JP2652626B2 - Card receiving mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a card receiving mechanism for receiving a card in a card processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Unlike a magnetic recording card, an IC card electrically stores various kinds of information in a memory IC and communicates with an external device connected via a terminal provided on an outer surface. It is formed so that information may be transmitted and received by the user.

FIG. 9 shows an example of an IC card 1. A plurality of external terminals 2, 2,..., 2 are provided at a predetermined position near the front end on one surface 1a side of the resin card 1. Each external terminal is connected to a memory IC or the like built in the vicinity of the terminal.

[0004] Unless predetermined information is electrically exchanged via an external terminal, such an IC card cannot know the unique information and the amount information of the card owner. It has the advantage that it is hard to be used illegally and that the contents are not changed by external magnetism, and it has been used instead of a magnetic card.

[0005] Such an IC card processing apparatus for reading and writing information from and to an IC card generally does not have an internal draw-in mechanism, and has an IC card inserted into a card insertion slot.
The C card is received until the external terminal portion enters the inside of the device, the contact terminal is brought into contact with the external terminal of the card in the device, and information is transmitted and received through the contact terminal. The IC card that has been read and written is used by being pulled out by hand.

[0006]

However, this type of card processing apparatus has a card insertion opening which is large in order to accept an IC card thicker than a magnetic card, and allows the card to be inserted and removed by hand. Since the distance from the insertion slot to the internal connection terminal is set short, not only regular cards but also foreign objects such as bad cards, paper chips, coins, etc. can be inserted relatively easily, and these foreign objects are There has been a problem in that the contacts are damaged due to clogging or foreign matter, and the equipment cannot be used. For this purpose, it is conceivable to provide a mechanism for selectively accepting only a regular card near the card insertion slot. However, if the structure is complicated, the cost increases and the reliability decreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a card receiving mechanism which can selectively receive a regular card, has a simple structure, and has a high reliability.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a card receiving mechanism according to the present invention comprises a pair of guides for restricting movement of a card to be inserted into a card insertion slot in a card width direction orthogonal to an insertion direction. A shutter member disposed in the vicinity of the card insertion slot and rotatably provided so as to prevent entry of a card inserted into the card insertion slot;
A support portion rotatably supporting the shutter member, wherein the shutter member is provided at a position near at least one of the pair of guide portions,
A lever portion pivotally supported by the support portion so as to have an inclined edge portion abutting on the leading end of the inserted card, and when the edge portion abuts on the card, pivots in the thickness direction of the card; A shutter portion which has a surface for preventing entry of a card inserted into the card insertion slot, and which is integrally supported with the lever portion by the support portion; and wherein the shutter portion is inserted from the card insertion slot. A biasing member for applying a biasing force to rotate the card in a direction to prevent the card from entering, and when the card inserted from the card insertion slot is a regular card, receives a force applied to the inclined edge. Thus, the shutter portion rotates against the urging force of the urging member to allow the regular card to enter.

[0009] With this configuration, in the card receiving mechanism of the present invention, when a regular card is inserted into the card insertion slot, the shutter member receives the force of the card whose tip comes into contact with the inclined edge of the lever portion. Rotates in opposition to the urging force of the urging member, and the shutter unit rotates together with the lever unit to allow the regular card to enter.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 show an IC card processing device 20 having a card receiving mechanism according to one embodiment. This IC card processing device 20 is a prepaid type I card.
The IC card attached to the housing 18 of the public telephone which can be used by the C card and manually inserted by the user is received to a position where the IC card can be pulled out after use, and
The frequency information recorded on the C card is rewritten.

The IC card processing device 20 includes a card slot 22 fixed so as to protrude from the housing 18 to receive an IC card from the outside, and a housing 28 fixed to the rear of the card slot 22. Have been.

The card slot 22 has a card slot 23.
Are provided on the front side, and protruding portions 22b and 22c protruding forward from both sides thereof so as to face each other.
And is formed in a substantially U-shape when viewed from above. The interval between the opposing surfaces of the two protrusions 22b and 22c is I
Guide grooves 24, 24, which are formed to be narrower than the width of the C card and are continuous with the card insertion slot 23 and guide the IC card inserted from the front horizontally, are provided on the opposing surface side of each protrusion. I have. The guide grooves 24, 24 constitute a pair of guide portions for restricting movement in the card width direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the card inserted into the card insertion slot of the card receiving mechanism.

