JP2003218800A - Mounting apparatus for portable information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely perform optical communication with only a portable information terminal mounted on a mounting part. <P>SOLUTION: On a main body of a mounting apparatus 12, a mounting part 15a is formed for mounting a BHT (Bar-cord Handy Terminal), an electrical component storage part 16 is provided on the side of the mounting part 15a. In the storage part 16, a circuit board 21 having an optical communication device 22 for communicating with the mounting BHT by a light beam. Communication light 32 from the communication device 22 to an optical communication part of the BHT is reflected by a reflecting part 28 and restricted by a transparent window 17. <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 portable information terminal mounting device for carrying out optical communication by mounting a portable information terminal such as a bar code handy terminal (hereinafter referred to as BHT).

[0002]

FIG. 13 shows an example of this type of portable information terminal mounting device. The BHT body 2 which is the body of the portable information terminal mounter 1 has a BHT.
Mounting parts 4a and 4b on which 3 is mounted are formed.
The mounting portions 4a and 4b are formed in a concave shape. This mounting device 1 is adapted to perform data transmission with the BHT 3 by optical communication, and its configuration is shown in FIG. An electric component housing portion 5 is formed on a side portion of the mounting portion 4a, and a transmission window 6 is formed on a side wall portion 5a thereof. An optical communication device 7 having a light emitting element 7a and a light receiving element (not shown) is provided inside the electrical component housing section 5. The light emitting element 7a and the light receiving element are configured to perform optical communication with the optical communication unit 3a on the BHT 3 side through the transmission window 6.

However, in the above conventional configuration, the optical communication device 7
Since the communication light (output light from the light emitting element 7a and input light to the light receiving element) is simply transmitted to the BHT 3 side through the transmission window 6, the communication light 8 (range indicated by alternate long and short dash lines 8a and 8a) is It is a relatively large area. Although it is generally an advantage that the communication light 8 area is relatively wide, in the portable information terminal mounting device that optically communicates with the portable information terminal,
Often has drawbacks. That is, when data communication is performed between the portable information terminal such as the BHT 3 and the mounting device 1,
It is also conceivable to arrange a plurality of mounting devices 1 and a plurality of BHTs 3 side by side. In such a case, the mounting device 1 and the BHT 3 (this mounting device 1 that is not in a data communication relationship with the mounting device 1).
There is a risk that data may be erroneously transmitted to and from the BHT which is not mounted on the.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal mounting device capable of reliably performing optical communication only with a portable information terminal mounted on a mounting portion. It is in.

[0005]

According to the invention of claim 1 adopted to achieve the above object, a reflector for bending communication light from the optical communication device to the optical communication part of the portable information terminal,
A communication window for transmitting the communication light is provided, and the range through which the communication light passes is limited by at least one of the reflection part and the transmission part, so that it is possible to reduce the width of the communication light and place it on the mounting part. Optical communication can be reliably performed only with the established portable information terminal. In other words, in the configuration (conventional configuration) in which the optical communication of the optical communication device is simply performed through the transmission window, the spread of the optical path, that is, the spread of the communication light cannot be limited unless the distance between the optical communication device and the transmission window is considerably large. However, according to the first aspect of the invention, the width of the communication light can be reduced as described above. In particular, since the configuration uses the reflecting portion, the degree of freedom in setting the optical path of the communication light also becomes high.

In this case, the range through which the communication light passes may be limited by the transmitting section (the invention of claim 2). Further, in the case where the mounting portion has a side wall portion that is substantially perpendicular to the mounting portion, a transmissive window may be provided in the side wall portion, and the reflecting portion may reflect the communication light substantially at a right angle. Invention). By doing so, the optical communication device can be arranged at a position substantially perpendicular to the transmission window.

Further, on the side of the mounting portion of the mounting body,
An electrical equipment housing portion is formed, and a side wall portion facing the optical communication portion of the portable information terminal is formed in the electrical equipment housing portion so as to be substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface of the mounting portion, and the transmission window is It is formed so as to open laterally in the side wall portion of the electrical equipment housing portion, and a circuit board is arranged in the electrical equipment housing portion in a state substantially parallel to the side wall portion of the electrical equipment housing portion. The optical communication device may be installed so as to form an optical axis parallel to the surface (the invention of claim 4). With this configuration, in a configuration in which the mounting portion side portion is provided with the electrical component housing portion for optical communication, the electrical component housing portion can be thinned.

The reflecting portion may be composed of a reflecting mirror or a prism (the invention of claim 5). The optical axis may be perpendicular to the mounting surface (the invention of claim 6).

