Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
ROLLER ACTIVATION APPARATUS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a roller activation apparatus, and more
particularly to the roller activation apparatus with power saving.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Currently a sensing card is in widespread use. For instance, a tobacco and
beverage vending machine has a sensor to sense a label on a personal
identification card of a buyer in order to determine whether the age of the
buyer
is 18 years of age. However, when the automatic vending machine is not in
frequent use, the sensor is still working. The power consumption of the
automatic vending machine is increased. The lifetime of the sensor is also
decreased. In addition, because the automatic vending machine is operated by
the buyer, the velocity for inserting the sensing card may not be controlled
that
also influences accuracy of the sensor.
The inventor of the present invention based on years of experience on related
research and development of the activation apparatuses invents a roller
activation apparatus with power saving to overcome the foregoing
shortcomings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a roller
activation apparatus for detecting the velocity of an inputted card. Both
power
saving and lifetime of the apparatus can be increased.
To achieve the aforesaid object, the roller activation apparatus includes a
I
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
switch, a roller, a light generator and a light receiver. The roller contacts
with
the switch. A wheel of the roller has at least one opening. A wheel surface of
the roller is touched to activate the switch by inputting a card. The roller
rotates based on a movement of the card. The light generator is disposed at a
side of the roller for generating a light beam. The light receiver is disposed
at
another side of the roller. The light receiver is for receiving the light beam
through the opening on the wheel to generate a pulse signal. The pulse signal
and the movement of the card have a corresponding relationship.
In addition, the present invention further provides a roller activation
apparatus for use in a card sensing system. The card sensing system includes a
power supply unit, a sensor and a processor. The roller activation apparatus
includes a switch, a roller, a light generator and a light receiver. The
switch is
electrically connected to the power supply unit for controlling the power
supply
unit. The roller contacts the switch. A wheel of the roller has at least one
opening. A wheel surface of the roller is touched to activate the switch by
inputting a card. The power supply unit is then controlled to provide a power
to the processor and the sensor. The roller rotates based on a movement of the
card. The light generator is disposed at a side of the roller for generating a
light
beam. The light receiver is disposed at another side for receiving the light
beam through the opening. The light receiver then generates a pulse signal
based on the light beam. The pulse signal and the movement of the card have a
corresponding relationship. The light receiver then transmits the pulse signal
to the processor. The processor drives the sensor to detect the card based on
the pulse signal. Furthermore, when the card is removed from the roller, the
switch is turned off to control the power supply unit to stop providing a
power.
2
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
The roller activation apparatus disclosed by the present invention has the
following advantages:
(1) When the card is inputted, the roller activation apparatus controls the
power supply unit to provide a power. When the card is removed,
the roller activation apparatus controls the power supply unit to stop
providing power, thereby achieving goals of increasing power saving
and lifetime of components.
(2) The pulse signal generated by the roller activation apparatus and the
movement of the card have a corresponding relationship, thereby
improving accuracy for detecting the card.
Other features and advantages of the present invention and variations thereof
will become apparent from the following description, drawings, and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a roller activation apparatus
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a roller activation apparatus
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a pulse signal according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective drawing illustrating a roller activation apparatus
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective drawing illustrating a roller activation apparatus
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a side elevation illustrating a roller activation apparatus
according to
3
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, schematic diagrams illustrate a roller
activation apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2
is a schematic diagram illustrating inputting a card. The roller activation
apparatus is applied to a card sensing system. The roller activation apparatus
1
includes a switch 10, a roller 11, a light generator 12 and a light receiver
13.
The roller 11 contacts the switch 10. A wheel 110 of the roller 11 has at
least
one opening 111. A wheel surface 112 of the roller 11 is touched to activate
the
switch 10 (as shown in FIG. 2) by inputting a card 14 (as shown in FIG. 2).
The
roller 11 rotates based on a movement of the card 14. The light generator 12
is
disposed at a side of the roller 11 for generating a light beam 15. The light
receiver 13 is disposed at another side of the roller 11 and receives the
light
beam 15 through the opening 111 to generate a pulse signal 16. The pulse
signal 16 and the movement of the card 14 have a corresponding relationship.
