JPH10162111A - Ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the usability by displaying a part of the contents of a variable information storage element at a display part with an operation button and then enabling the user to read necessary information on the balance, etc., without going to the installation place of a reader. SOLUTION: The IC card 1 is provided with a display unit 5 which uses an LCD, an LED, etc., and displays part of the contents of at least the variable information storage element, and operation buttons 61A to 61C for turning ON and OFF the display of the display unit 5 and changing its display contents are provided. Further, a display control part for controlling the display unit 5 and operation buttons is provided. The display control part consists of a decoder circuit which transmits the operation contents of the operation buttons to a CPU and a driving circuit which drives the display unit 5 with the output from the CPU. A battery which is normally built in to hold the storage is used as the power source which drives the said parts. If a battery is provided separately, a thin type such as a lithium ion battery and a solar battery B is preferably used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card such as a credit card and a bank card.
Specifically, the increased storage capacity improves security,
IC equipped with IC memory, CPU, etc. for the purpose of expanding applications by enabling storage of variable information
Pertains to cards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows the structure of a conventional IC card 90 of this type.
A fixed information storage element 92, which is called M or the like and whose stored contents do not change, and a variable information storage element 93 called a RAM or the like and whose contents can be changed at will, are provided.

Usually, the information storage elements 92, 9
Also provided is a CPU 94 for selecting and outputting necessary information from a plurality of pieces of information in 3, or for rewriting the variable information storage element 93. In actual implementation, the information storage elements 92 and 93, the CPU 94, and the like may be integrated for the purpose of simplifying the internal wiring of the IC card 90 and the like.

The IC card 90 is also provided with a terminal T for connecting the read information to an external reader or the like.
For example, a lithium ion battery B or the like for retaining the memory in the memory 3 or for causing the CPU 94 or the like to perform an operation is also provided.

[0005] With the above configuration, the IC card 90
In, since the amount of information stored inside increases dramatically, more information can be stored even in fixed information such as personal information, and security is improved. Also,
Since variable information such as a credit card usage statement for the month can be described, convenience for the user is also improved.

[0006]

However, the above-described conventional IC card 90 has a configuration in which the storage capacity of the card is simply increased by the conventional magnetic storage. However, there is a problem that there is no means for personally confirming the contents, and the contents can be confirmed only at a place where a dedicated reading device is provided.

[0007] In particular, since the IC card 90 is expected to be used as electronic money (electronic wallet), the user often checks the contents of the wallet in the same manner as the IC card 90 on the user side. It is necessary to frequently check the balance in the box, and if this cannot be done personally, the improvement of convenience will be limited, and solving this point is an issue .

[0008]

According to the present invention, as a specific means for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, there is provided an IC card having a fixed information storage element and a variable information storage element. An IC card is provided, wherein a display unit and a display control unit including an operation button are provided, and at least a part of the contents of the variable information storage element can be displayed on the display unit by operating the operation button. This solves the problem.

[0009]

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 and FIG.
Is an IC card 1 according to the present invention.
In the C card 1, for example, a fixed information storage element 2 such as a ROM for storing fixed information such as a user's name and ID number, and a variable information storage element such as a RAM for storing variable information such as transaction contents of the current month, for example. 3 and a CPU 4 for controlling the storage elements 2 and 3 are the same as the conventional example.

Here, in the present invention, the IC card 1 is provided with a display 5 such as an LCD or LED, and at the same time, the display 5 is turned on / off or the display content is changed. At least one of the operation buttons 6 is provided. FIG. 1 shows an example in which three operation buttons 61A to 61C are provided.

At this time, the display 5, the operation buttons 6
1 and the like are incorporated in the thin IC card 1, so that the display 5 is preferably a thin type such as a film-type LCD or a polymer-type LED (also known as an organic LED). It is preferably a thin type such as a film type.

Since the display 5 and the operation buttons 61 are provided, a power supply for driving the display 5 and the operation buttons 61 are naturally required. In many cases, a battery is usually built in, so that the battery may be used. However, if a separate battery is provided, this battery is also a lithium ion battery, or a solar battery B as shown in the illustrated example. For example, it is preferable to adopt a thin type.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the IC card 1. The display 5 and the operation buttons 61 are provided as described above, and the display control unit 6 for controlling these is provided. Have been. The display control unit 6 includes the operation button 61, a decoder circuit 62 that transmits the operation content of the operation button 61 to the CPU 4,
And a drive circuit 63 for driving the display 5 with the output from

Although FIG. 2 shows that the decoder circuit 62 and the drive circuit 63 of the display control unit 6 are provided independently for easy understanding,
In actual implementation, it is not necessary to provide them separately. For example, the decoder circuit 62 may be stored in the CPU 4 as a program, and the drive circuit 63 employs a model in which the CPU 4 itself has the function. Is also good.

