JPH0950502A - Memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To instantaneously check the used capacity and remaining capacity of a memory, to save its checking labor and to prevent the generation of miserasing by providing a memory card body with a display part for displaying the used capacity and remaining capacity of the memory. SOLUTION: A memory card 1 forms a female connector part 4 to be electrically and mechanically connected to an opposite connector on its side part and forms a display part 3 consisting of a CD screen on its upper face and the display part 3 displays the used capacity and remaining capacity of a memory built in the card 1. The used capacity of the memory is the stored capacity of data out of memory capacity and the remaining capacity is the capacity of a part in which data are not stored yet. When the card 1 is inserted along a guide part 7 of a picture reader 2 until abutting upon a stopper part 5, the female connector part 4 of the card 1 is electrically and mechanically connected to a male connector part formed on the stopper 5 and read picture data are inputted to the card 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A memory card has been used as a means for storing arbitrary data. In recent years, in particular, there is a case where a memory card is carried around, arbitrary data is temporarily stored in the memory card at a destination, and the stored data is read out again for use. In such a conventional memory card, arbitrary data is stored in the memory card, the arbitrary data stored in the memory card is read out by a personal computer, and is reused. Then, the amount of used memory and the remaining amount of the memory of the memory card were checked by the personal computer each time.

However, such a memory card is troublesome because it is necessary to check it on the personal computer side in order to check the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory. In particular, when there was no personal computer on the side, it was extremely troublesome to carry the memory card to the place where the personal computer was and check the usage amount and the remaining amount. Further, when the memory card is used without checking whether it has been used or not on the personal computer, there is a problem that the stored data is erased by mistake.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a memory card in which the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory can be instantly known and erroneous erasure can be prevented.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a memory card for storing arbitrary data, the memory card is provided with a display unit for displaying a memory usage amount and a remaining amount, or either one of them. Is characterized by.

Further, the display unit is an LCD screen.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the embodiment of the present invention, a case where a memory card is used as an image storage means of an image reading apparatus will be described. Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, 1 is a memory card and 2 is an image reading device. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the memory card.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory card 1 has a female connector portion 4 on its side portion for electrically and mechanically connecting to a mating connector. Further, a display portion 3 composed of an LCD screen is formed on the upper surface. The display unit 3 displays the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory of the memory card. As a display method, for example, various methods such as displaying in byte units (4 MB), displaying in the number of sheets of paper (A6 × 6 sheets), or displaying both of them can be considered.
Here, the memory usage is the capacity of the memory that has been stored, and the remaining capacity of the memory is the capacity of the portion of the memory that has not yet stored data.

The image reading device 2 has a substantially box shape as shown in FIG. 4, and has an image reading section (not shown) for taking in an image as image data, which is formed on the bottom surface. Guide portions 7 that serve as guides when the memory card 1 is inserted are formed on both side edges of the upper surface. or,
Similarly, a stopper portion 5 is formed continuously with the guide portion 7 on the upper surface, and the guide portion 7 and the stopper portion 5 form a substantially U-shaped protruding portion. The stopper portion 5 has a male connector portion 6 connected to the female connector portion 4 of the memory card 1. The width (width A in FIG. 5) between the guide portions 7, 7 on both side edges is substantially equal to the width of the memory card 1 (width B in FIG. 2). When the memory card 1 is inserted along the guide portion 7 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4 until it comes into contact with the stopper portion 5, the female connector portion 4 of the memory card 1 is inserted into the stopper portion 5. It is electrically and mechanically connected to the male connector portion 6 formed in. Then, the image data read by the image reading unit is taken into the memory card 1 by the connection between the male connector unit 6 and the female connector unit 4.

The circuit of the memory card 1 is as shown in FIG. 7. The memory 9 stores image data, and the memory 9 is rewritable with respect to the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory. A decoder 14 for designating addresses in the card, a card control circuit 8 for controlling various operations of the card, and control of input and output of image data between the memory 9 and the host (the image reading device or the personal computer in the embodiment of the present invention). Input / output buffer 13, LCD
10, an LCD control circuit 11 for controlling the amount of used image data and the remaining amount to be displayed on the LCD 10, a memory 9 by switching between an address signal and a control signal from the host side and an address signal and a control signal from the LCD side. It is composed of a selector 12 for sending to. The LCD 10 is
A battery (not shown) built in the memory card 1 always displays the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory even when the memory card 1 is electrically disconnected from the image reading device 2.

The capacity of the memory 9 for writing data relating to the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory may be 4 bytes to 256 bytes.

Next, the operation of writing and reading the image data and the operation of displaying the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory on the LCD of such a memory card will be described in order with reference to FIG.

First, a case where the read image is written on the card will be described. First, an address signal (A0 to AX) is input to the decoder 14 and the selector 12 from the host side. Next, a card enable signal (CE) that operates at a low level is sent from the host side to the card control circuit 8
The card enable circuit (CE1) is input from the card control circuit 8 to the selector 12, the selector 12 outputs the card enable signal (CE0) and the address signal (A0 to AX) to the memory 9 and the image data. Also, data regarding the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory is sent from the host side to the data bus (D0 to D15). Next, a write enable signal (WE) that operates at a low level is input to the card control circuit 8 from the host side, an I / O signal is output from the card control circuit 8 to the input / output buffer 13, and the input / output buffer 13 is When the image data is input,
0-D15) to the memory 9, the write enable signal (WE1) is output from the card control circuit 8 to the memory 9, and the image data and the memory usage data are stored in a predetermined address of the memory 9. Each is written.

Next, the case of reading image data from a card will be described. First, an address signal (A0 to AX) is input to the decoder 14 and the selector 12 from the host side. Next, the card enable signal (CE) and the output enable signal (OE) that operates at a low level are input to the card control circuit 8 from the host side, and the card control circuit 8 outputs an I / O signal to the input / output buffer 13. As a result, the input / output buffer 13 enters the output state, and the card control circuit 8 outputs the card enable signal (CE1) and the output enable signal (OE1) to the selector 12, and the selector 12 sends the card enable signal (CE0) to the memory 9. ) And the output enable signal (OE
0) and address signals (A0 to AX) are output. As a result, the image data stored in the memory 9 is read.

Next, the operation of displaying the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory on the LCD will be described. From the card control circuit 8, an LCD control access permission signal (EN
B) is output to the LCD control circuit, the host and LCD control access selection signal (SEL)
Is output from the LCD control circuit 11 to the card control circuit 8 and the selector 12. Next, the card control circuit 8 outputs a wait signal (WAIT) that operates at a low level to the host side to keep signals and data on the host side in an input standby state, and the selector 12 causes the LCD control circuit 11 to operate. The address signals (A0 to AX) on the card side, the chip enable signal (CE2), and the output enable signal (OE2) that are input from are output to the memory 9. Next, the memory usage data written in the memory 9 and the memory remaining capacity data calculated from the usage data are output from the memory 9 to the LCD control circuit 11, and the LCD 10 displays the memory usage data. The remaining amount is displayed. Memory usage and remaining data
When all are output to the LCD control circuit 11, LC
A host / LCD control access selection signal (SEL) is output from the D control circuit 11 to the card control circuit 8 and the selector 12 again. by this,
The card control circuit 8 uses the wait signal (WAI
T) is set to a high level to cancel the signal and data input standby state on the host side.

In such a memory card, since the display portion for displaying the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory is formed on the upper surface of the memory card, it is not necessary to check the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory on each personal computer. There is no fear of accidental erasure.
Further, by using the LCD screen as the display unit, the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory can be seen at a glance, and the remaining amount of the memory can be instantly and accurately known.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be considered within the scope of the present invention.
For example, the display unit does not necessarily have to be an LCD screen, and a plurality of LEDs may be provided on the memory card and the number of LEDs corresponding to the remaining amount may be turned on and displayed. Further, the data stored in the memory card is not limited to the image data and may be numerical data.

[0018]

As described above, in the memory card of the present invention, since the memory card main body is provided with the display section for displaying the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory, the used amount of the memory in the personal computer,
There is no need to check the remaining amount and there is no risk of accidental erasure.

Further, since the display unit is an LCD screen, the used amount and the remaining amount of the memory can be seen at a glance, and the remaining amount of the memory can be instantly and accurately known.

[0020]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a memory card of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a memory card of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the memory card of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a reference view of a usage state when the memory card according to the present invention is inserted into an image reading device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an image reading device that can use the memory card according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of an image reading apparatus that can use the memory card according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a memory card of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Memory Card 2 Image Reader 3 Display 4 Female Connector 5 Stopper 6 Male Connector 7 Guide 8 Card Control Circuit 9 Memory 10 LCD 11 LCD Control Circuit 12 Selector 13 Input / Output Buffer 14 Decoder

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a memory card for storing arbitrary data, the memory usage and the remaining amount in the memory card,
Alternatively, a memory card provided with a display unit for displaying either one of them. 2. The memory card according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is an LCD screen.