JP2001076188A - Automatic ticket checking and collecting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely return tickets to be returned by driving a transportation mechanism, provided that a prescribed return condition is arranged when unseparable tickets are detected. SOLUTION: When a user collectively piles and supplies plural tickets into a supply port and the tickets are continuously detected on this side of a separation part for prescribed time, a controller judges that the tickets are unseparable tickets that cannot pass a separation gap (S100Y and 102). A door is closed, passage of the user is inhibited and driving of a motor stops (S104). Thus, unseparable tickets are kept on this side of the separation part. The tickets kept on this side of the separation part are discharged to the supply port and are returned by the inverse rotation of the motor and the inverse rotation of a take-in roller after prescribed time elapses, three seconds, for example, after unseparable tickets are detected (S106Y and 108).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ticket gate,
In particular, when multiple tickets are required for entry / exit processing of a single user, a batch-entry type automatic ticket gate that batch-inserts and processes the multiple tickets at the slot. About the machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of batch-type automatic ticket gate has been constructed such that a user (passenger) stacks a plurality of tickets (for example, an express ticket and a ticket, or a forward ticket and an alighting ticket). When the luggage is inserted into the slot provided in the main body of the automatic ticket gate (hereinafter referred to as the "body") at a time, the inserted tickets are loaded into the main body by a take-in roller provided at the entrance of the slot. It is configured to be taken into.

[0003] Tickets taken into the main body by the take-in roller are separated one by one by a separation unit, sent to an alignment conveyance path, adjusted in conveyance posture, and recorded by a reading head. The data is configured to be read.

[0004] As a result of arithmetic processing of entry / exit (meaning entry or exit) based on the read data, if it is determined that the ticket is valid, the ticket is read from another ticket. It is held in the pool unit until the processing ends.

When all of the inserted tickets are determined to be valid tickets, new data, ie, entry / exit data, is written in the tickets held in the pool section,
After the written data is checked, the data is discharged to an outlet and returned to the user, or collected in a tag box. In the above-described reading determination of the tickets, when it is determined that at least one of the tickets is invalid due to elapse of the validity period or the like, the door is closed, and all the inserted tickets are discharged to the exit. Will be returned.

[0006] Among the tickets inserted into the slot, bent tickets may be present, or thick foreign objects such as bank cards may be inserted. In this case, the door cannot be separated one by one in the separation unit, so that normal entrance and exit cannot be performed, the doors are closed, and the inserted tickets are transported back to the slot and returned. It is configured to: By the time the inseparable tickets (including foreign objects such as bank cards) are detected by the separation unit, the reading is completed and the tickets held in the pool are discharged to the exit and returned. It is configured to be.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional lump-type automatic ticket gate, the tickets inserted into the slot include those in which the tickets are bent and cannot be separated. If the ticket contains an inseparable ticket such as a bank card, the inseparable ticket is immediately returned to the slot and returned. There was a risk of being taken away by a second customer.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to surely return a non-separable ticket to a person who inputs the ticket. To provide an automatic ticket gate.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, an automatic ticket gate according to the present invention has a structure in which a plurality of tickets are stacked at a slot of a main body to separate the tickets which are collectively inserted. Detecting means for detecting the separated state of the tickets in the separating section in an automatic ticket gate machine which separates the tickets one by one and performs a predetermined process such as a reading process and a writing process for each separated ticket. When a non-separable ticket is detected, a transport mechanism that reversely conveys the ticket to the slot, and when a non-separable ticket is detected, predetermined return conditions are satisfied. Transport mechanism control means for driving the transport mechanism on the condition. Further, the predetermined return condition is such that when it is detected that a user who has entered an inseparable ticket has returned to the entrance side of the main body, a predetermined time has elapsed since the inseparable ticket was detected. It is characterized by the passage of time, or when the tickets that were inserted together with the inseparable tickets are removed from the exit of the main body.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic ticket gate according to one embodiment. An entrance 1 for a ticket (not shown) is provided at one end in a longitudinal direction of a main body a. At the other end, an outlet 2 for returning tickets to the user is provided.

When a plurality of tickets are stacked in the main body a through the slot 1, they are driven by a motor M for taking the stacked tickets into the main body a. An intake roller 1a including a pair of rollers is provided. When the take-in roller 1a rotates in the reverse direction to the take-in roller 1a, a return mechanism for returning the tickets and the like inserted into the main body a to the slot 1 is provided.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 3 denotes a separation portion provided inside the take-in roller 1a. The separating unit 3 separates the tickets which are stacked and inserted into the slot 1 and which are put in one at a time. Here, a pair of upper and lower rollers are used to separate a gap having a thickness of one ticket. The lower roller is a feed roller, and the upper roller is a return roller 3. In addition, as the separating unit 3, for example, a well-known one such as one having a thickness of one ticket between a block and a reverse roller as shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-85206 is known. A separation section can be employed. Either type of separation unit is configured not to allow an input material exceeding the thickness of one ticket to pass through.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1b denotes a sensor comprising a photoelectric element, which is provided between the take-in roller 1a and the separating section 3. The sensor 1b is configured to be able to detect tickets that remain without being separated by the separating unit 3, that is, non-separable tickets.

The transport path 4 is constituted by a known transport path comprising a belt conveyor driven by a motor M. The transport path 4 includes an alignment transport path 4a, a main transport path 4b, and a discharge transport path 4c. Among them, the alignment transport path 4a aligns the tickets separated by the separation unit 3. Has a function. Between the main transport path 4b and the discharge transport path 4c, there is provided a wing W that operates when collecting the tickets inserted into the main body a into the ticket collection box 5 without returning them to the exit 2. Is provided.

A read head H1 for reading magnetic data recorded on tickets and the like is arranged in the main transport path 4b from the upstream side in the transport direction from the slot 1 to the exit 2 in the transport path. A plurality (three in the illustrated example) of stoppers S1 to
The pool section P for temporarily holding the tickets formed in S3
A write head H2 for processing data read by the read head H1 by a controller C mainly composed of a microcomputer, and writing the calculation result on a ticket;
A verify head H3 is provided to check whether the written data is recorded correctly. In addition, the discharge conveyance path 4c is provided with a grouping portion including a stopper S4 for discharging a plurality of tickets collectively.

The stoppers S1 to S3 of the pool portion P are driven by a solenoid (not shown), and
Are arranged in series in such a manner that the tickets which are determined as valid tickets as a result of arithmetic processing of the CPU described later can be temporarily held one by one. In addition, the stopper S4 of the grouping unit is also driven by a solenoid (not shown), and when the tickets are discharged to the exit 2 and returned to the user, the tickets are temporarily held until all the tickets are discharged to the exit 2. Then, when all the tickets are discharged, they are stacked on the outlet 2 and can be discharged at once.

Although not shown, the main transport path 4b includes
It has a punching unit for making a punch hole in a ticket that requires punching according to the calculation result, and a printing unit including a thermal head for printing predetermined contents on a ticket that needs printing according to the calculation result. ing. Further, a human detector (not shown) for detecting the position of the user in the ticket gate P is provided on the ticket gate a side of the main body a.

Reference numeral 9 in the figure denotes a display unit provided near the take-out port 2, which is configured to provide a user with predetermined guidance together with a speaker (not shown). Also,
D in the figure is a door that opens and closes a ticket gate passage.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the controller C. The central processing unit (CPU) 20 includes a ROM
The system is configured to perform an entry / exit calculation process using a system program stored in a non-volatile storage device (ROM in FIG. 2) 21 and working data stored in a RAM 22. And this CPU 20
Are connected via the I / O unit 23 to each of the heads H1 to H3.
A read / write (R / W) driver 24 connected to the
A wing driver 25 for driving the wing W, a display driver 26 for controlling the display unit 9, and stoppers S1 to S
4, a solenoid driver 27 for driving a solenoid (not shown), a door driver 28 for driving a door D, a motor driver 29 for driving and controlling a motor M, and a sensor 1
The sensor amplifier 30 for inputting the signal b is connected. Although various drivers such as a punching unit and a thermal head are connected to the I / O unit 23, they are omitted here.

Next, the control operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Now, it is assumed that a plurality of tickets are stacked and inserted in a lump at the slot 1 by the user (Yes at Step 100; hereinafter, the step is referred to as "S").

The tickets entered into the slot 1 are sent to the separating section 3 by the take-in roller 1a, where they are separated one by one. The separation state of the tickets in the separation section 3 is monitored by the sensor 1b. That is, when the tickets are continuously detected for a predetermined time before the separating unit 3 (the position where the sensor 1b is provided) (Yes at S102), the controller C determines that the tickets are Are determined to be inseparable tickets that cannot pass through the separation gap.

When the occurrence of unseparable tickets is detected, the door D is closed to prevent the passage of the user, and the driving of the motor M is stopped (S104). Therefore, the non-separable tickets are held in front of the separation unit 3.

The ticket held in front of the separating section 3 is such that the motor M rotates reversely after a lapse of a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds after the unseparable ticket is detected, and the take-in roller 1a rotates in the reverse direction, and the held tickets are discharged to the slot 1 and returned (Yes in S106, S10).
8).

The above-described reverse rotation of the take-in roller 1a is as follows.
The detection may be performed when a collectively input user returns to the entrance side of the ticket gate a (the side where the insertion port 1 is provided) by a human detector (not shown).

[0025] When some of the batched tickets are already held in the pool, the tickets must be discharged to the exit and returned to the user. Therefore, in this case, the reverse rotation of the take-in roller 1a is started after the ticket that has been discharged to the take-out port 2 is taken out by the user.

As described above, the tickets that cannot be separated by the separation unit 3 are returned to the slot 1 after the above-mentioned predetermined return conditions are satisfied, so that the returned tickets are It can be reliably returned to the user who put in the tickets.

[0027]

The automatic ticket gate according to the present invention has a detecting means for detecting the separation state of the tickets in the separation section, and when an inseparable ticket is detected, the ticket is inserted into the slot. Since a transport mechanism for reverse transport and transport mechanism control means for driving the transport mechanism on the condition that predetermined return conditions are satisfied when inseparable tickets are detected, the transport to be returned It can be reliably returned to the user who put in the tickets.

Further, the predetermined return condition is that when it is detected that a user who has put inseparable tickets has returned to the entrance side of the main body, the inseparable tickets are detected. When a predetermined time has elapsed, or when the tickets that were inserted together with the inseparable tickets are removed from the exit of the main body of the automatic ticket gate, return timing to the entrance Can be performed effectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic ticket gate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a controller.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 G Automatic ticket gate main body (main body) 1 Input port 1a Intake roller 1b Sensor 2 Outlet 3 Separation section 4 Transport path H1 Read head H2 Write head H3 Verify head S1, S2, S3, S4 Stopper C Controller

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of tickets are stacked at an entrance of a main body of an automatic ticket gate, and the tickets which are collectively inserted are separated by a separation unit.
Separated into individual sheets, read processing for each separated ticket,
In an automatic ticket gate that performs a predetermined process such as a writing process, detecting means for detecting a separation state of the tickets in the separation unit, and when an inseparable tickets are detected, the tickets are A transport mechanism for reverse transport to the slot, and transport mechanism control means for driving the transport mechanism on the condition that predetermined return conditions are satisfied when inseparable tickets are detected. A featured automatic ticket gate. 2. The non-separable ticket system according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined return condition is such that when it is detected that the user who has entered the non-separable ticket has returned to the entrance side of the main body of the automatic ticket gate. When a predetermined time has passed since the detection of the ticket, or when the tickets inserted together with the inseparable tickets are removed from the exit of the main body of the automatic ticket gate. The automatic ticket gate according to claim 1, wherein