Device for reading and writing magnetic and/or ic card as external memory

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0001The present invention relates to a device for reading informations out of a magnetic and/or IC card as external memory and writing new informations in said card.

0002Various devices having a magnetic head for reading data stored in the magnetic stripe which is formed on a plastic substrate as identification card or credit card have been widely used. For instance U.S. Patent Specification US-A-4,322,613 discloses, although the invention is directed not to the reader itself but to a method for inhibiting tampering with data on the magnetic stripe, that there is provided a pair of rollers between which the card is frictionally fed by driving one of them with a motor to be energized in response to a signal from the first or START sensor as to feed the card to be in the reading/writing position and driven in the opposite direction in response to a signal from the second or END sensor so as to eject the card out of the device.

0003Meanwhile, the so-called IC card or integrated circuit card having a semi-conductor memory embedded in the plastic substrate is going to be widely used instead of said conventional magnetic card mainly because of far more memory capacity. Such card has a plurality of electric contact points exposed to be flush with the surface thereof so as to be connected with the computer for reading/writing.

0004Various devices having a head planted with the contact pins of the number and arranged corresponding to those of said card contact points so as to electrically connect the card inserted therein to the computer are known. For instance, EP-A-0167356 filed by the same applicants as in this application, discloses such a device having a contact pin head normally held in a waiting position by spring means and which is pushed by the card manually inserted in the device casing against the force of said spring means towards the reading/writing position, to which said head is adapted to vertically move up sliding along a sloped floor for attaining correct engagement.

0005In order to cope with the situation where magnetic cards and IC cards must be read/written, the two different devices therefor are to be equipped in every shop or office. This is unsatisfactory in view not only of the cost of such two devices but also of possible confusion caused by customer's erroneous insertion of the magnetic card in the IC card reader/writer or vice versa. In case where one card having the magnetic stripe for one sort of data and the IC memory for the other sort of data is used, the operation must be made two times or by means of two different devices.

0006EP-A-0134110 describes a read/write device with the capability of reading both an IC card and a magnetic stripe card. However, delivery of the card to read/write positions is by means of rollers and there is no description of any mechanism for positioning the card accurately in relation to IC contact points.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0007It is an object of the invention, thus, to provide a device capable of reliably reading and writing either of a magnetic card and an IC card as well as a card having both the magnetic stripe and the semiconductor memory as external memory.

0008It is a further object to provide such device adapted to automatically convey the card which is manually inserted in a slot formed at one end of the device casing to move longitudinally therein forward for reading/writing, and automatically convey the card rearward, when reading/writing is over, to be in the initial position so as to be manually taken out of the slot.

0009According to the invention therefore there is provided a device for reading and writing data stored in a magnetic and/or IC card as an external memory, comprising;    a casing which is formed with a slot in one wall thereof for manually inserting the card therethrough, means for conveying the partly inserted card forward to a position for reading/writing and rearward to the initial position to be manually removed,    a magnetic head arranged in the vicinity of the slot to contact with magnetic stripe formed on the card,    an electric contact head block adapted to contact with contact points arranged on the card conveyed to be in said reading/writing position,    a carriage for embracing the contact head block and movable between a waiting position and the reading/writing position during which the said contact head block is brought from a non-operational position to an operational position wherein contact pins of the contact head block are electrically contacted with the contact points of the card, said carriage being provided with a rack gear at a side surface thereof, and a pinion mounted in the casing to be driven for rotation by a reversible motor, said pinion being arranged to mesh with the said rack gear when the carriage is pushed forward by the card, after the magnetic stripe of the card has been scanned by the magnetic head, so as to convey the carriage to the reading/writing position together with the contact head block.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS

0010<ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li>Fig. 1 is a plan view of the device according to the invention partly in section, with removing the lid,</li><li>Fig. 2A is a sectional view taken along a line A-A in Fig. 1,</li><li>Fig. 2B is also a sectional view but taken along a line B-B in Fig. 1,</li><li>Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2B but in the state where the contact pin head is in the reading/writing position for the IC card in contrast to that said head is in the normally waiting position in Fig. 2B,</li><li>Fig. 4 is an elevation of the device at one side of the casing where gearings are arranged,</li><li>Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing means for controlling the movable members of the device, and</li><li>Figs. 6A and 6B are plan views respectively of a typical magnetic card and IC card.</li></ul>

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

0011In Figs. 6A and 6B, there are shown a typical IC card and a typical magnetic card. The former has eight contact points CP so as to be electrically connected with the contact pins of the corresponding number and arrangement and planted in the block head to be movably amounted in the device, while the latter has an magnetic stripe to be scanned by a magnetic head mounted in the device casing so as to read information stored in said stripe until the contact points of the card are connected with said contact pins.

0012In Figs. 1, 2A, 2B and 3, the device of the invention has a casing represented generally by 10, which has a slot 11 formed at one end wall thereof for inserting the card therethrouth and a pair of longitudinal guide walls 12, 12 of the distance therebetween a little larger than the width of the card C to be guided thereby.

0013There are arranged in the casing 10 two pairs of rollers 13, 13′ and 14, 14′ to be driven by a reversible motor 15 through gearings so that when the card C is manually inserted in said slot 11 the first pair of rollers 13, 13′ frictionally engage with the card at the leading edge thereof so as to feed the card towards the opposite end wall of the casing. When the leading edge of the card reaches the second pair of rollers 14, 14′ arranged with a distance a little shorter than the card length from said first rollers 13, 13′ they take over the card feeding from said first rollers.

0014In reference above all to Figs. 1 and 4, a pinion 15′ mounted on the output shaft of the motor 15 drives gear wheels 13A and 14A through an endless internally toothed belt 15′′. Said gear wheels 13A and 14A have respectively gear wheels 13B and 14B coaxially mounted therewith and mesh with gear wheels 13C and 14C, the former of which is coaxially mounted with the feed roller 13.

0015Now in reference above all to Figs. 1, 2A, 2B and 3, there is provided a magnetic head 16 in the casing at the vicinity of the slot 11, opposite to said head being arranged an idle roller 16′ urged by spring means toward said head so that the magnetic stripe MS on the card C may be scanned by said head 16 for reading of the data stored therein.

0016Referring particularly to Fig. 1, there are provided a pair of rails 17, 17 so as to guide a carriage represented generally by 20, which embraces a contact head block represented generally by 30, like as in said copending EP-A-0167356. Said carriage 20 is normally held by a coiled spring 21 in the waiting position by abutting on a stopper 18b formed in the casing shown in Figs. 1 and 2B, from which said carriage 20 is longitudinally moved along said guide rails 17, 17 to the reading/writing position shown in Fig. 3, accompanying the contact head block 30 together therewith.

0017The carriage 20 is in the form of a rectangular frame having no top wall nor bottom wall so as to snugly embrace said block 30 which may vertically move relative thereto. As best shown in Fig. 2B, said carriage 20 has a flange 22 formed at the front end so that the leading edge of the card C may engage therewith (see also Fig. 3). In this connection it is noted that the distance between said flange 22 and the magnetic head 16 should be made a little longer than the effective length of the magnetic stripe MS but shorter the length of the card C so that when the card engages with the carriage 20 the reading of data stored in the stripe has been completed in order to avoid a reading error possibly caused by the speed change due to said engagement. Said carriage 20 has a pair of coiled springs 23, 23 mounted at the rear end thereof so that opposite extended portions thereof may respectively engage with side protrusions 31 of the block 30 for urging the same downwards.

0018The contact head block 30 has a plurality of contact pins 32 (eight in this embodiment) planted yieldingly in the upper surface thereof and the bottom thereof stably rests on the casing floor by means of said spring 23 as best shown in Fig. 2B in the waiting position. Owing to a sloped floor 18, during the insertion of the card, the carriage 20 and consequently the block 30 is brought to the reading/writing position of Fig. 3, the block is gradually raised so that the contact pins 32 may electrically connected with the contact points CP of the card C brought to be in said reading/writing position (Fig. 3). It is preferable to form a flat portion 18a adjacent to the end of said sloped floor 18 so that even if the carriage and consequently the block 30 is stopped a little earlier the block may surely rest on said flat portion 18a to keep said connection stable.

0019The block 30 further comprises a flexible flat web 33 made of a synthetic resin in which eight lead wires are embedded of which one ends are electrically connected with the contact pins 32 while the other ends are connected to a socket 34 to which the plug connected with the computer not shown may be fixed.

0020The carriage 20 further comprises a toothed rack gear 24 at a side wall thereof so as normally not to mesh with a pinion 19 which is mounted coaxially with the gear wheel 14C for transmitting driving force to the feed rollers via an idle wheel 19′, but so as to mesh therewith when said carriage is pushed a little towards the right in the drawings concerned by engagement thereof at the flange 22 with the card C which is fed towards the right by means of the feed rollers 14, 14′.

0021Different from the device disclosed in said European Patent Application EP-A-0167356 in which the carriage is brought to be in the reading/writing position by manually pushing the card against the force of spring, the carriage 20 of the device according to this invention is brought to said position by means of the pinion 19 which is driven by the motor 15 through gearings referred to above. The rate of feeding of the carriage 20 by means of meshing of the pinion 19 with the toothed rack 24 is preferably made slower than that of feeding of the card by means of the second rollers 14, 14′ so that the card C may stably keep the engagement with the carriage 20 at the flange 22 thereof.

0022Along the longitudinal passage for the carriage 20, there are arranged four detectors D1, D2, D3 and D4, each of which may consist of a light emitter and a light receiver, adapted to detect the position of the card and generate the corresponding signal. The detector D1 is located a little away from the first roller 13 on the same side of the said roller as the slot 11 so as to detect the card just inserted in said slot and generate the signal in reply to which the motor 15 is energized to revolve in the regular direction by means of a control circuitry to be explained later in reference to Fig. 5 and drive said roller for feeding the card C toward the carriage 20 in the waiting position. The second detector D2 is located a little away from the feeding roller 13 on the same side of the said roller as the carriage 20, the third detector D3 is located apart from the first detector D1 by a distance a little shoter than the card length, and the fourth D4 is located in the vicinity of the opposite end wall of the casing so as to detect the leading edge of the card C to be in the reading/writing position, respectively for the purposes to be explained later in more detail.

0023Now in Fig. 5, the outputs of the detectors D1 and D3 are respectively connected to the inputs of an "OR" gate OG of which output is connected to an "AND" gate AG1, the other input of which is connected to the detector D4 through an inverter IV1. The output of said AG1 is connected to one of the inputs of a second "AND" gate AG2 to apply a regular revolution signal to a motor driving circuit MD. To another input of said AG2 connected is a circuit for preventing reverse revolution PRV.

0024A "NOR" gate NG is connected respectively to the detectors D2 and D3 of which output is connected to a reset terminal R of a multivibrator MV1 of which set terminal S is connected to an "AND" gate AG3 receiving a card release signal from the detector D3 and the host computer COMP so as to apply a reverse revolution signal to said motor driving circuit MD.

0025Said reverse revolution preventing circuit PRV comprises another multivibrator MV2 of which set terminal S receives said reverse revolution signal while the other terminal R receives the signal from the first detecter D1 through another inverter IV2 and a third inverter IV3 connected to the output of said multivibrator MV2 so as to make the "AND" gate AG2 off.