Further, flanges 25, 25 are provided on both sides of the card slot 22, and the flanges 25, 25 are screwed to the inner side of the housing 18 to support the entire processing apparatus on the housing. Have been.

A shutter member 26 is arranged behind the card insertion slot 23. As shown in FIG. 5, the shutter member 26 includes a shutter portion 26a formed in a horizontally long plate shape so as to close the card insertion slot 23 on the front surface, and a shutter portion 2.
A lever portion 26b protruding from one end of the card slot 6 into the guide groove 24 of the one protruding portion 22a of the card slot 22 and having a lower end edge inclined with respect to the card insertion direction;
A shaft 26 protruding laterally from both ends of the shutter 26a
c, 26c and a projection 26d projecting upward from the upper end of the center of the shutter 26a.

The shafts 26c, 26c are rotatably supported by a bearing 35 of a frame 31, which will be described later, and the upper end of the projection 26d abuts on the lower surface of a leaf spring 30 attached to a cover 29, which will be described later. The shutter member is always urged by the leaf spring 30 so that the shutter portion 26a and the lever portion 26b face downward, that is, receive a force in a direction to close the card insertion slot 23.

The shutter member 26 has a regular width IC.
When the card is guided and inserted between the guide grooves 24 of the card slot 22, the inclined lower edge of the lever portion 26b abuts on the card passing through the guide groove 24 on the one protruding portion 22a side. 26b is pushed upward, and pivots upward with the shaft portions 26c at both ends as fulcrums, and the shutter portion 2
6a is retracted upward, and the card insertion slot 23 is opened.

Further, foreign matter such as a defective card, a piece of paper, a coin, etc., which is less than the regular width, is prevented from being guided by the guide groove 2 on the lever portion 26b side.
If the card is not inserted into the card slot 4 and is directly inserted into the card insertion slot 23, the card slot 23 remains closed by the shutter 26a because the lever 26b is not pushed upward. Is blocked.
The shutter member 26 uses a complicated link mechanism because the moving amount of the inclined edge of the lever portion 26b is directly reflected on the opening amount of the shutter portion 26a according to the thickness of the inserted card. The structure is simpler than that of mechanically opening and closing the shutter, and it can be manufactured inexpensively and accurately, with less failure and high reliability.

The housing 28 fixed to the rear part of the card slot 22 includes a cover 29 and a frame 31 whose upper surface is covered by the cover 29. The cover 29 is fixed so that the front portion formed one step lower is in contact with the upper inner wall of the base portion 22a of the card slot 22, and a shutter member 26 is attached to the upper surface of the front end in a direction for preventing the card from entering. A leaf spring 30 is attached as an urging means, and a regulating portion 29a is formed on the lower surface of the rear portion.

The frame 31 has a substantially rectangular outer shape, and has a middle plate 33 provided at a middle portion to partition the inside of the frame 31 up and down. The IC card inserted from the card insertion slot 23 is provided with the lower surface of the middle plate 33 of the frame and the middle plate 3
The inner wall 31 of the frame 31 suspended downward from both sides of 3
a and 31a are received in the card storage unit 34.

The width of the card accommodating portion 34 is
3, the lower surface of which has a large opening from the lower rear end of the card slot 22 to the rear end of the middle plate 33 in order to discharge a defective card or dust that is intentionally cut short. I have.

On both sides of the front end of the middle plate 33, a shutter member 2 is provided.
Bearings 35, 35 are protrudingly provided as support portions for rotatably supporting the shaft portion 26c of No. 6. Also, the middle plate 33
At the front end of the lower surface, three inclined portions 36 are provided so as to be inclined so as to descend downward toward the rear.

A terminal plate mounting hole 37 is formed substantially in the center of the middle plate 33. A terminal plate 38 is screwed into the terminal plate mounting hole 37. On the lower surface side of the terminal plate 38, contact terminals 39 for contacting each external terminal of the IC card are provided in two rows of four.
Each contact terminal 39 is formed in a substantially V-shape by a conductive member having a spring property (for example, phosphor bronze or the like). One end of the contact terminal 39 is fixed to the terminal plate 38, and the other end is provided on the terminal plate 38. The terminal plate 38 is inserted through each of the terminal holes 38a.
When pressed from below, it moves upward while elastically deforming, and opposes a pressing force from below with its elastic return force.

The inclined portion 36 guides the leading end side of the card inserted from the card insertion slot 23 so as to be separated from the lower surface of the middle plate 33, and the contact terminals 39 projecting downward from the lower surface of the middle plate 33. Is not deformed by the end of the card.

Spring grooves 40, 40 are provided on both sides of the terminal plate mounting hole 37, and spring hooks 41, 41 are formed at the front end of each spring groove 40. Further, each spring groove 40 is formed so as to be continuous with holes 42, 42 vertically penetrating both ends of the rear portion of the frame.

On the rear side of the middle plate 33, a slide base 43 formed one step higher than the upper surface of the middle plate is extended to the rear of the frame with a predetermined width so as to partition between the holes 42,42. A slide member 45 is placed on the slide table 43. As shown in FIG. 6, the slide member 43 is formed in a substantially U-shape by a substantially rectangular upper plate 45a and side plates 45b extending downward from both sides of the upper plate 45a. The lower surface of the slide table 43 a is brought into contact with the upper surface of the slide table 43, and the slide table 43 is
Are supported so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction.

At both ends of the front portion of the upper plate 45a, slide tables 4 are provided.
Card holders 46 extending vertically through the holes 42 on both sides of the card holder 3 and extending to the card accommodating portion 34 are provided vertically. The card receiver 46 comes into contact with the leading end of a card inserted into the card accommodating section 34 and slides the slide member 45 backward.

Spring hooks 47 are provided in the middle of the card receivers 46, 46, respectively.
A sliding member 45 is provided between each spring hook 47, 47 and each spring hook 41, 41 in the spring groove 40, 40 of the middle plate 33 when the card is pulled out.
Are returned to the position where the card receiver 46 contacts the middle plate 33.

The outer peripheral surfaces for rotating the card pressing member 52 by contacting the card pressing member 52, which will be described later, when the slide member 45 slides rearward, on both side plates 45b of the slide member 45. Are arc-shaped cam portions 49, 4
9 are formed.

On the other hand, on the lower surface of the slide base 43, two bearings 50 are provided so as to protrude along the width direction of the slide base. A shaft 51 is inserted through the bearings 50, 50, and a card pressing member 52 is rotatably supported on the shaft 51.

As shown in FIG. 6, the card pressing member 52 is formed in a substantially T-shaped plate shape, and has two bearings 53, 53 protruding from an upper portion on one surface 52a side, and a lower portion from the lower portion. An elastic material 54 such as rubber or sponge is fixed. The card pressing member 52 includes the two bearings 53, 5
3 is rotatably supported on the lower surface of the slide base 43 such that one surface 52a of the shaft 51 is directed toward the terminal plate 38.

On both sides of the upper part of the card pressing member 52, abutting pieces 55, 55 are provided to project toward the one surface 46a so as to face each other. The outer periphery of each contact piece 55 has a shape in which an inclined portion 55a inclined with respect to the surface 46a and a parallel portion 55b parallel to the surface 46a are continuous.
When the slide member 45 slides backward in a state where the inclined portion 55a is in contact with the outer periphery of the cam portion 49 of the slide member 45, the card pressing member 52 rotates so that its lower part approaches the lower surface of the middle plate 33. Then, when the rear end of the slide member 45 is pushed to a position where it comes into contact with the rear inner wall of the frame,
The card pressing member 52 becomes substantially horizontal, and the parallel portion 55b comes into contact with the cam portion 49.

On the upper surface of the middle plate 33, a circuit board element 60 is fixed. The circuit board 60 has a shape that covers the upper surface of the middle plate 33 and the holes 42 on both sides of the slide table 43, and is connected to one end of each contact terminal 39 on the upper surface. A micro switch 61 is attached to the lower surface of the rear part of the circuit board 60 as a sensor for detecting that the card has been inserted to the back. Micro switch 6
1 is attached to a position at which the movable portion 61a is pushed and turned on at the rear of one of the spring hooks 47 when the slide member 43 is pushed to the rearmost position in the hole 42 on the side of the slide base 43. ing.

The contact terminals 39 and the microswitch 61 are connected to a control unit (not shown) of the public telephone via the circuit board 60. This control unit determines the insertion and removal of the card from the on / off state of the microswitch 61 in addition to the normal call control,
The rewriting process of the frequency information for the inserted card is performed via the.

Next, the operation of the card processing device 20 will be described. Regular IC card 1 is in card slot 2
2 is supported on both sides by the guide grooves 24, 24, and is inserted into the card insertion slot 23 side.
The lower edge of the card 6b abuts against the leading edge of the card, the lever 26b is pushed upward, the shutter member 26 rotates, and the shutter 26a integral with the lever 26b is inserted into the card slot 23. The legitimate card is retracted upward from the rear part, and is made to enter the card accommodating section 34 from the card insertion slot. The regular card that has entered the card storage unit 34 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a) of FIG. 5, the light passes through the lower part of each contact terminal 39 while being slightly pushed down by the inclined portion 36, and the tip thereof contacts the card receiver 46 of the slide member 45.

As described above, foreign matter such as a defective card, a piece of paper, a coin, or the like, which is less than the regular width, is not applied to the lever 2.
If it is attempted to directly insert into the card insertion slot 23 without passing through the guide groove 24 on the 6b side, the lever portion 26b
Is not pushed upward, the card insertion slot 23 is kept closed by the shutter portion 26a, and entry of foreign matter such as a defective card is prevented.

Further, when the card is pushed in, the slide member 45 is pushed by the card and slides backward, and the cam portion 49 of the slide member 45 circumscribes the inclined portion 55 of each contact piece 55. When the pressing member 52 rotates so that one surface side thereof approaches the terminal plate 38 side and the sliding member 45 slides to a position where it comes into contact with the rear inner wall of the frame 31 as shown in FIG. The member 52 is pivoted to a substantially horizontal state, and the card 1 is pushed up from the lower surface by the elastic member 54 to connect each external terminal 2 of the card to each contact terminal 3.
9

At this time, the middle part of the card is
As a result, the external terminal portion is pushed upward by the card pressing member 52, so that a force is exerted on the contact portion with the inclined portion 33 to bend the card, but this force is weak, and This part does not contain an integrated circuit and does not render the card unusable.

The return force of the slide member 45 by the spring 48 is set to be smaller in advance than the frictional force on the card caused by a slight bending of the card, and the cam 49 of the slide member 45 Since the card comes into contact with the parallel portion 55b of the contact piece 55 of the pressing member 52 and receives the moment of the card pressing member 52 only in the upward direction, the card does not return even if the card is released in this state.

In this state, the microswitch 61
The movable portion 61a is pushed by the spring hook 47 of the slide member 45 to be turned on. When the ON of the micro switch 61 is detected, reading of frequency information from the memory in the IC card via each contact terminal 39 and reduction processing for the usage frequency are performed, and the call or the like is terminated and the card is pulled out. Then, the slide member 45 is returned forward by the spring 48, the micro switch 61 is turned off, the card pressing member 52 is rotated by its own weight, and returns to the original state (the state of FIG. 2).

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when a defective card 3 shorter than the distance from the card insertion slot 23 to the card receiver 46 is inserted into the card insertion slot 23, the defective card 3 is inserted into the slide member. Since the rear end of the card enters the card holder 34 before reaching the card receiver 46 of the card holder 45, the defective card is
Is discharged downward from the lower surface of the opening. Therefore, there is no hindrance to the next card insertion, and there is no possibility that the use of the device becomes impossible.

