The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 22, 1992
Filed:
Mar. 05, 1990
Peter J Vogelgesang, St. Paul, MN (US);
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company, a Corporation of Delaware, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
The present invention is an apparatus and method for aligning a card with optically readable annular data region thereon. The card is moved along a generally linear track and pushed onto a rotatable card holder which is secured in a first position for receiving the card. The data card is aligned on the card holder so that the annular data region thereon is in a desired registry with a focused laser beam. The card holder and card thereon are then rotated about a central axis of the annular data region and the laser beam is moved across the annular data region of the rotating card for data transfer. Once the desired data transfer is accomplished, the card holder rotation is stopped, the card holder is realigned in its first position and the card removed from the card holder. During rotation of card holder, a plurality of flyweights flatten the data card as a function of the rate of rotation of the card holder.