JP2012123074A - Information recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information recording device in which jam clearance processing can be easily performed with a simple operation when a recording medium such as a card is jammed in a conveyance passage.SOLUTION: An information recording device comprises: a card container and a medium conveyance passage to convey a card to an image forming part, disposed one on top of the other in a housing; and a passage opening/closing member provided between the card container and the medium conveyance passage to remove the card jammed in the image forming part. The passage opening/closing member includes electronic information recording means, and a medium transfer path, for transferring the card to the electronic information recording means, in a medium feeding path for supplying the card from the card container to the medium conveyance passage. Therefore, by opening the card container, the card jammed in the image forming part or an information recording part can be easily taken out of the device.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus that records electronic information and image information on a recording medium such as a plastic card or a cardboard card, and relates to an improvement of a jam processing mechanism that removes a jammed card in the apparatus.

  In general, this type of information recording apparatus is widely known as an apparatus for recording information on cards used for various certificate cards, settlement cards, and the like. For example, it is used for the terminal device of the card issuing system as a device that records electronic information such as magnetic information and IC information on the card and at the same time forms image data such as face photo, name and name on the front and back of the card. ing.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a card cassette, an ink ribbon cassette, and a transfer film cassette are detachably mounted in a housing so that they can be exchanged. This cassette attaching / detaching operation requires operability so that the operator can easily work.

  At the same time, when a card conveyance abnormality occurs in the electronic information recording unit or the image forming unit, it is required that the processing can be easily performed.

  For example, the apparatus of Patent Document 1 discloses a layout configuration in which an opening / closing door is provided at the front portion of the apparatus, and a card cassette, a ribbon cassette, and a film cassette are attached / detached from the opening / closing door. Although not disclosed in this document, it is common to open the door on the front side of the apparatus and take out a jam card in the path even when a card conveyance abnormality occurs.

  On the other hand, in a general image forming apparatus, when a medium conveyance failure occurs inside the apparatus, an opening / closing door is provided in the apparatus housing, and the door is opened so that the medium conveying unit can be accessed from the outside of the apparatus. Is widely known.

  In this case, it is also known to change the posture of the unit constituting the transport mechanism from the operating posture to the retracted posture so as to open the transport passage.

JP 2007-237744 A

  As described above, when a jam occurs in the card conveyance path inside the apparatus, it is well known to provide an apparatus housing opening / closing door for the processing. However, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, a card cassette, a ribbon cassette, and a transfer film cassette are attached to and detached from an opening / closing cover (for example, a front cover) of the apparatus housing, and at the same time, the opening / closing cover is opened and a jam card is taken out from the conveyance path. Yes.

  Therefore, a card jammed in the path must be taken out in a limited opening / closing space in the apparatus. For this reason, the operation of taking out the jam card is complicated, and there are cases where parts arranged in a path such as a sensor are damaged.

  Accordingly, the present inventor arranges the medium conveyance path of the card cassette storage unit and the image forming unit vertically in the apparatus housing, and removes the card jammed in the partition wall between the storage unit and the medium conveyance path. The idea was that the work space for removing the jam card by removing the card cassette could be increased by configuring the open / close member to be openable and closable.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording apparatus capable of easily performing a jam handling operation with a simple operation when a recording medium such as a card stays in a conveyance path.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an information recording apparatus in which electronic information and image information are recorded on a recording medium such as a card in a compact and compact manner, and the jam processing operation is easy.

  To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a housing for a card is disposed in a housing, and a medium conveying path for transporting the card to the image forming unit is arranged vertically, and a path opening / closing for removing a jammed card in the image forming unit therebetween. A member is provided.

  The path opening / closing member incorporates an electronic information recording means, and a medium transport path for transporting the card toward the electronic information recording means is provided in the medium carry-in path for supplying the card from the medium container to the medium transport path. It is characterized by.

  As a result, by opening the card storage unit, the card staying in the image forming unit and the information recording unit can be easily taken out of the apparatus.

  Further, the configuration will be described in detail. A housing, a medium accommodating portion for accommodating a recording medium, an information recording portion for recording electronic information on the recording medium, an image forming portion for forming image information on the recording medium, and a medium accommodating Carry-in path for carrying the recording medium from the recording section toward the information recording section, a medium carrying path for transferring the recording medium sent from the medium carrying-in path to the image forming section, and an image forming section provided in the medium carrying path And a path opening / closing member for removing the jammed recording medium.

  The medium storage unit, the path opening / closing member, and the image forming unit are arranged in this order in the housing, and the information recording unit includes an electronic information recording unit built in the path opening / closing member, and a medium carry-in toward the electronic information recording unit. And a medium conveyance path for transferring the recording medium from the path.

