JPH10208000A - Portable terminal equipment for card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make miniaturize and thin a device which can be used by simultaneously installing and inserting plural cards as much s possible and to provide a portable terminal equipment for card in pocketable size, which is superior in portability. SOLUTION: The casing of a portable terminal equipment for card 10 is made into a thin box form and more than two card insertion ports are formed on the side of the casing. A part of the IC cards inserted into the casing from the respective card insertion ports is in a contact or slightly detached state and they are overlapped in terms of plane. Then, the information transfer parts 102 and 122 of the respective cards are prevented from being overlapped in terms of plane. Furthermore, the emboss parts 130 to 140 of the IC cards inserted into the casing are prevented from being overlapped in terms of plane.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a card such as an IC card having a semiconductor memory (a card referred to in the present invention is
The present invention relates to a card-type portable terminal device for a card-shaped recording medium having a semiconductor memory), and more particularly to a small and thin, pocketable size card capable of simultaneously mounting (inserting) a plurality of cards. The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various proposals have been made for an IC card reader / writer device for reading / writing information from / to an IC card.
Generally, the writer device is of a type to which only one IC card can be mounted.

If two IC cards are attached (inserted) to one device so that the two IC cards can be used simultaneously, the usability is improved. Thus, two ICs
As a device which can be simultaneously mounted with a card, there is a technology disclosed in JP-A-6-348915 (name "two-stage card connector device").

[0004] In the prior art disclosed in the above-mentioned prior application, a card insertion slot is provided in upper and lower two stages,
Individual storage sections for two IC cards are provided in the upper and lower two stages corresponding to each card insertion slot, so that two IC cards can be simultaneously inserted (inserted).

[0005]

In the prior art disclosed in the above-mentioned prior application, the individual storage sections for two IC cards are arranged in a two-tiered manner at a predetermined distance.
In addition, since an eject mechanism and the like are provided, there is naturally a limit in reducing the size and thickness of the device.

That is, in the prior art, an apparatus capable of mounting (inserting) a plurality of cards simultaneously is
No consideration has been given to miniaturization and thinning to the utmost, and it has been difficult to realize a portable (card reader / writer) device such as a pocketable size.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
The aim is to reduce the size and thickness of a device that allows a plurality of cards to be mounted (inserted) and used at the same time, making it extremely portable with a pocketable size. A portable terminal device for a card is provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a card portable terminal device having at least a function of reading information recorded in a semiconductor memory of a card. The body is made into a thin box shape, two or more card insertion holes are formed on the side of the housing, and some of the IC cards inserted into the housing from each of the card insertion holes contact or slightly separate. In this state, the cards are overlapped in a plane, and the information transfer sections of the cards are not overlapped in a plane. Further, the IC cards inserted into the housing are configured such that the embossed portions do not overlap in a plane.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 relate to a portable terminal device for an IC card according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the device and the direction in which the IC card is inserted. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between two IC cards inserted into the apparatus when viewed from a plane direction.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a thin box-shaped housing of a portable terminal device for cards, which is formed in a small and thin size that can be stored in a shirt pocket without being bulky. The four sides of the housing 10 are low side surfaces, and card insertion holes 12 and 13 for inserting the IC cards 100 and 110 are formed in the adjacent side surfaces (that is, orthogonal to each other). ing. Further, on the upper surface of the housing 10, a display unit 80 formed of a liquid crystal display and a button 82 as an operation unit are provided.

The card portable terminal device of the present embodiment has two
The two IC cards 100 and 110 are inserted (attached) at the same time and can be used. By inserting the IC card 100 from the card insertion slot 12 and inserting the IC card 110 from the card insertion slot 13, two IC cards can be used. Card 10
0, 110 is mounted on the card portable terminal device. By pressing the button 82 in this state, the balance of the electronic currency recorded on each of the IC cards 100 and 110 can be confirmed on the display unit 80. 1
By pressing the button twice, the I
The balance of the C card 100 is displayed, and the button 82 is pressed again.
By pressing once, the balance of the IC card 110 inserted from the card insertion slot 13 is displayed, and every time the button 82 is pressed once, the balance of the two IC cards is alternately displayed. It has become.

