Personalization device for cards and similar, of portable type

064 177 U

DESCRIPTION

Portable type card personalization device and the like.

The present invention relates to a personalization apparatus of the portable type, for placing inscriptions on data carriers by means of an integrated laser unit according to the introductory part of claim 1.

Portable type personalization apparatuses are also referred to as desktop or desktop laser apparatuses for making, for example, inscriptions in passports or similar documents or cards, such as smart cards, for example chip cards. These desktop laser apparatuses usually have a laser unit that functions to make an inscription on a card, even in the case where the card has a sheet of plastic material protecting the surface. For this, the desktop laser devices can receive one or more, in any case a limited number, of data carriers for fixing them with respect to the laser unit and to be able to carry out an inscription placement process. The use of these tabletop lasers for the personalization of data carriers takes place by end users, who are only concerned with an enrollment of only a few data carriers.

These hitherto known personalization devices are characterized in that they are intended only for specific types of data carriers, that is, for example, for passports or for smart cards. This produces the disadvantage that, necessarily, several of said devices must be purchased in the event that registrations have to be made, that is, data carriers constituted in different ways have to be customized. This results in high acquisition costs.

For this reason, the present invention has the objective of providing a portable personalization device for making inscriptions on data carriers by means of an integrated type laser beam unit, which makes it possible to make inscriptions on different data carriers. , economically.

This objective is achieved by the characteristics disclosed in claim 1.

An essential point of the invention consists in that, in a portable personalization device for the recording of data carriers by means of an integrated laser unit, replaceable cassette units are provided, which have at least receiving and fixing elements for a data carrier, so that said receiving and fixing apparatuses correspondingly have a specific shape and are suitable for a specific type of data carrier. Thus, in order to carry out inscriptions on different data carriers, it is in principle only necessary to change the cassette units and not the entire personalization apparatus as a whole. This leads to a reduction in costs in the manufacture of the personalization data carriers, provided that the personalization of data carriers of different construction is intended, such as, for example, passports and smart cards.

Each of the cassette units is advantageously constructed in such a way that it can be slidably and / or plugged into the front face. In this way, a quick change of the cassette units is achieved and, therefore, a quick change of the data carriers that must receive the inscriptions, which can basically be any type of security document.

Advantageously, the cassette unit is arranged for the simultaneous reception of a number of data carriers. This can be achieved, for example, by a stacking element that is constructed in the shape of a cavity. In this way, it is possible that a limited number of, for example, plastic cards such as chip cards, can be stacked one on top of the other, and can be personalized one after the other, according to an automated process.

Alternatively, each of the cassette units can be constructed solely on the basis of a data carrier, for example a passport document, which will have to be placed individually by hand.

The portable personalization device is generally constructed according to the modular construction principle. For this, it has a frame module, an electronic module, a control module, the laser unit and the cassette unit.

All modules are individually replaceable. This increases the ease of maintenance and repair of the personalization apparatus as a whole and also a reduction in the costs generated thereby.

According to another embodiment of the invention, an additional electronic module for the laser unit is arranged below the personalization apparatus, to enable additional functions of the laser unit.

The laser unit preferably comprises an air-cooled laser which is arranged in a projecting head area of ​​the personalization apparatus, emitting from top to bottom.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, an additional aspiration module can be provided to aspirate the gases generated during the inscription work. This aspiration module can be arranged, for example, below the personalization apparatus, below the cassette unit and thus enables the extraction downwards of the combustion vapors generated which are generated by the laser acting into the cassette from above towards the data carrier.

Other embodiments will appear from the dependent claims.

Advantages and peculiarities will be understood according to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show:

Figure 1 a perspective view of a portable personalization apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, without a cassette unit;

FIG. 2 a perspective view of the portable personalization apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention with a cassette unit, and FIG. 3 a perspective view of the portable personalization apparatus without a cassette unit and additional modules.

In figure 1 a schematic representation of a portable personalization apparatus (1) according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. The Personalization Apparatus (1) com2

ES 1 064 177 U supports a main frame (2), that is to say, a basic unit, comprising a head area, an intermediate area of ​​the back and a foot area.

In the area of ​​the head there is a reading unit (3), which has not been shown in detail, arranged in such a way as to present a laser beam for inscribing data carriers, in a downward projection direction.

The laser unit (3) is cooled by laterally arranged fans (4) to avoid overheating of the laser unit and thus of the personalization apparatus as a whole.

An electronic module (5) has been arranged in the foot area which, in association with a control module, or a control unit (6), controls and regulates the personalization process by means of the laser beam.

Figure 2 shows a perspective representation of the portable personalization apparatus, according to the embodiment of the invention, with a cassette unit. The same parts and equivalent parts have been designated with the same reference numerals.

The portable personalization apparatus (1) can receive a cassette unit (7), so that this will be inserted from the front into the apparatus, as indicated by the arrow (9).

The cassette unit (7) is characterized by specific reception and fixing elements (8), (10), which are arranged according to a specific type and shape of the data carrier, for example, smart cards, which must be equipped with inscriptions. In this way, it is possible, by changing the cassette unit (7), to make inscriptions of data carriers constituted in different ways, such as plastic cards or passports, with the same personalization device (1 ) and the same laser unit (3), inexpensively.

The receiving element (8) constitutes a stacking element in which a limited number of cards of plastic material are arranged for their subsequent automated extraction for an enrollment process that is carried out below. The process of making inscriptions takes place by the effect of the laser unit (3) by means of a beam of laser rays that acts from top to bottom, so that the transport elements and fixing elements, as represented by a wheel and transport band (10), act to transport and fix the individual cards with respect to the laser beam.

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the portable personalization device (1) with additional modules. The personalization apparatus (1) is also shown without a cassette unit.

In the lower area, the personalization device (1) has another electronic module (11) and an aspiration system to provide additional electronic functions of the laser and the aspiration of vapors that are produced during the process of making the inscriptions by the effect of laser heat.

The cassette units (7) can be changed quickly and simply and simultaneously increase the flexibility of the user and the apparatus to be used for the personalization of products, such as cards and security documents.

All the characteristics disclosed in the application documents are claimed as essential to the invention, provided that individually or in combination they are new with respect to the state of the art.

List of designations (1) portable personalization device (2) main frame (3) laser unit (4) fans (5) first electronic module (6) control unit (7) cassette unit (8) stacking element (9 ) direction of movement (10) transport and fixing elements (11) second electronic module (12) suction module.