JPH09147066A - Reader / writer with card exchange function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer that can easily replace an old card with a new card. SOLUTION: A magnetic card inserted from a card insertion port 11 passes through a U-shaped cross-section conveyance guide portion, is sandwiched by a conveyance roller 14 and a counter roller 15, and is conveyed rightward in FIG. At this time, the bending of the card is detected by the pressure sensors 16 and 17 arranged above and below the transport path, and the image reader 21 reads the card design, the damaged state, and the like. A plurality of types of magnetic cards that can be issued by a card reader / writer are stored in the storage units 34, 35, and 36, and the pressure sensors 16, 17 or the image sensor 1 are stored.
When the card deformation, damage, design difference, etc. are detected in 8, the corresponding magnetic card stored in the storage units 34 to 36 is issued as a new magnetic card.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card reader / writer for reading and writing data stored in a card.

[0002]

[Prior Art] Banks, securities companies, credit companies, etc.
It is an era in which individuals issue multiple cards, each issuing their own cash card and credit card. In particular, a cash card issued by a bank or the like is used by many people because it can withdraw and deposit cash in a short time by using an automatic teller machine.

Since cash cards and credit cards are often carried in a wallet or the like, when the wallet is dropped or when the wallet is put in a pocket and sitting on a chair, external force is applied to the card to bend the card, It may be damaged. When the card is bent or damaged, the card reading device cannot read the data, so it is necessary to have the card issuer reissue the card.

[0004]

In the current system,
When a user applies for a card reissue to the issuer, a new card is sent from the issuer by mail, which takes time for administrative procedures and mailing, and there is the inconvenience that the card cannot be used during that time. It was

On the other hand, the issuer of a cash card or credit card may change the design of the card or improve the function added to the card. In that case, it is necessary to replace the old card with the new card, but there is a problem that it takes a lot of time and money to replace all the cards with the new card.

An object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer which can easily replace an old card with a new card.

[0007]

A reader / writer with a card issuing function according to the present invention moves a card inserted from a card insertion port on a transfer path to transfer the card inside and inserts a card that has been read. It is inserted by the conveying means for discharging to the mouth, the judging means for judging the old and new of the card, the reading / writing means for reading and writing the data of the card, the card storing section for storing the new card, and the judging means. When it is determined that the card is an old card, the card removing means for taking out the new card stored in the card storage section and the data for the old card read by the reading / writing means are taken out by the card removing means. Instructing means for instructing to write in the new card taken out.

In the present invention, the old and new of the inserted card are discriminated, and when the card is discriminated as the old card, the new card is automatically issued. Therefore, the card owner can reissue the card. You can get a new card in a short time without any procedure.

Further, since the card issuer does not need to perform any paperwork for reissuing the card, the administrative cost can be reduced.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a reader / writer with a card exchange function of an embodiment, for example, an automatic teller machine such as a bank.

When the magnetic card is inserted from the card insertion slot 11, the magnetic card is conveyed by the carrying roller 12 and the opposing roller 13.
It is sandwiched between and and is transported rightward in FIG. 1 through the main transport path to be transported inside the main body. Next, the magnetic card passes through the U-shaped cross-section conveyance guide portion, is sandwiched between the conveyance roller 14 and the counter roller 15, and is conveyed rightward. At this time, the pressure sensors 16 and 17 arranged above and below the transport path detect whether or not the bending of the card is less than a predetermined value.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the pressure sensors 16 and 17 for detecting the bending of the magnetic card. The pressure sensors 16 and 17 are the lower guide 51 of the conveyance guide unit 51.
a, the inner surface of the upper guide 51b is fixed at a position where the end surfaces of the sensors 16 and 17 substantially coincide with each other, and if the inserted magnetic card has a large deformation amount, pressure is applied to the pressure sensor 16 or 17, and The deformation amount is estimated from the pressure to determine whether the deformation of the magnetic card is less than a predetermined value.

Returning to FIG. 1, next, after the data stored in the magnetic card is read by the magnetic head 18, the card is conveyed to the right by the conveying roller 19 and the counter roller 20. In addition, magnetic card design,
Image data indicating a damaged state or the like is read by the image reader 21, and then sent to the route switching unit 24 by the transport roller 22 and the counter roller 23.

The route switching unit 24 switches the carrying direction of the magnetic card, and when the inserted magnetic card is an old magnetic card and the old magnetic card needs to be returned to the user, The card conveying direction is switched to the B direction in FIG. 1, and the old magnetic card is retracted to the card retracting section 41 described later. The user can select whether or not to return the old magnetic card to the user by operating a touch key such as a card sample display unit 45 described later.

On the other hand, when the inserted magnetic card is an old magnetic card and it is not necessary to return the magnetic card to the user, the card carrying direction is switched to the direction A in FIG. The removed magnetic card is stored in the reject box 33.

When it is necessary to return the old card to the user and the route switching unit 24 switches the card transport direction to the direction B in FIG. 1 (the transport path side connected to the card retreat unit 41), the magnetic Card is the transport roller 25
And the opposing roller 26 and the conveying roller 27 and the opposing roller 28
Is sent to the card evacuation unit 41. Card evacuation section 41
The new magnetic card is ejected from the card insertion slot 11 and then sent to the main transport path and ejected from the card insertion slot 11.

On the other hand, it is not necessary to return the old magnetic card to the user, and the route switching unit 24 causes the card to be conveyed in the direction A in FIG. 1 (conveying to the storing units 34 to 36 storing new cards). When switched to the road side), the inserted magnetic card is sandwiched between the transport roller 29 and the counter roller 30, and between the transport roller 31 and the counter roller 32 and sent to the reject box 33 to be stored.

A plurality of types of magnetic cards that can be issued by this card reader / writer are stored in the storage units 34, 35, and 36. When issuing a new magnetic card, the same type of magnetic card as the inserted magnetic card is stored. The storage unit containing the magnetic card is selected by the switching unit 37, and the magnetic card stored in the selected storage unit is embossed by the embossing unit 38.
Sent to

The embossing section 38 embosses the magnetic card with the card identification number, the user's name, and the like. The printing unit 39, when the card to be issued is a paper card (transfer card) (in this case, embossing is not applied)
Then, the transfer destination (institution name, branch name, name, telephone number, etc.) is printed on the paper card itself. Receipt journal issue department 4
After the transaction of the card, 2 prints the transaction content of the card, the identification number, etc. on the receipt and the journal, and outputs from the receipt / journal exit 43.

The card data content display section 44 is a display section for displaying the data of the magnetic card open to the user for confirmation. The display of the contents of the card may be omitted if it is unnecessary depending on the type of the card.

The card sample display unit 45 is a display unit that displays the designs of a plurality of types of cards that can be selected when a magnetic card is issued, and the user can operate the touch switch on the display unit to select any of them. You can choose your design.

Next, the card reader having the above-mentioned structure
The operation of the writer will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, the operation in the case where only the new magnetic card is given to the user and the old magnetic card is not returned to the user will be described with reference to the flowchart of process 1 in FIG.

When a magnetic card is inserted from the card insertion slot 11 and a personal identification number is input (FIG. 3, S1), the inserted magnetic card is sandwiched between the conveying roller 12 and the opposing roller 13 and is inserted into the main conveying path. The sheet is conveyed in the right direction of FIG. 1 (hereinafter, the same) (S2). Next, the pressure sensors 16 and 17 detect whether or not the bending of the card is less than a predetermined value (S3). Further, the sheet is nipped by the next conveying roller 14 and the opposing roller 15 and conveyed rightward (S4). And the magnetic head 18
The data of the magnetic card is read by, and is sandwiched between the transport roller 19 and the counter roller 20 and transported rightward (S
5). Furthermore, after the image reader 21 reads the design, damage state, and the like of the surface of the card (S6), the card is nipped by the next conveying roller 22 and the opposing roller 23 and conveyed rightward (S7). The level of damage, stain, etc. of the magnetic card is determined by comparing the image data read by the image reader 21 with the reference image data.

In this case, since it is not necessary to return the old magnetic card to the user, the pressure sensor detects that the inserted magnetic card is bent by a predetermined value or more, or the image reader 21 reads it. When it is determined from the image data that the inserted magnetic card is damaged, the design is old, or the data read by the magnetic head 18 is an old card, the route switching unit 24 1 is switched to the A-direction conveyance route (conveyance path connected to the reject box 33) (S8), and the conveyance roller 29 and the counter roller 30 and the conveyance roller 31 and the counter roller 32 sequentially convey the magnetic card while sandwiching the magnetic card ( S9, S10). Then, the old magnetic card is stored in the reject box 33 (S1).
1).

That is, when it is selected not to return the old magnetic card to the user, the old magnetic card is housed in the reject box 33 and is not returned to the outside.

Next, when the magnetic card has a plurality of types of designs, a design sample of the magnetic card is displayed on the card sample display section 45 so that the user can select a desired design (S12). If the card design is selected, the data of the card open to the user is displayed on the card data content display section 44 (S1).
3).

When the key operation for confirming the contents of the user's card is detected, the magnetic card of the design selected by the user is taken out from the storage sections 34 to 36 (S1).
4). Then, the same embossing as the old magnetic card inserted is applied to the new magnetic card (S15). For example, when issuing a paper card, the transfer destination or the like is printed by the printing unit 39 without embossing. After the card transaction, the receipt / journal issuing unit 42 prints the processing result on the receipt / journal as proof of the transaction,
Issue from the journal exit 43. Then, contrary to the above-described operation, a new magnetic card is sent out onto the main transport path via the route switching unit 24, and the magnetic card is transported to the card insertion slot 11 (S17).

Next, the operation of returning both the old and new magnetic cards to the user will be described with reference to the flowchart of processing 2 in FIG. The processing of steps S21 to S27 in FIG. 4 is the same as the processing of steps S1 to S7 of the processing 1 described above. In the initial state, the route switching unit 24 is switched to the B direction side in FIG. 1 (the transport path side connected to the retreat unit 41).

In this case, it is necessary to return the inserted old magnetic card to the user. Therefore, the inserted magnetic card is used as the conveying roller 25, the facing roller 26 and the conveying roller 2.
7 and the opposing roller 28 are sequentially sandwiched and conveyed (see FIG. 4,
S28, S29), and is saved in the card save section 41 (S
30).

When it is detected in step S23 that the inserted magnetic card is bent by a predetermined value or more, or in step S26, the inserted magnetic card is damaged or has an old specification (design or storage). If it is determined that the card is old (for example, the data already stored), a new magnetic card is issued. If the magnetic card to be issued has multiple designs, a sample card design is displayed on the card sample display section 45,
Allow the user to select the desired card (S3
1). When the touch key or the like of the card sample display section 45 is operated and the card design is selected, the data of the card open to the user is displayed on the card data content display section 44 (S32). .

When the key operation for confirming the contents of the user's card is detected, the magnetic card of the design selected by the user is taken out from the storage units 34 to 36 (S3).
3). Then, the same embossing as the old magnetic card is applied to the new magnetic card (S34). For example, when issuing a paper card, the transfer destination or the like is printed by the printing unit 39 without embossing. Then, after the card transaction, the processing result and the like are printed as a proof of the transaction on the receipt and the journal issuance section 42, and is issued from the receipt / journal exit 43.

