JP2000172794A - Reader and system for noncontact card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely read the contents of the card by providing a couple of antennas adjacently as antenna coils, making >=1 surface open as an insertion slot for the noncontact card, and making a specific interval sufficient. SOLUTION: An antenna block 13 provided on the top surface of the head of a gate 11 is formed into a frame which is sectioned in a U shape, a couple of antenna coils 12a and 12b are incorporated on the opposite internal side walls 13a and 13b of the U shape respectively, and thus the antenna block 13 having the antennas arranged opposite each other is provided. This antenna block 13 is characterized by that the width of the insertion opening part of the U shape is about 5 to 10 cm and, preferably, a little less than the length of the noncontact card along its short side and the length of the noncontact card along the short side has depth larger than it. Further, an open space is formed in the front-rear direction. Thus, at least one surface is made open as the insertion slot for the card and the specific interval is made large enough to supply electric power to the noncontact card with a radio wave.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-contact card reader and a non-contact card system, and more particularly, to a non-contact card and its card using a commuter pass, a non-contact management card, etc. in an automatic ticket gate system, an entrance / exit management system, and the like. The present invention relates to an improvement in a reading unit of a non-contact card reader that can reliably read the contents of a card when exchanging information with a reader by electromagnetic induction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, non-contact radio waves are transmitted using radio waves by a commuter pass, a non-contact management card, etc. and a reader / writer (R / W) at a gate of an automatic ticket gate system, an entrance / exit management system, etc. Communication systems have been proposed, some of which have entered the experimental phase or are being implemented. This type of system has the advantage of being easy to use because there is no need to contact the surface of the antenna of the reader / writer or to insert it into the slot. Time can be reduced,
This has the effect of reducing traffic congestion and waiting time.

As this kind of commuter pass or management card, a non-contact IC card is used. Conventionally, a non-contact IC card has a built-in battery. However, recently, a non-contact IC card which is supplied with electric power by radio waves and transmits and receives electric power has been studied or proposed. The power supply by this radio wave is a contact type (a distance of 0
２2 mm), proximity type (2 mm or more and up to about 10 cm), and proximity type (about 70 cm or more). The contact type or the proximity type transmits and receives data at a distance of several millimeters to several centimeters in close contact or close proximity to a reader / writer. On the other hand, the proximity type is 70 cm or more 1 m from the reader / writer.
Data is transmitted and received by radio waves at a distance of about several meters to several meters to exchange information. The frequency of the radio wave used is 4.91 MHz or 13.56 MH in the contact type.
13.56 MHz is considered for the z, proximity type.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional reader / writer of this kind. Reference numeral 1 denotes a reader / writer, which is a reader / writer.
The loop antenna 3 is connected to the writer body 2 via a cable 4. This loop antenna 3 is provided on the upper surface of the automatic ticket gate. As shown in FIG. 7, the reader / writer 1 is connected to a host computer (not shown) via an interface (IF) 1a, and includes a controller (CNT) 1b, a transmission circuit 1c, and a reception circuit 1d. It has a writer body 2, the loop antenna 3, and a matching circuit 3a and an antenna coil 3b provided on the loop antenna 3 side. The antenna 3 is connected to the transmission circuit 1c and the reception circuit 1d by a cable 4. Have been. The MOD block in the transmitting circuit 1c is a modulator, and the receiving circuit 1d
Is a decoder. As shown in FIG. 8, the reader / writer 1 moves the non-contact IC card 7 close to the upper part of the antenna 3 on the upper surface of the gate 6 so that the non-contact IC card 7
When the card 7 is inserted, the reader / writer 1 reads data from the non-contact IC card 7 at this time. In addition, leader
In some cases, the writer 1 writes data from the reader / writer 1 to the non-contact IC card 7 as needed.

[0005]

In this type of proximity or proximity communication, one reader / writer 1
At a distance of about 0 cm, the reader / writer 1
It is assumed that information is exchanged with the C card 7. In the case of non-contact, the angle between the reader / writer 1 and the antenna 3 becomes a problem. Usually, the distance from the operable antenna 3 is reduced by this angle. That is, non-contact IC
The card 7 normally operates by receiving power from the reader / writer 1 via radio waves. First, when the antenna 3 of the reader / writer 1 is parallel to the direction of the radio wave radiated due to the angle between the antenna 3 and the non-contact IC card 7, almost no power is supplied. Moreover, at the same time, the output of the radio wave transmitted from the non-contact IC card 7 to the reader / writer 1 is not large,
The reader / writer 1 cannot receive the radio wave sufficiently. Even if the distance is 10 cm or less, assuming a usage form including various specific conditions, the range in which a reliable communication operation is performed is actually small, and the range is difficult for a user to understand. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the necessary communication has been reliably performed. There is a problem that is hard to understand. If the output of the antenna is increased in order to expand the communicable area, there are restrictions from the Radio Law, safety standards for the human body, and the like. This can lead to repeated communication over and over. In an automatic ticket gate and the like, the intended effect cannot be sufficiently achieved if such repeated communication is performed many times. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the related art and to surely read the contents of a card when information is exchanged between a card and a card reader by electromagnetic induction using a non-contact management card or the like. To provide a contactless card reader or a contactless card system. Another object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, to form a use space in which a user can surely communicate in an easy-to-understand form, and to determine whether necessary communication has been executed reliably. An object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact card reader or a non-contact card system which can clearly convey such information.

[0006]

The contactless card reader and the contactless card system according to the present invention for achieving the above object have a configuration in which a pair of antennas are provided adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval as antenna coils. , At least one
The surface is opened as an insertion slot of the non-contact card, and a predetermined interval is a space sufficient to supply electric power to the non-contact card by radio waves.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS By providing a pair of antenna coils at a predetermined interval and securing a space between the antenna coils as a non-contact card insertion space as described above, the user has
If inserted, the space in which the contents of the non-contact card can be reliably read is clearly specified. Moreover, the space can be a space sufficient to supply electric power to the contactless card by radio waves. This makes it easy for the user to use, and the reader can also reliably read data from the non-contact card. In particular, by making the width of the insertion opening of the non-contact card a little shorter than the length of the non-contact card in the short direction (short side), and making it the length of the non-contact card in the short direction or more, Since the inclination of the contactless card with respect to the antenna can be limited, a sufficient power supply space and communication space can be secured. As a result, communication is not repeated many times.For example, in a gate of an automatic ticket gate system, an entrance / exit management system, etc., it becomes possible to read the card at an early stage after inserting the card, and the intended effect is sufficiently achieved. Be demonstrated.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a gate portion of an embodiment to which a contactless card reader of the present invention is applied, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the antenna block, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the width of the insertion opening of the antenna block and the inserted state, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an antenna block of another embodiment, and FIG. And FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an antenna block of an embodiment in which a lighting device is provided in an insertion opening and a driving circuit diagram of the lighting device. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an antenna block of still another embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a gate of an automatic ticket gate system (or an entrance / exit management system) and the like, and 11 denotes a gate.
This is a reading area provided in the gate 10. Reference numeral 13 denotes an antenna block provided on the top upper surface of the gate 11, which is formed in a U-shaped frame as shown in FIG. 2, and has a pair of opposed inner side walls 13a and 13b of the U-shape. Antenna coils 12a and 12b are built in each,
An antenna block 13 is provided in which antennas are arranged to face each other. This indicates that the contact point of the contactless card 7 is read at the gate 10. Note that the antenna block 13 may have a built-in transmitting / receiving circuit on the bottom surface side, and may be a so-called transmitting / receiving block.
Further, a controller, an interface, and the like shown in FIG. 8 may be incorporated, and may be configured as a reader or a reader / writer as a whole.

The antenna block 13 has a U-shaped insertion opening 14 having a width W of about 5 cm to 10 cm, preferably a little shorter than the length of the non-contact card 7 in the short direction (short side). The card 7 has a length in the short direction or more. The front and rear are also open spaces. The antenna coil 12 is provided inside the side walls 13a and 13b.
a, 12b are accommodated, and a reflection plate 14a is provided behind them. The reflection plate 14a is configured such that the ones on the side walls 13a and 13b pass through the inside of the bottom surface 13c and are joined on the left and right sides to be integrated. Here, the reflection plate 14a
May be a shield plate. In the case of a shield plate, for example, it is connected to the ground GND line of the cable 4 in FIG. Antenna coil 12
a and 12b are shown in FIG. 8 through respective matching circuits.
Is connected in parallel to the transmission circuit 1c and the reception circuit 1d of the reader / writer main body 2. By simultaneous driving of the antenna coils 12a and 12b by the reader / writer body 2,
A reading area 11 having a sufficient radio field intensity can be formed in the internal space formed by the antenna coils 12a and 12b facing each other. Thus, the contactless card 7 can be sufficiently supplied with power from the reader / writer 1 by radio waves, and the reader / writer 1 can reliably receive data from the contactless card 7. At this time, communication with the reader / writer 1 becomes possible regardless of the insertion angle of the non-contact card 7. This will be described below.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the width of the insertion opening 14 of the antenna block 13 and the state of insertion. (A) is a sectional view thereof, (b) is a plan view thereof, and (c) is an explanatory view showing a state of a main beam of the antenna. Here, the width of the insertion opening 14 of the antenna block 13 is slightly shorter than the length in the short direction (short side) of the non-contact card 7,
If the contactless card 7 is brought in a horizontal state to the vicinity of the reading area 11 as shown in FIG. , The insertion opening 14 in the antenna block 13
The non-contact card 7 is inserted from the inside. At this time, it is assumed that the camera is positioned with a certain inclination. But,
Its slope is limited. That is, in a state where the non-contact card 7 is inserted, the angle θ formed with the horizontal as shown in (a), and the insertion opening 1 as shown in (b).
4 does not become zero, and the angles θ and η at which communication with the reader / writer 1 can be reliably performed.
Can be secured, and such an inclined state is set. These angles can be selected by the value of the width W of the insertion opening 14. At this time, the antenna block 13 of the reading area 11
The main beam of the radio wave generated in the internal space can be generated as an area of high radio field intensity in a state as indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 3C by driving by the reader / writer body 2. Therefore, the angle limitation of the insertion state of the non-contact card 7 and the space of the radio wave intensity area are sufficient to supply sufficient power to the non-contact card 7 and to reliably receive a signal from the non-contact card 7. I will provide a.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an antenna block according to another embodiment. The gate 10 is provided with an antenna block 13a instead of the antenna block 13 having a U-shaped cross section in FIG. The antenna block 13a has two side walls 13a, 1a housing the antenna coils 12a, 12b such that the insertion opening 14 side is open to the bottom surface 13c side.
3b is provided to be inclined outward and open outward.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views of an antenna block of an embodiment in which a lighting device is provided in an insertion opening in the embodiment of FIG. 4, wherein FIG. 5A is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a lighting circuit of FIG. In FIG. 5A, the antenna blocks 130 of FIG. 4 are provided with LED lighting devices 15a and 15b at the leading positions of both side walls 13a and 13b of the insertion opening 14, respectively. Each LED is in the longitudinal direction of the antenna block 13 (perpendicular to the paper).
Are arranged in a line along the line. In the drawing, the area indicated by the dotted line indicates the respective illumination range, and the space inside the line indicated by the two-dot chain line supplies power to the above-described non-contact card 7 and receives a signal from the non-contact card 7. It is a space with a strong radio wave intensity. Here, the above-mentioned LEDs are respectively LE, three colors of white, blue, and red.
D is arranged at the upper end of both side walls 13a, 13b in the order of white, blue, and red. In this embodiment, when the white LED is lit, it indicates a receivable state, and when the LED changes from white to blue,
It indicates that the communication has been completed normally, and when it changes from white to red, it indicates that the communication is defective or abnormal.
This allows the user to immediately know the result of communication with the reader / writer.

FIG. 2B shows a lighting circuit 20 for each LED.
It is. The lighting circuit 20 has a selection switch circuit 21, and receives the selection signal SEL from the controller (CNT) 1b in FIG. 8 to turn on / off the switch of the selection switch circuit 21 according to the reception result. Controls the lighting state according to the result of receiving data (signal) from the non-contact card 7. Here, it is assumed that a plurality of LEDs of each color are connected in parallel to one switch. Reference numeral 16 denotes one of the plurality of white LEDs as a representative. 17 is a plurality of blue LEDs
Is shown as a representative, and 18 indicates a plurality of red LEs.
One of D is shown as a representative. The selection switch circuit 21 has three switches 16a, 17a, and 18a, one end of which is connected to the power supply line + Vcc, and turns on power from a power supply in accordance with a selection signal SEL to turn on a switch corresponding to each color. It supplies one of the LEDs 16, 17, 18.

The controller 1b is provided with
The selection signal SEL is generated according to data or a signal obtained from the receiving circuit 1d in FIG.
In a standby state of waiting for reception, an SEL for selecting the white LED 16 is generated. By the way, the non-contact IC card 7 is normally supplied with electric power by radio waves from the reader / writer 1 and becomes in a communicable state. When communication becomes possible, response information is automatically returned and the reader / writer 1
Some devices return response information after receiving an access request signal (REQ). In the automatic ticket gates and the like, the latter method is adopted, and when the non-contact IC card 7 is in a communicable state,
Waits in a command waiting state of an access request signal (REQ),
Response information is returned when the access request signal (REQ) command is received. Therefore, the reception result can be determined by the controller 1b monitoring the response information for a certain period of time and determining whether or not the response information exists at this time. This allows LE
By turning off D16, the LEDs 17, 18 according to the reception result can be selectively turned on.

Although the above-mentioned lighting is based on three-color light emission, any color may be used. Instead of such color light emission, light emission of one color may be used. For example, when the reception with the non-contact IC card 7 is successful, the light that is turned off is turned on. Or,
A configuration in which the light is always turned on and turned off when the reception is successful may be adopted. Further, the lighting device to be turned on in this case is not limited to the LED, and various lighting devices such as a white light bulb and a fluorescent tube can be used. In addition, a sound may be generated according to the success or failure of the reception in addition to turning on or off. The above uses a light emitting element or a light emitting tube as a lighting device. However, a two-dimensional array of LEDs can be used as a display device. Instead of the lighting circuit 20, a display control circuit and an LED panel are used. Or LCD (liquid crystal display device)
A display device such as a panel may be provided to display characters, symbols, or patterns corresponding to successful or unsuccessful reception at the gate position in relation to the antenna block 13 or integrally therewith. It may be.
Therefore, the invention of this embodiment may be provided with display means including a lighting device and a display device.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an antenna block according to still another embodiment. The gate 10 has an antenna block 1 instead of the antenna block 13 having a U-shaped cross section in FIG.
31 are provided. In this antenna block 131, both side walls 13a and 13b housing the antenna coils 12a and 12b are formed at an angle that further opens outward such that the insertion opening 14 side is further opened than the antenna block 13a with respect to the bottom surface side. It is set and has a V-shaped cross section as a whole.

As described above, in the embodiment, an example is described in which the antenna block is disposed on the upper surface of the gate. However, the antenna block is provided on the side surface of the gate and the like.
The U-shape may be rotated 90 degrees and provided in a U-shape. Further, in the embodiment, the antenna block is described focusing on a gate such as an automatic ticket gate system (or an entrance / exit management system), but the present invention is not limited to the case where the antenna block is disposed at such a gate. No, it is provided in the input part such as confirmation and authentication of various contactless cards,
Of course, it can be applied. Furthermore, non-contact IC
The reader / writer of the card only needs to have a reader function of reading data, and may be a so-called reader.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, a pair of antenna coils are provided at a predetermined interval, and a space between them is secured as a non-contact card insertion space. If inserted, the space in which the contents of the non-contact card can be reliably read is clearly specified. Moreover, the space can be a space sufficient to supply electric power to the contactless card by radio waves. This makes it easy for the user to use, and the reader can also reliably read data from the non-contact card. As a result, it is no longer necessary to repeatedly communicate, for example,
At the gate of the automatic ticket gate system, entrance / exit management system, etc., it is possible to read the card early after inserting it,
The intended effect is fully exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a gate portion of an embodiment to which a contactless card reader of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the antenna block in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of the width of an insertion opening of an antenna block and an inserted state; FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the relationship with a non-contact card viewed from a cross section of the antenna block;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a relationship between the antenna block and a non-contact card as viewed from the plane, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an antenna block according to another embodiment.

5 shows an embodiment in which a lighting device is provided in an insertion opening in the embodiment of FIG. 4, (a) is a cross-sectional view of the antenna block, and (b) is a diagram of the lighting device. It is a drive circuit diagram.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an antenna block according to still another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a conventional non-contact type reader / writer.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of data reading from a non-contact IC card by a reader / writer;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Reader / writer, 1a ... Interface (IF),
1b: Controller (CNT), 1c: Transmission circuit, 1d
... Reception circuit, 3 ... Antenna, 3a ... Antenna coil, 3
b: matching circuit, 4: cable, 5, 11: reading area, 6, 10: gate, 7: non-contact IC card, 12
a, 12b: antenna coil, 13: antenna block, 13a, 13b: side wall, 14: insertion opening, 14a
... Reflector, 15, 16, 17 LED, 20 lighting circuit, 21 selection switch.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A non-contact card reader for reading data from a non-contact card by electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic coupling through an antenna, wherein said antenna is provided as a pair of antenna coils adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval, and at least one surface is provided. A non-contact card reader, wherein the predetermined interval is a space sufficient to supply electric power to the non-contact card by radio waves. 2. A contactless card having a built-in semiconductor memory,
A non-contact card system including an antenna and a reader for reading data from the non-contact card by electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic coupling, wherein at least one pair of the antennas are provided adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval as an antenna coil; A non-contact card system, wherein a surface is opened as an insertion slot of the non-contact card, and the predetermined interval is a space sufficient to supply electric power from the reader to the non-contact card by radio waves. 3. A pair of antenna coils, wherein front and rear surfaces orthogonal to the one surface are open, and opposing sides of one of V-shaped, U-shaped, and U-shaped casings as viewed from the cross section. 3. The contactless card system according to claim 2, wherein the contactless card system is housed on a wall surface. 4. The contactless card system according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined interval is smaller than a length of the contactless card in a lateral direction. 5. A display means is provided on the one surface side of the housing to indicate whether reception via the antenna coil is successful or to display a result of communication with the non-contact type information storage medium. When the reader is able to receive data from the non-contact card, the display means switches any one of a lighting state to a lighting state, a lighting state to a lighting state, and a lighting state of a certain color to a lighting state of another color. The contactless card system according to claim 3, wherein the contactless card system changes to a state. 6. The contactless card system according to claim 5, wherein said display means is a lighting device or a display device for displaying information.