Information reading apparatus and information reading method

• US 8,181,873 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2008
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ashizaki, Koji, Toyoda, Takahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael G
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEDEKEL, TABITHA F
• Application Number:
  US12/211,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20090084846A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,344 Days
• Field of Search: 235/449, 235/451, 235/43.5, 340/10.1, 340/572.4, 340/572.1, 343/742, 343/867, 343/725, 343/728, 343/872, 343/879, 343/893
• US Class Current: 235/449
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/045 the record carrier being of the non-contact type, e.g. RFID, and being specially adapted for attachment to a disc, e.g. a CD or DVD
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10178 including auxiliary means for focusing, repeating or boosting the electromagnetic interrogation field comparable booster antennas integrated on the record carrier itself G06K19/07794
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10346 the antenna being of the far field type, e.g. HF types or dipoles

Abstract

A portable information reading apparatus includes: a first antenna which has a loop or spiral like shape and is provided in a plate-like manner on one surface of an outer shape; a second antenna which is provided in a plate-like manner on a side face of the one surface, has a loop or spiral like shape, and has a smaller size in a short axis than that in a short axis of the first antenna; and a control part adapted to communicate with a non-contact type IC chip by using the first or second antenna and obtain the information recorded on the IC chip, in which when the information is obtained from the IC chip via the second antenna, the control part determines whether the information obtained via the second antenna is a search condition for searching for the information recorded on the IC chip.

Claims

1. A portable information reading apparatus adapted to read information recorded on a non-contact type IC chip, the information reading apparatus comprising:

a first antenna which has a loop-like or spiral-like shape and is provided in a plate-like manner on one surface of an outer shape;

a second antenna which is provided in a plate-like manner on a side face with respect to the one surface, has a loop-like or spiral-like shape, and has a size in a short axis of the second antenna which is smaller than a size in a short axis of the first antenna; and

a control part adapted to communicate with the non-contact type IC chip by selectively using one of the first antenna and the second antenna to obtain the information recorded on the non-contact type IC chip,

wherein in a case where the information is obtained from the non-contact type IC chip via the second antenna, the control part determines whether or not the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to a search condition used for searching for the information recorded on the non-contact type IC chip.

2. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a first input part; and

a second input part,

wherein when an operation of the first input part performed by a user is accepted, the control part obtains the information recorded on the non-contact type IC chip via the first antenna, and when an operation of the second input part performed by the user is accepted, the control part obtains the information from the non-contact type IC chip via the second antenna and determines whether or not the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to the search condition.

3. The information reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the first input part is provided in the vicinity of the first antenna, and

the second input part is provided in the vicinity of the second antenna.

4. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a normal line on a formation surface of the first antenna is orthogonal to a normal line of a loop surface of the second antenna.

5. The information reading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the normal line on the formation surface of the first antenna directs in a vertical direction when the user grasps the information reading apparatus, and

a normal line on a formation surface of the second antenna directs forward as viewed from the user when the user grasps the information reading apparatus.

6. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the first antenna is configured to be able to communicate with the non-contact type IC chip provided to the optical disk through an electromagnetic coupling with an antenna coil formed along a circumferential direction on an optical disk substrate of the optical disk,

the second antenna is configured to enable an electromagnetic coupling with an antenna coil on a side face side which is provided in contact with or in proximity to a side face perpendicular to a recording surface of the optical disk within the optical disk case among two antenna coils of a booster antenna provided to the optical disk case for storing the optical disk,

the booster antenna is configured by connecting the antenna coil on the side face side, the antennal coil provided to the optical disk within the optical disk case, and the antenna coil on a disk side for establishing the electromagnetic coupling to relay signals sent and received among the antenna coils, and

when the second antenna is arranged in proximity to the antenna coil on the side face side on the optical disk case, the control part can obtain the information via the booster antenna from the non-contact type IC chip provided on the optical disk within the optical disk case.

7. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a search condition input part adapted to accept an input of the search condition,

wherein in a case where the information is obtained from the non-contact type IC chip via the second antenna, the control part determines whether or not the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to the search condition accepted by the search condition input part.

8. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a notification part adapted to notify a user of a state of the information reading apparatus,

wherein in a case where the information is obtained from the non-contact type IC chip via the second antenna, the control part determines whether or not the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to the search condition, and in a case where it is determined that the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to the search condition, the notification part is allowed to notify that the information corresponding to the search condition is recorded on the non-contact type IC chip.

9. The information reading apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

the notification part can output an audio message, and

the control part outputs an audio message to allow the notification part to notify that the information corresponding to the search condition is recorded on the non-contact type IC chip in a case where it is determined that the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to the search condition.

10. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a speed detection part adapted to detect a movement speed of the information reading apparatus; and

a notification part adapted to notify a user of a state of the information reading apparatus,

wherein the control part determines whether or not the detected movement speed is faster a predetermined speed by using the speed detection part during a reading operation based on the second antenna, and in a case where the detected movement speed is faster the predetermined speed, the notification part notifies the user of an abnormality.

11. The information reading apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the speed detection part detects the movement speed of the information reading apparatus in a direction parallel to a formation surface of the second antenna.

12. The information reading apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the speed detection part detects the movement speed of the information reading apparatus in a direction of the short axis of the second antenna.

13. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a notification part adapted to notify a user of a state of the information reading apparatus, wherein

the notification part has a display screen on which information is displayed, and

the control part displays at least one of information recorded on the non-contact type IC chip obtained by the first antenna and other information associated with the information on the display screen of the notification part.

14. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a notification part adapted to notify a user of a state of the information reading apparatus, wherein

the notification part includes a light emitting part adapted to emit light, and

the control part allows the light emitting part of the notification part to emit the light when the communication with the non-contact type IC chip is performed via at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna.

15. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a notification part adapted to notify a user of a state of the information reading apparatus, wherein

the notification part includes a light emitting part adapted to emit light to a front of the second antenna, and

the control part allows the light emitting part of the notification part to emit the light in a case where it is determined that the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to the search condition.

16. The information reading apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the light emitting part emits ultraviolet rays.

17. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an external communication part which is capable of communicating with another information apparatus,

wherein the control part can receive the search condition from the other information apparatus via the external communication part.

18. The information reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an external communication part which is capable of communicating with another information apparatus,

wherein the control part can send a search result of the non-contact type IC chip based on the search condition to the other information apparatus via the external communication part.

19. An information reading method of reading information recorded on a non-contact type IC chip by using a portable information reading apparatus including a control part, the information reading method comprising the steps of:

allowing the control part to select one of a loop-like or spiral-like shape first antenna and a second antenna which has a loop-like or spiral-like shape and has a smaller size in a short axis than a size in a short axis of the first antenna to communicate with the non-contact type IC chip via the selected antenna to obtain the information recorded on the non-contact type IC chip; and

allowing the control part to determine, in a case where the information is obtained from the non-contact type IC chip via the second antenna, whether or not the information obtained via the second antenna corresponds to a search condition used for searching for the information recorded on the non-contact type IC chip.