JP2000207500A - Processor for rewritable card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a processor for a rewritable card capable of improving a processing speed in an erasure processing mode and reducing energy consumption. SOLUTION: When a card detecting means detects the insertion of a rewritable card or when it receives an instruction signal for thermal erasure/ printing processing from a host device, it energizes an erasing head and starts to heat. Also, when the card detecting means detects the discharge of the rewritable card or when a prescribed time passes since it detects the insertion of the rewritable card, it stops energizing the erasing head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rewritable card processing apparatus having a rewritable layer capable of repeatedly performing an erasing / printing process of an image such as a character or a picture by performing a cooling process, and particularly to a technology for improving a processing speed and suppressing energy consumption. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, various cards are used in a wide range of fields. Some of them include a telephone card, a point card and the like, and each time the card is used, variable variable information (balance, points, etc.) is used. Is updated and displayed on the card. As an information display method for this kind of card, there is a method of simply printing information by a thermal printer. However, in this method, since all the printed images remain, it is necessary to reduce the size of the printed image in order to secure the number of printing lines, or to increase the printing area, and as a result, the printed image becomes difficult to see, There is an inconvenience that an area for displaying a fixed image other than variable information such as a pattern and a name is narrowed.

Therefore, in recent years, rewritable cards have been provided in which the previous image is erased and only the latest image is printed in the same location. This rewritable card performs thermal erasing / printing of an image by applying a heating / cooling process specified for the material to a thermoreversible recording material laminated as a rewritable layer on a resin base material by a card processing device. That is, thermal rewriting is repeatedly performed. A card processing apparatus that performs a thermal rewriting process first erases an image by uniformly heating a rewriting layer to an erasing temperature by a thermal erasing head including a thermal stamp and a thermal bar. Then
By selectively energizing the heating elements while scanning a thermal print head in which a plurality of heating elements are linearly arranged in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the heating elements, the rewrite layer is heated to the printing temperature and optionally. Is generally printed.

[0004]

According to studies by the inventors, the printing (whitening) temperature of a white turbid (low molecular weight / high molecular weight) thermoreversible recording material is 110 ° C. Since the erasing (transparency) temperature was 80 to 100 ° C., it was found that the proper temperature for erasing was 90 ° C. Therefore, the erasing process requires an operation of heating the erasing head to about 90 ° C. and then starting the actual erasing. However, in such an erasing process, the processing speed is slow because it takes time for the erasing head to rise from room temperature (for example, about 25 ° C.) to the erasing temperature. Such a problem can be solved by energizing the erasing head at the time of turning on the power of the apparatus and adopting a means for always maintaining the erasing temperature, but in this case, in addition to the erasing processing, There is a disadvantage that useless power is consumed because the erase head is energized.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rewritable card processing apparatus capable of improving the processing speed and reducing energy consumption during erasing processing.

[0006]

A first rewritable card processing apparatus according to the present invention heats a rewritable layer of a rewritable card taken into the apparatus and subjects the rewritable layer to thermal erasing / printing of an image. A rewritable card processing device configured to discharge the rewritable card to the outside of the device, wherein the card detection unit detects insertion of the rewritable card into the device and discharge of the rewritable card to the outside of the device, and heating of the rewritable layer. Thermal erasing means for performing thermal erasure processing on the image by heating the rewritable layer; thermal printing means for performing thermal printing processing on the image by heating the rewritable layer; When the two conditions for taking the rewritable card into the device are met, the thermal erasing means and thermal printing means And control means for executing the processing respectively, further control means, when the card detection means detects insertion of the rewritable card, it is characterized in that to start the heating of the thermal erasing means.

According to the first rewritable card processing apparatus, the heating of the thermal erasing means is started in advance when the rewritable card is inserted into the apparatus.
The waiting time from when the rewritable card is taken into the apparatus until when the thermal erasing means reaches the erasing temperature is reduced. As a result, the processing speed is improved, and unnecessary heating time is not taken, thereby reducing energy consumption.

Next, the second rewritable card processing device according to the present invention has the same basic configuration as the first processing device, but the card detecting means detects the insertion of the rewritable card as described above. Instead of occasionally starting the heating of the thermal erasing means, the control means starts the heating of the thermal erasing means when the control means receives a command signal for thermal erasing / printing processing from a host device.

According to the second rewritable card processing apparatus, the heating of the thermal erasing means is started in advance at the stage of receiving the command signal for the thermal erasing / printing process from the host device, and whether the rewritable card is inserted. Regardless of whether or not the thermal erasing means is heated. For this reason,
The waiting time from when the rewritable card is taken into the apparatus until when the thermal erasing means reaches the erasing temperature is reduced. Alternatively, when the rewritable card is taken into the apparatus, the standby time may be omitted because the thermal erasing unit has already reached the erasing temperature. As a result, the processing speed is improved, and unnecessary heating time is not taken, thereby reducing energy consumption.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the first or second rewritable card processing apparatus, when the control means detects the ejection of the rewritable card by the card detection means, the heating of the thermal erasing means is stopped. And According to this aspect, the heating time of the thermal erasing means is limited from the time when the rewritable card is inserted to the time when the rewritable card is ejected out of the apparatus through the erasing / printing process, so that energy consumption is significantly reduced. Is done.

Further, according to the present invention, in the first or second rewritable card processing device, the control means may include:
In a preferred embodiment, the card detecting means includes timing means for starting timing when the insertion of the rewritable card is detected, and when the timing means measures a predetermined time, heating of the thermal erasing means is controlled to be stopped. This control assumes a situation in which the rewritable card is taken into the apparatus, and a command signal for thermal erasing / printing processing is not received from a host apparatus for a long time, or the command signal is not received after all. . In such a situation, heating the thermal erasing means is useless, so the heating of the thermal erasing means is stopped after a predetermined time. As a result, unnecessary heating time is eliminated and energy consumption is reduced.

Further, in the present invention, the first or the second
In the rewritable card processing device of the above, the control means includes a time counting means for starting time counting when the heating of the thermal erasing means is started, and stops heating of the thermal erasing means when the time counting means measures a predetermined time. It is a preferable mode to perform control so as to perform the control. In this control, as in the case described above, in a state where the rewritable card is taken into the apparatus, a situation where the command signal of the thermal erasing / printing process is not received from the host apparatus for a long time, or a situation where the command signal is not received after all, etc. It is assumed that unnecessary heating time is eliminated and energy consumption is reduced.

Next, the third, fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention will be described.
The rewritable card processing device has the same basic configuration as the first and second processing devices, but is characterized only by the timing of stopping the heating of the thermal erasing device irrespective of the heating start timing of the thermal erasing device. I have. The third processing apparatus is characterized in that the control means stops heating of the thermal erasing means when the card detection means detects ejection of the rewritable card. Further, in the fourth processing apparatus, the control means includes a timer means for starting clocking when the card detecting means detects the insertion of the rewritable card, and when the clocking means measures a predetermined time, the heating of the thermal erasing means is performed. Is controlled to be stopped. Further, in the fifth device, the control unit includes a timer unit that starts timing when the heating of the thermal erasing unit is started, and stops the heating of the thermal erasing unit when the timer unit measures a predetermined time. Control. The effects of these heating stop controls are as described above, and in any case, unnecessary heating time is not taken and energy consumption is reduced.

The thermal erasing means of the present invention comprises an electric resistor which generates heat when energized, and its energization duty D is given by the following equation: D = (TW-TEH) × GAIN (where D is 0 to 1)
(00%) (TW: preheating temperature set value, TEH: temperature of electric resistor). In this way, by changing the energization duty according to the difference between the preheating temperature set value (TW) and the actual temperature (TEH) of the thermal erasing means, for example, even if the thermal erasing means has a large output specification, thermal erasing is performed. Overshoot (overheating) of the means is suppressed, and deterioration of the erasing characteristics is prevented. Here, D is not determined once, and it is desirable that feedback control for performing recalculation every time the energization cycle elapses is performed. If the thermal erasing means is rapidly heated when heated to the preheating temperature, the surface constant of the thermal erasing means depends on the time constant of the temperature measuring means of the thermal erasing means and the heat conduction time from the thermal erasing means to the temperature measuring means. A large difference may occur between the temperature and the value detected by the temperature measuring means. Therefore, it is desirable that the thermal erasing means is gradually heated, and the GAIN value in the above equation is suitably about 1 to 2.

A thermal bar, a hot roll or a hot plate is preferably used as the thermal erasing means of the present invention, and a thermal head is suitably used as the thermal printing means.

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a right side sectional view of a rewritable card processing apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a view taken along line II-II. In these figures, the left side is the front side of the apparatus, the right side is the rear side, and in FIG. 2, the upper side is the left side of the apparatus and the lower side is the right side. In the following description, the expression of directions such as front, rear, left and right is defined as a direction based on such a card processing device. FIG. 3 is a left side view of the present apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, when a rewritable card (hereinafter, simply referred to as a card) C is inserted into a card insertion slot 10 provided at a front end, the card processing apparatus first moves the card to a standby position at a rear end. Carry C. When an erase / print processing command is issued in this state, the image is erased and printed in this order on the rewritable layer provided on the surface of the card C while the card C is transported forward. Before describing the configuration of such a card processing device, the card C will be described first.

(1) Configuration of Rewritable Card The card C is, for example, a rectangular IC card defined by “JIS X 6303”, and as shown in FIG. 2, a resin base such as PVC (vinyl chloride). On the surface of the material,
A rewrite layer 1 formed by laminating a thermoreversible recording material, an external terminal 2 of a built-in IC are provided, and a magnetic stripe 3 is provided on the back surface. The rewrite layer 1 is laminated in a stripe pattern over the entire length of the card C in FIG.
The external terminal 2 is laminated at a predetermined position on the right side of the above. Further, the magnetic stripe 3 on the back surface is stacked below.

The thermoreversible recording material constituting the rewritable layer 1 is a recording material which is reversible by heating and capable of easily and easily repeatedly erasing / printing a high-resolution image, that is, rewriting. As shown in FIG. 4, a resin 6a is formed on a transparent polyester film 5.
The recording layer 6 in which the organic low-molecular substance 6b is dispersed and the protective layer 7 are laminated in this order. As the organic low-molecular substance 6b, a higher fatty acid having a particle size of 1 μm or less is used. Explaining the principle of thermoreversibility with reference to FIG. 5, in the transparent state, the particles of the organic low-molecular substance 6b in the recording layer 6 form a relatively large single crystal. Therefore, the incident light passes through the interface of the crystal with a small number of times and is transmitted without being scattered, so that the light appears transparent as a whole. On the other hand, in the cloudy state, the particles of the organic low-molecular substance 6b form polycrystals. Therefore, the incident light is refracted many times at the interface of the crystal, and the light is scattered and looks white.

The thermoreversible characteristics of the thermoreversible recording material will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is assumed that it is in a cloudy state at room temperature (20 to 30 ° C.) (A). When this was heated, the transmittance began to increase from about 70 ° C. as shown by the solid line,
It becomes a maximum transparent state (B to C) at 5 to 100 ° C. Even if this is cooled to room temperature, the transparent state is maintained (D). Next, as shown by the broken line, the material in the maximum transparent state was
When reheated to 0 ° C. or higher, the state becomes an intermediate state between the maximum transparent state and the maximum turbid state (D → C → E).

