JP2001175898A - On-vehicle machine for radio tool payment system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an 'on-vehicle machine for a radio toll payment system' which does not constitute an obstacle to the view of a driver, highly versatile, and high in the reliability of radio communications. SOLUTION: A room mirror 20 has a mirror stay 21 which is held on the roof inner panel of a vehicle so that it is released from being held through the action of a load exceeding a specific value and a mirror main body 22 which is held atop the stay 21 so that it can freely swing. The on-vehicle machine 1 has, in an on-vehicle machine case 3, a card slot into which a card for payment is inserted, a transmitter receiver which sends and receives information including card information, and an antenna which is connected to the transmitter receiver. The on-vehicle machine case 3 is fitted detachably to the mirror stay 21 with a fitting part 18.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wireless payment system for paying a service fee for a vehicle such as a toll road or a toll parking lot by wireless communication, and more particularly to an on-vehicle device installed on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a toll payment system for toll roads, a toll wireless payment system (hereinafter referred to as an ETC (Electronic
ic Toll Collection) system. ) Has been developed. The ETC system has a vehicle equipped with a vehicle-mounted device equipped with a wireless communication function, etc., and performs wireless communication between the vehicle-mounted device and a ground unit installed at the tollgate when the vehicle passes through a tollgate. Is a system for automatically paying tolls. Since this system allows vehicles to pass through toll booths without stopping, it is expected to be able to reduce the labor required for toll payment and to reduce congestion at toll booths. Generally, radio waves are used for communication between a ground machine installed on a tollgate side and an on-board machine installed on a vehicle.

[0003] In such an ETC system, it is desirable that the in-vehicle device incorporating the antenna be installed at a position where electromagnetic obstacles are as small as possible in relation to the ground device. It has been proposed to fix it to the inner surface of a windshield or a windshield (such as a corner) with a suction cup or an adhesive. In this case, the in-vehicle device needs to be installed so as to have an optimal posture in relation to the directivity of the antenna of the in-vehicle device and the directivity of the antenna of the ground device.

Further, in the case of such a structure which is attached to a dashboard or a windshield, a driver's view may be hindered in some cases. Therefore, a room mirror provided on a ceiling in the front center of a driver's cab. A case for an in-vehicle unit is integrally formed on the back side of the mirror unit, a slot for inserting a card, a transceiver for transmission / reception and an antenna etc. (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-297)
758).

[0005]

Here, the room mirror generally comprises a mirror body and a mirror stay for supporting the mirror body on a ceiling, that is, a roof inner panel. At least the mirror body has a fixed angle. A function of arbitrarily adjusting the posture (angle adjustment) within the range is inevitably required, and the posture is frequently adjusted when the driver is changed or during the day or night.

However, in a conventional vehicle-mounted device (mirror with a vehicle-mounted device), when the posture of the mirror body is adjusted, the posture of the vehicle-mounted device itself is also changed, and the vehicle-mounted device can be set to an optimum posture in relation to the ground unit. There is a problem that wireless communication cannot be performed. In addition, since the mirror and the on-vehicle unit have an integral structure, there is a problem that an existing room mirror cannot be used and lacks versatility.

[0007] On the other hand, as described above, a device fixed to a dashboard or a windshield may obstruct the driver's view.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an in-vehicle device of a toll wireless payment system which does not hinder the driver's view, has high versatility, and has high reliability of wireless communication. The purpose is to do.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an on-board unit for a wireless payment system according to the first aspect of the present invention. The vehicle-mounted device includes a card slot into which a payment card is inserted, a transmitting / receiving device for transmitting / receiving information including card information, and an antenna connected to the transmitting / receiving device, wherein the card slot and the transmitting / receiving device are mounted on a vehicle. Characterized by being provided in a case that is detachably attached to the rearview mirror.

According to the present invention, the case of the vehicle-mounted device can be attached to and detached from the rearview mirror as required, so that the vehicle-mounted device can be arbitrarily retrofitted to the existing rearview mirror, and the vehicle-mounted device is broken. In such a case, repair or replacement can be easily performed by removing only the in-vehicle device, and the versatility is high.

