EP0274294B1 - Ticket issuing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a ticket issuing system.

More specifically, the invention relates to a system for issuing tickets from a strip of paper mounted on a support, which comprises means for delivering a warning signal when the length of strip of paper remaining on the support is equal to the length corresponding to a predetermined number of tickets.

There are many machines which include a system for issuing tickets on which specific notices are printed. Examples include cash registers that issue receipts. In the case of conventional cash registers, these are operated by an attendant. The latter can therefore reload the paper machine himself for issuing tickets, when he finds that the paper supply has been used up.

Some ticket machines operate without the permanent presence of an attendant. This only intervenes for periodic maintenance operations. This is typically the case for paid parking kiosks. Such machines are in particular described in French patent application 85 ..... filed by the applicant. With such terminals, the motorist who wants to leave his vehicle parked must introduce into the terminal parking an amount which corresponds to the desired parking time. In exchange for this sum, the terminal issues the motorist with a ticket bearing at least the current date and the authorized parking time limit, taking into account the sum paid by the motorist. The motorist must then place this ticket behind the windshield of his vehicle so that the parking control staff can check if the parked vehicle is in a regular situation.

If the parking terminal no longer contains paper for issuing tickets, the machine must of course be broken down, which leads to a shortfall for the company which manages the paid parking.

For such machines, maintenance consists essentially in the periodic collection of the amounts entered in the terminal. It is therefore very important that the agent responsible for collecting these sums be informed that the paper strip is ready to be used up so that he can replace it.

On the other hand, it should be understood that the paper, when it is of the thermal printing and pre-printed type, is quite expensive. It is therefore particularly advantageous for the company that manages the paid parking lot to replace the paper as late as possible. However, the definition of when to replace the paper depends on both the frequency of the maintenance attendant's visits and the frequency of use by the parking lot users.

The document FR-A-2 164 125 describes a machine for printing and automatically distributing parking tickets. However, the parking ticket machine has no means of controlling the consumption of paper used to make the tickets.

To solve this problem, it has been proposed to mount in the parking terminals mechanical probe systems which make it possible to detect the thickness of the strip of paper remaining on the paper storage reel. The probe which continuously monitors the thickness of the paper reel issues an alarm signal when this thickness becomes less than a predetermined value. However, such a probe is imprecise in operation. In addition, its adjustment is delicate and it is difficult to adjust it with enough precision for the alarm to be triggered when the remaining paper thickness corresponds to the frequency of use of the terminal in question.

Document US-A-4,533,926 describes a system for managing the data printing tape of a recorder. The paper strip has regularly spaced marks. The counting of these marks makes it possible, by difference, to deduce therefrom the remaining paper length. However, this system is not suitable for the distribution of tickets, in particular because it does not provide absolute detection of the number of tickets remaining.

An object of the invention is to provide a ticket printing system provided with means for detecting exhaustion of the paper stock which is reliable and easy to adjust and which can be easily adapted to the desired triggering threshold.

To achieve this object, according to the invention, the ticket issuing system comprising a strip of paper mounted on a support for issuing said tickets, means for printing the strip for printing a ticket, drive means for said strip for passing it through said printing means and means for cutting a ticket from the rest of said strip after printing, is characterized in that said strip of paper is pre-printed and has a pre-printed mark for each portion of strip corresponding to a ticket and a specific mark corresponding to a number of tickets remaining on the strip equal to P, and in that said system comprises in in addition to means for developing a reference signal representing a predetermined number N of tickets, unique means for detecting said mark and said marks, capable of delivering a first signal when they detect the passage of said mark and a second signal at each once they detect the passage of one of said marks, the detection of said marks controlling said cutting means, storage means, means for loading said number into said storage means when said first signal is transmitted and for decreasing by a unit the content of said storage means each time a second signal is transmitted, and means for comparing the content of said storage means with the number N and for delivering said warning signal when the content of said storage means becomes equal to N.

It is understood that thanks to this specific mark, the processing system associated with the detector, for example, an optical sensor can easily generate the warning signal corresponding to the minimum reserve of paper. In addition, this system does not require any particular initial adjustment of the machine since the specific mark is carried by the strip of paper itself.

According to a first embodiment, the paper is a pre-printed paper comprising end-of-paper length markers corresponding to a ticket and the printing system includes means for detecting these markers. In this case, said mark is also pre-printed and the detector on the passage of said mark delivers a signal having specific characteristics so that the mark is distinguished from "normal" marks.

