JP6025035B2 - Weight placed on card, container with card provided with weight, and card supply mechanism provided with weight - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a weight provided on a card supply mechanism for supplying cards in a card issuing device and placed on a plurality of stacked cards. The present invention also relates to a card-containing container provided with the weight described above and used when transporting a plurality of cards. The present invention also relates to a card supply mechanism that includes the weight described above and supplies a card in a card issuing device.

  Conventionally, a card (hereinafter also referred to as an unprinted card) before being subjected to a printing process by a card issuing device or the like is generally transported using a container capable of storing a plurality of cards stacked. . Generally, a weight is accommodated together with an unprinted card in the container (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and this weight is taken out together with an unprinted card when the card is transferred to the card supply mechanism of the card issuing device. . In the card supply mechanism, a weight is placed on a plurality of stacked unprinted cards, and the card located at the lowest side is sequentially discharged from the card supply mechanism.

JP-A-7-277532

  In recent years, cards equipped with IC chips have become widespread, and for this reason, the weight per card tends to increase. In addition, in order to increase the efficiency of transportation and card issuance, it is also required to increase the number of unprinted cards that are stacked. In consideration of printing yield (printing yield) and the like, preprinting may be performed on an unprinted card in advance. As a result, the card may be damaged during transportation due to rubbing between the unprinted card and the weight, so that a part of the pre-printing may be damaged or a part of the printing may not be normally printed. The risk is increasing.

  An object of this invention is to provide the weight which can solve such a subject effectively, the container with a card | curd provided with the said weight, and the card supply mechanism provided with the said weight.

The present invention is a weight placed on a plurality of stacked cards, wherein the card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side, and the weight is a bottom surface facing the card. And an upper surface facing the lower surface, and at least four side surfaces located between the upper surface and the lower surface,
The four side surfaces include a pair of first side surfaces extending in parallel to the long side of the card and a pair of second side surfaces extending in parallel to the short side of the card. The first side surface and the first side surface The two side surfaces are configured to inwardly incline from the lower surface side toward the upper surface side, protrude downward on the lower surface, and extend along either the first side surface or the second side surface. It is a weight provided with a protruding piece.

  In the weight according to the present invention, the protruding piece has a front end surface in contact with the card, and an outer side surface and an inner side surface located between the lower surface and the front end surface, and the outer side surface is It may be continuous with either the first side surface or the second side surface, and the inner side surface may be located inward of the outer side surface.

  In the weight according to the present invention, the inner side surface may be inclined outward as it goes downward, and as a result, the protruding piece may taper as it goes downward.

  In the weight according to the present invention, the lower surface may be provided with an additional protruding piece that protrudes downward and extends along either the first side surface or the second side surface. In this case, the additional protruding piece is in contact with the protruding piece.

  In the weight according to the present invention, a convex portion protruding upward may be provided on the upper surface. In this case, the height of the convex portion is larger than the height of the protruding piece.

  In the weight according to the present invention, the protruding piece may extend along the first side surface.

The present invention is a card-containing container containing a plurality of cards, a container containing a plurality of cards, a plurality of cards stacked in the container, and a weight disposed in the container, The container has a base and a side provided to define an opening on the opposite side of the base,
The side portion of the container is configured such that the container tapers from the opening toward the base, and the card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side, and the weight Is the weight described above, and is a carded container comprising weights arranged in the container so that the upper surface of the weight faces the base of the container.

  The present invention is a card supply mechanism for supplying a plurality of stacked cards one by one, and the card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side, and the top of the stacked cards. A weight is placed on the card, and the weight is a card supply mechanism including the weight described above.

  The card supply mechanism by this invention may be provided in the card | curd issuing apparatus provided with the protection sheet formation part which provides a protection sheet on the said card | curd. In this case, the protruding piece of the weight corresponds to the first side surface or the second side of the weight so as to correspond to the side of the card parallel to the card transport direction in the protective sheet forming portion of the card issuing device. It may extend along any one of the side surfaces.

  According to the present invention, the lower surface of the weight is provided with a protruding piece that protrudes downward and extends along either the first side surface or the second side surface of the weight. For this reason, the contact area between the weight and the card can be reduced as compared with the case where the projecting piece is provided along the entire outer periphery of the lower surface of the weight. The position can be limited. This can suppress damage to the pre-printed portion, the printed portion, the protective sheet transfer portion, and the like. Further, the pressure exerted on the card by the protruding piece of the weight can be increased, whereby the warp of the card can be efficiently suppressed or eliminated.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a card issuing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a card supply mechanism of the card issuing system shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing the card supply mechanism. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a protective sheet forming unit of the card issuing system shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a weight of the card supply mechanism shown in FIG. 3. 6A is a side view showing the weight of FIG. 5 as viewed from the first side surface, FIG. 6B is a bottom view of the weight of FIG. 5 as seen from the bottom surface side, FIG. (C) is a side view showing a case where the weight of FIG. 5 is viewed from the second side surface side. FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D are views showing a method of accommodating a weight and a card in a container. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which weights are placed on a plurality of cards. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a first modification of the weight. 10A is a side view showing the weight of FIG. 9 as viewed from the first side face, FIG. 10B is a bottom view of the weight of FIG. 9 as seen from the bottom face side, FIG. FIG. 10C is a side view showing the weight of FIG. 9 as viewed from the second side face. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the weights illustrated in FIG. 9 are stacked. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a second modification of the weight. 13A is a side view showing the weight of FIG. 12 as viewed from the first side face, FIG. 13B is a bottom view of the weight of FIG. 12 as seen from the bottom face side, and FIG. FIG. 13C is a side view showing the weight of FIG. 12 as viewed from the second side face. FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating a state in which the weight according to the second embodiment is placed on a plurality of cards stacked inside the container, and FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating the weight according to the second comparative example. The figure which shows a mode that it is mounted on the several card | curd stacked inside the container.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, an entire card issuing system 15 for issuing a card will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the card issuing system 15 includes a casing 36, a card supply mechanism 40 provided in the casing 36, which stores a large number of cards and sequentially supplies unprinted cards 11, and a card. The printing apparatus 20 is provided on the downstream side of the supply mechanism 40 and prints image information, character information, and the like on the surface of the card 11. A protective sheet forming section 29 is provided on the downstream side of the printing apparatus 20 to provide a protective sheet for protecting the surface of the card 11 on the surface of the card. Further, on the downstream side of the protective sheet forming unit 29, a stacker 35 for printing image information, character information, and the like and storing the card 11 provided with the protective sheet is provided.

  In the present embodiment, an IC chip (not shown) in which image information, character information, etc. of the owner is stored electronically may be mounted on the card 11. In this case, image information and character information may be written to the IC chip of the card 11 by the reader / writer 27 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the owner's image information, character information, and the like may be printed not only on the front surface of the card 11 but also on the back surface. In this case, image information or character information may be printed on the back surface of the card 11 by the back surface printing unit 28 shown in FIG.

(Printing device)
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 20 includes a plurality of printing units that are arranged along a transport mechanism 16 that transports the card 11 in the transport direction T and prints the card 11 with a predetermined color. . For example, the printing apparatus 20 includes a yellow printing unit 22, a magenta printing unit 23, a cyan printing unit 24, and a black printing unit 25 in order from the upstream side in the transport direction T of the card 11. In the present embodiment, “printing” includes not only printing image information such as a face photograph on a card but also printing character information such as character information on a card.

(Card supply mechanism)
Next, the card supply mechanism 40 that supplies the card 11 toward the printing apparatus 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the card supply mechanism 40 is configured to supply the card 11 on the supply path 41 along a predetermined supply direction D, thereby placing the card 11 on the transport mechanism 16. . A plurality of card supply mechanisms 40 and supply paths 41 may be provided along the transport mechanism 16.

