JPH01145794A - Card discriminator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decide according to a type whether a card is a magnetic card or an IC card immediately after the insertion of the card and to shorten a transaction time by disposing a detecting means at a position where an IC chip part or an IC contact part can be detected. CONSTITUTION:The optical sensor 6 of the card detecting means for detecting the IC chip (IC contact) part is disposed at the position where the IC chip of the IC card passes immediately after the insertion of the card 3 in a card handling mechanism 1 to discriminate whether the card 3 is the IC card or the magnetic card according to the change of the increase and the decrease of the quantity of light of the optical sensor. Namely, in this card discriminator, when the optical sensor 6 of the card detecting means is a reflection type sensor, the reflectance of light is different between the surface of the hard vinyl chloride of the card and the surface of the IC contact, and the sensor output of the surface of the IC contact is increased more than the surface of the card, so that the IC card and the magnetic card of the card can be discriminated according to the level difference in the sensor output. Thereby, the IC card or the magnetic card can be discriminated immediately after the insertion of the card 3 to shorten the transaction time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a card handling mechanism, and particularly to a card discriminating device suitable for discriminating the type of card.

[Conventional technology]

As described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 59-3689, when handling an IC card, a conventional card handling mechanism reads magnetic stripe information (whether it is an IC card or not) in a magnetic card reader and then transports it to the IC card reader. was reading and writing information on the IC card.

In this way, regardless of whether it is an IC card, the IC card cannot be accessed until the magnetic stripe information has been read, resulting in long transaction times.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned conventional technology has a problem in that even in IC card transactions, the information on the IC card cannot be read until after the magnetic stripe information has been read.

For purposes of the present invention, immediately after the card is inserted into the card handling mechanism,
To provide a card discriminating device capable of discriminating whether a C card or a magnetic card.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is to arrange an optical sensor as a card detection means capable of detecting the IC chip (IC contact) part at a position where the IC chip of the IC card passes immediately after the card is inserted in the card handling mechanism, and to detect an increase or decrease in the light amount of the optical sensor. This can be achieved by a card discriminating device equipped with a card discriminating means for discriminating whether a card is an IC card or a magnetic card based on the change.

[Effect]

In the above-mentioned card discriminating device, when the optical sensor of the card detection means is a reflective sensor, the reflectance of light differs between the surface of the hard vinyl chloride part and the surface of the IC contact part of the card, and the IC Since the sensor output on the surface of the contact increases, the card discriminating means can distinguish between an IC card and a magnetic card based on the difference in the level of the sensor output.

In addition, if the optical sensor of the card detection means is a transmission type sensor, increasing the amount of light from the sensor will cause the light to pass through the hard vinyl chloride part of the card, but not to pass through the IC chip (IC contact) part. Since only the IC chip portion of the card can be detected by the card, the card discriminating means can discriminate between an IC card and a magnetic card immediately after the card is inserted.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a card handling mechanism showing an embodiment of the card discriminating device according to the present invention. In Figure 1, 1
is the card handling mechanism, 2 is the card receiving slot (insertion slot), and 3 is the card handling mechanism.
is a card, 4 is a first card detection means located behind the insertion slot 2 of the card 3, 51 and 52 are card conveyance rollers,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a second card detection means (IC chip detection means) located immediately after the card transport rollers 51 and 52 and at a position where it can detect the IC chip (IC contact) portion of the card 3; 7 a card transport roller; , 8 is a magnetic head that reads and writes information on a magnetic card (magnetic stripe), 91.92
1 is a card conveyance roller, 10 is a card stop stand for positioning the card 3, 11 is a third card detection means for detecting the card 3 on the card stop stand 10, and 12 is an IC of the IC card 3 (FIG. 2). A contact element 13 makes contact with the contact point 33, a rotatable support member for the contact element 12, and a solenoid 14 for rotating the support member 13. Reference numeral 15 denotes a data reader for card information of magnetic cards and IC cards, 16 a host computer, and 17 a line for communication between the host computer 16 and the data reader 15. Note that the above-mentioned card detection means 4, 6.11 are constituted by reflection type or transmission type optical sensors. The card handling mechanism 1 also has a control section (not shown) that drives and controls each section.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing the IC card 3. FIG. In FIG. 2, 31 is a magnetic stripe that stores magnetic information;
32 is an IC chip, and 33 is a TC contact connected to the IC chip 32.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart when a reflective optical sensor is used as the second card detection means 6 of FIG. This embodiment is a method of determining the IC chip portion based on a change in the amount of reflected light from an optical sensor.

The operation shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. First, when the card 3 is inserted from the card insertion slot 2 (step 100),
Detected by the first card detection means 4 (step 101),
The card 3 is taken into the card handling mechanism 1 (step 102).

At the same time as the start of loading the card 3, the second card detection means 6
The change in the level of the reflective sensor output is measured, and only the IC chip 32 (IC contact 33) of the card 3 is brought into a detectable state (step 103).

If the second card detection means 6 detects the IC chip 32 (step 104), the card determination means of the control unit (not shown) determines that the card 3 is an IC card 3 incorporating an IC chip (step 105). , the card 3 is transported to the card stop stand 10 and the IC contacts 33 and contacts 12 are removed.
The transaction operation of the IC card 3 is started by the contact 1- (step 106). After the transaction is completed (step 107), the process of returning card 3 begins (step 108).
), at the same time, the level change of the sensor output of the second card detection means 6 is measured to make it possible to detect the presence or absence of the card 3, and is used for the card stop timing when returning the card (step 109). After the card 3 is conveyed in the direction of the card receiving slot 2, the sensor output level of the second card detection means 6 changes from the presence of a card to the state of no card, and the rear end of the card is detected (step 110). ,
After stopping card 3 (step 111), card 3
stops at the position shown in FIG. 1, becomes ready for card removal (step 112), and ends the operation (step 113). Also, in step 104 above, the second
If the IC chip 32 is not detected by the card detection means 6, the card 3 is determined to be a magnetic card (step 114), and the magnetic head 8 starts a magnetic card transaction operation (step 115). The following card return operation is similar to the operation for the IC card 3 described above.

If the second card detection means 6 does not detect the rear end of the card 3 in step 110, it is determined that the card 3 is jammed (step 116), and the jammed card 3 is returned. (Step 117).

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart when a transmission type optical sensor is used as the second card detection means 6 of FIG. 1.

This embodiment uses a method to determine the IC chip portion based on a change in the amount of light transmitted by the optical sensor, and its basic operation is almost the same as that in FIG. 1. First, when the card 3 is inserted (step 200), the first card detection means 4 detects it (step 201) and takes in the card 3 (step 2o2).
. The light amount of the transmission type sensor of the second card detection means 6 is increased to make the IC chip 32 of the card 3 detectable (step 203). This second card detection means 6
If the C chip 32 is detected, step 204);
It is determined that the IC card is 3 (step 205), and the I
A transaction for C card 3 is performed (step 206). After the transaction is completed (step 207), the card 3 is returned (step 208), and the second card detection means 6
The amount of light is lowered to make it possible to detect the presence or absence of the card 3 (step 209). After this second card detection means 6 detects the rear end of the card 3 (step 210)
, and stops the card 3 (step 211).

The process enters a state of waiting for card removal (step 212), and ends the operation (step 213). Also, step 2 above
04, the second card detection means 6 detects the IC chip 32.
If not detected, the card is similarly determined to be a magnetic card (step 214), and a magnetic card transaction is performed (step 215).

If the rear end of the card 3 is not detected by the second detection means 6 in step 210, it is similarly determined that the card 3 is jammed (step 216), and the jammed card is returned. (Step 217).

FIG. 5 is a sensor output characteristic diagram when a reflective optical sensor is used as the second card detection means 6 of FIG. Fifth
In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the sensor position corresponding to the IC card 3, and the vertical axis represents the sensor output.

A method of detecting the IC chip portion of the iC card 3 using the reflective sensor of the second card detecting means 6 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. When the tip 3a of the IC card 3 reaches the reflective sensor 6, the sensor output rises from the card-less level L to the card-present level L2, and the card 3 can be detected.

