System and method for storing and synchronizing forms between printer and device for attaching personalized cards by creating shingled stacks
AssigneeDataCard Corporation
InventorRoger D. McCumber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus that stores and synchronizes printed forms that are being transferred between a high speed forms printer and a mechanism for attaching plastic cards to the forms. The apparatus is also able to buffer the forms that are in progress in the printer should the card processing system need to be shut down or paused. The apparatus creates a shingled stack of forms, with the bottommost form in the stack being fed to the attaching mechanism as needed.
Claims16
A method of storing and synchronizing forms being transferred between a forms printer and a device for attaching personalized cards to the forms, comprising:
- providing a forms buffer apparatus between the printer and the attaching device;
- discharging forms from the printer into the forms buffer apparatus;
- stacking the forms in the forms buffer apparatus so that a leading edge of each form is set back from the leading edge of the form immediately beneath it thereby creating a shingled stack;
- moving the shingled stack toward an output to discharge the lowermost form from the shingled stack;
- and
- moving the shingled stack back to a home position to permit reception of another form onto the top of the shingled stack.
An apparatus for storing and synchronizing forms that are transferred between a forms printer and a device for attaching personalized cards to the forms, comprising:
- an input configured to permit reception of forms from the forms printer;
- an output through which forms are discharged to the device for attaching personalized cards;
- a stack area between the input and output that is configured and arranged to contain a stack of forms;
- a first mechanism that is configured and arranged to transport forms from the input to the stack area;
- and
- a second mechanism at the stack area that is configured and arranged to transport the stack of forms toward and away from the output.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.