JPH1056427A - Infrared data communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an infrared data communication device which is reduced in size, facilitates setting of a communication direction by infrared rays, and simplifies handling. A head unit (8) is rotatably mounted on a neck (6) of a body unit (4), and the head unit (8) includes a light emitting unit (24) for transmitting infrared rays including data to be transmitted and data to be received. And a light receiving section 26 for receiving infrared rays. A light-transmitting window is formed on the front surface of the head unit 8. The light-receiving unit 26 is arranged at the center of the light-transmitting window, and the light-emitting units 24 are arranged on both sides of the light-receiving unit 26. Further, the head portion 8 is provided with a vertical adjusting mechanism 2 for the neck portion 6.
2, the vertical angle can be adjusted and maintained at that angle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an infrared data communication apparatus used for transmitting and receiving data between various data processing apparatuses, such as between a computer and a computer and a printer, using infrared as a data communication medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a close distance space such as a room,
Wireless communication using light instead of a cable as a communication medium between computers or between a computer and a printer is known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-235 discloses this type of communication device.
JP-A-1-316621, "Data processing device", JP-A-2-16822, "Device for transmitting information", JP-A-2-186847, "Infrared network transceiver device", JP-A-5-186847 No. 167538 “Infrared data communication device”.

If such a communication device is used for data transmission / reception, the number of bus lines between the data processing devices can be reduced or omitted, the degree of freedom in spatial arrangement of the data processing devices can be increased, and equipment costs can be reduced. Can be.

[0004]

In such a communication device, it has been established in principle that data is transmitted and received using infrared rays as a communication medium. However, when actually transmitting and receiving data, there are many problems to be solved, such as securing reliability of data transmission / reception by infrared rays, securing a spatial path for transmitting / receiving infrared rays, and stabilizing the transmission / reception. Further, data processing devices such as computers and printers have been reduced in size, and there has been a demand for miniaturization and easy handling of this type of communication device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an infrared data communication device that is small in size, easy to set a communication direction by infrared light, and easy to handle.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to attain the above object, according to the present invention, required data is exchanged between data processing devices by using an infrared ray as a communication medium and separately provided in the data processing device. An infrared data communication device, comprising: a main body, a neck provided on the main body, a head rotatably attached to the main body by the neck, and a light-transmitting window formed on a front surface of the head. A light-receiving unit provided at the center of the light-transmitting window and receiving infrared light containing data to be received; and a light-receiving unit provided on both sides of the light-receiving unit in the light-transmitting window and transmitting infrared light containing data to be transmitted. A light emitting unit.

According to the above configuration, the head is rotatably attached to the main body, so that communication can be made in any direction, and a light receiving portion is provided at the center of the light transmitting window. So it is less susceptible to disturbance light noise.

The above-mentioned neck portion is characterized in that the vertical angle of the head portion can be adjusted and the head portion can be held at that angle.

According to the above configuration, since the angle of the head portion can be adjusted in the vertical direction, the degree of freedom in the communication direction is further increased.

[0010] In the above-mentioned light transmitting window, a light shielding member is provided above the light receiving portion.

According to the above configuration, the influence of disturbance light noise can be further reduced by the light shielding member.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the infrared data communication apparatus of the present invention. The infrared data communication device is provided in parallel with a data processing device 2 such as a computer or a printer that performs various types of data processing, and is used by being installed on a case of the data processing device 2 or at a location adjacent thereto. This infrared data communication device is provided with three mechanism parts, a body part 4, a neck part 6, and a head part 8 which form a seating part, and the body part 4 and the head part 8 can be mechanically rotated via the neck part 6. It is connected to.

The main unit 4 is provided with a main unit control unit 10 as a control means for controlling the transmission and reception of data with the data processing device 2 and the transmission and reception of data by infrared rays. The main body control unit 10 is connected to the data processing device 2 by a bus line 14 through a connector 12 attached to the back of the main body unit 4. A panel 16 is provided on the front of the main unit 4, and switches and a display unit arranged on the panel 16 are connected to the main unit control unit 10.

The neck 6 interposed between the main body 4 and the head 8 serves as a direction adjusting mechanism for turning the head 8 in an arbitrary communication direction while the main body 4 is stationary. Have. The direction adjusting mechanism includes a horizontal direction adjusting mechanism 20 for adjusting the head section 8 in the horizontal direction, and a head section 8 with the horizontal direction adjusted by the horizontal direction adjusting mechanism 20.
And an up-down direction adjusting mechanism 22 for adjusting the angle in the up-down direction. With the horizontal direction adjusting mechanism 20 and the vertical direction adjusting mechanism 22, the head unit 8 is, for example,
Direction adjustment of about 330 ° in the horizontal direction and about 100 ° in the vertical direction is possible, and as a result, an arbitrary communication direction can be set.

Further, the neck portion 6 includes the main body portion 4 and the head portion 8.
, And also serves as a protective means for protecting the cable 18 connected between them and protecting the cable 18 from external impact and the like.

The head section 8 constitutes a data transmitting / receiving section for transmitting / receiving data to be transmitted / received using infrared rays as a communication medium. The head unit 8 is provided with a light emitting unit 24 that emits infrared light containing data to be transmitted and a light receiving unit 26 that receives infrared light containing data to be received. A light emitting circuit 2 for driving the light emitting unit 24 is provided on the light emitting unit 24 side.
8 is provided on the light receiving section 26 side with a light receiving circuit 30 for converting a light receiving signal obtained by the light receiving section 26 into data. The light emitting circuit 28 and the light receiving circuit 30 are connected to the cable 1
The connection between the light emitting circuit 28 and the light receiving circuit 30 and the main body control unit 10 is performed through the cable 18.

FIG. 2 shows a specific embodiment of the infrared data communication apparatus shown in FIG. In this infrared data communication device, to secure a stable installation state,
The bottom surface of the main body 4 is formed flat, and a panel 16 is provided on a front surface forming an inclined surface. The panel 16 is provided with a push switch 32, a channel indicator 34, an operation indicator 36, and a power indicator 38. The push switch 32 is selection means for selecting the data processing device 2 with which data is to be exchanged, and a channel number corresponding to the selection is displayed on the channel display 34. The operation indicator 36 indicates data transfer, and the power indicator 38 indicates power supply to the infrared data communication device. The horizontal support mechanism 40 of the neck 6 is provided with a rotation support disk 40, by which the head section 8 is rotated in the horizontal direction and is held at an arbitrary horizontal position. A light transmitting window 42 for transmitting or receiving infrared light is formed on the front surface of the head unit 8, and the light transmitting window 42 is made translucent with a synthetic resin or the like that allows infrared light to pass well. It is formed and doubles as a filter. The light-emitting unit 24 and the light-receiving unit 26 are protected by the light-transmitting window 42.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the infrared data communication apparatus shown in FIG. The main body 4, the neck 6, and the head 8 are housings individually formed of synthetic resin. The main body 4 is provided with a bottom plate 46 formed of a metal plate for closing the lower surface thereof. The bottom plate 46 has a plurality of convex portions 48 formed by molding.
Are formed. A circuit board 52 forming a part of the main body control unit 10 is sandwiched between the protrusion 48 and a column 50 protruding from the internal ceiling surface on the main body unit 4 side. Further, a screw is passed through the circuit board 52 from the back side of the bottom plate 46, and the screw is screwed into the column 50 side,
The main body 4, the bottom plate 46, and the circuit board 52 are mechanically fixed. The connector 12 attached to the circuit board 52 is disposed on the back side of the main body 4 with its connection exposed.

