GB2283203A

GB2283203A - Manufacture of cold seal magnetic stripe cards

Info

Publication number: GB2283203A
Application number: GB9322432A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Allan Paul Horsfall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-10-30
Filing date: 1993-10-30
Publication date: 1995-05-03
Anticipated expiration: 2013-10-30
Also published as: GB9322432D0; GB2283203B

Abstract

Transparent, self-adhesive, soft PVC sheeting 18 is laminated to a cardboard sheet 10 and magnetic striping 18 is arranged on the sheeting to provide a stripe on each card after cutting the laminate. <IMAGE>

Description

Manufacture of Cold Seal Magnetic Stripe Cards This invention relates to a method of manufacture of cold seal cards bearing a stripe of magnetic storage material and to cards produced by said method.

Cold seal laminated cards are typically used for identification purposes, such as college or club membership.

These cards, usually about the size of a conventional credit card, comprise a layer of cardboard bearing printing on its surfaces, and to the back surface of which is prelaminated a correspondingly sized layer of transparent soft PVC sheet, typically of 100 microns thickness, while the front of the card carries a flap in the form of a protected transparent soft PVC sheet which can be stripped of its protective paper and sealed down by the user.

Sometimes the back of the card, instead of being prelaminated, may also carry a flap.

The cards are conventionally made by laminating soft PVC self-adhesive sheeting to a cardboard sheet bearing a multiplicity of juxtapositioned prints, and cutting the laminate around the individual prints in order to produce separated cards. As above mentioned, normally one or both sides of the card is or are provided with laminate flaps. Typically, in this case, the PVC laminate, still attached to a peel-off protective paper, is back slit through the paper and edge stripped to enable edges of the PVC sheeting to be laminated to the cardboard sheet so that, after cutting, each card has a protected PVC cover attached at only one edge of each card, to the face or reverse or both.Usually, in this case, the card is supplied to a user in this form, so that personal information can be written or otherwise marked on the card prior to stripping the protective paper and sealing down the self-adhesive PVC layer to the surface of the card on which the information has been marked.

However, a problem arises when a card of this type is to be produced bearing a magnetic stripe, At present, manufacture involves the additional tedious step of applying single stripe labels. A primary aim of the invention is to overcome this problem.

According to the invention, in the manufacture of cold seal cards in which transparent, self-adhesive, soft PVC sheeting is attached to cardboard sheet prior to cutting to form individual cards, magnetic striping is carried by the said PVC sheeting and arranged thereon to provide a magnetic stripe on each individual card after cutting.

Preferably, the magnetic striping is carried by the PVC sheeting as a plurality of evenly spaced lines thereof along the length of the sheeting. However, it will be understood that when cards with flaps are to be produced, the back slitting and edge attachment technique employed for the second laminate requires the individual card printings on the cardboard sheet to be arranged in two rows wherein the card printings in one row are upside down relative to the printings in the other row, so that edge attachment of the second laminate is achieved at corresponding edges of all the individual cards.

According to a further feature of the invention, therefore, the card printings on the cardboard sheet are arranged in staggered relationship, so that the magnetic stripe is carried at the same position on all the cards.

The invention also extends to cold seal cards manufactured by the above-defined method.

The method of manufacture in accordance with the invention is now exemplified with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which illustrates the method diagrammatically.

Referring to the drawing, a cardboard sheet 10 has eight card printings 12 applied thereto, the printings being arranged in two rows 14 and 16 wherein the printings 12 in one row 14 are upside down relative to the printings 12 in the other row. In addition, the printings 12 in the second row 16 are in staggered relationship, in the direction of the length of the rows, in relation to the printings 12 in the first row 14. The degree of staggering is such that a line X mm from the top across any card printing in the row 14 aligns across the cardboard sheet with a line x mm from the top of any inverted card printing in the row 16.

Also shown is a transparent soft PVC sheeting 18 bearing continuous lines of magnetic striping 20. The lines of magnetic striping 20 are evenly spaced to match the spacing of the card printings 12 in the rows 14 and 16 on the printed cardboard sheet. On the surface opposite to the magnetic striping 20, the soft PVC sheeting has an adhesive coating covered by protective paper (not shown).

The protective paper is stripped from the PVC sheeting 18 as it is applied to the printed cardboard sheet 10 to form a laminate, relative positioning being effected such that the magnetic striping 20 will be positioned x mm from the top of each card printing 12.

Second self-adhesive PVC sheeting (not shown) devoid of magnetic striping is then applied to the other face of the cardboard sheet, typically by a conventional edge slitting and stripping of the protective paper and edge attachment to form flaps, which will afford the user the possibility of marking personal details on the card after the individual cards have been produced.

Thus, the individual cards are formed by cutting the cardboard/PVC laminate, resulting in eight individual cards each of which bears a magnetic stripe x mm from the top. Each card has an edge attached cover of protected PVC sheet, which can be stripped of the protective paper and laminated to the card after the card has been marked by the user (if required).

In the above-described example, the magnetic stripe is produced on the prelaminated side of the card, but this is not essential; the magnetic stripe could be produced on the flap. Moreover, cards with two flaps may be produced by the method in accordance with the invention, with the magnetic stripe applied on either one flap.

Claims

1. A method for the manufacture of cold seal cards in which transparent, self-adhesive, soft PVC sheeting is attached to cardboard sheet prior to cutting to form individual cards, wherein magnetic striping is carried by the said PVC sheeting and arranged thereon to provide a magnetic stripe on each individual card after cutting.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the magnetic striping is carried by the PVC sheeting as a plurality of evenly spaced lines thereof along the length of the sheeting.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which, when cards with flaps are to be produced by a back slitting and edge attachment technique for the second laminate, individual card printings on the cardboard sheet are arranged in two rows wherein the card printings in one row are upside down relative to the printings in the other row, so that edge attachment of the second laminate is achieved at corresponding edges of all the individual cards.

4. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which card printings on the cardboard sheet are arranged in staggered relationship, so that the magnetic stripe is carried at the same position on all the cards.

5. A method for the manufacture of cold seal cards substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. Cold seal cards manufactured by the method of any of claims 1 to 5.