JP2007200265A - Automatic reader for storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic reader for a storage medium contributing to reduction in labor, required from a user for operation and to significant reduction in device installation cost at shops in the town, handling a digital camera development service and the like. <P>SOLUTION: In this reader reading information from a plurality of storage media, a single insertion port is arranged; and after individual identification of storage media has been carried out by various sensors, the storage media are automatically conveyed to a storage medium information readable position so that information can be read by a probe unit. In this way, contact pressure will not be applied to the storage medium, except during information reading period, so that insertion/removal of the storage medium can be carried out easily, and the storage medium automatic reader can be supplied at a low cost. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for reading recorded information on a recording medium, and in particular, an elastic member such as a plurality of probe pins with respect to a recording medium after various recording media are inserted from a single recording medium insertion port and sucked by a conveying roller. The present invention relates to a technical field of a recording medium information reading method for moving a probe unit having a recording medium to a recording medium metal electrode portion and contacting an elastic member such as a probe pin to read the recording medium information.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, new devices with smaller and larger capacities have been introduced in apparatuses for reading digital information recorded on a recording medium such as a so-called digital camera with a personal computer or the like as the technology of various recording media advances. Accordingly, the number of types of recording media has increased, and more than a dozen types of recording media are now on the market. In stores such as digital camera development in the city, various reading devices are installed as devices for dealing with these various recording media. The reading apparatus is provided with a plurality of recording medium insertion openings, each having a connector corresponding to each recording medium, and the user determines and inserts an insertion opening corresponding to the recording medium. As another method, a plurality of reading devices corresponding to individual recording media are installed, and the user selects each reading device, inserts the recording media, and reads the recorded information.

  These conventional readers are provided with a plurality of recording medium insertion openings, and it is difficult to determine where the insertion openings for inserting each recording medium are. There are many problems, such as inserting in the opposite direction and repeating the reading operation many times, requiring a lot of work. On the other hand, as a side where the reader is installed in the store, in order to acquire a large number of users, there is a problem that a plurality of readers are installed so as to be compatible with various recording media, and there is a great expense for capital investment. there were. This is because, as a first reason, there are many types of recording media and there are various connectors corresponding thereto. As a second reason, due to the connector structure provided in the recording information reading device with respect to various recording media, when the various recording media are inserted, the contact pressure between the connector and the recording medium is large, and the recording medium is inserted. Another reason is that it is difficult to automatically insert and remove the recording medium because a large force is required at the time of extraction.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by simply consolidating the insertion port of the recording medium reading device into one place and simply inserting various recording media into the insertion port, the type of the recording medium can be easily determined. By automatically transporting the recording medium into the device and reading the contents of the recorded information, the labor required for the user's operation is reduced, and the cost of installing the device at stores such as digital camera development in the city is greatly reduced It contributes.

  The present invention is intended to solve the problem of such a conventional configuration, and in order to cope with various recording media, the insertion port is set to one place, and after inserting the recording medium into the insertion port, The recording medium is individually recognized by discriminating the length, width and back and front, and then an automatic reading mechanism is provided which automatically conveys the recording medium and reads the recorded information.

  The second problem-solving means is that a commercially available recording medium reader has a structure that is directly inserted into various connectors corresponding to the recording medium, and therefore requires a large force to insert and remove the recording medium. I had to do it by hand. Therefore, in order to prevent a force from being applied during insertion / extraction, the recording medium information is read by pressing a probe unit having a probe pin or the like against the recording medium electrode surface from the perpendicular direction to the recording medium metal electrode, and after reading, the probe unit Evacuate. By this operation, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which no contact pressure is applied in the recording medium insertion / extraction direction except when reading information, and it is possible to automate the insertion / extraction of the recording medium.

  Further, by using a probe unit in which a metal member such as a leaf spring having a spring property is integrally formed with the probe holding member instead of various probe pins, a recording medium reading device can be provided at low cost.

