JP2003203209A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide electronic equipment excellent in reliability. <P>SOLUTION: This electronic equipment comprises a discharge lever 4 for discharging an information storage medium 3 attachably and detachably mounted thereon. The moving stroke of the discharge lever comprises a play stroke 35 from the moving start of the discharge lever 4 to its abutting on the information storage medium 3 located in a mounting position, and a discharge stroke 36 for discharging the information storage medium 3, which is provided successively to the play stroke 35. <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 an electronic device such as an electronic notebook which has an external information storage medium detachably attached thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electronic device using a memory card or an IC card, when a small manual card ejection mechanism is used to realize portability, the card may be ejected during power feeding. is there. In that case, the power supply line to the card may be disconnected while the voltage is applied to the signal line, so that the power-off sequence may not be performed correctly, which may lead to physical damage to the card.

Conventionally, for example, in an electronic notebook equipped with a memory card, a lock mechanism for ejecting a card is provided in order to prevent such card destruction, and when the lock mechanism is released during power feeding to the card, the power-off sequence is immediately started. Was supposed to run.

Regarding the power-off sequence, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be cited.

[0005]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-233680 (No. 2-
(P. 3)

[0006]

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-25550 (No. 5-7)
page)

[0007]

However, with this conventional method, although the physical destruction of the card is prevented, even if the card terminal is accidentally unlocked and the card terminal is re-locked, the card terminal is already in the power-off sequence. Since the process has been completed, the card had to be ejected once to restart it, and then inserted again into the card terminal, resulting in a problem in operability.

Further, if the lock is accidentally released and the card is ejected while rewriting the file or data in the memory of the card, the file or data becomes abnormal and the subsequent operations are hindered.

Further, a simple card terminal usually does not have a card lock mechanism, and in this case, the card may be ejected during power feeding of the card as described above, and the IC chip inside the card is destroyed. There was a problem of bringing.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art and to provide an electronic device having excellent reliability.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electronic device provided with a discharge lever for discharging an information storage medium such as an IC card, which is detachably mounted. Movement stroke of
A play stroke until the discharge lever starts to move and comes into contact with the information storage medium in the mounting position, and a discharge stroke for discharging the information storage medium provided subsequent to the play stroke. Is.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are views showing an external view of a portable IC card terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state in which an IC card is being inserted into a card terminal, and FIG. 2 shows a card terminal. It is a figure which shows the state which mounted the IC card. FIG. 3 is a partial plan view showing an internal state of the card terminal, and FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged side view showing a connection state of the card terminal and the IC card.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a card insertion slot 2 is formed on the front side surface of a card terminal 1 made of, for example, an electronic notebook, and a discharge lever 4 and an unlock button 5 are formed on the right side surface. They are provided close to each other. Further, on the upper surface of the card terminal 1, a liquid crystal display section 6 and a large number of operation keys 7 are provided.
Are lined up. Although not shown, a buzzer (alarm) is installed inside the card terminal 1.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the card terminal 1. The card terminal 1 is connected via a clock terminal 61 on the IC card 3, a reset terminal 62, an I / O terminal 63 for inputting / outputting data, a power terminal 64 for receiving power from the card terminal 1, a ground terminal 65, and the like. Has been done.

The card terminal 1 has a ROM 66 which stores a program for controlling its operation, a RAM 67 which stores various data and files, and an MPU 68, I which controls the operation of the card terminal 1 based on the control program.
An IC card interface 69 for electrically connecting to the C card 3, an LCD control unit 70 for controlling the liquid crystal display unit 6, a keyboard control unit 71 for controlling the operation keys 7, a power switch 72, and a power source to be supplied to each unit. Power control section 73 for controlling the IC card, card detection switch 27 for detecting the completion of mounting of IC card 3 and the start of ejection, IC card 3
The lock release detecting switch 28 for detecting the lock release of the above is provided, and each unit is connected via the bus line 74. The card terminal 1 also has a discharge lever 4 and a lock release button 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, a guide wall 9 extends in parallel to the side wall 8 of the card terminal 1 at an interval of the width of the IC card 3, and the side wall 8 and the guide wall 9 are I.
It functions as a guide when inserting and ejecting the C card 3.