(2) Configuration of Card Processing Apparatus Next, the configuration of the card processing apparatus will be described. Reference numeral 9 in FIGS. 1 to 3 denotes a pair of left and right lower side frames spaced apart from each other and arranged in parallel to face each other. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, first, second, and third pairs of conveying rollers (transporting means) 11, 12, and 13 are arranged at the center between the lower side frames 9 and 9 in order from the front side. Have been. Each of the transport roller pairs 11 to 13 is composed of a lower drive roller 14 and an upper driven roller 15.
The card C is sandwiched between the rollers 4 and 15, and the card C is conveyed from the front to the rear or from the rear to the front according to the rotation direction of the drive roller 14. Further, the second transport roller pair 12
A printing platen roller 16 and an erasing platen roller 17 are arranged from the front side between the printing platen roller 16 and the third conveying roller pair 13. Erasure heads 50 are respectively arranged above. The print head 40 is a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged. The printing head 40 presses the rewriting layer 1 of the card C while applying a current to a heating element corresponding to a printed portion of an image, thereby causing the rewriting layer 1 to have a printing temperature. To print the image by thermal printing. On the other hand, the erasing head 50 is a thermal bar, and has a configuration in which an image is erased by being pressed against the rewritable layer 1 while being uniformly heated to the erasing temperature. In addition,
The erasing head 50 may be constituted by a hot roll or a hot plate.

As shown in FIG. 1, an IC unit 18 for inputting / outputting information to / from an IC in the card C by contacting the external contact 2 of the card C at the rear end between the lower side frames 9, 9 is provided. Is arranged. The card slot 10
Between the upper and lower rollers 14 and 15 of the first to third transport roller pairs 11 to 13, between the print platen roller 16 and the print head 40, and between the erase platen roller 17 and the erase head. A transport path 19 for the card C that connects horizontally with the card 50 is formed. This transport path 1
In order for the card C to be transported smoothly, the groove-shaped card guide 9a is provided on the inner surfaces of the lower side frames 9, 9.
Are formed. When the card C is inserted into the card insertion slot 10, first, the card C is transported to the standby position at the rear end, as described above. The standby position is in the IC unit 18.

The driving rollers 14 and the platen rollers 16 and 17 of the first to third transport roller pairs 11 to 13 are
It rotates integrally with the drive shaft 20 rotatably supported by the lower side frames 9, 9. The drive shafts 20 pass through the lower side frame 9 on the left side, and drive gears 21 are fixed to projecting ends thereof, respectively. A main motor 22 is fixed at the front end of the lower side frames 9 and slightly behind the card insertion slot 10. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a plurality of intermediate gears 23 that connect the drive gears 21 and the pinion gears 22 a of the main motor 22 are arranged outside (left side) of the lower side frame 9 on the left side. When the main motor 22 is driven, each intermediate gear 23
The rotational force is transmitted to each drive gear 21 from the
Rotate in the same direction, and the first to third transport roller pairs 11 to 11
13, each drive roller 14 and each platen roller 16,
17 rotates. The card C is transported on the transport path 19 according to the rotation direction of the drive roller 14 and the platen rollers 16 and 17. As shown in FIG.
On the right side of the drive roller 14 of the transport roller pair 12, reading / writing of magnetic data to the magnetic stripe 3 of the card C is performed.
A magnetic head 24 for performing writing is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, second, third, and fourth card sensors 31, 32, 33, and 34 for detecting a card C to be conveyed are arranged in the conveying path 19 in order from the front. Is provided. In this case, the first card sensor 31 is attached to the front end of the right lower side frame 9 and
The fourth to fourth card sensors 32 to 34 are attached to the left lower side frame 9. The interval between adjacent first to fourth card sensors 31 to 34 is shorter than the length of the card C, and the position and the conveying direction of the card C can always be detected. Further, these first to fourth card sensors 31 to 34 are non-contact type using an optical sensor or the like,
This does not cause any load on the transport of the card C.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, a pair of left and right upper side frames 3
5 is attached. These upper side frames 3
Arms 5 and 35 are pin-coupled to lower frames 9 and 9 so as to be integrally opened and closed with the front side being an open side. Arms extending in the front-rear direction via swing shafts 42 and 52 at predetermined locations. 41 and 51 are respectively supported so as to be swingable. The print head 40 and the erasing head 50 are attached to front ends of the arms 41 and 51, which are swing ends.

As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.
A top plate 36 fixed to the upper side frames 35, 35 is disposed above the top plates 1, 51, and a compression spring 43, between the top plate 36 and the front end of each arm 41, 51 is provided.
53 are interposed. The print head 40 and the erasing head 50 are constantly urged downward by the compression springs 43 and 53 via the arms 41 and 51, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 7, on the right side of the arm 41 on the print head 40 side, a sub-arm 45 extending substantially parallel to the arm 41 is arranged so as to be swingable about a swing shaft 42. . The arm 41 and the sub-arm 45 swing substantially integrally because the pin 44 projecting from the arm 41 is engaged with a concave portion 45a formed in the sub-arm 45. As shown in FIG. 8, a sub arm 55 extending substantially parallel to the arm 51 is provided on the right side of the arm 51 on the erase head 50 side with a swing shaft 52.
Are arranged so as to be swingable. Arm 51
And the sub arm 55 are connected to the pins 5 protruding from the arm 51.
4 engages with the concave portion 55 a formed in the sub arm 55, so that it swings almost integrally.

As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the print head 40 and the erase head 50 are oscillated on the outside (right side) of the lower frame 9 on the right side. A cam gear 60 is provided to be moved toward and away from the card C being conveyed. The cam gear 60 is rotatably supported by the right lower side frame 9 via a cam gear shaft 61, and is driven by a cam motor (not shown).
It can be rotated counterclockwise when viewed from the right side. On the inner surface of the cam gear 60, a print head cam 64 for swinging the print head 40 and an erase head cam 65 for swinging the erase head 50 are formed coaxially with a predetermined cam profile. As shown in FIG. 7, a cam pin 46 projecting from the sub arm 45 on the print head 40 side always comes into sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the print head cam 64 from above. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, a cam pin 56 protruding from the sub arm 55 on the erasing head 50 side is always in sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the erasing head cam 65 from above.

The print head 40 and the erasing head 50 are separated from or connected to the card C in accordance with the rotation angle of the cam gear 60. The rotation angle of the cam gear 60 is set outside the cam gear 60 as shown in FIG. 9 is controlled by two cam sensors 66a and 66b disposed on the near side.
The two cam sensors 66a and 66b are connected to the cam gear 60.
The presence or absence of two arc-shaped ribs 67a, 67b formed concentrically with the cam gear 60 is detected on the outer surface of the cam gear 60, and the detection signal is output to the cam motor. Cam sensor 66
The outputs of a and 66b are input to a CPU to be described later.
Controls the rotation of the cam motor so that the cam gear 60 is positioned in one of the four positions of the standby position, the erase position, the erase / print position, and the print position in this order in accordance with the signal pattern.

The above four positions will be described with reference to FIG. 9, assuming that the card C is present on each of the platen rollers 16 and 17. When the cam gear 60 is at the standby position, FIG.
As shown in (a), the print head cam 64 and the erase head cam 65 push up the sub-arms 45 and 55 and the arms 41 and 51 via the cam pins 46 and 56, and both the print head 40 and the erase head 50 are card. It is located away from C. FIG. 7 and FIG.
And the state where the erasing head 50 is separated from the card C.

When the cam gear 60 rotates in the direction of arrow A to reach the erasing position, the erasing head cam 65 moves from the cam top end of the erasing head cam 65 to the erasing head 5 as shown in FIG.
The cam pin 56 of the sub-arm 55 on the 0 side is disengaged, and only the erasing head 50 swings downward via the arm 51 by the force of the compression spring 53 and presses against the card C. FIG. 11 shows a state in which the erasing head 50 is in pressure contact with the card C.

Next, when the cam gear 60 rotates in the direction of arrow A and reaches the erasing / printing position, as shown in FIG. 9C, the erasing head 50 is left as it is, and further from the cam top end of the printing head cam 64. The cam pin 46 of the sub arm 45 on the print head 40 side is disengaged, and the print head 40 swings downward via the arm 41 by the force of the compression spring 43 and presses against the card C. FIG. 10 shows a state in which the print head 40 is pressed against the card C. At the erase / print position, both the print head 40 and the erase head 50 are pressed against the card C.

When the cam gear 60 further rotates in the direction of arrow A to reach the printing position, the erasing head cam 65 is moved to the sub arm 55 and the sub arm 55 via the cam pin 56 of the erasing head 50 as shown in FIG. The arm 51 is pushed up, only the erasing head 50 swings upward and separates from the card C, and the state where the print head 40 is pressed against the card C continues. Next, when the cam gear 60 rotates in the direction of arrow A and returns to the standby position again, the state returns to the state shown in FIG.

As described above, the print head 40 and the erase head 50 are operated by the cam gear 60, and the erase / erase operation is performed.
When the printing process is not performed, the print head 40 and the erasing head 50 are raised to the standby position, so that when only reading / writing magnetic data to / from the magnetic stripe 3 is performed, the load during the transportation of the card C is reduced. As a result, more stable conveyance becomes possible. In addition, since each head 40 is independently driven, erasing / printing can be performed between both ends of the rewrite layer 1, which has the advantage that the printing area is maximized.

As shown in FIG. 1, below the card insertion slot 10, an environmental temperature sensor 69 is provided. The environmental temperature sensor 69 measures an environmental temperature in a room or the like where the device is placed. The environmental temperature sensor 69 is desirably disposed at a location in the apparatus that is least susceptible to a rise in temperature for accurately measuring the environmental temperature. When housed inside the apparatus, it is preferable to provide an opening near the apparatus in the vicinity thereof.

FIG. 12 is a control block diagram of the card processing apparatus. The CPU 70 is a microcontroller having built-in peripheral functions such as a serial IO, a parallel IO, a timer, an AD converter, and a watchdog timer.
A ROM 71 storing a control program and fixed data is connected to the CPU 70.
Various controls are performed in accordance with the program stored in the storage unit 1. The CPU 70 includes a RAM 72 that can store print data, command data, various set values, reference values, and the like as necessary, and a serial interface that receives an erase / print command from a higher-level device and issues it to the CPU 70. 73 is connected. In the serial interface 73, the command received from the host device is converted into parallel data, and the command data is stored in the command buffer area of the RAM 72 by the CPU.

Detection signals from the first to fourth card sensors 31 to 34 are supplied to the CPU 70. Based on the detection signals from the card sensors 31 to 34, the CPU 70 outputs a control signal to the main motor control circuit 74. Then, operations such as the rotation speed, rotation direction, and start / stop of the main motor 22 are controlled. An FG (rotation signal generator) 75 is attached to the main motor 22. By measuring the pulse width of the pulse output from the FG 75, the rotation speed of the main motor 22 can be detected. I have.
In addition, the CPU 70 controls the second to fourth card sensors 32 to
A drive / stop signal is output to a cam motor 77 (not shown in the previous drawings) via a cam motor control circuit 76 based on the output of the cam gear
Control the angle of rotation. A read circuit 78 for reading magnetic data written on the magnetic stripe 3 of the card C and a write circuit 79 for writing magnetic data on the magnetic stripe 3 are connected to the magnetic head 24.
Performs reading / writing of magnetic data from / to the magnetic stripe 3 via the magnetic head 24 and these circuits 78 and 79.

The CPU 70 operates as an image (bitmap).
Data is created, and the data is transferred to the print head 40 via the print head control circuit 80 while synchronizing with the transport distance of the card C. Thus, an arbitrary image is printed on the rewrite layer 1 of the card C. Further, the CPU 70
Heats the erasing head 50 to a predetermined erasing temperature via the erasing head control circuit 81. The erasing head 50 has a built-in temperature sensor 82 for detecting the temperature of the erasing head 50, and the temperature of the erasing head 50 can be detected as a digital value by an A / D converter built in the CPU 70. CPU 70 obtains energization duty data based on the detected temperature of erase head 50 and the set value data stored in ROM 71 or RAM 72, and outputs an energization pulse having a pulse width corresponding to the energization duty to erase head control circuit 81. . Thus, the erasing head 5
The temperature of 0 is controlled to a predetermined erasing temperature at which the thermoreversible recording material forming the printing layer 1 becomes transparent.

Further, the CPU 70 has an environmental temperature sensor 6
9 is supplied, and the detection signal is supplied to the CPU 70
And is converted into a digital value by the A / D converter. The CPU 70 executes the erasing / printing process and the print head 4 based on the measurement value of the environmental temperature sensor 69.
0 and the energization duty of the erase head 50 are controlled.

(3) Operation of Card Processing Apparatus Next, the operation of the card processing apparatus having the above-described configuration when erasing / printing an image on the rewrite layer 1 of the card C will be described. A. First, an outline of the operation of the card processing apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When an erasure / print command is issued to the CPU 70 from the host device (not shown) via the serial interface 73, the CPU 70
The print command processing subroutine S100 is called in accordance with the program stored in M71. The print command processing subroutine S100 includes a step S101.
The third and fourth card sensors 33 and 34 determine whether or not the card C is waiting at a waiting position in the IC unit 18.
The judgment is made in response to the signal from. If it is determined that the card C is at the standby position, the process jumps to step S103. If it is determined in step S101 that the card C is not at the standby position, the process proceeds to step S102. In step S102, the first card sensor 31 waits for the insertion of the card C. When the insertion of the card C is detected by the first card sensor 31, the main motor 22 is driven via the main motor control circuit 74. Then, the card C is transported to the standby position, and the preheating of the erasing head 50 is started.

In the next step S103, the CPU 70
Stores the print character string specified by the print command in the RAM 72
Image (bitmap) is developed in the print buffer inside. Next, proceeding to step S104, the rewrite layer 1 of the card C
Is performed by the action of the cam gear 60 as described above. When the erasing / printing process is completed, the process proceeds to step S105, the card C is ejected, and the print command process ends.

B. Erasure / Print Processing Next, the erasure / print processing will be described in detail with reference to FIG. When the erase / print processing routine is called in step S104, the card C waiting at the standby position is transported in the direction of the card insertion slot 10 in step S201.
It is determined whether or not the front end of the card C has reached the position of the erase head 50. If it is determined that the data has not been reached, step S201
And the same judgment is repeated. If it is determined in step S201 that the front end of the card C has reached the position of the erasing head 50, the process proceeds to step S202. Step S202
Then, the drive signal is output to the cam motor control circuit 76, and the output is continued until the signals of the cam sensors 66a and 66b detect the erase position, and the erase head 50 is pressed against the rewrite layer 1 of the card C. In the next step S203, the erasing head 50 is energized by open loop control in which the energizing duty is constant, and the erasing head 50 is heated. The rewritable layer 1 is heated by the erasing head 50, and the image of the rewritable layer 1 is thermally erased as the card C is conveyed forward.

In the next step S204, it is determined whether or not the front end of the card C has reached the position of the print head 40. If it is determined that it has not arrived, the process returns to step S204, and the same determination is repeated. If it is determined in step S204 that the front end of the card C has reached the position of the print head 40, the process proceeds to step S205. In step S205,
A drive signal is output to the cam motor control circuit 76, and the output is continued until the signals from the cam sensors 66a and 66b detect the erase / print position, and the print head 40 is pressed against the rewrite layer 1 of the card C. In the next step S206, the print data stored in the print buffer of the RAM 72 is sequentially transferred to the print head 40 in synchronization with the carry amount of the card C. When the transfer of one line of print data to the print head 40 is completed, a print head energizing pulse having a pulse width obtained by using a timer built in the CPU 70 is transmitted to the print head 40 via the print head control circuit 80. With the output, the print head 40 selected by the print data
, And an image is thermally printed on the rewrite layer 1. In this way, the image erasing by the erasing head 50 and the printing of a new image by the print head 40 are performed in parallel with the transport of the card C.

Next, the process proceeds to step S207, where it is determined whether or not the rear end of the card C has reached the position of the erasing head 50. If it is determined that it has not arrived, the process returns to step S207, and the same determination is repeated. If it is determined in step S207 that the rear end of the card C has reached the position of the erasing head 50, the process proceeds to step S208. In step S208, a drive signal is output to the cam motor control circuit 76, and the output is continued until the signals from the cam sensors 66a and 66b detect the print position. Is stopped, and only printing is performed.

In the next step S209, it is determined whether or not all printing has been completed. If it is determined that printing has not been completed, the process returns to step S209, and the same determination is repeated. If it is determined that all printing has been completed, step S
Proceed to 210. In step S210, a drive signal is output to the cam motor control circuit 76, and the cam sensors 66a, 66
The output is continued until the signal b detects the standby position, and the print head 40 is moved to the upper standby position,
The transfer of the print data to the print head 40 and the output of the energizing pulse are stopped. Next, in step S211, the card C is conveyed forward at a high speed until the front end comes out of the card insertion slot 10, and thereafter, the main motor 22 stops. The above is the process of the erasing / printing process. In the process, the print data transfer, the printhead energizing pulse output, the open loop control of the erasing head, and the like are executed in the background by an interrupt processing routine (not shown).

