JP2001243428A - Device for discriminating presence of object and electronic equipment having the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device which can securely discriminate the presence of an object inserted into the housing of electronic equipment not in a mechanical contact state but in a non-contact state and to provide an electronic equipment having the device. SOLUTION: This device is equipped with a moving body 44 which is arranged in the housing 12 of the electronic equipment 10 and holds the object 30 detachably and has a magnet 60 and a fixed body 50 which is arranged in the housing 12 and has a magnetic detecting element generating a detection signal showing the presence of the object 30 by detecting the magnetism of the magnet 60 when the moving body holding the object comes close.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the existence of an object for determining the presence of an object such as a battery or an information recording / reproducing card when the object is attached to or detached from an electronic device. The present invention relates to an electronic device having a determination device and a device for determining the presence of an object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In some cases, a battery or a card for recording and reproducing information is inserted into an electronic device, for example, a small electronic device. For example, an information recording / reproducing card will be described as an example. FIG. 15 shows a conventional card 1000 having a housing 1001.
2 shows a part of a mechanism to be inserted therein. The card 1000 is placed on the slider 1003 and the card 100
0 and the slider 1003 are inserted in the X direction. The convex portion 1004 of the slider 1003 mechanically hits the movable portion 1007 of the discrimination switch 1006 on the circuit board 1005. As a result, the discrimination switch 1006 sets the card 10
00 is output together with the slider 1003 to determine that it has been inserted into the housing 1001.

[0003]

As described above, the protrusion 10
Since the discrimination of the insertion of the card 1000 is performed in such a manner that the card 04 makes mechanical contact with the movable part 1007 of the discrimination switch 1006, the following problem occurs. Since the discrimination switch 1006 has the mechanical movable portion 1007, it cannot be downsized, which hinders the downsizing of the housing 1001. Also, since the determination switch 1006 determines the presence of the card 1000 by mechanical contact, if the variation in the shape of the determination switch 1006 or the variation in the shape of the protrusion 1004 of the slider 1003 increases, the movable portion of the determination switch 1006 will increase. 1007 cannot reliably make mechanical contact with the convex portion 1004, and there is a problem in operation reliability.
In addition, when foreign matter such as fine dust or dust enters the discrimination switch 1006 from the vicinity of the movable portion 1007 of the discrimination switch 1006, contact failure or the like easily occurs. Therefore, the present invention solves the above-described problems, and an object presence determination device and an object presence determination device that can reliably determine the presence of an object inserted into a housing of an electronic device by non-contact rather than mechanical contact. It is an object to provide an electronic device having a presence determination device.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an object is provided in a housing of an electronic device to hold an object detachably.
When a moving body having a magnet and the moving body that is disposed in the housing of the electronic device and holds the object approach, detects the magnetism of the magnet and generates a detection signal indicating the presence of the object. And a fixed body having a magnetic detection element. According to the first aspect, the moving body is disposed in the housing of the electronic device, holds the target object detachably, and has a magnet. The fixed body is disposed in a housing of the electronic device, and the fixed body has a magnetic detection element. The magnetic detection element detects a magnetism of a magnet when a moving body holding the object approaches, and generates a detection signal indicating the presence of the object. Accordingly, the magnetic detection element of the fixed body can reliably determine the presence of the target by detecting the magnetism of the magnet of the moving body in a non-contact manner.
Since the presence of the object is not detected by mechanical contact, the size can be further reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for determining the presence of an object according to the first aspect, the moving body is a slider that slides in the housing, and the object is an information recording medium. In the second aspect, the moving body is a slider that slides inside the housing. The object is an information recording medium.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for determining the presence of an object according to the second aspect, when the information recording medium is inserted into the moving body in the housing from outside the housing. Approaches the fixed body side, and the magnetic detection element generates the detection signal. According to the third aspect, when the information recording medium is inserted into the moving body inside the housing from outside the housing, the moving body approaches the fixed body side, whereby the detection element generates a detection signal.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for determining the presence of an object according to the second aspect, when the information recording medium is removed from the moving body in the housing, the moving body moves away from the fixed body side. According to the fourth aspect, when the information recording medium is removed from the movable body in the housing, the movable body separates from the fixed body side. As a result, the detection signal of the object is not output.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for determining the presence of an object according to the first aspect, the magnetic detection element is a Hall element, and the Hall element is a magnetic element of the magnet at an arbitrary time interval by pulse driving. Is detected. Claim 5
In the above, the magnetic detection element is a Hall element, and this Hall element detects the magnetism of the magnet at an arbitrary time interval by pulse driving. As a result, power saving can be achieved as compared with the type in which the Hall element is always energized and detects.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for determining the presence of an object according to the first aspect, the magnet has an S pole on the side of the magnetism detecting element. If the magnetic detection element side is an N pole, the raw output from the magnetic detection element decreases and no detection signal is output, or the detection signal pulse is output twice. S pole.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving body having a magnet, which is disposed in a housing of an electronic device, detachably holds an object, and has a magnet, and which is disposed in the housing of the electronic device. A fixed body having a magnetic detection element that detects the magnetism of the magnet when the held moving body approaches to generate a detection signal indicating the presence of the target object; An electronic device having the device. According to the seventh aspect, the moving body is disposed in the housing of the electronic device, holds the target object detachably, and has a magnet. The fixed body is disposed in a housing of the electronic device, and the fixed body has a magnetic detection element. The magnetic detection element detects a magnetism of a magnet when a moving body holding the object approaches, and generates a detection signal indicating the presence of the object. Accordingly, the magnetic detection element of the fixed body can reliably determine the presence of the target by detecting the magnetism of the magnet of the moving body in a non-contact manner.
Since the presence of the object is not detected by mechanical contact, miniaturization can be achieved.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic apparatus having the object presence determination device according to the seventh aspect, the moving body is a slider that slides in the housing, and the object is an information recording medium. It is. In claim 8, the moving body is a slider that slides inside the housing. The object is an information recording medium.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic apparatus having the object presence determination device according to the eighth aspect, the information recording medium is inserted into the moving body in the casing from outside the casing. And the moving body approaches the fixed body side, and the magnetic detection element generates the detection signal. In the ninth aspect, when the information recording medium is inserted into the moving body in the housing from outside the housing, the moving body approaches the fixed body side, whereby the detection element generates a detection signal.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic apparatus having the object presence determination device according to the eighth aspect, when the information recording medium is removed from the moving body in the housing, the moving body is fixed. Move away from your body. In claim 10,
When the information recording medium is removed from the moving body in the housing, the moving body separates from the fixed body side. As a result, the detection signal of the object is not output.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device having the object presence determination device according to the seventh aspect, the magnetic detection element is a Hall element, and the Hall element is driven at an arbitrary time interval by pulse driving. The magnetism of the magnet is detected. In the eleventh aspect, the magnetic detecting element is a Hall element, and the Hall element detects the magnetism of the magnet at an arbitrary time interval by pulse driving. As a result, power saving can be achieved as compared with the type in which the Hall element is always energized and detects.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic apparatus having the object presence determination device according to the seventh aspect, the magnet is provided with an S pole on the side of the magnetism detecting element. Claim 1
In the case of No. 2, if the magnetic detection element side is an N pole, the raw output from the magnetic detection element decreases and no detection signal is output, or the detection signal pulse is output twice. The element side is an S pole.

[0016]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention,
Although various technically preferable limits are given, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these modes unless otherwise specified in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic apparatus having the object presence determination device of the present invention. The electronic device 10
A housing 12 is provided.
4. It has a rear portion 16. The housing 12 is formed by overlapping or fitting the front part 14 and the rear part 16. For example, an information display unit 15 is provided on the front unit 14.
And an operation unit (not shown). In addition, the front part 14 and the rear part 16 each have necessary functional parts, but are not shown. A socket 22 for attaching and detaching the plug 20 of the earphone 18 is provided at an upper part of the front part 14.

In the electronic device 10, a user inserts an information recording medium card (hereinafter simply referred to as a card) 30 as shown in FIG. This is a small-sized electronic device having a function of allowing recorded information to be listened to by earphones 18, for example. The audible information is, for example, music information, language information, or other information. The card 30 is, for example, a rectangular and plate-shaped card. The storage capacity of the card 30 is, for example, 4 MB, 8 MB, 64 MB, or the like, but is not limited to this value. The information that can be recorded on the card 30 is audio information, image information, and the like, but can store still images, moving images, music data, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the internal configuration of the electronic device 10 of FIG. 1, showing a state in which the rear portion 16 of the housing 12 of the electronic device 10 has been removed from the front portion 14. On the inner surface side of the front portion 14 of the housing 12, a holder 40,
A slider (corresponding to a moving body) 44, a circuit board (corresponding to a fixed body) 50, and the like are accommodated therein. Holder 40
Is fixed to the inner surface 14A side of the front part 14,
A slider 44 is accommodated in the holder 40 so as to be slidable in the E direction.

The circuit board 50 is provided on the inner surface 1 of the front portion 14.
4A, it is fixed near the display unit 16. The circuit board 50 corresponds to a fixed body while the slider is a moving body. The circuit board 50 includes the slider 4
4 is disposed on the front side when moving in the E direction. The slider 44 has a magnet 60 as magnetism generating means. The circuit board 50 has a Hall element 70 as a magnetic detection element. The lower part 14 of the front part 14 in FIG.
B has a hole 14C formed therein. A lid 14D is arranged corresponding to the hole 14C. The lid 14D can be opened in the R direction by operating the operation unit (not shown). Thereby, the card 30 can be inserted into the slider 44 so as to pass through the hole 14C and avoid the lid 14D.

FIG. 3 shows the holder 40, the slider 44, and the front side of the card 30, and FIG.
Shows a state before is inserted into the slider 44.
FIG. 4 shows a state where the card 30 is inserted into the slider 44. FIG. 5 shows the holder 40, the slider 44, and the back side of the card 30, and shows a state before the card 30 is inserted into the slider 44. FIG. 6 shows the holder 40, the slider 44, and the back side of the card 30, and shows a state after the card 30 is inserted into the slider 44.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG.
In order to maintain the state before insertion in FIG. 5 and the state after insertion in FIG.
0 is provided. One end 48 of the spring 48
A is attached to the holder 40 and the spring 4
The other end 48 </ b> B of 8 is attached to the slider 44.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show examples of the arrangement of the Hall element 70 and the magnet 60 constituting the object discriminating apparatus 200. FIG. The Hall element 70 is fixed on the upper surface of the circuit board 50. On the other hand, the magnet 60 is fixed to the lower surface of the tip of the slider 44. As shown in FIG. 7A, in a state where the slider 44 is separated from the circuit board 50, that is, in a state where the card 30 is not yet completely accommodated, the magnet 60 is separated from the Hall element 70, and thus the Hall element 70 As shown in FIG. 8A, the detection signal S of the Hall element 70 is a signal of LOW. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Is completely inserted with the slider 44,
Since the magnet 60 faces the Hall element 70 with a small gap, the detection signal S of the magnet 60 changes from LOW to HIGH as shown in FIG.
H indicates that the slider 44 and the card 30 have been completely inserted and the presence of the card 30 has been confirmed.

FIG. 9 shows the processing unit 100, the connector 101, the Hall element 70, and the like mounted on the circuit board 50. The processing unit 100 is electrically connected to the connector 101 and the Hall element 70. The connector 101 is a part for electrically connecting the electric terminals of the card 30 when the card 30 is inserted so that signals can be exchanged with the processing unit 100 electrically.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a connection circuit of the Hall element 70. The Hall element 70 is connected to a Schmitt circuit 72 via an amplifier 71. Schmitt circuit 7
2 is two FETs (field effect transistors) 73, 7
4 are connected. This circuit has an output section 75 for the detection signal S. The use of the Schmitt circuit 72 has the effect of removing noise components and shortening the rise / fall time of the pulse as compared with the case where it is not used. Hall element 70, amplifier 71, Schmitt circuit 72 and FET7
Reference numerals 3 and 74 are connected to a reference voltage Vcc, and a current regulator (Reg.) 76 is provided between the reference voltage Vcc and the Hall element 70, the amplifier 71 and the Schmitt circuit 72.
Is provided.

The magnet 60 shown in FIG. 2 is, for example, preferably an S-pole magnet on the Hall element 70 side.
When the Hall element 70 in FIG. 10 detects the magnetism of the magnet 60, the Hall element 70 in FIG. 10 converts it into a magneto-electric signal and sends it to the amplifier 71. The amplifier 71 amplifies the electric signal and supplies it to the Schmitt circuit 72. The Schmitt circuit 72 in FIG. 10 operates according to the operation diagram as shown in FIG. 11 and operates the transistors 73 and 74 to output the detection signal S from the output unit 75.

In FIG. 11, the Hall element is turned on / off (HIGH / LO) with respect to the strength of the magnetic field of the S pole of the magnet.
W).

FIG. 12 shows an example of a pulse drive waveform when the regulator 76 of FIG. 10 drives the Hall element 70 in pulses. The pulse P in FIG. 12 generates the pulse P at an arbitrary time interval TT. Each pulse P has a pulse width W. Such pulse driving can reduce power consumption.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show an example of a timing chart of the Hall element 70 by the pulse driving. In FIG. 13A, when a pulse is generated after the magnetic field (B) exceeds the operation start magnetic field (Bop), the detection output changes from HIGH to LOW in accordance with the fall of the pulse.
Indicates that In FIG. 13B, FIG.
3 (A) shows the opposite content. Thus, FIG.
When a voltage is supplied from the reference voltage Vcc to the Hall element 70, the operation is performed at a lower voltage and consumes less power than a normal Hall element that always supplies a voltage by driving by pulse driving. It can be carried out.

Next, an example of the operation when the card 30 is inserted in the electronic device 10 of FIG. 2 will be described. When the card 30 is inserted into the slider 44 of the holder 40 in the G direction as shown in FIGS.
The slider 44 and the card 30 move integrally in the G direction, and as shown in FIGS.
Fits inside. By doing so, the position of the magnet 60 changes from the state of FIG. 7A to the state of FIG. 7B.
That is, the state in which the magnet 60 of the slider 44 in FIG.
As shown in (B), the magnet 60 is located directly above the Hall element 70. As a result, the Hall element 70 detects the magnetism of the magnet 60, and the detection signal S changes from HIGH to LOW as shown in FIG. 8B. Accordingly, the processing unit 100 illustrated in FIG. 9 can recognize that the card 30 has been inserted into the connector 101 through the connector 101.

Next, when removing the card 30 from the holder 40, the slider 44 and the card 30 are moved to the J position as shown in FIG.
Moved in the direction and ejected. For example, the card 30 can be removed from the slider 44 of the holder 40 to the outside of the housing from the state shown in FIG. 4 as shown in FIG. As a result, the magnet 60 separates from the Hall element 70 as shown in FIG.
Indicates that the detection signal S is LOW, and the processing unit 10 in FIG.
0 recognizes that the card 30 is not inserted. As described above, since the Hall element 70 can magnetically detect the magnet 60 in a non-contact manner, unlike the related art, no mechanical contact is required to detect the presence of the card. Since the electronic device can be reduced in size, it is also useful for promoting the miniaturization of the electronic device itself.
Since the detection by the mechanical contact is not used for the detection of the card 30, the durability can be improved. As described above, since the Hall element 70 is preferably a pulse-driven Hall element, it is not necessary to constantly supply current to the Hall element, so that power can be saved.

FIG. 14 shows another embodiment of the object discriminating apparatus of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the object discriminating apparatus 200 includes a Hall element 70 and a magnet 60.
Detects the magnetism of the magnet 60.
However, in another embodiment of FIG. 17, the Hall element 71 and the magnet 60 of the object discriminating apparatus 300 are arranged perpendicular to the substrate. That is, as shown in FIG. 14A, when the card 30 and the slider 44 are separated from each other, the magnet 60 is located on the side of the Hall element 71, but as shown in FIG. When the slider 44 approaches, the magnet 60 is located beside and close to the Hall element 71. Even in this case, the Hall element 71 can detect the magnetism of the magnet 60. Moreover, the thickness in the U direction in FIGS. 14A and 14B can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, as an example of the electronic apparatus, a portable and small-sized type in which an information recording medium card is inserted or removed is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various types of electronic devices having the object discriminating device of the present invention include mobile phones, small computers, desktop computers, television receivers, video cameras, still cameras, clocks, and game machines. It includes electronic equipment.

In the above-described embodiment, the example of the Hall element (Hall IC) is given as an example of the magnetic detection element. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other types of magnetic detection elements may be used. Instead of using the S pole for the Hall element (sensor) side of the magnet, an N pole may be used. Further, other types of Hall elements can be used instead of the pulse drive type. The information recording medium is not limited to the card type, but may be of any other shape.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a device that is small in size, consumes low power, and can reliably determine the presence of an object inserted into a housing of an electronic device by non-contact rather than mechanical contact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic apparatus provided with an object discriminating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary perspective view showing an example of the internal structure of the electronic device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a holder, a slider, and a card of the electronic apparatus in FIG. 2 and showing a state before the card is inserted.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state after a card is inserted into the holder of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a back side of the holder, the slider and the card of FIG. 3, and showing a state before the card is inserted.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state after a card is inserted in the state of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation example of the object discriminating apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a diagram showing an example of a detection signal output by a Hall element in the object discriminating apparatus of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a processing unit and the like on a circuit board.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a peripheral circuit including a Hall element.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation diagram of the Schmitt circuit in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a pulse for driving the pulse of the Hall element in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of pulse driving.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the object discriminating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional card discriminating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ··· Electronic device equipped with an object discriminating device;
..Case, 30 ... Information recording medium card (card: target), 40 ... Holder, 44 ... Slider (moving body), 50 ... Circuit board (fixed body), 60 ...
・ Magnet, 70 ・ ・ ・ Hall element (magnetic detection element), 200 ・ ・ ・ Object discriminating device

Claims (12)

[Claims] A moving body having a magnet disposed in a housing of the electronic device for detachably holding an object; and a moving body disposed in the housing of the electronic device and holding the object. And a fixed body having a magnetic detection element that detects the magnetism of the magnet and generates a detection signal indicating the presence of the object when the object approaches. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving body is a slider that slides in the housing, and the object is an information recording medium. 3. When the information recording medium is inserted into the moving body in the housing from outside the housing, the moving body approaches the fixed body side, and the magnetic detection element generates the detection signal. Item 3. The object presence determination device according to Item 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving body moves away from the fixed body when the information recording medium is removed from the moving body in the housing. 5. The magnetic detecting element is a Hall element,
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the Hall element detects the magnetism of the magnet at an arbitrary time interval by pulse driving. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the magnet detection element side of the magnet is an S pole. 7. A moving body that is disposed in a housing of an electronic device and detachably holds an object and has a magnet, and the moving body that is disposed in the housing of the electronic device and holds the object. A stationary body having a magnetic detection element that detects the magnetism of the magnet and generates a detection signal indicating the presence of the object when the object approaches. . 8. The electronic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the moving body is a slider that slides in the housing, and the object is an information recording medium. 9. When the information recording medium is inserted into the moving body inside the housing from outside the housing, the moving body approaches the fixed body side, and the magnetic detection element generates the detection signal. Item 13. An electronic apparatus having the object presence determination device according to Item 8. 10. The electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the moving body moves away from the fixed body when the information recording medium is removed from the moving body in the housing. 11. The electronic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the magnetism detecting element is a Hall element, and the Hall element detects the magnetism of the magnet at an arbitrary time interval by pulse driving. . 12. The electronic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the magnet detection element side of the magnet is an S pole.