U.S. patent application number 09/182134 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-11 for card reader having a space for discharging foreign matter therein.
Invention is credited to HIRASAWA, KENJI, IMAI, EIJI.
Application Number | 20020088862 09/182134 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 17952414 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020088862 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
IMAI, EIJI ; et al. |
July 11, 2002 |
CARD READER HAVING A SPACE FOR DISCHARGING FOREIGN MATTER
THEREIN
Abstract
A card reader which drives a card transporting device with a
driving motor to transport cards by the card transporting device in
a card passage, comprises a card entering passage formed in the
same direction as the card passage by extending the distance
between a front surface of a card inlet, from which the cards are
inserted, and a front edge of the card transporting device. The
card entering passage has card guiding portions formed in the same
direction as the card passage for supporting inserted cards from
both sides in the card transporting direction and a space for
discharging foreign matter formed between the card guiding portions
at both sides using nearly the entire space in the width direction
between the card guiding portions.
Inventors: |
IMAI, EIJI; (NAGANO, JP)
; HIRASAWA, KENJI; (NAGANO, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
REED SMITH LLP
375 PARK AVENUE
NEW YORK
NY
10152
US
|
Family ID: |
17952414 |
Appl. No.: |
09/182134 |
Filed: |
October 29, 1998 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
235/475 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K 13/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
235/475 |
International
Class: |
G06K 013/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 7, 1997 |
JP |
9-306046 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A card reader which drives a card transporting means with a
driving motor to transport cards by said card transporting means in
a card passage, comprising: a card entering passage formed in the
same direction as said card passage by extending the distance
between a front surface of a card inlet, from which said cards are
inserted, and a front edge of said card transporting means; said
card entering passage having card guiding portions formed in the
same direction as said card passage for supporting inserted cards
from both sides in the card transporting direction and a space for
discharging foreign matter formed between said card guiding
portions at both sides using nearly the entire space in the width
direction between said card guiding portions.
2 The card reader as set forth in claim 1 wherein said space is a
recess portion having a foreign matter receiving plane below said
card guiding portions or an opening into which foreign matter is
dropped downward.
3. The card reader as set forth in Clam 2 wherein the distance
between said front surface of said card inlet and said front edge
of said card transporting means is at least half of the card length
in the card insertion direction.
4. The card reader as set forth in claim 3 wherein said card
entering passage has a center card guide that extends in the card
insertion direction between said card guiding portions at both
sides, and the top surface of said center guide is formed for
facilitating foreign matter to drop.
5. The card reader as set forth in claim 1 wherein said card
entering passage is constituted as a card entering unit that is
attachable to and detachable from a card reader main body.
6. The card reader as set forth in claim 3 wherein said card
entering passage is formed integral with a card reader main
body.
7. A card reader which detects the legality of an inserted card to
move a movable shutter to an open position and takes said inserted
card inside a card reader with multiple card transporting roller
pairs driven by a driving motor, comprising that: the distance
between a front surface of a card inlet, from which said card is
inserted, and a front edge of a first transporting roller pair is
at least half of the card length in the card insertion direction to
form a card entering passage; said shutter being arranged before
said first transporting roller pair; and a space for discharging
foreign matter being created in said card entering passage before
said shutter.
8. The card reader as set forth in claim 7 wherein said card
entering passage has card guiding portions for supporting said
inserted card from both sides in the card transporting direction
and said space for discharging foreign matter using the nearly
entire space in the width direction between said card guiding
portions at both sides.
9. The card reader as set forth in claim 7 wherein said card
entering passage has detecting means for moving said shutter to
said open position, card guiding portions for supporting said
inserted card from both sides in the card transporting direction,
and said space for discharging foreign matter in front of said
detecting means and between said card guiding portions at both
sides.
10. The card reader as set forth in claim 8 wherein said card
entering passage has a center card guide that extends between said
card guiding portions at both sides in the card insertion
direction; and the top surface of said center card guide being
formed to facilitate foreign matter to drop.
11. A card reader comprising: a card transporting means driven by a
driving motor; a card passage through which a card is transported
by said card transporting means; a card inlet from which said card
is inserted; a card entering passage formed by extending the
distance between said card inlet and the front edge of said card
transporting means in the same direction as said card passage; a
pair of card guiding portions formed in the same direction as said
card passage from supporting said inserted card from both sides in
the transporting direction; and a space for discharging foreign
matter formed between said pair of card guiding portions.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] a) Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a card reader.
[0003] b) Description of the Related Art
[0004] In a card reader which takes cards inside to process data, a
card inlet from which cards are inserted is formed to be widened
toward the front, thus providing for easy insertion of cards. To
prevent foreign matter other than the cards from entering inside
the card reader, a shutter may be provided deep inside the card
inlet. Only when legal cards are inserted, is the shutter moved to
an open position to take the cards inside the card reader.
