JP2006309554A - Antenna terminal and card processing terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an antenna terminal and card processing terminal which has good operability and can surely communicate with a data carrier provided together with cash. <P>SOLUTION: A cradle 3 configured as an antenna terminal of a reader/writer houses an antenna for communication. A mount 8 of the cradle 3 is divided into the first area 8a and second area 8b, and the second area 8b is set as a communication area via the antenna for communication. At the boundary between the area 8a and 8b, a ridge part 9 is formed. A customer puts the cash and a contactless IC card 13 on the mount 8 when setting account to add points to the contactless IC card 13. If the cash includes coins (A), a clerk moves the coins (A) to the first area 8a. Herewith the mount can communicate with the contactless IC card 13 via the antenna for communication without interference from the coins (A). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an antenna terminal and a card processing terminal including a table on which data carriers such as cash and a non-contact IC card and a tag are placed, and an antenna built in the table.

In recent years, as services using data carriers such as contactless IC cards and tags have become widespread, data carriers with member card and point card functions are presented at the time of payment, and the number of points processed when clearing cash is increasing. Yes.
Japanese Patent No. 3435332

In the terminal which operates the banknote, the coin, and the non-contact IC card shown in Patent Document 1, the non-contact IC card, the banknote, and the coin must be inserted separately. There is a problem, so it is possible to process cash and non-contact IC cards at the same time, but non-contact IC cards communicate with electromagnetic waves, so if there is a metal such as coins, the communication performance is greatly reduced. There is a problem. In addition, for the point processing and the like, it is necessary to operate the non-contact IC card with a dedicated reading terminal separately from the cash settlement, and the problem that the operability is poor remains as a result.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an antenna terminal and a card processing terminal capable of reliably communicating with a data carrier that is submitted together with cash while improving operability. There is.

  According to the invention of claim 1, for example, when a customer wants to add points at the time of liquidation of the food and drink price, the data carrier for storing points is placed on the table together with cash. In the case where coins are mixed in cash, the clerk moves the coins to the first area of the table and moves the data carrier to the second area. Thereby, since it can communicate with a data carrier through an antenna irrespective of the loading state of the coin located in the 1st field, it can communicate with a data carrier without being influenced by a coin, and it points to the data carrier. Can be added.

According to the invention of claim 2, since the first area is configured to be identifiable with respect to the second area, the coin can be surely positioned in the first area.
According to the invention of claim 3, when a coin is placed in the second area, the coin can be slid down to the first area by sliding the coin from the second area. Coins can be easily moved from the region to the first region.

According to the invention of claim 4, when the coin is slid from the second area to the first area, the coin can be guided by the guidance assisting means, so that the coin is moved from the second area to the first area. Inadvertent jumping when sliding to the area can be prevented.
According to the invention of claim 5, the present invention can be applied to a card processing terminal.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an IC card reader will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 schematically shows the electrical configuration of the reader / writer. In FIG. 4, a reader / writer 1 is installed at a counter of a store, and is composed of a controller 2 and a table (corresponding to an antenna terminal) 3.

  FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the mounting table 3, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mounting table 3, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mounting table 3. 1 to 3, the pedestal 3 is configured by incorporating a communication antenna (antenna coil) 5 and a connection portion 6 connected thereto into a main body 4 having a rectangular box shape. The upper surface of the mounting table 3 has a depressed shape surrounded by the wall portion 7, so that cash, non-contact IC cards, etc. submitted by customers are placed on the mounting portion 8 surrounded by the wall portion 7. It has become.

  Here, the mounting portion 8 of the mounting table 3 is divided into a first region 8a and a second region 8b having a larger area than the first region 8a, and is partitioned at a boundary between the regions 8a and 8b. A protruding ridge 9 is formed. The first area 8a is provided for placing coins, the second area 8b is provided for placing bills and non-contact IC cards, and the communication antenna 5 is provided in the second area 8b. It is built in the part corresponding to.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the controller 2 is connected to the communication antenna 5 through the connection portion 6 of the pedestal 3. The controller 2 includes a control circuit 10 that performs overall control such as communication control, a transmission circuit 11, and a reception circuit 12. The communication antenna 5 is controlled by a control circuit 10 and generates an electromagnetic field for power supply and communication to a non-contact IC card (corresponding to a data carrier) 13. That is, the second area 8 b of the pedestal 3 is set to substantially coincide with the communication area of the communication antenna 5. The first area 8a is set so that coins placed in the area do not affect reading of the non-contact IC card 13 by the communication antenna 5.

The control circuit 10 executes a read or write operation on the non-contact IC card 13 in accordance with a command from the host device 14.
Note that the reader / writer 1 in this embodiment is configured not only to read data of the non-contact IC card 13 but also to write data.

As is well known, the non-contact IC card 13 is configured by incorporating an antenna coil, a resonance capacitor, a control IC, etc. in a thin plastic card body. The control unit, modulation / demodulation unit, memory unit, and the like are made into one chip. Necessary data (for example, points) and the like are written in the memory unit.
The non-contact IC card 13 is mounted on the second area 8b, which is the communication area of the communication antenna 5 of the pedestal 3, so that it receives power from the communication antenna 5 and is connected to the reader / writer 1. It is designed to perform data communication.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
Since the control circuit 10 of the reader / writer 1 periodically outputs a request command to the transmission circuit 11, the communication antenna 5 wirelessly indicates the request command to the second area 8 b of the table 3 periodically. A signal is transmitted.

  Now, when the customer pays for the purchase price of goods or the food and drink price, the cash is placed on the placement portion 8 of the table 3 installed on the counter. At this time, if the customer wants to add points to his / her non-contact IC card 13, he / she places the non-contact IC card 13 together with cash on the mounting portion 8 of the table 3.

  Here, since the second area 8b of the table 3 has a larger area than the first area 8a, when the customer places the cash or the non-contact IC card 13 on the table 3, those areas Most of them are placed in the second region 8b.

  When the cash and the non-contact IC card 13 are placed in the second area 8b of the table 3 in this way, a wireless signal indicating a request command from the communication antenna 5 is linked to the non-contact IC card 13. When coins are included in cash, wireless communication is affected by the coins. In other words, the signal level of the wireless signal received by the non-contact IC card 13 becomes lower than usual, so that the operating power cannot be generated, or even if the operating power can be generated, the request command cannot be received. Therefore, the controller 2 cannot receive a response signal from the non-contact IC card 13, and therefore determines that the non-contact IC card 13 does not exist.

  Now, when the cash placed on the placement portion 8 of the table 3 includes a coin, the clerk moves the coin A to the first area 8a as shown in FIG. Only the banknote B or the non-contact IC card 13 is positioned on 8b. In this case, a protrusion 9 is formed at the boundary between the first region 8a and the second region 8b of the mounting table 3, and the first region 8a is easily identified with respect to the second region 8b. Therefore, only the coin A located in the second area 8b can be easily moved to the first area 8a, and the coin A located in the first area 8a is inadvertently moved to the second area 8a. It can prevent moving to 8b.

  As described above, when the coin A is positioned in the first area 8a of the table 3 and the bill B and the non-contact IC card 13 are positioned in the second area 8b, the request command output from the communication antenna 5 is displayed. Since the wireless signal shown is linked to the non-contact IC card 13, the non-contact IC card 13 generates operating power from the transmission signal from the communication antenna 5 and returns a response signal corresponding to the request command. It becomes like this. As a result, the reader / writer 1 can determine that the non-contact IC card is located in the communication area.

When the clerk confirms the cash placed on the table 3 and settles the fee, the computer of the host device 14 sends point data corresponding to the fee to the reader / writer 1.
When the control circuit 10 of the reader / writer 1 receives point data from the host device 14, the control circuit 10 transmits the point data through the transmission circuit 11. As a result, a wireless signal indicating point data is transmitted from the communication antenna 5 to the non-contact IC card 13 located in the second area 8b, so the non-contact IC card 13 stores the received point data. A response signal indicating that the processing is completed is returned after adding to the point data.

  When the reader / writer 1 receives a response signal indicating that the point writing process has been completed from the non-contact IC card 13, the reader / writer 1 notifies the host device 14 of the response signal. Therefore, the store clerk returns the non-contact IC card 13 to the customer when the host device 14 confirms that the point writing process has been completed.

  According to such an embodiment, the placement area 8 of the table 3 on which the cash and the non-contact IC card 13 are placed is positioned on the first area 8a where the coin is located and the banknote and the non-contact IC card 13 are located. Since it is divided into the second area 8b and can be communicated with the non-contact IC card 13 placed in the second area 8b regardless of the coins placed in the first area 8a. The point can be reliably written to the non-contact IC card 13 in spite of the coin being placed on the card 3. Therefore, since the cash and the non-contact IC card 13 can be processed at the same time, the non-contact IC card, bills and coins must be inserted separately, or for the point processing, etc. Unlike the configuration in which the non-contact IC card 13 must be operated by a dedicated reading terminal, the operability is good and the device can be downsized.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. The second embodiment is characterized in that, in the mounting table 3, the first area 8a on which coins are placed is provided below the second area 8b on which the non-contact IC card 13 is placed.

  The first region 8a is connected via the slide portion 21 so as to be lower than the second region 8b. Guide portions (corresponding to guide assisting means) 22 are formed on both sides of the slide portion 21. This guide part 22 is provided in order to guide the coin slide-moved from the 2nd area | region 8b to the 1st area | region 8a.

  Now, when the customer places a coin on the second area 8 b of the table 3, the clerk slides the coin from the second area 8 b onto the slide portion 21. Then, a coin slides down the slide part 21 and is located in the 1st area | region 8a. At this time, since the guide portions 22 are provided on both sides of the slide portion 21, coins can be slid down to the first region 8a without accidentally jumping out of the slide portion 21.

  When coins are thus positioned in the first area 8a, the non-contact IC card 13 positioned in the second area 8b responds to the request command from the communication antenna 5 as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the host device 14 can write points on the non-contact IC card 13 by the reader / writer 1.

According to such an embodiment, the first region 8a is provided below the second region 8b, and the coin located in the second region 8b is slid down to the first region 8a via the slide portion 21. Thus, the first region 8a and the second region 8b can be completely separated, and the stability of communication between the communication antenna 5 and the non-contact IC card 13 can be improved.
Further, since the coin is slid down from the second region 8b to the first region 8a via the slide portion 21, the workability when the coin is slid can be improved, and the efficiency of the fee settlement process Can be achieved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as follows.
As a data carrier, a cellular phone with a built-in wireless tag may be used, and points may be written by placing a cellular phone 31 as a data carrier on the table 3 as shown in FIG.

Personal information may be stored in addition to points as information stored in the data carrier, and the customer's personal information may be read when points are added.
It may be applied to an IC prepaid card as a data carrier, and the fee itself may be settled.
You may make it comprise as a card processing terminal by incorporating the structure of a reader / writer in the mounting base 3. FIG.

The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the mounting stand in 1st Example of this invention Perspective view of the table Floor plan of the table Block diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of the reader / writer FIG. 3 equivalent view showing a state where coins, cash, and a non-contact IC card are placed. FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 equivalent view showing a modification of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a reader / writer, 3 is a table (antenna terminal), 5 is a communication antenna, 8 is a placement unit, 8a is a first area, 8b is a second area, and 13 is a non-contact IC card (data Carriers 22 and 22 are guide portions (guide assistance means), and 31 is a mobile phone (data carrier).

Claims (5)

An antenna terminal comprising a table on which data carriers such as cash and non-contact IC cards and tags are placed, and an antenna built in the table,
The stand is
A first area where coins are placed;
A second region in which at least the data carrier is placed in a region different from the first region, and is communicable with the data carrier through the antenna regardless of the state of coins placed in the first region;
An antenna terminal comprising:   The antenna terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first area is configured to be identifiable with respect to the second area.   The first area is provided at a position lower than the second area, and is configured to be able to slide and move coins placed in the second area to the first area. The antenna terminal according to claim 1 or 2.   4. The antenna terminal according to claim 3, further comprising guidance assisting means for assisting the sliding movement of coins when the coin is slid from the second area to the first area. A card processing terminal comprising a card reader built in the antenna terminal according to claim 1.

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