Card reader

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9489547-B2
Application number	US-201414892449-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2014
Priority date	Oct 29, 2013
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

A card reader may include a card insertion port; a card conveying passage; and a card lock mechanism. The card lock mechanism may include a motor; a rotation shaft; a gear provided with a power transmission gear part and a ratchet gear part; a clutch mechanism disposed between the rotation shaft and the gear; a ratchet member to engage with the ratchet gear part; a cam member held by the rotation shaft; a torque limiter which is disposed between the rotation shaft and the cam member; an urging member which urges the ratchet member in a direction where the cam follower is contacted with the cam face; a stopper for restricting a turnable range of the cam member; and a lock member.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A card reader for use with a card, the card reader comprising:
a card insertion port into which the card is inserted and from which the card is ejected;
a card conveying passage where the card inserted from the card insertion port is conveyed; and
a card lock mechanism structured to prevent drawing of the card from the card insertion port when the card is abnormally stopped in the card conveying passage and the card is clogged in the card conveying passage;
wherein the card lock mechanism comprises:
a motor;
a rotation shaft which is rotated by power of the motor;
a gear which is relatively turnably held by the rotation shaft and is provided with a power transmission gear part for power transmission and a ratchet gear part integrally turning with the power transmission gear part;
a clutch mechanism which is disposed between the rotation shaft and the gear in a transmission direction of the power of the motor;
a ratchet member structured to engage with the ratchet gear part to prevent turning of the gear;
a cam member which is relatively turnably held by the rotation shaft and is formed with a cam face with which a cam follower formed on the ratchet member is contacted for moving the ratchet member between a position where the ratchet gear part and the ratchet member are engaged with each other and a position where an engaging state of the ratchet gear part with the ratchet member is released;
a torque limiter which is disposed between the rotation shaft and the cam member in the transmission direction of the power of the motor;
an urging member which urges the ratchet member in a direction where the cam follower is contacted with the cam face;
a stopper for restricting a turnable range of the cam member; and
a lock member which is formed with a prevention part structured to contact with the card for preventing drawing of the card and is movable by power transmitted from the power transmission gear part between a contact position where the prevention part is contacted with the card and a retreated position where the prevention part is retreated from the card conveying passage;

wherein in a case that a turning direction of the rotation shaft, the gear and the cam member when the lock member is moved from the retreated position toward the contact position is a first turning direction, and a turning direction of the rotation shaft, the gear and the cam member when and the lock member is moved from the contact position toward the retreated position is a second turning direction, when the cam member is turned in the first turning direction from a state that the lock member is located at the retreated position, the cam member is contacted with the stopper to restrict the turnable range of the cam member;
wherein when the rotation shaft is turned in the first turning direction by the power of the motor from the state that the lock member is located at the retreated position, the torque limiter transmits power of the rotation shaft to the cam member until the cam member is contacted with the stopper and, when the cam member is contacted with the stopper, the torque limiter cuts off transmission of the power of the rotation shaft to the cam member and, when the rotation shaft is turned in the second turning direction by the power of the motor from the state that the lock member is located at the contact position, the torque limiter transmits the power of the rotation shaft to the cam member;
wherein the clutch mechanism is a pin clutch comprising:
a pin which is fixed to or formed on one of the rotation shaft and the gear with a radial direction of the rotation shaft and the gear as an axial direction; and
an engaging projection which is fixed to or formed on the other of the rotation shaft and the gear so that the pin is capable of engaging with both ends of the engaging projection in a circumferential direction of the rotation shaft and the gear;

wherein the clutch mechanism is structured such that:
when the rotation shaft is turned in the first turning direction by the power of the motor and the pin is abutted with one end of the engaging projection in the circumferential direction, the power of the rotation shaft turning in the first turning direction is transmitted to the gear;
when the rotation shaft is turned in the second turning direction by the power of the motor and the pin is abutted with the other end of the engaging projection in the circumferential direction, the power of the rotation shaft turning in the second turning direction is transmitted to the gear;
when the rotation shaft is turned by the power of the motor so that the pin is moved between the one end of the engaging projection and the other end of the engaging projection in the circumferential direction, transmission of the power of the rotation shaft to the gear is cut off;

wherein when the ratchet gear part and the ratchet member are engaged with each other, turning of the gear in the second turning direction is prevented and movement of the lock member from the contact position toward the retreated position is prevented;
wherein when the lock member is located at the retreated position, an engaging state of the ratchet gear part with the ratchet member is released and, when the lock member is located at the contact position, the ratchet gear part and the ratchet member are engaged with each other;
wherein when the rotation shaft is turned in the first turning direction from a state that the lock member is located at the retreated position and the cam member is contacted with the stopper and thereby the cam member is stopped, the ratchet gear part and the ratchet member are engaged with each other; and
wherein when the rotation shaft is turned in the second turning direction from a state that the lock member is located at the contact position, the engaging state of the ratchet gear part with the ratchet member is released before the pin abutted with the one end of the engaging projection in the circumferential direction is moved and abutted with the other end of the engaging projection in the circumferential direction and the gear begins to turn in the second turning direction.

2. The card reader according to claim 1 , wherein the rotation shaft, the cam member and the gear are coaxially disposed with each other.

3. The card reader according to claim 2 , wherein
the torque limiter comprises a torsion coil spring,
the rotation shaft is inserted to an inner peripheral side of the torsion coil spring, and
one end of the torsion coil spring is engaged with an inner peripheral side of the cam member.

4. The card reader according to claim 3 , wherein
the card lock mechanism comprises:
a plurality of the ratchet members; and
a plurality of holding shafts which respectively turnably hold the plurality of the ratchet members;

a plurality of ratchet teeth is formed on an outer peripheral face of the ratchet gear part at an equal angular pitch with respect to a rotation center of the ratchet gear part,
axial centers of the plurality of the holding shafts are disposed on a virtual circle with the rotation center of the ratchet gear part as a center and are disposed at an equal angular pitch with respect to the rotation center of the ratchet gear part, and
an angle between the axial centers of the holding shafts with respect to the rotation center of the ratchet gear part is set to be larger than an angle between the ratchet teeth with respect to the rotation center of the ratchet gear part and is set to be a value other than integer multiples of the angle between the ratchet teeth with respect to the rotation center of the ratchet gear part.

5. The card reader according to claim 3 , wherein
the ratchet gear part is formed of metal material,
the ratchet member is formed of resin material,

Assignees

• Nidec Sankyo Corp

Inventors

• Watanabe Takeki
• Takeda Hiroshige
• Tatai Toshio

Classifications

• G06K7/0069 Primary

  including means for detecting correct insertion of the card, e.g. end detection switches notifying that the card has been inserted completely and correctly · CPC title

• G06K7/084

  sensing magnetic material by relative movement detecting flux changes without altering its magnetised state · CPC title

• G06K7/0013

  by galvanic contacts, e.g. card connectors for ISO-7816 compliant smart cards or memory cards, e.g. SD card readers (connectors in general H01R13/00; connectors for SIM cards used in mobile phones or the like H04B1/3816) · CPC title

• G06K13/18

  the record carrier being longitudinally extended, e.g. punched tape · CPC title