WO2001028782A1

WO2001028782A1 - Electronic name card

Info

Publication number: WO2001028782A1
Application number: PCT/KR2000/001175
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gil Soo Yoo
Original assignee: Prochips Technology Inc.; Kim, Yung, Chul
Priority date: 1999-10-19
Filing date: 2000-10-18
Publication date: 2001-04-26
Also published as: KR20010037751A; AU7968200A

Abstract

An electronic name card comprises a memory having a first area for storing the information of the concerned name card owner and the information received from other name card owner and a second area for storing an operating system program, a central processing unit for performing control operations in response to a plurality of commands from the operating system program stored in the memory, a liquid crystal display for displaying the information stored in the first area of the memory, a liquid crystal display driver for driving the liquid crystal display, a data transmission/reception module for transmitting data read from the first area of the memory to other name card owner and receiving name card data therefrom, a wireless transmission/reception driver for driving the data transmission/reception module, a connector responsive to a control signal from the central processing unit for transmitting the data read from the first area of the memory to an information terminal and receiving data therefrom.

Description

ELECTRONIC NAME CARD

Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to electronic name cards, and more particularly to an electronic name card which is capable of storing user information, wirelessly transmitting the stored user information to an electronic name card of another person, wirelessly receiving and storing information therefrom and performing an interfacing operation with external equipment.

Background Art

Generally, most people, when meeting an unknown person, exchange with the unknown person name cards on which their names, addresses, telephone numbers, occupations and official titles are written. A typical example of such name cards is shown in Fig. la herein. Persons engaging in or running businesses, or persons having special outside activities give and receive a much larger number of name cards than general people. Such persons preserve name cards of persons or business lines concerned therewith in name card files or enter the main information of the name cards in electronic notes for efficient management of the concerned persons or business lines. As a result, they often encounter the inconvenience of having to rearrange name cards or enter information thereof whenever meeting new persons or business lines. Active businessmen, who come into frequent contact with other business people, give out a large number of name cards and thus receive substantially the same number of other people's name cards. The arrangement of such a large number of received name cards requires a large amount of time as well as a large- capacity name card file or a plurality of name card files. Active businessmen suffer another inconvenience of having to frequently issue name cards. For example, active businessmen must issue new name cards each time they are promoted or their official posts, addresses, telephone numbers, etc. arc changed. Some businessmen may not check the number of name cards remaining. In this case, provided that there are no name cards remaining, they will fail to give their name card when meeting an unknown person.

In the case where businessmen frequently travel on official business abroad, they have the inconvenience of having to prepare additional paper name cards with contents written in respective languages of destination countries, resulting in a waste of resources.

Traditionally, standard transaction cards such as credit cards have magnetic stripes or integrated circuit (IC) chips as information storage media. Such an information storage medium is assigned a name and identification (ID) account of a card owner, and has predetermined information written on its surface in a silk printing or embossing manner as needed.

These cards are usually used as banking circle cards, communication cards or credit cards which are generally focused on maintaining the security of card owner information. In this regard, such cards restrictedly allow information thereof to be read only by specific terminals.

Disclosure of the Invention

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic name card having a storage medium, which is capable of replacing conventional name cards so as to eliminate such inconveniences as resulting from the exchange of the conventional name cards.

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by a provision of an electronic name card comprising a memory having a first area for storing the information of the concerned name card owner and the information received from other name card owner, and a second area for storing an operating system program, a central processing unit for performing control operations in response to a plurality of commands from the operating system program stored in the memory, a liquid crystal display for displaying the information stored in the first area of the memory, a liquid crystal display driver for driving the liquid crystal display, data transmission/reception means for transmitting data read from the first area of the memory to other name card owner and receiving name card data therefrom, wireless transmission/reception drive means for driving the data transmission/reception means, a connector responsive to a control signal from the central processing unit for transmitting the data read from the first area of the memory to an information terminal and receiving data therefrom, a power supply for supplying power to components in the name card, and a switch for controlling the supply of power from the power supply to the components in the name card.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. la is a view showing the outer appearance of the front part of an electronic name card in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. lb is a view showing the outer appearance of the rear part of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an another embodiment of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Figs, la and lb show the outer appearances of the front and rear parts of an electronic name card in accordance with the present invention, respectively. As shown in Fig. la. indicated on the front part 1000 of the electronic name card arc the contents of general name cards such as a name, occupation, address, telephone number, electronic mail (E-mail) address, facsimile number, photograph, advertisement, etc. As shown in Fig. l b, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 200, a connector 800, a light emitting diode (LED) 700, a switch 500 and function keys 600 are selectively provided in the rear part 1000' of the electronic name card as needed.

The fundamental concept of the electronic name card of the present invention is as follows. When two users meet for the first time, instead of exchanging conventional paper name cards, they set their electronic name cards to be opposite to each other and then push switches installed in the respective electronic name cards to cause power to be supplied to ICs in the respective cards, and thereby having central processing units (CPUs) in the respective electronic name cards transmit the contents stored in memories in the respective cards to the memories in the other cards through wireless transmission/reception drivers in the respective cards. At this time, the transmitted contents may displayed on LCDs provided in the other electronic name cards.

The wireless transmission/reception drivers may preferably be operated in a radio frequency (RF) manner or photocoupling manner, which transmits data using infrared rays. Preferably, the electronic name card of the present invention may synthetically manage a large amount of name card information by downloading or uploading it to or from an information terminal, such as a personal computer (PC) or personal digital assistant (PDA), through a connector.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention. As shown in this drawing, the electronic name card basically comprises an IC 100, an LCD 200 for displaying information processed by the IC 100 in a selected function mode, a connector 800 acting as an interface for exchanging information of the electronic name card with external equipment such as a PC, a power supply 400 for supplying power to the electronic name card, a power ON/OFF control switch 500 for controlling the supply of power from the power supply 400 to the electronic name card, and optical transmission/reception devices 900 and 900' for exchanging information wirelessly with other electronic name card.

An LED 700 is also provided in the electronic name card to selectively indicate the operating state of the card. The electronic name card further comprises a memory 130 for storing programs for supporting a variety of function modes of the card, and a plurality of function keys 600 for selecting the function modes of the card, respectively, such that a CPU 120 executes the selected function modes according to the associated programs stored in the memory 130. The CPU 120 is provided in the IC 100 to control the operation of the electronic name card according to a predetermined operating system (OS) program of the name card. The IC 100 further includes an LCD driver 1 10 for driving the LCD 200, which is a data display unit, under the control of the CPU 120. The memory 130 is also provided in the IC 100 and has a first area for storing the information of the concerned name card owner and the information received from other name card owner, and a second area for storing the operating system program of the name card. The IC 100 further includes an optical transmission/reception driver 140 for driving the optical transmission/reception devices 900 and 900'.

Preferably, the memory 130 may further store a variety of internal operating programs such as an electronic calculator program, telephone directory program, schedule management program, etc., for the implementation of a variety of functions, for example, an electronic note function in the electronic name card.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention. This second embodiment is substantially the same in construction and in operation as the first embodiment, with the exception that radio connection means is provided instead of the photocoupling means in the first embodiment. The radio connection means in the second embodiment is based on an RF antenna 300 and an RF transmission/reception driver 140' . The RF antenna 300 may preferably be installed inside the electronic name card.

The RF antenna 300 and RF transmission/reception driver 140' in the second embodiment functionally correspond respectively to the optical transmission/reception devices 900 and 900' and optical transmission/reception driver 140 in the first embodiment.

A capacitor C l is connected to the RF antenna 300 such that an antenna tuning value is determined according to a capacitance of the capacitor Cl and an inductance of a coil LI of the antenna 300.

In the present invention, the electronic name card can transmit the information of the concerned name card owner to other electronic name card owner or a PC through the connector 800 or can receive the information of other person through the connector 800. To this end, there is a need for an interface for interfacing with the PC or other electronic name card. For example, an electronic name card dedicated terminal having a specific protocol may be used for interfacing between the electronic name cards. A card reader having an RS232C data transmission protocol may be used for interfacing between the electronic name card and the PC.

Further, in the present invention, the internal operation programs of the electronic name card can be configured to support a variety of functions. For example, the internal operation programs may be configured in such a manner that the electronic name card can perform calendar, calculator, dictionary, name card, data search, data sorting, data modification, data output, data storage, data deletion, data addition and data management functions.

The power supply 400 may preferably employ a dry cell and a solar cell selectively or together to generate a drive voltage VI necessary to operate the electronic name card. The electronic name card may preferably comprise security means for preventing other person from illegally using the card. The implementation of such security means will be attendant upon the entry and authentication of a password before the electronic name card is used. Further, the electronic name card may preferably have a multilingual function capable of recognizing data stored in the card in various languages for input and output thereof.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic name card in accordance with the present invention, which will contribute to a better understanding of the structures of the front and rear parts 1000 and 1000' of the card.

A detailed description will hereinafter be given of the operation of the electronic name card with the above-stated construction in accordance with the present invention.

When two or three users owning the electronic name cards of the present invention meet each other for the first time, they introduce themselves and take out their own cards. Then, they set their electronic name cards to be opposite to each other and then push the switches 500 installed in their respective electronic name cards. As a result, the ICs 100 are operated to transmit personal information stored in the respective memories 130 to the electronic name cards of the other users through the respective wireless transmission/reception drivers and the respective wireless data transmission/reception modules. Herein, the wireless transmission/reception driver and wireless data transmission/reception modules are the optical transmission/reception driver 140 and optical transmission/reception devices 900 and 900' in the first embodiment of the present invention and the RF transmission/reception driver 140' and RF antenna 300 in the second embodiment of the present invention, respectively. On the other hand, it may be inconvenient for the users to set their own electronic name cards to be opposite to each other and then push the switches 500 installed in the respective electronic name cards. This inconvenience can be simply removed by providing timer circuits for the electronic name cards which are capable of keeping the entire circuitries of the cards ON for a predetermined period of time if the switches 500 are pushed before the cards face each other.

In the present invention, the electronic name card can selectively output accumulated name card information of other persons as well as name card the information of the concerned name card owner stored therein through the LCD 200 using a corresponding one of the function keys 600. Further, the electronic name card can pre-register a variety of daily information such as a telephone number, schedule, calendar, clock, etc. and personal management information in a predetermined area of the memory 130 using corresponding ones of the function keys 600. In this case, whenever necessary, the electronic name card can read the pre-registered information and output it through the LCD 200.

Further, in the present invention, the electronic name card can perform a variety of additional functions. For example, programs may be stored in the memory 130 to perform calendar, calculator, dictionary, name card, data search, data sorting, data modification, data output, data storage, data deletion, data addition and data management functions. The CPU can execute such programs in response to corresponding ones of the function keys 600, selected. The LED 700 is adapted to indicate the normal operation state of the electronic name card upon the exchange of name card information.

Industrial Applicability

As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides electronic name cards that are capable of replacing conventional paper name cards in simply and conveniently exchanging personal details of people, including businessmen. Users set their own electronic name cards opposite each other and wirelessly exchange each other's personal information such as telephone numbers, etc., thereby removing an economic burden resulting from the consumption of conventional paper name cards. The electronic name card of the present invention is able to store personal information of many persons in the form of digital data, so as to readily correct or delete the information and conveniently search, sort or manage the information.

Further, the electronic name card comprises an interface for enabling the management of information in the card by an information terminal such as a PC or PDA.

Moreover, the electronic name card is able to store the information of the concerned name card owner in various language forms. This enables the name card owner to conveniently exchange name card information with foreigners without using any separate name cards. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

Claims:

1. An electronic name card comprising: a memory for storing the information of the concerned name card owner and the information received from other name card owner; a central processing unit for performing control operations in response to a plurality of commands from an operating system program stored in said memory; a liquid crystal display for displaying the information stored in said memory; a liquid crystal display driver for driving said liquid crystal display; data transmission/reception means for transmitting data read from said memory to other name card owner and receiving name card data therefrom; wireless transmission/reception drive means for driving said data transmission/reception means; a connector responsive to a control signal from said central processing unit for transmitting the data read from said memory to an information terminal and receiving data therefrom; power supply means for supplying power to components in said name card; and a switch for controlling the supply of power from said power supply means to the components in said name card.

2. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said central processing unit, liquid crystal display driver, data transmission/reception means, wireless transmission/reception drive means and memory are configured in a one- chip integrated circuit mounted to said name card.

3. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of function keys for selecting a plurality of function modes, respectively; and a light emitting diode for indicating an operating state of said name card.

4. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said memory is adapted to store programs for performing calendar, calculator, dictionary, name card, data search, data sorting, data modification, data output, data storage, data deletion, data addition and data management functions.

5. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said wireless transmission/reception drive means includes any one of an optical transmission/reception driver and a radio frequency transmission/reception driver.

6. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said data transmission/reception means includes any one of an optical transmission/reception module and a radio frequency antenna.

7. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 6, wherein said radio frequency antenna includes a coil, and a tuning capacitor connected to said coil.

8. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said name card has a front part for indicating personal details of the concerned name card owner including a name, occupation, official title, address, telephone number, electronic mail address, facsimile number and photograph.

9. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said name card has a rear part for containing said liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode, said connector, said switch and a plurality of function keys.

10. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said memory has a first area for storing the information of the concerned name card owner and the received information of other name card owner, and a second area for storing said operating system program.

11. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said power supply means includes a solar cell.

12. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said central processing unit is adapted to execute a program for entry and authentication of a password before said electronic name card is used, so as to prevent other person from illegally using said name card.

13. An electronic name card as set forth in Claim 1 , wherein said central processing unit is adapted to execute a multilingual program for supporting the input and output of data in various languages.