JP2009064260A - Reader-writer for storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reader-writer for a storage medium capable of selecting easily and quickly service to be used. <P>SOLUTION: This reader-writer for the storage medium is provided with: a storage part 160 for storing respective pieces 161-163 of service information, while correlated with a moving direction of a noncontact IC card 1 when the noncontact IC card 1 is located within a range communicable with a loop antenna 111; a detecting part 150 for detecting the moving direction of the noncontact IC card 1 when the noncontact IC card 1 is located within the range communicable with the loop antenna 111; and a control part 170 for reading and writing an electronic money balance of the noncontact IC card 1 via the antenna 111, based on the piece of service information corresponding to the moving direction detected by the detecting part 150 out of the respective pieces 161-163 of service information in the storage part 160, if the moving direction of the noncontact IC card 1 is detected by the detecting part 150, when the noncontact IC card 1 is located within the range communicable with the loop antenna 111. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reader / writer for a storage medium that reads and writes information from and to a storage medium storing information such as an electronic money balance used for services such as electronic tickets and electronic payment.

  Conventionally, as this type of storage medium reader / writer, storage means for storing a plurality of service information for providing different services, and a storage medium for storing information used in at least one of the services, It is known that an antenna capable of communication is provided, and when the storage medium is placed within a range where it can communicate with the antenna, information on the storage medium is read and written based on service information of a service corresponding to the information on the storage medium. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In such a storage medium reader / writer, for example, a selection means for selecting a service such as a selection button is provided, and the service selected by the user selecting the service using the selection button is provided. The storage medium information is read and written based on the service information.

Also, when the storage medium is placed within a range where it can communicate with the antenna, the information of the storage medium is read based on all the service information of the storage means, and the service information of the service corresponding to only the normally read information is obtained. There is also known a storage medium reader / writer that reads and writes information on a storage medium.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-225921

  However, since the conventional storage medium reader / writer has a selection button for selecting a service, it is necessary to provide a selection button corresponding to the service every time the number of services using the storage medium increases. For this reason, there is a problem that it is troublesome for a user to select a service to be used and the operability is inferior.

  In addition, when reading out information from a storage medium based on all service information, the time until the service to be used is specified every time the number of services using the storage medium increases. As a result, the storage medium There is a problem that the service providing time using is prolonged and the convenience is inferior.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium reader / writer capable of easily and quickly selecting a service to be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides storage means for storing a plurality of service information for providing different services, and a storage medium storing information used for at least one of the services. For a storage medium provided with a communicable antenna and reading and writing information on the storage medium based on service information of a service corresponding to the information on the storage medium when the storage medium is placed within a range communicable with the antenna In the reader / writer, storage means for storing each service information in association with the moving direction of the storage medium when the storage medium is placed in a range where the storage medium can communicate with the antenna, and within a range where the storage medium can communicate with the antenna Detecting means for detecting the moving direction of the storage medium when the storage medium is placed on the When the moving direction of the medium is detected by the detecting means, control for reading / writing information on the storage medium via the antenna based on service information corresponding to the moving direction detected by the detecting means among the service information of the storing means Means.

  As a result, when the storage medium is placed within a range communicable with the antenna, the moving direction of the storage medium into the range communicable with the antenna is detected, and detected by the detection means among the service information of the storage means. Based on the service information corresponding to the moving direction, the information on the storage medium is read and written via the antenna, so that the service to be used can be selected simply by placing the storage medium within a range where communication with the antenna is possible. .

  As described above, according to the present invention, the service to be used can be selected simply by placing the storage medium within the range in which communication with the antenna is possible, so that the service to be used can be selected easily and quickly. it can. Therefore, for example, there is no need to provide selection means such as a selection button, so that the operability related to service selection can be improved. In addition, since the service can be selected in a short time, the service providing time using the storage medium can be shortened and the convenience can be improved.

  1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a storage medium reader / writer, FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the storage medium reader / writer, and FIG. 3 is a non-contact IC card. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the storage unit, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of history information, FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the control unit, and FIG. 7 is a display. It is a figure which shows the information displayed on a part.

  The reader / writer for storage medium 100 (hereinafter referred to as the reader / writer 100) of the present embodiment is a contactless IC card 1 that stores a plurality of services with different balances of electronic money used in electronic money services. It is a device that reads and writes an electronic money balance corresponding to an electronic money service to be used by performing communication between them.

  First, the external configuration of the reader / writer 100 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the reader / writer 100 includes an upper surface portion 101, a front surface portion 102, a right side surface portion 103, a left side surface portion 104, a back surface portion 105, and a bottom surface portion 106, and the upper surface portion 101 stores in the non-contact IC card 1. A display unit 130 for displaying information such as the electronic money balance and a mounting unit 101a for mounting the non-contact IC card 1 are provided. A loop antenna 111 for communicating with the non-contact IC card 1 is provided on the back surface of the mounting unit 101a. By placing the non-contact IC card 1 on the mounting unit 101a or bringing it close to the mounting unit 101a, a loop antenna 111 is provided. Thus, non-contact communication between the loop antenna 111 and the non-contact IC card 1 becomes possible. Further, a rear sensor 151, a front sensor 152, a right sensor 153, and a left sensor 154, which will be described later, are provided on the upper surface portion 101, the front surface portion 102, the right side surface portion 103, and the left side surface portion 104, respectively.

  Next, the functional configuration of the reader / writer 100 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the reader / writer 100 includes an RF circuit unit 110, a loop antenna 111, a connector 120, a display unit 130, a communication device 140, a detection unit 150, a storage unit 160, and a control unit. 170, and the above-mentioned devices are connected to the control unit 170. Further, a payment terminal 200 for transmitting a payment amount is connected to the reader / writer 100 via a connector 120. Further, the reader / writer 100 is connected to the management server 410 of the electronic money service A, the management server 420 of the electronic money service B, and the management server 430 of the electronic money service C via the network 300.

  Here, the functional configuration of the non-contact IC card 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The contactless IC card 1 has a coiled IC card antenna (not shown) for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the reader / writer 100 in a contactless manner and an IC chip connected to the antenna. . As shown in FIG. 3, the IC chip is provided with an IC card control unit 2 for controlling circuits in the IC chip and an IC card storage unit 3 for storing various information. The contactless IC card 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be usable for two services, an electronic money service A and an electronic money service B.

  The IC card control unit 2 includes a CPU, a RAM, and a memory such as a ROM, and updates various information stored in the IC card storage unit 3 in response to an IC card command received from the reader / writer 100 via the IC card antenna. Alternatively, read processing is performed.

  The IC card storage unit 3 is a rewritable storage element such as an EEPROM, and an electronic money service A region 31 and an electronic money service B region 32 are provided in the storage region of the IC card storage unit 3. In each of the areas 31 and 32, service IDs 31a and 32a, user IDs 31b and 32b, and electronic money balances 31c and 32c are stored, respectively. The service IDs 31a and 32a are for identifying the type of electronic money service, and different IDs are assigned to each electronic money service. The user IDs 31b and 32b are for identifying users of each electronic money service, and different IDs are assigned to the non-contact IC cards 1 respectively.

  Next, each device provided in the reader / writer 100 will be described. The RF circuit unit 110 is for performing data communication with the non-contact IC card 1 via the loop antenna 111, and includes a known AD / DA converter, a rectifier circuit, and the like. The connector 120 is a connector compliant with, for example, the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard, and is used as an interface unit for connecting the control unit 170 and the payment terminal 200.

  The display unit 130 is a known display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and is provided so as to be exposed from the upper surface 101 of the reader / writer 100.

  The communication device 140 is a communication device such as a modem for connecting to the network 300, and communicates with each management server 410, 420, and 430 via the network 300. In this embodiment, a public line network is used as the network 300, and a modem is used as the communication device 140 correspondingly.

  The detection unit 150 is for detecting the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range in which the non-contact IC card 1 can communicate with the loop antenna 111, and includes a rear sensor 151 and a front sensor 152. , A right side sensor 153 and a left side sensor 154. Each of the sensors 151 to 154 is an infrared sensor and is disposed around the loop antenna 111. The rear sensor 151 is for detecting the non-contact IC card 1 that moves from the back of the reader / writer 100 toward the placement unit 101a, that is, the front, and the front sensor 152 of the reader / writer 100 This is for detecting the non-contact IC card 1 moving from the front toward the placement unit 101a, that is, toward the rear. The right side sensor 153 is for detecting the non-contact IC card 1 moving from the right side of the reader / writer 100 toward the placement unit 101a, that is, in the left direction, and the left side sensor 154 is a reader. This is for detecting the non-contact IC card 1 moving from the left side of the writer 100 toward the placement unit 101a, that is, in the right direction. As a result, the movement direction of the non-contact IC card 1 when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range where it can communicate with the loop antenna 111 is detected by any of the sensors 151 to 154. In addition, each sensor 151-154 will transmit a predetermined | prescribed detection signal to the control part 170, if the non-contact IC card 1 is detected.

  The storage unit 160 is a rewritable storage element such as an EEPROM, and stores service information 161, 162, and 163 relating to the electronic money services A, B, and C, respectively, as shown in FIG. Each service information 161, 162, and 163 includes a service processing ID for each service, a settlement processing program for adding or subtracting electronic money balances 31c and 32c stored in the contactless IC card 1, and use of an electronic money service And history information representing the history. The service ID is configured in the same manner as the service IDs 31a and 32a of the non-contact IC card 1. The payment processing program stores a plurality of IC card commands. When the control unit 170 executes the program, a predetermined IC card command is transmitted via the RF circuit unit 110 and the loop antenna 111. It is like that. The history information includes a plurality of history records as shown in FIG. 5, and each history record includes a history ID indicating the number of the history record, a user ID 12b of the non-contact IC card 1, a transaction date, and a settlement amount. It is configured. In addition, one history record is added to the history information every time the electronic money settlement process ends normally.

  Each service information 161, 162, and 163 is stored in association with the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range where it can communicate with the loop antenna 111. Referring to FIG. 4, forward movement is associated with the service information 161 of the electronic money service A, and backward movement is associated with the service information 162 of the electronic money service B. ing. Further, movement to the left is associated with the service information 163 of the electronic money service C. The association between the service information 161 to 163 and the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 can be arbitrarily set. Further, the association between the service information 161 to 163 and the moving direction of the contactless IC card 1 may be automatically set according to the usage frequency of each electronic money service.

  The control unit 170 is for controlling the entire reader / writer 100, and a timer for obtaining a date (transaction date) when electronic money settlement processing is performed together with CPU, RAM, ROM and other memories. A circuit (not shown) is provided. The control unit 170 controls each of the above devices based on data and programs stored in its own memory. Details of the operation of the control unit 170 will be described later.

  The payment terminal 200 is a well-known POS (Point Of Sales) terminal, and when a button (not shown) for performing payment processing is pressed, the payment amount is transmitted to the reader / writer 100.

  Each of the management servers 410, 420, and 430 is for managing an electronic money service. The management server 410 is an operator that operates the electronic money service A, and the management server 420 is an operator that operates the electronic money service B. In addition, the management server 430 is managed by a business operator who operates the electronic money service C.

  In the reader / writer 100 configured as described above, when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range where communication with the loop antenna 111 is possible, the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 is any of the sensors 151 to 154. , The electronic money balance 31c of the contactless IC card 1 via the loop antenna 111 based on the service information corresponding to the detected moving direction among the service information 161 to 163 of the storage unit 160. 32c is read and written. Hereinafter, operations of the reader / writer 100 and the non-contact IC card 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the reader / writer 100 is powered on, the control unit 170 performs a polling process to detect the non-contact IC card 1 (step S1). More specifically, the control unit 170 transmits an IC card command for obtaining a predetermined response signal from the non-contact IC card 1 via the RF circuit unit 110 and the loop antenna 111 at predetermined time intervals. On the other hand, when the user places the non-contact IC card 1 on the placement unit 101a and the non-contact IC card 1 is placed within a communicable range with the loop antenna 111 (step S2), the non-contact IC The IC card control unit 2 of the card 1 transmits a response signal to the IC card command received from the reader / writer 100 (step S3). The control unit 170 detects the non-contact IC card 1 by receiving a response signal from the non-contact IC card 1 via the loop antenna 111 and the RF circuit unit 110. In the present embodiment, a card ID (not shown) unique to the non-contact IC card 1 is used as a response signal.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 170 causes the display unit 130 to display the available electronic money service and the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 for using each of the services. In this case, the correspondence between each service information 161 to 163 in the storage unit 160 and the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range where it can communicate with the loop antenna 111 is displayed on the display unit. Therefore, it is possible to easily notify the user of how to use the service using the non-contact IC card 1.

