Drive arrangement for a card holder

The present invention relates to a compact drive system serving to deflect a push force to move a carriage assigned to the chip card and mounted in a chip card receiving unit. A flexible, pressure-transmitting force conductor is provided in the form of individual spheres, the force conductor being assigned a direction-deflecting guide and a push rod provided with an actuating member. The force conductor is driven by a control slide engaging in the duct, the control slide being connected by a gear to a positioning motor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a drive arrangement for at least one smart card holder, the holder being arranged in a tachograph. The drive arrangement is arranged so as to move a smart card to the removal position, and includes: a reversible actuating motor, a control slide which is operatively connected by a transmission to the actuating motor, and transmission means which are provided between the control slide and the smart card holder.

Tachographs of this generic type are generally designed as built-in units with a flat, cuboid built-in housing. There is therefore very little physical space available from the start for a smart card holder and its drive means. This results in a smart card which is located in the read/write position being moved to the removal position. On the other hand, smart cards which have been deformed during their use, for example by being curved or rippled, particularly when they have been inserted into the read/write position exclusively by hand, with the necessary amount of force being applied, result in a considerable amount of force being required in order to allow them to be transported to the removal position again. This force requirement must be applied and transmitted by the drive means, thus necessitating a robust design and hence sufficient physical space. Furthermore, on the one hand owing to the small physical height required by the tachograph and on the other hand owing to the need to make contact, it is also expedient to associate the smart card holder and the drive means directly with the printed circuit board of the tachograph. However, even though it is designed to largely fill the format of the outline of the tachograph housing, there is a considerable lack of space available on the printed circuit board owing to the high component density, so that an arrangement of the smart card holder and of its drive means that is still possible generally necessitates a change in the direction of the thrust force which is exerted by the control slide. This is particularly true in the case of a tachograph which is equipped for simultaneous recording of at least the work and rest times of the driver and co-driver, and in which two smart card holders are provided and in the end, furthermore, only a single actuating motor must be provided, for cost reasons, by means of which the smart card for the driver or that for the co-driver must be transported to the respective removal position with the interposition of transmission means which change the direction of the force flow.

A drive arrangement which is known in this context from German Utility Model 200 15 100.2 envisages belt-driven means between a control slide, which is driven by an actuating motor, and the carriages which are mounted in the relevant smart card holders and are associated with the smart cards, in order to change the direction of the movement of the control slide to the direction for emitting the smart cards. Owing to the high friction losses resulting from transverse forces and the system-dependent force distribution, such transmission means necessitate an increase in the power of the actuating motor and, owing to the necessary guidance accuracy of the components on which the belt-drive elements are formed, result in a very high degree of manufacturing effort, and occupy considerable physical space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is thus to provide a drive arrangement of this generic type which offers optimum use of the available power from the actuating motor with a high degree of functional reliability using components which can be produced and installed in a mass production environment, and which can be implemented with as little space requirement as possible.

The stated object is achieved in that a flexible, force-transmitting force conductor is used as the transmission means, and in that the force conductor has an associated direction-changing guide.

One preferred exemplary embodiment is characterized in that individual pressure elements which are guided in a channel such that they can move freely are provided as force conductors, and in that balls are provided as pressure elements.

One advantageous exemplary embodiment consists in that the force conductor and the control slide are in the form of a single component which can be produced by injection molding, in which case the force conductor comprises a strand, which is produced from elastomer material and has sliding bodies which are integrally formed on it and are composed of non-elastomer material.

Further embodiment variants and expedient refinements of the invention are described in the dependent claims that are not cited, or will become evident from the description of the drawings.

The major advantage offered by the invention is that a modular drive arrangement can be formed, which comprises the control slide, the step-down transmission which drives the control slide, and the transmission means, for which modular drive arrangement the preferred exemplary embodiment provides a housing which can be closed by a cover. This assembly in which only the actuating motor which is arranged on the opposite side of the printed circuit board of the tachograph engages by means of a pinion that is mounted on the motor shaft, occupies little space and can be varied in a simple manner. One major factor is that the drive arrangement can be produced by technically simple, robust means which can be installed easily, and offers satisfactory functional reliability with a high efficiency. The solution that has been found is also insensitive to tolerances and, owing to the largely direct action of the control slide on the smart card holder and on a carriage which is associated with the smart cards and is mounted in the smart card holder so that it can move, requires only a short operating time for moving a smart card from the read/write position to the removal position even when using a relatively low power actuating motor.

It is also worth mentioning that the control slide need not necessarily be guided at right angles to the movement directions of a smart card. The direction of the force flow can be changed as required via the flexible force conductors that are provided. Furthermore, when using two smart card holders which are arranged alongside one another, it is also irrelevant whether they are arranged close to one another or relatively far apart from one another. In any case, the solution according to the invention can also be used when the smart card holders are arranged at the greatest possible distance apart form one another in the relevant tachograph. Furthermore, when individual elements which are not connected to one another, for example balls, are used as a force conductor, an asymmetric arrangement of the control slide with respect to the smart card holders is possible without any additional component complexity. The push rods which are advantageously held in the guides associated with the force conductors at the same time represent locking elements, which can be held in a sprung manner against the housing of the drive arrangement. The push rods and the operating elements which are integrally formed on the push rods also have an adapter function, that is to say they may be designed for operation of smart card holders of different configuration. However, it is also feasible to dispense with the push rods and to form projections, which engage in the guides for the force conductors, on the carriages which are associated with the smart cards.

For the sake of completeness, it should also be mentioned that the chosen transmission principle can operate in three dimensions, so that the control slide may also be arranged away from the movement plane of the smart cards. It should also be mentioned that, apart from individual, preferably commercially available, steel balls, ball chains, chains composed of spherical or barrel-shaped chain links which can be coupled to one another or flexible strands which are produced integrally and have spherical sections may also be used as the force conductors. In the same way, force conductors composed of spring steel, are guided in the housing of the drive arrangement and are in the form of strips or wires may likewise be provided in some suitable manner. It is also possible to use as force conductors T-shaped pressure elements which are guided in a groove that is formed in the housing and are held in the grove by means of the cover and which are connected to one another in a flexible manner, for example by means of integrally formed loops.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As can be seen fromFIG. 1, the functional elements of the drive arrangement are essentially mounted in a housing1which can be closed by means of a cover2.3denotes a drive pinion, which is mounted on the motor shaft4of an actuating motor5(FIG. 5) which engages in the housing1. A schematically illustrated step-down transmission6, downstream from the drive pinion3, is operatively connected to a pair of gearwheels7,8, which are mounted on a hollow shaft9. The gearwheel8engages with a toothed system11which is formed on a control slide10. The control slide10is mounted in the housing1such that it can move, and has a finger12which engages in a channel13, which is intended for bearing two or more freely moving balls which are used as flexible, pressure-transmitting force conductors14and15and are respectively annotated16and17. This solution allows large actuating forces to be transmitted with relatively little friction. In addition to the pair of gearwheels7,8, the control slide10is also guided by a guide tongue19(FIG. 4) which engages in a slot18that is formed in the housing1. End stops, which are formed in the housing1and are associated with the control slide10, are annotated20and21. Hollow pins22,23,24and25, which are provided with holes through them that are not annotated any further are used to hold the cover2in that spacer bolts which are integrally formed on the cover2and that two of which26and27, are shown inFIG. 1engage in recesses, which are not annotated, in the hollow pins22,23,24,25. The push rods which are guided in the channel13are annotated28and29, and their operating elements30and31are designed in a suitable manner for interaction with smart card holders32and33, which are indicated inFIG. 1, for the relevant tachograph.

In the functional state illustrated inFIG. 1, the drive arrangement is in a neutral position from which either one or the other smart card34or35can be moved to its removal position. For this purpose, the operating elements30and31of the push rods28,29interact with carriages36and37with which the smart cards34,35are fitted, and with tongues38and39which are formed on the carriages36,37. The carriages36,37are mounted in suitable manner such that they can move on mounts40and41of the smart card holders32,33. If necessary, the carriages36,37have associated locking means.

FIG. 2is intended to explain how the smart card holders32,33are arranged in a tachograph which, for example, has a cuboid housing.FIG. 2shows a front panel42which covers the built-in housing part of the tachograph. A window cutout is annotated43, through which the indication of a display44is legible. In addition, a number of keys45,46,47and48are passed out of the front panel42. In this case, the keys45and48are used for registration by the driver and co-driver, the keys6and7are used in connection with the keys45and48in order, inter alia, to release the respective personal smart cards34,35associated with the driver and co-driver. A plug socket, which is used for diagnosis purposes, is closed by a cover49. Guide slots50and51which are fitted in the front panel42and some of which are recessed in the form of funnels are used for initial orientation during insertion of the smart cards34,35by the driver and co-driver into the respective smart card holders32,33(which are located in the built-in housing part) of the tachograph. Cutouts52and53in the projection54(which is in the form of a bead) on the front panel42are used as input troughs for initial insertion of the smart cards34,35into the respective read/write positions. A slot which is annotated55is provided for the print medium of a receipt printer that is arranged in the tachograph to pass through. A key56is used to start printing. A lead seal is annotated57, securing a screw connection between the front panel42and the built-in housing part.FIG. 2also shows bolt elements58,59and60,61which are pivoted in front of the smart cards34,35and are mounted in the smart card holders32,33.

FIG. 3shows a solution which is optimized for mass production, in which force conductors62and63which are associated with the smart card holders32,33, and a control slide64, form a single component which can be formed by injection molding. In this case, each force conductor62,63comprises a respective strand65,66, which is manufactured from elastomer material, and barrel-shaped sliding bodies, which are integrally formed on them by means of the two-component injecting-molding technique and are composed of non-elastomer material. The sliding bodies which are integrally formed at a specific distance “a” from one another on the strands65,66are respectively annotated67and68. AsFIG. 3also shows, the force conductors62,63are connected via the strands65,66directly to the finger69(which engages in the channel13) of the control slide64, which is expediently formed from the same material as the slide bodies67,68. A cutout (which is annotated70) is used to avoid accumulation of material on the finger69. Otherwise, the control slide64is in the same form as the control slide10, that is to say it is provided with a toothed system71and with a guide tongue72. At this point, it should also be mentioned that, for molding reasons, the sliding bodies67,68are axially slotted in order to form the force conductors62,63, and the cross-sections of the connecting strands65,66can be designed to correspond to the profile of the slots.

The section shown inFIG. 4illustrates in particular how the housing1and the cover2are joined together once the functional parts of the drive arrangement have been inserted into the housing1. A centering pin73, which is formed on the cover2and engages in the hollow shaft9, as well as an anti-rotation device, which is not illustrated but is expediently provided in the area of the bushing for the motor shaft4, are used to align the cover2on the housing1. A groove which is formed on the cover2and is supplementary to the channel13is annotated74. The cover2is attached to the housing1by mounting the drive arrangement on the already mentioned printed circuit board75in the tachograph. This is done by means of a number of screw connections, of which three screws76,77and78can be seen in FIG.5. Threaded holes, which are not shown in detail, are associated with the screws76,77,78in the spacer bolts26,27and in the pin73, and these screws engage in the hollow pins22,23,24,25and in the hollow shaft9. This means that the housing1is attached indirectly to the printed circuit board75via the cover2. Supports79,80and81which are provided with through-holes, are formed on the housing1and have attachments82,83and84(which are integrally formed on them and are used for alignment of the drive arrangement on the printed circuit board75) are used as a rest. One of two forked light barriers which are fitted to the printed circuit board75is annotated85, and these are used in conjunction with the guide tongue19on the control slide10for controlling the actuating motor5. This means that, depending on the selected rotation direction of the actuating motor5, either the push rod28or the push rod29is operated in the direction of emitting a smart card34,35, starting from the neutral position as illustrated inFIG. 1, by means of the control slide10and the force conductors14,15, and the control slide10is then moved back to the neutral position in order to ensure that another smart card can be inserted. In this context, it should be mentioned that pin/slot connections are provided between each of the push rods28,29and the housing1, are used as anti-rotation devices and allow the drive arrangement to be handled without any problems before it is installed in a tachograph.

FIG. 5, which shows sections of a side wall86, of the base87and of the rear wall88of the built-in housing part89of the tachograph, illustrates the small amount of space required for the drive arrangement according to the invention, particularly with regard to the physical height and physical depth.FIG. 5also shows the association between the smart card holders32,33and the printed circuit board75, in the partial section B. Spacing bolts90, which are in the form of spacers from the base87, are provided with threaded holes and are integrally formed on the mounts40,41, and screws91are used for this purpose. A driver which is integrally formed on the carriage36,37and is associated with the smart cards34,35is annotated92. A cutout which is provided in the mounts40,41is annotated93, and forms the free space for the movement of the tongues38,39, which are formed at an angle on the carriages36,37and for the entry of the operating elements30,31.