  As described above, the recording medium automatic reading apparatus of the present invention has a single insertion slot, and after inserting the recording medium into the insertion slot, the length, width and back and front are discriminated by various sensors to individually recognize the recording medium. After that, the recording medium is automatically conveyed to a predetermined position, and the recording medium information can be read by various probe units stored in the probe unit storage BOX. This makes it clear for the user of the insertion port of the recording medium, and makes it possible to determine the insertion direction and reduce the insertion effort. Moreover, the store side can greatly reduce the capital investment cost.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows a recording medium guide plate, various recording medium identification mechanisms, and a main part of the recording medium reading mechanism according to the embodiment, and is applied to the recording medium automatic reading apparatus of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 in the recording medium reader is a general-purpose or dedicated recording medium automatic reader main body. A recording medium insertion slot 2 is provided on the front surface of the recording medium automatic reading device 1, the recording medium guide plate 3 shown in FIG. 2 is set, and the recording medium 4 is disposed above the recording medium guide reference portion. It is arranged along 3a.

The interface 5 is an interface member that connects information read from the recording medium by the recording medium automatic reading device 1 to an external device such as a personal computer.

  In FIG. 2, the recording medium guide plate 3 is composed of a recording medium guide reference portion 3a whose left end is bent at a right angle. When inserting the recording medium 4, the recording medium 4 is placed horizontally on the recording medium guide plate 3, and the recording medium metal electrode portion 4 a is directed in the inserting direction, while the recording medium 4 is pressed against the recording medium guide reference portion 3 a.

  Next, the recording medium automatic reading apparatus according to the embodiment will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the recording medium 4 inserted from the recording medium guide plate 3 passes through the feed roller mechanism 10 and comes into contact with the recording medium stopper 9 and stops. At this time, the width detection sensor mechanism 6 is stopped. Then, the length detection sensor mechanism 7 and the recording medium metal electrode part detection sensor 8 are activated to determine the type and the front and back of the recording medium. Here, the recording medium that is not specified and the recording medium opposite to the front and back are discharged by the feed roller mechanism 10.

  If the recording medium is within the specified range, the recording medium stopper 9 is released, and the recording medium 4 is further conveyed by the feed roller mechanism 10 to the lower part of the probe unit storage BOX holding mechanism section 11. In the probe unit storage BOX 12, a plurality of probe units a13 to 14 having a plurality of elastic members such as probes opposed to the respective recording media are arranged and stored at positions relative to various recording media.

  The recording medium 4 recognized by the various sensors is transported to a predetermined position of the corresponding probe unit a13 in the Y-axis direction and stopped. In this state, the probe unit storage BOX holding mechanism 11 holds the probe unit storage BOX 12 and moves in the X-axis direction by the X-axis drive mechanism 16, and then moves the probe unit storage BOX 12 by the Z-axis drive mechanism 15 to the Z-axis. The recording medium 4 in the direction is lowered until it contacts the recording medium metal electrode portion 4a, and a probe unit having a probe pin or the like is pressed against the recording medium metal electrode portion 4a from the vertical direction to read the recording medium information.

  After the recording medium information has been read, the probe unit storage BOX holding mechanism 11 and the probe unit storage BOX 12 return to the initial positions. Thereafter, the recording medium 4 is discharged to the recording medium insertion port 2 by the feed roller mechanism 10.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of probe units a 13 and probe units b 14 are stored in a step-like probe unit storage BOX 12 as shown in FIG. This is intended to prevent the probe pins of a plurality of probe units other than the specified probe unit a 13 from coming into contact with the recording medium 4 when a specific recording medium 4 is selected. Has a structure in which unnecessary probe pins 13b do not come into contact with each other. The recording medium guide plate 3 is provided with a probe pin clearance hole 3b. The probe pin clearance hole 3b is a clearance for preventing the contactless probe pin 13b from contacting the recording medium guide plate 3 when the recording medium 4 is short. It is a hole.

  In addition, it is possible to read the probe unit a 13 stored in the probe unit storage BOX 12 by operating it alone in the Z-axis direction. In this case, however, the probe unit a 13 needs to be arranged stepwise. There is no.

  Also, in FIG. 4, the probe unit a13 is composed of a probe holding member 13a, a probe pin 13b, and a harness 13c. Further, the probe holding member 13a includes a probe holding member latch portion 13d and a probe holding member latch release portion 13e at the end. The probe unit storage BOX 12 has a structure that can store a plurality of probe units a 13. When the probe unit storage BOX 12 is attached, the probe unit storage BOX 12 is inserted into a storage groove (not shown) of the probe unit storage BOX, and the probe holding member latch portion 13 d is stored in the probe unit storage. Engage with the convex part of the storage groove of the BOX. In the case of replacement, the probe holding member latch portion 13d is released by pushing the probe holding member latch release portion by hand, and can be easily taken out. With this structure, the probe unit a13 can be easily replaced.

  FIG. 5 shows a probe unit c 17 according to another implementation. The probe unit c 17 is configured to use a plate spring-shaped metal elastic body contact member 17b or a member that generates contact pressure at the contact portion due to buckling of the contact member after contact instead of the commercially available probe pin 13b. It is.

The perspective view which shows the recording-medium automatic reading apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention The perspective view which shows the principal part of the recording-medium insertion port concerning the embodiment of this invention, the identification mechanism of various recording media, and a recording-medium reading mechanism Sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the recording-medium reading mechanism concerning implementation of this invention 1 is a perspective view of a probe unit and a recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the probe unit concerning implementation in another form of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording-medium automatic reader 2 Recording-medium insertion port 3 Recording-medium guide board 3a Recording-medium guide reference | standard part 3b Probe pin escape hole 4 Recording-medium 4b Recording-medium metal electrode part 5 Interface 6 Width detection sensor mechanism 7 Length detection sensor Mechanism 8 Recording medium metal electrode sensor 9 Recording medium stopper 10 Feed roller mechanism 11 Probe unit storage BOX holding mechanism 12 Probe unit storage BOX
13 Probe unit a
13a Probe holding member 13b Probe pin 13c Harness 13d Probe holding member latch part 13e Probe holding member latch release part 14 Probe unit b
15 Z-axis drive mechanism 16 X-axis drive mechanism 17 Probe unit c
17a Probe holding member 17b Metal elastic body contact member 17c Harness 17d Probe holding member latch part 17e Probe holding member latch release part

Claims (5)

  In the apparatus for reading the recording information of the recording medium, the recording medium insertion slot is provided at one location, the recording medium is inserted from the recording medium insertion slot along the recording medium guide reference portion of the recording medium guide plate, and the recording medium is provided at the recording medium stop position. When it reaches, it recognizes the width, length and metal electrode surface of the recording medium with various sensors, recognizes the type of the recording medium, releases the stopper, and feeds the probe unit corresponding to the various recording media with the feed roller mechanism. Transport to position. After that, the probe unit housing BOX containing a plurality of probe units is lowered to contact the recording medium electrode metal part and the elastic member such as the probe pin of the probe unit to read the recording medium information. Recording medium automatic reading device, wherein the recording medium is discharged to the recording medium insertion port by a feed roller mechanism   2. The automatic recording medium reading device according to claim 1, wherein the probe pins of only a specific probe unit are in contact with the recording medium electrode portion by arranging the plurality of probe units in a stepped manner inside the probe unit housing BOX.   3. The automatic recording medium reading device according to claim 2, wherein the recording medium automatic reading device is detachable from a probe unit housing BOX that houses a probe unit having an elastic member such as a probe.   4. The automatic recording medium according to claim 3, wherein a flexible member having a leaf spring shape or a member that generates contact pressure at a contact portion with the storage medium by buckling of the contact member after contact is used for the probe unit. Reader   5. The recording medium automatic reading device according to claim 4, wherein the probe unit is individually driven.

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