Abstract: The invention relates to a method for stamping information carriers, in particular, card-shaped carriers, such as credit cards, identification cards, customer cards, bank cards and the like by means of two type carriers. One type carrier holds raised type and the other type carrier holds recessed type in the form of numbers and letters. The type carriers stamp the desired characters into the material of the information carrier held between the two type carriers. In the inventive method, multiple characters of at least one line are simultaneously stamped in a single stamping process. All characters in a line thereby can be stamped in a single stamping process or successively in successive stamping processes.

Abstract: A printing unit has a plurality of type wheels with types on its circumference which are rotatable on a common shaft and are driveable on it by means of a slip coupling. Each type wheel has an associated feeler device that ascertains its position and a pawl for engagement with the type wheel, with an actuator that is triggerable as a function of the feeler device via a control unit, and by the actuator the pawl can be controlled between a blocking position and a release position. The drive device serving the purpose of intermittently driving the shaft has per printing unit one drive shaft, operationally coupled to the shaft, with a driving gear wheel and one common stationary disc associated with a plurality of printing units disposed in the circumferential direction.