JP5060193B2 - Data transmitting / receiving apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a data transmitting / receiving apparatus and an image forming apparatus that transmit and receive information without contact with a communication counterpart device using an induction electromagnetic field, and more particularly, to demodulation of a communication wave received from a communication counterpart device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a data transmission / reception device such as an IC card reader / writer that transmits and receives information to and from a communication counterpart device such as an IC card in a contactless manner using an induced magnetic field is known. For example, in the data transmission / reception apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, communication waves received from a communication partner side device are in the order of a primary band filter, a primary detector, a secondary band filter, a secondary detector, and a low-pass filter. A configuration is adopted in which the frequency of the subcarrier is passed through and amplified, and a demodulating circuit demodulates a digital code indicating information to be transmitted by the communication counterpart device.
Japanese Patent No. 3570430

  However, in the case of the conventional data transmitter / receiver, as described above, in order to demodulate the digital code from the communication wave received from the communication partner side device, a primary band filter, a primary detector, a secondary band filter, Many configurations such as a secondary detector, a low-pass filter, and a demodulation circuit are required. Therefore, since the circuit of the data transmitting / receiving apparatus becomes complicated and there is a concern about high costs, it is desired to simplify the configuration.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in a data transmitting / receiving apparatus that uses an induction electromagnetic field to transmit and receive information to and from a communication counterpart device in a non-contact manner, the communication counterpart has a simpler configuration than the conventional one. An object of the present invention is to demodulate the digital code from a communication wave received from a side device.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a data transmission / reception device that transmits and receives information without contact with a communication counterpart device using an induction electromagnetic field,
A control unit that converts transmission data to be transmitted to the communication counterpart device into a digital code;
A modulation circuit that generates a modulated wave based on the digital code converted by the control unit, and a band that generates a communication wave of a predetermined frequency component used for data communication from the modulated wave generated by the modulation circuit A transmitter having a filter;
An antenna that transmits the communication wave generated by the bandpass filter of the transmitter and receives the communication wave from the communication counterpart device;
The band filter of the transmitter is shared as a primary filter for extracting a predetermined frequency component based on a communication wave from the communication counterpart device received by the antenna, and communication after passing through the band filter A detector for detecting a wave, a secondary filter for further extracting a predetermined frequency component from a communication wave after detection by the detector, and a demodulation for converting the communication wave after passing through the secondary filter into a digital code And a receiver having a circuit,
The control unit extracts received data from the communication counterpart device from the digital code converted by the demodulation circuit ,
In the band filter of the transmitter, a part shared as the primary filter of the receiver is only a part having a smaller order than the band filter of the transmitter .

  According to this configuration, the primary wave, the detector, the secondary filter, and the demodulation circuit are sufficient for demodulating the communication wave received from the communication counterpart device by the receiver, and the transmitter band filter is used as the primary filter. Since it is not necessary to provide a primary filter in the receiver, the configuration required for demodulating the communication wave can be simplified as compared with the conventional receiver.

  In this configuration, since the band-pass filter part of the transmitter used as the primary filter of the receiver is only a part having a smaller order than the part used as the band-pass filter of the transmitter, when transmitting a communication wave from the transmitter Even when a receiver receives a communication wave from a communication counterpart device at a higher frequency, it is easy to demodulate the received communication wave.

The invention according to claim 2 is a data transmitting / receiving apparatus that transmits and receives information in a contactless manner with a communication counterpart device using an induction electromagnetic field,
A control unit that converts transmission data to be transmitted to the communication counterpart device into a digital code;
A modulation circuit that generates a modulated wave based on the digital code converted by the control unit, and a band that generates a communication wave of a predetermined frequency component used for data communication from the modulated wave generated by the modulation circuit A transmitter having a filter;
An antenna that transmits the communication wave generated by the bandpass filter of the transmitter and receives the communication wave from the communication counterpart device;
A primary filter that extracts a predetermined frequency component based on a communication wave from the communication counterpart device received by the antenna, the primary filter comprising a filter having a smaller order than the filter of the transmitter; A detector for detecting a communication wave after passing, a secondary filter for further extracting a predetermined frequency component from the communication wave after detection by the detector, and a digital code for the communication wave after passing the secondary filter And a receiver having a demodulation circuit for converting to
The control unit extracts received data from the communication counterpart side device from the digital code converted by the demodulation circuit.

  According to this configuration, since the primary filter of the receiver has a lower order than the band-pass filter of the transmitter, the receiver can communicate with the communication partner side at a higher frequency than when transmitting the communication wave from the transmitter. Even when a communication wave is received from a device, it is easy to demodulate the received communication wave.

The invention according to claim 3 includes the data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The data transmission / reception device is provided in the vicinity of an image forming mechanism for forming a toner image on a recording paper, and an information storage device as the communication counterpart communication device provided in a toner cartridge attached to the image forming mechanism; Is an image forming apparatus that transmits and receives data.

According to this structure, there exists an effect | action by the invention of Claim 1 or 2 .

  According to the present invention, in a data transmission / reception apparatus or an image forming apparatus that transmits and receives information without contact with a communication counterpart device using an induction electromagnetic field, communication received from the communication counterpart device with a simpler configuration than before. The digital code can be demodulated from the wave.

  A data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC card reader / writer which is a first embodiment of a data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the present invention.

  An IC card reader / writer 1 (hereinafter referred to as reader / writer 1), which is a first embodiment of a data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the present invention, transmits and receives information in a non-contact manner by an induction electromagnetic field. The reader / writer 1 outputs an electromagnetic wave having a predetermined frequency with a predetermined communication output by a communication method such as RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification), for example, and an IC card as a communication counterpart device that transmits and receives data. Data is sent to and received from 8. In the case of the RFID system, the reader / writer 1 is an RFID reader / writer, and the IC card 8 is an RFID tag. Hereinafter, a communication method between the reader / writer 1 and the IC card 8 will be described as an RFID communication method. The reader / writer 1 includes a transmitter 2, an antenna 3, a receiver 4, and a control circuit 5.

  The control circuit (control unit) 5 converts transmission data to be transmitted to the IC card 8 into a digital code. Note that transmission data to be transmitted to the IC card 8 is transmitted to the control circuit 5 from a central control unit (not shown).

  The transmitter 2 includes a modulation circuit 21 and a band filter 22. The modulation circuit 21 generates a modulated wave based on the digital code converted by the control circuit 5. The band filter 22 generates a communication wave composed of a predetermined frequency component for data communication with the IC card 8 from the modulated wave generated by the modulation circuit 21.

  The antenna 3 transmits the communication wave generated by the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2 to the IC card 8 by electromagnetic waves. The antenna 3 also receives communication waves from the IC card 8 by electromagnetic waves.

  The receiver 4 includes a detector 41, a secondary filter 42, and a demodulation circuit 43. In the receiver 4, the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2 is used as a primary filter that plays a role of extracting a predetermined frequency component based on the communication wave received by the antenna 3 from the IC card 8. The detector 41 detects the communication wave after passing through the band filter 22 as the primary filter. The secondary filter 42 further extracts a predetermined frequency component from the communication wave detected by the detector 41. The demodulation circuit 43 converts the communication wave that has passed through the secondary filter 42 into a digital code.

  The control circuit 5 extracts information (received data for the reader / writer 1) that is to be transmitted by the IC card 8 from the digital code converted by the demodulation circuit 43.

  The IC card 8 includes an antenna 81, a communication control unit 82, and a memory 83 for RFID communication. The communication control unit 82 includes a semiconductor chip (wireless IC chip) capable of transmitting and receiving data to be communicated by electromagnetic waves using the antenna 81, and generates an electromotive force by the electromagnetic waves received by the antenna 81 from the reader / writer 1. The built-in circuit is driven by this power to communicate with the reader / writer 1. Further, as the memory 83, a rewritable nonvolatile memory or the like is employed so that data storage is maintained even when the reader / writer 1 is powered off.

  An outline of processing at the time of data transmission / reception in the reader / writer 1 will be described. When transmitting data from the reader / writer 1 to the IC card 8, the control circuit 5 converts transmission target data transmitted from a central control unit (host) (not shown) into a digital code, and the digital code is transmitted to the transmitter 2. Transmit to.

  In the transmitter 2, the modulation circuit 21 generates a modulated wave based on the digital code converted by the control circuit 5. The band filter 22 generates this modulated wave into a communication wave having the predetermined frequency component. The generated communication wave is radiated from the antenna 3 to the IC card 8 by electromagnetic waves.

  On the other hand, when transmission data from the IC card 8 is received by the reader / writer 1, a communication wave from the IC card 8 is received by the antenna 3 as a modulated wave modulated by the subcarrier from the IC card 8. The modulated wave received by the antenna 3 is transmitted to the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2. The modulated wave received by the antenna 3 from the IC card 8 is extracted with a predetermined frequency component by the band filter 22, detected by the detector 41, further removed by the secondary filter 42, and further demodulated by the demodulation circuit. 43 is converted into a digital code. The control circuit 5 reads data to be transmitted by the IC card 8 from the digital code and transmits it to a central control unit (host) (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the reader / writer 1. 3A shows a modulation waveform received by the antenna 3 when the communication distance between the reader / writer 1 and the IC card 8 is 3 mm, and FIG. 3B shows the communication distance between the reader / writer 1 and the IC card 8. It is a figure which shows the modulation waveform received with the antenna 3 in the case of 10 mm.

  The band-pass filter 22 of the transmitter 2 that is also used as the primary filter of the receiver 4 is composed of, for example, a fifth-order π-type filter as shown in FIG. When a communication wave is received from the IC card 8 using the band filter 22 having the structure, the waveform of the communication wave received by the antenna 3 and passing through the band filter 22 is shown in FIGS. As shown in the figure, in the case where the communication distance between the reader / writer 1 and the IC card 8 is 3 mm (FIG. 3A) and 10 mm (FIG. 3B), the modulation is performed by the subcarrier from the IC card 8. Be looked at. Thus, even if the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2 is shared as the primary filter of the receiver 4, the modulated wave by the subcarrier from the IC card 8 can be received.

  Next, a data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC card reader / writer according to the second embodiment. In addition, description is abbreviate | omitted about the structure similar to 1st Embodiment.

  In the reader / writer 10 according to the second embodiment, the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2 is shared as the primary filter of the receiver 4 as in the first embodiment, but only a part of the band filter 22 is used in the receiver 4. It is designed to be used as a primary filter.

  FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the reader / writer 10. 6A is a diagram showing a modulation waveform received by the antenna 3 when the communication distance between the reader / writer 10 and the IC card 8 is 3 mm, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the communication distance between the reader / writer 10 and the IC card 8. It is a figure which shows the modulation waveform received with the antenna 3 in the case of 10 mm.

  The band-pass filter 22 of the transmitter 2 used as the primary filter of the receiver 4 is composed of, for example, a fifth-order π-type filter, as in the first embodiment, but as shown in FIG. The shared portion is only a portion having a smaller order than the band-pass filter 22 that exhibits a filter function during transmission by the transmitter 2. In the present embodiment, in the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2, the part shared as the primary filter of the receiver 4 is only the part up to the third order filter in the band filter 22.

  When a communication wave is received from the IC card 8 using the band filter 22 having the above configuration as the primary filter of the receiver 4, the waveform of the communication wave received by the antenna 3 and passing through the band filter 22 is shown in FIG. 6 (a) and 6 (b), when the communication distance between the reader / writer 1 and the IC card 8 is 3 mm or 10 mm, the waveform is modulated by the subcarrier from the IC card 8, In addition, the modulation level is large, and the modulation waveform is clear regardless of the communication distance. As a result, both waveforms can be accurately detected by the common detector 41, so that the IC card 8 can detect the waveform by the detector 41 and pass through the secondary filter 42 and the demodulation circuit 43. Data to be transmitted can be accurately received.

  Next, a data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC card reader / writer according to the third embodiment. Note that a description of the same configuration as that of the first or second embodiment is omitted.

  In the first and second embodiments, the example in which the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2 is shared as the primary filter of the receiver 4 has been shown. However, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. The primary filter 40 of the receiver 4 is provided in the receiver 4 separately from the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2 and is not shared with the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2. The primary filter 40 is a filter having a smaller order than the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2. In the present embodiment, the primary filter 40 of the receiver 4 is a third-order filter.

  When a communication wave is received from the IC card 8 using the primary filter 40 of the receiver 4 as described above, the waveform of the communication wave received by the antenna 3 and passing through the band filter 22 is as shown in FIG. This is the same as shown in (b).

  In this way, when the primary filter 40 of the receiver 4 is provided in the receiver 4 separately from the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2, the order of the primary filter 40 is the same as that of the band filter 22 of the transmitter 2. It is also possible to do. However, in this case, the waveform of the communication wave received by the antenna 3 and passing through the band filter 22 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).

  Next, an embodiment in which the reader / writer and the RFID tag memory according to any of the above embodiments are applied to a color image forming apparatus will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a color image forming apparatus to which a reader / writer and an RFID tag are applied.

  The color image forming apparatus 60 to which any one of the reader / writers 1, 10, and 100 and the RFID tag memory is applied includes, for example, a copier, a printer, a facsimile apparatus, or a multifunction machine having these functions. The color image forming apparatus 60 includes image forming mechanisms 50M, 50C, 50Y, and 50K for black, cyan, magenta, and yellow for forming color images. The image forming mechanism 50M includes a drum unit 51M, an exposure unit 52M, a developing unit 54M having a developing cartridge 55M, an RFID reader / writer 56M, and a transfer roller 59M. The RFID reader / writer 56M is any one of the reader / writers 1, 10, and 100 described above. The image forming mechanisms 50C, 50Y, and 50K have the same configuration.

  The color toner images are formed on the recording paper by transferring the toner images of the respective colors onto the recording paper conveyed by the transfer belt 70 by these image forming mechanisms 50M, 50C, 50Y, and 50K. .

  The developing cartridge 55M stores magenta toner, and can be replaced as a consumable by detachment and replacement. An RFID tag 57M is attached to the outer surface of the developing cartridge 55M. Similar to the IC card 8 described above, the RFID tag 57M includes an antenna 81, a communication control unit 82, and a memory 83 (see FIG. 1) for RFID communication.

  Various information such as the color and type of the developer stored in the developer cartridge 55M, the developer production lot, the developer filling amount, and the destination information of the developer cartridge are stored in the memory in the RFID tag 57M at the time of manufacture. Stored in advance.

  The RFID reader / writer 56M is disposed on the apparatus main body side facing the RFID tag 57M. The RFID reader / writer 56M is electrically connected to the engine control device 90 of the apparatus main body via a serial bus.

  In the color image forming apparatus 60 having such a configuration, when the developing cartridge 55M is attached to the image forming mechanism 50M, the RFID reader / writer 56M and the RFID tag 57M are controlled by the engine control device 90 of the apparatus main body. Communication similar to that performed by the reader / writers 1, 10, and 100 according to each embodiment is performed, and necessary information (color and type of developer, developer production lot, developer filling amount, developer cartridge direction, and the like from the RFID tag 57 </ b> M. Destination information, etc.).

  The RFID reader / writers 56M, 56C, 56Y, and 56K provided in the image forming mechanisms 50M, 50C, 50Y, and 50K all have the same configuration, and the RFID tag 57K, the RFID tag 57Y, and the RFID tag 57C are included in the RFID tag. This is the same configuration as 57M.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, the numerical values, configurations, and processes according to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 8 are merely examples of the numerical values, configurations, and processes of the data transmission / reception apparatus and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The numerical values, configurations, and processes of the data transmission / reception apparatus and the image forming apparatus are not limited to the contents described above. Further, the characteristics such as the received waveform by the reader / writers 1, 10, and 100 are not limited to the characteristics shown in the above embodiment.

  In the above description, the color image forming apparatus is shown as an example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. However, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the color image forming apparatus, and is an image forming apparatus that forms a monochrome image. It does not matter.

It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the reader / writer for IC cards which is 1st Embodiment of the data transmission / reception apparatus which concerns on this invention. 1 is a circuit diagram of an IC card reader / writer according to a first embodiment. FIG. (A) is a diagram showing a modulation waveform received by the antenna when the communication distance between the reader / writer and the IC card is 3 mm, and (b) is received by the antenna when the communication distance between the reader / writer and the IC card is 10 mm. It is a figure which shows the modulated waveform made. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the reader / writer for IC cards which is 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of an IC card reader / writer according to a second embodiment. (A) is a diagram showing a modulation waveform received by the antenna when the communication distance between the reader / writer and the IC card is 3 mm, and (b) is received by the antenna when the communication distance between the reader / writer and the IC card is 10 mm. It is a figure which shows the modulated waveform made. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the reader / writer for IC cards which is 3rd Embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a color image forming apparatus to which a reader / writer and an RFID tag are applied.

Explanation of symbols

1, 10, 100 IC card reader / writer 2 Transmitter 21 Modulation circuit 22 Bandpass filter 3 Antenna 4 Receiver 40 Primary filter 41 Detector 42 Secondary filter 43 Demodulation circuit 5 Control circuit 8 IC card 81 Antenna 82 Communication control unit 83 Memory 50M, 50C, 50Y, 50K Image forming mechanism 56M, 56C, 56Y, 56K Reader / writer 57M, 57C, 57Y, 57K Tag memory 60 Color image forming device 90 Engine control device

Claims (3)

A data transmitting / receiving device that uses an induction electromagnetic field to transmit and receive information in a contactless manner with a communication counterpart device,
A control unit that converts transmission data to be transmitted to the communication counterpart device into a digital code;
A modulation circuit that generates a modulated wave based on the digital code converted by the control unit, and a band that generates a communication wave of a predetermined frequency component used for data communication from the modulated wave generated by the modulation circuit A transmitter having a filter;
An antenna that transmits the communication wave generated by the bandpass filter of the transmitter and receives the communication wave from the communication counterpart device;
The band filter of the transmitter is shared as a primary filter for extracting a predetermined frequency component based on a communication wave from the communication counterpart device received by the antenna, and communication after passing through the band filter A detector for detecting a wave, a secondary filter for further extracting a predetermined frequency component from a communication wave after detection by the detector, and a demodulation for converting the communication wave after passing through the secondary filter into a digital code And a receiver having a circuit,
The control unit extracts received data from the communication counterpart device from the digital code converted by the demodulation circuit ,
The data transmission / reception apparatus in which the band filter of the transmitter has only a portion whose order is smaller than that of the band filter of the transmitter as a part shared as a primary filter of the receiver. A data transmitting / receiving device that uses an induction electromagnetic field to transmit and receive information in a contactless manner with a communication counterpart device,
A control unit that converts transmission data to be transmitted to the communication counterpart device into a digital code;
A modulation circuit that generates a modulated wave based on the digital code converted by the control unit, and a band that generates a communication wave of a predetermined frequency component used for data communication from the modulated wave generated by the modulation circuit A transmitter having a filter;
An antenna that transmits the communication wave generated by the bandpass filter of the transmitter and receives the communication wave from the communication counterpart device;
A primary filter that extracts a predetermined frequency component based on a communication wave from the communication counterpart device received by the antenna, the primary filter comprising a filter having a smaller order than the filter of the transmitter; A detector for detecting a communication wave after passing, a secondary filter for further extracting a predetermined frequency component from the communication wave after detection by the detector, and a digital code for the communication wave after passing the secondary filter And a receiver having a demodulation circuit for converting to
The data transmission / reception apparatus, wherein the control unit extracts received data from the communication counterpart side device from the digital code converted by the demodulation circuit. A data transmission / reception device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The data transmission / reception device is provided in the vicinity of an image forming mechanism for forming a toner image on a recording paper, and an information storage device as the communication counterpart communication device provided in a toner cartridge attached to the image forming mechanism; An image forming apparatus that transmits and receives data between them.