IL129763A - Method and apparatus for using a memory card to authorize and control dispensing and metering of consumption of at least one fluid or form of energy - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus (1) for using a memory card to authorize and control dispensing and metering of consumption of at least one fluid or form of energy, comprising: at least one meter (9, 10) for metering consumption of said fluid or said energy, and delivering a signal representative of said consumption; a managing electronic unit (4) receiving said signal representative of consumption, and suitable at least for converting it into predefined value units; a memory card reader (31) associated at least with a keypad (33) and a display screen (32), and a cuttoff member (10, 12) for turning off said energy or said fluid and situated on the feed network (7) upstream from a dispenser outlet (5, 6) for dispensing said fluid or energy; the assembly being driven and controlled by said electronic unit characterized in that said apparatus is powered by at least one electric battery and has at least two dispenser outlets, two consumption members, and two cutoff members respectively for turning off the dispensing of water and for turning off the dispensing of electricity, which cutoff members are automatically turned off if one of the dispenser outlets is disconnected without reinsertion of the same memory card that allowed said cutoff members to be turned on. 2729 י" ד בחשון התשס" ב - October 31, 2001

Description

129763/2 A method and apparatus for using a memory card to authorize and control dispensing and metering of consumption of at least one fluid or form of energy Sofabodi - Societe De Fabrication De Bornes De Distribution C. 117174 A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING A MEMORY CARD TO AUTHORIZE AND CONTROL DISPENSING AND METERING OF CONSUMPTION OF AT LEAST ONE FLUID OR FORM OF ENERGY The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for using a memory card to control dispensing and metering of consumption of at least one fluid or form of energy.

The technical field of the invention is manufacturing and managing apparatus for dispensing and measuring energy and/or flows. _ One of the main applications of the invention lies in making independent and programmable terminals for dispensing at least water and electricity by means of a pre-paid payment card that can be used in any space or location capable of receiving mobile and habitable vehicles, such as, for example, marinas, camp sites, fairgrounds, markets, etc In general, present practice for this type of use is either that the user pays an overall lump sum that is based on average consumption, which is not very satisfactory, particularly for users who remain only a certain time at any given location without being able to consume a large amount of fluid or energy; or, in order to obtain accounting that is more accurate, it is necessary to install individual meters on each dispenser station, and to read them each time a user arrives or departs, so as to bill the user for the exact amount, however the user is then not free to leave until consumption has been paid for, which obliges managers of such sites to receive payments in advance and to inspect consumption on a regular basis to ensure that it does not exceed the advance payment, which makes management a great deal more complicated.

In an attempt to find a better solution, various fluid and/or energy, or more generally "flow", dispenser apparatuses have been developed based on the use of memory cards; various embodiments exist and some constitute the subject matter of patent applications.

By way of example, mention can be made of French patent application FR 2 666 675 filed on September 11, 1990 by Societe d' Etude Fabrication et Ingeniere en Systemes Monetiques Automatismes et Reseaux Telecommunication, which describes a system that allows various flows such as, in particular: water, electricity, and telephone; and which comprises a series of specific equipments for controlling these., flows . Each installation for dispensing a flow has means for controlling whether a flow can pass and means for measuring the quantity thereof. A centralized control and equipment apparatus includes at least a reader of identity means and/or payment means making it possible, once enabled, to control said means for controlling and metering the flow quantities: the centralized apparatus then makes it possible to bill the consumer, as identified by the card, and to do so on the basis of the real use made of the flows consumed.

It turns out that such apparatus is better adapted to fixed dwellings that receive specific tenants, than it is to temporary parking areas for vehicles or vessels where prepayment apparatuses are preferred.

In this field, mention can be made of European patent EP 152 198 of January 24, 1985, filed by Schlumberger, concerning a system for prepayment of consumption units, essentially for electricity, which system makes use of a memory key: the safety feature of that system is both-way identification of the meter and of the key which need to include compatible codes, as exists in numerous credit card or access card systems . That document thus teaches apparatus for providing secure access to the dispensing of a fluid or of a form of energy or of a transmission network solely for a person possessing a pre-identified key for a given consumption total, requiring said person to reinsert and maintain the key on each use.

Mention can also be made of Swiss patent CH 622 636 filed on April 27, 1978 by Sodeco for a prepayment energy dispenser which teaches a card system of the same type as those used in public telephones and which progressively cancels memories that contain prepayed units, but which thus makes it essential, as in the previous document, to keep the card in the dispenser, and that is not acceptable for the user of a vehicle that remains parked continuously, since any passerby could firstly withdraw the card and thus interrupt dispensing, and secondly reuse the card for their own purposes .

As is well known in the applications mentioned above by way of example, the problem posed is thus to be able to use memory cards that are preloaded with value units, the cards being prepaid to the manager of a given type of site; the site is fitted with a fluid or energy dispensing network which the purchaser of said memory card desires to be able to use while paying an amount that corresponds only to that user's own consumption, and to do so in complete security, both for the manager of the site in question, specifically because prepayment cards are being used, and also for the user so that no passerby can dishonestly obtain the value units that have been prepurchased in this way, or can "pirate" a connection while the user is absent; the apparatus as a whole must make it possible to allow the same prepayment cards to be used at any of the dispensing points on a given site and even on other sites that are equipped in the same manner; and conversely, each dispenser point must be capable of being used by any user having a prepayment card, without the card holder being specifically identified.

A solution to the problem posed is a method of using a memory card to authorize and control the dispensing and the metering of at least one fluid or form of energy, by using any type of meter that delivers a signal representative of said consumption to an electronic management unit connected to a memory card reader, and by controlling at least one cutoff member for turning ON and OFF the dispensing of said fluid or energy from a feed network; according to the invention: • value units are loaded into the memory of said memory card, the units being loaded from any compatible external means authorized for this purpose; • said card loaded in this -way is inserted into the reader of the electronic unit associated with the meter for the fluid or energy whose dispensing is to be authorized; • all of the value units contained in the memory of the card are downloaded into a memory of the electronic unit by means of an identity code specific to the card, the said card can then be withdrawn from the reader and dispensing of said fluid or energy is authorized by the cutoff member being turned ON; and • a number of value units correspond to the consumption of fluid or energy is deducted from said memory of the electronic unit, and consumption can thus continue so long as there remain valid value units in said memory, with the cutoff member remaining ON.

In said method of the invention; • when it is desired to stop dispensing the fluid or the energy, the same card as was used for authorizing said dispensing is reinserted; • it is then verified that the identity code of the card does indeed correspond to the identity code transferred together with the value units initially downloaded, and the unconsumed value units remaining in the memory of the electronic unit can then be reloaded into the memory of said card; and • when the memory of the electronic unit no longer contains any value units, the cutoff member is turned OFF, thereby preventing any dispensing of the corresponding fluid or energy until either the same card, or some other card of the same type, is inserted with valid, value units.

In the present invention, the same card can be reused in any other compatible memory card reader associated with any other meter for any flow, for any fluid or any form of energy, for which it is desired to authorize dispensing, and that can continue so long as the card memory contains valid value units.

In a preferred implementation, if the dispensing of the fluid or the energy is disconnected without said same card being reinserted as was used to authorize said dispensing, the cutoff member is turned OFF automatically and it can then be turned ON again, in particular, only after said same card has been reinserted or some appropriate order has been transmitted thereto by the site manager, e.g. by radio or by a master card, similarly to taking readings and modifying operation as described below.

If it is desired from a central point to inspect all of current consumption on all of the dispensing points, and also to draw up balance sheets, for maintenance purposes or to ensure that said dispenser points are operating properly, and if it is desired that in the opposite direction it should be possible to modify operation thereof remotely, all such information can be transmitted in one direction or the other by radio by means of any transceiver located at each dispenser point and at the central point .

If such a radio network is not used, then it is necessary for the manager of the site concerned to have a "master" card which can be inserted into each of the readers associated with each dispenser point so as to make readings thereat and/or to transmit operating modifications thereto, e.g. concerning the rate at which consumption is to be charged.

The result is novel methods of using a memory card to authorize and control dispensing and metering of consumption of at least on¾ fluid or form of energy and satisfying the problem posed without suffering from the drawbacks of previously known methods . The present invention also provides apparatus enabling methods of the invention to be implemented with specific advantages: in particular no cabling is required between the dispenser points and the central control point, it suffices merely to connect said apparatuses of the invention to existing networks, and thus requiring no modifications to the infrastructure of the site in question.

In addition, the managers of various sites can agree to use the same memory cards and the same associated readers on their various dispenser devices, thus making it simpler for a user to manage consumption when moving from one site to another; management and purchase of cards, which may be issued at any point of sale, is then centrally controlled by an external organization which then pays each site manager pro rata for consumption that has been read on that site's dispenser points. All of the actors, users, consumers, and managers involved in sites fitted in this way are thus protected, and in addition, because each card has its own identity, e.g. its own serial number, it is also possible to invalidate a card over all of the sites in the event of the card being lost or stolen, for example.

Other advantages of the present invention could also be mentioned, but those given above already suffice to demonstrate the novelty and the advantage thereof.

The following description and figures show an embodiment of the invention, e.g. adapted to marinas, with dispenser devices constituted by terminals but without that being of limiting character: other embodiments are possible, in the ambit of the scope and the extent of this invention, such as, in particular, for other types of application as mentioned in the introduction.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of apparatus for dispensing and metering consumption of at least one fluid or form of energy, under the control and authorization of a memory card in accordance with the method of the invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic overall view of a network for managing a plurality of dispenser devices of the kind shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 shows an example of a terminal for dispensing and metering at least one fluid or form of energy and fitted with the apparatus of Figure 1.

Whatever the type of point for dispensing and metering the consumption of a fluid or of energy, which can.be constituted essentially by water and by electricity respectively, the point has: at least one meter 9, 11 for metering consumption of said fluid or energy, and delivering a signal representative of said consumption; an electronic management unit 4 receiving said signal representative of consumption and suitable for converting it into predefined units of value; a reader 3X for reading a memory card 2 and associated at least with a keypad and a display screen; and a member 10, 12 for turning OFF said energy or fluid and situated on the feed network 7 upstream from the dispensing outlet 5, 6 for said fluid or energy; with the entire unit being driven and controlled by said electronic unit 4 and being powered by at least one electric battery (not shown) .

All of the value units contained in the memory of the card 2 can be downloaded together with its own identity code into the memory of the electronic unit 4 of the device, e.g. situated in the terminal 1 of Figure 3, merely by copying files from one memory into the other; with the memory of the card 2 then being blocked or erased until it is reloaded at the end of consumption, assuming that any value units still remain in the memory of the electronic unit 4 of the dispenser device concerned.

Each electronic unit 4 in a dispenser device may be set up by the manager of the site concerned by giving it a weighting coefficient for each dispensed flow, whether fluid or energy, as a function of the cost thereof, so as to debit a number of value units representing an equivalent sum from said memory. These coefficients can be different from one site to another, even though the prepaid and preloaded value units are the same in all of the memory cards .

To set up such parameters, either the manager of the site has a master card 17 as mentioned above, which must then be inserted in each of the readers 31 of the various dispenser devices 1, or else in a preferred embodiment, a radio transceiver antenna 18 is provided on each of the dispensing points or devices and is connected to each associated management electronic unit : the antenna 18 then allows information to be transferred firstly, 13x, between each dispenser point such as the terminal 1 and any external central management unit 14, and secondly vice versa. 132, between the unit and said device 1.

In addition, all of these external central units 14 under the control of the manager of the site in question transmit their management data firstly for sale of memory cards 2 and secondly for consumption, 15, of the various fluids to a centralized site 16 for processing all of the information from all of the sites under consideration so as to subsequently organize financial compensation and distribution between the various sites.

In a particular embodiment, each dispenser apparatus may include means for warning a user when the number of value units remaining in the memory of the electronic unit 4 and corresponding to the dispenser outlets 5, 6 that have been authorized for the user, reaches a given threshold. Such warning means may be a flashing light, e.g. starting when only 10% of consumption units remain relative to the maximum total number of units that the memory card 2 can contain, and a continuous light on going, below 5%, for exampl'e .

As shown in Figure 1, a dispensing point or apparatus 1 comprises at least two dispenser outlets 5, 6,- two consumption meters 9, 11, and two cutoff members 10, 12 respectively for dispensing water and for dispensing electricity.

As shown in Figure 3, the apparatus of the invention can be a terminal 1 fixed to the. ground and having at least four dispenser outlets 5, 6, four consumption meters 9, 11, and four dispenser cutoff members 10, 12 for a given fluid or form of energy, together with a single electronic unit 4 and a single memory card reader 3; at its top, the terminal 1 may have a luminous globe 8 enabling any users present to see and enabling them to make the appropriate connections and to order the desired dispensing, whatever the time of day, and in particular whatever the time of night .

Said memory cards 2 may be IC cards of conventional type, which may be discarded once they have been fully emptied of their value units, or which may be rechargeable .

At the dispenser point 1, the card reader 3 and its associated screen 32 and keypad 33 can be protected by a foldup cover; after said card 2 has been inserted in the reader 3lf the screen 32 asks the user to select between the dispensing channels of the terminal if it has a plurality of outlets 5, 6 for dispensing the same fluid or form of energy, depending on the availability thereof, so that the user can receive water or electricity, for example. The user then inputs a selection via the keypad 33, and said channel number together with the identity number of the card, and also the number of units contained in the card then being stored in the electronic unit 4. . Use of the water and electricity circuits 6, 5 of the selected channel is authorized, the card is then neutralized, and the channel in use is unavailable to another user.

It may also be proposed to the user to make use of water or of electricity only, so that supply of the other fluid is stopped.

