JP2002209198A - Charging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charging device capable of performing charging corresponding to displayed contents on a display. SOLUTION: A user can display a TV image or a Web image on the display 100 by operating a terminal body 200. Displayed contents are sent to a prepaid card reader 300 and charging is carried out in accordance with the displayed contents. When the number of points of a prepaid card is insufficient, the signal to the effect is inputted to the terminal main point 200 to alarm the user about it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a billing device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a charging apparatus that displays a television screen or a Web screen and charges the service.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a television billing system that connects a billing device to a television receiver and enables a television screen to be displayed for a predetermined time in response to coin insertion.

[0003]

However, the conventional billing system has a problem that billing cannot be performed according to the displayed contents.

[0004] The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide a charging apparatus capable of performing charging according to display contents.

[0005]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a billing apparatus, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving a charge; a display unit for displaying a Web screen; and a display content of the display unit. Determining means for determining information related to charging in accordance with the information, and charging means for performing charging in the receiving means based on the determination of the determining means.

[0006] Preferably, the receiving means includes reading means for reading information from a prepaid card or other card, and the billing device displays the information based on the information read by the reading means and the information determined by the determining means. Further comprising control means for controlling the display in.

[0007] Preferably, the determining means determines an amount to be charged. Preferably, the display means can display a television screen.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a television and an Internet billing system. Referring to FIG.
It comprises a display 100, a terminal body 200 and a prepaid card reader 300.

The display 100 is provided with a television panel including switches and input devices. Power plug 102 for supplying power to display 100
Is connected to the card reader 300. As a result, the power supply to the display 100 is
0 can be controlled.

[0010] The display 100 and the terminal body 200 are connected to each other by two cords. These codes are for transmitting a video / audio signal from the terminal main body 200 to the display 100.

The terminal body 200 is provided with a light receiving section (infrared remote control sensor) 202. Thus, the user can switch the display on the display 100 or input a URL or the like via the terminal body 200 using the remote controller.

An input terminal ANT from an antenna, audio / visual input terminals AV, L
An AN connection terminal LAN is provided. The power plug 204 of the terminal body 200 is connected to an AC outlet, and power is constantly supplied to the terminal body 200.

The terminal body 200 and the card reader 300 are connected via a parallel port and a wired remote control port. As a result, the information on the balance inserted in the card reader 300 is sent from the card reader 300 to the terminal main body 200. In addition, information (for example, paid / free information or billed amount per unit time) related to billing according to the display contents of the display 100 is sent from the terminal body 200 to the card reader 300, and based on this, the card reader 300 Processing such as subtracting the remaining frequency of the prepaid card is performed.

Since the terminal body 200 has a built-in tuner, the user can use the display 100 to simultaneously browse television broadcasts and a Web screen via the Internet. That is, a browser function is built in the terminal body 200. This browser has a picture-in-picture function, and a television screen can be pasted on the browser.

The initial screen displayed on the display 100 is stored in the ROM in the terminal body 200. Here, it is assumed that the initial screen is a television (TV) + banner advertisement screen.

[0016] Information indicating whether charging is possible or not is sent from the card reader 300 to the terminal body 200. If charging is not possible, the user can view only free contents via the display 100. On the other hand, when charging is possible, the user can view all contents.

From the terminal body 200 to the card reader 300, a screen (TV,
Information on TV + Web, Web, and the like, whether or not waiting, a viewing channel (when watching TV), and a distinction between paid and free contents are transmitted.

Information sent to the card reader 300 is sent as a log to the server via the LAN, for example, every hour and when the power is turned off.

The terminal main body 200 may use original hardware, or a personal computer may be used as the terminal main body 200. In this case, the charge control process described later is performed by the operation of the program stored in the personal computer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the terminal body 200 of FIG. Referring to FIG.
00 is a CPU 206 for controlling the entire apparatus, an infrared remote control sensor 202, a TV tuner 208, an antenna input terminal 210, an external AV input terminal 212,
An AV output terminal 214, a switch 222 for switching input / output, an external control terminal 216,
A terminal 218, a power supply circuit 220, and a power supply plug 204 are provided.

The user can send an instruction to the infrared remote control sensor 200 via the remote control 250. Also,
Information from the video deck 150 (or a DVD player or other device) is input to the external AV input terminal 212.

An AV output terminal 21 is connected to the display 100.
A video / audio signal is output via the control unit 4.