  The electronic information recording means comprises non-contact type recording means for recording information in a non-contact state on a recording medium. This non-contact type recording means is configured to transmit electronic information as a radio wave signal to a chip in which an IC chip is built in a recording medium, and to receive the information by the IC chip.

  A shielding plate for shielding the radio signal of the non-contact type recording means is disposed between the medium conveyance path and the medium conveyance path, and the shielding plate is connected to the radio signal transmitted from the non-contact type recording means. It is composed of a shield material (radio wave absorber) that cuts off the recording medium in the medium conveyance path. As this shielding material, a material that absorbs and blocks radio waves in a specific band is selected.

  The medium accommodating portion is configured by a cassette mounting area in which a cassette storing a recording medium can be mounted, and a path opening / closing member is configured by opening and closing a partition wall (bottom wall) of the cassette mounting area. The path opening / closing member constitutes the bottom wall of the cassette mounting area in the closed state, and is configured to be accessible from the cassette mounting area in the opened state.

  The medium transport path is provided with a reversing unit that changes the transport direction of the recording medium to first and second directions and at least two directions. The reversing unit includes a first direction for transporting the recording medium to the information recording unit, and a recording unit. The medium is switched to the second direction in which the medium is transferred to the medium conveyance path.

  The reversing unit includes a rotating frame pivotally supported on the apparatus frame, at least a pair of rollers disposed on the rotating frame and holding a recording medium, unit driving means for rotating the rotating frame, and a roll Roll driving means for rotating the pair forward and backward, and the recording medium is carried into and out of the medium conveyance path by forward and reverse rotation of the pair of rollers.

  A decurling mechanism is disposed on the downstream side of the image forming unit in the medium conveyance path, and the decurling mechanism includes a pressing unit that corrects the curl of the image-formed recording medium and a unit frame that holds the pressing unit. To do. The path opening / closing member is configured to be accessible from the outside of the housing in the open state.

  The unit frame of the decurling mechanism is pivotally supported by the apparatus frame so as to be able to move from the inside of the medium transport path to the outside of the path when the path opening / closing member is in the open state.

  In the present invention, a path opening / closing member for removing the jam card is provided between the medium accommodating portion C and the medium transport path, and an electronic information recording means is built in the path opening / closing member. Since the medium transport path for transport is provided, the following effects are obtained.

  For example, by removing the card cassette and opening the path opening / closing member, the medium accommodating portion can be accessed from the card accommodating space to the medium conveying path and the medium conveying path for transferring the card to the non-contact type recording means. Therefore, the card jammed in the image forming unit or the card jammed in the information recording unit can be easily removed.

  Furthermore, by adopting a configuration in which a card cassette as a medium accommodating portion is attached and detached, the medium accommodating portion can be easily opened.

  Further, in the case of a configuration in which a decurling mechanism that corrects curl is arranged on the downstream side of the image forming unit, a card jammed by the decurling mechanism can be easily taken out similarly to the image forming unit.

  As described above, the present invention makes it possible to access the inside of the apparatus from the card storage space without providing a special opening / closing door for jamming in the apparatus housing, so that the frame structure of the housing is simplified such as a flexible structure. I can do it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Explanatory drawing which shows one Embodiment of the information recording device concerning this invention. The figure which shows the state which removed the card cassette. The figure which shows the state which removed the cover body of the path | route opening / closing member. The figure which shows the state which open | released the path | route opening / closing member. The figure which shows the shielding board and decurling mechanism which are located in a medium conveyance path | route. The figure which shows the state which each opened the unit frame of the shielding board and the decal mechanism.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of an information recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention. The apparatus of FIG. 1 records information on a card (recording medium; the same applies hereinafter) such as an ID card for various certifications and a credit card for commercial transactions. Therefore, the housing 2 includes an information recording unit A, an image forming unit B, and a medium storage unit C. The information recording unit A includes a magnetic recording unit 24, a non-contact type IC recording unit 23, and a contact type IC recording unit 27. The information recording unit A is composed of various recording units, for example, a bar code recording unit, depending on the apparatus specifications.

  The medium accommodating part C is constituted by a cassette for accommodating a plurality of cards. For example, this cassette is provided with a hopper-like cassette in the apparatus housing 2 or a card cassette 3 separated from the apparatus housing 2.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the card cassette 3 is removed from the cassette mounting area 100 of the apparatus housing 2. For example, in the present embodiment, the card cassette 3 is configured to be detachable in an upward direction (substantially the same direction as a card supply direction to be described later) by pulling up the card cassette 3 with a handle (not shown). The jam can be released by removing the card cassette 3.

