JP3193080B2 - Card reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader having a function of recognizing an open / close state of a main chassis and a sub-chassis while dividing a card reader body into upper and lower blocks of a main chassis and a sub-chassis. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a card reader, the main body of the card reader is divided into two blocks, a main chassis and a sub-chassis, for the purpose of maintenance such as cleaning of a magnetic head and a card transporting section and coping with card jam. Many of them are provided with an opening and closing mechanism as well as being separated.

FIG. 1A shows an example of the structure of a card reader, in which first to third cards for transporting a card 10 are shown.
Transport rollers 1 to 3, first to third card detection sensors 4 to 6 for detecting the position of a card in which a light receiving element a and a light emitting element b are paired, and a main chassis 7 of a card reader body. And a sub-chassis 8 and an opening / closing mechanism 9 thereof.

FIG. 1B shows a state in which a main chassis 7 and a sub-chassis 8 of a card reader main body are opened.

Conventionally, in this type of card reader, in order to recognize whether or not the main chassis 7 and the sub-chassis 8 are opened, it is common to provide a new switch and determine the state of the switch. is there. Various types of switches such as a mechanical contact type and an optical type are applied to the switch.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, it is necessary to add a new component to the card reader main body, which causes a problem that the cost is increased. In addition, when a mechanical contact type switch is used, there is a disadvantage that the life is short and reliability is low, and when an optical switch is used, there is a disadvantage that the mechanism becomes mechanically complicated. Was.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a card reader capable of recognizing the open / closed state of the main body without adding a component.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a main chassis and a sub-chassis that are openably and closably connected via an opening and closing mechanism, a transport mechanism for transporting a card, and a plurality of transport mechanisms. The light receiving element and the light receiving element and the light emitting element that is paired with each other across the card transport path are configured, and the light receiving element and the light emitting element that are paired with each other are disposed on the main chassis and the sub chassis, respectively, and A plurality of card detection sensors arranged so that at least one of them is longer than the card length; a binarization circuit for converting output signals of the plurality of card detection sensors into a rectangular wave; Monitors multiple output signal statuses of the circuit. If any of the signal statuses indicate a card detection status, it is determined that a card has been inserted. The main chassis and sub-chassis when they become equal, characterized in that a controller for determining to have been opened.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the card passes between the light emitting element and the light receiving element, the light from the light emitting element is blocked by the card, so that the light reaches the light receiving element paired with the light emitting element. Disappears. The controller recognizes the position of the card by this, but when the card reader body is opened, an optical axis shift occurs between all the light emitting elements and the light receiving elements, and all the light receiving elements have the light emitting elements. In this state, the controller recognizes that the main chassis and the sub-chassis have been opened. Thus, the conventional card detection sensor can be used as the open / close sensor of the card reader main body, and the open / close state of the card reader main body can be recognized without adding a new component such as a switch. Can be distinguished between a state in which a card is loaded and a state in which the chassis is open.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a card reader according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The structural components are as shown in FIG. 1 described in the above conventional example, and the description is omitted here and the description is omitted here. Note that, as shown in FIG. 1A, the distance between the first card detection sensor 4 and the third card detection sensor 6 is longer than the length of the card 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the open / closed state recognizing means in the card reader body of the present embodiment. The output signals of the card detection sensors 4 to 6 are transmitted via a binarization circuit 11. It is input to the microcomputer 12 which is a controller. FIG. 3 shows the first to third states when the card is transported and the main chassis 7 and the sub-chassis 8 are opened.
Binarization circuit 1 corresponding to the card position detection sensors 4 to 6
1 shows an example of an output signal of the first embodiment.

The principle of operation for recognizing the open / closed state of the card reader body will be described below.

Since the distance between the first and third card detection sensors 4 and 6 is longer than the card length, the card 10 is moved from the left with the main chassis 7 and the sub-chassis 8 closed. When the card is conveyed to the right, all the card detection sensors 4, 5, and 6 do not enter the card detection state. However, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the main chassis 7 and the sub-chassis 8 are opened, the optical axis of the light receiving element a of the main chassis 7 and the light axis of the light emitting element b of the sub-chassis 8 which have been opposed to now. Is shifted, the state of the output signals of the card detection sensors 4 to 6 is all equal to the card detection state.

Therefore, the state of a plurality of output signals of the binarization circuit 11 is monitored by the microcomputer 12 from time to time, and when the state of all signals becomes equal to the card detection state, the main chassis 7 and the sub-chassis 8 are opened. By including a program in the microcomputer 12 to determine that the card reader is open or closed, the open / close state of the card reader body can be recognized.

In the present embodiment, a one-chip microcomputer 12 has been described as a controller, but it is needless to say that other circuit means can be used.

[0017]

According to the card reader of the present invention, it is possible to recognize whether or not the main chassis and the sub-chassis have been opened without providing another component such as a switch for detecting the open / close state, and furthermore, the reliability can be improved. An inexpensive card reader with high reliability can be realized. The detection of the open / closed state of the chassis is also performed by the card detection sensor, and it is possible to distinguish whether the card is in the inserted state or in the open state of the chassis.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a card reader according to an embodiment of the present invention;
(A) is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where the main body is closed, and (b) is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where the main body is opened.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a detection circuit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram of an output signal of a binarizing circuit showing an operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st conveyance roller 2 2nd conveyance roller 3 3rd conveyance roller 4 1st card detection sensor 5 2nd card detection sensor 6 3rd card detection sensor 7 main chassis 8 sub-chassis 9 opening / closing mechanism 10 card 11 Binarization circuit 12 Microcomputer (controller) a Light receiving element b Light emitting element

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-66556 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 19/00-19/18 G06K 13 / 00-13/30

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main chassis and sub-chassis which is openably connected via the opening and closing mechanism, each pair sandwiching a transport mechanism for transporting the card, and a plurality of light receiving elements of the light receiving element and the card transfer path to a light-emitting element to be
The light receiving element and the light emitting
Element and is disposed on the main chassis and sub-chassis, respectively, and at least one distance between each other and a plurality of card detection sensor arranged to be longer than the card length, a plurality of card detection sensor output A binarization circuit that converts a signal into a rectangular wave, and monitors a plurality of output signal states of the binarization circuit, and a part of the signal state becomes a card detection state.
A card reader comprising: a controller that determines that a card has been inserted, and determines that the main chassis and the sub-chassis have been opened when all signal states become equal to the card detection state.