JP2529717Y2 - Magnetic card reader for different width cards - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic card reader which can read and write magnetic cards having different widths.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In addition to credit cards of financial institutions and the like, prepaid cards such as telephone cards and orange cards, the use of magnetic cards has been remarkably expanded, and they are also becoming popular in railway tickets, air tickets and the like. For example, a railway ticket has a magnetic recording layer formed on the entire back surface, and the magnetic recording is simply read by a card reader. On the other hand, an airline ticket having a size larger than a railway ticket has a magnetic recording layer formed along one longitudinal side edge thereof, and is read / written by a readable / writable card reader. As a magnetic card reader for reading and writing the magnetic card, a dedicated configuration corresponding to the size of the magnetic card and the position of the magnetic stripe is adopted.

[0003]

Conventionally, when processing magnetic cards of different widths, there is a problem that a magnetic card reader having a dedicated configuration corresponding to the width of the magnetic card must be provided, and the size of the magnetic card is reduced. There is an increasing need for a magnetic card reader that can be used for different magnetic cards, specifically magnetic cards of different widths. In order to cope with magnetic card readers of different widths, it is conceivable that a common card path is provided and a magnetic head for reading and writing each magnetic card is provided. However, in the case of a card that requires not only reading but also writing, it is necessary to relatively strictly manage the passing position of the card with respect to the magnetic head. In addition, when a write operation is performed on a card of one size, if there is running resistance due to the magnetic head and pad roller for the card of the other size, there is a problem that the transport speed at the time of writing of one card varies. Occur. Also, when one side edge of the card passage is used as the running reference plane, the card must be pressed against the reference plane. There is also a problem that the operation is not performed smoothly and a track shift occurs during reading and writing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic card reader which can process magnetic cards having different widths without causing variations in transport speed or track deviation.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a magnetic card reader which also serves as a different width card has a wide card passage with one side as a running reference and a card passage closer to the other side of the wide card passage. A card guide piece that is provided to be able to move back and forth and guides the other side edge of the narrow card, and a magnetic card for a wide card that is provided in the wide card path and corresponds to the wide card and the narrow card, respectively. A head means, a magnetic head means for a narrow card, a retracted position where the card guide piece is retracted from the wide card path, and a narrow card guide which guides the narrow card by advancing into the wide card path. And a pad pressure switching interlocking means for switching the pressure between one magnetic head of the magnetic head means and a pad roller contacting the head in conjunction with the advance / retreat of the card guide piece. Comprising the door.

[0006]

When a wide card is processed, the driving means retracts the card guide piece from the wide card path to allow the wide card to be conveyed. When the card guide piece is displaced to the evacuation position,
In conjunction with this, the pad pressure switching interlocking means acts in a direction to reduce the pad pressure of the magnetic head means for a narrow card, and the pad pressure of the magnetic head means does not affect the conveyance and displacement of the wide card. To do. When processing a narrow card, the driving means is operated to position the card guide piece in the narrow card guide position for advancing the card guide piece into the card path, and the narrow card is guided by the traveling reference side edge and the guide piece. When the card guide piece advances to the narrow card guide position, the pad pressure switching interlocking means operates in conjunction therewith, and switches the pad pressure of the narrow card magnetic head to a predetermined value.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

1, 4 and 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a card reader substrate, on which a reference side plate 2 and a facing side plate 3 facing each other are fixed.
The side plates 2 and 3 constitute both side edges of the card path O, and the reference side plate 2 serves as a running reference for the one side edges Aa and Ba of the wide card A and the narrow card B, respectively.

The card passage O includes two side plates 2 and 3, a first upper guide plate 4 and a second upper guide plate 5 fixed to these side plates 2 and 3, a first lower guide plate 6 and a second lower guide. And a plate 7. The opposing side plate 3 is provided with a pressing leaf spring 8 for contacting the other side edge Ab of the wide card A and pressing the card against the reference side plate 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the card can be taken in the card path O in both directions. For convenience, FIG.
At the left side. A feed roller pair 9 is provided at an entrance Oa of the card path O. The roller pair 9 includes a support shaft 9b driven by a drive pulley 9a, a drive roller 9c fixed to the support shaft 9b, and a driven roller 9d contacted with the driven shaft and rotated.

In the card feeding direction of the card path O,
From the entrance Oa to the downstream, a narrow card magnetic head means 11, a wide card magnetic head means 12, and a feed roller pair 13 are arranged in this order. The wide card magnetic head means 12 comprises a read magnetic head 12a, a pad roller 12b for pressing the magnetic card against the head, a write magnetic head 12c, and a pad roller 12d for pressing the card against the magnetic head. I have. Each magnetic head has its head surface facing the card path O via a head support member (not shown). Each pad roller 12b, 12
d is pressed against the corresponding magnetic heads by urging means (not shown). In FIG. 5, the pad rollers 12b and 12d are not shown.

