Abstract:
Disclosed herein is a card dispensing unit. The unit includes a stack guide assembly configured to receive one or more cards. A push block in operable communication with the guide assembly is also provided to selectively move the cards pursuant to a controllable position linear actuator which is in operable communication with the push block. Further disclosed herein is a method for dispensing cards. The method includes recognizing an indicator to dispense a card. Once the indicator is recognized, an action is taken resulting in linearly urging a card from a stack of one or more cards toward an ejection area with a controllable position linear actuator.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     Alternatives to cash money have traditionally been checks, credit cards and debit cards. More recently however, another alternative has become available. These are often called smart cards. Smart cards employ a programmable chip, in the modern incarnation, which chip stores information such as a credit amount on the card, and sometimes where and with what equipment the card is useable, smart cards are ubiquitous in overseas locales and are becoming more often used in this country as a substitute for cash, particularly in certain industries. Specifically, one example of an industry where these cards have become prevalent is in commercial laundromats. While certainly there are many other venues for this technology, the above is a common example. Cards are purchased by a user for a certain sum of money with excess deposited money being encoded on the card as a credit. The card may then be inserted into readers attached to a particular device where a debit will take place and the device will become operational.  
         [0002]     There are several manufacturers of such cards and several different types of cards. Each manufacturer also supplies card dispensers, card encoders and card readers. In each case, there are drawbacks to the prior art dispensers, encoders and readers. Since improvements are always welcomed, a device and method according to the following disclosure, which overcomes all of the art recognized drawbacks of the prior art devices and methods will be well received by the art.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0003]     Disclosed herein is a card dispensing unit. The unit includes a stack guide assembly configured to receive one or more cards. A push block in operable communication with the guide assembly is also provided to selectively move the cards pursuant to a controllable position linear actuator which is in operable communication with the push block.  
         [0004]     Further disclosed herein is a method for dispensing cards. The method includes recognizing an indicator to dispense a card. Once the indicator is recognized, an action is taken resulting in linearly urging a card from a stack of one or more cards toward an ejection area with a controllable position linear actuator. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]     Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several Figures:  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a front/side perspective view of a card dispensing unit;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a rear/side perspective view of the card dispensing unit;  
         [0008]      FIG. 3A  is a side elevation view the card dispensing unit;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3B  is a cross-section view of the unit illustrated in  FIG. 1A  taken along section lines  3 B- 3 B;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3C  is a cross-section view of the unit illustrated in  FIG. 1A  taken along section lines  3 C- 3 C;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3D  is a cross-section view of the unit illustrated in  FIG. 1A  taken along section lines  3 D- 3 D;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4A  is a rear elevation view of the card dispensing unit illustrated in  FIG. 3A ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional view of the unit illustrated in  FIG. 4A  taken along section lines  4 B- 4 B;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of circumscribed area  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4B ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a rear end of the unit and illustrating a part of the encoder; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a similar view to  FIG. 6  but with the rear hatch displaced.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]     For purposes of clarity in the following discussion it is noted that the first portion of the detailed description is focused upon identification of components with only minimal interjection of process oriented commentary. Such commentary is included where it is deemed of assistance with respect to identification of components. Following completion of component identification, a discussion of operation of the unit will commence.  
         [0018]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2  a card dispensing unit  10  representative of the disclosure herein is illustrated from a front and a rear corner, respectively, isometrically. These are intended primarily to provide an overview of the unit.  
         [0019]     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  3 A,  4 A and  4 B, a stack guide  12  is visible. Stack guide  12  includes a housing  14  and a hatch  16 . The housing is three-sided and the hatch selectively closes the fourth side. Hatch  16  is opened to load/unload the stack guide with cards when necessary or desired. In this embodiment, hatch  16  is openable on slide pivots  18  (see  FIG. 3A ) or otherwise openable. The overall internal peripheral dimension defined by housing  14  and hatch  16  are similar to one or more cards such that a stack of cards is receivable, organized in the guide  12  and ejectable from the guide  12 .  
         [0020]     Referring to  FIGS. 3B and 7 , a stack support  20  is attached to housing  14  to provide a subjacent support for the stack of cards when loaded. Stack support  20  includes a pair of ridges  22   a  and  22   b  upon which cards from the stack ride. It will be appreciated that the ridges are narrow relative to the width between housing walls  24   a  and  24   b , which closely approximate card width. This is to reduce the area on the face of each card subject to potential scratching from the ridges to improve aesthetics of the ejected card.  
         [0021]     Centrally of the ridges  22   a  and  22   b  is an encoder  26  having a plurality of (as illustrated  8 ) pins  28 . Depressing of pins  28  requires about 1 to 1.5 pounds of force in one embodiment, which may be a downward force, but will always be an impingement force between the stack of cards and the encoder, thus urging the stack towards the encoder. The force is created by a means such as gravity, either by a stack of cards alone or with a weight placed thereon, or by a spring of any type. Upon compression of pins  28 , the card may be programmed by encoder  26  as dictated by a control circuit (not shown) connected to encoder  26  through cable  30 .  
         [0022]     After completion of the encoding process, a push block  32  (see  FIG. 3C ) having tabs  34  ( FIG. 7 ) is configured to push a single card off the bottom of the stack and to an ejection area  36 . The ejection area  36  is visible in  FIG. 1  in perspective view and in  FIGS. 3A and 4B  in side plan and cross-section view, respectively. It is well while viewing  FIGS. 3A, 4B  and  7  to also note a card present sensor  38  and a card out sensor  40 , as well as (in  FIGS. 3A and 4B ), limit switches  42  and  44  both of which are connected to a control circuit, not shown. Further, the card present sensor  38  and card out sensor  40  are located on a separate printed circuit board  46  for ease of installation.  
