JP3010080B2 - Prepaid card vending equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prepaid card vending apparatus for automatically selling a prepaid card in which the card balance at that time is sequentially printed on the back surface every time the card is used. The present invention relates to a prepaid card vending device which enables additional issuance of remaining prepaid cards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, prepaid cards have been introduced not only in transportation and public telephones but also in general shops. And, in many cases, the prepaid card itself can be purchased by the vending machine.

In such a prepaid card vending machine, a prepaid card of a plurality of money ranks in which money information corresponding to an issue face value such as 1000 yen, 2000 yen, and 3000 yen is recorded in advance is stored in a stocker in the apparatus. -Stored separately. Then, after the purchaser inserts money, such as bills, into the cash slot, the user operates the selection key indicating the type of the amount of money to be purchased, and the prepaid card of the corresponding amount of money is discharged from the sales outlet.

[0004] Many prepaid cards issued by department stores and general retail stores are expensive, such as 10,000 yen and 20,000 yen. In addition, since such a large prepaid card requires a large amount of money to be used, the user can use the card on the back of the prepaid card so that the user can immediately grasp the current card balance. When a purchase is made, the current card balance obtained by subtracting the current usage amount from the previous card balance is printed each time. In this way, the user can always check the latest card balance, so that he can shop with confidence.

[0005]

However, the following problems still exist in the prepaid card in which the card balance is sequentially printed in the margin on the back surface for each use as described above.

Generally, every time a prepaid card is used, it is inserted into a card reader / writer at an accounting office. Then, the card balance magnetically recorded on the magnetic stripe of the prepaid card is read, the usage amount is subtracted from the card balance, and the subtracted card balance is written on the magnetic stripe of the same prepaid card. At the same time, the updated card balance is thermally printed in a margin on the back side by, for example, a thermal printer. Thereafter, the prepaid card is ejected.

That is, the prepaid card receives the above-mentioned history every time it is used. Therefore, as a prepaid card, even if the amount used by the user at one time is small and the number of times of use until the card balance becomes 0 reaches a considerable number, the card balance can be normally written to the magnetic stripe until the end. Are manufactured more robustly than can be read and written. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the prepaid card itself is not negligible. In particular, when a thermal material for thermal printing is used on the back surface, the burden on the card issuer is further increased.

[0008] However, if the amount of one use is relatively large, for example, when the card is used several times, the card balance is exhausted and the prepaid card is discarded. In this case, there is much printing margin on the back side, and the prepaid card itself has to be discarded even though its life is still long, resulting in large waste of resources and economic loss.

[0009] Also, when the card balance becomes low, the user purchases a new prepaid card separately,
We need to prepare for the next shopping. In that case, it is necessary to possess and manage a plurality of prepaid cards. Further, it is very troublesome because it is necessary to submit a plurality of prepaid cards when performing accounting.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and if the inserted prepaid card has a print margin line exceeding a prescribed amount, the inserted amount is added to the card balance of the same prepaid card. As a result, issued cards can be reused, fully usable prepaid cards can be prevented from being destroyed, the manufacturing cost of the entire prepaid card can be reduced for the card issuer, and the user can have multiple prepaid cards An object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card vending apparatus which is free from the troublesome management and can reduce costs and improve services for customers.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a prepaid card vending apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
The card balance and the number of times of use recorded in the storage area of the prepaid card in which the card balance at that time is sequentially printed at the end of each use on the back surface inserted from the card insertion slot are shown. A card information reading means, a card sum reading means for calculating a total amount of a card balance read by the card information reading means and money inserted from a cash slot, and a card information reading means. A print margin line calculating means for calculating a print margin line on the back side from the read number of times of use, and when the print margin line is equal to or greater than a specified margin line, a total amount of money is written to a prepaid card inserted in the card insertion slot by a card writer. Means for adding a card balance to be written as a new card balance, and a new card balance by a printer at the first line of a print margin line on the back of the prepaid card on which the new card balance is written. Additional card issuing means for discharging after printing, and when the print margin line is less than the specified margin line, the total amount is written as a new card balance on one of the raw cards previously stored in the card stocker by a card writer. New card balance writing means, and new card issuing means for printing the new card balance on a first line on the back of the raw card on which the new card balance is written by a printer and issuing the new card balance as a new prepaid card. It is.