Further, inside the panel 16 of the main body 4,
The panel substrate 54 is attached, and the panel substrate 5
4 includes a push switch 32 and a channel display 3
4. An operation indicator 36 and a power indicator 38 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the head portion 8 has a built-in head substrate 56 which is horizontal above a position where the head portion 8 is vertically divided into two. This head substrate 5
6, a light emitting diode 240 forming the light emitting unit 24 is installed together with a holding member (holder) 251 for the purpose of positioning in the light emitting direction and saving space.
6 is also provided. Further, a light emitting circuit 28 for driving the light emitting diode 240 and a light receiving circuit 30 for extracting data from a light receiving signal obtained by the light receiving diode 260 are provided. In this example, the light receiving unit 26 is provided at the center of the light transmitting window 42, and the light emitting units 24 are provided on both sides of the light receiving unit 26. Each light emitting unit 24 includes four left and right light emitting diodes 240. By using a plurality of light emitting diodes 240, the setting is made to increase the light emitting output and extend the communication range.

The light receiving section 26 is provided at the center of the light transmitting window 42 in order to improve the accuracy in the communication direction, and the number of light receiving diodes 260 used is one. Thereby, the influence of optical noise can be reduced. Further, a light shielding member 250 shown in FIG.
Is installed. The light shielding member 250 limits the incident angle of light to the light receiving diode 260 from above, and can reduce disturbance light (light noise) from above such as a fluorescent lamp.
In the example of FIG. 6, the incident angle of light to the light receiving diode 260, which is normally 60 degrees, is reduced to 31 degrees when viewed from above. In addition, as the light shielding member 250, for example, a light shielding rubber or the like can be used.

FIG. 7 shows another example of reducing light incident on the light receiving diode 260 from above. In FIG. 7, instead of providing the light shielding member 250, the light receiving diode 260 is moved to the back side with respect to the light receiving window 42 together with the light receiving circuit 30. In this example, as shown in FIG.
The light receiving diode 260 is arranged at a position 10 mm behind the tip of the light emitting diode. For this reason, the angle of incidence of light on the light receiving diode 260 is reduced to 32.5 degrees from above and to 30 degrees from below.

According to the above configuration, disturbance light from above can be reduced for horizontal communication at the same installation height, and communication reliability can be improved.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a horizontal adjustment mechanism 20 installed on the neck 6. That is, a bearing portion 58 forming a circular concave portion is formed on the main body portion 4 side, and inside the bearing portion 58, the rotation support plate 4 provided on the head portion 8 side is provided.
0 is inserted through a washer 60 formed of a synthetic resin film. The plurality of columns 64 protruding from the head 8 are made to face the inside of the main body 4 through the circular holes 62 of the bearing 58, and the lower ends of the columns 64 are slid together with the head 8 to prevent the head 8 from coming off. Is fixed with screws 68. In this embodiment, on the upper surface of the rotating plate 66, convex portions 70 forming an arc surface are formed at intervals of 120 °, while on the lower surface side of the bearing portion 58, as shown in FIG. An annular concavo-convex portion 72 meshing with the convex portion 70 is formed.

Further, a stopper 74 for preventing continuous rotation of the head portion 8 in the same direction is formed in the circular hole portion 62 of the bearing portion 58, and a convex portion 76 corresponding to the stopper 74 is formed in the head portion 8. 8 is provided on the rotation support board 40 side. The contact between them prevents the head portion 8 from rotating more than necessary.

Next, FIG. 10 shows a vertical adjustment mechanism 22 installed on the neck 6. A bearing 78 for vertically supporting the head 8 is integrally formed on the upper surface of the rotary support board 40. The bearing 78 is formed in a U-shape with support walls 80 and 82 formed at regular intervals. Recess 8 forming
4 is formed. A cover 86 having a shape conforming to the shape of the bearing portion is attached to the bearing portion 78. A convex portion 88 is formed on the cover 86 to be inserted into the opening side of the concave portion 84. A concave portion 90 for forming a circular hole is formed. The support shafts 94 and 96 of the support portion 92 formed integrally with the head portion 8 are inserted into the circular holes formed by the concave portions 84 and 90.
The vertical rotation mechanism of the head unit 8 is realized by the engagement of the circular holes 4 and 96, and the vertical angle of the head unit 8 can be adjusted. Further, a ratchet 201 and a leaf spring 202 are inserted into the support shaft 94,
And, it is urged by a compression spring 205 via a holding washer 204 and fixed by an E-ring 206. In addition, the ratchet 201 is formed with an uneven portion 211 and is configured to engage with the convex portion 212 formed on the leaf spring 202. Thus, the head portion 8 rotated at an arbitrary vertical angle can be held at that angle.

