Registers – Records
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-31
2001-03-06
Lee, Michael G (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
C235S492000, C235S493000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196465
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an improvement of a capacitive data card in which a fuse is built in a circuit thereof and a bit of data is represented by a state of the fuse, and also relates to a reader of the capacitive data card.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
It is convenient for a user to use a data card (hereafter, refer to a prepaid card) in which no change in payment is required in many application examples such as a public telephone, a parking meter, an automatic vending machine and traffic facilities. No cash is used in a device receiving the card so that damages such as destruction for the purpose of a theft, etc. are avoided. Therefore, there are advantages of lengthening a device life, etc.
Among such prepaid cards, a capacitive data card constituting one portion of a circuit having a capacitor comes to public notice as a data card with low price and low energy. A prepaid card system of this capacitive type is already registered as U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,119 on Jul. 21, 1981.
International Application WO95/14285 of May 26, 1995 discloses a prepaid card system with a fuse built in a circuit of the capacitive data card. When this fuse is intact, the fuse is in a state in which an electric current flows through this fuse. When the fuse blows out, resistance of the circuit is substantially increased. Therefore, a bit of data is represented by a resistance state of the fuse.
As shown in
FIG. 14
, this capacitive data card can form a circuit
3
having capacitors only when a card section
1
is integrated with a sensor section
2
formed on a reader side.
This card section
1
has a resistor R
1
and electrode portions
1
a
,
1
b
each forming one portion of a capacitor connected to each terminal of this resistor R
1
. A sensor section
2
has electrode portions
2
a
,
2
b
each forming one portion of the capacitor connected to each terminal of a power source
4
. When the card section
1
is set to the sensor section
2
, a circuit having air capacitors
3
a
,
3
b
having air between the electrode portions is formed as shown in FIG.
14
.
When the resister R
1
in the circuit
3
formed as mentioned above is burned out by flowing an electric current having a high voltage through the resistor R
1
, the resistor R
1
is used up and a state of the resistor R
1
which is not burned out represents an unused bit so that one closed circuit provides a signal of one bit. Therefore, it is possible to form a data card in which a signal having a required digit number can be stored by forming an arbitrary number of closed circuits.
However, in the above conventional capacitive data card, bits are changed from an unused state to a used state by burning out the resistor R
1
so that data cannot be easily regenerated. Accordingly, since data are not easily regenerated, alteration of the data is prevented and the capacitive data card has high reliability as merits. However, a constant limit is imposed on update of data stored in the card so that a problem exists in that utility value of the card cannot be sufficiently fulfilled.
In consideration of such a situation, the present invention provides a capacitive data card with high utility value and high reliability, and also provides a reader of this capacitive data card.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the above object, a capacitive data card comprises a capacitive memory area for storing bits relative to capacitive data in accordance with a resistance state of a fuse which is built in a circuit of the card, that is, a state for flowing an electric current through the circuit is set when the fuse is intact, and resistance of the circuit is substantially increased when the fuse blows out, and a magnetic memory area for storing magnetic data.
Further, the above mentioned capacitive memory area comprises a rough estimate remaining means which shows a rough estimate of the remaining amount of compensation recorded in the card by a bit.
A capacitive data card is also provided which comprises a capacitive memory area for storing capacitive data and a magnetic memory area for storing magnetic data, and a layer constituting the magnetic memory area is provided on the surface of a substrate having the shape of a thin plate, and a layer constituting the capacitive memory area is superposed on a surface of the layer constituting the magnetic memory area.
A capacitive data card is also provided which comprises a capacitive memory area for storing capacitive data, and a magnetic memory area for storing magnetic data, and a layer constituting the capacitive memory area is formed on one side of a substrate having the shape of a thin plate, and a layer constituting the magnetic memory area is formed on the other side of the substrate. In this case, according to claim
4
, a coating layer in the shape of a thin film which is made of a polyethylene film, etc. is desirably superposed on both of the surface of the capacitive memory area layer and the magnetic memory area layer to prevent warp of the substrate.
A capacitive data card is also provided which may have a construction in which data stored in the magnetic memory area are stored into a well-known IC chip.
On the other hand, a capacitive data card reader is also provided which comprises a first input output means for storing data in the capacitive memory area of the capacitive data card or reading the data stored therein, a second input output means for storing data to the magnetic memory area or reading the data stored therein, and a checking means for judging that the card is invalid irrespective of the data stored in the magnetic memory area when data read from the capacitive memory area are predetermined data.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3699311 (1972-10-01), Dunbar
patent: 5055662 (1991-10-01), Hasegawa
patent: 5471039 (1995-11-01), Irwin, Jr. et al.
patent: 5471040 (1995-11-01), May
patent: 5471044 (1995-11-01), Hotta et al.
patent: 5594233 (1997-01-01), Kenneth et al.
patent: 5606158 (1997-02-01), Takemoto et al.
patent: 5880445 (1999-03-01), Mori et al.
patent: 5949060 (1999-09-01), Schattschneider et al.
patent: 3-126184 (1991-05-01), None
patent: 5-233902 (1993-09-01), None
patent: 6-187521 (1994-07-01), None
patent: 7-200761 (1995-08-01), None
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Fureman Jared J.
Lee Michael G
Tokyo Mechatoronics Co., Ltd.
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