JP2000013542A - Charging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change a unit charge at the change of a charge such as the revision of a charge system. SOLUTION: When lines L1 and L2 are used for communication by a public telephone set 10, an exchange 1 sends out a unit charge signal indicated by the number of times of the non-potential state of the line or the time of the non-potential state of the line to the side of the public telephone set prior to the transmission of a polarity inversion signal. Then, in the public telephone set, when the unit charge signal is received and the polarity inversion signal is received from the exchange, the unit charge indicated by the unit charge signal is received from stored coins. That is, the unit charge is determined as 30 yen in the case that the number of times of the non-potential state of the line is three for instance and the public telephone set 10 receives 30 yen each from the stored coins each time of receiving the polarity inversion signal is received thereafter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a billing system comprising an exchange, and a terminal device connected to the exchange via a line and storing stored coins based on the arrival of a billing signal from the exchange during use of the line. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a public telephone or the like connected to an analog line, when a billing signal based on reversal (polarity reversal) of a line arrives during a call, coins stored in a coin storage unit are stored. I have. Currently, there are two types of coins used for telephone calls on domestic public telephones, 10 yen and 100 yen, of which 10 yen coin is used as a unit fee coin. Therefore, when a plurality of 10-yen coins are stored in the coin storage unit, one 10-yen coin in the coin storage unit is stored one by one every time a billing signal arrives.

[0003]

Such a charging method is called a time difference method by distance, and the arrival period of the charging signal to the line becomes shorter as the distance to the communication partner becomes longer. Therefore, in the case of a long-distance call, a 10-yen coin is frequently stored, and the talk time per unit charge of 10 yen (unit talk time) is shortened.

[0004] By the way, in revising the call charge system, conventionally, the unit call time (ie, the transmission cycle of the billing signal) has been changed without changing the unit charge. There is an increasing demand to change the fee system by changing the fee itself. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to change the unit fee when the fee is changed, for example, when the fee system is revised.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an exchange for accommodating a line and transmitting a charge signal for use of the line as a polarity inversion signal indicating the polarity inversion of the line. In a billing system comprising a terminal device connected to the exchange via a line and storing a line usage fee based on the reception of the polarity inversion signal from the exchange, a polarity inversion signal is transmitted to the exchange at the start of use of the line of the terminal device. A unit charge signal output unit for outputting a unit charge signal indicating a non-potential state of the line prior to receiving the unit charge signal in the terminal device, and receiving the unit charge signal when the polarity inversion signal is received. Charge storage means for storing a unit usage charge based on the unit charge signal received by the means. The unit charge signal output means outputs a signal corresponding to the number of times the line is in the non-potential state as a unit charge signal. The unit charge signal output means outputs a signal corresponding to the time of the line in a non-potential state as a unit charge signal. Further, when the unit fee signal is received by the receiving means and the unit usage fee based on the unit fee signal is insufficient, the terminal device opens the line.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a billing system according to the present invention. The system comprises an exchange 1 and a public telephone 10 connected to the exchange 1 via lines L1 and L2.

The public telephone 10 is provided with a control unit 20. The control unit 20 includes a polarity detection circuit 13 for detecting the polarities of the lines L1 and L2, a communication circuit 14, a sorting and storage of inserted coins, and the like. A coin processing unit 16 that performs processing such as storage, a display unit 17, and a dial key 18 are connected.

The control unit 20 includes a forced disconnection switch 1
2 is connected, and the control unit 20 disconnects the DC loop of the line by the forcible disconnection switch 12 when a charge signal arrives from the exchange 1 during a call and there is no accumulated coin at that time. A dial circuit (not shown) is connected to the control unit 20. When an operation of the dial key 18 is detected, an operation signal is sent to the dial circuit, and the dial circuit transmits lines L1 and L1.
2 sends a DP or PB dial signal. Note that the communication circuit 14 is connected to the handset 15
Hook switch 1 linked to on-hook and off-hook
1 opens and closes the DC loop of the lines L1 and L2.

[0009] By the way, the exchange 1 calls the other party by making a dial call on the public telephone 10, and when the other party answers the call, the call is started.
A billing signal is sent to the public telephone 10 and the public telephone 1
In addition to storing the accumulated coins stored in the coin processing unit 16 of 0, when the telephone call of the public telephone 10 is ongoing, a billing signal is continuously transmitted periodically to accommodate the accumulated coins. Such a billing signal is used as a polarity inversion signal for inverting the polarities of the lines L1 and L2 for a certain period of time.
Transmitted to the side. Here, the exchange 1 sends the public telephone 10 the lines L1 and L2 for a predetermined time (the predetermined time t is, for example, 300 ms) as shown in FIG. A unit charge signal A having no potential is output by the unit charge signal output means 1A. Then, the polarity inversion signal B is output.

Normally, the exchange 1 applies 0V and -48V to the lines L1 and L2, respectively.
In the normal state of (a), the potential of the line L1 is maintained at 0V. Here, when the exchange 1 outputs the unit charge signal A, since the exchange 1 is in an off state in which no voltage is applied between the lines L1 and L2, the potential of the line L1 is not applied during the predetermined time (t). Potential. Thereafter, when the polarity inversion signal B is output, the exchange 1 connects the line L1,
Since -48V and 0V are applied to L2 for a certain time, respectively, the potential of the line L2 changes from -48V to 0V, and the potential of the line L1 changes from 0V to -48V in a reverse state. Hold.

In the example shown in FIG. 2A, one unit charge signal A is output before the polarity inversion signal B which is transmitted first at the start of a call, and it is notified to the public telephone 10 that the unit charge is 10 yen. It is an example of transmitting. In this case, the pay telephone 10 stores coins by 10 yen each time the polarity inversion signal B arrives. Next, in the example of FIG. 2B, three unit charge signals A ₁ , A ₂ , and A ₃ are output before the polarity inversion signal B is transmitted, and the unit charge is three times that of the example of FIG. This is an example in which 30 yen is transmitted to the public telephone 10 side. In this case, the pay telephone 10 counts the number of unit charge signals and counts three times to recognize that the unit charge is 30 yen.
Each time the polarity inversion signal B arrives, a coin is stored for 30 yen.

As described above, the exchange 1 transmits the unit charge signal A prior to the transmission of the polarity inversion signal B when the public telephone 10 starts talking, and causes the public telephone 10 to store the charge based on the unit charge signal A. It is like that. As a result, when the call charge is revised, the unit charge can be changed without changing the transmission cycle of the polarity inversion signal. Although the example of FIG. 2 is an example in which the unit fee is changed according to the number of times of sending the unit fee signal A, the unit fee can be changed by changing the transmission time of the unit fee signal A. That is, for example, if the unit charge signal A is transmitted for 100 ms and the unit charge is 10 yen, and if the unit charge is changed to 20 yen, the transmission time of the unit charge signal A is set to 200 ms which is twice the 100 ms. By doing so, it can be changed. In this case, on the public telephone 10 side,
The transmission time of the unit charge signal is measured using a timer (not shown). If the transmission time is 200 ms, the unit charge is 20.
After recognizing that the coin is a circle, thereafter, every time the polarity inversion signal B arrives, a coin is stored by 20 yen.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the public telephone 10 in response to the operation of the exchange 1 for transmitting a unit charge signal at the start of a call. The operation of the main part of the public telephone 10 will be described in detail according to this flowchart.
When a user inserts coins into the public telephone 10 in step S1 after the user goes off-hook, the coin processing unit 16 sorts the inserted coins and accumulates coins that have been sorted as genuine coins. The coins accumulated here are stored in the control unit 20.
Is displayed on the display 17, the controller 20 displays the amount of the accumulated coins.

Next, when the user operates the dial key 18, the control unit 20 detects this and sends it to a dial circuit (not shown), so that the dial circuit sends the dial signals to the lines L1 and L2 as dial signals. Is performed in step S2. As a result, the other party is called,
When the other party answers the call, the exchange 1 connects the lines L1 and L1.
The unit charge signal A described above is output to the public telephone 10 via the control unit 2. In the public telephone 10, the unit charge signal A is transmitted to the control unit 20 via the polarity detection circuit 13.

The control unit 10 of the public telephone 10 executes step S
In step S3, it is determined whether or not the unit charge signal A has been received. When the unit charge signal A is received and the determination in step S3 becomes "Y", the control unit 20 determines the amount and unit of coins that have been inserted and stored. The magnitude of the unit fee indicated by the fee signal A is compared. Here, the unit fee is larger than the accumulated coin amount in step S4.
Is “N”, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S
By controlling the forced disconnection switch 12 in the normally closed state at 5 in the open state for a fixed time, the DC loop of the lines L1 and L2 is forcibly disconnected, and the unit charge amount and the shortage charge amount are separately displayed in the display area of the display 17. Is displayed and the processing ends. In this case, the user notices that the charge is insufficient from the display state of the display 17 and can insert a new coin to make a call.

