JPH10269328A - Ic card provided with communication function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card which easily changes its application. SOLUTION: This card has a storing part 28 which stores prescribed information, a controlling part 30 which controls the operation of a displaying part 32 and a sounding part 34 based on information in the part 28 and a transmitting and receiving part 36 which transmits and receives prescribed information with an external controller 38. When a change signal is sent from the controller 38, logic that is constructed inside a reconfigurable FPGA (field programmable gate array) that constitutes the part 30 and data contents that are stored in the part 28 are changed, and the application of an IC card is changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card, particularly to an IC card applied to a tag attached to a product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, IC cards have been used for various purposes. In particular, an IC card with a communication function is applied as a tag for displaying the price of a product and the like, and its use for managing inventory of the product or preventing theft is being studied.

[0003]

However, the conventional I
Since the C card is used only for displaying the price of the product and other predetermined items, it becomes useless to the purchaser after the product is purchased by the purchaser. IC cards used as these tags,
It is conceivable that the merchandise can be collected and reused at the retail store, but it is still more convenient for the buyer if the merchandise can be converted to other useful uses at the stage of sale.

As described above, after a certain use is completed, in order to be able to use it for another use, it is necessary to change the logic built inside the IC card and the storage contents stored in the memory. There is. However, none of the above-mentioned conventional IC cards has such a configuration that such a change can be easily performed at, for example, a sales floor of a retail store.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an IC card capable of easily changing its use.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to an IC card with a communication function, wherein the use of the IC card is changed by using a communication function to change an internally constructed logic. Is possible.

Further, the present invention includes a transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving data to / from the outside, a storage unit for storing predetermined data, and a control unit for controlling these operations, and based on a change signal received by the transmitting / receiving unit. , The contents of the storage unit and the control unit can be changed to change the application.

[0008] Further, the change signal of the present invention is transmitted by either wireless communication or wired communication.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to change the logic and data content built therein, thereby making it possible to change the use of the IC card and to expand the use of the IC card.

Further, according to the present invention, the antenna wire is wound along the side surface of the main body.

According to the above configuration, since the antenna wire is wound on the side surface of the main body, a wide effective area can be secured in the front portion for use in the display section or the like.

Further, according to the present invention, a power supply capacitor is provided on the rear surface of the main body during a high power operation.

According to the above configuration, since the power supply capacitor at the time of high power operation is provided on the back surface, a capacitor having a large area can be formed, and the capacitor having high power supply capability does not hinder other members. It can be formed as follows.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an IC with a communication function according to the present invention.
A front view (FIG. 1 (a)) and a side view (FIG. 1 (b)) of which a part is omitted are shown. In FIG. 1A, a display 12 constituted by an LCD or the like is provided on a front surface of the IC card 10. Also, a solar cell 14 is provided for power supply during normal operation. Further, when the present IC card is used as a tag for displaying a product, a hanging member 16 used for attaching to the product is also provided. In addition, an IC 18 for operation control is built in the IC card 10. It is also preferable to provide a speaker 20 for outputting sound.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the IC card 10 according to the present embodiment has an antenna wire 22 wound along the side surface of the main body. The antenna wire 22 is connected to the IC 18 by an antenna lead wire 24 as shown in FIG. With such a configuration, the IC 18 can also perform transmission and reception with an external controller via the antenna line 22 to exchange predetermined information.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A capacitor 26 is provided on the back side of the card 10. The capacitor 26 is formed by attaching a plate-shaped conductor to the entire back surface of the main body, and can secure a wide area in a place where it does not interfere with other members. For this reason, in an operation using large power, such as when transmitting data stored in the storage unit in the IC card 10 to an external controller, the power generated by the solar cell 14 or radio waves transmitted from the external controller is used. Even if this alone is not enough, it is possible to supply sufficient operating power. The electric power of radio waves transmitted from the solar cell 14 or an external controller is stored in the capacitor 26 when the above-described high power operation is not performed.

