JP2839947B2 - Eject mechanism for IC card reader / writer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an IC that incorporates a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) into a card or the like and transfers information to or from an IC card having storage and arithmetic functions. In connection with the card reader / writer, especially when the IC card placed at an appropriate position in the IC card reader / writer is locked and information is being transferred to / from the IC card, even if the eject lever is erroneously operated, the The present invention relates to an eject mechanism of an IC card reader / writer that does not release a lock mechanism.

[Prior art] An IC card reader / writer that incorporates a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) into a card or the like, stores an IC card having storage and arithmetic functions in a card holder, and transfers information to and from the IC card has been developed. Is known.

In such an IC card reader / writer, the eject lever for taking out the IC card is locked by the interlock means after the transfer of information to / from the IC card arranged at an appropriate position in the card holder is completed. It was configured as follows.

This type of interlock means is disclosed in, for example,
It is known from EP 9973.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, an operating rod which moves forward and backward by excitation of a solenoid 14 at a position opposed to a locking piece 12 provided at a distal end of an eject lever 10 movable in a longitudinal direction.
A drive source including a drive source 16 is provided, and a swingable lock lever 18 is provided between the drive source and the eject lever locking piece 12.

That is, one end of the lock lever 18 locked by the pin 20 is locked by the operating rod 16 driven forward and backward by the solenoid 14 as the drive source, and the other end is biased clockwise by a spring, This lock lever is used for non-excitation.
The lever 18 is configured to swing to a retracted position so that the eject lever 10 can be moved.

Therefore, when information is being transferred to and from the IC card 22, the drive source is in the excited state and the locking lever 18 is turned counterclockwise by the retraction of the operating rod 16 against the urging force of the spring 24. Rock. As a result, the other end of the lock release lever 18 contacts the engaging piece 12 of the eject lever 10,
The forward movement of the eject lever 10 is prevented by the contact with the lock lever 18 so that the pushing operation of the eject lever 10 becomes impossible, and the ejection of the IC card due to an erroneous operation of the reader / writer can be prevented. .

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, such an interlock mechanism has few components and is simple, but has a disadvantage that operation reliability is poor.

In other words, when strong vibration or impact force is applied to the IC card reader / writer body or when the eject lever is pressed strongly, the acting force acts in the opposite direction to the suction force of the solenoid, In order to prevent spontaneous release of the lock caused by this, an excessive current is applied to the solenoid to increase the attraction force, thereby responding to this. Accordingly, the power consumption of the solenoid is increased, and when an excessive pressing force is applied to the eject lever, the lock lever is disengaged or the interlock mechanism is damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to press-engage an engagement protrusion of a lock lever with a notch formed on a side edge of an IC card via a lock release lever which is elastically urged. Is in the engaged state, the locking portion of the operation lever rotatably supported by the end of the eject lever can be engaged with the locking portion of the lock release lever when the eject lever is pushed in. When information is being exchanged with the IC card, the drive source is activated and the operation lever is rotated via the drive lever, so that the locking portion of the operation lever releases the lock. The ejector lever is configured so that it cannot be engaged with the lever, and the operating portion of the eject lever is formed to be bent so as to abut on a stepped portion formed on the front surface of the chassis. In spite of the pushing operation of the eject lever, the engagement state between the lock lever and the IC card is kept as it is, and even if an excessive pushing force acts on the eject lever, this is received by the stepped portion on the front of the chassis. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an eject mechanism of an IC card reader / writer that can more reliably perform an interlock operation without adversely affecting an internal mechanism and improve reliability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an IC card inserted from a card insertion slot on the front surface of a chassis having a box body is housed in a card holder fixed in the chassis and the IC is inserted. In the IC card reader / writer of the present invention for transferring information to and from a card, the IC card reader / writer is provided with an engaging projection at a tip to engage with a notch formed on a side edge of the IC card, and is turned to one side of the card holder. A lock lever movably supported, a lock release lever having a locking portion at one end and a center thereof rotatably supported at the upper portion on the other side of the card holder, a vicinity of a tip of the lock lever and the lock A link lever rotatably connecting the other end of the release lever; and a vicinity of the lock portion of the lock release lever for elastically pressing and engaging the engagement protrusion of the lock lever into the notch of the IC card. Hand biasing rotation Further, a sub-chassis on the chassis at the other side edge of the card holder, the guide portion being formed in the longitudinal direction, and a locking portion standing upright in parallel with the guide portion, and one end connected to a drive source. A drive lever rotatably supported by the sub-chassis and having an abutment portion at the other end; and an ejecter slidably guided and supported by the sub-chassis and elastically biased outward. A lever, a pivotally supported tip of the eject lever, a locking portion at one end and a guide pin at the other end, the locking portion and the guide pin being connected to the locking portion of the unlock lever; An operation lever that elastically presses and biases the contact portion of the drive lever, and a step formed on the front surface of the chassis to contact the bent portion formed on the eject lever and restrict the pushing operation of the eject lever. Compatible with attachment Characterized in that it.

[Operation] According to the interlock mechanism of the IC card reader / writer according to the present invention, the notch formed in the side edge of the IC card presses the engagement protrusion of the lock lever via the lock release lever which is elastically biased. When the engaging projection of the lock lever is in the engaged state, the locking portion of the operating lever rotatably supported by the tip of the eject lever releases the lock when the eject lever is pushed in. When it is possible to engage with the locking portion of the lever and information is being exchanged with the IC card, by activating the drive source and rotating the operation lever via the drive lever, The operation portion of the operation lever is formed so that the engagement portion of the operation lever cannot be engaged with the lock release lever, and the operation portion of the eject lever is bent so as to contact a stepped portion formed on the front surface of the chassis. Touch With this configuration, the engagement state between the lock lever and the IC card is maintained as it is despite the pushing operation of the eject lever due to a malfunction, and even if an excessive pressing force acts on the eject lever, Is received by the stepped portion on the front of the chassis, the interlock operation can be more reliably performed without damaging the internal mechanism, and the reliability can be improved.

[Embodiment] Next, an embodiment of an ejection mechanism of an IC card reader / writer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For convenience of explanation, the same parts as those of the conventional structure shown in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 2B is a plan view of the IC card reader / writer showing a state before the card is mounted, and FIG. 2B is a partial cross-sectional view of a portion A in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 shows an ejection mechanism of the IC card reader / writer, and FIG. 4 shows an interlock mechanism of the IC card reader / writer.

First, the interlock mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a) and 4.

That is, in the drawing, reference numeral 26 denotes a card holder, and this card holder 26 is a chassis 25 forming a box.
Is fixed to the upper surface of the bottom. And this card holder
The IC inserted in the proper state on the upper surface of one side (left side) of 26
A lock lever 28 for engaging and holding the card 22 is rotatably provided.

That is, one end of the lock lever 28 is rotatably supported by the pin 30, and the other end is provided with an engagement projection 32 which can be engaged with a notch formed on a side edge of the IC card 22. ing. Further, a contact piece 34 for restricting the rotation range of the lock lever 28 by contacting the engagement protrusion 32 at a different angle from the side face of the card holder is provided. Further, a pin 36 is provided on the upper surface near the contact piece 34.
Is standing.

On the other hand, a lock release lever 38 is rotatably supported via a pin 40 on the upper surface of the other side (right side) of the card holder 26.

At one end of the lock release lever 38, a locking portion 42 having a part thereof bent downward is formed, a hook 38a for locking a spring is provided near the locking portion 42, and a through-pin hole is formed at the other end. 46 are drilled. The lock release lever 38 is urged clockwise by a tension spring 45 locked to the hook 50a at the tip of the sub-chassis 50 to be described later.

As described above, the pins 36 of the lock lever 28 and the pin holes 46 of the lock release lever 38 provided on both sides of the card holder 26 are provided.
Are the pin holes provided at both ends of the link lever 48, respectively.
36a and the engagement pin 46a are rotatably connected to each other.

Next, FIG. 1 (a) and FIG.
This will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

That is, a sub-chassis 50 in which a guide portion 51 is formed on the right side of the card holder 26 in the longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the bottom of the chassis 25.
Are fixed with small screws 50b via four stepped collars 64, and a stepped portion of the collar 64 forms a space between the lower surface of the sub-chassis 50 and the bottom surface of the chassis 25.

An eject lever 52 is inserted into a space formed between the lower surface of the sub-chassis 50 and the bottom surface of the chassis 25, and the eject lever 52 is slidably engaged with the sub-chassis 50 in the longitudinal direction. .

That is, the eject lever 52 has a stepped collar 64 that supports the sub-chassis 50 inserted and engaged with the sub-chassis 50 in a pair of long holes 52b formed in series in the longitudinal direction of the lever 52. It is slidably held between the stepped portion of the stepped collar 64 and the stepped portion.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the end of the eject lever 52 is bent in an L-shape, and an operation button 52d is provided in the bent portion 52c.

One end of the eject lever 52 locks the hook 52a of the eject lever 52 to the other end of the tension spring 45, the other end of which is locked to the hook 50a at the end of the sub-chassis 50, and this is constantly elastically urged outward. I have.

Further, a pin 58 is erected on the upper surface of the distal end of the eject lever 52, and the operation lever 56 is rotatably locked to the pin 58.

A locking portion 60 for locking to the locking portion 42 of the lock release lever 38 is formed at one end of the operation lever 56, and a guide pin 62 is implanted downward at the other end.

In addition, the eject lever 52 has a bent portion 52c formed at the operation side end, and the pushing of the lever 52 causes the chassis 25 to be pushed.
Is formed so as to come into contact with a stepped portion 100 formed on the front surface of the ejector lever 52, and the amount of pushing of the eject lever 52 is regulated by the contact with the stepped portion.

In this case, in a state where the eject lever 52 is pushed in and the bent portion 52c and the stepped portion 100 are in contact with each other, the end of the elongated hole 52b formed in the eject lever 52 is inserted and engaged therewith. It is configured such that a slight gap can be formed with respect to the side surface of the small-diameter step portion of the stepped collar 64.

As a result, even if an excessive pressing force is applied to the eject lever 52, this is safely transmitted without being transmitted to the internal mechanism.

On the other hand, a solenoid 14 as a drive source is provided at the tip of the sub-chassis 50, and an operating rod 16 is provided on the solenoid 14 so as to be able to move in the axial direction by excitation of the solenoid. A drive lever 68 is rotatably supported by a pin 70 provided on the sub-chassis 50 in the vicinity of the solenoid.

The drive lever 68 has an elongate hole 68a formed at one end thereof to pass through the pin 72 of the operating rod 16, and a contact portion at the other end which can be brought into contact with the guide pin 62 of the operation lever 56 by a rotation operation.
74 are formed.

A guide 76 is formed on the upper surface of the sub-chassis 50 as a locking portion which is bent in a part of the upper surface of the sub-chassis 50 and is provided in parallel with the guide portion 51 (FIG. 1 (a)). And FIG. 3].

In this case, a torsion spring 78 is inserted into the pin 58 that supports the operating lever 56, and the torsion spring 78 urges the operating lever 56 counterclockwise. That is, each output shaft 78a, 78b of the torsion spring 78 is connected to the operation lever 56.
And are locked to locking portions 56a and 52e of the ejector lever 52, respectively.

Accordingly, the torsion spring 78 urges the operation lever 56 counterclockwise, and the locking portions 60 and the guide pins 62 provided at both ends of the operation lever 56 are respectively engaged with the locking portions 42 of the lock release lever 38. The contact portion 74 of the drive lever 68 is elastically pressed at the same time by the urging force of the torsion spring 78.

As described above, the eject mechanism and the interlock mechanism are composed of two assembly units.

That is, as shown in FIG.
2, the solenoid 14, the drive lever 68, and the operation lever 56 are incorporated in the sub-chassis 50, and as shown in FIG. 4, the lock lever 28, the link lever 48, the lock release lever 38, and the slide plate 80 are the protective cover plate 26a. Incorporated on top.

Therefore, by constructing such an assembling unit, external assembling is possible and assembling is facilitated, and the number of assembling steps can be greatly reduced.

In the exploded views shown in FIGS. 2 to 4,
The screw hole positions W, X, Y and Z shown in FIG. 2 correspond to the mounting hole positions W ', X', Y 'and Z' of the protective cover plate 26a shown in FIG.
The screw hole positions a, b, c and d shown in FIG.
These correspond to a ', b', c ', and d' shown in FIG.

Next, when the exchange of information with the IC card is completed,
A mechanism for ejecting the IC card stored in the card holder to the outside will be described.