[0005] On the other hand, there are quite a few card readers which
do not accommodate the shutter mechanism described above. Since
such card readers cannot perfectly prevent foreign matter from
entering, the foreign matter, such as coins and medals, inserted
from the card inlet on purpose or by mistake may be taken inside
the card reader and caught, causing a breakdown of the machine. To
solve such a problem, a hole may be provided in a card transporting
path in such a card reader utilizing a space such as a rear step of
a card transporting roller so that the inserted foreign matter will
not be caught in the card transporting path.
[0006] However, motor-driven card readers or such card readers that
have heads at the top and bottom for recording and reproducing data
on cards require many construction components and cannot provide a
space for creating the hole for discharging foreign matter at a
desirable position. Accordingly, only such foreign matter inserted
at the position which corresponds to the hole provided at an
available space can be discharged out of the card transporting
path.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
card reader in which foreign matter inserted from the card inlet on
purpose or by mistake is discharged no matter where it is in the
card running width so as to prevent it from entering inside the
card reader.
[0008] In accordance with the invention, a card reader which drives
a card transporting means with a driving motor to transport cards
by the card transporting means in a card passage, comprises a card
entering passage formed in the same direction as the card passage
by extending the distance between a front surface of a card inlet,
from which the cards are inserted, and a front edge of the card
transporting means. The card entering passage has card guiding
portions formed in the same direction as the card passage for
supporting inserted cards from both sides in the card transporting
direction and a space for discharging foreign matter formed between
the card guiding portions at both sides using nearly the entire
space in the width direction between the card guiding portions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] In the drawings:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of a card reader of
the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a card reader main body and
a card entering passage; and
[0012] FIGS. 3(A) through 3(C) show three shapes of the cross
section of a center card guide cross-sectioned by III-III line of
FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] A configuration of the present invention will be described
in detail based on an embodiment illustrated in drawings.
[0014] FIGS. 1 though 3 illustrates an embodiment of a card reader
of the present invention. A card reader 1 comprises a card
transporting means 3 for transporting a card C inserted from a card
inlet 5, a card passage 6 extending from the card inlet 5 in the
direction of card insertion illustrated by an arrow a, another card
passage 4, a shutter 9 free to open and close (to move) with
respect to the card passage 4, and a magnetic head 10 for
processing (recording/reproducing) magnetic data on the card C. The
card C is transported in the card passage 4 by the card
transporting means 3 driven by a driving motor 2. A card entering
passage 6 is formed by extending the distance L longer than usual.
The distance L is from the front surface of the card inlet 5, from
which the card C is inserted, to the front edge of the card
transporting means 3, that is, to the edge of a first transporting
roller pair 13 on the card inlet side.
[0015] The card entering passage 6 has, as illustrated in FIG. 2 in
detail, card guiding portions 61, 61 for supporting the inserted
card C with both sides in the card transporting direction and a
space 62 for discharging foreign matter, formed between the card
guiding portions 61, 61 at both sides. The space 62 is created
between the card guiding portions 61, 61 to use the entire
available space in the width direction (the direction orthogonal to
the card transporting direction) between the card guiding portions
61, 61. In this embodiment, as illustrated, a card entering unit 7
is newly attached to the front surface of the conventional card
reader to form the card entering passage 6 which is connected to a
conventional card inlet 50 (of the card reader 1 main body) so that
the distance L between the front surface of the card inlet 5 and
the front edge of the card transporting means 3 is extended.
Therefore, the space 62 can be created without being disturbed by
other mechanisms used for card insertion.
[0016] The card entering unit 7 is formed for enabling the inserted
foreign matter to be discharged, and provided attachably and
detachably to the card reader 1 main body. Although the means for
freely attaching and detaching it is not particularly limited, the
card entering unit 7 in this embodiment is attached to the card
reader 1 main body with attaching-detaching means 7a, 7a consisting
of nails that engage with the main body, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
In this manner, the card entering unit 7 is made attachable and
detachable with respect to the card reader 1. This facilitates the
attachment and detachment of the card entering unit which includes
the space 62 having a dimension for targeted foreign matter, for
example, different currency coins and medals used in various
countries and other assumed foreign matter.
[0017] Further inward than the card inlet 5 of the card entering
unit 7 is the card entering passage 6, which is connected to the
conventional card inlet 50 (of the card reader 1 main body) without
interposing a step to essentially extend the card passage 4 so that
cards can run smoothly. The length of the card entering passage 6
in the card entering unit 7 is not particularly limited. However,
the distance L from the front surface of the card inlet 5 to the
front edge of the card transporting means 3, that is, the distance
between the front surface of the card inlet 5 and the first
transporting roller pair 13 illustrated in FIG. 1 is shorter than
the length of the card in the insertion direction so that the card
is taken inside by the first transporting roller pair 13
immediately at the insertion by hand. Also, it is desirable that
the distance L is sufficiently long within the range shorter than
the card in the insertion direction. In this embodiment, the
distance L is at least half the length of the card in the insertion
direction so that sufficient space 62 can be obtained to discharge
foreign matter.
[0018] In addition, the card guiding portions 61, 61 are formed at
both sides of the card entering passage 6 in the insertion
direction. The card guiding portions 61, 61 is not limited to its
shape and form as long as they support both sides of the card C. In
this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, both edges projected
inside from the both sides of the card entering unit 7 guide the
card C to the conventional card inlet 50 while supporting both
sides of the inserted card C from the bottom.
[0019] The portion between the both card guiding portions 61, 61 is
the space 62 for discharging foreign matter so that all the foreign
matter smaller than the width between both card guiding portions
61, 61 can be discharged from the card passage. The space 62 for
discharging foreign matter is formed with a recess portion 63
having a foreign matter receiving plane 63A (see FIG. 1) below the
card guiding portions 61, 61 so that foreign matter such as coils
can be held temporarily. Although the opening of the space 62 is
not specifically limited in shape and size, it is large enough to
discharge foreign matter. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a rectangular
shape is advantageous to obtain sufficient opening of the space 62.
The space 62 may not be formed with the recess portion 63 having
the foreign matter receiving plane 63A, but the front of a frame
constituting the card inlet 5 of the card entering unit 7 may be
extended downwardly so that the inserted foreign matter can be
dropped in a place which does not bother other components in the
machine.
[0020] Further, the card entering passage 6 has a center card guide
65 extending in the card insertion direction between the card
guiding portion 61, 61 at both sides. The center guide 65 of this
embodiment nearly divides the foreign matter discharging space 62
in half and supports the center of the transported card C from the
bottom so that the card C is prevented from being bent or warped
and can run smoothly. However, the shape is not limited to this,
but the center card guide 65 may neither extend straight in the
card insertion direction, a, for example, nor should be provided at
the center in the width direction. As long as the dimension for the
opening 64 of the space 62 can be obtained sufficiently, it may be
possible to form two or more center card guides 65.
[0021] The top surface of the center card guide 65 is in a shape
with which foreign matter drops easily but will not to be caught in
the space 62. In particular, the top surface of the center card
guide 65 is formed to have a triangle, circle, or trapezoidal
cross-section as illustrated in FIGS. 3(A) through 3(C), and also
formed in a shape or size with which foreign matter loses balance.
Thus, it is desirable to form the top surface of the center card
guide 65 to make it easy to drop foreign matter. Note that, when
the card C is to be supported only by the card guiding portions 61,
61 at both sides, the center card guide 65 is not necessary.
[0022] After the conventional card inlet 50 in the card insertion
direction, a, and before the shutter 9, a detecting means is
provided for detecting whether the inserted card is legal and
moving the shutter 9 to an open position when the card is legal. In
this embodiment, the detecting means consists of a pre-head 11
which contacts the magnetic stripe on the card C for detecting that
the inserted substance has the magnetic signals. However, the
detecting means may be a mechanical switch or optical switch for
detecting the card width. The pre-head 11 is made of a magnetic
head so that it detects whether the inserted card is legal or not
by detecting the presence of the magnetic signals. The output from
the pre-head 11 is a portion of the trigger signals for driving the
drive motor 2 and controlling the open-close movement of the
shutter 9. After the pre-head 11 detects the legality of the card,
the shutter 9 moves to the open position to be ready to take the
card inside the card reader, and also drives the motor 2 to take
the card inside with the transporting rollers. Above the card
passage 4 and opposite the pre-head 11, a rotatable pad roller 12
is arranged.
[0023] The card transporting means 3 provided inside the card
reader 1 comprises the driving motor 2, driving pulleys 25, 26,
driving belt 27, and transporting roller pairs 13, 14, 15, as
illustrated in FIG. 1. Each of the transporting roller pairs 13,
14, 15 is arranged such that the first transporting roller pairs
13, the second transporting roller pairs 14, and the third
transporting roller pairs 15 are in this order in the card
insertion direction, a. Each of the axial distances between the
first and second transporting roller pairs 13,15 and the second and
third transporting roller pairs 14, 15 is shorter than the total
length of the card C. Each of the transporting rollers 13, 14, 15
consists of driving rollers 13a, 14a, 15a and secondary rollers
13b, 14b, 15b. The driving rollers are respectively located
opposite the secondary rollers. Note that FIG. 2 shows only the
driving motor 2, the driving belt 27, and the first driving roller
13a as the card transporting means 3.
