KR100527998B1 - Method of erasing and printing images in rewritable card processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an erase / write method of a rewritable card processing apparatus capable of erasing and writing to a rewritable card by using one thermal recording element.

To this end, the present invention provides a rewritable card processing apparatus for performing recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element on a rewritable card having a thermally reversible recording material which develops and discolors when heated. All the heating elements are heated with the energy for erasing to erase the rewritable layer of the rewritable card, and only the heating elements corresponding to the pixels to be continuously recorded are additionally generated as much as the energy corresponding to the difference between the recording energy and the erasing energy. By performing recording, the thermal recording element is used to effectively control the amount of energy required for erasing and writing of the rewritable card, thereby improving erasing characteristics, and erasing and writing time are performed by performing erasing and writing in line units. It is shortened to realize high speed, and the erasing element and the thermal recording element are separate from the conventional heater bar and hot stamping method. By using a heat-sensitive recording element as that which is necessary it is possible to realize downsizing and cost reduction.

Description

Method of erasing / writing the rewritable card processing unit {METHOD OF ERASING AND PRINTING IMAGES IN REWRITABLE CARD PROCESSING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to an erasing / writing method of a rewritable card processing apparatus capable of erasing and writing to a rewritable card by using one thermal recording element, and more particularly, to erasing and writing from the thermal recording element. A rewritable card processing apparatus for simultaneously erasing and writing at high speed by applying thermal energy to a rewritable card.

Most commonly used cards record data once on the surface through embossing or thermal transfer recording, and update the changed contents by using a magnetic stripe, an IC memory or a high frequency chip. On the other hand, in order to update the surface record, the situation is using the method of recording in sequence, such as used in bonus cards or prepaid cards.

Recently, a card having a printing surface on which a thermally reversible recording material is laminated, a magnetic recording surface for recording magnetic data, or a high-frequency chip for wirelessly updating data has emerged, thereby erasing previously recorded contents and updating contents on the printing surface. I can do it. For example, a configuration example of a rewritable card is shown in Fig. 6, wherein the rewritable card is a card having a recording display portion that can be erased and recorded.

The rewritable card will be described in detail. The base layer 603 of the card intermediate layer is made of polyethylene (PET), PVC, or the like, and a high frequency chip and an antenna are built in the base layer 603. have. The rewritable layer 602 on the base layer 603 is a recording display by a thermoreversible material, and the protective layer 601 thereon protects the rewritable layer 602. If necessary, a magnetic recording layer 604 and a cover layer 605 for magnetic recording may be sequentially stacked below the base layer 603.

7, the state change of the thermoreversible recording material constituting the rewritable layer 602 will be described. The X axis represents temperature and the Y axis represents the degree of transparency and color development. Initially, the recording material is transparent (point E) at room temperature (T0 or less). When the temperature exceeds T0 (point B) by heating, the recording material becomes transparent, and becomes the maximum transparent state between the temperature T1 (point C) and T1 '(point C'), and it is transparent even when cooled to room temperature (T0 or below). The state (point E) is maintained.

When the recording material is heated to T1 'or more, color development starts and the color becomes maximum coloration from T2 (D point) to T2' (D 'point). It is used when printing because it maintains state. When the temperature rises above T0 (point B) by heating in the previously developed state (point A), the recording material becomes transparent and becomes the maximum transparent state between temperatures T1 (point C) to T1 '(point C'). Even when cooled to room temperature (T0 or less), the transparent state (point E) is maintained and used for erasing. If the recording material is heated above T1 ', color development starts again, and the color develops from T2 (D point) to T2' (D 'point), and if it is cooled below the temperature T0 again, points B and A It keeps color development afterwards.

Accordingly, the rewritable card has been intricately erased, and various methods have been invented. However, since erasing requires applying a lower area of thermal energy than recording, it is necessary to appropriately control the time of maintaining a constant temperature and applying heat. Previously devised methods include a heater bar method for providing heat corresponding to the width of a card by installing a heater corresponding to the width of the card, and a hot stamping method for installing a heater corresponding to the area of the card and pressing for a predetermined time when the card is returned. Mainly used.

However, these methods were disadvantageous in that it took a long time to raise and lower the temperature of the heater. In other words, by supplementing the heater at all times to compensate for this, there is a risk of fire due to overheating, and various problems have been pointed out that the accuracy of temperature control due to overshoot is poor.

