JP2001155117A - Device for preventing metal from being thrown into ic card insertion slot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a metal throw-in preventing device into an IC card insertion slot which can prevent a metal piece from being thrown into an IC card insertion slot regardless of the shape of a thrown-in foreign matter. SOLUTION: When a metal sensor 30 detects metal while a shutter 10 is held at the open position (a) with respect to the IC card insertion slot 100, a controlling part 40 turns on the switch of a solenoid 21, makes a pin part 21a rise to release the hold state of the shutter 10 at the open position and closes the slot 100 by turning the shutter 10 to its closed position (b).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for preventing metal from entering into an IC card insertion slot, and more particularly, to preventing metal from entering into an IC card insertion slot provided in a contact type IC card reader / writer. The present invention relates to a device for preventing metal from entering an IC card insertion slot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An IC card reader / writer for reading data stored in an IC card or writing data is used, for example, in public telephone terminals. Inside such an IC card reader / writer, electrodes for transmitting / receiving data via terminals provided on the outer surface of the IC card are provided. A user manually inserts an IC card from an IC card insertion slot provided in an IC card reader / writer, and inserts a terminal provided in the IC card to a position where the terminal is brought into contact with an electrode inside the IC card reader / writer. In the state where the IC card is inserted, data transfer such as reading or writing data stored in the IC card is performed. Thereafter, the user manually removes the inserted IC card from the IC card insertion slot.

However, the card insertion slot of this type of card reader / writer has a width and a thickness enough to accommodate an IC card, and is widely opened, so long as it is smaller than the size of the IC card. Even things can be easily inserted. In particular, in the case of being used for highly public ones such as those used for public telephone terminals as described above, since it is used freely by an unspecified number of people, intentionally or by negligence, Foreign matter other than the IC card may be inserted from the IC card insertion slot, and may damage the IC card reader / writer.

[0004] For this reason, a foreign matter discharging mechanism for eliminating insertion of foreign matter into the card insertion slot has been developed. For example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-27249, or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 96, a guide portion for restricting the movement of the card in the width direction is provided in the card insertion slot, and a shutter for preventing the insertion of a foreign object is provided, so that a foreign object having a width different from the width of the regular card is inserted. When the operation is performed, the shutter is closed to prevent the insertion of foreign matter. Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-1233491, a card is provided with a convex portion and a concave portion, and a shutter provided with a convex portion and a concave portion corresponding to the concave and convex shape of the card is also provided in an insertion slot. When a foreign object that does not conform to the shape is inserted, the shutter is not opened to prevent the foreign object from being inserted.

[0005]

However, in the above-described foreign matter discharging mechanism at the card insertion slot, foreign matter having a shape different from that of a regular card is eliminated or inserted, but erroneous insertion of a metal piece which is particularly harmful. Was not effectively prevented. Inside the IC card reader / writer,
As described above, since the electrodes for reading and writing data are provided, if coins, clips, or other metal pieces are accidentally inserted, the terminals are short-circuited,
There is a high risk that internal functions will be stopped or broken. As described above, the damage caused by erroneous insertion of a metal piece is particularly large, and it is extremely difficult to remove the inserted metal piece, which causes a problem that it takes a long time to repair the equipment or requires a large repair cost. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to prevent a metal piece from being inserted into an IC card insertion slot regardless of the shape of a foreign object to be inserted. It is to provide a prevention device.

[0007]

The present invention has the following features in order to achieve the above object. In the following description of the means, a configuration corresponding to the embodiment will be exemplified by parentheses as an example. Reference numerals and the like are reference numerals and the like in the drawings described later.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the IC card is rotated to an open position or a closed position with respect to the IC card insertion slot (100) around a rotation shaft (11) provided at an end portion, and the IC card is inserted in the closed position. A shutter for closing the mouth (for example, the shutter 10 shown in FIG. 1), and holding means for holding the shutter in the open position (for example, the solenoid 2 shown in FIG. 1)
1, a lever 22, a rack 23, a gear 24) and metal sensing means for sensing metal (for example, the metal sensor 3 shown in FIG. 1).
0) and control means (for example, a control unit 40) for controlling opening and closing of the shutter, wherein the control means is configured to open the shutter by the holding means when the metal is detected by the metal detection means. And the shutter is turned to the closed position.

According to the apparatus for preventing metal from being inserted into the IC card insertion slot according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the shutter is held in the open position by the holding means and the metal is sensed by the metal sensing means, the control means is controlled. With this control, the holding state of the shutter at the open position is released, the shutter is rotated to the closed position, and the IC card insertion slot is closed.

Therefore, when the metal is sensed, the IC card insertion slot is closed by the shutter, so that the metal can be prevented from being inserted into the IC card insertion slot regardless of the shape of the foreign matter. As a result, it is possible to eliminate failure or damage of the device due to erroneous input of metal, to reduce repair cost, and to facilitate maintenance management of the IC card reader / writer.

[0011] The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1.
The device for preventing metal from being inserted into the C card insertion slot is configured to further include an urging means (for example, a spring 50 shown in FIG. 1) for applying an urging force to the rotation of the shutter to the closed position.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the device for preventing metal from being inserted into the IC card insertion slot according to the first aspect, the urging means applies an urging force to the rotation of the shutter to the closed position by the urging means. Therefore, the shutter can be moved to the closing position at a high speed, and the IC card insertion slot can be instantaneously closed, so that metal can be more effectively prevented from being inserted.

[0013] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the apparatus for preventing metal from being inserted into an IC card insertion slot according to (1), a motor (for example, a motor 6 shown in FIG.
0), wherein the control means rotates the shutter to the closed position, and then drives the motor to rotate the shutter to return the shutter to the open position.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the device for preventing metal from being inserted into the IC card insertion slot according to the first or second aspect, the control means, after rotating the shutter to the closed position, Since the rotating shaft of the shutter is rotated by applying a rotating force by a motor to return to the open position, the shutter once closed is automatically moved to the open position by driving the motor, and the insertion of the IC card is received again. be able to. As a result, it is not necessary to frequently monitor the open / closed state of the IC card insertion slot, and maintenance management can be facilitated.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a device for preventing metal from entering an IC card insertion slot according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, a description will be given of a device 1 for preventing metal insertion into an IC card insertion slot according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the metal insertion preventing device 1 and the IC card insertion slot 100. The metal insertion prevention device 1 is provided, for example, for an IC card insertion slot 100 provided in a public telephone terminal capable of making a call using an IC card. In addition, it is preferable to provide the metal insertion prevention device 1 according to the present invention for the IC card insertion slot 100 of an IC card reader / writer having high publicity.

The metal input prevention device 1 includes a shutter 10,
A solenoid 21, a lever 22, a rack 23, a gear 24 as a holding means 20, a metal sensor 30, a spring 50,
It is constituted by a motor 60 and a stopper 70, and detects metal in the metal sensor 30 and drives the solenoid 21.
A control unit 40 (not shown) for controlling driving of the motor 60 is provided.

The shutter 10 has an IC card slot 10
0, and is substantially the same as or slightly larger than the IC card insertion slot 100 so as to cover the IC card insertion slot 100. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a rotating shaft 11 described later may be bent in a dogleg shape. The shutter 10 is made of a material that is not detected by a metal sensor 30 described later. For example, plastics and the like are suitable. By using such a material, a malfunction such as the metal sensor 30 sensing metal in response to the rotation of the shutter 10 can be eliminated, and the operation of the metal insertion preventing device 1 can be stabilized.

A rotating shaft 1 is provided at one end of the shutter 10.
1, the rotating shaft 11 is provided with a gear 24 and a gear 61.
Are connected to the motor 60 via the. The gear 24 is fixed to a rotating shaft 11 provided at one end of the shutter 10, and the shutter 10 moves in an open position (a) or a closed position (b) around the rotating shaft 11 in conjunction with the rotation of the gear 24. )
(See FIG. 2).