  Although the card supply direction is inclined in this embodiment, the card cassette 3 does not have to be attached / detached in any direction, and may be configured to be pulled upward with respect to the apparatus housing 2.

[Card supply section]
In the cassette mounting area 100 of the apparatus housing 2, a medium accommodating portion C is provided, which is composed of a card cassette 3 that accommodates a plurality of cards. The card cassette 3 shown in FIG. 1 stores a plurality of cards arranged in a standing posture, and feeds the cards from the left end to the right end in the figure. A separation opening 7 is provided at the front end of the card cassette 3, and the pickup roller 19 supplies the card from the front row to the apparatus.

[Configuration of information recording section]
The card sent from the card cassette 3 is sent to the reversing unit F by the carry-in roller 22. The reversing unit F is composed of a rotating frame 80 supported by the apparatus frame 60 so as to be pivotable and a pair or a plurality of roller pairs supported by the frame.

  In the illustrated example, two roller pairs 20 and 21 arranged at a distance from each other at a distance are axially supported on a rotating frame 80. The rotating frame 80 is configured to rotate in a predetermined angle direction by a swing motor (such as a pulse motor), and a roller pair attached to the rotating frame 80 is configured to rotate in the forward / reverse direction by a transport motor. Although this drive mechanism is not shown, even if the rotation motion of the rotating frame 80 and the rotation of the roller pair 20, 21 are switched by a clutch with one pulse motor, the turning motion of the rotating frame 80 and the roller pair 20, The rotation of 21 may be configured as a separate drive.

  Accordingly, the cards prepared in the card cassette 3 are separated one by one by the pickup roller 19 and the separation roller (idle roller) 9 and sent to the reverse unit F on the downstream side. The reversing unit F carries the card into the unit with the roller pairs 20 and 21 and deflects its posture in a predetermined angle direction while being nipped by the roller pair.

  A magnetic recording unit 24, a non-contact type IC recording unit 23, a contact type IC recording unit 27, and a reject stacker 25 are arranged on the outer periphery of the reversing unit F in the turning direction. The pair of rollers 20 and 21 forms a medium carry-in path 65 for carrying in toward one of the information recording units 23, 24, and 27. A bar code reader 28 shown in the figure is a unit for reading a bar code printed by an image forming unit B, which will be described later, and making a correct / incorrect determination (error determination).

  The magnetic recording unit 24, the non-contact IC recording unit 23, or the contact IC recording unit 27 passes through the medium carry-in path 65 formed by the roller pair 20, 21 with the card deflected in a predetermined angular direction by the reversing unit F. Then, data can be input to the card magnetically or electrically. Further, when a recording error occurs in these information recording units, the information recording unit is carried out to the reject stacker 25.

  In FIG. 1, the reversing unit F is turned toward the non-contact type IC recording unit 23, and the card forms a medium carry-in path 65 toward the recording unit 23 by the roller pair 20, 21. The non-contact type IC recording unit 23 includes an IC reader / writer substrate 67, an IC reader / writer antenna 69, and a medium transport path 68. The IC reader / writer antenna 69 passes through a medium transport path 65 and passes through a medium transport path. Information transmitted from the IC reader / writer substrate 67 is transmitted to the IC chip embedded in the card introduced in 68 as a radio wave signal. As a result, recording information is recorded on the IC chip.

  Between the medium transport path 68 and the medium transport path P1, a blocking plate 70 for blocking the radio wave signal from the IC reader / writer antenna 67 is arranged, so that another medium that is being transported in the medium transport path P1. Prevents accidental recording on the card. The shielding plate 70 is composed of a shield material (radio wave absorber), and a material that absorbs and blocks radio waves in a specific band is selected as the shield material.

  An image forming unit B is provided on the downstream side of the reversing unit F, a medium transport path P1 for transferring the card to the image forming unit B is provided, and the reversing unit F is disposed in the path P1. In addition, transport rollers (or belts) 29 and 30 for transporting cards are arranged in the medium transport path P1, and are connected to a transport motor (not shown). The transport rollers 29 and 30 are configured to be capable of switching between forward and reverse, and are configured to transport the card from the image forming unit B to the reversing unit F in the same manner as transporting the card from the reversing unit F to the image forming unit B. .

  On the downstream side of the image forming unit B, a medium transport path P2 for transporting the card to the storage stacker 60 is provided. Conveying rollers (or belts) 37 and 38 for conveying cards are arranged on the medium conveying path P2, and are connected to a conveying motor (not shown).

  A decurling mechanism 36 is disposed between the transporting roller 37 and the transporting roller 38 and presses the center of the card held between the transporting rollers 37 and 38 to correct the curl caused by the thermal transfer. For this reason, the decurling mechanism 36 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction shown in FIG. 1 by a lifting mechanism (such as a cam) not shown.

  The conveyance roller 37 is a nip roller 71, and the conveyance roller 38 is a nip roller 72, which nips a card to be decurled. When the pressing unit 74 is pushed down by the lifting mechanism, the receiving unit 73 receives the pressing unit 74. It moves downward together with the nip rollers 71 and 72. Thereby, since the nip of the card | curd by the conveyance roller 37, the nip roller 71, and the conveyance roller 38, and the nip roller 72 is cancelled | released, the prepared curl correction can be performed.

"Image forming part"
The image forming unit B forms images such as face photographs and character data on the front and back surfaces of the recording card. The illustrated apparatus shows a case where an image is formed with a sublimation ink ribbon.

  In the image forming part B, a thermal head 40 and an ink ribbon 41 are arranged. The ink ribbon 41 is accommodated in a cartridge 42, and an operation roll 43 and a take-up roll 44 are accommodated in the cartridge 42, and a wind motor Mr 1 (not shown) is connected to the take-up roll 44.

  A thermal head 40 is disposed at a position facing the platen roller 45. The thermal head 40 is thermally controlled by a head control IC (not shown). The head control IC forms an image of the ink ribbon 41 on a transfer film 46 (to be described later) by controlling the heating of the thermal head 40 according to the image data. Therefore, the take-up roll 44 rotates in synchronization with the thermal control of the thermal head 40, and the ink ribbon 41 is taken up at a predetermined speed. 39 is a cooling fan for cooling the thermal head 40.

  The transfer film 46 is wound around a take-up roll 47 and a feed roll 48, and the transfer film 46 is wound around the platen roller 31 and the heat roller 33 so as to transfer the transfer image. 49 is a transfer roller for the transfer film 46, and pinch rollers 32a and 32b are arranged on the peripheral surface thereof. The transfer roller 49 is connected to a drive motor (not shown). Then, the transfer film 46 moves counterclockwise in FIG. 1 at the same speed as the ink ribbon 41.

  Further, the heat roller 33 is provided with an elevating mechanism (not shown) so as to be pressed against and separated from the platen roller 31 disposed in the carry-in path P <b> 1 via the transfer film 46. The dial 95 shown in FIG. 4 is interlocked with the lifting mechanism, and the heat roller 33 can be lifted and lowered manually by turning the dial 95.

  The heat roller 33 is composed of a heating roller, and the image on the transfer film 46 is transferred to the surface of the recording card by a heating means arranged inside. In the figure, Se1 is a position detection sensor of the ink ribbon 41, and Se2 is a presence / absence detection sensor of the transfer film 46. The image forming unit B is provided with a fan 39 for releasing heat generated in the apparatus.

"Container"
As shown in FIG. 1, the accommodating portion D is configured to accommodate the card sent from the image forming portion B in the accommodating stacker 60. The storage stacker 60 is configured to detect the uppermost card by a lifting mechanism 61 and a level sensor (not shown) and to move downward by the lifting mechanism 61 in FIG.

  Of the overall configuration of the information recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention described above, a configuration for removing a card jammed in the medium conveyance paths P1 and P2 for transferring the card from the card cassette 3 to the image forming unit B will be described.

  When the card cassette 3 is removed from the cassette mounting area 100 of the device housing 2, a path opening / closing member 66 located below the card cassette 3 appears. The top cover 90 of the path opening / closing member 66 is a lid, and constitutes a partition wall (bottom wall) of the cassette mounting area 100. The path opening / closing member 66 is attached to the device housing 2 so as to be openable and closable. In the present embodiment, the end in the longitudinal direction is supported by the device housing 2 so as to be rotatable.

  When the top cover 90 is removed, the path opening / closing member 66 can be seen to incorporate the IC reader / writer substrate 85 of the non-contact IC recording unit 23 and the IC reader / writer antenna 69 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, when the path opening / closing member 66 is opened, the IC reader / writer board 85 and the IC reader / writer antenna 69 are retracted, so that the medium transport path 68, the blocking plate 70, and the medium transport paths P1, P2 A part of the card is exposed, and the card jammed in the exposed part at this time can be removed. FIG. 5 shows the shielding plate 70 and the decurling mechanism 36 located in the medium transport paths P1 and P2.

  In FIG. 6, a shaft 92 provided at one end of the shielding plate 70 is rotatably supported by the apparatus frame 60. By opening the shielding plate 70 with the shaft 92 as a fulcrum, the roller 29 and the roller 30 can be opened. The media transport path P1 formed in this way is completely exposed and accessible from the outside, and the jammed card can be removed.

