JPH0682404B2 - Information card - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to office automation.
mation, OA), factory automation (Facto
Information cards such as IC cards used in fields such as ry automation (FA), especially non-power supply (without batteries) without contact terminals for power supply and signal input / output, non-contact type coaxial arrangement insertion direction It concerns free-form information cards.

(Prior Art) In a general information card, an integrated circuit such as a semiconductor memory is built in a card body made of plastic or the like, and a contact terminal with an external device is provided on the card surface.

Conventionally, as a technology in such a field, Nikkei Mechanical, (1985-10-21) Nikkei McGraw-Hill "IC card" P.
167-170, Nikkei Electronics, (1985-12-2) Nikkei McGraw-Hill, Inc. "Electronics manufacturer that sinks into the IC card market (1)" P.275-292, Nikkei Electronics, (1985-12-6) Nikkei McGraw-Hill, Inc. An electronics maker (below), which plunges into the IC card market ”P.
249-262 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 56-109166. The configuration will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional information card, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an implementation example thereof.

In FIG. 2, 1 is an external device for reading and writing information, 2 is an information card, and DC power V _C , E is supplied from the external device 1 to the information card 2 and the external device Input / output signals I / 01 to I / between 1 and information card 2
0n is given and received. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the information card 2 has a rectangular card body 3 made of plastic or the like, and the card body 3 has a plurality of power sources and signals exposed on its surface. The contact type terminal 4 is provided, and an electronic integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as IC) 5 is provided inside. The IC 5 has a semiconductor memory 6 and a microprocessor 7 that controls writing and reading of information to and from the memory 6.

In this type of information card 2, when it is inserted into the external device 1, the terminal 4 on the card 2 side comes into contact with the terminal on the external device 1 side, and the information stored in the memory 6 is transferred through these terminals 4 to the external device 1. Or the information on the external device 1 side is written in the memory 6.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the information card having the above configuration, since the terminal 4 is exposed to the outside, contact failure due to dirt, oxidation, corrosion, wear, etc. of the terminal contact portion, and leakage current. There was a problem in reliability due to malfunctions caused by, and IC5 breakdown due to static electricity and external voltage.

In order to eliminate this problem, a battery, an oscillator, a loop antenna, etc. are built in the card body 3 without exposing the terminal 4 to the surface of the card body 3, and a non-contact type that sends out a signal from the loop antenna using the battery. Although an information card has been proposed, there is a problem in that the card body 3 becomes thick due to the attachment of the battery and the battery is replaced.

In addition, the direction in which the information card 2 is inserted into the external device 1 is limited to a certain direction because the terminal 4 on the card 2 side and the terminal on the external device 1 side need to be in contact with each other. When it was inserted, it had to be inserted again from the correct direction, which was disadvantageous in use.

The present invention has the problems that the above-mentioned conventional technology has, such as low reliability, thick card due to battery attachment,
(EN) An information card which solves the problems of inconvenience such as battery replacement and the restriction of insertion direction.

(Means for Solving Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention reads information,
Alternatively, in an information card for reading and writing, between the almost rectangular card body and the external AC power receiving and outside, which are symmetrical and coaxial with the center line of each side of the card body. A plurality of magnetic coupling coils for exchanging signals, a power supply circuit for converting AC power input through these magnetic coupling coils into DC power for power supply, and a receiving circuit for receiving signals input through the magnetic coupling coils A transmission circuit for sending an output signal to the magnetic coupling coil; a memory for storing information; and a memory control for controlling the operation of the memory based on the signal received by the reception circuit and giving a signal to the transmission circuit. A magnetic coupling coil, a power supply circuit, a receiving circuit,
A transmission circuit, a memory and a memory control circuit are housed in the card body.

(Operation) According to the present invention, since the information card is configured as described above, the plurality of magnetic coupling coils are not restricted in the insertion direction and can receive and input AC power in a contactless manner with an external device. ，
The power supply circuit functions to exchange the output signal, and the power supply circuit converts the AC power from the magnetic coupling coil into DC power and supplies the DC power to the internal circuit. In addition, the receiving circuit and the transmitting circuit receive and transmit signals with respect to an external device.
As a result, signals can be exchanged without power supply and without contact, without being restricted in the insertion direction. Therefore, the above problems can be eliminated.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a coaxial arrangement insertion direction free type information card showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an external device.
An information card 20 is inserted in the.

