Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording
medium and a method for ascertaining authenticity of the same
and more particularly to enhancement of the security.
The present invention is applicable to magnetic
recording media such as magnetic cards which require to b~
provided with means for preventing dishonest use and forgery
or falsification thereof.
Since the magnetic cards such as prepaid cards are handy
to carry and very useful today, their distributions among the
market are more and more growing.
On the other hand, it is presumed that the magnetic
cards are forged and used wrongfully, and therefore, it is
reguired that some countermeasures should be taken.
As one of the countermeasures, conventional magnetic
cards have been discriminating between genuine cards and
spurious ones by such methods as reading data or magnetic bar
code with the use of a reader/writer, and detection of a
~ punched hole.
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In order to prevent forgery or falsification of the
cards, it is of course necessary to keep the method for
ascertaining their authenticity confidential, but in addition
thereto, it is necessary to discourage dishonest users from
committing forgery. In this regard, the security measures
~25 provided for~the conventional cards have been insufficient.
The present invention provides a magnetic recording
medium as well as a method;for ascertaining the authenticity
~` of the same adapted such that forgery or falsification of the
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recording medium is practically impossible because of its
requiring procedures of much enhanced complexity.
The present invention provides in a ]maynetic recording
medium whose base material is provided with a magnetic data
portion, comprises, at least, a first verification portion
having a desired light transmission coefficient and a second
verification portion formed of magnetic material arranged
separately fro~ the magnetic data portion.
And, the method for ascertaining authenticity of the
magnetic recording medium according to the present invention
comprises the steps of detecting the light transmission
coef*icient at the first verification portion thereby to
verify the base material of the recording medium and
detecting the magnetic material at the second verification
portion thereby to detect the class of the same.
Fig. lA is a schematic plan view of an emhodiment of a
magnetic recording medium according to the present invention,
Fig. lB is an enlarged schematic Vi2W of a verification
portion of the class of card, Fig. lC is a cross-sectional
view taken along line I - I of Fig. lA;
Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus
utilizing an embodiment of a method for ascertaining the
authenticity according to the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing operation of the
; aforesaid apparatus ~or ascertaining authenticity at the time
of issuance of a card; and
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Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing operations of the
aforesaid apparatus for ascertaining authenticity at the time
of use of a card.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described
below in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.
Fig. lA is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of a
magnetic recording medium according to the present invention,
Fig. lB is an enlarged schematic view of its verification
portion of the class of card, and Fig. lC is a cross-
sectional view taken along line I ~ I of Fig. lA.
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As shown in Fig. lA, a magnetic card 1 of the present
embodiment is provided wi-th a magnetic stripe 2 for recording
therein magnetic data, a verification portion 3 for discrimi-
nating the class of card magnetically, a verification portion
4 for verifying base material of the card through measurement
of its light transmission coefficient, and a verification
por-tion 5 for verifying the used condition of the card according
to detection of a punched hole.
As the verification portion 3, a magnetic bar code system
using magnetic material of high permeability was employed to
increase the difficulty of forgery or falsification of the
card, because this bar code wi].l neither be made visual by
a magnetic reader on the market nor be caused to provide any
output by an ordinary magnetic card reader. A magnetic head,
for example, with a DC bias applied thereto is required to read
the bar code.
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The magnetic bar code portion 3 is formed in the portion
indlcating the directlon in which the card is to be inserted.
As the material of high perme~abili-ty 1s used such as iron,
manganese zinc f~errite, magnetite, or sendust. The security
can further be enhance~d if ordinary magnetic materials are
properly used in~the bar code.
In the present case, the magnetic bar code is representa-
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tive of the class of;card,~i.e., Yl,000-card, ~3,000-card, etc.
The base material of the magnetic card 1 is of such a
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structure that a sheet of non-woven fabric 11 is sandwiched
between white polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets 12, 13 as shown
in Fig. lC. The thickness of the PVC is 80 - 100 ~m. Poly-
ethylene terephthalate (PET) may be used instead of PVC. it
is also possible to have long fibers kneaded into PVC or PET
when the base material is produced.