A method using one thermal recording element has also been proposed, but it has been pointed out that the rewritable card erases the entire surface upon insertion and writes upon ejection, thereby increasing the processing time and making it difficult to speed up.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the related art. By using a thermal recording element, the present invention effectively controls the amount of energy required for erasing and writing, thereby improving erasing characteristics, and simultaneously erasing and writing by scanning lines. By shortening the erasing and writing time, the speed is realized, and the miniaturization and low cost can be realized by using one thermal recording element, which is required separately for the erasing element and the thermal recording element in the conventional heater bar and hot stamping method. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of erasing and recording a rewritable card processing apparatus.

In the rewritable card processing apparatus for recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element, a rewritable card having a thermally reversible recording material which develops and discolors as it is heated, is provided. In the thermosensitive recording element, all the heating elements are generated by the energy for erasing on a scanning line basis, and the erasing is performed on the rewritable layer of the rewritable card. It is characterized in that the recording is performed by additionally generating heat for energy corresponding to the difference.

In addition, the present invention provides a rewritable card processing apparatus for recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element on a rewritable card having a thermally reversible recording material that develops and discolors as it is heated. Only the heating element corresponding to the pixel for recording the rewritable layer of the rewritable card is heated by an energy corresponding to the difference between the recording energy and the erasing energy to start recording. Then, the entire heating element is heated by the erasing energy. And erasing and additional writing in parallel.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for processing a rewritable card according to an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention provides a rewriter capable of erasing and writing to a rewritable card using one thermal recording element 107. The erasing and recording method of the blister card processing apparatus, which is a rewritable card processing that simultaneously performs erasing and writing at a high speed by superimposing thermal energy necessary for erasing and writing from the thermal recording element 107 to a rewritable card. It is a device.

When the rewritable card is inserted along the dotted line through the card input / discharge port 101 of the rewritable card processing apparatus, the door sensor 102 detects and drives the driving motor 111 to move from left to right. do. When the drive motor 111 is driven, the front and rear drive rollers 105 and 110 rotate at a predetermined speed to convey the rewritable card to the inside, and a magnet reader or IC memory reader / writer installed under the door sensor 102. Alternatively, the card recorder 103, such as a high frequency reader / writer, checks and updates the contents of the rewritable card. Guide rollers 104 and 109 are engaged with the driving rollers 105 and 110.

When the rewritable card that is moved by the recording position sensor 106 behind the drive roller 105 is detected, it is conveyed by a predetermined conveying amount for erasing / recording, and the thermal recording element 107 and recording for recording / erasing are recorded. The erase roller 108 performs erase and write operations. The erase and write operations will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Therefore, the rewritable card on which the erase recording is completed is discharged in the conveying direction or toward the card input / discharge port 101 through the drive roller 110.

2 is a block diagram of a controller according to an embodiment of a rewritable card processing apparatus of the present invention. The present invention relates to a rewritable card processing apparatus for recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element 107 on a rewritable card having a thermoreversible recording material which is colored and discolored as it is heated.

In the thermal recording element 107, the heat generating element 213 is heated with erasing energy to erase the rewritable layer of the rewritable card, and only the heating element 213 corresponding to the pixel to be continuously recorded is energy for recording. And recording is performed by additionally generating an energy corresponding to the difference between the erase energy and the erase energy.

As another method, the thermal recording element 107 generates heat by heating only the heating element 213 corresponding to the pixel for recording the rewritable layer of the rewritable card with energy corresponding to the difference between the recording energy and the erasing energy. After that, all the heat generating elements 213 are heated by the energy for erasing so that erasing and writing are performed in parallel.

The thermal recording element 107 for implementing this is composed of a shift register 211, a latch register 212, a heating element 213, and a thermistor 214. The shift register 211 is a clock and data of the data transmission unit 204, the latch register 212 to which the shift register 211 is connected, the latch of the system control unit 206 is connected, the latch register 212 is connected The heating element 213 is connected to the strobe signal of the recording / erasing time controller 208 and the output of the thermistor 214 is connected to the A / D converter 210.

A data memory 201 for inputting and storing character image data from an external device such as a computer, a data converter 202 for converting from the data memory 201 into predetermined bitmap data for recording, and a line memory for storing the same; 203, and a data transfer section 204 for transferring data from the line memory 203 to the thermal recording element 107 is provided in sequence.

The thermal recording element 107 latches the data transmitted according to the shift register 211 and the system control unit 206 latch signals for temporarily storing data transmitted from the data transfer unit 204 in the thermal recording element 107. The latch register 212, the contents of the latch register 212 and the heating element 213 corresponding to the number of lines of pixels generated during the strobe signal period generated by the write / erase time controller 208, and the thermal recording element. Thermistor 214 which detects the temperature of 107 is comprised.

In addition, the present invention is a temperature detector 210 that detects the temperature from the resistance value of the thermistor 214 through the analog / digital (A / D) conversion A / D conversion unit 210, the temperature detection unit 210 The recording / erasing time control unit 208 for controlling the energization time according to the detected temperature, erasing and recording, the entrance sensor 102 for detecting the rewritable card, the recording position sensor 106, and the driving motor 111 And a motor controller 209 for driving, and a system controller 206 using a microprocessor or the like for overall control of this process.

The system controller 206 includes a data memory 201, a data converter 202, a line memory 203, a data transmitter 204, a thermal recording element 107, a write / erase time controller 210, and A. The / D converter 210 and the motor driver 209 are connected to each other.

The operation of the rewritable card processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 3, and FIG. 3 shows the rewritable card passing through the thermal recording element 107 and the recording erase roller 108 shown in FIG. This is the case in which erasing precedes writing.

The character image data input from the computer or the like is stored in the data memory 201 in order. This character image data is composed of character code or image data. When the rewritable card is inserted into the processing apparatus, when the card has reached the corresponding position by the entrance sensor 102 and the recording position sensor 106 in the apparatus, the system control unit 206 converts the data into a data converting unit. In 202, the character image data is converted into bitmap data and stored in the line memory 203. The data conversion operation continues until the capacity of the line memory 203 runs out, and the portion which has been recorded can be recycled to store the next data.

When the rewritable card reaches the predetermined position between the thermal recording element 107 and the recording erasing roller 108 via the recording position sensor 106, the erasure and recording of the present invention is started. First, erasing is performed by controlling the energy required for erasing via the thermal recording element 107. For erasing, the data of all the pixels are generated by the system controller 206 which is a microprocessor with values corresponding to black, and are synchronized with the clock signal (3-1 in FIG. 3) through the data transfer unit 204. 107 is transferred to the shift register 211.

The clock signal is generated by the number of pixels in one line as shown in 3-1 of FIG. 3. When the transfer of one line of erase data (see 3-2 in FIG. 3: 301) is completed, the system controller 206 generates an erase data latch pulse (see 3-3 in FIG. 3: 303) to perform thermal recording. Data stored in the shift register 211 of the element 107 is moved to the latch register 212. When the strobe pulse Te (refer to 3-4 of FIG. 3: 306) for erasing is applied by the write / erase time controller 208 after the latch, all the heating elements 213 generate heat, corresponding to T1-T1 'of FIG. When the temperature reaches, the line is cleared. At this time, the amount of heat generated by the heating element 213 is expressed by the following equation.

We = V ² / R x Te

Here, We is the thermal energy for erasing generated in the heating element 213, V is the voltage applied to the heating element 213, R is the resistance of the heating element 213, Te is the strobe pulse width for erasing. Since R is fixed, the thermal energy is proportional to V and Te.

Therefore, the thermal energy can be effectively controlled by controlling the voltage or strobe pulse width applied to the heating element 213 of the thermal recording element 107. In addition, the strobe pulse (see 5-1 of FIG. 5) may be a chopping driving to interrupt at a constant frequency as shown in FIG. 5 to apply a long time at a low temperature to increase the erase effect. 5-2 of FIG. 5 shows strobe pulses during chopping drive.

While applying the erasing strobe pulse (see 3-4 in FIG. 3: 306), the recording data stored in the line memory 203 is transmitted to the clock signal (FIG. 3) by the system control unit 206 through the data transfer unit 204. FIG. 3-1) is transferred to the shift register 211 of the thermal recording element 107. The clock signal is generated by the number of pixels in one line. 3-5 of FIG. 3 shows signals of the driving motor 111, and the motor is moved by one line at the portion where the two lines cross each other.

When one line of write data transfer (see 3-2 in Fig. 3: 302) is completed and the erase strobe pulse is finished, the system controller 206 sends a write data latch pulse (see 3-3 in Fig. 3: 304). The data generated in the shift register 211 of the thermal recording element 107 is moved to the latch register 212.

The data latched in the latch register 212 is a heating element corresponding to black which should be recorded when an additional strobe pulse Ta (see 3-4 in FIG. 3: 307) for writing is applied by the write / erase time controller 208. Only (212) will generate heat. At this time, the amount of heat generated by the heating element 212 is expressed by the following equation.

Wa = V ² / R x Ta

Here, Wa is the additional heat energy generated in the heating element 212, V is the voltage applied to the heating element 212, R is the resistance of the heating element 212, Ta is the additional strobe pulse width. Since R is fixed, thermal energy is proportional to V and Ta.

Therefore, the thermal energy can be effectively controlled by controlling the voltage or strobe pulse width applied to the thermal recording element 107. In addition, the strobe pulse may be subjected to chopping driving to interrupt at a constant frequency rather than continuous as shown in FIG. 5 to increase the recording effect.

If the recording data is white, the energy of We is applied and the erase is performed. If the data is black, the energy Wp corresponding to the sum of the erasing energy We and the additional energy Wa is applied as follows. The temperature up to is applied and recording is performed.

 Wp = We + Wa

4 illustrates an example in which the additional strobe pulse Ta and the strobe pulse Te for erasing are reversed, and pass through the thermal recording element 107 and the recording erase roller 108 shown in FIG. 1. In the rewritable card, recording is preceded by erasing on a line-by-line basis. Here, the clock signal is generated as many as the number of pixels in one line as shown in 4-1 of FIG.

First, the recording data stored in the line memory 203 is transferred to the shift register 211 in synchronization with the clock signal (4-1 in FIG. 4) via the data transfer unit 204 (see 4-2 in FIG. 4). 401), and when one line of write data transfer is completed, the system controller 206 generates a write data latch pulse (refer to 4-3 in FIG. 4: 403) to latch the data stored in the shift register 211. 212), and the data latched in the latch register is a heating element corresponding to black which should be recorded when a write strobe additional pulse (see 4-4 in FIG. 4: 406) is used to start recording in the write / erase time controller. Only 213 generates heat by an energy Wa corresponding to the difference between the recording energy and the erasing energy, and starts recording, while all of the recording strobe additional pulses (see 4-4 in FIG. 4: 406) for recording start are applied. Pixel data is black It is created by the system control unit 206 with the corresponding value and transmitted to the shift register 211 in synchronization with the clock signal (4-1 in FIG. 4) through the data transmission unit 204 (see 4-2 in FIG. 4: 402). And the erase data latch pulse (FIG. 4) in the system controller 206 when the transmission of the erase data for one line is completed and the write strobe additional pulse (see 4-4 in FIG. 4: 406) for recording start is finished. See 4-3 of FIG. 4 to move the data stored in the shift register 211 to the latch register 212, apply the erase data latch (see 4-3 of FIG. 4: 404), and then erase the strobe. Only the heating element corresponding to black that should be recorded by applying a pulse (see 4-4 in FIG. 4: 407) is heated with thermal energy corresponding to the recording energy Wp, and recording is performed. The heating element corresponding to the bag corresponds to the erasing energy We. It generates heat as much heat energy as possible You can achieve the same effects as in the figure 3 when the scheme is going.

When erasing and writing of one line is completed, the motor control unit 209 rotates the driving motor 111 by one line by the system control unit 206 (see 4-5 in FIG. 4). After that, the process is repeated and recorded.

The system controller 206 periodically detects the temperature of the thermal recording element 107 through the thermistor 214 attached to the thermal recording element 107 during recording, so that the recording concentration is constant so that the recording concentration is constant. Control the strobe pulse times (306 and 307 in FIG. 3 and 406 and 407 in FIG. 4) or control the voltage applied to the heating element 213 of the thermal recording element 107 by setting the do.

As described above, when the present invention is applied, only one thermosensitive recording element is used to effectively control the amount of energy required for erasing and recording, thereby improving the erasing characteristics, and simultaneously performing the erasing and writing to shorten the erasing and writing time, thereby increasing the speed. In the conventional heater bar and hot stamping method, the erasing element and the thermal recording element are separately required by using one thermal recording element, thereby miniaturizing and reducing the cost.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical idea of the erasing / writing method of the rewritable card processing apparatus is illustrative of the best embodiment of the present invention, which is intended to limit the scope of the claims of the present invention. It is not. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and imitations can be made without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

1 is a mechanism configuration diagram showing a rewritable card processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram of a controller for explaining a rewritable card processing apparatus of the present invention;

3 is a timing chart showing recording of two lines according to the erasing and recording method of the rewritable card processing apparatus of the present invention (when erasing precedes recording),

4 is a timing chart showing recording of two lines according to the erasing and recording method of the rewritable card processing apparatus of the present invention (when recording precedes erasing),

5 is a timing chart illustrating chopping driving of strobe pulses according to the erasing and recording method of the rewritable card processing apparatus of the present invention;

6 is a configuration diagram of a rewritable card;

7 is a graph showing the state change of the thermally reversible recording material.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

   101: card insertion / discharge 102: entrance sensor

   103: card recorder 104, 109: guide roller

   105, 110: driving roller 106: recording position sensor

   107: thermal recording element 108: recording erase roller

   111: drive motor

Claims (6)

delete A rewritable card processing apparatus for recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element on a rewritable card having a thermally reversible recording material that develops and discolors when heated. By heating only the heating element corresponding to the pixel to be recorded in the thermal recording element by an energy corresponding to the difference between the recording energy and the erasing energy, the rewritable layer of the rewritable card is heated to start recording for one line. After that, all the heating elements are heated by the energy for erasing so that the pixels corresponding to the white are erased and the pixels corresponding to the black are written and erased for one line in parallel, and the driving motor is completed when the recording and erasing for one line are completed. And rotates by one line, and then repeats and repeats the above process for recording and erasing the rewritable card processing apparatus. The method of claim 2, The thermosensitive recording element includes a shift register, a latch register, a heating element, and a thermistor. The shift register includes a clock and data of a data transfer unit, a latch register to which the shift register is connected is a latch of a system control unit, and a heating element to which the latch register is connected. Is a strobe signal of a recording / erasing time controller, and an output of the thermistor is connected to an AD converter. A rewritable card processing apparatus for recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element on a rewritable card having a thermoreversible recording material which is colored and discolored as it is heated. In the case of writing first and then writing, the data of all the pixels are created by the system controller with values corresponding to black and transferred to the shift register in synchronism with the clock signal through the data transfer unit. When it is completed, the system controller generates a latch pulse to move the data stored in the shift register to the latch register, and if the strobe pulse is applied by erasing after the latch in the write / erase time controller, all the heating elements of the thermal recording element generate heat for the erase energy. The line is deleted. During the erasing strobe pulse, the recording data stored in the line memory is transferred to the shift register in synchronization with the clock signal through the data transmission unit. When the write data transfer for one line is completed and the erasing strobe pulse is completed, the system control unit A latch pulse is generated to move the data stored in the shift register to the latch register, and the data latched in the latch register is a black thermal recording element that should be written when an additional strobe pulse for writing is applied by the write / erase time controller. Reheatable card processing, characterized in that the heating element of only the heating energy is recorded by recording energy, and once erasing and recording for one line is completed, the drive motor is rotated for one line, and then the process is repeated and recorded continuously. Method of erasing / writing the device. A rewritable card processing apparatus for recording and erasing by using a thermosensitive recording element on a rewritable card having a thermally reversible recording material which develops and decolorizes when heated, wherein recording of the rewritable card is performed on a line-by-line basis. In the case of starting and erasing first, the recording data stored in the line memory is transferred to the shift register in synchronization with the clock signal through the data transfer unit. When the write data transfer for one line is completed, the system controller generates a latch pulse. When the data stored in the shift register is moved to the latch register, and the data latched to the latch register is applied to the strobe pulse for recording by the write / erase time controller, only the heating element corresponding to black should be recorded and the energy for erasing. Will generate as much energy as Ignore said, While the recording start strobe pulse is applied, the data of all pixels are transmitted to the shift register in synchronization with the clock signal through the data transmission unit at the value corresponding to black, and the transmission of the erase data for one line is completed and the recording start strobe is completed. When the pulse ends, the system controller generates a latch pulse to move the data stored in the shift register to the latch register, and when the strobe pulse is applied by erasing after the latch is written, only the heating element corresponding to black is to be recorded. The heating is performed by the energy for recording, and the heating element corresponding to the bag generates heat as the energy for erasing, and the corresponding part is erased. When the erasing and writing for one line is completed, the driving motor is rotated for one line and then continuously And repeating the above process for recording. Write / erase process of the data block the card processing device. The method according to claim 4 or 5, In order to effectively control the recording energy and the erasing energy, a rewritable card processing apparatus for varying a voltage applied to a heating element of a thermal recording element or for performing a chopping driving to interrupt the strobe pulse at a constant frequency rather than continuously. Method of erasing / recording.