EP0435763A1 - Bill editing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus, for payment by bankers card, comprises means (12) for reception of a bankers card (19), means (13) for reception of a bill (20), a printing drum (5,6) with rotating wheels, each carrying a series of characters and a moveable carriage (3) carrying a print roller (22). Each drum wheel is integral in rotation with a coding disk bearing a series of codes associated respectively with the characters of the wheel. Means of reading of the codes and means (25) controlled by the means of reading are provided to record the angular positions of wheels and thus the values of the characters. <??>The payment data can be transmitted to a banking processing centre. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for editing payment vouchers at a place of transaction between a seller, holder of the apparatus, and buyers carrying a bank card.

A bank card is provided, on one front side, in relief characters relating to its holder and to its bank and, on the other back side, of a magnetic strip carrying information also relating to the holder and to the bank.

The payment vouchers in question are called invoices. In reality, the device publishes several copies of the same document gathered in a bundle of sheets or tickets that are also called a bill, just like the device itself.

Two of the sheets of a invoice, one for the buyer, the other for the seller, are carbon-carbon, the third, more rigid, being intended for a processing center, and the edition is carried out by printing sheets between, on the one hand, a bank card and a card support plate provided with other characters in relief, defined below, and, on the other hand, two printing rollers mounted on a carriage driven manually in a back and forth movement. More precisely, the rollers are mounted on swivel brackets and it is when the carriage returns that the sheets are printed.

• le nom de son porteur,
• un numéro d'identité bancaire, d'une quinzaine de chiffres, du porteur,
• la date d'expiration de la validité de la carte.

A bank card, on its front, carries

• the name of its holder,
• a bank identification number, fifteen digits, of the bearer,
• the expiry date of the card's validity.

• le nom et l'adresse du vendeur,
• un numéro d'identité bancaire du vendeur,
• la date de la transaction,
• le montant de la transaction, sur certains appareils d'édition.

The board of the card holder editing device carries, on the receiving side of the card, at least three groups of characters

• the seller's name and address,
• a seller's bank identification number,
• the date of the transaction,
• the amount of the transaction, on certain publishing devices.

The first two groups of characters on the board represent constant data, like those of a bank card, while the last groups of characters on the board represent variable data of the transaction.

The variable data characters are carried respectively by printing wheels, each carrying a series of ten digits from 0 to 9, the wheels protruding slightly from the plate and rotatably mounted on the device so that, in start of the day and at each transaction, select their angular positions and thus variable data values of date and transaction amount.

For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that the copies of a small invoice each contain pre-printed frames intended to receive respectively an operation number, an authorization number, a certificate number and the buyer's signature.

These editing devices offer the advantage of being relatively simple and robust.

However, they have some drawbacks.

Their date and transaction amount printing wheels are sometimes difficult to index to the point that sellers very often enter the transaction amount by hand, perhaps also to avoid any ambiguity due to the absence of commas before the penny figures.

Unlike checks, to which they are related, the invoices only contain characters that can be read visually; they do not have CMC7 magnetic characters.

It follows that the bank processing of the invoices is not easy; it involves re-entering all the characters. Since the transactions are carried out without connection to the processing or authorization center, they are not accompanied by any guarantee as to their validity, not to mention the risk of fraud.

The present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks.

To this end, the present invention relates to an invoice editing device for payment by bank card at a place of transaction, comprising a frame and, on the frame, a plate comprising raised characters representative of constant data, means of reception of a bank card and means of reception of a invoice, at least one printing drum with rotating wheels, each carrying a series of raised characters representative of variable data, projecting out of lights provided in the plate, the wheels being able to be driven in rotation to select their angular positions and thus variable data values, and a carriage carrying at least one printing roller and mounted movably along the plate for the printing of the invoice between the plate and a printing face of the bank card, on the one hand, and the roller, on the other hand, apparatus characterized in that each selection wheel is integral in rotation with a coding disc carrying a series of codes associated respectively with the characters of the wheel and means are provided for reading the codes of the coding discs and means, controlled by the reading means, for thus recording the angular positions of the wheels and therefore the values of the variable data.

Thanks to the invention, the information recorded by the recording means of the publishing device can easily be transmitted to a banking processing center which can also enter all the transactions of the holder of the device, this entry being able to s '' perform via a Minitel brand device, a modem and the switched telephone network or a specialized network.

It will be noted that the apparatus of the invention, while solving the problem which is at its origin - security of transactions and automation of processing operations - remains just as robust as those of the prior art. Compared to an electronic payment terminal, this device is very simple, very reliable and inexpensive.

In a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention, each selection wheel and its coding disc are made in one piece, the codes and the print characters are respectively arranged on two adjacent cylindrical strips, the coding strip having a diameter smaller than that of the print strip, to offset the codes with respect to the print characters and thus prevent the codes from being in the printing plan.

Advantageously, each code is composed of an association of signs extending respectively over corresponding ranges of the coding disc.

In this case, the apparatus of the invention may comprise a series of elementary reading means respectively associated with the different coding ranges of the same code, each elementary reading means being arranged to sequentially read the associated ranges of the respective codes of the selection wheels. In other words, there are as many elementary reading means as there are coding signs in the codes and each elementary reading means in turn reads the sign, or the range, which is associated therewith. codes, corresponding to the selected characters, of all the selection wheels.

This sequential reading can be carried out by sequential lighting of the coding ranges associated with each elementary reading means.

In an embodiment which is also very advantageous of the editing apparatus of the invention, the carriage carries a head placed under the plate for reading, through a window provided in the plate, of a magnetic track extending on the side of the bank card opposite its printing side.

Thanks to this additional feature, the information on the magnetic strip of a bank card, during the printing of a bill, can be read, moreover twice, on the outward and return journey of the trolley, before being saved in the device and then transmitted to the processing center.

• la figure 1 représente une vue de dessus de l'appareil d'édition;
• la figure 2 représente une vue schématique en coupe de l'appareil selon la ligne II-II de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 représente une vue schématique en coupe de l'appareil selon la ligne III-III de la figure 1 et
• la figure 4 représente une vue schématique du module optoélectronique de l'appareil des figures 1 à 3.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the editing apparatus, with reference to the appended drawings, in which

• Figure 1 shows a top view of the editing apparatus;
• 2 shows a schematic sectional view of the device along the line II-II of Figure 1;
• FIG. 3 represents a schematic sectional view of the apparatus according to line III-III of FIG. 1 and
• FIG. 4 represents a schematic view of the optoelectronic module of the device of FIGS. 1 to 3.

The apparatus shown in the figures is intended for the edition of invoices. These are payment vouchers printed using the device, signed by buyers, carrying a bank card, at the very place of transactions between these buyers and a seller, generally a merchant, holding the apparatus. These may be bank cards, or so-called credit cards of all types, including smart or memory cards. These cards have characters on their two sides relating to their holder and their bank, on one side, legible and relief and on the other side, written on a magnetic strip.

The apparatus comprises a frame 1, with an upper plate 2 and a mobile carriage 3 for magnetic printing and reading. Between the plate 2 and a bottom 4 are disposed a drum 5 with rotary wheels for printing transaction dates, a drum 6 with rotary wheels for printing transaction amounts, an optoelectronic processing module 7 and other electronic components 8.

The plate 2, of generally rectangular shape, has two openings 9, 10 for the passage of the printing wheels of the rollers 5 and 6, respectively, out of which relief figures carried by the printing wheels protrude.

The figures of the printing wheels 26 of the drums 5, 6 represent variable data, the wheels being able to be driven in rotation to select their angular positions and thus variable data values of dates and transaction amounts.

The plate 2 has a third opening, or lumen, 11 elongated, extending near and parallel to one of the longitudinal edges 23 of the plate, in the direction of movement of the carriage 3 and whose utility will appear later.

The plate 2 also has four small shoes 12 for receiving the four corners of a bank card 19, on either side of the light 11, so that, the card being placed on the plate 2, its face carrying the magnetic track facing the stage, the magnetic track extends above and along the light 11.

The plate 2 here again comprises three other shoes 13 for receiving from three corners of a bill 20, arranged, relative to the shoes for receiving the bank card, so that the legible and embossed characters of the card are located under the corner upper left of the invoice, the wheels of the drum 5 being located substantially in the center of the invoice and the wheels of the drum 6, under the upper right corner of the invoice. Finally, the plate 2 comprises a plate 14 carrying, legible and in relief, numbers and letters constituting constant data relating to the holder of the device and to its bank. The plate 14 is arranged to be located under the upper left corner of the invoice.

