JPH0476789A - Portable terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The purpose of this invention is to generate an activation signal at a predetermined set time in order to improve the efficiency of data transmission and reception with a host computer regarding a portable terminal device used in a data collection system. A clock unit, a power supply unit that supplies power in response to the startup signal, and a power supply unit that starts a data processing program in response to the startup signal to start transmitting and receiving data with the host computer, and sends a termination signal when the data transmission and reception is completed. The device is configured to include a data control unit that sends the data to the power supply unit and stops the supply of power.

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a portable terminal device used in a data collection system.

Data collection systems in which data collected by each terminal device are aggregated and managed by a host computer are widely used in commercial transaction systems such as POS systems and inventory management systems. Although stationary terminal devices have traditionally been used in this type of data collection system, recently portable terminal devices have also come to be used in addition to these. Since portable terminal devices can be carried freely by operators, there are no restrictions on where they can be installed, and they play a major role in expanding the uses of data collection systems. However, the efficiency of data transmission and reception between them and the host computer remains the same. It is inferior to the model, and improvements are desired.

[Prior Art] In a data collection system using a stationary terminal device, the terminal device and a host computer are always connected through a line. Therefore, the host computer can always grasp the status of each terminal device, and for example, improves the efficiency of data transmission and reception by distributing the data transmission and reception between the terminal device and the host computer so that it is not concentrated in a specific time period. be able to. However, unlike stationary terminal devices, portable terminal devices are not always connected via a line, and as mentioned above, are usually carried around by an operator. Therefore, whenever the operator determines that it is necessary to transmit data, he connects to the communication line and calls the host computer to transmit and receive data.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As described above, in order to make a call from a portable terminal device to a host computer and send data, the operator's intervention is required and the call can be made at a time convenient for the operator. Therefore, the amount and time of data transmission cannot be controlled on the host computer side. Therefore, a situation arises in which calls from a large number of portable terminal devices to the host computer are concentrated and exceed the processing capacity of the host computer, making it impossible to send and receive data. In this case, the operator must wait until transmission is possible. On the other hand, there is a problem in that during times such as nighttime, data cannot be sent or received because the operator is away from the portable terminal device, even though data can be received on the host computer side.

Furthermore, if the efficiency of data transmission and reception decreases as a result of the above-mentioned problems, the number of portable terminal devices that can be connected to the host computer will be limited, which will reduce the usefulness of the data collection system. become.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of data transmission and reception with a host computer.

[Means to solve the problem]

The solution to the above problem is to have a clock unit that generates a start signal at a predetermined set time, a power supply unit that supplies power in response to the start signal, and a data processing program that starts a data processing program in response to the start signal to exchange data between the host computer and the host computer. This is achieved by a portable terminal device characterized in that it includes a data control section that starts transmission and reception of the data, and when the transmission and reception of data is completed, sends an end signal to the power supply section to stop the supply of power.

[For production]

According to the present invention, even when an operator is away from the portable terminal device, the portable terminal device can be operated at any time to send and receive data to and from the host computer. Therefore, the degree of freedom in selecting time slots for data transmission and reception is increased, and data transmission and reception can be distributed and efficiently performed between a large number of portable terminal devices and the host computer.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a portable terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a data control section, 2 is a clock section, 3 is a sub power supply, 4 is a power supply section, and 5 is a main control section. part, 6 is I1
0 control unit, 6a is a barcode reader, 6b is a keyboard, 7 is a data memory, 8 is a line control unit, 9 is a communication line, 1o is a data pastial, data control unit 1 includes data transmission and reception with the host computer. A non-volatile memory (not shown) is built-in to store a data processing program for controlling. In addition, barcode reader 6a
The data collected by the computer and the keyboard 6b are stored in the data memory 7.

After collecting data using the above-mentioned portable terminal device, the operator connects the line control unit 8 to the communication line 9 and sets the start time of data transmission to the host computer using the clock unit 2.
Set to . Then, the power supply unit 4 is cut off to stop supplying power to each of the above-mentioned components. At this time, the minimum necessary components for transmitting and receiving data with the host computer, such as the nonvolatile memory in the data control unit 1 and the clock unit 2, include:
The power supply is maintained by an auxiliary power source 3 such as a dry battery provided independently of the power source section 4, and in this state, the operator leaves the portable terminal device.

Then, at the predetermined set time, a start signal is sent from the clock section 2 to the power supply section 4 and the data control section 1. The power supply unit 4 receives the activation signal and starts supplying power to each component within the device. In addition, the data control unit 1 receives a start signal, starts a data processing program, and gives instructions to the data memory 7 according to the data processing program. Data memory 7
Then, according to the instructions, the recorded data is transmitted to the host computer via the line control section 8. When the data transmission is completed, a termination signal is sent to the power supply unit 4, and the supply of power to each component is stopped.

Furthermore, by including an instruction to the I10 control unit 6 in the data processing program, even when the operator is away from the portable terminal device, the barcode reader 68 etc. can be operated to obtain data and immediately transmit it. You can also do that.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to send and receive data by calling the host computer from a portable terminal device at any set time without operator intervention. Beneficial in improving efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a data control unit; 2 is the clock part, 3 is the sub power supply, 4 is the power supply section, 5 is the main control unit; 6 is the I10 control unit, 6a is barcode reader 6b is the keyboard, 7 is data memory, 8 is a line control unit; 9 is a communication line, IO is data bus, Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] A clock section (2) that generates a start signal at a predetermined set time; a power supply section (4) that supplies power in response to the start signal; and a host that starts a data processing program in response to the start signal. Starts sending and receiving data to and from the computer, and sends a termination signal to the power supply (
4) to stop the power supply.
) A portable terminal device comprising: