JP2007004566A - Ic card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card reader capable of improving operability when inserting an IC card and of reducing damage to an IC chip section. <P>SOLUTION: The IC card reader is provided with: a card board 8 having an IC chip read section; an IC card reader 7 for reading the content of memory of the IC chip mounted on the IC card; and an IC card slot 4 at one end of which an insertion port for inserting the IC card is arranged, at the other end of which the IC card reader is mounted, and having a conveying path for guiding the IC card inserted through the insertion port to the IC card reader. The card board is attached to the IC card slot so that it is arranged in parallel with the conveying path. At the insertion port of the IC card slot, a rotating shaft 14 is provided for rotatably supporting the IC card slot to a main body with the insertion port as a center. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC card reading device, and more particularly to an IC card reading device capable of improving operability in insertion operation of a card into the reading device and reducing damage to an IC chip portion.

  An IC card transport mechanism in a conventional IC card reader includes, for example, an IC card slot formed in the reader by providing an IC card slot on the side of the reader and inserting the IC card into the insertion slot of the IC card slot. The IC card is transported inside. Patent document 1 can be mentioned as such an IC card conveyance mechanism.

Further, as a card protection mechanism when carrying an IC card, for example, Patent Document 2 can be cited. This document shows that a protective member or the like for protecting the IC card is provided in the card insertion slot of the IC card reader.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-94841 JP-A-9-293124

  In an IC card reading device, an IC card is inserted from an IC card slot insertion port, and the inserted IC card is conveyed to an IC chip reading unit to read the stored contents of the IC chip and perform processing such as settlement. Yes.

  As an IC card transport method, an IC card is automatically transported to an IC chip reading unit by a roller driven by a motor or the like, or an IC card is inserted into a card slot and manually transported to an IC chip reading unit. Things are known.

  In such an IC card reading device, the IC card slot, the IC card transport path, and the IC chip reading unit often have different structures.

  In this case, by attaching the IC card slot insertion slot, IC card transport path, and IC chip reader in parallel to the IC card insertion direction, the IC card contacts the transport path when the IC card is inserted. Thus, the IC card itself can be transported without applying unnecessary force. However, depending on the mounting accuracy of each component, the mounting direction may not be parallel to the IC card insertion direction.

  In such a case, when the IC card is inserted into the IC card slot, the IC card insertion direction and the transport direction in the transport path do not match. In such a case, unnecessary friction may occur between the IC card and the IC card transport path, and the IC card may be bent.

  When the IC card is curved, an unnecessary force is applied to the IC chip reading unit when the card is conveyed and reaches the IC chip reading unit, and the IC chip mounted on the reading unit or the IC card is damaged. It will be. In addition, a reading error in the reading unit is induced.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and provides an IC card reader capable of improving the operability in an IC card insertion operation and reducing damage to an IC chip portion.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.

  An IC card reader having an IC chip reading unit, an IC card reader for reading the stored contents of the IC chip mounted on the IC card, an insertion slot for inserting the IC card at one end thereof, and the IC card at the other end And an IC card slot having a transport path for guiding the IC card inserted into the insertion slot to the IC card reader, and the card substrate is parallel to the transport path. The IC card slot is provided with a rotation shaft that rotatably supports the IC card slot with respect to the main body around the insertion slot.

  Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the operability in the insertion operation of the IC card can be improved and damage to the IC chip portion can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a payment terminal including an IC card reading unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal structure of the IC card reading unit shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this type of payment terminal includes an operation unit 2 or a display unit 3 for displaying processing results on the surface of a reading device main body 1 such as a payment terminal, an IC card slot 4, a printer. A unit 5 and a body cover 6 are provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an IC card reader 7, a card board 8 to which the IC card reader 7 is attached, a control board 9 for controlling the entire terminal, and the card board 8 and the control board 9 are connected to the inside of the main body 1. And a board mounting frame 12 to which a control board 9 is attached. The connection cable 10 for fixing the card board 8 to the arm portion 15 of the card slot 4 is provided.

  The card board fixing bracket 11 includes a card board rotation guide mechanism 16, and a shaft 16 a constituting the guide mechanism 16 is fitted in an arc-shaped notch 20 formed in the board mounting bracket 12.

  When using the reading device body (settlement terminal) 1, for example, the customer hands over a credit card such as an IC card into which electronic money is deposited to the store clerk in order to pay for the goods input to the POS terminal or the like. The store clerk who received the IC card inserts the card into the IC card slot 4 of the reading device main body 1. The main body 1 reads the customer information stored in the IC card and prompts the customer to input a personal identification number. The customer who is prompted to enter the password enters the password by operating the main body 1 and transmits the input data to the host device. If the customer's authentication is obtained from the host device, the store clerk operates the main body 1 to accept payment, prints a payment slip, and passes it to the customer.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating details of the IC card reading unit. The IC card 13 is inserted from the insertion slot of the IC card slot 4. The IC card slot 4 is supported so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow A (vertical direction) in the figure about an IC card slot rotation shaft 14 disposed in the vicinity of the insertion slot. This rotation is limited to a predetermined range by the shaft 16a and the notch 20 constituting the card board rotation guide mechanism 16.

  For this reason, when the IC card 13 is inserted into the card slot 14, the IC card slot may rotate around the rotation shaft 14 to an angle within a predetermined range when an operation force is applied by a user's hand or the like. it can. That is, the IC card slot 4 rotates along the direction in which the IC card 13 is inserted.

  The card substrate 8 to which the IC card reader 7 is attached is held by the IC card slot 4 and the card substrate fixing bracket 11 attached to the arm portion 15 of the IC card slot. For this reason, the card substrate 8 and the card reader 7 can rotate in a direction that always coincides with the IC card insertion direction when an IC card is inserted.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the reading process of the IC card reading unit. For example, when the IC card 13 is inserted obliquely from above with respect to the insertion slot of the IC card slot 4, the IC card slot 4 is inserted due to a load applied by an operator's hand when the IC card 13 is inserted. Rotate upward (clockwise) around the IC card slot rotation shaft 14 so as to follow the orientation.

  At the same time, the card substrate 8 and the card reader 7 held by the arm unit 15 rotate downward (clockwise). The clockwise rotation is limited to a predetermined range by the shaft 16a and the notch 20 constituting the card board rotation guide mechanism 16 as described above.

  Therefore, the IC card slot 4 and the IC card reader 7 attached to the card substrate 8 can always be kept parallel to the inserted IC card 13. Therefore, the IC card 13 is transported from the IC card slot 4 via the IC card transport path 17 in parallel to the card substrate 8 and the IC card reader 7 attached to the card substrate.

  For this reason, the IC card 13 is not bent by friction with the IC card transport path 17. Further, the IC chip reader 18 does not contact the IC chip 19 mounted on the IC card 13 and no unnecessary force is applied to the IC chip. Thereby, damage to the IC chip 19 can be reduced.

  In the above, the example in which the IC card 13 is manually inserted and manually conveyed has been described. However, the IC card 13 may be automatically conveyed. In the case of manual conveyance, since no force other than the force applied to manual conveyance is applied, the safety for conveyance can be further improved.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the IC card slot 4 and the IC card reader 7 are integrated, and the card transport path 17 formed on the reading surface side of the IC card reader and the IC card slot are integrated. It has a moving structure. Further, the integrated IC card slot 4 and IC card reader 7 are rotated so as to be always parallel to the card insertion direction by the operation force of the operator when inserting the IC card. For this reason, there is no unnecessary friction between the IC card and the IC card conveyance path, and the IC card does not bend, so that damage to the IC chip portion can be reduced and the operability of the IC card insertion operation is reduced. Improvements can be made.

It is a figure explaining the payment terminal provided with the IC card reading part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the internal structure of an IC card reading part. It is a figure explaining the detail of an IC card reading part. It is a figure explaining the reading process of an IC card reading part installation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reading apparatus main body 2 Operation part 3 Display part 4 IC card slot 5 Printer unit 6 Main body cover 7 IC card reader 8 Card board 9 Control board 10 Connection cable 11 Card board fixing bracket 12 Board mounting bracket 13 IC card 14 IC card slot rotation Axis 15 Arm part 16 Card board rotation guide mechanism 17 IC card transport path 18 IC chip reader 19 IC chip

Claims (3)

An IC card reader that includes a card substrate on which an IC chip reading unit is mounted, and that reads the stored contents of the IC chip mounted on the IC card;
An IC card slot having an insertion slot for inserting an IC card at one end, the IC card reader at the other end, and a conveyance path for guiding the IC card inserted into the insertion slot to the IC card reader And
The card substrate is attached to the IC card slot so as to be parallel to the conveyance path, and the insertion slot of the IC card slot supports the IC card slot so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body around the insertion slot. An IC card reader having a shaft. The IC card reader according to claim 1, wherein
An IC card reader comprising an IC card slot and a rotation guide mechanism for regulating a rotation range of the IC card substrate at an end of the IC card substrate. The IC card reader according to claim 1, wherein
The IC card slot is provided with an end portion of an IC card substrate and an arm portion for supporting the rotation guide mechanism.

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