JPH0576081B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording method for a magnetic card, and in particular to a method that can record a large amount of information in a small area. The present invention relates to a method for recording information on a magnetic card.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, magnetic cards (thin carriers made of plastic or paper with a magnetic stripe pasted on the surface)
For example, credit cards that allow you to purchase products or receive services within a predetermined credit balance instead of cash, and credit cards that allow you to use cash deposited at a bank to use your credit card. It is used for cash cards that can be withdrawn by A telephone usage card that allows you to call at a public phone within the amount you have paid in advance, a ticket issuing card that allows you to issue a ticket for a fare that is within the amount that you have paid in advance, or a ticket issuing card that allows you to issue a ticket for a fare that is within the amount that you have paid in advance. 2. Description of the Related Art Prepaid cards, such as coupon cards that can be used to ride trains or buses, are widely used. Also, depending on the purpose of use, specific signals or codes may be recorded, and when the recorded content matches the preset recorded content, it may be used as an entry permit card that opens a door or gate, or as a price tag on a product. It has also been widely applied to POS cards that can be installed in advance and record which products were sold and when each time they were sold. Although their purpose of use is different, the essential act is the same: attaching or coating a magnetic stripe to a card-shaped carrier and magnetically storing information on the magnetic stripe. .

Figure 1 shows the appearance of a conventional magnetic card 1, which is made of a carrier such as cardboard or plastic, and has a magnetic stripe 2 coated on its surface parallel to its length. There is. When recording information using this magnetic card 1, the magnetic card 1 is conveyed at a constant speed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 using a belt or the like. Then, the magnetic head is fixed, the fixed magnetic head is brought into contact with the surface of the magnetic stripe 2, and information is recorded as magnetic changes on the magnetic stripe 2 according to a conventionally well-known theory. The magnetic stripe 2 shown in FIG. 2 schematically shows the state in which the magnetization recording has been completed, and a magnetization pattern is formed in the magnetic stripe 2 as a parallel recording section 3 in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. The information can be read only along the direction of arrow A.

However, when information is stored on a magnetic card using the conventional storage method, the magnetic head is fixed in the direction in which the magnetic card is moved and the information is recorded magnetically. For magnetic cards, for example, according to the JIS standard, only a maximum of 72 characters can be recorded, and the amount of information that can be recorded is extremely limited.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In this way, in the conventional method of recording information on magnetic cards, the magnetic head is fixed in the direction in which the card is transported, and information is recorded along the direction in which the magnetic card is transported, so there is a natural limit to its recording capacity. There was something there.

Because of these shortcomings, in recent years there have been new devices that can record a large amount of information on thin card-shaped carriers, called IC cards that have a built-in high-density integrated circuit, and optical cards that can record large amounts of information using laser light. A so-called laser card has also been developed. However, IC cards have the disadvantage that they are expensive, and the contacts for inputting and outputting data must be precisely machined, making them expensive. Additionally, it was extremely susceptible to static electricity. Next, laser cards can store an extremely large amount of data, and the laser cards themselves are relatively inexpensive. However, laser card writing/reading devices for writing information on and reading information from laser cards require extremely high accuracy and have the drawback of being extremely expensive.

[Means for solving problems]

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention provides a magnetic card in which a magnetic recording band is provided on a part of a thin flat carrier, in which first information is recorded on a plurality of tracks inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the magnetic recording band. , a magnetic recording device characterized by recording second information in the same direction as the traveling direction of the magnetic recording band in the slightly triangular remaining portion where the first information could not be recorded at the leading or trailing edge of the magnetic recording band. This provides a method for recording information on a card.

[Effect]

In the present invention, a magnetic card is formed by coating a magnetic stripe on the surface of a carrier, and information can be sequentially written on the magnetic stripe in tracks diagonal to the direction in which the card travels. The amount of information that can be stored in the card can be extremely increased, and the manufacturing cost of the card itself can also be reduced. When recording the first information on this magnetic stripe diagonally with respect to its traveling direction, there is a slightly triangular portion at the tip or rear end of the magnetic stripe where the first information cannot be written. However, second information can be written in the remainder of this triangular shape in parallel to the direction in which the magnetic card travels. This second information can be used for the reading start time for the card, the heading of the second information, etc., and is extremely effective in actual use of the magnetic card.

〔Example〕

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

First, FIG. 3 shows the direction in which information is recorded on a magnetic card according to the present invention. As described above, this magnetic card has the same structure as the conventional magnetic card shown in FIG. 1, and a magnetic stripe 2 in which a magnetic recording medium is applied in the form of a strip is attached to the surface of the magnetic card 1. This magnetic card 1 is conveyed in the direction indicated by A in FIG.
The first information is sequentially recorded on this magnetic stripe 2 in a large number of tracks in the direction of arrow B in the figure by a rotating head that is inclined with respect to its length direction, thereby forming a helical recording section 5. .
In this helical recording section 5, a large number of tracks are recorded so as to approach one after another and become parallel to the B direction, and one track is sequentially recorded from one side of the magnetic stripe 2 to the other side. It is. In this way, magnetic stripe 2 is placed in direction B.
A large amount of information is recorded diagonally with respect to the length direction to form a helical recording section 5, and the front and rear ends of the magnetic stripe 2 in the traveling direction are each slightly triangular in shape. A residual portion remains where a track according to No. 5 cannot be formed.
In other words, the rotating head rotates in direction B to rotate the magnetic stripe 2.
When recording is performed by contacting the magnetic stripe 2, one track is formed at the leading and trailing ends of the magnetic stripe 2, considering the recorded portion from one side of the magnetic stripe 2 to the other side as one track. This is because the length cannot be made as long as possible, resulting in a slightly triangular shaped portion that cannot be recorded.
However, this triangular magnetic stripe 2
In the remaining recorded portion, the transport direction A of the magnetic card 1 is recorded.
The fixed magnetic head is parallel to arrow C in the figure.
Parallel recording portion 6 is formed by recording second information in the direction. This parallel recording section 6 has a magnetic card 1.
Information is written and read using a magnetic head fixed in the direction of traffic A, and the contents of the second information recorded here will be explained in detail later. It goes without saying that the recording portion of the helical recording section 5 and the recording section of the parallel recording section 6 are installed at a distance that prevents them from interfering with each other.

Next, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the tip of the magnetic stripe 2 to schematically show the recorded content of the second information in the parallel recording section 6. Here, the parallel recording section 6 includes, for example, A password known only to the user of the magnetic card 1, the data name of the information recorded in the helical recording section 5, the data number, etc. are digitally recorded.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the external appearance of a magnetic card writer/reader for embodying this new information recording method. This magnetic card writer/reader 10 has a slightly rectangular outer shape, and a slit-shaped insertion opening 11 that opens vertically is opened at a position biased to one side of the front panel. A slit-shaped discharge port 12 opening upward and downward is opened at a position biased to the other side. The magnetic card 1 is inserted through an insertion slot 11, and is ejected from an ejection slot 12 after writing or reading information is completed.

FIG. 6 shows the internal structure of the magnetic card writer/reader 10 described above. Inside the magnetic card writer/reader 10, a pair of rollers 13 and 14 are pivotally supported close to the aforementioned insertion slot. A helical recording mechanism 15 is installed at the back of the magnetic card reader/writer 10. This helical recording mechanism 15 has almost the same structure as that commonly used in video tapes and the like, as is well known in the art, and has a cylindrical outer periphery. The lower part is a fixed cylinder 16 whose cylindrical axis is inclined at an angle θ with respect to the vertical direction.
An inclined card guide 17 is formed as a stepped portion on the lower outer periphery of the fixed cylinder 16. A fixed head 18 is attached to the side surface of the fixed cylinder 16 at a position where the tangent lines from the feed rollers 13 and 14 touch. Further, a cylindrical rotary cylinder 19 is mounted on the upper part of the fixed cylinder 16 so as to be able to rotate at high speed with both axes being the same. The rotary heads 20 are mounted at equal intervals from the bottom of the rotary cylinder 19 to four locations around it. In addition, rollers 22 and 2 are provided at the back of the magnetic card reader/writer 10 and on the side opposite to the helical recording mechanism 15.
3 are in contact and pivoted, and the surgical outlet 1
A pair of rollers 24 and 25 are pivotally supported in contact with each other at a position close to the roller 2.

Next, the operation of recording the first and second information on the magnetic card 1 will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, the magnetic card 1 on which information is to be recorded.
is inserted into the insertion port 11 from direction D in the state shown in FIG. 5 or 6. Then, the magnetic card 1 is held between the rollers 13 and 14 as shown by A in FIG. 7, and drawn into the magnetic card writer/reader 10. The magnetic card 1 conveyed by the rollers 13 and 14 is further conveyed in the direction of the helical recording mechanism 15, and moves while contacting the upper surface of the card guide 17. Here, since a fixed head 18 is attached to the outer periphery of the fixed cylinder 16, this fixed head 18 first contacts the magnetic stripe 2 of the magnetic card 1, and records the second information at a position corresponding to the parallel recording section 6. Recording can be performed along the transport direction of the magnetic card 1. The starting position of recording by this fixed head 18 is as shown in FIG. Further, the magnetic card 1 is transferred, and as it advances with the lower surface of the magnetic card 1 in contact with the upper surface of the card guide 17, the magnetic card 1 is bent and brought into contact along the curved surfaces of the fixed cylinder 16 and the rotating cylinder 19. . Only when the magnetic card 1 is wound around the rotating cylinder 19 in a bent state to a length of one quarter of the circumference, the rotating head 20 can come into contact with the entire width of the magnetic recording band. When the magnetic stripe 2 comes into contact with one-fourth of the outer circumference of the rotating cylinder 19 as shown in C in FIG. One rotary head 20 can write one track of records from the time it starts making contact with the magnetic stripe 2 from one side to the other until it finishes making contact. When the magnetic card 1 moves, the rotating cylinder 19 rotates at high speed, and each rotating head 20 contacts one track between one side of the magnetic stripe 2 and the other side, and each track is The first information can be written in a state where they do not overlap. The magnetic card 1 is still being transported, and just before the rear end of the magnetic card 1 passes the position where the fixed head 18 is provided, the helical recording section 5 finishes recording the second information in the diagonal direction on the magnetic stripe 2. do. The transferred magnetic card 1 is then transferred to the roller 2.
It is held between 2 and 23 and is moved with the direction of transport reversed to the right angle direction. (See Figure 7 D)
Then, the magnetic card 1 that has been reversed by the rollers 22 and 23 is held between the rollers 24 and 25, and is held at the ejection port 1.
2 and is discharged in the E direction shown by E in FIG.

When the magnetic card 1 moves in the magnetic card writer/reader 10 in this way, the parallel recording section 6 and the helical recording section 5 are moved by the fixed head 18 and four rotating heads 20 provided in the helical recording mechanism 15.
The first information and the second information are respectively written in the . In order to read the information recorded in this way, the magnetic card 1 is inserted through the insertion slot 11 in the same manner as described above, and the fixed head 18 is read.
reads the first position of the data and records it in the helical recording section 5 which has already been written by the rotary head 20.
It is possible to read the information contained in the

Incidentally, FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the recording method in the helical recording section 5.

That is, 4 attached to the rotating cylinder 19
Among the two rotary heads 20, the inclination angles of the gaps of the adjacent rotary heads 20 are changed so that the magnetic recording directions of the adjacent tracks X and Y, which are recorded sequentially, do not interfere with each other. It is also possible to record by so-called azimuthal recording. According to this azimuth recording, the proximity of adjacent tracks X and Y can be made extremely high, and the degree of integration of tracks in the magnetic stripe 2 can be increased, so that the recording capacity of the second information can be increased. It is something.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the storage capacity can be dramatically increased while using a magnetic card having the same configuration as the conventional one. Therefore, while using an inexpensive magnetic card, it is possible to record information with a storage capacity comparable to that of an IC card or laser card, and the mechanism for writing and reading that information is the same as the IC card or laser card's writing/reading device. Compared to this, the structure can be made extremely simple and inexpensive. Furthermore, the slightly triangular remaining portion of the leading or trailing edge of the magnetic stripe, which cannot be recorded with the helical recording section that records at an angle to the direction of travel of the magnetic card, is parallel to the direction of travel of the magnetic card. Since it is possible to record other information different from the information recorded in the helical recording section, it can be used for card selection and headings such as indexes, and the start of reading can be triggered by the magnetic reading signal. It is extremely effective because it can be carried out by

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the surface of a conventionally used magnetic card, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of writing information on a conventional magnetic card, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a method of recording information on a magnetic card according to the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing an example, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged recording method at the head part of the magnetic stripe in FIG. 3, and FIG. A perspective view showing the appearance of the machine,
Figure 6 is a skeleton diagram showing the internal configuration of the same as above;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the order of writing and reading information, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1...magnetic card, 2...magnetic stripe, 5...
...Helical recording section, 6...Parallel recording section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a magnetic card in which a magnetic recording band is provided on a part of a thin flat carrier, the first information is recorded on a plurality of tracks that are inclined to the traveling direction of the magnetic recording band, and the A method for recording information on a magnetic card, comprising recording second information in the same direction as the traveling direction of the magnetic recording band in the slightly triangular remaining portion where the first information could not be recorded at the end.