JP2010113406A - Reader/writer for information storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reader/writer for an information storage medium for easily releasing abnormality when the abnormality is generated. <P>SOLUTION: A reader/writer 10 for an information storage medium is configured to, when a non-contact IC card 20 is detected in which prescribed information is stored, read/write the information stored in the non-contact IC card 20, and provided with: an information input part 130; an information output part 140; and a control part 250 for, when prescribed abnormality is generated, and a prescribed operation is performed by using the information input part 130, making the information output part 140 output the content of the abnormality and a release method. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reader / writer for an information storage medium that reads and writes information stored in the information storage medium when an information storage medium storing information such as an electronic money balance is detected.

  Conventionally, as this type of information storage medium reader / writer, when an information storage medium storing predetermined information is detected, the information stored in the information storage medium is read and written.

This information storage medium reader / writer is provided in a host device such as a vending machine, and when an information storage medium storing an electronic money balance is detected, a payment process using the electronic money by reading and writing the electronic money balance Is configured to do. In addition, the information storage medium reader / writer is provided with a display unit as an information output unit. For example, when payment processing is performed using an information storage medium in which an electronic money balance is not stored, the information storage medium reader / writer is not usable. Abnormal content such as “Card” is displayed on the display.
JP 2006-318029 A

  However, in the conventional example, when an abnormality occurs, only the content of the abnormality is simply displayed. Therefore, it takes a lot of time for the user or operator to specify a method for canceling the abnormality, and the abnormality is cleared early. It might be difficult to do.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer for an information storage medium that can easily cancel the abnormality when the abnormality occurs. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an information storage medium reader / writer for reading and writing information stored in an information storage medium when an information storage medium storing predetermined information is detected. And an information output unit and a control unit that causes the information output unit to output the content of the abnormality and a canceling method when a predetermined operation using the information input unit is performed when a predetermined abnormality occurs.

  As a result, when a predetermined operation using the information input unit is performed when a predetermined abnormality occurs, the content of the abnormality and the release method are output from the information output unit. The abnormality can be canceled based on the cancellation method.

  According to the present invention, since the abnormality can be canceled based on the solution outputted from the information output unit, the abnormality can be easily canceled even when an abnormality occurs. Therefore, the abnormality can be canceled early and smooth operation can be realized.

  1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an information storage medium reader / writer, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the information storage medium reader / writer, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the data structure of the release information, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the control unit when an abnormality occurs.

  The information storage medium reader / writer 10 (hereinafter referred to as the reader / writer 10) of the present embodiment is provided in the vending machine 1 and is known as an information storage medium in which electronic money information such as an electronic money balance is stored. When the non-contact IC card 20 is detected, the electronic money is settled by reading and writing the electronic money information. The reader / writer 10 includes a first harness 100 and a second housing 200 as a reader / writer main body, and a wire harness connected to a circuit board (not shown) provided in each of the housings 100 and 200. 300. Since the contents of the electronic money settlement process are the same as the known process contents, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The first casing 100 is formed so as to be attachable from the front to an opening of an outer door provided on the front side of the vending machine 1, and includes a front surface portion 101, a back surface portion 102 as an information storage medium detection surface, The upper surface portion 103, the side surface portion 104, and the bottom surface portion 105 are configured. The front surface 101 has a reading surface 101a formed in accordance with the shape of the non-contact IC card 20, a money switching button 131 for switching and selecting an electronic money service used for payment processing, and the non-contact IC card 20 A display unit 141 for displaying character information such as electronic money balance and operation guidance stored in is provided in a layout as shown in FIG. A loop-shaped antenna 120 for transmitting / receiving data to / from the non-contact IC card 20 is provided on the back surface of the reading surface 101a. When the user selects the electronic money service using the money switching button 131 and holds the non-contact IC card 20 over the front surface 101 of the first housing 100, the non-contact IC card 20 reads the reading surface 101a. Contactless communication between the antenna 120 and the non-contact IC card 20 becomes possible.

  Next, the control system configuration of the reader / writer 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The first casing 100 includes an RF circuit unit 110, an antenna 120, a money switching button 131 and an operation button 132 as an information input unit 130, a display unit 141 and an audio output unit 142 as an information output unit 140, Is provided.

  The RF circuit unit 110 is for performing non-contact communication with the non-contact IC card 20 via the antenna 120, and includes a known AD / DA converter, a rectifier circuit, and the like. The operation button 132 is used to output a method for canceling the abnormality when an abnormality occurs. The audio output unit 142 is a well-known speaker, and is used to output sound effects and the like during the settlement process.

  The second housing 200 is provided with a first connector 210, a mode switch 220, a storage unit 230, a second connector 240, and a control unit 250. The above devices are connected. The control unit 250 is connected to the management server 50 for managing the reader / writer 10 via the second connector 240, the communication device 30, and the network 40.

  The first connector 210 is compliant with the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association (JVMA) interface specification, and is used as an interface unit for connecting the control unit 250 and the vending machine 1. The mode changeover switch 220 is provided on the side surface of the second casing 200 as shown in FIG. 1, and is for switching between the operation mode and the maintenance mode. The second connector 240 is used to connect the control unit 250 and the communication device 30.

  The storage unit 230 is a rewritable storage element such as an EEPROM, and stores various information based on the control of the control unit 250. The storage unit 230 stores error information 231 composed of a plurality of abnormality contents, cancellation information 232 composed of a plurality of abnormality cancellation methods, and an error history 233, and each abnormality content of the error information 231 is stored. As shown in FIG. 3, the information is stored in a state associated with the abnormality canceling method of the canceling information 232 in advance. The storage unit 230 stores payment processing programs (not shown) corresponding to each of a plurality of electronic money services, and is selected when the user selects an electronic money service using the money switching button 131. A settlement processing program corresponding to the electronic money is executed under the control of the control unit 250.

  The control unit 250 is for controlling the entire reader / writer 10 and includes a CPU, a memory such as a RAM and a ROM, and a timer for measuring the date and time. The control unit 250 controls each of the above devices based on data and programs stored in the memory. Further, the RF circuit unit 110, the money switching button 131, the operation button 132, the display unit 141, and the audio output unit 142 of the first housing 100 are connected to the control unit 250 via the wire harness 300. Details of the operation of the control unit 250 will be described later.

  The communication device 30 is a communication device such as a modem for connecting to the network 40, and communicates with the management server 50 via the network 40. In this embodiment, a public line network is used as the network 40, and a modem is used as the communication device 30 correspondingly.

  In the reader / writer 10 configured as described above, the first housing 100 is attached such that the back surface portion 102 is fitted to the opening of the outer door of the vending machine 1 from the front. The second casing 220 is provided at a predetermined position in the vending machine 1, and the circuit boards of the casings 100 and 200 are interconnected by a wire harness 300. Hereinafter, the operation of the control unit 250 when an abnormality occurs will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when the reader / writer 10 is powered on (step S1), the control unit 250 operates in the operation mode (step S2). The control unit 250 receives a predetermined abnormality signal from the connected device, or the abnormality is caused by determining that the communication process with the vending machine 1 or the management server 50 or the electronic money settlement process does not end normally. Is detected (step S3), the content of the abnormality is extracted from the error information 231 in the storage unit 230 and displayed on the display unit 141 (step S4). For example, when the electronic money balance stored in the non-contact IC card 20 is insufficient in the electronic money settlement process, the abnormal content “Kunyu Dekimasen” is extracted from the error information 231. And the control part 250 acquires abnormality occurrence date and time from a timer, and memorize | stores it in the error log | history 233 with the content of abnormality (step S5).

  On the other hand, when the user or the operator presses the operation button 132 for a predetermined time (5 seconds in the present embodiment) after the abnormality content is displayed on the display unit 141 (step S6), the control unit 250 associates the abnormality content with the abnormality content. The released release method is extracted from the release information 232 and displayed on the display unit 141 together with the abnormality content (step S7). To explain using the above-described example, the cancellation method “Denim Money Update” associated with the abnormal content “Kunyu Dekimasen” is extracted from the cancellation information 232 and displayed on the display unit 141.

  When the user or operator depresses the money switching button 131 (step S8), the control unit 250 switches the abnormality content only when a plurality of abnormalities occur in step S3 (step S9). (Step S10), the process after step S7 is performed. That is, each time the money switching button 131 is pressed, the content of the abnormality displayed on the display unit 141 and the canceling method are switched.

  In this way, when a predetermined operation using the operation button 132 is performed when a predetermined abnormality occurs, the content of the abnormality and the canceling method are displayed on the display unit 141, and thus displayed on the display unit 141. The abnormality can be canceled based on the released cancellation method.

  If the money switching button 131 is not pressed in step S8 or if a plurality of abnormalities have not occurred in step S9, there is no input for 30 seconds after the abnormality content and the canceling method are displayed on the display unit 141. (Step S11), the control unit 250 proceeds to the process of Step S2. If there is an input within 30 seconds in step S11, the control unit 250 proceeds to the process in step S7.