  Next, the control unit 170 detects the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range where communication with the loop antenna 111 is possible (step S4). For example, when the user moves the non-contact IC card 1 forward from the back of the reader / writer 100 and places it on the placement unit 101a, the non-contact IC card 1 is detected by the rear sensor 151. In this case, the rear sensor 151 transmits a detection signal to the control unit 170.

  Next, the control unit 170 selects an electronic money service to be used based on a detection signal received from any one of the sensors 151 to 154 (step S5). For example, when a detection signal is transmitted from the rear sensor 151, the control unit 170 responds to the forward movement of the non-contact IC card 1 among the service information 161 to 163 in the storage unit 160 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The service information 161 of the attached electronic money service A is extracted. Thereby, the electronic money service A is selected as the electronic money service to be used. Then, the control unit 170 executes a settlement program for the service information 161 of the electronic money service A (step S6). The control unit 170 performs the following processing after executing the payment program corresponding to the electronic money service A.

  The control unit 170 reads an IC card command for reading the user ID 31b and the electronic money balance 31c of the electronic money service A from the contactless IC card 1 (indicated as a card balance read command in the figure). It transmits to the non-contact IC card 1 via the RF circuit unit 110 and the loop antenna 111 (step S7). On the other hand, upon receiving the IC card command, the IC card control unit 2 of the non-contact IC card 1 extracts the user ID 31b and the electronic money balance 31c from the area 31 of the electronic money service A in the IC card storage unit 3. (Step S8), the data is transmitted to the reader / writer 100 (Step S9). The control unit 170 causes the display unit 130 to display the received electronic money balance 31c.

  Next, the control unit 170 receives the payment amount from the payment terminal 200 via the connector 120, and performs electronic money payment processing using the electronic money balance 31c (step S10).

  Here, the payment processing of electronic money will be specifically described. The control unit 170 sends an IC card command (denoted as a card balance update command in the figure) for subtracting a settlement amount (for example, 1,000 yen) from the electronic money balance 31c to the RF circuit unit 110 and It transmits to the non-contact IC card 1 via the loop antenna 111 (step S11). On the other hand, when receiving the IC card command from the reader / writer 100, the IC card control unit 2 subtracts the settlement amount included in the IC card command from the electronic money balance 31c (step S12), and then ends the predetermined update. A signal is transmitted to the reader / writer 100 (step S13). Then, when the control unit 170 receives the update end signal via the loop antenna 111 and the RF circuit unit 110, the electronic money settlement process is normally completed.

  Further, when the electronic money settlement process is normally completed, the control unit 170 causes the history information ID, the user ID 31b, the date (transaction date) acquired from the timer circuit, the settlement amount, and the electronic money balance after the settlement process. A history record composed of 31c is generated, and the history record is added to the history information of the service information 161 (step S14). In this case, the control unit 170 causes the display unit 130 to display the payment amount and the electronic money balance 31c after the payment process. The control unit 170 sends an IC card command for reading the electronic money balance 31c to the non-contact IC card 1 via the RF circuit unit 110 and the loop antenna 111 after the electronic money settlement process is normally completed. By transmitting, the electronic money balance 31c after the settlement process is acquired.

  Although not described in the above flow, the control unit 170 stores the history information related to the electronic money service A among the service information 161, 162, and 163 stored in the storage unit 160, and the management server 410 of the electronic money service A. Further, the history information related to the electronic money service B is arbitrarily sent to the management server 420 of the electronic money service B, and the history information related to the electronic money service C is arbitrarily assigned to the management server 430 of the electronic money service C via the communication device 140 and the network 300, respectively. Send at times. Each of the management servers 410, 420, and 430 of each electronic money service stores the history information received from the reader / writer 100 in a storage unit (not shown) of each management server 410, 420, and 430.