As described above, since the antenna wire 22 is wound around the side surface of the main body and the capacitor for supplying power during high-power operation is provided on the back surface of the main body, the display 1 is mounted on the front surface of the main body.
2 can secure a large space. Also, by winding the antenna wire 22 around the side of the main body, the IC card 10
Can also be reduced in thickness.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the IC card 10 according to the present embodiment. 2, when the present IC card is used as a tag attached to a product, information such as contents to be displayed on the display 12 of the IC card 10 is stored in the storage unit 28. These pieces of information are displayed by the display unit 32 controlling the display 12 via the control unit 30. The control unit 3
It is also preferable to connect the audio unit 34 to 0. Thereby, for example, information such as a product description is stored in the storage unit 28, and based on the information, the audio unit 34 is
Can also output audio information.

Further, in order to utilize the information for inventory management and theft prevention, the control unit 30 can exchange necessary information with an external controller 38 via a transmission / reception unit 36. The price display and the like displayed on the display 12 can be collectively changed for each product from the external controller 38 via the transmission / reception unit 36. As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce labor costs as compared with the case where tag rewriting is conventionally performed by handwriting.

The above-mentioned control unit 30 is constituted by a reconfigurable FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Further, the storage unit 28 can be configured by, for example, a flash memory, a ferroelectric memory, an SRAM, or the like. The present embodiment is characterized in that, when the transmission / reception unit 36 receives a predetermined change signal from the external controller 38, the logic constructed in the control unit 30 based on the change signal and the storage unit 28 The configuration is such that the stored data content can be changed. These changes include reconfigurable FPGA
Can be performed based on the usual logic changing method and the memory content rewriting method.

As described above, the storage contents of the memory used in the IC card 10 and the reconfigurable FPG
By changing the logic constructed in A by an external change signal, it is possible to change the use as a tag attached to a product to another use, for example, a use as a toy such as a game machine. Thus, for example, at the time when the product is sold, the counter at the counter that performs the settlement communicates the change signal with the external controller 38 while the settlement is being performed, and the logic and memory contents built inside the IC card 10 are stored. Can be changed to change the application to a game machine or the like. Therefore, if the IC card 10 is brought back with the product, the purchaser can bring the game machine with the product.

The change signal can be transmitted and received between the IC card 10 and the external controller 38 by wireless communication via the antenna line 22. Alternatively, it is also possible to provide a dedicated terminal on the IC card 10 and send and receive the change signal by wire communication via this terminal.

In order to change the application of the IC card 10 to a game machine, a switch 40 may be formed in advance on a part of the display 12 by a transparent electrode as shown in FIG. It is suitable. FIG.
As shown in (a), since the speaker 20 is provided on the front of the IC card 10, when used as a game machine, sound can be output according to the contents of the software.

Further, the change of the application described above is not limited to the game machine, but may be changed to, for example, a security buzzer or a memo recording device. As described above, according to the present invention, the use of the IC card 10 can be expanded.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since communication with an external controller can be performed to change the use of the IC card, the IC card can be effectively reused even after one use is completed.

Also, since an antenna wire necessary for transmission and reception is wound around the side of the main body and a capacitor for supplying power is provided on the back of the main body, a wide effective space can be secured on the front of the main body, so that the display can be secured. The area can be increased.

Further, the thickness of the IC card can be reduced by winding the antenna wire around the side surface of the main body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view and a partially omitted side view of an embodiment of an IC card with a communication function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an IC card with a communication function according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 IC card, 12 display, 14 solar cell, 16 hanging member, 18 IC, 20 speaker, 22 antenna wire, 24 antenna lead wire,
26 capacitor, 28 storage unit, 30 control unit, 32
Display unit, 34 audio unit, 36 transmitting / receiving unit, 38 controller.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An IC card with a communication function, wherein the use can be changed by changing a logic built inside using a communication function. 2. A transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving data to / from the outside, a storage unit for storing predetermined data, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the transmission / reception unit. IC card with a communication function, wherein the contents of the control unit and the control unit can be changed to change the application. 3. The IC card with a communication function according to claim 2, wherein the change signal is transmitted by one of a wireless communication and a wired communication. 4. An IC card with a communication function, wherein an antenna wire is wound along a side surface of the main body. 5. An IC card with a communication function, wherein a capacitor for supplying power during high-power operation is provided on the back surface of the main body.