JP2013177233A - Medium conveying mechanism and medium conveying device having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a simple mechanism superior in durability and weatherability for conveying and returning erroneously inserted thin foreign matter such as a card and a receipt thinner than a regular card, in the mechanism for sandwiching and conveying the card by a drive roller and an idler roller.SOLUTION: A medium conveying mechanism includes a first medium conveying part, a second medium conveying part and a third medium conveying part. The medium conveying mechanism is characterized in that the first medium conveying part, and the second medium conveying part and the third medium conveying part are juxtaposed in opposed positions by sandwiching a conveying passage for conveying a medium, a distance between the first medium conveying part and the third medium conveying part is arranged shorter than a distance between the first medium conveying part and the second medium conveying part, the third medium conveying part is constituted of a spiral member having hardness higher than that of the second medium conveying part, and the member has elasticity in the radial direction of a spiral.

Description

  The present invention relates to a medium transport mechanism and a medium transport apparatus including the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art In processing apparatuses for magnetic cards and IC cards, those having a mechanism for holding and transporting the vicinity of the center in the width direction of the card with a drive roller and an idler roller are put into practical use. Generally, the drive roller has a large coefficient of friction with the card and needs to moderately suppress deformation against strong pressing from the idler roller. Therefore, a hard rubber is used as a material. The idler roller is made of a material such as rubber or plastic for the purpose of not scratching the card surface.

In order to reduce the speed fluctuation of the card when the card enters the roller part or the card is removed from the roller part, the drive roller and the idler roller generally have the following three types of configurations.
(1) A gap slightly smaller than the card thickness is provided in advance between the drive roller and idler roller.
(2) The drive roller and the idler roller are in contact with each other before the card is inserted, but the pressure from the idler roller is weak when the gap is from zero to near the thickness of the card, and the gap is Switch to 2 steps so that it becomes stronger when the card is near the thickness of the card.
(3) A gap slightly smaller than the card thickness is provided between the drive roller and the idler roller in advance, and the idler roller for carrying a thin card having a larger outer diameter than the idler roller on the idler roller side and lower hardness than the idler roller. Is installed.

  The above (3) is the basic configuration of the above (1), and is an improved configuration so that a thin foreign object such as a thin card or a receipt can be conveyed.

  Further, as a background art of the present invention, there is JP-A-7-10313. This publication describes that “a medium transport roller mechanism that can always maintain a stable transport force by a two-stage spring mechanism, and that is inexpensive and easy to handle” is realized. The configuration of JP-A-7-10313 corresponds to the configuration of (2) above.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-10313

  In the case of the configuration (1), it is impossible to transport and discharge a card or a thin foreign object such as a receipt that is thinner than the gap inserted by mistake.

  In the case of the configuration (2) (the configuration of Patent Document 1), it is possible to transport a thin foreign object such as a thin card or a receipt, but the mechanism for switching the pressing in two stages becomes complicated.

  In addition, in both the configurations (1) and (2), the drive roller is made of hard rubber and the idler roller is made of a material for the purpose of ensuring the card transport and not scratching the card surface. A material such as rubber or plastic must be selected. As a result, the roller in contact with the card becomes a material having a large electric resistance, and it is difficult to efficiently discharge the static electricity charged on the card, and the static electricity charged on the card 6 is discharged by the IC card processing unit. As a result, the electric circuit of the card processing device fails or operates abnormally.

  In the configuration (3), the idler roller for carrying the thin card is made of a soft rubber or sponge so as not to adversely affect the performance of the magnetic card data reading and writing function, which is the basic function of the card processing device. It is necessary to make it. For this reason, the roller for carrying a thin card is forced to undergo a large deformation with respect to a soft material, and it is difficult to ensure wear resistance and weather resistance, and the material is easily worn and deteriorated.

  Therefore, the present invention is a simple mechanism for transporting and returning a thin foreign object such as a card or a receipt that is inserted by mistake and thinner than a regular card in a mechanism for transporting the card while being sandwiched between a drive roller and an idler roller. A durable card transport mechanism is provided.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present application includes a plurality of means for solving the problems, and for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted. It is a medium transport mechanism including a first medium transport unit, a second medium transport unit, and a third medium transport unit, wherein the first medium transport unit, the second medium transport unit, and the The third medium transport unit is arranged side by side at a position opposite to each other across the transport path for transporting the medium, and the medium contact surface of the first medium transport unit and the medium contact surface of the third medium transport unit The distance between them is set shorter than the distance between the medium contact surface of the first medium transport unit and the medium contact surface of the second medium transport unit, and the third medium transport unit is The medium transport mechanism is configured by a spiral member having a hardness higher than that of the second medium transport unit, and the member has an elastic force in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the spiral.

  In the card transport mechanism of the present invention, a coil spring having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter is coaxially installed near the idler roller, so that the drive roller and idler roller are in a state before the card is inserted. Even in the configuration in which a gap is provided between the two, it is possible to transport and discharge a card or a thin foreign object such as a receipt that is thinner than the gap that is erroneously inserted. In addition, since the thin card or receipt is urged toward the drive roller by the bending force in the radial direction of the coil spring, the mechanism can be realized simply by attaching the coil spring to the shaft of the idler roller. It is possible to configure.

  In addition, since metal such as stainless steel for springs can be used for the material of the coil spring, (1) it is possible to efficiently discharge the static electricity charged on the card to the ground wire, (2) rubber, sponge, etc. There is an effect that durability and weather resistance can be improved as compared with a configuration using a material.

It is explanatory drawing (front view) which showed the prior art before card | curd insertion. It is explanatory drawing (side view) which showed the prior art before card | curd insertion. It is explanatory drawing (front view) which showed the prior art at the time of card insertion. It is explanatory drawing (side view) which showed the prior art at the time of card insertion. It is explanatory drawing (front view) which showed the prior art at the time of thin foreign material insertion. It is explanatory drawing (side view) which showed the prior art at the time of thin foreign material insertion. It is detail drawing (sectional drawing) of the 1st idler roller 4 which is a prior art, and the idler roller 5 for thin card conveyance. It is explanatory drawing (sectional drawing) which showed this invention at the time of card | curd insertion. It is explanatory drawing (sectional drawing) which showed this invention at the time of thin foreign material insertion. FIG. 4 is a detailed view (cross-sectional view) of a first idler roller 4 and a coil spring 14. FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a coil spring 14. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a coil spring 14. FIG. It is explanatory drawing (bullet figure) which showed the belt | band | zone roller 22 for springs. It is explanatory drawing (side view) which showed the belt | band | zone roller 22 for springs. It is explanatory drawing (sectional drawing) which showed the belt | band | zone roller 24 for springs. It is explanatory drawing (side view) which showed the belt | band | zone roller 24 for springs. It is explanatory drawing (sectional drawing) which showed this invention at the time of card | curd insertion. It is explanatory drawing (side view) which showed this invention at the time of card insertion. It is a side view of a card processing apparatus. It is a figure explaining the axis | shaft 27 of sectional drawing.

  Hereinafter, examples will be described with reference to the drawings.

  Prior to the description of this embodiment, the prior art will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, 12, and 13. FIG. 12 is a side view of a general card processing apparatus in which the card 6 is conveyed while being sandwiched between a drive roller and an idler roller. Two to four pairs of drive rollers and idler rollers are arranged in the card traveling direction. In FIG. 12, two sets of rollers, a first roller pair (drive roller 3 and idler roller 4) immediately after the card insertion slot 7 and a second roller pair (drive roller 18 and idler roller 19) immediately after the magnetic head 21. The example which comprised the pair as a conveyance mechanism is shown. In the case of a general card processing apparatus, the distance between the first roller pair and the second roller pair is set smaller than the length of the card 6 in the longitudinal direction.

  When reading the magnetic data written on the card 6 and writing the magnetic data on the card 6, it is necessary to reduce the variation in the conveyance speed of the card 6 as much as possible. Therefore, in a state before the card 6 is inserted, the idler roller and the drive roller are not brought into contact with each other, and a gap (roller gap) slightly smaller than the thickness of the card 6 is provided.

  This roller gap will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are enlarged views of the vicinity of a first roller pair of a general card processing apparatus. FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A, and FIG. 3A are front views of the vicinity of a first roller pair of a general card processing apparatus. FIG. 1B, FIG. 2B, and FIG. 3B are side views of the vicinity of a first roller pair of a general card processing apparatus. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the first idler roller 4 and shows a case where the shaft 27 portion shown in FIG. 13 is cut. Hereinafter, the cross-sectional view represents a surface cut along the shaft 27 portion of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, a gap (roller gap) slightly smaller than the thickness of the card 6 is provided between the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4 constituting the first roller pair. . 2B, when the card is inserted, the first idler roller lever 9 and the idler roller pressing spring 8 are pressed by the card 6, and the card 6 is pressed by the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4. It is clamped stably.

  With such a configuration, a rapid decrease in the conveyance speed when the leading edge of the card 6 enters the roller pair and a rapid increase in the conveyance speed when the trailing edge of the card 6 is ejected from the card pair are achieved. It can be reduced. As shown in FIG. 4, the first idler roller 4 includes an idler roller shaft 13, an idler roller core 12, and an idler roller bearing 11.

  Further, near the first idler roller 4, a thin card carrying idler roller 5 having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter is installed coaxially with the axis of the first idler roller 4. When a card 10 thinner than the card 6 is inserted, or when a thin foreign object such as a receipt is inserted, as shown in FIG. A thin card 10 or the like can be conveyed by touching.

  However, since the idler roller 5 for carrying a thin card has a larger outer diameter than the first idler roller 4, the roller material is made of soft rubber or sponge so as not to affect the normal card 6 conveyance. There is a need to. Therefore, the roller for carrying a thin card is forced to undergo a large deformation when carrying a normal card, and it is difficult to ensure wear resistance and weather resistance, and the material is easily worn and deteriorated.

  In the case of a card processing machine of a type that processes both magnetic cards and IC cards, in order to connect the contacts of the card processing machine to the contacts of the IC card in the middle of the conveyance path of the card 6 or at the rear end, The IC card processing unit 17 is installed.

Next, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the present embodiment. Since the basic configuration is the same as that of a general card processing apparatus, description thereof is omitted. FIG. 5 shows the first roller pair cut along the cross-sectional shaft 27 shown in FIG. 13 and viewed from the card insertion slot.

  In this embodiment, a coil spring 14 in which a metal wire having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter is spirally installed near the first idler roller 4 and coaxially with the axis of the first idler roller 4 is configured. In FIG. 5, the card 6 is inserted, but in the state before the card 6 is inserted, the thickness between the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4 is slightly smaller than the thickness of the card 6 as in FIG. A small gap is secured.

  When the card 6 is sandwiched between the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4 after being inserted from the card insertion slot, the outer peripheral portion of the coil spring 14 bends in the radial direction of the spiral, and is the same height as the first idler roller 4. It will be. However, the force for bending the coil spring 14 to its height is set to be sufficiently weaker than the force for bringing the first idler roller 4 into contact with the first drive roller 3 side.

  Therefore, the force that the card 6 receives from the coil spring 14 is so small that the influence on the card conveyance speed when the card 6 is conveyed while being sandwiched between the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4 can be ignored. . Therefore, the force that the coil spring 14 exerts on the card 6 does not affect the reading performance and writing performance of the magnetic card data, which is the basic performance of the card processing apparatus.

  FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the card processing apparatus when a thin card 10 or a thin foreign object such as a receipt is inserted. A gap slightly smaller than the thickness of the card 6 is secured between the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4. A thin foreign object such as a thin card 10 or a receipt receives a vertical force from the coil spring 14, contacts the first drive roller 3, and is conveyed by a frictional force with the first drive roller.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view (FIG. 7A) of the state where the coil spring 14 is mounted coaxially with the first idler roller 4, and a detailed view of the coil spring 14 alone (FIG. 7B). The outer diameter of the coil spring 14 is changed at the start portion 14a, the end portion 14b, and the cylindrical portion in the middle thereof. In addition, since such an unusually shaped coil spring can be easily manufactured by the same forming equipment as that for manufacturing a normal cylindrical coil spring, a component having a stable dimension can be manufactured at low cost.

  The inner diameters of the start portion 14a and the end portion 14b of the coil spring 14 are set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the flange portion of the coil spring mounting portion of the core metal 12 of the idler roller. When the coil spring 14 is attached to the first idler roller 4, the start portion 14 a and the end portion 14 b of the coil spring 14 are pushed and spread over the flange of the core metal 12 of the idler roller, and the thrust direction (the idler roller shaft 13 Axial position is fixed.

  In a normal operation, the coil spring 14 can be fixed because no force is applied to the start portion 14a or the end portion 14b of the coil spring 14 so as to push it beyond the flange portion of the core metal 12 of the idler roller.

  As a result of the above configuration, in the card processing machine configured to sandwich and convey the card with the conventional drive roller and idler roller, in order to reduce fluctuations in the conveyance speed of the card 6, (1) the state before the card insertion In this case, it is necessary to provide a gap smaller than the thickness of the card in advance between the drive roller and the idler roller. Therefore, when a thin card 10 or a thin foreign object such as a receipt is inserted, the card cannot be conveyed. Issues that remain inside the processing machine and prevent future transactions, (2) When the drive roller and idler roller are in contact with each other in advance, such as a thin card 10 that has been mistakenly inserted or a receipt Although it is possible to transport thin foreign objects, the problem that the mechanism for switching the pressing of the idler roller in two stages is complicated is solved, and the card It is possible to achieve both a configuration that reduces fluctuations in the conveyance speed and a configuration that can convey a thin foreign object such as a thin card 10 or a receipt with a simple and inexpensive configuration with a minimum number of parts. It was.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a metal such as a stainless steel spring material can be used as the material of the coil spring 14, so that the durability and weather resistance are improved as compared with the conventional configuration using a material such as rubber or sponge. There is an effect that can be. The material of the coil spring 14 is not limited to metal, and any material having durability or weather resistance (for example, synthetic resin such as plastic) can be applied.

[Modification]
As a modification of the first embodiment, the following configuration can be considered. FIG. 6 shows a modification of the first embodiment, in which a thin layer is formed on the surface of the material 25 of the coil spring 14 using a material more flexible than the coil spring 14 such as resin 26 (for example, elastomer) as a coating material. Yes.

  By coating the surface of the spring material 25 with the resin 26 (coating treatment), it is possible to prevent the metal from directly touching the card surface, so that the card surface is not easily damaged. Needless to say, any mechanism that covers the spring material 25 and prevents the surface of the card from being damaged is not limited to the resin 26.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing details of the present embodiment. In order to realize a function equivalent to that of the coil spring 14 described above, a spring belt roller 22 for carrying a thin card is formed by using a steel strip for a spring instead of the wire rod for the spring constituting the coil spring 14. 9A is a cross-sectional view of the spring belt roller 22 attached to the idler roller core 12, and FIG. 9B is a side view of the spring belt roller 22. FIG.

  The spring belt roller 22 for carrying a thin card has a different diameter between the central portion for fixing and the outer peripheral portion. A roller is constituted by a single steel strip for a spring in a spiral shape from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion. The spring belt roller 22 is attached to the core metal 12 of the idler roller, and the position in the thrust direction is fixed by a fixing member 23 (for example, an E ring).

  By using a steel strip for the spring, the contact area between the card 6 and the spring belt roller is larger than when a wire is used as in the first embodiment, and the spring belt roller is damaged on the card surface. There is an effect that it becomes difficult to attach.

  Further, as a modification of the second embodiment, another embodiment in which a spring strip roller for carrying a thin card is formed using the spring steel strip shown in FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of the spring belt roller 24 attached to the idler roller core 12, and FIG. 10B is a side view of the spring belt roller 24.

  Even if the width of the portion in contact with the card is increased by making the width of the central portion 24a for fixing the spring belt roller 24 narrower than that of the outer peripheral portion 24b, the bending force in the radial direction can be reduced. Compared with the configuration of, it can be set weakly freely. Therefore, it is possible to adopt a configuration that does not adversely affect the performance of the magnetic card data reading and writing functions, which are basic functions of the card processor.

  The material of the spring belt rollers 22 and 24 described in the present embodiment is not limited to metal, but may be a belt made of a material having durability or weather resistance (for example, synthetic resin such as plastic). If applicable.

  FIG. 11 shows details of the present embodiment. FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view of this embodiment viewed from the card insertion slot, and FIG. 11B is a side view of this embodiment. Note that the description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted.

  Prior to describing this embodiment, the prior art will be described. In the conventional configuration, when the card 6 charged with static electricity is inserted from the card insertion slot, the material of the first drive roller 3 is used for the purpose of ensuring the transport of the card 6 and the purpose of not scratching the card surface. Is a hard rubber, and the material of the first idler roller 6 must be a material such as rubber or plastic.

  As a result, both of the two rollers in contact with the card 6 must be made of a material having a large electrical resistance, and it is difficult to efficiently discharge the static electricity charged on the card. Is discharged in the IC card processing unit 17, and the electric circuit of the card processing device breaks down or operates abnormally.

  In this embodiment, the coil spring 14 is used for transporting a thin foreign object such as a thin card 10 or a receipt. As shown in FIG. 11, the coil spring 14 to the lever 9 of the first idler roller and the electric wire 16 are used. The metal frame 15 is electrically connected through the connector.

  The present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the statically charged card 6 is firstly coiled at the first roller portion (the first drive roller 3 and the first idler roller 4) immediately after the card insertion slot 7 shown in FIG. To touch. Since the coil spring 14 and the lever 9 of the idler roller are made of metal, static electricity accumulated in the card 6 reaches the metal frame 15 via the coil spring 14, the lever 9 and the electric wire 16, and the static electricity is discharged. Therefore, the static electricity accumulated in the card 6 is discharged, so that even if the card 6 is subsequently transported to the IC card processing unit 17, the failure of the electric circuit of the card processing apparatus due to the electrostatic discharge or the abnormal operation does not occur. effective.

  Note that the static charge on the card 6 occurs before the card 6 is inserted into the card processing device as described above, and when the card 6 is being transported in the front-rear direction inside the card processing device. It may be caused by friction with internal parts such as rubber or plastic of the processing machine. Even in the case of charging due to friction with internal components, the coil spring 14 and the electric wire for grounding are similarly attached to the second roller portion (the second drive roller 18 and the second idler roller 19) to treat the static electricity. Since the discharge can be performed inside the apparatus, there is an effect that the electric circuit of the card processing apparatus does not fail or does not operate abnormally.

  Similarly, in the case where the rollers are formed after the third roller, similarly, if the coil spring 14 and the electric wire for grounding are formed on each idler roller, problems due to static electricity can be prevented. Further, it is possible to achieve both conductivity and flexibility by coating the coil spring 14 with a conductive resin or the like.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and another configuration can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment.

1 frame 2 reference frame 3 first drive roller 4 first idler roller 5 idler roller 6 for thin card transport card 7 card insertion slot 8 idler roller pressing spring 9 idler roller lever 10 thin card 11 idler roller bearing 12 idler roller Metal core 13 Idler roller shaft 14 Coil spring 14a Start portion 14b End portion 15 Metal frame 16 Electric wire 17 IC card processing unit 18 Second drive roller 19 Second idler roller 20 Magnetic head facing roller 21 Magnetic head 22 Spring belt roller 23 Fixing member 24 Spring belt roller 24a Spring belt roller central portion 24b Spring belt roller outer peripheral portion 25 Coil spring material 26 Coating layer 27 Cutting surface axis

Claims (9)

A medium transport mechanism including a first medium transport unit, a second medium transport unit, and a third medium transport unit,
The first medium transport unit, the second medium transport unit, and the third medium transport unit are arranged side by side at opposite positions across a transport path for transporting the medium,
The distance between the medium contact surface of the first medium transport unit and the medium contact surface of the third medium transport unit is the distance between the medium contact surface of the first medium transport unit and the second medium transport unit. It is installed shorter than the distance between the medium contact surface and
The third medium transport unit is composed of a spiral member having a hardness higher than that of the second medium transport unit, and the member has elasticity in the radial direction of the spiral. mechanism. The second medium transport unit and the third medium transport unit are connected by the same rotating shaft,
When the medium has a predetermined thickness, the medium transport mechanism is sandwiched and transported by all the medium transport units,
When the medium is not a predetermined thickness, the medium is sandwiched and conveyed between the first medium conveyance unit and the third medium conveyance unit,
When transported by all medium transport units, the medium contact surface of the third medium transport unit presses the medium compared to the force of the medium contact surface of the second medium transport unit pressing the medium. The medium conveying mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the medium conveying mechanism is weak.   The medium conveying mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the member is a coil spring in which a metal wire or a resin wire is spirally formed.   The medium conveying mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the coil spring has a smaller outer diameter at the start portion at the beginning of winding and the end portion at the end of winding than at other portions.   The medium conveying mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the member is a spring band formed by spiraling a metal band or a resin band.   The medium conveying mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the spring band has a width at the center portion shorter than a width at the outer peripheral portion.   The medium transport mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the member is covered with a coating material having a hardness lower than that of the member.   A medium conveying apparatus comprising the medium conveying mechanism according to claim 1.   The second medium conveyance unit and the third medium conveyance unit are connected to a movable lever, and the lever is connected to an outer frame of the medium conveyance device by a conductive electric wire, and the third medium medium conveyance unit The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 8, wherein electricity propagated from the medium is propagated to the outer frame to discharge the medium.

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