JPH11175670A - Portable terminal for reading/writing ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal by which a sales processing is effectively and surely performed. SOLUTION: This terminal 1 is integrally provided with a keyboard 7, a card reader-writer and a bar code reader. Thus, when an IC card 8 is utilized, for example, for settlement at a store, etc., by a customer, the IC card 8 is inserted into the card reader/writer with an IC card port 10, a personal identification number is inputted by depression of keys of the keyboard 7, the sales processing by reading the bar code attached to sold merchandise is performed with a bar code reading window 12 by the bar code reader and these works are executed by the terminal 1 in which the bar code reader, the card reader- writer and the keyboard 7 are integrated. Therefore, since the work of the sales processing is simplified to prevent erroneous input, the sales processing is effectively and surely performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable terminal for reading and writing an IC card, which is used for making a payment with an IC card functioning as electronic money.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, a method of making a payment by a card instead of cash is widely known. In particular, IC cards that can be electronically settled instantly are expected to rapidly spread in the future. Conventionally, it is convenient to purchase small lots in a supermarket or the like, which has been unfamiliar to card payments, and it is not necessary to prepare coins. Therefore, there is a great merit for both customers and stores. A handy terminal, which is a portable terminal for reading and writing an IC card and used by connecting to an external device such as a POS terminal, is one of those that reads and writes information such as the amount of money stored in such an IC card.

A conventional example of such a handy terminal will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a liquid crystal display (LCD) is provided on the surface of the main body case 31 of the handy terminal 30.
And a keyboard 35 including a function key 33 composed of a plurality of keys and a numeric keypad 34.
Are provided in order. Further, an IC card insertion slot 37 for inserting the IC card 36 into a card reader / writer (not shown) for reading and writing the IC card 36 is provided at a tip end near the display section 32 of the main body case 31.
Are formed.

[0004] Sales processing by the handy terminal 30 in such a configuration will be described. In this handy terminal 30, first, the customer inserts the IC card 36 into the card reader / writer through the IC card insertion slot 37 of the handed handy terminal 30, and
The user inputs a password by pressing the numeric keypad 34. Then, the sales amount of the sales product is displayed on the numeric keypad 3 of the keyboard 35.
By inputting by pressing 4, the sales process of the product is performed.

[0005]

However, when the sales amount is input for each sales item, the sales amount must be repeatedly input by the number of sales items. For this reason, especially when the number of sales products is large, there is a problem that it takes a long time to input the sales amount and the probability of occurrence of the input error of the sales amount increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal for IC card read / write in which sales processing can be performed efficiently and reliably by simplifying the work of sales processing such as inputting a sales amount and preventing input errors. Is to get.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A code reader for optically reading a code symbol;
A card reader / writer for reading and writing data from / to an IC card and a keyboard for arranging a plurality of keys to which predetermined signals are respectively set and selectively outputting signals are provided.

Therefore, the code reader, the card reader / writer and the keyboard are integrated. This allows
For example, when a customer uses an IC card for payment at a store or the like, the IC card is inserted into a card reader / writer, a password is input by pressing a key on a keyboard, and the code reader is attached to the sales product. Sales processing is performed by reading a code symbol, but these operations are performed by a portable terminal for IC card read / write in which a code reader, a card reader / writer, and a keyboard are integrated, so that the work of the sales processing is simplified. And an input error is prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method according to the first aspect.
The C card read / write portable terminal further includes an infrared communication interface for wirelessly transmitting and receiving data.

[0010] Therefore, since the infrared communication interface is further provided as an integral part, the work of connecting to an external device or the like becomes unnecessary, so that the work of transmitting and receiving data can be simplified.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The portable terminal for reading and writing an IC card according to the present embodiment is applied as a handy terminal operated by the customer himself / herself when the customer uses the IC card for settlement at a store or the like. Here, FIG. 1A is an external perspective view showing the handy terminal 1, and FIG. 1B is an inverted handy terminal 1.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view schematically showing a part of the handy terminal 1. On the upper surface of the main body case 2, a display unit 4 on which the liquid crystal display 3 is disposed, and a keyboard 7 including a function key 5 composed of a plurality of keys and a numeric keypad 6 are sequentially provided. Although not shown here, the keyboard 7 is provided with a transmission key and a closing key. At the tip of the main body case 2 in the vicinity of the display section 4, a card reader / writer 9 for reading and writing an IC card 8 having a built-in nonvolatile memory for storing a reserved amount as electronic money is provided.
An IC card insertion slot 10 for inserting a C card 8 is formed. Further, a bar code reading window 12 for reading a bar code by forming a bar code reading device 11 as a code reading device is formed at a front end portion of the lower surface of the main body case 2. Here, the barcode reader 11 is L
An ED (Light Emitting Diode) array is used as a light source.
oupled Device) to receive and read. In addition, an infrared communication interface (hereinafter, referred to as an infrared communication I / F) 13 for wirelessly communicating various data with an external device such as a POS terminal (not shown) is built in substantially the center of the lower surface of the main body case 2. An infrared communication unit 14 is provided. Wireless communication is possible provided that an infrared communication unit similar to the infrared communication unit 14 is also provided in an external device such as a POS terminal. Infrared communication I / F1
Reference numeral 3 denotes an LED and a light receiving element, on the surface of which a filter for receiving only light emitted from the LED is attached. In addition, the drive switch 1 of the bar code reading device 11 is provided substantially at the center of the side edge of the main body case 2.
5 are provided.

Next, the electrical connection of each part built in the handy terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The handy terminal 1 has a built-in microcomputer 16, which controls the operation of each unit. The microcomputer 16 has a CPU 17 for centrally controlling each section, and a ROM for storing fixed data such as a control program and a product master file in advance via a bus line 18 such as an address bus and a data bus.
19 and a RAM 2 for storing various data in a rewritable manner
0 is connected. The RAM 20 performs functions such as a work area.

Although not shown, the product master file stored in the ROM 19 has a file structure for storing and holding a product name, a product unit price, and the like for each product code of the product.

Further, since the control program is stored in the ROM 19, the R
The control program stored in the OM 19 is written in the RAM 20, and the microcomputer 16 is in a state where the driving of each unit can be controlled. The components that are driven and controlled by the microcomputer 16 will be described below.

The liquid crystal display 3 is connected to a bus line 18 via a display controller 21 and is connected to a microcomputer 16.
When the display data from is input to the display controller 21, the display controller 21 is driven to display predetermined items.

The keyboard 7 is connected to the bus line 18 via a keyboard controller 22, and inputs a signal corresponding to a key pressed by the operation of the keyboard controller 22 to the microcomputer 16.

The card reader / writer 9 is connected to the bus line 18 via a reader / writer controller 23, and receives a signal from the microcomputer 16 and transmits the signal from the microcomputer 16 to the bus line 18.
Then, data corresponding to the signal is written to the IC card 8. Further, a signal corresponding to the data of the IC card 8 read by the operation of the reader / writer controller 23 is input to the microcomputer 16.

The bar code reading device 11 is connected to the bus line 18 via a reading controller 24, and outputs the read bar code data to the microcomputer 16 by the operation of the reading controller 24.

The infrared communication I / F 13 is connected to a bus line 18.
And is driven and controlled by the microcomputer 16.

Here, a function that the control program stored in the ROM 19 causes the microcomputer 16 to execute will be described. A description of the same functions as the processing performed by the conventional handy terminal is omitted, and the flow of sales processing, which is a characteristic function of the present invention, will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of the sales processing. First, in step S1, the process waits until insertion of the IC card 8 into the card reader / writer 9 is detected. When the customer pays with the IC card 8 at the store, the clerk hands the handy terminal 1 to the customer, and then the customer hands the IC card from the IC card slot 10 of the handy terminal 1 to the card reader / writer 9. By inserting the IC card 8 in the sensor (not shown) of the card reader / writer 9,
Is detected (Y in step S1).

Next, the process waits until a correct password is input by pressing the numeric key 6 of the keyboard 7 (step S2). When the personal identification number is input (Y in step S2), the sales process of the product is performed by the purchase operation of the product purchased by the customer himself.

The sales process of the product by the purchase operation of the customer includes first reading the product code by the bar code reading device 11 by pressing the drive switch 15 and
(Step S3). If it is determined that the product sales data has been input (Y in step S3), the product master file is searched based on the product code of the input product sales data, and the product name and the product unit price are obtained to obtain the sales content. Is registered in the RAM 20, and the transaction information such as the product unit price is displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 (step S4). When the sales registration of the product continues (N in step S5), the processing of steps S3 to S4 is repeated.

The processing of steps S3 and S4 is repeated until it is determined that the close key (not shown) has been pressed (Y in step S5). If it is determined that the closing key has been pressed (Y in step S5), the total sales amount is calculated and displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 (step S5).
6). Since the total sales amount is displayed on the liquid crystal display 3, the customer confirms the amount while watching the display.

Thereafter, the reserved amount of the IC card 8 in the card reader / writer 9 is subtracted and updated by the total sales amount (step S7), and the sales contents registered in the RAM 20 are transmitted via the infrared communication unit 14 by pressing the transmission key. POS
Wirelessly transmitted to an external device such as a terminal (step S8),
The process ends. At the POS terminal or the like to which the sales contents have been transmitted, a receipt based on the sales contents is issued.

Here, the customer sets an IC for the settlement at the store.
When using the card 8, the IC card 8 is inserted into the card reader / writer 9, the password is input by pressing the numeric key 6 of the keyboard 7, and the bar code reader 11 is used.
The sales process is performed based on the reading of the bar code attached to the sales product by the user. These operations are executed by the handy terminal 1 in which the keyboard 7, the card reader / writer 9 and the bar code reader 11 are integrated. Is done. As a result, the barcode reader 11 reads the barcode attached to the sales product and performs the sales process. This eliminates the need to manually input the amount of each sales product, thereby simplifying the work of the sales process. As a result, input errors are prevented, and sales processing can be performed efficiently and reliably.

Further, since the sales contents are wirelessly transmitted to an external device such as a POS terminal via the external line communication unit 14, the connection work is not required and the data can be transmitted on the spot. Can be simplified.

In the present embodiment, the bar code reader is used as a bar code reader 11 for reading a bar code as a code symbol. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be applied to a two-dimensional code reader or the like that uses as a code symbol to be read.

[0029]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a customer uses an IC card for payment at a store or the like, for example, an IC card reader in which a code reader, a card reader / writer, and a keyboard are integrated. Since the processing work is executed only by the light portable terminal, the work of the sales processing can be simplified, and input mistakes can be prevented, so that the sales processing can be performed efficiently and reliably.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal for reading and writing an IC card according to the first aspect, the infrared communication interface is further integrated, so that a connection work with an external device is unnecessary. Can simplify the work of sending and receiving data,
Sales processing can be performed efficiently and reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is an external perspective view showing a handy terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an external perspective view showing a handy terminal turned upside down.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view schematically showing a part of the handy terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection of each unit built in the handy terminal.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart schematically showing a flow of a sales process.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing an example of a conventional handy terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 keyboard 8 IC card 9 card reader / writer 11 code reader 14 infrared communication interface

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A code reader for optically reading a code symbol, a card reader / writer for reading / writing data from / to an IC card, and a plurality of keys each having a predetermined signal set therein are arranged and selectively arranged. Integrated with a keyboard that outputs signals to the
Mobile terminal for card read / write. 2. The IC according to claim 1, further comprising an infrared communication interface for transmitting and receiving data wirelessly.
Mobile terminal for card read / write.