Marking and sorting procedure

Claim 1

A method for marking a large number of plastic sheets to define a plurality of individual uniform credit card areas on said sheets by marking each credit card area with a unique credit card number, said method comprising: selecting a numerical base, b, for marking the plastic sheets; selecting a lot size of sheets to be marked which lot size is substantially equal to b n . k sheets in which k is an integer and n is a whole number greater than one and is equal to the number of places required to express the number b.sup.(n -1 ) or a multiple of b.sup.(n -1 ) in terms of the numerical base b; identically marking each sheet in the lot with position numbers in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet with each credit card area on a sheet having an individual position number which differs from the position number of each of the other credit card areas on the sheet; marking each sheet in the lot with an individual sheet number; said sheet number being marked in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet; said sheet numbers being marked on the sheets in the lot by marking the 1st numerical place of the sheet number on a first run of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets with a number c; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on a second run of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets with a number d; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on succeeding runs of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets with numbers, e, f, g, etc., until the last or b run of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets is marked in the 1st place of the sheet number with a number h with the range of the numbers c through h corresponding to the numerical range of numbers 0 to b-1; forming b groups (1) of sheets marked in the 1st place of the sheet number by placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets marked with c in the 1st numerical place into each of the b groups (1), then placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets marked with d in the 1st numerical place into each of the b groups (1), etc., until one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets marked with h in the 1st numerical place is placed in each of the b groups (1) with each group (1) being identical and containing b parts of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets with one part from each of the b runs and each group (1) containing a total of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets; marking the 2nd numerical place of the sheet number of the sheets in one of the groups (1) with the number c; marking separately the sheets in succeeding groups (1) in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the same numbers d, e, f, g, etc., used in marking the 1st place with numbers until the last group (1) is marked in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the same number h used in marking the last run of sheets in the 1st numerical place; forming b identical groups (2), b identical groups (3), b identical groups (4) and so on until b groups (n-2) are formed by repeating the above procedure with each of the groups (2) formed by combining b 2 parts of b.sup.(n -3 ). k sheets from the marked groups (1), each of the groups (3) formed by combining b 3 parts of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets from the groups (2) and each of the groups (4) formed by combining b 4 parts of b.sup.(n -5 ). k sheets from the groups (3) and so on; marking the n-1 numerical place of the sheet number on the sheets in the groups (n-2) with numbers from c to h with the firsts groups (n-2) marked with c, the next with d and so on until the b group (n-2) is marked with h in the n-1 place; dividing each marked group (n-2) into b.sup.(n -1 ). k parts with each part containing b 0 . k sheets; sorting each of b identical parts of b 0 . k sheets from each of the groups (n-2) into each of b identical groups (n-1), and then marking the nth numerical place of the sheet number on the sheets of each of the groups (n-1) with succeeding numbers from c to h to provide b n . k sheets which are marked with individual sheet numbers corresponding to the numerical range from 0 to b n- 1 by using a total of b × n marking steps and by reducing the sorting size after each marking operation by a factor of 1/b as compared with the sorting size used in the preceding marking operation.

Claim 2

A method for marking a large number of plastic sheets to define a plurality of individual uniform credit card areas on said sheets by marking each credit card area with a unique credit card number, said method comprising: selecting a numerical base, b, for marking the plastic sheets; selecting a lot size of sheets to be marked which lot size is substantially equal to b n . k sheets in which k is an integer and n is a whole number greater than one and is equal to the number of places required to express the number b.sup.(n -1 ) or a multiple of b.sup.(n -1 ) in terms of the numerical base b; identically marking each sheet in the lot with position numbers in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet with each credit card area on a sheet having an individual position number which differs from the position number of each of the other credit card areas on the sheet; marking each sheet in the lot with an individual sheet number; said sheet number being marked in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet; said sheet numbers being marked on the sheets in the lot by marking the 1st numerical place of the sheet number on a first run of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets with a number c; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on a second run of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets with a number d; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on succeeding runs of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets with numbers, e, f, g, etc., until the last or b run of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets is marked in the 1st place of the sheet number with a number h with the range of the numbers c through h corresponding to the numerical range of numbers 0 to b-1; forming b groups (1) of sheets marked in the 1st place of the sheet number by placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets marked with c in the 1st numerical place into each of the b groups (1), then placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets marked with d in the 1st numerical place into each of the b groups (1), etc., until one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets marked with h in the 1st numerical place is placed in each of the b groups (1) with each group (1) being identical and containing b parts of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets with one part from each of the b runs and each group (1) containing a total of b.sup.(n -1 ). k sheets; marking the 2nd numerical place of the sheet number of the sheets in one of the groups (1) with the number c; marking separately the sheets in succeeding groups (1) in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the same numbers d, e, f, g, etc., used in marking the 1st place with numbers until the last group (1) is marked in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the same number h used in marking the last run of sheets in the 1st numerical place; forming b identical groups (2), b identical groups (3), b identical groups (4) and so on until b groups (n-2) are formed by repeating the above procedure with each of the groups (2) formed by combining b 2 parts of b.sup.(n -3 ). k sheets from the marked groups (1), each of the groups (3) formed by combining b 3 parts of b.sup.(n -2 ). k sheets from the groups (2) and each of the groups (4) formed by combining b 4 parts of b.sup.(n -5 ). k sheets from the groups (3) and so on; marking the n-1 numerical place of the sheet number on the sheets in the groups (n-2) with numbers from c to h with the firsts groups (n-2) marked with c, the next with d and so on until the b group (n-2) is marked with h in the n-1 place; dividing each marked group (n-2) into b.sup.(n -1 ). k parts with each part containing b 0 . k sheets; sorting each of b identical parts of b 0 . k sheets from each of the groups (n-2) into each of b identical groups (n-1), and then marking the nth numerical place of the sheet number on the sheets of each of the groups (n-1) with succeeding numbers from c to h to provide b n . k sheets which are marked with individual sheet numbers corresponding to the numerical range from 0 to b n- 1 by using a total of b × n marking steps and by reducing the sorting size after each marking operation by a factor of 1/b as compared with the sorting size used in the preceding marking operation.

Claim 10

A method for marking a large number of plastic sheets to define a plurality of individual uniform credit card areas on each sheet by marking each credit card area with a unique credit card number, said method comprising: selecting a numerical base, b, for marking the plastic sheets; selecting a lot size of sheets to be marked which lot size is substantially equal to b n . z/b sheets in which z is a whole number smaller than b and n is a whole number greater than one and is equal to the number of places required to express the number b.sup.(n -1 ) or a multiple of b.sup.(n -1 ) in terms of the numerical base b; identically marking each sheet in the lot with position numbers in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet with each credit card areas on a sheet having an individual position number which differs from the position number of each of the other credit card areas on the sheet; marking each sheet in the lot with an individual sheet number; said sheet number being marked in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet; said sheet numbers being marked on the sheets in the lot by marking the 1st numerical place of the sheet number on a first run of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets with a number c; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on a second run of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets with a number d; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on succeeding runs of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets with numbers e, f, g, etc., until the last run or b run of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets is marked in the 1st place of the sheet number with a number h with the range of the numbers c through h corresponding to the numerical range of the numbers 0 through b-1; forming b groups (1) of sheets marked in the 1st place of the sheet number with each group (1) being identical by placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). z/b sheets marked with the number c in the 1st numerical place into each of the b groups (1); then placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). z/b sheets marked with d in the 1st numerical place in each of the groups (1), etc., until one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). z/b sheets marked with h in the 1st numerical place is placed in each of the b groups (1) such that each of the b groups (1) contains one part from each of the b runs and each groups (1) contains a total of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets; marking the 2nd numerical place of the sheet number on the sheets in one of the groups (1) with the number c; marking separately the objects in succeeding groups (1) in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the nmbers d, e, f, g, etc., used in marking the 1st place of the sheet number with numbers until the last group (1) is marked in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the same number h used in marking the 1st numerical place of the sheet number; forming b identical groups (2), b identical groups (3), b identical groups (4) and so on until b groups (n-2) are formed by repeating the above procedures with each of the groups (2) formed by combining b 2 parts of b.sup.(n -3 ). z/b sheets from the marked groups (1), each of the groups (3) formed by combining b 3 parts of b.sup.(n -4 ). z/b sheets from the groups (2) and each of the groups (4) formed by combining b 4 parts of b.sup.(n -5 ). z/b sheets from the groups (3) and so on; forming b identical groups (n-2), with each group (n-2) containing b.sup.(n - 2) parts and each part containing z identically marked sheets; marking the groups (n-2) separately with the numbers c through h and then sorting the marked sheets by placing one of z identically marked sheets into each of z different groups (n-1) which contain b.sup.(n -1 ) sheets, and then marking the nth numerical place of the sheet number of each of the groups (n-1) with succeeding numbers from c through f corresponding to the numerical range of 0 to z to provide b n . z/b sheets which are separately marked with numbers corresponding to the numerical range from 0 to b n /z - 1 by using a total of b(n-1)+z marking steps, whereby each of the plurality of credit card areas on each sheet bears a unique number composed of the position number of the credit card area on the sheet and the sheet number of the particular sheet on which the particular credit card areas are defined and the number of sheets which are sorted into each of the b groups after each marking, except for the last marking, is decreased by a factor of 1/b from the number of sheets sorted into each of the b groups after the preceding marking operation.

Claim 11

A method for marking a large number of plastic sheets to define a plurality of individual uniform credit card areas on each sheet by marking each credit card area with a unique credit card number, said method comprising: selecting a numerical base, b, for marking the plastic sheets; selecting a lot size of sheets to be marked which lot size is substantially equal to b n . z/b sheets in which z is a whole number smaller than b and n is a whole number greater than one and is equal to the number of places required to express the number b.sup.(n -1 ) or a multiple of b.sup.(n -1 ) in terms of the numerical base b; identically marking each sheet in the lot with position numbers in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet with each credit card areas on a sheet having an individual position number which differs from the position number of each of the other credit card areas on the sheet; marking each sheet in the lot with an individual sheet number; said sheet number being marked in each of the plurality of uniform credit card areas on each sheet; said sheet numbers being marked on the sheets in the lot by marking the 1st numerical place of the sheet number on a first run of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets with a number c; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on a second run of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets with a number d; marking the 1st place of the sheet number on succeeding runs of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets with numbers e, f, g, etc., until the last run or b run of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets is marked in the 1st place of the sheet number with a number h with the range of the numbers c through h corresponding to the numerical range of the numbers 0 through b-1; forming b groups (1) of sheets marked in the 1st place of the sheet number with each group (1) being identical by placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). z/b sheets marked with the number c in the 1st numerical place into each of the b groups (1); then placing one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). z/b sheets marked with d in the 1st numerical place in each of the groups (1), etc., until one part of b.sup.(n -2 ). z/b sheets marked with h in the 1st numerical place is placed in each of the b groups (1) such that each of the b groups (1) contains one part from each of the b runs and each groups (1) contains a total of b.sup.(n -1 ). z/b sheets; marking the 2nd numerical place of the sheet number on the sheets in one of the groups (1) with the number c; marking separately the objects in succeeding groups (1) in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the nmbers d, e, f, g, etc., used in marking the 1st place of the sheet number with numbers until the last group (1) is marked in the 2nd place of the sheet number with the same number h used in marking the 1st numerical place of the sheet number; forming b identical groups (2), b identical groups (3), b identical groups (4) and so on until b groups (n-2) are formed by repeating the above procedures with each of the groups (2) formed by combining b 2 parts of b.sup.(n -3 ). z/b sheets from the marked groups (1), each of the groups (3) formed by combining b 3 parts of b.sup.(n -4 ). z/b sheets from the groups (2) and each of the groups (4) formed by combining b 4 parts of b.sup.(n -5 ). z/b sheets from the groups (3) and so on; forming b identical groups (n-2), with each group (n-2) containing b.sup.(n - 2) parts and each part containing z identically marked sheets; marking the groups (n-2) separately with the numbers c through h and then sorting the marked sheets by placing one of z identically marked sheets into each of z different groups (n-1) which contain b.sup.(n -1 ) sheets, and then marking the nth numerical place of the sheet number of each of the groups (n-1) with succeeding numbers from c through f corresponding to the numerical range of 0 to z to provide b n . z/b sheets which are separately marked with numbers corresponding to the numerical range from 0 to b n /z - 1 by using a total of b(n-1)+z marking steps, whereby each of the plurality of credit card areas on each sheet bears a unique number composed of the position number of the credit card area on the sheet and the sheet number of the particular sheet on which the particular credit card areas are defined and the number of sheets which are sorted into each of the b groups after each marking, except for the last marking, is decreased by a factor of 1/b from the number of sheets sorted into each of the b groups after the preceding marking operation.