JP3110863B2 - Card reader / writer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader for recording and / or reproducing information on a composite card having an IC chip and an optical recording and / or magnetic recording area on a card body. About the writer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the information-related industry has made remarkable progress,
The amount of information handled is also increasing. Therefore, a great demand is expected for an IC card and an optical card which can carry a large amount of information with good portability as compared with a magnetic card which has already spread. Each of these cards, including magnetic cards, has its advantages and disadvantages. For example: Magnetic cards can be erased at low cost but have a small storage capacity.・ IC cards can be accessed at high speeds and transfer rates are high, but the unit cost per bit is high. -Optical cards have a large storage capacity, but cannot rewrite information. And the like.

[0003] Therefore, a composite card (hereinafter, referred to as "combined card") combining these functions in a manner to compensate for the drawbacks of each card.
"Hybrid cards" are expected to support new applications.

[0004] As described above, a hybrid card combines a plurality of recording media, such as magnetic recording media, optical recording media, and ICs, which perform recording and / or reproduction by different recording / reproducing methods. It is necessary for a card reader / writer of a handling type to include a plurality of recording / reproducing mechanisms of different types. As a card reader / writer satisfying this requirement, for example,
What is described in 59578 is known. FIG. 12 shows the configuration of this card reader / writer.

In FIG. 12, a card is inserted into a card slot 1.
02 is inserted. At this time, if the card is a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe, information is recorded and / or reproduced by the magnetic recording unit 103 in the first half of the card reader / writer. The magnetic recording unit 103
Upper roller 105 which conveys magnetic card 120 by holding and rotating magnetic card 120 in the thickness direction
a, b and lower rollers 106a, b, and magnetic card 1
20 includes a magnetic head 110 for recording and / or reproducing information, and a motor (not shown) for conveying the magnetic card 120 by rotating the lower roller 106b.

[0006] When the card is an optical card,
The card is the optical recording unit 1 in the latter half of the card reader / writer.
04 to record and / or reproduce information. The optical recording unit 104 has an optical head 117 for recording and / or reproducing information on the optical card 121, a card mounting table (hereinafter, referred to as “shuttle”) 114 for holding the optical card 121, and a shuttle 114 attached. Belt 1
A pulley 112 around which the reel 13 is wound and a motor (not shown) that rotates the pulley 112 to move the shuttle 114 relative to the optical head 117.

On the other hand, when an IC is used as one of the recording media of the hybrid card, an input / output terminal (hereinafter referred to as a "card-side terminal") of the IC provided on the hybrid card and a card reader / writer are provided. I / O terminals (hereinafter referred to as “device-side terminals”).
It is necessary to record and / or reproduce information on C.
As a mechanism for joining a card-side terminal and a device-side terminal, a mechanism described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-76291 is known. In this card reader / writer, I
When the C card is inserted into the card reader / writer, the carriage having the device side terminal moves downward, and the device side terminal presses the card side terminal on the IC card. When the IC card is ejected, the carriage is separated from the card side terminal.

When an optical recording medium is used as one of the recording media of the hybrid card, the optical card is moved relative to an optical head that irradiates the optical recording medium with laser light for recording and / or reproducing information. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-144686 discloses a card reader / writer having a shuttle for holding an optical card and moving the optical card relative to an optical head.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-5957
In the case where a hybrid card is used in the card reader / writer described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8 (JP-A-8), the access time is longer than that of a card of a single recording / reproducing method, that is, a card having only one recording medium. There is a disadvantage that.

[0010] In this card reader / writer, since each recording / reproducing section is located at a distant position, it is impossible to simultaneously record and reproduce information on a plurality of recording media on the hybrid card. Therefore, when using a plurality of recording / reproducing methods properly, it is necessary to perform an operation of switching the recording / reproducing method, but this switching operation cannot be realized unless the hybrid card is moved. Playback time becomes longer.

In particular, when an IC chip is used as one of the recording media of the hybrid card, the above-mentioned drawbacks are extremely serious since the high-speed access , which is originally an excellent characteristic of the IC, is practically impaired. Become.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to perform recording / reproduction with a simple mechanism on a hybrid card including an IC chip as a recording medium without deteriorating its high-speed accessibility. is there.

[0013]

The card reader-writer according to the present invention, in order to solve the problems], a device-side IC input and output terminals for recording and reproducing information in contact with the card side IC output terminals formed on the card, on the card optical heads which for the optical recording area for recording and reproducing information, and holding the card, before
A card table for moving relatively cards for the serial optical heads, wherein in conjunction with the position of the card table instrumentation
Card side IC input / output terminal to the card side IC input / output terminal.
And a driving mechanism for touching and separating the card reader.
Wherein the drive mechanism is mounted on the card mounting table.
The optical recording area of the held card is
When recording or reproduction is performed by the optical head
The card mounting table is located within the moving range of the card mounting table.
The device-side IC input / output terminal
Contact with the side IC input / output terminal
And the card is placed on the card mounting table.
Insert or eject the card at the insertion / ejection position.
When the mounting table is located, the input / output
The card is separated from the card-side IC input / output terminal .

In one embodiment of the present invention, a passive member is provided on a shuttle for holding the hybrid card and moving the hybrid card relative to the optical head and / or the magnetic head. In accordance with the position of, the device side IC input / output terminal capable of contacting and separating from the card surface is also provided on the shuttle,
An engaging member is fixed on the device base, and the members are arranged so that the engaging member engages with a passive member on the shuttle when the shuttle is in a position for receiving a card.

[0015] In another embodiment, a shuttle for holding the hybrid card and moving the hybrid card relative to the optical head and / or the magnetic head, and a drive belt for driving the shuttle are provided.
A device-side IC input / output terminal is provided on the outer periphery of the drive belt. When the shuttle is at a position for receiving a card, the device-side IC input / output terminal is separated from the card surface. When the shuttle is not at a position for receiving the card, a device-side IC. Set the trajectory of the drive belt so that the input / output terminal contacts the card surface.

[0016]

According to any of the above constructions, when the shuttle is at the position for receiving a card, the device-side IC input / output terminal moves to a position separated from the card.

[0017]

【Example】

First Embodiment Next, a first embodiment of a card reader / writer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the shuttle 1 is installed so as to be movable along a guide shaft 2 a, and moves the hybrid card relative to the optical head 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a convex portion 4 is formed at the lower portion of the shuttle 1. The projection 4 is joined to the drive belt 5. The drive belt 5 is wound around a drive pulley 6 and a driven pulley 7, and the drive pulley 6 is directly connected to an output shaft of a drive motor 8 capable of rotating forward and reverse as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shuttle 1 has a lever 9 and a device-side IC attached to one end of the lever 9.
An input terminal (device-side terminal) 11 is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 12, and the lever 9 is a spring 1 shown in FIG.
0 urges in the clockwise direction in the figure, that is, the direction of arrow A in the figure. The bottom wall of the housing (not shown) of the reader-writer, capable of abutting against the projection 13 is formed in the front, i.e. X ₁ side Figure the lever 9.

Further, the hybrid card 1 to be described later in front (X ₁ side) of the shuttle 1, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3
5 is provided, and the card transport roller 14 is rotated by a transport motor (not shown) capable of rotating forward and backward.

For the card reader / writer of this embodiment, for example, a hybrid card 15 as shown in FIG. 4 is used. An optical recording area 16 and a card-side IC input / output terminal (card-side terminal) are provided on the surface of the hybrid card 15.
17 are provided. The operation of the card reader / writer according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

[0022] When the card reader-writer is activated, the shuttle 1 is moved forward (X ₁ direction in FIG. 2), and stops at the position B behind the card transport rollers 14, it takes a posture for receiving a card.

At this time, the lever 9 comes into contact with the projection 13, and the lever 9 is rotated counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow C) in the figure around the rotation shaft 12 against the spring 10 (shown in FIG. 1). The device-side terminal 11 integrated with the lever 9 is moved upward.

[0024] In this state, when the hybrid card 15 is inserted into the shuttle 1 by the rotation of the card transport roller 14, the shuttle 1 by Motor 8 (shown in FIG. 1) is moved rearward (X ₂ direction), The lever 9 moves away from the projection 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the lever 9 rotates clockwise (in the direction of arrow A) by the action of the spring 10 (shown in FIG. 1), and the device-side terminal 11 integrated with the lever 9 moves downward to move the card The side terminals 17 (shown in FIG. 4) are brought into contact with each other, and further pressed by the card-side terminals 17 by the spring 10 to secure electrical conduction between the terminals.

After both terminals come into contact, the lever 9 is
The information can be recorded / reproduced to / from the IC chip at any time except when the contact is made, ie, when the projection 4 of the shuttle 1 is positioned at the position B.

Subsequently, the shuttle 1 moves within the range D shown in FIG. Within this range D, an optical recording area 16 on the card exists below the optical head 3, and the shuttle 1 is reciprocated, and at the same time, the optical head 3 irradiates the optical recording area with a beam to obtain optical information. Is recorded and reproduced. Even when recording and reproduction are not actually performed, the shuttle 1 stops without departing from the range D, and the optical head 3
Prepares for recording and reproduction with the beam focused on the optical recording area 16.

Since the lever 9 does not contact the projection 13 as long as the shuttle 1 is in the range D, the two IC input / output terminals are not separated, so that access to the IC chip is not hindered. Therefore, the optical recording area and the IC chip can be accessed individually or both at the same time.

When the card is ejected, the shuttle 1 moves to the position B shown in FIG. 2, the lever 9 comes into contact with the projection 13 and is pushed, and the apparatus side terminal 11 moves upward in the figure to move the card side terminal. Separated from 17. Thereafter, the card transport roller 14 rotates in the direction opposite to the direction at the time of insertion, and the hybrid card 15 is ejected. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform recording and reproduction on a hybrid card including an IC chip as a recording medium without deteriorating its high-speed accessibility.

As is clear from the above description,
In the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS.
A set of a lever 9, a spring 10, a rotating shaft 12, and a projection 13
The alignment is linked to the position of the card loading table, that is, shuttle 1.
To move / contact the device side terminal 11 with the card side terminal 17
And a driving mechanism for driving the motor. And with this drive mechanism
Is the hybrid card 15 held on the shuttle 1
Of the optical recording area 16 by the optical head 3
Or within the moving range D of the shuttle 1 when the reproduction is performed
When the shuttle 1 is located, the lever
9 is released, and the lever 9 is actuated by the action of the spring 10.
1 in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG.
The integrated device-side terminal 11 moves downward to move the card-side terminal 1.
Contact 7 Further, the device side terminal 11 is connected to the spring 10.
Is pressed by the card-side terminal 17 and electrical conduction between the terminals is performed.
Secure communication. Further, in this drive mechanism, the shuttle 1
Is a position outside the movement range D, and the shuttle
Insert or eject the hybrid card 15 with respect to 1
At the card insertion / ejection position indicated by reference
When the lever 9 is in contact with the projection 13,
-9 is the direction indicated by arrow C in FIG.
And the device side terminal 11 integrated with the lever 9 is moved upward.
To move away from the card side terminal 17. Also, since the IC input / output terminals on the device contact / separate from the card by mechanical interlocking according to the position of the shuttle, there is no need to provide a special power source for separating the IC input / output terminals. No special control sequence is required. next,
A second embodiment of the card reader / writer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The card reader / writer of this embodiment uses a hybrid card having both an optical recording area and an IC chip.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shuttle 21 and the driving belt 25 are provided on the upper part of the shuttle 21 and are connected to the driving belt 25 by a convex portion 24 also serving as a card stopper. The drive pulley 26 is wound around a driven pulley 27 and is directly connected to an output shaft of a drive motor 28 that can rotate forward and reverse.

As shown in FIG. 5, an apparatus-side terminal 39 provided on an FPC 38 is attached to the outer periphery of the drive belt 25, and the apparatus-side terminal 39 moves integrally with the drive belt 25.

A card transport roller 14 for transporting a card is provided in front of the shuttle 21.
The card transport roller 14 is rotated by a transport motor (not shown) capable of rotating forward and backward.

When the apparatus is started, as shown in FIG.
Shuttle 21 is moved forward (X ₁ direction), and stopped at a rearward position E of the card transfer roller 14, it takes a posture for receiving a card. At this time, the device side terminal 3 on the drive belt 25
Reference numeral 9 moves upward along the circumference of the driven pulley 27 in the figure.

In this state, when the hybrid card 15 is inserted into the shuttle 21 by the rotation of the card transport roller 14, the drive pulley 26 rotates counterclockwise in the figure,
Drive belt 25 moves the shuttle 21 rearward (X ₂ direction). At this time, the device-side terminal 39 moves downward along the circumference of the driven pulley 27 together with the drive belt 25 as shown in FIG. 7 to come into contact with the card-side terminal 17 and establish electrical conduction with the card-side terminal 17. Secure.

After the terminals come into contact with each other, the device-side terminal 39 rises again along the driven pulley 27, and the card-side terminal 17
The information can be recorded and reproduced on the IC chip at any time until the IC chip is separated.

Subsequently, the shuttle 21 moves within the range F in the figure. Within this range F, as in the first embodiment, the optical recording area and the IC chip can be accessed individually or both at the same time.

When the card is to be ejected, the shuttle 21 moves to the position E, and the apparatus-side terminal 39 moves upward along the circumference of the driven pulley 27 together with the drive belt 25 in the figure to separate from the card-side terminal 17. . Then, the card transport roller 14
Is rotated in the opposite direction from the insertion, and the hybrid card 15
Is discharged.

In this embodiment, no engaging operation is required, and the pressing of the IC input / output terminals is realized by the tension of the drive belt 25, so that a spring member is not required, and the structure is simpler than that of the first embodiment. Can obtain the same effect.

In this embodiment, the contact / separation position of the IC input / output terminals is determined by the trajectory of the drive belt. Therefore, the trajectory of the belt is changed by adding an idle pulley 29 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to reduce the deflection of the FPC that occurs when the device-side terminal 39 and the card-side terminal 17 are separated from each other. From the above detailed description
As will be apparent, the description will be made with reference to FIGS.
Modification described with reference to the second embodiment and FIG.
In the example, the convex portion 24, the driving belt 25, the driving pulley 26,
Driven pulley 27, drive motor 28, idle pulley 29
The combination of the FPC 38 and the FPC 38
The device side terminal 39 is linked to the position of the
A drive mechanism for contacting and separating the side terminal 17 is configured.
You. In this drive mechanism, the driving mechanism is held on the shuttle 21.
The optical recording area 16 of the hybrid card 15
When recording or reproduction is performed by the optical head 3
The shuttle 21 is located within the movement range F of the shuttle 21
FPC3 that moves integrally with the drive belt 25 when
8 along the circumference of the driven pulley 27
It moves downward and contacts the card side terminal 17. Furthermore this
In the drive mechanism, the shuttle 21 moves out of the movement range F.
Position, and hybrid to shuttle 21
Pointed out by reference E to insert or eject card 15
When the card is in the inserted card
The device side end on the FPC 38 that moves integrally with the moving belt 25
The child 39 moves upward along the circumference of the driven pulley 27 and
Move away from the card side terminal 17. Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The card reader / writer of the present embodiment corresponds to a hybrid card in which an optical recording area and a card-side terminal are separately arranged on the front and back.

FIG. 9 shows the appearance of the hybrid card 50 used in this embodiment. An optical recording area 51 is formed on the surface of the hybrid card 50 as shown in FIG. On the back side of the card 50, FIG.
(B), a card-side terminal 52 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 10, the shuttle 41 has
A pressing member 42 is provided. The pressing member 42 is made of a material having elasticity, and presses the card 50 upward from below. The device side terminal 46 is installed on the pressing member 42 in an upward direction. A lever 43 extending downward is fixed to the pressing member 42, and a slope 44 is attached to the lever 43.
Are formed.

When the shuttle 41 is in the card receiving position, the slope 44 and the pin 45 fixed to the bottom wall of the housing (not shown) are engaged, and the lever 43 is moved downward as shown in FIG. As a result, the pressing member 42 bends, and the device-side terminals 46 installed on the pressing member 42 also move downward. That is, the pressing member 42 plays the role of the lever in the first embodiment.

[0043] When inserting the hybrid card 50 to the shuttle 41, the optical recording area 51 upward to insert the card side terminals 52 leftward toward the bottom (X ₁ side).
When the card 50 is fit into the shuttle 41, the shuttle 41 is so moved rightward (X ₂ side) pin 45 and the lever 43 is separated, the pressing member 42 is moved upward by the elasticity of the pressing member 42 itself, also the pressing member The device-side terminals 46 installed on the card 42 also move upward, and the card-side terminals 5 on the lower surface of the card are moved.
Touch 2 The following operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus the description is omitted.

As is apparent from the above detailed description,
9 to 11 in the third embodiment described with reference to FIG.
Are the pressing member 42, the lever 43, the slope 44, and the
Of the card mounting table, that is, the shuttle 4
1, the device-side terminal 46 is connected to the card-side terminal 5
2 constitutes a drive mechanism for contacting / separating from the drive mechanism 2. And
In this drive mechanism, the hive held on the shuttle 41
An optical head for the optical recording area 51 of the lid card 50
Shuttle 41 when recording or playback is performed by 3
When the shuttle 41 is located within the movement range D of
The slope 44 of the lever 43 on the pressing member 42 is
Away from the pressing member 42, and the pressing member 42
Move upward. And installed on the pressing member 42
The device side terminal 46 also moves upward and the hybrid card
50 contacts the card side terminal 52 on the lower surface. Furthermore, this drive
In the moving mechanism, the shuttle 41 moves out of the moving range D.
And the hybrid vehicle is
Pointed out by reference B to insert or eject the card 50
Press when the card is
A pin 45 is engaged with the slope 44 of the lever 43 on the member 42.
Then, the lever 43 is moved downward. As a result, pressing
The device-side terminal 4 in which the member 42 is provided on the bending pressing member 42
6 also moves downward to cover the lower surface of the hybrid card 50.
Away from the host terminal 52.

As described above, since it is possible to simultaneously access a plurality of recording media on the card, it is possible to eliminate an increase in access time caused by using a hybrid card.

Since the IC input / output terminals come into contact with and separate from the card by mechanical interlocking according to the position of the shuttle, it is not necessary to mount a power source for separating the IC input / output terminals.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a card reader / writer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of the card reader / writer shown in FIG. 1, showing a state where a shuttle is at a card receiving position.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of the card reader / writer shown in FIG. 1, showing a state where a shuttle is in a read / write range.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing a hybrid card used in the card reader / writer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a card reader / writer of a second embodiment.

6 is a partially cutaway side view of the card reader / writer shown in FIG. 5, showing a state where the shuttle is at a receiving position.

7 is a partially cutaway side view of the card reader / writer shown in FIG. 6, showing a state where the shuttle is in a read / write range.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a modification of the card reader / writer of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9A is a top view showing a hybrid card used in the card reader / writer of the third embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a bottom view thereof.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a card reader / writer according to a third embodiment, showing a state where a hybrid card is in a shuttle.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing the card reader / writer according to the third embodiment, showing a state where the shuttle is at a receiving position.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a conventional card reader / writer.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 shuttle, 3 optical head, 9 lever, 10 spring, 11 terminal on device side, 15 hybrid card, 1
6 ... optical recording area, 17 ... card side terminal.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06K 17/00-19/08 G06K 13/00-13/30 G11B 7/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording of an apparatus-side IC input and output terminals for recording and reproducing information in contact with the card side IC output terminals formed on the card, for the optical recording space on the card information optical heads for reproducing, holding the card, said the card mounting table to move relatively cards for the optical heads, in conjunction with the position of the card table the device-side IC and out
Force terminal to contact / separate the card side IC input / output terminal.
And a drive mechanism comprising: a drive mechanism configured to control an optical recording of the card held on the card mounting table.
The recording area is recorded or reproduced by the optical head.
Within the range of movement of the card mounting table when
When the card mounting table is located, the IC
The output terminal is brought into contact with the card-side IC input / output terminal, and is located at a position outside the moving range, and
Card insertion for inserting or ejecting the card to / from the table
・ When the card mounting table is located at the discharge position,
The device-side IC input / output terminal is connected to the card-side IC input / output terminal.
A card reader / writer characterized by being separated from a child .