In particular, a mirror stay held on a roof inner panel of the vehicle such that the rearview mirror is released from holding by an action of a load equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the mirror stay In the case where the case has a mirror main body held swingably at the tip of the case, the case can be attached to the mirror stay. According to this, since the case of the vehicle-mounted device is attached to the immovable mirror stay, the posture of the vehicle-mounted device is not changed regardless of the posture adjustment of the mirror main body. When the antenna is provided in the case, the antenna can always be in an optimal posture in relation to the ground machine. Even when the antenna is attached to the mirror stay as described in claim 4, the antenna can always be in an optimal posture in relation to the ground machine.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the case includes at least a portion including a card insertion slot of the card slot (hereinafter, may be referred to as a main body), and another case including a mounting portion for the room mirror. It can be configured to be rotatable with respect to the part. Thereby, the card can be inserted and removed by rotating the main body so that the driver or the passenger can easily insert or remove the card. In this case, when the antenna is provided in the case, it is preferable that the antenna is provided in another portion including the mounting portion.
This is because the posture of the antenna is not changed with the rotation of the main body.

Further, a display unit may be provided below the card insertion slot of the card slot of the case. Since the display unit is located below the card insertion slot, it is possible to prevent the display on the display unit from becoming difficult to see when the card is inserted or removed.

In addition, a vehicle-side connection portion including a connection portion to a power supply harness is provided near a holding portion of the mirror stay on a roof inner panel of the vehicle, and the case is connected to the mirror stay. The vehicle-mounted device-side connection portion that is electrically connected to the vehicle-side connection portion by being brought into contact with the vehicle-side connection portion in a state of being attached to the case can be provided in the case.

When a shock is applied to the rearview mirror, the rearview mirror is configured to separate and drop from the roof inner panel for safety. In this case, the vehicle-mounted device and the vehicle (battery) are electrically connected. It is not preferable that the harness connected to the camera is disconnected or hinders the falling of the rearview mirror. However, by connecting the vehicle-mounted device-side connection portion to the vehicle-side connection portion as described in claim 8, the electrical connection is performed so that when the rear-view mirror to which the vehicle-mounted device is mounted falls, both connections are made. Since the contact of the parts is only released, it does not become an obstacle to drop. Further, re-attachment after dropping can be easily performed.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an in-vehicle device of the wireless payment system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is also a plan view, FIG. 3 is a side view, FIG. 4 is a bottom view, and FIG. FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of a general room mirror, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views showing the configuration of a mounting portion (holding portion) of the room mirror of FIG. 6 to the roof inner panel. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state where an in-vehicle device is attached to the room mirror of FIG. 6, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the same.

First, as an example of a toll radio payment system (ETC system), a system for setting a toll on a toll road will be outlined. This system allows payment of tolls by transmitting and receiving data via wireless communication, without the need for cash or cards to be exchanged directly with the tollgate staff when vehicles equipped with in-vehicle devices pass through toll gates. It is.

A user (driver) inserts a charge settlement card used for settlement into a card slot of the vehicle-mounted device in advance. Various cards such as an IC card and a magnetic card can be used as the charge settlement card.
Various types of cards such as a coupon type card, a prepaid type card, or a card withdrawn from a bank account can be adopted. Further, a card that can be used also as a general credit card, cash card, or the like may be used.

On the other hand, a ground machine for performing radio communication and toll settlement processing is installed at a tollgate, and an antenna of the ground machine is installed above a gate through which a vehicle passes. The toll is settled by performing wireless communication between the antenna of the onboard unit mounted on the passing vehicle and the antenna of the ground unit. The attitude (especially the elevation angle) of the vehicle-mounted antenna mounted on the vehicle in relation to the directivity of the ground equipment antenna at the tollgate is important from the viewpoint of ensuring communication reliability.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, the configuration of the on-vehicle device 1 of the wireless charging system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. A charge settlement card (in this embodiment, an IC card) 2 is inserted through a card insertion slot 4 formed in the front of the vehicle-mounted device case 3, and a connection portion of the IC card 2 (consisting of a plurality of electrode patterns). Is mounted in a card slot 5 provided with a connector (having a terminal that is in pressure contact with the electrode pattern of the IC card 2). Data communication is performed between the control unit (microcomputer) and the control unit (microcomputer) of the vehicle-mounted device 1. I
The C card 2 has a memory such as a ROM or a RAM for storing data, a battery as a power supply, and the like.

An LCD or LED for displaying various information is provided below the card insertion slot 4 of the vehicle-mounted device case 3.
The display unit 6 is provided. The display unit 6 displays characters (such as katakana, kanji, alphabets, and numbers) for displaying "tolls", "balance", and other information. An operation button (input unit) 7 is provided in the vicinity of the display unit 6, and is used to perform an input operation such as a password. Note that a buzzer may be provided to notify the validity of the input content.

