Optical communication card unit

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Industrial application field]

The present invention attempts to wirelessly connect a portable device such as a laptop computer to an external device such as a modem or a printer, eliminate the complexity of wiring, and fully demonstrate the mobility performance of the portable device. Is.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when connecting a portable device such as a laptop computer to a printer or modem, as shown in Fig. 7, data and control signals of the externally connected device are sent to the externally connected device via a communication cable via an interface such as Centronics, and the externally connected device. Was sending the device status signal to the computer. For this reason, the length of the cable was restricted, and because the cable was thick, a considerable space was required for routing, and the lightness of the notebook computer could not be fully exhibited.

【0003】

In order to solve these problems, a wireless data transmission device has been developed, and attempts have been made to attach a transmitter / receiver to the main body of the personal computer to achieve wireless communication, but the device is large and can be directly connected to the main body of the laptop computer. It was rather troublesome.

【0004】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Therefore, it is an invention of the present application that the connection with various external devices such as a printer, a modem, a data storage device and the connection between personal computers can be performed wirelessly without impairing the agility of being able to move a portable device such as a personal computer. Is the issue.

【0005】

It is also an object of the present invention to make an interface device into a card in order to make it wireless so that it can be easily connected to a main body device such as a personal computer.

【0006】

[Means for solving problems]

A data input / output connector is provided at one end of the card board, a memory for temporarily storing data and a control unit for controlling data input / output are provided on the board, and an optical communication unit is provided at the other end of the board, and the optical transmission / reception element is a card. By arranging it at the end of the device, wireless data transmission / reception is possible by simply inserting this card into the device body when it is necessary to connect the external device to the main body.

【0007】

In addition, by making the end on the opposite side of the input / output connector of the card thicker than the other parts, the accommodation part of the optical communication unit is enlarged and a plurality of optical transmission / reception elements can be arranged to expand the data transmission / reception range. I did.

【0008】

Furthermore, the housing of the card that houses the light transmitter / receiver is made of transparent plastic that acts as a convex lens to ensure that the light signal is received.

【0009】

[Action]

When printing or communicating, insert the optical communication card unit of the present invention into the card slot of the main body of a device such as a personal computer, and also insert the card into the external device on the other side in the same way so that the signal light reaches them. .. The print signal and the printer control signal are exchanged wirelessly via the optical communication unit, eliminating the trouble of connecting the cable.

【0010】

Since the end of the card that houses the optical communication unit is thicker than the other parts, by arranging multiple optical transmission / reception elements, signals can be transmitted even if the distance between the devices that transmit / receive data is large. It is possible to transmit reliably. Further, since a large storage space can be taken, it is possible to use a battery having a large capacity even when the drive battery is attached to the card.

【0011】

The housing of the part that houses the optical communication unit at the end of the card is made of transparent plastic that acts as a convex lens, so that the optical signal can be collected and the optical signal can be transmitted and received reliably.

【0012】

[Example]

Example 1 As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the card 1 is provided with a connector 2 for connecting to a personal computer body. The card board is provided with a control unit 3 of a one-chip IC that controls input / output of data and control signals, converts parallel signals into serial signals, and drives an optical transmission / reception unit. A memory for temporarily storing data is also provided on the card board. An optical transmission / reception unit 4 is provided at the other end of the card, and an LED 5 and a light receiving element 6 of the optical transmission unit are provided. Figure 2 shows the state in which the card is attached to a small device.

【0013】

Since the transmission / reception range of the optical transmission / reception element is expanded when the optical transmission / reception element protrudes to the outside of the device body, it is not necessary to insert the portion where the optical transmission / reception element is arranged into the slot of the device body as shown in FIG. Therefore, since the thickness of this portion may be slightly larger, it is possible to make the portion thicker than the other portions of the card, increase the arrayable region of the optical transmission / reception element, and widen the reception range of the optical signal.

【0014】

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, if the housing 7 of the card of the light receiving part is made of transparent plastic that acts as a convex lens, the light intensity in the light receiving part is strengthened, the transmission / reception range can be expanded, and the influence of noise is eliminated. It is possible to do.

【0015】

In the example shown in FIG. 5, a convex lens 8 is arranged on the light receiving portion to obtain the same effect as described above. The transparent portion can also be used as a lens-shaped plastic shape with a filter.

【0016】

As shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to expand the transmission / reception range by independently separating the optical transmission / reception unit 4 and appropriately moving the optical transmission / reception unit without providing the optical transmission / reception unit at the end of the card.

【0017】

[effect]

As described above, since the optical transmission / reception unit is converted into a card, wireless data transmission / reception can be easily performed. The card part where the optical transmission / reception unit is provided can be made thicker to make the optical transmission / reception unit part larger, and the drive battery to be accommodated can be made larger in capacity, so that the transmission / reception range can be increased and the operating time can be lengthened. be able to.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

Schematic diagram of the card.

[Figure 2]

The figure which shows the state which the card is attached to the small device.

[Fig. 3]

Another embodiment of the present invention in which the thickness of the edge of the card is increased.

[Fig. 4]

Another embodiment of the present invention using a transparent housing.

[Fig. 5]

Another embodiment of the present invention in which a convex lens is provided on the light transmitting / receiving element.

[Fig. 6]

Another embodiment of the present invention in which the optical transmission / reception unit is separated.

[Fig. 7]

The figure which shows the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 card 2 connector 3 Control IC 4 Optical transmitter / receiver unit 5 Optical transmitter (LED) 6 Optical receiver 7 Transparent housing 8 convex lens