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The present invention relates to assembling identification documents in an over-the-counter issuing environment. In one implementation of the present invention, an ink jet printer-based assembling system is provided. An identification document substrate receives ink jet printed information. The printed substrate is laminated. In another implementation, a carrier web carries lamination pieces. Both the carrier web and the document substrate include form feed holes or other registration notches. The holes or notches are used to align the substrate with the lamination pieces, and to align a laminated document substrate for final cutting.
1. A system to intermittently assemble identification documents, an identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising:
a first ink jet printer operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet, said first ink jet printer including an input to receive the substrate sheet and an output from which a printed substrate sheet exits the first ink jet printer;
a first conveyor to convey a once printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output back to the first ink jet printer input, the first conveyor to convey the once printed substrate sheet so as to be positioned to receive printed information on a bottom surface of the substrate sheet, the top and bottom substrate surfaces being different surfaces, the first ink jet printer being operable to print second information on the bottom surface of the substrate sheet;
a second conveyor to convey a twice-printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output;
a laminator operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator to laminate the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and to laminate the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet;
a cutter to cut excess material from the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet, the cut, laminated twice printed sheet forming the identification document;
a cooler to receive a recently laminated twice printed substrate sheet, the cooler comprising at least one of a plurality of rollers, a cooling belt or a heat sink;
wherein the laminator comprises a top laminate supply and at least a laminator roller to heat and press the top laminate obtained from the top laminate supply to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet;
wherein the laminator further comprises a bottom laminate supply and at least a laminator roller to heat and press the bottom laminate obtained from the bottom laminate supply to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the bottom laminator roller being relatively positioned below the top laminator roller;
wherein at least one of the top laminate and bottom laminate comprises an individual sheet of lamination material, said top laminate and bottom laminate being respectively carried by a top carrier web and a bottom carrier web, wherein the top carrier web comprises a top opening and the top laminate is positioned over the top opening, and wherein the bottom carrier web comprises a bottom opening and the bottom laminate is positioned over the bottom opening; and
wherein at least one of the top carrier web and bottom carrier web includes a plurality of form feed holes, and said system further comprises a pin belt including a plurality of pins to engage at least one of the top form feed holes and bottom form feed holes.
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This application claims the priority of the following United States Provisional Applications, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
This application is also related to the following U.S. patent applications:
The present invention is also related to the following provisional applications:
Each of the above U.S. Patent documents is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The present invention is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/747,735, filed Dec. 22, 2000 (published as US 2003-0038174 A1), Ser. No. 09/602,313, filed Jun. 23, 2000 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,432), and Ser. No. 10/094,593, filed Mar. 6, 2002, (published as US 2002-0170966 A1), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/358,321, filed Feb. 19, 2002, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,594. Each of the above U.S. Patent documents is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention generally relates to identification and security documents, and in particular, relates to identification document printing and assembly systems and methods.
Identification Documents
Identification documents (hereafter "ID documents") play a critical role in today's society. One example of an ID document is an identification card ("ID card"). ID documents are used on a daily basis—to prove identity, to verify age, to access a secure area, to evidence driving privileges, to cash a check, and so on. Airplane passengers are required to show an ID document during check in, security screening, and prior to boarding their flight. In addition, because we live in an ever-evolving cashless society, ID documents are used to make payments, access an ATM, debit an account, or make a payment, etc.
(For the purposes of this disclosure, ID documents are broadly defined herein, and include, e.g., credit cards, bank cards, phone cards, passports, driver's licenses, network access cards, employee badges, debit cards, security cards, visas, immigration documentation, national ID cards, citizenship cards, social security cards, security badges, certificates, identification cards or documents, voter registration cards, police ID cards, border crossing cards, legal instruments, security clearance badges and cards, gun permits, gift certificates or cards, membership cards or badges, etc., etc. Also, the terms "document," "card," "badge" and "documentation" are used interchangeably throughout this patent application.).
Many types of identification cards and documents, such as driving licenses, national or government identification cards, bank cards, credit cards, controlled access cards and smart cards, carry thereon certain items of information which relate to the identity of the bearer. Examples of such information include name, address, birth date, signature and photographic image; the cards or documents may in addition carry other variant data (i.e., data specific to a particular card or document, for example an employee number) and invariant data (i.e., data common to a large number of cards, for example the name of an employer). All of the cards described above will hereinafter be generically referred to as "ID documents".
In the production of images useful in the field of identification documentation, it is oftentimes desirable to embody into a document (such as an ID card, drivers license, passport or the like) data or indicia representative of the document issuer (e.g., an official seal, or the name or mark of a company or educational institution) and data or indicia representative of the document bearer (e.g., a photographic likeness, name or address). Typically, a pattern, logo or other distinctive marking representative of the document issuer will serve as a means of verifying the authenticity, genuineness or valid issuance of the document. A photographic likeness or other data or indicia personal to the bearer will validate the right of access to certain facilities or the prior authorization to engage in commercial transactions and activities.
Identification documents, such as ID cards, having printed background security patterns, designs or logos and identification data personal to the card bearer have been known and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,970, issued Sep. 18, 1973 to M. Annenberg; in Great Britain Pat. No. 1,472,581, issued to G. A. O. Gesellschaft Fur Automation Und Organisation mbH, published Mar. 10, 1976; in International Patent Application PCT/GB82/00150, published Nov. 25, 1982 as Publication No. WO 82/04149; in U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,775, issued Mar. 31, 1987 to T. Raphael, et al.; in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,949, issued Apr. 19, 1988 to G. S. Sethi, et al.; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,987, issued Nov. 16 1993 to J. W. Luening, et al. All of the aforementioned documents are hereby incorporated by reference. Laminated ID documents are used as certificates of citizenship, identification cards, driver's licenses, member cards, passports, transaction cards, national identification cards, etc., etc., etc
Printing Information onto ID Documents
The advent of commercial apparatus (printers) for producing dye images by thermal transfer has made relatively commonplace the production of color prints from electronic data acquired by a video camera. In general, this is accomplished by the acquisition of digital image information (electronic signals) representative of the red, green and blue content of an original, using color filters or other known means. These signals are then utilized by a printer having a plurality of small heating elements (e.g., pins) for imagewise heating of each of a series of donor sheets (respectively, carrying sublimable cyan, magenta and yellow dye). The donor sheets are brought into contact with an image-receiving element (which can, for example, be a substrate) which has a layer for receiving the dyes transferred imagewise from the donor sheets. Thermal dye transfer methods as aforesaid are known and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,271, issued Nov. 4, 1986 to S. Brownstein and U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,989, issued Jun. 18, 1991 to Y. H. Chiang, et al. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference.
Dye diffusion thermal transfer printing ("D2T2") and thermal transfer (also referred to as mass transfer printing) are two printing techniques that have been used to print information on identification cards. For example, D2T2 has been used to print images and pictures, and thermal transfer has been used to print text, bar codes, and single color graphics.
D2T2 is a thermal imaging technology that allows for the production of photographic quality images. In D2T2 printing, one or more thermally transferable dyes (e.g., cyan, yellow, and magenta) are transferred from a donor, such as a donor dye sheet or a set of panels (or ribbons) that are coated with a dye (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, black, etc.) to a receiver sheet (which could, for example, be part of an ID document) by the localized application of heat or pressure, via a stylus or thermal printhead at a discrete point. When the dyes are transferred to the receiver, the dyes diffuse into the sheet (or ID card substrate), where the dyes will chemically be bound to the substrate or, if provided, to a receptor coating. Typically, printing with successive color panels across the document creates an image in or on the document's surface. D2T2 can result in a very high printing quality, especially because the energy applied to the thermal printhead can vary to vary the dye density in the image pixels formed on the receiver, to produce a continuous tone image. D2T2 can have an increased cost as compared to other methods, however, because of the special dyes needed and the cost of D2T2 ribbons. Also, the quality of D2T2-printed image may depend at least on an ability of a mechanical printer system to accurately spatially register a printing sequence, e.g., yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.
Another thermal imaging technology is thermal or mass transfer printing. With mass transfer printing, a material to be deposited on a receiver (such as carbon black (referred to by the symbol "K")) is provided on a mass transfer donor medium. When localized heat is applied to the mass transfer donor medium, a portion (mass) of the material is physically transferred to the receiver, where it sits "on top of" the receiver. For example, mass transfer printing often is used to print text, bar codes, and monochrome images. Resin black mass transfer has been used to print grayscale pictures using a dithered gray scale, although the image can sometimes look coarser than an image produced using D2T2. However, mass transfer printing can sometimes be faster than D2T2, and faster printing can be desirable in some situations.
Printing of black ("K") can be accomplished using either D2T2 or mass transfer. For example, black monochrome "K" mass transfer ribbons include Kr (which designates a thermal transfer ribbon) and Kd (which designates dye diffusion).
Both D2T2 and thermal ink have been combined in a single ribbon, which is the well-known YMCK (Yellow-Magenta-Cyan-Black) ribbon (the letter "K" is used to designate the color black in the printing industry). Another panel containing a protectant ("P") or laminate (typically a clear panel) also can be added to the YMCK ribbon).
