JPH0452516B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card processing device that performs thermal printing on externally inserted cards, newly issued cards, and the like.

Conventional technology and its problems In recent years, cards have been made to record the corresponding price of the card and re-encode and return the balance each time it is used, making it possible to make multiple transactions without using cash each time. Stored air cards are now being used. In the case of such a card processing device, it is necessary to write magnetic information on the magnetic stripe portion of the card and to print the usage balance each time the card is used. When a new stored air card is issued, it is preferable to print the corresponding price and card validity period on one side of the card, and display the current amount by subtracting the usage price on the back side each time the card is used. . In this way, when printing on both sides of a card using a conventional card processing device, print heads are provided on both sides of the card transport path, and one of the print heads is selected when printing. I was trying to print it out. According to this method, two printing heads are required, but the surface of the card passing through the conveyance path is constant, so it is possible to read data from the magnetic stripe part of the card or write data to the magnetic stripe part. The number of magnetic heads can be one each. However, while magnetic heads are very small and inexpensive, printing heads are large in size, have complex drive circuits, and are expensive. This poses a problem in that it becomes an obstacle when downsizing the card processing device, and also makes it impossible to reduce the price of the processing device.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems with card processing devices, and it separates the printed surface of an inserted card from the printed surface of a newly issued card, and separates the printed surface of a newly issued card. An object of the present invention is to provide a card processing device that can perform printing using one printing head.

Structure and Effects of the Invention The present invention is a card processing device that has a magnetic recording surface on one side and performs predetermined processing and printing on inserted cards. A first conveyance path A that is connected to the outlet and the insertion/ejection port at one end and conveys cards to be inserted and ejected from the insertion/ejection port.
and a second conveyance path B that conveys the card conveyed from the first conveyance path and holds it in a temporary holding section;
A third conveyance path C is provided along the first conveyance path, and is provided separately from the second conveyance path, and discharges new cards and temporarily held cards and supplies them to the other end of the first conveyance path. a read/write head that reads the magnetic information of the card inserted from the insertion/ejection port and writes the information when the card is ejected; a card storage section provided at one end of the third conveyance path for holding a new card to be issued in a direction opposite to the direction of the inserted card; , and a write head provided on the print head side for writing initial data of a new card onto its magnetic recording surface.

According to the present invention having such features, the card to be issued is held in the card storage section, and when issued, the card is printed along the third conveyance path, and is then passed through the first conveyance path by the writing head. magnetic data is written when On the other hand, when a card is used, the card inserted into the insertion/ejection slot is inserted in the opposite direction to that of a newly issued card, so the magnetic information is read by the read/write head, and the magnetic information is written when the card is ejected. The printing head also allows information to be written in use at the time of ejection. In this way, since only one print head is required, the device is simplified, and can be made smaller and less expensive. Furthermore, since the date of use and balance can be printed on the entire back of the card, it is also possible to issue cards with long terms or high-value cards.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 are a top view and a side view of a stored air card processing apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is assumed that this processing device is used as a card processing section of a ticket vending machine. In these figures, a card insertion stand 1 is provided protruding from the left end of the card processing device as shown.
A card inserted from the card insertion stand 1 is detected by a photoelectric switch SW1 and sent to a conveyance path A.
The conveyance path A consists of rollers 2 and 3, a conveyor belt 4 stretched thereon, rollers 5 and 6, and a conveyance belt 7 stretched thereon, and the card is held between the conveyor belts 4 and 7 while being held. It is conveyed in the left and right direction. Here, the card insertion stand 1 constitutes an insertion/ejection opening into which a new card is inserted or an ejected card is received. And transport route A
A magnetic information reading section 8 for reading data on the magnetic stripe of the inserted card and a magnetic information writing section 9 for writing data on the magnetic stripe are provided above the conveyance path A, and below the conveyance path A. A magnetic information writing section 10 is provided for writing magnetic information into a newly issued card. This conveyance path A is driven by a motor 11, and on the right side of the roller 3 there is provided a conveyance path B consisting of a guide plate 12 and a flapper 13 for guiding the card in the right direction. Furthermore, a photoelectric switch SW2 detects the rollers 14 and 15 along the card transport path B and the card reaching the rollers.
is placed. Also, on the right side is a guide 16,1 that temporarily holds the card by inserting it during transaction processing.
7 and a photoelectric switch SW3 for detecting when the card reaches the center of these guides. On the right side of the card holding section is a card case 18 that holds a large number of newly issued cards.
A payout roller 19 for feeding out cards from the card case 18 is provided. The card case 18 holds newly issued cards stacked with the magnetic stripe side facing down.
The feed roller 19 is driven upward via a link 21 by the urging of a feed solenoid 20, and contacts the lowest card of the stacked cards to feed it toward the guides 16 and 17. The temporarily held card or the drawn-out card is applied to a thermal dot printing head 23 via a guide 22. A platen roller 24 is disposed above the dot line of this thermal dot printing head, and a guide 25 and flapper 26 are further provided for guiding the printed card. Here, the conveyance path formed by the guides 22, 25, the thermal dot printing head 1, and the platen roller 24 is designated as C. In this way, the card path consists of a transport path A that takes in the inserted card, a transport path B that subsequently sends the card to the temporary holding section, and a transport path C that prints on the card when it is issued or returned. ing. It is assumed that rollers 14, 15, 19, and 24 are driven by a motor 27.

Next, a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the card processing device will be explained with reference to FIG. Signals from the photoelectric switches SW1 to SW3 and the magnetic information reading section 8 described above are applied to an amplifier circuit 30 and an interface circuit 32. A memory 33 is connected to the CPU 32 as a storage means for temporarily storing arithmetic processing procedures and various data. The CPU 32 controls each section according to the arithmetic processing procedure of the memory 33, and outputs the aforementioned thermal dot printing head 23, magnetic information writing sections 9, 1 via an interface circuit 34 and a drive circuit 35 as output means.
0, motors 11, 27, and solenoid 20 are connected. Further, the CPU 32 is connected to an external interface circuit 36 for exchanging data with external devices (not shown) such as a ticket issuing processing section and a money processing section.

Next, the operation of the card processing device of this embodiment will be explained with reference to a flowchart and a waveform diagram. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing when issuing a new card, and FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the operation of each part. In the flowchart below, the number indicated using a leader line is the CPU
32 operating steps are shown. First, in step 40 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether there is a command to issue a new card, and if there is an issue signal as shown in FIG. 5a, the solenoid 20 for feeding is turned on (step 41). Then link 21
As a result, the feed roller 19 is pushed up and comes into contact with the lowest card in the card case 18. Then, in step 42, when the motor 27 is reversed, the card is fed out from the card case 18, passed between the guides 16 and 17, and passed through the rollers 14 and
15 and the photoelectric switch SW2 is turned on. Then, as shown in step 44 and FIG. Turn it off and check whether the tip reaches the platen roller 24. Platen roller 24
When the temperature is reached, thermal printing is performed by the thermal dot printing head 23 as shown in FIG. 5e (step 4).
6) Wait for the end of printing (step 47). At this time, since the card in the card case 18 is held with the magnetic stripe facing downward, the printing up to the thermal dot printing head 23 will be printed on the same surface as the magnetic step surface, and the initial information will be printed. For example, as shown in Figure 6a, the card's price of 5,000 yen, issue date, expiration date, etc. are printed on it. When the printing is completed, the card has reached the transport path A, so the motor 27 is stopped, the motor 11 is reversed (steps 48 and 49), and the magnetic information writing section 10 writes the card as shown in FIG. 5g. Writing of magnetic information is performed (step 50). Then, it is checked whether the card conveyed along the conveyance path A has reached the photoelectric switch SW1. When this switch is turned on, the card has reached the insertion table 1 and is ready for the customer to remove it, so the motor 11 is stopped as shown in FIG. 5f (step 52) and the customer waits for the card to be removed. In this way, when a new card is issued, the initial information of the card is written on the same side as the magnetic stripe.