Referring to FIG. 2, the card sensing system 2 includes a roller activation
apparatus 1, a power supply unit 21, a sensor 22 and a processor 23. The
switch 10 is electrically connected to the power supply unit 21 to control the
power supply unit 21. Because the card 14 is inputted to press a wheel of the
roller 11, a button of the switch 10 is then forced to control the power
supply
unit 21 to provide a power 34 for the processor 23 and the sensor 22. The
processor 23 is then activated and implements initialization action for the
sensor
22. Secondly, the light receiver 13 transmits the pulse signal 16 to the
processor 23. The processor 23 drives the sensor 22 to detect the card 14
based
4
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
on the pulse signal 16. When the card 16 is removed from the roller 11, the
roller 11 then stops pressing the switch. The switch 10 is turned off to
output a
control signal to the processor 23. The power supply unit 21 is then stopped
providing the power 24 to the processor 23 and the sensor 22.
Referring to FIG 3, a schematic diagram illustrates a pulse signal according
to an embodiment of the present invention. The wheel surface 112 of the roller
11 contacts the card 14. When the card 14 moves, the wheel surface 112 of the
roller 11 is rubbed with the card 14 to drive the roller 11 to be rotated.
Hence,
when the roller 11 rotates, the wheel 110 of the roller 11 covers the light
beam
15 and the light beam 15 passes through the opening 111 of the wheel 110. The
light receiver 22 then receives the light beam 15 intermittently. The light
receiver 13 generates a pulse signal 16 based on receiving status. For
instance,
as shown in FIG 3, if the light receiver 13 receives the light beam 15, a high
potential signal is outputted as a portion 301 of a pulse signal 30. If the
light
receiver 13 does not receive the light beam 15, a low potential signal is
outputted as a portion 302 of the pulse signal 30. The pulse signal 30 has a
longer period. The longer period is produced based on a slower movement of
the card 15 in the roller activation apparatus 1. The light receiver 13 then
generates the pulse signal 16 corresponding to the movement of the card 15.
The pulse signal 15 is then transmitted to the processor 23. When the pulse
signal 16 is that the high potential signal is toward the low potential signal
as a
portion 303 of the pulse signal 30, alternatively the low potential signal is
toward the high potential signal as a portion 304 of the pulse signal 30, the
processor 23 drives the sensor 22 to detect the card 14. Hence, if the period
of
the pulse signal 16 is shorter, the sensor 22 utilizes faster frequency to
detect the
5
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
card. If the period of the pulse signal 16 is longer, the sensor 22 utilizes
slower
frequency to detect the card 14. Therefore, no mater how the movement of the
card 15 is fast or slow the processor 23 can detect the signal of every
relative
position for the card 15 accurately based on the pulse signal, thereby
achieving
goals of recognizing the card and personal identification.
Referring to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, FIG 4 and FIG 5 are perspective drawings
illustrating a roller activation apparatus according to preferred embodiments
of
the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side elevation illustrating a roller
activation
apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As
shown in FIG. 4, the roller activation apparatus 4 includes a switch 40, a
roller
41, a light emitting diode (LED) 42 and a phototransistor 43. The roller 41 is
disposed in a slot 46 of a substrate 45. As shown in FIG 5, an axis position
of
the roller 41 has an extension cylinder 44. The extension cylinder 44 contacts
the switch 40. When a wheel surface 410 of the roller 41 is pressed by
inputting a card, the extension cylinder 44 then forces a button of the switch
40
to activate the switch 40. When the card is removed from the roller 41, the
extension cylinder 44 is stopped forcing the switch 40. The button of the
switch 40 returns to an original position to turn off the switch 40. Referring
to
FIG. 6, the wheel of the roller 41 has at least one opening 47. The
phototransistor 43 then receives a light beam emitted by the LED 42 through
the
opening 47. When the roller 41 rotates, the phototransistor 43 receives the
light beam intermittently and generates a pulse signal based on the receiving
status.
Although the features and advantages of the embodiments according to the
preferred invention are disclosed, it is not limited to the embodiments
described
6
CA 02555527 2006-08-04
above, but encompasses any and all modifications and changes within the spirit
and scope of the following claims.
~
