Method and device for personalizing at least two cards, and card obtained via said method

Abstract

A method of personalization for at least two cards (10), each card including a first side, a second side, and a peripheral surface, includes the following steps: forming a pile (20) of at least two cards by stacking the first side or the second side of an article (n) such that the first surface or the second surface of the following card (n+1) is in contact with the first side or the second side of the card (n); aligning, via an alignment device (32, 34) at least one element of the peripheral surface of the card (n) with at least one element of the peripheral surface of the following card (n+1) such that at least one element of the set of peripheral surfaces of each card forms at least one uniform surface; applying, via an application device, at least one product on at least one element of the uniform surface.

Claims

1. A method of personalizing at least two cards, each of the cards having a first face and a second face and a peripheral surface along an edge of each card, the method comprising the following steps: forming a pile of the at least two cards by superposing a first face or a second face of a card n in such a way that a first face or a second face of a card n+1 is in contact with the first face or the second face of the card n; aligning at least part of the peripheral surface of the card n with at least part of the peripheral surface of the card n+1 with at least part of the set of peripheral surfaces of each card forming at least one uniform surface defined by aligned edges of the cards; and using a thermal transfer device having a film or ribbon which bears a material to be applied, applying a portion of the film or ribbon to at least part of the uniform surface and transferring the material from the portion of the at least one film or ribbon product to the at least part of the uniform surface to thereby create a colored edge with at least one colored band on the peripheral surface of each card, the colored edge differentiating a function or source of the cards, wherein the cards are chip cards, wherein the cards are at least one of the group consisting of identification cards, transport cards, bank cards, and loyalty cards, and wherein the card have a thickness of at least 0.5 mm.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying comprises moving the pile with respect to the thermal transfer device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying comprises moving the pile with respect to a stationary transfer device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying comprises rotating the pile with respect to the thermal transfer device about an axis perpendicular to the first and second faces.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying uses a thermal transfer device comprising a cylindrical or circular rotatable head.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying uses a thermal transfer device comprising a malleable head.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of applying uses a transfer head comprising a flat surface which comes into contact with the at least one uniform surface.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two cards define a set of at least two separate cards with the peripheral surfaces of each of the at least two separate cards being covered by the at least one colored band, and comprising the further step of arranging the at least two separate cards in a stacked configuration where the peripheral surfaces of the at least two separate cards are aligned so as to form a predetermined pattern.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the stacked configuration arranges the at least two separate cards with three of said colors bands perpendicular to the first and second faces of the at least two separate cards, the three colored bands being of different colors from one another.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying step, using the thermal transfer device, applies the film to the at least part of the uniform surface formed from the aligned cards to provide plural of said colored bands on the peripheral surface of each card, the plural colored bands being of different colors form one another.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the applying step, using the thermal transfer device, applies the ribbon product to the at least part of the uniform surface formed from the aligned cards to provide plural of said colored bands on the peripheral surface of each card, the plural colored bands being of different colors form one another.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two cards are bank cards, at least one of the at least two cards comprising a bank card body of white plastic material having the first face and the second face and the peripheral surface, wherein said peripheral surface is covered by the at least colored band.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two cards are bank cards and the at least one colored band provides a multicolored edge face.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the thickness of each of the at least two cards is from 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the thickness of each of the at least two cards is from 0.7 mm to 1.2 mm.

16. A set of at least two separate cards, each of the two separate cards having a first face, a second face and a peripheral surface along an edge of each card, the peripheral surfaces of the at least two separate cards being covered by a film or a ribbon product that provides a colored edge to each card, such that there is a stacked configuration where the peripheral surfaces of these at least two separate cards are aligned so that the colored edge forms a predetermined pattern along an edge face of a stack of the set of at least two separate cards, and wherein the predetermined pattern is reconstitutable by recreating the stack in the stacked configuration.

17. The set of claim 16, wherein the predetermined pattern is made of colored bands perpendicular to the first and second faces of said separate cards.

18. A method of personalizing at least two cards, each of the cards having a first face and a second face and a peripheral surface along an edge of each card, the method comprising the following steps: forming a pile of the at least two cards by superposing a first face or a second face of a card n in such a way that a first face or a second face of a card n+1 is in contact with the first face or the second face of the card n; aligning at least part of the peripheral surface of the card n with at least part of the peripheral surface of the card n+1 with at least part of the set of peripheral surfaces of each card forming at least one uniform surface defined by aligned edges of the cards; and using an inkjet spraying device, spraying at least part of the uniform surface with a colored ink product to thereby apply colored ink product on the peripheral surface of each card, wherein the cards are chip cards, wherein the cards are at least one of the group consisting of identification cards, transport cards, bank cards, and loyalty cards, and wherein the card have a thickness of at least 0.5 mm.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least two separate cards define a set that, in a stacked configuration, display the color ink material in a predetermined pattern along an edge face of the stacked configuration such that the predetermined pattern is reconstitutable by recreating the set of the at least two separate cards in the stacked configuration.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the thickness of each of the at least two cards is from 0.5 mm to 4 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the light of the description which follows, given with reference to the nonlimiting attached drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of a card that is to be personalized using the method of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective depiction of the personalizing device according to the invention,

(4) FIG. 2a is a plan view of the device of FIG. 2,

(5) FIG. 3 is one particular embodiment, in front elevation, of a device for holding a pile of cards according to the invention,

(6) FIG. 3a corresponds to the plan view of FIG. 3,

(7) FIGS. 4a to 4h depict front elevations of the various steps of a method according to the invention, and the primed figures depict the corresponding plan views.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(8) FIG. 1 depicts a card 10 which may be a chip card. This card 10 comprises a first face 12, a second face 14 and a peripheral surface 16.

(9) As indicated in the right-hand part of FIG. 1, this peripheral surface 16 may have irregularities, notably caused by the superposition of the various sandwiched laminations 18.

(10) By contrast, as has been depicted in the left-hand part of FIG. 1, the peripheral surface 16 may have a substantially flat surface, notably when the item 10 is made in a single material. This surface may, however, have a number of irregularities caused by the cutting tool.

(11) FIGS. 2 and 2a depict the personalizing device 80 according to the invention, in which a set of cards 10 has been superposed in such a way that the set of cards 10 forms a pile 20. The cards 10 of the pile 20 have been aligned by an alignment device so that the peripheral surfaces 16 of each card form a substantially uniform surface.

(12) In the example depicted, the alignment device comprises a substantially flat element 34 and an L-shaped element 32 the two branches of which are in contact with the flat element 34. It is conceivable for the L-shaped element 32 to come, through a translational movement with the flat element 34, into contact with the pile 20. Thus, the peripheral surfaces of the cards 10 are pushed in such a way that the set of cards forms a pile 20 the exterior surfaces of which are substantially flat.

(13) The personalizing device 80 also comprises a pressing device 50 intended to press the pile 20 of cards 10 towards one of the branches of the L of the element 32. The cards 10 of the pile 20 are thus held in position and the pile 20 can thus be easily moved around and/or have various methods applied to it.

(14) As depicted in FIGS. 2 and 2a, the personalizing device 80 may comprise a plurality of product application devices 40, such as paint spraying devices. These spraying devices may notably make it possible to obtain a uniform distribution of product, such as paint, over the substantially uniform surface of the pile 20 of cards 10.

(15) The personalizing device 80 may also comprise a plurality of drying devices 60 and/or pre-drying devices 60 which are intended to dry and/or to pre-dry the paint, or any other product, applied to the edge faces of the cards 10 of the pile 20. In the example depicted, the drying devices 60 and pre-drying devices 60 are identical but it is conceivable for them to correspond to different forms of equipment. The drying devices 60 and/or pre-drying devices 60 depicted are, for example, infrared drying devices. A person skilled in the art will quite obviously be able to use other devices such as, for example, a drying tunnel and/or an air blowing device, more particularly a hot-air-blowing device.

(16) The person skilled in the art will adapt the number of application devices 40, drying devices 60 and/or pre-drying devices 60 according to the number of cards 10 in the pile 20 so that each card 10 undergoes the same treatment.

(17) The personalizing device 80 depicted comprises a separation device 70. This separation device 70 makes it possible to generate vibrations which encourage the cards 10 which may have fused together through the nature of the product used, to separate. As depicted, the separation device 70 is applied in the region of the L-shaped element 32 but it is conceivable for the vibrations to be applied to the flat element 34, the pressing device 50 and/or directly to the pile 20.

(18) It will be understood that, in order to achieve optimum separation of the cards using vibration, the pressure P applied by the pressing device 50 to the ends of the pile 20 of cards 10 has to be released.

(19) In particular, the vibration separation device may be embodied by an eccentric device (not depicted) connected to a drive device such as an electric motor (not depicted).

(20) The device depicted in FIGS. 2 and 2a may notably allow two of the four flat surfaces of the pile 20 which surfaces are formed by the edge faces of the cards 10 to be personalized. If all of the edge faces of the cards 10 are to be personalized, then all that is required is for the pile 20 of cards 10 to be repositioned so that the edge faces not personalized become visible and for the operation of holding and personalizing the cards to be repeated.

(21) FIGS. 3 and 3a depict one particular example of a holding device as may be used by the method according to the invention.

(22) This holding device may comprise two plates 36 and 36 intended to sandwich a plurality of cards 10 between them in order to form a pile 20.

(23) The edges of the pile 20 are then aligned by a holding means which comprises an L-shaped element 32. This L-shaped element 32 can be held between the plates and 36 by a removable device (not depicted). The removable device may, for example, be a screw-nut system or even a system of retractable balls which collaborate with corresponding orifices.

(24) The L-shaped element may be formed of two separate plates 32 which, once assembled, form an L. It may also be conceivable for the plates 32 that form the L to slide in grooves 31 provided for that purpose in the plates 36 and 36 (which are depicted in FIGS. 4b to 4d).

(25) The L-shaped element 32 (FIGS. 3 and 3a) and/or the plates 32 (FIGS. 4b to 4d) form end stops intended to keep the pile 20 aligned. The person skilled in the art will quite obviously be able to adapt the shapes of these end stops. In particular, the end stops may take the form of rods, for example threaded rods, passing through the plates 36 and 36.

(26) It is also conceivable for the plates 32 to be masks representing a particular pattern. It may then be conceivable to leave these masks when applying the product so as to reproduce the pattern represented by the masks. The masks then act as stencils.

(27) Once the cards 10 have been placed between the plates 36, 36 and the L-shaped element 32 has been brought into position, a tamping device 38 tamps the cards 10 against the element 32 to form a pile 20 the edge of which is substantially flat.

(28) Once the pile 20 is formed, pressure P can be applied to the plates 36 and 36 along the axis Y so that the pile 20 remains formed. The L-shaped element 32 and the tamping device 38 can then be removed to make all of the edges of the pile 20 accessible. A product can then be applied to all of the edges of the pile 20.

(29) According to one particular embodiment, the pile 20 may be set in rotation about an axis Y, passing through the first and second faces of the cards 10. It is then possible to spray a product onto all of the edge faces of the cards 10 that form the pile 20.

(30) Various steps for carrying out the method according to the invention will now be described.

(31) In a first step, depicted in FIGS. 4a and 4a, a certain number of cards 10 are made into a pile and these cards 10 are positioned between two plates 36 and 36.

(32) In a second step, depicted in FIGS. 4b and 4b, plates 32 intended to form an L-shaped element 32 are brought into position. These plates 32 are configured to slide in grooves 31 provided for that purpose in the plates 36 and 36. The plates 32 thus positioned form end stops.

(33) It may be conceivable for the second step to be performed before the first step.

(34) In a third step, depicted in FIGS. 4c and 4c, the cards 10 are pushed toward the end stops by a tamping device 38. As can be seen from FIG. 4c which is a plan view, the cards 10 form a pile 20 the edges of which are perfectly aligned.

(35) A fourth step, depicted in FIGS. 4d and 4d, consists in using a pressing device 50 to press the cards 10 which form the ends of the pile 20 in such a way that the pile 20 is held firmly.

(36) A fifth step, depicted in FIGS. 4e and 4e, consists in removing the plates 32 that form the end stops so that all of the edges of the pile 20 which are formed by the peripheral surfaces of the items 10, are accessible.

(37) A sixth step, depicted in FIG. 4f, consists in rotating the pile 20 about its axis Y and using an application device 40 to spray paint onto the edges of the pile.

(38) a seventh step, depicted in FIG. 4g, consists in using the drying device 60 to dry the paint applied to the pile 20 of cards 10.

(39) According to one preferred embodiment, the drying step is performed back to back with the print heads to prevent ink from migrating between the cards. The dryer may be a thermal dryer or one operating using UV (ultraviolet) radiation.

(40) An eighth step, depicted in FIG. 4h, may consist in removing the plates 36 and 36 in order to recover the cards 10.

(41) A plurality of cards 10 is thus obtained, the edge faces of which cards may be colored.

(42) The personalizing device and/or the various steps of the method can quite obviously be adapted to suit the number of cards that are to be personalized and the type of personalization.

(43) Thus, and as has been described earlier, it is possible to adapt other spraying and/or drying steps, notably where there is a desire to apply various products to the edges of the items.

(44) It is also possible to add pre-drying and/or vibration steps if use is being made of a product that carries a risk of fusing the items together.

(45) If the method is to be applied to a set of circular items such as CD-ROMs, then quite obviously the shapes of the end stops and of the tamping device will be adapted to suit.

(46) According to another embodiment, the application device comprises a cylindrical heated print head which comes into contact with the surface that is to be covered. A ribbon is inserted between the print head and the surface that is to be covered. The ribbon comprises a backing element and an element that is to be applied. This ribbon is driven while the head hugs the surface that is to be covered, so as to transfer the element that is to be applied onto the surface that is to be covered.