JP3012628U - Overwriting mark reading device for prepaid cards - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a prepaid card reading device which has a simple structure and is effective for discrimination of overwriting marks. [Configuration] Based on the signal captured by the image sensor 3,
An image forming means 4 for forming an overwriting mark image printed on the surface of the prepaid card 10, a contour extracting means 5 for extracting a contour of the formed overwriting mark image, and a center line crossing the vicinity of the center from the extracted contour. A center line detecting means 6 for detecting the circle, a circle detecting means 7 for detecting a circle from the extracted contour, and a mark determining means 8 for determining an overwriting mark based on the center line detection result or the circle detection result.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prepaid card reading device, and more particularly to a reading device for an overwriting mark printed on the surface of a prepaid card.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Recently, as a prepaid card, mainly for the purpose of data tampering and fraud prevention, the balance is printed and displayed as binary data on the surface of a paper or plastic card with a gray mark, and the display is updated each time the balance is updated. Cards are being used. In such a prepaid card, a balance display consisting of a series of marks is additionally printed alongside the old balance display for each transaction.

In such a prepaid card, when many transactions are made while the print space for displaying the balance is limited, the space becomes full in a short period of time, and subsequent writing and recording becomes impossible. . Therefore, overwriting has been proposed in order to record many transactions in a limited small print space. In such an overwritten prepaid card, as shown in FIG. 2, the first printing on the prepaid card 10 is performed by the semicircle filled circle mark 12, and the second printing is performed by the full filled circle mark 11, with the center being The semicircle filled circle mark 12 of the first print is overwritten with the same center as that of the circle mark 12.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, there has never been a device that can accurately read out a print made on a prepaid card having the above-described overwriting structure without misreading. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a prepaid card reading device which has a simple configuration and is effective for discriminating overwriting marks.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The overwriting mark reading device for a prepaid card according to the present invention has a semicircle filled circle mark on either side of "0" or "1" of each bit of balance data composed of binary numbers on the card surface. , Of the prepaid card with the other side showing the balance with no mark and having a dimension that covers the semicircle filled circle mark, and overwriting with the full circle mark with the same center as the semicircle filled circle mark In the reading device, an image forming means for forming an overwriting mark image based on a signal from the image sensor capturing the overwriting mark printed on the card surface, and the overwriting formed by the image forming means. A contour extraction unit that extracts the contour of the mark image, a centerline detection unit that detects a centerline that crosses the vicinity of the center from the extracted contour, and a circle from the extracted contour. A circular detection means for detecting, and characterized by being configured with a mark judging means for judging overwriting mark based on the detection result before or Symbol circular detection result of the center line.

[0006]

[Action]

 In the prepaid card overwriting mark reading apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, when there is a full-filled circle mark, the circle detecting means detects a circle from the extracted contour. If the full circle mark does not exist and only the semicircle circle mark exists, the center line detecting means detects the center line of the semicircle circle mark. Furthermore, if neither the full circle mark nor the semicircle circle mark exists, neither the circle detecting means nor the center line detecting means detects an image. The mark determination means determines the overwrite mark based on the above result.

[0007] Furthermore, the first recording is performed when all the filled circle marks are not detected over the entire printing surface of the prepaid card, and the second recording (overwriting) is performed when even one filled circle mark is detected. Is easily determined. As described above, the first recording or the overwriting recording can be discriminated, and "0" and "1" can be discriminated depending on the presence or absence of each mark. As a result, it is possible to write twice in a small print space, and it is possible to handle more transaction records.

[0008]

【Example】

 The prepaid card targeted by the present invention has a semicircle filled on the surface of either side of "0" or "1" of each bit of the balance data composed of binary values in the first recording. The balance is displayed with a circle mark and the other side without a mark, and the second (overwritten) record has a dimension that covers the semicircle filled circle mark, and the center is the same as the semicircle filled circle mark. It is assumed that all filled circle marks indicate either “0” or “1” side, and the other side indicates no balance. In addition, it is desirable to configure the semicircle filled circle mark and the full filled circle mark in black. In addition, at least one of the balance data printed and displayed on the surface of the card is a mark.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of an overwriting mark reading apparatus for a prepaid card according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the overwriting mark reading device of the present invention. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. An overwriting mark reading apparatus 1 for a prepaid card according to the present invention comprises an image sensor 3 for capturing an overwriting mark printed on the card surface, an image forming means 4 for forming an overwriting mark image based on a signal from the image sensor 3, A contour extracting means 5 for extracting the contour of the overwritten mark image formed by the image forming means 4, a center line detecting means 6 for detecting a center line crossing the vicinity of the center from the extracted contour, and a circle for detecting the extracted contour. The circular detecting means 7 and the mark determining means 8 for determining the overwriting mark based on the detection result of the center line or the circular detection result. Further, there are provided limit switches SW1 to SWn which are turned on by the card tip, and card tip position detecting means 2 which detects the card tip position based on signals from the limit switches SW1 to SWn and sends the signal to the image forming means 4.

