Portable optical card readers
A device for reading optical data cards. This device includes a shuttle mounted on shuttle tracks within the device housing. The shuttle is configured to move back and forth on the shuttle tracks driven by the shuttle motor. A card loader allows optical data cards to be positioned onto the shuttle. A CD optical read head mounted on optical read head tracks and driven by a optical head motor reads modified to read a single track of optical card data reads the optical card. A controller receives data from the read head and controls the movement of the shuttle and the optical head.
1. A device for reading optical data cards comprising:
a housing;
a pair of parallel shuttle tracks mounted within said housing;
an optical card shuttle mounted on said shuttle tracks such that said shuttle can move in a shuttle axis direction;
a shuttle motor having a drive mechanism mechanically linked to said shuttle such that said shuttle can be swept a length equal to an optical data card length;
a card loader mounted within said housing, said loader positioned to load an optical card onto and off of said shuttle;
an optical head track mounted within said housing;
a CD reader head mounted on the optical head track so as to read a single track of data;
an optical head motor mechanically linked to said CD reader head such that said head is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the shuttle axis direction; and
a controller in communication with said CD reader head, optical head motor, and shuttle motor.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein said shuttle motor is a DC motor.
3. The device of claim 1 , further including an optical scale on said shuttle and a scale sensor on said housing, said scale sensor in communication with said controller such that a positional location of said shuttle and a velocity of said shuttle may be determined.
4. The device of claim 3 , wherein said optical scale includes a transmissive substrate and opaque markings.
5. The device of claim 1 , wherein said CD reader head is mounted such that a tracking signal from at least one track guide on said optical data card is readable by said CD reader head.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein one of a plurality of simultaneously running state machines controls positioning of the CD reader head over a targeted data track or the optical data card.
7. The device of claim 1 , further including a shuttle lock controlled by the controller and engageable against the shuttle.
8. The device of claim 7 , wherein said shuttle lock is driven by a solenoid.
9. The device of claim 1 , wherein said controller includes a plurality of simultaneously running state machines.
10. The device of claim 1 , wherein said optical head motor mechanically linked to said CD reader head includes a stepper motor driving a lead screw, said lead screw mechanically linked to said CD reader head.
11. A portable device for reading optical cards comprising:
a housing;
a pair of parallel shuttle tracks mounted within said housing;
an optical card shuttle mounted on said shuttle tracks such that said shuttle can move in a shuttle axis direction;
a battery powered DC shuttle motor mechanically linked to said shuttle such that said shuttle may move back and forth along a shuttle axis;
a means for loading the optical card onto the shuttle;
a pair of parallel optical head tracks mounted within said housing at an orientation perpendicular to said pair of parallel shuttle tracks;
a CD reader head mounted on said pair of parallel optical head tracks;
a battery powered reader head stepper motor;
a lead screw driven by said reader head stepper motor and mechanically linked to said CD reader head; and
a controller receiving data from said CD reader head and controlling said optical head motor and said shuttle motor.
12. The device of claim 11 , wherein said means for loading the optical card includes a set of rollers driven by a battery powered DC loader motor.
13. The device of claim 11 , further including a means for determining position and velocity of said shuttle.
14. The device of claim 11 , wherein said CD reader head is positioned to direct beams emitted by said CD reader head to simultaneously impinge on two tracking strips on the optical card and one targeted optical track on said optical card.
15. The device of claim 14 , wherein one of a plurality of simultaneously running state machines controls positioning of the CD reader head over the targeted data track on the optical data card.
16. The device of claim 11 , further including a solenoid driven shuttle lock controlled by said controller and engagable against said shuttle.
17. The device of claim 11 , wherein said controller includes a plurality of simultaneously running state machines.
18. The device of claim 11 , wherein:
the battery powered DC shuttle motor is mechanically linked to the shuttle by a drive belt; and
the controller further receives data from an optical scale sensor responding to an optically readable scale on the optical card shuttle.