As shown in FIG. 2, the card slot 5 is mounted on a printed wiring board 8, for example. The printed wiring board 8 is fixed to a support portion of the in-vehicle device case 3 by a screw or the like. Note that the card slot may not be mounted on the printed wiring board 8 but may be fixed to another supporting portion by screws or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, a control unit 9 and a storage unit (ROM, R
An electronic component 12 such as an IC or an LSI for constituting a memory (such as an AM) 10, a transmission / reception unit 11, a power supply unit (not shown), and the like is mounted. In this embodiment, an in-vehicle device antenna 13 connected to the transmission / reception unit 11 is accommodated in the in-vehicle device case 3.

Power is supplied to the electric circuit section constituting the control section 9 and the like. The vehicle-mounted device-side connection portion 14 having a power supply terminal, and a vehicle roof having terminals to which the terminals of the vehicle-mounted device-side connection portion are brought into contact. Vehicle-side connecting portion 15 attached to the inner panel,
The connection is made via a harness 17 connecting the vehicle-side connection portion 15 and the battery 16 of the vehicle. The electrical connection between the in-vehicle device-side connection portion 14 and the vehicle-side connection portion 15 is made by abutting (pressing) these terminals.

A mounting portion 18 is provided at the end opposite to the front face where the card insertion slot 4 and the display portion 6 of the vehicle-mounted device case 3 are arranged. The mounting portion 18 is provided with respect to a mirror stay 21 of a room mirror 20 described later.
The on-vehicle device 1 is detachably attached. In the present embodiment, the in-vehicle device 1 is formed by a groove 19 that can be fitted to the mirror stay 21. By pressing the mirror stay 21 into the groove 19, the vehicle-mounted device 1 can be attached to the mirror stay 21. In this embodiment, the upper edge of the in-vehicle device case 3 is formed in a curved shape along the roof inner panel of the vehicle.

However, the mounting portion 18 provided on the vehicle-mounted device case 3 may have another configuration. For example, the mirror stay 21 may be elastically attached using a spring or the like so that the mirror stay 21 can be attached and detached with one touch. It may be configured to be sandwiched between them, or may be fixed by screws or the like. Further, in order to provide versatility, the mounting portion 18 may be changed according to the shape and structure of the mirror stay 21.
May be exchangeable.

Next, the configuration of the room mirror 20 to which the vehicle-mounted device 1 according to this embodiment is attached will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, the room mirror 20 includes a mirror body 22 holding a mirror (mirror) and a mirror stay 21 supporting the mirror body 22. One end (base end) of the mirror stay 21 is mounted on a mounting base 24 mounted on a roof inner panel 23 of the vehicle. FIG. 6 is an end view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 7, and shows the room mirror 20 in a state where the base end of the mirror stay 21 is mounted on the mounting base 24. A mirror body 22 is held at the other end (tip) of the mirror stay 21 so as to swing freely so that the mirror body 22 can take an arbitrary posture within a predetermined range.

FIG. 7 shows a detailed structure of a mounting portion of the interior mirror 20 to the roof inner panel 23 of the vehicle. At the front end of the roof of the vehicle, a roof outer panel (not shown) forming an outer plate and a roof inner panel 23 forming an inner plate are joined in a form forming a bag structure.
The front flange portion to which the windshield is attached is spot welded, and the rear end portion is bonded with an adhesive.

A rearview mirror 20 is mounted on the indoor side at the front end of the roof. As a safety measure, a mechanism is adopted in which the rearview mirror 20 easily falls off in the event of a vehicle collision.

That is, in the bag structure of the roof inner panel 23, three weld nuts 25 are welded in advance, and the mounting base 24 of the room mirror 20 is fixed with three bolts 26. In this case, it is necessary to interpose a roof head lining 27 made of an elastic body between the roof inner panel 23 and the mounting base 24, and a spacer 28 is interposed to secure a gap therefor.

As shown in FIG. 6, a split pin 29 is mounted on the upper surface of the mounting base 24 of the room mirror 20, and when the mounting base 24 is mounted on the roof inner panel 23, the mounting base 24 and the bolt 26 As a result, the position of the split pin 29 is fixed.

On the other hand, the mirror stay 21 is
Is fixed to the mounting base 24 by being inserted into the split pin 29. In other words, mirror stay 2
1 is supported only by the engagement between the conical surface of the countersunk bolt 30 and the split pin 29.

