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US 7,028,896 B2Granted
Transaction card fabrication control system and method
AssigneeArthur Blank & Company, Inc.
InventorsKeith Goldstein, Stuart Blank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for producing transaction cards, such as gift cards and identification cards, ensures that duplicate and missing cards are eliminated from a group of cards. Cards may also be provided in an ordered sequence. Each transaction card may include one or more unique identifiers so that each card is uniquely identified from all other cards in the group. Cards in the group may be packaged according to a hierarchy, and the location of each card in the hierarchy may be retained and later used for identifying the location of cards and/or batch activation.
Claims52
A transaction card fabrication control system comprising:
- a card reader that reads an identifier from a plurality of transaction cards in a group, the identifier uniquely identifying each transaction card from other transaction cards in the group and useable in facilitating an association of a transaction involving each transaction card with an issuee;
- a card transport that moves transaction cards relative to the card reader;
- a card presence sensor that detects the presence of transaction cards moved by the card transport;
- and
- a controller that compares identifiers read from a set of transaction cards by the card reader to a stored list of identifiers for the transaction cards and generates an approval report to release the set of transaction cards for packaging only if all identifiers read from the set of transaction cards match corresponding identifiers in the stored list.
2 more elements
A method for controlling transaction card fabrication, comprising:
- providing a group of fabricated transaction cards each having at least one identifier formed on the card that uniquely identifies the card from others in the group of transaction cards, the group of transaction cards being logically organized into a plurality of sets of transaction cards;
- reading identifiers from the plurality of sets of transaction cards;
- comparing identifiers read from transaction cards in each set to a stored list of identifiers associated with the set;
- determining if the identifiers read from transaction cards in each set match corresponding identifiers in the stored list associated with the set;
- generating a report that indicates a set is complete if all identifiers read from the set match a corresponding identifier in the associated stored list;
- and
- generating a report that indicates a set is incomplete if at least one identifier read from the set does not match a corresponding identifier in the associated stored list.
4 more elements
A method for controlling transaction card fabrication, comprising:
- (a) providing a group of fabricated transaction cards, each transaction card having at least one identifier formed on the transaction card that uniquely identifies the transaction card from others in the group of transaction cards;
- (b) machine reading identifiers from a set of the transaction cards, the set of transaction cards having 5 or more transaction cards and less than a total number of transaction cards in the group;
- (c) physically organizing the set of transaction cards to be separately packaged from other sets of transaction cards;
- (d) storing the identifiers read from the corresponding set of transaction cards;
- (e) repeating steps (b) through (d) for subsequent sets of transaction cards;
- (f) comparing the identifiers read from the sets to a stored list of identifiers;
- and
- (g) automatically identifying if any transaction cards in the sets are unexpected or duplicates or if there are any missing transaction cards based on the comparison of step (f).
5 more elements
A method for processing transaction items, comprising:
- (a) moving a first transaction card along a path;
- (b) performing a first operation on the first transaction card that alters the first transaction card, the first operation, when properly performed, forming information on the first transaction card and causing the first transaction card to be uniquely identified from other transaction cards in a group of processed transaction cards;
- (c) detecting information indicative of whether the first operation was properly performed on the first transaction card;
- (d) automatically remaking the first transaction card if the first operation was improperly performed on the first transaction card before making a next transaction card so that the set of processed transaction cards is created in a specific sequence;
- (e) repeating steps (a) through (d) so as to provide a group of transaction cards, each transaction card having at least one identifier formed on the transaction card that uniquely identifies the transaction card from others in the group of transaction cards;
- (f) machine reading identifiers from a set of the transaction cards, the set of transaction cards having 5 or more transaction cards and less than a total number of transaction cards in the group;
- (g) physically organizing the set of transaction cards to be separately packaged from other sets of transaction cards;
- (h) storing the identifiers read from the corresponding set of transaction cards;
- (i) repeating steps (f) through (h) for subsequent sets of transaction cards;
- (j) comparing the identifiers read from the sets to a stored list of identifiers;
- and
- (k) automatically identifying if any transaction cards in the sets are duplicates or if there are any missing transaction cards based on the comparison of step (j).
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.