JP3023294B2 - Automatic ticket vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ticket vending machine for issuing railway and bus tickets, and more particularly, to automatically issuing all tickets including special tickets such as discount tickets. Related to automatic ticket vending machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for the purpose of passenger service,
Special tickets such as daytime discount tickets and holiday discount tickets were on sale. These special tickets are not sold at automatic ticket vending machines, but are sold exclusively at the ticket counter, because of their complexity such as limited time slots and different discount rates. Therefore, the passenger had to go to the clerk window and check whether a discounted ticket had been sold before starting the purchase procedure.

[0003]

However, it is troublesome to go to the counter in person, and it is preferable that a special ticket can be sold by an automatic ticket vending machine in order to ensure the passenger service. . The present invention has been made in view of this problem, in which it is displayed that a special ticket is on sale, and the special ticket is automatically purchased by a normal operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic ticket vending machine that can do it.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, an automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention has a first CPU inside.
In the configuration, a main unit that performs ticketing processing in response to a customer operation, and a setting device that includes a second CPU therein and that can set a release time zone of a special ticket and the like are connected,
The setting device is a condition setting means for arbitrarily setting a release date and a release time zone of the special ticket, a time keeping means for constantly measuring the current date and time, and a set special ticket release date and release. The time zone is compared with the current date and the current time, and when the set condition is met, a determination unit that outputs a release enable signal to the main device is provided, and the main device is
A first table for storing fee information for a normal ticket, a second table for storing fee information for a special ticket, and one of the two tables is searched based on the available-for-sale signal to issue a ticket. Ticket issuing means and special
An availability switch for setting availability of special tickets,
ON / OFF state of the enable / disable switch and the release enable signal
The output level is controlled in accordance with the
Signal output unit for forcibly switching the processing contents
I have. Here, the normal ticket typically means a normal train or bus ticket, but also includes amusement park tickets and other venue admission tickets. The special ticket typically refers to a train or bus holiday discount ticket or daytime discount ticket, but is not limited to this. The release date of special tickets is 1
It may be specified for each day or may be specified all at once for a specific day of the week. Preferably, the ticketing process performed by the main unit is accompanied by an indication that the special ticket is on sale or not on sale.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to embodiments. FIG. 1 shows the appearance of an automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention, and shows a front view (a) and a back view (b), respectively. This automatic ticket vending machine is for selling tickets such as trains and buses, and has a main unit 1 that performs ticketing processing in response to passenger operation, and a discount setting in which a clerk sets the release time zone of discounted tickets and the like. And a vessel 2. The main unit 1 is covered with a customer service panel 1a provided on the front surface, a staff panel 1b on the upper rear surface, a rear door 1c on the central rear surface, and the like.

[Configuration of Main Unit 1] As shown in FIG. 1A, a customer service panel 1a has a guide display section 3 on which a route name and a fare table are displayed, a coin slot 4a, and a bill insertion slot 5.
a, a card insertion slot 6a of a prepaid card, a number designation switch 7 for designating the number of tickets to be purchased, an amount selection switch 8 for designating the amount of a ticket to be purchased, a discharge port 9a for releasing a ticket or change, an insertion amount A customer service display 10 that displays information and operation guidance is provided. On the other hand, on the clerk panel 1b on the upper rear side, a clerk indicator 12 for displaying the operation state of the ticket vending machine, the status of transactions with passengers, and the like, and availability switches 16a and 16b for setting whether or not a discount ticket can be released. Is provided. As shown in the internal block diagram of FIG. 2, the main body device 1 includes a control unit 11 that controls the entire ticketing process.
And a memory 13 for storing programs and data
, A discount signal output unit 14, and various input / output devices, and the input / output devices and the control unit 11 are connected by an input / output bus 15. Here, the control unit 11
Program ROM and RA for storing release data
M and a CPU. Also, the memory 13
Shows a normal fare table 13a storing a fare for a normal ticket, a special fare table 13b storing a fare for a discounted ticket, and screen information of the customer display 10 and the attendant display 12. It is composed of a stored screen memory 13c.

[0007] The discount signal output section 14 is a section for instructing the control section 11 whether or not a discount ticket should be sold. The output level of the discount signal output section 14 is ON / O of the availability switches 16a and 16b.
FF status and discount signal ENBL input from discount setting unit 2
It is determined by the level. In addition, the input / output devices connected to the input / output bus 15 include a coin processing device 4, a bill processing device 5, a card processing device 6, and a printing ticket issuing device 9, and the above-described coin insertion slot 4a and bill insertion slot, respectively. 5a, a card insertion port 6a, and a discharge port 9a. In addition, the coin processing device 4, the bill processing device 5, the card processing device 6, and the printing ticket issuing device 9 include
It is arranged at the position where c is opened. The control unit 11, the memory 13, and the setting signal output unit 14 are connected to the attendant display 1
2 and the switch 16 are arranged at the position of the attendant panel 1b.

[Structure of discount setting device 2] As shown in the internal block diagram of FIG. 3, the discount setting device 2 has a memory 17 for storing programs, calendar data for several years, and the like.
And a variable display 18 for displaying various guide screens and the like
And the touch sensor 1 provided on the screen of the variable display 18.
9 and a timing device 2 functioning as a reference clock of an automatic ticket vending machine
0 and a CPU 21 that controls the operation of each unit and outputs a discount signal ENBL. One feature of this automatic ticket vending machine is that the discount time zone, the discount day, and the like can be freely set and changed by the discount setting device 2. Next, the operation of the discount setting device 2 will be described. The operation mode of the discount setting device 2 includes a normal operation mode and a discount condition setting mode. In the discount condition setting mode, discount conditions such as a discount date, a discount day, and a discount time zone can be set. However, normally, the discount setting device 2 is in the normal operation mode, and a screen as shown in FIG. That is, 199
It is 13:30 on May 5, 2010 (Friday), indicating that the holiday discount ticket is on sale (sellable state), but the daytime discount ticket is on sale.

[Discount condition setting mode]
In order to change from the normal operation mode to the discount condition setting mode, it is necessary to touch the “menu column” 30 at the upper right of the screen of the variable display 18 in the state as shown in FIG. Then, the touch sensor 19 detects that, and the CPU 21
Displays a menu screen as shown in FIG. Here, in the center of the menu screen, a “date setting section” 31a, a “time setting section” 31b, and a “time setting section” 31c are provided. "ESC" to return to the previous screen (Fig. 4)
Column 32 is provided. Setting columns 31a, 31b, 3
1c is a column for setting a discount implementation date, a discount implementation time zone, and a current time, respectively. For example, when the user touches the “date setting column” 31a in the state of FIG.
Displays the calendar screen for the current month. In the example of FIG. 6, holidays on the 3rd to 5th and other Sundays are highlighted (shown by diagonal lines) on the calendar of May 1995, and the discounted date has already been specified. ing.

Before setting the discount date or when changing the setting of the discount date, for example, the following operation is performed to set the discount date. If a discount ticket is to be issued on Sunday, it is sufficient to touch the Sunday position in the "day of the week" column 33 on the calendar screen. Then, on the 7th, 14th, by the operation of the CPU 21,
On the 21st and the 28th, the display is reversed. Also, if the issuance of a discount ticket is set for each day, it is only necessary to touch the corresponding day after day. Each time you touch the same spot,
The display is switched between the reverse display and the normal display.
After setting and changing the discount date in this way,
When the “SET column” 34b is touched, the CPU 21 stores the discount execution date in the memory 17 based on the screen state at that time. In addition, if it is desired to set a discount execution date for April and June following the process for May, touch the “last month column” 34c and the “next month column” 34d, respectively, to display the calendar screen. May be performed after changing. Then, the user can return to the menu screen (FIG. 5) by touching the "ESC column" 34a. In the explanation so far,
Although the case in which the discount execution date is set artificially has been described as an example, for example, a program may be set in advance for a holiday and a discount on Sunday (holiday discount).

When the user touches the "time setting column" 31b on the menu screen shown in FIG. 5, the variable display section 18 changes to the state shown in FIG. This screen is a screen for setting a release time zone of a discount ticket, and includes a “time field” 35 a and a “minute field” 35.
b, “setting number field” 36, “ESC field” 37, and “S
"ET column" 38 is provided. In the time setting screen shown in FIG. 7, the release time zone of the discount ticket can be set separately for weekdays and holidays.
The "time column" 35a and the "minute column" 35b are all blank. Further, the “setting numeral field” 36 does not appear. In such a state, for example, when the user touches the “time column” 35a on the top line, a “set number column” 36 newly appears on the bottom line of the screen in response to this, and 0 to 9
Is displayed. In this state, for example, “1” “0”
, "10" is set in the "time column" 35a on the top line. Similarly, when the user touches the “minute field” 35b on the top row and then presses “0” or “0” in the “setting number field” 36, “00” is set in the “minute field” 35b. Hereinafter, similarly, the “time column” 35a and the “minute column” 3 in the second to fourth lines are similarly set.
5b, “16”, “00”, “00”, “0”
"0", "23", "59", and finally "SET column"
If you touch 38, the release time zone of the discount ticket
Is set to In this example, on weekdays, a discount ticket is sold from 10:00 to 16:00 (daytime discount), and on holidays, 00
A discount ticket will be sold all day from 0:00 to 23:59.

When the setting of the discount time zone is completed by the above operation, the user can touch the "ESC column" 37 and return to the menu screen of FIG. When the user touches the "time setting column" 31c on the menu screen in FIG. 5, the time can be set in the timekeeping device 20 (the time setting screen is omitted). The setting of the time is typically performed when the power of the automatic ticket vending machine is turned on. However, the setting of the time is also performed thereafter as needed to prevent a time lag of the timer 20.

