JP2533836B2 - Recording medium information display method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method of displaying information on a recording medium, and more specifically, such as a prepaid card and a stamp service card.
The present invention relates to a method of clearly displaying a standard of change of information on a recording medium in which information in an information recording section changes corresponding to its use.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a prepaid card in which specific information is recorded in advance, such as a cash card, a telephone card, and a ticket purchase card, is purchased, and is recorded each time it is used in a vending machine or the like. Recording media such as cards in which information changes are widely used.

In these prepaid cards, a change in information, such as an increase or decrease in value information, is displayed as needed at the time of use so that the user can understand the change in the information recorded therein.

The information change display method includes, for example, (1) a punching method of displaying the change of the information of the recording medium by providing punch holes in the recording medium, and (2) the change of the information of the recording medium. Marking methods for marking and displaying on a medium are used.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Of the above information display methods, the punching method is
Since a large amount of punch scraps are generated, it is necessary to remove them regularly, which is a maintenance problem. In addition, since the punch scraps are small, there is a problem that the punch scraps may be clogged in the discharge port or cause the card reader / writer to malfunction, and the punch blades may become worn, requiring replacement of the punch blades. There are many problems.

Further, in the case of the display method by the marking method, there is a method of forming a thermosensitive coloring layer in advance on the recording medium itself such as a card and performing coloring with a thermosensitive head to perform marking. Maintenance problems such as the punching method do not occur much, but since there is no dye with excellent weather resistance as a heat-sensitive coloring dye,
There are problems that the recording medium cannot be stored for a long period of time, and that a mark that has been once marked and has developed color easily fades and loses its display function.

As another method, there is also a method of transferring and printing a mark on a recording medium by using a thermal transfer ribbon. In the case of this display method, there is no problem of weather resistance, but there is a problem in maintenance such as replenishment or replacement of the transfer ribbon. In addition, since the transfer ribbon uses a very thin film, there is a problem that a ribbon jam or the like occurs in the apparatus and causes a failure.

Therefore, there is a demand for a simple display method that does not cause maintenance problems or weather resistance of marks, and that can easily show changes in information in a recording medium.

(Means for Solving Problems) The present inventor has completed the present invention as a result of earnest research to meet the above-mentioned demands of the prior art.

That is, according to the present invention, in the recording medium in which the information recorded in the information recording section changes depending on the use, the change in the information is formed by forming a concave portion and / or a convex portion in a region other than the information recording portion of the recording medium. It is a method for displaying information on a recording medium, which is characterized in that the information is displayed.

(Operation) By displaying a change in information in the recording medium by forming a concave portion and / or a convex portion in an area other than the information recording portion of the recording medium, problems of punch waste and weather resistance of the prior art, Changes in information can be easily specified visually and tactilely without causing maintenance problems.

(Preferred Embodiments) Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the accompanying drawings that schematically illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the surface of a prepaid card 1 which is an example of a recording medium used in the method of the present invention, and FIG.
It shows a part of the A ′ cross section.

The card 1 of this embodiment is one in which a magnetic stripe is provided as an information recording section 2 on a card base body of a thickness of 0.2 to 0.8 mm made of polyester or polyvinyl chloride resin, for example. When such a magnetic card is used as, for example, a prepaid card, arbitrary printing is performed on the surface of the card 1, and, for example, a scale and a numeral 3 for displaying a standard of the remaining amount of the card are printed. ing.

The information recording portion was a 1750 Oe magnetic stripe. Necessary information, for example, information equivalent to 10,000 yen is recorded in this information recording unit, subtracted according to the amount of money used each time it is used, and new information is recorded in the information recording unit. For example, if you purchase 2,000 yen with this card, the remaining amount will be 8,0
Since it will be 00 yen, the information in the information recording part of the card will be rewritten to 8,000 yen and that fact will be displayed on the scale 8 of the card. This operation is repeated each time the card is used, and a mark is similarly placed at the position corresponding to the remaining amount.

The main feature of the method of the present invention is that, when the recording medium as described above is used, the change of the information recorded in the information recording section is replaced with the punching or marking of the conventional method, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The change of information is displayed by forming the concave portion and / or the convex portion 4 in the area other than the information recording portion.

The method of forming the recesses and / or the projections 4 in the area of the recording medium 1 other than the information recording medium is not particularly limited, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. It was formed by arranging male and female dies 5 and 6 and connecting them to a card reader / writer to electrically actuate the dies 5 and 6 to perform pressure bonding. At this time, since the card 1 is often made of a relatively soft thermoplastic resin, a desired concave portion and / or convex portion 4 can be easily formed without applying any heating, but of course the mold is heated. You may keep it. The size and height (depth) of the concave and / or convex portions to be formed may be any size and height (depth) that can be easily discerned by the naked eye or the touch, for example, 0.5 to 3
The height (depth) is about 0.01 to 1 mm in mm.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which the portion where the convex portion of the card is to be formed is placed on the card base material 7 with good elasticity, for example, the card surface. To form a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer layer 8 (for example, red) colored in a different color from that of the above, and to further coat a relatively brittle resin, for example, a UV-curable ink or paint, to the color of the lower layer 8 This is an example in which a layer 9 of another hue (for example, white) for hiding the is formed. When a convex portion is formed as described above with such a layer structure, the uppermost layer is broken due to the formation of the convex portion as shown in FIG. 5 because it is a brittle layer, while the layer below is broken because it is a soft layer. However, it is preferable because it can be exposed on the surface and the convex portion can be more easily discriminated by the color contrast with the surface layer.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and includes various embodiments. For example, the recording medium is limited to the form of a card. The information recording portion does not need to be stripe-shaped. Further, the information recording section is not limited to the above-mentioned value information, and it is a matter of course that any information such as a company code, an issue date, an issue amount, a security code and the like can be recorded. Further, the uneven portion to be formed need not be a convex portion and may be a concave portion, or concave portions and convex portions may be alternately formed, and the shape of the concave portion and / or the convex portion may be circular or hemispherical. The shape is not limited, and may be a triangle, a quadrangle, a number, or a letter. Further, even when the convex portion is displayed in a different color, if the card base material 7 itself is colored, it is not necessary to provide the intermediate coloring layer 8. Further, it is also possible to provide a color-developing layer that develops color by heat or pressure at the place where the irregularities are to be formed, without providing the colored layer as described above, and thereby develop color by the heat or pressure at the time of irregularity.

(Effects) According to the present invention as described above, the following effects can be obtained as compared with the prior art.

(1) Compared with the punching method, there is no punch scrap, and maintenance due to punch scrap, machine failure,
Various problems such as wear of punch blades were solved at the same time.

(2) Compared with the marking method, problems such as weather resistance of the mark and disappearance due to abrasion do not occur, and a permanent mark can be formed.

(3) In a further preferred embodiment, the concave and / or convex portions can have a different hue from other portions without using any marking agent or device, which makes visual discrimination easier.

(4) Even a visually handicapped person can easily discriminate by touch.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the surface of a card which is an example of a recording medium used in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows a sectional view taken along the line AA ′, and FIG. 3 illustrates a method of forming a convex portion. 4 and 5 are schematic views showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1: Card, 2: Information recording part 3: Scale, 4: Convex part 5, 6: Mold, 7: Card substrate 8: Intermediate layer, 9: Surface layer

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a recording medium in which information recorded in an information recording section changes according to use, the change in the information is formed by forming a concave portion and / or a convex portion in a region other than the information recording portion of the recording medium. A method for displaying information on a recording medium, which is characterized by displaying the information by means of a method. 2. A method for displaying information on a recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the recesses and / or the projections change in hue different from those of the other portions as the recesses and / or the projections are formed. 3. The method for displaying information on a recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a prepaid card.