Next, the new magnetic card which has been subjected to the embossing process is nipped by the carrying roller 31, the facing roller 32, and the carrying roller 29, and the facing roller 30 in order, and is carried in the left direction in FIG. 1 (S36, S37). At this time, the switching unit 24
Is switched to the direction A side in FIG. 1 (the side of the transport path connected to the storage units 34 to 36), and a new magnetic card is sent out on the main transport path and is sandwiched between the transport roller 22 and the opposing roller 23 to perform the main transport. Transported on the road to the left in Fig. 1 (S
38). Then, after the data read from the old magnetic card is written on the new magnetic card by the magnetic head 18, it is sandwiched between the transport roller 19 and the counter roller 20 and transported to the left (S39).

Then, the transport roller 14 and the counter roller 15
Then, the sheet is sandwiched between the transport roller 12 and the counter roller 13 and transported in the direction of the card insertion slot 11 (S40, S41).
As a result, a new card is ejected to the card insertion slot 11, so that the user can remove the new magnetic card from the card insertion slot 11 (S42).

Next, the old magnetic card retracted in the card retracting section 41 is returned to the transport path (S43), and is sequentially transported leftward by the transport roller 27 and the counter roller 28 and the transport roller 25 and the counter roller 26. (S44, S4
5).

When the transportation of the new magnetic card is completed, the route switching unit 41 is switched to the side B in FIG. 1, so that the old magnetic card retracted to the card retracting unit 41 is sent out onto the main transport path. Then, it is sandwiched between the transport roller 22 and the counter roller 23 and transported leftward on the main transport path (S46). Then, after the data stored in the old magnetic card is erased by the magnetic head 18, the data is sandwiched between the conveying roller 19 and the counter roller 20 and conveyed to the left (S47). Further, the transport roller 14 and the counter roller 1
5 and the conveyance roller 12 and the opposing roller 13 sandwich the sheet and conveys it in the direction of the card insertion slot 11 (S48, S4).
9). As a result, the old magnetic card inserted by the user into the card insertion slot 11 is ejected, so that the user can remove the old magnetic card from the card insertion slot 11 (S50).

The switching between returning the old card and the new card to the user or returning only the new card to the user is made by using, for example, the touch key of the card sample display section 45 described above when the card is inserted. It can be selected by an operator.

As described above, by returning both the old and new cards to the user, the user himself can receive his old card and discard it, so that the unnecessary card can be surely disposed of.

If the inserted card is an IC card, the probe of the IC contact 40 is brought into contact with the IC card retracted in the card retracting section 41 after step S30 in FIG. The data stored in the IC is read. Then, after returning the newly issued magnetic card from the transport path connected to the storage sections 34 to 36 to the main transport path, the route switching section 24 is switched to the B side in FIG. Transport to. Then, the probe of the IC contact 40 is brought into contact with the magnetic card to write the data read from the old IC card. Then, as described above, the new IC
The card is sent to the main transport path and transported in the direction of the card insertion slot 11.

As a result, the data stored in the memory of the old IC card or the like can be copied to the memory of the newly issued IC card to issue the IC card.
The above-described embodiment determines whether the card inserted into the reader / writer by the user is a usable card, or is an old magnetic card with a modified or modified design, function, etc. If there is, storage 34-3
Since the data of the old magnetic card can be written to the magnetic card stored in 6 so that a new card can be issued, the procedure for reissuing the card becomes easy,
The time it takes for a user to get a new card is greatly reduced.

Further, for the card issuer, the paperwork for reissuing the card is simplified. further,
When changing the specifications of a card, a new type of card can be automatically issued and replaced when the user uses the card reading device without having to mail the new card to all the users. As a result, it is possible to reduce the amount of paperwork involved in changing the specifications of the card, and reduce the costs involved.

According to the present invention, not only the card of a single issuer is issued by the reader / writer, but also the cards of a plurality of issuers are stored in the storage unit of the reader / writer.
It is also possible to connect to each issuer's computer online, obtain the authentication of the issuer's computer, and then issue cards from multiple issuers.

[0042]

According to the present invention, it is determined whether the inserted card is old or new, and if it is an old card, a new card stored in the card storage unit is issued. Therefore, the amount of work and time required to reissue the card can be significantly reduced. In addition, the card status is read by a pressure sensor or image sensor to determine if the card is damaged or deformed, and the card is reissued, so the card can be used before it becomes unusable. Can be exchanged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of a reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of a pressure sensor.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a reader / writer when issuing a card.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a reader / writer when issuing a card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 17 Pressure Sensor 18 Magnetic Head 21 Image Reader 24 Route Switching Section 34-36 Storage Section 44 Card Content Display Section 45 Card Sample Display Section

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A conveying means for moving a card inserted from a card insertion slot on a conveying path to convey it inside, and a discharging means for discharging a card whose reading has been completed to a card insertion slot, and a discriminating means for discriminating between old and new cards. A reading / writing means for reading and writing data on the card, a card storage section for storing a new card, and the discriminating means, when the inserted card is discriminated as an old card, Card ejecting means for taking out a new card stored in the card storing portion, and an instruction for instructing the reading / writing means to write the data of the old card read to the new card taken out by the card ejecting means. A reader / writer with a card exchange function, which is provided with: 2. The reader / writer with a card issuing function according to claim 1, wherein the card is a magnetic card or an IC card. [Claim 3] Whether to return both the old and new cards to the user,
3. The reader / writer with a card exchange function according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a selection unit for selecting whether to return only a new card. 4. An evacuation unit for temporarily evacuating an inserted card, and a transportation path switching unit for switching a main transportation path of the transportation unit to a transportation path side connected to the card storage unit or a transportation path side connected to the evacuation unit. When the card inserted by the determining means is an old card and the selecting means selects to return both the old and new cards to the user, the transport path The main transport path is switched to the transport path side connected to the retreat section by the switching means to retract the old card to the retreat section, and then the main transport path is switched to the transport path side connected to the card storage section to store the card. A new card taken out of the unit is sent to the main transport path to discharge the new card from the card insertion slot, and the main transport path is connected to the retreat section. Switch to the side of the conveying path, send the retracted old card to the main conveying path, eject the old card from the card insertion slot, and return only the new card to the user by the selecting means. If is selected, the main transport path is switched to the transport path side connected to the card storage unit by the transport path switching means, the new card is sent to the main transport path, and the new card is ejected. The reader / writer with a card exchange function according to claim 3, wherein the reader / writer is discharged from an outlet. 5. The image reading means for reading an image of an inserted card is further provided, and the judging means judges whether the card is new or old from the image data read by the image reading means. A reader / writer with a card issuing function as described in 1 or 2. 6. The reader / writer with a card issuing function according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating means discriminates whether the card is new or old based on the data of the card read by the reading / writing means. 7. The discriminating means has a detecting means for detecting the deformation of the inserted card, and issues a new card when the detecting means detects that the card is deformed by a predetermined amount or more. 3. The reader / writer with a card issuing function according to claim 1 or 2. 8. A display means for displaying the data of the card read by said reading / writing means is further provided so that the user can confirm the data of the new card when issuing the card. A reader / writer with a card issuing function according to item 1 or 2. 9. The reader / writer with a card issuing function according to claim 1, wherein a card having an arbitrary design can be selected from a plurality of cards having a plurality of designs when the card is issued. 10. A display means for displaying designs of a plurality of cards selectable by the user, further comprising a display means for displaying a design displayed on the display means when the card is issued so that the user can select a card having a desired design. The reader / writer with a card issuing function according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reader / writer has a card issuing function. 11. The discriminating means discriminates the degree of damage or stain of the card by comparing the image data read by the image reading means with reference image data. Reader / writer with the card issuing function described. 12. The card storage unit has a separate storage unit for each card issuing company and each type of card, and the card removal unit has image data matching the image data read by the image reading unit. 6. The reader / writer with a card issuing function according to claim 5, wherein the card having the card is taken out from the front card storage section and is issued as a new card.