JPH1027227A - Reader-writer for data card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the prevention of data alteration and the reduction of a manufacturing cost compatible by rewriting information by the change of a capacitance value accompanying the irreversible change of a conducting state. SOLUTION: A data card 1 is inserted to the card insertion port of this reader-writer 5 and signals for indicating the amount of payment are inputted from a register or the like. Thus, a read part 12 reads a balance recorded in the data card 1 and subtracts the inputted payment amount from the balance. Further, in order to write the balance after subtraction to the data card 1, the piercing machine of a write part 13 pierces a prescribed switch part. As a result, the payment by the data card 1 is completed and the balance after the payment is recorded in the data card 1. Since it is performed by piercing the switch part provided in an electric circuit by the piercing machine which is a conducting change means 8 and irreversibly increasing the resistance value in such a manner, the alteration of data recorded in the data card 1 is impossible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data card for making a payment without using a currency (a so-called prepaid card) and a data card for writing a balance after the payment. It relates to a writing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a method of paying by using a so-called prepaid card without using currency as a method of payment when purchasing a product has become widespread.

As the conventional prepaid card, an IC (integrated circuit) is built in the card and a predetermined amount of money is recorded on the IC (IC card), or a magnetic part is provided on a partial surface of the card. There are known magnetic cards in which the above-mentioned amount can be freely recorded (magnetic card).

In these data cards, the amount recorded on the data card is read out or the balance is newly recorded by subtracting the separately entered amount by inserting the data card into a reading and writing device. Or I above
As a C card, for example, in a company or university,
2. Description of the Related Art There are known data cards that can be used in a purchase facility in a company or university and also serve as an employee ID or a student ID. Also, as a magnetic card, a so-called telephone card or the like is widely known.

[0005]

The above-mentioned conventional data cards have the following problems to be solved. That is, in the above-mentioned IC card, the manufacturing cost increases due to the incorporation of the IC. Further, in the magnetic card, data is more easily falsified than in the IC card. Various methods have been proposed and implemented to prevent data tampering, but it is difficult to completely prevent data tampering due to factors such as manufacturing costs.

In order to prevent data tampering, there has been proposed a so-called capacitive data card in which electrodes are provided in an electric circuit of a data card, and a capacitor is constituted by electrodes provided in a read / write device of the data card. I have. If such a capacitive data card is used, the above-mentioned tampering is difficult to perform. However,
The work of incorporating the electric circuit is troublesome, and the manufacturing cost is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data card reading and writing apparatus which can prevent data falsification and reduce manufacturing costs. It is assumed that.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object,
The invention according to claim 1 includes a reading unit that can read information recorded on a data card, and a writing unit that can update and write information on the data card. It relates to a writing device.

The data card used in the present invention has at least one electric circuit provided on the surface of a thin insulator, and has at least one electrode of the electric circuit and a separately provided read / write device. By the capacitance value of the capacitor composed of the electrode and
It is preferable to use a data card in which desired information is recorded.

In particular, it is desirable that the electric circuit of the data card has the same number of switches as the electrodes of the electric circuit. The switch unit can irreversibly change the conductive state such as the resistance value of the switch unit by the read / write device. And
Information is rewritten by the change in the capacitance value caused by the irreversible change in the conductive state. Further, the electric circuit is provided by performing a printing process on the surface of the insulator using a conductive ink.

Further, such an irreversible change in the conductive state of the data card is performed by breaking the electric circuit by piercing the switch section, or by heating the switch section or by electromagnetic waves. It can be performed by changing the resistance value by light irradiation.

[0012] Further, the switch section may be provided on the first conductive layer provided on the surface of the insulator, on the surface of the first conductive layer, on the surface of the insulating layer, and on the surface of the insulating layer. It can also be composed of one conductive layer and a second conductive layer provided in a non-contact state. In this case, the irreversible change in the conductive state can be performed by breaking the insulating layer and bringing the first and second conductive layers into contact with each other.

In the case of the read / write device of the present invention using such a data card, the read section, in a state where the data card is inserted, faces the electrode of the electric circuit of the data card with a capacitor. It comprises a constituent electrode. Further, a detection unit is provided for reading out information represented by the capacitance value by detecting the capacitance value of the capacitor. Further, the writing means includes a conductivity changing means for changing a conductivity state of a switch portion included in an electric circuit of the data card in accordance with a separately input signal. By operating the conductivity changing means and irreversibly changing the conductivity state of the switch section of the data card, the capacitance value of the capacitor is changed to record information corresponding to the signal.

As the conductivity changing means, a breaking device for breaking the switch portion of the data card in order to cut off the conduction can be employed. As a specific example, there is a punching machine capable of punching the switch unit.

Further, as the conductivity changing means, a heating device for heating the switch section or an irradiation means for irradiating the switch section with electromagnetic waves such as light so as to change the resistance value of the switch section may be employed. it can.

Further, a switch portion of the data card is provided on a first conductive layer provided on an insulator surface, an insulating layer provided on the surface of the first conductive layer, and a surface of the insulating layer. In the case where the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer provided in a non-contact state with the first conductive layer, the conductivity changing means, the first and second conductive layers by breaking the insulating layer, A device that can be freely contacted can be adopted.

[0017]

The operation of the data card reading and writing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above when making a payment without using currency is the same as that of the above-described conventional data card and reading and writing apparatus. . In particular, in the data card used in the present invention, the electric circuit can be provided by printing means, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In addition, when writing information such as the remaining balance recorded on the data card, the switch portion provided in the electric circuit is pierced, heated, or irradiated with light by the conductivity changing means provided in the reading and writing device. Since data is irreversibly changed, the data cannot be tampered with.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, information on the balance recorded on the data card 1 is read, and a signal indicating the amount of payment sent from the register or the like is subtracted from the data indicating the balance. Thus, a schematic configuration of the reading and writing device 5 for recording a new balance is shown.

The reading and writing device 5 includes a reading unit 12 for reading the information and a writing unit 13 for writing a new balance on the data card 1.
And.

The reading section 12 includes an electrode 6 facing the electrodes 3 and 3 of the electric circuit 4 of the data card 1 with the data card 1 inserted.
The electrodes 3 and 6 form the same number of capacitors as the electrodes 3 and 3. Then, the reading unit 1
The second detection unit 14 reads the information on the balance represented by the capacitance value of each capacitor by detecting the capacitance value of each capacitor.

The writing unit 13 includes a punch (not shown). That is, when the data card 1 is inserted, the punching machine is disposed at a position facing each of the switches 7, 7 disposed at one edge of the data card 1. Is formed so as to cut off the electric circuit.

In the case of this embodiment, the control of the drilling machine is performed by a control unit 15 incorporating the function of the detection unit 14 as shown in FIG. A conventionally used drilling machine can be used. Further, in this embodiment, when the data card 1 is defective, a defect detection unit 16 for detecting the defect is provided.

On the other hand, the data card 1 used in this device
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an electric circuit 4 having a plurality of (13 in the example shown) electrodes 3 is provided on the surface of a thin (sheet-shaped) insulator 2. It consists of.

When the data card 1 is inserted into the read / write device 5, the electrodes 3 and 3 can freely face the electrodes 6 provided on the read / write device 5 and face each other. The electrodes 3 and 6 constitute the same number of capacitors as the electrodes 3 and 3.

The reading and writing device 5
Is a state in which the balance, which is the desired information, is recorded by the capacitance value of the capacitor constituted by the electrodes 3 and 6. It should be noted that the information regarding the balance is expressed by collecting the capacitance values of these capacitors. In other words, the balance is not represented by the capacitance value of one capacitor. Such a structure is the same as the above-mentioned conventional capacitive data card.

The electric circuit 4 includes the electrodes 3,
A plurality (13 in the illustrated example) of switch units 7, 7 corresponding to the number 3 are provided. These switches 7, 7 are separately provided by a cash register (register) by the conductivity changing means 8 provided in the read / write device 5.
The configuration is such that the resistance value of the switch units 7, 7 according to the signal indicating the amount of payment sent from the like can be irreversibly increased.

By increasing the resistance value of the switch portions 7, 7 in this manner, the electrodes 3, 6
The information on the remaining balance is rewritten by changing the capacitance value of the capacitor constituted by.

In the case of this embodiment, the electric circuit 4 is provided by performing a printing process on the surface of the insulator 2 using a conductive ink. As a printing means for providing the electric circuit 4 on the surface of the insulator 2, various conventionally known methods can be adopted. Since the electric circuit 4 is provided by performing such a printing process, the data card 1 can be manufactured at low cost without increasing the manufacturing cost unlike the conventional data card.

Further, in the case of the present embodiment, the switches 7, 7 are arranged at one edge of the data card 1 (right edge in FIG. 3).

This is because the conductivity change of the switches 7 and 7 can be performed by the conductivity changing means 8 in a state where one end of the data card 1 is inserted into the read / write device 5. is there. In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the switch units 7, 7 are formed by circular portions having a diameter larger than the width of the electric circuit constituting the electric circuit 4. Then, by punching the entirety of the circular switch portions 7, 7, the electric paths in the switch portions 7, 7 are broken.

Incidentally, the switch units 7, 7 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a first conductive layer 9 provided on the surface of the insulator 2 and an insulating layer 1 provided on the surface of the first conductive layer 9
0 and a second conductive layer 11 provided on the surface of the insulating layer 10 in a non-contact state with the first conductive layer 9. This structure can also be provided by the printing means as described above.

In the present embodiment, the irreversible change in the conductive state of the switches 7 of the data card 1 is performed by irreversibly increasing the resistance of the switches 7. ing. Such a change is performed as follows.

For example, first, the electrodes 3, 3 corresponding to the switches 7, 7 are separated from the electric circuit 4 by piercing the switches 7, 7. Second, by heating the switch section 7, the resistance value of the switch section 7 is increased. Third, the resistance value is increased by irradiating the switch section 7 with light.

Further, when the switches 7, 7 are configured as shown in FIG. 4, the change that irreversibly increases the resistance value is changed by destroying the insulating layer 9 to form the first and second switches. It is configured to perform this by bringing the conductive layers 8 and 10 into contact with each other.

Next, when the data card 1 and the read / write device 5 configured as described above make a payment without using a currency, the operation of the conventional data card and the read / write of the data card will be described. Same as the device.

That is, when making a payment using the data card 1, the data card 1 is inserted into the card slot of the reading and writing device 5. Then, a signal indicating the payment amount is input from a register or the like. As a result, the reading unit 12 reads the balance recorded on the data card 1, and subtracts the input payment amount from the balance. Further, in order to write the balance after the subtraction into the data card 1, the punching machine of the writing unit 13 punches predetermined switch units 7,7. As a result, the payment by the data card 1 is completed, and the data card 1
Indicates the balance after payment.

As described above, in the case of the read / write device 5 according to the present embodiment, the data card 1
Can be provided by the printing means, so that the production cost can be reduced. However, when writing information such as the balance recorded on the data card 1, the conductivity changing means provided in the reading and writing device 5. Is performed by piercing the switch portions 7 provided in the electric circuit 4 and irreversibly increasing the resistance value of the switches, so that the data recorded on the data card 1 cannot be tampered with. is there. Of course, it is impossible to falsify a used data card with a balance of “0”. Therefore, the inconveniences of the conventional data card and the reading / writing device as described above can be solved.

When the switches 7, 7 have the structure shown in FIG. 4, a means for breaking the insulating layer 10 of the switches 7, 7 can be adopted in place of the above-described punching machine for the conductivity changing means. .

For example, the insulating layer 10 is made of an insulating material that melts at a relatively low temperature, and
A heating means for heating only the vicinity of the insulating layer 10 can be provided in the reading and writing device 5.

Even if the configuration of the switch units 7, 7 is the configuration shown in FIG. 4 or another configuration, heating means for heating the desired switch units 7, 7 or By arranging an irradiating means for irradiating a desired switch section 7, 7 with light which is an electromagnetic wave in the reading and writing device 5, it is also possible to change the conductive state of the switch sections 7, 7.

Although not shown, the data card 1
In addition, a personal information recording unit capable of recording personal information can be provided to further prevent unauthorized use. In short, in the reading and writing device 5 according to the present invention, the data recorded on the data card 1 is protected from being falsified by being used together with the data card 1 provided with the switches 7, 7 irreversibly changing the conductive state. It has that characteristic in making it impossible.

Of course, providing the electric circuit 4 constituting the data card 1 by printing means is also a great advantage in that it can be manufactured inexpensively. Therefore, the present reading and writing apparatus 5 can use this inexpensive data tampering. By irreversibly changing the conductive state of the switch units 7, 7 of the data card 1 which makes the data impossible, it is possible to make the data tampering more impossible. The other structure is the same as that of a conventionally known data card reading and writing device, and a detailed description thereof is omitted here. Of course, a conventionally known configuration may be added to the read / write device 5 or the data card 1.

[0045]

Since the data card reading and writing apparatus according to the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, it is possible to almost completely prevent data tampering despite being inexpensive to manufacture. As a result, it is possible to contribute to the spread of the payment method using the data card, and the practical effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a reading and writing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the reading and writing device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a data card suitable for the reading and writing device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a configuration of a switch section of the data card.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data card 4 Electric circuit 5 Reading and writing device 7 Switch part 8 Conduction change means 12 Reading part 13 Writing part 14 Detecting part 15 Control part

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 20, 1996

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0036

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the switches 7, 7 are configured as shown in FIG. 4, the change that irreversibly reduces the resistance value is changed by breaking the insulating layer 10 to form the first and second switches. The conductive layers 9 and 11 are configured to be brought into contact with each other to perform the operation.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for reading and writing data from a data card, comprising: a reading section capable of reading information recorded on a data card; and a writing section capable of updating and writing the information recorded on the data card. In the state where the data card is inserted, the reading unit detects an electrode forming a capacitor in opposition to an electrode included in an electric circuit of the data card and a capacitance value of the capacitor, thereby detecting this. A detecting unit for reading information represented by the capacitance value, wherein the writing unit irreversibly changes a conductive state of a switch unit included in the electric circuit of the data card in accordance with a signal input separately. Means for changing the capacitance of the capacitor due to a change in the conductive state of the switch section by the operation of the conductivity changing means. A data card reading and writing apparatus, wherein information corresponding to a signal is recorded on the data card. 2. The data card read / write device according to claim 1, wherein the conductivity changing means is a breaking device for breaking the wire at the switch portion to cut off the conduction of the switch portion. 3. The data card read / write device according to claim 1, wherein the conductivity changing means is a heating device for heating the switch portion so as to change the resistance value of the switch portion. 4. The data card read / write device according to claim 1, wherein the conductivity changing unit is an irradiation unit that irradiates the switch unit with an electromagnetic wave so as to change a resistance value of the switch unit. . 5. A switch section of a data card comprising: a first conductive layer provided on a surface of an insulator; an insulating layer provided on a surface of the first conductive layer; A second conductive layer provided in a non-contact state on the first conductive layer,
Wherein the irreversible change in the conductive state destroys the insulating layer constituting the switch section and brings the first and second conductive layers into contact with each other. 2. The data card reading and writing device according to claim 1.