JP2002074271A - Device and method for issuing non-contact information storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and method for issuing a non-contact information storage medium which is capable of quickly performing issuing processing and test in the same process, and performing a test suitable for its actual use. SOLUTION: When an antenna 1a owned by an R/W 1 transmits a carrier wave, a voltage applied to the antenna 1a is fetched by an A/D converter, and converted into a voltage value by a microcomputer 3, and when the voltage value is not more than a threshold, it is judged that a non-contact IC medium 11 is normal, and the non-contact IC medium 11 is issued and carried to a non-defective article stacker 9. When the voltage value is not less than the threshold, it is judged that the non-contact IC medium 11 is defective somehow, and the non-contact IC medium 11 is not issued but carried to a defective article stacker 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device and a method for issuing a non-contact information storage medium such as a non-contact IC card and a non-contact IC tag.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In these non-contact information storage media, the resonance frequency may vary greatly due to the variation in capacitors provided in the built-in IC chip. Further, since the built-in antenna coil is fine wiring, defective products such as disconnection may be manufactured. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm (inspection) whether or not these non-contact information storage media can communicate at the correct resonance frequency after the production and before the issuance process. Conventionally, the frequency is swept by a network analyzer or a gain phase analyzer connected to an inspection antenna, and after confirming the resonance frequency and its gain, the issuing process is performed by another issuing device.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional issuing device, testing device, issuing method, and testing method, a test process is required separately from the issuing process, so that it is time and economically wasteful. There were many. In particular, a time for sweeping the frequency is required, and the efficiency is low, which is a factor of increasing the unit price of the card. In addition, since a test antenna is used, the resonance frequency with an antenna different from the actually used antenna is measured.Therefore, the actual use condition is a test under different conditions. Errors tended to occur between actual use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact information storage medium issuance apparatus and an issuance method capable of performing an issuance process and a test in the same process in a short time, and performing a test suitable for actual use. That is.

[0005]

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by the following means. In addition, in order to make it easy to understand, description is given with reference numerals corresponding to the embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the invention according to claim 1 includes a control unit (1b) for transmitting a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency and / or an issuance signal relating to card issuance processing, and an antenna (1a) for transmitting and / or receiving a signal by the control unit. An electric detection unit (2) for detecting a voltage and / or a current acting on the antenna, and a non-current detection unit based on the voltage and / or current detected by the electric detection unit when the carrier transmission unit transmits a carrier. A contactless information storage medium issuance device including an inspection unit (3) for inspecting a state of the contact information storage medium.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the device for issuing a non-contact information storage medium according to the first aspect, the inspection section (3).
Is a device for issuing a non-contact information storage medium, which determines that the non-contact information storage medium is abnormal when the voltage and / or current detected by the electricity detection unit is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold. .

[0007] The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
The device for issuing a non-contact information storage medium according to claim 1, further comprising a sense antenna that is separate from the antenna (1a) and does not affect the antenna, and the electric detection unit (2) includes the sense antenna. A non-contact information storage medium issuance device for detecting a voltage and / or a current acting on a non-contact information storage medium.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, after detecting a voltage and / or a current acting on an antenna at the time of transmitting a carrier wave and inspecting a state of the non-contact information storage medium (11) based on the detection result, This is a method for issuing a contactless information storage medium that performs an issuing process.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an issuing device according to the present invention. The issuing device includes a reader / writer (hereinafter, R / W) 1, an A / D converter 2, a microcomputer 3, a higher-level control device 4, a non-contact IC medium transport mechanism control device 5, a non-contact IC medium supply mechanism 6, a non-contact IC The device includes an IC medium discharge mechanism 7, a defective product stacker 8, a good product stacker 9, and an optical sensor 10, and issues a non-contact IC medium 11.

A reader / writer (hereinafter, R / W) 1 includes an antenna 1a, a control circuit, and an I / F (interface).
This is an apparatus having the circuit 1b and having the same form as the R / W used after the non-contact IC medium 11 is issued. The antenna 1a is a coil formed by winding a predetermined number of conductors, and is designed to resonate with the non-contact IC medium 11 at a predetermined resonance frequency and to efficiently communicate. Control circuit and I /
The F (interface) circuit 1b is a control unit that transmits and receives a carrier wave having a constant output at a predetermined frequency and / or an issuance signal related to card issuance processing, and controls communication with the non-contact IC medium 11.

The A / D converter 2 functions as a voltmeter for detecting a voltage between both ends of the antenna 1a.
This is an electrical detection unit that converts analog data based on the voltage across the terminal a into digital data.

The microcomputer 3 is an arithmetic unit for calculating a voltage value from a signal converted into digital data by the A / D converter 2. Also, the microcomputer 3
It is also an inspection unit that evaluates the calculated voltage value and checks whether the non-contact IC medium 11 is normal.

The host controller 4 is a section to which the R / W 1, the microcomputer 3, the non-contact IC medium transport mechanism controller 5 and the like are connected, and controls the overall operation of the issuing apparatus of the present embodiment.

The non-contact IC medium transport mechanism control device 5 is a part for controlling the operations of the non-contact IC medium supply mechanism 6 and the non-contact IC medium discharge mechanism 7 based on instructions from the host control device 4.

The non-contact IC medium supply mechanism 6 is a non-contact IC
This is a mechanism for sequentially supplying the non-contact IC medium 11 to a communication position immediately below the antenna 1a based on an instruction of the medium transport mechanism control device 5.

The non-contact IC medium discharge mechanism 7 is a non-contact IC
Based on an instruction from the medium transport mechanism controller 5, the non-contact IC medium 11 is sequentially carried out from a communication position immediately below the antenna 1a, and is further separated into a defective stacker or a non-defective stacker.

The defective product stacker 8 is a portion for storing the non-contact IC medium 11 determined to be defective by the inspection in the microcomputer 3 or the non-contact IC medium 11 which became defective at the time of issuance.

The non-defective product stacker 9 is a part for storing non-defective non-contact IC media 11 which did not become defective during inspection and issuance by the microcomputer 3.

The optical sensor 10 is a position detector that includes a light projecting element and a light receiving element and detects that the non-contact IC medium 11 supplied by the non-contact IC medium supply mechanism 6 has reached a predetermined position.

The non-contact IC medium 11 is a non-contact information storage medium that includes an antenna 11a and an IC chip 10b and communicates with the R / W in a non-contact manner.

Next, the operation when the non-contact IC medium 11 is issued in this embodiment will be described. When the optical sensor 11 detects that the non-contact IC medium 11 has been transported by the non-contact IC medium supply mechanism 6 and has reached a predetermined position, the higher-level control device 4 transmits the non-contact IC medium via the non-contact IC medium transport mechanism control device 5. Then, the supply operation of the non-contact IC medium supply mechanism 6 is stopped, and a command to output a carrier wave (carrier signal), which is a sine wave having a constant output, to the R / W 1 is sent to the A / D converter 2. An instruction to capture a voltage waveform at both ends of the antenna 1a at the time of outputting the carrier wave is given.

Transmission of a carrier wave is an operation that is also performed in a conventional R / W issuing operation that does not involve a test of the communication characteristics of the non-contact IC medium 11, in which power is supplied to the non-contact IC medium 11 and thereafter. This is a preparation operation necessary for enabling the communication operation. The time during which the A / D converter 2 takes in the voltage waveform of the carrier needs to be at least １ ／ of the wavelength of the carrier. This is because below this, the peak value of the carrier voltage may be missed.

Next, the signal converted into digital data by the A / D converter 2 is processed by the microcomputer 3 to calculate a peak voltage value. In order to increase the measurement accuracy of the voltage value, it is desirable to capture waveforms for more wavelengths into the A / D converter 2, detect more peaks, and calculate an average value.

After calculating the peak voltage value, the microcomputer 3 compares the voltage value with a predetermined reference voltage value (threshold value) by using an inspection unit of the microcomputer 3 to determine whether or not the voltage value deviates from a predetermined range. The result of the comparison is transmitted to the host controller 4 and the non-contact IC medium transport mechanism controller 5.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a voltage waveform when comparing the voltage value calculated by the microcomputer 3 with a threshold value. A waveform B indicated by a dashed line is a diagram showing a case where the non-contact IC medium 11 is not directly below the antenna 1a. In this case, the carrier wave transmitted by the antenna 1a is observed with the same waveform. In the present embodiment, a waveform having an amplitude of ± 5 V is shown.

On the other hand, a waveform A shown by a solid line is a waveform when the normal non-contact IC medium 11 (having no disconnection and resonating at a correct resonance frequency) is directly below the antenna 1a.
In this case, the antenna 1a and the antenna 11a of the non-contact IC medium 11 are electromagnetically coupled, and the energy of the carrier is transferred to the antenna 11a of the non-contact IC medium 11, so that the voltage at the antenna 1a decreases. This voltage drop is
It becomes maximum when the communication efficiency between the antenna 1a and the antenna 11a becomes maximum. In the present embodiment, the state shown in the waveform A is a state in which the amount of voltage drop is the maximum, and the amplitude at this time is a waveform of ± 2 V.

