JPH03172988A - Ic card having ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving elements, ic card reader/writer to be connected to the same ic card and ic card reader/writer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve positional accuracy and to remove a contact trouble by connecting an IC card provided with a semiconductor storage element to an IC card reader/writer through an ultrasonic wave. CONSTITUTION:When the IC card is inserted into an IC card insertion port 23 of the IC card reader/writer 2, stored information can be mutually transmitted/received by an ultrasonic wave transmitting element 11 and an ultrasonic wave receiving element 12 included in the IC card and an ultrasonic wave transmitting element 21 and an ultrasonic wave receiving element 22 included in the reader/writer 2. Oscillation circuits for driving respective ultrasonic wave transmitting elements 11, 21 and signal processing circuits for processing signals from respective receiving elements 12, 22 are respectively included in the IC card 1 and the IC card reader/writer 2. The IC card 1 and the reader/writer 2 are adjacently arranged and the surface of each oscillation element consisting of a piezo-electric element is coated with a thin metallic film.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention A1.Object of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an external storage medium, that is, an IC card, equipped with an IC, which is a semiconductor storage element, and a method for transmitting stored information to and from the medium. An IC card incorporating an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element configured to transmit and receive signals between a receiving device, that is, an IC card reader/writer, and a device that drives these and transmits and receives signals; The present invention relates to an IC card reader/writer connected to an IC card, and an IC card reader/writer device that transmits signals between these using ultrasonic waves.

Below is a blank space [Conventional technique] Conventionally, in order to transmit and receive stored information between this type of IC card and an IC card reader/writer, the IC card and the
Each device that connects the C card is equipped with an electromagnetic induction coil or an electric contact. Therefore, the electromagnetic induction coil type requires a large current to flow through the coil because the connection is caused by a magnetic field, and when sending Because the power consumption is large and the battery capacity built into the medium is large, power must be supplied from an IC card reader/writer (hereinafter referred to as a reader/writer) using electromagnetic coupling, and an electromagnetic induction coil must be used to supply power. Both type and electrical contact type are the same type lighter coil.
or the position of the coil or electric contact on the IC card side relative to the position of the electric contact, the mutual spacing and distance from the coil or electric contact on the reader/writer side, and the strength of the magnetic field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance; There are also problems with electrical contacts, such as the need for high positional accuracy and surface finishing accuracy.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the connection between an IC card and an industrial C card reader/writer that have conventional electrical contacts.
a, and the electric contact type I of the electric contact type IC card 31
The contact state of the contacts changes depending on the state of attachment to the C card reader/writer 32, and poor contact occurs due to repeated use or dirt on the contact parts. Further, the conventional electromagnetic induction coil type IC card 41 shown in FIG.
b. Receiving coil 4 of electromagnetic induction coil type IC card 41
1b, the transmitting coil 42a of the electromagnetic coil type IC card reader/writer 42 transmits and receives stored information;
The power consumption of the transmitter coil is large, and the center positions of each set of transmitter coil and receiver coil must be aligned.For this reason, both conventional electric contact type and electromagnetic induction coil type are not installed in IC card readers/writers. There were problems such as the position, spacing, distance, and accuracy of the IC cards required.

Below is a blank space [Problems to be solved by the invention] In order to eliminate these drawbacks, the present invention provides an IC card,
Ultrasonic waves are used to transmit stored information between the IC card reader/writer connected to the IC card.
It is equipped with an IC card, a reader/writer that connects the IC card, an ultrasonic transmitting element for transmission and reception consisting of a vibrator using a piezoelectric element driven by voltage, and an ultrasonic receiving element, and a semiconductor storage medium. The stored IC card and I
The IC card and I
Ultrasonic transmission consisting of a vibrator made of a piezoelectric element and a circuit that drives the vibrator between the reader/writer that connects the C card,
Thin IC cards that each have a built-in receiving device and can be connected using ultrasonic waves without requiring high precision in mutual position, spacing, and distance; and an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving device that connects to the IC card. IC card reader writer with built-in
It is an object of the present invention to provide an IC card reader/writer device comprising these.

1. Structure of the invention [Means for solving the problem] The present invention uses ultrasonic waves to transmit and receive stored information between an IC card using a semiconductor as a storage medium and an IC card reader/writer that connects the IC card. An IC card and an IC card reader/writer connected to the IC card are equipped with a wave transmitting/receiving element made of a piezoelectric element, a transmitting circuit, and a receiving circuit. Since the piezoelectric element is driven by voltage, the power required to drive the transmitting and receiving circuits is small, and signals are transmitted at the same frequency in the MHz band by ultrasonic vibrations of the piezoelectric element. On the other hand, the receiving circuit can also be made smaller by incorporating it into an IC. According to the present invention, the IC card and the IC card reader/writer are bonded not only by using ultrasonic waves transmitted through space, but also by contact with the piezoelectric elements of the transmitting and receiving elements. It is also possible to connect between

Summary of the present invention: 1. A thin plate-shaped IC card incorporating an electronic circuit having a semiconductor memory element, which is equipped with an ultrasonic device having an ultrasonic transmitting element and an ultrasonic receiving element for transmitting and receiving stored information. This is an engineering C card that is characterized by the following.

2. In an IC card reader/writer connected to an IC card configured to use an ultrasonic transmitting element and an ultrasonic receiving element for transmitting and receiving memory signals of the IC card, the connection between the IC card and the IC card reader/writer An IC card reader/writer characterized in that a portion thereof is equipped with an ultrasonic device having an ultrasonic transmitting element and an ultrasonic receiving element for transmitting and receiving signals.

3. Signal transmission is performed using ultrasonic waves between a thin plate-shaped IC card incorporating an electronic circuit having a semiconductor memory element and an IC card reader/writer that exchanges stored information with the IC card. This is an IC card reader/writer device.

[Effect]

The IC card according to the present invention and the IC card reader/writer connected to the IC card include an ultrasonic transmitting element that uses a piezoelectric vibrator to transmit and receive signals, an ultrasonic receiving element, a driving circuit for driving these elements, and a receiving element. It uses built-in circuits, and therefore uses ultrasonic waves to transmit and receive signals between the transmitting element and the receiving element. Therefore, signals can be transmitted even if there is a gap between the transmitting and receiving elements, and even when they are in contact, transmission and reception are possible due to the vibration between the elements. The vibration mode of the element used is a vibration mode in a high frequency band such as longitudinal vibration, thickness vibration, or shear vibration, and a pulse signal is used for signal transmission. As described above, since the IC card according to the present invention and the IC card reader/writer using the IC card use an ultrasonic element between signal transmission and reception, the signal transmission element is driven by voltage. The electric power is small, and even if the driving circuit and the receiving circuit are incorporated into the IC card, it does not consume electric power unlike the conventional electromagnetic induction coil type IC card. Again I
Even if there is a gap between the C card and the IC card reader/writer, it is possible to connect using ultrasonic waves, and when the wave transmitting and receiving elements are in contact, sound waves propagate due to the contact between the wave transmitting and receiving elements. Signal transmission using a card with an IC card reader/writer becomes reliable, and there is no need to consider problems such as position accuracy and contact contact compared to conventional electrical contact types.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Figure 1 shows an IC card 1, which is a semiconductor storage medium, and an IC card 1, which is a semiconductor storage medium.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an IC card reader/writer 2 which is a main device for connecting a card. When the IC card 1 is inserted into the IC card reader/writer from the IC card insertion slot 23 of the IC card reader/writer 2, the ultrasonic transmitting element 11, the ultrasonic receiving element 12, and the IC shown in FIG.
An ultrasonic transmitting element 21 and an ultrasonic receiving element 22 provided in the card reader/writer mutually receive and transmit stored information.

The thickness of the piezoelectric vibrator used in the ultrasonic receiving element is 11
11 or less and the signal transmission rate is about 20MHz, it can operate at about 20MHz with a thickness of 0.11, and 50uI
With a thickness of 1, it can be excited at 40 MHz. Further, a vibration circuit that drives the ultrasonic transmitting element and a signal processing circuit that processes the signal of the receiving element are built into the IC card and the IC card reader/writer. Further, the IC card and the IC card reader/writer are arranged close to each other, and the surface of the vibrator made of a piezoelectric element is coated with a thin metal film such as Cr. Therefore, since the IC card 1 and the IC card reader/writer 2 according to the present invention transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic transmitting element 11.21 and the ultrasonic receiving element 1
2.22 can provide an IC card reader/writer device in which signals can be easily exchanged between the IC card and the IC card reader/writer when they face each other in a planar state in a non-contact state or in a contact state.

C0 Effects of the Invention [Effects of the Invention] As described above, the I
By connecting the signal transmission and reception between the C card and the IC card reader/writer using ultrasonic waves, when the IC card is attached to the IC card reader/writer in order to transmit and receive information stored in the IC card, the position is set at one interval. A thin IC card equipped with a semiconductor memory element having an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element that does not require high precision in distance, can transmit signals through non-contact or light contact in close proximity, and has the advantage of low power consumption. and IC card reader/writer and IC card and I
An IC card reader/writer device that uses ultrasonic waves to transmit signals to and from a C card reader/writer can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an IC card having an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and an interface connected to the IC card.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a C card reader/writer. S-FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view of an IC card having an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention, and an IC card reader/writer connected to the IC card in a state in which the IC card is attached. - Fig. 3 is a partially exploded cross-sectional perspective view of a conventional electric contact type IC card and an IC card reader/writer. Figure 4 shows a conventional electromagnetic induction coil type IC card.
FIG. 2 is a partially fragmented perspective view of an IC card reader/writer. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...IC card, 11.21...Ultrasonic transmitting element, 12, 22...Ultrasonic receiving element, 2...IC card reader/writer, 23...IC card insertion slot, 31...
... Electrical contact type IC card, 32... Electrical contact type IC card reader/writer, 31a, 32a... Electrical contact, 41... Electromagnetic induction coil type IC card, 42
...Electromagnetic induction coil type IC card reader/writer, 4
1a, 42a...transmission coil, 41b, 42b・
...Receiving coil.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thin plate-shaped IC card incorporating an electronic circuit having a semiconductor memory element, which includes an ultrasonic device having an ultrasonic transmitting element and an ultrasonic receiving element for transmitting and receiving stored information. An IC card that is characterized by: 2. In an IC card reader/writer connected to an IC card configured to use an ultrasonic transmitting element and an ultrasonic receiving element for transmitting and receiving memory signals of the IC card, the connection part between the IC card and the IC card reader/writer. An IC card reader/writer comprising an ultrasonic device having an ultrasonic transmitting element and an ultrasonic receiving element for transmitting and receiving signals. 3. Signal transmission is performed using ultrasonic waves between a thin plate-shaped IC card incorporating an electronic circuit having a semiconductor memory element and an IC card reader/writer that exchanges stored information with the IC card. IC card reader/writer device.