The card portable terminal device can be provided with various functions, and accordingly, the number of operation buttons should be increased or a display / input unit (touch input / display unit) should be provided. It is needless to say that various input operations can be performed thereby. In addition, various kinds of cards on which various kinds of software and data are recorded can be used, and it is needless to say that information recorded in the semiconductor memory of the card can be read and information can be written into the card.

As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, a substrate 19 having information transmitting / receiving sections (electrical connection terminal sections) 16 and 17 for transmitting / receiving information to / from an IC card is provided in a housing 10. The information transfer sections 17 and 16 have a card insertion slot 1
The information transfer sections (electrical connection terminal sections) 102 and 112 of the IC cards 100 and 110 inserted from the slots 2 and 13 are respectively connected to read information recorded in a semiconductor memory of the card or write information. It has become.

[0014] Here, the two sheets of I
The C cards 100 and 110 partially overlap each other two-dimensionally, and at the part where the two parts overlap each other, the cards are in contact or slightly separated from each other. That is, since the area of the housing 10 as viewed from the plane is reduced, the inserted two IC cards 100 and 110 have to partially overlap each other in a plane. However, the two inserted IC cards 100 and 110 are arranged to be in contact with each other or to be arranged as close as possible in the vertical direction, whereby the housing 10 is made as thin as possible. It has become so.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, ICs inserted from two card insertion slots 12 and 13 respectively are provided.
The cards 100 and 110 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other when viewed in a plane, and as described above,
Some of them are overlapping on a plane. Also, the two inserted IC cards 100, 1
10 is an information transfer section (electric connection terminal section) 102,
112 do not overlap in a plane (in other words, the information transfer sections (electrical connection terminal sections) 16 and 17 of the portable terminal device for an IC card do not overlap in a plane), and their embossed sections The members 130 and 140 are also configured so that they do not overlap in plan.

As described above, in order to reduce the area of the casing as viewed in the plane direction, the two inserted IC cards are partially overlapped with each other in a plane, and the casing is made as small as possible. Even if the cards are touched or placed as close as possible to each other in the plane-overlapping part in order to achieve a low profile, since the information transfer units do not overlap in plane, There is no problem in giving and receiving. Further, since the embossed portions do not overlap with each other in a plane, the embossed portions (projected portions) do not interfere with each other, and therefore, there is no possibility that the IC card is damaged. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an apparatus in which two cards can be simultaneously inserted (inserted) and used can be realized as small as possible and as thin as about a pocketable size. High device.

FIG. 4 shows an IC according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the card portable terminal device and the direction in which the IC card is inserted, in which the same components as those in the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof is omitted to avoid duplication. (This is the same in the following embodiments).

The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the adjacent side surfaces (perpendicular to each other) of the housing 10
The point is that the IC cards 100 and 110 inserted from the card insertion openings 12 and 13 formed one after another are oblique to each other when viewed in plan. That is, the IC card 110 inserted from one card insertion slot 13 is
0 is inserted obliquely to the side surface.

In this embodiment, the two IC cards 100 and 100 inserted from the card insertion slots 12 and 13 are also used.
110, some comrades overlap in a plane,
In the overlapping portion in a plane, the cards are in contact or slightly separated from each other. Also, the two inserted IC cards 10
0,110 is an information transfer section (electric connection terminal section) 1
02 and 112 do not overlap in plan view, and the embossed portions 130 and 140 do not overlap in plan view.

In this embodiment having such a configuration,
An effect equivalent to that of the first embodiment is provided.

Here, in the above-described first and second embodiments, the card insertion slots 12 and 13 are formed one by one on the adjacent (perpendicular to each other) side surface of the housing 10.
0, one on each side facing each other,
13 may be formed.

FIG. 5 shows an IC according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the card portable terminal device and the direction in which the IC card is inserted. This embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that two card insertions are provided on one side surface of the housing 10. The point is that the mouths 12 and 13 are formed.

In this embodiment, the two IC cards 100 and 100 inserted from the card insertion slots 12 and 13 are also used.
110, some comrades overlap in a plane,
In the overlapping portion in a plane, the cards are in contact or slightly separated from each other. Also, the two inserted IC cards 10
0,110 is an information transfer section (electric connection terminal section) 1
02 and 112 do not overlap in plan view, and the embossed portions 130 and 140 do not overlap in plan view.

In this embodiment having such a configuration,
The same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be obtained.

FIG. 6 shows an IC according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
Of the three IC cards inserted into the card portable terminal device,
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship viewed from a plane direction, and the present embodiment is different from the first, second, and third embodiments in that
The point is that card insertion slots are respectively formed on three side surfaces of the housing 10.

Also in this embodiment, three IC cards 100, 110, and 120 inserted from card insertion slots on three side surfaces of the housing 10 partially overlap each other, and In the overlapping portion in a plane, the cards are in contact or slightly separated from each other. In the three inserted IC cards 100, 110, 120, their information transfer units (electrical connection terminal units) 102, 112, 122 do not overlap in plan view, and their embossed units 130, 110, 120 do not overlap. The members 140 and 150 are also configured so as not to overlap in a plane.

In this embodiment having such a configuration,
A device that can be used by mounting three IC cards at the same time,
It can be realized as a small and thin pocketable size.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a device which can be used by mounting (inserting) a plurality of cards at the same time can be reduced in size and thickness as much as possible to a pocketable size. realizable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an IC card portable terminal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention and an insertion direction of the IC card.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the portable terminal device for an IC card according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between two IC cards inserted into the portable terminal device for an IC card according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed in a plane direction.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an IC card portable terminal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention and an insertion direction of the IC card.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a portable terminal device for an IC card according to a third embodiment of the present invention and an insertion direction of the IC card.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relation of three IC cards inserted into a portable terminal device for an IC card according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention as viewed in a plane direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case of portable terminal device for IC cards 12, 13 Card insertion slot 16, 17 Information transfer part of board (electric connection terminal part) 19 Board 80 Display part 82 Button 100, 110, 120 IC card 102, 112, 122 IC card information transfer section (electrical connection terminal section) 130, 140, 150 Emboss section of IC card

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuhei Abe 4-6 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside the Home Appliances and Information Media Business Division, Hitachi Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuyoshi Eguchi 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi Image Information Systems, Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A card portable terminal device having at least a function of reading information recorded in a semiconductor memory of a card, wherein the card portable terminal device has a thin box-like housing, and two or more cards are provided on side surfaces of the housing. And a part of the cards inserted into the housing from each of the card insertion slots so as to overlap with each other in a state of contact or being slightly separated from each other, and an information transfer section of each card. The portable terminal device for a card, characterized in that the portable terminal devices are configured so that they do not overlap in plan. 2. The card according to claim 1, wherein the card is an IC card, and the cards inserted into the housing are configured such that the embossed portions do not overlap in a plane. Characteristic portable terminal device for cards. 3. The card portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the card insertion holes are formed one by one on two adjacent side surfaces of the housing. 4. The card portable terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the cards inserted from the two card insertion slots are orthogonal to each other. 5. The portable terminal device for cards according to claim 3, wherein the cards inserted from the two card insertion slots are oblique to each other. 6. The card portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein two of the card insertion ports are formed on one side surface of the housing. 7. The card portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the card insertion holes are formed one by one on two opposing side surfaces of the housing. 8. The card portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the card insertion openings are formed on three or more opposing side surfaces of the housing, respectively.