         [0023]     Beneath stack support  20  ( FIGS. 3A, 3C  and  4 B) the controlled position linear actuator  50  is illustrated. Actuator  50  comprises in this embodiment, a stepper motor  52  having a lead screw  54  in operable communication therewith. Such motor is inherently position controllable and has been selected for that property. It will be appreciated that other devices allowing position control may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. The lead screw is supported by a bushing  56  in a support frame  58  at one end thereof and by the motor  52  at the other end thereof. It is to be appreciated that the importance of this component is to create a linear drive pattern with position control to support the desired card ejection process described hereinbelow. The position controlled nature of the linear actuator  50  allows for desired avoidance of pushback of a card into the stack whether it be intentionally or accidentally. The specifically illustrated embodiment has been developed and selected for illustration due to low cost and simplicity.  
         [0024]     The push block  32  is in operable communication with the lead screw  54  through the intermediary of a flange nut  60  secured therein. The linear travel per step of the lead screw is about 0.001 inch. which is correlated to the speed of card delivery and the length of the card itself. Push block  32 , while driven by lead screw  54 , rides on rails  62 . In this embodiment two rails  62  are employed.  
         [0025]     At an end of push block  30 , opposite tabs  34  is a limit leg  64 , which in one embodiment, as illustrated, includes chamfers  66  and  68 . The chamfers assist in the intended function of limit leg  64  to trigger limit switches  42  and  44  by reducing the angle of incidence between the components. As was noted above, it is emphasized that any type of limit switch, be it electrical, mechanical, optical, pneumatic, hydraulic, etc. may be substituted without departure from this disclosure. Depending upon the type of limit switch selected, in the illustrated embodiment, subminiature series limit switches with roller lever are employed. These are ubiquitously commercially available.  
         [0026]     Finally, a front guard  70  is pivotally or otherwise displaceably mounted to support  20 . In operation, guard  70  is pushed up and out of the way by an ejecting card but when there is no ejecting card assumes a position closing the ejectment opening. By so doing the front guard prevents insertion of a card improperly into the stack of dispensable cards.  
         [0027]     Operation  
         [0028]     The unit as described, reliably and efficiently dispenses cards while at the same time encoding them, avoiding defacement of them and avoiding card push-back. This is accomplished through the action of the controlled position linear actuator and the push block.  
         [0029]     A stack of cards (one or more), which in many embodiments will be blank cards, are placed in stack guide  12 . These cards are then urged toward the encoder  26  for encoding seriatim as paid for by a consumer. The cards are urged by gravity or other means as noted above, in a direction toward the encoder  26 . An initialization procedure on powering the unit determines whether or not the push block is in the home position based upon a closed or open condition of limit switch  42 . If the home position switch is open, it is not known whether the device is being powered from a maintenance shut down or power failure. Therefore, it is not known if a card has been partially ejected or not. The controller will therefore cause the apparently interrupted cycle to continue. The stepper motor  52  drives the lead screw  54  in a direction to move the push block  32  to the eject position as determined by limit switch  44  becoming closed. Upon achieving a closed position, the card present and card out sensors are checked for state. If they indicate a card has ejected and has not been taken, then the unit will hold position until the card is taken. If the card out sensor is open or becomes open upon card removal the stepper motor  52 , drives the lead screw  54  in an opposite direction thereby moving the push block  32  toward the home position. This will continue until the home position limit switch  42  is put in the closed position. The initialization procedure is complete when the home position limit switch is closed. The unit is then ready for normal operation.  
         [0030]     To operate the unit, a consumer tenders payment to another part of the card device (not shown) to set in motion the dispensing unit above described. Upon such action, a card in closest proximity to the encoder (bottom of the stack) is encoded with a selected batch of information which may include a monetary credit, a key for a certain type of manufacturer and even a key restricting the card to a particular facility or particular machine. Once the card is encoded, the control circuit energizes the stepper motor to run.  
         [0031]     In one embodiment, the distance to dispense the card is 2.2 inches (exemplary and not limiting); the step distance is 0.001 inch per step and the desired dispensing time is about 3 seconds. For this example, the stepper motor should run at about 733 H z . The frequency of the stepper motor will be dependent upon desired factors in each application such as distance per step and length of delivery as well as time for delivery.  
         [0032]     The motor  52  drives the lead screw  54  to move the push block  32  from the home position toward the ejection area at the front of the unit. Tabs  34 , which rise above ridge  22   a  and  22   b  by about the thickness of one card, push against a trailing edge of the card to urge it toward the front of the unit. Since the card chip and the encoder are both located proximate an edge of the card, which is the trailing edge of the card, scraping of the card face by pins of the encoder  26  is limited to a small portion of the trailing edge of the card, thereby the card face is aesthetically preserved. It is further preserved as noted above. As the card advances, the card out sensor  40  is put to the closed position and the front guard is lifted by the card. When the push block  32  limit leg  64  closes limit switch  44 , the stepper motor stops and waits until the card out sensor returns to the open position which is occasioned by the consumer withdrawing the card from the machine. Once the open position of card out sensor  40  has been restored, push block  32  is returned to the home position by the stepper motor  52  and lead screw  54 . The home position is signaled by closing of limit switch  42 . The unit is then ready for the cycle to repeat, a new card from the stack having automatically advanced to proximity with encoder  26  upon push block  32  achieving the home position. In this position the unit is idle and will remain so until addressed by a consumer taking action to purchase a new card.  
         [0033]     While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustrations and not limitation.