JP2009193320A - Mobile rfid reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure impact resistance while maintaining communication performance, in a mobile RFID reader/writer having a configuration where a holder with an antenna mounted is stored in a body. <P>SOLUTION: A holder 4 with an antenna mounted is assembled to a lower case 10 in a positioned state, an upper case 11 is combined with the lower case 10 by means of a screw 12, and thereby a boss part 18 of the holder 4 is tightened and fixed between a receiving part 20 of the lower case 10 and a reinforcing rib 24 of the upper case 11 without the necessity for using a screw only for fixing the holder 4. The holder 4 can be fixed by using the screw 12 originally to be used for connecting the upper case 11 with the lower case 10. Therefore, both good impact resistance and good communication performance can be secured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable RFID reader / writer in which an antenna is housed in a main body formed by connecting a first case and a second case with screws.

For example, when an electronic payment is made using an IC card, a retail store or the like uses a portable RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader / writer (hereinafter simply referred to as a reader / writer) that reads and writes the IC card in a contactless manner. This reader / writer is usually configured by housing an antenna for wireless communication with an IC card inside the main body (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2008-9681 A

In the portable RFID reader / writer (portable settlement terminal 1) described in Patent Document 1, a communication device (indicated by reference numeral 11) is attached to the outside of the main body of the reader / writer. The case forms a part of the main body. As described above, communication performance can be ensured in a configuration in which the communication device is directly attached to the main body and the case of the communication device becomes a part of the main body constituting the outer shell of the reader / writer. However, in such a form, the antenna attached in the case of the communication device is directly attached to the back side of the outer shell of the reader / writer, and is inferior in impact resistance.
In order to improve impact resistance, it is conceivable to adopt a configuration in which the antenna is housed inside the main body via a holder. However, if a structure that uses screws to fix the holder is used, the holder A new screw (usually made of metal) provided for fixing adversely affects radio waves, resulting in a new problem that the permeability performance is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable RFID reader / writer having a structure in which an antenna is accommodated in a main body through a holder while the holder is attached to the main body while preventing deterioration in communication performance. An object is to provide a portable RFID reader / writer that can be fixed.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the holder mounted with the antenna is assembled in the first case in a positioned state, and the second case is coupled to the first case, so that the holder is attached to the first case and the second case. Therefore, the holder can be fixed by using a screw that is originally used for joining the first case and the second case. As a result, it is not necessary to use a dedicated screw only for fixing the holder, and both impact resistance and communication can be ensured.

According to the second aspect, since the guide portion for receiving the boss portion of the holder protrudes from one end portion of the receiving portion of the first case, the assembling workability when the holder is assembled to the first case is improved.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the antenna is attached to the antenna mounting portion of the holder via the impact absorbing member, the impact resistance can be further improved.
According to the fourth aspect, since the shock absorbing member is interposed between the antenna and the communication surface portion of the second case, it is possible to further improve the shock resistance.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the portable RFID reader / writer in cross section. The portable RFID reader / writer (hereinafter simply referred to as a reader / writer) 1 in FIG. 2 has an antenna 3 mounted in a main body 2. The holder 4 and a substrate (not shown) are accommodated. The reader / writer 1 of the present embodiment is a type that also serves as a barcode reader. The main body 2 includes a hand-held portion 7 having various key switches 5 and a liquid crystal screen 6 (see FIG. 3), a bar, and the like. A reading port portion 8 for optically reading a code, a communication surface portion 9 for communicating with an IC card and reading / writing are provided.

In the reader / writer 1 of the present embodiment, when reading a barcode, the hand-held portion 7 is held and the reading port portion 8 is assigned to the barcode display portion. At this time, the front end portion of the main body 2 provided with the reading port portion 8 is bent in a “h” shape so that the reading port portion 8 is easily addressed to the bar code display portion. The outer surface of the bent portion of the “he” shape is the communication surface portion 9, and when reading / writing from / to the IC card, the handheld portion 7 is held in the hand and the communication surface portion 9 is held in the IC card. Or the IC card is placed over the communication surface portion 9 that is inclined upward with the main body 2 placed on the desk so that the reading port 8 is at the bottom.
In addition, in order to comprise the board | substrate (not shown) accommodated in the main body 2, the electrical / electronic component which comprises a communication apparatus, the electrical / electronic component for comprising the read / write apparatus which reads / writes with respect to an IC card, and a barcode reader Electric and electronic parts are installed.

The holder 4 accommodated in the main body 2 is fixed so that the antenna 3 faces the communication surface portion 9 with a slight gap G. Here, the fixing structure of the holder 4 will be described. First, in order to facilitate the following description, in the reader / writer 1, the one with the hand-held portion 7 is rearward, the one with the reading port portion 8 and the communication surface portion 9 is front, and the left side as viewed from the front and The right side is left and right. In addition, when the main body 2 is held in a hand so that the reading port portion 8 faces downward, it is assumed that the lower side is the lower side and the upper side is the upper side.
The main body 2 is configured by connecting a lower case (first case) 10 on the lower side and an upper case 11 on the upper side by a plurality of screws 12. Both the cases 10 and 11 are made of plastic, and the key switch 5, the liquid crystal screen 6, and the communication surface portion 9 are provided in the upper case 11. The reading port 8 is formed in a rectangular tube shape and is fixed to the tip of the lower case 10.

