In a conventional card reader, such as the IC card reader disclosed in Japanese patent laid open publication No. 60-207987, a card is conveyed between a card inserting position and an information accessing position by a pair of drive and pinch rollers which directly interpose the card therebetween. However, such conventional card readers are known to have the disadvantage that they may contaminate or damage the card. Contamination of a card by rollers produces a particularly adverse effect when the card is an IC card which is provided with contact pads for data access on its surface as it may cause poor contact between the contact pieces of the card reader and the contact pads. Furthermore, because a pair of rollers, each having a certain dimater, are arranged above and below the passage through which the card is to be conveyed, it has been difficult to reduce the overall height of the card reader, and it imposed some problem when such a card reader is to be installed into a larger system.
It is conceivable to equip a card reader with a receptacle and a lid to place a card into the receptacle card and close the lid thereupon to accomplish a required electric contact without conveying the card within the card reader. However, according to this proposal, the user has to open the lid and close it in addition to placing the card in the receptacle, and the convenience of the card reader is significantly impaired. Further, since the opening the lid exposes sensitive parts of the card reader, the possibilities of tampering the internal mechanism and inclusion of undesirable foreign matters will be a major problem.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds