Abstract:
Improved methods and systems for automated, self-service issuing of a card or other object to an individual. The system can include a self-service issuing machine that is configured to issue a card or object to a user, allow return of the card or object back into the machine, and later reissuing of the card or object to the same or different user. The machine can be used in a number of applications, including with an access control system that controls access into and throughout a building(s). The machine can be configured to dispense temporary re-usable badges to employees, contractors, and visitors. The badges can be returned to the machine, which stores the returned badges for later re-issuance to a later user needing a temporary badge. The machine can also integrate with an enterprise access control system that controls access to a number of dispersed building sites.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    This disclosure relates to a self-service machine that issues an object to a user, and allows return of the object for later reissuance to another user. In particular, the disclosure relates to a self-service card issuing machine that is configured to issue a card to a user, allows the return of the card back into the machine, and later reissuing of the card to the same or different user. The machine can be used in a number of applications, including usage with an access control system that controls access into and throughout a building(s). 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    An access control system is often used to manage access to premises such as building, rooms, laboratories, and building complexes. Persons allowed to enter the premises are provided badges which comprise a machine-readable element such as a magnetic strip, a microprocessor and/or a wireless transponder. Badge readers and automatic doors located throughout the premises that read the badges are connected to the access control system. The access control system maintains a registry of badge identifiers associated with persons such as regular personnel, contractors and visitors, and allows a person access to specific localities of the premises depending on access rights associated with that person&#39;s badge. 
         [0003]    Many premises assign security personnel or other individuals the task of manning a building entry point, authenticating employees as they enter and/or leave the premises and distributing badges to new employees or current employees who have lost their badges, authenticating and controlling contractor access to the premises, collecting visitor information and entering that information into a permanent record, clearing visitors for entry to the premises and distributing badges to visitors, and other related tasks. Often times, at busy entry points, a number of personnel are needed in order to manage the flow of people. This labor intensive, can lead to security lapses, and can create delays in processing people in and out of the premises. In addition, this method is not effective for premises where there is not sufficient room for a reception area or other entry point, where a plurality of entry/exit points exist, where there are too few employees or visitors to justify assigning an individual to this task, or for operation outside normal working hours. 
         [0004]    U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0058082 discloses an automated system that is described as being used for providing visitor badges. The described system does not appear to be capable of providing employee badges. In addition, the system appears to lack the capability of allowing the return of, and later reissuance of, the visitor badges. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Improved methods and systems for automated, self-service issuing of a card or other object to an individual are described. The card or other object can be returned by the individual for later automated re-issuance of the card or object to the same or different individual. The system can include a self-service issuing machine that is configured to issue a card or object to a user, allow return of the card or object back into the machine, and later reissuing of the card or object to the same or different user. 
         [0006]    The machine can be used in a number of applications, including with an access control system that controls access into and throughout a building(s). The machine can be configured to dispense temporary re-usable badges to employees, contractors, and visitors. The badges can be returned to the machine, which stores the returned badges for later re-issuance to a later user needing a temporary badge. The machine can also integrate with an enterprise access control system that controls access to a number of dispersed building sites. 
         [0007]    The methods and systems described herein can reduce the amount of personnel needed for use in controlling access to buildings, and can reduce the workload of personnel that are present by allowing people needing a badge to use a self-service machine. Further, the self-service machine can reduce the time spent by employees, contractors and visitors in acquiring and returning the temporary badges. The self-service machine also allows personnel other than designated entry or security point personnel to register, verify identification, obtain and return badges for visitors. In addition, the self-service machine provides a record of badge transactions, leading to more accurate and complete badge security. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of self-service card issuing machine of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates a local access control system using the self-service card issuing machine. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates the access control system of  FIG. 2  integrated with an enterprise access control system. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a schematic illustration of the process of dispensing a reusable card. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a schematic illustration of the process of a card being returned to the card issuing machine. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the card storage hopper and transport mechanism. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the card storage hopper. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a front view of the card storage hopper. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Method and systems for automated, self-service issuing of an object to an individual are described in the following description. Objects that can be issued include, but are not limited to, cards and key fobs. Cards include, but are not limited to, badges used for access control to and within buildings or secured areas, debit cards and gift cards. The cards can be, for example, CR80 size cards. The cards are made of materials, for example plastic, that allow the cards to maintain their integrity over repeated uses. To facilitate the description, the inventive concepts will hereinafter be described with respect to the object being a badge used for building access control. However, it is to be realized that the invention concepts apply to issuing other objects as well, and to applications other than access control in a building, for example to machines that issue and receive reloadable objects such as gift cards. 
         [0017]    The badges are preferably non-personalized without user specific information, permanent printing or a user photograph added to the badge. Each badge is temporary for a user. The badge is intended to be returned for later automated re-issuance of the badge the same or different individual. The badges are issued by a self-service issuing machine that is configured to issue a badge to a user, allow return of the badge back into the machine where it is stored and later reissued to the same or different user. 
         [0018]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , a self-service badge issuing machine  10  is illustrated. The machine  10  comprises a housing  12  that includes one or more user interfaces, for example a touch screen monitor  14 , accessible from the exterior of the housing  12  to allow a user to interact with the machine  10  and display user prompts and information. The touch screen monitor  14  preferably permits entry of user commands and user data and information. One or more other user interfaces could be used in place of or in addition to the touch screen monitor  14 , for example a key board, a mouse, a telephone  16  (shown schematically in  FIG. 2 ), and others. 
         [0019]    The machine  10  also includes other exterior components including a speaker  18  to permit audio communications to be communicated to a user, for example by a security person at a security desk, a camera  20  which can take pictures of the user and the machine surroundings which can be stored within the machine  10  and/or relayed to a remote station for viewing or storage, and an LED readout  22  for displaying various messages to the user. 
         [0020]    In addition to the above described externally accessible components, the machine  10  includes a badge dispensing/return slot  24 , forming a retrieval and return area, through which badges are dispensed to users and returned by users to the machine  10 . The slot  24  is illustrated as being in front of the machine  10  beneath the touch screen monitor  14 , but could be located at any convenient location on the machine  10 . 
         [0021]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , a computer  26  that has a processor, memory for data storage, and a user interface such as a keyboard, is disposed within the interior of the machine  10 . The computer  26  is in communication with an external site server  28  via a network interface card  30  and a local area network. The site server  28  can be located in the same building or the same complex of buildings as the machine  10 , and contains computer programs and configuration data for operating the machine and a site database containing data on possible users of the machine, such as employee and contractor data. The site server  28  can also control an access control system within the building or complex of buildings. An uninterruptible power supply  32  supplies power to the machine  10  which is plugged into a conventional wall socket via a power cord. 
         [0022]    A modem  34  within the machine  10  is connected to the computer  26  and the telephone  16 , and is connected to an internal telephone network  36 . The modem  34  permits a user to telephone employees or other persons within the building or complex of buildings served by the machine, via the telephone  16  and the internal telephone network  36 . Instructions for using the telephone  16  can be displayed on the touch screen monitor  14  along with a list of employees and associated telephone numbers provided via the computer  26  and the site server  28 . 
         [0023]    Also internal to the machine is a badge storage area  40  and a transport mechanism  42  (illustrated in  FIG. 6 ). The badge storage area  40  stores badges waiting to be dispensed to a user, and receives badges that are returned by users to the machine  10 . The transport mechanism  42  is designed to transport a badge from the storage area  40  to the slot  24  during issuance of a badge, and transport a badge from the slot  24  to the storage area  40  when the badge is returned. The transport mechanism  42  is a two-way transport mechanism in that a badge can be transported in both directions between the slot  24  and the storage area  40 . As a result, badges that have been dispensed from the machine can later be returned directly to, and automatically received by, the machine for reuse and reissue of the badges. 
         [0024]    With reference to FIGS.  2  and  6 - 8 , the storage area  40  comprises a badge storage and retrieval hopper assembly  44  that is mounted for vertical movement relative to the transport mechanism  42  within the machine. The hopper assembly  44  is designed to discharge cards one at a time through a front side  46  thereof to the transport mechanism  42 , and to receive returned cards one at a time through the front side  46  from the transport mechanism  42 . 
         [0025]    The hopper assembly  44  includes a hopper housing  48  that is configured to hold a plurality of cards. The hopper housing  48  can define a single card storage are or, more preferably, define a plurality of separate card storage locations  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c ,  50   d  as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . The use of separate card storage locations permits the storage of different types of badges to be dispensed. For example, storage location  50   a  can store employee badges, storage location  50   b  can store contractor badges, while storage location  50   c  can store visitor badges. In addition, the hopper housing can include a storage location  50   d  for rejected cards, including cards that cannot be read by the sensor mechanism (to be later described). If desired, the different types of badges can contain indicia, for example colors, to indicate the different types of badges. For example, an employee badge can be color coded green, a contractor badge color coded blue, and a visitor badge color coded red. Other indicia on the cards to distinguish different types of card can also be used. 
         [0026]    The hopper housing  48  is driven vertically be a lead screw  52  that is rotatably driven by a reversible motor (not shown) and a threaded nut  54  that is fixed to the housing  48 . A pair of guide posts  56  and slide bearings  58  fixed to the housing  48  that slide on the posts  56  the help guide the housing  48  during its vertical movements. 
         [0027]    With reference to  FIG. 7  which shows the front side of the hopper housing  48 , each of the storage locations  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c ,  50   d  includes an exit slot  60  defined in a front wall  62  thereof through which a card from the bottom of the card stack in the storage location exits the storage location when being dispensed. The exit slot  60  has a width that is slightly greater than the width of the cards to allow the cards to travel through the slot  60 . Each storage location  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c ,  50   d  also includes a return opening  64  generally above the front wall  62  through which a returned card is returned into the storage location to the top of the card stack. 
         [0028]      FIG. 8  shows the back side of the hopper housing  48 . The back side of each storage location  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c ,  50   d  is closed off by a wall  66 . A notch  68  is formed at the bottom of each wall  66  thereby exposing the rear edge of the lowermost card in each card stack. A pivotable actuating arm  70  supporting an actuating protrusion  72  is mounted on a stationary structure  74  to the side of the hopper housing  48  and adjacent the back side thereof. In addition, slots  76  associated with each storage location  50   a ,  50   b ,  50   c ,  50   d  are cut-out in the side of the hopper housing  48 . When discharging a card, the actuating arm  70  and protrusion  72  are rotatable into a respective slot  76 , with the protrusion  72  engaging the rear edge of the card exposed by the notch  68  to drive the card out the respective exit slot  60  at the front side  46  of the hopper housing  48 . For the reject hopper  50   d , the arm  70  extends beneath the side wall of the hopper housing instead of rotating into a slot. 
         [0029]    The hopper housing  48  is actuatable vertically up and down through an opening  78  in the stationary structure  74  by rotating the lead screw  52  in the appropriate direction. When it is desired to discharge a card from one of the storage locations, for example storage location  50   c , the hopper housing  48  is lowered until the exit slot  60  thereof is aligned with the transport mechanism  42 . At this position the slot  76  is level with the actuating arm  70 . The arm  70  is then rotated to bring the protrusion  72  into engagement with the rear edge of the card exposed by the notch  68  in order to drive the card forwardly into the transport mechanism  42 . When it is desired to return a card to the storage location  50   c , the hopper housing  48  is lowered until the return opening  64  is aligned with the transport mechanism  42 . The transport mechanism  42  then directs the card through the return opening  64  and back on top of the card stack within the storage location  50   c  for later reissuance. 
         [0030]    Returning to  FIG. 6 , the transport mechanism  42  includes a drive roller assembly  80  that is adjacent the front side  46  of the hopper housing  48 . The drive roller assembly is responsible for picking up a card that is driven through one of the exit slots  60  and driving the card toward the discharge slot  24 , and receiving returned cards and driving the cards into the respective storage location. The drive roller assembly  80  preferably comprises upper and lower rollers  82  (only the upper roller  82  is shown) mounted on respective drive shafts  84  (only the upper drive shaft  84  is shown) driven by a reversible motor (not shown). 