When the user seeks to stop delivery of all fluids concerned by that user, and after the card has been reinserted, since the units consumed have been erased from the memory of the electronic unit, only the number of units remaining is displayed -and reloaded into the card. The channel becomes available for another user and the card can be used up to the amount represented by the remaining units, while the amount of water and electricity consumed together with the date, the time, and the end of delivery are stored together with the identity number of the card, the channel number, and the number of the terminal 1 for transmitting to the local central unit 14.

If a user forgets to reinsert a card 2 at the end of delivery, for example if the card is lost, then the card 2 remains invalid since it no longer contains any value units. The card is thus unusable in some other dispenser point, while the site manager can reengage the dispenser system, either by inserting a master card 17, or else over the radio remote control network 13.

Claims (9)

1. / A method of using a memory card to authorize and control the dispensing and" the metering of at least one fluid or form of energy, by using any type of meter JriT" that delivers a signal representative of said consumption to an electronic management unit £4") connected to a memory card reader [^) , and by controlling at least one cutoff member (10-;— 2 for turning ON and OFF the dispensing fc&r—€ήτ of said fluid or energy from a feed network J T, such that: • value units are loaded into the memory of said memory card £2*", the units being loaded from any compatible external means authorized for this purpose; • said card j-zt loaded in this way is inserted into the reader of the electronic unit {-Tf associated with the, meter <†S~,—T±*) for the fluid or energy whose dispensing is to be authorized; • all of the value units contained in the memory of the card <½ are downloaded into a memory of the electronic unit (^f by means of an identity code specific to the card 1<Ζ*Γ, the said card J&f- can then be withdrawn from the reader -¾t and dispensing of said fluid or energy is authorized by the cutoff member (-3τθ^—is-) being turned ON; and · a number of value units correspond to the consumption of fluid or energy is deducted from said memory of the electronic unit 4*f*, and consumption can thus continue so long as there remain valid value units in said memory, with the cutoff member i Q-,— remaining ON, the method being characterized in that if the dispensing of fluid or energy is disconnected f , ■■ 6-without reinserting said same card was used to authorize said dispensing, the cutoff member 4&0-,—ϋή is turned OFF automatically and can then be turned ON again, in particular, only after insertion of said same card -

2. / A method of control by memory card according to claim 1, the method being characterized in that: • when it is desired to stop dispensing of the fluid or the energy, the same card ( "T as was used for authorizing said dispensing is reinserted; • it is then verified that the identity code of the card does indeed correspond to the identity code transferred together with the value units initially downloaded, and the unconsumed value units remaining in the memory of the electronic unit 4 " can then be reloaded into the memory of said card ^S ; and • when the memory of the electronic unit no longer contains any value units, the cutoff member (10, 121 is turned OFF, thereby preventing any dispensing of the corresponding fluid or energy until either the same card or some other card of the same type, is inserted with valid value units.

3. / A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said same card ½fX is reused in any other compatible memory reader l^r f associated with any other meter —a for any fluid or any form of energy whose dispensing is to be authorized and so long as the card possesses valid value units in its memory.

4. / A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the the value units contained in the memory of the card ^2 are downloaded into the memory of the electronic unit Arf merely by copying files from one memory into the other, with the memory of the card l

5. / A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that all information concerning consumption and maintenance of the meter (-3 , 1 L) , concerning the electronic unit -4rT, and concerning all other associated members is transmitted to an external central unit CJs-s by radio (·3τ-ΓΤ or by means of a master card J ff .

6. / Apparatus for using a memory card to authorize and control dispensing and metering _of consumption of at least one fluid or form of energy, comprising: at least one meter —ϋή for metering consumption of said fluid or said energy, and delivering a signal representative of said consumption; a managing electronic unit W receiving said signal representative of consumption, and suitable at least for converting it into predefined value units; a memory card reader \ ^Γ associated at least with a keypad and a display screen; and a cutoff member ^τϋ" -½2ή* for turning OFF said energy or said fluid and situated on the feed network ff upstream from a dispenser outlet S-r--§ for dispensing said fluid or energy; the assembly being driven and controlled by said electronic unit Ι Ί characterized in that said apparatus is powered by at least one electric battery and has at least two dispenser outlets ^&r—e†, two consumption meters

7. / Control apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that it includes at least one radio transceiver antenna enabling information to be transferred between the apparatus and any external management central unit , and also between said unit and said apparatus.

8. / A device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that it comprises at least one warning means for warning the user when the number of value units remaining in the memory of the electronic unit reaches a given threshold.

9. / Apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that it is constituted by a terminal,jr†~-having at least four dispenser outlets (5-;— 7-7 four consumption meters i-3-} , and four cutoff members *ϋτ fSrf for turning OFF the dispensing of a given fluid or form of energy, together with a single electronic unit J^ and a single memory card reader l&T*.