Furthermore, the IC chip 32 of the IC card 3 (IC contact 33
) approaches the reflective sensor 6, the sensor output further increases to the IC contact level L3, and the IC chip 32 (
IC: contact 33) can be detected, and between the IC contacts, the sensor output drops to the card presence level L2, and the IC chip section has the characteristics as shown in the figure. This is due to the difference in light reflectance due to the difference in the materials of the hard vinyl chloride portion of the IC card 3 and the IC contact portion. It is possible to determine whether the IC chip 32 is installed in the card 3 by detecting the level difference between the IC contact level and the card presence level L2 by using a sensor output level difference due to this difference in reflectance using an appropriate threshold level or the like. Also, card level L2
The presence or absence of the card 3 can be determined by detecting the level difference between the level L1 and the no-card level L1. Note that the IC chip 32
In order to improve the detection accuracy of the IC contacts 33, the validity of the time from when the leading end 3a of the card 3 is detected to when the IC contacts 33 are detected may be checked.

FIG. 6 is a sensor output characteristic diagram when a transmission type optical sensor is used as the second card detection means 6 of FIG. 1. A method of detecting the IC chip portion of an IC card using the transmission type sensor of the second card detecting means 6 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. The method of detecting the IC chip portion in this embodiment is basically the same as the fifth method.
It is similar to the figure.

In the case of the transmission type sensor 6, the 6 sensor output increases the amount of light when detecting the IC chip part.
The hard vinyl chloride part of the card 3 and the IC chip 32 (IC
A level difference is generated between the card-less level L1, the card-present level L2, and the IC contact level L3 corresponding to the contact point 33). As a result, when the amount of light from the transmissive sensor 6 is increased, the light passes through the hard vinyl chloride part and the sensor 6 is turned on, but no light passes through the IC chip part and the sensor 6 turns off, allowing only the IC chip 32 to be identified. . Also, in order to detect the presence or absence of card 3, lower the light intensity, and if there is a card, sensor 6
The presence or absence of the card 3 can be determined by turning on the sensor 6 and turning it off when there is no card. Note that if the second card detecting means 6 is configured to detect the IC chip portion (IC contact portion) by combining a reflection type sensor and a transmission type sensor, the detection accuracy of the IC contact point can be further improved.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to determine whether the card type is a magnetic card or an IC card by the increase or decrease in the light intensity of the optical sensor of the second card detection means 6, so it is possible to determine whether the card type is a magnetic card or an IC card. Since the operation can be selected, the operation maintenance within the card handling mechanism can be carried out quickly and the transaction operation time can be shortened. In addition, by setting the light intensity of the optical sensor to a level that normally allows detection of magnetic cards, it can also be used to check card jams, card stop timing, and card transport checks, so there is no need to install a new sensor. It becomes possible to check the identification of cards at low cost.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine whether the card is a magnetic card or an IC card immediately after the card is inserted.

Since you can select the next transaction operation immediately after inserting the card,
This has the effect of speeding up operation preparation within the card handling mechanism and shortening transaction operation time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a card handling mechanism showing an embodiment of the card discrimination device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a top view of the IC card shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the IC card shown in FIG. 1. Operation flowchart 1 when the detection means is a reflection type sensor, Figure 4 is an operation flowchart when the detection means is a transmission type sensor, and Figure 5
The figure is a sensor output characteristic diagram when the second card detection means in FIG. 1 is a reflective sensor, and FIG. 6 is a sensor output characteristic diagram when the second card detection means is a transmission type sensor. 1...Card handling mechanism, 2...Card insertion slot, 3.
...Card, 4...First card detection means, 51°5
2... Card conveyance roller, 6... Second card detection means (IC chip detection means), 8... Magnetic head, 1
2...Contactor, 32...IC chip, 33...I
C contact.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a card handling mechanism provided with a means for detecting a card in a card transport path, the above-mentioned detecting means is arranged at a position where it can detect an IC chip part or an IC contact part incorporated in the card after the card is inserted, and the detecting means A card discriminating device comprising a discriminating means for discriminating whether the card is an IC card or a magnetic card based on a detection level difference in at least one of the amount of reflected light and the amount of transmitted light.