JPH11306290A - Usage of information card and encoder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for using an information card capable of preventing itself from being encoded in the opposite direction and to provide an encoder capable of preventing insertion of the information card which is set in the direction opposite to the direction when it is encoded and preventing encoding in the opposite direction at low cost. SOLUTION: A magnetic card 1 which is erroneously transported in the opposite direction is detected by constituting the encoder of a supply part to supply the magnetic card 1, a transportation and recording part to transport the magnetic card 1, to record and authenticate information and a sorting part to sort the magnetic card which is encoded in the opposite direction, installing two optical sensors 12, 13 at a position to be orthogonally crossed with the transporting direction in the vicinity of an entrance of the transportation and recording part, detecting an edge of a long segment at the side with a notch and an edge at the side without the notch of the magnetic card 1 in the longitudinal direction by two optical sensors 12, 13 and reading difference in length in the longitudinal direction by the encoder.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of using an information card and an encoding apparatus, and more particularly, to a process of encoding an information card such as a magnetic card, an optical card, and a magneto-optical card, in which the information card is encoded in a reverse direction. The present invention relates to a method of using an information card and an encoding device for preventing the use of the information card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the process of encoding information on an information card, when the information card is set in an encoding device, the direction of the information card is changed by a picture (for example, an arrow indicating the direction of insertion) printed on the surface. I was checking it visually.

[0003] However, if the confirmation is insufficient, there is a problem that an information card in the reverse direction is mixed and encoded in the reverse direction.

Further, there is a method of incorporating an image processing device for reading and determining a picture in order to more surely confirm the insertion direction of the information card. However, there is a problem that the cost of the encoding device itself increases.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention eliminates these drawbacks, provides a method of using an information card which can be prevented from being encoded in the reverse direction, and provides an information card which is set in the opposite direction during encoding. An object of the present invention is to provide an encoding device that can prevent card mixing and prevent reverse encoding at low cost.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an information card in which an information recording portion is provided on at least a part of a base material, and a notch is provided at a corner of one of the two long sides. In the method of using, the difference between the length of the long side with the notch and the length of the long side without the notch is read, and the correctness of the transport direction is determined to thereby prevent the encoding in the reverse direction. How to use the card.

According to the present invention, there is provided a supply section for supplying an information card having an information recording section on at least a part of a base material and a cutout provided at a corner of one of the two long sides. A transport recording unit that transports the information card, records and authenticates the information, and a sorting unit that sorts the information card encoded in the reverse direction. Two sensors are installed at the positions where the information card is to be cut, and the two sensors detect the end of the long side of the information card with the notch and the end of the side without the notch in the longitudinal direction. This is an encoding device that detects a card erroneously transported in the reverse direction by reading the difference in length in the longitudinal direction.

That is, according to the present invention, a notch is provided at the corner of the card so that the left and right long sides are asymmetric, and the length of the card in the long side direction is detected by an optical sensor or a magnetic head.
It is characterized in that the card direction is determined.

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the card setting direction in the encoding operation by using a low-cost portion such as an optical sensor or a magnetic head without incorporating a costly device such as an image processing device. became.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a magnetic card according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The plan view and FIG. 2B are side views. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a system of the encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic card 1 of the present embodiment has a notch 2 at one corner of the leading end face in the transport direction 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the encoding device according to the present embodiment includes a supply unit for supplying the magnetic card 1,
It comprises a transport recording unit that transports the magnetic card 1 and records and authenticates information on the magnetic card 1, and a sorting unit that sorts the magnetic card 1 that has a recording failure and is recorded in the opposite direction.

The transport recording section is provided with a transport belt 17 and a transport roller 11 for transporting the magnetic card 1. Further, two optical sensors are installed near the entrance at a position orthogonal to the transport direction 10. The first optical sensor 12 is installed at a position where the notch passes, and the second optical sensor 13 is installed at a position where the end where the notch is not provided passes. Further, behind these two optical sensors, a write magnetic head 14 for encoding the magnetic card 1 and a read magnetic head 15 for authenticating the write magnetic head 14 are provided. In the sorting section, the discriminating section 1
6. A defective product storage section 18 and a good product storage section 19 are provided.

Next, a method for preventing the encoding in the reverse direction by using the magnetic card and the encoding device having the above-described configuration will be described.

In the encoding device shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic cards 1 are sequentially supplied from the lowermost layer, and the length of the card in the longitudinal direction is detected by the first optical sensor 12 and the second optical sensor 13. . The signal of the card length detected by the first optical sensor 12 and the second optical sensor 13 is measured by a counter or a timer in the control unit in FIG. If the output signals of the first optical sensor 12 and the second optical sensor 13 are input, it is determined that the setting direction of the card is correct, encoding is performed by the write magnetic head 14, and authentication is performed by the read magnetic head 15. When encoded correctly, the card passes through the discrimination unit 16 and is stored in the non-defective product storage unit 19.

FIG. 4 shows a signal waveform in the longitudinal direction of the card detected by the first optical sensor 12 and the second optical sensor 13. If the directions of the cards are opposite, the measured values of the signals detected by the first optical sensor 12 and the second optical sensor 13 are out of the setting range of the control unit, and It is stored in the non-defective product storage unit 18.

FIG. 5 shows a head output waveform when a magnetic head is used instead of the first optical sensor 12 and the second optical sensor 13 to detect the longitudinal direction of the card. The length of the card in this case is measured from the output at the front end to the output at the rear end.

In this embodiment, an example of a magnetic card has been described. However, similar effects can be obtained by applying the present invention to another information card, for example, an optical card, a magneto-optical card, or the like.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An encoding device that can provide a method of using an information card that can prevent encoding in the reverse direction, can also prevent mixing of an information card that is set in the opposite direction during encoding, and can prevent encoding in the opposite direction at low cost. Could be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a magnetic card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a plan view. FIG. 2B is a side view.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a system of an encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a waveform chart showing a detection signal in a longitudinal direction of a magnetic card by an optical sensor of the encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a waveform chart showing a detection signal in a longitudinal direction of the magnetic card by the magnetic head of the encoding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic card 2 Notch 3 Printing surface 10 Conveying direction 11 Conveying roller 12 First optical sensor 13 Second optical sensor 14 Magnetic head for writing 15 Magnetic head for reading 16 Discriminating part 17 Conveying belt 18 Defective product storage part 19 Goods storage department

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a method of using an information card, wherein an information recording portion is provided on at least a part of a base material, and a notch is provided at a corner of one of the two long sides, Use of an information card characterized in that the difference between the length of a long side on a certain side and the length of the long side on a side without the notch is read and encoding in the transport direction is determined to prevent encoding in the reverse direction. Method. 2. A supply unit for supplying an information card having an information recording unit on at least a part of a base material and having a notch provided at a corner of one of the two long sides, A transport recording unit that transports the information card, records and authenticates the information, and a sorting unit that sorts the information card encoded in the reverse direction, and a position orthogonal to the transport direction near the entrance of the transport recording unit. Two sensors are installed, and the two sensors detect in the longitudinal direction the end of the long side of the information card with the notch and the end of the information card without the notch. An encoding device characterized by detecting a card erroneously transported in the reverse direction by reading a difference in length in the direction.