Manufacture and Printing Environments
Commercial systems for issuing ID documents are of two main types, namely so-called "central" issue (CI), and so-called "on-the-spot" or "over-the-counter" (OTC) issue.
CI type ID documents are not immediately provided to the bearer, but are later issued to the bearer from a central location. For example, in one type of CI environment, a bearer reports to a document station where data is collected, the data are forwarded to a central location where the card is produced, and the card is forwarded to the bearer, often by mail. Another illustrative example of a CI assembling process occurs in a setting where a driver passes a driving test, but then receives her license in the mail from a CI facility a short time later. Still another illustrative example of a CI assembling process occurs in a setting where a driver renews her license by mail or over the Internet, then receives a drivers license card through the mail.
In contrast, a CI assembling process is more of a bulk process facility, where many cards are produced in a centralized facility, one after another. (For example, picture a setting where a driver passes a driving test, but then receives her license in the mail from a CI facility a short time later. The CI facility may process thousands of cards in a continuous manner.).
Centrally issued identification documents can be produced from digitally stored information and generally comprise an opaque core material (also referred to as "substrate"), such as paper or plastic, sandwiched between two layers of clear plastic laminate, such as polyester, to protect the aforementioned items of information from wear, exposure to the elements and tampering. The materials used in such CI identification documents can offer the ultimate in durability. In addition, centrally issued digital identification documents generally offer a higher level of security than OTC identification documents because they offer the ability to pre-print the core of the central issue document with security features such as "micro-printing", ultra-violet security features, security indicia and other features currently unique to centrally issued identification documents.
In addition, a CI assembling process can be more of a bulk process facility, in which many cards are produced in a centralized facility, one after another. The CI facility may, for example, process thousands of cards in a continuous manner. Because the processing occurs in bulk, CI can have an increase in efficiency as compared to some OTC processes, especially those OTC processes that run intermittently. Thus, CI processes can sometimes have a lower cost per ID document, if a large volume of ID documents are manufactured.
In contrast to CI identification documents, OTC identification documents are issued immediately to a bearer who is present at a document-issuing station. An OTC assembling process provides an ID document "on-the-spot". (An illustrative example of an OTC assembling process is a Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV") setting where a driver's license is issued to person, on the spot, after a successful exam.). In some instances, the very nature of the OTC assembling process results in small, sometimes compact, printing and card assemblers for printing the ID document. It will be appreciated that an OTC card issuing process is by its nature can be an intermittent—in comparison to a continuous—process.
OTC identification documents of the types mentioned above can take a number of forms, depending on cost and desired features. Some OTC ID documents comprise highly plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) or have a composite structure with polyester laminated to 0.5-2.0 mil (13-51 .mu.m) poly(vinyl chloride) film, which provides a suitable receiving layer for heat transferable dyes which form a photographic image, together with any variant or invariant data required for the identification of the bearer. These data are subsequently protected to varying degrees by clear, thin (0.125-0.250 mil, 3-6 .mu.m) overlay patches applied at the printhead, holographic hot stamp foils (0.125-0.250 mil 3-6 ..mu.m), or a clear polyester laminate (0.5-10 mil, 13-254 ..mu.m) supporting common security features. These last two types of protective foil or laminate sometimes are applied at a laminating station separate from the printhead. The choice of laminate dictates the degree of durability and security imparted to the system in protecting the image and other data.
As those skilled in the art know, ID documents such as drivers licenses can contain information such as a photographic image, a bar code (which may contain information specific to the person whose image appears in the photographic image, and/or information that is the same from ID document to ID document), variable personal information, such as an address, signature, and/or birthdate, biometric information associated with the person whose image appears in the photographic image (e.g., a fingerprint), a magnetic stripe (which, for example, can be on the a side of the ID document that is opposite the side with the photographic image), and various security features, such as a security pattern (for example, a printed pattern comprising a tightly printed pattern of finely divided printed and unprinted areas in close proximity to each other, such as a fine-line printed security pattern as is used in the printing of banknote paper, stock certificates, and the like).
An exemplary ID document can comprise a core layer (which can be pre-printed), such as a light-colored, opaque material (e.g., TESLIN (available from PPG Industries) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material). The core is laminated with a transparent material, such as clear PVC to form a so-called "card blank". Information, such as variable personal information (e.g., photographic information), is printed on the card blank using a method such as Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer ("D2T2") printing also described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,594, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The information can, for example, comprise an indicium or indicia, such as the invariant or nonvarying information common to a large number of identification documents, for example the name and logo of the organization issuing the documents. The information may be formed by any known process capable of forming the indicium on the specific core material used.
To protect the information that is printed, an additional layer of transparent overlaminate can be coupled to the card blank and printed information, as is known by those skilled in the art. Illustrative examples of usable materials for overlaminates include biaxially oriented polyester or other optically clear durable plastic film.
Referring to
One type of OTC identification document, available from the assignee of the present invention is a so-called "Desktop Security Card (DSC), which has a core layer (also referred to as "substrate") formed from a sheet of an opaque printable material, such as an opaque sheet of printable silica-filled polyolefin, such as the materials sold commercially by PPG Industries, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. under the Registered Trade Mark "TESLIN". In the currently fielded versions of the DSC card, printing of the ID document in OTC environments is achieved with D2T2 printers. Printing quality of the printed image may depend at least on an ability of a mechanical printer system to accurately register a printing sequence, e.g., yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,594 describes this type of OTC identification document in greater detail, and the contents of this patent are incorporated hereto by reference in their entirety.
Manufacturing Costs and other Issues
Printing of ID documents in OTC environments is often achieved with D2T2 printers. The ribbons uses with such D2T2 printers can be quite expensive, and the card blanks printed with D2T2 (e.g., PVC or other more expensive card blanks) also can be expensive. Copending and commonly assigned U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/379,704, entitled Application of pigmented jet inks to ID cards and U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 10/289,962, entitled "Identification Card Printed With Jet Inks and Systems and Methods of Making Same" provide information about inventive methods and techniques for using ink jet printing (which can be significantly less expensive than using D2T2 ribbons) to print on blank sheets (e.g., TESLIN sheets) that can then be laminated to protect the printing.
Presently available dye diffusion printing also can be expensive, especially as compared to the cost of presently available inkjet printers. Part of the expense is attributable to a short life span of the dye diffusion ribbons, e.g., the ribbons can only be used for a few prints (sometimes only one print) before they are depleted. This sometimes occurs because the printing of a single card may require a full set of the D2T2 color panels, resulting in a high percentage of unused (and, unfortunately, wasted) imaging materials. These systems also can diffuse dye to expensive PCV or other, more expensive substrates.
Still another important issue with OTC ID documents is their durability. Many ID documents, such as driver's licenses, can be subjected to environmental conditions, such as humidity, water, dirt, and heat that can cause significant damage to the laminate, images, and/or text on the card. Such environmental conditions reduce the useful life of the card, yet issuers often want cards with lifetimes of up to 10 years. Manufacturing ID documents with such long lifetime, using known techniques and materials, adds greatly to the cost of the card.
Yet another issue with OTC manufacturing of ID documents is efficiency. In some environments, the OTC card issuing process can be at times an intermittent process. Intermittent operation of the OTC assembling process sometimes results in waste of the raw materials used to form the ID documents. Wasted raw materials increase the cost per ID card. It is possible, however, that the OTC card assembling process can be continuous, or can have intermittent periods of continuous operation).
Because many issuers of ID documents are often under budgetary pressure to keep the cost of ID documents low, while still maintaining a high quality, durable card, it would be desirable to improve the design and/or manufacture of ID documents to reduce ID document cost while maintaining ID document quality and durability.
We have found that in OTC applications we can achieve excellent printing and durability results by using ink jet printing to print on a substrate sheet. In one embodiment, the substrate street comprises a microporous material, e.g., a TESLIN sheet. (TESLIN is a synthetic material available from PPG Industries, One PPG Place, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15272 U.S.A). The microporous material includes a plurality of voids, and, because of the affinity between the microporous material and the pigments in the ink jet ink, at least a portion of the ink jet ink fills the voids. The ink jet printed substrate is then preferably over laminated with, e.g., polyester laminates and then cut into a typical ID card size (e.g., conforming to an ISO standard). Our inventive methods and systems produce an ID document with superior durability and tamper resistance, yet is a lower cost solution, therefore yielding a superior product at lower cost.
Another aspect of the present invention is to use a so-called carrier web to carry and control the orientation of laminate patches in an ID document lamination process. The carrier web can be of a paper-based material. It will be appreciated that an OTC card issuing process is by its nature an intermittent—in comparison to a continuous—process. While so-called continuous roll laminating provides a fast and efficient method of card lamination in a central issue environment, the same continuous lamination process is not typically compatible with an intermittent process, due to poor material utilization. For example, consider a situation where only one card is produced in a run. Many inches (or even feet) of the roll lamination would be wasted since a subsequent card would not directly follow the first card. The use of a carrier web provides a unique method of using roll lamination in an intermittent card assembly environment with a high laminate yield.
In one implementation of the present invention we perforate the carrier web and/or substrate along a printing and/or laminating machine direction edge to provide a physical registration feature. Our perforation holes (or "form feed holes") can be used to reliably convey materials-and to accurately register multiple card layers (laminate—substrate—laminate) as the layers are combined to make a laminated ID document. In some implementations we place holes along two parallel directional edges of the web or substrate.
In one embodiment, we provide a system to intermittently assemble identification documents, the identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising a first ink jet printer, a conveyor, a second ink jet printer, a laminator, and a cutter. The first ink jet printer is operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet, said first ink jet printer including a print tray or input to receive the substrate sheet. The conveyor conveys the once printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer. The second ink jet printer receives the once printed substrate sheet from the conveyor, the once printed substrate sheet being conveyed in such a manner so as to position a bottom surface of the substrate sheet to receive second information from the second ink jet printer, the second ink jet printer being operable to print the second information on the bottom surface of the substrate sheet.
The laminator is operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator laminating the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and laminating the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet. The cutter is operable to cut excess material from the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet, the cut, laminated twice printed substrate sheet forming the identification document.
In another embodiment, we provide another system to intermittently assemble identification documents, an identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising a first ink jet printer, a first conveyor, a second conveyor, and a laminator.
The first ink jet printer is operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet, said first ink jet printer including an input to receive the substrate sheet and an output from which a printed substrate sheet exits the first ink jet printer. The first conveyor conveys a once printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output back to the first ink jet printer input, the first conveyor conveying the once printed substrate sheet so as to be positioned to receive printed information on a bottom surface of the substrate sheet, the top and bottom substrate surfaces being different surfaces, the first ink jet printer being operable to print second information on the bottom surface of the substrate sheet. The second conveyor conveys a twice-printed substrate sheet from the first ink jet printer output.
The laminator is operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator laminating the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and laminating the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet. The cutter cuts excess material from the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet, the cut, laminated twice printed sheet forming the identification document.
In a further embodiment, we provide a system to intermittently assemble identification documents, an identification document comprising a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being laminated, said system comprising first and second ink jet printers and a laminator.
The first ink jet printer is operable to print first information on a top surface of a substrate sheet. The second ink jet printer is operable to print second information on a bottom surface of a substrate sheet, the second ink jet printer being constructed and arranged relative to the first ink jet printer such that the substrate sheet can travel along a predetermined path and have its top side printed by the first ink jet printer and its bottom side printed by the second ink jet printer without having to change the orientation of the substrate along the predetermined path. The laminator is operable to receive the twice printed substrate sheet and to provide a top laminate in contact with the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and a bottom laminate in contact with the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminator laminating the top laminate to the top surface of the twice printed substrate sheet and laminating the bottom laminate to the bottom surface of the twice printed substrate sheet, the laminated, twice printed substrate sheet comprising the identification document. In a further embodiment, the first and second ink jet printers are constructed and arranged to print the substrate sheet at substantially the same time.
In still another embodiment, we provide a method of assembling an identification document, the assembled identification document including at least a substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the substrate being laminated.
A substrate having printing thereon is provided, the substrate sheet having been perforated or cut so as to include the outline of card. The card is separated from the substrate sheet, the card having a top surface and a bottom surface. A top laminate is provided so as to contact the card's top surface, and bottom laminate is provided so as to contact the card's bottom surface, said top laminate, substrate and bottom laminate forming a card sandwich, said providing laminates steps being preformed at a first station. The card sandwich is heated and pressed to facilitate lamination of the card sandwich at a second station, the second station being separate from the first station. The laminated card sandwich is cooled at a third station, the third station being separate from the first and second stations.
In a further embodiment, we provide a method of assembling an identification document in an intermittent assembling environment. Ink jet printing is controlled so as to print first information on a first surface of the document substrate and to print second information on a second surface of the document substrate, the second information including at least one set of data that is unique with respect to the first information. Lamination of the printed document substrate is controlled so as to provide a top laminate in contact with the first surface of the document substrate and to provide a bottom laminate in contact with the second surface of the document substrate. Alignment of the laminated document substrate is controlled through at least form feed holes placed along at least one of an edge of the document substrate and a carrier web that carries the top or bottom laminate, wherein the alignment relates to at least one of cutting, material registration and the placement of security features on the laminated document substrate.
In yet another embodiment, we provide system to produce an identification document from a substrate having first and second sides and comprising a predetermined material, the system comprising means for printing to the first side of the substrate, said means for printing operable to print the identification document using an ink having an affinity for the predetermined material, means for laminating at least one side of the identification document, and means for transferring the printed substrate to the means for laminating;
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be even more readily apparent from the following Detailed Description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In addition, in the figures, like numbers refer to like elements.
The following detailed description discloses multiple embodiments of our present invention. It should be appreciated that the disclosure found in one embodiment section can be readily combined with the disclosure found in another section.
In the foregoing discussion, the use of the word "card" is intended to include all types of ID documents. (For the purposes of this disclosure, the terms "document," "card," "badge" and "documentation" are used interchangeably. In addition, ID document shall include, without limitation, documents, magnetic disks, CD's, or any other suitable items that may record information, images, and/or other data, which may be associated with an object or other entity to be identified.)
While ink jet printers have been available for some time now, their use in ID card printing has been limited due to several factors. Common dye based inks, as traditionally used in ink jet printers, can lack the stability to resist fading over time or under prolonged exposure to sunlight. In laminated ID cards, it is preferred that ink that is deposited on a substrate (e.g., a TESLIN sheet) not interferes with the bonding of the protective laminates that are often coupled to the substrate. Any interference may defeat security provided by the laminates or long life of the resultant ID document.
The inventors have found that dye-based ink jet inks require a so-called receiving layer (or thin coating) to be applied to the ID document substrate in order to produce a high quality print appearance. Conventional receiving layers have water absorptive characteristics that can weaken the ID card's physical integrity. For example, a card substrate that is treated with a receiving layer absorbs water, particularly at the card's edges. Absorbing water can have disastrous effects—the card can swell or warp, the laminate can peel away, a weakness point can form providing an intrusion entry point, and the printed ink can be blurred or even lost. The inventors of the instant application also have discovered that a receiving layer often weakens the bond between the substrate and laminate.
Another weakness of conventional dye based ink jet inks is the mobility of the inks in the document substrate. Often, after application to a document substrate, dye-based ink jet ink will penetrate through the entire thickness of the substrate, particularly when a receiving layer is not applied to the substrate. Ink mobility has at least two negative results. First, the ink visible on the surface of the document substrate is reduced, leading to a "washed out" image. Second, in a worst-case scenario, ink printed on a front surface of the substrate becomes visible on a back surface of the substrate.
We have discovered that the use of pigmented ink jet inks substantially eliminates or at least significantly reduces most of these issues, making such pigmented ink jet inks suitable for printing information to ID card substrates. The light and aging stability of such pigmented inks are excellent. We have also determined that a receiving layer is not required when printing with these pigmented inks, making laminate bonds to the printed substrate acceptable, while maintaining excellent moisture resistance. The pigment particles exhibit a controlled level of penetration into the substrate, such as a microporous polyethylene-polymer containing materials such as a TESLIN (manufactured by PPG Industries, Inc., of Pittsburgh, Pa.) substrate, producing excellent quality, high-density images, with little to no bleed though to the back surface of the substrate. In particular, the instant inventors have discovered
We believe that our use of pigmented ink jet inks also may have application in central issue manufacturing of ID documents as well as over the counter manufacturing of ID documents, especially in situations where the resolution of ink jet printers surpasses that of laser printers used to print on TESLIN for the purpose of making ID cards. More details about our inventive use of pigmented inks can be found in our commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/289,962, published as US 2002-0211296 A1, entitled "Identification Card Printed with Jet Inks and Systems and Methods of Making Same", the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Although not required for the instant invention, the ID document 10 may include a photograph 14 and various printed information 12, e.g., such as data, textual information, graphics, bar codes, biometric information (e.g., fingerprint), personal information (e.g., name, address, etc.), or the like. At least a portion of the photograph and/or printed information 12 is printed on the substrate 21 with ink jet ink printing. In at least one embodiment, both sides of substrate 21 can receive printing, such as ink jet color printing or ink jet black and white printing. In some embodiments, information may also be optically or magnetically stored on recording media (e.g., magnetic stripe 27) carried by one or both of the laminates 23, 25.
Heat and/or adhesive are used to bond the laminate sheets 23 and 25 with the substrate 21. The adhesive can even be coated or provided on a substrate-engaging side of the laminates 23 and 25. Or a laminate can include a pouch into which the substrate 21 slips. Again, heat and/or adhesives would be used to bond the substrate 21 with the pouch laminate. Hence, our preferred finished ID document includes at least a three-layer structure (e.g., laminate—substrate—laminate). The lamination provides a protective covering for the printed substrates and provides a level of protection against unauthorized tampering. (For example, a laminate would have to be removed to alter the printed information and then subsequently replaced after the alteration.). Various lamination processes are disclosed in assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,783,024, 6,007,660 and 6,159,327. Other lamination processes are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,283,188 and 6,003,581. Each of these U.S. Patents is herein incorporated by reference. Our present disclosure provides improvements over these lamination techniques.
Any or all of the printed information and/or images on the substrate may also include one or more built in security features, as well, to help reduce identity fraud. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, portions of the ID document 10, such as an image or a bar code, can include a digital watermark. Digital watermarking is a process for modifying physical or electronic media to embed a machine-readable code therein. The media may be modified such that the embedded code is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to the user, yet may be detected through an automated detection process. The code may be embedded, e.g., in a photograph, text, graphic, image, substrate or laminate texture, and/or a background pattern or tint of the photo-identification document. The code can even be conveyed through ultraviolet or infrared inks and dyes.
Digital watermarking systems typically have two primary components: an encoder that embeds the digital watermark in a host media signal, and a decoder that detects and reads the embedded digital watermark from a signal suspected of containing a digital watermark. The encoder embeds a digital watermark by altering a host media signal. To illustrate, if the host media signal includes a photograph, the digital watermark can be embedded in the photograph, and the embedded photograph can be printed on a photo-identification document. The decoding component analyzes a suspect signal to detect whether a digital watermark is present. In applications where the digital watermark encodes information (e.g., a unique identifier), the decoding component extracts this information from the detected digital watermark.
Several particular digital watermarking techniques have been developed. The reader is presumed to be familiar with the literature in this field. Particular techniques for embedding and detecting imperceptible watermarks in media are detailed, e.g., in Digimarc's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/503,881 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 6,122,403. Techniques for embedding digital watermarks in identification documents are even further detailed, e.g., in Digimarc's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/094,593, filed Mar. 6, 2002 (published as US 2002-0170966 A1), and Ser. No. 10/170,223, filed Jun. 10, 2002 (published as US 2003-0031340 A1), co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/358,321, filed Feb. 19, 2002, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,886. Each of the above-mentioned U.S. Patent documents is herein incorporated by reference.
Base material is provided for printing (steps 102, 104). The base material provided depends at least in part on the type of printer used. In one embodiment, the printing is accomplished using one or more inkjet-type printers and the base material is a material capable of being inkjet printed. In one embodiment, the printing is accomplished using one or more inkjet type printers that are supplied with a given pigmented ink jet ink and the base material is a material that has an affinity for the given pigmented ink jet ink. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, suitable ink jet printers are available from many different vendors, such as Hewlett Packard (3000 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, Calif. 94304), Epson (including, for example, the Epson Photo 2000P model) (3840 Kilroy Airport Way Long Beach, Calif. 90806), Canon U.S.A., Inc. (One Canon Plaza, Lake Success, N.Y. 11042) and Lexmark (740 West New Circle Road, Lexington, Ky. 40550).
As an optional step, during and/or after printing of the base material, the base material can be dried (step 108), using, for example, an air dryer, heat lamp, or other drying device. Such forced drying advantageously can help to harden the ink printed onto the base material, speeding up the card manufacture and helping the printing to withstand rough handling (e.g., conveyors) between printing passes. Forced drying also can help to reduce bubbles and other problems that can occur during lamination, to help reduce such defects the final cards. If time permits, the drying of step 108 also can be accomplished by waiting or delaying the passage of the base material a predetermined amount of time necessary for the ink jet printing to dry. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that combinations of forced drying and time delays also can be used to accomplish drying.
Laminating step 106 can be accomplished using virtually any lamination system known in the art, including systems of heated rollers, pouches, patches of laminate applied directly to base material, platen lamination, carrier supported lamination, manual lamination, etc. Depending on the type of lamination used, during cooling (step 110) of the laminated base material, additional pressure can be applied to the laminated base material (such as a series of rollers and/or one or more plates) to help to keep the laminate flat during cooling.
Cutting of the laminated base material (step 112) can be accomplished in many different ways, depending on the type of base material and the configuration of the processes. For example, in at least some embodiments of the invention, base materials (as further described herein) are provided on carrier webs and are then laminated (including by methods such as patch lamination), such that the laminated base materials can be punched out, torn off, peeled away, or otherwise removed from the carrier web during cutting. For laminations accomplished using methods such as injection molding, cutting step 112 can encompass removing the injected molded base material from the mold. Depending on the particular lamination technique used, varying types and amounts of scrap material may result, and is accumulated by a residual accumulation (114) as discussed immediately below. For roll-type laminations, scrap material can be rewound (step 116) and later re-used. For platen and carrier supported laminations, scrap material can be accumulated as stacks or piles (step 118) and/or can be shredded (step 120). Shredding can be advantageous where the scrap may contain proprietary material (e.g., covert logs contained on the laminate material).
If the laminated base material has portions to be encoded (e.g., a magnetic stripe or bar code) (step 122), that can be done following cutting step (112). Of course, it will be appreciated that steps 112 and 122 can, of course, be reversed, especially in systems where orientation and registration of the base material can be controlled. After encoding, the laminated base material can be output as ID documents (step 124).
This embodiment provides an inventive over-the-counter ("OTC") ID document printing system and related methods. As a general overview, and with reference to
A substrate sheet 219 (made of a material capable of being reliably printed with ink from the ink jet printer,) is provided to the first ink jet printer 202 with for printing. In at least one embodiment, the ink jet printers are supplied with a pigmented ink jet ink and the substrate sheet is a sheet of TESLIN, where the TESLIN does not require a receiver layer because the ink jet ink has been pre-selected to have an affinity for the TESLIN material. In at least one embodiment, however, the TESLIN can be pre-coated with a receiver layer and the ink jet ink need not be specially pre-selected for the TESLIN.
Our ID document substrate is formed from the substrate sheet. The sheet is preferably somewhat larger than the size of a finished card. This over-sizing allows extra material to help, e.g., transport the sheet through system. This extra substrate material can be later trimmed to achieve a specified size. (Of course, the substrate sheet can be sized to a finished card as well.). The substrate sheet is placed in a sheet feeder 202 a of the first ink jet printer 202. The first ink jet printer 202 prints desired printing (e.g., variable information, photographs, bar codes, graphics, etc.) to a first side of the substrate sheet.
The substrate sheet 219 is conveyed along a path 203 into a feed tray 204 a of the second ink jet printer 204 preferably in a manner that presents a second side of the sheet to the second ink jet printer 204. (For example, path 203 is "C" shaped to present a second side of the sheet to the second ink jet printer's print head.). Path 203 can be achieved with a belt, roller system and/or vacuum, etc., as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art The second ink jet printer 204 applies desired printing to the second side of the sheet. The printed sheet is then conveyed from the second ink jet printer 204 to a laminator 205.
Laminator 205 preferably includes a laminate supply 212, guide rollers 210, preheating rollers 208, and laminator rollers 206. (We note that in an alternative implementation, laminator 205 includes a subset of these components, such as only laminator rollers 206, or preheating rollers 208 and laminator rollers 206.). Although laminator 205 is shown as including the cooler 214, the cooler 214 need not be part of the laminator and can, in fact, be a separate item. Likewise, of course, any of the elements shown in
A common lamination material includes polycarbonate or polyester. Most frequently, such laminates include an adhesive layer or coating, such as EVA, EVA blends, etc. The laminator 205 receives laminate in the form of continuous webs from upper laminate supply 212 a and lower laminate supply 212 b. The laminate webs are fed from the supplies 212 a and 212 b via guide rolls 210 a and 210 b, respectively. The laminate webs are preheated with upper and lower preheating rollers 208 a and 208 b. An adhesive side of the laminate preferably faces (and contacts) the preheating rollers 208. The preheating rollers 208 a and 208 b heat their respective laminates so as to bring the temperature of the laminate adhesive slightly below an activation temperature (around 170� F.) of the adhesive (e.g., between about 5-20� F. below the activation temperature). The preheating temperature is preferably such that the laminate material (e.g., amorphous polyester) does not soften to a point where it would unduly stretch from the preheating rollers 208 to the laminator roller 206. Laminator rolls 206 a and 206 b provide heat to activate the laminate adhesive, and press the upper and lower laminate onto respective upper and lower sides of the printed substrate sheet. In one implementation the laminator rollers 206 raise the laminate temperature from the activation temperature to about 230-240� F. In another implementation, we maintain our preheating rollers 208 between 150-180� F., and our laminator rollers 206 between 250-330� F. Since the speed of lamination is proportional to the lamination temperature (e.g., hotter is faster), in some implementations we raise the laminator rolls 206 above 330� F.
(It should be understood that, to simplify the discussion we have taken some liberty with the use of the term "roller" and "roll." Conventionally the term "roller" is used to specifically imply a metal or anodized metal surface, while the term "roll" is used to specifically imply a rubber coated roll that fits over or otherwise surrounds the metal roller. Such distinctions are not critical to the understanding of the present invention. Accordingly we use the terms roller and roll interchangeable herein.).
The laminated substrate sheet is provided to the cooler 214. In one embodiment, the cooler 214 includes a plurality of cooling rollers 215 to keep the laminates flat while cooling. In an alternative cooler 214 implementation (not shown) we provide flat heat sinks (instead of rollers) to contact the laminate surfaces. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other ways of cooling the substrate sheet (e.g., immersion in a substance capable of cooling the laminate, directing cool air at the laminate, etc.) can be usable to cool the laminated substrate sheet.
The cooled, laminated substrate sheet is provided to the cutter 218. A die set actuator 221 can be provided to aid the cutter 218. We note that a pair of pull rollers 216 can be provided and selectively activated to pull the continuous laminate web through the laminator 205 and cooler 214. Once the laminated substrate sheet is positioned within the cutter 218, the pull rollers 216 are deactivated, which stops the laminate web motion. The cutter 218 is cycled, cutting a card-shape ID document out of the laminated web. The resulting ID document is ejected from the cutter 218 onto, e.g., a conveyor to exit the card from system 200.
Since the printing and laminating/cutting processes are independent, it is possible to start printing another ID document while the laminating/cutting operations are processing a previous card. The laminating/cutting process duration is generally shorter than the printing process time; hence, the total cycle time after the first card can be reduced to the printing cycle time.
In at least one embodiment, the system of
In at least one embodiment, the system of
One or more dryers (not shown in
With reference to
The second printer is activated (404) when it becomes available. After (or during) printing of the second side of the sheet, the controller determines whether the laminator is available (405). The laminator may not be available for a number of reasons, including the processing of a preceding card, waiting for the lamination web to be heated, waiting for cooling, etc. As an optional step, it can be determined whether the web is sufficiently heated (steps 407 and 408). The process preferably waits (406) if the laminator is not available.
If available, the laminator is activated (409). Activating the laminator may include a number of steps, such as pulling the laminate web, e.g., with the pull rollers, heating rollers if needed, accounting for cooling time if needed, etc. The laminate web is pulled until it is determined whether the laminated sheet is positioned in the cutter (step 410 and 411), at which point the laminator is deactivated (412). The laminated sheet is cut into an ID card and is ejected from the system (413). After cutting (or after ejection) the controller can generate a signal (414) to indicate that the laminator is available. The signal can be used, e.g., as input at step 405.
We note that there are many variations of the
While the
For example, the printers 202 and 204 can be arranged one above the other, but both facing in the same direction and positioned on opposite sides of a substrate sheet such that the first printer prints one side of the sheet, and the sheet travels in a straight path into the second printer where the other side of the sheet is printed. Since the second printer is positioned "upside down," the ink droplets travel horizontally (or vertically, depending on printer positioning) to the sheet without the normal assistance of gravity. Our experiments reveal satisfactory printing under such upside down printing conditions.
Another implementation, shown in
In this embodiment, platen lamination is used in alternative embodiments instead of a roll laminator 205 describe in the previous systems. A platen lamination process basically involves placing a platen (e.g., metal, glass or ceramic surface) in contact with a laminate to impart heat and/or pressure, so as to activate the laminate adhesives. Some laminates (e.g., amorphous polyester laminates) soften during a lamination process, and as a result the laminate may take on a finish of the laminating or cooling surfaces (e.g., rollers or platen).
So-called gloss finish platens can be provided to provide a smooth or glossy laminate finish. Alternatively, a belt with release properties that allows release from a cooled belt can be used as an interleaf between the card and platen. In order to prevent air entrapment between the gloss finish platen (or gloss finish belt) and the laminate, a matte finish can be provided on the outer surfaces of the laminates.
Platen lamination is not understood to have been heretofore used for over-the-counter (OTC) ID card lamination because of the large-sized hardware and complexity in comparison to a roll type laminator; however, we have found that platen lamination offers some unique capabilities that offset these drawbacks. For example, materials that have poor dimensional stability at lamination temperatures can often be processed only in platen presses where both heating and cooling occurs while the materials are under pressure and constrained from unwanted dimensional or physical changes. The heating and cooling steps can be carried out in one or more stations. When carried out in only one station, the hardware size is smaller, but the platens must cycle between the heating temperature and the cooling temperature, which can result in longer cycle times. When carried out in two stations, the hardware size increases but the cycle time decreases because the platens in each station are maintained at the proper processing temperature. A platen embodiment is later below.
Referring again to
Of course a controller (not shown) can be used with system 300 to control the printing and conveyance of the substrate sheet and of the lamination and cutting of the printed sheet.
The dryer 305 (not shown) can be added to the system 300 to dry the printed substrate after printing. For example a dryer can be positioned along the 303 and/or 304 paths. Dryer advantages are discussed above with respect to
One advantage of system 300 over system 200 is that one printer 302 accomplishes the work of two printers 202 and 204—saving hardware cost and size. We note that system 300 does not experience a significant increase in printing time over system 200 since system 200 sequentially prints the front and back of a substrate sheet.
We note that a substrate sheet is typically much shorter than the assembling path that the laminate web travels (e.g., referring to
Any or all of the systems of
(In one implementation, by way of example, the laminate patch is about � inch larger in all four directions than the substrate sheet. This over-sizing allows a buffer for, e.g., sufficient laminate overlap, extra material to be handled by the rollers, cutting imprecision, and even a so-called "dead zone," if desired, to buffer the lamination roller 206 from riding up over the laminate on the carrier web.).
We note that the carrier web 600, including the bonded or carried laminate patches 606 over the carrier web windows, can be introduced to the laminator 205 in roll form (e.g., replacing the laminate web supply 212 a and 212 b shown in
The orientation of the card and laminate patches 606 is not limited to that illustrated in
In the long orientation, the sheet moves through the printer so that the axis of the long dimension of the ID document runs parallel to the direction of travel of the sheet. The printhead therefore traverses the short dimension of the ID document making many short traverses to print the ID document. In the short orientation, the axis of the short dimension of the ID document runs parallel to the direction of travel of the sheet. The printhead therefore traverses the long dimension of the card and is required to make fewer but longer distance traverses in printing the card.
During experimentation with an Epson Photo 2000P printer, we found that the time required to print the front of a sheet was 69 seconds with the long orientation sheet where the print head makes many short traverses and 45 seconds with the short orientation sheet where the print head makes fewer but longer traverses. When set at the high quality print setting, the long orientation sheet required 134 seconds to print the front of the card, and the short orientation required 93 seconds.
Several other advantages result from our carrier web improvements, in addition to improving laminate yield.
First, between card cycles, in the processes illustrated by
Second, a paper-based carrier web is dimensionally stable at the laminating temperatures and pressures. Hence the carrier web provides support for the thermoplastic laminate, which looses dimensional stability (e.g., the laminate softens and stretches) during the lamination process.
Third, a dimensionally stable carrier web can be provided with form feed holes (or perforated holes or notches) punched or otherwise provided in the edges of the carrier web. For example,
Now consider a process set in any of the
(In an alternative implementation, not shown, we only include form feed holes along one of the directional edges.).
In one implementation, we start with about a � inch additional material on the two directional edges that receive the form feed holes, and about ⅛ inch on the two edges that run perpendicular to the directional edges. This particular sizing produces about a 69% material utilization. Of course these over-sizing dimensions can be changed to system needs and/or material utilization requirements.
Referring to
In one implementation, we register the placement of the substrate sheet and laminate patch by aligning form feed holes on the substrate sheet with form feed holes on the carrier web. Pins engaging the aligned form feed holes can be used to transport the supported substrate and laminates into and through the laminator 205. The laminator 205 activates the laminate adhesive, and then using pressure between the rollers 206 presses the laminates onto both sides of the printed substrate sheet. A cooler 214 keeps the laminate flat while cooling. The cooled laminate then enters the cutter 218. The laminator 205 and carrier web motion are deactivated once the laminated substrate is properly positioned within the cutter 218. The positioning of the laminate substrate in the cutter 218 is enhanced through alignment of the form feed holes or through transporting the laminated substrate via engagement of the holes.
We note that residual carrier web and laminate can be accumulated with an accumulator (including a shedder). Cutting, encoding, scrap accumulation and shredding, and ejection otherwise proceed as discussed above with respect to
We note that the pull rollers 216 can be replaced with a pin or notch-based conveyance system in this third embodiment. A pin or notch system can also be optionally used in the printer paths 203 and 204 b.
As an alternative implementation, the substrate is provided as a roll (e.g., web), instead of sheets. The system then includes a sheet cutter to cut a substrate at some point prior to the printing process.
Similar modifications can be made to the embodiments of
While using a carrier web is an attractive solution to improve lamination yield, excess carrier web waste may be an unintended byproduct. We have developed an implementation to significantly reduce subsequent carrier web waste. Instead of using a carrier web as a "continuous" web that is controlled by maintaining down web tension (e.g., by puller roller 216) a discrete piece or sheet of carrier can be used for each individual laminate piece. Similar to the embodiments shown in
Consider the following modifications to the embodiments of
Die Cutter Configurations
Blanking dies are ideally suited to serve as cutter 218 (see
For example, a rotary die cutter can alternatively be used. A rotary die cutter produces similar dimensional precision, in comparison to a blanking die, as well as providing a continuous motion process that might offer some design advantages when coupled with other continuous motion processes. Of course, the complexity of a rotary die cutter and the high forces required to cut the two cross web sides of a card are two of the major issues to be considered when using a rotary die cutter.
Steel rule die cutting is also another alternative cutter. The big advantage of this die cutting method is the relatively low cost of the tooling. An issue that needs to be considered when using a steel rule die cutter is the high force that is required to cut the entire perimeter of the card at one time. The hardware capable of generating that type of force is typically either physically large, or noisy in that a large amount of previously stored energy is released from a flywheel or other type of energy storage device when the card is cut. The other issue is manufacturing dies with a dimensional accuracy required, e.g., by ISO card height tolerance specification.
Laser cutting can also be used. Some factors to consider when using a laser cutter are avoiding card edge char, addressing roughness of a cut card edge, the personal safety requirements needed for such devices, and the environmental handling requirement of the laser off-gases.
Die Cutter Press Configurations
Several alternative methods can be used to generate a force required to blank die cut a card in the processes described above. Since a blanking die can be fashioned with a shear angle or double shear angle on the face of a punch without sacrificing dimensional accuracy of the card product, only a small portion of the total card perimeter is cut at a given instant in a cutting cycle. This greatly reduces the force required to cut the card. Therefore a small electric motor driving a high mechanical advantage screw or other drive mechanism would be sufficient to slowly cut the cards. Faster cycle times would be possible with an energy storage system like a spring or flywheel device that becomes "charged" during the relatively long off-duty cycle time and is discharged during the brief cutting cycle.
Hydraulic or compressed air presses can be used for many of the cutting methods described above.
An inventive improvement to powering conventional blanking dies is to use a bank of low profile electrical solenoids to provide a driving force to drive a blanking die. At least two major advantages derive from this solenoid method: high speed of operation and a small volume required for the hardware.
Card and Card Component Conveying
While a number of conveying mechanisms have been discussed above, we note that belts may offer advantages in conveying thin flexible materials (e.g., laminate and substrate sheets) used in our card constructions. Belt drives are simple, reliable and can be tailored to provide a level of belt friction required for positive feeding or controlled slip. For example, belts can be used as printer paths 203, 204 b, 303 and 304. And belts can be used along the laminator path, cooler path and ejection path.
Yet, we believe pin belts that positively engage a form feed hole or feature cut into a card component is perhaps the best method to accurately register parts to one another, and transport material through our inventive systems.
Roller feeds have many of the same characteristics as belt conveyors, and can be alternatively employed in our system.
A vacuum-based conveyance is also an alternative method for conveying.
Platen lamination is ideally suited for a rotary table or a linear carriage. Rotary tables and linear carriages comprise dedicated stations that are respectively devoted to a specific processing step, and ID document parts (e.g., front laminate, substrate sheet, and back laminate) are fed into or unloaded from each station.
Consider our inventive rotary table ID card assembling process with reference to
(The printed substrate is preferably conveyed to the first station around a sharp or otherwise pronounced bend in order to break the precut, final-sized chip or piece from its surrounding substrate material. This technique is similar to a method of applying pressure sensitive adhesive labels from a release liner. The separated chip or piece is provided to a first station of the rotary table. Alternatively, the "breaking" can be accomplished in a pre-station.).
The first station positions a card-sized laminate piece (e.g., obtained from a magazine or supply of such laminate pieces) with its adhesive side facing upward up, so that the printed substrate chip can be provided on top of the laminate. The chip is placed on top of the laminate so as to contact the adhesive side of the laminate piece with a bottom side of the chip. The chip and laminate are provided to a second station.
The second station picks a card-sized laminate piece and places an adhesive side of the laminate piece to contact a top side of the chip. The laminate-chip-laminate structure forms a chip sandwich that is provided to a third station.
A third station closes a platen cover on top of the chip sandwich. (In some case the sandwich is placed on a bottom platen cover. However, a bottom platen cover is generally not needed since subsequent stations will often include a station nest having a fixed bottom platen cover.).
In a fourth station, a heated platen press closes on the platen top (and perhaps bottom, if provided) cover to heat and press the chip sandwich together.
In the fifth station, a cooling press closes on or around the top (and perhaps bottom, if provided) platen plate, cooling the chip sandwich.
In a sixth station, the platen covers are opened.
In an optional seventh station, the cooled ID card is magnetic stripe encoded.
And in an eighth station, a finished card is ejected from the rotary table. Of course, the card can alternatively be ejected after the platen covers open (station 6), or after the magnetic stripe is encoded (station 7).
While this approach has multiple steps, it does have the advantage of eliminating a cutter. An alternative might be to introduce precut laminate pieces from a carrier web where the laminate pieces are attached to the carrier with low bond strength adhesive such that the pieces could be "label fed" from the carrier onto the table. We also note that some of the above mentioned stations can be combined, such as stations 1 and 2, and 5 and 6.
Manual intervention can be used to simplify our inventive processes. Such semi-automated systems with typically use one or two ink jet printers, a belt laminator, a manual die cutter and, optionally, a magnetic stripe encoder. Consider the following inventive process.
An operator places a substrate sheet in a printer sheet feeder of a first ink jet printer. The first ink jet printer applies the desired printing to a first side of the substrate sheet. The sheet is then conveyed into a feed tray of a second ink jet printer in a manner that presents a second side of the sheet to the printer. We note that either the operator or a conveyance path (e.g., path 203) can present the substrate sheet to the second printer. The second ink jet printer applies the desired printing to the reverse side of the sheet. (As an alternative, we note that a single printer system can be used as described above with respect to
The operator removes the printed substrate and places it between pieces of front and back laminate. Alternatively, the operator slips the printed substrate into a so-called lamination pouch. The operator then introduces the stack of materials (e.g., laminate-substrate-laminate) onto a laminator where the stack is heated, cooled and then fed out of the laminator. The operator then places the laminated stack into a hand cutter, and cuts the finished card.
In an alternative implementation, only a subset of the above manual operations is manually carried out, while the remaining operations are automated.
A matte finish on the outside surfaces of the laminates can be provided to help prevent air bubble between a laminator (e.g., a gloss finish laminator belt) and the laminate. Of course, a belt laminator can be replaced with a roll laminator as discussed above with respect to
An injection molding process is used as an alternative to the above described lamination processes.
Either a single or dual printing system is used to print a substrate sheet as described above with respect to
Concluding Remarks
Having described and illustrated the principles of the technology with reference to specific implementations, it will be recognized that the technology can be implemented in many other, different, forms, and in many different environments.
For example, we note that our preferred laminate material is polymer-based and typically softens at a temperature required to soften and activate a laminate adhesive. This softening point is an excellent feature in a finished ID card because it makes tampering with the card evident due to the stretching and distortion of the laminate that occurs when heat is used to try to remove the laminate. Accordingly, a laminator will sometimes deal with the stretching and distortion aspect and, therefore, we have introduced the concepts of belts, cooling rollers or special pouch carriers. Of course, these elements can be simplified if laminates, which use a base polymer that does not soften at the adhesive laminating temperature, are used instead. The tradeoff, however, is that tamper resistance of a finished card will likely be inferior.
While we have provided specific temperature ranges by way of example, the invention is not limited to such. Indeed, the adhesive activation temperature and the adhesive bonding temperatures mentioned can be changed depending on the adhesive material used, the laminate material used, and so on. Similarly, while we have provided some specific dimensions for the card and laminate material, the present invention is not limited to such. Dimensional changes can be made without deviating from the scope of our invention.
While we have provided specific dimensions by way of example, the invention is not limited to such dimensions.
We note that a substrate sheet, e.g., TESLIN, can be treated to better receive ink jet printing as discussed in assignee's U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/344,685 and copending U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 10/289,962 (published as US 2003-0211296A1). We also note and expressly contemplate that the techniques and pigmented ink disclosed in these applications can be combined with the inventive features of the present application.
To provide a comprehensive disclosure without unduly lengthening the specification, applicant herein incorporates by reference each of the U.S. patent documents referenced above.
The particular combinations of elements and features in the above-detailed embodiments are exemplary only; the interchanging and substitution of these teachings with other teachings in this and the incorporated-by-reference patent documents are also expressly contemplated.
Further, although certain words, languages, phrases, terminology, and product brands have been used herein to describe the various features of the embodiments of the invention, their use is not intended as limiting. Use of a given word, phrase, language, terminology, or product brand is intended to include all grammatical, literal, scientific, technical, and functional equivalents.
As those skilled in the art will recognize, variations, modifications, and other implementations of what is described herein can occur to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended as limiting. The invention's scope is defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.
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text:
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Step 3: WEAPONS
the shotgun is entirely different case , its shells are heavy when your carrying hundreds of those , but its head splattering capacity is unbeatable , so its good when the time comes.
semi automatic rifle (ex. mauser 98k , or any good old 7mm) are the best for range, accuracy, kill ratio,and head-splattering action. The pistol is should and only be used as a back-up weapon, theirs multiple reasons ,like the fact its hard to aim,low magizine capacity and the fact it sucks at range, makes the pistol as crappity as crap gets.
