JPH06162280A - Portable electronic appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To extend the utilization range of a portable electronic appliance and to prolong the life of a battery by lowering power consumption. CONSTITUTION:An IC card reader/writer 16 is integrated to a battery pack 15. A control terminal CNT and a power supply control switch 30 are provided in the IC card reader/writer 16 and by inputting power source control signals outputted from the main body of the portable electronic appliance to the control terminal CNT and turning the power supply control switch 30 ON and OFF, power supply from the battery 18 to the IC card reader/writer 16 is controlled. Further, other external connection equipments can be mounted to the main body of the portable electronic appliance in place of the IC card reader/writer 16 and the control terminal CNT for controlling the power supply and the power supply control switch to be turned ON/OFF by the input signals of the control terminal CNT are provided also in the external connection equipment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable electronic device in which an IC card reader / writer integrated with a battery pack can be attached to a main body of the portable electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone and a video camera is detachably attached with a battery pack as a power source. These portable electronic devices require the battery pack to be removed and recharged when the battery pack is depleted of electricity.
It has become an important technical issue in recent years to prolong the life of a battery and prolong the usage time of a portable electronic device.

[0003]

The inventor of the present invention attempts to develop a new method of use that is not found in conventional portable electronic devices by combining the portable electronic device with an IC card. For example, mobile phones, which have been dramatically increasing in popularity in recent years, can be used only for personal use, but if they can also be used for public use, the range of use of mobile phones will be expanded. The present inventor, as a means of publicizing a mobile phone,
We think that it is sufficient to use an IC card and give this IC card the same function as a telephone card. Since this IC card has a remarkably large storage capacity as compared with a magnetic card, if the stored data of this IC card is used, it is possible to use a new usage method that has never been considered before.

In this case, the IC card reader / writer must be assembled to the mobile phone in order to read / write the data stored in the IC card. However, if the IC card reader / writer is built in the main body of the mobile phone, the mobile phone is As in the conventional case, there is a drawback that the price of the mobile phone main body becomes high for a user who uses only for personal use (a user who does not need an IC card reader / writer). Moreover, even when the operation of the IC card reader / writer is not necessary, the power is constantly supplied from the battery to the IC card reader / writer, so that the power consumption is higher than before and the battery is consumed early. However, there is also a drawback that the usage time of the mobile phone is shortened.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to allow an IC card reader / writer and other externally connected equipment to be mounted on a portable electronic equipment body according to a user's selection. At the same time, the battery pack and the IC card reader / writer can be attached to the body of the portable electronic device with one touch, and the price, handleability and portability (compactness) are excellent, and low power consumption is achieved. Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device that can be made long-lasting.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a portable electronic device of the present invention selectively mounts an IC card reader / writer integrated with a battery pack and other externally connected devices. A portable electronic device main body configured to obtain, a determination means for determining which external connection device is attached to the portable electronic device main body, and a portable electronic device main body mounted on the portable electronic device main body The external electronic device includes a control unit that performs processing according to the external electronic device, and a unit that outputs a control signal for controlling power supply to the external electronic device mounted on the portable electronic device body to the external electronic device. It is composed.

[0007]

According to the above construction, the IC card reader / writer is integrated with the battery pack. Therefore, when the IC card reader / writer is used, this battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer may be attached to the body of the portable electronic device. On the other hand, when the IC card reader / writer is unnecessary, the IC card reader / writer is used. A conventional battery pack without a writer may be attached to the body of the portable electronic device, or other external connection device may be attached to the body of the portable electronic device.

In this case, the portable electronic device main body determines by the determining means which externally connected device is attached to the portable electronic device main body, and the control means performs processing according to the externally connected device. Let it be done. By doing so, the portable electronic device can be used for multiple purposes, and the range of use of the portable electronic device can be greatly expanded. Moreover, since the IC card reader / writer is integrated with the battery pack, both the battery pack and the IC card reader / writer can be attached to the portable electronic device body with one touch. Further, since the power supply control signal for controlling the power supply to the externally connected device mounted on the portable electronic device main body is output from the portable electronic device main body to the externally connected device, when the externally connected device does not need to operate, It is possible to cut the power supply to the connected device or put it in a low power consumption state, and to prolong the life of the battery.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a mobile phone will be described below with reference to the reference numerals in the drawings. As shown in FIG. 2, a mobile phone body 10, which is a portable electronic equipment body, includes a power switch 11 and a push-button dial key 1.
2, a display unit 13, an antenna 14 and the like are provided. A speaker and a microphone (both not shown) for communication are built in the upper part and the lower part of the mobile phone main body 10, respectively. Further, a battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer 17 in which a battery pack 15 and an IC card reader / writer 16 are integrated is detachably mounted on the back surface side of the mobile phone body 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the battery pack 15 includes a battery 18 composed of a secondary battery and a battery charging circuit 19, and the battery charging circuit 19 is connected to an external power source (not shown) for charging. A charging power supply terminal 20 and a battery temperature detection terminal 21 for detecting the temperature of the battery 18 are provided to prevent overcurrent during rapid charging.

On the other hand, the IC card reader / writer 16 includes
A card insertion slot 23 (see FIG. 3) for inserting the IC card 22 is formed. This IC card reader / writer 1
6, the CPU 24 and the IC card 22 are provided as shown in FIG.
IC card power supply circuit 25 for supplying power to the CPU, CPU
24, an IC card interface 26 for transferring data between the IC card 22, an IC card insertion detection switch 27 for detecting whether the IC card 22 is correctly inserted, and a power supply voltage monitoring circuit for monitoring a decrease in power supply voltage. 28, a main body side interface 29 for transferring data between the CPU 24 and the mobile phone main body 10 is provided. The main body side interface 29 is provided with two transmission / reception terminals RxD and TxD for transmitting / receiving data to / from the mobile phone main body 10.

The output of the battery 18 is the battery terminal BATT provided on the battery pack 15.
(+) And BATT (-) are supplied to the mobile phone body 10 and the power supply control switch 30
It is also supplied to the C card reader / writer 16. In order to control the power supply from the battery 18 to the IC card reader / writer 16, the IC card reader / writer 16 is provided with a control terminal CNT, and a power supply ON / OFF signal (control signal) output from the mobile phone body 10 ( High-level signal / low-level signal) control terminal CNT
To turn the power supply control switch 30 on and off.

On the other hand, instead of the battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer 17, the mobile phone body 10 does not have a modem or other externally connected devices (for example, fax, IC card reader / writer) according to the user's selection. Battery pack etc.) can be attached.
Each of these externally connected devices is also provided with a control terminal CNT that controls power supply and a power supply control switch that is turned on / off by an input signal of the control terminal CNT.

The control flow of the overall operation of the portable telephone configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5. When the power switch 11 of the mobile phone body 10 is turned on, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2, and the mobile phone body 10 is initialized. Next, the mobile phone main body 1 is connected to the control terminal CNT of the external connection device (either the IC card reader / writer 16, the modem, or other external connection device) attached to the mobile phone main body 10.
A power-on signal (high-level signal) is transmitted from 0 (step S3), the power supply control switch is turned on, and power is supplied to the external connection device from the battery built in the external connection device (step S4). ). After that, the external connection device is initialized (step S5), and then the status command is transmitted from the mobile phone body 10 to the external connection device through the terminal RxD (step S6).

Thereafter, it is judged whether or not the mobile phone body 10 has received the return value data from the IC card reader / writer 16 (step S7). If not, step S16
Then, the mobile phone main body 10 sends a power-off signal (low level signal) to the control terminal CNT of the externally connected device, turns off the power supply control switch, and forcibly stops the power supply to the externally connected device. Yes (step S1
7). On the other hand, when the mobile phone body 10 receives the return value data from the IC card reader / writer 16 in step S7 described above, the return value data is checked to determine whether the externally connected device is usable (step S8). ). Here, if it is determined that the mobile phone cannot be used, the process proceeds to step S9, a message "unusable" is displayed on the display unit 13, and a power-off signal is sent from the mobile phone body 10 to the control terminal CNT of the external device. (Low level signal) is transmitted (step S16), the power supply control switch is turned off, and power supply to the externally connected device is forcibly stopped (step S17).

If an externally connected device can be used,
In step S10, the external connection device connected to the mobile phone body 10 is the "IC card reader / writer",
It is determined whether it is a "modem" or "other externally connected device" (this step S10 is the mobile phone body 10).
, Which functions as a determination means for determining which externally connected device is attached). This step S10
If it is determined to be an "IC card reader / writer", the process proceeds to step S11 to determine whether the IC card 22 is normal. If the data of the IC card 22 is abnormal or the IC card 22 is not inserted in the IC card reader / writer 16, the process proceeds to step S18, "IC card error" is displayed, and then step S is performed.
16, the mobile phone main body 10 sends a power-off signal to the control terminal CNT of the IC card reader / writer 16, turns off the power supply control switch 30, and supplies power from the battery 18 to the IC card reader / writer 16. Is forcibly stopped (step S17).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the IC card 22 is normal, the process proceeds to step S12 to perform a call process. After the call, if the power switch 11 of the mobile phone body 10 is turned off, the process proceeds from step S15 to step S16, and a power off signal is transmitted from the mobile phone body 10 to the control terminal CNT of the IC card reader / writer 16, The power supply control switch 30 is turned off, and the power supply from the battery 18 to the IC card reader / writer 16 is forcibly stopped (step S17).

If it is determined in step S10 that the modem is attached to the mobile phone body 10,
In step S13, the data transmission / reception process is performed using the modem. Other external devices are mobile phones 1
If it is determined that the device is attached to 0, the process proceeds to step S14, and another process is performed using another externally connected device. If the power switch 11 of the mobile phone body 10 is turned off after performing these processes, the process proceeds from step S15 to step S16, and a power off signal is transmitted from the mobile phone body 10 to the control terminal CNT of the externally connected device. Then, the power supply control switch is turned off to forcibly stop the power supply to the externally connected device (step S17). In this case, steps S12 to S14 are carried out by the mobile phone body 10.
It functions as a control unit for performing processing according to the externally connected device attached to the.

Next, the CP of the IC card reader / writer 16
The control contents by U24 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the power-on signal is input to the control terminal CNT (step S21), the power supply control switch 3
When 0 is turned on and power is supplied from the battery 18 to the IC card reader / writer 16 (step S22), I
The C card reader / writer 16 is initialized (step S23). After that, if a power-off signal is input to the control terminal CNT, the power supply control switch 30 is turned off, and the battery 18 causes the IC card reader / writer 16 to
The power supply to is forcibly stopped (steps S24, S25).

On the other hand, if the input of the control terminal CNT is on, the process proceeds to step S26, and it is determined whether the IC card 22 is forcibly ejected. If the IC card 22 is forcibly ejected, the process proceeds to step S27, the IC card is forcibly ejected, data is transmitted to the mobile phone body 10 (step S35), and a message is displayed on the display unit 13. If the IC card 22 is not forcibly ejected, the process proceeds from step S26 to step S28, and it is determined whether or not a command is received from the mobile phone body 10. If the command has not been received, the process returns to step S24 described above, but if the command has been received, the process proceeds to step S29 to check the command and determine whether it is normal or abnormal. If it is determined to be abnormal, the process proceeds to step S34, command abnormality processing is performed, and then data is transmitted to the mobile phone body 10 (step S35). If it is determined to be normal in step S29, the status check process (step S30), the data read process of the IC card 22 (step S31), and the data write process of the IC card 22 (step S32) are performed according to the command. ), Other processing (step S33) is performed, and data is transmitted to the mobile phone body 10 (step S35). After that, the process returns to step S24, and the above-described processing is repeated.

According to the present embodiment described above, the IC card reader / writer 16 is integrated with the battery pack 15. Therefore, when the IC card reader / writer 16 is used, the battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer 17 may be attached to the mobile phone body 10, while if the IC card reader / writer is unnecessary,
A battery pack similar to the conventional one without an IC card reader / writer may be attached to the mobile phone body 10, and other external connection devices (such as a modem and a fax) may be attached to the mobile phone body 10. Is also good.

In this case, the mobile phone body 10 is adapted to judge which externally connected device is mounted and to perform the processing according to the externally connected device.
Since one mobile phone body 10 can be used for multiple purposes, the range of use of the mobile phone can be dramatically expanded. Moreover, since the IC card reader / writer 16 is integrated with the battery pack 15, both the battery pack 15 and the IC card reader / writer 16 can be attached to the mobile phone body 10 by one touch. It has excellent portability as well as portability (compactness). In addition, since the external terminal is determined by using the transmission terminal TxD and the reception terminal RxD, an extra terminal is not required for the determination, which simplifies the configuration.

Further, since the power on / off signal for controlling the power supply to the externally connected device mounted on the mobile phone main body 10 is output from the mobile phone main body 10 to the externally connected device, the operation of the externally connected device is unnecessary. In such a case, the power supply to the externally connected device can be cut off or brought into a low power consumption state. Therefore, the power consumption of the externally connected device can be reduced, the battery can be made to last longer, and the usage time of the mobile phone body 10 can be lengthened. Further, since it is not necessary to incorporate the IC card reader / writer 16 in the mobile phone main body 10, the mobile phone main body 10 can be shared with a conventional mobile phone that does not require the IC card reader / writer 16. The manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Although the present invention is applied to a mobile phone in the present embodiment, various mobile phones such as a mobile fax, a video camera, a pager, a notebook computer, an electronic notebook, etc. can be used in addition to the mobile phone. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to and implemented in a consumer electronic device.

Further, in this embodiment, the IC card reader / writer 16 (externally connected device) is input by inputting a power ON / OFF signal to the control terminal CNT in synchronization with ON / OFF of the power switch 11 of the mobile phone body 10. ), But when the present invention is applied to other portable electronic devices, if the operation of the externally connected device is not necessary even when the portable electronic device main body is powered on. Needless to say, a power-off signal may be input from the main body of the portable electronic device to the control terminal CNT at that time.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer and other externally connected equipment can be selectively attached to the portable electronic equipment body. Therefore, one portable electronic device main body can be used for multiple purposes, the range of use of the portable electronic device can be expanded, and the cost can be reduced compared to the case where the IC card reader / writer is built in the portable electronic device main body. Is also advantageous. Moreover, both the battery pack and the IC card reader / writer can be attached to the body of the portable electronic device with one touch, and the handleability is excellent and the portability (compactness) is also excellent. .

Further, since the power source control signal for controlling the power supply to the externally connected device mounted on the portable electronic device body is output from the portable electronic device body to the externally connected device,
When the operation of the externally connected device is unnecessary, the power supply to the externally connected device can be cut off or put into a low power consumption state, the battery can last longer, and the operating time of the portable electronic device can be extended. It

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which an IC card is taken out from a battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (part 1) showing the flow of the entire operation of the mobile phone.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 2) showing the flow of the entire operation of the mobile phone.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the IC card reader / writer.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Mobile phone main body (portable electronic device main body), 11 ... Power switch, 13 ... Display unit, 15 ... Battery pack,
16 ... IC card reader / writer, 17 ... Battery pack integrated IC card reader / writer, 18 ... Battery,
22 ... IC card, 30 ... Power supply control switch, CN
T ... control terminal, RxD ... reception terminal, TxD ... transmission terminal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A portable electronic device main body configured so that an IC card reader / writer integrated with a battery pack and other externally connected devices can be selectively mounted, and to the portable electronic device main body. Determining means for determining which externally connected device is attached, control means for performing processing according to the externally connected device attached to the portable electronic device body, and the portable electronic device body A portable electronic device, comprising: a means for outputting a control signal for controlling power supply to an externally connected device that is mounted to the externally connected device.