According to a second embodiment, the paper is stored on its support in the form of a reel. Marking is carried out along a radius of the edge of the paper reel, which gives a mark on each turn of the paper reel. The distance between two consecutive marks is a function of the radius of the turn considered also depending on the thickness of the paper, the value of the radius itself being a function of the length of strip still remaining on the spool. By measuring the distances between two consecutive marks, we can detect the instant when this measured distance becomes equal to that which corresponds to the number of tickets remaining desired.

This second embodiment of the invention requires more extensive processing of the information, but it has the advantage of being able to be implemented with paper which is not pre-printed.

• la figure 1 montre un premier mode de réalisation du système d'émission de tickets selon l'invention;
• la figure 2 montre une bande de papier utilisable avec le système d'émission de tickets selon la figure 1;
• Les figures 3 et 4 montrent une variante de marquage de la bobine de papier pour détecter le moment où il faut changer celle-ci.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of several embodiments of the invention given by way of nonlimiting examples. The description refers to the attached drawing in which:

• Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the ticket issuing system according to the invention;
• FIG. 2 shows a strip of paper usable with the ticket issuing system according to FIG. 1;
• Figures 3 and 4 show an alternative marking of the paper reel to detect when to change it.

Referring first to Figure 1 we will describe an embodiment of the ticket issuing system. The system comprises a support 2 for a reel 4 of paper used for the manufacture of tickets. The paper strip 6 is driven, for example, by a drive roller 8 and a counter roller 10. The roller 8 is rotated by a motor 12 so that the advance of the paper strip 6 takes place at known speed. Beyond the rollers 8 and 10 the paper strip is guided to pass through a printing head 13 which, in the example described, is thermal. Thermal printers are well known and therefore need not be described in detail. At the outlet of the print head 13 there is a paper cutting device comprising a fixed knife 14 and a movable knife 16 whose movements are controlled by a motor 18. After being cut from the rest of the strip, the ticket 20 is collected in a chute 22.

In the example presently described, the paper strip 6 is of the pre-printed heat-sensitive type. As best shown in FIG. 2, the strip of thermosensitive paper 6 comprises, in each portion of strip Z corresponding to a ticket, pre-printed indications A, B, C and a marking point P. The marking point P, disposed at proximity of an edge of the paper strip 6, has the function of allowing the indexing of the pre-printed mentions A, B, C with respect to the mentions to be printed on the ticket using the head d printing 13. For this, the printing system further comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, an optical sensor 24 placed upstream of the printing head 12. The sensor 24 is arranged to detect the identification points P and send an indexing signal each time a point P is detected. In addition, the various information to be printed on the ticket is printed in columns of successive points extending in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the strip of paper. To obtain a correct printing, it is necessary to synchronize the control of the printing points of the thermal head forming a printing column with the movement of the paper strip 6. This synchronization is obtained by means of a wheel 26 provided on its periphery, of regularly spaced notches 28. The wheel 26 is driven in rotation by the drive roller 8 and has a speed of rotation which is proportional to the speed of travel of the paper strip. A second optical sensor 30 delivers a synchronization signal at each passage of a notch.

The normal operation of the system described above is as follows.

All the operations which will be described below are controlled by a microprocessor 32 and its associated circuits. When a ticket must be printed, the microprocessor 32 controls the starting of the motor 12. The strip of heat-sensitive paper 6 therefore advances at known speed. When the detector 24 sees a locating point P pass, the microprocessor controls the activation of the thermal printing head 13. The columns of points are successively printed in synchronism with the synchronization pulses delivered by the sensor 30. When all the columns were printed, the motor 12 continues to control the advance of the paper strip of a predetermined length, then the motor is stopped. The microprocessor 32 then controls the motor 18 associated with the movable knife 16 to cut the printed ticket 20 from the rest of the paper strip, and the ticket 20 falls into the chute 22.

As a variant, the microprocessor can be programmed so that, when the mark for the next ticket appears, the means for cutting the paper 14, 16 are controlled, and the start of printing of the ticket is only ordered when the strip of paper has been driven by a determined length, this length being controlled by the pulses delivered by the sensor 30 cooperating with the notched wheel 26.

The operation described above corresponds to the "current" operation and does not allow monitoring of the stock of paper still available on the reel 4, or more precisely the number of tickets it is still possible to print. Figure 2 shows a strip of preprinted paper to achieve this result. In the zone Z corresponding to the ticket located, for example, 500 tickets before the end of the paper reel, an additional mark M₅₀₀ is pre-printed which is arranged so that it can be seen by the detector 24 during the travel portion of the strip which s extends between the last printing operation and the cutting of the ticket 20.

The M₅₀₀ mark may be pre-printed at the same time as the other particulars on the strip. During the pre-printing of the paper strip, the pre-printing and reel-forming machine includes a counter which controls the printing of the M₅₀₀ mark when it has counted 500 tickets. This mark can have any shape. It suffices that the detector 24 delivers in its passage an electrical signal easily distinguishable from that which is delivered during the passage of an indexing point P. It may be an elongated line, as shown in the figure 1, it can still be two consecutive points etc ...

The mark M marque can also be added manually during the preprinting of the paper strip. More precisely when the pre-printing and reel-forming machine arrives at the 500th ticket, the machine stops and a mark is affixed manually at the appropriate place. This is for example a sticker with this mark and glued to the strip.

If we now return to the operation of the device in FIG. 1, we understand that when the mark M₅₀₀ passes in front of the detector 24, the latter sends a specific signal to the microprocessor 32.

On receipt of this signal, the microprocessor 32 increments a counter 40 to the value 500. On each subsequent detection of an indexing point P the counter 40 is decremented by one. Thus the content of the counter 40 is equal to the number of tickets still available on the reel 4. The counter 40 is associated with a programmable digital comparator 42. The comparator 42 is loaded with a value N which corresponds to the minimum number of tickets below which the paper reel must be changed. When the counter 40 reaches the value N, the comparator 42 delivers a signal which controls the appearance on an display device 44 of alarm information to inform the maintenance person that he must replace the coil.

It may be advantageous to provide a second specific mark M₂₀₀, distinguishable by the sensor 24 of the mark M₅₀₀, to identify the fact that, after this ticket, the length of remaining strip of paper only allows 200 tickets to be printed. Indeed, in certain cases the detection of the mark M₅₀₀ may be defective, and not taken into account by the counter 40. When the mark M₂₀₀ is detected, the counter 40 is forced to the value 200. If the number N with which the comparator 42 is preloaded is greater than 200 the warning signal is immediately issued. Otherwise, the content of the counter 40 is decremented by one each time a ticket is issued until it reaches the value N.

In the solution described above it is necessary to introduce a specific mark for the detection of the end of the paper roll. Such a solution is only viable if the paper roll is pre-printed. In se Referring to Figures 3 and 4, we will now describe a second embodiment of the invention applicable to the case where the strip of paper is not pre-printed.

formule dans laquelle R_o est le rayon externe du moyeu, et e l'épaisseur de la bande de papier.FIG. 3 shows a reel of paper 50 constituted by a hub 52 and a strip of paper 54 wound on this hub. The marking is obtained by making a hollow marking along a radius 55 of the edge of the paper reel. This marking creates a notch Ei in each turn of the reel on the edge of the paper strip. These notches E _i , E _{i + 1.} Are detectable. by the optical detector 24. It is understood that the length L _i of the strip of paper separating two consecutive notches E _i , E _{i + 1} depends on the position of the portion of strip of paper considered on the reel. The distance L _i decreases as one approaches the hub 52 of the coil. More precisely, if we consider the length L _n of the strip portion separated by two consecutive notches and forming the n ^th turn of the coil from the hub of the coil, we have the relation

${\text{L}}_{\text{not}}{\text{= 2 π (R}}_{\text{o}}\text{+ do),}$

formula in which R _o is the external radius of the hub, and e the thickness of the paper strip.

.If we want to identify the moment when only a length of strip of paper remains on the reel corresponding to the printing of 500 tickets, for example, we understand that it is easy to determine the number of the turn of the corresponding spool at the end of the corresponding length of paper tape. Let n₁ be the rank of this turn. To this turn there corresponds a length between two consecutive notches L₁ given by the relation $\text{L₁ = 2 π (Ro + n₁e)}$

.

To detect the fact that the reel contains only 500 tickets, it suffices to measure with precision the lengths L _i separating two consecutive notches. When L _i becomes equal to L₁ we have detected the turn on which the 500th ticket is located, starting from the end of the reel.

This measurement can be made using the device shown in FIG. 1. The detector 24 delivers a pulse each time a notch E _i passes in front of it. This pulse initializes a phase of counting a counter. This counter is incremented by the pulses delivered by the sensor 30 associated with the notched wheel 26. The counter counts these pulses. The counting is interrupted when the optical detector 24 delivers the next pulse corresponding to the passage of the next notch E _i . The wheel 26 being driven with a speed proportional to that of the movement of the paper strip, the content of the counter effectively represents the distance between the two notches To detect when the distance becomes equal to L₁ the simplest method is as follows : The pitch corresponding to the passage of two consecutive notches 28 of the wheel 26 being perfectly known, for example 0.3 mm, it is easy to determine the number P₁ of pulses delivered by the sensor 30 which corresponds to the length L₁

At the end of each counting cycle, the content of the counter is compared to the number P₁. When this content becomes equal to P₁, it has been detected that the turn being printed contains the 500th ticket from the end of the reel.

The variant embodiment which has just been described requires supplying the microprocessor 32 with the information corresponding to the thickness e of the paper strip. This can be annoying due to the possible dispersion of reparameter from one reel of paper to another. To remedy this drawback, the microprocessor 32 can be programmed to perform this calculation.

After the paper reel has been placed in the machine, the microprocessor, using the signals delivered by the sensors 24 and 30, calculates the lengths separating two consecutive notches for two turns separated by a number of turns m known.

${\text{l₃ = 2 π ( R}}_{\text{o}}\text{+ ne)}$

Pour augmenter la précision du calcul, on calcule la longueur L₂ entre deux échancrures séparées par 4 échancrures consécutives, par exemple entre les échancrures E_i et E_{i + p} puis la longueur L₃ entre l'échancrure E_{i + p} et l'échancrure E_{i + 2p} la valeur L₂/p fournit une valeur moyenne de l₂ et L₃/p fournit une valeur moyenne de l₃, et m est égale à p.If we call there and these two lengths we have the relations:

${\text{l₂ = 2 π [R}}_{\text{o}}\text{+ (m + n) e] and}$

${\text{l₃ = 2 π (R}}_{\text{o}}\text{+ do)}$

To increase the accuracy of the calculation, the length L₂ is calculated between two notches separated by 4 consecutive notches, for example between the notches E _i and E _{i + p} then the length L₃ between the notch E _{i + p} and the notch E _{i + 2p} the value L₂ / p provides an average value of l₂ and L₃ / p provides a mean value of l₃, and m is equal to p.

Il faut également souligner que dans le cas du 1er mode de réalisation il n'est pas nécessaire que les marques M₅₀₀ et M₂₀₀ soient optiques. Elles pourraient être magnétiques, le capteur 24 étant alors bien sûr un capteur magnétique.For this particular example we have

It should also be emphasized that in the case of the first embodiment, it is not necessary for the marks M₅₀₀ and M₂₀₀ to be optical. They could be magnetic, the sensor 24 then being of course a magnetic sensor.

The system which has just been described is particularly well suited to the problem posed. In fact, it can be set to issue the warning signal when the number of tickets remaining is equal to the number desired by the machine manager. The counter allowing the development of the warning signal being initialized when the specific mark is detected, the system is not dependent on the interventions which could have taken place on the machine, in particular interruptions of electric supply for maintenance operations .

Claims (1)

1. Ticket issuing system comprising a paper web (6) mounted on a support (2) for dispensing the said tickets, printing means (13) for the web for printing a ticket, drive means (8, 10, 12) for the said web for passing it into the said printing means and means (14, 16) for cutting a ticket from the rest of the web after printing thereof, characterised in that the said paper web (6) is preprinted and includes a preprinted guide mark (P) for each web portion corresponding to a ticket and a specific mark (M) corresponding to a number of tickets remaining on the web equal to P, and in that the said system moreover comprises means (32, 42) for processing a reference signal representing a predetermined number N of tickets, single means (24) for detecting the said mark (M) and the said guide marks (P), capable of delivering a first signal when they detect the passage of the said mark (M) and a second signal each time they detect the passage of one of the said guide marks, the detection of the said guide marks (P) controlling the said cutting means (14, 16), storage means (40), means (32) for entering the said number (P) into the said storage means when the said first signal is emitted and for reducing by one unit the contents of the said storage means each time a second signal is emitted, and means (42) for comparing the contents of the said storage means with the number N and for delivering the said warning signal when the contents of the said storage means become equal to N.

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