JP2018011166A - Information communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To establish a radio communication stably and over a wide range and to be easily adaptable a change of a radio communication standard by improving a degree of freedom in an arrangement of an antenna element for radio communication when providing the antenna element in an information communication apparatus comprising a main body unit that is installed while being embedded in an installation face of an outlet part or the like.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to an information communication apparatus K1 comprising a main body unit U1 which is installed while being embedded in an installation face F, and configured to perform a radio communication with an external information communication terminal by driving an antenna element 30 and transmitting/receiving a radio signal. The information communication apparatus comprises an antenna unit U2 which is configured attachable to and detachable from the main body unit U1 in an embedded installation state which is installed while being embedded in the installation face F, and in which the antenna element 30 is provided. In a mounting state where the antenna unit U2 is mounted to the main body unit U1, the antenna element 30 is connected to a side of the main body unit U1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention is an information communication apparatus provided with an antenna element for performing a wireless LAN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or WiMAX (registered trademark), and in particular, a main unit that is embedded in an installation surface and installed. And an information communication apparatus that performs wireless communication with an external information communication terminal by transmitting and receiving wireless signals by driving an antenna element.

  In order to perform wireless communication indoors or the like using a mobile communication terminal such as a laptop computer, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal, an information communication device including a wireless LAN antenna element is installed indoors. As a conventional information communication apparatus, an apparatus in which an antenna element is built in a main body unit and the main body unit can be installed on an installation surface such as a wall surface facing the room is known (for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 reference.).

The information communication apparatus described in Patent Document 3 is configured to be installed in a posture in which the entire main unit is exposed to the outside with respect to the installation surface, and two antenna elements are provided to establish wireless communication over a wide range. Built in the main unit.
However, in this type of information communication apparatus, since the entire main unit is exposed to the outside with respect to the installation surface, the amount of protrusion from the installation surface increases. Then, there is a problem that the aesthetics of the installation location is deteriorated and the walking is easily hindered, and the apparatus is easily damaged due to a collision with the pedestrian.

  Therefore, the information communication devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not expose the entire main unit to the outside, but can be installed by embedding a part of the main unit in an outlet provided on the installation surface. Has been. Therefore, the amount of protrusion from the installation surface is minimized, and problems such as the above-described deterioration of aesthetics and obstruction of walking are avoided.

JP 2006-021617 A JP 2013-157738 A JP 2006-0505564 A

  In the conventional information communication apparatus as described above, in order to establish stable and wide-range wireless communication, it is necessary to arrange each antenna element in an arrangement state in which mutual interference between transmission and reception waves is sufficiently suppressed. is there. And when the whole main unit is exposed to the outside from the installation surface as in the information communication device described in Patent Document 3, there is almost no limit on the size and shape of the main unit. The elements can be arranged almost freely with a sufficient separation distance. However, as in the information communication devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when at least a part of the main unit is embedded in the outlet provided on the installation surface, the outlet is standardized on the market. Since the material is used, the size and shape of the main unit are limited. Further, it is difficult to properly arrange the antenna elements in the main unit having such a size restriction.

  In such an information communication apparatus, for example, there are a plurality of wireless communication standards depending on the frequency band, communication distance, etc. of the wireless LAN. In order to cope with a plurality of types of specifications such as a plurality of wireless communication standards in an information communication device, it is necessary to provide antenna elements in a plurality of types suitable for each specification. However, in the configuration in which the antenna element is built in the main body unit that is embedded in the installation surface, the installation range of the antenna element is limited, and thus it is difficult to install the antenna element in a plurality of types. Therefore, when changing the specification to be applied, it is necessary to replace the main unit.

  In view of this situation, the main problem of the present invention is that in providing an antenna element for wireless communication in an information communication apparatus provided with a main unit embedded in an installation surface such as an outlet portion, The purpose is to provide a technology that improves the degree of freedom, establishes stable and wide-ranging wireless communication, and can easily cope with changes in specifications such as wireless communication standards.

A first characteristic configuration of the present invention includes a main unit embedded in an installation surface, and performs wireless communication with an external information communication terminal by driving an antenna element to transmit and receive a wireless signal. An information communication device to perform,
It is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the main unit in an embedded installation state embedded in the installation surface, and includes an antenna unit provided with the antenna element,
The antenna element is connected to the main unit when the antenna unit is mounted on the main unit.

According to this configuration, the antenna unit that is detachable from the main unit in the embedded installation state is provided separately from the main unit, and the antenna element is provided in the antenna unit. Alleviated. Therefore, in the antenna unit, the degree of freedom of arrangement of the antenna elements is improved. For example, the antenna elements can be installed in a wide range, and stable and wide-range wireless communication can be established.
Furthermore, even when changing the form of the antenna element, etc. due to the specification change, it is possible to respond by simply replacing the antenna unit without the need to replace the main unit. Can be avoided.
Therefore, according to the present invention, in the information communication apparatus provided with the main body unit that is embedded and installed in the installation surface such as the outlet portion, the degree of freedom of arrangement of the antenna elements is improved when providing the antenna elements for wireless communication. Thus, it is possible to provide a technology that can establish stable and wide-range wireless communication and can easily cope with a change in specifications such as a wireless communication standard.

According to a second characteristic configuration of the present invention, the main body unit has a bulging portion that bulges forward from the installation surface in the embedded installation state.
The antenna unit is configured to be detachable from the bulging portion of the main unit.

  According to this configuration, the antenna unit can be attached to and detached from the bulging portion by a simple configuration in which the bulging portion is provided in the main unit. Further, since the antenna unit is attached to and detached from the bulging portion that bulges forward from the installation surface, the attachment and detachment of the antenna unit can be a simple operation that can be performed on the front side of the installation surface. it can.

In the third characteristic configuration of the present invention, an interface facing the indoor space on the front side of the installation surface in the embedded installation state is provided on the front surface portion of the main body unit,
The antenna unit has a configuration in which at least an interface of a front surface portion of the main body unit is exposed to the indoor space when the antenna unit is attached to the main body unit.

  According to this configuration, the antenna unit can be attached to the main unit while maintaining the interface provided on the front surface of the main unit exposed to the indoor space in front of the installation surface. Thereby, even when the antenna unit is mounted on the main unit, access such as operation and visual recognition to the interface on the front surface of the main unit can be ensured. In the present application, the interface includes a display unit for displaying a state, an operation unit for switching a state, a connection unit for connecting a cable for wired communication, and the like.

  A fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention is that the antenna unit has a configuration that surrounds a peripheral surface portion that extends rearward from an outwardly extending portion of the front surface portion of the main body unit when the antenna unit is attached to the main body unit.

According to this configuration, the antenna unit has a configuration that surrounds the peripheral surface portion of the main unit when mounted on the main unit (the outer peripheral portion of the main unit when viewed from the front). Can be configured. Thus, for example, antenna elements can be installed in a wider range, and more stable and wide range wireless communication can be established.
Furthermore, since the main unit is present at the center of the antenna unit when viewed from the front, when providing a plurality of antenna elements, the antenna elements are distributed and arranged at positions spaced apart with the main unit interposed therebetween. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the mutual interference of transmission and reception waves in each antenna element, and to stably perform wireless communication using each antenna element.

  A fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention is that a plurality of types of the antenna units having different specifications are provided.

  According to this configuration, by providing a plurality of types of antenna units with different specifications, if an appropriate one antenna unit is selected from the plurality of types of antenna units and attached to the main unit, wireless according to the situation and demands An information communication apparatus for performing communication can be constructed. That is, a plurality of variations of information communication devices corresponding to a plurality of types of specifications such as a wireless communication standard can be realized simply by using a common main unit and preparing a plurality of types of antenna units.

Front view showing information communication device installed at information outlet Left side view showing information communication device installed at information outlet Rear view showing the state where the information communication device is installed at the information outlet The perspective view of the information communication apparatus which shows the state which removed the antenna unit with respect to the main body unit The perspective view of the information communication apparatus which shows the state which mounted | wore with the antenna unit with respect to the main body unit Block diagram showing the connection between the main unit and antenna unit

An embodiment of an information communication apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the outlet 1 includes an outlet box 2 installed on the rear side of a rectangular (rectangular) opening Wa formed through the wall W, and a front side of the wall W. And the outlet cover 3 covering the outer surface of the outlet 1 arranged in the above is fixed through a metal mounting frame 5 that abuts against the front portion of the wall W between them.

As shown in FIG. 1, the outlet 1 is equipped with two devices K1 and K2 including the information communication device K1 of the present invention.
That is, the information communication device K1 of the present invention is provided on the right side of the outlet 1. In addition, on the left side of the outlet 1 in the front view (see FIG. 1) (on the right side of the outlet 1 in the rear view (see FIG. 3)), there is a power outlet provided with two upper and lower power outlets. A device K2 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outlet box 2 is provided with a partition wall 2a that partitions the space on the information communication device K1 side and the space on the power outlet device K2 side. Further, above and below the outlet box 2, power cables 61 and 63 wired to the space on the rear side of the wall W and WAN that is an example of a communication line with respect to each space partitioned by the partition wall 2 a. The insertion ports 2b and 2c for drawing the communication cable 22 and the telephone cable 25 on the side are formed.