Next, the processing when using this issued card will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 and the time chart of FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 2, if an already issued card is inserted into the insertion table 4 with its magnetic stripe side up (step 60), the process proceeds to step 61 and checks whether the photoelectric switch SW1 is turned on. . If this switch SW1 is turned on, the card has been inserted, so proceed to step 62 and proceed to step 8b.
As shown in , the motor 11 is rotated in the forward direction to transport the card along the transport path A in the direction of the arrow. Then, the magnetic information reading unit 8 provided on the transport path A reads the magnetic information on the magnetic stripe of the card as shown in FIG. 8c (step 63), and determines whether the card is a valid card. . If this is not a valid card, step 65
At step 66, the motor 11 is reversed, and the card is transported in the direction opposite to the arrow while checking whether the photoelectric switch SW1 is turned on at step 66. When this is turned on, the tip of the card has reached the insertion base 1 and the card can be removed, so the motor 11 is stopped (step 6).
7) Finish the return process. On the other hand, if the inserted card is a valid card in step 64, the process advances to step 68 and the photoelectric switch SW2 is turned on.
Check whether it is turned on. When this is turned on, the inserted card advances from the conveyance path A to the conveyance path B and its tip reaches the rollers 14 and 15, so the motor 11 moves as shown in FIGS. 8b and 8e.
The motor 27 is stopped (step 69), the motor 27 is rotated forward (step 70), and the photoelectric switch is activated.
Check whether SW3 is turned on. When the photoelectric switch SW3 is turned on, the motor 27 is stopped (step 72). In this way, the card is held between the guides 16 and 17 while waiting for the transaction to be completed. Once the transaction is completed, Figure 8h
As shown in FIG. 3, a card return command is given to the CPU 32 from the external device via the external interface circuit 36, so the process advances to step 74 and the motor 27 is reversed. Then, the leading edge of the card will come into contact with the flapper 13 and the leading edge of the platen roller 24,
It is pushed down and guided through the conveyance path C to the thermal dot printing head 23. Then, in step 75, a check is made to see if the photoelectric switch SW2 is turned off. If it is turned off, the leading edge of the card has reached the dot line of the thermal dot printing head 23, so the external device can print the card as shown in FIG. 8i. Thermal printing is started for the given print data, such as the date of the transaction and the amount of money deducted from the new card as a result of the transaction (step 76). At this time, the card is inserted with the magnetic stripe side facing up as shown in Figure 2, and the back side of the card comes into contact with the thermal dot printing head, so the transaction date and date are written on the back of the card as shown in Figure 6b. and the remaining amount will be printed. It is assumed that the number of printed lines on the card is read by magnetic information. When thermal printing is completed in step 77, the motor 27
(step 78), then step 79
At this point, the motor 11 is reversely rotated. By doing this, the leading edge of the card will push up the flapper 26, and the card will move along the conveyance path C.
Then, the card is transferred to the transfer path A. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8d and c, magnetic information is written by the magnetic information writing section 9, and immediately thereafter, the written magnetic information is read from the magnetic information reading section 8 (steps 80 and 81), and the written data is checked. . And step 8
In step 2, it is determined whether the writing of magnetic information is normal or not, and if it is abnormal, abnormality processing is performed and the process ends (routine 83). If the written information is normal, it is checked in step 84 whether the photoelectric switch SW1 is on, and if it is on, the motor 11 is stopped (step 85).
This allows the customer to remove the card from the insertion base 1. The card thus inserted is transported, held, and printed via transport paths A, B, and C.

In this way, the initial information is written on the side of the card that has the magnetic stripe, and the date of use and balance are written on the back side each time the card is used.

Furthermore, although this embodiment has been described with respect to a processing apparatus for stored card cards, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to various apparatuses that perform thermal printing on cards.

In this embodiment, only the magnetic information writing unit for writing magnetic information on the magnetic stripe of a new card when issuing a new card is provided below the conveyance path A, but in order to confirm the written data, it is indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 2. A magnetic information reading section 28 may be provided as shown in FIG. In this case, after writing the magnetic information in step 50 in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the data can be read out by the magnetic information reading section 28 to check whether the data is normal.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are top and side views of the card processing device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing its electrical configuration, and FIG. 4 shows the operation when issuing a new card. Flowchart, Figure 5 is a time chart showing the operation of each part at that time, Figures 6a and b are front and back views of the printed card, and Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of the inserted card. Figure 8 is a time chart showing the operation of each part at that time. 1...Card insertion stand, 8...Magnetic information reading unit, 9, 10...Magnetic information writing unit, A, B, C
...Transport route, 18...Card case, SW1~
SW3...Photoelectric switch, 32...CPU, 33...
…memory.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a card processing device that has a magnetic recording surface on one side and performs predetermined processing and prints on inserted cards, an insertion/ejection port for inserting/ejecting a card; a first conveyance path A whose one end is connected to the insertion/ejection port and conveys cards inserted from the insertion/ejection port and cards to be ejected; and a first conveyance path A that conveys cards conveyed from the first conveyance path. and the second conveyance path B, which is held in the temporary holding section.
and a third conveyance path C, which is provided separately from the second conveyance path, and which discharges new cards and temporarily held cards and supplies them to the other end of the first conveyance path.
a read/write head provided along the first conveyance path, which reads magnetic information of a card inserted from the insertion/ejection port and writes the magnetic information when the card is ejected; and the third conveyance path. a print head provided along the path and located on the opposite side of the read/write head; and a print head provided at one end of the third conveyance path, which determines the orientation of the card into which a new card to be issued is inserted. The present invention is characterized by comprising: a card storage section that holds the card in the opposite direction; and a write head that is provided on the print head side of the first conveyance path and writes initial data of a new card onto its magnetic recording surface. Card processing equipment.