JP2003196616A - Non-contact ic media reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience of a non-contact IC media. <P>SOLUTION: An antenna part 3 provided with an antenna for communicating with the non-contact IC media is detachably disposed in a non-contact IC media reader/writer body of the non-contact IC media reader/writer 1, and the non- contact IC media reader/writer body 2 and the antenna part 3 are electrically connected to each other by a spiral cable 5. A user removes the antenna part 3 from the non-contact IC media reader/writer body 2 without taking out the non-contact IC media and makes it approach to the own non-contact IC media, so that information can be read and written in the own non-contact IC media. This constitution can improve the convenience of the non-contact IC media and solves the troublesome handling in using it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-contact IC media reader / writer, and more particularly to a non-contact IC media reader / writer that communicates with an IC medium via an antenna in a non-contact manner to read and write information from the IC medium. Regarding

[0002]

[Prior Art] Various leisure facilities, distribution facilities, etc.
Various devices equipped with an IC media reader / writer for reading information recorded in an IC medium such as an IC card having an IC chip inside the medium and newly writing information in the IC medium are installed. There is.

In recent years, as an IC media reader / writer mounted on such various devices, this I
Non-contact IC media reader / writers that read and write information on C media have become widespread.

Generally, in a non-contact IC media reader / writer, an antenna section containing an antenna is fixedly arranged on the front surface of a main body used by a user. The user causes the non-contact IC media reader / writer to read and write information on the non-contact IC medium by holding the non-contact IC medium owned by the user near the surface of the antenna section.

[0005]

However, in the conventional non-contact IC media reader / writer, the user is
Since the non-contact IC media must be held so as to face the surface of the antenna part fixed integrally with the main body of the non-contact IC media reader / writer substantially in parallel,
If you put the non-contact IC media in your bag, wallet, case, or clothes pocket, the non-contact IC media
There is a problem in that it is troublesome that the medium has to be taken out and then held over the antenna.
Therefore, it cannot be said that the convenience of being a non-contact type is fully utilized.

Further, in order to allow the user to take out the non-contact IC medium and smoothly hold it over the antenna portion fixed to the non-contact IC media reader / writer body, the shape of the non-contact IC medium is set. Is, in fact, mostly limited to card types.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a non-contact IC media reader / writer which improves the convenience of a non-contact IC medium for reading and writing information in a non-contact manner. The purpose is to

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a non-contact IC for reading and writing information from and to a non-contact IC medium via an antenna.
In a media reader / writer, a non-contact IC media reader / writer is provided, which is detachably arranged in a non-contact IC media reader / writer main body and has an antenna section provided with an antenna for communicating with the non-contact IC media. To be done.

According to such a non-contact IC media reader / writer, the antenna section provided with the antenna has a non-contact I
Since it is detachably arranged in the C media reader / writer body, by removing the antenna section from the non-contact IC media reader / writer body and bringing the antenna section closer to the non-contact IC medium, information can be transferred to the non-contact IC medium. Reads and writes will be performed.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a side view of the non-contact IC media reader / writer, FIG. 2 is a front view of the non-contact IC media reader / writer, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the non-contact IC media reader / writer.

The non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 has a non-contact I
An antenna unit 3 having an antenna for reading and writing information to and from the non-contact IC medium by communicating with the C medium, and information read from the non-contact IC medium or information to be written to the non-contact IC medium. Is displayed on the LCD screen 4a facing the user.

The antenna section 3 of the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 is detachably attached to the non-contact IC media reader / writer body 2. Usually, the antenna part 3 is set by being fitted in a recess formed in the non-contact IC media reader / writer body 2 with the antenna surface 3a facing upward. In this set state, the antenna surface 3a projects from the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body 2 so that the user holding the non-contact IC medium can easily recognize the holding position.

The antenna unit 3 is formed to have a size that a user can hold with one hand. In addition to the antenna for communicating with the non-contact IC medium, the antenna unit 3 controls the communication. The antenna board 3b is incorporated.