The feed roller pair 13 includes a drive pulley 13a,
Driving roller 13c that is driven to rotate via support shaft 13b
And a driven roller 13d which rotates while being pressed against this.

In the card path O, as shown only in FIG. 5, a pair of card feed rollers 14a and 14b are disposed adjacent to the respective magnetic heads 12a and 12c. These feed roller pairs feed the wide card A at a constant speed when processing the card, and the pulley 14aa
(See FIG. 3) and are linked to a feed roller pair 13 via a belt (not shown).

The wide card A is provided with a magnetic recording layer (magnetic stripe) along one side edge Aa of the back surface (the lower surface in the figure), and its magnetic recording is read by a reading magnetic head 12a. The writing is performed by the writing magnetic head 12c. The wide card A to be read / written is conveyed by being pressed against the reference side plate 2 by the pressing leaf spring 8 in order to eliminate track deviation.

The narrow card magnetic head means 11 is for reading a record on a narrow card B having a magnetic recording layer formed on the entire back surface, and comprises a narrow card magnetic head 11a.
A magnetic head holding means 11b for supporting the head movably with respect to the card path O, and a pad roller 11 for holding and transporting the narrow card with a predetermined pressure by the head 11a.
c.

The narrow-card magnetic head 11a is a read-only magnetic head having a length corresponding to the entire width of the magnetic recording layer of the narrow card B, and is formed by pressing a plate material. Head support 11b of body 11ba
b.

The pad roller 11c is fixed to a drive shaft 11ca to which a pulley 11cb is fixed, and is rotated at a predetermined speed when reading a narrow card B. Pinch rollers 11d, 11d disposed on both sides of the magnetic head 11a are pressed against the peripheral surfaces of both ends of the roller 11c. These pinch rollers are provided by the swing arms 11da and 11da.
da and rotatably supported by the pad roller 11c.
It rotates following the rotation of.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, the magnetic head holding means 11b for a narrow card comprises a magnetic head holder 11b.
a, and pad pressure applying means (springs 11d, 11e) for urging the magnetic head 11a held by the holder via the holder toward the card path O. The magnetic head holder 11ba includes a holding portion 11bb for holding the magnetic head 11a, and a fulcrum shaft 11b as a rotation fulcrum provided on one downstream side in the card feeding direction indicated by an arrow in FIG.
c, a notch 11bd into which the leaf spring 11d fits, a spring seat 11be of the coil spring 11e, and an engagement piece 1 having an engagement hole 11bf forming a part of the pad pressure switching interlocking means.
1bh.

The fulcrum shaft 11bc is connected to the magnetic head holder 11
Ba is inserted into a bent portion 11bi formed on one side of ba with restricted movement in the axial direction. Both ends 11bca of the fulcrum shaft 11bc protruding from the bent portion are dropped into a support groove 7a formed downward in the second lower guide plate 7. A screw hole 7b is formed in the second lower guide plate 7, and the base end of the leaf spring 11d is fixed by a fixing screw 14.

The free end 11da of the leaf spring 11d abuts on the central portion 11bcb of the fulcrum shaft 11bc to hold the holder 11b.
a is pressed toward the card path O and is prevented from falling out of the support groove 7a. The notch 11db (see FIG. 8) formed at the free end of the leaf spring 11d engages with the projection 7c formed on the second lower guide plate to restrict horizontal rotation.

Spring seat 11b of magnetic head holder 11ba
A flanged screw 15 around which a coil spring 11e is wound is loosely fitted to e. The screw 15 is screwed into a screw hole 6 a formed in the first lower guide plate 6. The coil spring 11e has extensibility, and presses the magnetic head 11a against the pad roller 11c by pressing the magnetic head holder 11ba toward the card path O.

That is, the magnetic head holder 11ba is
The support grooves 7a are supported at three points by the coil springs 11e and the coil springs 11e follow the thickness of the magnetic card and automatically equalize the contact force of the magnetic head 11a with the pad roller 11c in the card width direction. . Further, in maintenance of the magnetic head 11a for a narrow card, two screws 1 are mounted in a state where the whole device is turned upside down.
Since the head can be attached and detached only by attaching and detaching the heads 4 and 15, the workability is good.