The ejection lever 4 and the lock release button 5 are provided in the vicinity of the mounting completion position of the IC card 3 such that the ejection lever 4 is on the front side as seen from the terminal operator.

The ejection lever 4 can reciprocate in the X direction corresponding to the insertion and ejection direction of the IC card 3, and the lock release button 5 can reciprocate in the Y direction orthogonal to the moving direction (X direction) of the ejection lever 4. It has become.

The side surface of the finger contact portion 10 slightly protruding from the side wall 8 of the discharge lever 4 is knurled as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, an engaging recess 11 is formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, an inclined surface 12 is provided at a corner portion on the front end side of the engagement concave portion 11, a spring hooking protrusion 13 is formed on a part of the ejection lever 4, and a pin 14 in the card terminal 1 is formed. A spring 15 stretched between the spring hooking protrusion 13 and the spring hooking protrusion 13.
Thus, the ejection lever 4 is elastically biased toward the stopper 16 provided at the standby position. A slide guide piece 17 is integrally provided at a position corresponding to the side wall 8 of the discharge lever 4, and is slidably inserted into a guide groove 18 formed in a part of the side wall 8.

The lock release button 5 is a stopper 16
Is arranged next to the discharge lever 4 via the stopper 16
Slide in the Y direction. The pressing portion 19 protruding slightly outward from the side wall 8 of the lock release button 5 is provided, for example, between the finger contact portion 10 of the discharge lever 4 and the pressure preventing projection 20 provided on the side wall 8 as shown in FIG. It is arranged in the formed recess 21 having a narrow width, and is designed to have a smaller protrusion amount than the finger contact portion 10 and the pressing prevention protrusion 20.

By doing so, it is possible to prevent the lock of the discharge lever 4 from being unlocked by pushing the lock release button 5 with a finger when the card terminal 1 is held.

The lock release button 5 has the discharge lever 4
A claw portion 22 that engages with the engaging recess 11 is provided, and an inclined surface 23 is formed on the front side of the claw portion 22.

A bar 24 is provided so as to project from the side opposite to the pressing portion 19, and a coil spring 25 is loosely fitted to the bar 24,
Further, the coil spring 25 is housed in a spring receiving portion 26 having a U-shaped planar shape. Since the spring receiving portion 26 is fixed in the card terminal 1, the lock release button 5 is elastically biased by the coil spring 25 in the direction in which the pressing portion 19 projects.

As shown in FIG. 3, a card detection switch 27 is provided near the insertion completion position of the IC card 3, and an unlocking detection switch 28 is provided near the unlocking button 5.
But each is installed. These detection switches 2
Reference numerals 7 and 28 are composed of, for example, microswitches or photosensors.

Next, the contact spring group 29 of the card terminal 1 and the IC
The contact structure of the terminal portion 32 of the card 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

The contact spring group 29 having elasticity is supported by the contact spring frame 40. The contact spring frame 40 is rotatably supported by the arm 42 about a pin 41. The arm 42 is fixed to the bottom plate 43, and
It also serves as a stopper for the C card 3. Wiring is drawn out from the contact spring group 29 by a flexible printed board, but it is not shown here.

As shown in FIG. 4A, in a state before the IC card 3 is inserted, the end portion 44 of the contact spring frame 40 is fixed to the bottom plate by a torsion spring (not shown) attached to the pin 41. 43 and the contact spring group 29 is bottom plate 4
Located away from 3.

Next, the operation of inserting and ejecting the IC card 3 will be described.

In the state before the IC card 3 is inserted, as shown in FIG. 5, the ejection lever 4 is retracted by the spring 15 to the position where it comes into contact with the stopper 16, and the lock release button 5 is ejected by the coil spring 25. The discharge lever 4 is stopped in the X-direction while being held in a position that engages with.

When the IC card 3 is inserted in the direction of arrow Z as shown in FIG. 1, the end of the contact spring frame 40 is moved from the state shown in FIG. 4A to the end of the IC card 3 as shown in FIG. 4B. The portion 44 is pushed up, and the contact spring group 29 becomes I
Contact with the terminal portion 32 of the C card 3 and the card terminal 1 and the IC
The card 3 is ready for communication.

When the IC card 3 is further inserted, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the end portion 44 is placed on the surface of the IC card 3. In this state, the contact spring group 29 is pressed against the terminal portion 32 of the IC card 3 with a designed proper load (50 g in this embodiment).