Further, an optical display section may be provided on the side wall of the electrical component accommodating section, and an optical display element for emitting light from the optical display section may be mounted on the circuit board (the invention of claim 7). By doing so, various optical displays can be performed by utilizing the electrical component housing portion and the circuit board for optical communication.

Further, an electrical equipment accommodating portion is formed in which the side wall portion facing the communication portion of the portable information terminal is substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface of the mounting portion from the mounting portion side portion to the lower portion of the mounting body. A transparent window is opened laterally in the side wall portion of the electrical equipment housing portion, and a circuit board is disposed in a portion of the electrical equipment housing portion below the mounting portion in a state substantially parallel to the mounting surface. An optical communication device may be installed on the circuit board so as to have an optical axis parallel to the surface of the circuit board, and a second reflecting portion may be provided on an optical path near the optical communication device (claim 8). invention).

With this configuration, in the configuration in which the substantially L-shaped electrical component accommodating portion is provided from the mounting portion side portion to the lower portion, the optical path of the communication light is formed in conformity with the L-shaped electrical component accommodating portion. it can. In this case, the reflecting portion and the second reflecting portion may be formed as an integral light guide (invention of claim 9).

In addition, the reflecting portion is provided on a cap which is a member separate from the mounting body, and the cap is provided with a filter portion in addition to the reflecting portion, and the filter portion is arranged on the transmission window. It may be configured to be provided in the mounting device main body in accordance with (the invention of claim 10). In this way, the transmission window can be closed, the light other than communication light can be shielded, and the reflector can be attached at the same time. In this case, the cap may be formed integrally with the reflecting portion (the invention of claim 11).

Further, the mounting portion is formed on the mounting device main body, the fitting portion is formed on the cap, and the mounting portion is fitted to the mounting portion by the spring force of the cap. The structure may be fixed to the main body (the invention of claim 12). With this configuration, the cap can be easily attached.

Further, in the lower part of the mounting portion of the mounting body,
An electrical equipment housing portion is formed, a circuit board is provided in the electrical equipment housing portion in parallel to the mounting surface of the mounting portion, and an optical communication device is provided on the circuit board so that the optical axis is parallel to the circuit board surface. A configuration may be adopted in which the transmission window is installed and the transmission window is provided on the mounting surface (the invention of claim 13). In this case, the reflecting portion may be composed of a light guide body integrally formed with a cap that closes the transmission window.
Invention).

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mounting device 11 which is a mounting device for a portable information terminal is used.
Is a device for carrying out optical communication by mounting a portable information terminal such as a BHT 12, and the mounting device 11 also has a function for charging an internal battery of the BHT 12. The BHT 12 is provided with an optical communication unit 12a, a bar code reading unit 12b, a display unit 12c, an input unit 12d and the like.

The mounting device main body 13 of the mounting device 11 is formed in a housing shape from an upper case 14a and a lower case 14b fitted and fixed to the upper case 14a.

The mounting device main body 13 is provided with mounting portions 15a and 15b on which the BHT 12 is mounted. The one mounting portion 15a is one end portion of the BHT 12 (left portion in FIG. 2).
The other mounting portion 15b receives the other end portion (the right portion in FIG. 2) of the BHT 12. These mounting portions 15a and 15b are formed in a concave shape by bulging the side end portions of the upper case 14a (raised portions 14c and 14d).

As shown in FIG. 1, an electric component accommodating portion 16 is formed inside a side portion of, for example, a raised portion 14c, which is a side portion of the one mounting portion 15a in the mounting body 13, for example. . A side wall portion 16a facing the optical communication portion 12a (see FIG. 3) of the BHT 12 in the electrical component housing portion 16
Is substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface 15c of the mounting portion 15a. As shown in FIG. 5, the side wall portion 16c is formed with a transmissive window 17 that opens laterally. As shown in FIG. 5, a mounting portion 18 having a substantially quadrangular prism shape is formed at the upper edge of the transmission window 17. A fitting hole 19 is formed in the upper wall portion 16b of the electrical component accommodating portion 16 adjacent to the mounting portion 18. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper wall portion 16b is provided with, for example, four display holes 20a to 20d which are light display portions.

A circuit board 21 is provided in the electrical equipment accommodating portion 16.
Are arranged substantially parallel to the side wall portion 16a, and the optical communication device 22 is mounted on the circuit board 21 such that its optical axis (indicated by 22a for convenience) is substantially parallel to the circuit board 21. Has been done. The optical communication device 22 is configured to include a light emitting element 23, which is an infrared light emitting element, and a light receiving element 24 (see FIG. 2), which is a phototransistor, for example.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the cap 25 is a member separate from the mount main body 13 and is made of a synthetic resin of a material (infrared filter material) that favorably blocks light other than infrared light. It is configured. The cap 25 is formed with a fitting portion 26 including a horizontal piece portion 26a, a vertical piece portion 26b, and 26c, and a lower end portion of one vertical piece portion 26b of the fitting portion 26 has an angle of about 45 °. The bending piece portion 27 is formed to bend at an angle, and the bending piece portion 27 is formed.
A reflecting portion 28, which is made of a metal plate having high reflection efficiency (for example, an aluminum plate) and bends (reflects) communication light, is attached to the downward surface of the. On the other hand, the lower end portion of the other vertical piece portion 26c of the fitting portion 26 extends further downward, and this extending piece portion serves as a filter portion 29.

The cap 25 described above has a bent piece portion 27.
Is inserted from the fitting hole 19 and the fitting portion 26 is fitted to the mounting portion 27, so that the fitting portion 26 is attached to the mounting device main body 13. In this case, the filter unit 29 is arranged in the transmission window 17 so as to close it. Further, the cap 25 is stopped by the above fitting, and the angle of the reflecting portion 28 is properly regulated. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the vertical dimension Ha of the reflecting portion 28 and the vertical width dimension Hb of the transmission window 17 with respect to the optical communication device 22 are set to a width dimension effective for limiting the communication light.

A panel sheet 30 is adhered to the upper wall portion 16b of the electrical component accommodating portion 16 and the upper surface of the cap 25. In the panel sheet 30, the display hole 20a is provided.
The portion corresponding to ~ 20d is configured to be transparent. Here, on the circuit board 21, as shown in FIG. 2, LEDs 31a to 31d, which are optical display elements, are mounted so as to face the display holes 20a to 20d.
These LEDs 31a to 31d perform, for example, an indication that electricity is being supplied, an indication that communication is being performed, an indication that charging is being performed, and other indications.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the communication light 32 from the optical communication device 22 to the optical communication unit 12a of the BHT 12 (the range indicated by alternate long and short dash lines 32a and 32b) is reflected by the reflection unit 28 and transmitted by the transmission window 17. It is restricted. The communication light 32 may be limited by the reflector 28.

According to this embodiment as described above, the reflecting portion 28
Since the communication light 32 is reflected at, and the communication light reflected at the reflecting portion 28 is limited by the transmission window 17,
The width of the communication light 32 can be reduced. In particular, because of the configuration using the reflector 28, the degree of freedom in setting the path of the communication light 32 is also increased. Further, the reflector 28 is connected to the communication light 32.
Since it is provided so as to reflect at a substantially right angle, the transmission window 17
The optical communication device 22 can be arranged at a position substantially perpendicular to the position.

Further, the transmission window 17 is formed in the side wall portion 16a of the electrical component accommodating portion 16 so as to open laterally, and the circuit board 21 is arranged in the electrical component accommodating portion 16 in a state substantially parallel to the side wall portion 16a. The optical communication device 22 is installed on the circuit board 16a.
Is installed so that its optical axis 22a is substantially parallel to the circuit board 21, so that the circuit board 21 and the optical communication device 22 are housed inside the electric equipment housing portion 16 The housing 16 can be thinned in the width direction (horizontally thinned in FIG. 1).

That is, when the circuit board 21 and the optical communication device 22 are provided without providing the reflection portion 28 in the electrical equipment housing portion 16, in order to narrow the communication light, as shown in FIG. 12 as a reference example. Therefore, the optical communication device 22 and the transmission window 17 need to be considerably separated from each other, so that the width dimension of the electrical component accommodating portion 16 becomes large. However, in the present embodiment configured as described above, the electrical component accommodating portion 16 can be made thinner as described above.

In this case, the upper wall portion 16 of the electrical component accommodating portion 16
b is provided with the optical display portions 20a to 20d, and the circuit board 21 is provided with
LED 3 that emits light from the light display portions 20a to 20d
Since the components 1a to 31d are mounted, various optical displays can be performed using the electrical component housing portion 16 and the circuit board 21 for optical communication.

Further, according to this embodiment, the reflecting portion 28 is
It is provided on the cap 25, which is a separate member from the mounting device main body 11,
A filter section 29 is provided on the cap 25 in addition to the reflecting section 28.
Since it is configured to be provided in the mounting device main body 11 in a form of being arranged in 7, it is possible to close the transmission window 17, shield light other than communication light, and attach the reflection portion 28 at one time.

In this case, the mounting portion 17 is formed on the mounting device main body 12, the fitting portion 26 is formed on the cap 25, the cap 25 is fitted on the mounting portion 17, and the spring force is applied. Since it is configured to be fixed to the mounting device main body 12 in this manner, the cap 25 can be easily attached. The cap 25
May be formed integrally with the reflecting portion 28.

As can be seen from FIGS. 13 and 14, the electrical equipment accommodating chamber 5 emits the communication light 8 having an optical axis parallel to the mounting surface of the mounting portion 4a (substantially perpendicular to the side wall portion 2a). So it was wide. However, the communication device 22
The width dimension can be reduced by arranging so that its optical axis is substantially parallel to the side wall portion 16a and arriving at the transmissive window 28 by the reflecting portion 28, and the mounting device 11 can be mounted. Can contribute to the miniaturization of. In order to achieve this miniaturization, there is no need to limit the communication light.

The structure relating to the reflection part and the transmission window may be modified as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. That is,
In FIG. 6 showing the second embodiment of the present invention, a reflecting plate 34 having a reflecting portion 33 is provided instead of the cap 25. Further, in FIG. 7 showing the third embodiment of the present invention, a prism (light guide) 35 is provided.
In this prism 35, the total reflection surface 35a serves as a reflection portion, and the end surface 35b serves as a transmission window. In FIG. 8 showing the fourth embodiment of the present invention, an electric component housing portion 36 is formed below the mounting portion 15a, and a transmission window 37 is formed on the mounting surface 15c. Circuit board 38
The optical communication device 39 is provided in the electric component housing portion 36 as shown in the figure. The fourth embodiment is suitable when the BHT optical communication unit is provided on the lower surface.

FIG. 9 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The fifth embodiment is characterized by the following points. That is, the portion from the side of the placing portion 15a to the lower portion of the placing device main body 13 serves as the electrical component accommodating portion 40. Then, the mounting portion 15a in the electrical component accommodating portion 40
In the lower portion, the circuit board 21 is arranged substantially parallel to the mounting surface 15c. An optical communication device 22 is mounted on the circuit board 21 such that its optical axis 22a is substantially parallel to the circuit board 21. And the cap 25
The communication light 45 is formed by the reflection portion 42 of the reflection plate 41 provided in place of the above and the reflection portion 43 (which is attached to the reflection plate 44) disposed below the reflection portion 41. The light 45 is reflected at each of two places.

According to the fifth embodiment, in the configuration in which the L-shaped electrical component accommodating portion 40 is provided, the communication light 45 can be formed according to the L-shaped shape of the electrical component accommodating portion 40. Then, the electrical component accommodating portion 40 on the side of the mounting portion 15a can be further thinned. Further, since the two reflecting portions 42 and 43 are provided, the degree of freedom in setting the path of the communication light 45 is further increased.

In this case, the communication light 45 may be composed of a prism 46 as shown in FIG. 10 showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the total reflection surface 46a of the prism 46 corresponds to the reflection portion, the total reflection surface 46b near the optical communication device 22 corresponds to the second reflection portion, and the end surface 46c thereof corresponds to the transmission window.

FIG. 11 shows a seventh embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment differs from the fourth embodiment (FIG. 8) in the following points. That is, from the optical communication device 22 to the BHT 12
Prism (light guide) to form communication light 47 to
49 is used. In this case, the total reflection surface 49a of the prism 49 corresponds to the reflection portion. The cap 50 that closes the transmission window 48 is formed integrally with the prism 49.

The present invention may be implemented as follows. The reflection part may be a member having a high reflection efficiency, and in addition to a metal plate or a prism, for example, a reflection mirror, a vacuum deposition layer of metal, a plating layer, glass or high reflectance paint, other high reflectance You may comprise by a member etc. Further, the mobile information terminal is not limited to the BHT, but may be a mobile phone, a personal information device (PDA), or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an electrical equipment accommodating portion showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the entire state in which the BHT is placed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the entire state in which the BHT is separated from the mounting portion.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the LED portion of the electrical component housing portion.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a cap and a transparent window portion.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an electrical equipment accommodating portion showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an electrical equipment accommodating portion showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional side view of an electrical equipment accommodating portion showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional side view of an electrical equipment accommodating portion showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an electrical equipment accommodating portion showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an electric component accommodating portion showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a reference example.

FIG. 13 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a conventional example.

FIG. 14 is a view equivalent to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is a mounting device for a portable information terminal, 12 is a BHT (portable information terminal), 13 is a mounting device main body, 15a and 15b are mounting portions, 16 is an electrical equipment housing portion, 16a is a side wall portion, 17 is a transparent window. , 18 is a mounting portion, 19 is a fitting hole, 20a to 20d are display holes (optical display portion), 21 is a circuit board, 22 is an optical communication device, 23 is a light emitting element, 24 is a light receiving element, 25 is a cap, 26 Is a fitting portion, 28 is a reflecting portion, 29 is a filter portion,
31a-31d are LED (optical display element), 32 communication light,
Reference numeral 33 is a reflecting portion, 35 is a prism, 36 is an electric component housing portion,
37 is a transparent window, 38 is a circuit board, 39 is an optical communication device, 40
Is an electrical equipment housing portion, 42 and 43 are reflecting portions, 45 is communication light,
46 is a prism, 47 is communication light, 48 is a transmission window, 49 is a prism, and 50 is a cap.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Ichizo Terawaki             50 Denso, Kojiri, Hitotsuki-cho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture             Within Elex Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshio Isobe             50 Denso, Kojiri, Hitotsuki-cho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture             Within Elex Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Seiji Ishikawa             50 Denso, Kojiri, Hitotsuki-cho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture             Within Elex Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5K002 AA05 BA14 BA16 BA21 FA03                       GA07

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A mounting part provided on the mounting device main body for mounting the portable information terminal, and an optical communication part of the mounting portable information terminal provided inside the mounting device main body. An optical communication device having a light emitting element and a light receiving element for performing communication by light, a reflecting portion for bending the communication light from the optical communication device to the optical communication portion of the portable information terminal, and a transmission window for transmitting the communication light are provided. A mounting device for a portable information terminal, characterized in that the range through which communication light passes is limited by at least one of the reflecting portion and the transmitting portion. 2. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein a range through which the communication light passes is limited by the transmitting unit. 3. The mounting part has a side wall part substantially perpendicular thereto, the transmission window is provided in the side wall part, and the reflecting part reflects the communication light substantially at right angles. Two
The mounting device for the portable information terminal described. 4. An electric equipment housing portion is formed on a side of the mounting portion of the mounting body, and a side wall portion of the electric equipment housing portion facing the optical communication portion of the portable information terminal is the mounting portion. The transmission window is substantially vertical to the mounting surface, and the transparent window is opened laterally in the side wall portion of the electrical equipment housing portion, and the circuit board is disposed in the electrical equipment housing portion in a state substantially parallel to the side wall portion of the electrical equipment housing portion. 3. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 2, wherein an optical communication device is installed on the circuit board so as to form an optical axis parallel to the surface of the circuit board. 5. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting portion is composed of a reflecting mirror or a prism. 6. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 4, wherein the optical axis is perpendicular to the mounting surface. 7. An optical display section is provided on a side wall of the electrical component accommodating section, and an optical display element for emitting light from the optical display section is mounted on the circuit board. Item 4. A mounting device for a portable information terminal according to item 4. 8. An electric equipment housing portion is formed from a side of the mounting portion side to a lower portion of the mounting body, and a side wall portion of the electric equipment housing portion facing the optical communication portion of the portable information terminal comprises:
The transmission window is substantially vertical to the mounting surface of the mounting portion, and the transparent window is opened laterally in the side wall portion of the electrical component housing portion, and the circuit board is mounted in the portion below the mounting portion of the electrical component housing portion. The optical communication device is arranged in a state substantially parallel to the surface, and the optical communication device is installed on the circuit board so that the optical axis is parallel to the surface of the circuit board, and the second reflecting portion is provided on the optical path near the optical communication device. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 1, which is provided. 9. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 8, wherein the reflecting portion and the second reflecting portion are formed as an integrated light guide. 10. The reflecting section is provided on a cap that is a member separate from the mounting body, and the cap is provided with a filter section in addition to the reflecting section. In this cap, the filter section is disposed in the transmission window. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the mounting device is provided in the mounting device main body in such a form. 11. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 10, wherein the cap is formed integrally with the reflecting portion. 12. The mounting body is formed with an attachment portion, the cap is formed with a fitting portion, and the cap is fitted with the fitting portion, and the cap is mounted by a spring force of the cap. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 10, wherein the mounting device is fixed to the mounting device main body. 13. The lower portion of the mounting portion of the mounting device main body,
An electrical equipment housing is formed, and a circuit board is provided in the electrical equipment housing in parallel to the mounting surface of the mounting portion. Optical communication is performed on the circuit board so that the optical axis is parallel to the circuit board surface. The mounting device for a portable information terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mounting device is installed and a transparent window is provided on the mounting surface. 14. The reflecting portion is a light guide body formed integrally with a cap that closes the transmission window.
The mounting device for the portable information terminal described.