C. Energizing form of erase head will now be described an embodiment according to the current embodiment of the erase head 50. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the first embodiment according to the energization mode of the erasing head 50. In the first embodiment, first, the CP
Each time the timer incorporated in U70 detects the elapse of a predetermined time, a timer interrupt routine S300 is called. When the timer interrupt routine S300 starts, step S
At 301, the presence or absence of the card C at the standby position is determined. If it is determined in step S301 that the card C is at the standby position, the process proceeds to step S302, and power supply to the erasing head 50 is started. If it is determined in step S301 that the card C is not at the standby position, the flow branches to step S303, and the power supply to the erasing head 50 is stopped.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart of the second embodiment relating to the energization mode of the erasing head 50. In the second embodiment, first, the CP
Each time the timer incorporated in U70 detects the elapse of a predetermined time, a timer interrupt routine S300 is called. When the timer interrupt routine S300 starts, step S
At 301, the presence or absence of the card C at the standby position is determined. If it is determined in step S301 that the card C is at the standby position, the process proceeds to step S302, and power supply to the erasing head 50 is started. If it is determined in step S301 that the card C is not at the standby position, the flow branches to step S305. In step S302, the counter for integrating the energizing time to the erasing head 50 is incremented, and
Go to 303. In step S303, it is determined whether or not the integrated power supply time has reached a predetermined value. If it is determined that the power supply time is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S304, and power supply to the erasing head 50 is started. If it is determined in step S303 that the accumulated power-on time is equal to or longer than a predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S305. In step S305,
The energization of the erasing head 50 is stopped, and then step S3
Proceeding to 06, the counter for integrating the energizing time is reset to zero.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the presence / absence of the card C is detected by the polling operation using the timer. Similar control is performed by inputting the detection signals of the fourth to fourth card sensors 31 to 34 to the interrupt input terminal and detecting changes in the detection signals of the first to fourth card sensors 31 to 34. be able to.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of the third embodiment relating to the energization mode of the erasing head 50. In the third embodiment, when the power of the processing apparatus is turned on, an initialization process is performed by a main routine S500. In the initialization process, following the initialization of the hardware and the RAM 102, self-diagnosis such as a disconnection check of the erasing head 50 is performed, and then, if the card C is at the standby position, the card C is ejected. In the course of the initialization process, no current is supplied to the erase head 50. When the initialization process ends, the process proceeds to step S502,
The CPU 70 determines whether or not a command is stored in the command buffer area in the RAM 72. If it is determined in step S502 that there is a command, step S502
Proceeding to step 503, if it is determined that there is no command, step S
Returning to 502, the same determination is repeated.

Next, in step S503, it is determined whether or not the erasing head 50 is being heated. If it is determined that the heating is being stopped or the heating is being stopped after a predetermined time, the process jumps to step S506. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S504. In step S504, it is determined whether or not the command determined in step S502 is a command that involves card processing. If it is determined that the command is not a command that involves card processing, the process jumps to step S506, where the command that includes card processing is executed. If it is determined that there is, the process proceeds to step S505. In step S505,
At the same time that the erasing head 50 is instructed to heat, timing of the heating time is started, and the process proceeds to step S506.
In step S506, the command is processed, and the process proceeds to step S507. In step S507, it is determined whether or not the card C has been ejected. If it is determined that the card C has not been ejected, the process returns to step S502. If it is determined that the card C has been ejected, Proceed to step S508.

Next, in step S508, heating of the erasing head 50 and timing of the heating time are stopped, and the process returns to step S502. The heating time is measured by a timer built in the CPU 70. When the timer expires, a timer interrupt routine (not shown) is started to stop the heating of the erasing head 50, and the data of the heating stop due to the time-out is stored in the RAM 72 in a predetermined manner. Is written to the area.

In the above embodiments, the energization control is performed by software. However, the same control can be performed by hardware, and an example thereof will be described below. FIG. 18 shows a circuit according to a fourth embodiment of an energizing mode of the erasing head 50, and includes first to fourth card sensors 31 to 33.
4 is set so that the detection signal output becomes high level when the card C is detected. Each card sensor 31
To 34 are connected to a 4-input OR circuit, and the card sensor 31
To 34, the output of the OR circuit goes high when all the card sensors 31 to 34 do not detect the card C. The output goes low. If the output of the OR circuit is at a high level, a base current flows to the transistor Tr through the base resistor Rb, and the transistor T
r is turned ON, and the current is supplied to the erasing head 50.
Incidentally, VH in the figure is a power supply line for supplying a current to the erase head 50. Therefore, according to the present circuit, when the card C is taken into the apparatus, power is supplied to the erasing head 50 regardless of the position of the card C,
When the card C is not loaded, the erasing head 50
Is not energized. Note that this circuit includes an erasing head 5.
An energization (temperature) control circuit for controlling the temperature of 0 can be added. For this purpose, as shown in FIG.
AND1 circuit and AND between the R circuit and the base resistor Rb
Two circuits are interposed, and a temperature control circuit as shown in FIG. 20 is connected to one input terminal of the AND2 circuit, or FIG.
It is sufficient to connect a PWM circuit as shown in FIG. Note that FIG.
1 indicates a write input, and CS indicates a chip select input.

Embodiment 5 The circuit shown in FIG. 19 will be described as a fifth embodiment. now,
When the output of the OR circuit changes from the low level to the high level, the terminal a of the AND1 circuit simultaneously goes to the high level.
Next, the input terminal of the NOT circuit is provided by a CR integrator circuit.
The threshold of the NOT circuit is reached with a time delay proportional to the time constant CR. Therefore, the output of the NOT circuit, that is, AN
The terminal b of the D1 circuit changes from the high level to the low level with a time delay proportional to the time constant CR. Thus, A
The output of the ND1 circuit is maintained at the high level for a fixed time after the output of the OR circuit changes from the high level to the low level, that is, after the card C is inserted. At this time, if all the card sensors 31 to 34 do not detect the card C, the output of the OR circuit goes low as in the third embodiment, and the output of the AND1 circuit goes low at the same time. Further, the electric charge stored in the capacitor C is rapidly discharged through the diode D. AND2 circuit
Although it is interposed to connect the energization (temperature) control circuit shown in FIGS.
A configuration in which an ND2 circuit is provided and an energization (temperature) control circuit is connected is preferable. In this embodiment, C is used as the delay circuit.
Although the R integrator is shown, other delay circuits and digital means can be used.

