JP3046425B2 - Information recording card type identification device and type identification method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information recording card, such as a telephone card, a cash card, or a card used as a key for an auto-lock system, in which information that is widely read and written by a read / write device is written. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for identifying the type of an information recording card for specifying a card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, an information recording card in which information read / written by a read / write device by magnetic means, optical means or the like is widely used for various purposes. I have.

In order to read / write information from / to the information recording card, the information recording card must be inserted into a reading / writing device in a correct direction irrespective of magnetic means and optical means. Must. Therefore, in the conventional information recording card, a part of a peripheral edge and a corner of the card main body are cut out to make the card main body asymmetrical with respect to a center line perpendicular to the insertion direction. The correct insertion direction of the information recording card is confirmed by visually observing or touching with a hand.

The notches provided in the above-mentioned conventional information recording card are intended only for confirmation by visual observation or touch with a hand. In other words, it is possible to determine whether the information recording card is inserted in the right or wrong direction or the type (articles, restrictions, etc.) without reading data recorded by magnetic or optical means. Can be.
Also, the data can be used for security by comparing with data recorded on the information recording card by magnetic or optical means.

The present invention provides means for detecting and processing a notch provided in an information recording card with a read / write device so as to realize the use of the notch of the information card as described above. The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, an information recording card type identification device according to the present invention of claim 1 has an information recording area for writing information to be read / written by a reading / writing device. An information recording card provided on the card body and the read / write device. The information recording card records information at one of four corners of the card body in the front in the insertion direction. The read / write device has a notch provided in a notch having a size corresponding to the type of the card, and the read / write device has at least a notch of the card body in a transport path for transporting the information recording card. A first sensor and a second sensor provided corresponding to two opposite corners which are not present, and a clock after the first sensor detects the information recording card while the information recording card is being conveyed. The timer starts when the second sensor detects the information recording card. And by a measuring unit for measuring therebetween time, the information recording mosquitoes in response to the measurement result of the measuring unit -
And a card discriminating unit for discriminating the type of the card. Also, to achieve the above objectives,
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording card type identification method wherein an information recording area for writing information to be read / written by a read / write device is provided on a card body. The information recording card is set in such a manner that one of the four corners of the card body in the front in the insertion direction is made to correspond to the type of the information recording card. The notch is formed by notching in size, and the read / write device has a first sensor and a second sensor, a measuring unit, and a card discriminating unit, and the first sensor and the second sensor At least in the transport path for transporting the information recording card.
A clock is placed after the first sensor detects the information recording card while the measuring section is transporting the information recording card. At the same time, when the second sensor detects the information recording card, the time is measured by terminating the clock,
The card discriminating section discriminates the type of the information recording card according to the measurement result of the measuring section.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. An information recording card type identification system according to the present invention comprises an information recording card and a read / write device for the information recording card.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an information recording card used in an information recording card type identification system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the concession recording card 1 of this embodiment has a notch 2 at one of the corners of the card body in the insertion direction (the direction of the arrow in the drawing) in front of the card body. It is formed.

The notch 2 is shown in FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c).
As shown in (1), the size (the amount cut out in the direction along the insertion direction) is changed according to the type of the information recording card. The correspondence between the type of the information recording card 1 and the notch 2 can be variously set according to the use of the information recording card 1.

For example, when the magnetic recording card 1 is used as a card key for an automatic lock system of a hotel or the like,
(A) for general employees, (b) for managers, (c)
In the case of using the information recording card 1 as a credit card, or using the information recording card 1 as a credit card, the use limit is 5000 in FIG.
The usage limit can be distinguished by the size of the notch 2 as a circle, 10,000 yen in (b), and 50,000 yen in (c). Although not shown, the information recording card 1
Has an information recording area on a card body in which information data is read and written by a read / write device by magnetic means, optical means or the like.

Next, the information recording card constructed as described above is used.
The read / write device of C1 will be described. The read / write device of this embodiment includes a transport system for transporting the information recording card 1, a data input / output system for reading and writing information data from and to an information recording area of the information recording card 1, and a data input / output system. A data processing system for processing information data read and written by a data input / output system, a control system for controlling various operations, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of an information recording card 1, and a sensor Measuring unit that measures the detection time of
It is provided with a card discriminating section for discriminating the type of information recording card and correct / incorrect insertion direction, a display section for displaying various information, and the like.

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the read / write device of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The MPU 11 is used as a card discriminating unit for discriminating and receiving the output of the second sensor 4 and the measurement result of the measuring unit 5, and the data input / output control unit 12 controls the data input / output system to a motor. The transport system is controlled by the control unit 13.
The MPU 11 also serves as a data processing system.

The first sensor 3 and the second sensor 4 are shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the information recording card 1 is provided on the conveying path of the reading / writing device so as to correspond to two opposite corners. Therefore, both the first sensor 3 and the second sensor 4 detect the information recording card 1 only when the information recording card 1 is transported to the position shown by the one-dot line in FIG. When the information recording card 1 is inserted into the reading / writing device and is conveyed on the conveying path from the upper left to the right in FIG. 4, the measuring unit 5 detects the information recording card 1 by the first sensor 3. From the time when the second sensor 4 detects the information recording card 1 is measured. Therefore, the larger the size of the notch 2 of the information recording card 1, the shorter the measurement time by the measuring unit 5.

