JPH11250987A - Interlock mechanism for ic card reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To handle an IC card safely and surely by electrically controlling an electro magnet which positions and fixes the IC card, and selectively using a releasing action or a release disabling action of the locked state. SOLUTION: An inserted IC card is coupled with a lock section 42, and an operation lever 40 is rotated CCW against the exciting force of a spring 48 by an inserting action. When the IC card is inserted to a normal position, a detector 60 detects a detection piece 44, a trigger magnet 28 is excited to attract a metal piece 30, a lock releasing lever 32 is held, and the projection 16 of a lock lever 12 is coupled with the notch of the IC card to position it. When an information exchange is completed between the IC card and a card holder 10, the excitation of the magnet 28 is released, the metal piece 30 is not attracted, a lock arm 34 extending from the lock releasing lever 32 is rotated CW by the action of a torsion coil spring 38 and pushes up the lock lever 12 to release its coupling, and the IC card is automatically discharged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card in which a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) is incorporated in a card or the like and configured to exchange information with an IC card having a storage and arithmetic function. The present invention relates to an interlock mechanism of a reader / writer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An IC card in which a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) is incorporated in a card or the like and has storage and arithmetic functions is provided.
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an IC card reader / writer configured to house information in a card holder and exchange information with an IC card.

Such an IC card reader / writer is provided with an eject lever for taking out the IC card after the information transfer to / from the IC card arranged at an appropriate position in the card holder is completed. I have. However, the eject lever is fixed by the interlock mechanism while information is being exchanged with the IC card, so that the eject lever cannot be operated.

As this interlock mechanism, a drive source having an operating rod which moves forward and backward by exciting a solenoid is disposed at a position facing a locking piece at a tip end of an eject lever movable in a longitudinal direction. There is known a configuration in which a swingable lock lever is disposed between the drive source and the locking piece of the eject lever.

However, the center of the lock lever is pivotally supported by a pin, one end of the lever is pivotally supported by an operating rod of the drive source, and the other end of the lever is urged by a spring. In the case of excitation, the lock lever is configured to swing to the retracted position so that the eject lever can be moved. Further, the lock lever is
During the transfer of information to and from the IC card, the locking lever swings against the urging force of the spring due to the retracting action of the operating rod by the excitation of the drive source, whereby the eject lever is moved. The forward movement is prevented by the contact with the lock lever, and the pushing operation of the lever becomes impossible, so that the erroneous operation of the reader / writer can be prevented (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-219).
No. 973).

[0006]

As described above, the IC
With an interlock mechanism that positions and locks the card,
The drive source that operates the lock lever has a structure that can use a type that performs a lock operation only by an excitation action by energization and performs a single operation of releasing a lock when the power is not energized.

Therefore, in such an interlock mechanism, when an excessive force is applied through an operation mechanism such as an eject lever, the power consumption increases due to the action of the load, and
Further, there has been a problem that the lock lever is disengaged by the acting force or the interlock mechanism is broken.

An object of the present invention is to control a trigger magnet for positioning and fixing an IC card without providing an operation mechanism such as an eject lever.
The IC can be released by releasing the positioning locked state of the IC card.
An IC card capable of selectively using an operation for discharging a card and an operation for disabling the positioning and locking state of the IC card, and which can safely handle the IC card. An object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer interlock mechanism.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, an interlock mechanism of an IC card reader / writer according to the present invention uses an IC card (58) inserted from a card insertion slot (54a) with a card holder ( In an IC card reader / writer that is stored in the IC card 10 and exchanges information with the IC card, the IC card (58) is inserted into the card holder (10) by an operation of being inserted, and the IC card is ejected. Operation lever (40) that is pivotally supported to rotate against the urging force in the direction
And a protrusion (1) engageable with the notch (62) of the IC card (58).
A lock lever (6) having a locking portion (18) extending in the longitudinal direction, the protrusion being urged in a direction to engage with the notch of the IC card, and being rotatably supported by the shaft. 12) and an arm provided with a metal piece (30) at the other end and a locking arm (34) provided rotatably at one end, and this locking arm is used to engage the lock lever (12). A lock release lever (32) in which one end of an elastic member (38) biasing in a direction of contacting a stop portion (18) is locked to a part of the operation lever (40); The metal piece (30) of the lock release lever (32) is attracted to hold the lock release lever against the urging force of the elastic member (38), and the protrusion (16) of the lock lever (12) and the IC card The operation lever is held in a direction in which the engagement state with the notch portion (62) of (58) is maintained, and the engagement state is released and the IC card is ejected when the power is not supplied.
And a trigger magnet (28) for rotating the (40) by the biasing force of the elastic member (38).

According to the interlock mechanism of the IC card reader / writer according to the present invention, by controlling the trigger magnet for positioning and fixing the IC card, the positioning and locking of the IC card can be performed without providing an operation mechanism such as an eject lever. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which an operation in which the state can be released and an operation in which the state cannot be released can be selectively used. That is, in the case of the type in which the trigger magnet is attracted and fixed when energized, the IC card can be automatically ejected when not energized or in the event of a power outage. IC in energizing time
This has the advantage that the card can be ejected and the power consumption can be reduced.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of an interlock mechanism of an IC card reader / writer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of an IC card reader / writer having an interlock mechanism according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a card holder for storing an IC card as viewed from the bottom. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a card holder for storing an IC card as viewed from above, and FIG.
It is the top view which looked at the card holder in the state where C card was stored from the bottom.

In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a card holder for accommodating an IC card.
A lock lever 12 for positioning the IC card 58 (FIG. 3) housed therein by engagement with the notch 62 (FIG. 3) of the IC card is rotatably supported.

The lock lever 12 has a protrusion 16 formed on a side surface thereof for engaging with a notch of the IC card. The lock lever 12 further extends from a stepped portion 12a formed on the side surface and has a locking portion at the tip. A lever 19 is formed. The end of the lever 19 from the stepped portion 12 a is located on the upper surface of the card holder 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lock lever 12 is
One end is locked to the locking portion 20 of the protruding portion 14 and is urged clockwise by a torsion coil spring 22 as an elastic member wound around a boss at the center of rotation of the lock lever 12. The rotation of the lever 12 due to the force is prevented by the contact with the protrusion 24 formed on the side surface of the card holder 10.

On the other hand, a trigger magnet 28 is provided on the back surface of the front corner of the card holder 10 via a bracket 26.
Is provided. In this case, the trigger magnet 28 can be configured to be able to selectively use an operation that can release the positioning and locking state of the IC card and an operation that cannot release the positioning and locking state of the IC card by electrical control.

That is, the trigger magnet 28
Can selectively adopt two types according to the purpose of use. One type is an electromagnet type solenoid (for example, a trigger magnet CM-1DC type manufactured by Shirokane Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) which can be attracted and fixed by the action of a magnetic force when energized, and the other type is a non-energized type. It is a permanent magnet type solenoid (for example, a trigger magnet CM-8 manufactured by Shirokane Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) that can sometimes be attracted and fixed by magnetic force.

Therefore, when the former electromagnet type solenoid is used as the trigger magnet 28, the interlock mechanism of this embodiment can operate as follows.

At the tip of the card holder 100, a lock release lever 32 provided with a metal piece 30 as an attraction portion is rotatably supported by a shaft. A trigger magnet 28 for attracting the metal piece 30 is formed of an electromagnet. Therefore, it can be fixed by suction when energized.

The lock release lever 32 has a locking arm 34 extending perpendicularly to a side surface thereof.
Is bent further rearward to be positioned in the same phase as the locking portion 18 of the lever 19 provided on the lock lever 12 on the upper surface of the card holder 10.

As a result, the distal end of the locking arm 34 of the lock release lever 32 can be engaged with the distal end locking portion 18 of the lever 19 provided on the lock lever 12 by this rotating operation.

Further, a torsion coil spring 38 as an elastic member is wound around a boss 36 at the center of rotation of the lock release lever 32, and each output end of the coil spring 38 is connected to a rear end of the lock release lever 32. And locking portions 32a and 32b formed in between.

An operation lever 40 for ejecting an IC card is provided at a corner of the upper end of the card holder 10.
It is rotatably supported by a shaft 41 implanted on the upper surface of the card holder 10. L-shaped projections 42 and 44 are formed on the side surface of the distal end of the operation lever 40. One of the horizontal pieces of the projections is used as a locking piece (42) and the vertical piece is used as a detection piece (44). ) (See FIG. 2).

Then, on the intermediate side surface of the operation lever 40,
A projection 45 is formed, which faces the outside of the boss 36 of the lock release lever 32 and the locking portion 32b, and is positioned so as to be able to engage with the extended output end of the torsion coil spring 38.

Further, a hook 43 is formed at the tip of the operation lever 40 shown in FIG. 2, and the hook 43 is connected to the other end of a tension spring 48 having one end locked to a hook 46 of an insertion slot of the card holder 10. To lock the operation lever 4
0 is urged counterclockwise.

In this case, the projection 50 formed on the lower surface of the operation lever 40 abuts on the bent step of the locking arm 34 to prevent the operation lever 40 from rotating counterclockwise. Further, the projecting piece 4 at the tip of the operating lever 40
Reference numerals 2 and 44 invade into the notch 52 formed at the tip of the card holder 10 and face the inside of the card holder 10.

Further, as shown in FIG.
In the vicinity of the pivot shaft 41, there is formed a fan-shaped stepped recess centered on the pivot shaft 41, and an engaging portion 55 having an L-shaped guide hole 56 formed therethrough in the stepped recess. Is provided.

Therefore, when assembling the operating lever 40, the bent locking piece 57 at the tip of the card holder 10 is passed through one end of the L-shaped guide hole 56, and then the operating lever 40 is inserted.
Is rotated and locked to the engaging portion 55 to prevent detachment from the shaft 41.

By fixing the circuit board 59 made of a synthetic resin or the like on the bottom surface of the card holder 10 in this manner, information can be transferred to and from the IC card properly stored in the card holder 10. A reader / writer to perform is configured.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the IC card 58 is inserted through the IC card insertion slot 54a of the operation panel 54 inserted into the front of the card holder 10, this IC
The leading end of the card 58 engages with the locking portion 42 of the operation lever 40, and with this insertion operation, the operation lever 40 rotates counterclockwise against the biasing force of the tension spring 48, and the IC card 58 The card holder 10 is artificially inserted to a position where it comes into contact with the stopper 61 at the front end.

In this case, a force is applied to the lock release lever 32 to separate the tip of the lock lever 32 from the trigger magnet 28 by the rotation of the operation lever 40, but the metal piece 30 at the tip is attracted to the electromagnet of the trigger magnet 28. Therefore, the clockwise rotation of the lock release lever 32 is prevented (see FIG. 1).

When the IC card 58 is inserted into an appropriate position of the card holder 10, the protrusion 16 of the lock lever 12
Is engaged with the notch 62 of the IC card 58 and positioned.

Next, when the exchange of information with the positioned IC card 58 is completed, and this is confirmed,
A command signal for unlocking the IC card 58 is issued. Thus, when the trigger magnet 28 is de-energized in a short time (for example, 10 msec), the polarity of the magnet is reversed and this magnetic force is released, and the metal piece 30 of the lock release lever 32 separates from the trigger magnet 28. .

Accordingly, the lock release lever 32 rotates clockwise by the action of the torsion coil spring 38 until it comes into contact with the locking portion 32b. By this turning action, the locking arm 34 extending from the lock release lever 32 also turns, and the locking arm 34
When the lock lever 12 comes into contact with the locking portion 18, the lock lever 12 is rotated counterclockwise to release the engagement with the IC card 58 (see FIG. 3).

In the above description, the case in which an electromagnet type solenoid is used as the trigger magnet 28 has been described. However, in the case where a permanent magnet type solenoid which is attracted and fixed when not energized is used, the above-mentioned electromagnet type solenoid is attracted when energized. On the other hand, the suction operation is performed when power is not supplied.

Therefore, when a permanent magnet type solenoid is used, the IC card can be automatically ejected at the time of energization by the interlock mechanism described above.

That is, according to the present invention, in any of the above types of trigger magnets 28, if the electric attraction is released, the IC card 58 causes the operation lever 40 to rotate clockwise by the elastic action of the tension spring 48. While rotating, the IC card 58 can be easily discharged to the outside by the spring elastic force.

In this case, if the IC card reader / writer is connected to, for example, a personal computer or the like to perform electrical control, it is possible to easily discharge the IC card by remote control.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and many design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above-described embodiment, according to the interlock mechanism of the IC card reader / writer of the present invention, the trigger magnet for positioning and fixing the IC card can be provided without providing an operation mechanism such as an eject lever. By controlling, an operation in which the positioning and locking state of the IC card can be released to directly eject the IC card and an operation in which the positioning and locking state of the IC card cannot be released can be selectively used. It can be. Therefore, for example, when a trigger magnet composed of an electromagnet type solenoid is used, the
The card can be automatically ejected, and many excellent advantages can be obtained, such as that the IC card as the information medium means can be handled in a safe state according to the surrounding environment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an IC having an interlock mechanism according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of one embodiment of a card reader / writer, as viewed from the bottom of a card holder for storing an IC card.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a card holder for storing an IC card as viewed from above.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the card holder in which the IC card is stored as viewed from the bottom.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Card holder 12 Lock lever 12a Stepped part 14 Projection part 16 Projection part 18, 20 Lock part 19 Lever 22 Torsion coil spring (elastic member) 24 Projection part 26 Bracket 28 Triker magnet 30 Metal piece 32 Lock release lever 32a, 32b Locking portion 34 Locking arm 36 Boss 38 Torsion coil spring (elastic member) 40 Operating lever 41 Rotating shaft 42 Projection piece (locking piece) 43, 46 Hook 44 Projection piece (detection piece) 45, 50 Projection 48 Tension spring 51 Guide hole 52 Notch 54 Operation panel 54a IC card insertion slot 55 Engagement part 56 Guide hole 57 Bend locking piece 58 IC card 59 Circuit board 60 Detector 61 Stopper 62 Notch

Claims (1)

[Claims] An IC card reader / writer for storing an IC card (58) inserted from an IC card insertion slot (54a) in a card holder (10) and exchanging information with the IC card. An operation lever (40) pivotally supported so as to abut against an urging force in a direction of ejecting the IC card by contacting the IC card (58) into the holder (10), and It has a projection (16) that can be engaged with the notch (62) of the card (58) and has a locking portion (18) extending in the longitudinal direction, and engages the projection with the notch of the IC card. A lock lever (12) that is urged in the direction of rotation and pivotally supported, and a locking arm (34) that pivotally supports one end and has a metal piece (30) at the other end. ), And one end of an elastic member (38) that urges the locking arm in a direction in which the locking arm comes into contact with the locking portion (18) of the lock lever (12). A lock release lever (32) partially locked, and a magnetic force acts upon energization to attract the metal piece (30) of the lock release lever (32) to bias the lock release lever against the elastic member (38). And the protrusion of the lock lever (12).
(16) and the notch (62) of the IC card (58) are held in an engaged state, and when the power is not supplied, the engaged state is released and the operating lever (40) is elastically moved in a direction to eject the IC card. An interlock mechanism for an IC card reader / writer, comprising: a trigger magnet (28) rotated by the urging force of a member (38).