JPH02217297A - Ic memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the wasteful consumption of an auxiliary primary battery and to certainly supply power to a volatile memory IC at the time of the replacement of a main primary battery by separately mounting the respective main and auxiliary primary batteries to a card main body in a freely detachable manner. CONSTITUTION:Since a main primary battery 3 and an auxiliary primary battery 4 are separately mounted on a card main body in a freely detachable manner, when an IC memory card is delivered, both batteries 3, 4 can be detached from the card main body. Therefore, the batteries do not continue wasteful discharge. Further, when the main primary battery 3 constituting the internal power supply of this IC memory card is replaced, the one input of an NOR circuit 12 becomes an L-level by a resistor 15 simultaneously with the detachment of the primary battery 3 and the output thereof becomes an H-level and, as a result, a semiconductor 11 becomes an ON-state and power is supplied to an RAM 2 from the auxiliary primary battery 4. Therefore, power is supplied to a volatile memory IC and data is certainly held.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an IC memory card having a built-in volatile memory IC.

[Conventional technology]

I configured using volatile memory IC (RAM')
The C memory card has the advantage of being able to write and erase information stored in the RAM at high speed and to have a large memory capacity. but,
In order to retain the information stored in the RAM, it is necessary to continue supplying power to the RAM even when the IC memory card is disconnected from an external device and is not in use.If the power supply stops, the RAM The disadvantage was that the information stored in the data would be lost.

Therefore, conventionally, in such an IC memory card, a main primary battery and a secondary primary battery for the bank amplifier that hold information stored in the RAM are provided inside the card body, and the main primary battery A switching circuit is provided to supply power to the RAM from an auxiliary primary battery when the RAM is not installed. That is, this I
In the case of a C memory card, when the card is disconnected from an external device and carried, the RAM is transferred from the main primary battery.
In addition, when the main primary battery is replaced, power is supplied from the auxiliary primary battery to continue holding the information stored in the RAM.

The main primary battery is detachably attached to the card body so that it can be replaced by the end user as it wears out.When shipping the IC memory card, the main primary battery is removed from the card body. However, the secondary primary battery is generally built into the card body from the time of shipment. In addition, in order to replace this secondary primary battery, the card body must be disassembled, which requires troublesome effort.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the IC memory card of the conventional configuration, when the end user replaces the main primary battery, the auxiliary primary battery that should supply power to the RAM in its place is already exhausted, and the RAM needs to be backed up. In some cases, the information stored in the RAM may be lost. This is because the secondary primary battery is built into the card body from the time of shipment of the IC memory card, and if the primary primary battery is not installed in the card body, the secondary primary battery will not be able to access the RAM. This is because the auxiliary primary battery continues to discharge and wear out as a result of being supplied with power.

This invention was devised in order to eliminate such inconveniences, and it prevents wasteful consumption of the secondary primary battery and prevents the volatile memory IC from being used when replacing the primary battery.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an IC memory card that can reliably supply power to an IC memory card.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an IC that has a built-in volatile memory IC and is provided with a main primary battery and a secondary primary battery for backup that retain information stored in the volatile memory IC. The memory card is characterized by a structure in which a main primary battery and a secondary primary battery are each detachably attached to the card body.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, not only the main primary battery but also the auxiliary primary battery are detachably attached to the card body, so when shipping the IC memory card, the main primary battery Both the battery and the auxiliary primary battery can be removed from the card body. Therefore, if the end user uses an IC memory card after installing both the main and auxiliary primary batteries in the card body,
Except when the main primary battery is replaced, power is not supplied from the secondary primary battery to the volatile memory IC, and when the main primary battery is replaced, the secondary primary battery is already exhausted and volatile. This will surely prevent the information stored in the memory IC from disappearing.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an IC memory card according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is its internal circuit diagram. I in these figures
A C memory card consists of a card body 1 that stores necessary electronic components, and a volatile memory IC (RAM) that stores information.
2, the main primary battery 3 for the bank amplifier that supplies power to the RAM 2, and the RAM 2 in place of the main primary battery 3.
It is equipped with a backup primary battery 4 that supplies a W source to the auxiliary battery 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the main primary battery 3 and the sub-primary battery 4 in this embodiment is detachably inserted and attached to an example part of the card body l, and is a pair of independent batteries. They are each mounted separately inside the card body 1 by being placed on the battery holder 5.6. There are various shapes and mounting structures for such battery holders 5 and 6. For example, each of the secondary batteries 3 and 4 fitted in the card body 1 is covered with a separate battery cover or the like. Also, the main primary battery 3 and the secondary primary battery 4 do not have to be arranged adjacent to each other; for example, as shown in the modified example of FIG. Needless to say, they may be attached to different sides of the main body l. In other words, the gist of the present invention is that not only the main primary battery 3 but also the secondary primary battery 4
The purpose of the present invention is to detachably attach the card to the card body l.

Next, the internal configuration of the IC memory card according to the present invention will be explained based on the internal circuit diagram shown in FIG. Note that the reference numeral 10 in FIG. 2 indicates an external device (not shown).
This is a power supply switching circuit that switches between an external power supply supplied from the card body l and an internal power supply consisting of main and auxiliary primary batteries 3.4 installed inside the card body l, lOa is its output terminal, and fob is its control terminal. It is. Further, reference numeral 11 is a semiconductor switch that constitutes a switching circuit for switching between the main primary battery 3 and the auxiliary primary battery 4, and 12 is a NoROR circuit that also constitutes the switching circuit.
13 and 14 are a power supply terminal and a ground terminal provided on one side of the card body 1, and 15 is a number M provided between one of the input terminals of the NOR circuit 12 and the ground terminal 14.
The resistance is about Ω.

First, when using the IC memory card by connecting it to a required external device, a voltage of about 5V is applied to the power supply terminal 13, so the output terminal 10a of the power supply switching circuit 10 is applied with a voltage of about 5V.
, an H level voltage (about 4.2V) is output to the control terminal 10b. Therefore, one input to the NOR circuit 12 becomes H level, but at this time, its output becomes L level regardless of the other input level, and as a result, the semiconductor switch 11 becomes OFF state.

When this IC memory card is disconnected from external equipment and in an unused state, no voltage is applied to the power supply terminal 13, so the output terminal 10a of the power supply switching circuit 10 is opened, and the control terminal 10b is at L level ( Habo OV
) will be output. Therefore, NOR
As a result, one input of the circuit 12 becomes L level and the other input becomes H level, and as a result, the semiconductor switch 11 remains in the OFF state, and from the main primary battery 3 to the RAM 2! fi
will be supplied.

Furthermore, when replacing the main primary battery 3 that constitutes the internal power supply of this IC memory card, at the same time as this primary battery 3 is removed, one input of the NOR circuit 12 is set to L level by the resistor 15, and its As a result of the output becoming H level, the semiconductor switch 11 is turned on, and power is supplied to the RAM 2 from the auxiliary primary battery 4.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the main primary battery and the secondary primary battery are separately attached to and detachable from the card body, so when shipping the IC memory card, It becomes possible to remove both the main primary battery and the secondary primary battery from the card body.

Therefore, as in the conventional example, power is continuously supplied to the volatile memory IC from the auxiliary primary battery, so that the auxiliary primary battery does not continue to wastefully discharge.

Therefore, when replacing the main primary battery, the secondary primary battery that should supply power to the volatile memory IC in its place is not already exhausted, and the volatile memory is replaced by the secondary primary battery. Power is supplied to the IC and information is reliably retained.

1 to 3 relate to the present invention; FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an IC memory card, FIG. 2 is an internal circuit diagram thereof, and FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a modification thereof.

In the figure, l is the card body, and 2 is the volatile memory IC.
(RAM), 3 is a main primary battery, and 4 is a secondary primary battery.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an IC memory card that has a built-in volatile memory IC and is equipped with a main primary battery and a secondary battery for backup that retain information stored therein, the main primary battery and the secondary battery are An IC memory card characterized in that each of the primary batteries is detachably attached to the card body.