  In the decurling mechanism 36, a pressing portion 74 and an elevating mechanism that moves the pressing portion 74 up and down are integrated to form a unit frame 86. A shaft 93 provided at one end of the unit frame 86 is rotatably supported by the device frame 60. Therefore, in the state where the unit frame 86 is opened, the medium transport path P2 formed by the rollers 37 and 38 is completely exposed and can be accessed from the outside, and the jammed card can be similarly removed.

  When an error occurs while the card is sandwiched between the heat roller 33 and the platen roller 31, it is necessary to release the jamming and remove the jammed card. In order to release the nipping with the platen roller 31, the dial 95 (FIG. 4) interlocked with the elevating mechanism (not shown) of the heat roller 33 is turned to lower the heat roller 33 to remove the card. It becomes possible.

  As described above, in this embodiment, by incorporating the IC reader / writer substrate 67 and the IC reader / writer antenna 69 of the non-contact IC recording unit 23 in the path opening / closing member 66, the recording unit 23 is opened by opening the path opening / closing member 66. The card jammed in the medium transport path 68 can be removed, but other electronic information recording means can have the same configuration as long as it is a non-contact type recording method.

  The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus for recording electronic information and image information on a recording medium such as a plastic card or a cardboard card, and relates to an improvement of a jam processing mechanism for removing a jammed card in the apparatus. Has availability.

2 Housing 3 Card cassette 20, 21 Roller pair 23 Non-contact IC recording unit (electronic information recording means)
36 Decal mechanism 65 Medium carry-in path 66 Path opening / closing member 67 Medium transport path 70 Shut-off plate 74 Press part 80 Rotating frame 86 Unit frame 100 Cassette mounting area A Information recording part B Image forming part C Medium accommodating part F Reversing units P1, P2 Media transport path

Claims (8)

A recording apparatus for recording electronic information and image information on a recording medium,
A housing;
A medium accommodating portion for accommodating a recording medium;
An information recording unit for recording electronic information on a recording medium;
An image forming unit for forming image information on a recording medium;
A medium carry-in route for carrying the recording medium from the medium containing unit toward the information recording unit;
A medium transport path for transporting the recording medium sent from the medium transport path to the image forming unit;
A path opening / closing member for removing the recording medium jammed in the image forming unit provided in the medium transport path;
With
The medium accommodating portion, the path opening / closing member, and the image forming portion are arranged in this order in the housing,
The information recording part
Electronic information recording means built in the path opening and closing member;
A medium transport path for transporting a recording medium from the medium transport path toward the electronic information recording means;
An information recording apparatus comprising:   The information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic information recording unit is a non-contact type recording unit that records information in a non-contact state on a recording medium. Between the medium conveyance path and the medium conveyance path, a shielding plate for shielding the radio signal of the non-contact type recording means is disposed,
3. The information recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the blocking plate blocks a radio wave signal transmitted from the non-contact type recording means and a recording medium in the medium conveyance path. The medium container is
Consists of a cassette mounting area in which a cassette containing a recording medium can be mounted,
The path opening / closing member is
Configure the bottom wall of the cassette mounting area in the closed state,
The information recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information recording apparatus is configured to be accessible from the cassette mounting area in the opened state. The medium transport path includes
A reversing unit for changing the conveyance direction of the recording medium in the first and second directions and at least two directions is provided,
This reversing unit
The information recording according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the information recording medium is switched between a first direction in which the recording medium is transferred to the information recording unit and a second direction in which the recording medium is transferred to the medium conveyance path. apparatus. The reversing unit is
A rotating frame pivotally supported on the device frame so as to be pivotable;
At least a pair of rollers disposed on the rotating frame and holding a recording medium;
Unit driving means for rotating the rotating frame;
Roll driving means for rotating the roll pair forward and backward;
Have
6. The information recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the recording medium is carried into and out of a medium conveyance path by forward and reverse rotation of the pair of rollers. In the medium conveyance path, a decurling mechanism is disposed on the downstream side of the image forming unit,
This decal mechanism
A pressing portion for correcting curling of the image-formed recording medium;
It consists of a unit frame that holds this pressing part,
The path opening / closing member is
The information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the decurling mechanism is configured to be accessible from the outside of the housing in an open state. The unit frame of the decal mechanism is
8. The information recording according to claim 7, wherein when the path opening / closing member is in an open state, the pressing portion is pivotally supported by the apparatus frame so as to be movable from the inside of the medium transport path to the outside of the path. apparatus.

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