The carriage 3 is mounted movable in translation on the frame 1 and above the plate 2, by two angled side arms 15 extending through two lateral grooves 16 formed in the side walls of the frame 1. The carriage 3 is guided in its movement, caused manually by the holder of the device, by two lateral pairs of rollers 17, 18 rolling on a flange 21 of the plate 2.

The carriage 3 carries, here, a printing roller 22, mounted freely on its axis but on a pivoting stirrup, not shown for the sake of clarity.

Having placed the bank card 19 on the plate 2 then, above it, the invoice 20, as roughly illustrated in FIG. 3, although, in this view, the card and the invoice should not have been represented, the operator begins by moving the carriage 3, from right to left in FIG. 1, the roll holder stirrup remaining, in this forward movement, in the high position. It is only during the return movement, the left to right in FIG. 1, that the roller 22, by friction on the card and the invoice, rotates the stirrup towards the plate 2, so that the card and the invoice are pinched between the roller 22 and the plate 2 and that the invoice is printed, as regards the card data, between the face of the card bearing the characters in relief and the printing roller 22. As for the printing on the invoice of the date and date data transaction amount, it takes place between the roller 22 and the wheels of the drums 5, 6.

The mechanical structure of the editing device having been described, the description of its magnetoelectronic and optoelectronic characteristics can now be addressed.

The bent arm 15 of the carriage 3, guided in the groove 16 formed in the side wall of the frame delimited by the edge 23 of the plate 2, carries, at its end disposed under the plate 2, a head 24 for magnetic reading of the track magnetic strip of the bank card placed on the plate 2, the reading taking place through the light 11.

The data recorded on the track are read twice during the handling of the carriage 3, outward and return, and transmitted to a processing and recording unit 25 to which the read head 24 is connected.

The reading of the data of the magnetic strip of the bank cards is carried out through the light 11. If the read head 24 does not have to be physically in contact with the track, the light 11 can be blocked by a magnetically transparent material .

Each selection wheel 26 comprises a lateral portion 27 of reduced diameter, forming a disc, at the periphery of which are reported, in the radial sectors containing the printing characters, optical codes 28 respectively associated with these characters. In the example considered, each code 28 is composed of an association of signs, here four, extending respectively over the same number of corresponding ranges. Still in the example considered, the signs are colors, here black and white, and the associated areas are two by two slightly offset along the circular coding strip. Under these conditions, each code of four ranges positioned in relation to each other, in black or white color, makes it possible to identify one of 2⁴ = 16 print characters. Elementary photosensitive reading means 29, here photodiodes or phototransistors, make it possible to read the codes 28, by means of light conduits 30, here optical fibers. There are as many photosensitive cells 29 as there are areas in each code, so in this case four arranged side by side. Thus, from each light receptor 29 there leaves an optical fiber branching into as many branches 30 as there are coding discs or selection wheels and which terminate near the coding bands 27. Near each of those -this lead in the example considered four branches of optical fiber associated with the four ranges of codes and preferably grouped together in the same transmission cable.

For a reading cell 29 considered, associated with one of the four ranges of the codes, the corresponding ranges of the different coding discs are read by means of lighting cells, or light emitters, 31 respectively associated with the coding discs and energized to illuminate the coding areas concerned sequentially using a sequencer 32.

the cells 29, 31 and the sequencer 32 are mounted on a printed circuit board 33 further carrying the processing and recording unit 25, to which are electrically connected, by a bilateral serial channel, the sequencer and the cells reception 29 which thus control, with the read head 24, this unit 25, for, after amplification and detection, thus determining and recording the angular positions of the selection wheels 26 and consequently the date and amount of transaction corresponding to the set of these angular positions. These can then, with the data from the read head 24, be transmitted from the recording unit to a processing center to which the user is attached, this latter transmission being able to take place in real time, for example by via a modem and a telephone network, or in deferred time, by transport to the management center of the recording medium of the unit 25, at regular intervals.

It will be noted that the surface of the coding pads is more extensive than the section of the end of the optical fiber branches 30 disposed in line with the coding strip 27, so as to take account of the play in the positioning of the selection wheels 26 .

The printed circuit board 33 is fixed to the bottom 4 to prevent any arrival of stray light both on the coding areas 28 and on the reception cells 29.