0026Now in operation, when the card C is manually inserted with the front side having the magnetic stripe and/or the contact points down so that the leading edge thereof reaches the first rollers 13 (13′), the high level signal from the detector D1 is put in the motor driving circuit MD through the "OR" gate OG, "AND" gate AG1 receiving the high level signal from the detector D4 via the inverter IV1 and "AND" gate AG2 receiving the high level signal from the inverter IV3 in the circuit PRV for the motor 15 to revolve in the regular direction which is transmitted through the gearings 15′, 13A, 13B and 13C inclusive of the belt 15′′ explained above to said roller 13 (13′) so that the card is then automatically fed toward the carriage 20. Said driving force is transmitted also to the second roller 14 through the gearings 15′, 14A, 14B, 14C, the pinion 19 and the idle wheel 19′ inclusive of the belt 15′′, so as to feed the card during which data stored in the magnetic stripe MS is read by the head 16. The card C is further fed by said second roller 14 (14′) at a constant rate, during which the trailing edge of the card has passed the first detector D1, but the "OR" gate OG receives the high level signal then from the third detector D3 so as to keep the motor 15 revolving in the regular direction.

0027After the reading of the magnetic stripe is over and when the leading edge of the card abuts on the flange 22 of the carriage and push it forward a little against the force of the coiled spring 21, tne toothed rack 24 meshes with the pinion 19 so that the carriage 20 is further fed toward the reading/writing position by the motor 15 through the gearings inclusive of said pinion during which the card still fed by the second rollers 14 (14′) keeps to abut on the flange 22 of the carriage being pushed forward as referred to above, during which the contact head block 30 slides on the sloped floor 18 to move upward relative to the carriage 20 and reset on the flat floor portion 18a so that when the card reaches the reading/writing position the contact pins 32 may respectively counterpart contact points CP of the card and concurrently the detector D4 generates a high level signal, the output of the inverter IV1 is made of low level, and the output of the "AND" gate AG1 is made zero to stop the motor 15 so as to carry out reading/writing.

0028When the reading/writing operation is over, the "AND" gate AG3 having received the card release signal from the host computor COMP, generates a high level signal which actuates the multivibrator MV1 so as to revolve the motor 15 in the reverse direction. Thereby the card is frictionaly moved toward the slot 11 by means of the feed roller 14 together with the carriage 20 which is moved toward the waiting position by means of the rack 24 meshing with the pinion 19 as well as the force of the spring 21 during which the leading edge of the card which might be called the trailing edge now moving backward has departed from the detector D4 so that the "AND" gate AG1 receives the high level signal from the third detector D3 and the inverter IV1 to generate the signal as referred to above, but this time the multivibrator MV2 generates the high level signal in reply to the set signal from the multivibrator MV1 and the inverter IV1 generates the low level signal. And thus the high level signal is not applied by the circuit PRV for preventing reverse revolution to the other input terminal of the "AND" gate AG2 so that the signal for revolving motor in the regular direction does not put out from said gate.

0029When the card is fed backward by the reversely rotating roller 14, the left edge (in the concerned drawings) arrives at the first feed roller 13 to be gripped thereby for keeping the backward movement and departs from the engagement with the carriage which is put in the waiting position by the force of the spring 21 after disengagement of the toothed rack 24 with the pinion 19.

0030When the card C is further moved backward so as to pass through the third detector D3 and further the second detector D2, said detectors generate a low level signal and the "NOR" gate NG generates the high level signal to reset the multivibrator MV1 for deenergizing the motor 15. The card C is held between the first feed roller 13 and the opposite guide roller 13′ at the right edge so that the card is partly protruded out of the casing.

0031In case where the card C is not the magnetic card or a card has the magnetic stripe MS in addition to the contact points CP for the semiconductor memory, said stripe MS passes between the magnetic head 16 and the opposite guide roller 16′ yieldingly urged thereto and scanned thereby for reading, which may be finished before the card abuts on the flange 22 at the leading edge so that said reading may be made during the card is stably moved at a uniform rate in view of the arrangement referred to above.

0032Immediately after said reading is finished, said multivibrator MV1 actuates said MD for energizing the motor 15 to revolve in the reverse direction, in reply to the card release signal from the host computer COMP and the high level signal from the detector D3. The remainder of the operation is just the same as the above explanation given for the IC card.