In the present embodiment, the charging method is changed according to the contents of the screen displayed on the display by the user. Specifically, whether the user is viewing an Internet homepage, a free homepage (for example, guidance or announcements in a particular facility such as a hospital), a TV, or a banner ad The fee changes depending on whether you are watching the TV screen.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents displayed on the display 100. The display 100 includes a TV (television) screen that displays a television image on a full screen, and a TV + W that displays a reduced television image by adding a banner advertisement or the like.
One of an eb (web) screen and a web screen for displaying a homepage or the like from the Internet is displayed.

During standby (STANBY), nothing is displayed on the display. FIG. 4 shows the TV + of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a Web screen or a configuration of a Web screen.
Referring to the figure, a menu bar is displayed in the upper part of the screen.

When the user selects the "TV" button in the menu bar, a television screen is displayed below the menu bar. When the user selects the "menu" button on the menu bar, a menu list screen is displayed below the menu bar.

When the user presses the “←” button, the screen returns to the previous screen, and when the user presses the “→” button, the screen advances to the next screen.

When the user selects the advertisement banner,
The home page of the site specified by the banner is specified below the menu bar.

FIG. 5 shows the ROM existing in the CPU 206.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing screen data (1) stored in the storage device. Referring to the figure, a screen including a menu bar and the like is stored as screen (1) on the ROM. Further, the substitute image A and the substitute image B are recorded in the ROM.

A banner advertisement is usually displayed on the menu bar, but when a connection to a network cannot be made, these alternative screens A and B are displayed on the menu bar instead of an error display.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing screen data (2) stored in the ROM in the CPU 206. This screen data is displayed when the frequency of the prepaid card is insufficient. That is, when the frequency of the prepaid card is insufficient, a message that "the frequency of the card is insufficient." Is displayed at the center of the display.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing screen data (3) stored in the ROM in the CPU 206. This screen data is displayed when a connection to the network cannot be established. In other words, if it is not possible to connect to the network, the message "Cannot connect to the network. Try again later or check the wiring." Is displayed on the display.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing signals transmitted from the terminal body 200 to the card reader 300, the state at that time, and the operation of the card reader 300.

When the input line "1" is on, the signal 0
When 000 0001 is sent to the card reader 300, it indicates that the TV 100 group program is displayed on the display 100. At this time, the card reader adopts the group 1 charging system (charge) and deducts the charge from the prepaid card. At this time, power is supplied to the display 100 by the power plug 102 (relay on).

Similarly, when the input lines "2" to "8" are on, the signals shown in FIG. 8 are sent to the card reader 300, respectively. When the signal of the input line is each of “2” to “8”, the terminal body 2
00 is the TV2 group, TV3 group, TV
+ Web1 group, TV + Web2 group, TV +
This indicates that the contents of the Web3 group, the Web1 group, and the Web2 group are displayed.

The signals "2" to "8" of the input line
In response to, the card readers are group 2, group 6,
The charge system of group 3, group 4, group 7, group 5, and group 8 is adopted, and the charge from the prepaid card is deducted. Note that the input lines “2” to
When “8” is on, the power is supplied to the display 100 by the power plug 102 (relay on).

Here, the charges for groups 6 to 8 are free (initial value). When no signal is sent to the input line, it indicates that the terminal body 200 is in the standby state, and the card reader is on the display 10.
No power supply to 0 (relay off).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing signals transmitted from the card reader 300 to the terminal body 200. Referring to the figure,
Prepaid card (paid card) by 1/0 of signal
Presence / absence of the frequency can be transmitted to the terminal body 200.

With such a configuration, the display 100
Can be displayed as follows.

When the instruction from the user is a TV display,
An image of only the television screen is displayed on the display (TV in FIG. 3). At this time, the terminal body 200 outputs a signal to the line 1, 2, or 3 of the card reader. Card reader 300 performs group billing according to the input signal. Further, it checks the billing amount and the remaining frequency of the inserted prepaid card, and outputs a viewing permission signal (1/0) to terminal body 200.

When the charging group is "free", viewing is possible even when no prepaid card is inserted.

The user's instruction is TV + Web (FIG. 3)
), A Web browser is displayed on the screen, and a TV image is pasted in the Web browser. At this time, the terminal body 200 outputs a signal to the input line 4, 5, or 6 of the card reader 300.

When the instruction from the user is Web, a Web screen is displayed on the display. At this time, the terminal body 200 is connected to the input line 7 or 8 of the card reader.
Output a signal to

In the standby state, no signal is sent to the input line of the card reader 300, and the display is turned off (turned off).

It is preferable that the group of the displayed Web screen is determined by identifying the URL. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, information for specifying a group may be recorded in a header portion of an HTML document, and the group may be determined by analyzing the header.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the contents displayed on the display 100 when free television programs are mixed.

When the system is started, a screen (1) (FIG. 5) recorded in the ROM is displayed on the screen.
That is, a free television image screen and a menu bar are displayed on the display.

At this time, a screen obtained from the Internet is displayed as a banner advertisement in the menu bar. If the Internet connection is poor, the previously displayed banner (or alternative image A or B) is displayed. Is displayed.

If the user has changed from a television free channel to a pay channel, the designated channel is displayed if there is a card frequency. on the other hand,
If there is no card frequency, a screen (2) (FIG. 6) recorded in the ROM is displayed to notify the user that the card frequency is insufficient. At this time, after the screen (2) is displayed for several seconds, the screen returns to the screen at the time of startup. Also, when the Internet connection is poor, the same display is performed according to the presence or absence of the card frequency (however, the banner advertisement is displayed in the same manner as when the Internet connection is poor at the time of startup).

When an instruction to display free contents is given by the user selecting a menu button,
The web free page screen is displayed regardless of the number of cards. If connection to the Internet is not possible, a screen (3) (FIG. 7) recorded in the ROM is displayed, and the user is notified of that.

When the user desires to view pay contents, a Web pay page is displayed when there is a card frequency. On the other hand, if there is no card frequency, the ROM screen (2) is displayed. If it is not possible to connect to the net, a ROM screen (3) is displayed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display on the display 100 when there is no free television program.

Referring to the figure, if there is a card frequency when the system is activated, a TV + Web screen is displayed. At this time, the previously displayed channel is displayed as the channel to be displayed. On the other hand, when there is no card frequency, the ROM screen (2) is displayed. Similar processing is performed according to the presence / absence of the card frequency even when the connection to the net cannot be established.

When free content or paid content is selected by the menu button, the same processing as in FIG. 11 is performed.

If the user instructs to output a 100% TV screen, the TV screen is displayed if there is a card frequency, and the ROM screen (2) is displayed if there is no card frequency. If the connection to the net is poor, the same processing is performed according to the presence or absence of the card frequency.

Referring to FIG. 13, when the TV button is pressed while browsing the Web, if there is a card frequency, a ROM screen (1) is displayed. At this time, the previously displayed TV channel is displayed as the TV channel. If the previously displayed channel is free, the screen shifts to the startup screen in FIG. If the card frequency is insufficient, the ROM screen (2) is displayed, and after a few seconds, the free channel is displayed (display at the time of startup in FIG. 11).

As described above, the present embodiment has an effect that a TV screen and / or a Web screen can be displayed on the display, and billing can be performed according to the displayed contents.

In the above-described embodiment, the payment is accepted by inserting a prepaid card. However, instead of this, the payment is accepted using a banknote, a coin, a cash card, a debit card, or the like. You may decide to do it.

The present invention can be applied not only to the above-described embodiment but also to a system not connected to a network environment.

Further, a program for executing the above-mentioned billing method can be provided, and the program is stored in a CD-ROM.
It may be recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, and a memory card and provided to the user.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a television and an Internet billing system according to one of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal main body 200 of FIG.

3 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on a display 100. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a menu bar.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen (1) on a ROM.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen (2) on a ROM.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a screen (3) on a ROM.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining signals transmitted from the terminal main body 200 to the card reader 300.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining signals transmitted from the card reader 300 to the terminal main body 200.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method for determining a group of Web pages.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a screen.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a screen.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 display, 200 terminal body, 208 T
V tuner, 210 antenna input terminal, 212 external A
V input terminal, 214 AV output terminal, 216 external control terminal, 218 LAN terminal, 220 power supply circuit,
300 card reader.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) // H04N 5/00 H04N 5/00 A

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving a charge, a display means for displaying a Web screen, a determining means for determining information related to charging in accordance with a display content of the display means, and based on the determination by the determining means. A billing device, comprising: billing means for billing at the receiving means. 2. The receiving means includes reading means for reading information from a prepaid card or other card, and the display means based on the information read by the reading means and the information determined by the determining means. The charging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling display in (1). 3. The charging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said determining means determines an amount to be charged. 4. The charging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means is capable of displaying a television screen.