When the resonance frequency of the non-contact IC medium 11 deviates from the set value, the communication characteristics deteriorate, and the amount of voltage drop decreases. Further, if there is a broken portion in the circuit in the non-contact IC medium 11, no communication can be performed, so that a voltage drop hardly occurs. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the communication characteristics of the non-contact IC medium 11 are good by checking the amount of voltage drop.

The microcomputer 3 according to the present embodiment sets a threshold value at an amplitude of ± 3 V (C in FIG. 2), and determines that the non-contact IC medium 11 having an amplitude smaller than this value is communicating normally. On the contrary, the non-contact IC medium 11 having an amplitude larger than this value does not perform normal communication,
Judge as defective.

When the voltage value at the antenna 1a is smaller than ± 3 V, the host controller 4 having obtained the information from the microcomputer 3 issues a command to the R / W1 to issue an operation to the non-contact IC medium 11. Transmit. Thereafter, whether or not the issuing operation has been completed normally is transmitted to the non-contact IC medium transport mechanism control device 5, and the medium is sorted and stored in the non-defective product stacker 9 or the defective product stacker 8.

When the voltage value at the antenna 1a is larger than ± 3V, the higher-level control device 4 having obtained the information from the microcomputer 3 issues a command to the R / W1 to issue an operation to the non-contact IC medium 11. The non-contact IC medium 11 is stored in the defective stacker 8 without transmission and without performing an issuing operation.

According to the present embodiment, the issuing process and the communication characteristic test can be performed in the same process without having to perform the processes in separate processes. Further, since it is not necessary to sweep the frequency, the time required for the test can be shortened. Furthermore, since the R / W antenna actually used is used,
Since the test can be performed in a state equivalent to the actual use condition, the test can be performed more reliably.

(Modifications) Various modifications and changes are possible without being limited to the embodiment described above, and they are also within the equivalent scope of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the communication characteristics of the non-contact IC medium 11 are tested using the antenna 1a provided in the R / W 1, but the present invention is not limited to this. Then, the communication characteristics may be tested using this sense coil. In this case, the sense coil is a non-contact IC medium 1
1 and the antenna 1a must be provided so as to have a small mutual inductance.

Further, in this embodiment, an example in which the voltage is measured during transmission of the carrier wave has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the voltage may be measured during transmission of specific data.

Further, in this embodiment, the antenna 1a
Although the example in which the voltage acting on the voltage is measured has been described, the present invention is not limited to this example.

[0035]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when transmitting a carrier wave, the state of the non-contact information storage medium is changed based on the voltage and / or current detected by the electric detection unit. Since the inspection unit for performing the inspection is provided, the issuing process and the communication characteristic test can be performed simultaneously and in a short time.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the voltage and / or current detected by the electric detection unit is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, the inspection unit determines that the non-contact information storage medium is abnormal. The issuing device can have a simple configuration.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the sense antenna which is separate from the antenna and does not affect the antenna is provided, even when the voltage and / or current cannot be measured directly from the antenna. The above effects can be easily realized.

According to the invention of claim 4, a voltage and / or a current acting on the antenna at the time of transmitting a carrier wave are detected,
The issuance process is performed after inspecting the state of the non-contact information storage medium based on the detection result, so that the issuance process and the communication characteristic test can be performed simultaneously and in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an issuing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a voltage waveform when comparing a voltage value calculated by a microcomputer 3 with a reference voltage value.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 R / W 1a antenna 2 A / D converter 3 microcomputer 4 host controller 11 non-contact IC medium 11a

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A control unit for transmitting a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency and / or an issuance signal relating to an issuance process of a card; an antenna for transmitting and / or receiving a signal by the control unit; and a voltage and / or a voltage applied to the antenna. An electrical detection unit that detects a current, and an inspection unit that inspects a state of the non-contact information storage medium based on the voltage and / or current detected by the electrical detection unit when the carrier wave transmission unit emits a carrier wave. A non-contact information storage medium issuing device comprising: 2. The non-contact information storage medium issuing device according to claim 1, wherein the inspection unit detects the non-contact information when the voltage and / or current detected by the electric detection unit is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold. A non-contact information storage medium issuing device, which determines that the storage medium has an abnormality. 3. The non-contact information storage medium issuing device according to claim 1, further comprising a sense antenna that is separate from the antenna and does not affect the antenna, The unit detects a voltage and / or a current acting on the sense antenna, and the device for issuing a non-contact information storage medium. 4. A non-contact information storage device that detects a voltage and / or a current applied to an antenna when transmitting a carrier wave, checks a state of the non-contact information storage medium based on the detection result, and performs an issuance process. How to publish media.