Obliterator and relative card

An obliterating machine for a card designed to be inserted with a head within said obliterating machine, said card being made of synthetic plastic material and featuring a plurality of grooves and/or ribs and a toothing made in at least one surface of said card, so as to define a predetermined cross profile for said card, with a first tooth of said toothing being near to said head of said card, said machine comprising:

• a front panel featuring an opening for allowing a card to pass therethrough;
• a body, protruding from said front panel and featuring a recess made in correspondence with said opening, and a cavity that communicate with said recess;
• a pair of plates, upper plate and lower plate respectively, housed within said recess of said body, with counterfacing surfaces of said plates delimiting a seat for receiving said card, said receiving seat having a cross profile complementar to said cross profile of said card;
• a first feeler pin and a first micro-switch, said first feeler pin being movable along a path perpendicular to said seat, so as to push onto said micro-switch when a card is inserted into said receiving seat;
• a second feeler pin and a second micro-switch, said second feeler pin being movable along a path parallel to said card receiving seat, so as to push onto said second micro-switch when a card is inserted into said card receiving seat and said first tooth of said toothing pushes onto said second feeler pin;
• at least one cogwheel rotatably mounted aside of said card receiving seat and arranged with a rotary axis perpendicular to said card receiving seat, said cogwheel being designed to engage said toothing of said card;
• a cutting blade slidably guided within said cavity of said body and along a path perpendicular to said card receiving seat;
• a rocker pivoted to said body and linking said cutting blade to an electromagnet, so as to cut subsequent strips from the head of said card;
• a further micro-switch arranged so as to be operated by said rocker when a strip is cut from said card, in order to activate an electric circuit for controlling the operation of a product or service vending apparatus.