JPH02166661A - Optical card reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dust from infiltration and a laser beam from leakage and to take out an optical card without impairing when an accident occurs by opening/closing a shutter by the signal of an insertion detecting sensor between an insertion position and the standby position of a shuttle, and providing an inclined part on a shutter plate. CONSTITUTION:When the optical card 99 is inserted, the insertion detecting sensor 91 detects it and the shutter is opened, and the optical card 99 is introduced to a device, then, it is loaded on the shuttle 31, and read and write are performed, and when an operation is completed, the shutter is opened again, then, the card is ejected to the outside. When it is impossible to control the shutter due to an unknown reason at the time of driving the device, the shutter 83 is depressed downward by moving the optical card 99 toward the outside from the device since the inclined part 83a inclining in a direction opposite to the pressing direction of a pressing member 87 is provided on the standby position side of the shuttle 31 at the shutter plate 83. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the dust from being mixed and the laser beam from leaking, and to collect the optical card without impairing the card even when it becomes impossible to control the shutter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical card reader/writer for writing to and/or reading from an optical card.

The disaster-prone card has a rectangular shape similar to credit cards and cash cards, and has a larger storage capacity than conventional magnetic cards, so it is expected to be used in a wide range of applications.

Currently, there are two types of optical cards: playback-only type, in which the user plays back pre-recorded information, and additional recording type, in which the user can add and record new information. - A type that can re-record FFH is also under development.

Furthermore, the principle of reproduction and additional recording is also the same as that of conventional optical discs.

However, while optical cards have an advantage over optical disks in terms of portability.

There are many problems that need to be solved regarding the mounting and driving of optical cards during recording and playback.

As shown in FIG. 5, the optical card 99 has a memory section 99b formed on a rectangular plastic sheet 99a. In the conventional optical card reader/writer, as shown in FIG.
The timing belt 23 fixed to the shuttle 31 is driven to move the optical card back and forth in the X direction in the figure, while the objective lens (not shown) of the recording/reproducing optical system is moved. It was moving in the middle Y direction. The optical card is fixed to the shuttle 31 by pressing the optical card placed on the shuttle 31 from above with a leaf spring 111. 25 is a motor, 35 is a sliding ring, 41 is a guide shaft, and 113 is a gear on the other end.

In conventional optical card readers/writers, dust and dirt can enter the device body and adhere to the optical card or optical head, affecting writing and reading, or the laser beam can be reflected on the optical card surface and ejected to the outside. In order to prevent leakage from affecting the human body, a door was installed over the card slot in the main body of the device, and the door was opened and closed manually.

However, with this method, the door opens easily due to manual operation, which is dangerous, and it is also insufficient in terms of dustproofing.

Furthermore, when inserting or removing the optical card, there is a risk that the memory section of the optical card may be damaged by the door.

Additionally, when a card is already inserted in the device,
It was not possible to prevent accidental insertion of a second optical card.

The present invention, in an optical card reader/writer, controls the insertion of an optical card into the main body of the device using a shutter, takes dust-proof measures, and prevents laser light from leaking out of the device.
To provide a shutter mechanism that allows an optical card to be taken out to the outside without damaging it even if an accident occurs in the device and the optical card cannot be automatically taken out from inside the device.

The optical card reader/writer of the present invention has an input optical power of −K.
is accepted by the shuttle in its waiting position.

In an optical card reader/writer, a shuttle on which an optical card is fixed and mounted reciprocates in a linear direction to read and/or write information.

A shutter is provided between the insertion position and the shuttle standby position to control the insertion of the optical card, and an insertion detection sensor is provided in front of the shutter to detect the insertion of the optical card. , a control device for opening the shutter; further, the shutter has a shutter plate that prevents the optical card from passing through; and a biasing member that biases the shutter plate to close the shutter.

This shutter plate is characterized in that it has an inclined portion that slopes in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the biasing member, on the shuttle standby position side of the shutter plate.

Production: When an optical card is inserted, the insertion detection sensor detects this, the shutter opens, the optical card is guided into the device, and is mounted on the shuttle, where the optical card is read and written.

When this operation is completed, the shutter is opened again and the optical card is ejected to the outside of the device.

When the device is in operation, it can be assumed that the device stops for some reason such as runaway of the drive software and the shutter cannot be controlled. In such a case, the optical card cannot be taken out. In contrast, in the present invention, the shutter plate that is biased by the biasing member to close the shutter has an inclined portion that is inclined in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the biasing member toward the shuttle standby position side of the shutter plate. Therefore, the shutter plate can be pushed down by transferring the optical card from inside the device to the outside, and the optical card can be taken out to the outside. That is, when the optical card is moved from the shuttle toward the input position in the opposite direction to when the optical card was received by the shuttle, the optical card hits the slope of the shutter, and when the optical card is moved further, it hits the biasing member and the shutter opens. The optical card is taken out.

1 is an explanatory perspective view showing an example of the structure of the drive mechanism of the optical card reader/writer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the main parts of the optical card reader/writer.

As shown in FIG. 1, a shuttle 31 carrying an optical card
The guide shaft 41.4 is connected by sliding rings 35.35 on both sides.
1 and is slidably supported. The shuttle 31 is fixed to the timing belt 23 at its lower surface, and moves by sliding on guide shafts 41, 41 as the timing belt 23 moves. The timing belt 23 is stretched between the drive gear 11 connected to the motor 25 and the pulley 19 at the other end, forms a bent part 27 near the drive gear 11, and has an abbreviated shape as a whole. ing. The bending portion 27 has a first elastic pulley 13 on the tooth side 23a of the timing belt 23, and a second elastic pulley 1 on the back side 23b.
5 is in contact. Further, in the vicinity of the first elastic pulley 13 and on the opposite side from the drive gear 11, a third pulley 17 is brought into contact with the back side 23b of the timing belt 23. 43 is a notch for a sensor, and 45 is a hole for a sensor.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of the optical card reader/writer (in FIG. 2, illustration of the old guide shaft is omitted). When the optical card 99 is inserted into the device through the slot 97 of the housing 95, dust, dirt, etc. attached to the memory section of the optical card 99 are removed by a felt 93 (cleaning member). The insertion detection sensor 91 detects the insertion of the optical card 99, and in response to this detection signal, the control device W (not shown) operates the solenoid 89, which engages the spring 87 (biasing member) to move the plunger 85 downward. , the shutter plate 83 attached to this shaft 85 is lowered. In addition, the motor 73 rotates due to the detection signal, and the rollers 75, 75
starts rotating. Normally, the shutter plate 83 is urged by the spring 87 and pressed against the upper tongue piece of the guide plate 71.
Shattaro is blocked. When the optical card 99 is further inserted deep into the guide plate 7, it is rolled up by the loader 75, 75 and inserted into the shuttle 31. 47 (see FIG. 1) is a roller notch in which the roller surfaces of the rollers 75 and 75 are disposed. The sensor 79 is switched from ON to OFF when the optical card passes, but when the end of the optical card passes and the sensor 79 is turned ON, the shutter plate 83 is raised and the shutter is closed.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3A, and 8 (cross-sectional views of the shuttle), the shuttle 31 includes a shuttle body 33 having a sliding ring 35, a back plate 37, a reference plate 39, and a chucking member 55. ing.

The chucking member 55 is composed of a support plate 57, a spring 61, an arm 59, an engagement @63, and a pressing roller 65, and is attached to the shuttle body 33 by the support plate 57.

As shown in FIG. 2, at the standby position where the shuttle 31 is in contact with the guide plate 71, the shuttle 31 is waiting for the optical card 91 to be inserted with the back plate 37 (suppression piece) released. This state is shown in FIG. 3A, where the engagement between the engagement piece 69 and the engagement shaft 63 of the chucking member 55 pushes the arm 59 of the chucking member 55 downward against the spring 61. , the back plate 37 falls down under its own weight, and the optical card 9 is placed between the back plate 37 and the reference plate 39.
9 is inserted.

The optical cards 99 are sequentially detected by the sensors 79 and 77.
N, and the optical card 99 is loaded by the loader 75.75.
passes through the sensor 79 and turns OFF, the optical card 99
The insertion into the shuttle 31 is completed.

The optical card 99 inserted by the loader 75, 75 is stopped when its leading end contacts the stopper 39a. In this way, when the sensors 77 and 79 detect that the optical card 99 is completely inserted into the shuttle 31, the drive gear 11 rotates (normally rotates) in the direction of arrow A in the figure.
The shuttle 31 moves to the left. Note that the sensor 77,
The opposing photo coupler 79 is not shown.

When the shuttle 31 moves to the left, the engagement piece 69 disengages from the engagement shaft 63 of the chucking member 55, and the pressing roller 65 is pressed upward by the biasing force of the spring 57, as shown in FIG. 3B. As a result, the back plate 37 is pushed upward, and the optical card 99 is firmly fixed between the back plate 37 and the reference plate 39.

Note that FIG. 3B only shows the movement of the back plate 37 without an optical card inserted.

In this chucking state, the shuttle 31 further moves to the left, and due to the normal rotation and reversal of the drive gear 11,
While reciprocating in the direction, the optical head lO1 moves in the Y direction (perpendicular to the plane of the paper) and irradiates light with the objective lens 103, thereby sequentially recording information or reproducing the recorded information.

When the recording or reproduction of information is completed, the shuttle 31 moves rightward until it comes into contact with the guide plate 71 (see FIG. 2), and the optical card 99 is taken out to the outside in the reverse order. When the shuttle 31 comes to the standby position, the sensor 77
The optical card 99 comes below, the sensor 77 turns ON, the motor 73 rotates the loaders 75, 75 in the opposite direction, the shutter plate 83 descends again, and the optical card 99 moves toward the outside of the housing 95. be discharged. The shutter plate 83 is closed by turning the input detection sensor old ON and then OFF.

Further, only when the shuttle 31 is in the standby position and the shuttle 31 is not equipped with an optical card, the insertion detection sensor 91O
By controlling the shutter plate 83 to open with N, it is possible to prevent the second card from being accidentally inserted when a card has already been inserted. Whether or not the shuttle 31 is in the standby position is determined by the ON-OFF states of three sensors (not shown) that detect the passage of the shuttle 31.

Also, if the optical card is installed at this position or not installed, sensor 7
It can be detected with 0N-OFF of 7.

According to the shutter mechanism of the present invention, even if the opening and closing of the shutter plate cannot be controlled by external electrical signals due to reasons such as runaway of the drive software of the optical card reader/writer, the optical card mounted on the shuttle can be taken out of the device without damaging it.

In such a case, the shuttle 31 is moved to the standby position by rotating the drive shaft 11 using an auxiliary tool, either electrically or manually (see FIG. 2). Next, the drive shaft 7 is connected to the motor 73, either electrically or manually.
4 to the right to rotate the loader 75. Since the optical card is in a chucking-free state at the standby position, the optical card is transferred toward the slot 97 and hits the shutter plate 83 (see Figures 4A and 4B).
. The shutter plate 83 is urged by a spring 87 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 4A, and is pressed against the upper tongue piece 71a of the guide plate 71. However, since this shutter plate 83 has an inclined portion 83a on the shuttle special equipment side that is inclined in a direction opposite to the urging direction B, when the optical card 99 is further transferred in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 4A, this inclined portion The optical card 99 is transferred along the shutter plate 83, and the shutter plate 83 is lowered against the spring 87, allowing the optical card to be taken out. In this way, with the present invention, even if the entire device becomes uncontrollable due to some kind of trouble, or even if only the shutter opening/closing mechanism becomes uncontrollable, the optical card can be removed without being damaged. can.

According to the present invention, an insertion detection sensor and a shutter are sequentially provided between the optical card insertion position and the shuttle standby position,
By opening and closing the shutter based on the detection signal of this sensor, it is possible to effectively prevent dust and dirt from entering the device and leaking laser light to the outside.

Furthermore, the shutter plate that is biased by the biasing member to close the shutter has an inclined portion on the shuttle standby position side of the shutter plate that slopes in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the biasing member. Even if the opening and closing of the shutter becomes uncontrollable, damage to the optical card can be prevented and the optical card can be recovered outside the device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the drive mechanism of the optical card reader/writer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of the optical card reader/writer. FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views showing chucking of an optical card by the shuttle. FIGS. 4A and 4B are enlarged sectional views of the vicinity of the shutter plate, showing the opening/closing mechanism of the shutter plate. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the optical card. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of a conventional optical card reader/writer. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Drive gear 13... First elastic pulley 15... Second elastic pulley 17... Third pulley 19... Other end pulley 21... Elastic body 23.
...Timing belt 25...Motor 27...Bending portion 31...Shuttle 33...Shuttle body 37...Back plate 41...Guide shaft 55...Chucking member 61...Spring 65...Press roller 71...Guide plate 74...Drive shaft 77, 79...Sensor 83a...Slanted portion 87...Spring 91...Closing detection sensor 95...Housing 99... ...Optical card 103...Objective lens

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical card reader/writer in which a shuttle receives an inserted optical card at a standby position, fixes the optical card, and drives the mounted shuttle back and forth in a linear direction to read and/or write information. , a shutter for controlling the insertion of the optical card provided between the insertion position and the standby position of the shuttle; an insertion detection sensor provided in front of the shutter for detecting the insertion of the optical card; and a detection sensor for the insertion detection sensor. and a control device that opens the shutter in response to a signal, and the shutter further includes a shutter plate that prevents the optical card from passing through, and an urging member that urges the shutter plate and closes the shutter opening. An optical card reader/writer, wherein the shutter plate has an inclined portion inclined in a direction opposite to the urging direction of the urging member on the shuttle standby position side of the shutter plate. 2. The optical card reader/writer according to claim 1, wherein the control device opens the shutter only when the shuttle is in the standby position and no optical card is mounted in the shuttle.