I realize the gas issue on account of I have seen all the mad max movies, however, the whole blimp idea is total bullshit because where I live I have never seen a blimp just lying around, I still don't know how to fly a blimp, and did you stop to think what fuel blimps use? Also I don't know if you understand this but you're never going single handedly build a blimp that will actually take you exactly where you want to go.
is a good source for blimps/ airships
B.) where am I sopposed to find one
C.) where to find an electric one
p.s. stock up on cheap solar panels and a long wire(maybe some alligator clips)
and BOOM power source
powerd rifle, or a 22 because a 22 will go into the skull and bounce around shreding the brain, and it can shoot a mile
The ultimate Zombie-slaying firearm, The M-1 Garand, possibly is the most loudest gun to fire simply because of it's cartridge, the 30-06 is about twice as long as the Ak-47 round, and about twice as lethal, its nick-name in WW2 was the "two-man-killer" because the round itself has the power to pass through the target and kill a another target.
this is great, but most stores don't stock 30-06, because its such a big round, and almost all stores that sell ammunition wouldn't fail to stock 12 gauge buckshot.
i don't think you know what the .454 is, but it is one of the most biggest revovler rounds, this thing can put a grizzly bear into hades, just to give you an idea of its power...
(Note: I'm making a new Instructable about this hotly debatable topic about zombies, anyway the Rpk Is a AK Squad Automatic weapon, it is about as awesome as it is hard to come by in the U.S.A. that is if you don't know where to look)
Thanks jellybean for informing me about more gun-knowledge!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Used and Abused.
Basically, a couple months ago, one of my fellow students approached me and asked if I wanted to join his band. He told me that time was an issue, that they had to get stuff done, but everything was legitimate, everyone was talented, shows would be done, and people would be paid. He asked me if I could come over to his place for a couple weeks to track some drums for the bands upcoming album. Told me I would be a permanent member of the band.
Sounds good right?
WELL. Here's how it went down. He called me everyday, 4 or 5 times a day, any time from 5 in the morning to 11 or 12 at night. Keep in mind I'm a university student and my classes are at 8 30 in the morning, so I need my beauty sleep. He kept trying to get me to reassure him that I wasn't going to bail on the project, that they were going places, that he needed me to stay. It was frustrating, but I stuck with it. Whatever, he just wants everything to turn out great. I can empathize with that.
I spent two weeks in his studio after school for hours and hours, sometimes til 11 at night recording. I got 5 songs done the first week, and 2 more the second. Keep in mind I was making the parts up on the spot, and hadn't heard the tracks beforehand. Pretty good, I would say. After the recordings are done, he tells me I did a fantastic job, and that he'll send me the masters when they're done. Sweet deal.
I recorded this stuff the third and fourth weeks of September. The masters were due in the end of October. I ask for the masters October 31st. I get nothing from him. He tells me there's a photoshoot scheduled for the band on Thursday (the day he tells me this is Wednesday) I tell him I have my commencement, but I can do the photoshoot from anytime before 4, because I have to be at a my highschool commencement for 7. He says it's fine.
So, on the day of the photoshoot, he calls me at 5 in the morning telling me he cancelled it. I say that's fine, it gives me time to relax before my commencement. I check the band's facebook page the next day. Guess what I see? The photoshoot pictures. I'm pissed off, of course, so I call him up and he tells me he wants to talk about upcoming shows, etc. I'm telling him times I can do, he agrees, says he'll get back to me on when we can meet up. Never calls me back. The guy went from calling me more times in a day than my girlfriend does in a year to no calls at all.
I send him a few emails/facebook messages. No replies. So I stop, maybe he's stressed about the upcoming album release. Didn't hear from him for a while. When I check the band's facebook page about a month later, my name has been replaced with another name. I've been kicked out of the band and he didn't have the balls to tell me, after everything I did for him.
Oh yeah, and he's using my drum tracks on the album. And not giving me credit. And I don't get the mastered copies either, or the pay he promised me. I was stupid and should've got a contract written up so I have proof so I could take it to court.
Is there anything I can do, legally? The only proof I have are witnesses who can testify that I was at his house. He also told some people that I was recording for him. Do I have a case against him to get ANYTHING from him? I want compensation for my time, since he wanted to go and treat me like S@$&.
I'm so pissed about this. I really need some advice on what I can do.
Re: Used and Abused.
Hmm...I re-read your post a few times. Sorry, I don't think you have any evidence against your classmate.
It sounds like a totally nasty and frustrating situation. The only thing you can really do is try to talk with this guy, or his other bandmates, and try to wrap up the situation in your own mind the best you can. This seems like the type of situation you'll be thinking back to with a negative view for years to come.
The good news, though, is you learned to get things in writing. At this early in the game, too! :D
Be vewwy quiet, I'm hunting Lawwy
My kit: http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44195
Re: Used and Abused.
I'm not sure about Canadian law, but here in the U.S. a verbal contract is binding. His promise to pay, delivering a copy of the master recordings, and to give you a credit on the album are what he owes you for the work you performed. A lawyer could clarify whether or not it will be worth your while to pursue it.
Your best course of action is to contact him and discuss this. Try to resist threatening legal action until you are certain he has no intention of making good on any of his promises. Otherwise he may just become more adversarial than necessary.
I understand how you feel. Regardless of how much money you lost, it's usually the principle of the matter that gets you riled up the most.
You were damaged in a few ways, so pick and choose your battles carefully. In the long run, getting the album credit for your drumming will be the most valuable to you. Any money you might get on your own or through legal action won't give you much satisfaction.
Sorry to hear this happened to you, but good luck with the whole situation.
Philippe - Eat, Sleep and Drum.. .. it makes for a good weekend.
Re: Used and Abused.
Maybe record the conversation you have with him - if there's going to be a conversation - about him not keeping his promises. Verbal contracts may be binding (also in the netherlands) but proving a verbal contract is gonna be difficult.
You might also want to tell their new drummer about it. Try to have a talk with him. Chances are he's gonna want to leave the band when he hears about it.
Re: Used and Abused.
Once again, check Canadian law. In the U.S., non-consentual recordings are not permissible as evidence in court. You could leave a message for him asking him to call you back and that if he doesn't want to speak with you, he could at least leave a message on your voice mail explaining what happened.
Then, maybe he'll be stupid and admit to your prior arrangement and you will have a legit recording.
Philippe - Eat, Sleep and Drum.. .. it makes for a good weekend.
Re: Used and Abused.
I think you should walk up to him man to man and demand what you are owed. Direct your anger squarely at him, where it belongs, and be prepared for a physical confrontation. Get in his face if necessary, but don't be the first to strike. You'll feel better about yourself, and you will gain his respect. Just don't cause any permanent damage. You've been wronged and need to stand up and be reckoned with.
Re: Used and Abused.
Sorry to hear of this. The feeling of being betrayed & taken for granted is horrible. Don't let it eat at you. One point of leverage, the recording they're using is of your performance. You can tell him that he's using your performance without your permission (as he's not honoured your verbal agreement) and you want it withdrawn. That'll leave him with the cost and hassle of a new drum recording.
Re: Used and Abused.
Don't mess with the trades, man.
Philippe - Eat, Sleep and Drum.. .. it makes for a good weekend.
Re: Used and Abused.
Actually Groovemeister, you don't have to break bad right away, but you should be firm in that you won't go away until he lives up to his word. You have to give him a chance to make good before you do double paradiddles on his face with your fists...I have to collect money this way. I just act firm and am RELENTLESS. Showing up in person is the best way, he can't hide behind a phone or computer. Look him right in the eye, don't waver and don't leave until you pin him down WHEN he will make good.
Re: Used and Abused.
Just bust his jaw and call it even.
Two wrongs don't make a right but three lefts do.
Re: Used and Abused.
You're right. He should be cool until the guy says he'll square up with him or NOT.
Awww. Monica, you're such a badass. Easy girl. He's a college student. Don't encourage him to get medieval on him. ;-)
Alright, Grooveflex. We've got your back. Whatcha gonna doo now?
Philippe - Eat, Sleep and Drum.. .. it makes for a good weekend.
Re: Used and Abused.
But what if he's not a pugilistic kinda guy? He might also not be thrilled wih the idea of being up on assault charges.
KIS's idea is interesting:
A bit surprised that the other drummer is going along with it. How can he be happy with being credited for another drummer's performance?
Re: Used and Abused.
I have no idea who this other drummer is. I've never met him, and I have a feeling he's good friends with the guy I will now refer to as the dick. They went to school together according to facebook.
I'm not huge on fighting. I'm all for peaceful resolution, but the thing is, he's a classmate. I've already told him that what he did to me was shitty, and a LOT of other people have told him the same thing. All I want is credit, and he's not giving me that. I don't give two shits about the cash or the mastered tracks. I'll just rip the songs off the myspace if it's really that big of a deal.
There's no picture proof that I was ever at his house. As someone stated earlier, the only evidence I have is people knowing I was there. My dad dropping me off to record, telling my friends that I was recording, etc.
This isn't the first album I've played on either, but the people I've dealt with up until now have been great. This came as an unexpected and unwelcome surprise. I'm thoroughly livid. If I could get away with socking him in the jaw, believe me, I would. But that would get me kicked out of University, plus, I'm old enough to be legally tried as an adult.
Last edited by groovemaster_flex; 12-20-2009 at 04:58 AM.
Re: Used and Abused.
Welcome to the real world kid. I have been dealing with people like that on and off and in different situations for over 50 years. The sooner you learn to cover yourself and not let yourself be in a position to get screwed, the better off you will be.
I figure let papa handle it legally, though I'm a bust his nose type. He needs punishment in some fashion if for no other reason then to make you feel somewhat better, though if there is no real value monetarily it can be just more frustration. I would lobby to get my tracks off there. Who wants to be associated with a putz like that?
I went to the face book page and my IE crashed instantly. Bad vibes with this dude. Rest assure that he will somehow sometime pay for his lack of integrity. Everyone does and there are no exceptions.
You on the other hand, are learning how NOT to treat people and will carry it forever. With OUT permanent scars. So good on you.
Remember. If there werent @ssholes in the world, the rest of us wouldnt look so good!
Re: Used and Abused.
Is there an equivalent of a small claims court in Canada - somewhere you can seek arbitration for a small fee? With the lack of any written contract and no evidence of a verbal contract trying to seek credit for your performance is unlikely to be successful but there might be a chance he's willing to pay up something of a performance fee.
Better pray they don't have any sort of success - it would be appalling if they actually started selling records with your playing on it :/
Lessons learnt here - either do these things as a favour for friends; do nothing with out a contract and/or take fees upfront.
Re: Used and Abused.
I'm going to post on their FB. muahahaa
Re: Used and Abused.
LOL thanks Knockout, read what you wrote xD I don't think he's smart enough to clue in on it, but the effort is definitely appreciated, it made me smile.
I have no idea, my dad has a friend who is a lawyer (who actually deals with businesses) so we're just going to talk to him to see if it's worthwhile pursuing this or not. I mean, I would be getting royalties as I wrote my own part, but if I'm going to be paying hundreds of dollars in fees to get cents in return, then what's the point, right?
After this incident, I wrote up a basic contract regarding my services, so I can get in writing that the person agrees to pay me for my work, give me the mastered copies of tracks I've played on, and give me credit for any work on the album that I do. I'm also going to start keeping receipts, so I know who has paid me for my work and who hasn't.
But jeez man, this really cheeses me. Has anyone had any similar experiences they can share? I'm not an in your face kind of guy, I don't like physical confrontations, especially when my academic career is at stake.
Also, I don't know much about the legal system, so I don't know anything about small claims courts or the like but I can definitely find out. I really want someone to just slap this guy upside the head really hard.
I want to know what his parents think, cause they really liked me...
Re: Used and Abused.
Re: Used and Abused.
Re: Used and Abused.
Sorry to hear of this.
Unfortunately, it happens all to often. Similar things have happened to me. Chalk it up to experience.
The question is this person really going to do something with these recordings?
Spending time to try to get royalties off of something that doesn't sell isn't a great use of your time. I 100% understand your anger, but a percentage of zero is still zero.
Document what you can just in case, but I wouldn't bother chasing this guy down further unless he actually is able to sell the recording and make money.
And no, you can't claim any copyright on drum parts. There was a thread on this topic recently, but for the most part, copywrites cover lyrics, melody and harmony, but not drums. And if drums could be copywritten, everyone here would be in massive financial debt to Cozy Cole, Gene Krupa, Ringo Star, et all, for playing beats and fills that have been played by someone before.
Re: Used and Abused.
Hey! I went to York (about a million years ago)! I have a BFA (visual arts). What's it like up there nowadays? Does Rob Bowman still teach there? Is the Absinthe Pub still open?
Anyway, sorry to hear about your rotten classmate.
Re: Used and Abused.
I don't think the issue here is one of copyrighting a specific part - the royalty issue is to do with writing credit, which would normally be decided before release. In a fair world, you'd be given a percentage of the writing credit for each track depending on your contribution. You should also be given a portion of the mechanical royalty for each sale even without writing credit.
That said, unless this group are going to be selling hundreds of thousands of records it's best chalked up to experience.
Re: Used and Abused.
As to my classmate, apparently they're legitimate and are looking at serious radio airplay. He's manipulative enough to get the band on the air as well. I haven't talked to the lawyer yet, but will sometime this week.
Re: Used and Abused.
i couldn't believe people could be this disrespectful...i really don't know what i would do in this situation, i would be so dam angry. I hope you get this resolved soon cause this stuff breaks my heart.
"Defeat is crowned by Success, Only if you Persist."
Re: Used and Abused.
I'm just wondering how they're going to respond to this. I don't think he has the balls to say anything to me, but we'll see...
Re: Used and Abused.
I know that this is the probably the toughest thing to do and also the easiest thing to say coming from someone like me who has no investment in the situation. But seriously, walk away, move on and don't look back. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to make these difficult decisions and do it with grace and tact.
Trust me, you'll be much better off writing this person off at least for the moment. On top of that you don't want to burn any bridges with anyone else in the group. You never know when someone that you've worked with in the past perhaps affiliated with this situation with think of you for a future project.
Re: Used and Abused.
Yeah, but the deal is man, they're all in on this.
The singer is the jerk's sister, and the bassist and him were in on this plan together as well. They didn't want to pay a drummer, so they offer one a spot on the band roster until the recordings were done, then they dumped the sucker. The sucker being me.
It's not about the money, the tracks, or even the credit (although all of that would be really nice.) It's about principle. The guy deserves a swift kick in the nads and the shins for doing this. He needs to learn that he can't go around using people to get shit done. Cause I'm not the only person he's done something like this, too. The way he sees things, is that everyone is around to do service for him, whether it's help on our transcription assignments, recording for his band, or transposing charts for his jazz combo. He's a user and an abuser and he needs to learn that he can't get away with this stuff all the time. In simple terms; he's just a bully.
I'm pissed because I would never do anything like this to anyone. Your name and reputation is the end-all and be-all in the music industry. I treat everyone I've ever played with with respect, care, and compassion because that's what they deserve. He lies, cheats, and deceives everyone he plays with. Obviously he's not the only one who does this, but I can't stand by knowing that he's going to do this to someone else, and is doing this to someone else. I'm sure you can all empathize with that feeling.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their support in this matter. Unfortunately, the lawyer states that there isn't much I can do, because I don't have any hard proof that I did anything, and the only way I could get anything would be if the jerk admitted that I played for him, which isn't going to happen. All I can do is spread the word that the guy is a jerk who no one should deal with or trust.
The sad part is, this experience has really affected my relationships with others negatively. I now feel like I have to be on my guard, waiting to be stabbed in the back by my friends. I put a lot of trust in this guy, and he abused it. I don't want that to happen again. He's also a good friend with one of my good friends, and I feel as though what happened with him is going to ruin that friendship as well.
We shall see. Again, thanks for your support guys, it means a lot.
Re: Used and Abused.
It's bad karma. What goes around comes around.
Take the high road while trying to get your satisfaction and then move on.
Good advice from D&B.
Philippe - Eat, Sleep and Drum.. .. it makes for a good weekend.
Re: Used and Abused.
Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do when they come for you?
A little Inner Circle to set the mood.
Retirement...August 21, 2015
Feel. Control the Bounce.
Re: Used and Abused.
So guys, please lay off the facebook page for now. He's got the point, but he's also threatened to retaliate, saying I'm going to regret what he's gonna do if I continue. I quote, "You don't know the things I know." So, I just have to back off here. People don't necessarily believe the truth, right?
Re: Used and Abused.
You're at university? This seems a little immature for people of college age. Tell him what you think of him and why, leave it at that, and take comfort in the fact there's almost no chance their band will go anywhere.
Re: Used and Abused.
HA! Ferrets...I think the same manager is there! If Rob Bowman still teaches up there you HAVE to take a class with him. The class I took with him was Music and Society (basically a history of popular music). His depth of knowledge is insane and he is a super generous and fantastic guy. He won a Grammy for the liner notes he wrote for the Stax boxet when I was at York.
Are you at Winter's college? I remember some of the crazy jazz geeks I hung out with (quite a few wacky drummers)! I had a great time at York. I hear it is all corporate now, though.
Re: Used and Abused.
I'm winters college, but don't live in residence, so I don't really associate too much with the college aside from wearing the pin on my bag, lol. Unfortunately, I have NO room for spare classes, hard as that is to believe. I'm already at my credit cap, between private lessons and the mandatory courses, I have no room for anything else. Plus, I have to start my double major next year, and finish my general education (Natural Science, Social Science, Humanities). A lot of the mandatory stuff I feel is a little unnecessary, such as Fine Arts and Cultures as well as Music and Cultures. But the professors are all geniuses and I'm really learning a lot at this school, both from my teachers and my peers. I couldn't have made a better decision when it came to picking York. :)
Re: Used and Abused.
Re: Used and Abused.
I'm sorry to read this, but not surprised. This happens all the time in this business. It is unfortunate, but I think it is a good lesson. It is something I had to deal with also. I'm owed for an album and tour. My problem was I did not treat the situation in a professional manner. I did not have a personal manager, I took people at their word and had no written contract.
The lesson here is to begin thinking of all aspects of your drumming as a business. You are in business, it matters not how small or large this business is. In business people are sold commodities, your drumming is one such commodity. No roofer works for free, nor does a plumber or lawyer. Why should it be different simply because we are playing music?
By all means find out legally what you can do. But next time someone asks you to perform, arrange it properly. Get a personal manager and pay him or her the 15%. In the long run it's worth it.
Good luck.
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