  Further, when no abnormality has occurred in step S3, when the operator opens the outer door of the vending machine 1 and presses the mode switch 220 of the second casing 200 (step S12), the control unit 250. Operates by switching from the operation mode to the maintenance mode (step S13). In this case, the control unit 250 displays the abnormality content and abnormality occurrence date and time stored in the error history 233 and the cancellation method associated with the abnormality content on the display unit 141 in the same manner as the process of step S7 (step S7). S14). At this time, the operator can perform maintenance work by referring to the abnormality content and the cancellation method displayed on the display unit 141.

  Further, when the money change button 131 is not pressed (step S15) and the mode change switch 220 is pressed (step S16), the control unit 250 switches from the maintenance mode to the operation mode (step S17). The process proceeds to S2. Furthermore, when the money switching button 131 is pressed in step S15, the control unit 250 switches to another abnormality content stored in the error history 233 (step S18), and proceeds to the process of step S14. That is, each time the money switching button 131 is pressed, the content of the abnormality displayed on the display unit 141, the date and time of occurrence, and the canceling method are switched.

  Although not described in the above flow, the control unit 250 communicates with the management server 50 via the second connector 240, the communication device 30, and the network 40, and the latest error information stored in the management server 50. 231 and the release information 232 are acquired and stored in the storage unit 230.

  As described above, according to the reader / writer 10 of the present embodiment, the abnormality can be canceled based on the solution displayed on the display unit 141. Therefore, even when an abnormality occurs, the abnormality can be easily canceled. it can. Therefore, the abnormality can be canceled early and smooth operation can be realized.

  In addition, since the information input unit 140 is provided on the front surface portion 101 of the first casing 100, a complicated operation such as opening the outer door of the vending machine 1 is not required in order to output the content of the abnormality and the release method. Therefore, there is an advantage that the acquisition of the release method becomes easier.

  Furthermore, if an operation button 132 as the information input unit 140 is pressed for a predetermined time (in this embodiment, 5 seconds) when an abnormality occurs, the control unit 250 displays the content of the abnormality and a canceling method on the display unit 141. Therefore, it is possible to acquire the method for canceling the abnormality with a simple operation.

  Furthermore, when the money switching button 131 serving as the information input unit 140 is pressed when a plurality of abnormalities occur, the control unit 250 switches the content of the abnormality and the canceling method and causes the display unit 141 to display the abnormality. The contents of a plurality of abnormalities and the canceling method can be easily acquired.

  In addition, the said embodiment is only a specific example of this invention, and this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the display of the abnormality content and the canceling method is displayed on the display unit 141 when the operation button 132 is pressed for a predetermined time. However, the money switching button 142 is used instead of the operation button 132. You may comprise.

  In the above embodiment, the abnormality content and the cancellation method are displayed on the display unit 141. However, the abnormality content and the cancellation method may be output from the audio output unit 142 by voice.

  Furthermore, although the above embodiment has been described using the reader / writer 10 connected to the vending machine, it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a case where it is connected to a payment terminal such as a POS terminal.

The perspective view of the reader / writer for information storage media which shows one Embodiment of this invention Functional block diagram of reader / writer for information storage medium The figure which shows an example of the data structure of error information and cancellation | release information Flow chart showing the operation of the controller when an abnormality occurs

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Reader / writer, 20 ... Non-contact IC card, 100 ... 1st housing | casing, 101 ... Front part, 130 ... Information input part, 131 ... Money switching button, 132 ... Operation button, 140 ... Information output part, 141 ... Display unit 142 ... Audio output unit 200 ... Second housing 230 ... Storage unit 231 ... Error information 232 ... Release information 250 ... Control unit

Claims (4)

When an information storage medium storing predetermined information is detected, an information storage medium reader / writer that reads and writes information stored in the information storage medium,
An information input section;
An information output unit;
An information storage medium comprising: a control unit that, when a predetermined operation using the information input unit is performed when a predetermined abnormality occurs, causes the information output unit to output the content of the abnormality and a cancellation method Reader / writer. The information storage medium reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein the information input unit is provided on an information storage medium detection surface of a reader / writer main body. The controller is
3. The information storage medium according to claim 1, wherein, when the abnormality occurs, when the button as the information input unit is pressed for a predetermined time, the content of the abnormality and the release method are output to the information output unit. Reader / writer. The controller is
3. The information according to claim 1, wherein, when a plurality of the abnormalities occur, each time a button as an information input unit is pressed, the content of the abnormality and a canceling method are switched and output to the information output unit. Reader / writer for storage media.

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