ID card peel sample preparation apparatus and method

An apparatus for creating uniform peel test samples from a multilayered card comprising:

• a bottom fixture plate having a pocket, a plurality of slots, and a plurality of mating connectors disposed thereon;
• a top guide plate having a plurality of channels, each channel having a slot shaped aperture, and a plurality of complementary mating connectors, wherein the slots in the bottom fixture plate align with the slot shaped apertures in the top guide plate when the complementary mating connectors of the top guide plate and the mating connectors of the bottom fixture plate are aligned and the top guide plate is in contact with the bottom fixture plate;
• and
• a cutting block having a tang formed on the underside of the cutting block, an adjusting hub including a cutting blade, and an adjustment shaft wherein the adjusting hub can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the top guide plate by movement of the adjusting shaft.

A method for creating uniform peel test samples from multilayered laminated cards comprising:

• providing a card having a first face and a second face opposite the first face;
• placing the card in a first pocket formed in a bottom fixture plate, the bottom fixture plate having a set of slots formed onto the bottom fixture plate with the set of slots parallel to one side of the bottom fixture plate, and a plurality of mating connectors disposed on the bottom fixture plate;
• covering the bottom fixture plate with a top guide plate, the top guide plate having a series of channels formed into it that are of uniform width and length, each channel having a slot shaped aperture through the center of the channel, and a plurality of complementary mating connectors disposed on the top guide plate;
• inserting into one of the channels formed in the top guide plate a cutting block having a cutting blade with an adjustable cutting depth and a tang on its bottom that fits into the channel;
• adjusting a cutting blade to a first desired depth;
• locking the cutting blade at the first desired depth;
• pulling the cutting block along the channel to cut the laminated card to the desired depth;
• removing the cutting block from the channel;
• inserting the cutting block into another channel in the top guide plate at the end of the channel and pulling the cutting block along the channel to cut the laminated card to the desired depth and then removing the cutting block from the channel;
• separating the top guide plate from the bottom fixture plate;
• removing the card from the first pocket in the bottom fixture plate;
• flipping the card over and placing the card in a second pocket in the bottom fixture plate that is oriented 90-degrees from the first pocket in the bottom fixture plate;
• covering the bottom fixture plate with the top guide plate;
• adjusting the cutting blade to a second desired depth;
• locking the cutting blade at the second desired depth;
• inserting a cutting block into a channel formed in the top guide plate at an end of the channel;
• pulling the cutting block along the channel to cut the laminated card to the desired depth;
• removing the cutting block from the channel;
• breaking apart the laminated card along the cuts made on the first face to make samples of uniform width;
• bending a sample along the cut made on the second face to create a tab.