JP2002133484A - Medium reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medium reader capable of automatically reading a medium such as a ballot ticket or a ballot card again when read failure of the medium occurs, and discharging only a normal medium when discharging the medium such as a bill. SOLUTION: This medium reader has a carrier part 2 carrying the medium 1 forward or rearward; a carrying control part 3 controlling the carrier part 2; a read part 4 disposed along a carrier path of the carrier part 2, reading information recorded in the medium 1 forward or rearward; and a carrying instruction part 6 outputting an instruction for carrying the carrier part 2 forward or rearward to the carrying control part 3. The read part 4 reads the information recorded in the medium 1 from the rearward in the rearward carrying by the carrier part 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium reader, and more particularly, to a medium reader in a totalizer system for handling media such as bills, voting tickets, and voting cards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a totalizer system, for example, when a winning betting ticket is inserted, an amount corresponding to a winning magnification is generated. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a totalizer system. When a betting ticket (hit betting ticket) is put into the betting ticket withdrawal unit 10, the information read by the betting ticket withdrawal unit 10 is sent to the CPU 30.
The CPU 30 sends the read information from the betting ticket refund unit 10 to the host computer 40.

[0003] The host computer 40 reads the input information, calculates a payout amount corresponding to the betting ticket, and notifies the CPU 30 of the amount. The CPU 30 notifies the bill discharging unit 20 of the refund amount calculated by the host computer 40. The bill discharge unit 20 is C
The amount notified from the PU 30 is released and received by the customer.

[0004]

In the conventional system,
In banknotes, voting tickets, voting cards, etc.
When reading timing failure occurs, the operator or the customer must reload the medium into the apparatus, which is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and enables a medium such as a betting ticket or a voting card to be automatically read again when a reading error occurs, thereby discharging a medium such as a bill. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medium reader that can release only a normal medium at times.

[0006]

(1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a medium, 2 is the medium 1
Transport section 3 for transporting in the forward or reverse direction,
Is disposed in the middle of the transport path by the transport unit 2, and a reading unit that reads information recorded on the medium 1 in the forward or reverse direction, and 5 is read by the reading unit 4. A storage unit 6 for storing the medium 1 is a transport instruction unit for issuing an instruction for transporting the transport unit 2 in the forward or reverse direction to the transport control unit 3 according to the reading result of the reading unit 4. . Here, the transport in the forward direction of the transport unit 2 refers to the transport from left to right in the figure, and the reverse transport refers to the transport from right to left in the figure.

With this configuration, when the reading result of the reading section 4 is abnormal, the transfer instruction section 6 issues a reverse transfer instruction to the transfer control section 3, and the reading section 4 is transferred in the reverse direction. Information is read from the medium 1 in the reverse direction. According to this, 1
By re-reading the medium 1 that could not be read at one time, it is possible to read the medium again, such as a betting ticket or a voting card, when a reading error occurs. According to the present invention, there is no need for the user to insert the medium 1 again, which is convenient.

(2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, a transport section for transporting a medium in a forward direction or a reverse direction, a transport control section for controlling the transport section, and a transport section arranged in the middle of a transport path by the transport section. A reading unit that reads information recorded on a medium, a discharging unit that discharges the medium read by the reading unit, and a transfer control unit that corrects the transfer unit according to a reading result of the reading unit. A conveyance instruction unit for issuing an instruction to convey in the direction or the reverse direction, wherein the reading unit reads information recorded on the medium during conveyance by the conveyance unit, and discharges the medium in the case of normal reading. The conveyance control is performed so that the medium is read again by the reading unit in the case of abnormal reading.

With this configuration, it is possible to provide a medium reading apparatus that can discharge only a normal medium without replenishing an operator again when a medium such as a bill is discharged.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The overall configuration of the present invention is the same as the system shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the betting ticket refund unit. 1 and 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the figure, 1 is a betting ticket as a medium, 2 is a transport unit that transports the betting ticket 1 in a forward or reverse direction, 3 is a transport control unit that controls the transport of the transport unit 2,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a reading unit which is disposed in the middle of the transport unit 2 and reads information recorded on the medium 1 in the forward or reverse direction. Reference numeral 5 denotes a storage unit which stores the medium 1 read by the reading unit 4.
Reference numeral denotes a transport instruction unit that issues a forward or reverse transport instruction to the transport control unit 3 according to the reading result of the reading unit 4.
In the reading unit 4, reference numeral 4a denotes a determination unit that determines whether the betting ticket 1 is normal or abnormal based on the read information. Reference numeral 7 denotes a discharge port for discharging the betting ticket 1 having an abnormal reading.
The operation of the device configured as described above will be described below.

When a customer inserts a voting ticket 1 (for example, a winning betting ticket), the transport unit 2 operates and draws in. At this time, the reading unit 4 provided in the middle of the transport unit 2 reads the contents recorded on the betting ticket. Here, the determination unit 4a
Judge the read result.

More specifically, the read image information is compared with a predetermined reference image to determine normal or abnormal. For example, if voting ticket 1 was a winning betting ticket,
The transfer instruction unit 6 instructs the transfer control unit 3 to continue the transfer.
As a result, the betting ticket 1 is transported in the forward direction and is stored in the storage unit 5.

Here, when the determination unit 4a determines that there is an abnormality (for example, when the betting ticket is determined to be the back side), the transport instruction unit 6 receiving the determination result issues a reverse transport instruction to the transport control unit 3, and the transport unit 3 2 is reversed. Then, the voting ticket 1 is again read by the reading unit 4.

Here, the reading operation of the reading section 4 will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the information reading operation of the reading unit 4.
(A) shows the case of reading in the forward direction, and (b) shows the case of reading in the reverse direction. Reference numeral 59 denotes a reading head arranged below the medium 1. For example, the reading unit 4 divides the betting ticket 1 into a plurality of units (for example, 〜), and
Read from 9. In other words, in the positive direction, →→
Read in the order of →→→. Then, after reading all of the information, it is determined whether the read information is normal or abnormal by comparing whether or not the medium 1 is entirely normal with certain reference data.

On the other hand, when the medium is read in the reverse direction as shown in FIG. 3B, the medium is read in the order of →→→→→. It is determined whether the read information is normal or abnormal by comparing the read medium as a whole with normal data with certain reference data. Thus, when the first reading is abnormal, the reading can be performed again.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the reading head 59. As shown in the figure, for example, photoelectric conversion elements 70 such as CCDs are arranged side by side from a1 to a14, and read information recorded on the transmitted medium 1. In this case, it is preferable that the medium 1 is irradiated by a light source (not shown) for accurate information reading. In addition,
Although the figure shows a case where 14 CCD elements are arranged, the present invention is not limited to this. Also, the CCD element 70
Is not limited to one row, and any row can be provided. When the number of columns is increased, information recorded at a higher speed can be read.

If the result of the judgment by the judging section 4a is normal, the transport instructing section 6 issues an instruction to the transport controlling section 3 and issues an instruction for normal transport. The transport unit 2 transports the betting ticket 1 in the forward direction and stores it in the storage unit 5.

If the result of the judgment by the judging section 4a is abnormal, the transport instructing section 6 issues an instruction to the transport controlling section 3 to cause reverse transport. After being transported reversely by a predetermined distance, the transport instruction unit 6
Sends an instruction to the transport control unit 3 to cause normal transport. Then, the third reading is performed. If the reading result is normal, the transport instruction unit 6 issues an instruction to the transport control unit 3 to continue the normal transport. As a result, the betting ticket 1 is stored in the storage unit 5.

If an error is found even after reading three times, the transfer instruction section 6 issues an instruction to the transfer control section 3 to cause the sheet to be discharged from the discharge port 7. At this time, the transport section 2 is discharged from the discharge port 7 via the transport route shown in the figure.

In the above-described embodiment, the case has been described where the voting ticket 1 is discharged from the discharge port 7 in the case where the reading is abnormal even after reading three times. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to reading three times, and is optional. You may make it discharge | emit after reading only a number. When recognizing that the betting ticket 1 has been discharged from the discharge port 7, the customer can recognize that the betting ticket 1 was not a winning betting ticket or that the betting ticket was inserted upside down.

According to this embodiment, the reading unit 4
If the reading result is abnormal, the transfer instruction unit 6
The reading unit 4 reads information from the medium 1 conveyed in the reverse direction in the reverse direction. According to this, by reading again the medium 1 that could not be read at one time, it is possible to read again when a medium such as a betting ticket or a voting card has a reading error. According to the present invention, there is no need for the user to insert the medium 1 again, which is convenient.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the bill discharging unit 20. As shown in FIG. In the figure, 28 is a banknote, 2
1 is a transport unit that transports the bill 28 in the forward or reverse direction, 2
Reference numeral 2 denotes a transport control unit that controls the transport unit 21, 23 denotes a reading unit that reads information on bills, and 23a denotes a determination unit that determines a reading result.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a storage section in which bills 28 are stored. Banknotes 28 are stacked and stored in the storage section 24 for each type of banknote (for example, 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen). Reference numeral 25 denotes a transfer instruction unit that receives an output from the determination unit 23a and issues a forward or reverse transfer instruction to the transfer control unit 22. Reference numeral 26 denotes a stacker that stores defective banknotes. 27
Is a discharge section for discharging a normal bill.

Here, forward transport of a bill means that the transport section 21 transports the bill in the left direction, and reverse transport of the bill means that the transport section 21 transports the bill in the right direction.
The operation of the device configured as described above will be described below.

When the refund information is sent from the CPU 30 (see FIG. 9) to the bill discharging unit 20, the transfer instruction unit 25 issues an instruction to the transfer control unit 22 and
Pay out the banknote from 4. The fed banknote is transferred to the transport unit 2.
1 and enters the reading unit 23. The reading unit 23 reads the amount of the bill. In the figure, the bill 28 is conveyed through the reading unit 23 from below to read the amount. Reading the amount
This is performed by comparing the read information with a predetermined reference image. The read result is given to the determination unit 23a.

If the read result is normal, the judgment unit 23
“a” notifies the transfer instruction unit 25 of that fact. Upon receiving the notification, the transport instruction unit 25 instructs the transport control unit 22 to operate the transport unit 21 leftward from the exit of the reading unit 23 and cause the discharge unit 27 to discharge the banknote 28. In this way, when the reading operation is normal, the refund is released from the release unit 27. For example, if the refund is 36,000 yen, three 10,000-yen bills, one 5,000-yen bill, and one thousand-yen bill are released. The customer will receive the refunded amount.

Here, when the reading of the reading section 23 is abnormal, the determination section 23a notifies the transport instruction section 25 of the fact. The transfer instruction unit 25 issues an instruction to the transfer control unit 22 to operate the transfer route clockwise. Then, the banknotes discharged from the reading unit 23 are returned to the storage unit 24 again. Storage section 24
Is returned to the reading unit 23 by the transport unit 21 again. The reading unit 23 reads the information of the sent bill. The reading result is determined by the determining unit 23a.

Here, if the reading result is normal, the judging section 23a notifies the transfer instructing section 25 of the fact, and the conveying instructing section 25 instructs the conveying control section 22 to switch the conveying section 21 to the reading section 23. It is conveyed to the left from the exit, and the bill 2
Release 8. When the reading result is abnormal, the determination unit 23a notifies the conveyance instruction unit 25 of the fact, and the conveyance instruction unit 25 operates the conveyance unit 21 by the conveyance control unit 22 and moves the conveyance unit 21 rightward from the exit of the reading unit 23. Transported and stored again 24
Return to If the abnormal reading is continued a plurality of times, the transport instruction unit 25
Sends a transport instruction to the transport control unit 22 to cause the transport unit 21 to be transported rightward, and stores the abnormal bill in the stacker 26. In this way, only normal banknotes are refunded to the customer.

According to this embodiment, the reading unit 2
In response to the reading result of Step 3, the transport instruction unit 25 is
Is issued, and the banknotes that cannot be read at one time are read again.
It can be possible to read it again. As a result, only normal banknotes can be discharged.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are diagrams showing examples of the structure of the transport unit used in the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view of the transport unit, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view of the transport unit as viewed from above. In FIG. 7, the upper rollers are omitted. In the figure, rollers for conveying betting tickets are provided as roller pairs at both ends of the conveying path as shown in FIG. For example, rollers 53b and 53
b ′ is arranged to face each other. The same thing as FIG.
The same reference numerals are given.

In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a storage unit for storing the betting ticket 1. 51 is an insertion guide for inserting the voting ticket 1;
a, 52b to 57a, 57b, a pair of rollers 58;
Denotes a shutter disposed on the transport path, 59 denotes a reading head of the reading unit 4, and 60 denotes a stopper disposed on the transport path. 6
1a, 61b to 64a, 64b are photodetectors. These light detectors are used to detect that the betting ticket 1 has been conveyed. Reference numeral 65 denotes a punch for making a hole in the processed voting ticket 1. The operation of the device configured as described above will be described below.

Normally, the shutter 58 is arranged at the position shown by the solid line in the figure, and the transport path (shown by the broken line in the figure) is closed.
The roller 52a is located at the position shown by the solid line in the figure, and the rollers 52a and 52b are separated from each other. Here, when the customer inserts the betting ticket 1 from the insertion guide 51, the photodetectors 61a, 61
1b detects that the betting ticket 1 has entered, and the shutter 5
8, the roller 52a comes into contact with the roller 52b as shown by a broken line, and the voting ticket 1 can pass through the transport path. The rotation direction of the roller at this time is rightward.

When the betting ticket 1 passing through the transport path reaches the position of the reading head 59, the reading head 59 reads the information written on the betting ticket 1. The read result is determined by the determination unit 4
a (see FIG. 2). Here, if the determination unit 4a determines that the reading result is normal, the betting ticket 1 is transported in the transport path in the forward direction (from left to right in the figure).

The stopper 60 is normally closed as shown in the figure. And when the normal betting ticket 1 is sent,
The stopper 60 is lifted up, and at the same time, the roller 56a is moved to the position shown by the broken line, so that the betting ticket 1 can be conveyed. Betting ticket 1 that passed rollers 56a and 56b
A hole indicating that processing has been completed is made by the punch
a and 57b are stored in the storage unit 5.

Here, it is assumed that a reading error has occurred due to reading of the reading head 59. At this time, the voting ticket 1 is transported in the forward direction until it comes into contact with the stopper 60. next,
The transport control unit 3 drives the transport unit 2 in the reverse direction (right to left in the figure).

Here, when the sent betting ticket 1 is sent obliquely as shown in FIG. 8A, the positioning is performed by the stopper 60 as shown in FIG. Is correctly positioned. The voting ticket 1 positioned as shown in FIG. 8B is correctly conveyed so as to occupy the voting ticket 1 in FIG.

At this time, the rotation direction of the roller is to the left. As a result, the voting ticket 1 stopped and positioned by the stopper 60 is conveyed in the opposite direction, and is read again by the reading head 59. The reading operation of the reading head 59 is as described above (see FIG. 3).

In the above-described embodiment, the case where a voting ticket and a bill are used as a medium is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be similarly applied to a voting card and the like. . Although the above description has been given of the case of a bill as the bill discharging unit, a similar mechanism can be used for a coin. If a discharge unit is provided for each of a bill and a currency as a bill discharge unit, a refund of a fractional amount of 1,000 yen or less can be performed.

According to the present invention, in a reading apparatus for handling a medium such as a bill, a voting ticket, a voting card, etc., when a reading error occurs, there is no need for an operator or a customer to reload the medium into the apparatus. The reduction in the number of operators leads to a reduction in labor costs, and a reduction in customer operation steps leads to an improvement in customer service.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained. (1) According to the first aspect of the invention, when the reading result of the reading unit is abnormal, the conveyance instruction unit issues a reverse conveyance instruction to the conveyance control unit, and the reading unit conveys the medium conveyed in the reverse direction. Reads information in reverse direction from. According to this, by reading again the medium that could not be read at one time,
When a reading error occurs in a medium such as a betting ticket or a voting card, the medium can be read again. According to the present invention, there is no need for the user to insert the medium again, which is convenient.

(2) According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide a medium reading device capable of discharging only a normal medium when a medium such as a bill is discharged, and to re-use a normal medium again. It can be returned to storage and used for release.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a medium such as a betting ticket or a voting card is read improperly, it can be automatically read again, and only a normal medium is discharged when a medium such as a bill is discharged. It is possible to provide a medium reading device that can perform the operation. In addition, a normal medium can be returned to the storage section again and used for discharging.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a betting ticket refund unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an information reading operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reading head.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a bill discharging unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a transport unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a transport unit.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of positioning of a betting ticket.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a totalizer system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Medium 2 Transport part 3 Transport control part 4 Reading part 5 Storage part 6 Transport instruction part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G07D 9/00 403 G07D 9/00 403H 416 416C F term (Reference) 3E038 AA20 BB02 EA02 FA01 KA04 3E040 AA01 AA05 CA01 DA06 FG11 5B023 BA01 CA01 CA09 DA02 EA03 GA02 GA06 JA05 JA07 5B072 AA08 CC02 DD01 HH01 HH05 HH11 LL11 LL19

Claims (2)

[Claims] A transport unit that transports the medium in a forward or reverse direction; a transport control unit that controls the transport unit; and information that is disposed in a transport path of the transport unit and is recorded on the medium. A reading unit that reads in the forward or reverse direction, and a transport instruction unit that issues an instruction to transport the transport unit in the forward or reverse direction to the transport control unit according to the reading result of the reading unit. The medium reading device, wherein the reading unit reads information recorded on the medium from a reverse direction when the conveyance unit reversely conveys the information. 2. A transport unit for transporting a medium in a forward or reverse direction, a transport control unit for controlling the transport unit, and information arranged on a transport path by the transport unit and recorded on the medium. A reading unit that reads, a discharge unit that discharges a medium read by the reading unit, and a transfer unit that causes the transfer control unit to transfer the transfer unit in a forward direction or a reverse direction according to a reading result of the reading unit. A reading unit that reads information recorded on the medium during transfer by the transfer unit, discharges the medium to the discharge unit in the case of normal reading, and discharges the medium to the discharge unit in the case of abnormal reading. A medium reading device for controlling conveyance so that the reading unit reads the medium again.