Bergtun, Dan Viggo (Lyder Sagensgt. 25 Oslo, N-0358, NO)
| 1. | A cleaning device for informationbearing cards, which device comprises at least one housing (1,25) with a longitudinal slit (11,24) and one or more cleaning elements (3,22) provided in the slit, characterized in that the housing (1,25) is releasably mounted in a holder and that in the housing (1,25) there are provided one or more independently acting cleaning elements (3,22) for cleaning the card. |
| 2. | A cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (1,25) is formed by two substantially similarly shaped halves (2,21) which are interconnected by means of one or more connecting bodies (6,7) and which halves mutually form the longitudinal slit (11,24). |
| 3. | A cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that on both sides of the slit (11,24) there is provided an independently acting cleaning element (3,22) for cleaning an information bearing card, in such a manner that the cleaning elements (3,22) are located on the two opposite longitudinal sides of the slit (11,24). |
| 4. | A cleaning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cleaning element consists of one or more independent materials which form the said cleaning element (3,22). |
| 5. | A cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that the connecting bodies (6,7) are mutually engaging bodies such as, e. g., snap bodies. |
| 6. | A cleaning device according to claim 2, characterized in that the connecting body or bodies (6,7) are adhesive bodies. |
| 7. | A cleaning device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that at its lower portion the housing (1,25) has bodies (10) for releasable engagement with the holder (4). |
| 8. | A cleaning device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the holder (4) is provided with two or more successively arranged housings (1,25) with cleaning element (3,22). |
Information-bearing cards, such as credit cards, access cards, key cards, electronic identity cards and the like are employed to-day to a great and ever- increasing extent for payments and financial transactions, to give right of access and as key cards. Such cards must have a high degree of reliability, since card error can have grave consequences for a user who, e. g. erroneously fails to gain access to an access-restricted system, fails to accomplish financial transactions or to be admitted through identity- restricting functions because the card has either lost the information it should contain or is no longer capable of communicating with the card reader.
As card use has increased radically in recent years, the user's treatment of the cards has become more careless, which often results in a higher degree of wear on a card. The cards are often kept in unsuitable places such as wallets or open holders, thus exposing them to harmful effects from electromagnetism, static electricity, heat, mechanical wear and other kinds of harmful influences.
One of the influences which can be harmful for this kind of information- bearing card is static electricity. This may be the result of impulsive and intuitive methods employed in an attempt to clean a card which does not work satisfactorily, e. g. by rubbing the card against an article of clothing or the like. In other words such attempts to clean a card may further assist in damaging it. For this reason we see a clear need for a device which can clean an information-bearing card of the above-mentioned types in a simple manner, which device can easily be placed in the vicinity of those locations where a card is used, or in immediate extension of a card reader device, and which by means of its cleaning method does not create further harmful effects such as, e. g., static electricity. Furthermore, such a cleaning device should be easy to inspect, so that a user can be sure that the cleaning device which is employed is sufficiently well maintained for the cleaning device to fulfil its intention without further damaging the card by the cleaning device, e. g., being full of dirt, charged with static electricity or the like.
Among previously known solutions in the field are US patent no. 5,461,747 in which there is described a hand-held device for cleaning data-bearing cards consisting of a housing, containing three elements; an element for supply of cleaning fluid, a cleaning element and a drying element respectively. These are all placed in a channel adapted for receipt of one side of a data-bearing card. The inserted card here encounters three elements, the first of which is an application of a cleaning fluid, the second element is a mechanical cleaning element and the third element is a drying element. By sliding the card through the cleaning device one side of the card undergoes these three processes in sequence which helps to clean the card.
The device which is mentioned in US 5,461,747 is obviously critical with respect to which way the card is placed in the aperture as well as which way the card is pulled through the aperture. Moreover, the device is only active as long as the three elements are all operative, i. e. the supply of cleaning fluid still contains this fluid, the mechanical cleaning element is operative and not clogged by dirt and the third element, which is a drying element, is operatively capable of drying off the applied cleaning fluid, thus preventing it from being included in any user device for a card, such as a cashpoint, a door lock, an identity control or the like. This could soil the card reader internally whereupon the cleaning process would have to be regarded as being comparatively useless and in the long run defeat its own main purpose, which is to contribute to increased reliability in the use of cards in card readers. The above-mentioned solution is also intended to be held in the hand, which means that it must be kept close to the card or the card reader and thus it is not stipulated that this storage is optimal with regard to the card cleaning function. Moreover, it will be inconvenient for a card user in addition to having his card with him to also have to bring along his own card cleaning device. A releasably disposed card cleaning device in connection with a card reader can also easily go astray whereupon the cleaning process is omitted and the situation is as before.
In German utility model DE 29605708-U1 there is further described a card holder for cheques or credit cards. The holder consists of a thin sleeve into which the card or the cheque is inserted in the sleeve's short side, after which there is provided on the inside of the sleeve a cleaning element which mechanically cleans one side of the card when the card is inserted in the
sleeve. At its opposite end the sleeve is further provided with a semicircular recess which permits the card to be withdrawn from the sleeve.
In comparison with the present invention the card holder in the above- mentioned utility model will also be critical with regard to which way the card is inserted in the sleeve. Furthermore, the card cannot be passed through the sleeve in a continuous movement and dirt or the like which is removed from a part of the card and the magnetic strip on the back of the card will be able to collect and subsequently become attached when the card comes to a stop in the sleeve. Moreover, in this case too the user has to take the sleeve with him in connection with a card, or the sleeve can be kept near a card reader terminal and thus be apt to be easily being misplaced and disappear.
Furthermore, in US patent no. 3,428,988 there is described a cleaning device for credit cards where the credit card is passed down into an opening in a housing where on the inside of the housing there are installed brush-like elements and on the underside or partly overlapping the said brush elements there is placed a cleaning fluid. The card is pulled back and forward in the aperture, thereby being cleaned by the brushes and the cleaning fluid. In comparison with the present invention, in this case too the card cannot be pulled through in a continuous movement, and the device in US patent no.
3,428,988 first has to be employed on one half of the credit card and then used on the other half of the credit card. Moreover, the device has to be refilled with cleaning fluid and it will be possible for the existing cleaning fluid to become very dirty whereupon the cleaning process will be able to defeat its purpose by adding more dirt to the card's magnetic strip or other information-bearing part. The cleaning device, however, is partly modularly designed and the brush element can be replaced by releasing it from the housing by means of screw connections on the housing's side walls.
However, this requires a tool to be available which is suitable for loosening such a screw connection.
We shall also refer to European patent application no. 0201410-A2 where in simple terms there is described a storage device for credit cards with a protecting element on the inside of the storage device.
Of the solutions where an object is drawn continuously through a cleaning element we shall refer to US patent no. 4,704,760 which describes a cleaning
device for a surgical knife. The cleaning device consists of a housing with a cleaning element mounted on the inside and the surgical knife can be pulled through a slit in the housing, thus removing dirt and the like on the surgical knife by means of the cleaning element mounted on the inside of the housing.
The cleaning element, however, is not designed so that a blunt object such as an information-bearing card can pass through the cleaning element on the inside of the housing. Moreover, there is no indication that the cleaning element is releasably mounted in the housing and thus when the cleaning element is soiled the whole device has to be replaced, which offers a limited economic possibility of using this in applications with a high frequency of use.
We further refer to British patent application GB 2320180-A which in simple terms describes a card holder for information-bearing cards.
Finally we shall refer to a further known technical solution described in German patent publication DE 3341919-C1 where a cleaning device consisting of two substantially similarly designed elements is used to clean optical fibres. The two elements can be brought together to form a cleaning device where a cleaning fluid is added to one of the elements. Thus this technical solution too is dependent on supply of an external medium in order to be able to perform its cleaning function and the similarities in relation to the present invention are therefore to be found in the principal use of two approximately similarly shaped halves which form a housing for cleaning an "elongated element". However, in this case the element is not drawn through the cleaning device and the cleaning device has to be opened by separation of the two halves before the element which has to be cleaned can be brought into the cleaning device. In addition the cleaning element in the two halves will have different functions since a cleaning fluid is applied to one cleaning element, while this cleaning fluid is indirectly applied to the other cleaning element via the contact face between the cleaning elements in the two halves.
This can lead to a difference in the cleaning function on the two sides of the element which is cleaned, and if an object is drawn through the cleaning element this object will be moistened with the added cleaning fluid where the object emerges from the cleaning device. Thus the cleaning device cannot be employed in connection with, e. g. electronic devices which immediately after
the cleaning process have to read information on the surface of the object which has been cleaned.
The cleaning device for information-bearing cards in the present invention is completely independent as it contains no electronic elements which require a battery or supply of electrical energy, while at the same time the device contains no elements which require the supply of, e. g. fluids. This makes the device highly reliable in relation to the intention of cleaning cards and unless the cleaning material internally in the device is worn or soiled the device will be operative. Furthermore, the device is intended for fixed or releasable installation, generally in the vicinity of a card reader terminal or in immediate extension of the card reader track in a card reader terminal. For example, a cleaning element can be mounted releasably in each end of the card reader track in a card reader terminal, with the result that the card is cleaned by inserting it in the track and subsequently sliding it through the card reader terminal and is again cleaned after leaving the card reader terminal. The cleaning element may be used only at one end of the track, with the result that the card is cleaned before or after placing it in the card track in the card reader terminal.
On the basis of the previously known solutions as described above, the present invention is related to a cleaning device for information-bearing cards according to the introductory part of claim 1, and characterized by the characterizing features in the characterizing part of claim 1. The cleaning device may further exist in the embodiments which are indicated in further claims.
The cleaning device essentially consists of a housing which contains the cleaning element. This housing is provided with bodies which permit the housing to be releasably mounted in a thereto suited holder which in turn can be securely fixed at a location where the cleaning device is to be employed.
This may be, e. g. near a card reader terminal, or in a part of the card reader terminal, e. g. in the extension of the card reader terminal's card track. In a preferred embodiment the lower portion of the housing is provided with bodies which permit the housing to be releasably mounted in a holder placed near a card reader terminal. This solution enables the actual housing containing the cleaning element for the information-bearing card to be easily replaced by releasing the housing from the fixed or releasably mounted
holder and subsequently affixing a new housing with a new cleaning element.
The housing may be designed in one piece or it may be divided into several segments and in a preferred embodiment it consists of two halves which are disposed relative to each other in such a fashion that it is not possible to separate the two halves of the housing without the use of force or tools in order thereby to gain access to the internal cleaning element. This means that maintenance of the cleaning device is carried out by releasing the housing, containing the cleaning element for the information-bearing card, from the securely fixed holder, whereupon a new housing with a new internal cleaning element is affixed in the holder. Thus it is difficult to undertake a"pirate upgrading"of the housing with an unoriginal cleaning element.
The two halves which in the preferred embodiment form the device's housing are substantially identical and can both contain a cleaning element, thus enabling an information-bearing card to be drawn in an arbitrary direction, with the information-bearing side facing in an arbitrary orientation when the card is drawn through the device. This is in contrast to previous known solutions which are sensitive to which way the card is drawn and which orientation the card has when it is drawn through a cleaning device.
The cleaning element may assume a great many different configurations, but any material which removes dirt and particles, or diverts a static charge by mechanical contact with the card's communication strip can be employed. A cleaning element can be produced by joining together a number of different materials, or a homogeneous material can be used over the entire element.
A cleaning device according to the present invention may also contain a plurality of housings with cleaning elements disposed in a successive configuration. It will thereby be possible to replace one or more of the releasably mounted and replaceable housings with cleaning elements without simultaneously replacing the entire housing with the cleaning elements. For example, a cleaning device mounted in the vicinity of a card reader terminal is often employed by users sliding the card in the same direction through the cleaning device. The cleaning element will thereby become soiled more quickly at the end of the cleaning element which first comes into contact with the information-bearing card. If the cleaning device in such a case consists of tow or more successively mounted cleaning elements, all of which are releasably mounted in the cleaning device, it will be possible to replace the
cleaning element which becomes soiled most quickly first, whereupon next time, for example, the two cleaning elements which are dirtiest are replaced, and finally all the soiled elements are replaced. A saving can thereby be introduced in the form of material used in the replaceable cleaning elements.
As an additional help in assessing when the housing with a cleaning element has to be replaced, it is possible to provide a counter in connection with the housing, which registers each time a card is drawn through the housing. This may, e. g., be electronically operated with a battery and by correctly calculating the battery's life it will be possible to avoid the situation where the counter loses its function before the replacement interval for the cleaning device has arrived. However, if this should happen, the cleaning device will still be able to be operative, and an electronically operated counter, for example, will only be an auxiliary function in connection with determination of the replacement interval. Moreover, it will be possible to determine the replacement interval on the basis of deposits of dirt situated in the cleaning element internally in the device's housing. This can be detected by sliding a test card through the cleaning device which registers the dirt content, etc.
This may be combined with a warning function which gives notice when the cleaning device is ready for inspection or replacement of the cleaning element in the releasably mounted housing.
The device will now be described in detail with reference to the attached figures, in which: fig. 1 illustrates a cleaning device according to the present invention mounted in a holder for fixed installation in the vicinity of a card reader; fig. 2 illustrates one of the halves which in a preferred embodiment form the housing in the cleaning device according to the present invention; fig. 3 illustrates the two halves which form the housing in the present invention; fig. 4 illustrates the housing in the present cleaning device when the two halves are joined together, according to the present invention; fig. 5 illustrates the cleaning device when mounted in the holder, according to the present invention;
fig. 6 illustrates the cleaning device in a preferred embodiment in assembled form according to the present invention; and fig. 7 illustrates a card reader terminal with releasable installation of a cleaning device (a housing with cleaning element) at each end of the card reading track.
With reference to fig. 1 a cleaning device 1 is illustrated consisting of a housing 1 formed by two halves 2 which are approximately identical and are each arranged with a cleaning element 3 at one side. The halves 2 are joined with the cleaning elements 3 facing each other, with the result that when they are joined together the halves 2 form a slit 11 between the two halves with at least one cleaning element 3 disposed internally for cleaning a part of an information-bearing card. The information-bearing card is drawn through the slit 11 to be cleaned. The housing 1 is releasably disposed in a holder 4 which can be mounted at a location where the cleaning device requires to be used.
As illustrated in fig. 3 the halves 2 have engagement bodies 7 which-when the two halves are joined engage with the opening 6 and the guide pin 8 which when the two halves are joined is guided into the aperture 9. In addition each of the halves 2 has an aperture 5 close to each end thereof which forms the slit 11 and when the two halves 2 are joined the apertures 5 form an aperture 10 at each end. This is shown again in fig. 4 where the aperture 10 is marked immediately below the slit 11 which is formed by joining the two halves 2. It is further indicated in fig. 5 how the housing consisting of the two halves 2 is placed in the holder 4 and where the apertures 10 are releasably engaged with the holder's locking bodies 12 and 13, thus releasably mounting the housing in the holder 4, which in turn is mounted at the location where the cleaning device requires to be used. Fig. 6 illustrates the housing after assembly with the holder 4 where the slit 11 in particular appears when the two halves 2 are joined. The cleaning element 3 is releasably mounted on the side of the halves 2 which form the slit 11 when the halves 2 are assembled to form a housing 1. The cleaning element is mounted in a recessed or marked area 2'. The cleaning element 3 may be attached to the half 2 by means of, e. g., two-sided adhesive tape, a hardening adhesive material, Velcro, a vacuum or the like.
An information-bearing card is cleaned in the device by sliding the card through the aperture 11 from one side of the housing towards the other. Since the cleaning element 3 can be installed on both halves 2 the card which has to be cleaned can be drawn both ways through the device and with both sides of the card in contact with the cleaning element 3. This provides an increased degree of user-friendliness, as a user does not need to concentrate on how the card should be cleaned in the device, and after use a user does not need to be in doubt as to whether the card is cleaned or not. The cleaning element 3 is made of a material which when used substantially does not create static electricity and which in an embodiment cleans the surface by several parallel cleaning layers of the material coming into contact with the parts of the card which are drawn past the cleaning element 3. Moreover, the material should be made in such a manner that it does not cause unnecessary wear on the card. When the material 3 is worn or soiled it can be released and replaced, but in order to ensure that this is undertaken by a skilled person the two halves in a preferred embodiment are joined in such a manner that it is not possible to separate them without the use of, for example, special tools. This entails removing the house in its entirety from the holder 4 for subsequent return, for example, to the manufacturer for replacement of the cleaning element 3. This in turn gives a user a high degree of confidence as to whether the cleaning device is actually capable of cleaning a card.
The holder 4 may be securely fixed at the location where the cleaning device requires to be used by means of screws, nails, adhesive means, tacks or the like. The engagement bodies 12 and 13 in the holder 4 may also be incorporated in other connections, so that a housing consisting of two halves can be installed on other objects and not necessarily a securely fixed holder as shown in the figures. This may, e. g., form part of an interior fittings element or the like which is placed near the card reader device.
It is further illustrated in fig. 7 how a housing 25 can be disposed in a card reader terminal 20. The housing 25 may consist of two joined halves 21. The card reader terminal 20 is provided with a card reader track 23 and at each end of the card reader track 23 there is releasably mounted a housing 25 which is internally provided with a cleaning element 22 as previously described. The terminal's 20 card reader track 23 and the cleaning elements' 25 cleaning track 24 coincide and for a user this means that a card is drawn
through the slit formed by the partial slits 24,23, together with an additional partial slit 24. Thus it will be possible for a user to clean the card before and after insertion in the card reader terminal. For the terminal owner this entails increased assurance that soiled or statically charged cards will not be drawn into the card reader terminal without first being cleaned and any static electricity discharged.
As opposed to other hand-held cleaning devices the device can be operated with one hand in one movement and no more steps require to be taken then those which are necessary for using the card in an ordinary card reader terminal. If the card is not satisfactorily cleaned after passing through the aperture 11 in the above described cleaning device, the card can simply be drawn back and forward until the user thinks the card is sufficiently cleaned to be able to function in a card reader terminal.
Further advantages of using such a cleaning device will be that the card reader terminal is spared unnecessary dirt and wear incurred by the use of cards which are not cleaned. This in turn will be able to affect the maintenance routines for a card terminal while at the same time extending the life of the cards by removing dirt etc. which cause wear on the information exchanging part of the card before the card is used in a card reader.
The above described embodiments of the present invention are not limiting with regard to the scope of the inventive concept, which in the following is limited by the patent claims.