Next, the data transfer operation by the infrared data communication device will be described. (1) Installation of infrared data communication device, data processing device 2
As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, as a data processing device 2 to which data is to be exchanged, data exchange between a computer 2A and a printer 2B is taken as an example. An infrared data communication device IR1 is installed as a data transmitter on the computer 2A side, and an infrared data communication device IR2 is installed as a data receiver on the printer 2B side. The infrared data communication device IR1 is connected to the computer 2A through the connector 12,
The infrared data communication device IR2 is connected to the printer 2B through the connector 12. At this time, each of the infrared data communication devices IR1 and IR2 adjusts the direction of the head section 8 in a direction in which communication is possible in a line of sight, avoiding an obstacle that blocks the infrared light L, and makes the light transmitting window 42 face. In this case, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1 (C), the infrared data communication device IR1,
When an obstacle N such as a partition exists between IR2, a mirror M may be mounted on the ceiling surface of the room, and the reflection of the mirror M may be used to transmit and receive the infrared light L.

(2) Infrared data communication devices IR1, IR
When the power switch (not shown) provided on the main body 4 is turned on, power is supplied to the main body controller 10 of the main body 4, the light emitting circuit 28 of the head 8, the light receiving circuit 30, and the like. Main body control unit 10
Then, the initial setting is performed in response to the start of the power supply, the energization display 38 operates, and the energization is displayed by lighting.

(3) Data transmission by infrared light L The computer 2A and the printer 2B start operating, and input data to be sent from the computer 2A to the printer 2B to the infrared data communication device IR1. The input unit of this data may be set in accordance with the memory capacity of the infrared data communication devices IR1 and IR2, and the data output from the computer 2A is temporarily stored in the memory of the main body control unit 10 of the infrared data communication device IR1. It is captured. The data stored in the memory is applied from the main body control unit 10 to the light emitting circuit 28 of the head unit 8 via the cable 18. The light emitting circuit 28 controls the light emitting diode 2 according to the data.
A drive current is supplied to the drive current 40. Accordingly, the light emitting diode 240 generates infrared light L representing data to be transmitted, and this infrared light L is transmitted through the light transmitting window 42 to the light transmitting window 42 of the head 8 of the infrared data communication device IR2 on the opposite side.
Output to.

(4) Receiving Data Using Infrared Light L The infrared light L output from the infrared data communication device IR1
Is the head 8 of the infrared data communication device IR2 on the opposite side.
The light enters the light transmitting window 42, is received by the light receiving diode 260, and is converted into a light receiving signal. This light receiving signal is converted into a digital signal, from which the transmitted data is extracted. This data is sequentially stored in the memory of the main body control unit 10 on the infrared data communication device IR2 side.

(5) Operation of Data Processing Apparatus Based on Received Data The data stored in the memory of the infrared data communication apparatus IR2 is sequentially read out and added to the printer 2B based on the execution of the processing program. Printer 2B
Then, printing based on the data is performed.

As described above, if the pair of infrared data communication devices IR1 and IR2 are used, the print data output from the computer 2A is transmitted to the printer 2B through the infrared light L as a communication medium, and the wireless data using the infrared light L is transmitted. Will be realized. In addition, the communication direction can be arbitrarily set by the horizontal adjustment mechanism 20 and the vertical adjustment mechanism 22 of the neck 6, and stable data communication using infrared rays L can be realized.

In the embodiment, the computer 2A and the printer 2B have been described as examples of the data processing device for transmitting and receiving data. However, the present invention is not limited to the data transmission and reception between the computers and various types of control using the computers. It can be applied to data transfer between devices.

In the embodiment, communication between a pair of infrared data communication devices has been described. However, in the present invention, a plurality of infrared data communication devices correspond to one infrared data communication device, and one computer On the other hand, it can also be used for forming a network between a plurality of data processing devices, such as supplying print data to a plurality of printers.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The size of the infrared transmission / reception system in the head unit can be reduced and the operability can be improved, the accuracy of the communication direction can be improved, and the transmission / reception range of the infrared can be expanded. The reliability of transfer can be improved.

In particular, the vertical angle of the neck can be reliably set, and the ratchet mechanism does not cause any deviation after the setting.

Further, by adding a light shielding member, the influence of disturbance light (light noise) from above the fluorescent lamp or the like in a general use environment can be reduced.

Further, the influence of optical noise can be reduced by reducing the number of light receiving elements, the light emitting output can be increased by increasing the number of light emitting elements, the S / N ratio can be improved, and the transmission / reception range can be expanded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of an infrared data communication device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a specific embodiment of the infrared data communication device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the infrared data communication device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cut-away front view of a head section of the infrared data communication device shown in FIG. 2;

5 is a cut-away plan view of a head of the infrared data communication device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light shielding member in the infrared data communication device illustrated in FIG. 2;

7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light blocking member in the infrared data communication device illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a horizontal adjustment mechanism in the infrared data communication device shown in FIG. 2;

9 is a perspective view showing a rear side of a bearing portion of a horizontal direction adjusting mechanism in the infrared data communication device shown in FIG. 2;

10 is an exploded perspective view of a vertical adjustment mechanism in the infrared data communication device shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing data communication between data processing devices using the infrared data communication device shown in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

2 data processing device, 4 main body, 6 neck, 8 head, 10 main body control, 12 connector, 14 bus line, 16 panel, 18 cable, 20 horizontal adjustment mechanism, 22 vertical adjustment mechanism, 24 light emitting section, 2
6 light receiving section, 28 light emitting circuit, 30 light receiving circuit, 32
Push switch, 34 channel indicator, 36 operation indicator, 38 current indicator, 40 rotation support board, 42
Translucent window, 46 bottom plate, 48 protrusion, 50 support,
52 circuit board, 54 panel board, 56 head board, 58 bearing, 60 washer, 62 circular hole, 6
4 support, 66 rotating plate, 68 screw, 70, 76, 8
8 convex part, 72 concave and convex part, 74 stopper, 78 bearing part, 80, 82 support wall, 84, 90 concave part, 86 cover, 92 support part, 94, 96 support shaft, 201 ratchet, 202 leaf spring, 203 sound deadening sheet, 204
Holding washer, 205 compression spring, 206 E-ring, 240 light emitting diode, 250 light shielding member, 25
1 holding member, 260 light receiving diode.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical display location H01Q 1/12

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An infrared data communication device which is separately arranged in a data processing device and transmits / receives necessary data between said data processing devices using an infrared ray as a communication medium, comprising: a main body; A provided neck portion; a head portion rotatably attached to the main body portion by the neck portion; a light-transmitting window formed on the front surface of the head portion; and a central portion of the light-transmitting window. A light receiving unit that receives infrared light including data to be received, and a light emitting unit that is provided on both sides of the light receiving unit in the light transmitting window and transmits infrared light that includes data to be transmitted. Infrared data communication device. 2. The infrared data communication device according to claim 1, wherein the neck can adjust an angle of the head in a vertical direction, and can hold the head at that angle. Communication device. 3. The infrared data communication device according to claim 1, wherein the light transmitting window is provided with a light blocking member above a light receiving portion.