JPS6015887A - Ic card reading and writing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the brushing of a contact pin automatically through the opening/closing of an IC card accommodating body by providing elastically the contact pin to a fitting member via a compression spring and imbedding a cleaning member to a position of the accommodating member to which at least the contact pin contacts when both members are closed. CONSTITUTION:When the read/write of the IC card is finished, a front plate 2 is stretched and opened so as to extract the IC card and in pressing down the upper part of the front plate 2 again, the contact pin 4 contacts a porous elastic plate 7 imbedded to the front plate 2 and descends together with the front plate 2 while being pressed elastically by the porous elastic plate 7. When the descent is continued further, the porous elastic plate 7 cannot with-stand the pressure of the contact pin 4 and the contact pin 4 is stuck into the plate 7. In the process where the contact pin 4 is inserted to the porous elastic plate 7, dust and oil attached to the surface of the contact pin 4 are rubbed and wiped out by the porous elastic plate 7 and the front plate is closed to the base plate while the contact pin 4 is stuck to the porous elastic plate 7.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a reading/writing device for a card-like storage medium incorporating a semiconductor storage circuit, and more particularly to a self-cleaning mechanism for contact pins.

(Prior Art) As shown in Fig. 1, electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory, that is, EEFROM (a).

The C'PtJC port that controls the operation of this is embedded in the card-like substrate (C), and the contact (D) that connects to an external device is on the surface.
A storage medium (e) provided with this is called an IC card, and is attracting attention as a next-generation storage medium.

This IC card reading/writing is carried out using a device as shown in FIG. Using a reading/writing device 6 comprising a contact block 5 having contact pins 4 implanted in the base 1 to make contact with the contacts of the IC card, the IC card is loaded into the pocket member 3 and the top plate 2 is moved to the base 1. This is done by electrically connecting the contacts of the IC cart and the contact pins 4 by closing them.

By the way, since this contact pin is exposed to the atmosphere at 1θ, there may be dust and oil on its surface. t L
There was a problem in that the contact pins became contaminated and caused poor contact with the contacts of the IC card, making it easy for errors to occur in reading or infiltration.

(Objective) In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reading device that can automatically brush contact pins by opening and closing an IC card accommodating body.

(Structure) Therefore, details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which a pocket member 3 for storing an IC card is provided on the back side of a front plate 2 which is rotatably provided on the base 1 on the minus side. , base l
In a conventional IC card reading/writing device, which is equipped with a contact pin 4 embedded in the IC card contact and an electric contact, the contact pin 4 is inserted into the front plate when the top plate 2 is closed. The contact block 5 can be moved downwardly via the compression spring 6 so that it is pressed by the contact pin 4 of the top plate 2 when the top plate 2 is closed to the base 1. A porous elastic plate 7 made of felt, sponge, or the like is embedded as a cleaning member at the contacting position so as to be substantially flush with the top plate 2.

In this embodiment, the pocket member 3 is expanded by expanding the top plate 2.
When the IC card C is loaded into the cart and the top plate 2 is closed to the base 1, the contact pins 4 come into elastic contact with the contacts of the IC cart, making it possible to read and write to the IC card. Reading and writing of IC card finished 11! At point j, when the top plate 2 is expanded and the IC card is taken out, the contact pin 4 contacts the porous elastic plate 7 embedded in the top plate 2, and the porous elastic plate 7 is pressed down. It descends together with the top plate 2 while being pressed by the plate 7 (Fig. 4A). As it continues to descend further, the porous elastic plate 7 is absorbed by the pressure of the contact I/pin 4, and the contact pin 4 pierces it (opening). In the process of fitting the contact pin 4 into the porous elastic plate 7, dust and oil sticking to the surface of the contact pin 40 are rubbed by the porous elastic plate 7 and wiped away. The top plate is closed to the base while being stuck into the plate 7 (c).

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5(a) shows a rotatable lid member in which a contact block 5 is elastically mounted on one side of a base 9 forming a card accommodating portion. A base body 9 is attached to the base body 9 at a position facing the contact block 5.
A porous elastic plate 7 is provided on the surface of the card accommodating portion, and a cover member 14 having a contact solo lock 5 elastically attached to the base 12 in which a card accommodating portion is formed is attached to the link 13,
3, a porous elastic plate 7 is provided on the surface of the base body 12, which is slidably engaged with the contact block 12 when the lid members are overlapped.

(Effects) Second, as described above, according to the present invention, the contact pins are installed on the base body via the compression springs, and at least the position where the contact pins come into contact when the memory storage body is closed is Since a porous elastic plate is embedded in the housing, not only will dirt stuck to the contact pin be automatically wiped away when the housing is opened and closed, but it can also be closed with the contact pin stuck in the porous elastic plate, allowing the contact pin to remain stuck in the porous elastic plate. There is no risk of dust sticking inside, and the IC card can be brought into contact with the IC card in a clean state at all times.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows a perspective cross section 1Δ showing the structure of an IC card;
The figure is a cross-sectional view of an example of a conventional reading/writing device.
The figure is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the reading/writing device of the present invention, FIGS. ) and (b) are sectional views showing other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. 1... ノ, (base 2... top plate 3... blurring member 4... contact pin 5... contact block 6... compression spring 7...・Porous elastic plate C...
・IC card

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an IC card reading/writing device comprising a housing member for housing an IC card and a mounting member for contact pins forming electrical connections with contacts of the IC card, which are relatively movable, the contact pins are compressed. The IC card reading/writing device is characterized in that the mounting member is elastically attached to the member via a spring, and a cleaning member is embedded in the housing member at a position where at least the contact pin contacts when the both members are closed. .