JPS6310503B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a card discrimination device for a magnetic card reader that discriminates between magnetic cards of different standards.

Magnetic cards are mainly known as those based on the NTT standard and those based on the ISO standard. FIG. 1 shows an NTT standard magnetic card 1, on the front side of which a magnetic stripe 2 is formed. This magnetic stripe 2 has one track, and its recording density is specified as 210 BPI (Bits Per Inch). FIG. 2 shows an ISO standard magnetic card 3, on the back of which a magnetic stripe 4 is formed. This magnetic stripe 4 is provided with three tracks 41 to 43.
Each of the 43 recording densities is different. truck 41
The recording density of the track 42 is specified to be 210 BPI, and the recording density of the track 42 is specified to be 75 BPI. As shown in FIG. 3, the track positions of both magnetic cards 1 and 3 are track 2 on magnetic card 1 and tracks 41 and 42 on magnetic card 3 when both magnetic cards 1 and 3 are overlapped.
The positional relationship is such that they almost entirely overlap.

Conventional magnetic card readers only use NTT standard magnetic cards 1 and ISO standard magnetic cards 3, and recently NTT
Development of a magnetic card reader that can use both standard magnetic cards 1 and ISO standard magnetic cards 3 is underway. Along with this, it is necessary to discriminate between the two magnetic cards 1 and 3, but such a card discrimination device has not been proposed so far.

In order to distinguish between magnetic cards of different standards, the present invention locates the gap portion of the magnetic head device for two channels at a position corresponding to the overlapping position of the tracks of those standards, and detects the presence or absence of a difference in the output signals. An object of the present invention is to provide a card discriminating device for a magnetic card reader, which detects whether information is reproduced from the same track or from a different track on a magnetic card.

The present invention will be described below by way of examples with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows a first embodiment of the invention.

Two magnetic heads (or two-channel magnetic heads) 5 and 6 are installed in the card insertion part of the magnetic card reader, and the gap part 5a of one of the magnetic heads 5 is used to hold an NTT standard magnetic card inserted from the card insertion part. ISO located on track 2 relative to 1 and inserted upside down from the card insertion section
The magnetic card 3 is placed on the first track 41 relative to the standard magnetic card 3. Other magnetic heads 6
The gap part 6a is inserted from the card insertion part.
It is arranged so as to be located on the track 2 with respect to the magnetic card 1 of the NTT standard, and on the second track 42 with respect to the magnetic card 3 of the ISO standard inserted upside down from the card insertion part. Further, the winding directions of the magnetic heads 5 and 6 are opposite to each other, so that the read signals thereof have opposite phases to each other. The windings 5b and 6b of the magnetic heads 5 and 6 are connected in series and both ends thereof are grounded, and the connection point C between the windings 5b and 6b is connected to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 8 via a resistor 7. . The non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 8 is grounded, and the resistor 9 is connected between the output terminal and the inverting input terminal. These operational amplifier 8 and resistors 7 and 9 constitute an adder circuit 10.

The card discriminating device of the magnetic card reader configured as described above operates as follows.

When an NTT standard magnetic card 1 is inserted and passes through the magnetic heads 5 and 6, the signals of the same track 2 are read by the magnetic heads 5 and 6, and these read signals are obtained from the windings 5b and 6b in opposite phases. The output from the adder circuit 10 cannot be obtained.
When an ISO standard magnetic card 3 is inserted, the magnetic heads 5 and 6 read the signals of the tracks 41 and 42 that have different recording densities, and the signal at point C is determined by the difference in the recording density (reading frequency) of the tracks 41 and 42. A corresponding voltage is generated and an output is obtained from the adder circuit 10. In other words, if there is no output at the output terminal S of the adder circuit 10, an NTT standard magnetic card is used, and if there is an output, an NTT standard magnetic card is used.
This means that the card has been determined to be an ISO standard magnetic card.

In this example, an NTT standard magnetic card and an ISO
Although it can be distinguished from standard magnetic cards, NTT
Even if a standard magnetic card is inserted normally, there will be no output if the magnetic heads 5 and 6 do not touch the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card due to incorrect insertion of the magnetic card, so it is not possible to correctly insert an NTT standard magnetic card. It is not possible to distinguish between erroneous insertion of a magnetic card and erroneous insertion of a magnetic card. What made this possible was the second system shown in Figure 5.
This is an example.

In FIG. 5, the winding directions of the magnetic heads 5 and 6 are the same, and the output signals are sent to the non-inverting amplifier 11,
Each signal is amplified by an inverting amplifier 12. The gains of the amplifiers 11 and 12 can be varied using variable resistors 13 and 14, and the output signals of the amplifiers 11 and 12 are adjusted so that they have the same level when the magnetic heads 5 and 6 read signals from the same track. be done. The output signals of the non-inverting amplifier 11 and the inverting amplifier 12 are in an antiphase relationship, and the capacitor 1
5 and 16 and resistors 17 and 18, and then added by an adding circuit 24 consisting of an operational amplifier 19 and resistors 20 and 23. When an NTT standard magnetic card 1 is inserted and passes through the magnetic heads 5 and 6, the output signals of the amplifiers 11 and 12 have opposite phases but the same level, as shown in FIG. No output occurs on S ₁ . In this case, as shown in FIG. 6b, if the phases of the output signals of the amplifiers 11 and 12 are shifted due to the mounting skew of the magnetic heads 5 and 6 and the skew of the magnetic card 1, the output signal is output to the output terminal _S1 of the adder circuit 24. What happens is that this output is negligible unless the skew becomes extremely large. ISO standard magnetic card 3
When a magnetic head is inserted and passes through the magnetic heads 5 and 6, the output signals of the amplifiers 11 and 12 have different frequencies due to the difference in the recording density of the tracks 41 and 42, as shown in FIG. output terminal
An output occurs at _S1 . Further, the output signals of the amplifiers 11 and 12 are shaped into rectangular waves by waveform shaping circuits 25 and 26. magnetic stripe detection circuit 27,
Reference numeral 28 uses a charge up circuit or a pulse counter, and detects that a rectangular wave of a certain amount or more is input from the waveform shaping circuits 25 and 26, and determines whether the magnetic heads 5 and 6 have read information from the magnetic stripe. Detect. The output signals of the magnetic stripe detection circuits 27 and 28 are applied to a NAND circuit 29 to detect whether both magnetic heads 5 and 6 have read information from the magnetic stripe, that is, whether the magnetic card has been inserted normally. Whether or not it is detected is detected.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the invention.

This third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the output signal of the adder circuit 24 is sent to a detector 3 having a slice level.
0, and this detector 3
0 uses a window comparator having slice levels Ref1 and Ref2 configured by operational amplifiers 31 and 32 and resistors 33 to 36. The output signal of the output terminal _S2 of the detector 30 remains at a high level (H) when the NTT standard magnetic card 1 is inserted, as shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b, and the output signal of the ISO standard magnetic card 3 remains high. When inserted, it becomes low level (L) in accordance with the output signal of the adder circuit 24, as shown in FIG. 6c.

FIG. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention.

This fourth embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that the winding directions of the magnetic heads 5 and 6 are reversed, and the non-inverting amplifier 11 and the inverting amplifier 12 are replaced by the same inverting amplifier 3.
7.38.

By the way, magnetic cards include not only the magnetic card 1 of the NTT standard and the magnetic card 3 of the ISO standard, but also magnetic stripes 2 and 4 of the NTT standard and ISO standard are provided on both the front and back sides of one card, as shown in Figure 9.
There is also a magnetic card 39 that is compatible with NTT/ISO standards. A fifth embodiment of the present invention is the magnetic card 1 described above.
3 and 39, which will be explained next.

As shown in FIG. 10, a card gate section 44 is provided on the front side of a main body 40 of the magnetic card reader, and a circuit section 44 is provided on one side of the main body 40.
5 is provided. A card insertion slot 49 is provided in the card gate section 44 . As shown in detail in FIGS. 11 and 12, the card gate section 44 has magnetic heads 46 and 47 for card detection placed above and below the magnetic card path, and facing each other across the magnetic card path. It is arranged so that it faces The lower magnetic head 47 is fixed to the gate part 44, while the upper magnetic head 46 is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and is pushed from above by a head holding member 48 to open the card insertion slot 4.
The head holding member 48 allows the head holding member 48 to make close contact with the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card inserted through the head 9, and allows the magnetic card to come into close contact with the lower magnetic head. It's summery. Card detection magnetic head 4
A shutter for opening and closing the passage for the magnetic card is provided between the card reader body 40 and the card reader body 40, but it is not shown. This shutter is connected to a solenoid, which is a driving member, for example.
Normally, the magnetic card is biased by a spring in a direction that blocks the passage of the magnetic card, and when the magnetic heads 46 and 47 detect the magnetic card inserted from the insertion slot 49, the solenoid is operated to open the shutter, and the magnetic card is inserted into the shutter section. It is designed so that it can be inserted further inside. When the magnetic card is further inserted in this way, the drive motor is started, and the magnetic card is fed into the inside by the feed roller like a conventional general card reader, and a predetermined operation is performed. It is assumed that the magnetic heads for reading and writing on the card reader main body 40 side are also arranged above and below the magnetic card passage.

As shown in FIG. 12, the upper magnetic head 46 is formed into two channels, channel A and channel B, and the lower magnetic head 46 is formed into two channels, channel A and channel B.
7 is also formed into two channels, channel C and channel D. Then, the upper magnetic head 4
The gap part of channel A of No. 6 is placed on the first track 2 when the NTT standard magnetic card 1 is inserted correctly, and on the first track 41 when the ISO standard magnetic card 3 is inserted upside down. The gap portion of the channel B of the upper magnetic head 46 facing each other is connected to the NTT standard magnetic card 1.
If it is inserted correctly, in that 1 track 2,
When the ISO standard magnetic card 3 is inserted with its front and back reversed, the second track 42 faces each other. On the other hand, the lower magnetic head 4
The gap part of channel C of No. 7 is placed in the first track 2 if the NTT standard magnetic card 1 is inserted with the front side reversed, and in the first track 41 if the ISO standard magnetic card 3 is inserted correctly. The gap portion of the channel D of the magnetic head 47 on the lower side, which faces each other, accepts an NTT standard magnetic card 1.
When the magnetic card 3 is inserted with the front side reversed, it faces the first track 2, and when the ISO standard magnetic card 3 is inserted correctly, it faces the second track 42. In addition, the inserted magnetic card is a type compatible with NTT and ISO standards39
In this case, the gap portions of the two channels A and B of the upper magnetic head 46 face each other in the first track 2 of the NTT standard, and the gap portions of channel C of the lower magnetic head 47 face the first track 41 of the ISO standard. The gap parts are facing each other, and the second track 42 of the ISO standard
The gap portion of the channel D of the lower magnetic head 47 is arranged to face the gap portion of the channel D of the lower magnetic head 47. Here, the upper magnetic head 46 is assumed to be an NTT side detection head, and the lower magnetic head 47 is assumed to be an ISO side detection head. The recording density of each track of an ISO standard magnetic card is different from each other, and it is possible to determine what standard the inserted magnetic card is based on the output signals of each channel of the two magnetic heads arranged as described above. Alternatively, it is possible to determine whether the magnetic card has been inserted correctly. FIG. 13 shows an example of a circuit section including a card discriminating device that performs such discrimination.

In FIG. 13, the detection signals of the A and B2 channels of the NTT side detection head 46 and the detection signals of the C and D2 channels of the ISO side detection head 47 are amplified by amplifiers 50 to 53, respectively, and are then amplified by the discrimination circuit 5.
4,55. The discrimination circuits 54 and 55 are
two stripe detection circuits 56 to 59, respectively;
Output difference detection circuits 60, 61 and NAND circuit 62,
63, the stripe detection circuits 56 to 59 each shape the output signals of the amplifiers 50 to 53 into a pulse waveform, and detect whether or not the pulses reach a certain amount. Channels A, B, C, and D detect whether information is being read from the magnetic stripe on the magnetic card. The NAND circuits 62 and 63 determine whether at least one channel of each magnetic head 46 and 47 is reading information from the magnetic stripe by taking the NAND of the output signals of the stripe detection circuits 56 and 57, 58 and 59. To detect. Output difference detection circuits 60 and 61 are amplifiers 50 and 51, respectively.
By detecting the difference between the output signals of 2 and 53, it is determined whether the magnetic card is of the NTT standard or the ISO standard. In other words, the output difference detection circuit 60 does not generate an output even if the magnetic cards 1 and 39 are inserted normally, but it generates an output when the magnetic cards 3 and 39 are inserted upside down. Further, the output difference detection circuit 61 produces an output when the magnetic cards 3 and 39 are inserted normally, but does not produce an output even when the magnetic card 1 is inserted. The control circuit 64 is composed of a microcomputer, etc., and receives the output signals of the output difference detection circuits 60 and 61 and the NAND circuits 62 and 6.
Based on the output signal No. 3, magnetic cards 1, 3, and 39 are discriminated as shown in FIG. 14, and the aforementioned shutter 65, erroneous insertion display circuit 66, and card reader drive circuit 67 are controlled. That is, when a magnetic card is inserted from the card insertion slot, the output difference detection circuit 6
The output signals of 0 and 61 and the output signals of NAND circuits 62 and 63 are read. Then, it is determined from the output signal of the NAND circuit 62 whether there are outputs of channels A and B of the magnetic head 46, and if there are outputs of channels A and B, an output difference is detected to determine whether or not these outputs are the same. This is determined based on the output signal of the circuit 60.
If the outputs of channels A and B are the same, it is determined that the magnetic card was not inserted correctly, and if the outputs of channels A and B are the same, it is determined whether there is an output of channels C and D of the magnetic head 47. It is determined based on the output signal of the NAND circuit 63. If there is no output from channels C and D, the inserted magnetic card is determined to be NTT standard magnetic card 1, and if there is output from channels C and D, the output difference detection circuit 61 determines whether these are the same or not. Judging from the output signal. If the outputs of channels C and D are the same, it is determined that the magnetic card was not inserted correctly. If the outputs of channels C and D are the same, the inserted magnetic card NTT/ISO standard common type magnetic card 39 It is determined that On the other hand, if there are no outputs from channels A and B, a NAND circuit 63 determines whether there are outputs from channels C and D.
If there is no output from channels C and D, it is determined that the magnetic card was not inserted correctly. If there are outputs from channels C and D, an output difference detection circuit 6 determines whether these are the same or not.
Judging from the output signal of 1, if the outputs of channels C and D are the same, it is determined that the magnetic card was not inserted correctly, and if the outputs of channels C and D are not the same, the inserted magnetic card ISO
It is determined that the magnetic card 3 conforms to the standard. If it is determined that the magnetic card has not been inserted correctly, the erroneous insertion display circuit 66 is activated to display that the magnetic card has been erroneously inserted. If it is determined that the magnetic card 3 is a magnetic card 39 that is compatible with NTT and ISO standards, the system is notified of the determination result and the solenoid drive circuit 68 is operated to open the shutter 65 and the card reader drive circuit 67 Operate the main unit 4
Operate 0. At this time, the main body 40 drives the magnetic card, reads information from the track, and processes it.

FIG. 15 shows a sixth embodiment of the invention.

This sixth embodiment differs from the fifth embodiment in that it utilizes the magnetic head for reading data of the magnetic card reader, and the shutter 65 and magnetic heads 46 and 47 are not provided. When a magnetic card is inserted from the card insertion slot, the control circuit 641 operates the card reader drive circuit 67 to cause the card feeding roller to feed the magnetic card. The magnetic heads 69-71 and 72, 73 are arranged opposite to each other through the magnetic card passage, and the magnetic heads 69-72 are inserted into the magnetic card 3 or 39 normally and transported from the tracks 41-43. The magnetic heads 72 and 7 read the information respectively.
3 reads information from the magnetic card 1 or track 2 of 39 which is normally inserted and sent. However, the magnetic heads 69 and 70 read information from the same track 2 for the magnetic card 1 or 39 that is inserted and fed upside down, and the magnetic heads 72 and 73 read the information from the same track 2.
The information is read from the tracks 41 and 42, respectively, for the magnetic card 3 or 39 that is inserted and sent with the front and back reversed. The output signals of the magnetic heads 69-72 are amplified by amplifiers 74-77, peaks are detected by peak detection circuits 78-81, and data and clocks are reproduced from the output signals by decoders 82-85. amplifier 74,
The output signal of the magnetic head 75 is input to the discrimination circuit 55, and the output signal of the magnetic head 73 is amplified by the amplifier 86 and input to the discrimination circuit 54 together with the output signal of the amplifier 77. Similarly to the control circuit 64, the control circuit 641 discriminates the magnetic card from the output signals of the discriminating circuits 54 and 55, and if any of the magnetic cards 1, 3, and 39 is inserted correctly, it directly reads the data. If it is determined that the magnetic card has not been inserted correctly, the erroneous insertion display circuit 66 is activated to display the erroneous insertion of the magnetic card, and the card reader drive circuit 67 is caused to move the card feed roller to remove the magnetic card. The card is ejected and the operations of the decoders 82 to 85 are stopped.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a first standard magnetic card having at least one track of magnetic stripe, and a second standard magnetic card having at least two tracks of magnetic stripe with different recording densities at positions overlapping with the above track. In the magnetic card reader that can be used in common with a magnetic card, the first
The present invention detects the presence or absence of a difference in the signals read by magnetic head devices for at least two channels, each of which has a gap section located at a position corresponding to the overlapping position of the track of the standard and the second standard.
It is possible to distinguish between a magnetic card of the first standard and a magnetic card of the second standard.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are NTT standard magnetic cards.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the track positional relationship between an NTT standard magnetic card and an ISO standard magnetic card, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are views of the magnetic card according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the first and second embodiments, FIG. 6 is a timing chart of the second and third embodiments, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams showing the third and third embodiments of the present invention. 9 is a side view showing a magnetic card compatible with NTT and ISO standards, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of a magnetic card reader to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the fourth embodiment. 12 is a front view showing the relationship between the magnetic head gap of the card gate and the magnetic card track position; FIG. 13 is a front view showing the circuit section of the magnetic card reader. Block diagram shown, 1st
Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the magnetic card discrimination control program of the control circuit in the same circuit section, No. 15.
The figure is a block diagram showing a circuit section in another example of a magnetic card reader to which the present invention is applied. 5, 6, 47...magnetic head, 10, 24...
Addition circuit, 61...Output difference detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic card of a first standard having at least one track of magnetic stripe and a magnetic card of a second standard having at least two tracks of magnetic stripe of different recording densities at positions overlapping the above-mentioned track may be shared. a magnetic head device for at least two channels, which has gap portions located at positions corresponding to overlapping positions of the tracks of the first standard and the second standard; A card discriminating device for a magnetic card reader, comprising: detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a difference in signals read by the magnetic head device.