AU633930B2

AU633930B2 - Card reader

Info

Publication number: AU633930B2
Application number: AU57726/90A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Franz Rossler
Original assignee: Alcatel NV
Current assignee: Alcatel Lucent NV
Priority date: 1989-06-23
Filing date: 1990-06-21
Publication date: 1993-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 2010-06-21
Also published as: DE3920607A1; AU5772690A

Description

63393 Cor 4ONEAI P~-{OF AUJSTHALIA PATETITS ACP 1952-1969 COI4~fr PHP IG ATI')N fAJI- TP{E [4VEI'TH)N iENTITIED "CARD HEAIDRR" Ihe following statement is a full description of this- invention, iflcluding the best method of performing it known to us:- This invention relates to a card reader comprising a swivel-mounted card holder having a front portion which closes an opening in a wall of the housing of the card holder from inside in the entire swivelling range and has an input/out slot followed by a card guide, the input/output slot being accessible through the opening in the input/output position of the card holder and inaccessible through the opening in the swivelled-away condition.

Such a card reader is known in which the card is pushed through the insertion/withdrawal slot into a contact unit placed within, but only so far that an edge region remains projecting out of the insertion/withdrawal slot. When the contact carrier is swivelled down, the whole contact unit, and with it the inserted card, is displaced so far inside that the card is then pulled inside out of the insertion/withdrawal slot. It is possible that during this sequence the edge region is damaged, which can make the card unusable or lead to faulty operation.

Moreover, the depth of insertion of the card is dependent on the operator, and thus not precisely defined. This can also produce faulty operation.

This invention solves the problem of designing a card reader of the type mentioned so that any damage to the card is largely avoided, that the card reading position is always defined precisely, and that contact cleaning occurs before the card is read.

According to the present invention there is provided a card reader comprising a housing having at least one wall in which there is provided an aperture which is shut by a portion of a card-holder pivotably mounted within said housing, said card-holder being capable of being pivotably moved from a first position to a second locked position against the resilient force of a first spring means, said portion of card-holder having a card receiving slot communicating with a card-guide means within said housing, said slot having a widened receptacle entrance which is accessible when said card-holder is in said first position and inaccessible when said card-holder is in said second locked position, wherein said card-holder further includes a c.arriage means slidably associated with said card-guide means such that when a card is inserted into said card receiving slot said carriage means is urged by said cards' leading edge away from said entrance in a direction parallel to said card-guide means' longitudinal axis and against the resilient force of a second spring means, said carriage means latching onto latching means when the inserted card is wholly within said card-guide means, and upon said cardholder being moved to said second locked position said latching means is causeI to unlatch whereupon said inserted cards' trailing edge is urged by said second spring means against an inner surface of said housing whereupon said card is read, said card being at least partially ejected from said card receiving slot by resilient force provided said second spring means when said second locked position is unlocked by either manual or electrial means and moved to said first position.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described in relation to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a sectioned side view of a card reader, in the insertion/withdrawal position and without a card inserted.

Figure 2 shows the view of Figure 1, but with a card inserted.

Figure 3 shows the same view with the card carrier in the swivelled position.

The card reader, labelled 1 in the drawing, is capable of reading at least the stored data and/or values of an insertable card. It has a front panel 2 with a rectangular opening 3. The card reader 1 has a card carrier 5 which is capable of swivelling about the shaft 4 and which consists basically of screen 6, closing off the opening 3 over the entire range of movement, with an insertion slot 7 and a card guide 8 arranged behind it. The outer surface of screen 6 has cylindrical positions with the radius R and R' respectively.

The card carrier 5 is held in the insertion/withdrawal position shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 by the pre-tensioner torsion spring 9 mounted on the shaft 4. For this purpose, one end 10 of spring 9 engages a hook 11 on the card guide 8 and the other enj 12 is fitted, under tension, into a peg 13 wlhich is attached to, or moulded into, the side wall 14 of card reader 1, and projects through a curved slot in the side wall 16 of card carrier 5, concentric with shaft 4.

v ~1 i The insertion/withdrawal slot 7 is provided with a trough-shap d recess 17 which can receive a finger-tip. This slot is in the lower part of screen 6 and is accessible from outside in the insertion/withdrawal position of the card carrier Underneath a guide slot 18 in the card guide 8, there is a longitudinal slot 19. A latch 20 projects through this from below into the guide slot 18 and is thus across the path of a card 21 being inserted (Figures :2 and 3).

The latch 20 can move to the right in the card guide 8 in the diviection of the guide slot 18 as far as the end stop 23, against the force of a restoring in spring 22 attache] to the screen 6 or to the card guide 8.

A detent 2) with a sloping lead-in surface 25 is provided on the latch in the end position, le. when the latch 20 Is near the stop 23, this detent engages under spring pressure with the maltching detent 26., For this purpose, the matching detent 26 is mounted on a leaf spring 27 whtch is attached to the carn carrrier 5 (eg. to the screen 6) and therefore swivels with the card carrier The card guide 8 ha a slot 28 above te e longitidLo- l sljt 19. Through this, contacIt poits can be accessed on an inserted card 21, 'In order ts read t;he data an/rlr values stored on the car 21. For this purpose, a contact set 29 is provLleJd above the slot 28, which can be moved in;o the slot 28 against spriny prsure The spring is a leaf spring 30 which is attached to the card carrier 5 (eg.to the screen 6) and carries the contact set 29 at its free end. The lear spring 30 holds the contact set 29 in the rctated position so that it rests under spring pressure against a stop, eg. thie inner edge 31 of the screen 6.

The contact set 29 also has an angle-stop 32 which is resilient in the swivel direction. Within the range of rotation of the angle-stop there is a stop 33 attached to the front panel 2 and projecting inwards, which touches the angle-stop 32 at the end of the rotation of the card carrier 5. At the samrre time, a limb 34 projecting downwards from the angle-stop 32 can press against the projecting end 35 of the leaf spring 27 and unlatch it. The angle-stop 32 and leaf spring 30 can be a single unit. For example, they may both be formed from a single piece of spring material.

Above and below the opening 3 in the front panel 2, inward projections 36 and 37 are provided. The screen 6 has two grooves at its upper and lower inner edges, 38 and 39 respectively. In the insertion/withdrawal position of the card carrier 5, the ridge 36 engages the groove 38; in the fully swivelled position of the card carrier 5, the ridge 37 engages the groove 39.

The ridges 36, 37 in conjunction with the grooves 38, 39 limit the rotation in range of the card carrier 5. In the fully-rotated position an edge 40 of the screen 6, which here is formed by the extreme edge of the outer wall 41 of the screen 6, engages a catch 42 on a lever 43 which is resiliently mounted on the front panel 2. The lever 43 is preferably made in the form of a leaf spring.

The lever 43 can be releanse eifther manually by operating the push rod 44 (shown dotted In 3igure 3) fronm the outside, or by the actuator 45 of solenoid 46.

In the fully-rotated position of the card carrier 5, the insertion/withdrawal sl)t 7 is no longer accessible, but lies opposite a bear- 1ng surface in the ormn of one or more rods or, preferably, a surface forming part of the front panel 2.

The operation of the card reader is then as follows: The card carrier is initially in the insertion/withdrawal position of Figure 1. It is held in this position by the action of the torsion spring 9.

If a card 21 is pushed into the insertion/withdrawal slot 7, the back edge 48 of the card (Figure 2) moves the latch 20 back to the stop 23 and stretches the spring 22.

When the card 21 has been pushed so far that the front edge 51 lies within the recess 17, detent 24 engages the matching detent 26. This position of the card is shown in Figure 2. The card 21 remains in the position shown because of friction in the guide slot 18.

By pressure on the lower part of the plane section 49 of the front panel 6, in the direction of the arrow 50 (Figure the card carrier 5 is rotated anti-clockwise around the shaft 4 against the torsion spring 9. Just before the upper ridge 36 touches the bottom of the groove 38, the catch 42 engages the edge 40 of front panel 6, because of the spring action of the lever 43, and thus locks the card carrier 5 in the fully-rotated position.

During this swivelling process, before the final position is attained, the contact set 29 is pushed, by the pressure of the projection 33 against the angle-stop 32, through the slot 28 and onto the card 21. Simultaneously, the i0 limb 34 of the angle-stop 32 touches the end 35 of leaf spring 27. Further rotation, after contact set 29 has been pushed against the card 321, causes the angle-stop 32 to push the leaf spring 27 down, releasing the detents 24 and 26. The catch 20 is then pulled back by the spring 22 and the card 21 moves in the direction of withdrawal, until its front edge 51 rests against the bearing surface 47. Thus a precise "elation is estatlished between the card 21 and the contact se 29, and self-cleaning of the contacts is achieved because o the back-mo of the b ovem of the card 21. In this position the stored data and/or values of the card 21 are now read and processed.

To retrieve the card, the push-rod 44 shown dotted in Figure 3 is operated manually from the outside, c.using lever 43 to move downwards and releasing the edge 43 from catch 42; alternatively, a short operation of the solenoid 46 results in the actuator 45 pushing the lever 43 to elease the edge 40 from the catch 42.

The force of the torsion spring 9 then rotates the card carrier 5 back to the insertion/withdrawal position shown in Figures 1 and 2 until the ridge 37 touches the bottom of the grove 39 or the surface 52 bears against the front panei 2. Shortly after the rotation begins, the contact set 29 is lifted from the card 21. During the rotation, the front edge 51 of the card 21 slides along the surface 47, until, after the end of surface 47 is reached, the latch pushes the card 21 out of the insertion/withdrawal slot, because of the tension in the spring 22.

The card reader can be produced as a small, manually operated unit which can be built into appropriate equipments.

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Claims

1. A card reader comprising a housing having at least one wall in which there is provided an aperture which is shut by a portion of a card-holder pivotably mounted within said housing, said card-holder being capable of being pivotably moved from a first position to a second locked position against the resilient force of a first spring means, said portion of card-holder having a card receiving slot communicating with a card-guide means within said housing, said slot having a widened receptacle entrance which is accessible when said card-holder is in said first position and inaccessible when said card-holder is in said second locked po- sition, wherein said card-holder further includes a carriage means slidably asso- ciated with said card-guide means such that when a card is inserted into said card receiving slot said carriage means is urged by said cards' leading edge away from said entrance in a direction parallel to said card-guide means' longitudinal axis and against the resilient force of a second spring means, said carriage means latching onto latching means when the inserted card is wholly within said card- guide means, and upon said card-holder being moved to said second locked po- sition said latching means is caused to unlatch whereupon said inserted cards' trailing edge is urged by said second spring means against an inner surface of said housing vhereupon said card is read, said card being at least partially ejected from said card receiving slot by resilient force provided said second spring means when said second locked position is unlocked by either manual or electrial means and moved to said first position.

2. A card reader as claimed in cr.laimn 1, wherein said card-guide means in- cludes an opening tnrirough which contact zones on said inserted card electrically contact mateable contact means resiliently mounted on said card holder when said card-holder is moved to the second locked position.

3. A card reader as claimed in claim 2, wherein said contact means is attached to a leaf spring attached to said card-holder.

4. A card reader as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein a first finger extends from an inner surface of said housinr and is arranged such that when said card holder is moved to said second locked position the finger's free end engages a part of said leaf spring and urges the attached contact means towards said contact zones of the card, said contact zones and said contact means contacting prior to said card holder locking in said second locked position, 9 A card reader as claimed in claim 4, wherein a said leat sring includes a second finger extending therefrom such that when said card holder has moved to said second locked position sad second finger's free end abuts said latching means to cause said latching means to unlatch.

6. A card reader as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said aperture is defined by two opposite parallel edges each of which includes an in- wardly extending ridge, one ridge co-operating with a first groove provided on said card holder to stop the card holder in said first position, and the other ridge co-operating with a second groove provided on said card holder to stop the card hodler in said second locked position.

7. A card reader as claimed in claim 6, wherein said second groove includes a locking detent which co-operates with a resilient locking lever which locks said card holder in said second locked position.

8. A card reader as claimed in claim 7, including electromagnet means ar- ranged to disengage said locking lever when energized.

9. A card reader subtantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS SECOND DAY OF DECEMBER 19920 ALCATEL N.V. !rr