[0012]

When a new or additional prepaid card is to be purchased by the vending machine in the prepaid card vending apparatus thus constructed, first, a used prepaid card having a card balance is inserted into the card insertion slot. And insert the additional amount from the cash slot,
The total amount of the card balance and the input amount is calculated.

If the print margin line on the back side of the prepaid card is equal to or greater than the specified margin line, the previously calculated total amount is written as a new card balance on the same prepaid card, and the new card balance is written on the back side. It is printed out and issued. That is, the amount of money to be inserted is added to the same card and reissued.

[0014] On the other hand, if the print margin line is less than the predetermined margin line in place of the prepaid card is newly issued as a new Prevailing id card total amount in the raw card which is previously stored is written as a new card balance .

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a prepaid card vending apparatus according to an embodiment. An operation panel 2a formed on the front surface of the door 2 of the substantially box-shaped case 1 has a bill insertion slot for inserting bills and a coin insertion slot for inserting coins, and a prepaid card used by customers. Card insertion slot 4 for inserting a card, indicator 5 for electronically displaying various operation guides and input amounts, confirmation key 6 for confirming the amount to be written on a prepaid card to be purchased, sale operation Button 7, a call button 8 for calling a clerk, a selling lamp 9 indicating whether or not the vending machine is in operation, a sold prepaid card and a use in which the card balance is rewritten to 0. A card discharge port 10 for discharging the used prepaid card is provided.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a raw card previously stored in a card stocker in the prepaid card vending apparatus. On the surface of the raw card 11, a name such as a "shopping card" indicating that the card is a prepaid card and a name of a usable department store or a shopping street are printed in advance. A heat-sensitive material for thermally printing the balance of the card is attached to the back surface. The magnetic stripe 12 is formed inside.

As shown in FIG. 2B, areas 12a to 12e are formed on the magnetic stripe 12, and a card issuing company code and a series of card numbers are previously stored in the areas 12a and 12b, respectively. Has been written.
However, the card balance X is still stored in the areas 12c and 12d.
1, Initial amount X0 is not written. In addition, area 12
In e, the number of times 0 is used (N = 0) is stored. When the card balance X1 and the initial amount X0 are written and issued in the respective areas 12c and 12d of the raw card 11, the card becomes the prepaid card 13 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3 (a), a name such as "shopping card" and the name of a card issuing company are written on the front surface 13a of the pre-bayed card 13, and the front surface 13a is formed at the top of the back surface 13b made of a heat-sensitive material. The card balance X1 at the time of issuing the prepaid card, that is, the character 14 of "initial amount X0"
b is thermally printed over one line.

In the magnetic stripe 12, as shown in FIG. 3C, a card issuing company code, a card number, a card balance X1, an initial amount X0, and the number of uses N are recorded in the respective areas 12a to 12e. . At the time when the card is newly issued by the vending machine, the card balance X1 is equal to the initial amount X0, and the number of uses N is zero.

Each time the prepaid card 13 is used in a store, the used amount (payment amount) used this time is subtracted from the card balance X1. At the same time, the number of uses N is incremented by one. Furthermore, this prepaid card 13
Every time the store is used in a store, as shown in FIG. 3B, the use date and the card balance X are sequentially printed in the print margin on the back surface 13b.
The character 14 indicating 1 is printed out. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a prepaid card vending apparatus.

A card reader / writer 16 in which a card reader and a card writer are incorporated in a single device, and a print margin on the back surface 13b of the prepaid card 13 are provided in a control device 15 which is constituted by a microcomputer for executing various information processing. A print controller 18 for driving a thermal printer 17 for thermally printing the characters 14 such as the card balance X1, a keyboard 19 and a display 2 for a clerk to set various data and to monitor and output sales data registered for sales.
0, an input / output interface 21, a storage unit 22 formed of a RAM or the like, and operation panel interfaces 23 of various devices provided on the operation panel 2a.

