JPH064450Y2 - Magnetic card reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a magnetic card reader capable of reading track information and visually printing the remaining number of visible marks on a card at predetermined intervals. In particular, the present invention relates to a card positioning control means for visible printing.

(Prior Art) With a conventional magnetic card reader, the magnetic card is stopped at an accurate position to punch the remaining number, the recording / reproducing position on a magnetic track is accurately taken to prevent a write / read error, and As a device for the purpose of enabling accurate reading of information regardless of fluctuations in the card feed speed,
The following applications exist.

That is, in JP-A-60-258693, a magnetic reading head is provided in a passage through which a card travels, and a roller or the like for traveling the card is arranged on the opposite side, and an encoder is attached to a motor that rotationally drives the roller. When the controller sends a command to the motor, the motor rotates and the encoder also detects the amount of movement and informs the controller. This is because the controller corrects when the card position deviates from the predetermined position, so that the remaining number can be visually displayed by always punching to the correct position by the movement of the encoder.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53-58211 has an optical reading device for counting print marks, and counts print marks previously recorded on the card to position the card.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-110371 discloses that a separate head (a timing reading head for reading a stick-shaped print row) for printing a stick-shaped print row with magnetic ink is provided separately from a data reading head for reading information data. Above the magnetic stripe for recording information, a bar-shaped print train of magnetic ink for functioning as a timing pulse is arranged in parallel, and the synchronization between the data bit train and the timing pulse is fixed. To do.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-258693, positioning is performed on a card and punching is performed after the card is stopped. However, since an encoder is used, the encoder and the controller are used as a motor. By mounting it, the problem of increasing the size and cost of the device, and the problem of control complexity such as the encoder detecting the amount of movement of the motor and notifying the controller and finely adjusting the motor to correct the card position Have a

Further, in JP-A-53-58211, since the recording and reproducing position by the magnetic head is fixed on the card, the card is accurately stopped in order to obtain this accurate position.
An optical reading device for counting print marks is indispensable. Therefore, in a magnetic card reader that must be miniaturized as much as possible, on the contrary, the device becomes large and costly. There's a problem.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-110371, the synchronization between the data bit string and the timing pulse is fixed so that the bar-shaped printing string is printed with magnetic ink so that the data can be read and written at a predetermined accurate position. In addition, another head, that is, a timing read head for reading a bar-shaped print string needs to be provided separately from the data read head 10 for reading information data, and there is a problem that the apparatus becomes complicated, large in size, and high in cost.

The present invention does not use accessories such as an encoder for detecting a predetermined position of a card, an optical reader for print marks, a timing read head dedicated to reading a bar-shaped print row using magnetic ink, and the like, and sampling clock pulses on the card. However, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a magnetic card reader that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks by counting the number and positioning the card at a predetermined position.

(Means for Solving the Problem) Therefore, the present invention comprises a magnetic read head for reading track information from a magnetic track provided on a card, a motor for conveying the card in a reciprocating direction, and a computer for controlling these. In the magnetic card reader, means for setting the clock pulse corresponding to the card balance of the track information in the computer on the forward path of the card conveyance, and sampling of the clock pulse from the track information on the backward path of the conveyance to coincide with the set clock pulse. At the same time, the magnetic card reader comprises means for positioning the card by stopping the motor, and means for visually printing the remaining card number at a position corresponding to the card balance.

(Operation) Therefore, in the present invention, the track information is read from the magnetic track by the magnetic read head in the forward path, that is, in the forward rotation of the drive motor, and if the card is usable, it should have different positions according to the card balance. The computer sets the visible print position and reverses the drive motor.

The clock pulse read by the magnetic read head and sampled is transmitted to the computer, and when the same pulse as the clock pulse of the set value is counted during the return path, that is, the reverse rotation of the drive motor, the drive motor is stopped and The thermal visible print mechanism will print the balance of the card visually.

The visible print position of the card balance shifts due to the difference in the contents of the card balance, and the number of print marks increases as the card balance decreases.

(Embodiment) Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this embodiment, and various development examples are devised.

Now, FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.
The drawing is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. Further, FIG. 3 is a side view of the visible printing mechanism showing a state before visible printing when the drive motor 6 is removed, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state during the printing.

In this embodiment, a drive motor 6 for conveying a magnetic card from a magnetic card insertion slot 4 of a guide groove 1 and a conveying mechanism (a drive unit is not shown) are attached at predetermined positions along the conveying direction, and a shutter is provided. Card detection sensors 51, 52, 53 for opening / closing, motor drive development, and motor stop, and a magnetic read head 2 for reading track information of a magnetic card,
And a visible printing mechanism 3 for visible printing on a magnetic card.

In FIG. 2, the upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11 are opposed to each other at intervals slightly wider than the thickness of the magnetic card to form a guide groove 1 for the magnetic card.
A shutter (not shown) is attached to the inside to prevent insertion of an object other than a card, and the lower guide plate surface 1 is inserted in the guide groove 1.
The magnetic read head 2 is exposed from the notch hole 12 of the first print head 30 of the visible print mechanism 3 on the upper guide plate 10 surface.
The passage port 13 of the thermal head 31 attached to the tip end is opened so that the thermal head 31 can push the surface of the lower guide plate 11, and the magnetic head pushing position on the surface of the lower guide plate 11 is exposed to the magnetic reading head 2. The visible print mechanism 3 projects the print head 30 up to the same height as that of the portion to form the projecting portion 14, and one end of the print head 30 is interlocked with the solenoid 32 to move up and down in the directions of the guide plates 10 and 11. It is held at the other end of 33 via a coil spring 34.

Now, when a magnetic card is manually inserted from the magnetic card insertion slot 4, the card detection sensor 51 is turned on, the shutter is released, and the magnetic card is inserted further into the back. When the card detection sensor 52 is turned on, the drive motor 6 is rotated and the magnetic card is carried by the carrying mechanism while the track information is read from the magnetic read head 2.

When the magnetic card reaches the card detection sensor 53, the drive motor 6 stops.

As a result of reading the track information by the magnetic read head 2, if the magnetic card is a usable card, according to the visible print position detection flowchart of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 and the block diagram showing the visible print processing of FIG. The computer sets the visible printing position (moving distance of the magnetic card) so that the remaining frequency is printed visually at a predetermined position of the magnetic card which is set arbitrarily.

Next, the drive motor 6 turns on and rotates in the reverse direction, and when the magnetic card is conveyed again, the card detection sensor 53 turns off, the count of the number of clock pulses when the track information of the magnetic card is read is cleared, and the magnetic reading is performed again. The head 2 samples the clock pulse, transmits the read clock pulse number to the computer, counts the clock pulse number at the visible print position set by the computer, and when the two match, stops the drive motor 6 and outputs the visible print command signal. As a result, the solenoid 32, which is the visible printing mechanism 3, is turned on, the thermal head 31 comes into contact with the magnetic card surface, the thermal head 31 is turned on to start printing the mark line, and then the thermal head 31 is turned off. The solenoid 32 is turned off and the thermal head 31 is magnetized. Disengaged from the over-de-surface completion of printing,
The drive motor 6 is turned on again, and finally the magnetic card passes the card detection sensor 52, and the drive motor 6 is turned off.
When the magnetic card is manually pulled out, the card detection sensor 51 closes the shutter.

In such a series of operations, in the present embodiment, the thermal head pressing position on the surface of the lower guide plate 11 is projected to the same height as the exposed portion of the magnetic read head 2, and the protruding portion 14 is formed.
Thus, the thermal head 31 comes into contact with the surface of the magnetic card with less force, and the magnetic card is unavoidably kept in a flat state, so that printing can be performed without shifting from a predetermined position.

At the same time, since the print head 30 is held at the other end of the L-shaped solenoid bar 33 that moves up and down in the directions of the guide plates 10 and 11 in conjunction with the solenoid 32 via the coil spring 34, the solenoid lever 34 moves. When actuated, the print head 30 lightly presses the magnetic card by the first action to adjust the conveyance posture (oblique insertion, etc.) of the magnetic card, distortion, and deformation due to bending, and is urged by the coil spring 34 in the next second action. It is said that the print head 30 completely fixes the magnetic card so that good quality printing can be performed uniformly. The two-action pressing action is also occurring. Of course, no printing loss occurs.

Here, the configuration of the clock pulse sampling will be described based on the block circuit diagram of FIG. 7. The signal read from the track by the magnetic read head 2 is amplified by the amplifier 70 and is waveformd by the parallel shaper circuit 71. The data is formed, demodulated by the demodulation circuit 72, the read data is sampled, and the number of clock pulses is transmitted to the computer.

As described above, in this embodiment, the residual number of the magnetic card is visually printed by thermal printing.
Besides, various embodiments can be devised, and the present invention is not particularly limited to this embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in order to solve the above problems in the present invention, by counting the number of clock pulse signals used as timing information for write control, the magnetic field when visually printing the remaining number of magnetic cards Card positioning control can be performed with an extremely simple structure.

By adopting such means, the conventional encoder for detecting the predetermined position of the card, the optical reading device of the print mark, the accessory such as the timing reading head dedicated to the reading of the rod-shaped print row by the magnetic ink, etc. are unnecessary. , It was possible to provide a compact and low-priced magnetic card reader with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a visible printing mechanism showing a state before visible printing, FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state at the time of printing, and FIG. 5 is a visible printing. Position detection flowchart, FIG. 6 is a visible print processing block diagram, FIG. 7 is a clock pulse sampling block circuit diagram, and FIG.
The figure is a front view showing an example of a card on which the remaining count is visually printed. 1 ... Guide groove, 10 ... Upper guide plate, 11 ... Lower guide plate, 12 ... Notch hole, 13 ... Passage port, 14 ... Projection part, 2 ... Magnetic reading head, 3 ... Visible printing Mechanism, 4
...... Magnetic card insertion slot, 51 ...... Card detection sensor, 5
2 ... Card detection sensor, 53 ... Card detection sensor,
6 ... Drive motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A magnetic card reader comprising a magnetic reading head for reading track information from a magnetic track provided on a card, a motor for conveying the card in a reciprocating direction, and a computer for controlling these, in a magnetic card reader. A means for setting the number of clock pulses of the track information corresponding to the remaining number of the track information in the computer in the transport forward path,
A clock pulse is sampled and counted from the track information on the return path of conveyance, and when the count value matches the set number of clock pulses, a means for stopping the motor to position the card and a portion corresponding to the card balance are provided. A magnetic card reader characterized by comprising means for visually printing the remaining number of cards.