JP2008146144A - Ticket issuing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ticket issuing device which enables reentering information unique to the device in a short period of time and eliminates input errors. <P>SOLUTION: The ticket issuing device issues a ticket by writing the information unique to the device into a ticket medium 3 by means of a writing head 12 as magnetic information so that the information is read out from a memory section before exchanging a control board 15, and reads out the magnetic information with a reading head 13 by inserting the ticket medium 3 after exchanging the control board 15, and writes information unique to the device of the new control board 15 to the memory section after exchanging the control board 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a ticket issuing device for issuing a printed ticket or a boarding ticket as a predetermined ticket by performing printing or magnetic writing on a ticket medium on which magnetic information can be written.

As a conventional ticket issuing device of this type, for example, there is a ticket issuing device disclosed in Patent Document 1.
In this ticketing device, when issuing a ticket for a vehicle, a roll-shaped ticket medium is fed out and cut to a predetermined length by a cutter unit, and information such as a valid period of use, a use section, and an amount of money is provided on the cut ticket medium. Printing and magnetic writing are performed by a printing unit and a magnetic writing head, and magnetic information is read by a reading head and discharged from a discharge port.

When issuing a commuter pass, the ticket medium is paid out from the hopper unit containing the card-like ticket medium by a plurality of rollers, etc., and the use period, amount of use, amount of money, etc. Information is printed and magnetically written by a printing unit and a magnetic writing head, and magnetic information is read by a reading head and discharged from a discharge port.
JP 2002-245493 (paragraph “0020” to paragraph “0022”, FIG. 1)

However, the conventional techniques described above have the following problems.
That is, in this type of ticketing apparatus, a control board equipped with a control unit such as a CPU and a storage unit for storing various kinds of information is mounted to control the entire apparatus, and the control unit executes the storage unit. In addition to storing a program for controlling the ticketing device, the ticket issuing device-specific information includes the cumulative number of issued sheets for each ticket medium, the number of times a lifespan component such as a print head, a magnetic information write head, and a read head is used, and Maintenance information such as the cumulative energization time for the device, the printing unit which is the main function of the device, the magnetic information write head and magnetic read head, and the individual adjustment parameter values for the medium feeding means, for example, printing on the medium Adjustment value information such as position, writing position, reading position, feeding timing, etc. is written, but the control board is changed due to periodic replacement of the control board or frequent malfunctions of the equipment. When replacement is necessary, the device-specific information that must originally be held by the ticketing device itself is lost, so the control board after replacement is written to the storage part of the control board before replacement. It is necessary to input the device-specific information that has been stored again.

  For this reason, conventionally, before replacing the control board, a predetermined sheet is inserted from the insertion port to print out the apparatus-specific information, and after the control board is replaced, the operator confirms the apparatus-specific information printed on the sheet. Information is keyed in, but according to this, it is necessary to perform board replacement work, equipment-specific information re-input work, and operation confirmation within a limited time. There is a problem that it may be difficult to perform input work in terms of time, and input errors are likely to occur.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a control unit that controls the entire device in a ticket issuing device that issues a predetermined ticket by printing or magnetic writing on a ticket medium on which magnetic information can be written, and causes the control unit to execute control. Before exchanging the control board for storing the control program and information specific to the apparatus, the apparatus-specific information stored in the storage unit is written as magnetic information in the ticket medium to issue the ticket, and after the control board is replaced The ticket issuing apparatus is characterized in that the ticket medium is inserted, information unique to the apparatus as the magnetic information is read from the inserted ticket medium, and stored in a storage unit of a new exchanged control board.

  The present invention thus configured reads out the device specific information from the storage unit before replacing the control board, writes it as magnetic information on the ticket medium, issues a ticket, inserts the ticket medium after the control board replacement, and stores the device specific information. Since the data is read and written in the storage unit of the new control board after replacement, the key input operation of the device specific information by a conventional operator becomes unnecessary, and the device specific information can be re-input in a short time. At the same time, it is possible to eliminate an input error.

  Embodiments of a ticket issuing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the internal structure of the embodiment.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a ticket issuing device. The ticket issuing device 1 is provided with a conveyance path 2 formed by a conveyance roller, a guide plate, and the like.
A roll-shaped ticket medium 3 is mounted on one end of the transport path 2 and a hopper 4 for storing a card-shaped ticket medium is provided. The other end of the transport path 2 is on the other end side. A ticket discharge port 5 and a ticket insertion port 6 are provided in the section, and a discharge stacker 14 is provided in front of the apparatus so as to correspond to the ticket discharge port 5.

Further, a cutter unit 7, printing units 8 and 11, a magnetic writing head 12, and a magnetic reading head 13 are provided from one end side to the other end side along the conveyance path 2, and further, a bypass path is provided in the conveyance path 2. 2a and a branch path 2b are provided, a punch portion 9 is provided in the middle of the branch path 2b, and a recovery stacker 10 is provided at the end.
Reference numeral 15 denotes a control board on which electric parts such as a control unit such as a CPU, a storage unit, a capacitor, and a resistor are mounted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment, 16 is a control unit mounted on the control board 15, 17 is a storage unit also mounted on the control board 15, 18 is a display unit such as an LCD, and 19 is a keyboard. A storage unit 17, a display unit 18, and an input unit 19 are connected to the control unit 16 together with the printing units 8 and 11, the writing head 12 and the reading head 13.
Although not shown, the ticket issuing apparatus 1 includes a motor for driving the conveyance roller, a motor for driving the feeding means for feeding the roll-shaped ticket medium 3 and the card-shaped ticket medium, the cutter unit 7 and the punch unit 9. Actuators such as a plunger magnet to be operated and optical sensors for detecting a ticket medium conveyed along the conveyance path 2 are mounted, and these are also connected to the control unit 16.

In addition to storing a control program executed by the control unit in the storage unit, maintenance information and adjustment value information are stored as device-specific information as information specific to the ticket issuing device.
Here, the maintenance information includes the cumulative number of issued sheets for each ticket medium, the number of times the print heads and write heads of the printing units 8 and 11 are used, and the number of times that a life-span component such as the read head 13 is used, The adjustment value information is a parameter value for each adjustment specific to the print head of the printing units 8 and 11, which is the main function of the apparatus, the write head 12, the read head 13, and the medium feeding means, for example, the medium. Information such as a printing position, a writing position, a reading position, and a feeding timing.

In addition, the storage unit 17 also stores screen data such as a guidance screen displayed on the display unit 18 at the time of ticketing and a menu screen displayed on the display unit 18 for maintenance and the like.
In this configuration, for example, when a vehicle ticket or ticket is issued, a roll-shaped ticket medium 3 is fed out by a feeding means and cut into a predetermined length by the cutter unit 7, and the cut ticket medium 3 is printed by the conveyance path 2. The information is conveyed to the unit 8 and printed with black ink on the information such as the valid use period, the use section, and the amount of money.

  For example, when red printing is necessary, the ticket medium 3 is conveyed to the printing unit 11 to print predetermined information, and then conveyed to the position of the writing head 12, and when red printing is not necessary, the ticket medium 3 is printed. Is transferred from the printing unit 8 to the position of the write head 12 by the bypass path 2a, and the write head 12 magnetically writes the same information to the magnetic stripe provided on the ticket medium 3, and writes the written magnetic information. When it is read by the reading head 13 and is normal, it is discharged from the discharge port 5 to the discharge stacker 14.

When the information read by the reading head 13 is abnormal, that is, when normal writing has not been performed, the ticket medium 3 is transported to the punch unit 9 by the transport path 2 and the branch path 2b, and the punch medium 9 uses the ticket medium. After the hole is made and stored in the collection stacker 10, the roll-shaped ticket medium 3 is again fed out and processed in the same manner as described above to issue a ticket.
When issuing a commuter pass, the ticket medium is paid out from the hopper unit 4 containing the card-like ticket medium by a plurality of rollers and the like, and the ticket medium is used in the same manner as the ticket medium 3, the valid period of use, the use section, Information such as the amount of money is printed and magnetically written, and the magnetic information is read and discharged from the discharge port 5 to the discharge stacker 14.

Thus, whenever the ticketing process is performed, the maintenance information stored in the storage unit 17 is updated.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the above-described configuration. The operation will be described according to the step indicated by S in this figure.
The operation of each unit described below is controlled by the control unit 16 based on the control program stored in the storage unit 17, and the control unit 16 reads the control program and screen information from the storage unit 17 and the like. The description of these is omitted.

When it is necessary to replace the control board 15 due to periodic replacement of the control board 15 or frequent malfunction of the apparatus, the staff operates the input unit 19 to display the test program menu screen on the display unit 18 (S1). .
On this test program menu screen, selection items such as “Output Device Specific Information”, “Input Device Specific Information”, “Maintenance”, “Operation Check”, etc. are displayed. When "information output" is selected (S2), the control unit 16 receives the selection, feeds the roll-shaped ticket medium 3 by the feeding means, cuts it into a predetermined length by the cutter unit 7, and conveys the cut ticket medium 3 It is conveyed from the path 2 through the bypass path 2a to the position of the writing head 12 (S3).

Then, the control unit 16 reads the maintenance information and adjustment value information, which are device-specific information, from the storage unit 17, and sends the read information to the write head 12 to instruct writing. The value information is written as magnetic information in the magnetic stripe of the ticket medium 3 (S4). When the writing is completed, the control unit 16 causes the reading head 13 to read the information and confirms the contents (S5).

If the contents are normal, the control unit 16 discharges the ticket medium 3 from the ticket discharge port 5 to the discharge stacker 14 (S6).
Next, the clerk turns off the ticket issuing device 1 and replaces the control board 15 (S7). After the exchange, the clerk turns on the ticket issuing device 1 and starts up.
Then, the same test program menu screen as described above is displayed on the display unit 18 by operating the input unit 19 (S8), and "input device unique information" is selected from the screen (S9).

Upon receiving this selection, the control unit 16 causes the display unit 18 to display a screen for prompting insertion of the ticket medium 3 in which the device-specific information previously ejected is written, and instructs the reading head 13 to perform reading.
As a result, when the attendant inserts the ticket medium 3 in which the device-specific information is written from the ticket insertion slot 6 (S10), the inserted ticket medium 1 is conveyed to the position of the reading head 13.

When the ticket medium 3 is conveyed, the reading head 13 reads the device specific information from the magnetic stripe of the ticket medium 3 (S11), and the control unit 16 stores the read device specific information in a predetermined area of the storage unit 17. Write and store.
Thereafter, the control unit 16 conveys the ticket medium 3 to the punch unit 9, punches the ticket medium 3 with the punch unit 9, and stores it in the collection stacker 10 (S <b> 12) and ends the process.

Note that the control program written in the storage unit 17 as well as the device specific information is data common to the device and need not be reset.
According to the embodiment described above, the device-specific information is read from the storage unit before the control board is replaced, written as a magnetic information on the ticket medium by the writing head, and the ticket medium is inserted after the control board is replaced. Since the device-specific information is read by the read head and written in the storage unit of the new control board after replacement, it is not necessary for the operator to input the device-specific information by a key, and the device-specific information can be stored in a short time. Re-input is possible, and an effect of eliminating input mistakes can be obtained.

  In the above-described embodiment, the roll-shaped ticket medium 3 is cut and the device-specific information is written on the ticket medium 3. However, the roll-shaped ticket medium 3 is fed from the hopper unit 4 containing the card-shaped ticket medium, The device-specific information may be magnetically written on the card-like ticket medium, and after the control board is replaced, the ticket-specific medium is inserted, and the device-specific information may be read by the read head.

Side view showing the internal structure of the embodiment Side view showing the control system of the embodiment Side view showing the operation of the embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ticket issuing apparatus 2 Conveyance path 3 Ticket medium 4 Hopper 5 Ticket discharge port 6 Ticket insertion port 7 Cutter part 8 Printing part 9 Punch part 10 Collection stacker 11 Printing part 12 Magnetic writing head 13 Magnetic reading head 14 Discharge stacker 15 Control board 16 Control Section 17 Storage section 18 Display section 19 Input section

Claims (2)

In a ticket issuing device that issues a predetermined ticket by printing or magnetic writing on a ticket medium capable of writing magnetic information,
Before exchanging a control board for controlling the entire apparatus, a control program for causing the control section to execute control, and a control board storing apparatus-specific information, the apparatus-specific information stored in the storage section is ticketed. Tickets are written on the medium as magnetic information
After the control board is replaced, the ticket medium is inserted, and the apparatus-specific information as the magnetic information is read from the inserted ticket medium and stored in the storage unit of the new control board that has been replaced. Ticketing device. In the ticketing apparatus of Claim 1,
The information unique to the device includes maintenance information such as the cumulative number of issued sheets for each ticket medium, the number of times that a print head, magnetic information write head and read head are used, and the cumulative energization time of the device. , Printing unit, which is the main function of the apparatus, magnetic information writing head and magnetic reading head, and various parameter values for adjustment specific to the medium feeding means, such as printing position, writing position, reading position, feeding timing, etc. for the medium A ticket issuing device characterized in that it is adjustment value information.