Patent ID: 6019268
Filing Date: 2000-02-01
Classification: B65H,G06K

Abstract:
A method for fabricating plastic cards, comprising the steps of:providing a plastic substrate tape having lateral margin strips;perforating said substrate tape within said margin strips thereby forming uniformly spaced holes in said margin strips of said substrate tape,providing at least one working station through which said substrate tape is stepwisely moved from an upstream side to a downstream side,providing an upstream set of pins and a downstream set of pins, said pins being adapted to engage into upstream holes and downstream holes, respectively, of said holes in said substrate tape when said substrate tape is on said at least one working station,providing means for stepwise displacement of said substrate tape across said at least one working station from the upstream side to the downstream side,displacing said substrate tape across said at least one working station using said means for stepwise displacement and lowering said substrate tape onto said pins and engaging said sets of pins into said upstream and downstream holes,increasing the distance between said upstream set of pins and said downstream set of pins by a predetermined amount such that the pins snugly engage walls of the holes, thereby aligning said substrate tape in said working station,then processing said substrate tape in said working station,then decreasing said distance spacing by said predetermined amount, andthen lifting said substrate tape from said upstream set of pins and said downstream set of pins.