JP2006165908A - Information terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To promote an overall device downsizing and thinning without deteriorating a transmission/reception function using an antenna. <P>SOLUTION: An information terminal device 10 transmits/receives predetermined radio through at least an antenna 11a, and performs information reading processing or information writing processing for an external information recording medium 100. As for the antenna 11a, the main gain direction of the antenna 11a is almost parallel to the board of an installed control board 300, the display surface of a display unit 14 is placed almost perpendicular to a coil plane in which the antenna 11a is formed, and a coil of the antenna 11a is placed on an edge neighborhood surface of an optical information reading window 12a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal device that reads information stored in an external information recording medium existing in a predetermined communication area or writes information to the external information recording medium.

  Conventionally, an external information recording medium such as an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag in which a small integrated circuit and an antenna are combined or a non-contact IC card in which RFID is embedded in a card-like resin plate, and the external information recording medium PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or non-contact IC equipped with an RFID processing device that performs wireless communication via an antenna and reads information stored in an external information recording medium or writes desired information to an external information recording medium An RFID system using an information terminal device such as a card reader / writer has been developed.

  Among such information terminal devices, in order to increase the antenna gain by mounting an antenna having a large shape, an antenna and a control board on which an electronic circuit is mounted are arranged in parallel, and an electromagnetic wave is placed between the antenna and the control board. Some have a shielding wall and an electromagnetic wave absorbing member (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-238103

  However, in the conventional information terminal device, since the antenna is arranged in parallel to the control board, an eddy current is generated in the conductor on the control board, and this eddy current interferes with the electromagnetic wave transmitted and received by the antenna, so that the antenna However, there is a problem that the electromagnetic wave transmitted / received is canceled or disturbed and the transmission / reception function is deteriorated.

  Here, as described in Patent Document 1, a shield plate and an electromagnetic wave absorber, which are electromagnetic shielding walls, are provided between the antenna and the control board, resulting from the metal and the electromagnetic wave transmission source existing on the back surface of the antenna. There are some which prevent deterioration of the RFID communication function of the information terminal device. However, the provision of the electromagnetic shielding wall and the electromagnetic wave absorbing member increases the thickness of the information terminal device and impairs the reduction in size and weight of the entire device. there were.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described drawbacks of the prior art, and provides an information terminal device that can promote downsizing and thinning of the entire device without deteriorating the transmission / reception function using the antenna. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an information terminal device according to claim 1 transmits and receives a predetermined radio wave via at least an antenna, and performs information reading processing or information writing processing with respect to an external information recording medium. In the information terminal device to be performed, the antenna is characterized in that a main gain direction of the antenna is arranged substantially parallel to a plate surface of a built-in control board.

  An information terminal apparatus according to claim 2 is an information terminal apparatus that transmits and receives predetermined radio waves at least via an antenna and performs an information reading process or an information writing process on an external information recording medium, wherein the antenna is the antenna. The main gain direction is arranged substantially parallel to the display surface of the display unit attached to the casing of the information terminal device.

  In the information terminal device according to claim 3, in the above invention, the antenna is a coil shape, and a plane formed by the antenna and a plate surface of the control board and / or a display surface of the display unit are substantially perpendicular to each other. It is characterized by being arranged.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information terminal device according to the above invention, further comprising optical information reading means for optically reading information indicated by the optical information recording medium, and the antenna is provided in a part of the casing of the information terminal device. The optical information reading means is provided in the vicinity of the optical information reading window.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information terminal device according to the above invention, wherein the antenna and the optical information reading window are formed on one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the information terminal device.

  The information terminal device according to claim 6 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the antenna is provided adjacent to the optical information reading window.

  An information terminal device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the control board includes a card-like medium incorporated in the information terminal apparatus and arranged in parallel with the control board.

  According to the present invention, the main gain direction of the antenna and the plate surface of the control board, the display surface of the display unit, and the surface of the card-like medium are arranged substantially in parallel. Since current is less likely to occur and a configuration for preventing the communication function by the antenna is unnecessary, the information terminal device can be reduced in thickness and size.

  Exemplary embodiments of an information terminal device according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an information terminal device 10 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an information terminal device 10 includes an RFID processing unit 11 having an antenna 11a, an optical information reading unit 12, a display unit 14, an input unit 15, an external communication unit 16, a card interface 17, a voice input / output unit 18, and a storage unit. 19 and a control unit 13 that performs control by connecting these units.

  The RFID processing unit 11 performs an RFID reading process for reading information on the external information recording medium 100 as an RFID tag and an RFID writing process for writing information on the external information recording medium 100 via radio waves of a predetermined frequency.

  In the RFID reading process, the RFID processing unit 11 amplifies and modulates an electrical signal corresponding to an instruction for requesting a response to the external information recording medium 100 as necessary, and sends it through the antenna 11a. Further, the RFID processing unit 11 receives a response radio wave from the external information recording medium 100 via the antenna 11a. The RFID processing unit 11 demodulates an electrical signal corresponding to the response radio wave as necessary, and acquires information such as identification information stored in the external information recording medium 100. The RFID processing unit 11 sends the acquired information to the control unit 13 and completes the process of reading information from the external information recording medium 100. In the RFID writing process, the RFID processing unit 11 amplifies and modulates an electrical signal according to the identification information of the external information recording medium 100 to be written and an instruction to write information as necessary, and external information The data is sent to the recording medium 100, and the RFID writing process is completed. When the external information recording medium 100 does not have a battery function, the RFID processing unit 11 may transmit electric waves of a predetermined frequency to the external information recording medium 100 side to supply power to the external information recording medium 100. .

  The optical information reading unit 12 includes a light source such as a semiconductor laser element or a light emitting diode that transmits infrared light or visible light to the optical information recording medium 200, and a photosensor that receives reflected light from the optical information recording medium 200. The information of the optical information recording medium 200 is acquired by processing the received light. An optical information recording medium 200 is formed using a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD or CMOS, a photoelectric conversion unit that converts the formed input light into an electric signal, and an optical system that forms an incident light from the photoelectric conversion unit. The information of the optical information recording medium 200 may be read by performing an imaging process, decoding the image information obtained by the imaging process.

  The display unit 14 is realized by a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescence display, a light emitting diode, or the like, and displays and outputs various information such as information on the external information recording medium 100 and the optical information recording medium 200.

  The input unit 15 inputs an operation instruction of the information terminal device 10 and instruction information of processing performed by the information terminal device 10, receives input of each instruction information, and sends the content of the received instruction information to the control unit 13.

  The external communication unit 16 is implemented using an external communication interface such as RS232C, USB, or IEEE1394, or an infrared communication interface conforming to the IrDA standard, and performs information communication with an external host computer (not shown).

  The card interface 17 drives a storage medium such as a smart media, a memory stick, a multimedia card, or an SD memory card inserted from the outside, and reads information stored in the storage medium. Further, the card interface 17 may function so that information input from the control unit 13 can be recorded on a storage medium. Note that the storage medium is detachable from the card interface 17.

  The voice input / output unit 18 is realized by a microphone and a speaker, and inputs voice information from the outside and voice information inputted from the control unit 13 to the outside.

  The storage unit 19 is realized by using a ROM in which various types of data such as processing programs are stored in advance, and a RAM that stores calculation parameters for each processing, various types of information read from an information recording medium, audio information, and the like. .

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the information terminal device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the casing of the information terminal device 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with a low height, and a plate-shaped control board 300 including at least the control unit 13 is provided therein. On the upper surface of the control board and on the upper surface of the casing of the information terminal device 10, a plate-like display unit 14 arranged substantially in parallel with the control board 300 is provided. An input unit 15 is provided on an upper surface portion adjacent to the display unit 14 and a side surface portion of the housing. The display unit 14 may be realized by a touch panel or the like, and the display unit 14 may also serve as the input unit 15.

  An optical information reading window 12a, which is an optical window used when the optical information reading unit 12 reads information from the optical information recording medium 200, is provided almost at the center of the front end surface of the housing. An antenna 11a is provided in the vicinity of the peripheral edge. The antenna 11a is a coiled antenna, and is wound around the optical information reading window 12a a plurality of times to cover a small antenna area, thereby increasing the antenna gain. In this case, the light emission direction of the optical information reading unit 12 and the main gain direction of the antenna 11a substantially coincide. Therefore, the processing operation directions at the time of optical information reading processing and RFID processing are almost the same, and the operability is improved.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the antenna 11a and the control board 300 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the antenna 11a is disposed substantially perpendicular to the control board 300, and the matching portion 11b of the antenna 11a is provided on the control board 300, so that a coil near the matching portion 11b is controlled. A main gain direction A that is arranged in parallel to the surface of the substrate 300 and passes through the central portion of the coil is positioned below the control substrate 300. The optical information reading unit 12 is provided on the lower surface of the control board 300. As a result, the antenna 11a and the feeder can be matched without impairing the characteristics of the antenna itself, and can be easily and reliably fixed to the control board 300. Furthermore, since the area where the electromagnetic field generated by the antenna 11a and the conductor on the control board 300 intersect perpendicularly decreases, eddy current is less likely to occur in the conductor, and deterioration of the RFID communication function can be prevented.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the antenna 11 a may be installed such that the position of the coil center portion is substantially the same as the planar position of the control board 300. In this case, the matching portion 11b is provided without being fixed between the feed line and the antenna 11a.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a case where a card-like medium 400 such as an interface card such as a wireless LAN or Bluetooth, or a memory card is provided on the control board 300. As shown in FIG. 5, since the card-like medium 400 is arranged in parallel to the control board 300, the generation of eddy currents due to the conductor of the card-like medium 400 is reduced, and the RFID communication function using the antenna 11a. The function of the card-like medium 400 can be exhibited.

  The display unit 14 is arranged in parallel to the control board 300 as shown in FIG. In this case, a shield plate (not shown) is provided between the control board 300 and the display unit 14 to prevent electromagnetic interference. Although this shield plate causes eddy currents due to the electromagnetic field generated by the antenna 11a as in the case of the control board 300 and causes deterioration of the RFID communication function, the antenna 11a is arranged perpendicular to the shield plate. Therefore, similarly to the control board 12a, it is possible to prevent the RFID communication function from being deteriorated due to the presence of the shield plate. Moreover, since it is not necessary to provide an insulator plate or the like provided with the shield plate in order to prevent the deterioration of the RFID communication function, it is possible to further promote the reduction in thickness and size.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the antenna 13a is provided on the peripheral surface of the optical information reading window 14a. However, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the antenna 13a is adjacent to the arrangement surface of the optical information reading window 14a. It is arranged.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an information terminal device 20 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, in this information terminal device 20, the optical information reading window 12a is arranged at the center of the front end surface of the housing in the same manner as the information terminal device 10, but the antenna 21a corresponding to the antenna 11a is The optical information reading window 12a is disposed adjacent to the optical information reading window 12a, not on the peripheral surface. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. As a result, the number of turns of the coil of the antenna 21a can be increased, and the antenna gain can be increased.

  Further, as in the information terminal device 30 shown in FIG. 7, an optical information reading window 32a corresponding to the optical information reading window 12a is disposed on one end face side of the front end face of the housing, and an antenna corresponding to the antenna 11a. You may make it enlarge the front end surface area | region in which 31a is provided.

  In the second embodiment, since both of the antennas 21a and 31a are disposed adjacent to the optical information reading windows 12a and 32a, the height, that is, the width of the front end surface can be reduced, which has been described in the first embodiment. In addition to being able to prevent deterioration of the RFID communication function, it is possible to further reduce the thickness and size of the information terminal device. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the number of turns of the coils of the antennas 21a and 31a can be increased as compared with the antenna 11a, the antenna gain can be increased, and the operation area of the RFID communication function can be expanded. Can be planned.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the information terminal device which is Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the information terminal device which is Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the positional relationship of an antenna and a control board. It is a schematic diagram which shows the modification of the positional relationship of an antenna and a control board. It is a schematic diagram which shows the positional relationship of an antenna, a control board, and a card-like medium. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the information terminal device which is Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the modification of the information terminal device which is Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 20, 30 Information terminal device 11 RFID processing part 11a, 21a, 31a, 100a Antenna 11b Matching part 12 Optical information reading part 12a, 32a Optical information reading window 13 Control part 14 Display part 15 Input part 16 External communication part 17 Card Interface 18 Audio input / output unit 19 Storage unit 100 External information recording medium 200 Optical information recording medium 300 Control board 400 Card-like medium

Claims (7)

An information terminal device that transmits and receives predetermined radio waves via at least an antenna and performs information reading processing or information writing processing on an external information recording medium,
The information terminal apparatus, wherein the antenna has a main gain direction arranged substantially parallel to a plate surface of a built-in control board. An information terminal device that transmits and receives predetermined radio waves via at least an antenna and performs information reading processing or information writing processing on an external information recording medium,
The information terminal device, wherein the antenna has a main gain direction arranged substantially parallel to a display surface of a display unit attached to a housing of the information tail terminal device.   3. The antenna according to claim 1, wherein the antenna has a coil shape, and a plane formed by the antenna and a plate surface of the control board and / or a display surface of the display unit are arranged substantially perpendicularly. Information terminal equipment. Comprising optical information reading means for optically reading information indicated by the optical information recording medium,
The said antenna is provided in the vicinity of the optical information reading window of the said optical information reading means provided in a part of the housing | casing of the said information terminal device, The one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Information terminal equipment.   5. The information terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the antenna and the optical information reading window are formed on one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the information terminal device.   The information terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the antenna is provided adjacent to the optical information reading window. The information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control board includes a card-like medium that is incorporated in the information terminal device and arranged in parallel with the control board.

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