JPH02147399A - Portable medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a magnetic head from being damaged at the time of insertion of the title medium into a magnetic stripe reader-writer by forming an outer peripheral frame from a material lower in hardness than an outer plate, and forming the frame to be flush with the surface of the outer plate or be higher than the surface of the outer plate by a desired amount. CONSTITUTION:An outer peripheral frame 3 of a multifunctional IC card 10 is made of a resin which is lower in hardness than outer plates 1, 2 made of stainless steel. A peripheral part B of the frame 3 is higher than the surface of each of the outer plates 1, 2 by a desired amount. When the card 10 is inserted into a magnetic stripe reader-writer, a magnetic head 5 makes contact with the part of thickness B of the frame 3, but is not broken because it has a mechanical strength sufficient to endure contact with plastic materials. As the card 10 is then fed, the head 5 is moved onto a magnetic stripe 9 without making contact with an end edge 1a of the outer plate 1, and writing or reading of desired information is conducted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a portable medium with a magnetic stripe, such as a multifunctional IC card with a magnetic stripe.

(Prior Art) To explain a portable medium using a multifunctional IC card as an example, a multifunctional IC card has a pocket-sized card base, an LSI chip that constitutes a CPU and memory, and a liquid crystal display board (hereinafter referred to as LCD). ), thin batteries, and other required electronic components are mounted and built into the wiring board, and the above-mentioned LCD display section is exposed to the outside through a suitably opened window on the surface of the card base, and the key human power section is A contact is also provided for transmitting and receiving required data with an external device such as a reader/writer.

According to the I5O (International Organization for Standardization) standard, the thickness of a multifunctional IC card is defined as 0.76 mm, and the vertical and horizontal dimensions are also defined as predetermined dimensions.

Multifunctional IC cards not only have the function of recording required information, but also have various functions such as key input, calculation, and character display, so they have increased rigidity and protection of built-in electronic components. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the card base 20 is composed of a metal case body in which a pair of stainless steel outer plates 1.2 are joined by welding with a stainless steel outer peripheral frame 13 sandwiched therebetween. There is. The thickness -D of the outer peripheral frame 13 is formed to be equal to the length of the interval between the pair of outer panels 1.2, and the peripheral portion thereof is joined so as to protrude from the edges la and 2a of the outer panels 1.2. As a result, a stepped portion is formed at the joint portion by the edge 1as2a of the outer panel 1.2. In FIG. 3, numeral 4 indicates built-in electronic components.

By the way, current multi-functional IC cards are designed to be used in combination with magnetic cards, which have been put into practical use as bank cash cards, etc., and the surface of the card body has almost the same requirements as those for magnetic cards. A magnetic stripe for magnetically recording information is pasted on the card to form a 71 Ivry-Rad type multifunctional IC card.

When the multifunctional IC card is inserted into the magnetic stripe reading/writing device, the magnetic head 5 comes into sliding contact with the magnetic stripe, and information is written to or read from the magnetic stripe.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In a conventional multifunctional IC card to which a magnetic stripe is pasted, the edge 1a of the outer panel 1.2 is attached to the joint between the outer frame 13 and the outer panel 1.2. 2a created a step, so when the multi-function IC card was inserted into a magnetic stripe reading/writing device, the magnetic head 5 was damaged at the step, making it difficult to read and write information normally. There was a problem that it could become.

Therefore, the present invention provides a card base that has a rigid structure that can appropriately protect electronic components etc. from external forces, and that can prevent damage to the magnetic head when inserted into a magnetic stripe reading/writing device. The purpose is to provide possible media.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention configures a card base by attaching a metal outer plate to an outer peripheral frame, and attaches necessary electronic components to the card base. A portable medium having a built-in magnetic stripe and a magnetic stripe for magnetically recording required information on the outer plate, wherein the outer peripheral frame is made of a material with lower hardness than the outer plate. In addition, the outer peripheral frame portion is flush with the outer panel or is formed higher than the surface of the outer panel by a required height.

(Function) The card base is made of a metal outer plate and has a rigid structure, so that electronic components etc. are appropriately protected from external forces. In addition, the outer frame part is formed at a required height higher than the outer panel or the surface of the outer panel, and the outer frame is made of a material with lower hardness than the outer panel, making it easy to read the magnetic stripe. - Damage to the magnetic head is prevented when inserted into a writing device.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the same or equivalent members and portions as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

First, to explain the structure of a multifunctional IC card having a magnetic stripe as a portable medium, the outer peripheral frame 3 of this embodiment is made of resin, and the outer plate 1 is made of stainless steel.
A material with lower hardness than 2 is used. Further, its cross-sectional shape is such that it has a skin mounting portion consisting of a portion C having the same thickness as the outer peripheral frame in FIG. 3, and a portion B that is one step thicker than the skin mounting portion. . Stainless steel outer plates 1.2 are fixed to both sides of the outer plate mounting portion (portion C) of such outer peripheral frame 3 by adhesive to form a pocket-sized card base 10.
is formed. By using the outer peripheral frame 3 as described above, the card base 10 can be constructed by using the outer peripheral frame 3 as described above.
The height of portion B, which is the peripheral portion of the outer panel 1.2, is higher than the surface of the outer plate 1.2 by a required height.

An LCD and other required electronic components 4 are mounted inside the card base 10, and the display section of the LCD 6 is mounted on the outer panel 1.
It is visible to the outside through a window opened in the front. In addition, outer plate 1
A contact 8 for transmitting/receiving required data to/from an external device such as a key human power section 7 and a reader/writer is provided in the section.

Furthermore, a magnetic stripe 9 is provided on the surface of the outer panel 1.
is formed. Alternatively, a thin plastic sheet with desired printing may be pasted on the stainless steel outer plate 1, and the magnetic stripe 9 may be formed thereon.

By adopting such a formation mode, the magnetic stripe 9 can be firmly attached to the metal card base 10.

Since the multifunctional IC card of this embodiment is constructed as described above, the card base 10 having a rigid structure composed of the stainless steel outer plate 1.2 protects the built-in electronic components from external forces. protected.

When the multifunctional IC card is inserted into the magnetic stripe reading/writing device, the magnetic helad 5 first hits the peripheral part of the outer peripheral frame 3, which is the thickness B. The magnetic stripe reading/writing device is configured for plastic cards, and its magnetic head 5 has sufficient mechanical strength to withstand plastic materials, so it will not be damaged even if it comes into contact with the outer peripheral frame 3 made of resin. It will never occur. Next, as the multifunction IC card advances, the magnetic head 5 moves onto the magnetic stripe 9 without hitting the edge 1a of the outer plate 1, and the required information is normally written or read.

On the other hand, when the IC card is inserted into a reader/writer dedicated to the IC card, the connection terminal on the reader/writer side contacts and connects to the contact 8, and the required information is read and written to the multifunction IC.
Necessary judgments, calculations, etc. are made inside the card.

Further, when the internal CPU is operated by manual operation of the key power section 7, the contents recorded in the memory are checked from the display on the LCD 6.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the height of the peripheral part of the outer peripheral frame 3 is formed to be higher than the surface of the outer panel 1.2 by the required height, but a step may be formed at the edges 1a and 2a of the outer panel 1.2. Otherwise, the purpose of preventing damage to the magnetic head 5 can be achieved, so the peripheral part of the outer peripheral frame 3 and the surface of the outer plate 1.2 may be flush with each other, that is, the same height.

In addition, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, both upper and lower surfaces of the peripheral portion of the outer frame 3 are formed at a required height higher than the surface of the amphoteric plate 1.2, but the magnetic stripe 9 is formed only on the outer plate 1 side. In the case where the magnetic stripe 9 is formed, the height of the peripheral surface of the outer peripheral frame 3 on the side where the magnetic stripe 9 is formed may be made higher than the surface of the outer panel 1.

Further, the material of the outer peripheral frame 3 is not limited to resin, and may be made of a metal softer than stainless steel, such as aluminum.

When the outer peripheral frame 3 is made of metal such as aluminum, it is preferable to round the periphery.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since the card base is constructed of a metal outer plate and has a rigid structure, electronic components and the like can be appropriately protected from external forces. In addition, the outer frame part is made flush with the outer panel or at a required height higher than the surface of the outer panel, and the outer frame is made of a material with lower hardness than the outer panel, making it possible to read and write magnetic stripes. Reading information against the magnetic stripe, which can prevent damage to the magnetic head when inserted into the device
Writing can be performed normally at all times.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of a portable medium according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a plan view, and FIG. 2 is an A of FIG.
3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing a conventional portable medium. 1.2: Outer plate, 3: Outer frame, 4: Electronic components,
9: Magnetic stripe, 10: Card base.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A card base is constructed by attaching a metal outer plate to an outer peripheral frame, and necessary electronic components are built into the card base and required information is magnetically recorded on the outer plate portion. A portable medium having a magnetic stripe formed thereon, wherein the outer frame is made of a material with a lower hardness than the outer plate, and a portion of the outer frame is flush with the outer plate or is flush with the outer plate. A portable medium characterized by being formed to be higher than the surface by a required height.