substrate sheet. In one embodiment, the substrate street comprises a microporous material, e.g., a TESLIN sheet. (TESLIN is a synthetic material available from PPG Industries, One PPG Place, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15272 U.S.A). The microporous material includes a plurality of voids, and, because of the affinity between the microporous material and the pigments in the ink jet ink, at least a portion of the ink jet ink fills the voids. The ink jet printed substrate is then preferably over laminated with, e.g., polyester laminates and then cut into a typical ID card size (e.g., conforming to an ISO standard). Our inventive methods and systems produce an ID document with superior durability and tamper resistance, yet is a lower cost solution, therefore yielding a superior product at lower cost.


Another aspect of the present invention is to use a so-called carrier web to carry and control the orientation of laminate patches in an ID document lamination process. The carrier web can be of a paper-based material. It will be appreciated that an OTC card issuing process is by its nature an intermittent—in comparison to a continuous—process. While so-called continuous roll laminating provides a fast and efficient method of card lamination in a central issue environment, the same continuous lamination process is not typically compatible with an intermittent process, due to poor material utilization. For example, consider a situation where only one card is produced in a run. Many inches (or even feet) of the roll lamination would be wasted since a subsequent card would not directly follow the first card. The use of a carrier web provides a unique method of using roll lamination in an intermittent card assembly environment with a high laminate yield.


In one implementation of the present invention we perforate the carrier web and/or substrate along a printing and/or laminating machine direction edge to provide a physical registration feature. Our perforation holes (or “form feed holes”) can be used to reliably convey materials-and to accurately register multiple card layers (laminate—substrate—laminate) as the layers are combined to make a laminated ID document. In some implementations we place holes along two parallel directional edges of the web or substrate.


In one embodiment, we provide a system to intermittently assemble identification documents, the identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising a first ink jet printer, a conveyor, a second ink jet printer, a laminator, and a cutter. The first ink jet printer is operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet, said first ink jet printer including a print tray or input to receive the substrate sheet. The conveyor conveys the once printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer. The second ink jet printer receives the once printed substrate sheet from the conveyor, the once printed substrate sheet being conveyed in such a manner so as to position a bottom surface of the substrate sheet to receive second information from the second ink jet printer, the second ink jet printer being operable to print the second information on the bottom surface of the substrate sheet.


The laminator is operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator laminating the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and laminating the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet. The cutter is operable to cut excess material from the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet, the cut, laminated twice printed substrate sheet forming the identification document.


In another embodiment, we provide another system to intermittently assemble identification documents, an identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising a first ink jet printer, a first conveyor, a second conveyor, and a laminator.


The first ink jet printer is operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet, said first ink jet printer including an input to receive the substrate sheet and an output from which a printed substrate sheet exits the first ink jet printer. The first conveyor conveys a once printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output back to the first ink jet printer input, the first conveyor conveying the once printed substrate sheet so as to be positioned to receive printed information on a bottom surface of the substrate sheet, the top and bottom substrate surfaces being different surfaces, the first ink jet printer being operable to print second information on the bottom surface of the substrate sheet. The second conveyor conveys a twice-printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output.


The laminator is operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator laminating the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and laminating the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet. The cutter cuts excess material from the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet, the cut, laminated twice printed sheet forming the identification document.


In a further embodiment, we provide a system to intermittently assemble identification documents, an identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising first and second ink jet printers and a laminator.


The first ink jet printer is operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet. The second ink jet printer is operable to print second information on a bottom surface of a substrate sheet, the second ink jet printer being constructed and arranged relative to the first ink jet printer such that the substrate sheet can travel along a predetermined path and have its top side printed by the first ink jet printer and its bottom side printed by the second ink jet printer without having to change the orientation of the substrate along the predetermined path. The laminator is operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator laminating the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and laminating the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet comprising the identification document. In a further embodiment, the first and second ink jet printers are constructed and arranged to print the substrate sheet at substantially the same time.


In still another embodiment, we provide a method of assembling an identification document, the assembled identification document including at least a substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the substrate being laminated.


A substrate having printing thereon is provided, the substrate sheet having been perforated or cut so as to include the outline of card. The card is separated from the substrate sheet, the card having a top surface and a bottom surface. A top laminate is provided so as to contact the card's top surface, and bottom laminate is provided so as to contact the card's bottom surface, said top laminate, substrate and bottom laminate forming a card sandwich, said providing laminates steps being preformed at a first station. The card sandwich is heated and pressed to facilitate lamination of the card sandwich at a second station, the second station being separate from the first station. The laminated card sandwich is cooled at a third station, the third station being separate from the first and second stations.


In a further embodiment, we provide a method of assembling an identification document in an intermittent assembling environment. Ink jet printing is controlled so as to print first information on a first surface of the document substrate and to print second information on a second surface of the document substrate, the second information including at least one set of data that is unique with respect to the first information. Lamination of the printed document substrate is controlled so as to provide a top laminate in contact with the first surface of the document substrate and to provide a bottom laminate in contact with the second surface of the document substrate. Alignment of the laminated document substrate is controlled through at least form feed holes placed along at least one of an edge of the document substrate and a carrier web that carries the top or bottom laminate, wherein the alignment relates to at least one of cutting, material registration and the placement of security features on the laminated document substrate.


In yet another embodiment, we provide system to produce an identification document from a substrate having first and second sides and comprising a predetermined material, the system comprising means for printing to the first side of the substrate, said means for printing operable to print the identification document using an ink having an affinity for the predetermined material, means for laminating at least one side of the identification document, and means for transferring the printed substrate to the means for laminating;


The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be even more readily apparent from the following Detailed Description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.





BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS


FIG. 1 is an illustrative example of a prior art identification document;



FIG. 2 is a cross section of the prior art identification document of FIG. 1, taken along the A-A line;



FIG. 3 is an illustrative example of an identification document in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of the processes in an over-the-counter ID document assembling system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 5 is a diagram of an over-the-counter ID document assembling system including a first example of a dual ink jet printer implementation, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 6 is a flow diagram outlining one control process according to an implementation of the present invention;



FIG. 7 is a diagram of an over-the-counter ID document assembling system including a second example of a dual ink jet printer implementation, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 8 is a diagram of an over-the-counter ID document assembling system including a single ink jet printer implementation; in accordance with one embodiment of the invention



FIG. 9 is an illustration of a carrier web usable with at least one embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 10 is an illustration showing laminate patches on the carrier web of FIG. 9;



FIGS. 11A-11B are illustrative examples of sheet and print directions for first and second travel orientations, in accordance with embodiments of the invention;



FIG. 12 is a perspective illustration of a laminator roll assembly usable with at least one embodiment of the invention;



FIG. 13 is a diagram of a substrate sheet including a plurality of form feed holes along its direction edges; and



FIG. 14 is a diagram of a rotary table processing method according to an implementation of the present invention.





The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In addition, in the figures, like numbers refer to like elements.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description discloses multiple embodiments of our present invention. It should be appreciated that the disclosure found in one embodiment section can be readily combined with the disclosure found in another section.


In the foregoing discussion, the use of the word “card” is intended to include all types of ID documents. (For the purposes of this disclosure, the terms “document,” “card,” “badge” and “documentation” are used interchangeably. In addition, ID document shall include, without limitation, documents, magnetic disks, CD's, or any other suitable items that may record information, images, and/or other data, which may be associated with an object or other entity to be identified.)


While ink jet printers have been available for some time now, their use in ID card printing has been limited due to several factors. Common dye based inks, as traditionally used in ink jet printers, can lack the stability to resist fading over time or under prolonged exposure to sunlight. In laminated ID cards, it is preferred that ink that is deposited on a substrate (e.g., a TESLIN sheet) not interferes with the bonding of the protective laminates that are often coupled to the substrate. Any interference may defeat security provided by the laminates or long life of the resultant ID document.


The inventors have found that dye-based ink jet inks require a so-called receiving layer (or thin coating) to be applied to the ID document substrate in order to produce a high quality print appearance. Conventional receiving layers have water absorptive characteristics that can weaken the ID card's physical integrity. For example, a card substrate that is treated with a receiving layer absorbs water, particularly at the card's edges. Absorbing water can have disastrous effects—the card can swell or warp, the laminate can peel away, a weakness point can form providing an intrusion entry point, and the printed ink can be blurred or even lost. The inventors of the instant application also have discovered that a receiving layer often weakens the bond between the substrate and laminate.


Another weakness of conventional dye based ink jet inks is the mobility of the inks in the document substrate. Often, after application to a document substrate, dye-based ink jet ink will penetrate through the entire thickness of the substrate, particularly when a receiving layer is not applied to the substrate. Ink mobility has at least two negative results. First, the ink visible on the surface of the document substrate is reduced, leading to a “washed out” image. Second, in a worst-case scenario, ink printed on a front surface of the substrate becomes visible on a back surface of the substrate.


We have discovered that the use of pigmented ink jet inks substantially eliminates or at least significantly reduces most of these issues, making such pigmented ink jet inks suitable for printing information to ID card substrates. The light and aging stability of such pigmented inks are excellent. We have also determined that a receiving layer is not required when printing with these pigmented inks, making laminate bonds to the printed substrate acceptable, while maintaining excellent moisture resistance. The pigment particles exhibit a controlled level of penetration into the substrate, such as a microporous polyethylene-polymer containing materials such as a TESLIN (manufactured by PPG Industries, Inc., of Pittsburgh, Pa.) substrate, producing excellent quality, high-density images, with little to no bleed though to the back surface of the substrate. In particular, the instant inventors have discovered

    • The light and aging stability of such pigments inks are excellent.
    • A receiving layer is not required when printing a microporous core such as a TESLIN sheet with pigment inks. Microporous core materials such as TESLIN tend to filter pigment particles out of pigmented ink leaving, in some instances, the vast majority of the ink's pigment close to the surface. Some penetration into the pores of the TESLIN does appear to occur, which aids in locking the pigment to the substrate. However, the pigmented ink penetration has been observed to be slight in comparison to traditional dye inks. The resulting bond strength of the laminate to the microporous material is excellent, and appears to be substantially unaffected by moisture.
    • Since the level of penetration of the pigment into the substrate can be limited, bleed through from a front surface to a back surface of the substrate has not been observed.
    • Attempts at delamination can result in showing obvious evidence that tampering has occurred. For example, if laminate is removed from a TESLIN-based substrate printed with pigmented ink jet inks, either he TESLIN can fracture cohesively (down the thickness of the material) or the ink fractures cohesively (most ink staying with the laminate and the remainder with the TESLIN) or a combination of these two modes. These failure modes make alteration quite obvious, photo replacement or data changing very difficult, and relamination impossible without adding an adhesive layer.


We believe that our use of pigmented ink jet inks also may have application in central issue manufacturing of ID documents as well as over the counter manufacturing of ID documents, especially in situations where the resolution of ink jet printers surpasses that of laser printers used to print on TESLIN for the purpose of making ID cards. More details about our inventive use of pigmented inks can be found in our commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/289,962, published as US 2002-0211296 A1, entitled “Identification Card Printed with Jet Inks and Systems and Methods of Making Same”, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.



FIG. 3 is an illustrative example of an ID document 10 manufactured in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, The ID document 10 includes substrate 21 (which for illustrative purposes only is illustrated as having a “card-like” shape) and the ID document 10 optionally can be sealed between first and second laminate layers 23, 25 (it should be understood that the ID document 10 also may be sealed with only one laminate layer (either the first layer 23 or the second layer 25), and also may be sealed with a plurality of laminate layers.


Although not required for the instant invention, the ID document 10 may include a photograph 14 and various printed information 12, e.g., such as data, textual information, graphics, bar codes, biometric information (e.g., fingerprint), personal information (e.g., name, address, etc.), or the like. At least a portion of the photograph and/or printed information 12 is printed on the substrate 21 with ink jet ink printing. In at least one embodiment, both sides of substrate 21 can receive printing, such as ink jet color printing or ink jet black and white printing. In some embodiments, information may also be optically or magnetically stored on recording media (e.g., magnetic stripe 27) carried by one or both of the laminates 23, 25.


Heat and/or adhesive are used to bond the laminate sheets 23 and 25 with the substrate 21. The adhesive can even be coated or provided on a substrate-engaging side of the laminates 23 and 25. Or a laminate can include a pouch into which the substrate 21 slips. Again, heat and/or adhesives would be used to bond the substrate 21 with the pouch laminate. Hence, our preferred finished ID document includes at least a three-layer structure (e.g., laminate—substrate—laminate). The lamination provides a protective covering for the printed substrates and provides a level of protection against unauthorized tampering. (For example, a laminate would have to be removed to alter the printed information and then subsequently replaced after the alteration.). Various lamination processes are disclosed in assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,783,024, 6,007,660 and 6,159,327. Other lamination processes are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,283,188 and 6,003,581. Each of these U.S. Patents is herein incorporated by reference. Our present disclosure provides improvements over these lamination techniques.


Any or all of the printed information and/or images on the substrate may also include one or more built in security features, as well, to help reduce identity fraud. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, portions of the ID document 10, such as an image or a bar code, can include a digital watermark. Digital watermarking is a process for modifying physical or electronic media to embed a machine-readable code therein. The media may be modified such that the embedded code is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to the user, yet may be detected through an automated detection process. The code may be embedded, e.g., in a photograph, text, graphic, image, substrate or laminate texture, and/or a background pattern or tint of the photo-identification document. The code can even be conveyed through ultraviolet or infrared inks and dyes.


Digital watermarking systems typically have two primary components: an encoder that embeds the digital watermark in a host media signal, and a decoder that detects and reads the embedded digital watermark from a signal suspected of containing a digital watermark. The encoder embeds a digital watermark by altering a host media signal. To illustrate, if the host media signal includes a photograph, the digital watermark can be embedded in the photograph, and the embedded photograph can be printed on a photo-identification document. The decoding component analyzes a suspect signal to detect whether a digital watermark is present. In applications where the digital watermark encodes information (e.g., a unique identifier), the decoding component extracts this information from the detected digital watermark.


Several particular digital watermarking techniques have been developed. The reader is presumed to be familiar with the literature in this field. Particular techniques for embedding and detecting imperceptible watermarks in media are detailed, e.g., in Digimarc's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/503,881 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 6,122,403. Techniques for embedding digital watermarks in identification documents are even further detailed, e.g., in Digimarc's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/094,593, filed Mar. 6, 2002 (published as US 2002-0170966 A1), and Ser. No. 10/170,223, filed Jun. 10, 2002 (published as US 2003-0031340 A1), co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/358,321, filed Feb. 19, 2002, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,886. Each of the above-mentioned U.S. Patent documents is herein incorporated by reference.


Embodiment 1—Process for Ink Jet Printing an Identification Document


FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of the general processes included in an over-the-counter ID document assembling system 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. This general process is applicable to at least some of the other embodiments of the invention described herein and is provided to give the reader a general overview of the processes, systems, apparatuses, and techniques to be further described herein. Any or all of the following processes can be controlled manually, using hardware, using software, or using any combination of two or more of these.


Base material is provided for printing (steps 102, 104). The base material provided depends at least in part on the type of printer used. In one embodiment, the printing is accomplished using one or more inkjet-type printers and the base material is a material capable of being inkjet printed. In one embodiment, the printing is accomplished using one or more inkjet type printers that are supplied with a given pigmented ink jet ink and the base material is a material that has an affinity for the given pigmented ink jet ink. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, suitable ink jet printers are available from many different vendors, such as Hewlett Packard (3000 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, Calif. 94304), Epson (including, for example, the Epson Photo 2000P model) (3840 Kilroy Airport Way Long Beach, Calif. 90806), Canon U.S.A., Inc. (One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, N.Y. 11042) and Lexmark (740 West New Circle Road, Lexington, Ky. 40550).


As an optional step, during and/or after printing of the base material, the base material can be dried (step 108), using, for example, an air dryer, heat lamp, or other drying device. Such forced drying advantageously can help to harden the ink printed onto the base material, speeding up the card manufacture and helping the printing to withstand rough handling (e.g., conveyors) between printing passes. Forced drying also can help to reduce bubbles and other problems that can occur during lamination, to help reduce such defects the final cards. If time permits, the drying of step 108 also can be accomplished by waiting or delaying the passage of the base material a predetermined amount of time necessary for the ink jet printing to dry. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that combinations of forced drying and time delays also can be used to accomplish drying.


Laminating step 106 can be accomplished using virtually any lamination system known in the art, including systems of heated rollers, pouches, patches of laminate applied directly to base material, platen lamination, carrier supported lamination, manual lamination, etc. Depending on the type of lamination used, during cooling (step 110) of the laminated base material, additional pressure can be applied to the laminated base material (such as a series of rollers and/or one or more plates) to help to keep the laminate flat during cooling.


Cutting of the laminated base material (step 112) can be accomplished in many different ways, depending on the type of base material and the configuration of the processes. For example, in at least some embodiments of the invention, base materials (as further described herein) are provided on carrier webs and are then laminated (including by methods such as patch lamination), such that the laminated base materials can be punched out, torn off, peeled away, or otherwise removed from the carrier web during cutting. For laminations accomplished using methods such as injection molding, cutting step 112 can encompass removing the injected molded base material from the mold. Depending on the particular lamination technique used, varying types and amounts of scrap material may result, and is accumulated by a residual accumulation (114) as discussed immediately below. For roll-type laminations, scrap material can be rewound (step 116) and later re-used. For platen and carrier supported laminations, scrap material can be accumulated as stacks or piles (step 118) and/or can be shredded (step 120). Shredding can be advantageous where the scrap may contain proprietary material (e.g., covert logs contained on the laminate material).


If the laminated base material has portions to be encoded (e.g., a magnetic stripe or bar code) (step 122), that can be done following cutting step (112). Of course, it will be appreciated that steps 112 and 122 can, of course, be reversed, especially in systems where orientation and registration of the base material can be controlled. After encoding, the laminated base material can be output as ID documents (step 124).


Embodiment 2—Dual Ink jet Printing Process

This embodiment provides an inventive over-the-counter (“OTC”) ID document printing system and related methods. As a general overview, and with reference to FIG. 5, our inventive OTC system 200 preferably includes two ink jet printers 202 and 204 (e.g., such as those manufactured by HP, Epson, Canon and Lexmark) a roll type laminator 205, cooler 214, pulling rollers 216, and a cutter 218. Although not illustrated in FIG. 5, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system 200 of FIG. 5 can include mechanisms to power and drive the illustrated elements, such as a motor(s) and drive assembly to drive the rollers, etc. In at least one embodiment, the above components cooperate with a controller (not shown) to facilitate the smooth transition of a substrate through our inventive assembling system. The controller can be a software module executing on general-purpose processing circuitry. Or the controller can alternatively be implemented with hardware controls or hardware/software controls. The controller may even cooperate with various system sensors. Control also can be completely or partially manual.


A substrate sheet 219 (made of a material capable of being reliably printed with ink from the ink jet printer,) is provided to the first ink jet printer 202 with for printing. In at least one embodiment, the ink jet printers are supplied with a pigmented ink jet ink and the substrate sheet is a sheet of TESLIN, where the TESLIN does not require a receiver layer because the ink jet ink has been pre-selected to have an affinity for the TESLIN material. In at least one embodiment, however, the TESLIN can be pre-coated with a receiver layer and the ink jet ink need not be specially pre-selected for the TESLIN.


Our ID document substrate is formed from the substrate sheet. The sheet is preferably somewhat larger than the size of a finished card. This over-sizing allows extra material to help, e.g., transport the sheet through system. This extra substrate material can be later trimmed to achieve a specified size. (Of course, the substrate sheet can be sized to a finished card as well.). The substrate sheet is placed in a sheet feeder 202a of the first ink jet printer 202. The first ink jet printer 202 prints desired printing (e.g., variable information, photographs, bar codes, graphics, etc.) to a first side of the substrate sheet.


The substrate sheet 219 is conveyed along a path 203 into a feed tray 204a of the second ink jet printer 204 preferably in a manner that presents a second side of the sheet to the second ink jet printer 204. (For example, path 203 is “C” shaped to present a second side of the sheet to the second ink jet printer's print head.). Path 203 can be achieved with a belt, roller system and/or vacuum, etc., as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art The second ink jet printer 204 applies desired printing to the second side of the sheet. The printed sheet is then conveyed from the second ink jet printer 204 to a laminator 205.


Laminator 205 preferably includes a laminate supply 212, guide rollers 210, preheating rollers 208, and laminator rollers 206. (We note that in an alternative implementation, laminator 205 includes a subset of these components, such as only laminator rollers 206, or preheating rollers 208 and laminator rollers 206.). Although laminator 205 is shown as including the cooler 214, the cooler 214 need not be part of the laminator and can, in fact, be a separate item. Likewise, of course, any of the elements shown in FIG. 5 can be implemented individually and/or be provided as a combined element. For example, the printers 202, 204 could be combined as a single double sided printer, or can be combined with a laminator in a single housing, etc. The laminator 205 provides protective laminate layers for the substrate. In one embodiment, the laminator activates adhesive on the laminate web and then, using pressure between the laminator's nip rolls 206, press the laminates onto both sides of the printed substrate.


A common lamination material includes polycarbonate or polyester. Most frequently, such laminates include an adhesive layer or coating, such as EVA, EVA blends, etc. The laminator 205 receives laminate in the form of continuous webs from upper laminate supply 212a and lower laminate supply 212b. The laminate webs are fed from the supplies 212a and 212b via guide rolls 210a and 210b, respectively. The laminate webs are preheated with upper and lower preheating rollers 208a and 208b. An adhesive side of the laminate preferably faces (and contacts) the preheating rollers 208. The preheating rollers 208a and 208b heat their respective laminates so as to bring the temperature of the laminate adhesive slightly below an activation temperature (around 170° F.) of the adhesive (e.g., between about 5-20° F. below the activation temperature). The preheating temperature is preferably such that the laminate material (e.g., amorphous polyester) does not soften to a point where it would unduly stretch from the preheating rollers 208 to the laminator roller 206. Laminator rolls 206a and 206b provide heat to activate the laminate adhesive, and press the upper and lower laminate onto respective upper and lower sides of the printed substrate sheet. In one implementation the laminator rollers 206 raise the laminate temperature from the activation temperature to about 230-240° F. In another implementation, we maintain our preheating rollers 208 between 150-180° F., and our laminator rollers 206 between 250-330° F. Since the speed of lamination is proportional to the lamination temperature (e.g., hotter is faster), in some implementations we raise the laminator rolls 206 above 330° F.


(It should be understood that, to simplify the discussion we have taken some liberty with the use of the term “roller” and “roll.” Conventionally the term “roller” is used to specifically imply a metal or anodized metal surface, while the term “roll” is used to specifically imply a rubber coated roll that fits over or otherwise surrounds the metal roller. Such distinctions are not critical to the understanding of the present invention. Accordingly we use the terms roller and roll interchangeable herein.).


The laminated substrate sheet is provided to the cooler 214. In one embodiment, the cooler 214 includes a plurality of cooling rollers 215 to keep the laminates flat while cooling. In an alternative cooler 214 implementation (not shown) we provide flat heat sinks (instead of rollers) to contact the laminate surfaces. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other ways of cooling the substrate sheet (e.g., immersion in a substance capable of cooling the laminate, directing cool air at the laminate, etc.) can be usable to cool the laminated substrate sheet.


The cooled, laminated substrate sheet is provided to the cutter 218. A die set actuator 221 can be provided to aid the cutter 218. We note that a pair of pull rollers 216 can be provided and selectively activated to pull the continuous laminate web through the laminator 205 and cooler 214. Once the laminated substrate sheet is positioned within the cutter 218, the pull rollers 216 are deactivated, which stops the laminate web motion. The cutter 218 is cycled, cutting a card-shape ID document out of the laminated web. The resulting ID document is ejected from the cutter 218 onto, e.g., a conveyor to exit the card from system 200.


Since the printing and laminating/cutting processes are independent, it is possible to start printing another ID document while the laminating/cutting operations are processing a previous card. The laminating/cutting process duration is generally shorter than the printing process time; hence, the total cycle time after the first card can be reduced to the printing cycle time.


In at least one embodiment, the system of FIG. 5 includes additional components such as a magnetic stripe encoder (writer) 222 for when the laminate (or substrate) includes a magnetic stripe suitable for carrying data. The magnetic stripe encoder 222 encodes (or writes) data within the magnetic strip. MagTek, Inc. in Carson, Calif. 90746 USA, provides suitable magnetic stripe technology, among other companies. The encoded data can be related to the printed information, or can include information such as biometric information, personal information, access permissions, privileges, etc.


In at least one embodiment, the system of FIG. 5 includes a residual material accumulator 220 to accumulate scrap or residual web laminate. For example, the residual material accumulator 220 can be a scrap rewinder, as shown in FIG. 5. The accumulator 220 may include or cooperate with a residual rewinder to rewind residual web laminate. A conveyer belt or other ejection mechanism 224 can be provided to eject the card from the system 200 onto a finished card collector 226. Alternatively, accumulator 220 includes a shredder. An advantage of a shedder is that it reduces the size of residual materials, and destroys any residual security features that remain on the accumulated materials.


One or more dryers (not shown in FIG. 5) can be added to the system 200 to dry the printed substrate after and/or during printing. For example a dryer can be positioned along the 203 path and/or along a path 204b from the second printer 204 to the laminator 205. While a dryer may include radiant heating or the like, we prefer a forced hot air dryer. Forced drying has at least two advantages. First, forced drying produces “hardening” of the ink so that it can withstand rough handling between printing passes. Second, the drying of the sheet after final printing (e.g., after printing by the second printer 204) may also be useful in preventing moisture bubbles. Moisture bubbles occur during lamination and often produce visual defects in a finished card. In one embodiment, air drying for a predetermined time (such as by delaying the substrate along the path 203 and/or the path between the front printer 204 and the laminator 205) can be used in place of forced drying.


With reference to FIG. 6 we provide an overview of one implementation of a system controller. The FIG. 6 implementation is ideally suited for a multi-card printing process. We also note that the illustrated control process need not continue to completion before a second iteration of the control process of initiated. The first printer is activated in step 401. The printer can be activated by an activation signal from the controller, or upon an indication that a substrate sheet is positioned within the feed tray. We note that the activation step may include receiving in the first printer print data to be printed on the substrate sheet. After (or during) printing of the first side of the sheet, it is determined whether the second printer is available (step 402). (We note that this step can be eliminated when printing a single card.). If not available, the process waits (403) until the second printer becomes available. The second printer may not be available for a number of reasons, including waiting on the laminator or die cutter, printing another sheet, etc.


The second printer is activated (404) when it becomes available. After (or during) printing of the second side of the sheet, the controller determines whether the laminator is available (405). The laminator may not be available for a number of reasons, including the processing of a preceding card, waiting for the lamination web to be heated, waiting for cooling, etc. As an optional step, it can be determined whether the web is sufficiently heated (steps 407 and 408). The process preferably waits (406) if the laminator is not available.


If available, the laminator is activated (409). Activating the laminator may include a number of steps, such as pulling the laminate web, e.g., with the pull rollers, heating rollers if needed, accounting for cooling time if needed, etc. The laminate web is pulled until it is determined whether the laminated sheet is positioned in the cutter (step 410 and 411), at which point the laminator is deactivated (412). The laminated sheet is cut into an ID card and is ejected from the system (413). After cutting (or after ejection) the controller can generate a signal (414) to indicate that the laminator is available. The signal can be used, e.g., as input at step 405.


We note that there are many variations of the FIG. 6 control process. For example, the process can be segmented into various control sections, such as a printing section and a lamination/cutting section. The control of each section can be separately handled. Or if precise timing of the printing and lamination sections is determined, the control process can be simplified. In the simplified implementation, the control process may start printing and then simply check whether the laminator is available prior to advancing a printed sheet to the laminator. In still other implementations, the controller relies on signals from the printers, laminator, cooler, sensors and/or cutter to regulate the advancement of a substrate (or substrates) through the system. Of course, other control process can be implemented to control the FIG. 2 system 200.


Embodiment 3—Dual Ink jet Printing Process with Alternate Printer Configurations

While the FIG. 5 embodiment (and various alternative embodiments related to FIG. 5) describe a first ink jet printer positioned directly over, and positioned in an opposite direction of, a second ink jet printer, the present invention is not so limited.


For example, the printers 202 and 204 can be arranged one above the other, but both facing in the same direction and positioned on opposite sides of a substrate sheet such that the first printer prints one side of the sheet, and the sheet travels in a straight path into the second printer where the other side of the sheet is printed. Since the second printer is positioned “upside down,” the ink droplets travel horizontally (or vertically, depending on printer positioning) to the sheet without the normal assistance of gravity. Our experiments reveal satisfactory printing under such upside down printing conditions.


Another implementation, shown in FIG. 7, prints both substrate sides at substantially the same time. Referring to FIG. 7, an ink jet printer 201 is configured with two print heads 202′, 204′, each to respectively perform printing on a respective side of a substrate. A substrate is printed as it travels between the two print heads. Since the print cycle time is a major time factor in an ID document manufacture, and since a dual print head configuration significantly reduces the overall size of the processing unit, a simultaneous or substantially simultaneous printing configuration is an attractive embodiment. Although not shown in FIG. 7, a one or more dryers could be positioned along path 211 to dry one or more sides of the substrate. The dryer or dryers can, of course, be configured to dry both sides of the substrate at the same time.


Embodiment 4—Dual Ink Jet Printing Process with Alternate Laminator

In this embodiment, platen lamination is used in alternative embodiments instead of a roll laminator 205 describe in the previous systems. A platen lamination process basically involves placing a platen (e.g., metal, glass or ceramic surface) in contact with a laminate to impart heat and/or pressure, so as to activate the laminate adhesives. Some laminates (e.g., amorphous polyester laminates) soften during a lamination process, and as a result the laminate may take on a finish of the laminating or cooling surfaces (e.g., rollers or platen).


So-called gloss finish platens can be provided to provide a smooth or glossy laminate finish. Alternatively, a belt with release properties that allows release from a cooled belt can be used as an interleaf between the card and platen. In order to prevent air entrapment between the gloss finish platen (or gloss finish belt) and the laminate, a matte finish can be provided on the outer surfaces of the laminates.


Platen lamination is not understood to have been heretofore used for over-the-counter (OTC) ID card lamination because of the large-sized hardware and complexity in comparison to a roll type laminator; however, we have found that platen lamination offers some unique capabilities that offset these drawbacks. For example, materials that have poor dimensional stability at lamination temperatures can often be processed only in platen presses where both heating and cooling occurs while the materials are under pressure and constrained from unwanted dimensional or physical changes. The heating and cooling steps can be carried out in one or more stations. When carried out in only one station, the hardware size is smaller, but the platens must cycle between the heating temperature and the cooling temperature, which can result in longer cycle times. When carried out in two stations, the hardware size increases but the cycle time decreases because the platens in each station are maintained at the proper processing temperature. A platen embodiment is later below.


Embodiment 5—Single Ink Jet Printing Process

The FIG. 5 embodiment can be modified to include a single printer system 300, instead of the dual printer system 200, as shown in FIG. 8. A single ink jet printer 302 is used to print both sides of an ID document substrate. A substrate sheet 219 (e.g., a TESLIN sheet) is placed in print tray 302a. Printer 302 prints a first side of the sheet. A first sheet conveyor 303 (e.g., a conveyor belt, guide rollers, vacuum, or etc.) is provided to return the printed sheet 219 to the print tray 302a. The first sheet conveyor 303 preferably returns the printed sheet 219 to the print tray 302 in an orientation that allows printing of a second side of the substrate sheet by printer 302. Optionally, the system 300 can include a dryer 305 to dry the first printed side of the substrate 219 along the path 303. Optionally, the system 300 can include a dryer 305′ to dry the other printed substrate along the path 304. Optionally, a dryer 305′ can be configured to dry both sides of the substrate simultaneously along the path 304 (not shown in FIG. 8). Optionally, the system 300 can include a “flipper” 305′, which can assist the first sheet conveyor 303 in returning the printed sheet 219 in an orientation that allows printing of a second side of the substrate by printer 202 by automatically turning the substrate 219 over. Such “flipping” can, of course, also be accommodated manually.


Referring again to FIG. 8, a second sheet conveyor 304 then conveys the laminated sheet to laminator 205. We note that like components including the same functionally are labeled with the same reference numbers in FIGS. 2 and 3.


Of course a controller (not shown) can be used with system 300 to control the printing and conveyance of the substrate sheet and of the lamination and cutting of the printed sheet.


The dryer 305 (not shown) can be added to the system 300 to dry the printed substrate after printing. For example a dryer can be positioned along the 303 and/or 304 paths. Dryer advantages are discussed above with respect to FIG. 5.


One advantage of system 300 over system 200 is that one printer 302 accomplishes the work of two printers 202 and 204—saving hardware cost and size. We note that system 300 does not experience a significant increase in printing time over system 200 since system 200 sequentially prints the front and back of a substrate sheet.


Embodiment 6—Ink Jet Printing with Carrier Supported Laminates

We note that a substrate sheet is typically much shorter than the assembling path that the laminate web travels (e.g., referring to FIG. 5, starting at the guide rollers 210a and 210b, past the preheating rollers 208a and 208b, through the pressure (or “nip”) rolls 206a and 206b, cooler 214, through the pull roller 216 to the cutter 218). Thus the amount of laminate that is consumed in processing one substrate sheet is often 4 or 5 times the amount of substrate used, resulting in a laminate design yield of no more than 20% to 25%. We can improve the yield with our following inventive techniques.