         [0031]    The transport mechanism  42  also includes guide rails  86  that guide the edges of the card. A discharged card is guided by the guide rails  86  to a sensor assembly  88  that includes a sensor for reading a unique identifier on the card. The type of sensor will depend on how the identifier is stored on the card. The unique identifier can be formed by numbers, letters, symbols, pictures, or combinations thereof, a bar code or any other means of forming an identifier that is unique to the card. The identifier can be code or uncoded. The identifier can be disposed in any suitable form on the badge, such as by printing, disposed in a magnetic stripe, disposed in an integrated circuit chip embedded in or on the badge, or attached to a substrate (for example a label) that is attached to the badge. If the identifier is stored on a magnetic stripe of the card, the sensor will be a magnetic stripe reader for reading the magnetic stripe. If the identifier is stored on a chip embedded in the card, the sensor will be a chip reader suitable for reading the chip. If the identifier is stored in bar code form, the sensor will be a bar code reader. Other forms of identifiers and sensors can be used. 
         [0032]    The sensor assembly  88  also includes roller assemblies  90 ,  92  which transport the cards to the discharge slot  24 , and receive returned cards through the discharge slot for return to the storage area  40 . 
         [0033]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , an issued card  100  can provide access to the card holder to various locations within the building depending upon the access rights provided to the card holder. The site server  28  can control or be connected to an access control system including a number of access control panels  102  that control access through doorways by reading the card  100 . When the card  100  is read, the unique identifier of the card is transmitted back to the site server  28  which, when the card was dispensed, previously recorded that the card was assigned to the card holder by recording the unique identifier with the card holder&#39;s name. Depending upon the permissions granted to the card holder by the card access system and site server  28 , entry through the door is either granted or denied. At the same time, information on the use of the card can be stored by the site server to record the number of card uses, the door locations, the times of use, etc. 
         [0034]    This site server  28  can also be suitably connected to an enterprise server  110  which retains and controls information for a number of distributed sites  112   a ,  112   b , . . .  112   n . Each site  112   a . . . n  would preferably contain at least one of the machines  10  along with a site server. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , a card  100  is dispensed from the machine  10  to a user by discharging a card from the storage area  40 , and transporting the card by the transport mechanism  42  to the slot  24 . Prior to being dispensed through the slot  24 , the unique identifier on the card is read by the sensor of the sensor assembly  88 , and the identifier is transmitted to the site server  28  where the identifier is associated with the user who is logged into the machine  10 . 
         [0036]    When the card is no longer needed by the user, the user can return the card to the machine  10  by logging on and returning the card through the  24  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The returned card is picked up by the rollers, and the unique identifier read by the sensor of the sensor assembly  88 . In this way, the system knows which card has been returned by which individual and the site server  28  can delete the associated links between the returned card and the user. The returned card is then transported back to the storage area for return into the appropriate location of the hopper housing  48 . The returned card can then be dispensed to a new user in need of a badge, with the unique identifier of the card being reassigned to the new user upon dispensing the card. In the case where the unique identifier of the card cannot be read, it is returned to the user. If the user does not take the card within a predetermined amount of time, the card is transported to the reject storage location  50   d . In addition, if a user inserts a different form of card that is not recognized by the machine, for example the user inserts a credit card, the machine  10  will withdraw the card back into the machine  10  after presenting the card for the user to pick-up , and direct the card to the reject storage area  50   d  in order to prevent a later user from obtaining the credit card. 
         [0037]    Before issuing a card or returning a card to the hopper housing, the quality of the card is checked by the sensor of the sensor assembly  88 . If the card cannot be read, rather than issuing a back card to a user or returning a bad card to the hopper, the card can be directed to the reject storage area. 
         [0038]    The invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or novel characteristics thereof. The embodiments disclosed in this application are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not limitative. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description; and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.