JP3369045B2 - IC card reader - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card reader for reading various information recorded on an IC card or writing information on the IC card. 2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 6 and 7 show an embodiment of a conventional IC card reader. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a main part of a main body of the conventional card reader with an outer casing removed, and FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 6 and 7, a conventional card reader 1 includes a gate 2 for taking in an IC card 3, and a shutter 4 for opening and closing a card passage of the gate 2.
And a roller 8 for transporting the IC card 3 taken into the gate 2 along the transport path into the inside of the apparatus. Further, a roller 9 and a roller 10 are provided following the roller 8 in the transport path, so that the IC card 3 can be transported continuously on the transport path. [0003] Between the rollers 8 and 9, an IC contact holder 6 is provided.
And is connected to the solenoid 12 via a plunger and an arm (not shown). The IC contact holder 6 has terminal groups 7a, 7 each composed of a large number of IC contacts.
A contact block 7 made of b is formed, and is provided so as to be vertically movable about the fulcrum 16 by the operation of a plunger (not shown). The plunger is sucked by the operation of the solenoid 12 into the IC card 3 conveyed to a predetermined position inside the device of the IC card reader 1 by the rotation of the roller 8, and the IC contact holder 6 provided at the predetermined position is lowered. By operating, the IC contact groups 7a and 7b are brought into contact with the contact terminal groups 3a and 3b provided on the IC card 3. This allows I
The contact terminal group of the C card 3 and the contact block 7 composed of the IC contact groups 7a and 7b are electrically connected. [0004] The operation mode of the IC contact holder 6 as described above does not cause any problem in a state where it is normally used. However, for example, when the host program runs out of control and malfunctions occur, or when a manual operation is performed in a test state, the IC card 3 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. In this case, the end face 3F of the IC card 3 comes in contact with the end face 3F of the IC card 3 because the IC contact 7a is lifted, but the IC contact 7b cannot be lifted. There was a risk that the contact 7b would be damaged. Also, when the IC card 3 is conveyed in the direction of arrow G from the left position, there is no problem because the IC contact 7b is lifted, but there is a risk that the IC contact 7a may be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent such a problem of the IC card reader. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and by adding a simple structure and a compact mechanism, a fatal problem in the function of the IC card reader as described above. The purpose is to prevent points beforehand. Accordingly, an IC card reader according to a first aspect of the present invention has a contact for transmitting and receiving data by contacting a contact terminal provided on an IC card with respect to a card traveling direction. Contact blocks arranged in two rows, movably supporting the contact block between a position where the contact contacts the contact terminal and a position where the contact block separates from the contact terminal, wherein the contact block contacts the contact terminal when the contact block contacts the contact terminal. An IC wherein the contact has an engagement shape portion that engages with the end face of the card.
In the card reader, of the two rows of contacts,
In both cases, the contact shape of the contact row in one row is
While moving to the position where it contacts the contact terminal,
When the IC card is transported, the end face of the card
Are arranged so as to be pushed by, to the contact block, said stops card running in engagement with the card edge in the card travel direction upstream side of the engaging shaped portions of the contacts of at least one row A stopper is provided. In a card reader according to a second aspect of the present invention, the contact is formed by bending a wire.
The contact engagement portion is arranged so as to be inside the two rows of contacts, and a stopper is provided in the middle of the two rows of contacts. In a card reader according to a third aspect of the present invention, the position at which the stopper comes into contact with the card is a position avoiding a contact terminal and an embossed portion provided on the IC card. . In a card reader according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the stopper is a lever rotatably held by the contact block. Next, an embodiment of a card reader according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a card reader according to the present invention, in which a part of a main part when a housing is removed is cut away. FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2 viewed from the right.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the IC contact holder in FIG. An IC card reader 1 according to the present invention is shown in FIG.
As described in the above, the IC card 3 having the contact terminal groups 3a and 3b arranged in two rows in a direction orthogonal to the card running direction, and contacting the contact terminal groups 3a and 3b provided on the IC card 3. IC contacts 7 arranged in two rows with respect to the card running direction in order to transfer data
a contact block 7 comprising a, b and an IC for movably supporting the contact block 7 between a position at which the IC contact groups 7a, 7b contact the contact terminal groups 3a, 3b and a position at which they are separated
It is composed of a contact holder 6. As will be described later, the contact block 7 has an engaging shape portion A of the contact on the side engaging with the end face of the IC card.
A stopper arm 20 for engaging the end face 3F of the IC card 3 and stopping the card running is provided on the upstream side in the card running direction with respect to the position of (1). The IC contact groups 7a and 7b constituting the contact block 7 are formed in a torsion coil spring shape by bending a wire material.
By attaching one end to the IC contact holder 6 and locking the free end to the locking portion of the IC contact holder 6,
It is held at the lowered position (see the position of the IC contact 7b in FIG. 2). The engagement shape portion of the contact is formed by bending a wire, so that two rows of IC contact groups 7a and 7b are formed.
And a stopper arm 20 is provided in the middle of the two rows of contact groups. Further, the position where the stopper arm 20 comes into contact with the IC card 3 is desirably set at a position avoiding the contact terminal groups 3a and 3b and the embossed portion provided on the IC card 3, and is set at the avoidance position. In this case, the IC contact groups 7a and 7b are brought into contact terminal groups 3a and 3b by normal operation.
This is to prevent the stopper arm 20 from engaging with the contact terminal group 3a, 3b or the embossed portion and causing a failure even if the card is transferred due to a malfunction after the contact. As shown in FIG. 3, the stopper arm 20 is provided with an arm fulcrum receiver 21 at one end of an IC contact holder 6 having a contact block 7, and the tip of the arm is formed in an L-shape at right angles. It is formed as a lever having a portion 20a. The stopper arm 20 is held rotatably about the arm support receiver 21 in the direction of arrow P. In the stopper arm 20, a guide groove 22 is formed in the IC contact holder 6 at the other end corresponding to the arm support receiver 21 to guide the arm tip portion 20a to a predetermined position. In order to reliably stop the IC card 3, the stopper arm 20 may be configured such that the arm tip 20 a is fitted into a concave portion 28 provided in the lower frame 27 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Good. The stopper arm 20 has rigidity enough to withstand the card conveying force. In the normal operation state, the stopper arm 20 can be simply put on the card. Therefore, the stopper arm 20 is set to a light load that is lowered by its own weight, and is used for positioning a normal IC card. The load applied to the IC card is reduced as a load and so that the engagement operation of the IC contact is performed smoothly. As shown in FIG. 1, the arm fulcrum receiver 21 is located at a position avoiding the pattern of the flexible cable 17 for leading out the IC contact.
Is arranged. In the above configuration, the operation of the IC card reader according to the present invention is as shown in FIGS.
First, in a state where the IC contact holder 6 is normally used in the operation mode of the IC contact holder 6, the IC contact holder 6 is at a position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Block 7 descends. For example, even if the contact block 7 is in the descending state when the host program runs out and malfunctions or when the manual operation is performed in the test state, as shown in FIG. The movement of the transported IC card 3 can be prevented. That is, the stopper arm 20 is also lowered with the lowering of the contact block 7, so that the movement of the IC card 3 on the end face 3F of the IC card 3 can be prevented.
It is possible to prevent the end face 3F of the card 3 from pushing the engagement shape portion A of the IC contact 7b. Further, even if the IC card 3 is located on the left side of the contact block 7, even if the IC card 3 advances in the direction of arrow G from this state, the end face 3G is blocked by the stopper arm 20. Thus, it is possible to prevent a child from pushing the engagement shape portion A on the IC contact group 7a side, and it is possible to prevent each breakage. Another embodiment according to the present invention is shown in FIG.
(B), (a) is a plan view of the stopper arm,
(B) shows a partial side sectional view. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the stopper arm 25 has a beard-shaped spring 26 formed at the tip end integrally with the stopper arm main body along the running direction of the IC card. When the stopper arm 25 is lifted by being fitted, a stable return biasing force is applied. As described above, the embodiment according to the present invention has been specifically described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. is there. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the stopper arm is set to a light load that is lowered by its own weight, but the load may be held stable by using a spring or other urging means. As described above, the IC according to the present invention is
In a card reader, an IC card having contact terminals arranged in two rows in the card running direction, a contact block consisting of IC contacts arranged in two rows in the card running direction, and this contact block And an IC contact holder that movably supports a position where the IC contact group contacts the contact terminal group and a position where the IC contact group separates from the contact terminal group. Since the stopper arm is provided on the side to stop the card running by engaging with the end face of the IC card, the IC card can be prevented from moving by the stopper arm at the time of malfunction, so that the IC contact group is not damaged. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the contact block from being damaged. The IC contact group is formed by bending a wire, and the engaging shape portion of the IC contact group is arranged so as to be inside the two rows of contacts. Provided with the stopper arm, the IC card traveling can be reliably prevented in any card traveling direction. Further, the position where the stopper arm comes into contact with the IC card is set at a position avoiding the contact terminal and the embossed portion provided on the IC card. Even if the card is transferred, it is possible to prevent the contact terminal group or the embossed portion from engaging with the stopper arm and causing a failure. Further, since the stopper arm is a lever rotatably held by the contact block, only one card stopper is required, which simplifies the structure. Further, the space can be minimized in the thickness direction and the traveling direction of the card, and the size can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an embodiment of an IC card reader according to the present invention;
It is the top view which cut out some main parts when the outer case was removed. FIG. 2 shows a side view of a main part according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of a portion corresponding to FIG. 2 according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an IC contact holder in FIG. 2 according to the present invention. 5A and 5B show another embodiment of the IC card reader according to the present invention, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view of a stopper arm, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a main part of a main body of a conventional IC card reader with an outer case removed. FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 6; [Description of Signs] 3 IC card 3a, 3b Contact terminal group 3F, 3G End face 6 IC contact holder 7 Contact block 7a, 7b IC contact group 20, 25 Stopper arm 21 Arm fulcrum support 26 Beard spring

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A contact block in which contacts for contacting a contact terminal provided on an IC card and transmitting and receiving data are arranged in two rows in a card traveling direction. An engagement shape in which the contact block movably supports a position where the contact contacts the contact terminal and a position where the contact block separates, and the contact engages with the card end surface at a position where the contact contacts the contact terminal. In the IC card reader configured to have the portion , at least one of the two rows of contacts is engaged.
The contact portion is located at a position where the contact block contacts the contact terminal.
The above IC card was transported while being moved to the
In such a case, push the card
Together is disposed in said contact block, said at least one row stopper for stopping the card traveling engaged with the card edge in the card travel direction upstream side of the engaging shaped portions of the contacts are provided An IC card reader, comprising: