JP2010039824A - Settlement device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a settlement device for minimizing an area occupied by a loop antenna on a face by disposing the loop antenna on the face parallel to a display face of a display device. <P>SOLUTION: The loop antenna 56 is provided around the display device 46, so that a non-contact IC card faces the display device 46 for communication. By perpendicularly (in a perpendicular direction of the display face of the display device 46) bending a rectangular part 54S extending from a rectangular shape of a flexible board 56F and disposing the loop antenna 56 on the periphery of the display device, the area occupied by the loop antenna on the face parallel to the display face of the display device 46 can be reduced as shown in Fig.5(C). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a settlement apparatus for performing settlement by communicating with a non-contact communication medium such as a non-contact IC card.

A contactless IC card having a credit function, a prepaid function, and a debit function is used for a small payment. A settlement apparatus that performs settlement by communicating with a non-contact IC card generally includes a loop antenna and a communication circuit that communicates with the non-contact IC card through the loop antenna. Further, the settlement apparatus includes a display unit for displaying settlement information and the like, and guides operations through the display unit. Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic device in which a loop antenna is arranged around a display device.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-4502

In a settlement apparatus using contactless communication technology, it is desirable to arrange a display device that displays operation guidance information in the center of the loop antenna as disclosed in Patent Document 1 in order to improve operability. However, in a settlement device reduced in size such as a handy type, if a display device is arranged in the center of the loop antenna, the display device must be made smaller than a device that does not provide a loop antenna, and an operation guidance display is possible. There are challenges that are difficult to do.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to arrange a loop antenna on a surface parallel to the display surface of the display device, and occupy the loop antenna on the surface. An object of the present invention is to provide a settlement apparatus that can minimize the area.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a payment apparatus 10 for making a payment by communication with a payment medium 80 including a display device 46 and including a loop antenna 56.
A technical feature is that at least a part of the loop antenna 56 formed of a planar flexible substrate 56F is bent around the display device 46 in a direction perpendicular to the display surface of the display device 46.

In the settlement apparatus according to the first aspect, since the loop antenna is provided around the display device, communication can be performed by making the settlement medium correspond to the display device. Here, an area occupied by the loop antenna on a plane parallel to the display surface of the display device by disposing at least a part of the loop antenna formed of a flat flexible substrate in a direction perpendicular to the display surface of the display device. Can be reduced.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the loop antenna is formed on a plane parallel to the display surface of the display device by arranging all of the loop antennas made of a flat flexible substrate in a direction perpendicular to the display surface of the display device. The area occupied by can be minimized.

In the settlement apparatus according to the third aspect, the loop diameter can be increased by arranging the loop antenna along the inner periphery of the standing wall of the casing.

[First embodiment]
Hereinafter, a settlement apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The settlement apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is a handy type that a user holds and operates by hand, reads optical information such as a barcode and a two-dimensional code attached to the product, and sells the product (payment amount). ) And the payment of the sales amount is made by a non-contact IC card having a prepaid function or a credit function and a mobile phone incorporating an IC chip for settlement.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the settlement apparatus, and FIG. 2 (A) is a plan view.
The settlement apparatus 10 includes an operation unit 12 that also serves as a grip unit, a liquid crystal display device 46, and the like. The operation unit 12 is provided with, for example, a plurality of key switches 41, and the operation contents are instructed by these key switches 41. In addition to the key switch 41, the operation unit 12 is provided with a trigger switch 42 for instructing start of reading. An optical system unit (to be described later) is disposed in a substantially rectangular opening (reading port) 18 shown in FIG. 1 formed at the front end of the housing 59 of the settlement apparatus 10. In addition, a loop antenna described later is disposed around the liquid crystal display device 46.

The circuit configuration of the settlement apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
The settlement apparatus 10 is configured to be capable of reading optical information such as a barcode and a two-dimensional code and reading and writing information on a wireless information medium such as a non-contact IC card wirelessly. The settlement apparatus 10 is provided with a circuit unit 20. The circuit unit 20 is a wireless system mainly including an optical system such as a light emitting diode 21, a condensing lens 24, a light receiving sensor 23, and an imaging lens 27, a loop antenna 56, an impedance matching circuit 58, a transmission circuit 54 and a reception circuit 52. And a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as “microcomputer”) system such as a memory 35, a control circuit 40, a key switch 41, a trigger switch 42, and a liquid crystal display device 46.

First, the optical system will be described. The light emitting diode 21 functions as a light irradiator capable of irradiating the illumination light Lf, and is condensed by a condensing lens 24 in which a diffusion lens and a convex lens are combined. The light receiving sensor 23 includes an image sensor configured to be able to receive the reflected light Lr irradiated and reflected by the reading object R and the barcode B through the imaging lens 27. The imaging lens 27 functions as an imaging optical system capable of condensing incident light incident from the outside and forming an image on the light receiving surface 23 a of the light receiving sensor 23.

Next, a configuration outline of the microcomputer system will be described. The microcomputer system includes an amplification circuit 31, an A / D conversion circuit 33, a memory 35, an address generation circuit 36, a synchronization signal generation circuit 38, a control circuit 40, a key switch 41, a trigger switch 42, an LED 43, a buzzer 44, and a liquid crystal display device 46. The communication unit 48 and the like. As the name suggests, this microcomputer system is composed mainly of a control circuit 40 and a memory 35 that can function as a microcomputer (information processing device). The signal can be processed by software. The control circuit 40 also performs control related to the entire system of the settlement apparatus 10.

An image signal (analog signal) output from the light receiving sensor 23 of the optical system is input to the amplification circuit 31 and amplified by a predetermined gain, and then input to the A / D conversion circuit 33. Converted into a digital signal. The digitized image signal, that is, image data is input to the memory 35 and stored. The synchronization signal generation circuit 38 is configured to generate a synchronization signal for the light receiving sensor 23 and the address generation circuit 36. The address generation circuit 36 is based on the synchronization signal supplied from the synchronization signal generation circuit 38. Thus, the storage address of the image data stored in the memory 35 can be generated.

The control circuit 40 is a microcomputer that can control the entire payment apparatus 10 and includes a CPU, a system bus, an input / output interface, and the like. The control circuit 40 is configured to be connectable to various input / output devices (peripheral devices) via a built-in input / output interface. In this embodiment, the key switch 41, the trigger switch 42, the LED 43, A buzzer 44, a liquid crystal display device 46, a communication unit 48, and the like are connected. The control circuit 40 is configured to output the result of reading the two-dimensional code and payment information to the terminal management device 60 side described above with reference to FIG.

The wireless system 50 including the loop antenna 56, the impedance matching circuit 58, the transmission circuit 54, and the reception circuit 52, for example, is an electromagnetic wave (for example, a radio wave having a frequency of microwave or HF band) with a non-contact IC card having a prepaid function. Is used for power supply and data reading. Here, not only data reading but also data writing to a non-contact IC card is performed.

The transmission circuit 54 and the reception circuit 52 constituting the wireless system 50 are controlled by the control circuit 40. The control circuit 40 outputs a power signal to the loop antenna 56 via the transmission circuit 54, and demodulates the received signal received by the loop antenna 56 via the reception circuit 52 and extracts it as data. Thereby, in a state where the non-contact IC card to be read is brought close to the loop antenna 56, power is supplied to the non-contact IC card by radio waves and data communication (writing and reading) is performed. It has become.

The impedance matching circuit 58 is for adjusting the impedance of the loop antenna. FIG. 4A shows a circuit diagram of the impedance matching circuit. A variable capacitor C2 is connected in parallel to the loop antenna 56, and a variable capacitor C1 is connected in series with the loop antenna 56 and the variable capacitor C2. FIG. 4B shows another example. A variable capacitor C4 is connected in series with the loop antenna 56, and a variable capacitor C3 is connected in parallel with the loop antenna 56 and the variable capacitor C4. In the settlement apparatus of the first embodiment, radio waves can be efficiently transmitted and received by the impedance matching circuit 58 even when the loop antenna 56 having a small diameter with respect to the used frequency is used.

