JP2011170928A - Magnetic card reader and sensitivity control program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To read data from a magnetic card by optimal sensitivity without any erroneous reading caused by excessive high sensitivity. <P>SOLUTION: Whether a magnetic head section 23 has normally read data from a magnetic card 8 is determined. When not normally read, until the data is normally read, for example, reading sensitivity of the magnetic head section 23 is gradually set larger up to two stages at maximum. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a magnetic card reader that reads magnetic data stored in a magnetic card and a sensitivity control program thereof.

  For example, as a product information processing apparatus, for example, a POS system or an electronic cash register (ECR) is provided with a magnetic card reader that reads magnetic data stored in a magnetic card. Examples of magnetic cards include customer credit cards, point cards, and cash cards. These cards are provided with a magnetic stripe formed of a magnetic material on the card body, and various data (hereinafter referred to as magnetic data) are written into the magnetic stripe.

  The magnetic card reader reads magnetic data stored in the magnetic card, demodulates the magnetic data as read data, and outputs it. The technique of the magnetic card reader is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. This patent document 1 is provided with a circuit for holding the output level of an amplifier that amplifies the output of a magnetic head, and controls the gain of the amplifier in inverse proportion to the held value so that the card speed fluctuation or the magnetization level is reduced. It is disclosed that the reading performance can be improved even for a card.

  However, Patent Document 1 controls the gain of the amplifier, that is, the sensitivity of the magnetic card reader in inverse proportion to the output level of the amplifier. However, if the sensitivity becomes too high, noise components are also amplified. There is a possibility that an error (incorrect reading) may occur in reading the read data.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic card reader capable of reading read data from a magnetic card with optimum sensitivity without causing misreading due to excessive sensitivity, and a sensitivity control program thereof.

  A magnetic card reader according to a main aspect of the present invention reads a magnetic data stored in a magnetic card and outputs it as read data, and whether the read data read by the magnetic head part has been read normally. If the read data is not read normally, a control unit is provided for changing the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit in a stepwise manner until the read data is read normally.

  The sensitivity control program of the magnetic card reader according to the main aspect of the present invention determines whether or not the read data read from the magnetic card by the magnetic head unit has been read normally. The reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit is greatly varied step by step until the image is normally read.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a magnetic card reader capable of reading read data from a magnetic card at an optimum sensitivity and a sensitivity control program thereof without causing erroneous reading due to excessive sensitivity.

1 is an external view showing an embodiment of a POS terminal device provided with a magnetic card reader according to the present invention. The functional block block diagram of the apparatus. The block diagram which shows the magnetic card reader in the same apparatus. The figure which shows an example of the caution text displayed on the operator display in the apparatus. The figure which shows an example of the warning text displayed on the operator display in the apparatus. The sensitivity control flowchart in the same apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an external view of a POS terminal device 1 having a magnetic card reader. The POS terminal device 1 includes a product data processing device 2, an operator display 3, a customer display 4 and a magnetic card reader 5. The operator display 3 and the customer surface display 4 are provided on the product data processing device 2 so that the operator display screen 3a and the customer surface display screen 4a face in opposite directions. The operator display 3 is provided with a touch panel 3b on the entire surface of the operator display screen 3a.

  The magnetic card reader 5 is provided on a quadrilateral frame 6 surrounding the operator display 3, for example. The magnetic card reader 5 is a magnetic data written in a magnetic card 8 such as a credit card, a point card, or a cash card, for example, when a customer makes a purchase with a credit card or when reading points from a point card. Read. The magnetic card reader 5 is provided with a linear slide groove 7 for slidingly moving the magnetic card 8. When the magnetic card 8 slides into the slide groove 7, the magnetic card reader 5 reads the magnetic data recorded on the magnetic card 8. The magnetic card 8 is provided with a magnetic stripe 8a made of a magnetic material, and magnetic data is written to the magnetic stripe 8a.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block configuration diagram of the POS terminal device 1. The POS terminal device 1 is equipped with a CPU 10. An operator display 3, a touch panel 3b, a customer display 4 and a magnetic card reader 5 are connected to the CPU 10 via a bus B. In addition, a memory 11, a keyboard 12, a hard disk drive (HDD) 13, a barcode scanner 14, and a communication device 15 are connected to the CPU 10 via a bus B. The barcode scanner 14 reads a barcode such as a price attached to a product. The communication device 15 performs data communication with, for example, a POS server. The CPU 10 is connected to the operator display 3 via the bus B, the touch panel 3b, the customer display 4, the magnetic card reader 5, the memory 11, the keyboard 12, the hard disk drive (HDD) 13, and the barcode scanner 14. Control each operation with the communication device 15.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of the magnetic card reader 5. The magnetic card reader 5 includes a magnetic head 20. The magnetic head 20 reads magnetic data stored in the magnetic stripe 8a of the magnetic card 8 and outputs an electric signal. A demodulating circuit 22 and an interface (I / F) circuit 24 are connected to the output terminal of the magnetic head 20 via an amplifier circuit (AMP) 21. The amplifier circuit 21 amplifies the output signal of the magnetic head 20. The amplifier circuit 21 has a plurality of constants corresponding to the amplification factors, and the amplification factors can be varied by varying the constants. The demodulation circuit 22 demodulates the amplified output of the amplifier circuit (AMP) 21 and outputs it as read data composed of a multi-bit parallel signal. The magnetic head unit 23 is composed of the magnetic head 20, the amplifier circuit 21, and the demodulation circuit 22. The I / F circuit 24 is connected to the CPU 10 via the bus B. The I / F circuit 24 converts the parallel read data from the demodulation circuit 22 into serial read data and sends it to the bus B.

  The magnetic card reader 5 is provided with a sensitivity control circuit 30 and a sensitivity switching circuit 31 as a control unit. The sensitivity control circuit 30 is provided in the I / F circuit 24. The sensitivity switching circuit 31 is connected to the amplifier circuit 21.

  The sensitivity control circuit 30 is composed of a computer, and a sensitivity control program is stored in advance. This sensitivity control program has a determination function for determining whether or not the read data read from the magnetic card 8 by the magnetic head unit 23 has been read normally by the computer, and if the read data is not read correctly, the read data is normal. Until the reading is performed, the reading sensitivity function of greatly changing the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 stepwise is realized.

  Specifically, the sensitivity control circuit 30 determines whether or not the read data has been read normally. When the read data is read normally, the gain of the amplifier circuit 21 is not changed, and the normal gain is set. . On the other hand, if the read data is not read normally, the sensitivity control circuit 30 switches the constant of the amplification circuit 21 again until the magnetic card 8 is slid into the slide groove 7 and the read data is read normally. An amplification factor command for greatly changing the amplification factor in a plurality of stages is issued to the sensitivity switching circuit 31. Actually, the sensitivity control circuit 30 sets the number of stages for increasing the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 to, for example, two stages at the maximum by reading the same magnetic card 8. In other words, the maximum reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 can be set large up to two levels.

  The sensitivity control circuit 30 sequentially changes the amplification factor of the amplification circuit 21 greatly, and when the read data is normally read, issues a command to the sensitivity switching circuit 31 to return the amplification factor of the amplification circuit 21 to the original normal amplification factor.

  As shown in FIG. 4 on the operator display screen 3a of the operator display 3, for example, the sensitivity control circuit 30 prompts the reading of the magnetic data stored in the magnetic card 8 again if the read data is not read normally. A signal is transmitted to the CPU 10 so as to display a warning sentence D1 “Please read the magnetic card once more”. The notification for prompting the reading of the magnetic data is not limited to the display on the operator display screen 3a. For example, the speaker may be operated to notify “Please read the magnetic card once more” by voice. Further, the CPU 10 may sound a warning sound once.

  The sensitivity control circuit 30 informs that the magnetic data cannot be read from the magnetic card 8 unless the read data is read normally, for example, by repeating the reading twice for the same magnetic card 8 at a maximum. 3, a signal is transmitted to the CPU 10 so as to display a warning text D2 “This magnetic card cannot be read” on the operator display screen 3a. The CPU 10 displays the warning text D2 on the operator display 3 or notifies it by voice, or sounds the warning sound twice. At the same time, the sensitivity control circuit 30 treats the reading of the magnetic data from the magnetic card 8 as an error, and terminates the reading process of the read data, if the read data is not read normally, for example, at most twice. The CPU 10 is notified.

  When the sensitivity switching circuit 31 receives a command for greatly changing the amplification factor from the sensitivity control circuit 30, the sensitivity switching circuit 31 switches the amplification factor constant of the amplification circuit 21 to greatly change the amplification factor of the amplification circuit 21 by one stage.

  When the sensitivity switching circuit 31 receives a command from the sensitivity control circuit 30 to return to the normal gain, the gain constant of the amplifier circuit 21 is switched to the normal gain by switching the constant of the gain of the amplifier circuit 21 to the constant of the normal gain. Return to rate.

  Next, the operation of the magnetic card reader 5 configured as described above will be described according to a sensitivity control flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the magnetic card 8 slides into the slide groove 7 of the magnetic card reader 5, the magnetic head 20 reads the magnetic data stored in the magnetic stripe 8 a of the magnetic card 8 and outputs the electrical signal. The amplification circuit 21 amplifies the output signal of the magnetic head 20 with a normal amplification factor. The demodulating circuit 22 demodulates the amplified output of the amplifying circuit 21 and outputs it as read data composed of a multi-bit parallel signal.

  In step S1, the sensitivity control circuit 30 determines whether the read data has been read normally. If the read data is normally read as a result of the determination, the sensitivity control circuit 30 proceeds from step S2 to step S3, and completes the reading by reading the read data normally. In step S4, the amplifier circuit 21 is read. The amplification factor is returned to the normal amplification factor. If the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 is not largely varied, the sensitivity control circuit 30 is set to a normal amplification factor.

  On the other hand, if the read data is not read normally, the sensitivity control circuit 30 proceeds from step S2 to step S5, and the read is normally read even if the maximum read sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 is set to two levels. Judge whether there is no.

  As a result of this determination, since the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 is not set to a large level, the sensitivity control circuit 30 moves from step S6 to step S7, and switches the constant of the amplifier circuit 21 to set the amplification factor to 1. An amplification factor command that varies greatly in steps is issued to the sensitivity switching circuit 31. In step S8, the sensitivity switching circuit 31 receives a command for greatly varying the amplification factor from the sensitivity control circuit 30, switches the constant of the amplification factor of the amplification circuit 21, and sets the amplification factor of the amplification circuit 21 one step larger.

  At the same time, the sensitivity control circuit 30 again informs the user to read the magnetic data stored in the magnetic card 8, for example, on the operator display screen 3 a of the operator display 3, as shown in FIG. A signal is transmitted to the CPU 10 so as to display a warning sentence D1 “Please read the card”. The CPU 10 displays an attention sentence D1 on the operator display 3 based on this signal.

  Again, the magnetic card 8 is slid into the slide groove 7 of the magnetic card reader 5. When the sensitivity control circuit 30 determines that the read data has been read normally, the read control is completed in step S3, assuming that the read data has been read normally, and in step S4, the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 is increased to normal amplification. Return to rate.

  On the other hand, if the read data is not read normally again, the sensitivity control circuit 30 sets the maximum sensitivity of reading of the magnetic head unit 23 one step larger, so the process proceeds from step S5 to step S7, and the amplifier circuit An amplification factor command is issued to the sensitivity switching circuit 31 to further change the amplification factor 21 by one step (second step). In step S8, the sensitivity switching circuit 31 sets the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 to one level higher. At the same time, the sensitivity control circuit 30 again displays on the operator display screen 3a of the operator display 3 a warning sentence D1 of “Please read the magnetic card once more” as shown in FIG. Send a signal to Upon receiving this signal, the CPU 10 displays the caution text D1 on the operator display 3 again.

  When it is determined that the magnetic card 8 is slid again into the slide groove 7 of the magnetic card reader 5 and the read data is normally read, the sensitivity control circuit 30 determines the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 as described above. Return to normal gain.

  On the other hand, if the read data has not been read normally again, the sensitivity control circuit 30 has already set the maximum reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 larger by two steps, so that the process proceeds from step S6 to step S9 to amplify. The amplification factor of the circuit 21 is returned to the normal amplification factor, the reading of the magnetic data from the magnetic card 8 is treated as an error, and the CPU 10 is notified that the reading process of the read data is to be terminated.

  At the same time, the sensitivity control circuit 30 informs that the magnetic data cannot be read from the magnetic card 8, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, on the operator display screen 3 a of the operator display 3, “This magnetic card is read. A signal is transmitted to the CPU 10 so as to display the warning sentence D2 "cannot be done". Upon receiving this signal, the CPU 10 displays a warning text D2 on the operator display 3.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, it is determined whether or not the read data read from the magnetic card 8 by the magnetic head unit 23 is normally read. Until reading is performed, for example, the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 can be set to be increased stepwise up to two levels. As a result, the magnitude of the magnetic data stored in the magnetic stripe 8a of the magnetic card 8 is reduced, and even if it becomes difficult to read the read data from the magnetic card 8, the read data can be reliably read. In this case, since the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 is increased stepwise in, for example, a maximum of two steps, there is no occurrence of misreading due to the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head unit 23 becoming too high, and the magnetic card 8 has an optimum sensitivity. Can read the read data.

  If the read data is not read normally, the operator display 3 displays a warning D1 “Please read the magnetic card once more”, which prompts the operator to read the magnetic card. Further, even if the reading sensitivity of the magnetic head portion 23 is set to a maximum of two levels, for example, if the reading data is not read normally, a warning message D2 “This magnetic card cannot be read” appears on the operator display 3. Can be displayed and the handling of the magnetic card 8 by the magnetic card reader 5 can be notified.

  When the read data is read normally, the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 is returned to the normal amplification factor, so that it can be automatically returned to the magnetic data state of another magnetic card 8, and another magnetic card 8 can be read. There is no impact.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  In the above embodiment, the sensitivity control circuit 30 is provided in the I / F circuit 24. However, the CPU 10 may be provided with the function of the sensitivity control circuit 30. In this case, the sensitivity control program is stored in, for example, the memory 11 or the HDD 13. The CPU 10 executes a sensitivity control program stored in the memory 11 or the HDD 13, reads the read data from the I / F circuit 24 via the bus B, determines whether or not the read data is normally read, When read normally, the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 is not changed, and the normal amplification factor is set. On the other hand, if the read data is not read normally, the CPU 10 switches the constant of the amplifying circuit 21 until the magnetic card 8 is slid again into the slide groove 7 and the read data is normally read, thereby increasing the amplification factor. An amplification factor command that changes greatly in a plurality of stages, for example, at a maximum of two stages, is issued to the sensitivity switching circuit 31.

The CPU 10 sequentially changes the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 and sequentially reads the read data, and issues a command to the sensitivity switching circuit 31 to return the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit 21 to the original normal amplification factor.
If the read data is not read correctly, the CPU 10 again notifies the operator display 3 of reading the magnetic data stored in the magnetic card 8, for example, “Please read the magnetic card once more”. Is displayed.

  The CPU 10 notifies that the magnetic data cannot be read from the magnetic card 8 unless the read data is read normally, for example, by repeating the reading twice for the same magnetic card 8 at a maximum. A warning text D2 “This magnetic card cannot be read” is displayed, and the reading of the magnetic data from the magnetic card 8 is treated as an error, and the CPU 10 is notified that the reading processing of the read data is finished.

  1: POS terminal device, 2: product data processing device, 3: operator display, 3a: operator display screen, 3b: touch panel, 4: customer surface display, 4a: customer surface display screen, 5: magnetic card reader, 6: frame 7: Slide groove, 8: Magnetic card, 8a: Magnetic stripe, 10: CPU, 11: Memory, 12: Keyboard, 13: Hard disk drive (HDD), 14: Bar code scanner, 15: Communication device, B: Bus , 15: communication device, 20: magnetic head, 21: amplification circuit (AMP), 22: demodulation circuit, 23: magnetic head unit, 24: interface (I / F) circuit, 30: sensitivity control circuit, 31: sensitivity switching circuit.

JP 2001-236604 A

Claims (6)

A magnetic head unit for reading magnetic data stored in a magnetic card and outputting it as read data;
It is determined whether or not the read data read by the magnetic head unit is normally read. If the read data is not read normally, the read sensitivity of the magnetic head unit is gradually increased until the read data is read normally. A highly variable control unit;
A magnetic card reader comprising: The magnetic head unit reads the magnetic data stored in the magnetic card; and
An amplifier circuit for amplifying the output signal of the magnetic head;
A demodulation circuit that reads the output signal of the amplification circuit as the read data;
Have
The control unit determines whether or not the read data has been read normally.If the read data is not read correctly, the amplification factor of the amplifier circuit is greatly varied stepwise until the read data is read normally.
The magnetic card reader according to claim 1.   The control unit may return the amplification factor of the amplification circuit to the original amplification factor when the read data is normally read by changing the amplification factor of the amplification circuit in a stepwise manner. Item 3. A magnetic card reader according to Item 2.   3. The magnetic card reader according to claim 2, wherein if the read data is not read normally, the control unit performs a notification to prompt the reading of the magnetic data stored in the magnetic card again.   The control unit notifies that the magnetic data cannot be read from the magnetic card unless the read data is read normally at least twice by reading the same magnetic card. The magnetic card reader according to claim 2. On the computer,
A determination function for determining whether or not the read data read from the magnetic card by the magnetic head unit has been normally read; and
If it is not read normally, a read sensitivity function that greatly varies the read sensitivity of the magnetic head unit step by step until the read data is read normally;
A sensitivity control program for a magnetic card reader.

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