There have been described selection wheels and coding disks produced, two by two, in one piece. Naturally, the invention is not limited to such an embodiment. It suffices that the coding discs and the selection wheels are, in pairs, integral in rotation, that is to say that the coding discs rotate at the same time as the associated selection wheels by means of a drive. mutual mechanical, including fluidic, or even electrical.

The electronics 8, as a whole, are simple and comparable, in terms of size and electrical consumption, to that, for example, of a calculator. It also performs certain functions found on electronic payment terminals such as power supply from batteries, rechargeable accumulators or from the mains.

The mechanical and electronic characteristics of the editing device having been described, its operation can also be discussed.

The device being connected to the telephone network, an indicator light 40, connected to the unit 25, is lit if the connection is established and the device thus ready for a transaction. Before the first transaction of the day, the merchant selects the angular positions of the wheels of the drum 5, places his own bank card on the plate 2 and manipulates the trolley 3 to load the data of the day into the processing unit 25.

At each transaction, he selects the angular positions of the wheels of the drum 6, places his client's bank card 19 on the plate 2, then a blank invoice 20 and drives the carriage 3 in a back and forth movement. At the end of the movement, the processing unit 25 transmits to the processing center the data entered by the read head 24 and the cells 29. The indicator 40 goes out and another indicator 41, connected to the unit 25, lights up to indicate the busy line. Then the light 41 goes out and the light 40 comes back on to indicate that the transaction has been correctly carried out. If the transaction is refused by the processing center, the light 41 goes out but a third light 42, also connected to the unit 25, lights up.

It will be noted that the three LEDs 40, 41, 42 can be replaced by a single LED with three different colors representative of the three states mentioned above.

An apparatus has been described in which the printing and reading carriage has only one roller. It goes without saying that there could be two respectively for the two printing drums of dates and transaction amounts.

A device has been described connected to the telephone network, therefore to a processing center. It is an "on line" device. Of course, the invention also applies to a device that is not online (offline), the medium for the recorded information being regularly sent to the processing center or this information being transmitted to this center in deferred time.

Claims (8)

Device for editing invoices for payment by bank card at a place of transaction, comprising a frame (1) and, on the frame, a plate (2) comprising raised characters (14) representative of constant data, means ( 12) for receiving a bank card (19) and means (13) for receiving a bill (20), at least one printing drum (5, 6) with rotating wheels (26), each bearing, a series of raised characters representative of variable data, protruding out of lights (9, 10) formed in the plate, the wheels (26) being able to be driven in rotation to select their angular positions and thus variable data values, and a carriage (3) carrying at least one printing roller (22) and movably mounted along the plate (2) for printing the invoice (20) between the plate and a printing face of the bank card , on the one hand, and the roller (22), on the other hand, apparatus characterized by the fact that each selection wheel (26) is integral in rotation with a coding disc (27) carrying a series of codes (28) associated respectively with the characters of the wheel and there are provided means (29) for reading the codes (28) coding discs and means (25), controlled by the reading means (29), to thereby record the angular positions of the wheels (26) and therefore the values of the variable data. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each selection wheel (26) and its coding disc (27) are made in one piece, the codes (28) and the printing characters are respectively arranged on two adjacent cylindrical bands , the coding strip having a diameter smaller than that of the printing strip, for shifting the codes relative to the print characters and avoid that the codes are in the print plan. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein each code (28) is composed of an association of signs extending respectively over corresponding tracks of the coding disc (27). Apparatus according to claim 3, in which a series of elementary reading means (29) is provided respectively associated with the different coding ranges of the same code (28), each elementary reading means (29) being arranged to read sequentially the associated ranges of the respective codes (28) of the selection wheels (26). Apparatus according to claim 4, in which the sequential reading of the ranges of codes (28) is carried out by illumination (31) sequentially (32) of the coding ranges associated with each elementary reading means (29). Apparatus according to one of Claims 4 and 5, in which each elementary reading means comprises a photosensitive cell (29) from which light tubes (30) which end at the coding discs (27), respectively. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 6, in which the carriage (3) carries a head (24) disposed under the plate (2) for reading, through a window (11) formed in the plate, of a magnetic strip extending on the face of the bank card opposite its printing face. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the read head (24) is connected to the recording means (25).

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