[Normal Operation Mode] Next, the operation of the discount setter 2 in the normal operation mode will be described. When the discount setter 2 is in the normal operation mode, the CPU 21 reads out the current date, day, day, and time from the timekeeping device 20 and displays them on the variable display 18. Also, CPU2
1 searches the current month calendar stored in the memory 17 and verifies whether or not the current day is a ticket discount date. Similarly, the memory 17 is searched to determine whether or not the current time is within the time slot where the discount ticket can be sold. And if the current time falls under a daytime discount,
The effect is displayed on the variable display section 18. Similarly, if the current day falls on a holiday discount day and falls within the discount ticket release time period set on the screen of FIG. 7, that fact is displayed on the variable display unit 18 (see FIG. 4). ). When it corresponds to a holiday discount or a daytime discount, the CPU 21 also outputs a discount signal ENBL to the discount signal output unit 14 of the main device 1. The discount signal output unit 14 is a circuit that outputs the input discount signal ENBL to the input / output bus 15 only when the availability switch 16 is in the ON state. Here, one of the availability switches 16a corresponds to a holiday discount, and the other availability switch 16b corresponds to a daytime discount mode.
When the availability switches 16a and 16b are turned off, the output of the discount signal ENBL can be prohibited. Therefore, when a special situation occurs and the customer wants to temporarily suspend the discount,
This can be dealt with only by simple operation of the availability switch 16.

[Operation of Main Unit 1] The control unit 11 of the main unit 1 determines whether or not a discount ticket can be released based on the output of the discount signal output unit 14, and displays a customer service if the discount ticket should be released. This is indicated on the display 10 (FIG. 8). When the passenger performs an operation for purchasing a ticket, the control unit 11
Retrieves the special fare table 13b and controls the print ticketing device 9 to print and issue the corresponding discounted ticket. If change is necessary, the change is released to the discharge port 9a together with the discount ticket. Discount signal ENBL from discount setting device 2
Is not output, or when the availability switch 16 is in the OFF state, the automatic ticket vending machine operates as a normal ticket vending machine. That is, the control unit 11 searches the normal fare table 13a in response to the operation of the passenger to purchase the ticket, and controls the print ticketing device 9 to perform the normal fare table 13a.
A normal ticket is printed and issued based on the. As described above, in this embodiment, an automatic ticket vending machine for issuing a ticket has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to other ticket vending machines. Although only the special tickets for weekday discounts and holiday discounts have been described, the present invention can be applied to the processing for issuing other special tickets. Further, the discount setting device 2 may be provided inside the main device 1.

[0015]

As described above, the automatic ticket vending machine according to the present invention has a main unit and a setting device connected to each other, and the setting device includes condition setting means, time measuring means, and determination means,
Since the main unit is provided with the first table, the second table, and the ticket issuing means, a special ticket can be automatically issued in response to a customer operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates the appearance of an automatic ticket vending machine.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the main device.

FIG. 3 is an internal block diagram of a discount setting device.

FIG. 4 shows display contents of a variable display in a normal operation mode.

FIG. 5 is a menu screen in a condition setting mode.

FIG. 6 is a screen for setting a discount date.

FIG. 7 is a screen when setting a discount time zone.

FIG. 8 is a customer service display screen showing that a holiday discount ticket is on sale.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main apparatus 2 Discount setting device (setting device) 11 Control part (ticket issuing means) 13a Normal fare table (first table) 13b Special fare table (second table) 16 Allowance switch (open / close switch) 17 Memory (condition setting means, Judgment means) 18 Variable display (condition setting means) 19 Touch sensor (condition setting means) 20 Timing device (timing means) 21 CPU (condition setting means, judgment means) ENBL Discount signal (releaseable signal)

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-173276 (JP, A) JP-A-2-151987 (JP, A) JP-A-8-2977753 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07B 1/00-9/02 G06F 17/60

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main unit which internally includes a first CPU and executes a ticket issuing process in response to an operation of a customer, and a second CPU.
The setting unit is configured to be connected to a setting device capable of setting a release time zone of a special ticket, and the setting device includes condition setting means that can arbitrarily set a release date and a release time zone of the special ticket. If the timekeeping means that always keeps track of the current date and time and the set special ticket release date and time zone are compared with the current date and time and the set conditions are met, Comprises a determination means for outputting a release enable signal to the main unit, wherein the main unit stores a first table for storing fee information relating to a normal ticket and a second table for storing fee information relating to a special ticket.
Table, ticket issuing means for retrieving one of the two tables based on the release enable signal, and issuing a ticket, and availability for setting whether or not a special ticket can be released.
Switch and ON / OFF state of the enable / disable switch and before
The output level is controlled by the level of the recordable signal.
Discount signal for forcibly switching the processing contents of the ticketing means
An automatic ticket vending machine comprising an output unit . 2. The setting device includes a variable display unit on which a screen for supporting a setting operation is displayed, and a touch sensor provided on the variable display unit, and the setting operation is performed only by a touch operation on the screen. 2. The automatic ticket vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending is completed. 3. The automatic ticket vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the normal ticket is a normal ticket such as a train or a bus, and the special ticket is a holiday discount ticket or a daytime discount ticket. Machine.