JPH05342433A - Data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the latch-up destruction of elements or massive through currents to be generated in the case of the hot-line insertion/ejection of a card by providing the IC card equipped with an electrode and a fitting detector. CONSTITUTION:Since a main body device side ground 20 and an IC card side ground 21 are connected in the state of fitting an IC card 9, an electrode 11 and a fitting detector 10 in contact with it are also turned to a low level, an analog switch 15 is turned on, and a buffer circuit 14 is conducted. Next, the electrode 11 is moved to the right with the start of insertion/ejection, the fitting detector 10 is disconnected from the electrode 11 at the moment of exceeding a prescribed distance, an electric signal 12 is changed into a high level only with the pull-up of a resistor 13, the analog switch 15 is turned off, and the buffer circuit 14 cuts off a main body device side signal 16, IC card side signal 17, main body device side power source 18 and IC card side power source 19. Since the analog switch 15 is speedily turned on/off, the through current to be generated in the case of insertion/ejection can be suppressed to an extremely small value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing device using an IC card as an auxiliary device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an IC card, which has good portability and operability and high versatility, is often used as an auxiliary device in a data processing device. A general structure of an IC card used in such a data processing device and an IC card connector on the main body side which is fitted to the IC card will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an IC card connector portion of a conventional data processing device. In the figure, 1 is an IC card connector having a plurality of input / output terminals to which an IC card 6 is fitted, 2 is a power supply pin in the input / output terminals, 3 is a ground pin, and 4 is another signal pin 4. The power supply pin 2 and the ground pin 3 are designed to be longer than the other signal pins 4. Reference numeral 5 is a protrusion 5 for preventing the incorrect insertion of the IC card 6, and the IC card 6 is provided with a notch 7 that fits into the protrusion 5.

The insertion / removal operation of the IC card of the data processing apparatus configured as described above will be described below. First,
When the IC card is inserted, first, the power supply pin 2 and the ground pin 3 of the IC card connector 1 are fitted to the IC card, and then the other signal pins 4 are fitted after they are completely electrically connected. On the contrary, when removing the IC card, the other signal pin 4 is first removed, and then the power supply pin 2 and the ground pin 3 are removed. This is because the power supply pin 2 and the ground pin 3 are fitted earlier than the other signal pins 4 and removed later than when the hot wire is inserted and removed (the IC card is inserted and removed while the main body device is powered on). The purpose is to eliminate the moment when the voltage of the internal element of the IC card 6 exceeds the power supply voltage or the voltage below the ground voltage. As a result, latch-up of IC card internal elements is avoided.

[0005]

The conventional data processing apparatus as described above has two major problems. The first problem is that the countermeasure itself may cause a problem because the pin length of the IC card connector is changed as described above to avoid latch-up. In other words, since the power supply pin and the ground pin are long, the time during which the input signal level becomes indefinite while the power supply voltage is applied to the IC card occurs on the order of milliseconds when inserting and removing, and a large through current continues to flow. is there. This not only impairs the long-term reliability of the IC card itself, but also when the power supply circuit of the main unit cannot supply this through current,
This may cause fluctuations in the power supply voltage and induce malfunctions. IC
Some cards have internal pull-up or pull-down resistors to fix the signal level to suppress shoot-through current, but this leads to increased power consumption during normal operation, making it unsuitable when the main unit is battery-operated. In many cases, resistance addition is not allowed because it conflicts with the specifications of the main unit,
It is not a solution in such cases. The basic countermeasures for removal are to detect the removal of the signal pin in advance and shut off the power supply and signal between the IC card and the main unit at the same time as quickly as possible. Waiting is to connect the power, signal.

The second problem is brought about by the widespread use of IC cards and the standardization of the outer shape, and it is caused by the fact that the outer shapes including the cutouts for preventing incorrect insertion are the same although the electrical specifications are completely different. To do. The conventional erroneous insertion prevention mechanism only needs to be able to prevent the reverse insertion of the front and back of the card. However, due to the rapid spread of IC cards, consideration is given to erroneous insertion of cards with different electrical specifications. Even if the card fits well, it must be rejected unless it can be used in the main unit.

The data processing apparatus of the present invention identifies an IC card that can be used in the main unit, and this card is an IC card.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems by permitting electrical connection only when the card connector is completely fitted.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is connected to a part of the input / output terminals inside the IC card, separately from the input / output signal terminals to the main body to be connected. An IC card having electrodes on the outer surface, and a fitting detector for electrically detecting the fitting by contacting the electrodes provided on the outer surface of the IC card, and the fitting detector detects the fitting of the IC card The data processing device includes a main body device and a buffer circuit that electrically connects the IC card to each other.

[0009]

Since the IC card of the data processing apparatus of the present invention has electrodes on the outer surface, the card that can be used in the main unit can be identified by electrically detecting the electrodes with the fitting detector. .. Furthermore, since the electrode and the fitting detector are in a positional relationship where the contact is released when the fitting is loose,
Before removing the signal pin when removing the IC card, and after inserting the signal pin when inserting, the power supply and signals of the IC card and the main body device can be connected by the buffer circuit at the next stage.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the IC card connector section of the data processing apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 8 is an IC card connector having a plurality of input / output terminals to which the IC card 9 is fitted, and the side surface portion of the IC card connector 8 is extended. A fitting detector 10 that comes into smooth contact with the side surface of the IC card 9 is installed in this extension portion.
When they are fitted together, they contact the electrode 11 provided on the side surface of the IC card 9. The electrode 11 is connected to the ground of the input / output terminal inside the IC card 9.

An electrical signal 12 connected to the fitting detector 10
Is pulled up to the power supply of the main body device by the resistor 13 and forms a plurality of analog switches 1 that constitute the buffer circuit 14.
Control 5 The buffer circuit 14 includes a main body apparatus side signal 16 and an IC card side signal 17, and a main body apparatus side power supply 18 and I.
It is inserted in series between the C-card side power supplies 19 and electrically connects or disconnects them. Main unit side ground 2
0 and the IC card side ground 21 are directly connected without passing through the buffer circuit 14. The analog switch 15
Is a type that turns on (that is, conducts) when the electric signal 12 is at a low level and turns off (interrupts) when it is at a high level, and has a reaction time on the order of nanoseconds.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the contact state between the fitting detector 10 and the electrode 11 when the IC card 9 is fitted. Point p is the tip of the fitting detector 10 and x is the withdrawal. It is the contact margin in the direction. The value of x is determined within a range satisfying x <y, where y is the fitting length of the pins of the IC card 9 and the IC card connector 8.

The operation of the data processing device and the IC card of the present invention configured as described above will be described below.

As described above, FIG. 2 shows a state in which the IC card 9 is fitted. At this time, the main unit side ground 20 and I
Since the C card side ground 21 is connected, the electrode 1
1 and the fitting detector 10 in contact with it also go low, and the analog switch 15 is turned on. With this, the buffer circuit 14 becomes conductive, and the IC card 9 is placed in the normal operation state.

With this state as the starting point, the removal of the card will be considered. The electrode 11 moves to the right in the figure with the start of the removal. At the moment when the moving distance exceeds x, the fitting detector 10 separates from the electrode 11, the electric signal 12 shifts to the high level only by pulling up the resistor 13, the analog switch 15 is turned off, and the buffer circuit 14 outputs a signal on the main unit side. 16 and the IC card side signal 17, and the main body device side power supply 18 and the IC card side power supply 19 are shut off. The above relationship of x <y provides a guarantee that this interruption is completed before the pin of the IC card 9 is removed.

On the contrary, when the IC card 9 is inserted, the series of operations relating to the removal may be reversed in time. In this case, since the timing of starting the withdrawal corresponds to the timing of completing the insertion, the buffer circuit 14 becomes conductive after the completion of the fitting of the pins.

Since the analog switch 15 is turned on and off quickly, it is possible to suppress the through current generated at the time of insertion and removal to a very small value. At this time, it is not necessary to consider the deterioration of the IC card 9, and since the burden on the power supply circuit of the main body device is not imposed, the fluctuation of the power supply voltage is not induced. Also,
Regarding latch-up, IC card side signal 17 and IC
Since the card-side power supply 19 is turned on and off at the same time within a short time of nanosecond, consideration is practically unnecessary. As described above, the present invention solves the first problem of the conventional problems. Regarding the second point, even if an unexpected IC card is inserted, it does not have the electrodes characteristic of the IC card of the present invention, the buffer circuit remains in the cutoff state, and other IC cards cannot be used. Therefore, the second problem of preventing erroneous insertion is solved.

In this embodiment, the electrode is provided on the side surface of the IC card, but it may be placed on any surface of the IC card. Further, the analog switch of the buffer circuit can be configured by a buffer IC having a tristate off state or a transceiver IC. This is particularly effective when such an IC originally exists due to the circuit configuration of the main body device. Further, the IC card of the present invention does not need any mechanism for preventing erroneous insertion due to its configuration, and may have no notch. At this time, there is no concern that the IC card of the present invention having no notch will be erroneously inserted into the conventional data processing device which is supposed to have the notch.

[0020]

As can be seen from the above embodiments, the fitting detector of the data processing device of the present invention not only identifies the IC card that can be used in the main device but also detects the start of card removal and insertion completion. The timing is also shown, and together with the buffer circuit in the next stage, it provides a basic solution to the problems of the conventional system, which has to wait passively for insertion / removal. Further, I of the present invention
By eliminating the notch for preventing the incorrect insertion of the C card as described above, it is possible to avoid the incorrect insertion into the conventional data processing device.

As described above, according to the data processing apparatus of the present invention, the simple structure and circuit are eliminated to eliminate the conventional trade-off between the latch-up and the countermeasure against the shoot-through current to improve the reliability of the entire apparatus. The problem of incorrect insertion of an IC card, which is expected to increase in the future, is solved from both sides of the main body device and the IC card.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an IC card fitting portion of a data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a fitting detector and electrodes of a data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an IC card fitting portion of a conventional data processing device.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 8 IC card connector 9 IC card 10 Fitting detector 11 Electrode 14 Buffer circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G06K 17/00 C 7459-5L

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An IC card, characterized in that, in addition to an input / output signal terminal to a main body device to be connected, an electrode connected to a part of the input / output terminal is provided on an outer surface inside the IC card. 2. A fitting detector for electrically detecting fitting by contacting an electrode provided on the outer surface of the IC card according to claim 1, and fitting of the IC card is detected by the fitting detector. A data processing device comprising a main body device and a buffer circuit for electrically connecting an IC card when the data processing is performed.