JPS6123282A - Reading and writing device of ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid fetching an IC card into a card reading/writing device in a no-feed mode and also to confirm early an inapplicable state, by using the output signal of a card insertion detecting means to actuate a card lock means. CONSTITUTION:When a card C is inserted up to a place near its prescribed setting position, the 1st switch SW1 consisting of a light emitting element and a photodetecting element detects the insertion of the card C. This detection output energizes instantaneously the 1st solenoid 16. Thus the 1st lever 18 is retracted for release of the lock of a control lever 13. The released lever 13 is shifted to the left as shown in the figure with the force of a ring spring 14 and presses an action terminal of a lock pawl 5 to turn it clockwise. Thus the pawl 5 hooks the rear end of the csrd C loaded into a casing main body 1 with said rear end exposed through the center part 6 of a front panel 2. In case the power supply is cut off and a card reading/writing device is inapplicable, the lever 18 is never retracted by the solenoid 16 and keeps the lever 13 at an inside position of the casing 1 despite insertion of the card C. Then the loaded card C is ejected by a pull-back spring 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an IC card reading/interfering device, and more particularly to a mechanism that prevents a card from being taken into the device when the device is in an unusable state.

(Prior art) IC card reading/writing devices are usually configured so that the card can be inserted regardless of the operating state of the device. Configured to lock.

For this reason, with conventional devices, not only could the card only be checked for reading and writing even if the card was inserted, but the card could end up being inserted into a device that is in an unusable state due to a power cut, or the card could become unusable. There was a problem in that the contents of the cart in which the device was inserted could be read as is.

(1 point) The present invention was made in view of such problems, and
The purpose is to provide an IC card reading/writing device that can prevent a cart from being taken into the device when no power is being supplied, and can quickly confirm an unusable state.

(Configuration) That is, the feature of the present invention is that the IC
Sensors SW+ and SW2 for detecting card insertion state as means for detecting forceful insertion and the rear end of the card are held in a main body of the device in which a card is inserted and the contacts of the card are connected to a contact member. A card locking means consisting of a lock pawl 5 and 13 control levers acting on the lock pawl 5 is provided, and the lock pawl 5 is operated via the control lever 13 by a solenoid 16, 17, etc. activated by the output signal of the sensor SW, SW2. The point is that it is made to be displaced to the position -.

Therefore, details of the present invention will be explained below based on illustrated embodiments.

Figures 1 to 3 show the overall appearance of a device constituting an embodiment of the present invention, and the state before and after inserting an IC card. The protruding parts 4.4 on both sides of the front plate 3, which are concave-shaped when viewed from above, are used as spaces for locking claws 5.5 that hold the rear end of the card C. The recessed portion 6 is formed as a portion that exposes the rear end of the inserted card C so that the presence or absence of the card can be visually checked and the card can be inserted manually.

Furthermore, inside the casing body 1, two guide rails 7 are provided in the insertion direction of the card C, and a strong pullback spring 8 constantly applies a pulling force to the insertion slot 2 side. A received frame-shaped head holder 9 is mounted so that it can be pushed inward by the card C, and furthermore, one contact head 10 is mounted within this holder 9 so as to be able to move up and down. When the casing 1 moves inward with the holder 9, the casing bottom plate 11
It is configured to be guided by an inclined guide surface 12 provided on the card and pushed up from a non-contact position to a position where it comes into contact with a contact point on the back of the card.

Next, the characteristic parts of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2.3 and 4, which are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a control lever for restricting the rotation of the lock claw 5 marked with "-" between the card C restraining position and the non-retaining position, which is attached to the casing 1 so as to be movable parallel to the head holder 9. 4, its tip is connected to the working end of the lock pawl 5, and its rear end is connected via a ring spring 14 to one end of a slider 15 mounted so as to be movable in contact with the head holder 9. When the card C is not inserted, the control lever 13 is opened by the expanding force of the ring spring 14, and the lock claw 5 is opened by the expanding force of the ring spring 14.
(Fig. 4 (a)), but if the slider 15 is pushed by the head holder 9 and moves in the direction away from the control lever 13, as shown in Fig. 3 (b), In addition, the control lever 13 is configured to be biased in the direction of pressing the active end of the mouth/ink claw 5 by the inverted ring spring 14 (No. 417 (b)), and this control lever 13 is also controlled by two solenoids 16,17.

The first solenoid 16 is connected to the card C'! L+7. It is equipped with a function to release the control lever 13 in the direction of pressing the mouth/neck claw just before it is pressed, and a function to disable the manual eject button 20 during read/write. When a pulse-like detection signal is received from the first switch SW1, the first lever 18 is temporarily energized, the first lever 18 is attracted, the first lever 18 is released from the control lever 1F by the claw 18a, and the first lever 18 is released, and the first lever 18 is released and the first lever 18 is released from the control lever 13 by the claw 18a. A second switch 5l1 detects the mounting state of the card C while allowing movement in the direction of the card C.
12, when the computer starts a read/write operation, the first lever 18 is attracted and held by the output signal from the computer during that period, and is positioned within the push area of the manual eject button 20.

On the other hand, the second solenoid 17 has the function of receiving the E signal from the computer and controlling it to release /< -13 from the captive position 11 of the lock claw 5; It is configured to input a signal to be output based on a take-out signal from the computer or a take-out signal inputted from the keyboard, and when either of these signals is received, the second Reno person - 19 is sucked and controlled/operated to release the lock of \-13.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 indicates a roller provided with a card insertion path number, and 22 indicates a connector.

Next, the operation of the above-described device will be explained.

Before the card C is inserted as shown in FIG. 19 is released and the ring spring 1
4 has moved inward of the casing body 1, that is, to the right in the figure. Therefore, in this state, the tip 5a of the lock claw 5 is retracted from the insertion path of the card C as shown in FIG. 4(A) (FIG. 2(B) and FIG. 4(A)).

In this state, when the card C is inserted through the insertion slot 2 and the head holder 9 is pushed into the head holder 9 with its tip while resisting the pullback spring 8, the holder 9 presses the slider 15 in the process and gradually controls the slider 15. /<-13. Therefore, the ring spring 14 is connected to the lever 13.
At the point where the connecting point of the slider 15 is reversed, the lever 13 is reversed clockwise in the figure, and its expanding action causes the lever 13 to be pushed to the left in the figure in the opposite direction. Incidentally, at this point, the control lever 13 is still restrained by the first lever 18, so it remains in that state (FIG. 4(b)).

Under these conditions, the card C continues to be inserted until it reaches a predetermined mounting position, and the first switch SW consisting of a light emitting element and a light receiving element detects the insertion of the card C and outputs its detection output. momentarily energizes the first solenoid 16, attracts the first lever 18, and sets the control lever 1.
Release the lock of 3 (Fig. 4 (c)).

The disengaged control lever 13 moves to the left in the figure due to the expansion force of the ring spring 14, presses the active end of the lock pawl 5, rotates it clockwise in the figure, and moves the rear end. is exposed from the central portion 6 of the front plate 2, and locks the rear end of the card C inserted into the casing body 1 (Fig. 3 (b)).
). Then, this locked state 1F is controlled and the second lever 1 falls into the locking part as the 8-13 moves to the left.
9 (Fig. 3 C port) Fig. 4 (bar))
.

When card C is completely set in this way, the second
The computer starts a read/write operation by the output signal from the switch 5l12, but at the same time as this reading, the first solenoid 16 is energized again by the unretrieval prohibition signal outputted from the computer, and the second lever 19 is attracted, and a part of it is 18b makes it impossible to push the manual eject button 20.

Next, when the reading of the card C is completed, an eject signal output from the computer or an eject enable signal from the computer and a signal from the keyboard is input to the second solenoid 17. Therefore, the second renoid 17, which is excited by this signal, attracts and controls the second lever 19, releases the restraint of 8-13, and frees the lock pawl 5. By the way, since the strong force of the pullback spring 8 is acting on the lock pawl 5 via the head holder 9 and the card C, the unlocked lock pawl 5 resists the biasing force of the ring spring 14. The control lever 13 is moved to the right in the figure and rotated counterclockwise to release the car 1''C from the machine (Figure 4 (a)).

The explanation below is based on the case when the device is operating normally, but if the power is cut off and the device is in an unusable state, even if card C is inserted, the first lever 18 will not operate as a solenoid. The control lever 13 is held at the position inside the casing 1 without being attracted by the lever 16 (FIG. 4(b)).

Therefore, under such conditions, regardless of whether the card C is inserted or not, the lock claw 5 is retracted from the insertion path of the card C, and the inserted card C is pulled by the spring 8.
It is discharged as is.

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention regarding a card locking means, in which a suitable link mechanism 36 is connected to the active end of a locking pawl 35 disposed on both side projecting portions 4.4 of the front plate 3. The solenoid 37 is energized by a switch (not shown) for detecting the card insertion state to project the claw 35a at the tip of the locking claw into the insertion path of the card C, while removing the card from the computer. Extraction signal output by signal or keyboard operation,
Alternatively, the solenoid 37 is demagnetized by a swift operated by the manual eject button, and the claw 35a at the tip of the locking claw is removed.
This mechanism is configured to evacuate the card C from the insertion path of the card C, and this mechanism can provide the same effect as described above.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the cart locking means is provided and the card insertion detecting means +4i1-'
Since it is configured to be activated by No. S, it is possible not only to accurately position the card and securely hold it, but also to prevent the card from being inserted if the power is cut off and the device is in an unusable state. In addition to preventing the card from being taken into the device, it is also possible to quickly confirm that the device is unusable from the card insertion failure status rn:'.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for reducing the size of an uninvented embodiment of the present invention with the lid removed; Figures 2 (a), (b) and 3 (
A) (B) is a cross-sectional side view and a plan view showing the state before and after the IC card is inserted, FIGS. 4 (A) to (C) are schematic illustrations of the operation of the lock mechanism, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of an apparatus showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1...Casing body 2...Insertion port 5.3
5...Lock claw 9...Head holder 10...Contact hend 13...Control lever 14...Ring spring 15...Slider 16, 17', 37... ...Solenoid 18, engineering 9...
...Lever 20...Manual eject button SW...Switch C...IC card

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a device in which an IC card is inserted through an insertion slot and the contacts of the card are connected to a contact member connected to a computer, the device includes a detection means for detecting insertion of the card into the main body, and is activated by an output signal of the detection means. An IC card reading/writing device characterized by being provided with a card locking means.