JP4354417B2 - IC card reader with automatic retry function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for reading an IC card. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method used for toll collection using a contact IC card at a toll collection station on a toll road.

  At a toll collection facility on a toll road, a user may pay for the fee using a contact IC card. The settlement of such a fee is performed by the contact person receiving the contact type IC card and inserting it into the IC card reader, or by inserting the IC card into an automatic fee collection device installed on the roadside.

In Patent Document 1, an IC card is inserted and moved close to the IC chip provided on the surface of the IC card, and when the insertion operation is completed, the IC card is brought into point contact with the IC chip for electrical conduction. In an IC card reader having an IC contact for reading data stored in and / or writing new data, the range of the surface length of the IC chip after completion of point contact between the IC chip electrode and the IC contact An IC card reader is disclosed in which an IC card is further moved to rub the IC chip surface with an IC contact to remove dirt attached to the electrode of the IC chip or the IC contact surface. .
JP 2000-339415 A

An object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader and an IC card reading method that shorten the service time of the fee collection business.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader and an IC card reading method having high durability against the environment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader and an IC card reading method for improving poor contact with an IC card.

  In the following, means for solving the problem will be described using the numbers used in [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention] in parentheses. These numbers are added to clarify the correspondence between the description of [Claims] and [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention]. However, these numbers should not be used to interpret the technical scope of the invention described in [Claims].

  The IC card reader (2) according to the present invention is provided at a position where the insertion port (4) into which the IC card is inserted and the terminal of the IC chip (10) in the IC card (6) arranged at a predetermined position. The contact IC contact (14), the detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of the IC chip (10) using the IC contact (14), and the IC contact (14) contact when the IC chip (10) is not detected And a transfer device (22) for moving the IC card (6) in the state of being.

  In the IC card reader (2) according to the present invention, the transport device (22) moves the IC card (6) again to a predetermined position.

  In the IC card reader (2) according to the present invention, the detection unit (26) detects the presence / absence of the IC chip (10) again after the transport device (22) moves the IC card (6) again.

  The IC card reader (2) according to the present invention includes a detection unit (26) for detecting the insertion of the IC card (6) from the insertion port (4), and a detection unit for detecting the insertion of the IC card (6). And an introduction device (21) for introducing the IC card (6) to a predetermined position when detected by (26).

  The IC card reader (2) according to the present invention is provided with an introduction device (21) for introducing the IC card (6) to a predetermined position and an IC chip terminal in the IC card (6) arranged at the predetermined position. An IC contact (14) in contact with the IC card (6), and a transfer device (22) for moving the card (6) in a state where the IC contact (14) is in contact with the IC card (6).

  In the IC card reader (2) according to the present invention, the transport device (22) is an elastic body that is deformed by the IC card (6) introduced by the introduction device (21).

  An IC card reading method according to the present invention includes an introduction step of introducing an IC card (6) to a predetermined position, and an IC contact at a position where an IC chip terminal is provided in the IC card (6) arranged at the predetermined position. The step of contacting (14), the step of detecting the presence or absence of the IC chip (10) using the IC contact (14), and the IC contact (14) contacting when the IC chip (10) is not detected. A moving step of moving the IC card (6) in a state.

  The IC card reading method according to the present invention comprises a re-moving step for re-moving the IC card (6) to a predetermined position after the moving step.

  The IC card reading method according to the present invention includes a step of detecting the presence / absence of the IC chip (10) again after the re-moving step.

  The IC card reading method according to the present invention includes a step of automatically starting the introduction step when it is detected that the IC card (6) is inserted from the insertion slot (4) of the IC card reader (2). .

  An IC card reading method according to the present invention includes a step of automatically introducing an IC card (6) to a predetermined position, and a position where an IC chip terminal is provided on the IC card (6) arranged at the predetermined position. A step of bringing the IC contact (14) into contact; and a moving step of moving the IC card (6) while the IC contact (14) is in contact with the IC card (6).

  In the moving step of the IC card reading method according to the present invention, the IC card (6) is moved using the transport device (22) installed in the IC card reader (2).

According to the present invention, there is provided an IC card reader and an IC card reading method that reduce the service time of the fee collection business.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, an IC card reader and an IC card reading method having high durability against the environment are provided.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, an IC card reader and an IC card reading method for improving poor contact with an IC card are provided.

  Hereinafter, an IC card reader and an IC card reading method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the fee collection system 100 according to the present embodiment. The toll collection system 100 of the present embodiment includes a toll booth 110, a toll office 120, a signal lamp 130, a vehicle number measuring device 140, and a tread board 150 that are provided in an approach path of a vehicle laid facing the toll booth 110. It has. The toll booth 110 includes a toll collection device 111, a receipt issuing machine 112, and a prepaid card processing machine 113. The fee office 120 includes a data input device 121, a toll gate total processing device 122, an uninterruptible power supply device 123, and a prepaid card reissue machine 124.

  Next, the operating principle of the fee collection system 100 will be described. When a vehicle enters a vehicle approach road laid facing the toll booth 110 of the toll collection system 100, the vehicle is based on the presence or absence of a vehicle ahead of the vehicle by a signal light 130 provided in the vehicle entrance road. Whether to enter is controlled. When the vehicle is permitted to enter the toll gate by the signal lamp 130, the toll collection operation for the vehicle is performed at the toll gate 110 by the operation input of the toll collector. At this time, data processing is performed by the toll collection device 111, the receipt issuing machine 112, and the prepaid card processing machine 113 installed in the toll booth 110, and this data is collected from the toll booth installed in the toll office 120. It is transmitted to the processing device 122. The toll gate totaling device 122 performs a toll fee totaling process based on the received data, and the vehicle type automatically determined by the vehicle type discriminating device and the vehicle number measuring device 140 (not shown) and the tread 150 A receipt calculation based on the number of units or a receipt calculation based on toll collection data transmitted from an ETC reader (not shown) is performed.

  The IC card reader in the present embodiment is used for the fee collection device 111 in such a fee collection system 100. Or, when a user inserts a card, it is used for an automatic toll collection machine (not shown) that automatically performs toll collection and returns the card. In particular, it is preferably used in a situation where a magnetic stripe, a contact IC chip, a non-contact IC chip, or a card having two or more of them is used in a toll collection.

  In such a situation, a card information reading apparatus and method corresponding to the difference in the type of card (the type of storage medium included in the card) is required. With the IC card reader and IC card reading method described below, the time for determining the type of card is shortened, and the service time for toll collection is shortened.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an IC card reader. The IC card reader 2 includes an input device 36 and a display device 34. Inside the IC card reader 2, a slot 20 into which a credit card size card is inserted is provided. One end of the slot 20 opens into a card insertion slot 4 opened on one side of the housing of the IC card reader 2.

  The IC card reader 2 includes a detection device 23 that detects that a card has been inserted from the card insertion slot 4. The IC card reader 2 further includes an introduction device 21 that introduces the card into the slot 20 by a motor-driven roller or the like when the detection device 23 detects that a card has been inserted from the card insertion slot 4; And a transport device 22 that transports the introduced card to a predetermined position inside the slot 20 by a roller that drives the motor. The introducing device 21 and the conveying device 22 may be the same device such as a roller.

  The IC card reader 2 includes an IC contact 14 that reads information from an IC card arranged at a predetermined position of the slot 20. The IC contact 14 includes a detection unit 26 that detects whether there is an IC chip having a terminal on the card.

  The IC card reader 2 having such a configuration operates as follows.

  When the toll collector 110 receives the card from the vehicle occupant, it inserts the card from the card insertion slot 4. The receiver also inputs information necessary for fee calculation from the input device 36 as necessary.

  When the detecting device 23 detects that a card has been inserted, the introducing device 21 is driven and the card is introduced into the slot 20. The introduced card is transported to the position where the IC contact 14 is installed by the transport device 22 and stopped. The IC contact 14 is pressed to a position where a normal IC chip is attached on the surface of the card. The detection unit 26 starts an operation of detecting an IC chip using the IC contact 14.

  If the card is dirty with dust, oil, etc., the IC contact may not be recognized by the IC contact 14 even if the IC chip exists due to poor contact. In particular, at the toll collection, the card is exposed to the outdoor environment, so measures against dirt are required.

  The IC card reader 2 improves the state of contact by moving the card back and forth once or several times along the slot 20 while the IC contact 14 is in contact with the card, and automatically retry reading. This operation is illustrated in FIG. FIG. 2A shows a state where the IC contact 12 is not in contact with the IC chip 10 due to the dirt 16. In this state, the IC chip 10 is not detected. If the IC chip 10 is not detected, the detection unit 26 transmits a signal instructing the transfer device 22 to shift the card 6.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the transport device 22 moves the card 6. At that time, the IC contact 12 is kept pressed against the surface of the card 6. When the card 6 moves, the surface of the IC chip 10 is rubbed by the IC contact 12, and the dirt 16 is removed by the IC contact 12, so that a better contact state is obtained.

  The range in which the card is moved may be a range in which the IC contact 12 is within the range of the surface of the card in order to achieve the object of removing the dirt 16. It is preferable that the range in which the card 6 is moved is a range in which the card 6 does not go out of the card insertion slot 4, so that it is not mistaken for the recipient that the card 6 has been discharged.

  The transport device 22 moves the card 6 again and returns it to the position shown in FIG. 2A, that is, the position where the detection unit 26 first detects the IC chip 14 first. FIG. 2 (c) shows the state. As a result, the correspondence between the electrical connection pins provided in the IC contact 12 and the terminals provided in the IC chip 10 is maintained the same as in the first detection operation.

  When the transport device 22 completes the re-movement of the card 6, the detection unit 26 performs the operation of detecting the IC chip 10 again. When it is recognized that the IC chip 10 is present, the IC contact 12 reads information from the IC chip. The IC card reader 2 performs fee collection processing using the information and outputs the result to the display device 34.

  When the IC chip 10 is not recognized by the detection unit 26, the transport device 22 preferably repeats the operations shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C a predetermined number of times. If the detection unit 26 does not detect the IC chip 10 while this operation is repeated a predetermined number of times, the detection unit 26 determines that the IC chip 10 is not present on the card and ejects the card from the card insertion slot 4. . At this time, it is preferable that a display, a sound, or the like indicating that the IC chip 10 is not recognized is output.

  According to such an IC card reader 2, in the case of poor contact, the detection operation is automatically retried while improving the contact, and the trouble of ejecting and reinserting the card is saved. Therefore, the average service time is shortened.

  Vehicles come to the toll collection office on the toll road one after another. It is important to shorten the time for business to collect charges in order to smooth traffic, that is, to increase the number of charges collected per unit time. Furthermore, a long waiting time at the toll collection station is psychologically stressful for the user (vehicle occupant) at the toll collection station. Toll collection equipment requires a particularly fast response speed. The IC card reader according to the present embodiment is effective for reducing the stress of a vehicle occupant and improving satisfaction.

  As a modification of the present embodiment, a configuration in which an elastic material is employed as the transport device 22 can be given. Examples of the elastic material include a leaf spring that is installed at the back end of the slot 20 and elastically deforms in the extending direction of the slot 20 (the direction connecting the card insertion slot 4 and the back end). In this case, the introduction device 21 using a roller driven by a motor conveys the card to a position where the card elastically deforms the elastic material. When the card is in that position, the IC contact 14 is pressed against the surface of the card. Thereafter, in a state where the IC contact 14 is pressed against the surface of the card, the card moves inside the slot to a predetermined reading position by the elastic force of the elastic material. Contact is improved by rubbing the surface of the card by the IC contact 14. At the reading position, the detection unit 26 detects the IC chip 10.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an IC card reader. FIG. 2 shows the operation of the IC card reader. FIG. 3 shows the structure of the toll collection station.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... IC card reader 4 ... card insertion slot 6 ... card 10 ... IC chip 12 ... IC contact 16 ... dirt 20 ... slot 21 ... introduction device 22 ... transport device 23 ... detection device 26 ... detection unit 34 ... display device 36 ... input Device 100 ... Toll collection system 110 ... Toll gate 111 ... Toll collection device 112 ... Receipt issuing machine 113 ... Prepaid card processor 120 ... Toll office 121 ... Data input device 122 ... Toll gate total processing device 123 ... Uninterruptible power supply 124 ... Prepaid card reissue machine 130 ... Signal light

Claims (6)

An IC card reader used for toll collection at a toll collection facility on a toll road,
An insertion slot into which an IC card is inserted;
An IC contact that contacts a position where a terminal of an IC chip in the IC card arranged at a predetermined position is provided;
A detection unit for detecting the presence or absence of the IC chip using the IC contact;
A transport device that repeats a predetermined number of times the operation of moving the IC card in a state where the IC contact is in contact when the IC chip is not detected,
When the IC card is not detected after the movement of the IC card to the predetermined position and the operation is repeated a predetermined number of times , the transfer device determines that the IC card has no IC chip and determines the IC card. Is discharged from the insertion port,
The detection unit detects the presence / absence of the IC chip again after the transport device re-moves the IC card, and when the IC chip is recognized to exist, the IC contact receives information from the IC chip. Read IC card reader. An IC card reader according to claim 1,
Furthermore, a detection unit that detects that the IC card has been inserted from the insertion port,
An IC card reader comprising: an introduction device that introduces the IC card to the predetermined position when the detection unit detects that the IC card is inserted. An IC card reader according to claim 2, wherein
The transport device is an elastic body that is deformed by the IC card introduced by the introduction device. A method of reading an IC card used for toll collection at a toll collection facility on a toll road,
An introduction step of introducing the IC card to a predetermined position;
Bringing an IC contact into contact with a position where a terminal of an IC chip in the IC card arranged at the predetermined position is provided;
Detecting the presence or absence of the IC chip using the IC contact;
When the IC chip is not detected, a movement step of repeating the operation of moving the IC card a predetermined number of times while the IC contact is in contact;
A re-moving step of re-moving the IC card to the predetermined position after the moving step;
Detecting the presence or absence of an IC chip again after the re-moving step;
If an IC chip is not detected after a predetermined number of operations, the IC card is determined to have no IC chip and the IC card is ejected from the insertion slot;
The IC card reading method comprising: when the presence of the IC chip is recognized, the IC contact reads information from the IC chip. The IC card reading method according to claim 4,
The IC card reading method further comprising the step of automatically starting the introduction step when it is detected that the IC card is inserted from the insertion slot of the IC card reader. The IC card reading method according to claim 4 or 5,
In the moving step, the IC card is moved using an elastic force of an elastic body installed in the IC card reader.

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