JPH0869504A - Card reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To store a magnetic card reader and a noncontact type card reader in a common housing by preventing the magnetic card reader and noncontact type card reader from being affected by each other. CONSTITUTION: A control part 25 performs a process wherein an ID information transmission command is sent by turning ON a power amplifier 34 and ID information is received in this state from a noncontact card. When a card detection part 40 turns ON in this state, a timer is started and the power amplifier 34 is turned OFF to stop the transmission. Then a process wherein ID information is read out of a magnetic card is performed and when the pieces of ID information match each other, control for unlocking a door is performed. It is decided whether the timer enters a time-out state and when so, the power amplifier 34 is turned ON to restart the transmission.

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 non-contact type card and a contact type magnetic card by radio waves or electromagnetic induction, and more particularly to a card reader suitable for an access control system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an access control system or the like, the ID information stored in a card is read by a card reader, and the door is opened when the ID information is registered in advance. As a card reader used in this type of system, a non-contact method using radio waves or electromagnetic induction and a contact method such as magnetism are known.

In a non-contact IC card reader, a magnetic field is generated from a coil-shaped antenna formed of, for example, a copper wire or the like to supply power to the card by utilizing electromotive force of a coil built in the card. The ID information registered in advance in the IC memory on the card side is sent back to the reader side by electromagnetic waves. On the other hand, the magnetic card reader is configured such that the magnetic head reads the ID information registered in advance on the magnetic stripe of the card.

In recent years, magnetic cards such as 0.
A common card is known in which a non-contact type electronic circuit is incorporated in a thickness of about 76 mm and which can be read by both a non-contact IC card reader and a magnetic card reader.

[0005]

In a system using both a non-contact type IC card and a contact type magnetic card or a common card, both the non-contact type card reader and the contact type magnetic card reader are used. Used mixedly.
In this case, it is not very practical to install two types of card readers in one easy-to-use place, and there is a problem in terms of aesthetics. Therefore, it is desirable to store two types of card readers in one housing. .

However, since the electric signal read from the card by the magnetic head of the magnetic card reader is on the order of several mV, this signal is amplified to the TTL level. On the other hand, since electromagnetic waves of the order of several hundreds of volts are constantly radiated from the antenna of the non-contact type card reader, if two types of card readers are housed in a common housing, the non-contact type card is used on the magnetic card reader side. There is a problem in that the information of the magnetic card cannot be read due to the influence of the electromagnetic wave on the reader side or a malfunction occurs, and it is impossible to store the two types of card readers in a substantially common housing.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention prevents the magnetic card reader and the non-contact type card reader from affecting each other, and stores the magnetic card reader and the non-contact type card reader in a common housing. An object of the present invention is to provide a card reader that can be used.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a magnetic card reader for reading magnetic information recorded on a magnetic card by a magnetic head in a contact type and a non-contact type for generating an electromagnetic field. A card reader that stores the information recorded on the card in a non-contact type using an electromagnetic field in a non-contact type, and detects that the card is inserted in the magnetic card reader. And a control means for stopping the generation of the electromagnetic field by the non-contact type card reader when the insertion of the card is detected by the card detection means.

Further, it is characterized in that the generation of the electromagnetic field by the non-contact type card reader is restarted after a predetermined time has elapsed after the card detecting means detects that the card has been inserted. Further, after the card detection means detects that the card has been inserted, the generation of the electromagnetic field by the non-contact type card reader is restarted after the completion of reading by the magnetic card reader.

The present invention is also characterized in that, when the card detecting means does not detect that a card has been inserted, the magnetic card reader is turned off to prohibit reading. Further, the card detecting means is configured by a photo interrupter, and the card is detected by blocking the light between the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion forming the photo interrupter.

[0011]

In the present invention, the generation of the electromagnetic field by the non-contact type card reader is stopped when it is detected that the card has been inserted into the magnetic card reader, so that the magnetic card reader can prevent the influence of the non-contact type card reader. The magnetic card reader and the non-contact type card reader can be housed in a common housing by preventing them from being received.

Further, when the card is not inserted by the card detecting means, the magnetic card reader is turned off to prohibit reading, thereby preventing the non-contact type card reader from being influenced by the magnetic card reader. The card reader and the non-contact type card reader can be housed in a common housing.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a card reader according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows cards 11a and 1 as an example.
1 shows an access control system in which the ID information stored in 1b is read by the card reader 13 and the door is opened when the ID information matches the previously registered ID information. The contactless card 11a is configured to transmit ID information to the card reader 13 by electromagnetic waves, and this ID information is stored in the EEPROM 18 in advance. On the other hand, in the magnetic card 11b, the ID information is recorded on the magnetic stripe 14, and the card reader 13 does not perform an active operation.

The power rectifier 15 of the contactless card 11a is
Radio waves received via the transmission / reception coil 16 forming the antenna are rectified to generate necessary power in the card 11a and supply the power to the control unit 17, for example. The control unit 17 receives the power supply and controls the reading or writing of the EEPROM 18. A signal wirelessly transmitted from the card reader 13 is received via the transmission / reception coil 16, detected by the detection unit 20, converted into data of "1" and "0" by the 1/0 conversion unit 21, and controlled. Applied to the section 17. When the control unit 17 receives the ID information transmission command from the card reader 13, the control unit 17 reads the ID information from the EEPROM 18 and transmits it to the card reader 13 via the transmission / reception coil 16.

Next, the card reader 13 will be described in detail. The EEPROM 18 of the non-contact card 11a, the magnetic stripe 14 of the magnetic card 11b, or the non-contact card 1
The same information as the ID information stored in a card (not shown) that shares the magnetic card 11a and the magnetic card 11b is registered in advance in the data buffer memory unit 28 of the card reader 13, and the control unit 2
5 controls the unlocking unit 29 to unlock the door (not shown) when the ID information of the both matches.

Various commands such as an ID information transmission command for the contactless card 11a are applied from the control section 25 to the 1/0 conversion section 31 and converted into "1" and "0" data. The modulation unit 33 modulates the data converted by the 1/0 conversion unit 31 into an FSK (frequency shift keying) modulation wave based on the oscillation frequency of the oscillator 32, and this modulation wave is power-amplified by the power amplifier 34 and is fed to the antenna. It is transmitted via the constituent transmitting and receiving coil 35. Here, the power amplifier 34 stops or restarts transmission under the control of the control unit 25 as described later.

The radio signal transmitted from the contactless card 11a is received via the transmission / reception coil 35, amplified / detected by the amplification / detection unit 36, and applied to the control unit 25 via the 1/0 conversion unit 37. . The control unit 25 is a contactless card 1
ID information received from 1a or the common card and the memory unit 28
If the ID information registered in advance matches, the unlocking unit 29
Unlock the door via.

The card reader 13 also detects the magnetic head 41 for reading the ID information stored in the magnetic stripe 11 of the magnetic card 11b or the common card and the insertion of the card 11b into the magnetic head 41. A card detector 40 is provided. The signal read by the magnetic head 41 is amplified by the amplifier 42 and
It is applied to the control unit 25 via the 0 conversion unit 43. The control unit 25 unlocks the door via the unlocking unit 29 when the ID information read from the magnetic card 11b or the common card and the ID information registered in advance in the memory unit 28 match.

As described above, the electric signal read from the card 11b by the magnetic head 41 is of the order of several mV, and the electromagnetic wave of the order of several 100V is radiated from the transmission / reception coil 35. The electromagnetic wave is reproduced by the magnetic head 41, causing a problem. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the card detection unit 40 detects that the card is inserted into the magnetic head 41, the control unit 25 controls the power amplifier 34 to stop the transmission.

Next, the structure of the card reader 13, particularly the card detection section 40, will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 2
The front plate 5 on the front of the card reader 13 as shown in FIG.
1, a card insertion portion 52 for inserting the magnetic card 11b is formed, and an indicator light 53 for indicating a power-on / reading state and a door lock / unlock state is provided. A transmission / reception antenna coil 35 is provided on the back side of the front plate 51 as shown in detail in FIG.

The internal structure of the card reader 13 is, as shown in FIG. 3, roughly, a card reader main body 54, a printed circuit board 55 on which various parts constituting a circuit as shown in FIG. 1 are mounted, and a magnetic field. It is composed of a holder 56 to which the head 41 is attached, and an attachment fitting 57 for attaching the card reader 13 to a wall or the like. A photo interrupter is provided as a card detection unit 40 at a position where the card of the card reader body 54 slides, and the card 11b is operated by blocking the light between the light emitting unit 40a and the light receiving unit 40b that configure the photo interrupter. The insertion into the magnetic head 41 is detected.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the operation of the above embodiment,
In particular, the operation of the control unit 25 will be described. First, step S1
In the loop of → S2 → S1, the power amplifier 34 is turned on to constantly transmit the ID information transmission command.
In this state, the process of receiving the ID information from the contactless card 11a is executed. When the card detection unit 40 is turned on in this state, the timer is started (steps S2 → S3), and the power amplifier 34 is turned off to stop the transmission (step S4).

Next, a process of reading the ID information from the magnetic card 11b is executed (step S5), and if the ID information matches, a control for unlocking the door is executed (step S6). Next, it is determined whether or not the timer has timed out (step S7), and when it times out, the power amplifier 34 is turned on to restart transmission. The timer is set to, for example, about 3 seconds until the slide operation of the card 11b and the reading process are completed.

Therefore, according to the above embodiment, when the card detecting section 40 detects that the card is inserted into the magnetic head 41, the transmission of the electromagnetic wave for the non-contact card 11a is stopped, so that the magnetic card is stopped. It is possible to store the magnetic card reader and the non-contact type card reader in one housing while preventing the reader from being affected by the non-contact type card reader.

In step S1, the magnetic card readers 41 to 43 are powered off while waiting for ID information from the non-contact card 11a.
By decreasing the gain of the amplifier 42 and turning on the power supply to the magnetic card reading units 41 to 43 when it is detected that the card 11b is inserted into the magnetic head 41, or increasing the gain of the amplifier 42, both reading accuracy Can be improved.

Further, as the card detecting section 40, a mechanical switch may be used instead of the photo interrupter.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a magnetic card reader for reading magnetic information recorded on a magnetic card by a magnetic head by a contact type, and an information recorded on a non-contact type card by generating an electromagnetic field. A non-contact type card reader for reading in a non-contact type using an electromagnetic field, and a card detection means for detecting that a card is inserted in the magnetic card reader,
The magnetic card reader is affected by the non-contact type card reader because it has a control means for stopping the generation of the electromagnetic field by the non-contact type card reader when the card detecting means detects that the card is inserted. It is possible to house the magnetic card reader and the non-contact type card reader in a common housing by preventing the above.

Further, when the card is not inserted by the card detecting means, the magnetic card reader is turned off to prohibit reading, or the gain of an amplifier for amplifying a signal read by the magnetic head is lowered to make a non-contact state. The magnetic card reader can be prevented from being affected by the magnetic card reader, and the magnetic card reader and the non-contact type card reader can be housed in a common housing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a card reader according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the card reader of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the card reader shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the card reader of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11a: non-contact card 11b: magnetic card 13: card reader 14: magnetic stripe 15: power supply rectification unit 16,35: transmission / reception coil 17, 25: control unit 18: EEPROM 20: detection unit 21, 31, 37, 43: 1 / 0 conversion unit 28: data buffer memory unit 29: unlocking unit 32: oscillator 33: modulation unit 34: power amplifier 36: amplification / detection unit 40: card detection unit (photointerrupter) 40a: light emitting unit 40b: light receiving unit 41 : Magnetic head 42: Amplifier 51: Front plate 52: Card insertion portion 53: Indicator light 54: Card reader body 55: Printed circuit board 56: Magnetic head holder 57: Mounting bracket

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic card reader for reading magnetic information recorded on a magnetic card by a magnetic head in a contact type, and a non-contact type for generating information on the non-contact type card by generating an electromagnetic field. A card reader in which a non-contact type card reader for reading by means of a card is housed in a common housing, and card detection means for detecting that a card has been inserted into the magnetic card reader; and card insertion by the card detection means And a control means for stopping the generation of the electromagnetic field by the non-contact type card reader when it is detected. 2. The card reader according to claim 1, wherein said control means detects an electromagnetic field by said non-contact type card reader after a lapse of a predetermined time after the card detection means detects that a card has been inserted. A card reader characterized by restarting the generation of. 3. The card reader according to claim 1, wherein the control means detects the insertion of a card by the card detection means and then the non-contact type reader after the completion of reading by the magnetic card reader. A card reader characterized by restarting generation of an electromagnetic field by the card reader. 4. The card reader according to claim 1, wherein the control means turns off the power supply to the magnetic card reader when the card detection means does not detect that the card has been inserted. A card reader characterized by prohibiting reading. 5. The card reader according to claim 1, wherein the card detecting means is composed of a photo interrupter, and the card blocks light between a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion which constitute the photo interrupter. A card reader characterized by detecting a card by doing so.