JPH0574879B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a technology for preventing counterfeiting of magnetic cards, and more particularly to a magnetic recording card that uses both magnetic data recording and non-magnetic data recording, and a data recording method thereof.

[Technical background]

In recent years, so-called magnetic cards that record data magnetically have been on the market. There are two types of magnetic cards: those that identify the user using a PIN number, such as cash cards, and those that do not identify the user, such as telephone cards, which have recently become popular. There are different types.

Here, since the former has a PIN number, even if the card is forged, it cannot be used as is, but the latter does not use a PIN, so there is a high possibility that counterfeit cards due to duplication will become available.

Therefore, various anti-counterfeiting measures have been taken in the past. The first method is to use a password, but this method is not effective unless the user is identified. In order to identify the user, the magnetic record can be developed with iron powder or the like and visually identified, so it is possible to decipher the password. The second method involves embedding a special element other than magnetic data in a card so that it is not visible, and determining authenticity by detecting the presence or absence of this special element. be. Part 3 is visible records, such as special patterns made of fine lines.
There are methods of printing special characters and providing holograms, etc., but while these are effective for humans, it is difficult for machines to identify them. The fourth method is to use a certain algorithm when writing data, but this method is also useless for duplication. Method 5 is a method in which the magnetic recording layer is made up of multiple magnetic layers with different properties so that it cannot be read without using special equipment. tear.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording card that cannot be easily counterfeited and a data recording method thereof.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an invisible light identification recording section on the card surface separately from the magnetic recording section, the magnetic recording section has a variable data recording section and a security data recording section, and the security data recording section has a variable data recording section and a security data recording section. The security data recording section includes a magnetic recording card on which security data created using the data recorded in the invisible light identification recording section and variable data is recorded, and a magnetic recording section on the card recording surface. In a data recording method for a magnetic recording card having a non-magnetic recording section, variable data is recorded in the magnetic recording section, data that can be identified with invisible light is recorded in the non-magnetic recording section, and the variable data and the The present invention provides a data recording method for a magnetic card, in which security data is formed from data that can be identified with invisible light according to a predetermined algorithm, and the security data is recorded in the magnetic recording section.

[Effect]

The data in the invisible light identification recording section is read by a reader/writer, the variable data in the magnetic recording section is read by the reader/writer, and new variable data to be written is created from information based on signals from the outside. Next, the security data and the variable data to be newly written are written into the magnetic recording section, as well as the variable data to be newly written and the data in the invisible light identification recording section. When the card is used, the variable data and the data in the invisible light identification recording section are read, and security data is created according to an algorithm, and the security data in the magnetic recording section is verified.

〔Example〕

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

Figures 1A and 1B show the shape of a magnetic card according to the present invention, with Figure 1A showing the front side and Figure 1B showing the back side. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a magnetic card, and a magnetic recording section 2 is provided along the longitudinal direction at the upper center of the front side, and a timing mark 3 and card-specific data are provided along the longitudinal direction at the lower center of the back side. An invisible light identification recording section consisting of marks 4 is provided. In FIG. 1, the invisible light identification recording section and the magnetic recording section 2 are placed on opposite sides of the card, but they may be on the same side.

The magnetic recording section 2 is a magnetic stripe in a general magnetic card, and records variable data such as an amount of money and security data to be described later. The invisible light identification recording section consists of two types of marks, namely, a timing mark 3 and a card-specific data mark 4, and these data are recorded by printing using invisible light absorbing ink.

Figure 2 shows the spectral characteristics of invisible light absorbing ink, and 5 shows the invisible light region, that is, the wavelength.
Ink that absorbs in the infrared region of 700μm or more,
For example, this is an ink prepared by mixing IR-750, 770, 840, etc. manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. in a vehicle, and this ink 5 is used to create the timing mark 3 and card-specific data mark 4 in Figure 1B. Print and record at a predetermined position on the card surface. This exemplified ink 5 has some light absorption even in the visible region, so
Since the marks are visible, cover printing is performed on the marks 3 and 4 using visible light absorbing ink 6 to hide them. This visible light absorbing ink 6 needs to have low absorbency in the infrared region. This is because in the infrared region, the marks 3 and 4 cannot be read unless there is a clearly distinguishable difference in characteristics between the inks 5 and 6.

FIG. 3 shows how to print the timing mark 3 and card-specific data mark 4 shown in FIG. Ink 6 with low absorption (high reflectance) in the invisible light region is printed on it to hide the mark. Printing for concealment can be done by printing on the entire surface, but if an arbitrary irregular pattern is printed, the effect of concealing the mark is even more remarkable.

As a result, the card-specific data mark 4 and the timing mark 3 made of the invisible light-absorbing ink 5 are not visible, and therefore the presence of these marks is not clearly recognized. The marks can then be read by irradiating infrared light onto the mark recording surface of the magnetic card using a light projector and detecting the infrared light from the card surface using a receiver.

FIG. 4 shows the spectral characteristics of the light projector and light receiver, where A is that of the light receiver and a to c are those of the light projector. The characteristics of the receiver are approximately 800μ
The projector has a peak of 700μm,
Three types with peaks at 900 μm and 1000 μm are shown, but in reality, the one with peaks at 900 μm is considered to be the best. Further, the effect will be further improved if an infrared transmitting visible light cut filter is used for each of the emitter and receiver.

5A and 5B conceptually show the flow of data regarding writing data to the magnetic recording section 2 of the magnetic card 1 and reading data from the magnetic card 1. FIG.

