JP4113803B2 - Card slot mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card insertion slot mechanism of a card reader that reads and writes information on a card such as a magnetic card or an IC card. More specifically, the present invention relates to a card slot mechanism that prevents a card from being inserted in the reverse direction.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a card reader of a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe, the magnetic head is usually arranged so that magnetic information can be read and written when the magnetic stripe is inserted with the upper surface on the right side in the insertion direction. Magnetic cards are often embossed. For this reason, if the user mistakenly inserts the magnetic stripe on the upper left side with respect to the insertion direction, the embossed stamp may interfere with the magnetic head and damage the magnetic head, or the card may be clogged inside.
[0003]
In order to prevent this, a mechanism has been developed in which a predetermined position of the inserted card is sandwiched from above and below to detect the thickness, determine the presence or absence of embossing, and determine the card insertion direction based on this. When it is determined that the card is inserted in the reverse direction, the embossing can prevent the magnetic head from being damaged by keeping the shutter of the card insertion slot closed.
[0004]
A card insertion slot mechanism has also been developed in which a pre-head composed of a magnetic head is provided outside the card insertion slot, and the shutter of the card insertion slot is opened only when the magnetic information of the magnetic stripe is read by the pre-head.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, each of the card insertion slot mechanisms described above requires separate members such as a card thickness detection mechanism and a pre-head, which increases costs and increases the size of the apparatus.
[0006]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a card insertion slot mechanism that can prevent a card from being inserted in the reverse direction without causing an increase in cost and an increase in size of the apparatus.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a card insertion slot mechanism of a card reader provided on the card insertion side for receiving a card into the card reader. A convex surface protruding in the direction, and the convex portion is formed such that the card thickness direction dimension of the card insertion slot continuously decreases from the card insertion side toward the card insertion direction. A tapered portion having a first parallel surface parallel to the card insertion direction that is continuous with the taper surface and extending in the card insertion direction; a right-angle surface provided perpendicular to the card insertion direction; and a card thickness of the right-angle surface A second parallel surface parallel to the card insertion direction from the inner end in the direction to the card insertion direction and a third parallel parallel to the card insertion direction from the outer end in the card thickness direction to the card ejection direction from the right side of the card. It is to be composed of a right-angled portion with and.
[0008]
Accordingly, when a card having some protrusion at a position corresponding to the right-angled portion is inserted, the protrusion abuts on the right-angled surface and cannot be inserted any more. Therefore, it is possible to protect the internal mechanism of the card reader disposed on the back side of the right angle portion without using a separate member.
[0009]
Further, when a card having no protrusion is inserted at a position corresponding to the right angle portion, the card is guided by the taper portion and inserted without contacting the right angle surface. Therefore, smooth insertion similar to the conventional card insertion slot can be realized.
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the card insertion slot mechanism according to the first aspect, the card is an embossed card engraved with an emboss and is perpendicular to the embossed region where the emboss of the card inserted in the opposite direction is imprinted. The part is formed. Therefore, when the card is inserted in the reverse direction, the embossing comes into contact with the right-angled surface and the card insertion is prevented.
[0011]
Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the card insertion slot mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the card is a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe, and the convex portion avoids the magnetic stripe region provided with the magnetic stripe. To be formed.
[0012]
Therefore, since the magnetic stripe does not hit the convex portion when the card is inserted in the correct orientation, it is possible to suppress wear and damage of the magnetic stripe.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described in detail based on the best mode shown in the drawings.
[0014]
1 and 2 show an example of an embodiment of a card insertion slot mechanism 1 according to the present invention. The card insertion slot mechanism 1 is provided on the card insertion side in order to receive the card 3 into the card reader 2. The card insertion slot mechanism 1 includes a convex part 5 that protrudes in the card thickness direction at a part of the card insertion slot 4. The convex portion 5 is composed of a tapered portion 6 and a right angle portion 7.
[0015]
The taper portion 6 includes a taper surface 8 formed so that a dimension in the card thickness direction of the card insertion port 4 continuously decreases from the card insertion side toward the card insertion direction, and the taper surface 8 continuously from the taper surface 8. And a first parallel surface 9 parallel to the card insertion direction toward the card insertion direction. The right-angle portion 7 includes a right-angle surface 10 provided at right angles to the card insertion direction, and a second parallel surface parallel to the card insertion direction from the inner end of the right-angle surface 10 in the card thickness direction toward the card insertion direction. 11 and a third parallel surface 12 parallel to the card insertion direction from the outer end of the right-angled surface 10 in the card thickness direction toward the card ejection direction.
[0016]
In this embodiment, the card 3 is an embossed card with an embossed stamp. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the right angle portion 7 is formed in the embossed region 13 in which the emboss of the card 3 inserted in the opposite direction is engraved. Further, the card 3 is a magnetic card 3 having a magnetic stripe 14. The convex portion 5 is formed so as to avoid the region of the magnetic stripe 14 provided with the magnetic stripe 14.
[0017]
The thickness H of the card insertion slot 4 in the convex portion 5 is set to be not less than the card thickness and not more than the sum of the card thickness and the emboss height. As a result, the emboss of the card 3 inserted in the opposite direction comes into contact with the right angle surface 10. Here, the thickness of the card 3 is, for example, 0.76 mm, the height of the emboss is 0.48 mm, and the thickness H of the card insertion slot 4 in the convex portion 5 is 1.1 mm. However, it goes without saying that these values are not limiting.