  The transport direction T of the card 11 in the transport mechanism 16 and the supply direction D of the card 11 in the supply path 41 may be parallel to each other or non-parallel to each other. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the card 11 has a rectangular shape including the long side 13 and the short side 14, the transport direction T is parallel to the long side 13 of the card 11, while the supply direction is D may be parallel to the short side 14 of the card 11. That is, the transport direction T and the supply direction D may be orthogonal.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the card supply mechanism 40 is configured to supply a plurality of stacked cards 11 one by one from the lower side. For example, the card supply mechanism 40 has a card pick 42 including a claw portion 42 a that can abut on the card 11 positioned on the lowermost side. The card pick 42 is configured to drive the claw portion 42 a along the supply direction D, whereby only the card 11 positioned at the lowest side from the bundle of the plurality of cards 11 is supplied along the supply path 41. can do.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the weight 50 is placed on the plurality of stacked cards 11, so that the warpage of the cards 11 can be suppressed or eliminated. As a result, the card can be supplied from the card supply mechanism 40 to the last one card 11 using the card pick 42. Note that only one weight 50 may be placed on the stacked cards 11, or a plurality of weights 50, for example, two weights 50 may be placed. In addition, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 3, a container 45 described later may be disposed so as to surround the plurality of stacked cards 11 and the weight 50.

(Protective sheet forming part)
Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the protective sheet formation part 29 which provides the protective sheet 30 on the card | curd 11 is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 4, the protective sheet forming unit 29 has a pressing roller 32 that presses the protective sheet 30 supported by the base material 31 against the card 11, thereby transferring the protective sheet 30 onto the card 11. doing. The protective sheet forming unit 29 further includes a peeling roller 33 that peels a portion of the protective sheet 30 that is not transferred onto the card 11 from a portion of the protective sheet 30 that is pressed against the card 11 and transferred. It may be.

  When the transport direction T is parallel to the long side 13 of the card 11, the protective sheet 30 extends parallel to the long side 13 of the card 11 and protects along the short side 14 of the card 11. The sheet 30 is peeled off.

Weight Next, the weight 50 of the card supply mechanism 40 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6A , 6B, and 6C. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the weight 50. As shown in FIG. 5, when the weight 50 is placed on the plurality of cards 11, the weight 50 is disposed between the lower surface 51 facing the card 11, the upper surface 52 facing the lower surface 51, and the lower surface 51 and the upper surface 52. And at least four side surfaces. The four side surfaces include a pair of first side surfaces 53 extending in parallel to the long side 13 of the card 11 and a pair of second side surfaces 54 extending in parallel to the short side 14 of the card 11. The expressions “upper surface”, “lower surface” and “side surface” are based on the case where the weight 50 is placed on the plurality of cards 11 stacked in the card supply mechanism 40. The direction of the weight 50 in the usage situation is not limited.

The shape of the weight 50 will be described in detail. 6A is a side view showing the case where the weight 50 in FIG. 5 is viewed from the first side surface 53 side, and FIG. 6B shows the case where the weight in FIG. 5 is viewed from the lower surface 51 side. FIG. 6C is a side view showing the weight of FIG. 5 viewed from the second side face 54 side. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6C, the first side surface 53 and the second side surface 54 are configured to inwardly incline from the lower surface 51 side toward the upper surface 52 side. For example, the width w _{1 of the} weight 50 decreases from the lower surface 51 side toward the upper surface 52 side. For this reason, the shape when the weight 50 is viewed from the side is a trapezoidal shape. Further, the lower surface 51 is larger than the upper surface 52.

  The lower surface 51 is provided with a protruding piece 55 that protrudes downward and extends along the first side surface 53. The protruding piece 55 includes a front end surface 55a that contacts the card 11 when the weight 50 is placed on the plurality of cards 11, and an outer side surface 55b and an inner side surface positioned between the lower surface 51 and the front end surface 55a. 55c. Of these, the outer side surface 55b may be continuous with the first side surface 53 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6C. That is, a part of the first side surface 53 may be used as the outer side surface 55 b of the protruding piece 55. The inner side surface 55c is a side surface extending along the distal end surface 55a inward from the outer side surface 55b.

  Preferably, the inner side surface 55 c of the protruding piece 55 is inclined so as to go outward, as it goes downward, that is, away from the lower surface 51. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6C, the protruding piece 55 is tapered toward the lower side. As a result, as will be described later, the position of the card 11 and the weight 50 remaining in the card supply mechanism 40 in the horizontal direction due to vibration or the like when the unprinted card 11 is supplied from the card supply mechanism 40. Even if it changes, it can suppress that the protrusion piece 55 of the weight 50 slips down from the card | curd 11 which is the uppermost, and is displaced below. Similarly, with respect to vibration when transporting an unprinted card from a place where the card is manufactured to a place where the card is issued, the weight 50 and the card 11 in contact with the protruding piece 55 of the weight 50 are It is possible to prevent the card 11 from being taken out from the container 45 by being bitten.

  A hole 61 for taking out or transporting the weight 50 from the container 45 by hooking a finger or a predetermined instrument may be formed in a substantially central portion of the weight 50. Further, notches 62 that can be fitted with guide portions (not shown) of the container 45 may be formed at a pair of opposite corner portions of the weight 50. A groove portion 64 through which the claw portion 42 a of the card pick 42 can pass may be formed on the lower surface 51 of the weight 50. When the card supply mechanism 40 includes card detection means (not shown) for detecting the presence or absence of the card 11, the card detection means is used on the lower surface 51 of the weight 50 when the card detection means detects the presence or absence of the card 11. A recess 63 may be formed. Since the specific structures and operational effects of the hole 61, the notch 62, the recess 63, and the groove 64 are described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described.

In configuring the beginning of the card container filled, how to configure the card container filled 45A houses a plurality of cards 11 in the container 45 will be described with reference to FIG. 7 (a) (b) ( c) (d). First, as shown in FIG. 7A, a container 45 is prepared in which an accommodation space 46a for accommodating a plurality of cards 11 is defined. The container 45 has a base 47 and a side 48 provided so as to define an opening 46 on the opposite side of the base 47. Here, the side portion 48 is configured such that the container 45 tapers from the opening portion 46 toward the base portion 47. For example, the width _{w 2} of the housing space 46a is smaller toward the base 47 side from the opening 46 side.

  The container 45 is generally produced by molding a resin using a mold. In this case, the mold for the container 45 is configured such that the opening of the mold corresponds to the opening 46 of the container 45. Here, as described above, the container 45 is configured to be tapered from the opening 46 toward the base 47. For this reason, the space inside the mold for the container 45 is tapered from the opening of the mold toward the inside of the mold. Thus, by providing a taper inside the mold, the operation of taking out the container 45 from the mold can be facilitated.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the weight 50 is arranged in the accommodation space 46 a of the container 45 so that the upper surface 52 of the weight 50 faces the base 47 of the container 45. The weight 50 can also be produced by molding a resin using a mold in the same manner as the container 45. In this case, the mold for the weight 50 is configured such that the opening of the mold corresponds to the lower surface 51 of the weight 50. Here, as described above, the weight 50 is configured such that the lower surface 51 is larger than the upper surface 52. For this reason, the space inside the die for the weight 50 is tapered from the opening of the die toward the inside of the die. As a result, as in the case of producing the container 45 using a mold, the work of taking out the weight 50 from the mold can be facilitated. Further, both the container 45 and the weight 50 are configured to taper toward the lower side of FIG. 7B, so that the work of placing the weight 50 in the container 45 can be performed quickly. it can.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7C, a plurality of cards 11 are stacked on the weight 50. Next, as shown in FIG. 7D, the opening 46 of the container 45 is closed by a closing member 49. In this manner, a carded container 45A in which a plurality of cards 11 are accommodated can be obtained.

  Note that the method of configuring the carded container 45A is not limited to the above-described method. For example, a plurality of cards 11 are stacked in advance, and then a weight 50 is stacked on the stacked cards 11 so that the taper is tapered upward, that is, the lower surface 51 is in contact with the card 11, and then the card 11 and the weight 50 may be covered with a container 45, and then the container 45 may be turned upside down, and the opening 46 of the container 45 may be closed with a closing member 49 to constitute the carded container 45A. Also in this case, since both the weight 50 and the container 45 are tapered in the same direction, the card 11 and the weight 50 can be quickly stored in the container 45. That is, the container 45 can be quickly put on the card 11 and the weight 50.

  For example, the card-containing container 45 </ b> A is transported from the manufacturing location of the unprinted card 11 to a location where the card issuing system 15 performs printing processing on the unprinted card 11 and issues the card 11.

  By the way, as shown in FIG.7 (d), the some card | curd 11 is piled up on the weight 50 in the container 45A containing a card | curd. For this reason, a large pressure is generated between the card 11 located on the lowermost side and the weight 50. In addition, if the carded container 45A vibrates during transportation, it may be considered that a large frictional force is generated between the card 11 located at the lowermost side and the weight 50. Further, in recent years, an IC chip is mounted on the card 11, so that the pressure and friction force generated between the card 11 located at the lowermost side and the weight 50 are larger than before.

  Here, according to the present embodiment, the lower surface 51 of the weight 50 is provided with the protruding piece 55 extending along the first side surface 53. For this reason, the contact area between the weight 50 and the card | curd 11 can be reduced compared with the case where the protrusion piece 55 is not provided in the lower surface 51. FIG. Thereby, the contact position where the weight 50 and the card | curd 11 contact can be limited. This can suppress damage to the pre-printed portion, the printed portion, the protective sheet transfer portion, and the like.

Card Supply Method The card 11 in the card-containing container 45 </ b> A transported to the card 11 issue location is transferred to the card supply mechanism 40 of the card issue system 15. At this time, the weight 50 is transferred to the card supply mechanism 40 together with the card 11, and the weight 50 is placed on the plurality of cards 11 as shown in FIG. Note that the card 11 and the weight 50 may be transferred to the card supply mechanism 40 by attaching the card-containing container 45A to the card issuing system 15 so that the opening 46 faces downward. The cards 11 transferred to the card supply mechanism 40 are supplied one by one by a card pick 42 shown in FIG.

  In the card supply mechanism 40, the weight 50 acts so as to press the plurality of stacked cards 11 downward, thereby suppressing or eliminating warping of the cards 11. Here, according to the present embodiment, the lower surface 51 of the weight 50 is provided with the protruding piece 55 extending along the first side surface 53. For this reason, the pressure exerted on the card 11 by the weight 50 can be locally generated along the long side 13 in the vicinity of the long side 13 of the card 11. Thereby, compared with the case where the protruding piece 55 is not provided on the lower surface 51 or the case where the protruding piece 55 is provided along the entire outer periphery of the lower surface 51, the warping of the card 11 is efficiently suppressed. Or it can be eliminated.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the protruding piece 55 is configured to extend along the first side surface 53. Further, the first side surface 53 and the second side surface 54 are configured to inwardly incline from the lower surface side toward the upper surface side. As a result, the lower surface 51 is larger than the upper surface 52. For this reason, compared with the case where the lower surface 51 is smaller than the upper surface 52, the protruding piece 55 is placed closer to the long side 13 of the card 11 while reducing the gap between the inner wall of the container 45 and the weight 50. It can be made to contact. Thereby, it is a region including the central portion of the card 11 on the surface of the card 11 and is a region where the weight 50 is not in contact (the region represented by the symbol R in FIG. 8A). A large non-contact area R) can be secured. In general, image information and character information are printed not near the outer periphery of the card 11 but near the center of the card 11. Therefore, by ensuring a large non-contact area R, it is possible to reduce the possibility that scratches are formed in areas where image information and text information are printed.

  Next, the advantages provided by the weight 50 according to the present embodiment when the positions of the card 11 and the weight 50 are changed in the horizontal direction in the card supply mechanism 40 will be described. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing a case where the uppermost card 11 is displaced in the right direction from the position in the case of FIG. If the protruding piece of the weight 50 is configured as a convex portion that protrudes downward perpendicularly to the lower surface 51, when the uppermost card 11 is displaced, the protruding piece slides down from the card 11, It is conceivable that the protruding piece comes into contact with the card 11 under the card 11. That is, it is conceivable that so-called biting of the weight 50 with respect to the card 11 occurs. In this case, it is difficult for the weight 50 to apply pressure to the card 11 positioned on the uppermost side. As a result, it may be difficult to supply the last card 11 by the card pick 42. Conceivable. On the other hand, in this Embodiment, as shown to FIG. 8B, the protrusion piece 55 is tapered as it goes below. For this reason, even when the card 11 is displaced rightward, the inner side surface 55 c of the protruding piece 55 can be caught by the end of the card 11. Accordingly, the weight 50 can continue to apply pressure to the card 11 positioned on the uppermost side, and thus the card pick 42 can discharge the last one card 11.

  Next, advantages provided by the weight 50 according to the present embodiment when the protective sheet 30 is provided on the card 11 by the protective sheet forming unit 29 will be described. As described above, in the protective sheet forming unit 29, the transport direction T of the card 11 is parallel to the long side 13 of the card 11. In the protection sheet forming unit 29, when the protection sheet 30 is transferred onto the card 11, the protection sheet 30 is transferred along the short side 14 of the card 11. At this time, if a flaw is formed on the surface of the card 11 in the vicinity of the short side 14, the transfer of the protective sheet 30 is hindered. May occur. Here, in the present embodiment, the protruding piece 55 of the weight 50 is configured along the first side surface 53 extending in parallel with the long side 13 of the card 11. In this case, even if a scratch is formed on the surface of the card 11 due to pressure or friction between the card 11 and the weight 50, such a scratch is formed along the long side 13 of the card 11. Has been. That is, no scratch is formed in the vicinity of the short side 14 of the card 11, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the transfer of the protective sheet 30 from being hindered. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the formation of an untransferred portion at the end portion of the protective sheet 30.

  Note that various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiment. Hereinafter, an example of modification will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description and the drawings used in the following description, the same reference numerals as those used in the above-described embodiment are used for portions that are configured in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and redundant description is omitted. To do.

First Modification of Weight As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10A, 10B, and 10C, the upper surface 52 of the weight 50 may be provided with a protruding portion 56 that protrudes upward. Here, the height h ₂ of the convex portion 56 is larger than the height h ₁ of the protruding piece 55. Hereinafter, advantages brought about by the weight 50 according to the present modification will be described.

When the weight 50 is stored or transported, a plurality of weights 50 may be stacked as shown in FIG. 11 in order to reduce the space required for storage or transport. Such stacking may occur when the weight 50 is accommodated in the container 45 or when the weight 50 is placed on the card 11 in the card supply mechanism 40. Here, according to the present modification, as described above, the height h ₂ of the convex portion 56 is larger than the height h ₁ of the protruding piece 55. For this reason, when the plurality of weights 50 are stacked, the convex portion 56 of the weight 50 is a region of the lower surface 51 of the weight 50 placed on the weight 50, and the protruding piece 55 is provided. It can abut against a non-region. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the protruding piece 55 of the weight 50 is prevented from contacting the weight 50 located under the weight 50. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the protruding piece 55 of the weight 50 from coming into contact with another weight 50 and being damaged while the weight 50 is stored or transported. If a fine flaw such as a tear or irregularity is formed on the protruding piece 55 of the weight 50, a flaw is formed on the surface of the card 11 that contacts the protruding piece 55 due to the flaw on the protruding piece 55. It is possible to end up. On the other hand, according to this modification, it can suppress that the protrusion piece 55 of the weight 50 is damaged, and can suppress that a damage | wound is formed in the surface of the card | curd 11 by this.

As shown in a second modification of the weight also FIGS. 12 and 13 (a) (b) ( c), the lower surface 51 of the weight 50 protrudes downward, additional protruding piece extending along the second side surface 54 57 may be provided. The additional protruding piece 57 is configured to contact a protruding piece 55 extending along the first side surface 53. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13B, an L-shaped projecting piece is formed at the corner of the lower surface 51 of the weight 50 by the combination of the projecting piece 55 and the additional projecting piece 57. A protruding piece 55 and an additional protruding piece 57 are configured. Accordingly, even when the positions of the card 11 and the weight 50 are changed in the horizontal direction in the card supply mechanism 40, it is possible to more reliably prevent the weight 50 from biting into the card 11.

  Preferably, the length of the additional protruding piece 57 extending along the second side surface 54 is shorter than the length of the protruding piece 55 extending along the first side surface 53. As a result, the contact area between the card 11 and the weight 50 in the vicinity of the short side 14 of the card 11 can be reduced, and as a result, scratches are formed along the short side 14 of the card 11. Can be suppressed.

Other Modifications In the above-described embodiment and modifications, the example in which the protruding piece 55 is configured to extend along the first side surface 53 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The protruding piece 55 of the weight 50 is formed on the first side surface 53 or the second side surface 54 of the weight 50 so as to correspond to the side of the card 11 parallel to the transport direction T of the card 11 in the protective sheet forming unit 29 of the card issuing device 15. What is necessary is just to extend along either one. For example, when the conveyance direction T of the card 11 in the protective sheet forming unit 29 is parallel to the short side 14 of the card 11, the protruding piece 55 of the weight 50 is a second extending in parallel to the short side 14 of the card 11. It may be configured along the side surface 54. In this case, even if a flaw is formed on the surface of the card 11 due to pressure or friction between the card 11 and the weight 50, such a flaw is formed along the short side 14 of the card 11. Is done. That is, no scratch is formed in the vicinity of the long side 13 of the card 11, so that it is possible to prevent the transfer of the protective sheet 30 from being hindered. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the formation of an untransferred portion at the end portion of the protective sheet 30.
When the protruding piece 55 is configured along the second side surface 54, the above-described additional protruding piece 57 may be configured along the first side surface 53.

  In addition, although some modified examples with respect to the above-described embodiment have been described, naturally, a plurality of modified examples can be applied in combination as appropriate.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated in detail using an Example, this invention is not limited to this Example.

Example 1
An experiment was conducted on the degree to which the warp of the card 11 was corrected by using a weight. As the weights, two weights 50 provided with protruding pieces 55 extending along the first side surface 53 were used. The load by the two weights 50 was 0.0714 kgf. As the card 11, a card 11 having a warp of 1.5 mm along the direction of the short side 14 was used.

  As a result of measuring the degree of correction of the warp, the result that the warp was corrected from 1.5 mm to 0.8 mm was obtained.

(Comparative Example 1A)
An experiment was conducted to the extent that the warpage of the card 11 was corrected in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a weight without the protruding piece 55 was used. Specifically, the degree to which the warp was corrected was measured under the condition that a load of 0.0714 kgf by two weights was applied to the card 11. As a result, the result that the curvature was corrected from 1.5 mm to 0.9 mm was obtained.

(Comparative Example 1B)
Except that the number of weights was changed from two to one, an experiment was conducted to the extent that the warpage of the card 11 was corrected in the same manner as in Comparative Example 1A. Specifically, the degree to which the warp was corrected was measured under the condition that a load of 0.0357 kgf from one weight was applied to the card 11. As a result, the result that the curvature was corrected from 1.5 mm to 1.15 mm was obtained.

  As can be seen from Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1A and 1B, the warpage of the card 11 could be effectively corrected by concentrating the load from the weight 50 on the long side 13 of the card 11.

(Example 2 and Comparative Example 2)
Assuming that the container 45 containing 300 cards 11 is attached to the card issuing system 15 so that the opening 46 faces downward, the weight range is set in any area of the surface area of the card 11. It was verified by simulation whether or not the protruding piece of each could contact. @RISK was used as a simulation tool. As the weight, as it goes upward, it tapers at a taper angle θ ₁ and has a protrusion 55 provided on the lower surface (weight according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 14A), and downward. with tapers at taper angle theta ₂ toward, (shown in FIG. 14 (b), the weight of Comparative example 2) weight 60 having a protrusion 65 provided on the lower surface with two kinds of.

As the card 11, a rectangular card 11 having a long side of 85.595 mm, a short side of 53.975 mm, and a thickness of 0.790 mm was used. The container 45, with a container 45 which tapers at taper angle theta ₃ upward. The taper angle θ ₃ prevents the play between the card 11 and the inner wall of the container 45 from becoming too large and makes it difficult to position the card 11 and the dimensions of the card 11 defined by the JIS standard. In consideration, it was set to 0.2 degrees. On the other hand, the taper angle theta ₂ of the taper angle theta ₁ and the weight 60 of the weight 50, which can be freely set, as compared to the taper angle theta ₃ of the container 45 was set to 3 times here.

The contactable range between the uppermost card 11 of the 300 cards 11 stacked and the weight was verified while changing the dimensions of the container 45 and the weight. As shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the contactable range is a distance X from the inner wall of the container 45 to the protruding piece of the weight when the card 11 and the weight are displaced in the opposite directions in the horizontal direction. _1, the sum of the width X ₂ of the projecting piece of the weight was used. Distance X ₁ to the results the sum of the width X ₂ were optimized dimensions of the container 45 and the weight to be smaller, the better the weight 50 shown in FIG. 14 (a), compared with the weight 60 shown in FIG. 14 (b) Te, it was confirmed that the sum of the distances X ₁ and width X ₂ can be reduced.

The optimum dimensions and preferable dimension ranges (lower limit value and upper limit value) of the weight 50 and the container 45 shown in FIG. 14A obtained as a result of the above-described verification are as shown in Table 1 below. It was.

11 card 15 card issuing system 40 card supply mechanism 45 container 45A container with card 50 weight 51 lower surface 52 upper surface 55 protruding piece

Claims (8)

A weight placed on a plurality of stacked cards,
The card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side,
The weight is
A lower surface facing the card, an upper surface facing the lower surface, and at least four side surfaces located between the upper surface and the lower surface,
The four side surfaces include a pair of first side surfaces extending in parallel to the long side of the card and a pair of second side surfaces extending in parallel to the short side of the card,
The first side surface and the second side surface are configured to inwardly incline from the lower surface side toward the upper surface side,
A weight that protrudes downward and extends only along the first side surface is provided on the lower surface. The protruding piece has a front end surface in contact with the card, an outer side surface and an inner side surface located between the lower surface and the front end surface,
It said outer side surface is contiguous with the first side surface,
The weight according to claim 1, wherein the inner side surface is located inward of the outer side surface.   The weight according to claim 2, wherein the inward side surface is inclined outward as it goes downward, and as a result, the protruding piece tapers as it goes downward. The upper surface is provided with a convex portion protruding upward,
The weight according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a height of the convex portion is larger than a height of the protruding piece. The weight according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the protruding piece extends along the first side surface. A container containing a plurality of cards,
A container containing a plurality of cards;
A plurality of cards stacked in the container;
A weight disposed in the container,
The container has a base and a side provided to define an opening on the opposite side of the base;
The side portion of the container is configured such that the container tapers from the opening toward the base,
The card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side,
The weight is a weight according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the card-filled container comprises a weight arranged in the container so that the upper surface of the weight faces the base of the container. . A card supply mechanism for supplying a plurality of stacked cards one by one,
The card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side,
A weight is placed on the stacked cards,
The card supply mechanism comprising the weight according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . A card supply mechanism for supplying a plurality of stacked cards one by one,
The card supply mechanism is provided in a card issuing device provided with a protective sheet forming unit for providing a protective sheet on the card,
The card has a rectangular shape including a long side and a short side,
A weight is placed on the stacked cards,
The weight is
A lower surface facing the card, an upper surface facing the lower surface, and at least four side surfaces located between the upper surface and the lower surface,
The four side surfaces include a pair of first side surfaces extending in parallel to the long side of the card and a pair of second side surfaces extending in parallel to the short side of the card,
The first side surface and the second side surface are configured to inwardly incline from the lower surface side toward the upper surface side,
A projecting piece projecting downward is provided on the lower surface,
Either the first side surface or the second side surface of the weight so that the protruding piece of the weight corresponds to the side of the card parallel to the card transport direction in the protective sheet forming portion of the card issuing device. one only along the extending, card feed mechanism or.

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