Registers – Coded record sensors – Particular sensor structure
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-08
2001-06-05
Frech, Karl D. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Coded record sensors
Particular sensor structure
C235S493000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241152
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card processing apparatus and method for processing a magnetic card.
Generally, magnetic card processing machines for processing magnetic information of magnetic cards for use in, e.g., railway stations and distribution are required to be able to easily and stably process these cards. On the other hand, a magnetic card processing system having sufficient protecting ability is being desired to prevent a third party from easily reading, decoding, and altering recorded information.
Conventionally, therefore, magnetic card processing systems have been proposed which prevent a third party from easily reading, decoding, and altering recorded information by forming a multilayered recording magnetic layer by using materials having different magnetic characteristics. However, none of these systems have sufficient protecting ability because the characteristics of magnetic materials used are not largely different.
That is, in the conventionally proposed systems, a card is coated with, e.g., two layers made from a high-coercive force material (3,000 Oe: oersted) and a low-coercive force material (300 Oe), and different kinds of information are recorded in the high- and the low-coercive force layers, respectively. However, this coercive force difference is actually too small to stably record the independent pieces of information in the high- and the low-coercive force recording magnetic materials. Consequently, these kinds of information interfere with each other, or it is essentially possible to rewrite the information.
Accordingly, the conventional magnetic cards can be forged and altered.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation to eliminate the drawback of the conventional magnetic cards that these cards can be forged and altered, and has as its object to provide a card processing apparatus and method capable of preventing forgery and alteration of a magnetic card.
To achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides a card processing apparatus for processing a card having a multilayered magnetic layer, comprising:
convey means for conveying the card having the multilayered magnetic layer containing a first magnetic material whose state reversibly (repeatedly) changes upon reception of a magnetic field and a second magnetic material which increases coercive force once receiving a magnetic field as compared to coercive force prior to application of the magnetic field and changes to a substantially irreversible state;
first magnetic recording means, arranged on the convey means, for recording first data by applying a magnetic field so as to record the data on the magnetic layer of the card at a first azimuth angle in order to change the states of the first and second magnetic materials of the magnetic layer;
second magnetic recording means, arranged on the convey means downstream from the first magnetic recording means along a conveyance direction of the card, for recording second data by applying a magnetic field so as to record the data at a second azimuth angle different from the first azimuth angle in order to change the state of the first magnetic material of the magnetic layer of the card which is recorded with the first magnetic recording means;
verify means, arranged on the convey means downstream from the second magnetic recording means along the conveyance direction of the card, for reading the first data recorded on the card at the first azimuth angle by the first magnetic recording means and the second data recorded on the card at the second azimuth angle by the second magnetic recording means; and
determination means for determining on the basis of the data read by the verify means whether the first and second data recorded by the first and second magnetic recording means are valid.
Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
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Cyr Daniel St.
Frech Karl D.
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
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