JPS6380649A - Portable information communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To preclude data errors and malfunction due to an external noise and to improve operativity by transmitting data forth and back optically between portable information equipment and terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:Data outputted by the CPU 14 of the portable information equipment 11 is converted by a light emitting circuit 15 into the turn-on or turn-off signal of a light emitting element 15d and then converted into a binary signal of 1 and 0 again by a light receiving element 16 in a printer cable 12, a current limiting circuit 17, and a waveform shaping circuit 18. When a printer 13 sends data to the portable information equipment 11, exactly the same operation is performed. Consequently, the operation becomes easier and clearer than by an attaching and detaching method for a connector, etc, and there is almost no influence of the external noise because of optical coupling, so that defects in contacting due to repetitive attachment and detachment are eliminated completely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a communication device for transmitting and receiving data by optical coupling in a portable information device.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention relates to a data communication device between a mobile information device and a terminal device such as a printer, and by optically transmitting and receiving data, it is possible to prevent data errors during transmission and reception, prevent malfunction of the communication device due to external noise, and furthermore, The purpose is to improve the operability of connecting and disconnecting connectors of communication devices.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, optical coupling interfaces have been used for automatic door, motor control of printers, etc., remote control of televisions, etc., but recently popular microcomputer systems or portable ones have been used. The interface between a hand belt computer and a terminal device such as a printer was mostly done by wire, such as a DDK computer.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

When using a portable information device such as the hand belt computer and a terminal device such as a printer connected by wire, there is no problem if the device is used infrequently, but if the frequency of use increases, the trouble of connection becomes a problem. Further, a DDK connector or the like is generally used as a connector for connection. This is because the structure is such that malfunctions are unlikely to occur due to external noise, etc., so it is not easy to connect and disconnect, and if the connector is repeatedly connected and disconnected, there is a possibility of malfunction due to poor contact. becomes higher. Furthermore, if the mobile information device is disconnected from the connector while the terminal device is powered on, the terminal device's data input/output terminal becomes extremely susceptible to external noise, and in some cases, the terminal device may be destroyed. There is a fear. Furthermore, in applications where the mobile information device is frequently disconnected from the terminal device, such as on a desk, in addition to the above problems, the state in which only the terminal device and the cable are connected significantly impairs the aesthetic sense. .

[Means for solving problems]

In order to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, the present invention adopts a simple structure consisting of a combination of a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element.

[Effect]

According to the portable information communication device configured as described above, compared to the conventional method of attaching and detaching the DDK connector, etc., it is much simpler and clearer, and it is also more effective against external noise because it is optically coupled. There is almost no effect, and contact failures due to repeated attachment and detachment are completely eliminated.Also, the light emitting element and light receiving element are
Because it is small, it is extremely advantageous for downsizing products.
Furthermore, since it can be realized with an inexpensive and simple circuit configuration, manufacturing costs are also extremely advantageous.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.One embodiment of the present invention will be described using a printer as a terminal device connected to a portable information device. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a data communication device showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The portable information device 11 transmits and receives data to and from the printer 13 via the printer cable 12 . The CPU 14 controls data transmission and reception with respect to the printer 13, and outputs data from the output terminal OUT, and outputs data from the input terminal IN.
Enter data from.

First, the process of transmitting data from the portable information device 11 to the printer 13 will be explained. The data output from the CPU 14 is input to the light emitting circuit 15.The data output from the CPU 14 is input to the light emitting circuit 15.

A case will be described in which a transistor is used as an embodiment of the 0 light emitting circuit 15, which is a circuit that makes the binary signal of 0°' correspond to the lighting and extinguishing of the light emitting element 15d.

The resistor 15a is a base resistor of the P-ch transistor 15b, and controls the collector current of the P-ch transistor 15. Here, since the P-ch transistor functions simply as a switching function,
A detailed explanation of the P-ch transistor will be omitted. That is, when the data from the CPU 14 is ll I 11, the P-ah) transistor is 0FF1. ,,current does not flow, and when the data is IT OIT, the P-ch transistor 15b is ONI, and current flows. The light emitting element 15d is
The light emitting element 15d, which emits light according to the magnitude of the flowing current, is typified by, for example, an infrared light emitting diode. The resistor 15c defines the current flowing through the light emitting element 15c, and it also limits the radiation intensity of light.

Therefore, when the data from the CPU 14 is IT O'', the P-ch transistor is ONL and light is emitted from the light emitting element 15d, and when the data is II I IT, the P-ch transistor is ONL.
) When the transistor is 0FFL, no light is emitted from the light emitting element 15d, and the If l II, II Q It data output from the CPU 14 is outputted by the light emitting circuit 15 to turn on and off signals for the light emitting element 15d. The data converted into the lighting/lighting out signal of the 0 light emitting element 15d is sent to the light receiving element 16.0 in the printer cable 12. Current limiting circuit 17. The waveform shaping circuit 18 converts it again into a binary circuit of II I IT and IT Q II. That is, the light receiving element 16 operates in response to the light output of the light emitting element 15d in the light emitting circuit 15, and a current flows when the light emitting element 15d is turned on, and no current flows when the light emitting element 15d is turned off. The current obtained by the light receiving element 16 is current! It is limited by the #A limiter circuit 17. The current limited by the current limiting circuit 17 is
II I IF by the waveform shaping circuit 18.

Converted to data of °″0″. A case where a transistor is used as an example of the waveform shaping circuit 18 will be described.

The output of the flow limiting circuit 17'! The lump becomes the base current of the N-ch transistor 18a, and the N-ch transistor 1
8a operates as a switching function. That is, N
-ah) When the base current flows through the transistor 18a, N
-ch) The transistor is ONL, and it is OFF if the base current does not flow.

When the N-ah) transistor 18a is ON, the output of the waveform shaping circuit 18 becomes II OII, and when the N-ch) transistor 18a is OFF, the output of the waveform shaping circuit 18 becomes IT I II. Here, 1″1.IIQI
+ corresponds to power levels 13 b and 13 a for operating the circuit inside the printer 13, respectively. Resistor 18b limits the current of N-ch transistor 18a.

The output obtained by the waveform shaping circuit 18 as described above is
It is input to the input terminal IN through which data of the CPU 19 is input. The CPU 19 prints the data coming from the waveform shaping circuit 18 and receives the data to a portable information device. The light receiving element 16 is typified by, for example, a phototransistor. Current limit circuit 17
Although it was mentioned above that the current obtained by the light receiving element 16 is limited, this will be explained in more detail. When the light-receiving element 16 is explained using the phototransistor 16a, the characteristics of the phototransistor include dark current-ambient temperature as shown in FIG. The dark current is a current that flows even when the light emitting circuit 15 is not in operation and there is no output, and is proportional to the ambient temperature. In other words, if the ambient temperature is high (indeed, the dark current will increase.The current value varies depending on the usage conditions, etc., but depending on the item, about 100 μA flows.This dark current is caused by the N of the waveform shaping circuit 18 mentioned above. -ch
) When input to the base of transistor 18a, pJ-c
The hl-transistor becomes completely ONI, causing malfunction.

The current limiting circuit 17 is a circuit to prevent this and compensate for operation at high temperatures. As an example of the current limiting circuit 17, a thermistor 17a will be explained. Generally, a temperature sensor such as a thermistor has a negative temperature coefficient as shown in FIG. 3, which shows the temperature sensor characteristics.

That is, by taking advantage of the fact that the internal resistance becomes lower as the temperature increases, the base current is controlled by the thermistor 17 so that the N-ch transistor 18a does not turn on even at high temperatures.
By limiting by a, the waveform shaping circuit 18 can operate reliably even at high temperatures. The current limiting circuit 17 may be of any type as long as it has a negative temperature coefficient, such as a diode or a commercially available temperature sensor.

Next, a case in which data is transmitted from the printer 13 to the portable information device 11 will be described. In this case, the data transmission process described above can be applied in exactly the same way.

ll output from the data output terminal OUT of the CPU 1a
The data of I II, II Q 11 is converted by the light emitting circuit 110 into a light-on/light-off signal for the light emitting element 110a, and the data is sent to the light receiving element 111 . IT by the current limiting circuit 112 and waveform shaping circuit 113
I II, II Q IT data is reconverted,
The data is input to the data input terminal IN of the CPU 14. Light receiving element 111. A current limiting circuit 112° waveform shaping circuit 113, and a phototransistor 1lla, a thermistor 112a, and a resistor 113b, which constitute each of them.

The N-ch transistor 113a is connected to the light receiving element 16.degree. current limiting circuit 17. Exactly the same configuration as the waveform shaping circuit 18,
The detailed explanation will be omitted since it only works.

The light emitting circuit 110 includes a light emitting element 110a, a resistor 110b,
It is composed of a buffer 110c. The light emitting element 110a is
It may be exactly the same as the light emitting element 15d, and may be represented by, for example, an infrared light emitting diode, a pin diode, or the like.

The buffer 110c has the ability to draw current in order to cause the light emitting element 110a to emit light, and may be any buffer IC used in -a, such as a C-MOS.
For IC, it is typified by 4050, etc.

The resistor 110b limits the current flowing to the light emitting element 110a. The light emitting circuit 20 may of course have the same configuration as the light emitting circuit 15, but by having the above configuration, one terminal of the light receiving element 16 and the light emitting element 110a can be connected to each other. Since one terminal can be shared, the number of connection terminals between the printer cable 12 and the printer 13 only needs to be 3, compared to 4 when the light emitting circuit 15 is used.
Compared to books, there is one less book, which is advantageous against external noise.

As you can see from the above configuration, first, mobile information device 1
Since the NB levels 11a and 11b of the printer 1 and the power levels 13a and 13b of the printer 13 can be configured completely independently,
For example, even if a failure occurs in the printer 13, it will not affect the portable information device at all, and since many light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements can withstand high voltage, the portable information device 11 can be disconnected from the printer cable 12. Even if external noise enters the printer cable 12, there is almost no risk of damaging the printer 13. Further, FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen from the figure, the light emitting element 110a and the light receiving element 16a inside the printer cable 12
and a light emitting element 15d and a light receiving element 1 in the mobile information device 11.
By making the material surrounding 11a magnetic or the like, the printer cable 12 can be attached or detached with one touch. Furthermore, light emitting elements 110a, 15d, light receiving elements 16a, 111
Since a is small and inexpensive, it is extremely advantageous in miniaturizing products, and since it can be realized with a simple circuit configuration, there are almost no adjustment elements, which greatly contributes to reducing manufacturing costs.

In this explanation, the printer was explained as a terminal device, but
Anything that sends and receives data is fine.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the configuration of the present invention as described above, the attachment/detachment method is much simpler and clearer than the conventional attachment/detachment method, and malfunctions due to poor contact are completely eliminated. In addition, it can be realized with a simple circuit configuration, and the light-receiving element and light-emitting element are small and inexpensive, so it is extremely effective in downsizing products and reducing manufacturing costs, and has great practical effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a portable information communication device of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an example diagram of light-receiving element characteristics, FIG. 3 is an example diagram of temperature sensor characteristics, and FIG. 4 is an example diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention. 11...Portable information device 12...Printer cable 13...Printer 15, 110...Light emitting circuit 16, 111...Light receiving element 17.112...Current limiting circuit 18 .113...Waveform shaping circuit and above Applicant: Seiko Electronics Co., Ltd.: A-1'1;Sir code - fJ diagram Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A portable information communication device comprising: a portable information device; a terminal device for transmitting and receiving data with the portable information device; and means for transmitting and receiving data between the portable information device and the terminal device; , an optical output means for optically converting, an optical input means for receiving the optical output means, a means for adjusting the amount optically received from the optical input means, a means for adjusting the amount optically received. A portable information communication device characterized by comprising means for reconverting data from data to original data.