To give one example, when writing to a magnetic card, as shown in FIG.
The card-specific data read from 4 and the variable data to be newly recorded in the magnetic recording section are converted into security data according to a predetermined algorithm, and then written into the security data recording section of the magnetic recording section 2. The variable data is written as is into the magnetic recording section 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, data is read from the magnetic card. Among the data read from the magnetic recording section, the variable data is secured along with the card-specific data read from the mark recording section according to a predetermined algorithm. The data is converted into security data and compared with the security data read from the magnetic card. This determines whether the read magnetic card passes or fails.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a magnetic card reader/writer for writing data to and reading data from the magnetic cards shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a magnetic read/write section that writes data to and reads data from the magnetic recording section 2 of the magnetic card 1, and includes a magnetic write head 11 and a magnetic read head 1.
2, a magnetic data writing circuit 13, and a magnetic data reading circuit 14. Further, 20 is a unique data reading section, which includes a light emitter 21, a light receiver 22, and a unique data reading circuit 23. Furthermore, 30 is constituted by, for example, a microprocessor, etc.
The MPU unit 40 is an external device.

When writing to a magnetic card in this magnetic card reader/writer, first the unique data of the card is read by the unique data reading section 20. Furthermore, the variable data is read from the magnetic recording section 2 by the magnetic reading head 12 of the magnetic read/write section 10, and the MPU section 30 obtains a signal from an external device such as a telephone, creates new variable data to be written, and first writes the variable data. The MPU uses the read card specific data and the variable data.
The section 30 creates security data. Then, the variable data and security data to be newly written are written into the magnetic recording section 2 of the card by the magnetic write head 11.

A magnetic card with data written in this way,
For example, to make a phone call, you can use a magnetic card reader.
When the card is placed in a writer, the card is sent in the scanning direction by a scanning mechanism (not shown), and both variable data and security data are read by the magnetic read head 12 of the magnetic read/write unit 10 and sent to the MPU via the magnetic data read circuit 14. Section 30.
On the other hand, in the unique data reading device section 20, the light projector 21
The surface of the magnetic card is irradiated with light, and the reflected light is detected by the light receiver 22 and provided to the MPU section 30 via the unique data reading circuit 23.

The MPU unit 30 converts the variable data and unique data read from the magnetic card into security data according to a predetermined algorithm, and also provides the security data read from the magnetic card to the MPU unit 30. It will be done. MPU
The section 30 compares the security data obtained by the conversion with the read security data, and outputs a pass or fail depending on whether the two match.

If it passes, in the case of a telephone, a signal indicating permission to use the telephone is output, a signal corresponding to the amount of telephone usage is obtained, and new variable data obtained by subtracting from the original variable data is stored in the magnetic recording section of the magnetic card 1. Write in 2. Writing is as described above. If the test fails, a signal indicating that the telephone cannot be used is output.

[Modified example]

In the above embodiment, a reflective type is used to record card-specific data on a magnetic card, but this may be replaced with a transmissive type. In this case, the light projector 21 and light receiver 22 of the unique data reading section 20 must be placed on opposite sides of the card.

In addition, as materials for providing card-specific data,
Instead of the infrared absorbing material, a substance (ink) that absorbs in the ultraviolet region may be used, or a substance that emits fluorescence may be used. Furthermore, if the ink is completely invisible, printing with the covering ink may be omitted. Further, in the above embodiment, the card-specific data is provided by a timing mark and a corresponding mark, but this may also be a bar code or OCR, and the same effect can be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention provides an invisible light identification recording section on the magnetic card surface where variable data is recorded in the magnetic recording section, and records unique data on the card in this recording section. cards can be provided.

That is, although counterfeiting is most easily achieved by copying, card-specific data marks cannot be visually identified, and it is difficult to find out where and how they were entered. Even if the position and bit structure of a card's unique data mark were to be deciphered using various sensors, it would be extremely difficult to find out the ink used for that mark and to mark it under the same conditions as the original card. be.

As a result, it is most effective against counterfeiting not only ordinary credit cards and bank cards, but also a type of cash voucher card, such as a receipt card, which does not have a password and the user cannot be identified. In particular, in the present invention, in addition to the data in the invisible light identification recording section, two types of data are stored in the magnetic recording section: variable data and security data created from the variable data and the data in the invisible light identification recording section. In order to record
A magnetic recording card with excellent security can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1A and 1B are front and back views showing the shape of the magnetic card according to the present invention, FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the invisible light discrimination recording section of the same card, Figure 4 is a spectral characteristic diagram of the sensor used to read the invisible light discrimination recording section of the same card, and Figures 5A and B are the same cards. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a magnetic card reader/writer for performing the operations shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. . 1... Magnetic card, 2... Magnetic recording section, 3...
Timing mark, 4...Card specific data mark, 5...Invisible light absorbing ink, 6...Visible light transmitting (reflecting) ink, 11...Magnetic writing head, 12...Magnetic reading head, 21... floodlight,
22... Light receiver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A card surface has an invisible light identification recording section separate from a magnetic recording section, the magnetic recording section has a variable data recording section and a security data recording section, and the security data A magnetic recording card in which security data created using the data recorded in the invisible light identification recording part and variable data is recorded in the recording part. 2. A data recording method for a magnetic recording card having a magnetic recording section and a non-magnetic recording section on the card recording surface, wherein variable data is recorded in the magnetic recording section, and data that can be identified by invisible light is recorded in the non-magnetic recording section. , forming security data from the variable data and the data according to a predetermined algorithm, and recording the security data in the magnetic recording section.