JP2902266B2 - 2-sheet processing type card reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader for two kinds of cards having different hardnesses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art ATMs (automatic teller machines / cash machines) are installed in financial institutions and the like. This ATM takes in a hard card made of vinyl chloride such as a cash card (ID card) to process cash deposit / payment,
A transfer process is performed by taking in a paper soft card such as a transfer ticket. In the ATM, a card reader is provided as a card processing unit, and the taken cash card and transfer ticket are returned after being processed by the card reader unit.

[0003]

The above-mentioned AT
In M, a hard card such as a cash card and a soft card such as a transfer ticket may be inserted in succession. In such a case , the previously inserted card is temporarily evacuated from the transport path, and the processing of the later inserted card is performed. However, an evacuation section for retracting the card is provided at a position independent of the transport path. Therefore, problems such as deformation of the card and card jam (card jam) may occur while the card is being conveyed from the conveyance path to the evacuation section. In particular, when a hard card such as a cash card is inserted first and conveyed to the evacuation unit, it is necessary to consider this tendency.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a two-sheet processing card reader according to the present invention comprises a linear main transport path through which two types of soft and hard cards are transported in common, and an extension of the main transport path. The evacuation path of the hard card provided in the main conveyance path, the issuance / recovery conveyance path of the soft card provided by being branched from the main conveyance path, and entering between the main conveyance path and the evacuation path. It is provided so as to be switchable between an entry position that communicates with the issue / recovery conveyance path, and a retreat position that retreats from between the main conveyance path and the evacuation path and communicates with the main conveyance path and the evacuation path. The path switching flap is engaged with and disengaged from the drive source on the main transport path and the transport means on the evacuation path, and the path switching flap is placed at the retracted position when the drive source and the transport means are engaged, and And a clutch means for switching to the entry position when disengaging from the means.

[0005]

A hard card evacuation path is provided on the extension of the linear main conveyance path, and a soft card issuance / recovery conveyance path is provided by branching from the main conveyance path, and a drive source of the main conveyance path and an evacuation path are provided. Engagement and disengagement of the conveyance means, and an entry position for entering between the main conveyance path and the evacuation path to communicate the main conveyance path and the issue / recovery conveyance path; A path switching flap retractably provided between the path and the retracted position communicating with the main transport path and the retracted path, and placed at the retracted position when the drive source and the transporting means are engaged, When the drive source and the transporting means are separated from each other, the hard card is linearly transported from the main transporting path to the retreating path when the driving source and the transporting means are engaged, since the clutching means has a clutch means for switching to the entry position when the driving source and the transporting means are disengaged.
When the drive source is separated from the transporting means, the soft card is branched from the main transport path by the path switching flap and transported to the issue / recovery transport path, and the driving force to the hard card in the retreating section is cut off.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A card reader denoted by reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is provided in an ATM (automatic teller machine / payment machine) as a casing (not shown). The card reader 1 can correspond to a hard card C1 used as a cash card or a credit card shown in FIG. 5A, or a soft card C2 represented by a transfer ticket shown in FIG. 5B. The main transport path 3 for taking in and transporting the cards C1 and C2 from the insertion slot 2, the evacuation path 4 for the hard card 2, and the issue / recovery transport path 5 for the soft card C2 (hereinafter, referred to as "recovery path 5") , A passage switching flap 6 (hereinafter referred to as “flap 6”) and clutch means 7.

The main transport path 3 is formed between the side plates 8 and 9 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and an inner wall 9a of the side plate 9 serves as a reference surface for card transport. In the main transport path 3, transport roller pairs 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are arranged. Rollers 10a, 1 located below each transport roller pair
1a, 12a, 13a, and 14a are fixed to shafts 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, and 15E pivotally supported by the side plate 8, respectively. Upper rollers 10b, 11
The rollers b, 12b, 13b, and 14b are rotatably supported and include rollers 10a, 11a, 12a, 13a, and 14a.
Is in contact with

The shafts 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15
At E, a pulley 16 is fixed outside the side plate 8, and a roller 17 rotatably supported is disposed between each pulley 16. Each pulley 16 and roller 1
An endless belt 18 is alternately wound around 7.
A large-diameter drive pulley 19 is fixed to the shaft 15C, and a small-diameter drive pulley 21 fixed to a drive shaft 20a of a forward / reverse rotatable motor 20 as a drive source is fixed between the drive pulley 19 and the small-diameter drive pulley 21. , A drive belt 22 is hung. The end of the shaft 15E is supported by a middle plate 28 disposed over the evacuation path 4 and the main transport path 3. Axis 1
A pulley 27, which is one component of a conveying means of the evacuation path 4 described later, is fixed to 5E, and a handshake 55 with a knurl is fixed outside the pulley 27.
The handshake 55 is for manually rotating the shaft 15E when the device fails.

As shown in FIG. 2, a magnetic head 23 (A, B) is mounted on a support plate 24 near the side plate 9 and on the axis of the shaft 15C. The support plate 24 is
On the other hand, 24 a is supported by the bottom plate 3 </ b> A of the transport path 3, and is urged upward from below the bottom plate 3 </ b> A by a spring (not shown) so that the magnetic head 23 (A, B) faces the transport path 3. A rotatable pad roller 25 that is in contact with the magnetic head 23 (A, B) or has a slight gap is disposed above the magnetic head 23 (A, B), and the card passes between the two together with the magnetic head 23. It is set so that an appropriate pressing force is sometimes obtained. Here, the magnetic heads 23 (A, B) are provided side by side, and the pad rollers 25 are arranged facing each other.
May be separately arranged at the upper and lower sides to be urged to face each other.

Here, the hard card C1 and the soft card C2 will be described. The hard card C1 shown in FIG. 5A has a magnetic stripe C1a on one side of a card body made of vinyl chloride.
Is provided. In the case of a cash card, personal information such as an account number, a name and a personal identification number is recorded on the magnetic stripe C1a as magnetic information , and the information is read by the magnetic heads 23A and 23B . FIG.
The soft card C2 shown in (b) is provided with a magnetic stripe C2a on the back side of a card body formed of cardboard,
In the magnetic stripe C2a, various kinds of information such as the bank name and account number of the transfer destination, the account holder and the transfer person,
The magnetic heads 23A, 23A are recorded as magnetic information.
Read by B. The contents of the magnetic information are printed on a surface (not shown) of the soft card C2. Therefore, the magnetic information recorded on the soft card C2 is
1, the width of the magnetic stripe C2a is wider than that of the magnetic stripe C1a.

In the vicinity of the insertion slot 2, as shown in FIGS.
Standing from above and below. The magnetic head 26 detects the type and position of the card, and controls the activation of the motor 20 and the driving of a solenoid described later.

Next, the evacuation path 4 and the recovery path 5 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the retreat path 4 is formed on the extension of the main transport path 3 and between the side plates 8 and 9, and is linear with the main transport path 3. In evacuation route 4,
A transport roller pair 29 composed of a roller 29a fixed to a shaft 15F supported by the side plate 8 and the intermediate plate 28 and a roller 29b rotatably supported above the roller is disposed.

A pulley 40 is rotatably supported on a shaft 15F located outside the side plate 8, and a drive belt 41 is wound around the pulley 27. On shaft 15F,
A gear 42 that rotates integrally with the pulley 40 and a gear 43 that rotates integrally with the shaft 15F are provided. In other words, roller pair
2 9, pulleys 27 and 40 and a belt 41 and gears 42,4
The transport means K of the evacuation path 4 is constituted by 3 , 44 . Also,
As shown in FIG. 1, support shafts 30 and 31 are supported on side plates 8 located at both ends of the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4.
A sprocket 32 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 30, and a sprocket 33 is fixed to the support shaft 31. A chain 34 is attached to the sprockets 32 and 33.
Is wound, and a projection claw 35 is fixed to a part of the chain 34.

The projecting claw 35 is usually located at a position retracted from the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4, and the cards C1, C2
Enters the main transport path 3 and the evacuation path 4 when it is clogged. That is, when the cards C1 and C2 are jammed, the support shaft 31 is driven by a drive motor (not shown), and the projection claws 35 enter the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4, and the jammed cards are hooked to the insertion section 2 forcibly. Transported.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a flap 6 is disposed between the pair of transport rollers 14 and the pair of rollers 29 between the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4. Flap 6
The front end 6a is bifurcated, extends to the vicinity of the shaft 15E, and is rotatably supported by the side plate 9 and the middle plate 28 on the base end 6b side by the shaft 36. As shown by a solid line in FIG. 4, the flap 6 is retracted from between the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4 and communicates with the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4.
And the main transport path 3 as shown by the two-dot chain line.
And the evacuation path 4 to enter the evacuation path 4 that connects the main transport path 3 and the recovery path 5. A crank-shaped connecting arm 37 is integrally fixed to the upper surface 6c substantially at the center of the flap 6. This connecting arm 3
Reference numeral 7 designates one end 37a located below the retreat path 4 outside the side plate 9 and pulls this end 37a downward by a tension spring 38. That is, the flap 6 is urged downward. Opposite end 37 facing one end 37a
b is formed in an arc shape, and the roller 39 of the clutch means 7 abuts on the facing end 37b.

The clutch means 7 mainly comprises a clutch gear 44, a roller 39 and a plunger 45, which are arranged below the retreat path 4 and the transport path 3.
The clutch gear 44 is rotatably supported by a shaft 47 on a lever 46 disposed in a direction orthogonal to the side plates 8 and 9, and is formed to a thickness that meshes with both the gears 42 and 43.

The roller 39 is provided with a movable piece 45 of the plunger 45.
is rotatably supported by a lever 46 above a.
When the lever gears 42 and 43 and the clutch gear 44 mesh with each other, the lever gears 42 and 43 come into contact with the opposite end 37b. Lever 46
Are located in the notches 8b, 9b of the side plates 8, 9,
The movable piece 45a is connected via a pin 48, and is slid in the direction of arrow a by the operation of the plunger 45. The lever 46 has an initial position where the clutch gear 44 meshes with the gears 42 and 43 and the roller 39 and the opposing end 37b come into contact with each other, and the clutch gear 44 and the gears 42 and 4 shown by a two-dot chain line.
3 and the retracted position where the contact between the roller 39 and the opposing end 37b is released by the operation of the plunger 45. The plunger 45 is of a PULL type that draws the movable piece 45a into the main body when energized. The plunger 45 is configured such that a predetermined card is located in the evacuation path 4 or the magnetic head 26 shown in FIGS. It is energized and operated according to information such as whether it is detected. In this embodiment, the setting is such that the plunger 45 operates when the hard card C1 is located in the evacuation path 4. As shown in FIG. 4, a tension spring 49 is hung on the shaft 47, and urges the clutch gear 44 in a direction to mesh with the gears 42 and 43.

The collection path 5 is formed to extend leftward from the vicinity of the roller pair 14 toward the upper side of the evacuation path 4, and one end 5a thereof is connected to a transfer ticket issuing and collecting machine (not shown). When the flap 6 is at the solid line position, communication with the main transport path 3 is obstructed. When the flap 6 is at the double-dashed line, the recovery path 5 is connected to the other end 5b and the main transport path 3.
The flap 6 constitutes a part of the bottom plate 5c of the recovery path 5 at the time of this communication. A shaft 15 to which drive pulleys 50 and 51 are respectively fixed is provided in the recovery path 5.
H, 15G and rollers 52a, 53a that rotate integrally with the rollers H, 15G, and rollers 52b, 53b that follow the rollers 52a, 53a
Are provided.

A belt 54 driven by a drive motor (not shown) is hung on the drive pulleys 50 and 51. The drive motor not shown is a magnetic head 2 shown in FIG.
6 when the soft card C2 is detected, when the flap 6 is switched, or when the soft card C2 (transfer ticket) is issued. In this embodiment, the hard card C1 is inserted first, and the soft card C2 is inserted later. The inserted cards C1 and C2 are returned to the insertion slot 2 and ejected.

The operation of the cart reader 1 configured as described above will be described. First, the hard card C1 is inserted into the insertion slot 2, and when the tip of the hard card C1 is detected by the magnetic head 26, the drive motor 20 is started and the drive shaft 20a is driven. Then, since the pulley 21 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the pulley 19 via the belt 22 , and the shaft 15C is driven to rotate. When the shaft 15C is driven to rotate, the shafts 15A to 15E, to which the pulleys 16 are respectively fixed, are rotated at the same time via the belt 18, and a pair of conveying rollers 10, 11, and
12, 13, and 14 are driven, and the card C1 is taken in. The taken card C1 is conveyed along the main conveyance path 3, and card processing is performed by the magnetic head 23A on the way (see FIG. 2).

When the shaft 15E rotates, the integral pulley 27 also rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the pulley 40 via the belt 41, and the integral gear 42 is driven to rotate. At this time, since the plunger 45 is not in the operating state, the clutch gear 44 is engaged with both the gears 42 and 43 by the spring force of the spring 49, and the rotation of the gear 42 is transmitted to the gear 43 via the clutch gear 44. Is done. Therefore, the shaft 15F rotates to drive the transport roller pair 29 in the evacuation path 4. Further, since the plunger 45 is in the non-operating state, the roller 39 pushes up the opposing end 37b of the connecting arm 37 at the solid line position in FIG. 4 against the spring force of the spring 38, and holds the flap 6 at the solid line position. Therefore, the card C1 on the transport path 3 on which the card processing has been performed (completed) is transported linearly into the evacuation path 4 without being hindered by the flap 6 and once from the main general travel path 3. Retreat.

When a sensor (not shown) detects that the hard card C1 is located in the evacuation path 4, and when the magnetic head 26 of the insertion slot 2 detects insertion of the soft card C2, a drive motor (not shown) is started to activate the belt. The roller 54 is driven to rotate the pair of rollers 52 and 53 in the recovery path 6, and the plunger 45 is operated to draw the movable piece 45a. With this movement, the lever 46 is slid in the direction of arrow a, and the clutch gear 44 is retracted to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line.
Is disengaged and the drive to the roller pair 29 is cut off. At this time, the roller pairs 10 to 14 in the main transport path 3 are still driven. In addition, as the lever 46 slides, the roller 39 also moves from the solid line position to the two-dot chain line position to release contact with the opposing end 37b. The main transport path 3 and the recovery path 5 communicate with each other by switching downward to the entry position shown by the two-dot chain line. Therefore, the soft card C2 inserted in the main transport path 3 is transported in the main transport path 3 and subjected to card processing by the magnetic head 23B, and then is introduced and transported to the recovery path 5 and illustrated by the roller pairs 52 and 53. No transfer ticket will be sent to the collection and issue machine.

On the other hand, when the predetermined processing is completed, the drive motor and the motor 20 (not shown) are driven in the reverse direction to rotate the respective conveying roller pairs in the reverse direction, so that the fed soft card 2 passes from the collecting path 5 through the main conveying path. And is returned to the insertion slot 2. When the soft card 2 is returned, power is supplied to the solenoid 45 and the spring 4
9, the lever 46 is slid in the direction of arrow b together with the support shaft 47. By this operation, the roller 39 is connected to the connecting plate 37.
Is pushed up to rotate the flap 6 to the solid line position, and the rotation of the motor 20 that rotates in the reverse direction by the engagement of the clutch gear 44 with the gears 42 and 43 is transmitted to the roller pair 29 in the retreat path 4. Therefore, the hard card C <b> 1 once withdrawn in the evacuation path 4 is sent out from the evacuation path 4 and returned to the insertion slot 2 through the main conveyance path 3.

On the other hand, if the cards C1 and C2 are jammed in the main transport path 3 or the retreat path 4, the motor (not shown) is driven to rotate the support shaft 31. Then, the chain 34 rotates and the projection claw 35 enters the main transport path 3 and the retreat path 4, and the jammed cards C 1 and C 2 are hooked on the projection claw 35 and are forcibly transported to the insertion slot 2. In addition, when a malfunction such as a power failure occurs and the operating card reader 1 stops, rotating the handshake 55 provided integrally with the shaft 15E rotates the pulleys 16 and 40. Therefore, when the handshake 55 is rotated in the returning direction, each roller pair is rotated, and the card reader 1 is rotated.
Cards C1 and C2 are returned to the insertion slot 2.

As described above, by providing the evacuation path 4 in a straight line with the main conveyance path 3, the hard card can be linearly moved to the evacuation path 4 in a straight line. Can be prevented from being deformed. Also, even if a malfunction occurs in which the cards C1 and C2 are left behind in the transport path 3 and the evacuation path 4, the cards in the main transport path 3 and the evacuation path 4 are returned to the insertion slot 2 by a forced ejection mechanism or manually. Can be.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the hard card is moved linearly to the evacuation path on the extension of the main transport path, so that the deformation of the card during the movement can be prevented, and the durability of the card can be improved. Problems such as occurrence of card clogging due to deformation can be reduced. Further, by the operation of the clutch means, the switching operation of the passage switching flap and the engagement and disengagement of the drive source and the transfer means are performed together, and the passage switching flap occupies the entry position when the drive source and the transfer means are disengaged. Therefore, the switching operation of these flaps and the driving force to the hard card in the evacuation section can be surely cut off, and the hard card during evacuation is not adversely affected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a two-sheet processing type card reader according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing the configuration of a main transport path shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a configuration of a retreat path, a flap and clutch means, which are main parts of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a configuration of a main part of the present invention shown in FIG. 3;

5A is a plan view of a hard cart used for a card reader, and FIG. 5B is a bottom view of a soft card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Two-sheet processing type card reader 3 Main conveyance path 4 Hard card retraction path 5 Soft card issue / recovery conveyance path 6 Path switching flap 7 Clutch means 20 Drive source K Transport means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A linear main transport path through which two types of soft and hard cards are transported in common, a retreat path for hard cards provided on an extension of the main transport path, and a branch from the main transport path. An issuance / recovery transport path for the soft card provided between the main transport path and the evacuation path, and an entry position for communicating the main transport path and the issue / recovery transport path with each other; A path switching flap provided so as to be retractable from a position between a conveyance path and the evacuation path to a retreat position for communicating the main conveyance path and the evacuation path, a drive source for the main conveyance path and the evacuation Along with engaging / disengaging the conveying means of the road, the path switching flap is placed at the retracted position when the driving source and the conveying means are engaged, and the entrance is established when the driving source and the conveying means disengage. Two-process card having clutch means for switching to position leader.