Method and apparatus for communicating between printer and card supply
AssigneeFargo Electronics, Inc.
InventorsGary M. Klinefelter, Jeffrey D. Upin, Gary A. Lenz, Martin A. Pribula, James R. Meier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A card supply for use with an identification card printing system includes a card hopper and a supply circuit. The card hopper contains a stack of cards. The supply circuit is mounted to the card hopper that includes a memory containing supply information relating to parameters of the card supply.
Claims47
A card supply for use with an identification card printing system comprising:
- a card hopper containing a stack of cards and including:
- an end wall having an outlet opening therethrough aligned with an end card;
- and
- a control gate that adjusts a height of the outlet opening;
- and
- a supply circuit mounted to the card hopper and having a memory containing supply information relating to parameters of the card supply.
An identification card printing system comprising:
- a card supply including a card hopper containing a stack of cards;
- a supply circuit mounted to the card supply and having a memory containing supply information relating to parameters of the card supply;
- a print head;
- a transport mechanism adapted to transport cards along a print path and present the cards to the print head for printing;
- and
- a controller adapted to access the supply information and control printer operation in accordance with a comparison between a printer operation parameter and a corresponding parameter stored in the memory of the supply circuit.
A method for use with an identification card printing system to manage a card supply having a card hopper containing a stack of cards and a supply circuit mounted to the card hopper and having a memory containing supply information relating to parameters of the card supply, the method comprising steps of:
- (a) retrieving supply information from the memory;
- and
- (b) using the supply information during processing of cards;
- and
- (c) controlling operation of the identification card printing system based on the supply information.
A card supply for use with an identification card printing system comprising:
- a card hopper containing a stack of cards;
- and
- a supply circuit mounted to the card hopper and having a memory containing supply information relating to parameters of the card supply including at least one of card size, card thickness, card orientation, card supplier information, dealer information and a printer setting for the card supply.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.