The open position (a) is, as shown in FIG. 1, a position where the shutter 10 does not close the IC card insertion slot 100, that is, a state where the IC card insertion slot 100 is opened so as to receive an IC card insertion. (The position of the shutter 10 indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2) and the closed position (b).
The position is a position where the shutter 10 covers the IC card insertion slot 100, that is, a position where the IC card insertion slot 100 is closed so as to prevent insertion of the IC card (the position of the shutter 10 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2). is there.

Solenoid 21, lever 22, rack 2
3 and the gear 24 function as holding means 20 for holding the shutter 10 at the open position (a).

The solenoid 21 has a pin 21a fixed to the lever 22, and the lever 2 is connected via the pin 21a.
2 is raised or lowered. The lever 22 is connected to the rack 23
Is provided with a hook portion 22a for fixing (holding) the position of. The rack 23 may be provided with a convex portion 23a so that the hanging portion 22a is easily caught on the rack 23. The rack 23 is movable along a guide (not shown) in a state where the lever 22 is raised by the raising of the pin portion 21a and is released from being held by the hanging portion 22a. The moving direction is the left-right direction in the figure. The lower surface 23b of the rack 23 is in contact with the upper surface of the gear 24, and converts the left-right movement of the rack 23 into the rotation of the gear 24, and rotates the shutter 10 via the gear 24. Alternatively, the rotational motion of the motor 60 described below can be transmitted to the gear 24 via the gear 61 and converted into the lateral movement of the rack 23. In order to ensure more reliable transmission, the lower surface 23b of the rack 23 and the gear 24 are provided with teeth that mesh with each other, or a material having a large frictional force is applied or affixed, or formed of such a material. Is also good.

Further, a spring 50 is connected to the rack 23 from the left side in the figure to apply an urging force to the rotation of the shutter 10 to the closed position. When the rack 23 is moved to the right side position so that the shutter 10 is held at the open position, the spring 50 is extended, and an elastic force is generated to pull the rack 23 to the left side, and a biasing force is applied to the leftward movement. That is, when moving the shutter 10 to the closed position, the rack 23 moves to the left, but the urging force is applied from the left by the elastic force of the spring 50, and the rack 23 moves to the left at high speed and vigorously. be able to. Accordingly, the shutter 10 can be quickly rotated to the closed position.

The spring 50 may be a helical spring as shown in FIG. 1, or may be a compression coil spring which applies an elastic force for pushing the rack 23 from right to left as an urging force (not shown). In this case, the compression coil spring is
3, when the rack 23 is moved to the right so as to hold the shutter 10 at the open position, the compression coil spring is compressed to apply an urging force, and the holding state at the open position is released. Then, the rack 23 is vigorously moved to the left to rotate the shutter 10 to the closed position. Further, in order to apply an urging force to the rack 23, an air spring utilizing compression of air may be used, or a hydraulic pressure or the like may be used.

The solenoid 21 is electrically connected to the control unit 40, and the up and down movement of the pin 21a is controlled. That is, when a metal is detected by the metal sensor 30 described later, the switch of the solenoid 21 is turned “ON” by the control unit 40, and an electromagnetic force is generated so that the pin 21a rises. The upward movement of the pin portion 21 a of the solenoid 21 is an operation of releasing the holding of the shutter 10 at the open position. Thereafter, for example, after a predetermined time has elapsed, when the shutter 10 is returned to the open position by the drive of the motor 60, the switch of the solenoid 21 is turned "OFF", the pin portion 21a is lowered, and the shutter 10 is again held at the open position.

The metal sensor 30 is a sensor for sensing metal, and is provided on the front near the IC card insertion slot 100. The metal sensor 30 is electrically connected to the control unit 40. A magnetic field is generated in the front direction of the IC card insertion slot 100, that is, outside the device, and a change in the magnetic field due to movement of the metal in the magnetic field is sensed to sense the metal. When a metal is detected, a metal detection signal is sent to the control unit 40.
Output to

The motor 60 is a stepping motor or the like whose drive amount can be controlled, and a gear 61 is attached to a drive shaft 62 thereof. The motor 60 applies a rotational force to the rotating shaft 11 of the shutter 10 via the gear 24 and the gear 61 to return the shutter 10 from the closed position to the open position. Further, the motor 60 is electrically connected to the control unit 40, and after the shutter 10 is moved to the closed position, for example, after a lapse of a predetermined time or after the metal sensing signal is not input from the metal sensor 30. And so on. As the drive amount of the motor 60, a drive amount corresponding to a movement amount for moving from the closed position to the open position is set in advance.

The stopper 70 is a projection for stopping the rotation of the shutter 10 so that the shutter 10 is correctly positioned at the closed position.

The control unit 40 is connected to the metal sensor 30, the solenoid 21, and the motor 60.
Solenoid 21 according to a metal sensing signal input from
ON / OFF of the switch and the drive of the motor 60 are controlled, and the opening and closing of the shutter 10 is controlled.

That is, when a metal sensing signal is input from the metal sensor 30, the switch of the solenoid 21 is set to "O".
N "to raise the pin 21a of the solenoid 21.
The lever 22 is raised in conjunction with the raising of the pin portion 21a, and the hook portion 22a is disengaged from the rack 23 to release the holding state of the shutter 10 at the open position, and the gear 24 is moved with the leftward movement of the rack 23. The pivot shaft 11 of the shutter 10 is pivoted through to move the shutter 10 to the closed position. While in the closed position, the switch of the solenoid 21 is maintained in the "ON" state.

When the switch of the solenoid 21 is once turned "OFF" to lower the pin portion 21a and then return the shutter 10 to the open position, the switch is turned "ON" again.
To raise the hook 22a of the lever 22 and move the rack 23
The switch may be turned "OFF" when is completely returned to the right.

When the shutter 10 is in the closed position, for example, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 40 drives the motor 60 in a predetermined direction by a predetermined driving amount.
The rotation of the motor 60 is transmitted to the rotating shaft 11 of the shutter 10 via the gears 61 and 24, and the shutter 10 is moved to the open position. At the same time, the rack 23 is moved to the right position with the rotation of the gear 24. Thereafter, when the shutter 10 reaches the open position, the drive of the motor 60 is stopped, and at the same time, the switch of the solenoid 21 is turned "OFF" to lower the pin portion 21a to hold the shutter 10 at the open position.

Next, referring to FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of the shutter 10 of the metal loading prevention device 1. The shutter 10 indicated by a solid line is in a state of being moved to an open position (a), and the shutter 10 indicated by a broken line is in a closed position ( The state has been moved to b). The same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

First, the metal input prevention device 1 of the present embodiment
Is a state in which the shutter 10 is held at the open position (a), which is a position indicated by a solid line, without sensing metal. That is, the rack 23 is moved to the right, the hook 22a of the lever 22 is lowered, and the protrusion 23a of the rack 23 is moved.
And the position is fixed (not shown). At this time, the spring 50 is stretched (not shown) by being pulled by the rack 23, and has a resilient force to pull the rack 23 to the left.

In this state, when coins, clips, and other metal pieces are brought closer to the IC card insertion slot 100, the metal is sensed by the metal sensor 30. The metal sensor 30 outputs a metal sensing signal to the control unit 40. When the metal sensing signal is input, the control unit 40 first turns on the switch of the solenoid 21. Solenoid 21
Raises the pin 21a to release the holding state of the shutter 10 at the open position. That is, the hook 22a of the lever 22 is removed from the projection 23a of the rack 23 with the pin 21a. The rack 23 is pulled vigorously by the elastic force of the spring 50 and moves to the left at a high speed. Rack 2
With the movement of the gear 3 to the left, the gear 24 in contact with the rack 23 rotates in the direction of arrow y1 in FIG. 2, and at the same time, the shutter 10 fixed to the rotating shaft 11 of the gear 24 also closes. Rotate to position (b).

The shutter 10 moved to the closed position (b) is shown by a broken line in the figure. The shutter 10 hits the stopper 70 so as to be maintained at the correct closed position (b),
Stop. Further, in the closed position (b), the shutter 10 closes the IC card insertion slot 100 to prevent insertion of a metal approached.

While the shutter 10 is in the closed position (b), not only a piece of metal but also a proper IC card is prevented from being inserted. Therefore, after the metal sensor 30 no longer detects metal, or when the closed position ( When a predetermined time has elapsed since the shutter 10 was moved to b), an operation of returning the shutter 10 to the open position is started.

When returning the shutter 10 to the open position (a), the control unit 40 first drives the motor 60. The motor 60 is rotated in a direction in which the shutter 10 rotates to the open position (a). This is the direction indicated by arrow y2 in the figure. The drive amount of the motor 60 is set in accordance with the amount by which the shutter 10 moves from the closed position (b) to the open position (a), and the control unit 40 drives the motor 60 according to the drive amount.
The motor 60 is driven in the direction of the arrow y <b> 2, and transmits torque to the gear 24 via a gear 61 provided on the drive shaft 62. The rotation direction of the gear 24 is a direction indicated by an arrow y3 in the figure. With the rotation of the gear 24, the shutter 10 fixed to the rotation shaft 11 is rotated in the direction of the open position (a).

At the same time, the rack 23 contacting the gear 24
Is moved rightward while extending the spring 50.

Thereafter, the control unit 40 drives the motor 60 by a preset drive amount, and then stops driving. When the driving of the motor 60 is stopped, the shutter 10 is moved to the open position (a), and the rack 23 is moved to a position (right side) for maintaining the open state. And the control unit 4
0 indicates that the switch of the solenoid 21 is turned "OFF", the pin portion 21a is moved to lower the lever 22, and the hook portion 2
The shutter 10 is again held at the open position (a) by putting 2a over the convex portion 23a of the rack 23. After that, the control unit 40
Waits for the input of a metal sensing signal from the metal sensor 30.

Incidentally, with respect to the IC card insertion slot 100,
When the regular IC card is approached, the metal is not detected by the metal sensor 30 because the IC card is made of resin, and the shutter 10 is kept at the open position (a). Therefore, a regular IC card can be inserted into the IC card insertion slot 100.

The IC card is provided with an IC terminal (metal).
It is smaller than a metal piece that is likely to be erroneously input and is hardly detected by the metal sensor 30 even when approached. However, in order to eliminate the malfunction of the metal insertion prevention device 1 and make it more accurate, it is necessary to eliminate the metal sensing of the metal sensor 30 by the metal terminal of the IC card itself. For example, when the metal sensor 30 is inserted into the IC card,
It is arranged on the side opposite to the side where the terminal portion is directed, and the internal data read / write electrode is also arranged at a position corresponding to the position of the metal terminal when the card is inserted.

As described above, the IC of the present embodiment
The device 1 for preventing metal insertion into the card insertion slot 100 is provided with a metal sensor 30 near the IC card insertion slot 100. When a metal is detected by the metal sensor 30, the shutter 10 is moved to the closed position and the IC card insertion slot 100 is closed. To close. That is, the shutter 10 is rotatable around an axis 11 provided at an end thereof to an open position or a closed position with respect to the IC card insertion slot 100.
Hook 22a of lever 22 fixed to pin 21a
Is hung on the rack 23 to hold the shutter 10 in the open position. When a metal is detected by the metal sensor 30 in this state, a metal detection signal is output to the control unit 40,
In response, the switch of the solenoid 21 is turned "ON", the lever 22 fixed to the pin 21a is raised, and the holding state of the rack 23 is released. Also, rack 2
3 is provided with a spring 50, which is stretched to apply a biasing force to the rack 23 while the shutter 10 is held at the open position. When the holding state in the open position is released, the rack 23 is pulled by the elastic force of the spring 50 and moves at high speed, and accordingly, the shutter 10 is rotated to the closed position at high speed.

Further, when the shutter 10 is moved from the closed position to the open position, the motor 60 is driven to rotate the shutter 10 via the gears 61 and 24 to return to the open position. With the rotation of the shutter 10 to the open position,
When the rack 23 is returned to the right, the solenoid 21
Is lowered to fix the position of the rack 23,
The shutter 10 is held in the open position.

Therefore, the metal sensor 30 allows the IC
Detecting that the metal has approached the card insertion slot 100, the shutter 10 causes the IC card insertion slot 1 to be closed.
00 can be closed to prevent metal injection. That is, since the metal is detected regardless of the shape of the foreign matter to be inserted and the insertion of the metal piece is prevented, for example, the insertion of a metal piece having the same shape as a regular IC card can also be prevented. As a result, it is possible to eliminate equipment failure or damage due to incorrect input of metal,
The repair cost can be reduced and the maintenance management of the IC card reader / writer can be facilitated.

Further, since the shutter 50 can be quickly moved to the closed position by using the spring 50 and the IC card insertion slot 100 can be closed instantaneously, the insertion of metal can be more effectively prevented. Further, the shutter 10 once closed can be automatically moved to the open position by driving the motor 60, and the insertion of the IC card can be accepted again, so that it is not necessary to frequently monitor the open / closed state, thereby facilitating maintenance management. It can be.

[0047]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the metal is detected, the shutter closes the IC card insertion slot, so that the metal can be prevented from being inserted into the IC card insertion slot regardless of the shape of the foreign matter. As a result, it is possible to eliminate failure or damage of the device due to erroneous input of metal, to reduce repair cost, and to facilitate maintenance management of the IC card reader / writer.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the urging force is applied to the rotation of the shutter to the closed position, the shutter is moved to the closed position at a high speed to instantaneously close the IC card insertion slot. And the metal can be more effectively prevented from being charged.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, after the shutter is rotated to the closed position, a rotating force is applied to the rotating shaft of the shutter by a motor to rotate the shutter and return the shutter to the open position. Therefore, the shutter once closed can be automatically moved to the open position by driving the motor, and the insertion of the IC card can be accepted again. As a result, it is not necessary to frequently monitor the open / closed state of the IC card insertion slot, and maintenance management can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a metal insertion preventing device 1 and an IC card insertion slot 10.
FIG.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of a shutter 10 of the metal loading prevention device 1, in which the shutter 10 indicated by a solid line has been moved to an open position, and the shutter 10 indicated by a broken line has been moved to a closed position. is there.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal input prevention device 10 Shutter 11 Rotating shaft 20 Holding means 21 Solenoid 21a Pin part 22 Lever 22a Hanging part 23 Rack 23a Convex part 23b Surface 24 Gear 30 Metal sensor 40 Control part 50 Spring 60 Motor 61 Gear 62 Drive shaft 70 Stopper 100 IC card slot

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A shutter for rotating about an axis provided at an end to an open position or a closed position with respect to an IC card insertion slot, and closing the IC card insertion slot in a closed position, and opening the shutter to an open position. Holding means, metal sensing means for sensing metal, and control means for controlling opening and closing of the shutter, wherein the control means, when the metal is sensed by the metal sensing means, the holding means (C) releasing the shutter from the holding position at the open position and rotating the shutter to the closed position. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an urging means for applying an urging force to the rotation of the shutter to the closed position. 3. A motor for rotating the shutter by applying a rotational force to a rotation axis of the shutter, wherein the control means drives the motor after rotating the shutter to a closed position. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shutter is rotated to return to an open position.