~ uch a base material is irradiated by light emitted from
a light source such as an 1ED and the transmitted light through
the base material is measured by a photodetector device. Since
the measurement value varies with the individual card, the
data can be used for ascertaininy the au-thenticity of the card.
The verification portion 4 is provided for such measurement
for verification.
~; The aforesaid base material can be provided with fibrous
meshes so tha-t its light transmission coefficient may be varied.
; As discussed~later, although the cer-tainty in the verifi-
cation is greatly enhanced by the provision of the aforesaid
verification portions 3 and 4, the present embodiment is also
provided with the verification portion 5 for further improving
the certainty.
As the verification portion 5, a punched hole system is
employed in which the used condition (e.g., whether it is used
up or still usable and the balance) of the card 1 is represented
by punched holes made therein. The magnetic layer of the veri-
fication portion 5 may be arranged in the interior of the
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sheet 1~.
The used condltion at the time ~hen a card is issued as
a new card is indicated by only one punched hole made in the
verification portion 5, and as the card is -then used, the
condition is indicated by other punched holes~:made correspond-
ing to the amount of the balance or the like. On the side of
the apparatus for reading the card, the punched holes are
detected optically or magnetically, and the autllenticity is
ascertained by checking up the detected result wi-th the data
from the magnetic stripe.
Inciden-tally, such a method may also be used not to make
the punched hole at the time of issuance of the card but to
make the punched holes after the card has been put to use
according to the balance or the like. Or, a method not making
~ any punched hole may be used.
~ : It is preferred that the verification portion 4 is dis-
posed close to the punched hole, because even iE a dishonest
user devises not to have the punched hole made, the light
transmission coefficient of the verification por-tion 4 is
thereby changed and the fact of dishonest use can be detected.
~ Fur-ther, such arrangemen-t is also possible to locate the
; position of rneasurement of the light transmission coefficient
of the verification portion 4 at a predetermined distance from
the punched hole at the time of use of the card (i.e., the
measurement position of the llght transmission coefficient is
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changed at the time each punched hole is made). ~y so doing,
the measuremen-t position of the verification portion 4 may
be changed, and it will make the forgery or falsification of
the card fur-ther diEficult.
Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of -the apparatus
utilizing an e~bodimen-t of the method of ascertaining the
authenticity according to the present invention.
Referring to the figure, the present apparatus is provided
with a photoelectric converter 21 for measuring light trans-
mission coefficient of the card 1, a punched hole punch 22 for
punching the card 1, a magne-tic data check head a, a magnetic
data read head b, a magnetic data write head c, and a magnetic
data erase head d.
The measured data by the photoelectric converter 21 are
converted into digital form by an A/D converter 23 and input
to a signal processing unit 24. And, a signal of the magnetic
bar code and a signal of the punched hole read by the magnetic
head a are input through a waveform shaper 26 to the signal
processing unit 24.
Magnetic data read out of the magnetic stripe 2 by the
magnetic head b are input through a waveform shaper 27 to the
signal processing unit 24. Thereby, data for ascertaining
authenticity in the magnetic data are checked up wi-th verifi-
cation data of th~e aforesaid light transmission coefficient,
bar code, and the punched hole to ascertain the authenticity
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of the card 1. A memory unit 25 is used for the purpose of
s-toring da-ta and the like at that time.
R/W data control portion includes, in addition to the
signal processing unit 24 and the memory unit 25, an input
portion 30 for inputting necessary data, the fare, etc. and
a display portion 31 for displaying pxedetermined procedures
and other necessary messages.
The write head c is driven by a slgnal delivered from
the signal processing unit 24 through a waveform shaper 28
and the erase head d is driven by one through an erase signal
processor 29. V1 denotes a power source for the hole punching,
V2 denotes a power source for -the photoelectric conver-ter 21,
V3 denotes a power source for driving the signal processing
unit, V4 denotes a~power source for the erase head, and G
;~ denotes ground.
Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing operations of the aforesaid
apparatus or ascertaining authenticity at the time of issuance
~ of a card.
; ~ ~ Firstly, as a~card l is inserted into the present apparatus
(Sl),~the magne~tlc bar code data (data of the class of card)
lS read by the magnetic head a and stored in the memory 25
connected to the signal processlng unit 24 (S2). Then, light
transmissIon coeficient of a portion at a specified position
withln the verification portlon 4 is measured and the data is
stored in the memor~ 25 (S3).
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Then, the da-ta Eor ascertaining the authen-ticity stored
in the memory 25 are encoded onto the magnetic stripe 2 (MT)
of the card 1 (S4), whereupon the data in the memory 25 and
the encoded data on the magnetic stripe 2 (MT) are compared
for checking whe-ther or not they ~re in conformity with each
other.
If affirmative (Y at S5), a punched hole is made to
indicate issuance of the card ~S6), a display is made to the
effect (S7), and the card is issued ~S8).
If -the checking process (S5) results in an error, a dis-
play is made to the effec-t (59), and a process for nullifying
the card is performed by punching the card a-t the magnetic
stripe 2 (MT) (S10).
When the method is used i.n which a punched hole is no-t
made at the time of issuance of the card, the process at S6
is omltted.
Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing operations of the apparatus
for ascertaining -the authenticity at the time the card is used.
Firstly, as the card 1 ls inserted by its owner into the
present apparatus (ST1), the apparatus detects the verification
port~,ons 3, 4 and 5 of the card. That is, the light trans-
mlssion coefficient~of the card base material is measured by
the photoelectric converter 21 (ST2), and the punch hole and
the bar code are detected by the magnetic head a (ST3, ST4).
These detected data are stored by the signal processing ùnit 24
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in the memory 25.
Then, the magne-tic data in the magnetlc stripe 2 (MT) are
read by the magnetic head b (ST5). Thereupon, -the da-ta stored
in the memory 25 and the magnetic data read out of the magne-tic
stripe 2 are checked up wi-th each o~her (ST6 - ST8).
Thus, checkups are given to the light transmission coeffi-
cient at a specified position (ST6) and to the position of the
punched hole and the class of card according to the bar code
detected by the magnetic head a (ST7 and ST8).
If the data are not in conformity with each other at any
one of the checking up processes ST6 - ST8, the card is not
considered to be authentic, an error display is made (~T9),
and the process to nullify the card is performed (ST10).
; When the card is judged authentic as the result of the
checkups at ST6 - STa proving all the data to be in conformity,
; a dlsplay is made prompting the user to input a necessary
amount (e.g., of the fare), whereby the amount is input ~ST11).
The signal processing unit 24 compares the input amoun-t
and the balance of the card lST12), and necessary processing
is made when the balance is larger than -the input amount (ST13).
In succession thereto, such data~as the balance a~ter
the aforesald processing has been made are recorded in the
magnetic stripe 2 by the magnetic head c (ST14), and a punched
hole is made in the position corresponding to the balance by
the punched hole punch 22 (ST15). Thereupon, a display is made
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lndi.cati.ng that thc -transac-tion is complcted (STl.6) and the
card 1 is returned (ST17).
On the other hand, if the balance is insufficient at
ST12, a display -to that effect is made (STl8) to promp-t the
user to make up for the deficiency. If the amount of money
covering the shortage is inserted (ST19), a nécessary process
is performed (ST20), and the data are all turned to "l" and
recorded in the magnetic stripe 2 (ST21). Thereafter, a punched
hole is made in the card indicating that the card is used up
(ST22) and thc c~rd i9 returned (ST23).
As described so far, in the magnetic recording medium and
the method for ascertaining its authenticity accordi.ng to the
present invention, the verification is executed by detection
of at least both the light transmission coefficient and the
arrangement of magnetic material. Therefore, even if forgery
or falsification of the card is attempted, the complexity of
procedures to commit that is gretly enhanced as compared wi~th
that for the card theretofore in use, and it is made practically
impossible to commit that. Thus, the security is greatly
improved.
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