JP2000293641A - Ic card reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To read and write information without mixing information of each IC card with only one operation by providing plural antennas and switching circuit connections between the antennas and a signal read and/or write operating means automatically or manually. SOLUTION: 1st and 2nd antennas 4A and 4B perform reading and writing of information recorded on an IC card X and a tag Y. When a consumer presents merchandise desired to be purchased and the card X, the card X and the tag Y are set to two reading parts of an IC card reader/writer. A controlling part 1 first reads information of the card X side with transmission radio waves from the antenna 4A and stores it in a memory 12. Just after this, the part 1 reads a merchandise price recorded on the tag Y with transmission radio waves from the antenna 4B and stores it in the memory 12. Then, in the case the balance surpasses the merchandise price, the balance is updated and recorded on the card X with transmission radio waves from the antenna 4A.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for transmitting and receiving radio waves from an antenna of a non-contact IC card to read and / or read radio waves.
Alternatively, the present invention relates to an IC card reader / writer provided with an antenna for performing a writing operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional portable terminal (POT)
In general, a single antenna 100 is built in, for example, as shown in FIG.
Information recorded on the C card 101 is read, and external information is stored on the IC card 101.

[0003]

However, in the IC card reader / writer having such a configuration, for example, first, the balance information recorded on the consumer's IC card is confirmed, and then the IC card reader / writer is attached to a desired product. I that make up a tag
Read product information (including product price) from C card,
If it is determined that this price is less than the balance, the balance is written on the consumer's IC card,
It is necessary to use two types of IC cards and to perform three read / write operations for convenience.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention can perform reading and writing operations of a plurality of IC cards separately by one operation, in other words, each operation of each IC card can be performed by one operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an IC card reader / writer capable of reading and writing information without confusion.

[0005]

That is, the invention according to claim 1 comprises an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves from the antenna of the non-contact IC card to perform reading and / or writing operations. IC card reader / writer, comprising: a plurality of said antennas; and switching means for automatically or manually switching a circuit connection between these antennas and a single reading and / or writing operation means. It is.

[0006]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an IC card reader / writer according to the present invention. The IC card reader / writer comprises a control unit 1 and a modulation unit 2.
, Drive unit 3, first antenna 4 </ b> A and second antenna 4
B and a demodulation unit 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes a security unit, X denotes an IC card, and Y denotes a tag attached to each type of product.

The control unit 1 includes a CPU (central processing unit)
And a memory 12 comprising a ROM in which various kinds of information such as a reading operation procedure and a writing operation procedure are stored or a RAM capable of storing various kinds of reading information. In the CPU 11 of this embodiment, when the commodity price is read from the tag attached to the commodity to be purchased, prior to this, it is compared with the balance of the IC card previously read, and if the balance exceeds the balance, , An OK lamp (not shown) is turned on, and the amount obtained by subtracting the product price from the balance is instantaneously calculated and the balance is calculated as I
It is configured to write on a C card. If the calculation result at this time becomes negative, a stop lamp (not shown) is turned on, and if necessary, a liquid crystal display (not shown) is provided, and a shortage of the balance is also displayed on the display with characters. You may. In this embodiment, reading and writing are performed automatically, but these may be switched by a manual operation using a button or the like.

The modulation section 2 is operated by a control signal from the control section 1 via a security section 6, and an output is connected to an input of the drive section 3. Drive unit 3
Then, based on the control signal from the control unit 1, the first antenna 4
A radio wave of a predetermined wavelength is switched between the A and the second antenna 4B to oscillate.

The first antenna 4A and the second antenna 4B of this embodiment are used to read information recorded on an IC card.
It performs writing and reading / writing of information recorded on a tag attached to a product.
The card is read / written by the second antenna, and the tag is read / written by the second antenna. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reverse may be the target.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, if an IC card reader / writer is prepared near a cash register at various stores and the consumer presents the desired product and the IC card X, It is easy to settle the goods by the following procedure. The IC card X and the tag Y are simultaneously set in two reading sections (see FIG. 2) of the IC card reader / writer. Then, the control unit 1 first uses the transmission radio wave from the first antenna 4A to transmit the I
The information on the C card X side is read and stored in the memory 12 of the control unit 1. Immediately after that, the control unit 1 reads the commodity price recorded in the tag Y by the control signal from the control unit 1 using the transmission radio wave from the second antenna 4B, and stores this in the memory 12. Thereafter, the stored information is arithmetically processed, and when the balance exceeds the commodity price, the first antenna 4 is turned on by the control signal from the control unit 1 together with the lighting operation of the OK lamp.
The balance is recorded and updated in the IC card X using the transmission radio wave from A.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, an IC card having an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves from an antenna of a non-contact IC card to perform a reading and / or writing operation. A reader / writer which includes at least a plurality of antennas and a switching means for automatically or manually switching a circuit connection between these antennas and a single reading and / or writing operation means; It is possible to separate read / write operations of a plurality of IC cards by operation, in other words, it is possible to read / write information of each IC card without confusion by one operation, When the product is sold at the same time, the use of the product together with the IC card allows the product to be settled extremely quickly and securely without using cash.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC card reader / writer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a reading state of the IC card reader / writer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a reading state of a conventional IC card reader / writer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 control unit 11 CPU 12 memory 2 modulation unit 3 drive unit 4A first antenna 4B second antenna 5 demodulation unit X IC card Y tag

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masaya Mizoguchi 1-19-9 Tsutsumori, Sumida-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Nippon Electric Seiki Co., Ltd. 5B058 CA17 KA22 KA40

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An IC card reader / writer having an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves from an antenna of a non-contact IC card to perform a reading and / or writing operation, comprising: a plurality of said antennas; An IC card reader / writer comprising switching means for automatically or manually switching circuit connection between these antennas and a single reading and / or writing operation means.