System for personalization of integrated circuit microchip cards

Claim 1

A system for personalization of cards containing integrated circuit microchips, said system comprising: a plurality of stations arranged in sequence for receiving input cards having microchips to be programmed and programing means associated with each of said stations for programming the microchips of cards received at the associated station with personalized data; in-feed means for conveying input cards to said stations for programing; out-feed means for conveying away from said stations programmed cards the microchips on which have been programmed by said programing means; means for moving said stations relative to said in-feed means and said out-feed means, causing the stations to be successively and repeatedly brought, in accordance with said sequence, into register with said in-feed means and said out-feed means; means for controlling the speed of relative movement between said stations and said in-feed means and said out-feed means, in dependence on a time period corresponding to that required for programming the microchips on said input cards; and means for controlling the rate of operation of said in-feed means, independence on said speed to establish a substantially continuous flow of cards through said system.

Claim 2

A system for personalization of cards containing integrated circuit microchips, said system comprising: a plurality of stations arranged in sequence for receiving input cards having microchips to be programmed and programing means associated with each of said stations for programming the microchips of cards received at the associated station with personalized data; in-feed means for conveying input cards to said stations for programing; out-feed means for conveying away from said stations programmed cards the microchips on which have been programmed by said programing means; means for moving said stations relative to said in-feed means and said out-feed means, causing the stations to be successively and repeatedly brought, in accordance with said sequence, into register with said in-feed means and said out-feed means; means for controlling the speed of relative movement between said stations and said in-feed means and said out-feed means, in dependence on a time period corresponding to that required for programming the microchips on said input cards; and means for controlling the rate of operation of said in-feed means, independence on said speed to establish a substantially continuous flow of cards through said system.

Claim 9

A system for personalization of cards having an encodable magnetic stripe and an integrated circuit microchip, said system comprising, in combination: means for encoding the magnetic stripe of each card with personalized data from a data store; means for programming the microchip of each card with data encoded on said magnetic stripe, said means for programing including card input and output means and a plurality of programming devices and a respective programming station associated with each device, said stations being disposed in an operating sequence; means for affixing human-readable information onto each of said cards; guide means for conveying said cards between said encoding means, said card input and output means of said programming means and said information affixing means; station moving means for moving said programming stations, in said sequence, past the card input and output means at a rate influenced by the time taken for said programming devices to effect the programing of the microchips of said cards; and means for synchronising the rate of conveying of said cards by said guide means to the rate of movement of said stations caused by said station moving means to establish a substantially continuous flow of cards through said system.

Claim 10

A system for personalization of cards having an encodable magnetic stripe and an integrated circuit microchip, said system comprising, in combination: means for encoding the magnetic stripe of each card with personalized data from a data store; means for programming the microchip of each card with data encoded on said magnetic stripe, said means for programing including card input and output means and a plurality of programming devices and a respective programming station associated with each device, said stations being disposed in an operating sequence; means for affixing human-readable information onto each of said cards; guide means for conveying said cards between said encoding means, said card input and output means of said programming means and said information affixing means; station moving means for moving said programming stations, in said sequence, past the card input and output means at a rate influenced by the time taken for said programming devices to effect the programing of the microchips of said cards; and means for synchronising the rate of conveying of said cards by said guide means to the rate of movement of said stations caused by said station moving means to establish a substantially continuous flow of cards through said system.

Claim 11

A system for personalization of cards containing integrated circuit microchips, said system comprising: a rotary personalization module comprising a plurality of stations arranged in a circular sequence in a plane perpendicular to the flow of said cards through said system for reception of respective cards and each station including programming means for programming the microchips of said cards with personalized data; a card-feed mechanism for supplying cards to said stations for programming and for conveying programmed cards away from said stations; means for rotating said module relative to said card-feed mechanism, such that said stations in said sequence are successively and repeatedly brought into register with said card-feed mechanism; and means for controlling the speed of rotation, and thus of successive registrations of said stations with said card-feed mechanism, in dependence on a time period corresponding to that required for said programming means to complete the programming of said cards; said card-feed mechanism comprising means for feeding card into a station in register with said mechanism, means for enabling said feeding means when programming of the card in said station is complete, so that a programmed card is pushed out of said station by the next card fed into that station, and means for guiding said programmed card away from said station.

Claim 12

A system for personalization of cards containing integrated circuit microchips, said system comprising: a rotary personalization module comprising a plurality of stations arranged in a circular sequence in a plane perpendicular to the flow of said cards through said system for reception of respective cards and each station including programming means for programming the microchips of said cards with personalized data; a card-feed mechanism for supplying cards to said stations for programming and for conveying programmed cards away from said stations; means for rotating said module relative to said card-feed mechanism, such that said stations in said sequence are successively and repeatedly brought into register with said card-feed mechanism; and means for controlling the speed of rotation, and thus of successive registrations of said stations with said card-feed mechanism, in dependence on a time period corresponding to that required for said programming means to complete the programming of said cards; said card-feed mechanism comprising means for feeding card into a station in register with said mechanism, means for enabling said feeding means when programming of the card in said station is complete, so that a programmed card is pushed out of said station by the next card fed into that station, and means for guiding said programmed card away from said station.