JPH02272694A - Magnetic card adjusting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a forged magnetic card from being used by deciding forged card when the value of data obtained by inspecting the magnetic characteristics of the magnetic recording part of a magnetic card to be used prior to the execution of price adjustment is different from the value of reference data. CONSTITUTION:When a magnetic card is inserted into a card insertion port 10, a control circuit 50 reads out data written in a magnetic stripe, temporarily erasing the data, writes the test data of a fixed level, erases the test data, reads out the erased test data, and stores the level of the reading signal in a memory. A series of processing is executed plural times by changing the level of the erasing signal. Plural data indicating the levels (residual magnetism) of the erased reading signals stored in the memory are compared with previously stored plural reference data, and when both the data are noncoincident, the inserted card is decided to be a forged card. Consequently, the use of the forged magnetic card can be surely suppressed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a magnetic card payment system that allows payments to be made using a magnetic card. The present invention relates to a magnetic card payment system that determines whether or not a card is forged.

[Conventional technology]

The magnetic card payment system described above is used in telephones, automatic ticket vending machines, automatic vending machines, and the like. The magnetic card used in this magnetic card payment system is called a prepaid card, and is known as a card that is issued after payment is made in advance and that allows payments to be made without using cash. It is used.

In conventional magnetic card payment systems, if a magnetic card made to a certain standard to be used for payment is inserted into a slot, the card will not be used unless it has been used (with zero usage remaining). Regardless of whether or not the magnetic card is used, data such as the remaining amount of the prepaid amount can be read → erased →
Processing was performed using the rewrite procedure. Here, the above-mentioned processing can be performed without using a magnetic card, that is, without performing any operations such as paying for products etc. with a magnetic card, simply by inserting the magnetic card into the slot of the magnetic card payment system. , the magnetic card is ejected from the ejection port. This is commonly referred to as ``Koratsuko.''

By the way, with the spread of this kind of 6N card payment system, the L〃magnetic card payment system was counterfeited! ■Measures need to be taken in case magnetic cards are used.

However, with the conventional magnetic card payment system, it is
If the fixed information written in the magnetic recording part of the card, such as the name of the company that manufactured the card and the data that identifies the device that issued the card, matches the data stored in the system's memory, the card is legitimate. It was configured to determine that the card is a magnetic card to be used for payment.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention C] In the above-described conventional magnetic card payment system, there was a possibility that the magnetic card could be counterfeited by copying the data written on the magnetic recording part of the legitimate magnetic card.

In other words, by running a commercially available magnetic tape (e.g. 8 m long video tape) pasted onto a magnetic card that can actually be used (the remaining capacity is not zero), the data written on the magnetic card can be read. Copy onto the above magnetic tape.

A counterfeit card is created by attaching a magnetic tape with the data copied onto a used magnetic card, or a card with a magnetic tape with the data copied attached to a round board made of plastic. It is conceivable that it will be used for card payment systems. If such a counterfeit card is used, the magnetic card payment system will determine that it is a genuine magnetic card if the fixed information written on the card matches the data stored in the system's memory, as described above. There was a problem in that it was determined that there was.

The present invention was made in view of these circumstances, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic card payment system that can reliably prevent a forged magnetic card from being used in the magnetic card payment system.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a magnetic card payment system in which payment can be made using a magnetic card on which data including variable information such as an advance payment amount is magnetically recorded. After erasing the data once, test data of a certain level is written, and the level of the read signal is stored in the memory, and the data indicating the level of the read signal stored in the memory and the regular magnetic When the card is used, it is compared with the pre-stored reference data obtained by performing the above processing, and if the two match, it is determined to be a genuine magnetic card, and if the two do not match, it is determined to be a counterfeit card. This feature is characterized in that it is determined that the card is a magnetic card.

[Effect]

According to the present invention (n-ki card payment system), when a magnetic card is inserted into the card slot of the system, the system first reads out the data written on the magnetic stripe, which is the magnetic record of the magnetic card. After that, test data with a certain signal level is written on the magnetic stripe, then the written test data is erased, and the erased test data is read out, and the level of the read signal is stored in the memory. The series of processing of storing data in the data is performed multiple times by changing the level of the erase signal.

The magnetic material forming the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card used in the magnetic card payment system and the thickness of the magnetic layer of the magnetic stripe are manufactured to certain standards.
Magnetization characteristics are constant for each magnetic card. Therefore, when test data written at a constant signal level is erased using erase signals of different predetermined levels, each value of residual magnetization lies on a constant magnetization characteristic curve (hysteresis loop).

On the other hand, if a commercially available fR tape is pasted on top of the magnetic stripe of a regular iffff-card, its magnetization characteristics will be different from those of the magnetic stripe of a regular magnetic card, so these data should be compared. by iffff-
It becomes possible to determine the authenticity of the code.

Therefore, as described above, when a plurality of data indicating the level (residual magnetization) of a read signal after erasure stored in the memory and a regular magnetic card are used, the above series of processing is performed multiple times. The magnetic card is compared with multiple reference data stored in advance, and if the two match, it is determined to be a genuine magnetic card, and if the two do not match, it is determined to be a counterfeit card. .

As described above, according to the present invention, since the authenticity of the magnetic card used is determined by inspecting the magnetic properties of the magnetic card, a counterfeit 65i card can be used in the magnetic card payment system. can be reliably prevented.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a vending machine as an example of a 6R card payment system. In the figure, the vending machine 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the front panel section 2 of this rectangular parallelepiped has showcase sections 3a and 3b for displaying product samples.
, 3c, and 3d are provided, and product selection buttons 4a, 4b, and 4C14d with built-in display lamps are provided at the bottom, and a bill insertion slot 5 and a coin slot 6 are provided, and a change light is provided at the bottom of the tray 7.
, a product outlet 8 is provided, and a magnetic card 9 is also provided.
The card slot 10 is provided with a card slot 10 into which a card is inserted. Further, the vending machine 1 is provided with an acoustic alarm 11 that notifies the user of forgetting to take out a card or other issues with sound, and a cancel lever 12 for canceling the payment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a magnetic card used in an embodiment of the present invention.

This magnetic card 9 is a flexible one made of thin plastic, paper, etc., and has a second magnetic card on its surface.
As shown in FIG. 1, an area 13 is provided for displaying the payment amount U and its payment status, and other necessary information (sales amount, issuer name, etc.) is printed.

Furthermore, a trouble mark area 14 is provided on the right side of the area 13 of the &(f-ki card 9. A trouble mark area 14 is provided on the right side of the area 13 of the f-ki card 9. If a counterfeit magnetic card is inserted from the card slot instead of the genuine magnetic card 9, a trouble mark area 14 is provided. A hole can be punched in the area.

On the other hand, a magnetic stripe 16 as a magnetic recording medium is provided on the back surface of the magnetic card 9, as shown in FIG. 2 (■). The magnetic stripe 16 is shown in FIG. 2 (III).
As shown, a code Cd is recorded.

This code Cd includes data such as the amount to be paid, the date of issue of the card, and data specifying the device that issued the card. Instead of this magnetic stripe 16,
As shown in the figure, there is a magnetic recording layer 9b inside the d-card 9.
It is also possible to provide a magnetic recording layer and record the data on this magnetic recording layer. Note that 9a is a substrate made of plastic or the like, and 9C is a masking layer.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the internal structure of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, inside the automatic vending machine 1, there is a money processing mechanism 18 and a magnetic card reading/writing device 1.
9, a payment processing device 20, a product ejecting mechanism 21, and a magnetic card issuing device 222. Further, the money processing mechanism 18 reads the authenticity and value of the banknotes inserted into the banknote insertion slot 5 and the coin insertion slot 6. The magnetic card reading/writing device 19 reads information from the magnetic card 9, performs payment, and writes information after payment. The payment processing device 20 is a money processing machine fJ118.
and the value information from the magnetic card reading/writing device 19, and the product 3J1 button 4a, 4b, 4C14d I
Upon receiving the designation, the product ejecting mechanism 21 or the magnetic card issuing device 22 is driven based on the designation.

The magnetic card issuing device 22 is installed in the vending machine main body.
The code from the OM 23 is read, and when this code matches the code written on the magnetic stripe 16 of the magnetic card 9 on which monetary information or the like is not written, the magnetic card 9 can be issued.

Note that the money processing mechanism 18 is not directly related to the present invention, so a description thereof will be omitted hereafter.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the magnetic card reading/writing device 19.

The magnetic card reading/writing device 19 is configured as follows. That is, a pair of feed rollers 30 and 31 are rotatably provided in parallel at positions corresponding to the card insertion slot 1o. A read/write magnetic head 32 is provided adjacent to the feed rollers 30,31. The read/write magnetic head 32 is for reading data such as the amount and issuer from the magnetic stripe 15 of the magnetic card 9, and rewriting data such as the balance after payment on the magnetic stripe I6. In addition, a reflective optical reading device 3
3.34.35 are provided. These reflective optical reading devices 33, 34, and 35 detect the position of the magnetic card 9.

A magnetic car F faces the read/write magnetic head 32.
9. A pressing roller 37 for pressing the head 32 is provided. Further, the pair of feed rollers 30.
A pair of feed rollers 39 and 40 are further rotatably provided in parallel to 31. The feed roller 3
9. A punch mechanism 41 is provided on the left side in the drawing with respect to 40. The bunch i structure 41 has a mechanism that can punch holes in the area 13 and trouble mark area 14 of the magnetic card 9 in response to a punch command.

Further, a pair of rollers 42 and 43 are provided to be rotatable in parallel, and a card contact detection sensor 44 that also serves as a stopper is provided on the right side of the rollers 42 and 43 in the drawing. The feed roller 30, the feed roller 39, and the roller 42 are connected to a driving stage via an mts (not shown).
The step motor 45 is connected to the step motor 45.
It will rotate according to the rotation of .

Further, 47 is a write driver, 48 is a waveform shaping circuit, 63 is an erase circuit that generates an erase signal to erase data written on the magnetic stripe 16 of the magnetic card 9, and 64
49, 61, and 62 are analog switches whose switching is controlled by control signals outputted from the control circuit 50; When reading data from the magnetic card 9, the analog switch 49 is connected to the contact a side.
Also, when writing data to the magnetic card 9 or erasing data written on the magnetic stripe 16 of the magnetic card 9, the analog switch 61 is switched to the contact a side and the contact b side. It is designed so that it can be switched to the contact side when erasing.

Further, the analog switch 62 is normally set to the contact a side (normally switched to this position) when completely erasing the data written in the magnetic stripe 16 in a circle, and also changes the level of the erase signal. When erasing the data using the switch, the switch can be switched to the contact side.

The level adjustment circuit 64 operates to adjust the erase signal output from the erase circuit 63 in stages based on the control signal output from the control B circuit 50.

The driver 47, waveform shaping circuit 48, and erasing circuit 63 are connected to the control circuit 50.

Furthermore, an optical reader 33, 34, 35 and a punch mechanism 41
and the card contact sensor 44 are electrically connected to the control circuit 50. In addition, the step motor 45 is driven to rotate via the motor controller 46.

Next, a specific configuration of the control circuit 50 is shown in FIG.

In the figure, a control circuit 50 is composed of a D/A converter 53, an input/output section 54, and a controller 55.

Further, the controller 55 includes a CPU 56, a ROM 57, an R
It is composed of an AM 58, an interface 59, and an external interface 60. In addition to various programs for realizing the functions of the control circuit 50, the ROM 57 stores fixed data necessary for verifying the magnetic card 9 and reference data for specifying the magnetization characteristics of the magnetic stripe 16.

The RAM 5B stores information such as constants and fees necessary for processing the program executed by the control circuit 50.

Next, the contents of the program executed by the control circuit 50 are shown in FIG. This read data is then
The data stored in a predetermined memory area of the RAM 58 (steps 70 and 71), then the data written on the magnetic stripe 16 is completely erased, and then the data written in the control circuit 58 is completely erased.
The counter C in is reset (steps 72 and 73).
), the data written on the magnetic stripe 16 is completely erased.In this case, the analog switches 49 and 61 are set to the contact side and the analog switch 62 is set to the contact a side according to the control signal output from the control circuit 50. switched,
The high frequency signal output from the erase signal 63 is supplied to the read/write end 32 via analog switches 62, 61, 49.

Next, test data D is written to the magnetic stripe 16 of the magnetic card 9 at a constant signal level, and then the control i1
It is determined whether the count N of the counter C in the circuit 50 has reached N-3 (steps 74 and 75). When the count content of the counter C is N≠3, the analog switch 62 is switched to the contact side, and based on the control signal C5 from the control circuit 50, the erasure signal of signal level 11 is first sent to the level adjustment circuit 64 and the analog switch 61.49 to the read/write head 32 and test data D7
is erased (step 76). After this erase operation, test data D7 is further read from the magnetic stripe 16, and data D indicating this read signal level is stored in a predetermined memory area of the RAM 68. Ru(ste,
77.78). Next, the contents of the counter C are incremented by "11" (step 79), and the process returns to step 74. By repeating the processes of steps 74 to 79, the magnetic stripe 16 is stored in the RAM 68 at a constant level.
The test data D written in the signal level is l+
Data D indicating the magnitude of the signal level (residual magnetization) of the read signal when performing the erase operation with the erase signal It Lt (1+ < It < Is ), respectively.
+D t D s is stored in a predetermined memory area.

If it is determined in step 75 that the count N of the counter C is N-3, that is, the data D+DtDs is obtained, the data DIDtt)z and the reference data D□, D82% D13, and A comparison is made (step 75.80), where the magnetic card 9
The test data D written at a constant level on the magnetic stripe 16 of the signal level 1. It Is
The magnitude of the signal level (residual magnetization) of the read signal after each erase operation when erased with
, the relationship between the signal level l of the erase signal and the signal level M of the read signal is as shown in FIG. In this way, the 111-ki stripe 16 has a certain magnetization characteristic.
When an erase operation is performed at a predetermined level after writing the test data D7 at a certain level, the residual magnetization M
can be found on the song flP. Actually 1k+
'a Since variations occur in the magnetization characteristics of the magnetic stripe 16 in each magnetic card 9 manufactured due to differences in e4, etc., the amount of error is assumed to be 6M, and the signal levels It, It
The contents of the reference data D0, Dt2, and D■ indicating the signal level of one read word read after erasing the test data D written at a constant level by the Is erase signal are D, = M + ±ΔM. , D at -M
t±ΔM.

Let D, , = M, ±ΔM.

Now, in step 80, the data D, .about.D, and the reference data D, .about.D*3 are compared in magnitude, respectively. Here D+ = m+ Dt - mt D! ”'m
s, Ml-ΔM≦m, ≦M, +ΔMlMt
ΔMSm, ≦M2+ΔM, M, -ΔM≦m, ≦M3+Δ
If it is determined that M, that is, the value m + m
If it is determined that t m s is within the area between the songs MQ and R in FIG. If any of them is operated, the settlement process is performed, and the remaining amount after settlement and other fixed data are written to the magnetic stripe 16 (step 81.82). Here, the settlement process is the remaining amount written on the magnetic stripe 16 This refers to arithmetic processing for settling the price of the product specified by any of the product selection buttons 4a to 4d.

After normal processing is performed in step 82, the magnetic card 9 is ejected from the card slot 10 (step 83).
.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 81 that the residual magnetization value indicated by each of the data D1 to D is not within the area between tracks 11Q and 11R shown in FIG. 7, the magnetic card is forged. The magnetic card 9 is ejected from the card insertion slot 10 in which a hole is punched by the punching mechanism 41 in the trouble mark area 14 of the magnetic card 9 or a position corresponding thereto (step 81.84.83).

In addition, in this embodiment, when adding a trouble mark, a magnetic card number punch hole is punched, but the invention is not limited to this, and the same meaning can be given by cutting a specific stamp or a specific position on the card. You can also do this.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides a magnetic recording part of a magnetic card used in a magnetic card payment system that allows payments to be made using a magnetic card on which data including variable data such as advance payment amount is magnetically recorded. The magnetization characteristics of the card are inspected before payment is made, and if the value indicated by the data obtained as a result of the inspection is within the range of the value indicated by the reference data, it is determined that the card is a legitimate magnetic card, Since the present invention is configured to determine that the card is a forged card in the case of a mismatch, it is possible to reliably prevent a forged magnetic card from being used in the 1-ki card t# calculation system. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an embodiment of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a magnetic card used in the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a vending machine. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the magnetic card reading/writing device, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit used in the magnetic card reading/writing device, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the magnetic card reading/writing device. A flowchart showing the contents of the program executed by the control circuit 71, FIG. 7 shows the characteristics showing the relationship between the erase signal level and residual magnetization when erasing test data written at a constant level on the magnetic stripe of a magnetic card. 8 are explanatory diagrams showing other configuration examples of the magnetic card. l... Automatic @ vending machine, 9... Magnetic card, 16...
Magnetic stripe, 50...control circuit, 63...erasure circuit, 64...level adjustment circuit. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a magnetic card payment system that allows payments to be made using a magnetic card on which data including variable information such as the prepaid amount is magnetically recorded, the data is temporarily erased when the magnetic card is inserted into the card slot of the system. later,
Write test data of a certain level, store the level of the read signal in the memory, and perform the above processing when using data indicating the level of the read signal stored in the memory and a regular magnetic card. The magnetic card is compared with pre-stored reference data obtained by , and if the two match, it is determined to be a genuine magnetic card, and if the two do not match, it is determined to be a counterfeit magnetic card. A magnetic card payment system.