JPH01288978A - Card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To read out magnetic data having an arbitrary format and track number without using any exclusively-used control circuit by providing a data storing section, data converting section, and data outputting section in a card reader. CONSTITUTION:Upon inserting a magnetic card 10 into the card reader 11, the reader 11 converts signals 13 reproduced by a magnetic head 111 into electric signals 14 by means of a magnetic data reading section 112 and stores the electric signals 14 in the data storing section 113. Then the reader 11 performs format processing on the read data by means of the data converting section 114 and transmits the output data 15 to a host system 12 through the data outputting section 115. Since the transmitted data are format-processed and have the forms of numerals, characters, etc., a standard interface of RS-232C, etc., can be used. Moreover, since data reception and business processing are performed by using the standard interface of RS-232C, etc., on the system 12 side, no exclusively-used control circuit is required.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a magnetic card reader used for cash cards, credit cards, and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional card system using a magnetic card reader has a configuration as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

In FIG. 6, 60 is a magnetic card, 61 is a card reader, 62 is a host system, 611 is a magnetic head, 6
12 is the magnetic data reading section, 613 is a signal output section for outputting the read signal, 621 is a data converting section, and 622 is a central processing section.

FIG. 7 shows how data is read from the magnetic card 60 using the configuration shown in FIG. 6, and the operation will be described below. First, the card user inserts the magnetic card 60 on which magnetic data is recorded into the card reader e1. (70) At this time, the card reader e1 uses the magnetic data reading section 612 to convert the signal 63 reproduced by the magnetic head 611 into a binary electric signal 64, and sends it to the host system 62 through the signal output section 613 (71> (72) At this time, the signal to be transmitted is not formatted into 9 characters, etc. On the host system 62 side, the data conversion unit 621 converts the transmitted signal into numbers or characters. (74) In the conventional card system, the card reader e1 performs card reading processing (magnetic processing). The configuration is such that only the conversion process from a signal to a binary electric signal is performed, the read signals are sequentially transferred to the host system 62, and the host system 62 performs the data formatting process.

We also offer a magnetic card reader for reading data on a magnetic card that has multiple magnetic tracks, which are storage areas for magnetic data, and a magnetic combination IC that can read magnetic cards and read/write IC cards in one device. When a card read/write device is used, data input/output requires a plurality of circuits for each track of the IC card and magnetic card.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In a card system using such a conventional magnetic card reader 61, since the card reader 61 does not perform formatting processing of magnetic data, the signal read from the magnetic card 60 cannot be converted into a single number, etc. data cannot be handled as data, and data cannot be transmitted using standard interfaces such as R5-2320.

Therefore, in order for the host system 62 to read card data, it is necessary to incorporate a signal input circuit and a format processing circuit inside the host system 62.A general-purpose host system such as a personal computer or POS is used. In this case, a dedicated control circuit is required for each type of host system, which is a limitation in constructing a card system.

Further, even if a conventional control circuit is built into the card reader 61, the control circuit needs to be designed uniquely for each host system, making it difficult to respond to diversifying card formats.

The present invention solves these problems and provides a card reader that does not require a dedicated control circuit and can read magnetic data having a wide variety of arbitrary formats and arbitrary number of tracks. It is intended for this purpose.

Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a data storage section for storing magnetic data inside a card reader, a data conversion section for formatting the stored data, and a data storage section for storing magnetic data inside a card reader. The configuration includes a data output section for outputting the data to the host system.

Function: With this configuration, even in a general-purpose host system such as a personal computer, a card system can be constructed without a dedicated control circuit by simply using a standard interface such as the R5-2320 communication interface.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the structure of a carton stem according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a magnetic card, 11 is a card reader, 12 is a host system, 111 is a magnetic head, and 112 is a magnetic data reader. In the υ section, 113 is a data storage section, 114 is a data conversion section, and 115 is a data output section.

The procedure for reading data from the magnetic card 1o using the magnetic card reader of this embodiment having the above-described configuration is shown in FIG. 2, and its operation will be described below.

First, a card user inserts a magnetic card 10 on which magnetic data is recorded into a card reader 11.

(20) At this time, the card reader 11 uses the magnetic data reading section 112 to convert the signal 13 reproduced by the magnetic head 111 into an electric signal 14, and converts the signal 13 reproduced by the magnetic head 111 into an electric signal 14,
to be memorized. (21) Thereafter, the card reader 11 uses the data converter 114 to format the read data, and transmits the data 16 to the host system through the data output unit 116. (22) At this time, the data to be transmitted is 7-ormantized and in the form of 9 numbers, etc., so a standard interface such as R3-232C can be used. On the host system 12 side, R
Since data is received and business processing is performed using a standard interface such as 8-232C (23), a card system can be constructed without a dedicated control circuit.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a card reader according to the present invention and other embodiments. In FIG. 3, 3o is a magnetic card, 31 is a card reader, 32 is a host system,
311 is a magnetic head, 312 is a magnetic data reading section,
313 is a data storage unit, 314 is the data conversion unit, 3
1eS is the data output section. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic head 111 was attached to the lower side of the card running surface, but in this embodiment, the magnetic head 311 is attached to the upper side of the card running surface.

When the magnetic head 311 has a configuration like this embodiment,
Since the insertion direction of the magnetic card 3o is opposite to the normal direction, it is impossible to sequentially format the read data. However, in this embodiment, the read data is once stored in the data storage unit 313. The configuration is such that the data is formatted in 7 formats after that.
By reading the magnetic card 3o from the opposite direction and further processing the data from the opposite direction, normal data can be obtained.

Further, as one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a card system using a magnetic card reader for reading a magnetic card having a plurality of magnetic tracks, which are storage areas for magnetic data.

In FIG. 4, 4o is a magnetic card having three magnetic tracks, 41 is a card reader, 42 is a host system, and 411, 412, and 413 are magnetic heads corresponding to the first track, second track, and third track, respectively. , 414, 415° and 416 are respectively the first track 1. Second track.

Magnetic data reading section corresponding to the third track, 417
418 is a data converter, and 419 is a data output unit. An example of the procedure for processing data on the magnetic card 4° in the card system having the above configuration will be described below. FIG. 5 is an example of a processing procedure for the magnetic card 4o in the embodiment shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the host system 42 first sends a magnetic data reading command to the card reader 41. In FIG. (6o) When the magnetic card 40 is inserted after receiving the magnetic data reading command, the card reader 41 selects the data storage unit 414,
415 and 416, data is read from three tracks at the same time. All read data is stored in the data storage section 41a. (61) When the reading is completed, the card reader 41 notifies the host system 42 that the reading is complete. (62) Next, the host system 42
After confirming that the reading has been completed, the first track format command is sent to the card reader 41. (6
3) After receiving the command, the card reader 41 converts the data into the data converter 418
Otherwise, the data of the first track stored in the data storage section 417 is formatted, and the result is sent to the host system.

(64) After receiving the first track data, the host system sends a second track format command to the card reader 41. (55) After receiving the command, the card reader 41 formats the data on the second track using the same procedure and sends the result to the host system. (56) Next, the host system 42 sends a command to format the third track to the card reader 41. 57) The card reader 41 performs formatting processing on the third track and sends the result to the host system 42. (58) Furthermore, if the command system is set up so that the host system 42 can specify the data format, it is possible to send the format command again even in the case of a card system that uses two or more types of cards with different recording formats. (59) In other words, by configuring the card system as described above, you can create a magnetic card that can simultaneously read a large number of tracks and output them in any format by inserting the card only once. We can provide leaders.

Furthermore, a part of the magnetic card reader of the magnetic IC card read/write device that can read magnetic cards and read/write IC cards with one device has the above configuration, and the IC card interface and the magnetic card interface are the same. By making the host system and card reader interface R8-23
A standard interface such as 2G can be used.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the card reader has one data reading section, a data storage section, a data conversion section,
By having a configuration including a data output section, it is possible to easily construct a card system using a personal computer or the like.

In addition, the card format can be freely set from the host system, and the card only needs to be inserted once per card, making it compatible with magnetic cards with a wide variety of information recording formats and track numbers. It is possible to build a card system that is more user-friendly for the owner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 70-Chart of magnetic data reading procedure by a card system using a reader, FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a magnetic data reading procedure by a card system using a conventional card reader. 10.30.40.60...magnetic card, 11゜3
1. 41. 61... Card reader, 12
゜32.42.62---Host system, 11
1. 311. 411.412, 413.611...
・Magnetic head, 112, 312, 414, 415° 41
6.612...Data reading section, 113゜3
13.417...Data storage section, 114,31
4゜418.621...Data conversion section, 115
, 315° 419... Data output section, 613.
...Signal output section, 622...Central processing section,
13.63...Magnetic head reproduction signal, 14.64
−・・・Output signal from data reading υ section, 15.6
5...Magnetic data after format processing, 20-24.50-510.70-74...Contents of processing procedure. Name of agent Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 1 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A data reading section for reading magnetic data, a data storage section for temporarily storing the read data, and a data conversion section for converting the stored data into a certain format. , a card reader having a data output section for outputting converted data to a host system. (2) The card reader according to claim 1, which has a reverse processing function capable of processing data read from a magnetic card from a direction opposite to the reading direction. (3) The card reader according to claim 1, which has a data reconversion function that reconverts the data that has been outputted once into another format according to a command from the host system and reoutputs the data. (4) It has a plurality of magnetic heads for reading data on a magnetic card having a plurality of magnetic tracks, which are storage areas for magnetic data, and reads the plurality of magnetic tracks simultaneously, and the track specified by the command from the host system. 2. The card reader according to claim 1, which has a multi-track simultaneous reading function that outputs only the data of the remaining tracks and outputs the data of the remaining tracks sequentially without a reading operation according to a command from the next host system. (5) The card reader according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has an IC card read/write section.