Abstract: For use in an identification card printer includes a roller support, a guide roller, and a card stop. The roller support is positioned between a card feeder and the card transport mechanism. The guide roller is supported by the roller support for rotation about an axis that is substantially parallel to a card feed plane and transverse to a card path. The guide roller includes a card engaging side adjacent the card feed plane where non-abrasive contact of a first surface of the lead card is made during the card feed operation. The card stop is positioned adjacent a side of the guide roller that is opposite the card engaging side. During card feed operations, the lead card is allowed passage to the card transport mechanism along the card engaging side of the guide roller while cards that are stacked upon the lead card are blocked by the card stop.

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.

Abstract: A card cartridge includes a housing having a pair of opposing side walls, a top, a front wall, a back wall opposite the front wall, and a base. The housing includes an interior cavity that is sized to accommodate a stack of cards, a card access, and a card output slot. The card access allows a card transport mechanism to engage a lead card contained in the housing and feed the lead card through the card output slot.

Abstract: A card printer is provided with a cleaning roller that will pick up debris on the surface of a card on which printing is to take place. The cleaning roller has a sticky surface, that is engagement with a band of adhesive tape that moves to contact the surface of the cleaning roller and remove debris that is on the cleaning roller surface. The tape is preferably formed in an endless band mounted on a pair of rollers that are in a common housing with the cleaning roller. The housing is removably mounted in the printer, and can be opened for replacement of the band of tape.

Abstract: A card hopper includes a control gate that reliably allows cards of varying thicknesses to be fed individually through an outlet opening without adjustment. The hopper is configured to hold a stack of plastic cards or similar, fairly rigid, substrates. The control gate is positioned at the outlet opening and includes a flexible blade that reduces a height of the outlet opening to less than a thickness of an end card of the stack, whereby the flexible blade flexes in response to the end card when driven through the outlet opening. Also disclosed is a card feeder assembly that includes the above-described hopper.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to an identification card printer that can be used with a card cartridge that protects a stack of cards stored therein from environmental contamination and establishes a card transport plane, from which other components of the identification card printer can be aligned, independent of the card cartridge. The identification card printer includes a cartridge receiver adapted to receive the card cartridge and a card transport mechanism. The card transport mechanism includes a pair of feed rollers, portions of which extend to the cartridge receiver and define the card transport plane.

Abstract: A printer for printing identification cards, in particular, is provided with a hopper for holding a stack of cards to be printed. A card feeder will feed one card at a time from the hopper. The hopper is mounted so that it can be moved away from the card feeder and provide a space into which a single card can be manually fed to the card feeder for processing and printing. The hopper then can be returned to its normal feeding position after the single card has been printed.

Abstract: A card printer has a card feed hopper assembly that will support stacks of two different size cards in hopper sections. The card feed hopper assembly is movable transversely of the printer to position the respective hopper sections to be aligned with a card feed path on the printer, and then positioned so that cards in the hopper section aligned with the card feed path will be driven into the printer. The hopper is lifted when it is moved transversely, and then lowered down to provide the card drive for cards in the hopper section that is aligned with the card feed path.

Abstract: A card hopper includes a control gate that reliably allows cards of varying thicknesses to be fed individually through an outlet opening without adjustment. The hopper is configured to hold a stack of plastic cards or similar, fairly rigid, substrates. The control gate is positioned at the outlet opening and includes a flexible blade that reduces a height of the outlet opening to less than a thickness of an end card of the stack, whereby the flexible blade flexes in response to the end card when driven through the outlet opening. Also disclosed is a card feeder assembly that includes the above-described hopper.

Abstract: A card printer is provided with a cleaning roller that will pick up debris on the surface of a card on which printing is to take place. The cleaning roller has a sticky surface, that is engagement with a band of adhesive tape that moves to contact the surface of the cleaning roller and remove debris that is on the cleaning roller surface. The tape is preferably formed in an endless band mounted on a pair of rollers that are in a common housing with the cleaning roller. The housing is removably mounted in the printer, and can be opened for replacement of the band of tape.

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.

Abstract: A thermal printer has a thermal printhead mounted on a pivot frame which is movable from a working position where the printhead is in position to print from a thermal ribbon onto a substrate, to an open position which permits access to ribbon take-up and supply rolls. The printhead is pivotally mounted to the pivot frame, and its pivoting is controlled by a cam so that the sensitive thermal print element of the thermal printhead remain at a position that permits access to the ribbon and other printer working components, without exposing the print elements so they can easily be contacted by a person servicing the printer. Cooperating guide members are used for controlling the orientation of the printhead as the pivot frame moves between a working position and an open position.

Abstract: A printhead is mounted in a support frame that has reference mounting members on the sides of the frame that establish a reference plane for mounting the support frame in a printer The printhead is adjustable on the support frame relative to the reference plane about a pivot axis on the support frame and also laterally of the reference plane. A fixture is used for mounting the support frame with the reference mounting members in a known location, and the position of a print line of the printhead relative to a reference location established by a camera and monitor is adjusted until the print line is in a predetermined position. The camera provides a view of the print line relative to the predetermined position, and the printhead is adjusted on the support frame until the location of the print line viewed by the camera is at the proper position The printhead is then fixed to the support frame.

Abstract: An integrated data cartridge import/export device controls the operation of both a closure door mechanism and a cartridge media carrier. Each of these two mechanisms are functionally coupled to one another and are driven by a single drive motor, thus simplifying the design and minimizing parts. Further, these two devices interact to insure necessary operational relationships are maintained.