JP2750479B2 - Card reader / writer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader / writer which is mounted on an automatic teller machine installed in a financial institution or the like and handles a magnetic stripe card such as a cash card or a prepaid card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of card reader / writer has a thickness of 0.68 to 0.80 mm and a thickness of 0.68 to 0.80 mm for a cash card and a prepaid card, although the external dimensions of a cash card and a prepaid card are the same. 0.18
Since it is different from 5 to 0.235 mm, a dedicated card reader / writer device was required for each.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional card reader / writer for cash cards, and FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a conventional card reader / writer for prepaid cards.

In both figures, 1 is a driving roller for running the inserted card, 2 is a magnetic head for reading or writing the magnetic stripe of the card, 3 is a roller for sucking / discharging the card, and 4a to 4d. Is a card running detection sensor composed of a light emitting / receiving element for monitoring card running, and 5 is a card insertion / ejection port. Here, in these two types of card reader / writer devices, the gap of the drive roller 1 is made exclusively for each target card such that a> b according to the target card.

The operations of the two types of card reader / writers are the same. That is, a cash card is inserted from the card insertion / ejection port 5 of the apparatus shown in FIG. was sucked into, perform read or write of the magnetic stripe by the magnetic head 2 is pulled into the apparatus by the drive roller 1, the card processed is conveyed to the card insertion outlet 5 by the drive roller 1, the card insertion ejected by rollers 3 It was discharged from mouth 5.

[0006]

Therefore, in the conventional device, both the cash card and the prepaid card cannot be read / written by one device. For example, when the prepaid card is to be handled by a cash card reader / writer, the internal device is not used. Due to the wide gap of the card driving roller, the traveling of the prepaid card becomes impossible, so that the card cannot be sucked or ejected while being pushed, and the card remains in the apparatus, resulting in an obstacle to the apparatus. Conversely, if the reader / writer for the prepaid guide attempts to handle the cash card, the card travel speed will be changed by hitting a card driving roller in the apparatus. For this reason, there has been a problem that a reading failure or a writing failure such as a jitter failure occurs in magnetically stored data at regular intervals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a configuration in which both a cash card and a prepaid card can be satisfactorily run, and enables a single device to handle the cash card and the prepaid card. It is an object of the present invention to reduce capital investment, save installation space, and the like.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sets the gap of the driving roller on the traveling path to an appropriate value according to the type of the inserted card.

That is, the present invention comprises a transport mechanism for nipping and transporting a magnetic card inserted from a card insertion / ejection port, a magnetic head for reading and writing magnetic information on the magnetic card, and a card travel detection sensor. Te card reader writer smell, a customer operation unit customer to key in the thickness information of the card, the correction to gap correction gap of the conveying mechanism by a plurality of links that are electrically controlled by combining the transfer mechanism And a drive unit for electrically controlling the gap correction mechanism based on the card thickness information input from the customer operation unit to correct the gap of the transport mechanism to a gap corresponding to the thickness of the card. It is characterized by the following.

[0010]

[Action] This onset bright by the above configuration, when the customer is a key input by the customer operation unit thickness information of the magnetic card to be inserted using the card insertion outlet, the driving means by the thickness information of the inputted card Electrically controls the gap correction mechanism to correct the gap of the transport mechanism to a gap corresponding to the thickness of the magnetic card.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a drive roller for running the inserted card,
2 is a magnetic head for reading or writing the magnetic stripe of the card, 3 is a roller for sucking / discharging the card, 4a to 4d are card running detection sensors each comprising a light emitting / receiving element for monitoring the running of the card, Reference numeral 5 denotes a card insertion / ejection port.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a thickness detector for detecting the thickness of the inserted card. Reference numerals 7, 8, and 9 denote links. These links 7, 8, and 9 constitute a link mechanism for changing the gap of the driving roller. Configure. 10 is a plunger magnet for controlling the gap of the driving roller 1, 11 is a magnet control circuit for controlling the operation of the plunger magnet based on a signal from the thickness detection unit, 12 is a spring,
The link mechanism is normally fixed by a spring 12 so that the gap of the drive roller 1 is wider.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part showing details of the structure of the thickness detector 6. Figure smell Te, 1 a thickness detection roller 13 is a lever for holding said thickness detection roller 1a on one end, the lever 13 rotates the pivot 14 to the shaft. 1
5 is when nothing is inserted or the thickness is 0.235m
m, a thickness detection sensor that turns on when the thickness is 0.68 to 0.80 mm, 17 a card, and 18 a thickness detection circuit.

The detection operation is as follows. That is, when the card 17 is inserted, the thickness detecting roller 1a is pushed up in the direction of arrow a about the fulcrum 14. When the sensor 16 is turned on, the cash card is determined, and when the sensor 15 is turned on, the cash card is determined as a prepaid card.

The operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described. First, the card 1 inserted from the card insertion / ejection port 5
7 is drawn into the inside of the apparatus by the driving roller 1, and at the same time, detects whether the inserted card 17 is a cash card or a prepaid card by the thickness detecting section 6, and operates the plunger magnet 10 based on the detection signal.

For example, when the thickness detecting unit 6 determines that the inserted card 17 is a cash card, the activation signal is not transmitted to the magnet control circuit 11. Therefore, the gap of the drive roller 1 is fixed to the wider link mechanism by the biasing force of the spring 12. Therefore, it functions as equivalent to the conventional card reader / writer of FIG.

