JP2000132647A - Portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make readable a bar code and an IC card with a single unit and to facilitate miniaturization by installing an antenna on the main body side so that an optical path, where bar code reading light installed in a main body advances, becomes an antenna center idle part. SOLUTION: In the case of reading information filled in a bar code symbol stuck to commodity, a reading window 2 is brought close to the bar code symbol and an operation switch 1B is turned on. Then, reading light is emitted/projected to the bar code symbol from a bar code reader part through the reading window 2 and information filled in the bar bode symbol can be read. For reading information filled in the IC card, the antenna 3 of a main body 1 is brought close to the transmission/reception part of the IC card and an operation switch 1A is turned on. Thus, the damping alternating magnetic field of a prescribed frequency is transmitted from a transmission/reception part to the transmission/ reception part of an IC card-side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is capable of reading a bar code or a data carrier described on a bar code symbol attached to an appropriate product or the like, for example.
The present invention relates to a portable terminal capable of performing both reading and writing of information on a C card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of bar code readers have been developed and used for optically reading, for example, a bar code described in a bar code symbol by a laser beam or the like emitted from an appropriate light emitting means.

[0003]

However, such a bar code reader is configured to exclusively perform optical reading, and therefore, for example, it is necessary to read information by other methods. Can not. That is, in recent years, IC cards have been used in various fields, but in order to read the IC cards, a dedicated reader / writer is required. For example, a non-contact IC card has been developed which is provided with an antenna in order to read information inside the IC card using an electromagnetic induction phenomenon or the like.

However, in such a reader / writer, when information is read or written from completely different objects such as a bar code and an IC card, a separate reader / writer is required for each, which is inconvenient. Inviting.

[0005] As shown in FIG. 4, a configuration in which an IC card and a barcode are read and written by the same reader / writer has been proposed and developed. Reading unit 101 used
Since the read / write unit 103 of the IC card provided with the antenna 102 is formed in a completely separate part, the read operation or the like is complicated and the operability is reduced.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a portable terminal which can read a bar code and an IC card as a single device and which is particularly easy to miniaturize and suitable as a hand-held terminal. It is intended to provide.

[0007]

That is, the present invention according to claim 1 is a portable terminal which reads and writes an IC card and reads a bar code in a non-contact manner, wherein the portable terminal reads and writes the IC card. The writing antenna is composed of a flat and helical shape with the center empty, and this antenna is placed on the main body side so that the optical path of the bar code reading light provided on the main body is located at the center of the antenna. It was installed.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a portable terminal which serves both as an IC card reader / writer and a barcode reader / writer according to the present invention. This portable terminal has a light emitting reading window 2 opened at the tip of a main body 1. The antenna 3 is formed so that the window 2 is not blocked.

The main body 1 is of a hand-held type that can be operated by holding it with a hand.
Switching buttons 1A and 1B are attached to switch the operation between an IC card operation and a barcode operation.

The antenna 3 has a spiral shape formed to be as thin as the thickness of its own material. Specifically, in this embodiment, the antenna 2 and the window 2 are formed in accordance with the shape of the tip of the main body 1. Substantially rectangular substrate 30 having a central hole 30A opened.
(See FIG. 2), a transmission / reception unit 31 formed in a predetermined spiral pattern with a copper foil or the like is formed. In this embodiment, the central hole 30A is opened in the substrate 30 so as not to block the optical path through which the reading light such as laser light (emitted from the light source) passes, but the reading light is almost attenuated. As long as the substrate is formed of a material that can be transmitted in a wet state (with a high transmittance), it is not necessary to open the holes. Further, even if the substrate is made of a material having low permeability, it is possible to close the central hole of the substrate by using a material having high permeability.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, for example, when reading information described on a bar code symbol affixed to a product, the operation switch 1B is turned on after bringing the reading window 2 close to the bar code symbol. Then, the reading light is emitted and projected from the barcode reader unit 4 (see FIG. 3) to the barcode symbol (not shown) through the reading window 2, and the information described in the barcode symbol can be read.

On the other hand, when reading information recorded on the IC card, the antenna 3 of the main body 1 is brought close to the transmission / reception section of the IC card (in a non-contact state) and the operation switch 1A is turned on. As a result, an alternating magnetic field of a predetermined frequency (for example, several hundred kHz) is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 31 to the transmission / reception unit on the IC card side, and the received magnetic field is guided to the transmission / reception unit on the IC card side. An electric current is generated.

As a result, in the case of an IC card having no power supply, this induced current is equivalent to the fact that the induced current is eventually supplied from the power supply. The information is transmitted from the transmission / reception unit to the transmission / reception unit 31 of the portable terminal as an electromagnetic wave, and the stored information on the IC card side can be quickly read.

As described above, according to the portable terminal of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a bar code reading section (bar code reader section 4) and an IC card reading / reading section are provided.
The writing portion (antenna 3) is formed very close. As a result, when reading a barcode or IC card, the portable terminal body does not need to be delicately moved.
This is extremely effective when a large number of C cards are read. Further, for example, when a bar code symbol is written on the IC card, it is possible to turn on the operation switches of both the IC card and the bar code symbol, and to simultaneously read and write information. .

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, an antenna for reading and writing an IC card is formed of a flat spiral shape having a hollow inside, and a bar code provided on the front end side of the main body. Since this antenna is installed on the front end side of the main body so that the optical path where the reading light travels becomes the central hollow portion of the antenna, in other words, a dedicated information reading device like the conventional one is separately prepared according to each information. Since there is no necessity, the information of both the IC card and the barcode can be read and written by using one small device, and the read and write operability can be remarkably improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of a portable terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an antenna of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the internal structure of the portable terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the internal structure of a conventional reader / writer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 body 2 reading window 3 antenna 4 barcode reader

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masao Goto 1-19-9 Tsutsumori, Sumida-ku, Tokyo Nippon Electric Seiki Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B058 CA15 KA01 5B072 AA03 AA08 CC24 DD01 JJ11 JJ14 LL12

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A portable terminal that reads and writes an IC card in a non-contact manner and reads a bar code, wherein the antenna for reading and writing the IC card has a flat, helical shape with a central portion empty. A portable terminal, wherein the antenna is installed on the main body side such that an optical path provided on the main body, through which the barcode reading light travels, is located at the center of the antenna.