Incremental printing of symbolic information – Electric marking apparatus or processes – By electrochemical
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-27
2001-05-22
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Electric marking apparatus or processes
By electrochemical
C347S171000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06236420
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a sublimating card printing apparatus and a sublimating card printing method, and more particularly, to a thermal transfer type card printer which prints a color image over a surface of a printing medium of a card type made of a plastic material.
2. Description of the Background Art
A thermal transfer type card printer of the type mentioned above presses a thermal transfer head against a platen with an ink ribbon and a card-shaped printing medium interposed therebetween. This combination thereby thermally transfers a variety of dyes coated on the ink ribbon onto a surface of the card-shaped printing medium, in a manner based on information on a predetermined color image to print the color image over the surface of the card-shaped printing medium.
In recent years, card-shaped printing media having such color images printed thereon have been widely used as magnetic cards, IC (Integrated Circuit) cards, also referred to in the art as “smart cards”, and cards provided with both features (hereinafter called the “magnetic IC card”), which have a variety of information recorded therein. For example, they are used as a so-called ID (identification) card for use in identification or the like of a person who enters or exits, a credit card for conducting a credit account for a financial institution such as a bank, a post office or the like, and so on.
These magnetic cards, IC cards and magnetic IC cards have been standardized in terms of their outer dimensions, and the positions at which a magnetic stripe, an IC memory, or both are placed or formed thereon, in accordance with the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard and the JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) standard.
For the magnetic IC card, the ISO standard specifies that a magnetic stripe having a predetermined width is formed along an edge in a longitudinal direction on one side of a card-shaped printing medium, and an IC memory is embedded at a predetermined position in a front end portion of the other side. The JIS standard, on the other hand, specifies that a magnetic stripe having a predetermined width is formed along an edge in a longitudinal direction on one side of a card-shaped printing medium, and an IC memory is embedded at a predetermined position in a front end portion of that same side.
Conventional card printers provide a card rotating means along a transport path of a card material, and reverse the position of a card by rotating the card rotating means, thereafter printing a predetermined image and information on the card. However, complications are introduced by the fact that the magnetic IC card has an IC memory recording/reproducing means different from a magnetic recording/reproducing means. In a magnetic IC card, failure may occur at the time of recording to an IC memory in addition to the time of magnetically recording. The transport path therefore becomes longer if the IC memory recording/reproducing means and a card tray are set linearly along the transport path, having a larger size than desired. It would therefore be desirable to provide a single apparatus capable of supporting a sequence of steps involving printing a color image on one or the other side (or both sides) of such a magnetic IC card and recording predetermined information on either or both of a magnetic stripe and an IC memory provided on one or the other side (or both) as required while providing such functionality within a compact space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a first advantage of the present invention to provide a sublimating card printing apparatus capable of providing full functionality while being minimized in size with a simple construction. The sublimating card printing apparatus for printing an image based on a supplied printing signal on one or the other side of a card material (or both sides), comprises a magnetic recording/reproducing means, an image printing means, a rotary transporting means rotatably disposed on a last part of a transport path of a card for rotating a transport direction of the card material by a predetermined angle from a linear direction, an IC memory recording/reproducing means for carrying in, recording/reproducing, and carrying out a card via the rotary transporting means, and a card tray for containing the card via the rotary transporting means. Thereby, the length of the transport path is significantly reduced and the construction of the whole apparatus can be also significantly minimized.
The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5447382 (1995-09-01), Yui et al.
patent: 5959278 (1999-09-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 5962832 (1999-10-01), Dorner
patent: 6029895 (2000-02-01), Ito et al.
Feggins K.
Le N.
Sony Corporation
Wittenberg Malcolm B.
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