GB2134682A

GB2134682A - Method and apparatus for marking cards

Info

Publication number: GB2134682A
Application number: GB08302518A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Payne
Original assignee: Ampy Automotion Digilog Ltd
Current assignee: Landis and Gyr Ltd
Priority date: 1983-01-29
Filing date: 1983-01-29
Publication date: 1984-08-15
Also published as: GB2134682B; GB8302518D0

Abstract

A card marking device has a card- receiving slot (10) defined between two plates (14, 16), a sensor (38) for sensing when a card is inserted and possibly reading information on said card, and a marking device (20) drivable in rotation when the presence of a card is sensed to impale its marking points on the card, whereafter withdrawal of the card (12) causes the marking device to follow the card through an impression forming position to a release position in which a spring (30) becomes operative to restore the marking device to its dormant position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and apparatus for marking cards FIELD OF INVENTION This invention concerns a method and apparatus for marking a card typically a credit card of the type hereinafter defined.

DEFINITION By credit card is meant any card which entitles the holder to obtain certain goods or services and which when or as it is used must be marked to denote that some or all of the goods or services to which the holder is entitled have been taken up.

Such a card is not therefore a credit card in the accepted sense, such as for example a visa (registered trade mark) or Access (registered trade mark) card, but is a true credit card in the sense that the card entitles the holder to certain goods or services normally by way of prepayment and therefore has intrinsic and negotiable value until used.

It is intended that cards of this nature shall be used to provide for the supply of metered electricity and may well be used for prepayment for other facilities such as gas, water and the like.

The prepayment concept is of course a wellestablished and well known procedure and has been used for many years in association with railways and airlines. Indeed, tickets can be purchased which are adapted to be used for more than one journey and which are presented by the purchaser to a machine or person for marking as each prepaid journey or travel units purchased by the card is utilised.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved device by which a card can be marked to indicate that some or all of the prepaid entitlement has been taken up.

Known arrangements for marking cards normally involve complex punching or perforating or inking mechanisms and require considerable power to operate the marking device. Such devices are also normally combined with motorised card reception and rejection.

It is an over-riding object of the present invention to provide a method and device for physically marking a card which requires minimal power requirements and a minimum of moving parts so as to make the arrangement as reliable as possible and cut down on the need for servicing and repair.

Whilst the invention is applicable to the marking of any card, the invention is of primary application to credit cards in which some designation such as a personal identification number or other marking is contained on the card in some machine-readable form such as magnetic coding on a magnetic stripe applied to one surface of the card or the other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of marking a machinereadable credit card (as hereinbefore defined) comprises the steps: 1. Inserting the card into a reader.

2. Reading the machine-readable information on the card and producing therefrom an acceptance signal indicating that the card is acceptable.

3. Inter alia operating a drive in response to an acceptance signal and moving a marking device from a dormant position into engagement with the card.

4. Withdrawing the card from the reader and causing the marking device to follow the card and move through an impression-forming position as it moves with the card in the direction of extraction, the act of withdrawing the card serving to return the marking device into its dormant position.

According to another aspect of the present invention, apparatus for marking a machinereadable credit card (as hereinbefore defined) comprises: 1. A slot to receive a card containing machinereadable information.

2. A machine-readable device for reading the machine-readable information on the card.

3. Electric circuit means to produce an operating signal in response to a satisfactory reading of the machine-readable information on the card.

4. Drive means responsive to the operating signal to move a card-marking device into physical engagement with the card, wherein: a. the card-marking device includes at least one claw which engages the card and after engagement prevents the card from being withdrawn without the claw moving with the card in the direction of withdrawal, and b. the marking device moves in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of withdrawal as it moves in the said withdrawal direction so as to impress or perforate the card.

In a preferred embodiment to the invention the card-marking device comprises a plate member mounted for rotation about a pivot, an edge region of the plate being formed with at least one marking device such as a point or blade, drive means for rotating the marking device in a direction so as to engage one surface of a card which has been inserted into a card-reader associated with the marking device, the radial distance between the axis of rotation and the marking device around the edge of the plate being greater than the distance between the said axis of rotation and the underside of the card so that the full rotation of the marking device is prevented when the card is in situ, the action of withdrawing the card serving to further impale the card on the marking device and cause the latter to rotate with the withdrawal of the card until the marking device can disengage from the card and a homing means to return the marking device to a first position clear of the card path.

Preferably the drive means is an electric motor and preferably the homing device is a spring acting on the plate at a region diametrically opposite to the edge region which is adapted to engage and mark the card.

In order to ensure that the electric motor drive means will rotate the marking device by a sufficient amount, the electric signal supplied to drive the motor is preferably of a duration such as to produce at least one, and preferably two or three, complete revolutions of the marking device (assuming no card is in position) and in order to prevent overheating when the motor stalls upon engagement between the marking device and the card, current limiting means is provided to restrict the stalled current of the motor.

Alternatively, a slipping clutch may be incorporated between the motor drive and the marking device so that when the latter is impaled first on the card, the motor can continue to rotate until the end of the current pulse supplied thereto.

The marking device is conveniently in the form of two or three sharpened points protruding radially from the marking device which, as previously mentioned, is conveniently in the form of a metal or plastics plate.

Preferably the marking device is located below a slot into which the card is introduced and the marking device aligns with a region of the card adjacent one of the longer edges of the card so as to be well clear of the machine-readable stripe typically of magnetic material which is normally applied centrally along one face of the card.

The slot is typically associated with a reading head typically a magnetic reading head and conveniently the reading head is located above the slot below which the marking device is located.

It will be seen that if a card is introduced which is not accepted, the marking device will not become operative since no electric signal will be generated to drive the motor and cause the marking device to become impaled on the underside of the card.

On the other hand, if a card is accepted, then the marking device will be rotated into engagement with the underside of the card and the card cannot be removed without the marking impression or severance occurring as the marking device is rotated in response to withdrawal of the card.

It will be seen that this particular mechanism fulfills all of the objectives of the invention in that minimum power is required to operate the device (i.e. sufficient power to drive the motor to rotate the marking device against a spring and into engagement with the underside of a card). All further effort needed to cause an impression to be made in the card is provided by the user on withdrawal which consequently will require more effort than insertion of the card. The device is also simple in that there are a minimum of moving parts and requires no maintenance or servicing in order to maintain its functionability.

Since with a machine-readable card the machine-readable information on the card will be mutilated in some way after the card has been read so as to prevent the card being used again or to denote that one of the prepaid uses of the card has been taken up, it is not necessary for the card to be marked with a perforation or severance for any other purpose than to indicate quickly to the user that that particular card has already been used or partially used (as the case may be).

Consequently it is important that the provision of any such facility for marking a card is relatively inexpensive and the device proposed by the present invention can be produced relatively cheaply in view of its essential simplicity and very small number of component parts.

According to a further aspect of the present invention a method of marking a card (which need not necessarily be a machine-readable card) comprise steps of: 1. Inserting a card into a card-receiving slot.

2. Operating a drive means in response to the insertion of the card into the slot and moving a marking device from a dormant position into engagement with a surface of the card.

3. Withdrawing the card from the cardreceiving slot and causing the marking device to follow the card and move through an impression forming position as it moves with the card in the direction of extraction, withdrawal of the card from the slot causing the marking device to return to its dormant position.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention apparatus for marking a card (which need not necessarily be machine-readable card) comprising: 1. A card-receiving slot to receive the card.

2. A censor associated with the slot which is operated upon the insertion of a card into the slot.

3. Means for energising a rotatable drive in response to the insertion of a card into the slot.

4. A card-marking device rotatable by the drive means into physical engagement with one surface of the card upon insertion of the latter into the slot and means for rotating the card into a dormant position after the card is removed from the slot, wherein: a. the card-marking device includes at least one claw which engages the card and after engagement prevents the card from being withdrawn without the claw moving with the card in the direction of withdrawal, and, b. the marking device moves in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of withdrawal as it moves in the said withdrawal direction, so as to impress or perforate the card.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a cross-section through a card-marking device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a further view of a marking device embodying the invention sectioned on the line xx of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a block circuit diagram indicating the electric circuit means required to drive the motor of the Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 embodiment.

Fig. 4 illustrates the electric current pulses which will occur at different points in the circuit of Fig. 3 when a card is accepted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS In Fig. 1 a card-receiving slot is denoted by reference 10 and a card which is about to be inserted into the slot is denoted by reference 1 2.

The slot is formed by upper and lower members 14 and 1 6 respectively and the member 1 6 is formed with a slot 1 8 into and through which the marking points of a marking device 20 can pass as the latter is rotated in the direction of arrow 22.

The marking device comprises a plate 24 mounted on a shaft 26, the plate being noncircular and the marking points 20 being formed at a position of maximum radius from the axis of rotation 26.

Diametrically opposite the marking points 20 is located a pin 28 to which is attached a spring 30 the other end of which is fixed at 32.

The shaft 26 is driven by an electric motor (see Fig. 2) denoted by reference 34 and when energised the motor causes the plate 24 to rotate in the direction of arrow 22 from the dormant position shown (into which the plate will normally be held by the action of the spring 30) until the points 20 engage the underside of the card. To facilitate an understanding of the invention, a card is shown at 1 2a in dotted outline fully in the slot.

The presence of a card will actually prevent the pointed section 20 of the marking device 24 from rotating and the device will become impaled on the underside of the card 12a. At this stage the motor is arranged to stall or a slipping cluth (not shown) is provided.

The angle at which the plate 24 will come to rest is denoted by line 36 in Fig. 31.

The withdrawal of the card from a position at 1 2a to the position shown at 12 will cause the marking plate at 24 to be moved in the same direction as the card withdrawal i.e. in the same direction of rotation as the arrow 22, until the points 20 of the marking device can become disengaged from the underside of the card. At this stage the spring 30 takes over and continues to rotate the plate 24 until the latter occupies the position as shown in Fig. 1 (i.e. at dormant or home position).

Insofar as the invention will mark any card that is introduced into the slot, the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 can be used to mark any card whether a machine-readable card or not by the provision of a censor or actuator in the slot so as to designate when any card has been fully.

introduced into the slot in a position shown in Fig.

1 at 12a. The censor produces an electrical signal which will then cause the motor to rotate and perform the marking of the card as the latter is withdrawn.

Where a machine-readable card is used, a reading device such as a magnetic readershown in dotted outline at 38 in Fig. 1, is provided and conveniently this is located above the slot 10 and protrudes through an aperture (not shown) in the upper member 14. The card is therefore introduced into the slot in such a way that the reading head 38 can read any information located on the card in machine-readable form and electric circuit means associated with the reading head 38 generates an electric signal pulse (P 1) from which a driving pulse for the motor can be generated (in manner to be described).

In order to accommodate the points 20, as the marking plate 24 is rotated across top dead centre, through the impression forming, a groove or slot 40 may be provided in the underside of the member 14 in alignment with the path of the points 20.

The electrical signal for driving the motor 34 is derived by an electrical circuit as shown in Fig. 3.

The circuit includes a pulse generating circuit 42 having a trigger input 44 and an output 46.

The circuit 42 is triggered by an acceptance signal generated by the reader 38 and associated circuitry (not shown) and since this signal will not normally be in a suitable form, a pulse is generated by the pulse generator 42 suitable for driving a pulse-shaping circuit 48. The signal P 1 is thus converted into a single pulse P2 which is supplied to the input 50 of a pulse-shaping circuit 48 which is adjustable at least during setting-up so as to generate from the pulse P2 a pulse P3 of controlled duration equivalent to the length of time for the motor 34 to rotate by a known number of revolutions (typically 2 or 3 revolutions).

The output from the pulse-shaper 48 is amplified in amplifier 52 having a current limiting output circuit so as to limit the stall current of the motor 34 in the event (as will normally be the case) that the motor is prevented from making even the complete first revolution as the marking device comes into contact with the underside of the card.

Fig. 4 illustrates the various signals at the points P 1, P2 and P3.

Although reference has been made to the card as having a magnetic stripe therealong on which information in coded form is stored magnetically, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to magnetic encoding of the card to render the card machine-readable.

Claims

1. A method of marking a card which comprises the steps of: i). inserting a card into a card-receiving slot; ii). operating a drive means in response to the insertion of the card into the slot and moving a marking device from a dormant position into engagement with a surface of the card; iii). withdrawing the card from the cardreceiving slot and causing the marking device to follow the card and move through an impressionforming position as it moves with the card in the direction of extraction, withdrawal of the card from the slot causing the marking device to return to its dormant position.

2. A method according to claim 1, applied to a machine-readable credit card (as hereinbefore defined), according to which the card is read on insertion into the slot and an acceptable card reading produces operation of the drive means which move the marking device.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, according to which the drive means causes the marking device to be impaled on to the card for movement therewith through the impressionforming position as the card is withdrawn.

4. A method according to claim 3, according to which the drive means is caused to stop driving the marking device after impaling said device on the card.

5. A method according to claim 4, according to which continued withdrawal of the card beyond the impression-forming position causes the marking device to become detached from the card and the marking device is then returned by spring means to its dormant position.

6. A method of making a machine-readable credit card (as hereinbefore defined) comprising the steps of: i). inserting the card into a reader; ii). reading the machine-readable information on the card and producing therefrom an acceptance signal indicating that the card is acceptable; iii), inter alia operating a drive in response to an acceptance signal and moving a marking device from a dormant position into engagement with the card; iv). withdrawing the card from the reader and causing the marking device to follow the card and move through an impression-forming position as it moves with the card in the direction of extraction, the act of withdrawing the card serving to return the marking device into its dormant position.

7. Apparatus for marking a card comprising: i). a card-receiving slot to receive the card; ii). a sensor associated with the slot which is operated upon the insertion of a card into the slot; iii). means for energising a rotatable drive in response to the insertion of a card into the slot; iv). a card-marking device rotatable by the drive means into physical engagement with one surface of the card upon insertion of the latter into the slot and means for rotating the card into a dormant position after the card is removed from the slot, wherein:: (a) the card-marking device includes at least one claw which engages the card and after engagement prevents the card from being withdrawn without the claw moving with the card in the direction of withdrawal, and, (b) the marking device moves in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of withdrawal as it moves in the said withdrawal direction, so as to impress or perforate the card.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, for marking a machine-readable credit card (as hereinbefore defined), wherein the sensor comprises a reading device for reading the machine readable information on the card and for producing an acceptance signal for an acceptable card, and electric circuit means responsive to the acceptance signal for actuating the energising means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the marking device comprises a plate member mounted for rotation about a pivot, an edge region of the plate being formed with at least one marking device such as a point or blade, drive means for rotating the marking device in a direction so as to engage one surface of a card which has been inserted into a card-reader associated with the marking device, the radial distance between the axis of rotation and the marking device around the edge of the plate being greater than the distance between the said axis of rotation and the underside of the card so that the full rotation of the marking device is prevented when the card is in situ, the action of withdrawing the card serving to further impale the card on the marking device and cause the latter to rotate with the withdrawal of the card until the marking device can be disengaged from the card, and a homing means to return the marking device to a first position clear of the card path.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the drive means comprises an electric motor.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the homing device comprises a return spring.

12. Apparatus according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein interruption means are provided to render the drive means inoperative for driving the card after driving the claw into engagement with the card.

1 3. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the interruption means includes a current limiting circuit for restricting a stalled motor current.

14. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the interruption means comprises a slipping clutch.

1 5. Apparaus according to any of claims 10 to 14, including a pulse forming circuit for forming from the acceptance signal a pulse of predetermined duration for activating the energising means for the electric motor.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the predetermined duration is longer than the duration necessary to drive the claw into engagement with the card.

1 7. Apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 16, wherein the claw comprises a plurality of sharpened points projecting radially from the marking device.

1 8. Apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 17, having a slot for receiving a rectangular card longitudinally, wherein the sensor and the marking device are relatively offset in the lateral direction of the card receiving slot.

19. Apparatus for marking a machine readable credit card (as hereinbefore defined) comprising:- i). a slot to receive a card containing machinereadable information; ii). a machine-readabie device for reading the machine-readable information on the card; iii). electric circuit means to produce an operating signal in response to a satisfactory reading of the machine-readable information on the card; iv). drive means responsive to the operating signal to move a card-making device into physical engagement with the card, wherein: : (a) the card-marking device includes at least one claw which engages the card and after engagement prevents the card from being withdrawn without the claw moving with the card in the direction of withdrawal, and (b) the marking device moves in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of withdrawal as it moves in the said withdrawal direction so as to impress or perforate the card.

20. A method of making a card, for example a credit card, substantially as hereinbefore described.

21. Apparatus for making a card, for example a credit card, substantially as hereinbefore described.