A wireless circuit for reading and writing information on the non-contact IC medium is formed on the antenna substrate 3b, and a central processing unit (CPU) is used for reading the non-contact IC medium. A signal processing circuit having a demodulation circuit for converting into a recognizable signal and a modulation circuit for converting into a signal recordable in the non-contact IC medium when writing information to the non-contact IC medium is formed. Even if the antenna substrate 3b has a CPU unique to the antenna substrate 3b, the non-contact I
A configuration may be such that the CPU included in the control board of the C media reader / writer body 2 described later is shared.

The antenna section 3 is made compact and lightweight by using the antenna and the antenna substrate 3b as main built-in parts. In addition, the antenna portion 3 has a recess formed on its side end surface, and has a shape that can be easily gripped by the user with the hand set in the non-contact IC media reader / writer body 2.

Such an antenna part 3 is connected to a non-contact IC by a spiral cable 5 which is formed so as to be expandable and contractible.
The information electrically connected to the media reader / writer main body 2 and processed by the antenna substrate 3b is sent to the control board 6 built in the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body 2 via the spiral cable 5. It is being transmitted. With this spiral cable 5,
The antenna part 3 can be removed while maintaining an electrical connection with the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body 2, and when the antenna part 3 is returned to the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body 2, a spiral The cable 5 is adapted to contract.

Next, a case will be described in which the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 having the above-mentioned configuration is made to read and write information. Here, a case where a card-type non-contact IC card is used as the non-contact IC medium will be described as an example.

First, a case will be described in which the user takes out the non-contact IC card from the bag or pocket and holds it over the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 for communication. FIG. 4 is a side view of the non-contact IC media reader / writer when communicating with the non-contact IC card taken out by the user.

First, the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 is in a standby state for reading the non-contact IC card 10. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the antenna section 3 has a non-contact IC media reader / writer. It is in a state of being fitted in the concave portion of the main body 2.

The user takes out the non-contact IC card 10 and holds it over the antenna surface 3a of the antenna section 3 of the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1. At this time, the user needs to hold the non-contact IC card 10 over the antenna surface 3a of the antenna unit 3 substantially in parallel.

In the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 in which the non-contact IC card 10 is held over the antenna surface 3a, the recorded information recorded in the non-contact IC card 10 is transmitted through the antenna of the antenna section 3 to the antenna substrate 3b. Is transmitted to the wireless circuit. This recorded information is further converted by the demodulation circuit and then transferred via the spiral cable 5 to the non-contact I
It is transmitted to the control board 6 of the C media reader / writer body 2. The control board 6 to which the recorded information of the non-contact IC card 10 is transmitted executes predetermined processing of the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 such as ID authentication and calculation of the amount of money, and the non-contact IC card 10 held over Generate information to be newly recorded. The generated information is transmitted again to the antenna substrate 3b via the spiral cable 5, converted by the modulation circuit, and then transmitted from the wireless circuit of the antenna substrate 3b to the non-contact IC card 10 via the antenna of the antenna unit 3.
Recorded in. As a result, the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 enters a standby state for reading the next non-contact IC card.

Next, the case where the user communicates with the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 without taking out the non-contact IC card from the bag or pocket will be described.
FIG. 5 is a side view of the non-contact IC media reader / writer in the case of communicating with the non-contact IC card that is used without being taken out by the user.

First, the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 is in a standby state for reading the non-contact IC card 10. When the user places the non-contact IC card 10 in a bag, a pocket or the like, the user does not take it out, and the antenna section 3 of the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 is taken out.
Is removed from the non-contact IC media reader / writer body 2, and its antenna part 3 is brought close to the part in which the non-contact IC card 10 is inserted. That is, the antenna surface 3a of the antenna unit 3 is brought closer to the non-contact IC card 10 placed in a bag, a pocket or the like. At that time, since the antenna unit 3 connected by the spiral cable 5 has a degree of freedom in its moving range and moving direction, the user is required to contact the non-contact IC card 1
It is possible to easily position 0 and the antenna surface 3a substantially in parallel.

The recorded information of the non-contact IC card 10 with the antenna surface 3a of the antenna section 3 approaching substantially parallel is transferred from the antenna board 3b to the control board 6 of the non-contact IC media reader / writer body 2 via the spiral cable 5. After the control board 6 executes a predetermined process, the generated information is transmitted again to the antenna board 3b via the spiral cable 5 and recorded in the non-contact IC card 10.

After the communication with the non-contact IC card 10, the user again removes the antenna section 3 removed from the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body 2 into the non-contact IC card.
The media reader / writer body 2 is fitted into the recess. At that time, the spiral cable 5 connecting the antenna unit 3 and the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body 2
Contracts. As a result, the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 enters a standby state for reading the next non-contact IC card.

As described above, the user of the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 can remove the non-contact IC card 10 from the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 without removing the non-contact IC card 10 from the bag or pocket. Since it is possible to communicate with each other, it is possible to take advantage of the convenience of being a non-contact type and to eliminate the troublesomeness in using. Of course, as described above, the user can take out the non-contact IC card 10 from the bag, the pocket or the like as usual, and communicate with the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1.

In the above description, the card-type non-contact IC card 10 is taken as an example of the non-contact IC medium, but other non-contact IC media such as a wrist watch type, a tag type, and a coin type are also used. It is possible to use various shapes of non-contact IC media including an IC chip. Therefore, according to the non-contact IC media reader / writer 1 of the present embodiment, the antenna can be brought close to the non-contact IC media even in an environment in which non-contact IC media of various shapes are mixedly used. Yes, non-contact IC media and non-contact IC media reader / writer 1
Stable communication between and becomes possible.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the antenna portion having the antenna for communicating with the non-contact IC medium is detachably arranged on the main body of the non-contact IC media reader / writer. As a result, the user can read and write information on the non-contact IC medium without taking out the non-contact IC medium when using the non-contact IC medium. Convenience can be utilized, and troublesomeness in using the device will be eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a non-contact IC media reader / writer.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a non-contact IC media reader / writer.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a non-contact IC media reader / writer.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a non-contact IC media reader / writer when communicating with a non-contact IC card taken out by a user.

FIG. 5: Non-contact IC used without being taken out by the user
It is a side view of a non-contact IC media reader / writer when communicating with a card.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Non-contact IC media reader / writer 2 Non-contact IC media reader / writer body 3 antenna 3a Antenna plane 3b antenna board 4 Display 4a LCD screen 5 spiral cable 6 control board 10 Non-contact IC card

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A non-contact IC for reading and writing information on a non-contact IC medium via an antenna.
In the media reader / writer, the non-contact IC media reader / writer is detachably arranged in the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body, and has an antenna section provided with an antenna for communicating with the non-contact IC media. 2. The non-contact I according to claim 1, wherein the antenna section and the non-contact IC media reader / writer body are electrically connected by a cable.
C media reader / writer. 3. The non-contact IC media reader / writer according to claim 2, wherein the cable is a spiral cable that is formed to be expandable and contractible. 4. The non-contact IC medium is a card type,
The contactless IC media reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein the contactless IC media reader / writer is a wristwatch type, a tag type, or a coin type. 5. A non-contact IC for reading and writing information on a non-contact IC medium via an antenna.
In a media reader / writer, a non-contact IC media reader / writer main body having a control board for processing information read from the non-contact IC media and information written in the non-contact IC media, and detachably attached to the non-contact IC media reader / writer main body An antenna unit that is disposed and has an antenna for communicating with the non-contact IC media, and an antenna board having an antenna board for controlling communication with the non-contact IC media via the antenna; A non-contact IC media reader / writer, comprising: