JP2927450B2 - Card reader - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a card reader used for a public telephone or the like.

[Related Art] In recent years, a failure diagnosis system that diagnoses failures of various devices by transmitting instructions from a center to various devices provided in a remote place has been developed. With this fault diagnosis system, it is possible to know whether or not a plurality of remote devices are operating normally while being at the center.

The various devices include a card reader provided in a public telephone.

This card reader performs card processing such as reading and writing of a magnetic card by a magnetic head.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional failure diagnosis system can perform only static diagnosis. Therefore, even in the card reader, only the operation of the sensor, which is a static characteristic, can be diagnosed. However, the operation of the card reader is
Since the main purpose is to read and write a magnetic card, the dynamic characteristics of reading and writing of the card cannot be diagnosed, and there is a problem that the above-described failure diagnosis system cannot be completed.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a card reader capable of performing a self-diagnosis of dynamic characteristics, thereby performing a failure diagnosis of a card reader at a center provided at a remote place from the card reader. It is intended to be able to.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, a card reader of the present invention comprises:
At least a card transport path on which a card is transported, and a card reader provided with a head which is provided in the card transport path and reads or writes card information, wherein a diagnostic card which is read or written by the head, An evacuation path for communicating the evacuation path for evacuation and holding of the diagnostic card; and receiving a diagnosis command from the outside, sending out the evacuation path to the evacuation path to the card conveyance path, and transferring the card to the card conveyance path. A diagnosis control unit to be conveyed on the road, and a diagnosis by diagnosing dynamic characteristics of the card reader based on a reading or writing state of the head using a diagnostic card conveyed on the card conveyance path based on the diagnosis command. A judgment function unit for sending a result to the external diagnosis command source.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, when a diagnostic command is received from the outside, the diagnostic card is transported from the evacuation path to the card transport path and read and written by the head. The determination function unit sends a diagnosis result to a diagnosis command source based on whether the reading / writing is normal. The diagnostic card is used only for the diagnostic operation, and each diagnosis is performed by the same diagnostic card, so that the dynamic characteristics based on reading and writing while the card is actually transported are not affected by the card characteristics of each card. can do.

In addition, since the diagnosis result is sent to the diagnosis command source, it is possible to diagnose the card readers that are centrally located in the center and installed in many places.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a card reader of the present invention.

The card reader is provided in a public telephone (not shown), and performs reading and writing processes on the magnetic card 1 as a card having frequency information.

When the magnetic card 1 is inserted from the insertion slot 2, it moves along the card transport path K. The card transport path K includes transport belts 3 and 4 driven by a motor (not shown). A magnetic head 5 is provided facing the card transport path K as an information input / output head. While the magnetic card 1 is being conveyed in one direction, only one of the reading and writing processes can be performed. Therefore, the magnetic head 5 is provided at the center of the card conveying path K, Has a length at least twice the length of the magnetic card 1.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a diagnostic card, and the magnetic card 1
The magnetic recording is performed in the same manner as described above, and is made of a flexible material.

The diagnostic card 10 is always evacuated to an evacuation path T provided separately from the card transport path K. The retreat path T is connected to one end of the card transport path K and has a shape that curves inside the card reader housing 13. The delivery roller 15 is disposed on the evacuation path T and near the card conveyance path K, and sends out the diagnostic card 10 onto the card conveyance path K by driving the drive motor 16 or performs the evacuation operation.

A processing unit 20 is provided outside the card reader for convenience in FIG. 1, but is actually provided inside the card reader. The processing unit 20 performs card processing, which will be described later, on the magnetic card 1, and performs a diagnosis control unit 21 and a determination function unit 22.
Having. The diagnosis control unit 21 is activated by a diagnosis command signal S1 sent from the center, which is a place away from the place where the card reader is provided, and controls a self-diagnosis operation described later.

Next, card processing by the ordinary magnetic card 1 will be described.

The frequency information is read by the magnetic head 5 while moving the inserted magnetic card 1 on the card transport path K in the direction A, and at the same time the telephone circuit is activated. In the call state, the magnetic card 1 is located at the back of the card transport path K. The frequency change caused by the call is rewritten by the magnetic head 5 by moving the magnetic card 1 in the direction B, and once on the front side of the card transport path K. After being transported to the A direction, it is moved again in the direction A to check whether or not the writing has been performed normally, and then transported in the B direction to be discharged to the outside. Whether or not the reading and writing processes have been performed normally is determined by a determination unit 22 provided in a processing unit (not shown) for processing the information of the magnetic head 5, and the magnetic card in a defective state is determined. 1 is determined.

Next, the self-diagnosis operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2. When a diagnosis command progression S1 is received from the outside such as the center, the diagnosis control unit 21 is activated and performs the following control (SP1).

First, during the self-diagnosis, the loading of the magnetic card 1 is temporarily stopped (SP2).

Then, the drive motor 16 is driven to send out the feed roller 15.
Sends the diagnostic card 10 from the evacuation path T to the card transport path K (SP3). At this time, the conveyor belts 3 and 4 are simultaneously operated to move the diagnostic card 10 in the direction B in FIG. 1 and the information on the diagnostic card 10 is read by the magnetic head 5. The information of the diagnostic card 10 is sent to the judgment function unit 22. Since the diagnostic card 10 is normal and the same for each self-diagnosis, the judgment function unit 22 determines the dynamic characteristics of the diagnostic card 10 when the magnetic head 5 and the conveyor belts 3 and 4 are operated. Diagnosis will be possible.

Here, if the magnetic head 5 and the transport belts 3 and 4 operate normally, the determination function unit 22 reads in the B direction and
Can determine that the write status in the direction is normal (SP
4) As a result of the diagnosis, the diagnostic normal signal S2 is sent to the outside center (SP5), the delivery roller 15 is reversed, the diagnostic card 10 is stored in the evacuation path T (SP6), and the self-diagnosis operation ends. (SP7).

However, if the magnetic head 5 is worn, or if any part of the conveyor belts 3, 4 or the motors for driving the conveyor belts 3, 4 breaks down, the judgment function unit 22 reads or writes at the time of the above normal card. The processing cannot be performed (SP8), and a diagnostic abnormal signal S3 is sent to the center as the diagnostic result (SP9). Thus, in the center, it is possible to know that the dynamic part of the card reader has failed, and it is possible to perform maintenance and repair.

As described above, it has been troublesome to confirm whether or not the dynamic characteristics of the normal card reader are normal due to the influence of the magnetic characteristics of the magnetic card 1 which differs one by one, for example. According to this configuration, the self-diagnosis is performed using only a single normal diagnostic card 10, so that the dynamic characteristics of the card reader can be grasped every time the self-diagnosis is instructed.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the diagnostic card 10 is provided inside the card reader housing 13 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. A configuration in which the escape path T, the drive motor 16, and the delivery roller 15 may be provided outside the card reader may also be used. Must be provided inside.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the card reader of the present invention, when a diagnosis command is input from the outside, the diagnostic card stored in the evacuation path is conveyed on the conveyance path based on the read / write state of the head. Since the diagnosis result of the dynamic characteristic is sent to the diagnosis command source, the diagnosis result in the state where the apparatus is actually operated can be obtained at a remote place, and the operation state of the apparatus can be accurately determined at the remote place. Be able to diagnose.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a card reader of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a self-diagnosis operation of the card reader, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... magnetic card, 3, 4 ... conveying belt, 5 ... magnetic head, 10 ... diagnosis card, 13 ... card reader housing, 15 ... delivery roller, 16 ... drive motor, 20 ...
Processing unit, 21 ... Diagnosis control unit, 22 ... Judgment function unit, K ...
Card transport path, T ... Evacuation path, S1 ... Diagnostic command signal, S2
…… Diagnostic normal signal, S3… Diagnostic abnormal signal.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G11B 20/18 572 G11B 20/18 572B 572H (72) Inventor Shizuo Kobe 5-10-27 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Anritsu Stock In-company (72) Inventor Toshiyasu Muta 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Ginya Ishiguro 1-16-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Stock Company In-company (72) Inventor Takashi Kamiyama 2-3-2 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Inside Tamura Electric Works, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-32675 (JP, A) JP-A-56-87207 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 59-45665 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 54-41138 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G11B 20/18 G11B 19 / 02 G06K 7/00 G06K 17/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card reader having at least a card transport path on which a card is transported and a head provided on the card transport path and reading or writing card information, comprising: a diagnostic card read or written by the head; An evacuation path, which is in communication with the card transport path, for retreating and holding the diagnostic card; and receiving a diagnostic command from the outside, the diagnostic card retracted to the evacuation path is transferred to the card transport path. A diagnostic control unit for causing the card reader to send the card on the card transport path, and a dynamic state of the card reader based on a read or write state of the head using a diagnostic card transported on the card transport path based on the diagnostic command. A judgment function unit for diagnosing a characteristic and sending a diagnosis result to the external diagnosis command source. Card reader to be.