Rotating Encoding Device Eliminates Slip Rings for Chip Card Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coding devices for data carriers, such as chip cards, rely on sliding contacts and slip rings for power and data supply, leading to high manufacturing, maintenance, and repair costs, and often result in cards being turned upside-down during processing, which is undesirable.
Innovation Solution
A coding device with a rotating device having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the transport plane, allowing for both forward and backward rotation, eliminating the need for sliding contacts and slip rings, and incorporating a stationary loading and unloading station for individual loading and unloading of data carriers at coding stations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If sliding contacts and slip rings are used for power and data supply to rotating coding stations, then continuous rotation in a given direction is enabled, but manufacturing costs, maintenance costs, and repair costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using sliding contacts and slip rings to enable continuous rotation, the patent inverts the approach by allowing the coding stations to rotate in only one direction (clockwise) and using a stationary loading/unloading station. This eliminates the need for sliding contacts and slip rings, thereby reducing manufacturing, maintenance, and repair costs while maintaining the ability to process multiple cards simultaneously.
2Ease of operation
If a vertically aligned rotating plate with contacting devices is used, then cards can be picked up and placed on the other side, but the cards are turned upside-down which is undesirable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional vertical rotation approach by using a horizontal rotation axis. The coding stations are arranged in a ring around a horizontal axis, allowing cards to be loaded and unloaded without being turned upside-down. The cards maintain their correct orientation throughout the processing cycle, eliminating the need for additional flipping mechanisms.
3Productivity
If coding stations are arranged in a ring on a rotating device, then multiple cards can be processed simultaneously, but wire connections would be continuously twisted and wound up without sliding contacts or slip rings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the wire connection problem by inverting the rotation direction constraint. Instead of requiring continuous bidirectional rotation with sliding contacts, the coding stations rotate in only one direction (clockwise) relative to the stationary loading/unloading station. This allows wire connections to remain stationary or be simply reconnected after each rotation cycle, eliminating the need for complex sliding contacts and slip rings while maintaining multi-card processing capability.
4Ease of manufacture
If a stationary loading and unloading station is used, then direct wire connections are enabled, but the rotating device must be able to rotate in both forward and backward directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the rotation direction controllable. The rotating device can rotate in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions as needed, allowing the coding stations to be positioned at various locations around the ring. This dynamic rotation capability enables the system to load and unload cards at a stationary station while maintaining direct wire connections, simplifying the overall construction.
Data Source
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AI summary
An encoding device and a method for encoding data storage media are described, in particular chip cards, comprising a transport device (11) for transporting a plurality of data storage media (12) in a first transport direction (12a) of a transport plane (12b) and a rotation device (1) comprising a plurality of circularly disposed encoding stations (15, 16a, 16b, 17, 18), each of said stations comprising a receptacle compartment (17) for holding a respective data storage medium (12), wherein an axis of rotation (3) of the rotation device (1) is aligned perpendicular to the transport plane (12b) and to the first transport direction (12a).