JP3856801B2 - Method for transporting card-like recording medium and method for reading or writing data recorded on card-like recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transporting a storage medium in processing such as reading, writing, and printing of the storage medium, and a holder used in the method, and more particularly, a magnetic card is processed by a passbook printer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for processing a passbook printer after storing a magnetic card in a dedicated holder, and the dedicated holder.

  In financial systems that are currently widely used, a magnetic card such as a cash card, a credit card, and a bank clerk ID card and a passbook having a magnetic stripe such as a deposit passbook are often processed simultaneously. These magnetic cards are mainly inserted into a dedicated magnetic card reader, and a magnetic stripe is read. On the other hand, the passbook is inserted into a dedicated passbook printer, and the magnetic stripe provided on the surface of the passbook is read / written and characters / numbers are printed on the printing surface.

  Therefore, in a processing device capable of reading the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card and reading and writing the magnetic stripe of the passbook, and printing characters, numbers, etc., there are a mechanism for processing the magnetic card and a mechanism for processing the passbook. Each of these mechanisms requires a head for performing magnetic stripes and a mechanism for transporting a magnetic card or passbook. This has caused problems that the cost cannot be increased and the size and weight cannot be reduced. In addition, the control program is redundant because it is necessary to control an independent mechanism.

  As a means for solving such problems, in the OL50ETTI PR50 ("OLIVEETTI" and "PR50" are trademarks of OLIVETTI), the reading of the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card, the reading of the magnetic stripe of the bankbook, letters and numbers, etc. A technique for performing printing with one mechanism is employed.

  However, this technique also has various problems. The first problem is that a magnetic card having a width of 85.6 mm and a length of 54.0 mm is directly inserted and transported, and the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card needs to be brought close to the magnetic head. However, it is necessary to arrange the transport rollers 311, 313, and 315 on one roller assembly member 310 at a higher density than the conventional passbook printer (see FIG. 14), and the roller assembly member itself is also a conventional passbook printer. This is a design problem that requires a higher density. Such a design constraint results in an increase in cost due to an increase in the number of parts and a reduction in size and weight.

  The second problem is that when a magnetic card is directly inserted and transported, the possibility of skewing increases due to the uneven shape of the embossing provided on many of the magnetic cards. The embossing of this magnetic card is not always provided at a fixed place, but when a plurality of conveying rollers are provided on one roller assembly member, the resistance value received by each conveying roller is not uniform. For this reason, a moment for skewing the magnetic card works. In order to prevent this skew, special design considerations and a special mechanism need to be added. This also leads to an increase in cost and a reduction in size and weight. Further, the embossing on the magnetic card may interfere with the close contact between the magnetic head and the magnetic stripe, which may be a design constraint.

  A third problem is that the design must increase the pressure applied to each transport roller. The magnetic card is designed based on a standard such as ISO (ISO 7811 etc.), and its size is 85.6 mm in width and 54.0 mm in length. Therefore, when the magnetic stripe is read by the magnetic head, the number of transport rollers that hold the magnetic card must be reduced. In order to withstand the force of the magnetic head rubbing the magnetic stripe during reading with this reduced number of transport rollers, it is necessary to design the pressure applied to each transport roller to be higher. However, if the design is such that the pressure applied to each conveying roller is increased, when printing a form or the like, copying pressure-sensitive paper such as carbon reacts, and there is a risk that the marks of the rollers will be transferred. In addition, when printing a passbook or a form, a phenomenon that ink adhering to the conveyance roller reattaches with each rotation of the conveyance roller during the conveyance of the printing place (the person skilled in the art has a common name of “foot print”). ) Is likely to occur. Further, in order to increase the feeding accuracy while increasing the pressure applied to the conveying roller, it is necessary to design the diameter of the conveying roller to be large. Therefore, this third problem leads to the result that the printing ability and conveyance ability of the passbook printer are lowered, the cost is increased, and the size and weight cannot be reduced.

  The fourth problem is that the malfunction and malfunction of the passbook printer may increase. Currently, in most passbook printers, a reflective optical sensor is used to detect the insertion of a form or a passbook, or to detect the length of a form or a passbook. The transmissive optical sensor must be placed so that the form etc. is sandwiched between the light source and the optical sensor in almost the normal direction of the form etc. to be inserted. The light source and the optical sensor are arranged in the vertical direction. Accordingly, dust or the like adheres to the light source or the optical sensor disposed below, and the function cannot be exhibited. On the other hand, the reflective optical sensor can arrange the light source and the optical sensor in the upward direction of the form, and is less affected by adhesion of dust and the like. This is why the passbook printer uses a reflective optical sensor for insertion and length detection of forms and the like. This reflective optical sensor has a detection range because if it is set with high sensitivity, it may cause malfunction or malfunction due to erroneous detection. This range is set based on the form that will normally be inserted and the color of the bankbook (close to white), so it is not possible to detect all magnetic cards and optical cards created in various colors. There is a problem that it is difficult (for example, when the card is matte black, it is difficult to detect the reflected light). Therefore, in order to adopt the direct insertion method of the magnetic card, it increases the possibility of malfunction or malfunction of the passbook printer, adopts a transmission type optical sensor that is easily affected by dust, etc., or a card with a color with less reflection You must choose whether to make it unusable.

  The fifth problem is that the design must increase the movable range of the magnetic head. Writing to the magnetic stripe of the passbook in the ISO standard has a minimum width of 85 mm from the end of the passbook. However, when the minimum width of the passbook is defined as 120 mm, it is not necessary to move the magnetic head in the range of 35 mm on the left side of the passbook. Therefore, the left-aligned system (a system that prints left-aligned media such as bankbooks and forms), and is used in OLIVETTI PR50, IBM9055, IBM4772 etc. The magnetic head does not need to be moved within the range of 35 mm from the left guide in the conveyance path of the passbook printer. However, in this left-aligned system, in order to directly insert a magnetic card and read the magnetic stripe, the maximum width of c is 2.92 mm as shown in FIG. 2, and data is actually written. Since the position is 7.44 mm (ISO standard 7811/4) from the right end (the stripe is read downward), it is necessary to move the magnetic head fully to the left guide. Furthermore, if the passbook and the magnetic card are read in the same manner, the magnetic head will move and move (empty reading) the 35 mm left side of the passbook, which is not necessary, causing deterioration of the magnetic head (this range is magnetic). May be a cross rather than a striped area). In order to avoid this, it is necessary to determine whether it is a passbook or a magnetic card before the magnetic stripe is read by the magnetic head. Therefore, the fifth problem leads to the result that the magnetic head of the passbook printer is deteriorated, the cost is increased by the additional mechanism, and the size and weight cannot be reduced.

  The sixth problem is that there is a high probability that the magnetic card does not respond to the skew correction sensor. In particular, in a center insertion type printer that is under development at the time of filing this application (this description does not confess that this type of printer is known at the time of filing), the conveyed medium is skewed (tilted). If this is the case, the problem is great because skew correction is performed. As a premise of this, the determination as to whether or not the skew is made is performed by two optical sensors provided at regular intervals in parallel with the roller mounting member. If both of these two optical sensors are turned on within a predetermined time, it is determined that the medium is not skewed. After one of the sensors is turned on, the other sensor is turned on within a certain time. If not, it is determined that the medium is skewed. At this time, if the magnetic card is directly inserted and transported, the magnetic card is usually 85.6 mm wide, and therefore may not pass through the position of one or both sensors. If the interval between the two sensors is set narrow, the detection sensitivity is lowered.

  Problems with such a passbook printer include an ID card printer that prints on the surface of the ID card that requires a mechanism for conveying the ID card, an ID card encoder that writes data to the magnetic stripe of the ID card, and the surface of the ID card. This also occurs in an ID card manufacturing apparatus that prints data and writes data to a magnetic stripe.

  The present invention solves the above problem by processing after setting the recording holding medium in the holder. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is applied to a passbook printer capable of reading both a magnetic card and a passbook having a magnetic stripe (hereinafter referred to as a magnetic card compatible passbook printer). After the magnetic card is set in a dedicated card holder, it is inserted into a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer for processing.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this dedicated magnetic card holder allows design of a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer with less design restrictions and reduced size and weight.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a storage medium holder is provided that mitigates the effects of the shape of the storage medium from which it is read.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer is provided which does not degrade the printing ability and conveyance ability of the passbook printer.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a passbook printer for a magnetic card is provided which does not increase the possibility of malfunction or malfunction of the passbook printer.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a passbook printer for a magnetic card that is not affected by the type of magnetic card is provided.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer with less restrictions in designing the movable range of the magnetic head.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a passbook printer for magnetic cards that does not affect the skew correction sensor is provided.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a first opening for holding a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe and embossing, and a second opening for covering the embossing provided on the bottom surface of the first opening. A drop prevention sheet for preventing the magnetic card from dropping out of the first opening, a width larger than the long side of the magnetic card and smaller than the conveyance path of the magnetic recording medium reader, Provided is a substantially rectangular plate-like card holder having a length larger than a short side and a thickness that can be inserted into a conveyance path. This recording medium reader is a concept including a magnetic card reader, a magnetic card reader / writer, an optical card reader, an optical card reader / writer, and a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer. The length of the card holder of the present invention is described only as “larger than the long side of the magnetic card”, and the upper limit is not set because a theoretically infinite length like a printer that prints continuous paper is used. This is because there is also an apparatus that can process a medium having the same. In the case of a printer that prints the continuous paper, the continuous paper to be printed can be virtually imagined as an infinite length medium by connecting them in a loop.

  The card holder is inserted into a conveyance path of a magnetic recording medium reader having a magnetic head for reading the magnetic recording medium and a conveyance roller for conveying the magnetic recording medium, and is conveyed by the conveyance roller.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the card holder has a rectangular shape, the diagonal length of the card holder is larger than the transport path width, and the width of the card holder is smaller than the transport path width. Such a shape can prevent the card holder from skewing in the transport path.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the drop-off prevention sheet is provided with a width of 11.0 mm to 20.0 mm so that the upper portion of the magnetic card is exposed when the magnetic card is set. As a result, the magnetic stripe is not exposed from the drop-off prevention sheet, and the drop-off prevention sheet does not interfere with the running of the magnetic head. Moreover, the sign description part of a magnetic card can be protected.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the card holder has an optical notch whose light reflectance for adjusting the length recognized by the optical sensor for detecting the length of the conveyed medium is 15% or less. Has a part. Thereby, the length of the card holder recognized by the magnetic recording medium reader can be adjusted.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the card-like recording medium has an opening, and has a width that is larger than the short side of the card-like recording medium and smaller than the conveyance path of the reader, A card holder having a length larger than the long side and a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path is provided. The card holder is inserted into the conveyance path of the recording medium processing apparatus and is conveyed by the conveyance roller of the recording medium processing apparatus. This card holder is mainly used in a recording medium processing apparatus in which a recording medium is read and written in parallel with the transport direction. The recording medium processing apparatus also performs printing on the surface of a magnetic card reader, magnetic card writer, optical card reader, optical card writer, magnetic card-compatible passbook printer, magnetic card or optical card. The concept includes a card printer, a magnetic card manufacturing apparatus, and an optical card manufacturing apparatus.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the card-like recording medium has an opening, and has a width that is larger than the long side of the card-like recording medium and smaller than the conveyance path of the reader, A card holder having a length larger than the short side and a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path is provided. The card holder is inserted into the conveyance path of the recording medium processing apparatus and is conveyed by the conveyance roller of the recording medium processing apparatus.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic card is held in the first opening, the emboss of the magnetic card is covered with the second opening provided on the bottom surface of the first opening, and the magnetic card Has a drop-off prevention sheet that prevents the first opening from falling off, and is larger than the long side of the magnetic card, smaller than the conveyance path of the passbook printer, and larger than the short side of the magnetic card. Detecting the insertion of a plate-shaped card holder having a length and a thickness that can be inserted into the conveyance path into the conveyance path of the passbook printer, and conveying the passbook printer in response to detection of insertion into the conveyance path The stage of starting the rotation of the roller, the stage of transporting the card holder using the transport roller of the reader, the position of the track and the magnetic head on which the magnetic stripe data of the magnetic card held by the card holder is recorded In a passbook printer comprising a magnetic head and a plurality of roller assembly members each having a plurality of transport rollers on a roller shaft, the method including a step of aligning and a step of moving the magnetic head and reading data recorded on the magnetic stripe There is provided a method of reading data recorded on a magnetic stripe of a magnetic card having an emboss using a magnetic head.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the method of the present invention determines whether the read data is data recorded on a magnetic stripe of a magnetic card or data recorded on a magnetic stripe of a passbook. Further included. Specifically, it can be implemented by detecting the length or width of the inserted medium and comparing it with a preset value or by determining from the format of the read data.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the card-like recording medium is held in the opening, and has a width larger than the long side of the card-like recording medium and smaller than the conveyance path of the reader, In response to the insertion of the plate-shaped card holder having a length larger than the side and a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path into the transport path of the recording medium processing apparatus, the card holder is transported by the recording medium processing apparatus. A plurality of roller assembly members each having a plurality of transport rollers on a roller shaft; and a step of transporting the card-like recording medium held by the card holder at a recording medium processing position; There is provided a method for transporting a card-like recording medium. The recording medium processing position is a concept including a magnetic card reading position, a magnetic card writing position, an optical card reading position, an optical card writing position, and a position for printing on the surface of the magnetic card or the optical card.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the card-like recording medium is held in the opening, and has a width larger than the long side of the card-like recording medium and smaller than the conveyance path of the recording medium processing device, and the card-like recording medium. In response to the insertion of the plate-shaped card holder having a length larger than the short side of the recording medium into the conveyance path of the recording medium processing apparatus, the card holder is inserted into the recording medium. The step of conveying using the conveying roller of the processing device, the step of aligning the data storage position of the card-like recording medium held by the card holder and the position of the head, and recording on the card-like recording medium using this head A head for reading or writing, including a step of reading data or writing data to a card-like recording medium, and a plurality of roller assembly members each having a plurality of conveying rollers on a roller shaft In the recording medium processing apparatus having a data recorded on the card-like recording medium reading, or, a method is provided for writing data to the card-shaped recording medium.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic card is held in the opening, and has a width larger than the long side of the magnetic card, smaller than the conveyance path of the passbook printer, and a length larger than the short side of the magnetic card. Detecting the insertion of the plate-shaped card holder having a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path into the transport path of the passbook printer; and in response to detecting the insertion into the transport path, the passbook printer The rotation of the transfer roller, the step of transferring the card holder using the transfer roller of the reading device, the track on which the magnetic stripe data of the magnetic card held by the card holder is recorded, and the magnetic head A plurality of magnetic heads each including a plurality of transport rollers on a roller shaft, the method including a step of aligning and a step of moving the magnetic head and reading data recorded on the magnetic card In passbook printer and a chromatography La assembling member, a method of reading data recorded on the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card with a magnetic head is provided.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe on its surface is held in the opening, a width larger than the long side of the magnetic card and smaller than the conveyance path of the passbook printer, Check that a plate-like card holder with a length greater than the short side and a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path, and a passbook with a magnetic stripe on the cover are inserted into the transport path of the passbook printer. Each of the optical sensors that can be detected and a plurality of roller assembly members each having a plurality of transport rollers on the roller shaft, the plurality of roller assembly members being arranged at intervals longer than the short side of the magnetic card The data of the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card held by the card holder is recorded by controlling the transport roller that can transport the passbook and the card holder jointly. The conveyance roller control means for aligning the position of the rack and the magnetic head, the magnetic head for reading the data recorded on the magnetic card, the magnetic head moving motor for moving the magnetic head, and the data read by the magnetic head There is provided a passbook printer capable of reading data stored in a magnetic stripe of a passbook having a magnetic stripe by a magnetic head, including means for discriminating whether the magnetic card or the passbook.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, whether the data read by the magnetic head is from the magnetic card or the passbook is determined based on the format of the read data.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe on its surface is held in the opening, a width larger than the long side of the magnetic card and smaller than the conveyance path of the passbook printer, A plate-like card holder having a length larger than the short side and a thickness that can be inserted into the conveyance path, a passbook having a magnetic stripe on its cover, and a passbook printer for three types of media, a form Optical sensor capable of detecting insertion into the conveyance path and means for detecting user input for determining whether the medium inserted into the conveyance path is either a card holder or a passbook, or a form And the user input is a signal indicating that the card holder or the passbook is a plurality of roller assembly members each having a plurality of transport rollers on the roller shaft, The roller assembly members are arranged at intervals longer than the short side of the magnetic card, and are held by the card holder by controlling a conveyance roller capable of jointly conveying the passbook and the card holder. Conveying roller control means for aligning the position of the magnetic head with a track on which magnetic stripe data of the magnetic card is recorded, a magnetic head moving motor for moving the magnetic head and reading the data recorded on the magnetic card, Means for determining whether the data read by the magnetic head is the data stored in the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card or the data stored in the magnetic stripe of the passbook, and printing on the passbook by the print head And a passbook printer capable of reading the magnetic stripe provided on the cover of the passbook by the magnetic head.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to design a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer with less design restrictions and reduced size and weight by using a dedicated magnetic card holder. In addition, the influence of the shape of the storage medium to be read is reduced. Furthermore, the magnetic card-compatible passbook printer of the present invention does not deteriorate the printing ability and conveyance ability of the passbook printer, and does not increase the possibility of malfunction or malfunction of the passbook printer. In addition, there is an advantage that there are few restrictions in designing the movable range of the magnetic head without being affected by the type of the magnetic card.

  1 and 2 show an embodiment of an information recording medium processed in the present invention. The card-like information recording medium includes a magnetic card having a magnetic stripe portion capable of magnetically recording / reproducing information, an optical card having an optical recording / reproducing portion capable of optically recording / reproducing information, and magnetic information. There are optical / magnetic combined cards having both a magnetic stripe portion capable of recording / reproducing and an optical recording / reproducing portion capable of optically recording / reproducing information. In addition, there are a plate-like medium in which a barcode is printed and a barcode sticker attached. Further, the shape is not limited to a rectangle, and the present invention can be applied to a medium having various shapes (including changes in the thickness direction). However, for the convenience of the reader's understanding of the invention, this information recording medium will be described below as a magnetic card.

Magnetic card standards include the ISO standard adopted by credit cards and the like, and the JIS II type standard adopted by Japanese city banks and the like. The magnetic card shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a magnetic card 100 conforming to the ISO standard. As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic card conforming to the ISO standard has an emboss area 101 for displaying a card number, an owner's name, an expiration date, and the like at the bottom of the surface. The dimensions of the magnetic card 100 according to the ISO standard have a substantially rectangular shape with a width of 85.47 to 85.72 mm, a length of 53.92 to 54.03 mm, a thickness of 0.76 mm ± 0.08 mm, and a corner edge R of 3.18 mm. is doing. The embossing height is a maximum of 0.48 mm.
As shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic stripe 105 is provided on the back surface (the magnetic stripe and the embossed region exist on the front surface in the JIS II type standard), and the size information in the ISO standard is shown in FIG. Show.

  FIG. 3 is a view showing an embodiment of the card holder of the present invention. The card holder 200 holds a magnetic card compliant with the ISO standard, has a conveyance path width of 236 mm, and is inserted into a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer in which the roller assembly members are arranged at intervals of 69 mm. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the card holder 200 can be easily formed by bonding three card holder constituent members 201, 203, and 205 together. In this embodiment, the card holder constituent members 201 and 203 are bonded together by a bonding adhesive tape having a thickness of 0.2 mm. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the card holder 200 can be produced by molding, etching, or the like.

  The width of this card holder is 235.5 mm, which is slightly smaller than the above-described conveyance path width. For this reason, it is possible to prevent shifting and skewing in the transport path. The length of this card holder is 90.0 mm, which is longer than the installation interval of the roller assembly members described above. For this reason, it becomes possible to prevent the conveyance in the conveyance path from becoming impossible. It can be easily understood from the following sample of a conventional passbook printer that the size of the card holder 200 is larger than the minimum processing size of the conventional passbook printer.

This table is a table showing the minimum processing size of the form and passbook of the IBM 9055 passbook printer, the IBM 4772 passbook printer, and the IBM 4009 passbook printer. In the table, the minimum size of forms and passbooks that can be processed by the passbook printer is larger in all directions than the ID card width 85.6 mm and length 54.0 mm. In particular, the minimum processing size of a passbook that can be processed with a magnetic stripe is 34 to 41 mm wide and 45 mm longer than the ID card size. Therefore, when an ID card is directly inserted into these passbook printers, there is a risk of remaining in the middle of the transport path.

  The reason why the minimum processing size (width) of “with REMS” is larger than “without REMS (READ / ENCODE MAGNETIC STRIPE)” is that the landing point of the magnetic head 305 is not so close to the left guide. For this reason, when it is necessary to land from the vicinity of the left guide, it is necessary to provide a notch on the left guide surface, which is contrary to the purpose of smoothly guiding the medium.

  Referring again to FIG. 3, the card holder 200 is provided with an opening 255 for holding the magnetic card 100. A card holder 200 which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4 is designed on the assumption that it will be used in the above-mentioned center insertion type printer. In the drawing, the opening 255 is applied to a passbook printer (see FIG. 12) for driving the magnetic head in the lateral direction with respect to the transport path, so that the magnetic card 100 is set horizontally with respect to the holder 200. On the other hand, when reading the magnetic stripe in the vertical direction, an opening 255 is provided so that the magnetic card 100 is set vertically with respect to the card holder 200.

  The opening 235 covers the embossed area 101 of the magnetic card 100. The card holder constituting member 205 is a drop prevention sheet, and prevents the magnetic card 100 from dropping from the opening 255.

  5 and 6 are views showing holder constituent members 201 and 203, respectively. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the holder component 201 and the holder component 203 are both white polycarbonate. This is because white has a high reflectance and is easily detected by the reflection type optical sensor (however, in the preferred embodiment of the present application, the reflection type optical sensor exists only on the holder component member 203 side, so The member 201 is not meaningful in white). Therefore, when trying to convey the magnetic card itself, the magnetic card surface cannot be requested to have the same high reflectance (for example, 60% or more) as that required for other media (forms and passbooks) (magnetic card). Is already existing, and it is not required to have a high reflectivity from the viewpoint of design and design.) However, by using the card holder of the present invention, the reflective optical sensor detects the surface of the card holder. Therefore, accurate detection is possible. It should be noted that the reflectance of the paper is normally set to 60% or more, and the printed portion thereof is set to 15% or more so that some pre-printing may be applied to the paper.

  The holder constituent member 201 and the holder constituent member 203 can be made of various synthetic resins, paper, wood, etc. in addition to polycarbonate. However, a material that adversely affects the magnetic head when the magnetic head is rubbed is not preferable, and a material that can withstand repeated conveyance and rubbing of the magnetic head is preferable.

  The holder constituting member 201 has a function of covering the embossed area 101 of the magnetic card 100 and avoiding the influence during conveyance. Since the holder constituting member 201 is designed to have a thickness of about 0.5 mm, the influence of the embossing at the time of conveyance can be reduced higher than the embossing having a maximum height of 0.48 mm. However, it is not necessary to always design the thickness of the holder constituent member 201 higher than the emboss, and even if it is lower than the height of the emboss, the step that the transport roller rides on becomes small, so that the influence of the emboss at the time of transport can be reduced.

  The holder constituting member 203 has an opening 255 for holding the magnetic card 100. Since the opening is slightly larger than the magnetic card 100, the magnetic card 100 does not move greatly during reading by the magnetic head. The thickness of the holder constituting member 203 is designed to be about 0.5 mm, and since the thickness of the adhesive tape for bonding is about 0.2 mm, the total is 0.7 mm, and the magnetic card thickness of about ISO standard is 0. .76mm ± 0.08mm is almost the same or slightly thinner. This is because when the holder constituent member 203 is thick enough, the holder constituent member 203 may hinder the traveling of the magnetic head. On the other hand, when the holder constituent member 203 does not have a sufficient thickness, the magnetic card 100 cannot withstand the friction caused by the magnetic head during reading by the magnetic head, and the magnetic card 100 is more likely to fall out of the card holder. .

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the opening 255 is provided at a position 74.8 mm from the left end of the card holder. This is designed in consideration of the driving position of the magnetic head. The distance of the opening 255 from the left end of the card holder 200 is desirably designed in consideration of the magnetic head driving state at the time of reading the magnetic stripe of the bankbook as described below.

The card holder 200 shown in the figure has an opening 255 provided at 13.5 mm from the lower end of the card holder 200. This distance is designed in consideration of the data storage position (track position) of the magnetic stripe 405 of the bankbook 400 shown in FIG.
The data storage location standards currently used in many magnetic cards and bankbooks are shown below.

  Many ISO standard magnetic cards have magnetic stripes that cover Track-1 and Track-2. Diners, VISA ("Diners" is a trademark of Diners International, "VISA" is a trademark of VISA International. ) Etc., different data are written in both tracks. On the other hand, in the passbook, one type of data is written using either IBM (Track-2) or ISO / DIN (Track-3) tracks. Note that a track that is shifted by 10 mm from the normal position is also prepared in the conventional passbook printer for the convenience of the user.

  It is set in advance in the passbook printer 300 which track of the magnetic stripe 405 of the passbook 400 is used to match the reading position of the magnetic stripe 405 of the passbook 400 with the position of the magnetic head 305 (or the setting is changed by the user) However, there are the following methods for automatically stopping the magnetic card 100 held by the card holder 200 at the regular position.

(A). Method for distinguishing between bankbook and magnetic card before insertion The user inputs whether the inserted medium is a bankbook or a magnetic card before inserting the medium. In this case, the size of the card holder is set in advance, the passbook printer recognizes it, and the card holder can be stopped according to the reading position of the passbook. For example, when the reading position of the magnetic card is the track 2 and the track 3 is used in the bankbook, the opening position 255 of the card holder is provided at 13.5 mm from the lower end of the card holder. Is 13.9 mm from the lower end and the reading position of the magnetic card is 23.9 (13.5 + 10.4) mm from the lower end, so there is a difference of 10 mm. Therefore, when the card holder is inserted, after the sensor detects the lower end of the card holder, the card holder 200 is stopped before 10 mm.

(B). Method for distinguishing between bankbook and magnetic card after insertion and before reading of magnetic stripe (b-1). Set the length of the card holder smaller than the minimum passbook length, or set the length of the card holder larger than the maximum passbook length, measure the length of the medium with the sensor after insertion, and determine the preset threshold value Thus, it is possible to distinguish between a passbook and a magnetic card. As long as the distinction is made, it is possible to stop at a position designated in advance by the application. If the physical length of the card holder is not desired to be smaller than the minimum passbook length, a label with a low reflectance such as black is applied to the front end or the lower end of the card holder 200, or a pigment is applied. This makes it possible to intentionally reduce the sensor determination length. It is possible to allow the user to input from the input panel whether the threshold value is set or whether the determination is made based on the minimum passbook length or the maximum passbook length.

  (B-2). In the case of a passbook printer with a sensor that can detect the lateral position and width of the medium, set the card holder width to be smaller than the minimum passbook width or set the card holder width to be greater than the maximum passbook width. Differentiate between bankbooks and magnetic cards. When the width of the card holder is set to be smaller than the minimum passbook width, it affects the conveyance, so that a label having a low reflectance such as black is applied to a portion that reacts to a sensor such as the portions 287 and 289 or a reflection is applied. It is desirable to apply a pigment having a low rate of color. It is also possible for the user to input from the input panel whether the threshold value is set or whether the determination is made based on the minimum passbook width or the maximum passbook width.

(C). A method of crafting the bottom of the card holder according to the track in the passbook When entering in advance that the card is not a passbook but a magnetic card, or when there is a mechanism to determine whether the conveyed media is a magnetic card holder or a passbook There is no problem because another stop control can be used, but it is convenient if the stop control can be performed without prior input or a special mechanism for determining. The medium (passbook or magnetic card) is stopped at the magnetic stripe reading position by detecting the lower end of the medium with an optical sensor. However, when the card holder 200 is used, the opening 255 that holds the magnetic card 100 is used. The border of the card holder 200 positioned at the lower end and the lower end of the card holder 200 is recognized as being extended by the border with respect to the passbook. For example, when the card holder 200 is inserted into the passbook printer 300 with the same settings as the passbook 400 (assuming that both the magnetic card 100 and the passbook 400 use the track-2), the stop position is the bottom edge of the card holder 200. Due to the influence, the margin (13.5 mm) is overrun. The following methods exist to solve this.

(C-1). Set the border of the card holder to the reading position of the passbook-the reading position of the magnetic card. For example, if the passbook uses track-3 and the magnetic card uses track-2, the border is 3.5 mm. By setting (13.9-10.4), the card holder 200 can be stopped at the magnetic card reading position without special setting of being a magnetic card. This is effective when the reading position from the lower end of the bankbook is longer than the reading position from the lower end of the magnetic card.

(C-2). As described above, the medium is stopped at the magnetic stripe reading position by detecting the lower end of the medium with an optical sensor. Therefore, if the card holder 200 is provided with a portion that is not recognized by the optical sensor, the apparent medium length can be adjusted. That is, if the lower end of the position corresponding to the sensor detection position is cut (also effective for a transmission type optical sensor) or a black label (Matte process is desirable) is applied, it is not detected by the reflection type optical sensor. Since the detection position is known in the case of adjusting the width to the conveyance path width as in the case of the card holder 200 shown in FIG. Just do it. In the center insertion method or the like, since the sensor detection position is indefinite, it is desirable to apply a black label or the like to the entire width of the lower end.

  FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a card holder 200 designed on the assumption that the magnetic card 100 uses the track-2. When the passbook 400 uses a track-3, 10 mm shift (23.9 mm), the difference between the magnetic card 100 and the track-2 (10.4 mm) is 13.5 mm. Not performed. When the passbook 400 uses a track-2, 10 mm shift (20.4 mm), the difference from the track-2 (10.4 mm) of the magnetic card 100 is 10.0 mm, so the portion 281 is cut. The Similarly, when the passbook 400 uses track-3 (13.9 mm), the difference from track-2 (10.4 mm) of the magnetic card 100 is 3.5 mm, so the portions 281 and 283 are Cut. Further, when the bankbook 400 also uses track-2 (10.4 mm), the difference from the track-2 (10.4 mm) of the magnetic card 100 is 0 mm, so the portions 281, 283, 285 are cut. Is done.

  As a method for adjusting the apparent medium length by providing a portion that is not recognized by the optical sensor, in addition to cutting, a label of a color with a low reflectance such as black is applied, a pigment is applied, conversely, 281, 283, 285 or the like is made of black (or a transparent material), and a sticker of a color having a high light reflectance such as white is attached to 285 (or 281, 283, 285, etc. are made of black, and 281, 283, 285 are made. It is conceivable that a white sticker is pasted and only the sticker 281 is peeled off), and the received light is reflected in a different direction from the sensor. In this manner, a portion that cannot be detected by the optical sensor is referred to as an optical notch. The optical notch by a black label or the like is effective when the reading position from the lower end of the passbook is shorter than the reading position from the lower end of the magnetic card as compared with the cutting method at the lower end. This is because the reflective optical sensor performs detection from the back side of the card holder 200 shown in FIG. 11, and thus an optical notch can be provided in the portion conceived of the opening 255. Therefore, such an optical cutout allows the passbook and the magnetic card to be different from each other when the magnetic stripe is read, without distinguishing between the passbook and the magnetic card before insertion into the machine. The medium can be stopped at the position required for each.

  As described above, when reading without distinguishing between a bankbook and a magnetic card, the bankbook and the magnetic card can be determined from the data format of the read data. Such a determination method is described in JP-A-1-154217. As is known in the art.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing the holder constituent member 205, and functions as a drop-off preventing sheet for the magnetic card 100 by being attached to the holder constituent member 203. The drop-off prevention sheet prevents the magnetic card 100 from dropping from the card holder 200. However, since the card holder 200 is transported along the bed plate of the transport path 309, if this drop-off prevention sheet is not present, The magnetic card 100 is not necessarily dropped from the opening 255 of the card holder 200 by the conveyance. Further, when the lower transport roller 365 (see FIG. 13) protrudes greatly, if an elastic body (not shown) that presses the magnetic card 100 against the card holder 200 is provided on the lower side of the transport path 309, The magnetic card 100 does not necessarily fall out of the opening 255 of the card holder 200. Furthermore, if the design is made such that the magnetic head is arranged in the upper part of the transport path, the possibility of the magnetic card dropping off due to the weight of the magnetic card 100 is reduced. Therefore, the drop-off prevention sheet 205 is not an essential component of the present invention, and is not necessarily arranged as shown in FIG. For example, it is possible to provide an adhesive layer on the bottom surface of the opening 255 so that it does not easily fall off, or to prevent the card from falling off using a sliding plate or the like.

  When the magnetic card is set, the drop-off prevention sheet has a width of 11.0 mm to 20.0 mm. If the upper part of the magnetic card is exposed, the magnetic stripe of the magnetic card is exposed and the magnetic head is used. Does not interfere with the movement of the magnetic head during reading. In addition, it is possible to prevent the ink adhering to the transport roller from being transferred to a sign description portion often used in a credit card or the like.

  In the preferred embodiment of the present application, the holder component 205 is made of sheet-like polycarbonate. Other materials such as vinyl chloride, polyethylene such as polyethylene, synthetic resin, cloth, paper and the like may be used. However, since the magnetic card 100 is inserted, a thin sheet-like material is preferable so as to be elastic to some extent and not to affect the conveyance. In the case of an elastic material, even if it is a JIS II type standard magnetic card in which the porcelain stripe and the embossed part exist on the same surface, the drop-off preventing sheet absorbs the unevenness of the embossed part.

  Next, a series of procedures for reading the magnetic stripe 105 of the magnetic card 100 by the magnetic head 305 will be described with reference to FIG. The magnetic head 305 can read the magnetic stripe of the passbook, print on the passbook, and print on the form. First, the process starts at block 501. First, the magnetic card 100 is set in the card holder 200 by the user (block 503). In this case, the magnetic card 100 is set in the card holder 200 in the case of an ISO standard compliant magnetic card, with the back surface of the magnetic card 100 (the surface on which the magnetic stripe 105 exists) facing upward as shown in FIG. Then, it is inserted into the card holder 200 as shown in the figure. At this time, the embossed portion 101 is covered with the opening 235. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view seen from the direction A in a state where the magnetic card 100 is set in the card holder 200.

  Next, in block 505, the user inserts the card holder with the magnetic stripe side of the card facing down (see FIGS. 12 and 13 as appropriate). This is because in the passbook printer 300 which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the magnetic head 305 is provided below the conveyance path 309. The passbook printer 300, which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, can print various forms in addition to the passbook 400. Since the form does not read the magnetic stripe, it is desirable to distinguish it from a passbook / magnetic card that reads the magnetic stripe by key input in advance. This is because when a magnetic stripe is read from a form, the form may be damaged by the magnetic head. However, as described above, it is also possible to determine based on the size of the medium.

  When the card holder 200 is inserted into the insertion slot 307, the insertion slot sensor 341 detects the card holder 200 in the block 507. That is, the insertion port sensor 341 is turned on. Since the card holder 200 has a sufficient width compared to the magnetic card 100, it is reliably detected by this sensor. Further, the card holder 200 is made of a color having a high reflectance (white), and the detection error of the insertion port sensor 314 is extremely small. The signal detected by the insertion port sensor 341 is transmitted to the control means. In block 509, the control means rotates the transport rollers 311, 321, 331, etc. in the forward direction. As shown in FIG. 15, the rotation of the conveying roller is performed by transmitting the rotation of the motor. The card holder 200 is conveyed in the forward direction in the block 511 by the rotation of the conveying roller. At this time, the roller assembly member 310 and the roller assembly member 320 are installed with a width wider than the length of the magnetic card 100, but are narrower than the length of the card holder 200. However, the card holder 200 can be transported. In addition, since the card holder 200 can be transported using more transport rollers 311, 313, 315, 317, 319, 321, 323, 325, 327, 328 than when transporting the magnetic card 100 itself, Further, since the embossed area 101 is covered with the opening 235 of the card holder 200, the possibility that the medium is skewed is low.

  Thereafter, when the card holder 200 is conveyed and the lower end of the card holder 200 passes through the position of the insertion slot sensor 341, the insertion slot sensor 341 is turned off. Thus, in block 512, the insertion slot sensor 341 detects the lower end of the card holder 200. The control means can detect the length of the medium from the conveyance distance until the insertion port sensor 341 is turned on and then turned off. As described above, the card holder 200 is made of a highly reflective color (white), and the exposed opening 235 of the magnetic card 100 does not pass under the insertion port sensor 341. Therefore, the length of the medium is reduced. There are very few false detections.

  Thereafter, the card holder 200 reaches the top sensor 343 or the alignment sensor 345 (since the card holder 200 has a sufficient width, it can reliably hit the top sensor 343 and the alignment sensor 345). . The control means detects the inclination of the upper end of the card holder 200 by detecting the difference between the card holder 200 reaching the top sensor 343 and the alignment sensor 345 (block 513). The control means determines whether the slope is equal to or greater than a preset reference (block 515). When the inclination is equal to or greater than the reference, the control unit rotates the transport roller in the reverse direction and ejects the card holder 200 (block 521). If the inclination is within the reference, the card holder 200 is transported to a predetermined position for reading the magnetic stripe 105 based on the length of the card holder 200 detected in block 512 (block 517). When the magnetic stripe 105 has already preceded the magnetic head 305 in the state where the lower end of the card holder 200 has been detected, the control means rotates the transport roller in the reverse direction to change the position of the magnetic stripe 105 to the position of the magnetic head 305. (Side optical sensor is turned on and controlled by the subsequent transport distance).

  Then, the magnetic head 305 is driven to read the magnetic stripe (block 519). In order to realize the method of directly inserting and reading the magnetic card 100 with a left-aligned passbook printer, the magnetic head 305 shown in FIG. 12 moves beyond the left guide of the conveyance path to the right side (left side in FIG. 13). The guide must be movable to the right and the light guide to the left). However, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, because of the card holder 200, there are no such design constraints. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the magnetic head 305 is driven in a direction (arrow direction) perpendicular to the transport direction by a magnetic head moving motor (not shown) to read the magnetic stripe. Is called. As shown in FIG. 12, at the time of reading by the magnetic head 305, the conveyance rollers that hold the card holder 200 are five of 321, 323, 325, 327, and 328, and the stress and moment applied to each of the conveyance rollers are as follows. It will be readily understood that the magnetic card 100 itself is less than the stress and moment when it is transported and read. Therefore, it is not necessary to densely provide the conveying rollers 311 and the like on each of the rotor assembly members 310, 320, and 330, and it is not necessary to set a high pressure to be applied to the conveying rollers.

  If there is a magnetic stripe in a direction parallel to the transport direction, the magnetic head is driven to the magnetic stripe position (or only the magnetic head is moved in the vertical direction and not moved in the vertical direction) It is also possible to read the magnetic stripe by moving the card holder 200 by the transport roller. After the reading is performed, the control means rotates the transport roller in the reverse direction, ejects the card holder (block 521), and the process ends (block 523).

Next, FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of a passbook printer 300 which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A power source 601 supplies power to the passbook printer 300. Reference numeral 603 denotes a main card, which electrically connects various sensors, motors, and control means 629. In this embodiment, the control means 629 is a microprocessor unit on the main card 603, and is composed of an MPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. However, the control means 629 may be a computer connected to a passbook printer. The control means 629 receives signals from various sensors 607, 609, 611, and 613, and controls various motors 615, 617, and 627 and various cards 605, 619, and 623 in accordance with a control program stored in the unit. The control means 629 can determine whether the data read by the same magnetic head 625 is magnetic card data or passbook data depending on the format.

  Reference numeral 605 denotes an operator panel card which performs user input and display on a display panel. Reference numerals 607 to 613 denote various sensors, 607 is an insertion port sensor, 609 is a top sensor, 611 is an alignment sensor, 613, and a jam detection sensor. Reference numerals 615, 617, and 627 denote motors; 615, a carrier motor that moves the print head; 617, a feed motor (conveyance motor) that rotates the conveyance roller; and 627, a magnetic head motor that drives the magnetic head. It is. The print head 621 is connected to the main card 603 via the connector card 619. A magnetic head (REMS) 625 is connected to the main card 603 via a REMS card 623.

  In the above-described preferred embodiment of the present invention, the case where the magnetic stripe on the magnetic card is read by the passbook printer that performs the processing of the transverse magnetic stripe of the passbook is described. When applied to a passbook printer that performs the above processing, reading is possible if the card setting direction on this card holder is changed by 90 degrees. With respect to the vertical stripe of the passbook, the magnetic recording track position is set by the left end reference (some of which is also the right end reference) of the medium, and the medium is transported along the left guide of the apparatus transport system. Therefore, reading can be performed by matching the dimension from the left end of the card holder to the magnetic recording track on the card with the dimension from the left end of the passbook to the magnetic recording track on the passbook. In the passbook, when the distance from the left end to the center of the magnetic recording track is 10.4 mm (that is, Track-2), it matches the Track-2 of the card, so the left end surface of the card holder and the magnetic stripe of the card Cards must be stored so that the side edges coincide. In this case, the card has a degree of freedom to be removed from the holder in the left direction. (1) The transport direction is the vertical direction. (2) During transport, the left end of the card is restrained by the left guide of the apparatus transport system. There is no problem in two points.

FIG. 2 shows the surface of a magnetic card to be processed in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows the back of a magnetic card processed in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the card holder of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the card holder of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the component of the card holder of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the component of the card holder of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the drop-off prevention sheet used for the card holder of this invention. It is a figure which shows the procedure which sets a magnetic card | curd in the card holder which is a suitable Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the state which set the magnetic card to the card holder which is a suitable Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the passbook processed by the preferable Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the card holder of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the passbook printer of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the passbook printer of this invention. It is a figure which shows the roller assembly | attachment member used for the passbook printer which is a suitable Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows a part of passbook printer which is a suitable Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows one Example of the magnetic card reading method of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the bankbook printer of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 Magnetic card 101 Emboss 105 Magnetic stripe 201 Item 1
203 Item 2
205 Item 3 (drop-off prevention sheet)
235 Embossing opening 255 Card holding opening 300 Passbook printer 301 Housing 303 Tray 305 Magnetic head 307 Insertion port 309 Transport paths 310, 320, 330, 360, 370, 380 Roller assembly members 311, 321, 331, 361 , 371, 381 Conveying rollers 312, 322, 332, 362, 372, 382 Roller shaft 341 Insertion port sensor 343 Top sensor 345 Alignment sensor 351 Print head 353 Print mechanism
355 Platen 357 Transport motor
400 Passbook 405 Magnetic stripe 407 Cover 409 Printing surface 601 Power supply 603 Main card 605 Operator panel card 607 Insertion sensor 609 Top sensor 611 Alignment sensor 613 Jam detection sensor 615 Carrier motor 617 Feed motor 619 Connector card 621 Print head 623 REMS card 625 Magnetic Head (REMS head)
627 Magnetic head motor

Claims (2)

In the recording medium processing apparatus having a plurality of rollers assembling member each having a plurality of rollers in the roller shaft, there is provided a method for transporting a card-like recording medium,
The card-like recording medium is held in the opening, and is larger than the long side of the card-like recording medium and smaller than the width of the conveyance path of the recording medium processing device, and from the short side of the card-like recording medium. In response to the insertion of the plate-shaped card holder having a large length and a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path into the transport path, the card holder is moved by the transport roller of the recording medium processing apparatus. Using and conveying,
Stopping the card-like recording medium held by the card holder at a recording medium processing position;
Including methods. In the recording medium processing apparatus having a plurality of rollers assembling member having a head for reading or writing, a plurality of conveying rollers each roller shaft, reads data recorded on the card-like recording medium or the card A method of writing data to a state recording medium,
The card-like recording medium is held in the opening, and is larger than the long side of the card-like recording medium and smaller than the width of the conveyance path of the recording medium processing device, and from the short side of the card-like recording medium. In response to the insertion of the plate-shaped card holder having a large length and a thickness that can be inserted into the transport path into the transport path, the card holder is moved by the transport roller of the recording medium processing apparatus. Using and conveying,
Aligning the data recording position of the card-like recording medium held by the card holder with the position of the head;
Using the head, reading data recorded on the card-like recording medium or writing data to the card-like recording medium;
Including methods.

Images