Any or all of the systems of FIGS. 4-8 are modified to reduce the amount of laminate required to manufacture an ID document by using patches or discrete card-sized sheets of laminate. The laminate patches are bonded to or otherwise carried by a carrier web. We space the laminate patches along the carrier web such that the carrier web—and not laminate—spans the majority of the assembling path. This configuration significantly raises the laminate yield, while reducing overall costs.



FIG. 9 is an illustration of a carrier web 600 usable with at least one embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 10 is an illustration showing laminate patches on the carrier web 600 of FIG. 9 (it should be understood that in FIGS. 9 and 10, the dimensions shown are not limiting and provided by way of illustration only). Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the carrier 600 preferably has “windows” 602 throughout the web (e.g., with no carrier material in the windows). In one Embodiment, the carrier 600 is made from 2 mil liner paper. In this example, the carrier web 600 is constructed for use in form feeding (as described further herein) and includes a plurality of form feed holes 604, but the invention does not, of course, require that the carrier web 600 be used in a form feeding type environment. The laminate patches 606 are bonded to the carrier web 600 at (or over) these carrier windows 602. In one embodiment, one or more heat seals 608 bond the laminate patches 606 to the carrier web 600. The windows 602 help prevent carrier material from being introduced into a final ID) card. Referring again to FIG. 5, the laminate patches 606 (and carrier windows 602) can be spaced so as to enter the laminator 205 (e.g., enter the preheating rollers 208a and 208b or laminator rollers 206a and 206b) when a previous laminate patch is in the cutter 218.


(In one implementation, by way of example, the laminate patch is about ¼ inch larger in all four directions than the substrate sheet. This over-sizing allows a buffer for, e.g., sufficient laminate overlap, extra material to be handled by the rollers, cutting imprecision, and even a so-called “dead zone,” if desired, to buffer the lamination roller 206 from riding up over the laminate on the carrier web.).


We note that the carrier web 600, including the bonded or carried laminate patches 606 over the carrier web windows, can be introduced to the laminator 205 in roll form (e.g., replacing the laminate web supply 212a and 212b shown in FIGS. 2 and 3). As an alternative, the carrier web is feed through a guide roller (e.g., rollers 210a and 210b) from a box or other source of fan-folded laminate patches on carrier web. In this alternative implementation, the source of fan-folded laminate patches 606 on carrier web 600 replaces the upper and lower laminate supply 212a and 212b.


The orientation of the card and laminate patches 606 is not limited to that illustrated in FIGS. 9 an 10. FIGS. 11A-11B are illustrative examples of sheet and print directions for first and second travel orientations, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. For the example of ID documents having a substantially rectangular shape, the windows 602 can be oriented on the carrier web 600 such that the long axis of the ID document travels in the machine direction (long orientation, FIG. 11A) or such that the short axis of the card travels in the machine direction (short orientation, FIG. 11B).


In the long orientation, the sheet moves through the printer so that the axis of the long dimension of the ID document runs parallel to the direction of travel of the sheet. The printhead therefore traverses the short dimension of the ID document making many short traverses to print the ID document. In the short orientation, the axis of the short dimension of the ID document runs parallel to the direction of travel of the sheet. The printhead therefore traverses the long dimension of the card and is required to make fewer but longer distance traverses in printing the card.


During experimentation with an Epson Photo 2000P printer, we found that the time required to print the front of a sheet was 69 seconds with the long orientation sheet where the print head makes many short traverses and 45 seconds with the short orientation sheet where the print head makes fewer but longer traverses. When set at the high quality print setting, the long orientation sheet required 134 seconds to print the front of the card, and the short orientation required 93 seconds.


Several other advantages result from our carrier web improvements, in addition to improving laminate yield.


First, between card cycles, in the processes illustrated by FIGS. 4-8, the thermoplastic laminate is in contact with heated rollers (e.g., preheating rollers 208 and/or laminator rollers 206). Such heated roller contact may require that the roller temperature be reduced between cycles and then reset when a next assembling cycle begins. With a carrier web laminate system, however, the carrier is in contact with the laminator rolls between card cycles instead of the laminate material. The carrier web can be tailored to withstand various temperatures. For example, paper-based carrier webs are relatively inexpensive and more temperature resistant than the laminates at laminating temperatures.


Second, a paper-based carrier web is dimensionally stable at the laminating temperatures and pressures. Hence the carrier web provides support for the thermoplastic laminate, which looses dimensional stability (e.g., the laminate softens and stretches) during the lamination process.


Third, a dimensionally stable carrier web can be provided with form feed holes (or perforated holes or notches) punched or otherwise provided in the edges of the carrier web. For example, FIG. 12 is a perspective illustration of a laminator roll assembly 680 (including, e.g., rolls 206a, 206b, 215 (all rolls), 216a, and 216b) adapted to be used with carriers having form feed holes. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the laminator roll assembly 680 is merely illustrative and that many different ways of using form feed holes with rollers are, of course, usable. The carrier web then not only provides laminate transportation, e.g., by moving the carrier web through the lamination and cutting processes using pin or notch engagements, but the carrier web can also be used to accurately register laminates with respect to each other and to a substrate sheet. Providing form feed holes in the substrate sheet further enhances this registration process. The form feed holes provide enhanced registration of the substrate with the top and bottom laminate patches (in comparison to edge guiding or optical registration methods). The form feed holes also enhance registration of security features provided to the laminate surface, if desired, along with improving registration for the cutter 218. We can print information closer to a substrate edge as our cutting registration improves.


Now consider a process set in any of the FIGS. 4-8 system environments, with the following modifications, which leverages the above third advantage. The process receives a substrate sheet. With reference to FIG. 13, form feed holes (or other notches or openings) 50 are pre-punched along directional edges of the substrate sheet 700. For example, the arrow in FIG. 13 shows a directional edge of the sheet 700, e.g., the direction the sheet 700 typically travels in an assembling system. The form feed holes 50 are placed outside an area in which the card will be cut or where information will be printed. The substrate sheet 700 is preferably over-sized to allow room for placement of the form feed holes. The substrate can be later trimmed to a specified size.


(In an alternative implementation, not shown, we only include form feed holes along one of the directional edges.).


In one implementation, we start with about a ½ inch additional material on the two directional edges that receive the form feed holes, and about ⅛ inch on the two edges that run perpendicular to the directional edges. This particular sizing produces about a 69% material utilization. Of course these over-sizing dimensions can be changed to system needs and/or material utilization requirements.


Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, e.g., after printing by the first 202 and second 204 printers (or, referring to FIG. 8, after the printer 302 prints both sides of the substrate), the perforated, printed substrate is conveyed into laminator 205. Such conveyance can be accomplished using the form feed holes, if desired (see e.g., FIG. 12). For example a pin belt or wheel including a plurality of pins is provided, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The pins engage the form feed holes, and cycling the belt or wheel conveys the substrate through engagement of the pins with the holes. The arrival of the substrate sheet at the laminator 205 is preferably timed to coincide with an arrival of the laminate on the carrier web. For example a sensor can sense a position of a printed substrate sheet (e.g., senses a leading for trailing edge of the sheet) as it is conveyed from the printer. It can also be determined when a timing marker (or position or counter) reaches a predetermined position, indicating a pin engaged in the leading hole of the sheet is at the same distance from a merge point as the laminate patches. A substrate conveyer (or pin belt) motor can be slaved to the laminator motor causing the ID card's three components (laminate-substrate-laminate) to arrive at the laminator 5 in registration. The form feed holes in the printed sheet are engaged by the pins conveying the supported laminate around the laminator rolls. In an alternative implementation, sensors (or timing modules) sense or otherwise determine the position of the laminate and/or substrate, and the controller controls the relative conveyance (or arrival) of the substrate and/or laminates to the laminator 205.


In one implementation, we register the placement of the substrate sheet and laminate patch by aligning form feed holes on the substrate sheet with form feed holes on the carrier web. Pins engaging the aligned form feed holes can be used to transport the supported substrate and laminates into and through the laminator 205. The laminator 205 activates the laminate adhesive, and then using pressure between the rollers 206 presses the laminates onto both sides of the printed substrate sheet. A cooler 214 keeps the laminate flat while cooling. The cooled laminate then enters the cutter 218. The laminator 205 and carrier web motion are deactivated once the laminated substrate is properly positioned within the cutter 218. The positioning of the laminate substrate in the cutter 218 is enhanced through alignment of the form feed holes or through transporting the laminated substrate via engagement of the holes.


We note that residual carrier web and laminate can be accumulated with an accumulator (including a shedder). Cutting, encoding, scrap accumulation and shredding, and ejection otherwise proceed as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4-8.


We note that the pull rollers 216 can be replaced with a pin or notch-based conveyance system in this third embodiment. A pin or notch system can also be optionally used in the printer paths 203 and 204b.


As an alternative implementation, the substrate is provided as a roll (e.g., web), instead of sheets. The system then includes a sheet cutter to cut a substrate at some point prior to the printing process.


Similar modifications can be made to the embodiments of FIGS. 4-8. For example, a pin or notch-based conveyance method can be used to transport a printed substrate along paths 303 and 304 and/or transporting the substrate, laminate piece and carrier webs through the laminator 205, cooler 214 and into the cutter 218.


Embodiment 7—Additional Alternative Implementation

While using a carrier web is an attractive solution to improve lamination yield, excess carrier web waste may be an unintended byproduct. We have developed an implementation to significantly reduce subsequent carrier web waste. Instead of using a carrier web as a “continuous” web that is controlled by maintaining down web tension (e.g., by puller roller 216) a discrete piece or sheet of carrier can be used for each individual laminate piece. Similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a single piece of laminate is “picture framed” on and then bonded to (or otherwise carried by) each carrier sheet. These individual carrier sheets can be provided from a roll or fan folded box of continuous carrier with laminate patches. The carrier pieces are then cut into the single pieces prior to entering the laminator 205, or are separated from the roll by fracturing the carrier along a cross web perforation line 605 (FIG. 9). Or a carrier sheet can be obtained from a stack of carrier sheets. As with the carrier web above, the carrier sheet includes and opening or window 602 over which the laminate piece 606 is placed (or bound). Form feed holes 604 along the edge(s) of a carrier sheet are used to convey the individual carrier sheet through the laminator 205, cooler 214 and cutter 218. Pin feed mechanisms control the carrier sheet/laminate motion and alignment by transferring forces through engagement of the carrier web form feed holes.


Consider the following modifications to the embodiments of FIGS. 4-8. Form feed holes are pre-punched along directional edges of a substrate sheet, and along at least the carrier sheet. Once the substrate is printed, the printed sheet is conveyed into the laminator 205, using the form feed holes, in registration (e.g., alignment) with the laminate patches on the carrier sheet that has been started into the laminator 205. Once laminated and cooled, the laminated substrate is transported to and positioned in the cutter by using a pin belt with pins engaging the form feed holes.


Die Cutter Configurations


Blanking dies are ideally suited to serve as cutter 218 (see FIGS. 2b and 3b). This is because of the precision with which resulting card dimensions can be maintained, an important issue in meeting, for example, ISO specifications, particularly for card height which has a tolerance of only +/−0.002″. Accordingly, we can favorably use a blanking die cutter as cutter 218. The present invention, however, should not be construed as being limited to such.


For example, a rotary die cutter can alternatively be used. A rotary die cutter produces similar dimensional precision, in comparison to a blanking die, as well as providing a continuous motion process that might offer some design advantages when coupled with other continuous motion processes. Of course, the complexity of a rotary die cutter and the high forces required to cut the two cross web sides of a card are two of the major issues to be considered when using a rotary die cutter.


Steel rule die cutting is also another alternative cutter. The big advantage of this die cutting method is the relatively low cost of the tooling. An issue that needs to be considered when using a steel rule die cutter is the high force that is required to cut the entire perimeter of the card at one time. The hardware capable of generating that type of force is typically either physically large, or noisy in that a large amount of previously stored energy is released from a flywheel or other type of energy storage device when the card is cut. The other issue is manufacturing dies with a dimensional accuracy required, e.g., by ISO card height tolerance specification.


Laser cutting can also be used. Some factors to consider when using a laser cutter are avoiding card edge char, addressing roughness of a cut card edge, the personal safety requirements needed for such devices, and the environmental handling requirement of the laser off-gases.


Die Cutter Press Configurations


Several alternative methods can be used to generate a force required to blank die cut a card in the processes described above. Since a blanking die can be fashioned with a shear angle or double shear angle on the face of a punch without sacrificing dimensional accuracy of the card product, only a small portion of the total card perimeter is cut at a given instant in a cutting cycle. This greatly reduces the force required to cut the card. Therefore a small electric motor driving a high mechanical advantage screw or other drive mechanism would be sufficient to slowly cut the cards. Faster cycle times would be possible with an energy storage system like a spring or flywheel device that becomes “charged” during the relatively long off-duty cycle time and is discharged during the brief cutting cycle.


Hydraulic or compressed air presses can be used for many of the cutting methods described above.


An inventive improvement to powering conventional blanking dies is to use a bank of low profile electrical solenoids to provide a driving force to drive a blanking die. At least two major advantages derive from this solenoid method: high speed of operation and a small volume required for the hardware.


Card and Card Component Conveying


While a number of conveying mechanisms have been discussed above, we note that belts may offer advantages in conveying thin flexible materials (e.g., laminate and substrate sheets) used in our card constructions. Belt drives are simple, reliable and can be tailored to provide a level of belt friction required for positive feeding or controlled slip. For example, belts can be used as printer paths 203, 204b, 303 and 304. And belts can be used along the laminator path, cooler path and ejection path.


Yet, we believe pin belts that positively engage a form feed hole or feature cut into a card component is perhaps the best method to accurately register parts to one another, and transport material through our inventive systems.


Roller feeds have many of the same characteristics as belt conveyors, and can be alternatively employed in our system.


A vacuum-based conveyance is also an alternative method for conveying.


Embodiment 8—Rotary Table or Linear Carriage Using Platen Lamination

Platen lamination is ideally suited for a rotary table or a linear carriage. Rotary tables and linear carriages comprise dedicated stations that are respectively devoted to a specific processing step, and ID document parts (e.g., front laminate, substrate sheet, and back laminate) are fed into or unloaded from each station.


Consider our inventive rotary table ID card assembling process with reference to FIG. 14. Our process starts with small sheets of substrate that are somewhat larger than the size of a finished ID document. The sheets are preferably precut or perforated such that a final card-sized chip is contained within the overall small substrate sheet. The substrate sheet is placed in a sheet feeder of a first ink jet printer. The first ink jet printer applies desired printing to one side of the substrate sheet. The substrate sheet is conveyed into the feed tray of the second ink jet printer in a manner that presents the reverse side of the sheet to the printer. The second ink jet printer applies desired printing to the reverse side of the sheet. (Alternatively, the second printing cycle is performed by the first printer as discussed, e.g., with respect to FIG. 5.). The printed substrate sheet is provided to a first station.


(The printed substrate is preferably conveyed to the first station around a sharp or otherwise pronounced bend in order to break the precut, final-sized chip or piece from its surrounding substrate material. This technique is similar to a method of applying pressure sensitive adhesive labels from a release liner. The separated chip or piece is provided to a first station of the rotary table. Alternatively, the “breaking” can be accomplished in a pre-station.).


The first station positions a card-sized laminate piece (e.g., obtained from a magazine or supply of such laminate pieces) with its adhesive side facing upward up, so that the printed substrate chip can be provided on top of the laminate. The chip is placed on top of the laminate so as to contact the adhesive side of the laminate piece with a bottom side of the chip. The chip and laminate are provided to a second station.


The second station picks a card-sized laminate piece and places an adhesive side of the laminate piece to contact a top side of the chip. The laminate-chip-laminate structure forms a chip sandwich that is provided to a third station.


A third station closes a platen cover on top of the chip sandwich. (In some case the sandwich is placed on a bottom platen cover. However, a bottom platen cover is generally not needed since subsequent stations will often include a station nest having a fixed bottom platen cover.).


In a fourth station, a heated platen press closes on the platen top (and perhaps bottom, if provided) cover to heat and press the chip sandwich together.


In the fifth station, a cooling press closes on or around the top (and perhaps bottom, if provided) platen plate, cooling the chip sandwich.


In a sixth station, the platen covers are opened.


In an optional seventh station, the cooled ID card is magnetic stripe encoded.


And in an eighth station, a finished card is ejected from the rotary table. Of course, the card can alternatively be ejected after the platen covers open (station 6), or after the magnetic stripe is encoded (station 7).


While this approach has multiple steps, it does have the advantage of eliminating a cutter. An alternative might be to introduce precut laminate pieces from a carrier web where the laminate pieces are attached to the carrier with low bond strength adhesive such that the pieces could be “label fed” from the carrier onto the table. We also note that some of the above mentioned stations can be combined, such as stations 1 and 2, and 5 and 6.


Embodiment9—Semi-Automated Process

Manual intervention can be used to simplify our inventive processes. Such semi-automated systems with typically use one or two ink jet printers, a belt laminator, a manual die cutter and, optionally, a magnetic stripe encoder. Consider the following inventive process.


An operator places a substrate sheet in a printer sheet feeder of a first ink jet printer. The first ink jet printer applies the desired printing to a first side of the substrate sheet. The sheet is then conveyed into a feed tray of a second ink jet printer in a manner that presents a second side of the sheet to the printer. We note that either the operator or a conveyance path (e.g., path 203) can present the substrate sheet to the second printer. The second ink jet printer applies the desired printing to the reverse side of the sheet. (As an alternative, we note that a single printer system can be used as described above with respect to FIG. 5.)


The operator removes the printed substrate and places it between pieces of front and back laminate. Alternatively, the operator slips the printed substrate into a so-called lamination pouch. The operator then introduces the stack of materials (e.g., laminate-substrate-laminate) onto a laminator where the stack is heated, cooled and then fed out of the laminator. The operator then places the laminated stack into a hand cutter, and cuts the finished card.


In an alternative implementation, only a subset of the above manual operations is manually carried out, while the remaining operations are automated.


A matte finish on the outside surfaces of the laminates can be provided to help prevent air bubble between a laminator (e.g., a gloss finish laminator belt) and the laminate. Of course, a belt laminator can be replaced with a roll laminator as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4-8. Again a matte finish on the outside surfaces of the laminates may help prevent air bubbles.


Embodiment 10—Injection Molding Process

An injection molding process is used as an alternative to the above described lamination processes.


Either a single or dual printing system is used to print a substrate sheet as described above with respect to FIGS. 4-8. The printed substrate sheet is then placed into an open mold including, e.g., two halves. The mold halves close over the printed substrate sheet and polymer (or other protective coating) is injected into the mold, preferably on both sides of the substrate sheet. (We note that the polymer is ideally thermoplastic or thermoset to avoid undue shear forces to the substrate due to viscosity.) At the end of the molding cycle, the mold is opened and the molded substrate is removed. The substrate that extends beyond the polymer edge, if any, can be removed with cutting. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that other methods of injection molding are, of course, usable.


Concluding Remarks


Having described and illustrated the principles of the technology with reference to specific implementations, it will be recognized that the technology can be implemented in many other, different, forms, and in many different environments.


For example, we note that our preferred laminate material is polymer-based and typically softens at a temperature required to soften and activate a laminate adhesive. This softening point is an excellent feature in a finished ID card because it makes tampering with the card evident due to the stretching and distortion of the laminate that occurs when heat is used to try to remove the laminate. Accordingly, a laminator will sometimes deal with the stretching and distortion aspect and, therefore, we have introduced the concepts of belts, cooling rollers or special pouch carriers. Of course, these elements can be simplified if laminates, which use a base polymer that does not soften at the adhesive laminating temperature, are used instead. The tradeoff, however, is that tamper resistance of a finished card will likely be inferior.


While we have provided specific temperature ranges by way of example, the invention is not limited to such. Indeed, the adhesive activation temperature and the adhesive bonding temperatures mentioned can be changed depending on the adhesive material used, the laminate material used, and so on. Similarly, while we have provided some specific dimensions for the card and laminate material, the present invention is not limited to such. Dimensional changes can be made without deviating from the scope of our invention.


While we have provided specific dimensions by way of example, the invention is not limited to such dimensions.


We note that a substrate sheet, e.g., TESLIN, can be treated to better receive ink jet printing as discussed in assignee's U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/344,685 and copending U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 10/289,962 (published as US 2003-0211296A1). We also note and expressly contemplate that the techniques and pigmented ink disclosed in these applications can be combined with the inventive features of the present application.


To provide a comprehensive disclosure without unduly lengthening the specification, applicant herein incorporates by reference each of the U.S. patent documents referenced above.


The particular combinations of elements and features in the above-detailed embodiments are exemplary only; the interchanging and substitution of these teachings with other teachings in this and the incorporated-by-reference patent documents are also expressly contemplated.


Further, although certain words, languages, phrases, terminology, and product brands have been used herein to describe the various features of the embodiments of the invention, their use is not intended as limiting. Use of a given word, phrase, language, terminology, or product brand is intended to include all grammatical, literal, scientific, technical, and functional equivalents.


As those skilled in the art will recognize, variations, modifications, and other implementations of what is described herein can occur to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended as limiting. The invention's scope is defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.

Claims
  • 1. A system to intermittently assemble identification documents, an identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising: a first ink jet printer operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet, said first ink jet printer including an input to receive the substrate sheet and an output from which a printed substrate sheet exits the first ink jet printer;a first conveyor to convey a once printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output back to the first ink jet printer input, the first conveyor to convey the once printed substrate sheet so as to be positioned to receive printed information on a bottom surface of the substrate sheet, the top and bottom substrate surfaces being different surfaces, the first ink jet printer being operable to print second information on the bottom surface of the substrate sheet;a second conveyor to convey a twice-printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output;a laminator operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator to laminate the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and to laminate the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet;a cutter to cut excess material from the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet, the cut, laminated twice printed sheet forming the identification document;a cooler to receive a recently laminated twice printed substrate sheet, the cooler comprising at least one of a plurality of rollers, a cooling belt or a heat sink;wherein the laminator comprises a top laminate supply and at least a laminator roller to heat and press the top laminate obtained from the top laminate supply to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet;wherein the laminator further comprises a bottom laminate supply and at least a laminator roller to heat and press the bottom laminate obtained from the bottom laminate supply to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the bottom laminator roller being relatively positioned below the top laminator roller;wherein at least one of the top laminate and bottom laminate comprises an individual sheet of lamination material, said top laminate and bottom laminate being respectively carried by a top carrier web and a bottom carrier web, wherein the top carrier web comprises a top opening and the top laminate is positioned over the top opening, and wherein the bottom carrier web comprises a bottom opening and the bottom laminate is positioned over the bottom opening; andwherein at least one of the top carrier web and bottom carrier web includes a plurality of form feed holes, and said system further comprises a pin belt including a plurality of pins to engage at least one of the top form feed holes and bottom form feed holes.
  • 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the engagement serves to transport at least one of the top carrier web and bottom carrier web through the laminator and cooler as the pin belt moves.
  • 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the engagement serves to transport the carrier web including the laminated substrate sheet to the cutter as the pin belt moves.
  • 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the engagement serves to align the carrier web in the cutter.
  • 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate sheet including a plurality of form feed holes.
  • 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the form feed holes of the substrate sheet and at least one of the top carrier web form feed holes and bottom carrier web form feed holes are aligned to register the substrate with respect to at least one of the top laminate and bottom laminate.
RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application claims the priority of the following United States Provisional Applications, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Identification Card Printer-Assembler For Over-The-Counter Card Issuing (Application No. 60/379,646, Inventors: Dennis Mailloux, Daoshen Bi and Robert Jones), filed May 10, 2002; andApplication of pigmented jet inks to ID cards (Application No. 60/379,704, Inventors Daoshen Bi, Dennis Mailloux, and Robert Jones), filed May 10, 2002. This application is also related to the following U.S. patent applications: Use of Pearlescent and Other Pigments to Create Security Documents (application Ser. No. 09/969,200, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,277, Inventors Bentley Bloomberg and Robert L. Jones, filed Oct. 2, 2001);Identification Card Printed With Jet Inks and Systems and Methods of Making Same (application Ser. No. 10/289,962, published as US 2003-0211296 A1, Inventors Robert Jones, Dennis Mailloux, and Daoshen Bi, filed Nov. 6, 2002);Contact Smart Cards Having a Document Core, Contactless Smart Cards Including Multi-Layered Structure, PET-Based Identification Document, and Methods of Making Same (application Ser. No. 10/329,318, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,422, filed Dec. 23, 2002—Inventors Robert Jones, Joseph Anderson, Daoshen Bi, Thomas Regan, and Dennis Mailloux,);Ink with Cohesive Failure and Identification Document Including Same (application Ser. No. 10/329,315, published as US 2003-0226897 A1, filed Dec. 23, 2002—Inventors Robert Jones and Bentley Bloomberg);Laser Engraving Methods and Compositions, and Articles Having Laser Engraving Thereon (application Ser. No. 10/326,886, published as US 2003-0234286 A1, filed Dec. 20, 2002—Inventors Brian Labrec and Robert Jones);Multiple Image Security Features for Identification Documents and Methods of Making Same (application Ser. No. 10/325,434, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,530, filed Dec. 18, 2002—Inventors Brian Labrec, Joseph Anderson, Robert Jones, and Danielle Batey);Covert Variable Information on Identification Documents and Methods of Making Same (application Ser. No. 10/330,032, published as US 2003-0173406 A1, filed Dec. 24, 2002—Inventors: Robert Jones and Daoshen Bi);Systems, Compositions, and Methods for Full Color Laser Engraving of ID Documents (application Ser. No. 10/330,034, published as US 2003-0234292 A1, filed Dec. 24, 2002—Inventor Robert Jones);Laser Etched Security Features for Identification Documents and Methods of Making Same (application Ser. No. 10/330,033, published as US 2004-0011874 A1, filed Dec. 24, 2002—Inventors George Theodossiou and Robert Jones); andImage Processing Techniques for Printing Identification Cards and Documents (application Ser. No. 10/411,354, published as US 2004-0074973 A1, filed Apr. 9, 2003—Inventors Chuck Duggan and Nelson Schneck). The present invention is also related to the following provisional applications: Identification Document and Related Methods (Application No. 60/421,254, Inventors: Geoff Rhoads, et al);Identification Document and Related Methods (Application No. 60/418,762, Inventors: Geoff Rhoads, et al);Shadow Reduction System and Related Techniques for Digital Image Capture (Application No. 60/410,544, filed Sep. 13, 2002—Inventors: Scott D. Haigh and Tuan A. Hoang).Systems and Methods for Recognition of Individuals Using Combination of Biometric Techniques (Application No. 60/418,129, filed Oct. 11, 2002—Inventors James V. Howard and Francis Frazier);Systems and Methods for Managing and Detecting Fraud in Image Databases Used With Identification Documents (Application No. 60/429,501, filed Nov. 26, 2003—Inventors James V. Howard and Francis Frazier);Enhanced Shadow Reduction System and Related Technologies for Digital Image Capture (Application No. 60/447,502, filed Feb. 13, 2003—Inventors Scott D. Haigh, Tuan A. Hoang, Charles R. Duggan, David Bohaker, and Leo M. Kenen);Integrating and Enhancing Searching of Media Content and Biometric Databases (Application No. 60/451,840, filed Mar. 3, 2003); andOptically Variable Devices with Embedded Data for Authentication of Identity Documents (Application No. 60/459,284, filed Mar. 31, 2003—Inventor Robert Jones). Each of the above U.S. Patent documents is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The present invention is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/747,735, filed Dec. 22, 2000 (published as US 2003-0038174 A1), Ser. No. 09/602,313, filed Jun. 23, 2000 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,432), and Ser. No. 10/094,593, filed Mar. 6, 2002, (published as US 2002-0170966 A1), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/358,321, filed Feb. 19, 2002, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,594. Each of the above U.S. Patent documents is herein incorporated by reference.

US Referenced Citations (1418)
Number Name Date Kind
1094593 Reed Apr 1914 A
1472581 Britt Oct 1923 A
2815310 Anderson Dec 1957 A
2957830 Goldberg Oct 1960 A
3140214 Hofe Jul 1964 A
3153166 Thornton. Jr. et al. Oct 1964 A
3225457 Schure Dec 1965 A
3238595 Schwartz Mar 1966 A
3413171 Hannon Nov 1968 A
3455768 Neimeyer Jul 1969 A
3496262 Long et al. Feb 1970 A
3496263 Nakayama et al. Feb 1970 A
3536550 Hofe Oct 1970 A
3565724 Yamaguchi Feb 1971 A
3569619 Simjian Mar 1971 A
3571957 Cumming et al. Mar 1971 A
3582439 Thomas Jun 1971 A
3601913 Pollock Aug 1971 A
3614430 Berler Oct 1971 A
3614839 Thomas Oct 1971 A
3625801 Reed et al. Dec 1971 A
3625803 Masulis et al. Dec 1971 A
3640009 Komiyama Feb 1972 A
3647275 Ward Mar 1972 A
3658629 Cramer et al. Apr 1972 A
3665162 Yamamoto et al. May 1972 A
3703628 Philipson, Jr. Nov 1972 A
3713948 Kluger Jan 1973 A
3758970 Annenberg Sep 1973 A
3802101 Scantlin Apr 1974 A
3805238 Rothfjell Apr 1974 A
3825317 Inoue et al. Jul 1974 A
3838444 Loughlin et al. Sep 1974 A
3845391 Crosby Oct 1974 A
3860558 Klemchuk Jan 1975 A
3914484 Creegan et al. Oct 1975 A
3914877 Hines Oct 1975 A
3922074 Ikegami et al. Nov 1975 A
3929701 Hall Dec 1975 A
3932036 Ueda et al. Jan 1976 A
3936613 Nishigori et al. Feb 1976 A
3949501 Andrews et al. Apr 1976 A
3953869 Lo et al. Apr 1976 A
3956595 Sobanski May 1976 A
3961956 Fukada et al. Jun 1976 A
3975291 Claussen et al. Aug 1976 A
3984624 Waggener Oct 1976 A
3987711 Silver Oct 1976 A
4009337 Sakai et al. Feb 1977 A
4021288 Hannon et al. May 1977 A
4022983 Braun et al. May 1977 A
4025380 Bernardo May 1977 A
4035740 Schafer et al. Jul 1977 A
4046615 Jansen Sep 1977 A
4051374 Drexhage et al. Sep 1977 A
4069487 Kasai et al. Jan 1978 A
4072911 Walther et al. Feb 1978 A
4082873 Williams Apr 1978 A
4096015 Kawamata et al. Jun 1978 A
4100509 Walther et al. Jul 1978 A
4104555 Heming Aug 1978 A
4119361 Greenway Oct 1978 A
4121003 Williams Oct 1978 A
4131337 Moraw et al. Dec 1978 A
4155618 Regnault et al. May 1979 A
4171766 Ruell Oct 1979 A
4181558 Neubronner Jan 1980 A
4183989 Tooth Jan 1980 A
4184701 Franklin et al. Jan 1980 A
4213038 Silverman et al. Jul 1980 A
4225967 Miwa et al. Sep 1980 A
4230990 Lert, Jr. et al. Oct 1980 A
4231113 Blasbalg Oct 1980 A
4238849 Gassmann Dec 1980 A
4252995 Schmidt et al. Feb 1981 A
4256900 Raue Mar 1981 A
4268345 Semchuck May 1981 A
4270130 Houle et al. May 1981 A
4271395 Brinkmann et al. Jun 1981 A
4272311 D'Angelo et al. Jun 1981 A
4274062 Brinkmann et al. Jun 1981 A
4289957 Neyroud et al. Sep 1981 A
4301091 Scieder et al. Nov 1981 A
4304809 Moraw et al. Dec 1981 A
4313197 Maxemchuk Jan 1982 A
4313984 Moraw et al. Feb 1982 A
4317782 Eckstein et al. Mar 1982 A
4324421 Moraw et al. Apr 1982 A
4326066 Eckstein et al. Apr 1982 A
4338258 Brinkwerth et al. Jul 1982 A
4356052 Moraw et al. Oct 1982 A
4359633 Bianco Nov 1982 A
4360548 Skees et al. Nov 1982 A
4367488 Leventer et al. Jan 1983 A
4379947 Warner Apr 1983 A
4380027 Leventer et al. Apr 1983 A
4384973 Harnisch May 1983 A
4395600 Lundy et al. Jul 1983 A
4415225 Benton et al. Nov 1983 A
4417784 Knop et al. Nov 1983 A
4423415 Goldman Dec 1983 A
4425642 Moses et al. Jan 1984 A
4428997 Shulman Jan 1984 A
4443438 Kasamatsu et al. Apr 1984 A
4448631 Eaton et al. May 1984 A
4450024 Haghiri-Tehrani et al. May 1984 A
4467209 Maurer et al. Aug 1984 A
4468468 Benninghoven et al. Aug 1984 A
4476468 Goldman Oct 1984 A
4485470 Reali Nov 1984 A
4491492 Hetherington Jan 1985 A
4504084 Jauch Mar 1985 A
4505772 Renz Mar 1985 A
4506148 Berthold et al. Mar 1985 A
4507346 Maurer et al. Mar 1985 A
4510311 Eckstein Apr 1985 A
4517042 Singer May 1985 A
4519865 Bradler et al. May 1985 A
4522881 Kobayashi et al. Jun 1985 A
4523777 Holbein et al. Jun 1985 A
4527059 Benninghoven et al. Jul 1985 A
4528588 Lofberg Jul 1985 A
4529992 Ishida et al. Jul 1985 A
4532508 Ruell Jul 1985 A
4536013 Haghiri-Therani et al. Aug 1985 A
4544181 Maurer et al. Oct 1985 A
4547804 Greenberg Oct 1985 A
4551265 Brinkwerth et al. Nov 1985 A
4553261 Froessl Nov 1985 A
4568824 Gareis et al. Feb 1986 A
4579754 Maurer et al. Apr 1986 A
4585509 Obayashi Apr 1986 A
4590366 Rothfjell May 1986 A
4595950 Lofberg Jun 1986 A
4596409 Holbein et al. Jun 1986 A
4597592 Maurer et al. Jul 1986 A
4597593 Maurer Jul 1986 A
4599259 Kobayashi et al. Jul 1986 A
4617216 Haghiri-Tehrani et al. Oct 1986 A
4619728 Brink Oct 1986 A
4621271 Brownstein Nov 1986 A
4627997 Ide Dec 1986 A
4629215 Maurer et al. Dec 1986 A
4637051 Clark Jan 1987 A
4638289 Zottnik Jan 1987 A
4652722 Stone et al. Mar 1987 A
4653775 Rapheal et al. Mar 1987 A
4653862 Morozumi Mar 1987 A
4654290 Spanjer Mar 1987 A
4654867 Labedz et al. Mar 1987 A
4656585 Stephenson Apr 1987 A
4660221 Dlugos Apr 1987 A
4663518 Borror et al. May 1987 A
4665431 Cooper May 1987 A
4670882 Telle et al. Jun 1987 A
4672605 Hustig et al. Jun 1987 A
4672891 Maurer et al. Jun 1987 A
4675746 Tetrick et al. Jun 1987 A
4677435 Causse D'Agraives et al. Jun 1987 A
4679154 Blanford Jul 1987 A
4680079 Tanaka Jul 1987 A
4682794 Margolin Jul 1987 A
4687526 Wilfert Aug 1987 A
4689477 Goldman Aug 1987 A
4702789 Ceraso Oct 1987 A
4703476 Howard Oct 1987 A
4709384 Schiller Nov 1987 A
4711690 Haghiri-Tehrani Dec 1987 A
4712103 Gotanda Dec 1987 A
4717441 Seki et al. Jan 1988 A
4718106 Weinblatt Jan 1988 A
4725462 Kimura Feb 1988 A
4732410 Holbein et al. Mar 1988 A
4735670 Maurer et al. Apr 1988 A
4736405 Akiyama Apr 1988 A
4738949 Sethi et al. Apr 1988 A
4739377 Allen Apr 1988 A
4748452 Maurer May 1988 A
4750173 Bluthgen Jun 1988 A
4751525 Robinson Jun 1988 A
4754128 Takeda et al. Jun 1988 A
4765636 Becker et al. Aug 1988 A
4765656 Becker et al. Aug 1988 A
4766026 Lass et al. Aug 1988 A
4773677 Plasse Sep 1988 A
4775901 Nakano Oct 1988 A
4776013 Kafri et al. Oct 1988 A
4790566 Boissier et al. Dec 1988 A
4790703 Wing Dec 1988 A
4803114 Schledorn Feb 1989 A
4804949 Faulkerson Feb 1989 A
4805020 Greenberg Feb 1989 A
4807031 Broughton et al. Feb 1989 A
4809321 Morganstein et al. Feb 1989 A
4811357 Betts et al. Mar 1989 A
4811408 Goldman Mar 1989 A
4816372 Schenk et al. Mar 1989 A
4816374 Lecompte Mar 1989 A
4820912 Samyn Apr 1989 A
4822973 Fahner et al. Apr 1989 A
4832783 Nechay et al. May 1989 A
4835517 van der Gracht et al. May 1989 A
4841134 Hida et al. Jun 1989 A
4855827 Best Aug 1989 A
4859361 Reilly et al. Aug 1989 A
4861620 Azuma et al. Aug 1989 A
4863550 Matsuo et al. Sep 1989 A
4864618 Wright et al. Sep 1989 A
4866025 Byers et al. Sep 1989 A
4866027 Henzel Sep 1989 A
4866771 Bain Sep 1989 A
4869946 Clay Sep 1989 A
4871714 Byers et al. Oct 1989 A
4876234 Henzel Oct 1989 A
4876237 Byers et al. Oct 1989 A
4876617 Best et al. Oct 1989 A
4878167 Kapulka et al. Oct 1989 A
4879747 Leighton et al. Nov 1989 A
4884139 Pommier Nov 1989 A
4888798 Earnest Dec 1989 A
4889749 Ohashi et al. Dec 1989 A
4891351 Byers et al. Jan 1990 A
4893336 Wuthnow Jan 1990 A
4894110 Lass et al. Jan 1990 A
4903301 Kondo et al. Feb 1990 A
4908836 Rushforth et al. Mar 1990 A
4908873 Philibert et al. Mar 1990 A
4921278 Shiang et al. May 1990 A
4925521 Asbury, Jr. et al. May 1990 A
4931793 Fuhrmann et al. Jun 1990 A
4935335 Fotland Jun 1990 A
4939515 Adelson Jul 1990 A
4941150 Iwasaki Jul 1990 A
4943973 Werner Jul 1990 A
4943976 Ishigaki Jul 1990 A
4944036 Hyatt Jul 1990 A
4947028 Gorog Aug 1990 A
4959406 Foltin et al. Sep 1990 A
4963998 Maufe Oct 1990 A
4964066 Yamane et al. Oct 1990 A
4965827 McDonald Oct 1990 A
4966644 Clark, Jr. et al. Oct 1990 A
4967273 Greenberg Oct 1990 A
4968063 McConville et al. Nov 1990 A
4969041 O'Grady et al. Nov 1990 A
4972471 Gross et al. Nov 1990 A
4972476 Nathans Nov 1990 A
4977594 Shear Dec 1990 A
4979210 Nagata et al. Dec 1990 A
4985096 Bekker-Madsen Jan 1991 A
4990759 Gloton et al. Feb 1991 A
4992130 Vermeulen et al. Feb 1991 A
4993068 Piosenka et al. Feb 1991 A
4994831 Marandi Feb 1991 A
4994926 Gordon et al. Feb 1991 A
4996530 Hilton Feb 1991 A
4999065 Wilfter Mar 1991 A
5005872 Lass et al. Apr 1991 A
5005873 West Apr 1991 A
5006503 Byers et al. Apr 1991 A
5010405 Schreiber et al. Apr 1991 A
5011816 Byers et al. Apr 1991 A
5013900 Hoppe May 1991 A
5023907 Johnson et al. Jun 1991 A
5024989 Chiang et al. Jun 1991 A
5027401 Soltesz Jun 1991 A
5036513 Greenblatt Jul 1991 A
5040208 Jolissaint Aug 1991 A
5046087 Sakai Sep 1991 A
5051147 Anger Sep 1991 A
5051835 Bruehl et al. Sep 1991 A
5053608 Senanayake Oct 1991 A
5053956 Donald et al. Oct 1991 A
5058926 Drower Oct 1991 A
5060981 Fossum et al. Oct 1991 A
5061341 Kildal et al. Oct 1991 A
5063446 Gibson Nov 1991 A
5066947 Du Castel Nov 1991 A
5073899 Collier et al. Dec 1991 A
5075195 Babler et al. Dec 1991 A
5079411 Lee Jan 1992 A
5079648 Maufe Jan 1992 A
5086469 Gupta et al. Feb 1992 A
5087507 Heinzer Feb 1992 A
5089350 Talvalkar et al. Feb 1992 A
5093147 Andrus et al. Mar 1992 A
5095196 Miyata Mar 1992 A
5099422 Foresman et al. Mar 1992 A
5100711 Satake et al. Mar 1992 A
5103459 Gilhousen et al. Apr 1992 A
5113445 Wang May 1992 A
5113518 Durst, Jr. et al. May 1992 A
5122813 Lass et al. Jun 1992 A
5128779 Mallik Jul 1992 A
5128859 Carbone et al. Jul 1992 A
5138070 Berneth Aug 1992 A
5138604 Umeda et al. Aug 1992 A
5138712 Corbin Aug 1992 A
5146457 Veldhuis et al. Sep 1992 A
5148498 Resnikoff et al. Sep 1992 A
5150409 Elsner Sep 1992 A
5156938 Foley et al. Oct 1992 A
5157424 Craven et al. Oct 1992 A
5161210 Druyvesteyn et al. Nov 1992 A
5166676 Milheiser Nov 1992 A
5169155 Soules et al. Dec 1992 A
5169707 Faykish et al. Dec 1992 A
5171625 Newton Dec 1992 A
5172281 Ardis et al. Dec 1992 A
5173840 Kodai et al. Dec 1992 A
5179392 Kawaguchi Jan 1993 A
5180309 Egnor Jan 1993 A
5181786 Hujink Jan 1993 A
5185736 Tyrrell et al. Feb 1993 A
5191522 Bosco et al. Mar 1993 A
5199081 Saito et al. Mar 1993 A
5200822 Bronfin et al. Apr 1993 A
5201044 Frey, Jr. et al. Apr 1993 A
5208450 Uenishi et al. May 1993 A
5212030 Figov May 1993 A
5212551 Conanan May 1993 A
5213337 Sherman May 1993 A
5213648 Vermeulen et al. May 1993 A
5215864 Laakmann Jun 1993 A
5216543 Calhoun Jun 1993 A
5224173 Kuhns et al. Jun 1993 A
5228056 Schilling Jul 1993 A
5233513 Doyle Aug 1993 A
5237164 Takada Aug 1993 A
5239108 Yokoyama et al. Aug 1993 A
5243423 DeJean et al. Sep 1993 A
5243524 Ishida et al. Sep 1993 A
5245329 Gokcebay Sep 1993 A
5249546 Pennelle Oct 1993 A
5250492 Dotson et al. Oct 1993 A
5253078 Balkanski et al. Oct 1993 A
5258998 Koide Nov 1993 A
5259025 Monroe et al. Nov 1993 A
5260582 Danek et al. Nov 1993 A
5261987 Luening et al. Nov 1993 A
5262860 Fitzpatrick et al. Nov 1993 A
5267334 Normille et al. Nov 1993 A
5267755 Yamaguchi et al. Dec 1993 A
5270526 Yoshihara Dec 1993 A
5272039 Yoerger Dec 1993 A
5276478 Morton Jan 1994 A
5280537 Sugiyama et al. Jan 1994 A
5284364 Jain Feb 1994 A
5288976 Citron et al. Feb 1994 A
5291243 Heckman et al. Mar 1994 A
5291302 Gordon et al. Mar 1994 A
5293399 Hefti Mar 1994 A
5294774 Stone Mar 1994 A
5294944 Takeyama et al. Mar 1994 A
5295203 Krause et al. Mar 1994 A
5298922 Merkle et al. Mar 1994 A
5299019 Pack et al. Mar 1994 A
5301981 Nesis Apr 1994 A
5304513 Haghiri-Tehrani et al. Apr 1994 A
5304789 Lob et al. Apr 1994 A
5305400 Butera Apr 1994 A
5308736 Defieuw et al. May 1994 A
5315098 Tow May 1994 A
5317503 Inoue May 1994 A
5319453 Copriviza et al. Jun 1994 A
5319724 Blonstein et al. Jun 1994 A
5319735 Preuss et al. Jun 1994 A
5321751 Ray et al. Jun 1994 A
5325167 Melen Jun 1994 A
5334573 Schild Aug 1994 A
5336657 Egashira et al. Aug 1994 A
5336871 Colgate, Jr. Aug 1994 A
5337361 Wang et al. Aug 1994 A
5351302 Leighton et al. Sep 1994 A
5363212 Taniuchi et al. Nov 1994 A
5374675 Plachetta et al. Dec 1994 A
5374976 Spannenburg Dec 1994 A
5379345 Greenberg Jan 1995 A
5380044 Aitkens et al. Jan 1995 A
5380695 Chiang et al. Jan 1995 A
5384846 Berson et al. Jan 1995 A
5385371 Izawa Jan 1995 A
5386566 Hamanaka et al. Jan 1995 A
5387013 Yamauchi et al. Feb 1995 A
5393099 D'Amato Feb 1995 A
5394274 Kahn Feb 1995 A
5394555 Hunter et al. Feb 1995 A
5396559 McGrew Mar 1995 A
5404377 Moses Apr 1995 A
5404537 Olnowich et al. Apr 1995 A
5408542 Callahan Apr 1995 A
5409797 Hosoi et al. Apr 1995 A
5410142 Tsuboi et al. Apr 1995 A
5413651 Otruba May 1995 A
5418208 Takeda et al. May 1995 A
5421619 Dyball Jun 1995 A
5421869 Gundjian et al. Jun 1995 A
5422213 Yu et al. Jun 1995 A
5422230 Boggs et al. Jun 1995 A
5422963 Chen et al. Jun 1995 A
5422995 Aoki et al. Jun 1995 A
5424119 Phillips et al. Jun 1995 A
5428607 Hiller et al. Jun 1995 A
5428731 Powers, III Jun 1995 A
5432329 Colgate, Jr. et al. Jul 1995 A
5432864 Lu et al. Jul 1995 A
5432870 Schwartz Jul 1995 A
5434908 Klein Jul 1995 A
5434994 Shaheen et al. Jul 1995 A
5435599 Bernecker Jul 1995 A
5436970 Ray et al. Jul 1995 A
5446273 Leslie Aug 1995 A
5446659 Yamawaki Aug 1995 A
5448050 Kostizak Sep 1995 A
5448053 Rhoads Sep 1995 A
5449200 Andric et al. Sep 1995 A
5450490 Jensen et al. Sep 1995 A
5450504 Calia Sep 1995 A
5451478 Boggs et al. Sep 1995 A
5454598 Wicker Oct 1995 A
5455947 Suzuki et al. Oct 1995 A
5458713 Ojster Oct 1995 A
5459584 Gordon et al. Oct 1995 A
5463209 Figh et al. Oct 1995 A
5463212 Oshima et al. Oct 1995 A
5466012 Puckett et al. Nov 1995 A
5466293 Tanaka et al. Nov 1995 A
5467169 Morikawa Nov 1995 A
5467388 Redd, Jr. et al. Nov 1995 A
5469506 Berson et al. Nov 1995 A
5471533 Wang et al. Nov 1995 A
5473631 Moses Dec 1995 A
5474875 Loerzer et al. Dec 1995 A
5479168 Johnson et al. Dec 1995 A
5479188 Moriyama Dec 1995 A
5481377 Udagawa et al. Jan 1996 A
5483442 Black et al. Jan 1996 A
5483632 Kuwamoto et al. Jan 1996 A
5488664 Shamir Jan 1996 A
5489639 Faber et al. Feb 1996 A
5490217 Wang et al. Feb 1996 A
5493677 Balogh et al. Feb 1996 A
5495411 Ananda Feb 1996 A
5495581 Tsai Feb 1996 A
5496071 Walsh Mar 1996 A
5499294 Friedman Mar 1996 A
5499330 Lucas et al. Mar 1996 A
5502576 Ramsay et al. Mar 1996 A
5504674 Chen et al. Apr 1996 A
5505494 Belluci et al. Apr 1996 A
5506697 Li et al. Apr 1996 A
5509693 Kohls Apr 1996 A
5514860 Berson May 1996 A
5515081 Vasilik May 1996 A
5515451 Tsuji et al. May 1996 A
5516362 Gundjian et al. May 1996 A
5522623 Soules et al. Jun 1996 A
5523125 Kennedy et al. Jun 1996 A
5523942 Tyler et al. Jun 1996 A
5524489 Twigg Jun 1996 A
5524933 Kunt et al. Jun 1996 A
5525403 Kawabata et al. Jun 1996 A
5526524 Madduri Jun 1996 A
5528222 Moskowitz et al. Jun 1996 A
5529345 Kohls Jun 1996 A
5530751 Morris Jun 1996 A
5530759 Braudaway et al. Jun 1996 A
5530852 Meske, Jr. et al. Jun 1996 A
5532104 Goto Jul 1996 A
5533102 Robinson et al. Jul 1996 A
5534372 Koshizuka et al. Jul 1996 A
5548645 Ananda Aug 1996 A
5550346 Andriash et al. Aug 1996 A
5550976 Henderson et al. Aug 1996 A
5553143 Ross et al. Sep 1996 A
5557412 Saito et al. Sep 1996 A
5560799 Jacobsen Oct 1996 A
5568555 Shamir Oct 1996 A
5573584 Ostertag et al. Nov 1996 A
5574804 Olschafskie et al. Nov 1996 A
5576377 El Sayed et al. Nov 1996 A
5577111 Iida et al. Nov 1996 A
5579479 Plum Nov 1996 A
5579694 Mailloux Dec 1996 A
5583918 Nakagawa Dec 1996 A
5586310 Sharman Dec 1996 A
5594226 Steger Jan 1997 A
5594809 Kopec et al. Jan 1997 A
5602377 Beller et al. Feb 1997 A
5612943 Moses et al. Mar 1997 A
5613004 Cooperman et al. Mar 1997 A
5617119 Briggs et al. Apr 1997 A
5619557 Van Berkum Apr 1997 A
5621810 Suzuki et al. Apr 1997 A
5629093 Bischof et al. May 1997 A
5629512 Haga May 1997 A
5629980 Stefik et al. May 1997 A
5633119 Burberry et al. May 1997 A
5633489 Dvorkis et al. May 1997 A
5634012 Stefik et al. May 1997 A
5635012 Belluci et al. Jun 1997 A
5635697 Shellhammer et al. Jun 1997 A
5636276 Brugger Jun 1997 A
5636292 Rhoads Jun 1997 A
5636874 Singer Jun 1997 A
5637174 Field et al. Jun 1997 A
5637447 Dickerson et al. Jun 1997 A
5638443 Stefik et al. Jun 1997 A
5638508 Kanai et al. Jun 1997 A
5639819 Farkas et al. Jun 1997 A
5640193 Wellner Jun 1997 A
5640647 Hube Jun 1997 A
5640677 Karlsson Jun 1997 A
5643389 Kalisiak et al. Jul 1997 A
5646997 Barton Jul 1997 A
5646999 Saito Jul 1997 A
5651054 Dunn et al. Jul 1997 A
5652626 Kawakami et al. Jul 1997 A
5652714 Peterson et al. Jul 1997 A
5653846 Onodera et al. Aug 1997 A
5653929 Miele et al. Aug 1997 A
5654105 Obringer et al. Aug 1997 A
5657462 Brouwer et al. Aug 1997 A
5658411 Faykish Aug 1997 A
5659164 Schmid et al. Aug 1997 A
5659628 Tachikawa et al. Aug 1997 A
5659726 Sandford, II et al. Aug 1997 A
5661574 Kawana Aug 1997 A
5663766 Sizer, II Sep 1997 A
5664018 Leighton Sep 1997 A
5665951 Newman et al. Sep 1997 A
5667716 Ziolo et al. Sep 1997 A
5668636 Beach et al. Sep 1997 A
5669995 Hong Sep 1997 A
5671005 McNay et al. Sep 1997 A
5671277 Ikenoue et al. Sep 1997 A
5671282 Wolff et al. Sep 1997 A
5673316 Auerbach et al. Sep 1997 A
5680223 Cooper et al. Oct 1997 A
5681356 Barak et al. Oct 1997 A
5683774 Faykish et al. Nov 1997 A
5684885 Cass et al. Nov 1997 A
5687236 Moskowitz et al. Nov 1997 A
5688738 Lu Nov 1997 A
5689620 Kopec et al. Nov 1997 A
5689623 Pinard Nov 1997 A
5689706 Rao et al. Nov 1997 A
5691757 Hayashihara et al. Nov 1997 A
5694471 Chen et al. Dec 1997 A
5696594 Saito et al. Dec 1997 A
5696705 Zykan Dec 1997 A
5697006 Taguchi et al. Dec 1997 A
5698296 Dotson et al. Dec 1997 A
5700037 Keller Dec 1997 A
5706364 Kopec et al. Jan 1998 A
5710834 Rhoads Jan 1998 A
5712731 Drinkwater et al. Jan 1998 A
5714291 Marinello et al. Feb 1998 A
5715403 Stefik Feb 1998 A
5717018 Magerstedt et al. Feb 1998 A
5717391 Rodriguez Feb 1998 A
5717940 Peairs Feb 1998 A
5719667 Miers Feb 1998 A
5719948 Liang Feb 1998 A
5721781 Deo et al. Feb 1998 A
5721788 Powell et al. Feb 1998 A
5726685 Kuth et al. Mar 1998 A
5734119 France et al. Mar 1998 A
5734752 Knox Mar 1998 A
5738024 Winegar Apr 1998 A
5742411 Walters Apr 1998 A
5742685 Berson et al. Apr 1998 A
5742845 Wagner Apr 1998 A
5745308 Spangenberg Apr 1998 A
5745569 Moskowitz et al. Apr 1998 A
5745604 Rhoads Apr 1998 A
5745901 Entner et al. Apr 1998 A
5748783 Rhoads May 1998 A
5751795 Hassler et al. May 1998 A
5754675 Valadier May 1998 A
5760386 Ward Jun 1998 A
5761686 Bloomberg Jun 1998 A
5763868 Kubota et al. Jun 1998 A
5764263 Lin Jun 1998 A
5765152 Erickson Jun 1998 A
5765176 Bloomberg Jun 1998 A
5767496 Swartz et al. Jun 1998 A
5768001 Kelley et al. Jun 1998 A
5768426 Rhoads Jun 1998 A
5768505 Gilchrist et al. Jun 1998 A
5768506 Randell Jun 1998 A
5769301 Hebert et al. Jun 1998 A
5769457 Warther Jun 1998 A
5773677 Lansink-Rotgerink et al. Jun 1998 A
5774067 Olnowich et al. Jun 1998 A
5774168 Blome Jun 1998 A
5774452 Wolosewicz Jun 1998 A
5776278 Tuttle et al. Jul 1998 A
5778102 Sandford, II et al. Jul 1998 A
5783024 Forkert Jul 1998 A
5786587 Colgate, Jr. Jul 1998 A
5787186 Schroeder Jul 1998 A
5787269 Hyodo Jul 1998 A
5788285 Wicker Aug 1998 A
5788802 Raney Aug 1998 A
5788806 Bradshaw et al. Aug 1998 A
5790662 Valerij et al. Aug 1998 A
5790693 Graves et al. Aug 1998 A
5790703 Wang Aug 1998 A
5795643 Steininger et al. Aug 1998 A
5797134 McMillan et al. Aug 1998 A
5798949 Kaub Aug 1998 A
5799092 Kristol et al. Aug 1998 A
5801687 Peterson et al. Sep 1998 A
5801857 Heckenkamp et al. Sep 1998 A
5804803 Cragun et al. Sep 1998 A
5805587 Norris et al. Sep 1998 A
5808758 Solmsdorf Sep 1998 A
5809128 McMullin Sep 1998 A
5809139 Girod et al. Sep 1998 A
5809317 Kogan et al. Sep 1998 A
5809633 Mundigl et al. Sep 1998 A
5812551 Tsukazoe et al. Sep 1998 A
5815093 Kikinis Sep 1998 A
5815292 Walters Sep 1998 A
5816619 Schaede Oct 1998 A
5818441 Throckmorton et al. Oct 1998 A
5822432 Moskowitz et al. Oct 1998 A
5822436 Rhoads Oct 1998 A
5824447 Tavernier et al. Oct 1998 A
5824715 Hayashihara et al. Oct 1998 A
5825867 Epler et al. Oct 1998 A
5825892 Braudaway et al. Oct 1998 A
5828325 Wolosewicz et al. Oct 1998 A
5832119 Rhoads Nov 1998 A
5832186 Kawana Nov 1998 A
5832481 Sheffield Nov 1998 A
5834118 Ranby et al. Nov 1998 A
5838458 Tsai Nov 1998 A
5840142 Stevenson et al. Nov 1998 A
5840791 Magerstedt et al. Nov 1998 A
5841886 Rhoads Nov 1998 A
5841978 Rhoads Nov 1998 A
5844685 Gontin Dec 1998 A
5845281 Benson et al. Dec 1998 A
5848413 Wolff Dec 1998 A
5848415 Guck Dec 1998 A
5848424 Scheinkman et al. Dec 1998 A
5852673 Young Dec 1998 A
5853955 Towfiq Dec 1998 A
5855969 Robertson Jan 1999 A
5856661 Finkelstein et al. Jan 1999 A
5857038 Owada et al. Jan 1999 A
5859935 Johnson et al. Jan 1999 A
5861662 Candelore Jan 1999 A
5862218 Steinberg Jan 1999 A
5862260 Rhoads Jan 1999 A
5862262 Jacobs et al. Jan 1999 A
5862325 Reed et al. Jan 1999 A
5862500 Goodwin Jan 1999 A
5864622 Marcus Jan 1999 A
5864623 Messina et al. Jan 1999 A
5866644 Mercx et al. Feb 1999 A
5867199 Knox et al. Feb 1999 A
5867586 Liang Feb 1999 A
5869819 Knowles et al. Feb 1999 A
5870711 Huffman Feb 1999 A
5871615 Harris Feb 1999 A
5872589 Morales Feb 1999 A
5872627 Miers Feb 1999 A
5873066 Underwood et al. Feb 1999 A
5875249 Mintzer et al. Feb 1999 A
5877707 Kowalick Mar 1999 A
5879502 Gustafson Mar 1999 A
5879784 Breen et al. Mar 1999 A
5888624 Haghiri et al. Mar 1999 A
5892661 Stafford et al. Apr 1999 A
5892900 Ginter et al. Apr 1999 A
5893095 Jain et al. Apr 1999 A
5893101 Balogh et al. Apr 1999 A
5893908 Cullen et al. Apr 1999 A
5893910 Martineau et al. Apr 1999 A
5895074 Chess et al. Apr 1999 A
5897938 Shinmoto et al. Apr 1999 A
5900608 Iida May 1999 A
5901224 Hecht May 1999 A
5902353 Reber et al. May 1999 A
5903340 Lawandy et al. May 1999 A
5903729 Reber et al. May 1999 A
5905248 Russell et al. May 1999 A
5905251 Knowles May 1999 A
5905800 Moskowitz et al. May 1999 A
5905819 Daly May 1999 A
5907141 Deaville et al. May 1999 A
5907149 Marckini May 1999 A
5907848 Zaiken et al. May 1999 A
5909209 Dickinson Jun 1999 A
5909683 Miginiac et al. Jun 1999 A
5911139 Jain et al. Jun 1999 A
5912767 Lee Jun 1999 A
5912974 Holloway et al. Jun 1999 A
5913205 Jain et al. Jun 1999 A
5913210 Call Jun 1999 A
5913214 Madnick et al. Jun 1999 A
5915027 Cox et al. Jun 1999 A
5915250 Jain et al. Jun 1999 A
5917277 Knox et al. Jun 1999 A
5918213 Bernard et al. Jun 1999 A
5918214 Perkowski Jun 1999 A
5918223 Blum et al. Jun 1999 A
5919730 Gasper et al. Jul 1999 A
5919853 Condit et al. Jul 1999 A
5920861 Hall et al. Jul 1999 A
5920878 DeMont Jul 1999 A
5925500 Yang et al. Jul 1999 A
5926822 Garman Jul 1999 A
5928989 Ohnishi et al. Jul 1999 A
5930369 Cox et al. Jul 1999 A
5930377 Powell et al. Jul 1999 A
5930759 Moore et al. Jul 1999 A
5930767 Reber et al. Jul 1999 A
5932863 Rathus et al. Aug 1999 A
5933798 Linnartz Aug 1999 A
5933816 Zeanah et al. Aug 1999 A
5933829 Durst et al. Aug 1999 A
5935694 Olmstead et al. Aug 1999 A
5936986 Cantatore et al. Aug 1999 A
5937189 Branson et al. Aug 1999 A
5938726 Reber et al. Aug 1999 A
5938727 Ikeda Aug 1999 A
5939695 Nelson Aug 1999 A
5939699 Perttunen et al. Aug 1999 A
5940595 Reber et al. Aug 1999 A
5943422 Van Wie et al. Aug 1999 A
5944356 Bergmann et al. Aug 1999 A
5944881 Mehta et al. Aug 1999 A
5946414 Cass et al. Aug 1999 A
5947369 Frommer et al. Sep 1999 A
5948035 Tomita Sep 1999 A
5949055 Fleet et al. Sep 1999 A
5950169 Borghesi et al. Sep 1999 A
5950173 Perkowski Sep 1999 A
5951055 Mowry, Jr. Sep 1999 A
5953710 Fleming Sep 1999 A
5955021 Tiffany, III Sep 1999 A
5955961 Wallerstein Sep 1999 A
5956687 Wamsley Sep 1999 A
5958528 Bernecker Sep 1999 A
5960081 Vynne et al. Sep 1999 A
5960103 Graves et al. Sep 1999 A
5962073 Timmer Oct 1999 A
5962834 Markman Oct 1999 A
5962840 Haghiri-Tehrani et al. Oct 1999 A
5963916 Kaplan Oct 1999 A
5965242 Patton et al. Oct 1999 A
5969324 Reber et al. Oct 1999 A
5971277 Cragun et al. Oct 1999 A
5973842 Spangenberg Oct 1999 A
5974141 Saito Oct 1999 A
5974548 Adams Oct 1999 A
5975583 Cobben et al. Nov 1999 A
5977514 Feng et al. Nov 1999 A
5978013 Jones et al. Nov 1999 A
5978477 Hull et al. Nov 1999 A
5978773 Hudetz et al. Nov 1999 A
5979757 Tracy et al. Nov 1999 A
5979941 Mosher, Jr. et al. Nov 1999 A
5982912 Fukui et al. Nov 1999 A
5983218 Syeda-Mahmood Nov 1999 A
5983237 Jain et al. Nov 1999 A
5984366 Priddy Nov 1999 A
5985078 Suess et al. Nov 1999 A
5986651 Reber et al. Nov 1999 A
5987434 Libman Nov 1999 A
5988820 Huang et al. Nov 1999 A
5991429 Coffin et al. Nov 1999 A
5991733 Aleia et al. Nov 1999 A
5991876 Johnson et al. Nov 1999 A
5994710 Knee et al. Nov 1999 A
5995978 Cullen et al. Nov 1999 A
6000607 Ohki et al. Dec 1999 A
6002383 Shimada Dec 1999 A
6003581 Aihara Dec 1999 A
6006226 Cullen et al. Dec 1999 A
6007660 Forkert Dec 1999 A
6007929 Robertson et al. Dec 1999 A
6009402 Whitworth Dec 1999 A
6012641 Watada Jan 2000 A
6016225 Anderson Jan 2000 A
6017972 Harris et al. Jan 2000 A
6022905 Harris et al. Feb 2000 A
6024287 Takai et al. Feb 2000 A
6025462 Wang et al. Feb 2000 A
6028134 Zhang et al. Feb 2000 A
6036094 Goldman et al. Mar 2000 A
6036099 Leighton Mar 2000 A
6036807 Brongers Mar 2000 A
6037102 Loerzer et al. Mar 2000 A
6037860 Zander et al. Mar 2000 A
6038333 Wang Mar 2000 A
6038393 Iyengar et al. Mar 2000 A
6043813 Stickney et al. Mar 2000 A
6045656 Foster et al. Apr 2000 A
6046808 Fateley Apr 2000 A
6047888 Dethloff Apr 2000 A
6049055 Fannash et al. Apr 2000 A
6049463 O'Malley et al. Apr 2000 A
6049627 Becker et al. Apr 2000 A
6049665 Branson et al. Apr 2000 A
6051297 Maier et al. Apr 2000 A
6052486 Knowlton et al. Apr 2000 A
6054021 Kurrle et al. Apr 2000 A
6054170 Chess et al. Apr 2000 A
6062604 Taylor et al. May 2000 A
6064414 Kobayashi et al. May 2000 A
6064764 Bhaskaran et al. May 2000 A
6064983 Koehler May 2000 A
6066437 Kösslinger May 2000 A
6066594 Gunn et al. May 2000 A
6071855 Patton et al. Jun 2000 A
6072894 Payne Jun 2000 A
6073854 Bravenec et al. Jun 2000 A
6075223 Harrison Jun 2000 A
6076026 Jambhekar et al. Jun 2000 A
6081793 Challener et al. Jun 2000 A
6081832 Gilchrist et al. Jun 2000 A
6082778 Solmadorf Jul 2000 A
6085205 Peairs et al. Jul 2000 A
6085976 Sehr Jul 2000 A
6086971 Haas et al. Jul 2000 A
6089614 Howland et al. Jul 2000 A
6092049 Chislenko et al. Jul 2000 A
6094483 Fridrich et al. Jul 2000 A
6095566 Yamamoto et al. Aug 2000 A
6097839 Liu Aug 2000 A
6100804 Brady et al. Aug 2000 A
6101602 Fridrich Aug 2000 A
6104812 Koltai et al. Aug 2000 A
6105007 Norris Aug 2000 A
6106110 Gundjian et al. Aug 2000 A
6110864 Lu Aug 2000 A
6111506 Yap et al. Aug 2000 A
6111517 Atick et al. Aug 2000 A
6115690 Wong Sep 2000 A
6120142 Eltgen et al. Sep 2000 A
6120882 Faykish et al. Sep 2000 A
6121530 Sonoda Sep 2000 A
6122403 Rhoads Sep 2000 A
6127475 Vollenberg et al. Oct 2000 A
6128411 Knox Oct 2000 A
6131161 Linnartz Oct 2000 A
6134582 Kennedy Oct 2000 A
6136752 Paz-Pujalt et al. Oct 2000 A
6138151 Reber et al. Oct 2000 A
6138913 Cyr et al. Oct 2000 A
6141611 Mackey et al. Oct 2000 A
6141753 Zhao et al. Oct 2000 A
6143852 Harrison et al. Nov 2000 A
6146032 Dunham Nov 2000 A
6146741 Ogawa et al. Nov 2000 A
6151403 Luo Nov 2000 A
6155168 Sakamoto Dec 2000 A
6155605 Bratchley et al. Dec 2000 A
6157330 Bruekers et al. Dec 2000 A
6158658 Barclay Dec 2000 A
6159327 Forkert Dec 2000 A
6160526 Hirai et al. Dec 2000 A
6160903 Hamid et al. Dec 2000 A
6161071 Shuman et al. Dec 2000 A
6162160 Ohshima et al. Dec 2000 A
6163770 Gamble et al. Dec 2000 A
6163842 Barton Dec 2000 A
6164534 Rathus et al. Dec 2000 A
6164548 Curiel Dec 2000 A
6165696 Fischer Dec 2000 A
6166911 Usami et al. Dec 2000 A
6173284 Brown Jan 2001 B1
6173901 McCannel Jan 2001 B1
6174400 Krutak et al. Jan 2001 B1
6179338 Bergmann et al. Jan 2001 B1
6182090 Peairs Jan 2001 B1
6326128 Telser Jan 2001 B1
6183018 Braun et al. Feb 2001 B1
6185042 Lomb et al. Feb 2001 B1
6185312 Nakamura et al. Feb 2001 B1
6185316 Buffam Feb 2001 B1
6185490 Ferguson Feb 2001 B1
6185540 Schreitmueller et al. Feb 2001 B1
6185683 Ginter et al. Feb 2001 B1
6186404 Ehrhart et al. Feb 2001 B1
6188010 Iwamura Feb 2001 B1
6192138 Yamadaji Feb 2001 B1
6193163 Fehrman et al. Feb 2001 B1
6196460 Shin Mar 2001 B1
6199048 Hudetz et al. Mar 2001 B1
6199073 Peairs et al. Mar 2001 B1
6199144 Arora et al. Mar 2001 B1
6201879 Bender et al. Mar 2001 B1
6202932 Rapeli Mar 2001 B1
6205249 Moskowitz Mar 2001 B1
6206292 Robertz et al. Mar 2001 B1
6207244 Hesch Mar 2001 B1
6207344 Ramlow et al. Mar 2001 B1
6209923 Thaxton et al. Apr 2001 B1
6210777 Vermeulen et al. Apr 2001 B1
6214916 Mercx et al. Apr 2001 B1
6214917 Linzmeier et al. Apr 2001 B1
6219439 Burger Apr 2001 B1
6219639 Bakis et al. Apr 2001 B1
6221552 Street et al. Apr 2001 B1
6223125 Hall Apr 2001 B1
6226623 Schein et al. May 2001 B1
6233347 Chen et al. May 2001 B1
6233684 Stefik et al. May 2001 B1
6234537 Gutmann et al. May 2001 B1
6236975 Boe et al. May 2001 B1
6238840 Hirayama et al. May 2001 B1
6238847 Axtell, III et al. May 2001 B1
6242249 Burnham et al. Jun 2001 B1
6243480 Zhao et al. Jun 2001 B1
6243713 Nelson et al. Jun 2001 B1
6244514 Otto Jun 2001 B1
6246775 Nakamura et al. Jun 2001 B1
6246777 Agarwal et al. Jun 2001 B1
6246933 Bague Jun 2001 B1
6247644 Horne et al. Jun 2001 B1
6249226 Harrison et al. Jun 2001 B1
6250554 Leo et al. Jun 2001 B1
6254127 Breed et al. Jul 2001 B1
6256736 Coppersmith et al. Jul 2001 B1
6257486 Teicher et al. Jul 2001 B1
6258896 Abuelyaman et al. Jul 2001 B1
6259506 Lawandy Jul 2001 B1
6260029 Critelli Jul 2001 B1
6264296 Klinefelter et al. Jul 2001 B1
6268804 Janky et al. Jul 2001 B1
6272176 Srinivasan Aug 2001 B1
6272248 Saitoh et al. Aug 2001 B1
6272634 Tewfik et al. Aug 2001 B1
6277232 Wang et al. Aug 2001 B1
6281165 Cranford Aug 2001 B1
6283188 Maynard et al. Sep 2001 B1
6284337 Lorimor et al. Sep 2001 B1
6285776 Rhoads Sep 2001 B1
6286036 Rhoads Sep 2001 B1
6286761 Wen Sep 2001 B1
6289108 Rhoads Sep 2001 B1
6291551 Kniess et al. Sep 2001 B1
6292092 Chow et al. Sep 2001 B1
6292575 Bortolussi et al. Sep 2001 B1
6295391 Rudd et al. Sep 2001 B1
6301164 Manning et al. Oct 2001 B1
6301363 Mowry, Jr. Oct 2001 B1
6302444 Cobben Oct 2001 B1
6304345 Patton et al. Oct 2001 B1
6308187 DeStefano Oct 2001 B1
6311214 Rhoads Oct 2001 B1
6312858 Yacobucci et al. Nov 2001 B1
6313436 Harrison Nov 2001 B1
6314192 Chen et al. Nov 2001 B1
6314457 Schena et al. Nov 2001 B1
6316538 Anderson et al. Nov 2001 B1
6320675 Sakaki et al. Nov 2001 B1
6321981 Ray et al. Nov 2001 B1
6324091 Gryko et al. Nov 2001 B1
6324573 Rhoads Nov 2001 B1
6184782 Oda et al. Dec 2001 B1
6325420 Zhang et al. Dec 2001 B1
6330976 Dymetman et al. Dec 2001 B1
6332031 Rhoads et al. Dec 2001 B1
6332194 Bloom et al. Dec 2001 B1
6334187 Kadono Dec 2001 B1
6334721 Horigane Jan 2002 B1
6335688 Sweatte Jan 2002 B1
6336096 Jernberg Jan 2002 B1
6336117 Massarani Jan 2002 B1
6340725 Wang et al. Jan 2002 B1
6341169 Cadorette et al. Jan 2002 B1
6343138 Rhoads Jan 2002 B1
6345105 Rhoads Feb 2002 B1
6351537 Dovgodko et al. Feb 2002 B1
6351815 Adams Feb 2002 B1
6351893 St. Pierre Mar 2002 B1
6354630 Zhang et al. Mar 2002 B1
6356363 Cooper et al. Mar 2002 B1
6357664 Zercher Mar 2002 B1
6360234 Jain et al. Mar 2002 B2
6363360 Madden Mar 2002 B1
6536672 Outwater Mar 2002 B1
6366907 Fanning Apr 2002 B1
6367013 Bisbee et al. Apr 2002 B1
6368684 Onishi et al. Apr 2002 B1
6372394 Zientek Apr 2002 B1
6373965 Liang Apr 2002 B1
6374260 Hoffert et al. Apr 2002 B1
6380131 Griebel et al. Apr 2002 B2
6381561 Bomar, Jr. et al. Apr 2002 B1
6385330 Powell et al. May 2002 B1
6389151 Carr et al. May 2002 B1
6390362 Martin May 2002 B1
6390375 Kayanakis May 2002 B2
6394358 Thaxton et al. May 2002 B1
6397334 Chainer et al. May 2002 B1
6400386 No et al. Jun 2002 B1
6401118 Thomas Jun 2002 B1
6404643 Chung Jun 2002 B1
6404926 Miyahara et al. Jun 2002 B1
6408082 Rhoads et al. Jun 2002 B1
6408304 Kumhyr Jun 2002 B1
6411725 Rhoads Jun 2002 B1
6500386 No Jun 2002 B1
6413687 Hattori et al. Jul 2002 B1
6418154 Kneip et al. Jul 2002 B1
6421013 Chung Jul 2002 B1
6424029 Giesler Jul 2002 B1
6424249 Houvener Jul 2002 B1
6424725 Rhoads et al. Jul 2002 B1
6427744 Seki et al. Aug 2002 B2
6430306 Slocum et al. Aug 2002 B2
6430307 Souma et al. Aug 2002 B1
6434520 Kanevsky et al. Aug 2002 B1
6438251 Yamaguchi Aug 2002 B1
6441380 Lawandy Aug 2002 B1
6442284 Gustafson et al. Aug 2002 B1
6444068 Koops et al. Sep 2002 B1
6444377 Jotcham et al. Sep 2002 B1
6445468 Tsai Sep 2002 B1
6446086 Bartlett et al. Sep 2002 B1
6446865 Holt et al. Sep 2002 B1
6449377 Rhoads Sep 2002 B1
6463416 Messina Oct 2002 B1
6463444 Jain et al. Oct 2002 B1
6466329 Mukai Oct 2002 B1
6473165 Coombs et al. Oct 2002 B1
6474695 Schneider et al. Nov 2002 B1
6475588 Schottland et al. Nov 2002 B1
6478228 Ikefuji et al. Nov 2002 B1
6478229 Epstein Nov 2002 B1
6481753 Van Boom et al. Nov 2002 B2
6482495 Kohama et al. Nov 2002 B1
6485319 Bricaud et al. Nov 2002 B2
6487301 Zhao Nov 2002 B1
6493650 Rodgers et al. Dec 2002 B1
6503310 Sullivan Jan 2003 B1
6505160 Levy et al. Jan 2003 B1
6513717 Hannigan Feb 2003 B2
6522770 Seder et al. Feb 2003 B1
6525672 Chainer et al. Feb 2003 B2
6526161 Yan Feb 2003 B1
6526512 Siefert et al. Feb 2003 B1
6532459 Berson Mar 2003 B1
6536665 Ray et al. Mar 2003 B1
6542622 Nelson et al. Apr 2003 B1
6542933 Durst, Jr. et al. Apr 2003 B1
6546112 Rhoads Apr 2003 B1
6553494 Glass Apr 2003 B1
6555213 Koneripalli et al. Apr 2003 B1
6567980 Jain et al. May 2003 B1
6570609 Heien May 2003 B1
6572021 Lippert Jun 2003 B1
6577746 Evans et al. Jun 2003 B1
6580815 Grajewski et al. Jun 2003 B1
6580819 Rhoads Jun 2003 B1
6580835 Gallagher et al. Jun 2003 B1
6581839 Lasch et al. Jun 2003 B1
6583813 Enright et al. Jun 2003 B1
6591249 Zoka Jul 2003 B2
6606420 Loce et al. Aug 2003 B1
6608911 Lofgren et al. Aug 2003 B2
6614914 Rhoads et al. Sep 2003 B1
6616993 Usuki et al. Sep 2003 B2
6638635 Hattori et al. Oct 2003 B2
6641874 Kuntz et al. Nov 2003 B2
6650761 Rodriguez et al. Nov 2003 B1
6667815 Nagao Dec 2003 B1
6679425 Sheppard et al. Jan 2004 B1
6681028 Rodriguez et al. Jan 2004 B2
6681032 Bortolussi et al. Jan 2004 B2
6685312 Klinefelter et al. Feb 2004 B2
6687345 Swartz et al. Feb 2004 B1
6698653 Diamond et al. Mar 2004 B1
6702282 Pribula et al. Mar 2004 B2
6712397 Mayer et al. Mar 2004 B1
6715797 Curiel Apr 2004 B2
6719469 Yasui et al. Apr 2004 B2
6723479 Van De Witte et al. Apr 2004 B2
6725383 Kyle Apr 2004 B2
6729719 Klinefelter et al. May 2004 B2
6675074 Hathout et al. Jun 2004 B2
6748533 Wu et al. Jun 2004 B1
6751336 Zhao Jun 2004 B2
6752432 Richardson Jun 2004 B1
6754822 Zhao Jun 2004 B1
6758394 Maskatiya et al. Jul 2004 B2
6758616 Pribula et al. Jul 2004 B2
6764014 Lasch et al. Jul 2004 B2
6765704 Drinkwater Jul 2004 B2
6769061 Ahern Jul 2004 B1
6771981 Zalewski et al. Aug 2004 B1
6782115 Decker et al. Aug 2004 B2
6782116 Zhao et al. Aug 2004 B1
6783024 Lee Aug 2004 B2
6786397 Silverbrook et al. Sep 2004 B2
6788800 Carr et al. Sep 2004 B1
6794115 Telser et al. Sep 2004 B2
6803114 Vere et al. Oct 2004 B1
6804376 Rhoads et al. Oct 2004 B2
6804378 Rhoads Oct 2004 B2
6817530 Labrec et al. Nov 2004 B2
6818699 Kajimaru et al. Nov 2004 B2
6823075 Perry Nov 2004 B2
6825265 Daga et al. Nov 2004 B2
6827277 Bloomberg et al. Dec 2004 B2
6827283 Kappe et al. Dec 2004 B2
6829368 Meyer et al. Dec 2004 B2
6832205 Aragones et al. Dec 2004 B1
6834124 Lin et al. Dec 2004 B1
6834308 Ikezoye et al. Dec 2004 B1
6842268 van Strijp et al. Jan 2005 B1
6843422 Jones et al. Jan 2005 B2
6853739 Kyle Feb 2005 B2
6996273 Mihcak Feb 2005 B2
6865011 Whitehead et al. Mar 2005 B2
6869023 Hawes Mar 2005 B2
6882737 Lofgren et al. Apr 2005 B2
6883716 De Jong Apr 2005 B1
6891555 Minowa et al. May 2005 B2
6900767 Hattori May 2005 B2
6903850 Kay et al. Jun 2005 B2
6923378 Jones et al. Aug 2005 B2
6925468 Doughty et al. Aug 2005 B1
6926203 Sehr Aug 2005 B1
6938029 Tien Aug 2005 B1
6941275 Swierczek Sep 2005 B1
6942331 Guillen et al. Sep 2005 B2
6944650 Urien Sep 2005 B1
6947571 Rhoads et al. Sep 2005 B1
6952741 Bartlett et al. Oct 2005 B1
6954293 Heckenkamp et al. Oct 2005 B2
6958346 Stoltefuss et al. Oct 2005 B2
6959098 Alattar Oct 2005 B1
6961708 Bierenbaum Nov 2005 B1
6963659 Tumey et al. Nov 2005 B2
6970573 Carr et al. Nov 2005 B2
6970844 Bierenbaum Nov 2005 B1
6978036 Alattar et al. Dec 2005 B2
6990453 Wang Jan 2006 B2
6999936 Sehr Feb 2006 B2
7013284 Guyan Mar 2006 B2
7016516 Rhoads Mar 2006 B2
7017946 Behnen Mar 2006 B2
7024418 Childress et al. Apr 2006 B1
7024563 Shimosato et al. Apr 2006 B2
7036944 Budd et al. May 2006 B2
7043052 Rhoads May 2006 B2
7044395 Davis et al. May 2006 B1
7058223 Cox Jun 2006 B2
7063264 Bi et al. Jun 2006 B2
7072526 Sakuramoto Jul 2006 B2
7081282 Kuntz et al. Jul 2006 B2
7086666 Richardson Aug 2006 B2
7095426 Childress Aug 2006 B1
7095871 Jones et al. Aug 2006 B2
7113596 Rhoads Sep 2006 B2
7143434 Paek Nov 2006 B1
7143950 Jones et al. Dec 2006 B2
7152786 Brundage et al. Dec 2006 B2
7159116 Moskowitz Jan 2007 B2
7167844 Leong et al. Jan 2007 B1
7171018 Rhoads et al. Jan 2007 B2
7174293 Kenyon Feb 2007 B2
7181042 Tian Feb 2007 B2
7183361 Toman Feb 2007 B2
7185201 Rhoads et al. Feb 2007 B2
7191156 Seder Mar 2007 B1
7194106 Brundage et al. Mar 2007 B2
7196813 Matsumoto Mar 2007 B2
7197444 Bomar, Jr. et al. Mar 2007 B2
7199456 Krappe et al. Apr 2007 B2
7202970 Maher et al. Apr 2007 B1
7206820 Rhoads et al. Apr 2007 B1
7207494 Theodossiou et al. Apr 2007 B2
7209573 Evans et al. Apr 2007 B2
7222163 Girouard et al. May 2007 B1
7251475 Kawamoto Jul 2007 B2
7254285 Paek et al. Aug 2007 B1
7277891 Howard et al. Oct 2007 B2
7278580 Jones et al. Oct 2007 B2
7289643 Brunk et al. Oct 2007 B2
7328153 Wells Feb 2008 B2
7343307 Childress Mar 2008 B1
7344325 Meier et al. Mar 2008 B2
7353196 Bobbitt et al. Apr 2008 B1
7356541 Doughty Apr 2008 B1
7359863 Evenshaug et al. Apr 2008 B1
7359889 Wang Apr 2008 B2
7363264 Doughty et al. Apr 2008 B1
7363278 Schmelzer Apr 2008 B2
7372976 Rhoads et al. May 2008 B2
7398219 Wolfe Jul 2008 B1
7418400 Lorenz Aug 2008 B1
7421376 Caruso Sep 2008 B1
7430514 Childress et al. Sep 2008 B1
7430515 Wolfe et al. Sep 2008 B1
7498075 Bloomberg et al. Mar 2009 B2
7526487 Bobbitt et al. Apr 2009 B1
20010001854 Schena et al. May 2001 A1
20010002035 Kayanakis May 2001 A1
20010005837 Kojo Jun 2001 A1
20010006585 Horigane Jul 2001 A1
20010007975 Nyberg et al. Jul 2001 A1
20010013395 Pourmand et al. Aug 2001 A1
20010014169 Liang Aug 2001 A1
20010021144 Oshima et al. Sep 2001 A1
20010022667 Yoda Sep 2001 A1
20010023421 Numao et al. Sep 2001 A1
20010024510 Iwamura Sep 2001 A1
20010026377 Ikegami Oct 2001 A1
20010028727 Naito et al. Oct 2001 A1
20010030759 Hayashi et al. Oct 2001 A1
20010030761 Ideyama Oct 2001 A1
20010033674 Chen et al. Oct 2001 A1
20010037223 Beery et al. Nov 2001 A1
20010037309 Vrain Nov 2001 A1
20010037313 Lofgren et al. Nov 2001 A1
20010037455 Lawandy et al. Nov 2001 A1
20010040980 Yamaguchi Nov 2001 A1
20010043362 Hull et al. Nov 2001 A1
20010047426 Hunter Nov 2001 A1
20010052076 Kadono Dec 2001 A1
20010053235 Sato Dec 2001 A1
20010054149 Kawaguchi et al. Dec 2001 A1
20010054644 Liang Dec 2001 A1
20010056468 Okayasu et al. Dec 2001 A1
20020007289 Malin et al. Jan 2002 A1
20020012446 Tanaka Jan 2002 A1
20020015509 Nakamura et al. Feb 2002 A1
20020018430 Heckenkamp et al. Feb 2002 A1
20020018879 Barnhart et al. Feb 2002 A1
20020020832 Oka Feb 2002 A1
20020021001 Stratford et al. Feb 2002 A1
20020021824 Reed et al. Feb 2002 A1
20020023218 Lawandy et al. Feb 2002 A1
20020027359 Cobben et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020027612 Brill et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020027674 Tokunaga et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020030587 Jackson Mar 2002 A1
20020031241 Kawaguchi et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020032864 Rhoads Mar 2002 A1
20020033844 Levy et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020034319 Tumey et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020034373 Morita et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020035488 Aquila et al. Mar 2002 A1
20020037083 Weare Mar 2002 A1
20020037093 Murphy Mar 2002 A1
20020040433 Kondo Apr 2002 A1
20020046171 Hoshino Apr 2002 A1
20020049619 Wahlbin et al. Apr 2002 A1
20020051162 Kawaguchi et al. May 2002 A1
20020051569 Kita May 2002 A1
20020052885 Levy May 2002 A1
20020055860 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020055861 King et al. May 2002 A1
20020057431 Fateley et al. May 2002 A1
20020059083 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020059084 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020059085 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020059086 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020059087 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020059097 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020062232 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020062233 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020062234 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020062235 Wahlbin et al. May 2002 A1
20020067844 Reed et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020069091 Wahlbin et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020069092 Wahlbin et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020070280 Ikefuji et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020072982 Barton Jun 2002 A1
20020072989 Van De Sluis Jun 2002 A1
20020073317 Hars Jun 2002 A1
20020077380 Wessels et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020077983 Tagashira Jun 2002 A1
20020080271 Eveleens et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020080396 Silverbrook et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020080964 Stone et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020080992 Decker et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020080994 Lofgren et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020082873 Wahlbin et al. Jun 2002 A1
20020087363 Wahlbin et al. Jul 2002 A1
20020088336 Stahl Jul 2002 A1
20020105654 Goltsos Aug 2002 A1
20020106494 Roth et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020114013 Hyakutake et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020116330 Hed et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020116508 Khan et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020118394 Mckinley et al. Aug 2002 A1
20020126872 Brunk et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020128881 Wahlbin et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020136448 Bortolussi et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020136459 Imagawa et al. Sep 2002 A1
20020145652 Lawrence et al. Oct 2002 A1
20020146549 Kranenburg-Van Dijk et al. Oct 2002 A1
20020150277 Nishimoto et al. Oct 2002 A1
20020163633 Cohen Nov 2002 A1
20020166635 Sasaki et al. Nov 2002 A1
20020170966 Hannigan et al. Nov 2002 A1
20020176600 Rhoads et al. Nov 2002 A1
20020178410 Haitsma et al. Nov 2002 A1
20020187215 Trapani et al. Dec 2002 A1
20020194476 Lewis et al. Dec 2002 A1
20030002710 Rhoads Jan 2003 A1
20030005304 Lawandy et al. Jan 2003 A1
20030012562 Lawandy et al. Jan 2003 A1
20030021441 Levy Jan 2003 A1
20030031340 Alattar et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030031348 Kuepper et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030032033 Anglin et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030033321 Schrempp Feb 2003 A1
20030038174 Jones Feb 2003 A1
20030040957 Rodriguez et al. Feb 2003 A1
20030034319 Tumey et al. Mar 2003 A1
20030052680 Konijn Mar 2003 A1
20030055638 Burns et al. Mar 2003 A1
20030056104 Carr et al. Mar 2003 A1
20030056499 Binder et al. Mar 2003 A1
20030056500 Huynh Mar 2003 A1
20030059124 Center, Jr. Mar 2003 A1
20030126121 Khan et al. Mar 2003 A1
20030062421 Bloomberg et al. Apr 2003 A1
20030099379 Monk et al. May 2003 A1
20030102660 Rhoads Jun 2003 A1
20030105739 Essafi Jun 2003 A1
20030105762 McCaffrey et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030114972 Takafuji et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030115459 Monk Jun 2003 A1
20030117262 Anderegg et al. Jun 2003 A1
20030128862 Decker et al. Jul 2003 A1
20030135623 Schrempp Jul 2003 A1
20030140025 Daum Jul 2003 A1
20030141358 Hudson et al. Jul 2003 A1
20030161507 Lawandy Aug 2003 A1
20030171939 Yagesh et al. Sep 2003 A1
20030173406 Bi et al. Sep 2003 A1
20030178487 Rogers Sep 2003 A1
20030178495 Jones et al. Sep 2003 A1
20030183695 Labrec et al. Oct 2003 A1
20030188659 Merry et al. Oct 2003 A1
20030200123 Burge et al. Oct 2003 A1
20030211296 Jones et al. Nov 2003 A1
20030226897 Jones et al. Dec 2003 A1
20030234286 Labrec et al. Dec 2003 A1
20030234292 Jones Dec 2003 A1
20040011874 Theodossiou et al. Jan 2004 A1
20040024694 Lawrence et al. Feb 2004 A1
20040030587 Danico Feb 2004 A1
20040036574 Bostrom Feb 2004 A1
20040041804 Ives et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040049409 Wahlbin et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040054556 Wahlbin et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040054557 Wahlbin et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040054558 Wahlbin et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040054559 Wahlbin et al. Mar 2004 A1
20040064415 Abdallah et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040066441 Jones et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040074973 Duggan et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040076310 Hersch et al. Apr 2004 A1
20040093349 Buinevicius et al. May 2004 A1
20040102984 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040102985 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103004 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103005 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103006 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103007 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103008 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103009 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040103010 Wahlbin et al. May 2004 A1
20040111301 Wahlbin et al. Jun 2004 A1
20040133582 Howard et al. Jul 2004 A1
20040140459 Haigh et al. Jul 2004 A1
20040158724 Carr et al. Aug 2004 A1
20040172411 Herre Sep 2004 A1
20040181671 Brundage et al. Sep 2004 A1
20040198858 Labrec Oct 2004 A1
20040213437 Howard et al. Oct 2004 A1
20040243567 Levy Dec 2004 A1
20040245346 Haddock Dec 2004 A1
20050001419 Levy et al. Jan 2005 A1
20050003297 Labrec Jan 2005 A1
20050010776 Kenen Jan 2005 A1
20050035589 Richardson Feb 2005 A1
20050040243 Bi et al. Feb 2005 A1
20050042396 Jones et al. Feb 2005 A1
20050060205 Woods et al. Mar 2005 A1
20050063562 Brunk et al. Mar 2005 A1
20050072849 Jones Apr 2005 A1
20050094848 Carr et al. May 2005 A1
20050095408 Labrec et al. May 2005 A1
20050109850 Jones May 2005 A1
20050141707 Haitsma Jun 2005 A1
20050144455 Haitsma Jun 2005 A1
20050160294 LaBrec et al. Jul 2005 A1
20050161512 Jones et al. Jul 2005 A1
20050181167 Behnen Aug 2005 A1
20050192850 Lorenz Sep 2005 A1
20050216850 Ramos et al. Sep 2005 A1
20050259819 Oomen Nov 2005 A1
20060020630 Stager et al. Jan 2006 A1
20060027667 Jones et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060039581 Decker et al. Feb 2006 A1
20060115108 Rodriguez Jun 2006 A1
20060213986 Register et al. Sep 2006 A1
20070016790 Brundage et al. Jan 2007 A1
20070152067 Bi et al. Jul 2007 A1
20070158939 Jones et al. Jul 2007 A1
20070187515 Theodossiou et al. Aug 2007 A1
20090174526 Howard et al. Jul 2009 A1
20090187435 Carr et al. Jul 2009 A1
Foreign Referenced Citations (209)
Number Date Country
2235002 Dec 1998 CA
2470094 Jun 2003 CA
2469956 Jul 2003 CA
1628318 Jun 2005 CN
2943436 May 1981 DE
3334009 May 1985 DE
3738636 Jun 1988 DE
3806411 Sep 1989 DE
9315294 Mar 1994 DE
4403513 Aug 1995 DE
69406213 Mar 1998 DE
19099 Nov 1980 EP
058482 Aug 1982 EP
153547 Sep 1985 EP
0157568 Oct 1985 EP
190997 Aug 1986 EP
222446 May 1987 EP
0233296 Aug 1987 EP
0279104 Aug 1988 EP
0280773 Sep 1988 EP
0356980 Mar 1990 EP
0356981 Mar 1990 EP
0356982 Mar 1990 EP
0362640 Apr 1990 EP
0366075 May 1990 EP
0366923 May 1990 EP
372601 Jun 1990 EP
0373572 Jun 1990 EP
0374835 Jun 1990 EP
411232 Feb 1991 EP
0420613 Apr 1991 EP
441702 Aug 1991 EP
0446834 Sep 1991 EP
0446846 Sep 1991 EP
0465018 Jan 1992 EP
0479265 Apr 1992 EP
479295 Apr 1992 EP
493091 Jul 1992 EP
0523304 Jan 1993 EP
0539001 Apr 1993 EP
581317 Feb 1994 EP
590884 Apr 1994 EP
629972 Dec 1994 EP
0636495 Feb 1995 EP
0637514 Feb 1995 EP
0649754 Apr 1995 EP
650146 Apr 1995 EP
0696518 Feb 1996 EP
0697433 Feb 1996 EP
705022 Apr 1996 EP
705025 Apr 1996 EP
0734870 Oct 1996 EP
0736860 Oct 1996 EP
0739748 Oct 1996 EP
788085 Aug 1997 EP
835739 Apr 1998 EP
642060 Mar 1999 EP
0926608 Jun 1999 EP
0975147 Jan 2000 EP
0982149 Mar 2000 EP
0991014 Apr 2000 EP
991014 Apr 2000 EP
991047 Apr 2000 EP
1013463 Jun 2000 EP
1017016 Jul 2000 EP
1035503 Sep 2000 EP
1046515 Oct 2000 EP
1077570 Feb 2001 EP
1110750 Jun 2001 EP
1117246 Jul 2001 EP
1134710 Sep 2001 EP
1137244 Sep 2001 EP
1147495 Oct 2001 EP
1152592 Nov 2001 EP
0464268 Jan 2002 EP
1173001 Jan 2002 EP
1209897 May 2002 EP
1410315 Apr 2004 EP
1909971 Apr 2008 EP
1088318 Oct 1967 GB
1213193 Nov 1970 GB
1472581 May 1977 GB
1472581 May 1977 GB
2063018 May 1981 GB
2067871 Jul 1981 GB
2132136 Jul 1984 GB
2196167 Apr 1988 GB
2204984 Nov 1988 GB
2227570 Aug 1990 GB
2240948 Aug 1991 GB
2325765 Dec 1998 GB
2344482 Jun 2000 GB
2346110 Aug 2000 GB
2360659 Sep 2001 GB
52119681 Oct 1977 JP
63146909 Jun 1988 JP
03126589 May 1991 JP
3185585 Aug 1991 JP
4248771 Sep 1992 JP
4267149 Sep 1992 JP
5242217 Sep 1993 JP
624611 Feb 1994 JP
6234289 Aug 1994 JP
06234289 Aug 1994 JP
07088974 Apr 1995 JP
7088974 Apr 1995 JP
07093567 Apr 1995 JP
07108786 Apr 1995 JP
7115474 May 1995 JP
08-50598 Feb 1996 JP
09064545 Mar 1997 JP
10171758 Jun 1998 JP
10177613 Jun 1998 JP
10197285 Jul 1998 JP
10214283 Aug 1998 JP
11161711 Jun 1999 JP
11259620 Sep 1999 JP
11259620 Sep 1999 JP
11301121 Nov 1999 JP
11321166 Nov 1999 JP
2004355659 Dec 2004 JP
2005525254 Aug 2005 JP
2005525949 Sep 2005 JP
2005276238 Oct 2005 JP
2006190331 Jul 2006 JP
WO 8204149 Nov 1982 WO
8900319 Jan 1989 WO
WO-8907517 Aug 1989 WO
WO-8908915 Sep 1989 WO
9116722 Oct 1991 WO
WO-9427228 Nov 1994 WO
9513597 May 1995 WO
WO-9513597 May 1995 WO
WO-9514289 May 1995 WO
WO-9520291 Jul 1995 WO
9603286 Feb 1996 WO
WO-9603286 Feb 1996 WO
WO-9626494 Aug 1996 WO
WO-9627259 Sep 1996 WO
WO-9636163 Nov 1996 WO
9701446 Jan 1997 WO
9718092 May 1997 WO
9732733 Sep 1997 WO
WO-9743736 Nov 1997 WO
WO-9814887 Apr 1998 WO
9819869 May 1998 WO
WO-9820411 May 1998 WO
WO-9819869 May 1998 WO
WO-9820642 May 1998 WO
WO-9824050 Jun 1998 WO
9830224 Jul 1998 WO
WO-9840823 Sep 1998 WO
WO-9849813 Nov 1998 WO
WO-9915299 Apr 1999 WO
9924934 May 1999 WO
WO-9924934 May 1999 WO
WO-9934277 Jul 1999 WO
0010116 Feb 2000 WO
0043214 Jul 2000 WO
0043215 Jul 2000 WO
0043216 Jul 2000 WO
WO-0043216 Jul 2000 WO
0045344 Aug 2000 WO
0078554 Dec 2000 WO
0100719 Jan 2001 WO
WO-0105075 Jan 2001 WO
WO-0108405 Feb 2001 WO
0129764 Apr 2001 WO
WO-0139121 May 2001 WO
0145559 Jun 2001 WO
WO 0143080 Jun 2001 WO
0156805 Aug 2001 WO
WO-0172030 Sep 2001 WO
WO-0173997 Oct 2001 WO
WO-0175629 Oct 2001 WO
WO-0188883 Nov 2001 WO
0195249 Dec 2001 WO
WO-0196112 Dec 2001 WO
WO-0197128 Dec 2001 WO
WO-0197175 Dec 2001 WO
WO-0203385 Jan 2002 WO
WO-0203328 Jan 2002 WO
WO-0219269 Mar 2002 WO
WO-0221846 Mar 2002 WO
WO-0223481 Mar 2002 WO
WO-0225599 Mar 2002 WO
0226507 Apr 2002 WO
0227647 Apr 2002 WO
WO-0227618 Apr 2002 WO
WO-0227720 Apr 2002 WO
0242371 May 2002 WO
WO-0239719 May 2002 WO
0245969 Jun 2002 WO
02052499 Jul 2002 WO
02053499 Jul 2002 WO
WO-02053499 Jul 2002 WO
0278965 Oct 2002 WO
WO-02095677 Nov 2002 WO
02096666 Dec 2002 WO
03005291 Jan 2003 WO
WO-03005291 Jan 2003 WO
03030079 Apr 2003 WO
03055684 Jul 2003 WO
03056500 Jul 2003 WO
03056507 Jul 2003 WO
03095210 Nov 2003 WO
WO03096258 Nov 2003 WO
2004034236 Apr 2004 WO
2004049242 Jun 2004 WO
Related Publications (1)
Number Date Country
20040066441 A1 Apr 2004 US
Provisional Applications (2)
Number Date Country
60379704 May 2002 US
60379646 May 2002 US