The input / output interface 21 includes a money processing storage unit 24 installed in the case 1, a card stocker 25 for storing a large number of raw cards 11 shown in FIG.
A card transport mechanism 26 for transporting the raw card 11 from the card stocker 25 to the card reader / writer 16 is connected.

Further, the display 5, the confirmation key 6, the selling lamp 9, the cancel button 7, the call button 8 and the like shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the operation panel interface 23.

As shown in FIG. 6, the storage unit 22 stores the third data read by the card reader / writer 16 as shown in FIG.
Card information memory 22a for temporarily storing card information including a card issuing company code, a card number, a card balance X1, an initial amount X0, a number of uses N and the like, and a card balance X1 of an inserted prepaid card shown in FIG. Card input memory 22b to store, cash Y inserted by one customer
A cash input memory 22c for storing the total value Y2 of 1 and an input total memory 22d for storing a total amount S of the card balance of the inserted card and the cash are formed.

Further, in the storage unit 22 , a sales totaling memory 22e for totalizing the total sales amount of the prepaid cards sold by the vending machine and the sales amount of cash only, and the raw card 11 are issued as the new prepaid card 13. A new issuance number memory 22f for storing the newly issued issuance number, an additional issuance number memory 22g for storing the additional issuance number re-issued by adding the inserted amount (cash) to the inserted used prepaid card 13, and a new issuance number number memory 22g. A new card flag 22h indicating whether or not to issue a card is stored. In addition, the new car Waldorf lug 22h is in when the power is turned on remains that have been released to 0.

When the power of the prepaid card vending apparatus is turned on, the control unit 15 executes the sales processing for the prepaid card 13 in accordance with the flowcharts of FIGS. Have been.

When the flowchart is started, an operation guide of [insert card, insert money] is displayed on the display 5. And S
(Step) When any selling operation is executed on the operation panel 2a in step 1, the type of the executed operation is checked. In S2, when money such as banknotes or coins is inserted from the money input port 3, the input amount Y1 of the input money read by the money processing storage unit 24 in S3 is stored in the cash input memory 22c of the storage unit 22. Add to the value Y2. Further, the input amount Y1 is added to the total amount S in the input total memory 22d . At first, the total value Y2 and the total amount S are zero at first. Next, the display unit 5 displays the total value Y2 of the cash input memory 22c and the total amount S of the input total memory 22d.

Then, the next selling operation is executed on the operation panel 2a, and when additional money is input in S4, the flow returns to S3, and the current input amount is stored in the cash input memory 22.
c and the sum total memory 22d.

Next, if the selling operation is not a money input operation in S2 or S4, but the issued prepaid card 13 is inserted into the card insertion slot 4 in S5, the card reader / writer is sent in S6. Prepaid card 13 inserted with 16
Of the magnetic stripe 12 shown in FIG.
Card information including the card issuing company code, card number, card balance X1, initial amount X0, number of uses N, and the like recorded in a to 12e are read and stored in the card information memory 22a. Then, the card balance X1 of the read card information is displayed on the display unit 5. At the same time, it is added to the total amount S of the input total memory 22d in S7. The display unit 5 displays the total amount S after the addition.

At S8, a print margin line P on the back surface 13b is calculated from the number of uses N of the card information memory 22a. That is, the maximum number of printable lines on the back surface 13b of the prepaid card 13 is a fixed value determined by the size of the card and the size of the printed characters, and the number of characters that can be printed on one line is also fixed. One print character 14 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), since it is the use date and the card balance X1, for example, there are two items (items) in one line. Therefore, the print margin line P on the current back surface 13b can be easily obtained.

At S9, if the calculated print margin line P is equal to or greater than the predetermined margin line Ps, it is determined that an additional card can be issued, and the process returns to S1.
Wait for the next operation. Conversely, the print margin line P is the specified margin line Ps
If it is less than, it is determined that it is necessary to issue a new card, after setting 1 a new car Zadoff lugs 22h of FIG. 6,
The process returns to S1 and waits for the next operation.

[0033] Thus, sales operations performed in S1 is if the key operation of the confirmation key 6 of S10 shown in FIG. 8,
In S11, it is checked whether or not the card balance X1 is stored in the card insertion memory 22b. If stored, S
Proceeding to 12, the state of the new card flag 22h in FIG. 6 is checked. If it has been released to 0, it is determined that additional issuance will be performed, and in S13, the area 1 of the magnetic stripe 12 of the prepaid card 13 currently inserted into the card insertion slot 4
The total amount S of the input total memory 22d is written in 2c as a new card balance X1 (X1 = S).

Next, 2 is added to the number of uses N of the card information memory 22a (N = N + 2), and the number of uses N after the addition is added.
Is written in the area 12e of the magnetic stripe 12 of the prepaid card 13 which is also being inserted. Then, the prepaid card 13 that is also being inserted by the thermal printer 17.
A new card balance X is added to the first line of the print margin on the
For example, "re-initial amount" to indicate that it is issued with 1 added
Thermal printing over one line together with the message 14a.
The print position can be easily obtained based on the print margin line P obtained earlier. Furthermore, adding 2 to the number of uses N is
This is because the character 14a containing the message of "re-initial amount X1" requires twice as much area as the other characters 14.

Next, in step S15, the new card balance X1 is recorded, and the prepaid card 13 on which the character 14a of the "re-initial amount X1" is printed is inserted into the lower card ejection slot 10.
Discharged from Thus, one prepaid card 13
Since the additional card issuance process has been completed, the sales registration process is performed for each of the memories 22e to 2g of the storage unit 22. Also, the stored contents of the memories 22a to 22d are cleared to prepare for the next customer.

At S12, the new card flag 22
If h is set to 1, an additional card cannot be issued for the prepaid card 13 currently inserted into the card insertion slot 4, so that the card balance 0 is written in the area 12c of the inserted prepaid card 13 in S16. (X = 0).
Further, today's date and card balance 0 are printed in the print margin on the back surface 13b. Then, the prepaid card 13 is discharged to the card outlet 10.

In step S17, a start command is sent to the card transport mechanism 26, and one of the raw cards 11 stored in the card stocker 25 shown in FIG. It is transported to the reader / writer 16. Then, in S18, the total amount S of the inserted total memory 22d is written into the area 12c of the raw card 11 as a new card balance X1. At the same time, the same amount S is set to the initial amount X0 in the area 12d.
Write as Next, in S19, the new card balance X1 is set to the first line of the print margin on the back side with the message
Thermal printing is performed over one line together with 4b.

Next, at S20, the prepaid card 13 on which the new card balance X1 is recorded and the "initial amount X1" is printed is discharged from the lower card discharge port 10. Since the new card issuance process for one prepaid card 13 has been completed, each of the memories 22e to 2g of the storage unit 22 has been completed.
Sales registration processing is performed. In addition, each memory 22a ~
22d clear contents and new card flag 2
Clear 2h to 0 to prepare for the next customer.

When the prepaid card 13 is purchased for the first time in the prepaid card vending apparatus thus configured, the cash to be written into the prepaid card 13 is inserted into the cash slot 3 and then the confirmation key 6 is pressed. Push. Then, the card balance X1 corresponding to the inserted amount is magnetically recorded on one raw card 11 stored in the card stocker 25, and the card balance X1 is printed on the back surface 13b together with the message 14b of the initial amount. A prepaid card 13 is issued.

As shown in FIG. 4A, every time the prepaid card 13 is used, characters 14 indicating the use date and the used card balance X1 are sequentially printed on the back surface 13b.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the card balance X1 decreases and a new prepaid card 13 becomes necessary, the prepaid card 13 is inserted into the card slot 4 of the vending machine, and When money of the amount Y2 to be added to the card balance X1 is inserted into the cash slot 3, the display unit 5 displays the total S of the card balance X1 and the inserted cash.
Next, when the confirmation key 6 is pressed, as shown in FIG.
When the print margin line P on the back surface 13b is large, FIG.
As shown in, prepaid card 13 having a new card balances charged cash Y2 is plus the prepaid card 13 inserted it is reissued.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
If the print margin line P of b is small, the card balance in the area 12c of the used prebayed card 13 is forcibly set to 0.
The character 14 of the current date and the card balance 0 is printed on the back surface 13b and ejected. Next, the new prepaid card 1 in which the total amount S of the card balance X1 and the inserted cash is written in the raw card 11 as the card balance X1.
3 is issued.

As described above, for the card issuer company, by issuing an additional card to the prepaid card 13 in which the print margin line P exists more than the specified value, 1
It is possible to efficiently use the raw cards 11 until almost the final life time determined by the number of times of reading and writing, the number of printing lines, and the like. Therefore, by reusing the prepaid card 13 whose number of uses N is still small because the card balance is reduced, the number of discarded prepaid cards 13 can be suppressed, and the manufacturing cost of the entire prepaid card 13 can be reduced. In addition, resources can be used effectively.

Further, for the customer, when the card balance becomes low, when a new prepaid card is purchased, the inserted amount is added to the current card balance of the prepaid card 13, so that a plurality of prepaid cards are required. 1
You don't need to own 3. Therefore, only one card needs to be submitted for accounting. Therefore, the trouble of having and managing a plurality of cards is released.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. In the embodiment, the card reader / writer in which the card reader and the card writer are incorporated in one device is used, but each may be a dedicated device. Also, a dedicated card writer for writing various data on the raw card may be provided.

[0046]

As described above, according to the prepaid card vending apparatus of the present invention, if there is more than a prescribed printing blank line on the back side of the inserted prepaid card, the inserted money is added to the card balance of the same prepaid card. Is reissued as a new prepaid card.
Therefore, the issued card can be reused, and the prepaid card which can be used sufficiently can be prevented from being destroyed,
The manufacturing cost of the entire prepaid card can be reduced for the card issuer, and the trouble of having to manage a plurality of cards can be relieved for the user. Therefore, it greatly improve the service to cost savings and customer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a prepaid card vending device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a view showing a raw card stored in the apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a prepaid card issued by the apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a prepaid card inserted into the apparatus of the embodiment and a prepaid card issued on top of the card;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing each memory formed in a storage unit of the device of the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus of the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... housing | casing, 3 ... money insertion opening, 4 ... card insertion opening, 5 ... display, 6 ... confirmation key, 10 ... card ejection opening, 11 ... raw card, 12 ... magnetic stripe, 12a-12e ... area | region,
13 ... prepaid card, 13b ... back side, 14 ... letters,
Reference numeral 15: control device, 16: card reader / writer, 17: thermal printer, 22: storage unit, 25: card stocker, 26: card transport mechanism.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A card balance recorded in a storage area of a prepaid card (13) in which the card balance at that time is sequentially printed on the back surface inserted from the card insertion slot at the end of each use. Card information reading means (S6) for reading the number of times of use with a card reader, and an input for calculating the total amount of the card balance read by the card information reading means and the money inserted from the cash slot. Total calculating means (S7), a print margin line calculating means (S8) for calculating the print margin line on the back side from the number of uses read by the card information reading means, and the print margin line is equal to or greater than a specified margin line A card balance adding means (S13) for writing the total amount as a new card balance into a prepaid card inserted into the card slot by a card writer; and a prepaid card in which the new card balance is written. On the back of Additional card issuing means (S14, S15) for printing and discharging the new card balance at the first line of the character margin line by a printer, and a card stocker by a card writer when the print margin line is less than a specified margin line. A new card balance writing means (S18) for writing the total amount as a new card balance in one of the raw cards (11) stored in advance in the raw card; A prepaid card vending apparatus comprising: a new card issuing means (S19, S19) for printing the new card balance by a printer on the first line and issuing it as a new prepaid card.