  In step S7 of the above flow, if the information related to the electronic money service selected in step S5 does not exist in the contactless IC card 1, the control unit 170 executes a settlement program for another electronic money service. And you may make it perform the process similar to said step S7 or later.

  Furthermore, when the electronic money balance 31c received from the non-contact IC card 1 is less than the payment amount in step S10 of the above flow, the control unit 170 executes a payment program for another electronic money service and executes the above-described payment program. You may make it perform the process similar to after step S7.

  As described above, according to the reader / writer 100 of the present embodiment, when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range in which communication with the loop antenna 111 is possible, the non-contact IC card in a range in which communication with the loop antenna 111 is possible. 1 is detected by the detection unit 150, and the electronic money balance of the contactless IC card 1 is based on service information corresponding to the movement direction detected by the detection unit 150 among the service information 161 to 163 in the storage unit 160. Is read and written via the loop antenna 111, the service to be used can be selected simply by placing the non-contact IC card 1 within a range where it can communicate with the loop antenna 111, and the service to be used can be easily selected. Can be done quickly. Therefore, for example, there is no need to provide selection means such as a selection button, so that the operability related to service selection can be improved. In addition, since the service can be selected in a short time, the service providing time using the non-contact IC card 1 can be shortened, and convenience can be improved.

  In addition, since the detection unit 150 includes a plurality of infrared sensors 151 to 154 provided around the loop antenna 111, it is possible to reliably detect the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 that is close to the loop antenna 111. it can.

  In addition, a display unit that displays information indicating a correspondence relationship between each service information 161 to 163 and a moving direction of the non-contact IC card 1 when the non-contact IC card 1 is placed in a range where the non-contact IC card 1 can communicate with the loop antenna 111. 130 is provided, it is possible to easily inform the user of how to use the service using the non-contact IC card 1, and the user can accurately select the service to be used.

  In addition, the said embodiment is only a specific example of this invention, and this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the non-contact IC card 1 is used as the storage medium. However, a mobile phone or the like equipped with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag or an IC chip may be used as the storage medium. Good.

  In the above embodiment, a service using a plurality of electronic money services is shown as a service for the contactless IC card 1. However, the reader / writer for a storage medium of the present invention can also be applied to a point service or a personal authentication service. Needless to say.

The perspective view of the reader / writer for storage media which shows one Embodiment of this invention Functional configuration diagram of reader / writer for storage media Functional configuration diagram of contactless IC card The figure which shows an example of the information memorize | stored in the memory | storage part The figure which shows an example of the data structure of history information Sequence diagram showing the operation of the controller The figure which shows the information which is displayed on the display section

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Non-contact IC card, 31c, 32c ... Electronic money balance, 100 ... Reader / writer for storage media, 111 ... Loop antenna, 130 ... Display part, 132 ... Logo screen, 150 ... Detection part, 151 ... Rear sensor, 152 ... Front sensor, 153 ... right side sensor, 154 ... left side sensor, 160 ... storage unit, 170 ... control unit.

Claims (3)

Storage means for storing a plurality of service information for providing different services, and an antenna capable of communicating with a storage medium storing information used in at least one of the services, the storage medium being an antenna In a reader / writer for a storage medium that reads and writes information on a storage medium based on service information of a service corresponding to the information on the storage medium,
Storage means for storing each of the service information in association with a moving direction of the storage medium when the storage medium is placed in a range where the storage medium can communicate with the antenna;
Detecting means for detecting a moving direction of the storage medium when the storage medium is placed in a range where communication with the antenna is possible;
If the moving direction of the storage medium is detected by the detecting means when the storage medium is placed in a range communicable with the antenna, service information corresponding to the moving direction detected by the detecting means among the service information of the storage means And a control means for reading and writing information from / to the storage medium via the antenna. The reader / writer for a storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is configured by a plurality of sensors provided around the antenna. 2. A display unit for displaying information indicating a correspondence relationship between each service information and a moving direction of the storage medium when the storage medium is placed in a range where the storage medium can communicate with the antenna. The reader / writer for a storage medium according to 2.

Images