JP4395453B2 - High speed detection device and method for presence / absence of IC chip - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for reading information on an information recording medium. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for reading information on a user's card at a toll collection point on a toll road.

  There are various known methods for paying toll road users. For example, a user pays by presenting a magnetic card, a contact IC card, a non-contact IC card, or a card in which two or more of these functions are combined to a toll collection office. In a toll road toll booth where such multiple types of cards can be used, it is required to quickly perform processing corresponding to the type of card.

  Patent Document 1 includes a vehicle type discriminating device that discriminates the type of a vehicle that enters a toll gate, a fee processing device that is provided in the toll gate and that performs toll collection processing based on an operation input by a toll collector, and a fee processing device. There is disclosed a toll road toll collection system characterized in that it comprises a tally processing device for totalizing processing data and performing a receipt calculation based on a vehicle type automatically determined by a vehicle type determining device to create a form. Yes.

Patent Document 2 discloses the above-mentioned IC in a toll collection system for a toll road using a vehicle-mounted device having a wireless communication function and an IC card having a payment function that can be used by being inserted into the vehicle-mounted device. The card is provided with a memory for storing money amount information, vehicle type information, and route information of the toll booth through which the vehicle has passed, and has the function of a toll ticket. A toll road toll collection system having an ETC processing device for exchanging information necessary for toll collection is disclosed.
JP-A-10-134219 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-175786

An object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader and a card detection method that can shorten the service time of a fee collection service in which a plurality of types of cards are mixed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader and a card detection method capable of performing an information reading operation corresponding to the type of information recording medium presented in a short time.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader and a card detection method for determining the presence or absence of an IC chip in a presented card in a short time.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for detecting a dirt state on an IC chip in a presented card and a method for detecting fraud by operating a transport mechanism.

  In the following, means for solving the problem will be described using the numbers used in [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention] in parentheses. These numbers are added to clarify the correspondence between the description of [Claims] and [Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention]. However, these numbers should not be used to interpret the technical scope of the invention described in [Claims].

  The IC card reader (2) according to the present invention includes a contact pin (e) that contacts a specific terminal (C5) of a contact IC card (6) arranged at a predetermined position, and a detection pin that contacts the specific terminal (C5). (I), the detection part (26) for detecting the conductive state between the contact pin (e) and the detection pin (i), and the contact pin (e) and the detection pin (i) are conductive. And a control unit (28) for starting a reading operation of the contact IC card (6).

  The IC card reader according to the present invention measures the impedance between the contact pin and the detection pin, and when the impedance is larger than the first reference value and smaller than the second reference value, the card placed at a predetermined position is an IC card and becomes dirty. And a determination unit that outputs a signal indicating that the card placed at a predetermined position is not an IC card when the impedance is greater than the third reference value.

  The IC card reader according to the present invention includes a drive unit that moves the IC card in a state where at least one of the contact pin and the detection pin is pressed against the IC card arranged at a predetermined position when the dirt detection signal is output.

  The IC card reader according to the present invention measures the impedance between the contact pin and the detection pin, and outputs a signal indicating that an improper force has been applied to the IC card arranged at a predetermined position using the change in impedance. A part.

  When the IC card reader (2) according to the present invention detects that the magnetic card reader (24) for reading magnetic information from the magnetic card, and the contact pin (e) and the detection pin (i) are conductive, Using the information read from the contact IC card (6), fee information used for calculating the fee is generated, and it is detected that the contact pin (e) and the detection pin (i) are not conductive. A determination unit (30) that generates fee information using magnetic information.

  The card detection method according to the present invention includes a step of transporting a card (6) inserted from an insertion slot (4) of an IC card reader (2) to a predetermined reading position, and a contact type IC card is arranged at the reading position. A step of bringing the first electrode (e) and the second electrode (i) into contact with a portion of the card corresponding to the position of the terminal (10) of the IC chip (8), and the first electrode (e) and the second electrode A detection step of detecting a conduction state between the electrode (i) and a card (6) when it is detected in the detection step that the first electrode (e) and the second electrode (i) are conducted; For starting the reading operation of the IC chip (8).

  The card detection method according to the present invention comprises a step of reading magnetic information magnetically recorded on a card (6) inserted from an insertion slot (4) of an IC card reader (2), a first electrode (e) and a first electrode. When it is detected that the two electrodes (i) are electrically connected, a step of generating fee information used for calculation of a fee amount using information read from the contact type IC card, and a first in the detection step And generating fee information using magnetic information when it is detected that the electrode (e) and the second electrode (i) are not conductive.

  The card detection method according to the present invention measures the impedance between the first electrode (e) and the second electrode (i) included in the IC chip, and the measured impedance is greater than the first reference value and greater than the second reference value. When it is small, the method includes a step of determining that dirt is attached to the IC chip.

  In the card detection method according to the present invention, the impedance between the first electrode (e) and the second electrode (i) included in the IC chip is measured, and an unauthorized force is applied to the IC card using the change in the measured impedance. Outputting a signal indicating that the signal has been added.

According to the present invention, there is provided an IC card reader and a card detection method for shortening the service time of a toll collection service in which a plurality of types of cards are mixed.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided an IC card reader and a card detection method capable of performing an information reading operation corresponding to the type of the presented information recording medium in a short time.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided an IC card reader and a card detection method for determining the presence or absence of an IC chip in a presented card in a short time.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, there are provided a method for detecting a dirt state on an IC chip in a presented card, and a method for detecting fraud by operating a transport mechanism.

  Hereinafter, an IC card reader and a card information reading method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the fee collection system 100 according to the present embodiment. The toll collection system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a toll booth 110, a toll office 120, a signal lamp 130, a vehicle number measuring device 140, and a tread board 150 provided in an approach path of a vehicle laid facing the toll booth 110. It has. The toll booth 110 includes a toll collection device 111, a receipt issuing machine 112, and a prepaid card processing machine 113. The fee office 120 includes a data input device 121, a toll gate total processing device 122, an uninterruptible power supply device 123, and a prepaid card reissue machine 124.

  Next, the operating principle of the fee collection system 100 will be described. When a vehicle enters a vehicle approaching road that is laid facing the toll gate 110 of the toll collection system 100, a signal lamp 130 provided in the vehicle approaching road is used to determine whether the vehicle is in front of the vehicle. Whether to enter is controlled. When the vehicle is permitted to enter the toll gate by the signal lamp 130, the toll collection operation for the vehicle is performed at the toll gate 110 by the operation input of the toll collector. At this time, data processing is performed by the toll collection device 111, the receipt issuing machine 112, and the prepaid card processing machine 113 installed in the toll booth 110, and this data is collected at the toll booth installed in the toll office 120. It is transmitted to the processing device 122. Then, the toll gate totaling device 122 performs a toll fee totaling process based on the received data, a vehicle type discriminating device (not shown), a vehicle number measuring device 140, and a vehicle type automatically discriminated by the tread board 150 and A receipt calculation based on the number of units or a receipt calculation based on toll collection data transmitted from an ETC reader (not shown) is performed.

  The IC card reader in the present embodiment is used for the fee collection device 111 in such a fee collection system 100. Or, when a user inserts a card, it is used for an automatic toll collection machine (not shown) that automatically performs toll collection and returns the card. In particular, it is preferably used in a situation where a magnetic stripe, a contact IC chip, a non-contact IC chip, or a card having two or more of them is used in a toll collection.

  In such a situation, it is required to identify the type of card (the type of storage medium included in the card). With the IC card reader and card detection method described below, the time for determining the card type is shortened, and the service time for toll collection is shortened.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an IC card reader. Inside the IC card reader 2, a slot 20 into which a credit card size card is inserted is provided. One end of the slot 20 opens into a card insertion slot 4 opened on one side of the housing of the IC card reader 2.

  The IC card reader 2 includes a detection device 23 that detects that a card has been inserted from the card insertion slot 4. The IC card reader 2 further includes a transport device 22 that transports the card to a predetermined position inside the slot 20 by a motor-driven roller or the like when the detection device 23 detects insertion of the card.

  The IC card reader 2 includes a magnetic card reader 24 for reading information magnetically recorded from a magnetic card transported inside the slot 20. The IC card reader 2 further includes an IC contact 14 that reads information from an IC chip of an IC card arranged at a predetermined position of the slot 20. The IC contact 14 is connected to the detection unit 26 and the control unit 28. The detection unit 26 and the control unit 28 are connected.

  The IC card reader 2 includes a determination unit 30 connected to the magnetic card reader 24 and the control unit 28. The determination unit 30 is connected to a device outside the IC card reader 2 via a signal line 32.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the card 6. An IC chip 8 and a terminal unit 10 that covers the IC chip 8 are embedded in the surface of the card 6. A magnetic stripe 12 for magnetically storing information is further provided on the surface of the card 6. The card 6 may further be provided with an antenna conforming to the standard of the non-contact type IC card.

  FIG. 3 shows the vicinity of the terminal unit 10 of the card 6 and the IC contact 14. The terminal unit 10 includes a first terminal C1, a second terminal C2, a third terminal C3, a fourth terminal C4, a fifth terminal C5, a sixth terminal C6, a seventh terminal C7, and an eighth terminal C8.

  Arrangement of the first terminal to the eighth terminal in the card 6 conforms to JISX6303. The first terminal C1 is a power supply (VCC), the second terminal C2 is reset (RST), the third terminal C3 is a clock (CLK), the fourth terminal C4 is a spare terminal, the fifth terminal C5 is ground (GND), the sixth The terminal C6 is a program supply voltage, the seventh terminal C7 is a data input / output (I / O), and the eighth terminal C8 is a spare terminal. The fifth terminal C5 extends from one corner of the terminal unit 10 to the center.

  The IC contact 14 includes a plurality of contact pins arranged at positions corresponding to the first terminal to the eighth terminal in the card 6. The first contact pin a is a first terminal, the second contact pin b is a second terminal, the third contact pin c is a third terminal, the fourth contact pin d is a fourth terminal, the fifth contact pin e is a fifth terminal, The sixth contact pin f corresponds to the sixth terminal, the seventh contact pin g corresponds to the seventh terminal, and the eighth contact pin h corresponds to the eighth terminal.

  The fifth contact pin e corresponds to a position near one corner of the terminal unit 10 in the region where the fifth terminal C5 is provided. The IC contact 14 further includes a detection pin i. The tip of the detection pin i is on the same plane as the tips of the contact pins a to h. The detection pin i corresponds to a position close to the center of the terminal unit 10 in the region where the fifth terminal C5 is provided.

  An IC card reader having such a configuration operates as follows.

  When the toll collector 110 receives the card from the vehicle occupant, the toll collector 110 inserts the card from the card insertion slot 4 of the toll collection device 111. The toll member 110 further inputs information necessary for fee calculation from the fee toll collection device 111 as necessary.

  When the detection device 23 detects that a card has been inserted, the transport device 22 is driven and the card is transported inside the slot 20. If the card has a magnetic stripe 12, the magnetic card reader 24 reads information from the magnetic stripe 12.

  The card is conveyed to the position where the IC contact 14 is installed and stopped. The IC contact 14 moves, and the first pin a to the eighth pin h and the detection pin i come into contact with the surface of the card.

  The detection unit 26 measures the impedance between the fifth contact pin e and the detection pin i. When it is detected by this measurement that the fifth contact pin e and the detection pin i are electrically connected, the detection unit 26 transmits a signal indicating that the card includes the IC chip 8 to the control unit 28. . When the control unit 28 receives the signal, the control unit 28 starts a procedure of reading information from the IC chip 8.

  The detection of the IC chip 8 can also be performed by measuring the impedance between the contact pin other than the fifth terminal C5 and the detection pin. By using the fifth contact pin e corresponding to the fifth terminal C5 which is the ground, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the IC chip with less current compared to the case where the pin corresponding to another terminal having a high impedance is used. it can.

  The control unit 28 transmits the IC card information read from the IC chip 8 to the determination unit 30. When the determination unit 30 receives the IC card information from the control unit 28, the determination unit 30 transmits the information to the fee collection device 111. The fee collection device 111 calculates a fee charged to the automobile based on the IC card information and the input information. The calculated fee is displayed on the fee collection device 111 and further printed on a receipt by the receipt issuing device 112 and issued. The receipt person confirms the display on the display device 34 and gives the receipt to the vehicle occupant.

  When the detection unit 26 detects that the fifth contact pin e and the detection pin i are not conductive, the detection unit 26 transmits a signal indicating that the card does not include an IC chip to the control unit 28. When the control unit 28 receives the signal, the control unit 28 transmits a signal indicating that the IC chip is not detected to the determination unit 30.

  When the determination unit 30 receives a signal indicating that no IC chip has been detected, the determination unit 30 transmits the magnetic information read by the magnetic card reader 24 to an external device via the signal line 32. The external device calculates a fee charged to the vehicle based on the received magnetic information and information input from the input device. The calculated fee is displayed on the display device, and further printed on a receipt at the receipt issuing machine 112 and issued. The receipt person confirms the display on the display device and gives the receipt to the vehicle occupant.

  When the determination unit 30 receives a signal indicating that no IC chip has been detected and receives a signal indicating that magnetic information has not been read from the magnetic card reader 24, the determination unit 30 transmits a signal to the transport device 22. The card is discharged from the card insertion slot 4.

  The standard of the procedure for transmitting / receiving electrical signals when the IC card reader reads information stored in the IC card is defined by JISX6304. According to this standard, when the IC card reader starts reading information stored in the IC card, a cold reset of the IC card is performed. This cold reset takes about several hundreds of milliseconds.

  The IC card reader 2 according to the present embodiment detects whether or not the card is a contact type IC card by detecting a conduction state between the contact pin and the detection pin before a normal read operation with a cold reset is performed. Is detected. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the card inserted into the IC card reader 2 is an IC card in a very short time compared to the case where a cold reset is performed. Therefore, the average service time is shortened.

  Next, a modification of the present embodiment will be described. The IC card reader in the modified example can continuously detect dirt operations on the IC chip and unauthorized operations such as extraction. That is, the detection unit 26 measures the impedance between the fifth contact pin e and the detection pin i, and when the value is larger than the predetermined first reference value and smaller than the second reference value, the IC chip is present. A dirt detection signal indicating that the ink is dirty is output. When the measured impedance is greater than the third reference value set equal to or greater than the second reference value, the detection unit 26 outputs a signal indicating that the IC chip 8 does not exist.

  When the dirt detection signal is detected, the transport device 22 moves the card in the depth direction of the slot 20 and returns it to the original position, and the IC chip is detected again. The distance to move the card is about the same as the width of the IC chip slot 20 in the depth direction. During this operation, the IC contact 14 is in a position to read the IC card, and the contact pin is pressed onto the IC card. By such an operation, the contact pin and the detection pin scrape and remove the dirt on the IC chip, so that the IC chip can be detected more reliably. By such an operation, the service time is shortened compared with the case where the IC card is once taken out of the IC card reader 2.

  The detection unit 26 further measures the impedance between the fifth contact pin e and the detection pin i at different times, and determines whether or not an improper force has been applied to the IC card by a time-series change in impedance. . For example, if the difference between the impedance measured at the first time and the impedance measured at the second time is greater than or equal to a preset value, a signal indicating that an improper force has been applied to the IC card is output. . When the signal is output, the IC card reader 2 outputs a warning signal to the user. Such an operation prevents an illegal operation such as forcibly withdrawing the IC card.

  Vehicles come to the toll collection office on the toll road one after another. It is important to shorten the time for business to collect charges in order to smooth traffic, that is, to increase the number of toll collection processes per unit time. According to the IC card reader 2 according to the present embodiment, the average time for toll collection work is shortened. Furthermore, a long waiting time at the toll collection station is psychologically stressful for the user (vehicle occupant) at the toll collection station. Toll collection equipment requires a particularly fast response speed. The time required for cold start of about several hundreds of milliseconds is felt long for the user. Saving this time is effective for reducing the stress on the vehicle occupant and improving the satisfaction.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an IC card reader. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the card. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the card terminal unit and IC contacts. FIG. 4 shows the structure of the toll collection station.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... IC card reader 4 ... card insertion slot 6 ... card 8 ... IC chip 10 ... terminal unit 12 ... magnetic stripe 14 ... IC contact 20 ... slot 22 ... transport device 23 ... detection device 24 ... magnetic card reader 26 ... detection unit 28 ... Control unit 30 ... Determination unit 32 ... Signal line 100 ... Toll collection system 110 ... Toll booth 111 ... Toll collection device 112 ... Receipt issuer 113 ... Prepaid card processor 120 ... Toll office 121 ... Data input device 122 ... Tollgate total processing unit 123 ... uninterruptible power supply 124 ... prepaid card reissue machine 130 ... signal lamp C1 ... first terminal C2 ... second terminal C3 ... third terminal C4 ... fourth terminal C5 ... fifth terminal C6 ... sixth Terminal C7 ... Seventh terminal C8 ... Eighth terminal a ... First pin b ... Second pin c ... Third pin d ... Fourth pin e ... Fifth contact pin f ... Sixth pin g ... Fifth pin Pin h ... eighth pin i ... detection pin

Claims (7)

An IC card reader for a toll collection station on a toll road used for payment of a toll by mixing a magnetic stripe, a contact IC chip, a contactless IC chip, or a card having two or more of them ,
A contact pin that contacts a specific terminal of the contact IC card arranged at a predetermined position;
A detection pin in contact with the specific terminal;
A detection unit for detecting a conduction state between the contact pin and the detection pin;
When it is detected that the contact pin and the detection pin are conductive, a control unit that starts a reading operation of the contact IC card;
A magnetic card reader that reads magnetic information from the magnetic card;
When it is detected that the contact pin and the detection pin are electrically connected, the information read from the contact IC card is used to generate fee information used for calculating the fee amount, and the contact pin and the detection An IC card reader comprising: a determination unit that generates the fee information using the magnetic information when it is detected that the pin is not conductive. An IC card reader according to claim 1,
Further, the impedance between the contact pin and the detection pin is measured, and when the impedance is larger than the first reference value and smaller than the second reference value, the card placed at the predetermined position is an IC card and is dirty. An IC card reader comprising: a determination unit that outputs a dirt detection signal indicating that the card disposed at the predetermined position is not an IC card when the impedance is greater than a third reference value. An IC card reader according to claim 2, wherein
And a driving unit that moves the IC card in a state where at least one of the contact pin and the detection pin is pressed against the IC card arranged at the predetermined position when the dirt detection signal is output. leader. An IC card reader according to claim 1,
A determination unit that measures an impedance between the contact pin and the detection pin and outputs a signal indicating that an improper force is applied to the IC card disposed at the predetermined position by using the change in the impedance; IC card reader provided. This is a card detection method using an IC card reader for a toll collection station on a toll road where a magnetic stripe, a contact IC chip, a non-contact IC chip, or a card having two or more of them is used for payment of tolls. And
Transporting the card inserted from the insertion port of the IC card reader to a predetermined reading position;
Bringing the first electrode and the second electrode into contact with the portion of the card corresponding to the position of the terminal of the IC chip when the contact type IC card is arranged at the reading position;
Detecting a conduction state between the first electrode and the second electrode;
When the first electrode and the second electrode are conductive, starting a reading operation of the IC chip with respect to the card;
Reading magnetic information magnetically recorded on a card inserted from an insertion slot of the IC card reader;
When it is detected that the first electrode and the second electrode are conductive, generating fee information used for calculating a fee amount using information read from the contact IC card;
A card detection method comprising: generating the fee information using the magnetic information when it is detected that the first electrode and the second electrode are not conductive. The card detection method according to claim 5,
Further, the impedance between the first electrode and the second electrode of the IC chip is measured, and when the measured impedance is larger than the first reference value and smaller than the second reference value, the IC chip is contaminated. The card detection method which comprises the step which determines that it is carrying out. The card detection method according to claim 5,
Furthermore, the impedance between the first electrode and the second electrode provided in the IC chip is measured,
A card detection method comprising: outputting a signal indicating that an improper force is applied to the IC card using the measured change in impedance.

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