KR20040075202A - Case-mounting-type loop antenna having enhanced sensible area and credit card reader mounting thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A loop antenna fixed to an outer case and a credit card reader equipped with the same are provided to use a contact and a contactless card by equipping with the loop antenna and an RF(Radio Frequency) recognition module, and easily install a structure of a present contact card reader when the RF recognition module is installed. CONSTITUTION: An upper cover(140) is equipped with a display window(120), a card inserting slot(130), and a dial(100) of the credit card reader(100). A lower base(145) forms the outer case of the credit card reader by being combined with the upper cover as one body. A signal processing PCB(Printed Circuit Board)(168) installed to the lower base includes an RF processor processing an RF signal and outputting a digital signal, and a signal processor processing the digital signal. The loop antenna(162) combined with the RF processor has a bent shape, in order to be placed to an inner side of the upper cover, form a loop along a corner of the upper cover, and place the loop to an upper part and a side of the upper cover in case that the upper cover is combined with the lower base.

Description

Enclosure fixed loop antenna and credit card reader equipped with it {CASE-MOUNTING-TYPE LOOP ANTENNA HAVING ENHANCED SENSIBLE AREA AND CREDIT CARD READER MOUNTING THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a loop antenna having an extended detectable area and a credit card reader equipped with the same. More particularly, the present invention has a high sensitivity over a wider spatial area and at the same time can be easily changed without changing the structure of a conventional credit card reader. It is to provide a loop antenna that can be easily mounted, and a credit card reader capable of payment using a contactless card mounted thereon.

In addition to contact cards such as magnetic cards, which have conventionally been used as a payment means such as credit cards, a large number of non-contact cards such as traffic cards have been used in recent years. A commonly used traffic card is a contactless wireless identification card that is similar in size to a credit card with a contactless RF electronic chip and a loop antenna.

In addition, in consideration of the widespread use of personal mobile communication terminals in recent years, in order to reduce the inconvenience of always carrying such a wireless recognition card separately from the personal mobile communication terminal, the movement of PCS phones, mobile phones, PDAs, etc. Contactless RF wireless recognition cards are widely used to store personal card information in a terminal and wirelessly transmit the stored card information in the form of an RF signal during a credit transaction.

However, contactless cards, such as RF wireless recognition cards, are not yet widely used, and contact credit cards are still used in commerce, and most businesses still use conventional contact card readers. Apart from the inconvenience of having a non-contact card reader.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a composite card reader that can be used together with a contactless card and a contact card by embedding a loop antenna and RF radio recognition module.

In addition, the present invention, when mounting a wireless recognition module such as a loop antenna in order to have the function of such a contactless card reader, a loop antenna of a new structure that can be easily mounted without greatly modifying the structure of the existing contact card reader. It is to provide.

In addition, the present invention is not only easy to mount, but also to further extend the wireless recognition possible range to provide a loop antenna that can recognize a high sensitivity over a wider spatial area and a card reader equipped with the same.

1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a card reader of the present invention as seen from the outside.

2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a loop antenna of the present invention and a card reader equipped with the same.

3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a loop antenna of the present invention and a card reader equipped with the same.

4 illustrates the configuration of a card reader in a state where the loop antenna of the present invention is mounted.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the construction of one embodiment of a card reader equipped with a loop antenna of the present invention.

6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the loop antenna of the present invention.

7 is an explanatory diagram showing a detectable area extended by a loop antenna of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: card reader 110: key input unit

120: display unit 130: contact leader

140: enclosure 150: cutter support

152: cutter 162: antenna unit

164: RF processing unit 166: antenna side connection

167: device side connection portion 168: signal processing portion

180: output unit 182: output paper

C: Connector part

200: card reader 210: key input unit

220: display unit 230: contact leader

250: control unit 255: interface unit

262: antenna unit 264: RF processing unit

268: signal processor 300: contact card

400: cell phone 500: contactless card

S: Substrate

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a credit card reader having a function of recognizing a contactless card, in addition to a function of recognizing a contact card, the display window of the credit card reader, A top cover part provided with a card insertion groove and a dial; A lower plate base portion integrally coupled with the upper plate cover portion to constitute an enclosure of a credit card reader; A signal processing board mounted on the lower base part, the RF processing unit processing a high frequency (RF) signal and outputting a digital signal, and a signal processing unit processing the digital signal; Coupled to the RF processor of the signal processing substrate, when the upper cover part is coupled to the lower base part, the upper cover part is located inside the upper cover part to form a loop along an edge of the upper cover part, and the loop is It includes a loop antenna portion having a shape bent to be positioned over a portion of the upper surface and the side of the upper cover portion.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a credit card reader is a credit card reader having a function of recognizing a contactless card in addition to a function of recognizing a contact card, and a display window and a card insertion of the credit card reader. A top cover part having a groove and a dial; A lower plate base portion integrally coupled with the upper plate cover portion to constitute an enclosure of a credit card reader; A signal processing board mounted on the lower plate base unit and including a signal processing unit to process the digital signal; A loop coupled to the top cover part and positioned inside the top cover part to form a loop along an outer edge of the top cover part, and having a shape bent such that the loop is positioned over the top and side surfaces of the top cover part; An antenna unit; An RF processor connected to the loop antenna unit to process a high frequency signal and output a digital signal; And a connection unit for transmitting the digital output signal of the RF processing unit to the signal processing substrate.

