Patent ID: 7793590

Claim:
A system for forming a debit card, comprising: a conveying mechanism for sequentially advancing planar card members along a predetermined path of travel, each card having a PIN on one of the surfaces; a flexographic printing station positioned along the predetermined path of travel for printing at least one print stripe of opaque scratch-off coating onto the surface of the card having the PIN as a card member is advanced into the printing station such that the PIN is covered by at least one print stripe of scratch-off coating, said flexographic printing station comprising an Anilox metering roll that receives a scratch-off coating and a print cylinder having a circumferential printing surface that engages the Anilox metering roll and receives the scratch-off coating therefrom and transfers the scratch-off coating from the printing surface onto the surface of the debit card, and further comprising a drive mechanism for continuously rotating the print cylinder with respect to the Anilox metering roll; a mounting mechanism for supporting the print cylinder for vertical movement with respect to the conveying mechanism and driving the print cylinder into and out of engagement with the surface of the debit card advanced into the flexographic printing station while maintaining sufficient contact with the Anilox metering roll; and a controller connected to the mounting mechanism that receives and processes data regarding the mounting mechanism and configured to control movement of the print cylinder into and out of engagement with the surface of the debit card at a predetermined location and for a predetermined length of time to apply at least one print stripe of predetermined length onto the surface of the debit card based on the length of time the printing surface engages the surface of the debit card.