That is, a protective cover plate 26a is provided on the card holder 26, and the three seating surfaces 8 slightly protruding from the cover plate 26a are formed.
A slide plate 80 is slidably provided on 2. When the IC card is artificially inserted from the insertion slot 104 of the operation panel 102, the tip of the slide plate 80 is engaged with the engaging portion 94 of the slide plate 80, and the IC card 22 and the card holder
Move to the predetermined position in 26. And this slide plate
80 is a hook 80a of the slide plate 80 and a hook 88 of the lid plate 26a.
The tension springs 90 are engaged with the slide plates 80, respectively, so that the slide plate 80 retains the return elasticity.

That is, the slide plate 80 is slidably supported by three seating surfaces 82 on the protective cover plate 26a fixed to the upper surface of the card holder 26, and three flanges planted at the center of each seating surface 82. The attached pins 84 are inserted into and engaged with three long holes 86 formed in the slide plate 80, respectively. The height of the seat surface 82 formed on the protective cover plate 26a is formed to be equal to the thickness of the link lever 484 disposed on the upper surface of the seat surface 82.

A plate-shaped operation lever 92 bent downward is attached to the upper side surface of the slide plate 80, and the lower end of the operation lever 92 depends on the bottom of the chassis 25 through a hole formed in the chassis bottom. It faces the operation unit 108 of the detection switch 106 (limit switch) on a substrate (not shown) fixed to the back surface.

Furthermore, a locking portion formed at the tip of the slide plate 80
94 is this IC card by artificial insertion of IC card 22
The IC card 22 moves while engaging with the leading end of the IC card 22, and the amount of movement is restricted by contact with a stopper 96 provided upright at the leading end of the card holder 26, and the stroke end of the IC card 22 is determined.

Thus, the IC card 22 moves together with the slide plate 80,
The state of being stored at an appropriate position in the card holder 26 can be detected by the detection switch 106.

Next, the operation of the eject mechanism of the IC card reader / writer will be described in detail in relation to the operation of the interlock mechanism.

That is, the IC card inserted in an appropriate state artificially from the insertion opening 104 of the operation panel 102 moves together with the slide plate 80 and is stored in a predetermined position in the card holder 26.

In this case, the notch formed in the side edge of the IC card 22 elastically presses and locks the locking protrusion 32 at the tip of the lock lever 28,
The card 22 is positioned in an appropriate state.

The input / output coils (not shown) of the IC card 22 thus positioned appropriately correspond to the head core 108 and the receiving coil 110 provided at the bottom of the card holder, respectively, and supply of power and data signals is executed. . As described above, while information is being transferred to and from the IC card, the operating lever 16 of the solenoid 14 is attracted by excitation, whereby the drive lever 68 rotates counterclockwise.

By the rotation of the drive lever 68, the contact portion of the drive lever 68
74 contacts the guide pin 62 of the operation lever 56, and rotates the operation lever 56 clockwise against the urging force of the torsion spring.

The rotation of the operation lever 56 releases the engagement between the locking portion 60 of the operation lever 56 and the locking portion 42 of the lock release lever 38, and at the same time, the guide pin 62 of the operation lever 56 It is located on the entrance side of 76.

However, even if the eject lever 52 is pushed by mistake, the lock lever engaged with the notch of the IC card 22
The IC card 22 is held in an appropriate state without being rotated.

As described above, since the lock lever 28 side and the eject lever 52 side for operating the lock lever 28 are structured to be mechanically separated from each other, the influence of external vibration and impact is avoided.

Next, when the exchange of information with the IC card 22 is completed, the solenoid 14 is demagnetized and the operating rod 72 projects, and when the driving lever 68 is rotated clockwise, the operating lever 56 is actuated by the biasing force of the torsion spring 78. Rotating counterclockwise, the locking portion 60 of the operation lever 56 is engaged with the locking portion 42 of the lock release lever 38.

When the eject lever 52 is pushed in this state, the lock lever 28 is released from engagement with the notch of the IC card 22 via the lock release lever 38 and the link lever 48.

Therefore, the IC card 22 is discharged to the outside by the action of the return elasticity of the slide plate 80.

[Effects of the Invention] As is apparent from the above-described embodiment, according to the eject mechanism of the IC card reader / writer of the present invention, the notch formed on the side edge of the IC card is elastically provided with the engaging projection of the lock lever. When the engaging protrusion of the lock lever is in the engaged state, the engaging portion of the operation lever rotatably supported by the tip of the eject lever is engaged when the engaging protrusion of the lock lever is in the engaged state. When the eject lever is pushed in, it can be engaged with the locking part of the lock release lever, and if information is being exchanged with the IC card, the drive source is activated and the By rotating the operating lever, the locking portion of the operating lever is configured to be in a state in which it cannot be engaged with the lock release lever, and the operating portion of the eject lever is bent and formed to the chassis. By making contact with the stepped part formed on the front surface, even if the eject lever is pushed in due to erroneous operation in this state, the lock release lever does not operate, and the rotation operation of the operation lever is restricted and this operation is performed. The release state of the lever and the lock release lever is maintained, and the engagement state with the IC card is maintained as it is.

Further, even if an excessive pressing force acts on the eject lever, it does not affect the internal mechanism.

Furthermore, since the lock lever side for positioning and holding the IC card and the eject lever side for operating it are separated from each other, the interlock mechanism is not directly affected by vibration or impact, and the interlock operation is thereby prevented. As a result, the reliability of information transfer with the IC card in the IC card reader / writer can be further improved.

Further, no external force acts directly on the drive lever operated by the solenoid, and the power held by the solenoid can be reduced to reduce power consumption.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is an embodiment of the present invention, and is a plan view of an IC card reader / writer showing a state before mounting an IC card.
1 (b) is a partial cross-sectional view of part A in FIG. 1 (a), FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the chassis, FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the interlock mechanism, and FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the eject mechanism. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an interlock mechanism of a conventional IC card reader / writer. 10, 52 Eject lever 12 Locking piece 14 Driving source (solenoid) 16 Operating rod, 18 Lock lever 20 Pin 22 IC card 24 Spring 26 Card Holder 28 Lock lever 30, 36, 40, 40a, 70, 72 Pin 32 Engagement projection, 34 Contact piece 36a, 46 Pin hole 38 Lock release lever 38a Hook , 42 locking part 45 tension spring 48 link lever 50 sub-chassis 50a, 50c, 52a, 52e, 80a, 88 hook 51 guide part 52 eject lever 52b long Hole, 52c Bend 54 Tension spring 56 Operation lever 58 Pin 60 Locking 62 Guide pin 64 Collar with step 68 Drive lever 68a … Elongated hole 74… Abutment part, 76… Locking part (guide) 78… Torsion spring 80… Slide plate, 82… Seat surface 86… Elongated hole, 90… Tension spring 92… Operation Lever, 94 ... lock 96 ...... stopper, 100 ...... stepped portion 102 ...... operation panel, 104 ...... insertion port 106 ...... detection switch (limit switch) 108 ...... head core 110 ...... receiver coil

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An IC card which receives an IC card inserted from a card insertion slot on a front surface of a chassis having a box formed therein, and transfers information to and from the IC card by being accommodated in a card holder fixed in the chassis. In a reader / writer, a lock lever provided with an engagement protrusion at the tip to engage with a notch formed on a side edge of an IC card and rotatably supported on one side of the card holder, and a locking portion at one end. A lock release lever having a center thereof rotatably supported at the center on the other side of the card holder, and a link lever rotatably connecting the vicinity of the tip of the lock lever and the other end of the lock release lever. Means for pivotally biasing the vicinity of the engagement portion of the lock release lever so as to elastically press and engage the engagement protrusion of the lock lever with the notch portion of the IC card; On the chassis A sub-chassis having a guide portion formed in the longitudinal direction and a locking portion provided upright in parallel with the guide portion, and one end connected to a driving source and rotatably supported by the sub-chassis and connected to the other end. A drive lever having an abutting portion, an eject lever slidably guided and supported by the sub-chassis, and elastically urged outward, and a rotatably supported tip of the eject lever. A locking portion at one end and a guide pin at the other end, and the locking portion and the guide pin are elastically pressed against the locking portion of the lock release lever and the contact portion of the drive lever, respectively. An IC card reader / writer, comprising: an operating lever to be operated; and a stepped portion formed on a front surface of a chassis to abut a bent portion formed on the eject lever to restrict a pushing operation of the eject lever. Ijekku Mechanism.