JPH0684337A - Card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prolong the life of a card reader and to improve reliability by preventing the abrasion of a card with a card insertion port caused by the insertion of the card. CONSTITUTION:Guide members 22, 22,... formed of a material having high abrasion resistance are provided at a part where the card 3 slides and rubs on the card insertion port 21. Thus, the card 3 does not directly slide and rub on the insertion port 21 in the case of inserting the card, so that the abrasion is surely prevented from being caused. Then, abrasion powder is prevented from adhering to a magnetic head 8 and the card 3, and read errors by the magnetic head 8 are reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader for reading information from a card in which information is stored by magnetic processing with a magnetic head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a card reader reads information from a card in which information is stored by magnetic processing. The card reader is divided into an automatic type and a manual type by a card inserting means, and further, it is inserted depending on a card inserting direction. There are two types: slide type and slide type.

A conventional card reader will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. FIG.

4 to 6 relate to an insertion type card reader according to the prior art, 1 is a manually inserting type card reader, 2 is
Shows a case constituting the card reader 1, and the case 2 is provided with a card insertion slot 4 into which a card 3 described later is inserted.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a card formed of a material such as crosslinked vinyl chloride or ethylene polyterephthalate (PET). The card 3 has magnetic information lines formed at predetermined positions in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 3A is subjected to unique magnetic processing, and unique information is stored in the magnetic information line 3A depending on the magnetic pole direction.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a card insertion port, which is formed of a resin material in the shape of a rectangular tube having a stepped portion, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the inner side surface of which is tapered toward the outside. .. are formed, and guide portions 4B, 4B ,. The card insertion port 4 is made of a resin material having a smooth surface so that the card 3 can be easily inserted.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a card accommodating portion provided in the case 1. The card accommodating portion 5 is located at the back side of the card insertion slot 4 and acts as a stopper when the card 3 is inserted into the case 2. To do.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a circuit board provided below the card accommodating portion 5, on which a reading control circuit 7 is composed of electronic circuit parts and the like.

[0009] 8 is located in the case 1, the card insertion port 4
Shows a magnetic head provided adjacent to the magnetic head 8. The magnetic head 8 is constituted by, for example, a coil type magnetic head, and when the card 3 is inserted from the card insertion slot 4, the magnetic pole of the magnetic information line 3A of the card 3 is shown. Information is read sequentially from the direction.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a roller, which is provided on the upper side so as to hold the card 3 between it and the magnetic head 8, and the rotation shaft 9A of the roller 9 is urged downward by a spring 9B. Thus, the distance between the card 3 and the magnetic head 8 is kept constant, and the reading error of the magnetic head 8 is reduced.

In the card reader 1 of the manual insertion type according to the prior art configured as described above, the card 3 is inserted into the card insertion port 4 in the direction of the arrow A so that the magnetic information line 3A is on the lower side. The tapered portions 4A and the guide portions 4B of the opening 4 are slidably contacted with each other and manually inserted into the card accommodation portion 5. At this time, since the magnetic information line 3A of the card 3 moves on the magnetic head 8, the magnetic head 8
Reads the information on the magnetic information line 3A sequentially and outputs the signal to the read control circuit 7. The read control circuit 7 calculates the information from the signal and outputs it to other circuits.

FIG. 8 shows a modified example of the card insertion slot according to the prior art. Inside the card insertion slot 11 made of a resin material and having a rectangular tube shape, a non-magnetic material such as stainless steel, copper or aluminum is used. A metal guide 12 formed in a "U" shape is provided. Also, the metal guide 12
12A is formed in the central portion in the width direction of the
By A, the distance between the magnetic head 8 provided on the lower side and the card is kept constant.

Further, FIG. 9 relates to a slide type card reader according to the prior art, 13 is an edge slide type card reader, and the lower side of the card 3 in the length direction of the card reader 13 is set at a card insertion slot 14. It is designed to be inserted in the state.

In addition to this, there is also an automatic insertion type card reader. This card reader has an insertion detection sensor (not shown) in the vicinity of the card insertion opening. When the insertion detection sensor detects insertion of the card 3, The card guiding roller is driven to automatically guide the card 3 into the case, and at that time, the information of the card 3 is sequentially read from the magnetic head.

[0015]

By the way, in each of the above-mentioned prior arts, the magnetic head 8 usually uses a material having high wear resistance (for example, sendust alloy, amorphous alloy, etc.) in order to prevent a decrease in output due to wear. ing. However, a place other than the magnetic head 8, for example, the card insertion slot 4,
Since 14 is usually made of resin material, it is weak against wear,
There is a problem that wear occurs when the card 3 is inserted 100,000 times or more.

Then, the abrasion powder generated at the time of abrasion adheres to the surface of the magnetic head 8 and the card insertion ports 4 and 14,
Insertion is hindered and each guide part 4 of the card insertion slot 4
The deformation of B causes a misalignment of the magnetic head 8 with respect to the magnetic information line 3A of the card 3,
A reading error of the magnetic head 8 is generated. Then, there is a problem that the life of the card reader is significantly shortened.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The present invention prevents wear of a card insertion slot,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a card reader which can extend the device life of the card reader.

[0018]

The features of the configuration adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems are that a guide formed of a material having high wear resistance is provided at a portion of the card insertion slot where the card slides. It is that the member was provided.

[0019]

With the above construction, the portion that comes into sliding contact with the card serves as a guide member made of a material having high wear resistance, so that wear of the card insertion opening due to card insertion can be reduced.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the embodiments, the same components as those of the conventional manual card reader shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a card insertion slot applied to this embodiment. The card insertion slot 21 is provided in the case 2 in place of the card insertion slot 4 according to the prior art. Is formed of a resin material in a stepped rectangular tube shape, and has tapered portions 21A, 21A, which are inclined toward the outside.
, And the guide portion 21 for guiding the card 3 while slidingly contacting it.
, B, 21B, ... Are formed, but a guide member mounting groove 21 in which a guide member 22 described later is mounted on each of the guide portions 21B in the card insertion port 21 according to the present embodiment.
C, 21C, ... Are formed. The guide member mounting grooves 21C are formed in a reverse taper shape in order to prevent the guide members from being pulled out.

Reference numerals 22 and 22 denote guide members, and each of the guide members 22 is formed in a plate-like taper shape from a material having high wear resistance (eg, glass fiber, tungsten, molybdenum, diamond). The guide member mounting groove 21C is press-fitted and mounted to prevent the guide member from being pulled out.

Although the manual insertion type card reader according to the present embodiment is constructed as described above, there is no difference in the insertion method of the card 3 and the information reading operation from the card 3 with the prior art.

However, since the card reader according to the present embodiment is provided with the guide member 22 having high wear resistance at each guide portion 21B of the card insertion slot 21, when the card 3 is inserted, the guide members 22 are always in sliding contact with each other. Since the card 3 is inserted into the case 2, it is possible to reliably prevent the card 3 from sliding and coming into contact with the guide portion 21B of the card insertion opening 21 and the like during the insertion process. As a result, it is possible to prevent the generation of wear debris, prevent the wear debris from adhering to the magnetic head 8 and the card 3, and
Can effectively prevent reading errors.

Then, the device life of the card reader can be reliably extended, and a highly reliable card reader can be provided.

The shape of the card insertion slot is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but as shown in FIG. 3, a guide member 23 may be attached to the metal guide 12 shown in FIG. 8 of the prior art. Even in this case, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

The card reader is not limited to the manual insertion type card reader, but may be applied to an automatic card reader or may be applied to a slide type card reader as shown in FIG. By providing a guide member having high wear resistance at the opening, it is possible to easily prevent the card insertion opening from being worn, and it is possible to reliably extend the life of the card reader.

Further, the magnetic head 8 is not limited to the coil type magnetic head, but an MR type magnetic head, an MR magnetic sensor, a Hall element or the like may be used.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the card insertion slot 21 and the card accommodating section 5 are formed as separate members, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the card insertion slot 21 and the card accommodating section 5 are not limited to this. May be integrally formed, and each guide member 22 may be provided so as to extend from the card insertion port 21 to the card accommodating portion 5. In this case, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0030]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the card insertion slot is provided with the guide member made of a material having high abrasion resistance at the portion where the card slides. And the card insertion slot are not in direct sliding contact with each other, and it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of wear. Then, it is possible to prevent the abrasion powder from adhering to the magnetic head and the card, reduce the reading error of the magnetic head, extend the life of the card reader, and improve the reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a manually inserted card reader according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a card insertion slot in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view similar to FIG. 2, showing a modification of the card insertion slot.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a manually inserted card reader according to the related art.

5 is a rear view of the card in FIG. 4. FIG.

6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the card reader shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the card insertion slot in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view similar to FIG. 6 showing a modified example of the card insertion slot of the prior art.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a manual slide type card reader according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 case 3 card 3A magnetic information line 8 magnetic head 21 card insertion slot 22, 23 guide member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A case, a magnetic head provided in the case for reading information written on a card, and a card insertion slot provided in the case for guiding a card while slidingly contacting the magnetic head. In the card reader including the above, the card insertion port is provided with a guide member made of a highly wear-resistant material in a portion in which the card slides.