JP2002329178A - Card holder to which two or more cards can be inserted - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card holder for using two or more IC cards. SOLUTION: The card holder to which two or more cards (6, 7) can be inserted is provided with an insertion port (5) into which two or more cards are inserted and a mechanism for successively distributing the inserted cards into objective card storing parts. The distributing mechanism includes at least one flap (8) to be always energized to a prescribed turning direction by a rotating spring. The flap forms a card guiding part so that the card (6) inserted first is guided to the 1st card storing part (3), and when the first card (6) is inserted, the flap is energized by the card and changes the card guiding part against the energization of the rotating spring so that the card (7) to be inserted next is guided to the 2nd card storing part (4).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card holder, and more particularly, to a card holder that allows a plurality of cards to be inserted from a single insertion slot and used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A card medium such as an IC card has a connection between a card and a connector, such as a contact type having a plurality of contact pads on the card surface or a non-contact type for transferring information using electromagnetic waves or the like. There are various card media, such as cards of different formats and cards of different card thicknesses.

[0003] With the spread of the use of various cards, card readers / writers need to use a plurality of card media at once according to their purposes and applications such as authentication and billing. ing. Therefore, it is required to process a plurality of cards with one reader / writer.

[0004] Connectors corresponding to different card media are:
A structure corresponding to the specifications of each card is required. For this reason, as a conventional technique, each card medium is simply inserted using each reader / writer,
In order to lead to each connector, a plurality of separate insertion ports are required according to the type of card to be inserted and used.

[0005]

However, when a plurality of different types of cards are used in such a manner,
A plurality of insertion ports each having a different card connector corresponding to a different type of card must be separately attached to a housing panel of an information device or the like. For this reason, the surface area of the panel to be attached becomes large, miniaturization of information equipment and the like is limited, and there is a problem that separate attaching steps for attaching each connector to the panel surface are required. In addition, the user of the card must select a predetermined card insertion slot corresponding to the type of each card when using the card, causing a problem that the card is inserted incorrectly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is suitable for reducing the size of an information device and reducing the number of steps for attaching a card holder when assembling the information device. An object of the present invention is to provide a card holder for using a plurality of IC cards, which reduces the possibility of erroneous insertion of a card due to the use of a plurality of IC cards.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a card holder is provided with a plurality of card storage sections adapted to be connected to a card medium read / writer compatible with a plurality of types of cards in a contact or non-contact manner. The card holder has one card insertion slot, and has a mechanism for sequentially guiding a plurality of types of cards inserted through the one insertion slot to a plurality of corresponding card storage sections. Each card exchanges information with a reader / writer of an information device utilizing electronic data stored in each card by a corresponding contact or non-contact type card connector means in the card storage unit.

According to this mechanism, the user can insert the card into the reader / writer without being conscious of selecting the insertion slot corresponding to the type of the card. In the present invention, the means for automatically recognizing the type of the card is not used, and the cards are allocated to the corresponding card storage units according to the predetermined insertion order of the cards.

That is, the present invention relates to a card holder in which a plurality of cards can be inserted. One card slot into which a plurality of cards are inserted, and a plurality of inserted cards are sequentially inserted into a target card storage unit. It is a card holder having a sorting mechanism.

Further, the distributing mechanism includes at least one flap constantly biased in a predetermined rotation direction by a rotary spring, and the flap guides a card inserted first to a first card storage portion. A card guide portion is formed so that when the first card is inserted, the card is urged by this card and guided next to the second card storage portion against the urging by the rotary spring. This is a card holder that changes the card guide part so that it can be performed.

Further, the sorting mechanism includes at least two flaps, the at least two flaps are linked to each other, and each flap is urged in a predetermined direction by a rotary spring to insert a card to be inserted first. A card guide is formed to be guided to the first card storage, and when the first card is inserted, at least one of the flaps is biased by the card and the at least
This is a card holder in which the guide portion of the card is changed by moving the next flap so as to guide the card to be inserted next to the second card storage portion.

Further, the card holder includes a substrate having a connector portion formed by sequentially stacking, a base portion having a side wall on a side portion thereof, and a cover portion, and at least one of the flaps is provided. A rotation card is a mounting card holder rotatable on a bearing formed on the side wall of the base.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following description is an embodiment of the present invention, and is intended to illustrate the general principle of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to only the configuration specifically described in the section of this embodiment and the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 16, a card holder 1 used as a reader / writer for an IC card includes, for example, a first card storage section 3 having a contact type connector section 2 and, for example, a non-contact type. A second card storage unit 4 for storing another type of card. The use of the contact type and non-contact type cards is only an example of the embodiment, and the type of the card and the method of contacting the card do not limit the present invention. That is, in the present invention, a plurality of cards of any kind are inserted from one insertion slot 5 to be usable.

The card holder 1 has one card slot 5
The cards are guided to the card storage units 3 and 4 based on the insertion order of the cards 6 and 7, and sorted. The card holder 1 has two flaps 8 and 9 as a means for guiding each card to each of the card storage sections 3 and 4 in order.
Having. In order to achieve this distribution, two flaps are provided with rotary springs, respectively, to urge the flaps 8 and 9 in a predetermined rotation direction. In addition, instead of using two flaps, it is also possible to guide and sort cards by only the rotation action of one flap,
The use of two flaps makes the distribution more reliable.

In the operation method according to this embodiment, first, when no card is inserted, the flaps 8 and 9 are rotated obliquely downward by the rotary spring 10 and the card insertion slot 5 is moved upward by the first first slot. 14 is open so that the contact type IC card 6 is guided to the card storage section 3 of FIG.
reference). For this reason, contact type IC
When the card 6 is inserted, the contact type IC card 6
Is guided to the upper first card storage 3 on which the contact type IC card connector 2 is provided. Note that terms such as upper, lower, left, and right used in this specification are used for the sake of convenience with reference to the accompanying drawings, and do not limit the actual configuration of the card holder. For example, a structure in which the illustrated card holder is turned upside down is also possible.

When the contact type IC card 6 is completely inserted, the flaps 8 and 9 are rotated to a position where the flaps 8 and 9 are guided to the non-contact type side, that is, the lower second card storage portion 4 (see FIG. 12 or 16). Therefore, when the non-contact type IC card 7 is inserted, it is guided to the second card storage section 4 which is a non-contact type storage section. Thereafter, the next non-contact I
When the C cards are inserted, they are all guided to be accommodated in the second card accommodating section 4, which is a contact-type accommodating section.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the appearance of a card holder 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the upper side of the card holder 1 as viewed obliquely from above, and FIG.
1 shows a view in which the card holder 1 of FIG. 1 is turned upside down and the lower surface is viewed obliquely.

In FIG. 1 and FIG.
Has a structure in which a substrate 12, a base portion 13, and a cover portion 14 are sequentially stacked and combined. Cover part 14
The hooks 15 provided on the side surfaces of the base portion 13 fix the base portion 13 and the cover portion 14 combined in a predetermined arrangement, and the hooks 16 formed on the surface of the base portion 13 fix the substrate 12 combined in the predetermined arrangement. And the base 13 are fixed.

The base portion 13 of the card holder 1
Has a space for accommodating the card connector portion 2, and furthermore, the card holder 1 has a space for accommodating the contact type IC card 6 above the base portion 13, i.e. It has a space for accommodating the contact type IC card 7, that is, a second card accommodating section 4. 1 and 2 show a state where a contact type IC card 6 and a non-contact type IC card 7 are inserted.

As shown in FIG. 2, a card holding portion 17 formed by a plurality of elongated spring members is formed at the center of the cover portion 14 so that the inserted non-contact type IC card 7 can be held from below. It is configured to support (from above in FIG. 2).

