Inserter module adaptable for use with both preprinted and in-line printed carriers and method

A card insertion system (10) and method in which a free standing inserter module (12) for inserting cards into carriers has a carrier inlet (14) at a preselected elevation (14') for selectively, alternatively interfacing with, and receiving carrier forms (15) from, a free standing in-line carrier form printer module (20) with a carrier form outlet (22) at the preselected elevation (22') to feed in-line carrier forms to the printer inlet when the burster module (32) and printer module (20) are positioned in relative cooperate adjacent alignment and in which a free standing burster (32) for separating preprinted continuous carrier form stock into bursted separate carriers with a bursted carrier form outlet (38) at a preselected elevation (38') substantially the same as that of the carrier inlet (14) of the inserter (12) to enable direct insertion of the preprinted forms ejected from the burster outlet (38) into the carrier inlet (14) of the inserter module (12) when the inserter module (12) and printer module (20) are positioned in relative cooperative adjacent alignment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention generally relates to card insertion systems and, more 
particularly, to modular apparatus and methods for making and using such 
insertion systems. 
2. Description of the related art including information disclosed under 37 
C.F.R. 1.97-1.99 
Card insertion systems which function to automatically insert one or more 
credit cards into matching carrier forms are well known. 
A disadvantage of known insertion systems is their lack of versatility with 
respect to printing of the carrier forms. In some systems, the inserters 
are capable of working only in conjunction with preprinted carrier forms 
that are fed in continuous fan-folded form to a burster comprising part of 
the system which is operated to separate the preprinted forms into 
separated discrete carrier forms which, in turn, are fed seriatim to the 
inserter one at a time for receipt of inserted cards. These preprinted 
form systems are not capable of operating in conjunction with in-line 
carrier form printers. 
In other insertion systems, the inserters are contained in a single cabinet 
with an in-line printer and other apparatus to form a complete card 
package production system. These card package production systems are not 
compatible for use with single sheet preprinted carrier forms and operate 
only with continuous forms. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to overcome 
the disadvantageous lack of versatility of known card insertion systems by 
providing modular apparatus and methods of making and using an insertion 
system in which both preprinted carrier forms and in-line printed carrier 
forms are capable of being used. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a modular 
insertion system with a free standing inserter module for inserting cards 
into matching carrier forms including a carrier inlet for receiving 
separate carrier forms located at a preselected elevation, a free standing 
printer module for printing carrier forms with a carrier form outlet 
located at a preselected elevation substantially the same as that of the 
carrier inlet of the inserter module to enable direct insertion of printed 
forms ejected from the printer outlet into the carrier inlet of the 
inserter when the inserter module and printer module are positioned in 
relative cooperative adjacent alignment, and a free standing burster for 
separating preprinted continuous carrier form stock into bursted separate 
carriers with a bursted carrier form outlet at a preselected elevation 
substantially the same as that of the carrier inlet of the inserter to 
enable direct insertion of the preprinted forms ejected from the burster 
outlet into the carrier inlet of the inserter module when the inserter 
module and printer module are positioned in relative cooperative adjacent 
alignment. 
Also, the object of the invention is obtained by provision of a method of 
making a card insertion system, comprising the steps of (1) interfacing an 
inserter module with a printer to enable printing of blank carrier forms 
on an on-line basis immediately prior to provision of the carrier forms to 
the inserter and (2) alternatively, interfacing the inserter module 
directly with a burster to enable provision of off-line preprinted carrier 
forms to the inserter module at a rate relatively more rapid than at which 
the printer can print carrier forms on-line.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred embodiment of the modular card insertion system 10 of the 
present invention is collectively shown in both FIGS. 1A and 1B. In FIG. 
1A the modular card insertion system 10 is configured for on-line printing 
of the carrier forms and includes a free standing inserter module 12 for 
inserting cards into matching carrier forms. It includes a carrier inlet 
14 for receiving separate carrier forms into which the cards are to be 
inserted. The carrier inlet 14 is located at a preselected elevation 14' 
above a underlying floor surface 16 upon which the inserter 12 is 
supported, preferably on wheels 18, or other means for facilitating 
translational movement across the floor 16 such as glides or casters with 
levelers. Adjacent to the inserter 12 is a free standing discrete carrier 
form printer module 20 for printing carrier forms 15. The discrete carrier 
form printer module 20 has a carrier form outlet 22 located at a 
preselected elevation 22' above the floor 16 which is substantially the 
same as elevation 14' of the carrier inlet 14 of the inserter module 12. 
The discrete form printer module 20, like the inserter module 12, is 
preferably mounted on wheels 24 or the like to facilitate movement into 
cooperative alignment with the inserter module 12 as shown in FIG. 1A. 
When aligned with levelers for wheels 24, as shown in FIG. 1A, a carrier 
from the discrete carrier form printer module is enabled to pass directly 
from the carrier outlet 22 into the carrier 22 of the discrete carrier 
form printer module 20 directly into the inlet 14 of the inserter module 
12. 
The discrete carrier form printer module 20 has an inlet 26 located at a 
preselected elevation 26' above the floor surface 16. The inlet 26 
receives carriers 15 from an outlet 28 of a discrete blank carrier form 
source module 30. The outlet 28 is located at a preselected elevation 28' 
which is substantially identical to preselected elevation 26' of the 
printer module inlet 26. When the discrete blank carrier form source 
module is properly positioned in relative cooperative adjacent alignment 
as shown in FIG. 1A, carrier forms 15 from outlet 28 are enabled to be 
inserted directly into the inlet 26. 
Referring now to FIG. 1B, the modular card insertion system 10 of the 
present invention is also seen to include in an alternative configuration 
to that of FIG. 1A a free standing burster 32 which functions to burst, or 
separate, carrier forms 15 from a preprinted continuous carrier form 
supply module 34 into to individual separate carrier forms. Pin hole 
strips on the continuous forms supply are also removed. In the preferred 
embodiment, the preprinted continuous carrier form supply module 34 
consists of a stack of fan-folded interconnected carrier forms. These are 
fed to the inlet 36 of the free standing burster module. The free standing 
burster module 32 then separates these carriers and outputs separate 
discrete carriers 15 at its carrier outlet 38. 
The carrier outlet 38 is at a preselected elevation 38' which is 
substantially identical to the preselected elevation 14' and thus also 
substantially equal to the preselected elevation 22' of the outlet 22 of 
the discrete carrier form printer module 20. The free standing burster 
module also is mounted on wheels 40 or other means for facilitating 
translational movement across the floor 16 which includes a leveler. When 
the free standing burster module 32 and the inserter module 12 are 
positioned in relative cooperative adjacent alignment as shown in FIG. 1B, 
the free standing burster module 32 is enabled to directly insert discrete 
carrier forms 15 into the carrier inlet 14 of inserter module 12 in lieu 
of the discrete carrier form printer module doing so. The discrete carrier 
form printer module, because it is required to print the carrier forms, 
operates at an approximate speed of 32 printed carrier forms per minute. 
When it is desired to or needed to print blank carrier forms in line 
during the insertion process, the discrete carrier form printer module 20 
and the discrete blank carrier form source module associated therewith are 
used in conjunction with the inserter module 12 as shown in FIG. 1A. 
However, when preprinted continuous carrier forms are available, then the 
discrete carrier form printer module 20 is moved out of alignment with the 
inserter 12 and the free standing burster module 32 is moved into 
alignment. The inserter 12, when operating with the burster 32, operates 
at a relatively higher rate of approximately forty carriers per minute. 
Referring to FIG. 2, the discrete blank carrier form source module 30 
preferably includes a carrier forms burster 42 which separates blank 
continuous carrier forms from a blank continuous carrier form supply 
module 44 which are fed to it at an inlet 46 of the carrier forms burster 
42. The carrier forms burster 42 has a carrier outlet 48 corresponding to 
outlet 28, FIG. 1A, which is at the preselected elevation 28' equal to the 
preselected elevation 26' of the discrete form carrier form printer module 
20 to facilitate direct insertion from the carrier forms burster 42 of 
carriers 15 into the inlet 26. 
Referring to FIG. 3 in the preferred embodiment, the inserter module 10 is 
seen in conjunction with a discrete carrier form printer module 20 to 
which is releasably mounted a carrier form burster module 42 which 
includes a shelf 48 on which is carried a supply of blank continuous forms 
44 fed to the inlet 46. In turn, the carrier form burster module 42 is 
removably mounted to a shelf 50 of the carrier form printer 20. 
Referring to FIG. 4A, the modular card insertion system 10 in the 
configuration illustrated in FIG. 1A and is shown to have the printer 
module 20 with a pair of pinch rollers 22 at the printer inlet 26 while 
the inserter module 12 has a pair of pinch rollers 54 at the inlet 14 
which receives carriers from a carrier outlet guide 56 of the printer 
module 20. The burster module 42 also has a pair of pinch rollers 58 at 
its inlet for receipt of the continuous loosely connected carrier forms 15 
of the blank continuous carrier form supply module 44. 
Referring to FIG. 4B in lieu of the carrier form burster module 42 being 
mounted on the shelf 50 of printer 20, the printer is provided with a 
discrete carrier form module 60 which contains a stack of discrete blank 
carrier forms 62. 
Referring now to FIG. 5, the modular card insertion system 10 is 
schematically illustrated as a side elevational view showing the free 
standing burster module 32 feeding the inserter module 12 with discrete 
carrier forms as described above with the configuration shown in FIG. 1B. 
The blank continuous carrier form supply module 44 contains fan-folded 
continuous carrier forms which are fed to an inlet of the free standing 
burster module 32 at its inlet 36 which has a pair of pinch rollers 64 
while at the outlet 38 of the free standing burster module 32, another 
pair of pinch rollers at inlet 14. 
It should be appreciated that to the extent the details of the various 
apparatus referred to or shown herein are not described or shown herein, 
they form no part of the printed invention. If such details are desired, 
reference should be made to one or more of U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,815 issued 
Feb. 14, 1995 to Hill et al. entitled "Embossed Card Package Production 
System With Modular Inserters For Multiple Forms"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,364 
issued Jul. 18, 1995 entitled "Card Package Production System With Burster 
and Carrier Verification Apparatus"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,544 issued on 
Feb. 27, 1996 to Hill et al. entitled "Automatic Verified Embossed Card 
Package Production Methods"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,886 issued Apr. 23, 1996 
to Hill et al. entitled "Card Package Production System With Modular 
Carrier Folding Apparatus For Multiple Forms"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,395 
issued Jul. 30, 1996 to Hill et al. entitled "Card Package Production 
System With Burster and Code Reader". Reference should also be made to 
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/313,548 filed Sep. 23, 1994 (which is 
a continuation of filewrapper of Ser. No. 08/036,436 filed Mar. 24, 1993) 
of Hill et al. entitled "Card Carrier Forms For Automated Embossed Card 
Package Production System"; U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 
08/047,195 (DYN-11) of Hill et al. entitled "Card Inserter With Carrier 
Folding Apparatus and Method" filed contemporaneously herewith; U.S. 
provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/047,190 (DYN-12) of Hill et al. 
entitled "Automatic Card Insertion System With Card Multireader and 
Method" filed contemporaneously herewith; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 
08/859,295 (DYN-14) of Hill et al. entitled "Printer With Discrete Sheet 
Load Enhancement Apparatus and Method" filed contemporaneously herewith; 
and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/047,189 (DYN-15) of 
Hill et al. entitled "Card Package Production System With A Multireader 
Card Track and Method" filed contemporaneously herewith. All these patents 
and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
While a detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention 
has been given, it should be appreciated that many variations can be made 
thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in 
the appended claims.