阅读说明：本技术 卡加工系统中的双卡输送 (Dual card transport in a card processing system ) 是由 C·D·伍尔德里奇 T·J·福利切 J·瓦尔雅 于 2018-05-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种卡加工系统,该卡加工系统包括卡输送机构,卡输送机构至少具有第一单独卡输送部和第二单独卡输送部,第一单独卡输送部和第二单独卡输送部在卡加工系统中单独地输送第一卡和第二卡。第一卡输送部和第二卡输送部中的各个卡输送部可以在公共卡拾取位置与公共卡排出位置之间致动。在公共卡拾取位置与公共卡排出位置之间设置有可以执行卡加工操作的至少一个卡加工机构,其中,第一卡输送部和第二卡输送部中的各个卡输送部将相应的卡输送至卡加工机构以执行卡加工操作,并且在加工之后从卡加工机构输送所述卡。(A card processing system includes a card conveying mechanism having at least a first individual card conveying portion and a second individual card conveying portion that convey a first card and a second card individually in the card processing system. Each of the first and second card transport portions may be actuatable between a common card pick-up position and a common card discharge position. At least one card processing mechanism that can perform a card processing operation is provided between the common card pickup position and the common card discharge position, wherein each of the first card conveying portion and the second card conveying portion conveys a corresponding card to the card processing mechanism to perform the card processing operation, and the card is conveyed from the card processing mechanism after processing.)

1. A card processing system, the card processing system comprising:

a card input section;

a card output section;

at least one card processing mechanism interposed between the card input and the card output, the at least one card processing mechanism configured to perform a processing operation on a card;

a first card transport and a second card transport, each of the first and second card transports transporting a card from the card input through the at least one card processing mechanism and to the card output, the first and second card transports being independently movable relative to each other and each of the first and second card transports being capable of supporting a respective card thereon.

2. The card processing system of claim 1, wherein said first and second card transport devices are each individually actuatable to occupy a common card pick-up position adjacent said card input and to occupy a common card eject position adjacent said card output, and said first and second card transport devices are each individually actuatable to move between said common card pick-up position and said common card eject position.

3. The card processing system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each of the first and second card transport devices includes a vacuum platen that supports a respective card.

4. The card processing system of claim 1, wherein said at least one card processing mechanism comprises a drop on demand ink jet printer.

5. The card processing system of claim 4, wherein the drop-on-demand ink jet printer prints using ultraviolet ink from at least one print head, and the first and second card transport devices are each configured to transport the card from the card input past the at least one print head.

6. The card processing system of claim 5, further comprising:

an integrated circuit chip programming system capable of programming an integrated circuit chip on a card, the integrated circuit chip programming system located upstream or downstream of the drop on demand ink jet printer; and

an ultraviolet curing station configured to receive a card from the drop on demand ink jet printer, the ultraviolet curing station curing ultraviolet ink applied to the card by the drop on demand ink jet printer.

7. The card processing system of claim 3 wherein each vacuum platen has a length less than about 85.60mm and a width less than about 53.98 mm.

8. A card transport mechanism that transports cards within a card processing system, the card transport mechanism comprising:

a first card transport and a second card transport within the card processing system, the first and second card transports being movable relative to each other;

the first and second card transport devices are each individually actuatable to occupy a common card pick up position and to occupy a common card eject position, and the first and second card transport devices are each individually actuatable to move between the common card pick up position and the common card eject position.

9. The card transport mechanism of claim 8, wherein each of the first and second card transports includes a vacuum platen.

10. The card transport mechanism of claim 9, wherein each vacuum platen has a length less than about 85.60mm and a width less than about 53.98 mm.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to card processing systems that process plastic cards, including but not limited to financial (e.g., credit, debit, etc.) cards, drivers' licenses, residential identification cards, business identification cards (gift cards), and other plastic cards, and to transporting cards in such card processing systems.

Background

There are many known transport mechanisms for transporting plastic cards in card processing systems. Known card transport mechanisms include rollers and belts. For the case of card processing systems that include drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printing in DOD printers, one known transport mechanism uses a continuous vacuum belt system in which cards are fed onto a vacuum belt at a continuous feed rate, which then delivers the cards through the DOD printer. However, the use of a continuous vacuum belt increases the difficulty of tracking the cards due to the number of cards on the vacuum belt at any one time. For many cards, including financial cards such as credit and debit cards, it is important that the cards be accurately and reliably tracked throughout the transport of the cards to help ensure that the correct card is ultimately issued to the correct person. In addition, continuous vacuum belts used in card processing systems utilizing DOD inkjet printing can create print quality problems on cards due to belt stretching or contraction, belt tracking, belt wobble, and belt slippage.

Disclosure of Invention

Systems and methods are described in which a card processing system includes a card transport mechanism having at least first and second individual card transports that individually transport first and second cards in the card processing system. Each of the first and second card transport portions may be actuatable between a common card pick-up position and a common card ejection position. At least one card processing mechanism that can perform a card processing operation is provided between the common card pickup position and the common card discharge position, wherein each of the first and second card conveying portions conveys a corresponding card to the card processing mechanism to perform the card processing operation, and conveys the card from the card processing mechanism after processing.

The cards described herein include, but are not limited to, plastic cards having personalization data unique to the intended cardholder and/or having other card information. Examples of plastic cards may include, but are not limited to, financial cards (e.g., credit cards, debit cards, etc.), drivers' licenses, residential identification cards, business identification cards, gift cards, and other plastic cards.

The card processing mechanism described herein may be any card processing mechanism that can perform processing operations on cards. Examples of processing mechanisms include, but are not limited to, printers, embossing machines, scoring machines (indenters), magnetic stripe read/write heads, integrated circuit chip programmers, lasers that perform laser processing, such as laser marking, on the cards, laminators that apply laminates to portions or the entire surface of the cards, finish tables that apply finish to portions or the entire surface of the cards, quality control tables that check the quality of personalization/processing applied to the cards, security tables that apply security functions, such as holographic foil patches, to the cards, and other card processing mechanisms.

In one embodiment, the card processing mechanism includes a Drop On Demand (DOD) ink jet printer that performs monochrome or multi-color printing. When the card processing mechanism is a DOD inkjet printer, the systems and methods described herein eliminate the use of conventional vacuum belts and the problems created by such belts. In addition, card processing speeds of up to about 4000 or more cards per hour may be achieved using the card processing mechanisms of the first and second card transport portions described herein.

In one particular example implementation, a card processing system may include: an integrated circuit chip programming system that can program an integrated circuit chip on a card; a drop-on-demand ink jet printer that can print a card using ultraviolet ink from at least one print head, and an ultraviolet curing station positioned to receive a card from the drop-on-demand ink jet printer and cure the ultraviolet ink applied to the card by the drop-on-demand printer. The drop-on-demand ink jet printer includes a first card transport and a second card transport, each of the first and second card transports a card from a card input of the drop-on-demand ink jet printer, past the at least one print head, and to a card output of the drop-on-demand ink jet printer, and wherein the first and second card transports are individually movable relative to each other.

Drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic depiction of a card processing system as described herein.

Figure 2 is a top view of one example of a card processing system described herein.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a card transport mechanism as described herein.

Figure 4 is an end view of the card transport mechanism of figure 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view similar to fig. 3, but showing the first card transport vertically lowered relative to the second card transport.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view similar to fig. 5, but showing the second card transport lowered vertically relative to the first card transport.

Fig. 7 is a plan view illustrating a dimensional relationship between a card and one of the card conveying portions.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a card transport mechanism as described herein.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of a card transport mechanism as described herein.

Detailed Description

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a card processing system 10 that may utilize the systems and methods described herein. The system 10 may also be referred to as a card processing module or a card processing station. The card processing system 10 includes: a card input 12 at one end of the system 10 through which a card may enter the system 10; and a card output 14 at the other end of the system 10 through which cards may exit the system 10. Card input 12 and card output 14 may take any form suitable for allowing cards to enter and exit system 10, such as input slots and output slots. The system 10 also includes a card transport mechanism that transports cards from the card input 12 to the card output 14. In some embodiments, the card transport mechanism may also transport the card back toward the card input 12. The card transport mechanism has at least a first individual card transport 16a and a second individual card transport 16b (or first card transport 16a and second card transport 16b), where each individual card transport may receive a card from card input 12, support the card as it is transported in system 10, and ultimately deliver the card to card output 14. Although the card conveying mechanism is illustrated as having two card conveying portions 16a, 16b, additional card conveying portions may be provided.

Referring also to fig. 1, a common card pick-up location 18 is defined adjacent or adjacent to the card input 12, and a common card discharge location 20 is defined adjacent or adjacent to the card output 14. The public card pick up location 18 and the public card eject location 20 are locations in the system 10 that permit each of the card transports 16a, 16b to be individually positioned at separate times at the same location in the system to pick up a card input via the card input 12 and deliver the card to the card output 14 for ejection of the card. Thus, the common term in the common card pick-up position 18 and the common card ejection position 20 refers to a situation where both card transport sections 16a, 16b may occupy the same space in the system 10 at different times, and the card transport mechanism is suitably designed to actuate the card transport sections 16a, 16b between the common card pick-up position 18 and the common card ejection position 20 without the card transport sections 16a, 16b interfering with each other.

Each of the card transports 16a, 16b is individually actuatable to individually occupy a common card pick-up position 18 to pick up a card input via the card input 12, and individually actuatable to individually occupy a common card ejection position 20 to deliver the card to the card output 14. In addition to being actuatable to the common card pick-up position 18 and the common card ejection position 20, both the first card transport 16a and the second card transport 16b may be individually actuated to move back and forth between the common card pick-up position 18 and the common card ejection position 20. The card transport sections 16a, 16b may have any configuration suitable for picking up, transporting, and ejecting cards in this manner. Next, non-limiting examples of the card conveying portions 16a, 16b are described with reference to fig. 2 to 9.

In one embodiment, card transport 16b ejects the card at common card ejection location 20 when card transport 16a picks up the card at common card pickup location 18. Likewise, when card transport 16b picks up a card at common card pickup position 18, card transport 16a discharges the card at common card discharge position 20. In this embodiment, the card transport sections 16a, 16b cycle back and forth between the common card pick-up location 18 and the common card discharge location 20 via a card processing mechanism 22 discussed below.

The path followed by the card transport 16a, 16b as it travels from the common card pick-up location 18 through the card processing mechanism 22 and to the common card ejection location 20 may be referred to as a card processing path. The path followed by the card transport sections 16a, 16b when traveling from the common card ejection position 20 back to the common card ejection position 22 (preferably bypassing the card processing mechanism 22) may be referred to as a return path. The card processing path is generally parallel to the return path. In one embodiment, the card processing path may be vertically above the return path. In other embodiments, the card processing path may be vertically below the return path, or the card processing path and the return path may be horizontally or laterally displaced from one another.

As shown in fig. 1, a card processing mechanism 22 is provided between the card input portion 12 and the card output portion 14 and between the common card pickup position 18 and the common card discharge position 20, and is provided along the card processing path of the card transport portions 16a, 16b, so that the card transport portions 16a, 16b can transport the card to the card processing mechanism 22 to process the card, and can transport the card from the card processing mechanism 22 to the card output portion 14. The card processing mechanism 22 may be any card processing mechanism that can perform processing operations on cards. Examples of processing mechanisms include, but are not limited to, printers, embossing machines, scoring machines (indexers), magnetic strip read/write heads, integrated circuit chip programmers, lasers that perform laser processing, such as laser marking, on cards, laminators that apply laminates to portions or the entire surface of cards, finish stations that apply finish to portions or the entire surface of cards, quality control stations that check the quality of personalization/processing applied to cards, security stations that apply security functions, such as holographic foil patches, to cards, and other processing mechanisms. In one embodiment, discussed further below, the card processing mechanism 22 may be a DOD inkjet printer.

In operation of system 10, a card is input via card input 12 and picked up by card transport 16a at common card pickup location 18. The card conveying section 16a conveys the card to a card processing mechanism 22 that performs a processing operation on the card. After processing, the card conveying section 16a conveys the card to the common card ejection position 20, and ejects the processed card through the card output section 14. When card transport 16a is transporting a card from common card pickup location 18, card transport 16b is actuated from common card ejection location 20 toward common card pickup location 18. The card conveying portion 16b bypasses the card processing mechanism 22 by traveling below, above, or to the side of the card processing mechanism 22, for example, and finally reaches the common card pickup position 18 when the card conveying portion 16a reaches the common card discharge position 20. The card conveyance section 16b picks up the card input via the card input section 12 and starts conveying the card to the card processing mechanism 22 to perform a processing operation on the card. After processing, the card conveying section 16b conveys the card to the common card ejection position 20, and ejects the processed card through the card output section 14. At the same time, card transport 16a is actuated back toward common card pickup location 18, bypassing card processing mechanism 22. This cycle repeats and there are two cards at any one time in the system 10, one card being picked up by one of the card transports 16a, 16b and the second card being discharged by the other of the card transports 16a, 16 b.