  On the other hand, the holder 4 is formed in a “h” shape with plastic and is disposed in the main body 2 so as to be located in a region extending from the communication surface portion 9 to the arrangement portion of the liquid crystal screen 6 adjacent to the communication surface portion 9. . A portion of the holder 4 that faces the communication surface portion 9 of the main body 2 is an antenna attachment portion 13, and the antenna 3 is attached to the antenna attachment portion 13 without using screws. In the present embodiment, the antenna 3 is mounted on the antenna mounting portion 13 by attaching an adhesive to both surfaces of a foamed base material, for example, a sponge-like base material made of foamable plastic (impact absorbing member). 14 is used for adhesion.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a plurality of projecting pieces 15 as positioning projections are arranged in parallel in the left-right direction on both sides of the holder 4 with the antenna mounting portion 13 interposed therebetween, for example, on the front side of the front and rear sides. The protruding piece 15 is formed with a U-shaped positioning recess 16 that opens downward. Corresponding to the projecting piece 15, a rib 17 as a projecting portion extending in the left-right direction is projected upward from the lower case 10. 3 to 5, the antenna 3 is not shown.

  In addition, hollow cylindrical bosses 18 project from left and right end portions of the rear side of both sides of the holder 4 sandwiching the antenna mounting portion 13. Further, similar boss portions 19 are formed on the left and right sides of the rear end portion of the holder 4. Of the boss portions 19 at the rear end of the holder 4, the boss portion 19 located on the left side has a substantially halved cylindrical shape. The lower case 10 is provided with a cylindrical receiving portion 20 corresponding to the boss portion 18 on the rear side of the antenna mounting portion 13 and also corresponding to the boss portion 19 on the rear end portion of the holder 4. Similarly, a cylindrical receiving portion 21 is provided so that the lower ends of the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4 are in contact with the upper ends of the receiving portions 20 and 21, respectively.

  The upper case 11 is provided with insertion portions 22 and 23 that are inserted into the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, reinforcing ribs (pressing portions) 24 are formed at the root portions of the insertion portions 22 and 23 so as to connect the root portions and the side surface portions 11 a of the upper case 11. . Only the reinforcing rib 24 of the insertion portion 22 is shown. When the holder 4 and the upper case 11 are sequentially assembled to the lower case 10, the insertion portions 22 and 23 of the upper case 11 are inserted into the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4, and the reinforcing rib 24 is the boss of the holder 4. The lower case 10 and the upper case 11 are configured to be in a regular combined state when they are in contact with the portions 18 and 19.

In this regular combination state, the insertion portions 22 and 23 of the upper case 11 are inserted into the upper end portions of the receiving portions 20 and 21 of the lower case 10 through the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4. . In the receiving portions 20 and 21, ring-shaped seat portions 20 a and 21 a are formed near the upper end thereof. And in the receiving parts 20 and 21, the said screw 12 is inserted from the opening part of the lower side, By screwing this screw 12 in the insertion parts 22 and 23 of the upper case 11, The lower case 10 and the upper case 11 are coupled.
In order to connect the lower case 10 and the upper case 11 with the screw 12, the hollow projecting element 25 and the screwing projection having the same coupling configuration as the coupling configuration of the receiving portions 20, 21 and the insertion portions 22, 23 by the screw 12 are used. The child 26 is formed in a portion (for example, rear portion) other than the portion corresponding to the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4.

  Next, a procedure for assembling the lower case 10, the holder 4, and the upper case 11 in the above configuration will be described. First, the lower case 10 is placed on the work table. Next, the holder 4 to which the antenna 3 is mounted is held in the hand so that the rib 17 of the lower case 10 is inserted into the positioning recess 16 of the projecting piece 15. Since the holder 4 is positioned by inserting the rib 17 into the positioning recess 16, the holder 4 is rotated downward about the rib 17 in this positioning state, and the bosses 18 and 19 of the holder 4 are moved downward. It contacts with the receiving parts 20 and 21 of the case 10.

  Next, the upper case 11 is held in the hand, and the upper case 11 is inserted into the bosses 18 and 19 of the holder 4 and the hollow protrusion 25 so that the upper case 11 is inserted into the lower case 10. To match. Then, the insertion portions 22 and 23 are inserted into the boss portions 18 and 19, and the lower ends are inserted into the boss portions 18 and 19. Thereafter, with the lower case 10 and the upper case 11 being put together, they are turned upside down and placed on the work table, and the screws 12 are inserted into the receiving portions 20, 21 and the hollow protrusion 25, respectively. 12 is screwed into the insertion portions 22 and 23 and the threaded protrusion 26. Then, the insertion portions 22 and 23 and the threaded protrusion 26 are fastened and fixed to the receiving portions 20 and 21 and the hollow protrusion 25, and the reinforcing rib 24 of the upper case 11 is fixed to the boss of the holder 4 as shown in FIG. The bosses 18 and 19 are brought into contact with the parts 18 and 19 and fastened and fixed between the receiving parts 20 and 21. Thus, the lower case 10, the upper case 11, and the holder 4 are joined.

  Thus, according to this embodiment, since the antenna 3 is fixed in the main body 2 via the holder 4, even if the main body 2 is dropped during actual use, the impact applied to the main body 2 is not affected by the holder 4. Is not absorbed and is not directly applied to the antenna 3, and the impact resistance is improved. In particular, in this embodiment, since the antenna 3 is bonded by the double-sided adhesive member 14 whose base material is made of a foamable material, the impact resistance is further improved by the impact absorbing action of the double-sided adhesive member 14.

  Further, when the holder 4 is fixed to the main body 2, instead of newly providing a dedicated screw for fixing the holder 4 itself, both of the conventional methods for connecting the lower case 10 and the upper case 11 are used. Since the holder 4 is sandwiched and fixed between the lower case 10 and the upper case 11 at the same time by tightening the screws 12 for coupling the cases 10 and 11, the holder 4 is further fixed for fixing the holder 4. Compared with the case of using another screw, the communication performance of the antenna 3 is not adversely affected.

  FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that the boss portions 18 and 19 are arranged on the outer periphery of the upper ends of the receiving portions 20 and 21. A plurality of guide pieces (guide portions) 20b and 21b for guiding to the upper end surface are provided in a protruding manner. The inner sides of the upper ends of the guide pieces 20b and 21b are obliquely cut out, and when the holder 4 is assembled to the lower case 10, the boss portions 18 and 19 are guided by the guide pieces 20b and 21b. It is smoothly received inside and abuts against the receiving portions 20 and 21. For this reason, the assembling property of the holder 4 is improved.

  FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which cylindrical guide portions 20c and 21c are used instead of the guide pieces 20b and 21b of the second embodiment. The inner circumferences of the upper ends of the cylindrical guide portions 20c and 21c are formed in a tapered shape so that the boss portions 18 and 19 can be easily received.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and can be expanded or changed as follows.
As shown in the first embodiment, the positioning recess of the holder 4 is not limited to the protrusion 15 that is formed by projecting the protruding piece 15, and a groove is formed directly on the lower surface of the holder 4. The structure may be a positioning recess.
The means for pressing and fixing the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4 to the receiving portions 20 and 21 of the lower case 10 is not limited to the reinforcing rib 24 of the upper case 11, and is an intermediate portion between the boss portions 18 and 19 of the holder 4. The upper case 11 may be provided with a portion for pressing the holder 4, thereby pressing the holder 4 downward, and as a result, the boss portions 18, 19 may be pressed against the receiving portions 20, 21 and fixed.
A shock absorbing member having cushioning properties such as foamed plastic may be interposed between the communication surface portion 9 of the upper case 11 and the antenna 3. According to this, the impact resistance of the antenna 3 can be further improved by the action of the impact absorbing member.
The reader / writer 1 may not have a barcode reading function.

The longitudinal front view of the principal part which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention Overall profile side view Exploded perspective view from above Exploded perspective view from below Partial exploded perspective view of holder and lower case Enlarged perspective view of the main part of the upper case The perspective view of the receiving part which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The perspective view of the receiving part which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 2 is a main body, 3 is an antenna, 4 is a holder, 8 is a reading port, 9 is a communication surface portion, 10 is a lower case (first case), 11 is an upper case (second case), and 12 is a screw. , 13 is an antenna mounting portion, 14 is a double-sided adhesive member (impact absorbing member), 15 is a projecting piece, 16 is a concave portion for positioning, 17 is a rib (convex portion), 18 and 19 are boss portions, and 20 and 21 are receiving portions. , 20b, 20c, 21b and 21c are guide portions, 22 and 23 are insertion portions, 24 is a reinforcing rib, 25 is a hollow protrusion, and 26 is a threaded protrusion.

Claims (4)

A holder in which an antenna is mounted on an antenna mounting portion is placed in a main body configured by connecting the second case to the first case with a screw so that the antenna faces the communication surface portion of the second case. A portable RFID reader / writer accommodated therein,
In the holder, a positioning recess formed on one side of the both sides sandwiching the antenna mounting portion and a hollow boss portion formed on the other side,
A receiving portion that is formed on the first case and is abutted against one end of the boss portion and a convex portion that is inserted into the positioning concave portion of the holder;
A protrusion formed on the second case, and an insertion portion inserted into the boss portion;
By inserting the convex part of the first case into the positioning concave part, the holder is positioned in such a manner that one end of the boss part comes into contact with the receiving part. In the state where the second case is aligned with the first case so that the insertion portion of the second case is inserted into the boss portion of the holder, the first and second cases are A portable RFID reader / writer, wherein the holder is sandwiched and fixed between the second case and the receiving portion by being coupled with the screw.   The portable RFID reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portion has a guide portion for receiving the boss portion projectingly formed on one end side of the holder abutted on one end of the boss portion. .   3. The portable RFID reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein the antenna is attached to the antenna mounting portion of the holder via an impact absorbing member.   The portable type according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an impact absorbing member is interposed between the antenna mounted on the holder and the communication surface portion of the second case. RFID reader / writer.

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