JPH0519877Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a card reader that is incorporated into various devices such as pachinko card ball lending machines. double feed)
The present invention relates to a card reader equipped with a mechanism for detecting and returning the card when the card is stolen.

(Prior Art) In recent years, low-cost paper-based magnetic cards, paper-based barcode cards, etc. have come into widespread use in place of conventional plastic magnetic cards.

However, there are card readers that insert the paper-based magnetic card or barcode card into the aircraft through the insertion slot, read the information, and then return the card to the insertion slot after completing other processing. In some cases, when these cards are returned, there is a problem that the card may not be returned because it hits the insertion slot due to distortion of the corner of the card, so even if the card has some bends, especially at the corners, In order to ensure that cards could be returned, the insertion slots had to be formed at intervals slightly wider than the thickness of the card, and for this reason, in recent years, for example, instead of coins and banknotes, data such as the number of balls borrowed was recorded magnetically or in barcodes in advance. It has often been seen that a plurality of cards purchased in advance are inserted in a duplicate state into a card ball lending machine that lends out balls using the above-mentioned cards.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) As mentioned above, when cards are loaded in a duplicated state, the frictional resistance between the roller or belt and the card increases, the card feeding speed decreases, and an unnecessarily high load is applied to the drive motor. A further problem was that the card contact surface of the reader, such as a magnetic head, wore out quickly.

In order to solve these problems, the insertion slot is generally configured to have a gap that allows only one specified card to pass through to prevent multiple insertions of cards, but paper-based magnetic cards or When using a code card, etc., the above-mentioned troubles were observed, so it was not necessarily a good idea.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, detects when two or more duplicate cards are inserted, and promptly returns the duplicate inserted cards. An object of the present invention is to provide a card reader equipped with a double-feed prevention mechanism.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a card conveyance path formed by opposing two guide plates, upper and lower, with an interval slightly wider than the thickness of the card, and Drive and stop are performed by turning on and off a card insertion slot formed by opening one end of the side in the direction, a reader that reads the information on the card, and a card detection sensor installed at a predetermined position in the card transport direction. In conjunction with the drive motor, a conveyor belt is exposed from the lower guide plate surface to the conveyor path, and a guide feed roller is rotatably supported from the upper guide plate surface so as to come into contact with the conveyor belt across the conveyor path. a conveyance device that conveys cards in the forward and reverse directions, and a double insertion device that is displaced in conjunction with the card feed roller that is displaced against bias due to changes in card thickness that occur when cards are repeatedly inserted. This card is characterized in that the card is returned from the card insertion slot by a duplicate insertion prevention mechanism consisting of a detection arm and a sensor that detects the displacement of the arm.

(Function) Therefore, in the present invention, one end of the double insertion detection arm (hereinafter referred to as detection arm) provided along the conveyance direction is fixed to the rotating shaft of the card feed roller that conveys the inserted card, and The detection arm moves upward relative to the magnetic card surface in conjunction with the feed roller that displaces against the bias only when the cards are inserted and fed in a duplicate state, and the tip of the detection arm is moved to the sensor. By detecting the card, reversing the card conveying device, and returning the inserted duplicate card from the card insertion slot, the conventional troubles caused by taking in duplicate cards are completely eliminated.

(Example) Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this embodiment, and various examples of development can be devised. . We will also discuss magnetic cards as a medium that records information.

Now, FIG. 1 is a plan view of the card reader of the present invention, FIGS. 2A and 2B are operational perspective views of the double insertion prevention mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line X-X' in FIG. First of all, the configuration of the card reader of the present invention,
The normal operation when only one magnetic card C is inserted will be described.

A conveyance belt 8, which is a conveyance device, is provided via a drive motor 6 and a deceleration device 7 to convey the magnetic card C from the magnetic card insertion slot 4 of the conveyance path 1, feed rollers 8a and 8b, and the feed roller 8a. A detection arm 9 whose one end is fixed on an extension of the rotating shaft 16
and installed at a predetermined position along the conveyance direction,
Card detection sensors 51, 52, 53 for opening/closing the shutter, starting motor drive, and stopping motor drive
, a duplicate insertion detection sensor 54 that detects the other end of the detection arm 9 only when the inserted magnetic cards C are in a duplicate state, a magnetic reading head 2 for reading magnetic information on the magnetic cards C, and a magnetic card C.
It consists of a pressing roller 2a for bringing the magnetic card C into close contact with the magnetic reading head 2, and a printing mechanism 3 for visually displaying the remaining power on the magnetic card C.

In FIG. 3, two upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11 are opposed to each other at an interval slightly wider than the thickness of the magnetic card C to form a conveyance path 1 for the magnetic card C, and a magnetic card insertion slot 4 of the conveyance path 1 is formed. A shutter (not shown) is installed on the inner side to prevent inserts other than cards, such as coins, from being received, and the magnetic reading head 2 is exposed through the cutout hole 12 on the lower guide plate 11 surface in the conveyance path 1, and the upper guide Thermal head 3 attached to the tip of print head 30 of printing mechanism 3 on plate 10
1 is closed so that the thermal head 31 can press against the surface of the lower guide plate 11, and the thermal head press position on the surface of the lower guide plate 11 is projected to the same height as the exposed portion of the magnetic reading head 2. The printing mechanism 3 holds the print head 30 by connecting a coil spring 34 to the other end of an L-shaped solenoid lever 33 whose one end is interlocked with a solenoid 32 and moves up and down in the direction of the guide plates 10 and 11. It was held through

Now, when the magnetic card C is manually inserted into the magnetic card insertion slot 4, the light from the card detection sensor 51 is blocked, and the light is sent from the control section to the shutter opening/closing solenoid (not shown), and the solenoid is activated. The energized shutter is opened and the magnetic card C is inserted further inside.

Next, when the light from the card detection sensor 52 is blocked, the sensor 52 is turned on, the drive motor 6 rotates, and the magnetic card C is conveyed through the notch 11a on the lower guide plate 11 via the deceleration device 7. Both sides of the conveyor belt 8 facing the path 1 and the rotating shaft 16 are attached to a pair of supports 17, and the rear end of the support 17 is fixed to and supported by a fixed shaft 18 on the upper guide plate 10. A spring 1 is installed between the tool 17 and the fixed shaft 18.
9 is provided, and is held between the notch hole 10a by the spring force of the feed roller 8a which is pushed down so as to be exposed to the conveyance path 1 around the fixed shaft 18, and is magnetically moved by the pressure roller 2a while being conveyed. The magnetic card C is pressed against and in close contact with the reading head 2, and the required information on the magnetic card C is read.The magnetic card C is further conveyed while being held between a conveyor belt 8 and a feed roller 8b constructed similarly to the above-mentioned feed roller 8a. When the magnetic card C reaches the card detection sensor 53, the drive motor 6 stops.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2A, the detection arm 9, which is a mechanism for preventing duplicate insertion of the magnetic card C, is exposed to the conveyance path 1 through the notch groove 10b on the surface of the upper guide plate 10, and comes into contact with the surface of the magnetic card C. However, since the other end is provided as an extension of the rotating shaft 16 that rotatably supports the above-mentioned feed roller 8a, the spring 19 is pushed down so that the feed roller 8a is exposed to the conveyance path 1. Unless the feed roller 8a itself is displaced upward against this, the detection arm 9 will not be displaced upward either.

Next, as a result of reading the magnetic information by the magnetic reading head 2, if the magnetic card C is a valid card, the drive motor 6 is turned on again by a signal from the control device (not shown) to rotate in the reverse direction, and the card detection sensor 5
3 is turned OFF, the timer is turned ON, the drive motor 6 is turned OFF, the solenoid 32 is turned ON, the thermal head 31 comes into contact with the surface of the magnetic card, the thermal head 31 is turned ON, and the remaining number of lines is displayed and printing is started, and then the timer is turned OFF.
When this happens, the thermal head 31 is turned OFF, the solenoid 32 is turned OFF, and the thermal head 3
When 1 leaves the magnetic card surface, printing of the remaining number of credits is completed, the drive motor 6 is turned ON again and the process is finally completed, the drive motor 6 is turned ON again and finally the magnetic card C passes the card detection sensor 52, the drive motor 6 is turned OFF, and when the magnetic card C is manually pulled out, the shutter is closed by the card detection sensor 51.

The above explanation is for the case where only one magnetic card C is inserted.

Next, the operation of the duplicate insertion prevention mechanism when the magnetic cards C of the present invention are inserted in duplicate will be explained based on FIG. 2B.

When the magnetic cards C are inserted into the magnetic card insertion slot 4 by mistake or intentionally in duplicate, the card detection sensor 51 is first turned ON to activate the shutter and release the conveyance path 1.

Furthermore, when the magnetic card C is manually inserted, the card C blocks the light from the card detection sensor 52 that drives the drive motor 6, and sends this light to the drive motor 6 via the control section, so that the motor 6 It is energized and activated. At the same time, the magnetic card C is transferred to the conveyor belt 8.
It is held between the feed rollers 8a and sent to the right in FIG. At this time, the feed roller 8a moves upward against the bias of the spring 19 due to the variation in the thickness of the magnetic card C. Therefore, the detection arm 9 whose one end is fixed on the extension of the rotation shaft 16 is also displaced upwards, and as a result, the tip 9a of the detection arm 9 is detected by the double insertion detection sensor 54, thereby causing the A duplicate insertion detection signal is output from the sensor 54, and the duplicated magnetic cards C fed into the machine by the drive motor 6 driven in forward and reverse directions are returned from the magnetic card insertion slot 4 to eliminate duplicate cards.

That is, the spring force of the spring 19 that pushes down the feed roller 8a so as to expose it to the conveyance path 1 is greater than the force required to convey one magnetic card by sandwiching it between the conveyance belt 8 and the feed roller 8a, and It is set smaller than when transporting two or more overlapping magnetic cards C.

(Effects of the invention) The card reader equipped with the mechanism for preventing duplicate insertion of magnetic cards according to the invention is as described in detail above, and has an elongated rotating shaft of the feed roller that takes the inserted magnetic card into the machine. A detection arm with one end fixed is installed along the conveyance direction, and when two or more overlapping magnetic cards are inserted, the tip of the detection arm is displaced in conjunction with a feed roller that moves upward against bias. When a double insertion detection sensor detects a detection arm made of a larger size, the transfer device is reversed and the duplicated magnetic card is returned. The advantages of this invention include the instability of the magnetic reading function caused by a decrease in the feed speed of the conveying device, the failure of the drive motor due to an excessive load, and the wear and tear of the magnetic head. The reliability of the card reader is remarkable.

Furthermore, when using paper-based magnetic cards, which have become popular in recent years due to their low cost, the card has some curvature, and the card insertion slot and transport path are designed to accommodate the thickness of the card so that it can be returned smoothly. It is important to be able to prevent multiple insertions of magnetic cards without restricting the configuration by allowing more leeway.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the card reader of the present invention;
2A and 2B are perspective views showing the operation of the duplicate insertion prevention mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X' in FIG. 1. 1... conveying path, 2... magnetic reading head, 3...
. . . printing mechanism, 4: magnetic card insertion slot, 6: drive motor, 8: conveyor belt, 8a: feed roller, 9: duplicated insertion detection arm, 54: duplicated insertion detection sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A card conveyance path formed by two upper and lower guide plates facing each other at an interval slightly wider than the thickness of the card;
A card insertion slot formed by opening one end of the longitudinal side thereof, and a reading device for reading information on the card;
The conveyor belt exposed to the conveyance path from the lower guide plate surface and the conveyance path This problem occurs when a card is inserted twice and with a transport device that transports cards in the forward and reverse directions using a guide feed roller rotatably supported from the upper guide plate surface so as to come into contact with the transport belt across the card. A double insertion prevention mechanism consisting of a double insertion detection arm that is displaced in conjunction with the card feed roller that is displaced against bias due to changes in the thickness of the card, and a sensor that detects the displacement of the arm is used to prevent the card from being inserted. A card reader characterized in that the card is returned from the card insertion slot.