JP2007141009A - Non-contact ic card reader device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-contact IC card reader device in a wall-fitting wiring instrument configuration that can make an antenna size larger than cases wherein an antenna is arranged in a case and improve communication performance of a communicable distance etc. <P>SOLUTION: A non-contact IC reader device has a main body control unit 3 which controls operations of the whole card reader, a radio circuit unit 4 which modulates and demodulates transmission and reception data, a case 5 which contains them, a loop antenna 2 which generates an AC magnetic field for communication with an IC card, a fitting frame 6 for fitting the case 5 to a wall 9, a decorative panel 8 which covers the front of the fitting frame 6, and a base 7 for fixing the decorative panel 8 to the fitting frame 6, and the loop antenna 2 is made of a linear conductor wound to be united with the decorative panel 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC card reader device that performs contactless communication with an IC card. For example, an ID card, a management card, a commuter pass, a coupon ticket, a cash in an entry / exit management system, an automatic ticket gate system, electronic money, etc. The present invention relates to a non-contact IC card reader device that performs non-contact communication with a non-contact IC card such as a card.

  Conventionally, in a non-contact IC card reader device that is embedded in a wall surface, a loop antenna that communicates with an IC card, a control unit that performs modulation / demodulation of transmission / reception data, and controls the card reader, and a housing that stores these Have Then, there are those provided with a mounting frame for embedding and mounting the casing on a wall surface, a decorative panel that covers and protects the front surface, and a base for fixing the decorative panel to the mounting frame.

  In this conventional device, the size of the housing has to be made relatively small with respect to the size of the mounting frame and the decorative panel, but since the loop antenna is stored in the housing, the size of the loop antenna is also limited to this. Along with that, it will inevitably become smaller.

  The size of the loop antenna is an important factor that determines the readable distance of the IC card, and there is a problem in that the readable distance of the IC card is shortened by reducing the size of the loop antenna.

  In addition, when the mounting frame is made of a conductor such as metal, an AC magnetic field generated from the loop antenna generates eddy currents that degrade antenna characteristics and shorten the reading distance of the IC card. There are also problems.

  Also, from the aesthetic point of view, the housing including the loop antenna is arranged behind the mounting frame in order to avoid protrusion from the wall surface. From this point also, the reading distance of the IC card is shortened. It has become.

  By the way, in the conventional non-contact IC card reader device, a technique has been proposed in which the positional relationship between the antennas is stably maintained without being distorted (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  That is, the non-contact IC card reader device of Patent Document 1 transmits an electromagnetic wave from the transmission antenna and receives the electromagnetic wave transmitted from the non-contact IC card by the reception antenna. At least one of these antennas is a coil, and has an insulating substrate for holding the coil, and attachment means for fixing the coil to the substrate. The attachment means is for fixing the coil at a predetermined position of the substrate, and crosses the coil and engages with a through hole provided at the coil arrangement position of the substrate to fix the coil at the predetermined position.

Further, conventionally, with respect to the antenna of a wall-contact type non-contact IC card reader device, there is a non-contact IC card reader device in which a metal body in the vicinity of the antenna operation surface side surface does not affect the communicable distance of the antenna. Known (for example, Patent Document 2). That is, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which a decorative member is cut so as not to affect the reading distance by a metallic decorative member in the vicinity of the operation surface side surface of the antenna.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-126036 JP-A-4-86974

  According to the non-contact IC card reader device of Patent Document 1, the antenna can be efficiently fixed. However, in Patent Document 1, in the non-contact IC card reader embedded in the wall surface, the antenna is put out as much as possible to the front. There is no description of a technique for extending the communicable distance from the wall surface to the IC card as much as possible, or increasing the antenna in order to increase the communication sensitivity and communicable distance.

  Patent Document 2 only discloses a technique in which a decorative member is cut so that the reading distance is not affected by the metallic decorative member near the operation surface side surface of the antenna. As in the case of No. 1, there is no description of a technique for extending the communicable distance from the wall surface to the IC card as much as possible and increasing the size of the antenna.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the size of the antenna can be made larger than that in the case where a loop antenna is configured in a housing as in the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card reader device that can extend the communicable distance to the card as much as possible, and thereby obtain good antenna characteristics.

  In order to achieve the above object, a non-contact IC card reader device according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a main body control unit that controls the operation of the entire card reader, and a wireless that performs modulation / demodulation of transmission / reception data. A circuit unit, a housing for storing the main body control unit and the wireless circuit unit, a loop antenna for generating an alternating magnetic field for communicating with an IC card, and an attachment frame for mounting the housing on a wall A non-contact IC card reader device having a decorative panel covering the front surface of the mounting frame and a base for fixing the decorative panel to the mounting frame, and performing non-contact communication with the IC card, The loop antenna includes a linear conductor wound so as to be integrated with the decorative panel.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the non-contact IC card reader device according to the first aspect of the present invention, a winding groove is formed on a side surface of the decorative panel, and the linear shape is formed in the winding groove. A loop antenna is formed by winding a conductor.

  According to the non-contact IC card reader device according to claim 1 of the present invention, the linear conductor has a larger front dimension than the casing, and is integrated with the decorative panel disposed on the front side of the casing and the mounting frame. Since the loop antenna is configured by winding the loop antenna, the size of the loop antenna can be made larger than in the case where the loop antenna is configured in the casing as in the conventional case, and the number of times of winding the antenna (number of turns) is secured. be able to. For this reason, it is possible to obtain good antenna characteristics such as extending the communicable distance from the wall surface to the IC card as compared with the conventional case, and it is possible to improve the communication performance.

  Furthermore, since the decorative panel provided with the loop antenna can be attached and detached while the housing and the mounting frame are attached to the wall, the replacement work at the time of failure of the loop antenna is facilitated and the maintainability is improved.

  According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the non-contact IC card reader device of claim 1, since the winding groove is formed on the side surface of the decorative panel, the linear conductor can be easily formed on the decorative panel. A loop antenna can be formed by winding. For this reason, a non-contact IC card reader can be easily manufactured, and the cost can be reduced.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a non-contact IC card reader device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which the device is attached to a wall surface, and FIG. 3 shows the device. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a casing constituting the apparatus.

  As shown in the figure, the non-contact IC card reader device 1 of the present embodiment includes a loop antenna 2, a main body control unit 3, a radio circuit unit 4, and a housing 5 that stores the main body control unit 3 and the radio circuit unit 4. Have Furthermore, a mounting frame 6 for mounting the housing 5 on the wall 9, a decorative panel 8 covering the front surface of the mounting frame 6, and a base 7 for fixing the decorative panel 8 to the mounting frame 6 are provided.

  The loop antenna 2 is for generating an alternating magnetic field to feed and communicate with an IC card (not shown), and is provided on the decorative panel 8 in this embodiment as will be described in detail later. .

  The main body control unit 3 controls the operation of the entire card reader, and is provided on the circuit board and stored in the housing 5. The radio circuit unit 4 performs modulation / demodulation of data transmitted / received to / from the loop antenna 2, and is also provided on the circuit board and stored in the housing 5, similarly to the main body control unit 3.

  The housing 5 has a bottomed box shape with an open front, stores the main body control unit 3 and the radio circuit unit 4 inside, and is fixed to the mounting frame 6, most of which is on the wall 9. It is installed in the formed opening 9a.

  The attachment frame 6 is made of resin, and an opening 6a for fitting the housing 5 is provided at the center thereof, and the opening 6a is provided with an opening 6a for holding the housing 5 therebetween. A locking piece 6b that is biased toward the center is formed. A pair of upper and lower sides facing each other across the opening 6 a of the attachment frame 6 are formed with screw insertion holes 6 c for attaching to the wall 9 with screws 10.

  The base 7 is made of synthetic resin, and an opening 7a for fitting to the outer peripheral edge of the mounting frame 6 is provided at the center thereof, and an engaging portion 7b for mounting the decorative panel 8 is provided on the front surface. . Further, the base 7 has a locking portion (not shown) so as to be engaged with the mounting frame 6 and not to be inadvertently removed.

  A collar portion is formed on each of the front and rear outer surfaces of the decorative panel 8, and a winding groove 8a is formed between the front and rear collar portions. The loop conductor 2 is formed by winding the linear conductor a plurality of times in the winding groove 8a. Further, the end portions of the loop antenna 2 are respectively connected to the lead wires 11 and led out to the back surface side.

  The decorative panel 8 is made of resin and is attached so as to cover the front surface of the base 7, thereby preventing the screws 10 and the like from being exposed to the outside of the wall 9 to deteriorate the appearance. .

  Thus, since the loop antenna 2 can be simply configured by winding the linear conductor around the winding groove 8a formed on the outer surface of the decorative panel 8, the non-contact IC card reader device 1 can be easily manufactured. It is. As a method of winding the linear conductors, the loop antenna 2 has a required performance so that the linear conductors are aligned and wound sequentially while being shifted by the outer diameter of the linear conductors so that the linear conductors are not overlapped with each other. This is preferable for obtaining antenna characteristics.