[0024] Pulleys 20, 21, 22 around which a belt 19 is wound are
respectively fixed to rotary shafts 16, 17, 18. In front and back
of the pulley 21 in the card insertion direction, a, rotatable
rollers 23 and 24 are provided to give a tension to the belt 19
from both sides of the pulley 21. To the rotary shaft 17, the
driving pulley 25 having a larger diameter than that of the pulley
21 is formed. The driving belt is wound between the driving pulley
25 and a drive pulley 26 having a smaller diameter fixed to a drive
shaft 2a of the reversely-rotatable driving motor 2 as a driving
source.
[0025] When the inserted card is taken inside the card reader, the
driving motor 2 rotates to drive the driving rollers 13a, 14a, 15a
counterclockwise in FIG. 1. When the magnetic head 10 finishes the
reading and recording of the card C, the driving motor 2 rotates in
the opposite direction to drive the card transporting means 3.
[0026] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the shutter 9 is located
between the conventional card inlet 50 (of the card reader 1 main
body) and the first transporting roller pairs 13 such that it
freely moves into the card passage 4. The shutter 9 is driven to
move with the signals detected by the pre-head 11, and moves to a
closed position receded from the card passage only when legal cards
are inserted, thus preventing illegal cards or foreign matter from
being taken inside the card reader.
[0027] Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the space 62 is
formed only at the front side of the shutter 9 and the pre-head 11.
However, when the conventional card inlet 50 is extended instead of
providing the attachable-detachable card entering unit 7, the space
62 may also be formed in an available space at the side of the
pre-head 11 as well as at the front of the shutter 9 and the
pre-head 11.
[0028] The magnetic head 10 is provided on the axial line of the
driving roller 14a and faces the card passage 4 with a gap surface
thereof. The magnetic head 10 contact the magnetic card C to read
the magnetic information recorded on the stripe of the card C and
record the magnetic information on the stripe. At this time, either
the magnetic head 10 or the pad roller 28 is pushed by a spring
(not illustrated) toward the other so that the card C is held by
the magnetic head 10 and the pad roller 28 with a predetermined
pressing force. In this embodiment, the pad roller 28 is pushed
toward the magnetic head 10, and a gap thinner than the thickness
of the card C is created between the magnetic head 10 and the pad
roller 28.
[0029] A movable lever 29 is rotatably supported via a
rotation-supporting pin (not illustrated) in the direction
orthogonal to the card running direction and freely moves between
the contact position for making each of the secondary rollers 13b,
14b, 15b contacts with each of the driving rollers 13a, 14a, 15a
and the receded position for making each of the secondary rollers
13b, 14b, 15b recede from the card passage 4. The movable lever 29
also has the width, {fraction (1/3)} of the width of the card
passage 4, positions the secondary rollers 13b, 14b, 15b supported
thereby in the center of the card passage 4, and creates a space
above the card passage 4.
[0030] According to the card reader 1 configured as above, the
space 62 having the opening 64 large enough to discharge coins,
medals, and other foreign matter can be created at the newly formed
card entering passage 6. Therefore, even if foreign matter such as
coins are inserted from the card inlet 5, the foreign matter will
be discharged. In addition, according to the present invention,
since the space 62 for discharging foreign matter can be provided
by attaching the card entering unit 7, as described above, the card
entering unit 7 can be applied in conventional card readers.
[0031] Note that, although the above embodiment is a suitable
example of the present invention, the present invention is not
limited to this embodiment, but can be variously modified within
the scope of the invention. For example, although the
attachable-detachable card entering unit 7 is provided in the
conventional card reader 1 so as to create the space 62 for
discharging foreign matter in the above embodiment, the
conventional card inlet 50 of the card reader 1 may be extended
outwardly by the length of the card entering unit 7 to create the
space 62 integrally with the card reader main body.
[0032] In the embodiment, to extend the distance L from the front
surface of the card inlet 5 to the front edge of the card
transporting means 3, a separately(made) card entering unit is
provided to move the card inlet 5 forward. However, the foreign
matter discharging space 62 may be provided at the card entering
portion by positioning each of the transporting roller pairs of the
card transporting means 3 and the shutter at more back side than
usual to relatively extend the distance L.
[0033] It is understood from the above description that, in the
card reader of the present invention, the distance between the
front surface of the card inlet from which cards are inserted and
the front edge of the card transporting means is extended to form
the card entering passage, and the card entering passage has the
card guiding portions, which support the inserted card from both
sides, and the space for discharging foreign matter formed between
the card guiding portions. Therefore, most foreign matter other
than cards which are inserted from the card inlet will be
discharged from the card entering passage. With this, most foreign
matter is prevented from entering inside the card reader. Also,
when legal cards are inserted from the card inlet, they are guided
by the card guiding portions and transported by the card
transporting means in the same manner as the conventional one.
[0034] While the foregoing description and drawings represent the
preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be obvious
to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications
may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and
scope of the present invention.
* * * * *