Therefore, when an external force of a certain magnitude or more acts on the rearview mirror 20 such as when the vehicle body collides, the conical surface of the countersunk bolt 30 and the split pin 2 as shown in FIG.
9 is disengaged, and the mirror stay 21 easily falls off.

When the rearview mirror 20 is assembled, the mirror stay 21 is fixed to the mounting base 24 using the countersunk bolt 30 with the split pin 29 mounted on the mounting base 24, and the mirror stay 21 is fixed to the roof inner with the bolt 26. This is performed by fixing to the panel 23.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the on-vehicle unit mounts the mirror stay 21 of the room mirror 20 attached to the roof inner panel 23 on the on-vehicle unit case 3.
The mounting portion 18 is press-fitted into a groove 19 constituting the mounting portion 18 and positioned at the end of the groove 19 to be mounted. As described above, the work of attaching the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the rear-view mirror 20 is extremely simple, and the vehicle-mounted device 1 is easily exchanged.
The task of removing is also very simple.

The on-vehicle device 1 is mounted on the mounting portion 1 of the case 3.
8, the mirror stay 21 is attached to the mirror stay 21. Therefore, even if the mirror body 22 is adjusted in preference to the driver or when the driver changes, the attitude of the vehicle-mounted device 1, that is, the case 3 Since the orientation of the housed antenna is not changed, if the posture of the antenna in the case 3 is appropriately adjusted and set, the optimum posture is always maintained in relation to the antenna of the ground machine. Can be.

Furthermore, since the vehicle-mounted device 1 has a structure detachably attached to the rear-view mirror 20, the existing rear-view mirror 20 can be used as it is, and the versatility is high.

In addition, the place where the rear-view mirror 20 is arranged is often in the center of the ceiling in front of the interior of the vehicle, and this position is preferable because there are few electromagnetic obstacles in relation to communication with the ground machine. In addition, it is superior to a conventional one fixed to a dashboard or a windshield in that it does not hinder the driver's view.

When an impact is applied to the rear-view mirror 20, the rear-view mirror 20 is separated from the roof inner panel 23 (mounting base 24) and falls as described above. Fall off,
Excellent from a safety point of view. At this time, the in-vehicle unit-side connection portion 14 and the vehicle-side connection portion 15 are merely in contact with each other, and therefore do not hinder the separation of the room mirror 20 from the mounting base 24. Since the power is supplied via the connecting portions 14 and 15, the connection cable is not in the way and is superior in safety as compared with a power supply via the connection cable from the sugar socket. .

Further, in this embodiment, since the display section 6 is provided below the card insertion slot 4, the display section does not become difficult to see when inserting or removing the IC card 2. In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, when the IC card 2 is mounted in the card slot 5, a part of the rear end side of the IC card 2 projects from the case 3, which is Although the case where 2 is extracted is taken into consideration, even in such a case, the display unit is not difficult to see.

Although not shown, the case 3 of the vehicle-mounted device is not shown.
To the mounting portion 18 and the remaining portion (the card slot 5).
And so on, and hereinafter referred to as an in-vehicle device main body. ), And can be configured to be pivotally attached to each other. In this way, when the driver inserts an IC card or looks at the display on the display unit, the user can easily perform these operations by rotating the vehicle-mounted device body toward the driver. Can do
On the other hand, when the fellow passenger performs such work, the work can be easily performed by turning to the fellow passenger side, which is convenient. However, in this case, it is desirable that the antenna be housed or mounted on the mounting portion 18 side. This is because it is not preferable that the attitude of the antenna changes due to the rotation of the vehicle-mounted device body, as described above.

The structure of the mounting portion for the mirror stay 21 does not have to be configured to be press-fitted into the groove 19 of the mounting portion 18 as described above. For example, the mirror stay 21 may be pressed by a spring or the like. May be held elastically, or the mirror stay 21 may be held by the fastening force of a screw.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show another embodiment of the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention. Components that are substantially the same as those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and only different portions will be described.

In the above-described embodiment, the antenna of the vehicle-mounted device 1 is accommodated in the vehicle-mounted device case 3. However, in this embodiment, the vehicle-mounted device antenna 31 is directly attached to the mirror stay 21 instead of the vehicle-mounted device case 3. . At this time, the in-vehicle unit case 3 is disposed relatively at the base end side of the mirror stay 21 (at the side of the mirror stay 21 where the mirror stay 21 is attached to the roof inner panel 23), and the in-vehicle unit antenna 31 is positioned more than the distal end of the mirror stay 21 It was attached to the slightly bent part inside.