When the IC card 3 is inserted to a predetermined position, the tip of the IC card 3 pushes the card detection switch 27,
Detecting that the C card 3 has reached the insertion completion position,
The detection signal is sent to the MPU 68 via the bus line 74.
Is supplied to.

When the IC card 3 reaches the insertion completion position, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the tip of the IC card 3 contacts the ejection lever 4 or is in the vicinity thereof.

As described above, the terminal portion 32 has the contact spring group 29.
When the IC card 3 is brought into contact with the IC card 3 and connected to the card terminal 1, power is supplied from the card terminal 1 to the IC card 3,
Signals are exchanged between the card terminal 1 and the IC card 3 through the contact spring group 29 and the terminal portion 32.

Even if a force for moving the discharging lever 4 in the discharging direction is erroneously applied during the transmission and reception of such a signal, the discharging lever 4 is prevented from moving by the lock release button 5, so that the discharging lever 4 is prevented. There is no unexpected movement.

When ejecting the IC card 3, as shown in FIG. 6, the pressing portion 19 of the unlock button 5 is resisted by the fingertip 30 of the operator against the elasticity of the coil spring 25 and the card terminal 1 is pushed.
Press inside. As described above, the finger contact portion 1 of the discharge lever 4
Since the space between 0 and the pressing prevention projection 20 (recess 21) is narrow,
In order to move the lock release button 5, a fingertip 30 or the like having a thin tip must be operated.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the pressing portion 19 is pushed in, the lock release button 5 moves leftward in the drawing, and the claw portion 22 of the lock release button 5 moves from the engaging recess 11 of the discharge lever 4. When released, the lock release button 5 unlocks the discharge lever 4.

The movement of the lock release button 5 is detected by the lock release detection switch 28, and the lock release detection signal is transmitted to the control section (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 7, when the pressing portion 19 is pushed in, the finger pad 31 is close to the finger contact portion 10 of the ejection lever 4, so that the finger pad 31 is directed toward the front side against the elasticity of the spring 15. When pulled out, as shown in FIG. 8, the ejection lever 4 moves in the direction of the arrow, and the IC card 3 moves in the ejection direction in accordance with the movement. The movement of the IC card 3 is detected by the card detection switch 27, and the card ejection detection signal is transmitted to the control section (not shown).

When the IC card 3 is moved by the ejection lever 4, the IC card 3 projects from the card terminal 1 to the extent that the rear end of the IC card 3 can be picked up with a finger. All you have to do is pull out from the terminal 1.

Since the fingertip 30 is separated from the pressing portion 19 by the movement of the ejection lever 4 with the finger pad 31 as described above, the lock release button 5 contacts the stopper 16 as shown in FIG. 8 by the restoring force of the coil spring 25. It has returned to the contact position, and the inclined surface 12 of the discharge lever 4 and the inclined surface 23 of the lock release button 5 face each other.

When the finger pad 31 is separated from the ejection lever 4 in this state, the ejection lever 4 is moved to the standby position side by the restoring force of the spring 15 and the lock release button 5 is operated by the functions of the inclined surfaces 12 and 23. It is pushed away temporarily, and finally the discharge lever 4 and the lock release button 5 are engaged with each other as shown in FIG.

The change in the conduction state between the contact of the card terminal and the terminal of the IC card from the start of discharging to the completion of discharging is just opposite to that in the case of inserting the card described with reference to FIG. That is, from the state shown in FIG. 4C to the state shown in FIG.
When the state shown in (a) is reached, the state becomes non-conductive.

FIG. 10 shows the card detection switch 27, the lock release detection switch 28, the output and the power-on of the IC card 3 when the operator accidentally ejects the IC card 3 while applying the power to the IC card 3. It is a timing chart showing a sequence of / OFF. This figure shows the lock release detection switch 2 between the execution of the card power-on sequence and the execution of the card power-off sequence (power cut sequence).
8 output, card detection switch 27 output, power supply Vcc
The operation timings of the terminal, the clock terminal, the reset terminal, and the I / O terminal are shown.

The output of the lock release detection switch 28 is at a high level when the lock release button 5 is not pressed, and is at a low level when the lock release button 5 is pressed. The output of the card detection switch 27 is high level in the card insertion state and low level in the card ejection state. Both of these detection switches 27,
The output of 28 may be set to the high level and the low level in reverse.

As shown in the figure, both detection switches 2 have already been
The outputs of 7 and 28 are in a high level state, that is, the IC card 3 is set at the insertion completion position of the card terminal 1. In this state, the power-on sequence of the IC card 3 is performed. That is, a predetermined voltage Vcc is applied from the card terminal 1 to the IC card 3, clock signals for various control operations are supplied, reset is released,
Command data and response data are exchanged at the I / O terminal.

In the normal case, the discharging operation of the IC card 3 is not performed while the IC card 3 is being supplied with power, that is, the outputs of the card detection switch 27 and the unlock detection switch 28 remain at the high level. Between the power-on sequence of the card 3 and the power-off sequence, IC
The access operation of the card 3 is performed in a normal state.

However, if the lock release button 5 is abruptly pressed for some reason while the power is being supplied to the IC card 3, the output of the lock release detection switch 28 changes to a low level as shown in FIG.

The control section outputs a warning signal when the output of the unlock detection switch 28 changes to the low level during the access operation of the IC card 3, and a buzzer (not shown) built in the card terminal 1 emits a warning sound. And a warning display is displayed on the display unit 6 (see FIG. 2), "Do not eject card while using IC card!". However, even in this state, IC
The power supply to the card 3 is continued.

The warning display may be performed only when the IC card is being processed. In this case, I
After the command is input to the C card, the control program may be configured to display a warning only when unlock is detected in a state where a predetermined response is not returned from the IC card 3.

Since the warning sound is emitted by the buzzer and the warning is displayed on the display section 6 as described above, the operator usually notices an erroneous operation and stops the operation of the ejection lever 4. Then, when the finger is released from the lock release button 5, the output of the lock release detection switch 28 returns to the high level, so that the warning by the buzzer and the display unit 6 is stopped.

However, when the ejection lever 4 is slid to the front side after the lock release button 5 is pushed due to some mistake or the like, the output of the card detection switch 27 is changed from the high level to the low level as shown in FIG. Change to. The power-off sequence is executed using this level change as a dragger.

That is, the control circuit of the card terminal outputs a reset signal to the IC card, resets it thereafter, sets the I / O terminal to a high impedance state, stops the supply of the clock signal, and finally the voltage Vcc Stop the supply. Such a power-off sequence is a program sequence that is completed within 300 μs in this embodiment after the output of the card detection switch 27 changes to low level. By thus executing the power-off sequence before the card is ejected, it is possible to prevent the destruction of the memory inside the card or the destruction of the microcomputer.

In FIG. 11, the contact spring group 29 of the card terminal 1 is set to I after the card detection switch 27 becomes low level.
It takes 150 minutes to separate from the terminal 32 of the C card 3.
It is a frequency distribution chart at the time of measuring once.

As is clear from this figure, the contact spring group 2
It takes 1 ms or more for 9 to be separated from the terminal portion 32 of the IC card 3, and the power-off sequence (3 in this embodiment).
It has been confirmed that the contact spring group 29 separates from the terminal portion 32 of the IC card 3 after the setting (setting within 00 μs) is completed. Note that the moving distance of the IC card from the state in which the start of ejection is detected to the state in which conduction cannot be established is 0.75 mm.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the first modification of the present invention. In this figure, the lock release button 5 and the lock release detection switch 28 are omitted in order to avoid complication of the drawing.

As shown in the figure, in this example, a lever detection switch 33, such as a micro switch, for detecting the movement of the discharge lever 4 is provided near the discharge lever 4. A gap 34 is provided between the tip of the IC card 3 mounted at a predetermined position and the ejection lever 4.
This clearance 34 corresponds to the stroke 3 of the play of the discharge lever 4.
5 and is followed by a discharge stroke 36.

Therefore, when the discharge lever 4 is moved in the discharge direction, first, the lever detection switch 33 detects the movement of the discharge lever 4 at the stage of the play of the discharge lever 4, and the power is turned off based on this detection signal. The sequence is configured to run. When the ejection lever 4 passes through the gap 34 and comes into contact with the tip of the IC card 3, the ejection stroke 36 is entered, the IC card 3 is ejected, and the ejection operation is detected by the card detection switch 27. Therefore, this card detection switch 27 is used for the IC card 3
Only the presence or absence is detected, and it is not used as a trigger to execute the power-off sequence.

Since a large number of parts are used in the card ejection mechanism, the movement of the ejection lever 4 can be reliably detected by providing the play stroke 35 as described above.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the second modification of the present invention. In this example, a card detection terminal 38 is provided on the upstream side of the contact terminal 37 in the IC card ejection direction at a predetermined interval.

FIG. 7A shows a state where the IC card 3 is mounted at a predetermined position, and the contact terminal 37 and the card detection terminal 38 are in contact with the same terminal portion 32 on the IC card 3. There is. Therefore, it is possible to detect that the IC card 3 is mounted by detecting the energization states of the card detection terminal 38 and the contact terminal 37.

FIG. 11B shows a state in which the IC card 3 is being ejected. When the IC card 3 is ejected in the direction of the arrow, the contact terminal 37 keeps electrical contact with the terminal portion 32 on the card. Meanwhile, it starts to slide on the terminal portion 32. And first, the card detection terminal 38 comes off from the terminal portion 32,
At that stage, conduction between the card detection terminal 38 and the contact terminal 37 is lost. By detecting this change, the start of discharging the IC card 3 can be detected, and the power-off sequence is executed until the contact terminal 37 comes off the terminal portion 32.

In the above description, the embodiment of the electronic device using the IC card is described, but the present invention is also applicable to the electronic device using the memory card and the electronic device into which the modem card can be inserted.

Further, although the contact type information recording medium has been mainly described in the above embodiments, the present invention can be applied to the case where power supply and signal transmission / reception are performed by an electromagnetic coupling system using an electromagnetic coil at a terminal portion. .

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the electronic device having the ejecting lever for ejecting the detachably mounted information storage medium, the moving stroke of the ejecting lever is such that the ejecting lever starts to move. It is characterized by comprising a stroke of play until it comes into contact with the information storage medium at the mounting position, and a discharge stroke for discharging the information storage medium provided subsequent to the stroke of the play.

Therefore, using the stroke of the play,
For example, a power-off sequence or the like can be reliably executed, and an electronic device with excellent reliability can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which an IC card is being inserted into a portable IC card terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the portable IC card terminal showing a state where insertion of an IC card is completed.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the card terminal.

FIG. 4 is a partial side view showing a contact state between a contact spring group and a terminal portion.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged plan view of the card terminal showing a state in which the IC card is being inserted.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged plan view of the card terminal showing a state in which the IC card is being discharged.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of the card terminal showing a state in which the IC card is being discharged.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged plan view of the card terminal showing a state in which the IC card is being discharged.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a card terminal.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart of each part.

FIG. 11: The contact spring group is IC after the card ejection is detected
It is a frequency distribution diagram which measured the time until it separates from the terminal part of a card.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining a first modification example of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining a second modified example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Portable IC card terminal, 3: IC card, 4: Ejection lever, 5: Lock release button, 8: Side wall, 10: Finger rest, 11: Engagement recess, 17: Slide guide piece, 18:
Guide groove, 19: pressing portion, 20: pressing preventing projection, 2
1: concave portion, 22: claw portion, 27: card detection switch, 2
8: Lock release detection switch, 29: Contact spring group, 3
0: fingertip, 31: finger pad, 32: terminal portion, 33: lever detection switch, 34: gap, 35: stroke of play, 3
6: Ejection stroke, 37: Contact terminal, 38: Card detection terminal, 66: ROM, 67: RAM, 68: MP
U, 70: LCD control unit, 73: Power supply control unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) G06F 1/00 312G

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device having a discharge lever for discharging a detachably mounted information storage medium, wherein the movement stroke of the discharge lever is such that the discharge lever starts to move and is in the mounting position. An electronic device comprising a play stroke until it comes into contact with a play stroke and a discharge stroke for ejecting an information storage medium provided subsequent to the play stroke. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a lever detecting means for detecting movement of the discharging lever in the discharging direction, and a power-off sequence when the lever detecting means detects movement of the discharging lever in the discharging direction. An electronic device comprising: