JP2720936B2 - Prepaid card system - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prepaid card system used in a hospital or the like for charging a television receiver or the like.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various prepaid card systems have been proposed, and viewing / listening of a television receiver and use of a washing machine are charged by a charging device. In some of the paying devices, when a prepaid card is inserted, the device is made usable, and after using the device, the remaining number data is written into the prepaid card and the prepaid card is discharged by a card transport motor.

For example, in a fee-charging device that charges a fee for viewing a television receiver, when a prepaid card is inserted as shown in FIG. 12, the prepaid card is pulled in by a card transport motor, and the card is read from the prepaid card by a card reader / writer. Frequency data and the like are read by a magnetic head to determine whether or not the prepaid card is valid based on the data. If the prepaid card is not valid, the prepaid card is ejected by a card transport motor. If the prepaid card is valid, turn on the power of the television receiver to enable viewing of the television receiver, and broadcast signals of each program to the television receiver according to the channel selection signal from the operation unit. To select. Then, the frequency with respect to the viewing time of the television receiver is counted at the set rate, and the count result of the frequency is subtracted from the frequency data read from the prepaid card to obtain the remaining frequency.
It is determined whether or not the remaining frequency is valid (more than frequency data per unit viewing time of the television receiver). If the remaining frequency data is more than frequency data per unit viewing time of the television receiver, When the television receiver is set to remain viewable and the television receiver has been viewed and a television receiver viewing end signal is input from the operation unit, the card reader / writer uses a magnetic head to record the remaining frequency on the prepaid card. The data is written (rewritten) and the prepaid card is ejected by the card transport motor. If the residual frequency data is less than the frequency data per unit viewing time of the television receiver, the frequency data of the prepaid card is rewritten by a magnetic head by a card reader / writer, and the prepaid card is rewritten by a card transport motor. Discharge.

Some prepaid card systems charge not only television receivers for viewing but also use of refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, showers, ice makers, water heaters, and the like. In some cases, the use of a plurality of types of devices is charged with the same prepaid card, and the rates of various types of devices are set individually and are not constant.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above prepaid card system, the prepaid card is conveyed by a card conveying motor, and data is read from the prepaid card or written on the prepaid card by a magnetic head by a card reader / writer. After a predetermined period of time, the motor expires and becomes unusable. For this reason, the magnetic head of the card reader / writer and the card transport motor require regular maintenance, and there is a disadvantage that a large-scale maintenance operation is required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card system which can solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and can easily perform maintenance work.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention makes it possible to read out frequency data from a prepaid card by inserting a prepaid card with a card reader / writer and use the frequency data when the frequency data is valid, and to use the frequency data after using the device. A prepaid device having a paying device for subtracting frequency data corresponding to the device usage time from the data to obtain residual frequency data, writing the residual frequency data to the prepaid card by a card reader / writer, and discharging the prepaid card by a card transport motor. In a card system, as shown in FIG. 1, the card reader / writer counts how many times data has been read and written, and stores the number of data in a nonvolatile memory. Instead, the maintenance inspection card is inserted. A use frequency notifying unit for judging insertion of the maintenance / inspection card based on data read from the maintenance / inspection card by the card reader / writer, reading out data of the number of times stored in the non-volatile memory, and informing; Things.

(Operation)

The number-of-uses detecting means 1 counts how many times data is read and written by the card reader / writer, and stores the data of that number in the nonvolatile memory. When the maintenance / inspection card is inserted in place of the prepaid card, the use frequency notifying means 2 judges the insertion of the maintenance / inspection card based on the data read by the card reader / writer from the maintenance / inspection card, The data of the number of times stored in the memory is read and notified.

〔Example〕

 FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

This embodiment is a hospital prepaid card system used by hospitalized patients and their attendants in a hospital,
The viewing of the television receiver 11 is charged by the charging device 12.

The antenna 13 receives a television broadcast signal of a plurality of channels, and the television broadcast signal from the antenna 13 is selected by the tuner 15 via the distributor 14. The independent broadcasting device 16 has a video tape recorder, a television camera, a microphone, and the like for recording and reproducing a television broadcast signal from the distributor 14. A reproduction signal from the video tape recorder and a video signal from the television camera are provided. And an audio signal from the microphone as a broadcast signal of a channel different from the television broadcast channel. Either the broadcast signal from the independent broadcast device 16 or the broadcast signal from the tuner 15 is selected by the control signal from the control unit 18 by the RF switch 17 and input to the television receiver 11, and The control unit 19 turns on / off the power of the television receiver 11 according to a control signal from the control unit 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the display / operation unit 20 includes a television button 21, a channel down button 22, a channel up button 23, a channel display 24, a residual frequency display 25 also serving as a maintenance data display, and the like. The insertion and ejection of the card and the maintenance / inspection card are performed from the card insertion slot 27. In addition, as shown in FIG.
The card reader / writer 28 used for paying for viewing is inserted and ejected from the card insertion slot 27. The rate is arbitrarily set by a switch or the like so that the viewing time of the television receiver 11 is, for example, 36 seconds, 54 seconds, or 72 seconds per unit frequency.

In the card reader / writer 28, as shown in FIG. 4, a prepaid card or a maintenance / inspection card is inserted in a direction indicated by an arrow from a card insertion slot 27, and the prepaid card or the maintenance / inspection card is shown along a card transport path 29. The transfer (insertion and ejection) is performed by a transfer system that does not
The magnetic head 31 magnetically reads and writes data on the prepaid card and reads data on the maintenance and inspection card, and records marks on the prepaid card by the thermal head 31. The sensors 32, 33, and 34 detect a prepaid card and a maintenance / inspection card at predetermined positions on the card transport path 29, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D, the magnetic head 30 includes a write magnetic head 30a and a read magnetic head 30b.
The modulation / demodulation circuit 35 modulates the data from the control unit 18 in synchronization with the write clock from the write clock generation circuit 36 and outputs the modulated data to the write magnetic head 30a via the amplifier 37, thereby writing the data on the prepaid card. Also,
Data is read from the prepaid card or the maintenance / inspection card by the read magnetic head 30b, and a read signal from the read magnetic head 30b is demodulated by the modem circuit 35 via the amplifier 38 and output to the control unit 18. The motor drive circuit 39 drives the card transport DC motor 40 for driving the transport system by the motor forward rotation signal MF and the motor reverse rotation signal MB from the controller 18. Card position detection circuit 41
Sends card detection signals from the sensors 32, 33, and 34 to the control unit 18, and the thermal head driving unit 42 drives the thermal head 31 based on the signal from the control unit 18 to record marks on the prepaid card. As shown in FIG. 6, a magnetic stripe 44 having a width of 3 mm is provided on the lower surface of the prepaid card 43 at a position 9 mm from one side end in parallel with the insertion direction of the prepaid card 43. Reading and writing of data are performed by the magnetic head 30. In addition, ID data unique to each prepaid card, frequency data corresponding to time, and the like are recorded on the magnetic stripe 44 of the prepaid card 43, and the frequency data is initially data of a certain frequency. Prepaid card for maintenance and inspection
A magnetic stripe is formed at the same position as 43, and specific data indicating that the card is a maintenance inspection card is recorded on the magnetic stripe. As shown in FIG. 7, ten mark recording positions P1 to P10 are provided on the upper surface of the prepaid card 43 at regular intervals in parallel with the insertion direction of the prepaid card 43. The thermal head driving unit 42 drives the thermal head 31 in accordance with the residual frequency to record marks at the mark recording positions P1 to P10.

The control unit 18 controls the tuner 15 and the RF switch 17 based on signals from the channel down button 22 and the channel up button 22 to switch the reception channel (channel to be viewed) of the television receiver 11 each time the channel down button 22 is pressed. The television broadcasts 1, 2, 3,..., 11 and 12 and the independent broadcast channel are selected to be sequentially moved downward, and each time the channel up button 22 is pressed, the television broadcast 1, 2 The channels 2, 3,..., 11 and 12 and the channel of the independent broadcast are selected so as to sequentially move upward, and the selected channels are displayed on the channel display 24. In addition, the control unit 18 has a card insertion slot 27.
The remaining number of the prepaid card inserted from is displayed on the remaining number display 25.

 FIG. 8 shows a part of the processing flow of the control unit 18.

When the card is inserted from the card insertion slot 27 and detected by the sensor 32, the control unit 18 operates as shown in FIG.
When the card detection signal PH1 from 32 is turned on, the motor forward rotation signal MF is output to the motor drive circuit 39 to rotate the card transport DC motor 40 in the card loading direction, and the card detection signal PH3 from the sensor 34 is turned on. Later, when the card detection signal PH1 from the sensor 32 is turned off, the card transfer DC motor 40 is braked via the motor drive circuit 39 and stopped to terminate the card loading. While the card is being read, when the card detection signal PH3 from the sensor 34 is turned on, data is read from the card by the reading magnetic head 30b, and the data is sent to the control unit via the amplifier 38 and the modem circuit 35. The controller 18 stores the input data in a memory, and determines from the input data whether the inserted card is a maintenance inspection card. If it is determined that the inserted card is not a maintenance check card, the control unit 18 checks the ID data and frequency data in the input data to determine whether the inserted card is a valid prepaid card. The control unit 18
If it is determined from the ID data that the inserted card is not a valid prepaid card, or if it is determined that the frequency data in the input data is not more than the frequency data corresponding to the unit viewing time of the television receiver 11, the nonvolatile memory Is added to the number of times of use data stored in the non-volatile memory. The number of times of use is initially 0 (at the start of use of the fee-charging apparatus 12), and is updated each time data reading or data reading and writing is performed once on the prepaid card by the card reader / writer 28. Next, the control unit
18 outputs the motor reverse rotation signal MB to the motor drive circuit 39 to rotate the card transport DC motor 40 in the ejection direction, and ejects the prepaid card from the card insertion slot 27. in this case,
As shown in FIG. 10, the controller 18 stops the card transport DC motor 40 via the motor drive circuit 39 about two seconds after the prepaid card detection signal PH1 from the sensor 32 is turned off.

The control unit 18 determines that the inserted card is a valid prepaid card from the ID data in the input data, and determines that the frequency data in the input data is
If it is determined that the frequency data is equal to or more than the frequency data corresponding to the unit viewing time, the power supply control unit 19 turns on the power of the television receiver 11 so that the television receiver 11 can be viewed, and the display / operation unit 20 Channel down button 2 in
2. By controlling the tuner 15 and the RF switch 17 according to the input signal from the channel up button 23, a television broadcast signal from the antenna 13, the independent broadcast device 16 to the television receiver 11, and an independent broadcast signal are selected. I do. Then, the controller 18 counts the frequency corresponding to the viewing time of the television receiver 11 at the set rate while watching the television receiver 11, and the result of the counting is less than the frequency data in the input data and the remaining frequency (The result of subtracting the above counting result from the frequency data in the input data) is the television receiver
It is determined whether or not the frequency is equal to or more than the frequency corresponding to the eleventh unit viewing time. If the remaining frequency does not exceed the frequency corresponding to the unit viewing time of the television receiver 11, the control unit 18 reads the prepaid card 43 from the prepaid card 43 when the prepaid card 43 is inserted and reads the frequency data stored in the memory from the television receiver. The counting result of the frequency corresponding to the eleventh viewing time is subtracted, and the result is output as residual frequency data to the write magnetic head 30b via the modulation / demodulation circuit 35 and the amplifier 37 and written to the prepaid card 43. In this case, the control unit 18 outputs the motor reverse rotation signal MB to the motor drive circuit 39 to transmit the card
The prepaid card 43 is rotated by rotating the DC motor 40 in the discharging direction.
Is returned to the vicinity of the card insertion slot 27, and as shown in FIG. 11, a motor forward rotation signal MF is output to the motor drive circuit 39, and the card transport DC motor 40 is rotated in the loading direction to remove the prepaid card 43. After the card is captured and the card detection signal from the sensor 34 is turned on, the remaining frequency data is written to the prepaid card 43 (frequency data is rewritten). Further, the control unit 18 adds 1 to the number-of-uses data stored in the non-volatile memory and stores it again in the non-volatile memory as new number-of-uses data. Next, the control unit 18 outputs a motor reverse rotation signal MB to the motor drive circuit 39, rotates the card transport DC motor 40 in the ejection direction, ejects the prepaid card 43 from the card insertion slot 27, and causes the power control unit 19 to The power of the television receiver 11 is turned off.

If the remaining frequency is equal to or more than the frequency corresponding to the unit viewing time of the television receiver 11, the control unit 18 keeps the power of the television receiver 11 turned on until the television button 21 is pressed, and the channel down button 22, The tuner 15 and the RF switch 17 are controlled according to the input signal from the channel up button 23, and the frequency corresponding to the viewing time of the television receiver 11 is counted at the set rate. Therefore, the viewer of the television receiver 11 can select a channel by the channel down button 22 and the channel up button 23 to view the television broadcast or the independent broadcast on the television receiver 11, and when the viewing is finished, Press the TV button 21. The control unit 18 determines whether or not the viewing of the television receiver 11 has ended based on a signal from the television button 21. When the viewing of the television receiver 11 is completed, the control unit 18 returns to the prepaid card 43 in the same manner as described above.
At the time of insertion, the result of counting the frequency corresponding to the viewing time of the television receiver 11 is subtracted from the frequency data read from the prepaid card 43 and stored in the memory at the time of insertion, and the result is used as residual frequency data as the modulation / demodulation circuit 35 and the amplifier 37. To the writing magnetic head 30a via the
, And 1 is added to the number-of-uses data stored in the non-volatile memory, and the data is again stored in the non-volatile memory as new-uses data. Further, the control unit 18 causes the prepaid card 43 to be ejected from the card insertion slot 27 in the same manner as described above, and causes the power control unit 19 to shut off the power of the television receiver 11.

If the control unit 18 determines from the input data that the inserted card is a maintenance check card, the control unit 18 displays the internal data necessary for maintenance including the number of times of use stored in the non-volatile memory as the maintenance data. Is displayed on the remaining frequency display 25 which also serves as a storage device, and 1 is added to the usage count data stored in the non-volatile memory to store the new usage count data in the non-volatile memory again. Similarly, eject the maintenance inspection card. Therefore, those who perform maintenance and inspection of the fee-charging device 12 can
When the maintenance inspection card is inserted into the maintenance data display 26, the number of times the magnetic head 30 is used can be read from the number of times the maintenance data display 26 is used, so that maintenance and inspection of the magnetic head 30 can be easily performed. The number of times the card transport DC motor 40 has been used can be known from the displayed number of times 26, and maintenance and inspection thereof can be easily performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the use count data of the nonvolatile memory may be notified by voice instead of the maintenance data display 26. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where the use of a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, a shower device, an ice machine, a water heater, and the like is charged.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, by inserting the prepaid card, frequency data is read from the prepaid card by the card reader / writer, and when the frequency data is valid, the device can be used. A prepaid card having a paying device for subtracting frequency data corresponding to the device usage time to obtain residual frequency data, writing the residual frequency data to the prepaid card by a card reader / writer, and discharging the prepaid card by a card transport motor. In the system,
The card reader / writer counts how many times data has been read and written, and counts the number of times of use that stores the data in the non-volatile memory, and inserts a maintenance / inspection card instead of a prepaid card. A use frequency notifying unit for judging insertion of the maintenance / inspection card from the maintenance / inspection card based on data read by the card reader / writer, reading out data of the number of times stored in the non-volatile memory, and informing; Therefore, the number of times of use of the card reader / writer and the card transport motor can be easily known only by inserting the maintenance / inspection card, and the maintenance work of the card reader / writer and the card transport motor can be easily performed. Moreover, this simplification of the maintenance work can be realized with almost no increase in cost in terms of hardware.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a block diagram showing the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front view showing a display / operation unit of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 (a) to 5 (d) are plan views showing a part of the card reader / writer in FIG.
Is a block diagram showing each part of the card reader / writer, and FIG.
FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 are a bottom view and a plan view showing a prepaid card used in the embodiment, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing flow of a control unit in the embodiment, FIG.
FIG. 11 is a timing chart of the card reader / writer, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a control unit in the conventional prepaid card system. 1. Use frequency detecting means 2. Use frequency notification means.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card reader which reads frequency data from a prepaid card by inserting a prepaid card and makes the device usable when the frequency data is valid. In the prepaid card system having a paying device for subtracting the corresponding frequency data to obtain residual frequency data, writing the residual frequency data to the prepaid card by a card reader / writer and discharging the prepaid card by a card transport motor, A card reader / writer counts how many times the data has been read and written, and counts the number of times of use that stores the data in the non-volatile memory, and the maintenance and inspection card is inserted instead of the prepaid card. From the maintenance inspection card to the card reader Prepaid card system characterized by comprising a number of uses notification means for reading out notification data number of the data by the stored determined the insertion of the maintenance card in the nonvolatile memory read by data.