JP4369353B2 - Card issuing machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a card issuing machine, and more particularly to a card issuing machine such as a magnetic card or an IC chip built-in card used as a commuter pass or a boarding ticket in transportation such as a railway or a bus.

  For example, when issuing a commuter pass using this kind of card issuing machine installed at a station counter, the counter staff will input information necessary for issuing a new commuter pass presented by the customer on the operation panel. Done. A card issuing machine pays out a new ticket card from a card hopper, records information on a magnetic stripe or an IC chip, prints on the card surface, and issues a new card from an issuing port.

  In addition, when renewing a card due to deterioration of the card, etc., when the counter clerk inserts the old card into the insertion slot of the card issuing machine, the card issuing machine is recorded on the magnetic stripe or IC chip of the old card. Information is temporarily stored in the memory. The old card is collected in the card collection unit in the card issuing machine, and then a new ticket card is paid out. The information read from the old card is recorded on the magnetic stripe or IC chip of the new ticket card, printed on the card surface, and the new card is issued from the issuing slot.

  When the number of new ticket cards in the card hopper is low or empty, the card issuing machine displays a warning on a lamp display, a liquid crystal panel or the like to notify the staff. When a clerk replenishes a new ticket card, the lid on the top, rear or side of the card issuing machine is opened and the new ticket card is set directly. Alternatively, if the card hopper is a cassette type, the cassette is taken out, a new ticket card is set in the cassette, and the cassette is set again in the card issuing machine. However, even in the case of the cassette system, opening and closing of the lid of the card issuing machine is an operation of the upper surface portion, the rear surface portion or the side surface portion.

  With respect to the conventional technology, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-085622 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-346226 (Patent Document 2), the card hopper is placed on the opposite side of the card issue port. The new card is drawn out at the same height as the card conveyance path surface, and the method of paying out horizontally is the mainstream. According to the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-346226, the payout from the card hopper is a bottom face payout method, and the new ticket cards are stacked upward with respect to the payout position. Further, according to the method described in JP-A-2003-085622, the payout from the card hopper is the upper face payout method, and the new ticket cards are stacked downward with respect to the payout position. In any system, there is a correlation that the height of the card issuing machine increases as the capacity of the card hopper increases.

JP 2003-085622 A JP 2003-346226 A

  In recent years, commuter passes and the like have shifted to IC cards, and there are increasing opportunities for issuing new cards at station counter operations. Therefore, in order to smoothly perform the counter service without delay, it is required to increase the capacity of the new card hopper of the card issuing machine. However, in the card issuing machine according to the above-described prior art, if the capacity of the card hopper is increased, the height of the device increases, and there is a problem that the device becomes large.

  In addition to the card issuing machine, it is also assumed that the station window is co-located with a terminal such as a ticket issuing machine. When a card must be replenished from the side or rear side like a conventional card issuing machine, an operation area must be secured in advance with other terminals installed, ineffective. Or if it is the structure which replenishes a card | curd from an upper surface part, there exists a problem that it cannot install in the place which hides the apparatus upper part under a desk.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a card issuing machine that can mount a card hopper with a relatively large capacity, has good operability at the time of card replenishment, and is not restricted by the installation location of the apparatus.

The present invention relates to a card issuing machine for paying out and issuing cards stored in a card hopper, and a card hopper arranged to store a plurality of cards side by side in the depth direction of the card issuing machine. A card delivery mechanism for delivering cards one by one and a card delivery path for delivering the delivered cards to the issuing port, and the card delivery mechanism includes a card delivery direction and a card delivery direction. It is a card issuing machine including a guide mechanism for guiding a card so that the card conveyance direction on the road is orthogonal.
In a preferred example, the guide mechanism in the card payout mechanism includes a change mechanism that changes the direction of the card drawn from the card hopper by 90 °, and the card whose direction has been changed by the change mechanism is conveyed through the card conveyance path. .
Moreover, in a preferable example, it has a mechanism which moves a card hopper in the front-rear and depth directions, and moves a card hopper to the front at the time of card replenishment.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the card hopper which arranges and stores a card | curd in the front-back depth direction of a card issuing machine is realizable, and the direction of the card | curd drawn | fed out perpendicular | vertical with respect to a card conveyance path can be changed. For this reason, the replenishment capacity of the card can be increased, and the mounting efficiency inside the apparatus is improved. Further, since the card hopper can be pulled out to the front of the apparatus, the operability at the time of card replenishment is improved, and a card issuing machine that is not restricted by the installation location can be obtained.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a card issuing machine according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view.
The card issuing machine 1 includes a main control unit 2, an input / display unit 3, a card hopper 4, a card feeding unit 5, a card transport path 6, an information reading / writing unit 7, a printing unit 8, a card collection unit 9, and a card issuing port. 10 is composed. The main control unit 2 controls the entire card issuing machine. The input / display unit 3 is composed of, for example, a touch panel type liquid crystal display, and the operator inputs information necessary for card issuance, and displays operation guidance and errors.
The card hopper 4 stores a large number of new ticket cards 11 before recording information, and presses the cards in the depth direction by a pressing plate 12. The card delivery unit 5 delivers new ticket cards 11 one by one from the card hopper 4 and sends them to the card transport path 6.

  The card transport path 6 includes a roller 13 and a guide 14 and transports the card back and forth. The information reading / writing unit 7 writes necessary information on the new ticket card 11 and further reads information on the old card 15 when the card is updated. The printing unit 8 prints characters in a predetermined format on the new ticket card 11. The card issuing slot 10 issues a new ticket card 11 on which necessary information is recorded and printed. When the card is updated, the card issuing slot 10 becomes an insertion slot for the old card 15. The card collection unit 9 collects the old card 15 when the card is updated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the card hopper 4 is a drawer mechanism guided by two parallel rails 26. By pulling the handle 25 on the front side in the forward direction, it is pulled out and can be replenished with a new ticket card.

Next, the details of the card feeding unit 5 will be described with reference to FIG.
After the new ticket cards 11 set in the card hopper 4 are fed out one by one by the rubber roller 16 having a high friction coefficient, the new ticket cards 11 are conveyed while being sandwiched between the rollers 17. Since the roller 17 is disposed along the arcuate conveyance path, the new ticket card 11 is conveyed to the card conveyance path 6 while being curved.

  Note that the arrangement relationship between the card hopper 4 and the card feeding unit 5 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 4. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the arrangement relationship of the card feeding unit 5 is opposite to that shown in FIG. Also good. In other words, the card feeding unit 5 is arranged on the upper side, and the card transport path 6 is connected to the end of the card feeding unit 5. In this case, the delivery direction of the arranged new ticket card 11 is fed from the lower side to the upper side as shown in FIG.

Next, FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of the card payout unit according to another embodiment.
First, as shown in (A), a new card 11 set in the card hopper 4 is rotated one by one in the direction of arrow a by rotating a rubber roller 16 having a high friction coefficient. Then, the new ticket card 11 is held while rotating the roller 18 in the direction of the arrow x, and the new ticket card 11 is fed to a predetermined position and the rotation of the roller 18 is stopped.

  Next, as shown in (B), when the rotating shaft 20 is rotated in the direction of the arrow y by the motor 19, the new ticket card 11 is rotated 90 degrees and set in parallel to the card transport path 6. Then, the roller 18 is rotated in the x ′ direction opposite to the rotation direction described above, and the new ticket card 11 is conveyed to the card conveyance path 6.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, the configuration and operation of a card feeding unit 5 according to still another embodiment will be described.
First, as shown in (A), the new ticket card 11 set in the card hopper 4 is fed out one by one in the direction of the arrow a by rotating the rubber roller 16 having a high friction coefficient. The tip is placed on the notched portion 211 of the guide 21.

  Next, as shown in (B), the link mechanism 23 is operated by sucking the solenoid 22, and the new ticket card 11 standing vertically is pushed in the direction of the arrow y and tilted 90 degrees. As a result, the new ticket card 11 is set in parallel to the card transport path 6, and when the belt 24 is rotated, it is transported in the direction of arrow b and sent to the card transport path 6.

  In this embodiment, when the new ticket card 11 leaves the roller 17, it is dropped by gravity until it is placed on the guide 21. The notched portion of the guide 21 is inclined so that it tends to fall to the main card transport path side, and the new ticket card 11 may fall before being pushed by the link mechanism 23, relying only on gravity. There is a possibility that the transport time will be shortened compared to.

  According to the present embodiment, since the direction of the cards drawn out perpendicularly to the main card transport path can be changed, a card hopper for stacking new ticket cards in the front and rear depth direction of the apparatus can be realized. Compared with a conventional card issuing machine of the same depth size, the replenishment capacity can be increased and the mounting efficiency inside the apparatus is improved. In addition, the card hopper can be pulled out to the front of the device, so there is no restriction on the installation location of the card issuing machine, the space with other terminals can be saved, and the operability at the time of card replenishment is improved.

The side view which shows the structure of the card issuing machine by one Example. The external appearance perspective view of the card issuing machine by one Example. The perspective view which shows the drawer state of the card hopper in the card issuing machine by one Example. The figure which shows the structure of the card supply part 5 by one Example. The figure which shows the structure and operation | movement of the card | curd delivery part 5 by another Example. The figure which shows the structure and operation | movement of the card | curd delivery part 5 by another Example. The figure which shows the structure and operation | movement of the card | curd delivery part 5 by another Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 card issuing machine, 2 main control unit, 3 input / display unit,
4 card hopper, 5 card feeding section, 6 card transport path,
7 Information reading / writing section, 8 printing section, 9 card collection section,
10 card issuing slot, 11 new ticket card, 12 pressing plate,
13 rollers, 14 guides, 15 old cards,
16 rubber rollers, 17 rollers, 18 rollers,
19 motor, 20 rotating shaft, 21 guide,
22 Solenoid, 23 Link mechanism, 24 Belt

Claims (3)

In a card issuing machine that pays out and issues cards stored in a card hopper, a card hopper arranged to store a plurality of cards side by side in the depth direction of the card issuing machine; and
A card feeding mechanism for feeding out cards one by one from the card hopper;
A card transport path for transporting the fed-out card to the issuing slot, and
The card payout mechanism includes a guide mechanism that guides the card by rotating a plurality of rollers so that a card payout direction drawn from the card hopper is orthogonal to a card transfer direction in the card transfer path,
The guide mechanism includes a conversion mechanism that changes the direction of the card fed out from the card hopper, and the conversion mechanism holds the drawn card between a plurality of rollers and changes 90 ° from the feeding direction, A card issuing machine , wherein a plurality of rollers are reversely rotated to be conveyed to the card conveying path . 2. The card issuing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for moving the card hopper in the front-rear depth direction, and moving the card hopper to the front when a card is replenished. The guide mechanism feeds one by one from the card at the innermost part of the plurality of cards arranged upright on the card hopper, and guides the fed cards in the horizontal direction by rotating the plurality of rollers. Is,
2. The card issuing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a drawing mechanism having a rail for moving the card hopper in the front direction.

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