The MPU 11 receives the outputs of the first sensor 3 and the second sensor 4 and the measurement result of the measuring section 5 and determines the type of the information recording card 2 and whether the insertion direction is correct or not. That is, the size of the notch 2 can be determined by comparing the measurement time of the measurement unit 5 with a preset value, and thereby the type of the information recording card can be determined. If the first sensor 3 does not detect the information recording card 1 when the second sensor 4 detects the information recording card 1, the information recording card 1 does not.
If the measurement time of the measuring unit 5 corresponds to the case where there is no notch 2, the information recording card 1
Can be determined to be in the wrong insertion direction.

As described above, the determination result can be displayed on the display unit from the MPU 11 via the display control unit 14.
The user can confirm the type and insertion direction of the information recording card 1 and the correctness of the front and back sides by looking at the display. Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in the read / write device, whether or not the insertion of the information recording card 1 has been started as an initial state is monitored by a sensor (not shown) provided near the insertion slot (step S).
1). When the insertion of the information recording card 1 is started, the MPU
After the output 11 monitors the output of the sensor 3 and prepares the measurement unit 5 for measurement, the motor control unit 13 drives the transport motor (steps S2 and S3).

When the first sensor 3 detects the information recording card 1, its output is sampled, the time is measured by the measuring unit 5 (step S4), and the output of the second sensor 4 is monitored by the MPU 11. (Step S
5). When the insertion of the information recording card 1 is completed, the second sensor 4
When the MPU 11 detects the information recording card 1, the MPU 11 causes the motor control unit 13 to stop the transport motor (Step S).
6, S7). Then, the measurement result of the measurement unit 5 and the outputs of the first sensor 3 and the second sensor 4 are analyzed (Step S8),
The type and insertion direction of the information recording card 1 and the correctness of the front and back sides are determined (step S9). Thereafter, if necessary, the discrimination result is displayed on the display unit or the information recording card 1 is ejected.

[0018]

As described above, the information recording card type identification device according to the present invention has an information recording area for writing information to be read / written by the reading / writing device in the card body. The information recording card is formed by cutting out one of the four corners of the card body in the insertion direction in front of the insertion direction in a size set according to the type of the information recording card. A first sensor and a second sensor provided on a transport path for transporting the information recording card so as to correspond to at least two uncut corners of the card body; While the card is being conveyed, the first sensor detects the information recording card.
A clock is started after detecting the clock, and when the second sensor detects the information recording card, the clock is stopped to measure the time between the clocks. An information recording card type identification method according to the present invention comprises a card discriminating unit for discriminating the type of the information recording card. An information recording card in which an information recording area for writing is provided in the card body is used, and one of the four corners of the card body in the front of the insertion direction is set to the type of the information recording card. Notched and formed in a size set correspondingly, the reading and writing device has a first sensor and a second sensor, a measuring unit and a card discriminating unit, and the first sensor and the second sensor are At least the above-mentioned card is provided on the transport path for transporting the information recording card.
A clock is placed after the first sensor detects the information recording card while the measuring section is transporting the information recording card. At the same time, when the second sensor detects the information recording card, the time is measured by terminating the clock,
Since the card discriminating section is configured to discriminate the type of the information recording card according to the measurement result of the measuring section, the information data written in the information recording area by magnetic or optical means. It is possible to determine the type of information recording card, the insertion direction, and the correctness of the front and back sides without reading the data.

Further, the information represented by the size of the notch and the information data written by magnetic or optical means can be used for security by comparing it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an information recording card used for an information card type identification method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a notch in the information recording card of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a read / write device used for an information card type identification method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a positional relationship between the sensor of FIG. 3 and an information recording card.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information recording card 2 Notch 3 First sensor 4 Second sensor 5 Measuring unit 11 MPU (Card discriminating unit)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/00 G06F 7/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An information recording card provided with an information recording area for writing information to be read / written by a reading / writing device in a card body.
And the read / write device, wherein the information recording card has one of four corners of the card body in the front of the insertion direction corresponding to the type of the information recording card. The read / write device has a notch provided in a notch of a set size, and the read / write device is provided on at least two non-notched corners of the card body in a transfer path for transferring the information recording card. The first sensor and the second sensor provided in correspondence with each other, the clock is started after the first sensor detects the information recording card while the information recording card is being conveyed, and the second sensor receives the information. When a recording card is detected, the measuring unit measures the time between the end of the clock when detecting the recording card, and a card determining unit that determines the type of the information recording card according to the measurement result of the measuring unit. An information recording card type identification device, comprising: 2. An information recording card provided with an information recording area for writing information to be read / written by a reading / writing device in a card body.
And the read / write device, wherein the information recording card has one of four corners of the card body in the front of the insertion direction corresponding to the type of the information recording card. The notch is formed by notching with a set size, and the read / write device has a first sensor and a second sensor, a measuring unit, and a card discriminating unit, and the first sensor and the second The two sensors are arranged on a transport path for transporting the information recording card at least corresponding to two uncut corners of the card body, and the measuring unit transports the information recording card. While the first sensor detects the information recording card, the clock is started,
When the second sensor detects the information recording card, the time is measured by terminating the clock and the card discriminating unit discriminates the type of the information recording card according to the measurement result of the measuring unit. A method for identifying the type of an information recording card, comprising: