A hub includes a hub body around which a magnetic tape is wound, and a noncontact storage medium provided in the hub body, in which the noncontact storage medium stores hub specification information for specifying the hub body, and the hub specification information is associated with hub change characteristic information indicating a change characteristic of the hub body.

Transaction and identification cards formed from raw bamboo assemblies including one or more raw bamboo layers optionally adhered to a paper backer. In one embodiment, a single raw bamboo assembly is adhered to a base or core substrate. Optionally, a second bamboo assembly is coupled to the first bamboo assembly, with or without a core layer sandwiched in between the bamboo assemblies, such that the card's top face includes a first bamboo layer and the card's bottom face includes a second bamboo layer. One or more image or graphic layers are then either printed directly onto the raw bamboo layer or laminated thereto. Optional protective substrates, films, or coatings are applied to or over the bamboo assembly to protect by sandwiching the one or more ink or printed layers between the protective layer and the raw bamboo layers.

A card encoding system comprises a belt to receive an encodable card on a first surface of the belt; a contactless encoding module including an encoding antenna, wherein the encoding antenna is positioned opposite a second surface of the belt; and a belt drive controller configured to rotate a drive roller to move the belt to position the encodable card for encoding using the encoding antenna.

A card encoding system comprises a belt to receive an encodable card on a first surface of the belt; a contactless encoding module including an encoding antenna, wherein the encoding antenna is positioned opposite a second surface of the belt; and a belt drive controller configured to rotate a drive roller to move the belt to position the encodable card for encoding using the encoding antenna.

A card reader includes a writing coil that is provided to a magnetic head for recording magnetic data in a magnetic card, and a drive circuit that supplies a write current to the writing coil. The drive circuit is a chopping circuit that supplies a chopping current, on/off of which is switched in a specified cycle, as the write current to the writing coil. An on/off cycle of the chopping current is a cycle in which a length of a magnetized pattern in a recording direction is shorter than a reading gap formed in a core around which the writing coil is wound or a core around which a reading coil being separately provided from the writing coil is wound, the magnetized pattern in the recording direction being formed in the magnetic card by the chopping current in a period including one each of the on and the off.

In accordance with an embodiment, a magnetic ink reading device comprises a conveyance mechanism configured to convey a sheet-like medium printed by using magnetic ink along a conveyance path; a magnetizing mechanism configured to magnetize the magnetic ink on the medium along the conveyance path; a magnetic detection head, arranged in the vicinity of the magnetizing mechanism along the conveyance path, configured to read magnetism of the magnetized magnetic ink; a cylindrical roller member, arranged to face the magnetic detection head across the conveyance path, configured to press the medium conveyed along the conveyance path against the magnetic detection head to be capable of rotating along the surface of the medium; and a rotating shaft configured to rotatably support the roller member and contact an inner wall of the roller member at the axial center of the roller member.

A card reader includes a writing coil that is provided to a magnetic head for recording magnetic data in a magnetic card, and a drive circuit that supplies a write current to the writing coil. The drive circuit is a chopping circuit that supplies a chopping current, on/off of which is switched in a specified cycle, as the write current to the writing coil. An on/off cycle of the chopping current is a cycle in which a length of a magnetized pattern in a recording direction is shorter than a reading gap formed in a core around which the writing coil is wound or a core around which a reading coil being separately provided from the writing coil is wound, the magnetized pattern in the recording direction being formed in the magnetic card by the chopping current in a period including one each of the on and the off.

A card processing device may include a card reader and a printer. The printer may include an ink ribbon cartridge; a thermal head; and a cover member. The ink ribbon cartridge may include a supply roll and a take-up roll. The thermal head may heat the ink ribbon and transfer ink to the card. The card reader may be on a front side of the thermal head, and a part of the card reader may be on a lower side of the supply roll or the take-up roll. The cover member may pivot between a closed position and open position. A conveyance path may be provided inside the card reader and the printer. A part of the conveyance path inside the card reader may be a first conveyance path. The card reader may include an upper frame. The upper frame may pivot between a closed position and open position.

Information is written onto the surface of an object using both an optically identifiable pattern and subregions that exhibit differing magnetic properties. The optically identifiable pattern is printed onto a printed region on the surface of the object using a printing medium that contains magnetic particles. The printed region includes both a first subregion that exhibits a first prevailing magnetization direction and a second subregion that exhibits a second prevailing magnetization direction. The first magnetization direction differs from the second magnetization direction. The first and second magnetization directions are imparted to the first and second subregions by magnetic fields being applied to the magnetic particles. An edge between the first subregion and the second subregion does not coincide with any boundary of the optically identifiable pattern. The printed region contains both optically encoded information and magnetically encoded information. Additional information is decoded using both the optically and magnetically encoded information.

A magnetic information processing apparatus for registering transaction information on a line in a document and storing the location of the line in magnetic media attached to the document, includes a magnetic head, a document receptacle configured to receive the document on which the magnetic media storing the position where the immediately previous transaction information is registered is attached, and a processing unit. The processing unit is programmed to control the magnetic head to read information from a first position of the magnetic media, move to a second position of the magnetic media, and read additional information from the second position of the magnetic media, extract registration position information indicating the location of the most recent previous registration position from the result of reading of the first and second positions of the magnetic media by the magnetic head, and output the extracted registration position information.