When the thickness detecting unit 6 determines that the inserted card 17 is a prepaid card, an operation signal is transmitted to the magnet control circuit 11 to operate the plunger magnet 10 and the link 9 is connected to the plunger magnet 1.
The link 8 moves to the 0 side, and the link 8 partially rotates rightward. Accordingly, the link 7, that is, the drive roller 1 is pushed upward, and the gap of the drive roller 1 is narrowed, and the link 7 operates as a card reader / writer corresponding to a thin prepaid card.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The description of the same mechanism as in FIG. 5 is omitted, and the same reference numerals are used. This is to judge the type of the card based on the input instruction of the customer without depending on the thickness detecting section, and to control the operation of the link mechanism section.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 19 denotes a customer operation unit. In this embodiment, the customer operation unit 19 is provided with an input key for the customer to input the type of the card 17. 20 is a main control unit,
The main control unit 20 determines whether the card inserted by the operation of the customer operation unit 19 is a cash card or a prepaid card.

With the above configuration, the inserted card 17
Is determined as a cash card by the main control unit 20,
An operation signal is not transmitted to the magnet control circuit 11. Therefore, the gap of the drive roller 1 is fixed to the wider link mechanism by the biasing force of the spring 12.
Therefore, it functions as equivalent to the conventional card reader / writer of FIG.

When the main controller 20 determines that the inserted card 17 is a prepaid card, the main controller 20 sends an activation signal to the magnet control circuit 11 to operate the plunger magnet 10, and the link 9 is connected to the plunger magnet 10 side. , And the link 8 partially rotates rightward. Accordingly, the link 7, that is, the drive roller 1 is pushed upward, and the gap of the drive roller 1 is narrowed, and the link 7 operates as a card reader / writer corresponding to a thin prepaid card.

In the case of the configuration as in the second embodiment,
Customer input is not always correct. As a result, if a thin prepaid card is erroneously inserted, the gap of the card driving roller 1 in the apparatus is wide, so that the running of the prepaid card becomes impossible. Remains in the apparatus, resulting in equipment failure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a third embodiment of the present invention, which is a configuration for obviating the above-described problem of the second embodiment. The hardware configuration of the device is the second
Therefore, the description is omitted, and the same reference numerals are used.

First, in a normal transaction, when the card 17 is inserted (S1), the card running detection sensor 4a checks whether there is a card running abnormality in the card reader / writer device.
4d (S2). If there is no running abnormality, read / write processing is executed (SA1). In addition,
During this time, it is monitored by the card running detection sensors 4a to 4d whether there is any card running abnormality in the card reader / writer device (SA2).

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a traveling abnormality, the discharging operation is performed by the drive roller 1 (S3). If the discharging is not completed (S4), the main control unit 20 sends an operation signal to the magnet control circuit 11. Sends a message, activates the plunger magnet 10, and the link 9 indicates the plunger magnet 1
The link 8 moves to the 0 side, and the link 8 partially rotates rightward. Accordingly, the link 7, that is, the drive roller 1 is pushed upward, so that the gap of the drive roller 1 is narrowed, whereby operation control can be performed even on a thin card such as a prepaid card (S5). After such a state, the drive roller 1 and the suction / discharge roller 3 are driven in the discharge direction to discharge the card 17 remaining inside the apparatus (S6). Finally, the suction of the plunger magnet 10 is released and the gap of the drive roller 1 is returned to the initial state (S
7).

[0026]

As has been described in detail, according to the present invention, the present invention is, 顧
When a customer inserts a card from the card insertion slot,
The thickness detection means detects the thickness of the inserted card and
Detection signal electrically output from the detection means as the detection result
Signal, the drive means electrically controls the gap correction mechanism
The gap of the transport mechanism according to the thickness of the magnetic card
To correct the gap or the customer inserts and ejects the card
Information on the thickness of the magnetic card to be inserted
When the key is entered by the work, the thickness of the entered card
The drive means electrically controls the gap correction mechanism based on the
Control the gap of the transport mechanism according to the thickness of the magnetic card.
To compensate for the gap
The gap of the transport mechanism can be set to an appropriate value according to the thickness of the carrier .

[0027] As a result, it becomes possible to run a magnetic card of both the cash card and prepaid card well, respectively, and enables the handling of cash card and prepaid card in one piece of equipment, capital investment of the user This has the effect of realizing reduction of installation, saving of installation space, and the like. Further, in the configuration including the thickness detecting means of the present invention,
According to the report, separate thickness detection means and gap correction mechanism
Therefore, the effect that each can be configured with an appropriate design
Magnetically controlled by electrically controlling the gap correction mechanism.
To correct the gap according to the thickness of the card.
There is also obtained an effect that control can be performed with a pull configuration. Furthermore,
According to the configuration including the customer operation unit of the present invention, the customer
Depending on the card thickness information entered, the gap compensation mechanism
Electrically controlled to create gaps according to magnetic card thickness
The effect of being able to control with a simple configuration to compensate
Is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part side view showing details of a configuration of a thickness detecting unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drive roller 2 Magnetic head 3 Roller 4a-4d Card running detection sensor 5 Card insertion / ejection port 6 Thickness detection section 7, 8, 9 Link 10 Plunger magnet 11 Magnet control circuit 12 Spring 19 Customer operation section 20 Main control section

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card reader / writer device comprising: a transport mechanism for nipping and transporting a magnetic card inserted from a card insertion / ejection port; a magnetic head for reading and writing magnetic information on the magnetic card; and a card travel detection sensor. in the customer operation unit for customers to key in thickness information of the card, the gap correction mechanism for correcting a gap in the transport mechanism by a plurality of links that are electrically controlled in combination with the transport mechanism, the customer operation Card thickness information entered from the
And a drive unit for electrically controlling the gap correction mechanism to correct the gap of the transport mechanism to a gap corresponding to the thickness of a card. 2. A card running detection sensor detects whether the card is running.
When good is detected, the ejection action to eject the poor running card is performed.
2. The card reader / writer device according to claim 1, wherein the operation is performed .