Specifically, in the space on the information communication device K1 side, the communication cable 22 and the telephone cable 25 are drawn through the upper insertion port 2b, and commercial power is supplied through the lower insertion port 2c formed on the lower side. A power cable 61 comprising a pair of power cables 61 for supplying to the information communication device K1 is drawn.
On the other hand, in the space on the power outlet device K2 side, as shown in FIG. 3, the power cable 63 for supplying the commercial power to the power outlet device K2 is drawn through the upper insertion port 2b, and is lowered to the lower side. A power cable 61 for supplying commercial power to the information communication device K1 is drawn through the formed lower insertion port 2c.

  In addition, a power cable connecting portion 62 that can be detachably inserted and connected to a power cable and a power cable connecting portion 60 that can be detachably inserted and connected to the power outlet device K2 are connected to the back of the power outlet device K2. These are electrically connected to a power outlet outlet (see FIG. 1) provided on the front surface. Further, the respective power cable connection portions 60 and 62 are electrically connected.

  Then, the power cable 63 drawn through the upper insertion port 2b is connected to the power cable connection unit 62 provided on the upper side of the back surface of the power outlet device K2, and on the other hand, through the lower insertion port 2c. The drawn power cable 61 is connected to a power cable connecting part 60 provided on the lower side of the rear face part of the power outlet device K2. The power cable 61 bypasses the lower end of the partition wall 2a of the outlet box 2 from the power outlet device K2 and is guided to the information communication device K1. The commercial power supplied to the outlet device K2 is supplied to the information communication device K1 via the power cable 61.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outlet cover 3 is formed with mounting ports 4 having shapes corresponding to the devices K <b> 1 and K <b> 2 side by side and adjacent to each other. The front portions of K1 and K2 are attached so as to be exposed to the outside room. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the front surface portion of the outlet cover 3 corresponds to the installation surface F on which the devices K1 and K2 are embedded and installed.

  In addition to the information communication device K1, the outlet 1 is configured as an information outlet in which power outlet devices K2 are installed adjacent to each other on the installation surface F as devices different from the information communication device K1. . In addition to these devices K1 and K2, a coaxial cable connecting unit for connecting a coaxial cable for a television antenna and other device units may be installed, and a device unit other than such an information communication device K1. It is possible to install only the information communication device K1 alone without arranging the information communication device K1.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the information communication device K1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As will be described in detail later, the information communication device K1 is detachable from the main unit U1 embedded in the installation surface F and the main unit U1 in the embedded installation state embedded in the installation surface F. The antenna unit U2 is configured as follows. Hereinafter, the configurations of the main unit U1 and the antenna unit U2 will be described.

[Main unit]
As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the main unit U1 includes a casing 10 that is embedded in the installation surface F and can be installed. A pair of power line connection ports 52 to which a pair of power cables 61 for supplying commercial power are detachably inserted and connected are provided on the back surface 18 side of the casing 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the casing 10 of the main unit U1 includes a front divided casing 10A and a rear part that are detachably fitted to each other in the front-rear direction (front and back direction of the wall W) perpendicular to the installation surface F. It is the casing divided into two by the side division casing 10B. Further, the front divided casing 10A is a resin molded product, but the rear divided casing 10B is configured by die-casting such as aluminum or zinc steel having a good radio wave shielding property.

  In addition, a plurality of grooves are formed on the surfaces of the back surface portion 18 and the peripheral surface portion 19 in the rear divided casing 10B to increase the surface area. By these things, the thermal radiation from the surface of the rear side divided casing 10B to the outside is promoted, and the internal temperature rise is suppressed. In addition, although detailed description is omitted inside the casing 10, in addition to various adapters and connectors, a wireless LAN antenna, a converter, various circuit boards, and the like are mounted. For example, as shown in FIG. A communication control unit 31 composed of a circuit board for communication control, an antenna control unit 32 composed of a circuit board for antenna control, and the like are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the front divided casing 10 </ b> A includes a front surface portion 11 facing the front side, and a peripheral surface portion 12 extending from the outer peripheral edge side of the front surface portion 11 to the rear side. Further, on the rear side of the peripheral surface portion 12, a flange portion 13 that extends to the side and is fixed to the mounting frame 5 provided on the rear side of the installation surface F (specifically, the rear side of the outlet cover 3). Is formed. In a state where the flange portion 13 is fixed to the mounting frame 5, the front side and the front side portion 11 of the peripheral surface portion 12 inserted into the mounting port 4 bulge to the front side (indoor side) from the installation surface F. It becomes the bulging part A which does.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 and the like, the front surface portion 11 is formed in a substantially rectangular belt shape extending in the vertical direction along the front surface portion of the outlet cover 3, and is specifically configured by a plane along the vertical direction. The front surface portion 11 is provided with an interface facing the indoor space in front of the installation surface F.

Specifically, the following interfaces are provided as the interface. That is, a connection port 14 of a telephone line modular adapter to which a telephone line modular plug is detachably connected is provided above the front surface portion 11. Furthermore, a display lamp 16 and a reset button 17 are provided on the upper side. The indicator lamp 16 includes a power indicator indicating the power-on state of the information communication device K1, a LAN indicator indicating an available state of the routing function (information communication function using a wired LAN or a wireless LAN), and a network access state. An access indicator or the like is provided.
On the other hand, a connection port 15 for the LAN modular adapter is provided below the front face 11 so that the LAN modular adapter is detachably connected thereto.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and the like, the rear divided casing 10 </ b> B includes a rear surface portion 18 facing rearward and a peripheral surface portion 19 extending forward from the outer peripheral edge side of the rear surface portion 18. The front divided casing 10 </ b> A is assembled to the front side of the peripheral surface portion 19.

  The WAN modular adapter 20 to which the modular jack 21 of the WAN side communication cable 22 is detachably connected to the upper edge portion of the rear surface portion 18 in the rear divided casing 10B is directed obliquely upward. Equipped with an exposed open position. In addition, a communication line connection port 23 into which two core wires of a 6-pole two-core telephone cable 25 are detachably inserted and connected is provided at the same edge portion at a step portion formed on the edge portion. Equipped with an exposed open posture.

  Further, a pair of power supply cables 61 for detachably inserting and connecting a pair of power cables 61 for supplying commercial power to the pair of recesses 51 formed on the outer peripheral edge of the rear surface 18 of the rear divided casing 10B. A power line connection adapter having a port 52 is installed in a posture in which the power line connection port 52 is exposed and opened rearward.

[Antenna unit]
On the other hand, the antenna unit U2 includes the antenna element 30 in the casing 26 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and the like, and the casing 26 is located on the main body unit U1 in the embedded installation state from the installation surface F. Is also configured to be detachable with respect to the bulging portion A that bulges to the front side.

  Further, the casing 26 of the antenna unit U2 is configured to surround the peripheral surface portion 12 extending rearward from the outer extending portion of the front surface portion 11 of the main body unit when mounted on the main body unit U1, in other words, along the entire peripheral surface portion 12. It is configured as having a rectangular annular configuration. Specifically, the casing 26 has a rectangular parallelepiped outer shape, and includes a peripheral wall portion 27 constituting four outer peripheral surfaces, and a front wall portion 28 provided on the front side thereof. And this front wall part 28 is formed in the cyclic | annular form which has the rectangular opening part 29 in which the bulging part A of the main body unit 11 is inserted. The antenna elements 30 are distributed and arranged at the four corners of the outer periphery of the casing 26, and are provided along the inner wall surfaces of the wall portions 27 and 28 constituting the casing 26. In this embodiment, each antenna element 30 is In a state of being applied to the inner wall surface at each of the four corners composed of the inner wall surface of the peripheral wall portion 27 and the inner wall surface of the front wall portion 28, it is configured in a plate shape bent on the L-shaped section. Has been placed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the antenna unit U2 is attached to the main unit U1, the antenna element 30 provided in the antenna unit U2 through the connection terminals 33 provided on the upper and lower edges of the front surface portion 11 of the main unit. Is connected to the antenna control unit 32 provided in the main unit U1. The antenna control unit 32 of the main unit U1 drives the antenna element 30 provided in the antenna unit U2 to transmit and receive radio signals, so that the communication control unit 31 communicates with an external information communication terminal wirelessly. Enable communication.

  Since the antenna unit U2 is configured to be detachable from the main unit U1 as described above, the antenna element 30 is arranged such that, for example, four antenna elements 30 are arranged at four corners of the antenna unit U2. Has been established over a wide area, so that stable and wide-range wireless communication has been established.

  Further, a plurality of types of antenna units U2 having different specifications are prepared, and one antenna unit U2 is selected from the plurality of types of antenna units U2, and the selected antenna unit U2 is attached to the main unit U1. As a result, the information communication device K1 for performing wireless communication according to the situation and demand can be constructed. That is, the main body unit U1 is configured as a common form embedded and installed in the outlet 1, and the antenna unit U2 has a plurality of specifications by preparing, for example, a plurality of types for each specification. A plurality of variations of the information communication device K1 corresponding to the above will be realized.

  The specifications of the antenna unit include specifications related to wireless communication standards according to the frequency band and communication distance of the wireless LAN, and directivity of the antenna element 30 set by the correlation arrangement state of the antenna element 30 and the radio wave shield. Specifications, specifications relating to the level (transmission / reception strength) of the antenna element 30 set according to the size and shape of the antenna element 30, and specifications relating to the arrangement state and the number of other antenna elements 30 can be listed. A plurality of types of antenna units U2 are produced for each.

  Further, the antenna unit U2 has, for example, a rectangular annular configuration along the entire peripheral surface portion 12, and thus has a configuration in which the front surface portion 11 of the main unit U1 is exposed to the indoor space on the front side of the installation surface F. Thereby, even when the antenna unit U2 is attached to the main unit U1, access such as operation and visual recognition to the interface of the front surface portion 11 of the main unit U1 is ensured.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a slide-type power switch 40 is provided on the outer bottom surface of the antenna unit U2, and although not shown, when the antenna unit U2 is attached to the main unit U1, The power switch 40 is connected to the power circuit of the main unit U1, and the information communication device K1 can be turned on and off by sliding the power switch 40.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the above embodiment, the antenna unit U2 is configured to be detachable from the bulging portion A of the main body unit U1, and the front surface portion 11 of the main body unit U1 extends outwardly when mounted to the main body unit U1. However, the mounting structure of the antenna unit U2 to the main unit U1 may be modified as appropriate.
For example, the antenna unit U2 is configured to be attached to the main body unit U1 along a part of the peripheral surface portion 12 or the front surface portion 11 of the main body unit U1, or the antenna unit U2 is provided in a recess or an opening provided in the main body unit U1. It can be set as the structure with which main body unit U1 is mounted | worn with the form which inserts at least one part.

(2) In the above embodiment, the antenna unit U2 is configured to expose the entire front surface portion 11 of the main unit U1 to the indoor space on the front side of the installation surface F when the antenna unit U2 is mounted on the main unit U1. A configuration may be adopted in which only the interface locations such as the connection ports 14 and 15, the display lamp 16, and the reset button 17 on the front surface portion 11 of the main unit U <b> 1 are exposed to the indoor space and the other front surface portions 11 are covered.

(3) Although an example of the shape and arrangement of the antenna element 30 has been described in the above embodiment, the shape and arrangement of the antenna element 30 may be modified as appropriate.

(4) In the above embodiment, the information communication device K1 is configured as a type including the connection ports 14 and 15 for the wired LAN modular adapter and the telephone line modular adapter. Without being provided, it may be configured as a type that performs only wireless communication using a wireless LAN antenna.

14 Connection port (interface)
15 Connection port (interface)
16 Indicator lamp (interface)
17 Reset button (interface)
30 antenna element A bulging portion F installation surface K1 information communication device U1 main unit U2 antenna unit

Claims (5)

An information communication device comprising a main body unit embedded in an installation surface, and performing radio communication with an external information communication terminal by driving an antenna element and transmitting / receiving a radio signal,
It is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the main unit in an embedded installation state embedded in the installation surface, and includes an antenna unit provided with the antenna element,
An information communication device in which the antenna element is connected to the main unit when the antenna unit is mounted on the main unit. The main unit has a bulging portion that bulges forward from the installation surface in the embedded installation state,
The information communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is configured to be detachable from the bulging portion of the main body unit. An interface facing the indoor space on the front side of the installation surface in the embedded installation state is provided on the front surface of the main unit,
The information communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit has a configuration in which at least an interface of a front surface portion of the main body unit is exposed to the indoor space when the antenna unit is attached to the main body unit.   The information according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the antenna unit has a configuration that surrounds a peripheral surface portion that extends rearward from an outwardly extending portion of the front surface portion of the main body unit when the antenna unit is attached to the main body unit. Communication device.   The information communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a plurality of types of the antenna units having different specifications.

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