Next, the operation will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, when the prepaid card 10 is fed in the direction of the arrow by a conventional constant-speed feeding mechanism (not shown), and the print on the surface of the prepaid card 10 advances to a position where it can be captured by the linear image sensor 3, the prepaid card 10 10. The tip turns the limit switch SW1 on, the card tip position detecting means 2 sends a trigger signal to the image forming means 4, and the image forming means 4 takes in the image signal from the linear image sensor 3 to form an image. When this image is sent to the contour extracting means 5, the contour extracting means 5 outputs the extracted contour information.

When the all-filled circle mark 11 is present at the position of interest, the circle detecting means 7 detects the outer circle of the outline based on the contour information, and sends it to the mark determining means 8. As a result, it is determined that the full-filled circle mark 11 exists at the position of interest on the prepaid card surface.

On the other hand, if the full circle mark 11 does not exist at the position of interest on the prepaid card surface and only the semicircle circle mark 12 exists, the center line detection signal from the center line detection means 6 to the mark determination means 8. Is output. Therefore, the mark determination means 8 determines that the full circle mark does not exist at the position of interest on the prepaid card surface and only the semicircle circle mark 12 exists.

Next, when neither the full-filled circle mark 11 nor the semi-circle filled circle mark 12 exists, neither the center line detection means nor the circle detection means outputs a signal. Therefore, the mark determination means 8 determines that neither the full-filled circle mark 11 nor the semi-circle filled circle mark 12 exists at the position of interest on the prepaid card surface.

Further, the first recording is performed when all the filled circle marks are not detected over the entire printing surface of the prepaid card, and the second (overwriting) recording is performed when even one filled circle mark is detected. Is easily determined. As described above, the first recording or the overwriting recording can be discriminated, and "0" and "1" can be discriminated depending on the presence or absence of each mark.

[0015]

As described above, in the overwriting mark reading apparatus of the prepaid card according to the present invention, the circle detecting means detects the outer circle when the full filled circle mark is present, and the full filled circle mark is also present. If there is no semicircle filled circle mark and only the semicircle filled circle mark exists, the center line detection means outputs a detection signal, and if there is no full filled circle mark or semicircle filled circle mark, the circle detection means also the centerline detection means. In both cases, since the detection signal is not output, the presence / absence of a mark and the type thereof can be determined with high accuracy sufficient for practical use. Further, the first recording or the overwritten recording can be easily discriminated. As a result of the above, it is possible to write twice in a small print space, and it is possible to handle a larger number of transaction records.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of an overwriting mark reading device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the overwriting mark reading device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Prepaid card overwriting mark reading device 2 Card tip position detecting means 3 Linear image sensor 4 Image forming means 5 Contour extracting means 6 Center line detecting means 7 Circular detecting means 8 Mark determining means 10 Prepaid card 11 Full filled circle mark 12 Half circle filled circle mark SW1 to SWn Limit switch CPU Microcomputer M memory

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A semicircle filled circle mark on one side of "0" and "1" of each bit of the balance data composed of binary numbers and a non-mark on the other side of the card surface. In a device for displaying a balance and having a dimension covering the semicircle filled circle mark, and a prepaid card reading device in which the semicircle filled circle mark is overwritten with a full circle mark with the center being the same, from an image sensor, Image forming means for forming an overwriting mark image based on a signal capturing the overwriting mark printed on the card surface, and contour extracting means for extracting the contour of the overwriting mark image formed by the image forming means, Center line detecting means for detecting a center line that crosses the vicinity of the center from the extracted contour,
A circle detecting means for detecting a circle from the extracted contour, and a mark determining means for determining an overwriting mark based on the detection result of the center line or the circle detection result. Overwriting mark reading device.