The card receiver 4 is inserted through the card insertion slot 23.
When a defective card longer than the distance up to 6 and shorter than the regular card is inserted, the card cannot push the slide member 45 all the way to the rear, so that a force in the direction of returning the card is always generated by the spring, and the hand is moved. When released, the bad card is pushed out. Further, the defective card is forcibly pushed into the card insertion slot 23 and
Even if a is closed, when another card is inserted next and the shutter 26a retracts upward, the card returns to the card insertion slot 23 side, or the rear end of the defective card is moved by the shutter 26a. The card is lifted upward, and its tip is shifted below the card receiver 46 and is ejected from the opening of the card accommodating portion 34, so that the next card can be inserted without any trouble.

As described above, in this IC card processing apparatus, the above-described card receiving mechanism prevents foreign matter such as a defective card having a width smaller than that of a regular card from entering, and prevents card jamming due to the foreign matter. The external terminal can be reliably received to a position where the external terminal contacts the contact terminal without applying excessive external force to the card.

[0043]

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the present invention is applied to an IC card processing apparatus for manually inserting and extracting a card. The present invention is also applied to a card processing device that has a mechanism for transporting an inserted card, pulls in the inserted card from the card insertion slot, and discharges the card after the reading and writing process from the card insertion slot or the card ejection slot. can do.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the card receiving mechanism of the card processing device for reading and writing the prepaid IC card has been described. However, the card processing for reading the information of the ID card for identifying an individual is described. The present invention can be similarly applied to a card receiving mechanism used in the device.

[0045]

As described above, the card receiving mechanism of the present invention comprises a pair of guide portions for regulating the movement in the card width direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the card inserted into the card insertion slot, and the card insertion slot. , A shutter member rotatably provided to prevent the card inserted into the card insertion slot from entering, and a support member rotatably supporting the shutter member, the shutter member comprising: Is provided at a position close to at least one of the pair of guides, and has an inclined edge which comes into contact with the leading end of the inserted card. When this edge comes into contact with the card, it turns in the thickness direction of the card. A lever portion pivotally supported by the support portion so as to move, a shutter portion having a surface for preventing entry of a card inserted into the card insertion slot, and being integrally supported with the lever portion by the support portion; Shutter And a biasing member for applying a biasing force for rotating the card inserted from the card insertion slot in a direction for preventing the card from being inserted. When the card inserted from the card insertion slot is a regular card, the inclined edge is The shutter is configured to rotate against the urging force of the urging member and to enter the regular card by receiving a force applied to the unit.

For this reason, even when a thick card such as an IC card is received, a regular card can be selectively received, and the inclination of the lever portion is adjusted according to the thickness of the inserted card. Since the lever portion of the shutter member and the shutter portion are integrally formed so that the moving amount of the edge portion directly reflects the opening amount of the shutter portion, the shutter is mechanically opened and closed using a complicated link mechanism or the like. It can be manufactured at a low cost and with high accuracy with a simple structure as compared with the one with less trouble and high reliability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, in which a cover and a circuit board are omitted.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of an embodiment of a card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied when a regular card is inserted.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a card processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied when a defective card is inserted.

FIG. 9 shows an IC card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 IC card processing device 22 Card slot 23 Card insertion slot 24 Guide groove 26 Shutter member 26a Shutter portion 26b Lever portion 26c Shaft portion 30 Leaf spring 31 Frame 35 Bearing

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A pair of guide portions for regulating movement in a card width direction orthogonal to an insertion direction of a card to be inserted into a card insertion slot; and a guide portion disposed near the card insertion slot and inserted into the card insertion slot. A card receiving mechanism comprising: a shutter member rotatably provided so as to prevent the card from entering; and a supporting portion rotatably supporting the shutter member. It is provided at a position close to at least one of the guides, and has an inclined edge that comes into contact with the tip of the inserted card, so that when the edge comes into contact with the card, it rotates in the thickness direction of the card. A lever portion pivotally supported by the support portion, a shutter portion having a surface for preventing entry of a card inserted into the card insertion slot, and being integrally supported with the lever portion by the support portion; An urging member for applying an urging force to rotate the shutter portion in a direction for preventing the card inserted from the card insertion slot from entering, and the card inserted from the card insertion slot is a regular card. A card receiving mechanism for receiving the force applied to the sloping edge portion and rotating the shutter portion against the urging force of the urging member to allow the regular card to enter.