JPH0690737B2 - Card recording information reader - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a reader for sequentially reading information by using a card having information recorded in a matrix as a recording medium and moving the card in a predetermined direction. The present invention relates to a card recording information reading device that can accurately read information even if the information is inclined from a predetermined direction.

[Background of the Invention]

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for representing information such as computer programs and data by marks and recording the information on a card such as a paper card as a recording medium. Since this card can be manufactured by printing and can be written by a dot printer or the like that the user has, it is convenient as a soft recording medium for a personal computer.

A card information reader that optically reads information on such a card generally includes a line sensor in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in a line, and by moving the card in a direction perpendicular to the line sensor, Are read sequentially.

Here, the information represented by the marks is arranged in a matrix. Therefore, in order to perform accurate reading, it is necessary to hold the line sensor and the information of each row sequentially read by the line sensor (hereinafter referred to as information row) in parallel.

For example, various means are described in JP-A-56-71166 and JP-A-49-79723.

According to this, the inclination of the card is checked by detecting the outer shape of the card, and the inclination of the information string is corrected based on the inclination.

However, as described above, when printing or recording with a handheld printer or the like, the information string may be recorded with an inclination with respect to the outer shape of the card. In this case, the inclination of the information cannot be accurately detected from the inclination of the card, and therefore the information cannot be read accurately.

However, even in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the conventional card has a small amount of information and the position where the information is written is limited, the information can be read by detecting the outer shape of the card. I was able to.

However, if the amount of recorded information increases, accurate reading cannot be performed by such a method.

[Object of the Invention]

The object of the present invention is to read information from a card in which information is recorded in a matrix form and to tilt the information with respect to the moving direction of the card, excluding the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. Another object of the present invention is to provide a card recording information reading device that can read accurately.

[Outline of Invention]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention detects the inclination of the information sequence recorded on the card with respect to the moving direction of the card at the time of reading by the angle detection means, and based on the detection result, a line sensor or the like is detected. It is characterized in that the information detector is rotated so as to be held parallel to the information train, and further, the information signal read by the information detector is subjected to predetermined processing to obtain accurate information.

Example of Invention

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a card recorded information reading apparatus according to the present invention, in which 1 is a paper card, 2 is an information recording range, 3 is a servo signal, 4 is a recorded information start signal, and 5 is Card feeding unit, 6 is a first line sensor, 61 is a second line sensor, 7 is a rotation fulcrum, 8 is a signal detector for save,
9 is an arcuate rail, 10 is a card feeding roller, 11 is a card moving direction, 21 is an arm, 12 and 13 are current / voltage converters, 14 is a differential amplifier, 15 is a phase compensation circuit, and 16 is A drive amplifier, 17 is a linear motor, 18 is an output signal, 19 is an arithmetic circuit, and 20 is a memory.

In the figure, one end of the arm 21 is rotatably supported by the rotation fulcrum 7, and the other end is moved by the linear motor 17 along the rail 9. The arm 21 is provided with first and second line sensors 6 and 61 in the longitudinal direction thereof, and they are adjacent to each other in parallel. Both the first and second line sensors 6 and 61 are provided with a large number of photoelectric conversion elements facing the card 1. The photoelectric conversion elements of the first line sensor 6 and the second line sensor The optical dot phase is relatively deviated from the photoelectric conversion element 61.

A servo signal detector 8 composed of four photoelectric conversion elements 8a to 8d arranged in a matrix is provided at a position facing the servo signal 3 recorded on the paper card 1.

On the other hand, on the card 1, information (not shown) is recorded in the information recording range 2, and the information is arranged in a matrix. A plurality of servo signals 3 are recorded adjacent to the recording range 2. The servo signal 3 is recorded in parallel with the information recording range 2, more specifically, in the direction perpendicular to the information column.

Here, it is assumed that the recorded information and the servo signal 3 are recorded while being inclined with respect to the outer edge of the card 1.

Next, a reading operation by the card information reading device having such a configuration will be described.

The card 1 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 11 by the rollers 10, 10. When the servo signal 3 enters the detection range of the servo signal detector 8, the photoelectric conversion elements 8a to 8d detect the servo signal 3, and the detection signal is the current / voltage conversion circuit.
Supplied to 12,13.

Here, the sum of the signals detected by the photoelectric conversion elements 8a and 8d located on the diagonal line is supplied to the current / voltage conversion circuit 13,
The sum of the detection signals of the other photoelectric conversion elements 8b and 8c is supplied to the current / voltage conversion circuit 12.

The output voltages of the current / voltage conversion circuits 12 and 13 are level-compared by the differential amplifier 14, and this error signal is output to the phase compensation circuit.
15, the inclination of the arm 21 is adjusted by the linear motor 17 so that the levels of the two input signals of the differential amplifier 14 are supplied to the linear motor 17 via the drive amplifier 16, and the first, first The two line sensors 6 and 61 are kept at right angles to the servo signal 3. Since the servo signal 3 and the first and second line sensors 6 and 61 are kept at a right angle, the information train of the information recording range 2 and the first and second line sensors 6 and 61 are kept in parallel. It is supposed to be.

This servo system is an application of the principle of the 4D sensor used for the focus servo of a compact disc player, and will not be described in detail.

In this way, the first and second line sensors 6 and 61 are read for each information string, the output signal 18 representing the information is supplied to the arithmetic circuit 19, and after being subjected to predetermined processing, stored in the memory 20. .

Since the servo operation is continued until all the information in the information recording range 2 is read, the first and second line sensors 6 and 61 are always parallel to the information string even if there is an information string having a different inclination during reading. Kept in.

On the other hand, when using a card in which all the information strings are recorded in parallel and it is ensured that the inclination of the information strings does not change midway, when the servo mark 3 and the servo signal described above are used. Even if the detector 8 is not provided, the arm 21
The angle of can be controlled.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of columns of tilt adjustment patterns 31 are recorded in front of the recorded information range 2. The tilt adjustment pattern 31 is arranged in parallel with the information string, and includes, for example, a row of black-marked patterns all corresponding to logic “1” and a row of white-marked patterns all corresponding to logic “0”. Should be provided alternately.

Before the information in the information recording range 2 is read, the inclination adjustment pattern 31 is read by the first and second line sensors 6 and 61, the output signal 18 at this time is processed by the arithmetic circuit 19, and each line sensor 6 is read. The tilt of the arm 21 is adjusted so that the information read by 61 is all "0" or "1". As a result, the respective line sensors 6 and 61 and the information row are initialized so that they are parallel to each other. If you increase the card writing speed to increase the card thickness, increase the number of angle adjustments by recording a specific pattern even in the middle of the information recording area 2, and adjust the angle of the arm 21 by this method. It is also possible to do so.

By the way, accurate information cannot be read only by holding the first and second line sensors 6 and 61 and the information row in parallel. Since the information is recorded in a matrix, as the card 1 moves, as shown in FIG. 3, the positional relationship between the photoelectric conversion elements of the line sensors 6 and 61 and the information is changed. , Because it shifts for each information sequence.

This makes it impossible to determine at which position the information read by each photoelectric conversion element is recorded.

Therefore, the means described below are provided.

First, on the paper card 1, as shown in FIG. 1, a recording information start mark 4 is recorded on one side of the recording range 2. If this is enlarged and shown, it will become like FIG. 3 (a).

In FIG. (A), 4 pieces of mark from the beginning to be read by the photoelectric conversion element a _0, a ₃ of the first line sensor 6 represents the recorded information start mark _4, a 4 · a ₅ from 5 th , Etc. marks read by the photoelectric conversion elements represent an information string. The recording information start mark 4 is recorded at the beginning of all the information strings and is unified by a logical pattern of "0110", for example.

At time t ₁ , the photoelectric conversion elements a ₀ , a ₁ , ... And the marks representing information have a predetermined correspondence relationship. The arithmetic circuit 19 determines that the portion of the output signal 18 read by the photoelectric conversion elements a _{0 to} a ₃ corresponds to the recording information start mark 4, and stores the remaining information in the storage circuit 20.

From this state, when the card 1 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow 11, the correspondence relationship between each photoelectric conversion element a ₀ , a ₁ , ... And the mark representing information shifts. For example, at time t _2, the recording information start mark 4 would then be read by the photoelectric conversion element a ₂ ~a _5. This state is schematically shown in FIG. 3 (b).

At time t ₂ , the arithmetic circuit 19 outputs “0110” from the output signal 18.
Pattern is detected, and the following information is stored in the recording circuit 20 as correct information.

In this way, by detecting the recorded information start mark 4 having a predetermined pattern, the information can be read accurately.

However, as described above, if each photoelectric conversion element and the information mark face each other, there is no problem, but at a time point between time t ₁ and time t ₂ , the time t shown in FIG. _{As in the case of 3} , there may be a mark at the boundary between adjacent photoelectric conversion elements. At this time, the level of the output signal 18 becomes unstable,
The information cannot be identified.

In this state, the arithmetic circuit 19 can distinguish between "1" and "0" by changing the threshold level for logical determination of the output signal 18 to a predetermined level of 1/2 or less. at time t _3), information read by the photoelectric conversion element a ₀ ~a ₃ is "0010"
Therefore, the recorded information start mark 4 cannot be read accurately. In order to solve this problem, the line sensor 6
Line sensor 61 that is close to and parallel to
When the arithmetic circuit 19 detects that the recorded information start mark 4 is not correctly read, the switching is performed so that the information read by the second line sensor 61 is adopted.

As described above, since the second line sensor 61 is adjacent to the first line sensor 6 in parallel and is located behind the first line sensor 6 in the moving direction of the card 1, the second line sensor 61 is read by the first line sensor 6. The information line that cannot be obtained is read by the second line sensor 61.

In addition, the photoelectric conversion elements a ₀ , a ₁ , of the first line sensor 6
a ₂ , ... And the photoelectric conversion elements b ₀ , b ₁ , of the second line sensor 61.
b _2, ... from the fact that offset 1/2 dots, each photoelectric conversion element _{b 0, b 1, b 2} , ... becomes a to be opposed to the mark information, the information is read correctly.

FIG. 4 (b) schematically shows the information read by the first and second line sensors 6 and 61.

Then, in the arithmetic circuit 19, the recording information start mark 4 is excluded from the output signal 18 from the first line sensor 61,
It is stored in the memory 20.

Furthermore, the paper card 1 is moved from the state at time t ₃ , and next,
When the second line sensor 61 cannot read accurately, the information read by the first line sensor 6 is adopted.

In this way, by accurately switching the read information of the first and second line sensors 6 and 61, accurate reading is performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the tilt control of the line sensors 6 and 61 by the servo signal detection unit 8 and the tilt control of the line sensors 6 and 61 by detecting the tilt adjustment pattern are performed and recorded. Accurate reading is performed by detecting the information start mark 4 and determining the information to be read.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the recorded information string is not at a right angle with respect to the direction in which the card is moved during reading, accurate reading can be performed, and high density recording is possible. It is possible to provide a card recorded information reading device having an excellent function, which makes it possible to use a card and which has the disadvantages of the prior art.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a card recorded information reading device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the action of an adjustment pattern recorded on the card shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the recording information start signal recorded on the card shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the two line sensors shown in FIG. 6 ... 1st line sensor 61 ... 2nd line sensor 8 ... Servo signal detector, 9 ... Rail 21 ... Arm 12,13 ... Current / voltage converter 14 ... Differential amplifier, 15 ... Phase compensation circuit 16 ... Drive Amplifier, 17 ... Linear motor 19 ... Arithmetic circuit, 20 ... Memory circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A card information reading device for reading information recorded on a card in a matrix by a linear information detector arranged substantially at right angles to the card feeding direction, and one end of an arm for holding the linear information detector. Is used as a rotation fulcrum, the other end of the arm is movable in an arc shape with the rotation fulcrum as the center, and a plurality of straight lines that are substantially parallel to the guard feed direction and parallel to the recording information signal column direction are provided. The error obtained by detecting the servo signal recorded in the card with a detector that divides the square or circle into four, and differentially amplifying the output sum signals of the two divided detectors that are diagonally arranged. An angle deviation detector output of the arm that outputs a signal controls the angle of the arm so that the error signal is minimized, and for a card in which information is recorded with a deviation from a right angle to the card feeding direction. Well, record Broadcast linear information detector card information reading apparatus characterized by the way may be positioned parallel to the row of.