Wasteless laminator
OwnerGrant H. Wurdell, Steven J. Fitzsimmonsinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wasteless lamination mechanism that laminates a topcoat or lamina onto a substrate, without requiring cutting of the lamina down to the size of the substrate. The substrate is preferably a card, such as an identification card, a credit card, or other CR80 size card. A lamina to be laminated onto a substrate is separated from a web containing a plurality of lamina after lamination of the leading portion of the web to the substrate begins. As a result, the rollers of the lamination station can be used to transport the lamina, thereby avoiding the need for a separate transport mechanism for transporting the lamina to the lamination station.
Claims17
A lamination mechanism, comprising:
- a supply of web material containing a plurality of laminae, said web material including a leading edge;
- a lamination station;
- a drive mechanism engageable with the web material for driving the leading edge thereof toward and into the lamination station;
- and
- a lamina separation mechanism that is positioned within the mechanism at a position so that a lamina is separated from the web after the leading edge of the web material is laminated to a substrate.
A method of laminating a substrate, comprising:
- providing a lamination mechanism that includes:
- i) a supply of web material containing a plurality of laminae, said web material including a leading edge;
- ii) a lamination station including a staging position;
- and
- iii) a drive mechanism engageable with the web material for driving the leading edge thereof toward and into the lamination station;
- advancing the leading edge of the web material to the staging position;
- advancing the substrate to the staging position;
- laminating the leading edge of the web material to the substrate;
- separating a lamina from the web material, the lamina including the leading edge that has been laminated to the substrate;
- and
- completing lamination of the lamina to the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.