The position of the antenna 31 of the vehicle-mounted device 1 is desirably a position free of electromagnetic obstacles from the viewpoint of communication with the ground device. By attaching to the front end of the communication device 21, good communication can be realized, and communication reliability can be improved. Since the in-vehicle device antenna 31 is attached to the immovable mirror stay 21, the posture does not change regardless of the posture adjustment of the mirror main body 22, so that good communication can be realized.

The mirror stay 21 of this embodiment is provided with a rubber bush 32 whose tip is in contact with the windshield 33 in order to suppress the vibration of the mirror body 22 and the like. Although the shape of the in-vehicle unit case 3 is slightly different from that of the above-described embodiment, this shows a variation because the shape of the roof inner panel 23 is not uniform. In the figure, reference numeral 14 denotes an in-vehicle device-side connection portion, and reference numeral 15 denotes a vehicle-side connection portion abuttingly connected thereto.

Each of the embodiments described above has been described in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention.
It is not intended to limit the invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0050]

As described above, according to the in-vehicle device of the toll wireless payment system according to the present invention, the versatility and the reliability of the wireless communication are improved without hindering the driver's view. There is an effect that an in-vehicle device of the fee-based wireless payment system that can perform communication is provided. In addition, there is an effect that an in-vehicle device that is easy to use for a person in a driver's seat or a passenger seat is provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device of a wireless charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device of the wireless fee settlement system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device of the wireless fee settlement system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing a configuration of an on-vehicle device of the wireless fee settlement system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electric configuration of an in-vehicle device of the wireless fee settlement system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a configuration of a general room mirror.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a mounting portion of the rearview mirror of FIG. 6 with respect to a roof inner panel, and shows a state where the rearview mirror is mounted on the panel.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a mounting portion of the rearview mirror of FIG. 6 with respect to a roof inner panel, and shows a state where the rearview mirror is separated from the panel.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state where the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention is mounted on the room mirror of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state where the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention is mounted on the room mirror shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device of a wireless charging system according to another embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where the device is mounted on a roof inner panel.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device of a wireless fee-based payment system according to another embodiment of the present invention, showing a state separated from a roof inner panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-vehicle device 2 ... IC card 3 ... In-vehicle device case 4 ... Card insertion slot 5 ... Card slot 6 ... Display part 7 ... Input part 8 ... Printed wiring board 9 ... Control part 10 ... Storage part 11 ... Transmission / reception part 12 ... Electronics Parts 13 Onboard unit antenna 14 Onboard unit side connection unit 15 Vehicle side connection unit 16 Battery 17 Harness 18 Mounting part 19 Groove 20 Room mirror 21 Mirror stay 22 Mirror body 23 Roof inner panel 24 ... Mounting base 29 ... Split pin 30 ... Countersunk bolt 31 ... In-vehicle unit antenna

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An in-vehicle device of a fee-based wireless payment system for settling a fee for a service relating to a vehicle by wireless communication, a card slot into which a payment card is inserted, a transmission / reception device for transmitting / receiving information including card information, An in-vehicle device for a wireless payment system, comprising: an antenna connected to a transmission / reception device; and wherein the card slot and the transmission / reception device are provided in a case detachably attached to a room mirror of a vehicle. 2. A mirror stay held by a roof inner panel of the vehicle such that the rearview mirror is released by an action of a load equal to or more than a predetermined value, and a rear end of the mirror stay is swingably held at a tip of the mirror stay. The in-vehicle device of claim 1, further comprising a mirror main body, wherein the case is attached to the mirror stay. 3. The in-vehicle device of a wireless payment system according to claim 2, wherein said antenna is provided in said case. 4. The in-vehicle device according to claim 2, wherein the antenna is attached to the mirror stay. 5. The charge according to claim 2, wherein at least a portion of the case including a card insertion slot of the card slot is rotatable with respect to another portion including a mounting portion for the room mirror. In-vehicle device of wireless payment system. 6. The in-vehicle device according to claim 5, wherein the antenna is provided in another portion including the mounting portion. 7. The in-vehicle device according to claim 2, wherein a display is provided below the card slot of the card slot of the case. 8. A vehicle-side connection portion including a connection portion to a power supply harness is provided near a holding portion of the mirror stay on a roof inner panel of the vehicle, and the case is attached to the mirror stay. The on-vehicle device of the wireless charging system according to claim 2, wherein an on-vehicle device-side connection portion electrically connected to the vehicle-side connection portion by being in contact with the vehicle-side connection portion is provided in the case.