| 摘要 |
<p>The invention provides a reader device (10) for smart cards, or chip-and-PIN cards (15). It has a slot for accommodating a chip-and-PIN card, a set of electrodes 32 adapted to come into contact with corresponding electrodes on the card when the card is inserted into the slot, and a means for ensuring correct registration, or alignment, between the electrodes on the card and the set of electrodes of the reader device. The means for ensuring correct registration may include two orthogonally disposed walls of the slot, against which the card is pushed. Alternatively, the means may include a pair of electrodes 34 on each side of the main set reader-electrodes 32, which are short-circuited when the chip electrodes are not correctly aligned with the reader-electrodes. The short-circuit is flagged to the user of the card. The reader may also be equipped to with a magnetic-stripe reader (MSR) device.</p> |