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the card holder 1 shown in FIGS.
And cards 6 and 7 to be inserted into the card. Card holder 1
The main components include, for example, a substrate 12, a base portion 13, and a cover portion 14 constituting a main body, and a flap 8, which determines a direction in which the cards 6, 7 are inserted.
9 and torsion springs 10, 11 and the like.

As the substrate 12, an ordinary printed circuit board having a predetermined electric wiring formed on the surface or inside thereof is used. A connector portion 2 having a plurality of contact pieces (not shown) for inserting a contact type IC card 6 and contacting contact pads (not shown) formed on the surface thereof is attached to an inner surface 18 of the substrate 12. I have. The connector section 2 has a card insertion port 19 which is largely open outward so that the contact type IC card 6 can be easily inserted. Further, the plurality of contact pieces are connected by soldering to electric wiring of the substrate 12 via the leads 20. Note that, for example, a coil component or the like (not shown) can be mounted on the board 12 to transmit read / write information to and from the non-contact type IC card 7.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the appearance of the base 13 in this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a view of the upper surface of the base 13 as viewed obliquely from above, and FIG. 5 is a view of the base 13 of FIG. Bearing portions 2 combined with rotating shafts 23 formed on both lateral sides of the flap 8 are provided on side walls 22 on both sides thereof.
4 are formed and rotatably support the flap 8. A space 25 is formed in the rear part (left side in FIG. 4) of the base part 13, and the connector part 2 connected to the substrate 12 is formed.
To accommodate. The hooks 16 formed on the upper surface fix the substrate 12 placed on the base 13. Also,
The hook 50 formed on the back surface (see FIG. 5) is
Is fixed.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the appearance of the cover section 14 in this embodiment. The cover part 14 is located below the base part 13 and has a spring part 17 which also serves as a downward guide for the non-contact type IC card 7 and a stopper. The cover 14 also serves to position the first flap 8 below the rotation shaft 23.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the upper surface of the cover portion 14 as viewed obliquely from above, while FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the cover portion 14 of FIG. A large-area hole 28 is formed at the center of the cover portion 14, and this hole 2
A plurality of elongated card holding springs 17 extend into the inside 8. The spring portion 17 supports the inserted non-contact type IC card 7 from below.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the appearance of the first flap 8. The first flap 8 cooperates with the base portion 13 and the cover portion 14 and has a function of guiding and sorting the inserted cards 6 and 7. FIG. 8 shows a view of the upper side surface of the first flap 8 as viewed obliquely from above, and FIG. 9 shows a view of the first flap 8 turned upside down and viewed from below. The first flap 8 has a first member 29 formed of a flat portion that is wide as a whole, and the rotation shaft 23 of the flap 8 itself is formed near one end 31 of the first flap 8.
A second member having a small width extends from a portion 3 in a direction oblique to the first member 29. The other end 32 of the first member 29 is formed with rotating shafts 33 and 34 that rotatably support the second flap 9.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show the second flap 9.
The appearance of is shown. The second flaps 9 are attached to shafts 33, 34 formed on the left and right end portions 39 of the first flaps 8, respectively, and guide and sort the cards 6, 7 inserted in conjunction with the first flaps 8. Has an action. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the upper side surface of the second flap 9 as viewed obliquely from above, and FIG.
1 shows a view in which the second flap 9 is turned upside down and viewed from below. The second flap 9 has bearing holes 35 and 36.
And is rotatably combined with the rotation shafts 33 and 34 of the first flap 8. As shown in FIG. 3, two second flaps 9 having a symmetrical structure are arranged on both left and right sides of the first flap 8, and those shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 are those on the left side.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the card holder 1 of FIG. Contact type IC card 6 and non-contact type I
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state where a C card 7 is inserted. FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the flaps 8 and 9 in FIG. The first flap 8 is always urged counterclockwise by the torsion spring 10 attached to the shaft 23 as shown in FIG. For this reason, the first flap 8 is always
The left portion of the member 29 is urged to rotate downward. On the other hand, the second flap 9 is the first flap 8
As shown in FIG. 13B, the torsion spring 11 attached to the shaft 34 is always biased clockwise. However, the first flap 8 and the second flap 9 are provided with end faces 38 and 39, respectively, which act as rotation stoppers, so that the right flap cannot be rotated more than a certain amount. For example, in FIG. 13, since the end faces 38 and 39 are in contact with each other, the second flap 9 cannot be further rotated clockwise.

Next, an outline of the operation of the card holder 1 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 14, in an initial state where the contact type IC card 6 has not yet been inserted into the card holder 1, the first flap 8 is urged by the first torsion spring 10, and It is pressed downward, that is, toward the cover 14. On the other hand, the second flap 9 inserted into the shaft 33 at the distal end of the first flap 8 is urged upward by the second torsion spring 11 to rotate. The state of the predetermined angle C is maintained by the rotation stopping structures 38 and 39 provided on the second flap 9.

In this state, since the second flap 9 is housed in the flap storage section 40 of the cover section 14, the contact-type IC card 6 inserted from the card insertion slot 5 is moved toward the upper first card storage section 3. Led to non-contact type IC
The card is not guided to the lower second card storage unit 4 where the card is stored.

Next, when the contact type IC card 6 is further inserted into the inside, the tip 4
1 pushes the end 42 of the first flap 8 to the right, so that the first flap 8 is reversed about the shaft 23 against the counterclockwise rotational force urged by the first torsion spring 10. Rotate in the direction, ie clockwise.

The second flap 8 is linked to the tip of the first flap 8.
Of the second flap 9 is also moved by the rotation of the first flap 8, but when the leading end of the second flap 9 contacts the surface 43 of the card, the second flap 9 is moved around the shaft 34 by the second torsion spring 11. Rotating in the opposite direction, that is, counterclockwise, against the biased clockwise rotation force, the contact type IC card 6 keeps contacting the front surface 43 as shown in FIG.

When the contact type IC card 6 is completely inserted into the connector 2, the front end 44 of the second flap 9 is separated from the rear end 45 of the contact type IC card 6, and the second torsion spring 11 is used. The second flap 9 is rotated by the energized clockwise rotation force, and the tip 44 of the second flap 9 is rotated.
Contacts the upper side 46 of the base 13. At this time, the base portion 13 has a space 47 for accommodating the distal end portion 44 of the second flap 9,
Fits in place above.

As shown in FIG. 16, this contact type IC
Next, when the non-contact type IC card 7 is inserted from the insertion slot 5 in a state where the card 6 is completely inserted, the first flap 9 and the second flap 8 allow the non-contact type I card 7 to be inserted.
The C card 7 is guided and guided to the second storage 4 for the non-contact type IC card 7. The second storage unit 4 for the non-contact type IC card 7 has a space for storing a plurality of cards, and all the subsequent cards are inserted into the second card storage unit 4.

In order to prevent the non-contact type IC card 7 from coming out of the card holder 1, the cover portion 14 is provided with the spring portion 17 as described above.

The base portion 13 and the cover portion 14 can be provided with a finger escape 48 when the cards 6 and 7 are pulled out.
It is also possible to pull out a plurality of non-contact cards 6 and 7 at the same time.

Further, by arranging the position of the stopper 49 (see FIG. 12) of the non-contact type IC card 7 further forward (the left side in FIG. 12), the non-contact type IC card 7 is placed first, and The card can be pulled out in the order of the contact type IC cards 6.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, the embodiments of the present invention described herein are merely examples, and various modifications may be made without departing from the technical scope of the present invention. Clearly, variations are possible.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified in the implementation stage without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some components are deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments, at least one of the problems described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effects described in the column of the effect of the invention can be solved. In the case where at least one of the effects is obtained, an effect in which this component is eliminated can be extracted as an invention.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, as compared with the conventional use of a plurality of card holders, it is easier to reduce the size of the information equipment, and furthermore, to attach the card holder at the time of assembling the information equipment. The number of steps can be reduced. Further, according to the present invention, the user can insert the card into the reader / writer device without being conscious of the selection of the card insertion slot corresponding to the type of the card. The possibility of erroneous insertion can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an upper side and a side surface of a card holder according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed obliquely from above.

FIG. 2 is a view of the card holder in which the card holder is turned upside down and the lower side thereof is viewed obliquely.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the card holder shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is disassembled into respective components, and a card inserted into the card holder.

FIG. 4 shows an appearance of a base unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view in which the base is turned upside down, and the lower surface thereof is viewed obliquely.

FIG. 6 shows an appearance of a cover unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view in which the cover is turned upside down, and the lower surface thereof is viewed obliquely.

FIG. 8 shows an appearance of a first flap according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view in which the first flap is turned upside down and its lower side surface is viewed obliquely.

FIG. 10 shows an appearance of a second flap according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view in which the second flap is turned upside down, and the lower surface thereof is viewed obliquely.

FIG. 12 shows a sectional view of the card holder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the first and second flaps in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a change in the card holder accompanying insertion of the card for explaining the outline of the operation of the card holder of the present invention (at the start of insertion of the contact type IC card 6).

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a change in the card holder accompanying insertion of the card for explaining the outline of the operation of the card holder of the present invention (while the contact type IC card 6 is being inserted).

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a change in the card holder accompanying insertion of a card, for explaining the outline of the operation of the card holder of the present invention. (When the insertion of cards 6 and 7 is completed)

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Card holder 2 ... Contact type connector part 3, 4 ... Card storage part 5 ... Card insertion slot 6 ... Contact type IC card 7 ... Non-contact type IC card 8, 9 ... Flap 10, 11 ... Rotation spring (torsion spring) 12, substrate 13, base part 14, cover part 15, 16, hook 17, spring part 18, inner surface 19, insertion port 20, lead 21, solder connection 22, side wall 23, rotating shaft 24, bearing part 25, Space 26 ... End 28 ... Hole 29 ... First member 30 ... Second member 31, 32 ... End 33, 34 ... Rotating shaft 35, 36 ... Bearing hole 37 ... Tip 38, 39 ... Rotation stop end face 40 ... Flap Storing part 41… Card tip part 42… End part 43… Card surface 44… Tip part of second flap 45… De rear portion 46 ... upper side 47 ... space 48 ... escaping finger 49 ... stopper 50 ... Hook

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A card holder in which a plurality of cards can be inserted, the card holder comprising: an insertion slot into which the plurality of cards are inserted; and a mechanism for sorting the inserted plurality of cards to a target card storage unit. A card holder characterized by having. 2. The distributing mechanism includes at least one flap constantly urged in a predetermined rotation direction by a rotary spring, wherein the flap guides a card to be inserted first to a first card storage unit. To form a card guide so that
When the first card is inserted, the card is urged by this card and the card guide is changed so that the card to be inserted next is guided to the second card storage against the urging by the rotary spring. The card holder according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The distributing mechanism includes at least two flaps, wherein the at least two flaps are linked to each other, and each flap is biased in a predetermined direction by a rotating spring to insert a card to be inserted first. Forming a card guide so as to be guided to the first card storage unit, wherein when the first card is inserted, at least one of the flaps is urged by this card and the at least two flaps are inserted next 2. The card holder according to claim 1, wherein the guide portion of the card is changed by moving the card to be guided to the second card storage portion. 4. The card holder includes a substrate having a connector portion formed by sequentially stacking, a base portion having a side wall on a side portion thereof, and a cover portion, and at least one of the flaps is provided with the connector portion. 4. The card holder according to claim 2, wherein a rotating shaft is rotatably attached to a bearing formed on the side wall of the base.