JPH0345352Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a punch mechanism of a card reader.

Recently, there has been a demand for the development of public telephones incorporating card readers. Instead of inserting coins, the user uses a magnetic card to use a public phone. Information that encodes the amount paid in advance is written on the magnetic card, and the amount is used based on this amount information. If there is a usable amount remaining after subtracting the amount corresponding to the number of calls made, when returning the magnetic card, the remaining amount information is magnetically written on the magnetic card and the usable amount remains. If the magnetic card is not attached, that is, if the user uses the front part of the amount information, the magnetic card is stored in the card reader as it is. By the way, the information magnetically written on the magnetic card cannot be visually determined, and therefore an appropriate display mechanism is required. In this case, the most accurate display can be made by printing the remaining amount on the magnetic card each time.
This causes problems such as the printing mechanism becomes complicated and the number of times of printing is limited due to space limitations.

Therefore, it is conceivable to drive a punch mechanism to punch holes in the magnetic card depending on the amount remaining. In order to punch a hole at an appropriate position according to the remaining amount information on the magnetic card, the position where the magnetic head reads the remaining amount information on the magnetic card and the position where the punch hole is punched must be within the area of the magnetic card. is desirable. Moreover, in order to punch holes accurately, the gap between the punch and the die should be slightly wider than that of the magnetic card, and the hole can be punched more accurately if the gap is as small as possible.

However, if the punch and die are placed facing each other with a slight gap between them facing the running path,
The width of the running path in the thickness direction is substantially smaller than other locations, that is, that location slightly protrudes and creates a step. Therefore, when a magnetic card is conveyed to read the balance information, this difference in level may cause the magnetic card to get stuck, causing a card jam, or making the magnetic card run unstable, causing errors in reading the balance information. There is a possibility that this may occur.

Furthermore, the area around the magnetic card travel path is equipped with a path board that forms the travel path, a magnetic head for reading the balance information recorded on the magnetic card, and a transport means for transporting the magnetic card. In order to downsize the entire device, there is not enough space to provide a punch mechanism.

Therefore, it is possible to fix the punch mechanism at a position away from the travel path and make the punch protrude from a distance to punch the hole, but if there is too much gap between the punch and the die, It is difficult to position the two so that they mesh properly. Moreover, the magnetic card plays inside the gap and assumes various postures, causing the position of the punch hole to shift, making it impossible to punch the hole at an accurate position. Furthermore, the engagement error between the punch and the die becomes large, and there is a risk that the punch may break or the blade may be damaged. Furthermore, there is also the disadvantage that a stroke is required to strike the punch, which increases the size of the device.

As described above, even if a card reader is provided with a punch mechanism, there is a contradictory factor in that if one stands up, the other does not stand up, and it has been difficult to adopt it in order to miniaturize the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points.

That is, a rotatable lever is pivotally supported on the side of the magnetic card travel path, a lever driving means provides a driving force for rotating the lever, and the lever is driven by the lever driving means. a pair of punches provided oppositely on one end side of the lever so as to move together from outside the travel path to a position where they straddle at least a portion of the magnetic card in the travel path when Another object of the present invention is to provide a punching mechanism for a card reader, which includes a die, and a punch driving means that applies a striking force to the punch in order to punch a hole according to the balance information of the magnetic card. .

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of the punch mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same mechanism.

In these figures, what is designated by reference numeral 1 is a card reciprocating passage formed by a passage plate 2, a pair of side plates 3 and 4 provided on both sides of this passage plate 2, and a flapper 100 shown by a chain line. , this passage 1
includes a magnetic head 6 for reading and erasing information written on the magnetic card 5 and for writing and confirming balance information at the end of a call; and a transport means for reciprocating the magnetic card 5 within the passageway 1. 7, a punch mechanism 8, etc. are provided.
The magnetic head 6 is located approximately at the center of the card reciprocating passageway 1, and the magnetic head 6 faces the head window 9, which is bored at a position closer to the side plate 3 than the center of the passageway plate 2, so that the magnetic head 6 faces the passageway plate. It is fixed on the back side of 2. The conveyance means 7 includes a pair of endless card feeding belts 10 and a card feeding auxiliary belt 11, and by bringing one straight portion of both belts 10, 11 into contact with each other, the conveyance means 7 can move between these straight portions. to hold the magnetic card 5 and move it back and forth. For this purpose, both belts 10 and 11 are arranged opposite to each other with the passage plate 2 in between, and contact the card feeding auxiliary belt 11 of the card feeding belt 10. The straight portion faces the card reciprocating passage 1 through a long hole 12 bored in the passage plate 2. Further, the magnetic card 5 is provided in the card reciprocating path 1.
A pressure roller 13 is provided for pressing the magnetic head 6 against the head surface of the magnetic head 6. In addition, 14,15
is a pulley on which the card feeding belt 10 and the card feeding auxiliary belt 11 are stretched;
It is supported on 0. Also, this Fratupa 100
is rotated upward in the figure at the end of a call, thereby opening the card reciprocating passage 1 and allowing a punch mechanism to be described later to enter the passage 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the magnetic card 5 is made of a flexible synthetic resin material and has a width of, for example, 5.4 mm.
It is formed into a rectangular plate shape with a length of 6 cm and a thickness of about 0.5 mm, and on the left side of the back side, a magnetic recording part 16 with a width of about 5 mm is formed in a strip shape in the length direction by applying a magnetic material. has been done. Fixed information for determining whether or not the magnetic card 5 is genuine and information on the amount paid in advance are written in the magnetic recording section 16. Further, a display section 17 is provided on the right end of the surface of the magnetic card 5, and displays the amount information on a logarithmic scale, for example.
Each time a card is used, a hole is punched in the magnetic card 7 by a punch mechanism 8, and by reading the position of the hole 18 on a scale, the remaining balance on the magnetic card 5 can be determined. In this case, the holes 18 are drilled from the one with the largest scale interval to the one with the narrowest scale interval, and the one scale with the narrowest scale interval displays the amount equivalent to one call, for example, 10 yen, and as the scale interval increases, As you can see, each scale indicates the amount for several to several dozen phone calls.

The punch mechanism 8 that punches holes in the magnetic card 5 includes a rotary lever 24 pivotally supported on the side of the reciprocating path 1, and a first lever driving means that provides a driving force to the rotary lever 24. When the lever is driven by the solenoid 35, the plunger 36, and the lever driving means, the lever moves together from outside the travel path to a position where it straddles at least a portion of the magnetic card in the travel path. a pair of punches 20 and dies 21 that are provided opposite to each other at one end of the lever, and a punch drive that applies impact force to the punch 20 in order to punch a hole in accordance with the balance information of the magnetic card. The second solenoid 39, which is a means, and the plunger 4
2 and a lever 38.

A die 21 is provided to protrude from the tip of a rotating lever 24 whose one end is rotatably supported on the outer surface of the side plate 4 via a bracket 22 and a shaft 23, and a small hole is formed on the surface of the die 21. 25 is formed.

A punch 20 is provided on the tip end side of the rotary lever 24 so as to face the die 21 as a pair. The punch 20 punches the small hole 25 of the die 21.
When the magnetic card 5 is engaged, a punch hole 18 is formed in the magnetic card 5.
It is movable up and down so that it can be opened. In order to accurately punch the punch hole 18 by regulating the displacement of the punch 20 in the left and right direction,
It is slidably inserted into and supported by holes 28 and 29 of a pair of upper and lower punch support plates 26 and 27 fixed to the tip of the rotation lever 24, respectively. Also,
The punch 20 is prevented from coming out upwardly from the hole 28 of the punch support plate 26 by the E-ring 30, and is always maintained by a spring 31 interposed between the E-ring 30 and the punch support plate 27. It has a return habit. The distance between the die 21 and the punch support plate 27 is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of the magnetic card 5, and when the die 21 is moved to a position where it straddles at least a part of the magnetic card 5 and a punch hole is punched,
It plays the role of holding the magnetic card 5 so that the magnetic card 5 does not play. The rotating lever 24
is always rotated clockwise in FIG. 2 by a spring (not shown), so that it is normally held at the position shown by the chain line, and when the call ends, the shaft 2
This rotation causes the punch 20 and die 21 to face the card reciprocating path 1.
For this purpose, notches 32 and 33 are formed in the side plate 4 and the passage plate 2 in correspondence with the punch 20 and die 21, respectively. The rotating lever 2
A first solenoid 35 fixed to the side plate 4 via a bracket 34 is disposed on the outside of the terminal 4, and when this solenoid 35 is energized by an electric signal sent at the end of a call, The plunger 36 of the solenoid 35 is sucked to the left, thereby pressing the rotating lever 24 to the left and rotating it counterclockwise, thereby moving the punch 20 and die 21 into the card reciprocating path 1. It is designed so that it can be used in a variety of ways.

Further, a bracket 37 is fixed to the side plate 4 adjacent to the bracket 34, and a lever 38 and a second solenoid 39 for operating the punch 20 are disposed on the bracket 37.

The lever 38 is formed in a substantially [shape], and its middle portion is pivotally supported on the upper part of the bracket 37 via a horizontal shaft 40 so as to be freely rotatable in the vertical direction, and a torsion coil is mounted on the shaft 40. Since the spring 41 always provides a clockwise rotational habit in FIG. The punch 20 always faces above the card reciprocating path 1 through the notch 32, and the punch 20 is positioned below the other end 38b as the pivot lever 24 rotates at the end of the call. . Therefore, when the second solenoid 39 is energized by the drilling signal and the plunger 42 is sucked upward, the lever 38 has its one end 38a pushed up by the plunger 42, so that the spring 41 is moved around the shaft 40. As a result, the other end 38b of the lever 38 hits the punch 20, and the magnetic card 5
A hole is made in the display section 17 of. In this case, the position of the hole punched in the display section 17 needs to match the scale position corresponding to the balance information written in the magnetic recording section 16 of the magnetic card 5 at the end of the call. Its rest position is set by the conveying means 7, which is driven and controlled according to the remaining amount information.

As the first and second solenoids 35 and 39 are demagnetized, the punch mechanism 8 completes the hole-drilling operation, and the rotary lever 24 and lever 38
The magnetic card 5 is rotated back to its original position by the force of the spring, and if there is still a usable amount remaining, the magnetic card 5 is returned to the user from the return slot, and if there is no remaining amount, it is returned to the card reader as it is. It is stored in the card storage box inside.

As explained above, according to the punching mechanism of the card reader according to the present invention, when punching a hole, the rotary lever is rotated by the lever driving means, and the rotary lever is rotated to face one end of the rotary lever. A pair of punches and dies are configured to move together from outside the running path to a position where they straddle at least a part of the magnetic card in the running path, and the punch facing the running path is By punching with the driving means, a punch hole is made in the magnetic card according to the remaining amount information on the magnetic card, so the gap between the punch support plate and the die is as small as possible, to the extent that it is slightly wider than the magnetic card. It can be set in the gap, and the punch hole can be punched accurately without bending or playing with the magnetic card. Also, when transporting a magnetic card to read balance information, the rotating lever rotates and retreats to a position where the punch and die do not face the travel path, so the magnetic card will not get caught and will prevent the card from jamming. This does not occur, the magnetic card runs stably, and there is no risk of errors in reading balance information.

Moreover, since the punch and die are integrated, the positioning of the punch and die can be accurately determined, the stroke of the punch can be shortened, and the passage can be viewed from the side of the travel passage. Therefore, the entire device can be downsized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of the punching mechanism of a card reader according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of a magnetic card. 1...Card round trip passage, 5...Magnetic card, 8
...Punch mechanism, 20...Punch, 21...Dice, 3
5...first solenoid, 39...second solenoid, 38...lever.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A rotatable lever pivotally supported on the side of the magnetic card travel path, a lever driving means for providing a driving force for rotating the lever, and the lever being driven by the lever driving means. a pair of punches and dies provided oppositely on one end side of the lever so as to move together from outside the travel path to a position straddling at least a portion of the magnetic card in the travel path; and a punch driving means for applying a striking force to the punch in order to punch a hole according to the balance information of the magnetic card.