The external device 10 has an oscillation circuit 11 that outputs AC power, a transmission circuit 12 that converts the input signal Si into a transmission signal, and a reception circuit 13 that converts the transmission signal into an output signal So. Magnetic coupling coils 14, 15 and 16 are connected to 12, 12 and 13, respectively.

On the other hand, the information card 20 has a substantially rectangular card body 21 made of plastic or the like, and inside the card body 21,
Magnetic coupling coils 24, 25, 26 facing the magnetic coupling coils 14, 15, 16 on the external device 10 side are provided, and an IC 27 is housed. In the IC 27, a power supply circuit 28 connected to the magnetic coupling coil 24, a reception circuit 29 and a transmission circuit 30 connected to the magnetic coupling coils 25 and 26, and a memory connected to these reception circuit 29 and transmission circuit 30. A control circuit 31 and a memory 32 are provided.

The power supply circuit 28 is a circuit for converting the AC power input through the magnetic coupling coils 14 and 24 into a stabilized direct voltage Vdc, and the receiving circuit 29 is the transmission signal input through the magnetic coupling coils 15 and 25 to the original signal. The conversion circuit, the transmission circuit 30, is a circuit that converts the output signal of the memory control circuit 31 into a transmission signal and sends it to the magnetic coupling coils 26 and 16. The memory control circuit 31 is, for example, a microprocessor and is a circuit that controls reading and writing of the memory 32 and performs serial-parallel conversion of data. The memory 32 is a medium for storing various kinds of information and includes a read-only memory (ROM), a writable ROM (PROM), and an electrically erasable and writable ROM (EE
PROM), UV erasable and writable ROM (EPROM), etc.

The input signal Si in the external device 10 is the information card 20.
An initial set (initial setting) of the memory control circuit 31 on the side, control signals for reading and writing information, and signals to be written in the memory 32 are serialized. The output signal So is obtained by serializing read information of the memory 32, an operation confirmation signal inside the information card, and the like in the memory control circuit 31.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a mounting example of the information card 20 in FIG. In this information card 20, circular magnetic coupling coils 24, 25, and 26 are arranged in a concentric circle shape with the intersection of a center line X in the long side direction and a center line Y in the short side direction of the card body 21 as the center point. It is set up. Corresponding to these magnetic coupling coils 24 to 26, the magnetic coupling coils 14 to 16 on the side of the external device 10 are similarly arranged.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the information card 20 is inserted into the external device 10, the AC power output from the oscillation circuit 11 in the external device 10 is supplied to the information card 20 side through the magnetic coupling coils 14 and 24, and the input signal Si is transmitted by the transmission circuit 12. It is converted into a transmission signal and transmitted to the information card 20 side through the magnetic coupling coils 15 and 25.

The AC power supplied to the magnetic coupling coil 24 on the information card 20 side is converted into a DC voltage Vdc stabilized by a power supply circuit 28, and then supplied to each circuit in the IC 27 as a power supply.
Further, the transmission signal input to the magnetic coupling coil 25 is
The signal is converted into the original signal Si by the receiving circuit 29, and the memory control circuit
Given to 31. The memory control circuit 31 receives the input signal Si
After writing the information in the memory 32 by designating an address based on the information contained in, for example, the write information, the write completion signal is output. This signal is converted into a transmission signal by the transmission circuit 30 and then transmitted to the reception circuit 13 on the external device 10 side through the magnetic coupling coils 26 and 16.

The receiving circuit 13 converts the given transmission signal into the original signal So and outputs the signal So.

Here, since the magnetic coupling coils 24 to 26 on the information card 20 side are arranged concentrically with the magnetic coupling coils 14 to 16 on the external device 10 side, the direction in which the information card 20 is oriented, that is, vertical, left and right , Even if the front and back are reversed and inserted into the external device 10,
Since the coupling state of the magnetic coupling coils 24 to 26 and 14 to 16 is constant, the above-described operation is always possible.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information card of the coaxial arrangement / insertion direction free type according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this circuit, the magnetic coupling coils 14 and 24 shown in FIG. 1 are omitted, and the magnetic coupling coils 15 and 25 share power transmission and signal transmission. In addition, the transmission circuit 12 has a circuit configuration that modulates AC power with the input signal Si and transmits it to the information card 20 side through the magnetic coupling coils 15 and 25, and the reception circuit 29 on the information card 20 side is magnetic. The circuit configuration is such that only the signal component of the transmission signal input from the coupling coil 25 is extracted and converted to the original signal Si. In this way, even if the magnetic coupling coils 14 and 24 are omitted, the same operation as the circuit of FIG. 1 can be performed.

6 and 7 are plan views showing mounting examples of the information card 20 of FIG. In the information card 20 of FIG. 6, the magnetic coupling coils 25, 26 are arranged concentrically with the intersection of the center lines X and Y as the center point, and in the information card of FIG. 7, the intersection is the center point. The rectangular magnetic coupling coil 25 and the circular magnetic coupling coil 26 are coaxially arranged. Corresponding to the magnetic coupling coils 25 and 26 of FIGS. 6 and 7, the magnetic coupling coils 15 and 16 of the external device 10 are also arranged. Therefore, no matter which direction the information card 20 is inserted,
The same operation is possible.

The above embodiments have the following advantages.

Without exposing the terminals of the internal circuit to the outside as in the past,
Since electric power can be received and signals can be input and output without contact, there is no influence of contact failure due to dirt, oxidation, corrosion, wear, etc. of the terminal contact portion as in the conventional case. Furthermore, not only is there no failure or malfunction due to leakage current, but there is no need to protect the internal circuit due to external voltage or static electricity. Therefore, high reliability can be obtained.

The completely sealed structure improves explosion-proof and waterproof properties. Therefore, it can be applied not only to ordinary OA equipment and FA equipment, but also to equipment in a bad environment or a place where explosion-proof measures are required.

Since the battery is not built in, it is not necessary to replace the battery, and the card body 21 can be thinned by the space for installing the battery. Further, it can be expected to have a longer life as compared with a conventional solar cell having a built-in solar cell.

Since the magnetic coupling coils 24 to 26 on the side of the information card 20 are arranged symmetrically and coaxially with respect to the center lines X and Y of the card body 21, which direction the information card 20 is, that is, the top, bottom, left and right, the front and back are reversed. Even if it is inserted into the external device 10, the operation is possible. In this way, since the insertion direction of the information card 20 is not restricted, usability is improved.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, the shapes and arrangement of the magnetic coupling coils 24 to 26 may be modified to those other than those shown in the drawings, or the circuit configuration inside the IC 27 may be modified to other ones such as a hybrid system.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the input of power source power and the input / output of signals are performed through a plurality of magnetic coupling coils that are not exposed to the outside. It is possible to prevent malfunction due to poor contact or leakage current, and further damage to internal circuits due to static electricity or external voltage. Moreover, since the magnetic coupling coil is arranged symmetrically and coaxially with the center line of each side of the card body, there is no restriction in the insertion direction of the information card, and the usability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information card of the coaxial arrangement / insertion direction free type showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional information card, and FIG. 3 is an implementation example of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the mounting example of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information card of a coaxial arrangement insertion direction free type showing another embodiment of the present invention. 7 is the fifth
It is a top view which shows the example of implementation of a figure. 10 …… External device, 11 …… Oscillation circuit, 12,30 …… Transmission circuit, 13,29 …… Reception circuit, 14,15,16,24,25,26 …… Magnetic coupling coil, 20 …… Information card , 21 …… Card body, 27…
… IC, 28 …… Power supply circuit, 31 …… Memory control circuit, 32 ……
memory.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A card body having a substantially rectangular shape, and arranged symmetrically and coaxially with respect to the center line of each side of the card body, for receiving external AC power and exchanging signals with the outside. A plurality of magnetic coupling coils, a power supply circuit for converting AC power input through these magnetic coupling coils into DC power for power supply, a receiving circuit for receiving signals input through the magnetic coupling coils, and an output signal A transmission circuit for transmitting to the magnetic coupling coil; a memory for storing information; and a memory control circuit for controlling the operation of the memory based on a signal received by the reception circuit and for giving a signal to the transmission circuit, The magnetic coupling coil, a power supply circuit, a receiving circuit, a transmitting circuit,
An information card, characterized in that a memory and a memory control circuit are housed in the card body. 2. The information according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of magnetic coupling coils are composed of a magnetic coupling coil for receiving power, a magnetic coupling coil for receiving signals, and a magnetic coupling coil for transmitting signals. card. 3. The information card according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of magnetic coupling coils are composed of a magnetic coupling coil for receiving power and a signal, and a magnetic coupling coil for transmitting a signal.