  In order to assemble the non-contact IC card reader device 1 of this embodiment, the housing 5 is fitted into the opening of the mounting frame 6. Then, the screw 10 is inserted into the insertion hole 9 to fix the mounting frame 6 to the wall 9. Next, the base 7 is fixed to the mounting frame 6. Further, a decorative panel 8 provided with the loop antenna 2 in advance is fixed to the front surface of the base 7. Then, the end of the loop antenna 2 is electrically connected to the radio circuit unit 4 in the housing 5 via the lead wire 11.

  When the IC card is used, an alternating current magnetic field is generated by passing a current from the main body control unit 3 in the housing 5 to the loop antenna 2. In this state, when an IC card (not shown) is held over the front surface of the decorative panel 8 of the non-contact IC card reader device 1, an electric current flows from the IC card antenna to be charged by an alternating magnetic field generated from the IC card reader device. Then, the control circuit of the IC card is driven and a recorded information signal is generated. This signal is received by the loop antenna 2, the information signal is analyzed by the radio circuit unit 4, and processed by the main body control unit 3. To do.

  In this case, the decorative panel 8 provided with the loop antenna 2 is larger than the casing 5, and the loop antenna 2 is wound around the outer periphery of the decorative panel 8 disposed in front of the casing 5 and the mounting frame 6. Since it is wound so as to be integrated with the groove 8a, the size of the loop antenna 2 can be increased, and a large number of antenna windings (number of turns) can be secured. For this reason, the communicable distance from the wall 9 to the IC card can be extended as compared with the conventional case, and good antenna characteristics can be obtained, so that the communication performance can be improved.

  Furthermore, the decorative panel 8 can be attached and detached while the housing 5 and the attachment frame 6 are attached to the wall 9. Therefore, even when the loop antenna 2 breaks down or when the loop antenna 2 having different characteristics is used, the replacement work is facilitated and the maintainability is improved.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and the configuration can be arbitrarily changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in this example, the loop antenna 2 is formed by winding a linear conductor in the winding groove 8a of the decorative panel 8; however, the loop antenna 2 is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the decorative panel 8, or sandwiched and bonded, It may be provided by being integrally formed. In any case, as a matter of course, the linear conductors wound around the decorative panel 8 are connected to each other such that adjacent windings are in contact with each other via an insulating coating provided on the outer surface of the linear conductor. It must be insulated and avoid adjacent conduction.

  In this example, the connection between the loop antenna 2 and the wireless circuit unit 4 is described using the lead wire 11. However, another connection method may be used. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although each fixation of the housing | casing 5, the attachment frame 6, and the base 7 is implement | achieved by fitting, it is not limited to this, Other means, such as a screw stop and an adhesive tape, are also used. It doesn't matter. Further, the decorative panel 8 is also engaged and attached to the base 7 in this example, but means such as fitting, screwing, and adhesive tape may be used.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, as an IC card, a type in which a counter electromotive force generated in an internal circuit by causing magnetic flux to reciprocate at high speed from the loop antenna 2 of the non-contact IC card reader device 1 is used as an internal power source. Although described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the IC card itself may have a built-in power supply. That is, only the magnetic flux as a radio signal may be sent from the loop antenna 2 of the non-contact IC card reader device 1 to the IC card.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the non-contact IC card reader apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the state which attached the apparatus to the wall. It is a top view of the decorative panel which comprises the apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the housing | casing which comprises the apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Non-contact IC card reader apparatus 2 Loop antenna 3 Main body control part 4 Wireless circuit part 5 Case 6 Mounting frame 7 Base 8 Makeup panel 8a Winding groove 9 Wall

Claims (2)

A main body control unit that controls the operation of the entire card reader, a wireless circuit unit that modulates and demodulates transmission / reception data, a housing that stores the main body control unit and the wireless circuit unit, and an alternating current for communication with the IC card A loop antenna that generates a magnetic field; a mounting frame for mounting the housing on a wall; a decorative panel that covers a front surface of the mounting frame; and a base for fixing the decorative panel to the mounting frame; A non-contact IC card reader device that performs non-contact communication with the IC card,
The non-contact IC card reader device, wherein the loop antenna comprises a linear conductor wound so as to be integrated with the decorative panel.   2. A non-contact IC card reader according to claim 1, wherein a winding groove is formed on a side surface of the decorative panel, and the linear conductor is wound around the winding groove to constitute a loop antenna. apparatus.

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