JPH0940210A - Mechanism for card retraction - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent fouling of cards and formation of slip marks due to contact with a feed roller. SOLUTION: An inclined guide 4 is connected to a lower surface guide 2 constituting a feed passage L. A feed roller 32 and a pressure roller 33 that touches and leaves the roller 32 are provided immediately in front of the first end 42 of the inclined guide 4. To move a card back, the card P is fed by both of the rollers 32, 33 until its center of gravity passes the first end 42, after which the pressure roller 33 separates from the feed roller 32. The card P is separated from the feed roller 32 by slipping down onto the inclined guide 4 and being held in an inclined position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card withdrawal mechanism for temporarily withdrawing the first taken-in card from the transport path when continuously processing two cards in a card processing device such as a prepaid card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a card processing apparatus which takes in a card on which data is recorded magnetically or optically and performs recording and reproducing processing of data, when two cards are consecutively taken in and continuous processing is performed. There is. For example, in a card processing device for prepaid cards, when the balance of the first card inserted first is insufficient, a message to that effect is displayed to the user to prompt the user to insert the second card. When the first card is inserted, it is taken in and the predetermined processing (recording and reproduction) is performed in the same manner as the first card.

Therefore, in order to prevent the first card from being unnecessarily moved by the transfer mechanism in the apparatus when the second card is taken and transferred, the first card is processed. It is necessary to provide a card withdrawal mechanism for temporarily withdrawing the above card to a predetermined position on the transport path.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional example of such a card retracting mechanism. The transport path L is configured by guides 1 and 2 that guide the upper surface and the lower surface of the card P, respectively. A retreat area Lx is provided at the end of the transport path L so as to be longer than the entire length of the card P in the transport direction.
The card retraction mechanism 3 is formed there. The transport path L and the retreat area Lx are separated by a shutter 31 that opens and closes the transport path. At the end of the retreat area Lx, a regulation wall 21 for abutting the front end of the card P is provided upright from the lower surface guide 2.

At the rear part of the shutter 31, a feed roller 32 provided on the lower surface side of the conveying surface and a pressing roller 33 which comes into contact with and separates from the feed roller 32 are provided oppositely. Presser roller 3
3 is rotatably supported on one end of an L-shaped arm 34. The arm 34 is pivotally supported at a fulcrum 34a of the bent portion, and the other end of the arm 34 is a plunger 3 of the solenoid 35.
It is connected to 5a. The pressing roller 33 is constantly urged by the urging member 36 in the direction in which the pressing roller 33 contacts the feed roller 32. When the solenoid 35 is actuated and the plunger 35a is attracted, the arm 34 rotates clockwise around the fulcrum 34a, so that the pressing roller 33 moves.
It is separated from the feed roller 32.

According to the above construction, when the card P is retracted from the transport path L, the pressing roller 33 is brought into contact with the feed roller 32 with the shutter 31 kept open, and the card is driven by the transport force of the feed roller 32. P is sent to the end portion Lx of the transport path. Then, the shutter 31 is closed and the solenoid 35 is operated to feed the roller 32.
The pressing roller 33 is separated from.

As a result, no matter whether the feed roller 32 rotates in the normal or reverse direction, the front end portion and the rear end portion of the card P are regulated by the regulation wall 21 and the shutter 31, respectively. The movement to the transport path L is suppressed. At this time, since the pressing roller 33 is separated from the card P, the weight of the card P only acts on the feed roller 32, and the carrying force received from the feed roller 32 is small. Note that when the retracted card P is returned to the transport path L again, an operation generally opposite to the above operation is performed.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional mechanism, the card P comes into contact with the feed roller 32 by its own weight, so that dirt on the lower surface of the card is caused by the feed roller 32 or the feed roller 32 is attached. On the other hand, it is rubbed against and slip marks are left. This causes an error in reading the data recorded on the card P and is not preferable.

In order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, the card may be pushed up from below and separated from the feed roller, but the addition of such a mechanism causes a problem in that the structure becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object thereof is a card retracting mechanism capable of preventing adhesion of dirt and formation of slip marks to a card in a retracted state with a simple structure. To provide.
Another object of the present invention is to reliably perform a card retracting operation. Another object of the present invention is to simplify the structure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a card withdrawal mechanism capable of selectively withdrawing the withdrawn cards into a withdrawal box.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a card retracting mechanism for retracting and returning a card to and from a transport path, wherein
A tilt guide that guides and holds the card in a tilted posture by tilting downward with respect to the card conveyance direction is provided by connecting, and a feed roller that gives a conveyance force to the card is provided immediately below the starting end of the tilt guide below the conveyance surface. And a presser roller that comes in contact with and separates from the feed roller are provided on the upper side of the conveying surface, and when the card is retracted, the card is conveyed by the feed roller and the presser roller until the center of gravity of the card passes the start end of the tilt guide. , By separating the press roller from the feed roller, the card slides down to the tilt guide and is held in an inclined posture, so that the card is separated from the feed roller, and at the time of card return, the press roller is pressed into contact with the feed roller. Thus, a control unit for returning the card from the tilted posture to the horizontal posture and applying a carrying force to the card is provided.

Further, the present invention is provided with a detecting means for detecting the card when the center of gravity of the card passes the starting end of the inclined guide, and when the card is retracted, the pressing roller is fed from the feed roller based on the detection signal of the detecting means. The feature is that they are separated from each other.

Further, according to the present invention, the card passage opening provided on the holding wall for holding the front end of the card slid on the inclined guide, the door for opening and closing the card passage opening, and the card passage opening are provided lower than the card passage opening. A storage means for storing a card and a card passage for connecting the card passage opening and the storage means are provided.

[0014]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a card retracting mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part when FIG. 1 is viewed from the AA direction, and FIGS. b) is
It is explanatory drawing which shows the process of evacuation operation. 1 to 3
In FIG. 5, members that are the same as or correspond to those in FIG. 5 showing a conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

First, the configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. An inclined guide 4 that is inclined downward with respect to the card transport direction is connected to the end portion of the lower surface guide 2. The tilt guide 4 is provided with a holding wall 41 that holds the front end of the card P in order to guide and hold the card P in a tilted posture. The inclination angle of the inclined guide 4 with respect to the lower surface guide 2 may be any value that allows the card P to slide down on the inclined guide 4 smoothly.

A ridge line is formed at a portion where the lower surface guide 2 and the inclined guide 4 are connected by the upper surfaces of the two guides 2 and 4 intersecting with each other. This ridge line corresponds to the starting end portion 42 of the tilt guide 4. The starting end portion 42 may have an arc-shaped cross section. The distance from the starting end portion 42 to the holding wall 41 of the slope guide 4 is set to be shorter than the entire length of the card P in the transport direction.

Immediately before the start end portion 42, a feed roller 32 that gives a carrying force to the card P is provided on the lower side of the carrying surface, and a pressing roller 33 that comes in contact with and separates from the feed roller 32 is provided on the upper side of the carrying surface. ing. As shown in FIG. 2, the support shaft 32a of the feed roller 32 is rotatably supported by the housing F, and is supported by a transmission belt BL wound around a pulley 32b fixed to the end of the support shaft 32a. The rotational driving force is transmitted. In the figure, 2a is an opening for allowing the outer peripheral surface of the feed roller 32 to face the conveying surface.

On the other hand, on the left and right sides of the tilt guide 4, auxiliary guides 5 for guiding both side ends of the card P conveyed on the tilt guide 4 are provided upright.

The optical sensor 6 constitutes a detecting means for detecting the card P conveyed by the feed roller 32 and the pressing roller 33. In order to allow the detection light of the optical sensor 6 to pass through, the tilt guide 4 and the holding wall 41 are provided with an opening 4a and a cutout 4b. In addition, the optical sensor 6
It is provided at a position where the card P can be detected when the center of gravity of the card P passes through the starting end portion 42. In FIG. 1, the solenoid 35 is provided with a stopper 35b that regulates the amount of protrusion of the plunger 35a, that is, the pressing force of the pressing roller 33.

The solenoid 35 and the feed roller 32
The operation of is controlled by a control unit (not shown) which inputs the detection signal of the photodetector 6.

Next, the card retracting operation will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the card P is conveyed rightward on the paper surface by the feed roller 32 and the pressing roller 33. When the front end of the card P is detected by the optical sensor 6, the solenoid 35 is actuated and the plunger 35a is attracted in response to the detection signal. As a result, the presser roller 3
Since 3 moves in the direction away from the feed roller 32, the pressing force on the rear end of the card P is released.

Since the optical sensor 6 is installed at the above-mentioned position, the center of gravity of the card P passes through the starting end portion 42 when the optical sensor 6 detects the card P. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the rear end of the card P is released from the pressing of the pressing roller 33, the card P moves clockwise around the starting end 42 as a fulcrum and the tilt guide 4 moves.
It slides down due to its own weight. At this time, the front end of the card P is held by the holding wall 41.

As a result, the card P is held in the inclined posture by the inclination guide 41. Here, as described above, since the distance from the starting end portion 42 to the holding wall 41 of the slope guide 4 is set to be shorter than the total length of the card P in the transport direction, the rear end portion of the card P is The conveyance force is not supplied by projecting upward from the lower surface guide 2 and completely separating from the feed roller 32. As described above, when the card P is retracted, the pressing roller 33 has the outer peripheral surface thereof held by the tilt guide 41 in the tilted posture.
It is separated to a position where it does not interfere with the rear end of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the feed roller 32 from being soiled or slipped on the lower surface of the retracted card P.

Next, the operation of returning the card P to the transport path L will be described. As shown in FIG. 3B, when the solenoid 35 is deactivated while the card P is held in the inclined posture by the inclination guide 4, the plunger 3
Since the suction of 5a is released, the arm 34 is rotated counterclockwise about the fulcrum 34a according to the urging force of the urging member 36.

As a result, the rear end of the card P is pressed downward by the pressing roller 33 that moves in the direction of contact with the feed roller 32, and rotates counterclockwise about the starting end 42 of the tilt guide 4. It moves to return from the inclined posture to the horizontal posture along the lower surface guide 2 and the rear portion of the card P is brought into contact with the feed roller 32 by the pressing roller 33, whereby the supply of the conveying force is restored. That is, it is returned to the transport path.

As described above, since the card P slides down on the inclined guide 4 by its own weight and separates from the feed roller 32, unlike the conventional mechanism, the shutter for suppressing the movement of the card P or the card P is pushed up. It is not necessary to provide a mechanism for separating from the feed roller, and the structure can be simplified.

Further, as described above, by providing the optical sensor 6, it is possible to detect that the center of gravity of the card P has passed through the connection point T and separate the pressing roller 33, so that the card P is inclined and guided. 4 can be surely slid down. However, the center of gravity of the card P is the connection point T
If it is possible to obtain the time point when the sheet has passed through the calculation, the solenoid 35 may be operated based on the operation of another sensor for detecting the card position provided on the transport path L.

The behavior of the card P is likely to be unstable when the card P is rotated around the connection point T as a fulcrum and slides down because the pressure roller 33 releases the pressure. Therefore, it is preferable to guide the card P by the left and right auxiliary guides 5 and surely slide it on the inclined guide 4. However, if the behavior of the card P is within the allowable range, the auxiliary guide 5 may be omitted.

Further, in the above card retracting mechanism,
It is also possible to selectively collect the cards withdrawn in the inclined guide into the collection box. For example, in the card retracting mechanism 3B shown in FIG. 4, a card passing port 71 is provided in a holding wall 41 that holds the front end of the card that has slid on the inclined guide 4, and a door 72 that opens and closes the card passing port 71 is provided. . A collection box 73, which is provided at a lower position than the card passage port 71 and stores the card P, is arranged, and the card passage port 71 and the collection box 73 are connected by a card passage 74.

According to the above construction, the card P is retracted to the tilt guide 4 and the door 72 is opened as required, so that the card P is naturally dropped into the card passage 74 and recovered in the recovery box 73. can do.

[0031]

As described above in detail, according to the card retracting mechanism of the present invention, when retracted, the card slides down to the inclined guide connected to the lower surface guide forming the conveying path, and in the inclined posture. It is held and separated from the feed roller. Therefore, with a simple configuration, it is possible to prevent dirt from being attached to the card and formation of a slip mark.

Further, a detecting means for detecting the card when the center of gravity of the card passes the starting end of the inclined guide is provided, and when the card is retracted, the pressing roller is separated from the feed roller based on the detection signal of the detecting means. In this case, the card surely slides down on the inclined guide, so that the retracting operation can be surely performed.

A card passage opening provided in a holding wall for holding the front end of the card slid on the inclined guide, a door for opening and closing the card passage opening, and a storage provided at a lower position than the card passage opening for storing the card. When the means and the card passage that communicates the card passage opening and the storage means are provided, it is possible to selectively collect the retreated cards by opening and closing the door in the collection box with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a card retraction mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part when FIG. 1 is viewed from the AA direction.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of a save operation.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the card retracting mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a conventional mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3A, 3B Card retraction mechanism 2 Lower surface guide 32 Feed roller 33 Presser roller 4 Tilt guide 41 Holding wall 42 Starting end portion 6 Optical sensor (detection means) 71 Card passage port 72 Door 73 Recovery box 74 Card path L Transport path P card

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A card withdrawal mechanism for withdrawing and returning a card to and from a transport path, wherein the lower surface guide of the transport path is tilted downward with respect to the card transport direction to guide and hold the card in an inclined posture. A guide is connected, and immediately before the start end of the inclined guide, a feed roller that gives a conveying force to the card is provided on the lower side of the conveying surface,
A presser roller that comes in contact with and separates from the feed roller is provided on the upper side of the conveying surface, and when the card is retracted, the card is conveyed by the feed roller and the presser roller until the center of gravity of the card passes the start end of the inclined guide. A card retracting mechanism, comprising: a control unit that separates the pressing roller from the feeding roller and presses the pressing roller into contact with the feeding roller when the card returns. 2. A detection means for detecting the card when the center of gravity of the card passes through the start end of the inclined guide is provided, and when the card is retracted, the pressing roller is separated from the feed roller based on the detection signal of the detection means. The card retraction mechanism according to claim 1, wherein 3. A card passage opening provided in a holding wall for holding a front end portion of a card slid on the inclined guide, a door for opening and closing the card passage opening, and a card provided lower than the card passage opening. 3. The card retracting mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: a storage means for storing a card, and the card passage that connects the card passage opening and the storage means.