Identification and access card with associated optical decoding means

Claim 2

An identification and access card for use with an automatic optical scanning apparatus receiving products omnidirectionally bearing product identification codes thereon, comprising, in combination: a plastic card blank having indicia thereon identifying a banking institution, said card blank being adapted to be embossed to provide raised indicia identifying the card holder to whom the card is issued; at least two lables on said card spaced from each other to provide separate information labels, each of said labels being secured to said card blank and having a generally quadrilateral area substantially less than that of said card blank, each of said labels having a plurality of elongated dark bars separated by light bars therebetween, the thickness and spacing of said bars providing binary coded information identifying a routing number, transit number, branch number of said banking institution and an account number of the card holder; at least one of said bars on each of said labels scannable for identifying the label as bearing identification and access numbers rather than product numbers; said labels being located on said card blank so that different ones of said labels may be read first causing said labels to be read out of sequential order for these labels, at least one of said bars on each of said labels scannable for identifying its sequential order relative to another label on said card for combining therewith to define the proper sequence for said numbers; a thin coating of transparent material overlying said labels and providing a smooth transition between the surface of the blank and the surface over said labels.

Claim 3

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein said plastic card blank is fabricated from polyvinyl chloride.

Claim 4

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein said transparent material is bonded to said labels and to said blank and has a flexibility that is compatible with the flexiblity of said blank.

Claim 5

An identification and access card as defined in claim 3 wherein said transparent material comprises an acrylic material.

Claim 6

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein said thin coating of transparent material comprises polyvinyl chloride.

Claim 7

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein said symbol is an omnidirectionally readable rectilinear bar binary code, containing at least 10 characters, each character of which is identified by two of said darker bars separated by two of said light bars wherein the binary coded information is a function of the thickness and spacing of said bars.

Claim 8

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein said labels comprise paper having a thickness within the range of about 1 to about 3 mils.

Claim 9

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein said labels are adhesively applied to said card blank.

Claim 10

An identification and access card as defined in claim 1 wherein an additional label is applied to the backside of said card blank.

Claim 11

An identification and access card for use with an automatic optical scanning apparatus receiving products on omnidirectionally bearing product identification codes thereon comprising, in combination: a plastic card blank having printed indicia thereon identifying a banking establishment, said card blank being adapted to be embossed to provide raised indicia identifying the card holder to whom the card is issued; a thin elongated stripe of material located on at least one face thereof adapted to be magnetically encoded with information identifying a routing number, transit number, branch number of the banking institution and an account number of the card holder; said card blank having a generally planar surface, one or more members carrying a total of at least two symbols thereon, said member being attached to said planar surface of said card blank and projecting outwardly thereof, each of said symbols having a plurality of elongated dark bars separated by light bars therebetween, the thickness and spacing of said bars providing binary coded information identifying the routing number, transit number, branch number of said banking institution and the account number of the card holder, the information contained on said symbols being substantially similar to the information contained on said stripe; at least one of said bars on each of said members scannable for identifying the member as bearing identification and access numbers rather than product numbers; said member being located on said card blank so that different ones of said members may be read first depending on the direction of scanning movement and causing said members to be read out of sequential order in at least one direction of scanning movement, at least one of said bars on each of said members scannable for identifying its sequential order relative to another member on said card for combining therewith to define the proper sequence for said members, a thin layer of transparent, flexible material overlying said outwardly projecting members and the adjacent portion of said planar layer of said card blanks, said layer bonding to both said card blank and said member and being of sufficient thickness to provide a smooth transition between the planar surface of said blank and said upstanding members to substantially reduce the probability that said member will be partially separated from said card blank during normal use.

Claim 12

An identification and access card for use with an automatic optical scanning apparatus receiving products on omnidirectionally bearing product identification codes thereon comprising, in combination: a plastic card blank having printed indicia thereon identifying a banking establishment, said card blank being adapted to be embossed to provide raised indicia identifying the card holder to whom the card is issued; a thin elongated stripe of material located on at least one face thereof adapted to be magnetically encoded with information identifying a routing number, transit number, branch number of the banking institution and an account number of the card holder; said card blank having a generally planar surface, one or more members carrying a total of at least two symbols thereon, said member being attached to said planar surface of said card blank and projecting outwardly thereof, each of said symbols having a plurality of elongated dark bars separated by light bars therebetween, the thickness and spacing of said bars providing binary coded information identifying the routing number, transit number, branch number of said banking institution and the account number of the card holder, the information contained on said symbols being substantially similar to the information contained on said stripe; at least one of said bars on each of said members scannable for identifying the member as bearing identification and access numbers rather than product numbers; said member being located on said card blank so that different ones of said members may be read first depending on the direction of scanning movement and causing said members to be read out of sequential order in at least one direction of scanning movement, at least one of said bars on each of said members scannable for identifying its sequential order relative to another member on said card for combining therewith to define the proper sequence for said members, a thin layer of transparent, flexible material overlying said outwardly projecting members and the adjacent portion of said planar layer of said card blanks, said layer bonding to both said card blank and said member and being of sufficient thickness to provide a smooth transition between the planar surface of said blank and said upstanding members to substantially reduce the probability that said member will be partially separated from said card blank during normal use.

Claim 13

An identification and access card as defined in claim 10 wherein said plurality of light and darker bars define at least 10 characters, each character of which is identified by two of said darker bars separated by two of said light bars and the binary coded information is determined by the thickness and spacing of said bars.

Claim 14

An identification and access card as defined in claim 11 wherein said symbols are omnidirectionally readable and contain character information identifying the sequence of symbols so that said identifying information from each symbol can be accurately combined.

Claim 15

An identification and access card as defined as claim 12 wherein said sequencing information and information identifying said symbols as being associated with an identification and access card are provided in two characters.

Claim 16

An idenfication and access card as defined in claim 13 wherein said two characters are located at opposite ends of each of said symbols.