[0018]
A guide surface 15 for guiding the card 3 to the card insertion slot 4 is formed before and after the card insertion slot 4. The card reader 2 provided with the card insertion slot mechanism 1 reads and writes magnetic information from and to the magnetic card 3. The card reader 2 has a magnetic head 16 on the back side of the card insertion slot 4 as shown in FIG.
[0019]
The operation of the card insertion slot mechanism 1 described above will be described below.
[0020]
When the magnetic card 3 is inserted into the card insertion slot 4 in the normal direction, that is, with the magnetic stripe 14 on the upper right side, the tip of the card 3 is guided by the tapered surface 8 of the convex portion 5 from the guide surface 15 on the outside of the card insertion slot 4. Guided to the card insertion slot 4. For this reason, it can prevent that the front-end | tip of the card | curd 3 contact | abuts on the right-angled surface 10, and is caught. Further, the card 3 is inserted as it is without the emboss of the card 3 hitting the right-angled surface 10 of the convex portion 5. At this time, since the magnetic stripe 14 does not hit the convex portion 5, wear and damage of the magnetic stripe 14 can be suppressed. Then, information is read from and written to the inserted card 3 by the magnetic head 16.
[0021]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, if the magnetic card 3 is inserted in the reverse direction, that is, with the magnetic stripe 14 on the upper left side, the emboss of the card 3 may be inserted in contact with the right-angled surface 10 of the convex portion 5. Can not. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the emboss from interfering with the magnetic head 16 and damaging the magnetic head 16.
[0022]
Here, when the low embossed card 3 whose emboss is reduced due to wear or the like is inserted in the opposite direction, the emboss may be taken into the card reader 2 without contacting the right-angled surface 10. In this case, since the magnetic head 16 cannot read / write magnetic information, the card 3 is determined to be abnormal, and the card 3 is conveyed in the reverse direction and discharged from the card insertion slot 4. At this time, since the card 3 is guided to the card insertion slot 4 by the guide surface 15 on the inner side of the card insertion slot 4, the card 3 can be discharged smoothly.
[0023]
The above-described embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the card 3 is the magnetic card 3 having the magnetic stripe 14, but is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a contact IC card 3. In this case, the right angle portion 7 is provided on the upstream side of the card reader 2 in the insertion direction of the contact spring, for example. As a result, for example, when the card 3 is cracked and raised at a position upstream of the contact spring, when the card 3 is to be inserted, the raised part is brought into contact with the right-angled portion 7 to prevent insertion. Therefore, damage to the contact spring can be prevented. That is, in order not to insert the card 3 that may damage the internal mechanism of the card reader 2 due to the conveyance, the right angle portion 7 is provided at the portion of the card insertion slot 4 that is upstream of the portion that is easily damaged. Thereby, it can prevent that the part which the card | curd 3 protruded to the site | part which is easy to damage.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the card insertion slot mechanism of the first aspect, when a card having some protrusion at a position corresponding to the right-angled portion is inserted, the protrusion comes into contact with the right-angled surface and can be inserted further. Can not. Therefore, it is possible to protect the internal mechanism of the card reader disposed on the back side of the right angle portion without using a separate member. Since no separate member is used, it is possible to suppress the increase in cost and the size of the apparatus as much as possible. Further, when two cards are mistakenly inserted, the convex portions come into contact with each other to prevent the insertion.
[0025]
When a card having no protrusion is inserted at a position corresponding to the right angle portion, the card is guided by the taper portion and inserted without contacting the right angle surface. Therefore, smooth insertion similar to the conventional card insertion slot can be realized.
[0026]
According to the card insertion slot mechanism of the second aspect, when the card is inserted in the reverse direction, the emboss is brought into contact with the right angle surface to prevent the card insertion. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the emboss from damaging the internal mechanism of the card reader.
[0027]
Furthermore, according to the card insertion slot mechanism of the third aspect, since the magnetic stripe does not hit the convex portion when the card is inserted in the correct direction, it is possible to suppress wear and damage of the magnetic stripe.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are diagrams showing a card insertion slot mechanism according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a front view, FIG. 1B is a side view showing a state cut along line II in FIG. It is a partial enlarged view of (B).
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a main part of a card reader provided with a card insertion slot mechanism.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Card insertion slot mechanism 2 Card reader 3 Card 4 Card insertion slot 5 Convex part 8 Tapered surface 9 1st parallel surface 6 Tapered part 7 Right angle part 10 Right angle surface 11 2nd parallel surface 12 3rd parallel surface 13 Emboss area | region 14 Magnetic stripe

Claims (3)

In the card insertion slot mechanism of the card reader provided on the card insertion side for receiving the card into the card reader, a convex portion protruding in the card thickness direction is formed in a part of the card insertion slot, and the convex portion A taper surface formed such that a dimension in the card thickness direction of the card insertion slot continuously decreases from the card insertion side toward the card insertion direction, and a card insertion continuously extending in the card insertion direction. A taper portion having a first parallel surface parallel to the direction, a right-angle surface provided perpendicular to the card insertion direction, and parallel to the card insertion direction from the inner end of the right-angle surface in the card thickness direction toward the card insertion direction And a right angle portion having a third parallel surface parallel to the card insertion direction from the outer end in the card thickness direction of the right angle surface toward the card ejection direction. Card insertion slot mechanism to butterflies. 2. The card according to claim 1, wherein the card is an embossed card with an embossed stamp, and the right-angled portion is formed in an embossed region with the embossed stamp of the card inserted in the reverse direction. Insertion mechanism. 3. The card insertion slot mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the card is a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe, and the convex portion is formed to avoid a magnetic stripe region provided with the magnetic stripe. .

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