Next, the operation and effect of the IC card 1 of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described. At this time, the description will be made on the assumption that the IC card 1 is used as an electronic wallet and a credit card. First, when the user performs shopping or the like, the operation buttons 6
When 1A is pressed, the decoder circuit 62 informs the CPU 4 that the operation button 61A has been pressed.

If the function assigned to the operation button 61A is to check the balance of the electronic wallet, the CPU 4 causes the display unit 5 to display the amount of money currently remaining in the IC card 1 via the drive circuit 63. Therefore, the user can check the balance only with the IC card 1 without using a reader or the like, so that the user can take measures such as replenishing the amount in advance.

In this embodiment, the operation buttons 61B
When is pressed, the usage record of the current month when the IC card 1 is used as a credit card is displayed, and when the operation button 61C is pressed, the balance of the bank deposit is displayed. Therefore, the user can easily confirm the budget execution state of the current month by pressing the three operation buttons 61A to 61C.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the previous embodiment, for example, when the operation button 61A is pressed, the balance is directly displayed.
If a third party is found by the third party, there is a risk that the balance may be misused. Therefore, in this embodiment, a log-on / log-off function is provided in the decoder circuit 62, and a timer circuit 64 is further provided.

At this time, the timer circuit 64 is activated from the output of the operation buttons 61A to 61C via the OR gate 64a. Therefore, even if any of the operation buttons 61A to 61C is operated, the timer circuit 64 is operated. 64 is activated and holds the decoder circuit 62 in an operating state for a predetermined time period.

Then, within a predetermined time period set in the timer circuit 64, the user makes a procedure unique to each IC card 1, for example, 61A → (61A + 61B) →
If the operation buttons 61A to 61C are operated in the order of 61B → (61B + 61C) → 61C, the logon is performed, and the operation buttons 61A to 61C have the functions of the previous embodiment.

Here, when the operation is performed by the finder, the finder does not know the above-mentioned operation procedure. Therefore, the finder must perform the predetermined procedure within the predetermined time set in the timer circuit 64. Therefore, the decoder circuit 62 ends its operation at the end of the set time limit of the timer circuit 64, does not log on, and thus does not read the internal information.

If it is desired to further improve the security, the operation of the operation buttons 61A to 61C is performed, for example, three times continuously without logging on, for example, by installing a counting circuit in the decoder circuit 62. If performed, the IC card 1 is determined to have been used illegally.
It is possible to freely stop the function as.

When logon is normally performed and information reading is completed, for example, the operation buttons 61A to 61
If all of C are pressed at the same time, the logoff is performed, and the operation buttons 61A to 61C do not at least display the internal information unless the above procedure is performed again. Therefore, the IC card 1 of this embodiment cannot read the internal information even when the third party has stolen or found it.

In addition, although the above description has been made with reference to the example in which the operation buttons 61 are plural, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of operation buttons 61 may be one. In this case, the operation procedure described above may be a combination of the length of the pressing time, such as a Morse code.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, I
The C card is provided with a display unit and a display control unit including operation buttons, and is an IC card capable of displaying at least a part of the contents of the variable information storage element on the display unit by operating the operation buttons. Therefore, for example, information required by the user, such as the balance when an electronic wallet is used, can be read without going to the place where the reader is installed, for example, at a bank store, and the convenience is extremely improved. It is effective.

In addition to the above, the display control unit is provided with at least one operation button and a timer, and the display unit is operated only when the operation button is operated in a predetermined operation procedure within a predetermined time. The use of an IC card that displays information on an IC card has an excellent effect of preventing unauthorized use, for example, when data is stolen or cannot be read out by a third party, thereby improving security.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an IC card according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the same IC card.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the IC card according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... IC card 2 ... Fixed information storage element 3 ... Variable information storage element 4 ... CPU 5 ... Display 6 ... Display control part 61 (A, B, C) ... Operation buttons 62 ... Decoder Circuit 63 ... Drive circuit 64 ... Timer circuit B ... Battery

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An IC card having a fixed information storage element and a variable information storage element, wherein the IC card is provided with a display unit and a display control unit including an operation button. An IC card wherein a part of the contents of a variable information storage element can be displayed on the display unit. 2. The display control unit includes at least one operation button and a timer. The display control unit is provided with the operation button only when the operation button is operated in a predetermined operation procedure within a predetermined time. 2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein the display is performed.