Printed matter – Strips and leaves
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-24
2001-10-23
Fridie, Jr., Willmon (Department: 3722)
Printed matter
Strips and leaves
C283S082000, C283S081000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305716
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to printed sheet products for use as identification cards and the like and, in particular, to sets of uniquely encoded cards, tags, labels and other sheet elements.
A substantial market has developed in recent years for inexpensively manufactured, individually encoded, transaction cards for such uses as store credit cards, membership cards, I.D. cards, etc. The transaction cards typically bear the code in a bar format to permit automatic machine scanning of the card. Such cards typically are supplied in sets with one or more cards, labels, and tags, being supplied with each set and bearing the same individual code number.
Previously, it has taken many separate manufacturing steps to provide such sets. Perhaps the most efficient prior method has been printing in multiple steps, individual sheets of uniquely encoded, typically sequentially numbered, transaction cards, printing separate strips of release paper backed adhesive labels with the same, unique codes as the cards, in the same sequence of codes as the codes appear on the cards of the sheets, and attaching the strip(s) with the appropriate
code numbers to each sheet with the labels adjoining the like coded card(s).
In practice, this apparently simple, straightforward method required several labor-intensive steps. The appropriate labels for each sheet of cards were identified and applied by hand to the sheet so that the labels properly adjoin the associated transaction cards. Because this was done by hand, considerable time and effort was spent checking the final product to assure accuracy. In addition, because the transaction card sheets and label strips were printed separately, more time was needed to complete the task if the same printer is used to print the transaction card sheet and label strips. Alternatively, several printers must be available to simultaneously print the cards and the strips.
The twin problems of relatively high cost and errors associated with hand production of sets of plural related printed elements, all bearing some code unique to each set of elements, and numerous printing steps were solved by U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,146.
The present invention is also directed to improvements to the sheet products originally described in that patent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, the invention is a printed sheet product comprising a thin planar core of flexible, printable material having first and second opposing major sides; a set of at least two separate variable data fields printed on a first major side of the core, at least one of the variable data fields of the set being a code field printed with a unique numeric code common to all variable data fields of the set with numeric codes printed on the core, the unique numeric code being printed in at least a bar code format, at least a second variable data field of the set being either a second code field printed with the unique numeric code or an identification code field printed with a unique name and address combination of an individual assigned the unique numeric code; at least one static graphic field printed on the first major planar side of the core in addition to the set of variable data fields and at least one static graphic field lacking the unique numeric code printed on the second major planar side of the core; a first covering permanently fixed to the first major planar side of the core overlying at least one printed code field of the set and at least part of the static graphic field, the first covering being sufficiently transparent to permit the unique numeric code printed in bar code format in the underlying code field and one static graphic field printed on the first side of the core to be read through the first covering; and scoring extending sufficiently through the core, the first covering and any other layers on the core, where present, to define at least three elements, separable by an end user from one another and any remainder of the printed sheet product, a first removable element bearing at least the first printed code field of the set and at least part of the first covering and another removable element in the form of a printed redeemable coupon bearing at least part of one of the first and second printed static graphic fields.
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Catalog sheet The Prodigy Label Printer™, Fargo Electronics Incorporated, Prairie, MN 1990, 2 sides.
H. Bailey and B. Wray, “Photographic Bar Code Labels”,Identification Journal, Jan./Feb. 1988, pp.16-19.
Abbott Paul Jonathan
Steen, Jr. C. Raymond
Warther Richard O.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld L.L.P.
Fridie Jr. Willmon
Vanguard Identification Systems, Inc.
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