JP2932035B2 - Optical detection structure in 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 structure for detecting the position of a card or the presence or absence of a card in a card reader with an optical sensor or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a general optical detection structure of this type, there is a structure in which a pair of light emitting elements and a light receiving element are arranged with a card conveying path interposed therebetween. This is achieved by providing a holder section for accommodating a light emitting element and a light receiving element in each of a pair of opposing card guide members forming a card conveying path, and forming a transmission window on an opposing surface of each holder section, that is, a card conveying surface. Is what you do.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional optical detection structure, since the transmission window is formed, dust enters the device from the transmission window and adversely affects electronic components and the like in the device. There was such a problem. In particular, there is a problem on the light emitting element side having a large transmission window. In order to solve this problem, a structure in which the light emitting element side is covered with a card guide plate formed of a transparent resin has been proposed. However, since the card guide plate forms a card transport path, there is a problem that dirt or the like adhered to the card adheres to the card guide plate during the transport, and thus a stable detection performance cannot be obtained for a long time. Was.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical detection structure in a card reader capable of obtaining stable detection performance for a long period of time. .

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, an optical detection structure in a card reader according to the present invention comprises a pair of card guide members facing each other with a gap corresponding to the thickness of the card. In the optical detection structure in the card reader in which the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged with the card conveyance path interposed therebetween, the card guide member in which the light emitting element is arranged is formed by a light transmitting member, and the light emitting element is Projected into the card transport path at the site where it was arranged
The dowel is formed integrally, and the periphery of the protruding end of this dowel is
The dowel is provided with a light emitting element
The cylindrical part to be formed is formed integrally.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the front end of the card traveling on the card transport path abuts on the projecting portion, and dirt attached to the surface of the projecting portion is scraped off.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a card reader according to the present invention, and FIG.
1 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lower guide unit of the card reader according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an upper guide unit, FIG. 6A and 6B show the same magnetic head, FIG. 6A is a perspective view, FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line VIb-VIb, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line IIV-IIV in FIG.
9, FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 8, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part of a side plate viewed from the same side in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is a view after a card reader according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of the end side, and FIG. 12 is a side view of FIG. 11, showing the open / closed state of the upper guide unit.

In these figures, a card reader denoted by reference numeral 1 is a lower guide unit 2 having a lower guide plate 10 and a card transport path 5 together with a lower guide plate 10.
And the upper unit 3 having the upper guide plate 55 forming
It is schematically constituted by a pair of side plates 4 for regulating the width direction of the card transport path 5. The lower guide plate 10 is inclined such that the front end portion, that is, the card insertion opening 8 side is located downward and the rear end portion is located upward, and both side surface portions 11 are attached to the both side plates 4 by screws 12. The lower guide unit 2 includes a belt 18 for conveying the card 6, a pair of magnetic heads 22 for reading and writing magnetic data written on the card 6, and a punch for punching a punch hole based on the content written on the card 6. The unit 25 is provided and unitized.

That is, below the elongated notch 14 formed in the lower guide plate 10 in the card conveying direction, four drive rollers 16a to 16d are rotatable along the longitudinal direction of the notch 14. The drive rollers 16 are pivotally supported.
A belt 18 is stretched over the a to 16d and the tension roller 17 so that an upper portion thereof faces the inside of the card transport path 5 from the notch 14. The drive roller 16a among the above-described drive rollers is driven to rotate in a normal or reverse direction via a belt or the like by using a motor (not shown) as a drive source. A pair of magnetic heads 22 has a reading portion 22a formed in a rectangular notch 15 formed in one side of the center of the lower guide plate 10.
Is attached to the side plate 4 via a bracket (not shown) so as to face the inside of the card transport path 5. The magnetic head 22, as shown in FIG. 6, the magnetic head 22 is mounted on the printed circuit board 23 is held by a holder 21 having a fitting hole 2 1 a, which is fitted and fixed. A reflective sensor 2 is provided at the center of a holder 21 entirely made of resin.
4 is provided, and a transparent window 21 corresponding to the reading position 22a of the magnetic head 22 is provided in the ceiling.
c is drilled. A notch 26 is provided at the tip of the lower guide plate 10.