As shown in fig. 1, in some embodiments, the system 10 may be used with one or more other card processing systems (also referred to as card processing modules or card processing stations). For example, one or more additional card processing systems 24 may be positioned upstream of the system 10. Examples of upstream card processing systems 24 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: a card input hopper containing cards to be processed, a printing system, an embossing system, a scoring system, a magnetic stripe read/write system, an integrated circuit chip programming system, a laser system that performs laser processing such as laser marking on the cards, a laminating system that applies a laminate to a portion or the entire surface of the cards, a finish system that applies a finish to a portion or the entire surface of the cards, a security system that applies security functions such as holographic foil patches to the cards, and other systems known in the art.

One or more additional card processing systems 26 may also be positioned downstream of the system 10. Examples of downstream card processing systems 26 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: a card output hopper containing cards that have been processed, a UV curing station, a printing system, an embossing system, a scoring system, a magnetic stripe read/write system, an integrated circuit chip programming system, a laser system that performs laser processing, such as laser marking, on the cards, a laminating system that applies a laminate to a portion or the entire surface of the cards, a finish system that applies a finish to a portion or the entire surface of the cards, a security system that applies security functions, such as holographic foil patches, to the cards, and other systems known in the art.

Turning to fig. 2, a specific example of the card processing system 10 is illustrated. In this example, the card processing mechanism 22 is illustrated as a DOD inkjet printer. The ink jet printer may have a single print head that prints a single color, or as shown, multiple print heads 28 to print multiple colors on the card. A card transport 16b is illustrated at a common card pick-up location 18 to pick up a card that has been input via the card input 12. In this example, cards enter card input 12 in a vertical orientation (i.e., the plane of the card extends vertically into and out of the paper as viewed from the top of FIG. 2) and are rotated to a horizontal orientation at common card pick up location 18 and are transported in a horizontal orientation by card transport 16b when the cards are in system 10. The card transport 16a is shown ejecting a card through the card output 14 at the common card ejection location 20. The card transport 16a then cycles back to the common card pick-up location 18, while the card transport 16b transports its card to and past the card processing mechanism 22, and finally to the common card ejection location 20.

Fig. 2 illustrates that system 10 may be used with a UV curing station 30 located downstream of system 10 or downstream of printhead 28. The printed card is transported to a UV curing station 30, which UV curing station 30 cures UV ink applied to the card surface by a DOD inkjet printer. After curing, the card is transported to a rotation mechanism 32, which rotates the card back to a vertical orientation for further processing downstream of the card. If the card processing mechanism 22 is not a DOD inkjet printer, the UV curing station 30 is not required. In addition, the UV curing station 30 may be located to perform UV curing after the card has been rotated back to a vertical orientation. Additionally, in some embodiments, it is not necessary to rotate the card back to the vertical orientation at all.

Referring to fig. 3-6, a first embodiment of a card transport mechanism 50 for transporting cards within the system 10 is illustrated. In this embodiment, both the first card transport 16a and the second card transport 16b take the form of vacuum platens 52. For convenience, the cards 84 are shown (transparently) on the vacuum platen 52 of both the first card transport 16a and the second card transport 16 b. Each vacuum platen 52 is configured to apply a vacuum to cards disposed thereon, as with conventional vacuum belts, to hold the cards in place on the platen 52 during transport and during processing in the card processing mechanism 22.

The card transport mechanism 50 includes a pair of parallel guide rails 54, 56 extending generally longitudinally from one end of the system 10 to the other along a card transport direction parallel to the card processing path and parallel to the return path. Card transport mechanism 50 is a two-axis or X-Y axis transport system in which each vacuum platen 52 is actuatable along the X and Y axes in fig. 3. In particular, a longitudinal carriage 58, 60 is slidably disposed on each rail 54, 56 for movement along the length of each rail 54, 56 in the X-axis direction by actuation of a drive motor 62, 64 in driving engagement with the longitudinal carriage 58, 60 via a suitable drive mechanism. In addition, a vertical guide rail 66, 68 is mounted on each carriage 58, 60, and a vertical carriage 70, 72 is slidably disposed on each vertical guide rail 66, 68 for movement along the length of each vertical guide rail 66, 68 in the Y-axis direction by actuation of a drive motor 74, 76 in driving engagement with the vertical carriage 70, 72 via a suitable drive mechanism. The vacuum platen 52 is secured to and moves with the vertical carriages 70, 72.

Fig. 3 illustrates the raised positions of platen 52 of card transport 16b and platen 52 of card transport 16a at the common card pick-up position and the common card ejection position, respectively. At these locations, the platen 52 is ready to pick up cards to be processed and eject processed cards, respectively.

Fig. 4 shows platen 52 of card transport 16a in a raised position after having picked up a card at the common card pickup location and transported the card toward card processing mechanism 22. At the same time, the platen 52 of the card conveyance section 16b has been lowered vertically. This vertical lowering may cause card transport 16b to pass under card processing mechanism 22 or bypass card processing mechanism 22 and pass under card transport 16a when card transport 16b is actuated back to the common card pick-up position to pick up a new card.

Fig. 5 illustrates platen 52 of card transport 16a being vertically lowered and ready to be actuated back to the common card pick-up position after ejection of a processed card (a card shown on platen 52 of card transport 16a of fig. 5 would not be present after being ejected), and platen 52 of card transport 16b being vertically raised in preparation for picking up a card at the common card pick-up position (a card shown on platen 52 of card transport 16 b). Fig. 6 is somewhat similar to fig. 5, but illustrates the platen 52 of card transport 16a in a vertically raised position at the common card ejection position and ready to eject a processed card, and the platen 52 of card transport 16b in a vertically lowered position after being actuated rearwardly and before being vertically raised to pick up a card at the common card pick-up position (the card shown on platen 52 of card transport 16b of fig. 6 is not actually present before raising the platen to a position to pick up a card).

The vacuum platen 52 may have any configuration suitable for applying a vacuum to the card to hold the card on the platen. Referring to fig. 3-7, each vacuum platen 52 may have a plurality of holes 80 therein, such as four corner holes 80 and a central hole 80 (best seen in fig. 7). These apertures are in communication with a vacuum source that applies a vacuum acting on the facing card surface to the apertures 80 to hold the card on the platen 52. However, other configurations and patterns of apertures may be used.

In one embodiment, the platen 52 is smaller in size than the card. Referring to fig. 7, a solid line is illustrated through platen 52, while a dashed line illustrates peripheral edge 82 of card 84. The card 84 extends outwardly from the platen 52 in the following manner: there is a gap between the peripheral edge of platen 52 and peripheral edge 82 of card 84. In one embodiment, the plastic card 84 may be an ISO/IEC 7810 defined ID-1 card having a length L of about 85.60mm (about 3 and 3/8 inches)_cAnd a width W of about 53.98mm (about 2 and 1/8 inches)_cAnd a fillet having a radius of between about 2.88mm to 3.48 mm. Each vacuum platen 52 has a length L of less than about 85.60mm_pAnd a width W less than about 53.98mm_p. The provision of an overhang between the peripheral edge 82 of the card 84 and the platen 52 is particularly useful when the card processing mechanism 22 is a DOD inkjet printer. Due to the overhang, ink from a DOD ink jet printer that misses the card surface does not land on platen 52. However, when the card processing mechanism 22 is not a DOD inkjet printer, overhang may not be used and the size of the vacuum platen 52 may be larger than the size of the card 84.

Fig. 8 illustrates another embodiment of the card transport mechanism 100. In this embodiment, the mechanism 100 includes a pair of parallel rails 102, 104 that extend longitudinally in a card transport direction generally parallel to the card processing path and parallel to the return path from one end of the system to the other. A longitudinal carriage 106, 108 is slidably disposed on each guide rail 102, 104 for movement along the length of each guide rail 102, 104 in the X-axis direction by actuation of a drive motor 110, 112 in driving engagement with the longitudinal carriage 106, 108 via a suitable drive mechanism. In addition, a horizontal carriage 114, 116 is slidably disposed on each carriage 106, 108 for movement in the Z-axis direction relative to the carriages 106, 108 by actuation of a drive motor 118, 120 in driving engagement with the carriages 114, 116 via a suitable drive mechanism. First and second card transport portions 122a, 122b (e.g., vacuum platens) are secured to the carriages 114, 116 and move horizontally with the carriages 114, 116.

In the operation of fig. 8, the card conveying portion 122b is shown picking up the card at the common card pick-up position, while the card conveying portion 122a is shown discharging the processed card that has been conveyed through and processed in the card processing mechanism 22 at the common card discharge position. Then, the card conveying portion 122b is actuated in the X-axis direction along the card processing path to convey the card to the card processing mechanism 22 and through the card processing mechanism 22 for processing, and finally to the common card discharge position. At the same time, the card conveying portion 122a is horizontally retracted in the Z-axis direction by the carriage 114. Such retraction may cause card transport 122a to bypass card processing mechanism 22 and avoid card transport 122b because card transport 122a is actuated back along a return path by carriage 106 to a common card pickup position to pick up a new card. In this embodiment, the card processing path and the return path are parallel to each other, but are displaced horizontally or laterally from each other such that the card transport portions 122a, 122b pass the side of the card processing mechanism 22 on the return path.

Fig. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the card transport mechanism 150. In this embodiment, the mechanism 150 includes a pair of parallel guide rails 152, 154 that extend longitudinally in a card transport direction generally parallel to the card processing path and parallel to the return path from one end of the system to the other. A longitudinal carriage 156, 158 is slidably disposed on each rail 152, 154 for movement along the length of each rail 152, 154 in the X-axis direction by actuation of a drive motor 160 (only one drive motor is visible in fig. 9) in driving engagement with the longitudinal carriage 156, 158 via a suitable drive mechanism. In addition, a rotatable arm 162, 164 is rotatably mounted on each carriage 156, 158 for rotational movement about an axis of rotation a, each axis of rotation being parallel to the guide rail 152, 154 and parallel to the X-axis direction. Rotation of the arms 162, 164 is caused by drive motors 166, 168 drivingly engaged with the pivot axes of the arms 162, 164 via a suitable drive mechanism. First and second card transports 170a, 170b (e.g., vacuum platens) are secured to the arms 162, 164 and rotate with the arms 162, 164. Each rail 152, 154 is mounted on a plate 172, 174, the plates 172, 174 being slidable in the Z-axis direction on rails 176 by actuation of a drive motor 180.

In the operation of fig. 9, the card conveying portion 170b is shown picking up the card at the common card pick-up position, while the card conveying portion 170a is shown returning from the common card ejection position along the return path after having ejected the processed card that has been conveyed through and processed in the card processing mechanism 22. In picking up a card, the arms 162, 164 are rotated to a vertical position such that the card transport 170a, 170b is vertical to pick up a vertically oriented card input through the card transport. After picking up the card, the arms 162, 164 are then rotated back to a horizontal orientation during transport and processing by the card processing mechanism. Then, the card conveying portion 170b is actuated in the X-axis direction along the card processing path to convey the card to the card processing mechanism 22 and through the card processing mechanism 22 for processing, and finally to the common card discharge position. At the same time, plates 172, 174 are moved horizontally in the Z-axis direction, thereby laterally displacing rail 152 and rotating arm 162 to the position shown in fig. 9. The movement of the plate 172 and rotation of the arm 162 may cause the card transport portion 170a to bypass the card processing mechanism 22 and avoid the card transport portion 170b as the card transport portion 170a is actuated by the carriage 156 along a return path back to the common card pick-up position to pick up a new card. Once the card transport portion 170b reaches the common card ejection position, the plates 172, 174 are moved in the horizontal direction and the arm 164 is rotated to return the processed card to the vertical state, while the arm 162 is rotated to bring the card transport portion 170 to the common card pickup position. In this embodiment, the card processing path and the return path are parallel to each other, but are displaced horizontally or laterally from each other such that the card transport portions 170a, 170b pass by the sides of the card processing mechanism 22 on the return path.

The systems and structures described herein may be part of a central card-issuing system, which is typically room-sized, configured with multiple personalization/processing stations or modules that perform different personalization/processing tasks on multiple cards simultaneously, and is typically configured to process multiple cards at a time in relatively high processing volumes (e.g., on the order of hundreds or thousands per hour). An example of a central card issuing system is the MX and MPR lines of the card issuing system available from Entrust Datacard Corporation of Shakopeee, Minnesota. Central card-issuing systems are described in U.S. patents 6902107, 5588763, 5451037, and 5266781, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The examples disclosed in this application are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description; and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.