Preferably, in the credit card reader of the present invention, the loop antenna unit and the connection unit are integrally formed and detachable from the signal processing substrate through the connection unit.

In addition, the contactless card is a remote contactless card, such as a mobile phone, smart card, characterized in that using the RF as the carrier frequency.

In addition, the loop antenna may have a shape bent in a range of 45 degrees to 135 degrees so as to correspond to an angle between a part of an upper surface of the upper cover part and a side surface on which the loop antenna is mounted.

A loop antenna module according to another aspect of the present invention, in addition to a function of recognizing a contact card, is provided with a function of recognizing a contactless card, and includes a display window, a card insertion groove, and a dial. A credit including a signal processing substrate including an upper cover portion, a lower plate base portion integrally coupled to the upper plate cover portion to form an enclosure of a credit card reader, and a signal processing portion mounted on the lower plate base portion to process the digital signal. A loop antenna module mountable in a card reader, coupled to the top cover part, positioned inside the top cover part, and forming a loop along the periphery of the top cover part, wherein the loops are formed on top and side surfaces of the top cover part. A loop antenna portion having a shape bent to be positioned over the loop antenna; An RF processor connected to the loop antenna unit to process a high frequency signal and output a digital signal; And a connection unit for transmitting the digital output signal of the RF processing unit to the signal processing substrate.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiment of this invention is described in detail with reference to an accompanying drawing.

1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a card reader of the present invention as seen from the outside. As shown in Fig. 1, the card reader 100 of the present invention has the same appearance and basic configuration as a conventional contact card reader.

In the case of using a contact card, the credit card information is read through the contact reader 130 in the same manner as the contact card reader of the related art, the dial number is input from the outside through the key input unit 110, and the display unit is displayed. Through 120, it is possible to recognize various information such as transaction status from the outside.

In addition, the receipt according to the transaction result is output so that the traders can receive in the form of a document through the output unit 180, as shown in FIG. At this time, the detachable cutter unit 150 is provided in order to exchange the output paper and cut and use it to a suitable size from the outside, and the cutter unit 150 is provided with a cutter blade 152. The output paper 182 is discharged to the outside through slots adjacent to the cutter blade 152.

Since the basic operation of the above contact card reader is the same as that of the prior art card reader, further detailed discussion is avoided.

The buyer who makes a credit transaction generally stands on the side adjacent to the side on which the cutter unit 150 is provided, and the trader is on the opposite side. Therefore, in case of using a contactless card, if the roof antenna is mounted using the upper part and the side of the top cover part of the device enclosure, the contactless type has a high sensitivity over a wider spatial range without significantly changing the existing structure. The present invention has been derived from the idea that a card reader mounted card reader can be provided.

The card reader of the present invention mounts the loop antenna using the structure of the upper surface portion and the side surface of the upper cover portion of the device enclosure. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a loop antenna of the present invention and a card reader equipped with the same.

As shown in FIG. 2, the loop antenna module of the present embodiment includes an antenna unit 162 and an RF processor 164. The antenna unit 162 has the same structure as a conventional loop antenna, but has a configuration that is bent in a "-" shape as a whole, unlike a general loop antenna configured in a simple plane.

This bent shape of the antenna portion 162 makes the antenna portion 162 easy to mount on the inner side of the upper surface portion of the upper cover portion 140 constituting the device enclosure and directly across the side surface. . Accordingly, it is possible to easily mount without changing the structure of the device including the top cover portion 140 of the existing card reader 100.

The antenna unit 162 includes a loop antenna and is connected to the RF processor 164 as shown in FIG. 2. The RF processor 164 is generally configured in the form of a single chip, but may also be configured as a set of one or more separate modules. The RF processor 164 receives an RF signal recognized by the antenna unit 162 and converts the RF signal into a digital signal. For example, an RF signal having a high frequency signal of about 13.56 MHz is generally used.

FIG. 4 illustrates the lower plate base 145 when the upper cover part 140 is coupled, the signal processing substrate therein, the antenna unit 162 and the RF processor 164 coupled thereto, and the like. It is a figure which shows the structure of.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the antenna unit 162 and the RF processing unit 164 are directly connected integrally to process the RF signal, and the digital signal output after that is internally connected through the predetermined connection. It is preferable that the configuration to be delivered to the signal processing unit provided on the signal processing substrate of. Through this configuration, various problems related to the processing of the high frequency signal, which may be generated due to the direct transmission of the RF signal into the device, may be prevented.

2 and 4 have a structure in which the antenna unit 162 and the RF processing unit 164 are directly coupled to a signal processing board mounted on the lower plate base unit 145, and the upper plate cover unit 140 may be removed. At this time, the antenna unit 162 and the RF processing unit 164 is fixed to the lower plate base portion 145 as it is so that only the upper cover portion 140 is detachable structure.

3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the loop antenna 162 is coupled to the top cover part 140 to move integrally with the top cover part 140. The loop antenna 162 is connected to the RF processor 164 to transmit a high frequency signal. The RF processor processes the high frequency signal, converts the signal into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal through the connection units 165 and 166.

The loop antenna constituting the antenna unit 162 is attached to the inner surface of the upper cover part 140 so as to cover a part of the upper surface and the side surface of the upper cover part 140 along its periphery, avoiding the cutter part 150. The connecting parts 165 and 166 protruding from the lower end of the antenna part 162 are connected to the signal processing part 168 mounted on the lower plate base part by being coupled to the device side connecting part 167 mounted on the reader body opposite thereto. For the connection with the signal processing unit 168, known means such as the connector C may be employed, and any modification for other connection and connection is possible.

The signal processor 168 may be configured in the form of a single substrate as illustrated in FIG. 3, or may be achieved by combining modules configured on a plurality of substrates, or may perform signal processing and driving of a conventional contact card reader. May be configured together on a circuit board.

The loop antenna of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a structure that is bent by the letter “a”, so that the loop antenna of the present invention can be easily installed in an existing contact card reader, and as shown in FIG. Further expansion allows for high sensitivity recognition over a wider spatial domain. That is, the contactless card reader of the prior art has a loop antenna formed in a single plane, the advantage of such a structure is simple and easy to manufacture in a single sheet-like thin plate structure, but opposed to the plane on which the loop antenna is formed There was a problem in that it has a high sensitivity only when the non-contact card or the like is located on the side.

However, since the loop antenna of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a bent structure, it is easy to mount, and a card reader equipped with the loop antenna is high even when a contactless card or the like is placed on the top and front of the device. The sensitivity can be recognized, and as shown in FIG. 7, the spatial recognition area Z of the contactless card reader can be further expanded.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the construction of one embodiment of a card reader of the present invention. The card reader 200 of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 5 is a display unit 220 for displaying an operation state by a display unit such as a contact reader 230 that recognizes a conventional contact card 300 and a monitor installed outside the apparatus. ), An output unit 280 for outputting a result in the form of a document such as a receipt to the outside of the device, a key input unit 210, an interface unit 255 provided with an external communication port, etc., a control unit 250 for controlling the operation of each unit And an antenna unit 262 for recognizing contactless payment means such as a contactless card 500 or a mobile phone 400, an RF processor 264 for processing a wireless signal detected by the antenna unit, and a digital signal. And a signal processor 268.

6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the loop antenna of the present invention. The antenna unit 162 and the RF processor 164 of the loop antenna of the present invention may be configured on a flexible printed circuit board (PCB), as shown in FIG.

The flexible printed circuit board may be made of, for example, polyimide resin or polyester (PET), and may be manufactured and bent through general exposure, development, and etching processes.

In the case of using such a flexible PCB, the antenna unit 162 and the RF processor 164 connected thereto have an advantage of providing an appropriate mechanical strength and facilitating the integral formation. However, the antenna unit 162 is not necessarily formed in such a structure, and the antenna unit 162 is formed of only the conductors without a separate substrate, and only the RF processing unit 164 and the connection unit 166 are formed on the small substrate. It is also possible to modify the manner of connecting to.

In addition, the shape of the antenna unit 162 is not necessarily a structure formed by bending it on the basis of a rectangular shape having a structure as shown in Figure 6, the shape before bending is according to the design of the top cover portion 140 It can be manufactured modified to be easy to insert. In this case, it is preferable to bend the letter "a" in order to be more easily recognized even when a contactless card or the like is placed on the top or side of the reader. The bending angle can vary depending on the enclosure structure of the device, and generally can be applied in the range of about 45 degrees to 135 degrees.

The RF processor 164 is connected to the signal processor 168 formed in the reader body through the connector 166. In this case, since the power supply voltage Vcc, the ground voltage GND, the reception signal RX, and the transmission signal TX should be transmitted to the RF processor 164 according to a conventional method, the connection unit 166 may transfer these signals. It is desirable to have independent terminals that can.

The contactless card 400 suitable for the application of the present invention may be a conventional remote type microwave (RF) contactless card, and this type of card does not need to be in close contact with or inserted into a card reader, thus causing mechanical wear. There is no concern such as static electricity, moisture, pollution, etc., there is an advantage that can be used almost semi-permanently. These cards have their standards and protocols set by the ISO (ISO7816, ISO14443, etc.), smart cards, memory cards, chip-in cards or intelligent cards, etc. It is called by various names. Mifare type smart cards, which are widely used for the use of traffic cards, fall into this category, and a wireless contactless card reader having a function of reading such a card is provided by the present invention.

As described above, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but it should be taken as exemplary, and various modifications not described above are possible without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the enclosure of the device is configured by the combination of the upper plate cover portion 140 and the lower plate base portion 145 has been described, but the upper plate cover portion 140 and the lower plate base portion ( 145 may be made of a combination of a plurality of separate parts, respectively, and do not configure the antenna to recognize using only a portion of the upper surface and the side of the front side of the top cover portion 140 of the reader rather than a portion of the upper surface and the other side The antenna unit 162 may be inserted by using the same.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the claims below, but also by the equivalents of the claims.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a complex card reader in which a loop antenna, an RF wireless recognition module, and the like are embedded to enable the use of a contactless card and a contact card together. In addition, the present invention provides a loop antenna that can be easily mounted without significantly modifying the structure of a conventional contact card reader and can recognize a high sensitivity over a wider spatial area by further extending the wireless recognition range. It is possible to provide a mounted card reader.

Claims (7)

In addition to the function of recognizing a contact card, a credit card reader equipped with a function to recognize a contactless card, A top cover part provided with a display window, a card insertion groove, and a dial of the credit card reader; A lower plate base portion integrally coupled with the upper plate cover portion to constitute an enclosure of a credit card reader; A signal processing board mounted on the lower base part, the RF processing unit processing a high frequency (RF) signal and outputting a digital signal, and a signal processing unit processing the digital signal; Coupled to the RF processor of the signal processing substrate, when the upper cover part is coupled to the lower base part, the upper cover part is located inside the upper cover part to form a loop along an edge of the upper cover part, and the loop is Credit card reader comprising a loop antenna having a shape bent to be located over a portion of the top surface and the side of the top cover. In addition to the function of recognizing a contact card, a credit card reader equipped with a function to recognize a contactless card, A top cover part provided with a display window, a card insertion groove, and a dial of the credit card reader; A lower plate base portion integrally coupled with the upper plate cover portion to constitute an enclosure of a credit card reader; A signal processing board mounted on the lower plate base unit and including a signal processing unit to process the digital signal; A loop coupled to the top cover part and positioned inside the top cover part to form a loop along an outer edge of the top cover part, and having a shape bent such that the loop is positioned over the top and side surfaces of the top cover part; An antenna unit; An RF processor connected to the loop antenna unit to process a high frequency signal and output a digital signal; And And a connection unit for transmitting the digital output signal of the RF processing unit to the signal processing board. The method of claim 2, And the loop antenna unit and the connection unit are integrally formed and detachable from the signal processing board through the connection unit. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The contactless card is a remote contactless card, such as a mobile phone or a smart card, and uses a RF as a carrier frequency credit card reader. The method of claim 4, wherein The loop antenna has a shape bent in the range of 45 degrees to 135 degrees so as to correspond to the angle between the upper surface portion and the side of the upper cover portion to which the loop antenna is mounted. In addition to a function of recognizing a contact card, the card is provided with a function of recognizing a contactless card, and includes a top cover part provided with a display window, a card insertion groove and a dial, and a credit card integrated with the top cover part. A loop antenna module mountable on a credit card reader comprising a lower plate base portion constituting an enclosure of a reader and a signal processing board mounted on the lower plate base portion and a signal processor for processing the digital signal, A loop coupled to the top cover part and positioned inside the top cover part to form a loop along an outer edge of the top cover part, and having a shape bent such that the loop is positioned over the top and side surfaces of the top cover part; An antenna unit; An RF processor connected to the loop antenna unit to process a high frequency signal and output a digital signal; And And a connection unit for transmitting the digital output signal of the RF processing unit to the signal processing board. The method of claim 6, The loop antenna has a loop antenna module, characterized in that it has a shape bent in the range of 45 degrees to 135 degrees to match the angle between the upper surface portion and the side surface of the upper cover portion on which the loop antenna is mounted.