Claims
- 1. An identification card printer comprising:
a cartridge receiver adapted to receive a card cartridge; and a card transport mechanism including a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend into the cartridge receiver and define a card transport plane.
- 2. The printer of claim 1, including a card cartridge mounted to the cartridge receiver and including a housing having an interior cavity that is sized to accommodate a stack of cards, the housing including a pair of opposing side walls, a top, a front wall, a back wall opposite the front wall, a base having a card access formed by first and second apertures through which the portions of the feed rollers extend, and a card output slot aligned with the card transport plane.
- 3. The printer of claim 2, wherein the cartridge receiver includes a support member for supporting the card cartridge.
- 4. The printer of claim 3, wherein the support member is a deck through which the portions of the feed rollers extend.
- 5. The printer of claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism includes a pair of side walls to which the feed rollers are mounted.
- 6. The printer of claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism includes a motor for driving at least one of the feed rollers.
- 7. The printer of claim 1, wherein the card transport plane is located above the base of the card cartridge.
- 8. The printer of claim 1, including a card singulation component aligned with the card transport plane and adapted to prevent multiple card feeds.
- 9. The printer of claim 8, wherein:
the card transport mechanism includes a pair of side walls; and the feed rollers and the card singulation component are mounted to the side walls of the transport mechanism.
- 10. The printer of claim 1, wherein the cartridge receiver includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts for electrically interfacing corresponding electrical contacts of a card cartridge.
- 11. The printer of claim 2, wherein:
the cartridge receiver includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts; and the housing of the card cartridge includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts that engage corresponding electrical contacts of the cartridge receiver when seated on the cartridge receiver.
- 12. The printer of claim 11, wherein the card cartridge includes a supply circuit electrically coupled to the electrical interface of the base, the supply circuit including a memory for storage of supply information.
- 13. The printer of claim 12, including a printer controller adapted to access the supply information in the memory of the supply circuit through the electrical interfaces of the card cartridge and cartridge receiver when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver.
- 14. The printer of claim 11, wherein the electrical interface of the cartridge receiver is mounted to a deck member and the electrical interface of the card cartridge is mounted to the base of the housing between the first and second apertures of the card access.
- 15. The printer of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of the housing is formed of transparent or opaque plastic.
- 16. The printer of claim 2, wherein the card cartridge includes a biasing mechanism adapted to apply a force to an end card opposite a lead card of an enclosed stack of cards thereby directing the lead card toward the base of the housing and against the feed rollers when the card cartridge is installed on the cartridge receiver, whereby the lead card is aligned with the card transport plane.
- 17. The printer of claim 16, wherein the biasing mechanism includes a card plate that engages the end card and a spring compressed between the housing and the card plate.
- 18. The printer of claim 2, wherein the housing includes a removable cover, whereby the interior cavity can be accessed for loading and unloading cards.
- 19. The printer of claim 2, including a connector having a first connecting portion mounted to the card cartridge and a second connecting portion mounted to the cartridge receiver, the first and second connecting portions cooperating to secure the card cartridge to the cartridge receiver.
- 20. The printer of claim 19, wherein the first connecting portion includes a tab member mounted to each side wall of the housing at a proximal end, each tab member having a distal end that includes a latching component having a shoulder member; the second connecting portion including an aperture for receiving the shoulder member of the latching component of the first connecting portion.
- 21. The printer of claim 20, wherein the tab members are biased toward a locking position.
- 22. The printer of claim 20, wherein the tab members include finger pads.
- 23. The printer of claim 2, wherein the cartridge receiver includes guide members adapted to engage the housing of the card cartridge to encourage proper installation.
- 24. The card cartridge of claim 2, wherein the base includes a card separating member adjacent back wall, whereby card feed operations are improved.
- 25. The card cartridge of claim 24, wherein the card separating member is a ramp or a curved step member.
- 26. An identification card printer comprising:
a card cartridge including a housing having an interior cavity that is sized to accommodate a stack of cards, a pair of opposing side walls, a top, a base, a front wall, a back wall opposite the front wall, and a card output slot, the base having first and second apertures that form a card access; a cartridge receiver adapted to receive the card cartridge; and a card transport mechanism including a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend into the cartridge receiver and through the card access of the card cartridge when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver, the feed rollers defining a card transport plane.
- 27. The printer of claim 26, wherein the cartridge receiver includes a support member for supporting the card cartridge.
- 28. The printer of claim 26, including a stack of cards enclosed in the card cartridge.
- 29. The printer of claim 26, wherein the transport mechanism includes a pair of side walls to which the feed rollers are mounted.
- 30. The printer of claim 26, wherein the transport mechanism includes a motor for driving at least one of the feed rollers.
- 31. The printer of claim 26, wherein the card transport plane is located above the base of the card cartridge and is aligned with the card output slot.
- 32. The printer of claim 26, including a card singulation component aligned with the card transport plane and adapted to prevent multiple card feeds.
- 33. The printer of claim 32, wherein:
the card transport mechanism includes a pair of side walls; and the feed rollers and the card singulation component are mounted to the side walls of the transport mechanism.
- 34. The printer of claim 26, wherein:
the cartridge receiver includes an electrical interface having a plurality of exposed electrical contacts; and the housing of the card cartridge includes an electrical interface having a plurality of electrical contacts that engage corresponding electrical contacts of the cartridge receiver when seated on the cartridge receiver.
- 35. The printer of claim 34, wherein the card cartridge includes a supply circuit electrically coupled to the electrical interface of the base, the supply circuit including a memory for storage of supply information.
- 36. The printer of claim 35, including a printer controller adapted to access the supply information in the memory of the supply circuit through the electrical interfaces of the card cartridge and cartridge receiver when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver.
- 37. The printer of claim 34, wherein the electrical interface of the cartridge receiver is mounted to a deck member and the electrical interface of the card cartridge is mounted to the base of the housing between the first and second apertures of the card access.
- 38. The printer of claim 26, wherein at least a portion of the housing is formed of transparent or opaque plastic.
- 39. The printer of claim 26, wherein the card cartridge includes a biasing mechanism adapted to apply a force to an end card opposite a lead card of an enclosed stack of cards thereby directing the lead card toward the base of the housing and against the feed rollers when the card cartridge is seated on the cartridge receiver, whereby the lead card is aligned with the card transport plane.
- 40. The printer of claim 39, wherein the biasing mechanism includes a card plate that engages the end card and a spring compressed between the housing and the card plate.
- 41. The printer of claim 26, wherein the housing includes a removable cover, whereby the interior cavity can be accessed for loading and unloading cards.
- 42. The printer of claim 26, including a connector having a first connecting portion mounted to the card cartridge and a second connecting portion mounted to the cartridge receiver, the first and second connecting portions cooperating to secure the card cartridge to the cartridge receiver.
- 43. The printer of claim 42, wherein the first connecting portion includes a tab member mounted to each side wall of the housing at a proximal end, each tab member having a distal end that includes a latching component having a shoulder member; the second connecting portion including an aperture for receiving the shoulder member of the latching component of the first connecting portion.
- 44. The printer of claim 43, wherein the tab members are biased toward a locking position.
- 45. The printer of claim 43, wherein the tab members include finger pads.
- 46. The printer of claim 26, wherein the cartridge receiver includes guide members adapted to engage the housing of the card cartridge to encourage proper installation.
- 47. The printer of claim 26, wherein the card cartridge includes a supply circuit having a memory for storage of supply information.
- 48. The card cartridge of claim 26, wherein the base includes a card separating member adjacent back wall, whereby card feed operations are improved.
- 49. The card cartridge of claim 48, wherein the card separating member is a ramp or a curved step member.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present invention claims is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. Patent Application 10/071,554 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN PRINTER AND CARD SUPPLY,” for inventors Gary M. Klinefelter, Jeffrey D. Upin, Gary A. Lenz, Martin A. Pribula and James R. Meier filed Feb. 8, 2002. Additionally, reference is hereby made to the following related co-pending applications filed on even date herewith: Application Serial No. ______, entitled “IDENTIFICATION CARD PRINTER HAVING MULTIPLE CONTROLLERS,” for inventors Gary W. Klinefelter, Leonid S. Gershenovich, Gary A. Lenz; and Robert E. Francis, having Attorney Docket Number F12.12-0109; Application Serial No. ______, entitled “CARD CARTRIDGE,” for inventors Martin A. Pribula, James M. Meier, Stacy W. Lukaskawcez, Anthony L. Lokken, Gary M. Klinefelter, Gary A. Lenz and Jeffrey D. Upin, having Attorney Docket Number F12.12-0111; Application Serial No. ______, entitled “CARD TRANSPORT MECHANISM ROLLER SUPPORT,” for inventors Martin A. Pribula and Gary M. Klinefelter, having Attorney Docket Number F12.12-0112; Application Serial No. ______, entitled “CARD CARTRIDGE AND CARD FEEDER ADAPTER FOR AN INK JET SHEET FEEDER PRINTER,” for inventors Gary M. Klinefelter, Martin A. Pribula, Leonid S. Gershenovich and Stacy W. Lukaskawcez, having Attorney Docket Number F12.12-0113; and Application Serial No. ______, entitled “IDENTIFICATION CARD PRINTER DATA ENCODER MODULE,” for inventors Darrell T. Olson and Matthew K. Dunham, having Attorney Docket Number F12.12-0115. All of the above-referenced applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Continuation in Parts (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10071554 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
Child |
10126427 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09489591 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
10126427 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09967501 |
Sep 2001 |
US |
Child |
10126427 |
Apr 2002 |
US |