On the other hand, if the unit fee is smaller than the accumulated coin amount and the judgment in step S4 is "Y", step S6
Then, it is determined whether or not a charge storage signal (that is, a polarity inversion signal B) has been received from the exchange 1 via the polarity detection circuit 13. Here, when the polarity inversion signal B is received, it is determined in step S7 that the unit fee is smaller than the accumulated coin amount, and coins corresponding to the unit fee are stored in the accumulated coins in step S8, In addition, the display 17 displays the remaining balance.

At step S9, a mutual call is made between the user and the other party, and the mutual call is continued until the user goes on-hook. Then, while the call is continuing, the control unit 20
Determines in step S6 whether or not the polarity inversion signal B periodically transmitted from the exchange 1 is received. When the polarity inversion signal B is received, it is determined in step S7 that the unit fee is smaller than the accumulated coin amount. From the accumulated coins, coins corresponding to the unit fee are stored in step S8, and the display 17
To display the remaining balance. Here, if there is no remaining coins equivalent to the unit fee when the polarity reversal signal B is received and the determination in step S7 is "N", the process proceeds to step S5 and the forced disconnection switch in the normally closed state. The line L1 and L2 are forcibly disconnected by controlling the line 12 to be in an open state for a predetermined time.
Further, if an on-hook indicating the end of the call is detected during the call and the determination of “on-hook” in step S10 becomes “Y”, a call termination process is performed in step S11 and the process ends.

Thus, conventionally, the minimum unit charge is 10
Although the yen was fixed, the minimum unit charge is 20
Since it can be arbitrarily changed, for example, yen or 30 yen, various patterns of fee systems can be realized. In the present embodiment, an example is described in which a public telephone using coins is used as a terminal connected to the exchange 1 that sends out a unit fee signal. However, a card-type public telephone may be used. Even when applied to other terminals such as a data terminal, the same effect is obtained.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the exchange outputs the unit charge signal indicating the non-potential state of the line prior to the transmission of the polarity inversion signal at the start of the use of the line by the terminal, When a polarity inversion signal is received following the reception of the unit charge signal, the unit usage charge based on the received unit charge signal is stored. Can be easily changed. In addition, since a signal corresponding to the number of times of the non-potential state of the line is output as a unit charge signal, the unit charge signal can be output with a simple configuration. In addition, since a signal corresponding to the time of the line in the non-potential state is output as the unit charge signal, the unit charge signal can be output with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a billing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a time chart showing timings of a unit charge signal and a polarity inversion signal output from a switch constituting a charging system to a line.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a main part of the public telephone constituting the charging system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Exchange machine, 1A ... Unit charge signal output means, 10 ... Public telephone, 11 ... Hook switch, 12 ... Forced disconnection switch, 13 ... Polarity detection circuit, 14 ... Communication circuit, 15 ... Handset, 16 ... Coin processing part, 17 display unit, 18 dial key, 20 control unit, L1, L2 line.

Claims (4)

[Claims] An exchange for accommodating a line and transmitting a charge signal for use of the line as a polarity inversion signal indicating the polarity inversion of the line, and the polarity inversion from the exchange connected to the exchange via the line. In a charging system comprising a terminal device for storing a line usage fee based on reception of a signal, the exchange indicates a non-potential state of the line prior to transmission of the polarity inversion signal at the start of use of the line of the terminal device. A unit charge signal output unit that outputs a unit charge signal, wherein the terminal device receives the unit charge signal, and receives the polarity inversion signal, and the line usage fee is received by the reception unit. A billing system comprising: a fee storage unit that stores a unit usage fee based on a unit fee signal. 2. The charging system according to claim 1, wherein the unit charge signal output means outputs a signal corresponding to the number of times of the non-potential state of the line as the unit charge signal. 3. The charging system according to claim 1, wherein the unit charge signal output means outputs a signal corresponding to a time of a non-potential state of the line as the unit charge signal. 4. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device releases a line when the unit charge signal is received by the receiving means and a unit charge based on the unit charge signal is insufficient. Billing system.