Registers – Coded record sensors – Particular sensor structure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-05
2003-10-28
Pitts, Harold I. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Coded record sensors
Particular sensor structure
C235S451000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06637652
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an IC card processor, and in particular, to an IC card processor having a contact block provided with a plurality of contacts on one surface side and allowing each contact of the contact block to contact each contact point of one surface side of an IC card received to a predetermined position so as to perform the giving/receiving of signals to/from the IC card, which adopts a technology that prevents damage of the contact due to insertion of an illegal card-like foreign matter.
Further, the present invention relates to an IC card processor, and in particular to an IC card processor allowing each contact to contact each contact point of one surface side of an IC card received to a predetermined position so as to perform the giving/receiving of signals to/from the IC card, which adopts a technology that can easily eliminate a short card-like foreign matter existing inside.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, an IC card processor performing read/write of information for an IC card has been constituted in such a manner that contacts are respectively brought into contact with a plurality of contact points provided on one surface side of the IC card received to a predetermined position and communications have been made with a circuit inside the IC card by electrical connection between each contact point and the contact.
Such an IC card processor does not make the contact deformed by being pushed by the top end of the IC card to be inserted, and in order to make a life of the contact longer, it allows the contact to relatively move on one surface side of the IC card after the top end of the IC card passes through the position of the contact and allows the contact to be brought into contact with each contact point of the IC card.
Here, for example, when the contact side is moved to the IC card side, as shown in
FIG. 33A
, a contact block
212
provided with a plurality of contacts
211
on one surface side is fixedly supported on one end side of a movable member
213
of a rotatable type, and the other end side of the movable member
213
is pushed down by the inserting force of an IC card
201
, and as shown in
FIG. 33B
, the contact block
212
at one end side is moved to one surface side of the IC card
201
so that the contact
211
is brought into contact with a contact point (not shown) of the IC card
201
.
Incidentally, each contact
211
is elastically deformed so as to apply an adequate contact pressure to the contact point.
However, in a structure where each contact
211
of the contact block
212
fixedly supported on one end side of the movable member
213
is brought into contact with the IC card
201
in this way, when an IC card
201
′ having a warp is inserted as shown in
FIG. 33C
, the contact pressure of the contact
211
to each contact point of the IC card
201
′ becomes uneven and the like, and when the warp is larger, a part of the contact
211
sometimes does not contact the contact point.
In order to solve this problem, the present international patent applicant has proposed an IC card processor wherein the attitude of the contact block changes according to the warp of the IC card
201
by swingingly supporting the contact block
212
as shown in
FIG. 34A
in the previous International application No. PCT/JP98/00035 (International publication No. WO 99/35609).
By swingingly supporting the contact block
212
in this way, even when the IC card having a warp is inserted, the contact block
212
inclines by itself according to the warp and each contact
211
can be brought into contact with each contact point on the IC card by a substantially uniform contact pressure.
However, even in the IC card processor which swingingly supports the contact block
212
as described above, for example, when a regular IC card
201
is inserted, while a card-like foreign matter
202
having a length shorter than a regular length is inserted into the inside and remains there in a descending state as shown in
FIG. 34B
, the top end of the IC card
201
inserted thereafter abuts against the contact
211
of the contact block
212
.
At this time, the contact block
212
is pushed to one end side of the movable member
213
and is unable to move upward, and the inserting force of the IC card
201
is directly applied on the contact
211
so that the contact
211
is sometimes damaged.
In order to solve this problem, it is considered to increase the strength (rigidity) of the contact
211
. However, when the strength of the contact
211
is simply increased in this way, an elastic deformation amount is decreased, and an attitude adjustment range by the elastic deformation of the contact
211
is narrowed so as not to be able to deal with the warp of the IC card.
Further, in the previous International application No. PCT/JP98/00035 (International publication No. WO 99/35609), there has been disclosed a modified example, wherein the space between the movable member
213
and the contact block
212
is connected via a reverse V-shaped plate spring
218
, and both ends of the plate spring
218
are allowed to slide on the upper surface of the contact block
211
so as to slidably support the contact black
211
.
That is, in this modified example, it is considered to utilize the elastic deformation of the plate spring
218
so as to allow the contact block
212
to escape upward with respect to the IC card inserted which is in a state of the foreign matter
202
being inserted.
However, in order to apply an adequate contact pressure to the contact point of the regular IC card
201
usually by supporting the contact block
212
by the reverse V-shaped plate spring
218
in this way, and to allow the contact block
212
to escape from the IC card
201
inserted in a state of the foreign matter being present in the inner part, it is necessary to increase the elastic deformation amount of the plate spring
218
.
In order to increase the elastic deformation amount of this plate spring
218
, it is necessary to lengthen two sides of the plate spring
218
, which ends up in moving a supporting point of the swinging away from the contact block
212
.
For this reason, when the IC card
201
having a large warp is inserted, a dislocation between the contact point of the IC card
201
and the contact is increased and the contact relation between both of them becomes unstable so that the giving/receiving of the information can not be reliably performed.
Further, since a uniform load is not applied on each terminal of the contact point group, there arises a trouble that each terminal is one-sidedly worn.
On the other hand, such an IC card processor is often used in the equipment such a public telephone used by an unspecified person, and frequently suffers damage from mischief such as insertion of a foreign matter.
For this reason, the conventional IC card processor has the under surface side of the portion where the IC card is inserted largely opened so as to discharge and drop the inserted foreign matter downward.
FIGS. 36
to
40
show a schematic structure of a conventional IC card processor
5
, which is constituted to discharge and drop the inserted foreign matter.
This IC card processor
5
receives the IC card inserted from a slit
7
which is laterally provided on the front surface side of a card slot
6
at the under surface side of a rectangular substrate
9
of a processor main body
8
.
Here, at both sides of the under surface of the substrate
9
, a pair of regulating portions
10
,
11
to regulate a lateral movement of the inserted IC card from both sides are formed in such a manner as to continue from the front end to the vicinity of the rear end of the substrate
9
.
At the lower edge of the one regulating portion
10
, a rail portion
12
, which supports the one lateral edge portion of the IC card and regulates the downward movement, is formed.
Further, a supporting portion
13
for supporting the top end edge of the IC card from the lower part is provided between the rear ends of a pair of the regulating portions
10
,
11
Fujimoto Osamu
Iguchi Nobuhiro
Nakamura Katsushi
Anritsu Corporation
Pitts Harold I.
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