Patent ID: 7434728

Claim:
A desktop card processor for performing processing operations on cards, comprising: a card input hopper located adjacent a front end portion of the card processor for staging cards to be processed by the card processor; a card output hopper located adjacent the front end portion of the card processor for receiving processed cards, wherein the card input hopper and the card output hopper are generally vertically separated one above the other; a first card processing level including: i) at least one card processing mechanism configured to perform a processing operation on a card, ii) a first card reorienting mechanism configured to reorient a card received thereby, and iii) a first card transport for conveying a card along the first card processing level including from the card input hopper to the card processing mechanism and from the card processing mechanism to the first card reorienting mechanism; a second card processing level including: i) at least one card processing mechanism configured to perform a processing operation on a card, ii) a second card reorienting mechanism configured to receive a card from the first card reorienting mechanism and to reorient the card received thereby, and iii) a second card transport for conveying a card along the second card processing level including from the second card reorienting mechanism to the card processing mechanism of the second card processing level and from the card processing mechanism of the second card processing level to the card output hopper; and wherein the first card processing level and the second card processing level are generally vertically separated one above the other.