JP2834979B2 - Branch path mechanism of card reader - 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 passage branching mechanism in a card reader for processing a magnetic card or the like.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of flaps to switch card paths is already known. For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-1
The branch passage mechanism of the passage described in Japanese Patent No. 22546 discloses a flap that is urged in one direction by a spring and is rotatably supported above the card passage by a roller provided on a slider connected to a plunger such as a solenoid. The card path is switched by moving the roller and rotating the flap by operating the plunger and sliding the slider.

[0003]

However, in the branch passage mechanism having such a structure, when a card conveyed in the card passage waits at a predetermined position, the flap is switched to make the branch passage communicate with the card passage. However, if the standby card is deformed, the deformed portion interferes with the flap and pushes up the flap urged to the switching position by the spring, which hinders the passage switching operation. There's a problem.

As a countermeasure against such a problem, it is conceivable to increase the spring force for urging the flap to increase the correction force of the flap against the deformed card. However, if the spring force is increased, the load on the roller and the flap is reduced. Since the size of the plunger increases, the suction force of the plunger also needs to be increased.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a card path through which a card according to the present invention is conveyed, a branch path separated from the card path, and a rotatable switching flap disposed at a branch portion of both paths. A branch path mechanism of the card reader that rotates the switching flap to communicate the card path and the branch path is provided on an extension of the card path beyond the switching flap, and a retreat section for avoiding overlap with a subsequent card, and a retreat section. Mechanical forcible rotation means which operates when the card is located in the section and switches to a branch position for communicating the card passage with the branch passage, and regulates the flap.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the rotatable switching flap provided at the branch of the card passage through which the card is conveyed is regulated to the branch position where the card passage and the branch passage are communicated by the mechanical forcible rotating means. The switching flap is mechanically held in the branch position.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a card reader employing the branch passage mechanism of the present invention. This card reader 1
FIG. 7 shows a magnetic card C including a relatively thick hard card C1 such as a cash card shown in FIG. 7A and a soft card C2 represented by a transfer ticket shown in FIG.
The IC card C3 shown in FIG.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A card reader 1 has a linear card path 3 for taking in and conveying each card from an insertion slot 2, and shutters S1 and S for restricting each card from entering the card path 3.
2, the card passage 3 of the tip of the card provided in the side saving unit 4, the branch passage 5 for collecting or issuing the magnetic card C, switching flap 6 (hereinafter referred to as "flap" 6) and mechanical force rotating means 7 And

The card passage 3 is formed between the side plates 8 and 9 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and an inner wall 9a of the side plate 9 serves as a reference surface for card conveyance. In card passage 3,
Transport roller pairs 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are arranged.

A shutter S1 is disposed between the transport roller 10 and the insertion slot 2, and a shutter S2 is disposed between the transport roller pair 10 and the transport roller pair 11. The shutters S1 and S2 are rotatably supported about an axis O shown in FIG. 2, and are movable in and out of the card passage 3 by a solenoid (not shown).

For example, normally, when the shutter S2 enters the card passage 3, the shutter S1 is placed in a retracted state from the passage, and the one inserted into the insertion slot 2 is a magnetic card C or an IC card. If it is C3, the shutter S2 is opened to allow the card to be taken in, and when the card is taken into the card passage, the shutter S1 is closed so that foreign matter or the card is not taken in continuously. .

The drive rollers 10a, 11a, 12a, 13a, and 14a located below each transport roller pair are
Shafts 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15
E respectively. The driven rollers 10b, 11b, 12b, 13b, 14b located on the upper side are in contact with the driving rollers 10a, 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a, respectively.

The shafts 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15
Each of E has a pulley 16 fixed outside the side plate 8. A roller 17 rotatably supported is provided between each pulley 16. Each pulley 16 and roller 1
An endless belt 18 is alternately wound around 7.

A large-diameter drive pulley 19 is fixed to the shaft 15C, and a small-diameter drive pulley 21 fixed to a drive shaft 20a of a forward / reverse rotatable motor 20 as a drive source. A drive belt 22 is wound between the two.

The shaft 15E is disposed so as to extend over the retracting section 4 and the card passage 3. A pulley 27, which is one component of a transport unit of the retraction unit 4 described later, is fixed to the shaft 15E, and a knob 57 with a knurl is fixed outside the pulley 27. The knob 57 is for manually rotating the shaft 15E when the device fails.

As shown in FIG. 2, a magnetic head 23 (A, B) is disposed opposite to the side plate 9 and on the axis of the shaft 15C, and the magnetic head 23B is mounted on the support plate 24. Have been. The support plate 24 has one side 24a supported by the bottom plate 3A of the transport path 3, and is urged upward from below the bottom plate 3A by a spring (not shown) so that the magnetic head 23B faces the card path 3. The opposing magnetic head 23A is supported by an upper plate of a card passage (not shown) in the same configuration as the magnetic head 23B.

The magnetic head 23 (A, B) is shown in FIG.
b) Magnetic stripes C1a, C1a of the cards C1, C2 shown in FIG.
C2a is contacted to read magnetic information recorded on the stripe, or to record magnetic information on the stripe. The magnetic head 23A corresponds to the magnetic stripe C1a, and the magnetic head 23B corresponds to the magnetic stripe C1.
2a, they are arranged to face each other with the card path 3 interposed therebetween.

Here, the magnetic card C and the IC card C3 will be described. The hard card C1 shown in FIG. 7A has a magnetic stripe C1 on one side of a card body made of vinyl chloride.
a is provided. In this magnetic stripe C1a,
In the case of a cash card, personal information such as an account number, a name and a personal identification number is recorded as magnetic information, and the information is read by the magnetic head 23A, or
Magnetic information is recorded as needed.

The soft card C2 shown in FIG. 7 (b) has a magnetic stripe C2a provided on the back side of a card body formed of cardboard, and the magnetic stripe C2a has a bank name, account number, or transfer destination to which the transfer is made. Various types of information, such as the account holder and the transferor, are recorded as magnetic information, read by the magnetic head 23B, and rewritten as necessary. A part of the content of the magnetic information and the like are printed on a surface (not shown) of the soft card C2.

The IC card C3 is a card having electric recording means (not shown) therein, and reads (reproduces) information stored in the recording means and writes (records) information in the recording means. magnetic stripe C3a is provided with input and output unit C3b and magnetic <br/> air information for is recorded.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, near the insertion slot 2, a magnetic head 26 as card detecting means faces the card path 3 from above and below. The magnetic head 26 detects the type of the card based on the presence / absence of a magnetic signal of the card. In this case, the magnetic head 26 is a trigger for controlling the activation of the motor 20, the driving of a solenoid described later, and the opening and closing operations of the shutters S1 and S2. Department.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the retracting portion 4 is formed on the extension of the card passage 3 and between the side plates 8 and 9 and forms a straight line with the card passage 3. The back end 4a of the retreat unit 4 is closed and serves as a stopper for the IC card C3. The inner end 4a is a movable card conveying direction and discussed later in response to displacement of the distal end IC
The contact 56 descends and is pressed against the IC card C3.

In the retracting section 4, a conveying roller pair 29 composed of a roller 29a fixed to the shaft 15F and a roller 29b rotatably supported above the roller 15F, and an input / output section C3b of the IC card C3 An IC contact 56 for recording and reproducing information by contacting the information is disposed.

A pulley 40 is rotatably supported on a shaft 15 F located outside the side plate 8, and a drive belt 41 is wound around the pulley 40. A drive gear 42 that rotates integrally with the pulley 40, a shaft 15F,
A driven gear 43 that rotates integrally with F is provided. That is, the conveying means K of the retracting section 4 is constituted by the roller pair 29, the pulleys 27 and 40, the belt 41, and the gears 42, 43 and 44.

The IC contacts 56 are a plurality of contact pieces that are inclined leftward and downward with respect to the card insertion direction indicated by the arrow A, and are arranged side by side with the main body block 55.
When the sheet 3 is conveyed to the evacuation section 4, it comes into pressure contact with the input / output section C3b.

As shown in FIG. 1, support shafts 30 and 31 are supported on the side plates 8 located at both ends of the card passage 3 and the retracting section 4. A sprocket 32 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 30, and a sprocket 33 is fixed to the support shaft 31. A chain 34 is wound around the sprockets 32 and 33.
A projection claw 35 is fixed to a part of.

The protruding claws 35 are normally located at positions retreated from the card passage 3 and the retreat section 4, and the cards C1, C
2 and 3 enter the transport path 3 and the evacuation section 4 when the card path 3 and the evacuation section 4 are clogged.

That is, when the cards C1, C2 and C3 are jammed, the support shaft 31 is driven by a drive motor (not shown) separate from the drive motor 20, and the projection claws 35 enter the card passage 3 and the retreating part 4 and become jammed. The card is hooked and conveyed to the insertion section 2 forcibly. As shown in FIG. 3, between the pair of conveying rollers 14 and the pair of rollers 29 which form a branch of the card path 3.
As shown in FIG. 4, a flap 6 and a mechanical turning means 7 are arranged. As shown in FIG. 5, the flap 6 has a distal end 6a which is divided into a plurality of parts, extends to the vicinity of the shaft 15E, and rotatably supports the base end 6b with the shaft 36.

The flap 6 has a retreat position from the card passage 3 shown by a solid line in FIG. 4 and a branch position into the card passage 3 shown by a two-dot chain line to communicate the branch passage 6 with the card passage 3. Swingable between them. On the upper surface 6c substantially at the center of the flap 6, a crank-shaped connecting arm 37 constituting one of the mechanical turning means 7 is integrally formed.

One end 37a of the connecting arm 37 is located below the retreating part 4 outside the side plate 9, and a tension spring 38 is locked to the one end 37a to pull the connecting arm 37 downward. It is biased toward the branch position.

The mechanical turning means 7 is mainly composed of a U-shaped slide hole 59 provided in the connecting arm 37, a pin 58 engaging with the slide hole 59, and a plunger 45 moving the slider 46. You.

As shown in FIG. 6, the slide hole 59 has one end 59a extending in the card insertion direction, and the other end 59b inclined upward toward the card insertion side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pin 58 is fixed to the side plate of the slider 46 so as to cross the card passage 3, and is located at one end 59a of the hole when the flap 6 is in the retracted position. , When in the branch position,
It is located on the other end 59b side.

The clutch mechanism includes a drive gear 42 and a driven gear 43 supported by the shaft 15F, a clutch gear 44 as an intermediate gear supported by the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 43 so as to be able to contact and separate, and a connection and separation of the clutch gear 44. It is mainly composed of a slider 46 and a plunger 45 as a driving member for performing an operation, and these are arranged below the retreat unit 4 and the card passage 3.

The clutch gear 44 includes gears 44A and 44B which mesh with the driven and driven gears 43 and 42, respectively, and is supported by a long hole 8c provided in the side plate 8 and extending in the direction of arrow c (vertical direction). The shafts 47 are rotatably supported on the shafts 47, respectively. A coil spring 60 is inserted into the elongated hole 8c, and urges the shaft 47 toward the slider 46. The directions of arrows a and b and the direction of arrow c are directions that intersect. The gear 44A is formed to be slightly smaller than the gear 44B while keeping the pitch of the teeth.

The slider 46 is formed by sheet metal working, and is arranged so as to cross the card passage 3. The slider 46 has a flat surface 28 that contacts the shaft 47.
A guide portion 28 composed of A and a slope 28B is formed.
The slider 46 is located in the notches 8b, 9b of the side plates 8, 9, and is connected to the plunger 45 via the movable piece 45a and the shaft 48, and is slid in the direction of arrow a by the operation of the plunger 45. You.

When the shaft 47 is in contact with the flat surface 28A, the clutch gear 44 causes the gears 42, 4 to move.
3 is moved by an operation of the plunger 45 to an initial position where the shaft 47 contacts the inclined surface 28B and a retracted position where the engagement between the clutch gear 44 and the gears 42 and 43 is released.

Further, the other end of a tension coil spring 49, one end of which is fixed to an unillustrated portion, is locked to both ends of the slider 46 on the return side, respectively, so that the slider 46 is moved toward the initial position. A biasing return spring is configured (see FIG. 3).

The plunger 45 has a movable piece 45a when energized.
Is pulled into the main body, and is energized according to information such as whether a predetermined card is located in the retreat unit 4 or information such as the magnetic head 26 shown in FIGS. Operate. In this embodiment, the evacuation unit 4
When the IC card C3 is located in the plunger 4,
5 is set to operate.

The branch passage 5 is formed so as to rise leftward in the figure from the vicinity of the roller pair 14 to the upper side of the evacuation section 4, and one end 5a thereof has a transfer ticket issuing machine (not shown), a card collection section, and the like. Is connected to The branch passage 5
When the flap 6 is at the solid line position, the communication with the card path 3 is cut off. When the flap 6 is at the two-dot chain line, the other end 5b communicates with the card path 3. At this time, the flap 6 constitutes a part of the bottom plate 5c of the branch passage 5.

In the branch passage 5, rollers 52a, 53a which rotate integrally with shafts 15H, 15G to which drive pulleys 50, 51 are fixed, respectively, and transport rollers 52 comprising rollers 52b, 53b driven by the rollers 52a, 53a. , 5
3 are provided.

A belt 54 driven by a drive motor (not shown) is wound around the drive pulleys 50 and 51. The drive motor (not shown) is driven when the magnetic head 26 shown in FIG. 2 detects a magnetic card, when the flap 6 is switched, or when a soft card C2 (transfer ticket) is issued. In this embodiment, the IC card C3 is inserted first, and the magnetic card C is inserted later. Each inserted card is returned to the insertion slot 2 and ejected.

The operation of the cart reader 1 and the branch passage mechanism thus configured will be described. First, the IC card C3 is inserted into the insertion slot 2, and when the magnetic signal of the stripe C3a is detected by the magnetic head 26, the shutter S2 is opened and the drive motor 20 is started to drive the drive shaft 20a. Then, since the pulley 21 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the pulley 19 via the belt 22, and the shaft 15C is driven to rotate.

When the shaft 15C is driven to rotate, the belt 1
8, the shafts 15A to 15E, to which the pulleys 16 are fixed, respectively, rotate at the same time, and the conveying roller pairs 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 in the card path 3 are driven, and the IC card C3 is taken in. The card is conveyed through the card passage 3. After the card C3 has passed over the magnetic head 26, the card path 3
The shutter S1 is closed. Therefore, continuous insertion of the card and insertion of foreign matter into the card path 3 are restricted.

When the shaft 15E rotates, the integral pulley 27 also rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the pulley 40 via the belt 41, and the integral drive gear 42 rotates. Plunger 4
5 is in a non-operating state, the clutch gear 44 is meshed with both the gears 42 and 43 by the spring force of the tension coil spring 49, and the rotation of the gear 42 causes the teeth 44B to 44A of the clutch gear 44 to rotate. The driving force is transmitted to the driven gear 43 via the driving gear 43. Therefore, the shaft 15F rotates to drive the transport roller pair 29 in the retreat unit 4.

At this time, since the plunger 45 is not operated, the pin 58 is held at the one end 59a of the slide hole 59. Therefore, the flap 6 is held by the slide hole 59 and the pin 58 against the spring force of the spring 38 so as to be retracted from the card path 3 shown by the solid line. IC card C3 to be conveyed is conveyed in the saving unit 4 linearly without being hampered the progress to the flap 6, the card tip to abut the inner end 4a, recording reproducible state of the IC card C3
Doo ing.

The slider 46 and the clutch gear 44
Is supported by a long hole 8c separate from the slider 46.
And is urged by a spring 60 in a direction (arrow c) intersecting (arrows a and b) in the direction of movement of the slider 46 and pressed against the plane 28A of the slider. The gear 42 and the gear 43 are held in an engaged state.

When a sensor (not shown) detects that the IC card C3 is located in the evacuation section 4, the plunger 45 is operated to retract the movable piece 45a, and the slider 46 is moved in the direction of arrow a as shown in FIG. It is slid. Then
The shaft 47, which is in contact with the flat surface 28A in synchronization with the operation of the slider 46, is guided downward along the inclined surface 28B and is pressed downward by the spring force of the spring 60, as indicated by the two-dot chain line. The gear 44 is disengaged from the driven and driven gears 42 and 43, and the drive to the roller pair 29 is cut off.

[0049]

As the slider 46 slides, the pin 58 moves from one end 59a of the slide hole 59 to the other end 59b. And, combined with the spring force of the spring 38, the flap 6
Pivots downward about the shaft 36 to forcibly switch to the entry position indicated by the two-dot chain line as the branch side position, and the card passage 3 and the branch passage 5 communicate with each other. That is, the flap 6 is forcibly rotated from the retracted position to the branch side position by the operation of the mechanical forcible rotation means 7, and is held at the branch side position.

Therefore, even if the card located in the retreat section 4 is a deformed card, the deformed card can be corrected by moving the pin 58 by the operation of the plunger 45 and forcibly moving the flap 6. Even if a card is inserted, the path can be switched .

[0052] In a state where the IC card C3 is positioned in the saving unit 4, the magnetic head 26 of insertion slot 2 is then inserted soft car
When the drive C2 is detected, a drive motor (not shown) is started to drive the belt 54 to drive the pair of rollers 52, 53 in the collection path 6.
To rotate. In other words, the soft mosquito <br/> over de inserted into the card passage 3 C2, the magnetic head 2 is conveyed in the card passage 3
3A, after the card treated with either 23B is made, is introduced conveyed to a separatory岐通path 5.

On the other hand, when the predetermined processing is completed, the drive motor and the motor 20 (not shown) are driven in the reverse direction to rotate the respective conveying roller pairs in the reverse direction. And is returned to the insertion slot 2.

When the magnetic card C is returned, the plunger 4
When the power is supplied to 5, the slider 46 is slid in the direction of the arrow b together with the shaft 47 by the spring 49. By this operation, the pin 58 moves from the other end 59b of the slide hole 59 toward one end 59a.

By this movement, the flap 6 is forcibly rotated to the solid line position, and the clutch gear 44 meshes with the drive gear 42 and the driven gear 43 to rotate in reverse.
Is transmitted to the roller pair 29 in the retracting section 4. Therefore, the IC card C3 once evacuated into the evacuation unit 4 is sent out from the evacuation unit 4 and returned to the insertion slot 2 through the card path 3.

In this embodiment, the IC card C3 is inserted first, and the magnetic card C is inserted later. However, the hard card C1 is inserted first, and the soft card C2 is inserted later. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a card reader. Also, a slide hole 59 provided in the flap 6 is provided.
May be a cam facing the pin 58, and means for mechanically forcing the flap 6 to rotate can be applied.

[0057]

According to the present invention, the position of the flap is forcibly defined by the mechanical forcible turning means, so that even if the deformed card interferes with the flap, the flap can be corrected. It can be performed stably. Further, since the position of the flap is forcibly defined by the mechanical forcible rotating means, it is not necessary to increase the size of the plunger due to an increase in the urging spring force, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the branch passage mechanism.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a card reader employing a branch passage mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a part of the configuration of the card reader shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a branch passage mechanism showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the branch passage mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a switching flap.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the operation of the switching flap.

7A is a plan view of a hard card used in a card reader, FIG. 7B is a bottom view of a soft card, and FIG. 7C is a plan view of an IC card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Card reader 3 Card passage 5 Branch passage 6 Switching flap 7 Mechanical forced rotation means 37 Connecting arm 38 Tension spring 45 Plunger 58 Pin 59 Slide hole C Magnetic card

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card path through which a card is conveyed, a branch path separated from the card path, a rotatable switching flap disposed at a branch portion of the two paths, and rotating the switching flap. A branch passage mechanism of a card reader that communicates the card passage with the branch passage, wherein the escape unit is provided on an extension of the card passage beyond the switching flap and avoids overlap with a subsequent card; A branch path mechanism for a card reader, comprising: mechanical forcible turning means for controlling the switching flap at a branch position for operating the card path and the branch path to communicate with each other when the card is located in the card path.