D. Energization of the erase head (temperature) Control Next, a description will be given of an embodiment of a current (temperature) control of the erasing head 50. Energization (Temperature) Control Part 1 FIG. 22 is a flowchart of the first embodiment relating to energization (temperature) control of the erasing head 50. In the first embodiment, first, the timer interrupt routine S400 is called each time the timer built in the CPU 70 detects the elapse of a predetermined time. When the timer interrupt routine S400 starts, it is determined in step S401 whether or not the card C is at the standby position. If it is determined in step S401 that the card C is not at the standby position, the flow branches to step S404. Step S
If it is determined in 401 that there is a card C, step S40
2, the temperature sensor 82 built in the erase head 50
Is read through an AD converter, and its value and R
A comparison is made with the set temperature stored in the OM 71 or the RAM 72. When it is determined that the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 82 is equal to or higher than the set temperature, the process branches to step S404. If it is determined that the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 82 is lower than the set temperature, the process proceeds to step S403, and the power supply to the erasing head 50 is started. If it is determined in step S401 that the card C is not at the standby position, or if it is determined in step S402 that the temperature is equal to or higher than the set temperature, the flow branches to step S404, and the power supply to the erase head 50 is stopped. As described above, while the card C is being taken into the apparatus, the temperature of the erasing head 50 is kept constant.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart of the second embodiment relating to energization (temperature) control of the erasing head 50. In the second embodiment, first, the timer interrupt routine S400 is called each time the timer built in the CPU 70 detects the elapse of a predetermined time. When the timer interrupt routine S400 starts, it is determined in step S401 whether or not the card C is at the standby position. If it is determined in step S401 that the card C is not at the standby position, the flow branches to step S403. Step S
If it is determined in 401 that there is a card C, step S40
Proceed to 2. In step S402, the energization duty is determined. The method of obtaining the energization duty in the present embodiment is classified into two types, that is, at the time of preheating and at the time of erasing when the erasing head 50 actually contacts the rewrite layer 1. At the time of preheating, the set erase temperature TW of the erase head 50 and the erase head 5
0 is a closed-loop control in which power is supplied by a power supply duty proportional to a difference from the detection value TEH of the temperature sensor 82. The power supply duty D is expressed by the following equation (1). D = (TW−TEH) × GAIN (where D Is determined to be 0 to 100%) (1). Here, when the erasing head 50 is rapidly heated when the erasing head 50 is heated to the preheating temperature, the time constant of the temperature sensor 82 built in the erasing head 50, the heat conduction time from the heating element to the temperature sensor 82, etc. As a result, a large difference may occur between the surface temperature of the erase head 50 and the value detected by the temperature sensor 82. Therefore, it is desirable that the erasing head 50 is gradually heated, and the GAIN value of the above equation (1) is suitably about 1 to 2.

Further, at the time of actual erasing, it is determined by the following equation (2): D (energization duty) = K (2) Where K is the temperature of card C,
This value is determined by conditions such as the environmental temperature, the shape and output of the erasing head 50, the erasing characteristics of the rewriting layer 1, the preheating temperature, the transport speed of the card C, the erasing position, and the like. This corresponds to the energy substantially equal to the energy lost from the erasing head 50 generated at the time.

When the energization duty is determined as described above in step S402, the process proceeds to step S404,
Convert D to a timer value. For example, in the case of the energization duty generation circuit as shown in FIG. 21, the value is converted into a value obtained by multiplying D by 255 and output to the PWM generation circuit. If it is determined in step S401 that there is no card C at the standby position, the process branches to step S403, where D = 0 is set, and the power supply to the erasing head 50 is stopped. From the above,
While the card C is being taken into the apparatus, the temperature of the erasing head 50 is kept constant.

(4) Operation and Effect of One Embodiment The erasing head 5 provided in the card processing device of the one embodiment.
According to the control method of starting and stopping the power supply to the erasing head 50, the power supply start timing to the
Is detected, or when a command signal for thermal erasure / print processing is received from a host device. On the other hand, the timing of stopping the power supply to the erasing head 50 is set to a time when the ejection of the card C is detected or a predetermined time has elapsed after the insertion of the card C is detected. Therefore, the processing time is shortened, and unnecessary energization is suppressed, and the heating energy required for erasing is reduced.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the card detection means detects the insertion of the rewritable card, or when it receives a command signal for thermal erasure / printing processing from a higher-level device, the heating start timing for the thermal erasure means is set as the timing to start heating the rewritable card. When the detection or the predetermined time after the detection of the insertion of the rewritable card is determined as the heating stop timing for the thermal erasing means, the processing time is shortened, and unnecessary power supply is suppressed and energy consumption is reduced. Is reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a right side sectional view of a card processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the card processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a thermoreversible recording material constituting a printing layer of a rewritable card according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a thermoreversible recording material.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in transparency / cloudiness with heating of a thermoreversible recording material.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are side views showing positions of a print head and an erase head according to a change in a rotation angle of a cam gear, where FIG. 9A is a standby position, FIG. 9B is an erase position, FIG. (D) is a printing position.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a state where the print head is in pressure contact with the rewritable card.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a state where the erasing head is in pressure contact with the rewritable card.

FIG. 12 is a control block diagram of a card processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the card processing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation of an erasing / printing process of the card processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a first embodiment according to a power supply mode for the erase head.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a second embodiment according to a power supply mode for an erase head.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a third embodiment according to a power supply mode for an erase head.

FIG. 18 is a circuit diagram of a fourth embodiment according to a power supply mode for an erase head.

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram of a fifth embodiment according to a current supply mode to the erase head.

20 is a circuit diagram showing an example of an energization (temperature) control circuit connected to the circuit of FIG. 19;

21 is a circuit diagram showing another example of a conduction (temperature) control circuit connected to the circuit of FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of Example 1 relating to energization (temperature) control for an erase head.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of Example 2 relating to energization (temperature) control for an erase head.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rewrite layer, 31-34 ... 1st-4th card sensor (card detection means), 40 ... Print head (thermal printing means), 50 ... Erase head (thermal erasing means), 7
0: CPU (control means), C: rewritable card.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masaya Nakamura 20-10 Nakayoshida, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka Star Precision Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C061 GG03 GG17 GG22 GG26 GG36 5B058 CA40 KA05

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A rewritable card having a structure in which a rewritable card of a rewritable card taken into an apparatus is heated to apply thermal erasing / printing processing of an image to the rewritable card, and thereafter the rewritable card is discharged out of the apparatus. A processing device, a card detection unit for detecting insertion of the rewritable card into the device and discharge of the rewritable card to the outside of the device, a thermal erasing unit for heating the rewrite layer and thermally erasing an image, and A thermal printing means for heating and thermally printing an image; receiving a command signal for thermal erasure / printing processing from a higher-level device, and receiving two conditions for receiving the command signal and loading the rewritable card into the device; Control means for causing the thermal erasing means and the thermal printing means to execute respective processes, Wherein, when said card detecting means detects the insertion of the rewritable card, processor rewritable card, characterized in that to start the heating of the thermal erasing means. 2. The rewritable card of claim 2, wherein the rewritable card is heated by heating the rewritable layer of the rewritable card taken into the apparatus and subjected to thermal erasing / printing processing of the image and thereafter discharging the rewritable card out of the apparatus. A processing device, a card detection unit for detecting insertion of the rewritable card into the device and discharge of the rewritable card to the outside of the device, a thermal erasing unit for heating the rewrite layer and thermally erasing an image, and A thermal printing means for heating and thermally printing an image; receiving a command signal for thermal erasure / printing processing from a higher-level device, and receiving two conditions for receiving the command signal and loading the rewritable card into the device; Control means for causing the thermal erasing means and the thermal printing means to execute respective processes, Wherein, when receiving a command signal of the thermal erasing / printing processing from the host device, the processing unit of the rewritable card, characterized in that to start the heating of the thermal erasing means. 3. The rewritable card according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stops heating the thermal erasing unit when the card detection unit detects ejection of the rewritable card. Processing equipment. 4. The control means includes a time counting means for starting time counting when the card detecting means detects insertion of the rewritable card, and when the time counting means counts a predetermined time, the heating of the thermal erasing means is controlled. 3. The rewritable card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing is stopped. 5. The control means includes timing means for starting time counting when heating of the thermal erasing means is started, and stops heating of the thermal erasing means when the time keeping means measures a predetermined time. The rewritable card processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing is performed. 6. A rewritable card having a structure in which a rewritable card of a rewritable card taken into an apparatus is heated to subject the rewritable layer to thermal erasure / printing of an image, and thereafter, the rewritable card is discharged outside the apparatus. A processing device, a card detection unit for detecting insertion of the rewritable card into the device and discharge of the rewritable card to the outside of the device, a thermal erasing unit for heating the rewrite layer and thermally erasing an image, and A thermal printing means for heating and thermally printing an image; receiving a command signal for thermal erasure / printing processing from a higher-level device, and receiving two conditions for receiving the command signal and loading the rewritable card into the device; Control means for causing the thermal erasing means and the thermal printing means to execute respective processes, Wherein, when said card detecting means detects the discharge of the rewritable card, processor rewritable card, characterized in that stopping the heating of the thermal erasing means. 7. A rewritable card in which a rewritable card taken in the apparatus is heated to apply a thermal erasing / printing process to the rewritable layer and thereafter discharge the rewritable card out of the apparatus. A processing device, a card detection unit for detecting insertion of the rewritable card into the device and discharge of the rewritable card to the outside of the device, a thermal erasing unit for heating the rewrite layer and thermally erasing an image, and A thermal printing means for heating and thermally printing an image; receiving a command signal for thermal erasure / printing processing from a higher-level device, and receiving two conditions for receiving the command signal and loading the rewritable card into the device; Control means for causing the thermal erasing means and the thermal printing means to execute respective processes, The control means further comprises time counting means for starting time counting when the card detection means detects the insertion of the rewritable card, and stopping the heating of the thermal erasing means when the time counting means times a predetermined time. Characteristic rewritable card processing device. 8. A rewritable card in which the rewritable card of the rewritable card taken into the apparatus is heated to perform a thermal erasing / printing process on the rewritable card, and thereafter the rewritable card is discharged out of the apparatus. A processing device, a card detection unit for detecting insertion of the rewritable card into the device and discharge of the rewritable card to the outside of the device, a thermal erasing unit for heating the rewrite layer and thermally erasing an image, and A thermal printing means for heating and thermally printing an image; receiving a command signal for thermal erasure / printing processing from a higher-level device, and receiving two conditions for receiving the command signal and loading the rewritable card into the device; Control means for causing the thermal erasing means and the thermal printing means to execute respective processes, The control unit further includes a timer unit that starts timing when heating of the thermal erasing unit is started, and stops heating of the thermal erasing unit when the timer unit measures a predetermined time. Rewritable card processing device. 9. The thermal erasing means comprises an electric resistor which generates heat when energized, and the energization duty D is given by the following equation: D = (TW-TEH) × GAIN (where D is 0 to 1)
The rewritable card processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein (TW: set erasing temperature, TEH: temperature of the electric resistor). 10. The rewritable card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said thermal erasing means comprises a thermal bar, a hot roll, or a hot plate. 11. A rewritable card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said thermal printing means is a thermal head.