Reference numerals 27 and 28 denote dowels slightly projecting into the card transport path 5 from the surface of the lower guide plate 10.
As shown in FIG. 7, a cylindrical portion 27a is integrally formed on the lower surfaces of the dowels 27 and 28, and a light emitting diode 29 is housed in a stepped hollow portion 27b in the cylindrical portion 27a. In this embodiment, the lower guide plate 10 is formed of a transparent resin, and the light emitted from the light emitting diode 29 passes through the dowel 27 of the lower guide plate 10 and is projected into the card transport path 5. At the front side of the notch 26, a front guide 30 is attached to both side plates 4 by screws 31 so that the front guide 30 has substantially the same inclination as the lower guide plate 10. Numeral 32 is a magnetic head for detecting a pseudo card which is attached to the through hole of the front guide 30 so that the tip protrudes into the card take-in passage 7 and detects whether magnetic data is written on the inserted card. .

The side plate 4 has a substantially triangular shape when viewed from the side. The inclined end surface 34 is folded to form a folded portion 35. The front end of the inclined end surface has a notch 3 extending over the folded portion 35.
6 are provided. In the center portion 2 of the folded portion 35, a pair of flat plate-shaped receiving portions 37 having holes 38 are formed so as to protrude outward. As shown in FIG. 10, the hole 38 has a fan-shaped small-diameter circular arc portion 38 a having an opening angle of approximately 90 ° facing each other.
A fan-shaped large-diameter arc portion 38b adjacent to the small-diameter arc portion 38a and having an opening angle of approximately 90 °, and a rectangular portion 38 interposed between the arc portions 38a and 38b.
c. The line connecting the centers of the pair of holes 38 is
It is coincident with the reading position 22a of the magnetic head 22.

At the rear end side of the inclined end face 34, a through hole 40a is formed.
Is provided, and a screw 12 is provided.
A conical convex portion 43 provided at the tip of a leaf spring 42 attached to the side plate 4 by the side plate 41 is connected to the side plate 4 through the through hole 40a.
Is facing inside. An inclined end surface on the rear side of the protruding portion 40 forms an engaging portion 44, and the shaft 4 is provided between the engaging portions 44.
5 is hung by a screw 45a. 46 is screw 4
An engagement piece attached to the side plate 4 by 5a and having a tip protruding rearward of the side plate 4. A recess 47 is provided at the rear end of the engagement portion 44. Reference numeral 48 denotes a solenoid fixed to the side plate 4 via a bracket 49, and a plunger 48a has a shutter 5 provided in the notch 26.
0 protruding end 50a. Shutter 50
Usually blocked to capture passage 7 as indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1, when the solenoid 48 is operated, and is supported freely by the Hare swung open the populates passage 7 as shown by the two-dot chain line.

The upper guide plate 55 constituting the upper guide unit 3 is provided with both side portions 56, has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and has an opening side covered by a cover 57 to form a box which is entirely closed. . The upper guide unit 3 includes a belt 6 that contacts the belt 18 described above.
2, the pinch roller 63 in contact against the magnetic head 22, the light receiving diode 67 and the pseudo card detection magnetic head 3 2 to make contact pinch roller 69 contraposed to the light emitting diodes 29 are provided.

That is, below the elongated notch 59 formed in the upper guide plate 55 in the card conveying direction,
Four driven rollers 60a along the longitudinal direction of the notch 59
To 60d are rotatably supported by these driven rollers 6
A belt 62 is stretched between 0a to 60d and the tension roller 61 so that the upper portion faces the inside of the card transport path 5 from the notch 59. Further, the pinch roller 63 from the notch 6 4 and 68 bored in the upper guide plate 55
And 6 9 is rotatably supported to face in the card transport path 5. Rectangular small holes 65 and 66 formed in the upper guide plate 55 are provided corresponding to the dowels 27 and 28 of the lower guide plate 10, and below these small holes 65 and 66, As shown in FIG.
Is formed, and the light receiving diode 67 is housed in the hollow portion 65b. Reference numeral 70 denotes a concave portion into which the punch unit 25 is fitted, and reference numeral 71 denotes a front end portion which forms the intake passage 7 together with the front guide 30.

Reference numeral 72 denotes a flat plate-like mounting portion which is formed to protrude outward from a substantially central lower end of the side surface portion 56 in correspondence with the receiving portion 37, and has a hole 73 formed therein. As shown in FIG. 8, a shaft portion 74a of a knob 74 is fitted into the hole 73, and the pin 73 is fixed perpendicularly to the tip of the shaft portion 74a so as to be prevented from coming out of the hole 73. , Are urged in a direction away from the mounting portion 72 by a spring 76 fitted between the mounting portions 72. 72a
Is provided on the lower surface of the mounting portion 72 at the edge of the hole 73 and the receiving portion 3.
7 is protruded in approximately the same height as the thickness of the receiving portion 37 at a position corresponding to the large-diameter arc portion 38 b of a pair of guide pieces formed in an arc shape facing each other.

Reference numeral 78 denotes a notch 3 of the lower guide plate 10.
The protrusions 79 protruding from the side surface portion 56 corresponding to 6 are arc-shaped concave portions formed on the side surface portion 56 corresponding to the protrusions 43, and click holes 79a and 79b are provided at both ends. It is arranged. Reference numeral 80 denotes a bearing unit integrally formed at the rear end of the upper guide plate 55, and a U-shaped groove 81 extending in the width direction of the card transport path 5 having an opening 81a is formed.
Reference numerals 82 denote a pair of engaging members protruding outwardly on both sides of the lower end of the rear end of the upper guide plate 55. A pair of engaging members 82a having a horizontal surface and a disengaging member 82b having an inclined surface are formed. Have been.

Next, a method of assembling the upper guide unit in the magnetic card reader thus configured will be described. First, the screw 45a is loosened and the engagement piece 46 is removed from the side plate 4. In this state, as shown in FIG. 12D, the upper unit 3 is moved in the direction of arrow A, that is, the opening angle α between the upper unit 3 and the lower unit 2.
Is set to about 180 °, the U-shaped groove 81 is fitted into the shaft 45 from the opening 81a, and the upper unit 3 is rotatably supported on the shaft 45. At this time, since the engagement release portion 82b of the engagement member 82 is opposed to the engagement portion 44 of the side plate 4, the engagement member 82 does not engage with the engagement portion 44, and
The groove 81 can be fitted into the shaft 45.

When the upper unit 3 is rotated around the shaft 45 so as to reduce the opening angle α and the upper unit 3 is fitted between the side plates 4, as shown in FIG. The mounting portion 72, the convex portion 78, and the engaging portion 82a of the engaging member 82 contact the receiving portion 37, the notch 36, and the engaging portion 44 of the side plate 4, respectively. By this contact, the upper guide plate 55 of the upper unit 3 is moved to the lower guide plate 10 of the lower unit 2.
In this case, an interval corresponding to the thickness of the card 6 is provided, and the card transport path 5 is formed. The card transport path 5 thus formed is substantially sealed by the upper unit 3 being fitted between the side plates 4 and the side surface portion 56 of the upper unit 3 being fitted to the side plate 4. In this state, dust is prevented from entering, and dust does not adhere to the card transport path 5 and the magnetic head 22. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a reading failure of the magnetic head 22. At this time, the click hole 79 of the concave portion 79 of the upper guide plate 55 is formed.
The convex portion 43 of the leaf spring 42 is fitted to b.

Next, when the knob 74 is pressed down against the spring 76 as shown in FIG. 8 and the knob 74 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG.
When the user slides on the guide piece 72a so as to ride on 2a and further rotates the knob 74, the pin 75 engages with the edge of the small-diameter arc portion 38a of the receiving portion 37, and FIG.
As shown in the figure, the mounting portion 72 is attached to the receiving portion 37 in close contact with the spring 76 and the pin 75. Since the mounting portion 72 thus mounted is provided at a position coinciding with the reading position 22a of the magnetic head 22, even if the housing is bent or deformed, the mounting portion 72 is pinched with respect to the magnetic head 22. The roller 64 is constantly pressed, and the magnetic head 2 due to insufficient contact pressure of the card 6 with the magnetic head 22
2 can be prevented from being read poorly. Finally, the engagement piece 46 is attached to the side plate 4 with the screw 45a.

Next, reading and writing operations of the magnetic head of the card in the magnetic card reader thus assembled will be described. When inserted from card insertion slot 8 formed in the front end portion 71 of the card 6 front guide 30 and upper guide plates 55, by the pseudo card detection magnetic head 3 2, normal card or IC card in which the magnetic data is written, etc. Judge whether it is a pseudo card. If the card is a regular card, the judgment signal is sent to the solenoid 48,
As the solenoid 48 operates and the shutter 50 rotates to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line as shown in FIG. 1 to open the take-in passage 7, the card 6 can be inserted into the card transport path 5. Determination signal of the magnetic head 3 2 is also sent to the motor (not shown), the motor is operated, the driving roller 16a starts to rotate, this along the belt 18 and the belt 62 is traveling, the card 6 The paper is held between the belts and taken into the card transport path 5.

Meanwhile, if it is determined that the pseudo card magnetic head 3 2, without the solenoid 48 is operating, therefore, the shutter 50 keeps the remains blocked uptake passage 7, IC card, etc. Pseudo of The card is prevented from entering the take-in passage 7. Nevertheless,
When the IC card is forcibly pushed, the card is detected by the optical detecting means provided in the dowel 28, a detection signal is sent to the motor, and the motor rotates in the reverse direction to insert a pseudo card such as an IC card into the card insertion slot 8. Return from At this time, even if the pseudo card is an IC card thicker than a magnetic card, the lower guide plate 10 and the upper guide plate 55 forming the card transport path 5 are connected by the knob 74 at a substantially intermediate portion of the card transport path 5. Since the upper guide plate 55 is slightly separated from the lower guide plate 10 at the card insertion slot 8 separated from the knob 74, the IC card may be jammed. And is smoothly returned from the card slot 8.

When the front end of the magnetic card 6 loaded into the card transport path 5 as a regular card is located in the transmission window 21c, the magnetic card 6 is detected by the sensor 24, reading by the magnetic head 22 is started, and the rear end is detected by the sensor 24. , The reading by the magnetic head 22 ends. in this way,
Since the start and end of reading by the magnetic head 22 are performed by the sensor 24 integrated with the magnetic head 22 at a position corresponding to the reading position 22a of the magnetic head 22, assembling and manufacturing errors are removed and high-precision detection is performed. Can be performed. In addition, since the sensor 24 is integrated, the sensor 24
No space is required, the size of the device can be reduced, and sensors cannot be arranged near the magnetic head 22 as in the prior art, so that two sensors are required before and after the magnetic head. Thus, the number of parts can be reduced.

When the motor rotates in the reverse direction and the card 5 runs in the reverse direction and the rear end is detected by the sensor 24, writing is started by the magnetic head 22, and when the front end is detected by the sensor 24, the writing ends. . In this manner, the card 5 that reciprocates around the magnetic head 22 has the knobs 74 for pressing the belts 18 and 62 at positions corresponding to the magnetic head 22, so that the card 5 moves forward and backward with the magnetic head 22 interposed therebetween. The speed and the return speed are constant, and therefore, reading defects of the magnetic head 22 are reduced.

Card 6 Written by Magnetic Head 22
Is detected by a sensor provided in the dowel 27, a detection signal is sent to the punch unit 25, and a punch hole is formed in the card 6 in accordance with the content of writing. After the punch hole is confirmed by the sensor provided in the dowel 28, when the rear end of the card 6 projects from the card insertion slot 8 and the front end of the card 6 is detected by the sensor 2, the rotation of the motor is stopped. During the travel of the card 6 in the card transport path 5, the front end or the rear end (during reverse running) of the card 6 comes into contact with the dowels 27 and 28, and the dowel 2 is moved by the front end or the rear end of the card 6.
Dirt adhering to the surfaces of 7 and 28 is removed and self-cleaning is performed, so that the transmission performance of the lower guide plate 10 is not reduced.

Next, a method of removing the upper guide unit from the side plate will be described. First, when the knob 74 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 8B to fit the pin 75 from the edge of the small-diameter arc portion 38a to the rectangular portion 38c, the pin 7
5 and the receiving portion 37 are disengaged, and the upper guide unit 3 becomes rotatable about the shaft 45. Then, when the upper guide unit 3 is rotated by about 90 ° about the shaft 45 from the state shown in FIG. 12A, the engagement member 82 is immediately engaged with the engagement piece 46 as shown in FIG. As shown, the click hole 79a is fitted into the convex portion 43 of the leaf spring 42, and a click feeling is obtained. When the click hole 79a is further rotated, as shown in FIG. , The upper guide unit 3 maintains the opening angle α shown in the figure.

In this state, the opening 81a of the bearing 80
When the shaft 45 is to be pulled out of the shaft member 45, the engaging portion 82a of the engaging member 82 and the engaging portion 44 of the side plate 4 are engaged, so that the bearing portion 80 is prevented from coming off from the shaft 45. Therefore, when performing maintenance and inspection for cleaning the inside of the card transport path 5 or the magnetic head 22 and the like, the maintenance can be performed at this opening angle. Further, when it is necessary to replace the upper guide unit 3, the engagement piece 46 is removed from the side plate 4, and the upper guide unit 3 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. In this state, the engagement between the engagement portion 82a of the engagement member 82 and the engagement portion 44 of the side plate 4 is released, and the engagement release portion 82b and the concave portion 47 are opposed to each other. In the direction B, that is, the opening 81 a of the bearing 80 is
The upper guide unit 3 can be removed from the side plate 4 by moving the upper guide unit 3 from the side plate 4.

As described above, since the upper guide unit 3 is made openable and closable with the lower guide unit 2 and the upper guide unit 3 is attached to the lower guide unit 2 until the upper guide unit 3 is engaged with the engagement piece 46, maintenance is required. The upper guide unit 3 is not accidentally dropped and damaged during inspection. In addition, since the unit can be detached by rotating it to a certain opening angle, the unit can be easily replaced, and the maintenance work can be performed in a short time without requiring any skill.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a card transport path is formed by a pair of card guide members facing each other with a gap corresponding to the thickness of the card, and the light emitting element and the light emitting element are sandwiched by the card transport path. A light receiving element is provided, a card guide member on which the light emitting element is provided is formed of a light transmitting member, and the card guide member protrudes into a card conveying path at a portion where the light emitting element is provided.
The dowel that comes out is formed integrally, and the
A chamfer is provided, and a light emitting element is stored in this dowel.
Since the formation of the cylindrical portion being integrally scraping any dirt from the site where the front end portion of the card is protruded traveling on the card transport path in contact, protruded surface of the site,
Therefore, this part is self-cleaned by the card, the transmission of the light emitting element is always kept good, and the optical detection failure can be prevented. Also, since the protruding part can be recognized as a dowel when viewed from the surface, it becomes a mark of the worker to be cleaned during maintenance and inspection, so that forgetting to clean is eliminated.
High practical value. Dowels and cylinders are also card guides.
The number of parts is reduced because it is formed integrally with the
Not only is the shape of the dowel protruding
Self-cleaning with cards
Carding can be performed reliably,
There is no occurrence of ball. Also, depending on the cylinder
The mounting of the light emitting element becomes easy,
Since the positional relationship is constant, card detection is stabilized. Ma
In addition, by providing a chamfer on the periphery of the protruding end of the dowel,
Cards conveyed in both forward and reverse directions on the card transport path
Performs self-cleaning.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lower guide unit of the card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an upper guide unit of the card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a lower guide unit of the card reader according to the present invention.

6A and 6B show a magnetic head of the card reader according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 6A is a perspective view, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line VIb-VIb.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line IIV-IIV of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion VIII in FIG.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part of a side plate as viewed from the same side as FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged plan view of the rear part of the card reader according to the present invention.

12 is a side view of FIG. 11, showing the open / closed state of the upper guide unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Magnetic card reader 2. Lower guide unit 3.
... upper guide unit, 4 ... side plate, 5 ... card transport path, 6 ... card, 7 ... card take-in path, 8 ... card insertion slot, 10 ... lower guide plate, 18 ... belt, 21c
... Transmissive window, 22 ... Magnetic head, 24 ... Reflective sensor, 2
5 punch unit, 27, 28 dowel, 29 light emitting diode, 37 receiving part, 38 hole, 44 engaging part, 45
... shaft, 46 ... engaging piece, 48 ... solenoid, 50 ...
Shutter, 55: Lower guide plate, 62: Belt, 6
4 pinch roller, 67 light receiving diode, 72 mounting part, 74 knob, 75 pin, 78 convex part, 80 bearing part, 81a opening part, 82 engaging member, 82a engaging part, 82b: disengagement section.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06K 13/063 B65H 7/14 G06K 7/016

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card transport path is formed by a pair of card guide members facing each other with a gap corresponding to the thickness of the card,
In an optical detection structure in a card reader in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged with a card conveyance path interposed therebetween, a card guide member in which the light emitting element is arranged is formed of a light transmitting member, and the light emitting element is arranged. Card transport to site
A dowel projecting into the road is formed integrally, and the projecting end of this dowel
A bevel is provided around the periphery of the
An optical detection structure in a card reader, wherein a cylindrical portion for accommodating a child is integrally formed .