As is well known, the non-contact IC card includes a rectifying / smoothing circuit for obtaining an operating power supply from a wireless power supply signal, a CPU for controlling communication, a modulation / demodulating circuit for modulating / demodulating transmission / reception signals, It has a built-in IC in which a ROM for storing operation programs and the like, a readable / writable EEPROM for storing data, etc. are made into one chip. In addition, a mobile phone that can handle wireless payment has the IC chip built-in.

FIG. 5A is a plan view of a flexible substrate constituting the loop antenna 56 of the settlement apparatus of the first embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a side view. FIG. 5C is a plan view of a state in which the flexible substrate 56F is attached to the liquid crystal display device 46, and FIG. 5D is a side view.
The flexible board 56F is composed of a triangular portion 56D provided at four corners of a rectangular shape (two-dot chain line constituting a mountain fold line) and a rectangular portion 56S extending from the rectangular shape, and wiring constituting the loop antenna 56 is provided. It is composed of a built-in dielectric plate such as resin. Here, the rectangular portion 56S extending from the rectangular shape is bent at a right angle (perpendicular to the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 46) and the loop antenna 56 is arranged on the outer periphery of the liquid crystal display device, so that FIG. As shown, the area occupied by the loop antenna 56 on the plane parallel to the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 46 can be reduced.

In the settlement apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, since the loop antenna 56 is provided around the liquid crystal display device 46, communication is performed by making the liquid crystal display device 46 correspond to a mobile phone incorporating a non-contact IC card and an IC chip. be able to. That is, the user operates the trigger switch toward the barcode or two-dimensional code attached to the product with the reading port 18 of the settlement device 10 shown in FIG. The two-dimensional code is read to calculate the sales amount (payment amount) of the product. Then, after the payment amount is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 46, as shown in FIG. 2A, a non-contact IC card having a prepaid function or a credit function, and a mobile phone incorporating an IC chip are displayed on the liquid crystal display device (screen) 46. Display [Give your IC card or mobile phone to this screen] etc. In response to this, as shown in FIG. 2B, the payer makes the contactless IC card 80 face the liquid crystal display device 46, whereby communication between the settlement apparatus 10 and the contactless IC card 80 is performed. The settlement apparatus 10 performs settlement via wireless communication.

Here, in the case of an information code reader that can handle existing optical information and IF tags, since an antenna for communication with the IF tag is provided on the reading port side, a payment device using the information code reader is used. Is difficult to operate because the reading port faces the non-contact IC card or mobile phone. In order to perform the operation easily, it is necessary for the user to take a mobile phone or the like from the payer and touch the reading port of the settlement apparatus. In this case, troubles such as dropping the mobile phone are expected. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the payer can make a payment by holding the non-contact IC card or the mobile phone over the liquid crystal display device 46 of the payment apparatus 10, so that the operation is easy. Furthermore, since the area occupied by the loop antenna 56 can be reduced with a handy type, ie, a small and narrow settlement device, the liquid crystal display device 46 can be enlarged, and various guide information can be displayed in large characters. Is possible.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a settlement apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The settlement apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 except for the configuration of the loop antenna. Therefore, the configuration of the loop antenna will be described with reference to FIG. .
FIG. 6A is a plan view of a flexible substrate constituting the loop antenna of the settlement apparatus of the second embodiment, and FIG. 6B is a side view. FIG. 6C is a plan view of a state in which a flexible substrate is attached to the liquid crystal display device, and FIG. 6D is a side view.

The flexible substrate 56F that constitutes the loop antenna 56 of the second embodiment is configured in a rectangular frame shape, and folds the short side with a mountain fold and combines the fold and valley folds with respect to the long side. As shown in FIG. 6C, all of the flexible substrate 56F is bent in the direction perpendicular to the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 46, and the loop antenna 56 is arranged on the outer periphery of the liquid crystal display device. As a result, the area occupied by the loop antenna on the plane parallel to the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 46 is minimized.

In the settlement apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, since the loop antenna 56 is provided around the liquid crystal display device 46, communication is performed by making the liquid crystal display device 46 correspond to a mobile phone incorporating a non-contact IC card and an IC chip. be able to.

[Third embodiment]
Next, a settlement apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The settlement apparatus of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 except for the configuration of the loop antenna, and therefore the configuration of the loop antenna is described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. I will explain.
A housing 59 of the settlement apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is formed by combining an upper housing 59U provided with a liquid crystal display device 46, a key switch 41, and the like, and a lower housing 59L. FIG. 7A is a plan view of the upper housing 59U of the settlement apparatus of the third embodiment as viewed from the inside, and FIG. 7B is a plan view of a flexible substrate 56F that constitutes the loop antenna 56. FIG. 7C is a plan view showing a state in which the flexible board 56F constituting the loop antenna 56 is arranged in the upper housing 59U. FIG. 8A is a plan view of the flexible substrate 56F before the loop antenna of the third embodiment is configured, FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the loop antenna 56, and FIG. 8C is an upper housing. It is a perspective view of body 59U.

The upper housing 59U is provided with an opening 59b for mounting the liquid crystal display device 46 at the center, and a standing wall 59a is formed in the vertical direction of the liquid crystal display device 46 at the outer peripheral portion. The loop antenna 56 is bent in the vertical direction of the liquid crystal display device 46 as shown in FIG. 7B so that it can be arranged along the inner periphery of the standing wall 59a as shown in FIG. It is formed into a shape.

In the settlement apparatus 10 according to the third embodiment, the flexible substrate 56F constituting the loop antenna 56 is arranged along the inner periphery of the standing wall 59a of the upper housing 59U, so that the loop diameter of the loop antenna can be increased. Thereby, it becomes possible to communicate with a non-contact IC card, a mobile phone, etc. efficiently.

In the embodiment described above, the liquid crystal display device is used as the display device. However, as the display device, for example, a display device made of LEDs can be used.

It is a side view of the settlement apparatus concerning a 1st embodiment. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the payment apparatus according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram of contactless IC card payment by the payment apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the payment apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a circuit diagram of an impedance matching circuit. FIG. 5 (A) is a plan view of a flexible substrate constituting the loop antenna of the settlement apparatus of the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 (B) is a side view. FIG. 5C is a plan view of a state in which a flexible substrate is attached to the display device, and FIG. 5D is a side view. FIG. 6A is a plan view of a flexible substrate constituting the loop antenna of the settlement apparatus of the second embodiment, and FIG. 6B is a side view. 6C is a plan view of a state in which a flexible substrate is attached to the display device, and FIG. 6D is a side view. FIG. 7A is a plan view of the upper housing of the settlement apparatus of the third embodiment as viewed from the inside, FIG. 7B is a plan view of the loop antenna, and FIG. 7C is in the upper housing. It is a top view which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the loop antenna. FIG. 8A is a plan view of the flexible substrate before constituting the loop antenna of the third embodiment, FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the loop antenna, and FIG. It is a perspective view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Payment apparatus 46 Liquid crystal display device 56 Loop antenna 56F Flexible substrate 59 Case 59a Standing wall 80 Non-contact IC card (payment medium)

Claims (3)

A payment device for payment by communication with a payment medium including a display device and a loop antenna,
A settlement apparatus characterized in that at least a part of a loop antenna made of a flat flexible substrate is bent around the display device in a direction perpendicular to the display surface of the display device. 2. The settlement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein all of the loop antennas made of the planar flexible substrate are arranged by being bent in a direction perpendicular to a display surface of the display apparatus. 3. The loop antenna according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the loop antenna is disposed along an inner periphery of a standing wall provided in a vertical direction of the display device, which is a housing of the settlement apparatus. Payment device.

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