JPH08123920A - Card storage structure for magnetic card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily replace a card storage case by arranging a card storage case, which is communicated with a branch carrying path and cards are stored, in the upper or lower end part between side prates ana freely attaching and detaching it to and from side plates. CONSTITUTION: A card carrying path extension part 26 which is horizontally formed and a branch carrying path 27 which is formed like a curve in the front are provided at the rear of a card carrying path 21 so that they are communicated with the card carrying path 21. The distance from the rear end of the card carrying path extension part 26 to a magnetic head 24 is made approximately equal to the length of one card. The rotation of an ejecting roll 35 facing the rear end of the branch carrying path 27 is transmitted through a driving roll 7 and a belt, and this roll 35 ejects the card to a card storage case 40 together with a pinch roll 36 brought into contact with the roll 35. Since this card storage case 40 is freely attached to ana detached from a space 49, the case 40 can be replaced when being filled with cards; and since the space 49 is placed in the upper part being the open side of both side plates 2, it is easily replaced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic card reader for reading and writing a magnetic card on which magnetic data is written, and more particularly to a storage structure for a card which has become unusable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, this type of magnetic card reader is
A slit-shaped card slot provided on the front of the device, a card intake path communicating with the card slot, and a card transport path provided with a magnetic head for communicating with the card intake path for reading and writing data. , A card return passage extending from the end branch portion of the card intake passage to the card return opening on the entire surface of the apparatus, and a card intake passage and a card return passage selectively opened at the end branch portion of the card intake passage And a selector to operate.

In such a structure, a normal card inserted from the card slot is taken into the card take-in passage, sent into the card carrying passage, and the magnetic data is read and collated by the magnetic head. The magnetic head rewrites the magnetic data again in response to the data rewrite signal from the installed device body, and then the selector that has already been switched conveys the card return passage opened and returns it from the card return slot. ing. On the other hand, even when the card inserted from the card slot is not usable, it is taken into the card take-in passage and sent to the card carrying passage, and the magnetic data is read and verified by the magnetic head, just like a normal card. , If it is determined to be a card, it is immediately transported through the card return passage and returned from the card return slot.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional magnetic card reader, when an unusable card such as a used card or an error card is inserted into the card reader, it becomes like a normal card. Since the card is returned from the card return slot, there is an inconvenience that the user erroneously recognizes that the card reader is out of order. Further, since there is no distinction between the normal card and the unusable card, there is a problem that the user repeatedly inserts the unusable card into the card slot. Further, if the used card is discarded, it may cause an environmental problem. Further, if the card transport path is extended and a card storage case is arranged at the extension end, the reader itself becomes large, and if the unusable card fills the case, the reader is mounted. There was also a drawback that the device could not be used.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems or drawbacks of the related art, and an object of the present invention is to make the card storage case small and to easily replace the card storage case, so that the reader is mounted. An object of the present invention is to provide a card storage structure in a magnetic card reader that does not hinder the operation of the apparatus main body side.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a card storage structure in a magnetic card reader according to the present invention has a card for carrying a card inserted from a card insertion slot between a pair of side plates facing each other. A transport path and a branch transport path for branching the card from the card transport path by the sorting means that operates based on the determination result based on the data of the card read by the magnetic head disposed in the card transport path are provided. A card storage case communicating with a path for storing a card is arranged at an upper end portion or a lower end portion between the side plates and is detachably attached to the side plates. Further, in the card storage structure of the magnetic card reader according to the present invention, the card transport path is tilted, the rear end side of the branch transport path is curved toward the card slot, and the card storage case is tilted. It is arranged in an empty space by.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the card storage case can be easily replaced. Further, according to the present invention, there is no need to specially provide a storage space for the card storage case.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a magnetic card reader according to the present invention,
2 is an overall perspective view of the card storage case, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing the storage structure of the card storage case. In these drawings, reference numeral 2 is a pair of opposed flat plate side plates, which are separated from each other by substantially the same length as the width of the magnetic card 1, and which will be described later in a card intake passage 18, a card return passage 19, a card transport passage. 21 and both side surfaces of the card branch passage 27 are configured to restrict the movement of the magnetic card 1 in the width direction.

Reference numerals 3 and 4 are a card insertion slot and a card return slot formed in a slit shape. Reference numeral 5 designates a take-in roller 6 rotatably supported by a shaft which is horizontally mounted between the side plates 2.
The drive belt is stretched between the drive roller 7 and the drive roller 7, and the front half portion 5a is arranged so as to be inclined downward by a tension roller (not shown). Reference numeral 8 denotes a return roller 9 rotatably supported by a shaft horizontally mounted between the side plates 2.
A driven belt horizontally stretched between the driven roller 10 and the driven roller 10, and is in contact with the rear half 5b of the drive belt 5,
The card transport path 21 is formed. 11 is a return roller 9
It is a pinch roller in contact with.

Reference numeral 12 designates a shaft 13 which is horizontally mounted between the side plates 2.
A selector rotatably supported by a connecting member 1
4 is connected to the rod 16 of the solenoid 15. The upper surface 12a of the selector 12 is opposed to the front half 5a of the drive belt 5 to form a card intake passage 18 communicating with the card slot 3, and the lower surface 12b is opposed to the driven belt 8 to return the card. A card return passage 19 communicating with the mouth 4 is formed. When the selector 12 swings around the shaft 13, the tip portion selectively opens and closes the card intake passage 18 and the card return passage 19 alternately. Further, the selector 12 is integrally formed with a shutter portion 12c located behind the card slot 3, and the selector 12 swings to open and close the space between the card slot 3 and the card intake passage 18. To do. Reference numeral 17 is a pinch roller that is in contact with the take-in roller 6.

Reference numerals 22 and 23 denote a punch unit and a punch waste case provided with the card transport path 21 interposed therebetween.
Reference numeral 24 denotes a magnetic head that faces the card transport path 21 and reads and writes magnetic data written in the magnetic card 1. Based on the magnetic data read by the magnetic head 24, a card determination means (not shown) is used. Determine whether the card is unusable. A first sensor (S1) 25 for detecting a magnetic card is arranged above the magnetic head 24. At the rear of the card transport path 21, a horizontally formed card transport path extension 26 and a curved forward branch path 27 are both provided in communication with the card transport path 21. The distance from the end of the card transport path extension 26 to the magnetic head 24 is formed to be substantially the same as the length of one card. Reference numeral 29 denotes a distribution lever which faces the entrances of both the card conveying path extension 26 and the branch conveying path 27, and which is swingably supported by a shaft 30 laterally mounted between the side plates 2 so as to swing. Thus, the entrances of the card transport path extension 26 and the branch transport path 27 are selectively opened and closed alternately, and the rod 32 of the distribution solenoid 31 is engaged.

Reference numeral 33 is a card-conveying drive motor that rotates in the forward and reverse directions, and a pulley gear (not shown) fixed coaxially with the drive roller 7 is rotated via a belt 34 to drive the drive roller 7. The rotation is transmitted. Reference numeral 35 denotes a discharge roller that faces the end of the branch conveyance path 27. The discharge roller 35 is rotationally transmitted via the drive roller 7 and a belt (not shown), and a card storage case 40, which will be described later, together with a pinch roller 36 that contacts the card. To discharge. A second sensor (S2) 38 is located at the end of the branch transport path 27 and detects a card discharged from the branch transport path 27.

As shown in FIG. 2, the card storage case 40 has a U-shaped cross section formed by a bottom plate 41, a back plate 42, and a top plate 43. Is thrown in. Reference numeral 45 designates a pair of card flow preventing projections which are provided upright from the tip of the bottom plate 41.
Reference numeral 6 is a window for inserting a finger formed in the upper surface plate 43, and 47 and 48 are dowels projecting from the front and rear of both side ends of the upper surface plate 43. It is equal to the distance between the side plates 2. A space for accommodating the card storage case 40 is formed in the space 49 above the drive belt 5, and the rear end of the upper end of each side plate 2 of the space 49 has a U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. Guide part 50
Are integrated with the side plate 2. Further, a fixed piece 51 having a protrusion 52 having an upper portion formed in a crank shape is fixed to the side plate 2 at the front portion, and a curved portion 54 is formed on the upper portion so as to face the fixed piece 51 and the curved portion 54 is formed. A flexible movable piece 53 whose base is fixed to the side plate 2 so as to be a free end is provided. A mounting piece 55 is integrated with the side plate 2.

With such a structure, in order to mount the card storage case 40, as shown in FIG. 3, the dowel 48 is guided by the guide 50 from the position where the card storage case 40 is shown by a solid line.
Then, the back plate 42 side is swung in the direction B around the dowel 48 as a center to move the dowel 4 into the dowel 4.
When 7 is positioned between the protrusion 52 and the curved portion 54 and further swung downward, the movable piece 53 elastically deforms in the C direction, and the dowel 47 is sandwiched between the protrusion 52 and the curved portion 54,
The bottom plate 41 is mounted on the mounting piece 55, and the card storage case 40 is stored in the space 49. At the time of removal, by inserting a finger into the window 46 and lifting the finger, the dowel 47 is removed from the pinch between the protrusion 52 and the curved portion 54, and further moved in the direction opposite to the A direction, so that the dowel 48 is removed from the guide 50. Come off. In this way, the card storage case 40 can be freely attached to and detached from the space 49.
When the card is full inside, it can be exchanged,
Moreover, since the space 49 is located on the upper side which is the open side of the both side plates 2, the replacement is easy.

Further, by sloping the card intake passage 18 downward and arranging the card transport path 21 at the lower part of both side plates 2, an empty space is provided above the card transport path 21, and this empty space is used for storing cards. Since the space 49 for accommodating the case 40 is provided, it is not necessary to specially provide a space for the space 49, and thus it is possible to prevent the size from increasing in the vertical direction. Although the space 49 is provided on the upper side of the card transport path 21 in this embodiment, it is needless to say that the space 49 may be provided on the lower side when the card intake path 18 is inclined upward.

Next, the operation of both the charge approval process and the magnetic card when a normal card is inserted and when an unusable card is inserted when the charge approval process is performed by the magnetic card reader having such a configuration It will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. The solenoid 15 is in the operating state in advance, the selector 12 is swung in the clockwise direction in FIG.
The opening c of the card intake passage 18 is open. In this state, when the magnetic card 1 is loaded from the card loading slot 3 in step 101, loading of the card is detected by a loading slot sensor (not shown), the drive motor 33 is driven to rotate normally, and the card 1 is loaded into the card loading path 18. Take in. When the insertion end sensor detects that the end of the card has been taken into the card take-in passage 18, the operation of the solenoid 15 is released and the selector 12 is swung counterclockwise about the shaft 13 so that the shutter portion is released. The entrance of the card intake passage 18 is closed by 12c to prevent the insertion of the second and subsequent cards. At the same time, as shown in FIG.
2 closes the entrance from the card transport path 21 to the card intake path 18 and opens the entrance to the card return path 19.

Next, when the recording medium is conveyed on the magnetic head 24, data is read in step 103. Here, in the distribution lever 29, the distribution solenoid 31 is not operating as shown in FIG. 4, the branching conveyance path 7 of the distribution lever 29 is closed, and the card conveyance path extension 26 is opened. Therefore, the card is conveyed to the card conveying path extension 26,
When the leading edge is transported to the end of the card transport path extension 26, the reading of data in step 103 is completed. Based on the result of reading the data from the magnetic head 24 in step 103, the card determining means in step 104 determines whether or not the card is unusable. If the card is normal, the value information such as the balance is displayed in step 105. When the service is provided in step 106 and the service is finished in step 107, the motor 33 reversely rotates and the card located in the card transport path extension 26 is transported to the card transport path 21 in the reverse direction, and step 108 is performed. At the time, the magnetic head 24 rewrites the value information such as the balance, and the punch unit 22 makes a punch hole corresponding to the rewriting of the value information. At step 109, the card is transferred from the card transport path 21 to the card return path. It is transported to 19 and returned from the card return slot 4 When certified, the solenoid 15 is in an operating state, the shutter portion 12c is opens the inlet of the uptake card path 18, in step 124, it is possible to use the next card.

If it is determined in step 104 that the card cannot be used, it is determined in step 110 whether or not the card is to be taken in. If it is determined that the card is to be taken in, in step 112, the card After detecting whether the end has passed (S1) 25, the motor is reversed in step 113 to once carry the card in the card carrying path extension portion 26 back into the card carrying path 21, and in step 114 (S1). At 25, it is detected whether the front end of the card has passed (S1) 25, and if the passage is confirmed, at step 115, the distribution solenoid 31
5, the distribution lever 29 is swung counterclockwise about the shaft 30 to close the entrance of the card conveyance path extension 26 and at the same time the branch conveyance path 2 is moved.
Open the entrance of 7. When the motor 33 is rotated in the normal direction in step 116, the card is transferred to the card transport path 21.
From the opening portion 44 of the card storage case 40 to the inside of the case 40 by the discharge roller 35, and in step 117 (S
2) Determine whether the card has been stored by 38,
When the storage of the card is completed, the drive of the motor 33 is stopped in step 118.

In this way, the card is temporarily moved to the magnetic head 24.
Since it is returned to the top and then guided to the branch passage 27, the entrance of the branch conveyance path 27 can be provided at the same position as the entrance of the card conveyance path extension 26, and the branch conveyance path 27 can be inserted. Since it is curved to the side, there is no increase in size in the card transport path direction.

Even if it is determined in step 104 that the card is unusable, the card is set to be returned, so that the card is returned from the card return slot 4 in step 111 without storing the unusable card. To do.

When the storage of cards is completed in step 119, the number of stored cards in (S2) 38 is counted in step 120, and in step 121, the number of stored cards is compared with the total number of cards that can be stored. If it can still be stored, the subsequent card can be used in step 124. Also, step 12
If the result of judgment in 1 is that the card is full, step 12
In step 2, a card full notification is notified, and step 110
The card will be returned, and the subsequent unusable card will be returned from the return slot 4.

If it is determined in step 117 that the card is not stored in spite of the normal rotation of the motor in step 116, step 125
In step 12
If the return operation is performed in step 6 and the return is possible in step 127, the card is returned from the return port 4, and if the return is not possible, the card cannot be used in step 128 and the outside is notified.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, between the pair of side plates facing each other, the card transport path for transporting the card loaded from the card slot, and the magnetic path disposed in the card transport path. A card-carrying case for branching the card from the card-carrying path by a sorting means that operates according to the determination result based on the card data read by the head is provided, and the card-housing case that communicates with the branch-carrying path and stores the card Since it is installed at the upper or lower end between the side plates and can be attached to and detached from the side plates, it can be replaced and the operation stop of the device main body due to full card can be prevented, so good operation of the equipment is possible. Is planned.

Further, since the card transport path is inclined and the rear end side of the branch transport path is curved toward the card slot side, the card storage case is not enlarged in the longitudinal direction, and the card storage case is inclined by the inclination of the card transport path. Since it is arranged in the empty space, it is possible to reduce the size as a whole without increasing the size in the vertical direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a magnetic card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of a card storage case of the magnetic card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an essential part showing a housing structure of a card housing case of the magnetic card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a card returning operation in the magnetic card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a storing operation of an unusable card in the magnetic card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the magnetic card reader according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Magnetic card, 2 ... Side plate, 3 ... Card insertion slot, 4 ... Card return slot, 12 ... Selector, 18 ... Card intake passage, 19 ... Card return passage, 21 ... Card transport passage, 24
... magnetic head, 26 ... card transport path extension, 27 ... branch transport path, 29 ... sorting lever, 31 ... sorting solenoid, 4
0 ... Card storage case.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Mineo Abe 2-3-2 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Tamura Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kojiro Iketaka 2-chome, Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo No. 3 Stock Company, Tamura Denki Seisakusho (72) Inventor, Ginya Ishiguro, 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. No. 6 Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Masahito Kondo 1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Takato Sasaki 5-chome, Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. 10-27 Anritsu Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Iguchi No. 10-27 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Anritsu Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A judgment result based on data of a card conveyance path for conveying a card inserted from a card insertion port between a pair of facing side plates and data of a card read by a magnetic head arranged in the card conveyance path. Therefore, there is provided a branch transport path for branching the card from the card transport path by the sorting means that operates, and a card storage case communicating with the branch transport path for storing the card is provided at the upper end portion or the lower end portion between the side plates. In addition, the card storage structure in the magnetic card reader is characterized by being detachable from the side plate. 2. The card storage structure of the magnetic card reader according to claim 1, wherein the card transport path is inclined, and a rear end side of the branch transport path is curved toward a card slot, and the card storage case is A card storage structure in a magnetic card reader characterized in that it is arranged in an empty space due to the inclination of a card transport path.