1 to 5, card guide pieces 16 are swingably supported by support shafts 17 on support portions 3 a and 3 b formed by bending the opposing side plate 3. The card guide piece 16 is formed by bending a plate material, as shown in FIG.
6a, a spring hook portion 16b, a narrow card guide portion 16c that can freely advance and retreat in the card passage O, and a connecting portion 16d. As shown in FIG. 1, the narrow card guide 16c guides the other side edge Bb (see FIG. 5) of the narrow card B when it advances into the card path O in the width direction of the card path. The guide side plate 2 extends to the guide position, and extends in the length direction of the card path over the entire length thereof.
And are provided in parallel.

A solenoid 19a of a driving means 19 is fixed to the opposed side plate 3 via a bracket 18. The movable portion 19b of the solenoid 19a is connected to a connecting portion 16d via a pin 19c. Between the locking portion 18a formed on the bracket 18 and the spring hooking portion 16b, a contractible coil spring 19 forming a part of the driving means 19 is provided.
d. As shown in FIG. 2, the coil spring 19d urges the card guide piece 16 to swing so as to retract the card guide portion 16c from the card path O by its elasticity.

The solenoid 19a is such that the magnetic card sent to the magnetic card reader for different width card is a wide card A.
, The card guide piece 16 is kept off, and if the card is a narrow card B, it is turned on to operate the card guide piece 16 at the narrow card guide position as shown in FIG. 1. It will be described later.

The illustrated embodiment deals with a case where a wide card is frequently used. Therefore, the card guide piece 16 is biased toward the retreat position (see FIG. 2).
When the narrow card is frequently used, as shown in FIG. 1, the card guide section 16c may be normally urged to be located at the narrow card guide position, as shown in FIG. In this case, the solenoid 19a constituting the driving means 19 and the coil spring 1
9d will be provided by replacing the positions shown in FIG.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the card guide piece 1
The base end portion 21a of the interlocking arm 21 serving as a pad pressure switching interlocking means is mounted in the mounting hole 16e (see FIG. 10) of No. 6. The illustrated interlocking arm 21 is formed of a substantially rigid body. The distal end 21b of the interlocking arm 21 is loosely fitted in the engagement hole 11bf of the head holder 11ba. As shown in FIG. 7, when the card guide piece 16 is retracted from the card passage O (see FIG. 3), the leading end 21b engages with the engaging hole 11bf. When the head holder 16 is pushed down and placed in the narrow card guide position (see FIG. 1), the pressure engagement with the hole 16f is released as shown in FIG. 6A. I have.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described. As described above, when the wide card is frequently used, the card guide strip 16 sets the wide card feed mode shown in FIG. 2 to the normal position. That is, the card guide piece 16 retreats the card guide portion 16c from the card passage by the elastic force of the coil spring 19d. At this time,
Interlocking arm 2 provided integrally with card guide piece 16
1 will be able to push down its tip 21b,
The narrow head magnetic head 11a is retracted from the card path O, as shown in FIG. 7, by swinging the head holding body 11ba engaged therewith against the elasticity of the coil spring 11e. That is, the head surface 11aa is the pad roller 11c.
Is separated from the lower peripheral surface 11ca.

4 and 5, before the magnetic card is fed into the card path O, a signal indicating the type (width or size) of the card detected by the detecting means (not shown) is output.

First, when a signal indicating that the wide card A is sent is input, the solenoid 19a is kept off. Therefore, the magnetic head 11a for a narrow card
2 and 7, the head and the pad roller 1 are maintained at a retracted position retracted from the card path O.
1c (pad pressure) is released.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wide card A sent to the card path O is a magnetic card means 1 for a narrow card.
When passing through the portion 1, the sheet is conveyed by the pad roller 11c and the pinch rollers 11d, 11d. The other side edge Ab of the wide card A is acted on by the pressing leaf spring 8, so that the card A has one side edge Aa.
Is pressed against the reference side plate 2, and the side plate is sent with the side plate as a traveling reference. At this time, the pad pressure of the narrow card magnetic head means 11 is not acting on the wide card A. Therefore, even if one side edge Aa is fed into the card path O with the one side edge Aa separated from the reference side plate 2, the card is smoothly displaced in the direction along the reference side plate 2 by the pressing leaf spring 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wide card A sent to the wide card magnetic head means 12 has one side edge Aa along the reference side plate 2, so that the reading magnetic head is used. The relative position between the track 12a and the track of the magnetic recording layer does not shift. Also, no track deviation occurs when writing is performed by the write magnetic head 12c (see FIG. 4).

Further, when a read or write operation is performed on the wide card A, no pad pressure is applied to the wide card A by the narrow card magnetic head means 11, so that the feed roller pair 14a, No jitter occurs in the card feeding speed by 14b, and the reading / writing operation is performed normally.

When a signal indicating that the card to be sent to the card reader is a narrow card is input, as shown in FIG. 1, the solenoid 19a is turned on and the card guide piece 1 is turned on.
6 is displaced to the narrow card guide position by swinging against the coil spring 19c. Thereby, the card guide 16c
Moves to the card passage O and the other side edge Bb of the narrow card B
Is placed in the position to guide.

On the other hand, when the card guide piece 16 is displaced, the interlocking arm 21 is displaced in conjunction therewith, and the operation of pushing down the head holder by the tip 21b is released.
When the interlocking arm 21 moves up, the head holder 11ba swings about the fulcrum shaft 11bc by the elastic force of the coil spring 11e, as shown in FIG. And the head surface 1
1aa is brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the pad roller 11c.

When the card guide strip 16 is located at the narrow card guide position and the narrow card magnetic head 11a is in the narrow card feed mode in which the narrow card magnetic head 11a is located in the card path O, the narrow card B fed into the apparatus is set. Is, as shown in FIG.
While the one side edge Ba is guided by the reference side plate 2 and the other side edge Bb is guided by the card guide portion 16c, the pad roller 11 is guided.
c and pinch rollers 11d, 11d. The magnetic head 11a reads a magnetic record formed on the entire back surface of the narrow card B. The narrow card B that has been read may be sent out from the exit Ob (see FIG. 4) of the card passage O, or may be moved back toward the entrance Oa.

In the illustrated embodiment, the card guide piece 1
6 as the driving means 19 for displacing the position of the solenoid 6
Although the 9a and the coil spring 19d have been described, the means may be a combination of a motor and a cam so that the guide piece is displaced at the position of the cam.

In the illustrated embodiment, the narrow card magnetic head means 11 is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the card path O. It may be provided freely. When the magnetic heads of the magnetic head means 11 and 12 are held at both ends of a seesaw-like head holder having a fulcrum between the two heads, when one magnetic head is advanced to the card path O, the other magnetic head is used. Is retracted from the passage O. In the illustrated embodiment, the reading process for the narrow card B is performed by the magnetic head 1.
1a, the wide-card magnetic head 12
Although a and 12c are in contact with the pad rollers 12b and 12d, when configured as described above, the magnetic head when not in operation can be separated from the pad roller, the wear on the head surface is reduced, and the life thereof is reduced. Can be extended.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the width of the card passage is switched according to the width of the magnetic card to be processed, and in conjunction with this, the exclusive width of the narrow card and the wide card is changed. Since the position of the magnetic head with respect to the card path is displaced, the running resistance due to the pad pressure of the non-operating magnetic head and the resistance at the time of approaching the card are reduced, so that track deviation does not occur, and processing of a different width card is also used. Can be processed by using the card path of the above. Displacement of the magnetic head also has the effect of reducing wear on the head surface and extending the life of the magnetic head.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional view of a magnetic card reader which also serves as a different-width card, showing a narrow-card feeding mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing a wide card feeding mode according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a sectional rear view showing a wide card feeding mode of a reading section of the wide card.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the magnetic card reader of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view of the same.

6A is an enlarged sectional side view showing a state in which the narrow-width card magnetic head is in contact with a pad roller, and FIG. 6B is an enlarged sectional side view showing a support groove of a head holder.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional side view showing a state in which the magnetic head for a narrow card is separated from a pad roller.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the structure of a magnetic head and a holder for the magnetic head.

9A is a plan view of a magnetic head holder, FIG. 9B is a side view of the same, and FIG. 9C is a front view of the same.

10A is a plan view of a card guide piece, FIG. 10B is a front view of the same, and FIG. 10C is a rear view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... Reference side plate 3 ... Opposite side plate 6 ... First lower guide plate 7 ... Second lower guide plate 8 ... Pressing leaf spring 11 ... Magnetic head means for narrow card 11a ..Magnetic head for narrow cards 11ba Head holder 11c Pad roller 11d Pinch roller 12 Magnetic head means for wide cards 12a Magnetic head for reading 12c Writing magnetic head 16 Card guide piece 16c Card guide 19 Drive unit 19a Solenoid 19d Coil spring 21 Interlocking arm as interlocking means

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A wide card passage having one side as a running reference, and a card passage provided near the other side of the wide card passage so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the card passage. A card guide piece for guiding, a magnetic head means for a wide card and a magnetic head means for a narrow card which are provided in the wide card path and respectively correspond to a wide card and a narrow card; Drive means for positioning the retracted position from the wide card path and a narrow card guide position for guiding the narrow card by advancing into the wide card path; and A different width card / magnetic card reader comprising: a pad pressure switching interlocking means for interlockingly switching the pressure between one of the magnetic head means and the pad roller abutting on the head.